University of Alcalá

About: University of Alcalá is a education organization based out in Alcalá de Henares, Spain. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Receptor. The organization has 10795 authors who have published 20718 publications receiving 410089 citations. The organization is also known as: University of Alcala & University of Alcala de Henares.

A New Approach to Drug Discovery: High-Throughput Screening of Microbial Natural Extracts against Aspergillus fumigatus Using Resazurin

Abstract: Natural products are an inexhaustible source for drug discovery. However, the validation and selection of primary screening assays are vital to guarantee a selection of extracts or molecules with relevant pharmacological action and worthy of following up. The assay must be rapid, simple, easy to implement, and produce quick results and preferably at a low cost. In this work, we developed and validated a colorimetric microtiter assay using the resazurin viability dye. The parameters of the resazurin method for high-throughput screening (HTS) using natural extracts against Aspergillus fumigatus were optimized and set up. The extracts plus RPMI-1640 modified medium containing the spores and 0.002% resazurin were added per well. The fluorescence was read after 24 to 30 h of incubation. The resazurin proved to be as suitable as Alamar Blue for determining the minimal inhibitory concentration of different antifungals against A. fumigatus and effective to analyze fungicidal and fungistatic compounds. An HTS of 12 000 microbial extracts was carried out against two A. fumigatus strains, and 2.7% of the extracts displayed antifungal activity. Our group has been the first to use this methodology for screening a collection of natural extracts to identify compounds with antifungal activity against the medically important human pathogen A. fumigatus.

LQG Servo Controller for the Current Control of $LCL$ Grid-Connected Voltage-Source Converters

Abstract: This paper presents a current control scheme for a voltage-source converter connected to the grid through an LCL filter The proposed current control is based on the linear quadratic (LQ) Gaussian (LQG) servo controller technique, which combines the LQ regulator and the Kalman filter (KF) The use of the KF instead of a Luenberger estimator improves the quality of the estimation of state variables in noisy environments, increasing the noise immunity of the control loop This paper focuses on giving some criteria and practical hints to choose both the KF and LQ design parameters to achieve null steady-state tracking error, channel decoupling, and noise immunity Furthermore, this paper analyzes the steady-state KF approximation that allows a significant decrement in the computational complexity of the algorithm at nearly no cost in accuracy Simulation and experimental results prove the correct operation of the proposed LQG current control and the possible advantages of using KF to estimate the state vector

Towards adaptation of agriculture to climate change in the Mediterranean

Abstract: This study links climate change impacts to the development of adaptation strategies for agriculture on the Mediterranean region. Climate change is expected to intensify the existing risks, particularly in regions with current water scarcity, and create new opportunities for improving land and water management. These risks and opportunities are characterised and interpreted across Mediterranean areas by analysing water scarcity pressures and potential impacts on crop productivity over the next decades. The need to respond to these risks and opportunities is addressed by evaluating an adaptive capacity index that represents the ability of Mediterranean agriculture to respond to climate change. We propose an adaptive capacity index with three major components that characterise the economic capacity, human and civic resources, and agricultural innovation. These results aim to assist stakeholders as they take up the adaptation challenge and develop measures to reduce the vulnerability of the sector to climate change.