An international breeding project using a wild potato relative Solanum commersonii resulted in two new frost-tolerant native potato cultivars for the Andes and the Altiplano.

This breeding project, initiated at the United States Potato Genebank (USPG) in collaboration with Peruvian partners Instituto Nacional de Innovacion Agraria (INIA), International Potato Center, Peru (CIP), and local farmers, sought to enhance cold hardiness and frost tolerance in native potato cultivars in Peru. The Andes and Altiplano are often affected by frost, which causes significant reduction in yield; creating varieties with superior resilience is a critical undertaking. The goal was to transfer outstanding non-acclimated cold tolerance and acclimation capacity found in wild potato species Solanum commersonii (cmm). Breeding families segregating for cold hardiness were created using (a) a somatic hybrid cmm + haploid Solanum tuberosum (tbr) (cv. Superior, US variety from Wisconsin) as male and (b) seven cultivars native to Peru of the species S. tuberosum sbsp. andigenum (adg) as females. All plant materials were part of the USPG germplasm collection. Sexual seeds of each family were sent to Peru for evaluations under the natural conditions of the Andean highlands and Altiplano. The plants were assessed for their response to frost, and genotypes showing exceptional tolerance were selected. Plants were also evaluated for good tuber traits and yield. Initial planting involving ~2,500 seedlings in five locations resulted in selecting 58 genotypes with exceptional frost tolerance, good recovery capacity after frost, and good tuber traits. Over the years, evaluations continued and were expanded to replicated field trials in the harsher conditions of the Altiplano (Puno). All trials confirmed consistency of frost tolerance over time and location, tuber quality, and yield. After 8 years, two advanced clones were considered for cultivar release because of their exceptional frost tolerance and superior field productivity that outyielded many of the established cultivars in the region. In November 2018, a new native cultivar named Wiñay, a Quechua word meaning "to grow" was released in Peru. In 2022, a second cultivar followed with the name Llapanchispaq (meaning "for all of us"). This project evidenced that a multinational and all-encompassing approach to deploy valuable genetic diversity can work and deliver effective results. This is even more significant when outcomes can promote food security and sustainability in very vulnerable regions of the world.

Corneal endothelium assessment in specular microscopy images with Fuchs' dystrophy via deep regression of signed distance maps.

Specular microscopy assessment of the human corneal endothelium (CE) in Fuchs' dystrophy is challenging due to the presence of dark image regions called guttae. This paper proposes a UNet-based segmentation approach that requires minimal post-processing and achieves reliable CE morphometric assessment and guttae identification across all degrees of Fuchs' dystrophy. We cast the segmentation problem as a regression task of the cell and gutta signed distance maps instead of a pixel-level classification task as typically done with UNets. Compared to the conventional UNet classification approach, the distance-map regression approach converges faster in clinically relevant parameters. It also produces morphometric parameters that agree with the manually-segmented ground-truth data, namely the average cell density difference of -41.9 cells/mm2 (95% confidence interval (CI) [-306.2, 222.5]) and the average difference of mean cell area of 14.8 µm 2 (95% CI [-41.9, 71.5]). These results suggest a promising alternative for CE assessment.

Actividad de adiestramiento en cardioversión eléctrica en la unidad de electrocardiología del CCR-ASCARDIO / Training program on electrical cardioversion at the electrocardiology unit of the CCR-ASCARDIO

Las enfermedades cardiovasculares son una de las principales causas de mortalidad siendo los trastornos del ritmo cardiaco una de las patologías cardiacas más frecuentes. La cardioversión eléctrica es una técnica a través de la cual se realiza una transferencia de electrones al miocardio con la finalidad de interrumpir arritmias con mecanismos de reentrada permitiendo al nodo sinusal retomar el control de la frecuencia cardiaca. La correcta selección de los casos susceptibles de cardioversión eléctrica y experiencia en cardioversión aumenta la tasa de éxito y disminuye el número de choques fallidos. En el CCR- ASCARDIO, la Unidad de Electrocardiología cuenta con experiencia en el estudio y tratamiento de arritmias. En este artículo se presenta la elaboración de un programa de adiestramiento en la técnica de cardioversión eléctrica siendo esta terapia una herramienta imprescindible para la práctica clínica del cardiólogo, facilitando la prevención de complicaciones derivadas de los trastornos del ritmo cardiaco(AU)

Cardiovascular diseases are one of the main causes of mortality worldwide being heart rhythm disorders one of the most frequent cardiac pathologies. Electrical cardioversion is a technique that allows the transfer of electrons to the myocardium in order to interrupt arrhythmias with reentry mechanisms allowing the sinus node to take control of heart rate. The appropriate selection of cases susceptible to electrical cardioversion as well as experience on this technique increases the success rate and decreases the number of failed attempts. The Electrocardiology unit of the CCR-ASCARDIO has experience in the study and treatment of arrhythmias. In this article we present the development of a training program on electrical cardioversion, essential tool for cardiologists, with the aim to increase the correct use of this technique in order to prevent complications due to heart rhythm disorders(AU)

Robust automated reading of the skin prick test via 3D imaging and parametric surface fitting.

The conventional reading of the skin prick test (SPT) for diagnosing allergies is prone to inter- and intra-observer variations. Drawing the contours of the skin wheals from the SPT and scanning them for computer processing is cumbersome. However, 3D scanning technology promises the best results in terms of accuracy, fast acquisition, and processing. In this work, we present a wide-field 3D imaging system for the 3D reconstruction of the SPT, and we propose an automated method for the measurement of the skin wheals. The automated measurement is based on pyramidal decomposition and parametric 3D surface fitting for estimating the sizes of the wheals directly. We proposed two parametric models for the diameter estimation. Model 1 is based on an inverted Elliptical Paraboloid function, and model 2 on a super-Gaussian function. The accuracy of the 3D imaging system was evaluated with validation objects obtaining transversal and depth accuracies within ± 0.1 mm and ± 0.01 mm, respectively. We tested the method on 80 SPTs conducted in volunteer subjects, which resulted in 61 detected wheals. We analyzed the accuracy of the models against manual reference measurements from a physician and obtained that the parametric model 2 on average yields diameters closer to the reference measurements (model 1: -0.398 mm vs. model 2: -0.339 mm) with narrower 95% limits of agreement (model 1: [-1.58, 0.78] mm vs. model 2: [-1.39, 0.71] mm) in a Bland-Altman analysis. In one subject, we tested the reproducibility of the method by registering the forearm under five different poses obtaining a maximum coefficient of variation of 5.24% in the estimated wheal diameters. The proposed method delivers accurate and reproducible measurements of the SPT.

Improvement in Serum Anti-Müllerian Hormone Levels in Infertile Patients after Hyperbaric Oxygen (preliminary results).

OBJECTIVE: To assess whether hyperbaric oxygen sessions elevate serum levels of anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) in patients diagnosed with infertility with serum levels of less than or equal to 1 ng/dl AMH. METHODS: A study was performed on 4 patients diagnosed with infertility. Serum AMH level was measured at the beginning and end of hyperbaric oxygen sessions, and endometrial thickness was measured on endometrial cycle day 14 before and during the hyperbaric oxygen sessions. RESULTS: In two of the four patients, the serum AMH level increased by 40% and 116%. In one patient the serum AMH level was not elevated, with a serum AMH level before and after treatment of 0.1 ng/dl. The fourth patient became pregnant during the hyperbaric oxygen sessions. Endometrial thickness was not improved in any of our patients. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that hyperbaric oxygen sessions can increase serum AMH levels, with a significant increase of 116% in one case. Therefore, this therapy can be used as an alternative treatment for patients with serum AMH levels of less than or equal to 1 ng/dl and a limited number of eggs for IVF cycles but not for patients with serum AMH levels of less than or equal to 0.1 ng/dl, as we did not observe an increase in serum AMH level in patients with an initial AMH level of 0.1 ng/dl. This study did not demonstrate improvement in endometrial growth following hyperbaric oxygen sessions.

Aplicación y evaluación de materiales educativos para la prevención del dengue en una institución educativa de Medellín, Colombia / Application and evaluation of educational materials for dengue prevention in an educative institution of Medellin, Colombia

Introducción: ante la ausencia de una vacuna eficaz para prevenir del dengue, se hace necesario implementar estrategias educativas para el control del vector.Objetivo: evaluar la eficacia de la aplicación de materiales educativos como medio de enseñanzapara el aprendizaje de conocimientos acerca del dengue.Métodos: se efectuó un estudio cuasi experimental antes y después. La población de estudio estuvoconformada por 66 niños de una institución educativa de Medellín. La selección de la escuela y de la población de estudio fue realizada por conveniencia. Las intervenciones educativas consistieron en la observación del video “El invitado mortal”, y el desarrollo de un juegode “parqués sobre dengue”. Antes y después del video y del juego, fue aplicada una encuesta de conocimientos y prácticas acerca de dengue.Resultados: se pudo observar, después de la intervención,un aumento estadísticamente significativo en el conocimiento de los escolares en las siguientes variablesrelacionadas con los síntomas: fiebre (56,1 % vs. 95,4 %,p < 0,001), cefalea (6,1 % vs. 27,7 %, p = 0,003) y mialgias (12,1 % vs. 61,5 %, p < 0,001); con elmodo de transmisión a través de “picadura de mosquitos”(68,2 % vs. 95,4 %, p < 0,001) y con la medida de prevención “eliminación de criaderos”, (65,2 % vs.86,2 %, p = 0,015). Fue evidente, incluso antes de laintervención, que el manejo de la enfermedad debe hacerseen las instituciones de salud (90,0 % vs. 100 %, p < 0,001). Más del 95 % de los estudiantes manifestaronaceptación del video y del juego.Conclusiones: estos resultados sugieren que el juego, como medio educativo es una importante herramienta enla comprensión de conceptos, además de ser una actividadparticipativa y satisfactoria, por lo tanto deben ser utilizados en los programas de prevención y control deenfermedades.

Introduction: In the absence of an effective vaccineto prevent dengue, it is necessary to implement educational strategies for vector control.Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of using educative materials for instruction and learning about dengue.Methods: A quasi experimental pre/post design was performed. The study population was 66 children of an educational institution in Medellin.The selection of the school and the studypopulation was for convenience. The educational strategies consisted of watching the video game “El Invitado mortal”, and develop a “Juego de parqués sobre dengue”. The data collection before and after intervention included knowledge andpractice tests for schoolchildren.Results: It was observed after the intervention, an statistically significant increase in knowledgeof the students in the following variables related to symptoms of fever (56.1% vs. 95.4 % p <0.001), headache (6.1 % vs. 27.7 %, p < 0.003) and myalgia (12.1 % vs. 61.5 %, p < 0.001), modeof transmission (68.2 % vs. 95.4 %, p = 0.001)and the preventive measure “elimination of breedingsites” (65. 2 % vs. 86.2 %, p = 0.015). It was obvious even before the intervention, the diseasemanagement should be in health institutions (90.0 % vs. 100 %, p < 0.001). Over 95 % of studentsreported acceptance of video and game.Conclusions: These results suggest that the game as an educational medium is an important tool in understanding the concepts, besides beinga participatory activity and satisfactory. Therefore could be used in prevention and control programs.

Marcadores serológicos de hepatítis viral en personal hospitalario / Serological markers of viral hepatitis in hospital personnel

Se hizo lla determinación de marcadores virales A y B en 309 trabajadores del HMC laborando en areas con alto potencial infectante por dichos agentes. Se investigó la presencia de Anticuerpo A (Anti-HA), Antígeno superficial B (HBsAG), Anticuerpo central B (Anti-HBc) y Anticuerpo superficial B (Anti-HBs), en el suero de 131 individuos del sexo masculino y 178 del del feminino comprenditos en el estudio. El personal trabajando en areas de alto riesgo, presenta incidencia alta de positividad para los marcadores estudiados. Se comprobó la existencia de algún marcador B en 67 sujetos (21.6%). 58 fueron positivos para el Anti-HBc (18.7%) y 5 para el HBsAG (1.6%). El Anti-HBs se detectó en 53 personas (16.8%), 43 de ellas también positivas para el Anti-HBc. Los grupos con más alta positividad de marcadores serológicos del virus B ocurrieron en los departamentos de Odontología, Laboratorio de Hematología y Cirugía. Se encontró mayor incidencia de marcadores B, HBsAG y/o Anti-HBc, en el sexo masculino (26.7%) que en femenino (15.9%). El Anti-HA se detectó en el 99% de los casos