African women and higger education: Educational policies favorable to gender equality in sub-saharan Africa

The late twentieth century was marked by the beginning of a significant and sustained effort on gender equality. This effort has increased in this century and Africa has not remained oblivious. Specifically, in educational area, the effort has been particularly significant during the last decade, although insufficient. Among the steps that have been made, the development of norms and specific programs to promote the access of women to education, including universities, stands out. Equally relevant is the work developed by African women researchers and activists, who provide useful data to policies promoting gender equality and open new lines of research at the service of the most vulnerable groups. The work of various social organizations in girls' and young women access to education is added to this task. Despite these initiatives, the truth is that parity remains to be a dream, especially at higher education. Both the students and the teachers in sub-saharian universities continue to be predominantly male. Achieving gender equality in Africa requires urgently the increase of public funding and active policies committed to women's access to higher education.El final del siglo XX se caracterizó por el comienzo de un esfuerzo importante y sostenido en materia de igualdad de género, esfuerzo que se ha incrementado en el siglo XXI, no permaneciendo el continente africano ajeno a éste. Concretamente, en materia educativa, el empeño ha sido especialmente significativo durante la última década aunque insuficiente. Entre los pasos que se han realizado destaca el desarrollo de normativas y programas específicos destinados a favorecer el acceso de las mujeres a la educación, incluidas las universidades. Igualmente relevante es el trabajo que desarrollan investigadoras y activistas africanas, proporcionando datos útiles para las políticas favorables a la igualdad de género y abriendo nuevas líneas de investigación al servicio de los grupos más vulnerables. Se suma a este trabajo, la labor de diversas organizaciones sociales en el acceso de las niñas y jóvenes a la educación. A pesar de las iniciativas realizadas, lo cierto es que la paridad continua siendo un sueño en todos los niveles educativos africanos, incluido el nivel superior, objeto del presente trabajo. Tanto el alumnado como el profesorado de las universidades subsaharianas continúan siendo mayoritariamente masculino. Lograr la igualdad de género en el continente requiere urgentemente del aumento de la financiación pública y de políticas activas comprometidas con el acceso de las mujeres a los estudios superiore

Role of CA2+/calmodulin on ethanol neurobehavioral effects

Rationale. The cAMP-dependent protein kinase A (PKA) signaling transduction pathway has been shown to play an important role in the modulation of several ethanol-induced behaviors. Different studies have demonstrated intracellular calcium (Ca2+)-dependent activation of the PKA cascade after ethanol administration. Thus, the cAMP cascade mediator Ca2+-dependent calmodulin (CaM) has been strongly implicated in the central effects of ethanol. Objectives. In this study, we assessed the role of the CaM inhibitor W7 on ethanol-induced stimulation, ethanol intake, and ethanol-induced activation of PKA. Methods. Swiss mice were pretreated with W7 (0–10 mg/kg) 30 min before ethanol (0–3.75 g/kg) administration. Immediately, animals were placed during 20 min in an open-field chamber. Ethanol (10 %, v/v) intake in 2 h was assessed using a limited access paradigm. Experiments with caffeine (0–15 mg/kg), cocaine (0–4 mg/kg), and saccharine (0.1 %, w/v) were designed to compare their results to those obtained with ethanol. Western blot was assayed 45 min after ethanol administration. Results. Results showed that pretreatment with W7, reduced selectively in a dose-dependent fashion ethanol-induced locomotor stimulation and ethanol intake. The ethanol-induced activation of PKA was also prevented by W7 administration. Conclusions. These results demonstrate that CaM inhibition resulted in a selective reduction of ethanol-stimulating effects and ethanol intake. The PKA activation induced by ethanol was blocked after the CaM blockade with W7. These results provide further evidence of the key role of cellular Ca2+-dependent pathways on the central effects of ethanol

Reduction in Central H2O2 Levels Prevents Voluntary Ethanol Intake in Mice: A Role for the Brain Catalase- H2O2 System in Alcohol Binge Drinking

Background: Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is the cosubstrate used by the enzyme catalase to form Compound I (the catalase-H2O2 system), which is the major pathway for the conversion of ethanol (EtOH) into acetaldehyde in the brain. This centrally formed acetaldehyde has been shown to be involved in some of the psychopharmacological eðects induced by EtOH in rodents, including volun- tary alcohol intake. It has been observed that diðerent levels of this enzyme in the central nervous sys- tem (CNS) result in variations in the amount of EtOH consumed. This has been interpreted to mean that the brain catalase-H2O2 system, by determining EtOH metabolism, mediates alcohol self-adminis- tration. To date, however, the role of H2O2 in voluntary EtOH drinking has not been investigated. Methods: In the present study, we explored the consequence of a reduction in cerebral H2O2 levels in volitional EtOH ingestion. With this end in mind, we injected mice of the C57BL/6J strain intraperito- neally with the H2O2 scavengers alpha-lipoic acid (LA; 0 to 50 mg/kg) or ebselen (Ebs; 0 to 25 mg/kg) 15 or 60 minutes, respectively, prior to oðering them an EtOH (10%) solution following a drinking- in-the-dark procedure. The same procedure was followed to assess the selectivity of these compounds in altering EtOH intake by presenting mice with a (0.1%) solution of saccharin. In addition, we indirectly tested the ability of LA and Ebs to reduce brain H2O2 availability. Results: The results showed that both LA and Ebs dose-dependently reduced voluntary EtOH intake, without altering saccharin consumption. Moreover, we demonstrated that these treatments decreased the central H2O2 levels available to catalase. Conclusions: Therefore, we propose that the amount of H2O2 present in the CNS, by determining brain acetaldehyde formation by the catalase-H2O2 system, could be a factor that determines an ani- mal’s propensity to consume EtOH

The Effect of Acanthocardia tuberculata Shell Powder as Filler on the Performance of Self-Compacting Mortar

In this research, the feasibility of using Acanthocardia tuberculata shell waste from the canning industry in the manufacturing of self-compacting mortar (SCM) was tested. The seashells were finely ground to be used as filler instead of the limestone filler normally used in this type of SCM. First, a physicochemical and microstructural characterisation of all raw materials was carried out, including the particle size distribution of both fillers. Subsequently, the self-compactability properties in the fresh state of SCM were evaluated using a total substitution by volume of limestone filler for seashell powder, using different self-compactiblity parameters. The mineralogical phases of all the SCM tested were identified once hardened by means of X-ray diffraction technique, thermogravimetric and differential thermal analysis. In addition, the mechanical properties, water absorption capacity, dry bulk density and accessible porosity of water of hardened mortars at 28 days of curing were analysed. The effect of replacing limestone filler by Acanthocardia tuberculata filler resulted in a decrease in compressive strength of 29.43, 16.84 and 2.29%, respectively. The results indicate that it is possible to completely replace natural limestone filler with Acanthocardia tuberculata shell filler without significantly affecting the mechanical properties of SCM

Carbon Emission Evaluation of CO2 Curing in Vibro-Compacted Precast Concrete Made with Recycled Aggregates

The objective of the present study was to explore three types of vibro-compacted precast concrete mixtures replacing fine and coarse gravel with a recycled/mixed concrete aggregate (RCA or MCA). The portlandite phase found in RCA and MCA by XRD is a “potential” CO2 sink. CO2 curing improved the compressive strength in all the mixtures studied. One tonne of the mixtures studied could be decarbonised after only 7 days of curing 13,604, 36,077 and 24,635 m3 of air using natural aggregates, RCA or MCA, respectively. The compressive strength obtained, XRD, TGA/DTA and carbon emission evaluation showed that curing longer than 7 days in CO2 was pointless. The total CO2 emissions by a mixture using CO2 curing at 7 days were 221.26, 204.38 and 210.05 kg CO2 eq/m3 air using natural aggregates, RCA or MCA, respectively. The findings of this study provide a valuable contribution to carbon emission evaluation of CO2 curing in vibro-compacted precast concrete with recycled/mixed concrete aggregates (RCA or MCA). The technology proposed in this research facilitates carbon capture and use and guarantees enhanced compressive strength of the concrete samples

An Automatic Quantification and Registration Strategy to Create a Gene Expression Atlas of Zebrafish Embryogenesis

In order to properly understand and model the gene regulatory networks in animals development, it is crucial to obtain detailed measurements, both in time and space, about their gene expression domains. In this paper, we propose a complete computational framework to fulfill this task and create a 3D Atlas of the early zebrafish embryogenesis annotated with both the cellular localizations and the level of expression of different genes at different developmental stages. The strategy to construct such an Atlas is described here with the expression pattern of 5 different genes at 6 hours of development post fertilization

New Structured Materials in the Study of the Mechanobiological Processes Related to the Heart Failure

Cardiovascular diseases are the number one of death globally. According to the World Health organization 17.7 million people died from cardiovascular diseases in 2015, representing 31% of all global deaths. In these diseases the cardiac homeostasis is disrupted by a non-appropriate myocardium remodelling. The cardiac extracellular matrix (ECM) provides not only the biochemical environment but also a natural scaffold surrounding and connecting cardiac cells and distributing mechanical forces throughout the organ. Thus, the properties of the ECM are essential for the maintenance of the functional myocardium. Alterations in cardiac ECM structure associated with heart failure influence cell-matrix and cell-cell adhesions modifying cell shape and mechanotransduction. The need to understand the cardiac ECM remodelling mechanisms that allow us to identify new therapeutic targets lead us to create biomimetic scaffolds which emulate the structure, topography, mechanics and chemical composition of ECM. Here, we present the development of modulable materials for the manufacturing, by using photopolymerizable materials, of structured hydrogels with myocardium properties of stiffness and elastic modulus in physiological and pathological conditions

Iterative determination of clinical beam phase space from dose measurements

Monte Carlo (MC) method can accurately compute the dose produced by medical linear accelerators. However, these calculations require a reliable description of the electron and/or photon beams delivering the dose, the phase space (PHSP), which is not usually available. A method to derive a phase space model from reference measurements that does not heavily rely on a detailed model of the accelerator head is presented. The iterative optimization process extracts the characteristics of the particle beams which best explains the reference dose measurements in water and air, given a set of constrain

Gestión educativa y desempeño docente en instituciones educativas inclusivas de primaria

El estudio tuvo como objetivo central establecer la relación que existe entre la gestión educativa y el desempeño docente en instituciones educativas públicas inclusivas del nivel primaria de la Red 14, Ugel 05 de Lima Metropolitana. La investigación fue de tipo básica, la población estudiada fueron docentes y la muestra estuvo representada por 126, la cual fue no probabilística intencional; siendo el diseño abordado no experimental, nivel correlacional. Para el recojo de datos se utilizó la técnica de la encuesta y como instrumentos un cuestionario para cada variable, cada uno conteniendo 30 items, con sus respectivas validaciones de contenido a través de juicios de experto y confiablilidad a través de Alpha de cronbach Estos instrumentos brindaron información importante las cuales fueron procesadas con el programa estadístico SPSS. A la conclusión que se arribó, fue que la gestión educativa se relaciona significativamente con el desempeño docente en las instituciones educativas inclusivas en las cuales se desarrolló el estudio; siendo relevante, puesto que en un contexto de implementación de políticas, que tienden a potenciar y fortalecer las capacidades de la gestión educativa de muchos directivos de escuelas inclusivas, se demostró que, efectivamente tuvo repercusiones en la mejora del desempeño laboral de los docentes

SALMANTICOR study. Rationale and design of a population-based study to identify structural heart disease abnormalities: a spatial and machine learning analysis

[EN]Introduction: This study aims to obtain data on the prevalence and incidence of structural heart disease in a population setting and, to analyse and present those data on the application of spatial and machine learning methods that, although known to geography and statistics, need to become used for healthcare research and for political commitment to obtain resources and support effective public health programme implementation. Methods and analysis: We will perform a cross-sectional survey of randomly selected residents of Salamanca (Spain). 2400 individuals stratified by age and sex and by place of residence (rural and urban) will be studied. The variables to analyse will be obtained from the clinical history, different surveys including social status, Mediterranean diet, functional capacity, ECG, echocardiogram, VASERA and biochemical as well as genetic analysis. Ethics and dissemination: The study has been approved by the ethical committee of the healthcare community. All study participants will sign an informed consent for participation in the study. The results of this study will allow the understanding of the relationship between the different influencing factors and their relative importance weights in the development of structural heart disease