ABSTRACT
Dynamic light regimes strongly impact microalgal photosynthesis efficiency. Finding the optimal way to supply light is then a tricky problem, especially when the growth rate is inhibited by overexposition to light and, at the same time, there is a lack of light in the deepest part of the culture. In this paper, we use the Han model to study the theoretical microalgal growth rate by applying periodically two different light intensities. Two approaches are considered depending on the period of the light pattern. For a large light period, we demonstrate that the average photosynthetic rate can be improved under some conditions. Moreover, we can also enhance the growth rate at steady state as given by the PI-curve. Although, these conditions change through the depth of a bioreactor. This theoretical improvement in the range of 10-15% is due to a recovery of photoinhibited cells during the high irradiance phase. We give a minimal value of the duty cycle for which the optimal irradiance is perceived by the algae culture under flashing light regime.
Subject(s)
Microalgae , Photosynthesis , Bioreactors , BiomassABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Right ventricular (RV) dysfunction in patients with non-ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy (NICM) is associated with cardiovascular events. To analyze the feasibility of assessing RV myocardial deformation by feature tracking (FT)-cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR), and its usefulness as a prognostic marker. METHODS: Retrospective study of NICM patients undergoing CMR. Longitudinal FT-RV free wall (LFT-RVFW) and fractional area change (FAC) were obtained. Correlation with standard RV parameters was studied. An association with combined event (heart failure (HF), ICD implantation or cardiovascular death) was assessed using a logistic regression model. RESULTS: 98 patients (64 ± 13 years) were included. Left ventricular (LV) systolic function (LVEF 29.5 ± 9.6%, 47% with LVEF ≥ 30%) and RV (RVEF 52.2 ± 14.6%, 72% with RVEF ≥ 45%). Follow-up of 38 ± 17 months, 26.5% presented at least one admission for HF. An excellent correlation of LFT-RVFW (r = 0.82) and FAC (r = 0.83) with RVEF was evident. No association of RV-FT parameters with prognosis entire study population was found. However, in patients with LVEF ≥ 30%, admissions for HF were associated with lower LFT-RVFW (-21.6 ± 6.6% vs -31.3 ± 10%; p = 0.006) and FAC (36.6 ± 9.6% vs 50.5 ± 13.4%; p < 0.001) values. Similar differences were observed when only patients with RVEF ≥ 45% were considered. An LFT-RVFW cut-off point of -19.5% and FAC of 36.5% showed good prognostic performance. Decreased LFT-RVFW or FAC represented an independent predictor of combined event in patients with LVEF ≥ 30%. CONCLUSIONS: In NICM patients without severe LV dysfunction, decreased values of LFT-RVFW and/or FAC were associated with HF admissions, independently of RVEF.
Subject(s)
Cardiomyopathy, Dilated , Heart Failure , Ventricular Dysfunction, Right , Humans , Retrospective Studies , Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Cine , Ventricular Dysfunction, Right/diagnostic imaging , Ventricular Dysfunction, Right/etiology , Cardiomyopathy, Dilated/diagnostic imaging , Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy , Ventricular Function, Right , Stroke VolumeABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Successful emotion regulation (ER) is critical for psychological health. Disturbances in this ability are associated with several psychiatric disorders. There are several self-report questionnaires to assess ER. However, there are no studies synthesising the evidence on their psychometric properties. We aim to identify all available instruments addressing ER in adolescents or adults and to critically appraise, compare and summarise the quality of their psychometric properties. For this, we will use COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments (COSMIN) criteria. METHOD AND ANALYSIS: The search process to identify eligible studies will be conducted in April 2021 including the ProQuest, PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science databases with no restriction in terms of publication date. Eligibility criteria include peer-reviewed research articles written in English or Spanish by means of patient-reported outcome measures focused on ER among participants of 13 years or older. We will assess the quality of measures according to the COSMIN Risk of Bias Checklist. The psychometric properties will be assessed by the COSMIN updated criteria for good measurement. The available evidence will be addressed by the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluations approach. Our findings will be synthesised independently for each measure, including information on their sample, theoretical model and psychometric properties when possible. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethical approval is not required, as this study does not involve any participants or collection of primary data. Results are expected to be published in a peer-reviewed journal in the field of youth mental health and presented at relevant meetings and conferences. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42021249498.
Subject(s)
Emotional Regulation , Adolescent , Adult , Humans , Patient Reported Outcome Measures , Psychometrics , Self Report , Surveys and QuestionnairesABSTRACT
The aim of this work was to evaluate the technologies effect of cold extraction by centrifugation (CE) and ultrasound-assisted (US-CE) methods without adding water, on the avocado oil yield, nutritional composition, physicochemical characteristics, oxidative stability (oxidation temperature and time, besides activation energy) and accelerated shelf life regarding hexane extraction (control). The US-CE improved the physicochemical properties such as acidity, peroxides, and iodine indexes regarding CE and Control. US-CE improved the yield, nutritional quality of fatty acids, oxidative stability, shelf life, and ω-6/ω-3 ratio regarding CE. Furthermore, US-CE improved the ratio yield/time extraction of the oil and increased the oxidation temperature regarding control. The main advantage of oils extracted using CE and US-CE concerning control was higher oxidative stability. The most representative polyunsaturated fatty acids identified in all treatments were γ-linolenic and conjugated α-linolenic acids. α-linolenic acid was only detected in US-CE and control. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10068-021-00940-w.
ABSTRACT
We report on a patient who presented to the ear, nose, and throat (ENT) clinic with an 8-month-old left non-pulsatile tinnitus. Imaging studies, Neck computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed soft tissue mass in the left middle ear with invasion to the middle cranial fossa and external auditory canal.
ABSTRACT
Varón de 57 años con antecedente de infarto de miocardio anterior. En una tomografía axial computarizada (TAC) cardíaca realizada 3 años más tarde, se objetiva una imagen hipodensa en el ápex del ventrículo izquierdo. Ante la sospecha de trombo, se completa el estudio mediante resonancia magnética cardíaca (RMC) con gadolinio, ecocardiografía transtorácica (ETT) 2D con ecopotenciador y ETT tridimensional. A través de la imagen multimodalidad se comprueba la ausencia de trombo
Cardiac computed tomography showed a hypodense area in the apex of the left ventricle in a 57-year-old man with a history of anterior myocardial infarction three years earlier. To confirm or rule out a suspected thrombus, he underwent gadolinium-enhanced cardiac magnetic resonance imaging, contrast-enhanced two-dimensional transthoracic echocardiography, and three-dimensional transthoracic echocardiography. Multimodality imaging ruled out the presence of a thrombus
Subject(s)
Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Thrombosis/diagnostic imaging , Multimodal Imaging/methods , Tomography, X-Ray Computed/methods , Heart Diseases/diagnostic imaging , Thrombosis/physiopathology , Image Processing, Computer-Assisted , Gadolinium/administration & dosage , Echocardiography/instrumentationABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: A better understanding of the specific contribution of risk factors to suicidal behavior could arise from analyzing suicidal ideation (SI) in clinical samples, and comparing single versus multiple suicide attempters through contemporary methods allowing complex and dynamical analyses of multiple and simultaneously interacting suicide risk factors. METHOD: We explored associations among suicidal ideation (SI), affect lability and other suicide risk factors in 323 suicidal attempters diagnosed with major depressive disorder (MDD). We analyzed the network structure and centrality of the total sample, and compared single versus multiple attempters and subjects with low and high suicidal ideation. RESULTS: SI was connected with anxiety (trait) and hopelessness. Central nodes for global and specific groups were affect lability (from anxiety to depression), anxiety as a trait, and harm avoidance. We observed some specific differences between clinical profiles of repeaters and non-repeaters and significant network density between high and low SI. LIMITATIONS: Because our cross-sectional design, we cannot establish casual relationships among variables. We only examined associations at group level but not at single subject level. CONCLUSIONS: Affect lability (mainly the shifts from anxiety to depression) and trait anxiety were central in each estimated network. These symptoms might be suitable targets for early detecting and treating suicidal patients.
Subject(s)
Depressive Disorder, Major , Anxiety Disorders , Cross-Sectional Studies , Humans , Risk Factors , Suicidal Ideation , Suicide, AttemptedABSTRACT
No disponible
Subject(s)
Humans , Male , Adult , Endomyocardial Fibrosis/diagnostic imaging , Multimodal Imaging/methods , Echocardiography , Magnetic Resonance ImagingABSTRACT
Colorful fruits conveying astringent beverages providing well documented health-benefits may present clarification, turbidity and sedimentation problems. Hydraulic pressing whole 'Wonderful' pomegranates and ultrafiltration followed by high temperature short-time pasteurization was used to mimic the dominant U.S. commercial juicing protocol, delivering not-from-concentrate juices, stored at 4 and 25 °C for 3 months. A goal was to avoid expensive and complicated clarification and fining steps. Data were subjected to an analysis of variance and principal components analysis. Changes in quality attributes, organic acids and anthocyanidins are presented. Hydraulic pressing, ultrafiltration and initial pasteurization had minor effects on color parameters, organic acids and anthocyanidins. There were no significant temperature, time or factorial effects for all color parameters during storage of the not-from-concentrate pasteurized juices. However, there were significant time- and temperature-effect decreases in organic acids and anthocyanidins. This is the first report on quality attributes in ultrafiltered, pasteurized and stored not-from-concentrate 'Wonderful' pomegranate juice.
Subject(s)
Food Quality , Food-Processing Industry/methods , Fruit and Vegetable Juices , Pomegranate , Anthocyanins/analysis , Color , Food Storage , Fruit and Vegetable Juices/analysis , Hydrogen-Ion Concentration , PasteurizationABSTRACT
Cardiac computed tomography showed a hypodense area in the apex of the left ventricle in a 57-year-old man with a history of anterior myocardial infarction three years earlier. To confirm or rule out a suspected thrombus, he underwent gadolinium-enhanced cardiac magnetic resonance imaging, contrast-enhanced two-dimensional transthoracic echocardiography, and three-dimensional transthoracic echocardiography. Multimodality imaging ruled out the presence of a thrombus.
Subject(s)
Anterior Wall Myocardial Infarction/diagnostic imaging , Heart Diseases/diagnostic imaging , Heart Ventricles , Thrombosis/diagnostic imaging , Echocardiography , Humans , Magnetic Resonance Imaging , Male , Middle Aged , Multimodal Imaging , Tomography, X-Ray ComputedABSTRACT
La transposición congénitamente corregida de grandes arterias (TGAcc) implica una doble discordancia: atrio-ventricular y ventriculo-arterial. Presentamos las imágenes de resonancia magnética cardíaca de una paciente de 9 años con TGAcc, comunicación interventricular y coartación de aorta, a quien se le realizó cerclaje pulmonar, corrección de la coartación y posterior "doble switch". Se realiza una revisión de la patología y de las complicaciones a evaluar tras la intervención quirúrgica
Congenitally corrected transposition of the great vessels implies double discordance: atrioventricular and ventriculoarterial. We present cardiac magnetic resonance images from a 9-year-old girl with congenitally corrected transposition of the great vessels, interventricular communication, and coarctation of the aorta who was treated with pulmonary artery banding, correction of coarctation, and posterior double switch. We also review the disease and the complications that should be evaluated after the surgical intervention
Subject(s)
Humans , Female , Child , Transposition of Great Vessels/diagnostic imaging , Arterial Switch Operation/methods , Aortic Coarctation/diagnostic imaging , Transposition of Great Vessels/surgery , Aortic Coarctation/surgery , Treatment OutcomeABSTRACT
The presence of porcine astroviruses in diarrheic and healthy pigs has been reported, however, the consequences of the astrovirus infection during the weaning process have not been described. In this study, eight healthy conventional newly-weaned piglets were used to evaluate effects of astrovirus infection during the first five days. Four piglets were infected with the porcine astrovirus PoAstV/PUJP5 strain and the other four represented the control group. Body weight, rectal temperature, diarrhea and other clinical signs were monitored every 24 hours. The results showed that all animals gained body weight, the occurrence of mild diarrhea on the 3rd day post-infection, and the astroviral presence in diarrheic samples. On the 5th day post-infection all the piglets were euthanized and then intestinal and extra-intestinal tissues were analyzed for the presence of PoAstV/PUJP5. The cytoplasmic antigen of PoAstV/PUJP5 was observed in the enterocytes of infected piglets from jejunum, ileum, colon and in inflammatory cells from mesenteric lymph nodes. In addition, villi atrophy, fusion, epithelial hyperplasia and incipient virus detection in mesenteric lymph were observed. RNAemia could not be proved. This study shows for the first time the effects of porcine astrovirus infection on conventional newly-weaning piglets. Keywords: porcine astrovirus; newly-weaned piglets.
Subject(s)
Adenoviruses, Porcine , Astroviridae Infections , Swine Diseases , Animals , Astroviridae Infections/pathology , Astroviridae Infections/veterinary , Swine , Swine Diseases/pathology , WeaningABSTRACT
Congenitally corrected transposition of the great vessels implies double discordance: atrioventricular and ventriculoarterial. We present cardiac magnetic resonance images from a 9-year-old girl with congenitally corrected transposition of the great vessels, interventricular communication, and coarctation of the aorta who was treated with pulmonary artery banding, correction of coarctation, and posterior double switch. We also review the disease and the complications that should be evaluated after the surgical intervention.
Subject(s)
Congenitally Corrected Transposition of the Great Arteries/diagnostic imaging , Magnetic Resonance Imaging , Aortic Coarctation/diagnostic imaging , Aortic Coarctation/surgery , Arterial Switch Operation/methods , Child , Congenitally Corrected Transposition of the Great Arteries/surgery , Female , Heart Septal Defects, Ventricular/diagnostic imaging , Heart Septal Defects, Ventricular/surgery , HumansABSTRACT
We report a patient who presented with swelling to the left submandibular region. Imaging studies revealed an expansive heterogeneous process. The patient underwent tumor resection and a biopsy confirmed the presence of a salivary duct carcinoma. Additional treatment included chemotherapy and the patient is currently receiving palliative and supportive care for advanced metastatic disease.
ABSTRACT
Malleus fracture is a rare condition. Usually, the handle of the malleus is involved, and we do not find reports in the literature of this condition in the bilateral presentation. It is present as sudden conductive hearing loss commonly after digital manipulation of the external auditory canal. The diagnosis is based principally on clinical examination by otomicroscopy and audiometry. Cone-beam computed tomography emerging as a powerful tool in the field of otolaryngology, especially for explorations of paranasal sinuses and temporal bone, due to imaging with a high resolution and few artifacts with lower dose radiation in comparison with multislice computed tomography.
ABSTRACT
No disponible
Subject(s)
Humans , Female , Aged , Thromboembolism/diagnostic imaging , Anticoagulants/therapeutic use , Aortic Aneurysm, Abdominal/diagnostic imaging , Hypertrophy, Left Ventricular/physiopathology , Thrombectomy , Risk FactorsABSTRACT
A procedure to quantitatively analyse the relationship between the wetting layer (WL) and the quantum dots (QDs) as a whole in a statistical way is proposed. As we will show in the manuscript, it allows determining, not only the proportion of deposited InAs held in the WL, but also the average In content inside the QDs. First, the amount of InAs deposited is measured for calibration in three different WL structures without QDs by two methodologies: strain mappings in high-resolution transmission electron microscopy images and compositional mappings with ChemiSTEM x-ray energy spectrometry. The area under the average profiles obtained by both methodologies emerges as the best parameter to quantify the amount of InAs in the WL, in agreement with high-resolution x-ray diffraction results. Second, the effect of three different GaAs capping layer (CL) growth rates on the decomposition of the QDs is evaluated. The CL growth rate has a strong influence on the QD volume as well as the WL characteristics. Slower CL growth rates produce an In enrichment of the WL if compared to faster ones, together with a diminution of the QD height. In addition, assuming that the QD density does not change with the different CL growth rates, an estimation of the average In content inside the QDs is given. The high Ga/In intermixing during the decomposition of buried QDs does not only trigger a reduction of the QD height, but above all, a higher impoverishment of the In content inside the QDs, therefore modifying the two most important parameters that determine the optical properties of these structures.
ABSTRACT
Multi-junction solar cells made by assembling semiconductor materials with different bandgap energies have hold the record conversion efficiencies for many years and are currently approaching 50%. Theoretical efficiency limits make use of optimum designs with the right lattice constant-bandgap energy combination, which requires a 1.0-1.15 eV material lattice-matched to GaAs/Ge. Nevertheless, the lack of suitable semiconductor materials is hindering the achievement of the predicted efficiencies, since the only candidates were up to now complex quaternary and quinary alloys with inherent epitaxial growth problems that degrade carrier dynamics. Here we show how the use of strain-balanced GaAsSb/GaAsN superlattices might solve this problem. We demonstrate that the spatial separation of Sb and N atoms avoids the ubiquitous growth problems and improves crystal quality. Moreover, these new structures allow for additional control of the effective bandgap through the period thickness and provide a type-II band alignment with long carrier lifetimes. All this leads to a strong enhancement of the external quantum efficiency under photovoltaic conditions with respect to bulk layers of equivalent thickness. Our results show that GaAsSb/GaAsN superlattices with short periods are the ideal (pseudo)material to be integrated in new GaAs/Ge-based multi-junction solar cells that could approach the theoretical efficiency limit.