Model-based optimization biofilm based systems performing autotrophic nitrogen removal using the comprehensive NDHA model

WRRMod 2018. 6th IWA/WEF Water Resource Recovery Mod. Lac Beauport, Québec, Canada. 10-14 March, 2018Completely autotrophic nitrogen removal (CANR) can be obtained in single stage biofilm-based bioreactors. However, their environmental footprint is compromised due to elevated N2O emissions. We developed novel spatially explicit biochemical process model of biofilm based CANR systems that predicts N2O dynamics and stripping, using the biological NDHA model coupled with a simple and roubust pH calculator. In this work we present two case studies: i) membrane aerated biofilm reactor (MABR) with focus on model calibration; and ii) granular system with focus on process optimizationThe work has been partially funded by The Danish Council for Independent Research Technology and Production Sciences (FTP) (Project N2Oman, File No. 1335-00100B

Reestructuración agrícola de las familias productoras de maíz: estudio en San Mateo Ayecac, Tlaxcala, 2000-2008.

La investigación tiene por objetivo analizar el mecanismo de transformación agrícola expresado en los cambios de la fuerza de trabajo agrícola en términos de su estructura económica así como las principales consecuencias económicas en la comunidad de San Mateo Ayecac, municipio de Tepetitla en el estado de Tlaxcala. Los resultados muestran una transformación de las familias productoras de granos básicos, expresados en el proceso productivo, específicamente en la disminución de labores, fertilización, disminución del trabajo familiar y en el rendimiento. A pesar de ello no existe abandono de la actividad agrícola y sigue siendo la base de la alimentación familiar y un importante abastecedor de alimentos de los mercados locales

A closer look at chaotic advection in the stratosphere: part II: statistical diagnostics

Statistical diagnostics of mixing and transport are computed for a numerical model of forced shallow-water flow on the sphere and a middle-atmosphere general circulation model. In particular, particle dispersion statistics, transport fluxes, Liapunov exponents (probability density functions and ensemble averages), and tracer concentration statistics are considered. It is shown that the behavior of the diagnostics is in accord with that of kinematic chaotic advection models so long as stochasticity is sufficiently weak. Comparisons with random-strain theory are made

A literature review and case report of hand, foot and mouth disease in an immunocompetent adult

Background: to report an uncommon case of hand, foot and mouth disease, (HFMD) in an immunocompetent adult; a highly infectious disease, characterized by the appearance of vesicles on the mouth, hands and feet, associated with coxsackieviruses and enteroviruses; including a literature review. Case report: a 23 year Caucasian male with no medical or surgical history, no allergies, was not taking any medication and smoked ten cigarettes a day, suffering from discomfort in the oral cavity; itching, burning and pain when swallowing associated with small erythematous lesions located on the hard palate, and small ulcers in tonsillar pillars and right buccal mucosa. Mild fever of 37.8 °C and general malaise. The patient reported he had had contact with a child diagnosed with HFMD. From his background and symptoms, the patient was diagnosed with HFMD. Following symptomatic treatment, the symptoms remitted in 7 days. Methods: a literature review in MEDLINE (PubMed). The inclusion criteria were for studies on humans over the last 5 years, using the keywords HFMD. Results: we found 925 articles, which were subsequently reduced to 52 documents after applying the inclusion criteria. Maculopapular lesions were found on hands and feet. Conclusions: dentists may have a key role diagnosing the disease. A surveillance system to predict future outbreaks, encourage early diagnosis, put appropriate public health measures in place and research vaccine development is vitally important in order to control the disease

DESCRIPCIÓN Y ANÁLISIS DEL GRADO DE APLICACIÓN DEL PROGRAMA INFORMÁTICO DE CUIDADOS, AZAHAR, EN EL HOSPITAL UNIVERSITARIO REINA SOFÍA DE CÓRDOBA. PLANTEAMIENTO DE NUEVAS LÍNEAS DE ACTUACIÓN

To provide qualitative nursing care starting from a jointly unity criteria was one of the objectives to register and manage the nursing care process through a computer program at the Hospital of Reina Sofia in Cordoba. We present a first assessment on its application.Prestar cuidados enfermeros de calidad a partir de una unidad consensuada de criterio fue uno de los objetivos para registrar y gestionar el Proceso de Atención de Enfermería a través de un programa informático, en el Hospital Reina Sofía de Córdoba. Se presenta una primera evaluación de su grado de aplicació

Test-time Unsupervised Domain Adaptation

Convolutional neural networks trained on publicly available medical imaging datasets (source domain) rarely generalise to different scanners or acquisition protocols (target domain). This motivates the active field of domain adaptation. While some approaches to the problem require labeled data from the target domain, others adopt an unsupervised approach to domain adaptation (UDA). Evaluating UDA methods consists of measuring the model's ability to generalise to unseen data in the target domain. In this work, we argue that this is not as useful as adapting to the test set directly. We therefore propose an evaluation framework where we perform test-time UDA on each subject separately. We show that models adapted to a specific target subject from the target domain outperform a domain adaptation method which has seen more data of the target domain but not this specific target subject. This result supports the thesis that unsupervised domain adaptation should be used at test-time, even if only using a single target-domain subjectComment: Accepted at MICCAI 202

Incidence of peripheral arterial disease in the ARTPER population cohort after 5 years of follow-up

To know the epidemiology (prevalence, incidence, progression and morbidity and mortality associated) of peripheral artery disease in general population and the factors associated with this progression is essential to know the evolution of atherosclerosis and develop preventive strategies. The aim of the study was to determine the incidence of PAD after 5 years of follow-up population-based cohort ARTPER, and the evolution of Ankle brachial Index (ABI) in this period. Peripheral artery disease incidence analysis after 5 years of follow-up of 3786 subjects > 50 years old. Peripheral artery disease incident when the second cross section Ankle brachial Index was <0.9 in any of the lower limbs, with normal baseline (0.9 to 1.4). Between 2012 and 2013 2762 individuals (77 % participation) were re-examined. Finally analyzed 2256 subjects (after excluding pathological Ankle brachial Index) followed for 4.9 years (range 3.8 to 5.8 years), totalling 11,106 person-years. Peripheral artery disease 95 new cases were detected, representing an incidence of 4.3 % at 5 years and 8.6 per 1000 person-years (95 % CI 6.9 to 10.5) being higher in men (10.2, 95 % CI 7.4 to 13.5) than in women (7.5, 95 % CI 5.5 to 9.9). Linear correlation between the baseline Ankle brachial Index and the second cross section was low (r = 0.23). The incidence of peripheral artery disease in ARTPER cohort was 8.6 cases per 1000 person-years, being higher in men, especially <65 years. The correlation between two measures Ankle brachial Index after 5 years of follow-up was low. One might consider whether Ankle brachial Index repeated measures could improve the correlation

Effectiveness of a medication adherence management intervention in a community pharmacy setting: a cluster randomised controlled trial

BackgroundNon-adherence to medications continues to be a burden worldwide, with significant negative consequences. Community pharmacist interventions seem to be effective at improving medication adherence. However, more evidence is needed regarding their impact on disease-specific outcomes. The aim was to evaluate the impact of a community pharmacist-led adherence management intervention on adherence and clinical outcomes in patients with hypertension, asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).MethodsA 6-month cluster randomised controlled trial was conducted in Spanish community pharmacies. Patients suffering from hypertension, asthma and COPD were recruited. Patients in the intervention group received a medication adherence management intervention and the control group received usual care. The intervention was based on theoretical frameworks for changing patient behaviour. Medication adherence, disease-specific outcomes (Asthma Control Questionnaire (ACQ) scores, Clinical COPD Questionnaire (CCQ) scores and blood pressure levels) and disease control were evaluated. A multilevel regression model was used to analyse the data.ResultsNinety-eight pharmacies and 1186 patients were recruited, with 1038 patients completing the study. Patients receiving the intervention had an OR of 5.12 (95% CI 3.20 to 8.20, pConclusionsA community pharmacist-led medication adherence intervention was effective at improving medication adherence and clinical outcomes in patients suffering from hypertension, asthma and COPD. Future research should explore the implementation of these interventions in routine practice.Trial registration numberACTRN12618000410257

CHRONOFALLS: A multicentre nurse-led intervention in the chronoprevention of in-hospital falls in adults

Background: Falls are among the most common and serious adverse events for hospitalised patients. In-hospital falls pose a major medical and economic challenge for public health worldwide. Nevertheless, the issue is often addressed without regard to certain relevant variables such as the time of the fall. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of the implementation of a nurse-led intervention based on the temporal patterns of falls and their aetiology on the occurrence of falls. Methods: A mixed-method research design was carried out in three phases: a) a longitudinal prospective study (audits, chronobiological analyses and implementation of a multicentre nurse-led intervention based on temporal patterns of falls); b) a retrospective study of fall records; and c) a qualitative study based on focus groups. The protocol was published in 2021. Results: A difference was observed in the number of fall records before and after the chronopreventive intervention (retrospective: 64.4% vs. 35.6%; p &lt; 0,001). According to the interrupted series analysis, considering the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic, a reduction in falls of 2.96% (95% CI 1.70%-4.17%) was observed. The concepts of falls, the COVID-19 pandemic and the causes of non-registration have emerged as categories for qualitative analysis. Conclusions: A multicentric nurse-led program based on tailored organisational, educational and behavioural chronopreventive measures seems to lead to a reduction in the number of in-hospital falls. The findings of the present study, highlighting the implementation of chronopreventive measures, can serve as a basis for future health policies

Network 'small-world-ness': a quantitative method for determining canonical network equivalence

Background: Many technological, biological, social, and information networks fall into the broad class of 'small-world' networks: they have tightly interconnected clusters of nodes, and a shortest mean path length that is similar to a matched random graph (same number of nodes and edges). This semi-quantitative definition leads to a categorical distinction ('small/not-small') rather than a quantitative, continuous grading of networks, and can lead to uncertainty about a network's small-world status. Moreover, systems described by small-world networks are often studied using an equivalent canonical network model-the Watts-Strogatz (WS) model. However, the process of establishing an equivalent WS model is imprecise and there is a pressing need to discover ways in which this equivalence may be quantified. Methodology/Principal Findings: We defined a precise measure of 'small-world-ness' S based on the trade off between high local clustering and short path length. A network is now deemed a 'small-world' if S. 1-an assertion which may be tested statistically. We then examined the behavior of S on a large data-set of real-world systems. We found that all these systems were linked by a linear relationship between their S values and the network size n. Moreover, we show a method for assigning a unique Watts-Strogatz (WS) model to any real-world network, and show analytically that the WS models associated with our sample of networks also show linearity between S and n. Linearity between S and n is not, however, inevitable, and neither is S maximal for an arbitrary network of given size. Linearity may, however, be explained by a common limiting growth process. Conclusions/Significance: We have shown how the notion of a small-world network may be quantified. Several key properties of the metric are described and the use of WS canonical models is placed on a more secure footing