Anti-inflammatory activity of

The anti-inflammatory activity of the chloroform, methanol and aqueous extracts of Wigandia urens and Acalypha alopecuroides were investigated on carrageenan-induced paw edema at doses of 400 mg/kg. The three extracts of W. urens, and the aqueous extract of A. alopecuroides caused significantinhibition of the edema (58.1±6.5% and 63.5±5.4%, respectively). Indomethacin was used as positive control (8 mg/kg), and inhibited edema by 66.3±5.2%. The methanol extract of W. urens and the aqueous extract of A. alopecuroides, at doses of 200 mg/kg, inhibited pellet implantation-induced granuloma formation by 69.4±6.5 and 70.6±6.6%, respectively. These levels of inhibition are higher than those exhibited by naproxen at doses of 50 mg/kg (46.1±7.1%). Both extracts showed activity on adjuvantinduced arthritis in rats, with the best effect being observed after 96 h (82.2±4.6 and 80.6±7.3%, respectively)

Oxidative Stress in Cystic Fibrosis

Airway infection leads to progressive damage of the lungs in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). Oxidative stress has been implicated as a causative factor in the aetiology of that process. Supplementation with antioxidant micronutrients (vitamin E, vitamin C, ß-carotene and selenium), docosahexaenoic acid or glutathione might therefore be helpful in maintaining an adequate redox balance. Current literature suggests a relationship between oxidative status and lung function. In this chapter we will summarize the main pathways of oxidative stress, focusing on results of new antioxidant treatments

Effects of ketosis on cocaine-induced reinstatement in male mice;

In recent years, the benefits of the ketogenic diet (KD) on different psychiatric disorders have been gaining attention, but the substance abuse field is still unexplored. Some studies have reported that palatable food can modulate the rewarding effects of cocaine, but the negative metabolic consequences rule out the recommendation of using it as a complementary treatment. Thus, the main aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of the KD on cocaine conditioned place preference (CPP) during acquisition, extinction, and reinstatement. 41 OF1 male mice were employed to assess the effects of the KD on a 10 mg/kg cocaine-induced CPP. Animals were divided into three groups: SD, KD, and KD after the Post-Conditioning test. The results revealed that, while access to the KD did not block CPP acquisition, it did significantly reduce the number of sessions required to extinguish the drug-associated memories and it blocked the priming-induced reinstatement. © 2022 The Author(s

Nuevas aplicaciones de la termoluminiscencia a la datación absoluta arte rupestre

En el presente trabajo se describe una nueva metodología ptira la datación por termoluminiscencia (TL) de muestras arqueológicas ricas en carbonato de calcio, que pueden ser datadas si la emisión de TL es tiltrada a través de un til- tro Nevvporl OG-550

Voltage Stability Analysis in Medium-Voltage Distribution Networks Using a Second-Order Cone Approximation

This paper addresses the voltage stability margin calculation in medium-voltage distribution networks in the context of exact mathematical modeling. This margin calculation is performed with a second-order cone (SOCP) reformulation of the classical nonlinear non-convex optimal power flow problems. The main idea around the SOCP approximation is to guarantee the global optimal solution via convex optimization, considering as the objective function the λ-coefficient associated with the maximum possible increment of the load consumption at all the nodes. Different simulation cases are considered in one test feeder, described as follows: (i) the distribution network without penetration of distributed generation; (ii) the distribution network with penetration of distributed generation; and (iii) the distribution grid with capacitive compensation. Numerical results in the test system demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed SOCP approximation to determine the λ-coefficient. In addition, the proposed approximation is compared with nonlinear tools available in the literature. All the simulations are carried out in the MATLAB software with the CVX package and the Gurobi solver

Single-Stranded Condensation Stochastically Blocks G-Quadruplex Assembly in Human Telomeric RNA

"This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, copyright © American Chemical Society after peer review and technical editing by the publisher. To access the final edited and published work see https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jpclett.8b00722."[EN] TERRA is an RNA molecule transcribed from human subtelomeric regions toward chromosome ends potentially involved in regulation of heterochromatin stability, semiconservative replication, and telomerase inhibition, among others. TERRA contains tandem repeats of the sequence GGGUUA, with a strong tendency to fold into a four-stranded arrangement known as a parallel G-quadruplex. Here, we demonstrate by using single-molecule force spectroscopy that this potential is limited by the inherent capacity of RNA to self-associate randomly and further condense into entropically more favorable structures. We stretched RNA constructions with more than four and less than eight hexanucleotide repeats, thus unable to form several G-quadruplexes in tandem, flanked by non-G-rich overhangs of random sequence by optical tweezers on a one by one basis. We found that condensed RNA stochastically blocks G-quadruplex folding pathways with a near 20% probability, a behavior that is not found in DNA analogous molecules.Dedicated to the memory of Alfredo Villasante. The authors thank E. Poyatos-Racionero for auxiliary experiments. I.G. is supported by Fundacion IMDEA Nanociencia and M.G. by a Juan de la Cierva contract (FJCI-2016-28474). This research received grants from the MINECO (MAT2015-71806-R and BFU2017-89707-P). IMDEA Nanociencia acknowledges support from the "Severo Ochoa" Programme for Centres of Excellence in R&D (MINECO, Grant SEV-2016-0686).Gutiérrez, I.; Garavís, M.; De Lorenzo, S.; Villasante, A.; González, C.; Arias-Gonzalez, JR. (2018). Single-Stranded Condensation Stochastically Blocks G-Quadruplex Assembly in Human Telomeric RNA. The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters. 9(10):2498-2503. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpclett.8b00722S2498250391

Psychometric properties of the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale in a large cross-cultural Spanish and Portuguese speaking sample

[EN]Two groups of participants were included: a non-clinical sample involving 31,243 community subjects and a clinical sample comprising 529 patients with a diagnosis of social anxiety disorder (SAD). Exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) were used in order to determine the psychometric properties of the LSAS-SR. EFA identified five factors with eigenvalues greater than 1.00 explaining 50.78% of the cumulative variance. CFA and ESEM supported this 5-factor structure of the LSAS-SR. The factors included: 1) speaking in public; 2) eating/drinking in front of other people; 3) assertive behaviors; 4) working/writing while being observed; and 5) interactions with strangers. Other psychometric properties such as inter-factor correlations, invariance, reliability, and validity of the scale were also foun

A Review of Emerging Technologies and Their Acceptance in Higher Education

The pandemic caused by COVID-19 impacted the entire world, but technological progress led to the appearance of new and innovative emerging technologies (ETs). These technologies proved to have a wide potential for use as support in education, but being a new technology, certain complications arose when it came to their application in the educational model. Nowadays, there are many digital technologies, so it is necessary to identify those that can be used in today’s education. Digital technologies have been implemented in all types of sectors, one of them being education, and the use of these technologies translates into significant improvements in educational processes and learning outcomes. Despite this, there is currently little research on the use of ETs as a support in the academic process. This research uses systematic mapping (SM) of the last 5 years, together with the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model to identify the use and acceptance of ETs in higher education. For the SM, a keyword search string was used in three scientific databases (Scopus, Web of Science, and IEEE Xplore). To apply the UTAUT, a survey was conducted with 120 students on the acceptance of ETs as support in higher education. The results obtained indicate that ETs provide some optimization of educational processes, with greater immersion and application of knowledge when using technologies such as augmented reality, virtual reality, and mobile learning. Likewise, ETs can motivate students, allowing them to reach new academic and professional achievements.This work was financed by the Universidad de Las Américas through project code: TIC.LCC.22.01

Neuroimagen del linfoma primario del sistema nervioso central en pacientes inmunodeprimidos

ResumenObjetivosEl linfoma primario del sistema nervioso central (LPSNC) es una entidad rara con un pronóstico fatal. Dado el aumento en el número de casos con inmunosupresión adquirida, nuestros objetivos son estudiar las características epidemiológicas y neurorradiológicas de aquellos pacientes inmunodeprimidos con diagnóstico de LPSNC con afectación cerebral e investigar si existen diferencias entre los pacientes con el virus de la inmunodeficiencia humana (VIH) positivo y negativo.Materiales y métodosSe realizó un estudio descriptivo y retrospectivo de los pacientes inmunodeprimidos con afectación cerebral por LPSNC, diagnosticados durante los últimos 13 años en 2 hospitales de referencia. Se evaluaron múltiples variables. El nivel de significación estadística utilizado fue p<0,05.ResultadosEl grupo VIH-positivo tenía una media de edad de 36,82±5,4 años, frente a los 55,60 ± 21,43 años de los pacientes VIH-negativo (p<0,022). Los pacientes VIH-positivo tuvieron una media de 1,27 ± 0,65 lesiones por paciente, mientras que en el grupo VIH-negativo fue de 2,60 ± 1,78 (p<0,039). El 18,2% (n=2) del grupo VIH-positivo y el 80% (n=8) del grupo VIH-negativo presentaron lesiones homogéneas (p<0,005). Ningún paciente VIH-positivo tuvo afectación del cuerpo calloso, pero el grupo VIH-negativo presentó un 50% (n=5) de afectación (p<0,012).ConclusionesEl LPSNC en pacientes inmunodeprimidos puede presentar múltiples características en las imágenes. Existen diferencias entre los pacientes VIH positivo y negativo, por lo que es importante reconocerlas para establecer un manejo y tratamiento diferente entre ambos grupos.AbstractPurposesPrimary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL) is a rare tumour with poor prognosis. Due to the increased number of patients with acquired immunodeficiency, our purposes are to describe epidemiological and imaging findings in immunodeficient patients with PCNSL of the brain and to study the differences between HIV-positive and HIV-negative patients with PCNSL.Materials and methodsA retrospective, descriptive study was performed with immunodeficient patients diagnosed of PCNSL of the brain during the last 13 years in two reference hospitals. Twenty-one patients fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Multiple variables were evaluated. Significance was defined as p<0.05.ResultsHIV-positive group was a mean age of 36,82±5,4 years and the mean age in HIV-negative group was 55,60±21,43 years (p<0,022). The mean number of lesions was 1,27±0,65 in HIV-positive group and 2,60±1,78 in HIV-negative group (p<0,039). The lesions were homogeneous in 18,2% (n=2) HIV-positive group and 80% (n=8) in HIV-negative group (p<0,005). No HIV-positive patient and 50% (n=5) of HIV-negative patients showed corpus callosum involvement (p<0,012).ConclusionsPCNSL in immunodeficient patients is associated with a large spectrum of radiological findings. There were differences between HIV-positive and HIV-negative patients, is important recognize these differences as the therapeutic management of these two groups vary