Inserción, función y estructura del relato breve: las Novelas a Marcia Leonarda de Lope de Vega.

La primera parte de este artículo pretende reflejar someramente la evolución del término novela desde su origen hasta el siglo XVII, en que Lope de Vega lo emplea para titular sus breves narraciones a Marcia Leonarda. En la segunda parte se estudia el peculiar modo de inserción de estos relatos, su propósito lúdico --de inspiración boccacciana--, así como la importancia de la relación emisor-receptor que en ellos se establece

emoción estética

El relato de Stefan Zweig, La colección invisible, presenta un novedoso cultivo de la écfrasis que supera la tradicional división entre écfrasis crítica y literaria. Por un lado, será la emoción derivada de la contemplación de la belleza la que articule el proceso descriptivo y, por otro, será la inexistencia del objeto de arte la que trascienda cualquier percepción distanciada o racional de la experiencia estética

Risk analysis sampling methods in terrorist networks based on the Banzhaf value

This article introduces the Banzhaf and the Banzhaf–Owen values as novel measures of risk analysis of a terrorist attack, determining the most dangerous terrorists in a network. This new approach counts with the advantage of integrating at the same time the complete topology (i.e., nodes and edges) of the network and a coalitional structure on the nodes of the network. More precisely, the characteristics of the nodes (e.g., terrorists) of the network and their possible relationships (e.g., types of communication links), as well as coalitional information (e.g., level of hierarchies) independent of the network. First, for these two new measures of risk analysis, we provide and implement approximation algorithms. Second, as illustration, we rank the members of the Zerkani network, responsible for the attacks in Paris (2015) and Brussels (2016). Finally, we give a comparison between the rankings established by the Banzhaf and the Banzhaf–Owen values as measures of risk analysisMinisterio de Ciencia e Innovación, Grant/Award Numbers: PGC2018-097965-B-I00, PID2021-124030NB-C32; Xunta de Galicia, Grant/Award Number: ED431C 2021/24; Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, Grant/Award Number: MTM2017-87197-C3-3-PS

Hyperthermia Prevents In Vitro and In Vivo Biofilm Formation on Endotracheal Tubes

Animal model; Biofilm; HyperthermiaModel animal; Biofilm; HipertèrmiaModelo animal; Biofilm; HipertermiaThere is currently an urgent need to find new strategies to tackle antimicrobial resistance and biofilm-related infections. This study has two aims. First, we evaluated the in vitro efficacy of hyperthermia in preventing biofilm formation on the surfaces of polyvinyl chloride discs. Second, we assessed the in vivo efficacy of hyperthermia in preventing biofilm formation in endotracheal tubes (ETTs) of a rabbit model. For the in vitro studies, nine clinical extensively drug-resistant/multidrug-resistant Gram-negative isolates of Acinetobacter baumannii, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa and three clinical methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains were studied. For biofilm formation, an adhesion step of 30 or 90 min followed by a growth step of 24 h were performed with application of one, two, and three pulses at 42°C for 15 min each pulse after the adhesion step. For the in vivo studies, New Zealand rabbits were intubated with ETTs previously colonized with K. pneumoniae or P. aeruginosa strains, and three pulses at 42°C for 15 min were applied after the adhesion step. The application of three pulses at 42°C for 15 min each pulse was needed to achieve the prevention of the in vitro biofilm formation of 100% of the tested strains. The application of heat pulses in a rabbit intubation model led to biofilm prevention of 85% against two K. pneumoniae strains and 80% against two P. aeruginosa strains compared to the control group. Hyperthermia application through pulses at 42°C could be a new nonantibiotic strategy to prevent biofilm formation in ETTs. IMPORTANCE Biofilm-producing microorganisms are considered medically crucial since they cause 80% of the infections that occur in the human body. Medical devices such as endotracheal tubes (ETTs) can act as a reservoir for pathogens providing the surface to which microorganisms can adhere and cause biofilm-associated infections in critically ill patients. This biofilm has been related with the development of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), with an incidence of 8 to 28%, a mortality rate up to 17% and its associated high extra costs. Although some VAP-preventive measures have been reported, they have not demonstrated a significant reduction of VAP incidence. Therefore, we present a new nonantibiotic strategy based on hyperthermia application to prevent biofilm formation inside ETTs. This technology could reduce VAP incidence, intubation duration, hospital and intensive care unit (ICU) length stays, and mortality rates. Consequently, this could decrease the antibiotics administered and influence the impact of antibiotic resistance in the ICU.This study was supported by research grants from the Ministerio de Sanidad y Consumo, Instituto de Salud Carlos III (FIS 01162), la Marató TV3 (472/U/2018), the CaixaImpulse Program (Fundació “LaCaixa”), the Fundación para la Innovación y la Prospectiva en Salud en España (FIPSE 3932-21), and the Spanish Network for the Research in Infectious Diseases (REIPI RD19/0016)

In Vitro and In Vivo Antimicrobial Activity of Hypochlorous Acid against Drug-Resistant and Biofilm-Producing Strains

Antibiotic lock technique; Biofilms; Catheter-related infectionTécnica de bloqueo antibiótico; Biopelículas; Infección relacionada con el catéterTècnica de bloqueig antibiòtic; Biofilms; Infecció relacionada amb el catèterThe aims of this study were as follows. First, we determined the antimicrobial efficacy of hypochlorous acid (HClO) against bacterial, fungal, and yeast strains growing planktonically and growing in biofilms. Second, we sought to compare the activity of the combination of daptomycin and HClO versus those of the antimicrobial agents alone for the treatment of experimental catheter-related Staphylococcus epidermidis infection (CRI) using the antibiotic lock technique (ALT) in a rabbit model. HClO was generated through direct electric current (DC) shots at determined amperages and times. For planktonic susceptibility studies, 1 to 3 DC shots of 2, 5, and 10 mA from 0 to 300 s were applied. A DC shot of 20 mA from 0 to 20 min was applied to biofilm-producing strains. Central venous catheters were inserted into New Zealand White rabbits, inoculated with an S. epidermidis strain, and treated with saline solution or ALT using daptomycin (50 mg/mL), HClO (20 mA for 45 min), or daptomycin plus HClO. One hundred percent of the planktonic bacterial, fungal, and yeast strains were killed by applying one DC shot of 2, 5, and 10 mA, respectively. One DC shot of 20 mA for 20 min was sufficient to eradicate 100% of the tested biofilm-producing strains. Daptomycin plus HClO lock therapy showed the highest activity for experimental CRI with S. epidermidis. HClO could be an effective strategy for treating infections caused by extensively drug-resistant or multidrug-resistant and biofilm-producing strains in medical devices and chronic wounds. The results of the ALT using daptomycin plus HClO may be promising. IMPORTANCE Currently, drug-resistant infections are increasing and there are fewer antibiotics available to treat them. Therefore, there is an urgent need to find new antibiotics and nonantimicrobial strategies to treat these infections. We present a new nonantibiotic strategy based on hypochlorous acid generation to treat long-term catheter-related and chronic wounds infections.This study was supported by research grants from the Ministerio de Sanidad y Consumo, Instituto de Salud Carlos III (FIS 01162), la Marató TV3 (472/U/2018), and CaixaImpulse Program (Fundació “LaCaixa”) and the Spanish Network for the Research in Infectious Diseases (REIPI RD19/0016)