Medizinisches Callcenter im Nachtdienst, Teil 2: Die Wirkung auf die Befindlichkeit

Die Nächte stellen wohl die grösste Belastung der Ärzte2 im Notfalldienst dar, vor allem, nachdem wegen Überalterung Notfallkreise zusammengelegt werden mussten und damit der Druck auf den einzelnen Dienstarzt zugenommen hat. Die Dienstkreise Frauenfeld und Arbon–Romanshorn mit 30450 bzw. 37217 Einwohnern untersuchten, ob eine nächtliche Vortriagierung (22 bis 8 Uhr) der Anrufe durch ein medizinisches Callcenter die Dienstärzte entlasten könnte. Die Phase ohne Callcenter dauerte vom 1. 2. bis am 31. 5., jene mit vom 1. 6. bis 30. 9. 2007. 37 von 39 Ärzten nahmen an der Studie teil. Der Rücklauf der Fragebogen betrug 85 bis 92%. Die Ärzte äusserten eine verbesserte Schlaf- und Lebensqualität im Zusammenhang mit dem Notfalldienst und befürworteten den Callcentereinsatz tendenziell. Eine Beteiligung an den Kosten für das Callcenter lehnten sie jedoch allesamt ab. Die Anrufenden gaben sowohl den Dienstärzten als auch den Gesundheitsberatern des Callcenters gute Noten, beanstandeten aber den Tarif unserer 0900-Service-Nummern (CHF 1.93/min). Unsere Studie zeigt, dass eine Vortriagierung nächtlicher Anrufe im Notfalldienst von Patienten und Dienstärzten akzeptiert werden könnte

Simulation of transient thermal comfort in trains

Paper presented at the 5th International Conference on Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics, South Africa, 1-4 July, 2007.The present investigation deals with the challenges in all vehicle industries with respect to air conditioning taking into account transient effects. Transient phenomena occur mainly during door opening and closing, pre-cooling, pre-heating. Numerous vehicles have difficulties to meet the thermal comfort criteria which are imposed by the customer. Typically, requirements are given for the minimum and maximum air velocity, the temperature level, the maximum gradient in different sections and the fresh air rate. More sophisticated requirements includes the predicted mean vote (PMV) and predicted percentage dissatisfied (PPD). Tools which are capable to predict the impact of relevant design options have been used in steady state for several years already. The possibility to use these tools for transient processes in an industrial framework will be discussed.cs201

La implementación de TIC en temas ambientales en la formación de profesores de enseñanza primaria

Uno de los desafíos actuales de la formación docente es la incorporación de un lenguaje nuevo que aparece de la mano de las nuevas tecnologías. Esta comunicación presenta una investigación que da cuenta de la implementación de las TIC en la formación docente, a través del uso de la plataforma educativa y del diseño de un blog para difundir el trabajo realizado por alumnos de la Cátedra de Didáctica de las Ciencias Naturales. La implementación de las TIC y el enfoque CTSA, surgen como una alternativa diferente, mediante la cual el proceso de enseñanza –aprendizaje de las ciencias se concibe como una estrategia enriquecedora en la que se tienen en cuenta diversas variables que contribuyen a motivar a los estudiantes para la reconstrucción de su conocimiento

Structural-Functional Characterization and Physiological Significance of Ferredoxin-NADP+ Reductase from Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. citri

Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. citri is a phytopathogen bacterium that causes severe citrus canker disease. Similar to other phytopathogens, after infection by this bacterium, plants trigger a defense mechanism that produces reactive oxygen species. Ferredoxin-NADP+ reductases (FNRs) are redox flavoenzymes that participate in several metabolic functions, including the response to reactive oxygen species. Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. citri has a gene (fpr) that encodes for a FNR (Xac-FNR) that belongs to the subclass I bacterial FNRs. The aim of this work was to search for the physiological role of this enzyme and to characterize its structural and functional properties. The functionality of Xac-FNR was tested by cross-complementation of a FNR knockout Escherichia coli strain, which exhibit high susceptibility to agents that produce an abnormal accumulation of •O2-. Xac-FNR was able to substitute for the FNR in E. coli in its antioxidant role. The expression of fpr in X. axonopodis pv. citri was assessed using semiquantitative RT-PCR and Western blot analysis. A 2.2-fold induction was observed in the presence of the superoxide-generating agents methyl viologen and 2,3-dimethoxy-1,4-naphthoquinone. Structural and functional studies showed that Xac-FNR displayed different functional features from other subclass I bacterial FNRs. Our analyses suggest that these differences may be due to the unusual carboxy-terminal region. We propose a further classification of subclass I bacterial FNRs, which is useful to determine the nature of their ferredoxin redox partners. Using sequence analysis, we identified a ferredoxin (XAC1762) as a potential substrate of Xac-FNR. The purified ferredoxin protein displayed the typical broad UV-visible spectrum of [4Fe-4S] clusters and was able to function as substrate of Xac-FNR in the cytochrome c reductase activity. Our results suggest that Xac-FNR is involved in the oxidative stress response of Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. citri and performs its biological function most likely through the interaction with ferredoxin XAC1762

A novel ruthenium-silver based antimicrobial potentiates aminoglycoside activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa

The rapid dissemination of antibiotic resistance combined with the decline in the discovery of novel antibiotics represents a major challenge for infectious disease control that can only be mitigated by investments in novel treatment strategies. Alternative antimicrobials, including silver, have regained interest due to their diverse mechanisms of inhibiting microbial growth. One such example is AGXX, a broad-spec­trum antimicrobial that produces highly cytotoxic reactive oxygen species (ROS) to inflict extensive macromolecular damage. Due to the connections identified between ROS production and antibiotic lethality, we hypothesized that AGXX could potentially increase the activity of conventional antibiotics. Using the gram-negative pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa, we screened possible synergistic effects of AGXX on several antibiotic classes. We found that the combination of AGXX and aminoglycosides tested at sublethal concentrations led to a rapid exponential decrease in bacterial survival and restored the sensitivity of a kanamycin-resistant strain. ROS production contributes significantly to the bactericidal effects of AGXX/aminoglycoside treatments, which is dependent on oxygen availability and can be reduced by the addition of ROS scaveng­ers. Additionally, P. aeruginosa strains deficient in ROS detoxifying/repair genes were more susceptible to AGXX/aminoglycoside treatment. We further demonstrate that this synergistic interaction was associated with a significant increase in outer and inner membrane permeability, resulting in increased antibiotic influx. Our study also revealed that AGXX/aminoglycoside-mediated killing requires an active proton motive force across the bacterial membrane. Overall, our findings provide an understanding of cellular targets that could be inhibited to increase the activity of conventional antimicrobial

Prevalencia de la mutación JAK2 V617F en neoplasias mielo proliferativas PHI negativas

La mutación JAK2 V617F es un marcador molecular importante en Neoplasias Mieloproliferativas (NMP) Phi negativas como Policitemia Vera (PV), Trombocitemia Esencial (TE) y Mielofibrosis Primaria (MFP). En el presente estudio analizamos la prevalencia de esta mutación en 58 pacientes, de los cuales 35 presentaban NMP Phi (-) (17 PV, 13 TE, 5 MFP), 15 poliglobulias y 8 otras hemopatías. La detección de la mutación se efectuó mediante PCR-ARMS (Polymerase Chain Reaction-Amplification Refractory Mutation System). La misma se detectó en el 45% de la población estudiada. Observamos que el 88% de las PV, el 69% de las TE y el 40% de las MFP presentaron dicha mutación. La prevalencia de esta mutación es similar a la reportada en la literatura en los casos de PV y TE, y difiere en aquellos casos de MFP, probablemente debido al bajo número de pacientes. Destacamos la relevancia clínica de detectar la mutación JAK2 ya que contribuye no solo al diagnóstico sino que también representa un blanco importante para el desarrollo de nuevos tratamientos.Trabajo Integrador Final (Especialista en Hematología) - - Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, 201

Desarrollo multiplataforma de aplicaciones móviles combinadas con el uso de beacons

X Workshop Innovación en Sistemas de Software (WISS)Red de Universidades con Carreras en Informática (RedUNCI

Spectroscopic and Mechanistic Studies of Heterodimetallic Forms of Metallo-β-lactamase NDM-1

In an effort to characterize the roles of each metal ion in metallo-β-lactamase NDM-1, heterodimetallic analogues (CoCo-, ZnCo-, and CoCd-) of the enzyme were generated and characterized. UV–vis, 1H NMR, EPR, and EXAFS spectroscopies were used to confirm the fidelity of the metal substitutions, including the presence of a homogeneous, heterodimetallic cluster, with a single-atom bridge. This marks the first preparation of a metallo-β-lactamase selectively substituted with a paramagnetic metal ion, Co(II), either in the Zn1 (CoCd-NDM-1) or in the Zn2 site (ZnCo-NDM-1), as well as both (CoCo-NDM-1). We then used these metal-substituted forms of the enzyme to probe the reaction mechanism, using steady-state and stopped-flow kinetics, stopped-flow fluorescence, and rapid-freeze-quench EPR. Both metal sites show significant effects on the kinetic constants, and both paramagnetic variants (CoCd- and ZnCo-NDM-1) showed significant structural changes on reaction with substrate. These changes are discussed in terms of a minimal kinetic mechanism that incorporates all of the data

Desarrollo multiplataforma de aplicaciones móviles combinadas con el uso de beacons

X Workshop Innovación en Sistemas de Software (WISS)Red de Universidades con Carreras en Informática (RedUNCI