Desafíos en Europa

El proceso de integración europeo enfrenta actualmente tres desafíos que son tema de intenso debate entre sus Estados Miembros y con la Comisión Europea: a) la inmigración ilegal; b) la reforma de la Política Agrícola Común y c) la revisión del marco institucional y del proceso comunitario de decisión con vistas a la próxima ampliación hacia el Este de Europa. En el primer caso, el tema de la inmigración se ha instalado firmemente a nivel comunitario dejando de ser -como hasta ahora- competencia nacional exclusiva. Desde el punto de vista de América Latina, este salto “diluye” la flexibilidad con la que hasta hoy algunos Estados Miembros trataban a los inmigrantes originarios de nuestra región (España, ltalia, Portugal). La actual Política Agrícola Común ha llevado a distorsiones básicas que afectan ya no solo la economía sino también directamente la salud de la población europea. Una reforma transparente y amplia de la misma, aceleraría el ritmo de la próxima ronda de negociaciones en materia agrícola en el seno de la OMC y daría un impulso decisivo al acuerdo MERCOSUR-Unión Europea. Finalmente, el tercer objeto de discusión en la agenda europea consiste en el diseño de las nuevas instituciones comunitarias y en especial el proceso de toma de decisiones con vistas a la próxima ampliación. En este caso se enfrentan dos posiciones. Por una parte, aquellos partidarios de establecer un sistema de minoría calificada” compuesta por un grupo reducido de países grandes y, por la otra, la mayoría de los Estados Miembros actuales que sostienen la necesidad de respetar un esquema de estricta igualdad basado en el criterio “un país, un voto”. Desde la perspectiva argentina y del Mercosur, parece conveniente esta segunda posición que prestaría un mayor equilibrio a la faz externa europea y aceleraría el acuerdo MERCOSUR-Unión Europea.Aula "B": Las regiones y la globalización.Instituto de Relaciones Internacionales (IRI

Desafíos en Europa

El proceso de integración europeo enfrenta actualmente tres desafíos que son tema de intenso debate entre sus Estados Miembros y con la Comisión Europea: a) la inmigración ilegal; b) la reforma de la Política Agrícola Común y c) la revisión del marco institucional y del proceso comunitario de decisión con vistas a la próxima ampliación hacia el Este de Europa. En el primer caso, el tema de la inmigración se ha instalado firmemente a nivel comunitario dejando de ser -como hasta ahora- competencia nacional exclusiva. Desde el punto de vista de América Latina, este salto “diluye” la flexibilidad con la que hasta hoy algunos Estados Miembros trataban a los inmigrantes originarios de nuestra región (España, ltalia, Portugal). La actual Política Agrícola Común ha llevado a distorsiones básicas que afectan ya no solo la economía sino también directamente la salud de la población europea. Una reforma transparente y amplia de la misma, aceleraría el ritmo de la próxima ronda de negociaciones en materia agrícola en el seno de la OMC y daría un impulso decisivo al acuerdo MERCOSUR-Unión Europea. Finalmente, el tercer objeto de discusión en la agenda europea consiste en el diseño de las nuevas instituciones comunitarias y en especial el proceso de toma de decisiones con vistas a la próxima ampliación. En este caso se enfrentan dos posiciones. Por una parte, aquellos partidarios de establecer un sistema de minoría calificada” compuesta por un grupo reducido de países grandes y, por la otra, la mayoría de los Estados Miembros actuales que sostienen la necesidad de respetar un esquema de estricta igualdad basado en el criterio “un país, un voto”. Desde la perspectiva argentina y del Mercosur, parece conveniente esta segunda posición que prestaría un mayor equilibrio a la faz externa europea y aceleraría el acuerdo MERCOSUR-Unión Europea.Aula "B": Las regiones y la globalización.Instituto de Relaciones Internacionales (IRI

Ruthenium incorporation into hydrotalcites-derived mixed oxides for phenol hydrogenation: Role of Mg/Al molar ratio

In this work the catalytic behaviour of Ru supported on mixed oxides derived from non-commercial hydrotalcites in phenol hydrogenation was studied in a batch reactor working at 30 bar and 200 °C. To this end, a set of catalysts with 2 wt% Ru and a Mg/Al molar ratio of 1, 2, 3 and 4 was synthesized. The catalysts were tested in phenol hydrogenation to assess the influence of Mg/Al ratio on the catalytic performance in terms of conversion and selectivities to cyclohexanol and cyclohexanone. Physicochemical characterization was performed by X-ray Diffraction (XRD), N2 adsorption-desorption isotherms, dispersive X-ray spectroscopy in scanning transmission electron microscopy (EDS-STEM), CO chemisorption at 35 °C, CO2 and NH3 thermoprogrammed desorption (TPD) and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS). The Mg/Al molar ratio employed determined the catalytic response of the resulting catalysts, obtaining the best catalytic performance (95.9 % conversion and 47.4 % cyclohexanone selectivity) with the sample with the lowest Mg/Al ratio, RuMA1. XRD results showed that in RuMA1 catalyst the hydrotalcite structure was completely transformed into the corresponding mixed oxide after thermal treatment and was also the only one in which MgAl2O4 spinel was not formed. In addition, RuMA1 presented the highest specific surface area, the greatest Ru dispersion, as evidenced by CO-chemisorption and EDX-STEM analysis, as well as a good balance between basic and acid sites and a greater proportion of Bronsted acid sites that also explain it greater selectivity to cyclohexanol.This publication is part of the R&D project PID2021-126235OB-C32 funded by MCIN/ AEI/10.13039/501100011033/ and FEDER funds. Funding for open access charge: Universidad de Málaga / CBUA. IBM thanks University of Malaga for a postdoctoral grant

Ru supported on Mg/Al hydrotalcites for phenol hydrogenation.

Cyclohexanone and cyclohexanol are high value-added products widely used in polymer and chemical industry as organic solvents in oil paints or varnishes [1] or as intermediates in nylon, oxalic acid, caprolactam and adipic acid syntheses [2]. These compounds have been traditionally obtained from cyclohexane oxidation, a tedious and energy consuming process with low selectivity for the desired cyclohexanone and cyclohexanol. Thus, hydrogenation of phenol has emerged as a promising alternative to the former process with greater selectivity and, considering that phenol could be obtained from the degradation of lignin, which is a widespread, sustainable, carbon neutral precursor, this synthetic route has gained the attention of the scientific community. It has been reported that in phenol hydrogenation, hydrogen is added to the aromatic ring by a spill-over mechanism in which both phenol and hydrogen are adsorbed on metal sites, and that the adsorption configuration is strongly related to the number of acid and basic sites around metal sites [3]. In addition, it is known that supports with acid-base properties and moderate specific surface area improve both thermal stability and metallic phase dispersion. With respect to metallic sites, noble metals like Pd or Ru are benchmark hydrogenating agents [4]. In this work, catalysts containing 2 wt.% Ru supported on non-commercial hydrotalcites with different Mg/Al molar ratios were tested in the hydrogenation of phenol in a batch reactor with semiautomatic sample collection working at 200 ºC and 30 bar. The catalysts were fully characterized by means of XRD, N2 adsorption-desorption at -196 ºC, XPS and HR-TEM.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech. Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (PID2021-126235OB-C32) Fondos FEDE

CCL20/TNF/VEGFA Cytokine Secretory Phenotype of Tumor-Associated Macrophages Is a Negative Prognostic Factor in Cutaneous Melanoma

TAMs constitute a large fraction of infiltrating immune cells in melanoma tissues, but their significance for clinical outcomes remains unclear. We explored diverse TAM parameters in clinically relevant primary cutaneous melanoma samples, including density, location, size, and polarization marker expression; in addition, because cytokine production is a hallmark of macrophages function, we measured CCL20, TNF, and VEGFA intracellular cytokines by single-cell multiparametric confocal microscopy. The Kaplan–Meier method was used to analyze correlation with melanoma-specific disease-free survival and overall survival. No significant correlations with clinical parameters were observed for TAM density, morphology, or location. Significantly, higher contents of the intracellular cytokines CCL20, TNF, and VEGFA were quantified in TAMs infiltrating metastasizing compared to non-metastasizing skin primary melanomas (p < 0.001). To mechanistically explore cytokine up-regulation, we performed in vitro studies with melanoma-conditioned macrophages, using RNA-seq to explore involved pathways and specific inhibitors. We show that p53 and NF-κB coregulate CCL20, TNF, and VEGFA in melanoma-conditioned macrophages. These results delineate a clinically relevant pro-oncogenic cytokine profile of TAMs with prognostic significance in primary melanomas and point to the combined therapeutic targeting of NF-kB/p53 pathways to control the deviation of TAMs in melanoma

Proposal for a multilevel university cybermetric analysis model

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11192-012-0868-5Universities’ online seats have gradually become complex systems of dynamic information where all their institutions and services are linked and potentially accessible. These online seats now constitute a central node around which universities construct and document their main activities and services. This information can be quantitative measured by cybermetric techniques in order to design university web rankings, taking the university as a global reference unit. However, previous research into web subunits shows that it is possible to carry out systemic web analyses, which open up the possibility of carrying out studies which address university diversity, necessary for both describing the university in greater detail and for establishing comparable ranking units. To address this issue, a multilevel university cybermetric analysis model is proposed, based on parts (core and satellite), levels (institutional and external) and sublevels (contour and internal), providing a deeper analysis of institutions. Finally the model is integrated into another which is independent of the technique used, and applied by analysing Harvard University as an example of use.Orduña Malea, E.; Ontalba Ruipérez, JA. (2013). Proposal for a multilevel university cybermetric analysis model. Scientometrics. 95(3):863-884. doi:10.1007/s11192-012-0868-5S863884953Acosta Márquez, T., Igartua Perosanz, J.J. & Gómez Isla, J. (2009). Páginas web de las universidades españolas. Enred: revista digital de la Universidad de Salamanca, 5 [online; discontinued].Aguillo, I. F. (1998). Hacia un concepto documental de sede web. El Profesional de la Información, 7(1–2), 45–46.Aguillo, I. F. (2009). Measuring the institutions’ footprint in the web. Library Hi Tech, 27(4), 540–556.Aguillo, I. F., Granadino, B., Ortega, J. L., & Prieto, J. A. (2006). Scientific research activity and communication measured with cybermetrics indicators. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 57(10), 1296–1302.Aguillo, I. F., Ortega, J. L., & Fernández, M. (2008). Webometric Ranking of World Universities: introduction, methodology, and future developments. Higher Education in Europe, 33(2/3), 234–244.Ayan, N., Li, W.-S., & Kolak, O. (2002). Automatic extraction of logical domains in a web site. Data & Knowledge Engineering, 43(2), 179–205.Barjak, F., Li, X., & Thelwall, M. (2007). Which factors explain the Web impact of scientists’ personal homepages? Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 58(2), 200–211.Berners-Lee, T., & Fischetti, M. (2000). Tejiendo la Red. Madrid: Siglo XXI.Björneborn, L., & Ingwersen, P. (2004). Toward a basic framework for webometrics. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 55(14), 1216–1227.Buenadicha, M., Chamorro, A., Miranda, F. J., & González, O. R. (2001). A new web assessment index: Spanish Universities Analysis. Internet Research, 11(3), 226–234.Castells, M. (2001). La galaxia Internet. Barcelona: Plaza y Janés.Chu, H., He, S., & Thelwall, M. (2002). Library and Information Science Schools in Canada and USA: a Webometric perspective. Journal of Education for Library and Information Science, 43(2), 110–125.Crowston, K., & Williams, M. (2000). Reproduced and Emergent Genres of Communication on the World Wide Web. The Information Society: an International Journal, 16(3), 201–215.Goldfarb, A. (2006). The (teaching) role of universities in the diffusion of the Internet. International Journal of Industrial Organization, 24(2), 203–225.Ingwersen, P. (1998). The calculation of web impact factors. Journal of Documentation, 54(2), 236–243.Katz, R. N. (2008a). The tower and the cloud: Higher education in the age of cloud computing. USA: Educause.Katz, R. N. (2008b). The gathering cloud: is this the end of the middle. In R. N. Katz (Ed.), The tower and the cloud: Higher education in the age of cloud computing (p. 2008). USA: Educause.Li, X. (2005). National and international university departmental Web site interlinking: a webometric analysis. [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. Wolverhampton, UK: University of Wolverhampton.Li, X., Thelwall, M., Musgrove, P., & Wilkinson, D. (2003). The relationship between the links/Web Impact Factors of computer science departments in UK and their RAE (Research Assessment Exercise) ranking in 2001. Scientometrics, 57(2), 239–255.Middleton, I., McConnell, M., & Davidson, G. (1999). Presenting a model for the structure and content of a University World Wide Web site. Journal of Information Science, 25(3), 217–219.Orduña-Malea, E. (2012). Propuesta de un modelo de análisis redinformétrico multinivel para el estudio sistémico de las universidades españolas (2010). Valencia: Polytechnic University of Valencia.Ortega, J. L., & Aguillo, Isidro. F. (2007). La web académica española en el contexto del Espacio Europeo de Educación Superior: estudio exploratorio. El profesional de la información, 16(5), 417–425.Pareja, V. M., Ortega, J. L., Prieto, J. A., Arroyo, N., & Aguillo, I. F. (2005). Desarrollo y aplicación del concepto de sede web como unidad documental de análisis en Cibermetría. Jornadas Españolas de Documentación, 9, 325–340.Saorín, T. (2012). Arquitectura de la dispersión: gestionar los riesgos cíclicos de fragmentación de las webs corporativas. Anuario ThinkEPI, 6, 281–287.Tang, R., & Thelwall, M. (2003). U.S. academic departmental Web-site interlinking: disciplinary differences. Library & Information Science Research, 25(4), 437–458.Tang, R., & Thelwall, M. (2004). Patterns of national and international web inlinks to US academic departments: an analysis of disciplinary variations. Scientometrics, 60(3), 475–485.Thelwall, M. (2002a). A research and institutional size based model for national university Web site interlinking. Journal of Documentation, 58(6), 683–694.Thelwall, M. (2002b). Conceptualizing documentation on the Web: an evaluation of different heuristic-based models for counting links between university web sites. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 53(12), 995–1005.Thelwall, M. (2003). Web use and peer interconnectivity metrics for academic Web sites. Journal of Information Science, 29(1), 11–20.Thelwall, M. (2009). Introduction to Webometrics: quantitative web research for the social sciences. San Rafael: Morgan & Claypool.Thelwall, M., & Harries, G. (2004a). Can personal Web pages that link to universities yield information about the wider dissemination of research? Journal of Information Science, 30(3), 243–256.Thelwall, M., & Harries, G. (2004b). Do better scholars’ Web publications have significantly higher online impact? Journal of American Society for Information Science and Technology, 55(2), 149–159.Thelwall, M., Vaughan, L., & Björneborn, L. (2005). Webometrics. Annual Review of Information Science and Technology, 39, 81–135.Thomas, O., & Willet, P. (2000). Webometric analysis of Departments of librarianship and information science. Journal of Information Science, 26(6), 421–428.Tíscar, L. (2009). El papel de la universidad en la construcción de su identidad digital. Revista de universidad y sociedad del conocimiento, 6(1), 15–21.Van Vught, F. A. (2009). Diversity and differentiation in higher education. In F. Van Vught (Ed.), Mapping the higher education landscape: toward a European classification of higher education (pp. 1–16). The Netherlands: Springer.Yolku, O. (2001). Use of news articles and announcements on official websites of universities. Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology, 10(2), 287–296

Dairy product consumption and changes in cognitive performance: two-year analysis of the PREDIMED-Plus Cohort

Scope: Dairy consumption has been suggested to impact cognition; however, evidence is limited and inconsistent. This study aims to longitudinally assess the association between dairy consumption with cognitive changes in an older Spanish population at high cardiovascular disease risk. Methods and results: Four thousand six hundred sixty eight participants aged 55–75 years, completed a validated food frequency questionnaire at baseline and a neuropsychological battery of tests at baseline and 2-year follow-up. Multivariable linear regression models are used, scaled by 100 (i.e., the units of β correspond to 1 SD/100), to assess associations between baseline tertile daily consumption and 2-year changes in cognitive performance. Participants in the highest tertile of total milk and whole-fat milk consumption have a greater decline in global cognitive function (β: –4.71, 95% CI: –8.74 to –0.69, p-trend = 0.020 and β: –6.64, 95% CI: –10.81 to –2.47, p-trend = 0.002, respectively) compared to those in the lowest tertile. No associations are observed between low fat milk, yogurt, cheese or fermented dairy consumption, and changes in cognitive performance. Conclusion:Results suggest there are no clear prospective associations between consumption of most commonly consumed dairy products and cognition, although there may be an association with a greater rate of cognitive decline over a 2-year period in older adults at high cardiovascular disease risk for whole-fat milk

Evolving trends in the management of acute appendicitis during COVID-19 waves. The ACIE appy II study

Background: In 2020, ACIE Appy study showed that COVID-19 pandemic heavily affected the management of patients with acute appendicitis (AA) worldwide, with an increased rate of non-operative management (NOM) strategies and a trend toward open surgery due to concern of virus transmission by laparoscopy and controversial recommendations on this issue. The aim of this study was to survey again the same group of surgeons to assess if any difference in management attitudes of AA had occurred in the later stages of the outbreak. Methods: From August 15 to September 30, 2021, an online questionnaire was sent to all 709 participants of the ACIE Appy study. The questionnaire included questions on personal protective equipment (PPE), local policies and screening for SARS-CoV-2 infection, NOM, surgical approach and disease presentations in 2021. The results were compared with the results from the previous study. Results: A total of 476 answers were collected (response rate 67.1%). Screening policies were significatively improved with most patients screened regardless of symptoms (89.5% vs. 37.4%) with PCR and antigenic test as the preferred test (74.1% vs. 26.3%). More patients tested positive before surgery and commercial systems were the preferred ones to filter smoke plumes during laparoscopy. Laparoscopic appendicectomy was the first option in the treatment of AA, with a declined use of NOM. Conclusion: Management of AA has improved in the last waves of pandemic. Increased evidence regarding SARS-COV-2 infection along with a timely healthcare systems response has been translated into tailored attitudes and a better care for patients with AA worldwide

Treatment with tocilizumab or corticosteroids for COVID-19 patients with hyperinflammatory state: a multicentre cohort study (SAM-COVID-19)

Objectives: The objective of this study was to estimate the association between tocilizumab or corticosteroids and the risk of intubation or death in patients with coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) with a hyperinflammatory state according to clinical and laboratory parameters. Methods: A cohort study was performed in 60 Spanish hospitals including 778 patients with COVID-19 and clinical and laboratory data indicative of a hyperinflammatory state. Treatment was mainly with tocilizumab, an intermediate-high dose of corticosteroids (IHDC), a pulse dose of corticosteroids (PDC), combination therapy, or no treatment. Primary outcome was intubation or death; follow-up was 21 days. Propensity score-adjusted estimations using Cox regression (logistic regression if needed) were calculated. Propensity scores were used as confounders, matching variables and for the inverse probability of treatment weights (IPTWs). Results: In all, 88, 117, 78 and 151 patients treated with tocilizumab, IHDC, PDC, and combination therapy, respectively, were compared with 344 untreated patients. The primary endpoint occurred in 10 (11.4%), 27 (23.1%), 12 (15.4%), 40 (25.6%) and 69 (21.1%), respectively. The IPTW-based hazard ratios (odds ratio for combination therapy) for the primary endpoint were 0.32 (95%CI 0.22-0.47; p < 0.001) for tocilizumab, 0.82 (0.71-1.30; p 0.82) for IHDC, 0.61 (0.43-0.86; p 0.006) for PDC, and 1.17 (0.86-1.58; p 0.30) for combination therapy. Other applications of the propensity score provided similar results, but were not significant for PDC. Tocilizumab was also associated with lower hazard of death alone in IPTW analysis (0.07; 0.02-0.17; p < 0.001). Conclusions: Tocilizumab might be useful in COVID-19 patients with a hyperinflammatory state and should be prioritized for randomized trials in this situatio

Worldwide trends in underweight and obesity from 1990 to 2022: a pooled analysis of 3663 population-representative studies with 222 million children, adolescents, and adults

Background Underweight and obesity are associated with adverse health outcomes throughout the life course. We estimated the individual and combined prevalence of underweight or thinness and obesity, and their changes, from 1990 to 2022 for adults and school-aged children and adolescents in 200 countries and territories. Methods We used data from 3663 population-based studies with 222 million participants that measured height and weight in representative samples of the general population. We used a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate trends in the prevalence of different BMI categories, separately for adults (age ≥20 years) and school-aged children and adolescents (age 5–19 years), from 1990 to 2022 for 200 countries and territories. For adults, we report the individual and combined prevalence of underweight (BMI &lt;18·5 kg/m2) and obesity (BMI ≥30 kg/m2). For school&#x2;aged children and adolescents, we report thinness (BMI &lt;2 SD below the median of the WHO growth reference) and obesity (BMI &gt;2 SD above the median). Findings From 1990 to 2022, the combined prevalence of underweight and obesity in adults decreased in 11 countries (6%) for women and 17 (9%) for men with a posterior probability of at least 0·80 that the observed changes were true decreases. The combined prevalence increased in 162 countries (81%) for women and 140 countries (70%) for men with a posterior probability of at least 0·80. In 2022, the combined prevalence of underweight and obesity was highest in island nations in the Caribbean and Polynesia and Micronesia, and countries in the Middle East and north Africa. Obesity prevalence was higher than underweight with posterior probability of at least 0·80 in 177 countries (89%) for women and 145 (73%) for men in 2022, whereas the converse was true in 16 countries (8%) for women, and 39 (20%) for men. From 1990 to 2022, the combined prevalence of thinness and obesity decreased among girls in five countries (3%) and among boys in 15 countries (8%) with a posterior probability of at least 0·80, and increased among girls in 140 countries (70%) and boys in 137 countries (69%) with a posterior probability of at least 0·80. The countries with highest combined prevalence of thinness and obesity in school-aged children and adolescents in 2022 were in Polynesia and Micronesia and the Caribbean for both sexes, and Chile and Qatar for boys. Combined prevalence was also high in some countries in south Asia, such as India and Pakistan, where thinness remained prevalent despite having declined. In 2022, obesity in school-aged children and adolescents was more prevalent than thinness with a posterior probability of at least 0·80 among girls in 133 countries (67%) and boys in 125 countries (63%), whereas the converse was true in 35 countries (18%) and 42 countries (21%), respectively. In almost all countries for both adults and school-aged children and adolescents, the increases in double burden were driven by increases in obesity, and decreases in double burden by declining underweight or thinness. Interpretation The combined burden of underweight and obesity has increased in most countries, driven by an increase in obesity, while underweight and thinness remain prevalent in south Asia and parts of Africa. A healthy nutrition transition that enhances access to nutritious foods is needed to address the remaining burden of underweight while curbing and reversing the increase in obesit