Decoloració del paper reciclat per mètodes biotecnològics

Treballs Finals de Grau d'Enginyeria Química, Facultat de Química, Universitat de Barcelona, Curs: 2015-2016, Tutores: María Esther Chamarro Aguilera i Cristina Valls VidalThis project is done in collaboration with the “Grup de recerca en Enginyeria Paperera (Celbiotech)” of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), which investigates new methods for deinking recycled fibres, using biotechnological methods and ozone. The main objective is to increase the use of fibres recycled from coloured paper. One of the main problems of this raw material is the presence of contaminants, such as colourants, which hinder its potential and causes the obtained product to loss part of its value. A big inconvenience of using recycled fibres from the disintegration of coloured paper as raw material is that the type of colourant used is unknown. Therefore, parameters based on measuring the optical properties of the paper sheets where used to determine the efficiency of the colour elimination sequences. The first part consisted in applying different enzymatic stages (laccasemediator system) and a bleaching chemical agent to the red/black recycled fibres for determining the efficiency of eliminating colour in the dough. Afterwards, different biotechnological agents (enzymes) and chemical treatments will be applied to the red recycled fibres using a combination of mediators and doubling the dose of mediator used in the red fibres in order to determine which treatment gives the best results. Later on, we will apply a selected colour elimination sequence to the red and black recycled fibres, with the aim of determining the best biochemical sequence. At the same time, studies with another oxidizing agent (ozone) will be done in order to determine if the enzymatic stages can substitute the ozone stage. Last part of the project consists in doing physical test to determine if the paper has lost any of its properties after the treatments. The enzymatic activity of the effluents will be calculated as well in order to determine which mediator performed better and the possibility of recirculating these effluents will be studied

Diseño del sistema de mandos de vuelo para una cabina de DC9

This Project develops the design and implementation of a mechanical and electronic flight controls system, to enable a flight simulation in a real McDonell Douglas DC-9-34 cabin using the real airplane flight controls. At first are shown the objectives and requirements to be achieved with the project implementation. Then it is performed an study of the airplane to know more about the real flight controls operation, which are inoperative for having only the front fuselage section. Being a project with a practical part, the working environment develops in the fuselage, therefore the different workspaces are described. The current airplane condition and flight control mechanical systems are analized before starting design development. The design of the new system is based on two characteristic points for theoretical development. The data acquisition point, corresponding to mechanical part ant the sensor that performs reading of data system, corresponding to electronic part. With the previous analysis of the aircraft, choosing the data acquisition point and sensor type, the final design is developed to use like a roadmap for practice implementation in the airplane. At last describe in detail the implementation process of the new flight control system in the airplane. The movement transmission of cabin flight controls is done with mechanical control cable system, this is the movement data acquisition point of flight controls. Data sensing of cable system movement is done with a potentiometer sensor. Then the output signal of sensors may be transformed and adapted for use in a flight simulation

Effectiveness of rotavirus vaccination in prevention of hospital admissions for rotavirus gastroenteritis among young children in Belgium : case-control study

Objective : To evaluate the effectiveness of rotavirus vaccination among young children in Belgium. Design : Prospective case-control study. Setting : Random sample of 39 Belgian hospitals, February 2008 to June 2010. Participants : 215 children admitted to hospital with rotavirus gastroenteritis confirmed by polymerase chain reaction and 276 age and hospital matched controls. All children were of an eligible age to have received rotavirus vaccination (that is, born after 1 October 2006 and aged >= 14 weeks). Main outcome measure : Vaccination status of children admitted to hospital with rotavirus gastroenteritis and matched controls. Results : 99 children (48%) admitted with rotavirus gastroenteritis and 244 (91%) controls had received at least one dose of any rotavirus vaccine (P= 12 months. The G2P[4] genotype accounted for 52% of cases confirmed by polymerase chain reaction with eligible matched controls. Vaccine effectiveness was 85% (64% to 94%) against G2P[4] and 95% (78% to 99%) against G1P[8]. In 25% of cases confirmed by polymerase chain reaction with eligible matched controls, there was reported co-infection with adenovirus, astrovirus and/or norovirus. Vaccine effectiveness against co-infected cases was 86% (52% to 96%). Effectiveness of at least one dose of any rotavirus vaccine (intention to vaccinate analysis) was 91% (82% to 95%). Conclusions : Rotavirus vaccination is effective for the prevention of admission to hospital for rotavirus gastroenteritis among young children in Belgium, despite the high prevalence of G2P[4] and viral co-infection

Nystatin Regulates Axonal Extension and Regeneration by Modifying the Levels of Nitric Oxide

Nystatin is a pharmacological agent commonly used for the treatment of oral, mucosal and cutaneous fungal infections. Nystatin has also been extensively applied to study the cellular function of cholesterol-enriched structures because of its ability to bind and extract cholesterol from mammalian membranes. In neurons, cholesterol level is tightly regulated, being essential for synapse and dendrite formation, and for axonal guidance. However, the action of Nystatin on axon regeneration has been poorly evaluated. Here, we examine the effect of Nystatin on primary cultures of hippocampal neurons, showing how acute dose (minutes) of Nystatin increases the area of growth cones, and chronic treatment (days) enhances axon length, axon branching and axon regeneration post-axotomy. We describe two alternative signaling pathways responsible for the observed effects, and activated at different concentrations of Nystatin. At elevated concentrations, Nystatin promotes growth cone expansion through phosphorylation of Akt; whereas at low concentrations, Nystatin enhances axon length and regrowth by increasing nitric oxide levels. Together, our findings indicate new signaling pathways of Nystatin and propose this compound as a novel regulator of axon regeneration

Efficient artifacts filter by density-based clustering in long term 3D whale passive acoustic monitoring with five hydrophones fixed under an Autonomous Surface Vehicle

International audiencePassive underwater acoustics allows for the monitoring of the echolocation clicks of cetaceans. Static hydrophone arrays monitor from a fixed location, however, they cannot track animals over long distances. More flexibility can be achieved by mounting hydrophones on a mobile structure. In this paper, we present the design of a small non-uniform array of five hydrophones mounted directly under the Autonomous Surface Vehicle (ASV) Sphyrna (also called an Autonomous Laboratory Vehicle) built by SeaProven in France. This configuration is made challenging by the 40cm aperture of the hydrophone array, extending only two meters below the surface and above the thermocline, thus presenting various artifacts. The array, fixed under the keel of the drone, is numerically stabilized in yaw and roll using the drone's Motion Processing Unit (MPU). To increase the accuracy of the 3D tracking computed from a four hour recording of a Sperm Whale diving several kilometers away, we propose an efficient joint filtering of the clicks in the Time Delay of Arrival (TDoA) space. We show how the DBSCAN algorithm efficiently removes any outlier detection among the thousands of transients, and yields to coherent high definition 3D tracks

Dynamic and functional alterations of neuronal networks in vitro upon physical damage: a proof of concept

There is a growing technological interest in combining biological neuronal networks with electronic ones, specifically for biological computation, human-machine interfacing and robotic implants. A major challenge for the development of these technologies is the resilience of the biological networks to physical damage, for instance, when used in harsh environments. To tackle this question, here, we investigated the dynamic and functional alterations of rodent cortical networks grown in vitro that were physically damaged, either by sequentially removing groups of neurons that were central for information flow or by applying an incision that cut the network in half. In both cases, we observed a remarkable capacity of the neuronal cultures to cope with damage, maintaining their activity and even reestablishing lost communication pathways. We also observed¿particularly for the cultures cut in half¿that a reservoir of healthy neurons surrounding the damaged region could boost resilience by providing stimulation and a communication bridge across disconnected areas. Our results show the remarkable capacity of neuronal cultures to sustain and recover from damage, and may be inspirational for the development of future hybrid biological-electronic systems

Prevalence of reduced lung diffusing capacity and CT scan findings in smokers without airflow limitation: a population-based study

Exercise; Lung Physiology; Tobacco and the lungEjercicio; Fisiología Pulmonar; Tabaco y pulmónExercici; Fisiologia pulmonar; Tabac i pulmóBackground Population distribution of reduced diffusing capacity of the lungs for carbon monoxide (DLCO) in smokers and main consequences are not properly recognised. The objectives of this study were to describe the prevalence of reduced DLCO in a population-based sample of current and former smoker subjects without airflow limitation and to describe its morphological, functional and clinical implications. Methods A sample of 405 subjects aged 40 years or older with postbronchodilator forced expiratory volume in 1 s/forced vital capacity (FVC) >0.70 was obtained from a random population-based sample of 9092 subjects evaluated in the EPISCAN II study. Baseline evaluation included clinical questionnaires, exhaled carbon monoxide (CO) measurement, spirometry, DLCO determination, 6 min walk test, routine blood analysis and low-dose CT scan with evaluation of lung density and airway wall thickness. Results In never, former and current smokers, prevalence of reduced DLCO was 6.7%, 14.4% and 26.7%, respectively. Current and former smokers with reduced DLCO without airflow limitation were younger than the subjects with normal DLCO, and they had greater levels of dyspnoea and exhaled CO, greater pulmonary artery diameter and lower spirometric parameters, 6 min walk distance, daily physical activity and plasma albumin levels (all p<0.05), with no significant differences in other chronic respiratory symptoms or CT findings. FVC and exhaled CO were identified as independent risk factors for low DLCO. Conclusion Reduced DLCO is a frequent disorder among smokers without airflow limitation, associated with decreased exercise capacity and with CT findings suggesting that it may be a marker of smoking-induced early vascular damage.The EPISCAN II study has been a GlaxoSmithKline sponsored study (grant number: not applicable)

Evaluation of Serogroup A Meningococcal Vaccines in Africa: A Demonstration Project

Endemic and epidemic meningococcal disease constitutes a major public-health problem in African countries of the 'meningitis belt' where incidence rates of the disease are many-fold higher (up to 25 cases per 100,000 population) than those in industrialized countries, and epidemics of meningococcal disease occur with rates as high as 1,000 cases per 100,000 people. Using the precedent established during the licensing of conjugate vaccines against Haemophilus influenzae type b and serogroup C meningococci and components of currently-licensed meningococcal polysaccharide vaccines, new meningococcal conjugate vaccines will likely be licensed using immunological endpoints as surrogates for clinical protection. Post-licensure evaluation of vaccine effectiveness will, therefore, be of increased importance. One vaccine being developed is the serogroup A meningococcal (Men A) conjugate vaccine produced by the Meningitis Vaccine Project (MVP), a partnership between the World Health Organization and the Program for Applied Technology in Health. This vaccine will likely be the first meningococcal conjugate vaccine introduced on a large scale in Africa. This paper summarizes the general steps required for vaccine development, reviews the use of immunogenicity criteria as a licensing strategy for new meningococcal vaccines, and discusses plans for evaluating the impact of a meningococcal A conjugate vaccine in Africa. Impact of this vaccine will be measured during a vaccine-demonstration project that will primarily measure the effectiveness of vaccine. Other studies will include evaluations of safety, vaccine coverage, impact on carriage and herd immunity, and prevention- effectiveness studies

Krüppel-like factor 4 (KLF4) regulates the miR-183~96~182 cluster under physiologic and pathologic conditions

Cèl·lules mare embrionàries; Melanoma; MicroARNCélulas madre embrionarias; Melanoma; MicroARNEmbryonic stem cells; Melanoma; MicroRNAMicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of endogenous non-coding small RNAs that post-transcriptionally control the translation and stability of target mRNAs in a sequence-dependent manner. MiRNAs are essential for key cellular processes including proliferation, differentiation, cell death and metabolism, among others. Consequently, alterations of miRNA expression contribute to developmental defects and a myriad of diseases. The expression of miRNAs can be altered by several mechanisms including gene copy number alterations, aberrant DNA methylation, defects of the miRNA processing machinery or unscheduled expression of transcription factors. In this work, we sought to analyze the regulation of the miR-182 cluster, located at the 7q32 locus, which encodes three different miRNAs that are abundantly expressed in human embryonic stem cells and de-regulated in cancer. We have found that the Krüppel-like factor 4 (KLF4) directly regulates miR-182 cluster expression in human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and in melanoma tumors, in which the miR-182 cluster is highly expressed and has a pro-metastatic role. Furthermore, higher KLF4 expression was found to be associated with metastatic progression and poor patient outcome. Loss of function experiments revealed that KLF4 is required for melanoma cell maintenance. These findings provide new insights into the regulation of the miR-182 cluster expression and new opportunities for therapeutic intervention in tumors in which the KLF4-miR-182 cluster axis is deregulated.This work was supported by NCI/NIH Grant (5R01CA155234), Instituto de Salud Carlos III (CP11/00052 and RD12/0036/0016) co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), and European Commission’s Framework Programme 7 through the Marie Curie Career Integration Grants