Why Should Growth Hormone (GH) Be Considered a Promising Therapeutic Agent for Arteriogenesis? Insights from the GHAS Trial

Despite the important role that the growth hormone (GH)/IGF-I axis plays in vascular homeostasis, these kind of growth factors barely appear in articles addressing the neovascularization process. Currently, the vascular endothelium is considered as an authentic gland of internal secretion due to the wide variety of released factors and functions with local effects, including the paracrine/autocrine production of GH or IGF-I, for which the endothelium has specific receptors. In this comprehensive review, the evidence involving these proangiogenic hormones in arteriogenesis dealing with the arterial occlusion and making of them a potential therapy is described. All the elements that trigger the local and systemic production of GH/IGF-I, as well as their possible roles both in physiological and pathological conditions are analyzed. All of the evidence is combined with important data from the GHAS trial, in which GH or a placebo were administrated to patients suffering from critical limb ischemia with no option for revascularization. We postulate that GH, alone or in combination, should be considered as a promising therapeutic agent for helping in the approach of ischemic disease

Guidance and support of women in engineering programs at Universidad Tecnologica de Bolivar

Gender equality is one of the sustainable development goals. In STEM areas, it is a requirement to expand and improve women's careers. To increase the participation of women in STEM it is not enough to attract more young women to these programs. It is necessary to provide orientation during the academic programs and ensure safe and rewarding environments so that women can succeed in their studies. The Faculty of Engineering of Universidad Tecnológica de Bolívar has gender gaps in most of its programs and several strategies are being implemented to overcome this situation. This paper analyzes five factors to guide and support women in engineering programs: academic success, protection of women, scholarships and financial assistance, international mobility, and leadership. We present several activities and strategies developed in the last three years in these five factors. The impacts of these strategies cannot be evaluated yet, but we expect that they can improve the well-being of women in engineering and contribute to the reduction of the gender gaps. © 2023 IEEE

A model for the development of programming courses to promote the participation of young women in STEM

There is a gender gap in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), and this is a global problem that affects society. However, it is worth pointing out that the gap is not uniform in all STEM fields. Women’s underrepresentation is more marked in physics, engineering, and computer science fields. Nowadays, the labor market is becoming more competitive, technology-based and demands a diverse workforce. Therefore, it is important to continue promoting the participation of women in STEM, and the universities play a leading role in it. Previous research has shown that early learning experiences in STEM can show female students that they can succeed in this fields. This paper describes a model for developing programming courses for pre-university students to promote the participation of young women in STEM programs. The course was developed in one week, 25 students (16 girls and 9 boys) participated. The instructors of the course were four female professors. The programming language was Python, and the methodology used case-based learning. Both instructors and students gave positive comments on their experience in the course. The proposed model, including instruments, learning resources, and methodology, can be replicated and adapted to be used even in other learning field

Towards gender equality in engineering programs : A case study

The low participation of women in STEM fields is considered a critical issue in our society. We analyzed the student population by gender of the school of engineering at Universidad TecnolÓgica de Bolívar. We found that the share of female first-time students shows a decreasing trend since 2015 and was only 24% in 2020. Gender gaps are wider in electrical, electronic, systems, mechanic, and mechatronic engineering. We also observed that females have lower access to engineering programs, especially in the last three years. The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have been observed as a reduction of the share of enrolled students vs applicants. In order to increase the participation of women in the programs with higher gender gaps, we developed several activities in 2020 specially designed for secondary students with the participation of female instructors as role models

The algebra of adjacency patterns: Rees matrix semigroups with reversion

We establish a surprisingly close relationship between universal Horn classes of directed graphs and varieties generated by so-called adjacency semigroups which are Rees matrix semigroups over the trivial group with the unary operation of reversion. In particular, the lattice of subvarieties of the variety generated by adjacency semigroups that are regular unary semigroups is essentially the same as the lattice of universal Horn classes of reflexive directed graphs. A number of examples follow, including a limit variety of regular unary semigroups and finite unary semigroups with NP-hard variety membership problems.Comment: 30 pages, 9 figure

Climate change and healthy ageing: An assessment of the impact of climate hazards on older people

Copyright \ua9 2024 by the Journal of Global Health. All rights reserved. Background: Climate change not only directly impacts older people\u27s longevity but also healthy ageing, which is the process of maintaining physical and mental capacities while optimising functional abilities. The urgency to address both population ageing and climate change necessitates a rethink and assessment of the impact of climate change on older people. This includes identifying what can be done to anticipate, mitigate and adapt to climate change and engage older persons. Methods: A review of climate change and healthy ageing forms the basis of evidence in this report. We developed a comprehensive search to assess current literature, combining terms related to ageing and climate change across four major data sets and assessing articles published up to the end of 2021. Results: We summarised the current and future impact of climate change on older people and developed a framework identifying climate change impacts on older persons, recognising social and environmental determinants of healthy ageing. Major hazards and some key exposure pathways include extreme temperatures, wildfire, drought, flooding, storm and sea level rise, air quality, climate-sensitive infectious diseases, food and water insecurities, health and social care system displacement, migration, and relocation. Strategies to address climate change require interventions to improve systems and infrastructure to reduce vulnerability and increase resilience. As a heterogeneous group, older people\u27s perceptions of climate change should be integrated into climate activism. Increasing climate change literacy among older people and enabling them to promote intergenerational dialogue will drive the development and implementation of equitable solutions. Pathways may operate via direct or indirect exposures, requiring longitudinal studies that enable assessment of exposures and outcomes at multiple time points, and analyses of cumulative impacts of hazards across the life course. Conclusions: The lack of systematic reviews and primary research on the impact of most climate hazards, except for heat, on older people is apparent. Future research should include outcomes beyond mortality and morbidity and assess how older people interact with their environment by focusing on their capacities and optimising abilities for being and doing what they value

Trampeo como una herramienta básica hacia la identificación de <i>Copitarsia</i> sp. (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) en la Sabana de Bogotá

Copitarsia sp. (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), es plaga de cultivos comerciales de ornamentales de corte. En Colombia, el manejo tradicional se basa en el uso de insecticidas químicos, generando las conocidas consecuencias al ambiente y a la salud pública. El desarrollo de estrategias más amigables con el ambiente, como el uso de semioquímicos y enemigos naturales, requieren información concreta de la especie para ser implementados. Por esta razón se quiere determinar cuál(es) son la(s) especie(s) que están presentes en los cultivos de la sabana de Bogotá, llevando a cabo un ejercicio práctico de trampeo de insectos en el Campus UMNG, que acompañados con la identificación de caracteres taxonómicos de los machos de la especie, sirvan de herramienta a los futuros tecnólogos encargados del manejo de plagas y enfermedades de los cultivos. Y a largo plazo hagan parte de un manejo sostenible del sector floricultor. Este proyecto fue financiado por: Vicerrectoría de Investigaciones UMNG-CIAS 1570 Vig- 2015.Eje B1 Sistemas de producción de base agroecológica (Relatos de experiencias)Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias y Forestale

Trampeo como una herramienta básica hacia la identificación de <i>Copitarsia</i> sp. (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) en la Sabana de Bogotá

Copitarsia sp. (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), es plaga de cultivos comerciales de ornamentales de corte. En Colombia, el manejo tradicional se basa en el uso de insecticidas químicos, generando las conocidas consecuencias al ambiente y a la salud pública. El desarrollo de estrategias más amigables con el ambiente, como el uso de semioquímicos y enemigos naturales, requieren información concreta de la especie para ser implementados. Por esta razón se quiere determinar cuál(es) son la(s) especie(s) que están presentes en los cultivos de la sabana de Bogotá, llevando a cabo un ejercicio práctico de trampeo de insectos en el Campus UMNG, que acompañados con la identificación de caracteres taxonómicos de los machos de la especie, sirvan de herramienta a los futuros tecnólogos encargados del manejo de plagas y enfermedades de los cultivos. Y a largo plazo hagan parte de un manejo sostenible del sector floricultor. Este proyecto fue financiado por: Vicerrectoría de Investigaciones UMNG-CIAS 1570 Vig- 2015.Eje B1 Sistemas de producción de base agroecológica (Relatos de experiencias)Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias y Forestale

Trampeo como una herramienta básica hacia la identificación de <i>Copitarsia</i> sp. (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) en la Sabana de Bogotá

Copitarsia sp. (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), es plaga de cultivos comerciales de ornamentales de corte. En Colombia, el manejo tradicional se basa en el uso de insecticidas químicos, generando las conocidas consecuencias al ambiente y a la salud pública. El desarrollo de estrategias más amigables con el ambiente, como el uso de semioquímicos y enemigos naturales, requieren información concreta de la especie para ser implementados. Por esta razón se quiere determinar cuál(es) son la(s) especie(s) que están presentes en los cultivos de la sabana de Bogotá, llevando a cabo un ejercicio práctico de trampeo de insectos en el Campus UMNG, que acompañados con la identificación de caracteres taxonómicos de los machos de la especie, sirvan de herramienta a los futuros tecnólogos encargados del manejo de plagas y enfermedades de los cultivos. Y a largo plazo hagan parte de un manejo sostenible del sector floricultor. Este proyecto fue financiado por: Vicerrectoría de Investigaciones UMNG-CIAS 1570 Vig- 2015.Eje B1 Sistemas de producción de base agroecológica (Relatos de experiencias)Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias y Forestale

Software en tiempo real para el analisis de sistemas sonoros

The two-way sound systems require time alignment procedures between different speakers using audio processors. Framed in this object of study, this article describes the implementation of a software tool for the analysis of sound systems. This tool was developed in the visual programming environment Matlab ®, Simulink ®, and is useful for evaluating the performance of a sound in an enclosure through the analysis of the frequency response of the same, which is affected by the acoustics of the room. Tests show that the software is reliable, presenting relative errors less than 4% in the different modes of operation.Los sistemas sonoros a dos vías requieren procedimientos de alineación de tiempo entre las diferentes cajas acústicas, usando procesadores de audio. Enmarcado en este objeto de estudio, el presente artículo describe la implementación de una herramienta software para el análisis de sistemas sonoros. Esta herramienta fue desarrollada en el entorno de programación visual de Matlab®, Simulink®, y es de gran utilidad para evaluar el desempeño de un equipo de sonido en un recinto mediante el análisis de su respuesta en frecuencia, la cual es afectada por la acústica del local. Las pruebas demuestran que el software es confiable y que presenta errores relativos inferiores al 4% en los diferentes modos de operación