Responsabilidad social universitaria en Maracaibo, Venezuela

This article aims to analyze university social responsibility in Maracaibo, Venezuela. The work is based on the postulates of Rodriguez (2010), De la Cuesta (2011) and the Ministry of Education in Spain (2011), among others. It is a descriptive, field study. The population consisted of authorities from five universities, one (1) public and four (4) private, located in Maracaibo, who were accessed through a questionnaire composed of thirty-two (32) closed items. The instrument was validated by experts in the university management field. To determine the questionnaire’s reliability, the test-retest method was applied, obtaining a 0.94 coefficient. To analyze data, the arithmetic mean or average was used. Results indicate that the universities under study exhibit a social responsibility model with an instrumental, entrepreneurial tendency, where knowledge is seen as the main asset available for society’s use. However, a greater integration of these higher education institutions with their stakeholders is required.  El presente artículo tiene como objetivo analizar la responsabilidad social universitaria en Maracaibo, Venezuela. El trabajo se sustenta en los postulados de Rodríguez (2010), De la Cuesta (2011), el Ministerio de Educación de España (2011), entre otros. El estudio fue descriptivo, de campo. La población estuvo conformada por autoridades de cinco (5) universidades, una (1) pública y cuatro (4) privadas ubicadas en Maracaibo, a las cuales se accedió mediante un cuestionario compuesto por treinta y dos (32) ítems cerrados. El instrumento fue validado por expertos en el ámbito de la gerencia universitaria. Para determinar la confiabilidad del cuestionario se aplicó el método test-retest, obteniéndose un coeficiente de 0,94. Para analizar los datos se utilizó el promedio aritmético o media. Los resultados indican que las universidades estudiadas exhiben un modelo de responsabilidad social de tendencia empresarial instrumental, donde el conocimiento se perfila como el principal activo disponible para su uso por la sociedad, pero se requiere una mayor integración de las instituciones de educación superior con sus stakeholders. &nbsp

Feeding common carp Cyprinus carpio with b-glucan supplemented diet stimulates C-reactive protein and complement immune acute phase responses following PAMPs injection

The effect of β-glucan as a feed additive on the serum and gene profile of C-reactive protein (CRP) and complement acute phase responses was ascertained in common carp Cyprinus carpio. In addition effects of subsequent intraperitoneal injections of pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs), i.e. LPS or poly(I:C), to mimic bacterial or viral infection respectively, were studied. Carp were first orally fed with β-glucan (MacroGard®) with a daily β-glucan intake of 6 mg per kg body weight or with control food for 25 days and then injected with PBS containing either LPS (4 mg/kg) or poly(I:C) (5 mg/kg) or PBS alone. Fish were sampled during the 25 days of the feeding period and up to 7 days post-PAMPs injections for serum and liver, head kidney and mid-gut tissues. Oral administration of β-glucan for 25 days significantly increased serum CRP levels and alternative complement activity (ACP). In addition, the subsequent LPS and poly(I:C) challenges significantly affected CRP and complement related gene expression profiles (crp1, crp2, c1r/s, bf/c2, c3 and masp2), with the greatest effects observed in the β-glucan fed fish. However, in fish fed β-glucan the PAMPs injections had less effects on CRP levels and complement activity in the serum than in control fed fish, suggesting that the 25 days of β-glucan immunostimulation was sufficient enough to reduce the effects of LPS and poly(I:C) injections. Results suggest that MacroGard® stimulated CRP and complement responses to PAMPs immunological challenges in common carp thus highlighting the beneficial β-glucan immunostimulant properties

Medullary carcinoma of the thyroid. (Clinical and endocrinological features of six cases).

This paper presents the results of the study of six patients with medullary thyroid carcinoma (MCT) and the epidemiological screening carried out on the families of individuals affected by MCT. Three patients had the familial and three the sporadic type of disease. In all the subjects the plasma calcitonin (CT) level was measured under basal conditions and after pentagastrin stimulation. Patients with familial disease were also found to have pheochromocytoma (MEA syndrome). One patient, whose thyroid was normal to palpation and radioisotope scanning and who did not have an elevated resting level of CT, showed a clearcut CT elevation after provocative testing and subsequently was shown, by surgery, to have a small nodule of C-cell hyperplasia. These results confirm that pentagastrin is a good stimulator of CT secretion and that i.v. administration of pentagastrin is a useful test in the investigation of MCT in its early subclinical stage

Acute cellular rejection grading scheme for human gastric allografts

The control of acute cellular rejection (ACR) in multivisceral transplantation improves long-term survival, but monitoring this process can be challenging because different allografts can display varying forms and degrees of rejection. Criteria for ACR of small bowel and liver have been established, but a systematic analysis for ACR in stomach is lacking. For this reason we have developed a comprehensive grading scheme for the evaluation of gastric allograft rejection. The grading scheme was designed to individually grade a variety of changes in the surface epithelium, lamina propria, and glandular structures. The individual values are cumulated, and the final score determines assignment of the rejection grade. The ACR grades range from no evidence of acute cellular rejection to severe rejection. We performed a retrospective study based on 70 gastric allograft biopsies from 20 patients who received multivisceral transplantation from 1995 to 2001. We found that the scoring system showed no significant interobserver variability and allowed for an accurate designation of the ACR grade to the gastric allografts. We found with this grading system that neither clinical symptoms nor gastric endoscopic findings could serve as specific indicators of gastric ACR. Our results also showed that there were differences in the occurrence and intensity of acute rejection between the stomach and other transplanted organs, suggesting that ACR can occur independently among different allografts of the same host. In conclusion, we find that this scheme for grading ACR in gastric transplants is objective and reproducible. This grading system will likely allow for improved correlation between gastric ACR grade and clinical symptoms, as well as improve interobserver uniformity within and between institutions

Muscle shortening maneuver and not topical anti-inflammatory therapy is effective in reducing the width of subacromial-subdeltoid bursa in shoulder impingement syndrome

Muscle shortening manoeuvre; Shoulder impingement syndrome; Sonographic exam; Topical flurbiprofen; Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials; Biomaterials; Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics; Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imagin

Liver and kidney foreign bodies granulomatosis in a patient with malocclusion, bruxism, and worn dental prostheses

Granulomatous reactions caused by foreign bodies have been described in drug abusers, in subjects exposed to occupational pollutants, and more rarely, in association with the use of prosthetic devices. We describe a 62-year-old patient with multiorgan parenchymal granulomatosis caused by inorganic debris of unknown origin. The patient presented with fever, hepatosplenomegaly, progressive cholestasis, and acute renal failure. Liver and kidney biopsies showed the presence of noncaseating epithelioid giant-cell granulomas containing scattered polarizable particles. Similar particles were also present in stools. Studies by innovative scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive microanalytical techniques showed that the particles isolated in liver, kidney, and stools were made by feldspars, the main component of porcelain. No occupational or environmental exposure to these materials could be identified in this patient and the only reliable source of the porcelain debris turned out to be constituted by 2 dental bridges evidently worn because of a possible inappropriate construction, malocclusion, and bruxism. The porcelain of the dental prostheses had the same elemental spectrum of the particles isolated from stool specimens and liver-kidney granuloma. After identification of the dental prostheses as the most likely source of ceramic debris, and after their removal, the particles from stool specimens disappeared. The patient was then treated with steroids leading to a remission of the clinical symptoms and a decrease in granulomatous inflammatory reaction in both liver and kidney. This is the first report suggesting that a foreign body systemic granulomatosis can be associated with worn dental prostheses

Livelli plasmatici di beta-endorfine e infarto miocardico acuto.

Livelli plasmatici di B-endorfine e infarto miocardico acut