La educación para la paz en la transformación del conflicto en ambientes familiares, mediante la aplicación de prácticas restaurativas

El presente trabajo se enfoca al estudio de las prácticas de resolución de conflictos que desarrollan grupos familiares en función de la restauración familiar. De igual forma, se intenta determinar la manera en que estas prácticas contribuyen a mitigar o a intensificar los conflictos que se gestan en el marco de las relaciones familiares, en el supuesto de que no todas las configuraciones familiares cuentan con los recursos que les permitan atender estas situaciones a fin de fortalecer un estado armónico de las interacciones que se producen de manera cotidiana. La investigación se llevó acabo con cuatro familias con características similares en estructura, tipo, número de integrantes, entre otras categorías, a través de un trabajo comparativo de análisis del tipo de prácticas más utilizadas y los efectos en el sistema familiar. El estudio de estas familias se realizó en Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua México. El objetivo principal fue aportar ideas para la discusión de modelos de intervención psicosocial en ambientes familiares, en el marco de las prácticas restaurativas

Nefropatía congénita en Schnauzer miniatura

Un Schnauzer miniatura, macho, de 13 meses de edad, presenta un cuadro de vómitos crónicos con historia clínica de gastritis. El examen físico y las pruebas complementarias permiten diagnosticar un cuadro compatible con la nefropatía familiar del Schnauzer miniatura. Se instauró dieta y tratamiento médico hasta que el animal empeoró a los dos meses y medio

Pharmacogenetics of ugt genes in North African populations

Cytochrome P450 (CYP450), sulfotransferase (SULT), and glucuronidase (UGT) enzymes play roles in the phase I and phase II metabolism of most clinically prescribed drugs. As polymorphisms in these genes may alter enzyme activities, most prescribed drugs will differ in their efficacy and side effects. In prior work, we showed that besides polymorphisms in CYP450, those in SULT and UGT also give rise to different serum levels of some drug metabolites than detected in wild-type carriers of the genes [1]. [...

Relativistically extended Blanchard recurrence relation for hydrogenic matrix elements

General recurrence relations for arbitrary non-diagonal, radial hydrogenic matrix elements are derived in Dirac relativistic quantum mechanics. Our approach is based on a generalization of the second hypervirial method previously employed in the non-relativistic Schr\"odinger case. A relativistic version of the Pasternack-Sternheimer relation is thence obtained in the diagonal (i.e. total angular momentum and parity the same) case, from such relation an expression for the relativistic virial theorem is deduced. To contribute to the utility of the relations, explicit expressions for the radial matrix elements of functions of the form $r^\lambda$ and $\beta r^\lambda$ ---where $\beta$ is a Dirac matrix--- are presented.Comment: 21 pages, to be published in J. Phys. B: At. Mol. Opt. Phys. in Apri

Changes in cannabinoid receptor binding and mRNA levels in several brain regions of aged rats

AbstractWe have recently found that cannabinoid receptor binding and gene expression markedly decreased in extrapyramidal structures of aged rats. The present study was designed to analyze the possible existence of similar aging-induced changes in cannabinoid receptor binding and gene expression in brain regions other than extrapyramidal areas, but that also contain a significant population of cannabinoid receptors, such as the cerebellum, hippocampal structures, limbic and hypothalamic nuclei, the cerebral cortex and others. To this end, we analyzed cannabinoid receptor binding, using autoradiography, and cannabinoid receptor mRNA levels, using in situ hybridization, in slide-mounted brain sections obtained from young (3 month old) and aged (>2 year old) rats. Results were as follows. In the cerebellum, aged rats exhibited a marked decrease in cannabinoid receptor binding in the molecular layer (−33.3%), although accompanied by no changes in mRNA levels in the granular layer. In the cerebral cortex, a small, although statistically significant, decrease in binding was found in the deep layer (VI) (−18.3%) of aged rats, whereas no changes were found in the superficial layer (I). As in the case of the cerebellum, mRNA levels did not change in the cerebral cortex layers (II–III and V–VI). The different regions of the Ammon’s horn of the hippocampus exhibited similar cannabinoid receptor binding levels in aged and young rats. Interestingly, mRNA levels decreased in aged rats to a small, but statistically significant, extent (CA1: −26.1%; CA2: −21.6%; CA3: −14.4%). This was also seen in another hippocampal structure, the dentate gyrus (−14.6%), although in this region binding levels increased in aged rats (+28.4%). Two hypothalamic structures, the arcuate nucleus and the ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus, exhibited decreased cannabinoid receptor binding in aged rats (−31.1% and −30.3%, respectively), but this was not seen in the medial preoptic area. This was accompanied by no changes in mRNA levels in the ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus. In the limbic structures, aged rats exhibited similar binding levels to young rats. This was seen in the nucleus accumbens, septum nuclei and basolateral amygdaloid nucleus. However, mRNA levels slightly decreased in the basolateral amygdaloid nucleus (−13.4%), whereas they were not altered in the septum nuclei. Finally, other brain structures, such as the central gray substance and the brainstem, exhibited similar binding levels in aged and young rats. However, it is important to note that mRNA levels increased significantly (+211.2%) in the brainstem of aged rats, an area where the levels of binding and mRNA were very low in young rats. This marked increase may be related to an increase in the presence of glial elements in this region, as revealed by the increase in the immunoreactivity for glial fibrillary acidic protein observed in the brainstem of aged rats as compared to young animals. In summary, senescence was associated with changes in cannabinoid receptors in the cerebellum, the cerebral cortex, limbic and hypothalamic structures, the hippocampus and other brain regions. However, the changes observed (i) were not as marked and relevant as those early reported in extrapyramidal areas, and (ii) exhibited regional differences that might be attributed to the different roles played by these receptors in each region. Of particular relevance by their magnitude were the aging-induced decrease in binding found in the cerebellum and the hypothalamus, and the increase in mRNA levels observed in the brainstem. The latter might be related to an increase in the presence of glial cells which might contain cannabinoid receptor mRNA

Assessment of the environmental acceptability of potential artificial reef materials using two ecotoxicity tests: Luminescent bacteria and sea urchin embryogenesis

Ecotoxicological analysis of construction products is a relatively unexplored area at international level. Aquatic toxicity tests on construction products has been recommended recently for freshwater environment. However, the biological effects of alternative materials on marine ecosystem are still not considered. In this study, the main aim was to assess the environmental impact of alternative mortars proposed as artificial reefs (ARs) materials. The ARs specimens were developed by 3D printing, based on cement and geopolymer mortars using recycled sands of glass and seashells. For this purpose, a leaching test and two different toxicity bioassays, luminosity reduction of marine bacteria Vibrio fischeri (Microtox®) and the success of embryo-larval development of sea-urchin Paracentrotus lividus, were conducted. From the leaching results it should be noted that the mobility of all trace elements considered in both, raw materials and mortars, meet the inert landfill limits, except As, Mo, Se or Sb in the leachates geopolymer mortars. However, the results obtained from the both bioassays show low environmental acceptability for those mortars containing shell sand, probably due to the degradation of the organic matter adhered to the shells. On the other hand, cement mortars obtain better results than geopolymer mortars, regardless of the aggregate used, showing certain consistency with the leaching behaviour, since they present the lowest mobility of trace chemical elements. Therefore, the results supporting the environmental acceptability of its potential use as alternative materials in the production of ARs.10 página

3D 360° surface morphometric analysis of pounding stone tools used by Hadza foragers of Tanzania: A new methodological approach for studying percussive stone artefacts

Surface morphometry comprises a relevant set of techniques that provide objective tools to identify, map, and understand use wear patterns in stone tools. Thus far, these techniques have been applied mainly to 2D or 2.5D data, but their application to 3D 360° data is promising and still underdeveloped. Here, we apply new 3D techniques to calculate morphometric variables and to analyse surficial features and changes in pounding stone tools used for baobab processing among Hadza foragers of Tanzania. Baobab pounding stones were collected after use by Hadza foragers for processing the plant food and then 3D point clouds were acquired from laser scanners and SfM photogrammetry. Morphometry was conducted directly on 3D point clouds to avoid time-consuming and surface modifications related to more complex 3D data, such as meshing. Several morphometric variables were computed for the complete pieces (360° sphere) providing fast and accurate data to identify the detailed morphometric features of the artefacts. Additionally, stone surface changes due to baobab processing were measured by comparing the stone surface before and after use, thus enabling calculation of spatial abrasion patterns. Data were interpreted using multivariate exploratory statistical analysis. Differences in the effect of processing on surface morphology are likely explained by variations in raw source material and use. Results suggest that the traces produced by baobab processing on stone tools should be detectable in the archaeological record

Electrophysiological effects of extracellular vesicles secreted by cardiosphere-derived cells: Unraveling the antiarrhythmic properties of cell therapies

This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Regenerative Medicine and Tissue Engineering.Although cell-based therapies show potential antiarrhythmic effects that could be mediated by their paracrine action, the mechanisms and the extent of these effects were not deeply explored. We investigated the antiarrhythmic mechanisms of extracellular vesicles secreted by cardiosphere-derived cell extracellular vesicles (CDC-EVs) on the electrophysiological properties and gene expression profile of HL1 cardiomyocytes. HL-1 cultures were primed with CDC-EVs or serum-free medium alone for 48 h, followed by optical mapping and gene expression analysis. In optical mapping recordings, CDC-EVs reduced the activation complexity of the cardiomyocytes by 40%, increased rotor meandering, and reduced rotor curvature, as well as induced an 80% increase in conduction velocity. HL-1 cells primed with CDC-EVs presented higher expression of SCN5A, CACNA1C, and GJA1, coding for proteins involved in INa, ICaL, and Cx43, respectively. Our results suggest that CDC-EVs reduce activation complexity by increasing conduction velocity and modifying rotor dynamics, which could be driven by an increase in expression of SCN5A and CACNA1C genes, respectively. Our results provide new insights into the antiarrhythmic mechanisms of cell therapies, which should be further validated using other models.This research was funded by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Spain: PI16/01123, PI17/01059, Red de Terapia Celular-Tercel-RD16.0011.0029 and CIBERCV-CB16.11.00292

A combination of both proteomic and genetic approach to indentify de-regulated pathway in progeria, an accelerated aging disorder

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Population Genetic Diversity of Quercus ilex subsp. ballota (Desf.) Samp. Reveals Divergence in Recent and Evolutionary Migration Rates in the Spanish Dehesas

The Spanish dehesas have been severely affected by human activities that date to the prehistoric period and have suffered accelerated decline since the 1980s. Holm oak (Quercus ilex subsp. ballota (Desf.) Samp.) is a key component of this system, and its acorns provide an important food source for wildlife and domesticated livestock. Our earlier work showed structured variation in acorn morphology and biochemistry. Here, we used chloroplast and nuclear microsatellites to detect genetic structure among populations of Q. ilex from the major biogeographic regions of Andalusia. We found high levels of spatial differentiation with chloroplast DNA indicating little seed dispersal among populations. Spatial differentiation was weaker for nuclear DNA, presumably as a result of more widespread pollen dispersal and its larger effective population size. The Baetic Cordillera (Cádiz) population consistently appeared well separated from populations of the northern Sierra Morena, suggesting that the Guadalquivir Valley has played an important role in determining population divergence. This may be, in part, evolutionary, as suggested by chloroplast DNA, and, in part, a result of human-induced population isolation, as Q. ilex has been removed from the Guadalquivir Valley. Evolutionary gene flow rates were greater than contemporary rates, which were limited to unidirectional gene flow from Córdoba to other populations in the Sierra Morena and, surprisingly, to the southern population at Almería. The inconsistency between evolutionary and recent migration rates suggests an effect of anthropogenic activity over the last few generations of Q. ilex