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Prostheses or implantable medical devices (IMDs) are parts made of natural or artificial materials intended to replace a body structure and therefore must be well tolerated by living tissues. The types of IMDs currently available and usable are very varied and capable of replacing almost any human organ. A high but imprecise percentage of Spaniards are carriers of one or more IMDs to which they often owe their quality of life or survival. IMDs are constructed with different types of materials that are often combined in the same prosthesis. These materials must combine harmlessness to human tissues with high wear resistance. Their durability depends on many factors both on the host and the type of prosthesis, but the vast majority last for more than 10-15 years or remain in function for the lifetime of the patient. The most frequently implanted IMDs are placed in the heart or great vessels, joints, dental arches or breast and their most frequent complications are classified as non-infectious, particularly loosening or intolerance, and infectious. Complications, when they occur, lead to a significant increase in morbidity, their repair or replacement multiplies the health care cost and, on occasions, can cause the death of the patient. The fight against IMD complications is currently focused on the design of new materials that are more resistant to wear and infection and the use of antimicrobial substances that are released from these materials. Their production requires multidisciplinary technical teams, but also a willingness on the part of industry and health authorities that is not often found in Spain or in most European nations. Scientific production on prostheses and IMD in Spain is estimated to be less than 2% of the world total, and probably below what corresponds to our level of socio-economic development. The future of IMDs involves, among other factors, examining the potential role of Artificial Intelligence in their design, knowledge of tissue regeneration, greater efficiency in preventing infections and taking alternative treatments beyond antimicrobials, such as phage therapy. For these and other reasons, the Ramón Areces Foundation convened a series of experts in different fields related to prostheses and IMDs who answered and discussed a series of questions previously formulated by the Scientific Council. The following lines are the written testimony of these questions and the answers to them., (©The Author 2024. Published by Sociedad Española de Quimioterapia. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).)

Materials from the localities of Araia d'Alcora in the Ribesalbes-Alcora Basin (Spain, early Miocene, Biozone C, MN4) have yielded an assemblage of erinaceids and metatherians, relatively rich for an Iberian site. The most common erinaceid is the gymnure Galerix symeonidisi Doukas, 1986, present in almost all of the studied sites. Other erinaceids in the faunal list are possibly an indeterminate species of the genera Lantanotherium Filhol, 1888 and Atelerix Pomel, 1848, in what constitutes one of their oldest occurrences in Europe. Metatherians are represented by the herpetotheriid Amphiperatherium frequens erkertshofense (Koenigswald, 1970). The material described here was partially published by Furió and colleagues in 2012. We complete it with new material from the known localities and with material from new sites. We describe for the first time the lower dentition of this taxon in this basin, thus increasing knowledge of the high variability of its decidual molars. In addition, the climatic preferences of the species A. frequens (von Meyer, 1846), which was probably less strict in its humidity requirements than previously thought, are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The production of porcelain stoneware has experienced a considerable increase. Therefore, it was necessary to undertake an investigation that would allow knowing the mineralogical evolution that porcelain stoneware undergoes during the firing process, as well as establishing the influence of the formation of mullite and other mineral or vitreous phases and their quantification. The firing transformations of mine spoils associated with mined coal in the Utrillas-Escucha-Estercuel and Ariño-Andorra areas are studied in this paper. The mineralogical composition of the bulk mine spoils is kaolinite, illite, chlorite, and smectites (in traces), with quartz and feldspar, and minor hematite, calcite, and dolomite. The main objective is to understand the generation of high-temperature mineral phases after firing, and their quantification. The formation of mullite and other high-temperature phases are studied from samples that include variable proportions of illite. Samples with a high content of illite generate mullite at 995 °C. Cristobalite was not detected as a high-temperature phase. Mullite is the most abundant mineral. The hercynite content is higher at low temperatures (995 °C), and hematite content is higher at 1150 °C. The vitreous phase represents about 50% of fired bodies. Despite observing a porous microstructure, the non-porous areas are well sintered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose. The study of the physicochemical properties, structure and interaction of new generation commercial materials with collagen to establish the possibility of their use as retanning agents or other reagents in the liquid finishing of leather. Methodology. To determine the properties and structure of the materials under study, we used common, as well as modern analytical and instrumental methods of research (titrimetric, viscometric, infrared spectroscopy, visual observation) Result. The results of assessing the structure and physicochemical properties of new industrial materials in the form of two retanning agents Retanal RCN 40 synthesized based on anionic acrylic polymer (manufacturer Cromogenia Units, Spain) and Retanal LMV 100 obtained on the basis of melamine (manufacturer Cromogenia Units, Spain), as well as Politan BN syntan-neutralizer based on aromatic compounds (manufacturer Codyeco Spa, Italy) are presented. IR spectroscopic studies of these materials and the chrome fiber of collagen preparation processed by them were made. The nature and change in the optical density of the absorption bands on the protein spectrograms depending on the type of materials used in the work are determined. It was found that the studied materials interact mainly with nitrogen-containing, hydroxyl and peroxide groups of collagen. Scientific novelty. Peculiarities of interaction in the “collagen - chemical reagent” system in the presence of new chemical materials of synthetic origin intended for liquid finishing the leather are investigated. Practical significance. The results of the work will contribute to the expansion of the assortment and the justified use of effective chemical reagents in innovative technologies for the production of leather. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Purpose: We aim to assess if air pollution levels and climatological factors are associated with hospital admissions for exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in Spain from 2004 to 2013. Methods: We conducted a retrospective study. Information on pollution level and climatological factors were obtained from the Spanish Meteorological Agency and hospitalizations from the Spanish hospital discharge database. A case-crossover design was used to identify factors associated with hospitalizations and in hospital mortality. Postal codes were used to assign climatic and pollutant factors to each patient. Results: We detected 162,338 hospital admissions for COPD exacerbation. When seasonal effects were evaluated we observed that hospital admissions and mortality were more frequent in autumn and winter. In addition, we found significant associations of temperature, humidity, ozone (O3), carbon monoxide (CO), particulate matter up to 10 μm in size (PM10) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) with hospital admissions. Lower temperatures at admission with COPD exacerbation versus 1, 1.5, 2 and 3 weeks prior to hospital admission for COPD exacerbation, were associated with a higher probability of dying in the hospital. Other environmental factors that were related to in-hospital mortality were NO2, O3, PM10 and CO. Conclusions: Epidemiology of hospital admissions by COPD exacerbation was negatively affected by colder climatological factors (seasonality and absolute temperature) and short-term exposure to major air pollution (NO2, O3, CO and PM10). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Available type material of Laonice junoyi deposited in Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales of Madrid, Spain was examined. Several important differences were found with respect to the original description and so L. junoyi is redescribed. Differences refer to fusion of peristomium with the first chaetiger; notopodial and neuropodial prechaetal lamellae are highly instead of poorly developed; lamellae post-chaetal both noto and neuropodia from anterior chaetigers (1-4) are suboval with dorsal edge lightly elongated. Two types of capillary chaetae were observed: unilimbate (not bilimbate) in two sizes and alimbate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many important filmmakers have perfected their cinematographic technique by filming advertisements. For this reason, it is not surprising that advertising materials are often included when filmmakers donate their work to a film archive. However, these materials are not always properly catalogued and their dissemination and use is quite limited. This paper describes the quantity and variety of advertising documents preserved in the Spanish film archives, emphasizes their importance as primary information sources for understanding the history of advertising in particular and of cinematography in general, and explains some of the difficulties and challenges of analysing them as documents. The challenge of documentary control of these materials lies not only in the amount of work, but 1) the lack of a methodology that encompasses all documentary procedures and 2) the lack of qualified personnel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Textbooks are basic elements that shape the school curriculum. Despite the democratization and decentralization of the Spanish educational system, a certain ideological inertia and bias with respect to their contents and focus persists. The study presented here is based on an empirical analysis of the contents of 264 books used at the primary (6-11 years), secondary (12-14 years) and baccalaureate (15-16 years) levels. The results point to the existence of an "unstated" curriculum, where only brief mention of Islam, Arabs and Muslims, and their presence in Spain predominate. These are usually accompanied by images - for cognitive support - that serve to maintain an exotic, anti-modern, anti-Western and, in other words, an "Orientalist" image of this group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dar al Manjara l-kubra (The Royal Chamber of Santo Domingo) is a leisure room from the first period of Nasrid art. Scholars consider that the Chamber is of key importance for defining art during this period and a forerunner of what would subsequently become the palaces of the Alhambra in Granada. This paper presents a study of the materials and techniques used in the plasterwork, carried out before the monument was restored. The study began with a detailed examination of the plasterwork before samples of the more significant areas were selected from what was clearly part of the original work. The study of materials consisted in the identification of the pigments and binding media, as well as the base mortars. Conventional analysis methods were used: optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and chromatographic methods (gas chromatography, GC and high-pressure liquid chromatography, HPLC) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The data from material identification and a detailed study of the materials in situ defined the techniques employed and provided key data on Nasrid plasterwork. Very few studies have been made of the materials used in Hispano-Muslim plasterwork, especially in relation to this particular moment in history. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The community structure of the macrobenthic (>1 mm) fauna of an intertidal soft-bottom estuary, the Ría de Foz (Galicia, Northwest Spain) was investigated on 99 occasions during June, September and December 1984 and March 1985. The infaunal data were subjected to classification and ordination techniques. The analyses indicated that sediment characteristics (grain size, percentage silt-clay and organic-matter content) and tidal height are the most important factors governing the distribution and abundance of the intertidal communities. Three faunal assemblages were identified and examined in terms of species dominance, constancy and fidelity. In the clean sands of the outer estuary two main assemblages were distinguished; one, corresponding to the 'boreal Lusitanian Tellina community', inhabited the middle and lower tidal levels; the other, typical of a biocoenosis of sands and slightly muddy mediolittoral sands, inhabited the upper tidal level. The third benthic assemblage occupied the muddy sands and mud of the inner estuary and displayed some features in common with the Cardium edule-Scrobicularia community described by Thorson. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the associations between the characteristics of the nearby physical environment with the total and domain-specific leisure-time sedentary behaviour (SB) in young people. The study included 1578 youth (9-18 years) from the UP&DOWN study. Total leisure-time SB was objectively-assessed by accelerometers. Participants self-reported the time spent during leisure-time in different domains of SB (i.e. screen-based, educational-based, social-based, and other-based SB). Information regarding the basic characteristics of the house, the perceived neighbourhood environment, the amount of physical activity facilities, equipment and materials attainable at home, and the media equipment available at home and in the own bedroom was collected. Linear mixed models were performed, including school and city as random effects. The availability of yard was related to lower total SB and time spent surfing the Internet in boys, but not in girls. More favourable perceived neighbourhood environment was associated with lower total SB and time spent playing video games in girls, but not in boys. The amount of physical activity materials at home was negatively associated with screen-based SB, while the availability of a computer in the own bedroom was positively related to the time spent surfing the Internet in boys and girls. The number of televisions at home and having a computer in the own bedroom was associated with lower time in educational-based SB in boys and girls, respectively. Increasing the number of PA materials at home and decreasing the number of TVs at home and the availability of a computer in the bedroom could improve SB profiles of youth.