Therapeutic targets and biomarkers in lung cancer

Smit, E.F. [Promotor]Giaccone, G. [Promotor]Rodriquez, J.A. [Copromotor]Ylstra, B. [Copromotor

Nanostructured Gd0.8Sr0.2Fe0.8M0.2O3 (M=Cr, Ga) materials for solid oxide fuel cell cathodes

AbstractPolycrystalline samples of Gd0.8Sr0.2Fe0.8M0.2O3 (M=Cr, Ga) are prepared by combustion route and pore wetting technique in order to compare the influence of the morphology in the performance of two cathodes for Solid Oxide Fuel Cells. When polycarbonate membranes are used as templates nanowire arrays with a diameter of 50–70 nm are obtained. Comparing the results obtained by Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) measurements, it is clearly observed that the cathodic resistance considerably decreases when optimized synthesis parameters are used, obtaining a better performance for the Gd0.8Sr0.2Fe0.8Ga0.2O3 nanowires with an area specific resistance (ASR) value at 850∘C of 0.195 Ω cm2

The mechanical performance of recycled slate waste fiber composites based on unsaturated polyester resins

In the last few decades, there has been increasing social awareness for environmental conservation, which is driving the development of composite materials based on natural fibers. These new materials have interesting properties that allow for their use in a variety of applications. This study deals with the development of composite materials based on unsaturated polyester resins reinforced with recycled mineral fibers, such as slate fibers obtained from slate production waste, which have similar properties to glass fiber. The mechanical properties of these composites have been determined by tensile and flexural/bending tests. The influence of various variables such as matrix composition (flexible polyester content) and the weight percentage of fiber added to mechanical properties were evaluated. The flexible/rigid polyester content varied from 0 to 40% and the fiber one from 0 to 30 wt%. Composites with ≥20 wt% of slate fiber reinforcement are shown to have tensile (35 MPa) and flexural (57 MPa) strengths that can compete with materials reinforced with artificial fibers

Empleo terapéutico de los principios activos de la olea europea y su aplicación a enfermedades infecciosas. Estudio de la posible acción contra la enfermedad de Chagas

La Enfermedad de Chagas es de alta incidencia en el noroeste de nuestro país. La cardiopatía chagásica es la principal manifestación en nuestra zona, en donde, la respuesta inmune del hospedador tiene un papel decisivo. El aceite de oliva extra virgen, está asociado a la disminución de las patologías cardiovasculares e infecciones.Nuestro objetivo sugiere que los principios activos del aceite de oliva tenderían actividad contra la infección chagásica impidiendo la proliferación del parásito así como protegiendo el miocardio.Para comprobadlo se realizo un relevamiento de la cantidad de chagásicos que existen en La Rioja. Se determinaron diferentes principios activos de la Olea europea que fueron utilizados para agregar en medio de cultivo de parásitos en formas de epimastigote de T. cruzi a distintas concentraciones; y un estudio epidemiológico nutricional de tipo observacional, que dé información sobre el consumo de aceites en relación a la enfermedad de Chagas

#EleccionesMéxico2018: Post election analysis of news media’s tweets and citizens’ feedback

Political parties and their candidates use social networks as a new tool for political communication and so the media have also begun to use them in the same context. This article focuses on the analysis of the posts made by the news media on Twitter (tweets) during the week following Mexico’s 2018 elections, based on the informative, secondary and protagonist roles proposed by Vallés (2007), and on the reactions these posts generated on citizens. Content analysis has been performed on a sample of 525 tweets posted by 18 Mexican and international news media organizations. The results show that the three roles that traditional media publications play, according to Vallés (2007), can be extrapolated to the posts they make on Twitter, and that there are differences in the performance of these functions across news media outlets. The main innovation in the use of Twitter by news media is associated to citizens’ feedback (retweets and mentions), which has allowed us to determine that the “protagonist” role is the most commonly played within the political context under study

Human impacts on the Northern Iberian Coast: Brominated pollutants.

Plastic and textile products as well as electronical devices are easily flammable products and to reduce fire-related injury and property damage, such materials are commonly covered by the so-called flame retardants (FR). The brominated flame retardants (BFRs) are the largest market group because of their low cost and high-performance efficiency. Nevertheless, as these compounds are additive rather than chemically bound to the products, they can be released into the environment and because they are toxic and persistent organic chemicals and can bioaccumulate, they have become contaminants of concern detectable in the environment, in animals, and in humans. PBDEs (Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers) are a group of 209 different congeners used as FR and since 2004 banned in the EU. In spite of banned and restriction such chemicals are still detected in the environment and their monitoring necessary. In 2016 a sampling campaign was carried out covering the North Spanish Atlantic coast from the border with Portugal to the limit with France. The collected sediments were studied to determine sediment characteristics and PBDEs concentrations. Sedimentological characteristics including grain size distribution and total organic content were measured. Gas chromatography coupled to MS detector was used to perform the analytical analysis under QA/QC to guarantee the quality of the results. BDE28, BDE47, BDE66, BDE85, BDE99, BD100, BD153, BDE154 andBD183 have been determined and evaluated against Background assessment criteria (BACs) and Federal Environmental Quality Guidelines (FEQGs). Levels found demonstrate that there is still detectable presence of PBDEs in marine sediments albeit they are well below the FEQG and even frequently below BACs

Hyperspectral imaging to evaluate the effect of irrigation water salinity in lettuce

International audienceSalinity is one of the most important stress factors in crop production, particularly in arid regions. This research focuses on the effect of salinity on the growth of lettuce plants; three solutions with different levels of salinity were considered and compared (S1 = 50, S2 = 100 and S3 = 150 mM NaCl) with a control solution (Ct = 0 mM NaCl). The osmotic potential and water content of the leaves were measured, and hyperspectral images of the surfaces of 40 leaves (10 leaves per treatment) were taken after two weeks of growth. The mean spectra of the leaves (n = 32,000) were pre-processed by means of a Savitzky-Golay algorithm and standard normal variate normalization. Principal component analysis was then performed on a calibration set of 28 mean spectra, yielding an initial model for salinity effect detection. A second model was subsequently proposed based on an index computing an approximation to the second derivative at the red edge region. Both models were applied to all the hyperspectral images to obtain the corresponding artificial images, distinguishing between the 28 that were used to extract the calibration mean spectra and the rest that constituted an external validation. Those virtual images were studied using analysis of variance in order to compare their ability for detecting salinity effects on the leaves. Both models showed significant differences between each salinity level, and the hyperspectral images allowed observations of the distribution of the salinity effects on the leaf surfaces, which were more intense in the areas distant from the veins. However, the index-based model is simpler and easier to apply because it is based solely on the reflectance at three different wavelengths, thus allowing for the implementation of less expensive multispectral devices