2011 Año de la Investigación en el Alzheimer

Every year on September 21, World Alzheimer’s Day is celebrated, the most common cause of neurodegenerative dementia in people over 65 years old. Alzheimer’s produces a progressive and total deterioration of cognitive functions (memory loss, language alteration, loss of sense of orientation, and executive functions), often accompanied by changes in personality and behavior, and which leads to a dramatic reduction in the individual’s ability to carry out daily life activitiesEl 21 de septiembre de cada año se celebra el Día Mundial de la enfermedad de Alzheimer, la causa más frecuente de demencia neurodegenerativa en las personas mayores de 65 años. El Alzheimer produce un deterioro progresivo y total de las funciones cognitivas (pérdida de memoria, alteración del lenguaje, pérdida del sentido de la orientación y de las funciones ejecutivas), frecuentemente acompañada de cambios en la persona- lidad y en el comportamiento, y que conlleva una dramática reducción de la capacidad del individuo para  llevar a cabo las actividades de su vida diaria

Correlations Between Management Behaviors and Financial Indicators with FDA Compliance Leading to Medicine Shortages

In the first 3 years of the Obama Administration, 2009-2011, the number of warning letters issued to pharmaceutical firms for manufacturing and quality issues increased by 81% to 49 letters. Only 9 letters were issued in the last 3 years of the George W. Bush Administration. Shortfalls in compliance and product quality led to medicine shortages that affected patients\u27 treatment and health. This quantitative study sought to learn to what extent, if any, the independent variables, management behaviors and financial indicators at pharmaceutical firms in the United States, correlated with, or predicted, the dependent variable, compliance with the FDA regulations. FDA\u27s enforcement actions on the firms were the treatment event. A shift in the relationship between the variables occurred after the FDA interventions, which highlighted a new level of compliance. Of the 1144 SurveyMonkey invitations sent to the members of the International Society of Pharmaceutical Engineers, only 21 completed the survey\u27s 133 questions. Three research questions were addressed using correlations and linear regressions. The theory of planned behavior was applied to correlate behavioral constructs with the compliance of the firms leading to the rejection of the null hypothesis. By establishing an inverse relation between financial indicators and the firms\u27 level of compliance, the study offers awareness and insight to senior leaders regarding their behaviors and the decision-making process. Enhancing managers\u27 decision-making processes in light of their beliefs, along with their control over financial indicators, could reinforce the presence of effective quality systems among pharmaceutical manufacturers minimizing medicine shortages

Unraveling piglet gut microbiota dynamics in response to feed additives

Keywords: GI tract, microbiota, pig, PITChip, weaning The gastrointestinal (GI) tract of pigs is colonized by a dense and metabolically active microbiota, comprising mainly bacteria, that have not only a commensal but a symbiotic (beneficial for both) relationship with the host. These bacteria are important for host health, as they provide the pig with essential products, form a key barrier against pathogens and are involved in development and homeostasis of morphology, digestion, and host immunity. The fact that the GI tract microbiota plays such an important role in pig health, allows to influence host health by modifying microbiota composition and activity. Supplementing pigs with diet ingredients that can have an effect on the GI tract microbiota is a common strategy to affect pig’s health, especially around the time of weaning. During weaning, piglets suffer a dramatic imbalance in composition and activity of the GI tract microbial community that, during the last decades, has been treated with antibiotics to control harmful micro-organisms. This practice has raised concerns in the last years due to the cross-resistance of pathogens to antibiotics used in humans, causing a ban on their use in the European Union from January 2006 onwards. This triggered an increased interest in finding alternatives for in-feed antibiotics, such as prebiotics, probiotics, organic acids and other plant-derived bioactive compounds. This thesis presents the results of various in vitro and in vivo studies addressing the response of piglet GI tract microbiota to the supplementation with different feed additives. To this end, we developed the Pig Gastrointestinal Tract Chip (PITChip), a semi-quantitative and high throughput diagnostic tool that allows us to gain novel insight in composition and dynamics of porcine GI tract microbiota at high taxonomic and spatiotemporal resolution. Furthermore, a specific and sensitive real-time PCR assay was developed for quantification of the pathogen Streptococcus suis. This revealed that abundance of S. suis in the piglet intestine increased after weaning, whereas that of Lactobacillus populations decreased. The application of the PITChip, together with other molecular tools, allowed us to follow microbial changes in time and in response to a range of different dietary supplements. Addition of sodium butyrate (SB) and different blends of organic acids had a significant effect on the microbial profiles in different sections of the GI tract, reinforcing previous reports on the antimicrobial effect of organic acids on piglet GI tract microbiota. SB administration most strongly affected populations within the Clostridium cluster XIVa and the Bacteroidetes. Results from different studies proved as well the antimicrobial effect of essential oils, and more specifically oregano oil (carvacrol), both in vivo and in vitro. The essential oil lowered overall microbiota diversity and relative abundance of members of Clostridium clusters IV and XIVa, and several Streptococcus- and Bacteroides-like species. In conclusion, the development and application of complementary molecular tools described in this thesis provided important information towards sound design of sustainable dietary strategies aiming at the replacement of in-feed antibiotics. <br/

Disruptive Ambiguities: The Potentiality of Jotería Critique in Communication Studies

Utilizing performative writing to interrogate the experiences of a queer Xicano male in the discipline of Communication Studies, this essay argues for specificity in dialogue with specificity to disrupt dominant and/or normalized power relations in Queer of Color Critique (QOCC) and beyond. After defining QOCC, the potentiality of jotería critique is offered as a decolonial queer praxis that focuses on hybridity, radical interconnectedness, and nonheteronormative mestiza/o sexual and gender subjectivities. Further, by embracing the ambiguities of hybridity and the politics of radical interconnectedness, Jotería communication studies is a nascent sub-discipline that works in the borderlands between the academic, the artistic, and the activist world, which contributes to and challenges the greater discipline to disrupt the multiple logics of the center in emancipatory, transformative, and embodied forms

Water quality monitoring and modeling studies of onarm water storage systems in a Mississippi Delta agricultural watershed

Federal and state programs have encouraged farmers in the Mississippi Delta region to implement best management practices (BMPs) to promote soil and water conservation. An onarm water storage (OFWS) system is a structural BMP that has several potential benefits, namely, the ability to capture and reuse rainwater and tailwater runoff, provide supplemental water for irrigation, reduce groundwater withdrawals, and improve downstream water quality. However, research demonstrating these benefits and providing new insights for downstream water quality improvement and nutrient-rich runoff management is limited. This dissertation addresses these research gaps by examining the ability of OFWS systems to mitigate off-site nutrient movement, analyzing the impacts of rainfall characteristics on the ability of OFWS systems to reduce NO3-N, studying the hydrological and physical-chemical characteristics of the volume of water exiting an OFWS system, and using the AnnAGNPS model to simulate runoff, nutrient, and sediment loads entering a tailwater recovery ditch and identify the critical contributing areas of non-point source pollution. Significant seasonal water quality improvements were observed at different locations throughout the OFWS system, and more importantly, highlight downstream nutrient reduction, particularly during winter and spring. However, recurrent and high intensity rainfall events can minimize the system’s effectiveness in reducing downstream nutrient pollution. The NO3-N concentrations observed in the ditch were strongly dependent on antecedent hydrological conditions with characteristics of next-to-last rainfall events playing a more influential role. The nutrient load was greater in winter, as this season produced the highest effluent discharge. Agricultural fields draining to the outlet of the system produced 7.1 kg NO3-N ha-1yr-1 and 2.3 kg TP ha-1yr-1 that was discharged with outflow events. AnnAGNPS simulations showed that larger fields coupled with poorly drained soils resulted in higher runoff, and this condition mirrored the annual rainfall patterns. High nitrogen loss was due to fertilization of corn and winter wheat. TP and sediment loss patterns were similar and influenced by the hydrological condition. This study can be used by stakeholders and agencies to better identify where these systems can be implemented to improve water quality and offer a supplemental source of surface water