253 research outputs found

    La psiquiatría en la medicina popular gallega

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    Tesis inédita, presentada en la Universidad de Madrid, Facultad de Medicina, 1953.Fac. de MedicinaTRUEProQuestpu

    Design of a cost-effective building microgrid: load modeling and optimization of the energy performance

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    Grado en Ingeniería en Tecnologías IndustrialesEn este proyecto, el objetivo principal es reducir los costes totales de un edificio del campus de Colorado School of Mines en un periodo de 25 años. Para ello, se desarrolla un problema de optimización consistente en tres partes fundamentales: la factura eléctrica, los costes asociados a las luces LED y los costes asociados a las fluorescentes. El edificio está recién construido y ha sido equipado con luces fluorescentes. Es conocido que las lámparas LED tienen mayor durabilidad y son más eficientes. Sin embargo, las luces fluorescentes son más baratas. Estos tres factores y la influencia de cada uno de ellos en el coste final van a ser examinados para obtener la solución más rentable. Después de que el problema haya sido resuelto, se espera que los ahorros económicos vengan acompañados de ahorros energéticos y de emisiones al medio ambiente. El impacto ambiental de la mejora en el edificio será examinada al final.In this project, the main objective is to reduce the total costs of a building from Colorado School of Mines campus in a period of 25 years. For this, an optimization problem was developed with three main parts: the electricity bill, LED associated costs and fluorescent associated costs. The building has been recently constructed and is equipped with fluorescent fixtures. It is known that LED lamps have a longer lifespan and are more efficient. However, fluorescent fixtures are cheaper. These three factors and their influence in the final costs will be examined in order to obtain the most profitable solution. After this problem is solved, it is expected that the economic savings also incur in energy and environmental savings. The environmental impact of the building's enhancement will be studied at last

    Potassium

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    post-print272 K

    Polymer-grafted gold nanoparticles for cancer treatment: synthesis and evaluation of their radiosensitizing properties

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    International audienceToday, even though treatments have much improved, cancer is still a leading cause of death in the world, being responsible for 1 death out of 6. Radiotherapy is widely used for tumor treatment, but suffers from side effects due to the irradiation of healthy surrounding tissues. Another issue is the radioresistance developed by some tumor cells, which implies to increase the involved doses. The challenge remains to deliver curative doses to tumor tissues while sparing sound ones. Hence the use of tumor-located radiosensitizers is a promising way to improve the efficacy of radiotherapy. High-Z materials have been known for several decades to amplify the damaging effects of both photon and ion radiations. Various nanoparticles have already been developed to take advantage of this property: gold, platinum and gadolinium are amongst the most investigated elements. A well-controlled synthesis is key to obtain stable and scalable nano-objects. Here, various polymers were grafted onto metallic nanoparticles to improve stability and biocompatibility and to facilitate subsequent functionalization. Advanced methods of characterization attested both robustness and reproducibility of the synthesis procedure. Moreover, promising results were obtained regarding the radioenhancing properties of these hybrid nanocompounds. Therefore, special attention has been given to the underlying mechanisms of the assessed radiosensitization, since they are not fully understood yet. Synthesis of polymer-grafted gold nanoparticles was performed through an in situ method, via the reduction of gold salts in the presence of polymeric ligands mainly prepared using controlled radical polymerization. The resulting nano-objects were fully characterized by thermogravimetric analysis, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), transmission electronic microscopy and small-angle x-ray and neutron scattering. Interactions between our nanocompounds and biological systems were studied in order to better understand the mechanisms at play. At the cellular scale, three aspects were examined for each type of nanoparticles: cellular uptake, cytotoxicity and radiosensitizing properties, through ICP-MS measurements, cell proliferation assays and clonogenic assays respectively. All irradiations were performed while keeping the delivered doses to low values (under 30 Gy) that are typical of clinic reality. Different types of radiations were tested, in order to compare their effects and their synergy with the nanocompounds. The synthesized nano-objects have shown great potential to enhance radiation cancer treatment. Their stability and controlled surface chemistry have allowed to develop multiple strategies in order to optimize their radiosensitizing effect and in vitro behavior

    Deep tissue penetration of bottle-brush polymers via cell capture evasion and fast diffusion

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    Drug nanocarriers (NCs) capable of crossing the vascular endothelium and deeply penetrating into dense tissues of the CNS could potentially transform the management of neurological diseases. In the present study, we investigated the interaction of bottle-brush (BB) polymers with different biological barriers in vitro and in vivo and compared it to nanospheres of similar composition. In vitro internalization and permeability assays revealed that BB polymers are not internalized by brain-associated cell lines and translocate much faster across a blood–brain barrier model compared to nanospheres of similar hydrodynamic diameter. These observations performed under static, no-flow conditions were complemented by dynamic assays performed in microvessel arrays on chip and confirmed that BB polymers can escape the vasculature compartment via a paracellular route. BB polymers injected in mice and zebrafish larvae exhibit higher penetration in brain tissues and faster extravasation of microvessels located in the brain compared to nanospheres of similar sizes. The superior diffusivity of BBs in extracellular matrix-like gels combined with their ability to efficiently cross endothelial barriers via a paracellular route position them as promising drug carriers to translocate across the blood–brain barrier and penetrate dense tissue such as the brain, two unmet challenges and ultimate frontiers in nanomedicine

    In Situ Characterization of the Protein Corona of Nanoparticles in vitro and in vivo

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    Here, we propose a new theoretical framework that enables the use of Differential Dynamic Microscopy (DDM) in fluorescence imaging mode to quantify in situ protein adsorption onto nanoparticles (NP) while simultaneously monitoring for NP aggregation. We use this methodology to elucidate the thermodynamic and kinetic properties of the protein corona (PC) in vitro and in vivo. Our results show that protein adsorption triggers particle aggregation over a wide concentration range and that the formed aggregate structures can be quantified using the proposed methodology. Protein affinity for polystyrene (PS) NPs was observed to be dependent on particle concentration. For complex protein mixtures, our methodology identifies that the PC composition changes with the dilution of serum proteins, demonstrating a Vroman effect never quantitatively assessed in situ on NPs. Finally, DDM allows monitoring of the evolution of the PC in vivo. Our results show that the PC composition evolves significantly over time in zebrafish larvae, confirming the inherently dynamic nature of the PC. The performance of the developed methodology allowed to obtain quantitative insights into nano-bio interactions in a vast array of physiologically relevant conditions that will serve to further improve the design of nanomedicine. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.</br

    Inborn errors of OAS-RNase L in SARS-CoV-2-related multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children

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    Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) is a rare and severe condition that follows benign COVID-19. We report autosomal recessive deficiencies of OAS1, OAS2, or RNASEL in five unrelated children with MIS-C. The cytosolic double-stranded RNA (dsRNA)-sensing OAS1 and OAS2 generate 2'-5'-linked oligoadenylates (2-5A) that activate the single-stranded RNA-degrading ribonuclease L (RNase L). Monocytic cell lines and primary myeloid cells with OAS1, OAS2, or RNase L deficiencies produce excessive amounts of inflammatory cytokines upon dsRNA or severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) stimulation. Exogenous 2-5A suppresses cytokine production in OAS1-deficient but not RNase L-deficient cells. Cytokine production in RNase L-deficient cells is impaired by MDA5 or RIG-I deficiency and abolished by mitochondrial antiviral-signaling protein (MAVS) deficiency. Recessive OAS-RNase L deficiencies in these patients unleash the production of SARS-CoV-2-triggered, MAVS-mediated inflammatory cytokines by mononuclear phagocytes, thereby underlying MIS-C

    Rare predicted loss-of-function variants of type I IFN immunity genes are associated with life-threatening COVID-19

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    Background: We previously reported that impaired type I IFN activity, due to inborn errors of TLR3- and TLR7-dependent type I interferon (IFN) immunity or to autoantibodies against type I IFN, account for 15–20% of cases of life-threatening COVID-19 in unvaccinated patients. Therefore, the determinants of life-threatening COVID-19 remain to be identified in ~ 80% of cases. Methods: We report here a genome-wide rare variant burden association analysis in 3269 unvaccinated patients with life-threatening COVID-19, and 1373 unvaccinated SARS-CoV-2-infected individuals without pneumonia. Among the 928 patients tested for autoantibodies against type I IFN, a quarter (234) were positive and were excluded. Results: No gene reached genome-wide significance. Under a recessive model, the most significant gene with at-risk variants was TLR7, with an OR of 27.68 (95%CI 1.5–528.7, P = 1.1 × 10−4) for biochemically loss-of-function (bLOF) variants. We replicated the enrichment in rare predicted LOF (pLOF) variants at 13 influenza susceptibility loci involved in TLR3-dependent type I IFN immunity (OR = 3.70[95%CI 1.3–8.2], P = 2.1 × 10−4). This enrichment was further strengthened by (1) adding the recently reported TYK2 and TLR7 COVID-19 loci, particularly under a recessive model (OR = 19.65[95%CI 2.1–2635.4], P = 3.4 × 10−3), and (2) considering as pLOF branchpoint variants with potentially strong impacts on splicing among the 15 loci (OR = 4.40[9%CI 2.3–8.4], P = 7.7 × 10−8). Finally, the patients with pLOF/bLOF variants at these 15 loci were significantly younger (mean age [SD] = 43.3 [20.3] years) than the other patients (56.0 [17.3] years; P = 1.68 × 10−5). Conclusions: Rare variants of TLR3- and TLR7-dependent type I IFN immunity genes can underlie life-threatening COVID-19, particularly with recessive inheritance, in patients under 60&nbsp;years old
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