[Constrictive pericarditis as a serious and rare presentation of systemic lupus erythematosus: Report of one case]. / Pericarditis constrictiva como presentación grave e infrecuente de lupus eritematoso sistémico: reporte de un caso y revisión de la literatura.

Constrictive Pericarditis (CP) is an unusual disease. Its most common causes are idiopathic or secondary to cardiac surgery. Less frequently it is caused by connective tissue diseases. We report a 30 years old woman hospitalized due to progressive dyspnea, chest pain and signs of right sided heart failure. During her stay, a Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) was diagnosed. The echocardiogram suggested a CP and the diagnosis was confirmed by cardiac catheterization. Pericardiectomy was successfully performed. The biopsy confirmed a nonspecific chronic pericarditis, with extensive fibrosis and absence of caseating granulomas. The patient had a satisfactory recovery.

Parametric head-related transfer function modeling and interpolation for cost-efficient binaural sound applications.

Parametric methods for modeling the perceptually relevant features of head-related transfer functions (HRTFs) are very important for the development of low-cost immersive sound applications. This letter describes an efficient method based on a low-order infinite impulse response filter implemented by a chain of second order sections of conventional shelving and peak audio filters. The parameters (central frequency, gain, and quality factor) are numerically adjusted by iteratively fitting the frequency response of the filter to the desired HRTF. Besides allowing for low-order binaural models, the proposed approach provides an efficient way to synthesize HRTFs for non-measured angles by applying a simple interpolation between the parameters from neighboring responses. Additionally, the HRTF database size is significantly reduced.

Takotsubo cardiomyopathy Afatinib-related in a non-small cell lung cancer patient: Case report.

Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) mutations are frequently found among NSCLC patients. Second-generation Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor (TKI) Afatinib is frequently used in this population of patients achieving better results than cytotoxic chemotherapy in terms of survival and progression. Afatinib-related cardiotoxicity has been rarely reported. Here we comment on a clinical case of a Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy Afatinib-induced in an NSCLC patient.

Coronary Ostia Localization by 3-Dimensional Transesophageal Echocardiography in a Patient With Quadricuspid Aortic Valve.

Quadricuspid aortic valve is rare and requires surgery when symptomatic severe regurgitation/stenosis is present. Associated anomalous coronary ostia location demands accurate diagnosis to avoid intraoperative complications, and several imaging techniques have been used, with drawbacks of low sensitivity, radiation and contrast exposure. We report a pre-operative assessment using 3-dimensional echocardiography. (Level of Difficulty: Intermediate.).

Generalized proportional integral control for periodic signals under active disturbance rejection approach.

Conventional repetitive control has proven to be an effective strategy to reject/track periodic signals with constant frequency; however, it shows poor performance in varying frequency applications. This paper proposes an active disturbance rejection methodology applied to a large class of uncertain flat systems for the tracking and rejection of periodic signals, in which the possibilities of the generalized proportional integral (GPI) observer-based control to address repetitive control problems are studied. In the proposed scheme, model uncertainties and external disturbances are lumped together in a general additive disturbance input that is estimated and rejected on-line. An illustrative case study of mechatronic nature is considered. Experimental results show that the proposed GPI observer-based control successfully rejects periodic disturbances even under varying speed conditions.

Risk factors for sensorineural hearing loss in children.

In the last decade, tremendous progress has been made very rapidly in the development of Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) systems as a major public health initiative. The percentage of infants screened annually in Spain has increased significantly since the EHDI systems have expanded to all autonomic regions. Historically, high risk indicators have been used for the identification of infants who should receive audiological evaluation but who live in geographic locations where universal hearing screening is not yet available, to help identify infants who pass neonatal screening but are at risk of developing delayed-onset hearing loss and to identify infants who may have passed neonatal screening but have mild forms of permanent hearing loss. In this review, the standard risk factors for hearing loss are analysed and the risk factors known to be associated with late onset or progressive hearing loss are identified. The recommendation for infants with a risk factor that may be considered as low risk is to perform at least one audiology assessment by 24-30 months. In contrast, for an infant with risk factors known to be associated with late onset or progressive hearing loss (such as cytomegalovirus infection or family history), early and more frequent assessment is appropriate. All infants should have an objective standardised screening of global development with a validated assessment tool at 9, 18 and 24-30 months of age or at any time if the health care professional or the family is concerned.

Early hearing detection and intervention: 2010 CODEPEH recommendation.

Newborn hearing screening is currently performed routinely in many regional health-care systems in Spain. Despite the remarkable expansion in newborn hearing screening since 2000, its feasibility and the benefits of early identification and intervention, many major challenges still remain. In this article, the Committee for the Early Detection of Hearing Loss (Comisión para la Detección Precoz de la Hipoacusia, CODEPEH) updates the recommendations that are considered important for the future development of early hearing detection and intervention (EDHI) systems in the following points: 1. Screening protocols: Separate protocols are recommended for NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Units) and well-infant nurseries. 2. Diagnostic audiology evaluation. Professionals with skills and expertise in evaluating newborn and young infants should provide diagnosis, selection and fitting of amplification devices. 3. Medical evaluation. Risk factors for congenital and acquired hearing loss have been combined in a single list rather than grouped by time of onset. A stepwise diagnostic paradigm is diagnostically more efficient and cost-effective than a simultaneous testing approach. 4. Early intervention and surveillance. All individuals providing services to infants with hearing loss should have specialized training and expertise in the development of audition, speech and language. Regular surveillance should be performed on developmental milestones, auditory skills, parental concerns, and middle ear status. 5. Quality control. Data management as part of an integrated system is important to monitor and improve the quality of EDHI services.

Pericarditis constrictiva como presentación grave e infrecuente de lupus eritematoso sistémico: reporte de un caso y revisión de la literatura / Constrictive pericarditis as a serious and rare presentation of systemic lupus erythematosus: Report of one case

Constrictive Pericarditis (CP) is an unusual disease. Its most common causes are idiopathic or secondary to cardiac surgery. Less frequently it is caused by connective tissue diseases. We report a 30 years old woman hospitalized due to progressive dyspnea, chest pain and signs of right sided heart failure. During her stay, a Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) was diagnosed. The echocardiogram suggested a CP and the diagnosis was confirmed by cardiac catheterization. Pericardiectomy was successfully performed. The biopsy confirmed a nonspecific chronic pericarditis, with extensive fibrosis and absence of caseating granulomas. The patient had a satisfactory recovery.