Characterization and Monitoring of Titanium Bone Implants with Impedance Spectroscopy

Porous titanium is a metallic biomaterial with good properties for the clinical repair of cortical bone tissue, although the presence of pores can compromise its mechanical behavior and clinical use. It is therefore necessary to characterize the implant pore size and distribution in a suitable way. In this work, we explore the new use of electrical impedance spectroscopy for the characterization and monitoring of titanium bone implants. Electrical impedance spectroscopy has been used as a non-invasive route to characterize the volumetric porosity percentage (30%, 40%, 50% and 60%) and the range of pore size (100–200 and 355–500 mm) of porous titanium samples obtained with the space-holder technique. Impedance spectroscopy is proved to be an appropriate technique to characterize the level of porosity of the titanium samples and pore size, in an affordable and non-invasive way. The technique could also be used in smart implants to detect changes in the service life of the material, such as the appearance of fractures, the adhesion of osteoblasts and bacteria, or the formation of bone tissue

Evaluación de una intervención docente en una formación de residentes rotantes en un servicio de urgencias de un hospital universitario de tercer nivel

Tesis doctoral inédita leída en la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Facultad de Medicina, Departamento de Medicina. Fecha de lectura: 13-09-201

Nosotras en las aulas

El presente Trabajo de Fin de Máster constituye una investigación filosófica sobre la educación desde la perspectiva feminista. El objetivo principal es demostrar la necesidad de introducir autoras en los temarios de las asignaturas impartidas en la Educación Secundaria Obligatoria y el Bachillerato, como herramienta para transformar la mirada patriarcal sobre el mundo. Para ello, el trabajo se estructura del siguiente modo: en primer lugar, la realización de un análisis crítico de la cultura patriarcal y, a continuación, el desarrollo de la propuesta constructiva para el cambio, basada en la creación de sujetos colectivos femeninos heterogéneos que permitan generar relaciones humanas basadas en el reconocimiento y el respeto a las diferentes experiencias y conocimientos; finalmente, se expone la puesta en práctica de dicha propuesta en el aula

Peri-Urban Organic Agriculture and Short Food Supply Chains as Drivers for Strengthening City/Region Food Systems-Two Case Studies in Andalucia, Spain

Discussions on food security in the Global North have raised questions about the capacity of peri-urban organic agriculture to provide sufficient healthy food for the urban market. Dealing with food security requires more attention to how to protect peri-urban organic farming systems from urban pressures while strengthening the sustainability of local food systems. Given that short food supply chains (SFSCs) have been proven to be effective at reconnecting people with food production, this study focuses on identifying the barriers that hinder their development and the opportunities derived from the comparative advantage provided by their urban proximity. This study is based on documentary and empirical research addressing food supply chain characteristics in the organic sector. This study is focused on Mediterranean peri-urban agriculture, where, historically, there have been close relationships between the city and the countryside. These relationships are based on the fact that many cities are traditionally located next to areas of high agricultural activity, where a wide variety of vegetables is produced almost continuously due to the relatively mild winter climate. This study deals with two medium-sized metropolitan areas in Andalucía in the south of the Iberian Peninsula—the coastal city of Málaga, which is of a tourist-residential nature, and the inland urban agglomeration of Granada. Our research shows, when compared with other studies, that the local organic food sector seems to have great potential to find innovative solutions based on a collective approach, local embeddedness, and collective knowledge and by prioritizing horizontal and sustainable processes at the local/regional scale.Spanish project SAMUTEREuropean Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD)Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Foodstu ffs and the Environmen

GLP-1 Receptor Agonists and Cardiovascular Disease in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes.

Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease prevalence of which is high and continually growing. Cardiovascular disease continues to be the leading cause of death in patients with T2DM. The prevention of cardiovascular complications and the cardiovascular safety of treatments should be a primary objective when selecting treatment. Among all the drugs available, the compounds known as glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) appear to be not just innocuous in terms of CVD but indeed to be beneficial. GLP-1 RA actions not only translate on an improvement of well-known cardiovascular risk factors such as glycaemic control, dyslipidaemia, weight, or arterial hypertension but also might show benefits on endothelial function, coronary ischaemia, and heart failure. On the other hand, recent clinical trials aimed at studying cardiovascular episodes have been conducted with GLP-1 RAs. Only liraglutide and semaglutide have shown superiority in cardiovascular benefit compared with placebo. Although many of the mechanisms by which liraglutide and semaglutide produce a cardiovascular benefit are still unknown it would be desirable for these benefits to be incorporated into the therapeutic algorithms routinely used in clinical practice. The purpose of this review is to explore GLP-1 RA actions not only in cardiovascular risk factors (glucose, weight, and hypertension) but also the possible effects on established cardiovascular disease

Somatostatin and Somatostatin Receptors: From Signaling to Clinical Applications in Neuroendocrine Neoplasms

Neuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs) are heterogeneous neoplasms which arise from neuroendocrine cells that are distributed widely throughout the body. Although heterogenous, many of them share their ability to overexpress somatostatin receptors (SSTR) on their cell surface. Due to this, SSTR and somatostatin have been a large subject of interest in the discovery of potential biomarkers and treatment options for the disease. The aim of this review is to describe the molecular characteristics of somatostatin and somatostatin receptors and its application in diagnosis and therapy on patients with NENs as well as the use in the near future of somatostatin antagonists

Electrical Impedance of Surface Modified Porous Titanium Implants with Femtosecond Laser

The chemical composition and surface topography of titanium implants are essential to improve implant osseointegration. The present work studies a non-invasive alternative of electrical impedance spectroscopy for the characterization of the macroporosity inherent to the manufacturing process and the effect of the surface treatment with femtosecond laser of titanium discs. Osteoblasts cell culture growths on the titanium surfaces of the laser-treated discs were also studied with this method. The measurements obtained showed that the femtosecond laser treatment of the samples and cell culture produced a significant increase (around 50%) in the absolute value of the electrical impedance module, which could be characterized in a wide range of frequencies (being more relevant at 500 MHz). Results have revealed the potential of this measurement technique, in terms of advantages, in comparison to tiresome and expensive techniques, allowing semi-quantitatively relating impedance measurements to porosity content, as well as detecting the effect of surface modification, generated by laser treatment and cell culture.Ministry of Science and Innovation of Spain grant PID2019-109371GB-I00Junta de Andalucía–FEDER (Spain) Project US-1259771Junta de Andalucía-Proyecto de Excelencia (Spain) P18-FR-203

How to be ironic: A proposal for teaching irony’s prosodic and kinesic features

La ironía es un fenómeno complejo que puede suponer un verdadero reto para los aprendientes de Español como Lengua Extranjera (ELE). Sin embargo, los enunciados irónicos presentan marcas e indicadores que pueden facilitar al estudiante su aprendizaje. El objetivo de este trabajo es ofrecer una propuesta didáctica para enseñar las marcas prosódicas y kinésicas de la ironía, ante la falta de recursos que aborden estos rasgos. Para ello, nos basamos en los parámetros del método verbo-tonal y adoptamos un enfoque fonocognitivo, que abarca tanto la percepción como la producción de enunciados irónicos. Con la ayuda del programa informático PRAAT, de una metáfora visual y de diversos materiales audiovisuales, los estudiantes serán capaces de reconocer las particularidades del patrón entonativo de la ironía (subida de la f0, aumento de la duración), así como sus indicadores kinésicos (guiños, miradas, sonrisas, etcétera).Irony is a complicated matter, which can present a considerable challenge for a Spanish as a Second Language (SSL) student. Nevertheless, ironic statements have a number of distinctive characteristics that can allow for and potentially facilitate learning. Due to the lack of resources in this field, the purpose of this paper is to propose a lesson plan to teach the prosodic and kinesic features of irony. This lesson plan was based on the principals of the Verbotonal Method and takes a phono-cognitive approach to the perception and production of ironic statements. Aided by the computer program PRAAT, a visual metaphor and other audiovisual materials, the students should be able to recognise the characteristics of the ironic intonation (a rise of the f0, prolonged statements) and its kinesic features (winks, gazes, grins, etcetera)