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• Information regarding C difficile infection cases among HCWs is limited. • Colonization among HCWs range from 0% to 13%. • This is the largest case-series reported so far consisting of 9 HCWs. • Prior antibiotic use (RR 4.5) and PPI (RR 2.0) were significant for CDI development. • Taking care of patients with CDI proved not to be a significant risk factor. Health care workers (HCWs) are constantly exposed to patients with Clostridiodes difficile infection (CDI) although their risk developing infection is unknown. We designed a retrospective comparative study including HCWs with CDI and 2 comparator groups with a 1:2 ratio: HCWs without CDI and admitted patients with CDI. Antibiotics were the strongest risk factor for developing CDI in HCWs whether or not there was clinical exposure to patients with this infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We used the Fiscal Observatory Survey of the University of Murcia (2007) to examine the antecedents of trust in the Spanish government (at city, regional and state levels). We found that the main drivers of trust are individuals' perception of the government's performance and the socio-economic environment in which they live. Regarding the consequences, we tested a variant of the rule compliance hypothesis: the higher the trust in the government, the higher the citizens' fiscal awareness, meaning individuals are more conscious of their fiscal obligations and more intransigent on fiscal fraud. Our results suggest that trust levels shape tax awareness, producing virtuous or vicious loops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The effect of modified atmosphere and vacuum packaging on the shelf-life of “morcilla”, a traditional cooked blood sausage, was investigated. A total of 99 “morcillas” were packaged under vacuum and in modified atmosphere using three different gas mixtures: 15:35:50/O2:N2:CO2 (atmosphere 1), 60:40/N2:CO2 (atmosphere 2) and 40:60/N2:CO2 (atmosphere 3), and stored during 2, 4, 6 and 8weeks at 4°C. Shelf life evaluation was based on pH, water activity (aw), colour (CIE L*, a*, b*, C* and h*), TBARS formation and microbial counts. The results indicated that, in general, storage time affected (P<0.05) all parameters whereas no significant differences were observed (P>0.05) among packaging conditions. Based on the microbial counts, the shelf-life of “morcilla” would be greater than 8weeks for all packaging conditions. Samples packaged with high CO2 concentrations (40:60/N2:CO2) showed the lowest values of TBARS at the end of storage. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

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Background: Muscle weakness and structural changes in striated skeletal muscle are common in persons with chronic alcoholism. Objective: The objective of the study was to assess the role of malnutrition in the development of chronic alcoholic myopathy. Design: We prospectively evaluated 146 men who reported an intake ? 100 g ethanol/d for the previous 5 y and 73 well-nourished control subjects. Alcohol consumption, energy and protein nutritional status, and deltoid muscle strength were determined. Deltoid muscle tissue specimens were taken from alcoholics and from 14 control subjects for histochemical studies and morphometric measurements of the fibers. Results: Deltoid muscle strength was less in alcoholics than in control subjects (P < 0.001). Muscle strength correlated with lifetime consumption of ethanol (r = -0.56, P < 0.001), and a decrease in muscle strength was significantly greater in the presence of energy malnutrition. Using logistic regression analysis, we observed that alcoholics with muscle strength <18 kg had the independent risk factors of an arm muscle area < 50 cm2 (odds ratio: 5.4; 95% CI: 2.3, 12.3), consumption of > 1600 kg ethanol throughout their lives (odds ratio: 4.5; 95% CI: 2.0, 10.1), and protein malnutrition (odds ratio: 4.2; 95% CI: 1.4, 12.7). Protein malnutrition was also associated with muscle inefficiency (P < 0.001). Histologic myopathy was present in 58% of alcoholics, was related to lifetime ethanol consumption (P = 0.001), and was more severe in the presence of protein malnutrition (P = 0.01). Conclusion: Malnutrition is an additional developmental factor in the functional and structural muscle damage induced by chronic ethanol consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The “state of health” of a fuel cell can be determined by the study of its complex impedance in a frequency domain, usually using impedance spectroscopy (IS) method. In our days, to characterize a PEM using this method, a sine signal sweep is used. The IS is based on the complex measurement of the impedance of a cell along a frequency domain, depending on the electrochemical state of the cell. The main advantage of the IS is the faithfulness between its results and the theoretical ones. These results are analyzed using the electrical Randles model. Our work presents an innovative method to measure the IS. It introduces a system to dramatically reduce the measurement time using as an alternative of the sine signal, a frequency domain synthetic wide-band signal. During the tests, a theoretical wide-band signal is built in the frequency domain. The signal is converted into a temporal one and is used as a stimulus for the fuel cell. The response in terms of cell voltage is captured and the impedance measured. This answer is defined in the same frequency range than the stimulus. The time required for the measurement corresponds to the time of the stimulus and it is in the range of the lower cut-off frequency. The system used as test-bench is composed by an electronic circuit and a PC based software for the signal analysis. This system was built and tested with good results using a PEMFC. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Objectives: To analyze the association between adherence to physical activity guideline recommendations and metabolic control in patients with type 1 diabetes (DM1). Methods: An observational, cross-sectional study was conducted in 130 adult DM1 patients from Spain with a mean age of 33.9±11.5 years and disease duration of 16.5±9.5 years. We analyzed several clinical, anthropometric and laboratory variables together with information obtained from the Minnesota Leisure Time Physical Activity Questionnaire. Results: Evaluated patients reported an average of 850.6±493.2min of physical activity per week, being classified as light (567.4±425.4min/week), moderate (169.9±212.1min/week) and intense activities (120.6±184.2). Patients who dedicated more time to intense physical activity were younger, had university studies and were males more often than those who spent none or less time on intense physical activity. We observed no differences in HbA1c levels in relation to time dedicated to moderate physical activities. However, patients who dedicated more than 150min to intense physical activity per week had lower levels of HbA1c (HbA1c: 7.2±1.0% versus 7.8±1.1% versus 8.0±1.0% in more than 149min, between 0 and 149min or 0min of intense physical activity per week, respectively). Conclusion: Performing more than 150min of intense physical activity a week is associated with better metabolic control in type 1 Spanish patients. No positive impact in metabolic control was observed in relation to the time spent in moderate physical activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The cfr gene was identified in 3 methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus epidermidis (MRSE) isolates of lineage ST22 implicated in a fatal human infection. MRSE isolates displayed an indistinguishable pulsed-field gel electrophoresis profile and SCCmec type III, and showed a multiresistance phenotype. The presence of cfr, fexA, aac(6′)-aph(2″), and dfrS1 genes was confirmed by polymerase chain reaction and sequencing. A mutation in 23S rRNA gene (C2534T) and amino acid changes and/or insertions in L3 and L4 proteins were detected. The cfr and fexA genes were located in a conjugative plasmid of approximately 45 kb and in the chromosome. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]