EUropean prospective cohort study on Enterobacteriaceae showing REsistance to CArbapenems (EURECA): a protocol of a European multicentre observational study

Introduction: The rapid worldwide spread of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) constitutes a major challenge. The aim of the EUropean prospective cohort study on Enterobacteriaceae showing REsistance to CArbapenems (EURECA), which is part of the Innovative Medicines Initiative Joint Undertaking (IMI JU) funded COMBACTE-CARE project, is to investigate risk factors for and outcome determinants of CRE infections to inform randomised clinical trial designs and to provide a historical cohort that could eventually be used for future comparisons with new drugs targeting CRE. Methods: A multicentre (50 sites), multinational (11 European countries), analytical observational project was designed, comprising 3 studies. The aims of study 1 (a prospective cohort study) include characterising the features, clinical management and outcomes of hospitalised patients with intra-abdominal infection, pneumonia, complicated urinary tract infections and bloodstream infections caused by CRE (202 patients in each group). The main outcomes will be 30-day all-cause mortality and clinical response. Study 2 (a nested case–control study) will identify the risk factors for target infections caused by CRE; 248 selected patients from study 1 will be matched with patients with carbapenem-susceptible Enterobacteriaceae (1:1) and with hospitalised patients (1:3) and will provide a historical cohort of patients with CRE infections. Study 3 (a matched cohort study) will follow patients in study 2 in order to assess mortality, length of stay and hospital costs associated with CRE. All patients will be followed for 30 days. Different, up-to-date statistical methods will be applied to come to unbiased estimates for all 3 studies. Ethics and dissemination: Before-study sites will be initiated, approval will be sought from appropriate regulatory agencies and local Ethics Committees of Research or Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) to conduct the study in accordance with regulatory requirements. This is an observational study and therefore no intervention in the diagnosis, management or treatment of the patients will be required on behalf of the investigation. Any formal presentation or publication of data collected from this study will be considered as a joint publication by the participating physician(s) and will follow the recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) for authorship.Innovative Medicine Initiative (IMI)European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7)Spanish Network for Research in Infectious Diseases [REIPI RD12/0015, RD16/2016

Explosion of white dwarfs harboring hybrid CONe cores

Recently, it has been found that off-centre carbon burning in a subset of intermediate-mass stars does not propagate all the way to the center, resulting in a class of hybrid CONe cores. Here, we consider the possibility that stars hosting these hybrid CONe cores might belong to a close binary system and, eventually, become white dwarfs accreting from a non-degenerate companion at rates leading to a supernova explosion. We have computed the hydrodynamical phase of the explosion of Chandrasekhar-mass white dwarfs harboring hybrid cores, assuming that the explosion starts at the center, either as a detonation (as may be expected in some degenerate merging scenarios) or as a deflagration (that afterwards transitions into a delayed detonation). We assume these hybrid cores are made of a central CO volume, of mass M(CO), surrounded by an ONe shell. We show that, in case of a pure detonation, a medium-sized CO-rich region, M(CO)<0.4 Msun, results in the ejection of a small fraction of the mantle while leaving a massive bound remnant. Part of this remnant is made of the products of the detonation, Fe-group nuclei, but they are buried in its inner regions, unless convection is activated during the ensuing cooling and shrinking phase of the remnant. In contrast, and somehow paradoxically, delayed detonations do not leave remnants but for the minimum M(CO) we have explored, M(CO)=0.2 Msun, and even in this case the remnant is as small as 0.13 Msun. The ejecta produced by these delayed detonations are characterized by slightly smaller masses of 56Ni and substantially smaller kinetic energies than obtained for a delayed detonation of a 'normal' CO white dwarf. The optical emission expected from these explosions would hardly match the observational properties of typical Type Ia supernovae, although they make interesting candidates for the subluminous class of SN2002cx-like or SNIax.Comment: Accepted for Astronomy and Astrophysics, 11 pages, 4 figure

Argentina's Sugar Policy: from Sectoral Consensus to State Tutelage (1928-1949)

En el transcurso de dos décadas la política azucarera argentina transitó de un modelo de concertación sectorial, diseñado al influjo de la movilización cañera y el Laudo Alvear, a un esquema de intervención impulsado por el Estado nacional. Durante la década de 1930 las decisiones de la Cámara Gremial de Productores de Azúcar, destinada a armonizar los intereses encontrados de industriales y plantadores, fueron incumplidas por los cañeros. De forma recurrente, estos actores repudiaban los precios de la materia prima estipulados por la Cámara, abandonaban la vía de la concertación sectorial y recurrían a la huelga para resolver sus demandas distributivas. La “revolución de junio” de 1943 diseñó un nuevo ordenamiento que involucró profundamente al Estado nacional en el funcionamiento de la industria azucarera. La proyección de una Junta Nacional del Azúcar, destinada a regir de manera integral la actividad, y la creación de un Fondo Especial de Compensación y Asistencia Social, que reconocía a industriales y cañeros los mayores costos productivos y los derivados de la política social, revelaban un giro sustancial en la política azucarera. El gobierno peronista asumió este diseño institucional. Entre 1946 y 1949, la ampliación de los beneficios sociales y el incremento de las obligaciones anuales agudizaron la puja distributiva y demandaron un mayor involucramiento estatal. Finalmente, en 1949 la crisis de la balanza de pagos clausuró un ciclo de prosperidad y desnudó las dificultades del Estado para afrontar el peso de los subsidios y compensaciones. Esta coyuntura definió los lineamientos de una nueva política expresada en la creación de la Dirección de Azúcar, la racionalización y eficiencia productiva.In the course of two decades the Argentinian sugar policy shifted from a sectoral consensus model, designed from the influx of the mobilization of sugarcane and the Laudo Alvear, to an intervention scheme promoted by the national government. During the decade of the 1930 the decisions of the House of Sugar Producers Trade Union, destined to harmonize the competing interests of industrialists and planters, were broken by the sugarcane growers. Recursively, these actors repudiated the raw material prices stipulated by the House, leaving the amicable sectoral route and resorted to strike in order to resolve their distributive demands. The “June revolution” of 1943 designed a new order that deeply involved the national state in the operation of the sugar industry. The projection of a National Sugar Board, intended to comprehensively regulate the activity, and the creation of a Special Fund for Compensation and Social Assistance, which recognized industrial and sugarcane growers the largest production costs and expenses resulting from social policy, revealed a substantial change in sugar policy. The Peronist government assumed this institutional design. Between 1946 and 1949, the expansion of social benefits and the increasing of annual obligations sharpened the distributive struggle and demanded greater state involvement. Finally, in 1949 the crisis in the balance of payments closed a cycle of prosperity and stripped the difficulties of the state to address the role of subsidies and compensation. This situation defined the outlines of a new policy expressed in the creation of the Directorate of the Sugar industry, rationalization and production efficiency.Fil: Bravo, Maria Celia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucuman. Instituto Superior de Estudios Sociales. Universidad Nacional de Tucuman. Instituto Superior de Estudios Sociales; ArgentinaFil: Gutiérrez, María Florencia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucuman. Instituto Superior de Estudios Sociales. Universidad Nacional de Tucuman. Instituto Superior de Estudios Sociales; Argentin

An update on the genera Longidorus , Paralongidorus and Xiphinema (Family Longidoridae) in Portugal

The tribe Longidorini within the subfamily Longidorinae (Longidorus spp. and Paralongidorus spp.) and the subfamily Xiphineminae (Xiphinema spp.) are two large nematode groups with about 260 and 230 known species, respectively. They are globally two important groups of ectoparasitic nematodes considered to be major pests because of their activity as vectors of important plant nepovirus, with some species included in the list of quarantine pathogenic organisms in many European countries. Knowledge of the biodiversity and occurrence of this nematode group is a prerequisite for the establishment of sound management strategies and control measures. According to data collected from the databases (such as EPPO, FSTA, and Web of Science) and published in specialised literature, a total of 15 Longidorus, 1 Paralongidorus and 40 Xiphinema species have been recorded as present in Portugal. However, the taxonomic status of some species is controversial, and thus needs to be clarified. A comprehensive review for unravelling the biodiversity and occurrence of nematode species of the genus Longidorus, Paralongidorus and Xiphinema in Portugal is herein provided. This review includes an updated checklist of species with information on the localities, host plants and geographical distribution. Additionally, maps on the species distributions of Longidorinae and Xiphineminae nematodes present in Continental Portugal and the Portuguese Macaronesian islands are provided, as well as unpublished data on authors and comments on the current taxonomic status. Finally, new insights and directions for future research on Longidoridae in Portugal are presented

An update on the biodiversity, occurrence, and distribution of the Family Longidoridae In Portugal

The genera Xiphinema, Longidorus, and Paralongidorus (Nematoda: Longidoridae) are ectoparasitic nematodes considered to be important economical pests because of their activity as vectors of important plant nepovirus, with some species included in the list of quarantine organisms in many European countries. Knowledge of the biodiversity and occurrence of nematode group species is a prerequisite for the establishment of sound management strategies and control measures. According to data collected from databases and published literature, an update on the distribution and occurrence of Paralongidorus spp., Longidorus spp., and Xiphinema spp. from Portugal (including the Madeira and Azores archipelagos) is herein proposed. To date a total of 55 species (15 Longidorus, 1 Paralongidorus, and 39 Xiphinema) has been recorded from the Portuguese territories; 55 species in Continental Portugal, while 8 and 9 species in the archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira respectively. The biodiversity of species in Portugal is probably one of the highest in the world, though it appears to be higher in “dagger” (Xiphinema) than in “needle” (Longidorus, and Paralongidorus) nematodes

Integrative taxonomy and molecular phylogeny of “dagger” and “needle” nematodes (Fam. Longidoridae) infesting grapevine soils in Portugal.

Dagger and needle, commonly known as longidorid nematodes, are one of the most economically important parasitic nematode groups in grapevine worldwide. They are polyphagous root ectoparasites causing severe damage to plants by their direct feeding, and in addition some species can transmit plant viruses. Grapevine fanleaf virus (GFLV) is transmitted by Xiphinema index, and it is one of the main responsible for a progressive degeneration of grapevines which occurs in most vineyards worldwide. Surveys are being conducted since 2015 on representative vineyards. An integrative taxonomy strategy based on the combination of morphometric and morphological characterizations with molecular analysis using ribosomal DNA segments (rDNA) (D2–D3 expansion regions of the 28S gene, and ITS1 region) and/or a segment of a mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) (cytochrome c oxidase 1 subunit or COI), were used for identification of longidorids. Severe nematode infestations were found in grapevine soils on the oldest vineyard regions, highlighting X. index by its phytopathological importance. Longidorid nematodes detected, in order of decreasing frequency of infestation were Xiphinema pachtaicum, X. santos, X. index, X. dissimile, X. italiae and Longidorus sp. Disease symptoms were observed on aboveground plant parts of the infected grapevines with X. index, displaying a yellow mosaic pattern in leaves characteristic of infections by GFLV

Continuous harmonic analysis and power quality measurements in three-phase systems

A virtual instrument, named Power Quality Meter, is presented for (a) measuring power consumption and harmonics in three-phase systems, under non-sinusoidal and imbalance conditions (b) detecting, classifying and organizes power disturbance events. Measurement of the power consumption follows the formulation proposed by the members of the IEEE Working Group on Nonsinusoidal Situations (1996). So, definitions are based on the analysis of functions in the frequency domain, separating the fundamental terms from the harmonic terms of the Fourier series. The virtual instrument has been developed too for monitoring and measuring power disturbances, which are automatically classified and organized in a database while they are being recorded. Software tools use the database structure to present summaries of power disturbances and locate an event by severity or time of occurrence. Records of actual measurements are included to demonstrate the versatility of the instrument

Plan estratégico de mercadeo Médicos Asociados S.A.

65 páginas : ilustraciones, gráficos, fotografíasMédicos Asociados S.A. es una institución prestadora de servicios de salud, con más de 35 años de experiencia, cuenta con las clínicas Fundadores y Federman de Ill y IV nivel de complejidad en la Ciudad de Bogotá. Es una empresa de familia que en la actualidad se encuentra atravesando una crisis financiera y societaria; durante los últimos tres años se ha notado una preocupación por la resolución de los problemas societarios, dejando de lado la actualización y articulación del direccionamiento estratégico de la organización. Sumado a lo anterior el sector salud afronta una situación de crisis financiera y de barreras de acceso a los servicios para los usuarios finales y por esta razón uno de los enfoques actuales de la gerencia de Médicos Asociados es la recuperación de cartera y la reducción de costos. El objetivo fundamental del proyecto es realizar un adecuado diagnóstico de la situación actual de la empresa, del mercado, y del sector salud, para identificar sus debilidades, fortalezas, oportunidades y amenazas; a partir del resultado de este análisis se propondrá un plan de mercadeo que le permita a la compañía diferenciarse dentro del sector, aumentar su participación en el mercado, recuperarse de su situación actual y mejorar su rentabilidad.Medicos Asociados S.A. is an institution that provides health services, with more than 35 years of experience, it has the Fundadores and Federman clinics of Ill and IV level of complexity in Bogota city. It is a family business that is currently going through a financial and corporate crisis; During the last three years, there has been a concern for the solution of societaries problems, leaving behind the updating and articulation of the strategic direction of the organization. Furthermore, the health sector faces a situation of financial crisis and access barriers to services for end users and for this reason, one of the principal objectives in this company, is the reduction of the current costs and recovery of accounts receivable. The fundamental objective of the project is to make an adequate diagnosis of the current situation of the company, the market, and the health sector, to identify its weaknesses, strengths, opportunities and threats; from the result of this analysis, a marketing plan will be proposed that will allow the company to differentiate within the sector, increase its market share, recover its real situation and improve its profitability.Especialista en Gerencia de MercadeoEspecializació

Propiedades prosódicas del foco informativo estrecho en el español del centro de México: Acentos tonales, pérdida de prominencia y fraseo

This paper investigates the different prosodic strategies used for the marking of information focus in Central Mexican Spanish. For this purpose, we carried out a study of the prosodic properties of information focus both in clause final position and&nbsp;in situ. Our results show important differences when compared to other varieties of Spanish. Specifically, we observe that the most frequent accent signaling information focus is a monotonal pitch accent (L* or !H*) and not L+H*. Furthermore, in many cases we observe that the pitch accent is not the only mechanism used to signal the focus: this is because we observe the presence of prosodic edges to the left of the focus, presumably functioning as an additional prosodic cue to identify it. Additionally, while we do not observe deaccenting of post-focal material, we do observe a sequence of non-rising forms (a flat pattern or “de-emphasis”) following the pitch accent that signals an&nbsp;in situ&nbsp;information focus forced by the test. With respect to phonological phrasing, our results confirm the analysis in Prieto (2006), where it is proposed that syntactic constituency is not the primary factor that regulates phrasing in Spanish.En este artículo se busca discutir los recursos prosódicos utilizados para la marcación del foco informativo en el español mexicano central. Para tal fin se elaboró un test diseñado para investigar las propiedades prosódicas del foco informativo en posición final e&nbsp;in situ. Nuestros resultados muestran algunas diferencias importantes entre este conjunto de datos y otras variedades del español. Específicamente, observamos que el acento tonal más frecuente se realiza con la forma monotonal (L* o !H*), y no L+H*. Más aún, en muchos casos observamos que el acento tonal no es el único mecanismo que se usa para marcar el foco. Concretamente, en nuestros resultados se observa la presencia de junturas y cesuras a la izquierda del constituyente focalizado, y que presumiblemente funcionan como una pista prosódica adicional para identificarlo. Por otra parte, no observamos desacentuación del material post-focal, sino una secuencia de formas no ascendentes (un patrón plano a modo de “pérdida de prominencia”) que siguen el acento tonal que marca un foco informativo&nbsp;in situ, forzado por la prueba. Respecto al fraseo fonológico, los resultados confirman el análisis de Prieto (2006), que propone que la estructura sintáctica no es el factor principal que regula el fraseo en español

Las redes sociales como recurso didáctico para las prácticas externas

La experiencia docente como tutora de prácticas durante algunos cursos nos hace observar conductas que se repiten de forma insistente a lo largo de los años, tales como desorientación, aislamiento y confusión en una primera fase, para terminar con un sentimiento de satisfacción y de haber aprendido mucho al término de las prácticas. En esta innovación nos planteamos experimentar y explorar el potencial pedagógico y didáctico de la red social Facebook, para el seguimiento y tutorización del alumnado durante el periodo de prácticas externas. Tras un análisis cualitativo sobre las valoraciones del potencial de Facebook como herramienta de acompañamiento, durante las prácticas externas del alumnado de 4º curso del grado de Pedagogía, se identifican 8 categorías: innovación, ventajas con respecto a otras plataformas (WebCT), interacción entre iguales, etc. Este estudio exploratorio es el punto de partida que presenta un interesante y nuevo escenario a explorar.The teaching experience as tutor of practices during some courses makes us to observe behaviors that are repeated insistently throughout the years, such as disorientation, isolation and confusion in a first stage, to end with a feeling of satisfaction and have learned a lot at the end of practices. In this innovation, we plan to experiment and explore the pedagogical potential and didactic of the social network Facebook, for monitoring and mentoring of students during the external practices. After analyzing qualitative assessments of the potential of Facebook as a tool of support for external practices of students in the 4th year of the degree of Pedagogy, it identifies eight categories: innovation, advantages over other platforms (WebCT), peer interaction, etc. This exploratory study is the starting point that provides an interesting and new scenery to explore