Extraction of Bioactive Compounds from Spent Coffee Grounds Using Ethanol and Acetone Aqueous Solutions.

Given global coffee consumption, substantial quantities of spent coffee grounds (SCGs) are generated annually as a by-product of brewing coffee. SCG, although rich in bioactive compounds, is nowadays disposed of. The objective of this study is to compare, for the first time and from the same SCG, the efficiency of ethanol-water mixtures and acetone-water mixtures for the recovery of total polyphenols, chlorogenic acid, and caffeine. Acetone at 20% (m/m) was the most convenient solvent to extract all three bioactive compounds simultaneously, yielding 4.37 mg of GAE/g SCG for total polyphenols, chlorogenic acid (0.832 mg 5-CQA/g SCG), and caffeine (1.47 mg/g SCG). Additionally, this study aims to address some challenges associated with the industrial-scale utilization of SCG as a raw material, encompassing factors such as pre-treatment conditions (natural drying and oven drying), storage duration, and the kinetics of the extraction process. No significant difference was observed between the natural drying and oven drying of SCG. In terms of storage duration, it is advisable to process the SCG within less than 3-4 months of storage time. A significant decline of 82% and 70% in chlorogenic acid (5-CQA) and caffeine contents, respectively, was observed after eight months of storage. Furthermore, the kinetic study for the recovery of total polyphenols revealed that the optimal extraction times were 10 min for acetone at 20% and 40 min for water, with a yield increase of 28% and 34%, respectively. What is remarkable from the present study is the approach considered, using the simplest operating conditions (minimal time and solvent-to-solid ratio, and ambient temperature); hence, at an industrial scale, energy and resource consumption and equipment dimensions can be together reduced, leading to a more industrially sustainable extraction process.

Effect of an Integrated Active Lessons Programme through Playful Maths Games on Self-Concept, Self-Esteem and Social Skills in Preschool Children.

The aim of this study was to analyse the effects of an integrated active lessons programme based on playful math games, of 10 weeks' duration (30 min/day × 2 days/week), on self-concept, self-esteem and social skills in preschool children. One hundred and ninety-four preschool children (53.6% girls) aged 53.36 ± 11.82 months were split into a control group (CG) and an experimental group (EG). The EG improved significantly in self-concept compared to the CG in boys and girls (6.8% and 7.1%, respectively). Personal and academic self-esteem levels increased significantly (8.1% and 5.5%, respectively, only in girls). Although the EG obtained significant improvements in social self-esteem and social skills compared to the beginning of the study, these results were not found in comparison with the CG. The introduction of active lessons based on playful maths games within the classroom is recommended as support for the improvement in self-concept, self-esteem and social skills in early childhood education.

Environmental and Yield Comparison of Quick Extraction Methods for Caffeine and Chlorogenic Acid from Spent Coffee Grounds.

This study aims to provide an overview of different extraction methods to obtain chlorogenic acid (CA) and caffeine (Caf) from spent coffee grounds (SCG). This overview shows that the quantity extracted is highly dependent on the type of SCG, so experiments using the same SCG are needed to compare different methods. Three easy and simple extraction methods will be tested at a laboratory scale and environmentally compared. All three experiments were of 1 min duration: first, using supramolecular solvent; second, with water and vortex; and third, with water assisted by ultrasound. Water extraction assisted by ultrasound at room temperature yielded the greatest quantity of chlorogenic acid and caffeine, with 1.15 mg CA/g and 0.972 mg Caf/g, respectively. Extraction using supra-solvent leads to a lower content of CA in the supra-phase since it has more affinity for the water-based inferior phase. An environmental assessment using life cycle assessment has been carried out to compare water and supra extraction methods for the manufacture of two different commercial products: a face cream and an eye contour serum. Results show that the type of solvent and the amount of active substance extracted have a great influence on the environmental results. The results presented here are important for companies willing to obtain these active substances at an industrial scale.

Classification of Textile Samples Using Data Fusion Combining Near- and Mid-Infrared Spectral Information.

There is an urgent need to reuse and recycle textile fibers, since today, low recycling rates are achieved. Accurate classification methods for post-consumer textile waste are needed in the short term for a higher circularity in the textile and fashion industries. This paper compares different spectroscopic data from textile samples in order to correctly classify the textile samples. The accurate classification of textile waste results in higher recycling rates and a better quality of the recycled materials. The data fusion of near- and mid-infrared spectra is compared with single-spectrum information. The classification results show that data fusion is a better option, providing more accurate classification results, especially for difficult classification problems where the classes are wide and close to one another. The experimental results presented in this paper prove that the data fusion of near- and mid-infrared spectra is a good option for accurate textile-waste classification, since this approach allows the classification results to be significantly improved.

Post-Consumer Textile Waste Classification through Near-Infrared Spectroscopy, Using an Advanced Deep Learning Approach.

The textile industry is generating great environmental concerns due to the exponential growth of textile products' consumption (fast fashion) and production. The textile value chain today operates as a linear system (textile products are produced, used, and discarded), thus putting pressure on resources and creating negative environmental impacts. A new textile economy based on the principles of circular economy is needed for a more sustainable textile industry. To help meet this challenge, an efficient collection, classification, and recycling system needs to be implemented at the end-of-life stage of textile products, so as to obtain high-quality recycled materials able to be reused in high-value products. This paper contributes to the classification of post-consumer textile waste by proposing an automatic classification method able to be trained to separate higher-quality textile fiber flows. Our proposal is the use of near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy combined with a mathematical treatment of the spectra by convolutional neural networks (CNNs) to classify and separate 100% pure samples and binary mixtures of the most common textile fibers. CNN is applied for the first time to the classification of textile samples. A total of 370 textile samples were studied-50% used for calibration and 50% for prediction purposes. The results obtained are very promising (100% correct classification for pure fibers and 90-100% for binary mixtures), showing that the proposed methodology is very powerful, able to be trained for the specific separation of flows, and compatible with the automation of the system at an industrial scale.

Calidad y eficiencia de los cuidados de enfermería tras la implantación de la guía de buena práctica clínica "Cuidado y manejo de la ostomía" / No disponible

El Hospital Universitario Vall d'Hebron fue acreditado en el año 2015 como centro comprometido con la excelencia de los cuidados, tras implantar la guía de práctica clínica (GPC) "Cuidado y manejo de la ostomía". Esta GPC formaba parte del programa Best Practice Spotlight Organization (BPSO), promovido por la Registered Nurses Association of Ontario (RNAO) y coordinado por la unidad de Investigación en Cuidados de Salud (Investen ISCIII, Instituto Carlos III, y el Centro Colaborador Español del Instituto Joanna Briggs). Durante la implantación se protocolizaron los cuidados del estoma, unificándose las curas de enfermería y estableciendo así los circuitos necesarios a fin de asegurar la continuidad de la educación sanitaria y cuidado y manejo de la ostomía. Actualmente se siguen las recomendaciones de la GPC y se ha consolidado la metodología de trabajo en la unidad de Urología

The Vall d'Hebron University Hospital (VHUH) was accredited in 2015 for its commitment to patient-centred care with the implementation of the clinical practice guideline "Ostomy care and Management". The Registered Nurses Association of Ontario (RNAO) launched the Nursing Best Practice Guideline (NBPG) whose purpose it to support nurses by providing them with this GPC. Therefore, it is coordinated by the Healthcare Research Unit, Ivesten-ISCIII, Institute of Health Carlos III and the Spanish Collaborating Centre of Joanna Briggs). Implementation of a Stoma care plan, which was protocolized, help increase continuity in care provided by the nursing staff and contributed to unify collaboration with other member of the healthcare team. Thus, we have emphasized how important follow-up is for stoma patient. Currently we accept the recommendation of the GPC. Thus, a consolidated methodology has been developed in the Urology Department

Supervision of Ethylene Propylene Diene M-Class (EPDM) Rubber Vulcanization and Recovery Processes Using Attenuated Total Reflection Fourier Transform Infrared (ATR FT-IR) Spectroscopy and Multivariate Analysis.

Ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) rubber is widely used in a diverse type of applications, such as the automotive, industrial and construction sectors among others. Due to its appealing features, the consumption of vulcanized EPDM rubber is growing significantly. However, environmental issues are forcing the application of devulcanization processes to facilitate recovery, which has led rubber manufacturers to implement strict quality controls. Consequently, it is important to develop methods for supervising the vulcanizing and recovery processes of such products. This paper deals with the supervision process of EPDM compounds by means of Fourier transform mid-infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and suitable multivariate statistical methods. An expedited and nondestructive classification approach was applied to a sufficient number of EPDM samples with different applied processes, that is, with and without application of vulcanizing agents, vulcanized samples, and microwave treated samples. First the FT-IR spectra of the samples is acquired and next it is processed by applying suitable feature extraction methods, i.e., principal component analysis and canonical variate analysis to obtain the latent variables to be used for classifying test EPDM samples. Finally, the k nearest neighbor algorithm was used in the classification stage. Experimental results prove the accuracy of the proposed method and the potential of FT-IR spectroscopy in this area, since the classification accuracy can be as high as 100%.

Determination of the recovered-fiber content in paperboard samples by applying mid-infrared spectroscopy.

Paperboard is widely used in different applications, such as packaging and graphic printing, among others. Consumption of recycled paper is growing, which has led the paper-mill packaging industry to apply strict quality controls. This means that it is very important to develop methods to test the quality of recycled products. In this article, we focus on determining the recovered-fiber content of paperboard samples by applying Fourier transform mid-infrared (FT-MIR) spectroscopy in combination with multivariate statistical methods. To this end, two very fast, nondestructive approaches were applied: classification and quantification. The first approach is based on classifying unknown paperboard samples into two groups: high and low recovered-fiber content. Conversely, under the quantification approach, the content of recovered fiber in the incoming paperboard samples is determined. The experimental results presented in this article show that the classification approach, which classifies unknown incoming paperboard samples, is highly accurate and that the quantification approach has a root mean square error of prediction of about 4.1.

Percepción subjetiva del dolor en cirugía local dermatologica / Subjective perception of pain in local dermatological surgery

Introducción. El dolor se mide difícilmente pues presenta un importante componente subjetivo. En Dermatología se ha estudiado poco este síntoma, en especial su componente psicoemocional (miedo previo a la intervención y sensación de liberación posterior a la misma). Se ha decidido evaluar cuantitativamente su percepción en intervenciones locales, en relación con diferentes momentos de la intervención y con la aplicación de una crema anestésica tópica como variable externa. Pacientes y métodos. Se documentó la percepción álgica con una escala de valoración verbal antes de y durante la infiltración anestésica y nada más finalizar la intervención quirúrgica, mediante tres preguntas: 1) ¿Cuánto cree que le va a doler?, 2) ¿cuánto le está doliendo? y 3) ¿cuánto le ha dolido?. Además se aleatorizó la aplicación de EMLA; (anestésico tópico en crema). Resultados. Se estudiaron 219 pacientes. Las puntuaciones en la pregunta 2 eran significativamente menores que las de la pregunta 1, y las de la pregunta 3 significativamente menores que las de las preguntas 1 y 2. Los pacientes tratados con EMLA puntuaron más bajo que los controles sólo en las preguntas 2 y 3. Discusión. Los pacientes piensan que les va a doler más la intervención que lo que en realidad les duele posteriormente y además borran “de inmediato” el recuerdo del dolor reciente. El uso de EMLA no modifica la idea del paciente de lo que le va a doler la intervención, pero sí percibe menos dolor que los que no lo utilizan. Es importante tranquilizar al paciente sobre la intervención para que éste no acumule ansiedad respecto al procedimiento y así se minimice su percepción álgica. Utilizar un anestésico local tópico en la zona de intervención podría ayudar a disminuir la sensación de dolor

Introduction. Pain is difficult to measure, as it has a significant subjective component. This symptom, and in particular its psycho-emotional component (fear prior to the operation and a feeling of release afterwards), has not been studied in extensively. We decided to quantitatively evaluate its perception in local surgery, in relation to different moments during the operation and using the application of a topical anesthetic cream as an external variable. Patients and methods. The perception of pain was documented with a verbal assessment scale before and during anesthesia infiltration and immediately at the end of the operation by means of three questions: 1) How much do you think it is going to hurt?, 2) How much does it hurt? and 3) How much did it hurt? In addition, the application of EMLA; (topical anesthetic cream) was randomized. Results. 219 patients were studied. The scores for question 2 were significantly lower than the ones for question 1, and the scores for question 3 were significantly lower than the ones for questions 1 and 2. The patients treated with EMLA only gave lower scores than the controls in questions 2 and 3. Discussion. Patients think that the surgery will hurt more than it really does, and they also immediately erase the memory of the recent pain. The use of EMLA does not modify the patient’s idea of how much the operation will hurt, but the patient does perceive less pain than those who do not use it. It is important to reassure patients about their operations so that they do not become overly anxious about the procedures, thus minimizing their perception of pain. The use of a topical local anesthetic in the area of the surgery could help decrease the sensation of pain

[Subjective perception of pain in local dermatological surgery]. / Percepción subjetiva del dolor en cirugía local dermatológica.

INTRODUCTION: Pain is difficult to measure, as it has a significant subjective component. This symptom, and in particular its psycho-emotional component (fear prior to the operation and a feeling of release afterwards), has not been studied extensively. We decided to quantitatively evaluate its perception in local surgery, in relation to different moments during the operation and using the application of a topical anesthetic cream as an external variable. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The perception of pain was documented with a verbal assessment scale before and during anesthesia infiltration and immediately at the end of the operation by means of three questions: 1) How much do you think it is going to hurt?, 2) How much does it hurt? and 3) How much did it hurt? In addition, the application of EMLA (topical anesthetic cream) was randomized. RESULTS: 219 patients were studied. The scores for question 2 were significantly lower than the ones for question 1, and the scores for question 3 were significantly lower than the ones for questions 1 and 2. The patients treated with EMLA only gave lower scores than the controls in questions 2 and 3. DISCUSSION: Patients think that the surgery will hurt more than it really does, and they also immediately erase the memory of the recent pain. The use of EMLA does not modify the patient's idea of how much the operation will hurt, but the patient does perceive less pain than those who do not use it. It is important to reassure patients about their operations so that they do not become overly anxious about the procedures, thus minimizing their perception of pain. The use of a topical local anesthetic in the area of the surgery could help decrease the sensation of pain.