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

Optimal Power Dispatch in a Microgrid

This paper is concerned with the power dispatch in a microgrid. The dispatch problem is formulated as linear program. Thus, the proposed solution is the application of neural network that solves linear programming on-line. This proposal in motivated by the increasing electric energy demand and the rising need to incorporate sustainable energy sources to the power grid in a reliable scheme. A microgrid is an interconnection of distributed energy sources (DES), with the tendency to include renewable energies that offer many advantages to customers and utilities. The different DES that compose the microgrid are controlled independently to track the optimal reference provided by the proposed method in order to supply a demanded power output minimizing the consumed power from the main grid.ITESO, A.C.CINVESTAV-IP

Non-canonical NFκB activation promotes chemokine expression in podocytes

TNF-like weak inducer of apoptosis (TWEAK) receptor Fn14 is expressed by podocytes and Fn14 deficiency protects from experimental proteinuric kidney disease. However, the downstream effectors of TWEAK/Fn14 in podocytes are poorly characterized. We have explored TWEAK activation of non-canonical NFκB signaling in cultured podocytes. In cultured podocytes, TWEAK increased the expression of the chemokines CCL21, CCL19 and RANTES in a time-dependent manner. The inhibitor of canonical NFκB activation parthenolide inhibited the CCL19 and the early RANTES responses, but not the CCL21 or late RANTES responses. In this regard, TWEAK induced non-canonical NFκB activation in podocytes, characterized by NFκB2/p100 processing to NFκB2/p52 and nuclear migration of RelB/p52. Silencing by a specific siRNA of NIK, the upstream kinase of the non-canonical NFκB pathway, prevented CCL21 upregulation but did not modulate CCL19 or RANTES expression in response to TWEAK, thus establishing CCL21 as a non-canonical NFκB target in podocytes. Increased kidney Fn14 and CCL21 expression was also observed in rat proteinuric kidney disease induced by puromycin, and was localized to podocytes. In conclusion, TWEAK activates the non-canonical NFκB pathway in podocytes, leading to upregulation of CCL21 expression. The non-canonical NFκB pathway should be explored as a potential therapeutic target in proteinuric kidney disease.Grants support: FEDER funds and FIS ISCIII-RETIC REDinREN RD12/0021, PI15/00298, PI13/00047, CP14/00133, CP12/03262, Spanish Society of Nephrology, FRIAT-IRSIN, Comunidad de Madrid (CIFRA S2010/ BMD-2378), CYTED IBERERC, Programa Intensificación Actividad Investigadora (ISCIII) to AO, Miguel Servet to MDSN and ABS and FIS to LVR and LG

Stable standing waves for a class of nonlinear Schroedinger-Poisson equations

We prove the existence of orbitally stable standing waves with prescribed $L^2$-norm for the following Schr\"odinger-Poisson type equation \label{intro} %{%{ll} i\psi_{t}+ \Delta \psi - (|x|^{-1}*|\psi|^{2}) \psi+|\psi|^{p-2}\psi=0 \text{in} \R^{3}, %-\Delta\phi= |\psi|^{2}& \text{in} \R^{3},%. when $p\in \{8/3\}\cup (3,10/3)$. In the case $3<p<10/3$ we prove the existence and stability only for sufficiently large $L^2$-norm. In case $p=8/3$ our approach recovers the result of Sanchez and Soler \cite{SS} %concerning the existence and stability for sufficiently small charges. The main point is the analysis of the compactness of minimizing sequences for the related constrained minimization problem. In a final section a further application to the Schr\"odinger equation involving the biharmonic operator is given

Molecular pathways driving omeprazole nephrotoxicity

Omeprazole, a proton pump inhibitor used to treat peptic ulcer and gastroesophageal reflux disease, has been associated to chronic kidney disease and acute interstitial nephritis. However, whether omeprazole is toxic to renal cells is unknown. Omeprazole has a lethal effect over some cancer cells, and cell death is a key process in kidney disease. Thus, we evaluated the potential lethal effect of omeprazole over tubular cells. Omeprazole induced dose-dependent cell death in human and murine proximal tubular cell lines and in human primary proximal tubular cell cultures. Increased cell death was observed at the high concentrations used in cancer cell studies and also at lower concentrations similar to those in peptic ulcer patient serum. Cell death induced by omeprazole had features of necrosis such as annexin V/7-AAD staining, LDH release, vacuolization and irregular chromatin condensation. Weak activation of caspase-3 was observed but inhibitors of caspases (zVAD), necroptosis (Necrostatin-1) or ferroptosis (Ferrostatin-1) did not prevent omeprazole-induced death. However, omeprazole promoted a strong oxidative stress response affecting mitochondria and lysosomes and the antioxidant N-acetyl-cysteine reduced oxidative stress and cell death. By contrast, iron overload increased cell death. An adaptive increase in the antiapoptotic protein BclxL failed to protect cells. In mice, parenteral omeprazole increased tubular cell death and the expression of NGAL and HO-1, markers of renal injury and oxidative stress, respectively. In conclusion, omeprazole nephrotoxicity may be related to induction of oxidative stress and renal tubular cell deathSupported by FIS CP12/03262, CP14/00133, PI16/02057, PI16/ 01900, PI18/01366, PI19/00588, PI19/00815, DTS18/00032, ERAPerMed-JTC2018 (KIDNEY ATTACK AC18/00064 and PERSTIGAN AC18/00071, ISCIII-RETIC REDinREN RD016/0009 FEDER funds, Sociedad Española de Nefrología, Fundacion Renal Iñigo Álvarez de Toledo (FRIAT), ISCIII Miguel Servet (ABS, MDS-N), ISCIII Sara Borrell (JMM-M), Comunidad de Madrid CIFRA2 B2017/BMD-3686 (MF-B and DM-S

Nutrient composition of Algerian strawberry-tree fruits (Arbutus unedo L.)

Arbutus unedo L. (strawberry-tree fruit) is indigenous plant in North Africa with few published works about the composition of its fruits. For their valorization, morphological and chemical characterizations were carried out for two harvesting seasons of four different areas of Algeria. Materials and methods. Wild strawberry-tree fruits were collected in four different sites located in Tell Atlas, and two different seasons. Fruit size and shape, pH, titratable acidity, moisture, total available carbohydrate (TAC), soluble sugars, dietary fiber, protein, lipid, ash, fatty acids and mineral composition (K, Na, Ca, Mg, Fe, Cu, Mn, Zn, Ni and Cd) were determined. Results and discussion. Fruit contents (in g kg−1) varied between 637.3 ± 33.8 to 741.3 ±12.0, 126.8 ± 11.1 to 189.3 ± 4.1, 22.6 ± 2.2 to 35.5 ± 2.1, 5.1 ± 0.3 to 8.8 ± 0.5 for moisture, TAC, protein and lipid, respectively. For iron, fruit weight and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), the contents varied between 7.01 ± 0.15 to 17.24 ± 0.74 mg kg−1 of fruit, 4.91 ± 1.58 to 6.76 ± 2.04 g and 56.34 ± 1.37 to 68.18 ± 0.14% of lipid, respectively. Conclusion. This study provides original data about the morphological and chemical composition of strawberry-tree fruits from Algeria. The results show that the fruits can be essentially a potential source of dietary fiber, PUFA and iron.The authors are grateful to the Algerian Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research for funding the study; to ALIMNOVA research group (UCMGR35/10A) for financial support and to the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) for financial support to CIMO (Pest-OE/AGR/UI0690/2015) and L. Barros (SFRH/BPD/107855/2015)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Kinetics of antibodies in sera, saliva, and urine samples from adult patients with primary or secondary dengue 3 virus infections

SummaryObjectivesThe kinetics of three serological markers (IgM, IgA, and IgG) in serum, saliva, and urine samples from adult patients with primary or secondary dengue infection were studied.DesignSerum, saliva, and urine samples were collected from 22 patients with clinical and confirmed dengue 3 virus infection during the outbreak in Havana City in 2001. They were tested by capture IgM (MAC-ELISA), IgA (AAC-ELISA), and IgE (EAC-ELISA) and IgG ELISA inhibition method (EIM) to detect specific dengue antibodies.ResultsSimilar kinetics were observed in IgM, IgA, and IgG antibodies in saliva and IgA and IgG in urine samples from secondary cases compared with kinetics in serum samples, although the values were lower. No IgG antibody was detected in saliva and urine samples in primary cases and IgM antibody was not detected in urine samples from either primary or secondary infection. All secondary cases were positive for IgG in saliva and urine samples at day 7. The kinetics of specific IgE antibodies in primary and secondary cases were different.ConclusionsThe kinetics of three serological markers (IgM, IgA, and IgG) in serum, saliva, and urine samples from adult patients with primary or secondary dengue 3 virus infection were studied for the first time, showing its behavior and usefulness in dengue virus diagnosis. The specific IgE could play a role as a serological marker in secondary infections

TWEAK Activates the Non-Canonical NFκB Pathway in Murine Renal Tubular Cells: Modulation of CCL21

TWEAK is a member of the TNF superfamily of cytokines that contribute to kidney tubulointerstitial injury. It has previously been reported that TWEAK induces transient nuclear translocation of RelA and expression of RelA-dependent cytokines in renal tubular cells. Additionally, TWEAK induced long-lasting NFκB activation suggestive of engagement of the non-canonical NFκB pathway. We now explore TWEAK-induced activation of NFκB2 and RelB, as well as expression of CCL21, a T-cell chemotactic factor, in cultured murine tubular epithelial cells and in healthy kidneys in vivo. In cultured tubular cells, TWEAK and TNFα activated different DNA-binding NFκB complexes. TWEAK-induced sustained NFκB activation was associated with NFκB2 p100 processing to p52 via proteasome and nuclear translocation and DNA-binding of p52 and RelB. TWEAK, but not TNFα used as control), induced a delayed increase in CCL21a mRNA (3.5±1.22-fold over control) and CCL21 protein (2.5±0.8-fold over control), which was prevented by inhibition of the proteasome, or siRNA targeting of NIK or RelB, but not by RelA inhibition with parthenolide. A second NFκB2-dependent chemokine, CCL19, was upregulates by TWEAK, but not by TNFα. However, both cytokines promoted chemokine RANTES expression (3-fold mRNA at 24 h). In vivo, TWEAK induced nuclear NFκB2 and RelB translocation and CCL21a mRNA (1.5±0.3-fold over control) and CCL21 protein (1.6±0.5-fold over control) expression in normal kidney. Increased tubular nuclear RelB and tubular CCL21 expression in acute kidney injury were decreased by neutralization (2±0.9 vs 1.3±0.6-fold over healthy control) or deficiency of TWEAK (2±0.9 vs 0.8±0.6-fold over healthy control). Moreover, anti-TWEAK treatment prevented the recruitment of T cells to the kidney in this model (4.1±1.4 vs 1.8±1-fold over healthy control). Our results thus identify TWEAK as a regulator of non-canonical NFκB activation and CCL21 expression in tubular cells thus promoting lymphocyte recruitment to the kidney during acute injury

The influence of Total Quality Management on firms’ intellectual capital

Background: After carrying out an extensive literature review, it is clear that Total Quality Management (TQM) has a significant influence on many areas of companies. The development of quality management practices can lead to the generation of intellectual capital and thus become a key competitive factor. Objectives: The purpose of this research was to explore whether TQM practices have a positive influence on a company’s intellectual capital. Method: We formulate three hypotheses considering the components of intellectual capital: human capital, social capital and organisational capital. This article develops an empirical analysis through the use of structural equation modelling using the partial least squares technique. Results: The results show that TQM has a strong positive causal effect on intellectual capital. Conclusion: This research, therefore, identifies a key determinant of one of the most important strategic variables for companies at present: intellectual capital