Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disorder that causes the progressive loss of motoneurons and, unfortunately, there is no effective treatment for this disease. ...Interconnecting multiple pathological mechanisms are involved in the neuropathology of this disease, including abnormal aggregation of proteins, neuroinflammation and dysregulation of the ubiquitin proteasome system. Such complex mechanisms, together with the lack of reliable animal models of the disease have hampered the development of drugs for this disease. Protein kinases, a key pharmacological target in several diseases, have been linked to ALS as they play a central role in the pathology of many diseases. Therefore several inhibitors are being currently trailed for clinical proof of concept in ALS patients. In this review, we examine the recent literature on protein kinase inhibitors currently in pharmaceutical development for this diseaseas future therapy for AS together with their involvement in the pathobiology of ALS.
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This article is part of a themed issue on Neurochemistry in Japan. To view the other articles in this section visit http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bph.v178.6/issuetoc
In many regions, reuse of reclaimed water (RW) is a necessity for irrigation. The presence of organic microcontaminants (OMCs) in RW and their translocation to plants may represent a risk of human ...exposure. Nevertheless, information available about real field crops is scarce and focused on a limited number of compounds. The novelty of this work relies on the application of a wider-scope analytical approach based on a multianalyte target analysis (60 compounds) and a suspect screening (>1300 compounds). This methodology was applied to real field-grown tomato crops irrigated with RW. The study revealed the presence of 17 OMCs in leaves (0.04–32 ng g–1) and 8 in fruits (0.01–1.1 ng g–1), 5 of them not reported before in real field samples. A health-risk assessment, based on the toxicological threshold concern (TTC) concept, showed that RW irrigation applied under the conditions given does not pose any threat to humans.
Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a complex neuropathological condition that represents a major challenge for clinicians and scientists due to patient's functional dysfunction and paralysis. Several ...treatments have been proposed including biological factors, drugs and cells administered in various ways. Stem cells arise as good candidates to treat SCI since they are known to secrete neurotrophic factors, improving neuroregeneration, but also due to their role in modulating the inflammatory process, favoring a pro-regenerative status. There are several types of cells that have been tested to treat SCI in experimental and clinical studies, but we still face many unanswered questions; one of them is the type of cells that can offer the best benefits and, also the ideal dose and administration routes. This review aimed to summarize recent research on cell treatment, focusing on current delivery strategies for SCI therapy and their effects in tissue repair and regeneration.
Summary
Cobalamin (B12) is an essential cofactor that is exclusively synthesized by some prokaryotes while many prokaryotes and eukaryotes require an external supply of B12. The spatial and temporal ...availability of B12 is poorly understood in marine ecosystems. Field measurements of B12 along with a large set of ancillary biotic and abiotic factors were obtained during three oceanographic cruises in the NW Iberian Peninsula, covering different spatial and temporal scales. B12 concentrations were remarkably low (<1.5 pM) in all samples, being significantly higher at the subsurface Eastern North Atlantic Central Water than at shallower depths, suggesting that B12 supply in this water mass is greater than demand. Multiple regression models excluded B12 concentration as predictive variable for phytoplankton biomass or production, regardless of the presence of B12‐requiring algae. Prokaryote production was the best predictor for primary production, and eukaryote community composition was better correlated with prokaryote community composition than with nutritional resources, suggesting that biotic interactions play a significant role in regulating microbial communities. Interestingly, co‐occurrence network analyses based on 16S and 18S rRNA sequences allowed the identification of significant associations between potential B12 producers and consumers (e.g. Thaumarchaeota and Dynophyceae, or Amylibacter and Ostreococcus respectively), which can now be investigated using model systems in the laboratory.
•Analysis of the main groups of indicators to evaluate municipal waste management.•New framework proposed including all aspects of municipal solid waste management.•A list without repetitions, ...synthesizing the indicators extracted from the groups.•The main qualities that an indicator group must accomplish were identified.
Indicators have been used to evaluate municipal solid waste management for several decades. This review summarizes the main groups of indicators used for this purpose, as the basis for developing a new proposal in the future. There are a number of problems (scarce or non-existent information, lack of transparency and homogeneity, among others) that prevent the methods proposed so far from being standardized and applied on a more global level. This paper documents 40 sets of indicators and analyzes their main characteristics, strengths, and weaknesses. Based on different authors and on the concept of integrated sustainable waste management, a new framework is proposed that includes all aspects of municipal solid waste management. All the documented indicators were classified according to this framework and compared in order to detect repetitions until a single list was reached. The groups analyzed contained a variety of characteristics, such as the type of indicators (qualitative, quantitative or both) and the level at which they are applicable (municipal, regional, national, international or various levels), among others. An analysis was also performed to determine how many cases each group has been applied to, as well as possible shortcomings that make them difficult to use.
Finally, a list of 377 different indicators was obtained, with 49.3% of them focusing on technical aspects of waste management. The component for which most indicators were found was recovery (including recycling, composting, and incineration with energy recovery, among others). From the analysis, the main qualities that an indicator set must accomplish were identified to allow their possible standardization; that is, it must be useful at different geographical and economic levels, include indicators of different types, follow a clear methodology, and cover all aspects of possible interest.
•Covalently crosslinked arabinoxylans (AX) gels with different structure were obtained.•AX gels were biodegradable by mixture of two Bifidobacterium.•Changes in microstructure of AX gels allowed ...different degradation profiles.•AX gels could be used as microflora-activated system for colon delivery.
Arabinoxylan gels with different cross-linking densities, swelling ratios, and rheological properties were obtained by increasing the concentration of arabinoxylan from 4 to 6% (w/v) during oxidative gelation by laccase. The degradation of these covalently cross-linked gels by a mixture of two Bifidobacterium strains (Bifidobacterium longum and Bifidobacterium adolescentis) was investigated. The kinetics of the evolution of structural morphology of the arabinoxylan gel, the carbohydrate utilization profiles and the bacterial production of short-acid fatty acid (SCFA) were measured. Scanning electron microscopy analysis of the degraded gels showed multiple cavity structures resulting from the bacterial action. The total SCFA decreased when the degree of cross-linking increased in the gels. A slower fermentation of arabinoxylan chains was obtained for arabinoxylan gels with more dense network structures. These results suggest that the differences in the structural features and properties studied in this work affect the degradation time of the arabinoxylan gels.
Behavioral health integration (BHI) within primary care settings is shown to improve outcomes. However, achieving BHI requires identifying best practices and a reliable tool that can be used to ...measure existing levels and progress toward BHI. The objective of this study was to develop and apply a conceptual framework to measure BHI, test the approach, and examine challenges to achieving BHI. Surveys and interviews were conducted with key informants within 17 designated public hospitals in California at the midpoint of participating in a 5-year project to establish BHI. A framework and coding methodology were developed to assess BHI best practices at each hospital. BHI status was assessed in the domains of infrastructure and process. Each domain included 5 themes such as electronic health record integration and functionality (infrastructure) and interprovider communication (process). Themes were assessed using a 6-point scale for various activities under a theme and associated weights. Theme-specific values were standardized from 0% to 100% to compare BHI scores between hospitals. Overall progress toward BHI ranged from scores of 52% to 83% (mean 63%) and indicated greater contribution of infrastructure versus process implementation. Within the infrastructure domain, scores were higher for having institutional and provider support, but lagged in establishing provider proximity. Within the process domain, scores were highest for implementation of behavioral health screening, but were frequently lower for other themes such as use of care coordination and referral processes. Further research is needed to test the robustness of this approach in other settings.
•Quercus humboldtii could be a good alternative wood source for ageing wines.•Colombian chips and wines aged with them had lower furfural and (Z)-Whisky lactone concentrations.•5-Methylfurfural, ...guaiacol, isoeugenol, syringol contents were higher in Colombian samples.•Wines treated with Colombian oak showed higher smoky and lower coconut notes.
Different oak species or origins have been studied to find an alternative to traditional ones and Quercus humboldtii from Colombia is a candidate. Some studies analyse the composition of this oak, but no work has been found to study its use for wine treatment. The aim was to evaluate volatile composition of toasted Q. humboldtii oak chips and the wines treated with these chips. To evaluate its oenological potential Q. alba and Q. petraea have been included in this trial. The wines were subjected to a sensory analysis. Results indicated that oak chips and wines macerated for 90 days with toasted Colombian chips exhibited higher 5-methylfurfural, guaiacol, trans-isoeugenol and syringol concentrations than others, while the furfural and cis-β-methyl-γ-octalactone content was lower. Sensory analysis showed that the wines treated with Colombian oak presented more notes of smoked and less of coconut. Therefore, this oak could probably be considered suitable for ageing.
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