A Machine-Learning Model for Lung Age Forecasting by Analyzing Exhalations

Spirometers are important devices for following up patients with respiratory diseases. These are mainly located only at hospitals, with all the disadvantages that this can entail. This limits their use and consequently, the supervision of patients. Research efforts focus on providing digital alternatives to spirometers. Although less accurate, the authors claim they are cheaper and usable by many more people worldwide at any given time and place. In order to further popularize the use of spirometers even more, we are interested in also providing user-friendly lung-capacity metrics instead of the traditional-spirometry ones. The main objective, which is also the main contribution of this research, is to obtain a person’s lung age by analyzing the properties of their exhalation by means of a machine-learning method. To perform this study, 188 samples of blowing sounds were used. These were taken from 91 males (48.4%) and 97 females (51.6%) aged between 17 and 67. A total of 42 spirometer and frequency-like features, including gender, were used. Traditional machine-learning algorithms used in voice recognition applied to the most significant features were used. We found that the best classification algorithm was the Quadratic Linear Discriminant algorithm when no distinction was made between gender. By splitting the corpus into age groups of 5 consecutive years, accuracy, sensitivity and specificity of, respectively, 94.69%, 94.45% and 99.45% were found. Features in the audio of users’ expiration that allowed them to be classified by their corresponding lung age group of 5 years were successfully detected. Our methodology can become a reliable tool for use with mobile devices to detect lung abnormalities or diseases.This research was funded by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación under contract PID2020-113614RB-C22

A Free App for Diagnosing Burnout (BurnOut App): Development Study

Background: Health specialists take care of us, but who takes care of them? These professionals are the most vulnerable to the increasingly common syndrome known as burnout. Burnout is a syndrome conceptualized as a result of chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. Objective: This study aims to develop a useful app providing burnout self-diagnosis and tracking of burnout through a simple, intuitive, and user-friendly interface. Methods: We present the BurnOut app, an Android app developed using the Xamarin and MVVMCross platforms, which allows users to detect critical cases of psychological discomfort by implementing the Goldberg and Copenhagen Burnout Inventory tests. Results: The BurnOut app is robust, user-friendly, and efficient. The good performance of the app was demonstrated by comparing its features with those of similar apps in the literature. Conclusions: The BurnOut app is very useful for health specialists or users, in general, to detect burnout early and track its evolution.This work was supported by project PID2020-113614RB-C22, funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033. JV is a Serra Húnter fello

Indicadors psicopatològics en un grup d'heroinòmans. Estudi del trastorn esquizotípic de la personalitat.

[cat] Es revisa l'estat actual sobre la relació entre consum de drogues i psicopatologia. Diversos autors (Freud, S. 1897; Rado, S. 1927; Krystal & Rasskin, 1970; Kohut, H. 1971; Oughourlian, JM. 1977; Adams, JM. 1978; Wurmser.1978; Khantzian, EJ. 1985; Newcomb i Cols. 1986; Lavouvie, EW. 1987; Cabal Bravo i Cols. 1989; Duran Gervilla.1989; Casas Brugué, M.1991; Alonso Fernandez, F. 1992; Llopis Llacer, JJ. I Cols. 1992; Millon, T. 1998 i altres han definit la íntima interrelació entre els dos aspectes, essent allò que actualment es defineix com a comorbiditat o diagnòstic dual. En aquest context s'enquadra el present estudi. Es preten demostrar l'existència de comorbiditat entre la dependència a l'heroïna i els trastorns de la personalitat. També es preten observar si el perfil obtingut en una amplia mostra de pacients heroinòmans, mitjançant el "Qüestionari de Personalitat Mini Mult" (Kincannon, 1968), s'assembla al perfil psicopatològic que caracteritza i defineix el trastorn esquizotípic de la personalitat. Amb aquest fi, es dissenya un estudi de tipus observacional, organitzant les puntuacions obtingudes en taules de contingència (2x2) en funció de manifestar o no psicopatologia en les diverses subescales del test. Una altra mesura registrada es refereix a le spuntuacions mitjanes d eles puntuacions típiques de cada escala. Es realitza contrast estadístic entre el grup experimental (N=167 pacients heroinòmans) i el grup control (N= 124 individuos de la població normal). Els resultats obtinguts manifesten un evident nivell de psicopatologia en el grup experimental versus el grup control. Concretament, el perfil propi dels pacients heroinòmans es defineix com 6-8 + (4-2), és a dir, puntuacions significatives en les escales paranoia-esquizofrènia i desviació psicopàtica-depressió. Segons alguns autors (Nuñez, R. 1974 i Millon, T. 1998), aquest perfil coincideix amb el propi del que defineix el trastorn esquizotípic de la personalitat. Altres resultats de la investigació demostren que els pacients amb més psicopatologia es caracteritzen per: estar inclosos en el programa de Manteniment amb Metadona, ésser els que més tractaments han rebut, més gran incidència entre els homes i edat mitjana més gran