Evaluation of the effectiveness of minimum intervention measures on young offenders.

The goal of this study was to analyze the recidivism rate in minor offenders to whom a minimum intervention measure was applied after their first felony or misdemeanor, and to determine the variables associated with recidivism. The sample was made up of 154 minors from the province of Santa Cruz of Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain). The information was collected from the database of the Minors' Court. The recidivism rate depends on the measure imposed, ranging between 14 and 40.6%. The degree of agreement between the Technical Team's proposal and the court decision was 70%. With regard to the variables associated with recidivism, a model was obtained through logistic regression that correctly classified 83.7% of the cases, and was made up of the variables perception of parenting problems, intervention of social services, and social isolation.

A study of the interaction between Helicobacter pylori and components of the human fibrinolytic system.

The interaction of plasminogen, tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) and urokinase with a clinical strain of Helicobacter pylori was studied. Plasminogen bound to the surface of H. pylori cells in a concentration-dependent manner and could be activated to the enzymatic form, plasmin, by t-PA. Affinity chromatography assays revealed a plasminogen-binding protein of 58.9 kDa in water extracts of surface proteins. Surface-associated plasmin activity, detected with the chromogenic substrate CBS 00.65, was observed only when plasminogen and an exogenous activator were added to the cell suspension. The two physiologic plasminogen activators, t-PA and urokinase, were also shown to bind to and remain active on the surface of bacterial cells. epsilon-Aminocaproic acid caused partial inhibition of t-PA binding, suggesting that the kringle 2 structure of this activator is involved in the interaction with surface receptors. The activation of plasminogen by t-PA, but not urokinase, strongly depended on the presence of cells and a 25-fold enhancer effect on the initial velocity of activation by t-PA compared to urokinase was established. Furthermore, a relationship between cell concentration and the initial velocity of activation was demonstrated. These findings support the concept that plasminogen activation by t-PA on the bacterial surface is a surface-dependent reaction which offers catalytic advantages.

[Meningitis caused by Bacteroides fragilis in children]. / Meningitis por Bacteroides fragilis en niños.

Bacteroides fragilis is an obligated anaerobic bacillus which forms part of the normal intestinal flora of the colon and is often seen as a common pathogen in intraabdominal infections. It is an infrequent pathogen in cases of meningitis; a review of the literature reports only eight cases of this disease in children, especially in neonates with conditioning factors such as abdominal sepsis, chronic middle ear otitis and atrial-ventricular derivations. A case of a newborn baby girl with lumbosacral myelomeningocele is reported. After the defect was surgically corrected, the wound became infected, the stitches opened, the child began to have fever, became irritable and suffered convulsions. The spinal tap showed changes compatible to bacterial meningitis, the bacteria was grown on Shaedler medium. The child was treated with cefotaxime and amikacin showing no satisfactory improvement. Afterwards, a second spinal tap showed Bacteroides fragilis.