Sepiolite promotes photodegradation of pyrene under visible light.

Mechanochemistry and photocatalysis are emergent technologies for the remediation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in soils. In this work, mechanochemistry and photocatalysis are combined for pyrene degradation. The photodegradation of pyrene, when in contact with sepiolite under pressure application, is studied. The mechanical treatment leads to a pyrene crystal phase transformation. In this new phase, pyrene undergoes a fast photodegradation in the 320-420 nm range. We show that sepiolite is superior as a photocatalyst in pyrene degradation to TiO2, the most exploited photocatalyst. A broad physicochemical characterization is carried out to propose a mechanism in which the photoexcitation of mechanically altered pyrene leads to an electron transfer to sepiolite matrix, which triggers the PAH degradation. Finally, we want to highlight that the pyrene/sepiolite combination is a simplified system to shed light on how PAH photodegradation may occur in soils.

Ensemble modeling of the potential distribution of the whale shark in the Atlantic Ocean.

The whale shark (Rhincodon typus) is an endangered marine fish species which can be adversely affected by the fishing activities of the industrial purse seine fleet targeting tropical tuna. Tuna tend to aggregate around all types of floating objects, including whale sharks. We analyzed and modeled the spatial distribution and environmental preferences of whale sharks based on the presence and absence data from fishing observations in the Atlantic Ocean. We used a thorough multialgorithm analysis, based on a new presence-absence dataset, and endeavored to follow the most recent recommendations on best practices in species distribution modeling. First, we selected a subset of relevant variables using a generalized linear model that addressed multicollinearity, statistical errors, and information criteria. We then used the selected variables to build a model ensemble including 19 different algorithms. After eliminating models with insufficient performance, we assessed the potential distribution of whale sharks using the mean of the predictions of the selected models. We also assessed the variance among the predictions of different algorithms, in order to identify areas with the highest model consensus. The results show that several coastal regions and warm shallow currents, such as the Gulf Stream and the Canary and Benguela currents, are the most suitable areas for whale sharks under current environmental conditions. Future environmental projections for the Atlantic Ocean suggest that some of the suitable regions will shift northward, but current concentration areas will continue to be suitable for whale shark, although with less productivity, which could have negative consequences for conservation of the species. We discuss the implications of these predictions for the conservation and management of this charismatic marine species.

Impact of involuntary out-patient commitment on reducing hospital services: 2-year follow-up.

Aims and method To evaluate whether involuntary out-patient commitment (OPC) in patients with severe mental disorder reduces their use of hospital services. This is a retrospective case-control study comparing a group of patients on OPC (n = 75) and a control group (n = 75) which was composed of patients whose sociodemographic variables and clinical characteristics were similar to those of the OPC group. Each control case is paired with an OPC case, so the control case must have an involuntary admission in the month that the index OPC case admission occurred. Emergency room visits, admissions and average length of hospital stay over a 2-year follow-up after the initiation of OPC were compared. Results No statistically significant evidence was found in the use of mental healthcare services between the two groups. Different reasons for admission found between the groups limit similarity when comparing the two. Clinical implications The findings cast doubt over the effectiveness of this legal measure to reduce emergency visits, the number of admissions and the length of stay in the hospital.

Involuntary outpatient treatment (iot) for severe mental patients: current situation in Spain.

Involuntary Outpatient Treatment (IOT) expects to improve treatment compliance and, therefore, prevent the impairment of patients with severe mental illness, as well as the risk for them and others. Besides IOT introduction defenders and opponent's states, scientific literature offers contradictory results. Legislative changes have been taken in the vast majority of our neighbouring countries in order to regulate IOT application. There is no legal regulation in Spain; however, OIT application is possible in certain Spanish cities. This article reviews IOT in Spain and surrounding countries.

Situacion en España del tratamiento ambulatorio involuntario (TAI) para enfermos mentales graves / Involuntary outpatient treatment (IOT) for severe mental patients: current situation in Spain

El tratamiento ambulatorio involuntario (TAI) pretende mejorar la adherencia al tratamiento y, por tanto, prevenirlas recaídas y el deterioro de las personas con enfermedad mental grave. Además de las posiciones manifestadas a favor y en contra con la introducción del TAI, los estudios publicados en la literatura médica obtienen también resultados contradictorios. En la mayoría de los países de nuestro entorno, se han producido cambios legislativos que regulan su aplicación. En la actualidad no existe en España una normativa legal, sin embargo, es posible su aplicación en el ámbito local de algunas ciudades españolas. En este artículo se pretende hacer una revisión del TAI en los países de nuestro entorno y España (AU)

Involuntary Outpatient Treatment (IOT) expects to improve treatment compliance and, therefore, prevent the impairment of patients with severe mental illness, as well as the risk for them and others. Besides IOT introduction defenders and opponent’s states, scientific literature offers contradictory results. Legislative changes have been taken in the vast majority of our neighbouring countries in order to regulate IOT application. There is no legal regulation in Spain; however, OIT application is possible in certain Spanish cities. This article reviews IOT in Spain and surrounding countries (AU)

Cross-country disparities in health-care expenditure: a factor decomposition.

This note investigates the sources of international differences in the levels of per capita health-care expenditure, using data on the OECD countries between 1975 and 2003. To that end, we use Theil's second measure of inequality for decomposing cross-country disparities in per capita health-care expenditure into the contributions of various factors: health-care expenditure expressed as a share of GDP, labour productivity, employment rate, activity rate and the ratio of working-age population to total population. Our results show that cross-country differences in the share of GDP devoted to health-care expenditure and labour productivity are the main determinants of the level of dispersion in per capita health-care expenditure. On the contrary, existing disparities in the remaining explanatory factors considered play a less relevant role in this context. In any event, the analysis performed reveals that the overall inequality in per capita health-care expenditure decreased throughout the study period. This was due to the process of international convergence observed in most of the factors used to break down the level of per capita health-care expenditure.

Elevaciones de la creatincinasa tras intervencionismo coronario / Creatine Kinase Elevations after Coronary

Introducción y objetivos. La revascularización percutánea ha producido en los últimos años un cambio importante en el manejo de los pacientes con cardiopatía isquémica. Existe una gran controversia sobre la incidencia y el significado pronóstico de pequeñas elevaciones de la creatincinasa después del procedimiento. El objetivo de este trabajo ha sido determinar la incidencia de estas elevaciones y los factores relacionados y observar los acontecimientos cardiovasculares en el grupo de pacientes en los que se produjo elevación de la creatincinasa y en los que no se produjo. Métodos. Hemos estudiado a los 447 pacientes sometidos a procedimientos de revascularización percutánea realizada en nuestro servicio desde enero de 1997 hasta junio de 1998, excluyéndose los 138 casos que presentaron un infarto agudo de miocardio en los 4 días previos o angioplastias fallidas. En todos los pacientes se determinó la creatincinasa basal y a las 4, 8 y 24 h tras la angioplastia. Estudiamos la incidencia de estas elevaciones en nuestro medio, así como las características de los pacientes en los que se produjeron elevación de la creatincinasa respecto a un grupo control constituido por aquellos enfermos en los que no se evidenciaron estas elevaciones en los que se había realizado un similar procedimiento revascularizador percutáneo atendiendo a diversas variables como la arteria, tipo y característica de la lesión, función ventricular y período de tiempo. Se consideró como acontecimiento cardiovascular en el seguimiento la muerte, infarto de miocardio no fatal, necesidad de nueva revascularización o reingreso hospitalario por angina inestable. Resultados. De los 309 pacientes que cumplían los criterios de inclusión, sólo se apreció elevación de la creatincinasa posprocedimiento en 24 pacientes (7,7 por ciento).En el 50 por ciento de los pacientes que presentaron elevaciones, éstas pudieron relacionarse con complicaciones menores durante el procedimiento, fundamentalmente pérdidas de ramas laterales. No se apreciaron diferencias en cuanto a las características demográficas de los pacientes ni respecto a las características anatómicas de las lesiones en los grupos estudiados. Durante el período de seguimiento de 9,5 meses apreciamos un 37,5 por ciento de complicaciones en el grupo con elevación enzimática, frente a un 20 por ciento en el grupo control, aunque la diferencia no alcanzó significación estadística. Conclusiones. Las elevaciones de creatincinasa postintervencionismo coronario se producen en el 7,7 por ciento de los pacientes a los que se les realiza en nuestro medio. Sólo el 50 por ciento de dichas elevaciones están objetivamente relacionadas con complicaciones menores del procedimiento, preferentemente pérdida de ramas laterales, sin que se evidenciaran hallazgos en los restantes. La determinación seriada de creatincinasa tras revascularización percutánea presenta una baja sensibilidad metódica para la detección de complicaciones en el seguimiento. Otros marcadores más sensibles y específicos de daño miocárdico, como las troponinas, podrían definir a este grupo de pacientes (AU)