La inserció laboral dels ex-interns dels centres penitenciaris de Catalunya

L’estudi parteix d’un repàs de la literatura, 11 entrevistes a experts, 25 a ex-interns o interns i l’anàlisi de dades sòcio-demogràfiques, penitenciàries i d’activitats d’inserció i trajectòria laboral de 3.225 ex-interns espanyols que han sortit en llibertat definitiva a Catalunya entre l’1 de gener 2004 i el 31 de desembre 2007 Es constata que el 43,6% d’ex-interns obté ocupació amb alta a la Seguretat Social un cop en llibertat definitiva. La inserció laboral sol ser fràgil: contractes temporals, feines manuals, poc qualificades i de breu duració, la qual cosa els fa constituir-se com a un col·lectiu vulnerable. En general participen d’una cultura del treball no arrelada i de trajectòries laborals prèvies a la reclusió breus o inexistents. D’aquí, que existeixi una línia de continuïtat entre els vincles amb el mercat de treball abans i després de la reclusió. El treball productiu a presons repercuteix moderadament en més inserció laboral. Però treball productiu i formació professional són poc professionalitzadors, més útils per als que no han treballat, sense estudis ni habilitats laborals. Els estudis són un factor clau en la inserció laboral; també els vincles socials, sobretot els més propers, parella per als homes, fills per a les dones. La major predisposició de les dones per a la inserció no reverteix en altes a la S.S., explicable per factors culturals, dificultats d’obtenció de feina regularitzada o de conciliació d’horaris laborals i familiars. Finalment, l’estudi constata que els joves accedeixen més a una ocupació, no tant per motivació personal sinó per tenir més fàcil accés que els adults.

La inserción laboral de los ex internos de los centros penitenciarios de Catalunya

El estudio analiza –a partir de datos de la Seguridad Social- el impacto del trabajo productivo y la formación profesional en la inserción laboral de los exinternos de nacionalidad española que, en Catalunya, han obtenido la libertad definitiva entre el 2004 y el 2007.

Eficacia del implante Ex-press en el tratamiento del glaucoma crónico de ángulo abierto

Estudi observacional i prospectiu que analitza la eficàcia de l’Ex-press mini glaucoma shunt en 20 ulls que presenten un control deficient de la PIO amb el tractament mèdic i es practica cirurgia. El període de seguiment és d’un any i s’analitza el descens de la PIO a la setmana, al mes, als 6 mesos i a l’any en relació amb la PIO prèvia. Al mateix temps analitzarem la necessitat d’utilitzar tractament mèdic posterior a la intervenció quirúrgica i les complicacions derivades de la utilització de l’implant.

Thymic selection generates a large T cell pool recognizing a self-peptide in humans.

The low frequency of self-peptide-specific T cells in the human preimmune repertoire has so far precluded their direct evaluation. Here, we report an unexpected high frequency of T cells specific for the self-antigen Melan-A/MART-1 in CD8 single-positive thymocytes from human histocompatibility leukocyte antigen-A2 healthy individuals, which is maintained in the peripheral blood of newborns and adults. Postthymic replicative history of Melan-A/MART-1-specific CD8 T cells was independently assessed by quantifying T cell receptor excision circles and telomere length ex vivo. We provide direct evidence that the large T cell pool specific for the self-antigen Melan-A/MART-1 is mostly generated by thymic output of a high number of precursors. This represents the only known naive self-peptide-specific T cell repertoire directly accessible in humans.

Deciphering the unusual HLA-A2/Melan-A/MART-1-specific TCR repertoire in humans.

The Melan-A/MART-1(26-35) antigenic peptide is one of the best studied human tumor-associated antigens. It is expressed in healthy melanocytes and malignant melanoma and is recognized by CD8(+) T cells in the context of the MHC class I molecule HLA-A*0201. While an unusually large repertoire of CD8(+) T cells specific for this antigen has been documented, the reasons for its generation have remained elusive. In this issue of the European Journal of Immunology, Pinto et al. [Eur. J. Immunol. 2014. 44: 2811-2821] uncover one important mechanism by comparing the thymic expression of the Melan-A gene to that in the melanocyte lineage. This study shows that medullary thymic epithelial cells (mTECs) dominantly express a truncated Melan-A transcript, the product of misinitiation of transcription. Consequently, the protein product in mTECs lacks the immunodominant epitope spanning residues 26-35, thus precluding central tolerance to this antigen. In contrast, melanocytes and melanoma tumor cells express almost exclusively the full-length Melan-A transcript, thus providing the target antigen for efficient recognition by HLA-A2-restricted CD8(+) T cells. The frequency of these alternative gene transcription modes may be more common than previously appreciated and may represent an important factor modulating the efficiency of central tolerance induction in the thymus.

Characterization of metabolites in infiltrating gliomas using ex vivo &supl;H high-resolution magic angle spinning spectroscopy.

Gliomas are routinely graded according to histopathological criteria established by the World Health Organization. Although this classification can be used to understand some of the variance in the clinical outcome of patients, there is still substantial heterogeneity within and between lesions of the same grade. This study evaluated image-guided tissue samples acquired from a large cohort of patients presenting with either new or recurrent gliomas of grades II-IV using ex vivo proton high-resolution magic angle spinning spectroscopy. The quantification of metabolite levels revealed several discrete profiles associated with primary glioma subtypes, as well as secondary subtypes that had undergone transformation to a higher grade at the time of recurrence. Statistical modeling further demonstrated that these metabolomic profiles could be differentially classified with respect to pathological grading and inter-grade conversions. Importantly, the myo-inositol to total choline index allowed for a separation of recurrent low-grade gliomas on different pathological trajectories, the heightened ratio of phosphocholine to glycerophosphocholine uniformly characterized several forms of glioblastoma multiforme, and the onco-metabolite D-2-hydroxyglutarate was shown to help distinguish secondary from primary grade IV glioma, as well as grade II and III from grade IV glioma. These data provide evidence that metabolite levels are of interest in the assessment of both intra-grade and intra-lesional malignancy. Such information could be used to enhance the diagnostic specificity of in vivo spectroscopy and to aid in the selection of the most appropriate therapy for individual patients.

Triatoma sordida Stål 1859 (Hemiptera, Reduviidae: Triatominae) in palms of northeastern Argentina

Several palms species provide an important habitat for triatomines and associate vertebrates in tropical America. The objective of this work is to identify the triatomine species living in the palms of rural areas in the Province of Corrientes, and to estimate the potential epidemiological risk they represent for the residents of nearby houses. The survey was carried out in a palm community in Colonia Laurel, Department San Roque, Province of Corrientes, Argentina. Samplings were performed in October, November and December 1998; January, February and March 1999; May and June 1999. Thirty palms: 27 (90%) Butia yatay (Mart.) Becc. and 3 Acrocomia aculeata (Jacq.) Lodd ex Mart. were dissected. Triatoma sordida Stål 1859 was found in 96.2% of B. yatay and in all the A. aculeata palms. A total of 272 live T. sordida was collected; 36 of them (13.2%) were found in bird nests in the frond and the remainder in other locations of the tree. The mean number of triatomines per palm was 9.6 (range 1-60, mode 2). T. sordida was collected during all the sampling months and all stages were present at all seasons. The highest population density was reached in spring and the lowest in autumn. Trypanosoma cruzi was detected in 38.5% in feces of 174 examined insects and identified as such, both by microscopical examination and PCR. This is the first finding of T. sordida populations in B. yatay, an endemic palm of South America distributed in southern Brazil, Uruguay and northeastern Argentina. The high infection prevalence found in this work suggests that T. sordida plays an essential role in the maintenance of the wild T. cruzi transmission cycle in northeastern Argentina.

Anàlisi de l'obra cinematogràfica de quatre documentalistes russos o de repúbliques ex-soviètiques: la relació amb les noves tendències del documental i el llegat soviètic.

El treball de recerca té com a principal objectiu l'estudi del cinema documental rus contemporani a través de l'obra cinematogràfica d'Alexander Sokurov, Sergei Dvortsevoi, Sergei Loznitsa i Victor Kossakovski. En un primer moment la investigació s'havia encaminat en un estudi comparatiu sobre les noves tendències del documental i els models de realisme proposats des de la Rússia post-comunista. El treball s'ha realitzat a partir de tres vies d'investigació. La primera ha consistit en una exhaustiva recerca bibliogràfica sobre cinema documental i cinema soviètic. La segona s'ha plantejat a partir d'un anàlisi acurat de les diverses pel•lícules. Finalment, la tercera via s'ha desenvolupat a partir d'un treball de camp realitzat durant una estada a Rússia, un període en el qual va ser possible entrevistar dos dels cineastes protagonistes de l'estudi, Sergei Dvortsevoi i Victor Kossakovski, així com el crític de cinema Andrei Xemijakin. També va ser fonamental l'assistència a la taula rodona i la master class impartida per Sergei Loznitsa en el marc del desè aniversari del Màster en Teoria i Pràctica de Documental Creatiu de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Tot i que es poden traçar vincles entre el treball dels quatre cineastes escollits i algunes de les pràctiques contemporànies en l'àmbit de la no-ficció, com pot ser l'experiència de Sergei Loznitsa en el terreny del found-footage, o els documentals experimentals de caràcter assagístic d'Alexander Sokurov, així com la tendència observacional i el pas al cinema de ficció de Segei Dvortsevoi, o l'ús de la tecnologia digital en les últimes pel•lícules de Victor Kossakovski. Tot i aquestes aproximacions, es pot afirmar que el model de realisme proposat per aquests cineastes troba el seu autèntic llegat en el cinema soviètic. Una herència que comença amb el cinema de Dziga Vertov –pioner del documental artístic i revolucionari- i acaba en el d'Artavadz Pelechian –cineasta armeni i un dels màxims representatnts del documental poètic-. El treball de recerca ha estat presentat en forma de comunicació en el congrés internacional “IMAGEing Reality: Representing the Real in Film, Television and New Media”, celebrat a Pamplona el mes d'Octubre de 2009. La comunicació s'ha redactat en format article i està pendent de publicació.

Antibacterial xanthones from Kielmeyera variabilis mart. (Clusiaceae)

The bioassay-guided fractionation of stems from Kielmeyera variabilis, traditionally used in Brazilian folk medicine, yielded assiguxanthone-B (1), kielcorin (4), 2,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid (3), and a mixture of xanthones containing assiguxanthone-B (1) and 1,3,5,6-tetrahydroxy-2-prenylxanthone (2) (1:1 w/w). The xanthone mixture inhibited Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis at a concentration of 6.25 µg/ml. When tested alone, the minimal inhibitory concentration of assiguxanthone-B was 25 µg/ml against B. subtilis. Kielcorin and 2,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid were inactive against both strains. None of the fractions was active against Escherichia coli or Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Viable cells of S. aureus were reduced by a 1-3 log CFU/ml within 12 h after exposure of one to eight times the MIC of the xanthone mixture. It is not known whether the tetrahydroxy-2-prenylxanthone or other components of the xanthone mixture are responsible for the main antibacterial activity or whether additive or synergistic action is involved

Risk of hepatitis C among brazilian ex-soccer players

In order to evaluate the significance of injecting vitamins complexes and stimulants minutes before soccer games and its role in spread of hepatitis C virus (HCV) we interviewed and tested 40 ex-soccer players, who played professionally in Mato Grosso, Brazil, between 1970 and 1989. Five players were found anti-HCV positive with enzyme-immunoassay. When re-tested by imunoblot (RIBA), three of these five were confirmed to be positive reacting. The anti-HCV positivity (7.5%) was higher than usually found among blood donors (0.9%) in this region (p < 0.01). None of the players had had prior history of any risk factor that might indicate HCV exposure. We suggest that the common practice of soccer players in the inner part of Brazil in the 70's and 80's, to receive fortifying injections, often with shared syringes, may place ex-soccer players in a potencial risk group for HCV infection and warrants further investigation and attention by public health workers.

Antibacterial activity of extracts and neolignans from Piper regnellii (Miq.) C. DC. var. pallescens (C. DC.) Yunck

The evaluation of the activity of the aqueous and ethyl acetate extracts of the leaves of Piper regnellii was tested against gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. The aqueous extractdisplayed a weak activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis with minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimal bactericidal concentration (MBC) of 1000 µg/ml. The ethyl acetate extract presented a good activity against S. aureus and B. subtilis with MIC and MBC at 15.62 µg/ml. In contrast to the relative low MICs for gram-positive bacteria, gram-negative bacteria were not inhibited by the extracts at concentrations < 1000 mg/ml. The ethyl acetate extract was fractionated on silica gel into nine fractions. The hexane and chloroform fractions were active against S. aureus (MIC at 3.9 µg/ml) and B. subtilis (MIC at 3.9 and 7.8 µg/ml, respectively). Using bioactivity-directed fractionation, the hexane fraction was rechromatographed to yield the antimicrobial compounds 1, 2, 5, and 6identified as eupomatenoid-6, eupomatenoid-5, eupomatenoid-3, and conocarpan, respectively. The pure compounds 1 and 2 showed a good activity against S. aureus with MIC of 1.56 µg/ml and 3.12 µg/ml, respectively. Both compounds presented MIC of 3.12 µg/ml against B. subtilis. The pure compound 6 named as conocarpan was quite active against S. aureus and B. subtilis with MIC of 6.25 µg/ml. The antibacterial properties of P. regnellii justify its use in traditional medicine for the treatment of wounds, contaminated through bacteria infections.

Vaccination with a Melan-A peptide selects an oligoclonal T cell population with increased functional avidity and tumor reactivity.

Both the underlying molecular mechanisms and the kinetics of TCR repertoire selection following vaccination against tumor Ags in humans have remained largely unexplored. To gain insight into these questions, we performed a functional and structural longitudinal analysis of the TCR of circulating CD8(+) T cells specific for the HLA-A2-restricted immunodominant epitope from the melanocyte differentiation Ag Melan-A in a melanoma patient who developed a vigorous and sustained Ag-specific T cell response following vaccination with the corresponding synthetic peptide. We observed an increase in functional avidity of Ag recognition and in tumor reactivity in the postimmune Melan-A-specific populations as compared with the preimmune blood sample. Improved Ag recognition correlated with an increase in the t(1/2) of peptide/MHC interaction with the TCR as assessed by kinetic analysis of A2/Melan-A peptide multimer staining decay. Ex vivo analysis of the clonal composition of Melan-A-specific CD8(+) T cells at different time points during vaccination revealed that the response was the result of asynchronous expansion of several distinct T cell clones. Some of these T cell clones were also identified at a metastatic tumor site. Collectively, these data show that tumor peptide-driven immune stimulation leads to the selection of high-avidity T cell clones of increased tumor reactivity that independently evolve within oligoclonal populations.