A New Click Beetle Genus from Southern Chile: Llanquihue (Coleoptera, Elateridae, Elaterinae, Pomachiliini)

Llanquihue, a new genus of Elateridae from Southern Chile, is here described and illustrated with 2 species: Llanquihue vittipennis (Candèze) new comb., and L. carlota sp. nov. The genus Llanquihue belongs to the subfamily Elaterinae and to the tribe Pomachiliini

Sobre la arquitectura prefabricada en Chile 1960 - 1973 = Prefabricated on architecture in Chile, 1960 - 1973

History of the modernization progress of contemporary architecture and historical experience on industrialized architecture and techno- constructive rationalization is considered. With regard to approaches to architecture and industrial technologies in Chile, the history of standardization that lead to the construction companies to the development of building systems and prefabricated building types are presented

Theory of dynamic crack branching in brittle materials

The problem of dynamic symmetric branching of an initial single brittle crack propagating at a given speed under plane loading conditions is studied within a continuum mechanics approach. Griffith's energy criterion and the principle of local symmetry are used to determine the cracks paths. The bifurcation is predicted at a given critical speed and at a specific branching angle: both correlated very well with experiments. The curvature of the subsequent branches is also studied: the sign of $T$, with $T$ being the non singular stress at the initial crack tip, separates branches paths that diverge from or converge to the initial path, a feature that may be tested in future experiments. The model rests on a scenario of crack branching with some reasonable assumptions based on general considerations and in exact dynamic results for anti-plane branching. It is argued that it is possible to use a static analysis of the crack bifurcation for plane loading as a good approximation to the dynamical case. The results are interesting since they explain within a continuum mechanics approach the main features of the branching instabilities of fast cracks in brittle materials, i.e. critical speeds, branching angle and the geometry of subsequent branches paths.Comment: 41 pages, 15 figures. Accepted to International Journal of Fractur

Mucosal Application of gp140 Encoding DNA Polyplexes to Different Tissues Results in Altered Immunological Outcomes in Mice

Increasing evidence suggests that mucosally targeted vaccines will enhance local humoral and cellular responses whilst still eliciting systemic immunity. We therefore investigated the capacity of nasal, sublingual or vaginal delivery of DNA-PEI polyplexes to prime immune responses prior to mucosal protein boost vaccination. Using a plasmid expressing the model antigen HIV CN54gp140 we show that each of these mucosal surfaces were permissive for DNA priming and production of antigen-specific antibody responses. The elicitation of systemic immune responses using nasally delivered polyplexed DNA followed by recombinant protein boost vaccination was equivalent to a systemic prime-boost regimen, but the mucosally applied modality had the advantage in that significant levels of antigen-specific IgA were detected in vaginal mucosal secretions. Moreover, mucosal vaccination elicited both local and systemic antigen-specific IgG(+) and IgA(+) antibody secreting cells. Finally, using an Influenza challenge model we found that a nasal or sublingual, but not vaginal, DNA prime/protein boost regimen protected against infectious challenge. These data demonstrate that mucosally applied plasmid DNA complexed to PEI followed by a mucosal protein boost generates sufficient antigen-specific humoral antibody production to protect from mucosal viral challenge

Impact of generic alendronate cost on the cost-effectiveness of osteoporosis screening and treatment

Introduction: Since alendronate became available in generic form in the Unites States in 2008, its price has been decreasing. The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of alendronate cost on the cost-effectiveness of osteoporosis screening and treatment in postmenopausal women. Methods: Microsimulation cost-effectiveness model of osteoporosis screening and treatment for U.S. women age 65 and older. We assumed screening initiation at age 65 with central dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA), and alendronate treatment for individuals with osteoporosis; with a comparator of "no screening" and treatment only after fracture occurrence. We evaluated annual alendronate costs of $20 through$800; outcome measures included fractures; nursing home admission; medication adverse events; death; costs; quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs); and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) in 2010 U.S. dollars per QALY gained. A lifetime time horizon was used, and direct costs were included. Base-case and sensitivity analyses were performed. Results: Base-case analysis results showed that at annual alendronate costs of $200 or less, osteoporosis screening followed by treatment was cost-saving, resulting in lower total costs than no screening as well as more QALYs (10.6 additional quality-adjusted life-days). When assuming alendronate costs of$400 through $800, screening and treatment resulted in greater lifetime costs than no screening but was highly cost-effective, with ICERs ranging from$714 per QALY gained through $13,902 per QALY gained. Probabilistic sensitivity analyses revealed that the cost-effectiveness of osteoporosis screening followed by alendronate treatment was robust to joint input parameter estimate variation at a willingness-to-pay threshold of$50,000/QALY at all alendronate costs evaluated. Conclusions: Osteoporosis screening followed by alendronate treatment is effective and highly cost-effective for postmenopausal women across a range of alendronate costs, and may be cost-saving at annual alendronate costs of $200 or less. © 2012 Nayak et al

The effects of intermittent hypoxia training on hematological and aerobic performance in triathletes

The aim of the present research was to analyze modifications on hematological and aerobic performance parameters after a 7-week intermittent hypoxia training (IHT) program. Eighteen male trained triathletes were divided in two groups: an intermittent hypoxia training group (IHTG: n: 9; 26.0 ± 6.7 years; 173.3 ± 5.9 cm; 66.4 ± 5.9 kg; VO2max: 59.5 ± 5.0 ml/kg/min) that conducted a normoxic training plus an IHT and a control group (CG: n: 9; 29.3 ± 6.8 years; 174.9 ± 4.6 cm; 59.7 ± 6.8 kg; VO2max: 58.9 ± 4.5 ml/kg/min) that performed only a normoxic training. Training process was standardized across the two groups. The IHT program consisted of two 60-min sessions per week at intensities over the anaerobic threshold and atmospheric conditions between 14.5 and 15% FiO2. Before and after the 7-week training, aerobic performance in an incremental running test and hematological parameters were analyzed. After this training program, the IHTG showed higher hemoglobin and erythrocytes (p < 0.05) values than in the CG. In terms of physiological and performance variables, between the two groups no changes were found. The addition of an IHT program to normoxic training caused an improvement in hematological parameters but aerobic performance and physiological variables compared to similar training under normoxic conditions did not increase

Origen y razones del consumo de psicofármacos y analgésicos en la población general.

Se investiga en este trabajo el origen y razones del consumo de psicofármacos y analgésicos en una comunidad de Cantabria. El 2,6± 1% de los varones y el 10,7 ±2% de las mujeres consumen psicofármacos, siendo para ambos sexos los porcentajes de consumo de analgésicos significativamente más altos (varones = 6,5 ± 2 %; mujeres = 16,4 ± 3 %). Distintos factores como el sexo femenino o la presencia de enfermedad física o psíquica incrementan de forma significativa el consumo de dichos fármacos. Se observó, sin embargo, que la presencia de enfermedad psíquica (medida mediante el sistema PSECA TEGO-ID) se asociaba a tratamiento psicofarmacológico sólo en un reducido número de casos. Es más, en aquellos cuadros depresivos o psicóticos que recibían tratamiento farmacológico, éste solía pertenecer al grupo de las benzodiacepinas. Se evidenció además en nuestro estudio una clara interacción entre factores psicosociales y los modos o formas de consumo definidos como "auto-consumo" o "consumo bajo control médico ". Dicha interacción demuestra la existencia de perfiles sociodemográficos específicos para cada uno de dichos modos de consumo

Antimicrobial activity of ProRoot MTA in contact with blood

Dental materials based on Portland cement, which is used in the construction industry have gained popularity for clinical use due to their hydraulic properties, the interaction with tooth tissue and their antimicrobial properties. The antimicrobial properties are optimal in vitro. However in clinical use contact with blood may affect the antimicrobial properties. This study aims to assess whether antimicrobial properties of the Portland cement-based dental cements such as mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) are also affected by contact with blood present in clinical situations. ProRoot MTA, a Portland cement-based dental cement was characterized following contact with water, or heparinized blood after 1 day and 7 days aging. The antimicrobial activity under the mentioned conditions was assessed using 3 antimicrobial tests: agar diffusion test, direct contact test and intratubular infection test. MTA in contact with blood was severely discoloured, exhibited an additional phosphorus peak in elemental analysis, no calcium hydroxide peaks and no areas of bacterial inhibition growth in the agar diffusion test were demonstrated. ProRoot MTA showed limited antimicrobial activity, in both the direct contact test and intratubular infection test. When aged in water ProRoot MTA showed higher antimicrobial activity than when aged in blood. Antimicrobial activity reduced significantly after 7 days. Further assessment is required to investigate behaviour in clinical situations.ERDF (Malta) for the financing of the testing equipment through the project: “Developing an Interdisciplinary Material Testing and Rapid Prototyping R&D Facility” (Ref. no. 012)

Origen y razones del consumo de psicofármacos y analgésicos en la población general.

Se investiga en este trabajo el origen y razones del consumo de psicofármacos y analgésicos en una comunidad de Cantabria. El 2,6± 1% de los varones y el 10,7 ±2% de las mujeres consumen psicofármacos, siendo para ambos sexos los porcentajes de consumo de analgésicos significativamente más altos (varones = 6,5 ± 2 %; mujeres = 16,4 ± 3 %). Distintos factores como el sexo femenino o la presencia de enfermedad física o psíquica incrementan de forma significativa el consumo de dichos fármacos. Se observó, sin embargo, que la presencia de enfermedad psíquica (medida mediante el sistema PSECA TEGO-ID) se asociaba a tratamiento psicofarmacológico sólo en un reducido número de casos. Es más, en aquellos cuadros depresivos o psicóticos que recibían tratamiento farmacológico, éste solía pertenecer al grupo de las benzodiacepinas. Se evidenció además en nuestro estudio una clara interacción entre factores psicosociales y los modos o formas de consumo definidos como "auto-consumo" o "consumo bajo control médico ". Dicha interacción demuestra la existencia de perfiles sociodemográficos específicos para cada uno de dichos modos de consumo