Effect of skin temperature on skin endothelial function assessment

PURPOSE: Microcirculatory dysfunction plays a key role in the development of sepsis during which core temperature is often disturbed. Skin microvascular assessment using laser techniques has been suggested to evaluate microvascular dysfunction during sepsis, but skin microcirculation is also a major effector of human thermoregulation. Therefore we aimed to study the effect of skin temperature on endothelial- and non-endothelial microvascular responses.METHODS: Fifteen healthy participants were studied at different randomized ambient temperatures leading to low (28.0+/-2.0 degrees C), intermediate (31.6+/-2.1 degrees C), and high (34.1+/-1.3 degrees C) skin temperatures. We measured skin blood flow using laser speckle contrast imaging on the forearm in response to vasodilator microvascular tests: acetylcholine (ACh) iontophoresis, sodium nitroprussiate (SNP) iontophoresis, and post-occlusive reactive hyperemia (PORH). The results are expressed as absolute (laser speckle perfusion units, LSPU) or normalized values (cutaneous vascular conductance, CVC in LSPU/mmHg and multiple of baseline). RESULTS: Maximal vasodilation induced by these tests is modified by skin temperature. A low skin temperature induced a significant lower vasodilation for all microvascular tests when results are expressed either in absolute values or in CVC. For example, ACh peak was 57.6+/-19.6 LSPU, 66.8+/-22.2 LSPU and 88.5+/-13.0 LSPU for low, intermediate and high skin temperature respectively (p<0.05). When results are expressed in multiple of baseline, statistical difference disappeared. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that skin temperature has to be well controlled when performing microvascular assessments in order to avoid any bias. The effect of skin temperature can be corrected by expressing the results in multiple of baseline

STRUCTURAL HEALTH MONITORING: CONDITION ASSESSMENT OF BRIDGE STRUCTURES WITH THE DEFORMATION AREA DIFFERENCE (DAD) METHOD USING MOST MODERN MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES SUCH AS PHOTOGRAMMETRY AND UAV

The implementation of Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) is of paramount importance for the assurance of the safety and durability of bridge infrastructure, particularly in light of the advancing age of existing structures and the concurrent increase in traffic loads. The Deformation Area Difference (DAD) method has emerged as a promising approach for detecting and assessing structural damage, offering a cost-effective alternative to traditional monitoring techniques. However, its real-world applicability has been limited by challenges such as sensitivity to noise, measurement point density, and performance under low-deflection scenarios. It is, therefore, essential to address these issues to advance the reliability and scalability of SHM solutions. This doctoral thesis has the following objectives: firstly, to address the limitations of the DAD method; secondly, to enhance its precision and applicability through complementary techniques; and thirdly, to extend its functionality to support higher SHM levels. By systematically evaluating the method's performance and integrating innovative approaches, this work seeks to establish a comprehensive framework for accurate and practical SHM solutions. The initial study examines the constraints of the DAD method through a comprehensive parametric numerical analysis, introducing the Damage Detection Range (DDR) to quantify its efficacy. The study reveals the impact of various factors, including deflection values, noise levels, and measurement point distances, on the performance of the DAD method. Additionally, it explores the influence of local cross-sectional damage for the first time. The second study addresses the method's noise sensitivity by introducing the Strain Area Difference (SAD) method, which leverages strain-based curvature analysis to enhance damage detection precision, particularly in low-deflection scenarios, and demonstrates resilience to noise through laboratory validation. The third study integrates low-complexity Model Updating (MU) techniques to enable damage level assessment. The findings demonstrate that the limitations of the DAD method can be effectively mitigated through the implementation of innovative approaches. The DDR and local cross-sectional analysis provide new insights into the method's applicability across diverse scenarios. The SAD method significantly enhances damage detection precision and noise resilience, while MU techniques enable damage severity assessments. Collectively, these contributions expand the capabilities and applicability of the DAD method for SHM. This dissertation addresses pivotal research questions pertaining to the constraints, improvements, and applications of the DAD method. By incorporating cutting-edge techniques such as the SAD method and model updating methodologies, it establishes a robust foundation for precise, scalable, and pragmatic SHM solutions for bridge structures, paving the way for future advancements in the field.9. Industry, innovation and infrastructur

Education as a Process and Result

Education is a process that happens at both the individual level of each human being and the global level of total humanity, which never ceases to participate in the educational process. Education is a social and historical category; no society has failed to have an educational system. Helmuth von Hentig outlines this in his text and, he reminds us that education is action, process and result. The paradigm shift brought about by the accelerated transformation of society also applies to the concept of education. New technologies and the irreversible digitalization of society have already greatly influenced educational practices and processes

Celiac patient satisfaction with nursing consultations in a gastroenterology department

The assessment of the personal care received is an indicator of the quality of the health care system. The diagnosis of celiac disease generates concern in the patient and limits the quality of life, and adherence to treatment determines symptomatic improvement. For this reason, a nursing consultation for health and nutritional education for celiac patients has been set up in our hospital. The objectives were to know the degree of patient´s satisfaction of this health program regarding technical and communicative aspects, as well as to assess the influence of adherence to the gluten-free diet (GFD) on health through clinical and analytical parameters. This is a descriptive cross-sectional observational study in patients diagnosed of celiac disease from January 2019 to June 2021 according to the Catassi criteria and who have attended the nursing consultation. Subsequently, the satisfaction survey was carried out and the clinical and analytical results were analyzed descriptively and statistically using the Student's t-test. The satisfaction of the nursing consultation was higher than 90%, highlighting aspects such as the clarity of the information, the interest and the kindness of the healthcare professionals. About 94.5% of the patients showed clinical improvement after the health education and the levels of hemoglobin, ferritin and vitamin B12 increased significantly in the analytical control after the GFD

Estudio del riesgo de hemorragia gastrointestinal asociada al tratamiento de agentes anticoagulantes y antiplaquetarios en prevención cardiovascular

El tratamiento con antiinflamatorios no esteroideos o ácido acetilsalicilíco a dosis bajas se asocia al aumento de riesgo de hemorragia digestiva alta. Existe menos evidencia sobre el riesgo asociado a otros antiplaquetarios y anticoagulantes orales. El objetivo principal del estudio es cuantificar el riesgo de hemorragia digestiva no varicosa asociada a la toma de AINEs, AAS a bajas dosis, otros antiplaquetarios o anticoagulantes orales y su relación potencial con factores que pueden modificar dicho riesgo

Parental Involvement on Child’s Education at Home during COVID-19 Pandemic

As the COVID-19 pandemic strikes, the Philippine educational system has been interrupted, with regular classrooms being replaced with distance learning. Parents are compelled to act as teachers or tutors in their children\u27s home education. This study aims to find out how parents participate in distance learning at the height of the pandemic. This research used a descriptive-correlational research design. Researcher-made questionnaires were used to collect data from 60 parents chosen through stratified intentional sampling. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Kendall’s Tau B for correlations. Findings revealed that family income and parental educational attainment are related to parental involvement. Parental educational attainment and barriers are quite important. Parental educational attainment and parental involvement with barriers are quite important. Family income with barriers is insignificant. The biggest difficulties that parents found were internet connectivity, lack of devices or gadgets, access to the internet, and difficulty instructing their children at home. It is suggested that the Department of Education adopt and stay current with distance learning education as a supplement to traditional methods of teaching-learning to ensure continuity during difficult times. In every situation, parents must accept the critical role of becoming involved in their child\u27s learning process

Determination of antioxidant compounds in foodstuff

© 2017 Scrivener Publishing LLC. Phenolic compounds, vitamins and carotenoids are naturally found in different foodstuff. These antioxidant compounds play an important role in human health and are of interest for the food, pharmaceutical and cosmeceutical industries. Modern chromatographic and spectrometric techniques have made analysis easier than ever before, but their success depends on the extraction method used. In fact, the different antioxidants are identifified using chromatographic techniques coupled to diff erent specififi c detectors according to the characteristics of each molecule. Beyond their well-known health-promoting effects, antioxidant molecules can also be used to functionalize or preserve the freshness, nutritive value, flflavor and color of foodstuff s, which justify their incorporation into several matrices. In this chapter, the most common antioxidant compounds in foodstuff will be described, as well as the methodologies involved in their extraction, separation, identifification and quantifification. The bioactive properties and industrial applications of these compounds through innovative techniques will also be taken into account.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Additive manufacturing at University of Navarra - Tecnun: applications for industry, medicine and sports

Congreso Internacional INGEGRAF (27º. 2017. Gijón