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In this work, we present the potential of Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) microspectroscopy to compare on whole cells, in an unbiased and untargeted way, the capacity of bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and two rationally designed molecules (FP20 and FP20Rha) to activate molecular circuits of innate immunity. These compounds are important drug hits in the development of vaccine adjuvants and tumor immunotherapeutics. The biological assays indicated that FP20Rha was more potent than FP20 in inducing cytokine production in cells and in stimulating IgG antibody production post-vaccination in mice. Accordingly, the overall significant IR spectral changes induced by the treatment with LPS and FP20Rha were similar, lipids and glycans signals being the most diagnostic, while the effect of the less potent molecule FP20 on cells resulted to be closer to control untreated cells. We propose here the use of FTIR spectroscopy supported by artificial intelligence (AI) to achieve a more holistic understanding of the cell response to new drug candidates while screening them in cells.

Vaccines are one of the greatest achievements of modern medicine. Due to their safer profile, the latest investigations usually focus on subunit vaccines. However, the active component often needs to be coupled with an adjuvant to be effective and properly trigger an immune response. We are developing a new synthetic monosaccharide-based TLR4 agonist, such as glucosamine-derived compounds FP18 and FP20, as a potential vaccine adjuvant. In this study, we present a new FP20 derivative, FP20Hmp, with a hydroxylated ester linked to the glucosamine core. We show that the modification introduced improves the activity of the adjuvant and its solubility. This study presents the synthesis of FP20Hmp, its in vitro characterization, and in vivo activity while coupled with the ovalbumin antigen or in formulation with an enterococcal antigen. We show that FP20Hmp enables increased production of antigen-specific antibodies that bind to the whole bacterium.

eTRANSAFE is a research project funded within the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI), which aims at developing integrated databases and computational tools (the eTRANSAFE ToxHub) that support the translational safety assessment of new drugs by using legacy data provided by the pharmaceutical companies that participate in the project. The project objectives include the development of databases containing preclinical and clinical data, computational systems for translational analysis including tools for data query, analysis and visualization, as well as computational models to explain and predict drug safety events.

Il saggio verte sull’analisi dei dispacci degli ambasciatori sabaudi residenti a Madrid inviati a Vittorio Amedeo II di Savoia, nel momento in cui si aprì la crisi dinastica che portò alla scelta di Filippo d’Anjou come nuovo sovrano di Spagna con il nome di Filippo V. In particolare, le carte si riferiscono all’attività del residente Costanzo Operti, cavaliere gerosolimitano, presente a Madrid già dal 1690 e profondo conoscitore della corte all’interno della quale si mosse fino al 1703, e a quella del conte di Vernone, inviato straordinario in Spagna nella primavera-estate del 1695, nonché persona di fiducia del duca che lo incaricò spesso di missioni delicate in virtù della sue abilità diplomatiche. Dall’incrocio delle loro relazioni con le missive provenienti da Torino è possibile ricavare non solo un interessante spaccato della Monarchia cattolica al crepuscolo del regno di Carlo II, ma anche descrivere gli effetti della profonda rottura politico istituzionale all’interno degli spazi cortigiani, provocata dall’arrivo di un re francese a Madrid. Le carte dei residenti sabaudi, quindi, si trasformano in una sorta di ‘palcoscenico’ dove si muovono e agiscono i principali protagonisti di quel fondamentale momento storico per l’Europa che fu la Guerra di Successione spagnola., The article analyzes the dispatches sent by Savoy ambassadors living in Madrid to Victor Amadeus II of Savoy, during the succession crisis that would eventually lead to the selection of Philip of Anjou as the new King of Spain under the name of Philip V. Particular focus is placed on the correspondence sent by Costanzo Operti, a knight of Malta who had been living in Madrid since 1690 and who was extremely famliar with the Spanish court, wherein he was active until 1703; and on those of the Count of Vernone, special envoy to Spain in the spring-summer of 1695 and trusted advisor to the Duke, who would often assign him delicate missions on account of his diplomatic skills. By comparing their reports with the letters coming from Turin, it is possible to create an interesting cross-section of the Catholic monarchy in the twilight of Charles II's reign; at the same time, it is also possibile to drescribe the effects of the profound rift that formed in the political institutions of the Spanish court upon the arrival of a French king in Madrid. The reports of these Savoy ambassadors thus become a sort of 'stage' for the main players of that crucial moment in European history: the War of Spanish Succesion.

In this paper we present preliminary work on group IV photonic waveguides that may be suitable for mid-infrared wavelengths. Fabrication and experimental results for two waveguide structures are given.

©American Institute of Physics. This work was supported by the Spanish Ministerio Ciencia e Innovacion, Grant Nos. NAN2004-09087 and FIS2005-07392, Consolider Grant Nos. CSD2007-00010 and FIS2008-06249 Grupo Consolidado, CAM Grant No. S-0505/ESP/0337, and Fondo Social Europeo and Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha Grant No. PAI08-0067- 2673. A.A. wants to thank PCTI BP06-109., Superconducting a-Mo_(3)Si and Nb films have been grown on arrays of Ni nanodots. We have studied the vortex lattice dynamics close to critical temperatures. Different vortex lattice configurations are obtained with the same array unit cell. These different vortex lattices occur at matching conditions between the vortex lattice and the array unit cell. The interplay between the random intrinsic pinning of the superconducting films and the periodic pinning of the array govern the vortex lattice configurations. Different vortex lattice configurations and enhancement of synchronized vortex lattice motion are obtained by increasing the periodic pinning strength and decreasing the random pinning strength., Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICINN), Comunidad de Madrid, Consolider, Fondo Social Europeo and Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha, Depto. de Física de Materiales, Fac. de Ciencias Físicas, TRUE, pub

© IOP Publishing Ltd and Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft. We acknowledge funding support by Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación grants NAN04-09087 and MOSAICO, FIS2005-07392 Consolider CSD2007-00010, FIS2008-06249 (Grupo Consolidado) and CAM grant S-0505/ESP/0337 and Fondo Social Europeo. Computer simulations of this work were performed at the Cluster de cálculo para Técnicas Físicas at UCM, funded in part by UE-FEDER program and in part by UCM., A transverse ratchet effect has been measured in magnetic/ superconducting hybrid films fabricated by electron beam lithography and magnetron sputtering techniques. The samples are Nb films grown on top of an array of Ni nanotriangles. Injecting an ac current parallel to the triangle reflection symmetry axis yields an output dc voltage perpendicular to the current, due to a net motion of flux vortices in the superconductor. The effect is reproduced by numerical simulations of vortices as Langevin particles with realistic parameters. Simulations provide an intuitive picture of the ratchet mechanism, revealing the fundamental role played by the random intrinsic pinning of the superconductor., Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion (MICINN), Comunidad de Madrid, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, MOSAICO, Consolider, Fondo Social Europeo, UE-FEDER program, Depto. de Física de Materiales, Fac. de Ciencias Físicas, TRUE, pub

© 2008 American Institute of Physics, Depto. de Física de Materiales, Fac. de Ciencias Físicas, TRUE, pub

© 2007 American Institute of Physics. The authors want to thank A. Kolton, V. Marconi, F. Nori, C. Olson-Reichhardt, C. Reichhardt, and S. Savel’ev for calling our attention to this transverse ratchet effect. They acknowledge funding support by Spanish Ministerio Educacion Ciencia grants NAN04-09087, FIS05-07392, MAT05-23924E, CAM grant S-0505/ESP/0337, and UCMSantander., Superconducting Nb films have been grown on top of arrays of Cu nanotriangles. These asymmetric pinning centers strongly modify the vortex lattice dynamics. Two rectification effects have been observed: (i) longitudinal ratchet effect when the input currents are injected perpendicular to the triangle reflection symmetry axis and (ii) transverse rectification effect hen the input currents are injected parallel to the triangle reflection symmetry axis and the output voltage drop occurs perpendicular to the triangle reflection symmetry axis. Increasing the applied magnetic field, the former shows a change of the output voltage polarity, the transverse output voltage does not show any polarity reversal., Spanish Ministerio Educacion Ciencia, CAM, UCM-Santander, Depto. de Física de Materiales, Fac. de Ciencias Físicas, TRUE, pub

©2007 The American Physical Society. We acknowledge support by Spanish Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia NAN04- 09087, FIS05-07392, MAT05- 23924E, MOSAICO, CAM S-0505/ESP/0337, and UCMSantander. Computer simulations were performed at “Cluster de cálculo para Técnicas Físicas” of UCM, funded in part by the UE-FEDER program and in part by UCM and in the “Aula Sun Microsystems” at UCM., A collective mechanism for current reversal in superconducting vortex ratchets is proposed. The mechanism is based on a two-dimensional instability of the ground state (T=0) of the system. We illustrate our results with numerical simulations and experiments in Nb superconducting films fabricated on top of Si substrates with artificially induced asymmetric pinning centers., Spanish Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia, UCM-Santander., UE-FEDER, UCM, CAM, Depto. de Estructura de la Materia, Física Térmica y Electrónica, Depto. de Física de Materiales, Fac. de Ciencias Físicas, TRUE, pub

Superconducting Nb thin films were grown on different arrays of triangle-shape metallic islands. The vortex lattice dynamics could be strongly modified by these asymmetric vortex traps. These asymmetric pinning potentials lead to a rectification effect on the vortex motion: Injecting an ac supercurrent on the sample yields a net dc vortex flow. This vortex ratchet ffect is adiabatic and reversible: The effect is frequency independent and the polarity of the dc voltage output could be tuned by the applied magnetic fields and the input ac currents.

©2005 The American Physical Society. We want to thank Spanish CICYT MAT2002-04543 and R. Areces Foundation. M.G. wants to thank Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia for a Ramon y Cajal contract., A vortex lattice ratchet effect has been investigated in Nb films grown on arrays of nanometric Ni triangles, which induce periodic asymmetric pinning potentials. The vortex lattice motion yields a net dc voltage when an ac driving current is applied to the sample and the vortex lattice moves through the field of asymmetric potentials. This ratchet effect is studied taking into account the array geometry, the temperature, the number of vortices per unit cell of the array, and the applied ac currents., Spanish CICYT, Ramón Areces Foundation, Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia, Spain, Depto. de Física de Materiales, Fac. de Ciencias Físicas, TRUE, pub

©2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. International Conference on Low Temperature Physics (LT23) (23. 2003. Hiroshima, Japón). Work supported by Spanish CICYT under grant MAT99-0724. E. M. González thanks Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología for a Ramón y Cajal contract., Ordered arrays of submicrometric Ni lines have been fabricated in sputtered Nb films. Magnetotransport R(H) and (I, V) curves were measured close to the critical temperature using a cross-shape bridge that allows us to apply current in two directions: parallel or perpendicular to the lines. The experimental results show anisotropic vortex motion with clear channeling effects. In R(H) data, magnetic features appear but they are absent in the (I, V) curves., Spanish CICYT, Depto. de Física de Materiales, Fac. de Ciencias Físicas, TRUE, pub

©2002 American Institute of Physics. The authors want to thank Spanish CICYT MAT2002- 04543 and ESF Vortex program. D.J. and E.M.G. thank Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología (Spain) for Ramón y Cajal Contracts., Arrays of submicrometric Ni lines have been fabricated in superconducting Nb films by electron beam lithography. In the mixed state, these arrays induce strong anisotropy in the dissipation behavior. The dissipation is reduced several orders of magnitude, in the whole applied magnetic field range, when the vortex motion is perpendicular to the Ni lines (applied current parallel to them) in comparison with dissipation of vortices moving parallel to the lines. In addition, for the samples studied in this work, a change in the slope of the rho(B) curves is observed when the vortices move perpendicular to the lines and the vortex lattice parameter matches the width of the Ni lines., Spanish CICYT, ESF Vortex Program, Depto. de Física de Materiales, Fac. de Ciencias Físicas, TRUE, pub