Observational Constraints on Transverse Gravity: a Generalization of Unimodular Gravity

We explore the hypothesis that the set of symmetries enjoyed by the theory that describes gravity is not the full group of diffeomorphisms Diff(M), as in General Relativity, but a maximal subgroup of it, TransverseDiff(M), with its elements having a jacobian equal to unity; at the infinitesimal level, the parameter describing the coordinate change, xi^mu (x), is transverse, i.e., partial_mu(xi^mu)=0. Incidentally, this is the smaller symmetry one needs to propagate consistently a graviton, which is a great theoretical motivation for considering these theories. Also, the determinant of the metric, g, behaves as a "transverse scalar", so that these theories can be seen as a generalization of the better-known unimodular gravity. We present our results on the observational constraints on transverse gravity, in close relation with the claim of equivalence with general scalar-tensor theory. We also comment on the structure of the divergences of the quantum theory to the one-loop order.Comment: Prepared for the First Mediterranean Conference on Classical and Quantum Gravity, MCCQG, Kolymbari (Crete, Greece), 14-18 September, 2009; also, ERE2009: Gravitation in the Large, Bilbao (Spain), 7-11 September, 200

A molecular model to explain the controlled release from SBA-15 functionalized with APTES

A molecular model with the approximate pore diameter of SBA-15 was constructed for the first time to investigate the effect of functionalize the matrix with 3-aminopropyl-triethoxy-silane (APTES) in the release of Chicago Sky Blue 6B (CSB). It was expected that the positively charged amino groups of APTES could interact with the negatively charged sulphonic groups of CSB allowing controlling the release process. Indeed the experimental study showed that the release kinetics of CSB from SBA-15-APTES is two orders of magnitude smaller than from native SBA-15. However molecular modelling calculations investigating the possible interactions of APTES and SBA-15 yield unexpected results. In the model including only the condensation between the silanol groups of SBA-15 and APTES, the calculated interaction energy of CSB was quite similar than with the model of native SBA-15. However when additional electrostatic interactions of the -NH2 groups of APTES with the mesoporous matrix were modelled the mesoporous channels underwent a considerable deformation. These results point to the structure deformation as the cause of the greater retention of CSB in SBA-15-APTES and warn about the special features of AFTES when used to functionalize mesoporous silica materials. The model built in this paper could be used to construct predictive models in analogous drug delivery systems. (C) 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Mesoporous silica nanoparticles as a new carrier methodology in the controlled release of the active components in a polypill

Polypill is a medication designed for preventing heart attacks through a combination of drugs. Current formulations contain blood pressure-lowering drugs and others, such statins or acetylsalicylic acid. These drugs exhibit different physical chemical features, and consequently different release kinetics. Therefore, the concentration in plasma of some of them after the release process can be out of the therapeutic range. This paper investigates a new methodology for the control dosage of a polypill recently reported containing hydrochlorothiazide, amlodipine, losartan and simvastatin in a 12.5/2.5/25/40 weight ratio. The procedure is based onmesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSN) with MCM-41 structure (MSN-41) used as carrier, aimed to control release of the four drugs included in the polypill. In vitro release data were obtained by HPLC and the curves adjusted with a kinetic model. To explain the release results, a molecular model was built to determine the drug-matrix interactions, and quantum mechanical calculations were performed to obtain the electrostatic properties of each drug. Amlodipine, losartan and simvastatin were released from the polypill-MSN-41 system in a controlled way. This would be a favourable behavior when used clinically because avoid too quick pressure decrease. However, the diuretic hydrochlorothiazide was quickly released from our system in the first minutes, as is needed in hypertensive urgencies. In addition, an increase in the stability of amlodipine and hydrochlorothiazide occurred in the polypill-MSN-41 system. Therefore, the new way of polypill dosage proposed can result in a safer and effective treatment. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Systematic Review On Bullying Situations And Intervention Programs In Early Childhood Education

Background: Bullying is a traumatic event that is observed from the early stages of the educational system. Ensuring an adequate socioemotional development through the implementation of activities or intervention programs based on the work of Emotional Intelligence in the Early Childhood Education stage where empathy, assertiveness, emotional intelligence, social skills, values... are worked on, with the aim of preventing/eradicating situations of violence in educational environments, is essential to put an end to this problem. Goal: To find out whether there is evidence of bullying at the early childhood education (ECE) stage and to investigate whether bullying prevention work is carried out at this educational stage. Method: A systematic review, following the PRISMA 2020 Declaration, was carried out in the Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus (SJR) databases from January to March 2023. The search terms used were: "Children", "Health Education" and "Bullying". Only articles in Spanish and English published from 2013 to 2023 were selected, in which bullying in the ECE stage is analyzed. The last filter applied was related with research areas of Psychology and Education. The sample is composed of a total of 4 articles, most of them published abroad. Findings: According to the studies reviewed, there is little concern about bullying at the ECE stage, and there is little concern about the implementation of prevention programs for this proble

Situación legislativa de preparados para lactantes y de continuación

Furrd~rmenro: Los sustitutos de la leche materna han sido comercializados con gran trascendencia económica, a veces sin tener en cuenta los aspectos sanitarios y nutricionales para el consumidor. Las autoridades sanitarias se han visto implicadas en este tema, tanto a nivel Internacional como Europeo, dictando normas o directrices a seguir en la comercialización de los sustitutos de la leche materna, que han sido adoptadas por la legislación Española. El objetivo del trabajo es comentar las normas que reglamentan los preparados alimenticios de lactantes y niños de corta edad. hf~IfJd0.S: Se analizan y comentan los contenidos de las normas. tanto internacionales, como europeas y nacionales, de preparados pnm lactantes y de continuación. Rrsuit~r&s: Las normas sobre preparados pam lactantes y de continuación prohiben el término de “leches matemizadas” e insisten en la locroncirr mrrtrrna que ~610 deberd ser sustituida por indicación de personal sanitario. Esta legislación regula, ademas, su composición química, cualitativa y cuantitativa; establece normas para el correcto etiquetado, que deberá contener una información adecuada sin idealizar el producto, pero sí se admiten gmficas o dibujos que ilustren una correcta preparación; contempla la distribución, venta y adecuada publicidad. que deber5 ser controlada, prohibiendo las muestras gratuitas o cualquier donación tanto a particulares como a centros sanitarios. Cnnclusionus: Con la situación actual sobre “preparados para lactantes y de continuación”, las autoridades sanitarias intentan que el cumplimiento de las normas legislativas beneficien la adecuada alimentación del lactante y nifío de corta edad, siendo responsabilidad de todos la protección de este tipo de consumidor.Bockground: The comercialization of breast milk substitutes has had great economic transcendente, sometimes without considering the sanitary and nutritional consequences for the customer. The sanitary authorities have been implied in this matter both in the Intemational and European tields, issuing standards and regulations for the commercialization of breats milk substitutes which have been adopted by the Spanish Regulation. The aim of mis paper is comment the tegulations that affect foods for breas&feeding and short age children. Merliorls: This report analyzes and comments on the contets of intemational, european and national regulation on infant and follow-on formula. Rtwlts: The regulations about Infant formula and Followon formula. banning the term of “humanized milk” and remarking the preferente for breast feeding, which could only be substituted by sanitary professionals. This regulation deals with the appropiate chemical composition of these products, qualitative and quantitative. It includes standards for correct labeling, which should contain the approiate information without idealizing the product. Drawings and pictures showing the correct preparation are allowed. lt provides for distribution and sales. as well as for correct advertising, which should be under control. This regulation also bans free samples and any other donation to particular customers oí sanitary institutions. Conclusions: The present regulation on “lnfant and Follow- on formulas” pursues the adequate nutrition of breast-feeding and short age children, beinf the protection of chis kind of customers everyone’s responsability

Diagnosticand pronostic utility of serum microrna-21 in colorectal cancer

Los microRNAs son estructuras moleculares de 20-22 nucleótidos con actividad post-transcripional que están implicados en la carcinogénesis mediante una regulación genética post-transcripcional. Presentamos un estudio prospectivo donde se determina la expresión sérica de microRNA-21 en pacientes con diagnóstico de adenocarcinoma de colon. MATERIAL Y MÉTODOS. Estudio de cohorte prospectivo de al menos 100 pacientes con diagnóstico de adenocarcinoma de colon, y de al menos 60 pacientes con apendicitis aguda como grupo control. Se realizó el análisis de microRNA-21 sérico mediante PCR de las muestras sanguíneas de los pacientes obtenidas de forma preoperatoria. RESULTADOS. La comparación de la expresión del microRNA-21 sérico fue mayor en los pacientes con cáncer colorrectal que en los pacientes del grupo control, siendo el área bajo la curva de 0,603. En el análisis univariante, la expresión del miR- 21 se relaciona de forma estadísticamente significativa con la recidiva local (p=0,025) y con la mortalidad (p=0,029). En el análisis multivariante también se puso de manifiesto que las expresiones mayores (sobreexpresiones) de miR-21 se relacionaban con una reducción del riesgo derecidiva del 51%, mientras que dicha sobreexpresión se relacionaba con una reducción de mortalidad del 50%. CONCLUSIONES. La expresión del microRNA-21 sérico podría ser considerado como un potencial marcador diagnóstico para el cáncer colorrectal. La expresión sérica del microRNA-21 se correlaciona con la recidiva y mortalidad en el cáncer colorrectal. Nuestros resultados sugieren que el miR-21 sérico es un prometedor marcador diagnóstico y pronóstico, y pone de manifiesto su potencial utilidad clínica en el cáncer colorrectalMicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small, noncoding RNAs that are involved in carcinogenesis through postranscriptional gene regulatory activity. Few studies have focused on the detection of miR-21 in serum rather than in tissue. The current study aimed to measure serum miR-21 expression levels and to evaluate their association with the outcome of colorectal cancer (CRC). METHODS. Blood samples were collected from almost 100 CRC patients undergoing surgery with curative intent, and almost 60 control patients. The expression levels of miR-21 were measured using a quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). RESULTS. Serum microRNA-21 expression was higher in colorectal cancer patients than in control patients, with a ROC curve of 0.603. A univariate analysis revealed that lower expression levels of serum miR-21 were associated with higher local recurrence (p=0.025) and mortality (p=0.029). A logistic regression analysis demonstrated that the relative overexpression of miR-21 (expression >1) was associated with a 51% reduction in the risk of recurrence. A Cox regression analysis identified that a relative increase in miR-21 expression (>1) was associated with a 50% reduction in the risk of mortality CONCLUSIONS. Serum microRNA-21 expression could be considered as a potential diagnostic marker for colorectal cancer. The expression level of serum miR-21 correlates with the recurrence and mortality of CRC patients. Our results suggest that circulating serum miR-21 is a promising diagnostic and prognostic tumour marker, and they highlight the potential clinical utility of miR-21 in colorectal cancerEl presente estudio ha sido financiado con la ayuda otorgada por la Fundación para la Investigación Sanitaria en Castilla La Mancha (FISCAM) y por la Fundación Mutua Madrileña Investigación Médic

TransverseDiff gravity is to scalar-tensor as unimodular gravity is to General Relativity

Transverse Diffeomorphism (TDiff) theories are well-motivated theories of gravity from the quantum perspective, which are based upon a gauge symmetry principle. The main contribution of this work is to firmly establish a correspondence between TransverseDiff and the better-known scalar-tensor gravity --- in its more general form ---, a relation which is completely analogous to that between unimodular gravity and General Relativity. We then comment on observational aspects of TDiff. In connection with this proof, we derive a very general rule that determines under what conditions the procedure of fixing a gauge symmetry can be equivalently applied before the variational principle leading to the equations of motion, as opposed to the standard procedure, which takes place afterwards; this rule applies to gauge-fixing terms without derivatives.Comment: 10 pages; amsart style; v3: version as appeared in JCAP, redaction improve

Colorectal cancer carcinogenesis

El cáncer colorrectal representó en el año 2008 el tercer tumor más diagnosticado en España, siendo la segunda neoplasia que causó más fallecimientos. El conocimiento del proceso carcinogenético de este tipo de enfermedad permitirá el descubrimiento de nuevas terapéuticas que conlleven menores tasas de incidencia y mortalidad. El continuo avance en la enfermedad tumoral hace que esta revisión sea una puesta al día en el conocimiento de la carcinogénesis del cáncer colorrectalIn 2008, colorectal cancer represented the third most commonly diagnosed tumor in Spain, and the second tumor that caused more deaths. Knowledge of the carcinogenetic process of this disease will allow the discovery of new therapies involving lower rates of incidence and mortality. The continuous progress in tumor disease makes this review an update on the knowledge of colorectal cancer carcinogenesi

Estudio de las principales enfermedades de la vid y remedios para combatirlas

Trabajo premiado por el Congreso agrícola de esta capital

Drug Release from Ordered Mesoporous Silicas

The state-of-the-art in the investigation of drugs release from Silica-based ordered Mesoporous Materials (SMMs) is reviewed. First, the SMM systems used like host matrixes are described. Then, the model drugs studied until now, including their pharmacological action, structure and the mesoporous matrix employed for each drug, are comprehensively listed. Next, the factors influencing the release of drugs from SMMs and the strategies used to control the drug delivery, specially the chemical functionalization of the silica surface, are discussed. In addition, how all these factors were gathered in a kinetic equation that describes the drug release from the mesoporous matrixes is explained. The new application of molecular modeling and docking in the investigation of the drug delivery mechanisms from SMMs is also presented. Finally, the new approaches under investigation in this field are mentioned including the design of smart stimuli-responsive materials and other recent proposals for a future investigation