Publications by authors named "Francisco Aguilar"

With the rapid development and popularization of additive manufacturing, different technologies, including, but not limited to, extrusion-, droplet-, and vat-photopolymerization-based fabrication techniques, have emerged that have allowed tremendous progress in three-dimensional (3D) printing in the past decades. Bioprinting, typically using living cells and/or biomaterials conformed by different printing modalities, has produced functional tissues. As a subclass of vat-photopolymerization bioprinting, digital light processing (DLP) uses digitally controlled photomasks to selectively solidify liquid photocurable bioinks to construct complex physical objects in a layer-by-layer manner.

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Secondary tropical forests are at the forefront of deforestation pressures. They store large amounts of carbon, which, if compensated for to avoid net emissions associated with conversion to non-forest uses, may help advance tropical forest conservation. We measured above- and below-ground carbon stocks down to 1 m soil depth across a secondary forest and in oil palm plantations in Malaysia.

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Introduction: Although a number of pathophysiological aspects of childhood obesity have been reported, few information are available on obesity-related cardiac organ damage.

Aim: The present study was aimed at assessing the impact of anthropometric, blood pressure (BP) and metabolic variable on cardiac structure and function in youth.

Methods: In 78 subjects aged 5-16 years attending the outpatient clinic of cardiovascular risk (Valencia, Spain) anthropometric and metabolic variables, clinic and ambulatory BP and echocardiographic parameters were assessed.

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Findings on the effects of iron on heart failure (HF) hospitalizations and mortality among patients with iron deficiency (ID) and HF remain conflicting across different studies. We performed a meta-analysis of clinical trials assessing the clinical, hematic and cardiovascular benefits of treating ID in HF patients. We completed a systematic search for studies comparing IV iron to placebo in HF patients with ID.

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Ambulatory BP monitoring is increasingly used in children and adolescents, and the persistence of discrepant phenotypes, such as white coat or masked hypertension, is a relevant issue. The objective of this study was to assess the persistence of BP phenotypes over time and the factors related to their persistence. The study included 582 children and adolescents (9.

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Bird nests on transmission lines can cause electrical faults which reduce service reliability. To address this problem, since the mid-90s, the Portuguese Transmission System Operator (TSO) has undertaken management actions to discourage white storks Ciconia ciconia from nesting in hazardous locations of the pylons. Here, we compiled and analyzed an 18-year series of data on electrical faults, TSO management actions to tackle these, and stork nests on transmission pylons in Portugal to: (a) determine the relative importance of bird-related faults over the total number of faults; (b) describe variations in bird-related faults across time (season of the year and time of the day); (c) describe spatial variations in bird-related faults and their association with the occurrence of white stork nests on pylons; and (d) analyze the trends, over the years, of the number of white stork nests on pylons, the TSO management actions and their effectiveness in reducing bird-related fault rates.

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We assessed the net impacts of a wood-dependent pellet industry of global importance on contemporaneous local forest carbon component pools (live trees, standing-dead trees, soils) and total stocks. We conducted post-matched difference-in-differences analyses of forest inventory data between 2000 and 2019 to infer industrial concurrent and lagged effects in the US coastal southeast. Results point to contemporaneous carbon neutrality.

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Arterial hypertension is the main modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease, occupying the first place among the causes of loss of life years adjusted for disability. In recent years, arterial hypertension in children and adolescents has gained ground in cardiovascular medicine thanks to progress made in several areas, fundamentally in pathophysiological and clinical research. Despite the advances that have been made in recent years, the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of high blood pressure in children and adolescents still have room for improvement.

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Background: Direct oral anticoagulants (DOAC) off-label use data is lacking. Our study aimed to assess the clinical outcomes in a racially mixed population treated for atrial fibrillation (AF) and venous thromboembolism (VTE).

Methods: We retrospectively evaluated six months of DOAC prescriptions for AF or VTE treatment.

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Fire refining of blister copper is a singular process at very high temperatures (~1400 K), which means the furnace is exposed to heavy thermal loads. The charge is directly heated by an internal burner. The impurities in the charge oxidize with the flux of hot gases, creating a slag layer on the top of the molten bath.

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Background: Given the heterogeneity of etiologies, pathophysiology, and presentation of angioedema, variations in clinical outcomes, such as intubation and hospital readmissions, need further clarification.

Objective: To determine the factors associated with intubation and hospital readmissions in patients with angioedema.

Methods: Retrospective study of patients evaluated with a diagnosis of angioedema in a 6-year period.

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Patchouli oil is a major ingredient in perfumery, granting a dark-woody scent due to its main constituent (-)-patchoulol. The growing demand for patchouli oil has raised interest in the development of a biotechnological process to assure a reliable supply. Herein, we report the production of patchouli oil sesquiterpenes by metabolically engineered strains, using solid-liquid phase partitioning cultivation.

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Implementation of the European Union Renewable Energy Directive has triggered exponential growth in trading of pelletized wood fibers. Over 18 million tons of wood pellets were traded by EU member countries in 2018 of which a third were imported from the US. Concerns exist about negative impacts on US forests but systematic assessments are currently lacking.

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Unlabelled: In this case, a 76-year-old female presented with 3-4 days of fever with no other localizing signs. Notably, she had had an untreated bacteraemia approximately 8 weeks prior to admission. She underwent abdominal imaging which demonstrated a liver abscess and had percutaneous drainage of the same.

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Aortic stenosis (AS) is common and increasing in prevalence as the population ages. Using computed tomography (CT) to quantify aortic valve calcification (AVC) it has been reported that men have greater degrees of calcification than women among subjects with severe AS. These data, however, were derived in largely Caucasian populations and have not been verified in non-Caucasian subjects.

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Article Synopsis
  • - A study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of left common iliac vein (LCIV) compression in female patients with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), as some patients showed symptom improvement after pelvic venous insufficiency (PVI) treatment.
  • - Radiologists analyzed CT images of 216 women, revealing that 69% of POTS patients had significant LCIV compression (>50%), compared to only 40% in age-matched controls.
  • - The results indicate a strong correlation between LCIV compression and POTS, suggesting many women with POTS may have a higher chance of iliac venous obstruction, which warrants further assessment for potential treatment benefits.
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Tropical oleaginous seeds are an unexplored source for the discovery of novel lipolytic microorganisms, which could be applied to the bioremediation of agro-industrial oily wastes and solve numerous environmental issues. Such wastes hold potential to be revalorized towards a variety of products through microbial bioremediation. In this study, we investigate the microbial diversity and lipase activity from bacterial and fungal isolates obtained from the oil seeds of Elaeis guineensis, Ricinus communis, and Jatropha curcas L.

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Background: The objective was to assess the differences between the 2016 European Society of Hypertension (ESH) and the 2017 American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) hypertension (HTN) guidelines in the distribution of office blood pressure (BP) categories as well as in the office and ambulatory BP mismatches.

Material And Methods: The study included 4940 clinical evaluations performed in 2957 youth (5-18 years) of both sexes. BP and anthropometric parameters were measured following standard conditions.

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The sesquiterpene (+)-zizaene is the direct precursor of khusimol, the main fragrant compound of the vetiver essential oil from and used in nearly 20% of men's fine perfumery. The biotechnological production of such fragrant sesquiterpenes is a promising alternative towards sustainability; nevertheless, product recovery from fermentation is one of the main constraints. In an effort to improve the (+)-zizaene recovery from a metabolically-engineered , we developed an integrated bioprocess by coupling fermentation and (+)-zizaene recovery using adsorber extractants.

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Certain host genetic variants, especially in the human leucocyte antigen (HLA) region, are associated with different progression of HIV-1-induced diseases and AIDS. Long term non progressors (LTNP) represent only the 2% of infected patients but are especially relevant because of their efficient HIV control. In this work we present a global analysis of genetic data in the large national multicenter cohort of Spanish LTNP, which is compared with seronegative individuals and HIV-positive patients.

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The vetiver essential oil from contains fragrant sesquiterpenes used widely in the formulation of nearly 20% of men's cosmetics. The growing demand and issues in the supply have raised interest in the microbial production of the sesquiterpene khusimol, the main compound of the vetiver essential oil due to its woody smell. In this study, we engineered the biosynthetic pathway for the production of (+)-zizaene, the immediate precursor of khusimol.

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Objectives: Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is extremely common in acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) patients and predicts increased mortality. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), highly prevalent in congestive heart failure patients, may contribute to further elevated pulmonary pressures. This study evaluates the impact of positive airway pressure (PAP) therapy on PH in patients admitted for ADHF with OSA.

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In metabolic diseases, the increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) represents one of the pathogenic mechanisms for vascular disease probably by promoting vascular smooth muscle cell (SMC) proliferation that contributes to the development of arterial remodeling and stenosis, hypertension, and atherosclerosis. Therefore, this work was undertaken to evaluate the participation of ROS from NADPH oxidase and mitochondria in the proliferation of SMCs from the aorta in a model of metabolic syndrome induced by sucrose feeding in rats. After 24 weeks, sucrose-fed (SF) rats develop hypertension, intra-abdominal obesity, hyperinsulinemia, and hyperleptinemia.

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