Paramagnetic Ionic Liquid/Metal Organic Framework Composites for CO2/CH4 and CO2/N2 Separations

IF/01016/2014 SFRH/BD/139627/2018 PTDC/CTMCTM/30326/2017 PTDC/EQU-EQU/32050/2017 PTDC/FIS-MAC/28157/2017 UIDB/50006/2020 UIDP/50006/2020Global warming is arguably the biggest scientific challenge of the twenty-first century and its environmental consequences are already noticeable. To mitigate the emissions of greenhouse gases, particularly of CO2, there is an urgent need to design materials with improved adsorbent properties. Five different magnetic ionic liquids were impregnated into the metal–organic framework ZIF-8. The composites were produced by a direct-contact method, and their performance as sorbents for gas separation applications was studied. The impact of the ionic liquid anion on the sorption capacity and ideal CO2/CH4 and CO2/N2 selectivities were studied, focusing on understanding the influence of metal atom and ligand on the adsorbent properties. Reproducible methodology, along with rigorous characterization, were established to assess the impact of the ionic liquid on the performance of the composite materials. Results show that the ionic liquid was well-impregnated, and the ZIF-8 structure was maintained after ionic liquid impregnation. The produced composites were of microporous nature and were thermally stable. CO2, CH4, and N2 adsorption–desorption isotherms were obtained at 303 K and between 0 and 16 bar. The adsorption-desorption data of the composites were compared with that obtained for original ZIF-8. The general trend in composites is that the increased gas uptake per available pore volume compensates the pore volume loss. Adsorption data per unit mass showed that composites have reversible sorption, but inferior gas uptake at all pressure ranges. This is due to the observed total pore volume loss by the ionic liquid pore occupation/blockage. In most cases, composites showed superior selectivity performance at all pressure range. In particular, the composite [C4MIM]2[MnCl4]@ZIF-8 shows a different low-pressure selectivity trend from the original MOF, with a 33% increase in the CO2/N2 selectivity at 1 bar and 19% increase in the CO2/CH4 selectivity at 10 bar. This material shows potential for use in a post-combustion CO2 capture application that can contribute to greenhouse gas mitigation.publishersversionpublishe

MAFG is a potential therapeutic target to restore chemosensitivity in cisplatin-resistant cancer cells by increasing reactive oxygen species

Adjuvant chemotherapy for solid tumors based on platinum-derived compounds such as cisplatin is the treatment of choice in most cases. Cisplatin triggers signaling pathways that lead to cell death, but it also induces changes in tumor cells that modify the therapeutic response, thereby leading to cisplatin resistance. We have recently reported that microRNA-7 is silenced by DNA methylation and is involved in the resistance to platinum in cancer cells through the action of the musculoaponeurotic fibrosarcoma oncogene family, protein G (MAFG). In the present study, we first confirm the miR-7 epigenetic regulation of MAFG in 44 normal- and/or tumor-paired samples in non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We also provide translational evidence of the role of MAFG and the clinical outcome in NSCLC by the interrogation of two extensive in silico databases of 2019 patients. Moreover, we propose that MAFG-mediated resistance could be conferred due to lower reactive oxygen species production after cisplatin exposure. We developed specifically selected aptamers against MAFG, with high sensitivity to detect the protein at a nuclear level probed by aptacytochemistry and histochemistry analyses. The inhibition of MAFG activity through the action of the specific aptamer apMAFG6F increased the levels of reactive oxygen species production and the sensitivity to cisplatin. We report first the specific nuclear identification of MAFG as a novel detection method for diagnosis in NSCLC, and then we report that MAFG modulates the redox response and confers cell protection against free radicals generated after platinum administration, thus also being a promising therapeutic target.This study was supported by the “Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria-Instituto de Salud Carlos III” [PI15/00186 and CP 08/000689 to I.I.C. ] ; and the European Regional Development Fund/European Social Fund FIS [FEDER/FSE, Una Manera de Hacer Europa] . MINECO funds support O.V., C.R.A. and O.P.contracts through RTC-2015-4362-1 and RTC-2016-5314-1 projects

Open Universe for Blazars: A new generation of astronomical products based on 14 years of Swift -XRT data

Aims. Open Universe for Blazars is a set of high-transparency multi-frequency data products for blazar science, and the tools designed to generate them. Blazars are drawing growing interest following the consolidation of their position as the most abundant type of source in the extragalactic very high-energy γ-ray sky, and because of their status as prime candidate sources in the nascent field of multi-messenger astrophysics. As such, blazar astrophysics is becoming increasingly data driven, depending on the integration and combined analysis of large quantities of data from the entire span of observational astrophysics techniques. The project was therefore chosen as one of the pilot activities within the United Nations Open Universe Initiative, whose objective is to stimulate a large increase in the accessibility and ease of utilisation of space science data for the worldwide benefit of scientific research, education, capacity building, and citizen science. Methods. Our aim is to deliver innovative data science tools for multi-messenger astrophysics. In this work we report on a data analysis pipeline called Swift-DeepSky based on the Swift XRTDAS software and the XIMAGE package, encapsulated into a Docker container. Swift-DeepSky downloads and reads low-level data, generates higher level products, detects X-ray sources, and estimates several intensity and spectral parameters for each detection, thus facilitating the generation of complete and up-to-date science-ready catalogues from an entire space-mission data set. Results. As a first application of our innovative approach, we present the results of a detailed X-ray image analysis based on Swift-DeepSky that was run on all Swift-XRT observations including a known blazar, carried out during the first 14 years of operations of the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory. Short exposures executed within one week of each other have been added to increase sensitivity, which ranges between ∼1 × 10-12 and ∼1 × 10-14 erg cm-2 s-1 (0.3-10.0 keV). After cleaning for problematic fields, the resulting database includes over 27 000 images integrated in different X-ray bands, and a catalogue, called 1OUSXB, that provides intensity and spectral information for 33 396 X-ray sources, 8896 of which are single or multiple detections of 2308 distinct blazars. All the results can be accessed online in a variety of ways, from the Open Universe portal through Virtual Observatory services, via the VOU-Blazar tool and the SSDC SED builder. One of the most innovative aspects of this work is that the results can be easily reproduced and extended by anyone using the Docker version of the Swift-DeepSky pipeline, which runs on Linux, Mac, and Windows machines, and does not require any specific experience in X-ray data analysis.Fil: Giommi, Paolo. Università di Roma; Italia. International Center For Relativistic Astrophysics; Italia. Universitat Technical Zu Munich; AlemaniaFil: Brandt, C. H.. International Center For Relativistic Astrophysics; Italia. Jacobs University; AlemaniaFil: Barres de Almeida, U.. International Center For Relativistic Astrophysics; Italia. Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Físicas; BrasilFil: Pollock, A. M. T.. University of Sheffield; Reino UnidoFil: Arneodo, F.. New York University Abu Dhabi; Arabia SauditaFil: Chang, Y. L.. International Center For Relativistic Astrophysics; ItaliaFil: Civitarese, Enrique Osvaldo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Física La Plata. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Instituto de Física La Plata; ArgentinaFil: de Angelis, Maria Cruz. Università di Roma; ItaliaFil: D'Elia, V.. Space Science Data Center; Italia. Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma; ItaliaFil: Del Rio Vera, J.. United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs; AustraliaFil: Di Pippo, S.. United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs; AustraliaFil: Middei, Riccardo. Università di Roma; ItaliaFil: Penacchioni, Ana Virginia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Física La Plata. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Instituto de Física La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Perri, M.. Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma; Italia. Space Science Data Center; ItaliaFil: Ruffini, Remo. International Center For Relativistic Astrophysics; ItaliaFil: Sahakyan, Narek. International Centre For Relativistic Astrophysics Network; ArmeniaFil: Turriziani, Sara. Computational Astrophysics Laboratory; Japó

Plan de negocios para implementar ?Cuid@r-T? empresa de servicios de cuidados paliativos para pacientes con enfermedades cr?nicas avanzadas y/o terminales en Lima

El presente trabajo tiene por objetivo un Plan de Negocios para Implementar un Servicio de Cuidados Paliativos para Pacientes con Enfermedades Cr?nicas Avanzadas y/o terminales en la ciudad de Lima, que oferte servicios de salud especializados a domicilio y por teleconsulta. La empresa se ubicar? en la ciudad de Lima, donde se proyecta una demanda potencial en uso del servicio de 6,384 hogares. Los servicios a desarrollarse teleconsultas, servicios de enfermer?a a domicilio, administraci?n de medicamentos, terapias complementarias a la atenci?n m?dica y alquiler de equipos. Se ha calculado una inversi?n de S/. 542,686. A partir del an?lisis de costos, se determin? el estado de p?rdidas y ganancias por a?o con rendimiento m?nimo del 20% manej?ndose esta tasa como el costo de los fondos obteni?ndose un VAN de S/ 27,591. Los riesgos asumidos en el contexto macroentorno o riesgo pa?s definimos el escenario probable de participaci?n de mercado en el primer a?o del 2.3%, siendo los escenarios extremos (optimista y pesimista de 2.4% y 1.8% respectivamente). Se concluye que una empresa dedicada a brindar servicios de cuidados paliativos y de fin de vida es viable en t?rminos de mercado y financiero atractivas en t?rminos de inversi?n interna

First radial velocity results from the MINiature Exoplanet Radial Velocity Array (MINERVA)

The MINiature Exoplanet Radial Velocity Array (MINERVA) is a dedicated observatory of four 0.7m robotic telescopes fiber-fed to a KiwiSpec spectrograph. The MINERVA mission is to discover super-Earths in the habitable zones of nearby stars. This can be accomplished with MINERVA's unique combination of high precision and high cadence over long time periods. In this work, we detail changes to the MINERVA facility that have occurred since our previous paper. We then describe MINERVA's robotic control software, the process by which we perform 1D spectral extraction, and our forward modeling Doppler pipeline. In the process of improving our forward modeling procedure, we found that our spectrograph's intrinsic instrumental profile is stable for at least nine months. Because of that, we characterized our instrumental profile with a time-independent, cubic spline function based on the profile in the cross dispersion direction, with which we achieved a radial velocity precision similar to using a conventional "sum-of-Gaussians" instrumental profile: 1.8 m s$^{-1}$ over 1.5 months on the RV standard star HD 122064. Therefore, we conclude that the instrumental profile need not be perfectly accurate as long as it is stable. In addition, we observed 51 Peg and our results are consistent with the literature, confirming our spectrograph and Doppler pipeline are producing accurate and precise radial velocities.Comment: 22 pages, 9 figures, submitted to PASP, Peer-Reviewed and Accepte

Digital endpoints in clinical trials of Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative diseases: challenges and opportunities.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) and other neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease (PD) and Huntington's disease (HD) are associated with progressive cognitive, motor, affective and consequently functional decline considerably affecting Activities of Daily Living (ADL) and quality of life. Standard assessments, such as questionnaires and interviews, cognitive testing, and mobility assessments, lack sensitivity, especially in early stages of neurodegenerative diseases and in the disease progression, and have therefore a limited utility as outcome measurements in clinical trials. Major advances in the last decade in digital technologies have opened a window of opportunity to introduce digital endpoints into clinical trials that can reform the assessment and tracking of neurodegenerative symptoms. The Innovative Health Initiative (IMI)-funded projects RADAR-AD (Remote assessment of disease and relapse-Alzheimer's disease), IDEA-FAST (Identifying digital endpoints to assess fatigue, sleep and ADL in neurodegenerative disorders and immune-mediated inflammatory diseases) and Mobilise-D (Connecting digital mobility assessment to clinical outcomes for regulatory and clinical endorsement) aim to identify digital endpoints relevant for neurodegenerative diseases that provide reliable, objective, and sensitive evaluation of disability and health-related quality of life. In this article, we will draw from the findings and experiences of the different IMI projects in discussing (1) the value of remote technologies to assess neurodegenerative diseases; (2) feasibility, acceptability and usability of digital assessments; (3) challenges related to the use of digital tools; (4) public involvement and the implementation of patient advisory boards; (5) regulatory learnings; and (6) the significance of inter-project exchange and data- and algorithm-sharing

A randomized phase II clinical trial of dendritic cell vaccination following complete resection of colon cancer liver metastasis

Surgically resectable synchronic and metachronic liver metastases of colon cancer have high risk of relapse in spite of standard-of-care neoadjuvant and adjuvant chemotherapy regimens. Dendritic cell vaccines loaded with autologous tumor lysates were tested for their potential to avoid or delay disease relapses (NCT01348256). Patients with surgically amenable liver metastasis of colon adenocarcinoma (n = 19) were included and underwent neoadjuvant chemotherapy, surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy. Fifteen patients with disease-free resection margins were randomized 1:1 to receive two courses of four daily doses of dendritic cell intradermal vaccinations versus observation. The trial had been originally designed to include 56 patients but was curtailed due to budgetary restrictions. Follow-up of the patients indicates a clear tendency to fewer and later relapses in the vaccine arm (median disease free survival –DFS-) 25.26 months, 95% CI 8. 74-n.r) versus observation arm (median DFS 9.53 months, 95% CI 5.32–18.88)

XIV Colóquio Internacional de Psicologia e Educação - Atas

Realizou-se no ISPA – Instituto Universitário, o XIV Colóquio Internacional de Psicologia e Educação, subordinado ao tema geral “Educar Hoje: Diálogos entre Psicologia, Educação e Currículo”, nos dias 9 e 10 de julho de 2018 realizou-se em Lisboa. A organização do evento esteve a cabo do Departamento de Psicologia da Educação e o Centro de Investigação em Educação do ISPA-Instituto Universitário (CIE-ISPA). Foram objetivos deste Colóquio: a) promover o encontro entre profissionais da Psicologia e da Educação no âmbito da investigação e da intervenção, desde a educação de infância ao ensino superior, b) promover trocas interdisciplinares que levassem à partilha de conhecimento e à divulgação de práticas em contextos educativos, formais ou informais. Este Livro de Atas conta com contribuições de especialistas de várias partes do mundo, e explora uma variedade de temas, nomeadamente: Avaliação em Contexto Educativo, Contextos Educativos e Comportamentos, Contextos sociais e Desenvolvimento, Diversidade e Educação, Educação, Família(s) e Comunidade, Ensinar e Aprender, Interculturalidade e Educação, Literacia e Educação, Motivação e Emoções e Problemáticas do Currículo, que examinam novas sinergias, na procura do alargamento e partilha de conhecimentos e práticas. Com a divulgação deste volume espera-se disponibilizar informação que possa contribuir para um aprofundamento da reflexão das temáticas abordadas, sendo que os conteúdos apresentados são da responsabilidade dos seus autores. Agradecemos a todos aqueles que tornaram possível a realização deste Colóquio Internacional, em particular aos participantes e oradores convidados. Agradecemos ao ISPA-Instituto Universitário pelo apoio institucional bem como ao CIE-ISPA pelo suporte científico e organizativo. Agradecemos ainda a todos os colaboradores do ISPA, estudantes e professores que nos ajudaram a realizar com sucesso este evento. Com a colaboração deste leque diversificado de pessoas e estruturas, a quem renovamos o agradecimento, foi possível atingir o nosso objetivo também traduzido neste Livro de Atas A Coordenação do XIV Colóquio Internacional de Psicologia e Educaçãoinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio