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Since blood flow is tightly coupled to the health status of biological tissue, several instruments have been developed to monitor blood flow and perfusion dynamics. One such instrument is laser speckle imaging. The goal of this study was to evaluate the use of two velocity distribution assumptions (Lorentzian- and Gaussian-based) to calculate speckle flow index (SFI) values. When the normalized autocorrelation function for the Lorentzian and Gaussian velocity distributions satisfy the same definition of correlation time, then the same velocity range is predicted for low speckle contrast (0 < C < 0.6) and predict different flow velocity range for high contrast. Our derived equations form the basis for simplified calculations of SFI values. (c) 2007 Optical Society of America.

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Studying the anthropogenic components of landscapes can provide a solid groundwork to better understand ecological patterns and processes. In this study, we assessed bird species richness and composition in 5 different environmental conditions (well-preserved cloud forest, peri-urban forest, urban greenspace, shade coffee plantation, and cattle ranch) embedded in a landscape whose original vegetation was tropical montane cloud forest. Our results showed that the most similar vegetation structure and physiognomy were peri-urban forest and shade coffee plantation, with urban greenspaces comprising a highly different condition. Regarding species richness, we found no differences for the nonbreeding season (average values 32.9-11.8), but we did find statistical differences for the breeding season (average values 24.5-13.7); highest species richness was recorded for well-preserved cloud forest (43.7 calculated species), which was significantly different from shade coffee plantation (lowest species richness value 24.5) and urban greenspaces (29 calculated species). These results support the idea that during the nonbreeding season, when habitat requirements are less strict, species distribute homogeneously across the landscape, whereas species tend to be more selective and concentrated in original forests during the breeding season. Community composition during the breeding season showed a >40% similarity cluster composed of well-preserved cloud forest, shade coffee plantation, and cattle ranch. In the nonbreeding season, however, 2 clusters were formed at -30% similarity: (I) urban greenspaces and cattle ranch; and (2) peri-urban forest, shade coffee plantation, and well-preserved cloud forest. Our results highlight the overall negative effect of urbanization on breeding bird species richness and composition, as well as the importance of having large patches of well-preserved cloud forests in sheltering high bird diversity. Received I June 2016. Accepted 18 April 2017. Key words: bird diversity, cloud forests, land-use types, urban ecology, urban greenspaces. El estudio de los componentes antrópicos del paisaje puede proveer una base sólida para entender mejor los patrones y procesos ecológicos. En este estudio analizamos la riqueza y composición de especies de aves en cinco diferentes condiciones ambientales (bosque mesófilo de montaña bien conservado, bosque peri-urbano, bosque urbano, cafetal de sombra, potrero), las cuales se encuentran inmersas en un paisaje cuya vegetación original era el bosque mesófilo de montaña. Nuestros resultados muestras que los sitios con mayor similitud en cuanto a estructura y fisionomía vegetal fueron el bosque peri-urbano y el cafetal de sombra, teniendo al bosque urbano como una condición muy diferente. En referencia a la riqueza de especies, no encontramos diferencias entre las condiciones durante la época no reproductiva (valores promedio 32.9-41.8), mientras que se encontraron diferencias significativas durante la época reproductiva (valor promedio 24.5-43.7); la mayor riqueza de especies se registró en el bosque mesófilo de montaña bien conservado (43.7 especies calculadas), el cual fue significativamente diferente al cafetal de sombra (riqueza de especies calculadas más baja 24.5) y al bosque urbano (29 especies calculadas). Los resultados apoyan la idea de que durante la época no reproductiva, cuando los requerimientos de hábitat son menos estrictos, las especies se distribuyen de manera homogénea en el paisaje, mientras que las especies tienden a ser más selectivas y concentrarse en bosque original durante la época reproductiva. La composición de la comunidad durante la época reproductiva mostró una similitud >40% para el grupo compuesto por el bosque mesófilo de montaña bien conservado, el cafetal de sombra y el potrero. Sin embargo, durante la época no reproductiva, se formaron dos grupos con una similitud aproximada de 30%: (1) el bosque urbano y el potrero, y (2) el bosque peri-urbano, el cafetal de sobra y el bosque mesófilo de montaña bien conservado. Nuestros resultados resaltan de manera general el efecto negativo de la urbanización sobre la riqueza y la composición de aves en la época reproductiva, así como la importancia de tener fragmentos grandes de bosque mesófilo de montaña bien conservado capaces de refugiar una alta diversidad de aves. Palabras clave: áreas verdes urbanas, bosques de niebla, diversidad de aves, ecología urbana, tipos de uso del suelo., Latin American landscapes have been anthro-pogenically impacted for at least 10,000 years (Piperno 2007, DeClerck et al. 2010). Evidence suggests that many Latin American tropical ecosystems are not pristine, and [...]

Background: On-farm hatching (OH) systems are becoming more common in broiler production. Hatching conditions differ from conventional farms as OH chicks avoid exposure to handling, transport, post-hatch water and feed deprivation. In contrast, chicks in conventional hatching conditions (CH) are exposed to standard hatchery procedures and transported post hatching. The objectives of this pilot study were to investigate the prevalence and frequency of Escherichia coli resistant to antimicrobials, including presumptive ESBL/AmpC-producing E. coli, isolated from environmental and faecal samples from OH versus CH hatching systems, and to investigate the presence of ESBL/AmpC-producing encoding genes. Results: Environmental samples were collected from one flock in 10 poultry farms (5 OH farms, 5 CH farms) on day 0 post disinfection of the facilities to assess hygiene standards. On D10 and D21 post egg/chick arrival onto the farm, samples of faeces, boot swabs and water drinker lines were collected. E. coli were isolated on MacConkey agar (MC) and MacConkey supplemented with cefotaxime (MC+). Few E. coli were detected on D0. However, on D10 and D21 E. coli isolates were recovered from faeces and boot swabs. Water samples had minimal contamination. In this study, 100% of cefotaxime resistant E. coli isolates (n=33) detected on selective media and 44% of E. coli isolates (84/192) detected on nonselective media were multidrug resistant (MDR). The antimicrobial resistance (AMR) genotype for the 15 ESBL/AmpC producing isolates was determined using multiplex PCR. Six of these were selected for Sanger sequencing of which two were positive for blaCMY-2, two for blaTEM-1 and two were positive for both genes. Conclusions: There was no difference in E. coli isolation rates or prevalence of AMR found between the OH versus CH systems, suggesting that the OH system may not be an additional risk of resistant E. coli dissemination to broilers compared to the CH systems. The frequency of β-lactam resistant E. coli in boot swab and faeces samples across both OH (24/33 (73%)) and CH (9/33 (27%)) systems may indicate that hatcheries could be a reservoir and major contributor to the transmission of AMR bacteria to flocks after entry to the rearing farms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Erik Briffault,1,2 Ricardo Reyes,2,3 Patricia Garcia-Garcia,1,2 Helena Rouco,1 Luis Diaz-Gomez,4 Maria Rosa Arnau,2,5 Carmen Evora,1,3 Patricia Diaz-Rodriguez,2,4 Araceli Delgado1,2 1Department of Chemical Engineering and Pharmaceutical Technology, Universidad de La Laguna, La Laguna, 38206, Spain; 2Institute of Biomedical Technologies (ITB), Universidad de La Laguna, La Laguna, 38320, Spain; 3Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology, Cell Biology and Genetics, Universidad de La Laguna, La Laguna, 38200, Spain; 4Department of Pharmacology, Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Technology, I+D Farma Group (GI-1645), Facultad de Farmacia, Instituto de Materiales (iMATUS) and Health Research Institute of Santiago de Compostela (IDIS), Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, 15782, Spain; 5Servicio de Estabulario, Universidad de La Laguna, La Laguna, 38206, SpainCorrespondence: Patricia Diaz-Rodriguez; Araceli Delgado, Email patricia.diaz.rodriguez@usc.es; adelgado@ull.edu.esIntroduction: Osteoporosis is a metabolic disorder characterized by the loss of bone mass and density. Nucleic acid-based therapies are among the most innovative approaches for osteoporosis management, although their effective delivery to bone tissue remains a challenge. In this work, SFRP1-silencing GampeR loaded-nanoparticles were prepared and functionalized with specific moieties to improve bone targeting and, consequently, therapeutic efficacy. SFRP1-silencing would promote osteoblastic differentiation by enhancing the WNT/β-catenin pathway and thus diminishing the progression of osteoporosis.Methods: A nucleic acid-based delivery system consisting of lipid-polymer hybrid nanoparticles (LPNPs) loading a GapmeR for SFRP1 silencing was developed and further functionalized with two bone-targeting moieties: a specific aptamer (Apt) for murine mesenchymal stem cells and an antiresorptive drug, namely alendronate (ALD). These systems were tested in vivo in osteoporotic mice at different dosage regimens to analyze dose dependence in bone-forming activity and potential toxicity. The quality of trabecular and cortical bone was assessed by both micro computed tomography (micro-CT) and histological and histomorphometric analyses. Early and late osteogenesis were quantified by immunohistochemistry.Results: Results showed that functionalizing LPNPs loaded with an SFRP1-silencing GapmeR using both Apt and ALD improved bone quality and enhanced osteogenesis following a dose–effect relationship, as revealed by micro-CT, histological and immunohistochemical analyses. In contrast, non-functionalized LPNPs did not produce these effects.Conclusion: These findings highlight the relevance of proper targeting and dosage in nucleic acid-based therapeutics, proving to be crucial for exerting their therapeutic effect: a deficient targeting strategy and/or dosage may result in the therapeutic failure of an adequate gene therapy agent. Keywords: osteoporosis, bone targeting, nanoparticle dose-effect, gene therapy, aptamer, alendronate, micro-CT

Juan Jesús García-Iglesias,1 Francesco Chirico,2,3 Amelia Rizzo,4,5 Lukasz Szarpak,6,7 Hicham Khabbache,8,9 Murat Yildirim,10– 12 Javier Fagundo-Rivera,13 Juan Gómez-Salgado1,14 1Department of Sociology, Social Work and Public Health, Faculty of Labour Sciences, University of Huelva, Huelva, Spain; 2Post-Graduate School of Occupational Health, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Rome, Italy; 3Health Service Department, Italian State Police, Ministry of the Interior, Milan, Italy; 4Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Messina, Messina, Italy; 5Department of Cognitive Sciences, Psychological, Educational, and Cultural Studies, University of Messina, Messina, Italy; 6Department of Clinical Research and Development, LUXMED Group, Warsaw, Poland; 7Centre for Development, Commercialisation and Technology Transfer, Collegium Medicum, The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Lublin, Poland; 8Director of the UNESCO Chair “Lifelong Learning Observatory” (UNESCO/UMSBA), Rabat, Morocco; 9Department of Psychology, Laboratory of «Morocco: History, Theology and Languages», Faculty of Arts and Human Sciences Fès-Saïss, Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, Fez, Morocco; 10Department of Psychology, Faculty of Science and Letters, Agri Ibrahim Cecen University, A&gbreve;r&inodot;, Türkiye; 11Department of Social and Educational Sciences, Lebanese American University, Beirut, Lebanon; 12Department of Psychology, School of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences, Khazar University, Baku, Azerbaijan; 13Centro Universitario de Enfermería Cruz Roja, Sevilla, Spain; 14Safety and Health Postgraduate Programme, University of Espíritu Santo, Guayaquil, EcuadorCorrespondence: Juan Gómez-Salgado, Department of Sociology, Social Work and Public Health, Faculty of Labour Sciences, University of Huelva, Avda. Tres de Marzo, Huelva, S/N, 21007, Spain, Tel +34 959219700, Email salgado@uhu.es Javier Fagundo-Rivera, Centro Universitario de Enfermería Cruz Roja, Avda. de la Cruz Roja, 1, duplicado, Sevilla, 41009, Spain, Tel +34 954350997, Email javier.fagundo@cruzroja.esObjective: The aim of this review was to assess the factors influencing the occupational stress of state security forces during the COVID-19 pandemic.Methods: We conducted a scoping review using the Pubmed, Scopus, and Web of Science databases, adhering to the PRISMA statement standards and the guidelines for narrative syntheses.Results: We included a total of 26 studies. The prevalence of stress varied from 22% to 87.2%. Factors that may have influenced the stress levels of police officers during the pandemic include not having basic personal protective equipment, having little or no rest periods between tasks, long working hours, fear of contagion to themselves or others, pressure to maintain law and order, emotion regulation and preparedness, sex, marital status, work experience, age, presence of chronic underlying illnesses, family-work conflict, lack of psychological support, and others. The long working hours, the fear of infecting themselves or others, the pressure to maintain law and order, sex, and age are the six main factors evaluated for more studies.Conclusion: Organisational, situational, and personal factors may have influenced the stress levels of police officers during the pandemic, and measures need to be taken to minimise their impact.Keywords: COVID-19, police, state security forces, stress, occupational health

Marcin Karcz,1 Alaa Abd-Elsayed,2 Krishnan Chakravarthy,3 Aman Mansoor,4 Natalie Strand,5 Mark N Malinowski,6 Usman Latif,7 David Dickerson,8 Tolga Suvar,9 Timothy Lubenow,9 Evan Peskin,10 Ryan D’Souza,5 Eric Cornidez,11 Andrew Dudas,12 Christopher Lam,7 Michael Farrell II,13 Geum Yeon Sim,14 Mohamad Sebai,15 Rosa Garcia,16 Lucas Bracero,1 Yussr Ibrahim,17 Syed Jafar Mahmood,18 Marco Lawandy,19 Daniel Jimenez,20 Leili Shahgholi,15 Kamil Sochacki,21 Mohamed Ehab Ramadan,15 Vinny Francio,22 Dawood Syed,7 Timothy Deer1 1The Spine and Nerve Centers of the Virginias, Charleston, WV, USA; 2Department of Anesthesiology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA; 3Innovative Pain Treatment Solutions, San Diego, CA, USA; 4Aurora Pain Management, Aurora Health Care, Oshkosh, WI, USA; 5Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Phoenix, AZ, USA; 6Department of Anesthesiology, Ohio Health System, Columbus, OH, USA; 7Department of Anesthesiology, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS, USA; 8Department of Pain Medicine, Northshore University Health System, Skokie, IL, USA; 9Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Rush University Medical Center, Oak Park, IL, USA; 10Department of Pain Management, Insight Institute of Neurosurgery & Neuroscience, Flint, MI, USA; 11Pain Institute of Southern Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA; 12Mays and Schnapp Neurospine and Pain, Memphis, TN, USA; 13Department of Pain Management, Erie County Medical Center, Buffalo, NY, USA; 14Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, Baltimore, MD, USA; 15Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA; 16Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Larkin Hospital Health System, Miami, FL, USA; 17Department of Pain Management at Northern Light Health – Eastern Maine Medical Center, Bangor, ME, USA; 18Department of Pain Medicine, University of California Davis Health System, Sacramento, CA, USA; 19Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY, USA; 20Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Michigan State University, Lansing, MI, USA; 21Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson, New Brunswick, NJ, USA; 22Department of Anesthesiology, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USACorrespondence: Marcin Karcz, The Spine and Nerve Centers of the Virginias, Charleston, WV, USA, Email drmarcinkarcz@gmail.comAbstract: Pain serves as a vital innate defense mechanism that can significantly impact an individual’s quality of life. Understanding the physiological effects of pain well plays an important role in developing novel pain treatments. Nociceptor neurons play a key role in pain and inflammation. Interactions between nociceptors and the immune system occur both at the site of injury and within the central nervous system. Modulating chemical mediators and nociceptor activity offers promising new approaches to pain management. Essentially, the sensory nervous system is essential for modulating the body’s protective response, making it critical to understand these interactions to discover new pain treatment strategies. New innovations in neuromodulation have led to alternatives to opioids individuals with chronic pain with consequent improvement in disease-based treatment and nerve targeting. New neural targets from cellular and structural perspectives have revolutionized the field of neuromodulation. This narrative review aims to elucidate the mechanisms of pain transmission and processing, examine the characteristics and properties of nociceptors, and explore how the immune system influences pain perception. It further provides an updated overview of the physiology of pain and neuromodulatory mechanisms essential for managing acute and chronic pain. We assess the current understanding of different pain types, focusing on key molecules involved in each type and their physiological effects. Additionally, we compare painful and painless neuropathies and discuss the neuroimmune interactions involved in pain manifestation.Keywords: neurons, nociceptive pain, neuropathic pain, nociplastic pain, physiological effects, pain pathways, sensitization

This article establishes the functional average as an important estimand for causal inference. The significance of the estimand lies in its robustness against traditional issues of confounding. We prove that this robustness holds even when the probability distribution of the outcome, conditional on treatment or some other vector of adjusting variables, differs almost arbitrarily from its counterfactual analogue. This article also examines possible estimators of the functional average, including the sample mid-range, and proposes a new type of bootstrap for robust statistical inference: the Hoeffding bootstrap. After this, the article explores a new class of variables, the U{\mathcal{U}} class, that simplifies the estimation of functional averages. This class of variables is also used to establish mean exchangeability in some cases and to provide the results of elementary statistical procedures, such as linear regression and the analysis of variance, with causal interpretations. Simulation evidence is provided. The methods of this article are also applied to a National Health and Nutrition Survey data set to investigate the causal effect of exercise on the blood pressure of adult smokers.

Yair Humberto González-Tuyub,1 Karla Daniela González-Iñiguez,1 Paula Catalina Lizarazo-Guiza,2 Sergio Ricardo García-García3 1Clinical Immunology and Allergy Service, ISSSTE Hospital Regional General, Ignacio Zaragoza, Ciudad de México, México; 2Medical Scientific Liaison, AstraZeneca, Ciudad de México, México; 3Clinical Research, HS Estudios Farmacoeconómicos SA de CV, Ciudad de México, MéxicoCorrespondence: Yair Humberto González-Tuyub, Clinical Immunology and Allergy Service, ISSSTE Hospital Regional General, Calz, Ignacio Zaragoza, 1840, Juan Escutia, Iztapalapa, 09100 Iztapalapa, Ciudad de México, México, Email yair.gonzalezz@gmail.comBackground: Asthma is a health condition with worldwide relevance, evaluated based on the necessary treatment to control symptoms and exacerbations. Severe asthma is uncontrolled despite high doses of ICS-LABA and treatment for triggering factors. Severe eosinophilic asthma is characterized by an increase in eosinophils in the peripheral circulation, walls, and passages of the respiratory tract. Biologic treatments such as benralizumab have demonstrated effectiveness as aids in decreasing respiratory tract inflammation and improving the management of symptoms in patients living with asthma.Objective: To assess the efficacy and safety of benralizumab as an add-on therapy for patients with severe, uncontrolled asthma and elevated blood eosinophil counts.Methods: Observational, analytic and ambispective study in 21 patients diagnosed with severe eosinophilic asthma treated with benralizumab, to determine the treatment’s effectiveness through the change in estimated respiratory function by spirometry through the forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) value, reduction in second controlling treatment, serum eosinophil reduction, change in the Asthma Control Test score and the Asthma Control Questionnaire test at 6 and 16 months of treatment.Results: An average difference of 241.43 mL (± 461.43) in FEV1 at 6 months was found, as well as an average FeNO reduction of 49.8 ppm and eosinophil reduction of 612.78 cells at 12 months of treatment, additionally, CSI requirements were reduced in 95% of patients.Conclusion: Benralizumab improved respiratory function as well as key biomarkers such as eosinophil count, exhaled nitric oxide fraction (FeNO), which reflected in a decreased requirement of inhaled corticosteroids and improved symptom control.Keywords: asthma, eosinophils, benralizumab, biologics, CSI-LABA therapy

Anthony Giuffrida,1 Christy Saia-Owenby,2 Chris Andriano,3,&ast; Douglas Beall,4,&ast; Ashley Bailey-Classen,5,&ast; Patrick Buchanan,6,&ast; Ryan Budwany,7,&ast; Mehul J Desai,8,&ast; Ashley Comer,9,&ast; Andrew Dudas,10,&ast; Vinicius Tieppo Francio,11,&ast; Warren Grace,12,&ast; Benjamin Gill,13,&ast; Betsy Grunch,14,&ast; Andrew Goldblum,13,&ast; Rosa A Garcia,15,&ast; David W Lee,16,&ast; Chad Lavender,17,&ast; Marco Lawandy,18,&ast; Lyric Mandell,2,&ast; Robin Mata,19,&ast; Morteza Rabii,20,&ast; Kiran Patel,21,&ast; Raj G Patel,22,&ast; Ankur A Patel,23,&ast; Dawood Sayed,24,&ast; Gurtej Singh,25,&ast; Natalie Strand,26,&ast; Jordan Tate,27,&ast; Michael E Schatman,28 Timothy Deer29 1Cantor Spine Center, Paley Orthopedic and Spine Institute, Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA; 2MOXY Company, Covington, LA, USA; 3Georgia Pain Care, Stockbridge, GA, USA; 4Oklahoma Spine Hospital, Oklahoma City, OK, USA; 5Trinity Pain Medicine Associates, Fort Worth, TX, USA; 6Spanish Hills Interventional Pain Specialists, Camarillo, CA, USA; 7Center for Pain Relief, Charleston Area Medical Center, Charleston, WV, USA; 8International Spine, Pain, and Performance Center, Washington, DC, USA; 9The Spine and Nerve Centers of the Virginias, Charleston, WV, USA; 10Maya & Schnapp, Neurospine and Pain, Memphis, TN, USA; 11Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, University of Kansas, Kansas City, KS, USA; 12Redefine Healthcare, Orthopedic Pain and Spine Center, Edison, NJ, USA; 13Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA; 14Longstreet Clinic, Gainesville, GA, USA; 15Larkin Hospital Health Systems, Miami, FL, USA; 16Interventional Pain and Spine, Fullerton Orthopedics, Yorba Linda, CA, USA; 17Department of Orthopaedics, Marshall University, Huntington, WV, USA; 18Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Montefiore Medical Center, New York, NY, USA; 19Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA; 20Crimson Pain Management, Overland Park, KS, USA; 21Pain Medicine and Anesthesiology, Northwell Health, New York, NY, USA; 22Central Texas Interventional Pain Doctor, Capitol Pain Institute, Austin, TX, USA; 23Department of Neurological Surgery, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA; 24Department of Pain Medicine and Neurology, University of Kansas Health System, Kansas City, KS, USA; 25Department of Pain Medicine, Rehabilitation, and Pain Medicine, the Center for Advance Orthopaedics, Cantonsville, MD, USA; 26Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Phoenix, AZ, USA; 27Department of Pain Medicine and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Southern Pain and Spine, Jasper, GA, USA; 28Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative Care, and Pain Medicine at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA; 29Department of Pain Management, Spine and Nerve Centers of the Virginias, Charleston, WV, USA&ast;These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Lyric Mandell, MOXY Company, Covington, LA, USA, Email lyric@moxycompany.comPurpose: The American Society of Pain and Neuroscience (ASPN) identified a significant gap in resources and guidelines that aim to educate healthcare providers for best practices when engaging on social media. As part of the broader initiatives on Spine and Nerve practice, the executive board of ASPN has decided it would be beneficial to include comprehensive guidance for healthcare providers when engaging on social media.Methods: A panel of experts was chosen based on expertise, publications, diversity, and their social media presence. Along with expert guidance, the committee conducted an extensive analysis of peer-reviewed literature in communication and medical journals to determine best practices for healthcare practitioners on social media.Results: Social media messages significantly impact patients’ and colleagues’ perceptions and actions regarding medical issues. As such, providers and their teams must be aware of legal and ethical considerations in healthcare while maintaining a consistent, educational, and digestible persona online.Conclusion: The advancement of communication and medical technologies and systems necessitates continued education and resources to adapt to our rapidly changing media and medical landscape.Keywords: digital communication, social networking sites, healthcare providers, best practices, physician communication, social media, medical marketing, spine

Ada Regina Trindade de Almeida,1 Patricia E Garcia,2 Raul Banegas,3 Silvia Zimbres,4 Carolina Martinez,5 Jan Frolik,6 Camila Cazerta de Paula Eduardo7 1Clínica Dermatológica, São Paulo, Brazil; 2Private Practice, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico; 3Banegas Estética Médica, Buenos Aires, Argentina; 4Clinica Doux, São Paulo, Brazil; 5Private Practice, Bogotá, Colombia; 6Allergan Aesthetics, an AbbVie Company, Irvine, CA, USA; 7Allergan Aesthetics, an AbbVie Company, São Paulo, BrazilCorrespondence: Ada Regina Trindade de Almeida, Clínica Dermatológica, Hospital do Servidor Público Municipal de São Paulo, Rua Turiassu, 390 - 11 Andar - Cj. 113/114, Perdizes, São Paulo/Sp - Cep, 05005-000, Brazil, Tel +55 11 3864-1816, Email artrindal@uol.com.brAbstract: The rich and diverse heritage of Latin American people contributes to a large variety of physical features, which translates to a patient population with a range of motivations for seeking cosmetic procedures and unique perspectives that influence their aesthetic preferences. As there is no one standard of beauty, it is important for physicians to understand the various factors that influence their patients’ perceptions of beauty and desires to seek cosmetic treatment, especially because patient preference may differ from the physician perspective. Physicians in Latin America must consider the demographic, ethnic, and cultural factors that influence their patients to ensure culturally sensitive treatment approaches, natural-looking results, and patient satisfaction. This review includes a discussion of published literature, combined with the expert opinion of the authors, to provide a detailed description of the elements that impact aesthetic perceptions of patients living across the Latin American diaspora and highlights important gaps in research for future studies to address.Keywords: aging, beauty, ethnicity, Hispanic, Latino, Latinx, physiology

Eduardo Garcia-Pachon, Isabel Padilla-Navas Section of Respiratory Medicine, Hospital General Universitario de Elche, Elche, Alicante, SpainCorrespondence: Eduardo Garcia-Pachon, Section of Respiratory Medicine, Hospital General Universitario de Elche, Elche, Alicante, 03203, Spain, Email egpachon@gmail.comPurpose: Anemia is a risk factor for mortality within the general population and is notably prevalent among individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Our objective was to investigate the impact of anemia on the long-term mortality risk of hospitalized COPD patients. Additionally, we aimed to identify the cause of mortality to assess whether it was different in relation to the presence of anemia.Patients and Methods: This was an observational retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data of consecutive patients admitted because of COPD exacerbation. Clinical characteristics, the presence of anemia, months of survival and cause of death if occurred, were recorded. Patients were categorized into two groups: anemic (for women hemoglobin level < 12 g/dL and for men hemoglobin level < 13 g/dL) and non-anemic. Survival analysis was conducted using Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox proportional hazard regression analysis.Results: A total of 125 patients (20% women) were included in the study. Among them, 31 (25%) were identified as anemic, By the conclusion of the study, 59 patients (47%) had died: 27 out of 31 anemic patients (87%) and 32 out of 94 non-anemic patients (34%) (p< 0.001). Anemia was a robust predictor of mortality one year after admission (adjusted hazard ratio HR; 5.20 [1.86– 14.55]); three years after admission (HR 4.30 [2.03– 9.10]), and at the study’s termination (with a follow-up period ranging from a minimum of 38 months to a maximum of 56 months) (HR; 3.80 [1.96– 7.38]). Mortality in the group of patients with anemia was of 27 individuals (87%) and 32 (34%) in patients without anemia (p< 0.001). The causes of mortality in patients with or without anemia were similar.Conclusion: The detection of anemia upon admission for COPD exacerbation serves as a robust predictor of mortality in the subsequent years.Keywords: anemia, COPD, hospitalization, mortality, prognosis

Dulce Dajheanne Garcia-de la Cruz,1,2 Isela Esther Juarez-Rojop,2 Carlos Alfonso Tovilla-Zarate,3 Humberto Nicolini,4 Alma Delia Genis-Mendoza4,5 1Unidad de Enseñanza e Investigación, Hospital Regional de Alta Especialidad de Salud Mental Villahermosa, Tabasco, México; 2Laboratorio de Metabolismo de Lípidos, Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco, División Académica de Ciencias de la Salud, Villahermosa, Tabasco, México; 3Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco, División Académica Multidisciplinaria de Comalcalco, Tabasco, México; 4Laboratorio de Genómica de las Enfermedades Psiquiátricas y Neurodegenerativas, Instituto Nacional de Medicina Genómica, Ciudad de México, México; 5Hospital Psiquiátrico Infantil, Dr. Juan N. Navarro, Ciudad de México, MéxicoCorrespondence: Alma Delia Genis-Mendoza, Email adgenis@inmegen.gob.mxPurpose: Cognitive domains are affected in patients with schizophrenia. Mitochondrial dysfunction has been proposed as a possible origin of these symptoms. Cell-free mitochondrial DNA (cf-mtDNA) is an indicator of cellular stress, and it can be identified in individuals with age-associated disorders, this study aimed to explore the presence of cf-mtDNA in plasma of schizophrenia patients and its association with cognitive deficit.Patients and Methods: Ninety-nine subjects were clinically evaluated; the case group included 60 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia and 39 randomly-individuals without psychiatric disorders were included in the comparison group. Cognitive status (MoCA scale) and cell-free mtDNA in blood plasma were assessed and quantified in both groups.Results: From the original sample, cf-mtDNA was identified in 43 subjects, 40 patients with schizophrenia and 3 controls (&KHgr;2 = 31.10, p-value < 0.0001). Thirty-nine out of forty patients with schizophrenia had a cognitive deficit.Conclusion: According to our findings, cognitive impairment and presence of cf-mtDNA were related in subjects with schizophrenia. Thus, while the cognitive deficit might reflect an accelerated aging process, the cf-mtDNA plays a role as a potential biomarker in this mechanism.Keywords: schizophrenia, cell free mitochondrial DNA, cognitive impairment, mitochondrial dysfunction

Muhammad B Qureshi,1 Jose O Garcia,1 Jaxon Quillen,2 Carolyn Mead-Harvey,2 Christina Wentz,3 Cherie B Nau,4 Muriel Schornack,4 Keith Baratz,4 Sanjay V Patel,4 Joanne Shen5 1Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine, Scottsdale, AZ, USA; 2Department of Quantitative Health Sciences, Mayo Clinic, Scottsdale, AZ, USA; 3Illinois College of Optometry, Chicago, IL, USA; 4Department of Ophthalmology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA; 5Department of Ophthalmology, Mayo Clinic, Scottsdale, AZ, USACorrespondence: Joanne Shen, Department of Ophthalmology, Mayo Clinic, 13400 E Shea Blvd, Scottsdale, AZ, USA, 85259, Tel +1 480-301-8085, Fax +1 480-301-7326, Email shen.joanne@mayo.eduPurpose: To compare baseline characteristics and treatment of chronic ocular graft-versus-host disease (oGVHD) patients in two treatment locations.Patients and Methods: Patients diagnosed with definite chronic oGVHD between September 1, 2014 and September 20, 2021 at two locations were identified. IRB-approved retrospective chart review was conducted for the following data: demographic information, ocular surface disease index (OSDI), corneal fluorescein staining (CFS), and treatment(s) used. Differences by site were assessed using Pearson’s Chi-Square tests and two-sample t-tests; differences by time were assessed using paired t-tests.Results: At baseline, Clinic 1 (C1) patients had a worse mean OSDI score (47.8 vs 36.3, p = 0.011) and CFS in both OD (1.3 vs 0.8, p = 0.005) and OS (1.3 vs 0.6, p < 0.001) compared to Clinic 2 (C2). Comparing baseline to endpoint, C1 patients experienced an improvement in OSDI (− 17.26, p < 0.001), CFS OD (− 0.50, p < 0.001), and CFS OS (− 0.51, p < 0.001) at C1. Change in OSDI, CFS OD, or CFS OS was not statistically significant at C2. Despite similar follow-up length, C1 demonstrated more clinic visits (10.4 vs 3.4, p < 0.001) and more treatment trials (4.9 vs 2.4, p < 0.001) compared to C2. Punctal plugs (85.5% vs 61.2%, p = 0.002), punctal cautery (69.7% vs 28.6%, p < 0.001), topical steroids (72.4% vs 22.4%, p < 0.001), and autologous serum tears (AST) (52.6% vs 8.2%, p < 0.001) were used more frequently at C1 than at C2.Conclusion: oGVHD patients at C1 experienced significant improvement in OSDI and corneal fluorescein staining and compared to patients at C2, had more frequent follow-up and use of punctal plugs, punctal cautery, topical steroids, and AST.Keywords: graft-versus-host disease, GVHD, chronic GVHD, dry eye disease, ocular GVHD, keratoconjunctivitis sicca, KCS

Thinning is an expensive and time-consuming management practice used in peach orchards to improve resource distribution among plants and improve production quality. Determining the right time and intensity for thinning is challenging and involves expertise. Furthermore, it generally consumes many hours of work, which makes, in some cases, unfeasible to analyze an entire orchard. For this reason, information that can assist in making making decisions about thinning can improve the cost–benefit ratio of the technique. To mitigate these problems, an electronic nose system, the e-nose, that explores the relationship between the smell of peach trees outdoors and the different growth phases was developed. Twenty-two composed volatile samples were collected from around peach trees (open environment) during its reproductive period (around 39 days) and five supervised machine learning classification algorithms (k-nearest neighbors (KNN), multilayer perceptron (MLP), random forest (RF), logistic regression (LR), and support vector machine (SMV)) were used to analyze the data, to evaluate the possibility of estimating phenological stages from odor environment. The result showed that all models achieved a balanced accuracy greater than 97.5%. As a secondary contribution, the importance of sensors was also analyzed for this application, and a combination of three sensors achieved a classification rate of 100% with the KNN classifier. The e-nose system was successful in distinguishing between petal drop, initial fruit formation, advanced fruit formation, and formed fruit. These results demonstrate the potential of using an electronic nose in a remote system to assist in decision-making in orchard practices as thinning.

João Guerreiro,1 Laura Schulze,1 Albert Garcia i Tormo,1 Amanda J Henwood,1 Luc Schneider,1,2 Elise Krob,1 Sarah Salvilla,3 Kelly MY Chan,3 Sarah Deedat,3 Aleksandar Matic1 1R&D, Koa Health, Barcelona, Spain; 2Department of Management, LSE, London, UK; 3FWD Group, FWD Group, Hong Kong, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: João Guerreiro, R&D, Koa Health, Carrer de la Ciutat de Granada 121, Barcelona, 08018, Spain, Email joao.leitaoguerreiro@koahealth.comAbstract: Sleep, an intrinsic aspect of human life, is experienced by individuals differently which may be influenced by personality traits and characteristics. Exploring how these traits influence behaviors and sleep routines could be used to inform more personalized and effective interventions to promote better sleep. Our objective was to summarize the existing literature on the relationship between personality traits and sleep patterns through a systematic review. An abstract and keyword search was conducted in PsycINFO, Cochrane and PubMed, collecting relevant literature, published between January 1980 and June 2024. A total of 1713 records were found, of which 18 studies were analyzed in the descriptive synthesis. Relevant studies covered populations in 11 different countries, Australia, China, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Italy, Japan, Poland, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States, comprising a total of 58,812 subjects. All studies reported an association between a sleep pattern with at least one of the Big Five personality traits (agreeableness, conscientiousness, extraversion, neuroticism, openness to experience). Ten studies found associations between personality and sleep quality, all of which reported a link between neuroticism and sleep quality (effect sizes 0.183-0.40). Five studies found an association between conscientiousness and morningness (effect sizes 0.16-0.35). Other sleep patterns linked to personality traits included sleep duration, nightmare frequency and distress, sleep deficiency, sleep continuity, insomnia severity and sleep problems, sleep hygiene, sleep latency and daytime sleepiness. This novel systematic review confirms that sleep and personality traits are related, suggesting that those traits should be considered when trying to understand or change one’s sleep behavior.Keywords: personality traits, sleep patterns, big five, sleep quality, chronotype