Density of water adsorbed on bentonites: determination and effect on microstructural void ratio modelling

The ability of helium gas displacement pycnometry to characterise the reduction of adsorbed water density with increasing bentonite water content was tested. For this purpose, after obtaining the grain density (which was assumed to be constant), an intensive campaign of 45 experiments was carried out with two bentonites for a total of 90 determinations, obtaining very consistent water density results. Furthermore, the water retention curve of one of the two bentonites was fully characterised by 95 tests with a chilled-mirror dew-point psychrometer. The water content results were used to determine the microstructural void ratio, both assuming a constant water density and considering the variation of the adsorbed water density obtained with the helium pycnometer. It was verified that with the constant value, by assuming a lower water density (1 g/cm3) than the experimental (values of 1.20 g/cm3 were obtained under hygroscopic conditions), higher values of microstructural void ratios are predicted, up to 15% greater for a relative humidity of 70% (0.46 instead of 0.40). For higher relative humidities the comparison loses its consistency, since the presence of capillary water cannot be disregarded, and the calculation of the microstructural void ratio is based on the assumption that the water present in bentonite is mainly in the form of adsorbed water. However, this does not compromise the analysis performed, as the results obtained for lower relative humidity values provide enough information to demonstrate the relevance of the errors that can occur when deriving models of the microstructural void ratio without taking into account the variation of the density of adsorbed water.This study was funded by the Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha and the European Regional Development Fund (European Union) through project SBPLY/19/180501/000222.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Compacted bentonite hydro-mechanical modelling when interaggregate porosity tends to zero

A formulation is proposed for reproducing the hydro-mechanical behaviour of compacted bentonites as interaggregate porosity becomes negligible. In that case, the model assumes the bentonite deformability to be controlled only by the microstructural modelling level in a double porosity approach. Hence, the bulk stiffness of the system is defined by the relationship between the microstructural void ratio and the thermodynamic swelling pressure, requiring no additional parameters to simulate the overall behaviour. An experimental study has been conducted to check the conceptual consistency of the formulation, with favourable results. The quantitative potential of the model has also been satisfactorily verified by numerical simulation of the tests carried out in this study. A displacement-based finite-element model developed for double porosity systems has been modified to run the simulations. The proposed formulation has been implemented using a simple strategy that can be easily replicated for similar numerical models. Both the simulation capabilities and the computational cost efficiency of the proposed formulation confirm its practical interest.Open Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer Nature. This publication is part of Grant PID2020-118291RB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/https://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

S-Methyl-L-Ergothioneine to L-Ergothioneine Ratio in Urine Is a Marker of Cystine Lithiasis in a Cystinuria Mouse Model

Cystinuria, a rare inherited aminoaciduria condition, is characterized by the hyperexcretion of cystine, ornithine, lysine, and arginine. Its main clinical manifestation is cystine stone formation in the urinary tract, being responsible for 1-2% total and 6-8% pediatric lithiasis. Cystinuria patients suffer from recurrent lithiasic episodes that might end in surgical interventions, progressive renal functional deterioration, and kidney loss. Cystinuria is monitored for the presence of urinary cystine stones by crystalluria, imaging techniques or urinary cystine capacity; all with limited predicting capabilities. We analyzed blood and urine levels of the natural antioxidant L-ergothioneine in a Type B cystinuria mouse model, and urine levels of its metabolic product S-methyl-L-ergothioneine, in both male and female mice at two different ages and with different lithiasic phenotype. Urinary levels of S-methyl-L-ergothioneine showed differences related to age, gender and lithiasic phenotype. Once normalized by L-ergothioneine to account for interindividual differences, the S-methyl-L-ergothioneine to L-ergothioneine urinary ratio discriminated between cystine lithiasic phenotypes. Urine S-methyl-L-ergothioneine to L-ergothioneine ratio could be easily determined in urine and, as being capable of discriminating between cystine lithiasis phenotypes, it could be used as a lithiasis biomarker in cystinuria patient management

A new double-porosity macroscopic model of bentonite free swelling

A macroscopic model based on a double-porosity approach is proposed to simulate the swelling caused by the subdivision of particles and aggregates that occurs when bentonites are hydrated under a high water content and low confinement. In the model, it is assumed that although the water that occupies this new porous structure can be considered mobile (associated with the macrostructure), its contribution to variations in the energy of the system is similar to that caused by the immobile water that occupies the microstructure. Assuming isothermal conditions, a functional relationship between the increase in the void ratio and the decrease in internal energy was defined from the Clausius-Duhem equation. From this functional relationship, a macroscopic constitutive model was derived to determine the macrostructural swelling as a function of the decrease in the microstructural effective stress. The model was applied to simulate both tests with a large void ratio (up to 50) and processes with a notable variation in salinity (from deionized water to 1 M solution), and satisfactory results were obtained in all cases. This study proposes a simple strategy to incorporate the model into the equations generally used to solve hydro-chemical-mechanical boundary problems at the engineering scale and is thus of direct practical interest.This study was funded by the Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha and the European Regional Development Fund (European Union) through project SBPLY/19/180501/000222.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Marc competencial del professorat d'idiomes dels serveis lingüístics universitaris de Catalunya

L'obra ha rebut un ajut INTERLINGUA de la Generalitat de CatalunyaEl Marc competencial del professorat d'idiomes dels serveis lingüístics universitaris de Catalunya és un projecte INTERLINGUA de la Generalitat de Catalunya que ha estat dirigit pel Servei de Llengües de la UAB, amb la col·laboració del Servei de Llengües Modernes de la UdG i d'Idiomes UPF. El Marc és un document orientatiu que ajuda els professionals i els responsables de la formació a detectar necessitats formatives i a planificar la formació del professorat d'idiomes dels centres de llengües universitaris

Role of aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) in the regulation of immunity and immunopathology during trypanosoma cruzi infection

Resistance to Trypanosoma cruzi infection is dependent on a rapid induction of Th1-type and CD8+ T cell responses that should be promptly balanced to prevent immunopathology. T. cruzi-infected B6 mice are able to control parasite replication but show a limited expansion of Foxp3+regulatory T (Treg) cells that results in the accumulation of effector immune cells and the development of acute liver pathology. AhR is a ligand-activated transcription factor that promotes Treg cell development and suppression of pro-inflammatory cytokine production in dendritic cells, altering the course of adaptive immune response and the development of immunopathology. Here, we used different AhR-dependent activation strategies aiming to improve the Treg response, and B6 congenic mice carrying a mutant AhR variant with low affinity for its ligands (AhRd) to evaluate the role of AhR activation by natural ligands during experimental T. cruzi infection. The outcome of TCDD or 3-HK plus ITE treatments indicated that strong or weak AhR activation before or during T. cruzi infection was effective to regulate inflammation improving the Treg cell response and regularizing the ratio between CD4+ CD25- to Treg cells. However, AhR activation shifted the host-parasite balance to the parasite replication. Weak AhR activation resulted in Treg promotion while strong activation differentially modulated the susceptibility and resistance of cell death in activated T and Treg cells and the increase in TGF-β-producing Treg cells. Of note, T. cruzi-infected AhRd mice showed low levels of Treg cells associated with strong Th1-type response, low parasite burden and absence of liver pathology. These mice developed a Treg- and Tr1-independent mechanism of Th1 constriction showing increased levels of systemic IL-10 and IL-10-secreting CD4+ splenocytes. In addition, AhR activation induced by exogenous ligands had negative effects on the development of memory CD8+ T cell subsets while the lack/very weak activation in AhRd mice showed opposite results, suggesting that AhR ligation restricts the differentiation of memory CD8+T cell subsets. We propose a model in which a threshold of AhR activation exists and may explain how activation or inhibition of AhR-derived signals by infection/inflammation-induced ligands, therapeutic interventions or exposure to pollutants can modulate infections/diseases outcomes or vaccination efficacy.Fil: Ambrosio, Laura Fernanda. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Córdoba. Centro de Investigaciones en Bioquímica Clínica e Inmunología; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Insfran, Constanza. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Córdoba. Centro de Investigaciones en Bioquímica Clínica e Inmunología; ArgentinaFil: Volpini, Ximena. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Investigación Médica Mercedes y Martín Ferreyra. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Investigación Médica Mercedes y Martín Ferreyra; ArgentinaFil: Acosta Rodriguez, Eva Virginia. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Córdoba. Centro de Investigaciones en Bioquímica Clínica e Inmunología; ArgentinaFil: Serra, Horacio Marcelo. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Córdoba. Centro de Investigaciones en Bioquímica Clínica e Inmunología; ArgentinaFil: Quintana, Francisco Javier. The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard; Estados Unidos. Harvard Medical School; Estados UnidosFil: Cervi, Laura Alejandra. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Córdoba. Centro de Investigaciones en Bioquímica Clínica e Inmunología; ArgentinaFil: Motran, Claudia Cristina. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Córdoba. Centro de Investigaciones en Bioquímica Clínica e Inmunología; Argentin

Monitoring of miR-181a-5p and miR-155-5p Plasmatic Expression as Prognostic Biomarkers for Acute and Subclinical Rejection in de novo Adult Liver Transplant Recipients.

Background and Aims: News strategies for the accurate assessment of the state of immunosuppression (IS) in liver transplant recipients are needed to prevent rejection and minimize drug-related side effects. miRNAs can potentially be used as diagnostic or prognostic biomarkers in transplant patients. This study evaluated the capacity of a plasmatic miRNA panel (miR-155-5p, miR-122-5p, miR-181a-5p, and miR148-3p) as an early non-invasive prognostic and diagnostic biomarker for T cell-mediated acute rejection (TCMAR) and subclinical rejection (SCR) in adult liver recipients. Methods: A total of 145 liver recipients were included. All patients received a calcineurin inhibitor with or without mycophenolate mofetil and methylprednisolone. Plasmatic miRNA expression was assessed by qPCR before and at different time-points after liver transplantation. Results: Seventeen patients experienced TCMAR, and eight were diagnosed with SCR during the protocol biopsy at the 3rd month post-transplantation. Pre-transplantation, miR-155-5p expression was significantly higher in TCMAR patients and in SCR patients than in non-rejectors, and miR-181a-5p expression was also significantly higher in SCR patients than in non-rejectors. Post-transplantation, before transaminase-level modification, significantly increased miR-181a-5p, miR-155-5p, and miR-122-5p expression was observed in TCMAR and SCR patients. Binary logistic regression analyses showed, post-transplantation, that TCMAR risk was better predicted by individual expression of miR-181a-5p (LOGIT = -6.35 + 3.87*miR-181a-5p), and SCR risk was better predicted by the combination of miR-181a-5p and miR-155-5p expression (LOGIT = -5.18 + 2.27*miR-181a-5p+1.74*miR-155-5p). Conclusions: Pre-transplantation plasmatic miR-155-5p expression may be useful for stratifying low-immunologic-risk patients, and post-transplantation miR-181a-5p and miR-155-5p may be candidates for inclusion in early, non-invasive prognostic biomarker panels to prevent TCMAR or SCR and better identify patient candidates for IS minimization. Large prospective randomized multicenter trials are needed to refine the cut-off values and algorithms and validate the clinical usefulness of these biomarkers

Early prognostic performance of miR155-5p monitoring for the risk of rejection: Logistic regression with a population pharmacokinetic approach in adult kidney transplant patients

Previous results from our group and others have shown that urinary pellet expression of miR155-5p and urinary CXCL-10 production could play a key role in the prognosis and diagnosis of acute rejection (AR) in kidney transplantation patients. Here, a logistic regression model was developed using NONMEM to quantify the relationships of miR155-5p urinary expression, CXCL-10 urinary concentration and tacrolimus and mycophenolic acid (MPA) exposure with the probability of AR in adult kidney transplant patients during the early post-transplant period. Owing to the contribution of therapeutic drug monitoring to achieving target exposure, neither tacrolimus nor MPA cumulative exposure was identified as a predictor of AR in the studied population. Even though CXCL-10 urinary concentration showed a trend, its effect on AR was not significant. In contrast, urinary miR155-5p expression was prognostic of clinical outcome. Monitoring miR155-5p urinary pellet expression together with immunosuppressive drug exposure could be very useful during routine clinical practice to identify patients with a potential high risk of rejection at the early stages of the post-transplant period. This early risk assessment would allow for the optimization of treatment and improved prevention of AR

A new double-porosity macroscopic model of bentonite free swelling

A macroscopic model based on a double-porosity approach is proposed to simulate the swelling caused by the subdivision of particles and aggregates that occurs when bentonites are hydrated under a high water content and low confinement. In the model, it is assumed that although the water that occupies this new porous structure can be considered mobile (associated with the macrostructure), its contribution to variations in the energy of the system is similar to that caused by the immobile water that occupies the microstructure. Assuming isothermal conditions, a functional relationship between the increase in the void ratio and the decrease in internal energy was defined from the Clausius-Duhem equation. From this functional relationship, a macroscopic constitutive model was derived to determine the macrostructural swelling as a function of the decrease in the microstructural effective stress. The model was applied to simulate both tests with a large void ratio (up to 50) and processes with a notable variation in salinity (from deionized water to 1 M solution), and satisfactory results were obtained in all cases. This study proposes a simple strategy to incorporate the model into the equations generally used to solve hydro-chemical-mechanical boundary problems at the engineering scale and is thus of direct practical interest.Se propone un modelo macroscópico basado en un enfoque de doble porosidad para simular el hinchamiento causado por la subdivisión de partículas y agregados que ocurre cuando las bentonitas se hidratan bajo un alto contenido de agua y bajo confinamiento. En el modelo se asume que si bien el agua que ocupa esta nueva estructura porosa puede considerarse móvil (asociada a la macroestructura), su contribución a las variaciones en la energía del sistema es similar a la provocada por el agua inmóvil que ocupa la microestructura Suponiendo condiciones isotérmicas, una relación funcional entre el aumento de la relación de vacíosy la disminución de la energía interna se definió a partir de la ecuación de Clausius-Duhem. A partir de esta relación funcional, se derivó un modelo constitutivo macroscópico para determinar el hinchamiento macroestructural en función de la disminución de la tensión efectiva microestructural. El modelo se aplicó para simular tanto ensayos con una gran relación de vacíos (hasta 50) como procesos con una notable variación de salinidad (desde agua desionizada hasta solución 1 M), y se obtuvieron resultados satisfactorios en todos los casos. Este estudio propone una estrategia simple para incorporar el modelo en las ecuaciones generalmente utilizadas para resolver problemas de límites hidroquímicos-mecánicos a escala de ingeniería y, por lo tanto, es de interés práctico directo

Diagnostic value of different anti-citrullinated peptides antibodies in rheumatoid arthritis

Póster presentat al 6th European Workshop on Immune-Mediated Inflammatory Diseases, celebrat a Niça (França) el 201