314 research outputs found
Tendiendo puentes para la convivencia
El Foro Iberoamericano sobre Seguridad Ciudadana, Violencia
Social y Políticas Públicas, que se celebró en Madrid y Alcalá de
Henares, entre los días 19 y 23 de junio del presente año, concluyó
con la presentación de un documento de compromiso titulado
«Tendiendo puentes para la convivencia». Dicho documento puede
calificarse de mínimos, aunque en él se establecen una serie de
consensos básicos, los cuales nos invitan a reflexionar sobre una
realidad terriblemente compleja, la que afecta a la inseguridad
ciudadana y a los jóvenes que se integran en pandillas y maras y
cuyas causas e impactos, en términos europeos, se han investigado
de forma muy superficial. Asimismo, parece importante tener en
cuenta que cualquier movimiento juvenil no sólo cuenta con una
serie de condicionantes multicausales (sociales, económicos, culturales,
políticos, etc.), sino que además representa el fuerte deseo
de expresión generacional frente a la sociedad.The Latin American Forum on Civil Security, Social Violence
and Public Policies, which met in Madrid and Alcalá de Henares from
June 19 to 23, 2006, concluded with the presentation of an agreement
under the heading «Building bridges for coexistence». This
document, however, is only a starting point, tough it establishes a
basic consensus that leads to a reflection on a very complex reality
that bears on civil security and on the youths that join juvenile
gangs and «maras». The causes and effects of his have so far been investigated
in Europe only superficially. In relation to this, it must
be taken into account that underlying any youth movement there
is a series of conditions (social, economic, cultural, political, among
others), and the desire to express a generation's opposition to society
Bioadsorció de metalls pesants amb pell de taronja
La creixent preocupació per la contaminació ambiental, ha donat com a resultat un augment en la investigació i el desenvolupament de tecnologies sostenibles, així com una normativitat cada vegada més estricta. Com a resultat, la introducció de tecnologies netes en els processos industrials ha aconseguit disminuir les descàrregues de substàncies contaminants al medi ambient. Dins dels efluents líquids industrials, un dels contaminants que afecten més al medi ambient és el dels metalls pesants, els quals es consideren com un dels grups més perillosos, fins i tot en molt petites quantitats. La bioadsorció de metalls pesants a partir de diferents tipus de biomassa es presenta com una nova alternativa rendible per a la descontaminació d'efluents que contenen metalls pesants, on els materials de rebuig de la industria alimentaria han demostrat la seva capacitat per actuar com a bioadsorbents. L'objectiu d'aquest treball va ser avaluar la capacitat de bioadsorció de pells de taronges tractades per a l'eliminació de coure (II) en medi aquós, analitzant l'impacte de les variables fisicoquímiques de pH, mida de partícula, concentració d'adsorbat i de bioadsorbent i temps de contacte. En el capítol 7 s'explica el tractament complet que reben les pells de taronja per tal d'arribar a actuar com a material bioadsorbent. Aquest tractament inclou processos de rentatge, assecatge, mòlta, tamisatge, tractament amb ultrasons, destil·lació, saponificació i reticulació de les pells de taronja. En el capítol 8 es comprova que les condicions òptimes de bioadsorció es donen en un interval de pH entre 4,5 i 4,8, amb una mida de partícula inferior a 250μm, assolint l'equilibri en 120 minuts. La màxima capacitat de bioadsorció de coure (II) obtinguda amb aquestes condicions ha estat de 43,66mg/g de pell de taronja en un dissolució de concentració 1000ppm, representant el 98% del coure en dissolució. També s'ha comprovat la capacitat de bioadsorció de les pells de taronja tractades a baixes concentracions de Cu (II)
Tendiendo puentes para la convivencia
El Foro Iberoamericano sobre Seguridad Ciudadana, Violencia
Social y Políticas Públicas, que se celebró en Madrid y Alcalá de
Henares, entre los días 19 y 23 de junio del presente año, concluyó
con la presentación de un documento de compromiso titulado
«Tendiendo puentes para la convivencia». Dicho documento puede
calificarse de mínimos, aunque en él se establecen una serie de
consensos básicos, los cuales nos invitan a reflexionar sobre una
realidad terriblemente compleja, la que afecta a la inseguridad
ciudadana y a los jóvenes que se integran en pandillas y maras y
cuyas causas e impactos, en términos europeos, se han investigado
de forma muy superficial. Asimismo, parece importante tener en
cuenta que cualquier movimiento juvenil no sólo cuenta con una
serie de condicionantes multicausales (sociales, económicos, culturales,
políticos, etc.), sino que además representa el fuerte deseo
de expresión generacional frente a la sociedad.The Latin American Forum on Civil Security, Social Violence
and Public Policies, which met in Madrid and Alcalá de Henares from
June 19 to 23, 2006, concluded with the presentation of an agreement
under the heading «Building bridges for coexistence». This
document, however, is only a starting point, tough it establishes a
basic consensus that leads to a reflection on a very complex reality
that bears on civil security and on the youths that join juvenile
gangs and «maras». The causes and effects of his have so far been investigated
in Europe only superficially. In relation to this, it must
be taken into account that underlying any youth movement there
is a series of conditions (social, economic, cultural, political, among
others), and the desire to express a generation's opposition to society
Development of new therapeutic strategies for the treatment of experimental optic neuritis
La neuritis óptica (NO), una enfermedad inflamatoria y desmielinizante del nervio óptico que puede provocar ceguera irreversible, es una de las neuropatías más frecuentes en la práctica oftalmológica. Al presente, no se dispone de estrategias terapéuticas suficientemente eficaces para el tratamiento de esta enfermedad. En este trabajo de tesis, desarrollamos un nuevo modelo de NO experimental (NOE) primaria a través de la microinyección de lipopolisacárido bacteriano (LPS) en el nervio óptico, que reproduce características centrales de esta enfermedad. Las consecuencias funcionales e histológicas de la NOE inducida por LPS podrían dividirse en una fase temprana caracterizada por alteraciones funcionales, reactividad de microglía/macrófagos y transporte anterógrado alterado; seguida de una fase tardía en la que se evidenció gliosis, desmielinización, pérdida de axones y de células ganglionares retinianas. Utilizando este modelo, evaluamos el potencial terapéutico de la melatonina y de un paradigma no invasivo, la exposición a ambiente enriquecido (AE) en el tratamiento de la NOE. Por primera vez, los resultados obtenidos demuestran que ambas estrategias son capaces de prevenir y reducir la progresión del daño funcional e histológico inducido por NOE. Finalmente, se analizó la contribución de la pérdida de integridad de la barrera hemato-encefálica y se demostró que el reclutamiento de monocitos desempeña un rol clave en etapas tempranas de daño de la vía visual inducida por NOE. En suma, estos resultados aportan información novedosa para la comprensión de los mecanismos involucrados en el daño inducido por NO y sugieren que tanto la melatonina, como la exposición a AE u otras estrategias destinadas a reducir el reclutamiento de monocitos en el nervio óptico podrían constituir nuevas estrategias terapéuticas para mejorar la función visual y consecuentemente la calidad de vida de pacientes con NO.Optic neuritis (ON), an inflammatory and demyelinating disease of the optic nerve that can cause irreversible blindness, is one of the most frequent neuropathies in ophthalmological practice. At present, there are no therapeutic strategies sufficiently effective for the treatment of this disease. In this thesis, we developed a new model of primary experimental ON (EON) through the microinjection of bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in the optic nerve, which reproduces central features of this disease. The functional and histological consequences of EON induced by LPS could be divided into an early phase, characterized by functional alterations, reactivity of microglia/macrophages and altered anterograde transport; followed by a late phase in which gliosis, demyelination, axons and retinal ganglion cells loss were evidenced. Using this model, we evaluated the therapeutic potential of melatonin and a non-invasive paradigm, the exposure to enriched environment (EE) in the treatment of EON. For the first time, the results obtained show that both strategies are able to prevent and reduce the progression of functional and histological damage induced by EON. Finally, the contribution of the blood-brain barrier disruption was analyzed and it was demonstrated that the recruitment of monocytes plays a key role in early stages of the visual pathway damage induced by EON. In summary, these results provide novel information for the understanding of the mechanisms involved in ON-induced damage and suggest that both melatonin, as well as exposure to AE or other strategies aimed at reducing the recruitment of monocytes in the optic nerve could be new therapeutic strategies to improve visual function and consequently the quality of life of patients with NO.Fil: Aranda, Marcos Luis. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina
BioMeT and algorithm challenges: A proposed digital standardized evaluation framework
Technology is advancing at an extraordinary rate. Continuous flows of novel data are being generated with the potential to revolutionize how we better identify, treat, manage, and prevent disease across therapeutic areas. However, lack of security of confidence in digital health technologies is hampering adoption, particularly for biometric monitoring technologies (BioMeTs) where frontline healthcare professionals are struggling to determine which BioMeTs are fit-for-purpose and in which context. Here, we discuss the challenges to adoption and offer pragmatic guidance regarding BioMeTs, cumulating in a proposed framework to advance their development and deployment in healthcare, health research, and health promotion. Furthermore, the framework proposes a process to establish an audit trail of BioMeTs (hardware and algorithms), to instill trust amongst multidisciplinary users
Presente y futuro del conocimiento sobre el género Eumerus Meigen, 1822 (Diptera: Syrphidae) en la Península Ibérica
The genus Eumerus Meigen, 1822 (Diptera: Syrphidae) is one of the most diverse hoverfly genera in the west Palaearctic Region with 140 confirmed species and 80 occurring in the European continent. It is also highly diverse in the Iberian Peninsula plus the Balearic and Canary Islands with 43 species. Recent works on this genus have increased the number of species endemic to the Iberian Peninsula up to five. Nowadays, taxonomy, distribution and biology of the Iberian Eumerus taxonomy are still far to be fully understood. The aim of this work is to present an updated overview of the Eumerus taxonomy and diversity in the Iberian area, addressing main topics pending of resolution in the genus.El género Eumerus Meigen, 1822 (Diptera: Syrphidae) es uno de los géneros de sírfidos más diversos en la Región Paleártica con 140 especies confirmadas y 80 presentes en el continente Europeo. Es también muy diverso en la Península Ibérica e Islas Baleares y Canarias con 43 especies. Recientes publicaciones sobre este género han aumentado a cinco el número de especies endémicas para la Península Ibérica. En la actualidad, la taxonomía, distribución y biología de los Eumerus ibéricos están lejos de ser comprendidas completamente. El objetivo de este trabajo es presentar una visión actualizada de la taxonomía y diversidad de Eumerus en el área Ibérica, enfocando los principales temas pendientes de ser resueltos en este género.This research is part of Pablo Aguado-Aranda’s PhD thesis (Ref. PRE2019-087508) and is funded by the ‘Fauna Ibérica’ project (Ref. PGC2018-095851-A-C65), ‘Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación’, Spain; Antonio Ricarte’s position at the University of Alicante (Ref. UATALENTO17-08) is funded by the ‘Vicerrectorado de Investigación y Transferencia del Conocimiento’
Ratchet universality in the bidirectional escape from a symmetric potential well
The present work discusses symmetry-breaking-induced bidirectional escape from a symmetric metastable potential well by the application of zero-average periodic forces in the presence of dissipation. We characterized the interplay between heteroclinic instabilities leading to chaotic escape and breaking of a generalized parity symmetry leading to directed ratchet escape to an attractor either at infinity or at -infinity. Optimal enhancement of directed ratchet escape is found to occur when the wave form of the zero-average periodic force acting on the damped driven oscillator matches as closely as possible to a universal wave form, as predicted by the theory of ratchet universality. Specifically, the optimal approximation to the universal force triggers the almost complete destruction of the nonescaping basin for driving amplitudes which are systematically lower than those corresponding to a symmetric periodic force having the same period. We expect that this work could be potentially useful in the control of elementary dynamic processes characterized by multidirectional escape from a potential well, such as forced chaotic scattering and laser-induced dissociation of molecular systems, among others
New records and molecular data of Merodon constans (Rossi, 1794) and Rhingia borealis Ringdahl, 1928 (Diptera: Syrphidae) from the Iberian Peninsula
This research was funded by the ‘Fauna Ibérica’ project (PGC2018-095851-A-C65) of the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation, and Universities and the ‘FPI’ national fellowship program (Ref. PRE2019-087508, Pablo Aguado-Aranda’ fellowship). Antonio Ricarte’s position (Ref. UATALENTO17-08) at the University of Alicante is funded by the “Vicerrectorado de Investigación y Transferencia del Conocimiento”
Adaptation and validation of the social skills scale for intercultural primary school pupils
In recent decades, large migratory movements have been taking place, which has turned Spain into a culturally diverse country. For this reason, the present research focuses on social skills, which are considered of utmost importance in different educational contexts. To this end, the aim was to adapt and validate a scale to diagnose social skills in young people aged 6 to 12 years (M = 9.65 years; SD = 1.395). Of these, 460 (60.4%) were boys and 301 (39.60%) girls. For this purpose, a methodology is followed that involves the judgement of experts in the field, followed by an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and then a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The sample chosen for the study is made up of 1564 young people, Primary School students from different Andalusian localities that constitute border cities in the south of Spain, and which have a great cultural, ethnic and religious diversity that is reflected in their classrooms. The items of the scale were obtained from relevant questionnaires on the subject under study, initially containing 33 items and 6 underlying constructs. After validation of the AFE (n = 761), the structure is verified and the model is corroborated by CFA (n = 803) with structural equations (RMSEA = 0.04; CFI = 0.77; TLI = 0.73). Finally, the reliability and internal consistency of the instrument is examined, obtaining values above 0.6 for all dimensions. As a result, a new scale composed of 33 items and 5 dimensions is obtained, with psychometric properties that give it validity and reliability. In conclusion, we present a useful resource for teachers that allows them to diagnose the social skills of Primary School students in schools characterised by their great cultural diversity and among the peer group
An overlooked case for a century: taxonomy and systematics of a new Iberian species of Eumerus Meigen, 1822 (Diptera, Syrphidae)
The hoverfly genus Eumerus Meigen, 1822 (Eristalinae: Merodontini) comprises 250+ described species, of which 36 are reported from the Iberian Peninsula. The high species diversity linked to the low degree of morphological differentiation between some species, which is even lower in females, leads to a high taxonomic complexity in this genus. The aim of this work is to confirm the morphological and molecular validity of an undescribed species of Eumerus, which is widespread in the Iberian Peninsula. The new species is described and compared with similar species. The genitalia of the new species are similar to those of Eumerus clavatus Becker, 1923 and Eumerus uncipes Rondani, 1850, but also share some features with Eumerus nudus Loew, 1848. The COI-5’ barcode is provided for the new taxon and analysed together with those of other named Eumerus sequences/species publicly available online. In the light of the morphology and barcoding data, the systematic position of the new species is discussed.This research is part of Pablo Aguado-Aranda’s PhD thesis, which is devoted to the revision of the Iberian Eumerus, and is funded by the ‘Fauna Ibérica’ project (PGC2018-095851-A-C65) and the ‘Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación’ fellowship program (Ref. PRE2019-087508). Antonio Ricarte’s position at the UA is funded by the ‘Vicerrectorado de Investigación y Transferencia de Conocimiento’ (Ref. UATALENTO17-18)
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