Cooperation for malaria control and elimination in the Guiana Shield.

The Guiana Shield, a small region of South America, is currently one of the main hotspots of malaria transmission on the continent. This Amazonian area is characterised by remarkable socioeconomic, cultural, health, and political heterogeneity and a high degree of regional and cross-border population mobility, which has contributed to the increase of malaria in the region in the past few years. In this context, regional cooperation to control malaria represents both a challenge and an indispensable initiative. This Viewpoint advocates for the creation of a regional cooperative mechanism for the elimination of malaria in the Guiana Shield. This strategy would help address operational and political obstacles to successful technical cooperation in the region and could contribute to reversing the regional upsurge in malaria incidence through creating a functional international control and elimination partnership.

Understanding the factors associated with COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in Venezuela.

BACKGROUND: Despite nearly a quarter of Venezuelans remaining unvaccinated against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the factors contributing to vaccine hesitancy in the country have not been thoroughly investigated. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted from October 15th to 30th, 2022, using a knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) survey to identify factors associated with COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. RESULTS: The study analyzed data from 1,930 participants from all 24 states of Venezuela. The majority (93.4%) were vaccinated. The mean age was 40 years, predominantly female (67.3%), and held a university degree (70.6%). The mean KAP score was significantly higher among vaccinated individuals compared to unvaccinated ones (7.79 vs. 3.94 points for knowledge, 40 vs. 24 points for attitudes, and 16 vs. 10 points for practices, all p < 0.001). Increases in the scores for KAP were associated with increased odds of being vaccinated (84.6%, 25.6%, and 33% respectively for each one-point increase, all p < 0.001). Certain demographic factors such as marital status, occupation, religious beliefs, monthly income, and location influence COVID-19 vaccine knowledge. Higher income and certain occupations decrease the odds of low knowledge, while residing in specific states increases it. Attitudes towards the COVID-19 vaccine are influenced by age, health status, vaccination status, and location. Higher income and absence of certain health conditions decrease the odds of negative attitudes. Lastly, age, occupation, monthly income, and location affect vaccine practices. Advanced age and higher income decrease the odds of inappropriate practices, while residing in La Guaira state increases them. CONCLUSION: Factors such as age, education level, occupation, monthly income, and location were found to be associated with knowledge and attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccine among the surveyed Venezuelans.

A Self-Assembled 3D Model Demonstrates How Stiffness Educates Tumor Cell Phenotypes and Therapy Resistance in Pancreatic Cancer.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is characterized by a dense and stiff extracellular matrix (ECM) associated with tumor progression and therapy resistance. To further the understanding of how stiffening of the tumor microenvironment (TME) contributes to aggressiveness, a three-dimensional (3D) self-assembling hydrogel disease model is developed based on peptide amphiphiles (PAs, PA-E3Y) designed to tailor stiffness. The model displays nanofibrous architectures reminiscent of native TME and enables the study of the invasive behavior of PDAC cells. Enhanced tuneability of stiffness is demonstrated by interacting thermally annealed aqueous solutions of PA-E3Y (PA-E3Yh) with divalent cations to create hydrogels with mechanical properties and ultrastructure similar to native tumor ECM. It is shown that stiffening of PA-E3Yh hydrogels to levels found in PDAC induces ECM deposition, promotes epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), enriches CD133+/CXCR4+ cancer stem cells (CSCs), and subsequently enhances drug resistance. The findings reveal how a stiff 3D environment renders PDAC cells more aggressive and therefore more faithfully recapitulates in vivo tumors.

Protein production dynamics and physiological adaptation of recombinant Komagataella phaffii at near-zero growth rates.

BACKGROUND: Specific productivity (qP) in yeast correlates with growth, typically peaking at intermediate or maximum specific growth rates (µ). Understanding the factors limiting productivity at extremely low µ might reveal decoupling strategies, but knowledge of production dynamics and physiology in such conditions is scarce. Retentostats, a type of continuous cultivation, enable the well-controlled transition to near-zero µ through the combined retention of biomass and limited substrate supply. Recombinant Komagataella phaffii (syn Pichia pastoris) secreting a bivalent single domain antibody (VHH) was cultivated in aerobic, glucose-limited retentostats to investigate recombinant protein production dynamics and broaden our understanding of relevant physiological adaptations at near-zero growth conditions. RESULTS: By the end of the retentostat cultivation, doubling times of approx. two months were reached, corresponding to µ = 0.00047 h-1. Despite these extremely slow growth rates, the proportion of viable cells remained high, and de novo synthesis and secretion of the VHH were observed. The average qP at the end of the retentostat was estimated at 0.019 mg g-1 h-1. Transcriptomics indicated that genes involved in protein biosynthesis were only moderately downregulated towards zero growth, while secretory pathway genes were mostly regulated in a manner seemingly detrimental to protein secretion. Adaptation to near-zero growth conditions of recombinant K. phaffii resulted in significant changes in the total protein, RNA, DNA and lipid content, and lipidomics revealed a complex adaptation pattern regarding the lipid class composition. The higher abundance of storage lipids as well as storage carbohydrates indicates that the cells are preparing for long-term survival. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, retentostat cultivation proved to be a valuable tool to identify potential engineering targets to decouple growth and protein production and gain important insights into the physiological adaptation of K. phaffii to near-zero growth conditions.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on people living with HIV: a cross-sectional study in Caracas, Venezuela.

BACKGROUND: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has disrupted multiple health services, including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) testing, care, and treatment services, jeopardizing the achievement of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS 90-90-90 global target. While there are limited studies assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on people living with HIV (PLHIV) in Latin America, there are none, to our knowledge, in Venezuela. This study aims to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic among PLHIV seen at the outpatient clinic of a reference hospital in Venezuela. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study among PLHIV aged 18 years and over seen at the Infectious Diseases Department of the University Hospital of Caracas, Venezuela between March 2021 and February 2022. RESULTS: A total of 238 PLHIV were included in the study. The median age was 43 (IQR 31-55) years, and the majority were male (68.9%). Most patients (88.2%, n = 210) came for routine check-ups, while 28 (11.3%) were newly diagnosed. The majority of patients (96.1%) were on antiretroviral therapy (ART), but only 67.8% had a viral load test, with almost all (95.6%) being undetectable. Among those who attended regular appointments, 11.9% reported missing at least one medical consultation, and 3.3% reported an interruption in their ART refill. More than half of the patients (55.5%) had received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, while the rest expressed hesitancy to get vaccinated. Most patients with COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy were male (65.1%), younger than 44 years (57.5%), employed (47.2%), and had been diagnosed with HIV for less than one year (33%). However, no statistically significant differences were found between vaccinated patients and those with COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. Older age was a risk factor for missing consultations, while not having an alcoholic habit was identified as a protective factor against missing consultations. CONCLUSION: This study found that the COVID-19 pandemic had a limited impact on adherence to medical consultations and interruptions in ART among PLHIV seen at the University Hospital of Caracas, Venezuela.

Factores que influyen en la supervivencia de pacientes con diálisis en El Salvador / Influencing Factors in the Survival of Dialysis Patients in El Salvador

Introducción. La enfermedad renal crónica es responsable de aproximadamente 2,4 millones de defunciones a nivel mundial. La supervivencia a los cinco años después de iniciar diálisis se encuentra entre un 39 a 60 % dependiendo del país. Objetivo. Describir la situación epidemiológica de los pacientes con diálisis y analizar los factores que influyen en la supervivencia de pacientes a cinco años de iniciar tratamiento sustitutivo renal en El Salvador. Metodología. Estudio de cohorte retrospectivo de los pacientes incluidos en el Registro Nacional de Diálisis y Trasplante Renal desde enero de 2016 hasta febrero de 2023. El seguimiento se comenzó al inicio de la diálisis, el evento de interés fue la muerte del paciente. Se utilizó el método de Kaplan-Meier para determinar la supervivencia al año y a los cinco años y la regresión de Cox con el modelo de Royston-Parmar para analizar los factores que influyen sobre la supervivencia a los cinco años. Resultados. El estudio incluyó 7088 pacientes, la supervivencia a uno y cinco años fue del 79,5 % (IC 95 %: 78,6-80,5) y 50,6 % (IC 95 %: 49,1-52,1) respectivamente. La regresión de Cox para la edad de inicio de tratamiento resultó en un hazard ratio de 1,02 (IC 95 %: 1,01-1,02), mientras que para el oficio de ser agricultor el hazard ratio fue 1,1 (IC 95 %: 1,01-1,18) y para la etiología hipertensiva el hazard ratio fue de 0,7 (IC 95 %: 0,64-0,78). Conclusión. La edad de inicio de tratamiento y el ser agricultor están asociados con una menor supervivencia a cinco años en pacientes con diálisis

Introduction. The chronic kidney disease is responsible for approximately 2.4 million deaths worldwide, in El Salvador during 2019 death rate was 72.9 for 100 000 habitants, five year survival in patients after starting dialysis was between 39 and 60 % depending on the country. Objective. Analyze the factors that influence the five years survival in patients after starting renal replacement therapy in El Salvador. Methodology. It is a retrospective cohort study from patients included in dialysis and renal replacement therapy national registry from January 2016 to February 2023, the start point for the following was the initiation of dialysis, the event of interest was patient ́s death, the Kaplan-Meier method was used to determine one year and five year survival; and Cox regression with Royston-Parmar model was used to analyze the factors that influence survival. Results. The study included 7088 patients, one and five-years survival was 79.5 % (CI 95 %: 78.6-80.5) and 50.6 % (CI 95 %: 49.1-52.1) respectively. The Cox regression for age of treatment initiation resulted in a hazard ratio of 1.02 (CI 95 %: 1.01-1.02), while for farmers, the hazard ratio was 1.09 (CI 95 %: 1.00-1.18), for hypertensive etiology the hazard ratio was 0.7 (CI 95 %: 0.64-0.78). Conclusion. Data suggest that age of treatment initiation, and jobs related to agriculture were associated with less five year survival in dialysis patients.

New daily persistent headache after SARS-CoV-2 infection in Latin America: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Persistent headache is a frequent symptom after coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and there is currently limited knowledge about its clinical spectrum and predisposing factors. A subset of patients may be experiencing new daily persistent headache (NDPH) after COVID-19, which is among the most treatment-refractory primary headache syndromes. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study in Latin America to characterize individuals with persistent headache after severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and to identify factors associated with NDPH. Participants over 18 years old who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 infection and reported persistent headache among their symptoms completed an online survey that included demographics, past medical history, persistent headache clinical characteristics, and COVID-19 vaccination status. Based on participants' responses, NDPH diagnostic criteria were used to group participants into NDPH and non-NDPH groups. Participant data was summarized by descriptive statistics. Student's t and Mann-Whitney U tests were used according to the distribution of quantitative variables. For categorical variables, Pearson's chi-square and Fisher's exact tests were used according to the size of expected frequencies. Binomial logistic regression using the backward stepwise selection method was performed to identify factors associated with NDPH. RESULTS: Four hundred and twenty-one participants from 11 Latin American countries met the inclusion criteria. One in four participants met the NDPH diagnostic criteria. The mean age was 40 years, with most participants being female (82%). Over 90% of the participants reported having had mild/moderate COVID-19. Most participants had a history of headache before developing COVID-19 (58%), mainly migraine type (32%). The most predominant clinical characteristics in the NDPH group were occipital location, severe/unbearable intensity, burning character, and radiating pain (p < 0.05). A higher proportion of anxiety symptoms, sleep problems, myalgia, mental fog, paresthesia, nausea, sweating of the face or forehead, and ageusia or hypogeusia as concomitant symptoms were reported in participants with NDPH (p < 0.05). Palpebral edema as a concomitant symptom during the acute phase of COVID-19, occipital location, and burning character of the headache were risk factors associated with NDPH. CONCLUSION: This is the first study in Latin America that explored the clinical spectrum of NDPH after SARS-CoV-2 infection and its associated factors. Clinical evaluation of COVID-19 patients presenting with persistent headache should take into consideration NDPH.

A new series of acylhydrazones derived from metribuzin with modulated herbicidal activity.

This paper reports the preparation and herbicidal evaluation of a small library of acylhydrazones based on the synthetic herbicide metribuzin. The hydrazone linkage easily obtained by reaction of metribuzin with aliphatic and aromatic aldehydes, masks efficiently the exocyclic amino group, thereby altering significantly H-bonding with the receptor and increasing the lipophilicity relative to the parent herbicide. The structures of all compounds, including key stereochemical issues on conformation and E/Z configuration around the C[bond, double bond]N bond were thoroughly elucidated by spectroscopic methods, and unambiguously corroborated by X-ray diffraction analysis. The herbicidal assays using an aliphatic and an aromatic acylhydrazone were performed on tomato and rapeseed plants grown in greenhouse. Our results demonstrate, regardless of rate application, that such acylhydrazone formulations do not alter the selectivity of metribuzin. Moreover, the herbicide activity was even higher in the alkyl derivative than that achieved by commercial metribuzin, thus suggesting that this substance can be applied with no need of combination with chemical coadjuvants, unlike most formulations of commercially available herbicides. Therefore, the study shows the promising effect of chemical derivatization of a common herbicide as metribuzin, to improve the herbicide activity without compromising selectivity, and allowing the farmers its use in crop protection safely and effectively.

Nuevas perspectivas en el estudio y tratamiento de la sepsis

La sepsis es una disfunción orgánica potencialmente mortal debida a una respuesta desregulada del hospedero a la infección. No sólo contribuye con el 20 % de todas las causas de muerte de forma global, sino que los sobrevivientes de esta también pueden experimentar una significativa morbilidad a largo plazo. La sepsis y el shock séptico son emergencias médicas que requieren reconocimiento rápido, administración de antimicrobianos apropiados, soporte hemodinámico cuidadoso y control de la fuente infecciosa. El objetivo de esta revisión fue describir la definición y los criterios diagnósticos, la epidemiología, los factores de riesgo, la patogenia y la conducta inicial ante la sepsis.

Sepsis is a life-threatening organ dysfunction due to a dysregulated host response to infection. It severely impacts global disease burden as it constates 20 % of all causes of death; its survivors may experience long-term morbidity. Sepsis and septic shock are medical emergencies that require rapid identification, administration of appropriate antimicrobials, careful hemodynamic support, and control of the infection source. This review aims to update the definition of sepsis and its diagnostic criteria, epidemiology, risk factors, pathogenesis, and baseline behavior.

Effects of fresh and field-aged holm-oak biochar on As, Cd and Pb bioaccumulation in different rice growing environments.

Arsenic, Cd, and Pb environmental fate is influenced when the traditional permanent flooding rice production systems are replaced by water-saving and soil conservation practices, urging for additional strategies that avoid their bioaccumulation in rice grain. The aim of this two-years field study was to evaluate the effects of fresh and field-aged biochar on As, Cd, and Pb bioaccumulation, and on As speciation, in rice grain produced in different growing environments (flooding versus sprinkler and conventional tillage versus direct seeding). Biochar produced from holm-oak pruning residues (pyrolysis at 550 °C, 48 h), in a single application (28 Mg ha-1), reduced As bioaccumulation in rice grain in the permanent flooding system to non-quantifiable concentrations (e.g., from 0.178 mg kg-1 to <0.04 mg kg-1, for inorganic-As, respectively), an effect which remained under field-aging conditions, increasing rice commercial value. When adopting sprinkler irrigation, the undesirable increase in Cd bioaccumulation in rice, relatively to the anaerobic system, was counteracted by biochar application, reducing its bioaccumulation in kernels between 32 and 80 %, allowing a simultaneous control of metals and metalloids bioaccumulation in rice. The bioaccumulation of Pb was also prevented with biochar application, with a reduction in its concentration four- to 13-times, in all the management systems, relatively to the non-amended plots, under fresh biochar effects. However, Pb immobilization decreased with biochar field-aging, indicating that the biochar application may have to be repeated to maintain the same beneficial effect. Therefore, the present study shows that the implementation of sprinkler irrigation with holm-oak biochar could reduce the risk of heavy metals(loids) bioaccumulation in rice grains and, thereby, ensuring food safety aspects, particularly under fresh biochar effects.

SmartLact8: A Bio-Inspired Robotic Breast Pump for Customized and Comfort Milk Expression.

According to the 2018 National Immunization Survey conducted by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 83.9% of the breastfeeding mothers in the United States have used a breast pump at least once. However, the majority of existing products use a vacuum-only mechanism to extract milk. This causes common breast injuries such as nipple soreness, breast-tissue damage, and lactation complications after pumping. The objective of this work was to develop a bio-inspired breast pump prototype, named as SmartLac8, that can mimic infant suckling patterns. The input vacuum pressure pattern and compression forces are inspired from term infants' natural oral suckling dynamics captured in prior clinical experiments. Open-loop input-output data are used to perform system identification for two different pumping stages that facilitates controller design for closed-loop stability and control. A physical breast pump prototype with soft pneumatic actuators and custom piezoelectric sensors was successfully developed, calibrated, and tested in dry lab experiments. Compression and vacuum pressure dynamics were successfully coordinated to mimic the infant's feeding mechanism. Experimental data on sucking frequency and pressure on the breast phantom were consistent with clinical findings.

A time-series analysis of morbidity and mortality of viral hepatitis in Venezuela, 1990-2016.

BACKGROUND: Viral hepatitis (VH) is a leading contributor to morbidity and mortality worldwide, constituting a public health problem associated with the level of human development. In recent years, Venezuela has experienced a political, social, and economic crisis and has been impacted by natural disasters that have led to the deterioration of sanitary and health infrastructures modifying the determinants of VH. Despite epidemiological studies conducted in specific regions of the country or populations, the national epidemiological behaviour of VH remains unclear. METHODS: This is a time series study involving records of morbidity and mortality by VH in Venezuela reported during the period from 1990 to 2016. The Venezuelan population was taken as the denominator of the morbidity and mortality rates, according to the Venezuelan National Institute of Statistics and the 2016 population projections from the latest census published on the website of the responsible Venezuelan agency. RESULTS: During the study period, 630,502 cases and 4,679 deaths from VH in Venezuela were analysed. Most of the cases (n = 457,278; 72.6%) were classified as unspecific VH (UVH). The deaths were mainly attributed to VHB (n = 1,532; 32.7%), UVH (n = 1,287; 27.5%), and sequelae of VH (n = 977; 20.8%). The mean rates of cases and deaths from VH in the country were 95 ± 40.4 cases per 100,000 inhabitants and 0.7 ± 0.1 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, respectively, showing a large dispersion that is evident from the calculation of the coefficients of variation. There was document a strong correlation between UVH and VHA cases (0.78, p < 0.01) morbidity rates. VHB mortality rate was very strongly correlated with sequelae of VH (-0.9, p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: VH is a major burden of morbidity and mortality in Venezuela with an endemic-epidemic trend and an intermediate prevalence for VHA, VHB, and VHC. Epidemiological information is not published in a timely manner and diagnostic tests are insufficient in primary health services. There is an urgent need to resume epidemiological surveillance of VH and to optimise the classification system for a better understanding of UVH cases and deaths due to sequelae of VHB and VHC.

A Novel OpenBCI Framework for EEG-Based Neurophysiological Experiments.

An Open Brain-Computer Interface (OpenBCI) provides unparalleled freedom and flexibility through open-source hardware and firmware at a low-cost implementation. It exploits robust hardware platforms and powerful software development kits to create customized drivers with advanced capabilities. Still, several restrictions may significantly reduce the performance of OpenBCI. These limitations include the need for more effective communication between computers and peripheral devices and more flexibility for fast settings under specific protocols for neurophysiological data. This paper describes a flexible and scalable OpenBCI framework for electroencephalographic (EEG) data experiments using the Cyton acquisition board with updated drivers to maximize the hardware benefits of ADS1299 platforms. The framework handles distributed computing tasks and supports multiple sampling rates, communication protocols, free electrode placement, and single marker synchronization. As a result, the OpenBCI system delivers real-time feedback and controlled execution of EEG-based clinical protocols for implementing the steps of neural recording, decoding, stimulation, and real-time analysis. In addition, the system incorporates automatic background configuration and user-friendly widgets for stimuli delivery. Motor imagery tests the closed-loop BCI designed to enable real-time streaming within the required latency and jitter ranges. Therefore, the presented framework offers a promising solution for tailored neurophysiological data processing.

Seroprevalence of viral and bacterial pathogens among malaria patients in an endemic area of southern Venezuela.

BACKGROUND: Malaria remains a leading public health problem worldwide. Co-infections with other pathogens complicate its diagnosis and may modify the disease's clinical course and management. Similarities in malaria clinical presentation with other infections and overlapping endemicity result in underdiagnosis of co-infections and increased mortality. Thus, the aim of this study was to determine the seroprevalence of viral and bacterial pathogens among diagnosed malaria patients in malaria-endemic areas in Venezuela. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted on malaria patients attending three reference medical centres in Ciudad Bolivar, Venezuela. Clinical evaluation and laboratory tests for dengue virus (DENV), chikungunya virus (CHIKV), viral hepatitis [hepatitis A virus (HAV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), and hepatitis C virus (HCV)], and leptospirosis (LEP) were performed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Previous exposure to these pathogens was defined by the presence of specific immunoglobulin (Ig) G, and co-infection or recent exposure (CoRE) was determined by the presence of specific IgM alone or IgM + IgG. Data analysis considered descriptive statistics. Parameter distribution was statistically evaluated using Kolmogorov-Smirnov test and the necessary comparison tests. Odds ratio (OR) for complications was determined according to CoRE presence with a 95% confidence interval (CI). RESULTS: A total of 161 malaria patients were studied, 66% infected with Plasmodium vivax, 27% with P. falciparum, and 7.5% harboured P. vivax/P. falciparum mixed infection. Previous exposure to DENV (60%) and CHIKV (25%) was frequent. CoRE was confirmed in 55 of the 161 malaria patients (34%) and were more frequent in P. falciparum (49%) than in P. vivax (29%) and mixed malaria patients (25%) (OR = 2.43, 95% CI: 1.39-4.25, P = 0.018). The most frequent CoRE was DENV (15%), followed by HAV (12%), HBV (6.2%), CHIKV (5.5%), and LEP (3.7%); HCV CoRE was absent. Complicated malaria was significantly more frequent in patients with CoRE (56%) than those without CoRE (36%; OR = 2.31, 95% CI: 1.18-4.92, P = 0.013). CONCLUSIONS: We found high CoRE prevalence in malaria patients as determined by serology in the study region; cases were associated with a worse clinical outcome. Further prospective studies with samples from different infection sites and the use of molecular tools are needed to determine the clinical significance of these findings.

Posthoc Interpretability of Neural Responses by Grouping Subject Motor Imagery Skills Using CNN-Based Connectivity.

Motor Imagery (MI) refers to imagining the mental representation of motor movements without overt motor activity, enhancing physical action execution and neural plasticity with potential applications in medical and professional fields like rehabilitation and education. Currently, the most promising approach for implementing the MI paradigm is the Brain-Computer Interface (BCI), which uses Electroencephalogram (EEG) sensors to detect brain activity. However, MI-BCI control depends on a synergy between user skills and EEG signal analysis. Thus, decoding brain neural responses recorded by scalp electrodes poses still challenging due to substantial limitations, such as non-stationarity and poor spatial resolution. Also, an estimated third of people need more skills to accurately perform MI tasks, leading to underperforming MI-BCI systems. As a strategy to deal with BCI-Inefficiency, this study identifies subjects with poor motor performance at the early stages of BCI training by assessing and interpreting the neural responses elicited by MI across the evaluated subject set. Using connectivity features extracted from class activation maps, we propose a Convolutional Neural Network-based framework for learning relevant information from high-dimensional dynamical data to distinguish between MI tasks while preserving the post-hoc interpretability of neural responses. Two approaches deal with inter/intra-subject variability of MI EEG data: (a) Extracting functional connectivity from spatiotemporal class activation maps through a novel kernel-based cross-spectral distribution estimator, (b) Clustering the subjects according to their achieved classifier accuracy, aiming to find common and discriminative patterns of motor skills. According to the validation results obtained on a bi-class database, an average accuracy enhancement of 10% is achieved compared to the baseline EEGNet approach, reducing the number of "poor skill" subjects from 40% to 20%. Overall, the proposed method can be used to help explain brain neural responses even in subjects with deficient MI skills, who have neural responses with high variability and poor EEG-BCI performance.

Rinitis alérgica persistente: consideraciones para la elección del tratamiento combinado / Persistent Allergic Rhinitis: Considerations for Choosing Combination Treatment

El estudio de comparación de las asociaciones de montelukast-loratadina versus montelukast-desloratadina en el tratamiento de la rinitis alérgica persistente publicada en este número demostró la no inferioridad de la segunda en relación con el comparador. Debe señalarse aquí que la prevalencia de rinitis alérgica persistente en México es elevada, pudiendo llegar al 48% en algunas regiones, por lo que el tamaño de la muestra en este estudio no resulta significativo, dato a considerar en las conclusiones.

Medium-Term Effects of Sprinkler Irrigation Combined with a Single Compost Application on Water and Rice Productivity and Food Safety.

Traditional rice (Oryza sativa L.) management (tillage and flooding) is unsustainable due to soil degradation and the large amount of irrigation water used, an issue which is exacerbated in the Mediterranean region. Therefore, there is a need to explore rice management strategies in order to improve water-use efficiency and ensure its sustainability. Thus, field experiments were conducted to determine the medium-term effects of different irrigation and tillage methods combined with a single compost application on water and rice productivity, as well as food safety in a semiarid Mediterranean region. The management systems evaluated were: sprinkler irrigation in combination with no-tillage (SNT), sprinkler irrigation in combination with conventional tillage (ST), which were implemented in 2015, and flooding irrigation in combination with conventional tillage (FT), and their homologues (SNT-C, ST-C, and FT-C) with single compost application in 2015. In reference to rice grain yield, the highest values were observed under ST treatment with 10 307 and 11 625 kg ha-1 in 2018 and 2019 respectively; whereas between FT and SNT there were no significant differences, with 8 140 kg ha-1 as mean value through the study. Nevertheless, sprinkler irrigation allowed saving 55% of the total amount of water applied in reference to flooding irrigation. Furthermore, the highest arsenic concentration in grains was found under FT but it decreased with compost application (FT-C) and especially with sprinkler irrigation, regardless of tillage management systems. However, sprinkler irrigation favors the cadmium uptake by plants, although this process was reduced under SNT in reference to ST, and especially under amended compost treatments. Therefore, our results suggested that a combination of sprinkler irrigation and compost application, regardless of the tillage system, could be an excellent strategy for rice management for the Mediterranean environment in terms of water and crop productivity as well as food safety.

Combined use of biochar and alternative management systems for imazamox induced pollution control in rice growing environments.

Imazamox (IMZX) is a persistent herbicide having probable risks for non-target organisms in the environment and water contamination. Alternatives to conventional flooding rice production, including biochar amendment, may induce changes in soil properties which can greatly modify the environmental fate of IMZX. This two-year study is the first to evaluate how tillage and irrigation practices, with or without fresh or aged biochar (Bc), that are alternatives to conventional rice production impact IMZX's environmental fate. The treatments were: conventional tillage and flooding irrigation (CTFI), conventional tillage and sprinkler irrigation (CTSI), no-tillage and sprinkler irrigation (NTSI), and the corresponding Bc-amendment treatments (CTFI-Bc, CTSI-Bc, and NTSI-Bc). Fresh and aged Bc amendment decreased IMZX's sorption onto the soil in tillage treatments, with Kf values decreasing 3.7 and 4.2-fold (fresh case) and 1.5 and 2.6-fold (aged case) for CTSI-Bc and CTFI-Bc, respectively. The transition to sprinkler irrigation reduced IMZX persistence. Overall, Bc amendment also reduced chemical persistence with half-life values decreasing 1.6 and 1.5-fold for CTFI and CTSI (fresh year) and 1.1, 1.1, and 1.3-fold for CTFI, CTSI, and NTSI (aged year), respectively. Sprinkler irrigation reduced IMZX leaching by up to a factor of 2.2. The use of Bc as amendment led to a significant decrease in IMZX leaching only under tillage conditions, but notable in particular for the CTFI case where leaching losses were reduced in the fresh year from 80% to 34% and, in the aged year, from 74% to 50%. Hence the change in irrigation from flooding to sprinkler either alone or in combination with the use of Bc (fresh or aged) amendment could be considered an effective way to sharply mitigate IMZX contamination of water in environments where rice is grown, particularly in those managed with tillage.