Complex adaptive systems, socio-ecological systems and resilience

The study and analysis of global risk increase from the environmental crisis resulting from a greater number of interactions and feedbacks between social, economic, political and environmental problems in different spatial and temporal scales require an interdisciplinary perspective that allows to learn in a holistic way the complexity of these problems and propose actions (change agenda) to increase the resilience and sustainability of development in all its dimensions. It strives for the usefulness of the complex adaptive systems approach to bring the study of resilience in social-ecological systems. To do this, the system dynamics from metaphors of adaptive cycles, panarchy and properties that determine these dynamics are described, highlighting the importance of the property called resilience. Think through increasing the resilience of local socio-ecological systems involves considering the dynamic of complex adaptive systems and conclude that this will require to carry out deep transformations at the level of economic and financial global practices, and neoliberal economic model which has fostered a culture of excessive consumption that far exceeds the thresholds necessary for human welfare.El estudio y análisis del incremento del riesgo global derivado de la crisis ambiental, consecuencia de un mayor número de interacciones y realimentaciones entre los problemas sociales, económicos, políticos y ecológicos a diferentes escalas espacio-temporales, requieren de una perspectiva interdisciplinaria que permita aprehender de manera integral la complejidad de estos problemas y proponer acciones (agendas de cambio) para incrementar la resiliencia y la sostenibilidad del desarrollo en todas sus dimensiones. Se pugna por la utilidad del enfoque de los sistemas complejos adaptativos para plantear el estudio de la resiliencia en los sistemas socio-ecológicos. Para ello, se describe la dinámica del sistema a partir de las metáforas de los ciclos adaptativos y la panarquía y las propiedades que determinan esas dinámicas, resaltando la importancia de la propiedad denominada resiliencia. Pensar en aumentar la resiliencia de los sistemas socioecológicos locales implica considerar la dinámica de los sistemas complejos adaptativos, y concluir que será necesario llevar a cabo profundas transformaciones a nivel de las prácticas económicas y financieras globales, y del modelo económico neoliberal que ha fomentado una cultura de consumo excesivo que rebasa por mucho los umbrales de lo necesario para el bienestar humano

Institutional Capacity before the reduction of the disasters risk in Quintana Roo: Hyogo Framework for Action

El problema del riesgo de desastre en entornos urbanos o zonas costeras localizadas en franjas altamente propensas a la acción de fenómenos naturales es una de las temáticas prioritarias en la agenda global (ONU, 2000). La complejidad se presenta, principalmente, desde la perspectiva de la gestión pública para el manejo del riesgo por desastre y en el alcance de un desarrollo equilibrado.Evaluar el riesgo de desastres significa tener en cuenta no solamente el daño físico esperado, las víctimas o pérdidas económicas equivalentes, sino también factores sociales, organizacionales e institucionales. Actualmente, los avances logrados en la gestión del riesgo son diferentes para cada país. En México, tanto a nivel estatal como municipal existe una gran limitación en la información y carencias técnicas por parte de los responsables de estos procesos. El presente artículo tiene la finalidad de conocer la capacidad institucional ante la reducción del riesgo de desastres en el Estado de Quintana Roo aplicando una herramienta de evaluación cualitativa propuesta en el Marco de Acción de Hyogo (MAH)

Methodologies and tools of risk management: Hurricane Risk index (HRi)

Mexico is recognized worldwide for the extension of its coastlines and its tourist exploitation. Quintana Roo is one of the Mexican states, which has a shoreline of approximately 800 km, known as the Mexican Caribbean. The hurricanes that form in the Atlantic Ocean are the main natural hazard to which this region is exposed. In this article, hurricane risk is evaluated for coastal cities through the definition of a system of indicators. Based on this indicators system, the Hurricane Risk Index (HRi) is calculated. This system allows the construction of vulnerability indices for different dimensions: physical, environmental, social, economic, cultural and institutional. The obtained results can contribute to the definition of public prevention policies and actions to reduce the levels of vulnerability and increase the resilience of these communities. This indicators model is applied to two coastal cities of the Mexican Caribbean; Mahahual, obtaining an HRi of 82.13%, and Chetumal obtaining an HRi of 69.31%, corresponding to the impact of Hurricane Dean in 2007. The proposed indicators system can be replicated for different hazards.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Análisis de imágenes orientadas a objetos para mapear y monitorear cambios en la cobertura terrestre de la Región Costa Maya, México: 1993-2010

Accurate, cost effective and timely multiple spatial-temporal information on the patterns of land cover change is crucial for environmental management and understanding. For this reason, segmentation and object-oriented classification was applied to Landsat TM/ ETM+ imagery to map and monitor land cover dynamics in the Región Costa Maya (RCM) in 1993, 2000 and 2010. Overall mapping accuracy for land-cover map in 2000 was 94.29% (ĸ= 0.9141). Post-classification approach, involving cross tabulation of three generated maps, was used to characterize spatial temporal rates and patterns of land cover change to infer major processes of changes over 17 years. Results revealed rapid urbanization, agricultural land abandonment (forest transition) and destruction of mangrove forests, mediated by socio-economic factors linked to tourism development as the leading drivers of land cover change, with grave implications on environmental sustainability in the Costa Maya area. The study has confirmed the value of segmentation and object-oriented classification for mapping and monitoring land cover change at regional scale.La información espacio-temporal múltiple, precisa, rentable y pertinente sobre los cambios en la cobertura del suelo es fundamental para el mejor manejo del medio ambiente. De esta forma, en este estudio se aplicó la segmentación y clasificación orientada a objetos a las imágenes de Landsat TM /ETM + para mapear la cobertura del suelo en la Región Costa Maya, de 1993, 2000 y 2010. Se obtuvo una precisión global de mapeo del mapa del año 2000 de 94,32% (ĸ= 0.9141). Para caracterizar las tasas y los patrones espacio-temporales de cambio en la cobertura terrestre, se aplicó la comparación en post-clasificación, utilizando tabulaciones cruzadas de tres mapas, posteriormente generados, para inferir los principales procesos de cambios durante 17 años. Los resultados revelaron una rápida urbanización, el abandono de tierras agrícolas (transición forestal) y la destrucción de los manglares, mediado por factores socio-económicos vinculados al desarrollo del turismo, como los principales impulsores del cambio, con graves implicaciones sobre la sostenibilidad del medio ambiente en la Costa Maya. El estudio ha confirmado el valor de la segmentación y clasificación orientadas a objetos en el mapeo y monitoreo del cambio de cobertura terrestre a escala regional

Association Between the Use of a Mobile Health Strategy App and Biological Changes in Breast Cancer Survivors: Prospective Pre-Post Study

The objectives of this study were to: (1) check whether it is feasible to find changes in inflammation biomarkers through an mHealth strategy app as a delivery mechanism of an intervention to monitor energy balance; and (2) discover potential predictors of change of these markers in breast cancer survivors (BCSs). Analyzing changes in inflammatory biomarker concentrations after using the mHealth app, differences between preassessment CRP (4899.04 pg/ml; SD 1085.25) and IL-6 (87.15 pg/ml; SD 33.59) and postassessment CRP (4221.24 pg/ml; SD 911.55) and IL-6 (60.53 pg/ml; SD 36.31) showed a significant decrease in both markers, with a mean difference of –635.25 pg/ml (95% CI –935.65 to –334.85; P<.001) in CRP and –26.61 pg/ml (95% CI –42.51 to –10.71; P=.002) in IL-6. Stepwise regression analyses revealed that changes in global quality of life, as well as uMARS score and hormonal therapy, were possible predictors of change in CRP concentration after using the mHealth app. In the same way, the type of tumor removal surgery conducted, as well as changes in weight and pain score, were possible predictors of change in IL-6 concentration after using the app. In conclusion, through the results of this study, we hypothesize that there is a possible association between an mHealth energy balance monitoring strategy and biological changes in BCSs. These changes could be explained by different biopsychosocial parameters, such as the use of the application itself, quality of life, pain, type of tumor removal surgery, hormonal treatment or obesity.The study was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (Plan Estatal de I+D+I 2013-2016), Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria del Instituto de Salud Carlos III (PI14/01627), Fondos Estructurales de la Unión Europea (FEDER), and by the Spanish Ministry of Education (FPU14/01069 and FPU17/00939)

The transcribed pseudogene RPSAP52 enhances the oncofetal HMGA2-IGF2BP2-RAS axis through LIN28B-dependent and independent let-7 inhibition

Altres ajuts: We thank CERCA Program/Generalitat de Catalunya for their institutional support. This work was also supported by the Fundació La Marató de TV3, grant number #20131610 (S.G.), the AECC-Junta de Barcelona (S.G.), the Fundación Científica de la AECC under grant GCB13131578DEÁ (O.M.T.), the Health and Science Departments of the Catalan Government (Gen-eralitat de Catalunya). C.O.-M. is a pre-doctoral fellow funded by the Basque Government (PRE_2013_1_1009).One largely unknown question in cell biology is the discrimination between inconsequential and functional transcriptional events with relevant regulatory functions. Here, we find that the oncofetal HMGA2 gene is aberrantly reexpressed in many tumor types together with its antisense transcribed pseudogene RPSAP52. RPSAP52 is abundantly present in the cytoplasm, where it interacts with the RNA binding protein IGF2BP2/IMP2, facilitating its binding to mRNA targets, promoting their translation by mediating their recruitment on polysomes and enhancing proliferative and self-renewal pathways. Notably, downregulation of RPSAP52 impairs the balance between the oncogene LIN28B and the tumor suppressor let-7 family of miRNAs, inhibits cellular proliferation and migration in vitro and slows down tumor growth in vivo. In addition, high levels of RPSAP52 in patient samples associate with a worse prognosis in sarcomas. Overall, we reveal the roles of a transcribed pseudogene that may display properties of an oncofetal master regulator in human cancers

Th1 and Th17 hypercytokinemia as early host response signature in severe pandemic influenza

Abstract Introduction Human host immune response following infection with the new variant of A/H1N1 pandemic influenza virus (nvH1N1) is poorly understood. We utilize here systemic cytokine and antibody levels in evaluating differences in early immune response in both mild and severe patients infected with nvH1N1. Methods We profiled 29 cytokines and chemokines and evaluated the haemagglutination inhibition activity as quantitative and qualitative measurements of host immune responses in serum obtained during the first five days after symptoms onset, in two cohorts of nvH1N1 infected patients. Severe patients required hospitalization (n = 20), due to respiratory insufficiency (10 of them were admitted to the intensive care unit), while mild patients had exclusively flu-like symptoms (n = 15). A group of healthy donors was included as control (n = 15). Differences in levels of mediators between groups were assessed by using the non parametric U-Mann Whitney test. Association between variables was determined by calculating the Spearman correlation coefficient. Viral load was performed in serum by using real-time PCR targeting the neuraminidase gene. Results Increased levels of innate-immunity mediators (IP-10, MCP-1, MIP-1β), and the absence of anti-nvH1N1 antibodies, characterized the early response to nvH1N1 infection in both hospitalized and mild patients. High systemic levels of type-II interferon (IFN-γ) and also of a group of mediators involved in the development of T-helper 17 (IL-8, IL-9, IL-17, IL-6) and T-helper 1 (TNF-α, IL-15, IL-12p70) responses were exclusively found in hospitalized patients. IL-15, IL-12p70, IL-6 constituted a hallmark of critical illness in our study. A significant inverse association was found between IL-6, IL-8 and PaO2 in critical patients. Conclusions While infection with the nvH1N1 induces a typical innate response in both mild and severe patients, severe disease with respiratory involvement is characterized by early secretion of Th17 and Th1 cytokines usually associated with cell mediated immunity but also commonly linked to the pathogenesis of autoimmune/inflammatory diseases. The exact role of Th1 and Th17 mediators in the evolution of nvH1N1 mild and severe disease merits further investigation as to the detrimental or beneficial role these cytokines play in severe illness

Orthoxenografts of testicular germ cell tumors demonstrate genomic changes associated with cisplatin resistance and identify PDMP as a resensitizing agent

[Purpose] To investigate the genetic basis of cisplatin resistance as efficacy of cisplatin-based chemotherapy in the treatment of distinct malignancies is often hampered by intrinsic or acquired drug resistance of tumor cells.[Experimental Design] We produced 14 orthoxenograft transplanting human nonseminomatous testicular germ cell tumors (TGCT) in mice, keeping the primary tumor features in terms of genotype, phenotype, and sensitivity to cisplatin. Chromosomal and genetic alterations were evaluated in matched cisplatin-sensitive and their counterpart orthoxenografts that developed resistance to cisplatin in nude mice.[Results] Comparative genomic hybridization analyses of four matched orthoxenografts identified recurrent chromosomal rearrangements across cisplatin-resistant tumors in three of them, showing gains at 9q32-q33.1 region. We found a clinical correlation between the presence of 9q32-q33.1 gains in cisplatin-refractory patients and poorer overall survival (OS) in metastatic germ cell tumors. We studied the expression profile of the 60 genes located at that genomic region. POLE3 and AKNA were the only two genes deregulated in resistant tumors harboring the 9q32-q33.1 gain. Moreover, other four genes (GCS, ZNF883, CTR1, and FLJ31713) were deregulated in all five resistant tumors independently of the 9q32-q33.1 amplification. RT-PCRs in tumors and functional analyses in Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) indicate that the influence of 9q32-q33.1 genes in cisplatin resistance can be driven by either up- or downregulation. We focused on glucosylceramide synthase (GCS) to demonstrate that the GCS inhibitor DL-threo-PDMP resensitizes cisplatin-resistant germline-derived orthoxenografts to cisplatin[Conclusions] Orthoxenografts can be used preclinically not only to test the efficiency of drugs but also to identify prognosis markers and gene alterations acting as drivers of the acquired cisplatin resistance.Several authors are grateful recipients of predoctoral fellowships: J.M. Piulats from the AECC and F.J. García-Rodríguez from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII). This study was supported by grants from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (SAF2002-02265 and FIS: BFU2007-67123; PI10-0222, PI13-01339, and PI16/01898, to A. Villanueva; PI15-00895, to J. Ceron; SAF2013-46063R, to F. Vi nals; PI030264, to ~ X. García-del-Muro), Fundacio La Marat o TV3 (051430, to F. Vi nals and X. ~ García-del-Muro), Generalitat de Catalunya (2014SGR364, to A. Villanueva and F. Vinals; FIS09/0059, to A. Morales), cofunded by FEDER funds/ ~ European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) — a way to Build Europe. A. Villanueva received a BAE11/00073 grant. We thank the staff of the Animal Core Facility of IDIBELL for mouse care and maintenance.Peer reviewe

Adaptación a los cambios ambientales y territoriales

En este libro se abordan temáticas que destacan la adaptación de los distintos sectores de población a los cambios ambientales y territoriales, la cual muestra las respuestas a la incidencia de los estímulos del entorno, económico, social y ambiental. Así, se destaca la exposición de la población a los efectos destructivos de las amenazas y peligros naturales, lo que ha despertado interés en conocer sus causas, prevenir y mitigar el daño. A través de la revisión de estudios se induce la aprehensión de un tema que adquiere importancia en el contexto de los impactos globales, regionales y locales que se producen como consecuencia de la vulnerabilidad estructural característica de los países en desarrollo.En este libro se proponen estrategias de prevención ante la ocurrencia periódica de inundación en San Mateo Atenco, Estado de México y se analizan los factores sociales que inciden en el deterioro del bosque templado en San Lorenzo Huitzitzilapan. También se exponen soluciones para que se mejoren la condición del bosque y la calidad de vida de la población.Proyecto realizado con financiamiento de la Secretaría de Educación Pública-Subsecretaría de Educación Superior-Dirección General de Educación Superior Universitaria. Número del convenio con la SEP: 2017-15-001-017

Megaproyectos urbanos y productivos. Impactos socio-territoriales

El desarrollo de megaproyectos productivos trae consigo oportunidades para el crecimiento económico, la generación de empleos y el desarrollo regional. No obstante, en la actualidad, los grandes temas como la expansión urbana, el desarrollo industrial, las cementeras, la minería, el uso intensivo del agua y demás recursos naturales, preocupan a las comunidades por los impactos generados y porque en lo general, no consideran la racionalidad y responsabilidad ambiental y social hacia el entorno. En este contexto son diversos los estudios científicos que, en el marco de la política de económica imperante, intentan posicionarse como alternativas a proyectos económicos que confrontan los intereses particulares y comunitarios y que afectan la salud humana y ambiental. Megaproyectos urbanos y productivos. Impactos socio-territoriales, reúne veinticinco textos académicos sobre las afectaciones que éstos emprendimientos tienen para la sociedad y el entorno. Los temas expuestos recogen experiencias en el desarrollo urbano, industrial, turístico, portuario y aeroportuario, entre otros. Así mismo se retoman temas como la ética, la dialéctica, la política y la economía y su relación en el emprendimiento de megaproyectos. La búsqueda de esquemas productivos racionales y responsables con el entorno, que reivindiquen el derecho de las comunidades a un medio ambiente sano, a la preservación del territorio y sus recursos y de las formas de vida tradicionales, son los referentes para la realización del presente libro. Como elemento central se concibe el territorio como contenedor de identidad y vida, siendo preocupación y tema de estudio de la comunidad académica, las organizaciones de la sociedad civil y las redes de activistas organizados.UAEM, CONACyT, se