Supramolecular solvents (SUPRASs) are gaining momentum in the multi-residue analysis of liquid samples thanks to the delimited hydrophilic and hydrophobic microenvironments in their nanostructures. ...In this work, SUPRASs with increased hydrophilicity were synthesized with the aim of enhancing the extractability of polar compounds. For this purpose, a double-headed amphiphile, 1,2-decanediol, was self-assembled in hydro-organic media in the presence and absence of sodium chloride. The SUPRASs formed, characterized by scanning electron microscopy, consisted of sponge droplets made up of a highly convoluted three-dimensional (3D) network of amphiphile. The network contained interconnected bilayers that were intersected by similarly interconnected aqueous channels with high and nearly constant water content (∼30%, w/w). Both the inherently open structure of the sponge morphology and the increased hydrophilic-hydrophobic balance of the amphiphile, provided highly hydrophilic microenvironments into the aggregates that rendered in increased recovery factors for 15 perfluorinated compounds (PFCs, C4–C18, log Pow values from 0.4 to 11.6) in natural waters. Extraction took 15 min without further clean-up or evaporation of extracts which were readily compatible with LC-MS/MS quantitation. Absolute recoveries for PFCs, at the level of a few ng L−1, were in the range 70–120%, except for perfluoropentanoic acid (40%) and perfluorobutane sulfonic acid (51%). Detection limits for PFCs in water were in the range 0.01–0.02 ng L−1, which allowed their determination in slightly polluted waters (0.07–2.33 ng L−1). This work proves that hydrophilicity in SUPRASs can be tailored through the amphiphile and the morphology of their aggregates, and that this characteristic improves compound extractability in multi-residue analysis.
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•Double-headed amphiphile-based sponge droplets are characterized as novel extractants.•These SUPRAS are made by self-assembly of 1,2-decanediol in hydro-organic media.•They consist in a highly convoluted 3D network of amphiphile with aqueous channels.•They offer good extraction capabilities for compounds in a wide polarity range.•A rapid and simple method for determination of PFCs (C4–C18) in waters is proposed.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared obesity as a 21st-century epidemic after reaching global proportions. In Spain, this disease is suffered by 62% of the population, leading to the ...emergence of new health problems. Increasing childhood obesity in the world is a direct result of changes in the lifestyles of the population. Therefore, in this paper we present a gamification training program to prevent childhood obesity based on motor games, and active videogames developed for overweight children ages 8–12. The design of the program consisted of: group sessions in a school setting, individual sessions at home for the children, and developing healthy habits to help families. The motivation and the effectiveness of the gamification training program were studied. The results involving biometric variables, learning healthy habits and experience in the intervention were highly satisfactory.
•We design a training program based on a GBL and gamification approaches.•We work in formal and informal contexts (school and home) as informal learning.•We present a cuasi-experimental study developed with children from 8 to 12 years old.•We analyze the experience from different dimensions (medical, learning and UX).
•Supramolecular solvents and dispersive SPE are firstly combined for sample treatment.•The approach is tested in the determination of ionophore coccidiostats in foodstuff.•SUPRAS removes proteins and ...carbohydrates and dSPE fats and other organic compounds.•Single-step sample treatment with no further clean-up or evaporation steps required.•Fully validated LC-MS/MS method for determining ionophores in all legislated foods.
A single-step sample treatment, for the simultaneous extraction and clean-up for the determination of ionophore coccidiostats in EU legislated foodstuffs, is here proposed. The treatment is based on the combination of: (i) a supramolecular solvent with restricted access properties (SUPRAS-RAM), spontaneously formed by the addition of hexanol, water and THF to the sample; and (ii) dispersive solid phase extraction (dSPE). The SUPRAS-RAM extract was directly compatible with LC-MS/MS and no further re-extraction, evaporation or cleanup procedures were necessary. SUPRAS-RAM efficiently extracted the ionophores (recoveries in milk, eggs, fat, liver, kidney, and chicken and beef muscle were in the range 71–112%) and removed proteins and carbohydrates, whereas dSPE removed fats and other lipophilic compounds. The method was validated following the European Commission Decision 2002/657/EC. Detection limits (0.004–0.07 µg kg−1) were far below the maximum residue limits (1–150 µg kg−1). Method analytical and operational characteristics were suitable for routine determination of ionophores.
Background
Prader–Willi syndrome (PWS), a genetically determined disorder, the most frequent cause of early onset obesity, is associated with physical and cognitive dysfunctions and behavioural ...disturbances; these disturbances are frequently treated with psychotropic medication. The aim of this cross‐sectional study was to describe the characteristics of the first large national sample of persons with PWS in Spain and analyse the relationships of those characteristics with key demographic and clinical factors, particularly with obesity and the regular use of psychotropic medication.
Methods
Participants were recruited among all members of the Spanish Prader–Willi Association who agreed to take part in the study and fulfilled its inclusion criteria. Family and patient demographic features, family size and birth order, intelligence quotient (IQ), anthropometric measures, lifestyle habits, behavioural disturbances (with the Aberrant Behavior Checklist) and clinical data, as well as use of psychotropic drugs and their side effects (with the UKU scale), were collected in genetically confirmed cases of PWS. Bivariate and logistic regression analyses were used for determining the associations of demographic and clinical factors with both obesity and the regular use of psychotropic medication.
Results
The cohort included 177 participants (aged 6–48 years), that is, 90 (50.8%) males and 87 (49.2%) females. Behavioural disturbances were present in a range of 75% to 93% of participants; psychotropic medication was prescribed to 81 (45.8%) of them. Number of siblings showed a direct correlation with IQ, especially among males, and inappropriate speech was more intense in only‐child females. Obesity was, in parallel, strongly associated with ascending age and with not being currently under growth hormone (GH) treatment. Participants taking any psychotropic medication were characterised by more frequent age ≥30 years, high level of hyperactivity and a psychiatric diagnosis.
Conclusions
Characterisation of persons with PWS in Spain confirms their physical and behavioural phenotype and supports the long‐term application of GH therapy and the rational use of psychotropic medication.
ABSTRACT
At 66 Mpc, AT2019qiz is the closest optical tidal disruption event (TDE) to date, with a luminosity intermediate between the bulk of the population and the faint-and-fast event iPTF16fnl. ...Its proximity allowed a very early detection and triggering of multiwavelength and spectroscopic follow-up well before maximum light. The velocity dispersion of the host galaxy and fits to the TDE light curve indicate a black hole mass ≈106 M⊙, disrupting a star of ≈1 M⊙. By analysing our comprehensive UV, optical, and X-ray data, we show that the early optical emission is dominated by an outflow, with a luminosity evolution L ∝ t2, consistent with a photosphere expanding at constant velocity (≳2000 km s−1), and a line-forming region producing initially blueshifted H and He ii profiles with v = 3000–10 000 km s−1. The fastest optical ejecta approach the velocity inferred from radio detections (modelled in a forthcoming companion paper from K. D. Alexander et al.), thus the same outflow may be responsible for both the fast optical rise and the radio emission – the first time this connection has been observed in a TDE. The light-curve rise begins 29 ± 2 d before maximum light, peaking when the photosphere reaches the radius where optical photons can escape. The photosphere then undergoes a sudden transition, first cooling at constant radius then contracting at constant temperature. At the same time, the blueshifts disappear from the spectrum and Bowen fluorescence lines (N iii) become prominent, implying a source of far-UV photons, while the X-ray light curve peaks at ≈1041 erg s−1. Assuming that these X-rays are from prompt accretion, the size and mass of the outflow are consistent with the reprocessing layer needed to explain the large optical to X-ray ratio in this and other optical TDEs, possibly favouring accretion-powered over collision-powered outflow models.
Introduction
Indomethacin, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory treatment used in various inflammatory diseases, is one of the drugs that has been related to the appearance of psychotic symptoms as a ...side effect.
Objectives
Point out the importance of knowing the possible psychiatric symptoms that some drugs can cause as a side effect.
Methods
Description of a clinical case and bibliography review.
Results
We present the case of a 71-year-old woman, with no previous mental health history, who is referred by her primary care physician due to the presence of auditory hallucinations and self-referential ideas. As a somatic history, the patient presented Rheumatoid Arthritis under control by rheumatology and acoustic neuroma, under control by neurosurgery. Treatment with Risperidone was started, up to 2 mg, which helped control her symptoms. After an exhaustive study of her situation, the possibility that her symptoms were a side effect of her usual treatment was raised. It was evidenced that the patient had taken a higher dose of Indomethacin than prescribed by the rheumatologist, reason why its daily intake was suspended, and subsequently an improvement and even suppression of symptoms was seen. Later, due to a misunderstanding, the drug was reintroduced, and symptoms appeared again.
Conclusions
The appearance of psychotic symptoms has been related to the intake of various drugs, including Indomethacin. It is essential to carry out a differential diagnosis if psychotic symptoms appear in the subject.
Disclosure
No significant relationships.
Tannery effluents with a high organic matter load (indicated by their COD level) have to be treated before they are discharged, so as to minimize their negative impact on the environment. Using field ...mesocosm systems, this study evaluated the feasibility of treating such effluents through bioaugmentation with activated sludge, followed by phytoremediation with aquatic macrophytes (
Lemnoideae
subfamily). Regardless of its quality, the activated sludge was able to remove approximately 77% of the COD from effluents with a low initial organic load (up to 1500 mg/L). The macrophytes then enhanced removal (up to 86%), so the final COD values were permissible under the current legislation for effluent discharge. When the initial organic load in the undiluted effluents was higher (around 3000 mg/L), the COD values obtained after consecutive bioaugmentation and phytoremediation were close to the legally allowed limits (583 mg/L), which highlights the potential of phytoremediation as a tertiary treatment. This treatment also brought total coliform counts down to legally acceptable values, without plant biomass decreasing over time. Moreover, the plant biomass remained viable and capable of high COD removal efficiency (around 75%) throughout two additional reuse cycles. These findings indicate that the efficiency of the biological treatments assayed here depends largely on the initial organic load in the tannery effluents. In any case, the sequential application of activated sludge and aquatic macrophytes proved to be a successful alternative for remediation.
Graphical abstract
The study addresses a knowledge-gap in the long-term ecological consequences of fire and fire-fighting chemicals. Ten years after a prescribed fire and the application of three fire-fighting ...chemicals, their effects on the soil-plant system were evaluated. Five treatments were established: unburnt soils (US) and burnt soils treated with water alone (BS), foaming agent (BS+Fo), Firesorb (BS+Fi) and ammonium polyphosphate (BS+Ap). Soils (0-2 cm depth) and foliar material of shrubs (Erica umbellata, Pterospartum tridentatum and Ulex micranthus) and trees (Pinus pinaster) were analysed for total N, δ(15)N, and soil-available and plant total macronutrients and trace elements. Soil pH, NH₄(+)-N and NO₃(-)-N; pine basal diameter and height; and shrub cover and height were also measured. Compared with US plots, burnt soils had less nitrates and more Mo. Although differences were not always significant, BS+Ap had the highest levels of soil available P, Na and Al. Plants from BS+Ap plots had higher values of δ(15)N (P. pinaster and E. umbellata), P (all species), Na (P. tridentatum and U. micranthus) and Mg (E. umbellata and P. tridentatum) than other treatments; while K in plants from BS+Ap plots was the highest among treatments for P. pinaster and the lowest for the shrubs. Pines in US plots were higher and wider than in burnt treatments, except for BS+Ap, where the tallest and widest trees were found, although half of them were either dead (the second highest mortality after BS+Fi) or had a distorted trunk. BS+Ap was the treatment with strongest effects on plants, showing E. umbellata the lowest coverage and height, P. tridentatum the highest coverage, U. micranthus one of the lowest coverages and being the only treatment where Genista triacanthos was absent. Consequently, it is concluded that both fire and ammonium polyphosphate application had significant effects on the soil-plant system after 10 years.
Abstract The piriform cortex layer II of young-adult rats presents a population of prenatally generated cells, which express immature neuronal markers, such as the polysialylated form of the neural ...cell adhesion molecule (PSA-NCAM) or doublecortin (DCX), and display structural characteristics of immature neurons. The number of PSA-NCAM/DCX expressing cells in this region decreases markedly as age progresses, suggesting that these cells differentiate or die. Since the piriform cortex receives a major input from the olfactory bulb and participates in olfactory information processing, it is possible that the immature neurons in layer II are affected by manipulations of the olfactory bulb or olfactory learning. It is not known whether these cells can be induced to differentiate and, if so, what would be their fate. In order to address these questions, we have performed unilateral olfactory bulbectomy (OBX) and an olfactory learning paradigm (taste-potentiated odor aversion, TPOA), in young-adult rats and have studied the expression of different mature and immature neuronal markers, as well as the presence of cell death. We have found that 14 h after OBX there was a dramatic decrease in the number of both PSA-NCAM and DCX expressing cells in piriform cortex layer II, whereas that of cells expressing NeuN, a mature neuronal marker, increased. By contrast, the number of cells expressing glutamate decarboxylase, isoform 67 (GAD67), a marker for interneurons, decreased slightly. Additionally, we have not found evidence of numbers of dying cells high enough to justify the disappearance of immature neurons. Analysis of animals subjected to TPOA revealed that this paradigm does not affect PSA-NCAM expressing cells. Our results strongly suggest that OBX can induce the maturation of immature neurons in the piriform cortex layer II and that these cells do not become interneurons. By contrast, these cells do not seem to play a crucial role in olfactory memory.
Reducing the environmental impact of porcelain tile production while maintaining cost‐effectiveness is challenging. This work introduced a novel modeling approach for optimizing a standard ...composition range comprising kaolinite (15–38 wt.%), illite (0–20 wt.%), quartz (20–40 wt.%), and feldspar (20–45 wt.%) to establish a robust composition interval for porcelain stoneware tiles. The proposed study considers several factors, such as composition impact on the manufacturing sequence, production costs, and CO2 emission. A flowsheet simulation database was generated by coupling the Dyssol framework with MATLAB. This study investigated the influence of raw material composition within the process sequence, the total CO2 emissions, and production costs within the contexts of Spain and Brazil, two of the top five global producers. Granules with a higher proportion of talc and illite exhibit reduced moisture content after spray drying, and these combinations have lower green body porosity after compaction. The addition of talc allowed for decreased porosity content after compaction reduced firing temperature, and lowered costs and CO2 emissions despite the higher prices associated with talc. The proposed simulation methodology offers a powerful decision‐making tool for optimizing raw material composition to minimize cost and CO2 emissions in the porcelain tile production. This methodology represents an early stride toward integrating digital twin methodologies within the ceramic tile sector, facilitating improved process regulation, and promoting the adoption of digital technologies.
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