«Laudare, benedicere, praedicare»: Toledo y la Orden de Predicadores. Historia y fuentes documentales para su estudio

This article offers an overview about the Dominican Order’s settlement in Castile and analyzes its presence in Toledo from the arrival of the first friars to the present time, when only two out of six communities that were founded during the Old Regime survive. In addition, with the aim of encouraging projects related to the order, an analysis of the typology of the documentary sources that are conserved is addressed, detailing the archives where they are kept and outlining the main subjects which currently require the attention of specialists.El presente artículo ofrece una panorámica del asentamiento de la Orden de Predicadores en Castilla y analiza su presencia en Toledo desde la llegada de los primeros frailes hasta los momentos actuales, en los que solamente sobreviven dos de las seis comunidades que vieron la luz en el Antiguo Régimen. Además, y con el ánimo de fomentar los estudios vinculados con la orden, se realiza un análisis de la tipología de las fuentes documentales que se conservan, detallando los archivos donde se custodian y esbozando los principales temas que actualmente merecen la atención de los especialistas

Bio-Degradable Polyurethane Foams Produced by Liquefied Polyol from Wheat Straw Biomass

In the present work, an abundant and unused residue (wheat straw) has been employed to synthesize a polyol as a substituent of castor oil in polyurethane foams. The liquefied product showed excellent properties for the proposed application. Castor oil was substituted with up to 50% wheat straw polyol in the formulation of polyurethane foams, which were prepared using two different isocyanates (methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) and toluene-2,4-diisocyanate (TDI)). The evaluation of physical, mechanical, and thermal properties of the foams revealed that these materials can successfully be formed with up to 40% wheat straw polyols since all the results were improved. Moreover, at this polyol concentration, the morphology of the foams was presented as a compact and ordered structure. Following this trend, the foams showed excellent biodegradability at 30 days (5.60 and 7.31% for TDI and MDI foams, respectively) and 60 days (8.49 and 9.88% for TDI and MDI foams, respectively) in the soil media tests carried out. Thus, the materials prepared in this work can be proposed for agricultural applications such as use in plant nurseries

Técnicas SIG aplicadas al estudio del relieve de los Montes de León (NO de la Península Ibérica)

En este trabajo se presenta un método basado en el análisis de modelos digitales de elevación (MDE) a través de SIG, encaminado a realizar una cartografía preliminar de antiguas superficies de aplanamiento en los relieves que bordean la cuenca del Bierzo (oeste de la provincia de León, noroeste de la Península Ibérica). El área de estudio es un complejo sistema escalonado de niveles de aplanamiento elaborados sobre el basamento del Macizo Ibérico, constituyente de los relieves montañosos de la zona, deformado por la Orogenia Alpina durante el Cenozoico, en donde las superficies se encuentran elevadas, basculadas, fragmentadas y muy degradadas. Partiendo del MDE con paso de malla de 25 m del PNOA se realizó una caracterización general de la zona de estudio mediante la obtención de mapas derivados: pendientes, orientaciones de pendiente y sombreado, así como de la red de drenaje. Empleando la extensión EZ Profile para ArcGIS 9.3 se generaron 213 perfiles topográficos, sobre los principales cordales e interfluvios, con los que se localizaron y correlacionaron los elementos culminantes (indicios y restos de superficies de aplanamiento) presentes en toda la zona de estudio, lo que permitió reconstruir el relieve previo al desmantelamiento por parte de la red de drenaje. Una vez delimitadas las superficies de aplanamiento se procedió a su caracterización, agrupación y jerarquización, mediante el estudio de superficies de tendencia, el análisis de la red de drenaje y la relación con la actividad tectónica. Se realizó una reconstrucción teórica de cada uno de los aplanamientos a través de la interpolación de los puntos pertenecientes al antiguo relieve, generando así una superficie de tendencia de primer orden, de donde se obtuvo la orientación y pendiente de cada una de ellas. A su vez, se buscaron anomalías en los cauces de los ríos que atraviesan los aplanamientos, que pudieran indicar actividad tectónica reciente. Asimismo, se llevó a cabo un estudio de las cuencas de drenaje, sobre las que se realizaron cálculos de hipsometría y de asimetría (Factor de Asimetría). Por último, se calculó la incisión del drenaje sobre las superficies de aplanamiento cartografiadas. Como resultado se obtuvieron veinte superficies clasificadas en ocho niveles, desde los 1000m a los 2100m, en donde se observa cómo los distintos elementos de un mismo nivel se encuentran en extremos opuestos de la zona de estudio, ubicados en forma de orla perdiendo altura hacia la cuenca del Bierzo.Trabajo financiado por el proyecto de la Junta de Castilla y León LE311A12-2 y por el proyecto Consolider Ingenio 2006 CSD-2006, TopoIberia Geociencias en Iberia

Angiotensinogen gene G-6A polymorphism influences idiopathic pulmonary fibrosisdisease progression

Angiotensin II is a growth factor that plays a key role in the physiopathology of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). A nucleotide substitution of an adenine instead of a guanine (G-6A) in the proximal promoter region of angiotensinogen (AGT), the precursor of angiotensin II, has been associated with an increased gene transcription rate. In order to investigate whether the G-6A polymorphism of the AGT gene is associated with IPF development, severity and progression, the present study utilised a case–control study design and genotyped G-6A in 219 patients with IPF and 224 control subjects. The distribution of G-6A genotypes and alleles did not significantly differ between cases and controls. The G-6A polymorphism of the AGT gene was not associated with disease severity at diagnosis. The presence of the A allele was strongly associated with increased alveolar arterial oxygen tension difference during follow-up, after controlling for the confounding factors. Higher alveolar arterial oxygen tension changes over time were observed in patients with the AA genotype (0.37¡0.7 mmHg (0.049¡0.093 kPa) per month) compared to GA genotype (0.12¡1 mmHg (0.016¡0.133 kPa) per month) and GG genotype (0.2¡0.6 mmHg (0.027¡0.080 kPa) per month). G-6A polymorphism of the angiotensinogen gene is associated with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis progression but not with disease predisposition. This polymorphism could have a predictive significance in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis patients.Supported by grants from FIS-PI; FISPI060064, FIS-IDIBAPS CM05/00118, Sociedad Española de Neumologia y Cirugia Torácica (SEPAR)-Fundación Respira and Faculdade Capivari, Spain.Peer reviewe

Simultaneous Surface Plasmon Resonance and X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy

We present here an experimental set-up to perform simultaneously measurements of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) in a synchrotron beamline. The system allows measuring in situ and in real time the effect of X-ray irradiation on the SPR curves to explore the interaction of X-rays with matter. It is also possible to record XAS spectra while exciting SPR in order to detect the changes in the electronic configuration of thin films induced by the excitation of surface plasmons. Combined experiments recording simultaneously SPR and XAS curves while scanning different parameters can be carried out. The relative variations in the SPR and XAS spectra that can be detected with this set-up ranges from 10-3 to 10-5, depending on the particular experiment

Evaluation of bone marrow and blood cultures for the recovery of mycobacteria in the diagnosis of disseminated mycobacterial infections

AbstractThis study evaluated the validity of bone marrow (BM) and blood specimens for the diagnosis of disseminated mycobacterial infections (DMIs). From 1990 to February 1997, all specimens were processed with the lysis-centrifugation procedure; thereafter (until December 2001), they were processed with the BACTEC Myco/F Lytic system. Twenty-three paired BM-blood specimens with mycobacteria in at least one specimen were studied from 23 patients. The strains isolated were 14 Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) and nine M. tuberculosis complex (MTBC). Blood specimens had a statistically significant greater sensitivity for the isolation of MAC than BM (100% vs. 57.1%, respectively), whereas sensitivity for the isolation of MTBC was equal for the two specimen types (66.7%). Although not statistically significant, the times required to detect mycobacteria from blood specimens were lower than those from BM in the MycoF/Lytic system. Overall, blood cultures represented a more sensitive and less invasive alternative to BM cultures for the diagnosis of disseminated mycobacteriosis caused by MAC, especially when the MycoF/Lytic system was used, but provided no advantage for the diagnosis of DMI caused by MTBC

Dye-conjugated complementary lipophilic nucleosides as useful probes to study association processes by fluorescence resonance energy transfer

Modern supramolecular chemistry relies on the combination of diverse analytical techniques that can provide complementary information on complex self-assembly landscapes. Among them, resonance energy transfer, monitored by fluorescence emission spectroscopy, arises as a sensitive and convenient phenomenon to report binding intermolecular interactions. The use of molecular probes labelled with suitable complementary energy-transfer pairs can provide valuable information about the thermodynamics, kinetics and self-sorting characteristics of a particular self-assembled system. The objective of this work is to generate a set of nucleoside FRET probes that can be reliably employed to prove and analyse quantitatively H-bonding interactions between complementary Watson-Crick pairs. We first describe the preparation of a set of lipophilic nucleosides that are linked to a π-conjugated functional fragment. The bases include guanosine and 2-aminoadenosine as purine heterocycles, and cytidine and uridine as complementary pyrimidine bases. The π-conjugated moiety comprises either a short phenylene-ethynylene oligomer, a bithiophene, or a BODIPY dye. We then demonstrate that the last two chromophores constitute an energy donor-acceptor couple and that donor emission quenching can be related to the ratio of molecules bound to the complementary acceptor pair. Hence, fluorescence spectroscopy in combination with resonance energy transfer, is shown here to be a useful tool to study and quantify the association and self-sorting events between complementary and non-complementary nucleosides in apolar aromatic solvents, where the binding strength is considerably high, and sensitive techniques that employ low concentrations are demandedFunding from the European Research Council (ERC-Starting Grant 279548 PROGRAM-NANO) and MINECO (CTQ2014-57729-P) is gratefully acknowledged. E. F. would like to thank the Sharif University of Technology of Iran for financial support. D. S.M. would like to acknowledge Comunidad de Madrid for financial support through contract PEJ16/IND/AI-084

Early Science with the Large Millimetre Telescope: Molecules in the Extreme Outflow of a proto-Planetary Nebula

Extremely high velocity emission likely related to jets is known to occur in some proto-Planetary Nebulae. However, the molecular complexity of this kinematic component is largely unknown. We observed the known extreme outflow from the proto-Planetary Nebula IRAS 16342-3814, a prototype water fountain, in the full frequency range from 73 to 111 GHz with the RSR receiver on the Large Millimetre Telescope. We detected the molecules SiO, HCN, SO, and $^{13}$CO. All molecular transitions, with the exception of the latter are detected for the first time in this source, and all present emission with velocities up to a few hundred km s$^{-1}$. IRAS 16342-3814 is therefore the only source of this kind presenting extreme outflow activity simultaneously in all these molecules, with SO and SiO emission showing the highest velocities found of these species in proto-Planetary Nebulae. To be confirmed is a tentative weak SO component with a FWHM $\sim$ 700 km s$^{-1}$. The extreme outflow gas consists of dense gas (n$_{\rm H_2} >$ 10$^{4.8}$--10$^{5.7}$ cm$^{-3}$), with a mass larger than $\sim$ 0.02--0.15 M$_{\odot}$. The relatively high abundances of SiO and SO may be an indication of an oxygen-rich extreme high velocity gas.Comment: Accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Letter