Asociaciones entre las coberturas del suelo y las comunidades de aves en las Sierras Chicas de Córdoba (Argentina)

Las actividades humanas han afectado en gran medida la cobertura de los territorios en todo el planeta. En las Sierras Chicas de Córdoba, Argentina, estas actividades han generado un complejo mosaico de coberturas vegetales, donde comunidades naturales en distinto grado de conservación, como bosques y matorrales nativos, coexisten con coberturas más afectadas, como campos agrícolas y zonas urbanas. El objetivo de este estudio fue analizar las asociaciones entre las comunidades de aves y las siguientes categorías de uso del suelo: bosque nativo, bosque exótico, matorral, pastizal, cultivos, riparios y urbanos. En total se registraron 157 especies de aves,pertenecientes a 19 órdenes y 38 familias. El orden con mayor número de especies fue Passeriformes, con 92 especies. La categoría de uso del suelo que presentó un mayor número de especies fueron los matorrales (81 especies), seguidos por los bosques (64 especies). La categoría urbana presentó un número relativamente alto de especies, con 53; mientras que la categoría con menor número de especies fue el bosque exótico, con 22. El análisis multivariado mostró que elefecto antrópico y la cobertura arbórea fueron las principales variables que explican la composición de especies de aves. Es de destacar que los ambientes urbanos fueron relativamente similares a los bosques nativos en su composición de especies. El área de estudio presentó una muy alta riqueza de especies y la heterogeneidad ambiental fue responsable de este patrón. Es importante la preservación de ambientes naturales, como bosques nativos y matorrales, ya que acogen una gran parte de la riqueza la región. Es necesario el control de la invasión por especies de plantas exóticas, particularmente Ligustrum lucidum ya que el bosque exótico es la categoría de uso del suelo más pobre en especies y en mayor expansión territorial.Fil: Gurvich, Diego Ezequiel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; ArgentinaFil: Federico Villegas. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; Argentin

Progesterone prevents impairment of cognitive, affective and motor events in a reserpine model of parkinsonism in male rats

Parkinson’s is a common neurodegenerative disorder, second only to Alzheimer´s disease.It has been the object of growing interest since its frequency tends to augment as life expectancyhas increased globally considered. In this work, we study the eventual neuroprotective effect ofProgesterone (P4) injected a few days before establishing a Reserpine (R) model of Parkinsonism inadult male rats. We focused on cognitive (Novel Object Recognition test; NOR), affective (ForcedSwimming Task; FST) and motor (Catalepsy Test; CT) outputs. We performed the appropriate testsalong with the administration for two weeks of low doses of R. Our results show very clearly thatP4 prevents the impairment of several tasks regarding the deleterious effects of R, without affectingnegatively other areas of the subject behavior. In total accordance with current information, weshow here that P4 -in particular- and neuroactive steroids -in general- are promising molecules todelay diverse manifestations of neurotransmitters depletion.Fil: Yunes, Roberto Miguel Federico. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Medicina y Biología Experimental de Cuyo; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas. Cátedra de Farmacología; ArgentinaFil: Bregonzio Diaz, Claudia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Farmacología Experimental de Córdoba. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Instituto de Farmacología Experimental de Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Villegas, Vanina Anabel. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas. Cátedra de Farmacología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Medicina y Biología Experimental de Cuyo; ArgentinaFil: Mulle Bernedo, María Belén. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Medicina y Biología Experimental de Cuyo; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas. Cátedra de Farmacología; ArgentinaFil: Cabrera Kreiker, Ricardo Jorge. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Medicina y Biología Experimental de Cuyo; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas. Cátedra de Farmacología; Argentin

Progesterone prevents impairment of cognitive, affective and motor events in a reserpine model of parkinsonism in male rats

Parkinson’s is a common neurodegenerative disorder, second only to Alzheimer´s disease.It has been the object of growing interest since its frequency tends to augment as life expectancyhas increased globally considered. In this work, we study the eventual neuroprotective effect ofProgesterone (P4) injected a few days before establishing a Reserpine (R) model of Parkinsonism inadult male rats. We focused on cognitive (Novel Object Recognition test; NOR), affective (ForcedSwimming Task; FST) and motor (Catalepsy Test; CT) outputs. We performed the appropriate testsalong with the administration for two weeks of low doses of R. Our results show very clearly thatP4 prevents the impairment of several tasks regarding the deleterious effects of R, without affectingnegatively other areas of the subject behavior. In total accordance with current information, weshow here that P4 -in particular- and neuroactive steroids -in general- are promising molecules todelay diverse manifestations of neurotransmitters depletion.Fil: Yunes, Roberto Miguel Federico. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Medicina y Biología Experimental de Cuyo; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas. Cátedra de Farmacología; ArgentinaFil: Bregonzio Diaz, Claudia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Farmacología Experimental de Córdoba. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Instituto de Farmacología Experimental de Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Villegas, Vanina Anabel. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas. Cátedra de Farmacología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Medicina y Biología Experimental de Cuyo; ArgentinaFil: Mulle Bernedo, María Belén. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Medicina y Biología Experimental de Cuyo; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas. Cátedra de Farmacología; ArgentinaFil: Cabrera Kreiker, Ricardo Jorge. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Medicina y Biología Experimental de Cuyo; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas. Cátedra de Farmacología; Argentin

On positivity of Ehrhart polynomials

Ehrhart discovered that the function that counts the number of lattice points in dilations of an integral polytope is a polynomial. We call the coefficients of this polynomial Ehrhart coefficients, and say a polytope is Ehrhart positive if all Ehrhart coefficients are positive (which is not true for all integral polytopes). The main purpose of this article is to survey interesting families of polytopes that are known to be Ehrhart positive and discuss the reasons from which their Ehrhart positivity follows. We also include examples of polytopes that have negative Ehrhart coefficients and polytopes that are conjectured to be Ehrhart positive, as well as pose a few relevant questions.Comment: 40 pages, 7 figures. To appear in in Recent Trends in Algebraic Combinatorics, a volume of the Association for Women in Mathematics Series, Springer International Publishin

Consumption of a High Quantity and a Wide Variety of Vegetables Are Predicted by Different Food Choice Motives in Older Adults from France, Italy and the UK.

BACKGROUND: Consumption of a high quantity and wide variety of vegetables is currently recommended for health. Dietary variety can be low, however, particularly for older adults. This study investigated the affective factors associated with the quantity and variety of vegetables consumed by older adults in France, Italy and the UK. METHODS: Adults aged 65 years plus completed questionnaires on self-reported vegetable intake (quantity and variety), liking for vegetables, attitudes towards intake, and demographic variables. RESULTS: In 497 older adults (France, n = 187, Italy, n = 152, UK, n = 158), higher quantities of vegetables consumed were associated with a higher age, affluence score and liking for vegetables, and a lower importance in consumption of familiarity (smallest β = 0.11, p = 0.03). Greater variety was associated with a higher liking and importance of health benefits, and a lower importance of familiarity (smallest β = -0.11, p < 0.01). Higher quantity and variety combined (quantity × variety) was associated with a higher age, liking and importance of health benefits, and a lower importance of familiarity (smallest β = 0.14, p = 0.02). Country-specific effects were also found (smallest β = 0.20, p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: These findings demonstrate a role for liking and a lower concern for eating familiar foods in vegetable consumption, and a particular role for concern for health benefits in the consumption of a greater variety of vegetables

Factorial and Economic Evaluation of an Aqueous Two-Phase Partitioning Pilot Plant for Invertase Recovery From Spent Brewery Yeast

Aqueous two-phase systems (ATPS) have been reported as an attractive biocompatible extraction system for recovery and purification of biological products. In this work, the implementation, characterization, and optimization (operational and economic) of invertase extraction from spent brewery yeast in a semi-automatized pilot plant using ATPS is reported. Gentian violet was used as tracer for the selection of phase composition through phase entrainment minimization. Yeast suspension was chosen as a complex cell matrix model for the recovery of the industrial relevant enzyme invertase. Flow rates of phases did not have an effect, given that a bottom continuous phase is given, while load of sample and number of agitators improved the recovery of the enzyme. The best combination of factors reached a recovery of 129.35 ± 2.76% and a purification factor of 4.98 ± 1.10 in the bottom phase of a PEG-Phosphate system, also resulting in the removal of inhibitor molecules increasing invertase activity as reported by several other authors. Then, an economic analysis was performed to study the production cost of invertase analyzing only the significant parameters for production. Results indicate that the parameters being analyzed only affect the production cost per enzymatic unit, while variations in the cost per batch are not significant. Moreover, only the sample load is significant, which, combined with operational optimization results, gives the same optimal result for operation, maximizing recovery yield (15% of sample load and 1 static mixer). Overall res ults of these case studies show continuous pilot-scale ATPS as a viable and reproducible extraction/purification system for high added-value biological compounds

Search of somatic GATA4 and NKX2.5 gene mutations in sporadic septal heart defects

Q3Q1Reporte de caso306-309High prevalence of somatic mutations in the cardiac transcription factor genes NKX2.5 and GATA4 have been reported in the affected cardiovascular tissue of patients with isolated cardiac septal defects, suggesting a role of somatic mutations in the pathogenesis of these congenital heart defects (CHDs). However, all somatic mutations have been identified in DNA extracted from an archive of formalin-fixed cardiac tissues. In the present study, to address the hypothesis that somatic mutations are important in isolated CHDs, we analyzed the GATA4 and NKX2.5 genes in the fresh-frozen pathologic cardiac tissue specimen and corresponding non-diseased tissue obtained from a series of 62 CHD patients, including 35 patients with cardiac septal defects and 27 with other cardiac anomalies. We identified one variant and two common polymorphisms in the NKX2.5 gene, and six variants and two common polymorphisms in the GATA4 gene. All identified variants were seen in both the fresh-frozen pathologic cardiac tissue and the corresponding non-diseased tissue, which indicates that they all were constitutional variants. The present study has identified NKX2.5 and GATA4 constitutional variants in our CHD cohort, but was unable to replicate the previously published findings of high prevalence of somatically derived sequence mutations in patients with cardiac septal defects using fresh-frozen cardiac tissues rather than formalin-fixed tissues. (C) 2011 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved

Study of MTHFR C677T polymorphism in neonates with isolated congenital heart disease in a Colombian population

Introducción: El estudio del papel de polimorfismos en genes de las vías metabólicas de la homocisteína-metionina y el ácido fólico en anomalías congénitas, es cada vez más importante debido a que sus efectos podrían ser modulados.Objetivo: Determinar si la presencia del polimorfismo C677T en el gen de la metilentetrahidrofolato reductasa (MTHFR) se asocia con el desarrollo de cardiopatías congénitas aisladas.Métodos: Se compararon las frecuencias alélicas y genotípicas del polimorfismo en 34 recién nacidos con cardiopatías congénitas aisladas y en 102 individuos sanos. La genotipificación se hizo mediante la reacción en cadena de la polimerasa (PCR) y se determinó el genotipo por medio de la técnica de polimorfismo de longitud de los fragmentos de restricción (RFLP).Resultados: No se encontraron diferencias estadísticamente significativas en las frecuencias alélicas ni genotípicas entre los grupos de casos y controles. Sin embargo, se observó una tendencia estadística para un posible efecto protector del genotipo TT.Artículo original269-277The research of the role of gene polymorphisms in the metabolic pathways of homocysteine-me-thionine and folic acid in congenital malformations is very important because its effect could be modulated. Objetive: The aim of this study was to determine whether the C677T polymorphism in the gene of the enzyme methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (NÍTHFR) was associated with the development of isolated congenital heart disease. Methodology: We compared the allele and genotype frequencies of this polymorphism in 34 infants with isolated congenital heart defects and 102 healthy individuals. Genotyping was performed by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and with the technique Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP). Results: There were no statistically significant differences in allele or genotype frequencies between case and control groups. Although our results show no statistically significant differences between the groups assessed there was a statistical trend for a possible protective effect of TT genotype against the development of congenital heart disease

Tear and aqueous humour cytokine profile in primary open‐angle glaucoma

Purpose: To evaluate the concentrations of pro‐inflammatory cytokines in tear and aqueous humour of patients with primary open‐angle glaucoma (POAG), relative to healthy controls. Method: Tear and aqueous humour samples were collected from 29 healthy controls and 27 POAG patients. Twenty‐seven inflammatory cytokines were analysed: interleukin (IL)‐1β, IL‐1ra, IL‐2, IL‐4, IL‐5, IL‐6, IL‐7, IL‐8, IL9, IL‐10, IL‐12, IL‐13, IL‐15, IL‐17, eotaxin, fibroblast growth factor (FGF) basic, granulocyte colony‐stimulating factor, granulocyte‐monocyte colony‐stimulating factor, interferon (IFN)‐γ, interferon gamma‐induced protein, monocyte chemo‐attractant protein‐1, macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)‐1α, MIP‐1β, platelet‐derived growth factor, regulated on activation normal T cell expressed and secreted, tumour necrosis factor (TNF)‐α and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Results: In tear samples of glaucoma patients, an increase in IL‐4, IL‐12, IL‐15, FGF‐basic and VEGF was observed, as well as a decrease in MIP‐1a relative to the control group (p < 0.05). IL‐5, IL‐12, IL‐15, IFN‐γ and MIP‐1a were significantly higher in aqueous humour of glaucoma eyes (p < 0.05). A poor correlation between cytokine levels in tear and aqueous humour was observed. Conclusion: The different profiles of inflammatory marker expression of patients with POAG and healthy controls confirm the inflammatory activity of the pathology, indicating that some of them could be used as potential biomarkers of this disease

Resistencia a antimicrobianos de bacilos Gram negativos aislados en unidades de cuidado intensivo en hospitales de Colombia, WHONET 2003, 2004 y 2005

Introduction. Surveillance systems play a key role in the detection and control of bacterial resistance. It is necessary to constantly collect information from all institutions because the mechanisms of bacterial resistance can operate in different ways between countries, cities and even in hospitals in the same area. Therefore local information is important in order to learnabout bacterial behaviour and design appropriate interventions for each institution. Between January 2003 and December 2004, the Centro Internacional de Entrenamiento e Investigaciones Médicas (CIDEIM) developed a surveillance project in 10 tertiary hospitals in 6 cities of Colombia.Objectives. Describe the trends of antibiotic resistance among the isolates of Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomona aeruginosa, Acinetobacter baumannii and Enterobacter cloacae, five of the most prevalent nosocomial Gram negative pathogens.Materials and Methods: The susceptibility tests were performed by automated methods in 9 hospitals and by Kirby Bauer in 1 hospital. Antibiotics with known activity against Gram negatives,according to the Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute guidelines, were selected. The laboratories performed internal and external quality controls. During the study period, the information was downloaded monthly from the databases of each microbiology laboratory and sent to CIDEIM where it was centralized in a database using the system WHONET 5.3. Results. The high resistance rates reported especially for A. baumannii, evidenced the presence of multidrug resistant bacteria in both ICUs and wards at every studied institution. Conclusions. The creation of a national surveillance network to improve our capabilities to detect, follow up, and control the antibiotic resistance in Colombia is urgently needed.Introducción. Los sistemas de vigilancia son una pieza clave para la detección y control de la resistencia bacteriana. Es indispensable recolectar constantemente la información de cada institución por la variabilidad existente entre países, ciudades y hospitales frente a los mecanismos de resistencia bacteriana y así plantear intervenciones apropiadas para cada institución. De enero 2003 a diciembre de 2005, el Centro Internacional de Entrenamiento e Investigaciones Médicas (CIDEIM) desarrolló un proyecto de vigilancia en un grupo de 10 hospitales de tercer nivel, en seis ciudades de Colombia.Objetivos. Presentar el comportamiento de Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Acinetobacter baumannii y Enterobacter cloacae, considerados los Gram negativos patógenos más relevantes en infección nosocomial, frente a antimicrobianos seleccionados.Materiales y métodos. Las pruebas de susceptibilidad se realizaron por métodos automatizados en 9 hospitales y por Kirby Bauer en un hospital. Se eligieron antibióticos con actividad reconocida contra Gram negativos, de acuerdo con las guías del Comité Nacional para el Control de Estándares en el Laboratorio Clínico (NCCLS). Los laboratorios realizaron control de calidad interno y externo. Mensualmente se recibió la información procedente del laboratorio de microbiología de cada institución y se centralizó en una base de datos en WHONET 5.3 en CIDEIM. Se realizó un análisis conglomerado de frecuencias y porcentajes de resistencia a antibióticos.Resultados. Los altos porcentajes de resistencia reportados en especial para A. baumannii, corroboraron la presencia de bacterias multirresistentes en las UCI en las instituciones participantes durante el periodo de estudio. Conclusiones. Es urgente crear una red nacional de vigilancia de la resistencia a antimicrobianos de los patógenos hospitalarios y de esta manera mejorar nuestra habilidad para detectar, supervisar y manejar la resistencia a antimicrobianos en Colombia