Missed opportunities in the early detection of HIV infection in patients with sexually transmitted infections: A real-life study.

INTRODUCTION: Sexually transmitted diseases such as cervicitis, proctitis and urethritis are associated with high rates of HIV infection. When these pathologies are suspected, HIV serology should be requested. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A retrospective study was performed during 2018 at the Hospital Costa del Sol (Marbella, Málaga, Spain). HIV serologies requested in patients who were asked for PCR for Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae were reviewed. RESULTS: A total of 1818 patients were evaluated, in which HIV serology was performed in 44.7%, of which 14 (1.7%) were positive. The remaining 55.3% were missed diagnostic opportunities. CONCLUSIONS: C. trachomatis and N. gonorrhoeae infections are associated with a high rate of occult HIV infection. The degree of suspicion of HIV in this population remains low and it is essential that it be reinforced in the presence of the possibility of infection by these pathologies.

Contactless Rotor Ground Fault Detection Method for Brushless Synchronous Machines Based on an AC/DC Rotating Current Sensor.

Brushless synchronous machines (BSMs) are replacing conventional synchronous machines with static excitation in generation facilities due to the absence of sparking and lower maintenance. However, this excitation system makes measuring electric parameters in the rotor challenging. It is highly difficult to detect ground faults, which are the most common type of electrical fault in electric machines. In this paper, a ground fault detection method for BSMs is proposed. It is based on an inductive AC/DC rotating current sensor installed in the shaft. In the case of a ground fault in the rotating parts of the BSM, a fault current will flow through the rotor's sensor, inducing voltage in its stator. By analyzing the frequency components of the induced voltage, the detection of a ground fault in the rotating elements is possible. The ground faults detection method proposed covers the whole rotor and discerns between DC and AC sides. This method does not need any additional power source, slip ring, or brush, which is an important advantage in comparison with the existing methods. To corroborate the detection method, experimental tests have been performed using a prototype of this sensor connected to laboratory synchronous machines, achieving satisfactory results.

Numerical and Experimental Analysis of the Mode I Interlaminar Fracture Toughness in Multidirectional 3D-Printed Thermoplastic Composites Reinforced with Continuous Carbon Fiber.

It is well known that the use of continuous reinforcing fibers can largely improve the typical low in-plane mechanical properties of 3D-printed parts. However, there is very limited research on the characterization of the interlaminar fracture toughness of 3D-printed composites. In this study, we investigated the feasibility of determining the mode I interlaminar fracture toughness of 3D-printed cFRP composites with multidirectional interfaces. First, elastic calculations and different FE simulations of Double Cantilever Beam (DCB) specimens (using cohesive elements for the delamination, in addition to an intralaminar ply failure criterion) were carried out to choose the best interface orientations and laminate configurations. The objective was to ensure a smooth and stable propagation of the interlaminar crack, while preventing asymmetrical delamination growth and plane migration, also known as crack jumping. Then, the best three specimen configurations were manufactured and tested experimentally to validate the simulation methodology. The experimental results confirmed that, with the appropriate stacking sequence for the specimen arms, it is possible to characterize the interlaminar fracture toughness in multidirectional 3D-printed composites under mode I. The experimental results also show that both initiation and propagation values of the mode I fracture toughness depend on the interface angles, although a clear tendency could not be established.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging Findings in Infants with Severe Traumatic Brain Injury and Associations with Abusive Head Trauma.

Young children with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) have frequently been excluded from studies due to age and/or mechanism of injury. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is now frequently being utilized to detect parenchymal injuries and early cerebral edema. We sought to assess MRI findings in infants with severe TBI, and to determine the association between specific MRI findings and mechanisms of injury, including abusive head trauma (AHT). MRI scans performed within the first 30 days after injury were collected and coded according to NIH/NINDS Common Data Elements (CDEs) for Neuroimaging in subjects age < 2 years old with severe TBI enrolled in the Approaches and Decisions in Acute Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury Trial. Demographics and injury characteristics were analyzed. A total of 81 children were included from ADAPT sites with MRI scans. Median age was 0.77 years and 57% were male. Most common MRI finding was ischemia, present in 57/81 subjects (70%), in a median of 7 brain regions per subject. Contusion 46/81 (57%) and diffuse axonal injury (DAI) 36/81 (44.4%) subjects followed. Children were dichotomized based on likelihood of AHT with 43/81 subjects classified as AHT. Ischemia was found to be significantly associated with AHT (p = 0.001) and "inflicted" injury mechanism (p = 0.0003). In conclusion, the most common intracerebral injury seen on MRI of infants with severe TBI was ischemia, followed by contusion and DAI. Ischemia was associated with AHT, and ischemia affecting > 4 brain regions was predictive of AHT.

Fluid Degradation Measurement Based on a Dual Coil Frequency Response Analysis.

Electrical industry uses oils for cooling and insulation of several machines, such as power transformers. In addition, it uses water for cooling some synchronous generators. To avoid malfunctions in these assets, fluid quality should be preserved. To contribute to this aim, a sensor that detects changes in fluid composition is presented. The designed sensor is like a single-phase transformer whose magnetic core is the fluid whose properties will be measured. The response of this device to a frequency sweep is recorded. Through a comparison between any measurement and a reference one corresponding to a healthy state, pollutants presence, such as water in oil or salt in water, can be measured. The performance of the sensor was analyzed through simulation. In addition, a prototype was built and tested measuring water concentration in oil and salt content in water. The correlation between pollutant concentration measured with the sensor and known pollutant concentrations is good.

Association Between Use of Enhanced Recovery After Surgery Protocol and Postoperative Complications in Total Hip and Knee Arthroplasty in the Postoperative Outcomes Within Enhanced Recovery After Surgery Protocol in Elective Total Hip and Knee Arthroplasty Study (POWER2).

Importance: The Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) care protocol has been shown to improve outcomes compared with traditional care in certain types of surgery. Objective: To assess the association of use of the ERAS protocols with complications in patients undergoing elective total hip arthroplasty (THA) and total knee arthroplasty (TKA). Design, Setting, and Participants: This multicenter, prospective cohort study included patients recruited from 131 centers in Spain from October 22 through December 22, 2018. All consecutive adults scheduled for elective THA or TKA were eligible for inclusion. Patients were stratified between those treated in a self-designated ERAS center (ERAS group) and those treated in a non-ERAS center (non-ERAS group). Data were analyzed from June 15 through September 15, 2019. Exposures: Total hip or knee arthroplasty and perioperative management. Sixteen individual ERAS items were assessed in all included patients, whether they were treated at a center that was part of an established ERAS protocol or not. Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary outcome was postoperative complications within 30 days after surgery. Secondary outcomes included length of stay and mortality. Results: During the 2-month recruitment period, 6146 patients were included (3580 women [58.2%]; median age, 71 [interquartile range (IQR), 63-76] years). Of these, 680 patients (11.1%) presented with postoperative complications. No differences were found in the number of patients with overall postoperative complications between ERAS and non-ERAS groups (163 [10.2%] vs 517 [11.4%]; odds ratio [OR], 0.89; 95% CI, 0.74-1.07; P = .22). Fewer patients in the ERAS group had moderate to severe complications (73 [4.6%] vs 279 [6.1%]; OR, 0.74; 95% CI, 0.56-0.96; P = .02). The median overall adherence rate with the ERAS protocol was 50.0% (IQR, 43.8%-62.5%), with the rate for ERAS facilities being 68.8% (IQR, 56.2%-81.2%) vs 50.0% (IQR, 37.5%-56.2%) at non-ERAS centers (P < .001). Among the patients with the highest and lowest quartiles of adherence to ERAS components, the patients with the highest adherence had fewer overall postoperative complications (144 [10.6%] vs 270 [13.0%]; OR, 0.80; 95% CI, 0.64-0.99; P < .001) and moderate to severe postoperative complications (59 [4.4%] vs 143 [6.9%]; OR, 0.62; 95% CI, 0.45-0.84; P < .001) and shorter median length of hospital stay (4 [IQR, 3-5] vs 5 [IQR, 4-6] days; OR, 0.97; 95% CI, 0.96-0.99; P < .001). Conclusions and Relevance: An increase in adherence to the ERAS program was associated with a decrease in postoperative complications, although only a few ERAS items were individually associated with improved outcomes.

Optimizing the intrinsic parallel diffusivity in NODDI: An extensive empirical evaluation.

PURPOSE: NODDI is widely used in parameterizing microstructural brain properties. The model includes three signal compartments: intracellular, extracellular, and free water. The neurite compartment intrinsic parallel diffusivity (d∥) is set to 1.7 µm2⋅ms-1, though the effects of this assumption have not been extensively explored. This work investigates the optimality of d∥ = 1.7 µm2⋅ms-1 under varying imaging protocol, age groups, sex, and tissue type in comparison to other biologically plausible values of d∥. METHODS: Model residuals were used as the optimality criterion. The model residuals were evaluated in function of d∥ over the range from 0.5 to 3.0 µm2⋅ms-1. This was done with respect to tissue type (i.e., white matter versus gray matter), sex, age (infancy to late adulthood), and diffusion-weighting protocol (maximum b-value). Variation in the estimated parameters with respect to d∥ was also explored. RESULTS: Results show d∥ = 1.7 µm2⋅ms-1 is appropriate for adult brain white matter but it is suboptimal for gray matter with optimal values being significantly lower. d∥ = 1.7 µm2⋅ms-1 was also suboptimal in the infant brain for both white and gray matter with optimal values being significantly lower. Minor optimum d∥ differences were observed versus diffusion protocol. No significant sex effects were observed. Additionally, changes in d∥ resulted in significant changes to the estimated NODDI parameters. CONCLUSION: The default (d∥) of 1.7 µm2⋅ms-1 is suboptimal in gray matter and infant brains.

Distributed service-based approach for sensor data fusion in IoT environments.

The Internet of Things (IoT) enables the communication among smart objects promoting the pervasive presence around us of a variety of things or objects that are able to interact and cooperate jointly to reach common goals. IoT objects can obtain data from their context, such as the home, office, industry or body. These data can be combined to obtain new and more complex information applying data fusion processes. However, to apply data fusion algorithms in IoT environments, the full system must deal with distributed nodes, decentralized communication and support scalability and nodes dynamicity, among others restrictions. In this paper, a novel method to manage data acquisition and fusion based on a distributed service composition model is presented, improving the data treatment in IoT pervasive environments.

Cellular uptake of carotenoid-loaded oil-in-water emulsions in colon carcinoma cells in vitro.

Oil-in-water emulsions allow the preparation of lipophilic compounds such as carotenoids in the liquid form. Here, the effect of a combination of some emulsifiers, such as two whey protein isolates (BiPro and BioZate), sucrose laurate (L-1695), and polyoxyethylene-20-sorbitan-monolaurate (Tween 20), on the stability of lycopene and astaxanthin in emulsions, droplet size, and cellular uptake of these carotenoids has been investigated. The degradation of lycopene was slightly more pronounced than that of astaxanthin in all emulsions. The concentration of lycopene and astaxanthin decreased by about 30% and 20%, respectively, in all emulsions after 3 weeks of storage in the dark at 4 degrees C. The kind of emulsifiers or their combinations have played an important role in the cellular uptake by the colon carcinoma cells line HT-29 and Caco-2.