La acetabuloplastia de Staheli en el tratamiento de la enfermedad de Legg-Calvé-Perthes en mayores de 6 años. Estudio preliminar

Objetivo: Valorar los resultados funcionales y radiográficos de la acetabuloplastia de Staheli como alternativa terapéutica en el tratamiento quirúrgico de la enfermedad de Legg-Calvé-Perthes de debut tardío.Material y método: Estudio retrospectivo de 7 pacientes con enfermedad de Legg-Calvé-Perthes tratados mediante acetabuloplastia de Staheli con un tiempo de seguimiento medio de tres años y tres meses. Se analizan parámetros clínicos (movilidad prequirúrgica y al final del seguimiento) así como parámetros radiográficos (clasificación de Herring, índice acetábulo-cabeza de Heyman-Herndon y el ángulo centro-borde de Wiberg) previos al tratamiento quirúrgico, tras el tratamiento quirúrgico y al final del seguimiento. Resultados: Tras el análisis estadístico de los índices radiográficos (índice acetábulo-cabeza de Heyman-Herndon así como ángulo de Wiberg) se objetivaron diferencias estadísticamente significativas entre la radiografía prequirúrgica y postquirúrgica, pero no se objetivaron diferencias estadísticamente significativas entre la postquirúrgica y la realizada al final del seguimiento. Por lo tanto, los índices radiográficos mostraron una mejora en sus parámetros que además se mantuvo estable en el tiempo. Ningún paciente presentó complicaciones debidas a la cirugía. La exploración física mostró una mejoría media de 10º en la rotación interna de la cadera. Conclusiones: La técnica de acetabuloplastia según Staheli es una opción quirúrgica que conduce a la mejora de los resultados radiográficos y funcionales con pocas complicaciones debidas al procedimiento.Objective: To evaluate the functional and radiographic results of Staheli's acetabuloplasty as therapeutic option in the surgical treatment of Legg-Calvé-Perthes's disease of late debut. Material and method: we did a retrospective study of seven patients with Legg-Calvé-Perthes's disease treated by means of Staheli's acetabuloplasty with an average follow-up of three years and three months. We analyzed clinical parameters (preoperative and "end of the follow-up" mobility) as well as radiographic parameters (Herring's classification, Heyman-Herndon's index and Wiberg's center-edge angle) before the surgical treatment, after the surgical treatment and at the end of the follow-up. Results: Any patients presented complications due to the surgery. The physical exploration showed an average improvement of 10º in the internal rotation of the hip. After the statistical analysis of the radiographic indexes (Heyman-Herndon's index as well as Wiberg's angle), there were statistically significant differences between the preoperative X-ray and the postoperative one, but there were no statistically significant differences between the postoperative one and the X-ray done at the end of the follow-up. Therefore, the radiographic indexes showed an improvement in these parameters that in addition kept stable in time. Conclusions: The technic of acetabuloplasty according to Staheli is a surgical option that leads to a good radiographic and functional result with few complications due to the procedure

Los saberes docentes en los contextos de la Sierra Tarahumara: hacia la reconstrucción social e identidad

El planteamiento del estudio fue conocer los saberes socialmente construidos de los docentes de educación básica que gestan en los contextos de interacción formal e informal, en tiempos y espacios geográficos diversos y que confluyen en la Sierra Tarahumara.  Se realiza en tres fases metodológicas, en la primera se realiza a través de la teoría de las representaciones sociales un autodiagnóstico, la segunda es una introspección teórica y práctica en el sujeto-docente que se gesta por las reflexiones que giran alrededor de la práctica educativa, a través de la experiencia individual y colectiva del análisis del contexto en conjunto con los docentes que laboran en los contextos de la sierra tarahumara. Como última fase, es el desarrollo de observaciones y entrevistas a profundidad.

The role of the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex in dorsomedial prefrontal-amygdala neural circuitry during positive-social emotion regulation

Positive-social emotions mediate one's cognitive performance, mood, well-being, and social bonds, and represent a critical variable within therapeutic settings. It has been shown that the upregulation of positive emotions in social situations is associated with increased top-down signals that stem from the prefrontal cortices (PFC) which modulate bottom-up emotional responses in the amygdala. However, it remains unclear if positive-social emotion upregulation of the amygdala occurs directly through the dorsomedial PFC (dmPFC) or indirectly linking the bilateral amygdala with the dmPFC via the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC), an area which typically serves as a gatekeeper between cognitive and emotion networks. We performed functional MRI (fMRI) experiments with and without effortful positive-social emotion upregulation to demonstrate the functional architecture of a network involving the amygdala, the dmPFC, and the sgACC. We found that effortful positive-social emotion upregulation was associated with an increase in top-down connectivity from the dmPFC on the amygdala via both direct and indirect connections with the sgACC. Conversely, we found that emotion processes without effortful regulation increased network modulation by the sgACC and amygdala. We also found that more anxious individuals with a greater tendency to suppress emotions and intrusive thoughts, were likely to display decreased amygdala, dmPFC, and sgACC activity and stronger connectivity strength from the sgACC onto the left amygdala during effortful emotion upregulation. Analyzed brain network suggests a more general role of the sgACC in cognitive control and sheds light on neurobiological informed treatment interventions

Cell dedifferentiation and epithelial to mesenchymal transitions during intestinal regeneration in H. glaberrima

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Determining the type and source of cells involved in regenerative processes has been one of the most important goals of researchers in the field of regeneration biology. We have previously used several cellular markers to characterize the cells involved in the regeneration of the intestine in the sea cucumber <it>Holothuria glaberrima</it>.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We have now obtained a monoclonal antibody that labels the mesothelium; the outer layer of the gut wall composed of peritoneocytes and myocytes. Using this antibody we studied the role of this tissue layer in the early stages of intestinal regeneration. We have now shown that the mesothelial cells of the mesentery, specifically the muscle component, undergo dedifferentiation from very early on in the regeneration process. Cell proliferation, on the other hand, increases much later, and mainly takes place in the mesothelium or coelomic epithelium of the regenerating intestinal rudiment. Moreover, we have found that the formation of the intestinal rudiment involves a novel regenerative mechanism where epithelial cells ingress into the connective tissue and acquire mesenchymal phenotypes.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our results strongly suggest that the dedifferentiating mesothelium provides the initial source of cells for the formation of the intestinal rudiment. At later stages, cell proliferation supplies additional cells necessary for the increase in size of the regenerate. Our data also shows that the mechanism of epithelial to mesenchymal transition provides many of the connective tissue cells found in the regenerating intestine. These results present some new and important information as to the cellular basis of organ regeneration and in particular to the process of regeneration of visceral organs.</p

Spreadsheet for the simulation of artificial neural networks (ANNs)

La utilización de Redes de Neuronas Artificiales (RNA) en problemas de predicción de series de tiempo, clasificación y reconocimiento de patrones ha aumentado considerablemente en los últimos años. Programas informáticos de matemáticas de propósito general tales como MATLAB, MATHCAD y aplicaciones estadísticas como SPSS y S-PLUS incorporan herramientas que permiten implementar RNAs. A esta oferta de software hay que añadir programas específicos como NeuralWare, EasyNN o Neuron. Desde un punto de vista educativo, el acceso de los estudiantes a estos programas puede ser difícil dado que no están pensadas como herramientas didácticas. Por otro lado, las hojas de cálculo como Excel y Gnumeric incorporan utilidades que permiten implementar RNAs y son de fácil acceso para los estudiantes. El objetivo de este trabajo es proporcionar un pequeño tutorial sobre la utilización de Excel para implementar una RNA que nos permita ajustar los valores de una serie de tiempo correspondiente a actividad cerebral alfa y que permita al alumno entender el funcionamiento de estos dispositivos de cálculo.In recent years, the use of Artificial Neural Networks or ANNs has increased considerably to solve prediction problems in time series, classification and recognition of patterns. General-purpose mathematical programs such as MATLAB, MATHCAD and mathematical and statistical programs such as SPSS and S-PLUS incorporate tools that allow the implementation of ANNs. In addition to these, specific programs such as NeuralWare, EasyNN, or Neuron, complete the software offer using ANNs. From an educational point of view, an aspect that concerns the authors of this work, student access to these programs can be expensive or, in sorne case, unadvisable given the few possibilities they provide as didactic instruments. These programs are usually easy to use but do not facilitate the understanding of the technique used. On the other hand, spreadsheets like Excel or Gnumeric incorporate tools that allow all of the necessary calculations to implement an ANN. These programs are user-friendly to the point that they are used by university laboratories, as well as psychology, economic science, and engineering students, to mention a few. This paper provides a small tutorial on the use of a spreadsheet, specifically Excel, to implement an ANN to adjust the values of a time series corresponding to cerebral alpha activity

Foveal avascular zone and choroidal thickness are decreased in subjects with hard drusen and without high genetic risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease

A family history (FH+) of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and ɛ4 allele of the ApoE gene are the main genetic risk factors for developing AD, whereas ɛ4 allele plays a protective role in age-related macular degeneration. Ocular vascular changes have been reported in both pathologies. We analyzed the choroidal thickness using optical coherence tomography (OCT) and the foveal avascular zone (FAZ) using OCT-angiography and compared the results with ApoE gene expression, AD FH+, and the presence or absence of hard drusen (HD) in 184 cognitively healthy subjects. Choroidal thickness was statistically significantly different in the (FH−, ɛ4−, HD+) group compared with (i) both the (FH−, ɛ4−, HD−) and the (FH+, ɛ4+, HD+) groups in the superior and inferior points at 1500 μm, and (ii) the (FH+, ɛ4−, HD+) group in the superior point at 1500 μm. There were statistically significant differences in the superficial FAZ between the (FH+, ɛ4−, HD+) group and (i) the (FH+, ɛ4−, HD−) group and (ii) the (FH+, ɛ4+, HD−) group. In conclusion, ocular vascular changes are not yet evident in participants with a genetic risk of developing AD

The Expression of Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide Receptor 1 Is Negatively Modulated by MicroRNA 525-5p

Background: The human Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide (VIP) is a neurokine with effects on the immune system where it is involved in promoting tolerance. In this context, one of its receptors, VPAC1, has been found to be down-modulated in cells of the immune network in response to activating stimuli. In particular, the bacterial liposaccaride (LPS), a strong activator of the innate immune system, induces a rapid decrease of VPAC1 expression in monocytes and this event correlates with polymorphisms in the 3'-UTR of the gene. Methodology/Principal Findings: MicroRNA 525-5p, having as putative target the 3'-UTR region of VPAC1, has been analysed for its expression in monocytes and for its role in down-modulating VPAC1 expression. We report here that miR-525-5p is promptly up-regulated in LPS-treated monocytes. This microRNA, when co-transfected in 293T cells together with a construct containing the 3'-UTR of the VPAC1 gene, significantly reduced the luciferase activity in a standard expression assay. The U937 cell line as well as primary monocytes enforced to express miR-525-5p, both down-modulate VPAC1 expression at similar extent. Conclusions/Significance: Our results show that the response to an inflammatory stimulus elicits in monocytes a rapid increase of miR-525-5p that targets a signaling pathway involved in the control of the immune homeostasis

A First Search for coincident Gravitational Waves and High Energy Neutrinos using LIGO, Virgo and ANTARES data from 2007

We present the results of the first search for gravitational wave bursts associated with high energy neutrinos. Together, these messengers could reveal new, hidden sources that are not observed by conventional photon astronomy, particularly at high energy. Our search uses neutrinos detected by the underwater neutrino telescope ANTARES in its 5 line configuration during the period January - September 2007, which coincided with the fifth and first science runs of LIGO and Virgo, respectively. The LIGO-Virgo data were analysed for candidate gravitational-wave signals coincident in time and direction with the neutrino events. No significant coincident events were observed. We place limits on the density of joint high energy neutrino - gravitational wave emission events in the local universe, and compare them with densities of merger and core-collapse events.Comment: 19 pages, 8 figures, science summary page at http://www.ligo.org/science/Publication-S5LV_ANTARES/index.php. Public access area to figures, tables at https://dcc.ligo.org/cgi-bin/DocDB/ShowDocument?docid=p120000