Bioethics and health law: the living will. Proposal to create a living will record in Europe

In this piece of work, we present a proposal to create a living will record in Europe that will allow people to have the same rights wherever they are. Therefore, this article will be studied from the bioethics and health law theory

Los poemas de Šelomoh ibn Gabirol en el ritual de Pesaḥ según las haggaḏôṯ John Rylands y Sarajevo

The nine poems of Ibn Gabirol that are incorporated in two haggaḏôṯ of Sephardic origin, namely those of Sarajevo and John Rylands', are collated in this article. The variants found in them are not relevant, they mainly consist of the use of scriptio plena.Se recogen y cotejan los nueve poemas de Ibn Gabirol que aparecen en dos haggaḏôṯ de Pesaḥ de origen sefardí, la de Sarajevo y la de John Rylands. Las variantes encontradas no son relevantes, fundamentalmente consisten en el empleo de escritura plena

En prisión. Realidades e intervención socioeducativa y drogodependencias en mujeres

En reseña de: Añaños-Bedriñana, Fanny T. (Dir.) (2017) En prisión. Realidades e intervención socioeducativa y drogodependencias en mujeres, Madrid, Narcea Ediciones. Col. “Mujeres”.A review of: Añaños-Bedriñana, Fanny T. (Dir.) (2017) En prisión. Realidades e intervención socioeducativa y drogodependencias en mujeres, Madrid, Narcea Ediciones. Col. “Mujeres”

Synthesis and characterization of a new nanosorbent based on functionalized magnetic nanoparticles and its use in the determination of mercury by FI-CV-ETAAS

In this work, a new chelating sorbent which employs 1,5-bis(di-2-pyridil)methylene thiocarbohydrazide as the functional group and magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) as its support (DPTH-MNP) was synthetized and characterized. The MNPs were prepared by coprecipitation of Fe+2 and Fe+3 with NH3 and then coated with silica in order to easily bind the support and the functionalizing molecule. The aim of the synthesis of this material is applying it as a solid-phase extracting agent and evaluating its potential for the extraction and pre-concentration of trace amounts of analytes present in biological and environmental samples with on-line methods. The MNPs’ magnetic core would allow overcoming the usual backpressure problems that happen in solid-phase extraction methods thanks to the possibility of immobilizing the MNPs by applying an external magnetic field. From the study of its adsorption capacity toward metal ions, mercury and antimony were the most retained. Thus, a flow injection solid phase extraction and cold vapor generation method for mercury determination based on the use of this new chelating nanosorbent was optimized. The greatest efforts were put into the reactor design to minimize compaction and loss of nanosorbent. The knotted reactor shown in Figure 1 was chosen as the best. Then, chemical and flow variables were optimized by Central composite designs (CCDs). The method developed has showed to be useful for the automatic pre-concentration and determination of mercury in environmental and biological samples. The determination was performed using electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry (ETAAS). Under the optimum conditions, pH 5 and 120 s preconcentration time, the enrichment factor was 5.33; the detection limit (3σ) was 7.8 ng L-1; the determination limit (10σ) was 99 ng L-1; and the precisions (calculated for 10 replicate determinations at a 1 and 5 µg L-1 standards) were 1.7 and 1.9 % (RSD), respectively. Two linear calibration graphs were obtained, from the determination limits to 10 µg L-1 and from 10 to at least 50 µg L-1. From the comparison with other similar methods found in the bibliography, the detection limit and precisions calculated with our method were better. In order to evaluate the accurate and applicability of the method, the analysis of five certified samples LGC 6016 estuarine water, TMDA 54.4 fortified lake water, SRM 2976 mussel tissue, TORT-1 lobster hepatopancreas and DOLT-1 dogfish liver by standard addition and external calibration, were addressed. The results showed good agreement between the certified values, or added amounts of mercury, and the found concentrations. The method was successfully applied to the determination of mercury in sea-water samples collected in the Málaga Bay.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tec

A developmental model for the pathogenenesis of cardiac arterio-ventricular fistulae

Coronary Artery Fistulae (CAF) are congenital coronary artery (CA) anomalies consisting of an abnormal communication of a coronary artery with either a cardiac chamber or a large cardiac vessel. Although their incidence in the Western population is low, CAF can lead to complications such as myocardial hypertrophy, endocarditis, heart dilatation and cardiac failure. CAFs can appear as an isolated anomaly or linked to some other forms of congenital heart disease like Left Ventricular Non-Compaction (LVNC) and intrinsic CA anatomy anomalies, but their etiology remains unknown. In this work we have used two different experimental models (transgenic mice and avian embryos) to investigate on the developmental mechanics of CAF formation. In order to tackle this goal, we have manipulated epicardial development and ventricular wall compaction, two inextricably related developmental events during coronary embryogenesis. Conditional integrin α4 gene deletion in the septum transversum/proepicardial (ST/PE) region (G2-Gata4+) disrupts early epicardium development and reduces cardiomyocyte proliferation, leading to the thinning of the ventricular compact myocardial layer. Reduction in compact myocardium thickness associates to the presence of multiple ventricular myocardial discontinuities and focal endocardial extrusion. This same phenotype can be experimentally reproduced in chick embryos using a cryocauterization method (Palmquist-Gomes et al., 2016). Our results suggest that the partial absence of epicardium in α4integrin;G2-Gata4Cre mouse embryos and the cryoinjury in avian embryos generate myocardial discontinuities in the embryonic ventricular wall, which promote endocardial extrusion towards the pericardial cavity and the early contact of the endocardium with coronary progenitors at the epicardial surface of the heart. In the case of avian embryos, this phenomenon leads to precocious smooth muscle differentiation from epicardial mesenchymal cells, and the formation of pouch-like structures that closely resemble CAF. We conclude that anomalous compact myocardial embryonic growth can originate CAF.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

A developmental model for the pathogenenesis of cardiac arterio-ventricular fistulae

Coronary Artery Fistulae (CAF) are congenital coronary artery (CA) anomalies consisting of an abnormal communication of a coronary artery with either a cardiac chamber or a large cardiac vessel. Although their incidence in the Western population is low, CAF can lead to complications such as myocardial hypertrophy, endocarditis, heart dilatation and cardiac failure. CAFs can appear as an isolated anomaly or linked to some other forms of congenital heart disease like Left Ventricular Non-Compaction (LVNC) and intrinsic CA anatomy anomalies, but their etiology remains unknown. In this work we have used two different experimental models (transgenic mice and avian embryos) to investigate on the developmental mechanics of CAF formation. In order to tackle this goal, we have manipulated epicardial development and ventricular wall compaction, two inextricably related developmental events during coronary embryogenesis. Conditional integrin α4 gene deletion in the septum transversum/proepicardial (ST/PE) region (G2-Gata4+) disrupts early epicardium development and reduces cardiomyocyte proliferation, leading to the thinning of the ventricular compact myocardial layer. Reduction in compact myocardium thickness associates to the presence of multiple ventricular myocardial discontinuities and focal endocardial extrusion. This same phenotype can be experimentally reproduced in chick embryos using a cryocauterization method (Palmquist-Gomes et al., 2016). Our results suggest that the partial absence of epicardium in α4integrin;G2-Gata4Cre mouse embryos and the cryoinjury in avian embryos generate myocardial discontinuities in the embryonic ventricular wall, which promote endocardial extrusion towards the pericardial cavity and the early contact of the endocardium with coronary progenitors at the epicardial surface of the heart. In the case of avian embryos, this phenomenon leads to precocious smooth muscle differentiation from epicardial mesenchymal cells, and the formation of pouch-like structures that closely resemble CAF. We conclude that anomalous compact myocardial embryonic growth can originate CAF.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Distribution patterns of endemic flora to define hotspots on Hispaniola

Nineteen areas on the island of Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic) were studied with the aim of determining the distribution pattern of the endemic flora in these areas, and their variability with altitude. The main concentration of endemic species occurs in mountains with a medium altitude and in certain mountain sites (palaeo-islands), which coincide with hotspots; a lower number of endemics are found in low-lying areas (coldspots), due to the degradation of their habitats. A total of 1,582 endemic species were studied and were distributed in 19 areas. The whole island is of outstanding interest for its richness in endemics; it has 2,050 endemic species, representing 34.16% of its total flora. The territory in the study is home to 1,284 genera of which 31 are endemic to the island, including monotypical genera such as Tortuella abietifolia Urb. & Ekman, and endemic genera such as Hottea, containing seven endemic species. The sites with the highest rate of endemics are area A16 in the central range with a total of 440 endemic species, of which 278 are exclusive to the territory; and the Sierra de Bahoruco, la Selle, La Hotte and Tibur on in area A12, where we found 699 plants of which 482 are endemic and exclusive to the area; and A13 with 173 and 129 respectively. This work highlights the exceptional floristic diversity in endemic species and genera and analyses their distribution patterns as a tool for conservation in this area of the world, whose high endemicity rate makes it one of the most significant hotspots in the Caribbean

Phytosociological study, diversity and conservation status of the cloud forest in the Dominican Republic

The study of the forest in rainy environments of the Dominican Republic reveals the presence of four types of vegetation formations, clearly differentiated from each other in terms of their floristic and biogeographical composition, and also significantly different from the rainforests of Cuba. This leads us to propose two new alliances and four plant associations located in northern mountain areas exposed to moisture-laden winds from the Atlantic: All. Rondeletio ochraceae-Clusion roseae (Ass. Cyatheo furfuracei-Prestoetum motanae; Ass. Ormosio krugii-Prestoetum montanae); and All. Rondeletio ochraceae-Didymopanion tremuli (Ass. Hyeronimo montanae-Magnolietum pallescentis; Hyeronimo dominguensis-Magnolietum hamorii). We pay special attention to the description of cloud forest types, since they have a high rate of endemic species, and therefore there are endemic habitats, which need special protective actions. Therefore, we apply the Shannon diversity index to characteristic, companion, non-endemic, and endemic species. As result, the association Ormosio krugii-Prestoetum montanae has a Shannon_T = 2.4 and a value of Shannon_E = 0, whereas the other 3 associations have a better conservation status with Shannon values in all cases > 0: This is due to a worse conservation status of the Eastern Cordillera, in comparison with the Central Cordillera and Sierra de Bhaoruco. Due to human activity, some areas are very poorly conserved, as evidenced by the diversity index and the presence of endemic tree and plant elements. The worst conserved in terms of the relationship between characteristic plants vegetation (cloud forest) in areas with high rainfall are in the Dominican Republic, along with its floristic diversity and state of conservation. This study has made it possible to significantly increase the botanical knowledge of this important habitat.Research group RNM: 211 of the Junta de Andalucia (Spain) and AECI projectinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Forests and Landscapes of Dominican Republic

Aims: This, in conjunction with the diversity of the substrates and the fact that the island is home to the highest mountains in the Caribbean and with a high rate of endemic species, allows them to be differentiated into three major groups –dry forest, cloud forest and the transition between dry and cloud forests. The forests in the Dominican Republic grow in a tropical climate with ombrotypes ranging from arid to humid-hyperhumid due to the moisture-laden Atlantic winds; and infra-, thermo-, meso- and supratropical thermotypes. Establish the diversity, ecology and forest types in Dominican Republic. Methods: We identified all species through field surveys and comparative analyzes of how forest types, structure, diversity and ecology.Results: We consided these forests to be endemic to the island of Hispaniola, as the dry forest presents 81 endemic species, of which 10 are trees, 65 shrubs, 5 creepers, and 1 herbaceous species; while the cloud forest has 19 trees, 20 shrubs, 8 creepers, 4 epiphytes and 6 herbaceous species. Conclusions: We highlight the absence of endemic epiphytes in the dry forests, which are in a poor state of conservation and subject to greater human pressure than the cloud forest