Nereis. Interdisciplinary Ibero-American Journal of Methods, Modelling and Simulation.

The Inflammatory environment in patients with COVID-19

Ignacio Ventura — 2023-02-06

The SARS-CoV-2 virus is the main cause of the pandemic viral pneumonia known as COVID-19. Some studies suggest that, in this disease, lymphopenia is the most common sign of infection, as well as increased CRP and IL-6 caused by a cytokine storm directed at the lungs. Therefore, the hypothesis of the study is to make a systematic revision of scientific studies linked to the immunological phenomenon known as COVID-19.

Objectives: The main aim is to study the cytokine storm of COVID-19, as well as to determine the role of IL-6 and T-lymphocytes.
Methods: A search strategy was made through the PICOS questions, based on the PRISMA method. The MeSH terms were looked up on PubMed, Google Scholar and SciELO (2019-2021). The level of quality was sought according to the ranking of Scimago institutions, and the H index of the journals was assessed.

Results: 43 articles were included, and clinic, diagnosis, treatment, and pathogenesis were compared. A decrease in TCD4 / CD8 lymphocytes was shown in patients with severe disease, as well as an increase in IL-6 and CRP.
Conclusions: The immunological phenomenon known as COVID-19 is characterized by lymphopenia and an increase in IL-6 amongst critically ill patients. Monitoring those parameters could help to understand the progression of the COVID-19 disease.

Effect of the period of confinement due to the Covid-19 pandemic on basic food consumption and health behaviours of a sample of the spanish population

Germán Cerdá Olmedo — 2023-02-06

Due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, the reality of life, work and relationships of the Spanish population has suddenly changed. The aim of this study was to determine the impact of the period of confinement on the behaviour of the population.

The participants were people of Spanish nationality who did not have chronic or mental illnesses that could affect their diet or emotional state.

The sample consisted of 519 people, from all over Spain, 351 participants were women and 168 men. Most of the sample was made up of subjects between 18 and 30 years old.

We proposed an observational, descriptive, cross-sectional study using surveys. An ad hoc questionnaire was designed to explore a series of variables: eating habits, social relationships and some emotional aspects. The questionnaire was distributed for eight weeks using non-probabilistic snowball sampling.

In general, eating behaviours were improved in the period of confinement. The population consumed more home-made food prepared by themselves. Women suffered more emotional and psychological burdens during confinement than men. Younger people suffered more intense emotional issues during confinement.

The period of confinement did not significantly affect the physical condition of the population. The most negative impact was recorded on psychological and social variables, as well as on work and studies.

Natural Genera, Scientific Classifications, Life, Fireworks and COVID

Francisco Torrens — 2023-02-06

A difficulty exists in separating the real aspects from the point of view of the researchers. A taxonomic classification is proposed in five kingdoms: plants, animals, fungi, protista and monera. Humans are the only species capable of manipulating the biosphere on a large scale. Behind the light, colour, sound and smoke from fireworks there is a chemical reaction and a table of chemical elements. The history of pesticides presents a set of little-known stories of environmental pollution. What communication and action to take against the climate emergency? Sustainable development is carried out in the food industry: energy consumption, water consumption, wastewater management, waste management, containers and packaging, and food waste. The 20^th century advances in molecular biology–genomics are informed: what they are and what they represent for today's medicine. Drug repurposing is reviewed for coronavirus treatment and computational study based on molecular topology. Chemistry and pharmacy might be sustainable. Processing might also be sustainable.

Aplicación de la topología molecular a la predicción de la actividad repelente de un grupo de carboxiamidas frente a Aedes aegypti

Bárbara Catalá-Sánchez — 2023-02-06

El mosquito Aedes aegypti presenta características biológicas que lo convierten en un vector importante en el ciclo de transmisión de diferentes patógenos, en especial arbovirus. Durante la última década, la carga de dengue y otras enfermedades tales como la fiebre del zika o fiebre chikungunya se han incrementado. La expansión de dengue ocasionada por este vector, principalmente en América, representa actualmente uno de los problemas más grandes de salud pública, siendo endémico en más de 30 países. Frente a la falta de tratamientos específicos para tratar las infecciones transmitidas por este mosquito, los esfuerzos por hacerle frente se han focalizado en el control vectorial, aplicando diversas estrategias de combate, entre las que se incluye la aplicación de insecticidas y larvicidas para conseguir su eliminación, así como el uso de repelentes como estrategia de protección individual. La búsqueda de nuevos repelentes puede realizarse mediante diferentes herramientas, donde se incluye la topología molecular. En este contexto, computacionalmente a través de un modelo topológico-matemático, evaluamos la potencial actividad repelente de una serie de carboxiamidas preseleccionadas mediante el uso de análisis discriminante lineal y de regresión multilineal. Tras este cribado virtual basado en el modelo seleccionado, proponemos nuevas estructuras químicas con una actividad potencialmente activa como repelentes contra Aedes aegypti.

Visualization of the Avogadro Number

J. Vicente de Julián Ortiz — 2023-02-06

On the occasion of the redefinition of the Avogadro constant, a brief history and some didactic reflections on its magnitude are presented. Some analogies are reviewed and others are suggested to help visualize the extent of its magnitude, and their usefulness is assessed. These analogies are set in the teaching context of the first and second courses of the degrees in several scientific and technic disciplines. Their effectiveness is discussed for the first time on the basis of a questionnaire filled by the corresponding students. The suggestions for educating and learning are that the most helpful models, following the opinion of the students, are those related to more substantial items, for example, neurons, individuals, planets, above analogies on geometric constructions. Challenging current thought, pictorial descriptions are not all the times so advantageous.

Importance of Salmonella spp. control in pig slaughterhouse

Carla Ibáñez Sanchis — 2023-02-06

The present study has been conducted with the aim of determining the prevalence of Salmonella spp. in pig carcasses processed in the slaughterhouse of Industrias Cárnicas La Cope S. A. during the year 2020 and the period between January and June of 2021. In addition, it also aims to assess the trend in the number of positive carcasses to Salmonella spp. and conclude whether the measures applied by both the Official Veterinarian and the Quality Department are effective in reducing the levels of the microorganism in these carcasses. To do this, samples were taken weekly in five random carcasses with sterile sponges impregnated with peptone water. In 2020, a total of 265 carcasses were tested, 40 of them were positive for Salmonella spp., and in the period from January to June 2021, 125 carcasses were tested and 8 of them were positive. After data collection, the results reflected a downward trend throughout the study, obtaining 15.09% of positive cases in 2020 and 6.04% in the period from January to June 2021, resulting in an overall prevalence of 12.30%. In conclusion, it has been possible to determine a decrease in positive cases of Salmonella spp. in the carcasses processed in Industrias Cárnicas La Cope S.A., thus being able to consider that the corrective measures applied by the company and the operators have been effective.

Face masks with a smart fabric

Ángel Serrano Aroca — 2023-02-06

Face masks made of a smart fabric capable of instantly inactivating enveloped viruses and antibiotic-resistant bacteria have been developed using a low-cost antimicrobial technology. Thus, this smart fabric is capable of inactivating the severe acute respiratory syndrome type 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that causes Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and antibiotic-resistant bacteria such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis. This new technology has been transferred from the laboratory (www.serranobblab.com) to the industry (www.visormed.com/es) in record time for the mass production of new generation FFP2 masks and surgical masks in both adult and child sizes. These face masks possess antimicrobial activity and thus provide great protection to their users against microbial infections. These new face masks will be very useful to reduce COVID-19 infections in the current pandemic and other infections caused by enveloped respiratory viruses such as influenza. They will also provide great protection to the general population in future pandemics and in the menace of the exponentially growing threat of bacterial resistance to antibiotics.

Importance of hygiene and handling practices in pig slaughterhouses for public health

Carla Ibáñez Sanchis — 2023-02-06

To ensure that pork meat is safe for consumption, companies must comply with the legislation, implementing a self-control system based on the HACCP and carrying out proper training of workers in terms of good hygiene practices and food handling.

The present study focuses on evaluating the hygiene and handling practices of the operators of the Industrias Cárnicas La Cope pig slaughterhouse and assessing the relationship between these practices and the final contamination levels of the carcasses. For that, a documentary control is carried out. where expurgations due to bad practices during slaughter are recorded and, in addition, samples of carcasses, utensils, uniforms and workers hands are analyzed to check the levels of contamination by aerobic mesophiles and Enterobacteriaceae.

The main results of the study determine that the maximum levels of final contamination of the carcasses are related with the highest number of expurgations, the incorporation of new workers with lack of practice at evisceration points and the highest values ??of hand contamination.

Determinación de coeficiente foliar para la vainilla (Vanilla sp.) y la papa china [Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott]

Dagoberto Acosta Iglesias — 2023-02-06

The main result obtained, it bases on the determination of a leaf coefficient for each one of two plant species of interest for the research, vanilla (Vanilla sp.) and Chinese potato [Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott]. The procedure followed consists of considering an adequate number of nodes, taking the measurements in a rectangular coordinate system, it located the sheets in a convenient way, from which it is built using a modification of the second-order segmented interpolation, which is considered the condition on the second derivative, instead of the first, to model the edge of the leaf while preserving the intensity with which it curves, identified with the concavity. Once the edge of the leaf is constructed, the area it contains is compared and it is compared with that of a rectangle contains it in an inscribed way, to determine the leaf coefficient that can be used in studies on photosynthesis processes in the plant. Two types of leaves are used for this purpose, the leaves measured experimentally and another set of leaves, generated artificially and proportionally, from the smallest to the largest. The calculations are carried out with formulated programs through Matlab Mathematical Assistant.

Efficient numerical evaluation of weak restricted compositions

Juan Luis González-Santander — 2023-02-06

We propose an algorithm to calculate the number of weak compositions, wherein each part is restricted to a different range of integers. This algorithm performs different orders of approximation up to the exact solution by using the Inclusion-Exclusion Principle. The great advantage of it with respect to the classical generating function technique is that the calculation is exponentially faster as the size of the numbers involved increases.

Perfiles sobre tiempo de lectura y comprensión de textos impresos y digitales en estudiantes universitarios

Noemí Bresó-Grancha — 2023-02-06

La literatura ha mostrado los efectos perjudiciales de la lectura digital frente a la tradicional impresa. No obstante, restan cuestiones subyacentes a la dificultad del texto y los perfiles de los lectores cuando estos poseen una preferencia por un texto en concreto. Esta investigación tiene como objetivo examinar los perfiles de los estudiantes Universitarios que prefieren textos digitales, en términos de tiempos de lectura, reconocimiento de palabras y comprensión lectora en soportes digitales e impresos. Se seleccionaron textos sencillos para una tarea de comprensión lectora, contrabalanceada entre soportes digitales e impresos. De este modo, se llevó a cabo un análisis por conglomerados para el desarrollo de perfiles sobre las variables anteriormente descritas.