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Although several lines of evidence from different studies highlight sex differences in cardiovascular diseases, to date, most studies have been focused on males, with the idea that males and females are similar, differing only in the magnitude of the response. However, the principles learned in male models cannot and should not be extrapolated to women and, therefore, it is important to study in greater detail not only the differences between the sexes but also the physiological intertwining of the underlying genetic and hormonal mechanisms of sexual dimorphism. This review explores the sex disparities in the autonomic nervous system regulation of blood pressure (particularly baroreceptor function), with special emphasis on sex hormones and sex chromosome complement factors involved in sexually dimorphic autonomic blood pressure regulation. A more detailed understanding of the sources of physiological disparities between the sexes may also help in understanding the differences between the sexes in rates of cardiovascular disease and may also aid in designing future improvements for sex-tailored therapeutic treatments.

L-Lactate is an important bioanalyte in the food industry, biotechnology, and human healthcare. In this work, we report the development of a new L-lactate electrochemical biosensor based on the use of multiwalled carbon nanotubes non-covalently functionalized with avidin (MWCNT-Av) deposited at glassy carbon electrodes (GCEs) as anchoring sites for the bioaffinity-based immobilization of a new recombinant biotinylated lactate oxidase (bLOx) produced in Escherichia coli through in vivo biotinylation. The specific binding of MWCNT-Av to bLOx was characterized by amperometry, surface plasmon resonance (SPR), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The amperometric detection of L-lactate was performed at −0.100 V, with a linear range between 100 and 700 µM, a detection limit of 33 µM, and a quantification limit of 100 µM. The proposed biosensor (GCE/MWCNT-Av/bLOx) showed a reproducibility of 6.0% and it was successfully used for determining L-lactate in food and enriched serum samples.

Due to the continuously growing demands from high-added-value sectors such as aerospace, e-mobility or biomedical bound-abrasive technologies are the key to achieving extreme requirements. During grinding, energy is rapidly dissipated as heat, generating thermal fields on the ground part which are characterized by high temperatures and very steep gradients. The consequences on the ground part are broadly known as grinding burn. Therefore, the measurement of workpiece temperature during grinding has become a critical issue. Many techniques have been used for temperature measurement in grinding, amongst which, the so-called grindable thermocouples exhibit great potential and have been successfully used in creep-feed grinding operations, in which table speed is low, and therefore, temperature gradients are not very steep. However, in conventional grinding operations with faster table speeds, as most industrial operations are, the delay in the response of the thermocouple results in large errors in the maximum measured value. In this paper, the need for accurate calibration of the response of grindable thermocouples is studied as a prior step for signal integration to correct thermal inertia. The results show that, if the raw signal is directly used from the thermocouples, the deviation in the maximum temperature with respect to the theoretical model is over 200 K. After integration using the calibration constants obtained for the ground junction, the error can be reduced to 93 K even for feed speeds as high as 40 m/min and below 20 K for lower feed speeds. The main conclusion is that, following the proposed procedure, maximum grinding temperatures can be effectively measured using grindable thermocouples even at high values of table speed.

RNA pol II assembly occurs in the cytoplasm before translocation of the enzyme to the nucleus. Affecting this assembly influences mRNA transcription in the nucleus and mRNA decay in the cytoplasm. However, very little is known about the consequences on ncRNA synthesis. In this work, we show that impairment of RNA pol II assembly leads to a decrease in cryptic non-coding RNAs (preferentially CUTs and SUTs). This alteration is partially restored upon overcoming the assembly defect. Notably, this drop in ncRNAs is only partially dependent on the nuclear exosome, which suggests a major specific effect of enzyme assembly. Our data also point out a defect in transcription termination, which leads us to propose that CTD phosphatase Rtr1 could be involved in this process.

End-to-end deep learning models have shown promising results for the automatic screening of Parkinson’s disease by voice and speech. However, these models often suffer degradation in their performance when applied to scenarios involving multiple corpora. In addition, they also show corpus-dependent clusterings. These facts indicate a lack of generalisation or the presence of certain shortcuts in the decision, and also suggest the need for developing new corpus-independent models. In this respect, this work explores the use of domain adversarial training as a viable strategy to develop models that retain their discriminative capacity to detect Parkinson’s disease across diverse datasets. The paper presents three deep learning architectures and their domain adversarial counterparts. The models were evaluated with sustained vowels and diadochokinetic recordings extracted from four corpora with different demographics, dialects or languages, and recording conditions. The results showed that the space distribution of the embedding features extracted by the domain adversarial networks exhibits a higher intra-class cohesion. This behaviour is supported by a decrease in the variability and inter-domain divergence computed within each class. The findings suggest that domain adversarial networks are able to learn the common characteristics present in Parkinsonian voice and speech, which are supposed to be corpus, and consequently, language independent. Overall, this effort provides evidence that domain adaptation techniques refine the existing end-to-end deep learning approaches for Parkinson’s disease detection from voice and speech, achieving more generalizable models.

Humanity is facing a vast prevalence of neurodegenerative diseases, with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) being the most dominant, without efficacious drugs, and with only a few therapeutic targets identified. In this scenario, we aim to find molecular entities that modulate imidazoline I2 receptors (I2-IRs) that have been pointed out as relevant targets in AD. In this work, we explored structural modifications of well-established I2-IR ligands, giving access to derivatives with an imidazole-linked heterocycle as a common key feature. We report the synthesis, the affinity in human I2-IRs, the brain penetration capabilities, the in silico ADMET studies, and the three-dimensional quantitative structure-activity relationship (3D-QSAR) studies of this new bunch of I2-IR ligands. Selected compounds showed neuroprotective properties and beneficial effects in an in vitro model of Parkinson’s disease, rescued the human dopaminergic cell line SH-SY5Y from death after treatment with 6-hydroxydopamine, and showed crucial anti-inflammatory effects in a cellular model of neuroinflammation. After a preliminary pharmacokinetic study, we explored the action of our representative 2-(benzo[b]thiophen-2-yl)-1H-imidazole LSL33 in a mouse model of AD (5xFAD). Oral administration of LSL33 at 2 mg/Kg for 4 weeks ameliorated 5XFAD cognitive impairment and synaptic plasticity, as well as reduced neuroinflammation markers. In summary, this new I2-IR ligand that promoted beneficial effects in a well-established AD mouse model should be considered a promising therapeutic strategy for neurodegeneration.

Over the last decade, the zebrafish has emerged as an important model organism for behavioural studies and neurological disorders, as well as for the study of metabolic diseases. This makes zebrafish an alternative model for studying the effects of energy disruption and nutritional quality on a wide range of behavioural aspects. Here, we used the zebrafish model to study how obesity induced by overfeeding regulates emotional and cognitive processes. Two groups of fish (n = 24 per group) were fed at 2% (CTRL) and 8% (overfeeding-induced obesity, OIO) for 8 weeks and tested for anxiety-like behaviour using the novel tank diving test (NTDT). Fish were first tested using a short-term memory test (STM) and then trained for four days for a long-term memory test (LTM). At the end of the experiment, fish were euthanised for biometric sampling, total lipid content, and triglyceride analysis. In addition, brains (eight per treatment) were dissected for HPLC determination of monoamines. Overfeeding induced faster growth and obesity, as indicated by increased total lipid content. OIO had no effect on anxiety-like behaviour. Animals were then tested for cognitive function (learning and memory) using the aversive learning test in Zantiks AD units. Results show that both OIO and CTRL animals were able to associate the aversive stimulus with the conditioned stimulus (conditioned learning), but OIO impaired STM regardless of fish sex, revealing the effects of obesity on cognitive processes in zebrafish. Obese fish did not show a deficiency in monoaminergic transmission, as revealed by quantification of total brain levels of dopamine and serotonin and their metabolites. This provides a reliable protocol for assessing the effect of metabolic disease on cognitive and behavioural function, supporting zebrafish as a model for behavioural and cognitive neuroscience.

Among the vast class of porous carbon materials, N-doped porous carbons have emerged as promising materials in catalysis due to their unique properties. The introduction of nitrogen into the carbonaceous matrix can lead to the creation of new sites on the carbon surface, often associated with pyridinic or pyrrolic nitrogen functionalities, which can facilitate various catalytic reactions with increased selectivity. Furthermore, the presence of N dopants exerts a significant influence on the properties of the supported metal or metal oxide nanoparticles, including the metal dispersion, interactions between the metal and support, and stability of the metal nanoparticles. These effects play a crucial role in enhancing the catalytic performance of the N-doped carbon-supported catalysts. Thus, N-doped carbons and metals supported on N-doped carbons have been revealed to be interesting heterogeneous catalysts for relevant synthesis processes of valuable compounds. This review presents a concise overview of various methods employed to produce N-doped porous carbons with distinct structures, starting from diverse precursors, and showcases their potential in various catalytic processes, particularly in fine chemical synthesis.

Feeding motivation plays a crucial role in food intake and growth. It closely depends on hunger and satiation, which are controlled by the melanocortin system. Overexpression of the inverse agonist agouti-signalling protein (ASIP) and agouti-related protein (AGRP) leads to enhanced food intake, linear growth, and weight. In zebrafish, overexpression of Agrp leads to the development of obesity, in contrast to the phenotype observed in transgenic zebrafish that overexpress asip1 under the control of a constitutive promoter (asip1-Tg). Previous studies have demonstrated that asip1-Tg zebrafish exhibit larger sizes but do not become obese. These fish display increased feeding motivation, resulting in a higher feeding rate, yet a higher food ration is not essential in order to grow larger than wild-type (WT) fish. This is most likely attributed to their improved intestinal permeability to amino acids and enhanced locomotor activity. A relationship between high feeding motivation and aggression has been previously reported in some other transgenic species showing enhanced growth. This study aims to elucidate whether the hunger observed in asip1-Tg is linked to aggressive behaviour. Dominance and aggressiveness were quantified using dyadic fights and mirror-stimulus tests, in addition to the analysis of basal cortisol levels. The results indicate that asip1-Tg are less aggressive than WT zebrafish in both dyadic fights and mirror-stimulus tests.

Due to the primary affection of the respiratory system, COVID-19 leaves traces that are visible in plain chest X-ray images. This is why this imaging technique is typically used in the clinic for an initial evaluation of the patient’s degree of affection. However, individually studying every patient’s radiograph is time-consuming and requires highly skilled personnel. This is why automatic decision support systems capable of identifying those lesions due to COVID-19 are of practical interest, not only for alleviating the workload in the clinic environment but also for potentially detecting non-evident lung lesions. This article proposes an alternative approach to identify lung lesions associated with COVID-19 from plain chest X-ray images using deep learning techniques. The novelty of the method is based on an alternative pre-processing of the images that focuses attention on a certain region of interest by cropping the original image to the area of the lungs. The process simplifies training by removing irrelevant information, improving model precision, and making the decision more understandable. Using the FISABIO-RSNA COVID-19 Detection open data set, results report that the opacities due to COVID-19 can be detected with a Mean Average Precision with an IoU > 0.5 (mAP@50) of 0.59 following a semi-supervised training procedure and an ensemble of two architectures: RetinaNet and Cascade R-CNN. The results also suggest that cropping to the rectangular area occupied by the lungs improves the detection of existing lesions. A main methodological conclusion is also presented, suggesting the need to resize the available bounding boxes used to delineate the opacities. This process removes inaccuracies during the labelling procedure, leading to more accurate results. This procedure can be easily performed automatically after the cropping stage.

In the last decade, MOFs have been proposed as precursors of functional porous carbons with enhanced catalytic performances by comparison with other traditional carbonaceous catalysts. This area is rapidly growing mainly because of the great structural diversity of MOFs offering almost infinite possibilities. MOFs can be considered as ideal platforms to prepare porous carbons with highly dispersed metallic species or even single-metal atoms under strictly controlled thermal conditions. This review briefly summarizes synthetic strategies to prepare MOFs and MOF-derived porous carbons. The main focus relies on the application of the MOF-derived porous carbons to fine chemical synthesis. Among the most explored reactions, the oxidation and reduction reactions are highlighted, although some examples of coupling and multicomponent reactions are also presented. However, the application of this type of catalyst in the green synthesis of biologically active heterocyclic compounds through cascade reactions is still a challenge.

The presence and infestation level of Bactrocera oleae was monitored in an organic olive orchard divided into differently treated parcels with kaolin (K), spinosad (S) and with kaolin and spinosad (K + S) in alternate rows. The treatments did not seem to affect olive fruit fly population dynamics, while statistically significant protective effects were recorded against total and harmful infestation, but not against the active one. Eventually, neither kaolin nor spinosad were shown to have a particular detrimental effect against naturally occurring B. oleae parasitoids.

Cardiovascular control is vulnerable to forced high sodium consumption during the per-inatal period, inducing programming effects, with anatomical and molecular changes at the kidney, brain, and vascular levels that increase basal and induce blood pressure. However, the program- ming effects of the natriophilia proper of the perinatal period on blood pressure control have not yet been elucidated. In order to evaluate this, we studied the effect of a sodium overload challenge (SO) on blood pressure response and kidney and brain gene expression in adult offspring exposed to voluntary hypertonic sodium consumption during the perinatal period (PM-NaCl group). Male PM-NaCl rats showed a more sustained increase in blood pressure after SO than controls (PM-Ctrol). They also presented a reduced number of glomeruli, decreased expression of TRPV1, and increased expression of At1a in the kidney cortex. The relative expression of heteronuclear vaso- pressin (AVP hnRNA) and AVP in the supraoptic nucleus was unchanged after SO in PM-NaCl in contrast to the increase observed in PM-Ctrol. The data indicate that the availability of a rich source of sodium during the perinatal period induces a long-term effect modifying renal, cardiovascular, and neuroendocrine responses implicated in the control of hydroelectrolyte homeostasis.

From July–November 2020, mink (Neogale vison) on 12 Utah farms experienced an increase in mortality rates due to confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection. We conducted epidemiologic investigations on six farms to identify the source of virus introduction, track cross-species transmission, and assess viral evolution. Interviews were conducted and specimens were collected from persons living or working on participating farms and from multiple animal species. Swabs and sera were tested by SARS-CoV-2 real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) and serological assays, respectively. Whole genome sequencing was attempted for specimens with cycle threshold values

Background: Self-reported physical activity is often inaccurate. Wearable devices utilizing multiple sensors are now widespread. The aim of this study was to determine acceptability of Fitbit Charge HR for children and their families, and to determine best practices for processing its objective data. Methods: Data were collected via Fitbit Charge HR continuously over the course of 3 weeks. Questionnaires were given to each child and their parent/guardian to determine the perceived usability of the device. Patterns of data were evaluated and best practice inclusion criteria recommended. Results: Best practices were established to extract, filter, and process data to evaluate device wear, r and establish minimum wear time to evaluate behavioral patterns. This resulted in usable data available from 137 (89%) of the sample. Conclusions: Activity trackers are highly acceptable in the target population and can provide objective data over longer periods of wear. Best practice inclusion protocols that reflect physical activity in youth are provided.

Zoonotic transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from infected humans to other animals has been documented around the world, most notably in mink farming operations in Europe and the United States. Outbreaks of SARS-CoV-2 on Utah mink farms began in late July 2020 and resulted in high mink mortality. An investigation of these outbreaks revealed active and past SARS-CoV-2 infections in free-roaming and in feral cats living on or near several mink farms. Cats were captured using live traps, were sampled, fitted with GPS collars, and released on the farms. GPS tracking of these cats show they made frequent visits to mink sheds, moved freely around the affected farms, and visited surrounding residential properties and neighborhoods on multiple occasions, making them potential low risk vectors of additional SARS-CoV-2 spread in local communities.

Tool wear monitoring is a critical issue in advanced manufacturing systems. In the search for sensing devices that can provide information about the grinding process, Acoustic Emission (AE) appears to be a promising technology. The present paper presents a novel deep learning-based proposal for grinding wheel wear status monitoring using an AE sensor. The most relevant finding is the possibility of efficient feature extraction form frequency plots using CNNs. Feature extraction from FFT plots requires sound domain-expert knowledge, and thus we present a new approach to automated feature extraction using a pre-trained CNN. Using the features extracted for different industrial grinding conditions, t-SNE and PCA clustering algorithms were tested for wheel wear state identification. Results are compared for different industrial grinding conditions. The initial state of the wheel, resulting from the dressing operation, is clearly identified for all the experiments carried out. This is a very important finding, since dressing strongly affects operation performance. When grinding parameters produce acute wear of the wheel, the algorithms show very good clustering performance using the features extracted by the CNN. Performance of both t-SNE and PCA was very much the same, thus confirming the excellent efficiency of the pre-trained CNN for automated feature extraction from FFT plots.

Rtr1 is an RNA polymerase II (RNA pol II) CTD-phosphatase that influences gene expression during the transition from transcription initiation to elongation and during transcription termination. Rtr1 interacts with the RNA pol II and this interaction depends on the phosphorylation state of the CTD of Rpb1, which may influence dissociation of the heterodimer Rpb4/7 during transcription. In addition, Rtr1 was proposed as an RNA pol II import factor in RNA pol II biogenesis and participates in mRNA decay by autoregulating the turnover of its own mRNA. Our work shows that Rtr1 acts in RNA pol II assembly by mediating the Rpb4/7 association with the rest of the enzyme. RTR1 deletion alters RNA pol II assembly and increases the amount of RNA pol II associated with the chromatin that lacks Rpb4, decreasing Rpb4-mRNA imprinting and, consequently, increasing mRNA stability. Thus, Rtr1 interplays RNA pol II biogenesis and mRNA decay regulation. Our data also indicate that Rtr1 mediates mRNA decay regulation more broadly than previously proposed by cooperating with Rpb4. Interestingly, our data include new layers in the mechanisms of gene regulation and in the crosstalk between mRNA synthesis and decay by demonstrating how the association of Rpb4/7 to the RNA pol II influences mRNA decay.

Achieving geometrical accuracy in cylindrical traverse grinding for high-aspect slender parts is still a challenge due to the flexibility of the workpiece and, therefore, the resulting shape error. This causes a bottleneck in production due to the number of spark-out strokes that must be programmed to achieve the expected dimensional and geometrical tolerances. This study presents an experimental validation of a shape-error prediction model in which a distributed load, corresponding to the grinding wheel width, is included, and allows inclusion of the effect of steady rests. Headstock and tailstock stiffness must be considered and a procedure to obtain their values is presented. Validation of the model was performed both theoretically (by comparing with FEM results) and experimentally (by comparing with the deformation profile of the real workpiece shape), obtaining differences below 5%. Having determined the shape error by monitoring the normal grinding force, a solution was presented to correct it, based on a cross-motion of the grinding wheel during traverse strokes, thus decreasing non-productive spark-out strokes. Due to its simplicity (based on the shape-error prediction model and normal grinding force monitoring), this was easily automatable. The corrective compensation cycle gave promising results with a decrease of 77% in the shape error of the ground part, and improvement in geometrically measured parameters, such as cylindricity and straightness.

The paper aims to analyze how the different degrees of mathematical formalization can be worked in the study of probability at non-university educational levels. The model of algebraization levels for mathematical practices based on the onto-semiotic approach is applied to identify the different objects and processes involved in the resolution of a selection of probabilistic problems. As a result, we describe the possible progression from arithmetic and proto-algebraic levels of mathematical activity to higher levels of algebraization and formalization in the study of probability. The method of analysis developed can help to establish connections between intuitive/informal and progressively more formal approaches in the study of mathematics.

Background: Glaucoma is currently the leading cause of irreversible blindness; it is a neuropathy characterized by structural alterations of the optic nerve, leading to visual impairments. The aim of this work is to develop a new oral formulation able to counteract the early changes connected to glaucomatous degeneration. The composition is based on gastrodin and vitamin D3 combined with vitamin C, blackcurrant, and lycopene. Methods: Cells and tissues of the retina were used to study biological mechanisms involved in glaucoma, to slow down the progression of the disease. Experiments mimicking the conditions of glaucoma were carried out to examine the etiology of retinal degeneration. Results: Our results show a significant ability to restore glaucoma-induced damage, by counteracting ROS production and promoting cell survival by inhibiting apoptosis. These effects were confirmed by the intracellular mechanism that was activated following administration of the compound, either before or after the glaucoma induction. In particular, the main results were obtained as a preventive action of glaucoma, showing a beneficial action on all selected markers, both on cells and on eyecup preparations. It is therefore possible to hypothesize both the preventive and therapeutic use of this formulation, in the presence of risk factors, and due to its ability to inhibit the apoptotic cycle and to stimulate cell survival mechanisms, respectively. Conclusion: This formulation has exhibited an active role in the prevention or restoration of glaucoma damage for the first time.

The Bruch’s membrane (BrM) is a five-layered extracellular matrix (ECM) that supports the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). Normal age-related changes in the BrM may lead to RPE cell damage and ultimately to the onset and progression of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), which is the most common cause of visual loss among the elderly. A role for the complement system in AMD pathology has been established, but the disease mechanisms are poorly understood, which hampers the design of efficient therapies to treat millions of patients. In an effort to identify the mechanisms that lead from normal aging to pathology, we have developed a cell-based model using complement deficient human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived RPE cells cultured on an AMD-like ECM that mimics BrM. The data present evidence that changes in the ECM result in loss of differentiation and promote epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) of healthy RPE cells. This pathological process is mediated by complement activation and involves the formation of a randomly oriented collagen meshwork that drives the dedifferentiation of the RPE monolayer. Genetic ablation of complement component 3 has a protective effect against EMT but does not prevent the abnormal deposition of collagens. These findings offer new insights into the sequence of events that initiate AMD and may guide the design of efficient therapies to treat this disease with unmet medical needs.

Fabry disease (FD) is a lysosomal storage disease caused by mutations in the gene for the α-galactosidase A (GLA) enzyme. The absence of the enzyme or its activity results in the accumulation of glycosphingolipids, mainly globotriaosylceramide (Gb3), in different tissues, leading to a wide range of clinical manifestations. More than 1000 natural variants have been described in the GLA gene, most of them affecting proper protein folding and enzymatic activity. Currently, FD is treated by enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) or pharmacological chaperone therapy (PCT). However, as both approaches show specific drawbacks, new strategies (such as new forms of ERT, organ/cell transplant, substrate reduction therapy, or gene therapy) are under extensive study. In this review, we summarize GLA mutants described so far and discuss their putative application for the development of novel drugs for the treatment of FD. Unfavorable mutants with lower activities and stabilities than wild-type enzymes could serve as tools for the development of new pharmacological chaperones. On the other hand, GLA mutants showing improved enzymatic activity have been identified and produced in vitro. Such mutants could overcome several complications associated with current ERT, as lower-dose infusions of these mutants could achieve a therapeutic effect equivalent to that of the wild-type enzyme.

Energy consumption, because of population development, is progressively increasing. For this reason, new sources of energy are being developed, such as that produced from the combustion of biomass. However, this type of renewable energy has one main disadvantage, the production of waste. Biomass bottom ash is a residue of this industry that currently has not much use. For this reason, this research evaluates its use as a filler in bituminous mixtures, since this sector also has a significant impact on the environment, as it requires large quantities of raw materials. With this objective, first, the physical and chemical properties of biomass bottom ashes were evaluated, verifying their characteristics for their use as filler. Subsequently, bituminous mixtures were conformed with biomass bottom ash as filler, and their physical and mechanical properties were analyzed through particle loss and Marshall tests. The results of these tests were compared with those obtained with the same type of mixture but with conventional and ophite aggregates. This study confirmed that biomass bottom ash was viable for use as a filler, creating mixtures with a higher percentage of bitumen, better mechanical behavior, and similar physical properties. In short, more sustainable material for roads was obtained with waste currently condemned to landfill.

Background: Peri-implantitis is a pathological condition characterized by an inflammatory process involving soft and hard tissues surrounding dental implants. The management of peri-implant disease has several protocols, among which is the chemical method HYBENX®. The aim of this study is to demonstrate the efficacy of HYBENX® in the treatment of peri-implantitis and to compare HYBENX® with other chemical agents used in the surgical treatment of peri-implantitis. Methods: The present study included a population of ten subjects with severe peri-implantitis. The procedure used in the study involves the application of HYBENX® after open-flap debridement. Each patient has been followed for 12 months after a single application of the decontaminant agent. Clinical and radiographical parameters were recorded at baseline, 3 months, and 12 months after treatment completion. Results: At baseline, a mean pocket probing depth (PPD) of 7.3 ± 0.5 mm and a mean clinical attachment level (CAL) of 8.8 ± 0.8 mm was recorded. An average residual PPD of 4.2 ± 0.5 mm and a mean CAL of 5.2 ± 0.8 mm were observed after 1 year. Additionally, the average of bone gain was about 3.4 mm, with a mean marginal bone level (MBL) change from 5.8 mm (baseline) to 2.4 mm (12 months). In total, 90% of the treated implants reached the success rate after the 1-year follow-up. Only in one case out of ten treated implants was resolution of the disease not achieved. Conclusion: Clinical improvements highlight that the procedure of open-flap debridement (OFD) + HYBENX® may be considered an effective technique in the treatment of peri-implantitis. From the results obtained, it can be concluded that the use of HYBENX® in the surgical treatment of peri-implantitis is promising. Overall, this protocol demands further studies to better understand the role and potential benefits of HYBENX® in the treatment of peri-implantitis.

Numerous methods in the extensive literature on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) reconstruction exploit temporal redundancy to accelerate cardiac cine. Some of them include motion compensation, which involves high computational costs and long runtimes. In this work, we proposed a method—elastic alignedSENSE (EAS)—for the direct reconstruction of a motion-free image plus a set of nonrigid deformations to reconstruct a 2D cardiac sequence. The feasibility of the proposed approach was tested in 2D Cartesian and golden radial multi-coil breath-hold cardiac cine acquisitions. The proposed approach was compared against parallel imaging compressed sense (sPICS) and group-wise motion corrected compressed sense (GWCS) reconstructions. EAS provides better results on objective measures with considerable less runtime when an acceleration factor is higher than 10×. Subjective assessment of an expert, however, invited proposing the combination of EAS and GWCS as a preferable alternative to GWCS or EAS in isolation.

Power generation from biomass is one of the most promising energy sources available today. However, this industry has a series of wastes derived from its activity, mainly biomass fly ash and biomass bottom ash. Biomass bottom ash is a waste that has no current use and, in most cases, is deposited in landfills. In turn, road construction is one of the activities that produces the most pollution, as it requires huge amounts of raw materials. Therefore, this research proposes the use of biomass bottom ashes, in an unaltered form, for the formation of cold in-place recycling with bitumen emulsion. This type of mixture, which is highly sustainable owing to the use of a high percentage of waste, was made with reclaimed asphalt pavement, biomass bottom ash, water, and bitumen emulsion. To this end, the grading curve of the materials was analyzed, different bituminous mixtures were made with varying percentages of emulsion and water, and the mechanical properties of the mixtures were analyzed. At the same time, the same type of mix was made with reclaimed asphalt pavement and commercial limestone aggregate, in order to compare the results. The tests showed a better mechanical behavior of the bituminous mixes made with biomass bottom ash, maintaining physical properties similar to those of conventional mixes. In short, it was confirmed that the production of this type of mix with biomass bottom ash was feasible, creating sustainable materials that reuse currently unused waste and avoid landfill disposal.

The construction sector is one of the most demanding sectors for materials that exist today. Therefore, in order to avoid the extraction of new raw materials, it is necessary to use waste. This waste must present a series of physical and chemical characteristics that make it suitable for its employment. Therefore, in this investigation, ladle furnace slag is characterized for use as filler in bituminous mixtures. These slags are produced by the metallurgical industry in large quantities and represent a significant environmental problem. The slags were tested by analyzing their chemical composition and elementary physical properties. At the same time, and in order to evaluate the environmental viability, the environmental affections produced by the treatment of this material for its use as filler were calculated. These environmental results were compared with those obtained by processing of conventional filler. The detailed methodology reflected the chemical and physical feasibility of ladle furnace slags for use as filler, as well as the environmental advantage of processing this waste compared to commercial materials. In this way, the suitability of ladle furnace slags for bituminous mixtures and its feasibility for the creation of more sustainable pavements was assessed.

The greater environmental awareness, new environmental regulations and the optimization of resources make possible the development of sustainable materials as substitutes for the traditional materials used in construction. In this work, geopolymers were developed as substitutes to traditional ceramics for brick manufacture, using as raw materials: chamotte, as a source of aluminosilicate, and biomass bottom ashes from the combustion of almond shell and alpeorujo (by-product produced in the extraction of olive oil composed of solid parts of the olive and vegetable fats), as the alkaline activator. For the feasibility study, samples were made of all possible combinations of both residues from 100% chamotte to 100% biomass bottom ash. The tests carried out on these sample families were the usual physical tests for ceramic materials, notably the compression strength test, as well as colorimetric tests. The freezing test was also carried out to study the in-service behavior of the different sample groups. The families with acceptable results were subjected to Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analysis. The results of the previous tests showed that the geopolymer was indeed created for the final families and that acceptable mechanical and aging properties were obtained according to European standards. Therefore, the possibility of creating geopolymers with chamotte and biomass bottom ashes as substitutes for conventional ceramics was confirmed, developing an economical, sustainable material, without major changes in equipment and of similar quality to those traditionally used for bricks.

Roads are currently essential links of communication and economic development. However, these roads are progressively requiring higher quality materials, implying a greater impact on the environment, in order to withstand the high levels of heavy vehicle traffic. Therefore, this research proposes the use of industrial by-products to create bituminous mixtures which are more resistant and durable than traditional ones. The industrial by-products used, are electric arc furnace slag, ladle furnace slag, and cellulose fibers from the papermaking industry. These by-products were physically and chemically characterized to be used to conform with bituminous mixtures. At the same time, bituminous mixtures were conformed with conventional materials, thus being able to compare the physical and mechanical properties of the conformed mixtures through different tests. The results showed how the use of cellulose fibers made it possible to absorb a greater percentage of bitumen, as well as the use of electric arc furnace slag and ladle furnace slag created mixtures, with greater Marshall stability. Therefore, sustainable, durable, resistant, and high waste mixtures were developed in this investigation.

The construction sector is one of the most demanding of raw materials that exist at present. In turn, the greenhouse gas emissions that it produces are important. Therefore, at present there are several lines of research in which industrial by-products are incorporated for the manufacture of bituminous mixtures and the reduction of CO2 emissions, framed inside the circular economy. On the base of the aforementioned, in this research, bituminous mixtures of the Stone Mastic Asphalt type were developed with electric arc furnace slag, ladle furnace slag and discarded cellulose fibers from the papermaking industry. To this end, the waste is first characterized physically and chemically, and its properties evaluated for use in bituminous mixtures. Later, different groups of samples are conformed with conventional materials and with the waste in order to be able to compare the physical and mechanical properties of the obtained bituminous mixtures. The physical tests carried out were bulk density, maximum density and void index, as well as the Marshall test for the evaluation of the strength and plastic deformations of all the bituminous mixtures manufactured. The study and evaluation of the results showed that the incorporation of slag makes it possible to absorb a greater percentage of bitumen and obtain better mechanical properties, while maintaining a similar deformation and void content. Therefore, it is feasible to use the mentioned slags to create sustainable, resistant and suitable pavements for important traffic.

Cold in-place recycling with bitumen emulsion is a good environmental option for road conservation. The technique produces lower CO2 emissions because the product is manufactured and spread in the same location as the previous infrastructure, and its mixing with bitumen emulsion occurs at room temperature. Adding materials with cementitious characteristics gives the final mixture greater resistance and durability, and incorporating an industrial by-product such as ladle furnace slag (of which cementitious characteristics have been corroborated by various authors) enables the creation of sustainable, resistant pavement. This paper describes the incorporation of ladle furnace slag in reclaimed asphalt pavements (RAP) to execute in-place asphalt pavement recycling with bitumen emulsion. Various test groups of samples with increasing percentages of emulsion were created to study both the density of the mixtures obtained, and their dry and post-immersion compressive strength. To determine these characteristics, the physical and chemical properties of the ladle furnace slag and the reclaimed asphalt pavements were analyzed, as well as compatibility with the bitumen emulsion. The aforementioned tests define an optimal combination of RAP (90%), ladle furnace slag (10%), water (2.6%), and emulsion (3.3%), which demonstrated maximum values for compressive strength of the dry and post-immersion bituminous mixture. These tests therefore demonstrate the suitability of ladle furnace slag for cold in-place recycling with bitumen emulsion.

Pavement maintenance is an essential activity for maintaining the quality of the pavements. It is common for the ageing pavement to present problems of friction, so a proper solution must be provided. In this work, electric arc furnace slags are incorporated in slurry surfacing to provide adequate friction with this technique. The electric arc furnace slag was studied with physical, chemical, and mechanical tests to evaluate its suitability in the formation of the bituminous mixture. At the same time, different groups of samples were made with increasing percentages of bitumen emulsion and slag as coarse aggregate, determining the wear of the different families and the cohesion. The results reflected the excellent characteristics of the electric arc furnace slags, and an optimal combination of materials (slag, aggregate, water, and bitumen emulsion) could be obtained to develop slurry surfacing applicable to important traffic roads. This provided a use for the electric arc furnace slag in which its mechanical properties were used and a sustainable bituminous mixture with excellent characteristics and respectful of the environment was developed.

The construction of road infrastructure is one of the most polluting activities that exists today. Therefore, the use of waste from other industries is an excellent solution, since it reduces the consumption of raw materials, reduces CO2 emissions and avoids the disposal of waste in a landfill. In this study, electric arc furnace slag, cellulose fibers from the papermaking industry and bitumen emulsion were used for the conformation of sustainable and porous bituminous mixtures. Electric arc furnace slag was used as a high-resistance aggregate with a capacity sufficient to support traffic loads. Cellulose fibers were added to increase the percentage of binder in the mixture without bleeding problems, thereby achieving greater tensile strength. To do this, first the waste was physically and chemically characterized, then different mixtures were conformed and finally the mixtures were studied by means of the loss by wear and Marshall tests. The results reflected an optimal combination of materials that provided the best results in the mechanical tests, obtaining much better results than the mixtures with discontinuous grading and traditional bitumen emulsion. Therefore, a sustainable, porous and economical mixture for road use is obtained in this research.

Since 2016, our hospital has applied tumor testing with immunohistochemistry (IHC) in endometrial cancer in order to detect mutations of mismatch repair genes (MMR). All cases with MMR deficiency proteins expression are sent for genetic testing, except those with MLH1 protein deficiency, in which case genetic testing is performed if negative for promoter hypermethylation. The primary aim of this study was to investigate the ability of our algorithm to identify Lynch syndrome (LS). The Secondary aims were to investigate the relationship between MMR status and clinicopathological features and prognosis of primary endometrial cancer (EC). From January 2016 to December 2018, 239 patients with EC were retrospectively analyzed and subdivided according to MMR status. Patients were divided in three groups: MMR proficient, LS and Lynch-like cancer (LLC). LS was characterized by a lower age and BMI, more use of contraceptive and less use of hormonal replacement therapy, nulliparity and a trend versus a better prognosis. LLC appeared more related to MMR proficient than LS and exhibited a more aggressive behavior. Our multidisciplinary approach permitted a correct diagnosis of germline mutation in patients with newly diagnosis EC and it confirmed clinicopathologic and prognostic characteristics of LS.