Accuracy of the fetal cerebroplacental ratio for the detection of intrapartum compromise in nonsmall fetuses.

OBJECTIVE: To study the accuracy of the cerebroplacental ratio (CPR) for the detection of intrapartum fetal compromise (IFC) in fetuses growing over the 10th centile. METHODS: This was a prospective study of 569 nonsmall fetuses attending the day hospital unit of a tertiary hospital that underwent an ultrasound examination at 36-40 weeks, and were delivered within 4 weeks of examination. IFC was defined as a composite of: abnormal intrapartum fetal heart rate or intrapartum fetal scalp pH < 7.20 requiring cesarean section, neonatal umbilical cord pH < 7.20, 5' Apgar score < 7 and postpartum admission to neonatal or pediatric intensive care units. The accuracy of CPR for the prediction of IFC was calculated alone and in combination with other perinatal parameters using univariate and multivariate logistic regression models, which alternatively included the onset of labor to evaluate the influence of induction of labor (IOL) on IFC and a brief composite adverse outcome of two parameters to prove the strength of the approach. RESULTS: The incidence of IFC was 17.9%. CPR sensitivity was 30.4% for a false positive rate (FFR) of 10 and 14.7% for a FPP of 5% (AUC = 0.62, p < 0.001). The multivariate analysis showed that only fetal gender and parity increased the predictive accuracy of CPR alone, although the improvement was poor (AUC = 0.67, p < 0.001). No differences were observed using any of the alternative models. Finally, IOL had no influence of IFC. CONCLUSION: Despite their apparent normality, a proportion of fetuses growing over the 10th centile suffer IFC. Some of them are suitable for detection by means of CPR

Progression of Doppler changes in early-onset small for gestational age fetuses. How frequent are the different progression sequences?

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the progression of Doppler abnormalities in early-onset fetal smallness (SGA). METHODS: A total of 948 Doppler examinations of the umbilical artery (UA), middle cerebral artery (MCA) and ductus venosus (DV), belonging to 405 early-onset SGA fetuses, were studied, evaluating the sequences of Doppler progression, the interval examination-labor at which Doppler became abnormal and the cumulative sum of Doppler anomalies in relation with labor proximity. RESULTS: The most frequent sequences were that in which only the UA pulsatility index (PI) became abnormal (42.1%) and that in which an abnormal UA PI appeared first, followed by an abnormal MCA PI (24.2%). In general, 71.3% of the fetuses followed the classical progression sequence UA→MCA→DV, mostly in the early stages of growth restriction (84.1%). In addition, the UA PI was the first parameter to be affected (9 weeks before delivery), followed by the MCA PI and the DV PIV (1 and 0 weeks). Finally, the UA PI began to sum anomalies 5 weeks before delivery, while the MCA and DV did it at 3 and 1 weeks before the pregnancy ended. CONCLUSIONS: In early-onset SGA fetuses, Doppler progression tends to follow a predictable order, with sequential changes in the umbilical, cerebral and DV impedances

An Immersive Serious Game for the Behavioral Assessment of Psychological Needs

[EN] Motivation is an essential component in mental health and well-being. In this area, researchers have identified four psychological needs that drive human behavior: attachment, self-esteem, orientation and control, and maximization of pleasure and minimization of distress. Various self-reported scales and interviews tools have been developed to assess these dimensions. Despite the validity of these, they are showing limitations in terms of abstractation and decontextualization and biases, such as social desirability bias, that can affect responses veracity. Conversely, virtual serious games (VSGs), that are games with specific purposes, can potentially provide more ecologically valid and objective assessments than traditional approaches. Starting from these premises, the aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility of a VSG to assess the four personality needs. Sixty subjects participated in five VSG sessions. Results showed that the VSG was able to recognize attachment, self-esteem, and orientation and control needs with a high accuracy, and to a lesser extent maximization of pleasure and minimization of distress need. In conclusion, this study showed the feasibility to use a VSG to enhance the assessment of psychological behavioral-based need, overcoming biases presented by traditional assessment.This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness funded project "Advanced Therapeutically Tools for Mental Health" (DPI2016-77396-R) and by the European Union through the Operational Program of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) on the Valencian Community 2010-2020 (IDIFEDER/2018/029)Chicchi-Giglioli, IA.; Carrasco-Ribelles, LA.; Parra Vargas, E.; Marín-Morales, J.; Alcañiz Raya, ML. (2021). An Immersive Serious Game for the Behavioral Assessment of Psychological Needs. Applied Sciences. 11(4):1-17. https://doi.org/10.3390/app11041971S11711

Efficiency Maximization of a Jet Pump for an Hydraulic Artificial Lift System

In science and engineering, mathematical modeling serves as a tool to understand processes and systems acting as a testing bed for several hypotheses. The selection of a specific model, as well as its variables and parameters, depends on the nature of the system under analysis and the acceptable simplifying assumptions. Therefore, it must allow for a good fit between both the hypothesis and the available data. Opposite to other design approaches based on experimental data or/and complex models, this work presents a simpler numerical design method for efficiency maximization of an Hydraulic Jet Pump (HJP) for oil-well extraction process, considering its hydraulic and geometric parameters. The design process consists in setting and solving a constrained non-linear optimization problem by taking into account the hydraulic model of the HJP in terms four design variables: throat area, nozzle area, injection flow, and injection pressure to the oil-well. The objective function of this case aims to maximize the HJP's efficiency avoiding to approach cavitation condition as well fulfilling technical constraints. A numerical technique, Differential Evolution Algorithm (DEA), has been implemented to solve the optimization problem. The proposed methodology leads to a solution set by considering only commercial geometries and feasible operating conditions for the HJP, which facilitates its practical implementation. A set of ten oil-wells with land production data, operating in the southeaster of Mexico, is used to compare and validate several Jet pump designs, i. e., through comparison with actual oil-well's operation condition.Peer Reviewe

Vitamina E y aceites vegetales

An interest in vitamin E has increased in recent years due to its potent antioxidant properties and its role in preventing age-related diseases, cardiovascular diseases or Alzheimer. This work describes the biogenesis, bioavailability, nutritional requirements, activity and properties of vitamin E. Vegetable oils constitute one of the main sources of vitamin E dietary intake and an extensive bibliographic revision of this vitamin in vegetable oils is carried out from four points of view: antioxidant properties, health benefits, effects of external agents and effects of processing on vitamin E content and analytical techniques used for its analysis.El interés por la vitamina E ha aumentado en los últimos años debido a su potente poder antioxidante y a su papel frente a enfermedades relacionadas con la edad, trastornos cardiovasculares o Alzheimer. En este trabajo se detallan la biogénesis, biodisponibilidad, requerimientos nutricionales, actividad y propiedades de la vitamina E. Los aceites vegetales constituyen una de las fuentes principales de aporte de vitamina E a través de la dieta, por lo que se lleva a cabo una amplia revisión bibliográfica desde cuatro puntos de vista: vitamina E y propiedades antioxidantes, beneficios para la salud debidos a la ingestión de aceites vegetales, efecto de agentes externos y procesado sobre el contenido de vitamina E y técnicas analíticas utilizadas para su análisis

Aspectos taxonómicos y ecogeográficos de algunas serpientes (Reptilia: Colubridae) del área de influencia de la Central Hidroeléctrica Miel I, Caldas, Colombia

Entre los años 2014 y 2015 se obtuvieron registros para algunas especies de serpientes poco conocidas en Colombia, como producto de los monitoreos de fauna silvestre en las zonas de influencia de la Central Hidroeléctrica Miel I (ISAGEN S.A.) en el oriente del departamento de Caldas. Presentamos información sobre la distribución, características morfológicas, anotaciones de historia natural y comentarios de Oxyrhopus occipitalis, Scaphiodontophis annulatus, Tantilla alticola, Urotheca fulviceps y Urotheca lateristriga. Consideramos que el aumento de la cobertura boscosa en esta área ha aportado a la conservación local y regional de la biodiversidad, incluyendo la ofidiofauna. Sugerimos la implementación de una señalética vial para disminuir la mortalidad de serpientes por atropellamiento

Aspectos taxonómicos y ecogeográficos de algunas serpientes (Reptilia: Colubridae) del área de influencia de la Central Hidroeléctrica Miel I, Caldas, Colombia

This study presents records for some poorly known snake species in Colombia and information on the distribution, morphological characteristics, natural history notes and comments on the species Oxyrhopus occipitalis, Scaphiodontophis annulatus, Tantilla alticola, Urotheca fulviceps and Urotheca lateristriga. Records are the result of wild fauna monitoring developed in the Miel I hydroelectric project in the eastern department of Caldas from 2014 to 2015. Increased forest cover in this area has contributed to the conservation of local and regional biodiversity, including snakes. Suggested short-term actions for snake conservation in this area should include the implementation of road signs to avoid roadkills.Entre los años 2014 y 2015 se obtuvieron registros para algunas especies de serpientes poco conocidas en Colombia,como producto de los monitoreos de fauna silvestre en las zonas de influencia de la Central Hidroeléctrica Miel I(ISAGEN S.A.) en el oriente del departamento de Caldas. Presentamos información sobre la distribución, característicasmorfológicas, anotaciones de historia natural y comentarios de Oxyrhopus occipitalis, Scaphiodontophis annulatus,Tantilla alticola, Urotheca fulviceps y Urotheca lateristriga. Consideramos que el aumento de la cobertura boscosa enesta área ha aportado a la conservación local y regional de la biodiversidad, incluyendo la ofidiofauna. Sugerimosla implementación de una señalética vial para disminuir la mortalidad de serpientes por atropellamiento

Phenotypic Characterization of Encephalitis and Immune Response in the Brains of Lambs Experimentally Infected with Spanish Goat Encephalitis Virus

[EN]Spanish goat encephalitis virus (SGEV), a novel subtype of tick-borne flavivirus closely related to louping ill virus, causes a neurological disease in experimentally infected goats and lambs. Here, the distribution of microglia, T and B lymphocytes, and astrocytes was determined in the encephalon and spinal cord of eight Assaf lambs subcutaneously infected with SGEV. Cells were identified based on immunohistochemical staining against Iba1 (microglia), CD3 (T lymphocytes), CD20 (B lymphocytes), and glial fibrillary acidic protein (astrocytes). In glial foci and perivascular cu ng areas, microglia were the most abundant cell type (45.4% of immunostained cells), followed by T lymphocytes (18.6%) and B lymphocytes (4.4%). Thalamus, hypothalamus, corpus callosum, and medulla oblongata contained the largest areas occupied by glial foci. Reactive astrogliosis occurred to a greater extent in the lumbosacral spinal cord than in other regions of the central nervous system. Lesions were more frequent on the side of the animal experimentally infected with the virus. Lesions were more severe in lambs than in goats, suggesting that lambs may be more susceptible to SGEV, which may be due to species di erences or to interindividual di erences in the immune response, rather than to di erences in the relative proportions of immune cells. Larger studies that monitor natural or experimental infections may help clarify local immune responses to this flavivirus subtype in the central nervous system.SIThis work was partially supported by a FEDER co-funded grant from the Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (E-RTA2013-00013-C04-04), Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (MCIU) and the Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI) reference project RTI2018-096010-B-C21 (FEDER co-funded) and by the Principado de Asturias, PCTI 2018–220 (GRUPIN: IDI2018-000237 and FEDER). Ms. Ileana Z. Martínez was supported by a Fundación Carolina PhD scholarship (2017 call)

Assessment of inflammation in patients with rheumatoid arthritis using thermography and machine learning: a fast and automated technique

Objectives Sensitive detection of joint inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is crucial to the success of the treat-to-target strategy. In this study, we characterise a novel machine learning-based computational method to automatically assess joint inflammation in RA using thermography of the hands, a fast and non-invasive imaging technique. Methods We recruited 595 patients with arthritis and osteoarthritis, as well as healthy subjects at two hospitals over 4 years. Machine learning was used to assess joint inflammation from the thermal images of the hands using ultrasound as the reference standard, obtaining a Thermographic Joint Inflammation Score (ThermoJIS). The machine learning model was trained and tuned using data from 449 participants with different types of arthritis, osteoarthritis or without rheumatic disease (development set). The performance of the method was evaluated based on 146 patients with RA (validation set) using Spearman's rank correlation coefficient, area under the receiver-operating curve (AUROC), average precision, sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value and F1-score. Results ThermoJIS correlated moderately with ultrasound scores (grey-scale synovial hypertrophy=0.49, p<0.001; and power Doppler=0.51, p<0.001). The AUROC for ThermoJIS for detecting active synovitis was 0.78 (95% CI, 0.71 to 0.86; p<0.001). In patients with RA in clinical remission, ThermoJIS values were significantly higher when active synovitis was detected by ultrasound. Conclusions ThermoJIS was able to detect joint inflammation in patients with RA, even in those in clinical remission. These results open an opportunity to develop new tools for routine detection of joint inflammation