Antioxidants in Kidney Diseases: The Impact of Bardoxolone Methyl

Drugs targeting the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) are the mainstay of therapy to retard the progression of proteinuric chronic kidney disease (CKD) such as diabetic nephropathy. However, diabetic nephropathy is still the first cause of end-stage renal disease. New drugs targeted to the pathogenesis and mechanisms of progression of these diseases beyond RAAS inhibition are needed. There is solid experimental evidence of a key role of oxidative stress and its interrelation with inflammation on renal damage. However, randomized and well-powered trials on these agents in CKD are scarce. We now review the biological bases of oxidative stress and its role in kidney diseases, with focus on diabetic nephropathy, as well as the role of the Keap1-Nrf2 pathway and recent clinical trials targeting this pathway with bardoxolone methyl

Treatment of idiopathic membranous nephropathy in adults: KDIGO 2012, cyclophosphamide and cyclosporine A are out, rituximab is the new normal

The 2012 Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) clinical practice guidelines for glomerulonephritis shed light on the complex world of glomerulonephritis therapy. However, they may no longer apply to idiopathic membranous nephropathy, as recently concluded by the KDIGO 2019 Working Group. This is due to the discovery of autoantibodies such as anti-phospholipase A2 receptor (anti-PLA2R) that allow disease monitoring as well as to results from recent clinical trials, comparative cohort studies and meta-analyses. Perhaps the most disruptive of them is the Membranous Nephropathy Trial of Rituximab (MENTOR) trial comparing rituximab with cyclosporine A, which supports the superiority of rituximab in efficacy and safety. Furthermore, rituximab results compared favourably with the short-term results of classical clinical trials that supported the KDIGO 2012 recommendation of immunosuppressive cyclophosphamide-based regimens as first choice for active treatment of idiopathic membranous nephropathy. Thus, the KDIGO recommendations for cyclophosphamide-based regimens or calcineurin inhibitors as the first line of active treatment regimens for idiopathic membranous nephropathy with nephrotic syndrome may no longer apply. By contrast, rituximab-based regimens or other B-cell-targeted therapies appear to represent the present and future of membranous nephropathy therapy.Research by the authors was supported by FIS CP14/00133, PI16/02057, PI18/01366, PI19/00588, PI19/00815, DTS18/00032, ERA-PerMed-JTC2018 (KIDNEY ATTACK AC18/00064 and PERSTIGAN AC18/00071), ISCIII-RETIC REDinREN RD016/0009 Fondos FEDER, FRIAT, Sociedad Española de Nefrología, Comunidad de Madrid B2017/BMD-3686 CIFRA2-CM

Ciber violencia de pareja y su relación con el tecnoestrés en estudiantes universitarios de Lima metropolitana

La investigación precisa identificar la relación entre ciber violencia de pareja y tecnoestrés en jóvenes y adultos universitarios de Lima metropolitana. La elaboración de la investigación fue básica, no experimental, transversal y de diseño descriptivo correlacional. La población fue compuesta por jóvenes y adultos universitarios de Lima metropolitana, cuya muestra fue representada por 202 estudiantes seleccionados por muestreo no probabilístico, los instrumentos utilizados en el estudio fueron el cuestionario de ciber violencia de pareja (Morelli, Bianchi, Chirumbolo, y Baiocco (2017), adaptado por Ahuanlla en Perú y el cuestionario de tecnoestrés WONT (2007), adaptada por Álvarez para Perú. Los resultados obtenidos demostraron una correlación positiva y estadísticamente significativa (r= 0.467, p= 0.000) entre la ciber violencia con el tecnoestrés, al respecto de los niveles de ciber violencia de pareja, se alcanzó un nivel moderado en bajo en hombres y moderado en mujeres universitarias de Lima metropolitana, por otro lado, también se encontró que los niveles de tecnoestrés moderado en mujeres y nivel bajo en hombres universitarios de Lima metropolitana

Correspondencia con los Árboles

Este trabajo es el fruto de dos años de desarrollo e investigación por las posibilidades creativas de la palabra enfocadas en la construccion de un mundo poético. Como resultado de tal propósito surge Correspondencia con los Árboles, un libro de poemas escritos en prosa, en cuyo centro emerge el árbol como figura central capaz de conducir una exploración por la condición humana y su ser en el mundo. La poesía es una forma de conocimiento que unifica al intelecto con la dimensión sensible de la experiencia humana teniendo en cuenta esta posibilidad emerge desde el ámbito de la universidad esta correspondencia con los árboles.Abstract. This work have been produced after 2 years of developing research work on the different creative posibilities of the construction of a poetic world. As a result of this work there was born “Correspondencia con los Árboles”, a book of poems written in prose, in which heart rests the tree as a main icon that can drag the human to a exploration of its condition and its purpose in the universe. The poetry is a way of knowledge that aims to integrate the intelect and the sensitive dimension of the human experience, taking into acount this posibility, emerges from the university’s context this empathy with the trees.Maestrí

Aplicaciones industriales, domésticas y otros campos de la lógica difusa

En los últimos tiempos se han desarrollado en forma prominente tecnologías relacionadas con funciones y características humanas ya sean del campo psicológico (como la inteligencia artificial) o del campo de los procesos biológicos (como las redes neuronales, los algoritmos genéticos y la programación evolutiva). Estas tecnologías denominadas "Tecnologías inteligentes" pretenden representar el conocimiento en forma entendible por los humanos y al mismo tiempo manejable por la computadora. Como elemento de desarrollo de las técnicas anteriormente citadas se encuentra la lógica difusa que en un primer nivel puede decirse que es un lenguaje que permite trasladar sentencias sofisticadas del lenguaje natural a un formalismo matemático. En 1960, Lotfi Zadeh inventó la lógica difusa guiado por el principio de que las matemáticas pueden ser usadas para encadenar el lenguaje con la inteligencia humana. Es ideal para el modelado y el control de sistemas no lineales debido a sus características de ambigüedad, (en contraste con los si/no o verdadero / falso de la lógica tradicional) que permiten considerar grados en las características consideradas en los problemas de Ingeniería, incluso cuando no se disponga de modelos matemáticos rigurosos.Incluye bibliografí

Recent clinical trials insights into the treatment of primary membranous nephropathy

Immunosuppressive therapy is mandatory for primary membranous nephropathy with persistent nephrotic proteinuria or anti-phospholipase A2 receptor antibodies, reduced kidney function, or another risk factor for progression. Rituximab has demonstrated efficacy for proteinuria remission compared with renin-angiotensin system blockade or cyclosporine in two well-powered randomized controlled trials. More recently, STARMEN showed that alternating glucocorticoid-cyclophosphamide is superior to sequential tacrolimus-rituximab for proteinuria remission, although it was associated with a higher risk of non-serious adverse events. However, sequential tacrolimus-rituximab involved delayed lower dose rituximab and was the worst-performing rituximab regimen among those tested in randomized clinical trials. The RI-CYCLO pilot study did not demonstrate superiority of glucocorticoid-cyclophosphamide over rituximab and found no difference in adverse events. Overall, STARMEN and RI-CYCLO confirmed the efficacy of glucocorticoid-cyclophosphamide in patients with high-risk membranous nephropathy and the role of rituximab as a valid alternative. However, none of the trials tested an optimized rituximab protocol involving a second rituximab cycle before declaring treatment failure. Calcineurin inhibitors should be considered third-line drugs and sequential use of calcineurin inhibitor rituximab did not add over rituximab-only regimens. We critically review recent randomized controlled trials, propose a research agenda, and call for multinational pragmatic trials that enroll patients at referral centers to address unmet research needsResearch by the authors was supported by FIS/Fondos FEDER (PI18/01366, PI19/00588, PI19/00815, DTS18/00032, ERAPerMed-JTC2018 (KIDNEY ATTACK AC18/00064 and PERSTIGAN AC18/00071, ISCIII-RETIC REDinREN RD016/0009), Sociedad Española de Nefrología, Fundación Renal Iñigo Álvarez de Toledo (FRIAT), and Comunidad de Madrid en Biomedicina B2017/BMD3686 CIFRA2-C

Good or excellent? Factors determining online hotel ratings. A spatial approach.

In a competitive environment, where hotel demand is lower than market supply, it is of interest to determine what factors explain how excellence differentiates certain hotels from others. Using spatial quantile regression, this research investigates the effect of locational factors as well as those related to the management of human capital investment in Spanish hotels rated on Booking.com. The study shows that human capital investment in hotels can significantly increase guest delight. As regards location, hotels in protected natural areas that are far from large cities obtain higher guest review scores. Additionally, a spatial spillover effect due to reputation transfer among nearby hotels with median scores is found. However, this effect is not observed for hotels with very high scores. These results can serve to rationalize the available resources and inform hotel owners and managers about the factors required to achieve high scores.Grant PID2019-110941RB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and Junta de Andalucía and FEDER funds with the project B-SEJ-381-UGR1

Secure Distributed System inspired by Ant Colonies for Road Traffic Management in Emergency Situations

We have proposed an algorithm, based on ant colonies, for road traffic management. The implementation of the algorithm does not rely on fixed infrastructures in order to operate in emergency situations. It only uses the VANET V2V communications and location systems that do not require contact with a fixed infrastructure. The algorithm uses signature aggregation and reputation lists to ensure system security. Furthermore, the algorithm has an implicit security that minimizes the risks in case of attacks. A scale prototype has been designed and implemented to validate the algorithm using RFID location system.In this work, we present a distributed system designed for road traffic management. The system is inspired by the behavior of the ant colonies. The distributed design responds to the particular limitations of an emergency situation; mainly, the fixed infrastructures are out of service because no energy supply is available. The implementation is based on the VANET facilities complemented with passive RFID tags or GPS localization. The vehicles can use the information of previous vehicles to dynamically decide the best path. A scale prototype has been developed to validate the system. It consists of several small size robotic vehicles, a test road circuit and a visual monitorization system. The security of the system is provided by a combination of data aggregation and reputation lists.Proyecto TIN 2011-25452 (TUERI: Technologies for secUre and Efficient wiReless networks within the Internet of things with applications in transport and logistic). Y Universidad de Málaga-Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucia Tech