Comparación in vitro de la actividad antimicrobiana de AhPlus, RSA y Ledermix contra Enterococcus faecalis

ResumenObjetivoEvaluar in vitro la actividad antimicrobiana de dos selladores endodónticos RSA, AH Plus y de la pasta LedermixN sobre Enterococcus faecalis con tres diferentes técnicas.MétodoPrueba de contacto directo. En una superficie de acrílico se colocó el sellador y se inoculó una suspensión de E. faecalis, se dejó en un microtubo con 1mL de caldo BHI, se realizaron diluciones logarítmicas sembrándose en placas de agar sangre para cuantificar las unidades formadoras de colonia. Prueba de dilución. Los selladores y la pasta se colocaron en un cilindro de plástico, la bacteria se inoculó en el caldo de cultivo y se realizó el mismo procedimiento de cuantificación. Prueba de dilución en agar. Se realizaron tres pozos en una placa de agar sangre y se rellenaron con los dos cementos, la pasta de LedermixN se inoculó una suspensión de E. faecalis en la superficie, para evaluar zonas de inhibición de crecimiento. Resultados: La pasta de Lesdermix N tuvo mayor porcentaje de actividad antimicrobiana en la prueba de contacto directo. Ningún cemento ni la pasta presentó actividad antimicrobiana en la prueba de dilución y en la prueba de dilución en agar; en ésta el sellador AH plus y la pasta LedermixN presentaron un halo de hemólisis en las placas de agar sangre.ConclusionesLa técnica de contacto directo es la más adecuada para evaluar el efecto antimicrobiano de los cementos.AbstractAimIn vitro assessment of antimicrobial activity sustained by two root canal sealers: RSA®, AH Plus® as well as LedermixN® paste upon Enterococcus faecalis using three different techniques.MethodDirect contact test (DCT). Sealers were placed on an acrylic surface. A E. faecalis suspension was inoculated and left in a microtube with 1 mL of BHI broth. Logarithmic dilutions were conducted spreading them in blood agar plates so as to quantify CFU’s (colony forming units). Dilution test (DT). Sealers and paste were placed in a plastic cylinder. Bacteriae were inoculated in the culture broth and the same quantification procedure was undertaken. Agar dilution test (ADT). On a blood agar plate three wells were manufactured: they were filled with both cements. On the LedermixN paste surface a E. faecalis suspension was inoculated so as to assess growth inhibition areas. Results: In the Direct contact test, LedermixN paste showed higher antimicrobial activity percentage. Neither of both cements nor the paste presented antimicrobial activity in dilution and Agar dilution test. In the Agar dilution test, AH Plus sealer and LedermixN paste exhibited a hemolysis halo in the blood agar plates.ConclusionsDirect contact test technique was considered the most appropriate to assess antimicrobial effects of cements

GNUsmail: Open framework for on-line email classification

Real-time classification of massive email data is a challenging task that presents its own particular difficulties. Since email data presents an important temporal component, several problems arise: emails arrive continuously, and the criteria used to classify those emails can change, so the learning algorithms have to be able to deal with concept drift. Our problem is more general than spam detection, which has received much more attention in the literature. In this paper we present GNUsmail, an open-source extensible framework for email classification, which structure supports incremental and on-line learning. This framework enables the incorporation of algorithms developed by other researchers, such as those included in WEKA and MOA. We evaluate this framework, characterized by two overlapping phases (pre-processing and learning), using the ENRON dataset, and we compare the results achieved by WEKA and MOA algorithms

El Covid-19 en España y sus primeras consecuencias

El Covid-19 está siendo el responsable de varias decenas de miles de muertos en todo el mundo. Además, está provocando una importante desaceleración económica, que podrá llevar a una crisis mundial. El objetivo de este artículo es evaluar como este proceso está desarrollándose en España desde el ámbito sanitario, económico, social y laboral. Para esto se vincula la evolución de la enfermedad a las acciones del gobierno español para combatirlo. El período analizado es de aproximadamente de 30 días, y comprende desde el inicio del brote del virus en España a finales del mes de febrero, hasta principios de abril de 2020.O Covid-19 está sendo o responsável por várias dezenas de milhares de mortos em todo o mundo. Além disso, está causando uma grande desaceleração econômica, que poderá levar a uma crise mundial. O objetivo deste artigo é avaliar, dos pontos de vista sanitário, econômico, social e do trabalho, como esse processo está se desenvolvendo na Espanha. Para isto, procurou-se vincular a evolução da doença às ações do governo espanhol para combatê-la. O período analisado é de aproximadamente 30 dias e inclui desde o início da eclosão do vírus na Espanha, no final de fevereiro, até o início de abril de 2020.La Covid-19 est responsable de la mort de milliers de personnes autour du monde, ainsi qu’il entraîne un freinage économique dont le résultat peut être une crise mondiale. Cet article veut montrer l’impact du virus et ses conséquences en Espagne. Pour cela, on associe l’évolution de la maladie aux actions gouvernementales entre la fin de février et le début d’avril 2020, dont les résultats sont encore inconnus.Covid-19 is being responsible for several tens of thousands of deaths worldwide. Furthermore, it is causing a major economic slowdown, which may lead to a global crisis. The objective of this article is to evaluate how this process is developing in Spain from the health, economic, social and labor fields. For this, the evolution of the disease is linked to the actions of the Spanish government to combat it. The analyzed period is approximately 30 days, and includes from the beginning of the outbreak of the virus in Spain at the end of February, until the beginning of April 2020

Educational Data Mining for Personalized Prediction of Academic Performance

La Minería de Datos Educativos (Educational Data Mining - EDM) está adquiriendo gran importancia como un nuevo campo de investigación interdisciplinario relacionado con algunas otras áreas. Está directamente relacionado con los Sistemas Educativos basados en la Web (Web-based Educational Systems - WBES) y la Minería de Datos (Data Mining - DM), siendo esta última una parte fundamental del Descubrimiento de Conocimiento en Bases de Datos (Knowledge Discovery in Databases - KDD). Los WBES almacenan y administran grandes cantidades de datos. Estos datos están creciendo cada vez más y contienen conocimientos ocultos que podrían ser muy útiles para los usuarios (tanto profesores como estudiantes). Es conveniente identificar tales conocimientos en forma de modelos, patrones o cualquier otro esquema de repre- sentación que permita una mejor explotación del sistema. La minería de datos se revela como la herramienta para lograr tal descubrimiento, dando lugar a la EDM. En este contexto complejo se suelen utilizar distintas técnicas y algoritmos de aprendizaje para obtener los mejores resultados. En este trabajo se estudia, para una asignatura de Informática Teórica, concretamente la asignatura “Teoría de Autómatas y Lenguajes Formales”, cómo predecir el rendimiento académico alcanzado por los estudiantes, a partir de la realización de controles intermedios. Para ello se han aplicado y comparado distintos tipos de algoritmos de aprendizaje (vecinos más cercanos, árboles de decisión, multiclasificadores). Todo el proceso de control y evaluación de los estudiantes durante el curso se ha llevado a cabo a través de la herramienta web denominada SIETTE, desarrollada en nuestro departamento, y que además se utiliza en ámbitos fuera de nuestra propia universidad.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech. Este trabajo ha sido parcialmente financiado por el I Plan Propio de Investigacion y Transferencia de la Universidad de Malaga

Bidirectional Associations between Objective Physical Activity and Sleep Patterns in Spanish School Children

We are grateful to Ana Yara Postigo Fuentes for her assistance with the English language. Also, we would like to express our gratitude to the children, parents, teachers and schools for allowing us to carry out this school program, as well as for their involvement and support during the process. Finally, we would also like to express our gratitude to the University of Granada, Research and Knowledge Transfer Fund (PPIT) 2016, Excellence Actions Programme: Scientific Units of Excellence; Scientific Unit of Excellence on Excercise and Health (UCEES), the Regional Ministry of Economy, Knowledge, Enterprise and Universities, and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) [SOMM17/6107/UGR].Physical activity (PA) and sleep contribute to better children’s health. Nonetheless, the bidirectional relationship between both of these health-related factors is unclear when using objective measures. The aims of this study were (1) to describe the PA (light PA and moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) and sleep (duration, latency, and efficiency) patterns of children and compare them with recommendations, and (2) to analyze the bidirectional association between PA levels and sleep patterns in 470 Spanish children according to sex (average age of 8.4 (0.4) years, 51.9% boys). A tri-axial accelerometer and sleep logs were used to measure PA (light PA and MVPA) and sleep patterns (duration, latency, and efficiency) in the children for seven consecutive days. Linear mixed models were conducted to analyze the bidirectional association (PA → sleep and sleep → PA) adjusted for the child, the sex, the school, and the day of observation. The results showed that, overall, the children did not meet the sleep duration recommendations per day. Regarding the bidirectional association, increased light PA and MVPA during the day was related to decreased sleep duration but an improvement in sleep efficiency that night. However, sleep duration and sleep efficiency were only related negatively and positively to light PA the following day, respectively. Regarding sex, light PA was associated with decreased sleep duration in both sexes, although the average value was lower in boys. In addition, light PA was also related only to an improvement in sleep efficiency the same night in both sexes, with girls generally having more efficient sleep. More studies in a representative sample of children that use objective measures to corroborate these results are neededEuropean Regional Development Fund (ERDF) [SOMM17/6107/UGR]

Effectiveness of an occupational therapy home programme in Spain for people affected by stroke

[Abstract] The main aim of this paper is to assess the effects of an occupational therapy home programme in Spain on 23 people who had had stroke (mean age 61.17 years). The programme was made up of a set of activities and techniques of physical, cognitive, social and functional nature aimed at preventing, maintaining and/or rehabilitating the abilities affected of people who had had stroke. A multiple-baseline intrasubject design and replication with a treatment withdrawal period to check whether the effects of the programme remained was applied. The results show a significant statistical improvement, concerning not only the participants' cognitive skills through Loewenstein Occupational Therapy Cognitive Assessment Battery - Second Edition but also their functional independence as assessed by the Barthel Index. Despite the low number of participants, being one of the limitations of our study, the results support the need to carry out research about the effectiveness of rehabilitation treatments in the home with the goal to plan how public healthcare systems should tackle them and how to improve those already being used

Physical activity levels during physical education in Spanish children

Introduction: Physical education (PE) can contribute to total daily physical activity (PA) among children. In consequence, the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport has developed 16 teaching units focused on increasing PA levels during PE lessons, called Unidades Didacticas Activas (UDA; Active Teaching Units). Objectives: The goal of this study was to compare whether children participating in UDA lessons spent more time in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) than children participating in traditional lessons. Design: Quasi-experimental design. Methods: A total of 355 children (8-9 years old, 53.9% boys) from 7 schools in Granada participated in the study. Students were divided into two groups: a traditional PE group (n = 204) and a UDA group (n = 151). Time spent in MVPA was assessed using tri-axial accelerometers. Results: Time spent in MVPA was higher in the group engaged in the UDA lessons compared to the group that received traditional lessons (13.6 vs 15.2 minutes, p = .021, Standard Error = 0.27). The percentage of children who met international MVPA recommendations was similar for both groups (UDAs: 12.7% and traditional: 13.2%, p = .504). Conclusions: UDA lessons and their methodology favoured greater participation in MVPA compared to a traditional PE approach. It will be important to change PE methodology (including duration, frequency and focus) to achieve MVPA goals.The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness [DEP2015-63988-R] and FJHD was supported by a grant from the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport [CAST17/00072]

Hospitalisation cost of patients with diabetic foot ulcers in Valencia (Spain) in the period 2009-2013 : a retrospective descriptive analysis

Ulcers are the main cause of hospitalisation and clinical complications in patients with diabetes. We analyse the length and cost of hospital stay of patients with diabetic foot ulcers, taking into consideration that hospitalisation and, if necessary, amputation represent the greatest area of expense to the healthcare system for such patients. This analysis focuses on the treatment provided to these patients in public hospitals in the region of Valencia (Spain), registered in the Spanish Minimum Basic Data Set, during the period 2009-2013. The number of acute hospital admissions in this respect is increasing and has a high socioeconomic cost. During the study period, there were over 2700 hospital admissions, an average of nearly 550 per year. The total hospital stay for these patients was 30,886 days, with an average of 11.4 days and a cost of 7633 per admission. Preventive policies and the deployment of multidisciplinary teams are essential to reduce these costs and avoid future complications such as amputation

New palynological data in Muschelkalk facies of the Catalan Coastal Ranges (NE of the Iberian Peninsula)

The Middle Triassic (Ladinian) deposits of the Catalan Basin (Spain) are essentially represented by extensive marine carbonate platforms developed in a rift tectonic setting. During the Ladinian, a regional sea-level drop led to a significant paleogeographic reorganisation of the depocentres of eastern Iberia producing a relevant shift in the distribution of the sedimentary environments. To better calibrate the age of the correlative conformity and the associated depositional facies, a new palynological study was carried out in two localities in Tarragona province (Spain). The palynological assemblages suggest a Longobardian–Cordevolian age (Middle–Late Triassic transition) for the materials deposited below and above the correlative conformity. This study allows a refined biostratigraphic and sedimentary correlation between the carbonate sediments in the Catalan Basin and those in the Iberian Ranges and adjacent basins of the Tethys region