BCN20000: dermoscopic lesions in the wild

This article summarizes the BCN20000 dataset, composed of 19424 dermoscopic images of skin lesions captured from 2010 to 2016 in the facilities of the Hospital Clínic in Barcelona. With this dataset, we aim to study the problem of unconstrained classification of dermoscopic images of skin cancer, including lesions found in hard-to-diagnose locations (nails and mucosa), large lesions which do not fit in the aperture of the dermoscopy device, and hypo-pigmented lesions. The BCN20000 will be provided to the participants of the ISIC Challenge 2019 [8], where they will be asked to train algorithms to classify dermoscopic images of skin cancer automatically.Peer ReviewedPreprin

Evidence For An Unusual Kinetic Phenomenon In The Metallation Of Porphyrins

Reaction of copper(II) with water soluble porphyrins (H₂porph) in the presence of ethylenediamine shows an unusual and so far unreported kinetic phenomenon that can be explained in terms of supramolecular assembly formation apparently involving all solute species as confirmed via light scattering and conductivity measurements

Antioxidant starch films containing sunflower hull extracts

[EN] This study exploits sunflower hulls that are by-product from food industry for the extraction of valuable antioxidant compounds that can be used to produce antioxidant food packaging material based on starch. Fast and easy methanolic extraction of milled hulls resulted in an antioxidant extract with 137 mg GAE/100 g hulls and an antioxidant activity against DPPH* with an EC50 value of 73.5 mg raw hull material/ mg DPPH* and chlorogenic acid as main active compound. Already low amounts of extracts (1-6%) were sufficient to produce compression molded starch-glycerol films with antioxidant capacity without the loss of barrier properties. Films with the highest content of antioxidant extract showed the highest antioxidant activity and the lowest oxygen and water vapor permeability. These films were tough but less stretchable. A potential industrial use of these starch films could be in antioxidant packaging as a very thin layer in multilayer food packaging as oxygen barrier and antioxidant capacity.This work was supported by the Swedish Research Council Formas [2015-00550] and by the project AGL2016-76699-R from Spanish Ministerio de Educacion y Ciencia. The authors would like to acknowledge Grefusa (Alzira, Spain) for the donated sunflower hull waste.Menzel, C.; González Martínez, MC.; Chiralt, A.; Vilaplana, F. (2019). Antioxidant starch films containing sunflower hull extracts. Carbohydrate Polymers. 214:142-151. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.carbpol.2019.03.022S14215121

Binding of Antitumor Ruthenium(III) Complexes to Plasma Proteins

Presently, there is large interest in analysing the interactions in vitro with plasma proteins of some novel antitumor ruthenium(III) complexes that are in preclinical or clinical phase. The joint application of separation and spectroscopic techniques provides valuable information on the nature and the properties of the resulting ruthenium/protein adducts. Recent work carried out in our laboratory points out that, under physiological conditions, some selected ruthenium(III) complexes bind plasma proteins tightly with a marked preference for surface imidazole groups. Representative examples of interactions of antitumor ruthenium(III) complexes with plasma proteins such as albumin and transferrin are given. Notably the antitumor ruthenium(III) complexes considered here bind proteins much tighter than DNA; it is proposed that protein binding of ruthenium(III) complexes will have a large impact on the biodistribution, the pharmacokinetics and the mechanism of action of these experimental drugs

Caída de bloques de hielo en los frentes del glaciar de casquete de la isla Livingston (Archipiélago de las Shetland del Sur). Detección por métodos sísmicos. Influencia de las variables ambientales

We used data from a seismic array to study the evolution of calving at Livingston Island. Starting with the idea that the flow is the main cause of calving, we examined the effect of temperature, tide, relative humidity and wind velocity on this phenomenon. Air temperature proved to be the most relevant parameter

A GH115 alpha-glucuronidase from Schizophyllum commune contributes to the synergistic enzymatic deconstruction of softwood glucuronoarabinoxylan

Background: Lignocellulosic biomass from softwood represents a valuable resource for the production of biofuels and bio-based materials as alternatives to traditional pulp and paper products. Hemicelluloses constitute an extremely heterogeneous fraction of the plant cell wall, as their molecular structures involve multiple monosaccharide components, glycosidic linkages, and decoration patterns. The complete enzymatic hydrolysis of wood hemicelluloses into monosaccharides is therefore a complex biochemical process that requires the activities of multiple degradative enzymes with complementary activities tailored to the structural features of a particular substrate. Glucuronoarabinoxylan (GAX) is a major hemicellulose component in softwood, and its structural complexity requires more enzyme specificities to achieve complete hydrolysis compared to glucuronoxylans from hardwood and arabinoxylans from grasses. Results: We report the characterisation of a recombinant α-glucuronidase (Agu115) from Schizophyllum commune capable of removing (4-O-methyl)-glucuronic acid ((Me)GlcA) residues from polymeric and oligomeric xylan. The enzyme is required for the complete deconstruction of spruce glucuronoarabinoxylan (GAX) and acts synergistically with other xylan-degrading enzymes, specifically a xylanase (Xyn10C), an α-l-arabinofuranosidase (AbfA), and a β-xylosidase (XynB). Each enzyme in this mixture showed varying degrees of potentiation by the other activities, likely due to increased physical access to their respective target monosaccharides. The exo-acting Agu115 and AbfA were unable to remove all of their respective target side chain decorations from GAX, but their specific activity was significantly boosted by the addition of the endo-Xyn10C xylanase. We demonstrate that the proposed enzymatic cocktail (Agu115 with AbfA, Xyn10C and XynB) achieved almost complete conversion of GAX to arabinofuranose (Araf), xylopyranose (Xylp), and MeGlcA monosaccharides. Addition of Agu115 to the enzymatic cocktail contributes specifically to 25 % of the conversion. However, traces of residual oligosaccharides resistant to this combination of enzymes were still present after deconstruction, due to steric hindrances to enzyme access to the substrate. Conclusions: Our GH115 α-glucuronidase is capable of finely tailoring the molecular structure of softwood GAX, and contributes to the almost complete saccharification of GAX in synergy with other exo- and endo-xylan-acting enzymes. This has great relevance for the cost-efficient production of biofuels from softwood lignocellulose.Lauren S. McKee, Hampus Sunner, George E. Anasontzis, Guillermo Toriz, Paul Gatenholm, Vincent Bulone, Francisco Vilaplana and Lisbeth Olsso

Synthesis, Structure and Antitumour Properties of a New 1,2-Propylenediaminetetraacetate-Ruthenium(III) Compound

A novel complex formed by ruthenium (III) and the sequestering ligand 1,2-propylenediaminetetraacetic acid (PDTA) has been synthetized and characterized. The structure of the monomeric compound, studied by X-ray diffraction , shows an almost symmetric octahedral geometry around the metal ion, with two chlorine atoms in a cis conformation. The antitumour activity against a variety of murine and human cancers is reported

Caída de bloques de hielo en los frentes del glaciar de casquete de la isla Livingston (Archipiélago de las Shetland del Sur). Detección por métodos sísmicos. Influencia de las variables ambientales

Se han utilizado los datos procedentes de una red (array) sísmica situada en la isla Livingston para estudiar la evolución de las caídas de bloques de hielo en los frentes de los glaciares (calving). Partiendo de que la causa fundamental de las caídas de bloques es el flujo del hielo, se ha estudiado la influencia de la temperatura ambiental, la variación del nivel de la marea, la humedad y la velocidad del viento sobre este fenómeno. Como principal conclusión se deduce que la temperatura ambiental es el factor que ejerce una mayor y más directa influencia sobre las caídas de los bloques de hielo.We used data from a seismic array to study the evolution of calving at Livingston Island. Starting with the idea that the flow is the main cause of calving, we examined the effect of temperature, tide, relative humidity and wind velocity on this phenomenon. Air temperature proved to be the most relevant parameter