Improved serodiagnosis of alveolar echinococcosis of humans using an in vitro-produced Echinococcus multilocularis antigen

Serology is an important tool for the diagnosis of alveolar echinococcosis (AE) in humans. In order to improve serodiagnostic performance, we have developed an in vitro-produced Echinococcus mulilocularis metacestode vesicle fluid (EmVF) antigen for application in an immunoblot assay. Immunoblot analysis of EmVF revealed an abundant immunoreactive band triplet of 20-22kDa, achieving a sensitivity of 100% based on the testing of sera from 62 pre-operative and pre-treatment cases of active and inactive AE. Thus, the EmVF-immunoblotting allowed the specific detection of cases seronegative by the Em2- and/or EmII/3-10-ELISA, usually attributable to abortive, inactive cases of AE. The specificity of the EmVF-immunoblotting did not allow discrimination between AE and cystic echinococcosis (CE) but was 100% with respect to non-Echinococcus parasitic infections or cancer malignancies. Based on the findings of this study, it is recommended that the current ELISA test combination (Em2- and II/3-10-ELISA) be complemented with EmVF-immunoblotting, allowing an improved diagnosis of both clinical and subclinical forms of AE, including those associated with E. multilocularis-specific antibody reactivities not detectable by ELIS

La Ingeniería Divertida: Gravity Challenge.

La competición se utiliza en muchos entornos educativos, especialmente en el ámbito anglosajón, como medio para contribuir al desarrollo de las habilidades de los alumnos, aspecto este que se encuentra íntimamente ligado a la adquisición de determinadas competencias profesionales. En el sector de la ingeniería y arquitectura resulta de gran importancia y por ello, la Universidad Politécnica de Madrid ha organizado durante el curso 2006‐07 un conjunto de competiciones de estudiantes muy diversas. Una de estas competiciones es la denominada GRAVITY CHALLENGE, en la que los equipos participantes se enfrentaban al reto de lanzar un huevo desde una altura de 15 metros y conseguir que aterrice en el suelo sin romperse. Los equipos ganadores serían aquellos que lograsen este objetivo de la forma más creativa. En este trabajo se describe el procedimiento seguido para la organización de esta competición en la que participaron 27 equipos de distintas universidades. También se presentan los resultados y se hace una reflexión sobre los objetivos formativos que consideramos alcanzados

On the continuity of factorizations

[EN] Let {Xi : i ∈ I} be a set of sets, XJ :=Пi∈J Xi when Ø ≠ J ⊆ I; Y be a subset of XI , Z be a set, and f : Y → Z. Then f is said to depend on J if p, q ∈ Y , pJ = qJ ⇒ f(p) = f(q); in this case, fJ : πJ [Y ] → Z is well-defined by the rule f = fJ ◦ πJ|Y When the Xi and Z are spaces and f : Y → Z is continuous with Y dense in XI , several natural questions arise: (a) does f depend on some small J ⊆ I? (b) if it does, when is fJ continuous? (c) if fJ is continuous, when does it extend to continuous fJ : XJ → Z? (d) if fJ so extends, when does f extend to continuous f : XI → Z? (e) if f depends on some J ⊆ I and f extends to continuous f : XI → Z, when does f also depend on J? The authors offer answers (some complete, some partial) to some of these questions, together with relevant counterexamples. Theorem 1. f has a continuous extension f : XI → Z that depends on J if and only if fJ is continuous and has a continuous extension fJ : XJ → Z. Example 1. For ω ≤ k ≤ c there are a dense subset Y of [0, 1]k and f ∈ C(Y, [0, 1]) such that f depends on every nonempty J ⊆ k, there is no J ∈ [k]<ω such that fJ is continuous, and f extends continuously over [0, 1]k. Example 2. There are a Tychonoff space XI, dense Y ⊆ XI, f ∈ C(Y ), and J ∈ [I]<ω such that f depends on J, πJ [Y ] is C-embedded in XJ , and f does not extend continuously over XI .Comfort, W.; Gotchev, IS.; Recoder-Nuñez, L. (2008). On the continuity of factorizations. Applied General Topology. 9(2):263-280. doi:10.4995/agt.2008.1806.SWORD2632809

Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Latin America: A Systematic Review

BACKGROUND: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is the name given to two inflammatory diseases of the colon and/or small intestine: Crohn disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). There is no information summarizing the complete body of evidence about IBD in developing regions, including Latin America. OBJECTIVES: To estimate the burden of IBD in Latin America. METHODS: We conducted a systematic review searching published and unpublished studies on major international and regional databases from January 2000 to September 2015. Outcomes considered were incidence, prevalence, mortality, hospitalization attributable, treatment patterns, comparative effectiveness, patient-reported outcomes, and adherence to treatment. Pairs of reviewers independently selected, extracted, and assessed the risk of bias of the studies. Discrepancies were solved by consensus. RESULTS: We retrieved 3445 references, finally including 25 studies. Only 19% of the observational studies had a low risk of bias for participant selection and 60% were based on registries. The incidence ranged from 0.74 to 6.76/100,000 person-years for UC and from 0.24 to 3.5/100,000 person-years for CD. The prevalence rate ranged from 0.99 to 44.3/100,000 inhabitants for UC and 0.24 to 16.7/100,000 inhabitants for CD. Mortality rates ranged from 0.60 to 1.02 for UC and from 0.23 to 0.40 for CD. Patient-reported outcomes showed a decrease in quality of life associated with depression and anxiety and correlated with the time of diagnosis. The most frequently used medication in the studies was mesalazine. CONCLUSIONS: The burden of IBD in Latin America seems to be important, but there is a considerable gap of high-quality evidence in the region