Quaternionic Salkowski Curves and Quaternionic Similar Curves

In this paper, we give the definitions and characterizations of quaternionic Salkowski, quaternionic anti-Salkowski and quaternionic similar curves in the Euclidean spaces E^3 and E^4. We obtain relationships between these curves and some special quaternionic curves such as quaternionic slant helices and quaternionic B2-slant helices.Comment: 17 page

On the computation of zone and double zone diagrams

Classical objects in computational geometry are defined by explicit relations. Several years ago the pioneering works of T. Asano, J. Matousek and T. Tokuyama introduced "implicit computational geometry", in which the geometric objects are defined by implicit relations involving sets. An important member in this family is called "a zone diagram". The implicit nature of zone diagrams implies, as already observed in the original works, that their computation is a challenging task. In a continuous setting this task has been addressed (briefly) only by these authors in the Euclidean plane with point sites. We discuss the possibility to compute zone diagrams in a wide class of spaces and also shed new light on their computation in the original setting. The class of spaces, which is introduced here, includes, in particular, Euclidean spheres and finite dimensional strictly convex normed spaces. Sites of a general form are allowed and it is shown that a generalization of the iterative method suggested by Asano, Matousek and Tokuyama converges to a double zone diagram, another implicit geometric object whose existence is known in general. Occasionally a zone diagram can be obtained from this procedure. The actual (approximate) computation of the iterations is based on a simple algorithm which enables the approximate computation of Voronoi diagrams in a general setting. Our analysis also yields a few byproducts of independent interest, such as certain topological properties of Voronoi cells (e.g., that in the considered setting their boundaries cannot be "fat").Comment: Very slight improvements (mainly correction of a few typos); add DOI; Ref [51] points to a freely available computer application which implements the algorithms; to appear in Discrete & Computational Geometry (available online

Efectos adversos inmunomediados gastrointestinales y hepáticos inducidos por los inhibidores del punto de control inmunitario: estudio descriptivo observacional

Introducción Los inhibidores del punto de control inmunitario (immune checkpoint inhibitors [ICI]) son fármacos eficaces en el tratamiento de diversas neoplasias. Sin embargo, se han relacionado con eventos adversos inmunomediados (EAI) gastrointestinales y hepáticos que pueden desencadenar su interrupción temporal o definitiva. Objetivo Evaluar, en condiciones de práctica real, la eficacia y la toxicidad gastrointestinal y hepática de los ICI en tratamientos oncológicos. Material y métodos Estudio retrospectivo con inclusión de pacientes con diagnóstico de neoplasia avanzada que habían recibido al menos una dosis de ICI entre mayo de 2015 y septiembre de 2018. Resultados Se incluyeron 132 pacientes con neoplasia de pulmón no microcítico (65, 15%, n = 86), melanoma (22, 7%, n = 30), carcinoma renal (9, 09%, n = 12) y otros tumores (3%, n = 4). Los fármacos empleados fueron nivolumab (n = 82), pembrolizumab (n = 28), atezolizumab (n = 13), durvalumab (n = 2), ipilimumab (n = 1) y la combinación anti-CTLA-4/PD-1 (n = 6). El 38, 6% (n = 51) desarrollaron EAI, de tipo gastrointestinal en el 12, 9% (n = 17). De ellos, el 47% (n = 8) requirieron esteroides, y un paciente precisó cirugía por perforación intestinal. En el 3, 03% (n = 4) se objetivaron EAI hepáticos grado I: el 50% (n = 2) requirieron corticoterapia y en un paciente fue preciso interrumpir el tratamiento. Entre los pacientes con tratamiento combinado, el 66, 6% (n = 4) presentaron EAI gastrointestinales. La incidencia de EAI no se relacionó con la edad, ni con el sexo, ni con la respuesta al fármaco empleado. Conclusiones Los EAI gastrointestinales figuran entre los más frecuentemente observados en pacientes en tratamiento con ICI. El manejo multidisciplinar y un mayor conocimiento de dichos eventos podrían ayudarnos a reducir su morbilidad, así como las interrupciones del tratamiento. Introduction Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are effective agents against several malignancies. However, they are associated with gastrointestinal and liver immune-related adverse events (GI-IrAEs and LI-IrAEs), which can lead to their temporary or permanent discontinuation. Aim The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and gastrointestinal and liver toxicity of ICIs in oncological treatments in actual clinical practice. Material and methods Patients with advanced cancer who received at least 1 ICI dose between May 2015 and September 2018 were retrospectively assessed. Results 132 patients with non-small cell lung cancer (65.15%, n = 86); melanoma (22.7%, n = 30); renal carcinoma (9.09%, n = 12); and other tumours (3%, n = 4) were included. The treatments administered were nivolumab (n = 82), pembrolizumab (n = 28), atezolizumab (n = 13), durvalumab (n = 2), ipilimumab (n = 1) and the antiCTLA-4/PD-1 combination (n = 6). In total, 51 patients (38.6%) developed IrAEs, 17 (12.9%) of which experienced GI-IrAEs. Of these, 8 (47%) needed steroids and 1 patient required surgery due to intestinal perforation. Grade I Li-IrAEs were observed in 4 patients (3.03%): 2 (50%) required corticosteroids and 1 patient had to discontinue treatment. Four patients (66.6%) who received combination therapy experienced GI-IrAEs. IrAE incidence were not associated with age, gender or drug response. Conclusions GI-IrAEs are one of the most common adverse events in patients receiving ICIs. A multidisciplinary approach and a greater understanding of these events could help to reduce morbidity and therapy discontinuation

Draft Genome Sequence of Xylella fastidiosa subsp. Fastidiosa Strain IVIA5235, Isolated from Prunus avium in Mallorca Island, Spain

We report the complete annotated genome sequence of the plant-pathogenic bacterium Xylella fastidiosa subsp. fastidiosa strain IVIA5235. This strain was recovered from a cherry tree in Mallorca, Spain

SARS-CoV-2 infection induces a dual response in liver function tests: Association with mortality during hospitalization

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is associated with abnormal liver function tests. We hypothesized that early altered liver biochemistries at admission might have different clinical relevance than subsequent changes during hospitalization. A single-center retrospective study was conducted on 540 consecutive hospitalized patients, PCR-diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2. Liver test abnormalities were defined as the elevation of either gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), or aspartate aminotransferase (AST), above the upper limit of normality set by our laboratory. Linear mixed models (LMM) evaluated longitudinal associations, incorporating all available follow-up laboratory chemistries. By the end of the follow-up period, 502 patients (94.5%) were discharged (109 (20.5%) died). A total of 319 (64.3%) had at least one abnormal liver test result at admission. More prevalent were elevated AST (40.9%) and GGT (47.3%). Abnormalities were not associated with survival but with respiratory complications at admission. Conversely, LMM models adjusted for age and sex showed that longitudinal increases during hospitalization in ferritin, GGT, and alkaline phosphatase (ALP), as well as a decreased albumin levels, were associated with reduced survival. This dual pattern of liver damage might reconcile previous conflicting reports. GGT and ALP trajectories could be useful to determine who might need more surveillance and intensive care

Supercoherent States, Super K\"ahler Geometry and Geometric Quantization

Generalized coherent states provide a means of connecting square integrable representations of a semi-simple Lie group with the symplectic geometry of some of its homogeneous spaces. In the first part of the present work this point of view is extended to the supersymmetric context, through the study of the OSp(2/2) coherent states. These are explicitly constructed starting from the known abstract typical and atypical representations of osp(2/2). Their underlying geometries turn out to be those of supersymplectic OSp(2/2) homogeneous spaces. Moment maps identifying the latter with coadjoint orbits of OSp(2/2) are exhibited via Berezin's symbols. When considered within Rothstein's general paradigm, these results lead to a natural general definition of a super K\"ahler supermanifold, the supergeometry of which is determined in terms of the usual geometry of holomorphic Hermitian vector bundles over K\"ahler manifolds. In particular, the supergeometry of the above orbits is interpreted in terms of the geometry of Einstein-Hermitian vector bundles. In the second part, an extension of the full geometric quantization procedure is applied to the same coadjoint orbits. Thanks to the super K\"ahler character of the latter, this procedure leads to explicit super unitary irreducible representations of OSp(2/2) in super Hilbert spaces of $L^2$ superholomorphic sections of prequantum bundles of the Kostant type. This work lays the foundations of a program aimed at classifying Lie supergroups' coadjoint orbits and their associated irreducible representations, ultimately leading to harmonic superanalysis. For this purpose a set of consistent conventions is exhibited.Comment: 53 pages, AMS-LaTeX (or LaTeX+AMSfonts

Superization of Homogeneous Spin Manifolds and Geometry of Homogeneous Supermanifolds

Let M_0=G_0/H be a (pseudo)-Riemannian homogeneous spin manifold, with reductive decomposition g_0=h+m and let S(M_0) be the spin bundle defined by the spin representation Ad:H->\GL_R(S) of the stabilizer H. This article studies the superizations of M_0, i.e. its extensions to a homogeneous supermanifold M=G/H whose sheaf of superfunctions is isomorphic to Lambda(S^*(M_0)). Here G is the Lie supergroup associated with a certain extension of the Lie algebra of symmetry g_0 to an algebra of supersymmetry g=g_0+g_1=g_0+S via the Kostant-Koszul construction. Each algebra of supersymmetry naturally determines a flat connection nabla^{S} in the spin bundle S(M_0). Killing vectors together with generalized Killing spinors (i.e. nabla^{S}-parallel spinors) are interpreted as the values of appropriate geometric symmetries of M, namely even and odd Killing fields. An explicit formula for the Killing representation of the algebra of supersymmetry is obtained, generalizing some results of Koszul. The generalized spin connection nabla^{S} defines a superconnection on M, via the super-version of a theorem of Wang.Comment: 50 page

Effectiveness of an mHealth intervention combining a smartphone app and smart band on body composition in an overweight and obese population: Randomized controlled trial (EVIDENT 3 study)

Background: Mobile health (mHealth) is currently among the supporting elements that may contribute to an improvement in health markers by helping people adopt healthier lifestyles. mHealth interventions have been widely reported to achieve greater weight loss than other approaches, but their effect on body composition remains unclear. Objective: This study aimed to assess the short-term (3 months) effectiveness of a mobile app and a smart band for losing weight and changing body composition in sedentary Spanish adults who are overweight or obese. Methods: A randomized controlled, multicenter clinical trial was conducted involving the participation of 440 subjects from primary care centers, with 231 subjects in the intervention group (IG; counselling with smartphone app and smart band) and 209 in the control group (CG; counselling only). Both groups were counselled about healthy diet and physical activity. For the 3-month intervention period, the IG was trained to use a smartphone app that involved self-monitoring and tailored feedback, as well as a smart band that recorded daily physical activity (Mi Band 2, Xiaomi). Body composition was measured using the InBody 230 bioimpedance device (InBody Co., Ltd), and physical activity was measured using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. Results: The mHealth intervention produced a greater loss of body weight (–1.97 kg, 95% CI –2.39 to –1.54) relative to standard counselling at 3 months (–1.13 kg, 95% CI –1.56 to –0.69). Comparing groups, the IG achieved a weight loss of 0.84 kg more than the CG at 3 months. The IG showed a decrease in body fat mass (BFM; –1.84 kg, 95% CI –2.48 to –1.20), percentage of body fat (PBF; –1.22%, 95% CI –1.82% to 0.62%), and BMI (–0.77 kg/m2, 95% CI –0.96 to 0.57). No significant changes were observed in any of these parameters in men; among women, there was a significant decrease in BMI in the IG compared with the CG. When subjects were grouped according to baseline BMI, the overweight group experienced a change in BFM of –1.18 kg (95% CI –2.30 to –0.06) and BMI of –0.47 kg/m2 (95% CI –0.80 to –0.13), whereas the obese group only experienced a change in BMI of –0.53 kg/m2 (95% CI –0.86 to –0.19). When the data were analyzed according to physical activity, the moderate-vigorous physical activity group showed significant changes in BFM of –1.03 kg (95% CI –1.74 to –0.33), PBF of –0.76% (95% CI –1.32% to –0.20%), and BMI of –0.5 kg/m2 (95% CI –0.83 to –0.19). Conclusions: The results from this multicenter, randomized controlled clinical trial study show that compared with standard counselling alone, adding a self-reported app and a smart band obtained beneficial results in terms of weight loss and a reduction in BFM and PBF in female subjects with a BMI less than 30 kg/m2 and a moderate-vigorous physical activity level. Nevertheless, further studies are needed to ensure that this profile benefits more than others from this intervention and to investigate modifications of this intervention to achieve a global effect