Multi feature-rich synthetic colour to improve human visual perception of point clouds

Although point features have shown their usefulness in classification with Machine Learning, point cloud visualization enhancement methods focus mainly on lighting. The visualization of point features helps to improve the perception of the 3D environment. This paper proposes Multi Feature-Rich Synthetic Colour (MFRSC) as an alternative non-photorealistic colour approach of natural-coloured point clouds. The method is based on the selection of nine features (reflectance, return number, inclination, depth, height, point density, linearity, planarity, and scattering) associated with five human perception descriptors (edges, texture, shape, size, depth, orientation). The features are reduced to fit the RGB display channels. All feature permutations are analysed according to colour distance with the natural-coloured point cloud and Image Quality Assessment. As a result, the selected feature permutations allow a clear visualization of the scene's rendering objects, highlighting edges, planes, and volumetric objects. MFRSC effectively replaces natural colour, even with less distorted visualization according to BRISQUE, NIQUE and PIQE. In addition, the assignment of features in RGB channels enables the use of MFRSC in software that does not support colorization based on point attributes (most commercially available software). MFRSC can be combined with other non-photorealistic techniques such as Eye-Dome Lighting or Ambient Occlusion.Xunta de Galicia | Ref. ED481B-2019-061Xunta de Galicia | Ref. ED431F 2022/08Agencia Estatal de Investigación | Ref. PID2019-105221RB-C43Universidade de Vigo/CISU

A discordance analysis in manual labelling of urban mobile laser scanning data used for deep learning based semantic segmentation

Labelled point clouds are crucial to train supervised Deep Learning (DL) methods used for semantic segmentation. The objective of this research is to quantify discordances between the labels made by different people in order to assess whether such discordances can influence the success rates of a DL based semantic segmentation algorithm. An urban point cloud of 30 m road length in Santiago de Compostela (Spain) was labelled two times by ten persons. Discordances and its significance in manual labelling between individuals and rounds were calculated. In addition, a ratio test to signify discordance and concordance was proposed. Results show that most of the points were labelled accordingly with the same class by all the people. However, there were many points that were labelled with two or more classes. Class curb presented 5.9% of discordant points and 3.2 discordances for each point with concordance by all people. In addition, the percentage of significative labelling differences of the class curb was 86.7% comparing all the people in the same round and 100% comparing rounds of each person. Analysing the semantic segmentation results with a DL based algorithm, PointNet++, the percentage of concordance points are related with F-score value in R2 = 0.765, posing that manual labelling has significant impact on results of DL-based semantic segmentation methods.Xunta de Galicia | Ref. ED481B-2019-061Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación | Ref. PID2019-105221RB-C43Ministère de l’Economie of the G. D. of Luxembourg | Ref. SOLSTICE 2019-05-030-24Universidade de Vigo/CISU

Relación de la lealtad y confianza en los usuarios de servicios móviles en tiempos de pandemia

Recordemos que los conceptos  de lealtad y confianza son de los temas más tratados dentro de  la mercadotecnia, pero son estudiados por ser temas complicado que no tiene un concepto unificado sobre su definición y medición (Colmenares & Saavedra, 2007). El objetivo de este trabajo es dar a conocer la relación existente entre la confianza y la lealtad de los consumidores de servicios móviles de la Zona Noreste de México comprendido entre los estados de Tamaulipas y Nuevo León, cuando estos presentan escenarios de fallo en tiempos difíciles como la pandemia, con ello ayudar a entender a los empresarios, como el consumidor se comporta cuando existe esa relación, con ello se ayudará  a implementar estrategias que contribuyan al desarrollo de las organizaciones.   El siguiente estudio es un estudio cuantitativo empírico con un alcance correlacional explicativo, no experimental, donde se aplicó un cuestionario como instrumento de recolección de datos a una muestra de 356 participantes, mayores de 18 años y usuarios de telefonía móvil, utilizando una técnica estadística de Ecuaciones Estructurales, los resultados encontrados se explica que la lealtad tiene una relación significativa, directa con atribuciones positivas en la confianza de los consumidores, reduciendo expectativas negativas de la experiencia del servicio del client

Conocimientos de estudiantes portugueses de Enfermería sobre donación de sangre

Objective: To assess the level of knowledge of nursing students regarding blood donation, to identify the importance consider challenges for blood donation, and to determine the most used digital communication channels. Methods: This research was performed at University of Central Portugal in 2018/2019. This was a descriptive cross-sectional study. A total of 165 nursing students completed online two ad hoc questionnaires. Results: The level of knowledge can be classifi ed as very low (interval between donations, waiting time after getting a tattoo or piercing, waiting time after taking iron supplements), low (amount of blood, eating before donation), medium (age and minimum weight, universal donor) and high (cases in which the blood was analyzed). The reasons for not donating blood that gained considerable and great importance were: “Because I have a physical or medical condition that makes me ineligible to donate” and “Because I had a risky sexual behavior”. Conclusion: The lack of knowledge about the eligibility requirements can make someone wrongly consider that he or she cannot donate blood. Considering the results obtained and the access to digital communication channels, the implementation of eHealth programs is recommended to promote more knowledge, and to reduce the barriers for blood donationObjetivo: Avaliar o nível de conhecimento de estudantes de Enfermagem face à doação de sangue; identifi car a importância atribuída às barreiras para a doação de sangue; e, identifi car os meios de comunicação digital mais utilizados. Métodos: Trata-se de uma pesquisa realizada numa Instituição de Ensino Superior da Região Centro de Portugal no ano letivo de 2018/2019. O estudo é descritivo, de natureza transversal, através de dois questionários ad hoc, preenchido on-line por 165 estudantes de Enfermagem. Resultados: Os conhecimentos podem ser considerados de muito baixos (intervalo entre as doações; tempo de espera depois de fazer uma tatuagem ou um piercing; tempo de espera entre a ingestão de ferro; baixos (quantidade de sangue e alimentação prévia), médios (idade e peso mínimo, dador universal) e altos (casos em que o sangue é analisado). Os motivos para não doar sangue que assumiram bastante e muita importância foram “Porque tenho alguma condição física ou médica que me impede doar” e “Porque mantive práticas sexuais de risco”. Conclusão: A falta de conhecimentos sobre as condições de elegibilidade pode fazer com que uma pessoa considere, de forma errada, que não pode doar sangue. Tendo em conta os resultados obtidos e o acesso aos meios de comunicação digital, sugere-se que sejam implementados programas de e-saúde que promovam o aumento de conhecimentos e a redução de barreiras à doação de sangueObjetivo: Evaluar el nivel de conocimiento de estudiantes de Enfermería sobre la donación de sangre, identificar la importancia atribuida a las barreras para la donación de sangre e identificar los medios de comunicación digital más utilizados. Métodos: Se trata de un estudio realizado en una Institución de Enseñanza Superior de la región centro de Portugal en el año lectivo 2018/2019. El estudio es descriptivo, de naturaleza transversal, a través de dos cuestionarios ad hoc que fueron completados en línea por 165 estudiantes de Enfermería. Resultados: Los conocimientos pueden considerarse muy bajos (intervalo entre las donaciones, tiempo de espera después de hacerse un tatuaje o piercing, tiempo de espera después de la ingesta de hierro); bajos (cantidad de sangre y alimentación previa); medios (edad y peso mínimo, donante universal) y altos (casos en que se analiza la sangre). Los motivos para no donar sangre que tuvieron bastante y mucha importancia fueron “Porque tengo alguna condición física o médica que me impide donar” y “Porque mantuve prácticas sexuales de riesgo”. Conclusión: La falta de conocimientos sobre las condiciones de elegibilidad puede provocar que una persona considere, de forma equivocada, que no puede donar sangre. Teniendo en cuenta los resultados obtenidos y el acceso a los medios de comunicación, se sugiere implementar programas de eSalud que promuevan el aumento de conocimientos y la reducción de barreras para la donación de sangreS

Bacteria-Carried Iron Oxide Nanoparticles for Treatment of Anemia

The efficiency of maghemite nanoparticles for the treatment of anemia was sensibly higher when nanoparticles were incorporated onto the probiotic bacterium Lactobacillus fermentum (MNP-bacteria) than when administrated as uncoated nanoparticles (MNP). Plasma iron and hemoglobin, intestine expression of divalent metal transporter 1 (DMT1) and duodenal Cytochrome b (DcytB), as well as hepatic expression of the hormone hepcidin were fully restored to healthy levels after administration of MNP-bacteria but not of MNP. A magnetic study on biodistribution and biodegradation showed accumulation of maghemite nanoparticles in intestine lumen when MNP-bacteria were administrated. In contrast, MNP barely reached intestine. In vivo MRI studies suggested the internalization of MNP-bacteria into enterocytes, which did not occur with MNP. Transmission electronic microscopy confirmed this internalization. The collective analysis of results point out that L. fermentum is an excellent carrier to overcome the stomach medium and drive maghemite nanoparticles to intestine, where iron absorption occurs. Due the probiotic ability to adhere to the gut wall, MNP-bacteria internalize into the enterocyte, where maghemite nanoparticles are delivered, providing an adequate iron level into enterocyte. This paper advances a new route for effective iron absorption in the treatment of anemia.The efficiency of maghemite nanoparticles for the treatment of anemia was sensibly higher when nanoparticles were incorporated onto the probiotic bacterium Lactobacillus fermentum (MNP-bacteria) than when administrated as uncoated nanoparticles (MNP). Plasma iron and hemoglobin, intestine expression of divalent metal transporter 1 (DMT1) and duodenal Cytochrome b (DcytB), as well as hepatic expression of the hormone hepcidin were fully restored to healthy levels after administration of MNP-bacteria but not of MNP. A magnetic study on biodistribution and biodegradation showed accumulation of maghemite nanoparticles in intestine lumen when MNP-bacteria were administrated. In contrast, MNP barely reached intestine. In vivo MRI studies suggested the internalization of MNP-bacteria into enterocytes, which did not occur with MNP. Transmission electronic microscopy confirmed this internalization. The collective analysis of results point out that L. fermentum is an excellent carrier to overcome the stomach medium and drive maghemite nanoparticles to intestine, where iron absorption occurs. Due the probiotic ability to adhere to the gut wall, MNP-bacteria internalize into the enterocyte, where maghemite nanoparticles are delivered, providing an adequate iron level into enterocyte. This paper advances a new route for effective iron absorption in the treatment of anemia

Attitudes and knowledge in blood donation among nursing students: a cross-sectional study in Spain and Portugal

Background: Blood donors are key in meeting the ever-increasing blood requirements worldwide. The Spanish and Portuguese donation systems are based on altruism and voluntariness. However, nursing students may not be fully aware of the importance of this social responsibility and their professional skills in this field. Objectives: This study aimed to identify differences regarding attitudes towards and knowledge about blood donation among Spanish and Portuguese undergraduate Nursing students (1st to 8th semester), as well as to analyse how different variables account for them. Design: A multicentre cross-sectional study was carried out. Participants/settings: The participants of the study were 1038 nursing students from four Schools of Nursing in two countries, Spain and Portugal. Methods: The web-based CADS-19 questionnaire to measure attitudes and knowledge was used during the academic years 2018-2019 and 2019-2020. Additionally, sociodemographic data were collected. Results: The mean knowledge score was 3.079 out of 10 (SD = 1.429). The level of knowledge differed significantly by gender, where females scored higher, along with older students and previous donors. The highest mean attitude score corresponded to the “external incentives” dimension, significant differences were found between countries. In barriers and incentives, some differences were found depending on gender or sexual orientation, among others, with slightly better attitudes in Spanish participants. Conclusions: The level of knowledge was lower than expected, considering participants were nursing students. The attitude's comparative analysis between both countries showed significant differences, especially in the pretext dimension. As for greater donation rates found in Spanish students, nurse-led international partnerships could be designed to enhance health literacy and sensitivity among nursing undergraduates. Interventions should focus on specific theoretical and practical training programs and educative actions should contribute to a greater awareness, motivation, and sensitise students to blood donationS

Influenza A H1N1 Community-Acquired Pneumonia: Characteristics and Risk Factors—A Case-Control Study

Introduction. Influenza A H1N1 community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a quite frequent respiratory disease. Despite being considered more serious than other CAPs, there are very few studies comparing its characteristics with noninfluenza CAP. We aim to establish the differences between pneumonia due to H1N1 virus and pneumonia not caused by H1N1 influenza virus and to determine the probability that a pneumonia is due to an H1N1 virus infection based on the most relevant variables. Methods. We used a case-control study where cases were H1N1 CAP patients with confirmed microbiological diagnosis and controls were patients with CAP admitted to hospital. H1N1 and other influenza types were discarded among controls. We calculated the probability of being a case or control using multivariate logistic regression. Results. We included 99 cases and 270 controls. Cases were younger than controls (53 vs 71 years, respectively). Mortality was much higher for H1N1 patients (13% vs 0.3%), and admission to intensive care unit was more frequent for H1N1 cases. The variables most associated with presenting H1N1 CAP were bilateral affectation on chest X-rays (OR: 5.70; 95% CI 2.69–10.40), followed by presence of arthromyalgias, with cases presenting close to three times more arthromyalgias compared to controls. Low leukocytes count and high AST values were also significantly associated with H1N1 CAP. H1N1 CAPs are characterized by bilateral affectation, low leukocyte count, presence of arthromyalgias, and high AST. Conclusions. A few and easy to obtain clinical parameters might be extremely useful to distinguish H1N1 CAP from CAPs of other origin.S

Protocolo de masoterapia y cinesiterapia en recién nacidos prematuros

[ES] Las investigaciones que han planteado la inclusión de protocolos de estimulación somática y cinestésica en recién nacidos prematuros han concluido que esas intervenciones resultan beneficiosas sobre aspectos fundamentales, como el desarrollo antropométrico y la maduración neurológica. El objetivo de este estudio ha sido desarrollar un protocolo de estimulación somática y cinestésica, dirigido a recién nacidos prematuros, con el fin de ser aplicado por los padres durante su estancia clínicaS

Eficacia de un programa de masoterapia sobre el apego materno-filial en recién nacidos prematuros Hospitalizados: Estudio quasi-experimental

[ES] La prematuridad constituye uno de los grandes retos a los que se enfrenta actualmente la Enfermería Pediátrica. Su impacto socio-sanitario es muy relevante: además de su elevada incidencia (en España, el 7,38% de los partos tienen lugar antes de las 37 semanas completas de gestación), los nacimientos pretérmino son la principal causa de muerte en neonatos y un factor determinante de morbilidad a largo plazo. La necesidad de que el neonato prematuro permanezca en una incubadora dificulta el establecimiento del vínculo y el desarrollo del apego materno-filial.S