La Mojana, es una subregión con paisajes dominados por grandes cuerpos de agua, interconectados por una red de caños y ciénagas. Uno de los sistemas productivos de mayor importancia social es el ...arroz criollo, al cual se dedican pequeños productores de economía campesina. Dado a que se desconocen aspectos socioeconómicos y técnicos de este sistema, se realizó una caracterización del sistema mediante el método de encuestas estructuradas que captaron aspectos sociales, técnicos y económicos. El método de muestreo usado fue el no probabilístico y los datos se analizaron mediante estadística descriptiva, con medidas de tendencia central y dispersión. Los resultados mostraron que los agricultores de arroz criollo llevan más de 40 años dedicados a esta actividad productiva, en pequeñas áreas de terreno de la finca. Parte de la producción es comercializada en los mercados locales y otra parte es usada para la alimentación del núcleo familiar, por lo que tiene gran importancia en la seguridad alimentaria. A pesar de existir oferta de variedades mejoradas, de mayor rendimiento, buena parte de los agricultores prefieren para su alimentación este tipo de arroz debido a que le atribuyen una mejor calidad culinaria y nutricional. Se identificaron al menos 46 variedades utilizadas para la siembra, la cual se realiza de forma manual con muy baja entrada de insumos de origen químico. Se identificaron las principales limitantes tecnológicas del sistema y se determinaron los costos y rendimientos, lo cual permitió calcular un costo unitario de US$0,40 kg-1. El principal riesgo que enfrenta este sistema productivo es la pérdida de semillas ancestrales, por lo que se propone la conservación, purificación y escalamiento de las variedades criollas, para devolverlas a la comunidad y así contribuir a la seguridad alimentaria de la población de pequeños productores vinculados a este sistema.
Starting in the 1970's, the Pampa Arenosa sub-region experienced an increasing water regime that generated an increased area for dryland farming. With increasing agricultural activity, examining the ...land is an essential strategic tool for its planning. The objective of this work was to highlight the importance of considering several climate scenarios when setting the productivity index in the sector of longitudinal dunes in the Pampa Arenosa sub-region in the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The climate scenarios were set in relation to the shifts in average rain values, according to the Pettitt Test. The land were classified according to their productivity index. It was found that the productivity index of the land increased with the rain, reaching its highest value in the period right after the abrupt shift. Land of moderate productive capacity whose productivity index values are between 65 and 51 comprised the majority of the area of our study.
Granulysin is a cytolytic molecule released by CTL via granule-mediated exocytosis. In a previous study we showed that granulysin induced apoptosis using both caspase- and ceramide-dependent and ...-independent pathways. In the present study we further characterize the biochemical mechanism for granulysin-induced apoptosis of tumor cells. Granulysin-induced death is significantly inhibited by Bcl-2 overexpression and is associated with a rapid (1-5 h) loss of mitochondrial membrane potential, which is not mediated by ceramide generation and is not inhibited by the general caspase inhibitor benzyloxycarbonyl-Val-Ala-Asp-fluoromethylketone. Ceramide generation induced by granulysin is a slow event, only observable at longer incubation times (12 h). Apoptosis induced by exogenous natural (C(18)) ceramide is truly associated with mitochondrial membrane potential loss, but contrary to granulysin, this event is inhibited by benzyloxycarbonyl-Val-Ala-Asp-fluoromethylketone. Ceramide-induced apoptosis is also completely prevented by Bcl-2 overexpression. The nuclear morphology of cells dying after granulysin treatment in the presence of caspase inhibitors suggested the involvement of mitochondrial apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF) in granulysin-induced cell death. We demonstrate using confocal microscopy that AIF is translocated from mitochondria to the nucleus during granulysin-induced apoptosis. The majority of Bcl-2 transfectants are protected from granulysin-induced cell death, mitochondrial membrane potential loss, and AIF translocation, while a small percentage are not protected. In this small percentage the typical nuclear apoptotic morphology is delayed, being of the AIF type at 5 h time, while at longer times (12 h) the normal apoptotic morphology is predominant. These and previous results support a key role for the mitochondrial pathway of apoptosis, and especially for AIF, during granulysin-induced tumoral cell death.
α-Lipoic acid (α-Lip) is a natural occurring antioxidant with beneficial anti-obesity properties. The aim of this study was to investigate the putative effects of α-Lip on mitochondrial biogenesis ...and the acquirement of brown-like characteristics by subcutaneous adipocytes from overweight/obese subjects. Thus, fully differentiated human subcutaneous adipocytes were treated with α-Lip (100 and 250μM) for 24h for studies on mitochondrial content and morphology, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) copy number, fatty acid oxidation enzymes and brown/beige characteristic genes. The involvement of the Sirtuin1/Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma, coactivator 1 alpha (SIRT1/PGC-1α) pathway was also evaluated. Our results showed that α-Lip increased mitochondrial content in cultured human adipocytes as revealed by electron microscopy and by mitotracker green labeling. Moreover, an enhancement in mtDNA content was observed. This increase was accompanied by an up-regulation of SIRT1 protein levels, a decrease in PGC-1α acetylation and up-regulation of Nuclear respiratory factor 1 (Nrf1) and Mitochondrial transcription factor (Tfam) transcription factors. Enhanced oxygen consumption and fatty acid oxidation enzymes, Carnitine palmitoyl transferase 1 and Acyl-coenzyme A oxidase (CPT-1 and ACOX) were also observed. Mitochondria from α-Lip-treated adipocytes exhibited some morphological characteristics of brown mitochondria, and α-Lip also induced up-regulation of some brown/beige adipocytes markers such as cell death-inducing DFFA-like effector a (Cidea) and T-box 1 (Tbx1). Moreover, α-Lip up-regulated PR domain containing 16 (Prdm16) mRNA levels in treated adipocytes. Therefore, our study suggests the ability of α-Lip to promote mitochondrial biogenesis and brown-like remodeling in cultured white subcutaneous adipocytes from overweight/obese donors.
•Human adipocytes treated with α-LA showed increased mitochondrial biogenesis.•α-LA actions were mediated by SIRT1-PGC-1α signaling pathway.•α-LA up-regulated oxygen consumption and FA oxidation-related enzymes CPT1 and ACOX.•α-LA-treated white adipocytes presented morphologically brown-like mitochondria.•α-LA up-regulated Prdm16, Cidea, Tbx1 and UCP1 gene or protein levels.
This study assesses the effect of vegetation structure on the subtropical invertebrate communities in contrasting sampling dates of macrophyte populations in the RAMSAR site of Iberá wetlands, South ...America. Invertebrates associated with the submersed Egeria najas and the floating rooted Pontederia azurea were chosen to provide a model involving different microhabitat complexity. The results suggest that vegetation structure provided by the two macrophyte species supported significant differences in the density of animals, with invertebrate abundance of E. najas twice as high as on P. azurea. Abundance showed no significant differences in both contrasting sampling dates, growth and decline. Our result clearly showed invertebrates exclusively associated with each macrophyte species, as well different invertebrate taxa dominating in each sampling date (decline: Cladocera; growth: Aphididae, Belostomatidae and Planorbidae). We also show that working at the taxonomic levels of family could be a sensible trade-off between taxonomic identification effort versus reaching reliable and useful results for environmental monitoring and natural resource management in highly diverse subtropical wetlands. Our results emphasize the role of vegetation structure on invertebrate communities, as well suggest that the growth cycle of macrophyte populations could be a relevant variable influencing these animals in pristine subtropical wetlands.
n-3 PUFA have shown potential anti-obesity and insulin-sensitising properties. However, the mechanisms involved are not clearly established. The aim of the present study was to assess the effects of ...EPA administration, one of the n-3 PUFA, on body-weight gain and adiposity in rats fed on a standard or a high-fat (cafeteria) diet. The actions on white adipose tissue lipolysis, apoptosis and on several genes related to obesity and insulin resistance were also studied. Control and cafeteria-induced overweight male Wistar rats were assigned into two subgroups, one of them daily received EPA ethyl ester (1 g/kg) for 5 weeks by oral administration. The high-fat diet induced a very significant increase in both body weight and fat mass. Rats fed with the cafeteria diet and orally treated with EPA showed a marginally lower body-weight gain (P = 0·09), a decrease in food intake (P < 0·01) and an increase in leptin production (P < 0·05). EPA administration reduced retroperitoneal adipose tissue weight (P < 0·05) which could be secondary to the inhibition of the adipogenic transcription factor PPARγ gene expression (P < 0·001), and also to the increase in apoptosis (P < 0·05) found in rats fed with a control diet. TNFα gene expression was significantly increased (P < 0·05) by the cafeteria diet, while EPA treatment was able to prevent (P < 0·01) the rise in this inflammatory cytokine. Adiposity-corrected adiponectin plasma levels were increased by EPA. These actions on both TNFα and adiponectin could explain the beneficial effects of EPA on insulin resistance induced by the cafeteria diet.
The crystalline biofilms of Proteus mirabilis can seriously complicate the care of patients undergoing long-term indwelling urinary catheterisation. Expression of bacterial urease causes a ...significant increase in urinary pH, leading to the supersaturation and precipitation of struvite and apatite crystals. These crystals become lodged within the biofilm, resulting in the blockage of urine flow through the catheter. Here, we describe an infection-responsive surface coating for urinary catheters, which releases a therapeutic dose of bacteriophage in response to elevated urinary pH, in order to delay catheter blockage. The coating employs a dual-layered system comprising of a lower hydrogel 'reservoir' layer impregnated with bacteriophage, capped by a 'trigger' layer of the pH-responsive polymer poly(methyl methacrylate-co-methacrylic acid) (EUDRAGIT®S 100). Evaluation of prototype coatings using a clinically reflective in vitro bladder model system showed that catheter blockage time was doubled (13 h to 26 h (P < 0.05)) under conditions of established infection (10
CFU ml
) in response to a 'burst-release' of bacteriophage (10
PFU ml
). Coatings were stable both in the absence of infection, and in the presence of urease-negative bacteria. Quantitative and visual analysis of crystalline biofilm reduction show that bacteriophage constitute a promising strategy for the prevention of catheter blockage, a clinical problem for which there is currently no effective control method.
Primary dysmenorrhea (PD) refers to painful cramps before and/or during menstruation. There is a need for emphasis on alternative methods of conservative treatment, so as to reduce the dependence on ...drugs for alleviating the symptoms. The aim was to find out the effectiveness of some physiotherapy techniques in the treatment of PD. A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted according to PRISMA standards. The descriptors were “dysmenorrhea”, “physical the-rapy”, “physiotherapy”, and “manual therapy”. The search was performed in five databases: Scopus, PubMed, PEDro, Web of Science, and Medline, in February 2021. The inclusion criteria were randomized controlled trials over the last six years. Articles not related to the treatment of PD or using pharmacology as the main treatment were excluded. Nine articles met the objectives and criteria, with a total of 692 participants. The most used scale to measure pain was the VAS (visual analogue scale). The main techniques were isometric exercises, massage therapy, yoga, electrotherapy, connective tissue manipulation, stretching, kinesio tape, progressive relaxation exercises and aerobic dance. Meta-analysis shows benefits of physiotherapy treatment for pain relief compared with no intervention or placebo (MD: −1.13, 95% CI: −1.61 to −0.64, I2: 88%). The current low-quality evidence suggests that physiotherapy may provide a clinically significant reduction in menstrual pain intensity. Given the overall health benefits of physiotherapy and the low risk of side effects reported, women may consider using it, either alone or in conjunction with other therapeutic modalities.
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