Design,optimization and in vivo evaluation of non-viral vectors for gene therapy. Applications in ocular disorders

227 págs.

How central are clients in sexual networks created by commercial sex?

Sex workers are traditionally considered important vectors of transmission of sexually transmitted infections (STI). The role of clients is commonly overlooked, partially due to the lack of evidence on clients' position in the sexual network created by commercial sex. Contrasting the diffusion importance of sex workers and their clients in the map of their sexual encounters in two Web-mediated communities, we find that from diffusion perspective, clients are as important as sex workers. Their diffusion importance is closely linked to the geography of the sexual encounters: as a result of different movement patterns, travelling clients shorten network distances between distant network neighborhoods and thus facilitate contagion among them more than sex workers, and find themselves more often in the core of the network by which they could contribute to the persistence of STIs in the community. These findings position clients into the set of the key actors and highlight the role of human mobility in the transmission of STIs in commercial sexual networks.

El tratamiento por parte de Naciones Unidas de la violación sexual a mujeres en los conflictos armados: las guerras en los Balcanes

32 p.

El “círculo victimal” en la victimización sexual infantil

Mediante este estudio nos hemos acercado a la victimización sexual infantil desde el concepto de “círculo víctimal”. Tras una contextualización en la que realizamos una revisión de la bibliografía más relevante desde la óptica adoptada, presentamos nuestro propio trabajo de campo con datos de Gipuzkoa. Se han analizado un total de 51 sentencias, principalmente condenatorias, emitidas tanto por la Audiencia Provincial de Gipuzkoa como por el Juzgado de Menores de San Sebastián –incluyendo en este caso no sólo sentencias sino también expedientes-. El periodo abarcado han sido los años 2004-2014. Dicho análisis nos ha permitido considerar las características del abuso, de la víctima y del agresor, el posible impacto victimal, así como la existencia o no de antecedentes de abusos en la infancia en la vida de los agresores. Los resultados se han contrastado con los estudios teóricos y empíricos de ámbito internacional referentes al “círculo victimal” en el ámbito de los abusos sexuales infantiles, deteniéndonos especialmente en si la víctima fue abusada en la familia o fuera de ella y si se convierte en abusador de su propia familia o de alguien fuera de ella. Adicionalmente, con el objeto de introducir la voz de los propios protagonistas, a través de fuentes secundarias, se han rescatado historiales de agresores de menores con antecedentes de abusos. Asimismo se ha completado el trabajo de campo con entrevistas a expertos.

New neuroimaging methods for clinical neuroscience and neurological disorders

236 p.

Effectiveness of a Multi-Component Smoking Cessation Support Programme (McSCSP) for Patients with Severe Mental Disorders: Study Design

Only a few studies have examined the efficacy and safety of smoking cessation programmes in patients with mental disorders. The aim of this paper is to describe in detail the methodology used in the study as well as the Multi-component Smoking Cessation Support Programme in terms of pharmacological treatments and psychological interventions. An open-label 9-month follow-up study was conducted in Spain. A total of 82 clinically stable outpatients with schizophrenia, schizoaffective or bipolar disorder were enrolled. Treatment consisted of a programme specifically developed by the research team for individuals with severe mental disorders. The programme consisted of two phases: (1) weekly individual motivational therapy for 4-12 weeks, and (2) a 12-week active treatment phase. During this phase, at each study visit patients received a one- or two-week supply of medication (transdermal nicotine patches, varenicline or bupropion) with instructions on how to take it, in addition to group psychotherapy for smoking cessation. Evaluations were performed: (1) at the time of enrolment in the study, (2) during the 12-week active treatment phase of the study (weekly for the first 4 weeks and then biweekly), and (3) after the end of this phase (two follow-up assessments at weeks 12 and 24). Evaluations included: (1) smoking history, (2) substance use, (3) psychopathology, (4) adverse events, and (5) laboratory tests. The importance of this study lies in addressing a topical issue often ignored by psychiatrists: the unacceptably high rates of tobacco use in patients with severe mental disorders.

Two Glass Transitions Associated to Different Dynamic Disorders in the Nematic Glassy State of a Non-Symmetric Liquid Crystal Dimer Dopped with gamma-Alumina Nanoparticles

In the present work, the nematic glassy state of the non-symmetric LC dimer -(4-cyanobiphenyl-4-yloxy)--(1-pyrenimine-benzylidene-4-oxy) undecane is studied by means of calorimetric and dielectric measurements. The most striking result of the work is the presence of two different glass transition temperatures: one due to the freezing of the flip-flop motions of the bulkier unit of the dimer and the other, at a lower temperature, related to the freezing of the flip-flop and precessional motions of the cyanobiphenyl unit. This result shows the fact that glass transition is the consequence of the freezing of one or more coupled dynamic disorders and not of the disordered phase itself. In order to avoid crystallization when the bulk sample is cooled down, the LC dimer has been confined via the dispersion of -alumina nanoparticles, in several concentrations.