Simulation of a non-invasive glucometer based on a microwave resonator sensor

In this paper a simulation of a microwave resonator sensor for constructing a noninvasive blood glucose meter is presented. A relationship between changes of the dielectric permittivity of the blood and the frequency response of S parameters of the sensor is observed. This can lead to a measuring procedure in which the glucose level present has a correlation with the value of the frequency resonance of the sensor. The test bank consists of a planar spiral microwave resonator over which the individual under test places his/her finger. This modifies the initial frequency resonance of the resonator because of the change produced in the measuring procedure over the dielectric permittivity of the resonator. Simulations show a correlation between dielectric permittivity blood changes, and changes in the value of the frequency resonance, in the frequency response of S parameters of the resonatorFil: Pimentel, Santiago. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ingeniería. Departamento de Electrónica. Laboratorio de Comunicaciones; ArgentinaFil: Aguero, Pablo Daniel. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ingeniería. Departamento de Electrónica. Laboratorio de Comunicaciones; ArgentinaFil: Uriz, Alejandro José. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ingeniería. Departamento de Electrónica. Laboratorio de Comunicaciones; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Bonadero, Juan Carlos. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ingeniería. Departamento de Electrónica. Laboratorio de Comunicaciones; ArgentinaFil: Liberatori, Mónica Cristina. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ingeniería. Departamento de Electrónica. Laboratorio de Comunicaciones; ArgentinaFil: Castiñeira Moreira, Jorge. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ingeniería. Departamento de Electrónica. Laboratorio de Comunicaciones; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Un Modelo No Lineal de la Dinámica del Flujo Sanguíneo y la Pared Arterial

Con tendencia creciente, el modelado computacional se está empleando para evaluar causas, predecir el desarrollo y optimizar tratamientos de varias patologías del sistema arterial. Esto debido principalmente a la potencialidad de estas técnicas para producir información cada vez más realista, con un mejor nivel de detalle y mejor precisión. Más aún, los modelos computacionales personalizados -específicos para cada paciente- se han vuelto atractivos para médicos e investigadores debido a que aportan información de relevancia para las evaluaciones clínicas a bajo costo. Sin embargo, los resultados del modelado computacional son altamente dependientes de la complejidad y realismo de las hipótesis simplificativas y también de la precisión de las representaciones geométricas. En el caso particular de la hemodinámica de distritos arteriales paciente-específicos, el problema de interacción fluido estructura asociado presenta ciertos obstáculos relacionados con las características altamente nolineales de las ecuaciones gobernantes que deben ser abordados adecuadamente. Otro aspecto a ser considerado cuando se requiere evaluar las tensiones en la pared arterial, es que las geometrías obtenidas de imágenes médicas corresponden a configuraciones espaciales que no concuerdan con la configuración libre de cargas. Consecuentemente, esto puede llevar a evaluaciones incorrectas de los niveles de tensión parietal. Con estas cuestiones como guía, en este trabajo desarrollamos un modelo computacional de la pared arterial -considerada como un material hiperelástico- basado en una configuración deformada, por ejemplo la configuración diastólica. Esto se realiza para tener en cuenta las caracteristicas geométricas apropiadas de los distritos arteriales con el objetivo de mejorar la precisión de las deformaciones y las tensiones calculadas. De esta manera, el problema del equilibrio es planteado en una configuración predeformada y con precarga. La correspondiente formulación es linealizada asumiendo conocida dicha configuración espacial. Además, se plantea el problema de acoplamiento fluido estructura asumiendo como conocida la misma configuración diastólica. En este contexto, es provista una linealización completa tanto para la descripción ALE en la subregión de fluido como para el problema de equilibrio del sólido. Las ecuaciones resultantes son discretizadas mediante el método de Elementos Finitos. Finalmente, esta formulación es utilizada para evaluar la respuesta mecánica de un segmento arterial sujeto a cargas hemodinámicas realistas.Fil: Urquiza, Santiago Adrian. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ingeniería. Departamento de Mecanica; Argentina. Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia em Medicina Assistida por Computação Científica; BrasilFil: Aguero Parosi. Nicolas F.. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ingeniería. Departamento de Mecanica; ArgentinaFil: Caballero, Daniel. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ingeniería. Departamento de Mecanica; ArgentinaFil: Lombera, Guillermo Alfredo. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ingeniería. Departamento de Mecanica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Blanco, Pablo Javier. Laboratório Nacional de Computação Científica. Petrópolis; Brasil. Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia em Medicina Assistida por Computação Científica; BrasilFil: Ares, Gonzalo Damián. Laboratório Nacional de Computação Científica. Petrópolis; Brasil. Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia em Medicina Assistida por Computação Científica; BrasilFil: Feijoo, Raul A.. Laboratório Nacional de Computação Científica. Petrópolis; Brasil. Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia em Medicina Assistida por Computação Científica; Brasi

Intracoronary Administration of Allogeneic Adipose Tissue-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells Improves Myocardial Perfusion But Not Left Ventricle Function, in a Translational Model of Acute Myocardial Infarction

Background-Autologous adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ATMSCs) therapy is a promising strategy to improve post-myocardial infarction outcomes. In a porcine model of acute myocardial infarction, we studied the long-term effects and the mechanisms involved in allogeneic ATMSCs administration on myocardial performance. Methods and Results-Thirty-eight pigs underwent 50 minutes of coronary occlusion; the study was completed in 33 pigs. After reperfusion, allogeneic ATMSCs or culture medium (vehicle) were intracoronarily administered. Follow-ups were performed at short (2 days after acute myocardial infarction vehicle-treated, n=10; ATMSCs-treated, n=9) or long term (60 days after acute myocardial infarction vehicle-treated, n=7; ATMSCs-treated, n=7). At short term, infarcted myocardium analysis showed reduced apoptosis in the ATMSCs-treated animals (48.6 +/- 6\% versus 55.9 +/- 5.7\% in vehicle; P=0.017); enhancement of the reparative process with up-regulated vascular endothelial growth factor, granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor, and stromal-derived factor-1 alpha gene expression; and increased M2 macrophages (67.2 +/- 10\% versus 54.7 +/- 10.2\% in vehicle; P=0.016). In long-term groups, increase in myocardial perfusion at the anterior infarct border was observed both on day-7 and day-60 cardiac magnetic resonance studies in ATMSCs-treated animals, compared to vehicle (87.9 +/- 28.7 versus 57.4 +/- 17.7 mL/min per gram at 7 days; P=0.034 and 99 +/- 22.6 versus 43.3 +/- 14.7 22.6 mL/min per gram at 60 days; P=0.0001, respectively). At day 60, higher vascular density was detected at the border zone in the ATMSCs-treated animals (118 +/- 18 versus 92.4 +/- 24.3 vessels/mm(2) in vehicle; P=0.045). Cardiac magnetic resonance-measured left ventricular ejection fraction of left ventricular volumes was not different between groups at any time point. Conclusions-In this porcine acute myocardial infarction model, allogeneic ATMSCs-based therapy was associated with increased cardioprotective and reparative mechanisms and with better cardiac magnetic resonance-measured perfusion. No effect on left ventricular volumes or ejection fraction was observed.This work was supported by grants from Fundacion la Marato de TV3 (122230); Fondo de Investigacion Sanitaria Instituto de Salud Carlos III and Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FIS PI14/01682), (RD12/0042/0006), (RD12/0042/0047), (RD12/0019/0029) (TerCel RD16/0011/0006), CIBER Cardiovascular (CB16/11/00403) projects and Ministerio de Educacion y Ciencia (SAF2011-30067-C02-01) (SAF2014-59892). Fernaandez-Jimenez was the recipient of nonoverlapping grants from the Ministerio de Economia, Industria, y Competitividad through the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Rio Hortega fellowship); and the Fundacion Jesus Serra, the Fundacion Interhospitalaria de Investigacion Cardiovascular (FIC), and the CNIC (FICNIC fellowship). The use of QMass software was partly supported by a scientific collaboration between the CNIC and Medis Medical Imaging Systems BV. The CNIC is supported by the Ministerio de Economia, Industria, y Competitividad (MINECO) and the Pro CNIC Foundation, and is a Severo Ochoa Center of Excellence (MINECO award SEV-2015-0505). This work was also funded by ``la Caixa Banking Foundation, and the Generalitat de Catalunya (SGR 2014, CERCA Programme). This work has been developed in the context of AdvanceCat with the support of ACCIO (Catalonia Trade \& Investment; Generalitat de Catalunya) under the Catalonian ERDF operational program (European Regional Development Fund) 2014-2020.S

Impact of COVID-19 on cardiovascular testing in the United States versus the rest of the world

Objectives: This study sought to quantify and compare the decline in volumes of cardiovascular procedures between the United States and non-US institutions during the early phase of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the care of many non-COVID-19 illnesses. Reductions in diagnostic cardiovascular testing around the world have led to concerns over the implications of reduced testing for cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality. Methods: Data were submitted to the INCAPS-COVID (International Atomic Energy Agency Non-Invasive Cardiology Protocols Study of COVID-19), a multinational registry comprising 909 institutions in 108 countries (including 155 facilities in 40 U.S. states), assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on volumes of diagnostic cardiovascular procedures. Data were obtained for April 2020 and compared with volumes of baseline procedures from March 2019. We compared laboratory characteristics, practices, and procedure volumes between U.S. and non-U.S. facilities and between U.S. geographic regions and identified factors associated with volume reduction in the United States. Results: Reductions in the volumes of procedures in the United States were similar to those in non-U.S. facilities (68% vs. 63%, respectively; p = 0.237), although U.S. facilities reported greater reductions in invasive coronary angiography (69% vs. 53%, respectively; p < 0.001). Significantly more U.S. facilities reported increased use of telehealth and patient screening measures than non-U.S. facilities, such as temperature checks, symptom screenings, and COVID-19 testing. Reductions in volumes of procedures differed between U.S. regions, with larger declines observed in the Northeast (76%) and Midwest (74%) than in the South (62%) and West (44%). Prevalence of COVID-19, staff redeployments, outpatient centers, and urban centers were associated with greater reductions in volume in U.S. facilities in a multivariable analysis. Conclusions: We observed marked reductions in U.S. cardiovascular testing in the early phase of the pandemic and significant variability between U.S. regions. The association between reductions of volumes and COVID-19 prevalence in the United States highlighted the need for proactive efforts to maintain access to cardiovascular testing in areas most affected by outbreaks of COVID-19 infection

Elective cancer surgery in COVID-19-free surgical pathways during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: An international, multicenter, comparative cohort study

PURPOSE As cancer surgery restarts after the first COVID-19 wave, health care providers urgently require data to determine where elective surgery is best performed. This study aimed to determine whether COVID-19–free surgical pathways were associated with lower postoperative pulmonary complication rates compared with hospitals with no defined pathway. PATIENTS AND METHODS This international, multicenter cohort study included patients who underwent elective surgery for 10 solid cancer types without preoperative suspicion of SARS-CoV-2. Participating hospitals included patients from local emergence of SARS-CoV-2 until April 19, 2020. At the time of surgery, hospitals were defined as having a COVID-19–free surgical pathway (complete segregation of the operating theater, critical care, and inpatient ward areas) or no defined pathway (incomplete or no segregation, areas shared with patients with COVID-19). The primary outcome was 30-day postoperative pulmonary complications (pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, unexpected ventilation). RESULTS Of 9,171 patients from 447 hospitals in 55 countries, 2,481 were operated on in COVID-19–free surgical pathways. Patients who underwent surgery within COVID-19–free surgical pathways were younger with fewer comorbidities than those in hospitals with no defined pathway but with similar proportions of major surgery. After adjustment, pulmonary complication rates were lower with COVID-19–free surgical pathways (2.2% v 4.9%; adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.62; 95% CI, 0.44 to 0.86). This was consistent in sensitivity analyses for low-risk patients (American Society of Anesthesiologists grade 1/2), propensity score–matched models, and patients with negative SARS-CoV-2 preoperative tests. The postoperative SARS-CoV-2 infection rate was also lower in COVID-19–free surgical pathways (2.1% v 3.6%; aOR, 0.53; 95% CI, 0.36 to 0.76). CONCLUSION Within available resources, dedicated COVID-19–free surgical pathways should be established to provide safe elective cancer surgery during current and before future SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks

Elective Cancer Surgery in COVID-19-Free Surgical Pathways During the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic: An International, Multicenter, Comparative Cohort Study.

PURPOSE: As cancer surgery restarts after the first COVID-19 wave, health care providers urgently require data to determine where elective surgery is best performed. This study aimed to determine whether COVID-19-free surgical pathways were associated with lower postoperative pulmonary complication rates compared with hospitals with no defined pathway. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This international, multicenter cohort study included patients who underwent elective surgery for 10 solid cancer types without preoperative suspicion of SARS-CoV-2. Participating hospitals included patients from local emergence of SARS-CoV-2 until April 19, 2020. At the time of surgery, hospitals were defined as having a COVID-19-free surgical pathway (complete segregation of the operating theater, critical care, and inpatient ward areas) or no defined pathway (incomplete or no segregation, areas shared with patients with COVID-19). The primary outcome was 30-day postoperative pulmonary complications (pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, unexpected ventilation). RESULTS: Of 9,171 patients from 447 hospitals in 55 countries, 2,481 were operated on in COVID-19-free surgical pathways. Patients who underwent surgery within COVID-19-free surgical pathways were younger with fewer comorbidities than those in hospitals with no defined pathway but with similar proportions of major surgery. After adjustment, pulmonary complication rates were lower with COVID-19-free surgical pathways (2.2% v 4.9%; adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.62; 95% CI, 0.44 to 0.86). This was consistent in sensitivity analyses for low-risk patients (American Society of Anesthesiologists grade 1/2), propensity score-matched models, and patients with negative SARS-CoV-2 preoperative tests. The postoperative SARS-CoV-2 infection rate was also lower in COVID-19-free surgical pathways (2.1% v 3.6%; aOR, 0.53; 95% CI, 0.36 to 0.76). CONCLUSION: Within available resources, dedicated COVID-19-free surgical pathways should be established to provide safe elective cancer surgery during current and before future SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks

Implementación de una Formulación de Bajo Orden para Materiales Incompresibles en Hemodinámica

Es un hecho conocido que las formulaciones de elementos finitos de bajo orden presentan comportamientos anómalos al modelar materiales cercanos al límite de la incompresibilidad. En tales situaciones, aparecen oscilaciones espurias y locking como consecuencia de la incapacidad de este tipo de elementos para representar adecuadamente campos que preserven el volumen. Aun así, suele preferirse el uso de estos elementos en problemas a gran escala debido a su simplicidad y bajo coste computacional. Muchas alternativas vienen siendo propuestas para adecuar estas formulaciones en torno al límite de la incompresibilidad. En problemas geométricamente lineales existen diversas formulaciones que funcionan exitosamente; sin embargo en regímenes no lineales la incompresibilidad es considerablemente más demandante, y el desarrollo de elementos eficientes y robustos no es directo de ninguna manera. Teniendo en cuenta las consideraciones anteriores, se analiza el comportamiento numérico del elemento denominado F-bar. Este elemento es utilizado en varios casos de prueba con soluciones conocidas en la literatura, poniéndose en evidencia que presenta buen desempeño para la captura de los campos de desplazamientos, pero mostrando modos espurios en los campos de presiones. Finalmente se aplica esta formulación en un problema de hemodinámica computacional: simulación de un segmento de pared arterial carótida humana bajo la aplicación de presión interna.Fil: Aranciaga, Joaquín. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ingeniería. Departamento de Mecanica; ArgentinaFil: Caballero, Daniel. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ingeniería. Departamento de Mecanica; ArgentinaFil: Aguero Parisi, Nicolas F. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ingeniería. Departamento de Mecanica; ArgentinaFil: Lombera, Guillermo Alfredo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ingeniería. Departamento de Mecanica; ArgentinaFil: Blanco, Pablo Javier. Laboratório Nacional de Computação Científica, Petropolis; Brasil. Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia em Medicina Assistida por Computação Científica; BrasilFil: Ares, Gonzalo Damián. Laboratório Nacional de Computação Científica, Petropolis; Brasil. Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia em Medicina Assistida por Computação Científica; BrasilFil: Urquiza, Santiago Adrian. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ingeniería. Departamento de Mecanica; Argentina. Laboratório Nacional de Computação Científica, Petropolis; Brasi

Beta-3 adrenergic agonists reduce pulmonary vascular resistance and improve right ventricular performance in a porcine model of chronic pulmonary hypertension

Beta-3 adrenergic receptor (beta 3AR) agonists have been shown to produce vasodilation and prevention of ventricular remodeling in different conditions. Given that these biological functions are critical in pulmonary hypertension (PH), we aimed to demonstrate a beneficial effect of beta 3AR agonists in PH. An experimental study in pigs (n = 34) with chronic PH created by pulmonary vein banding was designed to evaluate the acute hemodynamic effect and the long-term effect of beta 3AR agonists on hemodynamics, vascular remodeling and RV performance in chronic PH. Ex vivo human experiments were performed to explore the expression of beta 3AR mRNA and the vasodilator response of beta 3AR agonists in pulmonary arteries. Single intravenous administration of the beta 3AR agonist BRL37344 produced a significant acute reduction in PVR, and two-weeks treatment with two different beta 3AR selective agonists, intravenous BRL37344 or oral mirabegron, resulted in a significant reduction in PVR (median of -2.0 Wood units/m(2) for BRL37344 vs. + 1.5 for vehicle, p = 0.04; and -1.8 Wood units/m(2) for mirabegron vs. + 1.6 for vehicle, p = 0.002) associated with a significant improvement in magnetic resonance-measured RV performance. Histological markers of pulmonary vascular proliferation (p27 and Ki67) were significantly attenuated in beta 3AR agonists-treated pigs. beta 3AR was expressed in human pulmonary arteries and beta 3AR agonists produced vasodilatation. beta 3AR agonists produced a significant reduction in PVR and improved RV performance in experimental PH, emerging as a potential novel approach for treating patients with chronic PH.This work was supported by Fonde Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) Instituto de Salud Carlos III-Fondo de Investigacion Sanitaria PI13/02339 (to A. G-A), and the competitive grant ``CNIC-Translational 01-2009´´ (to BI). R F-J is recipient of a ``Rio Hortega´´ fellowship granted by the ISCIII. R F-J is recipient of the ``FICNIC´´ fellowship granted by the ``Fundacio Jesus Serra´´, ``Fundacion Interhospitalaria de Investigacion Cardiovascular (FIC)´´ and CNIC. A. G-A, B. I, L. F-F, R. F-J, M. S and JM. G-R are members of ``Red de Investigacion Cardiovascular´´ (RIC RD12/0042/0006 and RD12/0042/0054) from the Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad, ISCIII´´. The CNIC is supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) and the Pro-CNIC Foundation, and is a Severo Ochoa Center of Excellence (MINECO award SEV-2015-0505).S

In silicio prediction of antimalarial drug target candidates

AbstractThe need for new antimalarials is persistent due to the emergence of drug resistant parasites. Here we aim to identify new drug targets in Plasmodium falciparum by phylogenomics among the Plasmodium spp. and comparative genomics to Homo sapiens. The proposed target discovery pipeline is largely independent of experimental data and based on the assumption that P. falciparum proteins are likely to be essential if (i) there are no similar proteins in the same proteome and (ii) they are highly conserved across the malaria parasites of mammals. This hypothesis was tested using sequenced Saccharomycetaceae species as a touchstone. Consecutive filters narrowed down the potential target space of P. falciparum to proteins that are likely to be essential, matchless in the human proteome, expressed in the blood stages of the parasite, and amenable to small molecule inhibition. The final set of 40 candidate drug targets was significantly enriched in essential proteins and comprised proven targets (e.g. dihydropteroate synthetase or enzymes of the non-mevalonate pathway), targets currently under investigation (e.g. calcium-dependent protein kinases), and new candidates of potential interest such as phosphomannose isomerase, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase, signaling components, and transporters. The targets were prioritized based on druggability indices and on the availability of in vitro assays. Potential inhibitors were inferred from similarity to known targets of other disease systems. The identified candidates from P. falciparum provide insight into biochemical peculiarities and vulnerable points of the malaria parasite and might serve as starting points for rational drug discovery