Smart Mesoporous Nanomaterials for Antitumor Therapy

The use of nanomaterials for the treatment of solid tumours is receiving increasing attention by the scientific community. Among them, mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) exhibit unique features that make them suitable nanocarriers to host, transport and protect drug molecules until the target is reached. It is possible to incorporate different targeting ligands to the outermost surface of MSNs to selectively drive the drugs to the tumour tissues. To prevent the premature release of the cargo entrapped in the mesopores, it is feasible to cap the pore entrances using stimuli-responsive nanogates. Therefore, upon exposure to internal (pH, enzymes, glutathione, etc.) or external (temperature, light, magnetic field, etc.) stimuli, the pore opening takes place and the release of the entrapped cargo occurs. These smart MSNs are capable of selectively reaching and accumulating at the target tissue and releasing the entrapped drug in a specific and controlled fashion, constituting a promising alternative to conventional chemotherapy, which is typically associated with undesired side effects. In this review, we overview the recent advances reported by the scientific community in developing MSNs for antitumor therapy. We highlight the possibility to design multifunctional nanosystems using different therapeutic approaches aimed at increasing the efficacy of the antitumor treatment

Digital literacy

La aparición de las Tecnologías de la Información y Comunicación en el siglo pasado vinieron a revolucionar la sociedad. Supuso un cambio en la forma de actuar, de pensar e incluso de relacionarse con los demás de las personas. Por lo que en este artículo se verá la importancia de las mismas en la sociedad.Se hablará tanto de alfabetos como analfabetos digitales así como de la temida brecha digital. Y se profundizará en la importancia de ser tratadas en la escuela mediante el desarrollo de la competencia digital.The emergence of Information and Communication Technologies in the last century came to revolutionize society. It meant a change in the way of acting, thinking and even relating to others of people. So in this article you will see the importance of them in society. We will talk about both literates and digital illiterates as well as the dreaded digital divide. And it will be deepened in the importance of being treated in the school through the development of digital competence

Selective topotecan delivery to cancer cells by targeted pH-sensitive mesoporous silica nanoparticles

Topotecan (TOP), a water-soluble derivative of camptothecin, is a potent antitumor agent that is receiving growing attention for the treatment of several types of cancer. However, one of the major constraints in the clinical use of this drug is its inactivation at the physiological pH of 7.4. Mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) constitute promising nanocarriers to circumvent this issue. Herein TOP has been encapsulated into MSNs and the nanosystem has been provided with selectivity towards tumor cells, which permits releasing the active form of the molecule at the acidic cell compartments (endo/lysosomes; pH <= 5.5) following nanoparticle internalization. For this purpose, MSNs have been coated with a multifunctional gelatin shell that: (i) protects TOP from hydrolysis and prevents its premature release; (ii) acts as a pH-sensitive layer; and (iii) provides multiple anchoring points for the grafting of targeting ligands, such as folic acid (FA), for selective internalization in tumor cells. In vitro tests demonstrate that cancer cells that overexpress membrane cell surface markers with affinity towards FA, internalize a higher percentage of nanoparticles than healthy cells, which do not overexpress such markers. Moreover, the nanosystems are efficient at killing tumor cells, whereas they do not decrease the viability of normal cells. In contrast, free TOP failed to kill both cell lines, which can be ascribed to the inactivation of the drug. This novel nanodevice constitutes a step forward toward the design of novel weapons to fight against cancer

Conformance checking in UML artifact-centric business process models

Business artifacts have appeared as a new paradigm to capture the information required for the complete execution and reasoning of a business process. Likewise, conformance checking is gaining popularity as a crucial technique that enables evaluating whether recorded executions of a process match its corresponding model. In this paper, conformance checking techniques are incorporated into a general framework to specify business artifacts. By relying on the expressive power of an artifact-centric specification, BAUML, which combines UML state and activity diagrams (among others), the problem of conformance checking can be mapped into the Petri net formalism and its results be explained in terms of the original artifact-centric specification. In contrast to most existing approaches, ours incorporates data constraints into the Petri nets, thus achieving conformance results which are more precise. We have also implemented a plug-in, within the ProM framework, which is able to translate a BAUML into a Petri net to perform conformance checking. This shows the feasibility of our approach.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Opinión de los estudiantes de farmacia sobre la calidad de las prácticas en el ámbito de la tecnología farmacéutica.

Se presentan aquí los avances de una investigación, todavía en curso, que recoge las aportaciones de los primeros graduados sobre las competencias alcanzadas,así como la relación entre la consecución de dichas competencias y los procesos de evaluación y metodológicos seguidos. Las competencias son referentes básicos de los grados, y la mirada del graduado es especialmente interesante porque complementa la del docente, al tiempo que aporta relevantes aspectos para la mejora de la docencia

Primers resultats del Passaport a la Professió a Farmàcia

Podeu consultar la Vuitena trobada de professorat de Ciències de la Salut completa a: http://hdl.handle.net/2445/66524En el curs 2012/13, el deganat de la Facultat de Farmàcia va iniciar una activitat d’orientació professionalanomenada Seminari “Passaport a la Professió” dissenyada conjuntament amb el Servei d’Atenció al’Estudiant de la Universitat de Barcelona i dirigida especialment a l’alumnat interessat en realitzar l’assignatura“Pràctiques en empreses”. Aquesta activitat es va aprovar com a Projecte de Millora i Innovació Docent al’any 2013.En el curs 2012/13, el deganat de la Facultat de Farmàcia va iniciar una activitat d’orientació professional dirigida especialment a l’alumnat interessat en realitzar pràctiques en empreses i anomenada Seminari “Passaport a la Professió-Farmàcia. És un projecte dissenyat amb la implicació de tres agents: la Facultat de Farmàcia, les companyies farmacèutiques i el Servei d’Atenció a l’Estudiant (SAE). Aquesta activitat va gaudir d’un Projecte de Millora i Innovació Docent a l’any 2013. La present comunicació pretén analitzar el grau de participació i satisfacció dels alumnes al llarg d’aquests tres cursos acadèmics. El nombre d'estudiants inscrits al llarg d'aquests anys ha estat de 207 alumnes i en algunes sessions s'ha aconseguit omplir l’Aula Magna el 100% amb alumnes sense inscripció prèvia i interessats en la temàtica. Al llarg d’aquests anys, l’activitat s’ha consolidat a la Facultat de Farmàcia considerant que l’alumne la percep com una oportunitat anual per conèixer la realitat professional de la farmàcia així com els requisits d’accés al món laboral. A més, el nombre d’alumnes que ha sol·licitat participar en el programa de pràctiques en empreses dins de l’assignatura optativa ha incrementat al llarg dels cursos, així com el nombre d’empreses participants, consolidant-se algunes de les tradicionalment ja hi participaven. Per altra banda, aquesta activitat ha afavorit un millor coneixement entre l’alumnat de Farmàcia sobre les altres accions d’orientació universitàries del SAE (Club de Feina, Monogràfics del Club de Feina, cursos de Formació en Competències, Entrevistes d’Orientació, Simulacions personalitzades d’entrevistes de feina). L’avaluació del programa es basa per una banda, amb els qüestionaris al finalitzar el període de pràctiques en indústries farmacèutiques i per l’altra, dels qüestionaris de satisfacció a cada una de les sessions del seminari Passaport a la Professió

Chondroitin Sulfate for cartilage regeneration, administered topically using a nanostructured formulation

In the pharmaceutical sector, solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN) are vital for drug delivery incorporating a lipid core. Chondroitin sulfate (CHON) is crucial for cartilage health. It is often used in osteoarthritis (OA) treatment. Due to conflicting results from clinical trials on CHON’s efficacy in OA treatment, there has been a shift toward exploring effective topical systems utilizing nanotechnology. This study aimed to optimize a solid lipid nanoparticle formulation aiming to enhance CHON permeation for OA therapy. A 3 × 3 × 2 Design of these experiments determined the ideal parameters: a CHON concentration of 0.4 mg/mL, operating at 20,000 rpm speed, and processing for 10 min for SLN production. Transmission electron microscopy analysis confirmed the nanoparticles’ spherical morphology, ensuring crucial uniformity for efficient drug delivery. Cell viability assessments showed no significant cytotoxicity within the tested parameters, indicating a safe profile for potential clinical application. The cell internalization assay indicates successful internalization at 1.5 h and 24 h post-treatment. Biopharmaceutical studies supported SLNs, indicating them to be effective CHON carriers through the skin, showcasing improved skin permeation and CHON retention compared to conventional methods. In summary, this study successfully optimized SLN formulation for efficient CHON transport through pig ear skin with no cellular toxicity, highlighting SLNs’ potential as promising carriers to enhance CHON delivery in OA treatment and advance nanotechnology-based therapeutic strategies in pharmaceutical formulations. Keywords: solid lipid nanoparticles; chondroitin sulfate; osteoarthritis; skin permeation; design of experiments; cell viability; biopharmaceutical studies; drug deliver

Plasma homocysteine and vitamin B12 serum levels, red blood cell folate concentrations, C677T methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase gene mutation and risk of recurrent miscarriage: a case-control study in Spain.

Background: Hyperhomocysteinemia and methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene mutation have been postulated as a possible cause of recurrent miscarriage (RM). There is a wide variation in the prevalence of MTHFR polymorphisms and homocysteine (Hcy) plasma levels among populations around the world. The present study was undertaken to investigate the possible association between hyperhomocysteinemia and its causative genetic or acquired factors and RM in Catalonia, a Mediterranean region in Spain. Methods: Sixty consecutive patients with ≥ 3 unexplained RM and 30 healthy control women having at least one child but no previous miscarriage were included. Plasma Hcy levels, MTHFR gene mutation, red blood cell (RBC) folate and vitamin B12 serum levels were measured in all subjects. Results: No significant differences were observed neither in plasma Hcy levels, RBC folate and vitamin B12 serum levels nor in the prevalence of homozygous and heterozygous MTHFR gene mutation between the two groups studied. Conclusions: In the present study RM is not associated with hyperhomocysteinemia, and/or the MTHFR gene mutation