A bright single photon source: Strong coupling of a single molecule to a plasmonic nano-antenna cavity

Single photon emitters are quantum light sources that can enable a variety of quantum based technologies such as quantum information or quantum random number generation, among others. These single photon emitters can have their brightness increased by coupling to a plasmonic cavity. In this work, this possibility is addressed by spin coating anthracene crystals hosting dibenzoterrylene (DBT) molecules on top of Au dipolar nanoantenna arrays. Thin anthracene crystals covering a big fraction of the nanoantenna arrays were achieved, on which confocal fluorescence microscopy and time correlated single photon counting have been used to characterize the emitters. A time gating based analysis has been used to separate the nanoantenna luminescence from the fluorescence of the DBT molecules, obtaining lifetime values from coupled and uncoupled molecules. A set of 149 coupled molecules and 158 uncoupled molecules was represented in a histogram, showing a distribution from whose mean values the lifetime of DBT molecules (t=4.37 ns) was acquired, as well as a mean lifetime reduction of 2.4 times and a maximum lifetime reduction of 7 times

Prognostic value of lactate in prehospital care as a predictor of mortality and high-risk patients with trauma

Objectives. Major injury is a time-dependent illness in which the quantification of the life prognosis is fundamental for professionals. The objective of this study is to evaluate the capacity of prehospital lactic acid to predict mortality (2, 7 and 30 days) and the admission to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) from the index event. Methods. This is a longitudinal, prospective observational study, which included patients who were treated by an Advanced Life Support Unit and transferred to the Emergency Department between April 1 and September 30, 2018. We calculated sensitivity, specificity, and likelihood ratios. The main outcome variable was mortality from any cause (2, 7 and 30 days) and admission to ICU. Results. 109 patients were included in our study. Eleven patients (10%) experienced early mortality before the first 48 hours after the index event, with an ICU admission rate of 28%. The sensitivity and specificity of the test to determine mortality in less than two days was 63.6% (95% CI, 35.4-84.8%) and 87.8% (95% CI, 79.8-92.9%). Conclusions. Prehospital lactic acid has an excellent capacity to predict the mortality and the admission of patients with major injury to the ICU, and it is a cheap, easy-to-obtain and reliable diagnostic tool that can help in clinical decision-making

Current situation of sepsis care in Spanish emergency departments

Objective. To describe the approach to the patients with suspected sepsis in the Spanish emergency department hospitals (ED) and analyze whether there are differences according to the size of the hospital and the number of visits to the emergency room. Method. Structured survey of those responsible for the 282 public EDs that serve adults 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It was asked about assistance and management in the emergency room in the care of patients with suspected sepsis. The results are compared according to hospital size (large = 500 beds vs medium-small <500) and influx to the emergency room (discharge = 200 visits / day vs medium-low <200). Results. A total of 250 Spanish EDs responded (89%). Sepsis protocols are available in 163 (65%) EDs median weekly sepsis treated ranged from 0-5 per week in 39 (71%) ED, 6-10 per week in 10 (18%), 11-15 per week in 4 (7%), and more than 15 activations per week in 3 centers (3.6%). The criteria used for sepsis diagnosis were the qSOFA/SOFA in 105 (63.6%) of the hospitals, SIRS in 6 (3.6%), while in 49 (29.7%) they used both criteria simultaneously. In 79 centers, the sepsis diagnosis was computerized, and in 56 there were tools to help decision-making. 48% (79 of 163) of the EDs had data on bundles compliance. In 61% (99 of 163) of EDs there was training in sepsis and in 56% (55 of 99) it was periodic. Considering the size of the hospital, large hospitals participated more frequently as recipients of patients with sepsis and had an infectious, sepsis and short-stay unit, a microbiologist and infectious disease specialist on duty. Conclusion. Most EDs have sepsis protocols, but there is room for improvement. The computerization and development of alerts for diagnosis and treatment still have a long way to go in EDs

Tratamiento Laser-Lok® en implantes dentales. A propósito de un caso clínico

Uno de los retos más importantes, hoy en día, en implantología oral es evitar la pérdida ósea alrededor de los implantes oseointegrados y funcionales con el paso del tiempo. Una de las superficies que se ha desarrollado en los últimos años es la resultante de la microtexturación mediante láser. Diversos estudios han demostrado la adhesión del tejido conectivo a las superficies tratadas con láser en la zona cervical de los implantes oseointegrados, consiguiendo de este modo un sellado biológico a este nivel. Revisamos lo publicado sobre este tema y presentamos un caso clínico de inserción de un implante unitario con tratamiento láser en su zona cervical desde su colocación hasta la restauración final, donde se observa la buena integración de los tejidos y el éxito del caso a largo plazo

Effects of Low-Load Blood Flow Restriction Resistance Training on Muscle Strength and Hypertrophy Compared with Traditional Resistance Training in Healthy Adults Older Than 60 Years: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background: There is clinical interest in determining the effects of low-load blood flow restriction (LL-BFR) resistance training on muscle strength and hypertrophy compared with traditional high- and low-load (HL and LL) resistance training in healthy older adults and the influence of LL-BFR training cuff-pressure on these outcomes. Methods: A search was performed on the MEDLINE, PEDro, CINHAL, Web of Science, Science Direct, Scopus, and CENTRAL databases. Results: The analysis included 14 studies. HL resistance training produces a small increase in muscle strength (eight studies; SMD, −0.23 [−0.41; −0.05]) but not in muscle hypertrophy (six studies; (SMD, 0.08 [−0.22; 0.38]) when compared with LL-BFR resistance training. Compared with traditional LL resistance training, LL-BFR resistance training produces small moderate increases in muscle strength (seven studies; SMD, 0.44 [0.28; 0.60]) and hypertrophy (two studies; SMD, 0.51 [0.06; 0.96]). There were greater improvements in muscle strength when higher cuff pressures were applied versus traditional LL resistance training but not versus HL resistance training. Conclusions: LL-BFR resistance training results in lower muscle strength gains than HL resistance training and greater than traditional LL resistance training in healthy adults older than 60 years. LL-BFR resistance training promotes a similar muscle hypertrophy to HL resistance training but is greater than that of traditional LL resistance training. Applying cuff pressures above the limb occlusion pressure could enhance the increases in muscle strength compared with traditional LL resistance training.Sección Deptal. de Radiología, Rehabilitación y Fisioterapia (Enfermería)Fac. de Enfermería, Fisioterapia y PodologíaTRUEpu

Archeological Tourist Destination Image Formation: Influence of Information Sources on the Cognitive, Affective and Unique Image.

A destination’s image is a critical factor in tourists’ perceptions and evaluations of said destination. This paper analyzes the formation of the tourist destination image of Segóbriga Archeological Park, a cultural destination located in the province of Cuenca (Spain) that holds great heritage value. To this end, the paper adopted a multidimensional approach and used PLS-SEM to analyze the destination image, taking into account not only its cognitive and affective components, but also the unique image component. The latter has received less attention in the literature and is a novel factor among cultural destinations. The results show that this component is essential to the overall image of an archeological destination, but is not influenced by information sources

Derivation and validation of a blood biomarker score for 2-day mortality prediction from prehospital care: a multicenter, cohort, EMS-based study

Producción CientíficaIdentifying potentially life-threatening diseases is a key challenge for emergency medical services. This study aims at examining the role of different prehospital biomarkers from point-of-care testing to derive and validate a score to detect 2-day in-hospital mortality. We conducted a prospective, observational, prehospital, ongoing, and derivation—validation study in three Spanish provinces, in adults evacuated by ambulance and admitted to the emergency department. A total of 23 ambulance-based biomarkers were collected from each patient. A biomarker score based on logistic regression was fitted to predict 2-day mortality from an optimum subset of variables from prehospital blood analysis, obtained through an automated feature selection stage. 2806 cases were analyzed, with a median age of 68 (interquartile range 51–81), 42.3% of women, and a 2-day mortality rate of 5.5% (154 non-survivors). The blood biomarker score was constituted by the partial pressure of carbon dioxide, lactate, and creatinine. The score fitted with logistic regression using these biomarkers reached a high performance to predict 2-day mortality, with an AUC of 0.933 (95% CI 0.841–0.973). The following risk levels for 2-day mortality were identified from the score: low risk (score < 1), where only 8.2% of non-survivors were assigned to; medium risk (1 ≤ score < 4); and high risk (score ≥ 4), where the 2-day mortality rate was 57.6%. The novel blood biomarker score provides an excellent association with 2-day in-hospital mortality, as well as real-time feedback on the metabolic-respiratory patient status. Thus, this score can help in the decision-making process at critical moments in life-threatening situations.Junta de Castilla y León (Gerencia Regional de Salud - grant number GRS 1903/A/19 and GRS 2131/A/20)Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación/Agencia Estatal de Investigación/10.13039/501100011033/’, ERDF A way of making Europe, and Next GenerationEU/PRTR (under projects PID2020-115468RB-I00 and PDC2021-120775-I00)CIBER -Consorcio Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red (Instituto de Salud Carlos III) (CB19/01/00012)Publicación en abierto financiada por el Consorcio de Bibliotecas Universitarias de Castilla y León (BUCLE), con cargo al Programa Operativo 2014ES16RFOP009 FEDER 2014-2020 DE CASTILLA Y LEÓN, Actuación:20007-CL - Apoyo Consorcio BUCL

Correlation of Zinc with Oxidative Stress Biomarkers

Hypertension and smoking are related with oxidative stress (OS), which in turn reports on cellular aging. Zinc is an essential element involved in an individual¿s physiology. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relation of zinc levels in serum and urine with OS and cellular aging and its effect on the development of hypertension. In a Spanish sample with 1500 individuals, subjects aged 20¿59 years were selected, whose zinc intake levels fell within the recommended limits. These individuals were classified found (Pearson¿s C = 0.639; p = 0.01) between Zn serum/urine quotient and oxidized glutathione levels (GSSG). Finally, risk of hypertension significantly increased when the GSSG levels exceeded the 75 percentile; OR = 2.80 (95%CI = 1.09¿7.18) and AOR = 3.06 (95%CI = 0.96¿9.71). Low zinc levels in serum were related with OS and cellular aging and were, in turn, to be a risk factor for hypertension

Integrative transcriptome analysis of malignant pleural mesothelioma reveals a clinically relevant immune-based classification

Background: Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a rare and aggressive neoplasia affecting the lung mesothelium. Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) in MPM have not been extremely successful, likely due to poor identification of suitable candidate patients for the therapy. We aimed to identify cellular immune fractions associated with clinical outcome and classify patients with MPM based on their immune contexture. For each defined group, we sought for molecular specificities that could help further define our MPM classification at the genomic and transcriptomic level, as well as identify differential therapeutic strategies based on transcriptional signatures predictive of drug response. Methods: The abundance of 20 immune cell fractions in 516 MPM samples from 7 gene expression datasets was inferred using gene set variation analysis. Identification of clinically relevant fractions was performed with Cox proportional-hazards models adjusted for age, stage, sex, and tumor histology. Immune-based groups were defined based on the identified fractions. Results: T-helper 2 (TH2) and cytotoxic T (TC) cells were found to be consistently associated with overall survival. Three immune clusters (IG) were subsequently defined based on TH2 and TC immune infiltration levels: IG1 (54.5%) was characterized by high TH2 and low TC levels, IG2 (37%) had either low or high levels of both fractions, and IG3 (8.5%) was defined by low TH2 and high TC levels. IG1 and IG3 groups were associated with worse and better overall survival, respectively. While no differential genomic alterations were identified among immune groups, at the transcriptional level, IG1 samples showed upregulation of proliferation signatures, while IG3 samples presented upregulation of immune and inflammation-related pathways. Finally, the integration of gene expression with functional signatures of drug response showed that IG3 patients might be more likely to respond to ICI. Conclusions: This study identifies a novel immune-based signature with potential clinical relevance based on TH2 and TC levels, unveiling a fraction of patients with MPM with better prognosis and who might benefit from immune-based therapies. Molecular specificities of the different groups might be used to tailor specific potential therapies in the future