Search

Staphylococcus caprae is a coagulase-negative staphylococcus commonly associated with animals which can also be a zoonotic human pathogen. To date, there is little data available on S. caprae infections. The aim of this study was to characterize the S. caprae infections identified in two hospitals located, respectively, in rural and urban areas of Catalonia, Spain. In this retrospective, observational study, data were compiled from clinical records of all S. caprae infections diagnosed between January 2010 and December 2023. Over the study period, altogether 31 cases of S. caprae infection were identified, with most (23) of these cases occurring in the second half of the period (2017–2023). The mean age of patients was 58.87 ± 20.65 years, and 58.1% were males. Eight patients had had livestock exposure. The most frequent manifestation of infection was skin and soft subcutaneous tissue infections (10; 32.3%), osteomyelitis (6; 19.4%), and joint prosthetic infections (5; 16.1%). All the strains were susceptible to oxacillin, fluoroquinolones, rifampicin, and trimethoprim–sulfamethoxazole. Twenty-two (71%) of the patients required surgical treatment. Only one patient (3.2%) died, because of aortic prosthetic valve infective endocarditis. Skin and soft tissue infections were the most frequently identified manifestations of S. caprae infection. Over 75% of the cases occurred in the last six years, and 25.8% involved significant exposure to livestock. Ongoing surveillance is necessary to better understand the prevalence and transmission dynamics of this emerging zoonotic pathogen.

La hipótesis general de esta tesis doctoral es que los jóvenes de la Generación Z prefieren consumir los contenidos audiovisuales de forma online debido a las opciones interactivas que las plataformas de vídeo les ofrecen. Para verificar o refutar esta hipótesis, el objetivo general de la tesis es analizar las percepciones y las preferencias de la Generación Z por las diferentes posibilidades interactivas que ofrece la tecnología del vídeo. En cuanto al diseño metodológico, se ha optado por la triangulación para integrar un enfoque tanto cualitativo como cuantitativo. Se han empleado las técnicas de la encuesta, el análisis de contenido y el grupo de discusión. Los resultados obtenidos evidencian que las posibilidades interactivas son uno de los principales motivos por los que la Generación Z elige consumir el contenido audiovisual de forma online, pero no el único. Por otro lado, se verifica que estos jóvenes realizan un consumo mayoritariamente pasivo cuando visualizan contenido audiovisual.

The implementation of the dual vocational training policy establishes horizontal training between schools and the labour market, contributes to educational continuity and is an effective measure against early school leaving. In addition, it has a link with the business sector that enables labour integration and also participates in the training and qualification of students. To approach it, we start from a historical overview of education, where we analyse the different laws passed in recent decades and investigate dual vocational training as an effective policy for training for employment and training of skills, abilities and competences necessary for the acquisition of a job. To this end, we present a study in which we make visible, through interviews, the perspective of students in relation to vocational training in the autonomous community of Andalusia. The majority of those interviewed gave a positive assessment of these studies. Moreover, the interviews show how this educational policy has a positive impact on the labour market insertion of the participants.

The Muslim population is one of the religious groups facing the greatest obstacles to full socio-educational inclusion in the West. These are particularly noticeable among young people in areas such as access to employment. The purpose of this study was to find out their own perceptions of their socio-educational inclusion, discrimination, and religiosity. An eminently quantitative methodology was used, with an ad hoc questionnaire administered to a representative sample of a total of 1157 Muslims aged between 18 and 24. The results show that a higher level of religiosity is not related to a lower sense of belonging to Spanish society and should no longer be considered an obstacle to the socio-educational inclusion of young Muslims in Spanish society. On the other hand, their responses show that there is a relationship with greater perceived discrimination, especially in access to employment. In particular, women wearing hijab are substantially vulnerable. Young people, and especially Muslim women, make up a vulnerable population that requires specific school-to-work transition policies to improve their inclusion in the Spanish labour market. This research contributes to an important reflection based on the opinions of young Muslims themselves about supporting better socio-educational inclusion in Spain.

Dear editor, The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively affected other disease prevention and control programs that could cause more deaths than the coronavirus itself (1), and also having substantial consequences for other domains, such as social impact: slowing economic growth and increasing rates of unemployment, poverty, and food insecurity.

Abstract The voltage-dependent potassium channel Kv1.3 plays essential roles in the immune system, participating in leukocyte activation, proliferation and apoptosis. The regulatory subunit KCNE4 acts as an ancillary peptide of Kv1.3, modulates K+ currents and controls channel abundance at the cell surface. KCNE4-dependent regulation of the oligomeric complex fine-tunes the physiological role of Kv1.3. Thus, KCNE4 is crucial for Ca2+-dependent Kv1.3-related leukocyte functions. To better understand the role of KCNE4 in the regulation of the immune system, we manipulated its expression in various leukocyte cell lines. Jurkat T lymphocytes exhibit low KCNE4 levels, whereas CY15 dendritic cells, a model of professional antigen-presenting cells, robustly express KCNE4. When the cellular KCNE4 abundance was increased in T cells, the interaction between KCNE4 and Kv1.3 affected important T cell physiological features, such as channel rearrangement in the immunological synapse, cell growth, apoptosis and activation, as indicated by decreased IL-2 production. Conversely, ablation of KCNE4 in dendritic cells augmented proliferation. Furthermore, the LPS-dependent activation of CY15 cells, which induced Kv1.3 but not KCNE4, increased the Kv1.3-KCNE4 ratio and increased the expression of free Kv1.3 without KCNE4 interaction. Our results demonstrate that KCNE4 is a pivotal regulator of the Kv1.3 channelosome, which fine-tunes immune system physiology by modulating Kv1.3-associated leukocyte functions.

Obesity is a multifactorial disease whose onset and development are shaped by the individual genetic background. The melanocortin 4 receptor gene (MC4R) is involved in the regulation of food intake and energy expenditure. Some of the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of this gene are related to obesity and metabolic risk factors. The present study was undertaken to assess the relationship between three polymorphism SNPs, namely, rs17782313, rs17773430 and rs34114122, and obesity and metabolic risk factors. One hundred seventy-eight children with obesity aged between 7 and 16 years were studied to determine anthropometric variables and biochemical and inflammatory parameters. Our results highlight that metabolic risk factors, especially alterations in carbohydrate metabolism, were related to rs17782313. The presence of the minor C allele in the three variants (C–C–C) was significantly associated with anthropometric measures indicative of obesity, such as the body mass and fat mass indexes, and increased the values of insulinemia to 21.91 µIU/mL with respect to the wild type values. Our study suggests that the C–C–C haplotype of the SNPs rs17782313, rs17773430 and rs34114122 of the MC4R gene potentiates metabolic risk factors at early ages in children with obesity.

Transmission is a driver of tuberculosis (TB) epidemics in high-burden regions, with assumed negligible impact in low-burden areas. However, we still lack a full characterization of transmission dynamics in settings with similar and different burdens. Genomic epidemiology can greatly help to quantify transmission, but the lack of whole genome sequencing population-based studies has hampered its application. Here, we generate a population-based dataset from Valencia region and compare it with available datasets from different TB-burden settings to reveal transmission dynamics heterogeneity and its public health implications. We sequenced the whole genome of 785 Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains and linked genomes to patient epidemiological data. We use a pairwise distance clustering approach and phylodynamic methods to characterize transmission events over the last 150 years, in different TB-burden regions. Our results underscore significant differences in transmission between low-burden TB settings, i.e., clustering in Valencia region is higher (47.4%) than in Oxfordshire (27%), and similar to a high-burden area as Malawi (49.8%). By modeling times of the transmission links, we observed that settings with high transmission rate are associated with decades of uninterrupted transmission, irrespective of burden. Together, our results reveal that burden and transmission are not necessarily linked due to the role of past epidemics in the ongoing TB incidence, and highlight the need for in-depth characterization of transmission dynamics and specifically tailored TB control strategies.

The current challenges in developing novel nanotechnological processes have led us to explore new methods for synthesizing nanomaterials whose functionalities rely on their structural complexity. In this respect, nature has always been a source of inspiration for proposing innovative technologies to improve the quality of life. Hierarchical superstructures (HSS) are of great interest because the self-assembly of low-dimensional nanostructures (up to the macroscale) allows the control and optimization of performance by coupling the properties of the individual blocks. Self-assembled surfactant structures are convenient for HSS synthesis because they provide a confined reaction medium which confers excellent control over the size of the building blocks. Furthermore, bicontinuous microemulsions offer a soft three-dimensional template due to their interconnected nature. Similarly, electrodeposition routes offer fast, robust, clean, and reproducible ways to synthesize metallic and multimetallic HSS. The combination of soft-templating and electrodeposition is a powerful tool for controlling the morphology and composition of the material. This work reviews polymeric, ceramic, and metallic hierarchical superstructures synthesized using bicontinuous microemulsions and electrodeposition techniques and compares them with matching natural patterns. The aim is to show how these synthetic routes can be exploited to obtain efficient biomimetic nanomaterials that improve their properties.

El presente artículo pretende constituirse como una aproximación teórica en torno al proceso de inserción y traslación de la música de jazz en el canon de la música culta en Occidente, monopolizado de manera paradigmática por la música clásica europea. Partiendo de un sustrato teórico conformado en relación a la teoría de los polisistemas, postulada por el investigador Israelí Itamar Even-Zohar, se analizan las sinergias, coyunturas y condicionantes que subyacen a un movimiento de traslación que ha propiciado el cambio de consideración de un género musical como el jazz, desde una concepción como música marginal y minoritaria, asociada a un contexto sociocultural concreto, hasta su reconocimiento como una de las expresiones artísticas más vanguardistas, refinadas y valoradas de la cultura occidental.

Voltage-gated potassium channels control neuronal excitability and cardiac action potentials. In addition, these proteins are involved in a myriad of cellular processes. The potassium channel Kv1.3 plays an essential role in the immune response mediated by leukocytes. Kv1.3 is functional both at the plasma membrane and the inner mitochondrial membrane. Plasma membrane Kv1.3 mediates cellular activation and proliferation, whereas mitochondrial Kv1.3 participates in cell survival and apoptosis. Therefore, this protein emerges as an important target in cancer therapies. Several forward-traffic motifs target the channel to the plasma membrane in a COPII-dependent manner. However, the mitochondrial import pathway for Kv1.3 is largely unknown. Here, we deciphered the mitochondrial routing of the mitoKv1.3 channel. Kv1.3 uses the TIM23 complex to translocate to the inner mitochondrial membrane. This mechanism is unconventional because the channel is a multimembrane spanning protein without a defined N-terminal presequence. We found that transmembrane domains cooperatively mediate Kv1.3 mitochondrial targeting and identified the cytosolic HSP70/HSP90 chaperone complex as a key regulator of the process. Our results provide insights into the mechanisms mediating the localization of Kv1.3 to mitochondrial membranes, further extending the knowledge of ion channel biogenesis and turnover in mitochondria.

El ilimitado alcance de relaciones cara a cara que se agrupan con distintos grados de cohesión en la red social, cuyos procesos de interacción son tan análogos a los que Cooley llamó los “grupos primarios”, ha favorecido todo tipo de prácticas comunicativas. Los más turbios excesos han pasado a ser modos cotidianos de persuasión. Fake news y posverdad, anglicismos novedosos que han saltado al lenguaje corriente. La red se ha convertido en un escenario retórico de interacción a distancia tan compleja como a veces fugaz, en que se desdibujan las diferencias entre información veraz, rumor, bulo y opinión solvente. Nos proponemos revisar La rebelión de las masas y la noción de “aldea global” de McLuhan contrastándolas con Retrotopía, obra póstuma donde Bauman describe el entorno de la red como una “vuelta a las tribus” en el que el usuario asume una “servidumbre voluntaria”. La revisión nos sirve también de marco fenomenológico para argumentar sobre la importancia de una recuperación social de las artes retóricas clásicas en la red.

Background: The relationships between cognitive and personality profile in teenagers with and without ADHD were assessed. Method: Two groups of teenagers, one with ADHD (N = 135; mean age = 13.93) and another group without ADHD (N = 199, mean age = 14.29) were evaluated using the K-BIT and 16PF-APQ tests. Results: In cognitive variables, the results revealed that the ADHD group returned higher scores in the Matrices subtest and the IQ test. In personality variables, the group with ADHD exhibited higher scores in Tough-Mindedness and lower scores in Self-Control than the group without the disorder. The canonical correlation analysis applied to each group revealed a differing pattern of interrelationships between the cognitive-personality variables in the two groups. In adolescents with ADHD, we observed that higher scores in cognitive variables were associated with a more extroverted personality and less self-control, while in adolescents without ADHD, higher scores in cognitive variables were associated with less tough-mindedness and lower levels of self-control. Conclusions: The cognitive and personality variables of adolescents with and without ADHD differ. These results will be useful for establishing a cognitive and personality profile for this section of the population. The educational implications of the study are under discussion.

The voltage-gated potassium channel Kv1.3 plays an apparent dual physiological role by participating in activation and proliferation of leukocytes as well as promoting apoptosis in several types of tumor cells. Therefore, Kv1.3 is considered a potential pharmacological target for immunodeficiency and cancer. Different cellular locations of Kv1.3, at the plasma membrane or the mitochondria, could be responsible for such duality. While plasma membrane Kv1.3 facilitates proliferation, the mitochondrial channel modulates apoptotic signaling. Several molecular determinants of Kv1.3 drive the channel to the cell surface, but no information is available about its mitochondrial targeting. Caveolins, which are able to modulate cell survival, participate in the plasma membrane targeting of Kv1.3. The channel, via a caveolin-binding domain (CBD), associates with caveolin 1 (Cav1), which localizes Kv1.3 to lipid raft membrane microdomains. The aim of our study was to understand the role of such interactions not only for channel targeting but also for cell survival in mammalian cells. By using a caveolin association-deficient channel (Kv1.3 CBDless), we demonstrate here that while the Kv1.3–Cav1 interaction is responsible for the channel localization in the plasma membrane, a lack of such interaction accumulates Kv1.3 in the mitochondria. Kv1.3 CBDless severely affects mitochondrial physiology and cell survival, indicating that a functional link of Kv1.3 with Cav1 within the mitochondria modulates the pro-apoptotic effects of the channel. Therefore, the balance exerted by these two complementary mechanisms fine-tune the physiological role of Kv1.3 during cell survival or apoptosis. Our data highlight an unexpected role for the mitochondrial caveolin–Kv1.3 axis during cell survival and apoptosis.

BackgroundChagas disease (CD) is a chronic parasitic disease caused by Trypanosoma cruzi and is endemic to continental Latin America. In Spain, the main transmission route is congenital. We aimed to assess adherence to regional recommendations of universal screening for CD during pregnancy in Latin American women in the province of Alicante from 2014 to 2018.Methodology/principal findingsRetrospective quality study using two data sources: 1) delivery records of Latin American women that gave birth in the 10 public hospitals of Alicante between January 2014 and December 2018; and 2) records of Chagas serologies carried out in those centers between May 2013 and December 2018. There were 3026 deliveries in Latin American women during the study period; 1178 (38.9%) underwent CD serology. Screening adherence ranged from 17.2% to 59.3% in the different health departments and was higher in Bolivian women (48.3%). Twenty-six deliveries (2.2%) had a positive screening; CD was confirmed in 23 (2%) deliveries of 21 women. Bolivians had the highest seroprevalence (21/112; 18.7%), followed by Colombians (1/333; 0.3%) and Ecuadorians (1/348; 0.3%). Of 21 CD-positive women (19 Bolivians, 1 Colombian, 1 Ecuadorian), infection was already known in 12 (57.1%), and 9 (42.9%) had already been treated. Only 1 of the 12 untreated women (8.3%) was treated postpartum. Follow-up started in 20 of the 23 (87.0%) neonates but was completed only in 11 (47.8%); no cases of congenital transmission were detected. Among the 1848 unscreened deliveries, we estimate 43 undiagnosed cases of CD and 1 to 2 undetected cases of congenital transmission.Conclusions/significanceAdherence to recommendations of systematic screening for CD in Latin American pregnant women in Alicante can be improved. Strategies to strengthen treatment of postpartum women and monitoring of exposed newborns are needed. Currently, there may be undetected cases of congenital transmission in our province.

Aim: The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect on wine colour and phenolic and volatile composition of supplementing a red wine with different oak staves - selected using a non-invasive measurement method based on infrared spectrometry (Oakscan system) - during a micro-oxygenation treatment. Methods and results: Aliquots of 165 liters of a Merlot wine were micro-oxygenated at two doses of oxygen (2.5 and 5.0 mg of O2/L.month) in the presence or not of oak staves of different potential ellagitannin release (PER) for three months. Micro-oxygenation generally increased colour intensity and stability, probably because it favours the formation of new pigments. The presence of staves increased the total phenolic index and the ellagitannin concentration and encouraged the combination of anthocyanins with flavanols. The greater the PER of the staves, the greater this effect was. Finally, the micro-oxygenation dose only affected the concentration of total furanic compounds, whereas the PER of the staves seemed to determine the concentrations of furanic compounds, volatile phenols and β-methyl-γ-octalactones. To be specific, the lower the PER of the staves, the higher the concentration of β-methyl-γ-octalactones (coconut notes) and the lower the concentration of furanic compounds (toasted nut notes) and volatile phenols (smoked notes). A sensory analysis of the wines confirmed this trend. Conclusions: The main conclusion is that it is possible to use a non-invasive measurement method based on infrared spectrometry oak staves for their potential release of ellagitannins, as well as different volatile substances. Significance and impact of the study: These results indicate that by choosing the staves winemakers can modulate both the structure and the aromatic profile of their wines.

Tetracycline resistance (TetR) has been evidenced as a good phenotypic marker for detection of livestock-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (LA-MRSA) isolates of the clonal complex CC398. The aim of this study was to characterise a collection of 95 TetR-MRSA isolates, not belonging to the lineage CC398, that were obtained in a previous multicentre study, to detect other MRSA clonal complexes that could be associated with this phenotypic TetR marker. The TetR-MRSA isolates were recovered from 20 Spanish hospitals during 2016 and they were characterised to determine their antimicrobial resistance and virulence phenotypes/genotypes as well as the presence of the immune evasion cluster (IEC). A high proportion of isolates belonging to the CC1 lineage (46%) were observed, as well as to the CC5, CC8 and CC45 lineages (11% each one). Thirty-two different spa-types were identified, being predominantly CC1-t127 (40%) and CC45-t1081 (11%). The IEC system (with the gene scn as marker) was present in 73% of isolates and 16% produced the Panton Valentine leucocidin (PVL). A high proportion of MRSA-CC1 isolates were scn-negative (38.6%) and 52.9% of them were blaZ-negative. A multidrug resistance (MDR) phenotype was identified in 86% of MRSA isolates. The knowledge of other TetR-MRSA genetic lineages, in addition to CC398, is highly relevant, since most of them were MDR and some of them presented important virulence factors. Strains potentially associated with livestock (as the subpopulation CC1-t127-scn-negative) or with humans (as the CC45 lineage or the subpopulation CC1-scn-positive) have been found in this study. The use of tetracycline-resistance for detection, not only of CC398 but also of other LA-MRSA lineages should be tracked in the future.

RESUMEN Introducción: La enfermedad de Alzheimer es una demencia que afecta a un número cada vez mayor de personas. Estos pacientes precisan de una atención continua, prestada habitualmente por sus familiares. El cuidador informal es la persona encargada de realizar el cuidado no profesional de los pacientes dependientes, lo que puede conllevar en ellos repercusiones físicas, sociales y psíquicas, susceptibles de intervención profesional. El objetivo es analizar las necesidades más demandadas por familiares de pacientes de Alzheimer, estudiar los recursos sociosanitarios ofertados y concretar las competencias enfermeras en el abordaje del paciente y su familia. Material y métodos: Revisión bibliográfica en Cuiden, Elsevier, Dialnet, SciELO y Google Academic, de aquellos trabajos que analizan las necesidades, recursos sociosanitarios y competencias de enfermería sobre la enfermedad de Alzheimer. En total se analizaron 40 artículos. Resultados: Las necesidades más demandadas por los cuidadores son las de información, formación, ayuda física, atención al duelo y apoyo social. Los recursos sociosanitarios disponibles para facilitar la atención de estos son la atención a domicilio y diurna de no internamiento entre otros. Los cuidadores perciben que no se utilizan todos los recursos sociosanitarios disponibles. Los enfermeros aportan apoyo y cuidado, y destacan sobre todo las intervenciones de tipo psicoeducativo. Conclusión: Las necesidades de los cuidadores abarcan las dimensiones física, psíquica y social. Los recursos sociosanitarios a disposición de los cuidadores se encuentran infrautilizados y las intervenciones enfermeras más valoradas son las estrategias de educación sanitaria. Es preciso seguir investigando para ampliar los conocimientos que permitan ofrecer cuidados de calidad.

Dengue is the most significant arbovirus worldwide and a public health threat to non-endemic areas in which Aedes vectors are present. Autochthonous dengue transmission has been reported in several European countries in the last decade. Infected travelers from endemic regions arriving to areas colonized by Aedes albopictus in Europe need to be monitored in surveillance and control programs. We aimed to perform molecular characterization of RT-PCR-positive dengue cases detected in Catalonia, northeastern Spain, from 2013 to 2018. The basic demographic information and the geographical regions of importation were also analyzed. One-hundred four dengue cases were studied (103 imported infections and the first autochthonous case in our region). The dengue virus strains detected were serotyped and genotyped using molecular methods, and phylogenetic analyses were conducted. All four dengue serotypes were detected in travelers, including up to 10 different genotypes, reflecting the global circulation of dengue in endemic areas. The primary travel-related case of the 2018 autochthonous transmission was not identified, but the molecular analysis revealed dengue serotype 1, genotype I of Asian origin. Our results highlight the diversity of imported dengue virus strains and the role of molecular epidemiology in supporting arbovirus surveillance programs.

The press cover the politicians’ message and grant them a degree of media visibility, insinuating more or less support for any given party and giving the general public a particular vision of the political class through the media influence on politics. This paper is the result of a study of national coverage of politics (2008-2012), as published in two leading Spanish media sources (El País and El Mundo), with a particular emphasis on the Popular Party (PP) and the Spanish Social Workers’ Party (PSOE). The research considers whether the media give a political use to political information through media negativity. The conclusion was that both daily newspapers use the information in a biased and negative way when dealing with Spanish political information

Son cada vez más numerosos los retos para las escuelas, entre los cuales está la necesidad de trabajar con una población cada vez más heterogénea y llena de diversidades. En este sentido, es esencial asegurar la equidad y la justicia social, especialmente en las escuelas que viven en situaciones de especial vulnerabilidad socioeducativa. Hay varios mecanismos y áreas donde intervenir. En este artículo analizamos la importancia que se ha dado en los últimos años al liderazgo educativo para mejorar las escuelas, centrandonos especialmente en el llamado liderazgo para la justicia social, el liderazgo educativo y distribuido. Existe cierto consenso en la literatura sobre la relación entre estos tipos de liderazgo y una mejor aprendizaje. También llevamos a cabo una revisión de investigaciones sobre buenas prácticas de liderazgo educativo para la inclusión y la justicia social. Entre los resultados destacamos la importancia de la atención prestada por el equipo de gestión de las escuelas a mejorar la enseñanza y el aprendizaje a través de la distribución del liderazgo por toda la comunidad educativa. Todo esto se combina para garantizar un aprendizaje de y para la igualdad, luchando contra desigualdades sociales.

BACKGROUND:Whole genome sequencing provides better delineation of transmission clusters in Mycobacterium tuberculosis than traditional methods. However, its ability to reveal individual transmission links within clusters is limited. Here, we used a 2-step approach based on Bayesian transmission reconstruction to (1) identify likely index and missing cases, (2) determine risk factors associated with transmitters, and (3) estimate when transmission happened. METHODS AND FINDINGS:We developed our transmission reconstruction method using genomic and epidemiological data from a population-based study from Valencia Region, Spain. Tuberculosis (TB) incidence during the study period was 8.4 cases per 100,000 people. While the study is ongoing, the sampling frame for this work includes notified TB cases between 1 January 2014 and 31 December 2016. We identified a total of 21 transmission clusters that fulfilled the criteria for analysis. These contained a total of 117 individuals diagnosed with active TB (109 with epidemiological data). Demographic characteristics of the study population were as follows: 80/109 (73%) individuals were Spanish-born, 76/109 (70%) individuals were men, and the mean age was 42.51 years (SD 18.46). We found that 66/109 (61%) TB patients were sputum positive at diagnosis, and 10/109 (9%) were HIV positive. We used the data to reveal individual transmission links, and to identify index cases, missing cases, likely transmitters, and associated transmission risk factors. Our Bayesian inference approach suggests that at least 60% of index cases are likely misidentified by local public health. Our data also suggest that factors associated with likely transmitters are different to those of simply being in a transmission cluster, highlighting the importance of differentiating between these 2 phenomena. Our data suggest that type 2 diabetes mellitus is a risk factor associated with being a transmitter (odds ratio 0.19 [95% CI 0.02-1.10], p < 0.003). Finally, we used the most likely timing for transmission events to study when TB transmission occurred; we identified that 5/14 (35.7%) cases likely transmitted TB well before symptom onset, and these were largely sputum negative at diagnosis. Limited within-cluster diversity does not allow us to extrapolate our findings to the whole TB population in Valencia Region. CONCLUSIONS:In this study, we found that index cases are often misidentified, with downstream consequences for epidemiological investigations because likely transmitters can be missed. Our findings regarding inferred transmission timing suggest that TB transmission can occur before patient symptom onset, suggesting also that TB transmits during sub-clinical disease. This result has direct implications for diagnosing TB and reducing transmission. Overall, we show that a transition to individual-based genomic epidemiology will likely close some of the knowledge gaps in TB transmission and may redirect efforts towards cost-effective contact investigations for improved TB control.

RESUMEN Introducción: Existe una alta prevalencia de adultos mayores diagnosticados de demencia que generan una importante demanda de cuidados y recursos sociosanitarios. Los centros de día atienden a las personas en situaciones de dependencia y facilitan la integración familiar. Nuestras preguntas iniciales son acerca de las asociaciones de enfermos y familiares. ¿Cómo surgen y se organizan? ¿Qué servicios ofrecen? ¿Qué competencias desarrollan los profesionales de enfermería? Objetivo: Analizar la percepción que tienen los miembros del equipo de una asociación de familiares de enfermos de Alzheimer y otras demencias sobre el funcionamiento y el servicio que ofrecen a la sociedad. Material y métodos: Estudio cualitativo descriptivo, realizado en una asociación de familiares de enfermos de Alzheimer. Se realizan tres entrevistas semiestructuradas respetando las consideraciones éticas establecidas para los trabajos de investigación con personas. Resultados: Surgen tres categorías en el análisis de los relatos, la historia de la asociación, la estructura y organización del equipo interdisciplinar, destacando las competencias del profesional de enfermería y la oferta de servicios que ha desarrollado. Conclusiones: La asociación surge ante las necesidades de atención sentidas por parte de las familias y que no obtienen respuesta en otras instituciones. Se ha consolidado como un recurso imprescindible cuyo objetivo es mantener a la persona dependiente en su medio habitual y proporcionar apoyo a sus cuidadores. Atiende desde un equipo interdisciplinar que contribuye al desarrollo de unos fines comunes, donde la enfermería desarrolla las competencias propias de la profesión.

To evaluate the edema volume and leukocyte, platelet, and fibrinogen count of peripheral burn in an animal model. The back left leg of Rattus norvegicus (experimental group) was placed in water at 60 °C for 60 seconds or at room temperature (control group). An analysis was carried out before and after the induced burn (at 4, 8, 12, and 24 h). The edema volume was determined by an orthogonal photo, the leukocyte and platelet counts were determined using automated equipment, and the fibrinogen count was determined using the gravimetric method. The maximum value of the edema was recorded at 4 h and leukocytes at 24 h. The platelet count did not vary at different post-edema time intervals. The fibrinogen level increased at 4 h and 24 h. In this animal model we induced systemic inflammation characterized by leukocytosis and elevated fibrinogen levels, combined with edema located at the induction area.

In tonal music, musical tension is strongly associated with musical expression, particularly with expectations and emotions. Most listeners are able to perceive musical tension subjectively, yet musical tension is difficult to be measured objectively, as it is connected with musical parameters such as rhythm, dynamics, melody, harmony, and timbre. Musical tension specifically associated with melodic and harmonic motion is called tonal tension. In this article, we are interested in perceived changes of tonal tension over time for chord progressions, dubbed tonal tension profiles. We propose an objective measure capable of capturing tension profile according to different tonal music parameters, namely, tonal distance, dissonance, voice leading, and hierarchical tension. We performed two experiments to validate the proposed model of tonal tension profile and compared against Lerdahl’s model and MorpheuS across 12 chord progressions. Our results show that the considered four tonal parameters contribute differently to the perception of tonal tension. In our model, their relative importance adopts the following weights, summing to unity: dissonance (0.402), hierarchical tension (0.246), tonal distance (0.202), and voice leading (0.193). The assumption that listeners perceive global changes in tonal tension as prototypical profiles is strongly suggested in our results, which outperform the state-of-the-art models.

Violent radicalisation is currently one of the most pressing global problems. Accordingly, the intention of this paper is to discover the views on terrorism in the name of Islam held by Islamic religion teachers in Spain and to analyse the preventive socio-educational measures that they propose, employing a mixed methods approach with a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. Most of the teachers point to a poor knowledge of Islam among the young, especially as regards to the concept of jihad, as the main reason behind this phenomenon. The second-generation immigrants among the teachers attach great importance to possible identity crises as a factor that makes the young more vulnerable to violent radicalisation. The most frequently mentioned social measure is fostering the integration of Muslims, thus creating a sense of belonging to their country of residence. They recommend preventive educational strategies that, far from focusing on detecting possible violent extremists, place the accent on teaching the fundamentals of the Islamic religion in order to provide young people with the tools that they need to challenge violent ideologies.

In Western tonal music, tension in chord progressions plays an important role in defining the path that a musical composition should follow. The creation of chord progressions that reflects such tension profiles can be challenging for novice composers, as it depends on many subjective factors, and also is regulated by multiple theoretical principles. This work presents ChordAIS-Gen, a tool to assist the users to generate chord progressions that comply with a concrete tension profile. We propose an objective measure capable of capturing the tension profile of a chord progression according to different tonal music parameters, namely, consonance, hierarchical tension, voice leading and perceptual distance. This measure is optimized into a Genetic Program algorithm mixed with an Artificial Immune System called Opt-aiNet. Opt-aiNet is capable of finding multiple optima in parallel, resulting in multiple candidate solutions for the next chord in a sequence. To validate the objective function, we performed a listening test to evaluate the perceptual quality of the candidate solutions proposed by our system. Most listeners rated the chord progressions proposed by ChordAIS-Gen as better candidates than the progressions discarded. Thus, we propose to use the objective values as a proxy for the perceptual evaluation of chord progressions and compare the performance of ChordAIS-Gen with chord progressions generators.

Background: Strongyloidiasis is a parasitic disease with global prevalence. In Spain, autochthonous cases are concentrated in the Mediterranean basin. We aimed to analyze clinical and epidemiological characteristics of Strongyloides stercoralis infection in Vega Baja del Segura (Spain), comparing autochthonous versus imported cases. Methods: Observational retrospective study of all strongyloidiasis cases from January 2009 to January 2019. Cases were diagnosed by stool larvae visualization, positive culture, PCR, Strongyloides serology, and/or compatible histology. Results: We included 36 patients (21 men) with a mean age of 60.8 years ±17.6; 15 cases were autochthonous and 21 imported 80.9% from Latin America. Autochthonous cases were associated with older age (mean 71.3 vs. 53.3 years; p = 0.002), male sex (odds ratio (OR) 5.33; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.15–24.68; p = 0.041), and agricultural activity (OR 13.5; 95% CI 2.4–73.7; p = 0.002). Fourteen were asymptomatic, three autochthonous cases presented with hyperinfection syndrome, and two patients died. There was no difference between autochthonous versus imported origin in eosinophilia at diagnosis (93.3% vs. 75%; p = 0.207), treatment received, or clinical response (85.7% vs. 88.9% cured; p = 1). Conclusion: In our region, imported strongyloidiasis coexists with autochthonous cases, which are mainly in older male farmers who are diagnosed at more advanced stages. Systematic screening programs are needed.

El análisis de la relación entre ingreso y bienestar subjetivo es relevante para las políticas públicas. No obstante, las comparaciones sociales en ingreso, así como los contactos sociales pueden ser determinantes claves del bienestar subjetivo. Al objeto de contrastar estas hipótesis, estudiamos el efecto de diferentes factores sobre el bienestar subjetivo utilizando la base de datos del Panel Socioeconómico Alemán. La metodología utilizada es un Probit adaptado a Mínimo Cuadrados Ordinarios (POLS). Los principales resultados muestran que el efecto del ingreso absoluto sobre el bienestar subjetivo es diferente en función del término de comparación social considerado. Además, el ingreso absoluto no ejerce el mayor impacto sobre el bienestar subjetivo, sino los contactos sociales y tener un buen estado de salud.

We present a model based on multiagent environment to help users of park zones. A multiagent system is built to communicate the different roles and devices belonging to the system. The result is a model that assists the different users in their payments and identifies the vehicle plate by image recognition and NFC (Near Field Communication) technology. An evaluation of the system is provided to know the efficiency of the model.

The determinants of domain satisfactions could be differently evaluated depending on the aspect of life considered, which would lead to different implications for public policies. To test this hypothesis, using the German Socio−Economic Panel (GSOEP), we analyse the effect of different economic and non−economic factors on satisfaction with financial situation, job and health status. The main results confirm that several determinants exert different effects depending on the aspect of life that people are evaluating. For instance, household income only improves satisfaction with financial situation but it does not explain job or health satisfaction. However, those people with an active social life, who are less worried and distrustful, are more satisfied regardless of the aspect of life considered. These findings reflect the importance of studying the main determinants of the domain satisfactions using a comparative perspective to design and evaluate specific public policies, since some measures could be effective for improving satisfaction in one area of an individual’s life but not for others.

The methanol/water and particularly the water extracts obtained from 26 mushroom species were able to inhibit the 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl CoA reductase (HMGCR) activity to different extent (10–76%). Cultivated mushrooms such as Pleurotus sp. and Lentinula edodes were among the strains which showed higher HMGCR inhibitory capacities. Their inhibitory properties were not largely influenced by cultivation parameters, mushroom developmental stage or flush number. The HMGCR inhibitory activity of L. edodes was concentrated in the cap excluding the gills while in Pleurotus ostreatus it was distributed through all the different tissues. A method to obtain aqueous fractions with high HMGCR inhibitory activity was optimized using an accelerated solvent extractor (ASE) by selecting 10.7 MPa and 25 °C as common extraction conditions and 5 cycles of 5 min each for P. ostreatus fruiting bodies and 15 cycles of 5 min for L. edodes suggesting that the potential HMGCR inhibitors are different in the two selected mushrooms.

Trypanosoma cruzi epimastigogenesis naturally occurs in the intestine of the invertebrate host. It is not known whether the morphological changes that occur during transformation of bloodstream trypomastigotes to epimastigotes are identical for different T. cruzi isolates. This research shows a useful method for studying the events that occur during epimastigogenesis, comparing parasites from epidemiological sources. Rhodnius prolixus V stage nymphs were fed artificially with an ad hoc solution containing blood-like trypomastigotes and the morphological changes were examined during eight days. Anterior intestinal contents were removed by decapitation and squeezing the abdomen of the nymphs, which permitted obtaining quickly almost 100% of the inoculate with loads between 1.9 and 8.9 × 106 trypomastigotes/nymph. The number of parasites per nymph and morphological changes were determined using phase microscopy with Giemsa staining. The nymphs ingested 7.4 times their weight of the infecting solution with volumes between 101 e 357 μL (229 ± 66 mg); 50% of the ingest was eliminated as urine during the first 24 hours. The trypomastigotes transformed to rounded forms before evolving into epimastigotes following different kinetics according to the isolate. This method is proposed for rapid, quantitative study of the early events of epimastigogenesis for T. cruzi in vivo.

The automatic generation of music is an emergent field of research that has attracted the attention of countless researchers. As a result, there is a broad spectrum of state of the art research in this field. Many systems have been designed to facilitate collaboration between humans and machines in the generation of valuable music. This research proposes an intelligent system that generates melodies under the supervision of a user, who guides the process through a mechanical device. The mechanical device is able to capture the movements of the user and translate them into a melody. The system is based on a Case-Based Reasoning (CBR) architecture, enabling it to learn from previous compositions and to improve its performance over time. The user uses a device that allows them to adapt the composition to their preferences by adjusting the pace of a melody to a specific context or generating more serious or acute notes. Additionally, the device can automatically resist some of the user’s movements, this way the user learns how they can create a good melody. Several experiments were conducted to analyze the quality of the system and the melodies it generates. According to the users’ validation, the proposed system can generate music that follows a concrete style. Most of them also believed that the partial control of the device was essential for the quality of the generated music.

El objetivo del estudio fue explorar la percepción de los factores de riesgo para el consumo de drogas y las propuestas para la reducción de la demanda de los estudiantes que se inician en la Escuela de Medicina de una universidad venezolana. Esta investigación utilizó métodos cualitativos, específicamente la técnica de grupos focales para la recolección de datos y el análisis de contenido para el procesamiento de los mismos, la muestra estuvo conformada por 120 estudiantes. Los resultados refieren la percepción del grupo estudiado sobre el cambio enfrentado por ellos y su relación con factores emocionales, sociales y del contexto como potenciales estresores psicosociales que actúan como factores de riesgo.

The Advances in Distributed Computing and Artificial Intelligence Journal (ADCAIJ) is an open access journal that publishes articles which contribute new results associated with distributed computing and artificial intelligence, and their application in different areas. The artificial intelligence is changing our society. Its application in distributed environments, such as the Internet, electronic commerce, mobile communications, wireless devices, distributed computing and so on, is increasing and becoming and element of high added value and economic potential in industry and research. These technologies are changing constantly as a result of the large research and technical effort being undertaken in both universities and businesses. The exchange of ideas between scientists and technicians from both academic and business areas is es-sential to facilitate the development of systems that meet the demands of today's society. We would like to thank all the contributing authors for their hard and highly valuable work. Their work has helped to contribute to the success of this special issue. Finally, the Editors wish to thank Scientific Committee of Ad-vances in Distributed Computing and Artificial Intelligence Journal for the collaboration of this special issue, that notably contributes to improve the quality of the journal. We hope the reader will share our joy and find this special issue very useful.

La literatura especializada e investigaciones en el área demuestran la necesidad urgente de buscar estrategias innovadoras en el plano de las prácticas docentes. En el plano universitario, especialistas nacionales expresan su preocupación respecto a las prácticas de la docencia universitaria, en Latinoamérica y en nuestro país, percibiéndola dentro de un modelo anacrónico y de "transmisión analógica" renuente a la diferenciación y flexibilización. La investigación del comportamiento creativo del profesor, ha sido descuidada, posiblemente por la falta de instrumentos adecuados, la situación es diferente a la hora de medir la creatividad de las personas.

Suppressive effects of different compost teas were evaluated against the phytopathogens P. capsici and P. parasitica, isolated from diseased plants from commercial sweet pepper farms in Almería (Spain), during 2011. Aerated compost tea and non-aerated compost tea were prepared from spent mushroom compost, grape marc compost, crop residues compost and vermicompost. In vitro inhibition of mycelial growth of the two tested pathogens was assessed, and in vivo effects of compost teas on disease severity, caused by P. capsici and P. parasitica were evaluated on pepper plants, in greenhouse experiments. Different morphological parameters were also measured for plants treated with compost teas, to determine growth promotion effects on pepper plants. The compost teas controlled the two tested pathogens in vitro and in vivo. Non-aerated compost teas (NCT) were more beneficial in increasing growth of pepper plants than aerated compost teas. This study demonstrates the clear effect of compost tea on disease suppression and plant growth promotion. These compost extracts may be used as alternatives to inorganic fertilizers/fungicides to enhance plant growth, reduce disease incidence and increase crop yields.

Estudio con diseño no experimental y transversal tiene como finalidad relacionar los ingresos por accidentes, hechos violentos e intoxicaciones con el consumo de drogas en las salas de emergencia de los hospitales públicos establecidos en el estado Carabobo. Muestra: 1595 pacientes entre 14 y 65 años de edad que ingresaron a los hospitales seleccionados. Resultados: Perfil sociodemográfico con predominio del sexo masculino, menores de 30 años, con mayor consumo de alcohol, marihuana y cocaína, sin Pareja, con asociación significativaentre marihuana y situación de pareja con p=0,000. Mayor consumo de drogas en fines de semana. Asociación entre Motivo de ingreso y consumo de drogas: alcohol, cocaína y marihuana, con valores de p=0,000 para las tres drogas mencionadas. Además, 5,4% ha recibido tratamiento para el consumo de drogas. Estos resultados muestran elementos que permitirán profundizar sobre el impacto del consumo de drogas en la población con mayor cantidad de incidentes violentos.

La atención proporcionada al paciente con problema de adicciones debe ser integral, basada en el cuidado humano, con intervenciones de enfermería específicas en beneficio del paciente, de su familia y la comunidad. La presente investigación inmersa en la modalidad cualitativa; con orientación hacia la investigación acción participativa, tuvo como objetivo, realizar un análisis crítico de las necesidades locales y contextuales del cuidado que ofrecen las enfermeras de salud mental al paciente consumidor de drogas. La selección de los participantes fue intencional y el grupo estuvo constituido por veinte enfermeras (os) que laboran en el Hospital psiquiátrico Dr. José Ortega Duran de Barbula y en los centros de salud mental de INSALUD Carabobo, así como profesoras de la Escuela de Enfermería pertenecientes a los Departamentos Clínico de Salud Comunitaria y Administración y al Departamento Clínico Medico- Quirúrgico. En los resultados se obtuvo una visión sobre las áreas problemáticas de cuidado de enfermería al paciente consumidor de drogas, la búsqueda de soluciones y el compromiso para proporcionar a este sector de la población intervenciones respetuosas, acertadas y humanizadas. Se determinó que existe una necesidad de capacitación en el personal de enfermería de salud mental, para proporcionar un cuidado apropiado a las personas que hacen uso indebido de las drogas. La falta de formación especializada en materia de drogas es una limitación importante para proporcionar un servicio profesional competente.

El tabaquismo constituye la primera causa prevenible de morbi-mortalidad en países desarrollados, está relacionado con fallecimientos debidos a cáncer de pulmón, enfermedad pulmonar obstructiva crónica, cardiopatía isquémica y enfermedad cerebrovascular, incrementando la morbilidad para estas enfermedades y otras diversas patologías relacionadas, acortando la esperanza de vida y ocasionando importantes gastos al pais y convirtiéndose así en un verdadero problema social. El presente estudio de tipo descriptivo correlacional, con diseño observacional transversal, tuvo como objetivo determinar la prevalencia de tabaquismo en estudiantes universitarios, referido a si han probado algún tipo de tabaco, qué tipo de tabaco han consumido, cuantos consumen esta sustancia y con qué frecuencia. La población se conformó por 440 estudiantes del curso introductorio dictado a los nuevos ingresos, en las carreras de bioanálisis, enfermería y medicina, de la Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud de una universidad venezolana, durante el año 2007. La recolección de información se realizó mediante una encuesta estructurada. Se determinó que la edad promedio de inicio en el consumo fue de 14,99 ± 2,67 años. El 5,2% de los estudiantes encuestados reconoció consumir tabaco actualmente. En este grupo predominó el consumo ocasional, situación ideal para la creación de semilleros de consumidores estables. Sugerimos la implantación de programas de educación antitabáquica orientados a estimular el abandono del consumo de tabaco y desalentar su inicio.