Simulation Platform for Coordinated Charging of Electric Vehicles

EMERALD is a project funded by the European Commission under the FP7 program focusing on energy use optimization on the integration of the FEVs into the transport and energy infrastructure. Between the objectives of EMERALD, enhanced power demand prediction and power flow support management system uses the power flow demand simulation platform considered in this paper. The power flow demand simulation platform is a software tool that defines the estimation of FEVs power demand according to different conditions as, arrival and departure curves, the estimation of power production based on renewable energy sources and the electricity cost. The tool coordinates scheduling for charging of FEVs in order to minimize the recharging cost, considering the energy balance between the generation and demand powerEuropean commission's FP

Global trends in child obesity: Are figures converging?

Childhood obesity has become one of the most serious global health challenges of our time. The combined prevalence of overweight and obesity has rapidly increased worldwide during the last two decades, especially in some developing countries where obesity is reaching levels on a par with some industrialized countries, or even higher. This fast growth has occurred especially in countries in the midst of rapid social-economic transitions. Most international comparisons focus on the adult population while analyses focusing on the child population are more limited. Using the methodology developed by Phillips and Sul, this paper studies the worldwide evolution of children’s body mass index (BMI), overweight and obesity prevalence for a large sample of countries during the period 1975–2016. Our results indicate that the figures for BMI or the prevalence of obesity in different countries do not converge, while the opposite is the case for overweight prevalence in children. Furthermore, there is a non-linear relationship between obesity and income or human capital, indicating that low and middle-income countries require a strong initiative for health policies targeting obesity prevention

Relación de la mejora de la calidad de vida de los sujetos que practican actividad física con daño cerebral adquirido

RELACIÓN DE LA MEJORA DE LA CALIDAD DE VIDA DE LOS SUJETOS QUE PRACTICAN ACTIVIDAD FÍSICA CON DEÑO CEREBRAL ADQUIRID

Deformación plástica del antebrazo: revisión y caso clínico

La deformidad plástica de un hueso es una rara entidad, que en ocasiones pasa desapercibida. Se trata de una lesión típica del niño, con un hueso más elástico que los adultos. La mayoría de las deformidades plásticas del antebrazo se producen por caídas con el brazo en extensión, causando deformidad, dolor y una limitación de la pronosupinación. Para reducir la curvatura del hueso se precisan fuerzas contrarias a las que produjeron la lesión, mantenidas en el tiempo. En niños menores de 4 años, con enorme capacidad de remodelación, sólo grandes deformidades >20º deberían ser reducidas. En los mayores de 10 años, con escaso potencial remodelador, deben manipularse aquellas angulaciones >10-15º. La mayor complicación derivada de una mala reducción es la limitación de la pronosupinación, que en la mayoría de las ocasiones no altera la funcionalidad de la extremidad.Plastic bowing of a bone is a rare entity that some- times goes unnoticed. It’s a typical injury in children, who have more elastic bones than adults. Most of the plastic bowing of the forearm take place by falls with an outstretched arm, causing deformities, pain and a limitation of pronation and supination. In order to reduce the curvature of the bone, opposing forces to those that produced the injury are needed, maintained for a long time. In children younger than 4 years, with an enormous remodelling capacity, only great deformi- ties >20º should be reduced. For those older than 10 years, with little remodelling capacity, angulations >10-15º must be manipulated. The greatest complication derived from a bad reduction is the limitation of the pronation and supination, which in most cases does not modify the functionality of the extremity

Electromyography: a simple and accessible tool to assess physical performance and health during hypoxia training. A systematic review

Hypoxia causes reduced partial pressure of oxygen in arterial blood and induces adaptations in skeletal muscle that may affect individuals’ physical performance and muscular health. These muscular changes are detectable and quantifiable by electromyography (EMG), an instrument that assesses electrical activity during active contraction at rest. EMG is a relatively simple and accessible technique for all patients, one that can show the degree of the sensory and motor functions because it provides information about the status of the peripheral nerves and muscles. The main goal of this review is to evaluate the scientific evidence of EMG as an instrument for monitoring different responses of skeletal muscles subjected to external stimuli such as hypoxia and physical activity. A structured search was conducted following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines in Medline/PubMed, Scielo, Google Scholar, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library Plus. The search included articles published in the last 25 years until May 2020 and was restricted to English- and Spanish-language publications. As such, investigators identified nine articles that met the search criteria. The results determined that EMG was able to detect muscle fatigue from changes in the frequency spectrum. When a muscle was fatigued, high frequency components decreased and low frequency components increased. In other studies, EMG determined muscle activation increased during exercise by recruiting motor units and by increasing the intensity of muscle contractions. Finally, it was also possible to calculate the mean quadriceps quadratic activity used to obtain an image of muscle activation. In conclusion, EMG offers a suitable tool for monitoring the different skeletal muscle responses and has sufficient sensitivity to detect hypoxia-induced muscle changes produced by hypoxic stimuli. Moreover, EMG enhances an extension of physical examination and tests motor-system integrity

Cap Formation Induced by Concanavalin A in Pathogenic Free-living Amoebae

Morphological differences in cap formation were found when trophozoites of different free-living amoebae were treated with the lectin Concanavalin A, which resulted in a rapid redistribution of certain surface components to form small clusters and membrane-folded structures of diverse sizes. Acanthamoeba castellanii, Acanthamoba polyphaga and Naegleria lovaniensis exhibited characteristic caps, however, in A. castellanii this structure was larger and included several folds of the plasma membrane; furthermore, some of these caps had vacuoles containing a fi bro granular content. In contrast, the caps formed by A. polyphaga and N. lovaniensis lacked vacuoles. Regarding Naegleria fowleri, the trophozoites did not produce a defi ned cap, and only small patches of lectin-bound surface receptor complexes were observed at one pole of the cell body. In the free-living amoebae studied, it was not possible to correlate the shape and size of cap with pathogenicity

Relación entre las pruebas de funcionalidad de la marcha en personas con daño cerebral adquirido en fase subaguda

Objetivo: Analizar el grado de relación entre cuatro pruebas que valoran la funcionalidad de la marcha en sujetos jóvenes con daño cerebral adquirido (DCA) en fase subaguda y conocer el grado de relación entre estas pruebas y la percepción subjetiva de seguridad en actividades de la vida diaria. Metodología: 67 participantes jóvenes con DCA en fase subaguda (43 hombres y 24 mujeres) con una edad media 35,09 años. Se realizó estadística descriptiva de todas las variables demográficas: género, edad, IMC, meses desde que se produjo la lesión y etiología lesional. Para analizar si existe correlación entre las variables se utilizó el coeficiente de Pearson. Resultados: El Timed 10-Meter Walk presenta una correlación muy alta con Timed Up and Go (TUG) (r=093), alta con el 6-Minute Walk Test (r=0,77) y moderada con el Step Test (r=0,56). El 6-Minute Walk Test presenta una correlación alta con el TUG (r=0,82) y una correlación moderada con el Step Test (r=0,69). El Step Test presenta una correlación moderada con el TUG (r= -0,68). The Activities-specific Balance Confidence Scale (ABC) presenta una correlación moderada con el Timed 10-Meter Walk (r=0,42), TUG (R=0,40), 6-Minute Walk Test (r=0,40) y Step Test (r=0,44). Conclusiones: Las pruebas de funcionalidad de la marcha presentan una correlación significativa entre moderada y muy alta en personas jóvenes con DCA. El ABC presenta una correlación significativa moderada con las cuatro variables de funcionalidad de la marcha analizadas en esta població

LECTINPred: web server that uses complex networks of protein structure for prediction of lectins with potential use as cancer biomarkers or in parasite vaccine design

Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación; AGL2010-22290-C03-01Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación; AGL2011-30563-C03-0