Detection of subclinical keratoconus with a validated alternative method to corneal densitometry

Purpose: To enhance the current standards of subclinical keratoconus screening based on the statistical modeling of the pixel intensity distribution of Scheimpflug images. Methods: Scheimpflug corneal tomographies corresponding to 25 corneal meridians of 60 participants were retrospectively collected and divided into three groups: controls (20 eyes), subclinical keratoconus (20 eyes), and clinical keratoconus (20 eyes). Only right eyes were selected. After corneal segmentation, pixel intensities of the stromal tissue were statistically modeled using a Weibull probability density function from which parameter a (pixel brightness) was derived. Further, data were transformed to polar coordinates, smoothed, and interpolated to build a map of the corneal a parameter. The discriminative power of the method was analyzed using receiver operating characteristic curves. Results: The proposed platform-independent method achieved a higher performance in discriminating subclinical keratoconus from control eyes (90.0% sensitivity, 95.0% specificity, 0.97 area under the curve [AUC]) than the standard method (Belin–Ambrósio enhanced ectasia display), which uses only corneal morphometry (85.0% sensitivity, 85.0% specificity, 0.80 AUC). Conclusions: Analysis of light backscatter at the cornea successfully discriminates subclinical keratoconus from control eyes, upgrading the results previously reported in the literature. Translational Relevance: The proposed methodology has the potential to support clinicians in the detection of keratoconus before showing clinical signs. © 2021 The Authors

Oxidative Stress in Cystic Fibrosis

Airway infection leads to progressive damage of the lungs in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). Oxidative stress has been implicated as a causative factor in the aetiology of that process. Supplementation with antioxidant micronutrients (vitamin E, vitamin C, ß-carotene and selenium), docosahexaenoic acid or glutathione might therefore be helpful in maintaining an adequate redox balance. Current literature suggests a relationship between oxidative status and lung function. In this chapter we will summarize the main pathways of oxidative stress, focusing on results of new antioxidant treatments

Distribución de los estilos educativos y su nivel de afecto y exigencia de normas

Los estilos educativos desplegados por los padres han sido objetivo de una amplia investigación, coincidiendo muchos de ellos en la existencia de cuatro estilos. Los estilos educativos no son rasgos fijos de actuación frente a la educación de los hijos, si no que varían en un continuo en función de las distintas interacciones padre-hijo y del contexto social .Los cuatro estilos educativos no se distribuyen en la población de forma puras, sino combinados, donde predominará la conjunción de varios de ellos. El objetivo de esta investigación es valorar la distribución de los estilos educativos, si se dan en solitario o predominan la combinación entre ellos, utilizando los estilos propuestos por Magaz y García (1998), sobreprotector, inhibicionista, punitivo y asertivo. Igualmente se valorará en los estilos resultantes el nivel de afecto según dos dimensiones afecto-comunicación y crítica –rechazo, y el nivel de exigencia de normas según las tres dimensiones inductiva, rígida e indulgente. La muestra está formada por 121 padres/madres participantes en ediciones de formación para madres/padres en centros educativos. Los resultados han mostrado una predominancia del estilo asertivo, en solitario, con escasos estilos mixtos. Esto explica igualmente los altos niveles de afecto-comunicación y de estilo indulgente obtenidos. Se discuten los resultados valorando la influencia de la deseabilidad social en este tipo de estudios.Educational styles made by parents have been the target of extensive research, coinciding many of them there are four styles. Educational styles are not fixed traits of action against the education of children, but it continued to vary according to the different parent-child interactions and the social context. The four parenting styles are not distributed in the population of pure form, but combined, where predominate the combination of several of them. The objective of this research is to assess the distribution of educational styles, if given alone or in combination predominate among them, using those proposed by Garcia Magaz and Styles (1998), overprotective, inhibicionista, punitive and assertive. Also be assessed in the resulting styles level in two dimensions affection affection-critical communication and Rejection, and the level of demand for the three inductive rules as rigid and indulgent dimensions. The sample consisted of 121 parents / mothers participating in training issues for mothers / parents in schools. The results showed a predominance of assertive style, alone, with few mixed styles. This also explains the high levels of communication and affection-indulgent style obtained. the results assessing the influence of social desirability in these studies are discussed

Gingival neurofibroma in a neurofibromatosis type 1 patient : case report

Neurofibroma is a benign peripheral nerve sheath tumour. It is one of the most frequent tumours of neural origin and its presence is one of the clinical criteria for the diagnosis of type 1 neurofibromatosis (NF-I). Neurofibromatosis type 1 is an autosomal dominantly inherited disease due to an alteration in the long arm of chromosome 17. About 50% of NF-I patients have no family history of the disease. NF-I patients have skin lesions (café au lait spots and neurofibromas) as well as bone malformations and central nervous system tumours. Diagnosis is based on a series of clinical criteria. Gingival neurofibroma in NF-I is uncommon. Treatment of neurofibromas is surgical resection. The aim of this paper is to report a case of NF-I with gingival involvement and to review the literature

Electronic transport and vibrational modes in the smallest molecular bridge: H2 in Pt nanocontacts

We present a state-of-the-art first-principles analysis of electronic transport in a Pt nanocontact in the presence of H2 which has been recently reported by Smit et al. in Nature 419, 906 (2002). Our results indicate that at the last stages of the breaking of the Pt nanocontact two basic forms of bridge involving H can appear. Our claim is, in contrast to Smit et al.'s, that the main conductance histogram peak at G approx 2e^2/h is not due to molecular H2, but to a complex Pt2H2 where the H2 molecule dissociates. A first-principles vibrational analysis that compares favorably with the experimental one also supports our claim .Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Localized leishmaniasis of the oral mucosa. A report of three cases

El término leishmaniasis comprende un grupo de enfermedades causadas por diferentes especies de un protozoo llamado Leishmania. La leishmaniasis se produce en todo el mundo, considerándose endémica en 88 países. Existen tres formas clínicas principales de leishmaniasis: leishmaniasis visceral, leishmaniasis cutánea y leishmaniasis mucocutánea. La afectación de la mucosa, de manera exclusiva, por la Leishmania es muy rara. Presentamos una serie de tres casos de leishmaniasis mucosa localizados en la cavidad oral. El hecho de que todos los casos se produjeran en España, área endémica de L infantum, nos hace presuponer que éste fue el agente causal. La única manifestación de enfermedad de leishmaniasis en los casos descritos, fue la aparición de una lesión oral. Se administró tratamiento con antimoniato de meglumina en dos de ellos, respondiendo favorablemente. Uno de los pacientes abandonó el hospital tras el diagnóstico sin recibir tratamiento y se desconoce la evolución. Realizamos también una revisión de la literatura

Higher incidence of adverse events in isolated patients compared with non-isolated patients: A cohort study

Objective To determine whether isolated patients admitted to hospital have a higher incidence of adverse events (AEs), to identify their nature, impact and preventability. Design Prospective cohort study with isolated and non-isolated patients. Setting One public university hospital in the Valencian Community (southeast Spain). Participants We consecutively collected 400 patients, 200 isolated and 200 non-isolated, age =18 years old, to match according to date of entry, admission department, sex, age (±5 years) and disease severity from April 2017 to October 2018. Exclusion criteria: patients age <18 years old and/or reverse isolation patients. Primary and secondary outcome measures The primary outcome as the AE, defined according to the National Study of Adverse Effects linked to Hospitalisation (Estudio Nacional Sobre los Efectos Adversos) criteria. Cumulative incidence rates and AE incidence density rates were calculated. Results The incidence of isolated patients with AEs 16.5% (95% CI 11.4% to 21.6%) compared with 9.5% (95% CI 5.4% to 13.6%) in non-isolated (p<0.03). The incidence density of patients with AEs among isolated patients was 11.8 per 1000?days/patient (95%?CI 7.8 to 15.9) compared with 4.3 per 1000?days/patient (95%?CI 2.4 to 6.3) among non-isolated patients (p<0.001). The incidence of AEs among isolated patients was 18.5% compared with 11% for non-isolated patients (p<0.09). Among the 37 AEs detected in 33 isolated patients, and the 22 AEs detected in 19 non-isolated patients, most corresponded to healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) for both isolated and non-isolated patients (48.6% vs 45.4%). There were significant differences with respect to the preventability of AEs, (67.6% among isolated patients compared with 52.6% among non-isolated patients). Conclusions AEs were significantly higher in isolated patients compared with non-isolated patients, more than half being preventable and with HAIs as the primary cause. It is essential to improve training and the safety culture of healthcare professionals relating to the care provided to this type of patient

Prevalence of electrocardiographic findings associated to sudden cardiac death: spontaneous type 1 and type 2 Brugada patterns and QT disorders in spanish population older than forty years

Abstrac

P14 282. Endocarditis protésica. experiencia de 20 años

ObjetivosRevisamos la experiencia de nuestro centro en endocarditis protésica (EP).Material y métodosEntre 1990–2010, se intervienen 62 casos, que representaron el 23% de 276 casos totales de endocarditis y 2,46% de pacientes valvulares (precoces 0,58% con 20 casos, tardías 1,68% con 42 casos). No hubo diferencias en tipo ni localización de las prótesis, ni en incidencia entre las dos décadas (2,59% en 1990–2000 y 2,32% en 2000–2010). Edad media 59 años. Gérmenes: S. viridans 20,9%; S. epidermidis 16,1%; S. aureus 11,6%; C. burnetii 9,6%; enterococos 8%; difteroides 6,4%; hongos 6,4%. En un 8% de los casos se encontraron gérmenes raros aislados, mientras que no se identificó germen en 12,9%. Se intervinieron de forma urgente el 30% de pacientes (19 casos, el 45% de formas precoces y el 23% de formas tardías).ResultadosLa mortalidad precoz fue del 16%, a expensas sobre todo de EP precoz (12%). La supervivencia global a 10 años fue del 50%, con diferencias entre los dos grupos (EP precoz 15%; EP tardía 66%). El 70% de supervivientes se encuentra actualmente en clase funcional I-II/IV.ConclusiónLa EP sigue teniendo una incidencia relativamente elevada en nuestro medio. La EP precoz tiene una mortalidad muy elevada. La cirugía de la EP tardía tiene muy buenos resultados a largo plazo

Compilation of parameterized seismogenic sources in Iberia for the SHARE European-scale seismic source model.

Abstract: SHARE (Seismic Hazard Harmonization in Europe) is an EC-funded project (FP7) that aims to evaluate European seismic hazards using an integrated, standardized approach. In the context of SHARE, we are compiling a fully-parameterized active fault database for Iberia and the nearby offshore region. The principal goal of this initiative is for fault sources in the Iberian region to be represented in SHARE and incorporated into the source model that will be used to produce seismic hazard maps at the European scale. The SHARE project relies heavily on input from many regional experts throughout the Euro-Mediterranean region. At the SHARE regional meeting for Iberia, the 2010 Working Group on Iberian Seismogenic Sources (WGISS) was established; these researchers are contributing to this large effort by providing their data to the Iberian regional integrators in a standardized format. The development of the SHARE Iberian active fault database is occurring in parallel with IBERFAULT, another ongoing effort to compile a database of active faults in the Iberian region. The SHARE Iberian active fault database synthesizes a wide range of geological and geophysical observations on active seismogenic sources, and incorporates existing compilations (e.g., Cabral, 1995; Silva et al., 2008), original data contributed directly from researchers, data compiled from the literature, parameters estimated using empirical and analytical relationships, and, where necessary, parameters derived using expert judgment. The Iberian seismogenic source model derived for SHARE will be the first regional-scale source model for Iberia that includes fault data and follows an internationally standardized approach (Basili et al., 2008; 2009). This model can be used in both seismic hazard and risk analyses and will be appropriate for use in Iberian- and European-scale assessments