A recipe for a good clinical pulmonary surfactant

The lives of thousands premature babies have been saved along the last thirty years thanks to the establishment and consolidation of pulmonary surfactant replacement therapies (SRT). It took some time to close the gap between the identification of the biophysical and molecular causes of the high mortality associated with respiratory distress syndrome in very premature babies and the development of a proper therapy. Closing the gap required the elucidation of some key questions defining the structure–function relationships in surfactant as well as the particular role of the different molecular components assembled into the surfactant system. On the other hand, the application of SRT as part of treatments targeting other devastating respiratory pathologies, in babies and adults, is depending on further extensive research still required before enough amounts of good humanized clinical surfactants will be available. This review summarizes our current concepts on the compositional and structural determinants defining pulmonary surfactant activity, the principles behind the development of efficient natural animal-derived or recombinant or synthetic therapeutic surfactants, as well as a the most promising lines of research that are already opening new perspectives in the application of tailored surfactant therapies to treat important yet unresolved respiratory pathologies

Alemania como mercado objetivo en el sector de la energía renovable, caso Green Energy S.A.

El presente Trabajo de Fin de Grado consiste en un análisis teórico-práctico del hipotético proyecto de expansión internacional de la empresa de energía renovable Green Energy en Alemania, incluyendo una explicación teórica del proceso que seguirá la empresa, un análisis de la misma y una presentación del mercado alemán con especial atención de las energías renovables. Para ello me serviré de diversas fuentes de información académicas y divulgativas y expondré datos recogidos de organismos e informes especializados en esta materia, con el objetivo de transmitir al lector los resultados de esta investigación de manera clara y concisa. Por último, en la fase final del documento aportaré mi juicio sobre los aspectos más relevantes presentados en el documento, que deben servir de punto final para el mismo.Universidad de Sevilla. Grado en Administración y Dirección de Empresa

Kinematic viscosity of therapeutic pulmonary surfactants with added polymers

AbstractThe addition of various polymers to pulmonary surfactants improves surface activity in experiments both in vitro and in vivo. Although the viscosity of surfactants has been investigated, the viscosity of surfactant polymer mixtures has not. In this study, we have measured the viscosities of Survanta and Infasurf with and without the addition of polyethylene glycol, dextran or hyaluronan. The measurements were carried out over a range of surfactant concentrations using two concentrations of polymers at two temperatures. Our results indicate that at lower surfactant concentrations, the addition of any polymers increased the viscosity. However, the addition of polyethylene glycol and dextran to surfactants at clinically used concentrations can substantially lower viscosity. Addition of hyaluronan at clinical surfactant concentrations slightly increased Infasurf viscosity and produced little change in Survanta viscosity. Effects of polymers on viscosity correlate with changes in size and distribution of surfactant aggregates and the apparent free volume of liquid as estimated by light microscopy. Aggregation of surfactant vesicles caused by polymers may therefore not only improve surface activity as previously shown, but may also affect viscosity in ways that could improve surfactant distribution in vivo

Synthetic Pulmonary Surfactant Preparations: New developments and future trends

Pulmonary surfactant is a lipid-protein complex that coats the interior of the alveoli and enables the lungs to function properly. Upon its synthesis, lung surfactant adsorbs at the interface between the air and the hypophase, a capillary aqueous layer covering the alveoli. By lowering and modulating surface tension during breathing, lung surfactant reduces respiratory work of expansion, and stabilises alveoli against collapse during expiration. Pulmonary surfactant deficiency, or dysfunction, contributes to several respiratory pathologies, such as infant respiratory distress syndrome (IRDS) in premature neonates, and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in children and adults. The main clinical exogenous surfactants currently in use to treat some of these pathologies are essentially organic extracts obtained from animal lungs. Although very efficient, natural surfactants bear serious defects: i) they could vary in composition from batch to batch; ii) their production involves relatively high costs, and sources are limited; and iii) they carry a potential risk of transmission of animal infectious agents and the possibility of immunological reaction. All these caveats justify the necessity for a highly controlled synthetic material. In the present review the efforts aimed at new surfactant development, including the modification of existing exogenous surfactants by adding molecules that can enhance their activity, and the progress achieved in the production of completely new preparations, are discussed

So well known, so venerated and applauded. The iconography of Guadaloupe in the monastery of San Leandro of Seville

Este artículo estudia y tiene como objetivo presentar el catálogo de pintura Novohispana con la temática guadalupana que se conserva en el monasterio de San Leandro de Sevilla. El estudio está estructurado en diferentes apartados: una introducción, un estudio que relaciona el Nuevo Mundo y el monasterio de San Leandro, el análisis de la iconografía guadalupana y su llegada a Sevilla, así como las obras del cenobio agustiniano.This article studies and aims to present the catalogue of Novohispanic paintings with the theme of Our Lady of Guadalupe that are kept in the monastery of San Leandro in Seville. The study is structured in different sections: an introduction, a study that relates the New World and the monastery of San Leandro, the analysis of the iconography of Guadalupe and its arrival in Seville, as well as the works in the Augustinian monastery

Graphics and P Systems: Experiments with JPLANT

The hand-made graphical representation of the configuration of a P system becomes a hard task when the number of membranes and objects increases. In this paper we present a new software tool, called JPLANT, for computing and representing the evolution of a P system model with membrane creation.We also present some experiments performed with JPLANT and point out new lines for the research in computer graphics with membrane systems.Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia TIN2006-13425Junta de Andalucía TIC-58

Del Gran Turco al Hombre Enfermo. El Imperio otomano y su papel en la globalización y occidentalización desde el siglo XV.

El Imperio otomano se presenta, desde finales de la Edad Media, como una estructura política entre el mundo europeo y el asiático y, por tanto, eje de muchas de las dinámicas que se abrieron entre estos dos espacios desde la Edad Moderna. El objetivo de este trabajo es analizar los procesos de globalización y occidentalización que arrancaron con la Era de los Descubrimientos y cómo afectaron al Imperio otomano. Elpapel de este Imperio fue variando a lo largo de su historia, condicionado fundamentalmente por dos factores paralelos: la decadencia otomana y el despegue político, económico y cultural de Europa. En este sentido, a principios del siglo XV, el Imperio otomano era una potencia protagonista en las dinámicas de la mundialización, pero que, desde finales del siglo XVII, se fue tornando un agente pasivo de estos procesosy progresivamente sucumbió a sus dinámicas, desarrollándose así dos fenómenos presentes hasta su definitiva desaparición: la dominación indirecta de las potencias occidentales y la occidentalización, que culminarían en el nacimiento de la moderna Turquía.<br /

A characterisation and evaluation of urban areas from an energy efficiency approach, using Geographic Information Systems in combination with Life Cycle Assessment methodology

The retrofitting of less energy efficient building stock represents one of the most significant challenges in the transition to a low-carbon economy. Nowadays, the housing sector represents about 40% of the energy consumption in the European Union. In this regard, the level of insulation installed in buildings is directly related to the energy efficiency of the building, and consequently to the urban area. In addition, several studies have shown that a comprehensive perspective of energy efficiency is needed, together with calculating the importance of introducing Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology. The purpose of this study is to develop a methodology to: first, measure the energy efficiency level of specific urban areas and their buildings using a geospatial model in an integral perspective; and second, the environmental impact caused by the refurbishment of these building façades using a LCA method. On the one hand, according to a bottom-up framework the quantitative and qualitative characterisation of the building stock façade at the urban scale is possible generating a georeferenced spatial data model of buildings using Geographic Information Systems. On the other hand, the environmental impact of the most usual constructive solutions to refurbishment building façades is calculated using the LCA methodology. The results obtained are merged and interpolated to the urban scale. The methodology is tested for the case study of blocks of flats in Barcelona using the open data of building stock from the Spanish Government. Firstly, this methodology provides more information in regard to urban areas as well as calculating their energy efficiency. Secondly, the study measures the renovation impact of the less efficient buildings. Finally, the results provide the basis for supporting decisions on building stock retrofitting for urban scale from a new approach, especially making the selection between various renovation scenarios much clearer

SP-D attenuates LPS-induced formation of human neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), protecting pulmonary surfactant inactivation by NETs

An exacerbated amount of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) can cause dysfunction of systems during inflammation. However, host proteins and factors that suppress NET formation (NETosis) are not clearly identified. Here we show that an innate immune collectin, pulmonary surfactant protein-D (SP-D), attenuates lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-mediated NETosis in human neutrophils by binding to LPS. SP-D deficiency in mice (Sftpd−/−) leads to excess NET formation in the lungs during LPS-mediated inflammation. In the absence of SP-D, NETs inhibit the surface-active properties of lung surfactant, essential to prevent the collapse of alveoli, the air breathing structures of the lungs. SP-D reverses NET-mediated inhibition of surfactant and restores the biophysical properties of surfactant. To the best of our knowledge, this study establishes for the first time that (i) SP-D suppresses LPS-mediated NETosis, (ii) NETs inhibit pulmonary surfactant function in the absence of SP-D, and (iii) SP-D can restore NET-mediated inhibition of the surfactant system