Description of the cave organ in three species of the genus Belminus (Hemiptera: Reduviidae: Triatominae) by optical and scanning electron microscopy

The cave organ is a sensory receptor in the antenna pedicel of some Reduviidae. This paper describes this organ for the first time in three species of the genus Belminus, Belminus corredori, Belminus ferroae and Belminus herreri, by optical and scanning electron microscopy. The structures presented a general pattern similar to one reported for other species of Triatominae.

Aproximació a la figura de l'educador/a social com a tècnic/a de joventut en l'àmbit rural

Aquest projecte es posa en marxa l’any 2005 a partir de l’elaboració del Pla Comarcal, dels Plans Locals de joventut, dels Projectes Tècnics de joventut, de les Programacions d’activitats i d’accions concretes. Aquests instruments d’intervenció, en els seus diferents nivells, han de ser coherents amb el Pla Nacional de Joventut de la Generalitat de Catalunya, el qual regeix les línies d’actuació de les polítiques de joventut al nostre país. A grans trets, aquesta és una breu descripció del servei en el qual he dut a terme les meves pràctiques d’educador social i un dels motius pels quals he escollit fer aquest treball, ja que en un primer moment, no tenia la intenció d’elaborar un treball de fi d’estudis que tractes sobre l’àmbit de la meva plaça de pràctiques

Can Mosquito Magnet® substitute for human-landing catches to sample anopheline populations?

The efficiency of the Mosquito Magnet Liberty PlusTM (MMLP) trap was evaluated in comparison to human-landing catches (HLCs) to sample anopheline populations in Jabillal, state of Bolivar, southern Venezuela. The village comprised 37 houses and a population of 101; malaria in this village is primarily due to Plasmodium vivax and the Annual Parasite Index is 316.8 per 1,000 population. A longitudinal study was conducted between June 2008-January 2009 for three nights per month every two months between 17:30 pm-21:30 pm, a time when biting mosquitoes are most active. Anopheles darlingi and Anopheles nuneztovari were the most common species collected by both methods, whereas Anopheles marajoara was more abundant according to the HLC method. The MMLP trap was more efficient for collecting An. nuneztovari [63%, confidence interval (CI): 2.53] than for collecting An. darlingi (31%, CI: 1.57). There were significant correlations (p < 0.01) between the two methods for An. darlingi [Pearson correlation (R²) = 0.65] and An. nuneztovari (R² = 0.48). These preliminary results are encouraging for further investigations of the use of the MMLP trap for monitoring anopheline populations in remote malaria-endemic areas in the Amazon Basin.

En clave de rock

Este proyecto permite la gestión de los distintos elementos que componen una asociación de grupos de música. El proyecto abarca la administración de los elementos de una asociación de estas características: socios/usuarios, grupos de música, componentes, horarios de ensayo, reuniones, etc. También se incluyen perfiles de usuario que permiten acceder a ciertas opciones del menú.

Optimización de los recursos de red de una organización mediante el uso de un servidor dedicado basado en software libre

Estudio de optimización de recursos de red basado en la utilización de un servidor dedicado gestionado mediante software libre.

Malaria entomological risk factors in relation to land cover in the Lower Caura River Basin, Venezuela

To explore the effects of deforestation and resulting differences in vegetation and land cover on entomological parameters, such as anopheline species composition, abundance, biting rate, parity and entomological inoculation rate (EIR), three villages were selected in the Lower Caura River Basin, state of Bolívar, Venezuela. All-night mosquito collections were conducted between March 2008-January 2009 using CDC light traps and Mosquito Magnet(r) Liberty Plus. Human landing catches were performed between 06:00 pm-10:00 pm, when anophelines were most active. Four types of vegetation were identified. The Annual Parasite Index was not correlated with the type of vegetation. The least abundantly forested village had the highest anopheline abundance, biting rate and species diversity. Anopheles darlingi and Anopheles nuneztovari were the most abundant species and were collected in all three villages. Both species showed unique biting cycles. The more abundantly forested village of El Palmar reported the highest EIR. The results confirmed previous observations that the impacts of deforestation and resulting changes in vegetation cover on malaria transmission are complex and vary locally.

Modelització de la producció de melanina a partir de polifenol oxidasa d'Agaricus bisporus

Les melanines són un grup heterogeni de polímers producte de reaccions enzimàtiques en els teixits vegetals que contenen compostos fenòlics o polifenòlics. Estudis recents han descobert algunes propietats benèfiques de les melanines sobre la salut, tals com antioxidants, antiinflamatòries, immunològiques i propietats anti-tumorals. Així, no només la seva eliminació ha de ser examinada, sinó que també podria considerar-se la seva addició a aliments funcionals de nova creació. D’aquesta manera, es requereix conèixer el mecanisme cinètic de la lanogènesi abans de la seva possible utilització industrial. S’ha desenvolupat un model cinètic per explicar la formació de melanina a partir de L-tirosina utilitzant polifenol oxidasa d’Agaricus bisporus i monitoritzant l'absorbància de la solució. Aquesta expressió permet descriure la formació de melanina en funció del temps de reacció i obtenir alguns paràmetres importants que defineixen el producte, com el coeficient d'extinció. L’absorbància comença a créixer després d'un període de latència en què es produeixen productes intermedis incolors. El coeficient d'extinció dels productes resultants no és un valor constant, perquè depèn de les condicions de cada experiment. La tirosinasa tingué un menor efecte catalitzador sobre la L-tirosina (primera reacció que catalitza), que sobre L-DOPA (segona reacció).

Portal de gestió de la formació J2EE-Liferay

El projecte 'Gestió de la Formació' neix amb l'objectiu de gestionar de manera eficient i ràpida totes les peticions de formacions i certificacions dels empleats d'una empresa mitjana-gran real. El projecte s'engloba dins d'un canvi de model d'intranet de l'empresa amb l'objectiu de traspassar la gestió d'intranet a un sistema Liferay amb portlets.

Evaluación del cartílago articular mediante técnicas de dignóstico por la imagen

This article briefly reviews the composition of the hyaline cartilage and its ultrastructure. Subsequently, we offer a brief review of the role of imaging techniques in the assessment of this pathology. These include the most useful pulse sequences for the morphological assessment of cartilaginous injuries using MRI, as well as how these injuries appear in the images, at pre and post-surgical intervals. Lastly, we mention the developments in MRI that allow us to close in on the biochemical assessment of normal and pathological cartilage.

Claudin-19 mutations and clinical phenotype in Spanish patients with familial hypomagnesemia with hypercalciuria and nephrocalcinosis.

Familial hypomagnesemia with hypercalciuria and nephrocalcinosis is an autosomal recessive tubular disorder characterized by excessive renal magnesium and calcium excretion and chronic kidney failure. This rare disease is caused by mutations in the CLDN16 and CLDN19 genes. These genes encode the tight junction proteins claudin-16 and claudin-19, respectively, which regulate the paracellular ion reabsorption in the kidney. Patients with mutations in the CLDN19 gene also present severe visual impairment. Our goals in this study were to examine the clinical characteristics of a large cohort of Spanish patients with this disorder and to identify the disease causing mutations. We included a total of 31 patients belonging to 27 unrelated families and studied renal and ocular manifestations. We then analyzed by direct DNA sequencing the coding regions of CLDN16 and CLDN19 genes in these patients. Bioinformatic tools were used to predict the consequences of mutations. Clinical evaluation showed ocular defects in 87% of patients, including mainly myopia, nystagmus and macular colobomata. Twenty two percent of patients underwent renal transplantation and impaired renal function was observed in another 61% of patients. Results of the genetic analysis revealed CLDN19 mutations in all patients confirming the clinical diagnosis. The majority of patients exhibited the previously described p.G20D mutation. Haplotype analysis using three microsatellite markers showed a founder effect for this recurrent mutation in our cohort. We also identified four new pathogenic mutations in CLDN19, p.G122R, p.I41T, p.G75C and p.G75S. A strategy based on microsequencing was designed to facilitate the genetic diagnosis of this disease. Our data indicate that patients with CLDN19 mutations have a high risk of progression to chronic renal disease.

Correlations between major risk factors and closely related Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates grouped by three current enotyping procedures: a population-based study in northeast Mexico

The characteristics of tuberculosis (TB) patients related to a chain of recent TB transmissions were investigated. Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) isolates (120) were genotyped using the restriction fragment length polymorphism-IS6110 (R), spacer oligotyping (S) and mycobacterial interspersed repetitive units-variable number of tandem repeats (M) methods. The MTB isolates were clustered and the clusters were grouped according to the similarities of their genotypes. Spearman’s rank correlation coefficients between the groups of MTB isolates with similar genotypes and those patient characteristics indicating a risk for a pulmonary TB (PTB) chain transmission were ana- lysed. The isolates showing similar genotypes were distributed as follows: SMR (5%), SM (12.5%), SR (1.67%), MR (0%), S (46.67%), M (5%) and R (0%). The remaining 35 cases were orphans. SMR exhibited a significant correlation (p < 0.05) with visits to clinics, municipalities and comorbidities (primarily diabetes mellitus). S correlated with drug consumption and M with comorbidities. SMR is needed to identify a social network in metropolitan areas for PTB transmission and S and M are able to detect risk factors as secondary components of a transmission chain of TB.