La información escrita del farmacéutico mejora el cumplimiento de la antibioterapia

Non-compliance with therapeutic guidelines represents a potential public health risk, given that it contributes to bacterialresistance. One of the strategies used to improve compliance to such guidelines is to provide the patient with betterinformation in written form. The objectives of the present investigation were the following; To evaluate the influencethat written information, provided by the community pharmacist, has on compliance with antibiotic therapy, to verify theconsequences of degree of compliance on patient health, and to discover other factors influencing patient compliance.The experimental study was carried on patients that attend a community pharmacy for antibiotic prescriptions. Membersof the control group were given information in verbal form only, while members of the experimental group were giventhe same information in both verbal and written form. The degree of compliance was determined through telephoneinterviews, carried out the day after having finished treatment. 214 patients completed the study. A 14% increase incompliance among members of the experimental group was achieved. Patients that had completed treatment, had a betterperception of their own health than those that had not. Another factor found to have a significant influence oncompliance was the number of daily dosages.In conclusion, the written information provided by the pharmacist improves therapeutic compliance. Therapeutic complianceimproves patients’ perception of their state of health. The number of daily dosages also have an influence to bear, butcontradict appropriate antibiotic administration policies.El incumplimiento terapéutico es un riesgo potencial para la salud pública al contribuir al incremento de lasresistencias bacterianas. Una de las estrategias utilizadas para mejorar el cumplimiento terapéutico es el de mejorarla información del paciente mediante información escrita. Los objetivos fueron evaluar la influencia de la informaciónescrita del farmacéutico comunitario sobre el cumplimiento antibiótico, verificar sus consecuencias sobre lasalud y descubrir otros factores que influyan en el cumplimiento. Se trata de un estudio experimental en pacientesque acuden a una farmacia comunitaria con una prescripción antibiótica. Al grupo control se le da informaciónverbal sobre su tratamiento, y al grupo de intervención la misma información, pero también por escrito. Se mideel cumplimiento mediante encuesta telefónica al día siguiente de haber tenido que finalizar el tratamiento. 214pacientes finalizaron el estudio. Los pacientes del grupo de intervención incrementaron el cumplimiento terapéuticoen un 14,2%. Los pacientes que cumplen el tratamiento tienen una mejor percepción de salud respecto de losincumplidores. Otro factor que influye significativamente en el cumplimiento es la pauta posológica diaria. Estetrabajo concluye que la información escrita del farmacéutico mejora el cumplimiento terapéutico. El cumplimientoterapéutico mejora la percepción de salud de los pacientes

Integration of Transcriptomics and Metabolomics to Reveal the Molecular Mechanisms Underlying Rhodium Nanoparticles-Based Photodynamic Cancer Therapy

Rhodium nanoparticles have recently been described as promising photosensitizers due to their low toxicity in the absence of near-infrared irradiation, but their high cytotoxicity when irradiated. Irradiation is usually carried out with a laser source, which allows the treatment to be localized in a specific area, thus avoiding undesirable side effects on healthy tissues. In this study, a multi-omics approach based on the combination of microarray-based transcriptomics and mass spectrometry-based untargeted and targeted metabolomics has provided a global picture of the molecular mechanisms underlying the anti-tumoral effect of rhodium nanoparticle-based photodynamic therapy. The results have shown the ability of these nanoparticles to promote apoptosis by suppressing or promoting anti- and pro-apoptotic factors, respectively, and by affecting the energy machinery of tumor cells, mainly blocking the β-oxidation, which is reflected in the accumulation of free fatty acids and in the decrease in ATP, ADP and NAD+ levels.Depto. de Química AnalíticaFac. de Ciencias QuímicasTRUEMinisterio de Ciencia, Innovaciónpu

Toward reliable hybrid WDM/TDM passive optical networks

Individual users and enterprises are increasingly relying on the access to internet services and cannot accept long interruption time as easily as before. Moreover, the main characteristics of next generation optical access (NGOA) networks, such as long reach and a large number of users per feeder line, turn the network reliability to an important design parameter to offer uninterrupted service delivery. In this regard, protection mechanisms become one of the crucial aspects that need to be considered in the design process of access networks. On the other hand, it should be noted that not all users can afford to pay a high extra cost for protection; hence, it is important to provide resilience in a cost-efficient way. A PON combining WDM and TDM technologies, referred to as hybrid WDM/TDM PON or HPON, is one of the most promising candidates for NGOA networks due to its ability to serve a large number of subscribers and offer high capacity per user. For these reasons, in this article, we propose HPON architecture offering different degrees of resilience depending on the user profiles (i.e., partial and full protection for residential and business access, respectively). Also, the investment cost of providing resilience for the proposed schemes is investigated considering various protection upgrade road maps. Our results confirm that protecting the shared part of network with a large number of users is required in order to keep the failure impact at an acceptable level, with less than 5 percent increase of investment cost compared to the unprotected case. Meanwhile, the proposed end-to-end protection for business users considerably reduces the risk of service interruption for this type of demanding user without a need to duplicate the deployment cost of an unprotected connection. Furthermore, a sensitivity analysis is performed to investigate the impact of changes in business user percentage and protection upgrade time on the deployment cost. The results may be used as advice on cost-efficient deployment of reliable fiber access networks

Metabolomic Heterogeneity of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension

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Filtration–UV irradiation as an option for mitigating the risk of microbiologically influenced corrosion of subsea construction alloys in seawater

The effect of filtration-UV irradiation of seawater on the biofilm activity on several offshore structural alloys was evaluated in a continuous flow system over 90 days. Biofilms ennobled the electrode potential by +400–500 mV within a few days of exposure to raw untreated seawater. Filtration-UV irradiation of the seawater delayed the ennoblement of the steels for up to 40 days and lowered localized corrosion rates in susceptible alloys. Ennobling biofilms were composed of microbial cells, diatoms and extracellular polymeric substances and the bacterial community in biofilms was affected by both the alloy composition and seawater treatment

Boundary Layer of Photon Absorption Applied to Heterogeneous Photocatalytic Solar Flat Plate Reactor Design

This study provides information to design heterogeneous photocatalytic solar reactors with flat plate geometry used in treatment of effluents and conversion of biomass to hydrogen. The concept of boundary layer of photon absorption taking into account the efficient absorption of radiant energy was introduced; this concept can be understood as the reactor thickness measured from the irradiated surface where 99% of total energy is absorbed. Its thickness and the volumetric rate of photons absorption (VRPA) were used as design parameters to determine (i) reactor thickness, (ii) maximum absorbed radiant energy, and (iii) the optimal catalyst concentration. Six different commercial brands of titanium dioxide were studied: Evonik-Degussa P-25, Aldrich, Merck, Hombikat, Fluka, and Fisher. The local volumetric rate of photon absorption (LVRPA) inside the reactor was described using six-flux absorption-scattering model (SFM) applied to solar radiation. The radiation field and the boundary layer thickness of photon absorption were simulated with absorption and dispersion effects of catalysts in water at different catalyst loadings. The relationship between catalyst loading and reactor thickness that maximizes the absorption of radiant energy was obtained for each catalyst by apparent optical thickness. The optimum concentration of photocatalyst Degussa P-25 was 0.2 g/l in 0.86 cm of thickness, and for photocatalyst Aldrich it was 0.3 g/l in 0.80 cm of thickness

Prevalence and molecular identification of zoonotic Anisakis and Pseudoterranova species in fish destined to human consumption in Chile

Zoonotic larvae of the family Anisakidae found in several fish species represent a serious risk in public health since they may cause food-borne anisakidosis in humans. Chile has culinary preferences including eating raw fish in many traditional preparations. In the present study, a total of 180 fish specimens representing three different fish species, i.e., Chilean hake (Merluccius gayi), snoek (Thyrsites atun), and sea bream (Brama australis), were caught at central coast of Chile. Parasitological examination was performed on musculature and abdominal cavity for subsequent extraction and quantification of anisakid larvae. Estimation of infection parameters, such as prevalence, was performed indicating 100% (CI: 0.94-1.0) prevalence of anisakid L3 in Chilean hakes and snoeks. Moreover, sea breams reached a prevalence of 35% (CI: 0.23-0.48). Prevalence of anisakid larvae in muscle was also analyzed showing values of 18.6% (CI: 0.097-0.309) in Chilean hakes, 15% (CI: 0.07-0.26) in snoeks, and 1.7% (CI: 0-0.089) in sea breams. Meanwhile, prevalence of anisakid larvae in internal organs showed highest values for peritoneum (100% and 83.3%) for snoeks and Chilean hakes, respectively, for liver (96.7%) and gonads (86.6%) in Chilean hakes, and for intestine (98.3%) in snoeks. Molecular analysis of collected anisakid L3 unveiled presence of two potentially zoonotic nematode species, i.e., Pseudoterranova cattani and Anisakis pegreffii. P. cattani was found in Chilean hakes and snoeks being the first molecular host species report for Chilean snoeks. Besides, A. pegreffii was also identified in these species being the first molecular report on this regard. These findings are relevant for better understanding of epidemiology of anisakiasis in Chilean coasts and for public health issues considering potential risk of human population due to its culinary preferences in eating raw fish

Seroprevalencia de T. cruzi en caninos de distintos tipos de viviendas de un barrio periférico de Corrientes, Argentina

La importancia de los perros como reservorio en el ciclo doméstico de Trypanosoma cruzi, agente de la enfermedad de Chagas, se ha visto reforzada por las altas prevalencias halladas en caninos de barrios periféricos, lo cual junto a la precariedad de viviendas, patios y su entorno, contribuyen a la presencia endémica de la enfermedad. Se consideró el grado de infección canina a T. cruzi y su asociación con factores de riesgo, utilizándose como indicador epidemiológico el porcentaje de animales infectados en el barrio Bañado Norte de la ciudad de Corrientes, dimensionándose los factores de riesgo surgidos de las características de las viviendas. La muestra estuvo conformada por 122 caninos, de los cuales el 58% pertenecían a viviendas tipo A (paredes de madera, piso de tierra) y el 42% a tipo B (ladrillos y cemento, respectivamente). La prevalencia total fue de 54%, es decir que resultaron positivos 66 sueros, de los cuales 41 pertenecían a caninos que habitaban casas tipo A y los 25 restantes a casas tipo B. Si bien la prevalencia hallada fue alta, para poder inferir la situación existente a nivel poblacional se debería aumentar el tamaño muestral. El valor de 1,41 del riesgo relativo calculado para asociar la presencia de infección con el tipo de vivienda, podría interpretarse como que los caninos procedentes de viviendas tipo A tienen mayor probabilidad de adquirir la infección, aunque el análisis estadístico no arrojó evidencias significativas para afirmar tal asociació

Síndrome de dermatitis y nefropatía porcino: una revisión sobre su epidemiología, patología y etiología

Porcine dermatitis and nephropathy syndrome (PDNS) is a disease that affects growing and finishing pigs characterized by a sporadic presentation, prevalence lower than 1 % and variable lethality. PDNS affected pigs shows acute multifocal red-to-purple skin lesions and enlarged tan kidneys with petechial hemorrhages. The hallmark microscopic lesions of PDNS are a generalized vasculitis and glomerulonephritis that suggest a type III hypersensitivity reaction. Although the etiology remains unknown, different works have showed the association between porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV-2) and PDNS based on epidemiological evidences, microscopic lesions and, the inconstant detection of PCV-2 antigen and / or nucleic acid in affected tissues. In this article the main characteristics of the disease from an epidemiological, pathological and etiological standpoint are described. Information about national situation is also included.El síndrome de dermatitis y nefropatía porcino (SDNP) es una entidad exclusiva de los cerdos que afecta, en general, a animales de desarrollo y engorde. Su presentación suele ser esporádica con una prevalencia en las granjas afectadas menor al 1% y una letalidad entre el 50 y 100% que varia según la edad. Se caracteriza por la aparición súbita de lesiones multifocales rojo-violáceas en piel y riñones pálidos que se cubren de hemorragias petequiales. La lesión microscópica típica consiste en una vasculitis generalizada y glomérulonefritis sugestivas de una reacción de hipersensibilidad tipo III, mediada por inmunocomplejos. Si bien su etiología no es conocida, distintos trabajos asocian al SDNP con la infección por circovirus porcino tipo 2 (PCV-2) basados en ciertas evidencias epidemiológicas, las características de algunas de las lesiones microscópicas y, aún cuando inconstante, la detección de antígeno y/o ácido nucleico de PCV-2 en tejidos de animales enfermos. En el presente trabajo se describen las principales características de la enfermedad desde el punto de vista de su epidemiología, patología y etiología, incluyendo datos sobre la situación en la Argentina

Diseño y manufactura de un prototipo de escudo facial con respirador que evite el contagio del covid-19" 1ª Etapa

A lo largo del año 2020, el mundo está sufriendo los estragos de una pandemia de enfermedad por coronavirus, iniciada en 2019 (COVID-19) y causada por el coronavirus 2 del síndrome respiratorio agudo grave (SARS-CoV-2), reconocida el 11 de marzo de 2020 por la OMS como una pandemia global, afectando a más de doscientos países y territorios, y dando como resultado más de 116 000 muertes y más de 441 000 casos de recuperación. En el Perú, el aislamiento social obligatorio ha generado gran pérdida económica, traducida a pérdida de empleos. La falta de adecuados equipos de protección sanitaria que brinden condiciones de aislamiento físico seguro dificulta la posibilidad para regresar a un “estado de normalidad” del aparato productivo. Basados en esta problemática, el Centro de Estudios para Comunidades Saludables de la Universidad Ricardo Palma, se planteó diseñar y manufacturar un Prototipo de Escudo Facial con Respirador que evite el contagio del COVID- 19. Basados en información previamente publicada y en tecnologías disponibles en nuestro país se planteó una solución práctica para evitar el contagio del virus. El modelado del dispositivo se realizó mediante Diseño Paramétrico, representando en 3 dimensiones los patrones según diferentes variables. El Escudo Facial, cuenta con un sistema electrónico-digital con sensores de proximidad (HC-SR04) para detectar la aproximación dentro del radio de 1.5 metros; sensores de temperatura MLX90614 para detectar si el usuario presenta temperatura superior a los 37.5°C. Para visualizar los datos de temperatura del usuario, el Escudo Facial cuenta con un Módulo OLED. Toda la información recopilada por los sensores es identificada por el microcontrolador NodeMCU ESP8266, y el Arduino Nano V3 como controlador encargado de la recepción de los sensores de proximidad, comunicados de manera Serial (Tx/Rx)