Non-invasive Estimation of Atrial Fibrillation Driver Position With Convolutional Neural Networks and Body Surface Potentials

[EN] Atrial fibrillation (AF) is characterized by complex and irregular propagation patterns, and AF onset locations and drivers responsible for its perpetuation are the main targets for ablation procedures. ECG imaging (ECGI) has been demonstrated as a promising tool to identify AF drivers and guide ablation procedures, being able to reconstruct the electrophysiological activity on the heart surface by using a non-invasive recording of body surface potentials (BSP). However, the inverse problem of ECGI is ill-posed, and it requires accurate mathematical modeling of both atria and torso, mainly from CT or MR images. Several deep learning-based methods have been proposed to detect AF, but most of the AF-based studies do not include the estimation of ablation targets. In this study, we propose to model the location of AF drivers from BSP as a supervised classification problem using convolutional neural networks (CNN). Accuracy in the test set ranged between 0.75 (SNR = 5 dB) and 0.93 (SNR = 20 dB upward) when assuming time independence, but it worsened to 0.52 or lower when dividing AF models into blocks. Therefore, CNN could be a robust method that could help to non-invasively identify target regions for ablation in AF by using body surface potential mapping, avoiding the use of ECGI.This work has been partially supported by: Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion (PID2019-105032GB-I00), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, and Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovacion y Universidades (supported by FEDER Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional PI17/01106 and RYC2018-024346B-750), Consejeria de Ciencia, Universidades e Innovacion of the Comunidad de Madrid through the program RIS3 (S-2020/L2-622), EIT Health (Activity code 19600, EIT Health is supported by EIT, a body of the European Union) and the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 860974.Cámara-Vázquez, MÁ.; Hernández-Romero, I.; Morgado-Reyes, E.; Guillem Sánchez, MS.; Climent, AM.; Barquero-Pérez, O. (2021). Non-invasive Estimation of Atrial Fibrillation Driver Position With Convolutional Neural Networks and Body Surface Potentials. Frontiers in Physiology. 12:1-11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2021.733449S1111

Evaluación de las respuestas emocionales a la publicidad televisiva desde el Neuromarketing

Desde el siglo pasado hemos presenciado una evolución constante de las técnicas de comunicación publicitarias en un intento de adaptación a las nuevas realidades sociales del mercado. Como recurso estratégico, la Neurociencia aporta una nueva perspectiva al permitir explorar aquellos motivos difíciles de verbalizar o inconscientes que hay detrás de los comportamientos de los consumidores. El presente trabajo tiene como objetivo descubrir la relación entre las emociones inducidas en los mensajes publicitarios audiovisuales y su impacto en el recuerdo de los sujetos. Para alcanzar este objetivo se ha realizado un experimento con ocho mensajes publicitarios audiovisuales (seis representativos de seis emociones básicas: alegría, sorpresa, ira, asco, miedo y tristeza; y dos racionales) en el que se han utilizado, por un lado, técnicas de Neuromarketing como son la actividad eléctrica cardíaca (ECG) y la actividad eléctrica de la dermis (AED) de los sujetos; y, por otro, una técnica de investigación convencional, un cuestionario aplicado a los sujetos que han participado en la investigación. Los resultados ponen de manifiesto variaciones en las medidas realizadas en los mensajes correspondientes a la alegría, la sorpresa y la ira, mientras que, tanto para el recuerdo sugerido del mensaje trasmitido como para la actividad del anunciante, el anuncio con mejores resultados ha sido el de la tristeza, anuncio que también ha sido considerado el más atractivo para los sujetos participantes.Since the last century, we have witnessed a steady evolution of advertising techniques in an effort to adapt to the new social context in the market. As a strategic resource, Neuroscience brings a new perspective by allowing you to explore those difficult or verbally unconscious motives behind consumer behaviours. The present work aims to discover the relationship between the emotions induced in audiovisual advertising messages and their impact on the memory of the subjects. To achieve this goal, an experiment was carried out with eight audiovisual advertising messages (six representatives of the basic emotions: joy, surprise, anger, disgust, fear and sadness, and two rational ones that show the technical specifications of the product). Neuromarketing techniques such as the electrical activity of the heart (ECG) and the electrodermal activity (EDA) of the subjects are used, on one hand; and, on the other, a conventional research technique, a questionnaire applied to the subjects that participated in the research. The results show variations in the measures performed in the commercials corresponding to joy, surprise and anger, while for both, remembrance of the message transmitted and activity of the advertiser, the commercial with the best results has been the one regarding sadness, advertisement that has also been considered the most attractive for participating subjects

Evaluación de las respuestas emocionales a la publicidad televisiva desde el Neuromarketing

Since the last century, we have witnessed a steady evolution of advertising techniques in an effort to adapt to the new social context in the market. As a strategic resource, Neuroscience brings a new perspective by allowing you to explore those difficult or verbally unconscious motives behind consumer behaviours. The present work aims to discover the relationship between the emotions induced in audiovisual advertising messages and their impact on the memory of the subjects. To achieve this goal, an experiment was carried out with eight audiovisual advertising messages (six representatives of the basic emotions: joy, surprise, anger, disgust, fear and sadness, and two rational ones that show the technical specifications of the product). Neuromarketing techniques such as the electrical activity of the heart (ECG) and the electrodermal activity (EDA) of the subjects are used, on one hand; and, on the other, a conventional research technique, a questionnaire applied to the subjects that participated in the research. The results show variations in the measures performed in the commercials corresponding to joy, surprise and anger, while for both, remembrance of the message transmitted and activity of the advertiser, the commercial with the best results has been the one regarding sadness, advertisement that has also been considered the most attractive for participating subjects.Desde el siglo pasado hemos presenciado una evolución constante de las técnicas de comunicación publicitarias en un intento de adaptación a las nuevas realidades sociales del mercado. Como recurso estratégico, la Neurociencia aporta una nueva perspectiva al permitir explorar aquellos motivos difíciles de verbalizar o inconscientes que hay detrás de los comportamientos de los consumidores. El presente trabajo tiene como objetivo descubrir la relación entre las emociones inducidas en los mensajes publicitarios audiovisuales y su impacto en el recuerdo de los sujetos. Para alcanzar este objetivo se ha realizado un experimento con ocho mensajes publicitarios audiovisuales (seis representativos de seis emociones básicas: alegría, sorpresa, ira, asco, miedo y tristeza; y dos racionales) en el que se han utilizado, por un lado, técnicas de Neuromarketing como son la actividad eléctrica cardíaca (ECG) y la actividad eléctrica de la dermis (AED) de los sujetos; y, por otro, una técnica de investigación convencional, un cuestionario aplicado a los sujetos que han participado en la investigación. Los resultados ponen de manifiesto variaciones en las medidas realizadas en los mensajes correspondientes a la alegría, la sorpresa y la ira, mientras que, tanto para el recuerdo sugerido del mensaje trasmitido como para la actividad del anunciante, el anuncio con mejores resultados ha sido el de la tristeza, anuncio que también ha sido considerado el más atractivo para los sujetos participantes

Hyponatremia as predictor of worse outcome in real world patients admitted with acute heart failure

Background: Our aim was to determine if hyponatremia, defined as serum sodium level < 135 mmol/L, is a predictor of worse outcome in a cohort of real-world patients with heartfailure (HF).Methods: We used data of the National registry of HF (RICA) from Spain, an ongoing multicenter, prospective cohort study. The patients were assigned to two groups regarding sodium levels. Primary end-point was first all-cause readmission, or death by any cause. Secondary end-points were the number of days hospitalized, and the presence of complications.Results: We identified 973 patients, 147 (15.11%) with hyponatremia. The median age of patients enrolled was 77.25 ± 8.79 years-old, the global comorbidity measured by Charlson comorbidity index (CCI) was upper 3 points and preserved ejection fraction was present in67.1% of them. Clinical complications during admission were significantly higher in the patients with hyponatremia (35.41%, p < 0.001) and this remained as significant predictor after logistic regression adjustment (OR 1.08, p < 0.01). Also mortality and readmissions were more frequent in patients with hyponatremia (20.69% and 22.41%, respectively) but after Cox regression adjustment hyponatremia in our cohort was not associated with increase in 90-day all-cause mortality and readmissions, and only CCI remained significant for primaryend-point (HR 1.08, p < 0.001).Conclusions: Hyponatremia is an independent predictor of complications during hospitalization in our real-world cohort, but was not associated with 90 days mortality or readmissions. Global comorbidity, however, played an important role, and could influence the mortality and readmissions of our patients

Utilidad pronóstica de las cifras ambulatorias de presión arterial en pacientes de edad avanzada con insuficiencia cardíaca. Resultados del estudio DICUMAP = Prognostic value of ambulatory blood pressure values in elderly patients with heart failure. Results of the DICUMAP study

Introduction: Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) has demonstrated value in the prognostic assessment of hypertensive patients with heart failure (HF) with or without other cardiovascular diseases. The objective of this study was to evaluate whether ABPM can identify subjects with HF with a worse prognosis. Methods and results: Prospective multicenter study that included clinically stable outpatients with HF. All patients underwent ABPM. A total of 154 patients from 17 centers were included. Their mean age was 76.8 years (± 8.3) and 55.2% were female. In total, 23.7% had HF with a reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), 68.2% were in NYHA functional class II, and 19.5% were in NYHA functional class III. At one year of follow up, there were 13 (8.4%) deaths, of which 10 were attributed to HF. Twenty-nine patients required hospitalization, of which 19 were due to HF. The presence of a non-dipper BP pattern was associated with an increased risk for readmission or death at one year of follow-up (25% vs. 5%; p = .024). According to a Cox regression analysis, more advanced NYHA functional class (hazard ratio 3.51; 95%CI 1.70-7.26; p = .001; for NYHA class III vs. II) and a higher proportional nocturnal reduction in diastolic BP (hazard ratio 0.961; 95%CI 0.926-0.997; p = .032 per 1% diastolic BP reduction) were independently associated with death or readmission at one year. Conclusion: In older patients with chronic HF, a non-dipper BP pattern measured by ABPM was associated with a higher risk of hospitalization and death due to HF

Humanidades: la ética en el inicio del siglo XXI

La reflexión propuesta por el V Congreso: Humanidades: La Ética en el Siglo XXI, planteó un desafío que fue asumido con altura por los participantes en el evento. La crisis de la Ética, entendida como conjunto de reglas prácticas que a partir de la razón crítica dan sentido y finalidad a la acción de la persona y la sociedad, está presente en forma indubitable, desde las primeras décadas del Siglo XIX, cuando la idea del lucro, la utilidad y la libertad económica y de mercado, fue asumida, y se impuso en forma excluyente, sobre la libertad individual y la dignidad esencial del ser humano, entendido, desde el Renacimiento, como el sujeto y destinatario de la historia. V Congreso Latinoamericano de las Humanidades. Realizado del 25 al 28 de Septiembre 2001 en la Ciudad de Granada, Nicaragua, Convento San francisco.Prólogo del señor Serrano; Antecedentes del V Congreso; Ponencias: El humanismo esperanzado, Alejandro Serrano Caldera; Ética y política: Una nueva cultura política para america latina, Carlos Tunnermann; Ética en el ámbito de la política, Róger Mendieta Alfaro; Nietzsche y la política de la transvaloracion, Melvin Javier Paredes; Por una ética acrata: del dominio a la concertación, José Manuel Maldonado; Ética y corrupción, Oscar René Vargas; Ética y educación: La crisis de las humanidades, Erwin Silva; La memoria y el olvido, Víctor Valembois; Conocimiento historico y verdad, Elsie R. de Powell; Conflicto, convivencia y autonomia en las instituciones educativas, Manuel Bolivar Godoy; La mediación pedagógica: una nueva perspectiva en la formación de valores educativos, Olga María Abaunza y Francisco Mendoza; La construcción del curriculo: una opción ética, Alicia Sequeira; La comunidad educativa, Matilde Obando Enríquez; Reflexiones sobre la oferta y la demanda de la educación superior nicaragüense, Arturo Collado Maldonado; Ética y educación superior en la era de la globalización, perspectiva latinoamericana, Jacinto Ordóñez Peñalosa; Ética, desarrollo y genero: Ética y los problemas de desarrollo en América Latina, Norma Rusconi y Patricia Cubillos; Compromiso social de los medios de comunicación por el desarrollo acusticamente sostenible, Doraldina Zeledón Ubeda, Federico Miyara, Jordy Mulet Arias; Empoderamiento femenino: alternativa etica del conflicto entre sexismo e identidad de genero. Una oferta equitativa en las grietas económicas del sistema, Aura Violeta Aldana; La mejor etica, la que no se puede decir, Freddy Quezada; Ecología social: ética para una ecología latinoamericana, Ester A. Previtera; Ética, ciencia y tecnología: Ética, ciencia y tecnología, Moisés Ladrón de Guevara; Ética profesional, Juan Sánchez Barquero; Ética y religión: Cristianismo, universidad y desafío ético, Jerjes Ruiz Castro; La fe cristiana y su aporte a la etica en nicaragua, José Miguel Torres; Discurso de clausura de la señora Mimi Hammer; Reseña de autores