Absceso epidural cervical por peptostreptococcus anaerobius

Se presenta 1 caso de infección con absceso epidural a nivel cervical producido por un Peplostreptococcus anaerobius en 1 paciente en el que se realizó previamente una artrodesis C6-C7 por una hernia discal cervical. En la literatura no se han encontrado referencias bibliográficas de casos similares, por la etiología y la localización. Se discute la importancia de las infecciones por bacterias anaerobias en patología osteoarticular, métodos diagnósticos, así como su abordaje terapéutico.A case of postsurgical infection with cervical epidural abscess produced by Peptostreptococcus anaerobius is presented. The patient underwent previously a cervical arthrodesis (levels C6-C7) due to a discal herniation. A similar case has not been found in the review of the literature, taking into account its etiology and localization. It is discussed the importance of anerobic bacterial infections in osteoarticular pathology, and diagnostic and therapeutic means

The human ankyrin 1 promoter insulator sustains gene expression in a β-globin lentiviral vector in hematopoietic stem cells.

Lentiviral vectors designed for the treatment of the hemoglobinopathies require the inclusion of regulatory and strong enhancer elements to achieve sufficient expression of the β-globin transgene. Despite the inclusion of these elements, the efficacy of these vectors may be limited by transgene silencing due to the genomic environment surrounding the integration site. Barrier insulators can be used to give more consistent expression and resist silencing even with lower vector copies. Here, the barrier activity of an insulator element from the human ankyrin-1 gene was analyzed in a lentiviral vector carrying an antisickling human β-globin gene. Inclusion of a single copy of the Ankyrin insulator did not affect viral titer, and improved the consistency of expression from the vector in murine erythroleukemia cells. The presence of the Ankyrin insulator element did not change transgene expression in human hematopoietic cells in short-term erythroid culture or in vivo in primary murine transplants. However, analysis in secondary recipients showed that the lentiviral vector with the Ankyrin element preserved transgene expression, whereas expression from the vector lacking the Ankyrin insulator decreased in secondary recipients. These studies demonstrate that the Ankyrin insulator may improve long-term β-globin expression in hematopoietic stem cells for gene therapy of hemoglobinopathies

Computer simulations of nematic drops: Coupling between drop shape and nematic order

We perform Monte Carlo computer simulations of nematic drops in equilibrium with their vapor using a Gay-Berne interaction between the rod-like molecules. To generate the drops, we initially perform NPT simulations close to the nematic-vapor coexistence region, allow the system to equilibrate and subsequently induce a sudden volume expansion, followed with NVT simulations. The resultant drops coexist with their vapor and are generally not spherical but elongated, have the rodlike particles tangentially aligned at the surface and an overall nematic orientation along the main axis of the drop. We find that the drop eccentricity increases with increasing molecular elongation, κ. For small κ the nematic texture in the drop is bipolar with two surface defects, or boojums, maximizing their distance along this same axis. For sufficiently high κ, the shape of the drop becomes singular in the vicinity of the defects, and there is a crossover to an almost homogeneous texture; this reflects a transition from a spheroidal to a spindle-like dro

COVID-19 and Sick Leave: An Analysis of the Ibermutua Cohort of Over 1,651,305 Spanish Workers in the First Trimester of 2020

Objectives: The worldwide SARS-COV2 pandemic has impacted the health of workers and companies. The aim is to quantify it according to sick leave. Methods: Using ICD-9 codes, we analyzed Ibermutua records of all sick leaves during the first trimester of 2020, compared to during the same months of 2017, 2018, and 2019. We stratified the analysis by causes, patient sex, activity sectors, and regional data. All sick leaves were adjusted by the number of Ibermutua-affiliated persons in each period. Results: In March 2020, there was an unprecedented (116%) increase in total sick leaves, mainly due to infectious and respiratory diseases. Men and women were equally affected. All activity sectors were impacted, with the highest increase (457%) observed among health-related workers, especially due to contagious disease. The incidences of sick leaves were heterogeneous among different regions. Cost-analysis of sick leaves during the first trimester of 2020 compared with in previous years showed 40.3% increment (mean 2,813 vs. 2,005 euro per 100 affiliated workers). Conclusions: The SARS-COV2 pandemic is having a huge impact on workers' health, as shown by data regarding sick leaves in March 2020. This is associated with greater economic burden for companies, both due to the cost associated with sick leaves and the losses in productivity due to confinement

Overall evaluation of Skylab imagery for mapping of Latin America

The author has identified the following significant results. Skylab imagery is both desired and needed by the Latin American catographic agencies. The imagery is cost beneficial for the production of new mapping and maintenance of existing maps at national topographic series scales. If this information was available on a near time routine coverage basis, it would provide an excellent additional data base to the Latin American cartographic community, specifically Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Paraguay, and Venezuela

Improving the thermocline calculation over the global ocean

According to the typical thermal structure of the ocean, the water column can be divided into three layers: the mixed layer, the thermocline and the deep layer. In this study, we provide a new methodology, based on a function adjustment to the temperature profile, to locate the minimum and maximum depths of the strongest thermocline. We first validated our methodology by comparing the mixed layer depth obtained with the method proposed here with three other methods from previous studies. Since we found a very good agreement between the four methods we used the function adjustment to compute the monthly climatologies of the maximum thermocline depth and the thermocline thickness and strength in the global ocean. We also provide an assessment of the regions of the ocean where our adjustment is valid, i.e., where the thermal structure of the ocean follows the three-layer structure. However, there are ocean regions where the water column cannot be separated into three layers due to the dynamic processes that alter it. This assessment highlights the limitations of the existing methods to accurately determine the mixed layer depth and the thermocline depth in oceanic regions that are particularly turbulent such as the Southern Ocean and the northern North Atlantic, among others. The method proposed here has shown to be robust and easy to apply.</p

Early postoperative complications of transvaginal access in minimally invasive sigmoid colon procedures

Objectives: The aim of the study was to evaluate early (the first 30 days) postoperative complications after transvaginal resection of the sigmoid colon. Material and Methods: A total of 23 laparoscopy-assisted transvaginal resections of the sigmoid colon and 1 NOTES transvaginal sigmoid resection were performed in the course of 3 years. Postoperative complications were recorded in a prospective manner. Results: In the group of 24 patients operated on using the transvaginal approach, 6 (25%) complications were recorded, including 3 urinary tract infections, 2 vaginal bleedings, and 1 abdominal trocar site hernia. Conclusion: Early postoperative complication rate after transvaginal resection of the sigmoid colon is relatively low and the clinical complications are not severe