Huntington´s disease (HD) is a rare neurodegenerative disorder. Reliable information about nutritional status, especially body composition from individuals with HD is critical for clinical care and ...research. The ease of application and portability of multiple frequencies bioelectrical impedance analysis (mfBIA) make it an attractive tool for measuring body composition, but its accuracy in HD is unknown.
To evaluate the accuracy of mfBIA vs. Dual X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) in HD.
Cross-sectional, observational, and single-center study. HD severity was measured using motor subscale of the unified Huntington´s disease rating scale (m-UHDRS) and the total functional capacity (TFC). Body composition was measured in terms of fat-free mass (FFM), fat mass (FM), fat-free mass index (FFMI), and fat mass index (FMI). Using Bland-Altman plots, we analyzed reliability between DEXA and mfBIA using the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient with 95% confidence intervals (CI) and bias estimates for all.
We included 16 patients with HD, 7 men, and 9 women, median age of 58.5 (32;68) years, TFC: 10 (3;13), and m-UHDRS: 31 (7;85). The reliability between mfBIA and DEXA were high for FFMI in men: 0.88 (95% CI 0.17-0.98), and women: 0.90 (95% CI 0.61- 0.98); for FMI, men: 0.97 (95% CI 0.83-0.99), and women: 0.91 (95% CI 0.68-0.98). Compared to DEXA, mfBIA slightly overestimated FFM, FM, FMI and FFMI in men and underestimated FFMI in women.
mfBIA is an easy-to-use, safe, non-invasive, accurate method for measuring body composition and nutritional status in patients with mild-moderate HD.
The aim of the present study is to characterize the hemodynamics of left ventricular (LV) geometries to examine the impact of trabeculae and papillary muscles (PMs) on blood flow using high ...performance computing (HPC). Five pairs of detailed and smoothed LV endocardium models were reconstructed from high-resolution magnetic resonance images (MRI) of
human hearts. The detailed model of one LV pair is characterized only by the PMs and few big trabeculae, to represent state of art level of endocardial detail. The other four detailed models obtained include instead endocardial structures measuring ≥1 mm
in cross-sectional area. The geometrical characterizations were done using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations with rigid walls and both constant and transient flow inputs on the detailed and smoothed models for comparison. These simulations do not represent a clinical or physiological scenario, but a characterization of the interaction of endocardial structures with blood flow. Steady flow simulations were employed to quantify the pressure drop between the inlet and the outlet of the LVs and the wall shear stress (WSS). Coherent structures were analyzed using the Q-criterion for both constant and transient flow inputs. Our results show that trabeculae and PMs increase the intra-ventricular pressure drop, reduce the WSS and disrupt the dominant single vortex, usually present in the smoothed-endocardium models, generating secondary small vortices. Given that obtaining high resolution anatomical detail is challenging
, we propose that the effect of trabeculations can be incorporated into smoothed ventricular geometries by adding a porous layer along the LV endocardial wall. Results show that a porous layer of a thickness of 1.2·10
m with a porosity of 20 kg/m
on the smoothed-endocardium ventricle models approximates the pressure drops, vorticities and WSS observed in the detailed models.
In this letter, a new polarization diversity system for ground stations that operate CubeSat spacecraft is presented. This new system aims to minimize communications link losses caused by ...unpredictable variations of the radiation pattern of the antenna in spacecraft that spin freely. It is based on the combination of multiple signals orthogonally polarized. The ground station that controls the XaTcobeo spacecraft has implemented this system. The spacecraft has been launched recently and is still in Launch and Early Orbit Phase (LEOP).
The administration of antifungals for therapeutic and, especially, prophylactic purposes is virtually a constant in patients requiring hematology-oncology treatment. Any attempt to prevent or treat ...Aspergillus or Mucor infections requires the administration of some drugs in the azole group, which include voriconazole, posaconazole and isavuconazole, noted for their activity against these pathogens. One very relevant aspect is the potential risk of interaction when associated with one of the antineoplastic drugs used to treat hematologic tumors, with serious complications. In this regard, acalabrutinib, bortezomib, bosutinib, carfilzomib, cyclophosphamide, cyclosporine A, dasatinib, duvelisib, gilteritinib, glasdegib, ibrutinib, imatinib, nilotinib, ponatinib, prednisone, ruxolitinib, tacrolimus, all-transretinoic acid, arsenic trioxide, venetoclax, or any of the vinca alkaloids, are very clear examples of risk, in some cases because their clearance is reduced and in others because of increased risk of QTc prolongation, which is particularly evident when the drug of choice is voriconazole or posaconazole.
Computational modelling plays an important role in right ventricular (RV) haemodynamic analysis. However, current approaches use smoothed ventricular anatomies. The aim of this study is to ...characterise RV haemodynamics including detailed endocardial structures like trabeculae, moderator band, and papillary muscles. Four paired detailed and smoothed RV endocardium models (2 male and 2 female) were reconstructed from ex vivo human hearts high‐resolution magnetic resonance images. Detailed models include structures with ≥1 mm2 cross‐sectional area. Haemodynamic characterisation was done by computational fluid dynamics simulations with steady and transient inflows, using high‐performance computing. The differences between the flows in smoothed and detailed models were assessed using Q‐criterion for vorticity quantification, the pressure drop between inlet and outlet, and the wall shear stress. Results demonstrated that detailed endocardial structures increase the degree of intra‐ventricular pressure drop, decrease the wall shear stress, and disrupt the dominant vortex creating secondary small vortices. Increasingly turbulent blood flow was observed in the detailed RVs. Female RVs were less trabeculated and presented lower pressure drops than the males. In conclusion, neglecting endocardial structures in RV haemodynamic models may lead to inaccurate conclusions about the pressures, stresses, and blood flow behaviour in the cavity.
The effect of detailed endocardial structures on RV haemodynamics was investigated using CFD simulations; trabeculae down to 1 mm2 cross‐sectional area were segmented from human perfused hearts. Smoothed vs detailed models showed that ventricular trabeculations and papillary muscles increase the intra‐ventricular pressure drop, decrease the wall shear stress, cause turbulent flow and generate secondary vortices, absent in smoothed geometry simulations. The highest correlation to the pressure drop magnitude was the angle at which the inlet and outlet valves are located.
The COVID-19 crisis brought with it many questions and highlighted the shortcomings of the different social protection systems, including the Social Services, with the consequent impact on their ...professionals in the form of stress, burnout, fatigue, etc., which do not emerge as a result of the pandemic, but are exacerbated by the fact that they are already present. For this article, 22 semi-structured interviews were carried out with social workers (as a reference professional in Social Services) in Spain, with the aim of finding out their perceptions and experiences derived from the changes in work organisation during the COVID-19 pandemic, in order to extract strategies and good practices specifically identified by social workers, and for their specific professional field, that lead to an improvement in the quality of working life and well-being in their organisations. The results made it possible to identify some specific practices that could be incorporated into the praxis of these professionals for the construction of Healthy Organisations that could have a positive impact on their working conditions, which could also mean an improvement in the services provided by these professionals to the public.
The state of alarm caused by Covid-19 has mobilised the population’s digital social participation in social networks. Likewise, the relevance acquired by Social Services as a support for the social ...and health crisis has generated an unprecedented social debate on Twitter about the reality of these services in Spain. The analysis of this phenomenon is the focus of the present article, in which the tweets on Social Services and Covid-19 published during the confinement have been analysed using the qualitative analysis software Atlas.Ti. The results show the precariousness of social services and that a change in the management and financing model of these services is required to guarantee benefits and satisfy fundamental social rights.
Diet has long been known to modify physiology during development and adulthood. However, due to a growing number of manufactured contaminants and additives over the last few decades, diet has ...increasingly become a source of exposure to chemicals that has been associated with adverse health risks. Sources of food contaminants include the environment, crops treated with agrochemicals, inappropriate storage (e.g., mycotoxins) and migration of xenobiotics from food packaging and food production equipment. Hence, consumers are exposed to a mixture of xenobiotics, some of which are endocrine disruptors (EDs). The complex interactions between immune function and brain development and their orchestration by steroid hormones are insufficiently understood in human populations, and little is known about the impact on immune-brain interactions by transplacental fetal exposure to EDs via maternal diet. To help to identify the key data gaps, this paper aims to present (a) how transplacental EDs modify immune system and brain development, and (b) how these mechanisms may correlate with diseases such as autism and disturbances of lateral brain development. Attention is given to disturbances of the subplate, a transient structure of crucial significance in brain development. Additionally, we describe cutting edge approaches to investigate the developmental neurotoxicity of EDs, such as the application of artificial intelligence and comprehensive modelling. In the future, highly complex investigations will be performed using virtual brain models constructed using sophisticated multi-physics/multi-scale modelling strategies based on patient and synthetic data, which will enable a greater understanding of healthy or disturbed brain development.
•There is lack of studies of the impact of maternal dietary EDs on fetal brain.•Transplacental EDs may disturb immuno-brain interactions during development.•Dietary EDs may increase the risk of autism disorders and ADHD-related behaviours.•Estrogen/testosterone balance during fetal brain development is significant factor.•Modelling, simulation and AI are tools for future neurodevelomental research.
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