Digitalización, crisis económica y televisión local pública en España : los casos de Andalucía y Cataluña (2010-2015)

La digitalización en un contexto de crisis económica - financiera ha afectado seriamente a las televisiones públicas locales españolas. Este artículo evalúa la dimensión de ese impacto y las razones de fondo que lo explican. Metodología: El análisis comparado de los casos andaluz y catalán permite mostrar con mayor detalle la evolución en las dos autonomías con un mayor sector público local. Resultados: Se aportan abundantes datos originales que miden, por rimera vez, el impacto de la crisis en la financiación, recursos humanos y contenidos de la TDT -L pública. Discusión y conclusiones: Los problemas para obtener algunos datos matizan a lguna de las conclusiones, que muestran un debilitamiento del sector, la ausencia de estrategia de los gobiernos autonómicos y la heterogeneidad de respuestas locales a un problema estatal. Además, aparece como necesaria más investigación sobre el impacto en los contenidos y en la situación laboral en esas empresas.The digitization in a context of economic and financial crisis gravely affected local public television in Spain. This article examines the dimension of its impact and the reasons that explain it. Methodology:The comparative analysis of the Andalucian and the Catalan casesallows us to show in detail the evolution of the two regions with a wider local public sector. Results: We contribute with abundant and original data that measure, for the first time, the impact of the crisis in the funding, human resources and contents in the public DTT-L sector. Discussion and conclusions:Conclusions show the weakening of the sector, the lack of strategies from autonomous governments and the heterogeneity of local solutions to a State-wide problem. Moreover, we point out the necessity of a research about the impact in the contents and the situation of these companies and workers

Invirtiendo en capital natural: un marco para integrar la sostenibilidad ambiental en las políticas de cooperación

Tomando en cuenta la magnitud de la crisis ambiental que afecta al planeta y los estrechos vínculos existentes entre la conservación de los ecosistemas y la lucha contra la pobreza, cabría preguntarse por qué los temas de protección del medio ambiente continúan teniendo un peso relativo tan bajo en las agendas y prioridades de las agencias de cooperación internacional. En este artículo, se analizan las razones de este desequilibrio y se propone un marco conceptual con base socio-ecológica para facilitar una verdadera integración de la sostenibilidad ambiental como prioridad estratégica en las políticas y herramientas de ayuda oficial al desarrollo. Varios paradigmas y principios fundamentales emanan de este nuevo marco conceptual, que considera a los ecosistemas funcionales como un capital natural que, adecuadamente gestionado, es capaz de producir un rico y variado flujo de servicios sobre los cuales es posible construir un proceso de desarrollo social, económica y ambientalmente sostenible, además de justo en términos de equidad intra e intergeneracional

Electrochemical performance of activated screen printed carbon electrodes for hydrogen peroxide and phenol derivatives sensing

Screen-printed carbon electrodes (SPCEs) are widely used for the electroanalysis of a plethora of organic and inorganic compounds. These devices offer unique properties to address electroanalytical chemistry challenges and can successfully compete in numerous aspects with conventional carbon-based electrodes. However, heterogeneous kinetics on SPCEs surfaces is comparatively sluggish, which is why the electrochemical activation of inks is sometimes required to improve electron transfer rates and to enhance sensing performance. In this work, SPCEs were subjected to different electrochemical activation methods and the response to H2O2 electroanalysis was used as a testing probe. Changes in topology, surface chemistry and electrochemical behavior to H2O2 oxidation were performed by SEM, XPS, cyclic voltammetry, chronoamperometry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The combination of electrochemical activation methods using H2SO4 and H2O2 proved particularly effective. A reduction in charge transfer resistance, together with functionalization with some carbon‑oxygen groups on carbon ink surfaces, were likely responsible for such electrochemical improvement. The use of a two-step protocol with 0.5 M H2SO4 and 10 mM H2O2 under potential cycling conditions was the most effective activation procedure investigated herein, and gave rise to 518-fold higher sensitivity than that obtained for the untreated SPCEs upon H2O2 electrooxidation. The electrochemical behavior of acetaminophen, hydroquinone and dopamine is also shown, as a proof of concept upon the optimum activated SPCEs.This work was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO, http://www.mineco.gob.es/portal/site/mineco/idi), Projects No. BFU2016-75609-P (AEI/FEDER, UE) and CTQ2016-76231-C2-2-R, and by the Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha (Spain), Project No. SBPLY/17/180501/000276/2 (cofunded with FEDER funds, EU). BGM is a post-doctoral research fellow of the Youth Employment Initiative (JCCM, Spain, cofunded with ESF funds, EU)

Highly activated screen-printed carbon electrodes by electrochemical treatment with hydrogen peroxide

An easy effective method for the activation of commercial screen-printed carbon electrodes (SPCEs) using H2O2 is presented to enhance sensing performances of carbon ink. Electrochemical activation consists of 25 repetitive voltammetric cycles at 10 mV s−1 using 10 mM H2O2 in phosphate buffer (pH 7). This treatment allowed us to reach a sensitivity of 0.24 ± 0.01 μA μM−1 cm−2 for the electroanalysis of H2O2, which is 140-fold higher than that of untreated SPCEs and 6-fold more than screen-printed platinum electrodes (SPPtEs). Electrode surface properties were characterized by SEM, EIS and XPS. The results revealed atomic level changes at the electrode surface, with the introduction of new carbon‑oxygen groups being responsible for improved electro-transfer properties and sensitivity. Our method was compared with other previously described ones. The methodology is promising for the activation of commercial carbon inks-based electrodes for sensor applications.This work was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO, http://www.mineco.gob.es/portal/site/mineco/idi), Projects No. BFU2016-75609-P (cofunded with FEDER funds, EU) and CTQ2016-76231-C2-2-R. BGM is a post-doctoral research fellow of the Youth Employment Initiative (JCCM, Spain, cofounded with ESF funds, EU)

A New Fiji-Based Algorithm That Systematically Quantifies Nine Synaptic Parameters Provides Insights into Drosophila NMJ Morphometry

The morphology of synapses is of central interest in neuroscience because of the intimate relation with synaptic efficacy. Two decades of gene manipulation studies in different animal models have revealed a repertoire of molecules that contribute to synapse development. However, since such studies often assessed only one, or at best a few, morphological features at a given synapse, it remained unaddressed how different structural aspects relate to one another. Furthermore, such focused and sometimes only qualitative approaches likely left many of the more subtle players unnoticed. Here, we present the image analysis algorithm ‘Drosophila_NMJ_Morphometrics’, available as a Fiji-compatible macro, for quantitative, accurate and objective synapse morphometry of the Drosophila larval neuromuscular junction (NMJ), a well-established glutamatergic model synapse. We developed this methodology for semi-automated multiparametric analyses of NMJ terminals immunolabeled for the commonly used markers Dlg1 and Brp and showed that it also works for Hrp, Csp and Syt. We demonstrate that gender, genetic background and identity of abdominal body segment consistently and significantly contribute to variability in our data, suggesting that controlling for these parameters is important to minimize variability in quantitative analyses. Correlation and principal component analyses (PCA) were performed to investigate which morphometric parameters are inter-dependent and which ones are regulated rather independently. Based on nine acquired parameters, we identified five morphometric groups: NMJ size, geometry, muscle size, number of NMJ islands and number of active zones. Based on our finding that the parameters of the first two principal components hardly correlated with each other, we suggest that different molecular processes underlie these two morphometric groups. Our study sets the stage for systems morphometry approaches at the well-studied Drosophila NMJThis study was supported by VIDI and TOP grants (917-96-346, 912-12-109) from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO), by a DCN/Radboud University Medical Center PhD fellowship, by the German Mental Retardation Network funded by the NGFN+ program of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and by the European Union's FP7 large scale integrated network Gencodys (HEALTH-241995) to A

Design and Characterization of Effective Ag, Pt and AgPt Nanoparticles to H2O2 Electrosensing from Scrapped Printed Electrodes

The use of disposable screen-printed electrodes (SPEs) has extraordinarily grown in the last years. In this paper, conductive inks from scrapped SPEs were removed by acid leaching, providing high value feedstocks suitable for the electrochemical deposition of Ag, Pt and Ag core-Pt shell-like bimetallic (AgPt) nanoparticles, onto screen-printed carbon electrodes (ML@SPCEs, M = Ag, Pt or AgPt, L = metal nanoparticles from leaching solutions). ML@SPCEs were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The results were compared to those obtained when metal nanoparticles were synthesised using standard solutions of metal salts (MS@SPCEs). Both ML@SPCEs and MS@SPCEs exhibited similar cyclic voltammetric patterns referred to the electrochemical stripping of silver or the adsorption/desorption of hydrogen/anions in the case of platinum, proving leaching solutions extremely effective for the electrodeposition of metallic nanoparticles. The use of both ML@SPCEs and MS@SPCEs proved effective in enhancing the sensitivity for the detection of H2O2 in phosphate buffer solutions (pH = 7). The AgPtL@SPCE was used as proof of concept for the validation of an amperometric sensor for the determination of H2O2 within laundry boosters and antiseptic samples. The electrochemical sensor gave good agreement with the results obtained by a spectrophotometric method with H2O2 recoveries between 100.6% and 106.4%.This work was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO, http://www.mineco.gob.es/portal/site/mineco/idi), Projects No. BFU2016-75609-P (AEI/FEDER, EU) and CTQ2016-76231-C2-2-R, and by the Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha (Spain), Project No. SBPLY/17/180501/000276/2 (cofunded with FEDER funds, EU). B.G–M is a post-doctoral research fellow of the Youth Employment Initiative (JCCM, Spain, cofunded with ESF funds, EU)

Hacia un mejor control de la tuberculosis multidrogorresistente en países en desarrollo /

Introduction The prevalence of Multidrug resistant Tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is globally increasing. Transmission of resistant strains into the community is jeopardizing global TB control. The vast majority of cases are from developing countries where health systems are insufficient to diagnose, treat and support the patients. Object The main objective of this doctoral thesis is to analyze in deep the MDR-TB problem in developing countries and provide new knowledge in resistance prevention and better MDR-TB treatment results. Hypothesis The more efficient use of current knowledge and tools may contribute to the creation of health policies with impact on resistance prevention and better cure rates. Three different hypotheses were identified: • Hypothesis 1.The anti-TB fixed dose combinations (FDCs) may obtain similar efficacy than single drugs with operative advantages, reduced cost and reducing the resistance acquisition. • Hypothesis 2. Standardized MDR-TB treatments may obtain similar results than individualized also with operative advantages and less cost. • Hypothesis 3. It is possible to create scientific and quality documents for quick self-training and up date of clinicians in the management of MDR-TB. Methods According to the objective and hypothesis formulated, this thesis had worked in three research lines: 1. Systematic review on the FDCs efficacy for the TB treatment respect to single drugs 2. Cohort study and evaluation in terms of efficacy, effectiveness side effects and relapses of MDR-TB patients under standardized and individualized regimens 3. Creation of simple but high quality documents to increase the access of developing countries clinicians to most relevant knowledge regarding MDR-TB to avoid therapeutic errors and resistance amplification. Results Study 1: Systematic review on FDCs efficacy. The 100% of the studies found revealed equal efficacy in terms of culture convertion and cure. Relapses appear to be similar. Adherence acceptance and capacity to reduce resistance acquisition go in favour of FDCs. Other operative and logistic advantages and cost favour FDCs as well. Study 2: Cohort study and evaluation of all MDR-TB patients treated in Dominican Republic between august 2006 and June 2010. There were not found significative statistically differences in culture conversion regarding standardized or individualized treatments. Concerning patients with ended treatments, standardized obtained a treatment success rate of 74% whereas 66% was obtained for individualized. Each patient presented a median of 5 side effects. Cavitation on the chest x ray and more than 2 months for culture conversion were found as risk factor for unfavourable result. Relapse rate was close to 1%. Study 3: Creation of a review article on the subject of drug resistant TB management. List and presentation of the bacteriological bases for TB treatment and minimum requirements and knowledge to take into account to achieve high cure rates. Study 4: Scientific article addressing the simplification of the most correct and updated management of co-infected patients with MDR-TB and HIV in African scarce therapeutic and diagnose resource contexts. Study 5: Perspective article showing the differences on the presentation and management of MDR-TB patients coming from rich and poor countries. Solutions from rich countries, usually the only ones available on the literature or the gold standard are probably not the best solutions or can not be extrapolated to poor countries. Conclusion The articles included represent a scientific back up for anti-TB FDCs massive introduction and the use of standardized regimens for MDR-TB. Simple and quality articles have been created to increase access to MDR-TB management knowledge oriented to clinicians in developing countries. This doctoral thesis provides relevant scientific information towards a better control of MDR-TB in developing countries

Two serological approaches for detection of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 in different scenarios: a screening tool and a point-of-care test

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has infected more than 8 million people worldwide, becoming a pandemic. Detecting antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 is of utmost importance and a good indicator of exposure and circulation of the virus within the general population. Two serological tools based on a double recognition assay [enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (DR-ELISA) and lateral flow assay (DR-LFA)] to detect total antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 have been developed based on the recombinant nucleocapsid protein. A total of 1065 serum samples, including positive for COVID-19 and negative samples from healthy donors or infected with other respiratory pathogens, were analyzed. The results showed values of sensitivity between 91.2% and 100%, and specificity of 100% and 98.2% for DR-LFA and DR-ELISA, respectively. No cross-reactivity against seasonal coronavirus (HCoV-NL63, HCoV-229E, HCoV-HKU1, HCoV-OC43) was found. These results demonstrate the importance of serology as a complementary tool to polymerase chain reaction for follow-up of recovered patients and identification of asymptomatic individuals