Un sistema de bajo coste para la ayuda al prediagnóstico del temblor humano

Human tremor can be defined as a somewhat rhythmic and quick movement of one or more body parts. In some people, it is a symptom of a neurological disorder. From the mathematical point of view, human tremor can be defined as a weighted contribution of different sinusoidal signals which causes oscillations of some parts of the body. This sinusoidal is repeated over time, but its amplitude and frequency change slowly. This is why amplitude and frequency are considered important factors in the tremor characterization, and thus for its diagnosis. In this paper, a tool for the prediagnosis of the human tremor is presented. This tool uses a low cost device (<$40) and allows to compute the main factors of the human tremor accurately. Real cases have been tested using the algorithms developed in this investigation. The patients suffered from different tremor severities, and the components of amplitude and frequency were computed using a series of tests. These additional measures will help the experts to make better diagnoses allowing them to focus on specific stages of the test or get an overview of these tests. From the experimental, we stated that not all tests are valid for every patient to give a diagnosis. Guided by years of experience, the expert will decide which test or set of tests are the most appropriate for a patient.El temblor humano puede definirse como un movimiento rápido y, en cierta manera, rítmico de una o más partes del cuerpo. En algunas personas, este movimiento puede ser un síntoma de alguna alteración a nivel neurológico. Desde el punto de vista matemático, el temblor humano puede ser definido como una suma ponderada de diferentes señales sinusoidales que causan oscilaciones de algunas partes del cuerpo. Esta sinusoide se repite en el tiempo pero su amplitud y frecuencia cambian lentamente. Por esta razón, la amplitud y la frecuencia son consideradas factores importantes en la clasificación del temblor y por tanto útiles en su diagnóstico. En este artículo, se presenta una herramienta de ayuda al diagnóstico del temblor humano. Esta herramienta usa un dispositivo hardware de bajo coste (<$40) y permite calcular las principales componentes de esta sinusoide asociada al temblor de una manera precisa. Como casos de estudio se presentan su aplicación a dos casos reales para probar la bondad de los algoritmos desarrollados. Los casos muestran pacientes que sufrían temblores con distinta severidad y que han realizado una serie de tests con el dispositivo para que el sistema calculara las principales componentes del temblor. Estas medidas aportadas por el sistema ayudarían en un futuro a los expertos a tomar decisiones más precisas permitiéndoles centrarse en determinadas fases del test o la realización de tests más específicos para evaluar mejor las características propias del temblor del paciente. De la experimentación realizada podemos afirmar que no todos los tests son válidos para el diagnóstico para todos los pacientes. Será finalmente la experiencia del profesional el que decidirá finalmente qué test o conjunto de tests son los más apropiados para cada paciente

Impact of swirl on in-cylinder heat transfer in a light-duty diesel engine

[EN] One of the key strategies to reduce CO2 emissions is to improve the efficiency of engines in order to diminish fuel consumption. A way to increase engine efficiency is to reduce the heat losses. Internal heat transfer in engines depends on combustion chamber conditions. Swirl is an important parameter for combustion that also changes in-cylinder variables relevant to heat transfer. In this work, influence of swirl on combustion chamber heat fluxes was investigated employing wall temperature data and a 0-D thermal model. Local wall temperatures were measured at various locations of the cylinder liner and the cylinder head using thermocouples. A sweep of swirl ratios was carried out at different engine operating conditions. It was observed that the effect of swirl effect was highly dependent on location and was more important near the center of the firedeck. Results from the 0-D thermal model were evaluated by comparing measured and predicted wall temperatures. Using a convenient arrangement of thermocouples and the 0-D thermal model, it was possible to calculate heat flux from combustion chamber to cylinder walls. By analyzing heat flux through the firedeck, an increase in heat losses between 4 and 12% was observed for each unit that swirl number was increased. Results from the 0-D thermal model indicate that similar effects occur for other surfaces in the combustion chamber. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.The authors acknowledge General Motors Global R&D for supporting this research. The equipment used in this work was partially supported by FEDER project funds "Dotacion de infraestructuras cientifico tecnicas para el Centro Integral de Mejora Energetica y Medioambiental de Sistemas de Transporte (CiMeT), (FEDER-ICTS-2012-06)", framed in the operational program of unique scientific and technical infrastructure of the Ministry of Science and Innovation of Spain.Broatch, A.; Olmeda, P.; García Martínez, A.; Salvador-Iborra, J.; Warey, A. (2017). Impact of swirl on in-cylinder heat transfer in a light-duty diesel engine. Energy. 119:1010-1023. doi:10.1016/j.energy.2016.11.040S1010102311

Patent Boxes Design, Patents Location and Local R&D

Patent boxes have been heavily debated for their role in corporate tax competition. This paper uses firm-level data for the period 2000-2011 for the top 2,000 corporate research and development (R&D) investors worldwide to consider the determinants of patent registration across a large sample of countries. Importantly, we disentangle the effects of corporate income taxation from the tax advantage of patent boxes. We also exploit a new and original dataset on patent box features such as the conditionality on performing research in the country, and their scope. We find that patent boxes have a considerable effect on attracting patents, mostly because of their favourable tax treatment, especially for high-quality patents. Patent boxes with a large scope in terms of tax base definition also have stronger effects on the location of patents. The size of the tax advantage offered through patent box regimes is found to deter local innovative activities, whereas R&D development conditions tend to attenuate this adverse effect. Our simulations show that, on average, countries imposing such development conditions tend to grant a tax advantage that is slightly greater than optimal from a local R&D impact perspective

¿Cuánta carga asistencial suponen las dermatosispediátricas en la actividad ambulatoria en ladermatología espa˜nola? Resultados del muestreoaleatorio nacional DIADERM

Un total de 20.097 diagnósticos fueron efectuados en pacientes menores de18 a˜nos, lo que supone un 12% del total de los codificados en DIADERM. Las infecciones víri-cas, el acné y la dermatitis atópica fueron los diagnósticos más comunes (43,9% de todos losdiagnósticos). No se observaron diferencias estadísticamente significativas en la proporción dediagnósticos atendidos en las consultas monográficas frente a las generales, así como en losregistrados en el ámbito público frente al privado. Tampoco las hubo en los diagnósticos enfunción de la época de la encuesta (enero y mayo).Conclusiones: La atención a pacientes pediátricos por parte de dermatólogos en Espa˜na suponeuna proporción significativa de la actividad habitual. Estos datos nos permiten descubrir áreasde mejora en la comunicación y la formación de los pediatras de atención primaria, comola necesidad del refuerzo de actividades formativas dirigidas al mejor tratamiento de acné ylesiones pigmentadas (y manejo básico de la dermatoscopia) en este ámbito asistencial.SurveyAbstractBackground: Visits for skin conditions are very common in pediatric primary care, and many ofthe patients seen in outpatient dermatology clinics are children or adolescents. Little, however,has been published about the true prevalence of these visits or about their characteristics.Material and methods: Observational cross-sectional study of diagnoses made in outpatientdermatology clinics during 2 data-collection periods in the anonymous DIADERM National Ran-dom Survey of dermatologists across Spain. All entries with an International Classification ofDiseases, Tenth Revision code related to dermatology in the 2 periods (84 diagnoses) were collec-ted for patients younger than 18 years and classified into 14 categories to facilitate analysisand comparison.Results: In total, the search found 20 097 diagnoses made in patients younger than 18 years (12%of all coded diagnoses in the DIADERM database). Viral infections, acne, and atopic dermatitiswere the most common, accounting for 43.9% of all diagnoses. No significant differences wereobserved in the proportions of diagnoses in the respective caseloads of specialist vs. generaldermatology clinics or public vs. private clinics. Seasonal differences in diagnoses (January vs.May) were also nonsignificant.Conclusions: Pediatric care accounts for a significant proportion of the dermatologist’s caseloadin Spain. Our findings are useful for identifying opportunities for improving communication andtraining in pediatric primary care and for designing training focused on the optimal treatmentof acne and pigmented lesions (with instruction on basic dermoscopy use) in these settings.El estudio DIADERM fue promovido por la Fundación Piel Sanade la AEDV, que recibió ayuda económica de Novarti

Control strategies based on symmetrical components for grid-connected converters under voltage dips

Low-voltage ride-through (LVRT) requirements demand wind-power plants to remain connected to the network in presence of grid-voltage dips. Most dips present positive-, negative-, and zero-sequence components. Hence, regulators based on symmetrical components are well suited to control gridconnected converters. A neutral-point-clamped topology has been considered as an active front end of a distributed power-generation system, following the trend of increasing power and voltage levels in wind-power systems. Three different current controllers based on symmetrical components and linear quadratic regulator have been considered. The performance of each controller is evaluated on LVRT requirement fulfillment, grid-current balancing, maximum grid-current value control, and oscillating power flow. Simulation and experimental results show that all three controllers meet LVRT requirements, although different system performance is found for each control approach. Therefore, controller selection depends on the system constraints and the type of preferred performance features.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Classification of mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s Disease with machine-learning techniques using 1H Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy data

[Abstract] Several magnetic resonance techniques have been proposed as non-invasive imaging biomarkers for the evaluation of disease progression and early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). This work is the first application of the Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy 1H-MRS data and machine-learning techniques to the classification of AD. A gender-matched cohort of 260 subjects aged between 57 and 99 years from the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Unit, of the Fundación CIEN-Fundación Reina Sofía has been used. A single-layer perceptron was found for AD prediction with only two spectroscopic voxel volumes (Tvol and CSFvol) in the left hippocampus, with an AUROC value of 0.866 (with TPR 0.812 and FPR 0.204) in a filter feature selection approach. These results suggest that knowing the composition of white and grey matter and cerebrospinal fluid of the spectroscopic voxel is essential in a 1H-MRS study to improve the accuracy of the quantifications and classifications, particularly in those studies involving elder patients and neurodegenerative diseases.Instituto de Salud Carlos III; PI13/0028

A Case-Control Study of Cognitive Function in Patients with End-Stage Renal Disease Before and After Hemodialysis in Southern Spain

BACKGROUND: This single-center study aimed to investigate the effects of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) on modulation of thyroid hormone levels and cognition in the recovery stage of patients with cognitive dysfunction following stroke. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Seventy post-stroke patients who had cognitive impairment were randomly assigned to either the rTMS group or the control (sham) group. Both groups were administered basic treatment, with the rTMS group receiving rTMS (1 Hz, 90% MT, 1000 pulse/20 min, once a day for 5 days, for a total of 20 times), the stimulation site was the contralateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), and the sham group receiving sham stimulation which had the same stimulation parameters and site, except that the coil plane was placed perpendicular to the surface of the scalp. Cognitive function assessment and thyroid function tests were performed before and after 4 weeks of treatment. RESULTS: Serum levels of triiodothyronine (T3), free triiodothyronine (FT3), and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) showed a positive correlation with Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) scale score of stroke patients in the recovery phase. The post-treatment change in the scores of MoCA and Modified Barthel Index (MBI) and scores of 3 cognitive domains (visuospatial function, memory, and attention), as well as serum T3, FT3, and TSH levels, were improved more significantly in the rTMS group, and T3 and FT3 levels significantly affected the MoCA scores within the reference range. CONCLUSIONS: Serum T3, FT3, and TSH levels of stroke patients in the recovery phase were positively correlated with MoCA score. rTMS increased T3, FT3, and TSH levels and also improved MoCA and MBI of patients in the recovery phase of stroke