Validity and Reliability of an Inertial Device for Measuring Dynamic Weight-Bearing Ankle Dorsiflexion

A decrease in ankle dorsiflexion causes changes in biomechanics, and different instruments have been used for ankle dorsiflexion testing under static conditions. Consequently, the industry of inertial sensors has developed easy-to-use devices, which measure dynamic ankle dorsiflexion and provide additional parameters such as velocity, acceleration, or movement deviation. Therefore, the aims of this study were to analyze the concurrent validity and test-retest reliability of an inertial device for measuring dynamic weight-bearing ankle dorsiflexion. Sixteen participants were tested using an inertial device (WIMU) and a digital inclinometer. Ankle dorsiflexion from left and right ankle repetitions was used for validity analysis, whereas test-retest reliability was analyzed by comparing measurements from the first and second days. The standard error of the measurement (SEM) between the instruments was very low for both ankle measurements (SEM 0.05) even though a significant systematic bias (~1.77°) was found for the right ankle (d = 0.79). R2 was very close to 1 in the left and right ankles (R2 = 0.85–0.89) as well as the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC > 0.95). Test-retest reliability analysis showed that systematic bias was below 1° for both instruments, even though a systematic bias (~1.50°) with small effect size was found in the right ankle (d = 0.49) with WIMU. The ICC was very close to 1 and the coefficient of variation (CV) was lower than 4% in both instruments. Thus, WIMU is a valid and reliable inertial device for measuring dynamic weight-bearing ankle dorsiflexion

LabVIEW-based control and acquisition system for the dosimetric characterization of a silicon strip detector

Theaimofthisworkistopresentanewdataacquisition,control,andanalysissoftwaresystemwrittenin LabVIEW.Thissystemhasbeendesignedtoobtainthedosimetryofasiliconstripdetectorinpolyethylene. It allows the full automation of the experiments and data analysis required for the dosimetric characterization of silicon detectors. It becomes a useful tool that can be applied in the daily routine check of a beam accelerator.MINECO ICTI2013-2016/FPA2013-47327-C2-1-RMINECO ICTI2013-2016/FPA2014-53290-C2-2- PJunta de Andalucía P12-FQM-160

La conservación del patrimonio agroindustrial. Propuestas para la reutilización de los antiguos mataderos municipales y análisis de costes

La creciente demanda de alimentos en las áreas urbanas, junto con los avances en los transportes y la aparición de nuevas fuentes de energía propiciaron a finales del siglo XIX la construcción de diversas industrias agroalimentarias en el medio rural español. Un ejemplo de este patrimonio agroindustrial son los antiguos mataderos municipales, edificados en un gran número de localidades de la geografía española con el objetivo de evitar sacrificios clandestinos de ganado y de mejorar las condiciones higiénicas de la carne. Las cada vez mayores exigencias técnicas y sanitarias para este tipo de construcciones a partir de la década de los 70 y la progresiva sustitución de las instalaciones municipales por mataderos privados más modernos y de mayor capacidad provocaron el cierre y posterior abandono de muchos de estos edificios en las décadas siguientes. En el presen te trabajo se muestran cuatro propuestas concretas para la reutilización de este tipo de construcciones. A partir de la información recopilada de varios proyectos fin de carrera desarrollados por alumnos de la Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Agrónom os de Madrid, se describen las actuaciones y trabajos de rehabilitación necesarios en cada caso y se ofrece un estudio comparativo de costes entre proyectos de reutilización y obra nuev

Development of a new salmon salting smoking method and process monitoring by impedance spectroscopy

[EN] In this work two objectives were proposed: (i) to optimize a new salmon salting smoking method using vacuum packaging and (ii) to evaluate the application of impedance spectroscopy (IS) to the on-line monitoring of the process. Different processing conditions were evaluated (4 smoke flavoring (SF) salt concentrations, 3 salting times, salting in vacuum or in air). Physico-chemical analyses and IS measurements were performed with three different sensors during the process. Salting with 16 g SF salt/100 g fish in vacuum packaging provided smoked salmon similar to products currently available on the market. This new method has the advantages of reducing processing times and waste. IS measurements were carried out by three different electrodes. The most appropriate sensor for process monitoring was a needle electrode, with which robust prediction models for NaCl content, moisture and a,,, during the salting smoking process were obtained. The results showed the potential of IS as a rapid on-line monitoring method of the salmon salting smoking process. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support for the work reported here received from the Generalitat Valenciana (GV/2011/098) and the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia (UPV) (PAID-06-09-2940). A. Fuentes would like to thank the Campus de Excelencia Internacional at the UPV for its support. The proof-reading of this paper was funded by the UPV, Spain.Rizo Párraga, AM.; Fuentes López, A.; Fernández Segovia, I.; Masot Peris, R.; Alcañiz Fillol, M.; Barat Baviera, JM. (2013). Development of a new salmon salting smoking method and process monitoring by impedance spectroscopy. LWT - Food Science and Technology. 51(1):218-224. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lwt.2012.09.025S21822451

Assessment in kinship foster care: A new tool to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses

Placement in kinship family has existed informally throughout the times. There are many countries in which the kinship family care is the measure most used for child protection. However, it is a subject of continuous debate. One of the major issues it is the constitution of the foster care without the evaluation of the family, and often the child is placed directly to grandparents and uncles by the mere fact of being direct family. The article presents a tool to evaluate extended families in order to assure the welfare of the child. The tool was built by a cooperative research where 126 professionals from 7 regions of Spain participated. The instrument can identify the strengths and weaknesses of families on 6 domains: personal characteristics, the coverage of basic needs, the collaboration with professionals, the family structure and dynamics, the relationship between family, child and biological family and, finally the attitude towards the placement. The tool is innovative while providing elements to work more effectively and introduces the opportunity to reflect upon the skills of the kinship foster care family, the needs of support, and the families that are unfitting to take care of the child. To conclude, the instrument tries to overcome one of the principal disadvantages of kinship foster care: the lack of knowledge about the kinship family

Analysis of K-Ras Nuclear Expression in Fibroblasts and Mesangial Cells

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.-- et al[Background]: Ras GTPases are considered cytoplasmic proteins that must be localized to cell membranes for activation, and there are few evidences of the presence of any Ras isoform in nuclei of eukaryotic cells. [Methodology/Principal Findings]: Using conventional antibodies and inmunocytochemistry, differential centrifugation and western blot, we have observed the putative presence of K-Ras isoform in the nuclei of fibroblasts and mesangial cells. In order to avoid cross-reactions with other Ras isoforms, and using antibodies against K-Ras (R-3400, H3845-M01, sc-30) or pan-Ras (05-516, OP40) in cells that only expressed the K-Ras isoform (fibroblasts obtained from H-ras−/−,N-ras−/− mice) we also detected some nuclear positive expression. To further probe the identity of nuclear K-Ras, we have generated K-Ras knockout (K-ras−/−) embrionary fibroblasts by mating of K-ras+/− heterozygote mice. Using specific antibodies, only H- and N-Ras isoforms were observed in the cytoplasm of K-ras−/− fibroblasts. However, both K-Ras4A and K-Ras4B positive signals were detected by immunocytochemistry and Western blot with two commercial antibodies (sc-522 and sc-521 against each isoforms, respectively) in both cytoplasm and nuclei from K-ras−/− fibroblasts. [Conclusions/Significance]: We show that the presence of K-Ras4B in fibroblast nuclei, already described by other authors, is probably due to a cross-reaction of the antibody with an undetermined nucleolar protein. Although this study also shows the possible nuclear expression of K-Ras isoform in fibroblasts or in mesangial cells, it also reveals the importance of being cautious in these studies about distribution of protein isoforms due to some important limitations imposed by the unspecificity of the antibodies or contaminations in cellular preparations.This work was supported by grants from Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Ministerio de Sanidad y Consumo, CP03/00094, PI041817, PI021570 and C03/10), Comisión Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnologí­a (BFU-2004-00285/BFI; SAF2003-04177), and Junta de Castilla y León (SA001/C05; SA029A05; GRS 167/A/07 and excellence group GR100).Peer reviewe

Neuroglial involvement in abnormal glutamate transport in the cochlear nuclei of the Igf1—/— mouse

Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) is a powerful regulator of synaptic activity and a deficit in this protein has a profound impact on neurotransmission, mostly on excitatory synapses in both the developing and mature auditory system. Adult Igf1—/— mice are animal models for the study of human syndromic deafness; they show altered cochlear projection patterns into abnormally developed auditory neurons along with impaired glutamate uptake in the cochlear nuclei, phenomena that probably reflect disruptions in neuronal circuits. To determine the cellular mechanisms that might be involved in regulating excitatory synaptic plasticity in 4-month-old Igf1—/— mice, modifications to neuroglia, astroglial glutamate transporters (GLTs) and metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) were assessed in the cochlear nuclei. The Igf1—/— mice show significant decreases in IBA1 (an ionized calcium-binding adapter) and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) mRNA expression and protein accumulation, as well as dampened mGluR expression in conjunction with enhanced glutamate transporter 1 (GLT1) expression. By contrast, no differences were observed in the expression of glutamate aspartate transporter (GLAST) between these Igf1—/— mice and their heterozygous or wildtype littermates. These observations suggest that congenital IGF-1 deficiency may lead to alterations in microglia and astrocytes, an upregulation of GLT1, and the downregulation of groups I, II and III mGluRs. Understanding the molecular, biochemical and morphological mechanisms underlying neuronal plasticity in a mouse model of hearing deficits will give us insight into new therapeutic strategies that could help to maintain or even improve residual hearing when human deafness is related to IGF-1 deficiencyThis work was supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO; SAF2016-788898-C2-1R) to JJ and VF-S; Seventh Framework Programme (FP7)-HEALTH- 2012-INNOVATON (#304925) to JJ; CIBERER/FEDER ACCI-ER16P5AC7091 and ER17P5AC7612 to LR-R; and Spanish MINECO/FEDER (SAF2014-53979-R), FP7- PEOPLE-2013-IAPP TARGEAR, CIBERER/FEDER (ACCIER16P5AC7091 and ER17P5AC7612) to IV-N. LR-R holds a contract supported by CIBERER (Institute of Health Carlos III) co-financed with FEDER fund

Performance of upstream interaction region detectors for the FIRST experiment at GSI

The FIRST (Fragmentation of Ions Relevant for Space and Therapy) experiment at GSI has been designed to study carbon fragmentation, measuring 12C double differential cross sections (∂2σ/ ∂θ∂E) for different beam energies between 100 and 1000 MeV/u. The experimental setup integrates newly designed detectors in the, so called, Interaction Region around the graphite target. The Interaction Region upstream detectors are a 250 μm thick scintillator and a drift chamber optimized for a precise measurement of the ions interaction time and position on the target. In this article we review the design of the upstream detectors along with the preliminary results of the data taking performed on August 2011 with 400 MeV/u fully stripped carbon ion beam at GSI. Detectors performances will be reviewed and compared to those obtained during preliminary tests, performed with 500 MeV electrons (at the BTF facility in the INFN Frascati Laboratories) and 80 MeV/u protons and carbon ions (at the INFN LNS Laboratories in Catania)

A study of eosinophilia and helminths in migrant sub-Saharan patients in a primary care center (Madrid, Spain)

We determine the association between eosinophilia and certain parasites diagnosed by serology in patients of subsaharan origin of a Primary Care Center from Madrid region, Spain. It was implemented a complete protocol for migrant patient to study eosinophilia and realized serology tests for parasites detection. All variable and data were evaluated by statistical methods. A total of 184 patients with eosinophilia were included in the study, 115 patients (62.5%) were seronegative for helminths and 69 were seropositive. Strongyloides stercoralis (55.07%), Schistosoma spp (39.13%) and Toxocara canis (20.29%) were the most prevalent helminths immunodetected in the study. So, 49 patients (26.6%) had abdominal pain, 50 patients (27.17%) had problems related with skin conditions and 38 patients (20.65%) had respiratory disorder, symptoms not related with the helminth parasites detected. Regarding number of parasites by patient, one specie was identified in 49 patients (26.63%) and two or more was identified in 20 patients (10.86%). Eosinophilia was resolved in 91.4% of parasite serpositive patients after received one specific adequate antiparasitic treatment, but this was resolved in 98.3% after received two tratments, and 100% after the third. The results obtained allow us to make some reflections on the difficulty of managing these patients in the Primary Care Center and on whether to diagnose and treat individuals from endemic areas, with or without eosinophilia and being asymptomatic or not, given the benefit it has for the individual and public health, as possible to minimize any chance of transmission