Efectos de la ketamina o la alfaxalona y su combinación con diazepam o dexmedetomidina en el cerdo

La especie porcina constituye hoy en día la de elección en muchos modelos experimentales utilizados en investigación, debido principalmente, a sus similitudes anatómicas y fisiológicas y a su reactividad farmacológica con el hombre; sin embargo son animales de difícil manejo que se estresan con facilidad, por lo que la vía intramuscular constituye la vía más cómoda y fácil de utilizar. Tradicionalmente se ha utilizado, para la tranquilización y anestesia de la especie porcina la ketamina, combinada con benzodiacepinas o con agonistas de los receptores adrenérgicos α2 habituales; sin embargo, recientemente se están empleando nuevos y potentes fármacos para la tranquilización y anestesia de esta especie, entre los que se encuentran la dexmedetomidina, un agonista potente, eficaz y selectivo de los receptores adrenérgicos α2 sobre el sistema nervioso central y periférico. La bradicardia e hipotensión se encuentran entre sus efectos adversos más comunes, sin embargo ejerce un efecto leve sobre la ventilación y produce un excelente efecto sedante y antinociceptivo, disminuyendo los requerimientos de otros fármacos anestésicos intravenosos, con la ventaja de poder ser antagonizada, por lo que viene siendo utilizada en medicina veterinaria tanto en el campo de la anestesiología clínica como en la captura y manejo de animales exóticos. La dexmedetomidina se ha empleado tanto en medicina humana como en veterinaria de forma parenteral sola y/o combinada con ketamina o alfaxalona...

Consecuencias literarias del 11-S: la representación de la violencia en la novela angloamericana

In my eight years as a professional journalist, I have been a front line observer of the extreme level of violence which occurs everyday in our society. As victims, consumers or perpetrators of violence, this phenomenon is now a part of our existence. As a reporter for the Spanish national newspaper El País I have been witness to the most terrible acts of violence. In Venezuela, with one of the highest rates of criminality in the world, I saw piles of bodies stacked up in mortuaries. In Argentina, I reported on the most brutal crimes including the rape of children by policemen. I believe that my interest in the manifestations and causes of violence was aroused during my time as a journalist. On a personal level, I was deeply affected by the twin poles of attraction/repulsion which the violent images produced in me. The first time I visited New York in 2003, I talked to various people who were selling photos of the victims of the Twin Tower attacks. They had laid out their wares along the wire fence that separated Ground Zero from the main public areas. One particular photograph made an indelible impression on my mind: a ghost like corpse covered in white dust which was streaked with blood. It is an image I will never forget. If I remember well, a complete album of these gruesome images cost about ten dollars. At the same time, I also became interested in islamic terrorism: its complexity and the great impact it has made on Western society. One only has to look at the front page of the press around the world to read about war, terrorism or the constant violation of human rights. The words Al-Qaeda, Daesh, Boko Haram and Islamic State have sadly become parts of our everyday language. The nihilistic philosophy which promisess eternal life in exchange for self-inmolation is a new, highly worrying reality, especially painful when it involves young people who become indoctrinated through the social media. They have become the most loyal supporters of a fanatical and uncompromising version of Islam. The stark reality is that these young recruits to Jihad (holy war) were born in places like London, Paris, Rome or Madrid...