Importancia de la producción de biopelícula en infecciones protésicas causadas por Staphylococcus sp.: Implicaciones terapeúticas

Tesis Doctoral inédita leída en la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Facultad de Medicina, Departamento de Medicina Preventiva. Fecha de lectura: 14-02-201

Atribución de responsabilidad en condenados por violencia de género

La presente investigación analiza las estrategias de justificación y negación de la responsabilidad de agresores condenados por violencia de género. Tras revisar las investigaciones precedentes afines al objeto de estudio, se procedió al análisis de los expedientes penitenciarios de 129 condenados por uno o varios asuntos de violencia de género, con quienes se llevó a cabo una entrevista semiestructurada; respondieron además a la Escala de Atribución de Responsabilidad y Minimización (Lila, Herrero y Gracia, 2008). Los resultados muestran que un porcentaje elevado de agresores asumen la responsabilidad por los episodios violentos. Así mismo, se ha constatado que los condenados que han participado o participan en un programa de tratamiento específico de violencia de género, tienen una menor tendencia a minimizar el daño, y por lo tanto asumen en mayor medida su responsabilidad en los hechos cometidos. No obstante, los datos indican que un importante número de agresores culpan a la víctima de la agresión.This article analyzes the strategies of justification and denial about the responsibility of aggressors convicts of gender violence. After consulting previous studies and the analysis of Penitentiary Records of 129 aggressors who have been convicted for one or more legal issues of gender violence, it has been carried out a semi-structured interview, and also it has been applied the Attribution of Responsibility and Minimization Scale (Lila, Herrero & Gracia, 2008). The outcomes show that a high percentage of aggressors tend to take responsibility for their acts of violence. In the same way it has been found that convicts who have participated in a specific program of treatment of gender violence minimize damage to a lesser extent, therefore they assume the responsibility for the violence. However, the study concludes that there are many aggressors who blame the victim of the episodes of violence.Universidad de Extremadura DER2010-1600

Sonication of intramedullary nails: Clinically-related infection and contamination

Background and Aim: Sonication is currently considered the best procedure for microbiological diagnosis of implant-related osteoarticular infection, but studies in nail-related infections are lacking. The study aim was to evaluate implant sonication after intramedullary nail explantation, and relate it to microbiological cultures and clinical outcome. Patients and Methods: A study was performed in two University Hospitals from the same city. Thirty-one patients with implanted nails were prospectively included, whether with clinical infection (8 cases) or without (23 cases). Retrieved nails underwent sonication according a previously published protocol. The clinical and microbiological outcome patient was related to the presence of microorganisms in the retrieved implant. Results: Positive results appeared in 15/31 patients (9 with polymicrobial infections) almost doubling those clinically infected cases. The most commonly isolated organisms were Staphylococcus epidermidis (19.2 %) and Staphylococcus aureus (15.4 %). A significant relationship was found between the presence of positive cultures and previous local superficial infection (p=0.019). The presence of usual pathogens was significantly related to clinical infection (p=0.005) or local superficial infection (p=0.032). All patients with positive cultures showed pain diminution or absence of pain after nail removal (15/15), but this only occurred in 8 (out of 16) patients with negative cultures. Conclusions: In patients with previously diagnosed infection or local superficial infection, study of the hardware is mandatory. In cases where pain or patient discomfort is observed, nail sonication can help diagnose the implant colonization with potential pathogens that might require specific treatment to improve the final outcomePart of this work was funded by grants from the Comunidad de Madrid (S2009/MAT-1472) and from the CONSOLIDER-INGENIO Program (FUNCOAT-CSD2008- 00023). DMM was funded by a grant from the Fundación Conchita Rábago de Jiménez Día

Mujeres y poder empresarial en España

Esta publicación contiene la totalidad de los trabajos del Pro - yecto de Investigación 121/05 sobre La participación de las mujeres en la toma de decisiones en las empresas. Esta te - mática se ha abordado desde diferentes perspectivas comple - mentarias, teóricas y aplicadas; cuantitativas y cualitativas. En el primer capítulo se ha llevado a cabo una revisión y clasificación de la literatura y la investigación científica existente sobre la problemática objeto de estudio y la elabo - ración de un análisis crítico de la misma con arreglo a los epígrafes siguientes: – Los estereotipos de género. – El papel de las mujeres directivas en la mejora de la efi - ciencia. – Estilos de dirección masculinos y femeninos. – Gestionar la diversidad. – Liderazgo y cambio de valores. – Liderazgo y talento: los valores en la crisi

Co-circulation of SARS-CoV-2 Alpha and Gamma variants in Italy, February and March 2021

: BackgroundSeveral SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOC) have emerged through 2020 and 2021. There is need for tools to estimate the relative transmissibility of emerging variants of SARS-CoV-2 with respect to circulating strains.AimWe aimed to assess the prevalence of co-circulating VOC in Italy and estimate their relative transmissibility.MethodsWe conducted two genomic surveillance surveys on 18 February and 18 March 2021 across the whole Italian territory covering 3,243 clinical samples and developed a mathematical model that describes the dynamics of co-circulating strains.ResultsThe Alpha variant was already dominant on 18 February in a majority of regions/autonomous provinces (national prevalence: 54%) and almost completely replaced historical lineages by 18 March (dominant across Italy, national prevalence: 86%). We found a substantial proportion of the Gamma variant on 18 February, almost exclusively in central Italy (prevalence: 19%), which remained similar on 18 March. Nationally, the mean relative transmissibility of Alpha ranged at 1.55-1.57 times the level of historical lineages (95% CrI: 1.45-1.66). The relative transmissibility of Gamma varied according to the assumed degree of cross-protection from infection with other lineages and ranged from 1.12 (95% CrI: 1.03-1.23) with complete immune evasion to 1.39 (95% CrI: 1.26-1.56) for complete cross-protection.ConclusionWe assessed the relative advantage of competing viral strains, using a mathematical model assuming different degrees of cross-protection. We found substantial co-circulation of Alpha and Gamma in Italy. Gamma was not able to outcompete Alpha, probably because of its lower transmissibility

Co-circulation of SARS-CoV-2 Alpha and Gamma variants in Italy, February and March 2021

Background. Several SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOC) have emerged through 2020 and 2021. There is need for tools to estimate the relative transmissibility of emerging variants of SARS-CoV-2 with respect to circulating strains.AimWe aimed to assess the prevalence of co-circulating VOC in Italy and estimate their relative transmissibility.Methods. We conducted two genomic surveillance surveys on 18 February and 18 March 2021 across the whole Italian territory covering 3,243 clinical samples and developed a mathematical model that describes the dynamics of co-circulating strains.Results. The Alpha variant was already dominant on 18 February in a majority of regions/autonomous provinces (national prevalence: 54%) and almost completely replaced historical lineages by 18 March (dominant across Italy, national prevalence: 86%). We found a substantial proportion of the Gamma variant on 18 February, almost exclusively in central Italy (prevalence: 19%), which remained similar on 18 March. Nationally, the mean relative transmissibility of Alpha ranged at 1.55-1.57 times the level of historical lineages (95% CrI: 1.45-1.66). The relative transmissibility of Gamma varied according to the assumed degree of cross-protection from infection with other lineages and ranged from 1.12 (95% CrI: 1.03-1.23) with complete immune evasion to 1.39 (95% CrI: 1.26-1.56) for complete cross-protection.Conclusion. We assessed the relative advantage of competing viral strains, using a mathematical model assuming different degrees of cross-protection. We found substantial co-circulation of Alpha and Gamma in Italy. Gamma was not able to outcompete Alpha, probably because of its lower transmissibility

Improving the Antimicrobial Power of Low-Effective Antimicrobial Molecules Through Nanotechnology

[EN] The objective of this work was on the one hand to assess the antibacterial activity of amines anchored to the external surface of mesoporous silica particles against Listeria monocytogenes in comparison with the same dose of free amines as well. It was also our aim to elucidate the mechanism of action of the new antimicrobial device. The suitability of silica nanoparticles to anchor, concentrate and improve the antimicrobial power of polyamines against L. monocytogenes has been demonstrated in a saline solution and in a food matrix. Moreover, through microscope observations it has been possible to determine that the attractive binding forces between the positive amine corona on the surface of nanoparticles and the negatively charged bacteria membrane provoke a disruption of the cell membrane. The surface concentration of amines on the surface of the nanoparticles is so effective that immobilized-amines were 100 times more effective in killing L. monocytogenes bacteria than the same amount of free polyamines. This novel approach for the creation of antimicrobial nanodevices opens the possibility to put in value the antimicrobial power of natural molecules that have been discarded because of its low antimicrobial power. Practical ApplicationConsumers demand for high-quality products, free from chemical preservatives, with an extended shelf-life. In this study, a really powerful antimicrobial agent based on a nanomaterial functionalized with a non-antimicrobial organic molecule was developed as a proof of concept. Following this approach it could be possible to develop a new generation of natural and removable antimicrobials based on their anchoring to functional surfaces for food, agricultural or medical purposes.Authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support from the Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad and FEDER-EU (Projects AGL2015-70235-C2-1-R, AGL2015-70235-C2-2-R and MAT2015-64139-C4-1-R [MINECO/FEDER]). M.R.R. is grateful to the Ministerio de Educacion, Cultura y Deporte for her grant (AP2010-4369). The authors also thank the Electron Microscopy Service at the UPV for support.Ruiz Rico, M.; Pérez-Esteve, É.; De La Torre-Paredes, C.; Jiménez Belenguer, AI.; Quiles Chuliá, MD.; Marcos Martínez, MD.; Martínez-Máñez, R.... (2018). Improving the Antimicrobial Power of Low-Effective Antimicrobial Molecules Through Nanotechnology. Journal of Food Science. 83(8):2140-2147. https://doi.org/10.1111/1750-3841.14211S21402147838Al Shamsi, M., Al Samri, M. 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Measurement of an excess in the yield of J/ψ\psi at very low pTp_{\rm T} in Pb-Pb collisions at sNN\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 2.76 TeV

We report on the first measurement of an excess in the yield of J/$\psi$ at very low transverse momentum ($p_{\rm T}< 0.3$ GeV/$c$) in peripheral hadronic Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$ = 2.76 TeV, performed by ALICE at the CERN LHC. Remarkably, the measured nuclear modification factor of J/$\psi$ in the rapidity range $2.5<y<4$ reaches about 7 (2) in the $p_{\rm T}$ range 0-0.3 GeV/$c$ in the 70-90% (50-70%) centrality class. The J/$\psi$ production cross section associated with the observed excess is obtained under the hypothesis that coherent photoproduction of J/$\psi$ is the underlying physics mechanism. If confirmed, the observation of J/$\psi$ coherent photoproduction in Pb-Pb collisions at impact parameters smaller than twice the nuclear radius opens new theoretical and experimental challenges and opportunities. In particular, coherent photoproduction accompanying hadronic collisions may provide insight into the dynamics of photoproduction and nuclear reactions, as well as become a novel probe of the Quark-Gluon Plasma.Comment: 18 pages, 3 captioned figures, 1 table, authors from page 13, published version, figures at http://aliceinfo.cern.ch/ArtSubmission/node/191

Development of an Alcohol Dehydrogenase Biosensor for Ethanol Determination with Toluidine Blue O Covalently Attached to a Cellulose Acetate Modified Electrode

In this work, a novel voltammetric ethanol biosensor was constructed using alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH). Firstly, alcohol dehydrogenase was immobilized on the surface of a glassy carbon electrode modified by cellulose acetate (CA) bonded to toluidine blue O (TBO). Secondly, the surface was covered by a glutaraldehyde/bovine serum albumin (BSA) cross-linking procedure to provide a new voltammetric sensor for the ethanol determination. In order to fabricate the biosensor, a new electrode matrix containing insoluble Toluidine Blue O (TBO) was obtained from the process, and enzyme/coenzyme was combined on the biosensor surface. The influence of various experimental conditions was examined for the characterization of the optimum analytical performance. The developed biosensor exhibited sensitive and selective determination of ethanol and showed a linear response between 1 × 10−5 M and 4 × 10−4 M ethanol. A detection limit calculated as three times the signal-to-noise ratio was 5.0 × 10−6 M. At the end of the 20th day, the biosensor still retained 50% of its initial activity