Human histology. Manual of practicals

123 p.In Medicine, the samples use to come from patients from whom a portion of tissue is extracted, which is called a biopsy. They also come from material obtained by surgical treatment (surgical specimens) and, of course, from people who have died of some type of disease and whose family authorizes the autopsy to be performed (clinical autopsy). Many of the studies are carried out using extensions of exudates on slides, aspirated material or smears, which are generically known as cytology and/or extensions. The material must be obtained with great care, trying not to deform or damage the tissue: appropriate and sharp material must be used. The origin of the samples largely determines the “quality” of the material. It is extremely important that as little time as possible elapses between obtaining the sample and its fixation in order to have the highest degree of resemblance to the “in vivo” state. In the following, we will refer to the study methods most commonly used in daily practice

Prácticas de histología humana

La Histología en su quehacer diario es una disciplina eminentemente práctica. La docencia de la Histología Humana se desarrolla básicamente a través de clases magistrales, seminarios y clases prácticas. Para la realización de estas últimas el alumno dispone de un microscopio óptico y diferentes preparaciones histológicas, así como de fotografías de microscopía electrónica. El programa práctico de la asignatura se desglosa a lo largo de veinticinco temas, que comienzan con la Histología General, donde se estudian los tejidos, para dar paso a la Histología Especial. Los temas se ordenan de forma paralela al desarrollo del programa teórico de la asignatura. De esta manera el alumno adquiere los conocimientos teóricos y después los aplica a la práctica. Sin embargo, el desarrollo del curso académico hace que esta sincronización tan solo sea posible durante las primeras prácticas, y llega un momento en el que las prácticas llegan a preceder al estudio teórico. Para ello, en la presente guía de “Prácticas de Histología Humana” se hacen comentarios que si bien pueden parecer algo “extraños” a una persona con conocimiento de la disciplina, si es cierto que se revelan muy útiles al alumno, como nos ha enseñado su utilización en el aula práctica a lo largo de los años

Máster Virtual en Ingeniería Biomédica con Cooperación al Desarrollo

En el presente trabajo presentamos nuestra experiencia en desarrollar un programa de máster oficial en Ingeniería Biomédica. Para ello nos planteamos un lugar en común con las ingenierías en el cual las necesidades en salud pudieran ser percibidas por los ingenieros a fin de desarrollar soluciones. Para conseguir el nivel adecuado, consideramos fundamental que la docencia de los conocimientos sea realizada por expertos de las respectivas áreas. Además, el máster nació con una clara vocación de ayuda al Desarrollo. Por ello, se trata de un máster impartido de forma virtual con el propósito de que cualquier alumno, desde cualquier punto lo pueda cursar (a excepción de las prácticas, que son presenciales y que las puede llevar a cabo en diferentes Centros Tecnológicos). En el presente máster se pretende llevar los estudios de tecnología e instrumentación biomédica a titulados superiores de distintas especialidades tanto de la ingeniería como de la biomedicina para la gestión, evaluación y aplicación de la tecnología sanitaria en el ámbito de la salud. Tiene una marcada vocación supranacional, donde la experiencia española y paraguaya en el área de la Ingeniería Biomédica se conjuga para ofrecer a los interesados en dicho postgrado una formación integral, globalizada y sobre todo competitiva. El máster se estructura en tres bloques: uno teórico que se imparte completamente on-line, un Practicum en empresas Tecnológicas y un Trabajo Fin de Máster que se defiende de manera presencial, o bien mediante videoconferencia.Deseamos mostrar nuestro agradecimiento a la Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional al Desarrollo (AECID) del Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores, a través de diferentes proyectos (códigos: B/7560/07; D/017286/08; D/025825/09; B/023244/09; A1/040169/11

Silica from Rice as New Drug Delivery Systems

The pharmaceutical industry has seen an increased need of carriers or excipients design that allows the controlled release of a drug in the human body. The main role of an excipient is to carry the drug for its administration under therapeutic index. Among the new generation of excipients, the ordered mesoporous silica (MS) presents several advantages, such as excellent biocompatibility, good adsorption capacity, and precise control in the drug delivery. However, the high cost of synthesis of mesoporous silica restricts its use to industrial applications; therefore, a low-cost procedure is necessary for widespread use. Biogenic silica from rice husk (SiO2-rice) could be a new choice as a drug delivery system. This silica is obtained from an acid leaching of rice husk followed by calcinations processes at low temperatures; these conditions produce silica with good adsorption properties, similar to those of MS. In consequence, the excipient behavior of SiO2-rice was assessed using folic acid as the model drug, displaying an 18.5% of absorption in the SiO2-rice pores, while MS absorbed around 19%. The drug release profiles were similar for both the silicas, suggesting that SiO2-rice could be a low-cost, similar yield excipient for drugs similar to folic acid

Optimización y control en cascada de temperatura de registro mediante sistemas de refrigeración

Este artículo analiza la eficiencia energética de un ciclo de refrigeración, generando un optimizador de referencias para el control basado en aproximaciones lineales. Se plantean dos enfoques de control: el control de potencia, en el cual se propone un controlador robusto descentralizado para la regulación de la potencia frigorífica dada por el ciclo, y el control de temperatura de recinto, en el cual se considera también la dinámica del recinto a refrigerar y se propone una estructura de control en cascada donde un controlador externo genera las referencias de potencia frigorífica al controlador interno del ciclo de refrigeración. Se analizan en simulación y también experimentalmente el seguimiento de referencias y el rechazo de perturbaciones en ambas estrategias de control.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (España) proyecto DPI2015-70973-RMinisterio de Ciencia e Innovación (España) proyecto DPI2016-79444-

Pretreatment with Resveratrol Prevents Neuronal Injury and Cognitive Deficits Induced by Perinatal Hypoxia-Ischemia in Rats

Despite advances in neonatal care, hypoxic-ischemic brain injury is still a serious clinical problem, which is responsible for many cases of perinatal mortality, cerebral palsy, motor impairment and cognitive deficits. Resveratrol, a natural polyphenol with important anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, is present in grapevines, peanuts and pomegranates. The aim of the present work was to evaluate the possible neuroprotective effect of resveratrol when administered before or immediately after a hypoxic-ischemic brain event in neonatal rats by analyzing brain damage, the mitochondrial status and long-term cognitive impairment. Our results indicate that pretreatment with resveratrol protects against brain damage, reducing infarct volume, preserving myelination and minimizing the astroglial reactive response. Moreover its neuroprotective effect was found to be long lasting, as behavioral outcomes were significantly improved at adulthood. We speculate that one of the mechanisms for this neuroprotection may be related to the maintenance of the mitochondrial inner membrane integrity and potential, and to the reduction of reactive oxygen species. Curiously, none of these protective features was observed when resveratrol was administered immediately after hypoxia-ischemia.Funding was provided by Basque Government IT 773/13 and BFI-2011-129. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

Role of Antioxidants in Neonatal Hypoxic–Ischemic Brain Injury: New Therapeutic Approaches

Hypoxic-ischemic brain damage is an alarming health and economic problem in spite of the advances in neonatal care. It can cause mortality or detrimental neurological disorders such as cerebral palsy, motor impairment and cognitive deficits in neonates. When hypoxia-ischemia occurs, a multi-faceted cascade of events starts out, which can eventually cause cell death. Lower levels of oxygen due to reduced blood supply increase the production of reactive oxygen species, which leads to oxidative stress, a higher concentration of free cytosolic calcium and impaired mitochondrial function, triggering the activation of apoptotic pathways, DNA fragmentation and cell death. The high incidence of this type of lesion in newborns can be partly attributed to the fact that the developing brain is particularly vulnerable to oxidative stress. Since antioxidants can safely interact with free radicals and terminate that chain reaction before vital molecules are damaged, exogenous antioxidant therapy may have the potential to diminish cellular damage caused by hypoxia-ischemia. In this review, we focus on the neuroprotective effects of antioxidant treatments against perinatal hypoxic-ischemic brain injury, in the light of the most recent advances

Efectos de un programa de rehabilitación multimodal en pacientes con COVID-19 ingresados en la Unidad de Cuidados Intensivos: Un estudio cuasi-experimen

Background: Patients with severe COVID-19 evolve to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and require management in Intensive Care Units (ICU) where they are exposed to immobilization, immunosuppression, malnutrition, nosocomial infections; may develop ICU Acquired Weakness (ICUAW), which increases with the stay and use of mechanical ventilation (MV).There is evidence of the use of different modalities in rehabilitation to mitigate these effects. Goal: To determine the efficacy of a Multimodal Rehabilitation Program (MRP) in reducing the number of days of mechanical ventilation and stay in patients hospitalized for COVID-19 in ICU, as well as to describe its clinical and hospital characteristics. Material and Methods: An quasi-experimental study was designed, with sequential sampling and without blinding. A control and intervention group was formed, with 32 participants each. A Multimodal Rehabilitation Program (MRP) based on four therapeutic modalities was applied and the intervention was quantified through the use of proposed indicators. Results: The variation in days of ICU stay and days of MV were similar in both groups. The Multimodal Rehabilitation Index (iMR) ranged from 0.1 to 2.7 (mean = 1.2, SD = 0.7) and had significance for cut-off points ≤ 0.81 and ≤ 0.94 in mortality (p = 0.02) and Ventilator-free days at 28 days (VFDs-28) (p = 0.01). Conclusions: No statistically significant difference was found in favor of the intervention in terms of days of stay in the ICU and days of MV. Explanatorily, it was reported that iMR was related to (VFDs-28) and mortality in patients with severe COVID-19

Application of disruptive technologies in telemedicine for universal coverage of health services

[ES] La aplicación de tecnologías disruptivas en telemedicina facilita la accesibilidad a tecnologías diagnósticas de poblaciones remotas sin acceso a especialistas y mejora la cobertura universal de servicios de salud. Este estudio fue realizado por la Unidad de Telemedicina del Ministerio de Salud Pública y Bienestar Social (MSPBS) en colaboración con el Dpto. de Ingeniería Biomédica e Imágenes del Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias (IICS-UNA). Objetivo: Evaluar la utilidad de aplicaciones de tecnologías disruptivas en telemedicina para la cobertura universal de servicios de salud entre enero del 2014 y septiembre de 2019. Material y Método: Estudio de diseño observacional y descriptivo incluyó a 540.397 pacientes. Para el efecto se analizaron los resultados obtenidos por la red de telediagnóstico implementado en 67 hospitales del MSPBS. En dicho sentido se analizaron 540.397 diagnósticos remotos realizados entre enero del 2014 y septiembre de 2019. Resultados: D el total, el 33,174 % (179.274) correspondieron a estudios de tomografía, 64,825 % (350.313) a electrocardiografía (ECG), 1,997 % (10.791) a electroencefalografía (EEG) y 0,004 % (19) a ecografía. La concordancia entre el diagnóstico remoto y el diagnóstico “cara a cara” fue del 95 %. Conclusión: Con el diagnóstico remoto se logró una reducción del coste que supone un beneficio importante para cada ciudadano del interior del país. Los resultados obtenidos evidencian que la aplicación de tecnologías disruptivas en telemedicina puede contribuir para lacobertura universal de servicios con tecnologías diagnósticas, maximizando el tiempo y productividad del profesional, aumentando el acceso y la equidad, y disminuyendo los costos. Sin embargo, antes de su implementación generalizada se deberá contextualizar con el perfil epidemiológico regional.[EN] The application of disruptive technologies in telemedicine facilitates accessibility to diagnostic technologies of remote populations without access to specialists and improves universal coverage of health services. This study was carried out by the Telemedicine Unit of the Ministry of Public Health and Social Welfare (MSPBS) in collaboration with the Department of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging of the Institute of Research in Sciences (IICS-UNA). Objective: to evaluate the usefulness of disruptive technology applications in telemedicine for universal coverage of health services January 2014 to September 2019. Material and Method: observational and descriptive design study included 540,397 patients. For this purpose, the results obtained by the telediagnostic network implemented in 67 MSPBS hospitals were analyzed. In this regard, 540,397 remote diagnoses carried out between January 2014 and September 2019 were analysed. Results: of the total, 33.174% (179,274) were CT studies, 64.825% (350,313) electrocardiography (ECG), 1.997% (10,791) electroencephalography (EEG) and 0.004% (19) ultrasound. The concordance between remote diagnosis and "face-to-face" diagnosis was 95%. Conclusion: remote diagnosis achieved a cost reduction that is an important benefit for every citizen of the interior of the country. The results show that the application of disruptive technologies in telemedicine can contribute to the universal coverage of services with diagnostic technologies, maximizing the time and productivity of the professional, increasing access and equity, and lowering costs. However, prior to widespread implementation, the regional epidemiological profile should be contextualized