Water Reservoirs in South India

The thesis highlights that culture matters to the water supply, which is often considered mainly a technical and economical task. Based on fieldwork in Tamil Nadu /South India, it explores how water reservoirs work, how they are utilised, managed, perceived and which role they play in rituals. It deconstructs notions such as "community management" and "traditional institutions" and traces the water reservoirs' deep entanglement in local politics and beliefs. It also provides an ethnography of water uses and discusses the cultural meaning of water. At the same time, the thesis demonstrates that the water supply is a tool to understand a local society, the role of the state, identity formation, caste, and the effects of colonialism

Water Reservoirs in South India

The thesis highlights that culture matters to the water supply, which is often considered mainly a technical and economical task. Based on fieldwork in Tamil Nadu /South India, it explores how water reservoirs work, how they are utilised, managed, perceived and which role they play in rituals. It deconstructs notions such as "community management" and "traditional institutions" and traces the water reservoirs' deep entanglement in local politics and beliefs. It also provides an ethnography of water uses and discusses the cultural meaning of water. At the same time, the thesis demonstrates that the water supply is a tool to understand a local society, the role of the state, identity formation, caste, and the effects of colonialism

Glycoconjugation: An approach to cancer therapeutics

Cancer constitutes the second leading cause of death globally and is consideredto have been responsible for an estimated 9.6 million fatalities in 2018. Although treatments against gastrointestinal tumors have recently advanced, those interventions can only be applied to a minority of patients at the time ofdiagnosis. Therefore, new therapeutic options are necessary for advanced stagesof the disease. Glycosylation of antitumor agents, has been found to improvepharmacokinetic parameters, reduce side effects, and expand drug half-life incomparison with the parent compounds. In addition, glycosylation of therapeuticagents has been proven to be an effective strategy for their targeting tumor tissue, thereby reducing the doses of the glycodrugs administered to patients. This review focusses on the effect of the targeting properties of glycosylated antitumor agents on gastrointestinal tumors.Fil: Molejon, Maria Ines. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Ciencias de la Tierra y Ambientales de La Pampa. Universidad Nacional de La Pampa. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Ciencias de la Tierra y Ambientales de La Pampa; ArgentinaFil: Weiz, Gisela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Ciencias de la Tierra y Ambientales de La Pampa. Universidad Nacional de La Pampa. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Ciencias de la Tierra y Ambientales de La Pampa; ArgentinaFil: Breccia, Javier Dario. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Ciencias de la Tierra y Ambientales de La Pampa. Universidad Nacional de La Pampa. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Ciencias de la Tierra y Ambientales de La Pampa; ArgentinaFil: Vaccaro, Maria Ines. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Bioquímica y Medicina Molecular. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad Medicina. Instituto de Bioquímica y Medicina Molecular; Argentin

Evaluación física matemática de la dinámica cardíaca aplicando la ley de Zipf-Mandelbrot

The law of Zipf-Mandelbrot is a power law, which has been observed in natural languages. A mathematical diagnosis of fetal cardiac dynamics has been developed with this law. Objective: To develop a methodology for diagnostic aid to assess the degree of complexity of adult cardiac dynamics by Zipf-Mandelbrot law. Methodology: A mathematical induction was done for this; two groups of Holter recordings were selected: 11 with normal diagnosis and 11 with acute disease of each group, one Holter of each group was chosen for the induction, the law of Zipf-Mandelbrot was applied to evaluate the degree of complexity of each Holter, searching similarities or differences between the dynamics. A blind study was done with 20 Holters calculating sensitivity, specificity and the coefficient kappa. Results: The complexity grade of a normal cardiac dynamics varied between 0.9483 and 0.7046, and for an acute dynamic between 0.6707 and 0.4228. Conclusions: A new physical mathematical methodology for diagnostic aid was developed; it showed that the degree of complexity of normal cardiac dynamics was higher than those with acute disease, showing quantitatively how cardiac dynamics can evolve to acute state

Efecto antitumoral de compuestos glicoconjugados sobre cultivos primarios de células de cáncer de páncreas obtenidas por ecoendoscopía

El adenocarcinoma pancreático (PDAC), que constituye el 90% de los cánceres de páncreas, es la cuarta causa mundial de muertes relacionadas al cáncer. Debido a sus características moleculares y genéticas, PDAC pertenece al grupo de tumores con más resistencia al tratamiento quimioterápico. En la actualidad, las opciones terapéuticas disponibles incluyen la cirugía, la radiación, la quimioterapia, la inmunoterapia y drogas dirigidas. Sin embargo, la mayoría de los tratamientos son paliativos, con el objeto de disminuir los síntomas relacionados con la enfermedad. Por lo tanto, nuestro objetivo es evaluar el efecto de un compuesto glicosilado, la hidroquinona-rutinósido, sobre células tumorales pancreáticas primarias con el fin de buscar mayor efectividad de los tratamientos quimioterápicos actuales. Encontramos que la utilización de glicocompuestos como segunda línea de terapia mejora significativamente el efecto antitumoral de la gemcitabina. Estos resultados sugieren un potencial interés en la utilización de compuestos glicoconjugados como terapias complementarias a los tratamientos estándares contra el cáncer.Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), which constitutes 90% of pancreatic cancers, is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the world. PDAC belongs to one of the most chemo resistant cancers, in part due to its molecularand genetics features. Currently, available therapeutic options are surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy. Most of the available treatments are palliative, with the objective of relieving disease-related symptoms. Our aim was to evaluate the antitumoral effect as a second line therapy, of enzymatically glycosylated compounds, hydroquinone-rutinoside, on primary pancreatic tumoral cells. We found that glycoconjugates combined with antitumor agents, such as gemcitabine, improved single-treatment effects. These findings suggest that emerging trends towards glycoconjugates could be a promising approach for cancer therapies.Fil: Molejon, Maria Ines. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Ciencias de la Tierra y Ambientales de La Pampa. Universidad Nacional de La Pampa. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Ciencias de la Tierra y Ambientales de La Pampa; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Bioquímica y Medicina Molecular. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad Medicina. Instituto de Bioquímica y Medicina Molecular; ArgentinaFil: Weiz, Gisela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Ciencias de la Tierra y Ambientales de La Pampa. Universidad Nacional de La Pampa. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Ciencias de la Tierra y Ambientales de La Pampa; ArgentinaFil: Tellechea, Juan Ignacio. Institución Médica Profensa; ArgentinaFil: Breccia, Javier Dario. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Ciencias de la Tierra y Ambientales de La Pampa. Universidad Nacional de La Pampa. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Ciencias de la Tierra y Ambientales de La Pampa; ArgentinaFil: Vaccaro, Maria Ines. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Bioquímica y Medicina Molecular. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad Medicina. Instituto de Bioquímica y Medicina Molecular; Argentin

Implementation of routine outcome measurement in child and adolescent mental health services in the United Kingdom: a critical perspective

The aim of this commentary is to provide an overview of clinical outcome measures that are currently recommended for use in UK Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), focusing on measures that are applicable across a wide range of conditions with established validity and reliability, or innovative in their design. We also provide an overview of the barriers and drivers to the use of Routine Outcome Measurement (ROM) in clinical practice

A Thermosensitive, Chitosan-Based Hydrogel as Delivery System for Antibacterial Liposomes to Surgical Site Infections

Prophylaxis and the treatment of surgical site infections (SSIs) with antibiotics frequently fail due to the antibiotic resistance of bacteria and the ability of bacteria to reside in biofilms (i.e., bacterial clusters in a protective matrix). Therefore, alternative antibacterial treatments are required to combat biofilm infections. The combination of diethyldithiocarbamate (DDC−) and copper ions (Cu2+) exhibited antibiofilm activity against the staphylococci species associated with SSIs; however, the formation of a water-insoluble Cu(DDC)2 complex limits its application to SSIs. Here, we describe the development and antibiofilm activity of an injectable gel containing a liposomal formulation of Cu(DDC)2 and Cu2+ (lipogel). Lyophilized liposomes were incorporated into a mixture of chitosan (CS) and beta-glycerophosphate (βGP), and the thermosensitive gelling properties of CS-βGP and the lipogel were determined. The liposomes remained stable after lyophilization over six months at 4–6 °C and −20 °C. The sol-gel transition of the gel and lipogel occurred between 33 and 39 °C, independently of sterilization or storage at −20 °C. CS-βGP is biocompatible and the liposomes were released over time. The lipogel prevented biofilm formation over 2 days and killed 98.7% of the methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and 99.9% of the Staphylococcus epidermidis biofilms. Therefore, the lipogel is a promising new prophylaxis and treatment strategy for local application to SSIs.Laurine Kaul, Clara E. Grundmann, Monika Köll-Weber, Hanna Löffler, Artur Weiz, Andrew C. W. Zannettino, Katharina Richter, and Regine Süs

Characterization of extracellular circulating microRNA

MicroRNAs (miRNAs), a class of post-transcriptional gene expression regulators, have recently been detected in human body fluids, including peripheral blood plasma as extracellular nuclease resistant entities. However, the origin and function of extracellular circulating miRNA remain essentially unknown. Here, we confirmed that circulating mature miRNA in contrast to mRNA or snRNA is strikingly stable in blood plasma and cell culture media. Furthermore, we found that most miRNA in plasma and cell culture media completely passed through 0.22 µm filters but remained in the supernatant after ultracentrifugation at 110 000g indicating the non-vesicular origin of the extracellular miRNA. Furthermore, western blot immunoassay revealed that extracellular miRNA ultrafiltrated together with the 96 kDa Ago2 protein, a part of RNA-induced silencing complex. Moreover, miRNAs in both blood plasma and cell culture media co-immunoprecipited with anti-Ago2 antibody in a detergent free environment. This is the first study to show that extracellular miRNAs are predominantly exosomes/microvesicles free and are associated with Ago proteins. We hypothesize that extracellular miRNAs are in the most part by-products of dead cells that remain in extracellular space due to the high stability of the Ago2 protein and Ago2-miRNA complex. Nevertheless, our data does not reject the possibility that some miRNAs can be associated with exosomes