Publications by authors named "Palenzuela J"

Childcare centers (CCCs) can provide opportunities to implement physical activity (PA) via health promotion interventions to prevent obesity and associated chronic disease risk factors in young children. This study evaluated the impact of the Healthy Caregivers-Healthy Children (HC2) intervention on body mass index percentile (PBMI) and the PA environment in CCCs serving children with disabilities (CWD) over one school year. Ten CCCs were cluster-randomized to either (1) an intervention arm that received the HC2 curriculum adapted for CWD or (2) an attention control arm.

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Children with disabilities have higher prevalence estimates of obesity than typically developing children. The Healthy Caregivers-Healthy Children Phase 3 (HC3) project implemented an obesity prevention program adapted for children with special health care needs (CSHCN) that includes dietary intake and physical activity (PA) components. The primary outcome was a change in dietary intake, PA, and the body mass index (BMI) percentile.

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The 5,8-disubstituted indolizidines are the largest family of indolizidines isolated from the skin of amphibians. These compounds exhibit interesting biological activities such as noncompetitive blockers of nicotinic receptors. In this paper, we present a short, simple, and general synthesis of these alkaloids based on the hetero Diels-Alder reaction between suitable monoactivated dienes and Δ-pyrroline as the dienophile.

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One in five preschool-aged children in the United States is obese, and children with disabilities are significantly impacted. This study aimed to determine the association between age at solid food initiation and obesity prevalence in preschool-aged children while considering disability status, ethnicity, gestational age, and birth weight. Analysis was conducted on a sample of 145 children aged 2 to 5 years who were enrolled in ten childcare centers.

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The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted the childcare industry over the past two years. This study examined how pandemic-related challenges impacted preschool-aged children by disability and obesity status. Participants were 216 children (80% Hispanic, 14% non-Hispanic Black) aged 2 to 5 years in 10 South Florida childcare centers.

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Almost all land plants form symbiotic associations with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). Individual plants usually are colonized by a wide range of phylogenetically diverse AMF species. The impact that different AMF taxa have on plant growth is only partly understood.

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Background: US hospitals are penalized for excess 30-day readmissions and mortality for select conditions. Under the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services policy, readmission prevention is incentivized to a greater extent than mortality reduction. A strategy to potentially improve hospital performance on either measure is by improving nursing care, as nurses provide the largest amount of direct patient care.

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In this work, omniphobic surfaces are developed by combining chemical etching and surface modification of aluminum. In the first step, hierarchical micro/nanostructuring is carried out by chemical etching. Thereafter, a perfluoropolyether is grafted onto the corrugated aluminum substrate, decreasing its surface free energy and turning the system omniphobic.

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In this work, we studied carbon paste electrodes (CPEs) with two kinds of binders: mineral oil or ionic liquids (IL) derived from N-substituted octyl pyridinium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide with the substituents H-, CH-, CN- and CF-. The work aims to study this series of IL and determine a possible effect of the substituent of the cation in the behavior of the IL as a binder of graphite for obtaining IL-CPEs. The electrochemical response and the electrical behavior were measured by cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, respectively.

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In the present work, perfluoroalkylated laponite nanoparticles with a high degree of functionalization (60 wt %) have been prepared and a methodology to prepare transparent, antistatic, and omniphobic laponite-based films with holistic self-cleaning properties against liquids, solids and liquid-solid mixtures has been developed. The intrinsic electrical and ionic conductivities observed in unmodified laponite coatings are combined with perfluoroalkyl-modified laponite clays. As a result, films with improved self-cleaning functionality based on dust-repellency and omniphobic liquid-repellence (sheet resistance in the range of 10 Ω/□ and contact angles of 106° (HO) and 93° (oil)) were obtained.

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Objective: Despite the high prevalence of obesity among preschool-aged children, most states lack childcare center (CCC) nutrition and physical activity policies. The Healthy Caregivers, Healthy Children (HC) Phase 2 project is examining the relationship between the CCC nutrition and physical activity environment and child dietary intake/physical activity patterns and body mass index (BMI).

Participants: A total of 24 "Quality Counts" (Miami Dade County, Florida's Quality Rating Improvement System [QRIS)]) CCCs serving low resource families with ≥50 2-to-5year olds attending have been randomized to either intervention (n=12) or control (n=12).

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Stimuli-responsive reversible coloration-change materials represent a highly demanded type of smart systems useful for a wide variety of applications, with a significant growing interest in multicolor abilities. In particular, electrochromic materials have received a great deal of attention due to their versatility and broad range of industrial uses. However, most of the existing electrochromic technologies provide a single coloration, while achieving multiple colors based on simple approaches remains a challenge.

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Reduced graphene oxide (RGO) films have been electrodeposited on indium tin oxide-coated polyethylene terephthalate (ITO-PET) substrates from graphene oxide (GO) solutions, and the resulting flexible transparent electrodes have been used in electrochromic devices of ethyl viologen (EtV(2+)). The electrochromic performance of devices with bare ITO-PET electrodes and ITO-PET coated with RGO has been compared. Under continuous cycling tests up to large voltages, the RGO film was oxidized and dispersed in the electrochromic mixture.

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In this work, the potential of a symmetric dialkyl-substituted ionic liquid (IL), 1,3-dipenthylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate ([PPIm][PF6 ]), as extraction solvent in dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME) has been studied for the analysis of a group of three natural (estriol, 17β-estradiol, and 17α-estradiol) and four synthetic (17α-ethynylestradiol, diethylstibestrol, dienestrol, and hexestrol) estrogenic compounds as well as one mycotoxin with estrogenic activity (zearalenone) in different types of water samples (Milli-Q, mineral, and wastewater). Separation, determination, and quantification were developed by HPLC-DAD and a fluorescence detector (FD) connected in series. Factors influencing the IL-DLLME procedure (sample pH, amount of IL, type and volume of disperser solvent, ionic strength, and assistance of vortex agitation) were investigated and optimized by means of a step-by-step approach.

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A new arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungus was found in Sierra Nevada National Park of Andalucía (Southern Spain). It forms intraradical hyphae, vesicles and arbuscles, typical characteristics of Glomeromycetes. The spores are dark reddish brown to dark reddish black, 132-205 μm diam, and are formed on pigmented subtending hyphae whose pores are regularly closed by a thick septum at the spore base but without support of introverted wall thickening.

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In this manuscript, a new method based on the use of off-line dispersive solid-phase extraction (dSPE) combined with ultra-high performance liquid chromatography with diode-array detection was developed to determine 11 sulfonamide antibiotics (sulfanilamide, sulfacetamide, sulfadiazine, sulfathiazole, sulfamerazine, sulfadimidin, sulfamethoxypyridazine, sulfadoxine, sulfamethoxazole, sulfisoxazole and sulfadimethoxine) in mineral waters with different mineral content. For this purpose, pristine multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and magnetic-MWCNTs (m-MWCNTs) were used as sorbents. Magnetic nanoparticles were synthesized by means of a solvothermal process, assembled onto CNTs through an "aggregation wrap" mechanism and characterized by scanning electron microscopy.

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Concomitant morphological and molecular analyses have led to major breakthroughs in the taxonomic organization of the phylum Glomeromycota. Fungi in this phylum are known to form arbuscular mycorrhiza, and so far three classes, five orders, 14 families and 29 genera have been described. Sensulato, spore formation in 10 of the arbuscular mycorrhiza-forming genera is exclusively glomoid, one is gigasporoid, seven are scutellosporoid, four are entrophosporoid, two are acaulosporoid, and one is pacisporoid.

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In this work, the use of the ionic liquid (IL) 1,3-dipentylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate ([PPIm][PF₆]) as an alternative extractant for IL dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (IL-DLLME) of a group of pesticides and metabolites (2-aminobenzimidazole, carbendazim/benomyl, thiabendazole, fuberidazole, carbaryl, 1-naphthol, and triazophos) from soils is described. After performing an initial ultrasound-assisted extraction (USE), the IL-DLLME procedure was applied for the extraction of these organic analytes from soil extracts. Separation and quantification was achieved by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with fluorescence detection (FD).

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New diterpenylquinones, combining a diterpene diacid and a naphthoquinone, were prepared from junicedric acid and lapachol. The new derivatives were assessed as gastroprotective agents by the HCl-EtOH-induced gastric lesions model in mice as well as for basal cytotoxicity on the following human cell lines: Normal lung fibroblasts (MRC-5), gastric epithelial adenocarcinoma (AGS), and hepatocellular carcinoma (Hep G2). Several of the new compounds were significantly active as antiulcer agents and showed selective cytotoxicity against AGS cells.

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In this work, a new method for the determination of eleven quinolone antibiotics (moxifloxacin, lomefloxacin, danofloxacin, ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin, marbofloxacin, enrofloxacin, difloxacin, pefloxacin, oxolinic acid and flumequine) in different water samples using dispersive solid-phase extraction (dSPE) and capillary zone electrophoresis with diode-array detection was developed. Oxidized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (o-MWCNTs) were used for the first time as stationary phases for the off-line preconcentration by dSPE of the antibiotics. A 65 mM phosphate buffer at pH 8.

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A new dimorphic fungal species in the arbuscular mycorrhiza-forming Glomeromycota, Ambispora granatensis, was isolated from an agricultural site in the province of Granada (Andalucía, Spain) growing in the rhizosphere of Asparagus officinalis. It was propagated in pot cultures with Trifolium pratense and Sorghum vulgare. The fungus also colonized Ri T-DNA transformed Daucus carota roots but did not form spores in these root organ cultures.

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A new fungal species in the arbuscular mycorrhiza-forming Glomeromycetes, Entrophospora nevadensis, was isolated from soil near the roots of several endemic and endangered plant species (e.g. Plantago nivalis and Alchemilla fontqueri) growing in Sierra Nevada National Park (Granada, Andalucia, Spain).

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The Lewis acid catalyzed hetero-Diels-Alder reaction between acyclic vinyl allenes and aldehydes as heterodienophiles was studied. This reaction allows for the preparation of pyrane derivatives in good yields, high facial and regioselectivity and moderate endo/exo ratio. When benzaldehyde was used as the heterodienophile, rearranged products were obtained depending on the reaction conditions.

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A new fungal species of the Glomeromycetes was isolated from the rhizosphere of Pterocephalus spathulatus and Thymus granatensis, two rare endemic plants growing on dolomite in the Sierra de Baza (Granada, southern Spain). The fungus was propagated in pot cultures of Sorghum vulgare and Trifolium pratense for 4 y and it is described here on the basis of the spores found in nature and formed in pot cultures. Its brown spores (140-210 microm diam) form laterally on a persistent, brown stalk (=neck) of a sporiferous saccule.

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A route for the preparation of 2,5-disubstituted octahydroquinolin-4-ones, synthetic precursors of the decahydroquinoline-type toxins, is presented. The key steps are an asymmetric epoxidation and an intramolecular hetero Diels-Alder reaction between an activated diene and an imine. The presence of an allylic stereogenic center induces some selectivity and thus only two cycloadducts are obtained in 70:30 ratio and good yield.

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