Body Composition and Nutritional Status of the Spanish National Breaking Team Aspiring to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games

Breaking is a sports dance modality that will debut for the first time at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. This dance form combines street dance steps with acrobatics and athletic elements. It complies with gender equality, maintains aesthetic appeal, and is practised indoors. The objective of this study is to assess the characteristics of body composition and nutritional status of the athletes that make up the Breaking national team. This national team was recruited, and they underwent an analysis of body composition using bioimpedance measurement and a nutritional interview status with the completion of a survey on the frequency of the consumption of sports supplements and ergogenic aids. In addition, they completed a consumption questionnaire for a series of food groups with specified protein, lipid, and carbohydrate content. After that, parameters were analyzed in relation to their nutritional status during a complete medical examination at the Endocrinology and Nutrition Service of the Sports Medicine Center of CSD. A descriptive analysis of the results obtained was carried out to find the mean values of the variables analyzed. The analytical parameters described an adequate nutritional status, except for the mean capillary determination of 25-OH-vitamin D3, which was 24.2 ng/dL (SD: 10.3). Bone mineral density values were higher than those of the general population. This is the first time that a study of these characteristics has been carried out on Breakers, so it is highly relevant to increase knowledge in this area in order to conduct nutritional interventions aimed at improving the sports performance of these athlete

Comparative study on properties of starch films obtained from potato, corn and wheat using 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate as plasticizer

Starch films are gaining attention as substitutes of synthetic polymers due to their biodegradability and low cost. Some ionic liquids have been postulated as alternatives to glycerol, one of the best starch plasticizers, due to their great capacity to form hydrogen bonds with starch and hence great ability of preventing starch retrogradation and increasing film stability. In this work, [emim+][Ac−]-plasticized starch films were prepared from potato, corn and wheat starch. The effect of starch molecular structure in terms of granular composition (amylose and phosphate monoester contents) and molecular weight (Mw) on film properties was evaluated. Potato starch films were the most amorphous because of the higher Mw and phosphate monoester content of potato starch, both contributing to a lower rearrangement of the starch chains making the crystallization process difficult. In contrast, corn and wheat starches lead to more crystalline films because of their lower Mw, which may imply higher mobility and crystal growth rate, and lower phosphate monoester content. This more crystalline structure could be the responsible of their better mechanical properties. [emim+][Ac−] can be considered suitable for manufacturing starch films showing corn and wheat starch films similar properties to synthetic low-density polyethylene, but involving a simple and environmentally-friendly process.This work was partially supported from the European Commission, European-Union and Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO), Spain (Ref. CTQ2016-78246-R) and Generalitat Valenciana (Project PROMETEOII/2014/007). M.G. Montalbán acknowledges support from Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO) (Juan de la Cierva-Formación contract, Ref. FJCI-2016-28081)

Classification of multiple sclerosis clinical forms by 1H magnetic ressonance spectroscopy of cerebrospinal fluid

Postprint (published version

Revision of the risk of secondary leukaemia after mitoxantrone in multiple sclerosis populations is required

The objective in this paper is to compare the cumulative incidence and incidence density of therapy-related acute myeloid leukaemia in two cohorts of patients with multiple sclerosis treated with mitoxantrone, and with previously reported data in the literature. Six new cases of acute myeloid leukaemia were observed by prospectively following two Spanish series of 142 and 88 patients with worsening relapsing multiple sclerosis and secondary-progressive disease treated with mitoxantrone. A literature review shows 32 further cases of acute myeloid leukaemia reported, 65.6% of which are therapy-related acute promyelocytic leukaemia. Five cases in the cohorts fulfilled the diagnostic criteria for acute promyelocytic leukaemia, and one patient was diagnosed with pre-B-acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. Acute myeloid leukaemia latency after mitoxantrone discontinuation was 1 to 45 months. The accumulated incidence and incidence density was 2.82% and 0.62%, respectively, in the Valencian cohort, and 2.27% and 0.44% in the Catalonian cohort. In the only seven previously reported series, the accumulated incidence varied from 0.15% to 0.80%. The real incidence of acute myeloid leukaemia after mitoxantrone therapy in the multiple sclerosis population could be higher as evidenced by the growing number of cases reported. Haematological monitoring should continue for at least 5 years after the last dose of mitoxantrone. These data stress the necessity of re-evaluating this ris

Predictive CDN Selection for Video Delivery Based on LSTM Network Performance Forecasts and Cost-Effective Trade-Offs

Owing to increasing consumption of video streams and demand for higher quality content and more advanced displays, future telecommunication networks are expected to outperform current networks in terms of key performance indicators (KPIs). Currently, content delivery networks (CDNs) are used to enhance media availability and delivery performance across the Internet in a cost-effective manner. The proliferation of CDN vendors and business models allows the content provider (CP) to use multiple CDN providers simultaneously. However, extreme concurrency dynamics can affect CDN capacity, causing performance degradation and outages, while overestimated demand affects costs. 5G standardization communities envision advanced network functions executing video analytics to enhance or boost media services. Network accelerators are required to enforce CDN resilience and efficient utilization of CDN assets. In this regard, this study investigates a cost-effective service to dynamically select the CDN for each session and video segment at the Media Server, without any modification to the video streaming pipeline being required. This service performs time series forecasts by employing a Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) network to process real time measurements coming from connected video players. This service also ensures reliable and cost-effective content delivery through proactive selection of the CDN that fits with performance and business constraints. To this end, the proposed service predicts the number of players that can be served by each CDN at each time; then, it switches the required players between CDNs to keep the (Quality of Service) QoS rates or to reduce the CP's operational expenditure (OPEX). The proposed solution is evaluated by a real server, CDNs, and players and delivering dynamic adaptive streaming over HTTP (MPEG-DASH), where clients are notified to switch to another CDN through a standard MPEG-DASH media presentation description (MPD) update mechanismThis work was supported in part by the EC projects Fed4Fire+, under Grant 732638 (H2020-ICT-13-2016, Research and Innovation Action), and in part by Open-VERSO project (Red Cervera Program, Spanish Government's Centre for the Development of Industrial Technology

Un nuevo método para la evaluación de la compacidad del racimo mediante análisis de imagen

La compacidad del racimo es una característica clave que puede influir de manera importante en la calidad de la uva y del vino. El descriptor OIV, método más utilizado para la evaluación de la compacidad del racimo, requiere una inspección visual por evaluadores entrenados y proporciona valores subjetivos y cualitativos. Este trabajo presenta una nueva metodología basada en análisis de imagen para determinar la compacidad del racimo de manera no invasiva, objetiva y cuantitativa. El modelo PLS construido a partir de algunas características morfológicas extraídas de forma automática mediante técnicas de análisis de imagen mostró una capacidad de predicción del 85,3% en la evaluación de la compacidad respecto a la evaluación visual

Análisis de la amplitud acomodativa en sujetos miopes tras el implante de lente intraocular fáquica de cámara posterior

La cirugía refractiva con LIO fáquica es una alternativa eficaz para la corrección de defectos refractivos y conseguir independencia de las gafas y lentes de contacto, sobre todo en altas ametropías. Sin embargo, la escasez de evidencia científica que describa cómo responde el sistema acomodativo a la implantación de lentes ICL hace imprescindible seguir investigando. La Optometría juega un papel fundamental en este punto, ya que debe adaptarse a la aparición de nuevas técnicas de compensación visual y profundizar en su conocimiento. Sólo de esta forma se podrán mejorar los protocolos pre y postoperatorios, minimizar las complicaciones relacionadas con el sistema acomodativo y tratar las disfunciones visuales que puedan estar causadas por la cirugía

[LDH-neutrophil-lymphocyte index as a predictor of 28-day mortality in patients with COVID-19]

Abstract Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) represents the greatest health crisis of our times; it was declared by WHO a pandemic in March 2020. The risk of presenting a severe disease is inter-individual, since it varies according to age, comorbidities, and immunological status, in addition to the type of SARS-CoV-2 variant. The neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) are widely used markers to assess the severity and predict the course of the disease in patients with COVID-19, with a direct relationship of higher value-worse prognosis. Objective: To verify if the LDH-neutrophil-lymphocyte index calculated from laboratory tests taken within the first 24 hours of admission is useful as a predictor of 28-day mortality in adult patients diagnosed with COVID-19. Material and methods: Retrospective and analytical cohort study. All consecutive patients over 16 years of any gender, admitted to a tertiary care center from March 2020 to March 2021, who had a diagnosis of COVID-19 with a positive PCR for SARS-CoV-2, were included. Results: Higher levels of the LDHNL index were associated with higher mortality in patients hospitalized for COVID-19 (Q2 vs. Q1: RR 1.52 [1.24-1.87], p < 0.05; Q3 vs. Q1: RR 1.87 [1.55-2.25], p < 0.05; and Q4 vs. Q1: RR 2.74 [2.22-3-39], p < 0.05). Conclusions: The serum LDHNL index taken in the first 24 hours of admission can help to predict early the risk of mortality in hospitalized patients with COVID-19. Resumen Introducción: la enfermedad por coronavirus del 2019 (COVID-19) es la mayor crisis sanitaria de nuestros tiempos; fue declarada pandemia por la OMS en marzo de 2020. El riesgo de presentar enfermedad grave es interindividual y varía según la edad, las comorbilidades, el estado inmunológico y la variante del virus. La relación neutrófilos/linfocitos (RNL) y la deshidrogenasa láctica (DHL) son marcadores muy utilizados para evaluar la gravedad y predecir el curso de la enfermedad en pacientes con COVID-19, con una relación directa de mayor valor-peor pronóstico. Objetivo: comprobar si el índice DHL-neutrófilos-linfocitos calculado con estudios de laboratorio tomados en las primeras 24 horas de ingreso a hospital es útil como predictor de mortalidad a 28 días en pacientes adultos con diagnóstico de COVID-19. Material y métodos: estudio de tipo cohorte retrospectivo y analítico. Se incluyeron consecutivamente todos los pacientes mayores de 16 años de cualquier género, ingresados en un hospital de tercer nivel de marzo de 2020 a marzo de 2021, los cuales presentaron diagnóstico de COVID-19 con PCR positiva de SARS-CoV-2. Resultados: los niveles más altos del índice DHLNL se asociaron con una mayor mortalidad en pacientes hospitalizados por COVID-19 (Q2 frente a Q1: RR 1.52 [1.24-1.87], p < 0.05; Q3 frente a Q1: RR 1.87 [1.55-2.25], p < 0.05; y Q4 frente a Q1: RR 2.74 [2.22-3-39], p < 0.05). Conclusiones: el índice DHLNL en suero tomado en las primeras 24 horas del ingreso puede ayudar a identificar de manera temprana entre los pacientes hospitalizados por COVID-19 a aquellos con mayor riesgo de mortalidad

Nanoparticulate architecture of protein-based artificial viruses is supported by protein DNA interactions

Aim & Methods: We have produced two chimerical peptides of 10.2 kDa, each contain four biologically active domains, which act as building blocks of protein-based nonviral vehicles for gene therapy. In solution, these peptides tend to aggregate as amorphous clusters of more than 1000 nm, while the presence of DNA promotes their architectonic reorganization as mechanically stable nanometric spherical entities of approximately 80 nm that penetrate mammalian cells through arginine–glycine–aspartic acid cell-binding domains and promote significant transgene expression levels. Results & Conclusion: The structural analysis of the protein in these hybrid nanoparticles indicates a molecular conformation with predominance of D-helix and the absence of cross-molecular, E-sheet-supported protein interactions. The nanoscale organizing forces generated by DNA–protein interactions can then be observed as a potentially tunable, critical factor in the design of protein-only based artificial viruses for gene therapy.Agencia Nacional de Investigación e Innovació

Estimación de los componentes del racimo mediante análisis de imagen

El peso de baya, así como el número de bayas y peso del racimo son parámetros fundamentales en la estimación del rendimiento en la industria vitivinícola y de uva de mesa. En la actualidad, los métodos utilizados para estimar y predecir el rendimiento productivo del viñedo son destructivos, lentos, y requieren elevada cantidad de mano de obra. En este trabajo se presenta una nueva metodología, basada en el análisis de imagen, para determinar los componentes del racimo de forma rápida y económica. Se fotografiaron racimos de siete variedades de uva (Vitis vinifera L.) distintas en condiciones de laboratorio y se determinaron los componentes del racimo de forma manual después de la adquisición de imágenes. El tratamiento de las imágenes incluyó el desarrollo de dos algoritmos basados en las estrategias de Canny y LIP (Logarithmic Image Processing) para encontrar los contornos de las bayas, como paso previo a la detección de las mismas mediante la Transformada de Hough. Asimismo, se comparó la capacidad de los algoritmos desarrollados utilizando una única imagen por racimo o cuatro imágenes por racimo, obtenidas de diferentes orientaciones. Los mejores resultados (R2 entre 69%-95% en detección del número de bayas por racimo, y R2 entre 65%-97% en la estimación del peso de racimo) se obtuvieron utilizando cuatro imágenes por racimo y aplicando el algoritmo de Canny. Asimismo, la capacidad del modelo basado en análisis de imagen para predecir el peso de baya fue 84%. La novedosa metodología desarrollada y presentada en este trabajo ha permitido la estimación de los componentes del racimo de forma rápida y económica, en comparación con los métodos manuales actuales