Application of the Red List Index for conservation assessment of Spanish vascular plants.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List Index (RLI) is used to measure trends in extinction risk of species over time. The development of 2 red lists for Spanish vascular flora during the past decade allowed us to apply the IUCN RLI to vascular plants in an area belonging to a global biodiversity hotspot. We used the Spanish Red Lists from 2000 and 2010 to assess changes in level of threat at a national scale and at the subnational scales of Canary Islands, Balearic Islands, and peninsular Spain. We assigned retrospective IUCN categories of threat to 98 species included in the Spanish Red List of 2010 but absent in the Spanish Red List of 2000. In addition, we tested the effect of different random and taxonomic and spatial Spanish samples on the overall RLI value. From 2000 to 2010, the IUCN categories of 768 species changed (10% of Spanish flora), mainly due to improved knowledge (63%), modifications in IUCN criteria (14%), and changes in threat status (12%). All measured national and subnational RLI values decreased during this period, indicating a general decline in the conservation status of the Spanish vascular flora. The Canarian RLI value (0.84) was the lowest, although the fastest deterioration in conservation status occurred on peninsular Spain (from 0.93 in 2000 to 0.92 in 2010). The RLI values based on subsamples of the Spanish Red List were not representative of RLI values for the entire country, which would discourage the use of small areas or small taxonomic samples to assess general trends in the endangerment of national biotas. The role of the RLI in monitoring of changes in biodiversity at the global and regional scales needs further reassessment because additional areas and taxa are necessary to determine whether the index is sufficiently sensitive for use in assessing temporal changes in species' risk of extinction.

Comparación de la dureza superficial de resinas de nanotecnología, según el momento del pulido: in vitro / Comparison of surface hardness of nanotechnology composites according to polishing time: in vitro

Objetivo: Se comparó el efecto del pulido inmediato y después de 24 horas de la dureza superficial de resinas de nanotecnología. Material y métodos: Confeccionamos 32 cilindros según la norma ISO 4049 y colocamos resinas divididos en 2 grupos de 16 cada uno. Un grupo de resina nanohíbrida y otro de nanorrelleno. La mitad de cada grupo fue pulida al momento y la otra mitad a 24 horas de su polimerización. La microdureza Vickers se determinó con una carga de 500 g durante 10 s. Los datos fueron analizados con la prueba T-Student. Resultados: El pulido después de 24 h obtuvo superficies con mayor dureza superficial respecto al pulido inmediato siendo estadísticamente significativo (P=0,0001). La resina nanohíbrida presentó mayor dureza superficial que nanorrelleno para el pulído inmediato y el pulido a las 24 horas siendo en ambos casos estadísticamente significativo. Conclusión: El pulido después de 24 horas de su polimerización presento valores con mayor dureza superficial para la resina nanohíbrida y de nanorelleno.

Introduction: The aim of this study was to evaluate the polishing time effects over superficial microhardness in nanotechnology composites. Metarial and methods: Two kinds of composites were used: nanohybrid and nanofilled. 32 standardized samples were prepared which were distributed in two groups each one (n=16) according to polishing time. Both groups were subdivided in two, according to kind of composite, nanohybrid and nanofilled (n=8), the first group was polished immediately while the second one polished 24 hours after light cured. Vickers microhardness was determined through 5 indentations with a 500 g of load and 10 s of dwell time. Statistical analysis was made by Student T-Test. Results: Polishing after 24 hours obtained significantly higher superficial hardness (P=0.0001). Nanohybrid composite showed higher hardness relating to nanofilled composite. Conclusion: Polishing after 24 hours produced surfaces with higher superficial hardness.

Wild ecotopes and food habits of Triatoma longipennis infected by Trypanosoma cruzi lineages I and II in Mexico.

The control of wild triatomine populations that can invade dwellings is a major challenge for Chagas disease control in Mexico, but a better knowledge of the biology of these populations is required to develop appropriate control methods. We describe a new terrestrial ecotope of Triatoma longipennis, a principal vector in the occidental part of Mexico, in addition to its previously identified niche in rock pile boundary walls. Analysis of feeding hosts in the two ecotopes showed that this species is able to diversify its food sources outside of the principal hosts, Dasypus novemcinctus and Procyon lotor, and to disperse in search of new meals. Moreover, T. longipennis are strongly infected not only by the Trypanosoma cruzi I lineage found in the domestic cycle, but also by T. cruzi lineage II. The impact of T. cruzi II on human infection remains to be determined.

CYP2C19- and CYP3A4-dependent omeprazole metabolism in West Mexicans.

Omeprazole has been used as a drug probe for CYP2C19, but no systematic data are available for Mexican populations. The aim of this study was to evaluate the phenotype frequencies of the CYP2C19 polymorphism in West Mexicans. Besides omeprazole, sulfone was measured to evaluate CYP3A4 after administration of the 20-mg dose to 127 healthy volunteers. Logarithms of metabolic indexes of omeprazole/hydroxyomeprazole for CYP2C19 and omeprazole/omeprazole sulfone for CYP3A4 had trimodal distributions. Five subjects (4%) had a log CYP2C19 metabolic index below -0.9, suggesting an ultra-extensive phenotype. Poor metabolizers (log metabolic index > 0.6) were 6%. For CYP3A4, 11 subjects (9%) were below -0.3 of the log metabolic index. The log metabolic index of omeprazole/omeprazole sulfone was above the antimode of 0.6 for 11% of this population. The mean log metabolic index of CYP3A4 extensive metabolizers (80%) was 0.166, which seems to be higher than the data described for Caucasians and lower than that for Asians.

Application of biological dressings from radiosterilized amnios with cobalt 60 and serologic studies on the handling of burns in pediatric patients.

We present the use of biological dressing (amnios) as an alternative for skin replacement due to burn accidents. With the use of serologic tests, it is guaranteed to be free of the possibility of transmitting infectious diseases. The amnios is sterilized with 60Co gamma radiation. In this way, amnios is free of bacteria and fungi. In addition, with the use of serologic tests at the moment of the childbirth and 6 months later, we can be sure that it won't transmit the syphilis, AIDS, hepatitis b and c viruses. This treatment was applied to 12 children with burns of 1 degree and 2 degrees degree (7 girls and 5 boys) that required hospitalization. The application is very simple. It does not require of anesthesic procedure, or the use of surgical room. The pain decreased notoriously, and the procedure can be repeated as frequently as necessary. Once the dressing is applied, it does not require any type of surgical cleaning. The scaring process begins at the borders and under the dressing, where there is a new tissue. It decreases: 1) the possibility of infection, and therefore reduces the consumption of antibiotic; 2) the use of analgesics; 3) the time of scaring and 4) the number of days of hospitalization.