University of Oviedo

Human breast milk contains bioactive molecules, including microRNAs (miRNAs) that regulate neonatal development and immunity. Pasteurization ensures microbiological safety in milk banks, but its effects on milk-derived miRNAs remain unclear. This study evaluated the impact of Holder pasteurization (62.5 °C, 30 min) on extracellular vesicle (EVs) morphology and immunoregulatory miRNA expression in exosome, fat, and serum fractions from six donor samples. EVs were characterized by transmission electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering, nanoparticle tracking analysis, and protein quantification. Thirteen miRNAs were analyzed by RT-qPCR. Pasteurization caused morphological alterations in exosomes, reducing particle size and increasing protein concentration, while total particle number remained stable. Expression of eight out of 13 exosomal miRNAs significantly decreased (p ≤ 0.05), whereas miRNA profiles in fat and serum fractions were largely preserved.

Abstract The fern Pteridium aquilinum (bracken) is among the world most widespread plants and poses serious ecological and health risks due to the presence of illudane glycosides (IGs), carcinogenic compounds that particularly affect grazing livestock. This study determined the presence of IGs in plant extracts and in water samples from the Asturias region (northern Spain), an area characterized by intensive cattle farming, and assessed the genotoxic potential, and allelopathic effects of these samples. The glycosides ptaquiloside (PTA) and ptesculentoside (PTE), together with the degradation products pterosin A and pterosin B, were quantified in in vitro -cultured gametophytes and young sporophytes, spring-collected croziers, and autumn water samples from several bracken-infested sites. All sampling locations contained IGs in both plant and water samples, with particularly high concentrations of PTA detected in croziers from Brana Vieja (Somiedo), where cattle deaths had been reported. In vivo genotoxicity assays, using Drosophila melanogaster , revealed induction of somatic mutations and recombination events by aqueous plant extracts and of somatic mutations by water samples. The genotoxic activity of plant extracts, but not that of water samples, was associated with pterosins A and B. Moreover, comet assays in cultured human cells confirmed the genotoxic activity of plant extracts. Unexpectedly, allelopathic bioassays indicated a possible phytostimulatory rather than inhibitory effect of bracken extracts on the germination of meadow species. These findings underscore the widespread presence and biological activity of bracken in northern Spain and highlight the urgent need for management strategies to mitigate the ecological and toxicological threats posed by bracken proliferation.

Modern railway traction drives require precise traction torque control for regulatory compliance and reliable operation. Inaccurate core loss modeling, flux observer errors, inverter non-linearities and measurement uncertainties are common sources of torque estimation errors. Torque estimation error can be reduced by improving motor models and parameter estimation, inverter modeling, variable measurements, etc. However, this is not trivial, and some level of uncertainty will always remain. In this paper, an Artificial Neural Networks (ANN)-based technique for torque estimation error compensation in railway traction drives is proposed. Data used for ANN training are collected during the commissioning process of the traction drive. The proposed method will be implemented in the 400 kW traction drive of a high-speed train. Torque estimation at high speeds was found to be the most critical. Using the proposed method, the estimation error was reduced from 12% to 2% in this case.

Abstract We present our shape and rotational characterization of four near-Earth asteroids observed as part of the Visible NEAs Observations Survey. This work includes 61 new light curves obtained between 2020 June and 2024 September for asteroids (21088) Chelyabinsk and (66146) 1998 TU3 and the potentially hazardous asteroids (4660) Nereus and (297418) 2000 SP43. We combine these observations with archival data to derive their shape models, spin parameters, and refined rotation periods using a light-curve inversion method. Our derived rotational periods are consistent with previously published values for all the objects. We present constant-period models for each asteroid, while for (66146) 1998 TU3 we detect a possible Yarkovsky–O’Keefe–Radzievskii–Paddack (YORP) acceleration of υ ≃ 2.05 × 10 −8 rad day −2 , potentially adding it to the short list of asteroids known to experience the YORP effect.

In order to characterize topological insulators it is customary to use representations of the electronic structure, such as the band structure, where the energy of electrons is represented as a function of their momenta. Topological insulators are then represented as those systems whose surface states have an odd number of crossings at the Fermi level, or, equivalently, as those systems where the spin and momentum is locked at the surface. The density of states, however, cannot in principle be used to distinguish if a material is a topological insulator because it integrates the momentum information for a given energy. In this article, we show that, despite that fact, the density of states of topological insulators show some distinctive characteristics that may even be used to predict if a certain material is of that type or not by using such quantity. We use a series of machine learning algorithms to classify first the density of states and predict then systems with similar densities of states that can lead to new topological materials. We find that, contrary to what would be expected, the densities of states of topological insulators have distinct features that allow to classify and identify these materials according to them. In particular, the DOS of topological insulators tends to exhibit sharper and more concentrated spectral features near the band edges, indicating a narrower distribution of bulk electronic states (spectral localization) rather than spatial localization of surface modes.

Correlated transition metal oxides, such as cuprates, nickelates, and manganites, are typically considered “bad metals", where high electromagnetic losses suppress the conventional plasmonic effects observed in noble metals, 2D electron gases, and graphene. Nevertheless, using mid-infrared near-field optical nanoscopy, we demonstrate the emergence of strongly laterally confined and long-propagating edge polaritons (EPs) of mixed phonon-plasmon nature at the boundaries between conducting and insulating regions in thin NdNiO3 films, fingerprinted as a pronounced peak of the near-field signal phase. Our simulations reveal that the electromagnetic nature of the EPs depends significantly on the edge smoothness, being caused by a one-dimensional optical edge state (ES) at abrupt edges while being governed by the epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) absorption in the case of broad boundaries. Our findings highlight the critical role of nonlocal plasmonic effects in near-field imaging of phase-separated correlated oxides and open new avenues for infrared plasmonics in this family of materials.

We investigated the effects of plyometric and isometric warm-up exercises on handball throwing velocity and verified the relationships between strength measures and throwing velocity. Sixteen U-22 elite male handball players (age: 19.8±0.9 y and handball training experience: 10.5±1.0 y) of the Spanish University Championship-winning team participated in this study. Players were assessed for maximum isometric shoulder internal rotation strength (kg), and the loads (kg) associated with 1 m/s in half squat and bench press exercises. Subsequently, they performed a standardized warm-up plus isometric vs. plyometric vs. control exercises in a randomized order followed by the evaluation of ball throwing velocity. There were no significant differences in throwing velocity following any condition. Moderate significant correlations were observed between throwing velocity and the load associated with 1 m/s in the half squat under all conditions (r=0.56-0.61 and p<0.05) and in the bench press after plyometric (r=0.50 and p=0.047). The control condition which included submaximal running resulted in similar throwing velocity to the experimental conditions including strength exercises. The identified associations between the loads associated with 1 m/s in the half squat and bench press exercises highlighted the important role of muscle power in handball players' throwing ability.

Despite adjustments in work-life balance and the distribution of household tasks, the gender gap in physical activity remains persistent. Physical activity plans should target the gap’s root causes. We aim to identify key factors by decomposing differences into observable characteristics and other sources of disparity. Using data from 9,695 individuals from the 2021−2022 Survey on Cultural Habits and Practices in Spain, we examine income, education, employment, marriage, childcare, family responsibilities, and leisure choices. We estimate a two-part logit model to analyze the determinants of participation and frequency, and apply the Oaxaca-Blinder method to decompose gender differences. The results show a gender gap in participation of approximately nine percentage points. Differences in childcare, employment, and age impact physical activity differently, but 92% of the disparity remains unexplained by observable characteristics. Both general policies promoting sports practice and specific policies designed to alleviate childcare and household responsibilities can help bridge the gap.