Essential oils of clove (
Syzygium aromaticum L.), fennel (
Foeniculum vulgare Miller), cypress (
Cupressus sempervirens L.), lavender (
Lavandula angustifolia), thyme (
Thymus vulgaris L.), ...herb-of-the-cross (
Verbena officinalis L.), pine (
Pinus sylvestris) and rosemary (
Rosmarinus officinalis) were tested for their antimicrobial activity on 18 genera of bacteria, which included some important food pathogen and spoilage bacteria. Clove essential oil showed the highest inhibitory effect, followed by rosemary and lavender. In an attempt to evaluate the usefulness of these essential oils as food preservatives, they were also tested on an extract made of fish, where clove and thyme essential oils were the most effective. Then, gelatin–chitosan-based edible films incorporated with clove essential oil were elaborated and their antimicrobial activity tested against six selected microorganisms:
Pseudomonas fluorescens,
Shewanella putrefaciens,
Photobacterium phosphoreum,
Listeria innocua,
Escherichia coli and
Lactobacillus acidophilus. The clove-containing films inhibited all these microorganisms irrespectively of the film matrix or type of microorganism. In a further experiment, when the complex gelatin–chitosan film incorporating clove essential oil was applied to fish during chilled storage, the growth of microorganisms was drastically reduced in gram-negative bacteria, especially enterobacteria, while lactic acid bacteria remained practically constant for much of the storage period. The effect on the microorganisms during this period was in accordance with biochemical indexes of quality, indicating the viability of these films for fish preservation.
Yebes 40m radio telescope is the main and largest observing instrument at Yebes Observatory and it is devoted to Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) and single dish observations since 2010. It ...has been covering frequency bands between 2 GHz and 90 GHz in discontinuous and narrow windows in most of the cases, to match the current needs of the European VLBI Network (EVN) and the Global Millimeter VLBI Array (GMVA).
Nanocosmos project, a European Union funded synergy grant, opened the possibility to increase the instantaneous frequency coverage to observe many molecular transitions with single tunnings in single dish mode. This reduces the observing time and maximises the output from the telescope.
We present the technical specifications of the recently installed 31.5 - 50GHz (Q band) and 72 - 90.5 GHz (W band) receivers along with the main characteristics of the telescope at these frequency ranges. We have observed IRC+10216, CRL 2688 and CRL 618, which harbour a rich molecular chemistry, to demonstrate the capabilities of the new instrumentation for spectral observations in single dish mode.
The results show the high sensitivity of the telescope in the Q band. The spectrum of IRC+10126 offers a signal to noise ratio never seen before for this source in this band. On the other hand, the spectrum normalised by the continuum flux towards CRL 618 in the W band demonstrates that the 40 m radio telescope produces comparable results to those from the IRAM 30 m radio telescope, although with a smaller sensitivity. The new receivers fulfil one of the main goals of Nanocosmos and open the possibility to study the spectrum of different astrophysical media with unprecedented sensitivity.
Bacteraemia due to carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae is an emerging medical problem. Management of this entity is complicated by the difficulty in Identifying resistance patterns and the ...limited therapeutic options. A cohort study was performed including all episodes of bloodstream infection due to OXA-48-producing Enterobacteriaceae (O48PE), occurring between July 2010 and April 2012. Data on predisposing factors, clinical presentation, therapy and outcome were collected from medical records. There were 40 cases of bacteraemia caused by O48PE, 35 Klebsiella pneumoniae and five Escherichia coli. Patients were elderly with significant comorbidities (57.5% underlying malignancy). Thirty-five cases (87.5%) were nosocomial, and five (12.5%) were healthcare-associated. Patients had frequently been exposed to antibiotics and to invasive procedures during hospitalization. The most common source of bacteraemia was the urinary tract followed by deep intra-abdominal surgical site infection. Clinical presentation was severe sepsis or shock in 18 cases (45%). Extended-spectrum β-lactamase production was detected in 92.5% of isolates. MIC90 for ertapenem, imipenem and meropenem were 32, 16 and 16 mg/L, respectively. Most frequently preserved antibiotics were amikacin, colistin, tigecycline and fosfomycin. These antibiotics combined are the basis of targeted therapies, including carbapenem in selected cases. Median delay in starting clinically adequate and microbiologically appropriate treatment was 3 days. Crude mortality during admission and within 30 days from bacteraemia was 65% and 50%, respectively. Bloodstream infections caused by O48PE have a poor prognosis. Delay in diagnosis and in initiation of optimal antimicrobial therapy is frequent. Suspicion and rapid identification could contribute to improving outcomes.
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Acute kidney injury (AKI) is one of the most serious complications of cisplatin anticancer therapies. Cilastatin is a highly promising nephroprotective agent to eventually enter ...clinical use, but its biochemical mechanism is still not fully understood. We have employed an untargeted metabolomics approach based on capillary electrophoresis mass spectrometry (CE-MS) analysis of serum and urine from an in vivo rat model, to explore the metabolic pathways involved in cisplatin-induced AKI and cilastatin nephroprotection. A total of 155 and 76 identified metabolites were found to be significantly altered during cisplatin treatment in urine and serum, respectively. Most of these altered metabolites were either partially or totally recovered by cilastatin and cisplatin co-treatment. The main metabolic pathways disturbed by cisplatin during AKI involved diverse amino acids metabolism and biosynthesis, tricarboxylic acids (TCA) cycle, nicotinate and nicotinamide metabolism, among others. Cilastatin was proved to protect diverse cisplatin-altered pathways involving metabolites related to immunomodulation, inflammation, oxidative stress and amino acid metabolism in proximal tubules. However, cisplatin-altered mitochondrial metabolism (especially, the energy-producing TCA cycle) remained largely unprotected by cilastatin, suggesting an unresolved mitochondrial direct damage. Multivariate analysis allowed effective discrimination of cisplatin-induced AKI and cilastatin renoprotection based on metabolic features. A number of potential serum and urine biomarkers could also be foreseen for cisplatin-induced AKI detection and cilastatin nephroprotection.
Water pollution by dyes is a huge environmental problem; there is a necessity to produce new decolorization methods that are effective, cost-attractive, and acceptable in industrial use. Magnetic ...cyclodextrin polymers offer the advantage of easy separation from the dye solution. In this work, the β-CD-EPI-magnetic (β-cyclodextrin-epichlorohydrin) polymer was synthesized, characterized, and tested for removal of the azo dye Direct Red 83:1 from water, and the fraction of non-adsorbed dye was degraded by an advanced oxidation process. The polymer was characterized in terms of the particle size distribution and surface morphology (FE-SEM), elemental analysis (EA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), infrared spectrophotometry (IR), and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD). The reported results hint that 0.5 g and pH 5.0 were the best conditions to carry out both kinetic and isotherm models. A 30 min contact time was needed to reach equilibrium with a qmax of 32.0 mg/g. The results indicated that the pseudo-second-order and intraparticle diffusion models were involved in the assembly of Direct Red 83:1 onto the magnetic adsorbent. Regarding the isotherms discussed, the Freundlich model correctly reproduced the experimental data so that adsorption was confirmed to take place onto heterogeneous surfaces. The calculation of the thermodynamic parameters further demonstrates the spontaneous character of the adsorption phenomena (ΔG° = −27,556.9 J/mol) and endothermic phenomena (ΔH° = 8757.1 J/mol) at 25 °C. Furthermore, a good reusability of the polymer was evidenced after six cycles of regeneration, with a negligible decline in the adsorption extent (10%) regarding its initial capacity. Finally, the residual dye in solution after treatment with magnetic adsorbents was degraded by using an advanced oxidation process (AOP) with pulsed light and hydrogen peroxide (343 mg/L); >90% of the dye was degraded after receiving a fluence of 118 J/cm2; the discoloration followed a pseudo first-order kinetics where the degradation rate was 0.0196 cm2/J. The newly synthesized β-CD-EPI-magnetic polymer exhibited good adsorption properties and separability from water which, when complemented with a pulsed light-AOP, may offer a good alternative to remove dyes such as Direct Red 83:1 from water. It allows for the reuse of both the polymer and the dye in the dyeing process.
Context.
The carbon-rich envelope of the asymptotic giant branch star CW Leo, IRC+10216, is one of the richest molecular sources in the sky. Available spectral surveys below 51 GHz are more than 25 ...years old, and new work is needed.
Aims.
Characterizing the rich molecular content of this source, specially for heavy species, requires carrying out very sensitive spectral surveys at low frequencies. In particular, we have achieved an rms in the range 0.2−0.6 mK per MHz.
Methods.
Long
Q
band (31.0−50.3 GHz) single-dish integrations were carried out with the Yebes-40m telescope using specifically built receivers. The most recent line catalogs were used to identify the lines.
Results.
The data contain 652 spectral features, corresponding to 713 transitions from 81 species (we count the isomers, isotopologs, and ortho/para species separately). Only 57 unidentified lines remain with signal-to-noise ratios ≥3. Some new species and/or vibrational modes have been discovered for the first time with this survey.
Conclusions.
This IRC+10216 spectral survey is by far the most sensitive survey carried out to date in the
Q
band. It therefore provides the most complete view of IRC+10216 from 31.0 to 50.3 GHz, giving unique information about its molecular content, especially for heavy species. Rotational diagrams built from the data provide valuable information about the physical conditions and chemical content of this circumstellar envelope.
Mango industry processing generates high quantities of mango by-products such as peels and seeds (35%–60% of the fruit). Indeed, it is known that mango and its by-products contain different families ...of bioactive compounds that possess several health benefits. Thus, the aim of this study has been the determination of different families of phenolic derivatives (free and bound phenolic compounds and alk(en)ylresorcinols (ARs)) in mango edible part and its by-products (peel, seed and seed husk) from three different cultivars. This is the first study that evaluates the phenolic compounds and ARs in the four fractions of mango of three different cultivars. Special attention has been paid to the determination of anthocyanins and ARs, because these families of compounds had not been studied in depth in mango. In fact, petunidin rutinoside-(p-coumaric acid) gallate was found in mango pulp, peel, seed and seed husk of the three cultivars and, it had never been described in mango before. It is also important to highlight that this is the first time that the identification and quantification of ARs have been performed in mango seed and seed husk; besides, four and five out of eleven alk(en)ylresorcinols detected in peel and pulp, respectively, were identified for the first time in these mango fractions. Furthermore, antioxidant activity was measured by ABTS and FRAP assays. Seed free and bound phenolic extracts showed the highest antioxidant capacity.
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•First evaluation of phenolics and ARs in 4 fractions of mango of 3 different cultivars•Petunidin rutinoside-(p-coumaric acid) gallate was found in mango for the first time.•First determination of ARs in mango seed and seed husk•Four and five out of eleven alk(en)ylresorcinols detected in peel and pulp were new.
Gut microbiota represents a therapeutic target for obesity. We hypothesize that B. uniformis CECT 7771 combined with wheat bran extract (WBE), its preferred carbon source, may exert superior ...anti-obesity effects. We performed a 17-week intervention in diet-induced obese mice receiving either B. uniformis, WBE, or their combination to identify interactions and independent actions on metabolism and immunity. B. uniformis combined with WBE was the most effective intervention, curbing weight gain and adiposity, while exerting more modest effects separately. The combination restored insulin-dependent metabolic routes in fat and liver, although the bacterium was the primary driver for improving whole-body glucose disposal. Moreover, B. uniformis-combined with WBE caused the highest increases in butyrate and restored the proportion of induced intraepithelial lymphocytes and type-3 innate lymphoid cells in the intestinal epithelium. Thus, strengthening the first line of immune defense against unhealthy diets and associated dysbiosis in the intestine. This intervention also attenuated the altered IL22 signaling and liver inflammation. Our study shows opportunities for employing B. uniformis, combined with WBE, to aid in the treatment of obesity.
Platelets have a well-recognized role in hemostasis and thrombosis, and they are important amplifiers of inflammation and innate immune responses. The formation of DNA extracellular traps (ETs) is a ...complex cellular mechanism, which occurs in response to microbial infections and sterile inflammation, and results in the release of DNA complexed with histones and various granular proteins. ETs were first discovered in neutrophils (NETs); however, it is now accepted that other leukocytes, including eosinophils (EETs) and monocytes/macrophages (MoETs/METs), can also generate them. Moreover, several types of ETs have been described.
Increasing evidence has demonstrated that platelets modulate the formation of ETs. This review summarizes recent findings about the physiopathological role of platelets in the formation of ETs during infection and future perspectives in the field.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
The gas diffusion layer (GDL) is one of the most important parts of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell, that plays a key role transporting the current to the collector plates, distributing the ...reactant gases to the catalyst surface, and evacuating heat and water that is generated during the redox reactions inside the fuel cell. Speaking in terms of production cost, the GDL represents up to 45% of the total cost of the membrane electrode assembling (MEA). However, and despite its crucial role in a fuel cell, until recent years, the GDLs have not been studied with the same intensity as other MEA components, such as the catalyst or the proton exchange membrane. In this work, we present the production process, at laboratory scale, of a low cost GDL, using a non-woven paper-making process. A relevant aspect of this GDL is that up to 40% of their composition is natural cotton, despite which they present good electrical and thermal conductivity, high porosity, good pore morphology, high hydrophobicity as well as gas permeability. Furthermore, when the GDL with its optimum cotton content was tested in a single open cathode fuel cell, a good performance was obtained, which makes this GDL a promising candidate for its use in fuel cells.
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