Printfills: 3D printed systems combining fused deposition modeling and injection volume filling. Application to colon-specific drug delivery

Three-dimensional printing has become a feasible manufacturing technique for pharmaceutical products providing cheap and accurate freeform systems with a great potential for personalized-dose drugs. Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) highlights among other 3D technologies due to its low cost and easy to operate but, until now, it has the drawbacks of the low drug loaded and the impossibility to print thermosensitive drugs. So, intermediate processes such as hot melt extrusion are frequently associated with FDM. Here, pharmaceutical dosage forms have been manufactured for the first time with a 3D printer combining two different printing technologies: FDM and injection volume filling (IVF), performing customized extruded scaffolds in which a liquid or semisolid system can be injected at room temperature. A model drug and a pH-sensitive polymer were successfully incorporated during the construction of the extruded backbone of the systems, called printfills (printed systems filled with a liquid or semisolid). SEM microphotographs of printfills show the sealing of the structure in the perimeter and the homogeneity of the colonic film formed in the upper side. Thus, the addition of the pH-sensitive polymer does not need an additional process in a fluidized bed or coating pan. Results from drug release studies performed at different pH confirm the ability of printfills for colon-specific drug delivery. Therefore, IVF technology complements FDM, solving its main limitations providing an easy, automatized and versatile technology to manufacture tailored drug delivery platforms, avoiding other intermediate processes.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MAT2016-77345-C3-3-P

Critical points for predicting 3D printable filaments behaviour

Fractal dimension has been employed for the first time to provide key information about the behaviour of extruded filaments. High drug loaded filaments made of thermoplastic polyurethane and anhydrous theophylline (10–70% w/w of drug content) have been obtained by using a single screw extruder. Fractal analysis was carried out based on the measures of the perimeter of the filaments at different magnification levels, using the box-counting technique approach. The fractal dimension values showed a critical point at 37.8% w/w of drug, which agrees with the behaviour of the printability of the filaments by FDM. The drug percolation threshold derived from drug release results was also in agreement with this critical point. Thus, both approaches concur in the estimation of a critical point around 38% w/w of drug, where printability and dissolution behaviour dramatically change. Therefore, the Fractal Dimension analysis could be considered as a non-destructive, non-expensive and fast method for estimating a crucial parameter for FDM 3D printing as is printability of the filament.MCIN/AEI RTI2018-095041-B-C3

Diseño de una herramienta informática para un discurso inclusivo y promoción de la igualdad

La utilización de un lenguaje inclusivo en los discursos académicos constituye un excelente vehículo con el que crear referentes femeninos, representar la aportación de mujeres y hombres tanto en la vida cotidiana como en la Academia y en la ciencia, así como romper estereotipos y prejuicios de carácter sexista. A través de la lengua no solo se describen los acontecimientos y hechos que intentamos transmitir sino que también se construye la realidad que buscamos comunicar. Este alcance dual del uso de la lengua (describir y construir) convierte al uso del lenguaje inclusivo en un elemento central en la consideración de la inclusión de la perspectiva de género en la docencia universitaria. En este marco, la Red de investigación para la docencia universitaria “Universidad, género, docencia e igualdad” de la UA trabaja en el diseño de una herramienta informática que permita identificar, de forma rápida y sencilla, el sexismo en el lenguaje de nuestros discursos

3D printed drug delivery systems based on natural products

In the last few years, the employment of 3D printing technologies in the manufacture of drug delivery systems has increased, due to the advantages that they offer for personalized medicine. Thus, the possibility of producing sophisticated and tailor-made structures loaded with drugs intended for tissue engineering and optimizing the drug dose is particularly interesting in the case of pediatric and geriatric population. Natural products provide a wide range of advantages for their application as pharmaceutical excipients, as well as in scaffolds purposed for tissue engineering prepared by 3D printing technologies. The ability of biopolymers to form hydrogels is exploited in pressure assisted microsyringe and inkjet techniques, resulting in suitable porous matrices for the printing of living cells, as well as thermolabile drugs. In this review, we analyze the 3D printing technologies employed for the preparation of drug delivery systems based on natural products. Moreover, the 3D printed drug delivery systems containing natural products are described, highlighting the advantages offered by these types of excipients.Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades RTI2018-095041-B-C3

A New Approach to Detecting and Measuring Changes in the Feeding Behaviour Habits of Group-Housed Growing-Finishing Pigs

The present work aims to estimate the methods of repeatability and of a new non-parametric approach based on typifying individuals into classes and quantifying (%) the pigs in a group that show similar feeding behaviour habits (FBHs) in consecutive periods ("maintenance"). Both methods were estimated over six consecutive 14-day periods in two trials of group-housed growing-finishing pigs (n = 60 each). The first trial started in summer and ended in autumn, and pigs were fed a pelleted diet (HT-P). The second trial started in spring and ended in summer, and the same diet was fed mash (TH-M). The average daily feed intake obtained the lowest repeatability and maintenance values, and it progressively decreased as pigs grew, independent of environmental conditions or physical feed form, whereas the maintenance and repeatability of the number of feeder visits and the visit size decreased when environmental conditions changed from temperate to hot, and mash-fed pigs had higher maintenance and repeatability values for the time spent eating than pellet-fed pigs. In conclusion, the new approach (maintenance) is a tool that is complementary to the classic repeatability concept and is useful for analysing the evolution of FBHs across periods of time at the individual level

Morphosyntatic assessment in adolescents and young people with Down Syndrome

Las personas con síndrome de Down presentan una especial dificultad en el desarrollo de su lenguaje oral, especialmente en su aspecto expresivo, lo que influye en su capacidad de expresar mensajes que transmitan sus sentimientos, ideas, opiniones… Para buscar una respuesta psicoeducativa adecuada que mejore su expresión oral, se considera adecuado realizar, primero, una evaluación específica de los elementos morfosintácticos que componen dicha expresión. Esta evaluación se ha realizado en una muestra de dieciocho adolescentes de la Asociación Síndrome de Down de Extremadura con edades comprendidas entre los trece y veintiún años de edad aplicándoseles pruebas específicas morfosintácticas para valorar esas necesidades. Los resultados obtenidos muestran sus necesidades educativas específicas en el área expresiva, las cuales orientarán el desarrollo de una intervención adecuada.People with Down syndrome have particular difficulty in language development, mainly in expressive language. These difficulties influence on their ability to express feelings, ideas, opinions… Thus, it is necessary to do a specific evaluation of morphosyntactic components of the language to look for a properly psychoeducational response. were evaluated by means the above program. Standard and nonstandard specific morphosyntactic tests have been applied to evaluate their needs. Here, results of above evaluation of different morphosyntactic components are shown. These results will let us to know the specific educative needs of these people in relation to expressive area. These ones will guide the development of appropriate educational practice.Eighteen young people and teenagers with Down syndrome aged between 13 and 21peerReviewe

Laser-Induced Periodic Surface Structures on Conjugated Polymers: Poly(3-hexylthiophene)

8 pags.; 11 figs.© 2015 American Chemical Society. In this work, we report on the surface patterning of semiconducting poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) thin films by means of laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS). Two different laser wavelengths, 266 and 532 nm, and a broad range of fluences and number of pulses have been used in order to optimize the LIPSS morphology. Ripples period and depth can be tuned by laser parameters. In particular, the high optical absorption of P3HT at 532 nm enables the formation of well-ordered nanostructures with periodicities around 460 nm. Near edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) and Raman spectroscopy reveal a good chemical stability of P3HT thin films during LIPSS formation. Conducting atomic force microscopy (C-AFM) performed on the LIPSS reveals a higher electrical conduction in the trenches than in the ridge regions. Resonance Raman spectroscopy and grazing incidence wide-angle X-ray scattering (GIWAXS) indicate a loss of crystallinity of P3HT thin films during LIPSS formation, suggesting melting of the outer polymer surface. This effect produces ridges with molecular order lower than that of the original thin film. As a consequence of this transformation, the electrical conduction in the ridges becomes lower than that in the trenches.The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) through Projects MAT 2011-23455, MAT 2012-33517 and CTQ 2013-43086-P. A.R.-R. and E.R. are indebted to MINECO for a FPI (BES-2013-062620) and Ramon y Cajal (RYC-2011-08069) contracts, respectively. We thank the Swiss Light Source for beamtime at PolLux, where the NEXAFS experiments were performed. We also thank the ESRF for beamtime at BM26 where in situ GISAXS and GIWAXS experiments were carried out. We thank B. Watts for assistance in using beamline PolLux and G. Portale and W. Bras for beamline support at BM26. P. Müller-Buschbaum and S. Guo are thanked for seminal comments at the beginning of this workPeer Reviewe

Composición corporal y riesgo cardiovascular en niños y adolescentes con Diabetes Mellitus tipo 1

La diabetes tipo 1 es una enfermedad crónica que se acompaña de desórdenes metabólicos que pueden conducir hacia el desarrollo de complicaciones microvasculares y macrovasculares. Revisando la literatura, parece haberse objetivado una disminución importante de las complicaciones microvasculares al mejorar el control metabólico de la enfermedad mediante la introducción de la terapia intensiva de insulina con múltiples dosis. Sin embargo, la enfermedad cardiovascular (ECV) continúa siendo un problema grave de salud en la población con diabetes tipo 1, más frecuente y más precoz que en población sana. Se han descrito como factores implicados: la obesidad, sobre todo si se asocia a exceso de grasa corporal, la dislipemia y la hipertensión arterial, además del control metabólico inadecuado; pero todavía son escasos los estudios sobre este tema en niños y adolescentes con diabetes, lo cual ha servido de punto de partida para esta tesis

Impact of Recommended Maternal Vaccination Programs on the Clinical Presentation of SARS-CoV-2 Infection: A Prospective Observational Study

Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19; 2019-nCoV; Vacunes; EmbaràsCoronavirus SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19; 2019-nCoV; Vacunas; EmbarazoCoronavirus SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19; 2019-nCoV; Vaccines; PregnancyThe COVID-19 pandemic has raised questions about the possible cross immunity resulting from common vaccination programs and SARS-CoV-2 infection. Therefore, the Spanish Obstetric Emergency group performed a multicenter prospective study on the vaccination status of Influenza and Tdap (diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis vaccine boost administered in adulthood) in consecutive cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection in a pregnancy cohort, in order to assess its possible association with the clinical presentation and severity of symptoms of SARS-CoV-2 infection, as well as to determine the factors that may affect vaccination adherence. A total of 1150 SARS-CoV-2 positive pregnant women from 78 Spanish hospitals were analyzed: 183 had not received either vaccine, 23 had been vaccinated for Influenza only, 529 for Tdap only and 415 received both vaccines. No association was observed between the vaccination status and the clinical presentation of SARS-CoV-2 infection and/or the severity of symptoms. However, a lower adherence to the administration of both vaccines was observed in the Latin-American subgroup. Based on the results above, we reinforce the importance of maternal vaccination programs in the actual pandemic. Health education campaigns should be specially targeted to groups less likely to participate in these programs, as well as for a future SARS-CoV-2 vaccination campaign.This research was supported by public funds obtained in competitive calls: Grant COV20/ 00021 from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III-Spanish Ministry of Health, and co-financed with Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) funds