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Diagnosis of invasive fungal disease (IFD) in patients under intensive care is challenging. Circulating biomarkers, (1,3)-β-D-glucan (BG) and galactomannan (GM), were prospectively assessed in 98 critically ill patients at risk of IFD. There were 11 cases of invasive aspergillosis (IA; 4 proven and 7 probable), 9 cases of proven invasive candidiasis (IC), 1 case of mixed proven IC and probable IA, 1 case of proven zygomycosis, and 1 case of mixed mycelial proven IFD. In all IA cases there was no significant difference when the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of GM (0.873 [95%CI, 0.75–0.99]) and BG (0.856 [95% CI, 0.71–0.99]) were compared ( p  = 0.871). The AUC for BG in IC and for the rest of the IFD cases was 0.605 (95% CI, 0.39–0.82) and 0.768 (95% CI, 0.63–0.90) respectively. Positive BG (40%) predated blood culture ( n  = 3) and abdominal pus ( n  = 1) a mean of 3.25 days before Candida was grown. In patients with IFD caused by molds, BG appeared a mean of 5.65 days before culture results. For the diagnosis of patients at risk of IC, BG has shown a high NPV (94.5%), with positive results also predating blood cultures in 30% of patients. In conclusion, early BG results permit a timely initiation of antifungal therapy in patients at risk of IFD.

This article aims to evaluate quantitative inflation forecasts for the Chilean economy, taking advantage of a specific survey of consumer perceptions at the individual microdata level, which, at the same time, is linked to a survey of employment in Chile’s capital city. Thus, it is possible to link, with no error, consumer perceptions and 12-month-ahead inflation forecasts with personal characteristics such as gender, age, educational level, county of living, and the economic sector in which they are currently working. By using a sample ranging from 2005.III to 2018.IV, the results suggest that women aged between 35 and 65 years old, with a college degree, living in the North-eastern part of Santiago (the richest of the city), and working in the Community and Social Services sector are the best forecasters. Men aged between 35 and 65 years old, with a college degree, in a tie living in the North-eastern and South-eastern zones but working in Government and Financial Services and Retail sectors, respectively, come in second. Some econometric exercises reinforce and give greater support to the group of most accurate forecasters and reveal that another group of forecasters, different from the second-best in terms of forecast accuracy, displays the characteristics required of a forecasting variable. Remarkably, this group has the same specifications as the most accurate group, with the only difference being that it is composed of men instead of women. Thus, it looks promising for further consideration. Importantly, a forecast accuracy test reveals that no factor comes out as superior to the naïve random walk forecast used as a benchmark. These results are important because they help to identify the most accurate group when forecasting inflation and, thus, help refine the information provided by the survey for inflation forecasting purposes.

The modification of medical devices is an area that has attracted a lot of attention in recent years; particularly, those developments which search to modify existing devices to render them antimicrobial. Most of these modifications involve at least two stages (modification of the base material with a polymer graft and immobilization of an antimicrobial agent) which are both time-consuming and complicate synthetic procedures; therefore, as an improvement, this project sought to produce antimicrobial silicone (PDMS) in a single step. Using gamma radiation as both an energy source for polymerization initiation and as a source of reducing agents in solution, PDMS was simultaneously grafted with acrylic acid and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (AAc:EGDMA) while producing antimicrobial silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) onto the surface of the material. To obtain reproducible materials, experimental variables such as the effect of the dose, the intensity of radiation, and the concentration of the silver salt were evaluated, finding the optimal reaction conditions to obtain materials with valuable properties. The characterization of the material was performed using electronic microscopy and spectroscopic techniques such as 13C-CPMAS-SS-NMR and FTIR. Finally, these materials demonstrated good antimicrobial activity against S. aureus while retaining good cell viabilities (above 90%) for fibroblasts BALB/3T3.

The optical and chiroptical properties of an aza‐HBC‐ oct ‐[5]helicene have been studied and also modulated by means of protonation or oxidation. In both cases, the generated species shows a new absorption band in the NIR region that is not present in the neutral species. This result enables this N‐doped nanographene to act both as optical and, remarkably, as chiroptical switch since both the CD and CPL can be modulated by external stimuli such as redox or pH changes.

Poly(N-vinylimidazole) and its quaternized counterpart were successfully grafted onto cotton gauzes by performing radical polymerization reactions of N-vinylimidazole using high energy γ-radiation derived from a 60Co radioactive as a clean initiator method. The obtained materials were then characterized by FTIR, DSC, TGA, and SEM to confirm the presence of the functional polymer in the gauzes. Additionally, pH titrations were performed to the solid substrates to evaluate their acid–base properties confirming that the modified gauzes behave as a polyelectrolyte buffer acid–base system with a pKa ≈ 5.6. Furthermore, to evaluate the applicability of the gauzes, elongation tests (ASTM-D5035) were performed to the pristine and the modified gauzes to evaluate their mechanical performance, finding that the mechanical properties of the gauzes were not significantly changed after the modification procedure. Finally, bacterial growth inhibition and hemolysis tests were performed to assess the antimicrobial performance of the gauzes and their biocompatibility, having found that these medical devices are effective in inhibiting the growth of S. aureus while proving non-hemolytic to human erythrocytes.Graphic abstract

A new selenized yeast reference material (SELM-1) produced by the Institute for National Measurement Standards, National Research Council of Canada (INMS, NRC) certified for total selenium (2,059±64 mg kg-¹), methionine (Met, 5,758±277 mg kg-¹) and selenomethionine (SeMet, 3,431±157 mg kg-¹) content is described. The ±value represents an expanded uncertainty with a coverage factor of 2. SeMet and Met amount contents were established following a methanesulfonic acid digestion of the yeast using GC-MS and LC-MS quantitation. Isotope dilution (ID) calibration was used for both compounds, using ¹³C-labelled SeMet and Met. Total Se was determined after complete microwave acid digestion based on ID ICP-MS using a ⁸²Se spike or ICP-OES spectrometry using external calibration. An international intercomparison exercise was piloted by NRC to assess the state-of-the-art of measurement of selenomethione in SELM-1. Determination of total Se and methionine was also attempted. Seven laboratories submitted results (2 National Metrology Institutes (NMIs) and 5 university/government laboratories). For SeMet, ten independent mean values were generated. Various acid digestion and enzymatic procedures followed by LC ICP-MS, LC AFS or GC-MS quantitation were used. Four values were based on species-specific ID calibration, one on non-species-specific ID with the remainder using standard addition (SA) or external calibration (EC). For total selenium, laboratories employed various acid digestion procedures followed by ICP-MS, AFS or GC-MS quantitation. Four laboratories employed ID calibration, the remaining used SA or EC. A total of seven independent results were submitted. Results for methionine were reported by only three laboratories, all of which used various acid digestion protocols combined with determination by GC-MS and LC UV. The majority of participants submitted values within the certified range for SeMet and total Se, whereas the intercomparison was judged unsuccessful for Met because only two external laboratories provided values, both of which were outside the certified range.

The aim of this work is to optimise and evaluate radiofrequency glow discharge (RF GD) time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TOFMS) for identification of organic polymers. For this purpose, different polymers including poly[methylmethacrylate], poly[styrene], polyethylene terephthalate-co-isophthalate and poly[alpha-methylstyrene] have been deposited on silicon wafers and the RF GD-TOFMS capabilities for qualitative identification of these polymeric layers by molecular depth profiling have been investigated. Although some molecular information using the RF continuous mode is available, the pulsed mode offers a greater analytical potential to characterise such organic coatings. Some formed polyatomic ions have proved to be useful to identify the different polymer layers, confirming that layers having similar elemental composition but different polymer structure could be also differentiated and identified. [graphic removed]

Nanometer depth resolution is investigated using an innovative pulsed-radiofrequency glow discharge time-of-flight mass spectrometer (pulsed-rf-GD-TOFMS). A series of ultra-thin (in nanometers approximately) Al/Nb bilayers, deposited on Si wafers by dc-magnetron sputtering, is analyzed. An Al layer is first deposited on the Si substrate with controlled and different values of the layer thickness, t Al. Samples with t Al = 50, 20, 5, 2, and 1 nm have been prepared. Then, a Nb layer is deposited on top of the Al one, with a thickness t Nb = 50 nm that is kept constant along the whole series. Qualitative depth profiles of those layered sandwich-type samples are determined using our pulsed-rf-GD-TOFMS set-up, which demonstrated to be able to detect and measure ultra-thin layers (even of 1 nm). Moreover, Gaussian fitting of the internal Al layer depth profile is used here to obtain a calibration curve, allowing thickness estimation of such nanometer layers. In addition, the useful yield (estimation of the number of detected ions per sputtered atom) of the employed pulsed-rf-GD-TOFMS system is evaluated for Al at the selected operating conditions, which are optimized for the in-depth profile analysis with high depth resolution.

Background The deinstitutionalisation reform in Spain started after 1980 with the aim of reducing the need for hospitalisation, length of stay and the number of psychiatric hospital beds, as well as fostering psychiatric patient’s involvement in the community. The aim of this study was to review how this reform process has affected the management of schizophrenic patients from 1980 to 2004. Methods Longitudinal (1980–2004) study describing variables related to hospital morbidity in schizophrenia patients. Results Hospital admission rate has gradually increased from 1980 to 2004 from 3.71 admissions per 10,000 inhabitants to 5.89, respectively. Considering the type of admission, emergency or elective, whilst the latter has slightly decreased from 2.24 in 1980 to 1.72 in 2004, the first has almost tripled from 1.47 to 4.17. The point-prevalence of schizophrenic patients receiving inpatient treatment each year has decreased 78% in this period. Length of stay, in days per admission episode, has also decreased from 148 days in 1980 to 35 days in 2004. Conclusion One of the main impacts of the psychiatric health care reform in Spain has been the considerable reduction in hospital capacity devoted to schizophrenic patients, based on the significant decrease in point-prevalence. Thus, it seems relevant to design new studies to quantify the resource reallocation to other areas of care, such as pharmacological treatment and community services.