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There is growing evidence regarding chest X-ray and computed tomography (CT) findings for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). At present, the role of lung ultrasonography (LUS) has yet to be explored. The main purpose of this study was to evaluate the correlation between LUS findings and chest CT in patients confirmed to have (positive reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction [RT-PCR]) or clinically highly suspected of having (dyspnea, fever, myasthenia, gastrointestinal symptoms, dry cough, ageusia or anosmia) COVID-19. This prospective study was carried out in the emergency department, where patients confirmed of having or clinically highly suspected of having COVID-19 were recruited and underwent chest CT and concurrent LUS exam. An experienced emergency department physician performed the LUS exam blind to the clinical history and results of the CT scan, which were reviewed by two radiologists in consensus for signs compatible with COVID-19 (bilateral ground-glass opacities in peripheral distribution). A compatible LUS exam was considered a bilateral pattern of B-lines, irregular pleural line and subpleural consolidations. Between March and April 2020, 51 patients were consecutively enrolled. The indication for CT was a negative or indeterminate RT-PCR test (49.0%) followed by suspicion of pulmonary embolism (41.2%). Radiologic signs compatible with COVID-19 were present in 37 patients (72.5%) on CT scan and 40 patients (78.4%) on LUS exam. The presence of LUS findings was correlated with a positive CT scan suggestive of COVID-19 (odds ratio: 13.3, 95% confidence interval: 4.5-39.6, p < 0.001) with a sensitivity of 100.0%, specificity of 78.6%, positive predictive value of 92.5% and negative predictive value of 100.0%. There was no missed diagnosis of COVID-19 with LUS compared with CT in our cohort. The correlation between LUS score and CT total severity score was good (intraclass correlation coefficient: 0.803, 95% confidence interval: 0.60-0.90, p < 0.001). LUS exhibited similar accuracy compared with chest CT in the detection of lung abnormalities in COVID-19 patients., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest disclosure The authors have declared no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2020 World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: Fibromyalgia (FM) is characterized by a heterogeneous group of clinical symptoms that are evaluated using a wide variety of instruments. This study sought to develop and validate a new scale, the Comprehensive Rating Scale for Fibromyalgia Symptomatology (CRSFS), to facilitate the joint evaluation of the most frequent symptoms in patients with FM., Methods: CRSFS items were based on a literature review and a focus group composed of patients and healthcare professionals. Four samples of patients (FM, non-FM rheumatic pain, depression, and healthy volunteers) were used to study the reliability and validity of the CRSFS. The factor structure of the CRSFS was determined through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. The test-retest and inter-examiner reliabilities were evaluated in a subsample of participants with FM. The criterion and convergent construct validity were compared using valid and reliable instruments to assess the impact of FM on quality of life, pain, fatigue, mood, and quality of sleep. The capacity to differentiate groups of patients was examined by comparing the CRSFS scores of the four samples to each other and using receiver operating characteristics curves., Results: The sample was composed of 240 participants, the mean age was 49.1years (SD=10.4), and 97.5% of them were women. The factor analyses, as well as the tests of reliability and validity, were positive. The final version of the CRSFS consisted of 20 symptoms evaluated using 60 items., Conclusion: The CRSFS is a valid and reliable 4-factor scale that evaluates the most frequent clinical symptoms of patients with FM., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

This paper presents a new mathematical model developed to reproduce the performance of a generic sludge digester working either under aerobic or anaerobic operational conditions. The digester has been modelled as two completely mixed tanks associated with gaseous and liquid volumes. The conversion model has been developed based on a plant wide modelling methodology (PWM) and comprises biochemical transformations, physicochemical reactions and thermodynamic considerations. The model predicts the reactor temperature and the temporary evolution of an extensive vector of model components which are completely defined in terms of elemental mass fractions (C, H, O, N and P) and charge density. Thus, the comprehensive definition of the model components guarantees the continuity of elemental mass and charge in all the model transformations and between any two systems defined by the model. The aim of the generic digester model is to overcome the problems that arise when trying to connect aerobic and anaerobic digestion processes working in series or to connect water and sludge lines in a WWTP. The modelling methodology used has allowed the systematic construction of the biochemical model which acts as an initial illustrative example of an application that has been experimentally verified. The variation of the temperature is also predicted based on a thermal dynamic model. Real data from four different facilities and a straightforward calibration have been used to successfully verify the model predictions in the cases of mesophilic and thermophilic anaerobic digestion as well as autothermal thermophilic aerobic digestion (ATAD). The large amount of data from the full scale ATAD and the anaerobic digestion pilot plants, all of them working under different conditions, has allowed the validation of the model for that case study.

This paper presents a new plant-wide modelling methodology for describing the dynamic behaviour of water and sludge lines in WWTPs. The methodology is based on selecting the set of process transformations needed for each specific WWTP to model all unit-process elements in the entire plant. This "transformation-based" approach, in comparison with the conventional "process-based" approach, does not require the development of specific transformers to interface the resulting unit-process models, facilitates the mass and charge continuity throughout the whole plant and is flexible enough to construct models tailored for each plant under study. As an illustrative example, a plant-wide model for a WWTP that includes carbon removal and anaerobic digestion has been constructed, and the main advantages of the proposed methodology for integrated modelling have been demonstrated. As a final consequence, this paper proposes a rewriting of the existing unit-process models according to the new standard transformation-based approach for integrated modelling purposes.

This paper presents a new mathematical model for Autothermal Thermophilic Aerobic Digesters. The reactor has been modelled as two completely mixed volumes to separately predict the behaviour of the liquid and gaseous phases as well as the interrelation between them. The model includes biochemical transformations based on the standard Activated Sludge Models of IWA, as well as physico-chemical transformations associated with the chemical equilibria and the mass transfer between the liquid and the gaseous phases similar to those proposed in the ADM1 of IWA. An energy balance has also been included in the model in order to predict the temperature of the system. This thermal balance takes into account all those biochemical and physico-chemical transformations that entail the most relevant heat interchanges. Reactor performance has been explored by simulation in two different scenarios: in the first where it acts as the initial stage in a Dual system, and in the second where it acts as a single-stage treatment. Each scenario enabled the identification of the relevance of the different parameters.