Weaving Sustainability, Carving Identity: An Exploration of Artisan Livelihood in Oaxaca, Mexico

The southwestern region of Mexico is world known for its beautiful folk art that is high in quality and variety, and which derives from ancient indigenous traditions. Weaving and woodcarving are such pre-Hispanic traditions that have taught artesanos to care for the gifts that nature can provide. However amidst a global environmental crisis and a rise in socioeconomic barriers to indigenous community development, artesanos have had to find ways to uplift their families from poverty resulting in the exploitation of primary resources. This ethnographic exploration of two aspects of folk art production in Oaxaca, Mexico uncovers the ways in which artesanos understand the cultural and environmental sustainability surrounding artisan livelihood in a growing globalized neoliberal market. I focused on analyzing how these artisans view themselves and their role in preserving this threatened way of life; this includes finding a market for their craft, balancing tradition and innovation, utilizing traditional community systems of organizing, and maintaining indigenous spiritual values of coexistance with their surrounding environment. Overall, this projects hopes to illuminate how indigenous artisanal practices have developed in relationship to their rural environmental contexts

Phenotypic Characterization of Non-toxigenic Clostridioides difficile Strains Isolated From Patients in Mexico

Clostridioides difficile is a Gram positive, sporulated, rod-shape, anaerobic pathogen responsible for nosocomial diarrhea and colitis, mainly in antibiotic treated patients. C. difficile produce two toxins responsible for disease, toxin A (TcdA) and toxin B (TcdB), although not all strains produce them. Non-toxigenic C. difficile (NTCD) strains are able to colonize the intestinal mucosa and are often isolated from asymptomatic individuals. NTCD are poorly studied, their evolutionary history has not been elucidated, and their relationship with illness remains controversial. The aim of this work was to analyze the phenotype of NTCD strains isolated from clinical cases in hospitals of México, and whether NTCD strains present characteristics that differentiate them from the toxigenic strains. Seventy-four C. difficile strains isolated from patients were tested for cytotoxicity and 14 were identified as NTCD strains. We analyzed phenotypical characteristics that are important for the biology of C. difficile like colony morphology, antibiotic resistance, motility, sporulation, and adherence. Strains were also genotyped to determine the presence of genes coding for TcdA, TcdB and binary toxin and ribotyped for 027 type. When compared with toxigenic strains, NTCD strains presented an enlarged branched colony morphology, higher resistance to metronidazole, and increased sporulation efficiency. This phenotype has been reported associated with mutations that regulates phenotypic characteristics like swimming, sporulation or adhesion. Our results show that phenotype of NTCD strains is heterogeneous but still present characteristics that differentiate them from toxigenic strains

Calidad de los efluentes de las Plantas de Tratamiento de Aguas Residuales domésticas de Piura

The article’s objective was to evaluate the quality of the domestic effluents of the Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTP) in the city of Piura between the years 2019 to 2021. The methodology used was the quantitative method, for later, it analysed the statistical data of the Effluents Quality Evaluation of the Providers of Sanitation Services annual reports. It is so which evaluated the quality of the effluents from the WWTPs over the years at interest. Collected results indicated a higher level of non-compliance at the following parameters: Thermotolerant Coliforms (93.10%), Total Suspended Solids (41.38%), Chemical Oxygen Demand (79.31%), Biological Oxygen Demand (65 .52%), Oils and Fats (10.34%), Ph (6.90%) and Temperature (0.00%). In conclusion, it proved that the values do not comply with the established Maximum Permissible Limits, exceeding a percentage greater than 40% in 4/7 evaluation parameters.La presente investigación tuvo por objetivo evaluar la calidad de los efluentes de las Plantas de Tratamiento de Aguas Residuales (PTAR) domésticas del departamento de Piura en el periodo 2019 - 2021. Se hizo uso de una metodología cuantitativa y se analizó la información de los datos estadísticos procedentes de los informes anuales de la Evaluación de la Calidad de los efluentes de los Prestadores de Servicios de Saneamiento, mediante la cual, se logró evaluar la calidad de los efluentes de las PTAR en los años de interés. Los resultados obtenidos indicaron un mayor nivel de incumplimiento en los siguientes parámetros: Coliformes Termotolerantes (93,10%), Sólidos Suspendidos Totales (41,38%), Demanda Química de Oxígeno (79,31%), Demanda Biológica de Oxígeno (65,52%), Aceites y Grasas (10,34%), pH (6,90%) y Temperatura (0,00%). En conclusión, se evidenció que los valores no cumplen con los Límites Máximos Permisibles establecidos, sobrepasando un porcentaje mayor al 40% en 4 de los 7 parámetros de evaluación

Differences in clinical outcomes of bloodstream infections caused by Klebsiella aerogenes, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Enterobacter cloacae: a multicentre cohort study

Background: Klebsiella aerogenes has been reclassified from Enterobacter to Klebsiella genus due to its phenotypic and genotypic similarities with Klebsiella pneumoniae. It is unclear if clinical outcomes are also more similar. This study aims to assess clinical outcomes of bloodstreams infections (BSI) caused by K. aerogenes, K. pneumoniae and Enterobacter cloacae, through secondary data analysis, nested in PRO-BAC cohort study. Methods: Hospitalized patients between October 2016 and March 2017 with monomicrobial BSI due to K. aerogenes, K. pneumoniae or E. cloacae were included. Primary outcome was a composite clinical outcome including all-cause mortality or recurrence until 30 days follow-up. Secondary outcomes were fever ≥ 72 h, persistent bacteraemia, and secondary device infection. Multilevel mixed-effect Poisson regression was used to estimate the association between microorganisms and outcome. Results: Overall, 29 K. aerogenes, 77 E. cloacae and 337 K. pneumoniae BSI episodes were included. Mortality or recurrence was less frequent in K. aerogenes (6.9%) than in E. cloacae (20.8%) or K. pneumoniae (19.0%), but statistical difference was not observed (rate ratio (RR) 0.35, 95% CI 0.08 to 1.55; RR 0.42, 95% CI 0.10 to 1.71, respectively). Fever ≥ 72 h and device infection were more common in K. aerogenes group. In the multivariate analysis, adjusted for confounders (age, sex, BSI source, hospital ward, Charlson score and active antibiotic therapy), the estimates and direction of effect were similar to crude results. Conclusions: Results suggest that BSI caused by K. aerogenes may have a better prognosis than E. cloacae or K. pneumoniae BSI. © The Author(s) 2024

La experiencia gastronómica del asistente al festival provincial del chef patagónico y el marketing de contenido en medios sociales. Informe final

El Festival del Chef Patagónico (FCP) es un evento gastronómico que se desarrolla en mayo de cada año en Villa Pehuenia-Moquehue (VPM). Durante el evento, distintos chefs, bodegas, productores y artesanos ofrecen sus productos a los residentes, viajeros y turistas que llegan al destino motivados para vivir una experiencia gastronómica única. [...] Atendiendo a la importancia provincial y local del FCP como línea de producto del turismo gastronómico, se torna necesaria la generación de información sobre el mismo, que permita a los gestores del destino turístico, a nivel local y provincial, mejorar sus decisiones de marketing y poder definir líneas de acción a futuro, en pos de la co-creación y de su posicionamiento estratégico. En ese sentido es que surge esta propuesta de investigación de mercado que tiene como destinatarios al Municipio de VPM y al Ministerio de Turismo de la Provincia del Neuquén, orientada a contar con información sobre la experiencia del turista gastronómico, particularmente de aquel que asiste al FCP y a conocer la comunicación en los medios sociales propias del evento y su interacción con dicho público.Fil: Cardozo, Luana Florencia. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Facultad de Turismo; Argentina.Fil: Castillo, Yamila Celeste. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Facultad de Turismo; Argentina.Fil: Ferreiro, Josefina. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Facultad de Turismo; Argentina.Fil: Graff, Emiliano. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Facultad de Turismo; Argentina.Fil: Granados, Ailin Janet. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Facultad de Turismo; Argentina.Fil: Hernandez Gonzalez, Romina Natalia. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Facultad de Turismo; Argentina.Fil: Larena, Gonzalo Ramón. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Facultad de Turismo; Argentina.Fil: Martinez Morales, Ramon Alejandro. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Facultad de Turismo; Argentina.Fil: Molina; Aitor Damian. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Facultad de Turismo; Argentina.Fil: Nemeth, Nicole. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Facultad de Turismo; Argentina.Fil: Dylis Pizarro, Luciana. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Facultad de Turismo; Argentina.Fil: Ratsombath, Priscila Ayelén. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Facultad de Turismo; Argentina.Fil: Sanchez, Mariana Rocío. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Facultad de Turismo; Argentina.Fil: Scheuermann, Rocío Belén. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Facultad de Turismo; Argentina.Fil: Sepulveda, Tamara Valeria. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Facultad de Turismo; Argentina.Fil: Suriano, Giuliana Maysha. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Facultad de Turismo; Argentina.Fil: Zanfardini, Marina. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Facultad de Turismo; Argentina.Fil: Gutauskas, Andrea. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Facultad de Turismo; Argentina

Autophagy Induction as a Therapeutic Strategy for Neurodegenerative Diseases.

Autophagy is a major, conserved cellular pathway by which cells deliver cytoplasmic contents to lysosomes for degradation. Genetic studies have revealed extensive links between autophagy and neurodegenerative disease, and disruptions to autophagy may contribute to pathology in some cases. Autophagy degrades many of the toxic, aggregate-prone proteins responsible for such diseases, including mutant huntingtin (mHTT), alpha-synuclein (α-syn), tau, and others, raising the possibility that autophagy upregulation may help to reduce levels of toxic protein species, and thereby alleviate disease. This review examines autophagy induction as a potential therapy in several neurodegenerative diseases-Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, polyglutamine diseases, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Evidence in cells and in vivo demonstrates promising results in many disease models, in which autophagy upregulation is able to reduce the levels of toxic proteins, ameliorate signs of disease, and delay disease progression. However, the effective therapeutic use of autophagy induction requires detailed knowledge of how the disease affects the autophagy-lysosome pathway, as activating autophagy when the pathway cannot go to completion (e.g., when lysosomal degradation is impaired) may instead exacerbate disease in some cases. Investigating the interactions between autophagy and disease pathogenesis is thus a critical area for further research

Clustering COVID-19 ARDS patients through the first days of ICU admission. An analysis of the CIBERESUCICOVID Cohort

Background Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) can be classified into sub-phenotypes according to different inflammatory/clinical status. Prognostic enrichment was achieved by grouping patients into hypoinflammatory or hyperinflammatory sub-phenotypes, even though the time of analysis may change the classification according to treatment response or disease evolution. We aimed to evaluate when patients can be clustered in more than 1 group, and how they may change the clustering of patients using data of baseline or day 3, and the prognosis of patients according to their evolution by changing or not the cluster.Methods Multicenter, observational prospective, and retrospective study of patients admitted due to ARDS related to COVID-19 infection in Spain. Patients were grouped according to a clustering mixed-type data algorithm (k-prototypes) using continuous and categorical readily available variables at baseline and day 3.Results Of 6205 patients, 3743 (60%) were included in the study. According to silhouette analysis, patients were grouped in two clusters. At baseline, 1402 (37%) patients were included in cluster 1 and 2341(63%) in cluster 2. On day 3, 1557(42%) patients were included in cluster 1 and 2086 (57%) in cluster 2. The patients included in cluster 2 were older and more frequently hypertensive and had a higher prevalence of shock, organ dysfunction, inflammatory biomarkers, and worst respiratory indexes at both time points. The 90-day mortality was higher in cluster 2 at both clustering processes (43.8% [n = 1025] versus 27.3% [n = 383] at baseline, and 49% [n = 1023] versus 20.6% [n = 321] on day 3). Four hundred and fifty-eight (33%) patients clustered in the first group were clustered in the second group on day 3. In contrast, 638 (27%) patients clustered in the second group were clustered in the first group on day 3.Conclusions During the first days, patients can be clustered into two groups and the process of clustering patients may change as they continue to evolve. This means that despite a vast majority of patients remaining in the same cluster, a minority reaching 33% of patients analyzed may be re-categorized into different clusters based on their progress. Such changes can significantly impact their prognosis

The evolution of the ventilatory ratio is a prognostic factor in mechanically ventilated COVID-19 ARDS patients

Background: Mortality due to COVID-19 is high, especially in patients requiring mechanical ventilation. The purpose of the study is to investigate associations between mortality and variables measured during the first three days of mechanical ventilation in patients with COVID-19 intubated at ICU admission. Methods: Multicenter, observational, cohort study includes consecutive patients with COVID-19 admitted to 44 Spanish ICUs between February 25 and July 31, 2020, who required intubation at ICU admission and mechanical ventilation for more than three days. We collected demographic and clinical data prior to admission; information about clinical evolution at days 1 and 3 of mechanical ventilation; and outcomes. Results: Of the 2,095 patients with COVID-19 admitted to the ICU, 1,118 (53.3%) were intubated at day 1 and remained under mechanical ventilation at day three. From days 1 to 3, PaO2/FiO2 increased from 115.6 [80.0-171.2] to 180.0 [135.4-227.9] mmHg and the ventilatory ratio from 1.73 [1.33-2.25] to 1.96 [1.61-2.40]. In-hospital mortality was 38.7%. A higher increase between ICU admission and day 3 in the ventilatory ratio (OR 1.04 [CI 1.01-1.07], p = 0.030) and creatinine levels (OR 1.05 [CI 1.01-1.09], p = 0.005) and a lower increase in platelet counts (OR 0.96 [CI 0.93-1.00], p = 0.037) were independently associated with a higher risk of death. No association between mortality and the PaO2/FiO2 variation was observed (OR 0.99 [CI 0.95 to 1.02], p = 0.47). Conclusions: Higher ventilatory ratio and its increase at day 3 is associated with mortality in patients with COVID-19 receiving mechanical ventilation at ICU admission. No association was found in the PaO2/FiO2 variation