Successful Approaches for a Red Seaweed Biorefinery.

Macroalgae have been commercially exploited as food and for the production of phycocolloids, but they also contain compounds with potential in pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, cosmetic, chemical and energetic applications. The biorefinery concept applied to seaweed facilitates the extraction of different constituents ensuring full utilization of resources and generating few residues through a succession of steps. Seaweed biorefineries are less advanced than those based on terrestrial biomass and the design of efficient processes requires further study. This review presents practical successful examples to obtain two or more commercially valuable components from red seaweeds. The selected processes consist on cascading stages of both conventional and alternative techniques to illustrate different possible valorization strategies.

The Role of Protein-Rich Extracts from Chondrus crispus as Biostimulant and in Enhancing Tolerance to Drought Stress in Tomato Plants.

The application of seaweed extract-based biostimulants is a promising approach for achieving sustainable agriculture, with an enormous potential of improving crop yield and mitigating climate change effects. Abiotic stressors, such as drought, are major factors resulting in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) yield losses and seaweed-based biostimulants have been proposed as an eco-friendly strategy to counteract this negative impact. Chondrus crispus is a common red seaweed widely used as source of carrageenans, not yet explored as a plant biostimulant. In this study, a protein hydrolysate-rich C. crispus extract, by-products of the carrageenan extraction, was tested on tomato plants under well-watered condition and water shortage. The foliar application of the protein-rich C. crispus extract conferred drought tolerance to tomato plants resulting in less noticeable visual stress symptoms. Treated plants showed higher shoot height and biomass under both well-watered and water deficit conditions, evidencing the double effect exerted by this new biostimulant, as plant growth promoter and drought stress protector. The treatment with the biostimulant had an effect on levels of abscisic acid and proline, and triggered the expression of Solyc02g084840, a drought marker gene. Finally, a label-free mass spectrometric approach allowed us to identify phycoerythrins and phycocyanins as major bioactive proteins contained in the extract. Altogether, these results indicate that the foliar application of protein hydrolysate-rich extracts from C. crispus improved tomato plant growth and tolerance to drought stress, suggesting a new opportunity for further applications in the agriculture and horticultural sectors.

Anti-inflammatory potential of ulvan.

Green seaweeds are a widespread group of marine macroalgae that could be regarded as biorenewable source of valuable compounds, in particular sulfated polysaccharides like ulvans with interesting biological properties. Among them, anti-inflammatory activity represents an interesting target, since ulvans could potentially avoid side effects of conventional therapies. However, a great variability in ulvan content, composition, structure and properties occurs depending on seaweed specie and growth and processing conditions. All these aspects should be carefully considered in order to have reproducible and well characterized products. This review presents some concise ideas on ulvan composition and general concepts on inflammation mechanisms. Then, the main focus is on the importance of adequate selection of extraction, depolymerization and purification technologies followed by an updated survey on anti-inflammatory properties of ulvans through modulation of different signaling pathways. The potential application in a number of diseases, with special emphasis on inflammaging, gut microbiota dysbiosis, wound repair, and metabolic diseases is also discussed. This multidisciplinary overview tries to present the potential of ulvans considering not only mechanistic, but also processing and applications aspects, trusting that it can aid in the development and application of this widely available and renewable resource as an efficient and versatile anti-inflammatory agent.

Efficient extraction of carrageenans from Chondrus crispus for the green synthesis of gold nanoparticles and formulation of printable hydrogels.

The integral utilization of sustainable resources with versatile, efficient and cleaner processes is encouraged. Hydrothermal treatment with subcritical water is a chemical free, tunable and rapid technology providing enhanced yield compared to conventional extraction and was explored for the benign by design extraction and depolymerization of carrageenan from Chondrus crispus. Up to 90% of the seaweed was solubilized operating under nonisothermal regime during heating up to 200 °C and 75.5% crude carrageenan yield was attained at 140 °C. Crude carrageenan could not be precipitated by ethanol from the extracts produced at 180 °C and higher temperatures, but ultrafiltration (100 kDa) of the extract obtained at 160 °C provided comparable recovery yields and similar rheological features to those of the ethanol precipitated product. Operation at 140 °C was preferred based on the higher recovery yield of the biopolymer and the whole extract was suitable for the green synthesis of polycrystalline decahedral quasi-spherical gold nanoparticles with a mean size distribution of 8.4 nm and Z potential value of -40.2 mV. Alternatively, the crude carrageen fraction was used for the formulation of printable biopolymer based gels with suitable mechanical properties, including a relevant gel strength enhancement (about 10-fold) when compared with conventional procedures.

Interactions of diorganolead(IV) with 3-(2-thienyl)-2-sulfanylpropenoic acid and/or thiamine: chemical and in vitro and in vivo toxicological results.

The reactions of PbR(2)(OAc)(2) (R = Me, Ph) with 3-(2-thienyl)-2-sulfanylpropenoic acid (H(2)tspa) in methanol or ethanol afforded complexes [PbR(2)(tspa)] that electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) and IR data suggest are polymeric. X-ray studies showed that [PbPh(2)(tspa)(dmso)] x dmso, crystallized from a solution of [PbPh(2)(tspa)] in dmso, is dimeric, and that [HQ](2)[PbPh(2)(tspa)(2)] (Q = diisopropylamine), obtained after removal of [PbPh(2)(tspa)] from a reaction including Q, contains the monomeric anion [PbPh(2)(tspa)(2)](2-). In the solid state the lead atoms are O,S-chelated by the tspa(2-) ligands in all these products, and in the latter two have distorted octahedral coordination environments. NMR data suggest that tspa(2-) remains coordinated to PbR(2)(2+) in solution in dmso. Neither thiamine nor thiamine diphosphate reacted with PbMe(2)(NO(3))(2) in D(2)O. Prior addition of H(2)tspa protected LLC-PK1 renal proximal tubule cells against PbMe(2)(NO(3))(2); thiamine had no statistically significant effect by itself, but greatly potentiated the action of H(2)tspa. Administration of either H(2)tspa or thiamine to male albino Sprague-Dawley rats dosed 30 min previously with PbMe(2)(NO(3))(2) was associated with reduced inhibition of delta-ALAD by the organolead compound, and with lower lead levels in kidney and brain, but joint administration of both H(2)tspa and thiamine only lowered lead concentration in the kidney.

Utilidad y satisfacción respecto a una consulta virtual interniveles de patología musculoesquelética con rehabilitación / Usefulness and satisfaction regarding a virtual inter-levels consultation of musculoskeletal disorder with rehabilitation

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Gammagrafía hepatobiliar con SPECT/TC en el diagnóstico de una fístula biliopleural posquirúrgica / Hepatobiliary scintigraphy with SPECT/CT IN the diagnosis of postsurgical biliopleural fistula

No disponible

Validación española de la Escala de Observación Enfermera de la Intensidad Sintomática en unidades de hospitalización psiquiátrica (NOIIS) / Spanish validation of the Nursing Observed Illness Intensity Scale in psychiatric units

Introducción. La revisión de la investigación existente evidencia las deficiencias en la oferta de instrumentos útiles para controlar el estado de pacientes psiquiátricos institucionalizados. Sin embargo, la escala Nursing Observation Illness Intensity Scale (NOIIS) en inglés ha demostrado evaluar de manera objetiva y rápida el estado de los pacientes en unidades de hospitalización psiquiátrica. En este contexto, nuestro principal objetivo es demostrar la utilidad, así como la fiabilidad y la validez, de la escala NOIIS en español. Método. Tras la traducción y retrotraducción de la escala NOIIS, esta se administró a una muestra de 34 pacientes. Para evaluar la fiabilidad, la escala fue administrada por 2 profesionales, y para controlar su validez se recogieron datos de otras escalas psicopatológicas (BPRS, la escala de dimensiones psicopatológicas DSM-5, la escala ICG y la escala de funcionamiento social SIX). Resultados. El coeficiente alpha de Cronbach mostró valores superiores a 0,89 por ítem, y una fiabilidad del 98% para la puntuación total de la escala. La correlación de Pearson entre la NOIIS y la escala BPRS fue de 70% (p = 0,00). Además, se observó una correlación negativa entre la NOIIS y la SIX. Con la ICG y la escala de dimensiones psicopatológicas DSM-5 también se encontró correlación, aunque inferior a la BPRS. Conclusión. A pesar de que la muestra fue pequeña, los resultados muestran que la versión en español de la NOIIS es aplicable en el medio hospitalario. Asimismo, se demuestra la fiabilidad entre jueces y la validez con respecto a otras escalas de uso en enfermería en salud mental (AU)

Introduction. The reviews of recent literature reveal that there is no really useful scale to monitor patient condition. However, the English version of the Nursing Observed Illness Intensity Scale (NOIIS) has demonstrated to be an objective and quick evaluation of patient status in psychiatric inpatients units. In this context, our aim is demonstrate the usefulness, reliability, and validity of Spanish version of the NOIIS in mental health units. Methods. After the translation and re-translation of NOIIS, 34 patients completed it. To evaluate the reliability, the scale was administered by two professionals. To control the validity data were obtained from other psycho-pathological scales (BPRS, pathological dimensional scale DSM-5, ICG scale, and the social functioning scale SIX). Results. The Cronbach Alpha reliability showed higher values of 0.89 by item, and 98% for total scored. We found a 70% Pearson correlation between NOIIS and BPRS (P = .00), and to a lesser extent between NOIIS and ICG and with the DSM-5 pathological dimensional scale. In addition, we observed a negative correlation between the NOIIS and SIX scale. Conclusion. Even though our sample was small, the results show that the Spanish version of the NOIIS is applicable in the hospital setting. Furthermore, it has also demonstrated its reliability between raters, and the validity compared to other scales used in mental health (AU)