Levantamiento arquitectónico y estudio físico-constructivo del "Molí Paperer"

El molino papelero de Martorell data del 1739. Desde su origen hasta la actualidad, ha sufrido una serie de cambios provocados tanto por las necesidades industriales de cada momento, como por las constantes riadas que se sucedían en Martorell. Por estos motivos el edificio presenta cierta dificultad a la hora de estudiarlo. Las ampliaciones y pequeñas intervenciones que se le han realizado, crean conflicto para establecer la tipología constructiva correspondiente a cada época. El molino cesa su producción definitivamente en 1964 y desde entonces no ha recibido el mantenimiento adecuado, mostrando en la actualidad un avanzado estado de degradación constructiva con el agotamiento de sus elementos estructurales y constructivos. Los objetivos del proyecto se centran en: - un estudio histórico de la evolución del molino - un levantamiento gráfico - un estudio de los elementos constructivos - un análisis de las lesiones existentes con sus propuestas de actuación - un estudio de la maquinaria propia del molino papelero. Siguiendo estas directrices, se pretende estudiar el estado actual del edificio y que sirva de base para una futura rehabilitación y cambio de uso

Accurate,robust and harmonized implementation of morpho-functional imaging in treatment planning for personalized radiotherapy

In this work we present a methodology able to use harmonized PET/CT imaging in dose painting by number (DPBN) approach by means of a robust and accurate treatment planning system. Image processing and treatment planning were performed by using a Matlab-based platform, called CARMEN, in which a full Monte Carlo simulation is included. Linear programming formulation was developed for a voxel-by-voxel robust optimization and a specific direct aperture optimization was designed for an efficient adaptive radiotherapy implementation. DPBN approach with our methodology was tested to reduce the uncertainties associated with both, the absolute value and the relative value of the information in the functional image. For the same H&N case, a single robust treatment was planned for dose prescription maps corresponding to standardized uptake value distributions from two different image reconstruction protocols: One to fulfill EARL accreditation for harmonization of [18F]FDG PET/CT image, and the other one to use the highest available spatial resolution. Also, a robust treatment was planned to fulfill dose prescription maps corresponding to both approaches, the dose painting by contour based on volumes and our voxel-by-voxel DPBN. Adaptive planning was also carried out to check the suitability of our proposal. Different plans showed robustness to cover a range of scenarios for implementation of harmonizing strategies by using the highest available resolution. Also, robustness associated to discretization level of dose prescription according to the use of contours or numbers was achieved. All plans showed excellent quality index histogram and quality factors below 2%. Efficient solution for adaptive radiotherapy based directly on changes in functional image was obtained. We proved that by using voxel-by-voxel DPBN approach it is possible to overcome typical drawbacks linked to PET/CT images, providing to the clinical specialist confidence enough for routinely implementation of functional imaging for personalized radiotherapy.Junta de Andalucía (FISEVI, reference project CTS 2482)European Regional Development Fund (FEDER

Influencia del ph sobre el efecto tóxico inducido en clones de Dictyosphaerium Chlorelloides sensibles y resistentes a Cromo (VI)

El presente estudio establece una correlación entre las variaciones de pH en el medio y las concentraciones de Cromo (VI), mediante su efecto en poblaciones de Dictyosphaerium chlorelloides, microalgas eucariotas cosmopolitas de agua continental. Se cultivaron en medio BG11 dos clones de D. chlorelloides, uno sensible al Cr (VI) y otro resistente a concentraciones de 25 μg/ml, en un rango de pH entre 2,5 y 11 para determinar el efecto de la acidez. Habiendo establecido un rango de pH definitivo (3-7,5), realizamos los ensayos de toxicidad para obtener el valor de pH mínimo al que la población de microalgas no sufría variaciones estadísticamente significativas. El análisis de la exposición a Cr (VI) evidenció una NOEC ajustada al valor de pH=4,25 para ambos clones. Los valores de CI50(72) obtenidos a pH 7,5 y 4,25 evidenciaron variaciones estadísticamente significativas entre ambos valores de pH, no habiendo diferencias significativas relativas al crecimiento poblacional en la cepa sensible de D. chlorelloides, aunque sí en el clon resistente.This paper explains the relationship between the environmental variations of pH and Chromium (VI) concentration, by their effect on populations of Dictyosphaerium chlorelloides, eukaryotic cosmopolitan microalgae of fresh water ecosystems. Two strains of D. chlorelloides were cultured in BG11 culture medium, being one of them sensitive to Cr (VI) and the other one resistant up to concentrations of 25 μg/ml, at pH values between 2.5 and 11 in order to determine their viability. When the pH range was determined (3-7.5), toxicity assays were done to obtain the minimum value of pH in which the microalgal populations did not vary significantly. The analysis of Cr (VI) exposure demonstrated a NOEC fitted to the pH value of 4.25. The IC50(72) values obtained at pH 7.5 and 4.25 showed significant statistic variations between both pH values, and there were not significant differences related to community growth in the sensitive strain, unlike the resistant one

Retarding oxidation of copper nanoparticles without electrical isolation and the size dependence of work function

Copper nanoparticles (CuNPs) are attractive as a low-cost alternative to their gold and silver analogues for numerous applications, although their potential has hardly been explored due to their higher susceptibility to oxidation in air. Here we show the unexpected findings of an investigation into the correlation between the air-stability of CuNPs and the structure of the thiolate capping ligand: Of the 8 different ligands screened, those with the shortest alkyl chain, -(CH2)2- , and a hydrophilic carboxylic acid end group are found to be the most effective at retarding oxidation in air. We also show that CuNPs are not etched by thiol solutions as previously reported, and address the important fundamental question of how the work function of small supported metal particles scales with particle size. Together these findings set the stage for greater utility of CuNPs for emerging electronic applications

Role of phenylacetaldehyde reductase (OePAR) in olive fruit phenolic metabolism

Motivation: Virgin olive oil (VOO) is a key component of the Mediterranean diet very rich in phenolic compounds related to important health benefits [1]. These phenolic compounds have antioxidant biological activity and they also provide organoleptic properties to VOO. Oleuropein, with a complex secoiridoid structure containing an hydroxytyrosol residue, is the most abundant phenolic compound in the olive fruit mesocarp. Moreover, oleuropein is the precursor of the most important phenols found in VOO [2].In this study, the molecular and biochemical characterization of two enzymes phenylacetaldehyde reductases (OePAR1.1 and 1.2) related to hydroxytyrosol and tyrosol biosynthesis in olive fruit, has been carried out. These enzymes use as substrates, 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetaldehyde (3,4-HPAA) and 4-hydroxyphenylacetaldehyde (4-HPAA) to form hydroxytyrosol and tyrosol, respectively [2,3].Methods: Two genes encoding for enzymes with putative phenylacetaldehyde reductase activity have been identified from an olive transcriptome which was obtained from seven olive varieties with different phenolic profiles grown under different biotic and abiotic stresses [2]. They have been synthesized, cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. The extraction and purification of their encoded proteins has been optimized. Purity of the recombinant proteins was evaluated by electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and densitometry analysis. Concentration of the purified recombinant proteins was determined by Bradford assay. The functional identity of these proteins have been determined by in vitro activity assays further analyzed by HPLC to quantity substrates and products in the reaction media. The developed methodology is being used to complete the kinetic characterization of both proteins. In addition, complementary studies of gene expression will be performed by RT-qPCR.Results: Both recombinant OePARs display reductase activity forming hydroxytyrosol after incubation with its precursor 3,4-HPAA. Furthermore, OePAR1.2 has shown significantly higher specific activity than OePAR1.1. Results from functional genomic, expression analysis and metabolomic studies carried out will be analyzed together to determine the role of these enzymes in the olive fruit phenolic metabolism and to establish the catalytic differences between them

Study on the chemical behaviour of Bisphenol S during the in vitro gastrointestinal digestion and its bioaccessibility

This study evaluated the chemical behaviour of Bisphenol S (BPS) and determined its bioaccessibility after human ingestion using a standardised in vitro gastrointestinal digestion protocol and an analytical method based on high-pressure liquid chromatography coupled with a photodiode array and tandem mass spectrometry. The effects of different factors such as gastric pH, enzymes, and food matrix on the solubility and chemical stability of BPS were studied to evaluate their contribution to its bioaccessibility. The results highlighted that BPS was available at the end of the digestion process in the range of 50–80%, and was susceptible to absorption at the intestinal level. The effect of pH was not significant as a single factor. The presence of enzymes slightly decreased the bioaccessibility of BPS in the intestinal phase with gastric pH increase. Additionally, a soy drink reduced BPS bioaccessibility by up to 5% after oral intake. Finally, a few BPS degradation products were found in non-bioaccessible fractions at different pH valuesThis research was funded the “Consellería de Cultura, Educación e Ordenación Universitaria, Xunta de Galicia”, within the project “Consolidación y estructuración de unidades de investigación competitivas—Grupos de referencia competitiva (GRC)” (Ref. GRC 2019/030). L. Barbosa-Pereira is grateful to the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities for her “Juan de la Cierva – Incorporación” Grant (Agreement No. IJCI-2017-31665). Antía Lestido-Cardama is grateful for her grant “Programa de axudas á etapa predoutoral” da Xunta de Galicia (Consellería de Cultura, Educación e Ordenación UniversitariaS

3D VMAT Verification Based on Monte Carlo Log File Simulation with Experimental Feedback from Film Dosimetry.

A model based on a specific phantom, called QuAArC, has been designed for the evaluation of planning and verification systems of complex radiotherapy treatments, such as volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT). This model uses the high accuracy provided by the Monte Carlo (MC) simulation of log files and allows the experimental feedback from the high spatial resolution of films hosted in QuAArC. This cylindrical phantom was specifically designed to host films rolled at different radial distances able to take into account the entrance fluence and the 3D dose distribution. Ionization chamber measurements are also included in the feedback process for absolute dose considerations. In this way, automated MC simulation of treatment log files is implemented to calculate the actual delivery geometries, while the monitor units are experimentally adjusted to reconstruct the dose-volume histogram (DVH) on the patient CT. Prostate and head and neck clinical cases, previously planned with Monaco and Pinnacle treatment planning systems and verified with two different commercial systems (Delta4 and COMPASS), were selected in order to test operational feasibility of the proposed model. The proper operation of the feedback procedure was proved through the achieved high agreement between reconstructed dose distributions and the film measure- ments (global gamma passing rates > 90% for the 2%/2 mm criteria). The necessary discre- tization level of the log file for dose calculation and the potential mismatching between calculated control points and detection grid in the verification process were discussed. Besides the effect of dose calculation accuracy of the analytic algorithm implemented in treatment planning systems for a dynamic technique, it was discussed the importance of the detection density level and its location in VMAT specific phantom to obtain a more reliable DVH in the patient CT. The proposed model also showed enough robustness and efficiency to be considered as a pre-treatment VMAT verification system.Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología SAF2011- 27116; IPT-2011-1480-900000

Anthropic disturbance in mountain pollen records during Late Quaternary in Northwest Argentina

Para comprender el origen causal de lasvariaciones del paisaje y particularmente de las comunidades vegetales en los diferentesescenarios ambientales con larga historia de ocupación humana, como losecosistemas de montaña del Noroeste argentino, es importante integrarmetodologías que permitan ajustar la interpretación de los diferentes contextosambientales durante el Cuaternario tardío. En este marco, es fundamental elconocimiento espacio-temporal de las asociaciones vegetales/polínicas indicadorasde actividades antrópicas, con especial énfasis en la problemática de laaparición y desarrollo de los sistemas agropastoriles. Se analizaron datos de10 sitios (fluviales, lacustres, vegas, sitios arqueológicos), actuales yfósiles, datados por 14C. Se calculó abundancia relativa (AR),frecuencias de ocurrencia (FO) e índices de valor de importancia (IVI) de lostipos polínicos de la asociación indicadora de disturbio antrópico, comovariaciones y tendencias espacio-temporales. Se observaron la presencia dedisturbio por pastoreo/cultivos/malezas, destacándose los tipos de pastoreo ylas Amaranthaceae-Chenopodiaceae en todos los sitios. Se observa la tendenciaal incremento de rangos de disturbio en los archivos paleoambientales de Oestea Este, donde el Borde Oriental de los Andes concentra los mayores valores.Temporalmente, el Holoceno temprano presenta los rangos promedios más bajos dedisturbio, que aumentan desde el Holoceno medio al tardío. Estos resultados soncoherentes con los cambios regionales en el manejo y uso del espacio de sushabitantes durante el Holoceno en el NOA y Andes Centrales.To understand the causal origin of landscape variations and particularly plant communities in different environmental settings with a long history of human occupation, such as the mountain ecosystems of northwest Argentina, it is important to integrate working methodologies that allow for the adjustment of the interpretation of the different environmental contexts during the late Quaternary. In this framework, the spacetemporal knowledge of the plant and pollen associations that are indicators of anthropic activities is fundamental, with special emphasis on the problem of the appearance and development of agro-pastoral systems. Data from 10 modern and fossil 14C-dated sites (fluvial, lacustrine, peatlands, archaeological) were analyzed. Relative abundance, frequencies of occurrence and importance value indexes of the pollen types of the association indicating anthropic disturbance were calculated, such as space-temporal variations and trends. Grazing/crops/weeds represent disturbance, with the types of grazing and the presence of Amaranthaceae-Chenopodiaceae standing out in all the sites. Disturbance ranges increase in the paleoenvironmental archives from west-east, with the Eastern Cordillera of the Andes showing the highest values. Temporally, the Early Holocene presents the lowest average ranges of disturbance, whereas ranges increase from the Middle to the Late Holocene. These results are consistent with regional changes in resource management and land use during the Holocene in the northwest Argentina and the Central Andes.Fil: Lupo, Liliana Concepción. Universidad Nacional de Jujuy. Instituto de Ecorregiones Andinas. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Salta. Instituto de Ecorregiones Andinas; ArgentinaFil: Torres, Gonzalo Román. Universidad Nacional de Jujuy. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Unidad de Análisis Palinológicos. Laboratorio de Palinología; ArgentinaFil: Fierro, Pamela Tatiana. Universidad Nacional de Jujuy. Instituto de Ecorregiones Andinas. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Salta. Instituto de Ecorregiones Andinas; ArgentinaFil: Oxman, Brenda. Universidad Nacional de Jujuy. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Unidad de Análisis Palinológicos. Laboratorio de Palinología; ArgentinaFil: Sánchez, Ana Carina. Universidad Nacional de Jujuy. Instituto de Ecorregiones Andinas. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Salta. Instituto de Ecorregiones Andinas; ArgentinaFil: Pereira, Elizabeth de Los Angeles. Universidad Nacional de Jujuy. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Unidad de Análisis Palinológicos. Laboratorio de Palinología; ArgentinaFil: Schittek, Karsten. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Filosofía y Letras. Instituto de Arqueología; Argentin

Colored microbial coatings in show caves from the galapagos islands (Ecuador): first microbiological approach

The Galapagos Islands (Ecuador) have a unique ecosystem on Earth due to their outstanding biodiversity and geological features. This also extends to their subterranean heritage, such as volcanic caves, with plenty of secondary mineral deposits, including coralloid-type speleothems and moonmilk deposits. In this study, the bacterial communities associated with speleothems from two lava tubes of Santa Cruz Island were investigated. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) was carried out for the morphological characterization and detection of microbial features associated with moonmilk and coralloid speleothems from Bellavista and Royal Palm Caves. Microbial cells, especially filamentous bacteria in close association with extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), were abundant in both types of speleothems. Furthermore, reticulated filaments and Actinobacteria-like cells were observed by FESEM. The analysis of 16S rDNA revealed the presence of different bacterial phylotypes, many of them associated with the carbon, nitrogen, iron and sulfur cycles, and some others with pollutants. This study gives insights into subsurface microbial diversity of the Galapagos Islands and further shows the interest of the conservation of these subterranean geoheritage sites used as show caves.Ministerio del Ambiente de Ecuador (Parque Nacional Galápagos)-PC-65-14Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad de España (MINECO) y el Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional de la Unión Europea (FEDER)-CGL2016-75590-PPortuguese Foundation for Science and Technology. Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT)-UID/Multi/04449/2019 HERCULES/U

Alginate–Chitosan Membranes for the Encapsulation of Lavender Essential Oil and Development of Biomedical Applications Related to Wound Healing

Funding Information: This research was funded by the project Ref. SBPLY/17/180501/000311 from the Consejería de Educación, Cultura y Deportes of Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha. It has also been possible to carry out this work thanks to funding from the “Call for grants to carry out pre-doctoral stays in foreign Universities and Research Centres for UCLM doctoral students—Co-funded by the Collaboration Agreement between the University of Castilla-La Mancha and Banco Santander”. This work has also received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020—European Research Council (ERC)—under grant agreement No ERC-2016-CoG 725034. Funding Information: We gratefully acknowledge funding from the Consejería de Educación, Cultura y Deportes of Junta de Comunidades de Castilla La Mancha provided for this project. This work was supported by the Associate Laboratory for Green Chemistry (LAQV), which is financed by national funds from FCT/MCTES (UIDB/50006/2020 and UIDP/50006/2020). This work was also supported by Filipe Oliveira’s and Joana Pereira’s grants, 2021.07780.BD and 2022.13700.BD, respectively. Publisher Copyright: © 2023 by the authors.Biopolymers such as chitosan (CHT) or alginate (ALG) are among the most prominent for health-related applications due to their broad bioactivity. Their combination for the preparation of membranes is hereby proposed as an application for wound healing with the incorporation of lavender essential oil (LEO), widely known for its antioxidant and antimicrobial properties. The preparation of CHT, CHT + LEO, ALG, ALG + LEO, and CHT/ALG + LEO membranes was accomplished, and its composition was analyzed using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). The water absorption capacity and oil release profile of the membranes revealed higher water uptake capacity when a lower LEO release was obtained. The combined CHT/ALG + LEO film showed a water uptake percentage of 638% after 48 h and a maximum LEO release concentration of 42 mg/L. Cytotoxicity and biocompatibility of the prepared membranes were studied using a HaCaT cell line, with an assessment of cell viability regarding film leachables, DNA quantification, and DAPI-phalloidin staining. The results revealed that the indirect contact of the prepared membranes via its leachables does not compromise cell viability, and upon direct contact, cells do not adhere or proliferate on the surface of the membranes. Moreover, the CHT/ALG + LEO membrane increases cell proliferation, making it suitable for applications in wound healing.publishersversionpublishe