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Abstract Streptomycetes are bacteria of significant biotechnological interest due to their production of bioactive specialised metabolites used in medicine and agriculture. In these bacteria, specialised metabolism and morphological differentiation are linked and typically repressed under high phosphate conditions. This study characterises a DeoR-like transcriptional regulator, SCO1897, in Streptomyces coelicolor, whose expression increases during sporulation. Disruption of sco1897 results in reduced biosynthesis of specialised metabolites, delayed sporulation, higher spore phosphate content, and impaired germination. Transcriptomic analysis revealed 1420 genes differentially expressed in the sco1897 mutant compared to the S. coelicolor wild-type strain. The sco1897 gene is located upstream and transcribed in the same direction as six genes, including sco1898-1900 encoding sub-units of an ABC transporter annotated as involved in carbohydrate transport. SCO1897 negatively regulates its own expression, that of the sco1898-1900 ABC transporter, and sco4142, encoding the PstS phosphate-binding protein. The overexpression of sco1898-1900 in the S. coelicolor wild-type strain leads to a significant increase in intracellular spore phosphate levels, similar to those observed in the sco1897 mutant. These findings suggest a complex regulatory network involving the sco1897-sco1900 region. Hypotheses are proposed to explain the various phenotypes of the sco1897 mutant and the complex regulation of the genes of the sco1897-sco1900 region.

An experimental study is presented, simulating the firing process of artisanal red brick in a laboratory muffle. Under controlled heating conditions, the influence of both temperature and time on both the compressive strength and surface color of model bricks are evaluated. A production run and numerical simulations of laboratory brick heating are used to define the experimental conditions in the laboratory. A statistical model replicates the behavior of the compressive resistance at different temperatures, both in the muffle furnace and in production. Brick color has a more representative tone of a well-burned brick when created at the burning temperatures suggested in the literature.

A mixture experiment is one where the response depends only on the relative proportions of the ingredients present in the mixture. Different regression models are used to analyze mixture experiments, such as the Scheffé model, the Slack Variable model, and models with inverse terms. Models with inverse terms are worthy of consideration in certain applications. These models have been analyzed considering their fit quality, but not their numerical stability. This article analyzes the numerical stability of the model with inverse terms and the use of pseudo components. Likewise, a criterion is defined for the selection of the regression model with inverse terms, based on the quality of fit and numerical stability.

This study aimed to explore the effect of the menstrual cycle (MC) phases (i.e., early follicular phase [EFP], late follicular phase [LFP], and mid-luteal phase [MLP]) on the repetitions performed to momentary failure in back squat and bench press exercises, as well as to determine subsequent fatigue (i.e., change in countermovement jump [CMJ], perceived effort, and muscle soreness). Twelve physically active eumenorrheic women performed a back squat and bench press set to momentary failure at 80% of the one-repetition maximum during the EFP, LFP, and MLP. The results revealed that subjects were able to perform 2.2 [0.2 to 4.2] more repetitions in the LFP with respect to the EFP for the back squat exercise (p = 0.009), but no significant differences were observed for the bench press (p = 0.354). The EFP displayed a larger CMJ height drop (−0.86 [−1.71 to −0.01] cm) with respect to the LFP (0.01 [−0.57 to 0.58] cm) and the MLP (−0.36 [−1.15 to 0.43] cm). Neither the perceived effort of each set to failure nor the resulting muscle soreness differed between MC phases. Therefore, practitioners should be aware that the MC could condition the repetitions available to momentary failure and the resulting allostatic load.

BackgroundCountries across Europe have faced similar evolutions of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern, including the Alpha, Delta, and Omicron variants.Materials and methodsWe used data from GISAID and applied a robust, automated mathematical substitution model to study the dynamics of COVID-19 variants in Europe over a period of more than 2 years, from late 2020 to early 2023. This model identifies variant substitution patterns and distinguishes between residual and dominant behavior. We used weekly sequencing data from 19 European countries to estimate the increase in transmissibility (Δβ) between consecutive SARS-CoV-2 variants. In addition, we focused on large countries with separate regional outbreaks and complex scenarios of multiple competing variants.ResultsOur model accurately reproduced the observed substitution patterns between the Alpha, Delta, and Omicron major variants. We estimated the daily variant prevalence and calculated Δβ between variants, revealing that: (i) Δβ increased progressively from the Alpha to the Omicron variant; (ii) Δβ showed a high degree of variability within Omicron variants; (iii) a higher Δβ was associated with a later emergence of the variant within a country; (iv) a higher degree of immunization of the population against previous variants was associated with a higher Δβ for the Delta variant; (v) larger countries exhibited smaller Δβ, suggesting regionally diverse outbreaks within the same country; and finally (vi) the model reliably captures the dynamics of competing variants, even in complex scenarios.ConclusionThe use of mathematical models allows for precise and reliable estimation of daily cases of each variant. By quantifying Δβ, we have tracked the spread of the different variants across Europe, highlighting a robust increase in transmissibility trend from Alpha to Omicron. Additionally, we have shown that the geographical characteristics of a country, as well as the timing of new variant entrances, can explain some of the observed differences in variant substitution dynamics across countries.

IntroductionBronchiolitis, mostly caused by Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), and influenza among other respiratory infections, lead to seasonal saturation at healthcare centers in temperate areas. There is no gold standard to characterize the stages of epidemics, nor the risk of respiratory infections growing. We aimed to define a set of indicators to assess the risk level of respiratory viral epidemics, based on both incidence and their short-term dynamics, and considering epidemical thresholds.MethodsWe used publicly available data on daily cases of influenza for the whole population and bronchiolitis in children

This paper describes a statistical and mathematical approach to optimize the mechanical properties of a wood plastic composite with Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) as polymeric matrix. Wood plastic composite are materials that consist of a primary continuous polymer phase, where a secondary filler dispersed phase is embedded, the filler generally is wood fibers or sawdust. The slack variable approach in mixture experiments, consist in selecting a component of the mixture as slack variable, to subsequently design and analyze the experiment in terms of the remaining components. With the experimental design information three slack variable model were fit. Using response surface graphs, we show how different compositions modify the mechanical properties of wood plastic composite. Besides, by the desirability function, the optimal formulation of the compound that simultaneously maximizing the mechanical properties of wood plastic composite, was obtained. Finally, the components proportions that provides the best tensile, flexural and compression strength are presented.

Genome methylation profiles define naïve-like (n-CLL), memory-like (m-CLL), and intermediate (i-CLL) subsets of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL). The profiles can be easily determined by the analysis of the five-CpG signature. m-CLL, i-CLL, and n-CLL with the good, intermediate, and poor prognoses, respectively, differ by the somatic hypermutation status of the immunoglobulin heavy chain variable gene (IGHV), a widely used prognostic predictor in CLL. We have previously shown that the expression of WNT5A, encoding a ROR1 ligand, distinguishes patients with the worse outcome within the prognostically favourable IGHV-mutated subgroup. To analyse the mechanisms controlling WNT5A expression, we investigated the methylation status of 54 CpG sites within the WNT5A promoter and its relation to the WNT5A gene expression. In a cohort of 59 CLL patients balanced for combinations of IGHV and WNT5A statuses, we identified three promoter CpG sites whose methylation level correlated with the WNT5A expression within the IGHV-mutated subgroup. Further, we complemented our data with the methylation status of the five-CpG signature. IGHV-mutated/WNT5A-negative and IGHV-mutated/WNT5A-positive cases overlapped with m‑CLL and i‑CLL methylation subgroups, respectively, while most IGHV‑unmutated samples were assigned to n-CLL. Median methylation levels of all the three CpG sites in the WNT5A promoter were lowest in i-CLL. Finally, a detailed analysis of m-CLL and i-CLL showed that undetectable WNT5A expression predicts longer treatment-free survival with higher statistical significance than the classification according to the five-CpG signature. To conclude, a favourable m-CLL subgroup is associated with mutated IGHV and undetectable WNT5A expression due to its promoter methylation.

Abstract While wastewater-based epidemiology has proven a useful tool for epidemiological surveillance during the COVID-19 pandemic, few quantitative models comparing virus concentrations in wastewater samples and cumulative incidence have been established. In this work, a simple mathematical model relating virus concentration and cumulative incidence for full contagion waves was developed. The model was then used for short-term forecasting and compared to a local linear model. Both scenarios were tested using a dataset composed of samples from 32 wastewater treatment plants and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) incidence data covering the corresponding geographical areas during a 7-month period, including two contagion waves. A population-averaged dataset was also developed to model and predict the incidence over the full geography. Overall, the mathematical model based on wastewater data showed a good correlation with cumulative cases and allowed us to anticipate SARS-CoV-2 incidence in one week, which is of special relevance in situations where the epidemiological monitoring system cannot be fully implemented.

Background: Short-term forecasts of infectious disease burden can contribute to situational awareness and aid capacity planning. Based on best practice in other fields and recent insights in infectious disease epidemiology, one can maximise the predictive performance of such forecasts if multiple models are combined into an ensemble. Here, we report on the performance of ensembles in predicting COVID-19 cases and deaths across Europe between 08 March 2021 and 07 March 2022. Methods: We used open-source tools to develop a public European COVID-19 Forecast Hub. We invited groups globally to contribute weekly forecasts for COVID-19 cases and deaths reported by a standardised source for 32 countries over the next 1–4 weeks. Teams submitted forecasts from March 2021 using standardised quantiles of the predictive distribution. Each week we created an ensemble forecast, where each predictive quantile was calculated as the equally-weighted average (initially the mean and then from 26th July the median) of all individual models’ predictive quantiles. We measured the performance of each model using the relative Weighted Interval Score (WIS), comparing models’ forecast accuracy relative to all other models. We retrospectively explored alternative methods for ensemble forecasts, including weighted averages based on models’ past predictive performance. Results: Over 52 weeks, we collected forecasts from 48 unique models. We evaluated 29 models’ forecast scores in comparison to the ensemble model. We found a weekly ensemble had a consistently strong performance across countries over time. Across all horizons and locations, the ensemble performed better on relative WIS than 83% of participating models’ forecasts of incident cases (with a total N=886 predictions from 23 unique models), and 91% of participating models’ forecasts of deaths (N=763 predictions from 20 models). Across a 1–4 week time horizon, ensemble performance declined with longer forecast periods when forecasting cases, but remained stable over 4 weeks for incident death forecasts. In every forecast across 32 countries, the ensemble outperformed most contributing models when forecasting either cases or deaths, frequently outperforming all of its individual component models. Among several choices of ensemble methods we found that the most influential and best choice was to use a median average of models instead of using the mean, regardless of methods of weighting component forecast models. Conclusions: Our results support the use of combining forecasts from individual models into an ensemble in order to improve predictive performance across epidemiological targets and populations during infectious disease epidemics. Our findings further suggest that median ensemble methods yield better predictive performance more than ones based on means. Our findings also highlight that forecast consumers should place more weight on incident death forecasts than incident case forecasts at forecast horizons greater than 2 weeks. Funding: AA, BH, BL, LWa, MMa, PP, SV funded by National Institutes of Health (NIH) Grant 1R01GM109718, NSF BIG DATA Grant IIS-1633028, NSF Grant No.: OAC-1916805, NSF Expeditions in Computing Grant CCF-1918656, CCF-1917819, NSF RAPID CNS-2028004, NSF RAPID OAC-2027541, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 75D30119C05935, a grant from Google, University of Virginia Strategic Investment Fund award number SIF160, Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) under Contract No. HDTRA1-19-D-0007, and respectively Virginia Dept of Health Grant VDH-21-501-0141, VDH-21-501-0143, VDH-21-501-0147, VDH-21-501-0145, VDH-21-501-0146, VDH-21-501-0142, VDH-21-501-0148. AF, AMa, GL funded by SMIGE - Modelli statistici inferenziali per governare l'epidemia, FISR 2020-Covid-19 I Fase, FISR2020IP-00156, Codice Progetto: PRJ-0695. AM, BK, FD, FR, JK, JN, JZ, KN, MG, MR, MS, RB funded by Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Poland with grant 28/WFSN/2021 to the University of Warsaw. BRe, CPe, JLAz funded by Ministerio de Sanidad/ISCIII. BT, PG funded by PERISCOPE European H2020 project, contract number 101016233. CP, DL, EA, MC, SA funded by European Commission - Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology through the contract LC-01485746, and Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovacion y Universidades and FEDER, with the project PGC2018-095456-B-I00. DE., MGu funded by Spanish Ministry of Health / REACT-UE (FEDER). DO, GF, IMi, LC funded by Laboratory Directed Research and Development program of Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) under project number 20200700ER. DS, ELR, GG, NGR, NW, YW funded by National Institutes of General Medical Sciences (R35GM119582; the content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of NIGMS or the National Institutes of Health). FB, FP funded by InPresa, Lombardy Region, Italy. HG, KS funded by European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. IV funded by Agencia de Qualitat i Avaluacio Sanitaries de Catalunya (AQuAS) through contract 2021-021OE. JDe, SMo, VP funded by Netzwerk Universitatsmedizin (NUM) project egePan (01KX2021). JPB, SH, TH funded by Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF; grant 05M18SIA). KH, MSc, YKh funded by Project SaxoCOV, funded by the German Free State of Saxony. Presentation of data, model results and simulations also funded by the NFDI4Health Task Force COVID-19 (https://www.nfdi4health.de/task-force-covid-19-2) within the framework of a DFG-project (LO-342/17-1). LP, VE funded by Mathematical and Statistical modelling project (MUNI/A/1615/2020), Online platform for real-time monitoring, analysis and management of epidemic situations (MUNI/11/02202001/2020); VE also supported by RECETOX research infrastructure (Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic: LM2018121), the CETOCOEN EXCELLENCE (CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/17-043/0009632), RECETOX RI project (CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/16-013/0001761). NIB funded by Health Protection Research Unit (grant code NIHR200908). SAb, SF funded by Wellcome Trust (210758/Z/18/Z).

Abstract Professionals that work in neonatal units need to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the premature infant who is in the transition process from feeding through a gastric tube to oral feeding. The main aim of this study was to validate the Oral FEeding Assessment in premaTure INfants (OFEATINg) instrument. A psychometric validity and reliability study was conducted in Neonatal Intensive Care Units of two public, metropolitan, university hospitals. The study population were premature infants at a postconceptional age of 31–35 weeks. The study included evaluation of the reliability, convergent, discriminant and construct validity, sensitivity and specificity of the OFEATINg instrument. A total of 621 feedings of 56 preterm infants were evaluated. Confirmatory factor analysis identified 3 factors and 13 indicators with a good fit to the model. Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.78. The instrument showed high indices of inter-rater reliability (Pearson 0.9 and intraclass correlation coefficient 0.95). The OFEATINg scale is a valid and reliable instrument for evaluating the readiness for oral feeding of preterm infants. It may enable clinicians to evaluate the physiological and behavioral abilities involved in the oral feeding process and help them make decisions related to the transition to full oral feeding. Clinical trial registration: This study was prospectively registered at the two Institutional review boards.

BackgroundAdvanced age, frailty, and age-related comorbidities are the major causes of pulmonary endarterectomy disqualification in patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH). Balloon pulmonary angioplasty (BPA) is an attractive and less invasive therapy for elderly patients. However, information about the safety, procedure tolerance, and effectiveness of BPA in elderly patients is limited.Objective and methodsWe aimed to analyze the safety, tolerance, and efficacy of BPA in CTEPH patients aged ≥70 years. This observational, descriptive, and retrospective series included consecutive patients aged ≥70 years, who underwent completed or interrupted BPA programs at a pulmonary hypertension reference center between May 2013 and May 2022.ResultsWe enrolled 155 patients in our institution's BPA program. Among these, 33 patients were aged ≥70 years (mean age, 76.4 years; women, 75.8%) and had finished or interrupted BPA programs. In this cohort, we performed 116 BPA procedures (average, 3.6 ± 1.8 sessions/patient). Among the 33 patients, 19 (57.6%) completed treatment for all lobes, while the BPA program was interrupted in the remaining 14 (42.4%). Among all 33 patients, BPA was associated with a significant reduction in mean pulmonary arterial pressure (39.2 ± 9.3 vs. 32.8 ± 8.8 mmHg; p < 0.001) and pulmonary vascular resistance (6.7 ± 3.1 vs. 4.4 ± 2.0 WU; p < 0.001), along with an improvement in the cardiac index (2.5 ± 0.6 vs. 2.8 ± 0.7 L/min/m2; p = 0.04) with significant reductions in the N-terminal prohormone of brain natriuretic peptide level (pre-BPA, 353 pg/mL [207–1,960 pg/mL] vs. post-BPA, 167 pg/mL [73–629 pg/mL]; p = 0.03). The patients' functional class improved, and pulmonary hypertension-targeting drug requirements were significantly reduced. The pulmonary injury appeared in 3.4% of the 116 procedures, of which 50% were of grade 2. No patient of ≥70 years had grade 5 pulmonary injury. One periprocedural mortality was recorded (3%), and the median follow-up period was 2.8 years. The survival rate of the entire cohort at 1 and 3 years was 90.5 and 82.8%, respectively.ConclusionBPA is an effective and safe approach in patients aged ≥70 years. It significantly improves patients' functional class, hemodynamic, and biomarkers, and reduces their pulmonary hypertension-targeting medical therapy requirements. These successes were achieved even though a significant percentage of patients did not complete the therapy. The rates of procedural complications and periprocedural mortality were low. Survival at 1 and 3 years was good in comparison to that of younger patients undergoing BPA.

Resumen Antecedentes Las mujeres que viven con el VIH (MVV) carecen de información basada en evidencias sobre las opciones reproductivas mientras son presionadas por la familia, los profesionales de la salud y los miembros de la comunidad para renunciar a la idea de tener hijos. Como las intenciones reproductivas de las MVV no son comprendidas, las conductas estigmatizantes las obligan a ocultar su enfermedad para evitar el rechazo de su familia, pareja y grupos sociales. El cumplimiento de las normas sociales, el miedo al estigma y la discriminación influyen en su experiencia. La presente investigación está compuesta por estudios cualitativos que de forma individual carecen de la perspectiva de síntesis necesaria para guiar el desarrollo de las intervenciones. El propósito de este estudio fue sintetizar la evidencia para explicar el proceso de toma de decisiones reproductivas para las MVV en los países desarrollados. Métodos Se realizó una revisión sistemática con síntesis de investigación cualitativa mediante búsquedas en 10 bases de datos electrónicas (CINAHL, EMBASE, MEDLINE, Scopus, Social Science Citation Index, Web of Science, Google Scholar, Cuidatge, Cuiden Enfispo y SciELO). Los estudios publicados en revistas de entre 1995 y 2019 que contuvieran datos cualitativos sobre la toma de decisiones reproductivas entre las MVV en países desarrollados fueron elegibles para su inclusión. Se consideraron países desarrollados aquellos que pertenecieran a la OCDE con el objetivo de comparar condiciones de bienestar social y estabilidad económica. Las listas de verificación CASP y JBI para la investigación cualitativa se utilizaron para evaluar la calidad del estudio y la integridad metodológica. Para la síntesis se utilizaron técnicas de análisis temático y metanálisis cualitativo. Resultados En la síntesis se incluyeron veinte estudios de 12 países desarrollados. Los hallazgos se organizaron en 3 metatemas de 15 temas y 45 subtemas, incluyendo: (1) Identidad fragmentada, (2) Barreras, inequidades y desinformación, (3) Afrontamiento, resiliencia y apoyo. La toma de decisiones reproductivas se percibió como un proceso complejo influenciado por factores facilitadores y barrera. Los facilitadores ayudaron a las MVV a afrontar su nueva realidad para volverse más resilientes, mientras que las barreras hicieron que su situación fuera más difícil de manejar. Conclusión Las MVV enfrentan la toma de decisiones reproductivas con déficits de conocimiento y apoyo social limitado. Es necesario adoptar un enfoque holístico de atención integral con asesoramiento multidisciplinario para acompañar a las MVV. Los clínicos podrían beneficiarse del desarrollo profesional para aprender a estar verdaderamente presentes para las MVV, participando en reflexiones, demostrando compasión y comprendiendo sus situaciones. Las guías de práctica clínica basadas en la evidencia deben adaptarse a las necesidades de planificación familiar y salud sexual y reproductiva de las MVV. Plain Language Summary Women living with HIV can become pregnant and deliver a healthy baby due to advances in medicine. Being a mother is an important role that gives meaning to life for most women. For women living with HIV thinking about having a baby is difficult because HIV complicates many areas of daily living. When women living with HIV try to speak with physicians and nurses about having a baby, they often do not feel supported and report feeling stigmatized. This review of the scientific literature summarizes the experiences of women living with HIV in developed countries as they considered having a baby. Ten electronic databases were searched for studies published between 1995 and 2019 reporting interviews with women living with HIV about becoming pregnant and having a baby. From the 4519 articles identified, 20 were included for review with 1395 participants from 12 developed countries. After abstracting and analyzing the interviews, three themes were developed to summarize the process described by women living with HIV as they considered pregnancy and the possibility of having a baby, including: (1) Shattered identity, (2) Barriers, inequities, and misinformation, and (3) Coping, resiliency, and support. When women living with HIV consider having a baby, they need to feel comfortable and safe speaking with physicians and nurses about family planning. They also need more support from their partner, as well as family and friends. Strategies need to be implemented to improve the family planning process for women living with HIV, including education health care providers about speaking to women about pregnancy and having a healthy baby.

The motility of adherent eukaryotic cells is driven by the dynamics of the actin cytoskeleton. Despite the common force-generating actin machinery, different cell types often show diverse modes of locomotion that differ in their shape dynamics, speed, and persistence of motion. Recently, experiments in Dictyostelium discoideum have revealed that different motility modes can be induced in this model organism, depending on genetic modifications, developmental conditions, and synthetic changes of intracellular signaling. Here, we report experimental evidence that in a mutated D. discoideum cell line with increased Ras activity, switches between two distinct migratory modes, the amoeboid and fan-shaped type of locomotion, can even spontaneously occur within the same cell. We observed and characterized repeated and reversible switchings between the two modes of locomotion, suggesting that they are distinct behavioral traits that coexist within the same cell. We adapted an established phenomenological motility model that combines a reaction-diffusion system for the intracellular dynamics with a dynamic phase field to account for our experimental findings.

PurposeWe aim to compare the severity of infections between omicron and delta variants in 609,352 SARS-CoV-2 positive cases using local hospitalization, vaccination, and variants data from the Catalan Health Care System (which covers around 7. 8 million people).MethodsWe performed a substitution model to establish the increase in transmissibility of omicron using variant screening data from primary care practices (PCP) and hospital admissions. In addition, we used this data from PCP to establish the two periods when delta and omicron were, respectively, dominant (above 95% of cases). After that, we performed a population-based cohort analysis to calculate the rates of hospital and intensive care unit (ICU) admissions for both periods and to estimate reduction in severity. Rate ratios (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were calculated and stratified by age and vaccination status. In a second analysis, the differential substitution model in primary care vs. hospitals allowed us to obtain a population-level average change in severity.ResultsWe have included 48,874 cases during the delta period and 560,658 during the omicron period. During the delta period, on average, 3.8% of the detected cases required hospitalization for COVID-19. This percentage dropped to 0.9% with omicron [RR of 0.46 (95% CI: 0.43 to 0.49)]. For ICU admissions, it dropped from 0.8 to 0.1% [RR 0.25 (95% CI: 0.21 to 0.28)]. The proportion of cases hospitalized or admitted to ICU was lower in the vaccinated groups, independently of the variant. Omicron was associated with a reduction in risk of admission to hospital and ICU in all age and vaccination status strata. The differential substitution models showed an average RR between 0.19 and 0.50.ConclusionBoth independent methods consistently show an important decrease in severity for omicron relative to delta. The systematic reduction happens regardless of age. The severity is also reduced for non-vaccinated and vaccinated groups, but it remains always higher in the non-vaccinated population. This suggests an overall reduction in severity, which could be intrinsic to the omicron variant. The fact is that the RR in ICU admission is systematically smaller than in hospitalization points in the same direction.

This paper presents the main challenges of an Internet of Things (IoT) platform. In this sense, an interoperability platform for IoT devices, called PIICO, is presented in the frame of an agriculture application. PIICO is a platform able to resolve interoperability between components and has the potential to be a stable IoT platform. Improvements opportunities of the main IoT PIICO components (nodes, gateway, and data analytics platform) are presented and discussed. The proposed improvements will make that an IoT platform improves its functionality, operation, security, and performance.

The process of polarization determines the head and tail of single cells. A mechanism of this kind frequently precedes the subsequent cell locomotion and it determines the direction of motion. The process of polarization has frequently been described as a reaction-diffusion mechanism combined with a source of stochastic perturbations. We selected a particular model of amoeboid cell crawling for the motion of Dictyostelium discoideum and studied the interplay between pattern formation and locomotion. Next, we integrated the model in a two-dimensional domain considering the shape deformations of the cells in order to characterize the dynamics. We observed that the condition of pattern formation is finely tuned and we propose a modification based on the use of a mass-conservation constraint to substantially increase the robustness of the mathematical model.

El propósito de este trabajo es caracterizar los procesos de construcción de contenidos de paz en los medios radiales San Buenaventura Estéreo y Radio B del municipio de Bello (Antioquia, Colombia), conforme con las directrices sugeridas por parte de organismos nacionales e internacionales en pro de la creación de relatos que coadyuven a la memoria histórica de esta localidad. Se justifica su realización en tanto parte de la tipología de investigación constructiva sobre la paz que permite comprender los modos en que los productores radiales y los oyentes de este lugar, reconocido como escenario de violencia, edifican la cultura de paz a partir de los relatos reconciliadores de sus propias violencias. La metodología sigue el constructivismo de paz, por lo que el estudio es cualitativo y descriptivo con un muestreo no probabilístico por conveniencia; al ser pocas las emisoras, solo las elegidas contaban con producción en esta materia. Se emplearon técnicas de producción de datos como revisión documental de la categoría contenidos de paz en las realizaciones radiales: Por las calles de mi barrio, con líderes barriales; Locutores por la paz, con niños; y En clave de paz, con actores del conflicto. Además, se hicieron entrevistas semiestructuradas y talleres participativos, aplicados a directores y productores de los medios abordados, desde las categorías principios de producción radial y memoria histórica. Como hallazgos se destacan la proactividad de los productores y su interés en la generación de los programas en un contexto donde las capacidades endógenas de los bellanitas operan como recurso de resiliencia. El análisis indica que los nuevos relatos producidos en estos medios contribuyen a la construcción de la memoria histórica del municipio, donde los participantes ven en el medio radial, y su labor, oportunidades de aprendizajes para la vida que pueden fortalecerse con la academia para garantizar su sostenibilidad con la formación a las generaciones más jóvenes.

The coupling of the internal mechanisms of cell polarization to cell shape deformations and subsequent cell crawling poses many interdisciplinary scientific challenges. Several mathematical approaches have been proposed to model the coupling of both processes, where one of the most successful methods relies on a phase field that encodes the morphology of the cell, together with the integration of partial differential equations that account for the polarization mechanism inside the cell domain as defined by the phase field. This approach has been previously employed to model the motion of single cells of the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum, a widely used model organism to study actin-driven motility and chemotaxis of eukaryotic cells. Besides single cell motility, Dictyostelium discoideum is also well-known for its collective behavior. Here, we extend the previously introduced model for single cell motility to describe the collective motion of large populations of interacting amoebae by including repulsive interactions between the cells. We performed numerical simulations of this model, first characterizing the motion of single cells in terms of their polarity and velocity vectors. We then systematically studied the collisions between two cells that provided the basic interaction scenarios also observed in larger ensembles of interacting amoebae. Finally, the relevance of the cell density was analyzed, revealing a systematic decrease of the motility with density, associated with the formation of transient cell clusters that emerge in this system even though our model does not include any attractive interactions between cells. This model is a prototypical active matter system for the investigation of the emergent collective dynamics of deformable, self-driven cells with a highly complex, nonlinear coupling of cell shape deformations, self-propulsion and repulsive cell-cell interactions. Understanding these self-organization processes of cells like their autonomous aggregation is of high relevance as collective amoeboid motility is part of wound healing, embryonic morphogenesis or pathological processes like the spreading of metastatic cancer cells.

BackgroundFamily clusters offer a good opportunity to study viral transmission in a stable setting. We aimed to analyze the specific role of children in transmission of SARS-CoV-2 within households.MethodsA prospective, longitudinal, observational study, including children with documented acute SARS-CoV-2 infection attending 22 summer-schools in Barcelona, Spain, was performed. Moreover, other patients and families coming from other school-like environments that voluntarily accessed the study were also studied. A longitudinal follow-up (5 weeks) of the family clusters was conducted to determine whether the children considered to be primary cases were able to transmit the virus to other family members. The household reproduction number (Re*) and the secondary attack rate (SAR) were calculated.Results1905 children from the summer schools were screened for SARS-CoV-2 infection and 22 (1.15%) tested positive. Moreover, 32 additional children accessed the study voluntarily. Of these, 37 children and their 26 households were studied completely. In half of the cases (13/26), the primary case was considered to be a child and secondary transmission to other members of the household was observed in 3/13, with a SAR of 14.2% and a Re* of 0.46. Conversely, the SAR of adult primary cases was 72.2% including the kids that gave rise to the contact tracing study, and 61.5% without them, and the estimated Re* was 2.6. In 4/13 of the paediatric primary cases (30.0%), nasopharyngeal PCR was persistently positive > 1 week after diagnosis, and 3/4 of these children infected another family member (pConclusionsChildren may not be the main drivers of the infection in household transmission clusters in the study population. A prolonged positive PCR could be associated with higher transmissibility.

BackgroundDespite their clear lesser vulnerability to COVID-19, the extent by which children are susceptible to getting infected by SARS-CoV-2 and their capacity to transmit the infection to other people remains inadequately characterized. We aimed to evaluate the role of school reopening and the preventive strategies in place at schools in terms of overall risk for children and community transmission, by comparing transmission rates in children as detected by a COVID-19 surveillance platform in place in Catalonian Schools to the incidence at the community level.Methods and findingsInfections detected in Catalan schools during the entire first trimester of classes (September-December 2020) were analysed and compared with the ongoing community transmission and with the modelled predicted number of infections. There were 30.486 infections (2.12%) documented among the circa 1.5M pupils, with cases detected in 54.0% and 97.5% of the primary and secondary centres, respectively. During the entire first term, the proportion of "bubble groups" (stable groups of children doing activities together) that were forced to undergo confinement ranged between 1 and 5%, with scarce evidence of substantial intraschool transmission in the form of chains of infections, and with ~75% of all detected infections not leading to secondary cases. Mathematical models were also used to evaluate the effect of different parameters related to the defined preventive strategies (size of the bubble group, number of days of confinement required by contacts of an index case). The effective reproduction number inside the bubble groups in schools (R*), defined as the average number of schoolmates infected by each primary case within the bubble, was calculated, yielding a value of 0.35 for primary schools and 0.55 for secondary schools, and compared with the outcomes of the mathematical model, implying decreased transmissibility for children in the context of the applied measures. Relative homogenized monthly cumulative incidence ([Formula: see text]) was assessed to compare the epidemiological dynamics among different age groups and this analysis suggested the limited impact of infections in school-aged children in the context of the overall community incidence.ConclusionsDuring the fall of 2020, SARS-CoV-2 infections and COVID-19 cases detected in Catalan schools closely mirrored the underlying community transmission from the neighbourhoods where they were set and maintaining schools open appeared to be safe irrespective of underlying community transmission. Preventive measures in place in those schools appeared to be working for the early detection and rapid containment of transmission and should be maintained for the adequate and safe functioning of normal academic and face-to-face school activities.

The development of modeling structures at the channel level that can integrate subcellular and cell models and properly reproduce different experimental data is of utmost importance in cardiac electrophysiology. In contrast to gate-based models, Markov Chain models are well suited to promote the integration of the subcellular level of the cardiomyocyte to the whole cell. In this paper, we develop Markov Chain models for the L-type Calcium current that can reproduce the electrophysiology of two established human models for the ventricular and Purkinje cells. In addition, instead of presenting a single set of parameters, we present a collection of set of parameters employing Differential Evolution algorithms that can properly reproduce very different protocol data. We show the importance of using an ensemble of a set of parameter values to obtain proper results when considering a second protocol that suppresses calcium inactivation and mimics a pathological condition. We discuss how model discrepancy, data availability, and parameter identifiability can influence the choice of the size of the collection. In summary, we have modified two cardiac models by proposing new Markov Chain models for the L-type Calcium. We keep the original whole-cell dynamics by reproducing the same characteristic action potential and calcium dynamics, whereas the Markov chain-based description of the L-type Calcium channels allows novel small spatial scale simulations of subcellular processes. Finally, the use of collections of parameters was crucial for addressing model discrepancy, identifiability issues, and avoiding fitting parameters overly precisely, i.e., overfitting.

The rabbit skin irritation test has been the standard for evaluating the irritation potential of chemicals; however, alternative methods that do not use animal testing are actively encouraged. Reconstructed human epidermis (RhE) models mimic the biochemical and physiological properties of the human epidermis and can be used as an alternative method. On RhE methods, the metabolic activity of RhE models is used to predict skin irritation, with a reduction in metabolic activity indicating a reduced number of viable cells and linking cell death to skin irritation processes. However, new challenges have emerged as the use of RhE models increases, including the need for non-invasive and marker-free methodologies to assess cellular states. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) is one such methodology that can meet these requirements. In this study, our results showed that EIS can differentiate between irritant and non-irritant chemicals, with a significant increase in the capacitance values observed in the irritant samples. A ROC curve analysis showed that the prediction method based on EIS met OECD TG 439 requirements at all time points and had 95% within-laboratory reproducibility. Comparison with the MTT viability assay showed that prediction using EIS achieved higher sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy. These results suggest that EIS could potentially replace animal testing in the evaluation of irritation potential and could be a valuable addition to in vitro testing strategies.

This study proposes a method to prepare autologous bio-based fibrin glue (FG) for use in ophthalmic surgery. FGs containing three fibrinogen concentrations and a thrombin concentrate were prepared using human blood from five donors (FG1: physiological fibrinogen concentration; FG2 and FG3: concentrated fibrinogen). The adhesion strength was tested, and the clinical safety and efficacy were studied in rabbit eyes in conjunctival surgery. A commercial FG was used as a control. From each donor, 2 mL of FG was prepared, containing 1 mL of 3.49 ± 0.78 (FG1), 17.74 ± 4.66 (FG2), or 47.46 ± 9.36 mg/mL (FG3) of fibrinogen and 1 mL of 2248.12 ± 604.20 UI/mL of thrombin. The average adhesion strength increased with the fibrinogen concentration, from 1.49 ± 0.39 kPa (FG1) to 3.14 ± 1.09 kPa (FG3). FG1 showed poor results when used for autograft adhesion. In contrast, the conjunctival autografts were successfully grafted using FG2 and FG3, revealing equivalent adhesion properties compared with commercial FG, but with less inflammation. In conclusion, FGs could be prepared on demand within minutes from small volumes of human blood, using a method that results in FGs which exhibit good adhesion capacity and are also safe and effective in a preclinical study.

Monitoring transmission is a prerequisite for containing COVID-19. We report on effective potential growth (EPG) as a novel measure for the early identification of local outbreaks based on primary care electronic medical records (EMR) and PCR-confirmed cases. Secondly, we studied whether increasing EPG precedes local hospital and intensive care (ICU) admissions and mortality. Population-based cohort including all Catalan citizens' PCR tests, hospitalization, intensive care (ICU) and mortality between 1/07/2020 and 13/09/2020; linked EMR covering 88.6% of the Catalan population was obtained. Nursing home residents were excluded. COVID-19 counts were ascertained based on EMR and PCRs separately. Weekly empirical propagation (ρ7) and 14-day cumulative incidence (A14) and 95% confidence intervals were estimated at care management area (CMA) level, and combined as EPG = ρ7 × A14. Overall, 7,607,201 and 6,798,994 people in 43 CMAs were included for PCR and EMR measures, respectively. A14, ρ7, and EPG increased in numerous CMAs during summer 2020. EMR identified 2.70-fold more cases than PCRs, with similar trends, a median (interquartile range) 2 (1) days earlier, and better precision. Upticks in EPG preceded increases in local hospital admissions, ICU occupancy, and mortality. Increasing EPG identified localized outbreaks in Catalonia, and preceded local hospital and ICU admissions and subsequent mortality. EMRs provided similar estimates to PCR, but some days earlier and with better precision. EPG is a useful tool for the monitoring of community transmission and for the early identification of COVID-19 local outbreaks.

The current worldwide pandemic produced by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has changed the paradigm of mathematical epidemiology due to the high number of unknowns of this new disease. Thus, the empirical approach has emerged as a robust tool to analyze the actual situation carried by the countries and also allows us to predict the incoming scenarios. In this paper, we propose three empirical indexes to estimate the state of the pandemic. These indexes quantify both the propagation and the number of estimated cases, allowing us to accurately determine the real risk of a country. We have calculated these indexes' evolution for several European countries. Risk diagrams are introduced as a tool to visualize the evolution of a country and evaluate its current risk as a function of the number of contagious individuals and the empiric reproduction number. Risk diagrams at the regional level are useful to observe heterogeneity on COVID-19 penetration and spreading in some countries, which is essential during deconfinement processes. During the pandemic, there have been significant differences seen in countries reporting case criterion and detection capacity. Therefore, we have introduced estimations about the real number of infectious cases that allows us to have a broader view and to better estimate the risk. These diagrams and indexes have been successfully used for the monitoring of European countries and regions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Resumen: La resonancia magnética cardiaca desempeña un papel fundamental en el diagnóstico, la definición y la evaluación de las masas cardiacas debido a su amplio campo de visión, resolución de contraste, versatilidad en planos de imagen y capacidad única para facilitar la discriminación de diferentes características tisulares. Debido a ello, varias declaraciones de consenso han posicionado a la resonancia magnética cardiaca como una técnica de imagen de primera línea en el estudio de las masas cardiacas. Abstract: Cardiac magnetic resonance plays a fundamental role in the diagnosis, definition, and assessment of cardiac masses, due to its wide field of vision, contrast resolution, versatility in image planes, and the unique capacity to help in the discrimination of different tissue characteristics. Due to all this, several consensus statements have positioned cardiac magnetic resonance as first line imaging technique in the study of cardiac masses. Palabras clave: Resonancia magnética, Tumores cardiacos, Masas cardiacas, Keywords: Magnetic resonance, cardiac tumours, cardiac masses.

Abstract Background Rhodococcus ruber strain Chol-4, a strain isolated from a sewage sludge sample, is able to grow in minimal medium supplemented with several compounds, showing a broad catabolic capacity. We have previously determined its genome sequence but a more comprehensive study of their metabolic capacities was necessary to fully unravel its potential for biotechnological applications. Results In this work, the genome of R. ruber strain Chol-4 has been re-sequenced, revised, annotated and compared to other bacterial genomes in order to investigate the metabolic capabilities of this microorganism. The analysis of the data suggests that R. ruber Chol-4 contains several putative metabolic clusters of biotechnological interest, particularly those involved on steroid and aromatic compounds catabolism. To demonstrate some of its putative metabolic abilities, R. ruber has been cultured in minimal media containing compounds belonging to several of the predicted metabolic pathways. Moreover, mutants were built to test the naphtalen and protocatechuate predicted catabolic gene clusters. Conclusions The genomic analysis and experimental data presented in this work confirm the metabolic potential of R. ruber strain Chol-4. This strain is an interesting model bacterium due to its biodegradation capabilities. The results obtained in this work will facilitate the application of this strain as a biotechnological tool.

Policymakers need clear, fast assessment of the real spread of the COVID-19 epidemic in each of their respective countries. Standard measures of the situation provided by the governments include reported positive cases and total deaths. While total deaths indicate immediately that countries like Italy and Spain had the worst situation as of mid-April, 2020, reported cases alone do not provide a complete picture of the situation. Different countries diagnose differently and present very distinctive reported case fatality ratios. Similar levels of reported incidence and mortality might hide a very different underlying pictures. Here we present a straightforward and robust estimation of the diagnostic rate in each European country. From that estimation we obtain a uniform, unbiased incidence of the epidemic. The method to obtain the diagnostic rate is transparent and empirical. The key assumption of the method is that the infection fatality ratio of COVID-19 in Europe is not strongly country-dependent. We show that this number is not expected to be biased due to demography nor to the way total deaths are reported. The estimation protocol is dynamic, and it has been yielding converging numbers for diagnostic rates in all European countries as from mid-April, 2020. Using this diagnostic rate, policy makers can obtain Effective Potential Growth updated every day, providing an unbiased assessment of the countries at greater risk of experiencing an uncontrolled situation. The method developed has been and will be used to track possible improvements in the diagnostic rate in European countries as the epidemic evolves.

The appearance and fast spreading of Covid-19 took the international community by surprise. Collaboration between researchers, public health workers, and politicians has been established to deal with the epidemic. One important contribution from researchers in epidemiology is the analysis of trends so that both the current state and short-term future trends can be carefully evaluated. Gompertz model has been shown to correctly describe the dynamics of cumulative confirmed cases, since it is characterized by a decrease in growth rate showing the effect of control measures. Thus, it provides a way to systematically quantify the Covid-19 spreading velocity and it allows short-term predictions and longer-term estimations. This model has been employed to fit the cumulative cases of Covid-19 from several European countries. Results show that there are systematic differences in spreading velocity among countries. The model predictions provide a reliable picture of the short-term evolution in countries that are in the initial stages of the Covid-19 outbreak, and may permit researchers to uncover some characteristics of the long-term evolution. These predictions can also be generalized to calculate short-term hospital and intensive care units (ICU) requirements.

Los objetivos de este artículo son cuatro: analizar las principales diferencias en torno a las dimensiones mejor valoradas de tres estudios sobre satisfacción de personas usuarias basados en LibQUAL+® llevados a cabo en bibliotecas universitarias de España, Argentina y Chile; analizar las diferencias atendiendo a la variable de género (hombres y muje­res); determinar si las diferencias en cuanto a género son estadísticamente significativas; y discutir y reflexionar sobre los resultados hallados en el ámbito concreto de las bibliotecas como reflejo de la realidad social en general. Los resultados per­miten concluir que en España las personas usuarias están menos satisfechas con la dimensión de la biblioteca como espacio, mientras que en Latinoamericana se percibe menor grado de satisfacción también con el control de la información. El mayor grado de satisfacción en todos los estudios se da en el valor afectivo del servicio. Las mujeres en España muestran menor satisfacción y mayor exigencia que los hombres en el valor afectivo del servicio. Además, se hallaron diferencias estadísti­camente significativas en el análisis de las medias por género. En la discusión se ponen en relación los resultados hallados con la literatura existente, definiendo los paradigmas posibles de la biblioteca informativa frente al de la social-creadora y la percepción de la satisfacción por géneros según el contexto social en que se hallan las bibliotecas. La limitación principal del artículo es que se basa en tres estudios concretos; y su principal valor y originalidad, que puede considerarse como punto de partida para futuras investigaciones sobre la cuestión de género en lo que a bibliotecas y los servicios que ofrecen se refiere.

Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease that still causes more than 1.5 million deaths annually. The World Health Organization estimates that around 30% of the world's population is latently infected. However, the mechanisms responsible for 10% of this reserve (i.e., of the latently infected population) developing an active disease are not fully understood, yet. The dynamic hypothesis suggests that endogenous reinfection has an important role in maintaining latent infection. In order to examine this hypothesis for falsifiability, an agent-based model of growth, merging, and proliferation of TB lesions was implemented in a computational bronchial tree, built with an iterative algorithm for the generation of bronchial bifurcations and tubes applied inside a virtual 3D pulmonary surface. The computational model was fed and parameterized with computed tomography (CT) experimental data from 5 latently infected minipigs. First, we used CT images to reconstruct the virtual pulmonary surfaces where bronchial trees are built. Then, CT data about TB lesion' size and location to each minipig were used in the parameterization process. The model's outcome provides spatial and size distributions of TB lesions that successfully reproduced experimental data, thus reinforcing the role of the bronchial tree as the spatial structure triggering endogenous reinfection. A sensitivity analysis of the model shows that the final number of lesions is strongly related with the endogenous reinfection frequency and maximum growth rate of the lesions, while their mean diameter mainly depends on the spatial spreading of new lesions and the maximum radius. Finally, the model was used as an in silico experimental platform to explore the transition from latent infection to active disease, identifying two main triggering factors: a high inflammatory response and the combination of a moderate inflammatory response with a small breathing amplitude.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) is the causative agent for tuberculosis, the most extended infectious disease around the world. When Mtb enters inside the pulmonary alveolus it is rapidly phagocytosed by the alveolar macrophage. Although this controls the majority of inhaled microorganisms, in this case, Mtb survives inside the macrophage and multiplies. A posterior chemokine and cytokine cascade generated by the irruption of monocytes, neutrophils and posteriorly, by T-cells, does not necessarily stop the growth of the granuloma. Interestingly, the encapsulation process built by fibroblasts is able to surround the lesion and stop its growing. The success of this last process determines if the host enters in an asymptomatic latent state or continues into a life-threatening and infective active tuberculosis disease (TB). Understanding such dichotomic process is challenging, and computational modeling can bring new ideas. Thus, we have modeled the different stages of the infection, first in a single alveolus (a sac with a radius of 0.15 millimeters) and, second, inside a secondary lobule (a compartment of the lungs of around 3 cm3). We have employed stochastic reaction-diffusion equations to model the interactions among the cells and the diffusive transport to neighboring alveolus. The whole set of equations have successfully described the encapsulation process and determine that the size of the lesions depends on its position on the secondary lobule. We conclude that size and shape of the secondary lobule are the relevant variables to control the lesions, and, therefore, to avoid the evolution towards TB development. As lesions appear near to interlobular connective tissue they are easily controlled and their growth is drastically stopped, in this sense secondary lobules with a more flattened shape could control better the lesion.

Las instituciones educativas desempeñan un papel importante en la formación de sus docentes y tienen el compromiso de analizar y acompañar las competencias profesionales de sus profe-sores para su cualificación docente. De esta manera, el Seminario Internacional de Desarrollo Profesional de los Docentes de Lenguas Extranjeras nació como una respuesta a las necesidades de forma-ción de los docentes en su carrera profesional.

Among several requirements for the manufacture of Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products (ATMP) are: following the guidelines of a pharmaceutical quality system, complying with Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) and access to a cleanroom fulfilling strict environmental conditions (Class A work area and Class B environment). This makes ATMP expensive. Moreover, the production of many of these therapeutic products may also be unprofitable, as in most cases their use is limited to a few patients and to a single batch per manufacturing unit. To reduce costs, ATMP may be produced in a scaled-down system isolated from the external environment (isolator), allowing for placement of this facility in a Class D environment, which is much more permissive and less costly. In this work, we confirm that it is possible to manufacture bioengineered corneal epithelium inside an isolator while fulfilling all the safety assurance standards at an affordable cost for patients. This small-scale ultra-clean working environment complies with GMP guidelines and could be a solution for the high costs associated with conventional cleanroom ATMP production.

El presente estudio describe la estructura y la diversidad de especies arbóreas de dos rodales con bosque templado de pino-encino, ubicados en la comunidad Coscomate, ejido Chavarría Nuevo, municipio Pueblo Nuevo, Durango. Se muestreó la vegetación por medio del método de cuadrantes centrados en un punto. Se calcularon los parámetros estructurales de dominancia, frecuencia y densidad, con los que se determinó el Índice de Valor de Importancia para los taxa arbóreos de cada sitio, y se obtuvo un histograma de distribuciones diamétricas mediante la función Weibull. La diversidad fue estimada por medio del índice de Shannon-Wiener. Se empleó la distancia euclidiana para medir la similitud florística entre los sitios. Se registraron 13 especies de árboles pertenecientes a cinco géneros y cinco familias botánicas. Las características estructurales de la vegetación evidencian que la del rodal 1 está dominada por Pinus cooperi con escasos elementos arbóreos acompañantes; mientras que la del rodal 2 es más diversa, en la cual P. durangensis tiene el mayor valor de importancia. Además, este es el que registra la diversidad más alta (H’= 1.07 a 1.58). La similitud entre ambos sitios es baja, a pesar de su cercanía y de situarse en intervalos de altitud similares, lo que constituye un ejemplo de la complejidad ecológica de la Sierra Madre Occidental.

Introduction: The Enhanced Recovery After Surgery program (ERAS), has become the basis of perioperative management after colorectal surgery, vascular, thoracic, and more recently the radical cystectomy. The aim of this study is to show our initial experience using an ERAS protocol. Materials and methods: A total of 47 laparoscopic radical cystectomies (LRC) were compared in this study. For retrospective data analysis, the patients were divided into two groups: Group A included patients who underwent LRC before the ERAS protocol was implemented; and Group B included patients who underwent LRC after the ERAS protocol was implemented. Results: Hospital stay was significantly shorter (p = 0,04) in Group B with a median of 11.73 days versus 17.53 days in Group A. The paralytic ileus is the most common complication in both groups, and only two complications seem to be lower between groups; central vein catheter infection in Group A was 14.2% versus 5.2% in Group B and paralytic ileus in Group A was 35.7% versus 21.0% in Group B. There was no statistical difference between groups in the appearance of minor or major complications. Conclusion: The combination of minimally invasive surgery and an ERAS protocol is a feasible multidisciplinary challenge and is useful in the recovery of patients undergoing LRC.

En este artículo se reporta el análisis de las estrategias de forzamiento de los cumplidos y se hace una descripción lingüística. Como instrumento de recolección de información se utilizó la toma de nota y se analizaron nueve muestras que contenían los cumplidos forzados. Con base en la clasificación de Adachi (2010), se encontraron cuatro muestras que corresponden a la estrategia de alardear . Las cinco muestras restantes se agrupan en una nueva categoría: estrategia de compromiso social . En el análisis lingüístico se encontró que los interlocutores utilizan enunciados exclamativos, sufijos, adverbios e interjecciones que ayudan a intensificar la fuerza ilocutiva del cumplido. También se hallaron algunas palabras pertenecientes al parlache. Así mismo, los interlocutores alternan diferentes formas de tratamiento en un turno y se utiliza la autocortesía. Finalmente, los cumplidos aparecen en diferentes momentos de la interacción y tanto hombres como mujeres los producen.

La reforma del Acta Electoral aprobada en 2018 ofrece una oportunidad para elaborar una crónica de la ambición del Parlamento Europeo de dotarse de un Derecho electoral verdaderamente europeo, elemento esencial para su papel como institución democrática central de la Unión Europea. Veremos que, pese a que el objetivo de un sistema electoral uniforme está en los Tratados desde el momento fundacional de la integración europea, ha sido muy complicado lograr avances en este ámbito. Los avances se han producido solo cuando la coyuntura política era favorable, lo cual se ha dado en escasas ocasiones aunque el Parlamento Europeo ha logrado situarse en el centro de la vida política de la Unión. Ahora bien, en todo este tiempo, sus esfuerzos por lograr un mejor sistema electoral han llevado a muchas frustraciones y escasos avances, de lo que la reciente reforma del Acta Electoral es un ejemplo muy ilustrativo. En efecto, se trata de una reforma mínima que deja de lado las innovaciones verdaderamente revolucionarias que estaban siendo debatidas.

Pulmonary veno-occlusive disease (PVOD) is a very infrequent form of pulmonary arterial hypertension with an aggressive clinical course, poor response to specific vasodilator treatment, and low survival. Confirming a definitive diagnosis is essential to guide treatment and assess lung transplantation. However, in the absence of histological or genetic confirmation, the diagnosis is complex, requiring a clinical suspicion. Multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) is an essential part of the non-invasive diagnostic tools of PVOD. We retrospectively reviewed the MDCT findings from a consecutive series of 25 patients diagnosed with PVOD, 9 with the sporadic form and 16 with the hereditary form of the disease. The presence and extent of typical findings of the diagnostic triad were assessed in all patients (ground glass parenchymal involvement, septal lines, and lymphadenopathy). In our series, 92% of patients showed at least two of the radiological findings described as typical of the disease. All patients presented at least one typical radiological characteristic. The incidence of radiological findings considered typical is very high, however was not associated with greater hemodynamic severity nor to the development of acute lung edema. No significant differences were found between the two groups. A poorly expressive MDCT does not exclude the disease.

In this paper we deal with a geometric machine that has gone somewhat unnoticed in mathematics education: the Perfect Compass. It allows conics to be drawn using a special two aperture compass, based on Apollonius' conic sections. Proposed in the 10th century, it seems that it was never built in medieval times--at least no archaeological remains from the medieval period have been found--and later constructions have operational limitations. This machine has been reengineered by us to make it fully functional and thus become a suitable instrument for education. We have built it using Digital Manufacturing technology, such as 3D printing and laser cutting, so that it can be widely available in the service of mathematics education. We also show how its operation results in a machine where its manipulation allows direct knowledge of the method and concepts used.

Nowadays, wine has become a very popular item to purchase. There are a lot of brands and a lot of different types of wines that have different prices and characteristics. Since there is a lot of options, it is easy for buyers to feel lost among the high number of possibilities. Therefore, there is a need for computational tools that help buyers to decide which is the wine that better fits their necessities. In this article, a decision support system built over a fuzzy ontology has been designed for helping people to select a wine. Two different possible architecture implementation designs are presented. Furthermore, imprecise information is used to design a comfortable way of providing information to the system. Users can use this comfortable communication system to express their preferences and provide their opinion about the selected products. Moreover, mechanisms to carry out a constant update of the fuzzy ontology are exposed.

The corrosion behavior of pure aluminum (Al) in 20 v/v% ethanol–gasoline blends has been studied using electrochemical techniques. Ethanol was obtained from different fruits including sugar cane, oranges, apples, or mangos, whereas other techniques included lineal polarization resistance, electrochemical noise, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy for 90 days. Results have shown that corrosion rates for Al in all the blends were higher than that obtained in gasoline. In addition, the highest corrosion rate was obtained in the blend containing ethanol obtained from sugar cane. The corrosion process was under charge transfer control in all blends; however, for some exposure times, it was under the adsorption/desorption control of an intermediate compound. Al was susceptible to a localized, plotting type of corrosion in all blends, but they were bigger in size and in number in the blend containing ethanol obtained from sugar cane.

This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of a noninvasive operability assessment of chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) based on multidetector computed tomographic angiography (MCTA). Up to 176 patients were evaluated from January 2016 to April 2018. Throughout the first phase, the initial surgical decision was made based on MCTA with further analysis of pulmonary angiography (PA) in order to evaluate in which cases the initial decision was not modified by PA. During the second phase, PA was limited to patients judged inoperable based on MCTA or those whose assessment was not possible. Patients deemed operable (50%) based on MCTA along the first phase had been adequately classified, as PA did not modify the initial decision in all but one patient. Comparable results were obtained throughout the implementation phase. Regarding operated patients, the decision of operability was based solely on MCTA in 94% of those with level I disease, in 75% with level II, and 54% with level III. This approach enabled shorter periods of time to complete surgical assessment and the avoidance of PA-related morbidity. Baseline parameters, postoperative measures, and survival rates at 1 year after surgery were comparable in both phases. Noninvasive operability assessment is feasible in a subset of CTEPH patients and optimizes surgical candidacy evaluation.

The objective of this research was to evaluate the stress corrosion cracking (SCC) of X-70 micro-alloyed steel in contact with bio-ethanol and E-50 gasohol. Environmental factors, including water (1%, 3% and 5%) and NaCl (10 mg/L and 32 mg/L), as well as two aging treatments were studied. Experimental values were obtained by the Slow Strain Rate Test (SSRT) technique, X-ray fluorescence (XRF), and tensile test according to the information reported in the literature. The results of the SSRT for the SCC determination showed that this steel in these conditions did not show evidence of SCC, which was attributed to the formation of an oxide (Fe2O3) not soluble in ethanol. The oxide layer acts as a protector preventing the formation of pitting, one of the main causes of cracks initiation in SCC.

Este documento promueve la reflexión acerca de la importancia de coexistir en una sociedad libre, equitativa, digna e igualitaria ante la norma. La investigación que lo consolidó tiene un diseño cualitativo, un método hermenéutico y se soportó en el paradigma sociojurídico. Asimismo, delibera sobre la imperiosa necesidad de generar hoy en día interlocución múltiple en el escenario social, bajo una perspectiva que permita observar con flexibilidad sus variadas aristas. El razonamiento desde los derechos permite aunar esfuerzos para el reconocimiento total del conglomerado humano, aún más cuando se trata de la población lgbti (lesbianas, gais, bisexuales, transexuales e intersexuales), no con un interés puramente legal, sino desde la reivindicación de derechos, que son cercenados por su exclusión en la llamada hetero-normatividad. En razón a lo anterior, el documento invita a la inclusión social de la colectividad diversa sexual, con base en un acercamiento respetuoso a los avances internacionales desde los Principios de Yogyakarta, como también desde la jurisprudencia constitucional colombiana, en algunos de los muchos aspectos que conlleva la reivindicación de los derechos en procura de la seguridad jurídica de un importante sector de la población. Abstract: This text promotes understanding about the importance of coexisting in a free, equitable, worthy and before-the-law equalitarian society from evident concepts. The research that allowed it has a qualitative design, a hermeneutic method and was based on the socio-juridical paradigm. Likewise, it deliberates about the imperative necessity of generating today a multiple interlocution into the social background, under a perspective that allows to observe with flexibility its variable edges. Reasoning, from rights, joins efforts in order to get a recognition of the whole human conglomerate, even more when referring to lgbti (lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transsexuals and intersexual) population, not only with a purely legal interest, but from re vindication of rights, which are curtailed because of its exclusion in the so-called hetero-normativity. Therefore there exist a reflection in this manuscript, which invites to social inclusion of the sexually diverse collectivity, basing on a respectful rapprochement to the international advances from Yogyakarta Principles, as well as from the Colombian constitutional jurisprudence, in some of the many aspects that vindication of rights involves, in pursuit of the legal certainty of an important social sector. Keywords: Gender, sexual identity, sexual orientation, international normativity, constitutional precedent.