High fragmented physical activity as an early risk indicator of frailty and 2 mortality in adults aged 50 years and over

2 DepartamentosIntroduction: This study aimed to explore the associations of activity fragmentation with frailty status and all-cause mortality in a representative US sample of people 50 years and over. Methods: This prospective study used data from the 2003-2006 waves of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Participants 50 years or over were included in the study (n = 2,586). Frailty status was assessed using a valid modification of the Fried criteria. Linked data from the National Death Index registry were used to ascertain mortality. Physical activity fragmentation was measured by accelerometry. To calculate activity fragmentation, an active-to-sedentary transition probability was calculated as the number of physical activity bouts divided by the total sum of minutes spent in physical activity. Age, gender, ethnicity, education, mobility issues, drinking status, smoking status, BMI, and self-reported chronic diseases were reported in the NHANES study. Results: An increment of 1 SD in activity fragmentation was associated with an increased likelihood of frailty (odds ratio [95% confidence interval] = 1.36 [1.13-1.664]). Compared with participants in the high activity fragmentation/low physical activity category, participants in the low activity fragmentation/low physical activity and low activity fragmentation/high physical activity categories were associated with a lower likelihood of frailty. We found a nonlinear association between activity fragmentation and all-cause mortality. Compared with participants in the high activity fragmentation/low physical activity category, participants in the low activity fragmentation/low physical activity, low activity fragmentation/high physical activity, and high activity fragmentation/high physical activity categories were associated with a lower mortality risk. Participants with a low fragmented activity pattern may also overcome some of the detrimental effects associated with sedentary behavior. Conclusions: Our results suggest that a high fragmented physical activity pattern is associated with frailty and risk of mortality in adults and older adults. This association was independent of total volume of physical activity and time spent sedentary

APLICACIÓN EN MATLAB DE UN SISTEMA ENVELOPE LOAD PULL PARA CARACTERIZACIÓN DE IMPEDANCIAS (MATLAB APLICATION OF AN ENVELOPE LOAD PULL SYSTEM FOR IMPEDANCE CHARACTERIZATION)

Resumen En este artículo se presenta la simulación de un sistema de cargas activas en el software Simulink, con el método Envelope Load Pull, con el cual se realizan mediaciones precisas para caracterizar las impedancias de un dispositivo. El desacople de impedancias en alta frecuencia genera una alteración en magnitud y fase de la señal incidente la cual alterara la información que se desea transmitir. Para evitar este efecto se debe acoplar una impedancia que permita tanto una máxima transferencia de potencia como contrarrestar las reactancias del sistema, para esto, se debe caracterizar el sistema en términos de corriente, voltaje o potencia para dar una descripción precisa del comportamiento de la impedancia del dispositivo. Muchos métodos para realizar la caracterización consisten en evaluar en comportamiento de la señal reflejada al presentarle diferentes cargas, ya sea, pasivamente al presentarle resistencias y reactancias o activamente al modificar la salida con señales de voltaje. Palabras Clave: Caracterización de impedancias, cargas activas, envelope load pull, Matlab, simulación. Abstract This article presents the simulation of an active load system in the Simulink software, using the Envelope Load Pull method, with which precise measurements are performed to characterize the impedances of a device. The decoupling of high frequency impedances generates an alteration in magnitude and phase of the incident signal which alters the information to be transmitted. To avoid this effect, an impedance that allows both maximum power transfer and counteract the reactions of the system must be coupled, for this, the system must be characterized in terms of current, voltage or power to give an accurate description of the behavior of the impedance. Of the device. Many methods to perform the characterization consisting in evaluating the behavior of the reflected signal when presenting different loads, either passively when presenting resistances and reactances or actively when modifying the output with voltage signals. Keywords: Active loads, envelope load pull, Impedance characterization, Matlab, simulation

Cost Effective Use of a Thiosulfinate-Enriched Allium sativum Extract in Combination with Chemotherapy in Colon Cancer

In this work, we sought to investigate the effects of a thiosulfinate-enriched garlic extract, co-administered with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) or oxaliplatin chemotherapy, on the viability of colon cancer cells (Caco-2 and HT-29). We also addressed the economic feasibility of a new combined treatment of this thiosulfinate-enriched garlic extract, with oxaliplatin that could reduce the dosage and costs of a monotherapy. The thiosulfinate-enriched garlic extract not only enhanced the impact of 5-FU and oxaliplatin (500 µM) in decreasing Caco-2 and HT-29 viability, but also showed a higher effect than standard 5-FU and oxaliplatin chemotherapy as anti-cancer agents. These results provided evidences for the combination of lyophilized garlic extract and 5-FU or oxaliplatin as a novel chemotherapy regimen in colon cancer cells that may also reduce the clinical therapy costs.En este trabajo, buscamos investigar los efectos de un extracto de ajo enriquecido con tiosulfinato, coadministrado con quimioterapia con 5-fluorouracilo (5-FU) u oxaliplatino, sobre la viabilidad de las células de cáncer de colon (Caco-2 y HT-29). . También abordamos la viabilidad económica de un nuevo tratamiento combinado de este extracto de ajo enriquecido con tiosulfinato, con oxaliplatino que podría reducir la dosis y los costes de una monoterapia. El extracto de ajo enriquecido con tiosulfinato no solo mejoró el impacto del 5-FU y el oxaliplatino (500 µM) en la disminución de la viabilidad de Caco-2 y HT-29, sino que también mostró un efecto mayor que el 5-FU estándar y la quimioterapia con oxaliplatino como anticancerígeno agentes

Isolation and characterization of mercury resistant trichoderma strains from soil with high levels of mercury and its effects on Arabidopsis thaliana mercury uptake

"Traditional mining activities are usually correlated with high levels of soil pollution, which is a major environmental concern. Extensive mining activities have taken place in the San Joaquin region in the State of Querétaro, México resulting in high levels of mercury soil pollution (up to 1532 ± 300 mg/kg). We isolated mercury-resistant fungal strains from the San Joaquin region soils and identified them through morphologic characteristics and ITS rDNA region sequence analysis. We determined that fungi isolated belong to the genus Trichoderma. All the isolates selected showed the ability to catalyze the volatilization of Hg. For air sampling, an active sampling device was constructed and using acid KMnO4 as an absorbent, the concentration of mercury in solution was determined through the cold vapor atomic absorption method. The results show mercury volatilization from the fungal species assay, with a maximum of 213.04 ± 32.6 µg/m3 while mycelium accumulation ranged from less than 17.5 ± 2.9 to 20.0 ± 3.4 µg/g. The fungal isolates were also evaluated for their ability to reduce mercury uptake in Arabidopsis thaliana. These observations suggest the utility of Trichoderma for the mobilization of mercury in those contaminated soils.

Diseño de un modelo didáctico para la educación en paisaje utilizando Sigweb

A través del PIMCD 113, se ha diseñado e implementado un modelo didáctico para la educación en paisaje enfocado a alumnos del Grado de Maestro de Educación Primaria

Introducción

La memoria es ese espacio de hilos delgados y gruesos por el que es complejo transitar. Los días, los meses y los años la convierten en un terreno impredecible de zonas fangosas; pero sobre ella, venciendo obstáculos, siempre hay que volver.De eso trata este libro, de volver sobre el pasado de 12 colombianos que hoy superan los 80 años, y que fueron testigos de la época de La Violencia, que se establece desde 1930 y que se complejiza el 9 de abril de 1948, con el asesinato de líder político Jorge Eliecer Gaitán

The Fourteenth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: First Spectroscopic Data from the extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey and from the second phase of the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment

The fourth generation of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-IV) has been in operation since July 2014. This paper describes the second data release from this phase, and the fourteenth from SDSS overall (making this, Data Release Fourteen or DR14). This release makes public data taken by SDSS-IV in its first two years of operation (July 2014-2016). Like all previous SDSS releases, DR14 is cumulative, including the most recent reductions and calibrations of all data taken by SDSS since the first phase began operations in 2000. New in DR14 is the first public release of data from the extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS); the first data from the second phase of the Apache Point Observatory (APO) Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE-2), including stellar parameter estimates from an innovative data driven machine learning algorithm known as "The Cannon"; and almost twice as many data cubes from the Mapping Nearby Galaxies at APO (MaNGA) survey as were in the previous release (N = 2812 in total). This paper describes the location and format of the publicly available data from SDSS-IV surveys. We provide references to the important technical papers describing how these data have been taken (both targeting and observation details) and processed for scientific use. The SDSS website (www.sdss.org) has been updated for this release, and provides links to data downloads, as well as tutorials and examples of data use. SDSS-IV is planning to continue to collect astronomical data until 2020, and will be followed by SDSS-V.Comment: SDSS-IV collaboration alphabetical author data release paper. DR14 happened on 31st July 2017. 19 pages, 5 figures. Accepted by ApJS on 28th Nov 2017 (this is the "post-print" and "post-proofs" version; minor corrections only from v1, and most of errors found in proofs corrected

Effectiveness of a strategy that uses educational games to implement clinical practice guidelines among Spanish residents of family and community medicine (e-EDUCAGUIA project):A clinical trial by clusters

This study was funded by the Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias FIS Grant Number PI11/0477 ISCIII.-REDISSEC Proyecto RD12/0001/0012 AND FEDER Funding.Background: Clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) have been developed with the aim of helping health professionals, patients, and caregivers make decisions about their health care, using the best available evidence. In many cases, incorporation of these recommendations into clinical practice also implies a need for changes in routine clinical practice. Using educational games as a strategy for implementing recommendations among health professionals has been demonstrated to be effective in some studies; however, evidence is still scarce. The primary objective of this study is to assess the effectiveness of a teaching strategy for the implementation of CPGs using educational games (e-learning EDUCAGUIA) to improve knowledge and skills related to clinical decision-making by residents in family medicine. The primary objective will be evaluated at 1 and 6months after the intervention. The secondary objectives are to identify barriers and facilitators for the use of guidelines by residents of family medicine and to describe the educational strategies used by Spanish teaching units of family and community medicine to encourage implementation of CPGs. Methods/design: We propose a multicenter clinical trial with randomized allocation by clusters of family and community medicine teaching units in Spain. The sample size will be 394 residents (197 in each group), with the teaching units as the randomization unit and the residents comprising the analysis unit. For the intervention, both groups will receive an initial 1-h session on clinical practice guideline use and the usual dissemination strategy by e-mail. The intervention group (e-learning EDUCAGUIA) strategy will consist of educational games with hypothetical clinical scenarios in a virtual environment. The primary outcome will be the score obtained by the residents on evaluation questionnaires for each clinical practice guideline. Other included variables will be the sociodemographic and training variables of the residents and the teaching unit characteristics. The statistical analysis will consist of a descriptive analysis of variables and a baseline comparison of both groups. For the primary outcome analysis, an average score comparison of hypothetical scenario questionnaires between the EDUCAGUIA intervention group and the control group will be performed at 1 and 6months post-intervention, using 95% confidence intervals. A linear multilevel regression will be used to adjust the model. Discussion: The identification of effective teaching strategies will facilitate the incorporation of available knowledge into clinical practice that could eventually improve patient outcomes. The inclusion of information technologies as teaching tools permits greater learning autonomy and allows deeper instructor participation in the monitoring and supervision of residents. The long-term impact of this strategy is unknown; however, because it is aimed at professionals undergoing training and it addresses prevalent health problems, a small effect can be of great relevance. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02210442.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Clustering COVID-19 ARDS patients through the first days of ICU admission. An analysis of the CIBERESUCICOVID Cohort

Background Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) can be classified into sub-phenotypes according to different inflammatory/clinical status. Prognostic enrichment was achieved by grouping patients into hypoinflammatory or hyperinflammatory sub-phenotypes, even though the time of analysis may change the classification according to treatment response or disease evolution. We aimed to evaluate when patients can be clustered in more than 1 group, and how they may change the clustering of patients using data of baseline or day 3, and the prognosis of patients according to their evolution by changing or not the cluster.Methods Multicenter, observational prospective, and retrospective study of patients admitted due to ARDS related to COVID-19 infection in Spain. Patients were grouped according to a clustering mixed-type data algorithm (k-prototypes) using continuous and categorical readily available variables at baseline and day 3.Results Of 6205 patients, 3743 (60%) were included in the study. According to silhouette analysis, patients were grouped in two clusters. At baseline, 1402 (37%) patients were included in cluster 1 and 2341(63%) in cluster 2. On day 3, 1557(42%) patients were included in cluster 1 and 2086 (57%) in cluster 2. The patients included in cluster 2 were older and more frequently hypertensive and had a higher prevalence of shock, organ dysfunction, inflammatory biomarkers, and worst respiratory indexes at both time points. The 90-day mortality was higher in cluster 2 at both clustering processes (43.8% [n = 1025] versus 27.3% [n = 383] at baseline, and 49% [n = 1023] versus 20.6% [n = 321] on day 3). Four hundred and fifty-eight (33%) patients clustered in the first group were clustered in the second group on day 3. In contrast, 638 (27%) patients clustered in the second group were clustered in the first group on day 3.Conclusions During the first days, patients can be clustered into two groups and the process of clustering patients may change as they continue to evolve. This means that despite a vast majority of patients remaining in the same cluster, a minority reaching 33% of patients analyzed may be re-categorized into different clusters based on their progress. Such changes can significantly impact their prognosis