Patrones de producción y consumo responsable: La carrera por el logro de los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible (ODS) en mercados emergentes

Since the end of the 20th century, the role of private multinational enterprises (MNEs) has been recognized as critical in implementing increased sustainable production and consumption atterns. Particularly after the creation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Agenda 2030, this role has increased. In this sense, this paper aims to analyze the measures and actions taken by companies in their contribution to the achievement of the SDG 12. Through the identification of more than 52 metrics in sustainability reports of 854 firms, findings suggest that direct greenhouse gas emissions and indirect greenhouse gas emissions are the most often reported corporate metrics to measure their impact on specific SDGs. This reveals the importance of sustainability actions in emerging market firms as a mechanism to gain legitimacy when operating in foreign markets and as an opportunity to create more sustainable production models.Desde finales del siglo XX, se ha reconocido que el papel de las empresas multinacionales (EMN) privadas es fundamental en el proceso de implementación de patrones de producción y consumo más sostenibles. Especialmente, tras la creación de los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible (ODS) y la Agenda 2030, este papel ha aumentado. En este sentido, este trabajo tiene como objetivo analizar las medidas y acciones tomadas por las empresas en su contribución al logro del ODS 12. Mediante la identificación de más de 52 métricas en los informes de sostenibilidad de 854 empresas, los hallazgos sugieren que las emisiones directas de gases de efecto invernadero y las emisiones indirectas de gases de efecto invernadero son las métricas corporativas con más información para medir su impacto en ODS específicos. Esto revela la importancia de las acciones de sostenibilidad en las empresas de mercados emergentes como mecanismo para ganar legitimidad al operar en mercados externos y como oportunidad para la creación de modelos de producción más sostenibles

Condiciones hidrofísicas de suelos con alta saturación de magnesio en el Valle del Cauca, Colombia

En las planicies del Valle del Cauca existen 116.872 ha con dominio del ion Mg+2 en el complejo de cambio, especialmente asociadas con vertisoles, lo que ocasiona marcado efecto sobre las propiedades físicas del suelo y el crecimiento de las plantas. Se seleccionó un grupo de suelos (13) entre los municipios de Palmira y La Victoria en el departamento del Valle del Cauca, sobre dos posiciones de paisaje (planicie fluvio-lacustre y planicie aluvial de piedemonte) definidas mediante criterios de geomorfología y unidades taxonómicas. El reconocimiento y la caracterización de suelos con alta saturación de magnesio permitió determinar que son arcillosos (> 30%), muy plásticos y con altos COEL (> 0.09), inestables y con estructura débil o sin estructura (masivos), con alta densidad aparente en seco (> 1.7 Mg.m-3) y baja porosidad total (< 35%), presentan cambios importantes de volumen (< 28%) y desarrollo de grietas con la pérdida de humedad. Tienen alta capacidad de retención de humedad, limitada disponibilidad de agua para las plantas, baja tasa de infiltración y conductividad hidráulica clasificada como lenta. Estas propiedades son más acentuadas en la posición fluvio lacustre del Valle del Cauca

Pre-operative training induces changes in the histomorphometry and muscle function of the pelvic floor in patients with indication of radical prostatectomy

Objetivo: Evaluar el efecto del entrenamiento preoperatorio del suelo pélvico (EPSP) en la histomorfometría, función muscular, continencia urinaria y calidad de vida de pacientes con indicación de prostatectomía radical (PR). Material y métodos: Estudio prospectivo de intervención en 16 pacientes con indicación de PR aleatorizados en 2 grupos. Grupo control: educación prequirúrgica de rutina (medidas higiénicodietéticas). Grupo de intervención: EPSP intensivo, 3 veces al día durante 4 semanas, 30 días previo a la PR. Antes y después de la intervención se evaluó la función del músculo esfínter externo de la uretra, presión de la contracción de los elevadores del ano, continencia urinaria y calidad de vida relacionada con la salud (CVRS). Al final de la fase de intervención y el día de la cirugía se tomaron muestras de tejido muscular residual del músculo esfínter externo de la uretra para análisis histomorfométrico. Resultados: Después de la intervención los participantes que realizaron EPSP presentaron un incremento en el área transversal de las fibras musculares del músculo esfínter externo de la uretra (1,313 ±1,075 m2 vs. 1,056 ±844 m2, p = 0,03) y mayor presión de la contracción de los elevadores del ano (F = 9,188; p = 0,010). Posterior a la retirada del catéter el 62% de los pacientes en el grupo experimental y el 37% del grupo control no presentaron incontinencia. El 75% de pacientes del grupo experimental después del entrenamiento no requirió el uso de protectores, con respecto al 25% del grupo control (p = NS). No se encontraron cambios en la CVRS por grupos en ninguno de los dominios estudiados. Conclusiones: El EPSP prequirúrgico en pacientes con indicación de PR induce cambios en la histología y función de los músculos del suelo pélvico, sin modificaciones en las funciones urogenitales y en la CVRS. Estos resultados proporcionan nuevas evidencias del beneficio del FMPP en la prevención de las complicaciones asociadas a la PRObjective: To evaluate the efficacy of preoperative pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT) on histomorphometry, muscle function, urinary continence and quality of life of patients undergoing radical prostatectomy (RP). Material and methods: A prospective intervention clinical study was designed in 16 patients with indication of RP who were randomized into two groups. The Control Group received routine pre-surgical education (hygienic-dietary measures). The intervention group received a training session with supervised PFMT, three times a day, for four weeks, 30 days before the PR. Muscle function of the external urethral sphincter, contraction pressure of the levator ani, urinary continence and quality of life related to health (HRQoL) were evaluated before and after the intervention. At the end of the intervention and day of the surgery, samples of residual muscle tissue were obtained from the external sphincter muscle of the urethra for histomorphometric analysis. Results: After the intervention, those participants who carried out PFMT showed an increase in the cross-sectional area of the muscle fibers of the external urethral sphincter (1.313 ± 1.075 m2 vs. 1.056 ± 844 m2, p = 0.03) and higher pressure contraction of the levator ani (F = 9.188; p = 0.010). After catheter removal, 62% of patients in the experimental group and 37% in the control group showed no incontinence. After removal of the catheter, 75% of the experimental group did not require any pad compared to 25% in the control group (p = NS). There were no significant differences between the two groups in any of the HRQoL domains studied. Conclusions: Pre-surgical PFMT in patients with RP indication induces changes in the histology and function of the pelvic floor muscles, without changes in urogenital function and HRQoL. These results provide new evidence regarding the benefit of PFMT in preventing RP associated complication

Influence of time at which oxytocin is administered during labor on uterine activity and perinatal death in pigs

Oxytocin is extensively used to induce or augment uterine contractions, especially to facilitate the third stage of labor in humans. Administration of oxytocin to parturient sows reduces duration of labor whereas mortality of the offspring may remain unchanged. This study aimed to evaluate whether time of administration of oxytocin during parturition may alter the uterine response and fetal outcomes. Two hundred parturient sows were randomly assigned to intramuscularly receive either saline solution (control group) or oxytocin 0.083 IU/kg immediately after the delivery of the 1st, 4th or 8th piglet (groups O-1, 0-4 and 0-8, respectively). Uterine effects and fetal outcomes were registered in all groups. The duration of labor was 20-40 min shorter (P < 0.0001) and time interval between babies was reduced by 3-5 min (P < 0.0001) in the three groups receiving oxytocin. The duration and intensity of contractions, meconium-stained piglets and intrapartum deaths decreased as time at which oxytocin administered during labor was increased. In group 0-8, we observed approximately 70% less meconium-stained piglets and intrapartum deaths than in the control group. In conclusion, oxytocin administered at early phases of parturition to sows may increase duration and intensity of uterine contractions as well as adverse fetal outcome

Lys48 ubiquitination during the intraerythrocytic cycle of the rodent malaria parasite, Plasmodium chabaudi.

Ubiquitination tags proteins for different functions within the cell. One of the most abundant and studied ubiquitin modification is the Lys48 polyubiquitin chain that modifies proteins for their destruction by proteasome. In Plasmodium is proposed that post-translational regulation is fundamental for parasite development during its complex life-cycle; thus, the objective of this work was to analyze the ubiquitination during Plasmodium chabaudi intraerythrocytic stages. Ubiquitinated proteins were detected during intraerythrocytic stages of Plasmodium chabaudi by immunofluorescent microscopy, bidimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) combined with immunoblotting and mass spectrometry. All the studied stages presented protein ubiquitination and Lys48 polyubiquitination with more abundance during the schizont stage. Three ubiquitinated proteins were identified for rings, five for trophozoites and twenty for schizonts. Only proteins detected with a specific anti- Lys48 polyubiquitin antibody were selected for Mass Spectrometry analysis and two of these identified proteins were selected in order to detect the specific amino acid residues where ubiquitin is placed. Ubiquitinated proteins during the ring and trophozoite stages were related with the invasion process and in schizont proteins were related with nucleic acid metabolism, glycolysis and protein biosynthesis. Most of the ubiquitin detection was during the schizont stage and the Lys48 polyubiquitination during this stage was related to proteins that are expected to be abundant during the trophozoite stage. The evidence that these Lys48 polyubiquitinated proteins are tagged for destruction by the proteasome complex suggests that this type of post-translational modification is important in the regulation of protein abundance during the life-cycle and may also contribute to the parasite cell-cycle progression

Figure 3 from: Urbano-Bonilla A, Ballen GA, Herrera-R GA, Zamudio J, Herrera-Collazos EE, DoNascimiento C, Prada-Pedreros S, Maldonado-Ocampo JA (2018) Fishes of the Cusiana River (Meta River basin, Colombia), with a key to its species. ZooKeys 733: 65-97. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.733.20159

This study estimates whether the monetary policy rules of Bank of Russia have changed recently. Russia has moved towards inflation targeting over the past years, which is reflected in our empirical estimations. We start by estimating various monetary policy rules for Russia, concluding that a variant of the Taylor rule depicts Bank of Russia’s monetary policy over the past decade well. Moreover, there have been two clear breaks in the coefficients of the estimated monetary policy rule, possibly signifying a shift towards traditional inflation targeting and also the current recent economic turbulence

Los péptidos amino terminales de la proteína Plasmodium falciparum EBA-181 / JESEBL se unen específicamente a los eritrocitos e inhiben la invasión in vitro de merozoitos

"Several EBA-175 paralogues (EBA-140, EBA-165, EBA-175, EBA-181, and EBL-1) have been described among the Plasmodium falciparum malaria parasite proteins, which are important in the red blood cell (RBC) invasion process. EBA-181/JESEBL is a 181 kDa protein expressed in the late schizont stage and located in the micronemes; it belongs to the Plasmodium Duffy binding-like family and is able to interact with the erythrocyte surface. Here, we describe the synthesis of 78, 20-mer synthetic peptides derived from the reported EBA-181/JESEBL sequence and their ability to bind RBCs in receptor–ligand assays. Five peptides (numbered 30030, 30031, 30045, 30051, and 30060) displayed high specific binding to erythrocytes; their equilibrium binding parameters were then determined. These peptides interacted with 53 and 33 kDa receptor proteins on the erythrocyte surface, this binding being altered when RBCs were pretreated with enzymes. They were able to inhibit P. falciparum merozoite invasion of RBCs when tested in in vitro assays. According to these results, these five EBA-181/JESEBL high specific erythrocyte binding peptides, as well as the entire protein, were seen to be involved in the molecular machinery used by the parasite for invading RBCs. They are thus suggested as potential candidates in designing a multi-sub-unit vaccine able to combat the P. falciparum malaria parasite.

Synthesis, In Silico, and Biological Evaluation of a Borinic Tryptophan-Derivative That Induces Melatonin-like Amelioration of Cognitive Deficit in Male Rat

Preclinical and clinical evidence supports melatonin and its analogues as potential treatment for diseases involving cognitive deficit such as Alzheimer&rsquo;s disease. In this work, we evaluated by in silico studies a set of boron-containing melatonin analogues on MT1 and MT2 receptors. Then, we synthesized a compound (borolatonin) identified as potent agonist. After chemical characterization, its evaluation in a rat model with cognitive deficit showed that it induced ameliorative effects such as those induced by equimolar administration of melatonin in behavioral tests and in neuronal immunohistochemistry assays. Our results suggest the observed effects are by means of action on the melatonin system. Further studies are required to clarify the mechanism(s) of action, as the beneficial effects on disturbed memory by gonadectomy in male rats are attractive