Biomedical and biological applications of scanning electron microscopy

This article summarizes the basic principles of scanning electron microscopy and the capabilities of the technique with different examples ofapplications in biomedical and biological research.

X-ray single crystal and powder diffraction: possibilities and applications

In this article the main possibilities of single crystal and powder diffraction analysis using conventional laboratory x-ray sources are introduced. Several examples of applications with different solid samples and in different fields of applications are shown illustrating the multidisciplinary capabilities of both techniques.

Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS): principles and applications

This article outlines the basis of the technique and shows some examples of applications in order to exhibit the expectations of this technique invaried scientific fields.

Advanced light microscopy techniques

This article summarizes the basic principles of light microscopy, with examples of applications in biomedicine that illustrate the capabilities of thetechnique.

Bioinformatics: making large-scale science happen

Bionformatics is a rapidly evolving research field dedicated toanalyzing and managing biological data with computational resources. This paperaims to overview some of the processes and applications currently implementedat CCiT-UB¿s Bioinformatics Unit, focusing mainly on the areas of Genomics,Transcriptomics and Proteomics

Genomics: more than genes

The fundamentals of Real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction,Automated capillary electrophoresis -Sanger sequencing and Fragmentanalysis- and "Next-generation" sequencing are reviewed. An overview ofapplications is presented using our own examples carried out in our facility.

"Next-generation" Sequencing (NGS): The new genomic revolution

In the past 5 years "Next-generation" Sequencing (NGS) technologies have transformed genomics by delivering fast, inexpensive and accurate genomeinformation changing the way we think about scientific approaches in basic,applied and clinical research. The inexpensive production of large volumes ofsequence data is the main advantage over the automated Sanger method,making this new technology useful for many applications. In this chapter, a brieftechnical review of NGS technologies is given, along with the keys to NGSsuccess and a broad range of applications for NGS technologies.

Analyzing peptides and proteins by mass spectrometry: principles and applications in proteomics

The study of proteins has been a key element in biomedicine and biotechnology because of their important role in cell functions or enzymatic activity. Cells are the basic unit of living organisms, which are governed by a vast range of chemical reactions. These chemical reactions must be highly regulatedin order to achieve homeostasis. Proteins are polymeric molecules that havetaken on the evolutionary process the role, along with other factors, of controlthese chemical reactions. Learning how proteins interact and control their up anddown regulations can teach us how living cells regulate their functions, as well asthe cause of certain anomalies that occur in different diseases where proteins areinvolved. Mass spectrometry (MS) is an analytical widely used technique to studythe protein content inside the cells as a biomarker point, which describesdysfunctions in diseases and increases knowledge of how proteins are working.All the methodologies involved in these descriptions are integrated in the fieldcalled Proteomics.

Flow cytometry in the analysis of cellular populations

Flow cytometry has become a valuable tool in cell biology. By analyzing large number of cells individually using light-scatter and fluorescence measurements, this technique reveals both cellular characteristics and the levels of cellular components. Flow cytometry has been developed to rapidly enumerate cells and to distinguish among different cell stages and structures using multiple staining. In addition to high-speed multiparametric data acquisition, analysis and cell sorting, which allow other characteristics of individual cells to be studied, have increased the interest of researchers in this technique. This chapter gives an overview of the principles of flow cytometry and examples of the application ofthe technique.

Los estudios de caso

[spa] Este documento de trabajo aborda tres temáticas con relación a los estudios de caso. En primer lugar, define el concepto "estudios de caso" desde los autores y fuentes más relevantes. En esta conceptualización se incluyen sus rasgos más importantes y se describen diferentes modalidades (intrínsecos, instrumentales y colectivos). En segundo lugar, se introduce la estructura conceptual del caso, es decir, la construcción de "issues" o cuestiones problemáticas, que son objeto de estudio. Por último, se reflexiona acerca de la dimensión ética en los estudios de caso y se describen los criterios éticos fundamentales para la investigación interpretativa.

Symptom Check-List-90-R: fiabilidad, datos normativos y estructura factorial en estudiantes universitarios

El Symptom Checklist-90-R (SCL-90-R) es uno de los instrumentos más ampliamente utilizados en la medición de la sintomatología psicopatológica en población clínica y en población general. Ya que gran parte de la investigación en psicopatología se realiza con estudiantes universitarios, este estudio instrumental pretende proporcionar datos de referencia para esta población. Analizamos las propiedades psicométricas de esta escala en una muestra representativa de 1.277 estudiantes de la Universidad de Girona. Las dimensiones con puntuaciones más elevadas para el total de la muestra son Obsesividad-compulsividad, Depresión y Sensibilidad interpersonal. Los resultados muestran diferencias significativas entre hombres y mujeres. La fiabilidad de la escala resulta muy aceptable, con unos coeficientes de consistencia interna de las nueve dimensiones primarias y del GSI, que oscilan entre 0,69 y 0,97. El análisis de la estructura factorial y la fuerte interdependencia entre las escalas primarias cuestionan la multidimensionalidad del SCL-90-R y refuerzan la idea de que el instrumento proporciona una medida de distrés general, es decir, es un indicador unidimensional de malestar psicológico más que una medida de dimensiones psicopatológicas diferenciadas

The underestimation of compliance to direct help requests explained by adaptive sampling

Helping behavior is any intentional behavior that benefits another living being or group (Hogg & Vaughan, 2010). People tend to underestimate the probability that others will comply with their direct requests for help (Flynn & Lake, 2008). This implies that when they need help, they will assess the probability of getting it (De Paulo, 1982, cited in Flynn & Lake, 2008) and then they will tend to estimate one that is actually lower than the real chance, so they may not even consider worth asking for it. Existing explanations for this phenomenon attribute it to a mistaken cost computation by the help seeker, who will emphasize the instrumental cost of “saying yes”, ignoring that the potential helper also needs to take into account the social cost of saying “no”. And the truth is that, especially in face-to-face interactions, the discomfort caused by refusing to help can be very high. In short, help seekers tend to fail to realize that it might be more costly to refuse to comply with a help request rather than accepting. A similar effect has been observed when estimating trustworthiness of people. Fetchenhauer and Dunning (2010) showed that people also tend to underestimate it. This bias is reduced when, instead of asymmetric feedback (getting feedback only when deciding to trust the other person), symmetric feedback (always given) was provided. This cause could as well be applicable to help seeking as people only receive feedback when they actually make their request but not otherwise. Fazio, Shook, and Eiser (2004) studied something that could be reinforcing these outcomes: Learning asymmetries. By means of a computer game called BeanFest, they showed that people learn better about negatively valenced objects (beans in this case) than about positively valenced ones. This learning asymmetry esteemed from “information gain being contingent on approach behavior” (p. 293), which could be identified with what Fetchenhauer and Dunning mention as ‘asymmetric feedback’, and hence also with help requests. Fazio et al. also found a generalization asymmetry in favor of negative attitudes versus positive ones. They attributed it to a negativity bias that “weights resemblance to a known negative more heavily than resemblance to a positive” (p. 300). Applied to help seeking scenarios, this would mean that when facing an unknown situation, people would tend to generalize and infer that is more likely that they get a negative rather than a positive outcome from it, so, along with what it was said before, people will be more inclined to think that they will get a “no” when requesting help. Denrell and Le Mens (2011) present a different perspective when trying to explain judgment biases in general. They deviate from the classical inappropriate information processing (depicted among other by Fiske & Taylor, 2007, and Tversky & Kahneman, 1974) and explain this in terms of ‘adaptive sampling’. Adaptive sampling is a sampling mechanism in which the selection of sample items is conditioned by the values of the variable of interest previously observed (Thompson, 2011). Sampling adaptively allows individuals to safeguard themselves from experiences they went through once and turned out to lay negative outcomes. However, it also prevents them from giving a second chance to those experiences to get an updated outcome that could maybe turn into a positive one, a more positive one, or just one that regresses to the mean, whatever direction that implies. That, as Denrell and Le Mens (2011) explained, makes sense: If you go to a restaurant, and you did not like the food, you do not choose that restaurant again. This is what we think could be happening when asking for help: When we get a “no”, we stop asking. And here, we want to provide a complementary explanation for the underestimation of the probability that others comply with our direct help requests based on adaptive sampling. First, we will develop and explain a model that represents the theory. Later on, we will test it empirically by means of experiments, and will elaborate on the analysis of its results.

Coreografiant el passat : la dansa a la cort de Lluís XIV : notació i criteris d'interpretació

Aquest projecte estudia la dansa francesa dels segles XVII i XVIII i la seva relació amb la interpretació musical. A partir de les fonts de l’època (tractats, coreografies i testimonis) s’han analitzat els components de la dansa i la seva significació social en el context de la cort de Lluís XIV a Versalles. L’objectiu final es oferir al músic actual alguns elements necessaris que contribueixin a la interpretació d’un repertori molt habitual i sobre el qual es basa molta de la música instrumental de l’època. La cultura de la dansa formava part de la quotidianitat del músic d’abans: música i dansa eren elements inseparables. Per tant, l’intèrpret de música històrica actual hauria de considerar-la com un element constitutiu per la formació de criteris d’interpretació històricament informats.

Effect of Tocopherol Extract, Staphylococcus carnosus Culture, and Celery Concentrate Addition on Quality Parameters of Organic and Conventional Dry-Cured Sausages

The effects of the addition to sausage mix of tocopherols (200 mg/kg), a conventional starter culture with or without Staphylococcus carnosus, celery concentrate (CP) (0.23% and 0.46%), and two doses of nitrate (70 and 140 mg/kg expressed as NaNO(3)) on residual nitrate and nitrite amounts, instrumental CIE Lab color, tocol content, oxidative stability, and overall acceptability were studied in fermented dry-cured sausages after ripening and after storage. Nitrate doses were provided by nitrate-rich CP or a chemical grade source. The lower dose complies with the EU requirements governing the maximum for ingoing amounts in organic meat products. Tocopherol addition protected against oxidation, whereas the nitrate dose, nitrate source, or starter culture had little influence on secondary oxidation values. The residual nitrate and nitrite amounts found in the sausages with the lower nitrate dose were within EU-permitted limits for organic meat products and residual nitrate can be further reduced by the presence of the S. carnosus culture. Color measurements were not affected by the CP dose. Product consumer acceptability was not affected negatively by any of the factors studied. As the two nitrate sources behaved similarly for the parameters studied, CP is a useful alternative to chemical ingredients for organic dry-cured sausage production.

Aplicación de la técnica de espectrometría de fluorescencia de rayos-X en el estudio de la dispersión de metales en áreas mineras

One critical factor for success in characterizing metals polluting mining environments so as to be able to eliminate them and subsequently recover these areas depends upon a speedy and correct response in the analysis of samples. Rapid, simultaneous, multi-element analysis can be undertaken using X-ray fluorescence spectrometry, a versatile, non-destructive analytical technique commonly employed to identify both major and minor elements in samples related to environmental studies. An additional advantage of this technique is the possibility of conducting the analysis directly on solid samples, which is extremely convenient when dealing with environmental samples that are difficult to dissolve, such as soils, sediments and mining wastes. Moreover, in recent years the development of spectrometers equipped with digital-signal processors combined with enlarged X-ray production, using better designs for excitation-detection, has contributed to an improvement in instrumental sensitivity, thus allowing us to detect important polluting elements such as Cd and Pb at trace levels. In this paper the authors describe, on the basis of their own experience, some interesting applications of XRF spectrometry for the analysis of several types of environmental samples related to the study of the dispersion of metals within mining environments: (A) analysis of mining wastes, soils and sediments; (B) analysis of samples of vegetation used as bioindicators or related to phytoremediation studies; and (C) analysis of water samples related to mining operations