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The present study was aimed at determining the serum biochemical panel and the erythocytogram of the sheep of the Morada Nova breed. Further, it was also aimed at verifying the variations of these parameters promoted by the sex, age, and body condition score. The study was conducted by sampling nine herds; two from Ceará state, five from Rio Grande do Norte state, and two from Paraíba state, Brazil. It used a sample of 249 clinically healthy sheep of the Morada Nova breed. The sex, age, and body condition score were recorded from each animal. Blood samples were collected for determining the serum levels of glucose, cholesterol, triglycerides, urea, creatinine, total proteins, albumin, globulins and thyroxine (T4), the serum activities of aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT), the number of red blood cells (RBCs), and the packed cell volume (PCV). It was observed that the evaluated blood parameters from the Morada Nova sheep breed did not demonstrate any variation from the reference interval established for the species, except for the lower levels of globulins and higher albumin/globulins ratio. However, it was verified that the serum biochemical panel was affected by the sex, age, and body score condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Ingeniería e Investigación is the property of Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Facultad de Ingenieraia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Bird-of-of-paradise (Strelitzia reginae Ait.) is an exotic tropical ornamental species from the family Strelitziaceae used as a cut flower and as a perennial plant in gardens. During ageing, the inflorescences show symptoms of wilting and discolouration, and a decrease in stem fresh weight. These symptoms are correlated with an increase in peroxidase (POX) activity at the base of the cut stem. A POX was extracted and partially purified from the base of ageing stems of cut inflorescences to determine its biochemical properties. The highest POX enzyme activity was evident at pH 5.0, while activity was greatly reduced at pH 2.5 and pH 9.0. Furthermore, pre-incubation of the enzyme preparation in a buffer at pH 2.5 was efficient at inhibiting POX activity when the activity was later determined at the optimum pH of 5.0. We also found that the highest POX activity occurred at 60°C, followed by heat inactivation at ≥ 70°C. However, inactivation of bird-of-paradise stem POX by the application of extreme pH or high temperature is not practical. The responses of POX enzymes to anti-oxidant inhibitors and surfactant substances varied widely. Nevertheless, complete inactivation of bird-of-paradise stem POX was obtained in 1.0 mM dithiothreitol or 1.0 mM 2-mercaptoethanol, which may offer a means to control the action of this enzyme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New glasses have been synthesized in the system ZrF46BaF26PrF3. Glasses were prepared by conventional fusion method and the vitreous domain was established. For vitreous samples the thermal stability parameters were determined, so that the best compositions could be selected according to a compromise between high glass forming ability and thermal stability vs. crystallization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The participation of thiol-oxidoreductases such as thioredoxin during implantation, embryogenesis and fetal development has been extensively studied. Here, we analyzed the expression of the thioredoxin superfamily enzyme quiescin Q6/sulfhydryl oxidase (QSOX) during development. Results show that QSOX is present in fetal bovine serum (4 months' gestation), but its levels decrease with time after birth (from P1 to P60). We also demonstrate that a sulfhydryl oxidase activity correlates with QSOX expression in such sera, suggesting a putative role in the redox modulation of developmental programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of International Orthopaedics is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper presents a wavelength assignment algorithm suitable for optical networks mainly impaired by physical layer effects, named the Intelligent Wavelength Assignment algorithm (iWA). The main idea is to determine the wavelength activation order for a first-fit algorithm that balances the impact of the physical layer effects by using a training algorithm inspired by evolutionary concepts. The iWA presents some recently proposed concepts in intelligent optimization algorithms, such as an external archive to store the best solutions. Some different physical layer effects, such as four-wave mixing and residual dispersion, were considered in the tests of our proposal. We tested our proposal for transparent optical networks. However, we believe iWA can be used in other types of network, such as opaque networks and translucent networks. The proposed wavelength assignment algorithm was compared with five other wavelength assignment algorithms for two network topologies in three different scenarios. The iWA algorithm outperformed the other WA algorithms in most cases. The robustness of our proposed algorithm to the load distribution changes was also analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Objective: Diagnosing bloodstream infections (BSIs) in patients on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) can be challenging due to circuit-controlled temperature, altered hemodynamics, and questionable reliability of inflammatory markers in critically ill patients. As a result, practice variability exists among ECMO centers regarding routine blood cultures for surveillance of BSI. Our study aimed to evaluate daily surveillance blood cultures in pediatric and neonatal ECMO patients., Design: Retrospective review of daily surveillance blood cultures from January 2021 to July 2023. We evaluated signs, symptoms, and laboratory results in patients with positive blood cultures., Setting: Academic children's hospital, New York, NY., Patients: All pediatric and neonatal patients supported on ECMO., Interventions: None., Measurements and Main Results: We identified a cohort of 111 patients (39 neonates and 72 children) who were supported with ECMO. Daily blood cultures were obtained on 1059 (99%) of 1065 completed ECMO days. Overall, 3% (35/1059) of blood cultures were positive, affecting 6% (7/111) of patients. All seven patients had new evidence of infection on the day of their first positive blood culture; six had clinical signs of infection, including new-onset hypotension, hypothermia, or respiratory decline, and the remaining patients had newly elevated inflammatory markers., Conclusions: Daily surveillance blood cultures are low-yield in our practice with pediatric and neonatal ECMO patients. Our experience shows that changes in clinical status, including abnormal physical or laboratory findings consistent with infection, are associated with BSI, allowing for timely diagnosis. These criteria should prompt as-needed blood cultures, reducing blood draws and preventing costly and unnecessary daily surveillance cultures., Competing Interests: Dr. Saiman’s institution received funding from Merck and Co Inc, the CF Foundation, and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease; she received funding from Merck, Pfizer, and the CF Foundation. The remaining authors have disclosed that they do not have any potential conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2025 by the Society of Critical Care Medicine and the World Federation of Pediatric Intensive and Critical Care Societies.)

Background: The popularization of mobile health (mHealth) apps for public health or medical care purposes has transformed human life substantially, improving lifestyle behaviors and chronic condition management. The objective of this study is to evaluate the effect of gamification features in a mHealth app that includes the most common categories of behavior change techniques for the self-report of lifestyle data. The data reported by the user can be manual (i.e., diet, activity, and weight) and automatic (Fitbit wearable devices). As a secondary objective, this work aims to explore the differences in the adherence when considering a longer study duration and make a comparative analysis of the gamification effect., Methods: In this study, the effectiveness of various behavior change techniques strategies is evaluated through the analysis of two user groups. With a first group of users, we perform a comparative analysis in terms of adherence and system usability scale of two versions of the app, both including the most common categories of behavior change techniques but the second version having added gamification features. Then, with a second group of participants and the best mHealth app version, a longer study is carried out and user adherence, the system usability scale and user feedback are analyzed., Results: In the first stage study, results have shown that the app version with gamification features has achieved a higher adherence, as the percentage of days active was higher for most of the users and the system usability scale score is 80.67, which is categorized as rank A. The app also exceeded the expectations of the users by about 70% for the app version with gamification functionalities. In the second stage of the study, an adherence of 76.25% is reported after 8 weeks and 58% at the end of the pilot for the mHealth app. Similarly, for the wearable device, an adherence of 74.32% is achieved after 8 weeks and 81.08% is obtained at the end of the pilot. We hypothesize that these specific wearable devices have contributed to a decreased system usability scale score, reaching 62.89 which is ranked as C., Conclusion: This study evidences the effectiveness of the gamification category of behavior change techniques in increasing the overall user adherence, expectations, and perceived usability. In addition, the results provide quantitative results on the effect of the most common categories of behavior change techniques for the self-report of lifestyle data. Therefore, a higher duration in the study has shown several limitations when capturing lifestyle data, especially when including wearable devices such as Fitbit., Competing Interests: Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: The study protocol was carried out according to the ethical guidelines of the revised 1975 Declaration of Helsinki and approved by the Basque Ethics Committee for Research (CEIm-E), ethical approval code: PI2019130. Written informed consents were obtained from the study participants. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2025. The Author(s).)

Aims: Heart failure (HF) is a highly prevalent and progressive condition associated with significant morbidity and mortality rates. Acute decompensated HF precipitates millions of hospitalizations each year. Despite therapeutic advances, the overall prognosis of HF is poor. The varying clinical courses and outcomes of patients with this disease may be due to region-specific gaps and since most HF studies are conducted in developed countries, the participation of Latin American and Caribbean countries is low. Considering this, the American Registry of Ambulatory and Acute Decompensated Heart Failure (AMERICCAASS) aims to characterize the population with ambulatory and acute decompensated HF in the American continent and to determine rehospitalization and survival outcomes during the 12 months of follow-up., Methods and Results: AMERICCAASS Registry is an observational, prospective, and hospital-based registry recruiting patients with ambulatory or acute decompensated HF. The registry plans to include between two and four institutions per country from at least 20 countries in the Americas, and at least 60 patients recruited from each participant institution regardless of their ambulatory or acutely decompensated condition. Ambulatory patients with confirmed HF diagnosis or inpatients presenting with acute decompensated HF will be included. Follow-up will be performed at 12 months in ambulatory patients or 1, 6, and 12 months after hospital discharge in acutely decompensated HF patients. This ongoing study began on 1 April 2022, with recruitment scheduled to end on 30 November 2023, and follow-up on 31 January 2025. Ethics approval was obtained from the Biomedical Research Ethics Committee of Fundación Valle del Lili. Data collected in the AMERICCAASS registry is being stored on the electronic platform REDCap (Research Electronic Data Capture), which allows different forms for patient groups to enable unbiased analyses. For quantitative variables comparison, we will use the Student's t-test or non-parametric tests accordingly. Categorical variables will be presented as proportions, and groups will be compared with Fisher's exact test. The significance level will be <0.05 for comparisons. Readmissions and post-discharge mortality will be calculated as proportions at 1, 6, and 12 months, with a survival analysis by conditional probability and the Kaplan-Meier method., Conclusions: AMERICCAASS Registry is intended to be the most important registry of the continent for obtaining important information about demographics, aetiology, co-morbidities, and treatment received, either ambulatory or hospitalized. This registry may contribute to the optimization of national and regional evidence and public policies for the diagnosis and treatment of HF disease., (© 2024 The Author(s). ESC Heart Failure published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Society of Cardiology.)

Propolis is a natural resinous product produced by Apis mellifera bees from the exudates of various plants. The color of propolis (green) is a consequence of its botanical origin, as bees collect young tissues and leaves of Baccaris dracunculifolia. This study evaluated the chemical composition and extraction kinetics of essential oils obtained from Brazilian green propolis by hydrodistillation. Hydrodistillation was performed for 360 min and analyzed at different times (30, 60, 120, 240, and 360 min), allowing the calculation of the accumulated content (% w/w) and the identification of the essential oil chemical profile. The GC/FID and GC/MS analysis led to the annotation of 60 compounds with estragole (13.30 %), benzyl propanoate (14.59 %), and (E)-nerolidol (13.57 %) as the main compounds. The optimum conditions for extraction of phenylpropanoids (PP), hydrocarbons (HD), monoterpenes (MT), and oxygenated monoterpenes (OMT) are between 30 and 120 min. In comparison, sesquiterpenes (ST) and oxygenated sesquiterpenes (OST) are extracted more efficiently between 240 and 360 min. The optimal extraction speed determination is essential for industrial-scale processing to obtain components such as sesquiterpenes, which have a high economic value in the cosmetic/perfumery and pharmaceutical industries., (© 2024 Wiley-VHCA AG, Zurich, Switzerland.)

Endophytic fungi live asymptomatically inside vegetal tissues, and such uncommon habitat contributes to their exceptional chemical diversity. Isolating natural products from endophytic fungi could fail due to silent biosynthetic gene clusters under ordinary in vitro culture conditions, and co-culturing has been assayed to trigger their metabolism. We carried out single and dual cultures with 13 endophyte strains isolated from Euphorbia umbellata leaves. Multivariate statistics applied to untargeted metabolomics compared the chemical profiles of all endophyte cultures. PCA analysis guided the selection of the Aspergillus pseudonomiae J1 - Porogramme brasiliensis J9 dual culture for its most significant chemical differentiation: Five compounds were putatively annotated in the J1-J9 culture according to UHPLC-HRMS data, kojic acid, haliclonol and its diastereoisomer, caffeic acid, and 2-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)acetaldehyde. Analysis by PLS-DA using VIP score showed that kojic acid displayed the most significative importance in discriminating single and dual J1-J9 cultures., (© 2024 Wiley-VHCA AG, Zurich, Switzerland.)

Background: About 80% of cardiovascular diseases (including heart failure [HF]) occur in low-income and developing countries. However, most clinical trials are conducted in developed countries., Hypothesis: The American Registry of Ambulatory or Acutely Decompensated Heart Failure (AMERICCAASS) aims to describe the sociodemographic characteristics of HF, comorbidities, clinical presentation, and pharmacological management of patients with ambulatory or acutely decompensated HF in America., Methodology: Descriptive, observational, prospective, and multicenter registry, which includes patients >18 years with HF in an outpatient or hospital setting. Collected information is stored in the REDCap electronic platform. Quantitative variables are defined according to the normality of the variable using the Shapiro-Wilk test., Results: This analysis includes data from the first 1000 patients recruited. 63.5% were men, the median age of 66 years (interquartile range 56.7-75.4), and 77.6% of the patients were older than 55 years old. The percentage of use of the four pharmacological pillars at the time of recruitment was 70.7% for beta-blockers (BB), 77.4% for angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEI)/angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB II)/angiotensin receptor-neprilysin inhibitor (ARNI), 56.8% for mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists (MRA), and 30.7% for sodium-glucose cotransporter type-2 inhibitors (SGLT2i). The main cause of decompensation in hospitalized patients was HF progression (64.4%), and the predominant hemodynamic profile was wet-warm (68.3%)., Conclusions: AMERICCAASS is the first continental registry to include hospitalized or outpatient patients with HF. Regarding optimal medical therapy, approximately a quarter of the patients still need to receive BB and ACEI/ARB/ARNI, less than half do not receive MRA, and more than two-thirds do not receive SGLT2i., (© 2023 The Authors. Clinical Cardiology published by Wiley Periodicals, LLC.)

Introduction: While perinatal mental health concerns are common, little attention is paid to noticing or addressing these concerns. Midwives and obstetricians are uniquely positioned to universally screen their patients for mental health conditions during the perinatal period, and provide referrals for additional mental health supports if relevant. Previous studies on perinatal mental health care have focused primarily on midwifery care, excluding perinatal healthcare providers such as obstetricians. This rapid review aims to examine the barriers to accessing mental health care during the perinatal period as experienced by obstetricians, midwives, and their patients., Methods: A rapid review of literature was conducted on barriers to perinatal mental health care as experienced by patients, midwives, and obstetricians. The search strategy included published literature from PubMed, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and Web of Science published between 2000 and 2020. All documents were screened by two researchers and disagreements were resolved through consensus with a third reviewer. After data from all included articles were extracted, thematic analysis was conducted, and findings were compared with related reviews that focused on mental health access for individuals who accessed midwifery care., Results: Of the 539 references and documents that were screened, 31 articles met the inclusion criteria. In the extraction phase, country, study objective(s), study design, perspective(s), barriers, and the dimension(s) impacted along the pathway to accessing care were retrieved from the 31 included articles. After all barriers were classified using the Supply-Side Dimensions of Access, we developed a classification framework to further examine stigma at the societal, institutional, and individual levels., Discussion: While midwives utilize a more holistic approach to care as compared with obstetricians, the barriers identified through this rapid review indicate that obstetricians and their patients face similar struggles to accessing and providing mental health care. Moreover, stigma plays a large role in the barriers experienced by patients, midwives, and obstetricians - at individual and institutional levels., Conclusion: Obstetricians encounter similar stigma-related barriers as midwives in detecting mental health concerns, as well as connecting clients to available mental health resources and supports. Therefore, to effectively eliminate barriers to accessing perinatal mental health care, a systemic change must be enacted throughout all three layers to address the deep-rooted stigma associated with accessing mental health care during the perinatal period., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest No authors reported conflicts of interest for this rapid review., (Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Alcohol is legalized and used for a variety of reasons, including socially or as self-medication for trauma in the absence of accessible and safe supports. Trauma-informed approaches can help address the root causes of alcohol use, as well as the stigma around women's alcohol use during pregnancy. However, it is unclear how these approaches are used in contexts where pregnant and/or parenting women access care. Our objective was to synthesize existing literature and identify promising trauma-informed approaches to working with pregnant and/or parenting women who use alcohol. A multidisciplinary team of scholars with complementary expertise worked collaboratively to conduct a rigorous scoping review. All screening, extraction, and analysis was independently conducted by at least two authors before any differences were discussed and resolved through team consensus. The Joanna Briggs Institute method was used to map existing evidence from peer-reviewed articles found in PubMed, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Social Work Abstracts, and Web of Science. Data were extracted to describe study demographics, articulate trauma-informed principles in practice, and gather practice recommendations. Thirty-six studies, mostly from the United States and Canada, were included for analysis. Studies reported on findings of trauma-informed practice in different models of care, including live-in treatment centers, case coordination/management, integrated and wraparound supports, and outreach-for pregnant women, mothers, or both. We report on how the following four principles of trauma-informed practices were applied and articulated in the included studies: (1) trauma awareness; (2) safety and trustworthiness; (3) choice, collaboration, and connection; and (4) strengths-based approach and skill building. This review advances and highlights the importance of understanding trauma and applying trauma-informed practice and principles to better support women who use alcohol to reduce the risk of alcohol-exposed pregnancies. Relationships and trust are central to trauma-informed care. Moreover, when applying trauma-informed practices with pregnant and parenting women who use alcohol, we must consider the unique stigma attached to alcohol use.

Aedes aegypti transmits arbovirus, which is a public health concern. Certain filamentous fungi have the potential to control the disease. Here, the effects of Metarhizium anisopliae s.l. CG 153, Beauveria bassiana s.l. CG 206 and Schinus molle L. were investigated against Aedes aegypti larvae. In addition, the effect of essential oil on fungal development was analyzed. Fungal germination was assessed after combination with essential oil at 0.0025 %, 0.0075 %, 0.005 %, or 0.01 %; all of the oil concentrations affected germination except 0.0025 % (v/v). Larvae were exposed to 0.0025 %, 0.0075 %, 0.005 %, or 0.01 % of the essential oil or Tween 80 at 0.01 %; however, only the essential oil at 0.0025 % achieved similar results as the control. Larvae were exposed to fungi at 10 7 conidia mL -1 alone or in combination with the essential oil at 0.0025 %. Regardless of the combination, M. anisopliae reduced the median survival time of mosquitoes more than B. bassiana. The cumulative survival of mosquitoes exposed to M. anisopliae alone or in combination with essential oil was 7.5 % and 2 %, respectively, and for B. bassiana, it was 75 % and 71 %, respectively. M. anisopliae + essential oil had a synergistic effect against larvae, whereas B. bassiana + essential oil was antagonistic. Scanning and transmission electron microscopy, and histopathology confirmed that the interaction of M. anisopliae was through the gut and hemocoel. In contrast, the mosquito's gut was the main route for invasion by B. bassiana. Results from gas chromatography studies demonstrated sabinene and bicyclogermacrene as the main compounds of S. molle, and the in-silico investigation found evidence that both compounds affect a wide range of biological activity. For the first time, we demonstrated the potential of S. molle and its interaction with both fungal strains against A. aegypti larvae. Moreover, for the first time, we reported that S. molle might be responsible for significant changes in larval physiology. This study provides new insights into host-pathogen interplay and contributes to a better understanding of pathogenesis in mosquitoes, which have significant consequences for biological control strategies., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The aim of the current study is to evaluate gene expression patterns of LH (lhr) and estrogen (er) receptors and plasma steroid levels during testicular development in Genyatremus luteus. Males were histologically classified as immature (n=7), maturing (n=7) and mature (n=7), based on the cellular structure of their testes. Plasma 11-KT concentration recorded peak at the final maturation stage. The highest plasma 17α-OHP concentrations were observed at the immature stage; they decreased at the maturation and mature stages. On the other hand, 17β-estradiol (E2) recorded higher concentrations at the maturation stage. Er expression has significantly increased along the maturational development of animals' testes. The mRNA observed for the LH receptor has decreased from immature to maturing stage; it presented expression peak at the mature stage. There was high association between receptor gene expression and plasma steroid levels, mainly E2. The current study was the first to feature different reproductive maturation stages in male G. luteus specimens, based on cellular, endocrine and molecular aspects. In addition, it has shown that the gene expression profile for er and lhr receptors, as well as plasma 11-KT and E2 concentrations, are directly linked to testicular maturation, although they are not necessarily associated with the gonadosomatic index.

Introduction The number of systematic reviews (SRs) in dentistry published each year has grown considerably, and they have been essential in clinical decision-making and health policy.Objective The objective is to critically appraise SRs of intervention in dentistry using the 'A Measurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews 2' (AMSTAR 2) tool published within one year.Methods A search in the Medline/PubMed database was performed. The SRs were identified in two phases. The first phase identified SRs of interventions in dentistry by title and abstract. In the second phase, the full text was read, applying the eligibility criteria. Three calibrated reviewers methodologically assessed all SRs identified using the AMSTAR 2 tool. Data were analysed descriptively, and SRs were grouped according to methodological quality as moderate/high and low/critically low. A logistic regression model was applied to explore the associations between methodological quality and the study's characteristics.Results Two hundred and twenty-two SRs were included. The methodological quality of the SRs included in this study were: critically low (56.8%), low (27.9%), moderate (14.4%) and high (0.9%), according to AMSTAR 2. There were no statistical differences between moderate/high and low/critically low methodological quality and publication year, continent, journal Impact Factor and dental speciality.Conclusion Less than 1% of recently published SRs in dentistry were classified with high methodological quality. We hope that this study will alert researchers about the need to improve the methodological quality of SRs., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to the British Dental Association.)

Background: The popularization of mobile health (mHealth) apps for public health or medical care purposes has transformed human life substantially, improving lifestyle behaviors and chronic condition management., Objective: This review aimed to identify behavior change techniques (BCTs) commonly used in mHealth, assess their effectiveness based on the evidence reported in interventions and reviews to highlight the most appropriate techniques to design an optimal strategy to improve adherence to data reporting, and provide recommendations for future interventions and research., Methods: We performed a systematic review of studies published between 2010 and 2021 in relevant scientific databases to identify and analyze mHealth interventions using BCTs that evaluated their effectiveness in terms of user adherence. Search terms included a mix of general (eg, data, information, and adherence), computer science (eg, mHealth and BCTs), and medicine (eg, personalized medicine) terms., Results: This systematic review included 24 studies and revealed that the most frequently used BCTs in the studies were feedback and monitoring (n=20), goals and planning (n=14), associations (n=14), shaping knowledge (n=12), and personalization (n=7). However, we found mixed effectiveness of the techniques in mHealth outcomes, having more effective than ineffective outcomes in the evaluation of apps implementing techniques from the feedback and monitoring, goals and planning, associations, and personalization categories, but we could not infer causality with the results and suggest that there is still a need to improve the use of these and many common BCTs for better outcomes., Conclusions: Personalization, associations, and goals and planning techniques were the most used BCTs in effective trials regarding adherence to mHealth apps. However, they are not necessarily the most effective since there are studies that use these techniques and do not report significant results in the proposed objectives; there is a notable overlap of BCTs within implemented app components, suggesting a need to better understand best practices for applying (a combination of) such techniques and to obtain details on the specific BCTs used in mHealth interventions. Future research should focus on studies with longer follow-up periods to determine the effectiveness of mHealth interventions on behavior change to overcome the limited evidence in the current literature, which has mostly small-sized and single-arm experiments with a short follow-up period., (©Maria Aguiar, Maria Trujillo, Deisy Chaves, Roberto Álvarez, Gorka Epelde. Originally published in JMIR mHealth and uHealth (https://mhealth.jmir.org), 09.09.2022.)

This paper proposes LTC-Mapping , a method for building object-oriented semantic maps that remain consistent in the long-term operation of mobile robots. Among the different challenges that compromise this aim, LTC-Mapping focuses on two of the more relevant ones: preventing duplicate instances of objects (instance duplication) and handling dynamic scenes. The former refers to creating multiple instances of the same physical object in the map, usually as a consequence of partial views or occlusions. The latter deals with the typical assumption made by object-oriented mapping methods that the world is static, resulting in outdated representations when the objects change their positions. To face these issues, we model the detected objects with 3D bounding boxes, and analyze the visibility of their vertices to detect occlusions and partial views. Besides this geometric modeling, the boxes are augmented with semantic information regarding the categories of the objects they represent. Both the geometric entities (bounding boxes) and their semantic content are propagated over time through data association and a fusion technique. In addition, in order to keep the map curated, the non-detection of objects in the areas where they should appear is also considered, proposing a mechanism that removes them from the map once there is evidence that they have been moved (i.e., multiple non-detections occur). To validate our proposal, a number of experiments have been carried out using the Robot@VirtualHome ecosystem, comparing its performance with a state-of-the-art alternative. The results report a superior performance of LTC-Mapping when modeling both geometric and semantic information of objects, and also support its online execution.

COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown measures have disrupted lifestyle habits and self-care. Gender differences in health behavior during the pandemic have not yet been fully elucidated. The aim of this study was to evaluate gender related differences in the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on patients with cardiometabolic diseases. A cross-sectional survey was administered to cardiometabolic patients in 13 Latin American countries between June 15th and July 15th, 2020. The study included 4216 participants, of which 2147 (50.9%) were women. Women reported healthier eating habits as well as lower tobacco and alcohol consumption than men but exercised less and reported increased symptoms of depression. Low income and symptoms of depression were associated with sedentarism in women. The interplay between psychological factors and sedentarism could increase the risk of cardiovascular events in this population., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)