Valoración de proyectos ambientales por maestros en formación en una actividad de aula basada en la iniciativa BBC World Challenge

Se presenta el análisis de una actividad de aula encaminada a la Educación Ambiental y desarrollada con estudiantes de Grado de Educación Primaria. En ella se utiliza la convocatoria de 2011 de la competición internacional BBC World Challenge para estimar su valoración de distintos problemas ambientales. Encontramos que les preocupan mayoritariamente aquellos relacionados con la contaminación, la conservación del patrimonio cultural y la gestión de residuos. Asimismo, analizamos su apreciación de la educación como parte de la solución a dichos problemas, encontrando que, si bien la valoran positivamente, no parecen considerar que sea un aspecto decisivo

Vascular disease in COPD: systemic and pulmonary expression of PARC (Pulmonary and Activation-Regulated Chemokine)

Introduction: The role of Pulmonary and Activation-Regulated Chemokine (PARC) in the physiopathology of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is not fully understood. The aim of the present study is to analyze the expression of PARC in lung tissue and its relationship with the vascular remodeling of the systemic and pulmonary arteries of COPD subjects. Methods: To achieve this objective, protein and gene expression experiments, together with ELISA assays, were performed on the lung tissue, intercostal arteries and serum samples from COPD patients, non-obstructed smokers (NOS) and never-smokers (NS). Results: A total of 57 subjects were included in the analysis (23 COPD, 18 NOS and 16 NS). In the comparisons between groups, a significantly increased lung protein expression of PARC was observed in the COPD group compared to the NOS group (1.96±0.22 vs. 1.29±0.27, P-adjusted = 0.038). PARC was located predominantly in the smooth muscle cells of the remodeled pulmonary muscular arteries and the macrophage-rich area of the alveolar parenchyma. No differences were detected in PARC gene expression analyses. The protein content of PARC in the intercostal arteries were similar between groups, though little remodeling was observed in these arteries. Circulating levels of PARC were numerically higher in patients with COPD compared to NOS and NS. Conclusion: The results of the present study suggest an increased lung protein expression of PARC in COPD subjects. This protein was mainly localized in the smooth muscle cells of the pulmonary muscular arteries and was associated with the severity of intimal thickening, indicating its possible role in this remodeling process

Is the purinergic pathway involved in the pathology of COPD? Decreased lung CD39 expression at initial stages of COPD

Background: Extracellular adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is up-regulated in the airways of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), resulting in increased inflammation, bronchoconstriction, and cough. Although extracellular ATP levels are tightly controlled by nucleoside triphosphate diphosphohydrolase-1 (NTPDase1; also known as CD39) in the lungs, the role of CD39 in the pathology of COPD is unknown. We hypothesized that alterations in the expression and activity of CD39 could be part of the mechanisms for initiating and perpetuating the disease. Methods: We analyzed CD39 gene and protein expression as well as ATPase enzyme activity in lung tissue samples of patients with COPD (n = 17), non-obstructed smokers (NOS) (n = 16), and never smokers (NS) (n = 13). Morphometry studies were performed to analyze pulmonary vascular remodeling. Results: There was significantly decreased CD39 gene expression in the lungs of the COPD group (1.17 [0.85-1.81]) compared with the NOS group (1.88 [1.35-4.41]) and NS group (3.32 [1.23-5.39]) (p = 0.037). This attenuation correlated with higher systemic inflammation and intimal thickening of muscular pulmonary arteries in the COPD group. Lung CD39 protein levels were also lower in the COPD group (0.34 [0.22-0.92]) compared with the NOS group (0.67 [0.32-1.06]) and NS group (0.95 [0.4-1.1) (p = 0.133). Immunohistochemistry showed that CD39 was downregulated in lung parenchyma, epithelial bronchial cells, and the endothelial cells of pulmonary muscular arteries in the COPD group. ATPase activity in human pulmonary structures was reduced in the lungs of patients with COPD. Conclusion: An attenuation of CD39 expression and activity is presented in lung tissue of stable COPD patients, which could lead to pulmonary ATP accumulation, favoring the development of pulmonary inflammation and emphysema. This may be a mechanism underlying the development of COPD

Systemic and Pulmonary Vascular Remodelling in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Background: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is associated with subclinical systemic atherosclerosis and pulmonary vascular remodelling characterized by intimal hyperplasia and luminal narrowing. We aimed to determine differences in the intimal thickening of systemic and pulmonary arteries in COPD subjects and smokers. Secondary aims include comparisons with a non-smokers group; determining the clinical variables associated with systemic and pulmonary intimal thickening, and the correlations between systemic and pulmonary remodelling changes. Methods: All consecutive subjects undergoing lung resection were included and divided into 3 groups: 1) COPD, 2) smokers, and 3) non-smokers. Sections of the 5th intercostal artery and muscular pulmonary arteries were measured by histo-morphometry. Four parameters of intimal thickening were evaluated: 1) percentage of intimal area (%IA), 2) percentage of luminal narrowing, 3) intimal thickness index, and 4) intima-to-media ratio. Results: In the adjusted analysis, the systemic arteries of COPD subjects showed greater intimal thickening (%IA) than those of smokers (15.6 +/- 1.5% vs. 14.2 +/- 1.6%, p = 0.038). In the pulmonary arteries, significant differences were observed for % IA between the 2 groups (37.3 +/- 2.2% vs. 29.3 +/- 2.3%, p = 0.016). Among clinical factors, metabolic syndrome, gender and COPD status were associated with the systemic intimal thickening, while only COPD status was associated with pulmonary intimal thickening. A correlation between the % IA of the systemic and pulmonary arteries was observed (Spearman's rho = 0.46, p = 0.008). Conclusions: Greater intimal thickening in systemic and pulmonary arteries is observed in COPD patients than in smokers. There is a correlation between systemic and pulmonary vascular remodelling in the overall population

Long-Term In Vitro System for Maintenance and Amplification of Root-Knot Nematodes in Cucumis sativus Roots

Los nematodos (gusanos del suelo) son parásitos de las plantas que producen grandes pérdidas en las cosechas. Los nematodos representan una de las plagas agrícolas más importantes en todo el mundo. Después de la infección, provocan en la raíz estructuras hinchadas llamadas agallas que contienen sus células de alimentación. Entre las técnicas de control más eficientes para esta plaga están las estrategias basadas en la biotecnología que requieren de un profundo conocimiento de los procesos de biología molecular y celular existentes en la interacción planta-nematodo. Estas técnicas biotecnológicas requieren condiciones experimentales asépticas (sin contaminación), debido a que la contaminación no detectada con otros microorganismos podría comprometer la interpretación de los resultados obtenidos. Aquí, presentamos un método sencillo, eficaz y de largo plazo para la amplificación de nematodos en raíces de pepino en asepsia. Con éste método se ha conseguido una amplificación de 40 veces la población inicial. Además, el método fue verificado para tres especies distintas de nematodos (Meloidogyne javanica, Meloidogyne incognita y Meloidogyne arenaria), produciendo gusanos viables para su estudio en diferentes plantas de aplicación agronómica tales como tomate, patata y tabaco; así como, posibilitar el mantenimiento y amplificación de las poblaciones para cada una de las especies de nematodos estudiadas

La percepción del sexting como expresión de violencia de género, en las estudiantes de la Licenciatura en Ciencias de la Educación, durante febrero a diciembre del año 2019

El fenómeno del sexting, se ha convertido en una temática de relevancia a nivel mundial, sus primeros antecedentes se sustentan en el 2005, en países como Estados Unidos, Gran Bretaña y años más tarde en México; posteriormente surge el interés científico por la dinámica que este fenómeno representa especialmente en el sexo femenino. El Salvador no ha quedado exento, de esta temática debido a que en los últimos años ha tomado más relevanci

Incidental finding of rare hemoglobin: hemoglobin Bari in northeast Spain

Hemoglobin BariHemoglobina BariHemoglobina BariObjectives Cation exchange high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is one of the techniques available for determining glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) and also the method of choice for structural hemoglobinopathies screening. The objective of this case is to show how in a routine HbA1c test it is possible to incidentally find a hemoglobinopathy. Case presentation In a routine blood analysis, an abnormal value for the hemoglobin A2 (HbA2) was obtained during the study of HbA1c with HPLC on the ADAMS™ A1c HA-8180T. After suspecting it could be due to the presence of a hemoglobinopathy, the study of possible variants was expanded using electrophoresis and HPLC on the Hydrasys and Variant II analysers, respectively. Since it could not be identified by these conventional methods, a genetic study was also carried out using Sanger sequencing. The patient presented a low HbA2 (1.3 %) and a 24.9 % variant with a retention time of 1.95 min, compatible with alpha-globin chain variant. In the genetic study, the pathogenic variant c.138C>G was detected in the HbA 2 gene in heterozygosis, which resulted in the expression of the structural hemoglobinopathy known as hemoglobin Bari. Conclusions The initial screening for structural hemoglobinopathies allows its identification or suspicion especially when it was performed with HbA1c analysis, requiring subsequent confirmation and diagnosis by other techniques

Development of Pranoprofen Loaded Nanostructured Lipid Carriers to Improve Its Release and Therapeutic Efficacy in Skin Inflammatory Disorders

Abstract: Pranoprofen (PF)-loaded nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs), prepared using a high-pressure homogenization method, have been optimized and characterized to improve the biopharmaceutical profile of the drug. The optimized PF-NLCs exhibited physicochemical characteristics and morphological properties that were suitable for dermal application. Stability assays revealed good physical stability, and the release behavior of PF from these NLCs showed a sustained release pattern. Cell viability results revealed no toxicity. Ex vivo human skin permeation studies in Franz diffusion cells were performed to determine the influence of different skin penetration enhancers (pyrrolidone, decanol, octanoic acid, nonane, menthone, squalene, linoleic acid, and cineol) on skin penetration and retention of PF, being the highest dermal retention in the presence of linoleic acid. The selected formulations of NLCs exhibited a high retained amount of PF in the skin and no systemic effects. In vivo mice anti-inflammatory efficacy studies showed a significant reduction in dermal oedema. NLCs containing linoleic acid presented better anti-inflammatory efficacy by decreasing the production of interleukins in keratinocytes and monocytes. The biomechanical properties of skin revealed an occlusive effect and no hydration power. No signs of skin irritancy in vivo were detected. According to these results, dermal PF-NLCs could be an effective system for the delivery and controlled release of PF, improving its dermal retention, with reduced dermal oedema as a possible effect of this drug KEYWORDS: anti-inflammatory activity; linoleic acid; nanostructured lipid carriers; penetration enhancers; pranoprofen; skin deliver