Papers by Francisco Ortega
Palaeontologica Nova. SEPAZ, 2008
A maxillary fragment of a large theropod dinosaur from the Lourinh Group (Upper maxillary fragmen... more A maxillary fragment of a large theropod dinosaur from the Lourinh Group (Upper maxillary fragment of a large theropod dinosaur from the Lourinh Group (Upper Jurassic, uppermost Kimmeridgian) of the north of Praia da Corva (Porto Novo, Upper Jurassic of Torres Vedras) is described. The specimen consists in the anterior part of a right maxilla that preserves the anterior edge of the antorbital fenestra and part of the nasal process. It shares with the Spinosauroidea Torvosaurus (Upper Jurassic of North-America ...
INTRODUCTION With in the field of nano-structured materials,multilayers self-assembled using the ... more INTRODUCTION With in the field of nano-structured materials,multilayers self-assembled using the layer-by layer(LbL) technique have a promising future for different applications like sensors,functional coatings,etc. Inparticularpolyelectrolytemultilayermicrocapsuleshavepotentialapplicationsasdrugdeliverycarriers2andDNAencapsulation3. Unilamelar liposomes of 50nm radius have been prepared by extrusion,using mixtures of dioleoylphosphatidylcholine (DOPC) and the cationic surfactant dioctadimethylammoniumbromide (DODAB) with different mole ratios. The multilayers where constructed by sequential adsorption of the poly-electrolytes LbL: Poly-(styrenesulfonate, sodium salt) (PSS) (Mw=70KDa)and poly-(allylaminehydrochloride)(PAH)(Mw=65KDa)
Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 2015
To examine the construct validity of the International FItness Scale (IFIS, i.e. self-reported fi... more To examine the construct validity of the International FItness Scale (IFIS, i.e. self-reported fitness) against objectively measured physical fitness in women with fibromyalgia and in healthy women; and study the test-retest reliability of the IFIS in women with fibromyalgia. Cross-sectional study. Fibromyalgia patient support groups in Andalusia, southern Spain. 413 women with fibromyalgia and 195 healthy women (controls) for validity purposes and 101 women with fibromyalgia for the reliability study. Not applicable. Fitness level was both self-reported (IFIS) and measured using performance-based fitness tests. For the reliability study the IFIS was completed on two occasions, one week apart. Women with fibromyalgia who reported average fitness had better measured fitness compared with those reporting very poor fitness (all p<0.001, except 6-min walk test where p<0.05); with similar trends observed in healthy control women. The test-retest reliability of the IFIS, as measured by the average weighted Kappa, was 0.45. The IFIS was able to identify women with fibromyalgia who had very low fitness and distinguish them from those with higher fitness levels. Furthermore, the IFIS was moderately reliable in women with fibromyalgia.
Langmuir, 2009
The equilibrium isotherms of monolayers of poly(4-hydroxystyrene) on the air/water interface have... more The equilibrium isotherms of monolayers of poly(4-hydroxystyrene) on the air/water interface have been studied in the 5-60°C range. The results indicate that the interface is a poor solvent for the monolayers over the whole temperaure range. For surface pressures within the semidilute regime, the plot of the area occupied by the polymer coils versus temperature at constant surface pressure shows a sharp change of slope near 30°C. Also, the surface excess entropy shows a similar change of slope at the same temperature. The surface shear viscosity can be described by a power law of the surface concentration. Within the semidilute regime, the exponent of the power law changes. The temperature dependence of the viscosity points out a change from independent particle to collective dynamics.
Liposomes have been studied extensively for site-specific drug delivery applications. However, th... more Liposomes have been studied extensively for site-specific drug delivery applications. However, they are unstable on their own and the lack of tuneability in release control. Our work incorporates poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAm) and polyethylene glycol (PEG) into the Phosphatidylcholine liposome structure to increase stability and thermosensitive release properties.
In this Chapter we report on an experimental study of the thermocapillary motion of an aniline dr... more In this Chapter we report on an experimental study of the thermocapillary motion of an aniline drop in an stably stratified fluid sytem and driven by a laser beam. The thermocapillary motion of drops is the result of the temperature depen-dence of the interfacial tension. If the surface of the drop is not isothermal gradients of the surface tension appear, which in some cases can move the drop. The source of the no uniformity of the temperature of the surface can be, in particular, the heat-ing of the drop by a laser beam. In the last years, the thermocapillary movement of bubbles and drops under the influence of laser radiation was studied theoretically and experimentally. However, in the literature there is no data on observation of the movement of a single drop in a laser beam. In this paper an experimental methodol-ogy is proposed to study such a motion of a drop.
Arthritis & rheumatology (Hoboken, N.J.), Jan 24, 2015
To characterize the levels of objectively measured sedentary time and physical activity (PA) in w... more To characterize the levels of objectively measured sedentary time and physical activity (PA) in women with fibromyalgia and compare them with age-matched healthy control women. The study comprised 413 (aged 51.9±7.4 years) women with fibromyalgia and 188 (aged 50.9±7.5 years) controls. Sedentary time, PA and step count were measured by triaxial accelerometry. Time engaged in sedentary behaviors as well as in different PA intensities (light, moderate and moderate-vigorous [MVPA]) were calculated (min/day), as well as the number of steps/day. Sedentary time was greater in women with fibromyalgia compared to controls (estimated mean difference±standard error = 33±7 min/day, P<0.001). Women with fibromyalgia spent less time than controls in light PA (-13±4 min/day, P=0.001), moderate PA (-17±3 min/day, P<0.001) and MVPA (-21±4 min/day, P<0.001). Women with fibromyalgia took less steps/day than controls (-1744±285 steps/day,…
Summary Objective: To develop an artificial neural network (ANN)-equation to estimate max- imal o... more Summary Objective: To develop an artificial neural network (ANN)-equation to estimate max- imal oxygen uptake (VO2max) from 20 m shuttle run test (20mSRT) performance (stage), sex, age, weight, and height in young persons. Methods: The 20mSRTwas performed by 193 (122 boys and 71 girls) adolescents aged 13—19 years. All the adolescents wore a portable gas analyzer to measure VO2 and
Reproductive BioMedicine Online, 2015
S Altmäe). 1 TP and RGR contributed equally to this work. 2 FBO and SA contributed equally to thi... more S Altmäe). 1 TP and RGR contributed equally to this work. 2 FBO and SA contributed equally to this work.
Translational lung cancer research, 2013
Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) can be detected in the blood of many cancer patients and play a ke... more Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) can be detected in the blood of many cancer patients and play a key role in metastasis. In addition, after the development of technologies with the necessary sensitivity and reproducibility, the diagnostic potential of these cells is being actively explored. Recently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the CellSearch(®) System, based on magnetic beads coated with epithelial cell-adhesion molecule (EpCAM) antibody. Despite its usefulness, this system can miss CTCs that lose epithelial antigens due to the epithelial-mesenchymal transition and, in the case of advanced NSCLC, CTCs positivity can be demonstrated only in 30-50% of patients. In an effort to overcome these drawbacks, new methods are being developed. In this study, we have evaluated CK-coated beads as a system to isolate CTCs from lung cancer patients in the clinical setting, and have evaluated if they can be a useful source of material for genetic testing. We were able to ident...
Clinical and experimental rheumatology
To examine the agreement between objective (accelerometer) and subjective measures of sleep in fi... more To examine the agreement between objective (accelerometer) and subjective measures of sleep in fibromyalgia women (FW) and healthy women (HW). To identify explanatory variables of the discrepancies between the objective and subjective measures in FW and in HW. 127 diagnosed FW and 53 HW filled the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ) and wore the SenseWear Pro Armband (SWA) for 7 days in order to assess sleep over the last week. Participants completed the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) when the SWA was returned. The SWA showed greater total duration (74 vs. 88 min/day) and average duration (7 vs. 9 min) of wake after sleep onset in FW compared with HW. The PSQI showed poorer sleep quality in all the variables studied in FW than in HW (all, p<0.001), except time in bed. There was a lack of inter-method agreement for total sleep time, sleep time without naps and sleep latency in FW. Age and educational status explained the inter-method mean difference in sleep time in FW....
International journal of obesity (2005), 2011
To examine the associations of insulin resistance at childhood with adiposity changes over a 6-ye... more To examine the associations of insulin resistance at childhood with adiposity changes over a 6-year period (from 9 to 15 years) in a sample of 659 Swedish and Estonian children (52.7% girls) participating in the European Youth Heart Study. We measured weight, height, waist circumference, biceps, triceps, subscapular, suprailiac, and medial calf skinfolds, and we calculated body mass index (BMI), sum of five skinfolds, and body fat percentage. Fasting plasma glucose and insulin were measured and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) was calculated. Changes in puberty stage, sex, centre and the corresponding baseline adiposity values were used as confounders in all analysis. HOMA-IR at childhood was significantly and positively associated with changes in BMI (β=0.265; P=0.024), sum of five skinfolds (β=0.3445; P=0.003), body fat percentage (β=1.042; P=0.016) and waist circumference (β=0.806; P=0.002) from childhood to adolescence. These relationships persisted w...
International journal of obesity (2005), 2008
This review aims to summarize the latest developments with regard to physical fitness and several... more This review aims to summarize the latest developments with regard to physical fitness and several health outcomes in young people. The literature reviewed suggests that (1) cardiorespiratory fitness levels are associated with total and abdominal adiposity; (2) both cardiorespiratory and muscular fitness are shown to be associated with established and emerging cardiovascular disease risk factors; (3) improvements in muscular fitness and speed/agility, rather than cardiorespiratory fitness, seem to have a positive effect on skeletal health; (4) both cardiorespiratory and muscular fitness enhancements are recommended in pediatric cancer patients/survivors in order to attenuate fatigue and improve their quality of life; and (5) improvements in cardiorespiratory fitness have positive effects on depression, anxiety, mood status and self-esteem, and seem also to be associated with a higher academic performance. In conclusion, health promotion policies and physical activity programs should ...
International journal of sports medicine, 2006
The purpose of this study was to determine whether acute strenuous physical exercise, partially p... more The purpose of this study was to determine whether acute strenuous physical exercise, partially performed under moderate altitude, influences the susceptibility of plasma lipids to peroxidation. Eleven male amateur cyclists took part in a 95-km mountain bike challenge with a cumulative altitude difference of 2340 m. Blood samples were obtained before and immediately after the race in order to determine plasma lipid and lipoprotein concentrations, and to assess the susceptibility of the former to peroxidation. Neither plasma lipid nor lipoprotein levels changed significantly after the race. However, the susceptibility of plasma lipids to peroxidation increased by 71.8 %. We concluded that strenuous physical exercise partially performed under hypoxic conditions increases the susceptibility of plasma lipids to peroxidation in untrained subjects.
Physical Review E, 1995
Critical behavior of a cationic-surfactantwatersalt system near and far from the Krafft tempera... more Critical behavior of a cationic-surfactantwatersalt system near and far from the Krafft temperature. Ana Martín, Francisco Ortega, and Ramón G. Rubio Departamento de Química Física I, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Universidad Complutense, 28040 Madrid, Spain. ...
International Journal of Nanomedicine, 2015
Scientific Reports, 2015
Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) must be phenotypically and genetically characterized before they c... more Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) must be phenotypically and genetically characterized before they can be utilized in clinical applications. Here, we present the first protocol for the detection of miRNAs in CTCs using in situ hybridization (ISH) combined with immunomagnetic selection based on cytokeratin (CK) expression and immunocytochemistry. Locked-Nucleic Acid (LNA) probes associated with an enzyme-labeled fluorescence (ELF) signal amplification approach were used to detect miRNA-21 in CTCs. This protocol was optimized using both epithelial tumor (MDA-MB468) and epithelial non-tumor (MCF-10A) cell lines, and miRNA-21 was selected as the target miRNA because of its known role as an onco-miRNA. Hematopoietic cells do not express miRNA-21; thus, miRNA-21 is an ideal marker for detecting CTCs. Peripheral blood samples were taken from 25 cancer patients and these samples were analyzed using our developed protocol. Of the 25 samples, 11 contained CTCs. For all 11 CTC-positive samples, the isolated CTCs expressed both CK and miRNA-21. Finally, the protocol was applied to monitor miRNA-21 expression in epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT)-induced MCF-7 cells, an epithelial tumor cell line. CK expression was lost in these cells, whereas miRNA-21 was still expressed, suggesting that miRNA-21 might be a good marker for detecting CTCs with an EMT phenotype. OPEN SUBJECT AREAS: METASTASES FLUORESCENCE IMAGING
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Papers by Francisco Ortega
Preliminary examination of transverse thin sections from isolated appendicular bones has revealed bone walls composed of secondary completely remodeled bone tissue. These walls possess features that have been repeatedly listed as typically ‘titanosaurian’, such as an intense secondary remodeling, a possible absence of EFS (external fundamental system, which marks the end of bone growth in size), and generalized presence of parallel-fibered tissues in the cortices (Klein et al., 2009; Woodward and Lehman, 2009; Stein et al., 2010; Company, 2011). For now, none of the sampled specimens seem to belong to young individuals since there’s no presence of juvenile tissues and all bones possess post-juvenile histological features. On the other hand, the similarity of the histological patterns recognized in samples of appendicular bones with those described in the rest of titanosaurs is also discussed.