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Objective: The aim of the present study was to test the factorial invariance and convergent validity evidence of scores on the Somatic Symptom Scale (SSS)-8 with a national sample of adults living in the United States. Method: A data collection contracting service was hired to recruit a national, non-clinical sample (N = 821) of adults in the United States stratified by the census data for age, gender, ethnicity, and geographic location. Results: Factorial invariance testing via multiple-group confirmatory factor analysis revealed strong factorial invariance evidence (configural, metric, and scalar) of SSS-8 scores across gender, ethnicity, help-seeking history, education, and income. Convergent validity testing displayed strong correlations between SSS-8 scores and the following established measures: Patient Health Questinaire-9, Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7, and Mental Health Inventory-5. Conclusion: Collectively, the results suggest that professional counselors can use the SSS-8 to enhance somatic symptomology screening efforts with adults living in the United States.

This article presents a methodology for compartmental model (CM) creation for long-term simulation of water resource recovery facilities (WRRFs). CMs are often focused on reproducing with a lower computational cost, previously simulated scenarios. In contrast, the methodology presented here can represent variable hydraulic conditions, based on the interpolation of data gathered from a set of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations that reproduce representative hydraulic scenarios. This is achieved by modelling with bidirectional flows the exchange flows between fixed compartments, which are defined based on the geometry of the reactors. The resultant hydraulic surrogate model can be implemented in commercial water treatment software to solve biochemical kinetics. The methodology was applied to simulate in WEST®-DHI a WRRF in Vila-Real, Spain. In this contribution, the CM was validated with real plant data. The developed CM provided a quick response simulation with a high level of hydraulic and biochemical detail. This allowed observation of a spatial distribution of component concentration, which could help with sensor location or plant optimisation. The methodology presented here could also be a useful enabler of digital twins to be implemented in WRRF. HIGHLIGHTS A computational fluid dynamics (CFD)-based compartmental modelling methodology is presented to simulate the dynamic long-term operation of water resource recovery facilities (WRRFs).; A hydraulic surrogate model was developed for the compartmental model (CM) based on multiple CFD simulations to replicate variations in hydraulic conditions.; The CM was validated with real WRRF data.; The developed CM provided quick simulation with high detail and allowed observation of a spatial distribution of component concentration.;

Abstract Introduction This prospective multicentre study evaluates the impact of Palliative Care Unit (PCU) intervention (Experimental Group, EG), during autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (AHSCT) on quality of life (QoL), symptom control and healthcare resource use compared to standard practice (Control Group, CG). We used validated scales on Days 0 (stem cell infusion), + 7 (bone marrow aplasia, acute symptoms) and + 21 (aplasia recovery). Results In 40 patients (20 EG/ 20 CG: 45%/25% female, median age 57.5/59), QoL differed significantly at Day + 7 (EG: median 0.50; CG: -63.00; p

Wine cultivars are available to growers in multiple clonal selections with agronomic and enological differences. Phenotypic differences between clones originated from somatic mutations that accrued over thousands of asexual propagation cycles. Genetic diversity between grape cultivars remains unexplored, and tools to discriminate unequivocally clones have been lacking. This study aimed to uncover genetic variations among a group of clonal selections of 4 important Vitis vinifera cultivars: Cabernet sauvignon, Sauvignon blanc, Chardonnay, and Merlot, and use this information to develop genetic markers to discriminate the clones of these cultivars. We sequenced with short-read sequencing technology the genomes of 18 clones, including biological replicates for a total of 46 genomes. Sequences were aligned to their respective cultivars reference genome for variant calling. We used reference genomes of Cabernet sauvignon, Chardonnay, and Merlot and developed a de novo genome assembly of Sauvignon blanc using long-read sequencing. On average, 4 million variants were detected for each clone, with 74.2% being single nucleotide variants and 25.8% being small insertions or deletions (InDel). The frequency of these variants was consistent across all clones. From these variants, we validated 46 clonal markers using high-throughput amplicon sequencing for 77.7% of the evaluated clones, most of them small InDel. These results represent an advance in grapevine genotyping strategies and will benefit the viticulture industry for the characterization and identification of the plant material.

PurposeTo report an image analysis pipeline, DDLSNet, consisting of a rim segmentation (RimNet) branch and a disc size classification (DiscNet) branch to automate estimation of the disc damage likelihood scale (DDLS).DesignRetrospective observational.ParticipantsRimNet and DiscNet were developed with 1208 and 11 536 optic disc photographs (ODPs), respectively. DDLSNet performance was evaluated on 120 ODPs from the RimNet test set, for which the DDLS scores were graded by clinicians. Reproducibility was evaluated on a group of 781 eyes, each with 2 ODPs taken within 4 years apart.MethodsDisc damage likelihood scale calculation requires estimation of optic disc size, provided by DiscNet (VGG19 network), and the minimum rim-to-disc ratio (mRDR) or absent rim width (ARW), provided by RimNet (InceptionV3/LinkNet segmentation model). To build RimNet's dataset, glaucoma specialists marked optic disc rim and cup boundaries on ODPs. The "ground truth" mRDR or ARW was calculated. For DiscNet's dataset, corresponding OCT images provided "ground truth" disc size. Optic disc photographs were split into 80/10/10 for training, validation, and testing, respectively, for RimNet and DiscNet. DDLSNet estimation was tested against manual grading of DDLS by clinicians with the average score used as "ground truth." Reproducibility of DDLSNet grading was evaluated by repeating DDLS estimation on a dataset of nonprogressing paired ODPs taken at separate times.Main outcome measuresThe main outcome measure was a weighted kappa score between clinicians and the DDLSNet pipeline with agreement defined as ± 1 DDLS score difference.ResultsRimNet achieved an mRDR mean absolute error (MAE) of 0.04 (± 0.03) and an ARW MAE of 48.9 (± 35.9) degrees when compared to clinician segmentations. DiscNet achieved 73% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 70%, 75%) classification accuracy. DDLSNet achieved an average weighted kappa agreement of 0.54 (95% CI: 0.40, 0.68) compared to clinicians. Average interclinician agreement was 0.52 (95% CI: 0.49, 0.56). Reproducibility testing demonstrated that 96% of ODP pairs had a difference of ≤ 1 DDLS score.ConclusionsDDLSNet achieved moderate agreement with clinicians for DDLS grading. This novel approach illustrates the feasibility of automated ODP grading for assessing glaucoma severity. Further improvements may be achieved by increasing the number of incomplete rims sample size, expanding the hyperparameter search, and increasing the agreement of clinicians grading ODPs.

PrcisWe report the survival of surgical revision to glaucoma drainage devices for several indications in a large cohort of patients, with an overall success rate of 45% at 36 months.PurposeTo evaluate the outcomes of surgical revision for complications of glaucoma drainage devices.MethodsThree hundred thirty-five eyes of 318 patients who underwent tube revision or removal at University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Jules Stein Eye Institute between 1997 and 2019 were included. The pre-defined primary outcome measure was surgical success of the initial revision, defined as resolution of the condition with no additional revisions required, no functionally significant change in vision, and no instances of intraocular pressure > 21 mmHg at 2 consecutive visits postoperatively. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was applied to evaluate survival at 36 months based on these criteria. The Wilcoxon paired test was used to compare mean preoperative and postoperative intraocular pressure, medication usage, and visual acuity.ResultsOverall, survival of revised tubes at 36 months was 45%. The 4 most common indications for revision were exposure of the implant (42% of all revisions), occlusion (14%), corneal failure or threat of failure (12%), and hypotony (11%). Survival at 36 months for each of these indications was 44%, 45%, 52%, and 37%, respectively.ConclusionsThese results suggest that eyes with glaucomatous damage with long-term glaucoma drainage device complications can still have a reasonably successful outcome when a revision is performed. However, with substantial rates of vision loss and a frequent need for additional revisions to manage complications, managing patient expectations for success and making them aware of the likelihood of additional surgeries or failure is important.

In this work, key factors that affect catalytic activity of Ni/La-doped ceria catalysts for the reverse water gas shift reaction (RWGS) have been revealed by applying in situ advanced synchrotron techniques, such as X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy (XAS) and Near-ambient pressure X-ray Photoelectron spectroscopy (NAP-XPS). Complementary ex situ characterization techniques have been also used, adding valuable insights on different physicochemical properties of the catalysts. Lanthanum incorporates into the ceria lattice, increasing oxygen mobility, which has a role in the formation of H2O during the reaction. The optimum substitution degree of Ce by La that maximizes CO yield is close to 10 %. It is found that both bulk and surface Ce3+ proportions depend on the proportion of La, increasing with La content. At a reaction temperature of 873 K, bulk Ce3+ proportions are higher than surface ones. These differences are due to oxidative phenomena, associated to the reactive mixture that take place on the surface, such as CO2 adsorption and H2O formation. Concerning Ni phase, NiO bulk reduction to metallic Ni is very fast (in the range 573–623 K), however, Ni0 and Ni2+ species coexist on the surface during the reaction. It is found that a higher proportion of surface metallic Ni promotes the selectivity towards the RWGS, inhibiting the competing methanation reaction. On the other hand, La doping is relevant for the formation of lanthanum oxycarbonate, which has a role gasifying carbon deposits.

PurposeAccurate neural rim measurement based on optic disc imaging is important to glaucoma severity grading and often performed by trained glaucoma specialists. We aim to improve upon existing automated tools by building a fully automated system (RimNet) for direct rim identification in glaucomatous eyes and measurement of the minimum rim-to-disc ratio (mRDR) in intact rims, the angle of absent rim width (ARW) in incomplete rims, and the rim-to-disc-area ratio (RDAR) with the goal of optic disc damage grading.DesignRetrospective cross sectional study.ParticipantsOne thousand and twenty-eight optic disc photographs with evidence of glaucomatous optic nerve damage from 1021 eyes of 903 patients with any form of primary glaucoma were included. The mean age was 63.7 (± 14.9) yrs. The average mean deviation of visual fields was -8.03 (± 8.59).MethodsThe images were required to be of adequate quality, have signs of glaucomatous damage, and be free of significant concurrent pathology as independently determined by glaucoma specialists. Rim and optic cup masks for each image were manually delineated by glaucoma specialists. The database was randomly split into 80/10/10 for training, validation, and testing, respectively. RimNet consists of a deep learning rim and cup segmentation model, a computer vision mRDR measurement tool for intact rims, and an ARW measurement tool for incomplete rims. The mRDR is calculated at the thinnest rim section while ARW is calculated in regions of total rim loss. The RDAR was also calculated. Evaluation on the Drishti-GS dataset provided external validation (Sivaswamy 2015).Main outcome measuresMedian Absolute Error (MAE) between glaucoma specialists and RimNet for mRDR and ARW.ResultsOn the test set, RimNet achieved a mRDR MAE of 0.03 (0.05), ARW MAE of 31 (89)°, and an RDAR MAE of 0.09 (0.10). On the Drishti-GS dataset, an mRDR MAE of 0.03 (0.04) and an mRDAR MAE of 0.09 (0.10) was observed.ConclusionsRimNet demonstrated acceptably accurate rim segmentation and mRDR and ARW measurements. The fully automated algorithm presented here would be a valuable component in an automated mRDR-based glaucoma grading system. Further improvements could be made by improving identification and segmentation performance on incomplete rims and expanding the number and variety of glaucomatous training images.

RESUMEN La mayoría de literatura académica sobre transiciones proviene del Norte global y se adecúa a sus marcos epistemológicos y estructuras socio-económicas (visiones tecnologicistas acríticas de la racionalidad capitalista hegemónica). Este artículo pretende aportar una visión desde y para el Sur sobre cómo entender las transiciones ecosociales. A partir de siete experiencias de Economía Social y Solidaria, se realizó un ejercicio de co-construcción de conocimiento colectivo identificando prioridades y dimensiones de cambio social, desde un enfoque acorde a los territorios y experiencias concretas de la región andina. Éste consistió en: cuestionarios y análisis textual mediante el software Iramuteq; y un encuentro presencial. El objetivo es identificar y seleccionar las dimensiones a sistematizar al analizar las transiciones ecosociales desde la región andina.

PurposeTo develop a structural metascore (SMS) that combines measurements from different devices and expresses them on a single scale to facilitate their long-term analysis.MethodsThree structural measurements (Heidelberg Retina Tomograph II [HRT] rim area, HD-Cirrus optical coherence tomography [OCT] average retinal nerve fiber layer [RNFL] thickness, Spectralis OCT RNFL global thickness) were normalized on a scale of 0 to 100 and converted to a reference value. The resultant metascores were plotted against time. SMS performance was evaluated to predict future values (internal validation), and correlations between the average grades assigned by three clinicians were compared with the SMS slopes (external validation).ResultsThe linear regression fit with the variance approach, and adjustment to a Spectralis equivalent was the best-performing approach; this was denominated metascore. Plots were created for 3416 eyes of 1824 patients. The average baseline age (± standard deviation) was 69.8 (±13.9), mean follow-up was 11.6 (±4.7) years, and mean number of structural scans per eye was 10.0 (±4.7). The mean numbers of scans per device were 3.8 (±2.5), 5.0 (±2.9), and 1.3 (±3.0) for HRT, Cirrus, and Spectralis, respectively. The metascore slopes' median was -0.3 (interquartile range 1.1). Correlations between the average grades assigned by the three clinicians and the metascore slopes were -0.51, -0.49, and -0.69 for the first (structural measurement printouts alone), second (metascore plots alone), and third (printouts + metascore plots) series of gradings, respectively. The average absolute predictive ability was 7.63/100 (whereas 100 = entire normalized scale).ConclusionsWe report a method that converts Cirrus global RNFL and HRT global rim area normalized measurements to Spectralis global RNFL equivalent values to facilitate long-term structural follow-up.Translational relevanceBecause glaucoma changes usually occur slowly, patients are often examined with different instruments during their follow-up, a method that "unifies" structural measurements provided by different devices, which could assist patients' longitudinal structural follow-up.

La investigación y desarrollo (I+D) es esencial en la búsqueda de la solución de desafíos globales. Conscientes de esta importancia y de otras ventajas asociadas, las empresas han desarrollado estrategias que contemplen I+D en sus operaciones. Para abordar las tendencias en este ámbito, se realizó una revisión sistemática y un análisis cienciométrico en Scopus de trabajos publicados entre 2018 y 2022. Se identificaron tres tipos de tendencias: consolidadas, intermedias y emergentes; así como tres subtemas flamantes de investigación en I+D empresarial: tecnologías emergentes, innovación abierta y patentes. El estudio revela la importancia de las tecnologías emergentes en la I+D empresarial y destaca la necesidad de abordar los desafíos éticos y legales que plantean. La estrategia de innovación abierta se presenta como valiosa para aquellas empresas que buscan colaboración externa, mientras que la protección de patentes se mantiene fundamental para salvaguardar las inversiones y preservar la ventaja competitiva. Se sugiere que las organizaciones consideren la combinación de patentes con otros mecanismos de propiedad intelectual para extender la protección de sus innovaciones.

The differentiation of clones within grape cultivars, specifically Vitis vinifera, has significant potential for the wine industry. This differentiation involves associating morphological features or a genetic signature with a particular cultivar clone, which is a challenging task. It has been difficult to experimentally find genetic signatures that differentiate a pair of clones, despite evidence suggesting that genomic differences exist. Are there genetic or genomic differences in a pair of clones? If so, where are the variations in the genome? Are there variations in protein coding genes? We addressed these questions by performing a bioinformatic analysis to identify genetic differences between certified clones of the same cultivar. Utilising genome sequencing data from tissue samples, we identified genomic positions differing between the clones and their cultivar reference genome, meeting the filtering criteria. Applying this approach to the Carménère and Merlot clones resulted in 5718 and 5218 variations, respectively, that differentiated the clones. Visual validation of 50 variations per cultivar revealed that 12% of these variations were located in the Merlot genes, while 32% were found in the Carménère genes. We estimated between 600 and 1000 variations per cultivar that could be validated by visual inspection. Despite the presence of these variations within genes, none was found to have a disruptive effect on protein function. By comparing our results with those of previous studies, we discuss issues pertaining to clone differentiation. In conclusion, there are genomic variations in pairs of clones that allow for their differentiation, though the variations are not directly related to the phenotype.

Background: diabetic retinopathy and diabetic kidney disease are highly feared microvascular complications. In our province, there are insufficient studies that address the possible association between these comorbidities. Objective: to characterize clinical and epidemiological variables in patients with diabetic retinopathy and altered values of microalbuminuria, treated at the ophthalmological center of Las Tunas, from October 2020 to May 2023. Methods: a descriptive, cross-sectional study was performed in a universe of 138 patients with diabetic retinopathy who attended the retinal consultation in the place and during the time period defined in the objective. The sample consisted of 67 patients older than 18 years, with values of microalbuminuria in the range of 30-300 mg/L. The variables evaluated were: type of diabetic retinopathy, age, sex, personal and family history of disease, time of evolution of diabetes, visual acuity, classification of diabetes according to alterations in the retina, microalbuminuria value. The data were analyzed according to descriptive statistics. Results: females predominated (64.2 %), ages 60-79 years (50.7 %) and patients with more than 10 years of diabetes evolution (53.7 %). The most frequent personal pathological history was arterial hypertension (43.3 %). 41.8 % of the eyes had a better corrected visual acuity of 0.6-0.4. Microalbuminuria values were more frequent between 60-90 in cases of non-proliferous diabetic retinopathy and 100-300 in those diagnosed with proliferative diabetic retinopathy. Conclusions: characteristics of patients with diabetic retinopathy and elevated levels of microalbuminuria were described.

Abstract Background Aortic stenosis (AS) is characterized by inflammation, fibrosis, osteogenesis and angiogenesis. Men and women develop these mechanisms differently. Galectin-3 (Gal-3) is a pro-inflammatory and pro-osteogenic lectin in AS. In this work, we aim to analyse a potential sex-differential role of Gal-3 in AS. Methods 226 patients (61.50% men) with severe AS undergoing surgical aortic valve (AV) replacement were recruited. In AVs, Gal-3 expression and its relationship with inflammatory, osteogenic and angiogenic markers was assessed. Valve interstitial cells (VICs) were primary cultured to perform in vitro experiments. Results Proteomic analysis revealed that intracellular Gal-3 was over-expressed in VICs of male AS patients. Gal-3 secretion was also higher in men’s VICs as compared to women’s. In human AVs, Gal-3 protein levels were significantly higher in men, with stronger immunostaining in VICs with myofibroblastic phenotype and valve endothelial cells. Gal-3 levels in AVs were positively correlated with inflammatory markers in both sexes. Gal-3 expression was also positively correlated with osteogenic markers mainly in men AVs, and with angiogenic molecules only in this sex. In vitro, Gal-3 treatment induced expression of inflammatory, osteogenic and angiogenic markers in male’s VICs, while it only upregulated inflammatory and osteogenic molecules in women-derived cells. Gal-3 blockade with pharmacological inhibitors (modified citrus pectin and G3P-01) prevented the upregulation of inflammatory, osteogenic and angiogenic molecules. Conclusions Gal-3 plays a sex-differential role in the setting of AS, and it could be a new sex-specific therapeutic target controlling pathological features of AS in VICs. Graphical Abstract

Abstract Background Diabetes mellitus (DM) accelerates the progression of aortic stenosis (AS), but how their underlying molecular mechanisms interact is not clear. Moreover, whether DM contributes to clinically relevant sex-differences in AS is unknown. In this work we aim to characterize the sex-specific profile of major pathological mechanisms fundamental to aortic valve (AV) degeneration in AS patients with or without concomitant DM. Methods 283 patients with severe AS undergoing surgical valve replacement (27.6% DM, 59.4% men) were recruited. Expression of pathological markers related to AS were thoroughly assessed in AVs and valve interstitial cells (VICs) according to sex and presence of DM. Complementary in vitro experiments in VICs in the presence of high-glucose levels (25 mM) for 24, 48 and 72 h were performed. Results Oxidative stress and metabolic dysfunction markers were increased in AVs from diabetic AS patients compared to non-diabetic patients in both sexes. However, disbalanced oxidative stress and enhanced inflammation were more predominant in AVs from male AS diabetic patients. Osteogenic markers were exclusively increased in the AVs of diabetic women. Basal characterization of VICs confirmed that oxidative stress, inflammation, calcification, and metabolic alteration profiles were increased in diabetic VICs with sex-specific differences. VICs cultured in hyperglycemic-like conditions triggered inflammatory responses in men, whereas in women rapid and higher production of pro-osteogenic molecules. Conclusions DM produces sex-specific pathological phenotypes in AV of AS patients. Importantly, women with diabetes are more prone to develop AV calcification. DM should be considered as a risk factor in AS especially in women.

This work focuses on the synthesis of titanium nitride–carbon (TiN–carbon) composites by the thermal decomposition of a titanyl phthalocyanine (TiN(TD)) precursor into TiN. The synthesis of TiN was also performed using the sol-gel method (TiN(SG)) of an alkoxide/urea. The structure and morphology of the TiN–carbon and its precursors were characterized by XRD, FTIR, SEM, TEM, EDS, and XPS. The FTIR results confirmed the presence of the titanium phthalocyanine (TiOPC) complex, while the XRD data corroborated the decomposition of TiOPC into TiN. The resultant TiN exhibited a cubic structure with the FM3-M lattice, aligning with the crystal system of the synthesized TiN via the alkoxide route. The XPS results indicated that the particles synthesized from the thermal decomposition of TiOPC resulted in the formation of TiN–carbon composites. The TiN particles were present as clusters of small spherical particles within the carbon matrix, displaying a porous sponge-like morphology. The proposed thermal decomposition method resulted in the formation of metal nitride composites with high carbon content, which were used as anodes for Li-ion half cells. The TiN–carbon composite anode showed a good specific capacity after 100 cycles at a current density of 100 mAg−1.

Summary: G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) convert extracellular stimuli into intracellular signaling by coupling to heterotrimeric G proteins of four classes: Gi/o, Gq, Gs, and G12/13. However, our understanding of the G protein selectivity of GPCRs is incomplete. Here, we quantitatively measure the enzymatic activity of GPCRs in living cells and reveal the G protein selectivity of 124 GPCRs with the exact rank order of their G protein preference. Using this information, we establish a classification of GPCRs by functional selectivity, discover the existence of a G12/13-coupled receptor, G15-coupled receptors, and a variety of subclasses for Gi/o-, Gq-, and Gs-coupled receptors, culminating in development of the predictive algorithm of G protein selectivity. We further identify the structural determinants of G protein selectivity, allowing us to synthesize non-existent GPCRs with de novo G protein selectivity and efficiently identify putative pathogenic variants.

Highlights NGAL is expressed by inflammatory infiltrates and active VICs in the stenotic AV, being predominantly associated to inflammation, osteogenesis, and calcification. The levels of NGAL are higher in VICs and AVs from men than women’s and are associated with pathological features of AS. Intracellular NGAL is specifically down-regulated in calcifying male-derived VICs and is associated with inflammation, matrix remodelling and calcification. The pharmacological blockade of extracellular NGAL in calcifying male-derived VICs partly prevents from inflammation and matrix remodelling.

Purpose: To report an image analysis pipeline, DDLSNet, consisting of a rim segmentation (RimNet) branch and a disc size classification (DiscNet) branch to automate estimation of the disc damage likelihood scale (DDLS). Design: Retrospective observational. Participants: RimNet and DiscNet were developed with 1208 and 11 536 optic disc photographs (ODPs), respectively. DDLSNet performance was evaluated on 120 ODPs from the RimNet test set, for which the DDLS scores were graded by clinicians. Reproducibility was evaluated on a group of 781 eyes, each with 2 ODPs taken within 4 years apart. Methods: Disc damage likelihood scale calculation requires estimation of optic disc size, provided by DiscNet (VGG19 network), and the minimum rim-to-disc ratio (mRDR) or absent rim width (ARW), provided by RimNet (InceptionV3/LinkNet segmentation model). To build RimNet’s dataset, glaucoma specialists marked optic disc rim and cup boundaries on ODPs. The ''ground truth'' mRDR or ARW was calculated. For DiscNet’s dataset, corresponding OCT images provided ''ground truth'' disc size. Optic disc photographs were split into 80/10/10 for training, validation, and testing, respectively, for RimNet and DiscNet. DDLSNet estimation was tested against manual grading of DDLS by clinicians with the average score used as ''ground truth.'' Reproducibility of DDLSNet grading was evaluated by repeating DDLS estimation on a dataset of nonprogressing paired ODPs taken at separate times. Main Outcome Measures: The main outcome measure was a weighted kappa score between clinicians and the DDLSNet pipeline with agreement defined as ± 1 DDLS score difference. Results: RimNet achieved an mRDR mean absolute error (MAE) of 0.04 (± 0.03) and an ARW MAE of 48.9 (± 35.9) degrees when compared to clinician segmentations. DiscNet achieved 73% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 70%, 75%) classification accuracy. DDLSNet achieved an average weighted kappa agreement of 0.54 (95% CI: 0.40, 0.68) compared to clinicians. Average interclinician agreement was 0.52 (95% CI: 0.49, 0.56). Reproducibility testing demonstrated that 96% of ODP pairs had a difference of ≤ 1 DDLS score. Conclusions: DDLSNet achieved moderate agreement with clinicians for DDLS grading. This novel approach illustrates the feasibility of automated ODP grading for assessing glaucoma severity. Further improvements may be achieved by increasing the number of incomplete rims sample size, expanding the hyperparameter search, and increasing the agreement of clinicians grading ODPs. Financial Disclosure(s): Proprietary or commercial disclosure may be found after the references.

The printing and manufacturing of anatomical 3D models has gained popularity in complex surgical cases for surgical planning, simulation and training, the evaluation of anatomical relations, medical device testing and patient–professional communication. 3D models provide the haptic feedback that Virtual or Augmented Reality (VR/AR) cannot provide. However, there are many technologies and strategies for the production of 3D models. Therefore, the aim of the present study is to show and compare eight different strategies for the manufacture of surgical planning and training prototypes. The eight strategies for creating complex abdominal oncological anatomical models, based on eight common pediatric oncological cases, were developed using four common technologies (stereolithography (SLA), selectie laser sinterning (SLS), fused filament fabrication (FFF) and material jetting (MJ)) along with indirect and hybrid 3D printing methods. Nine materials were selected for their properties, with the final models assessed for application suitability, production time, viscoelastic mechanical properties (shore hardness and elastic modulus) and cost. The manufacturing and post-processing of each strategy is assessed, with times ranging from 12 h (FFF) to 61 h (hybridization of FFF and SLS), as labor times differ significantly. Cost per model variation is also significant, ranging from EUR 80 (FFF) to EUR 600 (MJ). The main limitation is the mimicry of physiological properties. Viscoelastic properties and the combination of materials, colors and textures are also substantially different according to the strategy and the intended use. It was concluded that MJ is the best overall option, although its use in hospitals is limited due to its cost. Consequently, indirect 3D printing could be a solid and cheaper alternative.

La formación de profesionales de la educación en Cuba se caracteriza por ser un proceso dinámico, integrador y altruista, que involucra los conocimientos y los sentimientos en función de las crecientes exigencias que en el plano formativo precisa el docente para un desempeño eficiente de sus tareas y funciones. En el caso específico de la carrera Pedagogía-Psicología su labor profesional se diferencia de otras carreras pedagógicas, al resaltar la función orientadora desde su modo de actuación con un enfoque más profundo y especializado, así como la asesoría a directivos y profesores. Ello indica que su preparación debe estar en correspondencia con la de los cuadros de dirección de los centros escolares u otras instituciones relacionadas con sus esferas de actuación. La singularidad de su desempeño requiere mostrar conocimientos, capacidades, valores y aspectos asociados a las competencias emocionales, que permita atender a la diversidad para conducir al bienestar individual y colectivo. De ahí que, el objetivo del presente trabajo esté encaminado a ofrecer referentes teóricos actualizados sobre la educación emocional como competencia que debe desarrollar el psicopedagogo en el desempeño de sus funciones.

Introducción: dentro de las principales causas de mortalidad en sexo femenino se encuentra el cáncer de mama, es de las neoplasias maligna más prevalentes con 1,7 millones de casos diagnosticados cada año, constituye casi un cuarto de los tumores malignos de la mujer, y un 15 % de las muertes por cáncer en este sexo a partir de los 20 años de edad. La histología más común del cáncer de seno es el carcinoma ductal invasivo (50-75 % de los pacientes). Los datos justifican la importancia de comprender y caracterizar esta presentación de cáncer de mama. Objetivo: describir un caso de carcinoma ductal infiltrante de células claras moderadamente diferenciado. Presentación del caso: paciente femenina, blanca de 43 años de edad, de origen caucásico, ama de casa, casada. Con antecedentes patológicos personales de hipertensión arterial, diagnosticada desde hace tres años y que trata con Captopril de 50 mg una tableta cada ocho horas e Hidroclorotiazida de 25 mg una tableta al día; acude a la consulta de mama referida por el especialista en Medicina General Integral de su Consultorio Médico Familiar por presentar aumento de volumen y dolor en la mama izquierda. se decide ingreso para estudio y tratamiento quirúrgico. Conclusiones: la importancia del chequeo sistemático de las mamas para prevenir la aparición de enfermedades mamarias, la detección precoz mediante los medios diagnósticos adecuados y el tratamiento oportuno del carcinoma ductal infiltrante de células claras son claves para lograr mejores resultados en los pacientes intervenidos.

Introducción: la ozonoterapia es la aplicación de ozono médico mediante mínimas punciones o aplicación directa con fines terapéuticos para mejorar el funcionamiento de órganos y tejidos. El uso de la ozonoterapia en niños como tratamiento complementario está totalmente validado en enfermedades como: asma bronquial, bronquitis, alergia, síndrome de Down, parálisis cerebral infantil, trastornos del espectro autista, y se añadió a la lista el COVID-19. Objetivo: determinar los resultados obtenidos a través de la aplicación de la ozonoterapia en pacientes pediátricos positivos a la COVID-19 el año 2021. Método: se realizó un estudio documental donde se consultó la bibliografía publicada en formato web y disponible en ScieELO, artículos publicados en la Revista Cubana de Investigaciones Biomédicas, Revista Cubana de Farmacia, Revista Elsevier, así como los periódicos Granma, Juventud Rebelde y Venceremos. Se utilizó el método análisis de síntesis. Desarrollo: los principales resultados de los estudios a nivel mundial indican que el ozono en los niños disminuye los índices de inflamación y el tiempo de respiración asistida, mejora la saturación de oxígeno y negativiza la PCR en períodos más cortos. Y podría reducir la mortalidad. Conclusiones: la ozonoterapia es capaz de mejorar variables clínicas, de laboratorio como a las que se hicieron referencia anteriormente, debido a sus propiedades antinflamatorias, antivíricas e inmunomoduladoras. Resulta indudable que representa una opción coadyuvante o compasiva, en el manejo de pacientes pediátricos positivos a la COVID-19.

Introduction: Ozone therapy is the application of medical ozone through minimal punctures or direct application for therapeutic purposes to improve the functioning of organs and tissues. The use of ozone therapy in children as a complementary treatment is fully validated in diseases such as: bronchial asthma, bronchitis, allergies, Down syndrome, infantile cerebral palsy, autism spectrum disorders, and COVID-19 was added to the list. Objective: To determine the results obtained through the application of ozone therapy in pediatric patients positive for COVID-19 in 2021. Material and Methods: A documentary study was carried out where the bibliography published in web format and available in ScieELO, articles published in the Cuban Journal of Biomedical Research, Cuban Journal of Pharmacy, Elsevier Journal, as well as the newspapers Granma, Juventud Rebelde and Overcome. The synthesis analysis method was used. Development: The main results of studies worldwide indicate that ozone in children decreases inflammation indices and assisted breathing time, improves oxygen saturation, and renders CRP negative in shorter periods. And it could reduce mortality. Conclusions: : Ozone therapy is capable of improving clinical and laboratory variables such as those referred to above, due to its anti-inflammatory, antiviral and immunomodulatory properties. It is undoubtedly an adjuvant or compassionate option in the management of pediatric patients positive for COVID-19.

Summary: Understanding the human antibody response to emerging viral pathogens is key to epidemic preparedness. As the size of the B cell response to a pathogenic-virus-protective antigen is poorly defined, we perform deep paired heavy- and light-chain sequencing in Ebola virus glycoprotein (EBOV-GP)-specific memory B cells, allowing analysis of the ebolavirus-specific antibody repertoire both genetically and functionally. This approach facilitates investigation of the molecular and genetic basis for the evolution of cross-reactive antibodies by elucidating germline-encoded properties of antibodies to EBOV and identification of the overlap between antibodies in the memory B cell and serum repertoire. We identify 73 public clonotypes of EBOV, 20% of which encode antibodies with neutralization activity and capacity to protect mice in vivo. This comprehensive analysis of the public and private antibody repertoire provides insight into the molecular basis of the humoral immune response to EBOV GP, which informs the design of vaccines and improved therapeutics.

Purpose: Accurate neural rim measurement based on optic disc imaging is important to glaucoma severity grading and often performed by trained glaucoma specialists. We aim to improve upon existing automated tools by building a fully automated system (RimNet) for direct rim identification in glaucomatous eyes and measurement of the minimum rim-to-disc ratio (mRDR) in intact rims, the angle of absent rim width (ARW) in incomplete rims, and the rim-to-disc-area ratio (RDAR) with the goal of optic disc damage grading. Design: Retrospective cross sectional study. Participants: One thousand and twenty-eight optic disc photographs with evidence of glaucomatous optic nerve damage from 1021 eyes of 903 patients with any form of primary glaucoma were included. The mean age was 63.7 (± 14.9) yrs. The average mean deviation of visual fields was −8.03 (± 8.59). Methods: The images were required to be of adequate quality, have signs of glaucomatous damage, and be free of significant concurrent pathology as independently determined by glaucoma specialists. Rim and optic cup masks for each image were manually delineated by glaucoma specialists. The database was randomly split into 80/10/10 for training, validation, and testing, respectively. RimNet consists of a deep learning rim and cup segmentation model, a computer vision mRDR measurement tool for intact rims, and an ARW measurement tool for incomplete rims. The mRDR is calculated at the thinnest rim section while ARW is calculated in regions of total rim loss. The RDAR was also calculated. Evaluation on the Drishti-GS dataset provided external validation (Sivaswamy 2015). Main Outcome Measures: Median Absolute Error (MAE) between glaucoma specialists and RimNet for mRDR and ARW. Results: On the test set, RimNet achieved a mRDR MAE of 0.03 (0.05), ARW MAE of 31 (89)°, and an RDAR MAE of 0.09 (0.10). On the Drishti-GS dataset, an mRDR MAE of 0.03 (0.04) and an mRDAR MAE of 0.09 (0.10) was observed. Conclusions: RimNet demonstrated acceptably accurate rim segmentation and mRDR and ARW measurements. The fully automated algorithm presented here would be a valuable component in an automated mRDR-based glaucoma grading system. Further improvements could be made by improving identification and segmentation performance on incomplete rims and expanding the number and variety of glaucomatous training images.

El presente artículo surge a partir de la necesidad de fortificar las carreras técnicas en la identidad profesional para el compromiso y desarrollo socioeconómico del país. Se revelan aspectos teóricos relacionados con el proceso de la formación inicial y la identidad profesional hacia las carreras técnicas de perfil pedagógico. Se propone como objetivo un programa de asignatura optativa que contribuye desde el contenido a potenciar la identidad profesional de los estudiantes de la carrera Eléctrica. Se utilizaron métodos teóricos y empíricos para corroborar la veracidad de la información y para elaborar el programa optativo. Resultado arrojó que sigue siendo insuficiente las estrategias entre las facultades de técnica con perfil pedagógico y la enseñanza, evidenciado en la matricula total del diurno que solo es de 7 estudiantes. Lo que denota el insuficiente trabajo de orientación en los centros precedentes para que opten y permanezcan con sentido de pertenencia en la carrera. La revisión de los documentos rectores dio muestra de la inestabilidad en el ingreso en las carreras pedagógicas, Conclusiones la enseñanza técnica tiene que rehabilitar su identidad profesional como enseñanza encargada del desarrollo productivo y económico del país.

Small-molecule responsive protein switches are crucial components to control synthetic cellular activities. Here, we present a computational protein design strategy to repurpose drug-inhibited protein-protein interactions into OFF- and ON-switches active in cells.

Abstract The elusive crystal structure of the so-called ‘antimonic acid’ has been investigated by means of robust and state-of-the-art techniques. The synergic results of solid-state magic-angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and a combined Rietveld refinement from synchrotron X-ray and neutron powder diffraction data reveal that this compound contains two types of protons, in a pyrochlore-type structure of stoichiometric formula (H3O)1.20(7)H0.77(9)Sb2O6. Some protons belong to heavily delocalized H3O+ subunits, while some H+ are directly bonded to the oxygen atoms of the covalent framework of the pyrochlore structure, with O–H distances close to 1 Å. A proton diffusion mechanism is proposed relying on percolation pathways determined by bond-valence energy landscape analysis. X-ray absorption spectroscopy results corroborate the structural data around Sb5+ ions at short-range order. Thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry endorsed the conclusions on the water content within antimonic acid. Additional 0.7 water molecules per formula were assessed as moisture water by thermal analysis.