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We present a case of obstruction in the third portion of the duodenum secondary to a phytobezoar in an adult patient with no surgical history and without a vegan diet. High intestinal obstruction due to a phytobezoar is rarely described in the literature, posing a diagnostic challenge when evaluating potential differentials in the emergency setting. Subsequently, we conduct a review focusing on tomographic findings and the surgical specimen, highlighting key points to consider when addressing such pathologies.

Abstract Background Leptospirosis is a zoonotic disease and a challenge to global public health. There is an occupational risk, particularly in populations with direct contact with animals and in high‐humidity environments, which favors the survival of leptospires. This study aimed to determine the seroprevalence of leptospirosis in military personnel working in close contact with animals in México and to describe the available preventive measures and protection levels. Methods A cross‐sectional study was conducted from March to October 2015. Information regarding protective factors in daily activities was gathered through a self‐evaluation questionnaire. The serum samples of participants were analyzed through enzyme‐linked immunoassay (ELISA) and microscopic agglutination test. Results Serums were obtained from 65 active military personnel, 56 males (86.2%) and 9 females (13.8%). Out of the total, 54 (83.1%) tested positive for infection by leptospirosis, 49 were males (87.5%) and 5 were females (55.6%). The highest seroprevalence age group was in the ≥45 years group (15, 23.07%), where all tested positive. Regarding military ranks, 100% of the highest hierarchy turned out positive: Officers (4 out of 4) and Chiefs (14 out of 14); and troops resulted in a seroprevalence of 76.5%. Protection equipment available during daily chores included: Overall, 64.6% had gloves and 53.8% had boots; the reported frequency for the use of gloves was 35.3% (46/65) if worn during more than half of the workday, yet 29.2% (19/65) reported never wearing them. Conclusions This study makes the petition to implement protocols of continuous training regarding labor risks and having an epidemiologic surveillance program for exposed personnel indispensable to improve the health and sanitary conditions of military personnel who work in direct contact with animals.

El incremento de la incidencia y prevalencia de las patologías Parkinson y Alzheimer generan una alarma en los sistemas de salud debido a sus consecuencias en los individuos, familia y sociedad. El desarrollo de tratamientos no farmacológicos dirigidos a la rehabilitación cognitiva abre nuevas posibilidades para el incremento de la calidad de vida de estos pacientes

Este estudo tem como objetivo compreender as causas e os processos que levaram a formação de duas voçorocas em uma encosta localizada no município de Alegre, Estado do Espírito Santo (Brasil). O estudo envolveu a caracterização geológica, pedológica e mineralógica, análise multitemporal de imagens de sensoriamento remoto, análise morfométrica e morfológica das voçorocas, e a descrição e identificação de feições erosivas indicativas de processos erosivos. Os resultados mostram que as voçorocas estão instaladas em uma encosta declivosa, cujos horizontes e tipos de solo possuem distribuição heterogênea. A taxa de perda de solo foi estimada em 198 m3.ano-1 para os anos de 2007 a 2021. A origem das voçorocas parece estar relacionada ao rompimento de terracetes, devido a pecuária intensiva de rebanhos bovinos. Uma vez instaladas, as voçorocas evoluíram rapidamente, com curtos períodos de estabilidade. Os movimentos de massa gravitacionais e a presença de trincas de tensão contribuíram para a expansão das voçorocas. O estudo exemplifica um caso típico de degradação do solo quando não são adotadas práticas de manejo e conservação do solo.

Background: The leading cause of spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is hypertensive arteriolopathy. In addition to age and hypertension history, patients usually present other comorbidities that potentially increase morbimortality. Ancillary studies other than non-contrast computerized tomography (NCCT) may help clarify the diagnosis and increase the detection of potentially modifiable vascular risk factors. Unfortunately, their use is not routinely performed. Objective: The study aimed to determine the frequency of ancillary studies performed in patients with hypertensive ICH. Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of three Latin American cerebrovascular registries from academic medical centers, analyzing the results with descriptive statistics focusing on diagnosis and short-term outcomes. Results: We analyzed a total of 1,324 patients (mean age 64 years). Hypertension and obesity were the most prevalent risk factors. Only 14% underwent MRI, 10.3% extracranial ultrasonography, and 6.7% echocardiography. Among the three registries, the Latin America Stroke Registry performed more ancillary studies. Most of the patients presented a poor clinical outcome and in-hospital death. Conclusions: The use of ancillary studies in the diagnostic workup of ICH was poor in the three registries, and mortality was high. The lack of ancillary studies performed may negatively impact outcomes.

Background: Imbalance in the intestinal microbiota can lead to chronic low-grade inflammation. Diet may influence this association. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the interaction between Akkermansia muciniphila (A. muciniphila) and dietary patterns using a proinflammatory index. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study with school-aged children. We quantified the relative abundance (RA) of A. muciniphila in feces using a polymerase chain reaction. We collected dietary information through employing a food frequency questionnaire and generated dietary patterns using principal component analysis. We generated a proinflammatory index from serum levels of interleukin-6, interleukin-10, tumor necrosis factor alpha, and adiponectin validated by receptor operating characteristic curves. We evaluated the association between A. muciniphila and the proinflammatory index using logistic regression, including an interaction term with dietary patterns. Results: We found that children with a low RA of A. muciniphila and a high intake of simple carbohydrates and saturated fats had increased odds of being high on the proinflammatory index. However, when the consumption of this dietary pattern is low, children with a low RA of A. muciniphila had decreased odds of being high on the proinflammatory index. Conclusions: Our results suggest that the simultaneous presence of A. muciniphila and diet have a more significant impact on the presence of being high on the proinflammatory index compared to both factors separately.

This review article overviews green analytical microextraction methods developed for food analysis. Particular attention is paid to the type and characteristics of the extraction phase (solvent or sorbent), given not only their enormous impact on the sustainability of the method, but also on its extraction capability and clean-up efficiency. Ionic liquids, deep eutectic solvents, supramolecular solvents, and switchable solvents are among the solvents reviewed, whereas polymers, metal-organic frameworks, covalent-organic frameworks, and carbon-based nanomaterials are the sorbents discussed. The greenness of the extraction material is evaluated in terms of cost and availability of the reagents employed for their preparation, green aspects of their synthesis, the possibility of their re-use, and the safety and/or toxicity related to their manipulation. At the same time, the main applications developed in the last years in the food field are presented following this vision.

The use of nanofertilizers has the potential to be used to enrich edible organs with nutrients (biofortification) and improve the biosynthesis of bioactive compounds and their antioxidant capacity. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of biofortification with magnesium (Mg) nanofertilizer on the accumulation of bioactive compounds and antioxidant capacity in green bean cv. Strike compared to a conventional fertilizer (Mg sulfate). Two sources of Mg were applied via foliar: Nanofertilizer and Mg Sulfate at doses of 0, 50, 100, 200, and 300 mg/L of Mg. The accumulation of total polyphenols, flavonoids, anthocyanins, bioactive compounds, and antioxidant capacity was evaluated in pods. The results obtained in this research confirm the effect of green bean pods biofortified with Mg nanofertilizers on the production and accumulation of bioactive compounds and antioxidant capacity, improving the nutrition and nutraceutical quality of green beans. The 50 mg/L dose of Mg nanofertilizer was the most effective treatment to increase bioactive compounds and antioxidant capacity compared to high doses of Mg sulfate (300 mg/L). This is one of the first studies focused on biofortification with Mg nanofertilizers and their effect on the nutraceutical quality of green beans.

Purpose – Banks play a crucial role in the sustainable development of exports as they finance much of the trade. Additionally, in Brazil's case, banks provide exporting companies with advisory and training services, which facilitate the internationalization process. This work aims to analyze the role of public and private banks in the export process of companies in Brazil. Design/methodology/approach – Interviews are conducted with a sample of 318 Brazilian exporting companies. Two research questions are posed: What type of export services do companies use from public and private banks in Brazil? Is exporting companies' access to credit, as a type of banking service, related to their size or export experience? A descriptive study of the functions of public and private banks in helping Brazilian exports is presented. Hypotheses are proposed regarding companies' access to credit and its relationship with their size and export experience. Findings – It is found that public and private banks in Brazil provide exporting companies with banking services, other services related to technical aspects, and export consulting. There are significant differences in access to credit in both public and private banks, depending on the exporting company's size. Originality/value – This work contributes to the internationalization literature on the role of banks in supporting exports in an emerging country like Brazil.

A polyphenol-rich diet modulates the abundance of Akkermansia muciniphila (A. muciniphila), protecting against metabolic disorders caused by several pathologies such as obesity. The aim of this study was to determine if the polyphenol intake and the A. muciniphila abundance are related to metabolic disorders in Mexican children aged from 6 to 12 years old. To determine if the polyphenol intake and the relative abundance (RA) of A. muciniphila to relate to the presence of metabolic disorders in the child population, we performed a Cross-sectional study of 1190 children between 6 and 12 years of age, all of them with complete information of anthropometry, biochemical parameters and RA of A. muciniphila. The polyphenol intake was assessed through a food consumption frequency questionnaire. The findings showed a positive association between low RA of A. muciniphila with triglycerides 6.89 mg/dL (95%CI 0.5, 14.2) and negative with high-density lipoproteins (HDL) −1.35 mg/dL (95%CI -3.4, −0.6). The low intake of anthocyanins and flavan-3-ols are positively associated with triglycerides, 7.35 mg/dL (95%CI 1.80, 12.89) and 5.66 mg/dL (95%CI 0.013, 11.32), respectively. Conclusion: The low RA of A. muciniphila and less intake of polyphenols are directly associated to lipid disorders in child.

Background: Persistent gut microbiota (GM) imbalance has been associated with metabolic disease development. This study evaluated the mediating role of waist circumference in the association between GM and insulin resistance (IR) in children. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 533 children aged between 6 and 12. The anthropometry, metabolic markers, and relative abundance (RA) of five intestinal bacterial species were measured. Path coefficients were estimated using path analysis to assess direct, indirect (mediated by waist circumference), and total effects on the association between GM and IR. Results: The results indicated a positive association mediated by waist circumference between the medium and high RA of S. aureus with homeostatic model assessments for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and for insulin resistance adiponectin-corrected (HOMA-AD). We found a negative association mediated by waist circumference between the low and medium RA of A. muciniphila and HOMA-IR and HOMA-AD. Finally, when we evaluated the joint effect of S. aureus, L. casei, and A. muciniphila, we found a waist circumference-mediated negative association with HOMA-IR and HOMA-AD. Conclusions: Waist circumference is a crucial mediator in the association between S. aureus and A. muciniphila RA and changes in HOMA-IR and HOMA-AD scores in children.

The objective of this study is to analyse the effect of four export barrier groups – human capital, cultural, administrative, and financial – on the product export barrier. The study participants constitute a statistically significant sample of 318 exporting companies in Brazil. The research model is tested using structural equation modelling, specifically the partial least squares (PLS-SEM) technique, and SmartPLS version 3.2.9. The results confirm that there is a significant effect of three export barriers – human capital, cultural, and financial – on the product export barrier. The effect of the administrative barrier on the product barrier is not verified. Besides, the effects of the human capital barrier on the cultural barrier and the administrative barrier on the financial barrier are verified. The mutual interaction between export barriers makes it advisable to manage each type of barrier.

Protein modification by ubiquitin fold modifier 1 (UFM1), termed ufmylation, regulates various physiological and pathological processes. Among emerging UFM1 targets, UFM1 binding protein 1 (UFBP1) is the first identified ufmylation substrate. Recent clinical and animal studies have demonstrated the pivotal roles of UFBP1 in development, hematopoiesis, intestinal homeostasis, chondrogenesis, and neuronal development, which has been linked to its function in maintaining endoplasmic reticulum (ER) homeostasis. However, the importance of UFBP1 ufmylation in these cellular and physiological processes has yet to be determined. It has been proposed that ufmylation of lysine 268 (267 in humans) in UFBP1 plays a critical role in mediating the effects of the ufmylation pathway. In this study, we for the first time probe the pathophysiological significance of UFBP1 ufmylation in vivo by creating and characterizing a mouse UFBP1 knockin (KI) model in which the lysine 268 of UFBP1, the amino acid accepting UFM1, was mutated to arginine. Our results showed that the K268R mutation reduced the total ufmylated proteins without altering the expression levels of individual ufmylation enzymes in mouse embryonic fibroblasts. The K268R mutation did not alter ER stress–stimuli–induced ER stress signaling or cell death in mouse embryonic fibroblasts. The homozygous KI mice were viable and morphologically indistinguishable from their littermate wild–type controls up to one year of age. Serial echocardiography revealed no cardiac functional impairment of the homozygous KI mice. Furthermore, the homozygous KI mice exhibited the same susceptibility to dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) –induced colitis as wild-type mice. Taken together, these results suggest that UFBP1 K268 is dispensable for ER stress response, embryonic development, cardiac homeostasis under physiological conditions, and intestinal homeostasis under pathological conditions. Our studies call for future investigations to understand the biological function of UFBP1 ufmylation and offer a new mouse model to determine the roles of UFBP1 ufmylation in different tissues under stress conditions.

The methodological strategy of project-based learning has been implemented in Analytical Chemistry laboratories, specifically in the subject of Basic Analytical Chemistry Laboratory of the Chemistry Degree, with the aim of contextualizing the practices, improving the critical evaluation of the results obtained and promoting collaborative work. For this purpose, five different topics have been proposed for students to elaborate a project, setting out its objective and the analytical determinations (parameters and samples) necessary to achieve it. The implementation of these projects has facilitated the generation of a greater volume of interrelated results that has allowed the students to work on the critical evaluation of the results in greater depth. The achievement of the objectives proposed for the implementation of the PBL has been demonstrated by means of anonymous surveys to the students and by comparison with other four groups of the same subject taught during the same academic year.

La producción avícola en el Cantón Balsas es el principal factor de ingreso económico, a nivel mundial la demanda de carne de pollo y huevos va en aumento y es necesario activar el sector para abrir un espacio en el mercado a los productores Balseños. El desarrollo económico es indispensable para una población, pero se debe tomar en cuenta a la sostenibilidad de la misma. Actualmente en el Cantón existen 79 granjas dedicadas a la venta de gallos, gallinas y pollos donde el mercado principal son algunos puntos de la Provincia. Los residuos contaminantes, la falta de competencia en el mercado ecuatoriano y otros factores son indicadores de estancamiento en la economía que se analizaran de la manera adecuada para que se modifiquen con el objetivo de transformar la económica tradicional de los productores avícolas a una economía sostenible capaz de dinamizar a todo el sector sin comprometer el ambiente

Antibiotic resistance is an alarming problem throughout the world and carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa has been cataloged as critical in the World Health Organization list of microorganisms in urgent need for the development of new antimicrobials. In this work, we describe two novel resistance regions responsible for conferring a multidrug resistance phenotype to two clinical isolates of P. aeruginosa (Pa873 and Pa6415) obtained from patients hospitalized in the ICU of University Hospital of Uruguay. Bacterial identification and antibiotic susceptibility tests were performed using MALDI-TOF and the Vitek 2 system, respectively. WGS was performed for both isolates using Oxford Nanopore Technologies and Illumina and processed by means of hybrid assembly. Both isolates were resistant to ceftazidime, cefepime, piperacillin–tazobactam, aztreonam, and imipenem. Strain Pa6415 also showed resistance to ciprofloxacin. Both strains displayed MICs below the susceptibility breakpoint for CAZ-AVI plus 4 mg/L of aztreonam as well as cefiderocol. Both resistance regions are flanked by the left and right inverted repeats of ISPa40 in two small regions spanning 39.3 and 35.6 kb, for Pa6415 and Pa873, respectively. The resistance region of Pa6415 includes TnaphA6, and the new Tn7516 consists of IRi, In899, qacEΔ1-sul1-ISCR1, qnrVC6-ISCR1-blaPER-1-qacEΔ1-sul1, araJ-like, IS481-like tnpA, ISPa17, and IRR. On the other hand, the resistance region of Pa873 includes Tnaph6 and the new Tn7517 (IRi, In899, qacEΔ1-sul1, ISCR1–blaPER-1–qacEΔ1-sul1, araJ-like, IS481-like tnpA, ISPa17, and IRR). It is necessary to monitor the emergence of genetic structures that threaten to invalidate the available therapeutic resources.

Korsakoff’s syndrome (KS) is an insidious and progressive neuropsychiatric disorder that affects specific neurocognitive functioning, especially in tasks that require sustained attention, memory, executive functions, and visuospatial functioning. Usually, this disease generates neuropsychiatric complications that worsen the quality of life (QOL) of patients in the medium term. We present a case of a 63-year-old male who presented with a diagnosis of advanced Korsakoff’s syndrome and has a clinical history of recurrent memory loss and a history of alcohol abuse. The patient showed difficulty manipulating immediate information, associated with a possible frontal lobe dysfunction, and inability to remember material given through the auditory pathway. The patient showed a psychiatric clinical picture which is constantly worsening his and his immediate caregiver’s QOL. The data obtained demonstrate that the patient presents a progressive cognitive impairment, which in the short term is correlated with Korsakoff-type dementia. It is suggested to carry out functional neurorehabilitation plans aimed at improving the QOL of the patient, his immediate caregiver, and future people with this type of diagnosis.

Salmonella enterica causes intracellular infections that can be limited to the intestine or spread to deeper tissues. In most cases, intracellular bacteria show moderate growth. How these bacteria face host defenses that recognize peptidoglycan, is poorly understood. Here, we report a high-resolution structural analysis of the minute amounts of peptidoglycan purified from S. enterica serovar Typhimurium (S. Typhimurium) infecting fibroblasts, a cell type in which this pathogen undergoes moderate growth and persists for days intracellularly. The peptidoglycan of these non-proliferating bacteria contains atypical crosslinked muropeptides with stem peptides trimmed at the L-alanine-D-glutamic acid-(γ) or D-glutamic acid-(γ)-meso-diaminopimelic acid motifs, both sensed by intracellular immune receptors. This peptidoglycan has a reduced glycan chain average length and ~30% increase in the L,D-crosslink, a type of bridge shared by all the atypical crosslinked muropeptides identified. The L,D-transpeptidases LdtD (YcbB) and LdtE (YnhG) are responsible for the formation of these L,D-bridges in the peptidoglycan of intracellular bacteria. We also identified in a fraction of muropeptides an unprecedented modification in the peptidoglycan of intracellular S. Typhimurium consisting of the amino alcohol alaninol replacing the terminal (fourth) D-alanine. Alaninol was still detectable in the peptidoglycan of a double mutant lacking LdtD and LdtE, thereby ruling out the contribution of these enzymes to this chemical modification. Remarkably, all multiple mutants tested lacking candidate enzymes that either trim stem peptides or form the L,D-bridges retain the capacity to modify the terminal D-alanine to alaninol and all attenuate NF-κB nuclear translocation. These data inferred a potential role of alaninol-containing muropeptides in attenuating pro-inflammatory signaling, which was confirmed with a synthetic tetrapeptide bearing such amino alcohol. We suggest that the modification of D-alanine to alaninol in the peptidoglycan of non-proliferating intracellular S. Typhimurium is an editing process exploited by this pathogen to evade immune recognition inside host cells.

Succession literature remains non-cumulative and disjointed, and studies are only just appearing that offer an overall view of the factors that make the succession process a success. Our study was based on a sample of 230 agribusiness entrepreneurs from the state of Paraná (Brazil). We used a time-lagged design to test the extent to which the succession plan, the family environment, the organizational environment and the economic environment are able to predict succession success. Our results showed that the variable that contributed most to the success of the succession process is one that the firm has the least control over: the economic environment. The findings suggest that in order to guarantee survival family-run enterprises must plan for succession and foster the development of a family and organizational context that encourages new leaders to want to take over the management of the family business.

Las plantas del género Fouquieria se distribuyen en las zonas áridas de México y Estados Unidos de América. Siendo los estados de Durango, Zacatecas, Coahuila, San Luis Potosí, Sonora, Baja California, Baja California Sur y Chihuahua donde éstas se distribuyen especialmente en México; y en Arizona, Nuevo México, Nevada, Colorado, y Utah en Estados Unidos de América. Tienen usos diversos ya sea como plantas de ornato, plantas medicinales o alimento. Las infrutescencias de este género son en forma de panícula, color rojo anaranjado de forma alargada y acampanada. Según la comunidad rural, los tallos, raíces y flores de estas especies se utilizaban en la medicina tradicional para tratar enfermedades cardiovasculares y trastornos del sistema urinario, entre otras. Hoy en día, las investigaciones demuestran que los extractos tienen entre algunas otras actividades, la antimicrobiana, antihelmíntica, e insecticida, cuyos efectos son atribuidos a metabolitos secundarios (fenoles, saponinas terpenoides, alcanos, etc.). En esta revisión se dan a conocer los usos etnobotánicos, características fitoquímicas, actividad biológica y estudios tecnológicos reportados del género Fouquieria. DOI: https://doi.org/10.54167/tecnociencia.v15i3.840

Background/Aim: Sweet almond (Prunus amygdalus dulcis) oil is one of the most famous cold-pressed seed oils. However, other species of Prunus can provide oils with healthy properties. We analyzed the fatty acid (FA) composition, as well as the antioxidant, the in vitro anti-inflammatory properties, and the antibiofilm activity of five commercial vegetable cold-pressed seed oils of apricot, peach, plum, cherry, and black cherry.Methods: Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry was performed for the analysis of FAs The antioxidant property of the oils was carried using different tests [2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH assay)], Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power (FRAP), and the 2, 20 -azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS·+). The denaturation assay performed on bovine serum albumin (BSA) was used to evaluate the in vitro anti-inflammatory activity. The anti-biofilm activity was assessed using five pathogenic strains, namely, Acinetobacter baumannii, Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Staphylococcus aureus, through the crystal violet test and the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)−2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT), used to evaluate the metabolism of the microbial cells present within the biofilm.Results: Oleic acid and linoleic acids were the most abundant FAs. Black cherry seed oil exhibited the best antioxidant activity, but in general, the amount of oil needed to inhibit the activity of 1 ml of DPPH assay at 50% did not exceed 10 μg. The extract concentration for the 50% inhibition of the denaturation of the protein (IC50) did not exceed 4.4 μg. Linoleic and stearic acids affected the antioxidant activity of the oils; oleic acid, linolenic, and palmitoleic acids exhibited beneficial effects in preserving the BSA denaturation, as shown by the correlation data. The oils were able to inhibit the biofilm formation of the pathogens (up to 71.40% of inhibition) as well as act against their mature biofilm, although with different strengths, with values up to 61.54%. Concurrently, they also acted on the pathogen metabolism.Conclusion: The oils represent a valuable source of some healthy FAs. They showed potential antioxidant and anti-inflammatory in vitro activity, in addition, their potential effect on the biofilm can offer important ideas for research and reflection on their use as functional foods and/or ingredients.

A literatura sobre sucessão continua desarticulada, e apenas nos últimos anos começam a surgir estudos que oferecem uma visão global dos fatores que contribuem para que o processo de sucessão seja exitoso. Com base em uma amostra de 230 empresários do agronegócio do Estado do Paraná, utilizamos um desenho de estudo de distanciamento temporal para comprovar até que ponto o plano de sucessão, o entorno familiar, o entorno organizacional e o entorno econômico podem prever o êxito da sucessão. Os resultados mostram que a variável que mais contribuiu para o êxito do processo de sucessão foi aquela sobre a qual a empresa tem menos controle: o entorno econômico. Os resultados sugerem que, para garantir sua sobrevivência, as empresas familiares devem planejar a sucessão e fomentar o desenvolvimento de contextos familiares e organizacionais que incentivem os novos líderes a querer assumir a gestão da empresa familiar.

En el presente artículo se analizará la legislación aplicable en torno al desplazamiento forzado interno en México en el marco de los Derechos Humanos y de la protección humanitaria que es necesaria para proteger a las personas desplazadas en el Estado por las condiciones de violencia que se viven y que son una de las principales razones de este fenómeno. Así mismo, se hará un breve análisis sobre lo que implica la violencia y la cultura en el desplazamiento interno en México.

Introducción. La instrucción en salas de cirugía tiene características particulares que requieren una evaluación, también particular. Es escasa la literatura sobre la evaluación de los cirujanos en su papel como docentes dentro y fuera del quirófano y es infrecuente la utilización en nuestro medio de procesos de evaluación estandarizados que incluyan la percepción del residente como fuente de información.

Metallo-β-lactamases (MBLs) confer resistance to carbapenem antibiotics. Here, López et al. show that the host range of MBLs depends on the efficiency of MBL signal peptide processing and secretion into outer membrane vesicles, which affects bacterial fitness.

OBJETIVOS: Determinar el patrón de prescripción de riluzol y las variables asociadas a su utilización en una población de pacientes con enfermedad de neurona motora afiliados al Sistema General de Seguridad Social en Salud de Colombia (SGSSS) en 2017. METODOLOGÍA: Estudio descriptivo de corte transversal. Mediante una base de datos sistematizada de aproximadamente 3,5 millones de afiliados al SGSSS de Colombia; se seleccionaron pacientes a quienes se les haya dispensado riluzol de manera ininterrumpida entre 1 abril y 30 junio de 2017. Se analizaron variables socio-demográficas, farmacológicas y las comorbilidades. Se estimaron la dosis diaria definida (DDD) por 1.000 habitantes/día y los costos. RESULTADOS: Se encontraron 81 pacientes con enfermedad de neurona motora recibiendo riluzol, con edad promedio de 60,8+12,6 años. El 48,1% eran hombres. La prevalencia de enfermedad de neurona motora fue 2,29/100.000 personas. Los pacientes recibieron riluzol en tabletas de 50 mg y se estimó la dosis en 0,016 DDD por 1.000 habitantes/día. El 63% recibían medicamentos que reflejan comorbilidad o pudieran tener interacción con riluzol. El costo total del riluzol dispensado en 2017 fue USD 85.348 y por dosis diaria prescrita en promedio fue USD 2,3. CONCLUSIONES: El uso de riluzol en pacientes con enfermedad de neurona motora en Colombia se realizó a las dosis recomendadas por la OMS y con un costo directo menor al reportado en otros países. Se recomienda realizar estudios que permitan determinar la efectividad del riluzol en condiciones de la vida real.

Hablar de pobreza por ingreso y los efectos que ha tenido este indicador a raíz de la presencia del Covid-19 es de gran importancia en la actualidad, debido al fuerte impacto que ha provocado en la vida de las personas, privándolas de satisfacer sus necesidades dignamente. El objetivo de este estudio descriptivo es analizar la evolución del indicador de la pobreza por ingreso en el Ecuador, tomando en cuenta la presencia del Covid-19 y su impacto en los niveles de pobreza hasta el 2020; sustentado en los métodos de revisión bibliográfica, hermenéutico y el análisis de contenido; así como en al análisis de las variables macroeconómicas como el empleo, PIB y coeficiente de Gini. Los resultados obtenidos nos permiten tener una noción de la compleja situación por la que atraviesa el país debido a la pandemia que ha provocado el retroceso de 10 años en el índice de pobreza, una caída del 9% en el crecimiento económico y un suceso alarmante tras presenciarse una mayor tasa de pobreza que de empleo con una diferencia de 1,6%; agudizando la precariedad de la vida económica de las personas más vulnerables.

Phenolic compounds are secondary metabolites produced by plants, and their study has been increased in recent years due to their ability to improve human health. The aim of this work was the determination of phenolic compounds presents in blue corn flour before and after a fermentation process, where different proportions were used of blue corn (Zea mays L.) flour and Czapek Dox culture medium (90 mL of culture medium with 10 g of blue corn flour, 80 mL of culture medium with 20 g of blue corn flour and 70 mL of culture medium with 30 g of blue corn flour) and were fermented at 3 different times (20, 25 and 30 days) with the Colletotrichum gloeosporioides fungus. A determination of the phenolic compounds was carried out with five standard solutions, which were cyanidin 3-glucoside (CYA), pelargonidin 3-glucoside (PEL), chlorogenic acid (CLA), quercetin (QRC) and cinnamic acid (CA). The obtained results showed the presence of CA and PEL. The most abundant phenolic compound in the fermented samples was CLA over the naturally occurring compounds in blue corn, which are CYA and PEL. QRC was the phenolic compound with the lowest concentration in blue corn flour samples fermented with Colletotrichum gloeosporioides.

La pandemia por el virus SARS-CoV-2 y la enfermedad generada (COVID-19, del inglés Coronavirus 2019 Disease), llevó a nivel mundial a cambios significativos en la forma de prestar los servicios de salud, incluida la actividad quirúrgica. Como parte de esta realidad, se recomendó en Colombia la adopción de disposiciones enfocadas a preparar nuestro sistema de salud para enfrentar una avalancha de pacientes COVID-19, que se esperaba fuera similar a la presentada en otros países. Las medidas se tomaron en el momento oportuno, ganando tiempo de preparación, sin que hasta la fecha (8 semanas después del primer caso diagnosticado en Colombia) se haya desbordado la demanda de atención, modificando la forma esperada de la curva epidemiológica, con un número menor de pacientes.

Para emitir las recomendaciones específicas frente a la población de pacientes con cáncer, se tomaron en cuenta diversas observaciones en pacientes con patologías oncológicas en momentos de COVID-19, que muestran riesgo mayor de complicaciones en esta población, así como las recomendaciones publicadas por las siguientes instituciones y asociaciones: National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), American College of Surgeons (ACS), American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), European Society of Surgical Oncology (ESSO), Society of Surgical Oncology (SSO) y Asociación Española de Cirujanos (AEC).

En el ámbito arquitectónico y urbano, los temas de sustentabilidad y ahorro energético no solamente se han convertido en temas de investigación recurrente en los últimos años, sino que son una prioridad en la aplicación, por lo que toda práctica sustentable y con potencial de conservación o reducción del gasto energético debería considerarse como una opción prioritaria al momento de la toma de decisiones. Este artículo presenta una serie de reflexiones e información importante en torno a las posibilidades de reciclaje o reúso creativo que tienen los espacios, estructuras e inmuebles subutilizados o abandonados para, a partir de ellos, lograr reactivar sectores urbanos constituyendo una infraestructura detonadora favorecedora de procesos de resiliencia urbana. La intención es hacer reflexionar sobre las ventajas de la aplicación de esta práctica de reciclaje arquitectónico y urbano y resaltar los logros que ésta ha alcanzado.

The Tehuantepec Isthmus rattlesnake (Crotalus ehecatl) is a poorly known species endemic to Mexico. We describe its diet, morphological variation, life history traits and activity patterns based on data from field encounters, museum specimens, and published data. Its diet consists almost exclusively of mammals, with no detected ontogenetic shift or sexual differences in prey type, and with feeding happening mainly in the rainy season. As the first detailed study on the feeding ecology of C. ehecatl, it adds six new prey species and suggests a homogeneous diet among age classes and sexes, but not among seasons. Crotalus ehecatl does not present sexual dimorphism in snout-vent length, head length or total length, but males have significantly longer tails than females, possess fewer ventral scales, more subcaudal and anterior intersupraocular scales. Crotalus ehecatl showed a unimodal activity pattern with peak activity in the summer, with crepuscular and nocturnal activity during the warmer months, and diurnal activity during the cooler months. The timing of C. ehecatl reproductive events, is similar to other rattlesnakes from temperate and tropical zones. Additional studies on this and related species would help to understand how the ecology of Neotropical rattlesnakes differs from rattlesnakes of more temperate zones.

The construction of the Linear IFMIF Prototype Accelerator (LIPAc) is in progress in order to demonstrate the feasibility of the low energy section of an IFMIF deuteron accelerator up to 9 MeV with a beam current of 125 mA in CW. The next milestone of the project is the so-called Phase-B beam commissioning, and one of the missions is to demonstrate the acceleration of the proton beam up to 2.5 MeV or the deuteron beam up to 5.0 MeV in pulsed mode with a low duty cycle of 0.1% through RFQ. Most of the components and subsystems necessary for Phase-B were delivered by 2016 under the responsibility of Fusion for Energy (F4E) as in-kind contributions of several European institutes, namely CEA (France), CIEMAT (Spain), INFN (Italy), and SCK-CEN (Belgium), and QST is in charge of the installation of the delivered equipment. The installation and check-out of the RFQ subsystem and the RF power system was completed by July 2017, and the RF conditioning of the RFQ cavity started. Also, the installation and the check-out of the important sub-systems for Phase-B, namely MEBT and beam diagnostics, have been completed. Keywords: IFMIF, LIPAc, RFQ, Accelerator, Deuteron, Neutron source

Lipid peroxidation, protein oxidation, and mutations in mitochondrial DNA generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) that are involved in cell death and inflammatory response syndrome. ROS can also act as a signal in the intracellular pathways involved in normal cell growth and homeostasis, as well as in response to metabolic adaptations, autophagy, immunity, differentiation and cell aging, the latter of which is an important characteristic in acute and chronic pathologies. Thus, the measurement of ROS levels of critically ill patients, upon admission, enables a prediction not only of the severity of the inflammatory response, but also of its subsequent potential outcome. The aim of this study was to measure the levels of mitochondrial ROS (superoxide anion) in the peripheral blood lymphocytes within 24 h of admission and correlate them with survival at one year after ICU and hospital discharge. We designed an observational prospective study in 51 critical care patients, in which clinical variables and ROS production were identified and correlated with mortality at 12 months post-ICU hospitalization. Oxidative stress levels, measured as DHE fluorescence, show a positive correlation with increased long-term mortality. In ICU patients the major determinant of survival is oxidative stress, which determines inflammation and outlines the cellular response to inflammatory stimuli.

Este trabalho objetiva determinar e analisar a elasticidade espacial (ou horizontal) de transmissão de preços entre os preços internacionais do açúcar e o preço médio recebido pelo exportador brasileiro de açúcar, por meio do Modelo Estrutural, entre janeiro de 2004 e novembro de 2015. Como corolário, variações de 1% no preço internacional do açúcar são transmitidas para o preço médio recebido pelos exportadores brasileiros de açúcar com magnitude de 0,3%, em média, configurando relação inelástica entre as duas variáveis e, por consequência, a não ocorrência da Lei do Preço Único. Logo, existem mecanismos nesse mercado que estão impedindo o pleno funcionamento do processo de arbitragem. Tal fato não é incomum haja vista ser o açúcar um dos produtos mais protegidos comercialmente e que sofre muitas interferências.

Infectious intestinal diseases (IID) represent a widespread public health problem in Mexico. The country also faces major challenges with respect to the provision of residential water services (piped water and sewer)—an essential input for hygiene and cleanliness in homes. This paper analyzes morbidity rates from several IID associated with unsanitary living conditions along with a series of residential water services indicators for Mexico’s 2,456 municipalities. With data obtained through a special request to the federal epidemiological authority as well as official census data for 2010, we find stark regional contrasts and identify interesting spatial structures for both IID morbidity and residential water services indicators. In particular, municipalities tend to present values similar to neighboring municipalities, forming clusters of relatively high-value (or low-value) municipalities. Moreover we find that municipalities with a relatively high level of access to residential water services tend to present relatively low IID morbidity rates. These results have multiple public policy implications. In order to reduce the incidence of IID effectively and efficiently, interventions should explicitly consider the spatial structure of morbidity and target problem spots—which typically spill over state, municipal and other administrative boundaries. Moreover, improvements in the quality of access to piped water (for example, increasing the frequency of supply) may be as important for reducing morbidity as the expansion of basic access to this service.

ABSTRACT The hyperproduction of the chromosomal AmpC β-lactamase is the main mechanism driving β-lactam resistance in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, one of the leading opportunistic pathogens causing nosocomial acute and chronic infections in patients with underlying respiratory diseases. In the current scenario of the shortage of effective antipseudomonal drugs, understanding the molecular mechanisms mediating AmpC hyperproduction in order to develop new therapeutics against this fearsome pathogen is of great importance. It has been accepted for decades that certain cell wall-derived soluble fragments (muropeptides) modulate AmpC production by complexing with the transcriptional regulator AmpR and acquiring different conformations that activate/repress ampC expression. However, these peptidoglycan-derived signals have never been characterized in the highly prevalent P. aeruginosa stable AmpC hyperproducer mutants. Here, we demonstrate that the previously described fragments enabling the transient ampC hyperexpression during cefoxitin induction (1,6-anhydro-N-acetylmuramyl-pentapeptides) also underlie the dacB (penicillin binding protein 4 [PBP4]) mutation-driven stable hyperproduction but differ from the 1,6-anhydro-N-acetylmuramyl-tripeptides notably overaccumulated in the ampD knockout mutant. In addition, a simultaneous greater accumulation of both activators appears linked to higher levels of AmpC hyperproduction, although our results suggest a much stronger AmpC-activating potency for the 1,6-anhydro-N-acetylmuramyl-pentapeptide. Collectively, our results propose a model of AmpC control where the activator fragments, with qualitative and quantitative particularities depending on the pathways and levels of β-lactamase production, dominate over the repressor (UDP-N-acetylmuramyl-pentapeptide). This study represents a major step in understanding the foundations of AmpC-dependent β-lactam resistance in P. aeruginosa, potentially useful to open new therapeutic conceptions intended to interfere with the abovementioned cell wall-derived signaling. IMPORTANCE The extensive use of β-lactam antibiotics and the bacterial adaptive capacity have led to the apparently unstoppable increase of antimicrobial resistance, one of the current major global health challenges. In the leading nosocomial pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa, the mutation-driven AmpC β-lactamase hyperproduction stands out as the main resistance mechanism, but the molecular cues enabling this system have remained elusive until now. Here, we provide for the first time direct and quantitative information about the soluble cell wall-derived fragments accounting for the different levels and pathways of AmpC hyperproduction. Based on these results, we propose a hierarchical model of signals which ultimately govern ampC hyperexpression and resistance.