Desarrollo de sensores voltamétricos basados en la combinación de AuNP y ftalocianinas

El diseño de sistemas híbridos combinando diferentes materiales electrocalíticos es muy atractivo para el desarrollo de sensores electroquímicos. Ya se conoce el efecto electrocatalítico que las nanopartículas y las ftalocianinas pueden tener en la detección de antioxidantes. Recientemente se han combinado con éxito AuNPs y ftalocianinas con el objeto de obtener sensores electroquímicos que mejorasen sus propiedades electrocatalíticas. El objetivo de este trabajo es el desarrollo de sensores voltamétricos donde se combinan una ftalocianina y nanopartículas de oro con el fin de obtener un efecto electrocatalítico sinérgico entre ambos. Para este propósito se obtuvo un complejo formado por nanopartíclas de oro funcionalizadas con bromuro de tetraoctilamonio unidas covalentemente a 2-{2´-[(5´´-Acetiltiopentiloxo)amino]ethoxi}9(10),16(17),23(24)-tri-tert-butlilfalocianinato Zn(II) [ZnPc1] a través de enlaces tiol (AuNBrNP-S-ZnPc.) Por otro lado se preparó también una mezcla de ambos componentes (sin unión covalente). Se prepararon sensores químicamente modificados con el complejo y con la mezcla usando spin-coating como técnica e ITO como sustrato. Las materiales se caracterizaron por espectroscopía de absorción UV-visible y microscopía electrónica de trasmisión TEM. El comportamiento sensitivo de estos sensores se caracterizó con voltametría cíclica donde el electrodo modificado se usó como electrodo de trabajo. Se midió frente a catecol la respuesta electroquímica de los electrodos recubiertos con los complejos. Con el propósito de compararlos también se midieron las propiedades sensitivas de AuNBrNP y ZnPc1 por separado. Tanto la mezcla como el complejo covalente muestras una actuación similar en cuanto a la cinética, lo que indica que el enlace covalente no interviene directamente en la transferencia de electrones. Se ha demostrado que ambos compuestos, la mezcla y el complejo covalente, muestran un efecto sinérgico aumentando la sensibilidad del sensor. Se obtuvieron límites de detección del orden de 10-7M.Departamento de Química Física y Química InorgánicaMáster en Nanociencia y Nanotecnología Molecula

Electrochemical sensors modified with combinations of sulfur containing phthalocyanines and capped gold nanoparticles: A study of the influence of the nature of the interaction between sensing materials

Producción CientíficaVoltametric sensors formed by the combination of a sulfur-substituted zinc phthalocyanine (ZnPcRS) and gold nanoparticles capped with tetraoctylammonium bromide (AuNPtOcBr) have been developed. The influence of the nature of the interaction between both components in the response towards catechol has been evaluated. Electrodes modified with a mixture of nanoparticles and phthalocyanine (AuNPtOcBr/ZnPcRS) show an increase in the intensity of the peak associated with the reduction of catechol. Electrodes modified with a covalent adduct-both component are linked through a thioether bond-(AuNPtOcBr-S-ZnPcR), show an increase in the intensity of the oxidation peak. Voltammograms registered at increasing scan rates show that charge transfer coefficients are different in both types of electrodes confirming that the kinetics of the electrochemical reaction is influenced by the nature of the interaction between both electrocatalytic materials. The limits of detection attained are 0.9 × 10−6 mol∙L−1 for the electrode modified with the mixture AuNPtOcBr/ZnPcRS and 1.3 × 10−7 mol∙L−1 for the electrode modified with the covalent adduct AuNPtOcBr-S-ZnPcR. These results indicate that the establishment of covalent bonds between nanoparticles and phthalocyanines can be a good strategy to obtain sensors with enhanced performance, improving the charge transfer rate and the detection limits of voltammetric sensors.Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad - Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (projects RTI2018-097990-B-I00 / CTQ2017-87102-R)Junta de Castilla y Leon - Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (project VA275P18

Improving the performance of electrochemical sensors by means of synergy. Combinations of gold nanoparticles and phthalocyanines

Producción CientíficaVoltammetric sensors chemically modified with combinations of two electrocatalytic materials: tetraoctylammonium bromide capped gold nanoparticles (AuNPNBr) and a sulphur containing zinc phthalocyanine derivative (ZnPcRS) are reported. The electrocatalytic effects in the detection of catechol have been analyzed in sensors obtained by direct mixing (AuNPNBr/ZnPcRS) and in sensors modified with an adduct where both components are linked covalently (AuNPNBr-S-ZnPcR). Results demonstrate that the nature of the interaction between both components modifies the electrocatalytic properties. The AuNPNBr/ZnPcRS mixture improves the electron transfer rate of the catechol reduction, with limits of detection of 10−6 M. The covalent adduct AuNPNBr-S-ZnPcR enhances the response rate of the oxidation of the catechol with limits of detection of 10−7 M.Ministerio de Economía y Empresa-FEDER (AGL2015-67482-R)Junta de Castilla y Leon - FEDER (VA-032U13)Junta de Castilla y Leon, (grant BOCYL-D-4112015-9

Rising rural body-mass index is the main driver of the global obesity epidemic in adults

Body-mass index (BMI) has increased steadily in most countries in parallel with a rise in the proportion of the population who live in cities(.)(1,2) This has led to a widely reported view that urbanization is one of the most important drivers of the global rise in obesity(3-6). Here we use 2,009 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight in more than 112 million adults, to report national, regional and global trends in mean BMI segregated by place of residence (a rural or urban area) from 1985 to 2017. We show that, contrary to the dominant paradigm, more than 55% of the global rise in mean BMI from 1985 to 2017-and more than 80% in some low- and middle-income regions-was due to increases in BMI in rural areas. This large contribution stems from the fact that, with the exception of women in sub-Saharan Africa, BMI is increasing at the same rate or faster in rural areas than in cities in low- and middle-income regions. These trends have in turn resulted in a closing-and in some countries reversal-of the gap in BMI between urban and rural areas in low- and middle-income countries, especially for women. In high-income and industrialized countries, we noted a persistently higher rural BMI, especially for women. There is an urgent need for an integrated approach to rural nutrition that enhances financial and physical access to healthy foods, to avoid replacing the rural undernutrition disadvantage in poor countries with a more general malnutrition disadvantage that entails excessive consumption of low-quality calories.Peer reviewe

Height and body-mass index trajectories of school-aged children and adolescents from 1985 to 2019 in 200 countries and territories: a pooled analysis of 2181 population-based studies with 65 million participants

Summary Background Comparable global data on health and nutrition of school-aged children and adolescents are scarce. We aimed to estimate age trajectories and time trends in mean height and mean body-mass index (BMI), which measures weight gain beyond what is expected from height gain, for school-aged children and adolescents. Methods For this pooled analysis, we used a database of cardiometabolic risk factors collated by the Non-Communicable Disease Risk Factor Collaboration. We applied a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate trends from 1985 to 2019 in mean height and mean BMI in 1-year age groups for ages 5–19 years. The model allowed for non-linear changes over time in mean height and mean BMI and for non-linear changes with age of children and adolescents, including periods of rapid growth during adolescence. Findings We pooled data from 2181 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight in 65 million participants in 200 countries and territories. In 2019, we estimated a difference of 20 cm or higher in mean height of 19-year-old adolescents between countries with the tallest populations (the Netherlands, Montenegro, Estonia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina for boys; and the Netherlands, Montenegro, Denmark, and Iceland for girls) and those with the shortest populations (Timor-Leste, Laos, Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea for boys; and Guatemala, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Timor-Leste for girls). In the same year, the difference between the highest mean BMI (in Pacific island countries, Kuwait, Bahrain, The Bahamas, Chile, the USA, and New Zealand for both boys and girls and in South Africa for girls) and lowest mean BMI (in India, Bangladesh, Timor-Leste, Ethiopia, and Chad for boys and girls; and in Japan and Romania for girls) was approximately 9–10 kg/m2. In some countries, children aged 5 years started with healthier height or BMI than the global median and, in some cases, as healthy as the best performing countries, but they became progressively less healthy compared with their comparators as they grew older by not growing as tall (eg, boys in Austria and Barbados, and girls in Belgium and Puerto Rico) or gaining too much weight for their height (eg, girls and boys in Kuwait, Bahrain, Fiji, Jamaica, and Mexico; and girls in South Africa and New Zealand). In other countries, growing children overtook the height of their comparators (eg, Latvia, Czech Republic, Morocco, and Iran) or curbed their weight gain (eg, Italy, France, and Croatia) in late childhood and adolescence. When changes in both height and BMI were considered, girls in South Korea, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and some central Asian countries (eg, Armenia and Azerbaijan), and boys in central and western Europe (eg, Portugal, Denmark, Poland, and Montenegro) had the healthiest changes in anthropometric status over the past 3·5 decades because, compared with children and adolescents in other countries, they had a much larger gain in height than they did in BMI. The unhealthiest changes—gaining too little height, too much weight for their height compared with children in other countries, or both—occurred in many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, New Zealand, and the USA for boys and girls; in Malaysia and some Pacific island nations for boys; and in Mexico for girls. Interpretation The height and BMI trajectories over age and time of school-aged children and adolescents are highly variable across countries, which indicates heterogeneous nutritional quality and lifelong health advantages and risks

Heterogeneous contributions of change in population distribution of body mass index to change in obesity and underweight NCD Risk Factor Collaboration (NCD-RisC)

From 1985 to 2016, the prevalence of underweight decreased, and that of obesity and severe obesity increased, in most regions, with significant variation in the magnitude of these changes across regions. We investigated how much change in mean body mass index (BMI) explains changes in the prevalence of underweight, obesity, and severe obesity in different regions using data from 2896 population-based studies with 187 million participants. Changes in the prevalence of underweight and total obesity, and to a lesser extent severe obesity, are largely driven by shifts in the distribution of BMI, with smaller contributions from changes in the shape of the distribution. In East and Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, the underweight tail of the BMI distribution was left behind as the distribution shifted. There is a need for policies that address all forms of malnutrition by making healthy foods accessible and affordable, while restricting unhealthy foods through fiscal and regulatory restrictions

Electrochemical Sensors Modified with Combinations of Sulfur Containing Phthalocyanines and Capped Gold Nanoparticles: A Study of the Influence of the Nature of the Interaction between Sensing Materials

Voltametric sensors formed by the combination of a sulfur-substituted zinc phthalocyanine (ZnPcRS) and gold nanoparticles capped with tetraoctylammonium bromide (AuNPtOcBr) have been developed. The influence of the nature of the interaction between both components in the response towards catechol has been evaluated. Electrodes modified with a mixture of nanoparticles and phthalocyanine (AuNPtOcBr/ZnPcRS) show an increase in the intensity of the peak associated with the reduction of catechol. Electrodes modified with a covalent adduct-both component are linked through a thioether bond-(AuNPtOcBr-S-ZnPcR), show an increase in the intensity of the oxidation peak. Voltammograms registered at increasing scan rates show that charge transfer coefficients are different in both types of electrodes confirming that the kinetics of the electrochemical reaction is influenced by the nature of the interaction between both electrocatalytic materials. The limits of detection attained are 0.9 × 10−6 mol∙L−1 for the electrode modified with the mixture AuNPtOcBr/ZnPcRS and 1.3 × 10−7 mol∙L−1 for the electrode modified with the covalent adduct AuNPtOcBr-S-ZnPcR. These results indicate that the establishment of covalent bonds between nanoparticles and phthalocyanines can be a good strategy to obtain sensors with enhanced performance, improving the charge transfer rate and the detection limits of voltammetric sensors

Improving the Performance of Electrochemical Sensors by Means of Synergy. Combinations of Gold Nanoparticles and Phthalocyanines

Voltammetric sensors chemically modified with combinations of two electrocatalytic materials: tetraoctylammonium bromide capped gold nanoparticles (AuNPNBr) and a sulphur containing zinc phthalocyanine derivative (ZnPcRS) are reported. The electrocatalytic effects in the detection of catechol have been analyzed in sensors obtained by direct mixing (AuNPNBr/ZnPcRS) and in sensors modified with an adduct where both components are linked covalently (AuNPNBr-S-ZnPcR). Results demonstrate that the nature of the interaction between both components modifies the electrocatalytic properties. The AuNPNBr/ZnPcRS mixture improves the electron transfer rate of the catechol reduction, with limits of detection of 10−6 M. The covalent adduct AuNPNBr-S-ZnPcR enhances the response rate of the oxidation of the catechol with limits of detection of 10−7 M

Diminishing benefits of urban living for children and adolescents’ growth and development

Optimal growth and development in childhood and adolescence is crucial for lifelong health and well-being1–6. Here we used data from 2,325 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight from 71 million participants, to report the height and body-mass index (BMI) of children and adolescents aged 5–19 years on the basis of rural and urban place of residence in 200 countries and territories from 1990 to 2020. In 1990, children and adolescents residing in cities were taller than their rural counterparts in all but a few high-income countries. By 2020, the urban height advantage became smaller in most countries, and in many high-income western countries it reversed into a small urban-based disadvantage. The exception was for boys in most countries in sub-Saharan Africa and in some countries in Oceania, south Asia and the region of central Asia, Middle East and north Africa. In these countries, successive cohorts of boys from rural places either did not gain height or possibly became shorter, and hence fell further behind their urban peers. The difference between the age-standardized mean BMI of children in urban and rural areas was <1.1 kg m–2 in the vast majority of countries. Within this small range, BMI increased slightly more in cities than in rural areas, except in south Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and some countries in central and eastern Europe. Our results show that in much of the world, the growth and developmental advantages of living in cities have diminished in the twenty-first century, whereas in much of sub-Saharan Africa they have amplified

Heterogeneous contributions of change in population distribution of body mass index to change in obesity and underweight

From 1985 to 2016, the prevalence of underweight decreased, and that of obesity and severe obesity increased, in most regions, with significant variation in the magnitude of these changes across regions. We investigated how much change in mean body mass index (BMI) explains changes in the prevalence of underweight, obesity, and severe obesity in different regions using data from 2896 population-based studies with 187 million participants. Changes in the prevalence of underweight and total obesity, and to a lesser extent severe obesity, are largely driven by shifts in the distribution of BMI, with smaller contributions from changes in the shape of the distribution. In East and Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, the underweight tail of the BMI distribution was left behind as the distribution shifted. There is a need for policies that address all forms of malnutrition by making healthy foods accessible and affordable, while restricting unhealthy foods through fiscal and regulatory restrictions