Colloidal Synthesis of Gold Semishells

This work describes a novel and scalable colloid chemistry strategy to fabricate gold semishells based on the selective growth of gold on Janus silica particles (500 nm in diameter) partly functionalized with amino groups. The modulation of the geometry of the Janus silica particles allows us to tune the final morphology of the gold semishells. This method also provides a route to fabricating hollow gold semishells through etching of the silica cores with hydrofluoric acid. The optical properties were characterized by visible near-infrared (vis-NIR) spectroscopy and compared with simulations performed using the boundary element method (BEM). These revealed that the main optical features are located beyond the NIR region because of the large core size

Predictores de polimedicación, uso de medicamentos potencialmente inapropiados y fármacos psicotrópicos en ancianos

La población anciana es la principal consumidora de medicamentos y la más vulnerable a los efectos indeseables de los mismos. El objetivo de nuestro estudio fue analizar la influencia de diferentes factores socio-demográficos y clínicos en la polimedicación, la prescripción de medicamentos potencialmente inapropiados (MPI) y la prescripción de fármacos psicotrópicos, en pacientes ancianos ambulatorios. Según los resultados del análisis multivariado, vivir institucionalizado en una residencia, tener 2 o más prescriptores diferentes y tener 6 o más diagnósticos, fueron factores de riesgo independientes tanto para la polimedicación como para el consumo de MPI y el consumo de fármacos psicotrópicos. La edad avanzada resultó ser un factor de riesgo para la polimedicación; a su vez, la polimedicación resultó ser un factor de riesgo para el consumo de MPI y el sexo femenino lo fue para el consumo de fármacos psicotrópicos.Departamento de Biología Celular, Histología y FarmacologíaDoctorado en Investigación en Ciencias de la Salu

Stereotaxic cutting of post-mortem human brains for neuroanatomical studies

Stereotaxis is widely used in clinical neurosurgery, neuroradiosurgery, and neuroimaging. Yet, maps of brain structures obtained from post-mortem human brains are not usually presented in known stereotaxic coordinates. Post-mortem brain data given in stereotaxic coordinates would facilitate comparisons with in vivo human neuroimages and would also facilitate intra and inter-experiment comparisons. In this article, we present a crafted instrument for stereotaxic cutting of post-mortem human brain hemispheres. The instrument consists of a transparent methacrylate plate facing a mirror, four legs, and lateral regularly spaced columns permitting the insertion of large knives in-between the columns. This instrument can be built in any laboratory to obtain human brain slabs in the stereotaxic space of Talairach and Tournoux. We explain in detail the procedure for stereotaxic cutting of human brain hemispheres in the coronal plane, as well as the basis for calculating stereotaxic coordinates of histological sections obtained following the stereotaxic cutting protoco

Mapping the primate thalamus: systematic approach to analyze the distribution of subcortical neuromodulatory afferents

Neuromodulatory afferents to thalamic nuclei are key for information transmission and thus play critical roles in sensory, motor, and limbic processes. Over the course of the last decades, diverse attempts have been made to map and describe subcortical neuromodulatory afferents to the primate thalamus, including axons using acetylcholine, serotonin, dopamine, noradrenaline, adrenaline, and histamine. Our group has been actively involved in this endeavor. The published descriptions on neuromodulatory afferents to the primate thalamus have been made in different laboratories and are not fully comparable due to methodological divergences (for example, fixation procedures, planes of cutting, techniques used to detect the afferents, different criteria for identification of thalamic nuclei…). Such variation affects the results obtained. Therefore, systematic methodological and analytical approaches are much needed. The present article proposes reproducible methodological and terminological frameworks for primate thalamic mapping. We suggest the use of standard stereotaxic planes to produce and present maps of the primate thalamus, as well as the use of the Anglo-American school terminology (vs. the German school terminology) for identification of thalamic nuclei. Finally, a public repository of the data collected under agreed-on frameworks would be a useful tool for looking up and comparing data on the structure and connections of primate thalamic nuclei. Important and agreed-on efforts are required to create, manage, and fund a unified and homogeneous resource of data on the primate thalamus. Likewise, a firm commitment of the institutions to preserve experimental brain material is much needed because neuroscience work with non-human primates is becoming increasingly rare, making earlier material still more valuableOpen Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer Nature. CC and IP-S were the recipients of grants from Chair in Neuroscience UAM-Fundación Tatiana Pérez de Guzmán el Bueno, Spain. MAG-C was the recipient of a Beatriz Galindo senior research position in the School of Medicine, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (BEAGAL18/00098) and of a Grant for I+D Projects to the Beatriz Galindo Program Researchers at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (SI2/PBG/2020–00014) from the Madrid Government (Comunidad de Madrid-Spain) under the Multiannual Agreement with Universidad Autónoma de Madrid in the line of action encouraging young research doctors, in the context of the V PRICIT (Regional Programme of Research and Technological Innovation

Mapping the primate thalamus: historical perspective and modern approaches for defining nuclei

The primate thalamus has been subdivided into multiple nuclei and nuclear groups based on cytoarchitectonic, myeloarchitectonic, connectional, histochemical, and genoarchitectonic differences. Regarding parcellation and terminology, two main schools prevailed in the twentieth century: the German and the Anglo-American Schools, which proposed rather different schemes. The German parcellation and terminology has been mostly used for the human thalamus in neurosurgery atlases; the Anglo-American parcellation and terminology is the most used in experimental research on the primate thalamus. In this article, we review the historical development of terminological and parcellation schemes for the primate thalamus over the last 200 years. We trace the technological innovations and conceptual advances in thalamic research that underlie each parcellation, from the use of magnifying lenses to contemporary genoarchitectonic stains during ontogeny. We also discuss the advantages, disadvantages, and practical use of each parcellationCC and IP-S were the recipients of grants from Chair in Neuroscience UAM-Fundación Tatiana Pérez de Guzmán el Bueno, Spain. MAG-C was the recipient of a Beatriz Galindo senior research position in the School of Medicine, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (BEAGAL18/00098) and of a Grant for I + D Projects for the Beatriz Galindo Program Researchers at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (SI2/PBG/2020-00014) from the Madrid Government (Comunidad de Madrid-Spain) under the Multiannual Agreement with Universidad Autónoma de Madrid in the line of action encouraging youth research doctors, in the context of the V PRICIT (Regional Programme of Research and Technological Innovation

Smart cities for wellbeing: youth employment and their skills on computers

[Abstract]: The smart cities can be understood as an inclusive space for each and everyone to achieve their best options, within the framework of sustainable development, where institutions boost information and technology environments which help to achieve the highest individual and social well-being with the aim of improving the lives of citizens. The youth group (between 15 and 24 years) was sternly affected for the crisis. In this paper the youth employability, in relation to the new challenges of smart cities, is analyzed in the EU, with the aim of assessing the influence of ICTs skills on youth employability. By means of a mean analysis and a Structural Equation Modelling the differences between the Euro Area and the other countries in the EU is analyzed, as well as the importance of information technologies and the computers skills for increasing youth employability. The results indicate that awareness of the importance of IT skills is greater in the euro area and that computer skills and highly significant to explain the employability of young people. The achieved conclusions point out to the training on computers skills as a key factor for boosting youth employment. This paper contribution could help to increase social wellbeing by means of giving support to policy makers to make decisions to increase youth employment and to provide the qualified workforce to those companies arose among the smart cities. The main original value is to link the computer skills to the employment for the specific youth group in the EU

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La Pizarra Digital Interactiva como recurso didáctico accesible para alumnos con discapacidad visual

Se describe la planificación y el desarrollo de una experiencia de evaluación de la Pizarra Digital Interactiva como herramienta de accesibilidad para alumnos de Secundaria y Bachillerato con discapacidad visual. La experiencia tuvo lugar en Alicante durante el curso 2007-2008 con cinco alumnos afiliados a la ONCE. Se creó un grupo de trabajo formado por profesores de Secundaria y del Centro de Recursos Educativos de la ONCE, y se establecieron los objetivos, las actividades (tales como formación de profesores y alumnos en el uso de la Pizarra, o la elaboración de recursos didácticos de Biología, Dibujo Técnico, Química y Matemáticas) y los elementos de registro y evaluación (cuestionarios para alumnos y profesores). Las conclusiones de alumnos y profesores confirman la valoración positiva de la Pizarra Digital como instrumento didáctico que estimula y favorece el aprendizaje de los alumnos con discapacidad visual

Discurso religioso: "Ideología de género" y grupos anti-género en América Latina

El debate contemporáneo en torno a la agenda de género se produce con la presencia de actores religiosos que disputan el sentido dominante. No se trata de líderes religiosos sino de organizaciones autodenominadas "pro-vida" o asociaciones ciudadanas que van ganando terreno en la sociedad civil y que defienden un orden sexual basado en la reproducción, la monogamia y el matrimonio heterosexual. En este contexto, el capítulo propone el análisis de la participación de estos sectores en redes sociales (particularmente Youtube y Facebook) y la construcción de sus páginas web. Uno de los elementos de estudio es el constructo "ideología de género", un discurso que pone en cuestión la categoría de género por parte de sectores tanto católicos como evangélicos: el género es definido como ideología en su acepción de "falsedad", y opuesto a una "verdad revelada", lo cual clausura la discusión en torno a la construcción social del discurso de estos sectores: su carácter regional y/o global; de género. Se analizan también tres características las relaciones de cooperación y reconocimiento que establecen; y una fuerte articulación discursiva (reutilización de materiales, recurrencia de discursos, etc). Por último se realiza un análisis específico de la campaña "Con mis hijos no te metas" con presencia en casi todos los países de la región.Fil: Pérez, Sara Isabel. Universidad Nacional de Quilmes; ArgentinaFil: Torres, German Santos Maria. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Saavedra 15. Centro de Estudios e Investigaciones Laborales; Argentin