Remote Laboratories for Teaching and Training in Engineering

Typical mechatronic systems are a combination of advanced technologies involving several disciplines. This multidisciplinary approach to the development of industrial applications provides great opportunities for the implementation of e-learning environments and collaborative schemes. Engineering education, in particular, benefits from many of these advances, among which, virtual instrumentation is a useful tool for the development of virtual environments, e-learning spaces and, particularly, remote laboratories. This chapter describes the implementation of web-based laboratories that allow the remote operation of experiments used as training exercises in undergraduate engineering courses. The remote laboratories were developed using LabVIEW® software, and they enable remote control and monitoring of laboratory equipment, allowing engineering students to perform experiments in real time, at their own pace, from anywhere, and whenever is suitable for them. Besides the experimental training that the web-based laboratories provide to students, the system is also a powerful teaching tool since real-time demonstrations of the experiments can be performed, and they also can be simultaneously monitored by a group of students. This approach is highly beneficial for engineering schools in developing countries, as resources can be shared through the Internet. A description of the system and three proposed experiments is presented, together with the experimental results

Acute Liver Failure in Patients with Classic Heat Stroke

Background: Classic heat stroke is defined by a core temperature greater than 40° C, severe dehydration and neurological alterations. Patients with liver disease due to heat stroke have been described, mostly by exercise. Hepatic failure is defined as the presence of a coagulopathy accompanied by any degree of hepatic encephalopathy. The primary objective of the study lies in the fact that patients who developed acute liver failure during their hospital stay had a higher risk of mortality. Methods: A retrospective, analytical study of patients admitted to the General Hospital of Mexicali who suffered from classic heat stroke from March 2006 through August 2010, and a second period from June 2018 to August 2019. Results: Fifty patients were recruited, the group included 48 (96%) male, with a total of 10 fatalities, representing 20%. INR greater than 1.5, AST and ALT levels were not related to an increased mortality rate. Conclusion: Neither transaminase levels, nor liver failure, were related to a higher mortality rate in this cohort of patients with classic heat stroke

Relación entre quimerismo xx/xy y el fenotipo pseudohermafrodita masculino en porcinos.

La causa genética del pseudohermafroditismo no está bien dilucidada, sin embargo se han reportado distintos casos de pseudohermafroditas masculinos los cuales en la mayoría de los casos se han tratado de explicar por efectos hormonales sobre las gónadas en formación durante el desarrollo embrionario. Además se ha explorado poco la relación de este fenotipo con la constitución genómica de los organismos que presentan la disfunción sexual. En el presente trabajo se encontró una fuerte relación entre el quimerismo cromosómico XX/XY y el fenotipo pseudohermafrodita masculino exhibido por dos ejemplares de porcinos Landrace X Largewhite similar a lo encontrado en freemartinismo de bovinos

Mutations related to Antiretroviral Resistance identified by ultra-deep sequencing in HIV-1 infected children under Structured Interruptions of HAART

Altres ajuts: CONACYT/GCPS/44519Although Structured Treatment Interruptions (STI) are currently not considered an alternative strategy for antiretroviral treatment, their true benefits and limitations have not been fully established. Some studies suggest the possibility of improving the quality of life of patients with this strategy; however, the information that has been obtained corresponds mostly to studies conducted in adults, with a lack of knowledge about its impact on children. Furthermore, mutations associated with antiretroviral resistance could be selected due to sub-therapeutic levels of HAART at each interruption period. Genotyping methods to determine the resistance profiles of the infecting viruses have become increasingly important for the management of patients under STI, thus low-abundance antiretroviral drug-resistant mutations (DRM's) at levels under limit of detection of conventional genotyping (<20% of quasispecies) could increase the risk of virologic failure. In this work, we analyzed the protease and reverse transcriptase regions of the pol gene by ultra-deep sequencing in pediatric patients under STI with the aim of determining the presence of high- and low-abundance DRM's in the viral rebounds generated by the STI. High-abundance mutations in protease and high- and low-abundance mutations in reverse transcriptase were detected but no one of these are directly associated with resistance to antiretroviral drugs. The results could suggest that the evaluated STI program is virologically safe, but strict and carefully planned studies, with greater numbers of patients and interruption/restart cycles, are still needed to evaluate the selection of DRM's during STI

Prognostic Factors in Patients with Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever

Background: Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (RMSF) is a disease with a high mortality rate, caused by Rickettsia rickettsii, a bacteria transmitted to humans by infected ticks. In 2008 there was a Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (RMSF) outbreak in the city of Mexicali, México, resulting in an increased mortality rate amongst the area population. Methods: Case-series study of patients admitted to the General Hospital of Mexicali between 2014 and 2019 with a confirmed diagnosis of RMSF. Mortality was compared dividing the population on those ?20 and younger than ?21 years of age. Results: A total of 129 patients’ records during a 5-year period whose diagnosis was RMSF confirmed with PCR were included. Mortality was compared among patients admitted who were younger than ?20 years of age with that among patients who were older than ?20 years of age (61 versus 68 respectively), the latter being higher with an OR 4.2 (p&lt;0.0001). Conclusion: RMSF in hospitalized patients has a high mortality rate in spite of early treatment in all age groups, without showing any predominance in gender. However, patients older than 20 years of age had a higher mortality rate than those younger than 20 years, without any predominance in gender

Resurgence of vaccine-preventable diseases in Venezuela as a regional public health threat in the Americas

Venezuela’s tumbling economy and authoritarian rule have precipitated an unprecedented humanitarian crisis. Hyperinflation rates now exceed 45,000%, and Venezuela’s health system is in free fall. The country is experiencing a massive exodus of biomedical scientists and qualified healthcare professionals. Reemergence of arthropod-borne and vaccine-preventable diseases has sparked serious epidemics that also affect neighboring countries. In this article, we discuss the ongoing epidemics of measles and diphtheria in Venezuela and their disproportionate impact on indigenous populations. We also discuss the potential for reemergence of poliomyelitis and conclude that action to halt the spread of vaccine-preventable diseases within Venezuela is a matter of urgency for the country and the region. We further provide specific recommendations for addressing this crisis. © 2019 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). All rights reserved

Vías y escenarios de la transformación laboral: aproximaciones teóricas y nuevos problemas

Los procesos de globalización y de reestructuración empresarial apuntan a transformaciones en las formas de trabajo, en las relaciones laborales, en las identidades de los trabajadores y en las profesiones. Investigar y reflexionar sobre estos campos del saber se hace más acuciante hoy en día debido a que dichos cambios no apuntan necesariamente a mejoras en la calidad de vida de los trabajadores ni a la institucionalización de la negociación de las relaciones laborales en el espacio empresarial.Reconstruir el mundo del trabajo desde diversos puntos de vista teóricos y desde abordajes empíricos, tanto nacionales como internacionales, es el esfuerzo del libro. Problemáticas como la construcción social del trabajo en categoría de empleo; las relaciones laborales en España, Venezuela, México y Colombia; la transformación productiva vinculada a la introducción de tecnologías de la información y la comunicación (TIC´s) y la configuración de redes empresariales; la informalidad; las identidades profesionales y la educación como mecanismo de movilidad social, hacen parte del complejo y cambiante mundo del trabaja, expuestos en este libro

Phenotypic and genotypic characteristics of Escherichia coli strains isolated during a longitudinal follow-up study of chronic urinary tract infections

Worldwide, Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs) are an important health problem with many cases reported annually, women being the most affected. UTIs are relevant because they can become a recurrent condition, associated with different factors that contribute to the chronicity of the disease (cUTI). cUTI can be classified as persistent (peUTI) when the causative agent is the same each time the infection occurs or as reinfection (reUTI) when the associated microorganism is different. The purpose of this work was to characterize Escherichia coli isolates obtained in two prospective studies of patients with cUTI, to define which of them corresponded to peUTI and which to reUTI. A total of 394 isolates of E. coli were analyzed by agglutination with specific sera, antimicrobial susceptibility by diffusion disc test, and the phylogroups and presence of genes associated with virulence by PCR assays. Additionally, in some characterized strains adherence, invasiveness, and biofilm formation were analyzed by in vitro assays. The results showed that the peUTI strains belonged mainly to the classical UPEC serogroups (O25, O75, O6), were included in the B2 phylogroup, carried a great number of virulence genes, and were adherent, invasive, and biofilm-forming. Meanwhile, reUTI strains showed great diversity of serogroups, belonged mainly in the A phylogroup, and carried fewer virulence genes. Both peUTI and reUTI strains showed extensively drug-resistant (XDR) and multidrug-resistant (MDR) profiles in the antimicrobial susceptibility test. In conclusion, it appears that peUTIs are caused principally by classical UPEC strains, while reUTIs are caused by strains that appear to be a part of the common E. coli intestinal biota. Moreover, although both peUTI and reUTI strains presented different serotypes and phylogroups, their antimicrobial resistance profile (XDR and MDR) was similar, confirming the importance of regulating prophylactic treatments and seeking alternatives for the treatment and control of cUTI. Finally, it was possible to establish the features of the E. coli strains responsible for peUTI and reUTI which could be helpful to develop a fast diagnostic methodology

Designing and evaluation of sodium selenite nanoparticles in vitro to improve selenium absorption in ruminants

Sodium selenite is used to prevent selenium deficiency known as nutritional muscular dystrophy or white muscle disease. In ruminants, selenium supplements are transformed partiality in insoluble form by ruminal microorganisms and its process decrease the selenium absorption in digestive gastrointestinal. However, the objective in this research was focused in encapsulated sodium selenite to be release into of a pH less than four, similarity to an intestinal environment. It was encapsulated by nanoprecipitation and emulsion–evaporation methods, within polymeric nanoparticles. The effect of these methods, polymer proportion (Eudragit RL and RS) and solvent (ethanol and acetone) on the physicochemical (drug entrapment, polidispersity index (PDI) and z potential) and morphological characteristics (particle morphology and particle size) were evaluated. Particle size from each nanoparticles, formulation ranged from 36.64 to 213.86 nm. Particle size, z potential and PDI increased (P ≤ 0.01) when nanoprecipitation and ethanol were used. No significant differences (P > 0.05) were observed when different polymeric proportions were used. Selenium entrapment was 26% when emulsion–evaporation method was used and 78% with nanoprecipitation. Nanoparticles produced by nanoprecipitation were spherical and had a great variation in particle size; on the other hand, nanoparticles produced by emulsion–evaporation were spherical as well as amorphous and presented a homogeneous nanopartcicle size distribution. The release of selenium from nanoparticles was higher in acid pH (less than 4), this condition may represent a better availability of the mineral in the small intestine

Vertical Boundary Mixing Events during Stratification Govern Heat and Nutrient Dynamics in a Windy Tropical Reservoir Lake with Important Water-Level Fluctuations: A Long-Term (2001–2021) Study

hysical processes play important roles in controlling eutrophication and oligotrophication. In stratified lakes, internal waves can cause vertical transport of heat and nutrients without breaking the stratification, through boundary mixing events. Such is the case in tropical Valle de Bravo (VB) reservoir lake, where strong diurnal winds drive internal waves, boundary mixing, and hypolimnetic warming during stratification periods. We monitored VB during 21 years (2001–2021) when important water-level fluctuations occurred, affecting mixing and nutrient flux. Stability also varied as a function of water level. Hypolimnetic warming (0.009–0.028 °C day−1) occurred in all the stratifications monitored. We analyzed temperature distributions and modeled the hypolimnion heat budget to assess vertical mixing between layers (0.639–3.515 × 10−6 m3 day−1), vertical diffusivity coefficient KZ (2.5 × 10−6–13.6 × 10−6 m2 s−1), and vertical nutrient transport to the epilimnion. Nutrient flux from the metalimnion to the epilimnion ranged 0.42–5.99 mg P m−2day−1 for soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) and 5.8–101.7 mg N m−2day−1 for dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN). Vertical mixing and the associated nutrient fluxes increase evidently as the water level decreases 8 m below capacity, and they can increase up to fivefold if the water level drops over 12 m. The observed changes related to water level affect nutrient recycling, ecosystemic metabolic balance, and planktonic composition of VB.This research was funded by UNAM (PAPIIT-IN207702 and PAPIIT-IN111321) and by CONACYT-SEMARNAT (C01-1125) projects to M.M.-I.Peer reviewe