Due to the energy requirements for various human activities, and the need for a substantial change in the energy matrix, it is important to research and design new materials that allow the ...availability of appropriate technologies. In this sense, together with proposals that advocate a reduction in the conversion, storage, and feeding of clean energies, such as fuel cells and electrochemical capacitors energy consumption, there is an approach that is based on the development of better applications for and batteries. An alternative to commonly used inorganic materials is conducting polymers (CP). Strategies based on the formation of composite materials and nanostructures allow outstanding performances in electrochemical energy storage devices such as those mentioned. Particularly, the nanostructuring of CP stands out because, in the last two decades, there has been an important evolution in the design of various types of nanostructures, with a strong focus on their synergistic combination with other types of materials. This bibliographic compilation reviews state of the art in this area, with a special focus on how nanostructured CP would contribute to the search for new materials for the development of energy storage devices, based mainly on the morphology they present and on their versatility to be combined with other materials, which allows notable improvements in aspects such as reduction in ionic diffusion trajectories and electronic transport, optimization of spaces for ion penetration, a greater number of electrochemically active sites and better stability in charge/discharge cycles.
Introduction: Medical students represent a new generation of medical thought, and if they have a favourable attitude towards organ donation this will greatly encourage its promotion.
Objective: To ...analyse the attitude of medical students in Spanish universities towards the donation of their own organs and to determine the factors affecting this attitude.
Material and Methods: Type of study: A sociological, interdisciplinary, multicentre, and observational study in Spain. Study population: Students studying a degree in medicine enrolled in Spain (n = 34,000). Sample size: A sample of 9598 students (confidence of 99% and precision of ±1%), stratified by geographical area and academic year. Instrument of measurement: A validated questionnaire of attitude towards organ donation and transplantation (PCID-DTO RIOS) was self-administered and completed anonymously.
Results: The questionnaire completion rate was 95.7% (n = 9.275). 80% were in favour of donation, 2% against and 18% were undecided. The following main variables were related to a favourable attitude: being of the female sex (Odds Ratio = 1.739); being in the sixth year of the degree (OR = 2.506); knowing a donor (OR = 1.346); having spoken about the subject with one's family (OR = 2.132) and friends (OR = 1.333); having a family circle that is in favour, more specifically, having a father (OR = 1.841), mother (OR = 2.538) or partner in favour (OR = 2.192); being a blood donor (OR = 2.824); acceptance of the mutilation of the body if it were necessary (OR = 2.958); and being an atheist or an agnostic (OR = 1.766).
Conclusions: Spanish medical students generally have a favourable attitude towards organ donation, although 20% are not in favour.
Different brain regions can be grouped together, based on cross-sectional correlations among their cortical characteristics; this patterning has been used to make inferences about ageing processes. ...However, cross-sectional brain data conflate information on ageing with patterns that are present throughout life. We characterised brain cortical ageing across the eighth decade of life in a longitudinal ageing cohort, at ages ~73, ~76, and ~79 years, with a total of 1376 MRI scans. Volumetric changes among cortical regions of interest (ROIs) were more strongly correlated (average r = 0.805, SD = 0.252) than were cross-sectional volumes of the same ROIs (average r = 0.350, SD = 0.178). We identified a broad, cortex-wide, dimension of atrophy that explained 66% of the variance in longitudinal changes across the cortex. Our modelling also discovered more specific fronto-temporal and occipito-parietal dimensions that were orthogonal to the general factor and together explained an additional 20% of the variance. The general factor was associated with declines in general cognitive ability (r = 0.431, p < 0.001) and in the domains of visuospatial ability (r = 0.415, p = 0.002), processing speed (r = 0.383, p < 0.001) and memory (r = 0.372, p < 0.001). Individual differences in brain cortical atrophy with ageing are manifest across three broad dimensions of the cerebral cortex, the most general of which is linked with cognitive declines across domains. Longitudinal approaches are invaluable for distinguishing lifelong patterns of brain-behaviour associations from patterns that are specific to aging.
Sugarcane and agave bagasse samples were hydrolyzed with either mineral acids (HCl), commercial glucanases or a combined treatment consisting of alkaline delignification followed by enzymatic ...hydrolysis. Acid hydrolysis of sugar cane bagasse yielded a higher level of reducing sugars (37.21% for depithed bagasse and 35.37% for pith bagasse), when compared to metzal or metzontete (agave pinecone and leaves, 5.02% and 9.91%, respectively). An optimized enzyme formulation was used to process sugar cane bagasse, which contained Celluclast, Novozyme and Viscozyme L. From alkaline–enzymatic hydrolysis of sugarcane bagasse samples, a reduced level of reducing sugar yield was obtained (11–20%) compared to agave bagasse (12–58%). Selected hydrolyzates were fermented with a non-recombinant strain of
Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Maximum alcohol yield by fermentation (32.6%) was obtained from the hydrolyzate of sugarcane depithed bagasse. Hydrolyzed agave waste residues provide an increased glucose decreased xylose product useful for biotechnological conversion.
Breastfeeding is recognized worldwide as the best option for infant feeding. Expressing breast milk is an alternative for mothers to provide their infants all the benefits of maternal milk. During ...breast milk expression, mothers receive a distinct kind of sensory stimulation, because there is no direct bodily or affective interaction with their infants, many women report feeling isolated, generating a love-hate relation with pumping, and even low levels of satisfaction while expressing breast milk. While it is well known that the prefrontal, parietal, and temporal cortices play important roles in the emotional and cognitive processing of maternal stimuli, knowledge about how these cortical areas function during breastfeeding is lacking. This study was designed to characterize EEG activity in the prefrontal and parietal cortices and the affective scores of primiparous breastfeeding mothers during two conditions of milk expression: breast milk expression and direct breastfeeding. Participants reported higher valence and arousal and a pleasant state during direct breastfeeding. In the direct breastfeeding condition, both prefrontal areas showed a higher absolute power (AP) of the slow bands, with a lower AP of the alpha band in the parietal cortex. A lower correlation between frontopolar and dorsolateral areas with a higher correlation between prefrontal and parietal cortices was obtained mainly in the right hemisphere. This EEG activity could be linked to an internal state of focused attention and, simultaneously, open monitoring of the environment that suggests an integration of the motive-emotional and cognitive processes necessary for adequate mother-baby interaction during direct breastfeeding.
•During direct breastfeeding, prefrontal areas showed higher absolute power in the slow bands.•EEG activity during direct breastfeeding could be related to a motivational-cognitive state.•Direct breastfeeding is a pleasurable state for the mother.
Summary
The current COVID‐19 pandemic is caused by the SARS‐CoV‐2 coronavirus. The initial recognized symptoms were respiratory, sometimes culminating in severe respiratory distress requiring ...ventilation, and causing death in a percentage of those infected. As time has passed, other symptoms have been recognized. The initial reports of cutaneous manifestations were from Italian dermatologists, probably because Italy was the first European country to be heavily affected by the pandemic. The overall clinical presentation, course and outcome of SARS‐CoV‐2 infection in children differ from those in adults as do the cutaneous manifestations of childhood. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge on the cutaneous manifestations of COVID‐19 in children after thorough and critical review of articles published in the literature and from the personal experience of a large panel of paediatric dermatologists in Europe. In Part 1, we discuss one of the first and most widespread cutaneous manifestation of COVID‐19, chilblain‐like lesions. In Part 2, we review other manifestations, including erythema multiforme, urticaria and Kawasaki disease‐like inflammatory multisystemic syndrome, while in Part 3, we discuss the histological findings of COVID‐19 manifestations, and the testing and management of infected children, for both COVID‐19 and any other pre‐existing conditions.
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We present intermediate-resolution spectroscopy of the optical counterpart to the black hole X-ray transient MAXI J1820+070 (=ASASSN-18ey) obtained with the OSIRIS spectrograph on the 10.4 m Gran ...Telescopio Canarias. The observations were performed with the source close to the quiescent state and before the onset of renewed activity in 2019 August. We make use of these data and K-type dwarf templates taken with the same instrumental configuration to measure the projected rotational velocity of the donor star. We find vrot sin i = 84 5 km s−1 (1 ), which implies a donor to the black hole mass ratio for the case of a tidally locked and Roche-lobe filling donor star. The derived dynamical masses for the stellar components are and . The use of q, combined with estimates of the accretion disk size at the time of the optical spectroscopy, allows us to revise our previous orbital inclination constraints to 66° < i < 81°. These values lead to 95% confidence level limits on the masses of 5.73 < M1(M ) < 8.34 and 0.28 < M2(M ) < 0.77. Adopting instead the 63° 3° orientation angle of the radio jet as the binary inclination leads to and (1 ).
•Occurrence of antibiotics in wastewater and seawater from Antarctic was evaluated.•Quinolones and macrolides were the most found in wastewater from several stations.•Detailed study made to ensure ...quality control of analysis during sample collection and treatment, and shipping of samples.•Bacteria resistance (E. Coli) was observed for several groups of antibiotics.•Periodical monitoring of pharmaceuticals in waters and additional treatments in WWTPs are required.
The potential presence of introduced antibiotics in the aquatic environment is a hot topic of concern, particularly in the Antarctic, a highly vulnerable area protected under the Madrid protocol. The increasing presence of human population, especially during summer, might led to the appearance of pharmaceuticals in wastewater. The previous discovery of Escherichia coli strains resistant to antibiotics in sea water and wastewater collected in King George Island motivated our investigation on antibiotics occurrence in these samples. The application of a multi-residue LCMS/MS method for 20 antibiotics, revealed the presence of 8 compounds in treated wastewater, mainly the quinolones ciprofloxacin and norfloxacin (92% and 54% of the samples analyzed, average concentrations 0.89 μg/L and 0.75 μg/L, respectively) and the macrolides azithromycin and clarithromycin (15% positive samples, and average concentrations near 0.4 μg/L), and erythromycin (38% positive samples, average concentration 0.003 μg/L). Metronidazole and clindamycin were found in one sample, at 0.17 and 0.1 μg/L, respectively; and trimethoprim in two samples, at 0.001 μg/L. Analysis of sea water collected near the outfall of the wastewater discharges also showed the sporadic presence of 3 antibiotics (ciprofloxacin, clindamycin, trimethoprim) at low ng/L level, illustrating the impact of pharmaceuticals consumption and the poor removal of these compounds in conventional WWTPs. The most widespread antibiotic in sea water was ciprofloxacin, which was found in 15 out of 34 sea water samples analyzed, at concentrations ranging from 4 to 218 ng/L. Bacteria resistance was observed for some antibiotics identified in the samples (e.g. trimetropim and nalidixic acid –a first generation quinolone). However, resistance to some groups of antibiotics could not be correlated to their presence in the water samples due to analytical limitations (penicillins, tetraciclines). On the contrary, for some groups of antibiotics detected in samples (macrolides), the antibacterial activity against E. Coli was not investigated because these antibiotics do not include this bacterial species in their spectrum of activity.
Our preliminary data demonstrate that antibiotics occurrence in the Antarctic aquatic environment is an issue that needs to be properly addressed. Periodical monitoring of water samples and the implementation of additional treatments in the WWTPs are recommended as a first step to prevent potential problems related to the presence of antibiotics and other emerging contaminants in the near future in Antarctica.
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•xPt/TNT catalysts were synthesized for the vapor phase impregnation methodology.•The catalysts showed uniformly dispersed Pt particles supported on titania nanotubes (TNT).•A strong ...metal-support interaction between Pt and TNT support hinder Pt nanoparticles to agglomerate into larger particles, even at high Pt loadings.•xPt/TNT materials show a high catalytic activity in naphthalene hydrogenation.
A range of Pt loadings (0.9–21.5 wt. %) on titania nanotubes (TNT) catalysts were prepared with a view to address metal-support interaction effects on Pt nanoparticles (size, dispersion, shape) and were prepared by a vapor-phase impregnation method using Pt(acac). The reduced catalysts were characterized by XRD, TEM, H2-TPD, CO adsorption FTIR and examined as catalysts in naphthalene hydrogenation. Pt nanoparticles have a very uniform size between 1.4–2.2 nm for Pt loadings 0.9–21.5 wt% as indicated by TEM, H2-TPD and CO-adsorption FTIR. A strong metal-support interaction between Pt and TNT support hinder Pt nanoparticles to agglomerate into larger particles, even at high Pt loadings. Both Pt edge sites and exposed surface total Pt sites are highest at 10.2 wt.% Pt loading and parallels naphthalene hydrogenation activity which peaks at this loading.
In this study, we evaluated the efficacy of various primers for the purpose of DNA barcoding old, pinned museum specimens of blackflies (Diptera: Simuliidae). We analysed 271 pinned specimens ...representing two genera and at least 36 species. Due to the age of our material, we targeted overlapping DNA fragments ranging in size from 94 to 407 bp. We were able to recover valid sequences from 215 specimens, of which 18% had 500‐ to 658‐bp barcodes, 36% had 201‐ to 499‐bp barcodes and 46% had 65‐ to 200‐bp barcodes. Our study demonstrates the importance of choosing suitable primers when dealing with older specimens and shows that even very short sequences can be diagnostically informative provided that an appropriate gene region is used. Our study also highlights the lack of knowledge surrounding blackfly taxonomy, and we briefly discuss the need for further phylogenetic studies in this socioeconomically important family of insects.
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