Contenido de aminoácidos libres en frutos de chirimoyo durante la maduración

El chirimoyo es un fruto tropical que crece en algunos países de América y en una serie de selectivas áreas del sur de España, siendo una fuente rica de aminoácidos libres. Los efectos de las temperaturas después de la postrecolección de este fruto han sido estudiadas. La firmeza del fruto se ha determinado con un medidor de textura y los aminoácidos libres se determinaron por cromatografía en columna de intercambio iónico, utilizando un autoanalizador de aminoácidos. El chirimoyo se caracterizó por un alto contenido en prolina y citrulina. El ácido glutámico y la glutamina estaban también presentes pero en pequeñas cantidades. La citrulina y la prolina se incrementaron durante la maduración; el aumento dependió de la temperatura de almacenamiento

Does Helicobacter pylori have a pathogenic role in bronchiectasis?

SummaryAimTo investigate the presence of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) in bronchial biopsies of patients with bronchiectasis, by histochemical and immunochemical staining.Setting800-bed tertiary university hospital.MethodsObservational study. Patients: forty-six patients with bronchiectasis in a stable clinical condition and 8 control patients. Interventions: Serum samples determination of IgG levels for H. pylori by ELISA. Inmunostaining with an anti-H. pylori antibody (NCL-HPp, Novocastra) of bronchial mucosa obtained by fiberoptic bronchoscopy from both patients with bronchiectasis and controls.ResultsTwenty-one out of 46 patients with bronchiectasis (46%) had positive serologies for H. pylori. We obtained 40 bronchial biopsies in patients with bronchiectasis and 8 bronchial biopsies in control patients. No evidence of H. pylori was obtained in the bronchial samples of both patients and controls.ConclusionsThe results of our study could not demonstrate the presence of H. pylori in bronchial specimens from patients with bronchiectasis

Experimental evidences of a large extrinsic spin Hall effect in AuW alloy

We report an experimental study of a gold-tungsten alloy (7% at. W concentration in Au host) displaying remarkable properties for spintronics applications using both magneto-transport in lateral spin valve devices and spin-pumping with inverse spin Hall effect experiments. A very large spin Hall angle of about 10% is consistently found using both techniques with the reliable spin diffusion length of 2 nm estimated by the spin sink experiments in the lateral spin valves. With its chemical stability, high resistivity and small induced damping, this AuW alloy may find applications in the nearest future

Design and manufacture of functional catalyst-carrier structures for the bioorthogonal activation of anticancer agents

Novel palladium (Pd)-loaded titanium (Ti) devices with high biocompatibility and catalytic activity were prepared using a range of fabrication methods such as powder metallurgy (i.e. sintering with and without space-holder), sputtering, pulsed laser deposition and supersonic cluster beam deposition. The surface of the Ti-[Pd] devices were physico-chemically characterised to confirm the non-alloyed state of the Pd coating onto the titanium substrate. The Pd thickness was optimised to achieve maximum surface area (i.e. maximum catalytic effect) using the minimum amount of material in each method for cost effective production. The catalytic response of the different Ti-[Pd] devices was evaluated under biocompatible conditions by employing an off-on Pd-activatable fluorescent probe. The most robust coating of Pd was produced by an optimised magnetron sputtering method. The sputtered Ti-[Pd] devices were selected to induce the bioorthogonal uncaging of the anticancer drug Vorinostat from a pharmacologically-inactive Pd-activatable precursor in cancer cell culture, demonstrating the capacity of these devices to mediate a local anti-tumour effect via in-situ release of a clinically approved drug. This approach is the first step towards surgically implantable devices that could facilitate targeting affected areas with high spatial selectivity, improving pharmacological activity and reducing systemic side effects through localised treatment directly at the cancer site

Influence of the Water Vapour Permeability of Airtight Sheets on the Behaviour of Facade

The air-tightness of the thermal envelope of buildings is one of the measures to reduce their energy demands in order to achieve global warming reduction targets. To this end, airtight sheets with different water vapour permeability characteristics are used. The different products studied are highly dispersed in terms of equivalent air thickness values, leading to confusion. After the analysis carried out, it is concluded that all airtight sheets are vapour barriers. To clarify whether or not these sheets are necessary as vapour barriers, a condensation analysis was carried out on 13 different facades for 3 climate zones with severe winters as defined in Spanish regulations. The results reveal that interstitial condensation occurs in only 7 of the 39 case studies, with the traditional facades of brickwork with render causing the greatest problems if the appropriate products are not used. In these cases, airtight sheets with water vapour barrier characteristics must be applied on the interior face of the insulating material. In all other cases (32), the airtight sheets must be permeable to water vapour if it is looked for a more breathable wall to water vapour and a better control of the interior humidity conditions

Comparative Analysis of acoustic emissions Produced in Abrupt and Non-Abrupt Fracture Processes in Reinforced Concrete Walls

The determination of the eventual abrupt fracture of a reinforced concrete structure is of fundamental importance to estimate and mitigate the possible damages caused by its failure; of particular importance are shear-type fractures since these usually lead to sudden failure of the structure. One way to determine the presence of shear-type micro-cracks is by parametric analysis of the acoustic emissions produced by the micro-cracks during their growth. In this analysis, a direct comparisson of the waveform allows a distinction to be made between tensile- type and shear-type events. In the present study, we performed a comparative analysis of fracture processes in two reinforced concrete walls. In one of the walls an out-of-plane force was applied leading to bending and a non-abrupt failure; in the other one diagonal forces were applied leading to an abrupt shear-type fracture. Acoustic emissions were detected throughout and we found that at least one of the parameters associated with the parametric analysis allows distinguishing between abrupt and non-abrupt failures. Our results suggest that parametric analysis of acoustic emissions could be a useful tool in the prediction of abrupt failures in reinforced concrete structures

Stiff monatomic gold wires with a spinning zigzag geometry

Using first principles density functional calculations, gold monatomic wires are found to exhibit a zigzag shape which remains under tension, becoming linear just before breaking. At room temperature they are found to spin, what explains the extremely long apparent interatomic distances shown by electron microscopy.The zigzag structure is stable if the tension is relieved, the wire holding its chainlike shape even as a free-standing cluster. This unexpected metallic-wire stiffness stems from the transverse quantization in the wire, as shown in a simple free electron model.Comment: 4 pages, latex, 5 figures, submitted to PR

Physical activity and bone health in schoolchildren: the mediating role of fitness and body fat

This is the final version of the article. Available from Public Library of Science via the DOI in this record.BACKGROUND: The relationship between physical activity (PA) and bone health is well known, although the role of percent body fat (%BF) and fitness as confounders or mediators in this relationship remains uncertain. OBJECTIVE: To examine whether the association between PA and bone mineral content (BMC) is mediated by %BF and cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF). METHODS: In this cross sectional study, BMC, total %BF (by DXA), vigorous PA (VPA), CRF, age and height were measured in 132 schoolchildren (62 boys, aged 8-11 years). ANCOVA was used to test differences in BMC by %BF, CRF and VPA, controlling for different sets of confounders. Simple mediation analyses and serial multiple mediation analyses were fitted to examine whether the relationship between PA and BMC is mediated by %BF and fitness. RESULTS: Children with high %BF had higher total body BMC than their peers after controlling for all sets of confounders. Children with good CRF or VPA had significantly less total body BMC after controlling for age and sex but in children with good CRF this inverse relation disappeared after adjusting by %BF. %BF and CRF both act as a full mediator in the association between VPA and BMC, after inclusion of the potential confounders in the models. CONCLUSION: Fitness and %BF seem to have a mediator role on the relationship between physical activity and bone mass.This study was funded by grant numbers PII1I09-0259-9898 and POII10-0208-5325 from the Ministry of Education and Science - Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha, and Ministry of Health (FIS grant number PI081297). Additional funding was provided by the Research Network on Preventative Activities and Health Promotion (RD06/0018/0038)