FRECUENCIA DE B-LACTÁMICOS Y TETRACICLINAS EN LECHE FRESCA EN LA CUENCA DE AREQUIPA

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the frequency of ?-lactams and tetracyclines in raw milk samples contaminated with antibiotics in the dairy area of Arequipa. A total of 616 milk samples were collected in October 2007, and 99 of them were contaminated with antibiotics. Among them, the frequency of samples containing ? - lactams and tetracyclines was 88.8 and 61.6% respectively. The number of samples contaminated with b-lactams was statistically higher as compared to those contaminated with tetracyclines (p<0.01). The study showed that antibiotics belonging to the ?-lactams group are an important source of contamination of milk in the dairy area of Arequipa.El presente estudio tuvo como objetivo evaluar la frecuencia de B-lactámicos y tetraciclinas en muestras de leche fresca contaminadas con antibióticos en la cuenca de Arequipa. Se recolectó 616 muestras de leche en octubre de 2007, de las cuales 99 estaban contaminadas con antibióticos. Se obtuvo una frecuencia de 88.8% para B-lactámicos y de 61.6% para tetraciclinas, habiendo diferencias altamente significativas entre ambos grupos de antibióticos (p<0.01). El estudio demostró que los antibióticos pertenecientes al grupo de ?-lactámicos son una importante fuente de contaminación de leche fresca en la cuenca lechera de Arequipa

Geographical variation in the progression of type 2 diabetes in Peru: The CRONICAS Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: The study aims were to estimate the incidence and risk factors for T2D in four settings with different degree of urbanization and altitude in Peru. METHODS: Prospective cohort study conducted in urban, semi-urban, and rural areas in Peru. An age- and sex-stratified random sample of participants was taken from the most updated census. T2D was defined as fasting blood glucose ⩾7.0mmol/L or taking anti-diabetes medication. Exposures were divided into two groups: geographical variables (urbanization and altitude), and modifiable risk factors. Incidence, relative risks (RR), 95% confidence intervals (95%CI), and population attributable fractions (PAF) were estimated. RESULTS: Data from 3135 participants, 48.8% males, mean age 55.6years, was analyzed. Overall baseline prevalence of T2D was 7.1% (95%CI 6.2-8.0%). At follow-up, including 6207 person-years of follow-up, a total of 121 new T2D cases were accrued, equating to an incidence of 1.95 (95%CI 1.63-2.33) per 100 person-years. There was no urban to rural gradient in the T2D incidence; however, compared to sea level sites, participants living in high altitude had a higher incidence of diabetes (RR=1.58; 95%CI 1.01-2.48). Obesity had the highest attributable risk for developing T2D, although results varied by setting, ranging from 14% to 80% depending on urbanization and altitude. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that the incidence of T2D was greater in high altitude sites. New cases of diabetes were largely attributed to obesity, but with substantial variation in the contribution of obesity depending on the environment. These findings can inform appropriate context-specific strategies to reduce the incidence of diabetes

Coeficiente del tanque evaporímetro Clase A para estimar la evapotranspiración de referencia para el valle de Tumbaco

The precise determination of the Class A pan coefficients allows to estimate the reference evapotranspiration and real values of crop water requirements. Daily and monthly climatological data was used to determine the pan coefficient (Kp) and the reference evapotranspiration (ETo). The models evaluated to determine Kp were: Allen – Pruit, Cuenca, Pereira, Snyder and the computed coefficient. The following indices were used to evaluate the cross analysis between the models to compute ETo: absolute mean error, concordance coefficient and the coefficient of determination. The results show that: i) for daily data, the Allen - Pruitt and Snyder contrast presented the best indices; ii) for monthly data, the Snyder and the computed coefficient contrast presented indices with higher accuracy; iii) the maximum average ETo was registered in August with 139.32 mm and the minimum in April with about 76.54 mm. The main conclusions are: i) for monthly average climatological data, the Snyder and the computed method can be used to determine Kp and the Snyder method for daily data and ii) the standard Penman Monteith FAO 56 method presented poor inferential indices for daily data and better indices for monthly data, considering the environmental conditions of the Tumbaco valley.La determinación precisa de los coeficientes del tanque evaporímetro Clase A permiten estimar la evapotranspiración de referencia y obtener valores reales de necesidades hídricas de los cultivos. Se utilizó información climatológica diaria y mensual para el análisis del coeficiente del tanque (Kp) y de la evapotranspiración de referencia (ETo). Los métodos utilizados para determinar Kp fueron: Allen – Pruitt, Cuenca, Pereira, Snyder y el coeficiente calculado. Se determinaron los parámetros inferenciales para el análisis cruzado entre los diferentes métodos para estimar ETo: error medio absoluto, coeficiente de concordancia y el coeficiente de determinación. Los resultados demuestran que: i) para información climatológica diaria, el contraste entre los métodos Allen – Pruitt y Snyder presentó los índices inferenciales de mayor precisión; ii) para información del clima mensual, el contraste Snyder – Coeficiente calculado presentó índices de mayor precisión, siendo 0.72 el coeficiente Kp promedio; iii) la máxima ETo promedio se registró en el mes de agosto con 139.32 mm y la mínima en abril con 76.54 mm. Las conclusiones principales son: i) los métodos Snyder y el coeficiente calculado pueden utilizarse para determinar el coeficiente Kp para información climatológica mensual y el método Snyder para información diaria y ii) el método estándar Penman Monteith FAO 56 presentó índices inferenciales bajos para información climática diaria y de mayor precisión para información promedio mensual, considerando el entorno agroecológico del valle de Tumbaco

Determination of the Fermion Pair Size in a Resonantly Interacting Superfluid

Fermionic superfluidity requires the formation of pairs. The actual size of these fermion pairs varies by orders of magnitude from the femtometer scale in neutron stars and nuclei to the micrometer range in conventional superconductors. Many properties of the superfluid depend on the pair size relative to the interparticle spacing. This is expressed in BCS-BEC crossover theories, describing the crossover from a Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) type superfluid of loosely bound and large Cooper pairs to Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) of tightly bound molecules. Such a crossover superfluid has been realized in ultracold atomic gases where high temperature superfluidity has been observed. The microscopic properties of the fermion pairs can be probed with radio-frequency (rf) spectroscopy. Previous work was difficult to interpret due to strong and not well understood final state interactions. Here we realize a new superfluid spin mixture where such interactions have negligible influence and present fermion-pair dissociation spectra that reveal the underlying pairing correlations. This allows us to determine the spectroscopic pair size in the resonantly interacting gas to be 2.6(2)/kF (kF is the Fermi wave number). The pairs are therefore smaller than the interparticle spacing and the smallest pairs observed in fermionic superfluids. This finding highlights the importance of small fermion pairs for superfluidity at high critical temperatures. We have also identified transitions from fermion pairs into bound molecular states and into many-body bound states in the case of strong final state interactions.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures; Figures updated; New Figures added; Updated discussion of fit function

Application of a Big Data Framework for Data Monitoring on a Smart Campus

At present, university campuses integrate technologies such as the internet of things, cloud computing, and big data, among others, which provide support to the campus to improve their resource management processes and learning models. Integrating these technologies into a centralized environment allows for the creation of a controlled environment and, subsequently, an intelligent environment. These environments are ideal for generating new management methods that can solve problems of global interest, such as resource consumption. The integration of new technologies also allows for the focusing of its efforts on improving the quality of life of its inhabitants. However, the comfort and benefits of technology must be developed in a sustainable environment where there is harmony between people and nature. For this, it is necessary to improve the energy consumption of the smart campus, which is possible by constantly monitoring and analyzing the data to detect any anomaly in the system. This work integrates a big data framework capable of analyzing the data, regardless of its format, providing effective and efficient responses to each process. The method developed is generic, which allows for its application to be adequate in addressing the needs of any smart campus

Applying multi-phase DES approach for modelling the patient journey through accident and emergency departments

Accident and Emergency departments (A&ED) are in charge of providing access to patients requiring urgent acute care. A&ED are difficult to model due to the presence of interactions, different pathways and the multiple outcomes that patients may undertake depending on their health status. In addition, public concern has focused on the presence of overcrowding, long waiting times, patient dissatisfaction and cost overruns associated with A&ED. There is then a need for tackling these problems through developing integrated and explicit models supporting healthcare planning. However, the studies directly concentrating on modelling the A&EDs are largely limited. Therefore, this paper presents the use of a multi-phase DES framework for modelling the A&ED and facilitating the assessment of potential improvement strategies. Initially, the main components, critical variables and different states of the A&ED are identified to correctly model the entire patient journey. In this step, it is also necessary to characterize the demand in order to categorize the patients into pipelines. After this, a discrete-event simulation (DES) model is developed. Then, validation is conducted through the 2-sample t test to demonstrate whether the model is statistically comparable with the real-world A&ED department. This is followed by the use of Markov phase-type models for calculating the total costs of the whole system. Finally, various scenarios are explored to assess their potential impact on multiple outcomes of interest. A case study of a mixed-patient environment in a private A&E department is provided to validate the effectiveness of the multi-phase DES approach

Effects of husbandry parameters on the life-history traits of the apple snail, Marisa cornuarietis: effects of temperature, photoperiod, and population density

These experiments are part of a larger study designed to investigate the influence of husbandry parameters on the life history of the apple snail, Marisa cornuarietis. The overall objective of the program is to identify suitable husbandry conditions for maintaining multi-generation populations of this species in the laboratory for use in ecotoxicological testing. In this article, we focus on the effects of photoperiod, temperature, and population density on adult fecundity and juvenile growth. Increasing photoperiod from 12 to 16 h of light per day had no effect on adult fecundity or egg hatching and relatively minor effects on juvenile growth and development. Rearing snails at temperatures between 22°C and 28°C did not influence the rates of egg production or egg clutch size. However, the rates of growth and development (of eggs and juveniles) increased with increasing temperature in this range, and when temperatures were reduced to 22°C egg-hatching success was impaired. Juvenile growth and development were more sensitive to rearing density than adult fecundity traits. On the basis of the present results, we conclude that rearing individuals of M. cornuarietis at a temperature of 25°C, a photoperiod of 12L:12D, and a density of <0.8 snails L−1 (with lower densities for juvenile snails) should provide favorable husbandry conditions for maintaining multi-generation populations of this species

Large bowel obstruction due to sesame seed bezoar: a case report

peer-reviewedWe report a case of a 79 year old man with a known benign anastomotic stricture presenting with large bowel obstruction. At laparotomy the obstruction was found to be caused by a large sesame seed bezoar. Seed bezoars are well known to cause impaction in the rectum but have never been previously reported to cause large bowel obstruction. We recommend that patients with known large bowel strictures should be advised not to eat seeds as this could ultimately lead to obstruction, ischaemia or perforationPUBLISHEDpeer-reviewe

Do solar neutrinos decay?

Despite the fact that the solar neutrino flux is now well-understood in the context of matter-affected neutrino mixing, we find that it is not yet possible to set a strong and model-independent bound on solar neutrino decays. If neutrinos decay into truly invisible particles, the Earth-Sun baseline defines a lifetime limit of \tau/m \agt 10^{-4} s/eV. However, there are many possibilities which must be excluded before such a bound can be established. There is an obvious degeneracy between the neutrino lifetime and the mixing parameters. More generally, one must also allow the possibility of active daughter neutrinos and/or antineutrinos, which may partially conceal the characteristic features of decay. Many of the most exotic possibilities that presently complicate the extraction of a decay bound will be removed if the KamLAND reactor antineutrino experiment confirms the large-mixing angle solution to the solar neutrino problem and measures the mixing parameters precisely. Better experimental and theoretical constraints on the $^8$B neutrino flux will also play a key role, as will tighter bounds on absolute neutrino masses. Though the lifetime limit set by the solar flux is weak, it is still the strongest direct limit on non-radiative neutrino decay. Even so, there is no guarantee (by about eight orders of magnitude) that neutrinos from astrophysical sources such as a Galactic supernova or distant Active Galactic Nuclei will not decay.Comment: Very minor corrections, corresponds to published versio

Intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT) for previously untreated malignant gliomas

BACKGROUND: Intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT) is one of the methods used to deliver a large single dose to the tumor tissue while reducing the exposure of normal surrounding tissue. However, the usefulness of intraoperative electron therapy for malignant gliomas has not been established. METHODS: During the period from 1987 to 1997, 32 patients with malignant gliomas were treated with IORT. The histological diagnoses were anaplastic astrocytoma in 11 patients and glioblastoma in 21 patients. Therapy consisted of surgical resection and intraoperative electron therapy using a dose of 12–15 Gy (median, 15 Gy). The patients later underwent postoperative external radiation therapy (EXRT) with a median total dose of 60 Gy. Each of the 32 patients treated with IORT was randomly matched with patients who had been treated with postoperative EXRT alone (control). Patients were matched according to histological grade, age, extent of tumor removal, and tumor location. RESULTS: In the anaplastic astrocytoma group, the one-, two- and five-year survival rates were 81%, 51% and 15%, respectively in the IORT patients and 54%, 43% and 21%, respectively in the control patients. In the glioblastoma group, one-, two- and five-year survival rates were 63%, 26% and 0%, respectively in the IORT patients and 70%, 18% and 6%, respectively in the control patients. There was no significant difference between survival rates in the IORT patients and control patients in either the anaplastic astrocytoma group or glioblastoma group. CONCLUSIONS: IORT dose not improve survival of patients with malignant gliomas compared to that of patients who have received EXRT alone