Heart of Darkness: Heart Rate Variability on Patients with Risk of Suicide

Heart Rate Variability (HRV) is an emerging research field in the study of diverse pathologies, as long as it allows considering another measurement for detecting possible aggravations. The aim of this work is to study the applicability of the analysis of HRV in order to establish if a person is at risk of suffering from suicidal ideation. This work includes the development and testing of a heart rate acquisition and automatic analysis system, with friendly software for clinicians, customized to the necessities of an emergency unit. Furthermore, it includes the analysis of the obtained data with the purpose of assessing possible correlations between HRV parameters and personality impulsive traits. 20 patients and 10 normal cases were selected to develop this pilot study. Results show significant statistical difference (p<0.05) among patients and normal cases for pNN50, IRRR, MADRR, total HRV power, Approximate Entropy and Fractal Dimension

AppDIXITOU: xogo educativo para móbil co que se conciencia a xente adolescente no bo uso das redes sociais

Hoxe en día, a maioría da xente adolescente posúe un móbil e boa parte dela usa as redes sociais para socializar. Pero, ata que punto saben como usalas correctamente? Este traballo describe a necesidade e o desenvolvemento dunha ferramenta informática educativa para o móbil (AppDIXITOU), na que se aplica a gamificación coa pretensión de concienciar e de educar nun uso máis racional e saudable das redes sociais o estudantado de educación secundaria obrigatoria da provincia de Ourense. Unha das recomendacións que realizan diversos estudos para reducir os perigos, que afrontan os e as menores cando empregan as redes sociais, consiste en realizar campañas formativas destinadas a eles e elas onde, ademais de informalos deses riscos,se intente modificar o seu comportamento ante o uso destas. AppDIXITOU pretende formar parte desa «misión». Este soporte lóxico (software) desenvolveuse para que se use nun móbil, dispositivo tan cotián hoxe en día entre a xente adolescente. Despois dun estudo sobre o sistema operativo para móbil máis empregado entre os móbiles que dispoñen a maioría da mocidade, decidiuse que a aplicación funcione sobre Android. A gamificación é o uso do pensamento e a mecánica de xogabilidade en contextos alleos aos xogos, co fin de que as persoas adopten certo comportamento. Se se aplica ao ámbito educativo, a finalidade desta técnica de aprendizaxe é aumentar a motivación e favorecer o coñecemento. O obxectivo de aplicar esta metodoloxía no software desenvolvido foi dobre: por unha banda, mellorar o coñecemento que ten a poboación adolescente dos riscos que supón un uso incorrecto das redes sociais e, por outra, non menos importante, provocar cambios no comportamento destes ante situacións perigosas orixinadas polo uso das citadas redes

Development and validation of a clinical score to estimate progression to severe or critical state in Covid-19 pneumonia hospitalized patients

The prognosis of a patient with Covid-19 pneumonia is uncertain. Our objective was to establish a predictive model of disease progression to facilitate early decision-making. A retrospective study was performed of patients admitted with Covid-19 pneumonia, classified as severe (admission to the intensive care unit, mechanic invasive ventilation, or death) or non-severe. A predictive model based on clinical, analytical, and radiological parameters was built. The probability of progression to severe disease was estimated by logistic regression analysis. Calibration and discrimination (receiver operating characteristics curves and AUC) were assessed to determine model performance. During the study period 1,152 patients presented with Covid-19 infection, of whom 229 (19.9%) were admitted for pneumonia. During hospitalization, 51 (22.3%) progressed to severe disease, of whom 26 required ICU care (11.4); 17 (7.4%) underwent invasive mechanical ventilation, and 32 (14%) died of any cause. Five predictors determined within 24 hours of admission were identified: Diabetes, Age, Lymphocyte count, SaO2, and pH (DALSH score). The prediction model showed a good clinical performance, including discrimination (AUC 0.87 CI 0.81, 0.92) and calibration (Brier score = 0.11). In total, 0%, 12%, and 50% of patients with severity risk scores ≤5%, 6-25%, and >25% exhibited disease progression, respectively. A simple risk score based on five factors predicts disease progression and facilitates early decision-making according to prognosis.Carlos III Health Institute, Spain, Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (SPAIN) and the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER)Instituto de Salud Carlos II

Individual Shrink Wrapping of Zucchini Fruit Improves Postharvest Chilling Tolerance Associated with a Reduction in Ethylene Production and Oxidative Stress Metabolites

We have studied the effect of individual shrink wrapping (ISW) on the postharvest performance of refrigerated fruit from two zucchini cultivars that differ in their sensitivity to cold storage: Sinatra (more sensitive) and Natura (more tolerant). The fruit was individually shrink wrapped before storing at 4°C for 0, 7 and 14 days. Quality parameters, ethylene and CO2 productions, ethylene gene expression, and oxidative stress metabolites were assessed in shrink wrapped and non-wrapped fruit after conditioning the fruit for 6 hours at 20°C. ISW decreased significantly the postharvest deterioration of chilled zucchini in both cultivars. Weight loss was reduced to less than 1%, pitting symptoms were completely absent in ISW fruit at 7 days, and were less than 25% those of control fruits at 14 days of cold storage, and firmness loss was significantly reduced in the cultivar Sinatra. These enhancements in quality of ISW fruit were associated with a significant reduction in cold-induced ethylene production, in the respiration rate, and in the level of oxidative stress metabolites such as hydrogen peroxide and malonyldialdehyde (MDA). A detailed expression analysis of ethylene biosynthesis, perception and signaling genes demonstrated a downregulation of CpACS1 and CpACO1 genes in response to ISW, two genes that are upregulated by cold storage. However, the expression patterns of six other ethylene biosynthesis genes (CpACS2 to CpACS7) and five ethylene signal transduction pathway genes (CpCTR1, CpETR1, CpERS1, CpEIN3.1 and CpEN3.2), suggest that they do not play a major role in response to cold storage and ISW packaging. In conclusion, ISW zucchini packaging resulted in improved tolerance to chilling concomitantly with a reduction in oxidative stress, respiration rate and ethylene production, as well as in the expression of ethylene biosynthesis genes, but not of those involved in ethylene perception and sensitivity.This work was supported by grants AGL2011-30568-C02/ALI from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, and AGR1423 from the Consejería de Economía, Innovación y Ciencia, Junta de Andalucía, Spain. Z.M. acknowledges FPU program scholarships from MEC, Spain. S.M. is funded by grant PTA2011-479-I from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation

Entrepreneurial orientation and the threat of imitation: The influence of upstream and downstream capabilities

This paper uncovers the complexity between Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO) and performance. The paper explores the effect of the threat of imitation, which is a key external factor to explain competitive dynamics, and hence highlights effectiveness of EO. Also the paper accounts for the role of upstream (technical) and downstream (marketing) capabilities as they influence effectiveness of EO. Our results show that, under threat of imitation, downstream marketing capabilities facilitate taping into opportunities derived from EO, which positively affects performance. Conversely, available upstream technical capabilities do not aim at EO when imitation threats exist in the environment. Of importance is that we question the complexity between EO and performance can be better understood using a configurational approach

Установление границ охранной зоны линейного сооружения – магистральный газопровод "НГПЗ - Парабель"

Составлено графическое описание местоположения границ зон с особыми условиями использования территорий границ охранной зоны линейного сооружения – магистральный газопровод "НГПЗ - Парабель".A graphic description of the location of the boundaries of the zones with special conditions for the use of the territories of the boundaries of the protection zone of the linear structure – "the NGPZ-Parabel" gas pipeline has been compiled

<scp>ReSurveyEurope</scp>: A database of resurveyed vegetation plots in Europe

AbstractAimsWe introduce ReSurveyEurope — a new data source of resurveyed vegetation plots in Europe, compiled by a collaborative network of vegetation scientists. We describe the scope of this initiative, provide an overview of currently available data, governance, data contribution rules, and accessibility. In addition, we outline further steps, including potential research questions.ResultsReSurveyEurope includes resurveyed vegetation plots from all habitats. Version 1.0 of ReSurveyEurope contains 283,135 observations (i.e., individual surveys of each plot) from 79,190 plots sampled in 449 independent resurvey projects. Of these, 62,139 (78%) are permanent plots, that is, marked in situ, or located with GPS, which allow for high spatial accuracy in resurvey. The remaining 17,051 (22%) plots are from studies in which plots from the initial survey could not be exactly relocated. Four data sets, which together account for 28,470 (36%) plots, provide only presence/absence information on plant species, while the remaining 50,720 (64%) plots contain abundance information (e.g., percentage cover or cover–abundance classes such as variants of the Braun‐Blanquet scale). The oldest plots were sampled in 1911 in the Swiss Alps, while most plots were sampled between 1950 and 2020.ConclusionsReSurveyEurope is a new resource to address a wide range of research questions on fine‐scale changes in European vegetation. The initiative is devoted to an inclusive and transparent governance and data usage approach, based on slightly adapted rules of the well‐established European Vegetation Archive (EVA). ReSurveyEurope data are ready for use, and proposals for analyses of the data set can be submitted at any time to the coordinators. Still, further data contributions are highly welcome.</jats:sec

A new concept for Dictyostelium sphaerocephalum based on morphology and phylogenetic analysis of nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer region sequences

Three dictyostelid isolates were found in Spain and Argentina that are morphologically different from known species. These isolates have some features similar to Dictyostelium sphaerocephalum (Oudem.) Sacc., Marchal & E´ .J. Marchal, but differ in size and sorocarp branching pattern. We sequenced the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer region to explore phylogenetic relationships among this group of species, including the three new isolates and their closest relatives. In all phylogenetic analyses performed, sequences of all three isolates group together with sequences from ‘‘typical’’ D. sphaerocephalum samples. This result supports previous observations of the morphological plasticity in dictyostelids, especially D. sphaerocephalum, leading us to broaden the classical concept of this species.Les auteurs ont re´colte´ trois isolats de dictyoste´lides, en Espagne et en Argentine, lesquels diffe`rent morphologiquement des espe`ces connues. Ces isolats ressemblent pour certains caracte`res au Dictyostelium sphaerocephalum (Oudem.) Sacc., Marchal & E´ .J. Marchal, mais en diffe`rent par la dimension et le patron de ramification des sorocarpes. Afin d’explorer les relations phyloge´ne´tiques parmi ce groupe d’espe`ces, les auteurs ont se´quence´ la re´gion de l’ITS ribosomique nucle´ique, incluant les trois nouveaux isolats et leurs plus proches parents. Ce resultat toutes les analyses phyloge ´ne´tiques re´alise´es, les trois isolats montrent des se´quences ‘typiques’ d’e´chantillons du D. sphaerocephalum. Cette re´sulte supporte les observations ante´ce´dentes sur la plasticite´ des dictyoste´lides, surtout du D. sphaerocephalum, et conduit les auteurs a` e´largir le concept classique de cette espe`ce.Ministry of Education and Science of Spain,Peer reviewe

Detection of Heart Beat Positions in ECG Recordings: A Lead-Dependent Algorithm

This paper proposes a computerized heartbeat detection method in single-channel electrocardiograms (ECGs). First, the well-known Pan-Tompkins technique was implemented, and next, a channel-dependent version was developed, by adjusting threshold values and reducing false QRS detections. The algorithms were tested with the MIT-BIH Arrhythmia Database (original algorithm), and with the St. Petersburg Database (modified version). When validating the performances of the original Pan-Tompkins algorithm, we have achieved a sensitivity of <em>Se</em> = 99.81, at a positive predictivity (<em>P</em>⁺) = 99.85%. The F-Score was 0.9587, and the RMS RR Interval Error (RMSRRIE) resulted to be 4,480.46 ms. When analysing the performance of the modified algorithm, results provided an average value of <em>Se</em> = 99.92%, <em>P</em>⁺ = 99.98%, F-Score = 0.9718, and a mean value of 111.05 ms. for the RMSRRIE. In conclusion, the improved Pan-Tompkins algorithm provides higher values for sensitivity and positive predictivity, increased F-Score, and it significantly reduces the temporal error when estimating the positions of QRS complexes. Thus, it could be used as a starting point to detect heartbeat positions in more sophisticated computerized detection systems.\u