The Application of Flow Cytometry as a Rapid and Sensitive Screening Method to Detect Contamination of Vitreous Humor Samples and Avoid Miscalculation of the Postmortem Interval.

Research into maximizing the speed, precision, and reliability of estimating the postmortem interval (PMI) has been a recurring object of investigation and methodologies based on the vitreous humor (VH) have provided good results. However, contamination from causes not readily apparent, such as blood, can occur, and thus lead not only to an erroneous estimation of PMI, but also interfere with the correct identification of other substances in the VH. We have developed a flow cytometry method which quantifies blood contamination and is able to detect erythrocytes in 1:750,000 dilution of contaminated VH which affects the results of hypoxanthine. It is an improvement on the previous more complex mass spectrometry method, being faster, more sensitive, and readily available. As such, it could be proposed for the rapid screening of appropriate samples by detecting and eliminating blood contaminated samples from PMI estimation.

High variation in hypoxanthine determination after analytical treatment of vitreous humor samples.

In the field of legal medicine the correct determination of the time of death is of great importance because an error in calculating the post-mortem interval (PMI) could be crucial in a criminal investigation. The quantification of hypoxanthine (Hx) concentration in the vitreous humor (VH) as a means to estimate PMI is useful when dealing with a recent time interval of death and has several advantages over other biological matrices. However, due to its viscous nature, VH has to be liquefied prior to its analysis, and the different procedures to liquefy it may cause alterations in Hx concentration, and hence in estimation of PMI. The aim of this study was to determine differences in Hx concentration after applying several pre-analytical treatments to different aliquots of the same VH sample. Enzymatic digestion, sonication, centrifugation and heat were the liquefying methods applied to reduce the viscosity of 105 VH samples. Analysis was performed using solid phase extraction and liquid chromatography in tandem with mass spectrometry. Statistically significant differences in the measured Hx concentrations were found between enzymatic digestion and the other three methods analyzed (sonication, centrifugation, and heat). Additionally, high data dispersion was found under heat treatment but was not observed for centrifugation or sonication, where similar and more moderate results were found. We conclude that high variations in Hx determination are observed when enzymatic digestion or heat treatment is used and we therefore recommend sonication or centrifugation to quantify Hx concentration in the VH.

Currículum integral para la formación del nutricionista-dietista / An integral curricular plan designed for the training of the nutritionist

Se presenta un Plan Curricular Integral, el cual permite no solo la formación profesional del Nutricionista, sino también un profesional acorde con las necesidades que demanda el desarrollo político, social y económico del país. El plan se idseño tomando en consideración las recomendaciones nacionales e internacionales en esta materia, así como el perfil profesional del egresado. Tiene una duración de 10 semestres de 16 semanas cada uno, y culmina con la obtención del título de Licenciado en Nutrición y Dietética. El plan introduce gradual y tempranamente al estudiante al trabajo con la comunidad, de forma de ir desarrollando sentido de justicia social, respecto por los derechos humanos, la reducción de la pobreza y la igualdad social y de los sexos; conectarlo con la cultura y valores del pueblo venezolano y con los problemas de nutrición y salud