Reintroducción de la malaria falciparum en la región de Tumbes

La región de Tumbes históricamente ha presentado casos de malaria por Plasmodium vivax y falciparum. El último caso autóctono de malaria por Plasmodium falciparum en la región de Tumbes fue reportado en el año 2006 de la localidad de Pampa Grande. En los últimos cuatro años solo se han reportado casos de malaria por Plasmodium vivax. En el año 2010, en el mes de enero se reportó un caso importado de malaria por Plasmodium falciparum en un efectivo del ejército peruano procedente de la región de Loreto (Perú) y en febrero de 2010 otro caso en un trabajador de un empresa de langostas que viajaba permanentemente al Ecuador. A partir del 25 de octubre de 2010, en la localidad de Tumbes se reportan casos de malaria por Plasmodium falciparum cuyo cuadro clínico se caracteriza por fiebre, malestar general, escalofríos ,dolor de cabeza y falta de apetito

Vigilancia epidemiológica de lesiones por accidentes de tránsito en la región de Tumbes (2007-2012)

Los accidentes de tránsito constituyen una causa importante de muerte, lesiones y discapacidades en el Perú. Cada día este problema tiene alto impacto en la salud pública. Los accidentes de tránsito son noticias de“último momento”, en todos los medios del país. Año tras año, hay que lamentar miles de muertes, pero también hay una gran cantidad de personas que sufren heridas de gravedad. Ser partícipe de un accidente implica sufrir lesiones que pueden demandar un largo período de recuperación o hasta dejar secuelas de por vida.12 Los daños que generan los choques, sea cual fuere la forma, pueden ser de gran importancia y las personas lo podrían sufrir por mucho tiempo. Por esta razón, es fundamental utilizar correctamente los dispositivos de seguridad del automóvil: el cinturón de seguridad, el apoyacabezas y la posición correcta del asiento para estar bien sentado frente al volante. Cada día el problema de los accidentes de tránsito tiene alto impacto en la salud pública del país y es visibilizado por los medios de comunicación

Susceptibilidad de Anopheles albimanus a los insecticidas en cuatro localidades de Tumbes

El control de los vectores de importancia médica ha sido parte vital en la estrategia global para el control de los mosquitos involucrados en la transmisión de enfermedades, y la aplicación de insecticidas representa la medida de intervención práctica más importante y utilizada para reducir las enfermedades transmitidas por estos insectos vectores (Casabé et al.,1988). Sin embargo, en la actualidad, el incremento considerable de las enfermedades transmitidas por mosquitos ha originado un grave problema de salud pública, debido en parte al desarrollo de resistencia a los insecticidas en las poblaciones de mosquitos (Hemingway et al., 2004; Liu et al., 2004) y de resistencia de los parásitos a los medicamentos antipalúdicos (Phillips, 2001; Hemingway et al., 2002). La Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS) define la resistencia como una característica heredada que otorga una mayor tolerancia a un plaguicida o grupo de plaguicida, de tal modo que los individuos resistentes sobreviven a una concentración del compuesto (o compuestos) que normalmente sería mortal para la especie (OMS,1992)

Modelling the effect of environmental and anthropogenic factors on the abundance of early life-history stages of the European sardine in the Guadalquivir estuary

Estuarine coastal areas play an important role in the recruitment of some small pelagic sh populations mainly when stable salinity-gradients are present. Damming of these ecosystems results in major alterations in this natural hydrological regime. Therefore, changes in the marine/freshwater balance can result in services loss, like the nursery habitat estuaries provide to small pelagic sh, such as sardines. Our previous work showed that the main important recruitment of sardine occurs in spring when this water balance is more variable. However, the drivers of sardine recruitment and particularly the interactive effects of environmental (temperature, salinity, turbidity and winds) and anthropogenic (freshwater discharges) factors are largely unknown. We modelled these effects on the abundance of sardine larvae and juveniles in the Guadalquivir estuary, the most southwestern one in the Atlantic Europe. Sardine early stages tend to occur at the most seaward and more saline sampling site in our study area. The best selected models included the freshwater ow and the wind regimen (northern-southern component) as main drivers explaining their abundance. Freshwater input –tightly controlled by a dam– had a negative short-term effect on the abundance of juvenile sardines above a critical threshold. On top of this, the wind-speed variability in the northern-southern direction showed a clear linear effect: with strong northerly winds enhancing the sardine abundance in the Guadalquivir estuary. These results contribute to the knowledge of the recruitment process of the European sardine and eventually to implementing an ecosystem approach to its fishery in the Gulf of Cadiz

Natural and anthropogenic factors in the Guadalquivir estuary affect the abundance of anchovy in the Gulf of Cadiz (SW Spain)

The Gulf of Cadiz socio-ecosystem is characterized by a focal ecosystem component –the estuary of the Guadalquivir River– that has an in uence on the marine ecosystem –serves as a nursery area– and at the same time concentrates a great number of sectoral human activities. This nursery role particularly affects the anchovy fishery, which is the most economically and culturally important fishery in the region. As a transition zone between terrestrial and marine environments, estuaries are particularly sensitive to human activities, either developed directly at the aquatic environment or its surroundings. A dam 110 km upstream from the river mouth regulates freshwater input (mainly for agriculture purposes) into the estuary with consequences on turbidity and salinity. Using time series analysis on 18 years of monthly data from an estuarine monitoring program we (1) quantify the effects that natural (plankton, temperature, winds) and anthropogenic-influenced variables (freshwater volume, turbidity, salinity) have on the abundance of anchovy larvae and juveniles, and (2) relate the abundance of these estuarine-resident early stages to the abundance of adult anchovy in the sea. Water management stands out as a key node where potentially con icting interests (agriculture, power generation, aquaculture, fisheries) converge. Linking land-based activities to its impact on stock biomass represents the main challenge to ecosystem-based management in this particular regional sea. By focusing on the effects that these activities ultimately have on the anchovy fishery –via recruitment– our study aims to contribute to the process of making the ecosystem approach operational in the Gulf of Cadiz

β-N-acetylglucosaminidase grafted on mesoporous silica nanoparticles. A bionanoantibiotic system against Staphylococcus aureus bacteria

A bionanoantibiotic system based on beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase (Ami) and Lysozyme (Lyz) enzymes grafted on the external surface of amino functionalized mesoporous silica nanoparticles, having a radial arrangement of pores (MSNr-NH2), was prepared and fully characterized. Before the enzyme grafting the nanoparticles were also loaded with the antibiotic drug levofloxacin (Levo) to explore the possible synergic effect with the enzymes. MSNr-NH2-Lyz-Levo and MSNr-NH2-Ami-Levo did not show any activity against S. aureus. On the contrary, in the absence of the antibiotic, both Lyz and Ami immobilized on MSNr were able to destroy S. aureus cells, suggesting an inhibiting action of the antibiotic on the enzymes. Although the loading of immobilized Lyz was higher than that of Ami (76 vs. 20 mg/g, respectively), the highest antibacterial efficacy was found for MSNr-NH2-Ami nanoantibiotic. Moreover, MSNr-NH2-Ami was active against S. aureus even at very low concentration (12.5 mu g/ mL) with a bactericidal activity (79%), higher than that determined for MSNr-NH2 loaded with levofloxacin (54%). These results suggest the possibility of using enzyme grafted MSNr as a bionanoantibiotic drug with high efficiency even at low nanoparticles concentration

Ferromagnetism in bulk Co-Zn-O

The origin of ferromagnetism in diluted magnetic semiconductors is still an open question, yielding a great deal of research across the world. This work focuses on the Co-Zn-O system. Room-temperature ferromagnetism is observed after a partial reaction of Co_3O_4 and ZnO, which can be ascribed neither to carrier mediation nor segregated cobalt metallic clusters. Another mechanism is yielding room-temperature ferromagnetism. This mechanism is associated with a partial reaction of ZnO and Co_3O_4 grains, and always appears when the starting phases (Co_3O_4 and ZnO) are present in the sample, suggesting that interfaces are involved in the origin of the observed ferromagnetism

Natural and land-based factors in the Guadalquivir estuary affect the abundance of anchovy in the Gulf of Cadiz (SW Spain)

The Gulf of Cadiz socio-ecosystem is characterized by a focal ecosystem component –the estuary of the Guadalquivir River– that has an influence on the marine ecosystem –serves as a nursery area– and at the same time concentrates a great number of sectoral human activities. This nursery role particularly affects the anchovy fishery, which is the most economically and culturally important fishery in the region. As a transition zone between terrestrial and marine environments, estuaries are particularly sensitive to human activities, either developed directly at the aquatic environment or its surroundings. A dam 110 km upstream from the river mouth regulates freshwater input (mainly for agriculture purposes) into the estuary with consequences on turbidity and salinity. Using time series analysis we (1) quantify the effects that natural (plankton, temperature, winds) and anthropogenic-influenced variables (freshwater discharges, turbidity, salinity) have on the abundance of anchovy larvae and juveniles, and (2) relate the abundance of these estuarine-resident early stages to the abundance of adult anchovy in the sea. Water management stands out as a key node where potentially conflicting interests (agriculture, power generation, aquaculture, fisheries) converge. Linking land-based activities to its impact on stock biomass represents the main challenge to ecosystem-based management in this particular regional sea. By focusing on the effects that these activities ultimately have on the anchovy fishery –via recruitment– our study aims to provide alternative management scenarios by quantifying tradeoffs between sectors

Nanostructured Channel for Improving Emission Efficiency of Hybrid Light-Emitting Field-Effect Transistors

We report on the mechanism of enhancing the luminance and external quantum efficiency (EQE) by developing nanostructured channels in hybrid (organic/inorganic) light-emitting transistors (HLETs) that combine a solution-processed oxide and a polymer heterostructure. The heterostructure comprised two parts: (i) the zinc tin oxide/zinc oxide (ZTO/ZnO), with and without ZnO nanowires (NWs) grown on the top of the ZTO/ZnO stack, as the charge transport layer and (ii) a polymer Super Yellow (SY, also known as PDY-132) layer as the light-emitting layer. Device characterization shows that using NWs significantly improves luminance and EQE (≈1.1% @ 5000 cd m–2) compared to previously reported similar HLET devices that show EQE < 1%. The size and shape of the NWs were controlled through solution concentration and growth time, which also render NWs to have higher crystallinity. Notably, the size of the NWs was found to provide higher escape efficiency for emitted photons while offering lower contact resistance for charge injection, which resulted in the improved optical performance of HLETs. These results represent a significant step forward in enabling efficient and all-solution-processed HLET technology for lighting and display applications