Dictyota dichotoma (phaeophyceae) methanolic extracts exhibit antitumoral effects on breast cancer cells and induce osteoblasts differentiation

There is a growing interest in macroalgae as natural products with antioxidant and anticancer activity. In this work, we studied the anti-tumoral effect of an algal extract (AE) derived from the marine alga Dictyota dichotoma on human breast cancer cells (MCF-7). We also evaluated the cytotoxic effects on non-tumorigenic cells and the effects on ostoblastogenesis in vitro. We found that the AE contains high levels of polyphenols and anti-oxidant activity measured by DPPH and Folin-Ciocalteu methods, respectively. Using trypan blue and MTS assays we demonstrated a significant inhibition of MCF-7 cell proliferation and viability. The changes in protein phosphorylation levels were examined through Western blot analysis, finding a decrease of phosphorylated AKT (Ser473) and its target molecule BAD (Ser136). In addition, AE inhibits cell migration determined through the wound healing assay and decreases cellular adhesion at all concentrations probed. Interestingly, AE does not affect the number and morphology of normal osteoblastic human cells, indicating its selectivity. Moreover, using colorimetric methods, we found that low doses of AE increase the production of osteoblastogenesis markers. These findings indicate that D. dichotoma is a valuable source of bioactive compounds for its regulatory effects on processes involved in metastasis and healthy effects in osteoblasts.Fil: Lezcano, Virginia Alicia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto de Ciencias Biológicas y Biomédicas del Sur. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Biología, Bioquímica y Farmacia. Instituto de Ciencias Biológicas y Biomédicas del Sur; ArgentinaFil: Mariani, Florencia. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Biología, Bioquímica y Farmacia. Laboratorio de Química Biológica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca; ArgentinaFil: Fernández, Carolina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Bahía Blanca. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Bahía Blanca; ArgentinaFil: Parodi, Elisa Rosalia. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Biología, Bioquímica y Farmacia. Laboratorio de Química Biológica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca; ArgentinaFil: Morelli, Susana Ana. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Biología, Bioquímica y Farmacia. Laboratorio de Química Biológica; Argentin

Enseñanza mediada por las tecnologías en las carreras de postgrado a distancia en la Universidad Nacional de Rosario

Este trabajo forma parte del Proyecto de Investigación: “Política(s) académica(s) sobre carreras de postgrado y formación docente en Educación a Distancia (EaD) en la Universidad Nacional de Rosario (UNR)”, radicado en la Facultad de Ciencia Política y Relaciones Internacionales de la UNR (POL148, 2010-2013). Su objetivo general es “analizar crítica y reflexivamente la(s) política(s) académica(s) de la UNR en materia de EaD, en carreras de Postgrado, y sus implicancias en la formación docente al interior de cada Unidad académica”. En este primer año y medio de implementación del proyecto se han entrevistado nueve personas, provenientes de cinco instituciones dependientes de la UNR: Campus Virtual, Facultades de: Humanidades y Artes, Derecho, Ciencias Económicas y Estadística, Ciencias Exactas, Ingeniería y Agrimensura. Se empleó un protocolo de veinte preguntas, compartiéndose aquí los resultados relativos a dos de ellas: ¿En qué sentido usted le pondría el adjetivo de innovadoras a las prácticas que apuestan a esta modalidad? y ¿Qué lugar ocupan las TIC en la experiencia? Se procesó la información en forma integrada desde un plano empírico-inductivo a partir de las respuestas de los entrevistados. Se procedió a la detección de indicadores y elaboración de modalidades para analizar las relaciones: innovación-EaD y funcionalidad- TIC.Eje: Profesionalización docente: formación y practicas con TICDirección de Educación a Distancia, Innovación en el aula y TI

Enseñanza mediada por las tecnologías en las carreras de postgrado a distancia en la Universidad Nacional de Rosario

Este trabajo forma parte del Proyecto de Investigación: “Política(s) académica(s) sobre carreras de postgrado y formación docente en Educación a Distancia (EaD) en la Universidad Nacional de Rosario (UNR)”, radicado en la Facultad de Ciencia Política y Relaciones Internacionales de la UNR (POL148, 2010-2013). Su objetivo general es “analizar crítica y reflexivamente la(s) política(s) académica(s) de la UNR en materia de EaD, en carreras de Postgrado, y sus implicancias en la formación docente al interior de cada Unidad académica”. En este primer año y medio de implementación del proyecto se han entrevistado nueve personas, provenientes de cinco instituciones dependientes de la UNR: Campus Virtual, Facultades de: Humanidades y Artes, Derecho, Ciencias Económicas y Estadística, Ciencias Exactas, Ingeniería y Agrimensura. Se empleó un protocolo de veinte preguntas, compartiéndose aquí los resultados relativos a dos de ellas: ¿En qué sentido usted le pondría el adjetivo de innovadoras a las prácticas que apuestan a esta modalidad? y ¿Qué lugar ocupan las TIC en la experiencia? Se procesó la información en forma integrada desde un plano empírico-inductivo a partir de las respuestas de los entrevistados. Se procedió a la detección de indicadores y elaboración de modalidades para analizar las relaciones: innovación-EaD y funcionalidad- TIC.Eje: Profesionalización docente: formación y practicas con TICDirección de Educación a Distancia, Innovación en el aula y TI

Assessment of Biological Contribution to Natural Recovery of Anthropized Freshwater Sediments From Argentina: Autochthonous Microbiome Structure and Functional Prediction

Monitored natural recovery (MNR) is an in situ technique of conventional remediation for the treatment of contaminated sediments that relies on natural processes to reduce the bioavailability or toxicity of contaminants. Metabarcoding and bioinformatics approaches to infer functional prediction were applied in bottom sediments of a tributary drainage channel of Río de La Plata estuary, in order to assess the biological contribution to MNR. Hydrocarbon concentration in water samples and surface sediments was below the detection limit. Surface sediments were represented with high available phosphorous, alkaline pH, and the bacterial classes Anaerolineae, Planctomycetia, and Deltaproteobacteria. The functional prediction in surface sediments showed an increase of metabolic activity, carbon fixation, methanogenesis, and synergistic relationships between Archaeas, Syntrophobacterales, and Desulfobacterales. The prediction in non-surface sediments suggested the capacity to respond to different kinds of environmental stresses (oxidative, osmotic, heat, acid pH, and heavy metals), predicted mostly in Lactobacillales order, and the capacity of Alphaproteobacteria, Betaproteobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria, and Actinomyces classes to degrade xenobiotic compounds. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) suggests that depth, phosphate content, redox potential, and pH were the variables that structured the bacterial community and not the hydrocarbons. The characterization of sediments by metabarcoding and functional prediction approaches, allowed to assess how the microbial activity would contribute to the recovery of the site.Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Fermentaciones Industriale

Sex difference and intra-operative tidal volume: Insights from the LAS VEGAS study

BACKGROUND: One key element of lung-protective ventilation is the use of a low tidal volume (VT). A sex difference in use of low tidal volume ventilation (LTVV) has been described in critically ill ICU patients.OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to determine whether a sex difference in use of LTVV also exists in operating room patients, and if present what factors drive this difference.DESIGN, PATIENTS AND SETTING: This is a posthoc analysis of LAS VEGAS, a 1-week worldwide observational study in adults requiring intra-operative ventilation during general anaesthesia for surgery in 146 hospitals in 29 countries.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Women and men were compared with respect to use of LTVV, defined as VT of 8 ml kg-1 or less predicted bodyweight (PBW). A VT was deemed 'default' if the set VT was a round number. A mediation analysis assessed which factors may explain the sex difference in use of LTVV during intra-operative ventilation.RESULTS: This analysis includes 9864 patients, of whom 5425 (55%) were women. A default VT was often set, both in women and men; mode VT was 500 ml. Median [IQR] VT was higher in women than in men (8.6 [7.7 to 9.6] vs. 7.6 [6.8 to 8.4] ml kg-1 PBW, P < 0.001). Compared with men, women were twice as likely not to receive LTVV [68.8 vs. 36.0%; relative risk ratio 2.1 (95% CI 1.9 to 2.1), P < 0.001]. In the mediation analysis, patients' height and actual body weight (ABW) explained 81 and 18% of the sex difference in use of LTVV, respectively; it was not explained by the use of a default VT.CONCLUSION: In this worldwide cohort of patients receiving intra-operative ventilation during general anaesthesia for surgery, women received a higher VT than men during intra-operative ventilation. The risk for a female not to receive LTVV during surgery was double that of males. Height and ABW were the two mediators of the sex difference in use of LTVV.TRIAL REGISTRATION: The study was registered at Clinicaltrials.gov, NCT01601223

Mortality and pulmonary complications in patients undergoing surgery with perioperative SARS-CoV-2 infection: an international cohort study

Background: The impact of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) on postoperative recovery needs to be understood to inform clinical decision making during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. This study reports 30-day mortality and pulmonary complication rates in patients with perioperative SARS-CoV-2 infection. Methods: This international, multicentre, cohort study at 235 hospitals in 24 countries included all patients undergoing surgery who had SARS-CoV-2 infection confirmed within 7 days before or 30 days after surgery. The primary outcome measure was 30-day postoperative mortality and was assessed in all enrolled patients. The main secondary outcome measure was pulmonary complications, defined as pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, or unexpected postoperative ventilation. Findings: This analysis includes 1128 patients who had surgery between Jan 1 and March 31, 2020, of whom 835 (74·0%) had emergency surgery and 280 (24·8%) had elective surgery. SARS-CoV-2 infection was confirmed preoperatively in 294 (26·1%) patients. 30-day mortality was 23·8% (268 of 1128). Pulmonary complications occurred in 577 (51·2%) of 1128 patients; 30-day mortality in these patients was 38·0% (219 of 577), accounting for 81·7% (219 of 268) of all deaths. In adjusted analyses, 30-day mortality was associated with male sex (odds ratio 1·75 [95% CI 1·28–2·40], p\textless0·0001), age 70 years or older versus younger than 70 years (2·30 [1·65–3·22], p\textless0·0001), American Society of Anesthesiologists grades 3–5 versus grades 1–2 (2·35 [1·57–3·53], p\textless0·0001), malignant versus benign or obstetric diagnosis (1·55 [1·01–2·39], p=0·046), emergency versus elective surgery (1·67 [1·06–2·63], p=0·026), and major versus minor surgery (1·52 [1·01–2·31], p=0·047). Interpretation: Postoperative pulmonary complications occur in half of patients with perioperative SARS-CoV-2 infection and are associated with high mortality. Thresholds for surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic should be higher than during normal practice, particularly in men aged 70 years and older. Consideration should be given for postponing non-urgent procedures and promoting non-operative treatment to delay or avoid the need for surgery. Funding: National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland, Bowel and Cancer Research, Bowel Disease Research Foundation, Association of Upper Gastrointestinal Surgeons, British Association of Surgical Oncology, British Gynaecological Cancer Society, European Society of Coloproctology, NIHR Academy, Sarcoma UK, Vascular Society for Great Britain and Ireland, and Yorkshire Cancer Research

Multiancestry analysis of the HLA locus in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases uncovers a shared adaptive immune response mediated by HLA-DRB1*04 subtypes

Across multiancestry groups, we analyzed Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) associations in over 176,000 individuals with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) versus controls. We demonstrate that the two diseases share the same protective association at the HLA locus. HLA-specific fine-mapping showed that hierarchical protective effects of HLA-DRB1*04 subtypes best accounted for the association, strongest with HLA-DRB1*04:04 and HLA-DRB1*04:07, and intermediary with HLA-DRB1*04:01 and HLA-DRB1*04:03. The same signal was associated with decreased neurofibrillary tangles in postmortem brains and was associated with reduced tau levels in cerebrospinal fluid and to a lower extent with increased Aβ42. Protective HLA-DRB1*04 subtypes strongly bound the aggregation-prone tau PHF6 sequence, however only when acetylated at a lysine (K311), a common posttranslational modification central to tau aggregation. An HLA-DRB1*04-mediated adaptive immune response decreases PD and AD risks, potentially by acting against tau, offering the possibility of therapeutic avenues

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

PTH and phospholipase A2 in the aging process of intestinal cells

In this study we analyzed, for the first time, alterations in phospholipase A2(PLA2) activity and response to parathyroid hormone (PTH) in rat enterocytes with aging. We found that PTH, rapidly stimulate arachidonic acid (AA) release in rat duodenal cells (+1- to 2-fold), an effect that is greatly potentiated by aging (+4-fold). We also found that hormone-induced AA release in young animals is Ca2+-dependent via cPLA2, while AA released by PTH in cells from aged rats is due to the activation of cPLA2 and the Ca2+-independent PLA2 (iPLA2). In enterocytes from 3 months old rats, PTH induced, in a time and dose-dependent fashion, the phosphorylation of cPLA2 on serine 505, with a maximun at 10 min (+7-fold). Basal levels of cPLA2 serine-phosphorylation were higher in old enterocytes, affecting the hormone response which was greatly diminished (+2-fold at 10 min). cPLA2 phosphorylation impairment in old animals was not related to changes of cPLA2 protein expression and did not explain the substantial increase on PTH-induced AA release with aging, further suggesting the involvement of a different PLA2 isoform, Intracellular Ca2+ chelation (BAPTA-AM, 5 μM) suppressed the serine phosphorylation of cPLA2 in both, young and aged rats, demonstrating that intracellular Ca2+ is required for full activation of cPLA2 in enterocytes stimulated with PTH. Hormone effect on cPLA2 was suppressed to a great extent by the MAP kinases ERK1 and ERK2 inhibitor, PD 98059 (20 μM), the cAMP antagonist, Rp-cAMP, and the PKC inhibitor Ro31820 both, in young and aged animals. Enterocytes exposure to PTH also resulted in phospho-cPLA2 translocation from cytosol to nuclei and membrane fractions, where phospholipase subtrates reside. Hormone-induced enzyme translocation is also modified by aging where, in contrast to young animals, part of phospho-cPLA2 remained cytosolic. Collectively, these data suggest that PTH activates in duodenal cells, a Ca2+-dependent cytosolic PLA2 and attendant AA release and that this activation requires prior stimulation of intracellular ERK1/2, PKA, and PKC. cPLA2 is the major enzyme responsible for AA release in young enterocytes while cPLA2 and the Ca2+-independent iPLA2, potentiate PTH-induced AA release in aged cells. Impairment of PTH activation of PLA2 isoforms upon aging may result in abnormal hormone regulation of membrane fluidity and permeability and thereby affecting intestinal cell membrane function.Fil: Gentili, Claudia Rosana. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Biología, Bioquímica y Farmacia; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Morelli, Susana Ana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Biología, Bioquímica y Farmacia; ArgentinaFil: Russo, Ana Josefa. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Biología, Bioquímica y Farmacia; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin