Performance Analysis of a Vertical FSO Link with Energy Harvesting Strategy.

In this paper we investigate the application of free space optical (FSO) communications, energy harvesting, and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) as key technology enablers of a cost-efficient backhaul/fronthaul framework for 5G and beyond (5G+) networks. This novel approach is motivated by several facts. First, the UAVs, acting as relay nodes, represent an easy-to-deploy and adaptive network that can provide line-of-sight between the base stations and the gateways connected to the core network. Second, FSO communications offer high data rates between the UAVs and the network nodes, while avoiding any potential interference with the 5G radio access networks. Third, energy harvesting in the optical domain has the potential to extend the UAVs' battery life. Nevertheless, the presence of atmospheric turbulence, atmospheric attenuation, and pointing errors in the FSO links severely degrades their performance. For this reason an accurate yet tractable modelling framework is required to fully understand whether an UAV-FSO backhaul/fronthaul network with energy harvesting can be applied. To this end, we consider a composite channel attenuation model that includes the effect of turbulence fading, pointing errors, and atmospheric attenuation. Using this model, we derive analytical closed-form expressions of the average harvested energy as a function of the FSO link parameters. These expressions can be used to improve energy harvesting efficiency in FSO link design. We have applied our proposed expressions to evaluate the energy harvested in vertical FSO links for a variety of real scenarios under a modified on-off keying (OOK) scheme optimized for energy harvesting. From the simulations carried out in this paper, we demonstrate that significant values of harvested energy can be obtained. Such performance enhancement can complement the existing deployment charging stations.

Cooperative Terrestrial-Underwater Wireless Optical Links by Using an Amplify-and-Forward Strategy.

In this paper, we analyze a combined terrestrial-underwater optical communication link for providing high-speed optical connectivity between onshore and submerge systems. For this purpose, different transmission signaling schemes were employed to obtain performance results in terms of average bit error rate (ABER). In this sense, from the starting point of a known conditional bit-error-rate (CBER) in the absence of turbulence, the behavior of the entire system is obtained by applying an amplify-and-forward (AF) based dual-hop system: The first link is a terrestrial free-space optical (FSO) system assuming a Málaga distributed turbulence and, the second one, is an underwater FSO system with a Weibull channel model. To obtain performance results, a semi-analytical simulation procedure is applied, using a hyper-exponential fitting technique previously proposed by the authors and leading to BER closed-form expressions and high-accuracy numerical results.

Influenza and Pneumococcal Vaccination in Non-Infected Cardiometabolic Patients from the Americas during the COVID-19 Pandemic. A Sub-Analysis of the CorCOVID-LATAM Study.

BACKGROUND: Influenza vaccination (IV) and Pneumococcus vaccination (PV) are recommended for patients with cardiometabolic diseases. This study aimed to evaluate the immunization rate of ambulatory cardiometabolic patients during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Americas. METHODS: Electronic surveys were collected from 13 Spanish speaking countries between 15 June and 15 July 2020. RESULTS: 4216 patients were analyzed. Mean age 60 (±15) years and 49% females. Global IV rate was 46.5% and PV 24.6%. Vaccinated patients were older (IV = 63 vs. 58 years; PV = 68 vs. 59, p < 0.01) but without gender difference. Vaccination rates were greater in higher-risk groups (65+, diabetics, heart failure), but not in coronary artery disease patients. In the Southern cone, the rate of IV and PV was approximately double that in the tropical regions of the Americas. In a multivariate model, geographic zone (IV = OR 2.02, PV = OR 2.42, p < 0.001), age (IV = OR 1.023, PV = OR 1.035, p < 0.001), and incomes (IV = OR 1.28, PV = OR 1.58, p < 0.001) were predictors for vaccination. CONCLUSIONS: During the COVID-19 pandemic, ambulatory patients with cardiometabolic diseases from the Americas with no evidence of COVID-19 infection had lower-than-expected rates of IV and PV. Geographic, social, and cultural differences were found, and they should be explored in depth.

Psychological Impact of the Pandemic on Ambulatory Cardiometabolic Patients Without Evidence of SARS-CoV-2 Infection. The CorCOVID Latam Psy Study.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic's mental health consequences remain unknown. AIM: To assess the mental health status of ambulatory cardiometabolic patients during COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in Spanish speaking Latin American countries. METHODS: Cardiometabolic patients without COVID-19 evidence in 13 Latin American countries answered a survey between June 15th and July 15th, 2020. The Diagnosis Manual of Mental Disorders fifth edition was used to identify the presence of major depressive symptoms. RESULTS: The sample included 4216 patients, 1590 (37.71%; IC95% 36.24-39.19) were considered suffering major depression. Female gender, consuming ≥5 medications day, physical activity <100 minutes weekly, low fruits and vegetables intake, poor treatment adherence, reduced food consumption were independently associated to the presence of major depressive symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: The CorCOVID Latam Psy study showed that one-third of the Latin American Spanish speaking population is suffering from major depressive symptoms during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Low intra-operative diagnostic accuracy does not affect postoperative treatment of acute appendicitis.

BACKGROUND: The intra-operative classification of appendicitis defines postoperative treatment. The correct designation can influence patient recovery, complications and hospital costs. Recent research has shown that intra-operative classification criteria varies among surgeons, and is not always the same as the pathologist's report. Classification accuracy can lower costs by preventing unnecessary treatment or sub-optimal interventions. METHODS: During a period of 4 months, N = 133 appendix specimens were received and evaluated by the pathology department of a single teaching hospital. Five surgeons extracted the specimens and one experienced pathologist drew the histopathology reports. A comparison between the surgeons' classifications and the pathologist's was made. Classification accuracy was determined and statistical analyses was performed using chi-square, and p values were obtained. A p < 0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: A total of N = 133 specimens were obtained, 127 belonged to patients following emergency surgery due to acute abdominal pain; the other six were from elective hemi-colectomies for right colonic adenocarcinomas, and were not included. Of the 127 specimens analyzed, 14 (11%) were negative, 21 (16.5%) were edematous, 81 (63.7%) were phlegmonous and 11 (8.6%) were gangrenous. A total of 18 (14%) perforated appendices were also reported. Surgical accuracy was 60.6% (N = 67) with a statistically significant p < 0.001. Only five patients with incorrect intraoperative classifications received unnecessary or lacked treatment. CONCLUSIONS: An overall accuracy of 60.6% is seen when the surgical classification is compared to the pathological classification. Although the surgeons' accuracy is low when comparing intra-operative versus histopathological classification, this variation in designation does not affect postoperative treatment significantly.

Metastasectomy of Abdominal Wall Lesions due to Prostate Cancer Detected Through PET/CT Gallium 68-PMSA: First Case Report.

Introducing the topic of abdominal wall metastasis secondary to prostate cancer with a reminder of the disease's rarity, being the first published case. This article is about a 66 year old patient diagnosed with prostate cancer [cT2aNxMx iPSA: 5,6 ng/ml Gleason 3+3, (Grade 1 Group)], treated with radical prostatectomy as well as accompanied with amplified pelvic lymphadenectomy, who subsequently presented metastatic lesions to the abdominal wall diagnosed with PET/CT Gallium 68-PMSA technique and treated with abdominal metastasectomy with adequate short term results.

Características demográficas y patológicas de los tumores del sistema nervioso central estudiados en la clínica El Bosque / Demographic and pathologic characteristics of the central nervous system tumors atended in clinica El Bosque - Bogotá

Objetivo. Los tumores del sistema nervioso central producen gran morbimortalidad en nuestra población. Por la escasez de datos epidemiológicos de estas lesiones en Colombia, se decidió revisar y estudiar la serie de tumores del sistema nervioso en uno de los centros de formación de residentes de neurocirugía. El objetivo de este trabajo fue conocer las características demográficas de los pacientes y la histopatología de los tumores cerebrales tratados en la Clínica El Bosque (Bogotá). Materiales y Métodos. Se revisaron los estudios patológicos de tumores del sistema nervioso central realizados en la Clínica del Bosque entre 1 de Agosto de1978 hasta 31 de Agosto del 2008. Resultado. Se encontraron 212 pacientes cuyos estudios patológicos cumplieron con los criterios de inclusión del estudio. El 58.5% de los pacientes pertenecieron al género femenino. Los gliomas fueron los tumores más frecuentes con 71 de los 212 casos estudiados. Conclusiones. En esta serie, los tumores del sistema nervioso central se presentaron más comúnmente en los adultos. Esta población se encontraba en la etapa más productiva de la vida. Esta serie es una de las primeras en evaluar los tumores del sistema nervioso central en Colombia.

Objectives. Tumors of the central nervous system are one of the pathologies with big mobility and mortality in the population. In Colombia there are only few studies that review the characteristics of these lesions. The objective of this research was to study the demographic and histopathological characteristics of patients with brain tumors who were treated in the Clinica el Bosque, Bogotá. Materials and methods. We reviewed the pathological studies of those patients with tumors of the central nervous system who were done in the Clinica el Bosque between August 1, 1978 and August 31, 2008. Results. 212 pathological studies were found from patients who accomplished the inclusion criteria. 58.5% of the patientswere female. Glioma was the most frequent tumor found in 71 cases of the 212. Conclusion. In these series, central nervous system tumors present mostly in adults, the most productive stage of life. These series of central nervous system tumors is one of the first studies that review epidemiological aspects in Colombia.

Establecimiento y caracterización de una línea celular derivada de un glioblastoma multiforme / Initiation and characterization of a glioblastoma multiforme derived cell line

Introducción: Las líneas celulares y los cultivos primarios son una excelente herramienta para el estudio de la biología, desarrollo y respuesta a la terapia en tumores cerebrales. Objetivo: Establecer y caracterizar una línea celular derivada de un glioblastoma multiforme como un modelo de estudio in vitro para la extrapolación y aplicación futura en terapia génica. Material y métodos: Se obtuvo una muestra de un paciente con diagnóstico clínico e histopatológico de glioblastoma multiforme, se caracterizó mediante inmunohistoquímica en cortes de tejido y por inmunocitoquímica sobre células cultivadas a partir del tumor desde el inicio del cultivo y durante los seis primeros pases, con dos tipos de marcadores específicos para glía: GFAP (glial fibrillary acidic protein) y S-100 (proteína de unión a calcio). Además, se evaluó la expresión de p53 y Bcl-2, como moduladores de apoptosis. Por último se hizo la caracterización citogenética. Resultados: Histopatológicamente, se confirmó el diagnóstico de glioblastoma multiforme. En los cultivos primarios se encontraron características citomorfológicas propias de un glioblastoma: células fibroblastoides planas, células con escaso citoplasma con 3 ó más procesos y por último bipolares o unipolares. Se encontró una expresión diferencial con los cuatro marcadores, con un patrón de marcaciones a nivel citoplasmático y nuclear a través de los pases estudiados. La línea celular se caracterizó por ser en su mayoría aneuploide con un número modal cromosómico entre 43 y 45, con un gran número de poliploidías (55-102 <4n>, XXYY) y endo-reduplicaciones (end 45, X, -Y). Conclusión: Se estableció una línea celular derivada de un glioblastoma multiforme con un fenotipo estable, con un notable mantenimiento del perfil glial y citogenético.

Introduction: Cell lines and primary cultures are a useful tool for studying basic biology, development and therapy responses in cancer and nervous system tumors. Aim: To establish and characterize a human glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) derived cell line as an in vitro biological model to study nervous system cancer chemotherapy and gene therapy. Materials and methods: A resected tumor piece was obtained from a patient with clinical and histopathological diagnosis of GBM. It was processed to obtain viable cells to culture and histological sections, which were immunostained to glial fibrillary acid protein (GFAP) and S-100 protein (calcium binding protein) and to evaluate expression of apoptosis related proteins p53 and Bcl-2. Finally a cytogenetic evaluation was carried out. Results: Histopathological examination confirmed classic findings of GBM. Typical cytomorphological features of GBM were found in cells of the primary cultures: bipolar or unipolar cells, flat fibroblastoid cells, process-bearing cells with scant cytoplasm and 3 or more processes. It was found a differential expression of the four markers, which had a nuclear and cytoplasmatic staining pattern throughout studied subcultures. Cell line exhibited a high level of aneuploidy with modal chromosomal number between 43-45, with presence of poliploidy (55-102 <4n>, XXYY) and endoreduplication (end 45, X, -Y). Conclusion: It was established a GBM derived cell line with a stable phenotype, maintaining morphological cell and cytogenetic characteristics.

[Syncope of unknown origin in patients with permanent auriculoventricular block with an implanted pacemaker. Usefulness of the tilt table test]. / Síncope de origen desconocido en pacientes con bloqueo auriculoventricular permanente sintomático después del implante de un marcapasos definitivo. Utilidad de la prueba de mesa basculante.

Four female patients aged 26 to 71 years, with permanent complete AV heart block and an implanted pacemaker had syncope or presyncope after the pacemaker implantation. As part of the study protocol the tilt table test was done. Neurological disease, arrhythmias, pacemaker syndrome or dysfunction of the stimulation system were ruled out. A head up tilt was performed, isosorbide was used as pharmacological challenge, since the basal test was negative. In three patients this test was positive: in one patient possibly caused by postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, and two with neurally mediated syncope. In one patient it was not possible a diagnosis. The head-up tilt test is a useful procedure to identify the etiology of the appearance of syncope or presyncope after a pacemaker implantation in patients with complete and permanent AV block.

Doble taquiarritmia: taquicardia ventricular fascicular anterior izquierda asociada a fibrilación y flutter auriculares. Reporte de un caso / Double tachyarrhythmia: left anterior fasciculare ventricular tachycardial associated to atrial flutter/fibrillation

Se trata de un paciente de 49 años conocido con diagnóstico de miocardiopatía hipertrófica (Hipertrofia septal anterior y lateral asimétrica), e historia de precordialgia asociada a palpitaciones, en quien el electrocardiograma de superficie evidenció la presencia de taquicardia de QRS ancho, con configuración de bloqueo de rama derecha del haz de His (BRDHH) a AQRS F hacia abajo y a la derecha. Fue llevado a estudio electrofisiológico y ablación con radiofrecuencia. El mapeo endocárdico del ventrículo izquierdo durante la taquicardia ventricular identificó la actividad ventricular izquierdo. El potencial de Purkinje se registró en este mismo sitio, precediendo al complejo QRS en 47 mseg. Al estimular este sitio, durante la taquicardia, se observó que el intervalo de la espiga al complejo QRS era similar al del Purkinje-QRS (zona de conducción lenta): sitio donde se realizó ablación con radiofrecuencia, suprimiendo la taquicardia. No se logró inducirla nuevamente con estimulación eléctrica programada. Durante la taquicardia ventricular, se desencadenó un episodio de fibrilación y flutter auricular alternando con la taquicardia ventricular. Después de realizar la ablación de la taquicardia fascicular, se llevó a cabo cardioversión eléctrica para convertir la fibrilación auricular en ritmo sinusal