An Efficient Edge Computing-Enabled Network for Used Cooking Oil Collection.

In Portugal, more than 98% of domestic cooking oil is disposed of improperly every day. This avoids recycling/reconverting into another energy. Is also may become a potential harmful contaminant of soil and water. Driven by the utility of recycled cooking oil, and leveraging the exponential growth of ubiquitous computing approaches, we propose an IoT smart solution for domestic used cooking oil (UCO) collection bins. We call this approach SWAN, which stands for Smart Waste Accumulation Network. It is deployed and evaluated in Portugal. It consists of a countrywide network of collection bin units, available in public areas. Two metrics are considered to evaluate the system's success: (i) user engagement, and (ii) used cooking oil collection efficiency. The presented system should (i) perform under scenarios of temporary communication network failures, and (ii) be scalable to accommodate an ever-growing number of installed collection units. Thus, we choose a disruptive approach from the traditional cloud computing paradigm. It relies on edge node infrastructure to process, store, and act upon the locally collected data. The communication appears as a delay-tolerant task, i.e., an edge computing solution. We conduct a comparative analysis revealing the benefits of the edge computing enabled collection bin vs. a cloud computing solution. The studied period considers four years of collected data. An exponential increase in the amount of used cooking oil collected is identified, with the developed solution being responsible for surpassing the national collection totals of previous years. During the same period, we also improved the collection process as we were able to more accurately estimate the optimal collection and system's maintenance intervals.

A Novel In Vivo Model for Multiplexed Analysis of Callosal Connections upon Cortical Damage.

Brain damage is the major cause of permanent disability and it is particularly relevant in the elderly. While most studies focused on the immediate phase of neuronal loss upon injury, much less is known about the process of axonal regeneration after damage. The development of new refined preclinical models to investigate neuronal regeneration and the recovery of brain tissue upon injury is a major unmet challenge. Here, we present a novel experimental paradigm in mice that entails the (i) tracing of cortico-callosal connections, (ii) a mechanical lesion of the motor cortex, (iii) the stereological and histological analysis of the damaged tissue, and (iv) the functional characterization of motor deficits. By combining conventional microscopy with semi-automated 3D reconstruction, this approach allows the analysis of fine subcellular structures, such as axonal terminals, with the tridimensional overview of the connectivity and tissue integrity around the lesioned area. Since this 3D reconstruction is performed in serial sections, multiple labeling can be performed by combining diverse histological markers. We provide an example of how this methodology can be used to study cellular interactions. Namely, we show the correlation between active microglial cells and the perineuronal nets that envelop parvalbumin interneurons. In conclusion, this novel experimental paradigm will contribute to a better understanding of the molecular and cellular interactions underpinning the process of cortical regeneration upon brain damage.

Reprint of "Ethical issues with artificial nutrition of children with degenerative brain diseases".

This report highlights viewpoints of the authors and comments from the auditory at a workshop, held during the 14th international Congress on neuronal ceroid lipofuscinoses (NCL) in Córdoba, Argentina, on ethical aspects of artificial nutrition in children with degenerative brain diseases. The discussion centers on what constitutes the best interest of a patient whose personality was immature before the onset of the disease, who has become demented during its course and is unable to communicate his/her own positions and desires. There is wide consensus that in a child with advanced disease who cannot be fed naturally, decisions to withhold nutrition or to institute or stop artificial nutrition, should only be made by parents (or their representatives) who are adequately prepared on an intellectual and emotional level. We try to show that such decisions are highly individual but can be made in a rationally and emotionally acceptable way after a careful and prolonged dialogue between families and professionals. A checklist summarizes important considerations. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: "Current Research on the Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinoses (Batten Disease)".

Ethical issues with artificial nutrition of children with degenerative brain diseases.

This report highlights viewpoints of the authors and comments from the auditory at a workshop, held during the 14th international Congress on neuronal ceroid lipofuscinoses (NCL) in Córdoba, Argentina, on ethical aspects of artificial nutrition in children with degenerative brain diseases. The discussion centers on what constitutes the best interest of a patient whose personality was immature before the onset of the disease, who has become demented during its course and is unable to communicate his/her own positions and desires. There is wide consensus that in a child with advanced disease who cannot be fed naturally, decisions to withhold nutrition or to institute or stop artificial nutrition, should only be made by parents (or their representatives) who are adequately prepared on an intellectual and emotional level. We try to show that such decisions are highly individual but can be made in a rationally and emotionally acceptable way after a careful and prolonged dialogue between families and professionals. A checklist summarizes important considerations. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: "Current Research on the Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinoses (Batten Disease)".

Advancements in Glaucoma Diagnosis: The Role of AI in Medical Imaging.

The progress of artificial intelligence algorithms in digital image processing and automatic diagnosis studies of the eye disease glaucoma has been growing and presenting essential advances to guarantee better clinical care for the population. Given the context, this article describes the main types of glaucoma, traditional forms of diagnosis, and presents the global epidemiology of the disease. Furthermore, it explores how studies using artificial intelligence algorithms have been investigated as possible tools to aid in the early diagnosis of this pathology through population screening. Therefore, the related work section presents the main studies and methodologies used in the automatic classification of glaucoma from digital fundus images and artificial intelligence algorithms, as well as the main databases containing images labeled for glaucoma and publicly available for the training of machine learning algorithms.

Ultrasound screening for abdominal aortic aneurysm in primary care. / Utilidad de la ecografía en el cribado del aneurisma de aorta abdominal en atención primaria.

INTRODUCTION: Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) constitutes a pathology with high mortality. There is currently no screening program implemented in primary care in Spain. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the usefulness of ultrasound in the detection of AAA in the at-risk population in primary care. Secondarily, to identify subjects whose vascular risk (VR) should be reclassified and to determine whether AAA is associated with the presence of carotid plaque and other risk factors. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Cross-sectional, descriptive, multicenter, national, descriptive study in primary care. SUBJECTS: A consecutive selection of hypertensive males aged between 65 and 75 who are either smokers or former smokers, or individuals over the age of 50 of both sexes with a family history of AAA. MEASUREMENTS: Diameter of abdominal aorta and iliac arteries; detection of abdominal aortic and carotid atherosclerotic plaque. VR was calculated at the beginning and after testing (SCORE). RESULTS: One hundred and fifty patients were analyzed (age: 68.3±5 years; 89.3% male). Baseline RV was high/very high in 55.3%. AAA was detected in 12 patients (8%; 95% CI: 4-12); aortic ectasia in 13 (8.7%); abdominal aortic plaque in 44% and carotid plaque in 62% of the participants. VR was reclassified in 50% of subjects. The detection of AAA or ectasia was associated with the presence of carotid plaque, current smoking and lipoprotein(a), p<0.01. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of AAA in patients with VR is high. Ultrasound in primary care allows detection of AAA and subclinical atherosclerosis and consequently reclassification of the VR, demonstrating its utility in screening for AAA in the at-risk population.

Classification of Alzheimer's disease stages from magnetic resonance images using deep learning.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive type of dementia characterized by loss of memory and other cognitive abilities, including speech. Since AD is a progressive disease, detection in the early stages is essential for the appropriate care of the patient throughout its development, going from asymptomatic to a stage known as mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and then progressing to dementia and severe dementia; is worth mentioning that everyone suffers from cognitive impairment to some degree as we age, but the relevant task here is to identify which people are most likely to develop AD. Along with cognitive tests, evaluation of the brain morphology is the primary tool for AD diagnosis, where atrophy and loss of volume of the frontotemporal lobe are common features in patients who suffer from the disease. Regarding medical imaging techniques, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans are one of the methods used by specialists to assess brain morphology. Recently, with the rise of deep learning (DL) and its successful implementation in medical imaging applications, it is of growing interest in the research community to develop computer-aided diagnosis systems that can help physicians to detect this disease, especially in the early stages where macroscopic changes are not so easily identified. This article presents a DL-based approach to classifying MRI scans in the different stages of AD, using a curated set of images from Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative and Open Access Series of Imaging Studies databases. Our methodology involves image pre-processing using FreeSurfer, spatial data-augmentation operations, such as rotation, flip, and random zoom during training, and state-of-the-art 3D convolutional neural networks such as EfficientNet, DenseNet, and a custom siamese network, as well as the relatively new approach of vision transformer architecture. With this approach, the best detection percentage among all four architectures was around 89% for AD vs. Control, 80% for Late MCI vs. Control, 66% for MCI vs. Control, and 67% for Early MCI vs. Control.

Detection of Glaucoma on Fundus Images Using Deep Learning on a New Image Set Obtained with a Smartphone and Handheld Ophthalmoscope.

Statistics show that an estimated 64 million people worldwide suffer from glaucoma. To aid in the detection of this disease, this paper presents a new public dataset containing eye fundus images that was developed for glaucoma pattern-recognition studies using deep learning (DL). The dataset, denoted Brazil Glaucoma, comprises 2000 images obtained from 1000 volunteers categorized into two groups: those with glaucoma (50%) and those without glaucoma (50%). All images were captured with a smartphone attached to a Welch Allyn panoptic direct ophthalmoscope. Further, a DL approach for the automatic detection of glaucoma was developed using the new dataset as input to a convolutional neural network ensemble model. The accuracy between positive and negative glaucoma detection, sensitivity, and specificity were calculated using five-fold cross-validation to train and refine the classification model. The results showed that the proposed method can identify glaucoma from eye fundus images with an accuracy of 90.0%. Thus, the combination of fundus images obtained using a smartphone attached to a portable panoptic ophthalmoscope and artificial intelligence algorithms yielded satisfactory results in the overall accuracy of glaucoma detection tests. Consequently, the proposed approach can contribute to the development of technologies aimed at massive population screening of the disease.

Beyond the Brain: MIDS Extends BIDS to Multiple Modalities and Anatomical Regions.

Brain Imaging Data Structure (BIDS) provides a valuable tool to organise brain imaging data into a clear and easy standard directory structure. Moreover, BIDS is widely supported by the scientific community and has been established as a powerful standard for medical imaging management. Nonetheless, the original BIDS is restricted to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain, limiting its implantation to other techniques and anatomical regions. We developed Medical Imaging Data Structure (MIDS), conceived to extend BIDS methodology to other anatomical regions and multiple imaging systems in these areas. The MIDS standard was developed to store and manage medical images as an extension of BIDS. It allows the user to handily save studies of multiple anatomical regions and imaging techniques. Besides, MIDS improves the classification of multiple images within the structure, allowing the possibility to unify them in a single study to apply on them preprocessing or artificial intelligence algorithms. Finally, the results generated are saved in the derivatives folder.

Beyond the Brain: MIDS Extends BIDS to Multiple Modalities and Anatomical Regions.

Brain Imaging Data Structure (BIDS) provides a valuable tool to organise brain imaging data into a clear and easy standard directory structure. Moreover, BIDS is widely supported by the scientific community and has been established as a powerful standard for medical imaging management. Nonetheless, the original BIDS is restricted to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain, limiting its implantation to other techniques and anatomical regions. We developed Medical Imaging Data Structure (MIDS), conceived to extend BIDS methodology to other anatomical regions and multiple imaging systems in these areas. The MIDS standard was developed to store and manage medical images as an extension of BIDS. It allows the user to handily save studies of multiple anatomical regions and imaging techniques. Besides, MIDS improves the classification of multiple images within the structure, allowing the possibility to unify them in a single study to apply on them preprocessing or artificial intelligence algorithms. Finally, the results generated are saved in the derivatives folder.

Cov-caldas: A new COVID-19 chest X-Ray dataset from state of Caldas-Colombia.

The emergence of COVID-19 as a global pandemic forced researchers worldwide in various disciplines to investigate and propose efficient strategies and/or technologies to prevent COVID-19 from further spreading. One of the main challenges to be overcome is the fast and efficient detection of COVID-19 using deep learning approaches and medical images such as Chest Computed Tomography (CT) and Chest X-ray images. In order to contribute to this challenge, a new dataset was collected in collaboration with "S.E.S Hospital Universitario de Caldas" ( https://hospitaldecaldas.com/ ) from Colombia and organized following the Medical Imaging Data Structure (MIDS) format. The dataset contains 7,307 chest X-ray images divided into 3,077 and 4,230 COVID-19 positive and negative images. Images were subjected to a selection and anonymization process to allow the scientific community to use them freely. Finally, different convolutional neural networks were used to perform technical validation. This dataset contributes to the scientific community by tackling significant limitations regarding data quality and availability for the detection of COVID-19.

Waist circumference as a prognostic index of childhood abdominal obesity: findings in the Spanish population.

INTRODUCTION: Introduction: early detection of childhood obesity plays a crucial role in the prevention of diseases during adulthood. At present, the most commonly used screening tool for detecting overweight/obesity in children is the percentile for age of body mass index, although this rate is unable to provide information about fat distribution. An emerging marker of abdominal fat distribution is waist circumference (WC). Objective: the aim of this study was to evaluate the differences between the different diagnostic criteria available to define overweight and obesity in order to establish the optimal WC cut-off values for the Spanish children population. Methods: a cross-sectional study was carried out in 8,241 schoolchildren aged 3 to 12 years from Villanueva de la Cañada (Madrid, Spain). WC (cm), weight (kg) and height (cm) were measured according to the recommendations of the Society for the Advancement of Kineanthropometry (ISAK). The values obtained for the diagnostic criteria (Spanish Orbegozo Foundation (OF), the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF), and the World Health Organization (WHO) were compared using McNemar's test for paired proportions. The kappa coefficient (κ) was used to assess the degree of agreement of the three classifications. We analyzed the validity of body mass index (BMI) and WC using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. The Youden index was used to determine cut-off values for WC that identify childhood obesity Results: overweight and obesity prevalences were calculated according to the OF, IOTF, and WHO criteria. There was a "substantial" agreement for the overweight and obesity categories between the Spanish criteria and IOTF (κ = 0.636), while agreement was "slight" between the Spanish criteria and those of WHO (κ = 0.198). The estimated cut-off WC criteria ranged from 54.5 to 88.0, varying according to sex and age. Conclusion: the proposed WC cut-off values, stated for the first time in a young Spanish population, are a simple and valid alternative as diagnostic criteria of abdominal obesity.

INTRODUCCIÓN: Introducción: la detección temprana de la obesidad durante la infancia es de vital importancia para la prevención de patologías durante la edad adulta. En la actualidad, la evaluación de la obesidad infantil se realiza principalmente utilizando el índice de masa corporal por edad percentilado, aunque este no aporta información sobre la distribución del tejido adiposo. Un marcador emergente de distribución de la grasa abdominal es la circunferencia de la cintura (CC). Objetivo: el objetivo de este trabajo fue evaluar las diferencias entre diferentes criterios diagnósticos para definir el sobrepeso y la obesidad con el fin de establecer el punto de corte óptimo de la CC en los niños españoles. Método: se llevó a cabo un estudio observacional transversal de 8241 niños/as (3-12 años) en Villanueva de la Cañada (Madrid, España). Se determinaron el peso, la talla y el perímetro de la cintura atendiendo a los criterios de la Sociedad Internacional para el Avance de la Cineantropometría (ISAK). Los valores obtenidos para los criterios diagnósticos (Fundación Orbegozo (OF), el Grupo Internacional de Obesidad (IOTF) y la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS)) se compararon utilizando la prueba de McNemar para proporciones emparejadas. El coeficiente kappa (κ) se utilizó para evaluar el grado de acuerdo de las tres clasificaciones. Analizamos la validez del índice de masa corporal (IMC) y el perímetro de la cintura (CC) utilizando el análisis de la curva característica operativa del receptor (ROC). El índice de Youden se utilizó para determinar los valores de corte de la CC que identifican la obesidad infantil. Resultados: se calcularon las prevalencias del sobrepeso y la obesidad de acuerdo con criterios internacionales (IOTF, OMS) y nacionales (FO). Se observó un acuerdo "substancial" para el sobrepeso y la obesidad entre el criterio diagnóstico español y el IOTF (κ = 0,636), mientras que el acuerdo fue "ligero" entre el criterio español y el de la OMS (κ = 0,198). Los puntos de corte de la CC estimados variaron de 54,5 a 88,0 cm, modificándose en función de la edad y el sexo. Conclusiones: los puntos de corte de la CC propuestos, establecidos por primera vez para niños españoles, son una alternativa simple y válida como criterio diagnóstico de obesidad abdominal.

COVID-19 detection in X-ray images using convolutional neural networks.

COVID-19 global pandemic affects health care and lifestyle worldwide, and its early detection is critical to control cases' spreading and mortality. The actual leader diagnosis test is the Reverse transcription Polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), result times and cost of these tests are high, so other fast and accessible diagnostic tools are needed. Inspired by recent research that correlates the presence of COVID-19 to findings in Chest X-ray images, this papers' approach uses existing deep learning models (VGG19 and U-Net) to process these images and classify them as positive or negative for COVID-19. The proposed system involves a preprocessing stage with lung segmentation, removing the surroundings which does not offer relevant information for the task and may produce biased results; after this initial stage comes the classification model trained under the transfer learning scheme; and finally, results analysis and interpretation via heat maps visualization. The best models achieved a detection accuracy of COVID-19 around 97%.

Evaluation of the atherosclerotic burden in hypertensive patients with prediabetes. / Evaluación de la carga aterosclerótica en hipertensos con prediabetes.

AIM: To assess the atherosclerotic burden in hypertensive patients with prediabetes without cardiovascular disease. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We included patients with hypertension and prediabetes (fasting blood glucose: 100-125mg/dL and/or glycohemoglobin A1c: 5.7-6.4%), excluding those with established cardiovascular disease or those at very high risk. We recorded major vascular risk factors. Subclinical arteriosclerosis was measured by the ankle/brachial index (ABI) and carotid intima-medial thickness (IMT). Subclinical arteriosclerosis was mild if IMT was >75p adjusted by age and sex and/or ABI was 0.7-0.9 and was considered moderate-severe when there was plaque and/or ABI<0.7. RESULTS: We included 53 patients, 63±7 years-old; women: 50,9% (95%CI: 36.8-64.9). Atherosclerotic burden was detected in 66.0% (95%CI: 51.7-78.5) of subjects. 24,5% (95%CI: 13.8-38.3) of patients had mild arteriosclerosis disease and 41.5% (95%CI: 28.1-55.9) had moderate-severe. This allowed us to re-stratified as very high vascular risk the 41.5% (95%CI: 28.1-55.9) of patients. 45.4% (95%CI: 16-74.8) of subjects with moderate initial risk were considered high or very high risk. In multivariate analyses, only smoking was associated with atherosclerotic burden (P=.07). CONCLUSIONS: Two thirds of hypertensive patients with prediabetes had subclinical arteriosclerotic disease when they were evaluated by the ankle/brachial index and carotid ultrasonography. Approximately forty percent of patients were re-stratified as very high vascular risk. Nearly half of the prediabetic hypertensive patients initially classified as moderate risk were considered high or very high risk.

Influence of the length of hospitalisation in post-discharge outcomes in patients with acute heart failure: Results of the LOHRCA study.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between length of hospitalisation (LOH) and post-discharge outcomes in acute heart failure (AHF) patients and to ascertain whether there are different patterns according to department of initial hospitalisation. METHODS: Consecutive AHF patients hospitalised in 41 Spanish centres were grouped based on the LOH (<6/6-10/11-15/>15 days). Outcomes were defined as 90-day post-discharge all-cause mortality, AHF readmissions, and the combination of both. Hazard ratios (HRs), adjusted by chronic conditions and severity of decompensation, were calculated for groups with LOH >6 days vs. LOH <6 days (reference), and stratified by hospitalisation in cardiology, internal medicine, geriatrics, or short-stay units. RESULTS: We included 8563 patients (mean age: 80 (SD = 10) years, 55.5% women), with a median LOH of 7 days (IQR 4-11): 2934 (34.3%) had a LOH <6 days, 3184 (37.2%) 6-10 days, 1287 (15.0%) 11-15 days, and 1158 (13.5%) >15 days. The 90-day post-discharge mortality was 11.4%, readmission 32.2%, and combined endpoint 37.4%. Mortality was increased by 36.5% (95%CI = 13.0-64.9) when LOH was 11-15 days, and by 72.0% (95%CI = 42.6-107.5) when >15 days. Conversely, no differences were found in readmission risk, and the combined endpoint only increased 21.6% (95%CI = 8.4-36.4) for LOH >15 days. Stratified analysis by hospitalisation departments rendered similar post-discharge outcomes, with all exhibiting increased mortality for LOH >15 days and no significant increments in readmission risk. CONCLUSIONS: Short hospitalisations are not associated with worse outcomes. While post-discharge readmissions are not affected by LOH, mortality risk increases as the LOH lengthens. These findings were similar across hospitalisation departments.

Application of Business Process Management to drive the deployment of a speech recognition system in a healthcare organization.

We present a methodology based on Business Process Management to guide the development of a speech recognition system in a hospital in Spain. The methodology eases the deployment of the system by 1) involving the clinical staff in the process, 2) providing the IT professionals with a description of the process and its requirements, 3) assessing advantages and disadvantages of the speech recognition system, as well as its impact in the organisation, and 4) help reorganising the healthcare process before implementing the new technology in order to identify how it can better contribute to the overall objective of the organisation.

[Healthy gastronomy education: challenges and opportunities in the institutional food service]. / Educación para una gastronomía saludable: retos y oportunidades en la alimentación institucional.

INTRODUCTION: the population demands a healthy gastronomy (binomial Gastronomy and Nutrition), so it must include knowledge of food and health. Health, Education and Gastronomy complement each other. The institutional food service must be healthy and at the same time pleasant. OBJECTIVES: collect activities, resources and interventions that have been carried out in various institutional food services (school lunches, nursing homes and hospitals) where knowledge about gastronomy and healthy eating has been included as a teaching method at different levels. METHODS: a review of the actions and/or materials developed to educate on healthy gastronomy from different areas of collective catering has been carried out, as well as the search for scientific articles in the PubMed, Dialnet and Google academic databases. RESULTS: the Taste Workshops are complementary and useful educational material for the teachers of Infant and Primary School Education. The menus of nursing home must have a good nutritional contribution and organoleptic quality that stimulates the well-being and socialization of the users, considering that in old age sensory losses affects the pleasure of eating. The alimentary model in the hospital is adapted mainly to the health needs of the users and must reach a gastronomic suitability that will produce well-being during the stay. CONCLUSIONS: institutional food service poses challenges in food preparation and conservation, quality and food safety, nutritional value of food and its implications for the health of populations, and from the point of view of gastronomy, since it involves a daily routine in groups of vulnerable population such as schoolchildren, hospitalized people or the elderly.

Introducción: la población demanda una gastronomía saludable (un binomio entre gastronomía y nutrición), por lo que debe incluir los conocimientos de alimentación y la salud. Salud, educación y gastronomía se complementan entre sí. La alimentación institucional debe ser saludable y, a su vez, placentera.Objetivos: recopilar actividades, recursos e intervenciones que se han llevado a cabo en diversos centros de alimentación institucional (comedores escolares, residencias y hospitales), donde se incluyen los conocimientos sobre gastronomía y alimentación saludable como método de enseñanza a diferentes niveles.Métodos: se ha realizado una revisión de las acciones y/o materiales elaborados para educar en gastronomía saludable desde distintos ámbitos de la alimentación institucional. Además, se ha realizado una búsqueda de artículos científicos en las bases de datos PubMed, Dialnet y Google académico.Resultados: los talleres del gusto son un material educativo complementario y muy útil para el profesorado de Educación Infantil y Primaria. Los menús de las instituciones geriátricas deben tener un buen aporte nutricional y una buena calidad organoléptica que estimule el bienestar y la socialización de los usuarios, ya que en la vejez se producen pérdidas sensoriales que afectan al placer de comer. El modelo alimentario en el hospital está adaptado principalmente a las necesidades de salud de los usuarios, y debe alcanzar una idoneidad gastronómica que produzca bienestar durante la estancia.Conclusiones: la alimentación institucional plantea retos en la elaboración, la conservación, la calidad y el valor nutritivo de los alimentos, así como en la seguridad alimentaria y en sus implicaciones en la salud de las poblaciones, y, desde el punto de vista gastronómico, como rutina diaria en grupos de población vulnerables (escolares, personas hospitalizadas o adultos mayores).

Fifty years of beverages consumption trends in Spanish households.

OBJECTIVES: To describe the evolution of non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages consumption in the Spanish households from the 60's to nowadays. METHODS: This study is based on beverages and food consumption in Spanish households; the data sample consisted of consumption and distribution data, obtained from the Household Budget Survey (HBS) since 1964 to 1991 and from the Food Consumption Survey (FCS) since 2000 to 2014, in collaboration with the Spanish Nutrition Foundation (FEN). RESULTS: In 2014 the average consumption of non-alcoholic beverages was 332 g/person/day, whereas alcoholic beverages consumption represented 72.6 g/person/day. Consumption of non-alcoholic beverages has increased 721% (1964: 46 g/person/day; 1991: 96 g/person/day; 2000: 240 g/person/day and 2014: 332 g/person/day), whereas alcoholic beverages consumption has decreased roughly a 50% (1964: 145 g/person/day; 1991: 113 g/person/day; 2000: 78.4 g/person/day and 2014: 72.6 g/person/day). The most consumed alcoholic beverage in 2014 was beer (41.3 g/day), followed by wine (23.0 g/day). Regarding non-alcoholic beverages, the most consumed was water (144 g/day), followed by cola (ordinary: 30.7 g/day and diet: 20.5 g/day).According to Spanish regions, in 2014 non-alcoholic beverages were the most consumed in the islands (Balearic Islands 521 grams/person/day; Canary Islands 515 grams/person/day), as it was in the nineties (Balearic Islands 148 grams/person/day and Canary Islands 281 grams/person/day). However in 1980-81 the largest consumption of alcoholic beverages was that of Galicia, 408 g/person per day, and the lower in the Canary Islands, 63 g/person per day. In 2014, Murcia and Andalucía represented the regions with the highest consumption of alcoholic beverages. In 2014, alcoholic beverages provided roughly 1.89% of the total energy and 1.47% of sugars, whereas non-alcoholic beverages provided 3.28% of energy and 15.72% of sugars and, in 2000, alcoholic beverages contributed 2.29% of the energy and 1.47% of sugars and non-alcoholic drinks provided 3.76% of the energy and 22.7% of sugars. CONCLUSION: There have been signifi cant changes in the eating patterns at the Spanish homes, especially regarding beverages consumption, over the last five decades. In general, a higher consumption and variety for non-alcoholic drinks has occurred, especially in the islands. In parallel, a decline in alcoholic beverages consumption has been clearly observed.

A new educational tool to learn about hydration: taste workshops for children.

INTRODUCTION: Nutrition education contributes to children´s understanding and practice of healthy lifestyles behaviors. Having a well hydration status is an essential topic, especially since children are a vulnerable population who are much more  prone to dehydration than adults are. The approval of the Report on the European Gastronomic Heritage: Cultural and Educational Aspects in 2014 served as starting point to work on innovative audio-visual and multimedia materials for children. The Spanish Nutrition Foundation (FEN) and the Royal Academy of Gastronomy (RAG), in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport in Spain (MECD),  developed educational videos for schoolchildren to learn about food, nutrition and gastronomy, specially, the importance of being hydrated. OBJECTIVES: To develop a serial of videos for children between 3 and 9 years old with nutrition and cooking lessons to be used as educational resources in the official curricula. METHODS: Fourteen chapters related to food, nutrition, gastronomy, physical activity and hydration to be used to record videos were designed and tested. A nutritionist, a chef and two puppets were the main characters acting in the videos.  RESULTS: The chapters were assembled in nine videos that included five sections: introduction, video lesson, recipes -in case of hydration, recipes with different water content foods were recorded-, what have you learntand check your knowledge. A summary of the new educational material was officially presented at the Spain Pavilion during the Expo Milano 2015. Moreover, they are included as education  tool for teachers in the new PANGEI Programme (Food, Nutrition and Gastronomy for Infantile Education) conjointly launched by FEN, RAG and MEDC. CONCLUSION: Taste workshops are useful as innovative nutrition education tools to reinforce language, listening and motor skills as well as food and nutrition concepts, and specially, the importance of being well hydrated.

Can a Short Term of Repeated Ejaculations Affect Seminal Parameters?

BACKGROUND: The aim of the study was to assess the effect of four repeated ejaculations on the same day at two-hour intervals on conventional and functional semen parameters. METHODS: Three healthy men (32±3.6 years) donated the first semen samples after 3-4 days of sexual abstinence followed by three subsequent samples on the same day at two-hour interval each. Semen samples were processed and analyzed according to the World Health Organization (WHO) 2010 guidelines. Furthermore, intracellular reactive oxygen (ROS) production, sperm DNA fragmentation and mitochondrial function were evaluated by flow cytometry. RESULTS: An overall decreasing trend was noted in the conventional semen parameters at second, third and fourth evaluations after two hours of abstinence in comparison to first evaluation after 3-4 days of abstinence. The statistical comparison of the conventional semen parameters at fourth evaluation after 2 hr of abstinence revealed significant reduction (p<0.05) in the parameters of concentration, total sperm count and total motile sperm count at fourth evaluation. The functional parameter of intracellular ROS production showed a decreasing trend with each subsequent evaluation, the difference being significant (p<0.05) at fourth evaluation in comparison to first evaluation. An increasing trend was noted for DNA fragmentation index (DFI), although it remained within acceptable levels (<29%). The ΔΨm (high) permatozoa and the integrity of the plasma membrane remained stable throughout the evaluations. CONCLUSION: The findings of the present study indicate the potential use of additional semen samples with repeated ejaculations at short abstinence times in assisted reproduction procedures particularly from severe oligospermic men.