Food Science, Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, Spectroscopy, Bioengineering
34
Scopus Publications
Scopus Publications
A Multidisciplinary Vision of the Criminal, Social and Occupational Risk Consequences of the Use of Police Force José C. Vera-Jiménez, Domingo Villero-Carro, Lucas González-Herrera, José A. Álvarez, Jesús Ayuso Safety, 2023 (1) Background: The use of force by public and private security forces is currently an issue of great relevance because of the potential injuries caused by any excessive use of force by either active or passive subjects or a deficit in the real mastery of appropriate physical intervention techniques (PITs). For this reason, certain traditionally used physical intervention techniques have been questioned by scientific research studies and punished by justice. On the other hand, certain media have dealt with this matter in a biased and unfair manner by broadcasting videos where the use of force by police officer is displayed out of context. As a consequence, this problem has been brought under the spotlight, causing general uneasiness of the communities and rapidly spreading over social networks while favoring all sorts of parallel judgments. (2) Research method: A suit was equipped with 19 inertial measurement units (IMUs) and a Biomechanics of Bodies software application for Marras analysis of the data collected on trajectory, trunk twisting velocity, sagittal angle, load, and nature and severity of the injuries associated with the different intervention techniques examined. (3) Results: According to the data registered, the implementation of operational tactical procedures (OTPs) reduces the probability of injuries and leads to a more satisfactory outcome. (4) Conclusions: The implementation of operational tactical procedures, together with an awareness of the risks associated with the excessive use of force by public and private security forces and bodies, could reduce the risk of injuries suffered by both officers and citizens.
Comparison of Traditional Physical Intervention Techniques vs. Operational Tactical Procedures and Techniques in the Use of Force during Police Arrests José C. Vera-Jiménez, Domingo Villero-Carro, Andrés Pastor-Fernandez, James Shippen, Marta Ferreiro-González, et al. Safety, 2023 (1) Background: A set of relevant police ergonomic parameters (PEP) have been used for the assessment and prevention of occupational risks involved in police physical interventions (PITs). Through this set of PEPs, a comparison has been made between two traditional PITs against two novel OTPs (operational tactical procedures). (2) Method: The data have been collected by means of a motion capture suit fitted with 19 inertial measurement units (IMUs). A specific and powerful software package specific for ergonomic analysis has been used to manage the large amount of data registered and to generate a series of three-dimensional plots. Traditional PITs and newer OTPs have been performed for their analysis. Specifically, the PEPs corresponding to the implementation of four PITs have been analyzed by collecting the measurements provided by a set of IMUs installed on a motion capture suit, and their occupational risk assessments have been compared against those corresponding to newer OTPs. (3) Results: For the four PITs, the PEPs have been analyzed with the measured values from the IMUs, throughout the duration of each technique. The two traditional intervention techniques have scored higher than the new OTPs in the REBA system, the asymmetry angle, L5-pelvis shear and joint contact forces, and the total muscle power measurements. (4) Conclusions: It has been confirmed that the new OTPs minimize the risk of injuries, since their PEPs reached lower values than those corresponding to the traditional PITs, which are still being taught at police academies.
In Silico Evaluation of Sesquiterpenes and Benzoxazinoids Phytotoxins against Mpro, RNA Replicase and Spike Protein of SARS-CoV-2 by Molecular Dynamics. Inspired by Nature Francisco J. R. Mejías, Alexandra G. Durán, Nuria Chinchilla, Rosa M. Varela, José A. Álvarez, et al. Toxins, 2022 In the work described here, a number of sesquiterpenes and benzoxazinoids from natural sources, along with their easily accessible derivatives, were evaluated against the main protease, RNA replicase and spike glycoprotein of SARS-CoV-2 by molecular docking. These natural products and their derivatives have previously shown remarkable antiviral activities. The most relevant compounds were the 4-fluoro derivatives of santamarine, reynosin and 2-amino-3H-phenoxazin-3-one in terms of the docking score. Those compounds fulfill the Lipinski’s rule, so they were selected for the analysis by molecular dynamics, and the kinetic stabilities of the complexes were assessed. The addition of the 4-fluorobenzoate fragment to the natural products enhances their potential against all of the proteins tested, and the complex stability after 50 ns validates the inhibition calculated. The derivatives prepared from reynosin and 2-amino-3H-phenoxazin-3-one are able to generate more hydrogen bonds with the Mpro, thus enhancing the stability of the protein–ligand and generating a long-term complex for inhibition. The 4-fluoro derivate of santamarine and reynosin shows to be really active against the spike protein, with the RMSD site fluctuation lower than 1.5 Å. Stabilization is mainly achieved by the hydrogen-bond interactions, and the stabilization is improved by the 4-fluorobenzoate fragment being added. Those compounds tested in silico reach as candidates from natural sources to fight this virus, and the results concluded that the addition of the 4-fluorobenzoate fragment to the natural products enhances their inhibition potential against the main protease, RNA replicase and spike protein of SARS-CoV-2.
An Analysis of Biomechanical Parameters in OTP Police Physical Intervention Techniques for Occupational Risk Prevention José C. Vera-Jiménez, Felipe L. Meléndez-Sánchez, José A. Álvarez, Jesús Ayuso International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2022 (1) Background: a set of ergonomic parameters that are relevant for risk assessment methods for the prevention of occupational risks, such as REBA or NIOSH, have been measured by means of inertial sensors that allow capturing the movements of the human body. These methods base their assessment on a number of postural and dynamic parameters. In the case of police physical intervention techniques, trunk, legs, arms, forearms and wrists angles, joint contact force and sheer force at the L5-Pelvic junction, asymmetry (angle and factor), and muscle power are the more relevant parameters to be considered. (2) Method: The data have been collected by means of a motion capture suit equipped with 19 inertial sensors. The large amount of data and the 3-dimensional plots have been managed by a powerful software package specific for ergonomic analysis. The police physical intervention technique used was OTP. (3) Results: Five ergonomic parameters in a traditional police physical intervention technique have been analyzed. REBA scores and ergonomic metrics have been recorded and discussed with some prevention risk limits from the literature. (4) Conclusions: the usage of inertial sensors to capture the movements in OTPs provides a new and quite an efficient viewpoint for occupational risk research studies.
Optimization through a Box–Behnken Experimental Design of the Microwave-Assisted Extraction of the Psychoactive Compounds in Hallucinogenic Fungi (Psylocibe cubensis) Curro Polo-Castellano, José Á. Álvarez, Miguel Palma, Gerardo F. Barbero, Jesús Ayuso, et al. Journal of Fungi, 2022 Hallucinogenic fungi, mainly those from the Psilocybe genus, are being increasingly consumed even though there is no control on their culture conditions. Due to the therapeutic potential as antidepressants and anxiolytics of the alkaloids that they produce (psilocin and psilocybin), some form of control on their production would be highly recommended. Prior to identifying their optimal culture condition, a methodology that allows their study is required. Microwave-assisted extraction method (MAE) is a technique that has proven its efficiency to extract different compounds from solid matrices. For this reason, this study intends to optimize a MAE method to extract the alkaloids found in Psylocibe cubensis. A surface-response Box–Behnken design has been employed to optimize such extraction method and significantly reduce time and other resources in the extraction process. Based on the Box–Behnken design, 50 °C temperature, 60% methanol as extraction solvent, 0.6 g:10 mL sample mass:solvent ratio and 5 min extraction time, were established as optimal conditions. These mild conditions, combined with a rapid and efficient UHPLC analysis result in a practical and economical methodology for the extraction of psilocin and psilocybin from Psylocibe cubensis.
Rapid Detection and Quantification of Adulterants in Fruit Juices Using Machine Learning Tools and Spectroscopy Data José Luis P. Calle, Marta Barea-Sepúlveda, Ana Ruiz-Rodríguez, José Ángel Álvarez, Marta Ferreiro-González, et al. Sensors, 2022 Fruit juice production is one of the most important sectors in the beverage industry, and its adulteration by adding cheaper juices is very common. This study presents a methodology based on the combination of machine learning models and near-infrared spectroscopy for the detection and quantification of juice-to-juice adulteration. We evaluated 100% squeezed apple, pineapple, and orange juices, which were adulterated with grape juice at different percentages (5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 30%, 40%, and 50%). The spectroscopic data have been combined with different machine learning tools to develop predictive models for the control of the juice quality. The use of non-supervised techniques, specifically model-based clustering, revealed a grouping trend of the samples depending on the type of juice. The use of supervised techniques such as random forest and linear discriminant analysis models has allowed for the detection of the adulterated samples with an accuracy of 98% in the test set. In addition, a Boruta algorithm was applied which selected 89 variables as significant for adulterant quantification, and support vector regression achieved a regression coefficient of 0.989 and a root mean squared error of 1.683 in the test set. These results show the suitability of the machine learning tools combined with spectroscopic data as a screening method for the quality control of fruit juices. In addition, a prototype application has been developed to share the models with other users and facilitate the detection and quantification of adulteration in juices.
A methodology based on ft-ir data combined with random forest model to generate spectralprints for the characterization of high-quality vinegars José Luis P. Calle, Marta Ferreiro-González, Ana Ruiz-Rodríguez, Gerardo F. Barbero, José Á. Álvarez, et al. Foods, 2021 Sherry wine vinegar is a Spanish gourmet product under Protected Designation of Origin (PDO). Before a vinegar can be labeled as Sherry vinegar, the product must meet certain requirements as established by its PDO, which, in this case, means that it has been produced following the traditional solera and criadera ageing system. The quality of the vinegar is determined by many factors such as the raw material, the acetification process or the aging system. For this reason, mainly producers, but also consumers, would benefit from the employment of effective analytical tools that allow precisely determining the origin and quality of vinegar. In the present study, a total of 48 Sherry vinegar samples manufactured from three different starting wines (Palomino Fino, Moscatel, and Pedro Ximénez wine) were analyzed by Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. The spectroscopic data were combined with unsupervised exploratory techniques such as hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) and principal component analysis (PCA), as well as other nonparametric supervised techniques, namely, support vector machine (SVM) and random forest (RF), for the characterization of the samples. The HCA and PCA results present a clear grouping trend of the vinegar samples according to their raw materials. SVM in combination with leave-one-out cross-validation (LOOCV) successfully classified 100% of the samples, according to the type of wine used for their production. The RF method allowed selecting the most important variables to develop the characteristic fingerprint (“spectralprint”) of the vinegar samples according to their starting wine. Furthermore, the RF model reached 100% accuracy for both LOOCV and out-of-bag (OOB) sets.
Discrimination of ignitable liquid residues in burned petroleum-derived substrates by using HS-MS eNose and chemometrics Barbara Falatová, Marta Ferreiro-González, José Luis P. Calle, José Ángel Álvarez, Miguel Palma Sensors Switzerland, 2021 Interpretation of data from fire debris is considered as one of the most challenging steps in fire investigation. Forensic analysts are tasked to identify the presence or absence of ignitable liquid residues (ILRs) which may indicate whether a fire was started deliberately. So far, data analysis is subjected to human interpretation following the American Society for Testing and Materials’ guidelines (ASTM E1618) based on gas chromatography–mass spectrometry data. However, different factors such as interfering pyrolysis compounds may hinder the interpretation of data. Some substrates release compounds that are in the range of common ignitable liquids, which interferes with accurate determination of ILRs. The aim of the current research is to investigate whether headspace–mass spectroscopy electronic nose (HS-MS eNose) combined with pattern recognition can be used to classify different ILRs from fire debris samples that contain a complex matrix (petroleum-based substrates or synthetic fibers carpet) that can strongly interfere with their identification. Six different substrates—four petroleum-derived substrates (vinyl, linoleum, polyester, and polyamide carpet), as well as two different materials for comparison purposes (cotton and cork) were used to investigate background interferences. Gasoline, diesel, ethanol, and charcoal starter with kerosene were used as ignitable liquids. In addition, fire debris samples were taken after different elapsed times. A total of 360 fire debris samples were analyzed. The obtained total ion mass spectrum was combined with unsupervised exploratory techniques such as hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) as well as supervised linear discriminant analysis (LDA). The results from HCA show a strong tendency to group the samples according to the ILs and substrate used, and LDA allowed for a full identification and discrimination of every ILR regardless of the substrate.
Optimization of a novel method based on ultrasound-assisted extraction for the quantification of anthocyanins and total phenolic compounds in blueberry samples (Vaccinium corymbosum l.) María José Aliaño-González, José Antonio Jarillo, Ceferino Carrera, Marta Ferreiro-González, José Ángel Álvarez, et al. Foods, 2020 In recent years, consumers’ preference for fruits such as blueberry has increased noticeably. This fact is probably related to their bioactive components such as anthocyanins, phenolic compounds, vitamins, minerals, and tannins that have been found in blueberries by the latest research studies. Both total anthocyanins (TA) and total phenolic compounds (TPC) are known for their multiple beneficial effects on our health, due to their anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, and anti-cancer properties. This is the reason why the development of new methodologies for the quality control analysis of raw materials or derived products from blueberry has a great relevance. Two ultrasound-assisted extraction methods (UAE) have been optimized for the quantification of TA and TPC in blueberry samples. The six variables to be optimized were: solvent composition, temperature, amplitude, cycle, extraction solvent pH, and sample/solvent ratio using response surface methodology. The optimized methods have proven to be suitable for the extraction of the TPC and TA with good precision (repeatability and intermediate precision) (coefficient of variation (CV) < 5%) and potentially for application in commercial samples. This fact, together with the multiple advantages of UAE, makes these methods a good alternative to be used in quality control analysis by both industries and laboratories.
