Pioglitazone modulates the vascular contractility in hypertension by interference with ET-1 pathway

Endothelin-1 (ET-1) is an important modulator of the vascular tone and a proinflammatory molecule that contributes to the vascular damage observed in hypertension. Peroxisome-proliferator activated receptors-γ (PPARγ) agonists show cardioprotective properties by decreasing inflammatory molecules such as COX-2 and reactive oxygen species (ROS), among others. We investigated the possible modulatory effect of PPARγ activation on the vascular effects of ET-1 in hypertension. In spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR), but not in normotensive rats, ET-1 enhanced phenylephrineinduced contraction through ETA by a mechanism dependent on activation of TP receptors by COX-2- derived prostacyclin and reduction in NO bioavailability due to enhanced ROS production. In SHR, the PPARγ agonist pioglitazone (2.5 mg/Kg·day, 28 days) reduced the increased ETA levels and increased those of ETB. After pioglitazone treatment of SHR, ET-1 through ETB decreased ROS levels that resulted in increased NO bioavailability and diminished phenylephrine contraction. In vascular smooth muscle cells from SHR, ET-1 increased ROS production through AP-1 and NFκB activation, leading to enhanced COX-2 expression. These effects were blocked by pioglitazone. In summary, in hypertension, pioglitazone shifts the vascular ETA/ETB ratio, reduces ROS/COX-2 activation and increases NO availability; these changes explain the effect of ET-1 decreasing phenylephrine-induced contractionThis work was supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (SAF2015-69294-R and SAF2016-80305-P), Instituto de Salud Carlos III (CIBER de Enfermedades Cardiovasculares, CB16.11.00286), Comunidad de Madrid (B2017/BMD-3676) and Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) a way to build Europ

Enriquecimiento de la hamburguesa Cinta Senese con ácidos grasos omega-3. Efecto del tipo de adición y condición de almacenamiento en las características de calidad

The most beneficial omega-3 PUFAs to human health, EPA and DHA fatty acids, are typically present in fish products, but extraneous to meat. Therefore, Cinta Senese pork burgers were added with microencapsulated (M) and bulk fish oil (F) and subjected to three storage conditions: no storage (T0), chilled (T5) and frozen storage (T30). The physico-chemical and sensory attributes of raw and cooked burgers were investigated. After storage and cooking, EPA and DHA were better preserved in M burgers than in F samples, which showed the highest TBAR values at T0 and T5, while M samples presented scores similar to the control. Panelists observed differences mainly in greasy appearance, odor intensity and cooked meat odor and flavor. The M group showed the best scores at T5 with respect to the control and F burgers. So, fish oil microencapsulation was an effective method to prevent EPA and DHA oxidation while respecting burger quality characteristics.EPA y DHA son los ácidos grasos poliinsaturados omega 3 más beneficiosos para la salud humana, se presentan típicamente en el pescado, y no se encuentran en carnes. Por ello, se elaboraron hamburguesas de cerdo de la especie “Cinta Senese” añadiendo aceite de pescado (F), microcápsulas que contenían aceite de pescado (M) o sólo a base de carne (control (C)) y se mantuvieron bajo las siguientes condiciones de almacenamiento: sin almacenaje (T0), en refrigeración (T5) y congelación (T30). Se estudiaron los atributos sensoriales y físico-químicos de las hamburguesas crudas y cocinadas. En cuanto al almacenamiento y el cocinado, las hamburguesas con microcápsulas preservaron mejor los EPA y DHA que las muestras con aceite de pescado, las cuales presentaron los valores más altos de TBARs en las muestras T0 y T5, mientras que las M mantuvieron unos resultados similares a las de tipo control. En los resultados de la cata realizada se observaron, entre los tratamientos realizados y respecto a las distintas condiciones de almacenamiento, diferencias en la apariencia grasienta, olor y flavor a carne cocida e intensidad de olor. En las hamburguesas M se obtuvieron las mejores puntuaciones frente a las encontradas en F y C en el tipo T5. Por tanto, la microencapsulación de aceite de pescado se verificó como un método efectivo para prevenir la oxidación de EPA y DHA respetando la calidad y características de las hamburguesas

Priority sites for wildfowl conservation in Mexico

A set of priority sites for wildfowl conservation in Mexico was determined using contemporary count data (1991–2000) from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service mid-winter surveys. We used a complementarity approach implemented through linear integer programming that addresses particular conservation concerns for every species included in the analysis and large fluctuations in numbers through time. A set of 31 priority sites was identified, which held more than 69% of the mid-winter count total in Mexico during all surveyed years. Six sites were in the northern highlands, 12 in the central highlands, six on the Gulf of Mexico coast and seven on the upper Pacific coast. Twenty-two sites from the priority set have previously been identified as qualifying for designation as wetlands of international importance under the Ramsar Convention and 20 sites are classified as Important Areas for Bird Conservation in Mexico. The information presented here provides an accountable, spatially-explicit, numerical basis for ongoing conservation planning efforts in Mexico, which can be used to improve existing wildfowl conservation networks in the country and can also be useful for conservation planning exercises elsewhere

Rotavirus symptomatic infection among unvaccinated and vaccinated children in Valencia, Spain

BACKGROUND: Human group A rotavirus is the leading cause of severe acute gastroenteritis in young children worldwide. Immunization programs have reduced the disease burden in many countries. Vaccination coverage in the Autonomous Region of Valencia, Spain, is around 40%, as the rotavirus vaccine is not funded by the National Health System. Despite this low-medium vaccine coverage, rotavirus vaccination has substantially reduced hospitalizations due to rotavirus infection and hospital-related costs. However, there are very few studies evaluating symptomatic rotavirus infections not requiring hospitalization in vaccinated children. The objective of this study was to investigate symptomatic rotavirus infections among vaccinated children in the health area served by the Hospital Clínico Universitario of Valencia, Spain, from 2013 to 2015. METHODS: A total of 133 children younger than 5 years of age with rotavirus infection were studied. Demographic and epidemiological data were collected and informed consent from their caretakers obtained. Rotavirus infection was detected by immunological methods and G/P rotavirus genotypes were determined by RT-PCR, following standard procedures from the EuroRotaNet network. RESULTS: Forty infants (30.1%; 95% CI: 22.3-37.9) out of 133 were diagnosed with symptomatic rotavirus infection despite having been previously vaccinated, either with RotaTeq (85%) or with Rotarix (15%). Children fully vaccinated against rotavirus (24.8%), partially vaccinated (5.3%) and unvaccinated (69.9%) were found. The infecting genotypes showed high G-type diversity, although no significant differences were found between the G/P genotypes infecting vaccinated and unvaccinated children during the same time period. G9P[8], G12P[8] and G1P[8] were the most prevalent genotypes. Severity of gastroenteritis symptoms required 28 (66.6%) vaccinated and 67 (73.6%) unvaccinated children to be attended at the Emergency Room. CONCLUSION: Rotavirus vaccine efficacy in reducing the incidence of severe rotavirus infection has been well documented, but symptomatic rotavirus infection can sometimes occur in vaccinees

Molecular Gastronomy in Spain

[EN] Beyond the overwhelming international success of Ferrán Adria, Spain has been one of the countries with a more active implication in molecular gastronomy as a scientific discipline but also in the use of ingredients, technologies, and equipment from the scientificand technological universe in the culinary area. Nowadays, this is a well-established discipline in Spain, with a number of research groups covering related topics, several companies commercializing appliances and additives worldwide, and renowned international chefs and many restaurants and companies committed to the collaboration with scientists for facing the future of Spanish gastronomyThe authors would like to thank the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (Spain) for funding the Collaborative Network “INDAGA” (AGL2007-28589- E/ALI; AGL2009-05765-E), which enabled their collaboration.García Segovia, P.; Garrido, MD.; Vercet Tormo, A.; Arboleya, JC.; Fiszman Dal Santo, S.; Martínez Monzó, J.; Laguarda, S.... (2014). Molecular Gastronomy in Spain. Journal of Culinary Science and Technology. 12(4):279-293. https://doi.org/10.1080/15428052.2014.914813S27929312

Cloud computing in industrial SMEs: Identification of the barriers to its adoption and effects of its application

ABSTRACT: Cloud computing is a new technological paradigm that may revolutionize how organizations use IT by facilitating delivery of all technology as a service. In the literature, the Cloud is treated mainly through a technological approach focused on the concept definition, service models, infrastructures for its evelopment and security problems. However, there is an important lack of works which analyze this paradigm adoption in SMEs and its results, with a gap between the technological development and its adoption by organizations. This paper uses a qualitative technique methodology -group meetings with managers- and a quantitative one-survey- and identifies which factors act as barriers to Cloud adoption and which positive effects its application generates in 94 industrial SMEs. The conclusion is that the main barriers are of a cultural type and that the positive effects go well beyond reducing costs

Overview of habitat history in subtropical oceanic island summit ecosystems

Summit ecosystems of oceanic islands constitute one of the most ephemeral and isolated ecosystems existing, harboring specific features that confer on their biota an outstanding distinctness. Summits are short-lived entities, being the last ecosystems to be constructed during the growth of the new oceanic island, and the first to vanish due either to island subsidence, island erosion, or both. Whereas their geological emergence/disappearance is controlled by the volcanic/erosion activity, Pleistocene glaciations in the past million years, by forcing the altitudinal shift of the timberline, have also likely created or destroyed summit ecosystems, enabling the appearance of alpine ecosystems during glacial maxima where they were not present in interglacial periods and vice versa. On the other hand, summit ecosystems constitute islands within islands, being more isolated from climatically similar ecosystems than the coastlines of the islands containing them. Thus summit biota, frequently displaying a high endemicity, may originate either through dispersal from other close summit ecosystems during peak periods, or from the colonization of the summits and later evolution to the new conditions from mid-altitude species of the same island. Conversely, if peak periods are absent, the disappearance of summit ecosystems implies the extinction or extirpation of their constitutive species. Current summit species have likely occupied a much larger area during glacial periods. Thus the summits may be classified as climatic refuges. This is especially the case if glacial periods were associated with much drier conditions on oceanic islands as is the case on continents

Opposite-side flavour tagging of B mesons at the LHCb experiment

The calibration and performance of the oppositeside flavour tagging algorithms used for the measurements of time-dependent asymmetries at the LHCb experiment are described. The algorithms have been developed using simulated events and optimized and calibrated with B + →J/ψK +, B0 →J/ψK ∗0 and B0 →D ∗− μ + νμ decay modes with 0.37 fb−1 of data collected in pp collisions at √ s = 7 TeV during the 2011 physics run. The oppositeside tagging power is determined in the B + → J/ψK + channel to be (2.10 ± 0.08 ± 0.24) %, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second is systematic

Observation of excited Lambda_b0 baryons

Using pp collision data corresponding to 1.0 fb-1 integrated luminosity collected by the LHCb detector, two narrow states are observed in the Lambda_b0pi+pi- spectrum with masses 5911.97 +- 0.12(stat) +- 0.02(syst) +- 0.66(Lambda_b0 mass) MeV/c^2 and 5919.77 +- 0.08(stat) +- 0.02(syst) +- 0.66(Lambda_b0 mass) MeV/c^2. The significances of the observations are 5.2 and 10.2 standard deviations, respectively. These states are interpreted as the orbitally-excited Lambda_b0 baryons, Lambda_b*0(5912) and Lambda_b*0(5920).Comment: Replaced by version published in Phys. Rev. Lett, modified fit with better mass resolution treatmen