Historia en tiempo presente de la enseñanza e investigación en Ciencias de la Tierra en la Universidad Nacional de Río Negro

El nacimiento de la Geología en la Universidad Nacional de Río Negro es una buena oportunidad para narrar su historia en tiempo presente, dentro del marco del surgimiento de otras universidades argentinas de reciente creación. La creación de una nueva Universidad en el sector norte de la Patagonia es fundamentada académica y científicamente por su fundador en un modelo caracterizado por la injerencia estatal, las acciones de internalización y la supervisión de la generación de conocimientos. La creación de la carrera de Geología se dio mediante la convergencia desde distintos espacios académicos y desde sus inicios se aceptó el desafío de formar profesionales de acuerdo a las premisas pedagógicas modernas que caracterizan al Siglo XXI. Se describen las metodologías empleadas basadas en aprendizaje de fenómenos complementados con la investigación a todos los niveles. La Licenciatura en Geología se inició en 2010, con un plantel docente de edad promedio inferior a los 40 años. En 2016 se crea un instituto de investigación de doble dependencia entre la Universidad Nacional de Río Negro y el CONICET. Sobre esta base se presentan los planes de estudio, la infraestructura actual y los resultados parciales obtenidos

Integrating T-cell epitope annotations with sequence and structural information using DAS

Immunoinformatics is an emerging new field that benefits from computational analyses and tools that facilitate the understanding of the immune system. A large number of immunoinformatics resources such as immune-related databases and analysis software are available through the World Wide Web for the benefit of the research community. However, immunoinformatics developments have sometimes remained isolated from mainstream bioinformatics. Therefore, there is clearly a need for integration, which will empower the exchange of data and annotations within the scientific community in a quick and efficient fashion. Here, we have chosen the Distributed Annotation System (DAS), for integrating in house annotations on experimental and predicted HLA I-restriction elements of CD8 T-cell epitopes with sequence and structural information

Fibrosis in hypertensive heart disease: role of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system

Structural homogeneity of cardiac tissue is governed by mechanical and humoral factors that regulate cell growth, apoptosis, phenotype, and extracellular matrix turnover. ANGII has endocrine, autocrine, and paracrine properties that influence the behavior of cardiac cells and matrix by AT1 receptor binding. Various paradigms have been suggested, including ANGII-mediated up-regulation of collagen types I and III formation and deposition in cardiac conditions, such as HHD. A growing body of evidence, however, deals with the potential role of aldosterone, either local or systemic, in inducing cardiac fibrosis. Aldosterone might also mediate the profibrotic actions of ANGII. To reduce the risk of heart failure that accompanies HHD, its adverse structural remodeling (eg, myocardial hypertrophy and fibrosis) must be targeted for pharmacologic intervention. Cardioprotective agents must reverse not only the exaggerated growth of cardiac cells, but also regress existing abnormalities in fibrillar collagen. Available experimental and clinical data suggest that agents interfering with ACE, the AT1 receptor, or the mineralocorticoid receptor may provide such a cardioprotective effect

Myocardial fibrosis in arterial hypertension

It is now accepted that, in addition to left ventricular hypertrophy, hypertensive heart disease is characterized by alterations in myocardial structure, leading to loss of tissue homogeneity and pathological remodelling. It is time to recognize that, in hypertensive heart disease, it is not only the quantity but also the quality of the myocardium that is responsible for adverse cardiovascular events. The data reviewed here indicate that, in patients with hypertensive heart disease, myocardial fibrosis predisposes to an enhanced risk for diastolic and/or systolic ventricular dysfunction, symptomatic heart failure, ischaemic heart disease and arrhythmias

Respuestas del miocardio al estrés biomecánico

El estrés biomecánico del miocardio hace referencia a la situación que se genera cuando, debido a la hipertensión, la hipoxia u otras formas de daño miocárdico, están aumentadas las demandas de trabajo cardíaco y/o se ha perdido miocardio funcionante. Como consecuencia del estrés biomecánico se producen diversas respuestas que afectan a todas las células miocárdicas, en particular a los cardiomiocitos. El resultado final de las mismas son distintas modificaciones fenotípicas que inicialmente son compensadoras (p. ej., hipertrofia), pero que si persiste el estrés pueden mediar la transición de la hipertrofia a la insuficiencia cardíaca (p. ej., apoptosis y fibrosis). Esta revisión se centra en la descripción de las distintas fases de las respuestas miocárdicas al estrés, así como en la consideración de los hallazgos más recientes sobre los mecanismos moleculares implicados en el desarrollo de insuficiencia cardíaca

Association of increased plasma cardiotrophin-1 with inappropriate left ventricular mass in essential hypertension

Inappropriate left ventricular mass is present when the value of left ventricular mass exceeds individual needs to compensate hemodynamic load imposed by increased blood pressure. The goal of this study was to investigate whether plasma concentration of cardiotrophin-1, a cytokine that induces exaggerated hypertrophy in cardiomyocytes with hypertensive phenotype, is related to inappropriate left ventricular mass in patients with essential hypertension. The study was performed in 118 patients with never-treated hypertension and without prevalent cardiac disease. The left ventricular mass prediction from stroke work (systolic blood pressurexDoppler stroke volume), sex, and height (in meters(2.7)) was derived. An observed left ventricular mass/predicted left ventricular mass value >128% defined inappropriate left ventricular mass. Plasma cardiotrophin-1 was measured by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The studies were repeated in a group of 45 patients after 1 year of antihypertensive treatment. At baseline 67 and 51 patients presented with appropriate and inappropriate left ventricular mass, respectively. Plasma cardiotrophin-1 was higher (P<0.001) in patients with inappropriate mass than in patients with appropriate mass and normotensive controls. A direct correlation was found between cardiotrophin-1 and observed left ventricular mass/predicted left ventricular mass ratio (r=0.330, P<0.001) in all hypertensive patients. After treatment, plasma cardiotrophin-1 decreased and increased in patients in which inappropriate left ventricular mass regressed and persisted, respectively, despite a similar reduction of blood pressure in the 2 subgroups of patients. Albeit descriptive in nature, these results suggest the hypothesis that an excess of cardiotrophin-1 may contribute to inappropriate left ventricular growth in hypertensive patients

Myocardial Response to Biomechanical Stress

Biomechanical stress of the myocardium is the situation resulting from hypoxia, hypertension, and other forms of myocardial injury, that invariably lead to increased demands for cardiac work and/or loss of functional myocardium. As a consequence of biomechanical stress a number of responses develop involving all the myocardial cells, namely cardiomyocytes. As a result some myocardial phenotypic changes develop that are initially compensatory (i.e., hypertrophy) but which may mediate the eventual decline in myocardial function that occurs with the transition from hypertrophy to failure in conditions of persistent stress (i.e., apoptosis and fibrosis). This review focuses on the steps involved in the response of the myocardium to biomechanical stress and highlights the most recent developments in the molecular mechanisms involved in the development of heart failure

Academic literacy for Geology and Paleontology students at an Argentine public university

Fil: Diez, María A. Universidad Nacional de Río Negro. Instituto de Investigación en Paleobiología y Geología; ArgentinaFil: Londoño Vázquez, David A. Institución Universitaria de Envigado. Facultad de Ciencias Sociales; ColombiaFil: Cech, Norma. Universidad Nacional de Río Negro. Instituto de Investigación en Paleobiología y Geología; ArgentinaFil: Diez, María A. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigación en Paleobiología y Geología; ArgentinaFil: Cech, Norma. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigación en Paleobiología y Geología; ArgentinaLa Revista está evaluada como: Qualis: A1 (Letras, 2016)The different levels of initial academic literacy of university students have a direct relationship with performance in their first years of academic training. Based on this statement, these levels were investigated in the students who entered the Bachelor's degrees in Geology and Paleontology in 2018 and 2019 at an Argentine university. An entrance test and an exit test were designed, as well as a review rubric that responded to the objectives of the evaluation. The results obtained were analyzed quantitatively. The activities of summarizing a popular science article in the entrance exams pointed to difficulties in the levels of academic literacy. Comparatively with the output ones, progress was observed in the domain of text comprehension and production; however, they only became significant when the students went through a year of university studies, accompanied by various activities from the Multiple Communication Area.Los diferentes niveles de alfabetización académica inicial de los estudiantes universitarios tienen una relación directa con el desempeño en sus primeros años de formación académica. A partir de esta afirmación se investigaron estos niveles en los estudiantes que ingresaron a las Licenciaturas en Geología y en Paleontología en 2018 y 2019 en una universidad argentina. Se diseñó una prueba de entrada y otra de salida, así como una rúbrica de revisión que respondía a los objetivos de la evaluación. Los resultados obtenidos se analizaron cuantitativamente. Las actividades de resumen de un artículo de divulgación científica en las pruebas de entrada señalaron dificultades en los niveles de alfabetización académica. Comparativamente con las de salida se observaron avances en el dominio de la comprensión y producción textual; sin embargo, recién se vuelven significativos cuando los estudiantes transitaron un año de estudios universitarios, acompañados en varias actividades desde el Área de Comunicación Múltiple