La (incumplida) promesa universitaria en el Perú

La universidad pública tomó una senda de crisis como producto del descuido del Estado puesto en evidencia en el desfinanciamiento y la desintegración del tramado institucional. Desde nuestra perspectiva, fueron tres las hipótesis de cambio que estuvieron detrás de la decisión de liberalizar la oferta educativa universitaria. La primera consistió en que con la participación privada se conseguiría ampliar la oferta y, por lo tanto, la cobertura universitaria. La segunda fue que, como consecuencia de la primera, el acceso a los estudios superiores se democratizaría; y Finalmente, se supuso que el mercado sería un regulador efectivo de la calidad de este servicio, en el que la competencia dejaría fuera a las malas universidades. El objetivo de este informe es mostrar qué sucedió con aquellas hipótesis de mediados de los años noventa mediante el análisis descriptivo de un conjunto de datos oficiales sobre la educación superior universitaria en el Perú

Toward an effective approach for on‑farm experimentation: lessons learned from a case study of fertilizer application optimization in Japan

On-farm experimentation (OFE) is increasing worldwide. Appropriate OFE procedures may differ depending on the characteristics and circumstances surrounding farms, such as climate, field conditions, farm size, degree of agricultural digitalization, and a farmer’s socioeconomic background. This study aims to guide the future development of OFE in Japanese grain farming by examining the experimental setup, data analysis, and farmers’ activities within their socioeconomic and institutional communication and learning networks. The results of this typical OFE case study, which estimates a field’s economicallyoptimal fertilizer variable-rate application map for winter wheat production, are reported. The outcomes of the case study, which are intended to guide the direction of OFE development in Japan, were used as reference materials for a survey taken while interviewing farmers who had never been involved in OFE. Farmers’ answers showed that the economic return of site-specific management depends on farm and field size and exhibits economies of scale. A very high share of the profit increases provided by OFE data came from improvements in field-specific uniform rate management, not from within-field site-specific management. The interviews revealed that farmers open to OFE are more interested in increasing rice crop quality to earn price premiums than in increasing yield. Increased engagement with farmers in conducting OFEs could play a key role not only in generating data to guide farmers’ input management but also in fostering farmer collaboration to develop marketing strategies. This study is the first to propose future orientations of OFE research that target typical moderately-sized Japanese grain farms

Transpupillary thermotherapy for atypical central serous chorioretinopathy

Ryosuke Kawamura1,2, Hidenao Ideta1, Hideyuki Hori1, Kenya Yuki2, Tsuyoshi Uno1, Tatsurou Tanabe1, Kazuo Tsubota2, Tsutomu Kawasaki11Ideta Eye Hospital, Kumamoto, Japan; 2Keio University, School of Medicine, Department of Ophthalmology, Tokyo, JapanBackground: Central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) has been traditionally treated with laser photocoagulation. We thought that transpupillary thermotherapy (TTT) utilizing a lower temperature than that of conventional laser photocoagulation might minimize permanent retinal and choroidal damage. Studies suggest that undesirable effects on vision due to TTT are minimal even if it is applied to foveal and/or parafoveal lesions when TTT requires a larger irradiation spot. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of TTT in the management of atypical CSC.Methods: We defined atypical CSC as bullous retinal detachment with diffuse or several leakages, severe leakage with fibrin formation under serous retinal detachment, or leakage within a pigment epithelium detachment. Eight consecutive patients with atypical CSC underwent visual acuity testing, ophthalmic examination, color photography, fluorescein angiography, and optical coherence tomography to evaluate the results of transpupillary thermotherapy. Retreatment of atypical CSC was based on ophthalmic examination, optical coherence tomography, and fluorescein angiography. TTT was performed on the leaking spots shown in fluorescein angiography, with a power of 50–250 mW, spot size of 500–1200 µm, and exposure time of 13–60 seconds to minimize retinal damage.Results: In five of eight affected eyes, serous detachments completely resolved within 1 month after the initial TTT. One eye had persistent subretinal fluid and required a second TTT treatment. Two eyes showed no resolution of CSC and were treated by conventional photocoagulation. Initial best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) ranged from 20/600 to 20/20 (mean, 20/40; median, 20/30). Final BCVA ranged from 20/200 to 20/20 (mean, 20/25; median, 20/20). BCVA improved in all cases. Only two eyes with persistent subretinal fibrin and existing retinal pigment epithelial alternations in macular area showed limited improvement of BCVA despite the absence of subretinal exudation. The presence of retinal attachment was confirmed by optical coherence tomography in six eyes (75%).Conclusions: TTT seems to be effective for the treatment of atypical CSC in the short term. Additional studies are necessary to evaluate the long-term effectiveness and safety.Keywords: transpupillary thermotherapy, central serous chorioretinopathy, optical coherence tomography, fluorescein angiography, serous detachmen

New dimeric flavans from gambir, an extract of Uncaria gambir

Three new dimeric flavans, catechin-(4 alpha -&#62; 8)-ent-epicatechin (7), gambirflavan D1 (8), and gambirflavan D2 (9), were isolated from gambir (an extract from the leaves and young twigs of Uncaria gambir), and their structures were determined based on spectroscopic and chemical data.</p

Cav2.3 (α1E) Ca2+ channel participates in the control of sperm function

AbstractTo know the function of the Ca2+ channel containing α12.3 (α1E) subunit (Cav2.3 channel) in spermatozoa, we analyzed Ca2+ transients and sperm motility using a mouse strain lacking Cav2.3 channel. The averaged rising rates of Ca2+ transients induced by α-D-mannose–bovine serum albumin in the head region of Cav2.3−/− sperm were significantly lower than those of Cav2.3+/+ sperm. A computer-assisted sperm motility assay revealed that straight-line velocity and linearity were greater in Cav2.3−/− sperm than those in Cav2.3+/+ sperm. These results suggest that the Cav2.3 channel plays some roles in Ca2+ transients and the control of flagellar movement

Use of fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) pulse sequences for differential diagnosis of hepatic hemangiomas and hepatic cysts

Fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) imaging of hepatic hemangiomas (10 patients, 16 lesions) and hepatic cysts (8 patients, 10 lesions) was performed. All hemangiomas were hypointense on T1-weighted images and hyperintense on T2-weighted images. With Gd-DTPA (0.1 mmol/kg), all hemangiomas were enhanced but not all cysts. It was necessary to perform contrast enhanced imaging to differentiate hepatic hemangiomas from hepatic cysts. However, on FLAIR imaging, hepatic hemangiomas were strongly hyperintense and 9 of the 10 hepatic cysts were isointense. One of the hepatic cysts was slightly hyperintense. FLAIR images were useful in differential diagnosis of hepatic hemangiomas and hepatic cysts without using Gd-DTPA.</p

Upregulation of casein kinase 1ε in dorsal root ganglia and spinal cord after mouse spinal nerve injury contributes to neuropathic pain

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Neuropathic pain is a complex chronic pain generated by damage to, or pathological changes in the somatosensory nervous system. Characteristic features of neuropathic pain are allodynia, hyperalgesia and spontaneous pain. Such abnormalities associated with neuropathic pain state remain to be a significant clinical problem. However, the neuronal mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of neuropathic pain are complex and still poorly understood. Casein kinase 1 is a serine/threonine protein kinase and has been implicated in a wide range of signaling activities such as cell differentiation, proliferation, apoptosis, circadian rhythms and membrane transport. In mammals, the CK1 family consists of seven members (α, β, γ1, γ2, γ3, δ, and ε) with a highly conserved kinase domain and divergent amino- and carboxy-termini.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Preliminary cDNA microarray analysis revealed that the expression of the <it>casein kinase 1 epsilon </it>(<it>CK1ε</it>) mRNA in the spinal cord of the neuropathic pain-resistant N- type Ca²⁺channel deficient (<it>Ca</it>_<it>v</it><it>2.2</it>^-/-) mice was decreased by the spinal nerve injury. The same injury exerted no effects on the expression of <it>CK1ε </it>mRNA in the wild-type mice. Western blot analysis of the spinal cord identified the downregulation of CK1ε protein in the injured <it>Ca</it>_<it>v</it><it>2.2</it>^-/-mice, which is consistent with the data of microarray analysis. However, the expression of CK1ε protein was found to be up-regulated in the spinal cord of injured wild-type mice. Immunocytochemical analysis revealed that the spinal nerve injury changed the expression profiles of CK1ε protein in the dorsal root ganglion (DRG) and the spinal cord neurons. Both the percentage of CK1ε-positive neurons and the expression level of CK1ε protein were increased in DRG and the spinal cord of the neuropathic mice. These changes were reversed in the spinal cord of the injured <it>Ca</it>_<it>v</it><it>2.2</it>^-/-mice. Furthermore, intrathecal administration of a CK1 inhibitor IC261 produced marked anti-allodynic and anti-hyperalgesic effects on the neuropathic mice. In addition, primary afferent fiber-evoked spinal excitatory responses in the neuropathic mice were reduced by IC261.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These results suggest that CK1ε plays important physiological roles in neuropathic pain signaling. Therefore CK1ε is a useful target for analgesic drug development.</p

Detection of subependymal veins using high-resolution magnetic resonance venography

High-resolution magnetic resonance venography (HR-MRV) of intracranial subependymal veins using a two-dimensional Fourier-transform time-of-flight technique was performed on normal volunteers and clinical cases of cerebral disease. For the pulse sequence, fast-field-echo sequence was used with the following parameters: TR/TE/ flip angle = 34ms/12ms/50deg., 256 x 256 matrix, 1 mm effective slice thickness, 150mm field of view, and one signal acquisition. Sequential vertical coronal sections were taken against the skull base. The anterior septal vein, the medial atrial vein, the anterior caudate vein and thalamostriate vein were detected in all subjects. In all clinical cases, HR-MRV was equal in diagnostic capability to conventional cerebral angiography.</p