Online Mindfulness Experience for Emotional Support to Healthcare staff in times of Covid-19.

During the first confinement in Spain, between the months of March to June 2020, Information and Communication Technologies strategies were implemented in order to support health workers in the Wellbeing of Mental Health. Faced with so much uncertainty about the pandemic, an Online Mindfulness course. The objective of the course was to support healthcare professionals in Castilla y León in managing stress, anxiety and other emotional disturbances generated by coping with a situation as uncertain and unexpected as a pandemic, in order to manage emotions and thoughts that can lead to suicidal ideation. The motivations for the demand, reasons or motivations in which the health professionals of Castilla y León decided to participate in the mindfulness course in the first wave of Covid-19 in Spain are described. The descriptive and inferential statistical analysis of the customer satisfaction survey applied at the end of the mindfulness course, to the health professionals who participated in a satisfaction survey (CSQ-8: Client Satisfaction Questionnaire). Professional were asked to complete a survey based on (CSQ-8: Client Satisfaction Questionnaire) whose Cronbach's alpha = 0.917 is why the instrument used with N = 130 participants has high reliability. The 66% answered with a highly satisfied that they would return to the mindfulness online course. The 93% of the people who answered the satisfaction survey were women, of which they are professionals in the nursing area, with a participation of around 62%. In relation to the online system used in the Mindfulness intervention, 74% expressed that they fully agreed that it has been easy to use the online system for the mindfulness intervention. Health Professionals responded with 58% high satisfaction and 36% satisfaction, making a total of 94% on the help received in the online mindfulness courses to solve their problems. There is no difference between the age groups of the professionals who have preferred the Mindfulness online course (p = 0.672).

Programmed Recognition between Complementary Dinucleolipids To Control the Self-Assembly of Lipidic Amphiphiles.

One of the major goals in systems chemistry is to create molecular assemblies with emergent properties that are characteristic of life. An interesting approach toward this goal is based on merging different biological building blocks into synthetic systems with properties arising from the combination of their molecular components. The covalent linkage of nucleic acids (or their constituents: nucleotides, nucleosides and nucleobases) with lipids in the same hybrid molecule leads, for example, to the so-called nucleolipids. Herein, we describe nucleolipids with a very short sequence of two nucleobases per lipid, which, in combination with hydrophobic effects promoted by the lipophilic chain, allow control of the self-assembly of lipidic amphiphiles to be achieved. The present work describes a spectroscopic and microscopy study of the structural features and dynamic self-assembly of dinucleolipids that contain adenine or thymine moieties, either pure or in mixtures. This approach leads to different self-assembled nanostructures, which include spherical, rectangular and fibrillar assemblies, as a function of the sequence of nucleobases and chiral effects of the nucleolipids involved. We also show evidence that the resulting architectures can encapsulate hydrophobic molecules, revealing their potential as drug delivery vehicles or as compartments to host interesting chemistries in their interior.

Analysis of the security and privacy requirements of cloud-based electronic health records systems.

BACKGROUND: The Cloud Computing paradigm offers eHealth systems the opportunity to enhance the features and functionality that they offer. However, moving patients' medical information to the Cloud implies several risks in terms of the security and privacy of sensitive health records. In this paper, the risks of hosting Electronic Health Records (EHRs) on the servers of third-party Cloud service providers are reviewed. To protect the confidentiality of patient information and facilitate the process, some suggestions for health care providers are made. Moreover, security issues that Cloud service providers should address in their platforms are considered. OBJECTIVE: To show that, before moving patient health records to the Cloud, security and privacy concerns must be considered by both health care providers and Cloud service providers. Security requirements of a generic Cloud service provider are analyzed. METHODS: To study the latest in Cloud-based computing solutions, bibliographic material was obtained mainly from Medline sources. Furthermore, direct contact was made with several Cloud service providers. RESULTS: Some of the security issues that should be considered by both Cloud service providers and their health care customers are role-based access, network security mechanisms, data encryption, digital signatures, and access monitoring. Furthermore, to guarantee the safety of the information and comply with privacy policies, the Cloud service provider must be compliant with various certifications and third-party requirements, such as SAS70 Type II, PCI DSS Level 1, ISO 27001, and the US Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA). CONCLUSIONS: Storing sensitive information such as EHRs in the Cloud means that precautions must be taken to ensure the safety and confidentiality of the data. A relationship built on trust with the Cloud service provider is essential to ensure a transparent process. Cloud service providers must make certain that all security mechanisms are in place to avoid unauthorized access and data breaches. Patients must be kept informed about how their data are being managed.

Development and evaluation of a Web-based tool to estimate type 2 diabetes risk: Diab_Alert.

OBJECTIVE: Diabetes and its complications are major causes of morbidity and mortality around the world. This article presents a new multilingual, mobile-compatible Web-based tool to estimate the risk of suffering from type 2 diabetes (Diab_Alert) after the individual answers a brief questionnaire. The rationale for building the tool is to raise the public awareness of diabetes and its consequences. People should be concerned about the fact that this disease can be prevented even in cases of prediabetes, when medication is crucial to avoid the emergence of diabetes. The application shows a message with the global risk for each user and encloses with it a graph that shows the probability of suffering from diabetes in the next 10 years, which other tools do not illustrate. This way, people at high risk can ask for advice from their physician and get basal glucose tests done more often. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The questions are based on research performed by experts, mainly the Diabetes Population Risk Tool and the Finnish Diabetes Risk Score. RESULTS: Up to April 26, 2012, 141 users have completed this test. Of this group, 125 have used the Spanish language version, and of the other participants, 7 used English, 7 used Portuguese, and 2 used French. The number of individuals who have completed the questionnaire is too small to draw conclusions, although results are not as advanced as expected. Most of them are young and hence are at low risk, but those over 45 years of age are at a higher risk, especially men. CONCLUSIONS: This tool can help users become more aware of their risk of diabetes and initiate lifestyle changes, such as improved nutrition or increased physical activity, which may reduce their risk of developing the disease. The tool has been designed to be easily translated into multiple languages and to work on multiple platforms, with a standard version for computers and a simpler version for mobile devices.

Application of Machine Learning Techniques to Help in the Feature Selection Related to Hospital Readmissions of Suicidal Behavior.

Suicide was the main source of death from external causes in Spain in 2020, with 3,941 cases. The importance of identifying those mental disorders that influenced hospital readmissions will allow us to manage the health care of suicidal behavior. The feature selection of each hospital in this region was carried out by applying Machine learning (ML) and traditional statistical methods. The results of the characteristics that best explain the readmissions of each hospital after assessment by the psychiatry specialist are presented. Adjustment disorder, alcohol abuse, depressive syndrome, personality disorder, and dysthymic disorder were selected for this region. The most influential methods or characteristics associated with suicide were benzodiazepine poisoning, suicidal ideation, medication poisoning, antipsychotic poisoning, and suicide and/or self-harm by jumping. Suicidal behavior is a concern in our society, so the results are relevant for hospital management and decision-making for its prevention.

Telemedicine solutions for patients with mental disorders: a Delphi study and review of mobile applications in virtual stores.

Mental disorders are a critical public health challenge since they profoundly affected people lifestyle. Mental healthcare treatments aim to promote a higher quality of life of the patients. These procedures include interventions for prolonged mental illness which can be supported by telemedicine technologies. This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of mobile applications selected to address the most critical needs of people with mental problems. Needs include areas of the patient's life, such as basic activities, behavioral changes, and daily life tasks. This work has two main objectives; (1) identify critical needs for patients with mental disorders and (2) identify and analyze apps that can meet the identified critical needs. A Delphi methodology survey was carried with a group of thirteen volunteers, including nurses, assistants, and psychiatrists who are working in Zamora and Valladolid, Spain. This survey has recommended different needs for patients with mental disorders and address objective 1. Google Play and Apple Store have been assessed to select the most relevant mobile applications that were recommended in the Delphi study to address the essential needs of these patients according to objective 2. The results of the Delphi survey show 24 different needs for patients with mental disorders. This study has analyzed 62 mobile applications which address the essential needs recommended in the Delphi study. The selected mobile applications represent 31 applications with feedback (50%); 15 informative applications (24%), and 16 independent applications (26%). On the one hand, applications with feedback request can address 13 recommended needs (54%). On the other hand, informative applications can address 7 needs (29%). Finally, the independent applications are only able to respond to 4 of the 24 recommend needs (17%). Mobile health applications present effective technologies to support the needs of patients with mental disorders. However, this study suggests a critical limitation of mobile applications for mental health since the majority of the applications require user activity. Therefore, future research initiatives on the design and development of mobile apps for people who have mental disorders should focus on independent applications.

Modulating redox metabolism to improve isobutanol production in Shimwellia blattae.

BACKGROUND: Isobutanol is a candidate to replace gasoline from fossil resources. This higher alcohol can be produced from sugars using genetically modified microorganisms. Shimwellia blattae (p424IbPSO) is a robust strain resistant to high concentration of isobutanol that can achieve a high production rate of this alcohol. Nevertheless, this strain, like most strains developed for isobutanol production, has some limitations in its metabolic pathway. Isobutanol production under anaerobic conditions leads to a depletion of NADPH, which is necessary for two enzymes in the metabolic pathway. In this work, two independent approaches have been studied to mitigate the co-substrates imbalance: (i) using a NADH-dependent alcohol dehydrogenase to reduce the NADPH dependence of the pathway and (ii) using a transhydrogenase to increase NADPH level. RESULTS: The addition of the NADH-dependent alcohol dehydrogenase from Lactococcus lactis (AdhA) to S. blattae (p424IbPSO) resulted in a 19.3% higher isobutanol production. The recombinant strain S. blattae (p424IbPSO, pIZpntAB) harboring the PntAB transhydrogenase produced 39.0% more isobutanol than the original strain, reaching 5.98 g L-1 of isobutanol. In both strains, we observed a significant decrease in the yields of by-products such as lactic acid or ethanol. CONCLUSIONS: The isobutanol biosynthesis pathway in S. blattae (p424IbPSO) uses the endogenous NADPH-dependent alcohol dehydrogenase YqhD to complete the pathway. The addition of NADH-dependent AdhA leads to a reduction in the consumption of NADPH that is a bottleneck of the pathway. The higher consumption of NADH by AdhA reduces the availability of NADH required for the transformation of pyruvate into lactic acid and ethanol. On the other hand, the expression of PntAB from E. coli increases the availability of NADPH for IlvC and YqhD and at the same time reduces the availability of NADH and thus, the production of lactic acid and ethanol. In this work it is shown how the expression of AdhA and PntAB enzymes in Shimwellia blattae increases yield from 11.9% to 14.4% and 16.4%, respectively.

A new wireless biosensor for intra-vaginal temperature monitoring.

Wireless Body Sensors for medical purposes offer valuable contributions to improve patients' healthcare, including diagnosis and/or therapeutics monitoring. Body temperature is a crucial parameter in healthcare diagnosis. In gynecology and obstetrics it is measured at the skin's surface, which is very influenced by the environment. This paper proposes a new intra-body sensor for long-term intra-vaginal temperature collection. The embedded IEEE 802.15.4 communication module allows the integration of this sensor in a Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) for remote data access and monitoring. We present the sensor architecture, the construction of the corresponding testbed, and its performance evaluation. This sensor may be used in different medical applications, including preterm labor prevention and fertility and ovulation period detection. The features of the constructed testbed were validated in laboratory tests verifying its accuracy and performance.

Conserving mangrove ecosystems in the Philippines: transcending disciplinary and institutional borders.

Humans are rapidly depleting critical ecosystems and the life support functions they provide, increasing the urgency of developing effective conservation tools. Using a case study of the conversion of mangrove ecosystems to shrimp aquaculture, this article describes an effort to develop a transdisciplinary, transinstitutional approach to conservation that simultaneously trains future generations of environmental problem solvers. We worked in close collaboration with academics, non-government organizations, local government and local communities to organize a workshop in Puerto Princesa, Palawan, Philippines. The primary objectives of the workshop were to: (1) train participants in the basic principles of ecological economics and its goals of sustainable scale, just distribution and efficient allocation; (2) learn from local community stakeholders and participating scientists about the problems surrounding conversion of mangrove ecosystems to shrimp aquaculture; (3) draw on the skills and knowledge of all participants to develop potential solutions to the problem; and (4) communicate results to those with the power and authority to act on them. We found that the economic and ecological benefits of intact mangroves outweigh the returns to aquaculture. Perversely, however, private property rights to mangrove ecosystems favor inefficient, unjust and unsustainable allocation of the resource-a tragedy of the non-commons. We presented the workshop results to the press and local government, which shut down the aquaculture ponds to conserve the threatened ecosystem. Effective communication to appropriate audiences was essential for transforming research into action. Our approach is promising and can be readily applied to conservation research and advocacy projects worldwide, but should be improved through adaptive management-practitioners must continually build on those elements that work and discard or improve those that fail.

Can Carob-Fruit-Extract-Enriched Meat Improve the Lipoprotein Profile, VLDL-Oxidation, and LDL Receptor Levels Induced by an Atherogenic Diet in STZ-NAD-Diabetic Rats?

Carob fruit extract (CFE) has shown remarkable in vitro antioxidant properties and reduces postprandial hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia in healthy animals. Development of functional meat products that contain bioactive components are presented as a great nutritional strategy. Until now, the effect of the consumption of restructured meat enriched with CFE in a murine model of diabetes has not been investigated. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect on glycemia, lipemia, lipoprotein profile, Ldlr, arylesterase (AE), and very low-density lipoproteins (VLDL) and liver oxidation in streptozotocin-nicotinamide (STZ-NAD) growing Wistar diabetic rats fed restructured meat in the frame of a high cholesterol/high saturated-fat diet. In the present study, three groups (D, ED and DE) were fed cholesterol-enriched (1.4% cholesterol and 0.2% cholic acid) and high saturated-fat diets (50% of total energy from fats and 20.4% from saturated fatty acids). Rats were subjected to a STZ-NAD administration at the 3rd week. Group D did not receive CFE, while ED and DE rat groups received CFE before and after the diabetic induction, respectively. After eight weeks, D rats showed hyperglycemia and hypercholesterolemia, an increased amount cholesterol-enriched VLDL (ß-VLDL), IDL and LDL particles and triglyceride-enriched HDL. ED and DE partially blocked the hypercholesterolemic induction with respect to D group (p < 0.001) and improved glycemia, cholesterol levels, lipoprotein profile, Ldlr, plasma AE activity and liver oxidation (p < 0.001). Fecal fat, moisture and excretion were higher while dietary digestibility was lower in ED and DE vs. D counterparts (p < 0.001). In conclusion, CFE-enriched meat shows, for the first time, hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic effects in STZ-NAD animals fed high cholesterol/high saturated-fat diets. Likewise, it manages to reverse possible diabetes lipoprotein alterations if CFE-enriched meat is consumed before pathology development or improves said modifications if Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus is already established.

Managing and Controlling Stress Using mHealth: Systematic Search in App Stores.

BACKGROUND: Traditional stress management techniques have been proven insufficient to tackle the needs of today's population. Computational-based techniques and now mobile health (mHealth) apps are showing promise to enable ease of use and access while educating end users on self-management. OBJECTIVE: The main aim of this paper was to put forward a systematic review of mHealth apps for stress management. METHODS: The scenario chosen for this study consists of a sample of the most relevant mHealth apps found on the British and Spanish online stores of the two main mobile operating systems: iOS and Android. The apps have been categorized and scored base on their impact, presence, number of results, language, and operating system. RESULTS: A total of 433 different mobile apps for stress management was analyzed. Of these apps, 21.7% (94/433) belonged to the "relaxing music" category, 10.9% (47/433) were in the "draw and paint" category, 1.2% (5/433) belonged to the "heart rate control" category, and 1.2% (5/433) fell under "integral methodology." Only 2.0% (8/433) of the apps qualified as high or medium interest while 98.0% were low interest. Furthermore, 2.0% (8/433) of the apps were available on both iOS and Android, and 98% of apps ran on only one platform (iOS or Android). CONCLUSIONS: There are many low-value apps available at the moment, but the analysis shows that they are adding new functionalities and becoming fully integrated self-management systems with extra capabilities such as professional assistance services and online support communities.

Study on the effects of several operational variables on the enzymatic batch saccharification of orange solid waste.

In this work, batch enzyme-aided extraction and enzymatic saccharification of blade-milled orange waste was studied. The operation variables for this process were thoroughly analysed. It was determined that batch runs with initial pH values of 5.0 and 5.2 controlled during the first hour, 50°C and 300-500r.p.m. agitation resulted in the best yields, with a limited total and partial first-order enzyme deactivation (for cellulases and polygalacturonidase, respectively). Orange peel waste (OPW) at 6.7% w/w dry solid, 0.22 filter paper units (FPU)/g DS and proportional activities of other enzymes led to over 40g/L free monosaccharides and global yields to glucose over 80%. When using 10.1% w/w DS in these conditions, glucose yield was 63%, with total monosaccharide concentration on top of 50g/L. Similar concentrations were obtained by additional partial drying of OPW to 60% humidity at DS/L ratios near 7.5% (glucose yield >80%).

Mobile Apps for Suicide Prevention: Review of Virtual Stores and Literature.

BACKGROUND: The best manner to prevent suicide is to recognize suicidal signs and signals, and know how to respond to them. OBJECTIVE: We aim to study the existing mobile apps for suicide prevention in the literature and the most commonly used virtual stores. METHODS: Two reviews were carried out. The first was done by searching the most commonly used commercial app stores, which are iTunes and Google Play. The second was a review of mobile health (mHealth) apps in published articles within the last 10 years in the following 7 scientific databases: Science Direct, Medline, PsycINFO, Embase, The Cochrane Library, IEEE Xplore, and Google Scholar. RESULTS: A total of 124 apps related to suicide were found in the cited virtual stores but only 20 apps were specifically designed for suicide prevention. All apps were free and most were designed for Android. Furthermore, 6 relevant papers were found in the indicated scientific databases; in these studies, some real experiences with physicians, caregivers, and families were described. The importance of these people in suicide prevention was indicated. CONCLUSIONS: The number of apps regarding suicide prevention is small, and there was little information available from literature searches, indicating that technology-based suicide prevention remains understudied. Many of the apps provided no interactive features. It is important to verify the accuracy of the results of different apps that are available on iOS and Android. The confidence generated by these apps can benefit end users, either by improving their health monitoring or simply to verify their body condition.

Advances and current state of the security and privacy in electronic health records: survey from a social perspective.

E-Health systems are experiencing an impulse in these last years, when many medical agencies began to include digital solutions into their platforms. Electronic Health Records (EHRs) are one of the most important improvements, being in its most part a patient-oriented tool. To achieve a completely operational EHR platform, security and privacy problems have to be resolved, due to the importance of the data included within these records. But given all the different methods to address security and privacy, they still remain in most cases as an open issue. This paper studies existing and proposed solutions included in different scenarios, in order to offer an overview of the current state in EHR systems. Bibliographic material has been obtained mainly from MEDLINE and SCOPUS sources, and over 30 publications have been analyzed. Many EHR platforms are being developed, but most of them present weaknesses when they are opened to the public. These architectures gain significance when they cover all the requisites related to security and privacy.

Analysis of the EHR systems in Spanish Primary Public Health System: the lack of interoperability.

This paper presents the impact of the Electronic Health Records (EHRs) systems jointly in the Spanish Primary Public Health System. Different EHRs that exist in each of the Spanish regions are discussed. Moreover, other purpose of this analysis is to identify the current state of knowledge about health information systems adoption in primary care in Spain. For the analysis and study of EHRs systems in Spain we have relied on the use of different sources, mostly items related to the study of EHRs systems in different areas. We will analyze some technical aspects of these and some of their major implications, both positive and negative. Moreover, we have resorted to make direct contact with the organizations that have implemented the EHRs systems. The result of this study leads to a main idea, the need for interoperability between different systems. We will delve into how we have reached this conclusion and that is the key to EHRs systems homogenization of Spanish territory. EHR systems used in different regions of Spain offer the access to medical information as well as provide a clinical analysis of each patient more quickly. The adoption of health information systems is seen world wide as one method to mitigate the widening health care demand and supply gap.

A telematic tool to predict the risk of colorectal cancer in white men and women: ColoRectal Cancer Alert (CRCA).

Colorectal cancer is an important disease because of its severity and also since it affects much of the population. Nothing helps patients and doctors to determine the risk of suffering from colorectal cancer during their lives, except for medical tests such as the colonoscopy. There have been several studies and research to try to estimate the relative risks of colorectal cancer based on various factors and the applications to calculate the risk of this cancer, but these are not within everyone's research. This project offers a multilingual Web tool, called ColoRectal Cancer Alert (CRCA), to calculate the risk of colorectal cancer for life in men and women of white race. With this application, doctors can carry out research in a few minutes to explore this risk when they are seeing a patient. The platform is designed in such a way that anyone can use it. It is easy to use and intuitive. We should keep in mind that this tool does not replace diagnostic tests such as the colonoscopy or the sigmoidoscopy. It is designed so that users with the assistance of their doctor know the risk and act accordingly (for example, having more checkups on the disease in case of high risk). To access the tool a computer with Internet connection will be required. Currently, 250 users of white race under the supervision of a specialist have completed the questionnaire.

Breast alert: an on-line tool for predicting the lifetime risk of women breast cancer.

Breast Cancer is an important disease that affects many women, excluding self-examination and screening by mammogram, nothing helps women or their physicians to know what risk they run of suffering from breast cancer during the course of their lives. There have been many studies detailing the relative risks of breast cancer based on different factors and applications to calculate the breast cancer risk, but none implemented in a way to show lifetime risk. This paper presents an on-line tool (called Breast Alert) to calculate the lifetime breast cancer risk for women using a proposed model. With Breast Alert, physicians can make a quick screening for women when they consult. It is easy to use and intuitive. In a few minutes, physicians can have a lifetime breast cancer risk. This tool does not replace tests like self-examination, breast screening or detection by other options, but allows for the proper precautions to be taken and calls attention to the expected lifetime risk. Nowadays, 300 women (between 20 and 75 years old) from different countries have used the system and most of them (80%) have a higher than normal chance of contracting breast cancer. With these results, it is important to alert of the importance to make an early prevention of breast cancer in different women groups.

Performance evaluation of a web-based system to exchange Electronic Health Records using Queueing model (M/M/1).

Response time measurement of a web-based system is essential to evaluate its performance. This paper shows a comparison of the response times of a Web-based system for Ophthalmologic Electronic Health Records (EHRs), TeleOftalWeb. It makes use of different database models like Oracle 10 g, dbXML 2.0, Xindice 1.2, and eXist 1.1.1. The system's modelling, which uses Tandem Queue networks, will allow us to estimate the service times of the different components of the system (CPU, network and databases). In order to calculate those times, associated to the different databases, benchmarking techniques are used. The final objective of the comparison is to choose the database system resulting in the lowest response time to TeleOftalWeb and to compare the obtained results using a new benchmarking.

Choosing the most efficient database for a web-based system to store and exchange ophthalmologic health records.

Response times are a critically important parameter when implementing any telematics application. Hence, it is important to evaluate those times to check the performance of the system. Different database will get different response times. This paper presents a response time comparative analysis of the Web system of Electronic Health Record (EHRs), TeleOftalWeb, with the four databases used: Oracle 10 g, dbXML 2.0, Xindice 1.2, and eXist 1.1.1. Final goal of the comparison is choosing the database providing lower response times in TeleOftalWeb. Results obtained using the four databases proposed give the native XML database eXist an edge which, added to other features such as being a free software and easy to set up, makes us opting for it. TeleOftalWeb is being used by 20 specialists from the Institute of Applied Ophthalmobiology (Instituto de Oftalmobiología Aplicada, IOBA) of the University of Valladolid, Spain. At this time, there are more than 1000 EHRs and over 2000 fundus photographs of diabetic patients stored in the system.