The construction of cancer as an object of scientific study and sanitary problem in Argentina: discourses, experimental practices and institutional initiatives, 1903-1922

El trabajo analiza la conformación del cáncer como problema sanitario y como objeto científico en la Argentina en las dos primeras décadas del siglo XX. Se considera la adquisición y circulación de conocimientos foráneos sobre el tema, el contexto en el que surgieron los primeros desarrollos experimentales, las iniciativas institucionales promovidas desde la profesión médica y el modo en que se logró interesar a las autoridades estatales y la sociedad civil para darles curso. Se estudia de manera detallada el proceso de creación del Instituto de Medicina Experimental, un centro destinado enteramente al estudio y el tratamiento del cáncer inaugurado en el año 1922 y clausura simbólicamente la primera etapa de conformación del cáncer como problema en el país.This article analyzes the construction of cancer as a sanitary problem and an object of scientific inquiry in Argentina in the first two decades of the twentieth century. It considers the acquisition and circulation of foreign knowledge on the subject, the context in which the first experimental developments arose, the institutional initiatives promoted by the medical profession and the way in which state authorities and civil society were enlisted to further these initiatives. There is a detailed examination of the process of creating the Instituto de Medicina Experimental, a center wholly devoted to the study and treatment of cancer, which was inaugurated in 1922, symbolically ending the first phase of constructing cancer as a problem in the countryFil: Buschini, Jose Daniel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico La Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones en Humanidades y Ciencias Sociales; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educacion; Argentin

Nutrition as the Object of Scientific Study and a Target of Social Policies in Argentina: Pedro Escudero and the Instituto Nacional de la Nutrición, 1928-1946

El artículo analiza la conformación de la alimentación como objeto científico, objeto de políticas públicas y mercado profesional en la Argentina, entre fines de la década de 1920 y mediados de la década de 1940. Centra su atención en el papel que tuvieron el médico Pedro Escudero y sus colaboradores en el Instituto Nacional de la Nutrición, quienes fueron pioneros en el desarrollo de investigaciones académicas sobre la nutrición en el país; alertaron a autoridades políticas y miembros de la sociedad civil sobre las consecuencias negativas de una mala alimentación -y sobre cómo efectivamente una porción importante de la población argentina las estaba padeciendo- e impulsaron espacios de formación profesional en la materia.This article analyzes the establishment of nutrition as an object of scientific study, and the target of public policies and the professional market in Argentina between late 1920s and mid-1940s. It focuses on the role of the physician Pedro Escudero and his collaborators at the Instituto Nacional de la Nutrición, who pioneered academic research on nutrition in Argentina, warned political authorities and civil society about the negative consequences of poor nutrition (they even proclaimed that an important part of the Argentine population was affected by this problem) and promoted professional training in this field.Fil: Buschini, Jose Daniel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones en Humanidades y Ciencias Sociales. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educación. Instituto de Investigaciones en Humanidades y Ciencias Sociales; Argentin

Conflictos institucionales en la UBA luego de la Reforma Universitaria de 1918: la doble inauguración del Instituto de Medicina Experimental y la autonomía de la Academia de la Facultad de Ciencias Médicas

El artículo analiza dos conflictos institucionales que tuvieron lugar en laUniversidad de Buenos Aires entre los años 1922 y 1925: la disputa por la dependencia administrativa del Instituto de Medicina Experimental y el pedido de autonomía de la Academia de la Facultad de Ciencias Médicas con respecto de la UBA. El trabajo da cuenta de los actores e instituciones involucrados en estos conflictos y analiza los enfrentamientos como parte de un cuadro de tensiones más amplio que afectaba en esos años a la institución. Por un lado, a partir del escenario que se abre luego de la Reforma Universitaria de 1918. Por otro lado, como parte de las tensiones que arrastraba la Facultad de Ciencias Médicas desde comienzo de siglos asociadas a las modificaciones en su régimen de gobierno y al proceso de recepción de la medicina experimental.This article analyses two institutional conflicts that took place at the Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA) between 1922 and 1925; i.e. the struggle over the administrative dependance of the Instituto de Medicina Experimental and the Academia de la Facultad de Ciencias Médicas autonomy claims. This paper considers the agents and the institutions involved in these conflicts and analyses the struggles in a wider context of tensions within the UBA. On the one hand, the situation at the UBA after the Reforma Universitaria which took place in 1918. On the other hand, as an aspect of some tensions within the Facultad de Ciencias Médicas since the beginnings of the century which concerned its political regime and the process of reception of the experimental medicine.Fil: Buschini, Jose Daniel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico La Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones en Humanidades y Ciencias Sociales; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educacion; Argentin

Inhibitory Activity of Leaves Extracts of Citrullus colocynthis Schrad. on HT29 Human Colon Cancer Cells

Aims: Citrullus colocynthis is a plant endemic in Asia, Africa and in the Mediterranean basin. It is used in folk medicine against infections, inflammations and cardiovascular and immune-related diseases. There are further evidences of the use of Citrullus colocynthis Schrad in the treatment of cancer in traditional practices. The present study aimed to determine the potential antiproliferative effects of different Citrullus colocynthis leaf extracts on human cancer cells. Methodology: Antiproliferative and antioxidant effects on HT-29 human colon cancer cells were detected by MTS assay and a modified protocol of the alkaline Comet assay. In vitro antioxidant activities of different leaf extracts were evaluated through DPPH, \u3b2-carotene/linoleic acid and reducing power assays. Results: The leaf chloroform extract exhibited the higher cell growth inhibitory activity without induction of DNA damage; it showed to be able to significantly decrease DNA damage induced by H2O2 (100 M). This antioxidant activity seems to be comparable to that of vitamin C (1 mM). Ethyl acetate, acetone and methanol leaf extracts showed to be the most effective in reducing the stable free DPPH radical (IC50 =113 g/ml), in transforming the Fe3+ to Fe2+ (IC50 = 134 \ub5g/ml) and in inducing linoleic acid oxidation with an inhibition of 31.9 %. Conclusion: Our results confirm the antiproliferative potential of Citrullus colocynthis Schrad. on human cancer cells

Collection of Pollen Grains by Centris (Hemisiella) tarsata Smith (Apidae: Centridini): Is C. tarsata an Oligolectic or Polylectic Species?

Lia Goncalves, Claudia Ines da Silva, and Maria Luisa Tunes Buschini (2012) Collection of pollen grains by Centris (Hemisiella) tarsata Smith (Apidae: Centridini): Is C. tarsata an oligolectic or polylectic species? Zoological Studies 51(2): 195-203. Among pollinator species, bees play a prominent role in maintaining biodiversity because they are responsible, on average, for 80% of angiosperm pollination in tropical regions. The species richness of the bee genus Centris is high in South America. In Brazil, these bees occur in many types of ecosystems. Centris tarsata is an endemic species occurring only in Brazil. No previous studies considered interactions between plants and this bee species in southern Brazil, where it is the most abundant trap-nesting bee. Accordingly, the goals of this study were to investigate plants used by this species for its larval food supply and determine if this bee is polylectic or oligolectic in this region. This work was conducted in the Parque Municipal das Araucarias, Guarapuava (PR), southern Brazil, from Mar. 2002 to Dec. 2003. Samples of pollen were collected from nests of these bees and from flowering plants in grassland and swamp areas where the nests were built. All of the samples were treated with acetolysis to obtain permanent slides. The family Solanaceae was visited most often (71%). Solanum americanum Mill. (28.6%) and Sol. variabile Mart. (42.4%) were the primary pollen sources for C. tarsata in the study area. We found that although C. tarsata visited 20 species of plants, it preferred Solanum species with poricidal anthers and pollen grains with high protein levels. This selective behavior by females of C. tarsata indicates that these bees are oligolectic in their larval provisioning in this region of southern Brazil. http://zoolstud.sinica.edu.tw/Journals/51.2/195.pd

Modulating effects of humic acids on genotoxicity induced by water disinfectants in Cyprinus carpio

The use of chlorinated disinfectants during drinking-water production has been shown to generate halogenated compounds as a result of interactions of humic acids with chlorine. Such chlorinated by-products have been shown to induce genotoxic effects and consumption of chlorinated drinking-water has been correlated with increased risk for cancer induction in human populations. The aim of this work was to test the potential genotoxic effects on circulating erythrocytes of the fish Cyprinus carpio exposed in vivo to well-waters disinfected with sodium hypochlorite (NaClO), chlorine dioxide (ClO2) or peracetic acid (CH3COO2H, PAA), in the absence or presence of standard humic acids (HA). The effects were measured by use of the micronucleus (MN) and the single-cell gel electrophoresis (Comet) assays at different sampling times after a 3-day exposure period. The exposure to chlorine disinfectants without the addition of HA produced a clear toxic effect. Significant cytogenetic damage (i.e. MN induction) was detected in fish populations exposed to both NaClO and ClO2 with humic acids. In the Comet assay, a significant decrease of DNA migration was observed in erythrocytes of specimens after exposure to NaClO-disinfected water without HA. No effects were observed in any other experimental condition. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Comet assay and micronucleus test in circulating erythrocytes of Cyprinus carpio specimens exposed in situ to lake waters treated with disinfectants for potabilization

The detection of a possible genotoxic effect of surface water treated with disinfectants for potabilization is the aim of the present work. The Comet assay and the micronucleus test were applied in circulating erythrocytes of Cyprinus carpio. Young specimens (20-30g) were exposed in experimental basins, built within the potabilization plant of Castiglione del Lago (Perugia, Italy). In this plant the water of the Trasimeno Lake is treated and disinfected for potabilization before it is distributed to the people in the net of drinkable water. A continuous flow of water at a constant rate was supplied to basins; the water was continuously treated at a constant concentration with one of the three tested disinfectants (sodium hypochlorite, peracetic acid and chloride dioxide), one control basin being supplied with untreated water. Three sampling campaigns were performed: October 2000, February 2001 and June 2001. Repeated blood samplings through intracardiac punctures allowed to follow the same fish populations after different exposure times: before introduction of the disinfectant, and 10 or 20 days afterwards. An additional blood sampling was performed 3h after addition of the disinfectant in other, simultaneously exposed, fish populations. Genotoxic damage was shown in fish exposed to water disinfected with sodium hypochlorite and chloride dioxide. The Comet assay showed an immediate response, i.e. DNA damage that was induced directly in circulating erythrocytes, whereas micronuclei reached their highest frequencies at later sampling times, when a genotoxic damage in stem cells of the cephalic kidney is expressed in circulating erythrocytes. The quality of the untreated surface water seems to be the most important parameter for the long-term DNA damage in circulating erythrocytes. © 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Penetrating Keratoplasty after Radial Keratotomy and Recurrent Immune Overreaction

A 32-year-old man suffering from keratoconus was treated with radial keratotomy. Twenty weeks later, he presented visual deterioration, edema and corneal perforation. A penetrating keratoplasty was required. The postoperative course was regular, but after 9 months, the patient presented kerato-uveitis. Subsequent phlogistic relapses occurred approximately every 6 months during the following 5 years. The performed cultures were positive only during the first episode. Radial keratotomy is not indicated in keratoconus. The multiple relapses of kerato-uveitis could not be explained by infection, and we hypothesized that they may be due to a ‘traumatic memory’ of the cornea caused by the several suffered traumatisms, without clinical features of corneal graft rejection. The risks of new penetrating keratoplasty and cataract surgery are high. As the cornea is the tissue with the highest sensitivity in the body, we tried to explain the relapsing kerato-uveitis as a consequence of the disruption of the nervous corneal network