Multi-modal ultrasound imaging for breast cancer detection

This work describes preliminary results of a two-modality imaging system aimed at the early detection of breast cancer. The first technique is based on compounding conventional echographic images taken at regular angular intervals around the imaged breast. The other modality obtains tomographic images of propagation velocity using the same circular geometry. For this study, a low-cost prototype has been built. It is based on a pair of opposed 128-element, 3.2 MHz array transducers that are mechanically moved around tissue mimicking phantoms. Compounded images around 360 degrees provide improved resolution, clutter reduction, artifact suppression and reinforce the visualization of internal structures. However, refraction at the skin interface must be corrected for an accurate image compounding process. This is achieved by estimation of the interface geometry followed by computing the internal ray paths. On the other hand, sound velocity tomographic images from time of flight projections have been also obtained. Two reconstruction methods, Filtered Back Projection (FBP) and 2D Ordered Subset Expectation Maximization (2D OSEM), were used as a first attempt towards tomographic reconstruction. These methods yield useable images in short computational times that can be considered as initial estimates in subsequent more complex methods of ultrasound image reconstruction. These images may be effective to differentiate malignant and benign masses and are very promising for breast cancer screening. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V

Prevalence of salivary Epstein-Barr virus in potentially malignant oral disorders and oral squamous cell carcinoma

Background: To analyze the presence of salivary Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) DNA in oral squamous cell carcinoma and potentially malignant oral disorders. Material and Methods: Three groups were studied: Group 1 (12 oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCC)), Group 2 (12 potentially malignant oral disorders (PMD)) and Group 3 (47 healthy controls). EBV DNA salivary analysis was performed by PCR. Results: The highest percentage of positive salivary EBV DNA corresponded to the OSCC group (58.3%), followed by the PMD group (41.7%) and the controls (40.4%). The differences between groups were not statistically significant, however (p>0.05). Conclusions: Salivary EBV DNA was more prevalent in OSCC than in PMD or the controls

COVID-19 Prevention Measures

Introducción: EL COVID-19 es un microorganismo de la familia del SARS-Cov 2. Afecta tanto a animales como seres humanos, donde pueden llegar a causar infecciones respiratorias que van desde un resfrío común hasta enfermedades más graves. Se transmite de una persona infectada a otra por medio de gotas que se expulsan al hablar, estornudar o toser; tocar objetos contaminados y llevarse las manos a la boca, nariz u ojos. Existen personas con patologías de base y de avanzada edad que pueden desarrollar cuadras más graves de la enfermedad. Objetivos: Capacitar mediante plataforma Zoom. Realizar Power Points para presentar en estas capacitaciones virtuales.Introduction: COVID-19 is a microorganism of the SARS-Cov 2 family. It affects both animals and humans, where they can cause respiratory infections ranging from the common cold to more serious diseases. It is transmitted from one infected person to another through drops that are expelled when talking, sneezing or coughing: touching contaminated objects and putting hands to mouth, nose or eyes. There are people with basic and elderly pathologies who can develop more serious blocks of the disease. Aims: Train through the Zoom platform. Earn Power Points to present in these virtual trainings.Facultad de Odontologí

LA COMPETITIVIDAD DE LA MICRO Y PEQUEÑA EMPRESA DE ALIMENTOS Y BEBIDAS. El caso del municipio turístico de Metepec en el Estado de México

El presente artículo realiza un acercamiento a las micro y pequeñas empresas del sector de alimentos y bebidas del municipio turístico de Metepec, Estado de México, para identificar los factores que las hacen ser competitivas. Mediante la aplicación de un instrumento basado en diversas teorías de la competitividad se logró obtener información de treinta empresas reconocidas en el sector, sobre los factores internos y externos, que les dan una mejor posición y que pueden ser adaptados o mejorados por otras empresas con características similares para optimizar su competitividad. Destacando de entre estas las siguientes, de acuerdo a la muestra de investigación: el adecuado manejo de factores internos como el control de costos, las actividades relacionadas con su organización, producción y su recurso humano así como en los factores externos el aprovechamiento de la relación con sus proveedores que les traen ventajas posteriores

Oxaliplatin in combination with liver-specific expression of interleukin 12 reduces the immunosuppressive microenvironment of tumours and eradicates metastatic colorectal cancer in mice

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: New options are needed for the management and prevention of colorectal cancer liver metastases. Interleukin 12 (IL-12) is an immunostimulatory cytokine with proven antitumour effect in animal models. Despite evidence indicating its biological effect in humans, neither the recombinant protein nor gene therapy vectors expressing IL-12 have shown a relevant benefit in patients with cancer. OBJECTIVE: To develop a new approach to overcome the difficulties in obtaining a suitable expression pattern and the immunosuppressive milieu in the tumours which contribute to this poor performance. METHODS: A high-capacity ('gutless') adenoviral vector carrying a liver-specific, mifepristone (Mif)-inducible system for the expression of IL-12 (HC-Ad/RUmIL-12) was used in combination with chemotherapy. Tumours were established in the liver of C57BL/6 mice by inoculation of MC38 colon cancer cells. RESULTS: Intrahepatic injection of HC-Ad/RUmIL-12 and tailored induction regimens allowed the maintenance of safe and efficient levels of IL-12 in vivo. An individualised, stepwise increase in the dose of Mif (125-4000 μg/kg) was needed to compensate for the progressive but transient downregulation of the inducible system. Repeated cycles of Mif induction (every 24 h for 10 days) were needed for optimal tumour eradication. However, complete protection against tumour rechallenge was seen in < 25% of the animals. The administration of oxaliplatin (5 mg/kg intraperitoneally) 3 days before starting the induction regimen achieved efficient elimination of liver metastases with a single cycle of IL-12 induction, and improved protection against tumour rechallenge. This was associated with a shift in the tumour microenvironment towards a more pro-immunogenic phenotype, with an increase in the CD8+/T regulatory cell ratio and a reduction in myeloid-derived suppressor cells. These effects were not seen with 5-fluorouracil, irinotecan or gemcitabine

Design of prestressed concrete precast road bridges with hybrid simulated annealing

This paper describes one approach to the analysis and design of prestressed concrete precast road bridges, with double U-shaped cross-section and isostatic spans. The procedure used to solve the combinatorial problem is a variant of simulated annealing with a neighborhood move based on the mutation operator from the genetic algorithms (SAMO). This algorithm is applied to the economic cost of these structures at different stages of manufacturing, transportation and construction. The problem involved 59 discrete design variables for the geometry of the beam and the slab, materials in the two elements, as well as active and passive reinforcement. The parametric study showed a good orrelation for the cost, geometric and reinforcement characteristics with the span length, which can be useful for the day-to-day design of PC precast bridges. A cost sensitivity analysis first indicates that a maximum 20% rise in steel costs leads to an 11.82% increase in the cost, while a 20% rise in concrete costs increases the cost up to 4.20%, namely 2.8 times less. The analysis also indicated that the characteristics of the cost-optimized bridges are somewhat influenced by different economic scenarios for steel and concrete costs. Finally, there is a growth in the volume of concrete when the steel cost rises; surprisingly, the variation in the volume of concrete is almost insensitive to its rising price.This work was supported by the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia (Research Project PAID-06-09) and the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (Research Project BIA2011-23602). The authors are grateful to the anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments and useful suggestions. The authors are also grateful to Dr. Debra Westall for her thorough revision of the manuscript.Martí Albiñana, JV.; González Vidosa, F.; Yepes Piqueras, V.; Alcalá González, J. (2013). Design of prestressed concrete precast road bridges with hybrid simulated annealing. Engineering Structures. 48:342-352. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct.2012.09.014S3423524

First national assessment of wildlife mortality in Ecuador: an effort from citizens and academia to collect roadkill data at country scale

Ecuador has both high richness and high endemism, which are increasingly threatened by anthropic pressures, including roads. Research evaluating the effects of roads remains scarce, making it difficult to develop mitigation plans. Here, we present the first national assessment of wildlife mortality on roads that allow us to (1) estimate roadkill rates per species, (2) identify affected species and areas, and (3) reveal knowledge gaps. We bring together data from systematic surveys and citizen science efforts to present a dataset with 5010 wildlife roadkill records from 392 species, and we also provide 333 standardized corrected roadkill rates calculated on 242 species. Systematic surveys were reported by ten studies from five Ecuadorian provinces, revealing 242 species with corrected roadkill rates ranging from 0.03 to 171.72 ind./km/year. The highest rates were for the yellow warbler Setophaga petechia in Galapagos (171.72 ind./km/year), the cane toad Rhinella marina in Manabi (110.70 ind./km/year), and the Galapagos lava lizard Microlophus albemarlensis (47.17 ind./km/year). Citizen science and other nonsystematic monitoring provided 1705 roadkill records representing all 24 provinces in Ecuador and 262 identified species. The common opossum Didelphis marsupialis, the Andean white-eared opossum Didelphis pernigra, and the yellow warbler Setophaga petechia were more commonly reported (250, 104, and 81 individuals, respectively). Across all sources, we found 15 species listed as “Threatened” and six as “Data Deficient” by the IUCN. We recommend stronger research efforts in areas where the mortality of endemic or threatened species could be critical for populations, such as in Galapagos. This first country-wide assessment of wildlife mortality on Ecuadorian roads represents contributions from academia, members of the public, and government, underlining the value of wider engagement and collaboration. We hope these findings and the compiled dataset will guide sensible driving and sustainable planning of infrastructure in Ecuador and, ultimately, contribute to reduce wildlife mortality on roads

Comprehensive analysis and insights gained from long-term experience of the Spanish DILI Registry

Background & aims: Prospective drug-induced liver injury (DILI) registries are important sources of information on idiosyncratic DILI. We aimed to present a comprehensive analysis of 843 patients with DILI enrolled into the Spanish DILI Registry over a 20-year time period. Methods: Cases were identified, diagnosed and followed prospectively. Clinical features, drug information and outcome data were collected. Results: A total of 843 patients, with a mean age of 54 years (48% females), were enrolled up to 2018. Hepatocellular injury was associated with younger age (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] per year 0.983; 95% CI 0.974-0.991) and lower platelet count (aOR per unit 0.996; 95% CI 0.994-0.998). Anti-infectives were the most common causative drug class (40%). Liver-related mortality was more frequent in patients with hepatocellular damage aged ≥65 years (p = 0.0083) and in patients with underlying liver disease (p = 0.0221). Independent predictors of liver-related death/transplantation included nR-based hepatocellular injury, female sex, higher onset aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and bilirubin values. nR-based hepatocellular injury was not associated with 6-month overall mortality, for which comorbidity burden played a more important role. The prognostic capacity of Hy's law varied between causative agents. Empirical therapy (corticosteroids, ursodeoxycholic acid and MARS) was prescribed to 20% of patients. Drug-induced autoimmune hepatitis patients (26 cases) were mainly females (62%) with hepatocellular damage (92%), who more frequently received immunosuppressive therapy (58%).The present study has been supported by grants of Instituto de Salud Carlos III cofounded by Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional – FEDER (contract numbers: PI19/00883, PI16/01748, PI18/00901, PI18/01804, PI-0285-2016, PI-0274-2016, PI-0310- 2018, PT17/0017/0020) and Agencia Española del Medicamento. CIBERehd and Plataforma ISCIII Ensayos Clinicos are funded by Instituto de Salud Carlos III. MRD holds a Joan Rodes (JR16/ 00015)/Acción B clinicos investigadores (B-0002-2019) and JSC a Rio Hortega (CM17/00243) research contract from ISCIII and Consejería de Salud de Andalucía. The funding sources had no involvement in the study design; in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report or in the de- cision to submit the manuscript for publication

Desarrollo municipal. Una visión contemporánea

Para los estudiosos y el público interesado en los asuntos municipales, 2013 fue un año emblemático porque se cumplieron tres décadas de la reforma al artículo 115 constitucional, precepto que sustancia la vida institucional de los municipios mexicanos. La vida municipal, merced a este periodo, se ha revitalizado, aunque de manera diferenciada entre caso y caso, pues la heterogeneidad económica, política y social persiste, así como sus efectos adversos, sobre los municipios más rezagados; ello es recordatorio de las deudas pendientes del Estado con esta expresión local. Tal revitalización ha alcanzado a la discusión académica con un resultado exuberante en producción editorial que da cuenta de significativos cambios en la vida asociada