Epidemics due to Ergotism or Saint Anthony's Fire. History, Science and Art

The Saint Anthony's Fire, a popular name for ergotism, was an epidemic that devastated medieval Europe, as a result of food poisoning caused by eating rye bread, whose flour was contaminated by ergot, a parasitic fungus called Claviceps purpurea that supplanted grains of some cereals, especially rye. Rye bread, black or bread poor, was very different from white bread made with wheat flour, and more expensive (bread of the rich). Since the s. IX, Europe (mainly France and Germany) suffered frequent epidemics, whose intoxication produced convulsions and delusions (convulsive ergotism) or loss of the extremities (gangrenous ergotism), with a mortality of up to 20% of those affected./nErgotism is currently anecdotal. There are publications of isolated cases, generally associated with chronic consumption of ergotamine-containing drugs./nThis article reviews the historical, scientific, and artistic aspects of the Saint Anthony's Fire / ergotism, both classic and recent. It ends by commenting on chapter 6 (The Saint Anthony's Fire) of the TV series "Toledo crossing destinations" (2012), which reflects this epidemic with great fidelity through an alleged outbreak of the Saint Anthony's Fire that occurred in the medieval city of Toledo.El fuego de San Antonio, denominación popular del ergotismo, fue una epidemia que asoló la Europa medieval a consecuencia de una intoxicación alimentaria provocada al ingerir pan de centeno, cuya harina estaba contaminada por ergot, un hongo parásito denominado Claviceps purpurea que suplantaba los granos de algunos cereales, especialmente el centeno. El pan de centeno, negro o de los pobres, era bien diferente del pan blanco hecho con harina de trigo, y más caro (pan de los ricos). Desde el s. IX, Europa (fundamentalmente Francia y Alemania) padecieron frecuentes epidemias, cuya intoxicación producía convulsiones y delirios (ergotismo convulsivo) o pérdida de las extremidades (ergotismo gangrenoso), con una mortalidad de hasta el 20% de los afectados./nEn la actualidad, el ergotismo es anecdótico. Existen publicaciones de casos aislados, generalmente asociados al consumo crónico de fármacos que contienen ergotamina./nEl presente artículo repasa los aspectos históricos, científicos, y artísticos del fuego de San Antonio/ergotismo tanto clásicos como recientes. Se finaliza comentando el capítulo 6 (El Fuego de San Antonio) de la serie televisiva "Toledo cruce de destinos" (2012), que refleja con gran fidelidad esta epidemia mediante un supuesto brote del Fuego de San Antonio acaecido en la medieval ciudad de Toledo

«Master and Commander». Surgery and Surgeons

Surgery, and yours specialties, have four dimensions, namely: scientific, technical, artistic and human. These dimensions must be present between the qualities of every surgeon in order to fulfill a greater or lesser extent, its welfare functions, teaching and research for the good of society.The film Master and Commander, besides telling a naval adventure epic of the nineteenth century (napoleonias wars), also deals with the everyday life of a warship and especially in the daily life of a military surgeon in the service of his majesty.Many passages of the film, as is widely recounted in the text equivalents and allow us to make comparisons with the qualities of a good surgeon and present schematically the four dimensions of the aforementioned surgery.</p

Bogomolny equations for vortices in the noncommutative torus

We derive Bogomolny-type equations for the abelian Higgs model defined on the noncommutative torus and discuss its vortex like solutions. To this end, we carefully analyze how periodic boundary conditions have to be handled in noncommutative space and discuss how vortex solutions are constructed. We also consider the extension to an U(2) × U(1) model, a simplified prototype of the noncommutative standard model.Facultad de Ciencias Exacta

Diabetes mellitus and intermittent claudication: a cross-sectional study of 920 claudicants

INTRODUCTION: Diabetes mellitus (DM) and intermittent claudication (IC) are frequently associated health conditions. Our hypothesis is that the nature, severity and quality of life (QoL) of patients with IC and DM are worse than those of claudicant patients without diabetes. MATERIAL AND METHODS: An observational, cross-sectional and multicentre study of 920 patients with IC, divided into two groups: diabetic (n = 477) and non-diabetic (n = 443). For each group, we examined clinical and biological characteristics (including levels of glucose and lipids), the ankle-brachial index (ABI), responses to the Walking Impairment Questionnaire (WIQ) and the European Quality of Life-5 Dimensions (EQ-5D) questionnaire. RESULTS: Compared with claudicant patients without diabetes, claudicants with diabetes were older (p < 0.001), more likely to be female (p = 0.006), with a higher BMI (p < 0.001), more likely to have a sedentary lifestyle (p < 0.001) and to be a non-smoker (p < 0.001). Claudicant patients with diabetes also had significantly more cardiovascular risk factors (p < 0.001), more frequent ischaemic cardiopathy (p = 0.023) and chronic renal failure (p = 0.002), and fewer prior ictus events (p = 0.003). No significant differences between groups were found with respect to blood pressure, levels of cholesterol or triglycerides. The mean ABI of diabetic-IC patients was slightly lower than IC patients without diabetes (p = 0.016). All WIQ subdomains scores were significantly lower (p < 0.001), indicating poorer walking ability, in claudicant and diabetic patients with compared with those without diabetes. The mean E5-QD global scores and the mean EQ-5D visual analogue scale in the whole series were 0.58 (SD = 0.21) and 55.04 (SD = 21.30), respectively. Both E5-QD scores were significantly lower, indicating poorer QoL, in claudicant patients with diabetes than claudicant patients without diabetes (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Patients with IC and DM had more risk cardiovascular factors, cardiovascular conditions, disability and worse haemodynamic status and QoL than claudicant patients without diabetes

Self-dual Ginzburg-Landau vortices in a disk

We study the properties of the Ginzburg-Laundau model in the self-dual point for a two-dimensional finite system . By a numerical calculation we analyze the solutions of the Euler-Lagrange equations for a cylindrically symmetric ansatz. We also study the self-dual equations for this case. We find that the minimal energy configurations are not given by the Bogomol'nyi equations but by solutions to the Euler Lagrange ones. With a simple approximation scheme we reproduce the result of the numerical calculation.Facultad de Ciencias Exacta

Influence of La3+ on the microestructure of bismuth titanate solid solutions

[ES] En este trabajo se reporta la síntesis de la serie de soluciones sólidas de titanato de bismuto, Bi4Ti3O12 con La3+ por coprecipitación de los respectivos hidróxidos. Las soluciones sólidas se caracterizaron por difracción de rayos-X y medidas de densidad. Por técnicas de SEM se determinó la influencia del La3+ en la microestructura del titanato de bismuto puro. En este estudio se prepararon diversas composiciones de la solución sólida a y se sinterizaron a 850ºC. Los resultados se presentan en función de la concentración del dopante.[EN] In this work a solid solution of bismuth titanate Bi4Ti3O12 with La3+ is synthesised by coprecipitation of their hydroxides. The solid solutions were characterised by X-ray powder diffraction and density measurements. By SEM the influence of La3+ in bismuth titanate was analised. In this study several compositions of the solid solution were prepared and sintered at 850ºC. The results are presented as a function of the dopant concentration.Los autores agradecen el apoyo de los proyectos PAPIIT, DGAPA, UNAM No. IN102700 y CONACYT No. 33361-U.Peer reviewe

Vibrational characterictics of asymmetric metal-ceramic piezocomposites

[ES] Se han estudiado las características mecánico-vibracionales de piezocomposites metal-cerámica asimétricos. Kovar-PZT. Para esta caracterización se utilizó la técnica de vibrometría láser mediante la cual se obtienen perfiles de amplitud a diferentes frecuencias para el piezocomposite. Se muestran los modos diferenciados de vibración en el intervalo de 2 Hz a 20 kHz y se discuten los resultados en la perspectiva de optimizar el diseño de los dispositivos.[EN] The mechanical and vibrational characteristics of asymmetric metal-ceramic piezocomposites, Kovar-PZT, have heen studied. For this characterization a laser vibrometry technique was used to obtain amplitude profiles of vibration at different frequencies for the piezocomposite. The vibration spectra showed modes in the range 2 Hz to 20 kHz. The results were discussed in the framework of design optimization.Los autores agradecen el apoyo financiero para la realización de esta investigación a la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología de México, Comisión Internacional de Ciencia y Tecnología de España y Programa para la Cooperación y el Desarrollo a través de los proyectos PAPIIT-IN106998, CONACYT-27624U, CICYT MAT97-694-C02-01 y CYTED Red VIII.F.Peer reviewe