Ensamblaje molecular en superficies: nanoelectrónica

La investigación en nanociencia hace posibles los avances que la electrónica necesita para seguir evolucionando. Entre los aportes más recientes se encuentra la creación de estructuras bidimensionales que permitan la formación de redes moleculares para posteriormente fabricar dispositivos electrónicos de tamaño nanométrico. En este trabajo de fin de grado se ha estudiado un curcuminoide sintético, el BOHCCMoidBF2, con el objetivo de aprender más sobre sus propiedades y determinar si estas son apropiadas para el ensamblaje de circuitos moleculares.Para ello, tras seleccionar las condiciones experimentales más adecuadas, se ha empleado la técnica de Langmuir-Blodgett para preparar monocapas en la interfase aire-agua y después transferirlas sobre un sustrato de mica, para de esta forma analizar su morfología mediante la microscopía de fuerza atómica (AFM). Esta información se ha complementado con los resultados de otros experimentos basados en la compresión de la película de Langmuir, entre ellos las isotermas de potencial superficial, los espectros de reflexión UV-vis o la microscopía de ángulo Brewster (BAM).<br /

Syphilis and HIV infection in indigenous Mbya Guarani communities of Puerto Iguazu (Argentina): diagnosis, contact tracking, and follow-up

The aim of study was to assess the prevalence of Treponema pallidum and HIV infection in Amerindian people (Mbya Guarani) over the age of 11 in Puerto Iguazu (Argentina) and to describe the contact tracking of cases. The method was a cross-sectional study in the Mbya Guarani people living in three villages of Puerto Iguazu (community A, pop. 1,146; community B, pop. 369; and community C, pop. 149). Participants were randomly invited to participate in the survey and in blood testing. Of the 551 participants, 48 were infected by T. pallidum (8.71%; 95% confidence interval [CI] 7.38-10.04). The infection prevalence decreased with age, standing at 9.66% in the 11-19 age group, 8.42% in 20-39 age group and 4.54% in people aged 40 and older. We tracked 130 contacts for the 48 T. pallidum cases; 39/40 (97.5%) sexual contacts tested positive for syphilis. Among the 90 children born to infected mothers, 76 aged 18 months or older tested negative, while 8/14 younger children were still at risk for congenital syphilis. There were four cases of HIV infection (0.72%, 95% CI 0.31-1.13). Prevalence of T. pallidum infection and HIV infection are relevant in this indigenous community of Argentina, representing a public health concern

Obstetric–neonatal care during birth and postpartum in symptomatic and asymptomatic women infected with SARS-CoV-2: a retrospective multicenter study

This study analyses the obstetric–neonatal outcomes of women in labour with symptomatic and asymptomatic COVID-19. A retrospective, multicenter, observational study was carried out between 1 March 2020 and 28 February 2021 in eight public hospitals in the Valencian community (Spain). The chi-squared test compared the obstetric–neonatal outcomes and general care for symptomatic and asymptomatic women. In total, 11,883 births were assisted in participating centers, with 10.9 per 1000 maternities (n = 130) infected with SARS-CoV-2. The 20.8% were symptomatic and had more complications both upon admission (p = 0.042) and during puerperium (p = 0.042), as well as transfer to the intensive care unit (ICU). The percentage of admission to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) was greater among offspring of symptomatic women compared to infants born of asymptomatic women (p < 0.001). Compared with asymptomatic women, those with symptoms underwent less labour companionship (p = 0.028), less early skin-to-skin contact (p = 0.029) and greater mother–infant separation (p = 0.005). The overall maternal mortality rate was 0.8%. No vertical transmission was recorded. In conclusion, symptomatic infected women are at increased risk of lack of labour companionship, mother–infant separation, and admission to the ICU, as well as to have preterm births and for NICU admissions

Experiències entrecreuades a Santa Eugènia del Congost

Rastres de memòria no escrita. D’experiències entrecreuades a Santa Eugènia del Congost... és el primer d’una sèrie de quaderns de treball amb mostres de material visual recollit en el marc del projecte artístic i didàctic Experiències entrecreuades a Santa Eugènia del Congost, desenvolupat en el context de l’antiga font i safareigs de Santa Eugènia del Congost –situats prop de l’autovia C-17, el riu Congost i de l’Ajuntament de Tagamanent–. Des del curs acadèmic 2016-2017, el Grup d’Innovació Docent Consolidat de la Universitat de Barcelona ATESI (Art, Territori, Estratègia Docent, Sostenibilitat i Intervenció Social – GINDC-UB/162) promou accions –instal·lacions artístiques efímeres, performance, tallers oberts, exposicions i actes...– per tal de «reviure» de forma física i conceptual aquests espais en desús per a la població, tot fent èmfasi en la recuperació de la seva memòria històrica, i amb una metodologia que busca integrar l’actuació conjunta d’administracions, figures expertes, centres educatius i ciutadanes. Aquestes accions, ideològicament posicionades, parteixen del treball en règim d’Aprenentatge Servei (ApS), una metodologia docent que implica l’assoliment de competències educatives en la realització d’activitats que tenen un retorn directe en la comunitat. En aquesta línia, les actuacions dutes a terme que es mostren en aquest quadern han tingut la participació d’alumnat del Grau en Belles Arts de la Universitat de Barcelona, de l’Escola Sagrats Cors de Centelles, de l’Escola d’Art i Superior de Disseny de Vic i d’ex-alumnes del mateix centre (EXARTVIC), coordinat per professorat dels diferents àmbits i amb la participació del Grup ApS(UB)

Jardins per a la salut

Facultat de Farmàcia, Universitat de Barcelona. Ensenyament: Grau de Farmàcia. Assignatura: Botànica farmacèutica. Curs: 2014-2015. Coordinadors: Joan Simon, Cèsar Blanché i Maria Bosch.Els materials que aquí es presenten són el recull de les fitxes botàniques de 128 espècies presents en el Jardí Ferran Soldevila de l’Edifici Històric de la UB. Els treballs han estat realitzats manera individual per part dels estudiants dels grups M-3 i T-1 de l’assignatura Botànica Farmacèutica durant els mesos de febrer a maig del curs 2014-15 com a resultat final del Projecte d’Innovació Docent «Jardins per a la salut: aprenentatge servei a Botànica farmacèutica» (codi 2014PID-UB/054). Tots els treballs s’han dut a terme a través de la plataforma de GoogleDocs i han estat tutoritzats pels professors de l’assignatura. L’objectiu principal de l’activitat ha estat fomentar l’aprenentatge autònom i col·laboratiu en Botànica farmacèutica. També s’ha pretès motivar els estudiants a través del retorn de part del seu esforç a la societat a través d’una experiència d’Aprenentatge-Servei, deixant disponible finalment el treball dels estudiants per a poder ser consultable a través d’una Web pública amb la possibilitat de poder-ho fer in-situ en el propi jardí mitjançant codis QR amb un smartphone

Time to Switch to Second-line Antiretroviral Therapy in Children With Human Immunodeficiency Virus in Europe and Thailand.

Background: Data on durability of first-line antiretroviral therapy (ART) in children with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are limited. We assessed time to switch to second-line therapy in 16 European countries and Thailand. Methods: Children aged <18 years initiating combination ART (≥2 nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors [NRTIs] plus nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor [NNRTI] or boosted protease inhibitor [PI]) were included. Switch to second-line was defined as (i) change across drug class (PI to NNRTI or vice versa) or within PI class plus change of ≥1 NRTI; (ii) change from single to dual PI; or (iii) addition of a new drug class. Cumulative incidence of switch was calculated with death and loss to follow-up as competing risks. Results: Of 3668 children included, median age at ART initiation was 6.1 (interquartile range (IQR), 1.7-10.5) years. Initial regimens were 32% PI based, 34% nevirapine (NVP) based, and 33% efavirenz based. Median duration of follow-up was 5.4 (IQR, 2.9-8.3) years. Cumulative incidence of switch at 5 years was 21% (95% confidence interval, 20%-23%), with significant regional variations. Median time to switch was 30 (IQR, 16-58) months; two-thirds of switches were related to treatment failure. In multivariable analysis, older age, severe immunosuppression and higher viral load (VL) at ART start, and NVP-based initial regimens were associated with increased risk of switch. Conclusions: One in 5 children switched to a second-line regimen by 5 years of ART, with two-thirds failure related. Advanced HIV, older age, and NVP-based regimens were associated with increased risk of switch

Effects of Oral Hyaluronic Acid Administration in Dogs Following Tibial Tuberosity Advancement Surgery for Cranial Cruciate Ligament Injury

Hyaluronic acid (HA) intraarticular injection is used in the management of osteoarthritis in veterinary medicine. However, HA oral administration is less common given the scarce currently available scientific evidence. This study was aimed at evaluating the effects of oral HA administration on synovial fluid concentrations of several selected biomarkers in dogs with cranial cruciate ligament (CCL) injury operated on using the tibial tuberosity advancement (TTA) technique. Fifty-five dogs were included in this prospective, randomized, double-blind, clinical study; they were randomly assigned to receive either a placebo (group A; n = 25) or HA (group B; n = 30) orally for 10 weeks. Synovial fluid samples were obtained before surgery, and at 10 weeks postoperatively to measure concentrations of HA, haptoglobin, nitric oxide, and paraoxonase-1. After 10 weeks, group HA showed a significant increase in HA concentration (p = 0.0016) and a significant decrease in PON-1 concentration (p = 0.011) compared to baseline. In conclusion, post-op oral HA administration in canine patients with CCL injury leads to improvements in osteoarthritis biomarkers, namely higher synovial fluid HA concentrations and reduced synovial fluid paraoxonase-1 concentrations. These findings support the bioavailability of orally-administered HA and its usefulness in improving biomarkers of osteoarthritis

El peso corporal preoperatorio y la albúmina predicen la supervivencia en pacientes con neoplasias de pulmón resecables: el papel de la EPOC

Introduction: The impact of preoperative nutritional status on survival in lung cancer (LC) patients with underlying chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is still unclear. We hypothesized that presurgical nutritional assessment may differentially predict mortality in patients with resectable LC with moderate COPD and relatively well-preserved nutritional status. Methods: Nutritional assessment [body mass index (BMI), blood parameters including albumin and protein levels, and body weight loss], and other clinical parameters [cigarette smoking (CS) history, LC staging and histological subtypes, COPD severity, lung function, and adjuvant therapy] were evaluated in 125 patients from the LC Mar Prospective Cohort: 87 LC-COPD patients and 38 LC patients without COPD before thoracotomy. Ten-year overall survival (OS) was analyzed in all patients. Results: Prior to thoracotomy, in LC-COPD patients compared to LC, BMI and albumin declined relatively, low levels of the parameters BMI, albumin, and total proteins were associated with poorer 10-year survival, especially in the LC-COPD. CS burden also correlated with impaired survival. COPD per se worsened the prognosis in LC patients. Conclusions: In the present cohort of LC patients with resectable tumors and relatively well-preserved nutritional status, the parameters BMI and blood albumin and protein levels measured prior to thoracotomy predicted OS, especially in those with COPD. These are clinically relevant findings, since values of those nutritional parameters were within the normal ranges in the majority of the analyzed patients. A thorough nutritional preoperative assessment should be included in the study of patients with resectable LC, particularly in those with chronic airway obstruction.Introducción: El impacto del estado nutricional preoperatorio en la supervivencia en pacientes con cáncer de pulmón (CP) y enfermedad pulmonar obstructiva crónica (EPOC) subyacente aún no está claro. Planteamos la hipótesis de que la evaluación nutricional prequirúrgica puede predecir diferencialmente la mortalidad en pacientes con CP resecable y EPOC moderada, y un estado nutricional relativamente bien conservado. Métodos: Se evaluaron el estado nutricional (índice de masa corporal [IMC], parámetros sanguíneos que incluyeron los niveles de albúmina y proteínas y pérdida de peso corporal) y otros parámetros clínicos (antecedentes de tabaquismo, estadificación del CP y el subtipo histológico, gravedad de la EPOC, función pulmonar y terapia adyuvante) en 125 pacientes de la cohorte prospectiva de CP del Hospital del Mar: 87 pacientes con EPOC-CP y 38 pacientes con CP sin EPOC antes de la toracotomía. Se analizó la supervivencia global (SG) a 10 años en todos los pacientes. Resultados: Antes de la toracotomía, en los pacientes con EPOC-CP, el IMC y la albúmina disminuyeron en comparación con los del grupo de CP; los niveles bajos de los parámetros IMC, albúmina y proteínas totales se asociaron con menor supervivencia a 10 años, especialmente en los EPOC-CP. La carga tabáquica también se correlacionó con una disminución en la supervivencia. La EPOC empeoró per se el pronóstico en pacientes con CP. Conclusiones: En la presente cohorte de pacientes con CP resecable y estado nutricional relativamente bien conservado, el IMC y los niveles de albúmina y proteínas en sangre medidos antes de la toracotomía predijeron la SG, especialmente en aquellos con EPOC. Estos son hallazgos clínicamente relevantes, ya que los valores de esos parámetros nutricionales estaban dentro de los rangos normales en la mayoría de los pacientes analizados. Se debe incluir una evaluación nutricional preoperatoria exhaustiva en el estudio de pacientes con CP resecable, particularmente en aquellos con obstrucción pulmonar crónica