Methane Drainage at the Minerales Monclova Mines in the Sabinas Coal Basin, Coahuila, Mexico

Minerales Monclova S.A. De C.V. (MIMOSA) operates five underground longwall mines in the Gassy Los Olmos Coals of the Sabinas Basin in the state of Coahuila in Northern Mexico. Because of high in-situ gas contents and high cleat and natural fracture permeability, MIMOSA has had to incorporate a system of methane drainage in advance of mining in order to safely and cost effectively exploit their reserves. In the early 1990s Resource Enterprises (REI) conducted reservoir characterization tests, numerical simulations, and Coal Mine Methane (CMM) production tests at a nearby mine property in the same basin. Using this information REI approached MIMOSA and recommended the mine-wide implementation of a degasification system that involves long in-seam directionally drilled boreholes. REI was contracted to conduct the drilling, and to date has drilled over 26,000 m (85,000 ft) of in-seam borehole in advance of mining developments, reducing gas contents significantly below in-situ values. This paper discusses the basis for the degasification program recommended at the MIMOSA mines, and presents the impact of its mine-wide application on MIMOSA\u27s mining operations over the last six years. The paper focuses on the degasification system\u27s impacts on methane emissions into mine workings, coal production, and ventilation demands. It also presents lessons learned by the degasification planners in implementing in-seam methane drainage. The paper presents actual CMM production data, measurements of methane emissions and advance rates at development sections, and mine methane liberations

Post-Traumatic Stress Associated with Telework-Related Job Limitation in Latin America

During the pandemic, there has been evidence of work limitations during telework, which are believed to cause mental health problems. Our objective was to assess the association between perceived work limitations during telework and posttraumatic stress during the COVID-19 pandemic in Latin America. A cross-sectional study was conducted in Latin America in 2020. Exposure was measured by self-reporting using a self-perception questionnaire; the SPRINT-E questionnaire was used for outcome measurements. Generalized linear models were applied. Of 1329 participants, 15.2% (n = 202) had posttraumatic stress. In a multivariate analysis, the highest frequency of posttraumatic stress was found among those with moderate depression or more (PR = 1.29; 95% CI: 1.03–1.61), moderate or more anxiety (PR = 2.34; 95% CI: 1.61–3.41), and moderate or more stress (PR = 2.45; 95% CI: 1.46–4.12). In conclusion, there is an association between perceived work limitations during telework and posttraumatic stress in Latin American workers. For this reason, it is recommended that occupational physicians, companies, and institutions assess the frequency of posttraumatic stress and monitor the mental health of workers.National Institute of Mental HealthRevisión por pare

World Health Organization (WHO) antibiotic regimen against other regimens for the treatment of leprosy : a systematic review and meta-analysis

Altres ajuts: Maria Lazo-Porras is funded by the Swiss Goverment Excellence Scholarship (2018.0698).To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of the World Health Organization antibiotic regimen for the treatment of paucibacillary (PB) and multibacillary (MB) leprosy compared to other available regimens. We performed a search from 1982 to July 2018 without language restriction. We included randomized controlled trials, quasi-randomized trials, and comparative observational studies (cohorts and case-control studies) that enrolled patients of any age with PB or MB leprosy that were treated with any of the leprosy antibiotic regimens established by the WHO in 1982 and used any other antimicrobial regimen as a controller. Primary efficacy outcomes included: complete clinical cure, clinical improvement of the lesions, relapse rate, treatment failure. Data were pooled using a random effects model to estimate the treatment effects reported as relative risk (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). We found 25 eligible studies, 11 evaluated patients with paucibacillary leprosy, while 13 evaluated patients with MB leprosy and 1 evaluated patients of both groups. Diverse regimen treatments and outcomes were studied. Complete cure at 6 months of multidrug therapy (MDT) in comparison to rifampin-ofloxacin-minocycline (ROM) found RR of 1.06 (95% CI 0.88-1.27) in five studies. Whereas six studies compare the same outcome at different follow up periods between 6 months and 5 years, according to the analysis ROM was not better than MDT (RR of 1.01 (95% CI 0.78-1.31)) in PB leprosy. Not better treatment than the implemented by the WHO was found. Diverse outcome and treatment regimens were studied, more statements to standardized the measurements of outcomes are needed

ABPgame+ o cómo hacer del último curso de ingeniería una primera experiencia profesional

Algunos de los aspectos clave en el desarrollo profesional de un ingeniero son su capacidad para trabajar en equipo, para integrar diferentes puntos de vista y para desarrollar grandes proyectos con un alto nivel de incertidumbre. Los planes de estudio de las titulaciones que preparan a estos futuros ingenieros no pueden permanecer ajenos a estas necesidades y deben plantear situaciones lo más cercanas posible a la realidad que se encontrarán nuestros egresados en su vida laboral. Estas razones, nos han llevado a plantear una experiencia innovadora en una titulación de nueva implantación como es el Grado en Ingeniería Multimedia. Hemos elegido, para ello, la metodología del Aprendizaje Basado en Proyectos (ABP), aplicada al itinerario de Creación y Entretenimiento Digital en cuarto curso, donde los estudiantes, agrupados en equipos, desarrollan un único gran proyecto durante el año, que es un videojuego. Queremos destacar dos consecuencias de esta experiencia: primero, el papel fundamental de la asignatura Proyectos Multimedia, sirviendo de apoyo al resto de asignaturas al llevar el peso de la gestión de los equipos y del seguimiento del proyecto. Y después, que los estudiantes pueden obtener un producto terminado al final del curso que les permita inaugurar su portafolio profesional

ID1 and ID4 Are Biomarkers of Tumor Aggressiveness and Poor Outcome in Immunophenotypes of Breast Cancer

Inhibitor of differentiation (ID) proteins are a family of transcription factors that contribute to maintaining proliferation during embryogenesis as they avoid cell differentiation. Afterward, their expression is mainly silenced, but their reactivation and contribution to tumor development have been suggested. In breast cancer (BC), the overexpression of ID1 has been previously described. However, whether the remaining ID genes have a specific role in this neoplasia is still unclear. We studied the mRNA expression of all ID genes by q RT-PCR in BC cell lines and 307 breast carcinomas, including all BC subtypes. Our results showed that ID genes are highly expressed in all cell lines tested. However, ID4 presented higher expression in BC cell lines compared to a healthy breast epithelium cell line. In accordance, ID1 and ID4 were predominantly overexpressed in Triple-Negative and HER2-enriched samples. Moreover, high levels of both genes were associated with larger tumor size, histological grade 3, necrosis and vascular invasion, and poorer patients’ outcomes. In conclusion, ID1 and ID4 may act as biomarkers of tumor aggressiveness and worse prognosis in breast cancer, and they could be used as potential targets for new treatments discover.This research was funded by the Alicante Institute for Health and Biomedical Research (ISABIAL) (UGP 16-149 and UGP 180184) and Navarro-Tripodi Foundation (BOLA00150). M.G.E. was supported by fellowships issued by the Valencian Government of Spain (GVA) and the European Social Fund (ACIF/2016/004)

Medium Diradical Character, Small Hole and Electron Reorganization Energies and Ambipolar Transistors in Difluorenoheteroles

Four difluorenoheteroleshavinga centralquinoidalcore with the heteroringvaryingas furan,thiophene,its dioxidederivativeand pyrrolehave shownto be mediumcharacterdiradicals.Solid-statestructures,optical,photophysical,magnetic,and electrochemicalpropertieshave been discussedin termsof diradicalcharacter,variationof aromaticcharacterand captoda-tive effects(electronaffinity).Organicfield-effecttran-sistors(OFETs)have been prepared,showingbalancedholeand electronmobilitiesof the orderof103cm2V1s1or ambipolarchargetransportwhichisfirst inferredfrom their redoxamphoterism.Quantumchemicalcalculationsshow that the electricalbehaviorisoriginatedfrom the mediumdiradicalcharacterwhichproducessimilarreorganizationenergiesfor hole andelectrontransports.The visionof a diradicalas simulta-neouslybearingpseudo-holeand pseudo-electronde-fects might justifythe reducedvaluesof reorganizationenergiesfor both regimes.Structure-functionrelation-ships betweendiradicaland ambipolarelectricalbehav-ior are revealed.The authorsthankthe SpanishMinistryof ScienceandInnovation(projectsMINECO/FEDERPGC2018-098533-B-100,and PID2019-110305GB-I00),the Junta de Andalucíaand GeneralidadValenciana,Spain (UMA18FEDERJA057,P18-FR-4549and Prometeo/2019/076)and JSPS KAKENHIgrant (JP21K05042for S.-i.K.,JP21K04995and JP21H05489for R.K., JP21H01887and JP20K21173for M.N.).S.-i.K.gratefullyacknowledgesthe AsahiGlassFoundationforfinancialsupport.We also thankthe ResearchCentralServices(SCAI)of the Universityof Málaga,UnidaddeEspectroscopíaVibracional(Dra. Capely Dr. Zafra)andUnidadde OpticaNo-Linealy EspectroscopíaUltrarápida(Dr. Román).This work was partiallysupportedby theCooperativeResearchProgram“NetworkJoint ResearchCenterfor Materialsand Devices”(KyushuUniversity).WethankProf. ShuheiHigashibayashi(KeioUniversity)forassistancewith synthesis.Mass spectrometricdata werecollectedat HiroshimaUniversity(N-BARD:Ms. TomokoAmimoto).Theoreticalcalculationswere partlyperformedusing ResearchCenterfor ComputationalScience(R-CCS),Okazaki,Japan.F.N and Y.D. acknowledgesupportfrom“Valutazionedella Ricercadi Ateneo”(VRA)—Universityof Bologna.Y.D. acknowledgesMinisterodell’Universitàedella Ricerca(MUR)for her Ph.D. fellowship. Funding for open access charge: Universidad de Málaga / CBU

The impact of surgical practice on oncological outcomes in robot-assisted radical hysterectomy for early-stage cervical cancer, Spanish National Registry

Minimal invasive surgery (MIS) has been associated with lower disease-free survival than open surgery among women who underwent radical hysterectomy for early-stage cervical cancer. However, the mechanisms by which MIS increases mortality in cervical cancer remain uncertain. We aimed to determine if surgical practice among centers using robotic surgery has an impact on oncological outcomes. We evaluated 215 women with early-stage cervical cancer (≤IB1 or IIA1, FIGO 2009) who underwent robot-assisted radical hysterectomy in five Spanish tertiary centers between 2009 and 2018. A higher surgical volume, higher participation in clinical trials, higher rate of MRI use for diagnosis, greater use of sentinel lymph node biopsies, and a favorable learning curve with low rates of early recurrences were observed for the centers with better oncological outcomes. These factors might have a significant impact on oncological outcomes in all surgical approaches. Abstract: This study aimed to assess whether surgical practice had a significant impact on oncological outcomes among women who underwent robot-assisted radical hysterectomy for early-stage cervical cancer (≤IB1 or IIA1, FIGO 2009). The secondary objective was to audit the pre-surgical quality indicators (QI) proposed by the European Society of Gynaecological Oncology (ESGO). The top 5 of 10 centers in Spain and Portugal were included in the analysis. The hospitals were divided into group A (n = 118) and group B (n = 97), with recurrence rates of 10%, respectively. After balancing both groups using the propensity score, the ORs for all events were higher and statistically significant for group B (recurrences OR = 1.23, 95% CI = 1.13-1.15, p-value = 0.001; death OR = 1.10, 95% CI = 1.02-1.18, p-value = 0.012; disease-specific mortality ORr = 1.11, 95% CI = 1.04-1.19, p-value = 0.002). A higher surgical volume, higher participation in clinical trials, higher rate of MRI use for diagnosis, greater use of sentinel lymph node biopsies, and a favorable learning curve with low rates of early recurrences were observed among the centers with better oncological outcomes. These factors might have a significant impact on oncological outcomes not only after robot-assisted surgery, but also after laparoscopies and open surgeries in the treatment of cervical cancer

Multidrug resistant pulmonary tuberculosis treatment regimens and patient outcomes: an individual patient data meta-analysis of 9,153 patients.

Treatment of multidrug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is lengthy, toxic, expensive, and has generally poor outcomes. We undertook an individual patient data meta-analysis to assess the impact on outcomes of the type, number, and duration of drugs used to treat MDR-TB