Surveillance system for acute severe infections with epidemic potential based on a deterministic-stochastic model, the StochCum Method.

Background: The dynamic interactions of severe infectious diseases with epidemic potential and their hosts are complex. Therefore, it remains uncertain if a sporadic zoonosis restricted to a certain area will become a global pandemic or something in between.

Objective: The objective of the study was to present a surveillance system for acute severe infections with epidemic potential based on a deterministic-stochastic model, the StochCum Method.

A novel disposable sensor for measure intra-abdominal pressure.

Background: Measurement of intra-abdominal pressure (IAP) is realized with the Kron's method. However, this technique has drawbacks like an infusion of water into the bladder of the patient.

Objective: The prove a new novel disposable sensor in the way to measure the IAP (DSIAP) this one addresses some limitations of the Kron method.

Electronic Devices That Identify Individuals with Fever in Crowded Places: A Prototype.

Most epidemiological surveillance systems for severe infections with epidemic potential are based on accumulated symptomatic cases in defined geographical areas. Eventually, all cases have to be clinically verified to confirm an outbreak. These patients will present high fever at the early stages of the disease.

[Reflections concerning the care process in the emergency medical services].

In this paper we share some reflections regarding the care process in the emergency medical services, as well as some of the challenges with which these fundamental services deal. We highlight the increasing amount of patients and the complexity of some of the clinical cases, which are some of the causes that lead to the overcrowding of these services.

[Índice de Saturación Modificado y Ambulancias (ISMA): Ambulance assignment and remote Emergency Room Bed Reservation].

Introduction: In most places all over the world–including our country–services in emergency rooms are oversaturated. This situation frequently forces the continuously arriving ambulances to be redirected to other medical units, delaying the admission of patients moved and thus adversely affecting their physical condition.

Objective: To introduce an improvement to the Índicede Saturación Modificado computational system, which monitors the degree of saturation of a network of emergency medical services, to include a network of ambulances, enabling in the system: (i) the effective allocation of ambulances to the site of the accident, or severe clinical event, and (ii) the remote booking of beds in the nearest and least saturated emergency room available.

[An automated registry program for nosocomial infections].

Las infecciones nosocomiales presentan un gran reto para la medicina hospitalaria, en general, y para las Unidades de Cuidados Intensivos, en particular. Su elevada prevalencia, la gran morbilidad y mortalidad asociadas, el incremento de la estancia hospitalaria y, en consecuencia, los costos de la atención médica han hecho que los programas de vigilancia, control y prevención de infecciones nosocomiales sean una parte toral de los protocolos de seguridad para el paciente y un indicador de calidad de la atención médica.

[Evaluation of policies in the procedures for food handling to prevent nosocomial infections in general hospitals and public institutions of health in Mexico].

Objective: To evaluate the implementation and proper use of policies and procedures for food handling to prevent nosocomial gastrointestinal infections in major General Hospitals and Public Institutions of Health in Mexico.

Material And Methods: We performed a cross-sectional study of food services in 54 second-level general hospitals from these institutions: Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS), Institute of Security and Social Services for State Workers (ISSSTE), and the Ministry of Health (SESA). A questionnaire was made to identify risk factors for food contamination.

[Modified overcrowd index in emergency room].

Introduction: Overcrowd of emergency rooms affects efficiency and quality of medical care.

Objectives: To describe the mathematical-computational system modified overcrowd index which measures in real time and in four levels of warnings (non crowded, crowded, overcrowded and extreme overcrowded) emergency room saturation in a network of hospitals, from only seven simple variables (number of available beds, physicians and nurses, number of patients in the waiting room, in medical consultation and admitted for further evaluation, as well as number of critically ill patients admitted).

Materials And Methods: The modified overcrowd index was exhaustively tested with 245,280 virtual transactions from seven hospitals in an uninterrupted schedule basis simulating hourly surveillance for four years.

[New device and technique to measure intra-abdominal pressure].

Introduction: sequential measurement of intra-abdominal pressure is of paramount importance for an early detection and appropriate therapeutic management of intra-abdominal hypertension and abdominal compartment syndrome.

Objective: to validate a device and technique developed to measure intra-abdominal pressure (an innovation of the Foley urinary catheter named intra-abdominal pressure catheter).

Methods: three different sets of measurements where done to test the intra-abdominal pressure catheter device: I.

[Survey about responsiveness of third-level hospitals to a medical disaster: after the pandemic influenza in Mexico].

Background: The recent pandemic influenza AH1N1 virus made it clear that planning for medical disaster response is critical.

Objective: To know the responsiveness of a sample of highly specialized hospitals in Mexico to a medical disaster, with the previous pandemic influenza AH1N1 as reference.

Methods: A survey was conducted among the Medical Directors of a sample of highly specialized hospitals, covering: previous experience with the pandemic influenza, space considerations, material resources, staff, logistics, and current general perspectives.

Moonlighting peptides with emerging function.

Hunter-killer peptides combine two activities in a single polypeptide that work in an independent fashion like many other multi-functional, multi-domain proteins. We hypothesize that emergent functions may result from the combination of two or more activities in a single protein domain and that could be a mechanism selected in nature to form moonlighting proteins. We designed moonlighting peptides using the two mechanisms proposed to be involved in the evolution of such molecules (i.

An FPGA implementation to detect selective cationic antibacterial peptides.

Exhaustive prediction of physicochemical properties of peptide sequences is used in different areas of biological research. One example is the identification of selective cationic antibacterial peptides (SCAPs), which may be used in the treatment of different diseases. Due to the discrete nature of peptide sequences, the physicochemical properties calculation is considered a high-performance computing problem.