Polymorphous low-grade adenocarcinoma of the parotid gland : case report and review of the literature

Polymorphous low-grade adenocarcinoma (PLGA) is difficult to diagnose both clinically and histologically due to its indolent presentation, and because of its morphological diversity that includes several microscopic patterns. The aggressive biologic behavior seen in minor salivary glands as compared to major glands is apparently associated histologically to a predominance of the papillary pattern in the former. Biologic behavior of PLGA in the major salivary glands is uncertain, as some cases have developed recurrences and metastases independently of the presence of a papillary pattern. A case of PLGA originated de novo in parotid gland is presented a 60 year-old male, treatment was surgically excised through superficial parotidectomy and to postoperative radiotherapy (46 Gy). Forty-eight months later the patient is alive with no signs of recurrence, as well as a review of the literature, with particular emphasis in its differential diagnosis and biological behavior

Brote de gastroenteritis por agua potable de suministro público

Introducción: La potabilidad del agua induce a descartar el posible origen hídrico de los brotes. El objetivo fue investigar un brote de gastroenteritis por agua potable de suministro público. Métodos: Después de la notificación de un brote de gastroenteritis en el municipio de Baqueira (Valle de Arán) se diseñó un estudio epidemiológico de cohortes retrospectivo. Mediante un muestreo sistemático se eligió a 87 personas hospedadas en los hoteles y a 62 alojadas en diferentes apartamentos. Se recogió información sobre 4 factores (consumo de agua de la red, bocadillos, agua y alimentos en las pistas de esquí) y presencia de síntomas. Se determinó la existencia de cloro, se analizó el agua de la red y se realizó un coprocultivo a 4 enfermos. La implicación de cada factor se determinó con el riesgo relativo (RR) y su intervalo de confianza (IC) del 95%. Resultados: La incidencia de gastroenteritis fue del 51,0% (76/149). Los porcentajes de los síntomas fueron los siguientes: fiebre, 27,0%; diarrea, 87,5%; náuseas, 50,7%; vómitos, 30,3%, y dolor abdominal, 80,0%. El único factor que presentó un riesgo estadísticamente significativo fue el consumo de agua de la red (RR = 11,0; IC del 95%, 1,6-74,7). La calificación sanitaria del agua fue de potabilidad. Se observó un defecto de situación del clorador en el depósito, que fue corregido. Se recomendó incrementar aún más las concentraciones de cloro, lo cual se acompañó de una disminución de los casos. Los coprocultivos de los 4 enfermos fueron negativos para las enterobacterias investigadas. Conclusiones: El estudio demuestra la posibilidad de presentación de brotes hídricos por agua cualificada como potable y sugiere la necesidad de mejorar la investigación microbiológica (determinación de protozoos y virus) en este tipo de brotes

Automatización de una red de sensores inalámbricos Zigbee y desarrollo de aplicaciones sobre entornos GNU/Linux

Una red de sensores inalámbricos (WSN) está formada por dispositivos autónomos  (comúnmente llamados nodos o smart sensors). Estos dispositivos están formados por diversos sensores, un microcontrolador (el cuál adapta la señal de los sensores e implementa el protocolo de comunicación), memorias y un transceptor RF (que permite transmitir los datos de forma inalámbrica). Por lo cuál, estos nodos  cuentan con capacidades reducidas de cómputo, sensado y comunicación inalámbrica. Pueden ser utilizados por un gran número de aplicaciones, como ser: monitoreo y control de variables ambientales, industriales, domótica, etc.

High overlap between traditional ecological knowledge and forest conservation found in the Bolivian Amazon

Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu MdM-2015-0552Altres ajuts: FBBVA research grant (BIOCON_06_106-07)It has been suggested that traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) may play a key role in forest conservation. However, empirical studies assessing to what extent TEK is associated with forest conservation compared with other variables are rare. Furthermore, to our knowledge, the spatial overlap of TEK and forest conservation has not been evaluated at fine scales. In this paper, we address both issues through a case study with Tsimane' Amerindians in the Bolivian Amazon. We sampled 624 households across 59 villages to estimate TEK and used remote sensing data to assess forest conservation. We ran statistical and spatial analyses to evaluate whether TEK was associated and spatially overlapped with forest conservation at the village level. We find that Tsimane' TEK is significantly and positively associated with forest conservation although acculturation variables bear stronger and negative associations with forest conservation. We also find a very significant spatial overlap between levels of Tsimane' TEK and forest conservation. We discuss the potential reasons underpinning our results, which provide insights that may be useful for informing policies in the realms of development, conservation, and climate. We posit that the protection of indigenous cultural systems is vital and urgent to create more effective policies in such realms

Tecnología de dispositivos de lógica reconfigurable aplicada en la implementación segura de sistemas de IoT

Internet de las Cosas (IoT) presenta un escenario en el cual miles de millones de dispositivos se encuentran interconectados y distribuidos por casi cualquier lugar, desde el cuerpo de un ser humano hasta las áreas más remotas del planeta. Gracias al abaratamiento de los costos de los microprocesadores, al aumento de las capacidades de cómputo y a las nuevas tecnologías inalámbricas, se prevé en 2021 más de 50.000 millones de dispositivos conectados. Los ataques informáticos en general, pueden robar o modificar datos importantes, hacer caer servicios críticos online o conseguir dinero de forma ilícita. En cambio, en un contexto de IoT, además de todas estas acciones, existen posibilidades de hacer daño físico a personas a distancia y/o manipular infraestructuras críticas. Este proyecto propone demostrar que, a partir del paradigma de Computación en la Niebla, los dispositivos lógicos programables como las FPGA (Field Programmable Logic Array), con capacidades de reconfiguración y gran potencia computacional, más la posibilidad de adaptar el procesamiento al tipo de información que presente en estas aplicaciones (eventos, imágenes, etc.), se pueden considerar una alternativa de desarrollo frente a las problemáticas que presenta la implementación segura de sistemas de IoT.Eje: Arquitectura, redes y sistemas operativos.Red de Universidades con Carreras en Informátic

The Perceived Benefits of Height: Strength, Dominance, Social Concern, and Knowledge among Bolivian Native Amazonians

Research in industrial countries suggests that, with no other knowledge about a person, positive traits are attributed to taller people and correspondingly, that taller people have slightly better socioeconomic status (SES). However, research in some non-industrialized contexts has shown no correlation or even negative correlations between height and socioeconomic outcomes. It remains unclear whether positive traits remain attributed to taller people in such contexts. To address this question, here we report the results of a study in a foraging-farming society of native Amazonians in Bolivia (Tsimane’)–a group in which we have previously shown little association between height and socioeconomic outcomes. We showed 24 photographs of pairs of Tsimane’ women, men, boys, and girls to 40 women and 40 men >16 years of age. We presented four behavioral scenarios to each participant and asked them to point to the person in the photograph with greater strength, dominance, social concern, or knowledge. The pairs in the photographs were of the same sex and age, but one person was shorter. Tsimane’ women and men attributed greater strength, dominance, and knowledge to taller girls and boys, but they did not attribute most positive traits to taller adults, except for strength, and more social concern only when women assessed other women in the photographs. These results raise a puzzle: why would Tsimane’ attribute positive traits to tall children, but not tall adults? We propose three potential explanations: adults’ expectations about the more market integrated society in which their children will grow up, height as a signal of good child health, and children’s greater variation in the traits assessed corresponding to maturational stages

Personalized monitoring of electrical remodelling during atrial fibrillation progression via remote transmissions from implantable devices

Atrial electrical remodelling (AER) is a transitional period associated with the progression and long-term maintenance of atrial fibrillation (AF). We aimed to study the progression of AER in individual patients with implantable devices and AF episodes. Observational multicentre study (51 centres) including 4618 patients with implantable cardioverter-defibrillator and results þ/resynchronization therapy (ICD/CRT-D) and 352 patients (2 centres) with pacemakers (median follow-up: 3.4 years). Atrial activation rate (AAR) was quantified as the frequency of the dominant peak in the signal spectrum of AF episodes with atrial bipolar electrograms. Patients with complete progression of AER, from paroxysmal AF episodes to electrically remodelled persistent AF, were used to depict patient-specific AER slopes. A total of 34 712 AF tracings from 830 patients (87 with pacemakers) were suitable for the study. Complete progression of AER was documented in 216 patients (16 with pacemakers). Patients with persistent AF after completion of AER showed ∼30% faster AAR than patients with paroxysmal AF. The slope of AAR changes during AF progression revealed patient-specific patterns that correlated with the time-to-completion of AER (R = 0.85). Pacemaker patients were older than patients with ICD/CRT-Ds (78.3 vs. 67.2 year olds, respectively, P < 0.001) and had a shorter median time-to-completion of AER (24.9 vs. 93.5 days, respectively, P = 0.016). Remote transmissions in patients with ICD/CRT-D devices enabled the estimation of the time-to-completion of AER using the predicted slope of AAR changes from initiation to completion of electrical remodelling (R = 0.45). The AF progression shows patient-specific patterns of AER, which can be estimated using available remote-monitoring technology

Personalized monitoring of electrical remodelling during atrial fibrillation progression via remote transmissions from implantable devices

Aims: Atrial electrical remodelling (AER) is a transitional period associated with the progression and long-term maintenance of atrial fibrillation (AF). We aimed to study the progression of AER in individual patients with implantable devices and AF episodes. Methods and results: Observational multicentre study (51 centres) including 4618 patients with implantable cardioverter-defibrillator +/-resynchronization therapy (ICD/CRT-D) and 352 patients (2 centres) with pacemakers (median follow-up: 3.4 years). Atrial activation rate (AAR) was quantified as the frequency of the dominant peak in the signal spectrum of AF episodes with atrial bipolar electrograms. Patients with complete progression of AER, from paroxysmal AF episodes to electrically remodelled persistent AF, were used to depict patient-specific AER slopes. A total of 34 712 AF tracings from 830 patients (87 with pacemakers) were suitable for the study. Complete progression of AER was documented in 216 patients (16 with pacemakers). Patients with persistent AF after completion of AER showed ∼30% faster AAR than patients with paroxysmal AF. The slope of AAR changes during AF progression revealed patient-specific patterns that correlated with the time-to-completion of AER (R2 = 0.85). Pacemaker patients were older than patients with ICD/CRT-Ds (78.3 vs. 67.2 year olds, respectively, P < 0.001) and had a shorter median time-to-completion of AER (24.9 vs. 93.5 days, respectively, P = 0.016). Remote transmissions in patients with ICD/CRT-D devices enabled the estimation of the time-to-completion of AER using the predicted slope of AAR changes from initiation to completion of electrical remodelling (R2 = 0.45). Conclusion: The AF progression shows patient-specific patterns of AER, which can be estimated using available remote-monitoring technology

Moving beyond a snapshot to understand changes in the well-being of native Amazonians : panel evidence (2002-2006) from Bolivia

Forces such as the opening of trade, globalization, multinational corporate resource extraction, urbanization, acculturation, and colonization catalyze economic, ecological, and sociocultural change, which can threaten the well-being and habitat of native Amazonians. Understanding these forces is of paramount importance to improve the well-being of native Amazonians and to foster the conservation of biological diversity, yet most analyses of these forces rely on cross-sectional data. Though adequate to describe the association between variables at one point in time, cross-sectional data do not allow one to estimate changes in well-being over time. We collected data annually during five consecutive years (2002-2006, inclusive) from a foraging and farming society of native Amazonians in Bolivia (Tsimane') to estimate annual rates of change for seven indicators of adult well-being. Indicators encompassed both objective and subjective measures of well-being that included economic, health, psychological, and social dimensions that overlap well with Tsimane' notions of well-being. The annual rate of change in the inflation-adjusted (hereafter real) value of food consumption (+6.35%), body mass index (+0.71%), and incidence of anger (−10.40%) show significant improvements over time, but the annual rate of change in the self-reported number of recent ailments (+7.35%) shows a significant deterioration. Trends in other indicators of well-being (smiles, real wealth, social relations) show positive but insignificant rates of change. Results did not vary by sex and were consistent when using other indicators of well-bein

The scope of language contact as a constraint factor in language change: The periphrasis haber de plus infinitive in a corpus of language immediacy in modern Spanish

In this work an empirical study grounded in the principles and methods of the comparative variationist framework is conducted to measure the scope of language contact as a factor constraining some potentially diverging uses of a Spanish verbal periphrasis that has undergone a sharp decline over the last century (haber de plus infinitive). The analysis is based on three independent samples of text that correspond to three dialectal areas of peninsular Spanish (monolingual zones, Catalan-speaking linguistic territories and the north-western linguistic area). These samples, extracted from a corpus made up of texts of communicative immediacy from the 19th and the first half of the 20th centuries, confirm the existence of a certain linguistic convergence in the expressive habits of the speakers in the bilingual communities. In each region, however, the outcomes are different, due to parallel differences in the structural position of the periphrasis in each language. However, a thorough analysis of the variable context that surrounds the periphrasis shows that the observed differences do not affect the essence of the underlying grammar of this variant, whose decline (which favours tener que plus infinitive and becomes faster as the 20th century advances) is constrained by identical linguistic and extralinguistic conditioning factors in all the dialectal areas