Posibilidades y límites de las estructuras administrativas de contralor provinciales en minería. Un análisis comparado de las provincias argentinas de Córdoba, San Luis y San Juan

Tesis[Magister en Administración Pública]--Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, 2011-2012.Se aborda el estudio de las posibilidades y límites que tienen en su accionar las estructuras administrativas provinciales como Autoridades de Aplicación en la regulación y control de la actividad minera en Argentina, a los fines de minimizar la ocurrencia de daños o impactos en el medio ambiente. Se plantea analizar las estructuras provinciales de Córdoba, San Luis y San Juan porque a través de ellas abarcamos los distintos tipos de explotaciones mineras en virtud de la clasificación de minerales fijados en el Código Minero, y al mismo tiempo se evalúa la conformación de sus estructuras ante distintas condiciones de riesgos en virtud de la explotación existente en cada una de ellas. A los fines de contestar nuestro interrogante ¿Cúales son las posibilidades y límites de estos entes en el cuidado del medioambiente?. Se investiga seis dimensiones de estas estructuras: presupuesto, orgánica, personal, normativa, resultados de la existencia de normativas y resultados de control. La metodología empleada es Analítica, con un tratamiento de los datos en base a un enfoque descriptivo y comparativo, buscando realizar una construcción interactiva entre el argumento teórico y la evidencia empírica, concluyendo con un análisis comparado de toda la información obtenida, a los fines de aportar conclusiones y recomendaciones en la búsqueda de solucionar algunos de los problemas actuales evidenciados en el presente trabajo de tesis.Fil: Font, Marta Cristina. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Sociales. Instituto de Investigación y Formación en Administración Pública (IIFAP); Argentina

Capturing Emerging Realities in Citizen Engagement in Science in Social Media : A Social Media Analytics Protocol for the Allinteract Study

In the digital era, social media has become a space for the socialization and interaction of citizens, who are using social networks to express themselves and to discuss scientific advances with citizens from all over the world. Researchers are aware of this reality and are increasingly using social media as a source of data to explore citizens' voices. In this context, the methods followed by researchers are mainly based on the content analysis using manual, automated or combined tools. The aim of this article is to share a protocol for Social Media Analytics that includes a Communicative Content Analysis (CCA). This protocol has been designed for the Horizon 2020 project Allinteract, and it includes the social impact in social media methodology. The novel contribution of this protocol is the detailed elaboration of methods and procedures to capture emerging realities in citizen engagement in science in social media using a Communicative Content Analysis (CCA) based on the contributions of Communicative Methodology (CM).Peer reviewe

Chikungunya: Emerging Viral Disease. Emergence in the work enivironment: first occupational accident known in Spain

Caso clínico[ES] La enfermedad del Chikungunya es una infección causada por el virus Chikungunya y transmitida al hombre por la picadura de mosquitos vectores del género Aedes. Aun siendo endémica de otros países, la elevada movilidad actual de la población por motivos lúdicos, laborales, comerciales y migratorios junto a la presencia del vector competente (Aedes albopictus) en numerosas zonas geográficas de España, hace que haya irrumpido en nuestro territorio en los últimos años. La palabra Chikungunya deriva del idioma Makonde (Mozambique). Significa «el que se encorva» en referencia a la postura frecuentemente adoptada por dolor articular. A pesar de su escasa mortalidad, la morbilidad puede ser elevada, afectando de forma significativa a la actividad de vida diaria y capacidad laboral del paciente, reflejado en el consecuente absentismo laboral y repercusión económica. En España, tanto desde el Servicio Sanitario Público como desde los Servicios Médicos de Salud Laboral y Servicios de Prevención, se debe estar preparado para el diagnóstico, seguimiento, tratamiento y prevención de enfermedades hasta ahora desconocidas en nuestro ámbito de trabajo. Este artículo describe el primer caso laboral en España por enfermedad del Chikungunya importada por contagio en Haití. [EN] Chikungunya disease is an infection caused by the Chikungunya virus, primarily transmitted to humans through the bite of vector mosquitoes of the genus Aedes.Although it is endemic in other countries, the current high mobility rate of the population due to leisure, work, commerce and migration, as well as the presence of the competent vector (Aedes albopictus) in many geographical areas of Spain, mean that it has spread across our territory over the last years.The word Chikungunya comes from the Makonde language (Mozanbique). If means „the one who bends down«, referring to the position usually adopted when feeling articular pain.Chikungunya does not often result in death, but morbility rate can be high. It does affect the patient’s daily life and work capacity, which consequently means absenteeism having an economic impact.In Spain, both from the Spanish Public health Service and from the Occupational Health and Preventive Services it is necessary to be prepared for the diagnosis, monitoring, treatment and prevention of diseases unknown in our work field until now.This article describes the first occupational disease case of Chikungunya in Spain imported by infection in Haiti.N

Inertial sensors for gait monitoring and design of adaptive controllers for exoskeletons after stroke: a feasibility study

Introduction: Tuning the control parameters is one of the main challenges in robotic gait therapy. Control strategies that vary the control parameters based on the user’s performance are still scarce and do not exploit the potential of using spatiotemporal metrics. The goal of this study was to validate the feasibility of using shank-worn Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs) for clinical gait analysis after stroke and evaluate their preliminary applicability in designing an automatic and adaptive controller for a knee exoskeleton (ABLE-KS). Methods: First, we estimated the temporal (i.e., stride time, stance, and swing duration) and spatial (i.e., stride length, maximum vertical displacement, foot clearance, and circumduction) metrics in six post-stroke participants while walking on a treadmill and overground and compared these estimates with data from an optical motion tracking system. Next, we analyzed the relationships between the IMU-estimated metrics and an exoskeleton control parameter related to the peak knee flexion torque. Finally, we trained two machine learning algorithms, i.e., linear regression and neural network, to model the relationship between the exoskeleton torque and maximum vertical displacement, which was the metric that showed the strongest correlations with the data from the optical system [r = 0.84; ICC(A,1) = 0.73; ICC(C,1) = 0.81] and peak knee flexion torque (r = 0.957). Results: Offline validation of both neural network and linear regression models showed good predictions (R2 = 0.70–0.80; MAE = 0.48–0.58 Nm) of the peak torque based on the maximum vertical displacement metric for the participants with better gait function, i.e., gait speed > 0.7 m/s. For the participants with worse gait function, both models failed to provide good predictions (R2 = 0.00–0.19; MAE = 1.15–1.29 Nm) of the peak torque despite having a moderate-to-strong correlation between the spatiotemporal metric and control parameter. Discussion: Our preliminary results indicate that the stride-by-stride estimations of shank-worn IMUs show potential to design automatic and adaptive exoskeleton control strategies for people with moderate impairments in gait function due to stroke.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Acute effects of a session of electroconvulsive therapy on brain-derived neurotrophic factor plasma levels

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and nerve growth factor (NGF) are neurotrophins that play critical roles in brain neuronal function. Previous studies have established the association between BDNF and NGF signaling and severe mental disorders, but changes in BDNF plasma levels and electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) response are controversial. The aim of his study was to explore the acute effects of a single session of ECT on these neurotrophins signaling. Plasma levels of BDNF and NGF and their tyrosine kinase-type receptors expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were determined before and two hours after a single ECT session in 30 subjects with a severe mental disorder. Two hours after an ECT session we found a statistically significant decrease of BDNF plasma levels (p=0.007). We did not find significant acute effects on NGF plasma levels or receptors expression in PBMCs. We found a significant inverse correlation between the time of convulsion and BDNF plasma levels decrease (r=-0.041, p=0.024). We have identified a decrease in BDNF plasma levels after 2h of a single ECT session. These results indicate the interest for future research in the role of neurotrophins in the response and safety of ECT

Medicina y producción científica en MútuaTerrassa: la contribución de las mujeres

Objetivo: Analizar la evolución de la productividad científica del grupo MútuaTerrassa diferenciando las autorías por sexo y contrastando con los datos sobre los profesionales sanitarios contratados, en 2001, 2010, 2011 y 2015. Método: El estudio se ha realizado en MútuaTerrassa, entidad centenaria que gestiona entre otros recursos un hospital universitario de la Universidad de Barcelona, 10 centros de atención primaria y 20 centros sociosanitarios y residenciales. Se realizó un análisis bibliométrico de la producción científica a partir de las memorias científicas. El número de profesionales contratados por sexos y categorías fue proporcionado por recursos humanos. Se consideró autoría preferente firmar en primera o última posición o ser autor de la correspondencia, el resto de posiciones se consideraron correspondientes a autorías de colaboradores. Resultados: El 77% de los profesionales sanitarios fueron mujeres, sin variaciones en el período 2001-2015. Entre los médicos de atención primaria, el 64% fueron mujeres, proporción que se mantuvo también estable. Entre los médicos de hospital se incrementó el porcentaje de mujeres, desde el 46% en 2001 hasta el 58% en 2015. En los 4 años analizados se publicaron 394 artículos que contenían 1749 autorías: 33% de mujeres (n=585) y 67% de hombres (n=1164). Las mujeres firmaron el 18% de las autorías preferentes y el 19% de las autorías de colaboradores, en 2001, vs el 29% y el 37%, respectivamente, en 2015. Conclusiones: La brecha de género en las autorías de publicaciones científicas de los profesionales sanitarios asistenciales es considerable pero está disminuyend

Local administration of porcine immunomodulatory, chemotactic and angiogenic extracellular vesicles using engineered cardiac scaffolds for myocardial infarction

The administration of extracellular vesicles (EV) from mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) is a promising cell-free nanotherapy for tissue repair after myocardial infarction (MI). However, the optimal EV delivery strategy remains undetermined. Here, we designed a novel MSC-EV delivery, using 3D scaffolds engineered from decellularised cardiac tissue as a cell-free product for cardiac repair. EV from porcine cardiac adipose tissue-derived MSC (cATMSC) were purified by size exclusion chromatography (SEC), functionally analysed and loaded to scaffolds. cATMSC-EV markedly reduced polyclonal proliferation and pro-inflammatory cytokines production (IFNγ, TNFα, IL12p40) of allogeneic PBMC. Moreover, cATMSC-EV recruited outgrowth endothelial cells (OEC) and allogeneic MSC, and promoted angiogenesis. Fluorescently labelled cATMSC-EV were mixed with peptide hydrogel, and were successfully retained in decellularised scaffolds. Then, cATMSC-EV-embedded pericardial scaffolds were administered in vivo over the ischemic myocardium in a pig model of MI. Six days from implantation, the engineered scaffold efficiently integrated into the post-infarcted myocardium. cATMSC-EV were detected within the construct and MI core, and promoted an increase in vascular density and reduction in macrophage and T cell infiltration within the damaged myocardium. The confined administration of multifunctional MSC-EV within an engineered pericardial scaffold ensures local EV dosage and release, and generates a vascularised bioactive niche for cell recruitment, engraftment and modulation of short-term post-ischemic inflammation

A novel high-content immunofluorescence assay as a tool to identify at the single cell level γ-globin inducing compounds

The identification of drugs capable of reactivating γ-globin to ameliorate β-thalassemia and Sickle Cell anemia is still a challenge, as available γ-globin inducers still have limited clinical indications. High-throughput screenings (HTS) aimed to identify new potentially therapeutic drugs require suitable first-step-screening methods combining the possibility to detect variation in the γ/β globin ratio with the robustness of a cell line. We took advantage of a K562 cell line variant expressing β-globin (β-K562) to set up a new multiplexed high-content immunofluorescence assay for the quantification of γ-and β-globin content at single-cell level. The assay was validated by using the known globin inducers hemin, hydroxyurea and butyric acid and further tested in a pilot screening that confirmed HDACs as targets for γ-globin induction (as proved by siRNA-mediated HDAC3 knockdown and by treatment with HDACs inhibitors entinostat and dacinostat) and identified Heme-oxygenases as novel candidate targets for γ-globin induction. Indeed, Heme-oxygenase2 siRNA knockdown as well as its inhibition by Tin protoporphyrin-IX (TinPPIX) greatly increased γ-globin expression. This result is particularly interesting as several metalloporphyrins have already been developed for clinical uses and could be tested (alone or in combination with other drugs) to improve pharmacological γ-globin reactivation for the treatment of β-hemoglobinopathie

Macromolecular crowding effect upon in vitro enzyme kinetics: mixed activation-diffusion control of the oxidation of NADH by pyruvate catalyzed by lactate dehydrogenase

Enzyme kinetics studies have been usually designed as dilute solution experiments, which differ substantially from in vivo conditions. However, cell cytosol is crowded with a high concentration of molecules having different shapes and sizes. The consequences of such crowding in enzymatic reactions remain unclear. The aim of the present study is to understand the effect of macromolecular crowding produced by Dextran of different sizes and at diverse concentrations in the well-known reaction of oxidation of NADH by pyruvate catalyzed by L-Lactate Dehydrogenase (LDH). Our results indicate that the reaction rate is determined by both the occupied volume and the relative size of Dextran obstacles in respect to the enzyme present in the reaction. Moreover, we analyzed the influence of macromolecular crowding on the Michaelis-Menten constants, v_max and K_m. The obtained results show that only high concentrations and large sizes of Dextran reduce both constants suggesting a mixed activation-diffusion control of this enzymatic reaction due to the Dextran crowding action. From our knowledge, this is the first experimental study that depicts mixed activation-diffusion control in an enzymatic reaction due to the effect of crowding

Luminescent Pt-II and Pt-IV Platinacycles with Anticancer Activity Against Multiplatinum-Resistant Metastatic CRC and CRPC Cell Models

Platinum-based chemotherapy persists to be the only effective therapeutic option against a wide variety of tumours. Nevertheless, the acquisition of platinum resistance is utterly common, ultimately cornering conventional platinum drugs to only palliative in many patients. Thus, encountering alternatives that are both effective and non-cross-resistant is urgent. In this work, we report the synthesis, reduction studies, and luminescent properties of a series of cyclometallated (C,N,N')PtIV compounds derived from amine- imine ligands, and their remarkable efficacy at the high nanomolar range and complete lack of cross57 resistance, as an intrinsic property of the platinacycle, against multiplatinum-resistant colorectal cancer (CRC) and castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) metastatic cell lines generated for this work. We have also determined that the compounds are effective and selective for a broader cancer panel, including breast and lung cancer. Additionally, selected compounds have been further evaluated, finding a shift in their antiproliferative mechanism towards more cytotoxic and less cytostatic than cisplatin against cancer cells, being also able to oxidize cysteine residues and inhibit topoisomerase II, thereby holding great promise as future improved alternatives to conventional platinum drugs