Preparación, caracterización y estudio morfológico de fibras de carbón activado

Utilizando fibras de kenaf larga, se ha llevado a cabo la preparación, caracterización y estudio morfológico de las fibras de carbón activado (ACFs). La caracterización era realizada mediante las isotermas de adsorción de N2 a -196 C, porosimetría de Hg y microscopia electrónica de barrido. La activación a 700 ºC con CO2 durante 2h (FBC4A72) y 4 h (FBC4A74) de la muestra carbonizada a 400 ºC durante 0.5 h en N2 (FBC4), mostraban un incremento en el tamaño del poro, como se observa en las microscopías electrónica de barrido. Esto es probablemente debido a la interconexión de los poros como consecuencia del incremento del tiempo de tratamiento de 2 a 4h. Estos resultados abren un amplio campo de aplicación para las fibras de kenaf.Using kenaf as starting material, a study about the preparation and characterization of activated carbon fibers (ACFs) from long fibers was carried out. The carbonization products of kenaf fibers and ACFs were texturally characterized by N2 adsorption at -196 ºC, mercury porosimetry, and scanning electron microscopy. The activation of the raw material of Kenaf by its carbonization at 400 ºC for 0.5 h in a N2 atmosphere increase the porosity of the samples, particularly the activation at 700 ºC with carbon dioxide. It should be noted the porous development shown by the scanning electron micrographs of samples FBC4A72 and FBC4A74. It is observed that the variation of treatment time from 2 to 4 hours leads to an important development of the porous structure in samples FBC4A74, which is probably a consequence of an interconnection between pores. These results open a wide field of applications of these fibers.peerReviewe

Dissemination of Clonal Groups of Brachyspira hyodysenteriae amongst Pig Farms in Spain, and Their Relationships to Isolates from Other Countries

Background: Swine dysentery (SD) is a widespread diarrhoeal disease of pigs caused by infection of the large intestine with the anaerobic intestinal spirochaete Brachyspira hyodysenteriae. Understanding the dynamics of SD, and hence being able to develop more effective measures to counter its spread, depends on the ability to characterise B. hyodysenteriae variants and trace relationships of epidemic strains. Methodology/Principal Findings: A collection of 51 Spanish and 1 Portuguese B. hyodysenteriae isolates was examined using a multilocus sequence typing (MLST) scheme based on the sequences of seven conserved genomic loci. The isolates were allocated to 10 sequence types (STs) in three major groups of descent. Isolates in four of the STs were widely distributed in farms around Spain. One farm was infected with isolates from more than one ST. Sequence data obtained from PubMLST for 111 other B. hyodysenteriae strains from other countries then were included in the analysis. Two of the predominant STs that were found in Spain also were present in other European countries. The 73 STs were arranged in eleven clonal complexes (Cc) containing between 2 and 26 isolates. A population snapshot based on amino acid types (AATs) placed 75% of the isolates from 32 of the 48 AATs into one major cluster. The founder type AAT9 included 22 isolates from 10 STs that were recovered in Spain, Australia, Sweden, Germany, Belgium, the UK, Canada, and the USA. Conclusions/Significance: This MLST scheme provided sufficient resolution power to unambiguously characterise B. hyodysenteriae isolates, and can be recommended as a routine typing tool that rapidly enables comparisons of isolates. Using this method it was shown that some of the main genetic lineages of B. hyodysenteriae in Spain also occurred in other countries, providing further evidence for international transmission. Finally, analysis of AATs appeared useful for deducing putative ancestral relationships between strains

Controlling a Mouse Pointer with a Single-Channel EEG Sensor

Goals: The purpose of this study was to analyze the feasibility of using the information obtained from a one-channel electro-encephalography (EEG) signal to control a mouse pointer. We used a low-cost headset, with one dry sensor placed at the FP1 position, to steer a mouse pointer and make selections through a combination of the user’s attention level with the detection of voluntary blinks. There are two types of cursor movements: spinning and linear displacement. A sequence of blinks allows for switching between these movement types, while the attention level modulates the cursor’s speed. The influence of the attention level on performance was studied. Additionally, Fitts’ model and the evolution of the emotional states of participants, among other trajectory indicators, were analyzed. (2) Methods: Twenty participants distributed into two groups (Attention and No-Attention) performed three runs, on different days, in which 40 targets had to be reached and selected. Target positions and distances from the cursor’s initial position were chosen, providing eight different indices of difficulty (IDs). A self-assessment manikin (SAM) test and a final survey provided information about the system’s usability and the emotions of participants during the experiment. (3) Results: The performance was similar to some brain–computer interface (BCI) solutions found in the literature, with an averaged information transfer rate (ITR) of 7 bits/min. Concerning the cursor navigation, some trajectory indicators showed our proposed approach to be as good as common pointing devices, such as joysticks, trackballs, and so on. Only one of the 20 participants reported difficulty in managing the cursor and, according to the tests, most of them assessed the experience positively. Movement times and hit rates were significantly better for participants belonging to the attention group. (4) Conclusions: The proposed approach is a feasible low-cost solution to manage a mouse pointe

Relationship of NDVI and oak (Quercus)pollen including a predictive model in the SW Mediterranean region

Techniques of remote sensing are being used to develop phenological studies. Our goal is to study the correlation among the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) related with oak trees included in three set data polygons (15, 25 and 50 km to aerobiological sampling point as NDVI-15, 25 and 50), and oak (Quercus) daily average pollen counts from 1994 to 2013. The study was developed in the SW Mediterranean region with continuous pollen recording within the mean pollen season of each studied year. These pollen concentrations were compared with NDVI values in the locations containing the vegetation under a study based on two cartographic sources: the Extremadura Forest Map (MFEx) of Spain and the Fifth National Forest Inventory (IFN5) from Portugal. The importance of this work is to propose the relationship among data related in space and time by Spearman and Granger causality tests. 9 out of 20 studied years have shown significant results with the Granger causality test between NDVI and pollen concentration, and in 12 years, significant values were obtained by Spearman test. The distances of influence on the contribution of Quercus pollen to the sampler showed statistically significant results depending on the year. Moreover, a predictive model by using Artificial Neural Network (ANN) was applied with better results in NDVI25 than for NDVI15 or NDVI50. The addition of NDVI25 with the lag of 5 days and some weather parameters in the model was applied with a RMSE of 4.26 (Spearman coefficient r = 0.77) between observed and predicted values. Based on these results, NDVI seems to be a useful parameter to predict airborne pollen

Reduction in CMR Derived Extracellular Volume With Patisiran Indicates Cardiac Amyloid Regression

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of patisiran on the cardiac amyloid load as measured by cardiac magnetic resonance and extracellular volume (ECV) mapping in cases of transthyretin cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM). BACKGROUND: Administration of patisiran, a TTR-specific small interfering RNA (siRNA), has been shown to benefit neuropathy in patients with hereditary ATTR amyloidosis, but its effect on ATTR-CM remains uncertain. METHODS: Patisiran was administered to 16 patients with hereditary ATTR-CM who underwent assessment protocols at the UK National Amyloidosis Centre. Twelve of those patients concomitantly received diflunisal as a "TTR-stabilizing" drug. Patients underwent serial monitoring using cardiac magnetic resonance, echocardiography, cardiac biomarkers, bone scintigraphy, and 6-min walk tests (6MWTs). Findings of amyloid types and extracellular volumes were compared with those of 16 patients who were retrospectively matched based on cardiac magnetic resonance results. RESULTS: Patisiran was well tolerated. Median serum TTR knockdown among treated patients was 86% (interquartile range [IQR]: 82% to 90%). A total of 82% of cases showed >80% knockdown. Patisiran therapy was typically associated with a reduction in ECV (adjusted mean difference between groups: -6.2% [95% confidence interval [CI]: -9.5% to -3.0%]; p = 0.001) accompanied by a fall in N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide concentrations (adjusted mean difference between groups: -1,342 ng/l [95% CI: -2,364 to -322]; p = 0.012); an increase in 6MWT distances (adjusted mean differences between groups: 169 m [95% CI: 57 to 2,80]; p = 0.004) after 12 months of therapy; and a median reduction in cardiac uptake by bone scintigraphy of 19.6% (IQR: 9.8% to 27.1%). CONCLUSIONS: Reductions in ECV by cardiac magnetic resonance provided evidence for ATTR cardiac amyloid regression in a proportion of patients receiving patisiran

Control de un robot móvil mediante interfaz cerebro-computador: un enfoque práctico

[Resumen] Este trabajo muestra un ejemplo de la interacción entre ondas cerebrales y plataformas robóticas. Concretamente se realiza el control de un robot móvil mediante el dispositivo llamado Mindwave, producido por la compañía Neurosky. Dicho dispositivo, a pesar de poderse considerar en la categoría de bajo precio, es capaz de proporcionar los niveles de atención, entre otros, de un usuario a partir de la medida de las señales eléctricas generadas por su cerebro. La plataforma desarrollada se basa en un software diseñado en el entorno Matlab, para identificar las intenciones del usuario y transmitir las órdenes correspondientes al robot. Los resultados de las pruebas realizadas son diferentes a los reportados en la literatura, logrando una aplicación práctica, que consigue reducir los tiempos de retardo y requiere un nivel de entrenamiento reducido. Se presentan resultados de una simulación virtual. Dichos resultados han sido corroborados mediante experimentos reales.https://doi.org/10.17979/spudc.978849749808

Long-term immune response accompanies clinical outcomes in severe asthmatics treated with anti-IL-5/IL-5R biologics

This work was supported by ISCIII - Instituto de Salud Carlos III, FIS (Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria - Spanish Health Research Fund) grants PI21/00896 and FI19/00067; Ciber de Enfermedades Respiratorias (CIBERES); SEAIC grants 22A07; BASEAS STUDY (Basophils in EosinophilicAsthma) Study Code ESR-20-20764 AstraZeneca International; Comunidad de Madrid grant PEJ2021-AI_BMD-22320 and FEDER funds (Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regiona

The experience of hereditary apolipoprotein A-I amyloidosis at the UK National Amyloidosis Centre

INTRODUCTION: Hereditary apolipoprotein A-I (AApoAI) amyloidosis is a rare heterogeneous disease with variable age of onset and organ involvement. There are few series detailing the natural history and outcomes of solid organ transplantation across a range of causative APOA1 gene mutations. METHODS: We identified all patients with AApoAI amyloidosis who presented to the National Amyloidosis Centre (NAC) between 1986 and 2019. RESULTS: In total, 57 patients with 14 different APOA1 mutations were identified including 18 patients who underwent renal transplantation (5 combined liver-kidney (LKT) and 2 combined heart-kidney (HKT) transplants). Median age of presentation was 43 years and median time from presentation to referral was 3 (0-31 years). Involvement of the kidneys, liver and heart by amyloid was detected in 81%, 67% and 28% of patients, respectively. Renal amyloidosis was universal in association with the most commonly identified variant (Gly26Arg, n = 28). Across all variants, patients with renal amyloidosis had a median creatinine of 159 µmol/L and median urinary protein of 0.3 g/24 h at the time of diagnosis of AApoAI amyloidosis and median time from diagnosis to end-stage renal disease was 15.0 (95% CI: 10.0-20.0) years. Post-renal transplantation, median allograft survival was 22.0 (13.0-31.0) years. There was one early death following transplantation (infection-related at 2 months post-renal transplant) and no episodes of early rejection leading to graft failure. Liver transplantation led to regression of amyloid in all four cases in whom serial 123I-SAP scintigraphy was performed. CONCLUSIONS: AApoAI amyloidosis is a slowly progressive disease that is challenging to diagnose. The outcomes of transplantation are encouraging and graft survival is excellent

Assessment of Multivessel Coronary Artery Disease Using Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance Pixelwise Quantitative Perfusion Mapping

OBJECTIVES: The authors sought to compare the diagnostic accuracy of quantitative perfusion maps to visual assessment (VA) of first-pass perfusion images for the detection of multivessel coronary artery disease (MVCAD). BACKGROUND: VA of first-pass stress perfusion cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) may underestimate ischemia in MVCAD. Pixelwise perfusion mapping allows quantitative measurement of regional myocardial blood flow, which may improve ischemia detection in MVCAD. METHODS: One hundred fifty-one subjects recruited at 2 centers underwent stress perfusion CMR with myocardial perfusion mapping, and invasive coronary angiography with coronary physiology assessment. Ischemic burden was assessed by VA of first-pass images and by quantitative measurement of stress myocardial blood flow using perfusion maps. RESULTS: In patients with MVCAD (2-vessel [2VD] or 3-vessel disease [3VD]; n = 95), perfusion mapping identified significantly more segments with perfusion defects (median segments per patient 12 [interquartile range (IQR): 9 to 16] by mapping vs. 8 [IQR: 5 to 9.5] by VA; p < 0.001). Ischemic burden (IB) measured using mapping was higher in MVCAD compared with IB measured using VA (3VD mapping 100 % (75% to 100%) vs. first-pass 56% (38% to 81%) ; 2VD mapping 63% (50% to 75%) vs. first-pass 41% (31% to 50%); both p < 0.001), but there was no difference in single-vessel disease (mapping 25% (13% to 44%) vs. 25% (13% to 31%). Perfusion mapping was superior to VA for the correct identification of extent of coronary disease (78% vs. 58%; p < 0.001) due to better identification of 3VD (87% vs. 40%) and 2VD (71% vs. 48%). CONCLUSIONS: VA of first-pass stress perfusion underestimates ischemic burden in MVCAD. Pixelwise quantitative perfusion mapping increases the accuracy of CMR in correctly identifying extent of coronary disease. This has important implications for assessment of ischemia and therapeutic decision-making