La integración de la educación ambiental en la ESO : datos para la reflexión

We present in this paper the analysis and principal results of a research carried out among 438 teachers and 126 headmasters. The issues concern the situation of environmental education in Obligatory Secondary School. The purpose of the study was to identify teacher and headmaster's opinions, perceptions and feelings about the situation of environmental education in their centres

PCUMex survey: Controversies in the management of prostate cancer among Mexican urologists

AbstractBackgroundProstate cancer is the first cause of mortality related to malignancy in Mexican men. Common clinical practice has to be evaluated in order to gain a picture of reality apart from the guidelines.AimTo analyze clinical practice among urologists in Mexico in relation to prostate cancer management and to compare the results with current recommendations and guidelines.MethodsWe collected the data from 600 urologists, members of the Sociedad Mexicana de Urología, who were invited by email to answer a survey on their usual decisions when managing controversial aspects of prostate cancer patients.ResultsQuinolones were the most common antibiotic used as prophylaxis in prostate biopsy (75.51%); 10–12 cores were taken in more than 65% of prostate biopsies; and 18.27% of the participants performed limited pelvic lymphadenectomy. Treatment results showed that 10.75% of the urologists surveyed preferred radical prostatectomy as monotherapy in high-risk patients with extraprostatic extension and 60.47% used complete androgen deprivation in metastatic prostate cancer.ConclusionsThere are many areas of opportunity for improvement in our current clinical practice for the management of patients with prostate cancer

The ellagic acid derivative 4,4′-Di-O-methylellagic acid efficiently inhibits colon cancer cell growth through a mechanism involving WNT16

Producción CientíficaEllagic acid (EA) and some derivatives have been reported to inhibit cancer cell proliferation, induce cell cycle arrest, and modulate some important cellular processes related to cancer. This study aimed to identify possible structure-activity relationships of EA and some in vivo derivatives in their antiproliferative effect on both human colon cancer and normal cells, and to compare this activity with that of other polyphenols. Our results showed that 4,4′-di-O-methylellagic acid (4,4′-DiOMEA) was the most effective compound in the inhibition of colon cancer cell proliferation. 4,4′-DiOMEA was 13-fold more effective than other compounds of the same family. In addition, 4,4′-DiOMEA was very active against colon cancer cells resistant to the chemotherapeutic agent 5-fluoracil, whereas no effect was observed in nonmalignant colon cells. Moreover, no correlation between antiproliferative and antioxidant activities was found, further supporting that structure differences might result in dissimilar molecular targets involved in their differential effects. Finally, microarray analysis revealed that 4,4′-DiOMEA modulated Wnt signaling, which might be involved in the potential antitumor action of this compound. Our results suggest that structural-activity differences between EA and 4,4′-DiOMEA might constitute the basis for a new strategy in anticancer drug discovery based on these chemical modifications.Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad (AGL2013-48943-C2-2-R and IPT-2011-1248-060000)Comunidad de Madrid [Grant P2013/ABI-2728 ALIBIRD-CM

First external quality assurance program for bloodstream Real-Time PCR monitoring of treatment response in clinical trials of Chagas disease

Real-Time PCR (qPCR) testing is recommended as both a diagnostic and outcome measurement of etiological treatment in clinical practice and clinical trials of Chagas disease (CD), but no external quality assurance (EQA) program provides performance assessment of the assays in use. We implemented an EQA system to evaluate the performance of molecular biology laboratories involved in qPCR based follow-up in clinical trials of CD. An EQA program was devised for three clinical trials of CD: the E1224 (NCT01489228), a pro-drug of ravuconazole; the Sampling Study (NCT01678599), that used benznidazole, both conducted in Bolivia; and the CHAGASAZOL (NCT01162967), that tested posaconazole, conducted in Spain. Four proficiency testing panels containing negative controls and seronegative blood samples spiked with 1, 10 and 100 parasite equivalents (par. eq.)/mL of four Trypanosoma cruzi stocks, were sent from the Core Lab in Argentina to the participating laboratories located in Bolivia and Spain. Panels were analyzed simultaneously, blinded to sample allocation, at 4-month intervals. In addition, 302 random blood samples from both trials carried out in Bolivia were sent to Core Lab for retesting analysis. The analysis of proficiency testing panels gave 100% of accordance (within laboratory agreement) and concordance (between laboratory agreement) for all T. cruzi stocks at 100 par. eq./mL; whereas their values ranged from 71 to 100% and from 62 to 100% at 1 and 10 par. eq./mL, respectively, depending on the T. cruzi stock. The results obtained after twelve months of preparation confirmed the stability of blood samples in guanidine-EDTA buffer. No significant differences were found between qPCR results from Bolivian laboratory and Core Lab for retested clinical samples. This EQA program for qPCR analysis of CD patient samples may significantly contribute to ensuring the quality of laboratory data generated in clinical trials and molecular diagnostics laboratories of CD

Glycolytic shift during West Nile virus infection provides new therapeutic opportunities

Background Viral rewiring of host bioenergetics and immunometabolism may provide novel targets for therapeu‑ tic interventions against viral infections. Here, we have explored the effect on bioenergetics during the infection with the mosquito‑borne flavivirus West Nile virus (WNV), a medically relevant neurotropic pathogen causing out‑ breaks of meningitis and encephalitis worldwide. Results A systematic literature search and meta‑analysis pointed to a misbalance of glucose homeostasis in the cen‑ tral nervous system of WNV patients. Real‑time bioenergetic analyses confirmed upregulation of aerobic glycolysis and a reduction of mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation during viral replication in cultured cells. Transcriptom‑ ics analyses in neural tissues from experimentally infected mice unveiled a glycolytic shift including the upregula‑ tion of hexokinases 2 and 3 (Hk2 and Hk3) and pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase 4 (Pdk4). Treatment of infected mice with the Hk inhibitor, 2‑deoxy‑D‑glucose, or the Pdk4 inhibitor, dichloroacetate, alleviated WNV‑induced neuroinflammation. Conclusions These results highlight the importance of host energetic metabolism and specifically glycolysis in WNV infection in vivo. This study provides proof of concept for the druggability of the glycolytic pathway for the future development of therapies to combat WNV pathology.This study was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation AEI/10.13039/501100011033 under Grants PID2019‑105117RR‑C21 (to MAMA) and PID2019‑105117RR‑C22 (to MJPP), PID2020‑119195RJ‑I00 (to NJO), by Synergistic Projects Community of Madrid under grant NUTRISION‑CM/Y2020/ BIO‑6350 (to ARM), and by the European Commission—NextGenerationEU through CSIC’s Global Health Platform (PTI Salud Global). PMC was sup‑ ported by an FPI fellowship from AEI/10.13039/501100011033 under Grant PRE2020‑093374. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publicationPeer reviewe

Short communication: Goat colostrum quality: Litter size and lactation number effects

The quality of colostrum of Murciano-Granadina goats was studied to establish the transition period and the time when milk can be marketed. Forty-three dairy goats were used: 19 primiparous (15 single births; 4 multiple births) and 24 multiparous (10 single births; 14 multiple births). Samples were collected every 12 h during the first week postpartum. Physicochemical parameters and somatic cell count were determined. Analysis of variance with repeated measures was used to study the effect of different factors: postpartum time, litter size, lactation number, their interactions, and production level on colostrum. Postpartum time had a significant effect on all parameters studied, which decreased along the first week of lactation, whereas lactose, pH, and conductivity increased. Based on these results, colostrum secretion takes place until 36 h postpartum (hpp). In relation to other factors of variation studied, the lactation number influenced most colostrum components, whereas the litter size only affected the pH value, protein and lactose content. The production level influenced only the protein and dry matter contents, with an inverse relationship. Milk produced during the period between 36 and 96 hpp is considered transition milk, which should not be commercialized. Milk collected after 4 d postpartum (96 hpp) could be marketed, ensuring that its composition does not present a risk in the dairy industry.This work was part of the AGL-2009-11524 Project funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (Madrid, Spain). The authors are grateful to ZEU-Inmunotec (Zaragoza, Spain) for their support.Romero Rueda, T.; Beltrán Martínez, MC.; Rodríguez Garcia, M.; Marti-De Olives A.; Molina Pons, MP. (2013). Short communication: Goat colostrum quality: Litter size and lactation number effects. Journal of Dairy Science. 96(12):7526-7531. https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.2013-6900S75267531961

Charge separation relative to the reaction plane in Pb-Pb collisions at sNN=2.76\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}= 2.76 TeV

Measurements of charge dependent azimuthal correlations with the ALICE detector at the LHC are reported for Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 2.76$ TeV. Two- and three-particle charge-dependent azimuthal correlations in the pseudo-rapidity range $|\eta| < 0.8$ are presented as a function of the collision centrality, particle separation in pseudo-rapidity, and transverse momentum. A clear signal compatible with a charge-dependent separation relative to the reaction plane is observed, which shows little or no collision energy dependence when compared to measurements at RHIC energies. This provides a new insight for understanding the nature of the charge dependent azimuthal correlations observed at RHIC and LHC energies.Comment: 12 pages, 3 captioned figures, authors from page 2 to 6, published version, figures at http://aliceinfo.cern.ch/ArtSubmission/node/286

A note on comonotonicity and positivity of the control components of decoupled quadratic FBSDE

In this small note we are concerned with the solution of Forward-Backward Stochastic Differential Equations (FBSDE) with drivers that grow quadratically in the control component (quadratic growth FBSDE or qgFBSDE). The main theorem is a comparison result that allows comparing componentwise the signs of the control processes of two different qgFBSDE. As a byproduct one obtains conditions that allow establishing the positivity of the control process.Comment: accepted for publicatio

Autoantibodies against the immunodominant sCha epitope discriminate the risk of sudden death in chronic Chagas cardiomyopathy

In Chagas disease (ChD) caused by Trypanosoma cruzi, new biomarkers to predict chronic cardiac pathology are urgently needed. Previous studies in chagasic patients with mild symptomatology showed that antibodies against the immunodominant R3 epitope of sCha, a fragment of the human basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor like 5, correlated with cardiac pathology. To validate sCha as a biomarker and to understand the origin of anti-sCha antibodies, we conducted a multicenter study with several cohorts of chagasic patients with severe cardiac symptomatology. We found that levels of antibodies against sCha discriminated the high risk of sudden death, indicating they could be useful for ChD prognosis. We investigated the origin of the antibodies and performed an alanine scan of the R3 epitope. We identified a minimal epitope MRQLD, and a BLAST search retrieved several T. cruzi antigens. Five of the hits had known or putative functions, of which phosphonopyruvate decarboxylase showed the highest cross-reactivity with sCha, confirming the role of molecular mimicry in the development of anti-sCha antibodies. Altogether, we demonstrate that the development of antibodies against sCha, which originated by molecular mimicry with T. cruzi antigens, could discriminate electrocardiographic alterations associated with a high risk of sudden death.Ministerio de Economía y competitividad and Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (SAF2015-63868-R (MINECO/FEDER) to N.G., and SAF2016-75988-R (MINECO/FEDER) to M.F.); Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades-Agencia Estatal de Investigación and Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (PGC2018-096132-BI00 (MICINN/FEDER) to N.G.); Universidad Autónoma de Madrid-Banco de Santander Inter-University Cooperation Grant with Latin América (CEAL-AL/2015-12 to N.G.); Red de Investigación de Centros de Enfermedades Tropicales (RICET RD12/0018/0004 to M.F.); and Comunidad de Madrid (S-2010/BMD-2332 to M.F.). CBMSO institutional grants from Fundación Ramón Areces and Banco de Santande

Transverse sphericity of primary charged particles in minimum bias proton-proton collisions at s=0.9\sqrt{s}=0.9, 2.76 and 7 TeV

Measurements of the sphericity of primary charged particles in minimum bias proton--proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=0.9$, 2.76 and 7 TeV with the ALICE detector at the LHC are presented. The observable is linearized to be collinear safe and is measured in the plane perpendicular to the beam direction using primary charged tracks with $p_{\rm T}\geq0.5$ GeV/c in $|\eta|\leq0.8$. The mean sphericity as a function of the charged particle multiplicity at mid-rapidity ($N_{\rm ch}$) is reported for events with different $p_{\rm T}$ scales ("soft" and "hard") defined by the transverse momentum of the leading particle. In addition, the mean charged particle transverse momentum versus multiplicity is presented for the different event classes, and the sphericity distributions in bins of multiplicity are presented. The data are compared with calculations of standard Monte Carlo event generators. The transverse sphericity is found to grow with multiplicity at all collision energies, with a steeper rise at low $N_{\rm ch}$, whereas the event generators show the opposite tendency. The combined study of the sphericity and the mean $p_{\rm T}$ with multiplicity indicates that most of the tested event generators produce events with higher multiplicity by generating more back-to-back jets resulting in decreased sphericity (and isotropy). The PYTHIA6 generator with tune PERUGIA-2011 exhibits a noticeable improvement in describing the data, compared to the other tested generators.Comment: 21 pages, 9 captioned figures, 3 tables, authors from page 16, published version, figures from http://aliceinfo.cern.ch/ArtSubmission/node/308