IUGS — heritage stones: history and requirements

This article deals with the history and current framework of the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS)’ Heritage Stone designation, an international recognition of natural stones that have provided material for architectural structures and monuments representative of integral aspects of human culture. The IUGS Heritage Stone title aims to spread geological knowledge among society and contribute to heritage conservation. To be designated, a stone must be formally proposed to the Heritage Stones Subcommission of the International Commission on Geoheritage (HSS/ICG — IUGS), following the HSS reporting standard, with the stone’s detailed and scientifically documented geological and technological characteristics, source quarries, and justification of the candidate stone’s cultural value for humanity. To date, there are 32 IUGS designated Heritage Stones; some components of the heritage of many countries in the world, such as Carrara Marble from Italy, and others of regional use but of significance to global culture because they integrate UNESCO World Heritage Sites, such as the Jaisalmer Limestone of India. From Brazil, two stones will be proposed in 2023: the Facoidal Gneiss from Rio de Janeiro and the Steatite from Minas Gerais. The scarce and scattered available information in Brazil on the stony materials used in heritage presents a challenge. Geoscientists’ contribution is essential to propose new IUGS — Heritage Stones candidates by documenting Brazilian stones’ characteristics, origin and uses. Furthermore, sharing knowledge with professionals from other areas and disseminating it to society contributes to Brazilian cultural heritage conservation.Este artigo trata do histórico e do enquadramento atual da designação Pedra do Patrimônio da União Internacional de Ciências Geológicas (IUGS) outorgada a rochas utilizadas em construções arquitetônicas e monumentos representativos de aspectos integrais da cultura humana. A designação Pedra do Patrimônio da IUGS visa contribuir para a disseminação do conhecimento geológico na sociedade e para a conservação dos monumentos. Para ser designada, uma rocha precisa ser formalmente proposta à Subcomissão de Pedras do Patrimônio da Comissão Internacional de Geopatrimônio (HSS/ICG) da IUGS, seguindo o padrão de relatório da HSS e sustentada por publicações científicas e técnicas, com detalhamento das características geológicas e tecnológicas da pedra candidata, pedreiras de origem e justificativa do seu valor cultural para a humanidade. Já obtiveram a designação 32 pedras, algumas componentes do patrimônio de muitos países, como o Mármore Carrara, da Itália, e outras de uso regional, mas significantes para a cultura global por integrar patrimônios da humanidade da Organização das Nações Unidas para a Educação, a Ciência e a Cultura (UNESCO), como o Calcário Jaisalmer, daÍndia. Pelo Brasil, duas pedras serão propostas em 2023: o Gnaisse Facoidal, do Rio de Janeiro, e o Esteatito, de Minas Gerais. A escassa e dispersa informação disponível no Brasil sobre os materiais pétreos utilizados no patrimônio representa um desafio, e a contribuição dos geocientistas é fundamental para propor novas candidaturas a Pedras do Patrimônio da IUGS por meio da documentação das características, da origem e do uso das pedras brasileiras. Ainda, o compartilhamento do conhecimento com profissionais de outras áreas e a divulgação para a sociedade são importantes contribuições para a conservação do patrimônio cultural brasileiro

Efficacy and safety clinical trial with efavirenz in patients diagnosed with adult Niemann-pick type C with cognitive impairment

Background:Niemann-Pick disease Type C (NPC) is a genetic, incurable, neurodegenerative disorder. This orphan disease is most frequently caused by mutations in the NPC1 protein, resulting in intralysossomal cholesterol accumulation. NPC1 is found in neuronal cell bodies, axon terminals and synaptosomes, suggesting it plays a role in lysosomal degradation pathway and in synaptic transmission. Neuronal function is especially vulnerable to NPC1 deficiency and synaptic changes seem a key element in disease development. Currently, Miglustat (Zavesca (R)) is the only approved treatment for NPC. However, preclinical evidence showed that low-dose Efavirenz reverted synaptic defects through pharmacological activation of the enzyme CYP46. Methods:This is a single-center, phase II clinical trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Efavirenz in addition to standard of care in patients diagnosed with adult or late juvenile-onset NPC with cognitive impairment. All enrolled patients will be treated orally with 25 mg/d of Efavirenz for 52 weeks (1 year). Secondary objectives include evaluating clinical (neurological and neuropsychological questionnaires) and biological (imaging and biochemical biomarkers) parameters. Discussion:NPC is still an unmet medical need. Although different therapeutic approaches are under study, this is the first clinical trial (to the best of our knowledge) studying the effects of Efavirenz in adult- and late-juvenile-onset NPC. Despite the small sample size and the single-arm design, we expect the results to show Efavirenz's capacity of activating the CYP46 enzyme to compensate for NPC1 deficiency and correct synaptic changes, therefore compensating cognitive and psychiatric changes in these patients. This study may provide direct benefit to enrolled patients in terms of slowing down the disease progression

Road2CPS priorities and recommendations for research and innovation in cyber-physical systems

This document summarises the findings of the Road2CPS project, co-financed by the European Commission under the H2020 Research and Innovation Programme, to develop a roadmap and recommendations for strategic action required for future deployment of Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS). The term Cyber-Physical System describes hardware-software systems, which tightly couple the physical world and the virtual world. They are established from networked embedded systems that are connected with the outside world through sensors and actuators and have the capability to collaborate, adapt, and evolve. In the ARTEMIS Strategic Research Agenda 2016, CPS are described as ‘Embedded Intelligent ICT Systems’ that make products smarter, more interconnected, interdependent, collaborative, and autonomous. In the future world of CPS, a huge number of devices connected to the physical world will be able to exchange data with each other, access web services, and interact with people. Moreover, information systems will sense, monitor and even control the physical world via Cyber-Physical Systems and the Internet of Things (HiPEAC Vision 2015). Cyber-Physical Systems find their application in many highly relevant areas to our society: multi-modal transport, health, smart factories, smart grids and smart cities amongst others. The deployment of Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) is expected to increase substantially over the next decades, holding great potential for novel applications and innovative product development. Digital technologies have already pervaded day-to-day life massively, affecting all kinds of interactions between humans and their environment. However, the inherent complexity of CPSs, as well as the need to meet optimised performance and comply with essential requirements like safety, privacy, security, raises many questions that are currently being explored by the research community. Road2CPS aims at accelerating uptake and implementation of these efforts. The Road2CPS project identifying and analysing the relevant technology fields and related research priorities to fuel the development of trustworthy CPS, as well as the specific technologies, needs and barriers for a successful implementation in different application domains and to derive recommendations for strategic action. The document at hand was established through an interactive, community-based approach, involving over 300 experts from academia, industry and policy making through a series of workshops and consultations. Visions and priorities of recently produced roadmaps in the area of CPS, IoT (Internet of Things), SoS (System-of-Systems) and FoF (Factories of the Future) were discussed, complemented by sharing views and perspectives on CPS implementation in application domains, evolving multi-sided eco-systems as well as business and policy related barriers, enablers and success factors. From the workshops and accompanying activities recommendations for future research and innovation activities were derived and topics and timelines for their implementation proposed. Amongst the technological topics, and related future research priorities ‘integration, interoperability, standards’ ranged highest in all workshops. The topic is connected to digital platforms and reference architectures, which have already become a key priority theme for the EC and their Digitisation Strategy as well as the work on the right standards to help successful implementation of CPSs. Other themes of very high technology/research relevance revealed to be ‘modelling and simulation’, ‘safety and dependability’, ‘security and privacy’, ‘big data and real-time analysis’, ‘ubiquitous autonomy and forecasting’ as well as ‘HMI/human machine awareness’. Next to this, themes emerged including ‘decision making and support’, ‘CPS engineering (requirements, design)’, ‘CPS life-cycle management’, ‘System-of-Systems’, ‘distributed management’, ‘cognitive CPS’, ‘emergence, complexity, adaptability and flexibility’ and work on the foundations of CPS and ‘cross-disciplinary research/CPS Science’

Long-Term Real-World Effectiveness and Safety of Ustekinumab in Crohn’s Disease Patients: The SUSTAIN Study

Background Large real-world-evidence studies are required to confirm the durability of response, effectiveness, and safety of ustekinumab in Crohn’s disease (CD) patients in real-world clinical practice. Methods A retrospective, multicentre study was conducted in Spain in patients with active CD who had received ≥1 intravenous dose of ustekinumab for ≥6 months. Primary outcome was ustekinumab retention rate; secondary outcomes were to identify predictive factors for drug retention, short-term remission (week 16), loss of response and predictive factors for short-term efficacy and loss of response, and ustekinumab safety. Results A total of 463 patients were included. Mean baseline Harvey-Bradshaw Index was 8.4. A total of 447 (96.5%) patients had received prior biologic therapy, 141 (30.5%) of whom had received ≥3 agents. In addition, 35.2% received concomitant immunosuppressants, and 47.1% had ≥1 abdominal surgery. At week 16, 56% had remission, 70% had response, and 26.1% required dose escalation or intensification; of these, 24.8% did not subsequently reduce dose. After a median follow-up of 15 months, 356 (77%) patients continued treatment. The incidence rate of ustekinumab discontinuation was 18% per patient-year of follow-up. Previous intestinal surgery and concomitant steroid treatment were associated with higher risk of ustekinumab discontinuation, while a maintenance schedule every 12 weeks had a lower risk; neither concomitant immunosuppressants nor the number of previous biologics were associated with ustekinumab discontinuation risk. Fifty adverse events were reported in 39 (8.4%) patients; 4 of them were severe (2 infections, 1 malignancy, and 1 fever). Conclusions Ustekinumab is effective and safe as short- and long-term treatment in a refractory cohort of CD patients in real-world clinical practice

Using Interpretable Machine Learning to Identify Baseline Predictive Factors of Remission and Drug Durability in Crohn’s Disease Patients on Ustekinumab

Ustekinumab has shown efficacy in Crohn's Disease (CD) patients. To identify patient profiles of those who benefit the most from this treatment would help to position this drug in the therapeutic paradigm of CD and generate hypotheses for future trials. The objective of this analysis was to determine whether baseline patient characteristics are predictive of remission and the drug durability of ustekinumab, and whether its positioning with respect to prior use of biologics has a significant effect after correcting for disease severity and phenotype at baseline using interpretable machine learning. Patients' data from SUSTAIN, a retrospective multicenter single-arm cohort study, were used. Disease phenotype, baseline laboratory data, and prior treatment characteristics were documented. Clinical remission was defined as the Harvey Bradshaw Index <= 4 and was tracked longitudinally. Drug durability was defined as the time until a patient discontinued treatment. A total of 439 participants from 60 centers were included and a total of 20 baseline covariates considered. Less exposure to previous biologics had a positive effect on remission, even after controlling for baseline disease severity using a non-linear, additive, multivariable model. Additionally, age, body mass index, and fecal calprotectin at baseline were found to be statistically significant as independent negative risk factors for both remission and drug survival, with further risk factors identified for remission

Una experiencia sobre salud bucodental : el diente Vicente y la muela Carmela

Experiencia realizada por el equipo de profesores del Colegio Rural Agrupado Huerna-Pajares, pertenecientes al grupo de trabajo Educación para la salud y destinados a los alumnos de educación infantil y del primer y segundo ciclo de educación primaria. Su objetivo es fomentar el interés por el cuidado y aseo de la boca, y estimular los hábitos higiénicos de la misma como forma de conseguir un buen estado de salud general; así como conocer los elementos de la boca y el importante papel que desempeñan en las funciones de relación, nutrición y comunicación, apreciar críticamente las informaciones relacionadas con la salud bucodental y valorar la importancia de las revisiones periódicas de la boca. La experiencia consta de la unidad temática La boca y del cuento El diente Vicente y la muela Carmela. La experiencia se desarrolla con la unidad correspondiente al área de Conocimiento del Medio, relativa al cuerpo, higiene y aseo y junto a actividades que van desde la presentación del cuento y confección de carteles hasta la realización de actividades de carácter festivo. Los contenidos estudiados son: la anatomía de la boca, los tipos de dientes y su función, la influencia de dulces y golosinas en la salud buco-dental, las enfermedades de la boca y de los dientes, el odontólogo y sus funciones y los utensilios de limpieza y las técnicas del cepillado. La evaluación se realiza sobre cuatro conceptos: reconocer las partes del cuerpo y el funcionamiento de la misma, distinguir los productos nocivos para la salud de la boca, utilizar correctamente y de manera periódica el material de limpieza de la boca y desarrollar conductas favorables de hábitos de limpieza.AsturiasBiblioteca de Educación del Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte; Calle San Agustín, 5 - 3 Planta; 28014 Madrid; Tel. +34917748000; Fax +34917748026; [email protected]

Plan andaluz de enfermedades reumáticas y musculoesqueléticas

YesEl Plan Andaluz de Enfermedades Reumáticas y Musculoesqueléticas no sólo propone estrategias y objetivos concretos para la prevención y atención sanitaria de las ERyMEs, sino que, además, tratará de integrar e impulsar actividades saludables para la población general colaborando, así, en la reducción de la morbilidad y en la mejora sustancial de la calidad de vida de la población andaluza, en línea con los objetivos establecidos por el IV Plan Andaluz de Salud