Fully Automatic Gym Exercises Recording: An IoT Solution

In recent years, working out in the gym has gotten increasingly more data-focused and many gym enthusiasts are recording their exercises to have a better overview of their historical gym activities and to make a better exercise plan for the future. As a side effect, this recording process has led to a lot of time spent painstakingly operating these apps by plugging in used types of equipment and repetitions. This project aims to automate this process using an Internet of Things (IoT) approach. Specifically, beacons with embedded ultra-low-power inertial measurement units (IMUs) are attached to the types of equipment to recognize the usage and transmit the information to gym-goers and managers. We have created a small ecosystem composed of beacons, a gateway, smartwatches, android/iPhone applications, a firebase cloud server, and a dashboard, all communicating over a mixture of Bluetooth and Wifi to distribute collected data from machines to users and gym managers in a compact and meaningful way. The system we have implemented is a working prototype of a bigger end goal and is supposed to initialize progress toward a smarter, more efficient, and still privacy-respect gym environment in the future. A small-scale real-life test shows 94.6\% accuracy in user gym session recording, which can reach up to 100\% easily with a more suitable assembling of the beacons. This promising result shows the potential of a fully automatic exercise recording system, which enables comprehensive monitoring and analysis of the exercise sessions and frees the user from manual recording. The estimated battery life of the beacon is 400 days with a 210 mAh coin battery. We also discussed the shortcoming of the current demonstration system and the future work for a reliable and ready-to-deploy automatic gym workout recording system

A Survey of Multi-Source Energy Harvesting Systems

Energy harvesting allows low-power embedded devices to be powered from naturally-ocurring or unwanted environmental energy (e.g. light, vibration, or temperature difference). While a number of systems incorporating energy harvesters are now available commercially, they are specific to certain types of energy source. Energy availability can be a temporal as well as spatial effect. To address this issue, ‘hybrid’ energy harvesting systems combine multiple harvesters on the same platform, but the design of these systems is not straightforward. This paper surveys their design, including trade-offs affecting their efficiency, applicability, and ease of deployment. This survey, and the taxonomy of multi-source energy harvesting systems that it presents, will be of benefit to designers of future systems. Furthermore, we identify and comment upon the current and future research directions in this field

“Aplicación de fungicidas con diferentes dosis parael control de moniliasis (moniliophthora roreri) en el cultivo del cacao (theobroma cacao) en el sector Gualipe”.

The present investigation was carried out in the El Pocache farm, Gualipe sector belonging to the Buena Fé canton, to analyze the effects of the application of an organic fungicide in comparison with a chemical fungicide, to control the Moniliasis disease (Moniliophthora roreri) in the cultivation of Cacao (Teobroma cacao). The objectives were set: Indicate the fungicide that best demonstrates results in the control of Moniliasis in the Cacao crop, contrast the effectiveness of the doses of fungicides in the control of the monilla and carry out a benefit / cost analysis for the control of the disease. The experimental design used is a factorial design, with five treatments and four repetitions, the treatments under study consisted of the application of fungicides: low and high dose biological phototrophic bacteria, a chemical fungicide Mancozeb and an absolute control. The following variables were studied: ears per treatments, yield per tree, yield per healthy ears, yield of diseased ears. It is evaluated by choosing the 3 trees in the center to obtain the data. Fruits with disease symptoms expressed as an average of the total number of fruits produced were quantified. The highest value of healthy ears is with phototrophic bacteria in the low dose in the third application with 15.00 and the lowest value of diseased ears in the mancozeb treatment in its low dose presented 1.75 The yield was observed by trees which have a higher result of ears in trees 3 which presented 13.28 more than the 3 data collections.La presente investigación se realizó en la finca El Pocache ,sector Gualipe perteneciente al cantón Buena Fé, para analizar los efectos de la aplicación de un fungicida orgánico en comparación con un fungicida químico, para control de la enfermedad de la Moniliasis (Moniliophthora roreri) en el cultivo de Cacao(Teobroma cacao). Se plantearon los objetivos: Indicar el fungicida que mejores resultados demuestre en el control de la Moniliasis en el cultivo de Cacao, contrastar la efectividad de las dosis de fungicidas en el control de la monilla y realizar un análisis beneficio/costo para el control de la enfermedad. El diseño experimental utilizado es un Diseño factorial, con cinco tratamientos y cuatro repeticiones, los tratamientos en estudio constaron de la aplicación de los fungicidas: biológico bacterias fototróficas dosis baja y alta, un fungicida químico Mancozeb y un testigo absoluto. Se estudiaron las siguientes variables: mazorcas por tratamientos, rendimiento por árbol, rendimiento por mazorcas sanas, rendimiento de mazorcas enfermas. Se evalúa escogiendo los 3 árboles del centro para obtener los datos. Se cuantificaron los frutos con síntomas de enfermedad expresado en promedio de total de frutos producidos. El valor mayor de mazorcas sanas, es con bacterias fototróficas en la dosis baja en la tercera aplicación con 15,00 y el menor valor de mazorcas enfermas en el tratamiento mancozeb en su dosis baja presento 1.75 Se observó el rendimiento por árboles los cuales tienen un mayor resultado de mazorcas en los arboles 3 los cuales presentaron 13,28 más de las 3 tomas de datos

Putative link between Polo-like kinases (PLKs) and Toll-like receptor (TLR) signaling in transformed and primary human immune cells.

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are important sentinels of bacterial and viral infection and thus fulfil a critical sensory role in innate immunity. Polo-like kinases (PLKs), a five membered family of Ser/Thr protein kinases, have long been studied for their role in mitosis and thus represent attractive therapeutic targets in cancer therapy. Recently, PLKs were implicated in TLR signaling in mice but the role of PLKs in TLR signaling in untransformed primary immune cells has not been addressed, even though PLK inhibitors are in clinical trials. We here identified several phospho-serine and phospho-threonine residues in the known TLR pathway kinases, Interleukin-1 receptor-associated kinase (IRAK) 2 and IRAK4. These sites lie in canonical polo-box motifs (PBM), sequence motifs known to direct recruitment of PLKs to client proteins. Interestingly, PLK1 was phosphorylated and PLK 2 and 3 mRNA induced upon TLR stimulation in primary immune cells, respectively. In whole blood, PLK inhibition disparately affected TLR mediated cytokine responses in a donor- and inhibitor-dependent fashion. Collectively, PLKs may thus potentially interface with TLR signaling in humans. We propose that temporary PLK inhibitor-mediated blockade of TLR-signaling in certain patients receiving such inhibitors during cancer treatment may cause adverse effects such as an increased risk of infections due to a then compromised ability of the TLR recognition system to sense and initiate cytokine responses to invading microbes

Mishkinchando la creatividad y la autonomía al estilo Shimishanga : sistematización de la experiencia de la I.E. 18214, Cochamal, Rodríguez de Mendoza, Amazonas

En la Institución Educativa (I.E.) 1814 San Marcos de Cochamal se marcó un hito en nuestra labor docente al promover espacios de reflexión en los cuales se formuló estas preguntas: ¿cuántas veces hemos usado verbos en modo imperativo para pedir a nuestros alumnos escribir un cuento, un poema o que dibujen? ¿Cuántas veces no hemos dado importancia a espacios acogedores para la germinación de ideas y la consolidación de propuestas creativas y originales dentro de la escuela? ¿Hemos respetado los puntos de vista o intereses de los niños como elementos fortalecedores de su autonomía? ¿Hemos considerado sus situaciones de vida en familia y sociedad como factores influyentes en su creatividad y autonomía? Dichas interrogantes nos ponen de cara ante uno de los problemas que enfrenta la educación pública en nuestro país, que es la carencia de autonomía en el proceso creativo de los estudiantes. Frente a esta realidad, se implementó el proyecto “Dejad que los niños nos cuenten”. Esta experiencia fue movilizada a través de la estrategia Shimishanga, la cual ha permitido a los docentes proponer técnicas para la escritura de cuentos y poemas en el taller “Libertad para crear”; los textos producidos fueron compartidos de manera oral con la comunidad educativa en diversos espacios pedagógicos dentro y fuera de la escuela, entre ellos, el “Paraje Cultural”. Los escritos de los niños fueron editados y publicados a nivel institucional en la revista “Llovizna” y en el libro “Cuentos no contados”, en sus diversas ediciones. La sistematización del proyecto innovador da cuenta del proceso de reflexión dinámico de los diversos actores, quienes desarrollaron sinergias para que los estudiantes expresen sus pensamientos, emociones e impresiones a través de narraciones y poemas llenos de matices que recogen la esencia de la flora, la fauna, sus costumbres, creencias y aspiraciones sociales. Su finalidad es dar a conocer el funcionamiento de la estrategia Shimishanga en el desarrollo de la creatividad y el fortalecimiento de la autonomía de los estudiantes para ser ciudadanos proactivos y éticos. Con este aporte, se deja abierta la oportunidad para profundizar en el desarrollo de la estrategia y su contextualización, con el objetivo de constituirse en una propuesta pedagógica inspiradora para las instituciones multigrado de nivel primario orientadas a la formación integral de los niños

Antibodies against endogenous retroviruses promote lung cancer immunotherapy

B cells are frequently found in the margins of solid tumours as organized follicles in ectopic lymphoid organs called tertiary lymphoid structures (TLS)1,2. Although TLS have been found to correlate with improved patient survival and response to immune checkpoint blockade (ICB), the underlying mechanisms of this association remain elusive1,2. Here we investigate lung-resident B cell responses in patients from the TRACERx 421 (Tracking Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer Evolution Through Therapy) and other lung cancer cohorts, and in a recently established immunogenic mouse model for lung adenocarcinoma3. We find that both human and mouse lung adenocarcinomas elicit local germinal centre responses and tumour-binding antibodies, and further identify endogenous retrovirus (ERV) envelope glycoproteins as a dominant anti-tumour antibody target. ERV-targeting B cell responses are amplified by ICB in both humans and mice, and by targeted inhibition of KRAS(G12C) in the mouse model. ERV-reactive antibodies exert anti-tumour activity that extends survival in the mouse model, and ERV expression predicts the outcome of ICB in human lung adenocarcinoma. Finally, we find that effective immunotherapy in the mouse model requires CXCL13-dependent TLS formation. Conversely, therapeutic CXCL13 treatment potentiates anti-tumour immunity and synergizes with ICB. Our findings provide a possible mechanistic basis for the association of TLS with immunotherapy respons

Design and baseline characteristics of the finerenone in reducing cardiovascular mortality and morbidity in diabetic kidney disease trial

Background: Among people with diabetes, those with kidney disease have exceptionally high rates of cardiovascular (CV) morbidity and mortality and progression of their underlying kidney disease. Finerenone is a novel, nonsteroidal, selective mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist that has shown to reduce albuminuria in type 2 diabetes (T2D) patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) while revealing only a low risk of hyperkalemia. However, the effect of finerenone on CV and renal outcomes has not yet been investigated in long-term trials. Patients and Methods: The Finerenone in Reducing CV Mortality and Morbidity in Diabetic Kidney Disease (FIGARO-DKD) trial aims to assess the efficacy and safety of finerenone compared to placebo at reducing clinically important CV and renal outcomes in T2D patients with CKD. FIGARO-DKD is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, event-driven trial running in 47 countries with an expected duration of approximately 6 years. FIGARO-DKD randomized 7,437 patients with an estimated glomerular filtration rate >= 25 mL/min/1.73 m(2) and albuminuria (urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio >= 30 to <= 5,000 mg/g). The study has at least 90% power to detect a 20% reduction in the risk of the primary outcome (overall two-sided significance level alpha = 0.05), the composite of time to first occurrence of CV death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, or hospitalization for heart failure. Conclusions: FIGARO-DKD will determine whether an optimally treated cohort of T2D patients with CKD at high risk of CV and renal events will experience cardiorenal benefits with the addition of finerenone to their treatment regimen. Trial Registration: EudraCT number: 2015-000950-39; ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02545049

Sepharadim/conversos and premodern Global Hispanism

Sepharadim participated in the Hispanic vernacular culture of the Iberian Peninsula. Even in the time of al-Andalus many spoke Hispano-Romance, and even their Hebrew literature belies a deep familiarity with and love of their native Hispano-Romance languages. However, since the early sixteenth century the vast majority of Sepharadim have never lived in the Hispanic world. Sepharadim lived not in Spanish colonies defined by Spanish conquest, but in a network of Mediterranean Jewish communities defined by diasporic values and institutions. By contrast, the conversos, those Sepharadim who converted to Catholicism, whether in Spain or later in Portugal, Italy, or the New World, lived mostly in Spanish Imperial lands, were officially Catholic, and spoke normative Castilian. Their connections, both real and imagined, with Sephardic cultural practice put them at risk of social marginalization, incarceration, even death. Some were devout Catholics whose heritage and family history doomed them to these outcomes. Not surprisingly, many Spanish and Portugese conversos sought refuge in lands outside of Spanish control where they might live openly as Jews. This exodus (1600s) from the lands formerly known as Sefarad led to a parallel Sephardic community of what conversos who re-embraced Judaism in Amsterdam and Italy by a generation of conversos trained in Spanish universities. The Sephardic/Converso cultural complex exceeds the boundaries of Spanish imperial geography, confuses Spanish, Portuguese, Catholic, and Jewish subjectivities, and defies traditional categories practiced in Hispanic studies, and are a unique example of the Global Hispanophone