A User Interface for Mobile Robotized Tele-echography

Ultrasound imaging allows the evaluation of the degree of emergency of a patient. However, in many situations no experienced sonographer is available to perform such echography. To cope with this issue, the OTELO project “mObile Tele-Echography using an ultra-Light rObot” (OTELO) aims to develop a fully integrated end-to-end mobile tele-echography system using an ultralight, remotely controlled six degree-of-freedom (DOF) robot. In this context, this paper deals with the user interface environment of the OTELO system, composed by the following parts: an ultrasound video transmission system providing real-time images of the scanned area at each moment, an audio/video conference to communicate with the paramedical assistant and the patient, and finally a virtual reality environment, providing visual and haptic feedback to the expert, while capturing the expert's hand movements with a one-DOF hand free input device

Mobile Tele-echography: User Interface Design

Ultrasound imaging allows the evaluation of the degree of emergency of a patient. However, in several occasions a well trained sonographer is unavailable to perform such echography. To cope with this issue, the OTELO project aims to develop a fully integrated end-to-end mobile tele-echography system using an ultra light, remote-controlled robot, for population groups that are not served locally by medical experts. This paper focuses on the user interface of the OTELO system, consisted of the following parts: An ultrasound video transmission system providing real-time images of the scanned area, an audio/video conference to communicate with the paramedical assistant and with the patient, and a virtual reality environment, providing visual and haptic feed-back to the expert, while capturing the expert's hand movements. These movements are reproduced by the robot in the patient site while holding the ultrasound probe against the patient skin. Besides, the user interface includes an image processing facility for enhancing the received images and the possibility to include them into a database

Efecto reforzante de la morfina: diferencias sexuales en el efecto preventivo del baclofen.

En estudios previos de nuestro laboratorio hemos observado una interacción entre los sistemas opioide y GABAérgico en distintas propiedades farmacológicas de la morfina (MOR). Por otro lado, evidenciamos la presencia de diferencias sexuales tanto en las propiedades farmacológicas de la MOR como en el efecto preventivo del baclofen (BAC). Teniendo esto en cuenta, los objetivos del presente estudio fueron: explorar las consecuencias del pretratamiento con BAC (1, 2 y 3 mg/kg ip) en el efecto reforzante inducido por MOR (7 mg/kg, sc) y en las posibles alteraciones de la expresión de c-Fos y BDNF en ratones prepúberes de ambos sexos. Para inducir el efecto reforzante de la MOR se utilizó el paradigma de condicionamiento de preferencia de lugar (CPP). El mismo consta de tres fases: precondicionamiento, condicionamiento y postcondicionamiento. Los cerebros fueron fijados y extraídos inmediatamente después de la sesión de postcondicionamiento para realizar la inmunohistoquímica de c-Fos y BDNF. Nuestros resultados mostraron que la administración de MOR fue capaz de inducir el efecto reforzante en ratones macho y hembra (p<0,001). El pretratamiento con BAC (2 mg / kg) previno totalmente dicho efecto en ratones macho, mientras que solo lo atenuó en hembras (p<0,01). El pretratamiento con BAC (3 mg/kg) previno el efecto reforzante inducido por MOR en ambos sexos. El efecto reforzante de la MOR se asoció con una disminución de la expresión de BDNF y c-Fos en la corteza cingulata (Cg), en el núcleo accumbens shell y core y en áreas CA3 y CA1 del hipocampo solo en ratones macho (p<0,05). El pretratamiento con BAC previno estas alteraciones en la expresión de c-Fos solo en la Cg. En conclusión, nuestros resultados sugieren que los receptores GABAB podrían tener un papel modulador en los efectos reforzantes de la MOR.Fil: Pedrón, Valeria Teresa. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Investigaciones Farmacológicas. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Instituto de Investigaciones Farmacológicas; ArgentinaFil: Canero, Eliana Micaela. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Departamento de Farmacología. Cátedra de Farmacología; ArgentinaFil: Aon, A. J.. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Departamento de Farmacología. Cátedra de Farmacología; ArgentinaFil: Varani, Andrés Pablo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Investigaciones Farmacológicas. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Instituto de Investigaciones Farmacológicas; ArgentinaFil: Balerio, Graciela Noemí. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Investigaciones Farmacológicas. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Instituto de Investigaciones Farmacológicas; ArgentinaLII Reunion Anual y Primer Congreso Virtual de la Asociacion Argentina de Farmacología ExperimentalCórdobaArgentinaAsociacion Argentina de Farmacología Experimenta

Global, regional, and national incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability for 354 diseases and injuries for 195 countries and territories, 1990–2017: A systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017

Background: The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2017 (GBD 2017) includes a comprehensive assessment of incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability (YLDs) for 354 causes in 195 countries and territories from 1990 to 2017. Previous GBD studies have shown how the decline of mortality rates from 1990 to 2016 has led to an increase in life expectancy, an ageing global population, and an expansion of the non-fatal burden of disease and injury. These studies have also shown how a substantial portion of the world's population experiences non-fatal health loss with considerable heterogeneity among different causes, locations, ages, and sexes. Ongoing objectives of the GBD study include increasing the level of estimation detail, improving analytical strategies, and increasing the amount of high-quality data. Methods: We estimated incidence and prevalence for 354 diseases and injuries and 3484 sequelae. We used an updated and extensive body of literature studies, survey data, surveillance data, inpatient admission records, outpatient visit records, and health insurance claims, and additionally used results from cause of death models to inform estimates using a total of 68 781 data sources. Newly available clinical data from India, Iran, Japan, Jordan, Nepal, China, Brazil, Norway, and Italy were incorporated, as well as updated claims data from the USA and new claims data from Taiwan (province of China) and Singapore. We used DisMod-MR 2.1, a Bayesian meta-regression tool, as the main method of estimation, ensuring consistency between rates of incidence, prevalence, remission, and cause of death for each condition. YLDs were estimated as the product of a prevalence estimate and a disability weight for health states of each mutually exclusive sequela, adjusted for comorbidity. We updated the Socio-demographic Index (SDI), a summary development indicator of income per capita, years of schooling, and total fertility rate. Additionally, we calculated differences between male and female YLDs to identify divergent trends across sexes. GBD 2017 complies with the Guidelines for Accurate and Transparent Health Estimates Reporting. Findings: Globally, for females, the causes with the greatest age-standardised prevalence were oral disorders, headache disorders, and haemoglobinopathies and haemolytic anaemias in both 1990 and 2017. For males, the causes with the greatest age-standardised prevalence were oral disorders, headache disorders, and tuberculosis including latent tuberculosis infection in both 1990 and 2017. In terms of YLDs, low back pain, headache disorders, and dietary iron deficiency were the leading Level 3 causes of YLD counts in 1990, whereas low back pain, headache disorders, and depressive disorders were the leading causes in 2017 for both sexes combined. All-cause age-standardised YLD rates decreased by 3·9% (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 3·1-4·6) from 1990 to 2017; however, the all-age YLD rate increased by 7·2% (6·0-8·4) while the total sum of global YLDs increased from 562 million (421-723) to 853 million (642-1100). The increases for males and females were similar, with increases in all-age YLD rates of 7·9% (6·6-9·2) for males and 6·5% (5·4-7·7) for females. We found significant differences between males and females in terms of age-standardised prevalence estimates for multiple causes. The causes with the greatest relative differences between sexes in 2017 included substance use disorders (3018 cases [95% UI 2782-3252] per 100 000 in males vs 1400 [1279-1524] per 100 000 in females), transport injuries (3322 [3082-3583] vs 2336 [2154-2535]), and self-harm and interpersonal violence (3265 [2943-3630] vs 5643 [5057-6302]). Interpretation: Global all-cause age-standardised YLD rates have improved only slightly over a period spanning nearly three decades. However, the magnitude of the non-fatal disease burden has expanded globally, with increasing numbers of people who have a wide spectrum of conditions. A subset of conditions has remained globally pervasive since 1990, whereas other conditions have displayed more dynamic trends, with different ages, sexes, and geographies across the globe experiencing varying burdens and trends of health loss. This study emphasises how global improvements in premature mortality for select conditions have led to older populations with complex and potentially expensive diseases, yet also highlights global achievements in certain domains of disease and injury

Global, regional, and national age-sex-specific mortality and life expectancy, 1950-2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017

Background: Assessments of age-specific mortality and life expectancy have been done by the UN Population Division, Department of Economics and Social Affairs (UNPOP), the United States Census Bureau, WHO, and as part of previous iterations of the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD). Previous iterations of the GBD used population estimates from UNPOP, which were not derived in a way that was internally consistent with the estimates of the numbers of deaths in the GBD. The present iteration of the GBD, GBD 2017, improves on previous assessments and provides timely estimates of the mortality experience of populations globally. Methods: The GBD uses all available data to produce estimates of mortality rates between 1950 and 2017 for 23 age groups, both sexes, and 918 locations, including 195 countries and territories and subnational locations for 16 countries. Data used include vital registration systems, sample registration systems, household surveys (complete birth histories, summary birth histories, sibling histories), censuses (summary birth histories, household deaths), and Demographic Surveillance Sites. In total, this analysis used 8259 data sources. Estimates of the probability of death between birth and the age of 5 years and between ages 15 and 60 years are generated and then input into a model life table system to produce complete life tables for all locations and years. Fatal discontinuities and mortality due to HIV/AIDS are analysed separately and then incorporated into the estimation. We analyse the relationship between age-specific mortality and development status using the Socio-demographic Index, a composite measure based on fertility under the age of 25 years, education, and income. There are four main methodological improvements in GBD 2017 compared with GBD 2016: 622 additional data sources have been incorporated; new estimates of population, generated by the GBD study, are used; statistical methods used in different components of the analysis have been further standardised and improved; and the analysis has been extended backwards in time by two decades to start in 1950. Findings: Globally, 18·7% (95% uncertainty interval 18·4–19·0) of deaths were registered in 1950 and that proportion has been steadily increasing since, with 58·8% (58·2–59·3) of all deaths being registered in 2015. At the global level, between 1950 and 2017, life expectancy increased from 48·1 years (46·5–49·6) to 70·5 years (70·1–70·8) for men and from 52·9 years (51·7–54·0) to 75·6 years (75·3–75·9) for women. Despite this overall progress, there remains substantial variation in life expectancy at birth in 2017, which ranges from 49·1 years (46·5–51·7) for men in the Central African Republic to 87·6 years (86·9–88·1) among women in Singapore. The greatest progress across age groups was for children younger than 5 years; under-5 mortality dropped from 216·0 deaths (196·3–238·1) per 1000 livebirths in 1950 to 38·9 deaths (35·6–42·83) per 1000 livebirths in 2017, with huge reductions across countries. Nevertheless, there were still 5·4 million (5·2–5·6) deaths among children younger than 5 years in the world in 2017. Progress has been less pronounced and more variable for adults, especially for adult males, who had stagnant or increasing mortality rates in several countries. The gap between male and female life expectancy between 1950 and 2017, while relatively stable at the global level, shows distinctive patterns across super-regions and has consistently been the largest in central Europe, eastern Europe, and central Asia, and smallest in south Asia. Performance was also variable across countries and time in observed mortality rates compared with those expected on the basis of development. Interpretation: This analysis of age-sex-specific mortality shows that there are remarkably complex patterns in population mortality across countries. The findings of this study highlight global successes, such as the large decline in under-5 mortality, which reflects significant local, national, and global commitment and investment over several decades. However, they also bring attention to mortality patterns that are a cause for concern, particularly among adult men and, to a lesser extent, women, whose mortality rates have stagnated in many countries over the time period of this study, and in some cases are increasing

Application of magnetic method on the Argentine continental shelf between 35°S and 48°S

Se analizaron las anomalías del Campo Magnético Total a partir de datos de una red global, con el propósito de contribuir al conocimiento y caracterización de la plataforma continental argentina (35ºS hasta 48ºS). Para ello se utilizaron técnicas de realce, como la señal analítica, el ángulo tilt, y la segunda derivada vertical. Se calcularon las profundidades de las fuentes magnéticas a partir del método de deconvolución de Euler y el modelado de inversión gravimétrica 2D. A partir de los resultados filtrados del TMA se identificaron grandes zonas de fractura de transferencia. La segunda derivada vertical mostró patrones de alta frecuencia en las anomalías G y Tona, así como también en la serie de anomalías M y alineamientos de fondo oceánico, mostrando el carácter volcánico y episódico de los mismos. El método de deconvolución de Euler permitió localizar fuentes magnéticas discontinuas a lo largo del antiguo cinturón Dom Feliciano-Lavalleja, cuyas profundidades van desde 5000 a 8000 m. Se obtuvieron pocas soluciones tipo diques, escalones de falla en las zonas de fallas de transferencia y el borde entre corteza continental y oceánica. Se localizaron fuentes en la serie-M a profundidades entre 8000 y 12000 m. También, este método permitió calcular las profundidades de la conspicua anomalía Tona entre 8000 y 20000 m. Además, a partir de un modelo de inversión gravimétrico 2-D aplicado sobre un perfil con dirección NE, se identificó un cuerpo máfico-ultramáfico a lo largo de la sutura Patagonia-Gondwana hasta casi la superficie. Este cuerpo podría ser una imbricación de la sutura emplazada en rocas del basamento. doi: https://doi.org/10.22201/igeof.00167169p.2018.57.3.210