Temas Socio-Jurídicos. Volumen 20 No. 43 Diciembre 2002

Con la edición del número 43 de la Revista Temas Socio-Jurídicos se cierra el ciclo de los primeros veinte años, continuos, de labores de este medio académico destinado a divulgar la labor intelectual de docentes y discentes de la Facultad de Derecho de la Universidad Autónoma de Bucaramanga. En medio del convulso e inestable escenario jurídico del país, se pretende contribuir a la construcción de un pensamiento jurídico ligado a la realidad social que plantea desde las distintas vertientes de la opinión tópicos inquietantes para el medio académico, procurando decantamiento y comprensión de los fenómenos al tiempo que propicia la controversía y la libre expresión de los diferentes puntos de vista, en desarrollo de los principios que orientan esta casa de estudios.With the edition of number 43 of the Socio-Legal Issues Magazine, the cycle of the first twenty continuous years of work of this academic environment is closed, aimed at disseminating the intellectual work of teachers and students of the Faculty. of Law of the Autonomous University of Bucaramanga. In the midst of the convulsive and unstable legal scenario in the country, intends to contribute to the construction of a legal thought linked to the social reality that raises from the different slopes of the opinion disturbing topics for the academic environment, seeking decantation and understanding of the phenomena while fostering controversy and the free expression of the different points of view, in development of the principles that guide this house of studies

Planeación, gobernanza y sustentabilidad Retos y desafíos desde el enfoque territorial

Frente a la compleja realidad actual, resulta ineludible el desarrollo de la investigación científica de los fenómenos y procesos urbanos, territoriales y ambientales, que contribuya a su comprensión y la construcción de alternativas de solución a los retos y desafíos vigentes. En este contexto, el abordaje de las ciudades y regiones metropolitanas, el ordenamiento del territorio y la ocupación del espacio, así como la relación sociedad-naturaleza y la complejidad ambiental, precisa la generación de metodologías y procesos de investigación multi e inter disciplinarios que contribuyan a la comprensión de los procesos socioterritoriales, el mejoramiento de las condiciones de vida y la conservación ambiental.Programa de Fortalecimiento de la Calidad Educativa PFCE-2016 proyecto K0313101

Autonomous cortisol secretion in patients with primary aldosteronism: prevalence and implications on cardiometabolic profile and on surgical outcomes

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of autonomous cortisol secretion (ACS) in patients with primary aldosteronism (PA) and its implications on cardiometabolic and surgical outcomes. Methods: This is a retrospective multicenter study of PA patients who underwent 1 mg dexamethasone-suppression test (DST) during diagnostic workup in 21 Spanish tertiary hospitals. ACS was defined as a cortisol post-DST >1.8 μg/dL (confirmed ACS if >5 μg/dL and possible ACS if 1.8–5 μg/dL) in the absence of spe cific clinical features of hypercortisolism. The cardiometabolic profile was compared with a control group with ACS without PA (ACS group) matched for age and DST levels. Results: The prevalence of ACS in the global cohort of patients with PA (n = 176) was 29% (ACS–PA; n = 51). Ten patients had confirmed ACS and 41 possible ACS. The cardiometabolic profile of ACS–PA and PA-only patients was simil ar, except for older age and larger tumor size of the adrenal lesion in the ACS–PA group. When comparing the ACS–PA group (n = 51) and the ACS group (n = 78), the prevalence of hypertension (OR 7.7 (2.64–22.32)) and cardiovascular events (OR 5.0 (2.29–11.07)) was higher in ACS–PA patients than in ACS patients. The coexistence of ACS in patien ts with PA did not affect the surgical outcomes, the proportion of biochemical cure and clinical cure being similar between ACS–PA and PA-only groups. Conclusion: Co-secretion of cortisol and aldosterone affects almost one-thi rd of patients with PA. Its occurrence is more frequent in patients with larger tumors and advanced age. However, the cardiometabolic and surgical outcomes of patients with ACS–PA and PA-only are similar

Treatment with tocilizumab or corticosteroids for COVID-19 patients with hyperinflammatory state: a multicentre cohort study (SAM-COVID-19)

Objectives: The objective of this study was to estimate the association between tocilizumab or corticosteroids and the risk of intubation or death in patients with coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) with a hyperinflammatory state according to clinical and laboratory parameters. Methods: A cohort study was performed in 60 Spanish hospitals including 778 patients with COVID-19 and clinical and laboratory data indicative of a hyperinflammatory state. Treatment was mainly with tocilizumab, an intermediate-high dose of corticosteroids (IHDC), a pulse dose of corticosteroids (PDC), combination therapy, or no treatment. Primary outcome was intubation or death; follow-up was 21 days. Propensity score-adjusted estimations using Cox regression (logistic regression if needed) were calculated. Propensity scores were used as confounders, matching variables and for the inverse probability of treatment weights (IPTWs). Results: In all, 88, 117, 78 and 151 patients treated with tocilizumab, IHDC, PDC, and combination therapy, respectively, were compared with 344 untreated patients. The primary endpoint occurred in 10 (11.4%), 27 (23.1%), 12 (15.4%), 40 (25.6%) and 69 (21.1%), respectively. The IPTW-based hazard ratios (odds ratio for combination therapy) for the primary endpoint were 0.32 (95%CI 0.22-0.47; p < 0.001) for tocilizumab, 0.82 (0.71-1.30; p 0.82) for IHDC, 0.61 (0.43-0.86; p 0.006) for PDC, and 1.17 (0.86-1.58; p 0.30) for combination therapy. Other applications of the propensity score provided similar results, but were not significant for PDC. Tocilizumab was also associated with lower hazard of death alone in IPTW analysis (0.07; 0.02-0.17; p < 0.001). Conclusions: Tocilizumab might be useful in COVID-19 patients with a hyperinflammatory state and should be prioritized for randomized trials in this situatio

VIII Encuentro de Docentes e Investigadores en Historia del Diseño, la Arquitectura y la Ciudad

Acta de congresoLa conmemoración de los cien años de la Reforma Universitaria de 1918 se presentó como una ocasión propicia para debatir el rol de la historia, la teoría y la crítica en la formación y en la práctica profesional de diseñadores, arquitectos y urbanistas. En ese marco el VIII Encuentro de Docentes e Investigadores en Historia del Diseño, la Arquitectura y la Ciudad constituyó un espacio de intercambio y reflexión cuya realización ha sido posible gracias a la colaboración entre Facultades de Arquitectura, Urbanismo y Diseño de la Universidad Nacional y la Facultad de Arquitectura de la Universidad Católica de Córdoba, contando además con la activa participación de mayoría de las Facultades, Centros e Institutos de Historia de la Arquitectura del país y la región. Orientado en su convocatoria tanto a docentes como a estudiantes de Arquitectura y Diseño Industrial de todos los niveles de la FAUD-UNC promovió el debate de ideas a partir de experiencias concretas en instancias tales como mesas temáticas de carácter interdisciplinario, que adoptaron la modalidad de presentación de ponencias, entre otras actividades. En el ámbito de VIII Encuentro, desarrollado en la sede Ciudad Universitaria de Córdoba, se desplegaron numerosas posiciones sobre la enseñanza, la investigación y la formación en historia, teoría y crítica del diseño, la arquitectura y la ciudad; sumándose el aporte realizado a través de sus respectivas conferencias de Ana Clarisa Agüero, Bibiana Cicutti, Fernando Aliata y Alberto Petrina. El conjunto de ponencias que se publican en este Repositorio de la UNC son el resultado de dos intensas jornadas de exposiciones, cuyos contenidos han posibilitado actualizar viejos dilemas y promover nuevos debates. El evento recibió el apoyo de las autoridades de la FAUD-UNC, en especial de la Secretaría de Investigación y de la Biblioteca de nuestra casa, como así también de la Facultad de Arquitectura de la UCC; va para todos ellos un especial agradecimiento

Characterization of two GH5 endoglucanases from termite microbiome using synthetic metagenomics

Here, we characterize two novel GH5 endoglucanases (GH5CelA and GH5CelB) from an uncultured bacterium identified in termite gut microbiomes. Both genes were codon-optimized, synthetized, cloned, and expressed as recombinant proteins in Escherichia coli for subsequent purification. Both enzymes showed activity on the pNPC and barley β-glucan substrates, whereas GH5CelB also showed low activity on carboxymethyl cellulose. The optimum conditions for both enzymes were an acid pH (5) and moderate temperature (35 to 50 °C). The enzymes differed in the kinetic profiles and patterns of the generated hydrolysis products. A structural-based modeling analysis indicated that both enzymes possess a typical (β/α)8-barrel fold characteristic of GH5 family, with some differential features in the active site cleft. Also, GH5CelB presents a putative secondary binding site. Furthermore, adjacent to the active site of GH5CelA and GH5CelB, a whole subdomain rarely found in GH5 family may participate in substrate binding and thermal stability. Therefore, GH5CelA may be a good candidate for the production of cello-oligosaccharides of different degrees of polymerization applicable for feed and food industries, including prebiotics. On the other hand, GH5CelB could be useful in an enzymatic cocktail for the production of lignocellulosic bioethanol, because of the production of glucose as a hydrolysis product.Instituto de BiotecnologíaFil: Ben Guerrero, Emiliano. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Instituto de Biotecnología. Instituto de Agrobiotecnología y Biología Molecular. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Agrobiotecnología y Biología Molecular; ArgentinaFil: Marrero Diaz De Villegas, Ruben. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Instituto de Biotecnología. Instituto de Agrobiotecnología y Biología Molecular. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Agrobiotecnología y Biología Molecular; ArgentinFil: Soria, Marcelo Abel. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Cátedra de Microbiología Agrícola; ArgentinaFil: Santangelo, María De La Paz. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Instituto de Biotecnología. Instituto de Agrobiotecnología y Biología Molecular. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Agrobiotecnología y Biología Molecular; ArgentinaFil: Campos, Eleonora. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Instituto de Biotecnología. Instituto de Agrobiotecnología y Biología Molecular. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Agrobiotecnología y Biología Molecular; ArgentinaFil: Talia, Paola Mónica. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Instituto de Biotecnología. Instituto de Agrobiotecnología y Biología Molecular. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Agrobiotecnología y Biología Molecular; Argentin

TGF-β Prevents Phosphate-Induced Osteogenesis through Inhibition of BMP and Wnt/β-Catenin Pathways

Background: Transforming growth factor-b (TGF-b) is a key cytokine during differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) into vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC). High phosphate induces a phenotypic transformation of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) into osteogenic-like cells. This study was aimed to evaluate signaling pathways involved during VSMC differentiation of MSC in presence or not of high phosphate. Results: Our results showed that TGF-b induced nuclear translocation of Smad3 as well as the expression of vascular smooth muscle markers, such as smooth muscle alpha actin, SM22a, myocardin, and smooth muscle-myosin heavy chain. The addition of high phosphate to MSC promoted nuclear translocation of Smad1/5/8 and the activation of canonical Wnt/bcatenin in addition to an increase in BMP-2 expression, calcium deposition and alkaline phosphatase activity. The administration of TGF-b to MSC treated with high phosphate abolished all these effects by inhibiting canonical Wnt, BMP and TGF-b pathways. A similar outcome was observed in high phosphate-treated cells after the inhibition of canonical Wnt signaling with Dkk-1. Conversely, addition of both Wnt/b-catenin activators CHIR98014 and lithium chloride enhanced the effect of high phosphate on BMP-2, calcium deposition and alkaline phosphatase activity. Conclusions: Full VSMC differentiation induced by TGF-b may not be achieved when extracellular phosphate levels are high. Moreover, TGF-b prevents high phosphate-induced osteogenesis by decreasing the nuclear translocation of Smad 1/5/8 and avoiding the activation of Wnt/b-catenin pathway

Dkk-1 inhibits the high phosphate-induced osteogenic-like characteristics in rat mesenchymal stem cells.

<p>A) Rat mesenchymal cells treated with high phosphate and Dkk-1 were stained for β-catenin immunofluorescence (green) and counterstained with DAPI (blue) to determine β-catenin subcellular localization. Merged images of β-catenin immunofluorescence and DAPI staining are shown. Dkk-1 administration reduced nuclear translocation of β-catenin. Original magnification: 40x. B) BMP-2 mRNA expression in rat mesenchymal stem cells treated with high phosphate and Dkk-1 was determined by RT-PCR (a p<0.001 vs high phosphate treated cells). C) Calcium content and alkaline phosphatase activity (Units/mg protein) in rat mesenchymal stem cells treated with high phosphate and Dkk-1 (a p<0.001 vs high phosphate alone). Image is representative of three experiments.</p

TGF-β administration prevents osteogenic effects induced by high phosphate.

<p>A) High phosphate (P) increased the expression of BMP-2 while TGF-β or the combination of TGF-β plus high phosphate decreased significantly the expression of this osteogenic marker (a p<0.001 vs. all groups). Results are expressed as fold change vs. Control cells. B) High phosphate (P) decreased significantly SM22α and myocardin expression with respect to Control cells (b p<0.01 for SM22α and a p<0.001 for myocardin) and TGF-β group (c p<0.001). The combination of TGF- β and high phosphate (TGF-β + P) decreased the expression of SM22α and Myocardin although less than high phosphate alone (c p <0.001vs. TGF-β group). C) TGF-β alone did not change significantly the alkaline phosphatase activity. This activity increased after high phosphate treatment (a p<0.001 vs. all others groups). The combination of TGF-β and high phosphate for 14 days significantly decreased this activity when compared with high phosphate group. D) Calcium content was significantly increased after high phosphate treatment (a p<0.001 vs other groups). The combination of TGF-β and high phosphate prevented this increase of calcium induced by high phosphate alone.</p

TGF-β induces vascular smooth muscle cells differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells through nuclear translocation of Smad3.

<p>A) Rat mesenchymal cells treated with TGF-β for 14 days were stained for phospho-Smad3 immunofluorescence (red) and counterstained with DAPI (blue) to determine phospho-Smad3 subcellular localization. In TGF-β treated cells, positive phospho-Smad3 immunofluorescence was localized into the nucleus. Original magnification: 40x. B) Vascular smooth muscle actin (VSM-actin, green) was stained and the nuclei were counter-stained with DAPI showing cytoskeleton organization in Control cells and TGF-β treated cells. Original magnification: 20x.C) After 7 and 14 days, TGF-β induced the expression of vascular smooth muscle cells markers such as VSM-actin, SM22α, Myocardin and Myosin heavy chain with respect to control cells (a p<0.001 vs. control cells). Images are representative of three experiments.</p