Isolation and Characterization of Thermophilic Bacteria from a Hot Spring in the State of Hidalgo, Mexico, and Geochemical Analysis of the Thermal Water.

Hot springs worldwide can be a source of extremophilic microorganisms of biotechnological interest. In this study, samplings of a hot spring in Hidalgo, Mexico, were conducted to isolate, identify, and characterize morphologically, biochemically, and molecularly those bacterial strains with potential industrial applications. In addition, a physicochemical and geochemical examination of the hot spring was conducted to fully understand the study region and its potential connection to the strains discovered. The hot spring was classified as sulfate-calcic according to the Piper Diagram; the hydrogeochemical analysis showed the possible interactions between minerals and water. Eighteen bacterial strains were isolated with optimal growth temperatures from 50 to 55 °C. All strains are Gram-positive, the majority having a rod shape, and one a round shape, and 17 produce endospores. Hydrolysis tests on cellulose, pectin, and xylan agar plates demonstrated enzymatic activity in some of the strains. Molecular identification through the 16S rDNA gene allowed classification of 17 strains within the Phylum Firmicutes and one within Deinococcus-Thermus. The bacterial strains were associated with the genera Anoxybacillus, Bacillus, Anerunibacillus, Paenibacillus, and Deinococcus, indicating a diversity of bacterial strains with potential industrial applications.

Pauta de pesquisa para apraxia del habla infantil en hispanohablantes: traducción y validación cultural / Check list for childhood apraxia of speech in spanish-speaking population: translation and validation

La apraxia del habla infantil (AHI) es un trastorno pediátrico poco común, en el que, si el niño o niña no es diagnosticado a tiempo, puede desencadenar graves consecuencias a futuro. Los métodos de diagnóstico existentes para este trastorno se encuentran disponibles en idiomas distintos al español, lo que conlleva una dificultad para encontrar un método de diagnóstico válido y consensuado por los fonoaudiólogos para aplicarse a la población hispanohablantes. Es por estoque este estudio pretende dar un primer aporte, realizando la traducción de una herramienta de pesquisa apta para el idioma español, que permita facilitar la labor fonoaudiológica en el diagnóstico. El método que se utilizará es el de traducción y validación de una herramienta de evaluación en salud, al cual se va a incorporar el análisis de un panel de expertos para brindarle validez al instrumento. Los resultados muestran una amplia aceptación del instrumento (94%resultados positivos) con un buen acuerdo entre jueces (IRR inter rater reliability) presentada como probabilidad de acuerdo para todo el instrumento de 0,57 (57%). En conclusión, este estudio brinda una pauta de pesquisa para la AHI, con el fin de facilitar la evaluación fonoaudiológica temprana de los niños y niñas, permitiendo que los usuarios puedan acceder a una atención especializada y confiable acordes con el diagnóstico.

Childhood apraxia of speech (CAS), is a rare disorder during childhood, and it can trigger serious consequences in the future if not treated promptly. The existing diagnostic methods for this disorder are found in the English language only, which leads to difficulties in finding valid and agreed diagnostic methods by speech therapists to apply to the Spanish-speaking population. Hence, this study aims to provide the translation of an evaluation tool which is suitable for Spanish-speaking countries and that facilitates phonoaudiological work in the diagnosis. The method that will be used is that of translation-retranslation, to which the analysis of an expert opinion will be incorporated to give validity to the instrument. The results expose a wide acceptance of the instrument (94% of positive results) with substantial agreement among experts (IRR inter rater reliability), presented as agreement probability for the entire instrument of 0.57 (57%). In conclusion, this study provides a research pattern for AHI, to facilitate the early phonoaudiological evaluation of children, allowing the patients to access reliable care regarding to diagnosis.

Recomendaciones para la atención fonoaudiológica en motricidad orofacial en contexto Covid-19 / Recommendations for speech therapy in myofunctional orofacial in COVID-19 context

Buscamos otorgar recomendaciones de resguardo para el ejercicio de la profesión en el área de la motricidad orofacial de manera segura, tanto para el fonoaudiólogo, como para sus usuarios, documentadas en publicaciones científicas relevantes. El método usado en la busqueda constituye una revisión integradora. La búsqueda se realizó a través de las bases de datos Lilacs, PubMed y SciELO. Se consultaron diversas páginas web, bajo los términos COVID-19; SARS-CoV; protocolo de seguridad; sugerencias COVID-19 y guías de acción COVID-19. Los resultados encontrados se proponen recomendaciones para los fonoaudiólogos vinculados a la motricidad orofacial en diversos contextos. la identificación correcta de estas recomendaciones representa una de las acciones de absoluta prioridad, para que los profesionales puedan direccionar las conductas relacionadas con la seguridad del paciente y continuar las atenciones en contexto de COVID-19, aumentando las protecciones, con el fin de cuidar y evitar contagios en este proceso.

Provide recommendations for safeguarding the practice of the profession in the myofunctional area in a safe way, both for the speech therapist and for its users, documented in relevant scientific publications. Methods: it constitutes an integrating review. The search was performed through the Lilacs, Pubmed, SciELO databases, and various web pages were consulted, under the terms COVID-19; SARS-CoV 2; security protocol; COVID-19 suggestions and COVID 19 action guides. Results: Recommendations are proposed for speech pathologist linked to myofunctional therapy in various contexts. Discussion: the correct identification of these recommendations represents an absolute top-priority action so that professionals can instruct the behaviors related to patient safety and continue the treatments in COVID-19 context, increasing the protection, with the purpose of preventing infections in the process.

Effect of photocatalytic Fe2O3 nanoparticles on urban runoff pollutant removal by permeable concrete.

Permeable pavements are an efficient urban runoff (UR) management solution that also improve water quality. In this work, a photocatalytic layer of Fe2O3 nanoparticles (NP) was incorporated into permeable concrete to evaluate its impact on the removal of several microbiological (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Aeromonas hydrophila, and Enterococcus faecalis) and physicochemical (N-NH4+, N-NO3-, phenol, PO43-, Fe, Mn, and Pb) pollutants. First, permeable concrete samples were created with sufficient compressive strength and hydraulic conductivity for light traffic. The test samples were then coated with a mixture containing either 3% or 5% Fe2O3 NP by cement weight. Control samples were prepared without NP. Scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analyses showed that the nanoparticles remained unaltered on the concrete's surface. Synthetic URs simulating the microbiological or physicochemical composition of real UR were applied to the samples to evaluate their pollutant removal efficiencies. The depollution performances of the test (with 3% and 5% Fe2O3 NP) and control samples were statistically compared. The test samples (3% NP, 5% NP, and the controls) significantly modified (p < 0.05) most of the measured variables (i.e., the concentrations of E. coli, A. hydrophila, PO43-, Fe, Mn, and Pb) in the synthetic URs. Unexpectedly, the test samples (with 3% or 5% Fe2O3 NP) did not significantly remove (p > 0.05) some pollutants prone to oxidation, such as phenol or ammonium. However, the 5% NP sample significantly enhanced Mn removal. In general, the decontamination performances of the concrete samples with Fe2O3 NP were not influenced by the nanoparticles; thus, they did not appear to add value to the generated permeable concrete. Nevertheless, our results indicate the considerable benefits of implementing permeable concrete to improve the quality of UR.

Enhancement of the biogas and biofertilizer production from Opuntia heliabravoana Scheinvar.

Waste Opuntia is an abundant source of biomass to produce biogas and biofertilizer in a small and commercial scale. This crop has a high biomass yield, wide adaptation to diverse climatic zones, rapid growth, and low input requirements. This study aimed to evaluate the combined effect of adjusting C/N ratio and an alkaline pretreatment (AP) of waste Opuntia heliabravoana Scheinvar in the production of biogas and biofertilizer in anaerobic reactors. AP bioreactors produced more biogas than the control (C, without the combined effect of AP); besides, in this process, it was not necessary to use additional water due to the high content of water that is present in the tissue of this crop. On the other hand, both biofertilizers (C and AP) had enssential microbial groups that help to enhance plant nutrition as S-reducers, S-oxidizers, amylolytic, cellulolytic bacteria, anaerobic S-mineralizers, cellulolytic fungi, and P-solubilizers. Also, the AP treatment to help to increase 1.5:1 total nitrogen (TN) concentration decreased the pathogenic microorganisms in the biofertilizer compared to the C treatment. For this reason, Opuntia spp. is a good substrate for production of biogas and biofertilizer with essential nutrients for many crops in area with water scarcity.

Quality of urban runoff in wet and dry seasons: a case study in a semi-arid zone.

Urban runoff (UR) is a promising new resource that may alleviate growing tensions in numerous arid and semi-arid regions of the world. However, it is precisely in these zones that the available UR quality characteristics are scarcer. This work aims to evaluate a wide set of parameters to establish a detailed approach to both the quality of UR in a midsized city in Central Mexico and the feasibility of using UR to recharge aquifers. UR from an institutional land use site was sampled during wet and dry seasons and assessed for suspended solids, organic matter, nutrients, microorganisms, metals, and persistent organic chemicals (i.e., polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, PAH). The results were analyzed using multivariate statistical methods to identify relationships among the variables, the sampling sites and the seasons. The soil erosion and the leaching of materials due to the water flow through vegetated areas were identified as the most influencing factor on the quality of the site runoff in both dry and wet seasons. Additionally, data were more heterogeneous during the dry season, and higher pollutant concentrations were found both during the dry season and in more pervious zones. We consider UR a promising water source for recharging aquifers in arid and semi-arid zones if a program is implemented that can integrate an adequate runoff treatment system, soil protection, and other non-structural measures.

Evaluation of natural materials as exogenous carbon sources for biological treatment of low carbon-to-nitrogen wastewater.

In the bacterial processes involved in the mitigation of nitrogen pollution, an adequately high carbon-to-nitrogen (C : N) ratio is key to sustain denitrification. We evaluated three natural materials (woodchips, barley grains, and peanut shells) as carbon sources for low C : N wastewater. The amount of organic matter released from these materials to aqueous media was evaluated, as well as their pollution swapping potential by measuring the release of total Kjeldahl nitrogen, N-NH4 (+), NO2 (-), and NO3 (-), and total phosphorous. Barley grains yielded the highest amount of organic matter, which also showed to be the most easily biodegradable. Woodchips and peanut shells released carbon rather steadily and so they would not require frequent replenishment from biological reactors. These materials produced eluates with lower concentrations of nutrients than the leachates from barley grains. However, as woodchips yielded lower amounts of suspended solids, they constitute an adequate exogenous source for the biological treatment of carbon-deficient effluents.

Abdomen agudo secundario a torsión de bazo ectópico / Acute abdomen due to torsion of the wandering spleen

No disponible

Conversion from calcineurin inhibitors to mTOR inhibitors stabilizes diabetic and hypertensive nephropathy after liver transplant.

AIM: To investigate if conversion to the mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitors (mTORi) improves renal function in diabetic and/or hypertensive liver transplant patients immunosuppressed with tacrolimus or cyclosporine. METHODS: The study included 86 liver graft recipients immunosuppressed with mTORi treatment after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT), including all liver recipients with worsening renal function before conversion to mTORi (n = 55 patients) and recipients with normal renal function who converted to mTORi for other reasons (n = 31 patients). We identified patients with diabetes mellitus (n = 28), arterial hypertension (n = 27), proteinuria (n = 27) and all three factors (n = 8) (some patients have hypertension and diabetes and no proteinuria). The primary endpoint was evolution in renal function defined as the development in plasma creatinine as a function of diabetes mellitus (DM), hypertension (HT) or proteinuria. We required elevated serum creatinine for at least two weeks to define renal dysfunction. RESULTS: Only patients that converted because of renal failure with plasma creatinine levels > 1.5 mg/dL showed an improvement of renal function (2.14 to 1.77 mg/dL) (P = 0.02). Patients with DM showed no improvement of serum creatinine levels (1.31 mg/dL to 1.37 mg/dL) compared with non DM patients (1.31 mg/dL to 1.15 mg/dL) (P = 0.01), HT patients (1.48 mg/dL to 1.5 mg/dL) with non HT patients (1.21mg/dL to 1.08 mg/dL) and patients with proteinuria (1.44 mg/dL to 1.41 mg/dL) and no proteinuria (1.31 mg/dL to 1.11 mg/dL). CONCLUSION: In OLT recipients with diabetes or hypertensive nephropathy, conversion to mTORi does not improve renal function but stabilizes plasma levels of creatinine. Proteinuria is not a contraindication to conversion to mTORi; it also stabilizes renal function. Conversion to mTORi should only be avoided in patients with diabetes, hypertension and proteinuria.

Cadmium Removal from Aqueous Systems Using Opuntia albicarpa L. Scheinvar as Biosorbent.

The aim of this research was to investigate the use of a natural adsorbent like nopal (Opuntia albicarpa L. Scheinvar) for removing cadmium from aqueous solutions with low concentrations of this metal. Two treatments were applied to the cladodes: a dehydration to get dehydrated nopal (DHN) and heating up to 90°C to obtain a thermally treated nopal (TN). After examining the effect of various pH values (2-7), the capacity of each biosorbent was examined in batch sorption tests at different dosages (0, 500, 1000, 1500, 2000, and 3000 mg L(-1)). The results indicated that adsorption of cadmium to biomass of DHN and TN was highly dependent on pH and biosorbent dosage. The best removal of cadmium (53.3%, corresponding to q e of 0.155 mg g(-1)) was obtained at pH 4.0 by using the TN sorbent. Infrared and Raman spectra confirmed that cadmium removal occurred via adsorption to -OH functional groups.

Monitoring the presence of 13 active compounds in surface water collected from rural areas in northwestern Spain.

Drug residues are considered environmental contaminants, and their occurrence has recently become a matter of concern. Analytical methods and monitoring systems are therefore required to control the continuous input of these drug residues into the environment. This article presents a suitable HPLC-ESI-MS/MS method for the simultaneous extraction, detection and quantification of residues of 13 drugs (antimicrobials, glucocorticosteroids, anti-inflammatories, anti-hypertensives, anti-cancer drugs and triphenylmethane dyes) in surface water. A monitoring study with 549 water samples was carried out in northwestern Spain to detect the presence of drug residues over two sampling periods during 2010, 2011 and 2012. Samples were collected from rural areas with and without farming activity and from urban areas. The 13 analytes were detected, and 18% of the samples collected showed positive results for the presence of at least one analyte. More collection sites were located in rural areas than in urban areas. However, more positive samples with higher concentrations and a larger number of analytes were detected in samples collected from sites located after the discharge of a WWTP. Results indicated that the WWTPs seems to act as a concentration point. Positive samples were also detected at a site located near a drinking water treatment plant.

Resistance and inactivation kinetics of bacterial strains isolated from the non-chlorinated and chlorinated effluents of a WWTP.

The microbiological quality of water from a wastewater treatment plant that uses sodium hypochlorite as a disinfectant was assessed. Mesophilic aerobic bacteria were not removed efficiently. This fact allowed for the isolation of several bacterial strains from the effluents. Molecular identification indicated that the strains were related to Aeromonas hydrophila, Escherichia coli (three strains), Enterobacter cloacae, Kluyvera cryocrescens (three strains), Kluyvera intermedia, Citrobacter freundii (two strains), Bacillus sp. and Enterobacter sp. The first five strains, which were isolated from the non-chlorinated effluent, were used to test resistance to chlorine disinfection using three sets of variables: disinfectant concentration (8, 20 and 30 mg·L(-1)), contact time (0, 15 and 30 min) and water temperature (20, 25 and 30 °C). The results demonstrated that the strains have independent responses to experimental conditions and that the most efficient treatment was an 8 mg·L(-1) dose of disinfectant at a temperature of 20 °C for 30 min. The other eight strains, which were isolated from the chlorinated effluent, were used to analyze inactivation kinetics using the disinfectant at a dose of 15 mg·L(-1) with various retention times (0, 10, 20, 30, 60 and 90 min). The results indicated that during the inactivation process, there was no relationship between removal percentage and retention time and that the strains have no common response to the treatments.

Chlorine disinfection of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, total coliforms, Escherichia coli and Enterococcus faecalis: revisiting reclaimed water regulations.

Pathogenic organisms can be transmitted orally through drinking water or through skin and mucosae by both direct and indirect contact, and their presence in water thus has a negative impact on public health. In wastewater treatment plants (WWTP), water is disinfected to inactivate pathogens. The quantification of several microbial indicators in aquatic systems is required to estimate the biological quality of such systems. So far, coliform bacteria have been used as traditional indicators world-wide. This study has assessed the resistance of total coliforms, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Enterococcus faecalis to three dosages of sodium hypochlorite (NaClO) at two exposure times. The bacteria were isolated from secondary effluents of a WWTP located in Hidalgo, Mexico. The results show that the number of colony-forming units of all studied bacterial types decreased when both the NaClO concentration and exposure times increased. However, they were not eliminated. The inclusion of the species Pseudomonas aeruginosa in regulations for treated wastewater quality as a new indicator is highly recommended due to its importance as an opportunistic pathogen. The detection of this species along with the traditional organisms could be particulary significant for reclaimed water to be used with direct human contact.

Standardization of activated sludge for biodegradation tests.

Activated sludges are an inoculum source commonly used in biodegradation studies, as wastewater treatment facilities constitute an entry point to the environment for many chemicals. In this paper, the main issues relating to the use of activated sludge in biodegradability tests are presented. Special attention is also devoted to discussing the factors affecting both the activity of the microbial communities and the test results. After a short survey of the state of the art of microbiology of activated sludge, the paper focuses on the methods used to reduce the variations in the diversity, quality and quantity of these communities. Finally, use of surrogates as reference materials in biodegradability tests is discussed.