María Teresa Méndez

Autologous serum eye drops diluted with sodium hyaluronate: clinical and experimental comparative study

Purpose:  To assess the efficacy of sodium hyaluronate as vehicle for diluting autologous serum.

The future of services in a globalized economy

In recent decades, the New Economy approach has been developed. This approach tries to analyse the new relationships among countries through the globalization process and has changed the views of several economists about the behaviour of economic activity. In this approach, services play a relevant role. The main goal of this paper is to explore the important role of services in the new economy. Through an extensive literature review, a variety of topics that connect economic growth and development to the presence of services is analysed. It also, by providing recent trends in services when compared with manufacturing, shows that the role of services, especially financial, has been on the increase in recent years.

Women’s Entrepreneurship and Economic Policies

During the last decades, “entrepreneurship” has gained special relevance in the economic policy area, mostly because it has an important role in the employment creation and economic growth process. In this sense, women entrepreneurship would have a positive role to create new jobs for themselves and for others and to advance business opportunities. However, they have more difficulties to obtain the necessary resources to carry out their activities. In this paper, we analyze the relationship between women entrepreneurship and economic growth as well as those measures to stimulate their activities by engaging in an empirical study that draws data from several OECD countries.

SERCREA+ model: a business tool for change management in Mexican organizations

Purpose – The goal of this article is to develop a SERCREA+ model for the case of Mexico, paying special attention to the aspects concerning change management that allows, among other things, the promotion of high‐quality entrepreneurships that would facilitate a greater business sustainability over time, and that would have positive effects on economic growth and employment.Design/methodology/approach – To develop the empirical analysis, an interview with 36 Mexican businessmen involved in the management process has been done.Findings – The data obtained show that change management has important positive effects in promoting sales, and the creation of a support group, that is an entrepreneurship club, would make business activity more sustainable over time.Originality/value – Traditionally Mexican analysis has focused on the economic part of the companies, without considering the aspects of change management. This paper studies the different elements of the change management process that allow the promot...

Stability of Growth Factors in Autologous Serum Eyedrops After Long-Term Storage

Abstract Purpose: The purpose of this study is to assess the stability of the growth factors (GF) in autologous serum eyedrops under different storage conditions. Methods: The concentration of epidermal growth factor (EGF), transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β1), platelet-derived growth factor AB (PDGF-AB), and albumin was measured in fresh and defrosted samples of autologous serum under different storage conditions. The fresh and defrosted samples were cooled at 4 °C, and they were studied immediately after preparation, or after defrosting, and after 1, 2, 3, and 4 weeks. The concentration of GF was also assessed after 1, 3, 6, and 9 months at −20 °C. We also investigated how the different storage conditions influence the biological effects of autologous serum on conjunctival and corneal cell cultures. Results: The concentration of EGF, TGF-β1, PDGF-AB, and albumin remained stable over the 4 weeks at 4 °C, both in fresh and in defrosted samples. Likewise, no statistically significant differences were found between the GF concentration in fresh samples and after 1, 3, 6, and 9 months of freezing at −20 °C. Moreover, no differences were found on the cell proliferation and differentiation between cultured cells with fresh or defrosted samples after 4 weeks at 4 °C or after 1, 3, 6, or 9 months at −20 °C. Conclusions: Long-term storage of autologous serum eyedrops at −20 °C does not affect the concentration of GF, simplifies clinical logistics, and reduces the frequency of blood extractions from the patients.

Franchise, innovation and entrepreneurship

Since franchise business can be an alternative to independent business, it seems interesting to look at those factors that encourage individuals to choose franchise rather than independent business. It is also relevant to consider the role of innovation because it is generally accepted that independent business facilitates innovations to a greater degree than does franchise. The main goal of this paper is to determine the factors that encourage individuals to choose franchise activity and what role plays innovation in their decision.

GLUCOMANNAN AND GLUCOMANNAN PLUS SPIRULINA-ENRICHED SQUID-SURIMI ADDED TO HIGH SATURATED DIET AFFECT GLYCEMIA, PLASMA AND ADIPOSE LEPTIN AND ADIPONECTIN LEVELS IN GROWING FA/FA RATS.

Type 2 diabetes is a very prevalent chronic disease. Among dietary factors for its prevention and treatment, interest has grown in satiating fibre (konjac glucomannan) and spirulina. Our previous studies suggest that glucomannan itself and/or in conjunction to spirulina displayed hypolipemic and antioxidant effects when incorporated to squid surimi as functional ingredients. The present study aims to determine whether glucomannan- enriched or glucomannan plus spirulina-enriched squid-surimi improve plasma glucose and insulin levels in Zucker fa/fa rats fed a high saturated fat diet. Twenty four growing rats, divided into three groups, were given modified AIN-93M diets for seven weeks: 30% squid-surimi control diet (C), 30% glucomannan-enriched squid-surimi diet (G) and 30% glucomannan plus spirulina-enriched squid-surimi diet (GS). All rats became hyperglycemics and hyperinsulinemics, but G and GS diets induced significantly lower glucose levels (20%; p < 0.05) but did not modify insulinemia with respect to C diet. GS animals showed higher HOMA-D (p < 0.05) than C ones suggesting increased insulin availability. Plasma leptin and adiponectin decreased in G and GS vs. C group (p < 0.05). Adipose adiponectin increased significantly in G and GS vs. C rats (16-20 times, p < 0.01). Leptin in adipose tissue was higher in GS vs. G group (p < 0.05). In conclusion, both glucomannan-diets were able to reduce hyperglycemia and increase adipose tissue adiponectin levels in fa/fa rats, suggesting an anti-hypertrophic and insulin-sensitizing adipokine effect in this tissue. Spirulina inclusion increased insulin availability. Although results are promising, the utility of consuming glucomannan surimis as part of usual diets demands future studies.

Glucomannan or Glucomannan Plus Spirulina-Enriched Squid-Surimi Diets Reduce Histological Damage to Liver and Heart in Zucker fa/fa Rats Fed a Cholesterol-Enriched and Non-Cholesterol-Enriched Atherogenic Diet

Glucomannan-enriched squid surimi improves cholesterolemia and liver antioxidant status. The effect of squid surimi enriched with glucomannan or glucomannan plus spirulina on liver and heart structures and cell damage markers was tested in fa/fa rats fed highly saturated-hyper-energetic diets. Animals were fed 70% AIN-93M rodent diet plus six versions of 30% squid surimi for 7 weeks: control (C), glucomannan (G), and glucomannan plus spirulina (GS). The cholesterol-control (HC), cholesterol-glucomannan (HG), and cholesterol-glucomannan plus spirulina (HGS) groups were given similar diets that were enriched with 2% cholesterol and 0.4% cholic acid. G and GS diets versus C diet significantly inhibited weight gain and lowered plasma alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase, liver steatosis, lipogranulomas, and total inflammation and alteration scores. The hypercholesterolemic agent significantly increased the harmful effects of the C diet. Liver weight, the hepatosomatic index, all damage markers, and total histological scoring rose for HC versus C (at least P < .05). The addition of glucomannan (HG vs. HC) improved these biomarkers, and non-additional effects from spirulina were observed except for the total liver alteration score. In conclusion, glucomannan and glucomannan plus spirulina blocked the highly saturated-hyper-energetic diet negative effects both with and without added cholesterol. Results suggest the usefulness of including these functional ingredients in fish products.