Activation energy in particle suspensions

Assuming that the molar activation energy in a fluid is interpreted as a measure of the potential energy barrier required for the molecular movement [1], the viscosity of a fluid depends on the actual size of the molecules, and the presence of solid particles in a suspension increases the dissipation of energy when the system flows, therefore it is expected that the viscosity of the suspension is higher than that of the pure solvent at a given temperature. The dependence of the viscosity of some silica/glycol suspensions with the temperature can be fitted using an empirical function analogous to the Arrhenius equation, ln⁡η=E/RT-ln⁡C, where η is the viscosity, C is a system-dependent constant, E is the molar activation energy for the viscous flow, T is the absolute temperature and R is the gas universal constant. When the temperature of the suspension decreases two effects are observed. First, larger aggregates of particles are formed due to the reduction of the thermal agitation and, second, the number of links among the molecules of the liquid phase increases. These two effects give place to a higher increase in the viscosity with the temperature compared to the pure solvent. Assuming that a higher viscosity value is due to a smaller free volume available for the molecular movement, and taking into account that the free suspension volume is limited only to the liquid fraction [2], it should be expected that the viscosity of the suspension is less sensitive to temperature than that of the pure solvent. In this work the dependence on the temperature of the viscosity values of the silica/glycol suspensions is compared to that of the liquid media. The results have shown a lower activation energy when the solid volume fraction increases, which has been explained with a scheme that assumes that the particle links are less sensitive to thermal energy absorption than the joining bonds among the solvent molecules. Our conclusion is that, for a given mechanical energy applied to the system, the thermal energy absorbed by the system is mainly used in the rupture of bonds between the solvent molecules. This study can be useful to understand the mechanisms that govern the differences in the activation energy values found between samples of foods, in which many factors are connected with sample composition [3]. [1] Briscoe B, Luckham P, Zhu S. Rheological properties of poly (ethylene oxide) aqueous solutions. J Appl Polym Sci 70 (1998) 419-429. [2] Shenoy AV. Rheology of filled polymer systems. Kluwer Acad Pub, 1999, The Netherlands. [3] Alvarez MD, Canet W. Time-independent and time-dependent rheological characterization of vegetable-based infant purees. J Food Eng 114 (2013) 449-464.Universidad de Málaga, Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Using Natural Raw Materials and CEM Approach for the Design of Andean Volcanic Self-Compacting Concretes

La actividad volcánica es característica de las zonas sísmicas. En consecuencia, el material volcánico forma parte del paisaje en lugares donde los terremotos son fenómenos naturales comunes. Dado que los residuos volcánicos (VW) muestran actividad puzolánica, la sustitución del cemento Portland (PC) manufacturado por VW es claramente una opción deseable no solo desde el punto de vista económico sino también para reducir las emisiones de CO 2huella dactilar. Por lo tanto, diseñar hormigones con cementos Portland volcánicos (VPC) contribuye claramente a una producción de cemento más limpia. Las actividades de construcción y edificación en zonas sísmicas necesitan utilizar un tipo específico de hormigón: hormigón autocompactante (SCC). El desafío en el que nos enfocamos fue el diseño de SCC usando VPC. El comportamiento de flujo de SCC se caracteriza por un límite elástico bajo, una viscosidad plástica alta y un comportamiento de espesamiento por cizallamiento a cizallamiento alto. Sin embargo, obtener estas sorprendentes propiedades del hormigón no es fácil con los ensayos de flujo de hormigón tradicionales (cono de Abrams, etc.). Además, estos métodos son muy costosos en términos de tiempo y material. Una alternativa que nos permite utilizar la reometría absoluta y que ha sido poco explorada consiste en la sustitución del hormigón por un mortero equivalente. En este estudio se utilizó el denominado mortero equivalente de hormigón (CEM) para obtener formulaciones de HAC con VPC. Las pruebas de minicono confirmaron la ausencia de mezcla en algunas formulaciones de CEM seleccionadas según el cumplimiento de los criterios para SCC. De las respectivas formulaciones del CEM se infirieron tres propuestas concretas. Se adaptaron al estándar europeo SCC según el ensayo de apertura de conos de Abrams.Partial funding for open access charge: Universidad de Málag

Trastorno por déficit de atención en escolares epilépticos, caracterización neuropsiquiátrica

Introducción: El trastorno por déficit de atención/hiperactividad (TDAH) es el principal trastorno neuropsiquiátrico de inicio en la infancia y con frecuencia está asociado a otros trastornos comórbidos. Dentro de estos  se encuentra la epilepsia. Objetivo: Caracterizar desde el punto de vista neuropsiquiátrico el Trastorno por Déficit de Atención con/sin Hiperactividad (TDAH)  en niños epilépticos. Material y Método: Se realizó una investigación aplicada, de desarrollo,  descriptiva y transversal en escolares epilépticos de 6 a 11 años, del municipio Pinar del Río, en el periodo de la investigación. El universo (U=147) estuvo constituido por los niños epilépticos que asistieron a consulta. La muestra,  los que se diagnosticaron con TDAH (n=54) según muestreo no probabilístico intencionado, teniendo en cuenta criterios de inclusión y exclusión. Se realizó  entrevista a familiares y pacientes, la historia social psiquiátrica y el examen psiquiátrico, basándonos para el  diagnóstico   en los criterios del DSM IV. Se aplicó el Test de Atención y el cuestionario de conducta  CONNERS para padres. El procesamiento estadístico de los datos se realizó utilizando  la  prueba de  proporción contra un valor hipotético y la prueba de comparación de dos proporciones de grupos independientes.   Resultados: Predomino el TDAH asociado a la epilepsia, en el sexo masculino, los antecedentes patológicos perinatales fueron los más frecuentes. Predominó el subtipo  de TDAH inatento y las epilepsias focales sintomáticas fueron las más frecuentes, predominando los signos de irritación cortical focal frontal. Conclusiones: El diagnóstico y manejo temprano  de  estos niños, contribuye a evitar  complicaciones cognoscitivas, afectivas y conductuales

INTERFAZ GRAFICA PARA EL ANÁLISIS DE LAS FUERZAS DE CAPTURA EN UNA PINZA ÓPTICA USANDO LAS APROXIMACIONES DE RAYLEIGH Y MIE

En este trabajo se desarrolla una Interfaz Gráfica de Usuario en el software MATLAB,  que facilita el análisis de las fuerzas de la luz responsables de la captura de esferas dieléctricas con una pinza óptica tipo gradiente, y que implementa los “Métodos aproximados”, en particular: el “Método Dipolar de Rayleigh” que usa ecuaciones de la electrodinámica para modelar el comportamiento de las fuerzas de captura y el “Método de Rayos Ópticos” que usa la óptica geométrica, permitiendo por medio de ecuaciones sencillas, obtener una aproximación al comportamiento de las fuerzas de captura..Palabras Clave: Pinza óptica, régimen de Rayleigh, régimen de Mie, fuerza de gradiente, fuerza de Scattering

Identification of mycotoxins by UHPLC–QTOF MS in airborne fungi and fungi isolated from industrial paper and antique documents from the Archive of Bogotá

Mold deterioration of historical documents in archives and libraries is a frequent and complex phenomenon that may have important economic and cultural consequences. In addition, exposure to toxic fungal metabolites might produce health problems. In this work, samples of broths of fungal species isolated from the documentary material and from indoor environmental samples of the Archive of Bogotá have been analyzed to investigate the presence of mycotoxins. High resolution mass spectrometry made possible to search for a large number of mycotoxins, even without reference standards available at the laboratory. For this purpose, a screening strategy based on ultra-high pressure liquid chromatography coupled to quadrupole-time of flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC–QTOF MS) under MSE mode was applied. A customized home-made database containing elemental composition for around 600 mycotoxins was compiled. The presence of the (de)protonated molecule measured at its accurate mass was evaluated in the samples. When a peak was detected, collision induced dissociation fragments and characteristic isotopic ions were also evaluated and used for tentative identification, based on structure compatibility and comparison with literature data (if existing). Up to 44 mycotoxins were tentatively identified by UHPLC–QTOF MS. 34 of these tentative compounds were confirmed by subsequent analysis using a targeted LC–MS/MS method, supporting the strong potential of QTOF MS for identification/elucidation purposes. The presence of mycotoxins in these samples might help to reinforce safety measures for researchers and staff who work on reception, restoration and conservation of archival material, not only at the Archive of Bogotá but worldwide.Generalitat Valenciana (research group of excellence PROMETEO II/2014/023; ISIC 2012/016), from Alcaldía Mayor de Bogotá (Special Agreement on Cooperation in Science and Technology No. 2215100-153-2013) and from Universidad Antonio Nariño Grant 2010246

Randomized phase II trial of FOLFIRI-panitumumab compared with FOLFIRI alone in patients with RAS wild-type circulating tumor DNA metastatic colorectal cancer beyond progression to first-line FOLFOX-panitumumab : the BEYOND study (GEMCAD 17-01)

Altres ajuts: Fundació la Marató de TV3 (201330.10); Fundacion Olga Torres (Modalitat A. 2019/2020); Spanish Association Against Cancer (AECC, PROYE19040POST_001).Purpose: Panitumumab plus FOLFOX (P-FOLFOX) is standard first-line treatment for RAS wild-type (WT) metastatic colorectal cancer. The value of panitumumab rechallenge is currently unknown. We assessed addition of panitumumab to FOLFIRI (P-FOLFIRI) beyond progression to P-FOLFOX in patients with no RAS mutations in liquid biopsy (LB). Methods: In this randomized phase II trial, patients were assigned (3:2 ratio) to second-line P-FOLFIRI (arm A) or FOLFIRI alone (arm B). LB for circulating tumor DNA analysis was collected at study entry and at disease progression. Primary endpoint was 6-month progression-free survival. Two-stage Simon design required 85 patients to be included (EudraCT 2017-004519-38). Results: Between February 2019 and November 2020, 49 patients were screened (16 RAS mutations in LB detected) and 31 included (18 assigned to arm A and 13 to arm B). The study was prematurely closed due to inadequate recruitment. Serious adverse events were more frequent in arm A (44% vs. 23%). Overall response rate was 33% (arm A) vs. 7.7% (arm B). Six-month progression-free survival rate was 66.7% (arm A) and 38.5% (arm B). Median progression-free survival was 11.0 months (arm A) and 4.0 months (arm B) (hazard ratio, 0.58). At disease progression, RAS or BRAF mutations in LB were found in 4/11 patients (36%) in arm A and 2/10 (20%) in arm B. Conclusions: The BEYOND study suggests a meaningful benefit of P-FOLFIRI beyond progression to P-FOLFOX in metastatic colorectal cancer patients with WT RAS status selected by LB. This strategy deserves further investigation

Atomically dispersed Pt-N-4 sites as efficient and selective electrocatalysts for the chlorine evolution reaction

Chlorine evolution reaction (CER) is a critical anode reaction in chlor-alkali electrolysis. Although precious metal-based mixed metal oxides (MMOs) have been widely used as CER catalysts, they suffer from the concomitant generation of oxygen during the CER. Herein, we demonstrate that atomically dispersed Pt-N-4 sites doped on a carbon nanotube (Pt-1/CNT) can catalyse the CER with excellent activity and selectivity. The Pt-1/CNT catalyst shows superior CER activity to a Pt nanoparticle-based catalyst and a commercial Ru/Ir-based MMO catalyst. Notably, Pt-1/CNT exhibits near 100% CER selectivity even in acidic media, with low Cl- concentrations (0.1M), as well as in neutral media, whereas the MMO catalyst shows substantially lower CER selectivity. In situ electrochemical X-ray absorption spectroscopy reveals the direct adsorption of Cl- on Pt-N-4 sites during the CER. Density functional theory calculations suggest the PtN4C12 site as the most plausible active site structure for the CER

Strategies to design clinical studies to identify predictive biomarkers in cancer research

The discovery of reliable biomarkers to predict efficacy and toxicity of anticancer drugs remains one of the key challenges in cancer research. Despite its relevance, no efficient study designs to identify promising candidate biomarkers have been established. This has led to the proliferation of a myriad of exploratory studies using dissimilar strategies, most of which fail to identify any promising targets and are seldom validated. The lack of a proper methodology also determines that many anti-cancer drugs are developed below their potential, due to failure to identify predictive biomarkers. While some drugs will be systematically administered to many patients who will not benefit from them, leading to unnecessary toxicities and costs, others will never reach registration due to our inability to identify the specific patient population in which they are active. Despite these drawbacks, a limited number of outstanding predictive biomarkers have been successfully identified and validated, and have changed the standard practice of oncology. In this manuscript, a multidisciplinary panel reviews how those key biomarkers were identified and, based on those experiences, proposes a methodological framework—the DESIGN guidelines—to standardize the clinical design of biomarker identification studies and to develop future research in this pivotal field

Identification of the Plasmodium berghei resistance locus 9 linked to survival on chromosome 9

Background: One of the main causes of mortality from severe malaria in Plasmodium falciparum infections is cerebral malaria (CM). An important host genetic component determines the susceptibility of an individual to develop CM or to clear the infection and become semi-immune. As such, the identification of genetic loci associated with susceptibility or resistance may serve to modulate disease severity. Methodology The Plasmodium berghei mouse model for experimental cerebral malaria (ECM) reproduces several disease symptoms seen in human CM, and two different phenotypes, a susceptible (FVB/NJ) and a resistant mouse strain (DBA/2J), were examined. Results: FVB/NJ mice died from infection within ten days, whereas DBA/2J mice showed a gender bias: males survived on average nineteen days and females either died early with signs of ECM or survived for up to three weeks. A comparison of brain pathology between FVB/NJ and DBA/2J showed no major differences with regard to brain haemorrhages or the number of parasites and CD3+ cells in the microvasculature. However, significant differences were found in the peripheral blood of infected mice: For example resistant DBA/2J mice had significantly higher numbers of circulating basophils than did FVB/NJ mice on day seven. Analysis of the F2 offspring from a cross of DBA/2J and FVB/NJ mice mapped the genetic locus of the underlying survival trait to chromosome 9 with a Lod score of 4.9. This locus overlaps with two previously identified resistance loci (char1 and pymr) from a blood stage malaria model. Conclusions: Survival best distinguishes malaria infections between FVB/NJ and DBA/2J mice. The importance of char1 and pymr on chromosome 9 in malaria resistance to P. berghei was confirmed. In addition there was an association of basophil numbers with survival