72 research outputs found
Sensibilidad de las variaciones en el campo de deformaciones en función de la aparición de daños en palas de aerogeneradores fabricadas en materiales compuestos
Se instrumentó un prototipo de pala de aerogenerador de 150 kW de 13 metros de longitud con 24 FBGs embebidas directamente en el material durante la fabricación. Posteriormente se realizaron mediciones de deformaciones en el prototipo de pala sin ningún daño, con el fin de determinar el baseline de la pala. Luego, se indujeron algunos daños artificiales de diferentes naturalezas y severidades con el fin de estudiar la susceptibilidad de la aparición de cambios en el campo de deformaciones y la rigidez global de la pala, en función de la aparición de dichos daños. Se realizó un estudio de esfuerzos diferenciales con el fin de determinar la variación de la rigidez en la estructura y determinar si los sensores embebidos eran capaces de detectar dicha variación. Los resultados se presentan en este artículo
Temporal analysis of natural radionuclides deposition at Málaga(2005-2016)
Atmospheric deposition of radionuclides has been investigated in many studies from the aspects of both
radiation protection and geochemistry. The present study, carried out in the city of Málaga, in the southeast
of Spain, focuses on the assessment of the bulk depositional fluxes of three natural radionuclides: 7Be
(cosmogenic origin), and 210Pb and 40K (crustal origin). These three radionuclides are useful markers of
particles arising from their respective sources. To obtain fundamental information of atmospheric
transportation, sedimentation and geological process of particulate matter, a long-term monitoring of
atmospheric deposition has been carried out in Málaga from January 2005-December 2016. Samples of
bulk deposition were collected on a monthly basis on a stainless steel tray from January 2005 to
December 2016. Afterwards, a volume of 6 L of the bulk deposition was reduced via evaporation to 1 L
approximately and transferred to a Marinelli geometry container for gamma counting. Additionally,
aerosols samples were collected weekly in cellulose membrane filters of 0.8μm pore size and 47mm
diameter with an air sampler lodged in an all-weather sampling station, situated on the roof near the bulk
rain collector. Gamma counting of the aerosols and bulk deposition samples was performed using an
intrinsic germanium coaxial detector, Re-Ge-type (CANBERRA). This study describes the results and
then discusses characteristics of atmospheric deposition of mentioned radionuclides with respect to
seasonal variations and dependency on controlling factors. The depositional fluxes of all radionuclides
showed a clear seasonal trend with summer minimum and high values in wintertime
Natural radiactivity from building materials in Spain
The industrial construction sector is very important in Spain. Building materials used in this industry are sources of radiation from natural radionuclides they contain. The European Commission published some recommendations to facilitate the trade of these materials in the E.U. The studies about this subject have increased notably during last years. This, probably, can be associated with the increase interest from natural radiation radiological risk on indoor exposure.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech. Consejo de Seguridad Nuclear. CSN-201
A self-driven approach for multi-class discrimination in Alzheimer’s disease based on wearable EEG
Early detection is critical to control Alzheimer’s disease (AD) progression and postpone cognitive decline. Traditional medical procedures such as magnetic resonance imaging are costly, involve long waiting lists, and require complex analysis. Alternatively, for the past years, researchers have successfully evaluated AD detection approaches based on machine learning and electroencephalography (EEG). Nonetheless, these approaches frequently rely upon manual processing or involve non-portable EEG hardware. These aspects are suboptimal regarding automated diagnosis, since they require additional personnel and hinder porta- bility. In this work, we report the preliminary evaluation of a self-driven AD multi-class discrimination approach based on a commercial EEG acquisition system using sixteen channels. For this purpose, we recorded the EEG of three groups of participants: mild AD, mild cognitive impairment (MCI) non-AD, and controls, and we implemented a self-driven analysis pipeline to discriminate the three groups. First, we applied automated artifact rejection algorithms to the EEG recordings. Then, we extracted power, entropy, and complexity features from the preprocessed epochs. Finally, we evaluated a multi-class classification problem using a multi-layer perceptron through leave-one-subject-out cross-validation. The preliminary results that we obtained are comparable to the best in literature (0.88 F1-score), what suggests that AD can potentially be detected through a self-driven approach based on commercial EEG and machine learn- ing. We believe this work and further research could contribute to opening the door for the detection of AD in a single consultation session, therefore reducing the costs associated to AD screening and poten- tially advancing medical treatment.Spanish Government PGC2018-098813-B-C31European Commission
Operative Program FEDER 2014-2020 BTIC-352-UGR20Economy, Universities and Science Office of the Andalusian Regional GovernmentUniversidad de Granada/CBU
Atmospheric deposition fluxes of aluminium, iron and trace metals in a coastal station on the NW-Alboran Sea, (W-Mediterranean)
El estudio se ha realizado en el marco del Proyecto del Plan Nacional con ref. CTM12-37598-C02The atmospheric deposition over the whole Mediterranean is poorly constrained and hinders a clear assessment of the extent to which atmospheric elements of various anthropogenic and natural origins affect its biogeochemistry. Available data show poor spatial representation, as most of the deposition data refer to the northwestern zone. The Alboran Sea, in particular, is a very interesting case study as regards the atmospheric input because the atmospheric chemistry is dominated by antagonistic influences of natural (mainly from the Sahara) and human activity due to the relative proximity of land-based sources and densely populated shores. The biogeochemical impact of desert dust also remains a matter of discussion regarding its contribution for different major and minor elements to terrestrial and marine systems and especially its potential fertilizing role by supplying micronutrients as iron. Atmospheric fluxes of various trace metals were measured in order to evaluate the presence of these elements in their differently bio-available forms, contents in the soluble and non-soluble fractions were determined. Sampling presented for this study was performed in Malaga (southeast of Spain, 36° 43′ 40″ N; 4° 28′ 8″ W) in an open bulk deposition collector placed 10 m above the ground. The Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) model was used to calculate the backward trajectories of air masses reaching the study region.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech
An Automated Approach for the Detection of Alzheimer’s Disease From Resting State Electroencephalography
Early detection is crucial to control the progression of Alzheimer’s disease and to
postpone intellectual decline. Most current detection techniques are costly, inaccessible,
or invasive. Furthermore, they require laborious analysis, what delays the start of medical
treatment. To overcome this, researchers have recently investigated AD detection based
on electroencephalography, a non-invasive neurophysiology technique, and machine
learning algorithms. However, these approaches typically rely on manual procedures
such as visual inspection, that requires additional personnel for the analysis, or on
cumbersome EEG acquisition systems. In this paper, we performed a preliminary
evaluation of a fully-automated approach for AD detection based on a commercial
EEG acquisition system and an automated classification pipeline. For this purpose,
we recorded the resting state brain activity of 26 participants from three groups: mild
AD, mild cognitive impairment (MCI-non-AD), and healthy controls. First, we applied
automated data-driven algorithms to reject EEG artifacts. Then, we obtained spectral,
complexity, and entropy features from the preprocessed EEG segments. Finally, we
assessed two binary classification problems: mild AD vs. controls, and MCI-non-AD
vs. controls, through leave-one-subject-out cross-validation. The preliminary results
that we obtained are comparable to the best reported in literature, what suggests
that AD detection could be automatically detected through automated processing and
commercial EEG systems. This is promising, since it may potentially contribute to
reducing costs related to AD screening, and to shortening detection times, what may
help to advance medical treatment.PID2021-128529OA-I00 Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and UniversitiesEuropean Regional Development FundsBTIC-
352-UGR20Operative Program
FEDER 2014–2020Economy, Universities and Science
Office of the Andalusian Regional Governmen
Further Insights into the Gut Microbiota of Cow’s Milk Allergic Infants: Analysis of Microbial Functionality and Its Correlation with Three Fecal Biomarkers
Cow’s milk allergy (CMA) is one of the most prevalent food allergies in children. Several studies have demonstrated that gut microbiota influences the acquisition of oral tolerance to food antigens at initial stages of life. Changes in the gut microbiota composition and/or functionality (i.e., dysbiosis) have been linked to inadequate immune system regulation and the emergence of pathologies. Moreover, omic sciences have become an essential tool for the analysis of the gut microbiota. On the other hand, the use of fecal biomarkers for the diagnosis of CMA has recently been reviewed, with fecal calprotectin, α-1 antitrypsin, and lactoferrin being the most relevant. This study aimed at evaluating functional changes in the gut microbiota in the feces of cow’s milk allergic infants (AI) compared to control infants (CI) by metagenomic shotgun sequencing and at correlating these findings with the levels of fecal biomarkers (α-1 antitrypsin, lactoferrin, and calprotectin) by an integrative approach. We have observed differences between AI and CI groups in terms of fecal protein levels and metagenomic analysis. Our findings suggest that AI have altered glycerophospholipid metabolism as well as higher levels of lactoferrin and calprotectin that could be explained by their allergic status.This research was funded by Instituto de Salud Carlos III (PI17/01087 and PI20/01366) and Fundación Sociedad Española de Alergia e Inmunología Clínica (FSEAIC_2016). It was co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund “Investing in your future” for the thematic network and co-operative research centers ARADyAL RD16/0006/0015 and RD16/0006/0026. T.B-T is supported by FPI-CEU predoctoral fellowship. D.B. acknowledges financial support from Instituto de Salud Carlos III (PI19/00044)
Unravelling the Gut Microbiota of Cow’s Milk–Allergic Infants, Their Mothers, and Their Grandmothers
The gut microbiome constitutes a highly complex
ecosystem in which bacteria are the most prominent
components. Around 70% of primary colonization of the gut
microbiota is maternal in origin [1], and the first 1000 days
of life are crucial for the development of the intestinal
microbiota [2]. Despite its early formation, the gut microbiota
is highly dynamic and dependent on host-associated
confounding factors such as age, diet, antibiotics, lifestyle, and
environmental conditions [3,4]. Alterations in gut microbiota
have been described in people with different types of allergy,
including cow’s milk allergy (CMA)This work was supported by Instituto de Salud Carlos
III (PI17/01087) and Fundación Sociedad Española
de Alergia e Inmunología Clínica (FSEAIC_2016). It
was cofunded by the European Regional Development
Fund “Investing in your future” for the Thematic
Network and Co-operative Research Centers ARADyAL
RD16/0006/0015 and RD16/0006/0026. It was additionally
supported by the Ministry of Science, Innovation in Spain
(PCI2018-092930), cofunded by the European program
ERA HDHL - Nutrition & the Epigenome, project Dietary
Intervention in Food Allergy: Microbiome, Epigenetic and
Metabolomic interactions (DIFAMEM). DR and EZ-V
acknowledge funding from the Spanish Ministry of Science,
Innovation and Universities (RTI2018-095166-B-I00).
CU acknowledges funding from the Spanish Ministry
of Economy (SAF2017-90083-R). TCB-T thanks CEUInternational Doctoral School (CEINDO) for his fellowship
Efecto sobre la mortalidad de la ampliación a los festivos y fines de semana del proyecto "UCI sin paredes". Estudio before-after.
Objetivo: Estudiar si la ampliación, a festivos y fines de semana, del protocolo de detección
proactiva precoz de gravedad en el hospital y actuación de intensivistas en planta convencional
y urgencias (actividad «UCI sin paredes») se asocia a una reducción en la mortalidad de los
pacientes ingresados en UCI en esos días.
Diseno: ˜ Estudio cuasiexperimental before---after.
Ámbito: Hospital de nivel 2 con 210 camas en funcionamiento y UCI polivalente con 8 camas.
Pacientes o participantes: En el grupo control, donde no se realiza la actividad «UCI sin
paredes» los fines de semana ni festivos, se incluyeron los pacientes ingresados en la UCI esos
días del 1 de enero de 2010 al 30 de abril de 2013. En el grupo intervención se amplió la actividad
«UCI sin paredes» a los fines de semana y festivos y se incluyeron los pacientes ingresados esos
días del 1 de mayo de 2013 al 31 de octubre de 2014. Se excluyeron los pacientes procedentes
de quirófano tras una cirugía programada.
Variables de interés: Se analizaron las variables demográficas (edad, sexo), la procedencia
(urgencias, planta de hospitalización, quirófano), el tipo de paciente (médico, quirúrgico),
el motivo de ingreso, las comorbilidades y el SAPS 3 como puntuación de gravedad al ingreso,
estancia en UCI y hospitalaria, además de la mortalidad en la UCI y en el hospital.
Resultados: Se incluyeron en el grupo control 389 pacientes, y 161 en el grupo intervención.
No se encontraron diferencias entre ambos grupos, salvo en la comorbilidad cardiovascular (un
49% en el grupo control frente a un 33% en el grupo intervención; p < 0,001), en la gravedad
al ingreso medida mediante el SAPS 3 (mediana de 52 [percentiles 25---75: 42---63] en el grupo
control frente a 48 [percentiles 25---75: 40---56] en el grupo intervención; p = 0,008) y en la
mortalidad en UCI, que fue de un 11% en el grupo control (IC 95% 8 a 14) frente al 3% (IC 95%
1 a 7) en el grupo intervención (p = 0,003). En el análisis multivariable, los 2 únicos factores
asociados con la mortalidad en UCI fueron: SAPS 3 (OR 1,08; IC 95% 1,06---1,11) y el pertenecer
al grupo intervención (OR 0,33; IC 95% 0,12---0,89).
Conclusiones: La ampliación de la actividad «UCI sin paredes» a los fines de semana y festivos
conlleva un descenso en la mortalidad en la UCI.Objective: To determine whether extension to holidays and weekends of the protocol for
the early proactive detection of severity in hospital (‘‘ICU without walls’’ project) results in
decreased mortality among patients admitted to the ICU during those days.
Design: A quasi-experimental before---after study was carried out.
Setting: A level 2 hospital with 210 beds and a polyvalent ICU with 8 beds.
Patients or participants: The control group involved no ‘‘ICU without walls’’ activity on holidays
or weekends and included those patients admitted to the ICU on those days between 1
January 2010 and 30 April 2013. The intervention group in turn extended the ‘‘ICU without
walls’’ activity to holidays and weekends, and included those patients admitted on those days
between 1 May 2013 and 31 October 2014. Patients arriving from the operating room after
scheduled surgery were excluded.
Variables of interest: An analysis was made of the demographic variables (age, gender), origin
(emergency room, hospital ward, operating room), type of patient (medical, surgical), reason
for admission, comorbidities and SAPS 3 score as a measure of severity upon admission, stay in
the ICU and in hospital, and mortality in the ICU and in hospital.
Results: A total of 389 and 161 patients were included in the control group and intervention
group, respectively. There were no differences between the 2 groups except as regards cardiovascular comorbidity (49% in the control group versus 33% in the intervention group;
P < .001), severity upon admission (median SAPS 3 score 52 [percentiles 25---75: 42---63) in the
control group versus 48 [percentiles 25---75: 40---56] in the intervention group; P = .008) and mortality
in the ICU (11% in the control group [95% CI 8---14] versus 3% [95% CI 1---7] in the intervention
group; P = .003). In the multivariate analysis, the only 2 factors associated to mortality in the
ICU were the SAPS 3 score (OR 1.08; 95% CI 1.06---1.11) and inclusion in the intervention group
(OR 0.33; 95% CI 0.12---0.89).
Conclusions: Extension of the ‘‘ICU without walls’’ activity to holidays and weekends results in
a decrease in mortality in the ICU.pre-print424 K
Social mobility and healthy behaviours from a gender perspective in the Spanish multicase-control study (MCC-Spain)
There is evidence for the influence of socioeconomic status (SES) on healthy behaviours but the effect of social mobility (SM) is not yet well known. This study aims to analyse the influence of origin and destination SES (O-SES and D-SES) and SM on healthy behaviours and co-occurrence, from an integrated gender and age perspective. Data were obtained from the controls of MCC-Spain between 2008-2013 (3,606 participants). Healthy behaviours considered: healthy diet, moderate alcohol consumption, non-smoking and physical activity. SM was categorized as stable high, upward, stable medium, downward or stable low. Binary and multinomial logistic regression models were adjusted. Those aged <65, with a low O-SES, D-SES and stable low SM are less likely to have healthy behaviours in the case of both women (physically active: OR = 0.65 CI = 0.45-0.94, OR = 0.71 CI = 0.52-0.98, OR = 0.61 CI = 0.41-0.91) and men (non-smokers: OR = 0.44 CI = 0.26-0.76, OR = 0.54 CI = 0.35-0.83, OR = 0.41 CI 0.24-0.72; physically active: OR = 0.57 CI = 0.35-0.92, OR = 0.64 CI = 0.44-0.95, OR = 0.53 CI = 0.23-0.87). However, for those aged ≥65, this probability is higher in women with a low O-SES and D-SES (non-smoker: OR = 8.09 CI = 4.18-15.67, OR = 4.14 CI = 2.28-7.52; moderate alcohol consumption: OR = 3.00 CI = 1.45-6.24, OR = 2.83 CI = 1.49-5.37) and in men with a stable low SM (physically active: OR = 1.52 CI = 1.02-1.26). In the case of men, the same behaviour pattern is observed in those with a low O-SES as those with upward mobility, with a higher probability of co-occurring behaviours (three-to-four behaviours: OR = 2.00 CI = 1.22-3.29; OR = 3.13 CI = 1.31-7.48). The relationship of O-SES, D-SES and SM with healthy behaviours is complex and differs according to age and gender.This research was supported by the “Acción Transversal del Cancer”, approved by the Spanish Council of Ministers on 11th October 2007, by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III-FEDER [grant number:PI08/1770, PI08/0533, PI08/1359, PS09/00773-Cantabria, PS09/01286-León, PS09/01903-Valencia, PS09/02078-Huelva, PS09/ 01662-Granada, PI11/01403, PI11/01889-FEDER, PI11/00226, PI11/01810, PI11/02213, PI12/00488, PI12/00265, PI12/01270, PI12/00715, PI12/00150, PI14/01219, PI14/0613, PI15/00069, PI15/00914, PI15/01032, PI11/01810, PI14/01219, PI11/02213, PIE16/00049, PI17/01179, PI17-00092], by the Fundación Marqués de Valdecilla [grant number: API 10/09], by the ICGC International Cancer Genome Consortium CLL (The ICGC CLL-Genome Project is funded by Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO) through the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII)), by the Red Temática de Investigación del Cáncer (RTICC) del ISCIII [grant number: RD12/0036/0036], by the Junta de Castilla y León [grant number: LE22A10-2], by the Consejería de Salud of the Junta de Andalucía [grant number: PI-0571-2009, PI-0306-2011, salud201200057018tra], by the Conselleria de Sanitat of the Generalitat Valenciana [grant number: AP_061/10], by the Recercaixa [grant number: 2010ACUP00310], by the Regional Government of the Basque Country, by the Consejería de Sanidad de la Región de Murcia, by the European Commission [grant number: FOOD-CT-2006-036224-HIWATE], by the Spanish Association Against Cancer (AECC) Scientific Foundation [grant number: GCTRA18022MORE], by the Catalan Government-Agency for Management of University and Research Grants (AGAUR) [grant number: 2014SGR647, 2014SGR850 and 2017SGR723], by the Fundación Caja de Ahorros de Asturias and by the University of Oviedo. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.S
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