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The system will determine the presence in the blood of prions (infectious proteins) before the first symptoms. A simple blood test is sufficient to detect diseases such as mad cow or Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans. This is the main application of optical sensor developed by a team of researchers from Colloidal Chemistry Group in collaboration with scientists from the universities of Michigan and Rice in the United States.
The system, based on a crystal structure of gold nanoparticles is the result of a research project whose results recently published by the journal Proceedings of the National Academy you Sciences ( PNAS ) in an article highlighting the design of a superglass capable of acting as a nanoantenna that identifies the ‘fingerprint’ of a molecule.
“Prions are infectious proteins that have altered its secondary structure. The sensor presented here detected a total of ten prions per liter of blood, “says the researcher Ramón Álvarez Puebla, who coordinated the study from research group in Colloid Chemistry, associated unit of the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) University of Vigo.
The method involves immersing the superglass with an optical sensor in a sample of blood plasma or centrifuged. Then the sensor generates an extremely high electric field on the surface of glass, “and this makes us to obtain the signal bounces off an extended form prions and, thus, is difficult to quantify their presence,” said the author.
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Like UVB, UVA rays from the sun can damage DNA. French researchers have elucidated the mechanism.
The warm weather arrives and we have only one desire: to soak up the sun.But beware, the sun’s rays cause skin cancer.How?The development of cancer is a complex phenomenon that can be triggered by a chemical modification of DNA, and, contrary to popular belief, ultraviolet (UV) B of the sun are not solely responsible this type of alteration.Indeed, Akos Banyasz and colleagues at the Laboratoire Francis Perrin CNRS and CEA and the Laboratory of nucleic acid lesions of the CEA, characterized the statements “excited” of DNA that form under the effect of UV A and the DNA damage that results.
Ultraviolet radiation emitted by the Sun is classified into three types of photons: A UV photons having a wavelength between 400 and 315 nm, UV B, between 315 and 280 nanometers, and UV-C, 280 and 100 nanometers.Much of the UVB is filtered by the atmosphere, while UV-C is completely absorbed by the ozone layer and reach the surface of the Earth.Solar radiation to which humans are exposed is composed of 95 percent UVA and 5 percent of UV B.
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The biological activity of a molecule depends on its shape. A new synthesis method provides the desired conformations.
In organic molecules, the carbon atoms are joined by links called simple or multiple. In 2005, Yves Chauvin, Robert Grubbs and Richard Schrock received the Nobel Prize for Chemistry for having developed the olefin metathesis, a synthetic route of double bonds. During such reactions, carbon atoms forming double bonds are exchanged, creating new molecules. The team of Amir Hoveyda, Boston University, in collaboration with R. Schrock, further improves the method: it has managed to steer metathesis to one of two conformations that the molecule can take.
Olefin metathesis is a catalytic reaction: olefin – a molecule containing a double bond – binds to the central atom of the catalyst (one atom of tungsten, ruthenium or molybdenum) and form a complex. In the presence of the second olefin, the two double bonds are broken to form a single compound containing the metal atom. This transitional form is evolving rapidly to reform two double bonds between a carbon atom of the first molecule and the second (see Figure).
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In a study published in the journal Nature Chemistry and have conducted research at the University of Barcelona and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, it is shown that under certain conditions, interactions between groups dihydrogen carbon-hydrogen (CH), very common in the chemistry of organic compounds can be much stronger than previously thought.
At work we have studied the polyhedral alkanes (or poliedranos)-consisting of carbon atoms around hydrogen atoms in their ability to create stable crystal structures with melting temperatures up to 400 º C. According to Santiago Álvarez, professor at the Department of Chemistry and a researcher at the Institute of Theoretical and Computational Chemistry at UB, “the study have been found to meet several requirements poliedranos chemicals that dihydrogen interactions in principle be considered weak- stronger than experts imagined. In particular, it has been the fact that the carbon atom maintains a hydrogen is attached to a carbon skeleton favors large over much this interaction. ”
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The device uses an enhanced version of SERS technology, based on the “signature” of a material that reflects radiation on the left
Opens the door to a wide range of applications, from diagnosing cancer to search for explosives, the new device developed by a group of researchers at Princeton University.
It is indeed a sensor design that uses innovative distribution of laser radiation and allows the identification of various substances by analyzing the color of light they reflect. The result is particularly important because the test sample can be very small, even a single molecule.
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The use of road salt and antifreeze is paramount during the winter. However, brings many environmental problems and their use has been banned in several European countries. Under the regional project Vialcyl fluxes are looking for new products based on extensive presence in Castilla and Leon as molasses in the sugar industry, waste from wine or brine and whey from the dairy companies.
As explained by Carlos Garcia and Cristina Pardo, researchers Service R & D + I Collosa Valladolid company that coordinates the study, currently being defined test method and analyzing the capacity and fluxes of these products. The study is part of one of the seven tasks that includes the project, launched in late 2009, in particular, focused on sustainability and life cycle of road infrastructure.
Compared to traditional processes, this area is going to study the potential benefits that involve new methods “as the incorporation of nanomaterials to provide greater benefits to conventional mortar.” For example, plans to add to the exits and entrances to tunnels titanium dioxide nanoparticles to absorb pollutants like nitrogen oxides (NOx) from exhaust of vehicles.
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Researchers at the University of Granada working on the project of excellence Obtaining bioactive peptides and oligosaccharides from goat milk by enzymatic hydrolysis and membrane technology has been endowed with almost 250,000 euros from the Ministry of Economy, Innovation and Science.
The objective is the development of engineering processes aimed at the production and purification of functional ingredients (biopeptides and oligosaccharides) using exportable technologies on an industrial scale. “All the formulas have two proteins: casein, insoluble, and is used for the realization of cheese, and soluble protein or whey, which is of high quality and could be used to obtain these functional substances,” says the project’s principal investigator, Emilia Guadix.
The current trend in the food industry, in terms of value added, is marked by the development of functional foods with beneficial properties for the body’s metabolic functions. Recent scientific studies have shown that goat milk is a valuable source of candidate compounds to be used as functional ingredients. Among these peptides have been reported to modulate blood pressure “by inhibiting angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) and which arise by enzymatic hydrolysis of casein and serum proteins goat.”
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Researchers at the University of Cadiz have developed a new accelerated aging test easier and cheaper than finding new spirits and liqueurs. The new test method allows in thirty days to simulate aging a distilled liquor or an approximate age of two years or two and a half years
Group members AGR-122 Chemical Research Analytical wine and wine products the UCA has developed an accelerated aging test of distillates and spirits easier and cheaper to search for new products. To understand the importance of this work must take into account that wineries, both to solve problems related to the possible effects (eg, factors such as variations or presence of pests, quality or production) as the search for new products with distinctive features and new features, have an interest in aging wine distillates of grape varieties than those generally used.
However, the high cost and, especially, the time required for aging wine distillates with the traditional method (solera system and criaderas Jerez), reduce the possibilities of testing for the development of new products.
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A thesis presented at the University of Burgos has studied the production of natural concentrates of omega 3 from fish byproducts. This work, conducted by researcher Nuria Rubio, aims to foster the design of processes for obtaining concentrates rich in omega 3 high-quality, most effective, safe and competitive than those produced today.
The study was divided into three parts according to different stages of the process: first is extracted from fish oil using carbon dioxide under supercritical conditions. A second stage of the enzymatic reaction between supercritical carbon dioxide in the oil fraction richer in omega-3 from the first stage, allows for a richer concentrate.
The separation of the reaction products is performed by splitting the difference of solubilities of the various products into carbon dioxide. Finally, we studied the microencapsulation of fish oil rich in omega 3 within a solid matrix of a carbohydrate by technologyPGSS-drying carbon dioxide at high pressures. As raw materials, have used different products of the fishing industry.
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Researchers at the University of Cadiz have initiated a project to analyze the chemical pollution, pharmaceuticals and personal care products, in various aquatic systems in the Atlantic region of Andalusia. This research, endowed with 190,000 euros from the Junta de Andalucia, is a continuation of other emerging pollutants in aquatic systems.
The Guadalquivir and its area of influence will be the next four years of one of the markings closer who has lived in their ancient history. A group of experts from the University of Cadiz, led by Eduardo Gonzalez Mazo, has initiated a project of excellence whose mission is to verify the presence of pharmaceuticals and personal care products in the river and some areas of influence.
Sevilla, Jerez and Cadiz are the cities where researchers from the University of Cadiz (UCA) take samples to see first hand the level of pollution of its waters. This research, endowed with 190,000 euros from the Junta de Andalucia, is a continuation of another named Badepas (behavior and distribution of emerging contaminants in aquatic systems) and funded by the Seventh EU Framework Programme.
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The warm weather arrives and we have only one desire: to soak up the sun.But beware, the sun’s rays cause skin cancer.How?The development of cancer is a complex phenomenon that can be triggered by a chemical modification of DNA, and, contrary to popular belief, ultraviolet (UV) B of the sun are not solely responsible this type of alteration.Indeed, Akos Banyasz and colleagues at the Laboratoire Francis Perrin CNRS and CEA and the Laboratory of nucleic acid lesions of the CEA, characterized the statements “excited” of DNA that form under the effect of UV A and the DNA damage that results.
In organic molecules, the carbon atoms are joined by links called simple or multiple. In 2005, Yves Chauvin, Robert Grubbs and Richard Schrock received the Nobel Prize for Chemistry for having developed the olefin metathesis, a synthetic route of double bonds. During such reactions, carbon atoms forming double bonds are exchanged, creating new molecules. The team of Amir Hoveyda, Boston University, in collaboration with R. Schrock, further improves the method: it has managed to steer metathesis to one of two conformations that the molecule can take.