Systematic review and critical appraisal of Childhood Trauma Questionnaire ¿ Short Form (CTQ-SF)

Background: Child maltreatment is a complex and multidimensional construct that encompasses a great number of risk factors. The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire ¿ Short Form, one of the most widely used and validated instruments to assess childhood maltreatment in the past ten years, is a retrospective instrument that assesses several types of childhood abuse and maltreatment which is divided into five dimensions. Objective: The objectives of this systematic review are to critically appraise, compare, and summarize the methodological quality and psychometric properties of published research articles validating the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire ¿ Short Form utilizing the COSMIN checklist. Method: Articles published in English or Spanish, in the past ten years in the databases of Scopus, Web of Science, and ProQuest, and which, directly or indirectly analyzed psychometric properties of the CTQ-SF were screened, examined, and assessed utilizing the COSMIN checklist. Results: Main results indicate that there is a general pattern of assessing the same three psychometric properties (internal consistency, structural validity, and hypothesis testing) in a variety of samples, but leaving unassessed the rest of properties examined by the COSMIN checklist. Additionally, there are some problems with the internal consistency of several factors. Implications and conclusions: While replicability and internal consistency are good psychometric indicators of the CTQ-SF, there is a big scientific gap of information regarding some psychometric properties. It is suggested that future research should address the remaining psychometric properties, reliability, measurement error, content validity, cross cultural and criterion validity, as well as re-examining internal consistency of some dimensions, in order to advance in the knowledge on childhood maltreatment assessment

Drought and Forest Decline in the Iberian Peninsula: A Simple Explanation for a Complex Phenomenom?

Different episodes of forest decline have been reported in several areas of the Northern Hemisphere during the 20th century. The explanation of this process included anthropogenic (air pollution), biotic (pathogens) and climatic factors. Among the climatic factors, the effects of acute or chronic droughts have been the most common explanation for the massive dieback observed. In the Iberian Peninsula, besides the pathogenic explanation which gives a paramount relevance to the fungus Phytophtora cinnamomi in many situations, the role of an increment in aridity (chronic) or the consequences of severe droughts (acute) have been empirically supported. The evident synchronism between forest decline and abnormally adverse climatic conditions, in addition to the reversibility of the process when precipitation intensity increased, are two major arguments for supporting the climatic involvement in the phenomenon. Nevertheless, the two most affected species in the episodes of oak decline in the Iberian Peninsula were Quercus ilex and Q. suber, which are representatives of the so called Mediterranean woody flora and which have been considered as more drought resistant than the temperate oak species that co-occur in this territory. The climatic complexity ofthe Iberian Peninsula, the many mechanisms for coping with water stress that have been described within the sclerophyllous Mediterranean flora and the effects of human management partially explain this paradox. Other forest species have also been affected by massive decline. Pinus sylvestris and Abies alba, which have their southern distribution limit in the mountain ranges of the Iberian Peninsula, are two examples of this situation. Both cases, besides the inmediate effects of some climatic perturbations, need the incorporation of different predisposing factors – mainly historical aspects to obtain a complete image of the process

El acondicionamiento ambiental y la conservación del patrimonio arquitectónico

La investigación en el campo de la rehabilitación necesita del desarrollo del conocimiento de las técnicas de acondicionamiento ambiental, y homogeneizarse así con el estado actual del conocimiento de las técnicas constructivas y estructurales y, en general, de la patología de la edificación. En este artículo se destaca cómo los problemas más graves de la rehabilitación de edificios, al menos conceptualmente, no se encuentran en el campo estructural ni en el constructivo (que ya ofrecen una gama amplia de soluciones) sino en el del acondicionamiento ambiental en todas sus vertientes: acústico, lumínico, higrotérmico y de calidad del aire

Direct medical image-based Finite Element modelling for patient-specific simulation of future implants

[EN] In patient specific biomedical simulation, the numerical model is usually created after cumbersome, time consuming procedures which often require highly specialized human work and a great amount of man-hours to be carried out. In order to make numerical simulation available for medical practice, it is of primary importance to reduce the cost associated to these procedures by making them automatic. In this paper a method for the automatic creation of Finite Element (FE) models from medical images is presented. This method is based on the use of a hierarchical structure of nested Cartesian grids in which the medical image is immersed. An efficient h-adaptive procedure conforms the FE model to the image characteristics by refining the mesh on the basis of the distribution of elastic properties associated to the pixel values. As a result, a problem with a reasonable number of degrees of freedom is obtained, skipping the geometry creation stage. All the image information is taken into account during the calculation of the element stiffness matrix, therefore it is straightforward to include the material heterogeneity in the simulation. The proposed method is an adapted version of the Cartesian grid Finite Element Method (cgFEM) for the FE analysis of objects defined by images. cgFEM is an immersed boundary method that uses h-adaptive Cartesian meshes non-conforming to the boundary of the object to be analysed. The proposed methodology, used together with the original geometry-based cgFEM, allows prosthesis geometries to be easily introduced in the model providing a useful tool for evaluating the effect of future implants in a preoperative framework. The potential of this kind of technology is presented by mean of an initial implementation in 2D and 3D for linear elasticity problems.With the support of the European Union Framework Programme (FP7) under grant agreement No. 289361 'Integrating Numerical Simulation and Geometric Design Technology (INSIST)', the Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad of Spain (DPI2010-20542) and the Generalitat Valenciana (PROMETEO/2016/007).Giovannelli, L.; Ródenas, J.; Navarro-Jiménez, J.; Tur Valiente, M. (2017). Direct medical image-based Finite Element modelling for patient-specific simulation of future implants. Finite Elements in Analysis and Design. 136:37-57. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.finel.2017.07.010S375713

Robust h-adaptive meshing strategy considering exact arbitrary CAD geometries in a Cartesian grid framework

[EN] Geometry plays a key role in contact and shape optimization problems in which the accurate representation of the exact geometry and the use of adaptive analysis techniques are crucial to obtaining accurate computationally-efficient Finite Element (FE) simulations. We propose a novel algorithm to generate 3D h-adaptive meshes for an Immersed Boundary Method (IBM) based on Cartesian grids and the so-called NEFEM (NURBS-Enhanced FE Method) integration techniques. To increase the accuracy of the results at the minimum computational cost we seek to keep the efficient Cartesian structure of the mesh during the whole analysis process while considering the exact boundary representation of domains given by NURBS or T-Splines. Within the framework of Cartesian grids, the two significant contributions of this paper are: (a) the methodology used for the mesh-geometry intersection, which represents a considerable challenge due to their independence; and (b) the robust procedure used to generate the integration subdomains that exactly represent the CAD model. The numerical examples given show the proper convergence of the method, its capacity to mesh complex 3D geometries and that Cartesian grid-based IBM can be considered a robust and reliable tool in terms of accuracy and computational cost.The authors wish to thank the Spanish Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad for the financial support received through Project DPI2013-46317-R and the FPI program (BES-2011-044080), also the Generalitat Valenciana for the assistance received through Project PROMETEO/2016/007.Marco, O.; Ródenas, J.; Navarro-Jiménez, J.; Tur Valiente, M. (2017). Robust h-adaptive meshing strategy considering exact arbitrary CAD geometries in a Cartesian grid framework. Computers & Structures. 193:87-109. doi:10.1016/j.compstruc.2017.08.004S8710919

Implementación de un sistema de escenarios futuros sobre el mapa de usos de suelo de Andalucía.

La Consejería de Medio Ambiente (CMA) ha puesto en marcha un estudio para la generación de cartografía prospectiva de usos de suelo en la Andalucía del siglo XXI. El objeto de este proyecto es explorar y analizar la posible evolución a medio-largo plazo de los usos del suelo y sus implicaciones ambientales, en un contexto de cambio global según diferentes escenarios. Los estudios prospectivos tales como, la construcción de escenarios, permiten iluminar la toma de decisiones. La distribución de los usos de suelo influye en el crecimiento y desarrollo de nuestra sociedad y representa un elemento importante para predecir los impactos ambientales. Actualmente la CMA dispone de una cartografía con los más elevados niveles de detalle y precisión espacial, que cumple los estándares cartográficos internacionales, y que cubre los últimos 50 años en la evolución de los usos del suelo en nuestra región. El poder anticipar, bajo diferentes supuestos de desarrollo socioeconómico, la evolución y la distribución de los usos del suelo en el futuro, supondría avanzar y complementar esta línea de trabajo. La integración de estos factores se ha llevado a cabo mediante autómatas celulares utilizados para modelar los cambios de uso y el desarrollo urbano.The Environmental Ministry of the Andalusian Regional Government has initiated a study to generate prospective mapping of land uses in Andalusia in the XXI century. The goal of this project is to explore and analyze medium to long- term land uses changes and their environmental implications according to different scenarios in the context of global change. Predicting land use change under such scenarios will provide valuable information to decision makers. The distribution of the land uses influences in the growth and development of our society and thus represents a crucial element to predict future environmental impacts. The Environmental Ministry of Andalusia currently has maps available that depict land use changes in the region over the past 50 years and contain the highest level of detail and spatial precision according to international cartographic standards. The power to predict the growth and distribution of future land uses under different assumptions of socioeconomic development will advance and complement this work. The integration of these factors is carried out based on cellular automata applied to model land use changes and urban development

Comparative assessment of RAMS and WRF short-term forecasts over Eastern Iberian Peninsula using various in-situ observations, remote sensing products and uncoupled land surface model datasets

The Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS) and the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) mesoscale models are being used for weather and air quality studies as well as forecasting tools in Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) systems. In the current study, we perform a comparative assessment of these models under distinct typical atmospheric conditions, classified according to the dominant wind flow and cloudiness, over Eastern Iberian Peninsula. This study is focused on the model representation of key physical processes in terms of meteorology and surface variables during a 7-days period in summer 2011. The hourly outputs produced by these two models are compared not only with observed standard surface variables, measured at different permanent weather stations located over the region of study, but also with different surface remote sensing products and uncoupled Land Surface Models (LSM) datasets. Confronting RAMS and WRF, the current study highlights relevant differences over areas near the coast when mesoscale circulations or Eastern synoptic advections are developed over the region of study. A higher moisture content is observed under these atmospheric conditions, due to the moisture transport by the sea breeze inland. In this regard, it has been found that the Eastern wind field simulated by WRF reaches inland areas and comprises a larger sea breeze extension than RAMS. This sea breeze development impacts meteorology and surface variables in locations not too close to the coast, but still affected by land-sea winds. Additionally, WRF remains more windy and moister than RAMS at night-time, while alike results are found under Western synoptic advections. The results obtained in the current paper show differences under distinct dominant atmospheric conditions, which outline further research in this field in order to achieve more general conclusions

Antibacterial activity of bovine milk lactoferrin on the emerging foodborne pathogen Cronobacter sakazakii: Effect of media and heat treatment

Cronobacter sakazakii is a pathogen transmitted by food, with high osmotic resistance and tolerance to desiccation, which affects mainly to newborns, infants and immunocompromised adults. C. sakazakii infection in infants has been associated with consumption of powdered milk. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the antibacterial activity of native and iron-saturated bovine lactoferrin (bLF) (from 0.5 to 5 mg/ml) on non-desiccated and desiccated C. sakazakii (104 CFU/ml) in different media (phosphate buffer, bovine skim milk and whey). In general, native bLF was the only effective form that inhibited growth of C. sakazakii in all media, its activity increasing with concentration and time of incubation. These results suggest that the antibacterial effect of bLF on C. sakazakii is mainly due to iron sequestration. However, iron-saturated bLF showed some effect by reducing the viability of C. sakazakii in whey. There has not been observed an increased sensitivity of desiccated bacteria to native bLF in phosphate buffer. However, although the antibacterial activity of native bLF against non-desiccated C. sakazakii was drastically reduced in milk or whey compared to phosphate buffer, there was a certain activity when it was assayed against desiccated cells in those media. The effect of some heat treatments on the antibacterial activity of native bLF was evaluated and only those of 72 °C for 15 s, 85 °C for 15 s, and 63 °C for 30 min maintained its whole activity

Identification of electroactive sites in Prussian Yellow films

Prussian Blue films were electrogenerated on the surface of the transparent ITO electrodes. The electrochemical oxidation to the Prussian Yellow form was investigated by means of in situ voltammetry and vis–NIR spectroscopic techniques. Changes of the whole spectra between 400 and 950 nm were analyzed and three characteristic wavelengths were selected to in situ follow the electrochemical changes of the films. Voltammetric peaks and absorbance derivative curves at these three wavelengths were deconvoluted and were interpreted such as the overlapping of different electrochemical processes. The correlation between these overlapped processes has allowed proposing three different electrochemical processes for the interpretation of the whole electrochemical response. One of these processes corresponds to the oxidation of View the MathML source units where the electrical charge is balanced by the exchange of neighbor potassium cations. The second one is associated to the oxidation of View the MathML source trapped sites and the third one also to the oxidation of View the MathML source units but in this last case, the absence of neighbor potassium cations causes that the electrical charge balance takes place by the exchange of some anions such as the chloride. These processes have been identified on the basis of previous results and on the interesting information provided by the coupling voltammetry and absorbance derivative curves at these characteristic wavelengths

¿Cuál es la actitud de los médicos hacia el actual modelo de atención primaria?

ObjetivoDeterminar cómo es la actitud de los médicos hacia el actual modelo de atención primaria de salud y estimar su relación con variables de tipo sociodemográfico y/o laboral.DiseñoEstudio multicéntrico, transversal.EmplazamientoCentros de salud del Área II de la Región de Murcia.ParticipantesTotalidad de médicos generales, de familia y pediatras de los centros de salud mencionados (54 en total).Mediciones principalesComo instrumento de evaluación se utiliza la «Escala de actitudes hacia los contenidos de atención primaria de salud», de Ballesteros et al. Esta escala proporciona una puntuación total, así como una puntuación específica para cada una de las 7 dimensiones que la componen.ResultadosEn general, la actitud de los médicos es favorable (4,1 puntos de media sobre 5). En la dimensión «Inclusión de los profesionales del segundo nivel en atención primaria» es donde hemos encontrado una actitud menos favorable, siendo los médicos de familia los que se muestran más de acuerdo. En cuanto a las demás variables asociadas, los profesionales que trabajan en centros periféricos y en situación de interinidad muestran una actitud más positiva hacia el actual modelo.ConclusionesEl conocimiento de las actitudes de los profesionales, así como de las variables relacionadas, puede servir de base para diseñar posibles estrategias de intervención dirigidas a la mejora de la calidad asistencial en atención primaria y para una evolución positiva de los profesionales que prestan sus servicios.ObjectivesTo determine the attitude of doctors towards the current model of primary care and to calculate its relationship with social and demographic and/or work variables.DesignMulti-centre cross-sectional study.SettingHealth centres in Area II of the Murcia region.ParticipantsAll general practitioners, family doctors and paediatricians in the health centres mentioned (54 in all).Main measurementsThe «Scale of attitudes towards the contents of primary health care» by Ballesteros et al. was used as the tool of evaluation. This scale provides both a total score and a specific score for each of its 7 dimensions.ResultsIn general, doctors´ attitudes were favourable (4.1 points average out of 5). We found a less favourable attitude in the dimension «Inclusion of second-level professionals in primary care», with family doctors most in agreement. The professionals working in centres on the periphery and those without tenure had a more positive attitude towards the current model, for the remaining variables.ConclusionsUnderstanding professionals´ attitudes and the variables related to them may serve as a basis for designing intervention strategies aimed at improving the quality of primary care and for the positive evolution of professionals working in PC