Prevalence and distribution of Legionella in municipal drinking water supply systems in Madrid (Spain) and risk factors associated.

The presence and concentration of Legionella in drinking water supply systems, in hot water (DHW) for human consumption in public buildings in Madrid with potential health risk was studied. Sampling covered a total of 1695 DHW samples and 30 cold water (DCW) as a control taken in the 21 districts of the city over a period of 14 years (2007-2020). The detection and quantification of Legionella was carried out by plate culture and quantitative qPCR. The study evaluated a series of variables including sampling year, districts, type of building, seasonality, sampling points (taps, tanks and showers), water temperature and type of disinfection used. The degree of compliance of Legionella in the water supply network of Madrid was very high (96.1 %). The degree of colonization of the positive samples ranged from 0.3 × 103 and 1.5 × 105 GU/L for a 97 % of the samples. A higher presence of this bacterium was detected in older facilities in the peripheral districts and end points able to produce aerosols such as showers. The highest number of samples with Legionella growth occurred in the 35-40 °C range. The strategies implemented have contributed to a remarkable decrease in the presence of Legionella in the last years of sampling.

Clinical Management of Hospitalized Patients With High-Consequence Infectious Diseases in England.

Infectious disease physicians in England have been diagnosing and managing occasional cases of viral hemorrhagic fever since 1971, including the United Kingdom's first case of Ebola virus disease in 1976. Specialist isolation facilities to provide safe and effective care have been present since that time. Following the emergence of Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) in 2012, and the avian influenza A (H7N9) outbreak in 2013, and the 2014-2016 Ebola virus disease outbreak in West Africa, clinical and public health preparedness and response pathways in England have been strengthened for these types of diseases, now called high-consequence infectious diseases (HCIDs). The HCID program, led by NHS England and Public Health England between 2016 and 2018, helped to deliver these enhancements, which have since been used on multiple occasions for new UK cases and outbreaks of MERS, mpox, avian influenza, and Lassa fever. Additionally, HCID pathways were activated for COVID-19 during the first 3 months of 2020, before the pandemic had been declared and little was known about COVID-19 but HCID status had been assigned temporarily to COVID-19 as a precaution. The HCID program also led to the commissioning of a network of new airborne HCID treatment centers in England, to supplement the existing network of contact HCID treatment centers, which includes the United Kingdom's only 2 high-level isolation units. In this case study, the authors describe the airborne and contact HCID treatment center networks in England, including their formation and structures, their approach to safe and effective clinical management of patients with HCIDs in the United Kingdom, and challenges they may face going forward.

Composition and Functional Properties of the Edible Spear and By-Products from Asparagus officinalis L. and Their Potential Prebiotic Effect.

Asparagus is a healthy food appreciated for its organoleptic characteristics, nutritional composition and physiological properties. During its industrial processing, a large amount of by-products are generated, since only the apical part of the vegetable is considered edible and a large amount of by-products are generated that could be of nutritional interest. Therefore, the nutritional composition of the edible part and the two by-products of the plant (root and stem) was evaluated, including dietary fiber, inulin, low-molecular-weight carbohydrates, low-molecular-weight polyphenols and macromolecular polyphenols. The hydration properties, oil retention capacity, glucose retardation index and impact on bacterial growth of both probiotic bacteria and pathogenic strains were determined. All samples were high in fiber (>22 g/100 g dw), fructans (>1.5 g/100 g dw) and polyphenolic compounds (>3 g/100 g dw) and had good water-, oil- and glucose-binding capacity. In addition, they promoted the growth of probiotic strains but not pathogenic ones. The effects were more pronounced in the spear by-product samples and appear to be related to the components of dietary fiber. The results indicate that edible spear has potential beneficial effects on host health and microbiota when ingested as part of a healthy diet, while the by-products could be used as supplements and/or as natural ingredients in fiber-enriched foods that require emulsification and are intended to achieve a prebiotic effect.

UV-C Treatment Impact on the Availability of Water-Soluble Carbohydrates, Polyphenols, and Antioxidant Capacity of an Algerian Underutilized Date Fruit (Phoenix dactylifera L.).

Underutilized dates are considered as a socioeconomically important fruit for local and global communities, such as Degla-Beida, a common date fruit variety. The aim of this research was to elucidate, for the first time, the efficiency of UV-C light treatment (over different irradiation durations 5, 10, 20, and 40 min) in the enhancement of soluble carbohydrates and phenolic compounds, and to evaluate its effect on the antioxidant capacity. Furthermore, the content of dietary fiber was analyzed: insoluble dietary fiber (11.89 g/100 g); soluble dietary fiber (5.15 g/100 g); and total dietary fiber (17.06 g/100 g). The techno-functional properties were also determined: swelling capacity (3.94 mL/g); oil holding capacity (7.38 g/g); water holding capacity (9.30 g/g); and bulk density (1.81 g/mL). All were carried out to study the potential of exploiting this underutilized fruit for other applications as for feed or food. The results suggest that UV-C technology changes minimally the total water-soluble carbohydrate content; however, this preservation technology can affect the availability of different soluble carbohydrates depending on the irradiation time (IT), increasing the high molecular weight polysaccharides with IT up to 20 min, and some oligosaccharides with IT up to 5 min. The polyphenolic content determined by HPLC-QTOF was increased when the samples were submitted to UV-C reaching the maximum at 20 min (111.62 mg/100 g) and then to decrease in those submitted to IT of 40 min (12.05 mg/100 g). Regarding antioxidant capacity in the UV-C treated samples, FRAP decreased and EC50 on DPPH increased when IT was increased, while ORAC was hardly maintained. In addition, considering UV-C radiation associated with preservation and the studied date fruit as a rich source of dietary fiber with adequate techno-functional properties, this study presents valuable information for its potential use as a new food ingredient.

Tau: More than a microtubule-binding protein in neurons.

Tau protein was discovered as a microtubule-associated protein nearly 50 years ago, and our understanding of tau has revolved around that role. Even with tau's rise to stardom as a central player in neurodegenerative disease, therapeutic efforts have largely been targeted toward cytoskeletal changes. While some studies hinted toward non-cytoskeletal roles for tau, it is only fairly recently that these ideas have begun to receive considerable attention. Many new binding partners for tau have been identified, including DNA, RNA, RNA-binding proteins, some receptors, and other tau molecules. The diversity of tau binding partners coupled with the discovery of tau other than axonal compartments such as nucleus, dendrites, and synapses have led to the proposal of novel functions for tau in roles such as nuclear stability, cell signaling, transcriptional processing, and protein synthesis. Tau self-assembly in particular has made an impact, leading to the hypothesis that a prion-like function of hyperphosphorylated tau is central to tauopathies. With tau emerging as a multifaceted protein that operates in many parts of the cell and with many molecular partners, the field of tau biology is primed for discoveries that can provide new perspectives on both the unique biochemistry of tau and the nature of devastating neurological diseases.

CBD lengthens sleep but shortens ripples and leads to intact simple but worse cumulative memory.

Cannabidiol (CBD) is on the rise as over-the-counter medication to treat sleep disturbances, anxiety, pain, and epilepsy due to its action on the excitatory/inhibitory balance in the brain. However, it remains unclear if CBD also leads to adverse effects on memory via changes of sleep macro- and microarchitecture. To investigate the effect of CBD on sleep and memory consolidation, we performed two experiments using the object space task testing for both simple and cumulative memory in rats. We show that oral CBD administration extended the sleep period but changed the properties of rest and non-REM sleep oscillations (delta, spindle, ripples). Specifically, CBD also led to less long (>100 ms) ripples and, consequently, worse cumulative memory consolidation. In contrast, simple memories were not affected. In sum, we can confirm the beneficial effect of CBD on sleep; however, this comes with changes in oscillations that negatively impact memory consolidation.

Increased cortical plasticity leads to memory interference and enhanced hippocampal-cortical interactions.

Our brain is continuously challenged by daily experiences. Thus, how to avoid systematic erasing of previously encoded memories? While it has been proposed that a dual-learning system with 'slow' learning in the cortex and 'fast' learning in the hippocampus could protect previous knowledge from interference, this has never been observed in the living organism. Here, we report that increasing plasticity via the viral-induced overexpression of RGS14414 in the prelimbic cortex leads to better one-trial memory, but that this comes at the price of increased interference in semantic-like memory. Indeed, electrophysiological recordings showed that this manipulation also resulted in shorter NonREM-sleep bouts, smaller delta-waves and decreased neuronal firing rates. In contrast, hippocampal-cortical interactions in form of theta coherence during wake and REM-sleep as well as oscillatory coupling during NonREM-sleep were enhanced. Thus, we provide the first experimental evidence for the long-standing and unproven fundamental idea that high thresholds for plasticity in the cortex protect preexisting memories and modulating these thresholds affects both memory encoding and consolidation mechanisms.

Defensive and offensive behaviours in a Kleefstra syndrome mouse model.

Kleefstra syndrome in humans is characterized by a general delay in development, intellectual disability and autistic features. The mouse model of this disease (Ehmt1±) expresses anxiety, autistic-like traits, and aberrant social interactions with non-cagemates. To investigate how Ehmt1± mice behave with unfamiliar conspecifics, we allowed adult, male animals to freely interact for 10 min in a neutral, novel environment within a host-visitor setting. In trials where the Ehmt1± mice were hosts, there were defensive and offensive behaviors. Our key finding was that Ehmt1± mice displayed defensive postures, attacking and biting; in contrast, wild-type (WT) interacting with other WT did not enact such behaviors. Further, if there was a fight between an Ehmt1± and a WT mouse, the Ehmt1± animal was the most aggressive and always initiated these behaviors.

Nutritional composition of green asparagus (Asparagus officinalis L.), edible part and by-products, and assessment of their effect on the growth of human gut-associated bacteria.

Asparagus is considered a healthy food with a high content of bioactive compounds. In this study, the proximate and mineral composition, non-digestible carbohydrates and bioactive compounds of edible spear, spear by-product and root have been evaluated. Their activity on the growth of human gut-associated bacteria has been studied. The results support the high nutritional and functional value of the asparagus, including its by-products, highlighting the potential of the non-edible parts to be used as prebiotics. A remarkable content in xylose, inulin, flavonoids and saponins has been found. It has been shown that the spear by-product can be selectively used to promote the growth of commensal or probiotic lactobacilli and bifidobacteria strains. It has been confirmed that any part of the asparagus has a potential future as a healthy food or as health-promoting ingredients, however more work is required to identify the compounds able to modulate the human gut microbiota.

A Real-Time PCR Assay to Detect and Quantify Root-Knot Nematodes from Soil Extracts.

Root-knot nematodes cause forking and stubbing of the growing carrot root tip, decreasing market value and reducing yield by up to 45%. Since crop damage by these nematodes depends on their initial population densities at planting, preplant detection of potentially low nematode numbers is critical for predicting future yield loss. The aim of this study was to overcome some of the drawbacks of the labor- and time-intensive process of root-knot nematode identification and quantification by developing and field testing a real-time PCR (qPCR) assay. Primers were designed targeting the root-knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita species complex, which includes M. incognita as well as the closely related Meloidogyne javanica and Meloidogyne arenaria. The qPCR assay successfully detected each species and showed little amplification for nontarget nematode groups except for the sister group Meloidogyne enterolobii, which is not known to occur in California. Predicted nematode densities related well with microscopic counts of nematodes from prepared solutions, as well as from solutions extracted from field soil. In a greenhouse experiment, the qPCR assay distinguished between low, medium, and high levels of M. incognita infection and qPCR predicted densities at planting were negatively related in linear models with final carrot fresh weight, length, and diameter. These results suggest that qPCR assays could be a valuable diagnostic tool to predict nematode infections and prevent crop losses.[Formula: see text] Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.

Edible plant by-products as source of polyphenols: prebiotic effect and analytical methods.

Polyphenols with high chemical diversity are present in vegetables both in the edible parts and by-products. A large proportion of them remains unabsorbed along the gastrointestinal tract, being accumulated in the colon, where they are metabolized by the intestinal microbiota. These polyphenols have been found to have "prebiotic-like" effects. The edible plant industry generates tons of residues called by-products, which consist of unutilized plant tissues (peels, husks, calyxes and seeds). Their disposal requires special and costly treatments to avoid environmental complications. Reintroducing these by-products into the value chain using technological and biotechnological practices is highly appealing since many of them contain nutrients and bioactive compounds, such as polyphenols, with many health-promoting properties. Edible plant by-products as a source of polyphenols highlights the need for analytical methods. Analytical methods are becoming increasingly selective, sensitive and precise, but the great breakthrough lies in the pretreatment of the sample and in particular in the extraction methods. This review shows the importance of edible plant by-products as a source of polyphenols, due to their prebiotic effect, and to compile the most appropriate analytical methods for the determination of the total content of phenolic compounds as well as the detection and quantification of individual polyphenols.

Influence of high-pressure processing on nutritional composition and bioactive compounds of Phaseolus coccineus L.

The influence of high-pressure processing (HPP) prior to cooking on nutritional composition and bioactive compounds content of four varieties of Phaseolus coccineus L. was studied. Cooking and HPP+C increased the protein content. However, minerals, total carbohydrates, ciceritol and α-galactosides were reduced. Fat was not affected by cooking but decreased after HPP+C. For dietary fiber, the behavior observed was different depending on the sample and the treatment applied. HPP+C could be considered a good processing technology to retain the advantageous lower myo-inositol phosphates isoforms and supply prebiotic oligosaccharides. The trypsin inhibitors activity was lower in the cooked and HPP+C samples; however, there were no significant differences between both thermal treatments. Thus, HPP+C reduced cooking time and preserving or improving the nutritional composition of the beans and their bioactive compounds content.

Optimization of Conventional Extraction Parameters for Recovering Phenolic Compounds from Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) Peels and Their Application as an Antioxidant in Yogurt Formulation.

The aim of this work was to optimize the conventional parameters for the extraction of phenolic compounds from potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) peels (PP). A central composite design (CCD) was used to establish the impacts of ethanol concentration (%), extraction time (min), and liquid/solid ratio (mL/g). The optimal experimental conditions that maximized extraction were ethanol at a concentration of 80% (v/v) for a time of 150 min with a ratio of 1 g/30 mL. Under optimal conditions, the total phenolic content (TPC) and the total flavonoid content (TFC) were 204.41 ± 8.64 mg GAE/100 g DW and 21.47 ± 0.76 mg QE/100 g DW, respectively. The PP extract had a potent antioxidant capacity tested by phosphomolybdate and DPPH assays with IC50 of 10.65 ± 0.21 and 179.75 ± 3.18 µg/mL, respectively. Furthermore, by fortifying yogurt with PP as a natural ingredient, an improvement ofits physical, nutritional, antioxidant, and sensorial qualities was attempted in this study. The yogurts formulated with PP revealed significantly higher (p ≤ 0.05) TPC, TFC, and antioxidant capacity in comparison with the control sample. In addition, the sensory evaluation showed that the yogurts enriched with PP were preferred over the control yogurt. The results indicate that PP can be considered an interesting byproduct since it can improve the nutritional, bioactive, and sensorial profile of yogurt, highlighting that PP, due to its high phenol content, can substantially improve the antioxidant effect of the new formulated yogurt.

Pasteurization Modifies the Sensorial Attributes and Nutritional Profile of Orange Pulp By-Product.

After orange processing, different by-products are generated, i.e., peels, seeds and pulps. The pulp is highly perishable, being an unstable food matrix that needs a preservation process to be stored and used again in the food production chain. Pasteurization is the technique of choice before aseptically packaging and storing under refrigerated conditions. In this study, the effect of pasteurization has been evaluated on the chemical, functional and sensorial profiles. Ash content decreased (p < 0.05) after the thermal treatment. Indeed, magnesium, calcium and zinc diminished, although copper was found to be higher (p < 0.05) in the pasteurized product. Total dietary fiber decreased (p < 0.05), but soluble dietary fiber raised (p < 0.05) due to hydrolysis caused by pasteurization. SDF:IDF ratio, hydration properties, and fat binding capacity were improved. Total soluble phenolic compounds remained similar but FRAP and DPPH scavenging activity decreased (p < 0.05) in the pasteurized by-product. Regarding the sensorial profile, pasteurization produced darkening, appearance of a cooked smell and an increase in bitterness. Therefore, pasteurization deteriorates the sensorial profile being able to change the attributes of an added-pasteurized-pulp juice; however, it is a good choice to preserve the orange pulp by-product to formulate food products different from juices or other beverages.

Importin-Mediated Pathological Tau Nuclear Translocation Causes Disruption of the Nuclear Lamina, TDP-43 Mislocalization and Cell Death.

Tau is a cytosolic protein that has also been observed in the nucleus, where it has multiple proposed functions that are regulated by phosphorylation. However, the mechanism underlying the nuclear import of tau is unclear, as is the contribution of nuclear tau to the pathology of tauopathies. We have previously generated a pathological form of tau, PH-tau (pseudophosphorylation mutants S199E, T212E, T231E, and S262E) that mimics AD pathological behavior in cells, Drosophila, and a mouse model. Here, we demonstrated that PH-tau translocates into the nucleus of transiently transfected HEK-293 cells, but wildtype tau does not. We identified a putative importin binding site in the tau sequence, and showed that disruption of this site prevents tau from entering the nucleus. We further showed that this nuclear translocation is prevented by inhibitors of both importin-α and importin-ß. In addition, expression of PH-tau resulted in an enlarged population of dying cells, which is prevented by blocking its entry into the nucleus. PH-tau-expressing cells also exhibited disruption of the nuclear lamina and mislocalization of TDP-43 to the cytoplasm. We found that PH-tau does not bundle microtubules, and this effect is independent of nuclear translocation. These results demonstrate that tau translocates into the nucleus through the importin-α/ß pathway, and that PH-tau exhibits toxicity after its nuclear translocation. We propose a model where hyperphosphorylated tau not only disrupts the microtubule network, but also translocates into the nucleus and interferes with cellular functions, such as nucleocytoplasmic transport, inducing mislocalization of proteins like TDP-43 and, ultimately, cell death.

Pathological Human Tau Induces Alterations in the Brain Insulin Signaling Cascade.

The process of neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's disease has been associated with a disruption of insulin signaling cascade in neurons, and to insulin resistance. T2DM correlates with Alzheimer's disease, but mechanisms of interaction are unknown. We have developed a mouse model of tau induced neurodegeneration expressing pseudo-phosphorylated tau [Pathological Human Tau (PH-Tau)] in neurons. This model (PH-Tau-Tg) recapitulated cognitive decline and neurodegeneration observed in AD. In this study we examined if expression of PH-Tau could affect neuronal excitability and insulin receptor signaling. Neuronal excitability was investigated using intracerebral recordings of extracellular field potentials from prefrontal cortex after insulin and kainic acid (KA) injection. Analysis of baseline recordings indicated an increased excitability of PH-Tau-Tg as evidenced by higher spectrum densities (PSDs) of high frequencies brain waves. Injection of insulin (1IU, s.c) led to a decrease of fast ripples PSDs, more pronounced in PH-Tau-Tg mice than controls. Subsequent injection of kainic acid (KA, 5 mg/kg, s.c) led to significant increase in firing rate, amplitude of extracellular field potentials and PSDs of high frequency brain waves in control mice only. To further investigate the role of insulin in PH-Tau-Tg mice, we subjected mice to a glucose tolerance test. We found that PH-Tau-Tg mice were significantly hyperglycemic prior to glucose injection. Interestingly, the PH-Tau-Tg mice showed a moderate increase at 30 min due to the higher baseline, indicating a low sensitivity of insulin receptor in these mice. This is consistent with increased levels of activated insulin receptors in the brain and the inhibitory effect of insulin on ictal activity post KA injection in PH-Tau-Tg mice. We suggest that these mice have reduced insulin sensitivity (hyperglycemia) and as a compensatory mechanism there is overactivation/expression of insulin receptor in the brain rendering neuronal circuits resistant to seizure induction after injection of insulin. These data indicate that insulin signal transduction pathway is altered in PH-Tau-Tg mice, and that injection of exogenous insulin reduces hypersynchronous bursting activity of field potentials recorded from cortical neuronal circuits. We propose that the appearance of abnormal tau might potentiate the toxic environment by interfering with the insulin signaling cascade in the brain of patients with Alzheimer's disease.

Optogenetic Suppression of Lateral Septum Somatostatin Neurons Enhances Hippocampus Cholinergic Theta Oscillations and Local Synchrony.

The septal complex regulates both motivated and innate behaviors, chiefly by the action of its diverse population of long-range projection neurons. A small population of somatostatin-expressing GABAergic cells in the lateral septum projects deep into subcortical regions, yet on its way it also targets neighboring medial septum neurons that profusely innervate cortical targets by ascending synaptic pathways. Here, we used optogenetic stimulation and extracellular recordings in acutely anesthetized transgenic mice to show that lateral septum somatostatin neurons can disinhibit the cholinergic septo-hippocampal pathway, thus enhancing the amplitude and synchrony of theta oscillations while depressing sharp-wave ripple episodes in the dorsal hippocampus. These results suggest that septal somatostatin cells can recruit ascending cholinergic pathways to promote hippocampal theta oscillations.

Biomimetic Growth of Hydroxyapatite on SiO2 Microspheres to Improve Its Biocompatibility and Gentamicin Loading Capacity.

The interest in multifunctional biomaterials to be implanted are also able to release drugs that reduce pain and inflammation or prevent a possible infection has increased. Bioactive materials such as silica (SiO2) containing surface silanol groups contribute to the nucleation and growth of hydroxyapatite (HAp) in a physiological environment. Regarding biocompatibility, the spherical shape of particles is the desirable one, since it does not cause mechanical damage to the cell membrane. In this work, the synthesis of SiO2 microspheres was performed by the modified Stöber method and they were used for the biomimetic growth of HAp on their surface. The effect of the type of surfactant (sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS), cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), and polyethylene glycol (PEG)), and heat treatment on the morphology and size of SiO2 particles was investigated. Monodisperse, spherical-shaped SiO2 microparticles with an average particle size of 179 nm, were obtained when using PEG (SiO2-PEG). The biomimetic growth of HAp was performed on this sample to improve its biocompatibility and drug-loading capacity using gentamicin as a model drug. Biomimetic growth of HAp was confirmed by FTIR-ATR, SEM-EDX and TEM techniques. SiO2-PEG/HAp sample had a better biocompatibility in vitro and gentamicin loading capacity than SiO2-PEG sample.

[Impact of the use of an early neonatal sepsis calculator]. / Impacto del uso de una calculadora de riesgo de sepsis neonatal temprana.

BACKGROUND: Early onset neonatal sepsis (EOS) is a public health problem; antibiotic treatment is often unnecessary and can increase morbimortality. EOS risk calculator are available that allows limiting the use of antibiotics. OBJECTIVE: To compare the patterns of antibiotic use and hospitalization time in infant newborns (NB) ≥ 34 weeks of gestational age (GA) in a historical cohort attended from November 2017 to April 2018 vs. a prospective cohort from November 2018 to April 2019, before and after implementing the use of an EOS risk calculator, respectively. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Ambispective, observational, longitudinal, analytical study in infants NB ≥ 34 GA attended before and after implementing the use of an EOS risk calculator. The patterns of antibiotic´s use were compared. Simple frequencies and proportions, means and standard deviations or medians with ranges, Mann-Whitney U Test and Chi square test with SPSS V. 20.0 statistical package were used; considering significant values of p < 0.05. RESULTS: Thirty patients were included, 15 NB for each period, the gestational age average was 36.8 ± 2.3 GA. there was no statistically significant difference in the frequency of diagnosis of EOS with blood culture or days of hospital stay. Antibiotics were beginning in all the infants attended before the implementation of the EOS risk calculator, unlike 46.7% of the infants after its implementation (p = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The EOS risk calculator is an easy tool to use, and demonstrated to be useful in decreasing unnecessary use of antibiotics.

INTRODUCCIÓN: la sepsis neonatal temprana (SNT) es un problema de salud pública. El tratamiento con antibióticos frecuentemente es innecesario y no inocuo. El uso de calculadoras de riesgo de SNT permite disminuir el uso injustificado de antibióticos. OBJETIVO: comparar el uso de antibióticos y tiempo de hospitalización en recién nacidos (RN) ≥ 34 semanas de gestación (SDG) en una cohorte histórica atendida de noviembre de 2017 a abril de 2018 frente a una cohorte prospectiva de noviembre de 2018 a abril del 2019, antes y después de la implementación del uso de una calculadora de riesgo de SNT. MATERIAL Y MÉTODOS: estudio ambispectivo, observacional, analítico en RN ≥ 34 SDG atendidos antes y después de implementar una calculadora de riesgo de SNT. Se comparó el uso de antibióticos así como el tiempo de hospitalización. Se usaron frecuencias, proporciones, medidas de tendencia central y dispersión, U de Mann-Whitney y Chi cuadrada, con el paquete estadístico SPSS V. 20.0; siendo significativos los valores de p < 0.05. RESULTADOS: se incluyeron 30 pacientes, 15 para cada grupo, de 36.8 ± 2.3 SDG. No hubo diferencia significativa en la frecuencia de diagnóstico de SNT con hemocultivo ni en los días de estancia intrahospitalaria. Se usó antibióticos en el 100% de los RN antes frente al 46.7% después del uso de la calculadora (p = 0.001). CONCLUSIONES: la calculadora de riesgo de SNT es una herramienta de uso sencillo y que demostró ser útil para disminuir el uso innecesario de antibióticos.

Learning-Induced Shifts in Mice Navigational Strategies Are Unveiled by a Minimal Behavioral Model of Spatial Exploration.

Shifts in spatial patterns produced during the execution of a navigational task can be used to track the effects of the accumulation of knowledge and the acquisition of structured information about the environment. Here, we provide a quantitative analysis of mice behavior while performing a novel goal localization task in a large, modular arena, the HexMaze. To demonstrate the effects of different forms of previous knowledge we first obtain a precise statistical characterization of animals' paths with sub-trial resolution and over different phases of learning. The emergence of a flexible representation of the task is accompanied by a progressive improvement of performance, mediated by multiple, multiplexed time scales. We then use a generative mathematical model of the animal behavior to isolate the specific contributions to the final navigational strategy. We find that animal behavior can be accurately reproduced by the combined effect of a goal-oriented component, becoming stronger with the progression of learning, and of a random walk component, producing choices unrelated to the task and only partially weakened in time.