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Well dispersed iron catalysts were synthesized in silica (Fe 0.0 X SiO 2 ) by a one-step synthesis procedure. These materials were tested in the propylene epoxidation reaction with gaseous O 2 . The influence of the iron metal loading on the iron incorporation and distribution in the support (both influenced by the synthetic procedure) were thoroughly studied (conversion, generation and selectivity). Electron Microscopy and UltraViolet–Visible (UV–VIS), Raman and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) spectroscopy techniques were used to analyze the iron distribution in the catalysts and to probe its incorporation into the silica framework. In situ FTIR was also used to analyze the interaction between propylene and iron-based catalysts. Computational calculations considering a single-site iron catalyst incorporated into the silica structure show a possible interaction between O 2 and the incorporated iron atom and the olefin bond and the acidic proton neighboring the iron species which favor the reaction between the two molecules near the iron atom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Obesity is a health problem that has become a major focus of attention in recent years. There is growing evidence of an association between obesity and differences in reward processing. However, it is not known at present whether these differences are linked exclusively to food, or whether they can be detected in other rewarding stimuli. We compared responses to food, rewarding non-food and neutral pictures in 18 young adults with obesity and 19 normal-weight subjects using independent component analysis. Both groups modulated task-related activity in a plausible way. However, in response to both food and non-food rewarding stimuli, participants with obesity showed weaker connectivity in a network involving activation of frontal and occipital areas and deactivation of the posterior part of the default mode network. In addition, obesity was related with weaker activation of the default mode network and deactivation of frontal and occipital areas while viewing neutral stimuli. Together, our findings suggest that obesity is related to a different allocation of cognitive resources in a fronto-occipital network and in the default mode network. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In the Rodalquilar mining district of SE Spain, a total of 46 soil samples that were between 0 and 20 cm in depth were taken from the tailings dump, stream sediments, and surfaces that were presumably were unaffected by mining. In each soil sample, organic carbon content, pH, particle size distribution and total and soluble trace element content were analysed. Pollutants were scattered by runoff from two source areas: tailings from Au mining (Sn, Sb, As and Se) and wastes from Pb mining (Pb, Cu and Zn). Sn, Pb, and Sb were spread mostly in the solid phase of the runoff, while Cu, Zn, As and Se were spread in both the solid and soluble phases of the runoff. The pollutants with the highest soluble concentrations were As and Se, which were scattered at greater distances from the source. Some evidence suggests that tailings from Au mining could also be scattered by wind, but no farther than 1500 m from the source. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Thirty-five soil samples were taken from unconfined mine waste, stream sediments, and surfaces unoccupied by mining and presumably unaffected by it, in a sulphur-mining zone surrounded by carbonate material and characterized by a semi-arid climate with short torrential storms. These samples were analysed and the results compared to estimate the spread of pollution in the landscape and to assess potential environmental risk. The mean concentrations of S, Zn, Cd, Pb, and As in mine waste were between 3.5-fold (As) and 50-fold (S) greater than unaffected soils. Oxidation of S led to a sharp drop in pH, strong weathering of minerals, and solubilisation of the constituent elements, forming a toxic acidic mine drainage with highly concentrated pollutants that were discharged into the drainage channels. Successive acid mine drainage into the soil on the valley floor spreads acidification and pollution downstream. The high carbonate content in surrounding soils played an important role in the increase of the pH and precipitation of S, Pb, and Al of the affected soils. Meanwhile, high mobility of Zn, Cd and As under basic conditions and a low Fe concentration explain the broad spread of these elements, as high concentrations were detected in soil more than 2000m from the source. Only the soil solutions from near the waste dump (first 500m) were highly phytotoxic, and moderately phytotoxic from 500 to 1500m away. The concentration of pollutants in the leachates was clearly higher than in soil solutions, even in the soils located over 2000m from the source, implying that the size of the polluted area will increase with time. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Chromosomal translocations entail the generation of gene fusions in mesenchymal tumors. Despite the successful identification of these specific and consistent genetic events, the nature of the intimate association between the gene fusion and the resulting phenotype still remains to be elucidated. Here these studies are reviewed, using FUS–DDIT3 as a model to illustrate how they have contributed to current understanding in unique and unexpected ways. FUS–DDIT3 is a chimeric oncogene generated by the most common chromosomal translocation t(12;16)(q13;p11) associated with liposarcomas. The application of transgenic methods to the study of this sarcoma-associated FUS–DDIT3 gene fusion has provided insights into their functions in vivo, and suggested mechanisms by which lineage selection may be achieved. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The global pandemic situation due to COVID-19 has given rise to the massive use of disinfectant products, many of them based on silver atoms. After the use of these products, the silver passes into the aqueous effluents, becoming an emerging contaminant in waters. In this work, a novel procedure for the total and simultaneous removal of ionic and nanomeric silver in aqueous samples is introduced, employing magnetic nanoparticles wrapped with an ionic liquid (Fe 3 O 4 @IL) as a removal agent. Experimental variables such as pH, contact time, temperature, as well as pollutant and removal agent doses were studied to achieve the total elimination, exhibiting exceptional conditions for the removal of different concentrations of silvers species in water. The approach achieves 100% removal efficiency for the simultaneous removal of both silver species, goal not achieved previously. Also, 100% removal efficiency is reached for the both species separately, since ionic silver is adsorbed onto the Fe 3 O 4 , while nanomeric silver is extracted in the IL. Particularly, for concentrations within the range 50–200 μg L−1, total removal efficiency was reached for a wide range of temperatures and a pH range 7–9, achieved in just 15 min, for all cases. Additionally, the doses of Fe 3 O 4 @IL employed to remove all concentrations of silver were 13.7 mg. Characterization of Fe 3 O 4 @IL surfaces before and after the process was performed by means of Field Effect Scanning Electron Microscopy and Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy. Fe 3 O 4 @IL was recycled by employing 100 μL of 1% HNO 3 solution, allowing its use for 10 additional silver removal cycles without loss of efficiency. The study of adsorption kinetics and equilibrium isotherms reveal a Freundlich-type adsorption, which suggests affinity between sites in the complex surface of Fe 3 O 4 @IL, and Elovich kinetics, indicative of chemisorption onto a heterogeneous surface, while the temperature shows no effect on the results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A system based on near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy has been developed for the in-line control of the composition of the milk used as raw material for yoghurt production to control the content of protein and fat in the final product, and, therefore, to reduce variability in the production process. Firstly, after selecting the appropriate method for preprocessing NIR data, Partial Least Squares Regression models were built to predict fat and protein content in milk, obtaining good performances. The variance explained of y -block in prediction (R2P) was 0.99 and 0.80, while the Root Mean Square Error of Prediction (RMSEP), was 0.26 and 0.16 for fat and protein, respectively. With those models, it was possible to determine the fat and protein contents in milk in real time, and therefore, the quantity of milk powder and cream added in the manufacturing process of yoghurt could be readjusted. The presented strategy allows the improvement of the homogeneity of the final product, reducing the variability of the nutritional values in more than 70% with respect to the traditional recipe, and also meet the target values according to yoghurt producers for fat and protein content, that is, 10% of fat and 5% of protein. • Application of NIR spectroscopy to improve in-line manufacture process of yoghurts. • Using PLSR to quantify in-line fat and protein content in milk samples. • New methodology based on NIR and PLSR to act in the production line of yoghurts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses and evaluates parallel implementations of a segmentation algorithm based on the Split-and-Merge approach. The solution has been conceived for a multiprocessor using the Single Program Multiple Data (SPMD) programming model and executions have been carried out on a Cray-T3E system. Our main goal is to describe our experiences in solving the region growing problem, which is representative of a class of non-uniform problems, characterized by a behavior that is data dependent. Since this problem exhibits unpredictable load fluctuations, it requires the use of load-balancing schemes to achieve efficient parallel solutions. We also propose and analyze several strategies for the selection of region identifiers and their influence on execution time and load distribution. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Huntington’s disease (HD) is a hereditary neurodegenerative disease, with peripheral consequences that negatively contribute to quality of life. Circulating microRNAs (cmiRNAs) are being explored for their roles in intercellular communication and gene expression regulation, which allows gaining insight into the regulation of crosstalk between neuronal and peripheral tissues. Here, we explore the cmiRNA profile of plasma samples from fifteen symptomatic patients, with 40–45 CAG repeats in the HTT gene, and seven healthy matched controls. Isolated miRNAs from plasma samples were run against human miRNome panels, which have sequences for 752 human mature miRNAs. We found that 168 cmiRNAs are altered in symptomatic patients. Considering Bonferroni’s correction, miR-877-5p, miR-223-3p, miR-223-5p, miR-30d-5p, miR-128, miR-22-5p, miR-222-3p, miR-338-3p, miR-130b-3p, miR-425-5p, miR-628-3p, miR-361-5p, miR-942 are significantly increased in HD patients as compared with controls. Moreover, after patient’s organization according to approved HD scales, miR-122-5p is significantly decreased in HD patients with Unified Huntington’s Disease Rating Scale >24, whereas an increase in miR-100-5p levels and a decrease in miR-641 and miR-330-3p levels were recorded when patients were rearranged by Total Functional Capacity. These results suggest that cmiRNA profile could be further modified by disease progression, making cmiRNAs useful as monitoring biomarkers. Analysis of target genes indicated a general overexpression of cmiRNAs implicated in metabolism regulation. Profiling cmiRNA of HD subjects opens the possibility of personalized therapies for different groups of HD patients, based on disease modifiers: regulation of altered pathways might contribute to not only alleviate disease symptoms, but also influence HD progression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the prevalence of obesity rapidly increasing worldwide, understanding the processes leading to excessive eating behavior becomes increasingly important. Considering the widely recognized crucial role of reward processes in food intake, we examined the white matter wiring and integrity of the anatomical reward network in obesity. Anatomical wiring of the reward network was reconstructed derived from diffusion weighted imaging in 31 obese participants and 32 normal-weight participants. Network wiring was compared in terms of the white matter volume as well as in terms of white matter microstructure, revealing lower number of streamlines and lower fiber integrity within the reward network in obese subjects. Specifically, the orbitofrontal cortex and striatum nuclei including accumbens, caudate and putamen showed lower strength and network clustering in the obesity group as compared to healthy controls. Our results provide evidence for obesity-related disruptions of global and local anatomical connectivity of the reward circuitry in regions that are key in the reinforcing mechanisms of eating-behavior processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Three-dimensional electron microscopy allows direct visualization of biological macromolecules close to their native state. The high impact of this technique in the structural biology field is highly correlated with the development of new image processing algorithms. In order to achieve subnanometer resolution, the size and number of images involved in a three-dimensional reconstruction increase and so do computer requirements. New chips integrating multiple processors are hitting the market at a reduced cost. This high-integration, low-cost trend has just begun and is expected to bring real supercomputers to our laboratory desktops in the coming years. This paper proposes a parallel implementation of a computation-intensive algorithm for three-dimensional reconstruction, ART, that takes advantage of the computational power in modern multicore platforms. ART is a sophisticated iterative reconstruction algorithm that has turned out to be well suited for the conditions found in three-dimensional electron microscopy. In view of the performance obtained in this work, these modern platforms are expected to play an important role to face the future challenges in three-dimensional electron microscopy. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• We studied the retrieval of consolidated and reconsolidated memories in humans. • EEG and pupillary signals were recorded during an old/new associative recall task. • Reconsolidated memories were associated with specific brain and pupillary patterns. • Distinct brain mechanisms may support the retrieval of reconsolidated memories. Consolidated memories can return to a labile state if they are reactivated by unpredictable reminders. To persist, active memories must be re-stabilized through a process known as reconsolidation. Although there is consistent behavioral evidence about this process in humans, the retrieval process of reconsolidated memories remains poorly understood. In this context, one fundamental question is whether the same or different neurophysiological mechanisms are involved in retrieval of consolidated and reconsolidated memories. Because it has been demonstrated that the exposure to the reconsolidation process may restructure and strengthen memories, we hypothesized distinct neurophysiological patterns during retrieval of reconsolidated memories. In addition, we hypothesized that interfering with the reconsolidation process using a new learning can prevent these neurophysiological changes. To test it, consolidated, reconsolidated and declarative memories whose reconsolidation process was interfered (i.e., picture-word pairs) were evaluated in humans in an old/new associative recall task while the brain activity and the pupillary response were recorded using electroencephalography and eyetracking. Our results showed that retrieval of reconsolidated memories elicits specific patterns of brain activation, characterized by an earlier peak latency and a smaller magnitude of the left parietal ERP old/new effect compared to memories that were only consolidated or whose reconsolidation process was interfered by a new learning. Moreover, our results demonstrated that only retrieval of reconsolidated memories is associated with a late reversed mid-frontal effect in a 600–690 time window. Complementarily, memories that were reactivated showed an earlier peak latency of the pupil old/new effect compared to non-reactivated memories. These findings support the idea that reconsolidation has an important impact in how memories are retrieved in the future, showing that retrieval of reconsolidated memories is partially supported by specific brain mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An increasing healthcare challenge in the management of haematological malignancy (HM) is secondary immunodeficiency. From January 2019, the EMA included the evaluation of specific antibody (Ab) responses to better select patients for immunoglobulin replacement therapy (IgRT). We evaluated Ab responses to pneumococcal and Salmonella typhi pure polysaccharide immunization in a cohort of 42 HM patients and 24 healthy-controls. Pre-post specific Ab concentrations were measured by ELISA at 4 weeks. Globally, significantly lower Typhim Vi (TV) seroprevalence (9%) compared to 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPV) (76%) (p <0.001) was observed. TV non responders (88%) were higher than PPV non responders (62%) (p <0.0001) and correlated better to infectious history. By ROC analysis, pre-post 5-fold TV increase was the best cut-off to discriminate HM with recurrent infections and controls (sensitivity 91%, specificity 100%). Despite the small sample cohort, our results suggest that specific anti- S typhi Ab response is a useful complementary assay in the diagnosis and management decision of SID to HM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]