The Potential of Iron Ore Tailings as Secondary Deposits of Rare Earths

Plan of Science, Technology and Innovation of the Principality of Asturias [FC-GRUPIN-IDI/2018/000225

Development of a nanostructured electrochemical immunosensor applied to the early detection of invasive aspergillosis

The use of a biological marker as an adjunct for screening for invasive aspergillosis (IA) in high-risk patients is attractive, because it is noninvasive and may detect evidence of IA prior to the appearance of clinical signs and symptoms. Galactomannan (GMN) is a polysaccharide cell-wall component that is released by Aspergillus species. In the present work, an electrochemical microfluidic immunosensor for GMN detection was developed. Moreover, copper nanoparticles covered with polyvinylpyrrolidone (CuNPs-PVP) were synthesized, characterized and used in a microfluidic immunosensor based on the use of anti-GMN antibodies as a trapping agent. The concentration of trapped GMN is then electrochemically quantified by HRP-conjugated anti-GMN-antibody. HRP reacted with its enzymatic substrate in a redox process which resulted in the appearance of a current whose magnitude is directly proportional to the concentration of GMN. The immunosensor was validated by analyzing patient samples, and a good correlation with a commercial ELISA was obtained. This microfluidic immunosensor can be applied to the early diagnosis of IA.Fil: Piguillem Palacios, Sofía Viviana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto de Química de San Luis. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Química, Bioquímica y Farmacia. Instituto de Química de San Luis; ArgentinaFil: Ortega Sánchez, Francisco Gabriel. Weizmann Institute of Science; IsraelFil: Raba, Julio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto de Química de San Luis. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Química, Bioquímica y Farmacia. Instituto de Química de San Luis; ArgentinaFil: Messina, Germán Alejandro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto de Química de San Luis. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Química, Bioquímica y Farmacia. Instituto de Química de San Luis; ArgentinaFil: Fernández Baldo, Martín Alejandro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto de Química de San Luis. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Química, Bioquímica y Farmacia. Instituto de Química de San Luis; Argentin

Anàlisi de les accions defensives del porter en el futbol 7

L’anàlisi de la competició serà un mitjà per millorar el coneixement del joc del porter des d’una perspectiva física i tecnicotàctica. A més a més, suposarà una font d’informació per a l’organització i el disseny de les tasques específiques per a l’entrenament del porter, que han d’assegurar un treball en què es realitzin situacions semblants a la mateixa competició. Per tal de desenvolupar el joc defensiu, el porter ha de coordinar les seves accions amb la defensa del seu equip i, alhora, el joc defensiu de l’equip estarà condicionat per l’atac de l’equip contrari. Per això, per analitzar l’aportació del porter en el joc defensiu de l’equip, es va valorar l’atac contrari, l’acció tècnica defensiva, l’acció física i la zona d’intervenció on realitza l’acció el porter. La mostra de l’estudi la formaven 34 porters de les seleccions nacionals participants en 56 partits del Mundial de Corea i el Japó 2002. L’instrument d’observació que es va utilitzar va ser el sistema de categories. Abans de la recollida de les dades es va realitzar l’entrenament dels observadors, per a la qual cosa es va fer servir la metodologia exposada per Behar (1993). Es van utilitzar 5 observadors i es va establir un índex de confiança (Coeficient de Correlació Intraclasse o Índex de Kappa) del 0,95. Es va realitzar una anàlisi estadística de caràcter descriptiu, dintre de la qual es van calcular les mitjanes, desviacions típiques, mínims i màxims dels comportaments efectuats pels diferents porters; es va utilitzar el programa estadístic SPSS.11.5

Actividad física, hidratación y salud

Since the beginning of mankind, man has sought ways to promote and preserve health as well as to prevent disease. Hydration, physical activity and exercise are key factors for enhancing human health. However, either a little dose of them or an excess can be harmful for health maintenance at any age. Water is an essential nutrient for human body and a major key to survival has been to prevent dehydration. However, there is still a general controversy regarding the necessary amount to drink water or other beverages to properly get an adequate level of hydration. In addition, up to now the tools used to measure hydration are controversial. To this end, there are several important groups of variables to take into account such as water balance, hydration biomarkers and total body water. A combination of methods will be the most preferred tool to find out any risk or situation of dehydration at any age range. On the other hand, physical activity and exercise are being demonstrated to promote health, avoiding or reducing health problems, vascular and inflammatory disea ses and helping weight management. Therefore, physical activity is also being used as a pill within a therapy to promote health and reduce risk diseases, but as in the case of drugs, dose, intensity, frequency, duration and precautions have to be evaluated and taken into account in order to get the maximum effectiveness and success of a treatment. On the other hand, sedentariness is the opposite concept to physical activity that has been recently recognized as an important factor of lifestyle involved in the obesogenic environment and consequently in the risk of the non-communicable diseases. In view of the literature consulted and taking into account the expertise of the authors, in this review a Decalogue of global recommendations is included to achieve an adequate hydration and physical activity status to avoid overweight/obesity consequences.Desde los comienzos del género humano, el hombre ha buscado el modo de promover y preservar la salud, así como prevenir la enfermedad. La hidratación, la actividad física y el ejercicio son factores clave para mejorar la salud. Sin embargo, estos factores en dosis excesivamente bajas o en exceso pueden ser perjudiciales para el mantenimiento de la salud a cualquier edad. El agua es un nutriente esencial para el organismo y un factor clave para la supervivencia y la prevención de la deshidratación. Sin embargo, hay todavía una controversia general en cuanto a la cantidad necesaria de ingesta de agua u otros líquidos con objeto de conseguir un nivel adecuado de hidratación. Además, hasta la fecha no hay consenso sobre las herramientas a utilizar para medir la hidratación. Con este fin, hay varios grupos importantes de variables a tener en cuenta, como el equilibrio de agua, biomarcadores de hidratación y el agua total corporal. Se prefiere en general una combinación de métodos para evaluar riesgo de situaciones de deshidratación en cualquier franja etaria. Por otro lado, se ha demostrado que la actividad física y el ejercicio promueven la salud, evitando o reduciendo la susceptibilidad a enfermedades de tipo vascular o inflamatorio, así como para ayudar en el manejo del peso. Por todo ello, la actividad física está siendo utilizada también a modo de “píldora” en terapias para promover la salud y reducir el riesgo de enfermedad. Como en el caso de los medicamentos, hay que evaluar la dosis, intensidad, frecuencia, duración y tener en cuenta las precauciones necesarias para conseguir la máxima eficacia y el mayor éxito del tratamiento. Por el contrario, el sedentarismo es el concepto opuesto a la actividad física y se ha reconocido recientemente como un factor importante de estilo de vida implicado en el ámbito obesogénico y en consecuencia en el riesgo de las enfermedades no transmisibles. Teniendo en cuenta la bibliografía consultada y la experiencia de los autores, en esta revisión se concluye con unas recomendaciones a modo de decálogo dirigido a la población general para conseguir un estatus de hidratación y actividad física adecuados con el fin de evitar las consecuencias del sobrepeso y la obesidad

Estrés académico y valores de cortisol en estudiantes de medicina.

El estrés constituye uno de los problemas de salud más generalizado actualmente. Con el objetivo de determinar la influencia del estrés académico (EA) sobre los niveles de cortisol, se realizó un estudio descriptivo transversal que incluyó 113 estudiantes (49 hombres y 64 mujeres) del primer ciclo de medicina de la Sede Azogues de la Universidad Católica de Cuenca, a los cuales se aplicó el inventario SISCO al concluir el último examen final, procediendo posteriormente a extraer muestra de sangre para la determinación de los valores de cortisol. Los principales resultados muestran que el total de estudiantes tuvieron niveles medio (13.3% hombres, 15.9% mujeres) y alto (30.1% hombres, 40.7% mujeres) de EA. El nivel de EA alto se presentó en un porcentaje significativamente superior de estudiantes y en mujeres. Los valores de cortisol fueron significativamente más elevados en los hombres que en las mujeres en el nivel de EA medio y similares en el alto. En ambos géneros y en general los estudiantes con niveles de EA alto presentaron valores de cortisol significativamente más elevados. Concluyendo, la totalidad de los estudiantes manifiestan niveles medios y altos de EA, constituyendo el cortisol una hormona cuyo incremento desempeña mediación química clave en la respuesta al mismo. ABSTRACT Stress is one of the most widespread health problems today. The main objective of this research was to determine the relation between levels of academic stress (AE) perceived and the concentrations of cortisol in blood, a cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out that included 113 students (49 men and 64 women) from the first cycle of medicine at the Catholic University of Cuenca (UCACUE)-Ext. Azogues, to which the SISCO inventory was applied at the conclusion of the last final examination, proceeding subsequently to extract a blood sample for the determination of cortisol values. The main results show that the total of students had average levels (13.3% men, 15.9% women) and high (30.1% men, 40.7% women) of academic stress. The high level of academic stress was presented in a significantly high percentage of students and in female gender. Cortisol values were significantly higher in men than in women at the level of average academic stress and similar in the high level. In both genders and in general, students with high academic stress levels had significantly higher cortisol values. In conclusion, all the students manifest medium and high levels of academic stress, being cortisol a hormone whose increase plays a key chemical mediation in response to stress.    

Sulfonación de ésteres metílicos derivados del aceite de palma

Sulfonation with sulfur trioxide (SO3) of methyl esters produced by a transesterification of hydrogenated palm stearin, was studied in the present research. The generation of sulfur trioxide (SO3), by heating, stirring and bubbling nitrogen on oleum, helped establish the conditions for processing. Through gas chromatography and infrared spectroscopy, raw materials were characterized; and with volumetric titrations, the percentage of active substance (Hyamina 1622) and sulfuric acid content in the product were determined, oil-free through drawings with petroleum ether, and coloring was also determined in a spectrophotometer (420 nm). Recommendations were developed from the standpoint of the process used to identify the main variables for the functionality of the sulfonation plant to a scaling-level pilot. The flow of liquid reactant, the molar ratio SO3/methyl ester, the mole fraction of SO3 (or the percentage by volume) in the sulfonante gaseous flow, and the temperature process are the variables that have a more decisive influence on the conversion and properties of the product. En la presente investigación se estudió la sulfonación con trióxido de azufre (SO3) de ésteres metílicos fabricados mediante una transesterificación de la estearina hidrogenada de palma. La generación del agente sulfonante (SO3) mediante calentamiento, agitación y burbujeo de nitrógeno sobre óleum permitió establecer las condiciones de procesamiento. La materia prima se caracterizó mediante cromatografía de gases y espectroscopia infrarroja, y a través de titulaciones volumétricas se determinó el porcentaje de materia activa (Hyamina 1622) y del ácido sulfúrico contenido en el producto. Se determinaron el aceite libre mediante extracciones con éter de petróleo, y la coloración mediante espectrofotometría (420 nm). Se sugieren valores de las condiciones de proceso con miras a un escalamiento piloto. Las variables que tienen una influencia más determinante sobre las propiedades finales del producto son: el caudal de reactante líquido, la razón molar SO3/metiléster, la fracción molar de SO3 (o el porcentaje volumétrico) en la corriente sulfonante, la temperatura del proceso.  

Some advances in extensive bridge monitoring using low cost dynamic characterization

Dynamic measurements will become a standard for bridge monitoring in the near future. This fact will produce an important cost reduction for maintenance. US Administration has a long term intensive research program in order to diminish the estimated current maintenance cost of US$7 billion per year over 20 years. An optimal intervention maintenance program demands a historical dynamical record, as well as an updated mathematical model of the structure to be monitored. In case that a model of the structure is not actually available it is possible to produce it, however this possibility does not exist for missing measurement records from the past. Current acquisition systems to monitor structures can be made more efficient by introducing the following improvements, under development in the Spanish research Project “Low cost bridge health monitoring by ambient vibration tests using wireless sensors”: (a) a complete wireless system to acquire sensor data, (b) a wireless system that permits the localization and the hardware identification of the whole sensor system. The applied localization system has been object of a recent patent, and (c) automatization of the modal identification process, aimed to diminish human intervention. This system is assembled with cheap components and allows the simultaneous use of a large number of sensors at a low placement cost. The engineer’s intervention is limited to the selection of sensor positions, probably based on a preliminary FE analysis. In case of multiple setups, also the position of a number of fixed reference sensors has to be decided. The wireless localization system will obtain the exact coordinates of all these sensors positions. When the selection of optimal positions is difficult, for example because of the lack of a proper FE model, this can be compensated by using a higher number of measuring (also reference) points. The described low cost acquisition system allows the responsible bridge administration to obtain historical dynamic identification records at reasonable costs that will be used in future maintenance programs. Therefore, due to the importance of the baseline monitoring record of a new bridge, a monitoring test just after its construction should be highly recommended, if not compulsory

Efficacy Of Intensive Tele-Rehabilitation Combined With Donepezil Compared To Face-to-face Administration

Se presentó el trabajo en la modalidad poster. Se trata de un artículo preliminar en desarrollo que se enmarca dentro del proyecto P20_00501 "Telerrehabilitación en afasia: evaluación de no inferioridad frente a terapia presencial e identificación de biomarcadores predictores de eficacia" (Junta de Andalucía (PAIDI 2020)).Objectives: (a) To evaluate the benefits promoted by two modalities of intensive language-action therapy, telerehabilitation (Tele-ILAT) and face-to-face (ILAT), applied alone and in combination with Donepezil to persons with chronic post-stroke aphasia (PSA) (phase 1). (b) To examine the best remote or hybrid strategy to maintain the gains in language and language-affiliated behaviours (communication, psychological adjustment, and quality of life) promoted by both modalities of ILAT, and to determine the efficacy of these interventions in reducing the therapist burden (phase 2). (c) To identify potential predictors of treatment response, including gene markers, and to detect changes in language, cognition, emotional functions and neural plasticity using multimodal MRI. Methodology: Estimated sample size: 48 participants with chronic PSA are required to obtain a power of 80% ( increment of 5 points ± 4) relative to baseline scores on the Western Aphasia Battery-Revised. Methods and design: a randomized control trial involving four groups comparing the effectiveness of ILAT applied online, and face-to-face administered alone and with Donepezil (phase 1); three quasi-randomised parallel groups (asynchronous, hybrid and control) (phase 2). Results and conclusions: Primary outcome measures: aphasia severity, communication, behaviour, and quality of life. Evaluations will determine potential predictive variables of response, as well as brain and language changes associated with the treatments at different timepoints. This trial will determine: (a) whether Tele-ILAT administered alone and combined with Donepezil reduces aphasia severity and language-affiliated deficits in the same manner as face-to-face ILAT and the contribution of adding Donepezil to these interventions; (b) the best long-term remote maintenance-therapy.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tec

Pathogenicity and virulence of Listeria monocytogenes: A trip from environmental to medical microbiology

Listeria monocytogenes is a saprophytic gram-positive bacterium, and an opportunistic foodborne pathogen that can produce listeriosis in humans and animals. It has evolved an exceptional ability to adapt to stress conditions encountered in different environments, resulting in a ubiquitous distribution. Because some food preservation methods and disinfection protocols in foodprocessing environments cannot efficiently prevent contaminations, L. monocytogenes constitutes a threat to human health and a challenge to food safety. In the host, Listeria colonizes the gastrointestinal tract, crosses the intestinal barrier, and disseminates through the blood to target organs. In immunocompromised individuals, the elderly, and pregnant women, the pathogen can cross the blood-brain and placental barriers, leading to neurolisteriosis and materno-fetal listeriosis. Molecular and cell biology studies of infection have proven L. monocytogenes to be a versatile pathogen that deploys unique strategies to invade different cell types, survive and move inside the eukaryotic host cell, and spread from cell to cell. Here, we present the multifaceted Listeria life cycle from a comprehensive perspective. We discuss genetic features of pathogenic Listeria species, analyze factors involved in food contamination, and review bacterial strategies to tolerate stresses encountered both during food processing and along the host’s gastrointestinal tract. Then we dissect host–pathogen interactions underlying listerial pathogenesis in mammals from a cell biology and systemic point of view. Finally, we summarize the epidemiology, pathophysiology, and clinical features of listeriosis in humans and animals. This work aims to gather information from different fields crucial for a comprehensive understanding of the pathogenesis of L. monocytogenes

Estrés académico y resultados docentes en estudiantes de medicina

Introduction: academic demands behave like stressors leading to student stress, an experience is shown.Objective: to evaluate the possible association between levels of academic stress and learning results in students of the second academic year of medicine at  Cuenca Catholic University - Azogues Venue.Methods: a cross-sectional study was carried out involving 72 students of both genders. The SISCO inventory was applied to determine academic stress levels. Normal or low learning performance was established by the final average of points of the total number of subjects. Differences and associations between variables were determined by means of the proportions test and X2, respectively.Results: there were no significant differences between genders in learning performance or levels of academic stress. High levels of stress significantly predominated among the total number of students with respect to low level and in the female gender. Levels of academic stress and learning performance were not associated with gender. Students with normal learning performance were found in higher percentages, while those with high levels of academic stress had significantly higher percentages (p ≤ 0.05), who showed low learning performance. Stress levels were significantly associated with learning performance.Conclusions: high levels of academic stress were found among the students participating in this study, which evidenced a negative influence on their learning performance.IIntroducción: las exigencias académicas se comportan como estresores conducentes al estrés estudiantil, se muestra una experiencia. Objetivo: evaluar la posible asociación entre niveles de estrés académico y resultados docentes en estudiantes del segundo ciclo de medicina de la Universidad Católica de Cuenca - Sede Azogues.Métodos: se realizó un estudio transversal que incluyó a 72 alumnos de ambos géneros. Se aplicó el inventario SISCO para determinar niveles de estrés. El rendimiento docente normal o bajo se estableció por el promedio final de puntos del total de asignaturas. Las diferencias y asociaciones entre variables se determinaron por medio del test de proporciones y X2, respectivamente.Resultados: entre géneros no existieron diferencias significativas en el rendimiento docente ni por niveles de estrés. El nivel de estrés alto predominó significativamente entre el total de estudiantes respecto al bajo y en el género femenino. Los niveles de estrés y de rendimiento docente no se asociaron al género. Los estudiantes con rendimiento docente normal se encontraron en porcentajes más altos, mientras que aquellos con nivel de estrés académico alto, en un porcentaje significativamente superior (p ≤ 0,05) tuvieron rendimiento docente bajo. Los niveles de estrés se asociaron significativamente al rendimiento docente.Conclusiones: entre los estudiantes participantes se manifiestan altos niveles de estrés académico que evidencian una influencia negativa en su rendimiento docente