Development of a Time-Dependent Oral Colon Delivery System of Anaerobic Odoribacter splanchnicus for Bacteriotherapy

Odoribacter (O.) splanchnicus is an anaerobic member of the human intestinal microbiota. Its decrease in abundance has been associated with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), non-alcoholic fatty liver, and cystic fibrosis. Considering the anti-inflammatory properties of O. splanchnicus and its possible use for IBD, intestinal isolate O. splanchnicus 57 was here formulated for oral colonic release based on a time-dependent strategy. Freeze-drying protocol was determined to ensure O. splanchnicus 57 viability during the process. Disintegrating tablets, containing the freeze-dried O. splanchnicus 57, were manufactured by direct compression and coated by powder-layering technique with hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (Methocel™ E50) in a tangential-spray fluid bed. Eudragit® L was then applied by spray-coating in a top-spray fluid bed. Double-coated tablets were tested for release, showing gastric resistance properties and, as desired, lag phases of reproducible duration prior to release in phosphate buffer pH 6.8. The cell viability and anti-inflammatory activity of the strain were assessed after the main manufacturing steps. While freeze-drying did not affect bacterial viability, the tableting and coating processes were more stressful. Nonetheless, O. splanchnicus 57 cells survived manufacturing and the final formulations had 106-107 CFU/g of viable cells. The strain kept its anti-inflammatory properties after tableting and coating, reducing Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide-induced interleukin-8 cytokine release from HT-29 cells. Overall, O. splanchnicus 57 strain was formulated successfully for oral colon delivery, opening new ways to formulate pure cultures of single anaerobic strains or mixtures for oral delivery

Efectos del aprendizaje organizacional y la orientación emprendedora en el rendimiento corporativo de las MiPyMes argentinas, mexicanas y ecuatorianas

The aim of this study is to analyze the effects of Organizational Learning (OL) and Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO) on the profitability of MSMEs. To this end, field research was conducted on a sample of 1,620 companies located in Argentina (630), Mexico (550), and Ecuador (440). The data collection was carried out between May and September 2020, through a structured questionnaire addressed to the highest level of the company. The results were analyzed and validated using the partial least square (PLS) structural equation modeling (SEM) statistical technique. This work contributes to the development of the literature on dynamic capabilities, social capital theory, and stakeholder theory. Our results reveal that Entrepreneurial Orientation is a determinant variable for generating better Environmental Corporate Social Responsibility (ESCR) practices and is key to increasing the financial profitability of MSMEs. Furthermore, it is found that ESCR is a variable that partially mediates between EO and the Performance of MSMEs.El objetivo de este trabajo es analizar los efectos del aprendizaje organizacional (AO) y la orientación emprendedora (OE) sobre la rentabilidad de las MIPYMES. Para ello, se realizó una investigación de campo sobre una muestra de 1.620 empresas ubicadas en Argentina (630), México (550) y Ecuador (440). La recogida de datos se realizó en un período comprendido entre mayo y septiembre de 2020, mediante un cuestionario estructurado dirigido al más alto nivel de la empresa. Para el análisis y validación de los resultados se ha utilizado la técnica estadística del modelo de ecuaciones estructurales (SEM) basada en la varianza mediante PLS (Partial Least Square). Este trabajo contribuye al desarrollo de la literatura sobre las capacidades dinámicas, la teoría del capital social y la teoría de las partes interesadas. Nuestros resultados revelan que la Orientación Emprendedora es una variable determinante para generar mejores prácticas de Responsabilidad Social Empresarial Ambiental (RSCMA) y es clave para incrementar la rentabilidad financiera de las MIPYMES. Además, se ha descubierto que la RSCMA es una variable que media parcialmente entre la EO y el Desempeño de las MIPYMES

Insights into the safety and versatility of 4D printed intravesical drug delivery systems

This paper focuses on recent advancements in the development of 4D printed drug delivery systems (DDSs) for the intravesical administration of drugs. By coupling the effectiveness of local treatments with major compliance and long-lasting performance, they would represent a promising innovation for the current treatment of bladder pathologies. Being based on a shape-memory pharmaceutical-grade polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), these DDSs are manufactured in a bulky shape, can be programmed to take on a collapsed one suitable for insertion into a catheter and re-expand inside the target organ, following exposure to biological fluids at body temperature, while releasing their content. The biocompatibility of prototypes made of PVAs of different molecular weight, either uncoated or coated with Eudragit®-based formulations, was assessed by excluding relevant in vitro toxicity and inflammatory response using bladder cancer and human monocytic cell lines. Moreover, the feasibility of a novel configuration was preliminarily investigated, targeting the development of prototypes provided with inner reservoirs to be filled with different drug-containing formulations. Samples entailing two cavities, filled during the printing process, were successfully fabricated and showed, in simulated urine at body temperature, potential for controlled release, while maintaining the ability to recover about 70% of their original shape within 3 min

Investigation on the use of fused deposition modeling for the production of IR dosage forms containing Timapiprant

: The present work focused on evaluating the feasibility of fused deposition modeling (FDM) in the development of a dosage form containing Timapiprant (TMP), also known as CHF6532, which is a novel active molecule indicated in the potential treatment of eosinophilic asthma upon oral administration. The resulting product could be an alternative, with potential towards personalization, of immediate release (IR) tablets used in the clinical studies. Formulations based on different polymeric carriers were screened, leading to the identification of a polyvinyl alcohol-based one, which turned out acceptable for versatility in terms of active ingredient content, printability and dissolution performance (i.e. capability to meet the dissolution specification set, envisaging >80% of the drug dissolved within 30 min). Following an in-depth evaluation on the influence of TMP solid state and of the voids volume resulting from printing on dissolution, few prototypes with shapes especially devised for therapy customization were successfully printed and were compliant with the dissolution specification set

Estudio sobre la realidad de la microempresa en Villa María y la Región

En el presente trabajo se realiza un estudio comparativo de la realidad de las microempresas de la región mencionada mediante el cuestionario base desarrollado por la FAEDPYME.En el estudio se pretende determinar las características que poseen este tipo importante de empresas, en cuanto a su cantidad e impacto en la realidad económica local a efectos de poder identificarlas y analizar sus capacidades y debilidades a los efectos de proponer acciones a efectos de tratar de palear sus principales problemas.Para luego efectuar una comparación con respecto a las características identificadas de las microempresas iberoamericanas, mediante a la metodología propuesta por FAEDPYME.http://administracion.uexternado.edu.co/encuentroInvestigacion/plantillas/2017/MemoriasEncuentroInvestigacion2017.pdfFil: Beltramino, Nicolás Salvador. Universidad Nacional de Villa María. Instituto Académico Pedagógico de Ciencias Sociales; Argentina.Fil: Ingaramo, Juan Marcelo. Universidad Nacional de Villa María. Instituto Académico Pedagógico de Ciencias Sociales; Argentina.Fil: Gazzaniga, Lilia Carina. Universidad Nacional de Villa María. Instituto Académico Pedagógico de Ciencias Sociales; Argentina.Fil: Beltramino, Natalia Andrea. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Económicas; Argentina.Negocios y Administració

La sustentabilidad empresarial en las mypymes. Un estudio empírico

Fil: Beltramino, Nicolás S. Universidad Nacional de Villa María; Argentina.Fil: Gálvez Albarracín, Edgar Julián. Universidad del Valle; Colombia.Fil: Ingaramo, Juan Marcelo. Universidad Nacional de Villa María; Argentina.Fil: Gazzaniga, Lilia Carina. Universidad Nacional de Villa María; Argentina.Fil: Beltramino, Natalia Andrea. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba; Argentina.El presente trabajo persigue como objetivo realizar un diagnóstico sobre la aplicación de un modelo de gestión de sustentabilidad empresarial denominado modelo penta dimensional. Dicho modelo representa una nueva forma de medición de los aspectos relativos a la Responsabilidad social empresaria, ya que se tratan de evaluar el desempeño empresarial por medio de cinco variables: Gestión Global, Competitividad, Relaciones, Impactos y Comunicación. El estudio empírico se efectuó a una muestra de micropymes del departamento san Justo Provincia de Córdoba, a efectos de identificar cuál es su situación frente a la sustentabilidad empresarial. A partir de este análisis recomendar acciones a seguir para fortalecer el desarrollo sustentable de las micropymes de la Región.Fil: Beltramino, Nicolás S. Universidad Nacional de Villa María; Argentina.Fil: Gálvez Albarracín, Edgar Julián. Universidad del Valle; Colombia.Fil: Ingaramo, Juan Marcelo. Universidad Nacional de Villa María; Argentina.Fil: Gazzaniga, Lilia Carina. Universidad Nacional de Villa María; Argentina.Fil: Beltramino, Natalia Andrea. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba; Argentina.Negocios y Administració

Right hemisphere advantage in statistical learning: evidence from a probabilistic sequence learning task

Picking up statistical regularities of patterns from the environment is essential for predictive and adaptive behavior. One of the most important challenges is to understand how statistical learning occurs and how the acquired information consolidates and stabilizes in the brain. Evidence suggests that the prefrontal cortex (PFC) has a critical role in these processes; the division of labor between hemispheres, however, is less characterized. The aim of the present study was to directly investigate the causal role of the right and left PFC in statistical learning and its consolidation. Healthy, young adults were trained on a probabilistic sequence learning task. Anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the right or left dorsolateral PFC (DLPFC) was applied during the training in order to modify learning-related cortical plasticity in the targeted brain regions by increasing neural excitability. Performance was tested during and immediately after the stimulation, 2-hour and 24-hour later. We found that the anodal tDCS over the right DLPFC led to enhanced learning performance both after the 2-hour and 24-hour retention periods, suggesting the causal role of this area in statistical learning. In contrast, we did not find any effect of left DLPFC stimulation on learning. These results highlight the role of the right fronto-striatal network in statistical learning and its consolidation

Evolutionary aspects of self- and world consciousness in vertebrates

Although most aspects of world and self-consciousness are inherently subjective, neuroscience studies in humans and non-human animals provide correlational and causative indices of specific links between brain activity and representation of the self and the world. In this article we review neuroanatomic, neurophysiological and neuropsychological data supporting the hypothesis that different levels of self and world representation in vertebrates rely upon (i) a \u201cbasal\u201d subcortical system that includes brainstem, hypothalamus and central thalamic nuclei and that may underpin the primary (or anoetic) consciousness likely present in all vertebrates; and (ii) a forebrain system that include the medial and lateral structures of the cerebral hemispheres and may sustain the most sophisticated forms of consciousness [e.g., noetic (knowledge based) and autonoetic, reflective knowledge]. We posit a mutual, bidirectional functional influence between these two major brain circuits. We conclude that basic aspects of consciousness like primary self and core self (based on anoetic and noetic consciousness) are present in many species of vertebrates and that, even self-consciousness (autonoetic consciousness) does not seem to be a prerogative of humans and of some non-human primates but may, to a certain extent, be present in some other mammals and bird

Early-life telomere dynamics differ between the sexes and predict growth in the barn swallow (Hirundo rustica)

Telomeres are conserved DNA-protein structures at the termini of eukaryotic chromosomes which contribute to maintenance of genome integrity, and their shortening leads to cell senescence, with negative consequences for organismal functions. Because telomere erosion is influenced by extrinsic and endogenous factors, telomere dynamics may provide a mechanistic basis for evolutionary and physiological trade-offs. Yet, knowledge of fundamental aspects of telomere biology under natural selection regimes, including sex- and context-dependent variation in early-life, and the covariation between telomere dynamics and growth, is scant. In this study of barn swallows (Hirundo rustica) we investigated the sex-dependent telomere erosion during nestling period, and the covariation between relative telomere length and body and plumage growth. Finally, we tested whether any covariation between growth traits and relative telomere length depends on the social environment, as influenced by sibling sex ratio. Relative telomere length declined on average over the period of nestling maximal growth rate (between 7 and 16 days of age) and differently covaried with initial relative telomere length in either sex. The frequency distribution of changes in relative telomere length was bimodal, with most nestlings decreasing and some increasing relative telomere length, but none of the offspring traits predicted the a posteriori identified group to which individual nestlings belonged. Tail and wing length increased with relative telomere length, but more steeply in males than females, and this relationship held both at the within- and among-broods levels. Moreover, the increase in plumage phenotypic values was steeper when the sex ratio of an individual's siblings was female-biased. Our study provides evidence for telomere shortening during early life according to subtly different dynamics in either sex. Furthermore, it shows that the positive covariation between growth and relative telomere length depends on sex as well as social environment, in terms of sibling sex ratio