Obtención mediante procesos quimioenzimáticos de monoglicéridos, y derivados de los mismo, con posible actividad antimicrobiana

The dissertation accomplishes two aims: 1) to diagnose what prevents true beliefs from being knowledge; 2) to give an positive account of knowledge. Concerning the first aim, it offers an account of the notion of luck. It defends the view that luck is a form of risk and distinguishes two types of luck. Then, it applies the account to the problem of epistemic luck and distinguishes, accordingly, two types of epistemic luck. It is argued that these two types of epistemic luck explain the whole range of cases of not-known true belief. Concerning the second aim, the dissertation advances an account of knowledge in terms of the notion of cognitive control that deals with the two forms of epistemic luck distinguished.

Acción antimicrobiana in vitro de distintas medicaciones sobre Enterococcus faecalis y Actinomyces israelii

Objetivo: Se comparó in vitro la acción antimicrobiana de diversas medicaciones intraconducto frente a Enterococcus faecalis y Actinomyces israelii. Material y métodos: para evaluar las zonas de inhibición microbiana se utilizó el test de difusión en agar frente a diversas pastas, incluyendo una pasta con base de metronidazol (Grinazole ®), una pasta con base de dexametasona, tiretrocina, polimixana y neomicina (Septomixine forte ®) y otra de hidróxido de calciio (Calcipulpe ®) y paroclorofenol alcanforado (KRI-3 ®), frente a E. faecalis y A. israelii. Resultados: La acción inhibitoria frente a E. faecalis fue significativamente mayor (p< 0,05) con Septomixine forte ® (30,7 mm) seguido de KRI- 3 ® (22,5 mm), Calcipulpe ® (16,6 mm) y Grinazole ® (11,4 mm). La inhibición microbiana frente a E. israelii fue significativamente mejor con Septomixine forte ® (p< 0,05) (40,1 mm) seguido de KRI-3 ® (36,6 mm), Grinazole ® (7,6 mm) y Calcipulpe ® (6 mm). Conclusión: Septomixine forte ® fue la pasta antibiótica más efectiva frente a E. faecalis y A. israelii comunmente hallados en las infecciones endodóncicas.

Understanding the two-component sensing System of virulent bacteria

Report for the scientific sojourn carried out at the l’ Institute for Computational Molecular Science of the Temple University, United States, from 2010 to 2012. Two-component systems (TCS) are used by pathogenic bacteria to sense the environment within a host and activate mechanisms related to virulence and antimicrobial resistance. A prototypical example is the PhoQ/PhoP system, which is the major regulator of virulence in Salmonella. Hence, PhoQ is an attractive target for the design of new antibiotics against foodborne diseases. Inhibition of the PhoQ-mediated bacterial virulence does not result in growth inhibition, presenting less selective pressure for the generation of antibiotic resistance. Moreover, PhoQ is a histidine kinase (HK) and it is absent in animals. Nevertheless, the design of satisfactory HK inhibitors has been proven to be a challenge. To compete with the intracellular ATP concentrations, the affinity of a HK inhibidor must be in the micromolar-nanomolar range, whereas the current lead compounds have at best millimolar affinities. Moreover, the drug selectivity depends on the conformation of a highly variable loop, referred to as the “ATP-lid, which is difficult to study by X-Ray crystallography due to its flexibility. I have investigated the binding of different HK inhibitors to PhoQ. In particular, all-atom molecular dynamics simulations have been combined with enhanced sampling techniques in order to provide structural and dynamic information of the conformation of the ATP-lid. Transient interactions between these drugs and the ATP-lid have been identified and the free energy of the different binding modes has been estimated. The results obtained pinpoint the importance of protein flexibility in the HK-inhibitor binding, and constitute a first step in developing more potent and selective drugs. The computational resources of the hosting institution as well as the experience of the members of the group in drug binding and free energy methods have been crucial to carry out this work.

Implicaciones de la reducción de los niveles de uso de nitratos y nitritos en la seguridad, conservación, características sensoriales y modificaciones tecnológicas de los productos cárnicos crudos-curados

Este capítulo tiene como objetivo fundamental exponer los resultados, de interés práctico para la industria cárnica, relacionados con la adición de nitrificantes a los productos cárnicos que se han obtenido en el subproyecto NITRARED. Se expone de forma resumida la actividad antimicrobiana de los nitrificantes, su efecto en los atributos sensoriales, en la seguridad abiótica, en los compuestos nutricionales y en la estabilidad oxidativa. Finalmente se discuten los factores que afectan a la heterogeneidad del contenido de nitrificantes, especialmente en jamón curado.