Hiperhomocisteinemia y ateromatosis coronaria. Estudio epidemiológico en un grupo de población de enfermos de la Provincia de Santa Cruz de Tenerife

El objetivo del estudio ha sido conocer las concentraciones plasmáticas de homocisteína en pacientes con enfermedad coronaria en un grupo de población significativa de la provincia de Santa Cruz de Tenerife, así como establecer si es un factor de riesgo cardiovascular. Las concentraciones de homocisteína entre los 132 pacientes y los 18 sujetos controles no mostró diferencias significativas. Asímismo la distribución de la homocisteína por quintiles no demostró evidencia de asociación significativa entre casos y controles

On Training Road Surface Classifiers by Data Augmentation

[EN] It is demonstrated that data augmentation is a promising approach to reduce the size of the captured dataset required for training automatic road surface classifiers. The context is on-board systems for autonomous or semi-autonomous driving assistance: automatic power-assisted steering. Evidence is obtained by extensive experiments involving multiple captures from a 10-channel multisensor deployment: three channels from the accelerometer (acceleration in the X, Y, and Z axes); three microphone channels; two speed channels; and the torque and position of the handwheel. These captures were made under different settings: three worm-gear interface configurations; hands on or off the wheel; vehicle speed (constant speed of 10, 15,20, 30 km/h, or accelerating from 0 to 30 km/h); and road surface (smooth flat asphalt, stripes, or cobblestones). It has been demonstrated in the experiments that data augmentation allows a reduction by an approximate factor of 1.5 in the size of the captured training dataset.This research was funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by the European Union, grant number TEC2017-84743-P.Salazar Afanador, A.; Rodríguez, A.; Vargas, N.; Vergara Domínguez, L. (2022). On Training Road Surface Classifiers by Data Augmentation. Applied Sciences. 12(7):1-11. https://doi.org/10.3390/app1207342311112

Perception-intention-action cycle as a human acceptable way for improving human-robot collaborative tasks

© ACM 2023. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here for your personal use. Not for redistribution. The definitive Version of Record was published in HRI '23: Companion of the 2023 ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction, https://doi.org/10.1145/3568294.3580149.In Human-Robot Collaboration (HRC) tasks, the classical Perception-Action cycle can not fully explain the collaborative behaviour of the human-robot pair until it is extended to Perception-Intention-Action (PIA) cycle, giving to the human's intention a key role at the same level of the robot's perception and not as a subblock of this. Although part of the human's intention can be perceived or inferred by the other agent, this is prone to misunderstandings so the true intention has to be explicitly informed in some cases to fulfill the task. Here, we explore both types of intention and we combine them with the robot's perception through the concept of Situation Awareness (SA). We validate the PIA cycle and its acceptance by the user with a preliminary experiment in an object transportation task showing that its usage can increase trust in the robot.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Making Sense of Composite Endpoints in Clinical Research

Múltiples fármacos utilizados actualmente en la práctica clínica han sido aprobados por las agencias reguladoras basándose en estudios que utilizan criterios de valoración compuestos. Los criterios de valoración compuestos son atractivos porque reducen los requisitos de tamaño de la muestra, los periodos de seguimiento y los costes. Sin embargo, la interpretación de los criterios de valoración compuestos puede ser difícil y su uso incorrecto no es infrecuente. La interpretación incorrecta de los criterios de valoración compuestos puede llevar a conclusiones erróneas que repercutan en la atención al paciente. Para interpretar correctamente los resultados compuestos, deben tenerse en cuenta varias cuestiones importantes. ¿Son los componentes individuales del resultado compuesto igualmente importantes para los pacientes? ¿Los criterios de valoración más y menos importantes se produjeron con una frecuencia similar? ¿Presentan los criterios de valoración componentes reducciones de riesgo relativo similares? Si las respuestas a estas preguntas son afirmativas, el uso y la interpretación del criterio de valoración compuesto serían apropiados. Sin embargo, si alguno de los componentes del parámetro compuesto no satisface los criterios mencionados, la interpretación puede resultar difícil y requerir pasos adicionales. Las agencias reguladoras reconocen estos retos y tienen consideraciones específicas a la hora de aprobar fármacos basados en estudios que emplean criterios de valoración compuestos. En conclusión, los criterios de valoración compuestos son herramientas valiosas para evaluar la eficacia y el beneficio clínico neto de las intervenciones; sin embargo, se recomienda una interpretación cautelosa. © 2023 por los autores.Multiple drugs currently used in clinical practice have been approved by regulatory agencies based on studies that utilize composite endpoints. Composite endpoints are appealing because they reduce sample size requirements, follow-up periods, and costs. However, interpreting composite endpoints can be challenging, and their misuse is not uncommon. Incorrect interpretation of composite outcomes can lead to misleading conclusions that impact patient care. To correctly interpret composite outcomes, several important questions should be considered. Are the individual components of the composite outcome equally important to patients? Did the more and less important endpoints occur with similar frequency? Do the component endpoints exhibit similar relative risk reductions? If these questions receive affirmative answers, the use and interpretation of the composite endpoint would be appropriate. However, if any component of the composite endpoint fails to satisfy the aforementioned criteria, interpretation can become difficult, necessitating additional steps. Regulatory agencies acknowledge these challenges and have specific considerations when approving drugs based on studies employing composite endpoints. In conclusion, composite endpoints are valuable tools for evaluating the efficacy and net clinical benefit of interventions; however, cautious interpretation is advised. © 2023 by the authors

Detection of mecC-Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus isolates in river water : a potential role for water in the environmental dissemination

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a public health concern due to limited treatment options. The recent description of a mecA homologue, mecC in human and cattle, led to studies to detect this new variant in human and other animal species. Detection of mecC in wild boar and fallow deer in a Spanish game estate led us to further investigate the presence of mecC-MRSA at this location. Samples from cattle, wild animals, workers and river water were tested. A further three mecC-MRSA isolates were obtained from river water. Molecular characterization (multilocus sequence typing and spa typing) and antimicrobial susceptibility testing (broth microdilution) showed that isolates were similar to those detected in wild animals. Whole genome sequencing confirmed that the isolates from the river water and wild animals in the same geographic area were all closely related isolates of ST425 mecC-MRSA. The presence of mecC-MRSA in the river water highlights the potential role of water in the dissemination of mecC-MRSA

Effects of Nutritional Supplements on Judo‐Related Performance: A Review.

The potential ergogenic effect of nutritional supplements depends on their dosage and the type of exercise executed. Aiming at reviewing the research literature regarding sport supplements utilized in judo in order to improve performance, a literature search was performed at the following databases: Dialnet, PubMed, Scielo, Scopus and SportDiscus. A total of 11 articles met the inclusion criteria and were selected. Evidence revised indicates that supplementation with caffeine, β-alanine, sodium bicarbonate, creatine, and β-hydroxy-β-methylbutyrate has a positive effect on judo-related performance. Moreover, there is evidence suggesting that combining some of these nutritional supplements may produce an additive effect.post-print412 K

Model-driven Test Engineering: A Practical Analysis in the AQUA-WS Project

The effective application of test phases has been one of the most relevant, critical and cost phases in the life cycle of software projects in the last years. During the test phase, the test team has to assure the quality of the system and the concordance with the initial requirements of the system. The model driven paradigm is offering suitable results in some areas and the test phase could be one of them. This paper presents how the application of this paradigm can help to improve this aspect in the functional test generation and it analyses the experience in a real project developed under this approach.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación TIN2010-20057-C03-02Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación TIN 2010-12312-EJunta de Andalucía TIC-578

Effect of Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria on Salicornia ramosissima Seed Germination under Salinity, CO2 and Temperature Stress

In a scenario of climate change and growing population, halophyte root microbiota interactions may be a sustainable solution to improve alternative crop production while combating abiotic stress. In this work, seeds of the cash crop halophyte Salicornia ramosissima were inoculated with five different plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria consortia, isolated from the rhizosphere of five halophytes in southwestern Spain salt marshes. For the first time, we recorded seed germination response to three interactive abiotic stressors, CO2 (400 and 700 ppm), temperature (25 and 29 ℃) and salinity (171, 510 and 1030 mM NaCl), all of them related to climate change. Salinity played a decisive role, as no significant differences were registered between treatments at 171 mM NaCl and no germination took place at 1030 mM NaCl. At 510 mM NaCl, one rhizobacterial consortium improved seed parameters notably, increasing up to 114% germination percentage and 65% seedlings biomass. These first findings encourage us to think that cash crop halophytes like S. ramosissima and halophyte root microbiota may be valuable resources for human or animal feeding in a future climate reality.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (CGL2016-75550-R)Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte (FPU014/03987

Binding of PhoP to promoters of phosphate‐regulated genes in Streptomyces coelicolor: identification of PHO boxes

[EN] The control of phosphate-regulated genes in Streptomyces coelicolor is mediated by the two-component system PhoR–PhoP. When coupled to the reporter xylE gene the pstS, phoRP and phoU promoters were shown to be very sensitive to phosphate regulation. The transcription start points of the pstS, the phoRP and the phoU promoters were identified by primer extension. phoRP showed a leaderless transcript. The response-regulator (DNA-binding) PhoP protein was overexpressed and purified in Escherichia coli as a GST–PhoP fused protein. The DNA-binding domain (DBD) of PhoP was also obtained in a similar manner. Both PhoP and its truncated DBD domain were found to bind with high affinity to an upstream region of the pstS and phoRP–phoU promoters close to the −35 sequence of each of these promoters. DNase I protection studies revealed a 29 bp protected stretch in the sense strand of the pstS promoter that includes two 11 bp direct repeat units. Footprinting of the bidirectional phoRP–phoU promoter region showed a 51 bp protected sequence that encompasses four direct repeat units, two of them with high similarity to the protected sequences in the pstS promoter. PHO boxes have been identified by alignment of the six direct repeat units found in those promoter regions. Each direct repeat unit adjusts to the consensus GG/TTCAYYYRG/CGSIThis work was supported by Grants BIO2003-01489 and GEN2003-20245-C09-01-NAC of the CICYT, Ministry of Science and Technology, Madrid, Spain. E.F.-D. received a fellowship of the Diputación de León, Spain. We thank J. Merino, B. Martín, A. Casenave and M. Álvarez for the excellent technical assistance