Parallelization of an algorithm for the automatic detection of deformable objects

This work presents the parallelization of an algorithm for the detection of deformable objects in digital images. The parallelization has been implemented with the message passing paradigm, using a master-slave model. Two versions have been developed, with synchronous and asynchronous communications

New forms of social interaction: virtual communication and health

It is examined if the relationship empirically demonstrated between health and face-to-face social interactions is confirmed when it is virtual. The objective is to know if the perception of psychological well-being and receiving social support would explain the frequency of participation in virtual social networks (VSN). An ex-post-facto design was applied to a sample of 510 university Internet users (age, M = 22.89, SD = 5.67, 78.9% women). The level of psychological well-being (Spanish adaptation of the Ryff Psychological Well-Being Scale), social support (Family Social Support and Friends questionnaire - AFA) and the frequency of use of VSN are evaluated. To determine the relationships between the variables, correlation and hierarchical regression analyzes were carried out. The relative contribution of the perception of psychological well-being and of obtaining social support in the frequency of VSN use is confirmed, controlling the influences of age and gender. Specifically, the perception of having less ability to dominate the social environment and to obtain social support for friendships through VSN explains and allows predicting the increase in the frequency of use of such networks.Se examina si la relación demostrada empíricamente entre salud e interacciones sociales presenciales se confirma cuando ésta es virtual. El objetivo es conocer si la percepción de bienestar psicológico y de recibir apoyo social explicaría la frecuencia de participación en redes sociales virtuales (RSV). Se aplica un diseño ex-post-facto sobre una muestra de 510 internautas universitarios (edad; M =22,89; DT= 5,67; 78,9% mujeres). Se evalúa el nivel de bienestar psicológico (adaptación española de la Escala de Bienestar Psicológico de Ryff), de apoyo social (cuestionario Apoyo Social Familiar y Amigos - AFA) y la frecuencia de uso de las RSV. Para determinar las relaciones entre las variables se realizaron análisis de correlación y de regresión jerárquica Se confirma la contribución relativa de la percepción de bienestar psicológico y de obtención de apoyo social en la frecuencia de uso de RSV, controlando las influencias de la edad y el género. Concretamente, la percepción de poseer menor capacidad de dominar el ambiente social y la de obtener apoyo social por las amistades a través de las RSV, explica y permite predecir el incremento en la frecuencia de uso de dichas redes

Tissue response to dental implants with platform switching

La evolución en los diseños de los sistemas de implantes y en la configuración de los pilares protési- cos ha desarrollado el concepto de plataforma reducida que comprende la colocación de un pilar más estrecho que la plataforma del implante para aumentar su distancia de la interfase hueso-implante. La plataforma reducida es considerada un factor importante para preservar la estabilidad del hueso crestal y de los tejidos blandos y asegurar el éxito de los implantes dentales a largo plazo. La plataforma redu- cida reduce las fuerzas oclusales y la contaminación bacteriana en la interfase entre el hueso crestal y el implante. Los estudios experimentales en animales y clínicos en pacientes muestran su eficacia para prevenir la pérdida ósea y de los tejidos blandos periimplantarios Conclusiones. La introducción de la plataforma reducida constituye un importante campo en la investi- gación experimental en implantología oral y en el tratamiento clínico con implantes para mantener los tejidos periimplantarios.The evolution of designs of implant systems and abutments configurations has developed the concept of platform-switching that involves the connection of a narrower abutment to the platform implant to allow horizontal distance of the interface bone-implant. Platform-switching is considered an important factor to preserve the stability of crestal bone and soft tissue ensuring the success of dental implants in the long-term follow-up. Platform-switching reduces the forces of occlusal loading and bacterial conta- mination in the interface between the crestal bone and the implant. Experimental studies in animals and clinical studies in patients showed that implants with platform-switching have demonstrated the effecti- veness to prevent peri-implant bone loss and subsequent soft tissue loss. Conclusions. The platform-switching constitute an important field for research of experimental implant dentistry and clinical implant treatment in the maintenance of peri-implant tissue

Miositis viral con rabdomiólisis secundaria: un caso confirmado y revisión de la literatura

Rhabdomyolysis is a severe syndrome that can produce acute renal failure and even death. Causative mechanisms of rhabdomyolysis include various viruses, among which are the Coxsackie viruses. We report the case of a 36-year-old woman who had rhabdomyolysis due to Coxsackie A9 virus, with severe muscle involvement, though with no important kidney damage. She recovered with intravenous hydration and alkalinization of the urine.La rabdomiólisis es un síndrome grave que puede producir insuficiencia renal aguda e incluso la muerte. Los mecanismos causantes de rabdomiólisis incluyen varios virus, entre los que se encuentran los virus Coxsackie. Presentamos el caso de una mujer de 36 años de edad que tenía rabdomiólisis debido a Coxsackie A9, con afectación muscular grave, aunque sin daño renal importante. Se recuperó con la hidratación intravenosa y la alcalinización de la orina

The Combination of Neutrophil–Lymphocyte Ratio and Platelet–Lymphocyte Ratio with Liquid Biopsy Biomarkers Improves Prognosis Prediction in Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is an aggressive cancer with a highly inflammatory microenvironment and liquid biopsy has emerged as a promising tool for the noninvasive analysis of this tumor. In this study, plasma was obtained from 58 metastatic PDAC patients, and neutrophil–lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet–lymphocyte ratio (PLR), circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA) concentration, and circulating RAS mutation were determined. We found that NLR was significantly associated with both overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival. Remarkably, NLR was an independent risk factor for poor OS. Moreover, NLR and PLR positively correlated, and combination of both inflammatory markers significantly improved the prognostic stratification of metastatic PDAC patients. NLR also showed a positive correlation with cfDNA levels and RAS mutant allelic fraction (MAF). Besides, we found that neutrophil activation contributed to cfDNA content in the plasma of metastatic PDAC patients. Finally, a multi-parameter prognosis model was designed by combining NLR, PLR, cfDNA levels, RAS mutation, RAS MAF, and CA19-9, which performs as a promising tool to predict the prognosis of metastatic PDAC patients. In conclusion, our study supports the idea that the use of systemic inflammatory markers along with circulating tumor-specific markers may constitute a valuable tool for the clinical management of metastatic PDAC patients

J-PLUS DR3: Galaxy-Star-Quasar classification

The Javalambre Photometric Local Universe Survey (J-PLUS) is a 12-band photometric survey using the 83-cm JAST telescope. Data Release 3 includes 47.4 million sources (29.8 million with $r \le 21$) on 3192 deg$^2$ (2881 deg$^2$ after masking). J-PLUS DR3 only provides star-galaxy classification so that quasars are not identified from the other sources. Given the size of the dataset, machine learning methods could provide a valid alternative classification and a solution to the classification of quasars. Our objective is to classify J-PLUS DR3 sources into galaxies, stars and quasars, outperforming the available classifiers in each class. We use an automated machine learning tool called {\tt TPOT} to find an optimized pipeline to perform the classification. The supervised machine learning algorithms are trained on the crossmatch with SDSS DR12, LAMOST DR7 and \textit{Gaia} DR3. We checked that the training set of about 570 thousand galaxies, one million stars and 220 thousand quasars is both representative and pure to a good degree. We considered 37 features: besides the twelve photometric bands with their errors, six colors, four morphological parameters, galactic extinction with its error and the PSF relative to the corresponding pointing. After exploring numerous pipeline possibilities through the TPOT genetic algorithm, we found that XGBoost provides the best performance: the AUC for galaxies, stars and quasars is above 0.99 and the average precision is above 0.99 for galaxies and stars and 0.94 for quasars. XGBoost outperforms the star-galaxy classifiers already provided in J-PLUS DR3 and also efficiently classifies quasars. We also found that photometry was very important in the classification of quasars, showing the relevance of narrow-band photometry.Comment: 14 pages, 17 figure

METTL1 promotes tumorigenesis through tRNA-derived fragment biogenesis in prostate cancer

Newly growing evidence highlights the essential role that epitranscriptomic marks play in the development of many cancers; however, little is known about the role and implications of altered epitranscriptome deposition in prostate cancer. Here, we show that the transfer RNA N-7-methylguanosine (m(7)G) transferase METTL1 is highly expressed in primary and advanced prostate tumours. Mechanistically, we find that METTL1 depletion causes the loss of m(7)G tRNA methylation and promotes the biogenesis of a novel class of small non-coding RNAs derived from 5'tRNA fragments. 5'tRNA-derived small RNAs steer translation control to favour the synthesis of key regulators of tumour growth suppression, interferon pathway, and immune effectors. Knockdown of Mettl1 in prostate cancer preclinical models increases intratumoural infiltration of pro-inflammatory immune cells and enhances responses to immunotherapy. Collectively, our findings reveal a therapeutically actionable role of METTL1-directed m(7)G tRNA methylation in cancer cell translation control and tumour biology

The management of acute venous thromboembolism in clinical practice. Results from the European PREFER in VTE Registry

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in Europe. Data from real-world registries are necessary, as clinical trials do not represent the full spectrum of VTE patients seen in clinical practice. We aimed to document the epidemiology, management and outcomes of VTE using data from a large, observational database. PREFER in VTE was an international, non-interventional disease registry conducted between January 2013 and July 2015 in primary and secondary care across seven European countries. Consecutive patients with acute VTE were documented and followed up over 12 months. PREFER in VTE included 3,455 patients with a mean age of 60.8 ± 17.0 years. Overall, 53.0 % were male. The majority of patients were assessed in the hospital setting as inpatients or outpatients (78.5 %). The diagnosis was deep-vein thrombosis (DVT) in 59.5 % and pulmonary embolism (PE) in 40.5 %. The most common comorbidities were the various types of cardiovascular disease (excluding hypertension; 45.5 %), hypertension (42.3 %) and dyslipidaemia (21.1 %). Following the index VTE, a large proportion of patients received initial therapy with heparin (73.2 %), almost half received a vitamin K antagonist (48.7 %) and nearly a quarter received a DOAC (24.5 %). Almost a quarter of all presentations were for recurrent VTE, with >80 % of previous episodes having occurred more than 12 months prior to baseline. In conclusion, PREFER in VTE has provided contemporary insights into VTE patients and their real-world management, including their baseline characteristics, risk factors, disease history, symptoms and signs, initial therapy and outcomes