Plasmonic foam platforms for air quality monitoring.

Plasmonic reversible gas sensors are of paramount importance for the monitoring of indoor environments. Herein, we design and engineer a plasmonic foam, with a high surface area, confined inside a capillary glass tube for the live monitoring of carbon monoxide (CO) in closed environments using surface-enhanced resonance Raman scattering. The illumination of the sensor with light during the flow of air allows the live monitoring of the concentration of atmospheric CO through surface-enhanced resonance Raman scattering. The sensor was prepared with a detection range from 10 to 40 ppm, due to health needs. The results show a sensitive, selective, reversible and robust sensor applicable to the monitoring of CO levels but also to other gas species upon appropriate functionalization.

Tratamiento quirúrgico de úlceras por presión en pacientes oncológicos terminales / Surgical treatment of pressure ulcers in terminal oncological patients

Este artículo hace consideraciones sobre el tratamiento quirúrgico de las úlceras por presión en pacientes oncológicos. Se recomienda que, en el paciente con patología neoplásica avanzada, la indicación y el tipo de tratamiento quirúrgico dependa mayormente de su estado general que del estadio de la úlcera.

This article refers to the surgical treatment of pressure ulcers in cancer patients. It is recommend that in patients with advance neoplastic disease, surgical treatment depend mostly on their general condition than the stage of the ulcer.

Complicaciones biliares en pacientes con diagnóstico previo de litiasis vesicular sintomática: Comparación entre un hospital público y otro privado del Gran Buenos Aires / Biliary complications in patients with previous diagnosis of symptomatic gallstones: Comparison between a public and a private hospital in Greater Buenos Aires

Antecedentes: la demora en el tratamiento de la litiasis vesicular sintomática (LVS) aumenta el riesgo de complicaciones biliares. Se plantea la hipótesis de que existen diferencias en el tratamiento de la LVS entre el sector público y el de obras sociales del Gran Buenos Aires (GBA). Objetivo: comparar la proporción de pacientes con litiasis biliar complicada (LBC) que presentaban diagnóstico previo de LVS, y evaluar la historia previa de la LBC según la presencia de síntomas y la relación con el sistema de salud. Material y métodos: estudio de corte transversal comparativo entre un hospital público (HPu) y otro privado (HPr) del GBA. Se analizó la historia clínica y se realizó una encuesta a pacientes colecistectomizados por LBC (colecistitis aguda, pancreatitis aguda y coledocolitiasis). Resultados: se incluyeron 105 pacientes del HPu y 136 del HPr. Las características basales difirieron en la edad, nivel educativo, distancia domicilio-hospital y ASA. El diagnóstico previo de LVS fue más frecuente en el HPu (60% vs. 39,7%; p = 0,02), diferencia que se mantuvo luego del ajuste multivariable (OR 2,14; IC 95%: 1,1 a 4,1; p = 0,02). Los pacientes del HPu mostraron una mayor frecuencia de dolores abdominales, tiempo desde el diagnóstico, número de consultas de urgencia luego del diagnóstico y mayor tiempo en lista de espera. Conclusiones: ell HPu mostró mayor pérdida de oportunidad quirúrgica de la litiasis vesicular en un estadio previo no complicado. Las causas podrían ser multifactoriales, pero se necesitan más estudios para corroborar esta hipótesis.

Background: Delays in the treatment of symptomatic cholelithiasis (SCL) increases the risk of biliary complications. There may be differences in the treatment of SCL between the public sector and the social security in the Greater Buenos Aires (GBA). Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare the proportion of patients with complicated gallstone disease (CGD) with previous diagnosis of SCL and to evaluate the history of CGD according to the presence of symptoms and its relation with the health care system. Material and methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study comparing a public hospital (PH) versus a private center (PrH) in the GBA. The clinical records were analyzed and patients with a history of cholecystectomy due to CGD (acute cholecystitis, acute pancreatitis and acute choledocholithiasis) were surveyed. Results: A total of 105 PH patients and 136 PrH patients were included. The baseline characteristics differed in terms of age, educational level, distance from home to hospital and ASA physical status classification. The previous diagnosis of SCL was more common in the PH (60% vs. 39.7%; p = 0.02) and this difference persisted after multivariate adjustment (OR 2.14; 95% CI, 1.1-4.1; p = 0.02). The PH presented more patients with abdominal pain and more visits to the emergency department (ED) after the diagnosis; time after the diagnosis was greater and these patients spent more time on the waiting list. Conclusions: The PH showed greater loss of surgical opportunity of uncomplicated cholelithiasis. This may be due to multiple factors, but further studies are necessary to confirm this hypothesis.

An agent-based model of the fission yeast cell cycle.

The objective of this paper is to develop a computational model of the fission yeast (Schizosaccharomyces pombe) cell cycle using agent-based modeling (ABM), to study the sequence of states of the proteins and time of the cell cycle phases, under the action of proteins that regulate its cell cycle. The model relies only on the conceptual model of the yeast cell cycle regulatory network, where each protein has been represented as an agent with a property called activity that represents its biological function and a stochastic Brownian movement. The results indicate that the simulated phase time did have similar results in comparison with other models using mathematical approaches. Similarly, the correct sequence of states was achieved, and the model was run under different initial states to understand its emergent behaviors. The cell reached the G1 stationary state 94% of the times when running the model under biological initial conditions and 87% of the times when running the model through all the different combinations of initial states. Such results imply that the cell was capable to fix toward the biological expected phenomena. These results show that ABM is a suitable technique to study protein-protein interactions without using, often unavailable, kinetic parameters, or differential equations. This model sets as a base for further studies that involve the cell cycle of the fission yeast, with a special attention to studies and development of drug treatments for specific types of cancer.

Comparación resultados perinatales en gestantes con y sin alteración de doppler de acm en fetos de crecimiento normal / Comparison of perinatal outcomes in pregnant women with and without alteration of acm Doppler in normal growth fetuses

Objetivo:Comparar los resultados perinatales en gestantes cony sinalteración de Doppler de la arteria cerebral mediaen fetos de crecimiento normal. Hospital Niño Jesús, Barranquilla,periodo julio 2017 ­abril 2018.Materiales y métodos: Se presenta un estudio analítico prospectivounicentrico, diseñado con el objetivo de comparar los resultados perinatales en gestantes con y sin alteración de Dopplerde la arteria cerebral media en fetos de crecimiento normal. Hospital Niño Jesús, Barranquilla, periodo julio 2017 ­abril 2018.Resultados:Muestra compuesta por un total de 200 pacientes, 180 pacientes que no presentaron alteración de Doppler de la arteria cerebral media con media en su percentil de 47.6 ± 25.0 y 20 pacientes cuyo percentil estuvo por debajo de 5 con media de 3.5 ± 1.0, no se encontraron diferencias significativas respecto a aumento de resultados perinatales adversos en ninguno de los grupos de estudio, la tasa de cesárea Aumento de la tasa de cesárea OR: 5.5 p: 0.001.Conclusiones:no existen diferencias estadísticamente significativas al comparar los resultados perinatales de las gestantes con y sin alteración de Dopplerde la arteria cerebral media en fetos de crecimiento normal, se evidencio un aumento estadísticamente significativo en la tasa de cesáreas en el grupode arteria cerebral media alterada

Objective:To compare the perinatal results in pregnant women with and without Doppler alteration of the middle cerebral artery in fetuses of normal growth. Hospital Niño Jesús, Barranquilla, period July 2017 -April 2018.Materials and methods: We present a unicentric prospective analytical study, designed with the aim of comparing perinatal outcomes in pregnant women with and Doppler alteration of the middle cerebral artery in normal growth fetuses. "Hospital Niño Jesús, Barranquilla", period July 2017 -April 2018.Results:Sample composed of a total of 200 patients, 180 patients who did not present a Doppler alteration of the middle cerebral artery with a percentage of 47.6 ± 25.0 and 20 patients whose percentage was below 5 with an average of 3, 5 ± 1.0. there are no differences between the results of the study results, Increase in the OR: 5.5 p: 0.001.Conclusions: there are no statistically significant differences when compared with the perinatal results of pregnant women with and without Doppler alteration of the cerebral middle artery in fetuses of normal growth, a statistically significant increase in the rate of cesarean sections in the cerebral artery group was evidenced altered media

Mucoadhesive thermo-responsive chitosan-g-poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) polymeric micelles via a one-pot gamma-radiation-assisted pathway.

Thermo-sensitive graft copolymer amphiphiles of chitosan (CS) and poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNiPAAm), CS-g-PNIPAAm, were successfully synthesized by a catalyst-less one-pot gamma (γ)-radiation-assisted free radical polymerization at three different radiation doses: 5, 10 and 20 kGy. The chemical structure of the copolymers was confirmed by FTIR and solid-state (13)C NMR and the grafting extent by (1)H NMR and gravimetric analysis. In general, the higher the dose, the smaller the grafting due to the more significant NiPAAm homopolymerization. Due to the grafting of poly(NiPAAm) blocks, aqueous solutions of the different copolymers underwent a sharp transition upon heating above 32 °C, the characteristic lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of poly(NiPAAm). Then, the critical micellar concentration (CMC), the size and size distribution and the zeta-potential were characterized by dynamic light scattering (DLS) and the polymeric micelles visualized in suspension and quantified by Nanoparticle Tracking Analysis (NTA), at 37 °C. CMC values were in the 0.0012-0.0025%w/v range and micelles displayed sizes between 99 and 203 nm with low polydispersity (<0.160) and highly positive zeta-potential (>+15 mV) that suggested the partial conservation of the amine groups upon NiPAAm grafting. Consequently, polymeric micelles displayed the intrinsic mucoadhesiveness of CS, as established in vitro by the mucin solution assay. Finally, the encapsulation capacity of the micelles was assessed with the highly hydrophobic protease inhibitor antiretroviral indinavir free base (IDV). Polymeric micelles led to a significant 24-fold increase of the aqueous solubility from 63 µg/mL to 1.45 mg/mL, a performance remarkably better than different poly(ethylene oxide)-b-poly(propylene oxide) block copolymers assessed before. Overall results highlight the potential of this nanotechnology platform to expand the application of polymeric micelles to mucosal administration routes.

Anticoncepción en el Hospital Cantonal de Cayambe 1989-1992

Es desde el año 1956, tras el empleo por primera vez de las denominadas "Píldoras" por el Dr. Gregory Pincus, que se marca el punto de partida de la controversia, pues la anticoncepción representó un impacto directo o indirecto sobre los valores morales, éticos y socio-culturales de la población. Pero es un hecho que la demanda existe y por ende el médico ha de estar capacitado para responderla. La mujer es un ente reproductivo, pero también es un ser productivo laboral e intelectualmente. Este estudio se realizó en el Servicio de Consulta Externa de Ginecología y Obstetricia en el Hospital Raúl Maldonado Mejía; durante un período comprendido de 1989 a 1992; las variables analizadas fueron la edad de la paciente, sus antecedentes obstétricos, el tipo de anticonceptivo que empleaba, y el tiempo, y el tiempo que había hecho uso de éste. En total se registraron 1636 consultas y partiendo del hecho de que la efectividad en la anticoncepción radicaba sobre todo en dos métodos: los artefactos intrauterinos (Tasa de embarazo: 3.5 por ciento) y los contraceptivos orales (Taza de embarzo: 0.1 por ciento), se centró la atención de este estudio en estos dos métodos anticonceptivos, encontrándose que los DIU (TCU + LIPPES), superaba ampliamente en su empleo a los anticonceptivos orales.