En este estudio se busco conocer el impacto de la Asignacion Universal por Hijo (AUH) sobre el bi... more En este estudio se busco conocer el impacto de la Asignacion Universal por Hijo (AUH) sobre el bienestar de los hogares perceptores a partir de datos provenientes de la Encuesta Permanente de Hogares (EPH) para el aglomerado Mar del Plata-Batan. Al no disponer de datos experimentales y, por lo tanto, no estar garantizada la condicion de independencia entre la asignacion del plan y los resultados, se propuso comparar grupos de hogares que muestran una distribucion similar de caracteristicas observables. De esta forma, condicionando a estas variables, la asignacion del plan resultaria independiente de las respuestas potenciales. Dentro de los metodos cuasi-experimentales, aquellos basados en la propensity score (PS) son frecuentemente utilizados en el analisis de datos de estudios observacionales. La PS se define como la probabilidad condicional de recibir cierto tratamiento dado un grupo de variables y resulta suficiente condicionar a la PS para garantizar la independencia entre el t...
Leisure is an important resource for personal development, social and economic at present. This a... more Leisure is an important resource for personal development, social and economic at present. This article aims to reflect on an essential type of leisure in today's society, digital leisure. A leisure analyzed from a perspective of learning and through three particularly significant activities, social networking sites, video games and virtual communities of serious leisure, which is established as an innovative tool for learning, socialization and social capital generation. In a network society, learning is and should be integrally, which requires taking into account the field of digital leisure and informal, formal and non-formal learning. This reflection can help us to improve the introduction of technology in schools, maximizing playful vision of them by students, causing greater motivation in teachers and considering learning processes in keeping with the digital age.
In recent years, operation and control strategies in distribution systems have changed due to the... more In recent years, operation and control strategies in distribution systems have changed due to the increase in the connection of distributed generation sources (DGs). Small local networks with electricity users and DGs are known as microgrids. These microgrids can operate independently (islanded) or in collaboration (interconnected) with the main network or other microgrids. Some advantages of interconnected microgrids include the reduction of losses, an increase in reliability, and decentralized operation under fault conditions. Nevertheless, when a microgrid operates in islanded mode, its electrical characteristics change and, consequently, the severity of power quality disturbances can increase, as well as their negative impact on electronic devices (loads and DG devices). This paper presents a comprehensive literature review of existing studies on power quality disturbances in islanded microgrids and identifies the most relevant needs for future research on this topic. Detailed i...
To assess efficacy, safety, and cost-effectiveness of adalimumab (ADA) therapy optimization in a ... more To assess efficacy, safety, and cost-effectiveness of adalimumab (ADA) therapy optimization in a large series of patients with uveitis due to Behçet disease (BD) who achieved remission after the use of this biologic agent. Open-label multicenter study of ADA-treated patients with BD uveitis refractory to conventional immunosuppressants. Sixty-five of 74 patients with uveitis due to BD, who achieved remission after a median ADA duration of 6 (range, 3-12) months. ADA was optimized in 23 (35.4%) of them. This biologic agent was maintained at a dose of 40 mg/subcutaneously/2 weeks in the remaining 42 patients. After remission, based on a shared decision between the patient and the treating physician, ADA was optimized. When agreement between patient and physician was reached, optimization was performed by prolonging the ADA dosing interval progressively. Comparison between optimized and nonoptimized patients was performed. Efficacy, safety, and cost-effectiveness in optimized and nonop...
Current opinion in infectious diseases, Jan 12, 2017
Treatment of Helicobacter pylori is difficult nowadays because of its high resistance. The preval... more Treatment of Helicobacter pylori is difficult nowadays because of its high resistance. The prevalence and mechanism of resistance, the different methods to detect it and the clinical implication of resistance were addressed in several research papers last year. Clarithromycin-resistant H. pylori has been recognized by the WHO as 'high priority', for which new antibiotics are needed. Moreover, the Maastricht consensus recommended, in areas with high resistance, that susceptibility tests should be performed, at least after a treatment failure. Metronidazole and clarithromycin resistance rates are alarming although they vary among populations. Tetracycline and amoxicillin-resistance are very low in most countries. H. pylori resistance can be detected by phenotypic or by molecular methods. Different break points may be used when performing an antimicrobial susceptibility test, so comparing resistance among different populations is challenging. Genomic techniques open new possibi...
Loss to follow-up contributes to the low coverage of HIV care interventions among HIV-exposed inf... more Loss to follow-up contributes to the low coverage of HIV care interventions among HIV-exposed infants in Beira, Mozambique. This qualitative study explores the perceptions of HIV-infected women and their health care providers regarding the main obstacles preventing women from attending follow-up visits for HIV care, and factors influencing women’s decisions about newborn care. Fifty-two in-depth interviews and two focus group discussions were conducted; transcripts were coded and analyzed using ATLAS.ti. Interviewees perceived three major barriers to follow-up: food insecurity, difficulties navigating the health system, and women’s familial roles and responsibilities. Our findings unveil the complex context in which HIV-infected women and their children live, and suggest that the structure and function of the HIV care system should be reviewed. Economic empowerment of women is crucial to achieving better compliance with medical care. Integration of mother and child services and more...
El desarrollo de las Tecnologias de la Informacion y de la Comunicacion (TIC) e Internet ha trans... more El desarrollo de las Tecnologias de la Informacion y de la Comunicacion (TIC) e Internet ha transformado la manera en la que los jovenes experimentan y disfrutan de su ocio, dando pie al impulso de un ocio digital propio de la era de la informacion y el conocimiento. Con base a una revision bibliografica de los principales estudios realizados hasta el momento en materia de ocio, jovenes y TIC, este articulo analiza las practicas de ocio de los jovenes espanoles de entre 16 y 18 anos. Jovenes nacidos en plena era digital, rodeados de pantallas y que adquieren unas caracteristicas diferenciadas de sus progenitores y docentes. Jovenes multitarea, conectados, prosumidores, sociales y moviles que han adoptado las herramientas digitales como algo fundamental en sus actividades de ocio relacionadas principalmente con la socializacion y el entretenimiento. En este sentido, se puede concluir que el ocio juvenil se caracteriza por ser por un lado, un ocio digital social en el que predomina el uso de las redes sociales virtuales, por otro lado, un ocio digital movil posibilitado por la conectividad sin limites que ofrecen los smartphone y, por ultimo, un ocio digital ludico ligado al uso de los videojuegos. Esto es, un ocio digital transmedia y multiplataforma que se apoya en el uso de herramientas digitales para concebir un ocio ubicuo, intersticial y continuo.
Meningiomas are tumors in arachnoid cells which represent up to one fifth of all intracranial tum... more Meningiomas are tumors in arachnoid cells which represent up to one fifth of all intracranial tumors and up to a quarter of spinal neoplasias. Although meningiomas have classically been considered to be benign tumors, it has also been well-established that they show a heterogeneous clinical outcome. To the best of our knowledge no study has yet been performed in which the independent prognostic value of both DNA ploidy and cell cycle has been simultaneously assessed in a large series of meningioma tumors. The aim of the present study was to prospectively explore the prognostic value of DNA ploidy status and the proliferative rate of tumor cells in a series of 105 consecutive meningioma patients studied at diagnosis. Both the presence of DNA aneuploidy and the proportion of S-phase tumor cells were analyzed in all cases in fresh tumors obtained during diagnostic surgery. From the technical point of view, we followed the recommendations of the Consensus Conference on Flow Cytometry DNA Analysis held in October 1992. Our results show that meningioma tumors display a relatively low incidence of DNA aneuploidy (14%), and they usually show a low proliferative rate (mean percentage of S-phase cells of 1.3 +/- 0.3%). The presence of DNA aneuploidy was associated with a higher incidence of aggressive histopathologic subtypes (P = 0.045), a greater age (P = 0.009), location at the cerebral convexity (P = 0.004), and a greater proportion of S-phase cells (P = 0.005). In contrast, no significant association between the DNA ploidy status of meningioma patients and their disease-free survival was found (P = 0. 1). Regarding the proliferative activity of neoplastic cells, we found that a high proportion of S-phase cells (>1.8%) was associated with a significantly lower mean age (P = 0.007), aggressive histopathologic subtypes (P = 0.03), a higher incidence of DNA aneuploidy (P = 0.004), and a significantly shorter disease-free survival (P < 0.004). Multivariate analysis of prognostic factors showed that the proportion of S-phase tumor cells was the most powerful independent prognostic factor in meningioma patients (P = 0.02). In summary, we conclude that the proportion of S-phase tumor cells represents the individual parameter with the highest value for predicting disease-free survival in meningioma patients.
The surface tension and refractive index were determined for benzylamine and 1,2-diaminopropane a... more The surface tension and refractive index were determined for benzylamine and 1,2-diaminopropane aqueous solutions, over the entire composition range for different temperatures from (283.15 to 323.15) K. The influence of composition and temperature upon these physicochemical properties has been analyzed. The experimental values of surface tension have been fitted on the basis of temperature and mixture composition using Jasper and Connors and Wright equations.
A Bacillus strain with xylanase activity has been isolated. Maximum xylanase production was obtai... more A Bacillus strain with xylanase activity has been isolated. Maximum xylanase production was obtained when the strain was cultured in media supplemented with birchwood xylan or rice straw; production was repressed by glucose and xylose. The optimal temperature and pH for xylanase activity were 45–50 °C and 5.5–7.5, respectively. Crude xylanase was highly stable at a wide range of pH values, retaining 100% of the activity after 24 h of incubation at 37 °C in buffer at pH 10.0. Analysis by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and zymogram techniques showed four xylanase activity bands with apparent molecular masses of 32, 48, 61, and 66 kDa. The most active of them (molecular mass 32 kDa) apparently corresponded to a xylanase with an isoelectric point (pI) of 9.3 in isoelectrofocusing gels developed as zymograms. Four other bands with xylanase activity were detected at pIs of 7.7, 5.6, 5.0, and 4.5. Analysis for carboxymethylcellulase activity revealed that only the band of 48 kDa and th...
The CNS is particularly susceptible to the effects of alcohol and toxicity. Astrocytes are immuno... more The CNS is particularly susceptible to the effects of alcohol and toxicity. Astrocytes are immunoactive cells, and the activation of these cells is associated with several neurodegenerative disorders. By using cultured cortical astrocytes, we show that a short ethanol treatment (100 mM) is able to up-regulate both cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression, and that these effects are regulated via nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kappa B) as revealed by the inhibition of NF-kappa B activation with pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (PDTC) or BAY 11-7082. These results suggest that ethanol is able to induce inflammatory mediators in astrocytes through the NF-kappa B activation.
En este estudio se busco conocer el impacto de la Asignacion Universal por Hijo (AUH) sobre el bi... more En este estudio se busco conocer el impacto de la Asignacion Universal por Hijo (AUH) sobre el bienestar de los hogares perceptores a partir de datos provenientes de la Encuesta Permanente de Hogares (EPH) para el aglomerado Mar del Plata-Batan. Al no disponer de datos experimentales y, por lo tanto, no estar garantizada la condicion de independencia entre la asignacion del plan y los resultados, se propuso comparar grupos de hogares que muestran una distribucion similar de caracteristicas observables. De esta forma, condicionando a estas variables, la asignacion del plan resultaria independiente de las respuestas potenciales. Dentro de los metodos cuasi-experimentales, aquellos basados en la propensity score (PS) son frecuentemente utilizados en el analisis de datos de estudios observacionales. La PS se define como la probabilidad condicional de recibir cierto tratamiento dado un grupo de variables y resulta suficiente condicionar a la PS para garantizar la independencia entre el t...
Leisure is an important resource for personal development, social and economic at present. This a... more Leisure is an important resource for personal development, social and economic at present. This article aims to reflect on an essential type of leisure in today's society, digital leisure. A leisure analyzed from a perspective of learning and through three particularly significant activities, social networking sites, video games and virtual communities of serious leisure, which is established as an innovative tool for learning, socialization and social capital generation. In a network society, learning is and should be integrally, which requires taking into account the field of digital leisure and informal, formal and non-formal learning. This reflection can help us to improve the introduction of technology in schools, maximizing playful vision of them by students, causing greater motivation in teachers and considering learning processes in keeping with the digital age.
In recent years, operation and control strategies in distribution systems have changed due to the... more In recent years, operation and control strategies in distribution systems have changed due to the increase in the connection of distributed generation sources (DGs). Small local networks with electricity users and DGs are known as microgrids. These microgrids can operate independently (islanded) or in collaboration (interconnected) with the main network or other microgrids. Some advantages of interconnected microgrids include the reduction of losses, an increase in reliability, and decentralized operation under fault conditions. Nevertheless, when a microgrid operates in islanded mode, its electrical characteristics change and, consequently, the severity of power quality disturbances can increase, as well as their negative impact on electronic devices (loads and DG devices). This paper presents a comprehensive literature review of existing studies on power quality disturbances in islanded microgrids and identifies the most relevant needs for future research on this topic. Detailed i...
To assess efficacy, safety, and cost-effectiveness of adalimumab (ADA) therapy optimization in a ... more To assess efficacy, safety, and cost-effectiveness of adalimumab (ADA) therapy optimization in a large series of patients with uveitis due to Behçet disease (BD) who achieved remission after the use of this biologic agent. Open-label multicenter study of ADA-treated patients with BD uveitis refractory to conventional immunosuppressants. Sixty-five of 74 patients with uveitis due to BD, who achieved remission after a median ADA duration of 6 (range, 3-12) months. ADA was optimized in 23 (35.4%) of them. This biologic agent was maintained at a dose of 40 mg/subcutaneously/2 weeks in the remaining 42 patients. After remission, based on a shared decision between the patient and the treating physician, ADA was optimized. When agreement between patient and physician was reached, optimization was performed by prolonging the ADA dosing interval progressively. Comparison between optimized and nonoptimized patients was performed. Efficacy, safety, and cost-effectiveness in optimized and nonop...
Current opinion in infectious diseases, Jan 12, 2017
Treatment of Helicobacter pylori is difficult nowadays because of its high resistance. The preval... more Treatment of Helicobacter pylori is difficult nowadays because of its high resistance. The prevalence and mechanism of resistance, the different methods to detect it and the clinical implication of resistance were addressed in several research papers last year. Clarithromycin-resistant H. pylori has been recognized by the WHO as 'high priority', for which new antibiotics are needed. Moreover, the Maastricht consensus recommended, in areas with high resistance, that susceptibility tests should be performed, at least after a treatment failure. Metronidazole and clarithromycin resistance rates are alarming although they vary among populations. Tetracycline and amoxicillin-resistance are very low in most countries. H. pylori resistance can be detected by phenotypic or by molecular methods. Different break points may be used when performing an antimicrobial susceptibility test, so comparing resistance among different populations is challenging. Genomic techniques open new possibi...
Loss to follow-up contributes to the low coverage of HIV care interventions among HIV-exposed inf... more Loss to follow-up contributes to the low coverage of HIV care interventions among HIV-exposed infants in Beira, Mozambique. This qualitative study explores the perceptions of HIV-infected women and their health care providers regarding the main obstacles preventing women from attending follow-up visits for HIV care, and factors influencing women’s decisions about newborn care. Fifty-two in-depth interviews and two focus group discussions were conducted; transcripts were coded and analyzed using ATLAS.ti. Interviewees perceived three major barriers to follow-up: food insecurity, difficulties navigating the health system, and women’s familial roles and responsibilities. Our findings unveil the complex context in which HIV-infected women and their children live, and suggest that the structure and function of the HIV care system should be reviewed. Economic empowerment of women is crucial to achieving better compliance with medical care. Integration of mother and child services and more...
El desarrollo de las Tecnologias de la Informacion y de la Comunicacion (TIC) e Internet ha trans... more El desarrollo de las Tecnologias de la Informacion y de la Comunicacion (TIC) e Internet ha transformado la manera en la que los jovenes experimentan y disfrutan de su ocio, dando pie al impulso de un ocio digital propio de la era de la informacion y el conocimiento. Con base a una revision bibliografica de los principales estudios realizados hasta el momento en materia de ocio, jovenes y TIC, este articulo analiza las practicas de ocio de los jovenes espanoles de entre 16 y 18 anos. Jovenes nacidos en plena era digital, rodeados de pantallas y que adquieren unas caracteristicas diferenciadas de sus progenitores y docentes. Jovenes multitarea, conectados, prosumidores, sociales y moviles que han adoptado las herramientas digitales como algo fundamental en sus actividades de ocio relacionadas principalmente con la socializacion y el entretenimiento. En este sentido, se puede concluir que el ocio juvenil se caracteriza por ser por un lado, un ocio digital social en el que predomina el uso de las redes sociales virtuales, por otro lado, un ocio digital movil posibilitado por la conectividad sin limites que ofrecen los smartphone y, por ultimo, un ocio digital ludico ligado al uso de los videojuegos. Esto es, un ocio digital transmedia y multiplataforma que se apoya en el uso de herramientas digitales para concebir un ocio ubicuo, intersticial y continuo.
Meningiomas are tumors in arachnoid cells which represent up to one fifth of all intracranial tum... more Meningiomas are tumors in arachnoid cells which represent up to one fifth of all intracranial tumors and up to a quarter of spinal neoplasias. Although meningiomas have classically been considered to be benign tumors, it has also been well-established that they show a heterogeneous clinical outcome. To the best of our knowledge no study has yet been performed in which the independent prognostic value of both DNA ploidy and cell cycle has been simultaneously assessed in a large series of meningioma tumors. The aim of the present study was to prospectively explore the prognostic value of DNA ploidy status and the proliferative rate of tumor cells in a series of 105 consecutive meningioma patients studied at diagnosis. Both the presence of DNA aneuploidy and the proportion of S-phase tumor cells were analyzed in all cases in fresh tumors obtained during diagnostic surgery. From the technical point of view, we followed the recommendations of the Consensus Conference on Flow Cytometry DNA Analysis held in October 1992. Our results show that meningioma tumors display a relatively low incidence of DNA aneuploidy (14%), and they usually show a low proliferative rate (mean percentage of S-phase cells of 1.3 +/- 0.3%). The presence of DNA aneuploidy was associated with a higher incidence of aggressive histopathologic subtypes (P = 0.045), a greater age (P = 0.009), location at the cerebral convexity (P = 0.004), and a greater proportion of S-phase cells (P = 0.005). In contrast, no significant association between the DNA ploidy status of meningioma patients and their disease-free survival was found (P = 0. 1). Regarding the proliferative activity of neoplastic cells, we found that a high proportion of S-phase cells (>1.8%) was associated with a significantly lower mean age (P = 0.007), aggressive histopathologic subtypes (P = 0.03), a higher incidence of DNA aneuploidy (P = 0.004), and a significantly shorter disease-free survival (P < 0.004). Multivariate analysis of prognostic factors showed that the proportion of S-phase tumor cells was the most powerful independent prognostic factor in meningioma patients (P = 0.02). In summary, we conclude that the proportion of S-phase tumor cells represents the individual parameter with the highest value for predicting disease-free survival in meningioma patients.
The surface tension and refractive index were determined for benzylamine and 1,2-diaminopropane a... more The surface tension and refractive index were determined for benzylamine and 1,2-diaminopropane aqueous solutions, over the entire composition range for different temperatures from (283.15 to 323.15) K. The influence of composition and temperature upon these physicochemical properties has been analyzed. The experimental values of surface tension have been fitted on the basis of temperature and mixture composition using Jasper and Connors and Wright equations.
A Bacillus strain with xylanase activity has been isolated. Maximum xylanase production was obtai... more A Bacillus strain with xylanase activity has been isolated. Maximum xylanase production was obtained when the strain was cultured in media supplemented with birchwood xylan or rice straw; production was repressed by glucose and xylose. The optimal temperature and pH for xylanase activity were 45–50 °C and 5.5–7.5, respectively. Crude xylanase was highly stable at a wide range of pH values, retaining 100% of the activity after 24 h of incubation at 37 °C in buffer at pH 10.0. Analysis by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and zymogram techniques showed four xylanase activity bands with apparent molecular masses of 32, 48, 61, and 66 kDa. The most active of them (molecular mass 32 kDa) apparently corresponded to a xylanase with an isoelectric point (pI) of 9.3 in isoelectrofocusing gels developed as zymograms. Four other bands with xylanase activity were detected at pIs of 7.7, 5.6, 5.0, and 4.5. Analysis for carboxymethylcellulase activity revealed that only the band of 48 kDa and th...
The CNS is particularly susceptible to the effects of alcohol and toxicity. Astrocytes are immuno... more The CNS is particularly susceptible to the effects of alcohol and toxicity. Astrocytes are immunoactive cells, and the activation of these cells is associated with several neurodegenerative disorders. By using cultured cortical astrocytes, we show that a short ethanol treatment (100 mM) is able to up-regulate both cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression, and that these effects are regulated via nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kappa B) as revealed by the inhibition of NF-kappa B activation with pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (PDTC) or BAY 11-7082. These results suggest that ethanol is able to induce inflammatory mediators in astrocytes through the NF-kappa B activation.
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Papers by Ana Blanco