Universidad de La Rioja (Spain)
  • Logroño, La Rioja, Spain
Recent publications
The molecular ecology of Staphylococcus aureus in migratory birds (such as white storks) is necessary to understand their relevance in the "One Health" ecosystems. This study determined the nasotracheal carriage rates of S. aureus from white storks in Southern Spain and genetically characterized the within-host diversity. A collection of 67 S. aureus strains, previously obtained from 87 white stork nestlings (52 nasal and 85 tracheal samples) fed by their parents with food foraged in natural and landfill habitats, were tested for their antimicrobial resistance (AMR) phenotypes. Moreover, the AMR genotypes , immune evasion cluster (IEC), virulence genes and the detection of CC398 lineage were studied by PCR. The spa types and multilocus-sequencing-typing (MLST) were also determined by PCR and sequencing. Staphylococcus aureus carriage was found in 31% of storks (36.5%/11.9% in nasal/tracheal samples). All isolates were methicillin-susceptible (MSSA) and 8.8% of them were also susceptible to all tested antibiotics. The AMR phenotype/percentage/genes detected were as follows: penicillin/79.1%/blaZ; erythromycin-clindamycin-inducible/19.1%/ermA, ermT; tetracycline/11.9%/tetK; clindamycin/4.5%/lnuA and ciprofloxacin/4.5%. Twenty-one different spa types, including 2 new ones (t7778-ST15-CC15 and t18009-ST26-CC25), were detected and ascribed to 11 clonal complexes (CCs). MSSA-CC398 (8.2%), MSSA-CC15 (7.1%) and MSSA-ST291 (5.9%) were the most prevalent lineages in storks. Moreover, tst-positive (MSSA-CC22-t223 and MSSA-CC30-t1654), eta-positive (MSSA-CC9-t209) and etb-positive strains (MSSA-CC45-t015) were detected in four storks. The 18.5% of storks harboured distinct MSSA strains (with different lineages and/or AMR genes). Nestlings of storks foraging in landfills (10 CCs) had more diverse S. aureus strains than those of parents foraging in natural habitats (3 CCs). Low level of AMR was demonstrated among S. aureus strains. The predominance of MSSA-CC398 (an emergent clade) and toxigenic MSSA strains in stork nestlings highlight the need for continuous surveillance of S. aureus in wild birds.
Delayed fluorescence from molecules with an inverted singlet–triplet gap (DFIST) is the consequence of the unusual reverse order of the lowest excited singlet (S1) and triplet (T1) states of thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) emitters. Heptazine (1,3,4,6,7,9,9b-heptaazaphenalene) derivatives have an inverted singlet–triplet gap thanks to the combination of multiple resonance (MR) effects and a significant double excitation character. Here, we study computationally the effect of gold(I) metalation and coordination on the optical properties of heptazine (molecule 4) and the phosphine-functionalized 2,5,8-tris(dimethylphosphino)heptazine derivatives (molecules 1–3). Ab initio calculations at the approximate second-order coupled cluster (CC2) and extended multiconfigurational quasi degenerate perturbation theory at the second order (XMC-QDPT2) levels show that molecules 1–4 have an inverted singlet–triplet gap due to the alternating spatial localization of the electron and hole of the exciton in the heptazine core. A non-vanishing one-electron spin–orbit coupling operator matrix element between T1 and S1 and a fast S1 ← T1 intersystem crossing rate constant (kISC) calculated at the XMC-QDPT2(12,12) level of theory for molecule 4 suggest that this new family of complexes may be the first organometallic DFIST emitters reported.
Few studies have been conducted on the value and motives of social entrepreneurship with indigenous people. The purpose of this paper is to examine the values and motives of social entrepreneurship and how it is experienced by indigenous groups in Colombia drawing on Structuration Theory theoretical framework. This work draws upon evidence from a multiple case study of five indigenous communities (Curripaco, Puinave, Yanacona, Misak and Wayuu) in three geographic regions. The analysis of the multiple case study using NVIVO.11, discovered internal and external motives and values. The internal drivers identified are Cosmovision, Ancestrality, Knowledge, Identity and Language and Community and Family Wellbeing. The external drivers are Land Rights and Territoriality, Armed Conflict and Violence, Socio Economic Needs: Poverty and lack of employment and Funding Opportunities. This paper brings into attention the importance of understanding the values and motives of social entrepreneurship within indigenous groups in Latin America.
Silver complexes bearing substituted terpyridine or tetra-2-pyridinylpyrazine ligands have been prepared and structurally characterised. The study of the anticancer properties of silver complexes with this type of ligands is scarce, despite the possibilities of combining the properties of the metal and the ability of the ligands for DNA binding. Here, the antiproliferative activity, stability, CT-DNA binding and mechanism of cell death of these types of derivatives are studied. High cytotoxicity against different tumour cells was observed, and, more important, a great selectivity index has been detected between tumour cells and healthy Lymphocytes T for some of these compounds. The CT-DNA interaction study has shown that these derivatives are be able to interact with CT-DNA via moderate intercalation. Furthermore, cell death studies indicate that these derivatives promote the apoptosis via mitochondrial pathway.
This article aims to show and make explicit the exclusion sometimes experienced by children with disabilities and obesity in physical activity (PA) and physical education (PE). Using empirical data from our previous qualitative work, we have engaged in a process of creative writing to present a tale that exhibits how exclusion is experienced by students in PA and PE, as well as ways in which students’ integration and inclusion could be fulfilled. The tale presented in this article draws from data generated in in-depth interviews, focus groups and field notes to recreate the experiences of three composite characters: Will, a student with osteogenesis imperfecta; Ella, a wheelchair user; and Josh, a child with obesity. To conclude, we present some evidence-based pedagogical approaches that may be useful for PE teachers, PA practitioners and other stakeholders to foster inclusion, social justice and equality when working with children with disabilities and obesity.
Drug use before or during sex is a high-risk sexual behavior associated with adverse health risks and outcomes, such as increasing the likelihood of overdoses and of acquiring sexually-transmitted diseases. This systematic review and meta-analysis of three scientific databases examines the prevalence of the use of intoxicating substances, those tending to excite or stupefy the user on a psychoactive level, before or during sex, among young adults (18 to 29 years old). A total of 55 unique empirical studies met the inclusion criteria (48,145 individuals; 39% males), were assessed for risk of bias using the tools of Hoy et al. (2012), and were analyzed via a generalized linear mixed-effects model. The results produced a global mean prevalence of this sexual risk behavior of 36.98% (95% CI: 28.28%, 46.63%). Nonetheless, significant differences were identified between different intoxicating substances, with the use of alcohol (35.10%; 95% CI: 27.68%, 43.31%), marijuana (27.80%; 95% CI: 18.24%, 39.92%), and ecstasy (20.90%; 95% CI: 14.34%, 29.45%) significantly more prevalent than that of cocaine (4.32%; 95% CI: 3.64%, 5.11%), heroin (.67%; 95% CI: .09%, 4.65%), methamphetamine (7.10%; 95% CI: 4.57%, 10.88%), and GHB (6.55%; 95% CI: 4.21%, 10.05%). Moderator analyses showed that the prevalence of alcohol use before or during sex differed according to geographical sample origin, and increased as the proportion of ethnic whites in samples increased. The remaining demographic (e.g., gender, age, reference population), sexual (e.g., sexual orientation, sexual activity), health (e.g., drug consumption, STI/STD status), methodological (e.g., sampling technique), and measurement (e.g., timeframe) variables that were examined did not moderate prevalence estimates. Finally, implications for sexual development interventions were discussed.
This study determined the carriage rates and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) genes of enterococci from nasotracheal samples of three healthy animal species and in-contact humans. Nasal samples were collected from 27 dog-owning households (34 dogs, 41 humans) and 4 pig-farms (40 pigs, 10 pig-farmers), and they were processed for enterococci recovery (MALDI-TOF–MS identification). Also, a collection of 144 enterococci previously recovered of tracheal/nasal samples from 87 white stork nestlings were characterized. The AMR phenotypes were determined in all enterococci and AMR genes were studied by PCR/sequencing. MultiLocus-Sequence-Typing was performed for selected isolates. About 72.5% and 60% of the pigs and pig-farmers, and 29.4% and 4.9%, of healthy dogs and owners were enterococci nasal carriers, respectively. In storks, 43.5% of tracheal and 69.2% of nasal samples had enterococci carriages. Enterococci carrying multidrug-resistance phenotype was identified in 72.5%/40.0%/50.0%/23.5%/1.1% of pigs/pig-farmers/dogs/dogs’ owners/storks, respectively. Of special relevance was the detection of linezolid-resistant enterococci (LRE) in (a) 33.3% of pigs (E. faecalis-carrying optrA and/or cfrD of ST59, ST330 or ST474 lineages; E. casseliflavus-carrying optrA and cfrD); (b) 10% of pig farmers (E. faecalis-ST330-carrying optrA); (c) 2.9% of dogs (E. faecalis-ST585-carrying optrA); and (d) 1.7% of storks (E. faecium-ST1736-carrying poxtA). The fexA gene was found in all optrA-positive E. faecalis and E. casseliflavus isolates, while fexB was detected in the poxtA-positive E. faecium isolate. The enterococci diversity and AMR rates from the four hosts reflect differences in antimicrobial selection pressure. The detection of LRE carrying acquired and transferable genes in all the hosts emphasizes the need to monitor LRE using a One-Health approach.
In this paper, we show a complete characterization of the uniform boundedness of the partial sum operator in a discrete Sobolev space with Jacobi measure. As a consequence, we obtain the convergence of the Fourier series. Moreover it is showed that this Sobolev space is the first category which implies that it is not possible to apply the Banach–Steinhaus theorem.
Previous studies have demonstrated that the strains Enterococcus gallinarum L1, Vagococcus fluvialis L21 and Lactobacillus plantarum CLFP3 are probiotics against vibriosis or lactococosis in sea bass or rainbow trout. In this study, the utility of these bacterial strains in the control of saprolegniosis was evaluated. For this purpose, both in vitro inhibition studies and competition for binding sites against Saprolegnia parasitica and in vivo tests with experimentally infected rainbow trout were carried out. In the in vitro tests, the three isolates showed inhibitory activity upon mycelium growth and cyst germination and reduced the adhesion of cysts to cutaneous mucus; however, this effect depended on the number of bacteria used and the incubation time. In the in vivo test, the bacteria were administered orally at 108 CFU g−1 in the feed or at 106 CFU ml−1 in the tank water for 14 days. None of the three bacteria showed protection against S. parasitica infection either through water or feed, and the cumulative mortality reached 100% within 14 days post infection. The obtained results show that the use of an effective probiotic against a certain disease in a host may not be effective against another pathogen or in another host and that the results obtained in vitro may not always predict the effects when used in vivo.
Purpose of Review The present review focuses on relationships between pornography use, problematic pornography use, and their possible effects on partners and relationships. Recent Findings Pornography use has been examined in the setting of marriages and other partnered relationships. Aspects considered include pornography-use patterns, perceptions of a partner’s pornography use, relationship satisfaction and happiness, relationship quality, partner’s problematic pornography use, infidelity/extramarital sex, and relationship stability (breakup/divorce). Summary Studying potential effects of pornography use in the context of dyadic relationships appears important with respect to understanding both marriage and divorce and the quality of couples’ relationships. More research is needed, particularly in the context of problematic pornography use.
As breast cancer is on the rise, it is essential to understand the consequences of the diagnosis for patients. This article investigates whether there are differences in different psychosocial variables in Spanish women with breast cancer according to the type of surgery the patients underwent and in comparison with a control group. A study was carried out in the north of Spain in which 54 women participated (27 women were the control group, and 27 women who had been diagnosed with breast cancer). The results of the study indicate that women with breast cancer have lower self-esteem and worse body image, sexual performance, and sexual satisfaction than women in the control group. No differences were found in optimism. These variables do not differ according to the type of surgery the patients underwent. The findings confirm the need to work on these variables in women diagnosed with breast cancer in psychosocial intervention programs.
Introduction: Nasal carriage of coagulase-positive staphylococci (CoPS) in healthy dogs could indicate increased risks of colonization for in-contact people or vice versa. This study determined the nasal carriage rate of CoPS among healthy dogs and in-contact people, their genotypic characteristics and phylogenetic relatedness. Methods: Nasal samples were collected from 27 households (34 dogs and 41 humans) in Spain. Staphylococci were identified by MALDI-TOF-MS, their antimicrobial resistance (AMR) genes and spa-types were tested by PCR/sequencing. The relatedness of CoPS from the same households was assessed by core genome single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) analyses. Results: Staphylococcus aureus carriage was found in 34.1% of humans (including one methicillin-resistant S. aureus MRSA-CC5-t2220-SCCmec type-IV2B) and 5.9% of dogs; Staphylococcus pseudintermedius in 2.4% of humans and 32.4% of dogs; while Staphylococcus coagulans was only detected in dogs (5.4%). Remarkably, one human co-carried S. aureus/S. pseudintermedius, while a dog co-carried the three CoPS species. Household density was significantly associated with S. pseudintermedius carriage in households with > than 1 dog and >than 1 human (OR = 18.10, 95% CI: 1.24-260.93, p = 0.034). Closely related (<15 SNPs) S. aureus or S. pseudintermedius were found in humans or dogs in three households. About 56.3% S. aureus carriers (dog or human) harboured diverse within-host spa-types or AMR genotypes. Ten clonal complexes (CCs) were detected among the S. aureus, of which methicillin-susceptible S. aureus-CC398-IEC-type C (t1451 and t571) was the most frequent, but exclusive to humans. S. aureus and S. pseudintermedius isolates harboured resistance genes or mutations associated to 9 classes of antimicrobials including linezolid (G2261A & T1584A point mutations in 23S rDNA). The S. coagulans isolates were susceptible to all antimicrobials. Most of the S. pseudintermedius carried lukS/F-I, siet, and sient genes, and all S. aureus were negative for lukS/F-PV, tst-1, eta and etb genes. Discussion: Clonally related human-to-human MSSA and dog-to-human MSSP were found. The detection of the MSSA-CC398 clade highlights the need for its continuous surveillance from One Health perspective.
Introduction: Currently, the most common chronic metabolic disease in our society is Diabetes Mellitus. The diagnosis of Diabetes Mellitus supposes an impact for the patient, since it requires a modification in the lifestyle, which demands a great capacity for adaptation and modification of habits. The aim of the study was to determine whether personality factors and health status influence resilience and coping strategies in a sample of healthy and diabetic subjects. Methodology: The sample included a total of 401 subjects (201 patients with Diabetes and 200 without pathology). The instruments applied for data collection were: Sociodemographic data questionnaire, the Resilience Scale, the Coping Strategies Questionnaire and The “Big Five” factor taxonomy. The data collection period was approximately 2 years (between February 2018 and January 2020). Results: Certain personality factors, such as Emotional Stability, Integrity, Conscientiousness and Extraversion, were positively related to Resilience. Additionally, Emotional Stability, Integrity, and Extraversion were positively associated with Rational Coping. On the other hand, emotional stability, agreeableness and extraversion were negatively related to emotional coping. In relation to health status, the absence of pathology is related to the use of rational strategies more than to the diagnosis of diabetes. Therefore, the participants in this study present different psychological patterns depending on personality and health status. Conclusions: The present study shows that the subjects of the sample present different psychological patterns depending on Personality and health status.
Xylem anatomy may change in response to environmental or biotic stresses. Vascular occlusion, an anatomical modification of mature xylem, contributes to plant resistance and susceptibility to different stresses. In woody organs, xylem occlusions have been examined as part of the senescence process, but their presence and function in leaves remain obscure. In grapevine, many stresses are associated with premature leaf senescence inducing discolorations and scorched tissue in leaves. However, we still do not know whether the leaf senescence process follows the same sequence of physiological events and whether leaf xylem anatomy is affected in similar ways. In this study, we quantified vascular occlusions in midribs from leaves with symptoms of the grapevine disease esca, magnesium deficiency, and autumn senescence. We found higher amounts of vascular occlusions in leaves with esca symptoms (in 27% of xylem vessels on average), whereas the leaves with other symptoms (as well as the asymptomatic controls) had far fewer occlusions (in 3% of vessels). Therefore, we assessed the relationship between xylem occlusions and esca leaf symptoms in four different countries (California in the US, France, Italy, and Spain) and eight different cultivars. We monitored the plants over the course of the growing season, confirming that vascular occlusions do not evolve with symptom age. Finally, we investigated the hydraulic integrity of leaf xylem vessels by optical visualization of embolism propagation during dehydration. We found that the occlusions lead to hydraulic dysfunction mainly in the peripheral veins compared to the midribs in esca symptomatic leaves. These results open new perspectives on the role of vascular occlusions during the leaf senescence process, highlighting the uniqueness of esca leaf symptoms and its consequence on leaf physiology.
Background Social distancing measures have been one of the core pillars of the strategy against COVID-19 in all the countries. This study aims at understanding what motivates behaviours and compliance with social distancing measures among students and workers from a Spanish public university. Methods We carry out two logistics models considering two different dependent variables: not maintaining social relation with non-cohabiting people and not to leave home except for emergencies ( n = 507, sample is formed by students and workers from the University of Cantabria in the North of Spain). Results Being very concerned about getting ill suggests higher risk of not maintaining social relation with non-cohabiting people. Getting older increase the probability of not leaving home except for emergencies as happens with those who are very concerned about getting ill. Young people often living with vulnerable older relatives may affect students’ behaviour. Conclusions Our findings suggest that compliance with social distancing measures depends on several factors related to age, the number or kind of cohabiting people and level of concern about getting ill. Policies should address all these factors through a multidisciplinary perspective.
Objective: To develop and test the content validity of the Self-Care of Oral Anticancer Agents Index (SCOAAI). Data sources: SCOAAI items were developed according to the COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments (COSMIN) criteria. The Middle Range Theory of Self-Care of Chronic Illnesses informed item generation. A four-phase procedure was followed; Phase 1: items were created based on a previous systematic review and a qualitative study; Phase 2: the SCOAAI comprehensibility and comprehensiveness were established through qualitative interviews with clinical experts and with patients (Phase 3); and Phase 4: the SCOAAI was then administered through an online survey to a group of clinical experts for the Content Validity Index (CVI) calculation. Conclusion: The first version of the SCOAAI included 27 items. Five clinical experts and 10 patients tested the comprehensiveness and comprehensibility of instructions, items, and response options. Fifty-three experts (71.7% female, mean experience with patients on oral anticancer agents 5.8 years [standard deviation ± .2]; 66% nurses) participated in the online survey for content validity testing. The final version of the SCOAAI includes 32 items. Item CVI ranges between 0.79 and 1; the average Scale CVI is 0.95. Future studies will test the psychometric properties of the tool. Implications for nursing practice: The SCOAAI showed excellent content validity, confirming its usefulness for assessing self-care behaviors for patients on oral anticancer agents. By implementing this instrument, nurses could define and implement targeted interventions for improving self-care and obtaining more positive outcomes (eg, better quality of life, reduced hospitalizations and emergency department visits).
IntroductionDoes philosopher's stone exist in physical education? It could be said that teaching games for understanding approach (TGfU) keeps turning everything it touches into gold: its presence in the educational centers, its volume of publications, the way of teaching games and sports, its connections with other approaches, its game categories, learning transferable principles of play. But… no, all that glitters is not gold. There are TGfU issues that should be improved. For example, these categories are disconnected from each other because TGfU lacks classification criteria. The “goal of game” is a concept that has been studied, but it has not been applied to physical education. The aim of the article is to show how to deepen the understanding sports and traditional games from the “goal of game”, and to propose its applicability to physical education.Methods The traits of “goal of game” will be identified by investigating two close concepts, “prelusory goal” (formalist philosophy of sport) and “motor-goal” (motor praxeology).ResultsThe traits of “goal of game” concept: main-motor-problem, described in the game rules and that the players will try to solve during the game dynamics. The “goal of game” chances: (1) It allows us to understand sports and traditional games based on their internal logic (2) It allows us to classify traditional games and sports based on classification criteria and that can be useful to organize the physical education program; (3) It allows us to deepen the understanding of sporting games and their applicability to physical education: on the one hand, proposing progressively more specific goal of game options and, on the other hand, proposing a network model of intentions of play to understand the game dynamics and to design learning tasks.Conclusions The conclusions collect some properties of the “goal of game” concept in order to propose its applicability in physical education students learning: identify and compare the main-motor-problems of the games; solve these problems during the game dynamics; transfer the procedures used to solve other games. The goal(d) of game amazes us; maybe physical education teachers are curious to continue discovering this wonderful treasure.
Nucleophilic ring opening of cyclic sulfamidates derived from amino acids is a common strategy for the synthesis of lanthionine derivatives. In this work, we report the regio-, chemo-, and stereoselective intramolecular S-alkylation of a cysteine residue with N-sulfonyl sulfamidates for the synthesis of cyclic lanthionine-containing peptides. The strategy involves the solid-phase synthesis of sulfamidate-containing peptides followed by late-stage intramolecular cyclization. This protocol allowed for the synthesis of four full-length cytolysin S (CylLS″) analogues, two α-peptides and two hybrid α/β-peptides. Their conformational preferences and biological activities were assessed and compared with those of wild-type CylLS″.
COVID-19 is a challenging worldwide pandemic disease nowadays that spreads from person to person in a very fast manner. It is necessary to develop an automated technique for COVID-19 identification. This work investigates a new framework that predicts COVID-19 based on X-ray images. The suggested methodology contains core phases as preprocessing, feature extraction, selection and categorization. The Guided and 2D Gaussian filters are utilized for image improvement as a preprocessing phase. The outcome is then passed to 2D-superpixel method for region of interest (ROI). The pre-trained models such as Darknet-53 and Densenet-201 are then applied for features extraction from the segmented images. The entropy coded GLEO features selection is based on the extracted and selected features, and ensemble serially to produce a single feature vector. The single vector is finally supplied as an input to the variations of the SVM classifier for the categorization of the normal/abnormal (COVID-19) X-rays images. The presented approach is evaluated with different measures known as accuracy, recall, F1 Score, and precision. The integrated framework for the proposed system achieves the acceptable accuracies on the SVM Classifiers, which authenticate the proposed approach’s effectiveness.
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1,300 members
Emilio Jiménez
  • Department of Electrical Engineering (DIE)
Andrea Gutiérrez
  • Education Sciences
Juan Fernández-Novales
  • Agriculture and Food
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