Earthworm management in tropical agroecosystems

A worldwide survey of earthworms in the humid tropics revealed that 51 exotics and 151 native species are commonly found in tropical agroecosystems. On the basis of frequency records and climatic and edaphic ranges, 21 exotics and 27 native species have been selected as possible candidates for manipulation. A multivariate analysis separated these species into four groups : (i) native species with wide edaphic and medium climatic tolerances ; (ii) exotic species with wide climatic and edaphic tolerances ; (iii) native and exotic species with narrow edaphic tolerances but more resistant to climatic variations ; and (iv) native species with limited tolerance for climatic and edaphic variations. Regarding management, species of group (ii) seem to be the most adaptable, both at regional and local levels (multipurpose species) ; group (i) can be managed for specific climatic conditions whereas group (iii) should be managed in specific soil environments. Species of group (iv) may only be managed at a very local scale. (Résumé d'auteur

Interaction of Nanoparticles with Blood Components and Associated Pathophysiological Effects

Nanotechnology currently plays a pivotal role in several fields and has enabled substantial advances in a relatively short time. In biomedicine, nanomaterials can be potentially employed as a tool for early diagnosis and an innovative mode of drug delivery. Novel nanomaterials are currently widely manipulated without a full assessment of their potential health risks. It is commonly thought that nanomaterials’ first contact with the organism is through the different components of the immune system. However, if the entry route is intravenous, the first contact will be with the blood’s components (erythrocytes, platelets, white cells, plasma and complement proteins). The presence of nanomaterials within a dynamic environment such as the bloodstream can produce potential harmful effects following interaction with several blood components. The design of innovative strategies leading to the development of more hemocompatible nanomaterials is also necessary

High Trait Anger, Interpersonal Context, and the Recognition of Anger Problems

Background: High trait anger is usually destructive for individuals and their relationships. This proneness to anger is reflected in frequent angry feelings, for longer periods of time, and with higher levels of physical arousal and negative expressions (e.g., insulting or arguing with others). Unfortunately, not all individuals with high trait anger recognize the problem. Objective: This research assessed the contribution of the interpersonal context (e.g., family members, friends, and boyfriend/girlfriend) to recognize anger problems. Methods: We recruited 192 individuals with high trait anger who completed questionnaires about 1) recognition of anger problems, 2) how they are perceived by others in terms of anger (i.e., “being irascible”), and 3) if they care about what others think about their anger. Research Design: Cross-sectional. Results: Individuals who recognized their anger problems perceived they have received more messages of “You are very irascible” from their social contexts, while those who do not recognize anger problems, have received these messages less often. Moreover, the higher the extent to which the individuals care about what other people think or say about their anger (i.e., higher importance attached to messages from others), the more it contributed to a higher recognition of anger problems. In addition, a lower importance attached to such messages was related to a lower recognition of such problems. Recognition of anger problems was higher in participants who had a boyfriend/girlfriend (versus those who did not have one), and in female (versus male) participants

Reflexiones y aportaciones metodológicas

los aportes reunidos en esta obra, provienen de experiencias previas de trabajo profesional y de investigación, lo cual es resultado de distintos enfoques y vivencias de los grupos de investigación aquí involucrados, los que han interactuado en distintos eventos académicos y específicamente, en seminarios que propiciaron la producción que se reúne en esta publicación colectiva. Finalmente, esta experiencia acumulada es una de las mejores recomendaciones para la lectura por demás interesante y propositivo.El presente libro, identifica los aportes metodológicos del trabajo cotidiano en diferentes capítulos para integrarlos a los propios de las disciplinas del diseño. Asimismo, uno de los capítulos aborda la necesidad de estudiar un contexto de referencia que el destinatario pueda interpretar, entre un canal físico y una conexión psicológica a modo de estrategia interpretativa individual y colectiva. Este discurso, sostienen los coautores, se enmarca en la hermenéutica y dentro de lo colectivo, ya que este proceso se estudia desde las aportaciones del interaccionismo simbólico. Se abandona la construcción de las utopías, a la vez que busca soluciones diseñísticas, actuales y novedosas. Es así que el sentido del mensaje del objeto de diseño como texto conlleva un discurso que no “es realizado por el emisor, sino por el receptor y es la enunciación, narración y reconfiguración de los textos, en donde el discurso conforma una determinada idea de la realidad”

Análise da inteligibilidade dos textos narrativo e expositivo do Teste Cloze de Compreensão de Leitura

RReading is a fundamental skill in a literate society and is essential for academic development. However, in Brazil, students underperform in reading, which makes it essential to create instruments for assessment and action planning in this area. In addition to cognitive and individual factors, issues inherent to the text, such as genre and structure, also influence reading. Thus, the aim of this study was to analyse the characteristics of the words, syntactic structure and cohesion elements of the Reading Comprehension Cloze Test (RCCT) based on a comparison of RCCT-N (narrative text) and RCCT-E (expository text) using Coh-Metrix software. The results show that the RCCT-E is slightly more complex than the RCCT-N, as supported by the literature, but they also reinforce that reader characteristics should be into account when defining the difficulty of the text.A leitura é uma habilidade fundamental em uma sociedade alfabetizada, sendo essencial também para o desenvolvimento acadêmico. No entanto, no Brasil, os alunos apresentam desempenho em leitura abaixo do esperado, o que torna essencial dispor de instrumentos para avaliar essa competência e planejar ações nesta área. Além dos fatores cognitivos e individuais, questões inerentes ao texto, como gênero e estrutura, também influenciam na leitura. Assim, o objetivo deste estudo foi analisar as características das palavras, a estrutura sintática e os elementos referentes a coesão do Teste Cloze de Compreensão de Leitura (TCCL), comparando suas duas partes, TCCL-N (texto narrativo) e TCCL-E (texto expositivo), por meio do software Coh-Metrix. Os resultados mostram que o TCCL-E é ligeiramente mais complexo que o TCC-N, como sustentado pela literatura, mas também reforçam a necessidade de se considerar os aspectos do leitor a fim de definir a dificuldade do texto

Empowerment and women's cooperativism: three case studies of women-led cooperatives in Mexico City

El objetivo del artículo es estudiar el fenómeno del empoderamiento a partir de las experiencias en sociedades cooperativas lideradas por mujeres en la Ciudad de México para indagar sobre sus prácticas, conocer las historias alrededor de sus negocios para saber sobre sus principales obstáculos, sus retos y percepción de posibles manifestaciones de discriminación por su condición de género. Se presentan tres estudios de caso se aplicó una entrevista semiestructurada a mujeres que se encuentran en un programa de capacitación dirigido a las cooperativas a través de la Secretaría del Trabajo y Fomento al Empleo de la Ciudad de México. Se encontró que las mujeres han sufrido discriminación principalmente de parte de la familia, también en el ámbito laboral por decidir ejercer el derecho a la maternidad, aunado a su escasa permanencia en este y la falta de legitimación a su labor como empresarias por el simple hecho de ser mujeres.The purpose of this paper is to study the empowerment phenomenon from experiences in cooperative societies led by women in Mexico City, to inquire about their practices, and to know the stories about their businesses, challenges, and possible manifestations of gender discrimination. Three case studies are presented. A semi-structured interview was applied to women who are involved in a training program for cooperative societies given by the Mexico City’s Ministry of Labour and Employment Promotion. It was found that women have suffered discrimination mainly in their families, as well as in the labor sphere because they decided to exercise their right to maternity, along with their lack of permanence in the latter and the lack of legitimacy to their work as businesswomen by the simple fact of being women

Empowerment and women's cooperativism: three case studies of women-led cooperatives in Mexico City

El objetivo del artículo es estudiar el fenómeno del empoderamiento a partir de las experiencias en socie-dades cooperativas lideradas por mujeres en la Ciudad de México para indagar sobre sus prácticas, conocer las historias alrededor de sus negocios para saber sobre sus principales obstáculos, sus retos y percepción de posibles manifestaciones de discriminación por su condición de género. Se presentan tres estudios de caso se aplicó una entrevista semiestructurada a mujeres que se encuentran en un programa de capaci-tación dirigido a las cooperativas a través de la Secretaría del Trabajo y Fomento al Empleo de la Ciudad de México. Se encontró que las mujeres han sufrido discriminación principalmente de parte de la familia, también en el ámbito laboral por decidir ejercer el derecho a la maternidad, aunado a su escasa perma-nencia en este y la falta de legitimación a su labor como empresarias por el simple hecho de ser mujeresThe purpose of this paper is to study the empowerment phenomenon from experiences in cooperative societies led by women in Mexico City, to inquire about their practices, and to know the stories about their businesses, challenges, and possible manifestations of gender discrimination. Three case studies are presented. A semi-structured interview was applied to women who are involved in a training program for cooperative societies given by the Mexico City’s Ministry of Labour and Employment Promotion. It was found that women have suffered discrimination mainly in their families, as well as in the labor sphere because they decided to exercise their right to maternity, along with their lack of permanence in the latter and the lack of legitimacy to their work as businesswomen by the simple fact of being wome

Redox dysregulation, neuroinflammation, and NMDA receptor hypofunction: A "central hub" in schizophrenia pathophysiology?

Accumulating evidence points to altered GABAergic parvalbumin-expressing interneurons and impaired myelin/axonal integrity in schizophrenia. Both findings could be due to abnormal neurodevelopmental trajectories, affecting local neuronal networks and long-range synchrony and leading to cognitive deficits. In this review, we present data from animal models demonstrating that redox dysregulation, neuroinflammation and/or NMDAR hypofunction (as observed in patients) impairs the normal development of both parvalbumin interneurons and oligodendrocytes. These observations suggest that a dysregulation of the redox, neuroimmune, and glutamatergic systems due to genetic and early-life environmental risk factors could contribute to the anomalies of parvalbumin interneurons and white matter in schizophrenia, ultimately impacting cognition, social competence, and affective behavior via abnormal function of micro- and macrocircuits. Moreover, we propose that the redox, neuroimmune, and glutamatergic systems form a "central hub" where an imbalance within any of these "hub" systems leads to similar anomalies of parvalbumin interneurons and oligodendrocytes due to the tight and reciprocal interactions that exist among these systems. A combination of vulnerabilities for a dysregulation within more than one of these systems may be particularly deleterious. For these reasons, molecules, such as N-acetylcysteine, that possess antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties and can also regulate glutamatergic transmission are promising tools for prevention in ultra-high risk patients or for early intervention therapy during the first stages of the disease

Advances in Graphene Platforms for Drug Delivery in Cancer and Its Biocompatibility

In the past decade, studies on the biomedical applications of graphene quantum dots (GQDs) have increased substantially, especially those related to cancer therapy. Experimental evidence has shown that GQD platforms do not merely serve for drug delivery but have multifunctional properties: their surface also allows several types of molecules to be joined and has photothermal properties that, when combined, make therapies more effective. Most studies have shown evidence of this specificity and therapeutic efficacy at the in vitro level. There is also evidence for potential use in the monitoring of cellular events given the high-quality bioimages that can be obtained with this type of nanomaterial. However, the application of this nanotechnology has stalled due to the lack of available biosafety and biocompatibility studies. This chapter addresses the advances in the use of GQD platforms for drug delivery and the biocompatibility studies reported so far