Los padres de familia y el problema de la enseñanza : discurso leído en el Congreso Católico de Compostela

Copia digital. Valladolid : Junta de Castilla y León. Consejería de Cultura y Turismo, 2009-201

Analysis of Raman modes in Mn-doped ZnO nanocrystals

Mn-doped ZnO was synthesized using a co-precipitation technique. X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements and photoluminescence (PL) spectra show that Mn ions are doped into the lattice positions of ZnO. The modes at 202, 330, and 437 cm-1 in the Raman spectrum are assigned as 2E2 (low), E2 (high)-E2 (low), and E2 (high) modes of ZnO base, respectively. The mode at 528 cm-1 is ascribed to a local vibrational mode related to Mn. The mode at 580 cm-1 should be an intrinsic mode of ZnO and assigned to E1 longitudinal optical (LO). Its reinforcement should result from a combination of resonance at the excitation wavelength and impurity-induced scattering.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Factors associated with therapeutic response in acromegaly diagnosed in the elderly in Spain

ContextSome reports suggest that acromegaly in elderly patients has a more benign clinical behavior and could have a better response to first-generation long-acting somatostatin receptor ligands (SRL). However, there is no specific therapeutic protocol for this special subgroup of patients. ObjectiveThis study aimed at identifying predictors of response to SRL in elderly patients. DesignMulticentric retrospective nationwide study of patients diagnosed with acromegaly at or over the age of 65 years. ResultsOne-hundred and eighteen patients (34 men, 84 women, mean age at diagnosis 71.7 +/- 5.4 years old) were included. Basal insulin-like growth factor type 1 (IGF-1) above the upper limit of normal (ULN) and growth hormone (GH) levels (mean +/- SD) were 2.7 +/- 1.4 and 11.0 +/- 11.9 ng/ml, respectively. The mean maximal tumor diameter was 12.3 +/- 6.4 mm, and up to 68.6% were macroadenoma. Seventy-two out of 118 patients (61.0%) underwent surgery as primary treatment. One-third of patients required first-line medical treatment due to a rejection of surgical treatment or non-suitability because of high surgical risk. After first-line surgery, 45/72 (63.9%) were in disease remission, and 16/34 (46.7%) of those treated with SRL had controlled disease. Patients with basal GH at diagnosis <= 6 ng/ml had lower IGF-1 levels and had smaller tumors, and more patients in this group reached control with SRL (72.7% vs. 33.3%; p < 0.04) [OR: 21.3, IC: 95% (2.4-91.1)], while male patients had a worse response [OR: 0.09, IC 95% (0.01-0.75)]. The predictive model curve obtained for SRL response showed an AUC of 0.82 CI (0.71-0.94). ConclusionsThe most frequent phenotype in newly diagnosed acromegaly in the elderly includes small adenomas and moderately high IGF-1 levels. GH at diagnosis <= 6 ng/ml and female gender, but not age per se, were associated with a greater chance of response to SRL

Leaf litter decomposition of native and introduced tree species of contrasting quality in headwater streams: How does the regional setting matter?

Terrestrial plant litter is important in sustaining stream food webs in forested headwaters. Leaf litter quality often decreases when native species are replaced by introduced species, and a lower quality of leaf litter inputs may alter litter decomposition at sites afforested with non-native species. However, since detritivore composition and resource use plasticity may depend on the prevalent litter inputs, the extent of the alteration in decomposition can vary between streams. We tested 2 hypotheses using 2 native and 3 introduced species of tree differing in quality in 4 Iberian regions with contrasting vegetational traits: 1) decomposition rates of all plant species would be higher in regions where streams normally receive litter inputs of lower rather than higher quality; 2) a higher resource-use plasticity of detritivores in regions vegetated with plants of lower litter quality will cause a greater evenness in decomposition rates among plant species compared to regions where streams normally receive higher-quality plant litter inputs. Results showed a highly consistent interspecific ranking of decomposition rates across regions driven by litter quality, and a significant regional effect. Hypothesis 1 was supported: decomposition rates of the five litter types were generally higher in streams from regions vegetated with species producing leaf litter of low quality, possibly due to the profusion of caddisfly shredders in their communities. Hypothesis 2 was not supported: the relative differences in decomposition rates among leaf litter species remained essentially unaltered across regions. Our results suggest that, even in regions where detritivores can be comparatively efficient using resources of low quality, caution is needed particularly when afforestation programs introduce plant species of lower litter quality than the native species

Repercusiones de las autopistas de la información en el entorno radiotelevisivo

Mientras la autopistas de la información revolucionan las telecomunicaciones, se cuestiona su alcance. En la sociedad de la información se están produciendo continuos acuerdos entre operadores con el sector del ocio. La televisión digital constituye un gran avance por su calidad y posibilidades. Un elemento fundamental es la fibra digital. El software es lo importante en esta revolución, la mitad de aplicaciones de Internet procederán de suministradores de software independientes. La liberalización de las telecomunicaciones en España es una decisión del Estado, trae consigo múltiples oportunidades en servicios. Las aplicaciones de estas nuevas tecnologías son innumerables y positivas. Internet cuenta con códigos éticos, por ejemplo. En Medicina encontramos la Microcirugía, en el campo de las deficiencias físicas y psíquicas, el usuario puede acceder en obstáculos por medio de biosensores, lo cual produce mayor seguridad. Tecnologías como la realidad virtual no sólo se utiliza en Medicina; también en el mundo del ocio, con parques de atracciones virtuales equipados con simuladores, teatros o museos virtuales. En el arte, de tal manera, que ha creado estilos de vida como la moda de los "ciberpunks". Además de su uso en interpretaciones musicales, con la música tridimensional. En la enseñanza se aplica para la mejor comprensión de los conceptos. El teletrabajo facilita un ahorro en mantenimiento, transporte y personal al empresario. Y, a la vez, consigue mayor rendimiento de sus trabajadores. Se duda de que los empleados cuenten con suficiente protección a través de representación sindical y del Estad

Azole resistance mechanisms in Candida albicans. Exposure to fluconazole and the role of the Erg11 Y477C, Tac1 S758F and Mrr2 A311V new mutations by CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing.

215 p.Invasive fungal infections caused by Candida species, among which Candida albicans is the predominant one, are the fourth cause of nosocomial infections. Most Candida infections are treated with azoles, thus, acquisition of resistance to these compounds extremely hinders the treatment options. In the recent years, there has been an increase in azole resistance, and azole tolerance is also gaining importance since it is considered to facilitate resistance development and recurrent or persistent infections. There are several well-established azole resistance mechanisms, but there are also reports of resistant clinical isolates without any of the aforementioned. In this work we have determined the presence of these known mechanisms in a collection of C. albicans strains and concluded that further research in this area is still needed to elucidate alternative resistance mechanisms. In addition, we have identified new mutations in resistance-associated genes that had not yet been reported in the literature and tested their involvement in azole resistance by means of CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing; nevertheless, we could not link these new mutations to fluconazole resistance in the C. albicans SC5314 background. We also performed an alternative approach to investigate the development of resistance to antifungals by means of an in vitro evolution experiment with two azole-susceptible C. albicans strains, SC5314 and BE-47, that wereexposed to increasing concentrations of fluconazole for 23 days. After only 4 days of fluconazole exposure, the C. albicans SC5314 strain acquired a mutation in Tac1 known to be associated to azole resistance that became homozygous by the 7th day of exposure. The occurrence of this mutation was correlated with an increase in MIC values for azoles and expression of target genes and was maintained throughout the whole experiment. Conversely, the BE-47 strain did not acquire azole resistance nor presented any of the described resistance mechanisms, but it increased its tolerance to fluconazole after the exposure period. These populations constitute a very interesting material warranting future studies of the mechanisms involved in the acquisition of azole tolerance and/or resistance