El Jardín Botánico-Histórico La Concepción

La evolución de éste y de otros espacios destinados a la conservación y estudio de especies vegetales ha quedado patente a lo largo de la historia. Actualmente son auténticos laboratorios naturales que dedican buena parte de sus esfuerzos a proteger a las variedades más amenazadas

Genetic polymorphisms of IL17A associated with Chagas disease: Results from a meta-analysis in Latin American populations

Genetic factors and the immunologic response have been suggested to determine the susceptibility against the infection and the outcome of Chagas disease. In the present study, we analysed three IL17A genetic variants (rs4711998, rs8193036 and rs2275913) regarding the predisposition to Trypanosoma cruzi infection and the development of chronic Chagas cardiomyopathy (CCC) in different Latin American populations. A total of 2,967 individuals from Colombia, Argentina, Bolivia and Brazil, were included in this study. The individuals were classified as seronegative and seropositive for T. cruzi antigens, and this last group were divided into asymptomatic and CCC. For T. cruzi infection susceptibility, the IL17A rs2275913*A showed a significant association in a fixed-effect meta-analysis after a Bonferroni correction (P = 0.016, OR = 1.21, 95%CI = 1.06–1.41). No evidence of association was detected when comparing CCC vs. asymptomatic patients. However, when CCC were compared with seronegative individuals, it showed a nominal association in the meta-analysis (P = 0.040, OR = 1.20, 95%CI = 1.01–1.45). For the IL17A rs4711998 and rs8193036, no association was observed. In conclusion, our results suggest that IL17A rs2275913 plays an important role in the susceptibility to T. cruzi infection and could also be implicated in the development of chronic cardiomyopathy in the studied Latin American population.Fil: Strauss, Mariana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Salud. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Salud; ArgentinaFil: Palma-Vega, Miriam. Instituto de Parasitología y Biomedicina López Neyra; EspañaFil: Casares Marfil, Desiré. Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona. Hospital Vall D' Hebron; EspañaFil: Pau Bosch, Nicolau. Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona. Hospital Vall D' Hebron; EspañaFil: Lo Presti, Maria Silvina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Salud. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Salud; ArgentinaFil: Molina, Israel. Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona. Hospital Vall D' Hebron; EspañaFil: Gonzáles, Clara Isabel. Universidad Industrial de Santander; ColombiaFil: Martin, Javier. Instituto de Parasitología y Biomedicina López Neyra; EspañaFil: Acosta Herrera, Marialbert. Instituto de Parasitología y Biomedicina López Neyra; Españ

Comparison of UVC/S₂O₈ ^2- with UVC/H₂O₂ in terms of efficiency and cost for the removal of micropollutants from groundwater

This study compared the UVC/S2O82- system with the more commonly used AOP in water industry, UVC/H2O2, and examined whether the first one can be an economically feasible alternative technology. Atrazine and 4 volatile compounds (methyl tert-butyl ether, cis-dichlorethen, 1,4-dioxane and 1,1,1-trichloroethane) were chosen as model contaminants because they exhibit different susceptibility to UVC photolysis and AOPs. A collimated beam apparatus was utilized for the majority of the experiments (controlled environment, without mass transfer phenomena), while selected experiments were performed in a flow-through reactor to simulate industrial applications. Initial experiments on the activation of oxidants with a LP lamp indicated that S2O82- is photolysed about 2.3times faster than H2O2 and that the applied treatment times were not sufficient to utilize the majority of the oxidant. The effect of oxidants' concentrations were tested with atrazine alone and in the micropollutants' mixture and it was decided to use 11.8mgL-1 S2O82- and 14.9mgL-1 H2O2 for further testing since is closer to industrial applications and to minimize the residual oxidant concentration. Changes of the matrix composition of the treated water were investigated with the addition of chloride, bicarbonate and humic acids at concentrations relevant to a well-water-sample, the results showed that the system least affected was UVC/H2O2. Only when bicarbonate was used, UVC/S2O82- performed better. Overall, testing these systems with the mixture of micropollutants gave better insights to their efficiency than atrazine alone and UVC/S2O82- is recommended for selective oxidation of challenging matrices

Risk factors associated with prolonged hospital length-of-stay: 18-year retrospective study of hospitalizations in a tertiary healthcare center in Mexico.

BACKGROUND:Hospital length-of-Stay has been traditionally used as a surrogate to evaluate healthcare efficiency, as well as hospital resource utilization. Prolonged Length-of-stay (PLOS) is associated with increased mortality and other poor outcomes. Additionally, these patients represent a significant economic problem on public health systems and their families. We sought to describe and compare characteristics of patients with Normal hospital Length-of-Stay (NLOS) and PLOS to identify sociodemographic and disease-specific factors associated with PLOS in a tertiary care institution that attends adults with complicated diseases from all over Mexico. MATERIALS AND METHODS:We conducted a retrospective analysis of hospital discharges from January 2000-December 2017 using institutional databases of medical records. We compared NLOS and PLOS using descriptive and inferential statistics. PLOS were defined as those above the 95th percentile of length of hospitalization. RESULTS:We analyzed 85,904 hospitalizations (1,069,875 bed-days), of which 4,427 (5.1%) were PLOS (247,428 bed-days, 23.1% of total bed-days). Hematological neoplasms were the most common discharge diagnosis and surgery of the small bowel was the most common type of surgery. Younger age, male gender, a lower physician-to-patient ratio, emergency and weekend admissions, surgery, the number of comorbidities, residence outside Mexico City and lower socioeconomic status were associated with PLOS. Bone marrow transplant (OR 18.39 [95% CI 12.50-27.05, p<0.001), complex infectious diseases such as systemic mycoses and parasitoses (OR 4.65 [95% CI 3.40-6.63, p<0.001), and complex abdominal diseases such as intestinal fistula (OR 2.57 [95% CI 1.98-3.32) had the greatest risk for PLOS. Risk of mortality in patients with PLOS increased more than threefold (3.7% vs 13.3%, p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS:We report some key sociodemographic and disease-specific differences in patients with PLOS. These could serve to develop a specific model of directed hospital healthcare for patients identified as in risk of PLOS

Genetic polymorphisms of IL17A associated with Chagas disease: results from a meta-analysis in Latin American populations

Genetic factors and the immunologic response have been suggested to determine the susceptibility against the infection and the outcome of Chagas disease. In the present study, we analysed three IL17A genetic variants (rs4711998, rs8193036 and rs2275913) regarding the predisposition to Trypanosoma cruzi infection and the development of chronic Chagas cardiomyopathy (CCC) in different Latin American populations. A total of 2,967 individuals from Colombia, Argentina, Bolivia and Brazil, were included in this study. The individuals were classified as seronegative and seropositive for T. cruzi antigens, and this last group were divided into asymptomatic and CCC. For T. cruzi infection susceptibility, the IL17A rs2275913*A showed a significant association in a fixed-effect meta-analysis after a Bonferroni correction (P = 0.016, OR = 1.21, 95%CI = 1.06–1.41). No evidence of association was detected when comparing CCC vs. asymptomatic patients. However, when CCC were compared with seronegative individuals, it showed a nominal association in the meta-analysis (P = 0.040, OR = 1.20, 95%CI = 1.01–1.45). For the IL17A rs4711998 and rs8193036, no association was observed. In conclusion, our results suggest that IL17A rs2275913 plays an important role in the susceptibility to T. cruzi infection and could also be implicated in the development of chronic cardiomyopathy in the studied Latin American population

Lack of Association of IL6 polymorphism with the susceptibility to Chagas disease in Latin American cohorts

The aim of the present study was to analyze IL6 rs1800795 genetic variant in the susceptibility to Trypanosoma cruzi infection and in the development of chronic Chagas cardiomyopathy (CCC), in four independent Latin America cohorts. A total of 3,087 individuals from Latin American countries (Colombia, Bolivia, Argentina, and Peru) were studied. In all cohorts, patients were classified as seropositive for T. cruzi antigens (n= 1,963) and seronegative (n=1,124). Based on clinical evaluation, the seropositive patients, were classified as CCC (n= 900) and asymptomatic (n=1,063). No statistically significant differences in the frequency of IL6 rs1800795 between seropositive and seronegative, or between CCC and asymptomatic patients, were found. Furthermore, after the meta-analysis of these cohorts, no statistically significant differences were observed. Our results do not support a contribution of IL6 rs1800795 genetic variant in the susceptibility to the infection and the development of chronic Chagas cardiomyopathy, in the studied cohorts.Fil: Strauss, Mariana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Salud. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Salud; ArgentinaFil: Casares-Marfil, Desiré. Instituto de Parasitología y Biomedicina López-Neyra, Granada; EspañaFil: Alcaráz, Alexia. Instituto de Parasitología y Biomedicina López-Neyra, Granada; EspañaFil: Palma Vega, Miriam. Instituto de Parasitología y Biomedicina López-Neyra, Granada; EspañaFil: Pau Bosch, Nicolau. Unidad de Medicina Tropical y Salud Internacional Hospital Universitari Valld'Hebron; EspañaFil: Lo Presti, Maria Silvina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Salud. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Salud; ArgentinaFil: Molina, Israel. Unidad de Medicina Tropical y Salud Internacional Hospital Universitari Valld'Hebron; EspañaFil: González, Clara Isabel. Universidad Industrial de Santander, Bucaramanga; ColombiaFil: Martín, Javier. Instituto de Parasitología y Biomedicina López-Neyra, Granada; EspañaFil: Acosta-Herrera, Marialbert. Instituto de Parasitología y Biomedicina López-Neyra, Granada; Españ

Effect of temperature on structural properties of Aloe vera (Aloe barbadensis Miller) gel and Weibull distribution for modelling drying process

Aloe vera (Aloe barbadensis Miller) gel was dried at five inlet temperatures 50, 60, 70, 80 and 90 degrees C, in a convective dryer with a constant air flow of 2.0 +/- 0.2 m/s. Rehydration ratio, water holding capacity, texture, microstructure and total polysaccharide content were evaluated. Drying kinetics was estimated using the Weibull distribution (r(2) > 0.97 and Chi-square < 0.0009). values of scale and shape parameters ranged from 90.94 to 341.06 (min) and 1.43 to 1.49, respectively. Furthermore, the influence of temperature on the model parameters as well as on the quality attributes was analysed using a least significant difference test (p-value < 0.05). These effects were more evident for the long drying period (e.g. 810 min at 50 degrees C). However, minor alterations in the structural properties and total polysaccharide content were produced at drying temperatures of 60-70 degrees C, resulting in a high quality gelThe authors gratefully acknowledge the Research Department of the Universidad de La Serena (project DIULS 220-2-06), Chile, for providing financial support for the publication of this research; as well as the National Institute for Agricultural Research Intihuasi. In addition, we thank the microscopy service of Universidad Politecnica de Valencia, Spain; for assistance in relation to the Cryo-SEM micrographs.Miranda, M.; Vega-Galvez, A.; García-Segovia, P.; Di Scala, K.; Shi, J.; Xue, S.; Uribe, E. (2010). Effect of temperature on structural properties of Aloe vera (Aloe barbadensis Miller) gel and Weibull distribution for modelling drying process. Food and Bioproducts Processing. 88(2-3):138-144. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fbp.2009.06.001S138144882-