vol. 11 núm. 20 (2013)

As in the rest of the planet, Colombia is undergoing an important migratory flow from rural areas to the cities, an aspect that has been intensified by the armed conflict. This growth in the urban area is generating significant transformations in their adjacent territories, which maintain ecosystems and biological communities of great ecological value. Also, the population is facing situations of risk by phenomena like mass removal and floods, among others, as they are located in hilly areas or close to water sources.Although major efforts are being made to reduce the demand for resources and their residues, the degradation of bordering ecosystems continues to increase with the consequent loss of biodiversity and the high probability of materialization of risk situations for the population. This article seeks to describe the parameters of a line of research that defines the city as a socioecosystem, as an alternative that allows you to make risk management.

Obesity and its complications are one of the major pandemics at the global level, especially type 2 diabetes that is associated with insulin resistance. The purpose of this paper is to describe the relationship between obesity and other cardiovascular risk factors of university students in downtown Bogota. After obtaining an informed consent, we proceeded to the measurement of the following body parts: triceps skinfold and suprascapular through adipometer, waist circumference, body mass index, lean mass, fat mass and fat glucose, total percentage among others. Blood samples were also taken to determine blood cholesterol, triglycerides, and lipoproteins, whose relationship allows the calculation of the atherogenic index.From a final sample of 76 students, 15.5 % was overweight; 76.5 % was considered within normal ranges; and the 8.0 % was underweight. In regard to the data by sex, it was found that a 5.5 % of men and 19.0 % of women were overweight and 5.5 % of men and 8.6 % of the women had low weight, there were no obese people in any case. The waist perimeter varied between 68 and 97 cm in men and between 61 and 92 cm in women, finally the fat percentage was between 27.6 and 30.7 in men and from 11.0 to 36.9 in women. Taking into account the results obtained, it is important to promote in our population a culture of healthy habits, characterized by a healthy diet and increased physical activity; it is also recommended, especially during the first years of life, as it is in this stage where the majority of these habits are acquired and will last for life.

Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is a Gram-positive rod-shape bacterium that during its sporulation phase produces a parasporal inclusion formed by Cry proteins having biological activity against pest insects. Because of these proteins, Bt shows toxicity toward pest insect larvae of Lepidoptera, Co-leoptera and Diptera orders among others, besides of friendly with the environment, and for this reason Bt has a very common use for commercial products and transgenic plants with Cry protein basis in agriculture. In this review is described the most important Bt factors and their application as biotechnological tool in agrobusiness, considering Bt bioassays.

Abortion is undoubtedly the disruptive intervention that generates the most debate on the –prenatal death penalty– from the perspective of bioethics and BioLaw. In this case, it is about the deliberate ending of life: prima facie, that of the unwanted child. We will talk about the dignity of the human being, from the moment of the conception of the human person, in the invoking the right to the protection of the physical life that is about to be born.The decriminalization of abortion leads to the “death penalty” at the beginning of human life, with bioethical, biomedical, biopolitical and BioLaw connotations. Permeating future generations with the postulate of the principle of autonomy and informed consent which links the biological determinism of those who must die, we will discuss the “prenatal death penalty” against abortion in Spain and Colombia.

Colombia has recently been defined as one of the countries with great inequity, marked with inequalities and very extensive socioeconomic gaps, a situation that requires to urgently look for tools of social cohesion that allow Colombians to improve the quality of life for the population and, at the same time, to meet the challenges of globalization, through the integration to a world that is becoming increasingly heterogeneous. Within this context, social cohesion is relevant and is determined as the constant dialog between the exclusion and social inclusion, as determined by particular characteristics such as employment, welfare, and health among others that give an account of an adequate quality of life for individuals, so that there is a feeling of belonging to society.In response to this need, it is required that the countries worry about upholding the principles of equity, social development, governance, and a social state of law. Consequently, this article makes a systematic review of the incidence of poverty as a risk factor in the quality of health care, especially referring to malnutrition, as an item that should be improved to start thinking about social cohesion. It arises from the search for background on the development of the research project "Intervention of poverty through the application of a model of entrepreneurship".

This study aims to evaluate the microbiological quality of water intended for use in dental units of a university clinic of Bogotá, using the E. coli count, total coliforms, Enterococcus, Pseudomonas, in order to improve the quality of the water, optimize service quality, and provide greater safety and reliability to the patients and dentists. In this work, it was determined that the water intended for the use of the dental units does not meet, in regard to the microbiological characteristics, with the provisions of Resolution 2115 of 2007, and the Colombian Technical Standard 813 (NTC 813) because it exceeds the acceptable limits for total coliforms and Enterococcus, it also presents an important count of Pseudomonas which can lead to disease when considering factors such as the immune status of the patient.

Eutrophication is a natural process in aquatic ecosystems; it is produced by the enrichment of the water body with nutrients. In recent years, humans have accelerated the eutrophication process by changing both the water quality and the structure of biological communities due to increased load of organic and inorganic water bodies. Eutrophication reduces the potential uses of water resources and inducing mortality of animal species, the decomposition of water and the growth of microorganisms. In addition, microorganisms often become a risk to human health, such as pathogens transmitted by water, which is a worldwide problem.To establish the microbiological quality of water, eleven points of the Natural Park Chicaque were evaluated during the rainy season (November 2010) and the dry season (August 2011). The indicators used were total coliforms and Escherichia coli and Enterococcus, the technique used was the membrane filtration, and the identification of some isolated microorganisms was carried out with rapid biochemical tests BBL BD Crystal. The isolation of total coliforms and Escherichia coli and Enterococcus in the water of the Park indicates the fecal contamination of the waters. The presence of these groups of bacteria is related to the impact of the activities of man and animals on the bodies of water and wastewater management

Periodontal disease is pathology of infectious origin, characterized because it causes destructive consequences to the supporting tissue of the tooth, its treatment is aimed at the destruction of the etiologic agents and to the periodontal regeneration. An alternative is the use of homeo-pathic agents because they are natural and are managed to very low concentrations, one of them is the Mercurius Heel ® S as an adjunctive therapy in infectious diseases. In this work, we present the results of an investigation whose objective was to evaluate the effect of Mercurius Heel® S on the viability of human gingival fibroblasts, which were undergoing treatment with Mercurius Heel® S for 15 minutes and two hours to concentrations from 300mg to 0.00006mg. After these times, the treatment was removed and the cells were maintained for 24, 48, and 72 more hours. It was followed by a colorimetric assay for cell viability and proliferation called MTS of Promega ®.Human gingival fibroblasts treated with Mercurius Heel® S showed an increase in cell prolife-ration compared with the untreated cells. Low medication concentrations of 0.0001 mg and 0.00006 mg showed a greater proliferation showed greater statistically differences. Finally, the effect of Mercurius Heel® was maintained for the first 48 hours. Considering the above, the Mercurius Heel® did not provide any cytotoxic effect on human gingival fibroblasts; on the contrary, the cells proliferated, suggesting its usefulness as supplementary treatment for periodontal disease.

Los cultivos celulares se han convertido en herramientas esenciales para la investigación básica. Se aplican en inmunología, virología, biología molecular, ingeniería genética y farmacología, entre otras áreas. Se usan también en procesos industriales farmacéuticos, en técnicas de diagnóstico clínico y para estudio de trasplante de tejidos. En bacteriología, estos cultivos permiten confirmar una infección, evaluar la eficiencia de antimicrobianos, realizar estudios de infectividad, investigar sobre nuevas especies, obtener gran cantidad de microorganismos no cultivables para optimizar técnicas y examinar las relaciones entre la célula huésped y los microorganismos intracelulares(virus, bacterias y parásitos).La línea celular HEp-2 (Human Epidermoid Cancer Cells) es utilizada en estudios de infección con diferentes bacterias, entre ellas Chlamydia trachomatis (CT), con el fin de determinar los mecanismos por los cuales este patógeno sobrevive en la célula huésped. También se emplea paraobservar la acción de péptidos antimicrobianos y de extractos para combatir la infección causada por dicha bacteria. Para este estudio se realizaron curvas de crecimiento en la línea celular HEp-2 con medios DMEM-F12 y MEM. Se estandarizó, además, la coloración con Giemsa y se calculó el doblaje poblacional con diferentes inóculos para evaluar el desarrollo de la línea celular en cultivo y seleccionar las condiciones óptimas para realizar futuros ensayos de infección con parásitos intracelulares, en particular con CT serovar L2.

Además de contar en los Comités Editorial y Científico con profesionales reconocidos a nivel nacional e internacional en los campos temáticos de las Ciencias Biomédicas, especialidad de la revista, la Dirección Editorial de la Revista NOVA ha sido muy cuidadosa en la selección de los pares académicos que fungen como evaluadores, quienes han sido escogidos por su amplia trayectoria investigativa y por dirigir proyectos de alta envergadura en prestigiosas instituciones universitarias, lo cual, de alguna manera, garantiza la alta calidad de las producciones que en cada número se publican.

El presente artículo explicita los resultados correspondientes al análisis correlacional de los perfiles de dominancia cerebral o estilos de pensamiento de los estudiantes de Ciencias de la Salud y Ciencias Sociales de la UCMC, los cuales forman parte del proyecto conjunto Representaciones, organización conceptual y estilos de pensamiento, en el marco del Convenio de Cooperación Académica IISUE-UNAM (México) y La UCMC, Bogotá-Colombia, liderado por el Dr. Miguel Ángel Campos Hernández. Lo anterior tomando como base el modelo de Cerebro Total de Herrmann y los estudios recientes de Omar Gardié.Los estudiantes de Ciencias de la Salud presentan mayor preferencia de los cuadrantes cortical izquierdo y límbico izquierdo A-B; es decir, tienen predilección por el hemisferio izquierdo. Los estudiantes de Ciencias Sociales presentan mayor predisposición en los cuadrantes límbico izquierdoy límbico derecho B-C; es decir, tienen mayor tendencia por el sistema límbico. Con los resultados de esta investigación se verificó la hipótesis en torno de la escasa utilización de las posibilidades creativas y del desarrollo del cerebro total de los grupos sometidos a estudio. De igual modo, se identificó la manera como los perfiles de dominancia de los estudiantes se relacionan con las disciplinas que han seleccionado en su formación.

Home health care is a strategy that allows avoiding infections associated with health care of individuals with immune deficiencies such as older adults. A descriptive-longitudinal investigation was conducted, which took into account conditions related to the micro-nebulization equipment device such as: its time of use, cleansing, and storage. With respect to the therapist, it was taken into account: hand washing and implementation of the protocol of cleaning and disinfection. Two different samples were taken to seventeen individual micro-nebulization equipment devices of older adults be-longing to the program of home hospitalization of Forging Companies Ltd., after fifteen and thirty days of use after the delivery of the device in two times: before and after the respiratory procedure.Eight microorganisms were identified in the first portion of the sample that were classified as transitory flora and nineteen microorganisms in the second one, where resident, transient, and potentially pathogenic flora was found. In relation to the protocol of cleaning and disinfection carried out by the therapists. Changes to the protocol established by Forging Companies Ltd. were observed; however, this protocol does not include the washing of hands, which is a vital point for patient care. It is necessary to provide patients, family members and/or caregivers with timely information about the proper storage of the device in order to avoid the presence of microorganisms that can affect the health of older adults.

In Colombia the potato crop is the fourth in importance in the economy of the country, its production reached 300 million tons. Erwinia carotovora is a Gram-negative bacterium, facultative anaerobic which causes the soft rotting of the potato; it can potentially generate up to 100% damage in the crop, which causes large economic losses. It has been established that the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis is able to suppress the virulence of E. caratovora because it produces N-acyl-homoserine-lactonasa, a powerful enzyme that degrades of N-acyl-homoserinolactonas, which are indispensable in the quorum-sensing mechanism of E. caratovora. This can be an important alternative for the control of the disease of the soft rotting of the potato. Considering the above, this article describes the process used by the bacterium B. thuringiensis to inhibit the activity of E. caratovora.