La Religión de los Himba. Kaokoland (Namibia).

Sin resume

Petrología metamórfica y geocronología de la unidad culminante del complejo de Órdenes en la región de Carballo (Galicia, NW del Macizo Ibérico)

En esta Tesis Doctoral se presenta el resultado de un estudio integrado de petrología metamórfica y geocronología(método U-Pb) realizado en el sector occidental de la unidad culminante del Complejo de Ordenes. Este complejo es la más extensa de las estructuras alóctonas que afloran en el NW del Macizo Ibérico, caracterizadas por la presencia de varias láminas de origen oceánico que marcan una de las principales suturas del Orógeno Varisco Europeo. La datación de los principales tipos de rocas ígneas y de fábricas metamórficas, en conjunto con el estudio de su evolución P-T, ha permitido el descubrimiento de un ciclo orogénico pre-varisco en la unidad culminante, manifestándose por tanto como un terreno poliorogénico. Las dataciones U-Pb de circones del gabro de Monte Castelo(499+-2Ma) y de un granitoide (500+-2 Ma) indican la existencia de un evento magmático bimodal próximo al límite Cámbrico-Ordovicico. Las edades de monacitas obtenidas en una granulita metapelítica y en dos muestras de paragneises de la zona de la sillimanita de la Serie de Ordenes(493-498 Ma) indican que el metamorfismo regional fue prácticamente sincrónico con el magmatismo. También se analizaron rutilos de la misma muestra de granulitas, que proporcionan una edad entre 380 y 390 Ma que se interpreta como el momento de la incorporación de la unidad culminante a la cuña orogénica varisca. El cálculo de condiciones P-T mediante termobarometria convencional y multiequilibrio(método TWQ) muestra una trayectoria caracterizada por fuerte presurización a altas temperaturas que alcanza unos 10 kbar y más de 800 º C. La trayectoria P-T deducida para las granulitas indica un engrosamiento cortical considerable que se produce a altas temperaturas. De acuerdo con los modelos térmicos existentes, este tipo de trayectoria sólo es competible con una región calentada por un intenso magmatismo de forma previa y/o durante un engrosamiento cortical, lo que resulta característico de arcos magmáticos. Como consecuencia de todo lo anterior,la unidad culminante se considera originada en un arco magmático, probablemente en un arco de islas, desarrollado durante el Ordovícico Inferior. Fragmentos de este arco fueron posteriormente incorporados al margen de Gondwana durante la colisión varisca, produciéndose entonces la superposición de un metamorfismo en facies de los esquistos verdes al metamorfismo previo de mayor grado

The Role of Scanning Electron Microscopy in Periodontal Research

During recent years a great amount of research has led to a better understanding of the etiology, pathogenesis and pattern of progression of periodontal diseases. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) has contributed to this improvement, mainly with respect to histology of periodontal tissues, the description of the morphology and distribution of bacteria on the exposed root surface, analysis of the host-parasite interactions on the gingival pocket wall, and morphological evaluation of root treatment. This review deals with all these topics. Unusual types of SEM research are also described and discussed. Uncommon sample preparation techniques for SEM in periodontal research are described. SEM in periodontal research should be of great application in the near future. Cathodoluminescence, backscattered emission and immunolabelling techniques will be formidable tools in this field of dentistry

Preconditioning and Cellular Engineering to Increase the Survival of Transplanted Neural Stem Cells for Motor Neuron Disease Therapy

Despite the extensive research effort that has been made in the field, motor neuron diseases, namely, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and spinal muscular atrophies, still represent an overwhelming cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Exogenous neural stem cell-based transplantation approaches have been investigated as multifaceted strategies to both protect and repair upper and lower motor neurons from degeneration and inflammation. Transplanted neural stem cells (NSCs) exert their beneficial effects not only through the replacement of damaged cells but also via bystander immunomodulatory and neurotrophic actions. Notwithstanding these promising findings, the clinical translatability of such techniques is jeopardized by the limited engraftment success and survival of transplanted cells within the hostile disease microenvironment. To overcome this obstacle, different methods to enhance graft survival, stability, and therapeutic potential have been developed, including environmental stress preconditioning, biopolymers scaffolds, and genetic engineering. In this review, we discuss current engineering techniques aimed at the exploitation of the migratory, proliferative, and secretive capacity of NSCs and their relevance for the therapeutic arsenal against motor neuron disorders and other neurological disorders

Use of Preputial Skin as Cutaneous Graft after Nevus Excision

We report a four-year-old boy with a nevus covering all the plantar side of his second finger on the left foot. He was also affected by congenital phimosis. Surgical excision of the nevus was indicated, but the skin defect would have been too large to be directly closed. The foreskin was taken as a full-thickness skin graft to cover the cutaneous defect of the finger. The graft intake was favourable and provided a functional repair with good aesthetic characteristic

Precambrian isotopic sources of the Anti-Atlas, Morocco

The isotopic data stored in detrital and magmatic zircons are crucial for assessing magma sources, terrane correlation, paleogeography and plate reconstructions. In many cases the comparison of the zircon age and isotope signature of a terrane of unknown provenance with the signature of possible sources, generally old cratonic areas, can resolve questions of origin and paleoposition. Obviously, a precise knowledge of the zircon characteristics of these old areas is essential for reliable comparisons. One of the major sources of sediments of the peri-Gondwanan terranes and of the European Variscan Belt is the West African craton. The northern boundary of this craton is the Pan- African Anti-Atlas belt, which is therefore an ideal place to better constrain the zircon isotopic features of sediments sourced from it. With that aim, we obtained LA-ICM-MS U-Pb and Hf isotopic data of more than 600 zircons separated from six samples of siliciclastic sedimentary rocks from the main Neoproterozoic stratigraphic units of the Anti-Atlas belt, from the Sirwa and Zenaga inliers. The data suggest that the north part of the West African craton formed during three cycles of juvenile crust formation, with variable amount of reworking of older crust. The youngest group of zircons, with a main population clustering around 610 Ma, has a predominantly juvenile character and evidence of moderate mixing with Paleoproterozoic crust, suggesting that the igneous and metamorphic rocks in which the zircons originally crystallized were formed in an ensialic magmatic arc environment. A group of zircons with ages in the range 1.79–2.3 Ga corresponds to the major crust forming event in the West African craton: the Eburnian- Birimian orogeny. The isotopic data indicate that the provenance area should represent a crustal domain that separated from a mantle reservoir at ∼2050–2300 Ma, and further evolved with a time-integrated 176Lu/177Hf of ∼0.013, characteristic of continental crust. The evolution of the Eburnian orogeny is apparently dominated by new crust formation in a magmatic arc environment. The Lower Paleoproterozoic and Neoarchean evolution (2.3–2.75 Ga) involves a group of detrital zircon ages that has not been identified up to now in the igneous or metamorphic rocks of the north West African craton basement. Their Hf isotopic signature points to reworking of juvenile crust mixed with moderate amounts of Archean crust. The significance of these ages is uncertain: they could represent a tectonothermal event not discovered yet in the Reguibat Shield or the zircons can be far-travelled from an unknown source.Peer Reviewe