Technology Spain  VALLADOLID 06/05/2013

Automated inspections in tunnels

The chief aim is to ensure road safety and to extend the useful life of these expensive infrastructures through a preventive conservation system

Nowadays, inspections in road and rail tunnels are performed manually. One or more technicians regularly walk through infrastructures trying to locate defects and faults, incidents recorded on cards and sometimes with photos or thermal images. In order to use technologies in these inspections automatically and to maintain tunnels preventively, researchers at Cartif (a technological center in Valladolid, Spain) and a company called Geocisa have embarked in the project SITEER.

 Túnel ferroviario (FOTO: Cartif).
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Health Spain  SALAMANCA 03/05/2013

Rats with brain injuries respond to growth hormone therapy

The article was published in Behavioural Brain Research

A study has proved the effectiveness of growth hormone therapy combined with rehabilitation in adult rats with brain injuries. The animals recover their motor functions when treatment is given immediately after the brain injury is produced, according to an article by researchers of the Universidad de Salamanca (Spain) published in Behavioural Brain Researh.

 Una rata seleccionada para un experimento saca la pata para acceder a la comida. Foto: Margarita Heredia.
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Health Spain  CASTILLA Y LEÓN 02/05/2013

A mathematical model to detect influenza epidemics

The paper, coordinated by two researchers at the Red Centinela Sanitaria de Castilla y Le贸n, was published in 'Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses'
Researchers at the Red Centinela Sanitaria de Castilla y León (Spain) have developed an epidemiological model that allows early detection of influenza epidemics. The study, published in Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses, was led by two experts from the Dirección General de Salud Pública (public health management in Castile and León): Tomás Vega and José Lozano, who have worked hand in hand with five authors from other countries. The mathematical model has been assessed and implemented by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe (WHO/Europe). Virus de la gripe.

 

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Social Sciences Spain  SALAMANCA 02/05/2013

CERN is not to produce black holes

Corinne Pralavorio, head of communication at CERN, takes part in the closing session of the Master in Social Studies on Science and Technology and the Postgraduate Certificate in Scientific Public Communication

The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva (Switzerland) is the largest laboratory in the world devoted to study particle physics, it is a research center with good stories to tell, but their spreading is very complex. Corinne Pralavorio is one of the persons in charge of bringing these stories to the public and on April 18th 2013 she went to Salamanca (Spain) to explain controversial situations that may benefit journalists and scientists in order to perform good scientific communication.

 Corinne Pralavorio, en la conferencia.
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Health Spain  SALAMANCA 30/04/2013

A drug to fight Ewing鈥檚 sarcoma

Animal tests provide good results regarding a treatment to fight a rare type of cancer affecting children and young adults

The Centro de Investigación del Cáncer (CIC), a cancer research center in Salamanca (Spain), is performing trials with a drug proven effective in preclinical studies against Ewing’s sarcoma, a type of cancer affecting mostly children and young adults. This rare disease primarily has an impact on bones, but also on other soft tissues; scientists think that at least a group of patients with poor prognosis may benefit from a therapy that is also being under studies to fight other neoplasms.

 Sarcoma de Ewing.

 

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Health Spain  LEÓN 30/04/2013

Researchers have decoded the genome of tacrolimus, a drug given after transplants

The article published in Journal of Bacteriology was useful to overtake other international teams pursuing the same goal

The Instituto de Biotecnología de León (Inbiotec), a Spanish biotechnology institute, has published in Journal of Bacteriology the nucleotide sequence of the genome of the organism producing immunosuppressant tacrolimus, the leading drug currently used to maintain transplanted organs such as livers, kidneys and hearts. The publication of the genome of Streptomyces tsukubaensis, Tacrolimus-producing bacterium, has been useful to get ahead of other international teams (British, Slovenian and Korean) pursuing the same objective.

 Fotografía de microscopio electrónico de Streptomyces tsukubaensis, el microorganismo productor del tacrolimus (FOTO: Inbiotec).
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Nutrition Spain  ZAMORA 29/04/2013

Analyzing whether adding essential oils to sheep diet has effects on milk and cheese

This study, awarded by the Fundaci贸n Cient铆fica Caja Rural, is intended to find out whether adding thyme and clove to sheep diet improves the quality of dairy products

Isabel Revilla Martín, professor at the Escuela Politécnica Superior de Zamora (Spain), was awarded by the Fundación Científica Caja Rural in November 2012 for a research project that aims to analyze whether adding thyme and clove essential oils to sheep diet has any effect on the quality of milk and cheese. The researcher, from the Department of Food Technology at the Universidad de Salamanca, is trying to prove dietary compounds actually affect end products.

 Ovejas de raza merina.
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Nutrition Spain  BURGOS 26/04/2013

Unusual microbial contamination sources in confiscated food are being investigated

The Universidad de Burgos, the only Spanish partner in this European project, is the place of meeting of 40 researchers involved in the initiative

Researchers at the Department of Food Technology of the Universidad de Burgos are involved in a project of the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Union called Promise-NET aimed to investigate the uncommon sources of microbial contamination of food confiscated at European borders (airports, ports, etc.). This is a three year project (2012-2014) and has a three million Euros budget; 157,000 are granted to the Universidad de Burgos, the only Spanish partner in the project.

 Jordi Rovira y su grupo de investigación.
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Health Spain  SALAMANCA 26/04/2013

Genetic sequencing to fight leukemia

A research team in Salamanca is the only Spanish partner in this project

The European Commission has launched a project under the Seventh Framework Programme in which a dozen partners from universities and companies work together in order to sequence the genome of leukemia patients; the main objective is to design tailored and more effective therapies. The study is to be conducted between 2013 and 2015 and a research team from Salamanca is participating as the only Spanish partner.

 Jesús María Hernández Rivas, en el Centro de Investigación del Cáncer.
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Technology Spain  PALENCIA 25/04/2013

Biodegradable packaging made of bread and pastry leftovers

The Centro Tecnol贸gico de Cereales in Palencia (Spain) is part of this project

According to experts, bread and pastry leftovers are currently used, in less than 20%, in animal feed products. The remaining leftovers are brought to the dumping site without separating them from their package, which makes their recycling process more complex. Throughout a European project involving the Centro Tecnológico de Cereales (CETECE), a cereal technology center in Palencia (Spain), the ultimate objective is to make good use o these byproducts in order to design a beneficial alternative for the environment: a polymer to make biodegradable plastic packaging.

 Recuento de microorganismos en los laboratorios de Microbiología del Cetece, una de las tareas que se enmarcan en el proyecto BREAD4PLA (FOTO: Cetece).
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Health Spain  LEÓN 24/04/2013

A polymorphism that modulates responses to exertion

Researchers have studied the gene for superoxide dismutase enzyme and its effects on oxidative stress

Polymorphism is the existence of various alleles of the same gene. It refers to variations in the sequence of a given DNA fragment among individuals of a population and, if they affect the coding or regulatory sequences and cause major alterations in the protein structure or in the regulation of its expression, may produce different phenotypes. In recent years, it has become clear that genetic polymorphisms may have a great importance regarding the individual response to physical exercise. The Instituto de Biomedicina de la Universidad de León (Ibiomed), and institute for biomedicine, is working on this research area.

 Modulación del estrés oxidativo por el polimorfismo de la SOD (FOTO: Ibiomed).

 

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Health Argentina  BUENOS AIRES 24/04/2013

Clandestine textile workshops: manufacturing disease

According to a study conducted by a CONICET investigator, life and work conditions in these establishments increase the risks of contracting tuberculosis and other pathologies

In Argentina, human trafficking is a criminal offense associated with Bolivian immigrant workers’ exploitation at clandestine textile workshops (TTC) in the city of Buenos Aires (CABA) and its metropolitan area (AMBA), where articles of clothing are produced for different brands. The precarious conditions, overcrowding and unhealthy conditions that characterise these illegal workshops affect not only workers’ health but also, in many cases, employees’ children who live with their parents in the same premises.

 Las condiciones de precariedad, hacinamiento e insalubridad que caracterizan estos talleres ilegales afectan seriamente la salud de los trabajadores. Foto: Gentileza investigador.
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Health Spain  VALLADOLID 22/04/2013

A mathematical model to foresee diabetic retinopathy progression

The system, based on confocal microscopy images, allows to discover prone to risk areas such as blood vessels that may get damaged
Diabetic retinopathy is a chronic condition linked to diabetes. It refers to the most prevalent vascular disease occurring in the retina and is classified into two types: non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy (it develops first and is characterized by enlarged blood vessels in certain areas) and proliferative diabetic retinopathy (the most severe and advanced type producing new fragile and breakable blood vessels). Development and progression of diabetic retinopathy, a leading cause of blindness worldwide, are related to changes in blood sugar control. Javier Finat, responsable del Grupo MoBiVAP (Modelización, Biomecánica y Visualización Avanzada) de la Universidad de Valladolid.
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Health Spain  SALAMANCA 19/04/2013

A new model to analyze auditory-vestibular nerve damages

The Instituto de Neurociencias de Castilla y Le贸n works hand in hand with The University of Manchester to understand problems that current tests are not able to detect

According to recent research, some hearing disorders caused by auditory-vestibular nerve damages are currently clinically undetectable, but they have important functional consequences, mainly because they lead to hearing impairment in noisy environments. The Instituto de Neurociencias de Castilla y León at the Universidad de Salamanca (Incyl), a neuroscience center in Spain, has formulated a theory to explain the impact those damages have on hearing and have come up with a method to simulate the problem in order to analyze it.

 Corte transversal del oído humano
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Health Spain  LEÓN 19/04/2013

A study on the use of mesenchymal stem cells 3D culture in animals

This experiment, conducted in a tissue bank, may be important for ophthalmology, traumatology, cardiac surgery and others

Mesenchymal cells are adult stem cells from bone marrow. Due to their regenerative properties, they are “a major tool to develop new therapeutic strategies in order to solve problems that present-day medicine is not able to satisfactorily resolve”. As we were told by Francisco Javier Iglesias Muñoz, director of the Banco de Tejidos de Castilla y León (a tissue bank) and member of the Fundación Clínica San Francisco de León, a body researching on the use of Mesenchymal stem cells 3D culture in animals, with applications in clinical areas such as ophthalmology, traumatology and cardiac surgery.

 Una bióloga trabaja en el banco de tejidos de la Fundación Clínica San Francisco.
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Health Spain  SALAMANCA 18/04/2013

A kit to make early diagnoses for colorectal cancer

Scientists and companies join together for a project aimed to identify tumor markers
The Universidad de Salamanca takes part in a study led by a company called Proalt (Madrid) that aims to develop a new method for colorectal cancer early diagnosis. The increased prevalence of this type of tumor requires an earlier an better identification of sarcomas and relapses in order to reduce mortality. Colodetect project pursues this goal by analyzing molecular markers with a simple blood test to determine the presence of tumors. The ultimate objective is to develop a kit to be used in any hospital to automatically and quickly perform tests and obtain results. Francisco Javier García Criado, investigador de la Universidad de Salamanca.
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Social Sciences Chile  ATACAMA 17/04/2013

ALMA pinpoints early galaxies at record speed

These galaxies are of key importance to our understanding of galaxy formation and evolution over the history of the Universe

A team of astronomers has used the new ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array) telescope to pinpoint the locations of over 100 of the most fertile star-forming galaxies in the early Universe. ALMA is so powerful that, in just a few hours, it captured as many observations of these galaxies as have been made by all similar telescopes worldwide over a span of more than a decade.

 En color rojo seis de las galaxias captadas en las observaciones de ALMA, más nuevas y precisas. ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO), APEX (MPIfR/ESO/OSO), J. Hodge et al., A. Weiss et al., NASA Spitzer Science Center.
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Health Spain  VALLADOLID 17/04/2013

Cataract surgery upgrading

According to estimates, 400,000 cataract operations are performed every year in Spain

Cataract surgery is the most common surgery in ophthalmology. According to estimates, 400,000 operations are performed every year in Spain. Cataract surgery is the removal of the natural lens of the eye that has develop an opafication (which causes vision loss), then, an artificial lens is implanted allowing to restore vision. Researchers from the Instituto de Oftalmología Aplicada (IOBA), an institute of applied ophthalmology in Valladolid, Spain, have studied the refractive state of patients after cataract surgery is performed in order to optimize operation’s end results.

 Esquema del funcionamiento de un biómetro ultrasónico de contacto (FOTO: Victoria de Juan).
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Health Spain  VALLADOLID 16/04/2013

A method to detect opioid allergies

The technique will allow to prevent severe adverse reactions to opioids, not only used as illegal drugs but as anesthetic and analgesic drugs in medicine
Allergens and antigens are substances that produce allergies or any hypersensitivity reaction in people who have previously been in contact and are susceptible to them. Patients with allergies to plant products like pollen, nuts and fruits are very common; but, until recently, nobody had thought of hypersensitivity to other biological products: drugs such as cannabis, cocaine and heroin. This issue was set out in 2008 by a research team in the Hospital Río Hortega in Valladolid, Spain, which has delved into this new line of work for the last five years obtaining significant results. Papel aluminio conteniendo cocaína obtenido de un paciente en un hospital.
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Health Spain  LEÓN 15/04/2013

Researchers find a protein inducing liver tumor cells death

The study was published in the 'British Journal of cancer'
Researchers at the Instituto de Biomedicina (Ibiomed), Universidad de León, Spain, in cooperation with scientist from Universität Mainz (Germany), have made further progress on studies linked to melatonin (a natural occurring human compound) effects on apoptosis (process of programmed cell death) on liver tumor cells. Specifically, the team led by José Luis Mauriz has found that therapeutic melatonin levels increase apoptosis without damaging normal cells through FoxO3a, a protein able to get into cell nucleus and induce the expression of another pro-apoptotic protein called Bim. Sara Carbajo-Pescador, investigadora del Ibiomed
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