Aprovechamiento del bagazo de piña para obtener celulosa y bioetanol

Actualmente se están buscando nuevas alternativas energéticas a partir de biomasa, recursos renovables y desechos agroindustriales, para desarrollar nuevas tecnologías y procesos en la obtención de biocombustibles. El objetivo fue obtener celulosa y bio-etanol del bagazo de piña (desecho agrícola). El aprovechamiento de este bagazo evitará el consumo de cultivos destinados a la alimentación, evitando el uso excesivo de tierras y el empleo de residuos orgánicos agroindustriales. Además, el producto obtenido tiene un valor agregado y podría convertirse en un beneficio para los productores de piña. La finalidad fue estudiar un proceso para extraer celulosa del bagazo de piña, y mediante hidrólisis ácida de celulosa y bagazo se obtuvo glucosa. Esta glucosa se neutralizó a pH de 5 y se realizó la fermentación en un medio anaeróbico, utilizando el microorganismo Saccharomyces cerevisiae, variando tiempos de fermentación (36, 40, 48 y 72 h) y manteniendo la temperatura a 30ºC. La celulosa obtenida presentó una conversión del 60% y mediante FTIR se corroboró que la celulosa fue tipo II. Se obtuvo bio-etanol mediante destilación, presentando un rendimiento del 35% con bagazo y del 57% con celulosa con un tiempo de fermentación de 48 y 72 h, respectivamente

Reengineering Tumor Microenvironment with Sequential Interleukin Delivery

Some cytokines can reengineer anti-tumor immunity to modify the tumor micro-environment. Interleukin-27 (IL-27) can partially reduce tumor growth in several animal models, including prostate cancer. We hypothesized that addition of IL-18, which can induce the proliferation of several immune effector cells through inducing IFNγ could synergize with IL-27 to enhance tumor growth control. We describe our findings on the effects of IL-27 gene delivery on prostate cancer cells and how sequential therapy with IL-18 enhanced the efficacy of IL-27. The combination of IL-27 followed by IL-18 (27→18) successfully reduced cancer cell viability, with significant effects in cell culture and in an immunocompetent mouse model. We also examined a novel chimeric cytokine, comprising an IL-27 targeted at the C-terminus with a short peptide, LSLITRL (27pepL). This novel cytokine targets a receptor upregulated in tumor cells (IL-6Rα) via the pepL ligand. Interestingly, when we compared the 27→18 combination with the single 27pepL therapy, we observed a similar efficacy for both. This efficacy was further enhanced when 27pepL was sequenced with IL-18 (27pepL→18). The observed reduction in tumor growth and significantly enriched canonical pathways and upstream regulators, as well as specific immune effector signatures (as determined by bioinformatics analyses in the tumor microenvironment) supported the therapeutic design, whereby IL-27 or 27pepL can be more effective when delivered with IL-18. This cytokine sequencing approach allows flexible incorporation of both gene delivery and recombinant cytokines as tools to augment IL-27’s bioactivity and reengineer efficacy against prostate tumors and may prove applicable in other therapeutic settings

Tuberous sclerosis: literature review and case report

Tuberous sclerosis (TS) or Bourneville’s disease is a rare, multisystemic genetic disorder. It involves alterations to ectodermal and mesodermal cell differentiation and proliferation, causing benign hamartomatous tumors, neurofibromas and angiofibromas in the brain and other vital organs including the kidney, heart, eyes, lungs, skin and mucosa. It also affects the central nervous system and produces neurological dysfunctions such as seizures, mental retardation and behavior disorders. Tuberous (rootshaped) growths develop in the brain, and calcify over time, becoming hard and sclerotic, hence the name given to the disease. Although inheritance is autosomal dominant, 60-70% of cases occur through spontaneous mutations. The disease is related to some mutations or alterations in two genes, named TSC1 and TSC2. Discovered in 1997, TSC1 is located on chromosome 9q34 and produces a protein called hamartin. TSC2, discovered in 1993, is located on chromosome 16p13 and produces a protein called tuberin. The prevalence of the disease is 1/6000-10,000 live newborns, and it is estimated that there are 1-2 million sufferers worldwide. This paper presents a literature review and a family case report of a mother and two of her daughters with oral features of TS

Poly I:C-priming of adipose-derived mesenchymal stromal cells promotes a pro-tumorigenic phenotype in an immunocompetent mouse model of prostate cancer

Introduction: Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) are envisioned as a potential cellular vehicle for targeted cancer therapies due to their tumor tropism and immune permissiveness. An obstacle in their use is the duality in their interactions within tumors, rendering them pro-tumorigenic or anti-tumorigenic, in a context dependent manner. MSC preconditioning, or priming, has been proposed as a strategy for directing the effector properties of MSC at tumor sites.Methods: We primed human MSC derived from adipose tissues (ASC), a clinically advantageous MSC source, utilizing toll-like receptor agonists. Subsequently, we explored the consequences in tumor progression and transcriptome upon the interaction of tumor cells with primed or unprimed ASC in an in vivo model of prostate cancer, the second most common cancer and second leading cause of cancer related death in men in the USA.Results and discussion: In the studied model, poly I:C-primed ASC were found to significantly accelerate tumor growth progression. And while unprimed and LPS-primed ASC did not exert a significant effect on tumor growth at the macroscopic level, gene expression analyses suggested that all treatments promoted distinct modulatory effects in the tumor microenvironment, including altered modulation of angiogenesis, and immune response processes. However, the effects resulting from the collective interaction across these processes must be sufficiently skewed in a pro-tumorigenic or anti-tumorigenic direction for evidence of tumor progression modulation to be detectable at the macroscopic level. Our study highlights potential MSC-tumor microenvironment interactions that may be leveraged and should be considered in the development of cancer therapeutics utilizing MSC

Situation, challenges, and SEOM recommendations for the future of undergraduate education in Oncology in Spain

Purpose The Spanish Society of Medical Oncology (SEOM, for its Spanish acronym) would like to attest to the relevance of training in Oncology as part of the undergraduate education in Medicine program and issue recommendations to improve said training, with the aim of responding better to the challenges that cancer poses to our society. Materials and methods The curricula of 42 schools of medicine were reviewed with interviews with at least one teaching medical oncologist from each faculty. The qualitative and opinion analysis was completed by means of an online questionnaire targeting lecturers, resident tutors, and residents in Medical Oncology (MO), enabling the detection of needs and areas for improvement at an organizational level and in terms of skill acquisition. Results While the number of medical schools with a specific, mandatory program in MO has grown by up to 90%, it has not been accompanied by an increase in independent programs. Instead, they largely consist of programs shared with other specialties (61% of the medical faculties). In most of the undergraduate education programs, Oncology contents are fragmented and approached from the perspective of each organ system. Conclusions Despite the positive evolution in recent years, the heterogeneity in Oncology contents during undergraduate education training continues to be remarkable. Cross-sectional programs with an integral vision, taught in the final years of undergraduate medical education would be desirable. Among the recommendations for improvement of training in Medical Oncology, the SEOM proposes that updated, theoretical content be incorporated and clinical practice in Medical Oncology departments be promotedThis study was funded as an unrestricted grant by Jansse

Intermediate Resolution Near-Infrared Spectroscopy of 36 late-M Dwarfs

We present observations of 36 late-M dwarfs obtained with the KeckII/NIRSPEC in the J-band at a resolution of \sim20,000. We have measured projected rotational velocities, absolute radial velocities, and pseudo-equivalent widths of atomic lines. 12 of our targets did not have previous measurements in the literature. For the other 24 targets, we confirm previously reported measurements. We find that 13 stars from our sample have vsini below our measurement threshold (12 km/s) whereas four of our targets are fast rotators (vsini > 30 km/s). As fast rotation causes spectral features to be washed out, stars with low projected rotational velocities are sought for radial velocity surveys. At our intermediate spectral resolution we have confirmed the identification of neutral atomic lines reported in Mclean et al. 2007. We also calculated pseudo-equivalent widths (p-EW) of 12 atomic lines. Our results confirm that the p-EW of K I lines are strongly dependent on spectral types. We observe that the p-EW of Fe I and Mn I lines remain fairly constant with later spectral type. We suggest that those lines are particularly suitable for deriving metallicities for late-M dwarfs.Comment: accepted in Astronomical Journal. 30 pages, 7 tables, and 7 figure

Stated benefits from urban afforestation in an arid city: a contingent valuation in Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico

The pervasiveness of particulate matter in arid cities has yet to be discussed and tackled. Given that urban trees have been documented to provide air-filtering and dry deposition services, this study documents the stated benefits from an urban afforestation scenario in Mexicali –an arid city located northwest Mexico at the US-Mexico border. Our doublebounded dichotomous contingent valuation protocol yields an estimated average annual willingness to pay (WTP) of USD 88 per household. Variations in the WTP are associated with perception of air quality and presence of respiratory symptoms in the respondent’s household. The smallest WTP (USD 75) is reported by respondents perceiving poor air quality in their neighborhood and with no household members affected by respiratory symptoms. In contrast, respondents perceiving good air quality and with at least one household member facing respiratory symptoms reported a WTP of USD 99. The average stated benefits represent around 0.8% of the annual household income