Epidemiologic analysis: Prophylaxis and multidrug-resistance in surgery. / Análisis epidemiológico: profilaxis y multirresistencia en cirugía.

BACKGROUND: Surgical site infection is defined as an infection related to the surgical procedure in the area of manipulation occurring within the first 30 postoperative days. The diagnostic criteria include: purulent drainage, isolation of microorganisms, and signs of infection. AIMS: To describe the epidemiologic characteristics and differences among the types of prophylactic regimens associated with hospital-acquired infections at the general surgery service of a tertiary care hospital. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The electronic case records of patients that underwent general surgery at a tertiary care hospital within the time frame of January 1, 2013 and December 31, 2014 were reviewed. A convenience sample of 728 patients was established and divided into the following groups: Group 1: n=728 for the epidemiologic study; Group 2: n=638 for the evaluation of antimicrobial prophylaxis; and Group 3: n=50 for the evaluation of multidrug-resistant bacterial strains in the intensive care unit. The statistical analysis was carried out with the SPSS 19 program, using the Mann-Whitney U test and the chi-square test. RESULTS: A total of 728 procedures were performed (65.9% were elective surgeries). Three hundred twelve of the patients were males and 416 were females. Only 3.98% of the patients complied with the recommended antimicrobial prophylaxis, and multidrug-resistant bacterial strains were found in the intensive care unit. DISCUSSION: A single prophylactic dose is effective, but adherence to this recommendation was not adequate. CONCLUSIONS: The prophylactic guidelines are not strictly adhered to in our environment. There was a significant association between the development of nosocomial infections from multidrug-resistant germs and admission to the intensive care unit.

Multi-analytical study of patination methods on steel substrates: a full insight into surface chemistry and morphology.

Patination of metals has been used for decorative or protective purposes, and several methods aimed to create coloured films on metal surfaces have been developed. This work describes a multi-analytical approach to characterize artificial blue patinas created on mild steel substrates by means of traditional recipes and methods for colouring ancient objects and artefacts. We suggest the combined use of secondary ion mass spectrometry, focused ion beam, X-ray diffraction spectroscopy, white light interferometry and reflectance spectroscopy to characterize blue patinas on steel substrates and to investigate the relationship between the developed colour and the patina layer microstructure and composition. Therefore, the analysis of the oxide films produced by either thermal or chemical colouring methods has been successfully performed, providing information about the film morphology, the surface composition and in-depth elemental distribution within the coloured layers, and the origin of the colour developed on the surface.

Investigation of metallic interdiffusion in Al(x)Ga(1-x)N/GaN/sapphire heterostructures used for microelectronic devices by SEM/EDX and SIMS depth profiling.

Secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) depth profiling has been applied to the study of the thermal annealing of ohmic contacts for high electron mobility transistors. The metallic stacks (Ti/Al/Ni/Au) were deposited over the Al(0.28)Ga(0.72)N/GaN/sapphire heterostructures and subjected to a rapid thermal annealing (850 degrees C for 30 s under N(2) atmosphere) to improve the contact performance. The surface morphology and the in-depth chemical distribution of the layered contacts were severely modified due to the treatment. These modifications have been analyzed by SIMS depth profiling and scanning electron microscopy-energy-dispersive X-ray microanalysis. The SIMS analysis conditions have been optimized to achieve simultaneously good sensitivity and to avoid ion-induced mixing effects produced by the primary beam sputtering.

Revision del valor de la baciloscopia de lavado gastrico para el diagnostico temprano de la tuberculosis en adultos. / Review of the value of gastric lavage bacilloscopy for the early diagnosis of tuberculosis in adults

El presente tabajo se realizo con el fin de demostrar la utilidad del examen microscopico de los lavados gastricos como diagnostico temprano de la tuberculosis.Se examinaron 335 muestras correspondientes a 294 pacientes desde mayo de 1982 a junio de 1983. Se analizaron solo los datos de 180 pacientes sin medicacion antituberculosa. Se obtuvieron 28 baciloscopias positivas, 3 de las cuales fueron falsas positivas (11%) y un total de 42 cultivos positivos para M. tuberculosis. No se obtuvieron cultivos para micobacterias no patogenas. Nuetros hallazgos demostraron que es de importancia la realizacion en forma rutinaria de la baciloscopia de lavado gastrico

Revision del valor de la baciloscopia de lavado gastrico para el diagnostico temprano de la tuberculosis en adultos. / Review of the value of gastric lavage bacilloscopy for the early diagnosis of tuberculosis in adults

El presente tabajo se realizo con el fin de demostrar la utilidad del examen microscopico de los lavados gastricos como diagnostico temprano de la tuberculosis.Se examinaron 335 muestras correspondientes a 294 pacientes desde mayo de 1982 a junio de 1983. Se analizaron solo los datos de 180 pacientes sin medicacion antituberculosa. Se obtuvieron 28 baciloscopias positivas, 3 de las cuales fueron falsas positivas (11%) y un total de 42 cultivos positivos para M. tuberculosis. No se obtuvieron cultivos para micobacterias no patogenas. Nuetros hallazgos demostraron que es de importancia la realizacion en forma rutinaria de la baciloscopia de lavado gastrico