Alberto Sols Biomedical Research Institute
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Mu and beta power effects of fast response trait double dissociate during precue and movement execution in the sensorimotor cortex
No full textThis work was initiated during AÁ and DRB’s visit to the Department of Mathematics at MIT in the summer of 2023. AÁ has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sk?odowska-Curie grant agreement No 777822. DRB acknowledges “France 2030” support managed by the Agence Nationale de la Recherche, under the reference ANR-23-PEIA-0004 A better understanding of the neural and muscular mechanisms underlying motor responses is essential for advancing neurorehabilitation protocols, brain-computer interfaces (BCI), feature engineering for biosignal classification algorithms, and identifying biomarkers of disease and performance enhancement strategies. In this study, we examined the neuromuscular dynamics of healthy individuals during a sequential fingerpinching task, focusing on the relationships between cortical oscillations and muscle activity in simultaneous electroencephalography (EEG) and electromyography (EMG) recordings. We contrasted two pairs of subsets of the dataset based on the latency of EMG onset: an across-subjects trait-based comparison and a withinsubjects state-based comparison. Trait-based analyses showed that fast responders had higher baseline beta power, indicating stronger motor inhibition and efficient resetting of motor networks, and greater mu desynchronization during movement, reflecting enhanced motor cortex activation. Visual association areas also displayed more pronounced changes in different phases of the task in subjects with lower latency. Fast responders exhibited lower baseline EMG activity and stronger EMG power during movement initiation, showing effective motor inhibition and rapid muscle activation. State-based analyses revealed no significant EEG differences between fast and slow trials, while EMG differences were only detected after movement onset. These results highlight that fast response trait is related to electrophysiological differences at specific frequency bands and task phases, offering insights for enhancing motor function in rehabilitation, biomarker identification and BCI applicationsThis research was supported by grants PID2021-122347NB-I00, PID2024-155923NB-I00, and CPP2023-010818 (MCIN/AEI and ERDF- ‘‘A way of making Europe’’
La movilización de la vivienda vacía, entre el fomento y la coerción
No full textEsta aportación versa sobre la movilización de la vivienda vacía. Entre las medidas de fomento, encontramos los instrumentos de carácter tributario, mientras que las medidas coercitivas pasan por diver sos instrumentos administrativos como la expropiación temporal. Esta
investigación aporta datos prácticos y propuestas legislativas comparadas, centradas en las órdenes de gestión de viviendas vacías y la intermedia ción inmobiliaria de la Administración.This research deals with the compulsory measures regarding empty dwellings. The main measure of promotion refers to taxation, while coercive measures include administrative instruments such as temporary expropriation. This research provides practical data on the application of these instruments on a comparative level, as well as suggests the legal trans plant of empty dwelling management orders and housing intermediatio
Total neoadjuvant therapy in rectal cancer: The FOREST Protocol, a patient-centered approach that clusters two cohorts with different outcomes
No full textRectal cancer treatment has evolved toward individualized strategies that emphasize organ preservation and tailored therapeutic approaches. The FOREST protocol combines total neoadjuvant therapy (TNT), early response evaluation, and prehabilitation within a comprehensive framework designed to optimize outcomes while minimizing overtreatment. In this single-center prospective study, 67 patients with rectal cancer (T1–T4, any N) were enrolled between April 2020 and December 2022. Treatment decisions—radical surgery (RS), watch and wait (WW), or local surgery (LS)—were guided by early and final response assessments. Outcomes were analyzed under an intention-to-treat (ITT) approach, with a median follow-up of 968 days (range: 440–2015). Final treatments included RS in 47.8% (n = 32), WW in 50.7% (n = 34), and LS in 1.5% (n = 1). Completion of TNT was achieved in 79.1% of patients. Organ preservation was accomplished in 44.8% (30/67 = 44.8%, with 34 WW and 1 LS). Systemic recurrence occurred in 22.4% of patients, surpassing the rate of local regrowth or persistence (17.9%). DFS in the WW group (65.7%) was comparable to that of the RS group (71.4%), while OS significantly favored WW (100% vs. 80.7%, p = .014). The FOREST protocol demonstrates that integrating TNT with response- guided strategies is feasible and can lead to high organ preservation rates and favorable oncologic outcomes. A key strength of the protocol is its ability to identify two distinct patient cohorts based on response evaluation. Treatment strategies for rectal cancer are increasingly focused on organ preservation and tai-lored therapy. Total neoadjuvant therapy (TNT), which integrates radiotherapy and systemic chemotherapy prior to surgery, is especially promising in this regard. Here, impacts on rectal cancer patient outcomes were assessed following TNT, wherein decisions to perform local or radical surgery or to watch and wait (WW) were determined by treatment response assessment. Analyses show that nearly 45% of patients who underwent TNT experienced organ preservation. Disease-free survival was comparable between WW and radical surgery groups. Mean while, WW had significantly better overall survival, highlighting possible benefits with TN
3D-Printed electrochemical systems: A dual approach for H2O2 production and antibiotic degradation
No full textThe growing demand for hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is driven by the development of advanced wastewater treatments targeting emerging pollutants. One of the most sustainable methods to produce H2O2 is via the electroreduction of O2. Herein, we propose the use of fused deposition modelling (FDM) 3D printing for the fabrication of cathodes for this reaction. Cathodes were composed of polylactic acid (PLA) and two different carbon materials, carbon black (CB) or polypyrrole (PPY). PPY and CB catalysts were characterized by Raman spectroscopy both as powders and as part of the 3D-printed electrodes. A reduction process was optimized to activate the 3D-printed electrodes. These electrodes demonstrated H2O2 production at circumneutral pH (pH0 = 5) and low current densities, with the activated PPY:50 electrode exhibiting the best performance, operating at –0.5 mA cm2 with a Faradaic efficiency of 47 % and a production of 0.78 mM after 1 h. The stability of the produced H2O2 was studied, demonstrating its feasibility for storage at low temperatures for subsequent use in wastewater treatment. The target antibiotic, ofloxacin (OFX), was treated with the produced H2O2, generating ●OH radicals through a 3D-printed catalyst composed by zero valent iron (ZVI) microparticles and PLA. Both ex- situ and in-situ degradation methods were effective, including treatments in real wastewater effluent. This work highlights the potential of 3D printing technology to create customizable and low-cost electrodes for advanced wastewater treatmentThis research has been supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation thorough the project PID2021-123431OB-I0
Versatile Photofunctionalization of Carbon Nanotubes via [4+2] Cycloaddition: A Facile Route to Hybrid Nanomaterials
No full textThe [4 þ 2] photofunctionalization of carbon nanotubes of different characteristics,
such as single-walled carbon nanotubes (0.9 and 1.4 nm diameter) or
multiwalled carbon nanotubes (10 nm diameter), with aryl cyclobutyl amines 3 of
diverse nature in the presence of common organic photocatalysts is presented.
Through a facile synthetic protocol, a series of modified amines 3 is prepared,
which undergo a photocatalyzed oxidative ring opening to subsequently react
with the nanotube wall. Under the best reaction conditions (Rhodamine B, white
light-emitting diode, 40 h), an 8–20% functionalization degree in the form of Ncyclohexylamine moieties is achieved. The reaction is general with respect to the
type of nanotube employed, the electronic characteristics of the amine (decorated
with electron-donating and electron-withdrawing groups), and it is homogeneous
throughout the whole nanotube particle without affecting the morphology of the
samples, as demonstrated by the characterization techniques performed. In
addition, the method allows for postfunctionalization treatments by the onsurface
hydrolysis of an ester-modified aryl cyclobutyl amine and subsequent
amidation with amino-decorated organic polymer nanoparticles. Thus, a hybrid
material with different properties compared to the simple composite is obtained
using this photochemical carbon nanotubes functionalizationThis work was supported by MICINN (PID2021-122299NB-100, TED2021-129999B-C32, TED2021-130470B-100), VIRMAT Projects in response to COVID-19 financed by the ERDF-REACT-EU resources, “Comunidad de Madrid” for European Structural Funds (S2018/NMT-4367) and proyectos sinérgicos IþD (Y2020/NMT-646
Environmental regulation and inspection delegation with stock pollution
No full textIn this paper, we model a differential game played à la Stackelberg between a regulator and a polluting firm in a stock pollution context. The regulator can be a single body decid¬ing on the emission standard and the probability of inspection overtime as functions of the pollution stock. Alternatively, the regulator can delegate the inspection activities to a local agency that maximizes revenues coming from fines net of inspection costs. Although the objective of the agency departs from social welfare, decentralization can be welfare im¬proving, crucially depending on the type of strategic interaction between the local agency and the polluting firm, as well as on the firm anticipating the effects of current pollution decisions on future regulatory policy. Up to our kowledge, this is the first paper dealing with hierarchical regulation in a stock pollution contextFinancial support from the Spanish Government under research projects PID2021-125155NB-I00 (Carmen Arguedas), and PID2020-112509GB-I00 and TED2021-130390B-I00 (Francisco Cabo and Guiomar Martín-Herrán) is gratefully acknowledge
A review of meta-argumentative theories of analogy
No full textThe key idea of meta-argumentative theories of argument by analogy is that arguments by analogy compare two arguments
in order to show whether or not the premises of one of them are adequately connected to its conclusion, and therefore the
argument has the logical properties that depend on that connection. The premises-conclusion relationship can be under stood in terms of inferences or in terms of reasons. Consequently I distinguish between an inference-based version and a
reasons-based version of the meta-argumentative theory. I argue that an inference-based theory of argument by analogy
cannot easily account for neither the usual way of attacking an argument by analogy nor the predominance of counter analogy over direct analogy. A reasons-based meta-argumentative theory does not face the same difficulties because it
recognizes the contextual nature of logical evaluation, distinguishing between the parts of an argument (premises and
conclusion) and the contextual factors relevant to its logical evaluation (conditions and modifiers). Contextualizing logi cal properties enables us to distinguish between cases in which two arguments are not analogous and cases in which their
contexts of evaluation are not analogous. Context-dependence also explains why analogies are used more often to show
that an argument is invalid than to show that an argument is validThis work has benefitted from the support granted
by Research Project “Argumentative practices and the pragmatics of
reasons 2”, PID2022-136423NB-I00, funded by MCIN/ AEI / https
://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033 and by “ERDF A way of making
Europe
Análisis de la filiación corológica y el estatus de los taxones del hayedo de Montejo (Madrid)
No full textExtracción verde de compuestos bioactivos de algas e investigación de sus propiedades biológicas
No full textTesis Doctoral inédita leída en la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Facultad de Ciencias, Departamento de Química Física Aplicada. Fecha de Lectura: 10-07-202
Role of optical centres in neodymium-doped calcium fluoride: optical tagging and nanothermometry in the second biological window
No full textNd3+ has been proposed for nanothermometry in biological media, as both its emission and excitation wavelengths fall within the regions of low attenuation in tissues. While most crystal hosts only allow for thermometry through the low-intensity emission near 900 nm, CaF2 enables intraband thermometry at the highest intensity emission band, ≈1042 nm. The incorporation of Y3+ ions into CaF2:Nd3+,Y3+ nanoparticles enhances the emission intensity of Nd3+. However, this also induces significant modifications in the spectral lineshape, which are detrimental to thermometry, as the requiredpeaks needed to define a reliable thermometric ratio are eliminated at [Y3+] > 10 mol%. In this study, we demostrate that this limitation depends on the excitation wavelength, as three different optical centers can be selectively activated by tuning it within a narrow range (<6 nm), with profound implications for the emission spectra. The fact that optical centers can be differentiated in nanoparticles even at room temperature can be exploited to recover the thermometric ability even with high [Y3+] concentrations, thus providing nanothermometers with potentially better signal-to-noise ratiosThis manuscript has been developed within CNS2023-145169 SAH-NDOCAN and CNS2022-135495, funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/ 501100011033 and by the European Union NextGenerationEU/PRTR. The authors would also like to acknowledge the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation, and Universities for projects PID2023-151078OB-I00 and PID2024-161381OB-I0