Comparativa entre dos sistemas educativos: Cuba vs España

Setzenes Jornades de Foment de la Investigació (Any 2011)Este trabajo tiene por objeto realizar un análisis comparativo entre el sistema educativo español y el cubano, resaltando cuáles son sus principales semejanzas y diferencias, así como sus diferentes ventajas e inconvenientes. Como principal punto en común, se destaca el carácter gratuito de la educación en los dos sistemas. Sin embargo, en España esta situación es relativa, ya que hay costes complementarios no incluidos en dicha subvención. Dichos sistemas están supeditados a las políticas de los partidos gobernantes. No obstante, en Cuba, debido al régimen existente, se lleva a cabo un control absoluto por parte del Gobierno, de manera que el profesorado y el alumnado no tienen ninguna participación en la gestión educativa. Como principales diferencias hay que mencionar el número de alumnos por aula, que es bastante menor en Cuba que en España. Por otra parte, en Cuba, la mayoría del alumnado finaliza los estudios universitarios, lo que les asegura un puesto de trabajo, aunque éste no se corresponda con los estudios realizados. Por su parte, en España, hay escuelas privadas, realidad que no se dan en el sistema cubano. Esto hace que en España la creatividad y la innovación profesional sean posibles, mientras que en Cuba es algo inviable. Dicha situación genera descontento y desmotivación en el futuro trabajador, ya que si éste quiere desarrollar sus inquietudes, ha de salir del país. Esta imposibilidad laboral supone una desventaja con respecto a España. Como conclusión, se afirma que ambos sistemas poseen deficiencias a mejorar. Sin embargo, como puntos favorables en Cuba destaca el alto porcentaje de población con estudios universitarios, mientras que en España hay una mayor libertad política, que permite el mayor desarrollo profesional tras la etapa educativa

Evaluation of the rapid RIDAQUICK Campylobacter® test in a general hospital

The study objective was to evaluate the effectiveness of the new rapid immunochromatographic test RIDAQUICK Campylobacter® (r-biopharm AG, Darmstadt, Germany) for the qualitative detection of Campylobacter antigens in pathologic feces from primary and specialist care patients. Three hundred feces samples were studied from patients with diarrhea, 50.6% from adults and 49.4% from children, which were received by our microbiology laboratory for coproculture. Campylobacter culture results, with or without PCR data, served as reference values for the comparative evaluation of RIDAQUICK Campylobacter® findings. Campylobacter was detected in 12.3% of samples. The diagnostic accuracy values of the RidaQuick Campylobacter® versus culture were: sensitivity of 87%, specificity of 97%, and positive and negative predictive values of 77% and 98%, respectively. RIDAQUICK Campylobacter® is a rapid test for the diagnosis of enteritis due to Campylobacter and could be an option for the clinical diagnosis of one of the main causes of bacterial enteritis in resource-limited settings

Optical absorption spectra of metal oxides from time-dependent density functional theory and many-body perturbation theory based on optimally-tuned hybrid functionals

Using both time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) and the ``single-shot" $GW$ plus Bethe-Salpeter equation ($GW$-BSE) approach, we compute optical band gaps and optical absorption spectra from first principles for eight common binary and ternary closed-shell metal oxides (MgO, Al$_2$O$_3$, CaO, TiO$_2$, Cu$_2$O, ZnO, BaSnO$_3$, and BiVO$_4$), based on the non-empirical Wannier-localized optimally-tuned screened range-separated hybrid functional. Overall, we find excellent agreement between our TDDFT and $GW$-BSE results and experiment, with a mean absolute error less than 0.4 eV, including for Cu$_2$O and ZnO, traditionally considered to be challenging for both methods

Protein-ligand complex for structure-based design: impact on the affinity and antitumor activity of new tubulin ligands

Resumen del trabajo presentado en el XVIII Congreso de la Sociedad Española de Química Terapéutica, celebrado en Salamanca (España), del 23 al 26 de enero de 2018Microtubules, made of ¿ß¿tubulin heterodimers, are the key components of the cytoskeleton and play a crucial role in many cellular processes, such as cell motility, morphogenesis and mitosis.[1] Interference with microtubule dynamics induces cell cycle arrest during mitosis and triggers cell death. Compounds that interact with tubulin, especially those binding at the colchicine domain, have been deeply investigated as anticancer drugs due to their dual mechanism of action as antimitotics and as vascular disrupting agents.[2,3] Our research group has recently described a new family of colchicine¿domain binders, based on a cyclohexanedione skeleton, with potent antiproliferative activity against tumor and endothelial cells.[4] Moreover, to gain insight into the binding mode of these cyclohexanediones, we have determined the crystal structure of ¿ß¿tubulin in complex with our hit compound (TUB075). Based on this detailed information and by applying the affinity maps program cGRILL, a structurebased synthesis of new cyclohexanedione derivatives has been accomplished with the objective of improving their affinity for tubulin and their antitumor activity. Following this approach, we have obtained new compounds with potent antiproliferative activity against tumor and endothelial cells (IC50=8¿31 nM) and with the highest Kb value reported for compounds binding at the colchicine site in tubulin. Additional studies have shown that they arrest cell cycle at G2/M and disrupt a network of endothelial cells. Moreover they keep antiproliferative activity against cell lines overexpressing P¿gp, further supporting the potential of these compounds.The financial support of the Spanish MINECO (SAF2012‐39760‐C02‐01 and SAF 2015‐64629‐C2‐1‐R), Comunidad de Madrid (BIPEDD2; ref P2010/BMD‐2457) and the COST action CM1407 (to M J. P.P., S.L., M.O.S. and J.F.D.) is sincerely acknowledge

Repeated administration of N-ethyl-pentedrone induces increased aggression and impairs social exploration after withdrawal in mice

N-ethyl-pentedrone (NEPD, 2-(ethylamino)-1-phenyl-1-pentanone) is one of the latest synthetic cathinone derivatives that emerged into the illicit drug market. This drug has psychostimulant properties and has been related with several intoxications and even fatalities. However, information about the consequences of its acute and repeated consumption is lacking. Thus, the aim of our study was to investigate the behavioral effects after both acute and repeated NEPD exposure as well as the neurochemical changes. Male OF1 mice were treated with an acute dose (1, 3 or 10 mg/kg, i.p.) or received repeated injections of these doses (twice/day, 5 days) of NEPD. Shortly after drug-exposure or during drug-withdrawal, anxiety-like behavior, aggressiveness, social interaction, depressive-like symptoms, body weight and temperature were assessed. Also, monoamine synthesis enzymes, levels of neurotransmitters and their precursors and main metabolites, as well as ΔFosB, were determined in striatum and prefrontal cortex from post-mortem tissue. Acute administration of NEPD induced anxiolytic effects and reduced social exploration whereas during withdrawal after repeated administration the anxiolytic effect had vanished, and the reduced social exploration was still present and accompanied with increased aggressive behavior. Moreover, NEPD (10 mg/kg) induced slight hyperthermia and reduced weight gain during the repeated administration, whereas increased locomotor activity and lack of depressive symptoms were found during withdrawal. This was accompanied by increased plasma corticosterone and decrease in striatal dopamine. Finally, the long-lasting and robust increase in ΔFosB levels found in striatum after NEPD chronic exposure suggests a high risk of dependence. The increased aggressivity and locomotor activity, together with this potential of inducing dependence justify a warning about the risks of consumption of NEPD if translated to humans. Keywords: Addiction; Aggressive behavior; Monoamine levels; N-ethyl-pentedrone; Synthetic cathinones

The Effectiveness of Glutathione Redox Status as a Possible Tumor Marker in Colorectal Cancer

[EN] The role of oxidative stress (OS) in cancer is a matter of great interest due to the implication of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and their oxidation products in the initiation of tumorigenesis, its progression, and metastatic dissemination. Great efforts have been made to identify the mechanisms of ROS-induced carcinogenesis; however, the validation of OS byproducts as potential tumor markers (TMs) remains to be established. This interventional study included a total of 80 colorectal cancer (CRC) patients and 60 controls. By measuring reduced glutathione (GSH), its oxidized form (GSSG), and the glutathione redox state in terms of the GSSG/GSH ratio in the serum of CRC patients, we identified significant changes as compared to healthy subjects. These findings are compatible with the effectiveness of glutathione as a TM. The thiol redox state showed a significant increase towards oxidation in the CRC group and correlated significantly with both the tumor state and the clinical evolution. The sensitivity and specificity of serum glutathione levels are far above those of the classical TMs CEA and CA19.9. We conclude that the GSSG/GSH ratio is a simple assay which could be validated as a novel clinical TM for the diagnosis and monitoring of CRC.This work was partially supported by grants GST, UGP-19-037 FISABIO, Universitat Politecnica de Valencia-the Hospital Universitario Doctor Peset POLISABIO collaboration program (UPV-FISABIO) NanOdGSens-2, the Spanish Government project RTI2018-100910-B-C41 (MCUI/AEI/FEDER, UE), the Generalitat Valenciana project PROMETEO/2018/024 and PI18/00932 by Instituto de Salud Carlos III and co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF "A way to build Europe"). C.B. is a recipient of a Miguel Servet contract (CP19/00077) from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III.Acevedo-León, D.; Monzó-Beltrán, L.; Gómez-Abril, SÁ.; Estañ-Capel, N.; Camarasa-Lillo, N.; Pérez-Ebri, ML.; Escandón-Álvarez, J.... (2021). The Effectiveness of Glutathione Redox Status as a Possible Tumor Marker in Colorectal Cancer. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 22(12):1-15. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms22126183115221

Ab Initio Electronic Transport in Single-Molecule Junctions: Quantum Interference Effects and Spin-Orbit Torque

One part of this thesis is devoted to molecular spintronics, a research branch of molecular electronics, which aims to control the spin degree of freedom of molecules. Typical systems studied in this field are organic-based molecules, which may contain transition metal atoms with partially filled atomic d-shells. Therefore, they may present an open-shell structure and localized (spin) magnetic moments at the metallic atoms. When current goes across a molecular junction, due to the presence of spin-orbit coupling (SOC) in a system with broken inversion symmetry, a torque can be exerted in the (spin) magnetic moment of such molecules. This torque is known as spin-orbit torque (SOT) and can produce a change in the direction of such (spin) magnetic moment. In this thesis, we consider vanadocene molecules (vanadium-based metallocenes) and explore the possibility of using SOT for the manipulation of the magnetic moment present in such compounds. We employ ab initio tools for the study of SOT. We have extended in this thesis the home-made transport module AITRANSS, where the non-equilibrium Green’s function formalism is implemented, to incorporate SOC. This module has been employed to compute SOT in a self-consistent fashion in a non-periodic vanadocene-based molecular junction. We have found values of the SOT of the order of 10⁻⁶ eV, small but expected due to the small SOC present in the system. We have also checked that our results are compatible with linear response theory results obtained for metallic heterostructures. Another part of this thesis is also devoted to the study of quantum interference effects in single-molecule junctions. Specifically, we focus our attention on ferrocene-based molecules. Ferrocenes, similarly to vanadocenes, are organometallic double-decker compounds with two cyclopentadienyl (Cp) rings sandwiching a Fe atom. They present π-systems from the carbon-based ligands and localized d-orbitals from the metal core. We have found that ferrocenes present interesting destructive interference properties suppressing the electronic current across the junction. The rotation of the Cp rings can be considered as a tuning parameter for quantum interference due to the low rotational energy barrier present in these compounds. The rotation of the Cp rings changes the hybridization of the d-orbitals with the delocalized π-system of the carbon-based ligands. As a consequence, it alters the nodal structure of the orbitals involved in the quantum interference, which can change from destructive to constructive. The changes in the conductance due to interference are seen by stretching and compressing the molecular junction in experiments because changes in the conformation of the molecule are intrinsically connected with the presence or absence of destructive quantum interference features. In addition to our ab initio findings, we also provide a model in which the presence of constructive or destructive quantum interference can be identified by analyzing the gas phase orbitals of the molecule. These calculations have been key to provide interpretation to experimental conductance measurements of ferrocene-based molecular junctions performed in the group of Prof. Latha Venkataraman. The last part of this thesis is devoted to the study of molecular insulators in collaboration with the experimental group of Prof. Latha Venkataraman: The first system under study has been a type of silicon-based wire. Experimentally, it has been observed that the conductance of silicon-based wires is larger when they are attached with thiol anchor groups to silver leads compared to gold electrodes. The trend is reversed in case amine anchor groups are used. These are unexpected results if one only considers the work function difference of the bulk metals. By means of Kohn-Sham density functional theory (DFT)-based transport calculations, we have shown that localized states at the anchor group close to the Fermi energy can enhance the conductance value of thiol-linked wires attached to silver contacts. The SOC and the chemical nature of the anchor group (covalent in thiol versus dative in amines) also participate in explaining the reverse trend observed in the experiments. In addition, we have also explored new anchor groups, for example, precursors, which are a part of the molecules and can bind to metals. One of them is imidazole, which is a carbon ring that presents two nitrogen substituents. We explore how this molecule binds to metals and to other molecules and how this type of anchor affects the electron transport of the molecular junction. Specifically we theoretically analyze employing DFT-based transport calculations the conductance of imidazole-linked alkane chains. In addition, we have also seen that two imidazoles can form π-π stacked dimers. These dimers can show an increased through-space coupling compared to direct molecular bonding. These stacks can also bind, in turn, to molecular wires as pendant groups, producing Fano-type interference effects in the transmission characteristics. Finally, and turning back to metallocenes, we have also explored the possibility of using them as anchor groups. Interestingly, these molecules can bind to metallic contacts through the metallic atom. We have also analyzed the binding and transport properties of these metallocenes when the metallic unit is either Fe, Ru or Os. We have found that the metal-contact binding in these cases is stronger for heavier elements. The binding properties correlate with the HOMO-LUMO gap (heavier elements have larger HOMO-LUMO gap), which in turns translate to the order of the conductance of these junctions: heavier elements have smaller conductance

Clinic-epidemiologic study of human infection by Granada virus, a new phlebovirus within the sandfly fever Naples serocomplex.

Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't;Granada virus (GRV), a new phlebovirus within the Naples serocomplex, has been recently described in phlebotomine sandflies from Spain. The presence of anti-GRV immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies was investigated by indirect fluorescence assay (IFA) and neutralization test (NT) in 920 serum samples from the Granada population. By IFA, an overall GRV seroprevalence of 15.8% (N = 145) was observed, significantly increasing up to 65 years. NT was positive in 18% of anti-GRV IFA-positive samples. IgG antibodies against Toscana virus (TOSV), a hyperendemic phlebovirus within Granada province, were detected in 40% of anti-GRV-positive cases. Anti-GRV IgM antibodies were detected in 36 (6.6%) of 547 acute-phase serum samples from individuals with febrile illness, exanthema, and/or acute respiratory infection. All positives were anti-TOSV IgM-negative. GRV may infect humans, with most cases being asymptomatic. The codetection of anti-GRV and anti-TOSV IgG antibodies could be attributable to cross-reactivity or exposure to the same transmission vector.This study was supported in part by funds from a research project (0328/2009; Junta de Andalucía, SpainYe

Presence of Streptococcus bovis in urine samples from patients experiencing symptoms of urinary tract

Journal Article; English Abstract;Given the relevance of proper clinical validation of Streptococcus bovis, we here consider revising its presence in urine samples in order to determine its relative frequency and the pattern of antibiotic susceptibility. The susceptibility to antibiotics of 91 isolates of S. bovis from urine samples was retrospectively reviewed over a period of 4 years (2012-2015). The mean age of patients was 55 years, 81% of whom were women and 37.4% were hospitalized patients suffering from urological diseases (61%). Susceptibility to penicillin, vancomycin and teicoplanin was 97.8%. Due to the fact that S. bovis can be infrequent in urine isolates and given its presence in patients suffering from urological diseases, further pathogenic studies, showing the true ability of this group of bacteria to produce disease, are required.YesDada la importancia de la correcta validación clínica de los aislamientos de Streptococcus bovis, nos planteamos la revisión de su presencia en muestras de orina con el objetivo de conocer su frecuencia relativa y su patrón de sensibilidad antibiótica. Se revisó retrospectivamente la sensibilidad a los antibióticos de 91 aislados de S. bovis recuperados de muestras de orina durante un período de 4 anos ˜ (2012-2015). La media de la edad de los pacientes fue de 55 anos ˜ y en su mayoría fueron mujeres (81%). El 37,4% eran pacientes hospitalizados con enfermedades urológicas (61%). La sensibilidad a penicilina, vancomicina y teicoplanina fue del 97,8%. Aunque S. bovis puede ser poco común en los aislamientos de orina, su presencia en sujetos con enfermedades de base justifica la realización de estudios de patogenicidad que demuestren la verdadera capacidad de producir enfermedad de este grupo de bacterias