Pilar Pisón Casares, in memoriam

Estamos habituados a describir objetos matemáticos, a elaborar teorías, conjeturar resultados, demostrar asertos o refutar hipótesis, pero no a escribir de una persona, más aún si con ella tenemos vínculos afectivos que no sabemos expresar adecuadamente. Es necesario precisar que, para ofrecer una semblanza de nuestra querida compañera Pilar Pisón, tenemos que entrelazar las dos pasiones que han recorrido su vida: su familia y las matemáticas. Pretendemos presentar la enorme figura de esta mujer que hemos conocido, y por tanto querido, por su humildad en el trabajo personal y, sobre todo, colectivo, incapaz de aparecer en el primer plano, sino sosteniendo al que lo ocupara. La fotografía de la familia de Pilar, su marido e hijas, así lo expresa. La enfermedad y la muerte han pretendido destruirla pero no lo han conseguido. Con la fortaleza con que Pilar se ha enfrentado a ellas hemos aprendido facetas profundamente valiosas de esta mujer que, cuanto más débil se hacía, más sabiduría transmitía. Ha sostenido un gran combate en el que, con el apoyo de su fe, ha vencido la Vida

Robert Southey’s Roderick the Last of the Goths (1814): structure, analysis and translation

Trabajo que analiza la obra más relevante del escritor inglés Southey: Roderick the Last of the Goths, poema escrito en 25 cantos y por el que su autor recibiría los elogios más encendidos de la crítica contemporánea, que lo llegaría a encumbrar por encima de Paradise Lost de Milton. Tras una breve introducción a la figura en que se inspira Southey, el rey Don Rodrigo, así como al menor de los poetas lakistas y sus incursiones en la historia de España, llevamos a cabo un análisis del poema, para traducir posteriormente el canto segundo, “Roderick in Solitude”, formado por 246 versos libres, que traducidos en alejandrinos, lo que nos permite conservar toda la elegancia y atmósfera del poema originalThis paper analyses the most relevant work written by the English poet Robert Southey: Roderick the Last of the Goths. With this poem, written in 25 cantos, the author gained a reputation with his contemporary critics that raised him over Milton’s Paradise Lost. After presenting a brief introduction to Don Rodrigo’s figure, that inspired Southey, and also to that of this minor Lake poet and his forays into Spanish history, the present study provides an analysis of the poem and the translation of Canto II, “Roderick in Solitude”, composed of 246 lines in free verse. The translation in alexandrines will allow us to maintain the same elegance and atmosphere of the original poem

CONSERVACIÓN POSTCOSECHA DE GUAYABAS "PEDRO SATO" SOMETIDAS A APLICACIÓN DE EMULSIONES DE CERA.

Se evaluó el efecto de diversas ceras a base de carnauba en la conservación postcosecha de guayabas ‘Pedro Sato’ bajo condiciones de ambiente natural (25ºC y 70-80% HR). Las frutas cosechadas fueron lavadas con hipoclorito de sodio (150mg.L-1) y tratadas con cinco ceras comerciales (Citrosol AK, Citrosol M, Fruit Wax, Meghwax ECF– 100 y Cleantex wax), aplicadas manualmente con pipeta, en una proporción de 0.15 a 0.20 mL por fruta. Guayabas sin tratamiento fueron utilizadas como testigos. El delineamiento experimental fue completamente al azar, con seis tratamientos, cuatro repeticiones y cinco frutas por parcela que fueron caracterizadas y evaluadas a los dos, cuatro y seis días posteriores a los tratamientos, con relación a pérdida de masa, color de la cáscara y de la pulpa, firmeza de la pulpa, sólidos solubles totales, acidez titulable total y contenido de vitamina C. Las ceras disminuyeron la incidencia de pudriciones entre 5 y 20%, mientras que los no encerados presentaban 30% de pudriciones. Meghwax ECF–100 redujo las pudriciones a 5%, proporcionó una mejor apariencia, mantuvo la coloración de la cáscara y la firmeza de la pulpa. Sin embargo, fue verificada una pequeña alteración en el sabor y aroma, acompañada de una menor evolución del color rojo de la pulpa

EVALUACIÓN DEL COMPORTAMIENTO DE CUATRO VARIEDADES DE ZANAHORIA (Daucus carota L.) CULTIVADAS BAJO DOS SISTEMAS DE RIEGO.

El presente trabajo fue conducido para evaluar el comportamiento de cuatro variedades de zanahoria cultivadas bajo dos sistemas de riego. El experimento fue realizado en el campo experimental de la FCA, en Chirigüelo, distante a 20 km de la ciudad de Pedro Juan Caballero. El delineamiento experimental fue en bloques completamente al azar en serie de experimentos, con cuatro repeticiones. La unidad experimental se compuso de 3,0m2 sembrada a 0,3m entre hileras y 0,05m entre plantas, las que recibieron 7mm.día-1 de agua en el sistema por goteo y 1,67mm.día-1 en la convencional, en aplicaciones diarias. El experimento fue evaluado a los 114 días después de la siembra, no detectándose diferencias significativas entre las variedades, mientras que entre los sistemas de riego hubo diferencias altamente significativas en todas las variables, siendo comparadas por el test de Tukey a 5% de probabilidad. La «Kuroda» fue la de mayor rendimiento con 28,87 t.ha-1 y 13,40 t.ha-1 bajo riego por goteo y convencional, respectivamente. La «Brasilia» presentó el mejor diámetro basal y diámetro medio con 26,14mm y 24,77 mm respectivamente, además de la mayor longitud media de raíz con 12,22cm. En relación al peso promedio la «Nantes» fue la mejor con 52,06g. En todas las variables los cuatro cultivares presentaron mejor comportamiento cuando cultivados bajo el sistema de riego por goteo en relación al riego convencional

Niosomes based on synthetic cationic lipids for gene delivery: The influence of polar head-groups on the transfection efficiency in HEK-293, ARPE-19 and MSC-D1 cells

We designed niosomes based on three lipids that differed only in the polar-head group to analyze their influence on the transfection efficiency. These lipids were characterized by small-angle X-ray scattering before being incorporated into the niosomes which were characterized in terms of pKa, size, zeta potential, morphology and physical stability. Nioplexes were obtained upon the addition of a plasmid. Different ratios (w/w) were selected to analyze the influence of this parameter on size, charge and the ability to condense, release and protect the DNA. In vitro transfection experiments were performed in HEK-293, ARPE-19 and MSC-D1 cells. Our results show that the chemical composition of the cationic head-group clearly affects the physicochemical parameters of the niosomes and especially the transfection efficiency. Only niosomes based on cationic lipids with a dimethyl amino head group (lipid 3) showed a transfection capacity when compared with their counterparts amino (lipid 1) and tripeptide head-groups (lipid 2). Regarding cell viability, we clearly observed that nioplexes based on the cationic lipid 3 had a more deleterious effect than their counterparts, especially in ARPE-19 cells at 20/1 and 30/1 ratios. Similar studies could be extended to other series of cationic lipids in order to progress in the research on safe and efficient non-viral vectors for gene delivery purposes.This project was partially supported by the University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU (UFI 11/32), the National Council of Science and Technology (CONAYT), Mexico, Reg. # 217101, the Spanish Ministry of Education (Grant CTQ2010-20541, CTQ2010-14897), the Basque Government (Department of Education, University and Research, predoctoral BFI-2011-2226 grant), the Generalitat de Catalunya (2009SGR208, 2009SGR1331) and the Instituto de Salud Carlos III. Technical and human support provided by SGIker (UPV/EHU) is gratefully acknowledged. Authors also wish to thank the intellectual and technical assistance from the platform for Drug Formulation (NANBIOSIS) CIBER-BBN.Peer reviewe

Protamine/DNA/Niosome Ternary Nonviral Vectors for Gene Delivery to the Retina: The Role of Protamine

The present study aimed to evaluate the incorporation of protamine into niosome/DNA vectors to analyze the potential application of this novel ternary formulation to deliver the pCMS-EGFP plasmid into the rat retina. Binary vectors based on niosome/DNA and ternary vectors based on protamine/DNA/niosomes were prepared and physicochemically characterized. In vitro experiments were performed in ARPE-19 cells. At 1:1:5 protamine/DNA/niosome mass ratio, the resulted ternary vectors had 150 nm size, positive charge, spherical morphology, and condensed, released, and protected the DNA against enzymatic digestion. The presence of protamine in the ternary vectors improved transfection efficiency, cell viability, and DNA condensation. After ocular administration, the EGFP expression was detected in different cell layers of the retina depending on the administration route without any sign of toxicity associated with the formulations. While subretinal administration transfected mainly photoreceptors and retinal pigment epithelial cells at the site of injection, intravitreal administration produced a more uniform distribution of the protein expression through the inner layers of the retina. The protein expression in the retina persisted for at least one month after both administrations. Our study highlights the flattering properties of protamine/DNA/niosome ternary vectors for efficient and safe gene delivery to the rat retina.This project was partially supported by the University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU (UFI 11/32), by the Research Chair in Retinosis Pigmentosas “Bidons Egara”, the National Council of Science and Technology (CONACYT), Mexico, Reg. No. 217101, the Spanish Ministry of Education (Grant Nos. CTQ2010-20541, CTQ2010-14897), the Basque Government (Department of Education, University and Research, predoctoral BFI-2011-2226 grant), and by Spanish Grant Nos. MAT2012-39290-C02-01 and IPT-2012-0574-300000. Technical and human support provided by SGIker (UPV/EHU) is gratefully acknowledged. The authors also wish to thank the intellectual and technical assistance from the ICTS “NANBIOSIS”, more specifically by the Drug Formulation Unit (U10) of the CIBER in Bioengineering, Biomaterials, and Nanomedicine (CIBER-BBN) at the University of Basque Country (UPV/EHU).Peer reviewe

The influence of the polar head-group of synthetic cationic lipids on the transfection efficiency mediated by niosomes in rat retina and brain

The development of novel non-viral delivery vehicles is essential in the search of more efficient strategies for retina and brain diseases. Herein, optimized niosome formulations prepared by oil-in water (o/w) and film-hydration techniques were characterized in terms of size, PDI, zeta potential, morphology and stability. Three ionizable glycerol-based cationic lipids containing a primary amine group (lipid 1), a triglycine group (lipid 2) and a dimethylamino ethyl pendent group (lipid 3) as polar head-groups were part of such niosomes. Upon the addition of pCMS-EGFP plasmid, nioplexes were obtained at different cationic lipid/DNA ratios (w/w). The resultant nioplexes were further physicochemically characterized and evaluated to condense, release and protect the DNA against enzymatic digestion. In vitro experiments were performed to evaluate transfection efficiency and cell viability in HEK-293, ARPE-19 and PECC cells. Interestingly, niosome formulations based on lipid 3 showed better transfection efficiencies in ARPE-19 and PECC cells than the rest of cationic lipids showed in this study. In vivo experiments in rat retina after intravitreal and subretinal injections together with in rat brain after cerebral cortex administration showed promising transfection efficiencies when niosome formulations based on lipid 3 were used. These results provide new insights for the development of non-viral vectors based on cationic lipids and their applications for efficient delivery of genetic material to the retina and brain. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd.This project was partially supported by the University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU (UFI 11/32), the National Council of Science and Technology (CONACYT), Mexico, Reg. # 217101, the Spanish Ministry of Education (Grant CTQ2010-20541, CTQ2010- 14897), the Basque Government (Department of Education, University and Research, predoctoral BFI-2011-2226 grant) and by Spanish grants MAT2012-39290-C02-01 and IPT-2012-0574- 300000. Technical and human support provided by SGIker (UPV/ EHU) is gratefully acknowledged. Authors also wish to thank the intellectual and technical assistance from the ICTS “NANBIOSIS”, more specifically by the Drug Formulation Unit (U10) of the CIBER in Bioengineering, Biomaterials & Nanomedicine (CIBER-BBN) at the University of Basque Country (UPV/EHU).Peer reviewe

Conservation of aging and cancer epigenetic signatures across human and mouse

Aging and cancer are two interrelated processes, with aging being a major risk factor for the development of cancer. Parallel epigenetic alterations have been described for both, although differences, especially within the DNA hypomethylation scenario, have also been recently reported. While many of these observations arise from the use of mouse models, there is a lack of systematic comparisons of human and mouse epigenetic patterns in the context of disease. However, such comparisons are significant as they allow to establish the extent to which some of the observed similarities or differences arise from pre-existing species-specific epigenetic traits. Here, we have used reduced representation bisulfite sequencing to profile the brain methylomes of young and old, tumoral and non-tumoral brain samples from human and mouse. We first characterized the baseline epigenomic patterns of the species and subsequently focused on the DNA methylation alterations associated with cancer and aging. Next, we described the functional genomic and epigenomic context associated with the alterations, and finally we integrated our data to study interspecies DNA methylation levels at orthologous CpG sites. Globally, we found considerable differences between the characteristics of DNA methylation alterations in cancer and aging in both species. Moreover, we describe robust evidence for the conservation of the specific cancer and aging epigenomic signatures in human and mouse. Our observations point towards the preservation of the functional consequences of these alterations at multiple levels of genomic regulation. Finally, our analyses reveal a role for the genomic context in explaining disease- and species-specific epigenetic traits.© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution

Reparación artroscópica con anclaje capsular en pacientes con lesiones periféricas del complejo del fibrocartílago triangular: evolución funcional a seis meses

Introduction: Injuries to the triangular fibrocartilage complex (TFCC) are a frequent diagnosis in the practice of hand surgery. Standardized treatment depends on the level of involvement of the distal radio-ulnar ligaments (RCD) in the wrist.Objectives: To describe the functional results of arthroscopic repair with capsular anchorage in patients with peripheral injuries to the TFCC and their postoperative evolution at 6 months followup.Material and methods: Patients were included in a retrospective cohort, with a diagnosis of peripheral injury to the TFCC, treated by capsular anchorage, with a 6-month follow-up. The patients were evaluated from March 2018 to December 2020, using QuickDASH and the Mayo Wrist Score, before the surgical procedure, and at 3 and 6 months after surgery.Results: The mean time to injury in our patients was 11 weeks (range 4-24 weeks). Average time of physical therapy was of 4 weeks (range 3-6 weeks), with authorization to return to sports activity at 3 weeks. There were 4 complications, of which 1 did not improve, 2 patients had resolved transient ulnar paresthesia, and 1 resolved superficial soft tissue infection.Conclusion: The capsular anchoring technique developed in the study is reproducible with satisfactory results, using scales such as the QuickDASH and the Mayo Wrist Score.Introducción. Las lesiones del complejo del fibrocartílago triangular (CFCT) son una causa frecuente de consulta por cirugía de la mano debido al dolor cubital que ocasionan. Estas lesiones son tratadas de formas estandarizadas dependiendo del nivel de afección de los ligamentos radiocubitales distales (RCD) en la muñeca. Objetivo. Describir los resultados funcionales de la reparación artroscópica con anclaje capsular en pacientes con lesiones periféricas del CFCT y su evolución postquirúrgica a seis meses. Materiales y métodos. Estudio de cohorte retrospectivo realizado entre marzo del 2018 y diciembre del 2020 y en el que se incluyeron 32 pacientes con diagnóstico de lesión periférica del CFCT que hubieran sido tratados mediante anclaje capsular y tuvieran un seguimiento de seis meses. El estado de los participantes se midió antes del procedimiento quirúrgico y a los tres y seis meses postquirúrgicos con las herramientas QuickDASH y Mayo Wrist Score. Resultados. El tiempo promedio de lesión en los pacientes analizados fue de 11 semanas (rango de cuatro a 24 semanas), y el tiempo promedio de terapia de rehabilitación fue de cuatro semanas (rango de tres a seis semanas), con autorización a la reincorporación a actividad deportiva a las tres semanas. Se presentaron cuatro complicaciones: un paciente no tuvo mejoría, dos pacientes presentaron parestesias cubitales transitorias resueltas y el otro paciente presentó una infección de tejidos blandos superficial que también fue resuelta. Conclusión. La técnica de anclaje capsular empleada en el presente estudio es reproducible, pues según las escalas QuickDASH y Mayo Wrist Score los pacientes intervenidos tuvieron resultados satisfactorios

The Latin American experience of allografting patients with severe aplastic anaemia: real-world data on the impact of stem cell source and ATG administration in HLA-identical sibling transplants

We studied 298 patients with severe aplastic anaemia (SAA) allografted in four Latin American countries. The source of cells was bone marrow (BM) in 94 patients and PBSCs in 204 patients. Engraftment failed in 8.1% of recipients with no difference between BM and PBSCs (P = 0.08). Incidence of acute GvHD (aGvHD) for BM and PBSCs was 30% vs 32% (P = 0.18), and for grades III–IV was 2.6% vs 11.6% (P = 0.01). Chronic GvHD (cGvHD) between BM and PBSCs was 37% vs 59% (P = 0.002) and extensive 5% vs 23.6% (P = 0.01). OS was 74% vs 76% for BM vs PBSCs (P = 0.95). Event-free survival was superior in patients conditioned with anti-thymocyte globulin (ATG)-based regimens compared with other regimens (79% vs 61%, P = 0.001) as excessive secondary graft failure was seen with other regimens (10% vs 26%, P = 0.005) respectively. In multivariate analysis, aGvHD II–IV (hazard ratio (HR) 2.50, confidence interval (CI) 1.1–5.6, P = 0.02) and aGvHD III–IV (HR 8.3 CI 3.4–20.2, Po0.001) proved to be independent negative predictors of survival. In conclusion, BM as a source of cells and ATG-based regimens should be standard because of higher GvHD incidence with PBSCs, although the latter combining with ATG in the conditioning regimen could be an option in selected high-risk patient