Sanctuary cities as a strategy for positioning themselves in the world. The cases of Valencia and Zaragoza (Spain)

Los objetivos de la presente investigación son conocer y comparar las acciones planteadas por los ayuntamientos de València y Zaragoza, dos poblaciones españolas declaradas ‘ciudad refugio’. El periodo de análisis de este estudio de casos parte de 2015, año clave en la crisis de refugiados en el Mediterráneo, y en el que ambas poblaciones experimentaron un cambio político tras las elecciones municipales. Los consistorios incluyen a partir de ese año partidas presupuestarias para la ayuda al refugiado, realizan declaraciones institucionales, campañas de concienciación, colaboran con ONG, se integran en redes de municipios de solidaridad con los refugiados y participan en encuentros y jornadas internacionales. Sin embargo, el análisis de los resultados sugiere que estas apuestas dependen de estrategias de partido más que de un verdadero sentido de ciudad. A pesar de suponer una táctica eficaz para situar a las ciudades en el mundo, con un discurso autónomo, su implementación se encuentra sometida a las dinámicas políticas locales, lo que las convierte en propuestas frágiles.This study seeks to define and compare the actions proposed by the local councils of Valencia and Zaragoza, two Spanish cities nominated as ‘refuge city’. The analysis period for this case study starts from 2015, a key year in the refugee crisis in the Mediterranean, and in which both cities experienced a political change following the municipal elections. From that year, the city councils have included budgetary items for refugee aid. In addition, they make institutional statements, perform awareness campaigns, collaborate with NGOs, integrate in networks of municipalities in solidarity with refugees and participate in international meetings and conferences. However, analysis of the results suggests that these initiatives are dependent on political party strategies rather than a true sense of the city. Despite assuming an effective tactic to position cities in the world by using an autonomous discourse, its implementation is subject to local political dynamics, which renders the proposals fragile.Este artículo forma parte de las actividades del proyecto de investigación “La diplomacia pública de las megaciudades iberoamericanas: estrategias de comunicación y poder blando para influir en la legislación ambiental global” (RTI2018-096733-B-I00), financiado por el Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (2019). Rubén Ramos Antón recibe financiación del Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) convocatoria 2018/11744

La cianotipia como medio de formación e implementación de actividades artísticas para educadores que trabajan con enfermos de Alzheimer

Este artículo se corresponde con el desarrollo de unas Jornadas de Formación que incluían talleres con cianotipia para Técnicos de la Confederación Española de Asociaciones de Familiares de Personas con Alzheimer y otras Demencias (CEAFA). En dichos talleres se desarrolló la cianotipia, una sencilla técnica fotográfica que tuvo su máxima difusión en el siglo XIX. Este proceso por sus especiales características se adapta perfectamente a las necesidades de cualquier edad y situación especial, lo que hace que esta técnica sea idónea para dinamizar las actividades artísticas que realizan las personas que padecen esta enfermedad en una fase temprana o moderada. Una vez finalizados los talleres y asimilados los conceptos, la técnica fotográfica y las posibilidades que ofrece la misma, los profesionales han podido aplicar los conocimientos adquiridos en pacientes con demencia temprana, con el fin de mejorar sus condiciones psicosociales, optimizar su comunicación y generar hábitos de superación personal.</p

Diseño de un curso de e-learning en cartografía temática

Los grandes avances en las nuevas tecnologías, evidentes en materias técnicas y científicas, repercuten también en campos menos visibles para los profesionales de la topografía y cartografía. La educación también se ve afectada y, como consecuencia de ello, surgen nuevas modalidades de enseñanza como el e-learning. Su potencial es incuestionable, pues rompe con barreras espaciales y temporales. Sin embargo, plantear cursos de este tipo no está exento de dificultades, pues exige una adaptación a las particularidades del medio y establecer un nuevo modelo de enseñanza-aprendizaje. En esta exposición se presentan las consideraciones realizadas por la Universidad Politécnica de Madrid en el diseño de un curso e-learning de Cartografía Temática ofrecido por el Instituto Geográfico Nacional, incidiendo en las ventajas de aplicar estándares en la gestión de contenidos y el uso de plataformas educativas virtuales que los acepten

Somos Exploradores Europeos: Ayudemos a animales en peligro de extinción

La propuesta de intervención educativa diseñada para alumnos de un aula localizada en el medio rural, se engloba dentro de un Proyecto de centro del presente curso escolar: “Europa”. Desde el área de Ciencias Naturales se lleva a cabo una propuesta de indagación en el curso de 1º de Educación Primaria, compartiendo aula y tareas con alumnos de los tres niveles de la etapa de Educación Infantil. El objetivo es que los alumnos, adoptando roles de exploradores que investigan, analicen las causas que han llevado a ciertos animales a estar en peligro de extinción en el continente europeo. Asimismo, propondrán posibles medidas para ayudar a evitar y prevenir esta situación diseñando una campaña de concienciación a través de un póster divulgativo y un vídeo de concienciación medioambiental. El proyecto se plantea en torno al aprendizaje significativo y cooperativo, siendo el papel del docente el de guía y dinamizador. El uso de las TIC aparece como herramienta central de la propuesta. De este modo, se fomenta el desarrollo de competencias comunicativas y científicas, estableciendo los aspectos clave para el comienzo en la formación de los alumnos en las metodologías de indagación e investigación

El nuevo espacio Web del Atlas Nacional de España, antesala del SIANE

Este artículo presenta los resultados fruto del reciente convenio conjunto entre el Instituto Geográfico Nacional (IGN) y la Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM), que ha tenido por objeto la investigación, diseño y creación de las páginas Web del Atlas Nacional de España (ANE). De carácter complementario a los objetos y datos que constituyen el ANE, este nuevo espacio Web que aquí se presenta constituirá el acceso al Sistema de Información del Atlas Nacional de España (SIANE), proporcionado la base tecnológica para la futura gestión y actualización del ANE. En definitiva, se trata de crear un marco contextual que por un lado haga comprender rápidamente al usuario qué puede ofrecerle SIANE, y por otro lado, complementar y potenciar la gestión informativa de éste presentando otros contenidos, diferentes a los objetos y datos publicados en el Atlas Nacional de España, que permitan definir y caracterizar esta importante obra

Lymph Node Molecular Analysis with OSNA Enables the Identification of pT1 CRC Patients at Risk of Recurrence: A Multicentre Study

OSNA; Lymph node; Colorectal cancerOSNA; Ganglio linfático; Cáncer colonrectalOSNA; Gangli limfàtic; Càncer colonrectalEarly-stage colorectal carcinoma (CRC)-pT1-is a therapeutic challenge and presents some histological features related to lymph node metastasis (LNM). A significant proportion of pT1 CRCs are treated surgically, resulting in a non-negligible surgical-associated mortality rate of 1.5-2%. Among these cases, approximately 6-16% exhibit LNM, but the impact on survival is unclear. Therefore, there is an unmet need to establish an objective and reliable lymph node (LN) staging method to optimise the therapeutic management of pT1 CRC patients and to avoid overtreating or undertreating them. In this multicentre study, 89 patients with pT1 CRC were included. All histological features associated with LNM were evaluated. LNs were assessed using two methods, One-Step Nucleic Acid Amplification (OSNA) and the conventional FFPE plus haematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining. OSNA is an RT-PCR-based method for amplifying CK19 mRNA. Our aim was to assess the performance of OSNA and H&E in evaluating LNs to identify patients at risk of recurrence and to optimise their clinical management. We observed an 80.9% concordance in LN assessment using the two methods. In 9% of cases, LNs were found to be positive using H&E, and in 24.7% of cases, LNs were found to be positive using OSNA. The OSNA results are provided as the total tumour load (TTL), defined as the total tumour burden present in all the LNs of a surgical specimen. In CRC, a TTL ≥ 6000 CK19 m-RNA copies/µL is associated with poor prognosis. Three patients had TTL > 6000 copies/μL, which was associated with higher tumour budding. The discrepancies observed between the OSNA and H&E results were mostly attributed to tumour allocation bias. We concluded that LN assessment with OSNA enables the identification of pT1 CRC patients at some risk of recurrence and helps to optimise their clinical management.This research was supported by a grant from the Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria PI20/00863 awarded to M.C. and J.C., and PI19/01050 awarded to MP, and it was funded by Instituto de Salud Carlos III and Beca de la Marató de TV3 2020 (Beca la Marato—201932-30) awarded to MP. This research was also co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund/European Social Fund; “A way to make Europe”/“Investing in your future”. CIBEREHD is funded by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III

An additional set of phages to characterize epidemic methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains from Spain (1989-92).

In recent years, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolates in Spain have increased dramatically; in 1986 there were only 1.2% MRSA amongst all nosocomial Staphylococcus aureus (SA) isolates, by 1989 this percentage had risen to 44% in some hospital causing a very serious epidemic situation in the country. We have characterized these isolates by direct, reverse and Fisk phage typing and we have also looked for an additional local set of phages to help us to differentiate these strains. We have been able to differentiate an epidemic strain from other MRSA strains which cause sporadic hospital outbreaks, and we have also distinguished between some variants of the epidemic strain.This research has been supported by a grant from the Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias de la Seguridad Social (FISS), Ministerio de Sanidad y Consumo, Spain; No. 93/0144.S

Endemic and epidemic Acinetobacter baumannii clones: a twelve-year study in a tertiary care hospital

BACKGROUND: Nosocomial outbreaks of multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii are of worldwide concern. Using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), multilocus sequence typing (MLST), and multiple locus variable number tandem repeat sequence (VNTR) analysis (MLVA), the present work examines the genetic diversity of the endemic and epidemic A. baumannii clones isolated in a single hospital over a twelve-year period. RESULTS: PFGE analysis of 405 A. baumannii-calcoaceticus complex isolates detected 15 A. baumannii endemic/epidemic PFGE types (EE1 to EE15) that grouped into five clusters: EE1-EE8, EE9, EE10, EE11 and EE12-EE15. The MLST sequence type (ST) distributions were: international clone II (ST-2) 60%, international clone III (ST-3) 26.7%, ST-15 6.7%, and ST-80 6.7%. MLVA-8Orsay returned 17 allelic profiles. The large (L) VNTR marker profiles were fully concordant with the detected STs, and concordant with 14 up to 15 PFGE types. Imipenem resistance was detected in five PFGE types; the prevalence of the bla OXA-58-like and bla OXA-40-like genes was 60% and 40% respectively. CONCLUSIONS: PFGE proved to be a vital tool for analysis of the temporal and spatial distribution of the clones. MLST and the VNTR L-markers grouped the isolates into clonal clusters. The wide diversity of MLVA small (S)-markers, however, did not permit clustering. The present results demonstrate the persistence of several endemic PFGE types in the hospital, the involvement of some of them in outbreaks, and the inter hospital transmission of extensively drug-resistant ST-15 and ST-80.S

Brain ApoA-I, ApoJ and ApoE Immunodetection in Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy

ApoA-I; ApoE; Cerebral amyloid angiopathyApoA-I; ApoE; Angiopatía amiloide cerebralApoA-I; ApoE; Angiopatia amiloide cerebralCerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) is a common cause of lobar intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) in elderly individuals and it is the result of the cerebrovascular deposition of beta-amyloid (Aβ) protein. CAA is frequently found in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), although it has an independent contribution to the cognitive deterioration associated with age. Specific apolipoproteins (Apo) have been associated with Aβ fibrillization and clearance from the brain. In this regard, in the present study, we analyzed the brain levels of ApoE, ApoA-I, and ApoJ/clusterin in autopsy brains from 20 post-mortem cases with CAA type I, CAA type II, with parenchymal Aβ deposits or without Aβ deposits. Our objective was to find a possible differential pattern of apolipoproteins distribution in the brain depending on the CAA pathological presentation. The protein expression levels were adjusted by the APOE genotype of the patients included in the study. We found that ApoE and ApoJ were abundantly present in meningeal, cortical, and capillary vessels of the brains with vascular Aβ accumulation. ApoE and ApoJ also deposited extracellularly in the parenchyma, especially in cases presenting Aβ diffuse and neuritic parenchymal deposits. In contrast, ApoA-I staining was only relevant in capillary walls in CAA type I cases. On the other hand, ICH was the principal cause of death among CAA patients in our cohort. We found that CAA patients with ICH more commonly had APOEε2 compared with CAA patients without ICH. In addition, patients who suffered an ICH presented higher vascular ApoE levels in brain. However, higher ApoE presence in cortical arteries was the only independent predictor of suffering an ICH in our cohort after adjusting by age and APOE genotype. In conclusion, while ApoE and ApoJ appear to be involved in both vascular and parenchymal Aβ pathology, ApoA-I seems to be mainly associated with CAA, especially in CAA type I pathology. We consider that our study helps to molecularly characterize the distribution subtypes of Aβ deposition within the brain

Tumour Cell Seeding to Lymph Nodes from In Situ Colorectal Cancer

Lymph node (LN) metastasis is an important prognostic factor in colorectal cancer (CRC). We aimed to search for lymphatic vessels (LVs) in the lamina propria of 39 surgically resected in situ CRC, as well as to detect the presence of tumour burden in the regional LNs. We identified the presence of LVs in the mucosa of all tumours (39/39; 100%) using D240 immunostains. LNs were analysed by both H&E and a RT-PCR-based molecular method. All cases were pN0 with H&E, and the molecular assay detected the presence of low amounts of tumour burden in the LNs of 11/39 (28%) cases, with no clinical consequences at 1 to 5 years of follow-up. The amount of tumour burden in LNs has proven to be a prognostic factor. Despite the fact that pTis is considered to have little or no risk of LN metastasis, our results enabled to quantify the amount of tumour burden within LNs, which may help clinical management. Lymph node (LN) metastasis is an important prognostic factor in colorectal cancer (CRC). We aimed to demonstrate the presence of lymphatic vessels (LV) in the mucosa of in-situ (pTis) CRC, and of detectable tumour burden in regional LNs. This is an observational retrospective study of 39 surgically resected in situ CRCs. The number of LVs was evaluated in both pTis and normal mucosa using D2-40 immunostains. All LNs were assessed with both H&E and the One Step Nucleic Acid Amplification (OSNA) assay, and the results were correlated with clinicopathological features. D2-40 immunohistochemisty revealed LVs in the lamina propria of all pTis CRC (100%), being absent in normal mucosa. A median of 16 LNs were freshly dissected per patient, and all cases were pN0 with H&E. Molecular LN analysis with OSNA revealed the presence of low amounts of tumour burden in 11/39 (28%) cases (range 400 to 4270 CK19 mRNA copies/µL), which had no clinical consequences. This study demonstrates the presence of LVs in the lamina propria in 100% of pTis CRC, as well as the presence of low amounts of tumour burden in regional LNs, only detected by molecular methods. Given the prognostic value of LN tumour burden, its molecular quantification may help a patient's clinical management