Pila de combustible de hidrógeno. La apuesta por una energía sostenible

El objetivo de este trabajo es mostrar diferentes aplicaciones de una pila de combustible de hidrógeno como acumulador de energía. Para fabricar la pila de hidrógeno en primer lugar se cortan los tubos de metacrilato y se reparten en la posición que tendrían en la pila, y con esas medidas se marcan y se cortan las dos placas de metacrilato. Posteriormente se pegan los tubos anchos en su lugar mediante pegamento termofusible y se comprueba su estanqueidad. Tras reparar las fugas, se señala sobre la otra placa de metacrilato la posición de los tubos finos, y se pegan en su lugar correspondiente, probando a cada tubo pegado si las dos partes de la pila encajan correctamente. Las celdas de combustible de hidrógeno son muy útiles como acumuladores de energía en lugares remotos, como por ejemplo naves espaciales, estaciones meteorológicas alejadas, parques grandes, localizaciones rurales, etc. Otros posibles usos de estas celdas son en vehículos eléctricos, sistemas auxiliares de energía o sistemas de apoyo a la red eléctrica. Las pilas de combustible pueden llegar a ser piezas clave en un futuro sostenible si se integran en un esquema energético que incluya generación de hidrógeno a partir de energías renovables

Protocolo asistencial de práctica clínica en insuficiencia cardíaca aguda

Treball Final de Grau en Medicina. Codi: MD1158. Curs acadèmic: 2019/2020La insuficiencia cardíaca aguda (ICA) se considera uno de los principales problemas de salud. Presenta una prevalencia del 1-2 % y una morbimortalidad elevada, siendo la primera causa de hospitalización en nuestro entorno. Se caracteriza por la aparición rápida de signos y síntomas de la insuficiencia cardíaca, en especial la disnea. Una minuciosa historia clínica, la exploración física exhaustiva y las pruebas complementarias son la clave para su diagnóstico precoz. El manejo adecuado del episodio es de vital importancia ya que conlleva un mejor pronóstico del paciente. El principal objetivo del presente Trabajo de Final de Grado es la elaboración de un protocolo asistencial para el diagnóstico y tratamiento de la ICA dirigido a los servicios de Cardiología, Medicina Interna y Urgencias del Hospital General Universitario de Castellón. Para ello, se llevó a cabo una revisión sistemática de la evidencia científica actual en diversos recursos bibliográficos y se seleccionó la información relevante para formular las recomendaciones. Este protocolo abarca la clínica y su clasificación, los principales métodos diagnósticos, el manejo terapéutico según el perfil clínico del paciente y el seguimiento posthospitalario. La implementación de un protocolo asistencial estandarizado puede ayudar a disminuir los episodios de ICA y a mejorar la calidad de vida de los pacientes.Acute heart failure (AHF) is considered one of the main health problems. It has a prevalence of 1-2% and a high morbimortality, being the first cause of hospitalization in our environment. It is characterized by the rapid onset of signs and symptoms of heart failure, especially dyspnea. A meticulous clinical history, exhaustive physical examination and additional investigations are the key for an early diagnosis. The appropriate episode management is vital due to it leads to a better patient prognosis. The major goal of this Degree Final Project is to elaborate an assistance protocol for AHF diagnosis and treatment addressed to Cardiology, Internal Medicine and Emergency service of General University Hospital of Castellón. For that purpose, a systematic review of the current scientific evidence in several bibliographic resources was conducted and relevant information was chosen to formulate recommendations. This protocol embraces clinical manifestations and its classification, main diagnostic methods, therapeutic management according to the patient’s clinical profile and posthospital follow-up. Implementing a standardized assistance protocol could help to reduce the AHF episodes and improve the patient’s quality of life

Resazurin-based high-throughput screening method for the discovery of dietary phytochemicals to target microbial transformation of L-carnitine into trimethylamine, a gut metabolite associated with cardiovascular disease

Nowadays, there is great interest in the discovery of food compounds that might inhibit gut microbial TMA production from its methylamine precursors. In this work, an innovative novel screening strategy capable of rapidly determining the differences in the metabolic response of Klebsiella pneumoniae, a bacteria producing TMA under aerobic conditions, to a library of extracts obtained from food and natural sources was developed. The proposed high-throughput screening (HTS) method combines resazurin reduction assay in 384-well plates and Gaussian Processes as a machine learning tool for data processing, allowing for a fast, cheap and highly standardized evaluation of any interfering effect of a given compound or extract on the microbial metabolism sustained by L-carnitine utilization. As a proof-of-concept of this strategy, a pilot screening of 39 extracts and 6 pure compounds was performed to search for potential candidates that could inhibit in vitro TMA formation from L-carnitine. Among all the extracts tested, three of them were selected as candidates to interfere with TMA formation. Subsequent in vitro assays confirmed the potential of oregano and red thyme hexane extracts (at 1 mg mL−1) to inhibit TMA formation in bacterial lysates. In such in vitro assay, the red thyme extract exerted comparable effects on TMA reduction (∼40%) as 7.5 mM meldonium (∼50% TMA decrease), a reported L-carnitine analogue. Our results show that metabolic activity could be used as a proxy of the capacity to produce TMA under controlled culture conditions using L-carnitine to sustain metabolism.This work is jointly supported by research grant AGL2017-89055-R (Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, MICINN).We acknowledge support of the publication fee by the CSIC Open Access Publication Support Initiative through its Unit of Information Resources for Research (URICI).Peer reviewe

Contemporary use of cefazolin for MSSA infective endocarditis: analysis of a national prospective cohort

Objectives: This study aimed to assess the real use of cefazolin for methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) infective endocarditis (IE) in the Spanish National Endocarditis Database (GAMES) and to compare it with antistaphylococcal penicillin (ASP). Methods: Prospective cohort study with retrospective analysis of a cohort of MSSA IE treated with cloxacillin and/or cefazolin. Outcomes assessed were relapse; intra-hospital, overall, and endocarditis-related mortality; and adverse events. Risk of renal toxicity with each treatment was evaluated separately. Results: We included 631 IE episodes caused by MSSA treated with cloxacillin and/or cefazolin. Antibiotic treatment was cloxacillin, cefazolin, or both in 537 (85%), 57 (9%), and 37 (6%) episodes, respectively. Patients treated with cefazolin had significantly higher rates of comorbidities (median Charlson Index 7, P <0.01) and previous renal failure (57.9%, P <0.01). Patients treated with cloxacillin presented higher rates of septic shock (25%, P = 0.033) and new-onset or worsening renal failure (47.3%, P = 0.024) with significantly higher rates of in-hospital mortality (38.5%, P = 0.017). One-year IE-related mortality and rate of relapses were similar between treatment groups. None of the treatments were identified as risk or protective factors. Conclusion: Our results suggest that cefazolin is a valuable option for the treatment of MSSA IE, without differences in 1-year mortality or relapses compared with cloxacillin, and might be considered equally effective