On competitive bidding: scoring and position probability graphs

Iso-score curves graph (iSCG) and mathematical relationships between Scoring Parameters (SP) and Forecasting Parameters (FP) can be used in Economic Scoring Formulas (ESF) used in tendering to distribute the score among bidders in the economic part of a proposal. Each contracting authority must set an ESF when publishing tender specifications and the strategy of each bidder will differ depending on the ESF selected and the weight of the overall proposal scoring. The various mathematical relationships and density distributions that describe the main SPs and FPs, and the representation of tendering data by means of iSCGs, enable the generation of two new types of graphs that can be very useful for bidders who want to be more competitive: the scoring and position probability graphs

Acumulación simultánea de múltiples metales pesados por cultivos in vitro de plántulas de Prosopis laevigata

Se investigó la capacidad de plántulas de Prosopis laevigata para tolerar y acumular de forma simultánea hasta 4 metales pesados (cromo, níquel, cadmio y plomo), bajo condiciones de cultivo in vitro.Experiments were conducted to investigate the capability of Prosopis laevigata to individually or simultaneously uptake four heavy metals (HM; Cr, Ni, Cd, and Pb). To this end, P. laevigata seedlings were cultured during 50 days on modified MS medium supplemented with 30 g L−1 of sucrose and added with 1, 2, 3 or 4 HM (50 mg L−1 of each HM). When the four HM were added simultaneously, the medium was supplemented with or without ethylenediaminetetracetic acid (EDTA). In the MS media contained only one HM, the seedlings tolerance to HM was as follows: Pb≥Cr>Ni≥Cd. The accumulation of HM from higher to lower concentration in shoots was Pb≥Ni>Cd>>Cr and in roots Cr>>Pb>>Ni>Cd. When the media contained more than one HM, the accumulation in shoots was the highest for Ni and the lowest for Pb, whether EDTA was added or not. EDTA supplementation increased 61, 39, 22, and 3 fold uptake of Cr, Ni, Pb, and Cd in roots, respectively

Elementos traza introducidos con aguas residuales a suelos agrícolas se acumulan en las fracciones estables - Trace elements added to agricultural soils with wastewater are accumulated in stable fractions

El objetivo de este trabajo fue analizar la distribución de los elementos traza (ET) en las fracciones del suelo, en función de los años de riego y su relación con la biodisponibilidad para maíz en el distrito de riego 003, de Tula, Hidalgo. Se muestrearon cuatros zonas con 27, 35, 52 y 102 años de riego, con agua residual, cultivadas con maíz. También se recolectó material vegetal en tres parcelas por cada zona. Se cuantificaron los elementos traza totales, extractables, en la fracciones del suelo y en el material vegetal. La concentración de cadmio total fue mayor a las que se consideran normales en el suelo. Los elementos traza se encuentran en mayor porcentaje en los carbonatos (8% - 31%) y la fracción residual (21% - 72%), con excepción del cobre, que además se asocia con la fracción orgánica (33% - 41%). En tejido vegetal se encontraron concentraciones de zinc (2 – 14 mg kg-1), níquel (0.58 – 1.1 mg kg-1) y plomo (27 – 33 mg kg-1), más altas de las normales, lo que se relacionó al factor de bioconcentración. El manejo del suelo y la concentración de elementos traza determina su biodisponibilidad en suelos áridos

Nutrición enteral domiciliaria en España: registro Nadya del año 2011-2012

Objective: To describe the results of the home enteral nutrition (HEN) registry of the NADYA-SENPE group in 2011 and 2012. Material and methods: We retrieved the data of the patients recorded from January 1st 2011 to December 31st 2012. Results: There were 3021 patients in the registry during the period from 29 hospitals, which gives 65.39 per million inhabitants. 97.95% were adults, 51.4% male. Mean age was 67.64 ± 19.1, median age was 72 years for adults and 7 months for children. Median duration with HEN was 351 days and for 97.5% was their first event with HEN. Most patients had HEN because of neurological disease (57.8%). Access route was nasogastric tube for 43.5% and gastrostomy for 33.5%. Most patients had limited activity level and, concerning autonomy, 54.8% needed total help. Nutritional formula was supplied from chemist’s office to 73.8% of patients and disposables, when necessary, was supplied from hospitals to 53.8% of patients. HEN was finished for 1,031 patients (34.1%) during the period of study, 56.6% due to decease and 22.2% due to recovery of oral intake. Conclusions: Data from NADYA-SENPE registry must be explained cautiously because it is a non-compulsory registry. In spite of the change in the methodology of the registry in 2010, tendencies regarding HEN have been maintained, other than oral routeObjetivos: Describir los resultados del registro de nutrición enteral domiciliaria (NED) del grupo NADYASENPE de los años 2011 y 12. Material y métodos: Se recopilaron los datos introducidos en el registro desde el 1 de enero de 2011 al 31 de diciembre de 2012. Resultados: Hubo 3021 pacientes en el registro durante el periodo, procedentes de 29 hospitales, lo que da una prevalencia de 65,39 casos por millón de habitantes. 97.95% fueron adultos, 51,4% varones. La edad media fue 67,64 ± 19,1 años y la mediana 72 años para los adultos y 7 meses para los niños. La duración media de la NED fue 351 días y para el 97,5% fue el primer episodio con NED. La mayoría de pacientes tenían NED por una enfermedad neurológica (57,8%). La vía de acceso fue sonda nasogástrica para el 43,5% y gastrostomía para el 33,5%. La mayoría de pacientes tuvieron un nivel de actividad física limitado y, respecto a la autonomía, 54,8% necesitaba ayuda total. La fórmula de nutrición se suministró desde las oficinas de farmacia para el 73,8% y los fungibles, cuando fueron necesarios, desde los hospitales para el 53,8%. La NED se suspendió en 1.031 pacientes (34,1%) durante el periodo de estudio, 56,6% debido a fallecimiento y 22,2% debido a recuperación de la vía oral. Conclusiones: Los datos del registro NADYA-SENPE deben ser interpretados con precaución ya que se trata de un registro voluntario. A pesar del cambio de metodología del registro en 2010, las tendencias en NED se han mantenido, salvo la importancia cuantitativa de la vía ora

Carbon nanotube-Cu hybrids enhanced catalytic activity in aqueous media

V. González, O. Martín and J. Baselga wish to thank Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad for funding through Grant MAT2010-17091. Authors also wish to thank to Sofía M. Vega for XPS measurements, Juan P. Fernández for TGA measurements and Lakshmy Pulickal Rajukumar for EDX measurements. C. Martín-Alberca thanks the University of Alcalá for his pre-doctoral Grant

POR UNA CULTURA DE PAZ: UNA MIRADA DESDE LAS CIENCIAS DE LA CONDUCTA

En
 virtud
 de
 lo
 anterior,
 los
 estudiosos
 de
 las
 ciencias
 de
 la
 conducta
 
de
 la
 Universidad
Autónoma 
del
 Estado 
de 
México,

ante 
la
persistencia
 y 
proliferación
 de
 estos 
hechos
 en
 diversas
 partes
 del
Mundo
 y
 de
 nuestro 
país 
en 
particular, se
 convocó
 a
 los
 estudiosos
 interesados
 y
 a
 la
 sociedad
 en
 general
 a
 presentar
 trabajos
 para
 analizar,
 debatir
 y
 proponer
 estrategias
 de
 acción
 y
 dirección,
 que
 fortalezcan
 una
 convivencia y bienestar con sentido humanista para una cultura de paz. El
 presente
 texto
 es
 producto
 de 
esta convocatoria 
que
 recoge 
los
trabajos 
de 

los
 interesados 
en 
la
 temática,

 de
 diferentes 
países
(España,
Argentina,
Cuba,
Brasil,
Costa
 Rica
 y
 México)
 retomando
 con
 ello
 sus
 experiencias
 relativas
 al
 estudio,
 análisis,
 comprensión
 e
 instrumentación
 de
 la
 cultura
 de
 paz
 en
 los
 distintos
 ámbitos
 institucionales
 en
 los
 que
 participan:
 educativo,
 salud,
 penitenciario,
 social,
laboral,
familia,
alimentario,
psicológico,
por 
mencionar 
algunos.
 El
 presente
 libro,
 propicia
 un
 espacio
 de
 reflexión,
 diálogo
 y
 posicionamiento
 de
 las 
ciencias 
de 
la 
conducta
 para 
la 
apropiación,
análisis,
debate
 y 
propuestas 
que
 fortalezcan 
una
 cultura
 de 
paz
 a
través
 de 
la
 convivencia 
y
 el 
bienestar
 social 
con
 sentido 
humanista.
El
 sistema 
económico
 neoliberal
 y 
el 
proceso
 de 
globalización 
han
 contribuido
al
 logro
 de
 avances
 significativos
 en
 la
 ciencia
 y
 la
 tecnología,
 pero
 también
 han
 propiciado
 la
 polarización
 de
 las
 sociedades
 lo
 que
 ha
 impactado
 de
 manera
 negativa
 a
 la
 sociedad
 en
 su
 conjunto,
 pero
 en
 mayor
 medida
 a
 los grupos
 vulnerables. Dicha
 polarización
 ha
 traído
 consigo
 un
 desarrollo
 desigual
 del
 mundo
 que
 se
 expresa
 de
 diferentes
 maneras
 tanto
 en
 países
 desarrollados
 como
 en
 los
 llamados
 del
 tercer
 mundo,
 en
 donde
 no
 están
 satisfechas
 las
 necesidades
 humanas 
elementales
 de
 todos 
los
sectores 
de 
la 
población,
siempre 
falta 
algo. 
Si 
a
 esto 
le
 sumamos 
los
conflictos
 internacionales por
 diferentes
 motivos
 que
 enfrentan
 algunas
 naciones,
 una
 insuficiente
 cobertura
 educativa
 y
 de
 salud,

 desempleo
 y
 pobreza 
extrema,
 entre 
otras
 cosas; 
estamos
 frente
 a
retos 
de
 gran
 envergadura
 para
 los
 gobiernos,
 para
 los
 estudiosos
 y
 para
 la
 sociedad
 civil
 en
 general. Uno 
de 
los
 intentos
 para
 frenar 
y prevenir 
la
 agudización
 de 
estas 
problemáticas
 es
 la
 cultura 
de 
paz,
cuyo
 estudio
y propuestas 
han 
ido 
avanzando 
en 
diferentes
 sentidos 
y 
de 
manera 
favorable,
el 
tema 
está 
presente 
en 
diferentes 
Organismos
 Internacionales
 como
 la
 ONU,
 la
 UNESCO,
 la
 OCDE,
 El
 Banco
 Mundial,
 entre
 otros.
 Pero
 falta 
mucho 
por 
hacer.Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Méxic

una mirada desde las Ciencias de la Conducta

Este libro es el resultado de los trabajos presentados en el 1er Congreso Internacional "Convivencia y bienestar con sentido humanista para una cultura de paz"

Effectiveness of a strategy that uses educational games to implement clinical practice guidelines among Spanish residents of family and community medicine (e-EDUCAGUIA project):A clinical trial by clusters

This study was funded by the Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias FIS Grant Number PI11/0477 ISCIII.-REDISSEC Proyecto RD12/0001/0012 AND FEDER Funding.Background: Clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) have been developed with the aim of helping health professionals, patients, and caregivers make decisions about their health care, using the best available evidence. In many cases, incorporation of these recommendations into clinical practice also implies a need for changes in routine clinical practice. Using educational games as a strategy for implementing recommendations among health professionals has been demonstrated to be effective in some studies; however, evidence is still scarce. The primary objective of this study is to assess the effectiveness of a teaching strategy for the implementation of CPGs using educational games (e-learning EDUCAGUIA) to improve knowledge and skills related to clinical decision-making by residents in family medicine. The primary objective will be evaluated at 1 and 6months after the intervention. The secondary objectives are to identify barriers and facilitators for the use of guidelines by residents of family medicine and to describe the educational strategies used by Spanish teaching units of family and community medicine to encourage implementation of CPGs. Methods/design: We propose a multicenter clinical trial with randomized allocation by clusters of family and community medicine teaching units in Spain. The sample size will be 394 residents (197 in each group), with the teaching units as the randomization unit and the residents comprising the analysis unit. For the intervention, both groups will receive an initial 1-h session on clinical practice guideline use and the usual dissemination strategy by e-mail. The intervention group (e-learning EDUCAGUIA) strategy will consist of educational games with hypothetical clinical scenarios in a virtual environment. The primary outcome will be the score obtained by the residents on evaluation questionnaires for each clinical practice guideline. Other included variables will be the sociodemographic and training variables of the residents and the teaching unit characteristics. The statistical analysis will consist of a descriptive analysis of variables and a baseline comparison of both groups. For the primary outcome analysis, an average score comparison of hypothetical scenario questionnaires between the EDUCAGUIA intervention group and the control group will be performed at 1 and 6months post-intervention, using 95% confidence intervals. A linear multilevel regression will be used to adjust the model. Discussion: The identification of effective teaching strategies will facilitate the incorporation of available knowledge into clinical practice that could eventually improve patient outcomes. The inclusion of information technologies as teaching tools permits greater learning autonomy and allows deeper instructor participation in the monitoring and supervision of residents. The long-term impact of this strategy is unknown; however, because it is aimed at professionals undergoing training and it addresses prevalent health problems, a small effect can be of great relevance. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02210442.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Blueprint for a minimal photoautotrophic cell: conserved and variable genes in Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942

Background: Simpler biological systems should be easier to understand and to engineer towards pre-defined goals. One way to achieve biological simplicity is through genome minimization. Here we looked for genomic islands in the fresh water cyanobacteria Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942 (genome size 2.7 Mb) that could be used as targets for deletion. We also looked for conserved genes that might be essential for cell survival.Results: By using a combination of methods we identified 170 xenologs, 136 ORFans and 1401 core genes in the genome of S. elongatus PCC 7942. These represent 6.5%, 5.2% and 53.6% of the annotated genes respectively. We considered that genes in genomic islands could be found if they showed a combination of: a) unusual G+C content; b) unusual phylogenetic similarity; and/or c) a small number of the highly iterated palindrome 1 (HIP1) motif plus an unusual codon usage. The origin of the largest genomic island by horizontal gene transfer (HGT) could be corroborated by lack of coverage among metagenomic sequences from a fresh water microbialite. Evidence is also presented that xenologous genes tend to cluster in operons. Interestingly, most genes coding for proteins with a diguanylate cyclase domain are predicted to be xenologs, suggesting a role for horizontal gene transfer in the evolution of Synechococcus sensory systems.Conclusions: Our estimates of genomic islands in PCC 7942 are larger than those predicted by other published methods like SIGI-HMM. Our results set a guide to non-essential genes in S. elongatus PCC 7942 indicating a path towards the engineering of a model photoautotrophic bacterial cell.Financial support was provided by grants BFU2009-12895-C02-01/BMC (Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Spain), the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement number 212894 and Prometeo/2009/092 (Conselleria d’Educació, Generalitat Valenciana, Spain) to A. Moya. Work in the FdlC laboratory was supported by grants BFU2008-00995/BMC (Spanish Ministry of Education), RD06/0008/1012 (RETICS research network, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Spanish Ministry of Health) and LSHM-CT- 2005_019023 (European VI Framework Program). Dr. González-Domenech was supported by grant from the University of Granada. LD, thanks to financial support from Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

Treatment with tocilizumab or corticosteroids for COVID-19 patients with hyperinflammatory state: a multicentre cohort study (SAM-COVID-19)

Objectives: The objective of this study was to estimate the association between tocilizumab or corticosteroids and the risk of intubation or death in patients with coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) with a hyperinflammatory state according to clinical and laboratory parameters. Methods: A cohort study was performed in 60 Spanish hospitals including 778 patients with COVID-19 and clinical and laboratory data indicative of a hyperinflammatory state. Treatment was mainly with tocilizumab, an intermediate-high dose of corticosteroids (IHDC), a pulse dose of corticosteroids (PDC), combination therapy, or no treatment. Primary outcome was intubation or death; follow-up was 21 days. Propensity score-adjusted estimations using Cox regression (logistic regression if needed) were calculated. Propensity scores were used as confounders, matching variables and for the inverse probability of treatment weights (IPTWs). Results: In all, 88, 117, 78 and 151 patients treated with tocilizumab, IHDC, PDC, and combination therapy, respectively, were compared with 344 untreated patients. The primary endpoint occurred in 10 (11.4%), 27 (23.1%), 12 (15.4%), 40 (25.6%) and 69 (21.1%), respectively. The IPTW-based hazard ratios (odds ratio for combination therapy) for the primary endpoint were 0.32 (95%CI 0.22-0.47; p < 0.001) for tocilizumab, 0.82 (0.71-1.30; p 0.82) for IHDC, 0.61 (0.43-0.86; p 0.006) for PDC, and 1.17 (0.86-1.58; p 0.30) for combination therapy. Other applications of the propensity score provided similar results, but were not significant for PDC. Tocilizumab was also associated with lower hazard of death alone in IPTW analysis (0.07; 0.02-0.17; p < 0.001). Conclusions: Tocilizumab might be useful in COVID-19 patients with a hyperinflammatory state and should be prioritized for randomized trials in this situatio