Efficacy of current treatments against hepatitis C virus

It is estimated that currently, in the world, approximately 3% of the population has chronic hepatitis, the hepatitis C virus is the etiological agent most related to the development of this pathology. The diversity of genotypes (7) and quasi-species of HCV, due to its high mutation rate, interferes with an effective humoral immunity. The aim of this work is precisely to evoke those usual drugs used in HCV therapy, as well as cutting-edge drugs. The goal of treatment is the eradication of HCV infection. One strategy offered by the WHO is to eradicate the virus in at-risk populations. Alternatives to the previously used treatment with interferon and ribavirin are shown in this paper; protease inhibitors and other targets have now been developed to make eradication of the virus more effective

Diagnóstico del posgrado en México. Región Centro Occidente

El estudio tiene como propósito analizar la estructura institucional de la oferta del Posgrado en la Región Centro Occidente, con la finalidad de identificar fortalezas y debilidades y con ello proponer políticas públicas para el impulso de la calidad de los estudios de posgrado en México. Con base en la información nacional se elaboraron seis diagnósticos regionales y un diagnóstico nacional del posgrado. En este volumen se presentan los resultados de la Región Centro Occidente que incluye los estados Jalisco, Colima, Guanajuato, Nayarit, Michoacán y Aguascalientes. Se analizan las características de las Instituciones de Educación Superior que impactan en los posgrados que imparten, tales como origen de financiamiento, grado de desarrollo de su normativa, así como las formas de evaluación, entre otras. Se revisan las características académicas, administrativas y financieras de los programas de posgrado como niveles, orientación, modalidades, formación de competencias. Se da cuenta de las características de los actores del posgrado: estudiantes, coordinadores, egresados. Se presentan las relaciones de los posgrados con el entorno y se ofrece una sistematización y análisis cualitativo respecto a lo que los coordinadores identifican como problemas y perspectivas a futuro y estrategias de fortalecimiento del posgrado.Consejo Mexicano de Estudios de PosgradoConsejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologí

In vivo antimicrobial activity of silver nanoparticles produced via a green chemistry synthesis using Acacia rigidula as a reducing and capping agent

Introduction: One of the main issues in the medical field and clinical practice is the development of novel and effective treatments against infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria. One avenue that has been approached to develop effective antimicrobials is the use of silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs), since they have been found to exhibit an efficient and wide spectrum of antimicrobial properties. Among the main drawbacks of using Ag-NPs are their potential cytotoxicity against eukaryotic cells and the latent environmental toxicity of their synthesis methods. Therefore, diverse green synthesis methods, which involve the use of environmentally friendly plant extracts as reductive and capping agents, have become attractive to synthesize Ag-NPs that exhibit antimicrobial effects against resistant bacteria at concentrations below toxicity thresholds for eukaryotic cells. Purpose: In this study, we report a green one-pot synthesis method that uses Acacia rigidula extract as a reducing and capping agent, to produce Ag-NPs with applications as therapeutic agents to treat infections in vivo. Materials and methods: The Ag-NPs were characterized using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high-resolution TEM, selected area electron diffraction, energy-dispersive spectroscopy, ultraviolet–visible, and Fourier transform infrared. Results: We show that Ag-NPs are spherical with a narrow size distribution. The Ag-NPs show antimicrobial activities in vitro against Gram-negative (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and a clinical multidrug-resistant strain of P. aeruginosa) and Gram-positive (Bacillus subtilis) bacteria. Moreover, antimicrobial effects of the Ag-NPs, against a resistant P. aeruginosa clinical strain, were tested in a murine skin infection model. The results demonstrate that the Ag-NPs reported in this work are capable of eradicating pathogenic resistant bacteria in an infection in vivo. In addition, skin, liver, and kidney damage profiles were monitored in the murine infection model, and the results demonstrate that Ag-NPs can be used safely as therapeutic agents in animal models. Conclusion: Together, these results suggest the potential use of Ag-NPs, synthesized by green chemistry methods, as therapeutic agents against infections caused by resistant and nonresistant strains. Keywords: silver nanoparticles, green synthesis, in vitro antibacterial activity, in vivo antibacterial activity, skin infection, toxicological stud

Vaccination adjuvated against hepatitis B in Spanish National Healthcare System (SNS) workers typed as non-responders to conventional vaccines

[EN] Trial Design: An interventional, phase 4, single group assignment, without masking (open label), preventive clinical trial was carried out in health workers with biological risk in their tasks, who have been filed as non-responders to conventional vaccination against Hepatitis B. Methods: 67 health workers with biological risk in their tasks, who have been filed as non-responders to conventional vaccination against Hepatitis B, were enrolled in the Clinical Trial. All participants were from 18 years up to 64 years old. Inclusion Criteria: NHS workers -including university students doing their internships in health centres dependent on the National Health System (inclusion of students is regulated and limited by specific instructions on labour prevention in each autonomous community)- classified as non-responders. The criteria defining them as non-responders to the conventional hepatitis B vaccine is anti HBsAb titers < 10 mUI/ml following the application of six doses of conventional vaccine at 20 lg doses (two complete guidelines). The objective of this study was to provide Health workersstaff with an additional protection tool against hepatitis B infection, and to evaluate the efficacy of the adjuvanted vaccine in healthy non-responders to conventional hepatitis B vaccine. The primary outcome was the measurement of antibody antiHBs before the first Fendrix dose and a month after the administration of each dose. Other outcome was collection of adverse effects during administration and all those that could be related to the vaccine and that occur within 30 days after each dose. In this study, only one group was assigned. There was no randomization or masking. Results: The participants were recruited between April 13, 2018 and October 31, 2019. 67 participants were enrolled in the Clinical Trial and included the analyses. The primary immunisation consists of 4 separate 0.5 ml doses of Fendrix , administered at the following schedule: 1 month, 2 months and 6 months from the date of the first dose. Once the positivity was reached in any of the doses, the participant finished the study and was not given the following doses. 68.66% (46 out 67) had a positive response to first dose of Fendrix. 57.14% (12 out 21) had a positive response to second dose of Fendrix . 22.22% (2 out 9) had a positive response to third dose of Fendrix and 42.96% (3 out 7) had a positive response to last dose of Fendrix. Overall, 94.02% (64 out 67) of participants had a positive response to Fendrix . No serious adverse event occurred. Conclusions: The use of Fendrix , is a viable vaccine alternative for NHS workers classified as ‘‘nonresponders”. Revaccination of healthy non-responders with Fendrix, resulted in very high proportions of responders without adverse events. Trial registration: The trial was registered in the Spanish National Trial Register (REEC), ClinicalTrials.gov and inclusion has been stopped (identifier NCT03410953; EudraCT-number 2016-004991-23). Funding: GRS 1360/A/16: Call for aid for the financing of research projects in biomedicine, health management and socio-health care to be developed in the centres of the Regional Health Management of Autonomous Community of Castile-Leon. In addition, this work has been supported by the Spanish Platform for Clinical Research and Clinical Trials, SCReN (Spanish Clinical Research Network), funded by the Subdirectorate General for Research Evaluation and Promotion of the Carlos III Health Institute (ISCIII), through the project PT13/0002/0039 and project PT17/0017/0023 integrated in the State Plan for R&D&I 2013–2016 and co-financed by and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)

The global abundance of tree palms

Aim Palms are an iconic, diverse and often abundant component of tropical ecosystems that provide many ecosystem services. Being monocots, tree palms are evolutionarily, morphologically and physiologically distinct from other trees, and these differences have important consequences for ecosystem services (e.g., carbon sequestration and storage) and in terms of responses to climate change. We quantified global patterns of tree palm relative abundance to help improve understanding of tropical forests and reduce uncertainty about these ecosystems under climate change. Location Tropical and subtropical moist forests. Time period Current. Major taxa studied Palms (Arecaceae). Methods We assembled a pantropical dataset of 2,548 forest plots (covering 1,191 ha) and quantified tree palm (i.e., ≥10 cm diameter at breast height) abundance relative to co‐occurring non‐palm trees. We compared the relative abundance of tree palms across biogeographical realms and tested for associations with palaeoclimate stability, current climate, edaphic conditions and metrics of forest structure. Results On average, the relative abundance of tree palms was more than five times larger between Neotropical locations and other biogeographical realms. Tree palms were absent in most locations outside the Neotropics but present in >80% of Neotropical locations. The relative abundance of tree palms was more strongly associated with local conditions (e.g., higher mean annual precipitation, lower soil fertility, shallower water table and lower plot mean wood density) than metrics of long‐term climate stability. Life‐form diversity also influenced the patterns; palm assemblages outside the Neotropics comprise many non‐tree (e.g., climbing) palms. Finally, we show that tree palms can influence estimates of above‐ground biomass, but the magnitude and direction of the effect require additional work. Conclusions Tree palms are not only quintessentially tropical, but they are also overwhelmingly Neotropical. Future work to understand the contributions of tree palms to biomass estimates and carbon cycling will be particularly crucial in Neotropical forests

Centrality evolution of the charged-particle pseudorapidity density over a broad pseudorapidity range in Pb-Pb collisions at root s(NN)=2.76TeV

Peer reviewe

Gandul (Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp) en tres épocas de siembra bajo diferentes densidades de población

El presente trabajo se realizó en la Estación Experimental Fabio Baudrit Moreno, para estudiar al comportamiento de la variedad 64-28 de gadul en tres épocas de siembra que corresponden a los meses de agosto, setiembre y octubre, bajo un total de ocho diferentes densidades de población. Los resultados obtenidos en lo que a rendimiento de vaina verde se refiere, demostraron que en agosto es reomendable sembrar a una distancia de 16 cm entre plantas por 50 cm entre surcos, en las otras épocas, al no obtenerse diferencias significativas en rendimiento entre las cuatro densidades empleadas, debe usarse la que emplee menor cantidad de semilla por ser más económica, por lo tanto, en setiembre y octubre las densidades de 100. 000 plantas/ha respectivamente son las más indicadas. La altura de planta a la cosecha no fue afectada por la densidad de siembra pero sí por la época, pudiéndose notar que las plantas de agosto y setiembre con su altura que oscila entre 82cm y 92cm, permitan una fácil cosecha manual, no así las plantas de octubre, las cuales tienen una altura que varía entre 52cm y 63cm. Para ser cosechada mecánicamente, esta variedad presenta un tamaño de planta adecuada. Las plantas sembradas en agosto, setiembre y octubre florecieron al cumplir 90.94 y 92 días respectivamente, lo cual demuestra que esta variedad no es afectada por el fotoperiódo, al menos en esas tres épocas de siembra.UCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Ciencias Agroalimentarias::Estación Experimental Agrícola Fabio Baudrit Moreno (EEAFBM

Influence of Genetic and Non-Genetic Risk Factors for Serum Uric Acid Levels and Hyperuricemia in Mexicans.

Risk of hyperuricemia is modified by genetic and environmental factors. Our aim was to identify factors associated with serum uric acid levels and hyperuricemia in Mexicans. A pilot Genome-wide association study GWAS was performed in a subgroup of participants (n = 411) from the Health Workers Cohort Study (HWCS). Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with serum uric acid levels were validated in all the HWCS participants (n = 1939) and replicated in independent children (n = 1080) and adult (n = 1073) case-control studies. The meta-analysis of the whole HWCS and replication samples identified three SLC2A9 SNPs: rs1014290 (p = 2.3 × 10-64), rs3775948 (p = 8.2 × 10-64) and rs11722228 (p = 1.1 × 10-17); and an ABCG2 missense SNP, rs2231142 (p = 1.0 × 10-18). Among the non-genetic factors identified, the visceral adiposity index, smoking, the metabolic syndrome and its components (waist circumference, blood pressure, glucose and hyperlipidemia) were associated with increased serum uric acid levels and hyperuricemia (p &lt; 0.05). Among the female HWCS participants, the odds ratio for hyperuricemia was 1.24 (95% CI, 1.01-1.53) per unit increase in soft drink consumption. As reported in other studies, our findings indicate that diet, adiposity and genetic variation contribute to the elevated prevalence of hyperuricemia in Mexico