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The percentage of people around the world who are living with some kind of disability or disorder has increased in recent years and continues to rise due to the aging of the population and the increase in chronic health disorders. People with disabilities find problems in performing some of the activities of daily life, such as working, attending school, or participating in social and recreational events. Neurological disorders such as epilepsy, learning disabilities, autism spectrum disorder, or Alzheimer's, are among the main diseases that affect a large number of this population. However, thanks to the assistive technologies (AT), these people can improve their performance in some of the obstacles presented by their disorders. This paper presents a new system that aims to help people with neurological disorders providing useful information about their pathologies. This novelty system consists of a platform where the physiological and environmental data acquisition, the feature engineering, and the machine learning algorithms are combined to generate customs predictive models that help the user. Finally, to demonstrate the use of the system and the working methodology employed in the platform, a simple example case is presented. This example case carries out an experimentation that presents a user without neurological problems that shows the versatility of the platform and validates that it is possible to get useful information that can feed an intelligent algorithm.

The metabolic composition and concentration knowledge provided by magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) liquid and high-resolution magic angle spinning spectroscopy (HR-MAS) has a relevant impact in clinical practice during magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) monitoring of human tumors. In addition, the combination of morphological and chemical information by MRI and MRS has been particularly useful for diagnosis and prognosis of tumor evolution. MRI spatial resolution reachable in human beings is limited for safety reasons and the demanding necessary conditions are only applicable on experimental model animals. Nevertheless, MRS and MRI can be performed on human biopsies at high spatial resolution, enough to allow a direct correlation between the chemical information and the histological features observed in such biopsies. Although HR-MAS is nowadays a well-established technique for spectroscopic analysis of tumor biopsies, with this approach just a mean metabolic profile of the whole sample can be obtained and thus the high histological heterogeneity of some important tumors is mostly neglected. The value of metabolic HR-MAS data strongly depends on a wide statistical analysis and usually the microanatomical rationale for the correlation between histology and spectroscopy is lost. We present here a different approach for the combined use of MRI and MRS on fresh human brain tumor biopsies with native contrast. This approach has been designed to achieve high spatial (18 x 18 x 50 mu m) and spectral (0.031 mu L) resolution in order to obtain as much spatially detailed morphological and metabolical information as possible without any previous treatment that can alter the sample. The preservation of native tissue conditions can provide information that can be translated to in vivo studies and additionally opens the possibility of performing other techniques to obtain complementary information from the same sample.

[ES] El objetivo de este trabajo es la caracterización de fases minerales presentes en materias primas utilizadas en la industria cerámica. Para ello se utilizan dos métodos cuantitativos basados en la difracción de rayos X, el método de Rietveld y un método sin estándar. Los resultados obtenidos por difracción rayos X de estos materiales policristalinos se comparan con los correspondientes análisis químicos y la composición normativa calculada. La precisión y reproducibilidad de los resultados obtenidos, en concordancia con los del análisis químico, son una de las más importantes ventajas de la difractometría cuantitativa que facilitan su utilización en la industria cerámica en el control de las fases minerales presentes en las materias primas., [EN] The aim of this work is to characterize mineral phases present in raw material employed in the ceramics industry. In this way, two quantitative X-ray diffraction methods have been used, the Rietveld and the standardless methods have been used. The results obtained by X-ray diffraction of these polycrystalline materials are compared with the corresponding chemical analyses and calculated normative composition. Precision and reproducibility of obtained results, in agreement with chemical analysis, are one of the most important advantage of quantitative X-ray diffractometry, as well as do easy their employ in the ceramic industry to control mineral phases present in raw materials., Este trabajo forma parte del proyecto 1DF97-0405 MAT con cargo a fondos FEDER-CICYT.

A new microfluidic cell culture device compatible with real-time nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is presented here. The intended application is the long-term monitoring of 3D cell cultures by several techniques. The system has been designed to fit inside commercially available NMR equipment to obtain maximum readout resolution when working with small samples. Moreover, the microfluidic device integrates a fibre-optic-based sensor to monitor parameters such as oxygen, pH, or temperature during NMR monitoring, and it also allows the use of optical microscopy techniques such as confocal fluorescence microscopy. This manuscript reports the initial trials culturing neurospheres inside the microchamber of this device and the preliminary images and spatially localised spectra obtained by NMR. The images show the presence of a necrotic area in the interior of the neurospheres, as is frequently observed in histological preparations; this phenomenon appears whenever the distance between the cells and fresh nutrients impairs the diffusion of oxygen. Moreover, the spectra acquired in a volume of 8 nl inside the neurosphere show an accumulation of lactate and lipids, which are indicative of anoxic conditions. Additionally, a basis for general temperature control and monitoring and a graphical control software have been developed and are also described. The complete platform will allow biomedical assays of therapeutic agents to be performed in the early phases of therapeutic development. Thus, small quantities of drugs or advanced nanodevices may be studied long-term under simulated living conditions that mimic the flow and distribution of nutrients. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.

Quantitative multinuclear high-resolution magic angle spinning was performed in order to determine the tissue pH values of and the absolute metabolite concentrations in 33 samples of human brain tumour tissue. Metabolite concentrations were quantified by 1D (1)H and (31)P HRMAS using the electronic reference to in vivo concentrations (ERETIC) synthetic signal. (1)H-(1)H homonuclear and (1)H-(31)P heteronuclear correlation experiments enabled the direct assessment of the (1)H-(31)P spin systems for signals that suffered from overlapping in the 1D (1)H spectra, and linked the information present in the 1D (1)H and (31)P spectra. Afterwards, the main histological features were determined, and high heterogeneity in the tumour content, necrotic content and nonaffected tissue content was observed. The metabolite profiles obtained by HRMAS showed characteristics typical of tumour tissues: rather low levels of energetic molecules and increased concentrations of protective metabolites. Nevertheless, these characteristics were more strongly correlated with the total amount of living tissue than with the tumour cell contents of the samples alone, which could indicate that the sampling conditions make a significant contribution aside from the effect of tumour development in vivo. The use of methylene diphosphonic acid as a chemical shift and concentration reference for the (31)P HRMAS spectra of tissues presented important drawbacks due to its interaction with the tissue. Moreover, the pH data obtained from (31)P HRMAS enabled us to establish a correlation between the pH and the distance between the N(CH(3))(3) signals of phosphocholine and choline in (1)H spectra of the tissue in these tumour samples.

HRMAS NMR is considered a valuable technique to obtain detailed metabolic profile of unprocessed tissues. To properly interpret the HRMAS metabolomic results, detailed information of the actual state of the sample inside the rotor is needed. MRM (Magnetic Resonance Microscopy) was applied for obtaining structural and spatially localized metabolic information of the samples inside the HRMAS rotors. The tissue was observed stuck to the rotor wall under the effect of HRMAS spinning. MRM spectroscopy showed a transference of metabolites from the tissue to the medium. The sample shape and the metabolite transfer after HRMAS indicated that tissue had undergone alterations and it can not be strictly considered as intact. This must be considered when HRMAS is used for metabolic tissue characterization, and it is expected to be highly dependent on the manipulation of the sample. The localized spectroscopic information of MRM reveals the biochemical compartmentalization on tissue samples hidden in the HRMAS spectrum.

Calcific uraemic arteriolopathy, also named calciphylaxis, is a rare but serious disorder characterized by medial mural calcification of small vessel leading to tissue ischaemia. It most commonly occurs in end stage renal disease patients on dialysis or recently received renal transplant with chronic nephropathy allograft. The pathogenesis of calciphylaxis is poorly understood. Abnormalities in mineral metabolism are clearly involved, but the specific factors that induces this disorder are not completely known.Describe the main clinical features, outcomes and follow up of all calciphylaxis cases recorded in our dialysis unit in order to analyse the incidence, the main biologic parameters and the therapeutic background in which calciphylaxis appeared.We performed a descriptive study about all the calciphylaxis cases diagnosed at our dialysis unit between the years 1991 and 2005.8 cases, 6 women. Mean age: 65.3 years. All the patients were on haemodialysis treatment (one previous renal transplant). Mean time on dialysis was 76.6 months. Cumulative incidence was 1.17%. The principal end stage renal disease aethiology was neprhoangioeslerosis in four patients. Secondary hiperparatyrhoidism was present in 4 patients and 2 of them had been paratyrhoidectomized previously. A second cutaneous biopsy was needed for correct diagnosis in 3 patients. Calciphylaxis distal lesions were present in 7 patients. Two cases required urgent paratyrhoidectomy in order to control calciphylaxis. Only in 2 cases a Ca x P product60 mg/dL was present and 3 cases had PTHi values higher than 300 pg/mL. Calcium phosphate binders and vitamin D were present in 2 and 4 cases, respectively. One patient with proximal calciphylaxis died due to skin injury infection.Calciphylaxis is a rare disorder but not exceptional, related to end stage renal disease patients. The diagnosis requires a high clinical suspicion, being sometimes difficult to distinguish from other entities in spite of pathological study. Proximal distribution of calciphylaxis had worst prognostic. Metabolic disorders and therapeutics background were not different from other patients included in dialysis treatment.

Parathyroid carcinoma (PC) is an infrequent disease with a subtle initial presentation and a variable course, necessitating a high index of suspicion to make the correct diagnosis. In chronic failure patients on haemodialysis it becomes even more difficult to suspect this entity since the high prevalence of secondary hyperparathyroidism(SHP). Two patients with PC out of a series of 160 patients with moderate-to-severe SHP submitted for parathyroidectomy are reported. Their clinical features are compared with those of the twenty-two cases previously reported in the literature with a discussion of this pathology. Patients with PC showed higher blood levels of iPTH, total calcium, phosphate and total alkaline phosphatase than the SHP population. The final diagnosis of PC was made after histological study revealing capsular or blood vessel invasion.

[ES] El objetivo de este trabajo es la caracterización de fases minerales presentes en materias primas utilizadas en la industria cerámica. Para ello se utilizan dos métodos cuantitativos basados en la difracción de rayos X, el método de Rietveld y un método sin estándar. Los resultados obtenidos por difracción rayos X de estos materiales policristalinos se comparan con los correspondientes análisis químicos y la composición normativa calculada. La precisión y reproducibilidad de los resultados obtenidos, en concordancia con los del análisis químico, son una de las más importantes ventajas de la difractometría cuantitativa que facilitan su utilización en la industria cerámica en el control de las fases minerales presentes en las materias primas. [EN] The aim of this work is to characterize mineral phases present in raw material employed in the ceramics industry. In this way, two quantitative X-ray diffraction methods have been used, the Rietveld and the standardless methods have been used. The results obtained by X-ray diffraction of these polycrystalline materials are compared with the corresponding chemical analyses and calculated normative composition. Precision and reproducibility of obtained results, in agreement with chemical analysis, are one of the most important advantage of quantitative X-ray diffractometry, as well as do easy their employ in the ceramic industry to control mineral phases present in raw materials. Este trabajo forma parte del proyecto 1DF97-0405 MAT con cargo a fondos FEDER-CICYT.

Atheroembolic disease is recognized as an iatrogenic complication from an invasive vascular procedure, such as manipulation of the aorta during angiography or vascular surgery, and after anticoagulant and fibrinolytic therapy. Cholesterol crystal embolism is caused by showers of cholesterol crystals from an atherosclerotic aorta that occlude small arteries. The kidney is a frequent target organ for cholesterol emboli because of proximity of the renal arteries to abdominal aorta and it receive an enormous amount of blood flows. We describe the epidemiologic agents of 19 cases that were diagnosed by histologic sections of the affected tissues; the eosinophilia and the renal failure are the clinical features that guide to the diagnosis, in patients with ischemic nephropathy and general atherosclerosis. 53% among patients had a previous invasive procedure and 26% occurred spontaneously. We remark the importance of the kidney's biopsy in diagnosis of the atheroembolic disease and their bad prognosis with 63% of death rate in 18 months of average follow-up. We report patients with the multiple cholesterol emboli syndrome mimicking systemic vasculitis: they died by multivisceral acute failure. The subacute presentation of atheroembolic disease with progressive renal failure treated with hemodialysis is a sign of bad prognosis. The knowledge of the disease and their prevention are the better treatment.

Although drug induced interstitial nephritis is a relatively common cause of renal failure,granulomatous forms remain a rare condition. The development of a chronic granulomatous interstitial nephritis due to allopurinol is exceptional, only three cases have been described previously. We report on a patient who presented a granulomatous interstitial nephritis after 10 years of allopurinol administration (300 mg/day). At diagnosis, he had end stage renal disease and dialysis treatment was needed. Two months after drug withdrawal and on corticoid treatment a slow recovery of renal function was observed, allowing the interruption of dialysis. Two years after, the creatinine clearance is 23 ml/min,being dialysis free. We discuss the differential diagnosis of granulomatous interstitial nephritis and its rare association with allopurinol treatment.

Molecular imaging has become during the last years in an important tool for supporting cancer diagnosis and prognosis. PET and SPECT are the most common molecular imaging techniques, although very promising and specific biological molecular agent contrast for CT and MRI are being recently developed. However, the above imaging techniques require exogenous contrast agents and usually a sole molecular image can be obtained at once. On the contrary, in vivo magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), in particular 1H MRS can simultaneously provide several molecular images using endogenous metabolites. In addition to biochemical spatial information from molecular imaging spectroscopy, MRS can also provide average metabolite profile of the selected affected tissue region. Initially MRS, especially 1H MRS, was extensively applied to complete and improve the diagnosis and prognosis of central nervous system (CNS) pathologies, in particular brain tumors. However, during the last years the MRS applications have been extent to the diagnosis of different very common cancer types such as breast, prostate, colon carcinoma, and ovarian, among others. Likewise, MRS has been also used for lymph node assessment. In this contribution, the added value of MRS for the diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment selection of two different, important types of cancer: (1) brain tumors and (2) prostate, will be presented and discussed. Brain tumors are the leading cause of death in children under 15, and although in adults, brain cancers are proportionately less common than other cancers, it is a devastating disease with high mortality. There is a great need to increase our understanding of brain tumor biology to improve diagnosis and to develop new treatments. 1H MRS is currently the only noninvasive method that can be used to investigate molecular profile of brain tumors and also provide molecular images, more than six in one acquisition, of the distribution of chemicals in a tumor, which are also generally heterogeneous. A summary of the applications of 1H MRS to the in vivo diagnosis and prognosis of brain tumors will be presented. In addition, examples of metabolite limits, infiltration and high cellularity location for neurosurgery applications by MRS molecular images will be shown. Likewise, new ex vivo methods of studying the detailed biochemistry of tumor biopsies as metabolomic (high resolution magic angle spinning [HR-MAS]) and transcriptomic (DNA microarrays) will be discussed as complementary to in vivo MRS (FP6 European project eTUMOR). A preliminary comparison between molecular images from PET and 1H MRS will be also presented. Finally, the application of 1H MRS to the improvement of prostate diagnosis and prognosis, the second leading cause of cancer death, will also discussed, with particular attention to the location cancer contribution from MRS molecular images.

We report a case of a 49 year old man, diagnosed soon after the outcome of casual proteinuria, of AA-type amyloidosis in relation to small and medium vessel cutaneous vasculitis without systemic involvement. This combination is a rare entity and only two cases of cutaneous hypersensibility vasculitis complicated with AA-type amyloidosis had been reported. We describe the results of the use of several immunosuppressive drugs during four years follow up with temporally total remission of the disease.

Systemic amyloidosis is a disease resulting from extracellular deposition of fibrillar protein in various organs. Main systemic amyloidosis are: primary (AL) and Secondary (AA). The kidney is usually involved, conferring and adverse prognosis. In the last decade there has been a change in the aetiology of AA amyloidosis.To analyse the incidence of AL and AA amyloidosis in our current population as well as the aetiology of AA amyloidosis. To describe clinical outcomes, renal involvement and survival.We performed a descriptive analysis of all cases of amyloidosis diagnosed from 1992 to 2004 in our hospital. Diagnosis was assessed on histological criteria: positivity Congo Red stain. Clinical data, renal involvement, dialysis treatment and survival were analysed.76 cases, 44 women, mean age 70.7 +/- 12. Types: 55 AA (72%), 21 AL (28%) systemic amyloidosis. AA aetiology was: 66% rheumatic disorders, 28% infectious disease, 6% others. Incidence for AL was 4.6 and for AA 12.2 cases/million. Renal involvement was present in 75% at diagnosis (69% Creatinine clearance60 ml/min, 37% urinary protein3 g/24 hours). 21 cases (28%) progressed to renal disease stage V in the 8.1 +/- 9.8 months follow up period, and 14 cases started dialysis treatment (10 HD, 4 CAPD). In 7 cases (33%) dialysis was not indicated due to their poor clinical condition, short life expectancy and bad quality of life. Mean global survival at diagnosis was 55% and 40% at 12 and 24 months (AL 58% and 19%; AA 55% and 44%). Mean survival from the start of dialysis was 30% and 5% at 12 and 24 months.Although amyloidosis has a low incidence in our population, the kidney is usually involved. Rheumatological disorders are the principal aetiology of AA amyloidosis. Long term survival is poor, specially for AL.

The factors influencing the real exchange rate are an important issue for a country’s price competitiveness, which is especially relevant to those countries belonging to a monetary union. In this paper, we analyse the relationship between fiscal policy and the real exchange rate for the case of Spain. In particular, we explore how changes in government spending, differentiating between consumption and investment, can affect the long-run evolution of the real exchange rate vis-à-vis the euro area. The distinction between two alternative definitions of the real exchange rate, based on consumption price indices and export prices, respectively, will also prove to be relevant for the results. © 2018, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.