Experiència dels excuidadors i excuidadores principals informals que han tingut cura d'un familiar vell amb demència després de la seva mort

Curs 2011-2012El treball aquí exposat té com a objectiu conèixer i comprendre l’experiència dels excuidadors i excuidadores principals informals que han tingut cura d’un familiar vell amb demència després de la seva mort. Es plantegen les hipòtesis i els objectius generals i específics. S’hi exposa també, la justificació del tema, l’interès, la rellevància a nivell social i professional, i la seva aportació en el món de la salut. En l’apartat de l’estat de la qüestió i la fonamentació conceptual, després d’una revisió bibliogràfica sobre el tema, es descriuen els diferents apartats que formen part del marc teòric: perfil de la persona gran dement que rep cures informals , el perfil dels cuidadors/es, les conseqüències de tenir cura d’una persona dement, l’estat dels excuidadors/es després de la mort del familiar vell amb demència i el procés de dol. El segon apartat inclou la metodologia, i el mètode d’investigació. A més, inclou les matrius d’anàlisi del contingut i del discurs, i es plantegen els resultats en funció dels objectius marcats. En la discussió, a partir de les dades obtingudes, es realitza la seva anàlisi, s’interpreta el resultat i es contraposa amb altres estudis consultats. Finalment s’exposen les conclusions per resumir la informació obtinguda i la metodologia utilitzada. Es realitza una reflexió sobre els aprenentatges adquirits i les aportacions del treball i s’apunten noves vies de recerca. En les referències bibliogràfiques s’especifiquen les fonts consultades i en els annexos hi consten els models d’entrevista i de matriu per a l’anàlisi de dades, el full de consentiment informat i també el buidatge i l’anàlisi de les entrevistes.The aim of this paper is to know and understand the experiences that main informal former caregivers, who have taken care of an elderly family member with dementia, have had after their death. Hypothesis, general objectives and specific objectives are presented. The justification of the subject is stated, as well as its interest, its social and professional importance, and its contribution to the world of health. In the corresponding part about the state of the subject and the conceptual basis, and after a bibliographic checking, the elements that form this subject are described: the profile of the elder with dementia who receives informal care, the profile of the caregivers, the consequences of taking care of a person that suffers from dementia, the state of the former caregivers after the death of the elderly family member with dementia and the grieving process. The second part describes the methodology, paradigm and research method used in this paper, as well as the matrix of analysis of the contents of the different interviews, and the results are presented based on set objectives. In the discussion, the obtained data are analysed and interpreted and they are compared to other researches. The conclusions to summarise the obtained information and the methodology that has been used are stated. A personal reflection about the acquired learning is made, as well as a proposal of new lines of investigation. The bibliographic references consulted are mentioned. The interview model and the matrices of analysis, the informed consent form, as well as the highlighted points of the interviews and their transcription are stated in the annexes.Director/a: Jordi Collet i Sab

Nucleic acid i-motif structures in analytical chemistry

Under the appropriate experimental conditions of pH and temperature, cytosine-rich segments in DNA or RNA sequences may produce a characteristic folded structure known as an i-motif. Besides its potential role in vivo, which is still under investigation, this structure has attracted increasing interest in other fields due to its sharp, fast and reversible pH-driven conformational changes. This 'on/off' switch at molecular level is being used in nanotechnology and analytical chemistry to develop nanomachines and sensors, respectively. This paper presents a review of the latest applications of this structure in the field of chemical analysis

Still using MS Excel? Implementation of the WHO Go.Data software for the COVID‐19 contact tracing

In the fight against the current epidemic of COVID‐19, contact tracing has been used with success in China, as part of a series of containment efforts.1 Historically, data collection has been done through paper forms and, over time, this data collection has been digitalized, usually using the tools at hand, which are typically spreadsheets and custom‐made databases, and in some cases, specialized software.2 Throughout the world, many agents, from regional public health agencies to hospitals of all levels, have to choose a platform to record cases, determine exposures, register contacts, and manage their follow‐up assessments, that is, document all the events in the chains of transmission. Although in small outbreaks the management of this information is not overwhelming, and spreadsheets or small ad‐hoc databases can be used, in an outbreak of the scale of COVID‐19, with a high number of cases and around 36 contacts for each one,3 these traditional solutions may not be scalable to the required levels. Needless to say, the speed and effectiveness of contact tracking are critical elements for this tool to help contain the COVID‐19 epidemic

Designed asymmetric coordination helicates with bis-β-diketonate ligands.

A new bis-(β-diketone) ligand featuring built-up structural asymmetry yields non-symmetric Fe(iii) and Ga(iii) dinuclear, triple-stranded helicates by design. Their structural properties have been studied, both in solid state and in solution, and compared with their corresponding symmetric analogues. The robustness observed shows the potential of this synthetic strategy to develop non-symmetric helicoidal motifs with specific functional groups

SARS-CoV2 hospital surveillance and control system with contact tracing for patients and health care workers at a large reference hospital in Spain during the first wave: An observational descriptive study

Background and Aims During the first peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Preventive Medicine Department and the Occupational Health Department at Hospital Clinic de Barcelona (HCB), a large Spanish referral hospital, developed an innovative comprehensive SARS-CoV2 Surveillance and Control System (CoSy-19) in order to preserve patients' and health care workers' (HCWs) safety. We aim to describe the CoSy-19 and to assess the impact in the number of contacts that new cases generated along this time. Methods Observational descriptive study of the findings of the activity of contact tracing of all cases received at the HCB during the first peak of COVID-19 in Spain (February 25th-May 3rd, 2020). Results A team of 204 professionals and volunteers performed 384 in-hospital contact-tracing studies which generated contacts, detecting 298 transmission chains which suggested preventive measures, generated around 22¿000 follow-ups and more than 30¿000¿days of work leave. The number of contacts that new cases generated decreased during the study period. Conclusion Coordination between Preventive Medicine and Occupational Health departments and agile information systems were necessary to preserve non-COVID activity and workers safety.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Molecules Designed to Contain Two Weakly Coupled Spins with a Photoswitchable Spacer

Controlling the charges and spins of molecules lies at the heart of spintronics. A photoswitchable molecule consisting of two independent spins separated by a photo- switchable moiety was designed in the form of new ligand H4L, which features a dithienylethene photochromic unit and two lateral coordinating moieties, and yields molecules with [MM···MM] topology. Compounds [M4L2(py)6] (M = Cu, 1; Co, 2; Ni, 3; Zn, 4) were prepared and studied by single-crys- tal X-ray diffraction (SCXRD). Different metal centers can be selectively distributed among the two chemically distinct sites of the ligand, and this enables the preparation of many double-spin systems. Heterometallic [MM'···M'M] analogues with formulas [Cu2Ni2L2(py)6] (5), [Co2Ni2L2(py)6] (6), [Co2Cu2L2(py)6] (7), [Cu2Zn2L2(py)6] (8), and [Ni2Zn2L2(py)6] (9) were prepared and analyzed by SCXRD. Their composition was established unambiguously. All complexes exhibit two weakly interacting [MM'] moieties, some of which embody two-level quantum systems. Compounds 5 and 8 each ex- hibit a pair of weakly coupled S = 1=2 spins that show quan- tum coherence in pulsed Q-band EPR spectroscopy, as re- quired for quantum computing, with good phase memory times (TM = 3.59 and 6.03 ms at 7 K). Reversible photoswitch- ing of all the molecules was confirmed in solution. DFT cal- culations on 5 indicate that the interaction between the two spins of the molecule can be switched on and off on photo- cyclization

Negative symptoms and sex differences in first episode schizophrenia: What's their role in the functional outcome? A longitudinal study

Introduction: Negative symptoms (NS) include asociality, avolition, anhedonia, alogia, and blunted affect and are linked to poor prognosis. It has been suggested that they reflect two different factors: diminished expression (EXP) (blunted affect and alogia) and amotivation/pleasure (MAP) (anhedonia, avolition, asociality). The aim of this article was to examine potential sex differences among first-episode schizophrenia (FES) patients and analyze sex-related predictors of two NS symptoms factors (EXP and MAP) and functional outcome. Material and methods: Two hundred and twenty-three FES (71 females and 152 males) were included and evaluated at baseline, six-months and one-year. Repeated measures ANOVA was used to examine the effects of time and sex on NS and a multiple linear regression backward elimination was performed to predict NS factors (MAP-EXP) and functioning. Results: Females showed fewer NS (p = 0.031; Cohen's d = −0.312), especially those related to EXP (p = 0.024; Cohen's d = −0.326) rather than MAP (p = 0.086), than males. In both male and female group, worse premorbid adjustment and higher depressive symptoms made a significant contribution to the presence of higher deficits in EXP at one-year follow-up, while positive and depressive symptoms predicted alterations in MAP. Finally, in females, lower deficits in MAP and better premorbid adjustment predicted better functioning at one-year follow-up (R2 = 0.494; p < 0.001), while only higher deficits in MAP predicted worse functioning in males (R2 = 0.088; p = 0.012). Conclusions: Slightly sex differences have been found in this study. Our results lead us to consider that early interventions of NS, especially those focusing on motivation and pleasure symptoms, could improve functional outcomes

Nucleic acid i-motif structures in analytical chemistry

Under the appropriate experimental conditions of pH and temperature, cytosine-rich segments in DNA or RNA sequences may produce a characteristic folded structure known as an i-motif. Besides its potential role in vivo, which is still under investigation, this structure has attracted increasing interest in other fields due to its sharp, fast and reversible pH-driven conformational changes. This 'on/off' switch at molecular level is being used in nanotechnology and analytical chemistry to develop nanomachines and sensors, respectively. This paper presents a review of the latest applications of this structure in the field of chemical analysis