Towards Sustainability: Photochemical and electrochemical processes applied for environmental protection

In the last century, public policy around the globe was mainly focused on economic growth leaving out of this perspective, social concerns and the environment detriment that this merely economic approach was causing. It was until the last quarter of the 20th century that people started to be aware of the growing poverty and of the jeopardy of the planet as a result of human being activities. In consequence, the concept of sustainable development emerged in the United Nations as a call to all countries to integrate economic growth with social needs and environmental protection, in such a way that our activities as earth inhabitants stopped compromising the quality of life and needs satisfaction of future generations

Caracterización de los eventos adversos reportados por enfermería en unidades de cuidado intensivo en Bogotá

Objetivo: identificar los eventos adversos (EA) reportados por enfermería en algunas unidades de cuidado intensivo (UCI) en Bogotá. Método: Se desarrolló un estudio descriptivo, prospectivo. El tamaño de la muestra correspondió a 525 pacientes durante un periodo de tiempo de 6 meses. El tipo de muestreo fue por criterio, participaron de forma voluntaria 3 instituciones de salud en la ciudad de Bogotá. Para recolectar información, se utilizó un formulario digital on-line. Se realizó un análisis descriptivo con distribución de frecuencias absolutas y relativas utilizando el programa estadístico SPSS Statistics 23.0, versión 2014. Resultados: Se reportaron 594 eventos adversos presentados en los 525 pacientes. Los relacionados con el cuidado enfermero ocuparon el primer lugar (38,7%), seguido del manejo de la vía aérea y la ventilación mecánica (16,1%) y el manejo de accesos vasculares, sondas y drenajes (14,8) y la infección asociado al cuidado (12,6%). La ocurrencia de estos eventos adversos predomino en hombres con edad promedio de 64,5 años, en unidades de cuidado intensivo médicas, en el turno de la noche y con un TISS 28 de 20-39 puntos. Conclusiones: Los Eventos Adversos reportados en el estudio que presentan mayor prevalencia están relacionados en su mayoría con el cuidado directo al paciente y el de vía aérea, al ser prevenibles, indican que se presentaron por alteración en el cumplimiento de los estándares del cuidado

Chronological link between deep-seated processes in magma chambers and eruptions: Pemo-Carboniferous magmatism in the core of Pangaea (southern Pyrenees)

In the Southern Pyrenees there are Upper Carboniferous–Lower Permian sedimentary basins with a significant volume of volcanic material derived from explosive eruptions (rhyolitic ignimbrites and andesitic flows). These basins are spatially associated with granodiorites and dacitic dykes emplaced in Variscan basement rocks. U–Pb SHRIMP dating of zircons extracted from three granodiorites, an andesitic flow, a dacitic dyke and six ignimbrites, revealed that magmatism occurred over an extended period of thirty eight million years, from ca. 304 Ma to ca. 266 Ma (Upper Carboniferous–Middle Permian). A scattering of zircon ages in each sample shows that the history of melt crystallization was complex, with more than one zircon-forming event in each magma chamber. The prolonged crystallization history was transferred to the product of the eruptions. A chronological link between the deep-seated magma chambers and processes in eruptions was identified on the basis of four overlapping intervals at: ca. 309–307 Ma (Upper Carboniferous), ca. 304– 296 Ma (Upper Carboniferous–Lower Permian), ca. 294–282 Ma (Lower Permian), and ca. 276 Ma (Lower Permian). The variation of zircon U/Th ratios exposes a tendency for an increase in mafic sources as crystallization advances in the Permian. Zircons probably crystallized from melt phases related to both a felsicintermediate metaluminous source from ca. 310–293 Ma (mostly 0.1 b Th/U b 0.6) to ca. 289–273 Ma (especially in the range 0.6 b Th/U b 1) and a mafic source (mostly 1.2 b Th/U b 1) at ca. 266–265 Ma. U–Pb zircon ages from volcanic and plutonic rocks of the Southern Pyrenees are consistent with the ages of the post-Variscan magmatism of Iberia associated with orocline generation and subduction of the Paleotethys Ocean (ca. 304–283 Ma), and in addition reveal a later magmatic event at ca. 276–266 Ma (Lower–Middle Permian). The location of the Iberian orocline in the core of Pangaea and near the western end of the subduction zone of the Paleotethys Ocean leads to the hypothesis that this later magmatic activity of the Southern Pyrenees could provide the missing link between the Variscan and Cimmerian cycles that acted sequentially in Permo- Carboniferous times

Physico-Chemically Distinct Nanomaterials Synthesized from Derivates of a Poly(Anhydride) Diversify the Spectrum of Loadable Antibiotics

Recent advances in the field of nanotechnology such as nanoencapsulation offer new biomedical applications, potentially increasing the scope and efficacy of therapeutic drug delivery. In addition, the discovery and development of novel biocompatible polymers increases the versatility of these encapsulating nanostructures, enabling chemical properties of the cargo and vehicle to be adapted to specific physiological requirements. Here, we evaluate the capacity of various polymeric nanostructures to encapsulate various antibiotics of different classes, with differing chemical structure. Polymers were sourced from two separate derivatives of poly(methyl vinyl ether-alt-maleic anhydride) (PMVE/MA): an acid (PMVE/MA-Ac) and a monoethyl ester (PMVE/MA-Es). Nanoencapsulation of antibiotics was attempted through electrospinning, and nanoparticle synthesis through solvent displacement, for both polymers. Solvent incompatibilities prevented the nanoencapsulation of amikacin, neomycin and ciprofloxacin in PMVE/MA-Es nanofibers. However, all compounds were successfully loaded into PMVE/MA-Es nanoparticles. Encapsulation efficiencies in nanofibers reached approximately 100% in all compatible systems; however, efficiencies varied substantially in nanoparticles systems, depending on the tested compound (14%–69%). Finally, it was confirmed that both these encapsulation processes did not alter the antimicrobial activity of any tested antibiotic against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, supporting the viability of these approaches for nanoscale delivery of antibioticsThis research was funded by the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, grant numbers MAT-2017-86805-R and MAT-2014-53282-R,and Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MCI)—Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI)/Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER), grant number RTI2018-101969-J-I0