Environmental Awareness of the Young in a Rural Community in the Sierra Tarahumara, Chihuahua, Mexico

With the aim at exploring the environmental awareness of the young sector in a predominantly indigenous community, fifty structured street interviews were applied to young individuals, aged 14 to 21, attending schools at Turuachi, a distant undeveloped rural community in the Sierra Tarahumara, in the State of Chihuahua, Northern Mexico. The data were analyzed by the software SPSS® (Statistical Package for Social Sciences). Most of the interviewees showed a good knowledge of basic ecology concepts. However, their perception of environmental problems appeared to be more influenced by everyday experiences. Despite forest being a major natural resource in the area, the group studied viewed cropping as the main economic activity. The main environmental problem was garbage pollution followed by deforestation and drought. The Chi2 test showed that women had a stronger perception than men about the garbage issue (p<0.057) and a clear disposition (p<0.001) to participate in municipal cleaning campaigns. Nearly all the participants were willing to engage in activities to preserve environmental quality; community action and specific workshops were selected as viable organization alternatives. Key words: environmental education, community participation, environmental problems

Aislamiento de Sporothrix pallida y Trichophyton rubrum en onicomicosis de mano

Se presenta un caso de onicomicosis de mano, de la cual se aisló en repetidas ocasiones Sporothrix pallida y Trichophyton rubrum. Se discute sobre los principales agentes de onicomicosis, el rol de los hongos ambientales y del aislamiento de S.pallida en este y en otro tipo de muestras

Electronic Waste in Mexico – Challenges for Sustainable Management

The purpose of this chapter is to analyze the situation of the management of electronic waste in Mexico; it has been organized into four sections. In the first, a brief description of the problem of electronic waste based on the world vision presents the situation of transboundary movements of electronic waste from developed countries to developing countries or emerging stands out, in which it is done an incipient and inadequate management without concern about pollution, and health damage caused. In the second, the law applied to waste management in this country, concerning international, regional and national framework is presented. The third section, an analysis of the actors involved in the production, marketing, use, handling and disposal of electronic waste is presented; highlighting the role currently performed. A conceptual model of the life cycle of electrical-electronic equipment as a starting point for handling electronic waste and the model of management electronic that is now operating in Mexico, in which the actors involved in the value chain of electrical and electronic equipment waste (WEEE’s), is presented. In the last section, efforts that Mexican environmental authorities have done on the management of electronic waste, and WEEE \u27s generation data are analyzed, a generic model is presented enhance the WEEE \u27s in Mexico as a first phase to move from an emerging electronic waste management to a management model

Discrete molecular dynamics simulations of peptide aggregation

We study the aggregation of peptides using the discrete molecular dynamics simulations. At temperatures above the alpha-helix melting temperature of a single peptide, the model peptides aggregate into a multi-layer parallel beta-sheet structure. This structure has an inter-strand distance of 0.48 nm and an inter-sheet distance of 1.0 nm, which agree with experimental observations. In this model, the hydrogen bond interactions give rise to the inter-strand spacing in beta-sheets, while the Go interactions among side chains make beta-strands parallel to each other and allow beta-sheets to pack into layers. The aggregates also contain free edges which may allow for further aggregation of model peptides to form elongated fibrils.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figure

The Neurovascular Unit Dysfunction in Alzheimer's Disease

Funding: This work was supported by Fondo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologia (FONDOCyT) from the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology, Dominican Republic (2015-3A2-127 to M.P.-H.) and (2018-2019-2A3-208 to J.L.-M. and M.P.-H.). Acknowledgments: The authors want to express their gratitude to the Mexican families who have donated the brain of their loved ones affected by Alzheimer’s disease and made our research possible. We also want to express our gratitude to the Union Medical University Clinic, Dominican Republic, for their support and collaboration in developing of this research project. This work is dedicated to the memory of José Raúl Mena López †.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Insoluble Vascular Amyloid Deposits Trigger Disruption of the Neurovascular Unit in Alzheimer’s Disease Brains

Funding: This work was supported by Fondo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologia, FONDOCyT, from the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology, Dominican Republic (2015-3A2-127 to MP-H) and (2018-2019-2A3-208 to J.L.-M. and M.P.-H). Acknowledgments: The authors want to express their gratitude to the following: P. Davies†(Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA) and Lester I. Binder† (North Western, Chicago, IL, USA) for the generous gift of mAbs TG-3 and Alz-50, and Tau-1, Tau-5, and Tau-7, respectively; Tec. Amparo Viramontes Pintos for the handling of the brain tissue; support in the confocal microscopy unit of CIIDIR Durango, Instituto Politécnico Nacional; Union Medica University Clinic, Dominican Republic, for their support and collaboration in the development of this research project. We also want to express our gratitude to the Mexican families who have donated the brain of their loved ones affected by Alzheimer’s disease and made our research possible. This work is dedicated to the memory of José Raúl Mena López† . †Deceased.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Global Asthma Network survey suggests more national asthma strategies could reduce burden of asthma.

BACKGROUND: Several countries or regions within countries have an effective national asthma strategy resulting in a reduction of the large burden of asthma to individuals and society. There has been no systematic appraisal of the extent of national asthma strategies in the world. METHODS: The Global Asthma Network (GAN) undertook an email survey of 276 Principal Investigators of GAN centres in 120 countries, in 2013-2014. One of the questions was: "Has a national asthma strategy been developed in your country for the next five years? For children? For adults?". RESULTS: Investigators in 112 (93.3%) countries answered this question. Of these, 26 (23.2%) reported having a national asthma strategy for children and 24 (21.4%) for adults; 22 (19.6%) countries had a strategy for both children and adults; 28 (25%) had a strategy for at least one age group. In countries with a high prevalence of current wheeze, strategies were significantly more common than in low prevalence countries (11/13 (85%) and 7/31 (22.6%) respectively, p<0.001). INTERPRETATION: In 25% countries a national asthma strategy was reported. A large reduction in the global burden of asthma could be potentially achieved if more countries had an effective asthma strategy

Latex vascular injection as method for enhanced neurosurgical training and skills

BackgroundTridimensional medical knowledge of human anatomy is a key step in the undergraduate and postgraduate medical education, especially in surgical fields. Training simulation before real surgical procedures is necessary to develop clinical competences and to minimize surgical complications.MethodsLatex injection of vascular system in brain and in head-neck segment is made after washing out of the vascular system and fixation of the specimen before and after latex injection.ResultsUsing this latex injection technique, the vascular system of 90% of brains and 80% of head-neck segments are well-perfused. Latex-injected vessels maintain real appearance compared to silicone, and more flexible vessels compared to resins. Besides, latex makes possible a better perfusion of small vessels.ConclusionsLatex vascular injection technique of the brain and head-neck segment is a simulation model for neurosurgical training based on real experiencing to improve surgical skills and surgical results

The MHC Gene Region of Murine Hosts Influences the Differential Tissue Tropism of Infecting Trypanosoma cruzi Strains

We have previously demonstrated that both parasite genetic variability and host genetic background were important in determining the differential tissue distribution of the Col1.7G2 and JG T. cruzi monoclonal strains after artificial infections in mice. We observed that the JG strain was most prevalent in hearts of mouse lineages with the MHC haplotype H-2d (BALB/c and DBA2), while Col1.7G2 was predominant in hearts from C57BL/6 mice, which have the H-2b haplotype. To assess whether the MHC gene region indeed influenced tissue tropism of T. cruzi, we used the same two parasite strains to infect C57BL/6 (H-2b) and C57BLKS/J (H-2d) mice; the latter strain results from the introgression of DBA2 MHC region into the C57BL/6 background. We also performed ex vivo infections of cardiac explants from four congenic mice lineages with the H-2b and H-2d haplotypes arranged in two different genetic backgrounds: C57BLKS/J (H-2d) versus C57BL/6 (H-2b) and BALB/c (H-2d) versus BALB/B10-H2b (H-2b). In agreement with our former observations, Col1.7G2 was predominant in hearts from C57BL/6 mice (H-2b), but we observed a clear predominance of the JG strain in hearts from C57BLKS/J animals (H-2d). In the ex vivo experiments Col1.7G2 also prevailed in explants from H-2b animals while no predominance of any of the strains was observed in H-2d mice explants, regardless of the genetic background. These observations clearly demonstrate that the MHC region influences the differential tissue distribution pattern of infecting T. cruzi strains, which by its turn may be in a human infection the determinant for the clinical forms of the Chagas disease

Prostate response to prolactin in sexually active male rats

BACKGROUND: The prostate is a key gland in the sexual physiology of male mammals. Its sensitivity to steroid hormones is widely known, but its response to prolactin is still poorly known. Previous studies have shown a correlation between sexual behaviour, prolactin release and prostate physiology. Thus, here we used the sexual behaviour of male rats as a model for studying this correlation. Hence, we developed experimental paradigms to determine the influence of prolactin on sexual behaviour and prostate organization of male rats. METHODS: In addition to sexual behaviour recordings, we developed the ELISA procedure to quantify the serum level of prolactin, and the hematoxilin-eosin technique for analysis of the histological organization of the prostate. Also, different experimental manipulations were carried out; they included pituitary grafts, and haloperidol and ovine prolactin treatments. Data were analyzed with a One way ANOVA followed by post hoc Dunnet test if required. RESULTS: Data showed that male prolactin has a basal level with two peaks at the light-dark-light transitions. Consecutive ejaculations increased serum prolactin after the first ejaculation, which reached the highest level after the second, and started to decrease after the third ejaculation. These normal levels of prolactin did not induce any change at the prostate tissue. However, treatments for constant elevations of serum prolactin decreased sexual potency and increased the weight of the gland, the alveoli area and the epithelial cell height. Treatments for transient elevation of serum prolactin did not affect the sexual behaviour of males, but triggered these significant effects mainly at the ventral prostate. CONCLUSION: The prostate is a sexual gland that responds to prolactin. Mating-induced prolactin release is required during sexual encounters to activate the epithelial cells in the gland. Here we saw a precise mechanism controlling the release of prolactin during ejaculations that avoid the detrimental effects produced by constant levels. However, we showed that minor elevations of prolactin which do not affect the sexual behaviour of males, produced significant changes at the prostate epithelium that could account for triggering the development of hyperplasia or cancer. Thus, it is suggested that minute elevations of serum prolactin in healthy subjects are at the etiology of prostate abnormal growth