Expectations and Perceptions of Healthcare Professionals for Robot Deployment in Hospital Environments during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Several challenges to guarantee medical care have been exposed during the current COVID-19 pandemic. Although the literature has shown some robotics applications to overcome the potential hazards and risks in hospital environments, the implementation of those developments is limited, and few studies measure the perception and the acceptance of clinicians. This work presents the design and implementation of several perception questionnaires to assess healthcare provider's level of acceptance and education toward robotics for COVID-19 control in clinic scenarios. Specifically, 41 healthcare professionals satisfactorily accomplished the surveys, exhibiting a low level of knowledge about robotics applications in this scenario. Likewise, the surveys revealed that the fear of being replaced by robots remains in the medical community. In the Colombian context, 82.9% of participants indicated a positive perception concerning the development and implementation of robotics in clinic environments. Finally, in general terms, the participants exhibited a positive attitude toward using robots and recommended them to be used in the current panorama

Oferta alimenticia para abejas apis mellifera en café. Pasuncha - Cundinamarca

Se realizó el análisis palinológico de las flores presentes en el cultivo de café en Pasuncha (Cundinamarca), se recolectaron las flores presentes en este hábitat para extraer su polen, identificarlo y compararlo con el pan de abejas recolectado en las colmenas de abejas Apis mellifera. Se evidenció que Apis visita las plantas Cuphea racemosa en un 60.1%, Bidens pilosa en un 8.9%, Coffea arabica en un 4.4%, Critonia morifolia en un 3.8%, Gouania polígama en un 3.4%, Hedyosmum racemosum en un 2.4% y otras en un 17%. Se recolectaron e identificaron cinco especies que visitaron las flores de café durante la primera floración de 2016, de estas fueron identificadas: Apis mellifera, Paratrigonaeutaeniata y TrigonaAmalthea; Apis tiene su mayor actividad de colecta de polen de café entre las 8 a. m. y las 12 p. m

Laparoscopic choledochal cyst resection with simplified common bile duct reconstruction in an adult population: A case series

Introducción: Los quistes de colédoco (CC) son una patología congénita poco frecuente en la población adulta. Desde 1995, el manejo laparoscópico ha sido descrito para esta entidad. Sin embargo, su manejo se considera un tema controvertido debido al aumento del riesgo de colangiocarcinoma. Materiales y métodos: se realizó un estudio retrospectivo, observacional y descriptivo considerando pacientes diagnosticados de CC que fueron operados en un centro de referencia de cirugía hepatobiliar desde enero de 2013 hasta junio de 2018. Los pacientes fueron llevados a laparoscopia simplificada hepaticoyeyunostomía con reconstrucción en Y de Roux. Se presenta un análisis retrospectivo de los datos obtenidos. Resultados: Diez pacientes adultos con CC fueron sometidos a reconstrucción biliar quirúrgica a una edad media de 34,5 años; 75% tenía CC Todani tipo I y 25% Todani tipo IV-B CC. Aproximadamente el 50% de los pacientes fueron diagnosticados mediante colangiopancreatografía retrógrada endoscópica (CPRE) y el 50% de ellos mediante colangiopancreatografía por resonancia magnética. Ninguno requirió reintervención, no se informó mortalidad; y la estancia media en el hospital fue 5 días, ningún paciente tuvo fuga biliar posoperatoria, ninguno se convirtió a cirugía abierta y todos los pacientes tuvieron una tolerancia adecuada a la alimentación oral 2 días postoperatorios. El seguimiento a largo plazo no mostró incidencia de colangiocarcinoma después de un seguimiento de 2 años. Conclusión: Los quistes de colédoco en adultos son una patología poco frecuente que tiene una alta probabilidad de desarrollar malignidad cuando no se realiza de forma adecuada quirúrgicamente manejado y debido al reflujo biliar secundario. Estos factores hacen que el manejo quirúrgico sea una decisión crítica. El abordaje laparoscópico simplificado presentado en este trabajo parece ser una alternativa eficaz y segura a la cirugía reconstructiva de la vía biliar.Introduction: Choledochal cysts (CC) are rare congenital pathology in adult population. Since 1995, laparoscopic management has been described for this entity. Nevertheless, its management is considered to be a controversial matter due to the augmented risk of associated cholangiocarcinoma. Materials and methods: A retrospective, observational, and descriptive study was conducted considering patients diagnosed with CC who were operated at a hepatobiliary surgery referral center from January 2013 to June 2018. Patients were taken to simplified laparoscopic hepaticojejunostomy with a Roux-en-Y reconstruction. A retrospective analysis of the data obtained is presented. Results: Ten adult patients with CC underwent surgical biliary reconstruction at a mean age of 34.5 years; 75% had Todani type I CC and 25% Todani type IV-B CC. About 50% of the patients were diagnosed via endoscopic retrograde holangiopancreatography (ERCP) and 50% of them via magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography. None required re-intervention, no mortality was reported; and the mean hospital stay was 5 days, no patient had postoperative biliary leakage, none was converted to open surgery, and all patients had adequate oral feeding tolerance 2 days postoperative. Long-term follow-up showed no incidence of cholangiocarcinoma after 2-year follow-up. Conclusion: Choledochal cysts in adults is a rare pathology that has a high probability of developing malignancy when not adequately surgically managed and because of secondary bile reflux. These factors make surgical management a critical decision. The simplified laparoscopic approach presented in this paper seems to be an effective and safe alternative to biliary duct reconstructive surgery

Inoculum sources and Preservation in Soils of Phytophthora parasitica from Cherry Tomato in Continental Crop Areas in Southeast Spain

Inoculum sources and Preservation in Soils of Phytophthora parasitica from Cherry Tomato in Continental Crop Areas in Southeast Spai

Effects of an increase in Mexican strawberry exports to Canada on the profitability of pro-ducers in Mexico

Objective: determine the viability of increasing the exported quantity of Mexican strawberries to the Canadian market. Design/methodology/approach: Likewise, a simulated scenario was developed with the purpose of carrying out a forecast on the conditions that may occur to have a more accurate knowledge of the operation of the international strawberry trade between Mexico and Canada. To perform this analysis, the international market was represented in a partial equilibrium model. Results: According to the calculated price flexibility, an increase in the exported quantity of Mexican strawberries to Canada of 50% in one year would cause a positive final effect. With this estimate, it can be established that an increase in the exported quantity of Mexican strawberries to Canada of 50% in one year would be viable in the economic sense. In this simulated scenario, the Benefit/Cost Ratio (B/C R) calculated for the producers of Michoacan, Baja California and Guanajuato would be 1.0865, 1.196 and 0.6856 respectively. Limitations on study/implications: not all products and all states of Mexico are examined. Findings/conclusions: The results showed that an increase in strawberry production to export to Canada in Michoacan and Baja California would be profitable for the producer, while an increase in strawberry production for export to the Canadian market in Guanajuato would further decrease profitability

Rostral Middle Frontal Volumetric Differences in Bipolar Offspring versus Community Controls Offspring

Neuroanatomical findings in the anterior limbic network in bipolar disorder (BD) adults have not been replicated in other populations such as bipolar offspring (BO). The aim of this study was to compare some brain areas volumes between BO with and without a lifetime affective disorder (AD) to a group of community control offspring (CCO). Methods: A descriptive observational cross-sectional study was carried out, with multiple comparison groups. Seven subjects (11-17 years old) from the BO with AD group were compared to seven subjects from the BO without AD group and seven subjects from the CCO group (match by age, gender and Tanner stage). Magnetic resonance imaging was performed with a Philips 3 Teslas device and volumetric segmentation was performed with the Freesurfer image analysis suite. Results: A larger size was found in the right middle frontal rostral region in the BO with AD group compared to the other two groups (p = 0.041). A higher volume was also found in BO with AD group in the left pars opercularis (Cohen d = 0.63) and in the right cingulate isthmus (d = 0.53) when compared with BO without AD group, and in the right hippocampus (d = 0.53) when compared to CCO group. A smaller volume was found in the BO without AD group versus CCO group in the left anterior caudate (d = 0.6). The BO groups (with and without AD) compared to CCO have a higher volume in the right frontal pole (d = 0.52). These volumetric differences can be attributed to the condition of BO with AD

Differential invasion success of salmonids in southern Chile: patterns and hypotheses

Biological invasions create complex ecological and societal issues worldwide. Most of the knowledge about invasions comes only from successful invaders, but less is known about which processes determine the differential success of invasions. In this review, we develop a framework to identify the main dimensions driving the success and failure of invaders, including human influences, characteristics of the invader, and biotic interactions. We apply this framework by contrasting hypotheses and available evidence to explain variability in invasion success for 12 salmonids introduced to Chile. The success of Oncorhynchus mykiss and Salmo trutta seems to be influenced by a context-specific combination of their phenotypic plasticity, low ecosystem resistance, and propagule pressure. These well-established invaders may limit the success of subsequently introduced salmonids, with the possible exception of O. tshawytscha, which has a short freshwater residency and limited spatial overlap with trout. Although propagule pressure is high for O. kisutch and S. salar due to their intensive use in aquaculture, their lack of success in Chile may be explained by environmental resistance, including earlier spawning times than in their native ranges, and interactions with previously established and resident Rainbow Trout. Other salmonids have also failed to establish, and they exhibit a suite of ecological traits, environmental resistance, and limited propagule pressure that are variably associated with their lack of success. Collectively, understanding how the various drivers of invasion success interact may explain the differential success of invaders and provide key guidance for managing both positive and negative outcomes associated with their presence.Keywords: Salmonids, Biological invasions, Chile, Biotic resistance, Non-native species, Propagule pressure, Environmental resistanc

The Fourteenth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: First Spectroscopic Data from the extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey and from the second phase of the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment

The fourth generation of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-IV) has been in operation since July 2014. This paper describes the second data release from this phase, and the fourteenth from SDSS overall (making this, Data Release Fourteen or DR14). This release makes public data taken by SDSS-IV in its first two years of operation (July 2014-2016). Like all previous SDSS releases, DR14 is cumulative, including the most recent reductions and calibrations of all data taken by SDSS since the first phase began operations in 2000. New in DR14 is the first public release of data from the extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS); the first data from the second phase of the Apache Point Observatory (APO) Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE-2), including stellar parameter estimates from an innovative data driven machine learning algorithm known as "The Cannon"; and almost twice as many data cubes from the Mapping Nearby Galaxies at APO (MaNGA) survey as were in the previous release (N = 2812 in total). This paper describes the location and format of the publicly available data from SDSS-IV surveys. We provide references to the important technical papers describing how these data have been taken (both targeting and observation details) and processed for scientific use. The SDSS website (www.sdss.org) has been updated for this release, and provides links to data downloads, as well as tutorials and examples of data use. SDSS-IV is planning to continue to collect astronomical data until 2020, and will be followed by SDSS-V.Comment: SDSS-IV collaboration alphabetical author data release paper. DR14 happened on 31st July 2017. 19 pages, 5 figures. Accepted by ApJS on 28th Nov 2017 (this is the "post-print" and "post-proofs" version; minor corrections only from v1, and most of errors found in proofs corrected

Regulation of specialised metabolites in Actinobacteria – Expanding the paradigms

The increase in availability of actinobacterial whole genome sequences has revealed huge numbers of specialised metabolite biosynthetic gene clusters, encoding a range of bioactive molecules such as antibiotics, antifungals, immunosuppressives and anticancer agents. Yet the majority of these clusters are not expressed under standard laboratory conditions in rich media conditions. Emerging data from studies of specialised metabolite biosynthesis suggest that the diversity of regulatory mechanisms is greater than previously thought and these act at multiple levels, through a range of signals such as nutrient limitation, intercellular signalling and competition with other organisms. Understanding the regulation and environmental cues that lead to the production of these compounds allows us to identify the role which these compounds play in their natural habitat as well as providing tools to exploit this untapped source of specialised metabolites for therapeutic uses. Here we provide an overview of novel regulatory mechanisms that act in physiological, global, and cluster specific regulatory manners on biosynthetic pathways in Actinobacteria and consider these alongside their ecological and evolutionary implications