Finger-vein individuals identification on massive databases

In massive biometric identification, response times highlydepend on the searching algorithms. Traditional systems operate with databases of up to 10,000 records. In large databases, with an increasing number of simultaneous queries, the system response time is a critical factor. This work proposes a GPU-based implementation for the matching process of finger-vein massive identification. Experimental resultss how that our approach solves up to 256 simultaneous queries on large databases achieving up to 136x.Instituto de Investigación en InformáticaInstituto de Investigación en Informátic

Impact of gold-mining activity on trace elements enrichment in the West African estuaries: The case of Pra and Ankobra rivers with the Volta estuary (Ghana) as the reference

This study aimed at assessing trace element concentrations in two representative estuaries of Ghana (Pra and Ankobra) affected by gold-mining, relative to the levels of the unaffected Volta estuary. Surficial sediments (n = 16–17) were sampled at each estuary and analysed by ICP-MS for 25 elements after pseudo-total digestion. The enrichment and geoaccumulation indexes revealed a moderate to significant contamination of As, Ag and Cu in the Pra and Ankobra estuaries. Spatial maps of concentrations revealed non-localized sources. High As concentrations were attributable to runoff transport and sedimentation of gold mining-tailing particles, as suggested by results from granulometric distributions, correlation and PCA analysis. The probabilities of surpassing the probable effects level (PEL) were 77% for As, 50% for Cr and 27% for Ni in Ankobra; these values were of 13%, 23% and 10% for the Pra. Results reveal potential future implications on ecosystems and human health in these both estuaries as result of the gold-mining activity.International Atomic Energy Agency Research Project RAF7009Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad AGl2014-57835-C2-1-

Current knowledge in pathophysiology and management of Budd-Chiari syndrome and non-cirrhotic non-tumoral splanchnic vein thrombosis

Budd-Chiari Syndrome (BCS) and non-cirrhotic non-tumoral portal vein thrombosis (NCPVT) are two rare disorders, with several similarities that are categorized under the term splanchnic vein thrombosis. Both disorders are frequently associated with an underlying pro-thrombotic disorder. They can cause severe portal hypertension and usually affect oung patients, negatively influencing life expectancy when the diagnosis and treatment is not done at an early stage. Yet, they have specific features that require individual considerations. The current review will focus on the available knowledge on pathophysiology, diagnosis and management of both entities. BCS is defined as the obstruction of hepatic venous outflow regardless of its causative mechanism or level of obstruction. This obstruction can be traced to the small hepatic venules up to the entrance of the inferior vein cava (IVC) into the right atrium. Hepatic outflow obstruction related to cardiac disease, pericardial disease or sinusoidal obstruction syndrome have different pathophysiological and clinical implications and are excluded from this definition. BCS is classified as primary when the obstruction originates in the vein and thrombosis is the main cause, or secondary when the vein is externally compressed (abscess, tumor). The focus of this review is on primary BCS. NCPVT refers to the presence of a thrombus in the main portal vein trunk and/or the left or right intrahepatic portal vein branches that may extend to the splenic vein and/or the superior or inferior mesenteric veins. Isolated splenic or mesenteric vein thrombosis are out of the scope of this review.Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier B.V

Comparative analysis of exhaustive searching on a massive finger-vein database over multi-node/multi-core and multi-GPU platforms

When searching on unstructured data (video, images, etc.), response times are a critical factor. In this work we propose an implementation on two types of multi-GPU and multi-node/multi-core platforms, for massive searches. The presented method aims to reduce the time involved in the search process by solving simultaneous queries over the system and a database of millions of elements. The results show that the multi-GPU approach is 1.6 times superior to the multi-node/multi-core algorithm. Moreover, in both algorithms the speedup is directly proportional to the number of nodes reaching 156x for 4 GPUs, and 87x in the case of the hybrid multi-node/multi-core algorithm.Instituto de Investigación en Informátic

MODELACIÓN DEL SISTEMA DE TRANSPORTE INTERTERMINAL DEL AEROPUERTO INTERNACIONAL DE LA CIUDAD DE MÉXICO (MODELING OF THE INTERTERMINAL TRANSPORT SYSTEM OF THE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT OF MEXICO CITY)

Una de las opciones ofrecidas por el Aeropuerto Internacional de la Ciudad de México para la movilidad de los usuarios y el personal del mismo, dentro de los diferentes puntos del complejo, es el sistema de transporte Interterminales. Una de las principales problemáticas en este tipo de servicio, es contar de forma rápida información confiable que permita administrar y evaluar el sistema para así gestionar y mejorar el mismo a través del análisis de diferentes casos escenarios de supuestos de mejora. Por lo que es imperativo contar con un modelo que caracterice el mismo con un alto nivel de confianza, en este trabajo se mapeo el sistema por medio de la metodología de teoría de colas y la simulación.Palabras Clave: Modelo, Teoría de colas, Simulación. AbstractOne of the options offered by the International Airport of Mexico City for the mobility of the users and its staff, within the different points of the complex, is the Interterminal transport system. One of the main problems in this type of service is to count on reliable information to manage and evaluate the system in order to arrange and improve it through the analysis of different cases scenarios of improvement assumptions. So it is imperative to have a model that characterizes the same with a high level of confidence, in this work the system was mapped through the methodology of queuing theory and simulation.Keywords: Model, Queueing theory, Simulation.

A Prospective Cohort of SARS-CoV-2-Infected Health Care Workers: Clinical Characteristics, Outcomes, and Follow-up Strategy

Background. During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreaks, health care workers (HCWs) are at a high risk of infection. Strategies to reduce in-hospital transmission between HCWs and to safely manage infected HCWs are lacking. Our aim was to describe an active strategy for the management of COVID-19 in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARSCoV-2)-infected HCWs and investigate its outcomes. Methods. A prospective cohort study of SARS-CoV-2-infected health care workers in a tertiary teaching hospital in Barcelona, Spain, was performed. An active strategy of weekly polymerase chain reaction screening of HCWs for SARS-CoV-2 was established by the Occupational Health department. Every positive HCW was admitted to the Hospital at Home Unit with daily assessment online and in-person discretionary visits. Clinical and epidemiological data were recorded. Results. Of the 590 HCWs included in the cohort, 134 (22%) were asymptomatic at diagnosis, and 15% (89 patients) remained asymptomatic during follow-up. A third of positive cases were detected during routine screening. The most frequent symptoms were cough (68%), hyposmia/anosmia (49%), and fever (41%). Ten percent of the patients required specific treatment at home, while only 4% of the patients developed pneumonia. Seventeen patients required a visit to the outpatient clinic for further evaluation, and 6 of these (1%) required hospital admission. None of the HCWs included in this cohort required intensive care unit admission or died. Conclusions. Active screening for SARS-CoV-2 among HCWs for early diagnosis and stopping in-hospital transmission chains proved efficacious in our institution, particularly due to the high percentage of asymptomatic HCWs. Follow-up of HCWs in Hospital at Home units is safe and effective, with low rates of severe infection and readmission. Keywords. coronavirus; COVID-19; health care workers; Hospital at Home; SARS-CoV-2

Manejo de Fístulas nasoalveolares con la colocación de aloinjerto, xenoinjerto ymembrana para regeneración tisular. Revisión de la literatura y presentación de tres casos clínicos de aloinjerto, xenoinjerto ymembrana para regeneración tisular. Revisión de

Las fístulas nasoalveolares representan una de las secuelas más frecuentes del tratamiento de labio y paladar hendido. Es necesario su tratamiento para favorecer la fonación, la erupción de los órganos dentarios al crear una guía ósea, permitir la separación de la cavidad oral de la nasal y permitir la colocación de implantes dentales que favorezca la oclusión. Los tratamientos que se han establecido son diferentes, pero el injerto autólogo de cresta ilíaca es la primera opción en la mayoría de los casos. El objetivo de este trabajo fue presentar el manejo de fístulas nasoalveolares en el servicio de Cirugía Maxilofacial del Hospital Regional 1º Octubre, con la presentación de tres casos clínicos, dos pacientes masculinos de 8 y 53 años y un paciente femenino de 16 años, con fístulas nasoalveolares como secuelas de labio y paladar hendido, así como ausencias de incisivos laterales superiores en el sitio del defecto. Para el tratamiento, se ejecutó protocolo quirúrgico para realización de aloinjerto de bloque óseo tricortical, xenoinjerto de matriz ósea desmineralizada y colocación de matriz dérmica acelular. Esta alternativa a la toma de injertos autólogos, disminuyó las comorbilidades de la toma de los autoinjertos y elevó la calidad de vida de los pacientes al realizarse el cierre de las fístulas nasoalveolares

Medicalized Hotel as an Alternative to Hospital Care for Management of Noncritical COVID-19

Background: Since the first wave of COVID-19, alternatives to conventional hospitalization have been proposed for the provision of different levels of care, ranging from shelter during quarantine to hospital-level medical care. Objective: To describe the adaptation of a hotel by a hospital-at-home team to provide hospital-level care to patients with COVID-19 during the first wave of the pandemic in Barcelona, Spain. Methods: Hospital Clínic de Barcelona (HCB) is a 750-bed, public, tertiary teaching hospital serving 560 000 persons in the metropolitan area of Barcelona, Spain. In March 2020, the hospital-at-home unit was instructed to medicalize a hotel ('health hotel' [HH]) in downtown Barcelona. The aim of this initiative was to help decongest hospitals in the area by admitting patients with low dependency (Barthel Index score >60) and mild to severe COVID-19 from emergency departments or COVID-19 hospital wards, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention clinical guideline

Trends and Clinical Impact of Gastrointestinal Endoscopic Procedures on Acute Heart Failure in Spain (2002–2017)

Introduction: Heart failure decompensation can be triggered by many factors, including anemia. In cases of iron deficiency anemia or iron deficiency without anemia, endoscopic studies are recommended to rule out the presence of gastrointestinal neoplasms or other associated bleeding lesions. Objectives: The aims of this study were to (i) examine trends in the incidence, clinical characteristics, and in-hospital outcomes of patients hospitalized with heart failure from 2002 to 2017 who underwent esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) and/or colonoscopy, and to (ii) identify factors associated with in-hospital mortality (IHM) among patients with heart failure who underwent an EGD and/or a colonoscopy. Methods: We conducted an observational retrospective epidemiological study using the Spanish National Hospital Discharge Database (SNHDD) between 2002 and 2017. We included hospitalizations of patients with a primary discharge diagnosis of heart failure. Cases were reviewed if there was an ICD-9-CM or ICD-10 procedure code for EGD or colonoscopy in any procedure field. Multivariable logistic regression models were constructed to identify predictors of IHM among HF patients who underwent an EGD or colonoscopy. Results: A total of 51,187 (1.32%) non-surgical patients hospitalized with heart failure underwent an EGD and another 72,076 (1.85%) patients had a colonoscopy during their admission. IHM was significantly higher in those who underwent an EGD than in those who underwent a red blood cell transfusion (OR 1.10; 95%CI 1.04–1.12). However, the use of colonoscopy seems to decrease the probability of IHM (OR 0.45; 95%CI 0.41–0.49). In patients who underwent a colonoscopy, older age seems to increase the probability of IHM. However, EGD was associated with a lower mortality (OR 0.60; 95% CI 0.55–0.64). Conclusion: In our study, a decrease in the number of gastroscopies was observed in relation to colonoscopy in patients with heart failure. The significant ageing of the hospitalized HF population seen over the course of the study could have contributed to this. Both procedures seemed to be associated with lower in-hospital mortality, but in the case of colonoscopy, the risk of in-hospital mortality was higher in elderly patients with heart failure and associated neoplasms. Colonoscopy and EGD seemed not to increase IHM in patients with heart failure