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[EN] Background: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of low-frequency self-administered vibration therapy into myofascial trigger points in the upper trapezius and levator scapulae on patients with chronic non-specific neck pain. Methods: Twenty-eight patients with chronic non-specific neck pain were randomly assigned into a vibration group, receiving 10 self-applied sessions of vibration therapy in the upper trapezius and levator scapulae trigger points; or a control group, receiving no intervention. Self-reported neck pain and disability (Neck Disability Index) and pressure pain threshold were assessed at baseline and after the first, fifth and 10th treatment sessions. Findings: Significant differences were found in the vibration group when compared to the control group after the treatment period: the vibration group reached lower Neck Disability Index scores (F = 4.74, P = .033, eta(2) = 0.07) and greater pressure pain threshold values (F = 7.56, P = .01, eta(2) = 0.10) than the control group. The vibration group reported a significant reduction in Neck Disability Index scores (chi(2) = 19,35, P = .00, Kendall's W = 0.28) and an increase in pressure pain threshold (chi(2) = 87,10, P = .00, Kendall's W = 0.73) between the assessment times over the course of the treatment. The mean increase in pressure pain threshold in the vibration group after the 10 sessions was 8.54 N/cm2, while the mean reduction in Neck Disability Index scores was 4.53 points. Interpretation: Vibration therapy may be an effective intervention for reducing self-reported neck pain and disability and pressure pain sensitivity in patients with chronic non-specific neck pain. This tool could be recommended for people with non-specific neck pain.

[EN] 3D printing technology is a promising technology with the possibility of use for developing personalised food. To make this technology easier, and readily available for consumers, greater knowledge of the printing conditions and characteristics of food-ink is needed. This paper investigates the printability of gels based on syrup, xanthan, and konjac gums, while affecting printing variables. Those variables include the printing temperature (25¿°C and 50¿°C) and the composition of the product analysed using rheological and textural characterisation techniques. Also, the link between rheological and textural properties of gels, and printability was analysed. The higher values of G¿, G¿ and ¿* correlated to the mixtures with lower syrup concentration, and higher values of xanthan and konjac gum. Syrup, xanthan gum and konjac gum content influenced the textural properties. With the increase of syrup content, the Fmax, Fmean, Area, and slope showed reductions giving more weak gels. Rheological and textural values can define composition of formulations that give rise to valid 3D printed figures. Industrial relevance There is an increasing market need for customized food products. Three-dimensional (3D) food printing will be developed in the coming years. Undoubtedly, food printing can have many advantages, but whether the market is ready for such a big change and the technology will grow fast enough are the questions. Also it seems to be the right solution to meet the needs of today's consumers who increasingly have too little time to prepare meals on their own, especially in small or single-person households. In the future, ready, healthy meal, tailored to their individual needs, will be waiting when coming home. 3D printed gels can contribute to develop personalised food with specific nutritional characteristics. For example, this kind of gels can be used to manufacture soft foods for the elderly who have problems to swallow.

[EN] In Citrus, certain species and/or cultivars are prone to alternate bearing, i.e., a year of heavy crop (ON year) is followed by one of low flowering and light crop (OFF year), and vice-versa. To counteract the fruit effect, we propose a guided mechanical pruning initiated in the spring of an ON year and carried out annually. Our hypothesis is that this gives rise to abundant shoots with well-developed leaves that reach the floral bud inductive period ready to receive the inductive signal and, thus, to induce the bud to bloom the following spring. The experiment was carried out during four consecutive years (2013¿16) using a commercial plantation of `Nadorcott¿ mandarin in southwest Spain. Trees were mechanically pruned: hedging (H) or topping by completely removing the upper shoots of the canopy (T) or by cutting ¿ of their length (T¿). Unpruned trees were used as controls. The experiment began in the spring of an ON-year. T and T¿ carried out in the spring restart the meristem and give rise new shoots that develop in summer and autumn. At the inductive period, the leaves on these new shoots showed a CiFT2 gene expression 4- and 3.7-fold higher than their respective old leaves. In the case of the T¿ their buds avoided the inhibitory effect of the fruit and bloomed the following spring even with the fruit in the cut-back shoot. For the two periods of ON-OFF years of our experiment, cumulative yield of the T treated trees barely increased, whereas T¿ significantly increased with respect to the unpruned trees. We conclude that cutting flowering shoots annually in half-length by means of mechanical pruning (T¿), attenuates alternate bearing behaviour in 'Nadorcott' mandarin. In this experiment, cumulative yield increased by 25% with regard to unpruned trees during the four years of the trial.

[EN] The use of Munsell colour charts is the classical way of determining colour information in soil science. The procedure is well-known and consists of visually comparing soil samples with colour chips ontained in the charts. This visual approach has several drawbacks and although the chart-based procedure is routinely used, it is not easy to find systematic studies on the accuracy of this methodology. In this paper, we seek to gain insight into the strengths and weaknesses of using soil colour charts as a colour measurement device. The tool used to conduct our study is a modification to the attribute agreement analysis (AAA) method which consists of finding matches between colour standards and colour designations obtained by several appraisers. In the experiment, standards were obtained using a trichromatic colorimeter coupled to a computer program that implements the k nearest neighbour (k-NN) classification algorithm. In order to do the experiment, 276 soil samples were observed twice by four trained appraisers (2208 data records). The naïve count of matches across all the records in the dataset gave <5% of agreement for all three colour components Hue, Value and Chroma. The modified AAA criterion implemented in the study gave a clear increase in all indicators with values ranging from 82.2% to 100% in the agreement within appraisers, 39.5% in the agreement between appraisers, and 42.8% in the agreement of appraisers vs. standards. Results also show that users of the Munsell charts tend to mostly report correct Hues but higher Values and Chromas than true soil colours.

Copyright © 2015 National Stroke Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved., [EN] Background: This study seeks to establish the facts of the improvement over time in elderly poststroke patients. Methods: A retrospective study was performed with regard to 106 subacute stroke patients aged older than 65 years, who were treated in an interdisciplinary neurorehabilitation unit. Three assessment points were established (on admission, 6 months post-onset, and 12 months post-onset), with the scores relative to 10 assessment scales having been collected at each point. Results: By means of a principal component analysis, a first component was obtained, which is taken to represent a combined index of the 10 scales and to express the overall health status of the patient. An analysis of variance of this first component enabled a clear improvement trend to be identified, with this being more marked during the first 6-month period (72.7%) than the second 6-month period (27.3%). Conclusions: The elderly stroke patients underwent an interdisciplinary rehabilitation program lasting 1 year, experimented an initial period of rapid recovery during the first 6 months followed by a less marked period of improvement. However, no stabilization period in the patients' progress was found.

Discuss: You can discuss this article with its authors and with other ASRM members at http:// fertstertforum.com/molinai-implantation-morphometric-nonsubjective, Objective: To demonstrate the usefulness of image analysis in designing objective embryonic morphometric variables. Design: Retrospective study of 214 top-quality day-2 embryo photographs from 50 double-embryo transfers resulting in no pregnancy (group 0) and 57 resulting in twin pregnancy (group 1). Setting: Human reproduction unit. Patient(s): Study of 107 in vitro fertilization intracytoplasmic sperm injection (IVF ICSI) cycles in women age<36 years with doubleembryo transfer of top-quality embryos. Only the first cycle of IVF ICSI was included. Intervention(s): Standard IVF ICSI protocols. Main Outcome Measure(s): The embryo photographs were analyzed using the ImageJ program. The effects of the embryo variables and the clinical variables on embryo implantation were evaluated using a stepwise dichotomous logistic regression. Result(s): Significant differences were observed, owing to the women's ages, internal perimeter, roundness factor, and zona pellucida thickness. Embryos with smaller internal perimeter, circular shape, and thinner zona pellucida were more likely to implant. Conclusion(s): Morphometric variables lower the subjectivity of the current embryo grading systems. These variables are nonsubjective factors to consider when predicting implantation. Embryo image analysis is an accurate tool that can improve IVF ICSI outcomes and reduce the number of twin pregnancies. (Fertil Steril 2014;102:1022 8. 2014 by American Society for Reproductive Medicine.) Key Words: Embryo selection, embryo score, morphological and morphometric embryo variables, images analysis, embryo implantation, embryo grading systems

[EN] Background Lean Six Sigma methodology has been used to improve care processes, eliminate waste, reduce costs, and increase patient satisfaction. Objective To analyse the results obtained with Lean Six Sigma methodology in the diagnosis and improvement of the inpatient pharmacotherapy process during structural and organisational changes in a tertiary hospital. Material and methods Scope: 1.000 beds tertiary hospital. Design prospective observational study. The define, measure, analyse, improve and control (DMAIC), were deployed from March to September 2011. An Initial Project Charter was updated as results were obtained. Population and sample: 131 patients with treatments prescribed within 24 h after admission and with 4 drugs. Variables: safety indicators (medication errors), and efficiency indicators (complaints and time delays). Results Proportion of patients with a medication error was reduced from 61.0% (25/41 patients) to 55.7% (39/70 patients) in four months. Percentage of errors (regarding the opportunities for error) decreased in the different phases of the process: Prescription: from 5.1% (19/372 opportunities) to 3.3% (19/572 opportunities); Preparation: from 2.7% (14/525 opportunities) to 1.3% (11/847 opportunities); and administration: from 4.9% (16/329 opportunities) to 3.0% (13/433 opportunities). Nursing complaints decreased from 10.0% (2119/21038 patients) to 5.7% (1779/31097 patients). The estimated economic impact was 76,800 euros saved. Conclusions An improvement in the pharmacotherapeutic process and a positive economic impact was observed, as well as enhancing patient safety and efficiency of the organization. Standardisation and professional training are future Lean Six Sigma candidate projects., [ES] Introducción La metodología Lean Seis Sigma se utilizó para mejorar procesos, eliminar desperdicios, reducir costes y aumentar la satisfacción de clientes. Objetivo Analizar los resultados obtenidos con la metodología Lean Seis Sigma en el diagnóstico y la mejora del proceso farmacoterapéutico del paciente hospitalizado durante el cambio estructural y organizativo de un hospital terciario. Material y métodos Ámbito: hospital general terciario con 1.000 camas. Diseño del estudio: observacional y prospectivo. Se desplegaron las etapas definir, medir, analizar, mejorar y controlar (DMAIC) entre marzo y septiembre de 2011, actualizando el Project Charter inicial según resultados. Población y muestra: 131 pacientes hospitalizados con tratamientos prescritos en las 24 h siguientes al ingreso y con 4 medicamentos. Variables: indicadores de seguridad (errores de medicación) y de eficiencia (tiempos de demora y reclamaciones). Resultados La proporción de pacientes con algún error de medicación se redujo del 61,0 (25/41 pacientes) al 55,7% (39/70 pacientes) en 4 meses. Los porcentajes de errores, con respecto a las oportunidades de error, en distintas fases del proceso disminuyeron: prescripción 5,1 (19/372) a 3,3% (19/572); preparación 2,7 (14/525) a 1,3% (11/847 oportunidades); y administración: 4,9 (16/329) a 3,0% (13/433). Las reclamaciones se redujeron del 10,0 (2.119/21.038 pacientes) a 5,7% (1.779/31.097 pacientes). El impacto económico se estimó en 76.800 euros evitados. Conclusiones Se observó una mejora del proceso farmacoterapéutico y un impacto financiero positivo que ha repercutido en la seguridad del paciente y la eficiencia de la organización. La normalización y la formación de profesionales podrían ser proyectos futuros de Lean Seis Sigma.

The aim was to verify the validity of the double oxytocin-milking (DOT) method as milk yield estimator during the suckling period of lactating dairy goats. To this end, it was necessary to determine whether the weighing suckling weighing (WSW) and DOT methods of milk yield estimation satisfied the criteria to be considered valuable, the accuracy between both methods and the suitability of DOT to evaluate actual milk. At parturition, sixty lactating Murciano Granadina breed goats were separated into 2 groups, in mixed (MS; n = 24) and artificial rearing (ARS; n = 36) management systems. Until the sixth week of lactation (weaning), MS goats suckled one kid while kids from ARS goats were artificially reared; moreover, goats in both systems were submitted to once-a-day milking. Once per week, actual milk yield for ARS goats and potential milk yield were recorded using DOT method for all goats, except for 12 goats in ARS which remained as a control. Twelve goats from each management system were used to evaluate diurnal variation in milk production (DVM) by DOT method for 6 consecutive days in week 4 of lactation. No difference in DVM was found by DOT method in 4-h milk production of goats in MS (P = 0.099) or ARS (P = 0.220), which allowed sixfold multiplication of milked milk volume to obtain potential milk per day. ARS goats subjected to a weekly DOT and control group goats showed a similar (P = 0.379) lactation curve for the first 6 weeks of lactation. The DOT method slightly overestimated (3.4%, P = 0.005) the milk yield evaluated by WSW method for goats under an MS, but fitted the actual milk obtained by common milk records for the group of goats in an ARS submitted to the DVM test (P = 0.357) and the group in ARS alone (P = 0.163). The DOT method applied for 8 consecutive days led to a drop of 6 12% in milk yield during the following week for both production systems. In conclusion, DOT was an accurate method to estimate milk yield during the first weeks of lactatio

Soil colour has become one of the most innovative indicators used to adjust amendment and fertilizer rates in precision agriculture. This paper uses a combination of colour variables together with geographical, management and pedologic variables in order to find relationships between the three colour components (lightness, hue, and chroma) and several soil characteristics, in a semiarid environment. In these areas soils are weakly developed, and organic matter, nitrogen, phosphorous and iron soil contents are usually low and undergo high spatial variability. Multivariate analysis was used to find statistical relationships that: determine soil colour in those environmental areas; reveal the most appropriate chromatic variables for each case; and determine the interactions between variables that can mask the effects of individual variables. Colour measurements were collected with a trichromatic colorimeter. Eighteen soil variables were used, of which eight resulted in statistically significant correlations with colour components. Those variables were sand (%), clay (%), parent material (marls), soil organic carbon (SOC), carbonate content, total nitrogen (TN), iron, and 1:5 soil:water extract electrical conductivity (EC1:5). Only sand was significant for all three colour components. The content of organic carbon was not significant in multiple regression analysis with respect to soil lightness in this study of semiarid soils. However it was significant in bivariate regression, in the same way as found in other studies. (c) 2013 IAgrE. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Prevention of Salmonella contamination of poultry products requires detailed knowledge of the main sources associated with its presence in the production system. The aims of this study were to determine the main sources of Salmonella contamination in broiler production during growing, to assess the risk factors for Salmonella contamination at the end of the rearing period and to determine the main serovars involved in broiler production systems in Eastern Spain. A total of 65 different broiler houses from different farms were sampled. Each house was sampled at different times during the rearing period. First, when the previous flock was taken to the slaughterhouse, samples of dust, surfaces and previous flock faeces were collected. After cleaning and disinfection (C&D), samples of dust and surfaces were also taken. On the first day of rearing, samples of water, bedding, farming boots, meconiums, delivery-box liners and feed were collected. During rearing, feed samples were taken directly from the truck and from feeders. On slaughter day, samples of dust, surfaces, water, feed and faeces were also collected. Finally, two days after slaughter, carriers (rodents, flies and beetles) were trapped. All samples collected were analysed according to ISO 6579:2002 (Annex D) and positive samples were serotyped in accordance with Kauffman-White-Le-Minor technique. Our results showed that all different types of samples collected were contaminated with Salmonella (prevalence ranged between 1.5% and 38.6%). The most contaminated samples related with poultry production were: delivery-box liners (32.0%), faeces samples (31.2%), dust samples (25.0%), farming boots (19.7%) and feed from feeders (16.0%). However, the most important risk factors for Salmonella contamination of the flocks at the end of the rearing period were Salmonella status of the house after cleaning and disinfection, Salmonella status of day-old chick flocks and feed from feeders. Twenty-one different serovars were

Damage to fresh citrus caused by impact of fruits onto collecting surfaces has restricted the adoption of mechanical harvesting. Two different experiments were carried out: investigating free-falling citrus and investigating the shock absorbing capacity of various surfaces. In free-falling experiment damage to mandarin, orange and lemon was studied. Three collecting surfaces were studied: a concrete floor, an elevated canvas provided with a frame and wheels, and a concrete floor covered with a shock absorbing canvases. Three dropping heights were used. In the shock absorbing experiment, an electronic sphere and a triaxial accelerometer were used to measure the shock capacity of seven receiving surfaces: earth, earth covered with a shock absorbing canvas, earth covered with weeds, earth covered with a mulch and an elevated canvas provided with a frame and wheels. The elevated canvases had a higher shock absorbing capacity compared to the other surfaces (260 m s−2 maximum acceleration compared with 1753 m s−2 to 2772 m s−2). Weeds, mulch and the shock absorbing canvases showed significantly higher shock absorbing capacity than the bare earth. Also, the shock absorbing canvas covering the concrete floor reduce impact and fruit damage (1866 m s−2 maximum acceleration compared to 2477 m s−2). Citrus damage susceptibility during harvest depended on variety. Weeds, mulch and shock absorbing canvases were shown to reduce impact when they cover earth during the mechanical harvesting of citrus. Elevated canvases could be used as collection systems for the mechanical harvesting of fresh citrus.