Characterization of slow and fast phase nystagmus

A current literature review of the analog and digital process of vestibular and optical kinetic nystagmus reveals little agreement in the methods used by various labs. The strategies for detection of saccade (fast phase velocity component of nystagmus) vary between labs, and most of the process have not been evaluated and validated with a standard database. A survey was made of major vestibular labs in the U.S. that perform computer analyses of vestibular and optokinetic reflexes to stimuli, and a baseline was established from which to standardize data acquisition and analysis programs. The concept of an Error Index was employed as the criterium for evaluating the performance of the vestibular analysis software programs. The performance criterium is based on the detection of saccades and is the average of the percentages of missed detections and false detections. Evaluation of the programs produced results for lateral gaze with saccadic amplitude of one, two, three, five, and ten degrees with various signal-to-noise ratios. In addition, results were obtained for sinusoidal pursuit of 0.05, 0.10, and 0.50 Hz with saccades from one to ten degrees at various signal-to-noise ratios. Selection of the best program was made from the performance in the lateral gaze with three degrees of saccadic amplitude and in the 0.10 Hz sinusoid with three degrees of saccadic amplitude

Stability of childhood anxiety disorder diagnoses: a follow-up naturalistic study in psychiatric care

Few studies have examined the stability of major psychiatric disorders in pediatric psychiatric clinical populations. The objective of this study was to examine the long-term stability of anxiety diagnoses starting with pre-school age children through adolescence evaluated at multiple time points. Prospective cohort study was conducted of all children and adolescents receiving psychiatric care at all pediatric psychiatric clinics belonging to two catchment areas in Madrid, Spain, between 1 January, 1992 and 30 April, 2006. Patients were selected from among 24,163 children and adolescents who received psychiatric care. Patients had to have a diagnosis of an ICD-10 anxiety disorder during at least one of the consultations and had to have received psychiatric care for the anxiety disorder. We grouped anxiety disorder diagnoses according to the following categories: phobic disorders, social anxiety disorders, obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD), stress-related disorders, and "other" anxiety disorders which, among others, included generalized anxiety disorder, and panic disorder. Complementary indices of diagnostic stability were calculated. As much as 1,869 subjects were included and had 27,945 psychiatric/ psychological consultations. The stability of all ICD-10 anxiety disorder categories studied was high regardless of the measure of diagnostic stability used. Phobic and social anxiety disorders showed the highest diagnostic stability, whereas OCD and "other" anxiety disorders showed the lowest diagnostic stability. No significant sex differences were observed on the diagnostic stability of the anxiety disorder categories studied. Diagnostic stability measures for phobic, social anxiety, and "other" anxiety disorder diagnoses varied depending on the age at first evaluation. In this clinical pediatric outpatient sample it appears that phobic, social anxiety, and stress-related disorder diagnoses in children and adolescents treated in community outpatient services may have high diagnostic stability

Climate change and the kidney

The worldwide increase in temperature has resulted in a marked increase in heat waves (heat extremes) that carries a markedly increased risk for morbidity and mortality. The kidney has a unique role not only in protecting the host from heat and dehydration but also is an important site of heat-associated disease. Here we review the potential impact of global warming and heat extremes on kidney diseases. High temperatures can result in increased core temperatures, dehydration, and blood hyperosmolality. Heatstroke (both clinical and subclinical whole-body hyperthermia) may have a major role in causing both acute kidney disease, leading to increased risk of acute kidney injury from rhabdomyolysis, or heat-induced inflammatory injury to the kidney. Recurrent heat and dehydration can result in chronic kidney disease (CKD) in animals and theoretically plays a role in epidemics of CKD developing in hot regions of the world where workers are exposed to extreme heat. Heat stress and dehydration also has a role in kidney stone formation, and poor hydration habits may increase the risk for recurrent urinary tract infections. The resultant social and economic consequences include disability and loss of productivity and employment. Given the rise in world temperatures, there is a major need to better understand how heat stress can induce kidney disease, how best to provide adequate hydration, and ways to reduce the negative effects of chronic heat exposure.Published versio

MoS₂ Thin Films for Photo-Voltaic Applications

The low dimensional chalcogenide materials with high band gap of ~1.8 eV, specially molybdenum di-sulfide (MoS2), have been brought much attention in the material science community for their usage as semiconducting materials to fabricate low scaled electronic devices with high throughput and reliability, this includes also photovoltaic applications. In this chapter, experimental data for MoS2 material towards developing the next generation of high-efficiency solar cells is presented, which includes fabrication of ~100 nm homogeneous thin film over silicon di-oxide (SiO2) by using radio frequency sputtering at 275 W at high vacuum~10−9 from commercial MoS2 99.9% purity target. The films were studied by means of scanning and transmission electron microscopy with energy disperse spectroscopy, grazing incident low angle x-ray scattering, Raman spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, atom probe tomography, electrical transport using four-point probe resistivity measurement as well mechanical properties utilizing nano-indentation with continuous stiffness mode (CSM) approach. The experimental results indicate a vertical growth direction at (101)-MoS2 crystallites with stacking values of 7-laminates along the (002)-basal plane; principal Raman vibrations at E12g at 378 cm−1 and A1g at 407 cm−1. The hardness and elastic modulus values of H = 10.5 ± 0.1 GPa and E = 136 ± 2 GPa were estimated by CSM method from 0 to 90 nm of indenter penetration; as well transport measurements from −3.5 V to +3.5 V indicating linear Ohmic behavior

Granulocytes-Rich Thrombi in Cerebral Large Vessel Occlusion Are Associated with Increased Stiffness and Poorer Revascularization Outcomes

Acute stroke; Flow cytometry; Mechanical thrombectomyIctus agut; Citometria de flux; Trombectomia mecànicaIctus agudo; Citometría de flujo; Trombectomía mecánicaWe aim to identify a profile of intracranial thrombus resistant to recanalization by mechanical thrombectomy (MT) in acute stroke treatment. The first extracted clot of each MT was analyzed by flow cytometry obtaining the composition of the main leukocyte populations: granulocytes, monocytes, and lymphocytes. Demographics, reperfusion treatment, and grade of recanalization were registered. MT failure (MTF) was defined as final thrombolysis in cerebral infarction score IIa or lower and/or need of permanent intracranial stenting as a rescue therapy. To explore the relationship between stiffness of intracranial clots and cellular composition, unconfined compression tests were performed in other cohorts of cases. Thrombi obtained in 225 patients were analyzed. MTF were observed in 30 cases (13%). MTF was associated with atherosclerosis etiology (33.3% vs. 15.9%; p = 0.021) and higher number of passes (3 vs. 2; p < 0.001). Clot analysis of MTF showed higher percentage of granulocytes [82.46 vs. 68.90% p < 0.001] and lower percentage of monocytes [9.18% vs.17.34%, p < 0.001] in comparison to successful MT cases. The proportion of clot granulocytes (aOR 1.07; 95% CI 1.01–1.14) remained an independent marker of MTF. Among thirty-eight clots mechanically tested, there was a positive correlation between granulocyte proportion and thrombi stiffness (Pearson’s r = 0.35, p = 0.032), with a median clot stiffness of 30.2 (IQR, 18.9–42.7) kPa. Granulocytes-rich thrombi are harder to capture by mechanical thrombectomy due to increased stiffness, so a proportion of intracranial granulocytes might be useful to guide personalized endovascular procedures in acute stroke treatment.Open Access Funding provided by Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona. This work was supported by “Project 355/C/2017, Fundació La Marató de TV3 in Strokes and Traumatic Spinal Cord and Brain Injury, 2017 Call of Projects.

Parametrization of the average ionization and radiative cooling rates of carbon plasmas in a wide range of density and temperature

In this work we present an analysis of the influence of the thermodynamic regime on the monochromatic emissivity, the radiative power loss and the radiative cooling rate for optically thin carbon plasmas over a wide range of electron temperature and density assuming steady state situations. Furthermore, we propose analytical expressions depending on the electron density and temperature for the average ionization and cooling rate based on polynomial fittings which are valid for the whole range of plasma conditions considered in this work

Improving Cr (VI) Extraction through Electrodialysis

A laboratory study has been carried out to determine the feasibility of in situ remediation of chromium (VI) contaminated soil using electrodialysis. In a classic setup, this technique implies the application of a low intensity direct current to the soil, which is separated from the electrode compartments by ion-exchange membranes. If the pollutants are ionic compounds, they can be forced to migrate to the oppositely charged electrode by electro-migration. Membranes selectively impede the flow of ions in the electrode compartments back to the soil. If a metal species is naturally present as an anion, mobilization from the soil at alkaline pH can be realized and, at the same time, the mobilization of other metal cations that occur at low pH can be minimized. Experiments have been carried out with clayey soils (kaolinite clay and soil clay mixtures) that have been characterized and then contaminated by mixing with a potassium dichromate solution for several days. Initial Cr (VI) content ranges from 500 to 4000 mg/kg. Treatment tests were carried out in an acrylic laboratory cells consisting of a central soil compartment and two electrode compartments located at both ends of the column. Dimensionally stable titanium electrodes coated with mixed metal oxides were placed in the electrode compartments. 0.01M Na2SO4 electrolytes were recirculated through them from two 1-liter deposits using a peristaltic pump. Two commercial ion exchange membranes separated the anolyte and catholyte compartments from the soil in the standard configuration. A programmable DC: power supply was connected to the electrodes and a computer for data acquisition.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech. The authors acknowledge the financial support from the "Plan Propio de Investigación de la Universidad de Málaga" with project numbers PPIT.UMA.D1; PPIT.UMA.B1.2017/20 and PPIT.UMA.B5.2018/17. This work has also received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 778045

Dietary glycemic index and retinal microvasculature in adults: a cross-sectional study

[EN] Objective: To analyze the relationship between dietary glycemic index (GI) and retinal microvasculature in adults. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of 300 subjects from the EVIDENT II study. Dietary GI was calculated using a validated, semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire. Retinal photographs were digitized, temporal vessels were measured in an area 0.5–1 disc diameter from the optic disc and arteriolar-venular index (AVI) was estimated with semi-automated software. Results: AVI showed a significant difference between the tertiles of GI, after adjusting for potential confounders. The lowest AVI values were observed among subjects in the highest tertile of GI, whereas the greatest were found among those in the lowest tertile (estimated marginal mean of 0.738 vs. 0.768, p = 0.014). Conclusions: In adults, high dietary GI implies lowering AVI values regardless of age, gender and other confounding variables. Trial registration: Clinical Trials.gov Identifier: NCT02016014. Registered 9 December 2013

Evaluation of Optimal Vibrotactile Feedback for Force-Controlled Upper Limb Myoelectric Prostheses

The main goal of this study is to evaluate how to optimally select the best vibrotactile pattern to be used in a closed loop control of upper limb myoelectric prostheses as a feedback of the exerted force. To that end, we assessed both the selection of actuation patterns and the effects of the selection of frequency and amplitude parameters to discriminate between different feedback levels. A single vibrotactile actuator has been used to deliver the vibrations to subjects participating in the experiments. The results show no difference between pattern shapes in terms of feedback perception. Similarly, changes in amplitude level do not reflect significant improvement compared to changes in frequency. However, decreasing the number of feedback levels increases the accuracy of feedback perception and subject-specific variations are high for particular participants, showing that a fine-tuning of the parameters is necessary in a real-time application to upper limb prosthetics. In future works, the effects of training, location, and number of actuators will be assessed. This optimized selection will be tested in a real-time proportional myocontrol of a prosthetic hand.This research was funded by University of Alicante through project “Control Platform for a Robotic Hand based on Electromyographic Signals” (GRE16-20)