Flexibilidad para la acción política: las fuentes doctrinales del pensamiento económico de Pasqual Maragall

L'ideari de Pasqual Maragall és àmpliament conegut i s'ha manifestat en la seva dilatada activitat política i gestora, com a dirigent del Partit dels Socialistes de Catalunya (PSC), alcalde de Barcelona i president de la Generalitat de Catalunya. Les seves idees polítiques, socials i referents a qüestions d'organització urbana han estat exposades en moltes ocasions a través de mitjans molt diversos. Tanmateix, certs aspectes de la formació del seu pensament han passat desapercebuts en la vasta activitat del personatge. N'és un la seva formació com a economista, a Barcelona i a Nova York. Maragall va redactar alguns treballs acadèmics rellevants en aquesta etapa en els quals va mostrar la seva preferència per l'obra d'economistes d'orientació ricardiana, marxista i postkeynesiana. A partir d'una revisió d'aquests escrits econòmics, aquest article tracta de posar en relleu les fonts doctrinals que Maragall va utilitzar i que indubtablement van servir a conformar el seu pensament posterior. Tot i que aquí no s'estableix una correlació directa entre les idees d'aquests economistes i l'activitat posterior de Maragall, una introducció a les principals referències econòmiques de la seva època acadèmica sembla necessària per comprendre millor aquest personatge central en la vida política catalana i espanyola dels últims anys

Data Reduction Pipeline for EMIR; a near-IR multiobject spectrograph for the Spanish 10m telescope

EMIR (Espectrógrafo Multiobjeto Infrarrojo) is a near-infrared wide-field camera and multi-object spectrograph to be built for the 10.4m Spanish telescope (Gran Telescopio Canarias, GTC) at La Palma. The Data Reduction Pipeline (DRP), which is being designed and built by the EMIR Universidad Complutense de Madrid group, will be optimized for handling and reducing near-infrared data acquired with EMIR. Both reduced data and associated error frames will be delivered to the end-users as a final product

Avances en el diagnóstico de la discapacidad auditiva: técnica de la audiometría por Microfónicos Cocleares

Los problemas de audición que hacen necesario el uso de audífonos afectan a todo tipo de personas, pero especialmente a aquellas que presentan dificultades para realizar la audiometría tonal subjetiva por su falta de colaboración en la prueba. La inexistencia de pruebas de audiometría objetivas equivalente a la tonal da lugar a un impreciso diagnóstico y a un dudoso tratamiento. Los microfónicos cocleares son señales eléctricas producidas por las células ciliadas internas y externas al estímulo de la presión sonora vibrátil del sonido. La determinación de la audición hasta la cóclea inclusive permite separar los problemas de audición según su origen: los debidos a patologías existentes hasta la cóclea, parte de ésta incluida, y los debidos a patologías que afectan desde este tejido hasta el córtex. En este trabajo se exponen los avances obtenidos en el Laboratorio de Bioinstrumentación y Nanomedicina del Centro de Tecnología Biomédica de la UPM. Se ha demostrado que la señal eléctrica es una función de la presión sonora, a mayor presión mayor amplitud de la señal registrada. Comprobación del Recruitment con el equipo experimental de laboratorio, que la técnica de los MC es en realidad una medida objetiva de la pérdida auditiva y que es posible diseñar un nuevo prototipo más sensible capaz de registrar los microfónicos cocleares en humanos

NrcR, a new transcriptional regulator of Rhizobium tropici CIAT 899 involved in the Legume root-nodule symbiosis.

The establishment of nitrogen-fixing rhizobium-legume symbioses requires a highly complex cascade of events. In this molecular dialogue the bacterial NodD transcriptional regulators in conjunction with plant inducers, mostly flavonoids, are responsible for the biosynthesis and secretion of Nod factors which are key molecules for successful nodulation. Other transcriptional regulators related to the symbiotic process have been identified in rhizobial genomes, including negative regulators such as NolR. Rhizobium tropici CIAT 899 is an important symbiont of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), and its genome encompasses intriguing features such as five copies of nodD genes, as well as other possible transcriptional regulators including the NolR protein. Here we describe and characterize a new regulatory gene located in the non-symbiotic plasmid pRtrCIAT899c, that shows homology (46% identity) with the nolR gene located in the chromosome of CIAT 899. The mutation of this gene, named nrcR (nolR-like plasmid c Regulator), enhanced motility and exopolysaccharide production in comparison to the wild-type strain. Interestingly, the number and decoration of Nod Factors produced by this mutant were higher than those detected in the wildtype strain, especially under salinity stress. The nrcR mutant showed delayed nodulation and reduced competitiveness with P. vulgaris, and reduction in nodule number and shoot dry weight in both P. vulgaris and Leucaena leucocephala. Moreover, the mutant exhibited reduced capacity to induce the nodC gene in comparison to the wild-type CIAT 899. The finding of a new nod-gene regulator located in a non-symbiotic plasmid may reveal the existence of even more complex mechanisms of regulation of nodulation genes in R. tropici CIAT 899 that may be applicable to other rhizobial species

Subsidized pharmacological treatment for smoking cessation by the Spanish public health system

INTRODUCTION Research has shown that financing drug therapy increases smoking abstinence rates, although most of these studies have been carried out in the private healthcare setting. The aim of this work is to assess the effect of subsidized pharmacological treatment on smoking cessation rates by the Spanish public healthcare system. METHODS A pragmatic, randomized, clinical trial was performed by clusters. Randomization unit was the primary healthcare center and the analysis unit was the patient. Smokers consuming ≥10 cigarettes/day were randomly assigned to an intervention group that received financed pharmacological treatment or to a control group that followed usual care. The main outcome was self-reported or CO-confirmed continuous abstinence at 12 months. The main outcome, continuous abstinence rates (%), were compared between groups at 12 months post-intervention. A model was adjusted using mixedeffect logistic regression. RESULTS A total of 1154 patients were included from 23 healthcare centers. In the intention-to-treat analysis, selfreported abstinence after 12 months in the control and intervention groups, respectively, was 9.6% (37/387) and 15.4% (118/767) (gender-adjusted OR=1.75; 95% CI: 1.1– 2.8); for CO-confirmed abstinence the corresponding values were 3.1% (12/387) and 6.4% (49/767) (gender-adjusted OR=1.72; 95% CI: 0.7–4.0). Pharmacological treatment use was 35.1% (136/387) in the control group, and 58.3% (447/767) in the intervention group (adjusted OR=4.25; 95% CI: 1.8–9.9) CONCLUSIONS Subsidizing pharmacological treatment for smoking cessation increases self-reported or CO-confirmed abstinence rates under realistic conditions in the primary care setting of the Spanish public health systemThis trial was funded by the Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias (FIS) del Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) under registration number 07528, as well as the 2016 and 2017 calls for grants for translations and publishing by the Fundación para la Investigación e Innovación Biosanitaria en Atención Primaria (FIIBA

Neuroplastic and cognitive impairment in substance use disorders: a therapeutic potential of cognitive stimulation

Author manuscriptDrug addiction is a chronic and relapsing disorder in which repeated drug exposure compromises brain neuroplasticity. Brain areas normally involved in learning and goal- directed behaviors become corrupted, which may lead to cognitive deficits that coexist with other addiction symptoms and predict a worse treatment outcome. New learning experiences that are not motivated by drugs may improve both cognitive deficits and drug-induced symptoms by promoting adaptive neuroplastic changes that could alleviate or reverse those involved in addiction. The present review will focus on whether potentiating healthy cognitive function, either by formal cognitive training or non-drug related environmental experiences, could exert beneficial effects in the therapeutics of addiction. Although additional studies are needed, the available clinical and preclinical evidence suggests that cognitive stimulation may provide a valuable adjuvant intervention in drug addiction.This study was funded by grants from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (Agencia Estatal de Investigación) co-founded by the European Research Development Fund-AEI/FEDER, UE- (PSI2015-73156-JIN to E.C.O.; PSI2017-82604R to L.J.S.), Red de Trastornos Adictivos (RD16/0017/0001 to F.R.F.), Plan Nacional sobre Drogas, Ministerio de Sanidad, Servicios Sociales e Igualdad (PNSD2015/047 to J.S.) and the University of Málaga (Plan Propio 2017 – ‘Ayudas para proyectos dirigidos por jóvenes investigadores’, PPIT.UMA.B1.2017/38 to P.S.P). Author P.S.P. holds a ‘Juan de la Cierva-formación’ grant from the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness (code: FJCI-2015-23925). Author D.L.G.M. holds a ‘FPU’ grant from the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports (code: FPU13/04819). Authors J.S., A.S. and F.J.P. hold ‘Miguel Servet’ grants (codes: CPII17/00024, CP14/00173 and CP14/00212, respectively) from the National System of Health-Instituto de Salud Carlos- III co-funded by FEDER, UE. Author E.C.O. holds a ‘Jóvenes Investigadores’ grant (code: PSI2015-73156-JIN) from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (Agencia Estatal de Investigación) co-funded by FEDER, UE

Recensiones

RESEÑA 1 de : Pascual González, José. Grecia en el siglo IV a. C. del imperialismo espartano a la muerte de Filipo de Macedonia. Madrid : Síntesis S.A, 1997. RESEÑA 2 de : Blázquez Martínez, José María; Alvar, Jaime; Wagner, Carlos G. Fenicios y Cartagineses en el Mediterráneo. Madrid : Cátedra, 1999. RESEÑA 3 de : Blázquez Martínez, José María; García-Gelabert Pérez, María Paz. II. El conjunto arquitectónico del Olivar. Oxford, 1999. RESEÑA 4 de : García Moreno, L.A. El Bajo Imperio Romano. Madrid : Editorial Síntesis, 1998. RESEÑA 5 de : Carreras Monfort, C.; Funari, P. Britannia y el Mediterráneo : Estudios sobre el abastecimiento de aceite bético y africano en Britannia. Barcelona : Instrumenta 5, 1998. RESEÑA 6 de : Blázquez, J.M. Mitos, dioses, héroes en el Mediterráneo antiguo. Madrid : Real Academia de la Historia, 1999. RESEÑA 7 de : Alvar, J. Homenaje a José Mª Blázquez. Hispania Romana II. Arys 2, Vol. V. Madrid : Arys-Ediciones Clásicas S.A., 1998. RESEÑA 8 de : Perea Yébenes, S. LOS stratores en el ejército romano imperial. (Funciones y Rangos). Madrid : Signifer Libros, 1998

Changes in metabolites in the brain of patients with fibromyalgia after treatment with an NMDA receptor antagonist

The aims of this work were to evaluate whether the treatment of patients with fibromyalgia with memantine is associated with significant changes in metabolite concentrations in the brain, and to explore any changes in clinical outcome measures. Magnetic resonance spectroscopy was performed of the right anterior and posterior insula, both hippocampi and the posterior cingulate cortex. Questionnaires on pain, anxiety, depression, global function, quality of life and cognitive impairment were used. Ten patients were studied at baseline and after three months of treatment with memantine. Significant increases were observed in the following areas: N-acetylaspartate (4.47 at baseline vs. 4.71 at three months, p¿=¿0.02) and N-acetylaspartate+N-acetylaspartate glutamate in the left hippocampus (5.89 vs. 5.98; p¿=¿0.007); N-acetylaspartate+N-acetylaspartate glutamate in the right hippocampus (5.31 vs 5.79; p¿=¿0.01) and the anterior insula (7.56 vs. 7.70; p¿=¿0.033); glutamate+glutamine/creatine ratio in the anterior insula (2.03 vs. 2.17; p¿=¿0.022) and the posterior insula (1.77 vs. 2.00; p¿=¿0.004); choline/creatine ratio in the posterior cingulate (0.18 vs. 0.19; p¿=¿0.023); and creatine in the right hippocampus (3.60 vs. 3.85; p¿=¿0.007). At the three-month follow-up, memantine improved cognitive function assessed by the Cognition Mini-Exam (31.50, SD¿=¿2.95 vs. 34.40, SD¿=¿0.6; p¿=¿0.005), depression measured by the Hamilton Depression Scale (7.70, SD¿=¿0.81 vs. 7.56, SD¿=¿0.68; p¿=¿0.042) and severity of illness measured by the Clinical Global Impression severity scale (5.79, SD¿=¿0.96 vs. 5.31, SD¿=¿1.12; p¿=¿0.007). Depression, clinical global impression and cognitive function showed improvement with memantine. Magnetic resonance spectroscopy could be useful in monitoring response to the pharmacological treatment of fibromyalgia