Autonomic and cortical response of soldiers in different combat scenarios

Introduction The study of chronic and acute responses when exposed to extreme, aggressive and stressful environments, such as in combat environments, is becoming increasingly popular as such information leads to better optimisation of soldiers’ physical and psychological performance, as well as mission effectiveness and efficiency. Due to internal complexity, uncertainty and variability of real combat scenarios, a specific approach to all possible types of military combat scenarios is necessary. Methods Modifications in the autonomic modulation and cortical arousal before and after asymmetrical, symmetrical and close quarter combat simulations were analysed in 31 male professional veteran soldiers (age: 34.5±4.2 years) with between seven and 18 years of experience in their respective units, as well as experience in international missions in current conflict areas such as Lebanon, Afghanistan, Bosnia, Kosovo and Iraq. Results The three combat situations produced a non-significant decrease in cortical arousal after combat simulations, presenting a trivial effect size in symmetrical and close quarter combat situations and a small effect size in asymmetrical situations. HR increased significantly in the three combat situations, and close quarter combat produced the highest sympathetic modulation of the three situations analysed. Conclusion Symmetrical, asymmetrical and close quarter combat situations produced an increase in sympathetic modulation, being highest in the close quarter combat situation, where actions are performed at a close distance and in closed spaces

Human-robot cooperation for robust surface treatment using non-conventional sliding mode control

© 2018 ISA This work presents a human-robot closely collaborative solution to cooperatively perform surface treatment tasks such as polishing, grinding, deburring, etc. The method considers two force sensors attached to the manipulator end-effector and tool: one sensor is used to properly accomplish the surface treatment task, while the second one is used by the operator to guide the robot tool. The proposed scheme is based on task priority and adaptive non-conventional sliding mode control. The applicability of the proposed approach is substantiated by experimental results using a redundant 7R manipulator: the Sawyer cobot

Report of the Workshop on Age estimation of European anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus)

Based on the results of a full-scale otolith exchange held in 2014, the Working Group on Biological Parameters (WGBIOP 2015) identified the need for an age reading workshop on European Anchovy otoliths (WKARA2). This workshop (chaired by Andres Uriarte, Spain, Begoña Villamor, Spain and Gualtiero Basilone, Italy), was held in Pasaia, Gui-puzcoa (Spain) from the 28 November to 2 December 2016. Five countries took part in this workshop (Spain, Italy, Croatia, Greece and Tunisia), with a total of 16 participants from 9 laboratories. In total 17 areas/stocks were analysed (4 from the Atlantic area and 13 from Mediterranean Sea) The aim of this workshop was to review the information on age determination, discuss the results of the previous exchange (2014), review the validation methods existing on these species, clarify the interpretation of annual rings and update the age reading pro-tocol and a reference collection of well-defined otoliths. Age validation studies, in the Bay of Biscay and preliminary validation studies in Divi-sion 9a, Alboran Sea and Strait of Sicily areas were presented, including a compilation of age validation studies of this species as well in the literature. There are several ar-eas/stocks in which validations of the anchovy annual age determination have not been done yet. Due to the poor percentage of agreement achieved in the 2014 Exchange (mean agree-ment of 66%; mean CV of 58%), the workshop proceeded with a detailed and joint dis-cussion on the growth patterns shown by otoliths from the different areas to find out the major reasons for discrepancies in age determination among readers. At the same time, the joint discussion allowed a better understanding of the pattern of otolith growth in-crements by areas to improve the guidelines for their interpretation. The discussions on examples among otoliths which generated discrepancies in the age determination led to conclude that there were two major sources of disagreements: a) Divergent otolith inter-pretation: different interpretations of the marks, growth bands and edges in terms of their conformity with the expected growth pattern of the anchovies, seasonal formation of the otolith by ages and most common checks. and b) wrong application of the age allocation Rules: it was evidenced during the workshop that for the birthdate first July (or first June) in some cases the age determination rule was not being correctly applied during the first half of the year (from January to June). Following the workshop discussions there has been a progressive change in the percep-tion of the growth pattern applicable to these anchovy otoliths in many areas which led to some revisions of the otolith interpretation and assigned ages, by which growth at ages 0 and 1 are far prominent than at older ages and the occurrence of checks became more frequently admitted. Furthermore, there have been evidences that the age determination rules have in some instances been inconsistently applied. All these evidences led to con-clude on the need to review past age determinations. Although this task should be de-layed until running an exchange in 2018 to be sure that all the readers apply the protocol and the current criteria of this workshop coherently, since current criteria would change the otoliths interpretation and the age determination in many areas. In addition, for the Mediterranean regions the convenience of midyear birthdates was put in question in comparison with the simplicity of the conventional birthdates at first of January (as these anchovies are in the northern hemisphere). As a corollary of the former statements, intercalibration exercises by areas, for the differ-ent countries taking part in the age reading of the same exploited stock, are still required. Finally, this Workshop adopted a common protocol for all areas in order to standardize the anchovy age assignments and to improve the coherence of the age estimates. An agreed collection of otoliths by areas were produced and upload to the Age Readers Fo-rum

Biochemical algorithm to identify individuals with ALPL variants among subjects with persistent hypophosphatasaemia

Hypophosphatasia (HPP) is a rare and underdiagnosed condition characterized by deficient bone and teeth mineralization. The aim of this study was first, to evaluate the diagnostic utility of employing alkaline phosphatase (ALP) threshold levels to identify adults with variants in ALPL among individuals with persistently low ALP levels and second, to determine the value of also including its substrates (serum pyridoxal-5′-phosphate—PLP—and urinary phosphoetanolamine-PEA) for this purpose in order to create a biochemical algorithm that could facilitate the diagnostic work-up of HPP. Results: The study population comprised 77 subjects with persistent hypophosphatasaemia. They were divided into two groups according to the presence (+GT) or absence (−GT) of pathogenic ALPL variants: 40 +GT and 37 −GT. Diagnostic utility measures were calculated for different ALP thresholds and Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves were employed to determine PLP and PEA optimal cut-off levels to predict the presence of variants. The optimal threshold for ALP was 25 IU/L; for PLP, 180 nmol/L and for PEA, 30 µmol/g creatinine. Biochemical predictive models were assessed using binary logistic regression analysis and bootstrapping machine learning technique and results were then validated. For ALP 180 nmol/L) that when combined, seem to be very useful to identify individuals with ALPL variant

Pedaling motor imagery decodifcation through electroencefalographic signals

[Resumen] El principio clave de la decodificación de la imaginación motora (MI, Motor Imagery) para las Interfaces Cerebro-Máquina (BMIs, Brain-Machine Interfaces) basadas en electroencefalogramas (EEG) consiste en extraer características discriminativas de tarea de los dominios espectrales, espaciales y temporales de manera conjunta y eficiente. A este respecto, la no estacionalidad de las señales EEG y su alta relación señal/ruido representan un desafío para el diseño avanzado de algoritmos de decodificación efectivos. Por su parte estos algoritmos permiten el control de dispositivos en tareas de neurorrehabilitación, activando la corteza motora del paciente y contribuyendo a su recuperación. Por estas razones, este estudio ha optimizado un algoritmo de decodificación de MI basado en características espaciales, el cual ha sido probado en dos sujetos sanos alcanzando rangos de acierto de hasta el 80 %, lo que supone una mejora respecto a estudios previos.[Abstract] The fundamental principle behind the decoding of motor imagery (MI) for electroencephalogram (EEG)-based Brain-Machine Interfaces (BMIs) is to effectively and simultaneously extract task discriminative features from spectral, spatial, and temporal domains. In¡ this regard, the non-stationarity of EEG signals and their high signal-to noise ratio pose challenges for the advanced design of effective decoding algorithms. These algorithms enable device control in neurorehabilitation tasks by activating the motor cortex of patients, contributing to their neural disease recovery. For these reasons, this study has optimized a spatial feature-based MI decoding algorithm, which has been tested on two able-bodied subjects, achieving accuracy rates of up to 80 %, which represents an improvement compared to previous studies

Variabilidad espacial de los parámetros de historia vital del estornino (Scomber colias), una especie en expansión en el Atlántico noreste

Atlantic chub mackerel is a pelagic species present in the Atlantic Ocean that in recent decades has expanded northwards in the eastern Atlantic. Fish samples were collected in scientific surveys and commercial catches between 2011 and 2019. We analysed the geographical variation of the biological parameters (age, length, weight and condition), as well as the length-weight relationship, maturity-at-length and spawning season onset and duration in five geographical areas (from south to north): the Canary Islands, Gulf of Cadiz, western Portuguese coast, northwestern Spanish coast and Cantabrian Sea. The influence of sea surface temperature (SST) on fish length was modelled as a potential driver of geographical variability. All biological parameters increased progressively northwards, while the spawning season was delayed and prolonged with increasing latitude, from January in the Canary Islands to May-August in the Cantabrian Sea, when SST was between 15°C and 19°C. SST had a positive effect on length in three study areas and a negative one in two of them, suggesting that each group is at a different position within their thermal tolerance range. Deviance from the geographical pattern of some biological parameters in the Gulf of Cadiz suggests that it could be a hinge or mixing zone between Atlantic African, Mediterranean and Atlantic Iberian population components.El estornino es una especie pelágica presente en el océano Atlántico que en las últimas décadas se ha expandido hacia el norte en el Atlántico Oriental. Se recogieron muestras de peces procedentes de campañas científicas y capturas comerciales entre 2011 y 2019. Se analizó la variación geográfica de los parámetros biológicos (edad, longitud, peso y condición), así como la relación longitud-peso, la talla de madurez y el inicio y la duración de la temporada de desove en cinco áreas geográficas (de sur a norte): las islas Canarias, el Golfo de Cádiz, la costa occidental portuguesa, la costa noroccidental española y el mar Cantábrico. Se modeló la influencia de la SST en la talla de los peces como posible causa de la variabilidad geográfica. Todos los parámetros biológicos aumentaron progresivamente hacia el norte, mientras que la temporada de desove se retrasó y prolongó con el aumento de la latitud, desde enero en las islas Canarias hasta mayo-agosto en el mar Cantábrico, cuando la SST estaba entre 15ºC y 19ºC. La SST tuvo un efecto positivo sobre la talla en tres áreas de estudio y negativo en dos de ellas, lo que sugiere que cada grupo se encuentra en una posición diferente dentro de su rango de tolerancia térmica. La desviación del patrón geográfico de algunos parámetros biológicos en el Golfo de Cádiz, sugiere que podría ser una zona bisagra o de mezcla entre componentes poblacionales atlánticos africanos, mediterráneos e ibéricos

Predictive model to identify multiple failure to biological therapy in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Despite advances in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and the wide range of therapies available, there is a percentage of patients whose treatment presents a challenge for clinicians due to lack of response to multiple biologic and target-specific disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (b/tsDMARDs).To develop and validate an algorithm to predict multiple failure to biological therapy in patients with RA.Observational retrospective study involving subjects from a cohort of patients with RA receiving b/tsDMARDs.Based on the number of prior failures to b/tsDMARDs, patients were classified as either multi-refractory (MR) or non-refractory (NR). Patient characteristics were considered in the statistical analysis to design the predictive model, selecting those variables with a predictive capability. A decision algorithm known as 'classification and regression tree' (CART) was developed to create a prediction model of multi-drug resistance. Performance of the prediction algorithm was evaluated in an external independent cohort using area under the curve (AUC).A total of 136 patients were included: 51 MR and 85 NR. The CART model was able to predict multiple failures to b/tsDMARDs using disease activity score-28 (DAS-28) values at 6 months after the start time of the initial b/tsDMARD, as well as DAS-28 improvement in the first 6 months and baseline DAS-28. The CART model showed a capability to correctly classify 94.1% NR and 87.5% MR patients with a sensitivity = 0.88, a specificity = 0.94, and an AUC = 0.89 (95% CI: 0.74-1.00). In the external validation cohort, 35 MR and 47 NR patients were included. The AUC value for the CART model in this cohort was 0.82 (95% CI: 0.73-0.9).Our model correctly classified NR and MR patients based on simple measurements available in routine clinical practice, which provides the possibility to characterize and individualize patient treatments during early stages.© The Author(s), 2022

Can we identify individuals with an ALPL variant in adults with persistent hypophosphatasaemia?

Hypophosphatasia (HPP) is an inborn error of metabolism characterized by low levels of serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP). Scarce evidence exists about features that should signal the potential association between hypophosphatasaemia and HPP in adults. The aim of this study is to estimate the prevalence of ALPL variants in subjects with persistent hypophosphatasaemia and determine the associated clinical and laboratory features. For this cross-sectional study, laboratory records of 386,353 subjects were screened by measurement of ALP activity. A total of 85 (0.18%) subjects with persistent hypophosphatasaemia (≥2 serum alkaline phosphatase-ALP-measurements ≤35 IU/L and none > 45 IU/L) were included (secondary causes previously discarded). ALPL genetic testing and a systematized questionnaire to retrieve demographic, clinical and laboratory data were performed. Descriptive analysis and logistic regression models were employed to identify the clinical and laboratory characteristics associated with ALPL variants. Results: Forty subjects (47%) had a variant(s) in ALPL. With regard to clinical characteristics, the presence of an ALPL variant was significantly associated only with musculoskeletal pain (OR: 7.6; 95% IC: 1.9-30.9). Nevertheless, a trend to present more dental abnormalities (OR: 3.6; 95% IC: 0.9-13.4) was observed. Metatarsal stress fractures were also more frequent (4 vs 0; p < 0.05) in this group. Regarding laboratory features, median ALP levels were lower in subjects with ALPL variants (26 vs 29 IU/L; p < 0.005). Interestingly, the threshold of ALP levels < 25 IU/L showed a specificity, positive predictive value and positive likelihood ratio of 97.8, 94.4% and 19.8 to detect a positive ALPL test, respectively. Conclusions: In subjects with persistent hypophosphatasaemia -secondary causes excluded- one out of two presented ALPL variants. Musculoskeletal pain and ALP levels < 25 IU/L are associated with this variant(s). In this scenario, ALP levels < 25 IU/L seem to be very useful to identify individuals with the presence of an ALPL variantGenetic testing was supported by a grant from Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc., which had no role in the study design or data analysi