Effectiveness of a telephone prevention programme on the recurrence of suicidal behaviour. One-year follow-up

People who have attempted suicide are considered a risk population for repeating the behaviour. Therapeutic interventions, such as telephone follow-up programmes (TFPs), are promising but more evidence for its efficacy is needed. In this multicentre, open, ex-post-facto, pre/post, one year prospective study, a previous cohort discharged from the emergency department for a suicide attempt (SA) and given routine treatment (n=207) was compared with a similar group who received the same intervention plus a structured TFP of six calls (n=203). At one year of follow-up, the efficacy of the TFP at preventing SA was assessed. A total of 53.2% (n=108) of the patients finished the TFP. A total of 20.3% (n=42) of the routine treatment group and 23.6% (n=48) of the TFP group reattempted at least once in the follow-up period (χ2=0.7;df=1;p=.412). However, in both groups, different subsamples of patients who presented extreme risk of SA at follow-up (0-57%) were identified. In the TFP group, the recurrence of suicidal behaviour was lower in patients admitted after the index attempt and in those who had more severe psychopathological symptoms, but not in the other profiles. Thus, this study has identified a specific profile of patients who could benefit from a brief-contact intervention.This study was supported in part, by a grant (Resolución 3036/2014) from the Departamento de Salud del Gobierno de Navarra and by the Award “Federico Soto a la investigación sobre el suicidio 2019” from Fundación Colegio de Médicos de Navarra

Structure and properties of the outer membranes of Brucella abortus and Brucella melitensis

The brucellae are Gram-negative bacteria characteristically able to multiply facultatively within phagocytic cells and which cause a zoonosis of world-wide importance. This article reviews the structure and topology of the main components (lipopolysaccharide, native hapten polysaccharide, free lipids and proteins) of the outer membranes of Brucella abortus and B. melitensis, as well as some distinctive properties (permeability and interactions with cationic peptides) of these membranes. On these data, an outer membrane model is proposed in which, as compared to other Gram-negatives, there is a stronger hydrophobic anchorage for the lipopolysaccharide, free lipids, porin proteins and lipoproteins, and a reduced surface density of anionic groups, which could be partially or totally neutralized by ornithine lipids. This model accounts for the permeability of Brucella to hydrophobic permeants and for its resistance to the bactericidal oxygen-independent systems of phagocytes

Sobre el origen del SARS-CoV-2

The current COVID-19 pandemic is arguably dividing the population between those who believe that SARS-CoV-2 has a natural origin and those who are convinced that it is a man-made virus that escaped from the laboratory. This article provides evidence for its likely natural origin. Only the Chinese government’s lack of transparency prevents the conspiracy and denialist hypotheses from being dismissed.Se puede decir que la pandemia de COVID-19 que estamos sufriendo divide a la población entre los que piensan que el SARS-CoV-2 tiene un origen natural y los que están convencidos de que es un virus artificial que se escapó del laboratorio. En este artículo se dan las pruebas que apuntan a que, con toda probabilidad, el origen del virus es natural. Solo la falta de trasparencia del gobierno chino impide descartar las hipótesis conspiranoicas y negacionistas