Piezoresistive polymer blends for electromechanical sensor applications

Doped polyaniline (PANI) exhibits excellent electrical properties that can be used in composite materials to replace metallic or carbonaceous nanofillers commonly used in composites for sensor applications. Polymer blends based on PANI and thermoplastic elastomer styrene-ethylene/butylene-styrene (SEBS) copolymer have been prepared by solvent casting showing large strain yield (>10% for 40 wt% PANI content), high electrical conductivity, 1 S/m, after the percolation threshold at ≈10 wt% PANI. Further, the composites show suitable piezoresistive response with gauge factor (GF) between GF ≈ 1.5 and 2.4 for deformations up to 10%. The overall properties of the solution casted PANI/SEBS blends indicate their suitability for advanced electromechanical sensors applications, with simple integration and processable by solution printing technologies.This work was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) in the framework of the Strategic Funding UID/FIS/04650/2013. Financial support also provided by ERDF funds through the Portuguese Operational Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalization -COMPETE 2020, and national funds through FCT, under projects PTDC/EEI-SII/5582/2014 and PTDC/CTM-ENE/5387/2014. PC and JO thanks to FCT by financial support for the SFRH/BPD/110914/2015 and SFRH/BD/98219/2013 grants, respectively. Financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) through the project MAT2016-76039-C4-3-R (AEI/FEDER, UE) (including the FEDER financial support) and from the Basque Government Industry Department under the ELKARTEK and HAZITEK program are also acknowledged.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Hemorragia digestiva baja masiva como primera manifestación de la enfermedad de Crohn

En la actualidad se concibe la enfermedad de Crohn como una enfermedad inflamatoria de etiología desconocida y que se puede localizar a lo largo del tubo digestivo, desde la boca hasta la región anal. Al ser una entidad crónica que puede manifestarse de diferentes formas hace que el diagnóstico sea difícil y con frecuencia tardío. La aparición de una hemorragia digestiva baja masiva es una forma de presentación de la enfermedad muy poco frecuente.Actually Crohn's disease is considered as a chronic infiamatory process that can affect the gastrointestinal tract anywhere from the mouth to the anus, wich etiology remains unclear. Because it is a chronic process who can have different clinical presentation, the diagnosis is often difficult and late. Distal massive bleeding is unCommon as manifestation Of Crohn's disease

Hepatotoxicity from ingestion of wild mushrooms of the genus Amanita section Phalloideae collected in Mexico City: two case reports

We present two cases of acute liver injury resulting from consumption of wild mushrooms. The first case was a male who developed acute hepatitis after ingestion of diverse mushrooms including Amanita species. His clinical course was favorable with complete recovery of liver function. The second case was a male who developed acute liver failure (ALF) after ingestion of Amanita bisporigera. He required MARS therapy as a bridge to liver transplantation but transplantation was not performed because he succumbed to multiorgan failure. There are few trials demonstrating the efficacy of the different treatments for mushroom poisoning. These cases demonstrate that the consumption of wild mushrooms without proper knowledge of toxic species represents a serious and under recognized health problem

Individual risk factors for Plasmodium vivax infection in the residual malaria transmission focus of Oaxaca, Mexico Factores individuales de riesgo para la infección con Plasmodium vivax en el foco residual de transmisión de paludismo de Oaxaca, México

OBJECTIVE: To identify individual risk factors for malaria infection of inhabitants in the residual transmission focus on the Pacific coast of Oaxaca, Mexico. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A population-based, matched case-control study was conducted from January 2002 to July 2003 comparing the frequency of exposure to individual risk factors in subjects presenting clinical malaria and uninfected controls. A malaria case was defined as an individual living in the study area presenting malaria symptoms and a Plasmodium vivax-positive thick blood smear; controls were individuals negative to P. vivax parasites and antibodies of the same gender and with &plusmn; five years as the case. A standardized questionnaire was used to record information about the individual risk factors associated with malaria episodes in cases and two controls for each case. RESULTS: In a multiple conditional logistic regression model analysis of data from 119 cases and 238 controls, 18 out of 99 variables were significantly associated (pOBJETIVO: Identificar los factores de riesgo individuales determinantes para contraer paludismo en habitantes del foco residual de transmisión de paludismo localizado en la costa del Pacífico de Oaxaca. MATERIAL Y MÉTODOS: Se realizó un estudio pareado de casos y controles, con base poblacional de enero de 2002 a julio de 2003, comparando la frecuencia de exposición a diversos factores de riesgo individuales en sujetos que presentaron un cuadro clínico de paludismo y controles no infectados. Un caso de paludismo fue definido como un individuo que vive en el área de estudio que presentó síntomas de paludismo y diagnosticado positivo a P. vivax en examen de gota gruesa de sangre, los controles fueron individuos negativos a parásitos y anticuerpos anti-P. vivax del mismo sexo y &plusmn; cinco años la edad del caso. Se usó un cuestionario estandarizado para registrar información de factores de riesgo individuales asociados a episodios de paludismo en casos y dos controles por caso. RESULTADOS: El análisis en un modelo de regresión logística condicional múltiple, 18 de 99 variables fueron significativamente asociadas (p< 0.05) con el incremento en el riesgo de paludismo, incluyendo: nacer fuera de la localidad (RM 3.16, 95% IC 1.16-6.13); hablar sólo un idioma autóctono (RM= 2.48, 95% IC 1.19-3.77); pobre conocimiento de cómo se transmite y trata el paludismo (RM= 2.26 95% IC 1.10-4.66 P< 0.02); cobertura de vegetación alrededor de la casa (RM= 20.43, 95% IC 5.98-70.87, P< 0.000; RM= 3.78, 95% IC 1.21-11.80, para 60-100% y 30-59%, respectivamente); casas construidas con materiales perecederos (RM= 2.85, 95% IC 1.62-5.01); localización de la casa en la periferia de la localidad (RM= 6.23, 95% IC 3.50-11.0); dormir en el suelo (RM= 2.98, 95% IC 1.78-5.01); dormir con dos o más personas en la misma cama (RM= 1.85, 95% CI 1.09-3.14); no uso de mosquiteros (RM= 2.39, 95% IC 1.18-4.83, P< 0.003), uso de mosquiteros con agujeros (RM= 13.93, 95 IC 2.48-78.01); viajes fuera de la localidad de residencia (RM= 9.16, 95% IC 1.98-42.2); y casos previos de paludismo en la casa (RM= 5.84, 95% IC 3.33-10.22). CONCLUSIONES: El riesgo para la infección de paludismo se asoció a factores socioculturales y ambientales que incrementan la exposición de los individuos a la picadura de mosquitos. Un riesgo mayor de infectarse por paludismo ocurrió en la periferia de la localidad y por transmisión intradomiciliaria probablemente a causa de los familiares asintomáticos con recaídas

Bacterial adhesion reduction on a biocompatible Si+ ion implanted stainless steel

The colonization of an implant surface by bacteria is an extremely important medical problem, which often leads to the failure of medical devices. Modern surface modification techniques, such as ion implantation, can confer to the surfaces very different properties from those of the bulk underlying material. In this work, austenitic stainless steel 316 LVM has been superficially modified by Si+ ion implantation. The effect of surface modification on the biocompatibility and bacterial adhesion to 316 LVM stainless steel has been investigated. To this aim, human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs), as precursor of osteoblastic cells, and bacterial strains relevant in infections related to orthopedic implants, i.e., Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis, have been assayed. For the understanding of changes in the biological response associated to ion implantation, variations in the chemical surface composition, topography, surface Gibbs energy, isoelectric point and in vitro corrosion behavior have been evaluated. hMSCs adhesion, viability and differentiation to the osteoblastic lineage were unaffected by Si+ ion implantation. On the other hand, Si+ ion implantation diminished the number of attached bacteria in static conditions and led to smaller adhesion rates and retention strength. The ability of implanted surfaces to reduce the bacterial adhesion was higher for Staphylococcus epidermidis than for Staphylococcus aureus. This study proposes Si+ ion implantation as an effective way of reducing bacterial adhesion on 316 LVM stainless steel surfaces without compromising its good biocompatibility.Peer Reviewe

Economic and Disease Burden of Dengue in Mexico

<div><p>Background</p><p>Dengue imposes a substantial economic and disease burden in most tropical and subtropical countries. Dengue incidence and severity have dramatically increased in Mexico during the past decades. Having objective and comparable estimates of the economic burden of dengue is essential to inform health policy, increase disease awareness, and assess the impact of dengue prevention and control technologies.</p><p>Methods and Findings</p><p>We estimated the annual economic and disease burden of dengue in Mexico for the years 2010–2011. We merged multiple data sources, including a prospective cohort study; patient interviews and macro-costing from major hospitals; surveillance, budget, and health data from the Ministry of Health; WHO cost estimates; and available literature. We conducted a probabilistic sensitivity analysis using Monte Carlo simulations to derive 95% certainty levels (CL) for our estimates. Results suggest that Mexico had about 139,000 (95%CL: 128,000–253,000) symptomatic and 119 (95%CL: 75–171) fatal dengue episodes annually on average (2010–2011), compared to an average of 30,941 symptomatic and 59 fatal dengue episodes reported. The annual cost, including surveillance and vector control, was US$170 (95$1.56 (95%CL: 1.38–2.68) per capita, comparable to other countries in the region. Of this, $87 (95$0.80 per capita (95%CL: 0.62–1.12) corresponds to illness. Annual disease burden averaged 65 (95%CL: 36–99) disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) per million population. Inclusion of long-term sequelae, co-morbidities, impact on tourism, and health system disruption during outbreaks would further increase estimated economic and disease burden.</p><p>Conclusion</p><p>With this study, Mexico joins Panama, Puerto Rico, Nicaragua, and Thailand as the only countries or areas worldwide with comprehensive (illness and preventive) empirical estimates of dengue burden. Burden varies annually; during an outbreak, dengue burden may be significantly higher than that of the pre-vaccine level of rotavirus diarrhea. In sum, Mexico’s potential economic benefits from dengue control would be substantial.</p></div