Assessment of the effect of intraarticular injection of autologous adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells in osteoarthritic dogs using a double blinded force platform analysis

BACKGROUND: Regenerative medicine using Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSC) alone or combined with Plasma Rich in Growth Factors (PRGF) is a rapidly growing area of clinical research and is currently also being used to treat osteoarthritis (OA). Force platform analysis has been consistently used to verify and quantify the efficacy of different therapeutic strategies for the treatment of OA in dogs including MSC associated to PRGF, but never with AD-MSC alone. The aim of this study was to use a force platform to measure the efficacy of intraarticular ADMSC administration for limb function improvement in dogs with severe OA. RESULTS: Ten lame dogs with severe hip OA and a control group of 5 sound dogs were used for this study. Results were statistically analyzed to detect a significant increase in peak vertical force (PVF) and vertical impulse (VI) in treated dogs. Mean values of PVF and VI were significantly improved within the first three months post-treatment in the OA group, increasing 9% and 2.5% body weight, respectively, at day 30. After this, the effect seems to decrease reaching initial values. CONCLUSION: Intraarticular ADMSC therapy objectively improved limb function in dogs with hip OA. The duration of maximal effect was less than 3 months

Análisis comparativo del potencial de siete variedades de triticale para usos agroenergéticos.

Se han realizado ensayos de campo durante 2008 y 2009 para evaluar la producción de biomasa seca y de los principales componentes celulósicos de la biomasa, y el rendimiento en grano de 7 variedades de triticale y 5 variedades de otros cereales (centeno, avena forrajera y trigo blando). Los centenos analizados, en particular la variedad híbrida ‘Picasso’, han sido los materiales más productivos, tanto en lo que respecta a su posible rendimiento energético, como en su condición de cereal para grano. No obstante, los triticales ‘Forricale’ y ‘Misionero’ han mostrado un buen potencial como cultivo agroenergé- tico, especialmente en condiciones climatológicas adversas. También destacan en cuanto a su posible utilización como variedades de doble uso: biocombustible y cereal-grano

Thermographic imaging: assessment of drought and heat tolerance in Spanish germplasm of Brachypodium distachyon.

The annual grass Brachypodium distachyon has been recently recognized as the model plant for functional genomics of temperate grasses, including cereals of economic relevance like wheat and barley. Sixty-two lines of B. distachyon were assessed for response to drought stress and heat tolerance. All these lines, except the reference genotype BD21, derive from specimens collected in 32 distinct locations of the Iberian Peninsula, covering a wide range of geo- climatic conditions. Sixteen lines of Brachypodium hybridum, an allotetraploid closely related to B. distachyon were used as reference of abiotic-stress well-adapted genotypes. Drought tolerance was assessed in a green-house trial. At the rosette-stage, no irrigation was applied to treated plants whereas their replicates at the control were maintained well watered during all the experiment. Thermographic images of treated and control plants were taken after 2 and 3 weeks of drought treatment, when stressed plants showed medium and extreme wilting symptoms. The mean leaf temperature of stressed (LTs) and control (LTc) plants was estimated based upon thermographic records from selected pixels (183 per image) that strictly correspond to leaf tissue. The response to drought was based on the analysis of two parameters: LTs and the thermal difference (TD) between stressed and control plants (LTs – LTc). The response to heat stress was based on LTc. Comparison of the mean values of these parameters showed that: 1) Genotypes better adapted to drought (B. hybridum lines) presented a higher LTs and TD than B. distachyon lines. 2) Under high temperature conditions, watered plants of B. hybridum lines maintained lower LTc than those of B. distachyon. Those results suggest that in these species adaptation to drought is linked to a more efficient stomata regulation: under water stress stomata are closed, increasing foliar temperature but also water use efficiency by reducing transpiration. With high temperature and water availability the results are less definite, but still seems that opening stomata allow plants to increase transpiration and therefore to diminish foliar temperature

Análisis de la diversidad para proteínas de endospermo en los citotipos 2N=10 y 2N=30 de Brachipodium

Se han analizado mediante electroforesis las proteínas del endospermo de 38 poblaciones españolas de brachypodium, correspondientes a los citotipos de 10 y 30 cromosomas. En total, se han identificado 40 bandas de proteínas diferentes, ninguna de las cuales ha resultado ser específica de uno de los dos citotipos. Se ha encontrado una alta variabilidad intra- e interpoblacional, siendo las poblaciones de 30 cromosomas las que muestran el mayor grado de diversidad genétic

Use of thermographic imaging to screen for drought-tolerant genotypes in Brachypodium distachyon

Thermal imaging has been used to evaluate the response to drought and warm temperatures in a collection of Brachypodium distachyon lines adapted to varied environmental conditions. Thermographic records were able to separate lines from contrasting rainfall regimes. Genotypes from dryer environments showed warmer leaves under water deficit, which suggested that decreased evapotranspiration was related to a more intense stomatal closure. When irrigated and under high temperature conditions, drought-adapted lines showed cooler leaves than lines from wetter zones. The consistent, inverse thermographic response of lines to water stress and heat validates the reliability of this method to assess drought tolerance in this model cereal. It additionally supports the hypothesis that stomatal-based mechanisms are involved in natural variation for drought tolerance in Brachypodium. The study further suggests that these mechanisms are not constitutive but likely related to a more efficient closing response to avoid dehydration in adapted genotypes. Higher leaf temperature under water deficit seems a dependable criterion of drought tolerance, not only in B. distachyon but also in the main cereal crops and related grasses where thermography can facilitate high-throughput preliminary screening of tolerant materials

Karyotype characterization of wheat breeding lines carrying resistance genes from Aegilops ventricosa

We have used in situ hybridization combining genomic and repeated DNA fluorescent probes to determine the karyotype composition of two bread wheat introgression lines: H-93-33, which carries the gene H27 for resistance to the Hessian fly M. destructor (Delibes et al. 1997); and H-93-8, carrying the gene Cre2 which confers resistance to the cereal cyst nematode H. avenae (Delibes et al. 1993). Both introgression lines had been derived from an earlier cross between T. aestivum subsp. aestivum (2n=42; genome composition AABBDD) and a semi-fertile hybrid between T. turgidum subsp. turgidum (2n=28; genome composition AABB) and the wild grass Ae. ventricosa (2n=28; genome constitution DvDvN¬vNv). We also have examined several resistant advanced lines that were obtained from H-93-33 (lines ID-2151, ID-2193, Ma-1612-a and Ma-1612-b) or H-93-8 (line ID-2150) after 3 to 5 backcrosses with commercial wheats

Characterization of endosperm proteins and bread-making quality in wheat breeding lines carrying resistance genes for Mayetiola destructor and/or Heterodera avenae.

The experimental material included thirteen bread wheat-breeding lines that carry genes for resistance to M. destruc¬tor and/or H. avenae. The sources of these resistances are the wild species Ae. triuncialis and Ae. ventricosa (lines TR and H-93, respectively) (Delibes et al. 1993, 1997; Romero et al. 1998). We have determined the composition in HMW-glutenin subunits (related with bread-making quality), puroindoline proteins (related with hardness of grain), and waxy proteins (related with starch viscosity). In addition to, of prolamins by electrophoresis SDS-PAGE indicated the homogeneity of the lines

El jardín botánico y la botánica farmacéutica en la Habana del siglo XIX

El Jardín Botánico de La Habana, fundado en 1817, fue una institución diseñada en sus comienzos como un centro de estudio, clasificación y análisis de las plantas existentes en la isla, mediante la aplicación de los conocimientos adquiridos a la rentabilización de los cultivos. Poco a poco, se iría configurando como una entidad vinculada al mundo científico, consolidándose el estudio de la Botánica, indispensable para la Farmacia. La alianza Botánica y Farmacia tuvo su máxima relación en el Jardín durante la dirección del mismo por Pedro Alejandro Auber, valedor de la Botánica Farmacéutica, e interesado en la realización de una flora cubana. Posteriormente, el Jardín sería dirigido por diversas instituciones hasta llegar a la Universidad, en la cual la Botánica formaría parte del estudio en diversas facultades, entre ellas la de Farmacia, convirtiéndose en una materia clave en la formación de los farmacéuticos. El objetivo de nuestro trabajo es profundizar en la Botánica en la isla durante el siglo XIX, analizando su relación con la Farmacia y utilizando como hilo conductor la trayectoria histórica del Jardín Botánico de La Habana. Pretendemos concretar la información médico farmacéutica sobre la Botánica en la isla y establecer cronológicamente cómo se va configurando su estudio en base a fuentes bibliográficas y archivísticas.The Botanical Garden of Havana, founded in 1817, was an institution designed at the beginning as a centre for the study, classification and analysis of existing plants on the island, using the acquired knowledge to improve crop profitability. Progressively, it would take shape as an institution linked to the scientific world, where the study of Botany, essential in many fields of study such as that of Pharmacy, would be established. The Garden underwent its closest bond with Pharmacy under the direction of Pedro Alejandro Auber, which would lend special importance to Botany from a pharmaceutical point of view, focusing on the creation of a Cuban Flora. Subsequently, the Garden would be directed by various institutions until it became part of the university, where Botany would be part of the curriculum in several schools, such as the School of Pharmacy, where it was a key subject in pharmaceutical education. The aim was to delve into the study of Botany during the nineteenth century emphasizing its closest link to Pharmacy, using the history of the Botanical Garden in Havana as a connecting thread. We try to gather more specific pharmaceutical and medical information about the island’s Botany and to establish a chronology of how the study of this matter evolves throughout the century using bibliographic and archive sources