The Role Of Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids In The Treatment Of Patients With Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome: A Clinical Review

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is defined as the acute onset of noncardiogenic edema and subsequent gas-exchange impairment due to a severe inflammatory process. Recent report on the prognostic value of eicosanoids in patients with ARDS suggests that modulating the inflammatory response through the use of polyunsaturated fatty acids may be a useful strategy for ARDS treatment. The use of enteral diets enriched with eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) has reported promising results, showing an improvement in respiratory variables and haemodynamics. However, the interpretation of the studies is limited by their heterogeneity and methodology and the effect of omega-3 fatty acid-enriched lipid emulsion or enteral diets on patients with ARDS remains unclear. Therefore, the routine use of omega-3 fatty acid-enriched nutrition cannot be recommended and further large, homogeneous, and high-quality clinical trials need to be conducted to clarify the effectiveness of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids

Efectos del secado en punto crítico y secado en terbutanol en el tamaño de levaduras y eritrocitos humanos

One of the most frequently repotted problems when using the scanning electron microscope (SEM) to observe biological samples, is the decrease of the specimen size, a problem which has been associated with the chosen method of drying. In the case of critical drying point (CDP), this reduction is calculated at between 20% and 80% but has still not been calculated for the terbutyl alcohol freezedrying method (TFD). The size of Candida albicans and Phaeonnelornyces werneckii yeasts and processed hurnan erythrocytes were studied by SEM using CDP, TFD and phase-contrast. The cells were washed three times with a phosphate buffer and fixed with 2.5% glutaraldehyde in the same buffer at 4°C for 2 hours. They were processed in duplicate over polycationic membranes of poly-L-lysine, dehydrated and dried using CDP and TFD. They were covered with 200 A of gold and analyzed in the SEM. The real size was obtained in the phase-contrast microscope. The results showed that in spite of the morphological variations presented in the studied cells, there was a shrinking of approximately 34.4% and 21.3% in the size of the eryhrocytes processed by CDP and TFD respectively. The variations of specimen size during the SEM process are discussed.Uno de los problemas más frecuentes observados en muestras biológicas al microscopio de rastreo (SEM) es la disminución de tamaño de los especímenes, lo cual se ha asociado con el método de secado. En el caso de secado en punto crítico (SPC), esta reducción se calcula entre 20 y 80% pero, para el secado en terbutanol (STB) aún no se ha calculado. Se estudió el tamaño de las levaduras de Candida albicans y Phaeoannelomyces werneckii y de eritrocitos humanos procesados para SEM mediante SPC y STB, y contraste de fases. Las células se lavaron tres veces con amortiguador de fosfatos y se fijaron con glutaraldehído al 2,5% en el mismo amortiguador a 4°C por 2h. Se procesaron por duplicado sobre membranas policatiónicas de poli-L-lisina, se deshidrataron y se secaron en SPC y STB; se cubrieron con 200 A de oro y se analizaron al SEM (Hitachi S-570). El tamaño real se obtuvo en el microscopio de contraste de fases. Los resultados mostraron que, a pesar de las variaciones rnorfológicas presentes en las células estudiadas, hubo una disminución del 34,4 y 21,3% aproximadamente en el tamaño de los eritrocitos procesados por SPC y STB, respectivamente. Se discuten las variaciones en el tamaño del espécimen durante el procesamiento para SEM

CALIDAD DE ANÁLISIS RETROSPECTIVO DE ANOMALÍAS CROMOSÓMICAS DE TIPO NUMÉRICAS EN PACIENTES DEL HOSPITAL REGIONAL DE ALTA ESPECIALIDAD DEL NIÑO “DR. RODOLFO NIETO PADRÓN” (2005-2015).L PATRÓN DE CONSUMO ALIMENTARIO EN POBLACIÓN DEL NORESTE DE MÉXICO

Introducción: Las aneuploidías son anomalías cromosómicas más frecuente en el ser humano donde existe una diferencia en el número de par de cromosomas que tiene una célula. Puede haber ganancia o pérdida de cromosomas individuales, el mecanismo más frecuente es la no disyunción donde hay errores en el proceso de generación de gametos. Objetivos: Identificar las anomalías cromosómicas de tipo numéricas más frecuentes en el Hospital Regional de Alta Especialidad del Niño “Dr. Rodolfo Nieto Padrón en un periodo de diez años. Métodos: Estudio retrospectivo descriptivo en 3,291 casos, se utilizó la base de datos y bitácoras del laboratorio de genética del Hospital Regional se analizaron cariotipos de pacientes del 2005 a 2015. Resultados: Del total, 545 casos fueron positivos con aneuploidías y 2,146 negativos, la prevalencia fue mayor en hombres; el grupo de recién nacido presentó la mayor prevalencia de alteraciones cromosómicas de tipo numéricas con 38.7%(hombres) y 31.7% (mujeres); en el grupo de 1 a 3 años, la prevalencia fue de 7.3% (hombres) y 5.7% (mujeres). La mayor prevalencia (35.4%) fue en municipio de Centro, Tabasco; otras entidades federativas como Chiapas, Campeche, Tamaulipas y Mérida con 10.3%. El 2007 fue el año con mayor prevalencia de casos registrados de aneuploidías (79 casos). Las aneuploidías más frecuentes fueron la trisomía 21, monosomía X, trisomía 18, la trisomía 13. Conclusiones: Los programas de educación en salud, suponen un beneficio en la reducción de la prevalencia de aneuploidias cromosómicas al reducir la prevalencia de estas en los últimos diez años.ABSTRACTIntroduction: Aneuploidies are the most common chromosome abnormality in humans with missegregated chromosomes on the daughter cells. Consequently there could be a gain or a loss of individual chromosomes and the alterations in recombination are an important contributor to meiotic non-disjunction with abnormal gametes. Objectives: Identify the most common numerical chromosomal abnormalities over a 10 year study, at the Hospital Regional de Alta Especialidad del Niño “Dr. Rodolfo Nieto Padrón. Methods: A retrospective study of 3,921 cases was made for a ten year period (2005 to 2015) analyzing the  patients karyotypes. Through the usage of the Genetic Lab database and logs at “Hospital Regional de Alta Especialidad del Niño “Dr. Rodolfo Nieto Padrón”. Results: On the whole sample, 545 cases were identified with aneuploidies and 2,146 came out negative. The prevalence was significantly higher in men. The newborn group presented the highest prevalence of numerical chromosomal abnormalities with 38.7% (men) and 31.7% (women); Also the 1-3 years old group, the prevalence was of 7.3% (men) and 5.7% (women). According to the place of origin, the highest prevalence for the identified cases was in Centro municipality, Tabasco 35.4%, as well as other entities like Chiapas, Campeche, Tamaulipas and Mérida with 10.3%. 2007 was the year with the highest prevalence of aneuploidies with 79 identified cases. The most common types of aneuploidy were trisomy of chromosome 21, monosomy X, trisomy 18 and trisomy 13. Conclusions: The health education programs, must represent a benefit by reducing the prevalence of chromosomal aneuploidy for the last 10 yearsPalabras Clave: aneuploidías, anomalía cromosómica, trisomía, aneuploidies, chromosomal abnormalities, trisomy

Effects of transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) on cortical activity: A computational modeling study.

International audienceAlthough it is well-admitted that transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) allows for interacting with brain endogenous rhythms, the exact mechanisms by which externally-applied fields modulate the activity of neurons remain elusive. In this study a novel computational model (a neural mass model including subpopulations of pyramidal cells and inhibitory interneurons mediating synaptic currents with either slow or fast kinetics) of the cerebral cortex was elaborated to investigate the local effects of tDCS on neuronal populations based on an in-vivo experimental study. Model parameters were adjusted to reproduce evoked potentials (EPs) recorded from the somatosensory cortex of the rabbit in response to air-puffs applied on the whiskers. EPs were simulated under control condition (no tDCS) as well as under anodal and cathodal tDCS fields. Results first revealed that a feed-forward inhibition mechanism must be included in the model for accurate simulation of actual EPs (peaks and latencies). Interestingly, results revealed that externally-applied fields are also likely to affect interneurons. Indeed, when interneurons get polarized then the characteristics of simulated EPs become closer to those of real EPs. In particular, under anodal tDCS condition, more realistic EPs could be obtained when pyramidal cells were depolarized and, simultaneously, slow (resp. fast) interneurons became de- (resp. hyper-) polarized. Geometrical characteristics of interneurons might provide some explanations for this effect

Modulation of argon pressure as an option to control transmittance and resistivity of ZnO:Al films deposited by DC magnetron sputtering: on the dark yellow films at 10^-7 Torr base pressures

In a previous paper, we reported that thin films of ZnO:Al [aluminum-zinc oxide (AZO)] deposited after achieving a very low base pressure [from 4.0×10-7 Torr (5.6×10-5 Pa) to 5.7×10-7 Torr (7.6×10-5 Pa)] result dark yellow in color and are resistive. These are undesirable characteristics for the application of AZO thin films as front electrodes in solar cells. However, given the increasingly tendency in the acquisition of equipment that allow us to reach excellent vacuum levels, it is necessary to find the deposition conditions that lead to an improving of transmittance without greatly impacting the electrical properties of materials deposited after achieving these levels of vacuum. In this way, the present work is focused on AZO thin films deposited after achieving a very low base pressure value: 4.2×10-7 Torr (5.6×10-5 Pa). For this, we studied the effect of the variation of the oxygen volume percent in the argon/oxygen mixture (by maintaining the deposition pressure constant) and the effect of deposition pressure with only argon gas on the main properties of AZO thin films. The depositions were done at room temperature on glass substrates by direct-current magnetron sputtering with a power of 120 W (corresponding to a power density of 2.63 W/cm2). As results, we found that the variation of deposition pressure with only argon gas is a good option for the control of optical and electrical properties, since the addition of oxygen, although improves transmittance, greatly impacts on the electrical properties. Furthermore, an interesting correlation was found between the optical and electrical properties and the chemical composition of the AZO films, the latter depending on the argon pressure (for this, a careful X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis was performed). Also, the inverse relationship between crystallinity and deposition rate was confirmed, in which deposition rate inversely depends on argon pressure

Seasonal and Long-Term Variability of the Mixed Layer Depth and its Influence on Ocean Productivity in the Spanish Gulf of Cádiz and Mediterranean Sea

The warming of the surface ocean is expected to increase the stratification of the upper water column. This would decrease the efficiency of the wind-induced mixing, reducing the nutrient supply to the euphotic layer and the productivity of the oceans. Climatic projections show that the Mediterranean Sea will experience a strong warming and salting along the twenty first century. Nevertheless, very few works have found and quantified changes in the water column stratification of the Western Mediterranean. In this work, we obtain time series of Mixed Layer Depth (MLD) along the Spanish Mediterranean waters and the Gulf of Cádiz, using periodic CTD profiles collected under the umbrella of the Ocean Observing system of the Instituto Español de Oceanografía (IEO-CSIC). The length of the time series analyzed is variable, depending on the geographical area, but in some cases these time series extend from the beginning of the 1990s decade. Our results show that at present, no statistically significant changes can be detected. These results are confirmed by the analysis of MLD time series obtained from Argo profilers. Some of the meteorological factors that could affect the water column stratification (wind intensity and precipitation rates) did not experience significant changes for the 1990-2021 period, neither were observed long-term changes in the chlorophyll concentration. The hypothesis proposed to explain this lack of trends, is that the salinity increase of the surface waters has compensated for the warming, and consequently, the density of the upper layer of the Western Mediterranean (WMED) has remained constant. As the wind intensity has not experienced significant trends, the stratification of the Spanish Mediterranean waters and those of the Gulf of Cádiz would have not been affected. Nevertheless, we do not discard that our results are a consequence of the short length of the available time series and the large variance of the variables analyzed, evidencing the importance of the maintenance of the ocean monitoring programs.En prens

Aplicaciones de enmiendas orgánicas y microorganismos para optimizar parámetros del suelo y rendimiento del nogal pecanero

El cultivo de nogal pecanero en el estado de Chihuahua es una actividad en crecimiento. Las zonas donde se cultiva el nogal presentan una serie de problemas, como son falta de agua, alta salinidad y alto contenido de sodio, baja nutrición en los suelos, bajo contenido de materia orgánica, entre otras, lo que provoca una disminución de la producción de nuez pecanera. El objetivo del presente estudio fue evaluar las aplicaciones al suelo de enmiendas cálcicas, orgánicas y microorganismos para los componentes del rendimiento y contenido de macronutrientes en el nogal pecanero. Los factores que se aplicaron y que influyeron en todas las variables de respuesta de los componentes de rendimiento y contenido de macronutrientes son: Ca/CaCO3 75.0 y 147.4 kg ha-1, Hongos Micorrízicos 20.7 y 17.2 kg ha-1, Humus Liquida (Hu_Liq) 750 y 1083.1 L ha-1, Humus Solida (Hu_sol) 1671.2 y 1632.6 kg ha-1. Las variables de respuesta que se evaluaron y fueron las más importantes para los componentes del rendimiento son: porcentaje de nuez comestible, nueces por kilogramo y peso promedio de nuez. Mientras que para el contenido de macronutrientes del suelo en nogal fueron: calcio/porcentaje de saturación de bases, calcio/(potasio+magnesio) y sodio

Fe3O4-Au Core-Shell Nanoparticles as a Multimodal Platform for In Vivo Imaging and Focused Photothermal Therapy

In this study, we report the synthesis of gold-coated iron oxide nanoparticles capped with polyvinylpyrrolidone (Fe@Au NPs). The as-synthesized nanoparticles (NPs) exhibited good stability in aqueous media and excellent features as contrast agents (CA) for both magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and X-ray computed tomography (CT). Additionally, due to the presence of the local surface plasmon resonances of gold, the NPs showed exploitable “light-to-heat” conversion ability in the near-infrared (NIR) region, a key attribute for effective photothermal therapies (PTT). In vitro experiments revealed biocompatibility as well as excellent efficiency in killing glioblastoma cells via PTT. The in vivo nontoxicity of the NPs was demonstrated using zebrafish embryos as an intermediate step between cells and rodent models. To warrant that an effective therapeutic dose was achieved inside the tumor, both intratumoral and intravenous routes were screened in rodent models by MRI and CT. The pharmacokinetics and biodistribution confirmed the multimodal imaging CA capabilities of the Fe@AuNPs and revealed constraints of the intravenous route for tumor targeting, dictating intratumoral administration for therapeutic applications. Finally, Fe@Au NPs were successfully used for an in vivo proof of concept of imaging-guided focused PTT against glioblastoma multiforme in a mouse model.Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness (CTQ2017-86655-R and BIO2017-84246-C2-1-R)Fondo Social de la DGA (grupos DGA) and by the Regional Ministry of Health of Andalusia (OH-0026-2018).Associate Laboratory for Green Chemistry—LAQVApplied Molecular Biosciences Unit –UCIBIOPortuguese national funds from FCT/MCTES (UIDB/04378/2020 and UIDB/50006/2020

IEOOS: the Spanish Institute of Oceanography Observing System

En prens