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In the present work a set of eight altarpieces of the 16th century (1532–1534), attributed to the Ferreirim Masters (Gregorio Lopes, Garcia Fernandes and Cristovao de Figueiredo), from the Santo Antonio de Ferreirim Monastery (North of Portugal), were analysed by micro-Raman spectroscopy. For this purpose some samples were taken from the paintings to characterise its artist's ‘school’. It was found that the preparation was made with chalk and gypsum and the palette composed mainly of lamp black, azurite, lead white (mixed with other pigments), lead–tin yellow type I, goethite (the main constituent of yellow ochre), red lead (as under painting), haematite (the main constituent of red ochre) and vermilion. Indigo was detected in one sample. Some derivatives and degradation products were found mainly in the panels subjected to high temperatures during a fire occurred in 1954: a degradation product from massicot or red lead, lead carbonate (dehydrated derivative of lead white), bassanite and anhydrite (hemi- and dehydrated forms of gypsum). These results are compared with those of previous total reflection X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (TXRF) analyses. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

An ethereal extract of wheat (Triticum aestivum) straw with a positive biological assay for allelopathic activity, has been analyzed by HRGC. By means of HRGC-MS the extract composition was assessed as a complex mixture of organic acids and sterolic compounds. The sterolic fraction was subsequently separated and further studied by HRGC-MS and HPLC-MS. Among the thirty seven components identified, some described for the first time in wheat straw, two new ketostero's were characterized by means of their MS spectra. The potential of the particle-beam (PB) interface in HPLC-MS studies of unknown mixtures is exemplified and compared with that of HRGC-MS.

The iron status of a group of 73 institutionalized elderly people, 20 men and 53 women, aged 68–95 years, was evaluated by means of dietary, haematological and biochemical parameters. Nutritional analysis revealed an average iron intake of 8.6 mg/day, which was below the recommended amount in 78% of the cases. However, the intakes of haem iron and of several promoters of iron absorption (as vitamin C and meat) were quite satisfactory. Haematological and biochemical data revealed that 7.3% of the elderly had abnormal values for mean corpuscular volume and for transferrin saturation and were considered to have an impaired iron status; 4.9% had deficient haemoglobin values and an impaired iron status and suffered from anaemia. Based on dietary, haematological and biochemical data, women and those aged a 80 years presented a worse iron status than males and those aged ≥ 80 years. The present findings show the importance of describing the nutritional status of the elderly population. Utilized in this way nutritional intervention can be used as an important clinical tool not only to prevent the occurrence of morbidity and mortality, but also, to enhance the quality of life of the elderly.

We studied 157 pregnant women living in Merida, Spain, during their third trimester of pregnancy and their newborns at birth, analyzing the mother's and the umbilical cord's blood for hemoglobin, hematocrit, mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC), serum iron and serum ferritin. We observed statistically correlations between hemoglobin and hematocrit values of the mother with erythrocyte count, hemoglobin and hematocrit values of her child and between serum iron of mother and child. The blood levels in the umbilical cord did not decrease until the ferritin value of the mother was12 micrograms/l. Under these conditions the ferritin levels in the umbilical cord blood (80.4 micrograms/l) were significantly lower than in those newborn infants whose mother had adequate ferritin levels (123 micrograms/l). We deduce that maternal iron status seems to condition, at least partially, fetal iron status, specially when the mother has some deficiencies. We did not find a lower birth weight in children of anemic mothers. Actually, we found an inverse correlation between maternal hemoglobin values and infant birth weight (r = -0.1731, p0.05). It is possible that the demands on the mother are increased in the case of a newborn infant of greater size.

The monokine eosinophil cytotoxicity enhancing factor (ECEF) increases antibody-dependent cytotoxicity of eosinophils towards helminth larvae. A monokine biochemically indistinguishable from ECEF increases the release of leukotriene C4 and other arachidonic acid metabolites by eosinophils. We have developed monoclonal antibodies (mAb) to these monokines by immunizing mice with ECEF made by the U-937 histiocytic lymphoma cell line. mAb 81.10.C9 (IgG2b) and 9A6G (IgG1) inhibit the effect of the monokine on release of AA products. Both mAb bind ECEF, which appears after affinity chromatography purification as a major 13-14-kDa and a minor 62-kDa component (13-14 kDa and 52 kDa after reduction) in silver-stained gels. An additional component of 30 kDa is detectable after radioiodination of the immunopurified material. The specificity of both mAb was studied in several ways. In immunoprecipitation, both recognize the 13-14-kDa and the 30-kDa components, while the 62-(52)-kDa protein is not significantly precipitated. Both mAb react in enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay with products secreted by peripheral blood mononuclear cells and monocytes, as well as with those secreted by phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate and lipopolysaccharide-stimulated U-937 cells and with the immunopurified proteins. These were separated in sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, electroeluted and assayed for ECEF activity. Activity was associated with the 13-14-kDa and the 30-kDa fractions, as seen by increased eosinophil antibody-dependent adherence to schistosomula and cytotoxicity. Granulocyte-monocyte-colony-stimulating factor and interleukin 1, but not tumor necrosis factor, could be detected in crude U-937 supernatants. However, active immunopurified ECEF has no activity in assays for granulocyte-monocyte-colony-stimulating factor, interleukin 1 or tumor necrosis factor. Immunocytochemical localization of ECEF employing the mAb shows strong surface staining of viable monocytes and U-937 cells, suggesting that ECEF is associated to the cell surface. These properties distinguish ECEF from other monokines previously reported to activate eosinophils.

T lymphocytes (CD3+) without expression of CD4/CD8 surface antigens have recently been described in the thymus and peripheral lymphoid organs. We have conducted a retrospective analysis of the literature, seeking quantitative variations in this T-cell subset in normal heterosexual controls, and in risk, pre-AIDS, and AIDS groups, by means of the subtraction [CD3-(CD4+CD8]) and the ratio 100 X [CD3-(CD4+CD8])/CD3. Dramatic T lymphocytopaenia in AIDS patients and the progressive decay of CD4+ lymphocytes and increase of CD8+ lymphocytes throughout the clinical spectrum of HIV infection have been confirmed. Furthermore, we hereby demonstrate the selective expansion of CD3+CD4-CD8- lymphocytes, directly related to the clinical state in different clinical groups of infected people when compared with controls (P less than 0.05). The inverse relationship between the CD3+CD4-CD8- cell subset and other mature T-cell subsets, mainly CD4+ (r = -0.49; P less than 0.01), suggests the existence of mutual regulatory interactions. These in vivo results, which are in agreement with those obtained in long-term infected cultures, cannot be explained by direct cytopathic effects of the virus on the very few infected cells. Thus, the implication of the expansion of these functional precursors on the prognosis for infected people, and the paradoxes of the immunodeficiency, such as lymphoproliferation and autoimmune features, are discussed.