Evaluación de la eficacia de los procesos de esterilización de consultorios odontológicos del distrito VI de la provincia de buenos aires, argentina 2006 - 2007, mediante la utilización de indicadores biológicos

En un consultorio odontológico, diversas fuentes de posible infección, como saliva, sangre, instrumentos contaminados, etc., pueden ser transmisores de microorganismos tanto a pacientes como al personal odontológico. El objeti vo del presente trabajo fue evaluar la eficacia de los procesos de esterilización de los consultorios odontológicos del Distrito VI de la Provincia de Buenos Aires mediante la utilización de Indicadores Biológicos. Participaron del estudio 283 odontólogos que llevaron a cabo un total de 320 procesos de esterilización por calor seco y 19 por calor húmedo. En base a los resultados obtenidos se observó que el 35 % (112/320) de los procesos de esterilización por calor seco controlados no cumplieron con los requ isitos, de los cuales 63 repitieron el control y, 55/63 (87%) resolvieron el problema mediante distintas acciones correctivas. Con respecto a la esterilización por calor húmedo, el 32 % (6/19) de los procesos no cumplieron con los requisitos, en 3 de los 6 positivos se efectuaron correcciones simples obteniéndose resultados satisfactorios. El presente trabajo muestra la importancia para la comunidad, de la implementación de rutina de un sistema de control que permita garantizar la esterilidad de los materi ales utilizados en los consultorios odontológicos

Woven bone formation and mineralization by rat mesenchymal stromal cells imply increased expression of the intermediate filament desmin

BackgroundDisordered and hypomineralized woven bone formation by dysfunctional mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) characterize delayed fracture healing and endocrine –metabolic bone disorders like fibrous dysplasia and Paget disease of bone. To shed light on molecular players in osteoblast differentiation, woven bone formation, and mineralization by MSCs we looked at the intermediate filament desmin (DES) during the skeletogenic commitment of rat bone marrow MSCs (rBMSCs), where its bone-related action remains elusive.ResultsMonolayer cultures of immunophenotypically- and morphologically - characterized, adult male rBMSCs showed co-localization of desmin (DES) with vimentin, F-actin, and runx2 in all cell morphotypes, each contributing to sparse and dense colonies. Proteomic analysis of these cells revealed a topologically-relevant interactome, focused on cytoskeletal and related enzymes//chaperone/signalling molecules linking DES to runx2 and alkaline phosphatase (ALP). Osteogenic differentiation led to mineralized woven bone nodules confined to dense colonies, significantly smaller and more circular with respect to controls. It significantly increased also colony-forming efficiency and the number of DES-immunoreactive dense colonies, and immunostaining of co-localized DES/runx-2 and DES/ALP. These data confirmed pre-osteoblastic and osteoblastic differentiation, woven bone formation, and mineralization, supporting DES as a player in the molecular pathway leading to the osteogenic fate of rBMSCs.ConclusionImmunocytochemical and morphometric studies coupled with proteomic and bioinformatic analysis support the concept that DES may act as an upstream signal for the skeletogenic commitment of rBMSCs. Thus, we suggest that altered metabolism of osteoblasts, woven bone, and mineralization by dysfunctional BMSCs might early be revealed by changes in DES expression//levels. Non-union fractures and endocrine – metabolic bone disorders like fibrous dysplasia and Paget disease of bone might take advantage of this molecular evidence for their early diagnosis and follow-up

Current drive at plasma densities required for thermonuclear reactors

Progress in thermonuclear fusion energy research based on deuterium plasmas magnetically confined in toroidal tokamak devices requires the development of efficient current drive methods. Previous experiments have shown that plasma current can be driven effectively by externally launched radio frequency power coupled to lower hybrid plasma waves. However, at the high plasma densities required for fusion power plants, the coupled radio frequency power does not penetrate into the plasma core, possibly because of strong wave interactions with the plasma edge. Here we show experiments performed on FTU (Frascati Tokamak Upgrade) based on theoretical predictions that nonlinear interactions diminish when the peripheral plasma electron temperature is high, allowing significant wave penetration at high density. The results show that the coupled radio frequency power can penetrate into high-density plasmas due to weaker plasma edge effects, thus extending the effective range of lower hybrid current drive towards the domain relevant for fusion reactors

Corrigendum: Current drive at plasma densities required for thermonuclear reactors

Nature Communications 1: Article number: 55 (2010); Published: 10 August 2010; Updated:19 September 2013. In Fig. 3 of this Article, the colours of the blue and green curves were accidentally interchanged while the manuscript was being revised. In addition, the x axis labels on Fig. 4 should have read 'Frequency (MHz)'

The AGILE Mission

AGILE is an Italian Space Agency mission dedicated to observing the gamma-ray Universe. The AGILE's very innovative instrumentation for the first time combines a gamma-ray imager (sensitive in the energy range 30 MeV-50 GeV), a hard X-ray imager (sensitive in the range 18-60 keV), a calorimeter (sensitive in the range 350 keV-100 MeV), and an anticoincidence system. AGILE was successfully launched on 2007 April 23 from the Indian base of Sriharikota and was inserted in an equatorial orbit with very low particle background. Aims. AGILE provides crucial data for the study of active galactic nuclei, gamma-ray bursts, pulsars, unidentified gamma-ray sources, galactic compact objects, supernova remnants, TeV sources, and fundamental physics by microsecond timing. Methods. An optimal sky angular positioning (reaching 0.1 degrees in gamma- rays and 1-2 arcmin in hard X-rays) and very large fields of view (2.5 sr and 1 sr, respectively) are obtained by the use of Silicon detectors integrated in a very compact instrument. Results. AGILE surveyed the gamma- ray sky and detected many Galactic and extragalactic sources during the first months of observations. Particular emphasis is given to multifrequency observation programs of extragalactic and galactic objects. Conclusions. AGILE is a successful high-energy gamma-ray mission that reached its nominal scientific performance. The AGILE Cycle-1 pointing program started on 2007 December 1, and is open to the international community through a Guest Observer Program

Photography-based taxonomy is inadequate, unnecessary, and potentially harmful for biological sciences

The question whether taxonomic descriptions naming new animal species without type specimen(s) deposited in collections should be accepted for publication by scientific journals and allowed by the Code has already been discussed in Zootaxa (Dubois & Nemésio 2007; Donegan 2008, 2009; Nemésio 2009a–b; Dubois 2009; Gentile & Snell 2009; Minelli 2009; Cianferoni & Bartolozzi 2016; Amorim et al. 2016). This question was again raised in a letter supported by 35 signatories published in the journal Nature (Pape et al. 2016) on 15 September 2016. On 25 September 2016, the following rebuttal (strictly limited to 300 words as per the editorial rules of Nature) was submitted to Nature, which on 18 October 2016 refused to publish it. As we think this problem is a very important one for zoological taxonomy, this text is published here exactly as submitted to Nature, followed by the list of the 493 taxonomists and collection-based researchers who signed it in the short time span from 20 September to 6 October 2016

Long-term effects of carvedilol in idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy with persistent left ventricular dysfunction despite chronic metoprolol

AbstractOBJECTIVESThe purpose of this study was to analyze whether long-term treatment with the nonselective beta-adrenergic blocking agent carvedilol may have beneficial effects in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), who are poor responders in terms of left ventricular (LV) function and exercise tolerance to chronic treatment with the selective beta-blocker metoprolol.BACKGROUNDAlthough metoprolol has been proven to be beneficial in the majority of patients with heart failure, a subset of the remaining patients shows long-term survival without satisfactory clinical improvement.METHODSThirty consecutive DCM patients with persistent LV dysfunction (ejection fraction ≤40%) and reduced exercise tolerance (peak oxygen consumption <25 ml/kg/min) despite chronic (>1 year) tailored treatment with metoprolol and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors were enrolled in a 12-month, open-label, parallel trial and were randomized either to continue on metoprolol (n = 16, mean dosage 142 ± 44 mg/day) or to cross over to maximum tolerated dosage of carvedilol (n = 14, mean dosage 74 ± 23 mg/day).RESULTSAt 12 months, patients on carvedilol, compared with those continuing on metoprolol, showed a decrease in LV dimensions (end-diastolic volume −8 ± 7 vs. +7 ± 6 ml/m2, p = 0.053; end-systolic volume −7 ± 5 vs. +6 ± 4 ml/m2, p = 0.047), an improvement in LV ejection fraction (+7 ± 3% vs. −1 ± 2%, p = 0.045), a reduction in ventricular ectopic beats (−12 ± 9 vs. +62 ± 50 n/h, p = 0.05) and couplets (−0.5 ± 0.4 vs. +1.5 ± 0.6 n/h, p = 0.048), no significant benefit on symptoms and quality of life and a negative effect on peak oxygen consumption (−0.6 ± 0.6 vs. +1.3 ± 0.5 ml/kg/min, p = 0.03).CONCLUSIONSIn DCM patients who were poor responders to chronic metoprolol, carvedilol treatment was associated with favorable effects on LV systolic function and remodeling as well as on ventricular arrhythmias, whereas it had a negative effect on peak oxygen consumption

EVALUACIÓN DE DE LA EFICACIA DE LOS PROCESOS DE ESTERILIZACIÓN DE CONSULTORIOS ODONTOLÓGICOS DEL DISTRITO VI DE LA PROVINCIA DE BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA 2006 - 2007, MEDIANTE LA UTILIZACIÓN DE INDICADORES BIOLÓGICOS

En un consultorio odontol&oacute;gico, diversas fuentes de posible infecci&oacute;n, como saliva, sangre, instrumentos contaminados, etc., pueden ser transmisores de microorganismos tanto a pacientes como al personal odontol&oacute;gico. El objetivo del presente trabajo fue evaluar la eficacia de los procesos de esterilizaci&oacute;n de los consultorios odontol&oacute;gicos del Distrito VI de la Provincia de Buenos Aires mediante la utilizaci&oacute;n de Indicadores Biol&oacute;gicos. Participaron del estudio 283 odont&oacute;logos que llevaron a cabo un total de 320 procesos de esterilizaci&oacute;n por calor seco y 19 por calor h&uacute;medo. En base a los resultados obtenidos se observ&oacute; que el 35 % (112/320) de los procesos de esterilizaci&oacute;n por calor seco controlados no cumplieron con los requisitos, de los cuales 63 repitieron el control y, 55/63 (87%) resolvieron el problema mediante distintas acciones correctivas. Con respecto a la esterilizaci&oacute;n por calor h&uacute;medo, el 32 % (6/19) de los procesos no cumplieron con los requisitos, en 3 de los 6 positivos se efectuaron correcciones simples obteni&eacute;ndose resultados satisfactorios.&nbsp;El presente trabajo muestra la importancia para la comunidad, de la implementaci&oacute;n de rutina de un sistema de control que permita garantizar la esterilidad de los materiales utilizados en los consultorios odontol&oacute;gicos.PALABRAS CLAVE:&nbsp;esterilizaci&oacute;n, indicadores biol&oacute;gicos, pr&aacute;ctica odontol&oacute;gica, control de calidad.&nbsp;ABSTRACT&nbsp;In a dental office, several infectious sources, such as saliva, blood, contaminated dental instruments, may be vehicles for microorganisms to reach patients and dental proffesionals. In this work the efficacy of the sterilization process performed at dental offices belonging to the VI district of Buenos Aires Province from Argentina was evaluated through the use of Biological Indicators. Two hundred and eigthy three dentists participated of the study performing a total of 320 dry heat sterilization process and 19 wet heat ones. It was observed that the 35 % (112/320) of the dry heat sterilization process controlled didn't meet the requirements, 63 of which repeated the control and 55 (87%) solved the problem through the adoption of several corrective actions. In relation to wet heat sterilization, the 32 % (6/19) of the process didn't meet the requirements, 3 out of 6 positives overcame the problem after the implementation of corrective actions. These results show the importance for the whole community of a control program implementation in order to guarantee the sterility of the instruments used in the dental practice.KEY WORDS:&nbsp;sterilization, biological indicators, dental practice, quality control

MANUALE PER LA RIPARTENZA REGIONI SICURE FASE 2 DOCUMENTO TECNICO SCIENTIFICO

"Manuale della sicurezza", circa 200 pagine con indicazioni su come organizzare in Puglia la "fase 2" nei diversi ambiti: dal turismo alla cultura, dalla ristorazione sino alle aziende. Il manuale contiene delle indicazioni ad hoc per ogni settore per riprendere le attività in sicurezza, limitando al minimo il rischio di nuovi contagi da coronavirus