Calibration of a Dust Scattering Instrument Using Tomographic Techniques and Its Application to a Dust Sensor Instrument.

The characterization of suspended dust near the Martian surface is extremely relevant to understand the climate of Mars. In this frame, a Dust Sensor instrument, an infrared device designed to obtain the effective parameters of Martian dust using the scattering properties of the dust particles, was developed. The purpose of this article is to present a novel methodology to calculate, from experimental data, an instrumental function of the Dust Sensor that allows solving the direct problem and providing the signal that this instrument would provide given a distribution of particles. The experimental method is based on recording the signal measured when a Lambertian reflector is gradually introduced into the interaction volume at different distances from the detector and source and applying tomography techniques (inverse Radon transform) to obtain the image of a section of the interaction volume. This method provides a complete mapping of the interaction volume experimentally, which determines the Wf function. The method was applied to solve a specific case study. Among the advantages of this method, it should be noted that it avoids assumptions and idealizations of the dimensions of the volume of interaction and reduces the time required to carry out simulations.

New Method to Calculate the Angular Weighting Function for a Scattering Instrument: Application to a Dust Sensor on Mars.

Suspended dust above the Martian surface is an important element in Martian climatology. In the frame of the Exomars'22 mission, we developed a dust sensor instrument, designed to provide size parameters of dust particles suspended in Mars surface from the light scattered by the particles. Thus, to interpret the data of the dust sensor, we need a method to calculate the theoretical optical power dispersed by the particles and, therefore, the theoretical signal obtained by the instrument. This signal depends on the suspended particles and on the instrument configuration. In this paper, we present a new method to calculate the angular weighting function (Wf) for scattering sensors. Wf encompasses the scattering angles measured by the sensor and depends only on the instrument and not on the suspended particles. To calculate this Wf, we use fundamental radiometry principles and an appropriate coordinate system, where one coordinate is the scattering angle. The method is applied to the dust sensor instrument and compared with other methods. The comparison highlights the advantages of the proposed method since it avoids using an ideal sampling volume, preserves the radiometric meaning, and avoids instrument calibration. The effectiveness of the method makes it a valuable tool for the design of scattering instruments and also for the interpretation of their data.

Bi-Spectral Infrared Algorithm for Cloud Coverage over Oceans by the JEM-EUSO Mission Program.

The need to monitor specific areas for different applications requires high spatial and temporal resolution. This need has led to the proliferation of ad hoc systems on board nanosatellites, drones, etc. These systems require low cost, low power consumption, and low weight. The work we present follows this trend. Specifically, this article evaluates a method to determine the cloud map from the images provided by a simple bi-spectral infrared camera within the framework of JEM-EUSO (The Joint Experiment Missions-Extrem Universe Space Observatory). This program involves different experiments whose aim is determining properties of Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Ray (UHECR) via the detection of atmospheric fluorescence light. Since some of those projects use UV instruments on board space platforms, they require knowledge of the cloudiness state in the FoV of the instrument. For that reason, some systems will include an infrared (IR) camera. This study presents a test to generate a binary cloudiness mask (CM) over the ocean, employing bi-spectral IR data. The database is created from Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data (bands 31 and 32). The CM is based on a split-window algorithm. It uses an estimation of the brightness temperature calculated from a statistical study of an IR images database along with an ancillary sea surface temperature. This statistical procedure to obtain the estimate of the brightness temperature is one of the novel contributions of this work. The difference between the measured and estimation of the brightness temperature determines whether a pixel is cover or clear. That classification requires defining several thresholds which depend on the scenarios. The procedure for determining those thresholds is also novel. Then, the results of the algorithm are compared with the MODIS CM. The agreement is above 90%. The performance of the proposed CM is similar to that of other studies. The validation also shows that cloud edges concentrate the vast majority of discrepancies with the MODIS CM. The relatively high accuracy of the algorithm is a relevant result for the JEM-EUSO program. Further work will combine the proposed algorithm with complementary studies in the framework of JEM-EUSO to reinforce the CM above the cloud edges.

Evaluation of Heavy Metals in Streams of the Bacanga and Cachorros Watersheds in São Luís, Brazil.

Impacts on urban water resources are invariably caused by the development of urban centers and the occupation of the watershed. The release of untreated effluents and urban runoff are sources of metals in adjacent water bodies. It is therefore important to conduct studies on the occurrence of these trace elements in the environment and the risks posed to human health. The aim of the present study was to determine Cd, Pb, Cu, and Zn concentrations in water bodies located in the Bacanga and Cachorros watersheds and correlate the occurrence of these elements with physicochemical variables of the water (temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, and electrical conductivity). The variables were determined at the collection site with the aid of a multiparameter kit. Heavy metal concentrations were determined using anodic stripping voltammetry. The results revealed that the streams were not contaminated with the metals analyzed. The only exception was copper in the Limoeiro and Murtura streams, both of which are located in the industrial complex.

Histological and Genotoxic Biomarkers in Prochilodus lacustris (Pisces, Prochilodontidae) for Environmental Assessment in a Protected Area in the Northeast of Brazil.

The quality of aquatic environments all around the world is being altered by different human activities that represent direct threat to the ecological system and the aquatic biota. This study aimed to evaluate the occurrence of histological and genotoxic alterations in Prochilodus lacustris as indicators of anthropic impacts in a lacustrine environment in northeast Brazil. The histological alterations were evaluated using the histological alteration index, and the genotoxic alterations were detected using the micronuclei test, at three sampling stations (S1, S2 and S3). The gills presented lesions with three stages of severity, with mild lesions more frequent in the specimens collected at station S1. Mild hepatic tissue lesions were the most frequent type in both areas. Micronucleus analysis showed that station S3 was the most affected. The biological responses observed indicated that the fish are under influence of environmental changes. It is important to highlight that the organisms collected at station S3 had a more compromised health status.

Influenza vaccine response in community-dwelling German prefrail and frail individuals.

BACKGROUND: The age-related dysregulation of the immune system in older persons results in reduced responses to vaccination and greater susceptibility to infection, especially in frail individuals who suffer the greatest of morbidity and mortality due to infection. Recently, significantly reduced anti-influenza antibody titers and increased rates of influenza infection after vaccination were reported in community-dwelling American frail older adults. The aim of our study was to further assess the relative impact of frailty and of each individual Fried frailty criterion on influenza vaccine response. Prefrail and frail community-dwelling German persons aged ≥70 years were recruited for a nutritional randomized double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial conducted during the 2014-2015 influenza season. Herein, we present a sub-analysis study of the placebo group to compare 76 prefrail and frail participants. RESULTS: Previous seasonal influenza vaccination rate was relatively high (77.6%) in the 76 volunteers aged from 70 to 93 years. Of these participants, 65.8% were diagnosed as prefrail and 34.2% as frail according to the Fried frailty criteria. In both prefrail and frail groups, elevated levels of pre-vaccination seroprotection were observed to all vaccine strains (H1N1: 54% and 32%, H3N2: 60% and 72%, B: 10% and 16%). Post-vaccination, similar increases in haemagglutination-inhibiting antibody titers were observed for the three vaccine strains in both prefrail and frail groups. No significant difference in geometric mean titer (GMT) ratios and in rates of seroconversion or seroprotection were observed between prefrail and frail groups. Regarding the five Fried frailty criteria, only participants with low physical activity had significantly lower GMT to the strains H3N2 (55.4 vs 103.7, p = 0.001) and B (13.9 vs 20.0, p = 0.06), as compared to those having normal physical activity. CONCLUSIONS: Influenza vaccine response was not significantly affected by the frail phenotype, as defined by Fried frailty criteria, in community-dwelling German individuals. However, low physical activity may be a relevant predictor of lower serological response in vaccinated older individuals. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinicaltrials.gov NCT02262091 (October 8, 2013).

Stability of color in Spanish-style green table olives pasteurized and stored in plastic containers.

BACKGROUND: There is an increasing interest in the use of pasteurizable plastic packaging by the olive industry. In order to investigate the change from traditional glass or varnished can containers to plastic packaging, the proper plastic material that is compatible with fermented olives while maintaining color quality during pasteurization treatment and storage must be selected. This work is focused on color stability in two distinct pasteurizable plastic containers with different oxygen permeability. RESULTS: In PET + MDPE/EVOH (polyethylene terephthalate + medium-density polyethylene/ethylene vinyl alcohol) pouches, pasteurization provoked severe browning which drastically decreased their color shelf life (<6 weeks). However, this browning did not occur in the unpasteurized product without preservatives owing to the presence of microorganisms. In AlOx-coated PET + MDPE (aluminum oxide coating on polyethylene terephthalate + medium-density polyethylene) pouches, color changes were small or negligible throughout storage, especially if ascorbic acid was added to the packing solution (shelf life > 6.5 months). CONCLUSION: The plastic material had a significant effect on the retention of color of the pasteurized product. The use of AlOx-coated PET + MDPE pouches could be an alternative to traditional packaging for the pasteurization and storage of Spanish-style green olives from a color quality standpoint. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

Assays to control the development of the green staining alteration in Spanish-style green olives of the Gordal variety.

BACKGROUND: Olives of the Gordal variety processed according to the Spanish style sometimes develop an alteration in color known as green staining (GS), due to the formation of harmless copper-chlorophyll complexes, which makes the product less valuable. The aim of this study was to investigate methods to minimize the impact that this alteration has for the table olive industry. RESULTS: Calcium chloride, sorbic, benzoic and ascorbic acids and SO2 did not inhibit the development of the alteration in olives packed under their own fermentation brine or new fresh brine. It was also discovered that the incubation of olive samples at 45 °C for 20 days accelerates the formation of GS and can be a very useful tool to predict the incidence of the alteration in advance. By applying this test to numerous industrial tanks for four consecutive seasons, it was found that GS was mainly present in olives harvested at the beginning of the season. CONCLUSION: The formation of GS in olives of the Gordal variety is time- and temperature-dependent, and none of the additives tested avoided or retarded the development of the alteration. However, an accelerated test to predict the development of GS formation has been proposed that could contribute to minimize the effects of the alteration. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry.

Production of 4-ethylphenol in alperujo by Lactobacillus pentosus.

BACKGROUND: Alperujo is the paste generated from the two-phase extraction system of olive oil. This wet pomace must be stored for several months and, during this period, the formation of 4-ethyphenol provokes a strong off-odour. The aim of this work was to identify the microorganisms able to produce this volatile phenol. RESULTS: Yeast and bacterial strains were isolated from stored alperujo and tested for their ability to metabolize p-coumaric acid and form 4-ethylphenol. Among them, Lactobacillus pentosus was the microorganism that both in synthetic medium and alperujo gave rise to 4-ethylphenol formation. This microorganism did not grow in alperujo acidified to pH 2, thereby confirming that acidification as the best method to control odour emissions during alperujo storage. CONCLUSION: Lactic acid bacteria, particularly Lactobacillus pentosus, can be responsible for the formation of the off-odour caused by 4-ethylphenol during the storage of alperujo. This odour can be prevented by acidifying the alperujo.

[Prevalence of burnout syndrome in physicians working in Spain: systematic review and meta-analysis]. / Prevalencia del síndrome de burnout en médicos que trabajan en España: revisión sistemática y metaanálisis.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the prevalence of burnout syndrome in physicians working in Spain through a systematic review with meta-analysis METHOD: We searched PubMed/MEDLINE, Embase, and PsycINFO (up to June 2023). Observational studies conducted in Spain reporting the prevalence of burnout in physicians were included. From each study, methodological characteristics and results were extracted, and their quality was evaluated. We performed a narrative synthesis with random effects meta-analysis to calculate proportions. RESULTS: Sixty-seven studies with 16,076 participants were included. For the primary outcome, the meta-analysis revealed a global prevalence of burnout in physicians of 24% (95%CI: 19%-29%; 46 studies; 8821 participants; I2=97%). From subgroup analysis, differences were observed depending on the diagnostic criteria used: 18% (95%CI: 13%-23%) for three dimensions of burnout, 29% (95%CI: 24%-34%) for two dimensions and 51% (95%CI: 42%-60%) for one dimension. The heterogeneity between studies could not be fully explained through additional analyses where non-statistically significant differences were found with other variables (e.g., study quality, setting, professional category or medical specialty). CONCLUSIONS: A high prevalence of burnout syndrome was found in physicians working in Spain. These results can contribute to estimating the burden associated with burnout in physicians at a national level and to the design of future studies. Strategies appear to be necessary to prevent and mitigate this situation. PROTOCOL REGISTRATION: Open Science Framework: https://osf.io/b2h4m/.

Deep continual learning for medical call incidents text classification under the presence of dataset shifts.

The aim of this work is to develop and evaluate a deep classifier that can effectively prioritize Emergency Medical Call Incidents (EMCI) according to their life-threatening level under the presence of dataset shifts. We utilized a dataset consisting of 1982746 independent EMCI instances obtained from the Health Services Department of the Region of Valencia (Spain), with a time span from 2009 to 2019 (excluding 2013). The dataset includes free text dispatcher observations recorded during the call, as well as a binary variable indicating whether the event was life-threatening. To evaluate the presence of dataset shifts, we examined prior probability shifts, covariate shifts, and concept shifts. Subsequently, we designed and implemented four deep Continual Learning (CL) strategies-cumulative learning, continual fine-tuning, experience replay, and synaptic intelligence-alongside three deep CL baselines-joint training, static approach, and single fine-tuning-based on DistilBERT models. Our results demonstrated evidence of prior probability shifts, covariate shifts, and concept shifts in the data. Applying CL techniques had a statistically significant (α=0.05) positive impact on both backward and forward knowledge transfer, as measured by the F1-score, compared to non-continual approaches. We can argue that the utilization of CL techniques in the context of EMCI is effective in adapting deep learning classifiers to changes in data distributions, thereby maintaining the stability of model performance over time. To our knowledge, this study represents the first exploration of a CL approach using real EMCI data.

Degradation of ascorbic acid and potassium sorbate by different Lactobacillus species isolated from packed green olives.

The aim of this research was to ascertain the lactic acid bacteria responsible for the degradation of ascorbic acid and/or potassium sorbate, isolated from packed green olives where these additives had diminished. A total of 14 isolates were recovered from samples of different green olive containers. According to partial sequencing of the 16S rRNA coding gene, Lactobacillus parafarraginis, Lactobacillus rapi, Lactobacillus pentosus, Lactobacillus paracollinoides, and Pediococcus ethanolidurans were identified. With the exception of L. pentosus and L. paracollinoides, the other species had not been mentioned in table olives before this study. Only three of the 14 isolates metabolized ascorbic acid in MRS broth, and the products from ascorbic acid in modified MRS broth without carbon sources were acetic and lactic acids. Except for the two L. rapi and the two P. ethanolidurans strains, the remaining 10 isolates depleted potassium sorbate added into MRS broth to some extent. The product generated by three of these strains was confirmed to be trans-4-hexenoic acid. The degradation of ascorbate or sorbate by lactic acid bacteria should be taken into account when these additives are used in food products where this group of bacteria may be present.

Enhancing pollutant removal from contaminated soils using yield stress fluids as selective blocking agents.

This work presents a novel technique consisting in the use of yield stress fluids as blocking agents in porous media presenting pore-scale heterogeneities. The key feature of this method is that yield stress fluids only flow through the pores having a minimum size that depends on the applied pressure gradient. These fluids remain immobile in more and more pores as the pressure gradient is decreased. Therefore, the dimension of the pores which are invaded by the yield stress fluid can be controlled by adjusting the applied pressure gradient. Moreover, yield stress fluids are highly suitable blocking agents given the extremely high viscosity values that they exhibit in the pores. This allows for the diversion of the flow from greater to smaller pores during subsequent waterflooding stages, thus enhancing pollutant removal from the flow paths of small hydraulic conductance. A series of multiphase flow experiments were conducted in this study using well-characterized cores of artificial A10 sintered silicate. In these experiments, semidilute aqueous solutions of xanthan gum biopolymer were used as yield stress fluids to block the greatest pores. By doing so, considerably more pollutant was recovered by waterflooding. Furthermore, it was shown that an increase in polymer concentration does not always lead to a decrease in the size of the pores invaded by the blocking agent. Indeed, concentrated polymer solutions generate higher pressure gradients throughout the porous medium, which facilitates the invasion of small pores. Nevertheless, depending on the value of the yield stress-pressure gradient ratio, they may also develop extremely high viscosities that slow down their flow through such small pores. This work also presents a method to measure the volume of blocked pores using the results of tracer tests. The reported results suggest that using a polymer solution developing a yield stress as a selective blocking agent is a promising technique for soil remediation.

Postfire biodiversity database for eastern Iberia.

In the summer of 2012, two fires affected Mediterranean ecosystems in the eastern Iberian Peninsula. The size of these fires was at the extreme of the historical variability (megafires). Animals are traditionally assumed to recolonize from source populations outside of the burned area (exogenous regeneration) while plants recover from endogenous regeneration (resprouting and seeding). However, there is increasing evidence of in situ fire survival in animals. To evaluate the effect of large-scale fires on biodiversity and the mechanism of recovery, in 2013, we set up 12 plots per fire, covering burned vegetation at different distances from the fire perimeter and unburned vegetation. In each plot, we followed the postfire recovery of arthropods, reptiles (including some of their parasites), and plants for 2 to 5 years. Here we present the resulting database (POSTDIV) of taxon abundance. POSTDIV totals 19,906 records for 457 arthropod taxa (113,681 individuals), 12 reptile taxa (503 individuals), 4 reptile parasites (234 individuals), and 518 plant taxa (cover-abundance). We provide examples in the R language to query the database.

Assessment of Helicobacter pylori eradication by virgin olive oil.

BACKGROUND: A recent study conducted by Medina et al. disclosed that virgin olive oil has a bactericidal effect in vitro against Helicobacter pylori because of its contents of certain phenolic compounds with dialdehydic structures. We carried out two clinical trials to evaluate the effect of virgin olive oil on H. pylori-infected individuals. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two different pilot studies were performed with 60 H. pylori-infected adults. In the first study, thirty subjects who tested positive for H. pylori received 30 g of washed virgin olive oil for 14 days, and after 1 month, the patients took 30 g of unwashed virgin olive oil for another 14 days. In a second study, a group of 30 subjects received 30 g of a different virgin olive oil for 14 days. Helicobacter pylori-infection status was checked by the urea breath test. RESULTS: Helicobacter pylori was eradicated in 8 of 30 individuals when microorganism status was checked after 4-6 weeks from the first clinical intervention although 12 of 30 individuals did not show H. pylori infection at 24-72 hour of the last oil dose. Eradication rates were 27 and 40% by intention to treat and per protocol, respectively. Moreover, only 3 of 30 individuals were H. pylori negative after 4-6 weeks from the second clinical intervention but 5 of 30 were negative at 24-72 hour of the last oil dose. Eradication rates were 10 and 11% by intention to treat and per protocol, respectively. It must also be noted that 13 subjects withdrew from the studies because of taste and nausea drawbacks. CONCLUSIONS: The administration of virgin olive oil showed moderate effectiveness in eradicating H. pylori. Further studies are needed to confirm these findings, especially with longer periods, different administration conditions, and several types of olive oils.

Discovering Key Topics in Emergency Medical Dispatch from Free Text Dispatcher Observations.

The objective of this work was to discover key topics latent in free text dispatcher observations registered during emergency medical calls. We used a total of 1374931 independent retrospective cases from the Valencian emergency medical dispatch service in Spain, from 2014 to 2019. Text fields were preprocessed to reduce vocabulary size and filter noise, removing accent and punctuation marks, along with uninformative and infrequent words. Key topics were inferred from the multinomial probabilities over words conditioned on each topic from a Latent Dirichlet Allocation model, trained following an online mini-batch variational approach. The optimal number of topics was set analyzing the values of a topic coherence measure, based on the normalized pointwise mutual information, across multiple validation K-folds. Our results support the presence of 15 key topics latent in free text dispatcher observations, related with: ambulance request; chest pain and heart attack; respiratory distress; head falls and blows; fever, chills, vomiting and diarrhea; heart failure; syncope; limb injuries; public service body request; thoracic and abdominal pain; stroke and blood pressure abnormalities; pill intake; diabetes; bleeding; consciousness. The discovery of these topics implies the automatic characterization of a huge volume of complex unstructured data containing relevant information linked to emergency medical call incidents. Hence, results from this work could lead to the update of structured emergency triage algorithms to directly include this latent information in the triage process, resulting in a positive impact in patient wellbeing and health services sustainability.

The Dietary Inflammatory Index Is Associated with Subclinical Mastitis in Lactating European Women.

Subclinical mastitis (SCM) is an inflammatory state of the lactating mammary gland, which is asymptomatic and may have negative consequences for child growth. The objectives of this study were to: (1) test the association between the dietary inflammatory index (DII®) and SCM and (2) assess the differences in nutrient intakes between women without SCM and those with SCM. One hundred and seventy-seven women with available data on human milk (HM) sodium potassium ratio (Na:K) and dietary intake data were included for analysis. Multivariable logistic regression was used to examine the association between nutrient intake and the DII score in relation to SCM. Women without SCM had a lower median DII score (0.60) than women with moderate (1.12) or severe (1.74) SCM (p < 0.01). A one-unit increase in DII was associated with about 41% increased odds of having SCM, adjusting for country and mode of delivery, p = 0.001. Women with SCM had lower mean intakes of several anti-inflammatory nutrients. We show for the first time exploratory evidence that SCM may be associated with a pro-inflammatory diet and women with SCM have lower intakes of several antioxidant and anti-inflammatory nutrients.

A pore network modelling approach to investigate the interplay between local and Darcy viscosities during the flow of shear-thinning fluids in porous media.

During the flow of non-Newtonian fluids in porous media, the relationships between macroscopic quantities are governed by extremely complex microscopic fluid dynamics resulting from solid-fluid interactions. Consequently, the Darcy-scale viscosity exhibited by a shear-thinning fluid depends on the injection velocity, contrarily to the case of Newtonian fluids. In the present work, pore network modelling is used to investigate the relationships between local and macroscopic viscosities during the flow of shear-thinning fluids in 3D porous media. Special efforts are devoted to 1) identifying the influence of the viscosity exhibited by the fluid within the constrictions of the preferential flow paths on the value of Darcy-scale viscosity and 2) proposing an analytical expression to upscale viscosity from the local viscosity values. To go further, the reduction in average hydraulic tortuosity stemming from the directional nature of shear-thinning behavior in 3D porous media will also be quantified. The results of the present study show that Darcy-scale viscosity can be accurately calculated as the flow-rate weighted average of local viscosities in the investigated media. Moreover, the velocity maps provided by the proposed pore network flow simulations are suitable to assess hydraulic tortuosity reduction as compared to the flow of a Newtonian fluid.

Deep ensemble multitask classification of emergency medical call incidents combining multimodal data improves emergency medical dispatch.

The objective of this work was to develop a predictive model to aid non-clinical dispatchers to classify emergency medical call incidents by their life-threatening level (yes/no), admissible response delay (undelayable, minutes, hours, days) and emergency system jurisdiction (emergency system/primary care) in real time. We used a total of 1 244 624 independent incidents from the Valencian emergency medical dispatch service in Spain, compiled in retrospective from 2009 to 2012, including clinical features, demographics, circumstantial factors and free text dispatcher observations. Based on them, we designed and developed DeepEMC2, a deep ensemble multitask model integrating four subnetworks: three specialized to context, clinical and text data, respectively, and another to ensemble the former. The four subnetworks are composed in turn by multi-layer perceptron modules, bidirectional long short-term memory units and a bidirectional encoding representations from transformers module. DeepEMC2 showed a macro F1-score of 0.759 in life-threatening classification, 0.576 in admissible response delay and 0.757 in emergency system jurisdiction. These results show a substantial performance increase of 12.5 %, 17.5 % and 5.1 %, respectively, with respect to the current in-house triage protocol of the Valencian emergency medical dispatch service. Besides, DeepEMC2 significantly outperformed a set of baseline machine learning models, including naive bayes, logistic regression, random forest and gradient boosting (α = 0.05). Hence, DeepEMC2 is able to: 1) capture information present in emergency medical calls not considered by the existing triage protocol, and 2) model complex data dependencies not feasible by the tested baseline models. Likewise, our results suggest that most of this unconsidered information is present in the free text dispatcher observations. To our knowledge, this study describes the first deep learning model undertaking emergency medical call incidents classification. Its adoption in medical dispatch centers would potentially improve emergency dispatch processes, resulting in a positive impact in patient wellbeing and health services sustainability.

Acute dose-response effect of coffee-derived chlorogenic acids on the human vasculature in healthy volunteers: a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Epidemiological studies have reported lower risk of cardiovascular disease with moderate coffee consumption. In addition, emerging evidence indicates that consumption of coffee beverages enriched in chlorogenic acids (CGAs) may influence blood pressure and endothelial function, suggesting that the beneficial cardiovascular effect of coffee may relate to its CGA content. OBJECTIVES: We conducted a double-blind randomized crossover trial to test the effect of acute consumption of a decaffeinated green coffee extract (DGCE), rich in CGAs, on endothelial function in healthy subjects. METHODS: We compared 3 different doses of DGCE (302, 604, and 906 mg, respectively) with a placebo. Endothelial function was defined as the percentage change in the internal diameter of the brachial artery in response to flow-mediated dilation (%FMD). In addition, we followed the plasma concentration-time profiles of 25 systemic CGA metabolites over 24 h after DGCE consumption and we explored the relation between systemic concentrations of CGAs and the effect on %FMD. RESULTS: The DGCE formulations containing different amounts of CGAs resulted in dose-proportional increases in overall total polyphenol concentrations. The systemic appearance of total CGAs was biphasic, in agreement with previous results suggesting 2 sites of absorption in the gastrointestinal tract. Compared with the placebo group, a significant FMD increase (>1%) was observed 8.5, 10, and 24 h after consumption of 302 mg DGCE (∼156.4 mg CGAs). The differences with placebo observed in the other 2 groups were not statistically significant. Evaluation of the relation between phenolic exposure and %FMD showed a positive tendency toward a larger effect at higher concentrations and different behavior of CGA metabolites depending on the conjugated chemical position. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrated an acute improvement in %FMD over time after ingestion of a DGCE, explained at least partly by the presence in the blood circulation of CGAs and their metabolites. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT03520452.