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Migration has contributed to the emergence of certain infectious diseases. To determine which infectious diseases were most common among 2 mobile immigrant groups (sub-Saharan Africans and Latin Americans) in Spain, we analyzed health and demographic characteristics of 2,198 immigrants referred to the Tropical Medicine Unit of Ramon y Cajal Hospital over a 20-year period. The most frequent diagnoses were for latent tuberculosis (716 patients [32.6%]), filariasis (421 [19.2%]), hepatropic virus chronic infection (262 [19.2%]), intestinal parasites (242 [11.0%]), and malaria (212 [9.6%]). Health screening of immigrant populations is needed to ensure early diagnosis and treatment of potentially transmissible infections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Commercial PEMFC-based micro-CHP systems are operated by rule-based energy management strategies. Each of these strategies constitutes a different way to meet the household energy demand (following the heat demand, following the electricity demand, the maximum of the two, etc.). Previous studies demonstrate that which of them is the best - i.e. the one that manages to meet the demand at the lowest operating cost- depends on the particular scenario in which the micro-CHP system works (gas and electricity prices, annual energy demands, ability to export electricity to the grid, etc.). This paper aims to explore this dependence relationship and to deepen our understanding of it. To this end, a parametric analysis is conducted and the performances achieved by four rule-based operating strategies are compared. The parameters whose influence is studied, and through which the scenario is jointly characterized, are: (1) energy prices (electricity and natural gas), (2) feed-in tariff, (3) stack degradation, (4) climate and (5) heat to power ratio of the demand. The results show this dependence relationship in a clear and more comprehensive way, and offer a better understanding of its nature. From this improved understanding it can be inferred, among other things, that adapting the strategy to the scenario can generate annual savings of up to 14.5 percentage points. Moreover, this enhanced characterization of that dependence relationship can be useful for the design of a new operating strategy, a strategy that, without falling into the complexity that an optimal energy management approach (based on linear programming) involves, manages to exploit the savings potential of micro-CHP systems, thus facilitating their future mass commercialization., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2024 The Authors.)

Dithiobiureas coordination chemistry towards palladium (II) ions and their possible application is presented and discussed. 1,6-(4-Methoxyphenyl)-2,5-dithiobiurea and 1,6-(4-chlorophenyl)-2,5-dithiobiurea afford two Pd(II) complexes with the general formula [Pd 2 (H 2 L)Cl 2 (PPh 3 ) 2 ]. The metal ion forms one chelate ring with the dithiobiurea, and binds to a triphenylphosphine and an additional leaving group cisplatin like. One of the complexes (1) is endowed not only with stability in DMSO and aqua solutions containing a biological buffer but also with cytotoxicity versus gastric cancer cell lines. Complex 1 does not interact covalently to DNA models, neither activates p53 or Checkpoint Kinase 1 key proteins for DNA damage response. Thus, we propose that complex 1 exerts its action by activating Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases [p38, Extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERKs), c-Jun N-terminal kinases (JNKs)] as cell death inductors., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest Adoracion Gomez Quiroga reports financial support was provided by Spanish Ministry of Science Technology and Innovation (MINECO)., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: The shortage of available transplant organs has made it necessary to search for alternatives, one of which is xenotransplantation. However, the use of animal organs could face rejection from society and the personnel involved in its implementation., Objectives: (a) to analyze the attitudes of Veterinary Degree students in six Spanish Universities towards xenotransplantation; and (b) to determine the factors that affect its acceptance., Methods: Of the 2815 students surveyed in the degree program, 2683 valid surveys were obtained. Attitudes towards organ xenotransplantation were evaluated using a validated questionnaire of organ donation., Results: If xenotransplantation was confirmed as a clinical reality, 93% (n = 2493) of those surveyed would accept a xenotransplanted organ, whilst 7% would not. If the results of xenotransplantation were worse than those obtained with human donors and it entailed more risk, 12% (n = 318) would be in favor. 56% (n = 1497) of the students would accept a xenotransplantation provisionally pending the arrival of a human organ. Attitudes towards xenotransplantation were affected by the academic year in which a student was studying, with more favorable attitudes among students in the last year (88% in first year vs. 95% in fifth year; p < .001). More favorable attitudes are also observed depending on the attitude they have towards organ transplantation, with those students being more in favor of donating their organs when they die (94% vs. 88%; p < .001)., Conclusion: Veterinary students would have a very favorable attitude toward xenotransplantation if these animal organs functioned as well as human organs. Therefore, these students could play an important role in the future promotion of this technique., (© 2023 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

This paper presents a new approach for the multiobjective optimal design of robust controllers in systems with stochastic parametric uncertainty. Traditionally, uncertainty is incorporated into the optimization process. However, this can generate two problems: (1) low performance in the nominal scenario; and (2) high computational cost. For the first point, it is possible to ensure that the controllers produce an acceptable performance for the nominal scenario in exchange for being lightly robust. For the second point, the methodology proposed in this work reduces the computational cost significantly. This approach addresses uncertainty by analyzing the robustness of optimal and nearly optimal controllers in the nominal scenario. The methodology guarantees obtaining controllers that are similar/neighboring to lightly robust controllers. Two examples of controller design are shown: one for a linear model and another for a nonlinear model. Both examples demonstrate the usefulness of the proposed new approach., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Nowadays everyone should be aware of the importance of reducing CO 2 emissions which produce the greenhouse effect. In the field of construction, several options are proposed to reach nearly-Zero Energy Building (nZEB) standards. Obviously, before undertaking a modification in any part of a building focused on improving the energy performance, it is generally better to carry out simulations to evaluate its effectiveness. Using Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) allows a digital twin of the building to be obtained for specific characteristics without using very expensive software. This can simulate the effect of a single or combined intervention on a particular floor or an event on the remaining floors. In this paper, an example has been developed based on ANN. The results show a reasonable correlation between the real data of the Operative Temperature with the Energy Consumption and their estimates obtained through an ANN model, trained using an hourly basis, on each of the floors of an office building. This model confirms it is possible to obtain simulations in existing public buildings with an acceptable degree of precision and without laborious modelling, which would make it easier to achieve the nZEB target, especially in existing public office buildings., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Thiosemicarbazones (TSCNs) constitute a broad family of compounds (R 1 R 2 C=N-NH-C(S)- NR 3 R 4 ), particularly attractive because many of them display some biological activity against a wide range of microorganisms and cancer cells. Their activity can be related to their electronic and structural properties, which offer a rich set of donor atoms for metal coordination and a high electronic delocalization providing different binding modes for biomolecules. Heterocycles such as pyrrole, imidazole and triazole are present in biological molecules such as Vitamine B12 and amino acids and could potentially target multiple biological processes. Considering this, we have explored the chemistry and biological properties of thiosemicarbazones series and their complexes bearing heterocycles such as pyrrole, imidazole, thiazole and triazole. We focus at the chemistry and cytotoxicity of those derivatives to find out the structure activity relationships, and particularly we analyzed those examples with the TSCN units in which the mechanism of action information has been profoundly studied and pathways determined, to promote future studies for heterocycle derivatives., (Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.net.)

The synthesis and characterization of three new platinum complexes, with 3,5-diacetyl-1,2,4-triazole bis(4-N-isopropylthiosemicarbazone) as a ligand, are reported. The specific conditions under which solvent coordination takes place are reported and the X-ray structure of the complex with one solvent molecule of dimethyl sulfoxide is resolved. Analysis of the reactivity of these platinum compounds aids in finding the best solution profile for biological investigations. Then, the interactions of the complexes with biological models, such as calf-thymus DNA, are studied by using UV spectroscopy and tracking the changes in electrophoretic mobility produced in the supercoiled plasmid DNA model. Initial screening of these potential antitumoral compounds indicates possible selective antitumoral action., (© 2019 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

This paper investigates the upsetting of bimetallic cylinders with an aluminum alloy center and a brass ring. The influence of the center-ring shape factor and type of assembly fit (interference and clearance), and the effect of friction on the compression force and ductile damage are comprehensively analyzed by means of a combined numerical-experimental approach. Results showed that the higher the shape factor, the lower the forces required, whereas the effect of friction is especially important for cylinders with the lowest shape factors. The type of assembly fit does not influence the compression force. The accumulated ductile damage in the compression of bimetallic cylinders is higher than in single-material cylinders, and the higher the shape factor, the lower the damage for the same amount of stroke. The highest values of damaged were found to occur at the middle plane, and typically in the ring. Results also showed that an interference fit was more favorable for preventing fracture of the ring than a clearance fit. Microstructural analysis by scanning electron microscopy revealed a good agreement with the finite element predicted distribution of ductile damage.

Background: Symptom based referral criteria for colorectal cancer (CRC) detection are the cornerstone of the strategy to improve prognosis in CRC. In 2017, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) updated their referral criteria (2017 NG12). Recently, several studies have evaluated the faecal haemoglobin (f-Hb) concentration in this setting. The aim of this study is to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of the 2017 NG12 referral criteria and to compare them with the CG27 referral criteria, the f-Hb concentration and two f-Hb based prediction model: COLONPREDICT and FAST Score., Methods: This is a post-hoc diagnostic test study performed within the COLONPREDICT study database (1572 patients, CRC prevalence 13.6%). We assessed symptoms, the 2017 NG12 and CG27 referral criteria and determined the f-Hb before performing a colonoscopy. We compared the discriminatory ability using the area under the curve (AUC) and the sensitivity and specificity at pre-stablished thresholds with the McNemar's test., Results: The 2017 NG12 referral criteria discriminatory ability (AUC 0.53; 95% confidence interval- CI 0.49-0.57) was inferior to the CG27 version (AUC 0.59; 95% CI 0.55-0.63; p = 0.01), the f-Hb concentration (AUC 0.86; 95% CI 0.84-0-89; p < 0.001), the COLONPREDICT Score (AUC 0.92; 95% CI 0.91-0.94; p < 0.001) or the FAST Score (AUC 0.87; 95% CI 0.85-0.89; p < 0.001). The number of patients meeting each criteria were as follows: 2017 NG12 and CG27 = 94.1% and 52.2%; f-Hb ≥20 and ≥ 10 μg/g faeces = 38.6 and 44.3%; COLONPREDICT Score ≥ 5.6 and ≥ 3.2 = 29.4 and 63.2% and FAST Score ≥ 4.50 and ≥ 2.12 = 37.1 and 87.0%. The 2017 NG12 criteria were more sensitive (100%) than the CG27 criteria (68.2%), the f-Hb (≥20 μg/g) (91.2%), the f-Hb (≥10 μg/g) (93.5%), the COLONPREDICT Score (≥5.6) (90.1%) and the FAST Score (≥4.50) (89.8%) (p ≤ 0.001) and equivalent to the COLONPREDICT Score (≥3.5) (99.5%) or the FAST Score (≥2.12) (100.0%) (p = 1). However, their specificity (6.8%) was significantly lower than any of the evaluated criteria (50.3%, 69.6%, 63.4%, 78.7%, 45.8%, 71.3%, 13.9%; p < 0.001)., Conclusion: Referral criteria based on f-Hb measurement, either as a single test or within prediction models, are more accurate than symptom-based referral criteria for CRC detection in symptomatic patients.

The pandemic influenza virus A (H1N1) in 2009, which was initially associated with pigs (swine flu), could have had a negative influence on attitudes toward xenotransplantation (XT), particularly after the social alarm it caused. The objective of this study was to analyze the impact of this pandemic on the acceptance of XT among veterinary science students., Methods: A control group sample was taken of students registered in the veterinary degree course (academic year 2007-2008). For the study group, the study was repeated on the same students (year 2008-2009) after the pandemic (April 2009). Pair-matching was carried out between both groups taking into account that (1) the questionnaire was anonymous but included the student's initials and (2) when the study was repeated, the students were in the next academic year. Attitude was assessed using a validated questionnaire., Results: After comparing the surveys from the control group (n = 515) and study group (n = 465), 287 matched pairs were obtained. Acceptance of organ XT did not differ significantly before and after the outbreak, assuming similar results to those using human organs (89% vs 89%; P = .10) or with a greater risk than human donation (10% vs 13%; P = .37). There was no difference between the attitude toward tissue XT before and after (94% vs 93%; P = .69) and toward cell XT (97% vs 98%; P = .30); 82% (n = 236) believed that the pandemic had not changed their perception of XT, although 43% (n = 124) considered that it had negatively affected society's perception., Conclusion: The pandemic influenza virus A (H1N1) did not change the attitude of veterinary science students toward XT., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: We aimed to demonstrate the differences between grade I and II (OMS classification) of intracranial meningiomas. We evaluate their location, Simpson resection grade, re-operations rate, adjuvant treatment and patient outcomes., Methods: We conduct a retrospective review of Sixty- three clinical records of patients who were diagnosed with meningiomas grade I and II (OMS) between 2009-2015 and received surgical treatment at our Hospital. We evaluated different variables such as age, sex, histological type, Simpson grade resection, location, symptoms, radiotherapy, follow-up, mortality rate and patient outcome. The main aim was to establish the differences between these intracranial tumors., Results: A total of sixty-three patients diagnosed with meningiomas and received surgical treatment; fifty-one were grade I and thirteen with grade II. There were no differences in the rate between man and women. The average age for both types of meningiomas was 57 years old. The typical meningiomas were located in 55% of the cases outside the cranial base vs. 91.6% of the atypical meningiomas ( P = 0.03). Typical meningioma had a Simpson resection grade of I, II and III in 74.5% against 58.3% of the atypical ( P = 0.2). The atypical meningioma in 33% had more than one-stage surgery vs. 9.8% of the typical ( P = 0.03). The patients with a typical meningioma showed a good outcome in 86.2% vs. 53.8 of the grade II ( P = 0, 01). The typical meningiomas showed a good outcome in 82.2% of the cases vs. 53.8% of the atypical. The grade II meningiomas received adjuvant treatment in 33.3%, while the grade I only 1.9%., Conclusions: The atypical intracranial meningiomas have a worse outcome compared with the typical kind and a higher incidence of re-operations. These tumors have a preference for a location outside the cranial base. Concluding that the location could be a risk factor., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest.

Sonic crystals have been demonstrated to be good candidates to substitute for conventional diffusers in order to overcome the need for extremely thick structures when low frequencies have to be scattered, however, their performance is limited to a narrow band. In this work, multiobjective evolutionary algorithms are used to extend the bandwidth to the whole low frequency range. The results show that diffusion can be significantly increased. Several cost functions are considered in the paper, on the one hand to illustrate the flexibility of the optimization and on the other hand to demonstrate the problems associated with the use of certain cost functions. A study of the robustness of the optimized diffusers is also presented, introducing a parameter that can help to choose among the best candidates. Finally, the advantages of the use of multiobjective optimization in comparison with conventional optimizations are discussed.

Background: The shortage of organs has made it necessary to search for new alternatives such as xenotransplantation. However, the use of animal organs could be opposed by society and the personnel involved in its implementation. This study aimed to analyze the attitude of veterinary degree students in a Brazilian university towards xenotransplantation, to determine factors that affect its acceptance, and to compare the attitudes among a control group of veterinary degree students in a Spanish university., Methods: Of the 422 students registered for a veterinary course from 2010 to 2011, 374 were surveyed with a questionnaire completion rate of 89%. Attitudes were evaluated using a validated questionnaire that was self-administered administered anonymously. The process was coordinated by an independent health care worker. We applied the student t and the chi-squared-tests for statistical analysis., Results: If xenotransplantation was confirmed as a clinical reality, 90% (n = 338) of Brazilian students would accept the use of a xenotransplanted organ; 94% (n = 350), tissue; and 97% (n = 360), cell xenotransplantation. Attitudes toward xenotransplantation were not determined by the academic year, any psychosocial variable, or attitudes toward deceased human organ donation (P = .167). However, the attitudes would be affected by a belief that the transplanted animal organ would not change anything (P = .001). Interaction with other people was also related to more favorable attitudes (P = .015). Subjects who expressed a more favorable attitude tended to more readily accept cell (P = .000) or tissue xenotransplantation (P = .000). In Spain (control group), the results were similar: 91% (n = 436) would accept a xenotransplantation; 95% (n = 457) tissue; and 97% (n = 467), cell xenotransplantation. Also, this attitude was not affected by the academic year, any psychosocial variable, or attitude toward organ donation (P = .779)., Conclusion: Both Brazilian and Spanish veterinary students had favorable attitudes toward xenotransplantation., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The Top-Hat hot electron light emission and lasing in semiconductor heterostructure (HELLISH)-vertical cavity semiconductor optical amplifier (VCSOA) is a modified version of a HELLISH-VCSOA device. It has a shorter p-channel and longer n-channel. The device studied in this work consists of a simple GaAs p-i-n junction, containing 11 Ga0.35In0.65 N0.02As0.08/GaAs multiple quantum wells in its intrinsic region; the active region is enclosed between six pairs of GaAs/AlAs top distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) mirrors and 20.5 pairs of AlAs/GaAs bottom DBR mirrors. The operation of the device is based on longitudinal current transport parallel to the layers of the GaAs p-n junction. The device is characterised through I-V-L and by spectral photoluminescence, electroluminescence and electro-photoluminescence measurements. An amplification of about 25 dB is observed at applied voltages of around V = 88 V.

Background: The shortage of available transplant organs has made it necessary to search for new alternatives, one of which is xenotransplantation. However, the use of animal organs and the personnel involved in its implementation could face opposition. Our objective was to analyze the attitudes of veterinary degree students in a Spanish university toward xenotransplantation and to determine the factors that affect its acceptance., Methods: Of the 515 students registered in a veterinary degree course (2007-2008), we surveyed 482 94% of whom completed the questionnaire. Attitudes toward organ xenotransplantation were evaluated using a validated, self-administered questionnaire concerning organ donation, which was completed anonymously. We applied Student's t-tests and chi(2) tests., Results: If xenotransplantation was confirmed as a clinical reality, 91% (n = 436) of those students surveyed would accept a xenotransplanted organ, whereas 9% (n = 46) would not. Furthermore, 95% (n = 457) would accept tissue xenotransplantation and 97% (n = 467) cell xenotransplantation. Attitudes toward xenotransplantation were not affected by the academic year in which a student was studying, even when this was the year in which it was taught as a subject. Attitudes were not associated with any pyschosocial variable or attitude toward deceased organ donation; (P = .779). The students who believed that the demand for organs is not covered had a more favorable attitude toward xenotransplantation than those who think that there is no shortage (91% vs 70%; P = .027)., Conclusion: Veterinary students had favorable attitudes toward xenotransplantation, assuming that the animal organs functioned as well as human organs. Therefore, these students could play important roles in the future promotion of this technique., (Copyright 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Leishmaniasis is endemic in many countries. The existence of different species combined with host factors may condition clinical presentation, treatment options, and disease outcome. In an endemic country, a predominance of certain species and presentations may be expected, whereas from the perspective of a tropical medicine referral unit a wider variety of cases from diverse geographical areas may be observed., Methods: Retrospective study of imported leishmaniasis cases diagnosed at a Tropical Medicine referral unit in Spain, during the period of January 1995 to June 2008., Results: In total, 18 cases were diagnosed: 12 cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL), 4 mucocutaneous leishmaniasis (ML), and 2 visceral leishmaniasis (VL) cases. Two patients were immunosuppressed. The majority of CL cases (9/12) occurring in travelers were acquired in New World countries and were treated with pentavalent antimonials. Three ML cases were acquired in the New World, two received initial treatment with pentavalent antimonials and two with liposomal amphotericin B (LAmB). For all four ML cases, a change in drug choice and multiple treatment courses were necessary, and one remained refractory to treatment. Both VL cases were acquired in Africa and responded well to LAmB treatment., Conclusion: The management of leishmaniasis in non-endemic countries is still a challenge for physicians. With the variety of cases presented, both in immigrants and travelers from different geographical areas, this series illustrates the great diversity of imported leishmaniasis in terms of presentation, treatment options, and outcome. We consider this entity is becoming increasingly more frequent and clinicians should be aware of strategies for its correct management.

An exhaustive study has been made into the potential improvement in attenuation and focusing of phononic crystal arrays resulting from the deliberate creation of vacancies. Use is made of a stochastic search algorithm based on evolutionary algorithms called the epsilon variable multi-objective genetic algorithm which, in conjunction with the application of multiple scattering theory, enables the design of devices for effectively controlling sound waves. Several parameters are analyzed, including the symmetries used in the distribution of holes and the optimum number of holes. The validity and utility of the general rules obtained have been confirmed experimentally.

Bazex syndrome, or paraneoplastic acrokeratosis, is a rare psoriasis-like paraneoplastic skin disease, characterized by erythema and scaling, which is accompanied by hyperkeratotic lesions. The tumors most frequently associated with Bazex syndrome are squamous cell carcinomas of the upper respiratory and digestive tracts, whereas lung cancers, particularly adenocarcinomas, are rarely associated. We present a case in which both pulmonary adenocarcinoma and Bazex syndrome were present.

The diverticula of the lateral wall of the pharynx are called pharyngoceles. We present a case of a 71-year old male in whom we discovered, by chance, a bilateral pharyngocele. Given their scarcity, we review the characteristics of the process, highlighting the relevance of the oesophagopharingeal barium swallow. Finally, we describe two possible anatomical locations of the herniated sac.

Bilateral diaphragmatic paralysis is characterized by severe dyspnea in decubitus, with or without known respiratory or cardiac disorders. In both patients clinical diagnosis was confirmed by measuring the transdiaphragmatic pressure which was approximately zero. The first patient, previous to the clinical onset, had an episode of gastroenteritis and later developed a pneumonia; in the second patient, clinical manifestations started after neck surgery and both the clinical and functional disorders recovered within the following eight months.

Unlabelled: We analysed the development of various kidney function parameters in 40 patients on whom an intravenous urography had been carried out with a non-ionic contrast medium of low osmolarity (iohexol). No patient displayed prior renal insufficiency (serum creatinine 0.4-2mg/dl). Twenty-four hours after injection of the iodized contrast no significant variations in urea blood concentrations, creatinine, sodium or uric acid appeared. As a result of the urography an increase in urine osmolarity and a decrease in fractional sodium excretion took place., In Conclusion: in patients without renal insufficiency intravenous urography with iohexol does not give rise to a significant alteration in the renal excretory function.