Expression profiling of human melanocytes in response to UV-B irradiation

AbstractA comprehensive gene expression analysis of human melanocytes was performed assessing the transcriptional profile of dark melanocytes (DM) and light melanocytes (LM) at basal conditions and after UV-B irradiation at different time points (6, 12 and 24h), and in culture with different keratinocyte-conditioned media (KCM+ and KCM−). The data, previously published in [1], have been deposited in NCBI's Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO accession number: GSE70280)

El trasplante de materia fecal: un novedoso tratamiento para las enfermedades intestinales

Introducción y objetivos: La microbiota intestinal es la comunidad de microorganismos vivos que habitan en el intestino humano, fundamental para mantener la salud del individuo. Las alteraciones de la microbiota están implicadas en una serie de enfermedades, como la infección intestinal por Clostridium Difficile, quien es el agente etiológico principal de la colitis pseudomembranosa. La incidencia, intensidad y tasa de recurrencia de esta enfermedad se han incrementado en los últimos años. Es un problema de gran importancia debido a las limitadas opciones de tratamiento y a las complicaciones para controlar la infección clínica. Ante los malos resultados obtenidos con los tratamientos habituales con antibióticos, surge la necesidad de enfoques más potentes y efectivos. La última novedad, es el trasplante de materia fecal, que consiste en una infusión de materia fecal de un donante sano al enfermo, con el fin de regenerar su microbiota intestinal. El objetivo es conocer qué es el trasplante de materia fecal, cuáles son sus indicaciones y cómo se lleva a cabo. Material y métodos: Se ha realizado una revisión bibliográfica estandarizada con el objetivo de encontrar el mayor número de evidencias posibles sobre el objeto de estudio. Resultados: Existen tres vías de administración para el trasplante de materia fecal, de las cuales la nasogástrica mediante la administración de píldoras de materia fecal congelada, es la vía más recomendada actualmente. Se han realizado más de 500 estudios que han demostrado que es un tratamiento con una respuesta rápida y una tasa de curación próxima al 95%, una efectividad muy lejana a la del tratamiento habitual con antibióticos. Existe la necesidad de determinar un protocolo óptimo para la utilización de este nuevo tratamiento y es preciso establecer un marco legislativo que regule su uso. El 97% de los pacientes tratados mediante esta técnica volvería a someterse a ella.Grado en Enfermerí

Dynamic Modelling of a Flat-Plate Solar Collector for Control Purposes

Abstract Two different dynamic models of a flat-plate solar collector have been developed in the Modelica language under Dymola ® software. These models have been developed within the Ambassador Project The present article describes in detail each of these models along with the development process (e.g., assumptions taken into account). The model validation process and results are also presented, as well as the corresponding discussion and conclusions. The model's validation has been conducted by comparing the model's simulation results with the experimental results obtained in the IK4-TEKNIKER Solar Thermal Test Rig

Effect of Microalgae and Macroalgae Extracts on Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

The present review aims to gather scientific evidence regarding the beneficial effects of microalgae and macroalgae extracts on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The described data show that both microalgae and macroalgae improved this alteration. The majority of the reported studies analysed the preventive effects because algae were administered to animals concurrent with the diet that induced NAFLD. The positive effects were demonstrated using a wide range of doses, from 7.5 to 300 mg/kg body weight/day or from 1 to 10% in the diet, and experimental periods ranged from 3 to 16 weeks. Two important limitations on the scientific knowledge available to date are that very few studies have researched the mechanisms of action underlying the preventive effects of microalgae on NAFLD and that, for the majority of the algae studied, a single paper has been reported. For these reasons, it is not possible to establish the best conditions in order to know the beneficial effects that these algae could bring. In this scenario, further studies are needed. Moreover, the beneficial effects of algae observed in rodent need to be confirmed in humans before we can start considering these products as new tools in the fight against fatty liver disease.This study was funded by University of the Basque Country (grant: GIU18-173) and Carlos III Research Institute (CIBERobn) (grant CB12/03/30007)

Babel

Babel, proyecto finalista de la Tercera Edición del Concurso Internacional de Jardines Urbanos, BilbaoJardín 2011, se presenta como un espacio de interacción social, que forma parte de una red de actuaciones puntuales de carácter efímero, en diversas plazas de la ciudad de Bilbao. La actuación trata de activar y estimular el espacio urbano consolidado, mediante la disposición de una instalación habitable, que genere una nueva identidad del espacio público, fomentando la implicación de la ciudadanía en el proceso creativo, la concienciación sobre la reutilización de materiales, así como el respeto y cuidado del nuevo espacio público que se ofrece. Babel es también un proceso de investigación con una metodología que se desarrolla fundamentalmente en cuatro ámbitos diferenciados, que son la formación de un equipo multidisciplinar, la creación de una plataforma informativa virtual, el desarrollo de prototipos y la participación ciudadana. Dichos estados se retroalimentan entre ellos, beneficiando a las personas que intervienen y consecuentemente a la propuesta. La propuesta parte desde el proyecto flexible como carácter fundamental de su naturaleza, capaz de adaptarse a las condiciones de contorno y al contexto de su futuro emplazamiento. La realidad descontextualizada de la bases del concurso permite la ideación inusual del proyecto, lo que implica la interpretación del mismo como parte de un ciclo, un proceso material abierto en el que la ciudadanía asume un papel creativo y de producción, obteniendo un resultado susceptible de ser transformado en su vida útil. Entendemos que la puesta en carga del proceso creativo previa construcción física y espacial, conlleva el enriquecimiento de las personas que en él intervienen y la mejora sustancial de la propuesta. Se ha conseguido por tanto una mayor entendimiento, una mayor aceptación y valoración del espacio público, por parte de la ciudadanía, activa, participativa.Babel, finalist Project in the third edition of the International Competition of Urban Gardens, BilbaoJardín 2011, is presented as a space for social interaction, belonging to a network of specific actions with an ephemeral character, which are located in different squares in the city of Bilbao. The purpose of this action is to activate and stimulate the consolidated urban space, through the disposition of an habitable installation, which generates a new identity to the public space, promoting citizens implication in the creative process, awareness of the need of recycling materials, as well as respect and care of the new public space which is offered. Babel is also a process of investigation with a methodology which is developed basically in four areas: multidisciplinary teams formation, creation of a virtual informative platform, development of prototypes and the citizen participation. These areas feed one another, which benefits people who take part in it, and consequently, the proposal. The proposal starts from a flexible project as an essential part of its nature, which is able to adapt itself to the environmental conditions and to the context of its future sitting. The decontextualised reality of the regulations of the completion allows the unusual design of the project, which implies its interpretation as a part of a cycle, an open material process in which the citizens assume a creative and productive role, obtaining a result which is susceptible of being transformed through its useful life. We understand that developing the creative process previous a physical and spatial construction implies the enrichment of the people who take part in it and a substantial improvement of the proposal. Therefore, it has been reached a better understanding, acceptance and valuation of the public space by active and participative citizens

The influence of dietary conditions in the effects of resveratrol on hepatic steatosis

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is considered the major cause for the development of chronic liver alterations. Hepatic steatosis is the most benign and common form of NAFLD, although its potential to evolve into more detrimental liver alterations makes its treatment necessary. In this regard, much attention has been paid to polyphenols, with resveratrol being one of the most studied ones. This review is aimed at studying the effects induced by resveratrol on hepatic steatosis in both preclinical studies conducted under different feeding conditions (overfeeding, normal feeding and caloric restriction), and in clinical trials. The vast majority of studies have been conducted by administering the polyphenol at the same time as an obesogenic diet. Under these experimental conditions, resveratrol has shown effectiveness improving diet-induced excessive liver lipid accumulation. Data are scarce for studies carried out by administering resveratrol under standard or energy-restricted feeding conditions. In this regard, while resveratrol retains its effectiveness, ameliorating hepatic steatosis under standard feeding conditions, such an effect has not been reported for the administration of the polyphenol under energy restriction. With regard to clinical trials, in the majority of them, resveratrol did not show its effectiveness in improving hepatic steatosis. This lack of effect could be due to significant differences in the experimental procedures (mainly the length of the experimental period). The relevance of liver fat content at the baseline should also be considered. Altogether, there is no sufficient scientific support so far for proposing resveratrol as a tool for hepatic steatosis treatment.This study has been supported by grants from Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad-Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional, under grant AGL-2015-65719-R MINECO/FEDER, (UE), Instituto de Salud Carlos III (CIBERobn) under Grant CB12/03/30007 and University of the Basque Country, under Grant GIU18-173

Electrochemical Impedance Spectrum Equivalent Circuit Parameter Identification Using a Deep Learning Technique

Physical models are suitable for the development and optimization of materials and cell designs, whereas models based on experimental data and electrical equivalent circuits (EECs) are suitable for the development of operation estimators, both for cells and batteries. This research work develops an innovative unsupervised artificial neural network (ANN) training cost function for identifying equivalent circuit parameters using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) to identify and monitor parameter variations associated with different physicochemical processes that can be related to the states or failure modes in batteries. Many techniques and algorithms are used to fit a predefined EEC parameter, many requiring high-human-expertise support work. However, once the appropriate EEC model is selected to model the different physicochemical processes associated with a given battery technology, the challenge is to implement algorithms that can automatically calculate parameter variations in real time to allow the implementation of estimators of capacity, health, safety, and other degradation modes. Based on previous studies using data augmentation techniques, the new ANN deep learning method introduced in this study yields better results than classical training algorithms. The data used in this work are based on an aging and characterization dataset for 80 Ah and 12 V lead–acid batteries.The authors were supported by the Mobility Lab Foundation, a governmental organization of the Provincial Council of Araba and the local council of Vitoria-Gasteiz under the project grant of “Control de baterías de flujo”

Resveratrol-Induced Effects on Body Fat Differ Depending on Feeding Conditions

Science constantly seeks to identify new molecules that could be used as dietary functional ingredients in the fight against obesity and its co-morbidities. Among them, polyphenols represent a group of molecules of increasing interest. One of the most widely studied polyphenols is resveratrol (trans-3,4′,5-trihydroxystilbene), which has been proposed as an “energy restriction mimetic” because it can exert energy restriction-like effects. The aim of this review is to analyze the effects of resveratrol on obesity under different feeding conditions, such as overfeeding, normal feeding, and energy restriction, in animals and humans. The vast majority of the studies reported have addressed the administration of resveratrol to animals alongside an obesogenic diet. Under these experimental conditions usually a decreased body weight amount was found. To date, studies that focus on the effects of resveratrol under normal feeding or energy restriction conditions in animals and humans are scarcer. In these studies no changes in body fat were reported. After analyzing the results obtained under overfeeding, normal feeding, and energy restriction conditions, it can be stated that resveratrol is useful in reducing body fat accumulation, and thus preventing obesity. Nevertheless, for ethical reasons, these results have been obtained in animals. By contrast, there are no evidences showing the usefulness of this phenolic compound in reducing previously accumulated body fat. Consequently, as of yet, there is not scientific support for proposing resveratrol as a new anti-obesity treatment tool.This work has been supported by MINECO (AGL-2015-65719-R-MINECO/FEDER, UE), Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) University of the Basque Country (ELDUNANOTEK UFI11/32), Instituto de Salud Carlos III (CIBEROBN) and Basque Government (IT-572-13). Inaki Milton is a recipient of a doctoral fellowship from the Basque Government

Robotic-Arm-Based Force Control by Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient in Neurosurgical Practice

This research continues the previous work “Robotic-Arm-Based Force Control in Neurosurgical Practice”. In that study, authors acquired an optimal control arm speed shape for neurological surgery which minimized a cost function that uses an adaptive scheme to determine the brain tissue force. At the end, the authors proposed the use of reinforcement learning, more specifically Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient (DDPG), to create an agent that could obtain the optimal solution through self-training. In this article, that proposal is carried out by creating an environment, agent (actor and critic), and reward function, that obtain a solution for our problem. However, we have drawn conclusions for potential future enhancements. Additionally, we analyzed the results and identified mistakes that can be improved upon in the future, such as exploring the use of varying desired distances of retraction to enhance training.The authors were supported by the government of the Basque Country through the research grant ELKARTEK KK-2023/00058 DEEPBASK (Creación de nuevos algoritmos de aprendizaje profundo aplicado a la industria). This study has also been conducted partially under the framework of the project ADA (Grants for R&D projects 2022 and supported by the European Regional Development Funds)

Relationship between ABO Blood Group Distribution and COVID-19 Infection in Patients Admitted to the ICU: A Multicenter Observational Spanish Study

ABO blood-group system; Coronavirus infections; Multivariate analysis.Sistema de grups sanguinis ABO; Infeccions per coronavirus; Anàlisi multivariantSistema de grupos sanguíneos ABO; Infecciones por coronavirus; Análisis multivariableSince the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in December 2019, a relationship between the ABO blood group type and the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, the etiological agent of COVID-19, has been reported, noting that individuals with the O blood group are the least likely to be infected. Spain is one of the most badly affected countries worldwide, with high rates of patients diagnosed, hospitalized, and deceased due to COVID-19 infection. The present study aimed to analyze the possible relationship of ABO in COVID-19 patients hospitalized in different Spanish centers during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, for which the ABO group was available. Physicians from the transfusion services of different Spanish hospitals, who have developed a multicenter retrospective observational study, were invited to participate voluntarily in the research and 12,115 patients with COVID-19 infection were admitted to the nine participating hospitals. The blood group was known in 1399 cases (11.5%), of which 365 (26.1%) were admitted to the ICU. Regarding the distribution of ABO blood groups, a significant increase in the non-O blood groups and reduction for the O blood group was observed in patients hospitalized due to COVID-19, compared to the reference general population. Among the patients admitted to the ICU, after multivariate analysis, adjusted for the rest of the confounding variables, patients with the O blood group presented a significantly lower risk for admission to the ICU. We conclude that an association was observed between patients with the O blood group and their lower susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection, both for those admitted to the hospitalization ward and for those who required admission to the ICU