Adenosine induced pulmonary fibrosis and the contribution of the adenosine A2B receptor to the induction of osteopontin in a mouse model of pulmonary fibrosis

Pulmonary fibrosis is a devastating and lethal lung disease with no current cure. Research into cellular signaling pathways able to modulate aspects of pulmonary inflammation and fibrosis will aid in the development of effective therapies for its treatment. Our laboratory has generated a transgenic/knockout mouse with systemic elevations in adenosine due to the partial lack of its metabolic enzyme, adenosine deaminase (ADA). These mice spontaneously develop progressive lung inflammation and severe pulmonary fibrosis suggesting that aberrant adenosine signaling is influencing the development and/or progression of the disease in these animals. These mice also show marked increases in the pro-fibrotic mediator, osteopontin (OPN), which are reversed through ADA therapy that serves to lower lung adenosine levels and ameliorate aspects of the disease. OPN is known to be regulated by intracellular signaling pathways that can be accessed through adenosine receptors, particularly the low affinity A2BR receptor, suggesting that adenosine receptor signaling may be responsible for the induction of OPN in our model. In-vitro, adenosine and the broad spectrum adenosine receptor agonist, NECA, were able to induce a 2.5-fold increase in OPN transcripts in primary alveolar macrophages. This induction was blocked through antagonism of the A2BR receptor pharmacologically, and through the deletion of the receptor subtype in these cells genetically, supporting the hypothesis that the A2BR receptor was responsible for the induction of OPN in our model. These findings demonstrate for the first time that adenosine signaling is an important modulator of pulmonary fibrosis in ADA-deficient mice and that this is in part due to signaling through the A2BR receptor which leads to the induction of the pro-fibrotic molecule, otseopontin. ^

Concomitant Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection and type 2 diabetes: A descriptive model with global health implications

The type 2 diabetes (diabetes) pandemic is recognized as a threat to tuberculosis (TB) control worldwide. This secondary data analysis project estimated the contribution of diabetes to TB in a binational community on the Texas-Mexico border where both diseases occur. Newly-diagnosed TB patients > 20 years of age were prospectively enrolled at Texas-Mexico border clinics between January 2006 and November 2008. Upon enrollment, information regarding social, demographic, and medical risks for TB was collected at interview, including self-reported diabetes. In addition, self-reported diabetes was supported by blood-confirmation according to guidelines published by the American Diabetes Association (ADA). For this project, data was compared to existing statistics for TB incidence and diabetes prevalence from the corresponding general populations of each study site to estimate the relative and attributable risks of diabetes to TB. In concordance with historical sociodemographic data provided for TB patients with self-reported diabetes, our TB patients with diabetes also lacked the risk factors traditionally associated with TB (alcohol abuse, drug abuse, history of incarceration, and HIV infection); instead, the majority of our TB patients with diabetes were characterized by overweight/obesity, chronic hyperglycemia, and older median age. In addition, diabetes prevalence among our TB patients was significantly higher than in the corresponding general populations. Findings of this study will help accurately characterize TB patients with diabetes, thus aiding in the timely recognition and diagnosis of TB in a population not traditionally viewed as at-risk. We provide epidemiological and biological evidence that diabetes continues to be an increasingly important risk factor for TB.^

AN INVESTIGATION OF THE IMPACT OF CHILDREN WITH BIRTH DEFECTS ON STRESS IN THEIR FAMILIES

A child with a birth defect places physical, financial and emotional stress upon the family. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of a mildly handicapped child on the family's coping abilities.^ Two groups, 101 mothers of children with birth defects and 107 mothers of intact children, completed the Holroyd Questionnaire on Resources and Stress and the Luborsky Social Assets Scale. From these groups, 86 pairs were matched on four factors: the age (two to eight years) and sex of the study child and the mother's education and marital status.^ The children with birth defects had completed the diagnostic evaluation at the Meyer Center for Developmental Pediatrics, Texas Children's Hospital. Children with severe defects were excluded. The mean I.Q of the group was 88, s.d. 17; 17 children were mildly retarded and 35 had an I.Q. of 100 or above; areas of dysfunction included motor abnormalities, behavior disturbance, speech problems, and sensory impairments.^ The expected direction and statistically significant differences were obtained from the data for the matched pairs on the Q.R.S. scales. The mothers of children with a birth defect reported poor health, a negative attitude toward the child, being over-protective, financial problems and feeling a lack of social support and family integration. They perceived the child as socially obtrusive, limited as to occupational opportunities, and as having a difficult personality.^ The functioning levels of the handicapped children contributed to the respondent's problems. The child with behavior and speech problems but adequate intelligence was a situation which resulted in a poor health/mood of the mother. The mother's pessimism was related to the child's low intelligence.^ The social assets of the respondents with intact children were significantly higher than those of respondents of handicapped children. There was no relationship between the total social assets score and the scores on the Q.R.S. for mothers of handicapped children. These mothers did report poorer physical conditions, more smoking, and quarreling of their parents as they grew up. ^

Seasonality of respiratory syncytial virus infection in Texas

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a common cause of respiratory infection in infants and children that can result in bronchiolitis or pneumonia. Each year in the United States, it causes up to 400 deaths and 125,000 hospitalizations among children less than one year of age. RSV is transmitted by direct or close contact with contaminated secretions, which may involve droplets and fomites. Monthly administration of a monoclonal RSV antibody, palivizumab (Synagis™, MedImmune, Gaithersburg, MD), in premature infants, infants with chronic lung disease, or congenital heart disease has been shown to significantly reduce the risk of severe RSV infection. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) National Respiratory and Enteric Virus Surveillance System (NREVSS) is a laboratory based passive reporting system that collects state, regional, and national RSV data. The CDC defines the RSV season onset as “the first of 2 consecutive weeks during which the mean percentage of specimens testing positive for RSV antigen is 10%.” RSV season offset is defined as the last of 2 consecutive weeks during which the percentage of positive specimens is less than or equal to 10%. Annual RSV epidemics generally occur during the winter and early spring months, but the RSV season is known to vary by national regions. Precise delineation of the RSV epidemiology by region could maximize protection from RSV and minimize the cost of RSV immune prophylaxis. ^ The purpose of this thesis is to define the RSV season in Texas over time; compare the RSV season of the state of Texas and its regions with the national norms; and to compare RSV seasonality between the various regions in Texas. ^ This study was a retrospective analysis of data reported to NREVSS to evaluate potential disparities in the onset weeks, offset weeks, and duration of the annual RSV season in Texas. Data were collected from 70 reporting sites, and includes information from the 2004–2005 to 2009–2010 RSV seasons. ^ The observed median onset (week 44) and offset week (week 8) for the Texas were consistent with national estimates for the South. Regional estimates and statistical analysis suggested that the RSV season in Texas would be better represented by regions. Regional seasonal comparisons revealed considerable variation in season offset and duration between many of the geographic regions within Texas. This trend should be studied further.^

Performance of HbA1c for classifying diabetes and diagnostic threshold for diabetes among the Mexican American border community

Objective. In 2009, the International Expert Committee recommended the use of HbA1c test for diagnosis of diabetes. Although it has been recommended for the diagnosis of diabetes, its precise test performance among Mexican Americans is uncertain. A strong “gold standard” would rely on repeated blood glucose measurement on different days, which is the recommended method for diagnosing diabetes in clinical practice. Our objective was to assess test performance of HbA1c in detecting diabetes and pre-diabetes against repeated fasting blood glucose measurement for the Mexican American population living in United States-Mexico border. Moreover, we wanted to find out a specific and precise threshold value of HbA1c for Diabetes Mellitus (DM) and pre-diabetes for this high-risk population which might assist in better diagnosis and better management of patient diabetes. ^ Research design and methods. We used CCHC dataset for our study. In 2004, the Cameron County Hispanic Cohort (CCHC), now numbering 2,574, was established drawn from randomly selected households on the basis of 2000 Census tract data. The CCHC study randomly selected a subset of people (aged 18-64 years) in CCHC cohort households to determine the influence of SES on diabetes and obesity. Among the participants in Cohort-2000, 67.15% are female; all are Hispanic. ^ Individuals were defined as having diabetes mellitus (Fasting plasma glucose [FPG] ≥ 126 mg/dL or pre-diabetes (100 ≤ FPG < 126 mg/dL). HbA1c test performance was evaluated using receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curves. Moreover, change-point models were used to determine HbA1c thresholds compatible with FPG thresholds for diabetes and pre-diabetes. ^ Results. When assessing Fasting Plasma Glucose (FPG) is used to detect diabetes, the sensitivity and specificity of HbA1c≥ 6.5% was 75% and 87% respectively (area under the curve 0.895). Additionally, when assessing FPG to detect pre-diabetes, the sensitivity and specificity of HbA1c≥ 6.0% (ADA recommended threshold) was 18% and 90% respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of HbA1c≥ 5.7% (International Expert Committee recommended threshold) for detecting pre-diabetes was 31% and 78% respectively. ROC analyses suggest HbA1c as a sound predictor of diabetes mellitus (area under the curve 0.895) but a poorer predictor for pre-diabetes (area under the curve 0.632). ^ Conclusions. Our data support the current recommendations for use of HbA1c in the diagnosis of diabetes for the Mexican American population as it has shown reasonable sensitivity, specificity and accuracy against repeated FPG measures. However, use of HbA1c may be premature for detecting pre-diabetes in this specific population because of the poor sensitivity with FPG. It might be the case that HbA1c is differentiating the cases more effectively who are at risk of developing diabetes. Following these pre-diabetic individuals for a longer-term for the detection of incident diabetes may lead to more confirmatory result.^

Las buenas prácticas de enseñanza que apoyan el ingreso y la permanencia de los estudiantes en las Escuelas de Bibliotecología. En: IX Encuentro de Directores y VIII de docentes de las Escuelas de Bibliotecología y Ciencias de la Información del Mercosur

Este trabajo pretende, por una parte, instalar ciertos interrogante entre los docentes de bibliotecología y ciencias de la información y, por otra parte, presentar los lineamientos que orientan la investigación de las prácticas docentes que se muestran como una problemática poco explorada en las universidades del Mercosur y se extiende a lo pedagógico y a la enseñanza, en un sentido amplio, e involucra una diversidad de aspectos que incluyen lo didáctico, pero que a su vez lo exceden y anteceden con amplitud, dado que implica relacionar las dimensiones políticas, organizativas y curriculares, por otra parte, con el fin de verificar si somos capaces de cuestionarnos sobre nuestras propias prácticas de enseñanza partiendo de una visión positiva, es decir, sobre las posibilidades de indagar las “buenas prácticas de enseñanzas” ideadas, adoptadas y aplicadas por los docentes del primer año de las carreras de Bibliotecología y Ciencias de la Información de la región

El género memorias en las últimas novelas de Ignacio Solares

Fil: Gambetta Chuk, Aída Nadí.

Contribución a una bibliografía de Roberto Arlt basada en el material existente en la Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, UNCuyo

Teniendo en cuenta la Bibliografía anotada sobre Leopoldo Marechal que Aída Prátici y Fanny Torres, realizaron en el año 1982, el presente trabajo surge con el fin de sistematizar los diversos aportes que la crítica ha realizado en torno a la vida y obra de Roberto Arlt, existentes en la Biblioteca de la Facultad de Filosofía y Letras. Tal propuesta responde principalmente a dos objetivos. Primero, teniendo presente que la bibliografía sobre Arlt no es muy extensa, configurar un corpus de obras ubicables en nuestra Facultad, las cuales hasta el momento se encontraban dispersas o poco difundidas. Segundo, facilitar una guía para que investigadores, alumnos y lectores en general pudieran acceder de modo sencillo, rápido y preciso a este material. Siguiendo estos objetivos, se ha realizado un rastreo bibliográfico no exhaustivo, pero sí lo suficientemente amplio como para garantizar la recolección de los más importantes estudios críticos que se han escrito desde 1980 hasta el 2000.

Análisis crítico del concepto de esfera pública : (Argentina, siglo XIX)

Fil: Bosch, Graciela.

Guardar memoria y mantener la posibilidad : responsabilidad y destino de la Facultad de Filosofía y Letras

Fil: García, Adriana Aída. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Filosofía y Letras

Adriana Puiggrós. Sujetos, disciplina y curriculum en los orígenes del sistema educativo argentino. Buenos Aires, Editorial Galerna, 1990, 372 p.

Fil: Conill, Aída.

Susceptibilidad al enranciamiento de algunos aceites de oliva

Fil: Schmidt de Gil, Juanita. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias

Los derechos reproductivos: Una agenda necesaria para garantizar los derechos humanos de los y las adolescentes

El II Congreso Latinoamericano Jurídico sobre Derechos Reproductivos se llevó a cabo en Costa Rica en el año 2011, el mismo buscó generar, además de situaciones de reflexión, debate y participación, espacios de capacitación donde los participantes pudieron, a través de la transmisión de experiencias y mediante actividades concretas, conocer herramientas conceptuales y metodológicas que puedan replicar y difundir en sus respectivos países.

Las organizaciones sociales y los jóvenes : Nuevos modos de inclusión a partir de la producción audiovisual

La investigación se enmarca en la perspectiva de estudios sobre la producción de cine y video comunitario, que surgen en el contexto de la democratización político-cultural que vivió América Latina en los años ochenta. Esta producción se ha articulado, desde entonces, con importantes cambios tecnológicos en las formas socio-productivas y con nuevas políticas de comunicación La difusión de las TIC y el abaratamiento de los costos de los equipos desde los años 80? posibilitaron el acceso de mayores sectores de la población al manejo, cada vez más amplio, de herramientas audiovisuales. Esos avances cobran un nuevo impulso en la actualidad con políticas como la Ley de Servicios de Comunicación Audiovisual y otras de similares características en países de la región, inspiradas en concepciones más participativas. El objeto de estudio de esta investigación es la producción de cine y video comunitario que desarrollan organizaciones socioculturales en la zona noroeste del Conurbano Bonaerense. Con ese propósito, se realizaron entrevistas a diversas entidades que fomentan la inclusión de jóvenes a través de la participación en producciones audiovisuales de carácter educativo y cultural. En esas entrevistas nos interesó indagar no sólo las características de los proyectos, las modalidades de difusión y las capacidades en términos de sus recursos humanos y tecnológicos, sino también ahondar en las características que poseen las propias organizaciones, su historia y el tipo de vínculo que establecen con la comunidad de referencia y con el Estado