1H-Imidazol-4(5H)-ones and thiazol-4(5H)-ones as emerging pronucleophiles in asymmetric catalysis

Asymmetric catalysis represents a very powerful tool for the synthesis of enantiopure compounds. In this context the main focus has been directed not only to the search for new efficient chiral catalysts, but also to the development of efficient pronucleophiles. This review highlights the utility and first examples of 1H-imidazol-4(5H)-ones and thiazol-4(5H)-ones as pronucleophiles in catalytic asymmetric reactions.The authors acknowledge the University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU (UFI 11/22), the Basque Government (Grant No IT-628-13) and the Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad (MEC, Grant CTQ2013-47925-C2-1-P), Spain for financial support

Acorns for fattening free-range pigs (OK-Net Ecofeed Practice Abstract)

- The fattening performance is very much influenced by the age of pigs and their compensatory growth; hence, pigs should be as old as possible (≥1 year) and adapted to grazing. - Grass is necessary as a source of protein to compensate for the low protein levels in acorns. - The food conversion rate is 10.5 kg of whole acorns of Q. i. rotundifolia to gain 1 kg, besides the contribution of grass; to establish the stocking rate, consider that an adult evergreen oak produces ≈11 kg of acorns/year). - Iberian pigs peel acorns to avoid the high content of tannins in the shell. However, during peeling, approxi-mately 20% of the kernel can be wasted

Brewer’s yeast for organic pigs (OK-Net Ecofeed Practice Abstract)

Benefits • Yeast has a high content of protein (> 47% DM) of high biological (3.6% of lysine) and digestible value (> 85%), thus reducing the cost of feed. • Yeast is rich in B vitamins, especially biotin and folic acid (besides vitamin B1, B2, B6, B12, PP, B5) and in vitamin D, with a content of 2000 - 5000 IU /g DM. • The content of phosphorus in the yeast is up to 0.8-1.3%. • Yeast promotes animal performance and health. • Yeast improves the quality of the carcass. Practical recommendation • Two holding tanks are needed for hygiene reasons. • Yeast deteriorates very easily, do not use the product stored over 2 days. • It is necessary to deactivate (kill) the yeast before transporting and using it on the farm. Hence, autolyzed yeast should be used. • Yeast is a quite seasonal product, and it cannot be stored; however, it can be added to silage mixtures as an alternative to avoid its deterioration

Influencia en el análisis de estados contables de las deudas por efectos descontados como pasivos reales o contingentes

This paper analyzes two objectives. The first one is to ascertain whether the discounting notes receivable must be considered as a real loan, or they should only be disclosed in the notes accompanying the financial statements, deeming them as a contingent liability. The first accounting procedure is followed by Spanish accounting standards since 1991. The second one is in line with the recognition and measurement criteria proposed by the IFRS, and stood in line for much of the legal doctrine and accounting rules, as, i.e., the FAS Statements 77 and 140. The second aim is to discuss the impact of the choice of either alternative on the analysis of financial statements in three major areas: financial, economic and heritage. Accordingly, it illustrates how the discounting notes receivable consideration by the Spanish accounting rules results in distorting effects on the financial statement analysis, exacerbating the perception of the analyst on the financial position of the entity. This causes serious damage to the companies that make use of this tool in raising finance for accounts receivable, since that undermine their ability to access other sources of bank financing.En este trabajo se plantean dos objetivos. En primer lugar, discernir si las deudas por efectos descontados deben aparecer en balance, por su consideración de pasivo, o bien en la memoria, con la consideración de pasivo contingente. El primero de los criterios contables apuntados es seguido por la normativa contable española desde 1990. El segundo de ellos resulta acorde con los criterios de reconocimiento y valoración propuestos por las NIIF, y se sitúa en la línea de buena parte de la doctrina jurídico-contable, entre otras, las SFAS 77 y 140 norteamericanas. En segundo lugar, analizar la repercusión de la elección de una u otra alternativa sobre el análisis de estados financieros en sus tres vertientes principales: financiera, económica y patrimonial. En consecuencia, se ilustra cómo el tratamiento contable del descuento bancario por parte de los PGC españoles de 1990 y 2007 provoca efectos distorsionadores en el análisis de balances, empeorando la percepción del analista respecto de la situación económico-financiera de la entidad. Este hecho provoca un grave perjuicio a las compañías que hacen uso de esta herramienta de movilización financiera de cuentas a cobrar, toda vez que merman su capacidad de acceso a otras fuentes de financiación bancaria

Pathophysiology of the proatherothrombotic state in the metabolic syndrome

15 pages, 1 figure.--PMID: 20036940 [PubMed]The metabolic syndrome (MetS) is defined by the presence of at least three of the following abnormalities: glucose intolerance, hypertension, abdominal obesity, low HDL-cholesterol levels and hypertriglyceridemia. Obesity and insulin resistance are very frequently associated to the MetS and play a pivotal role in the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), which in turn increases the risk of cardiovascular disease. Although it varies among ethnic groups, the worldwide prevalence of MetS is 23% in young adults and increases with age. Remarkably, the prevalence of MetS is expected to increase during the next decades due in part to the acquisition of unhealthy life-style habits (e.g., sedentarism, smoking, unhealthy diet, etc). A major pathological alteration present in the MetS is a prothrombotic state as a result of endothelial dysfunction and hypercoagulability produced by a dysbalance of coagulation factors and proteins involved in the regulation of fibrinolysis. Although intensive research in recent years has permitted the identification of a number of prothrombotic alterations in MetS patients, a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying the relationship between MetS and atherotrombosis is required to improve preventive and therapeutic strategies. In this review we discuss the main alterations in the endothelial function, coagulation cascade, fibrinolysis and platelet function that promote atherothrombosis in MetS patients. We also review available mouse models exhibiting alterations in atherothrombosis.Work in the authors’ laboratories is supported by grants from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and the European Regional Development Fund (SAF2007-62110), Instituto de Salud Carlos III (RECAVA grants RD06/0014/0004 and RD06/0014/0021), Generalitat Valenciana (GV/2007/164), Fundación Ramón Areces, Fina Biotech S.L., and Universidad de Talca (PIFRECV, Research Program of Cardiovascular Disease Risk).Peer reviewe

Importància de la psicologia en l'economia i finances del comportament

Dintre del camp de l’Economia, la teoria de la Utilitat Esperada (UE) ha dominat la presa de decisions amb risc. Però, l’explicació de la realitat, per part dels models neoclàssics ha posat de manifest que els agents violen de forma sistemàtica les hipòtesis de la teoria de la UE. Per a tractar d’explicar aquestes anomalies, algunes teories han incorporat la Psicologia en la presa de decisions. Entre aquestes, la més influent és la Prospect Theory desenvolupada per Kahneman i Tversky (1979), la qual es considerada, fins als nostres dies, com una referència imprescindible per a comprendre el desenvolupament de les Finances del Comportament

syn-Selective Michael reaction of α-branched aryl acetaldehydes with nitroolefins promoted by squaric amino acid derived bifunctional Brønsted bases

[EN] Here we describe a direct access to 2,2,3-trisubstituted syn γ-nitroaldehydes by addition of α-branched aryl acetaldehydes to nitroolefins promoted by a cinchona based squaric acid-derived amino acid peptide. Different α-methyl arylacetaldehydes react with β-aromatic and β-alkyl nitroolefins to afford the Michael adducts in high enantioselectivity and syn-selectivity. NMR experiments and DFT calculations predict the reaction to occur through the intermediacy of E-enolate. The interaction between the substrates and the catalyst follows Pápai’s model, wherein an intramolecular H-bond interaction in the catalyst between the NH group of one of the tert-leucines and the squaramide oxygen seems to be key for discrimination of the corresponding reaction transition states.Support has been provided by the University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU (UFI QOSYC 11/22), Basque Government (GV grant IT1236-19), and Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (grant PID2019-109633GB-C21), Spain. A. G. and T. E. thank Basque Government and MINECO respectively for fellowships. We would like to express our gratitude to the students I. Gonzalez-Mujika and M. Campo for their participation in conducting some experiments of the reaction scope. We also thank SGIker (UPV/EHU) for providing NMR, HRMS. X-Ray and computational resources

Role of platelets as mediators that link inflammation and thrombosis in atherosclerosis

Platelets, crucial mediators of the acute complications of atherosclerosis that cause life-threatening ischemic events at late stages of the disease, are also key effectors of inflammation throughout plaque development through their interaction with endothelial and immune cells in the injured vessel wall. During the first steps of atherosclerosis, blood inflammatory leukocytes interact with the damaged endothelium in areas rich in platelet aggregates. In late stages of the disease, platelets secrete several inflammatory molecules, even without forming aggregates. These molecules exacerbate the inflammation and induce the transition from chronic to acute disease, featuring increased instability of the atherosclerotic lesion that results in plaque rupture and thrombosis. Moreover, platelets play an important role in vascular wall remodeling induced by chronic inflammation by controlling vascular cell differentiation and proliferation. In this review, we discuss the role of platelets as cell mediators that link inflammation and thrombosis in atherosclerotic disease and their potential in the development of new therapeutic tools to fight cardiovascular disease.Work in the author’s laboratories is supported by Centro de Estudios en Alimentos Procesados (CEAP), Conicyt-Regional, Gore Maule, R09I2001, Talca, Chile (Proyecto Basal); The Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MICINN) and the European Regional Development Fund (grant SAF2010-16044); Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) (Red de Enfermedades Cardiovasculares [RECAVA], grant RD06/0014/0021). O.M.P. holds a Juan de la Cierva contract (MICINN). The CNIC is supported by the MICINN and the Pro-CNIC Foundation.S

Greenhouse gas emissions from Mediterranean agriculture : Evidence of unbalanced research efforts and knowledge gaps

Funding Information: The authors are grateful to the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (AgroSceNA-UP, PID2019-107972RB-I00) and Asociación Valor Ecológico – Ecovalia. EA is supported by a Juan de la Cierva research contract from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (IJC2019-040699-I and FJCI-2017-34077). ASC would like to thank the Autonomous Community of Madrid and UPM for their economic support through the research project APOYO-JOVENES-NFW8ZQ-42-XE8B5K. EA and ASC acknowledge the Spanish National Institute for Agricultural and Food Research and Technology and the Agencia Estatal de Investigación Grant (MACSUR02-APCIN2016-0005-00-00). The authors would like to thank Dr. Luis Lassaletta for his helpful comments with respect to the manuscript. The authors gratefully acknowledge the editor and two anonymous reviewers for their constructive and useful suggestions.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Structure-based design of prefusion-stabilized human metapneumovirus fusion proteins

The human metapneumovirus (hMPV) fusion (F) protein is essential for viral entry and is a key target of neutralizing antibodies and vaccine development. The prefusion conformation is thought to be the optimal vaccine antigen, but previously described prefusion F proteins expressed poorly and were not well stabilized. Here, we use structures of hMPV F to guide the design of 42 variants containing stabilizing substitutions. Through combinatorial addition of disulfide bonds, cavity-filling substitutions, and improved electrostatic interactions, we describe a prefusion-stabilized F protein (DS-CavEs2) that expresses at 15 mg/L and has a melting temperature of 71.9 °C. Crystal structures of two prefusion-stabilized hMPV F variants reveal that antigenic surfaces are largely unperturbed. Importantly, immunization of mice with DS-CavEs2 elicits significantly higher neutralizing antibody titers against hMPV A1 and B1 viruses than postfusion F. The improved properties of DS-CavEs2 will advance the development of hMPV vaccines and the isolation of therapeutic antibodies.This work was funded in part by Welch Foundation grant number F-0003-19620604 (J.S.M). Argonne is operated by UChicago Argonne, LLC, for the US Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Biological and Environmental Research under Contract DE-AC02-06CH11357.S