Variable thermal plasticity of leaf functional traits in Andean tropical montane forests.

Tropical montane forests (TMFs) are biodiversity hotspots and provide vital ecosystem services, but they are disproportionately vulnerable to climate warming. In the Andes, cold-affiliated species from high elevations are being displaced at the hot end of their thermal distributions by warm-affiliated species migrating upwards from lower elevations, leading to compositional shifts. Leaf functional traits are strong indicators of plant performance and at the community level have been shown to vary along elevation gradients, reflecting plant adaptations to different environmental niches. However, the plastic response of such traits to relatively rapid temperature change in Andean TMF species remains unknown. We used three common garden plantations within a thermosequence in the Colombian Andes to investigate the warming and cooling responses of key leaf functional traits in eight cold- and warm-affiliated species with variable thermal niches. Cold-affiliated species shifted their foliar nutrient concentrations when exposed to warming, while all other traits did not significantly change; contrastingly, warm-affiliated species were able to adjust structural, nutrient and water-use efficiency traits from acquisitive to conservative strategies in response to cooling. Our findings suggest that cold-affiliated species will struggle to acclimate functional traits to warming, conferring warm-affiliated species a competitive advantage under climate change.

Development of a lumbar puncture virtual simulator for medical students training: A preliminary evaluation.

BACKGROUND: Lumbar puncture is an essential medical procedure whose objective is to obtain cerebrospinal fluid. Lumbar puncture is considered a complex procedure, mainly for novice residents who suffer from stress and low confidence, which may result in harm to the patient. METHODS: The LPVirSim, has been developed in four stages: i) requirements analysis through user-centred design; ii) prototyping of the virtual environment and the haptic component; iii) preliminary tests with Ph.D. students and physicians using two haptic devices (Omega.7 and Sigma.7); iv) a user study where physicians evaluated the usability and user experience. RESULTS: The LPVirSim integrates non-technical skills and the possibility of representing different patients for training. Usability increased from 61.76 to 68.75 in the preliminary tests to 71.43 in the user study. CONCLUSIONS: All the results showed good usability and demonstrated that the simulator arouses interest and realistically represents a Lumbar puncture, through the force and visual feedback.

Stress symptoms and positive coping during coronavirus disease 2019: The need to look at health from a gender perspective.

BACKGROUND: The emergency derived from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has taught us important lessons in public and environmental health, particularly in the alarming numbers of existing noncommunicable diseases. However, one aspect to which little attention has been paid during the pandemic is mental health and its relationship with the gender perspective, in spite of gender being a determinant associated with health. In contrast, regarding health, few schemes and theories consider health from a positive and comprehensive perspective. METHODS: This study was designed to examine the symptoms of stress and positive coping from a gender perspective. For this, the Stress Symptomatology Inventory, the Positive Coping to Life Scale and a general data questionnaire were applied to 665 individuals underwent the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 test at the Center for Health Studies and Services of the Universidad Veracruzana from July 2020 to November 2021. FINDINGS: We found that women presented more stress symptoms and less positive coping in the factor of positive self-regulation of adverse situations and the factors of self-determination and positive self-regulation of important situations. Moreover, significant differences in the associations of these variables were observed between men and women. CONCLUSIONS: Therefore, the needs of women must be considered in the approach to the emergency department due to COVID-19 and in general in the health-disease process; therefore, not considering a gender approach will continue to deepen inequalities between sexes.

O-band TE- and TM-mode densely packed adiabatically bent waveguide arrays on the silicon-on-insulator platform.

An efficient, dual-polarization silicon waveguide array with low insertion losses and negligible crosstalks for both TE and TM polarizations has been reported using S-shaped adiabatically bent waveguides. Simulation results for a single S-shaped bend show an insertion loss (IL) of ≤ 0.03 dB and ≤ 0.1 dB for the TE and TM polarizations, respectively, and TE and TM crosstalk values in the first neighboring waveguides at either side of the input waveguide are lower than -39 dB and -24 dB, respectively, over the wavelength range of 1.24 µm to 1.38 µm. The bent waveguide arrays exhibit a measured average TE IL of ≈ 0.1 dB, measured TE crosstalks in the first neighboring waveguides are ≤ -35 dB, at the 1310 nm communication wavelength. The proposed bent array can be made by using multiple cascaded S-shaped bends to transmit signals to all optical components in integrated chips.

Uncovering the organization of neural circuits with Generalized Phase Locking Analysis.

Despite the considerable progress of in vivo neural recording techniques, inferring the biophysical mechanisms underlying large scale coordination of brain activity from neural data remains challenging. One obstacle is the difficulty to link high dimensional functional connectivity measures to mechanistic models of network activity. We address this issue by investigating spike-field coupling (SFC) measurements, which quantify the synchronization between, on the one hand, the action potentials produced by neurons, and on the other hand mesoscopic "field" signals, reflecting subthreshold activities at possibly multiple recording sites. As the number of recording sites gets large, the amount of pairwise SFC measurements becomes overwhelmingly challenging to interpret. We develop Generalized Phase Locking Analysis (GPLA) as an interpretable dimensionality reduction of this multivariate SFC. GPLA describes the dominant coupling between field activity and neural ensembles across space and frequencies. We show that GPLA features are biophysically interpretable when used in conjunction with appropriate network models, such that we can identify the influence of underlying circuit properties on these features. We demonstrate the statistical benefits and interpretability of this approach in various computational models and Utah array recordings. The results suggest that GPLA, used jointly with biophysical modeling, can help uncover the contribution of recurrent microcircuits to the spatio-temporal dynamics observed in multi-channel experimental recordings.

Acclimation of photosynthetic capacity and foliar respiration in Andean tree species to temperature change.

Climate warming is causing compositional changes in Andean tropical montane forests (TMFs). These shifts are hypothesised to result from differential responses to warming of cold- and warm-affiliated species, with the former experiencing mortality and the latter migrating upslope. The thermal acclimation potential of Andean TMFs remains unknown. Along a 2000 m Andean altitudinal gradient, we planted individuals of cold- and warm-affiliated species (under common soil and irrigation), exposing them to the hot and cold extremes of their thermal niches, respectively. We measured the response of net photosynthesis (Anet ), photosynthetic capacity and leaf dark respiration (Rdark ) to warming/cooling, 5 months after planting. In all species, Anet and photosynthetic capacity at 25°C were highest when growing at growth temperatures (Tg ) closest to their thermal means, declining with warming and cooling in cold-affiliated and warm-affiliated species, respectively. When expressed at Tg , photosynthetic capacity and Rdark remained unchanged in cold-affiliated species, but the latter decreased in warm-affiliated counterparts. Rdark at 25°C increased with temperature in all species, but remained unchanged when expressed at Tg . Both species groups acclimated to temperature, but only warm-affiliated species decreased Rdark to photosynthetic capacity ratio at Tg as temperature increased. This could confer them a competitive advantage under future warming.

On-chip integration of 2D Van der Waals germanium phosphide (GeP) for active silicon photonics devices.

The outstanding performance and facile processability turn two-dimensional materials (2DMs) into the most sought-after class of semiconductors for optoelectronics applications. Yet, significant progress has been made toward the hybrid integration of these materials on silicon photonics (SiPh) platforms for a wide range of mid-infrared (MIR) applications. However, realizing 2D materials with a strong optical response in the NIR-MIR and excellent air stability is still a long-term goal. Here, we report a waveguide integrated photodetector based on a novel 2D GeP. This material uniquely combines narrow and wide tunable bandgap energies (0.51-1.68 eV), offering a broadband operation from visible to MIR spectral range. In a significant advantage over graphene devices, hybrid Si/GeP waveguide photodetectors work under bias with a low dark current of few nano-amps and demonstrate excellent stability and reproducibility. Additionally, 65 nm thick GeP devices integrated on silicon waveguides exhibit a remarkable photoresponsivity of 0.54 A/W and attain high external quantum efficiency of ∼ 51.3% under 1310 nm light and at room temperature. Furthermore, a measured absorption coefficient of 1.54 ± 0.3 dB/µm at 1310 nm suggests the potential of 2D GeP as an alternative infrared material with broad optical tunability and dynamic stability suitable for advanced optoelectronic integration.

Compact broadband ( O, E, S, C, L & U bands) silicon TE-pass polarizer based on ridge waveguide adiabatic S-bends.

A compact, ultra-broadband and high-performance silicon TE-pass polarizer is proposed and demonstrated experimentally. It is based on partially-etched (ridge) waveguide adiabatic S-bends, input/output tapers and side gratings on a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) platform. A compact footprint and weak back reflections are obtained due to the bent waveguide and the tapers, respectively. An extremely high extinction ratio is achieved by scattering the undesired light in the slab section using the side gratings. The 3D FDTD simulations show a TE loss less than 0.3 dB and an extinction ratio greater than 30 dB over a 500 nm wavelength range (1200 nm to 1700 nm). Measured results show a high TM loss (> 35 dB) and a low TE insertion loss (< 1.5 dB), over a 200 nm wavelength range (1450 nm to 1650 nm). The measured TE loss is < 0.6 dB at a communication wavelength of 1550 nm. The footprint of the optimized design is 65 µm × 20 µm.

Waste surgical masks to fuels via thermochemical co-processing with waste motor oil and biomass.

In this work, the co-processing of waste surgical masks, waste motor oil, and biomass was investigated to reduce the environmental impacts of the increasing medical-derived plastic pollution as well as to elucidate its effect on the production of chemicals . The results showed high yields towards an oily product with an interesting hydrocarbon content in the diesel range. Furthermore, although the initial waste motor oil had a high sulfur content, the oily products showed a low sulfur content, that was logically distributed in the solid and gas phases. In addition, all oily products presented HHVs ​​higher than 44 MJ/Kg, with cetane indices, densities, and viscosities lower than those of petroleum-derived diesel. This work could impact on the management of waste surgical masks and the joint recovery of everyday waste towards high value-added products.

Efecto del tadalafilo 5mg/día en la hemodinámica peniana en pacientes con disfunción eréctil / Effect of tadalafil 5mg daily treatment on penile haemodynamics in patients with erectile dysfunction

Antecedentes y objetivo: Los inhibidores de la fosfodiesterasa 5 son los fármacos más utilizados para tratar a los pacientes con disfunción eréctil (DE). Los métodos para diagnosticar y evaluar la DE así como la respuesta al tratamiento son básicamente clínicos, es decir, la percepción del paciente sobre la calidad de su erección y la realización de cuestionarios validados. Actualmente aun es necesario identificar marcadores que puedan predecir la respuesta al tratamiento farmacológico. Este estudio pretende evaluar si la toma diaria de tadalafilo 5mg es capaz de inducir cambios en la hemodinámica peniana (midiendo la velocidad del pico sistólico (VPS) y la aceleración sistólica (AS) mediante ecografía doppler, sin utilizar alprostadilo) y estudiar si estos cambios tienen una correlación clínica. El objetivo es identificar un factor predictivo hemodinámico de respuesta al tratamiento farmacológico.Materiales y métodos: Se realizó un estudio prospectivo a 40 pacientes con DE a los que se inició tratamiento con tadalafilo 5mg/día. Estos respondieron a los cuestionarios IIEF-6, EHS, SEP-2 y SEP-3, y se les realizó una ecografía doppler peniana en 3 momentos distintos: antes de comenzar el tratamiento, a los 3 y a los 6 meses (estando previamente 30 días sin medicación).Resultados y conclusiones: El tratamiento durante 3 meses no modificó de forma significativa la VPS y la AS. Sí hubo una mejoría clínica tras 3 meses de tratamiento de acuerdo a los cuestionarios, que no se mantuvo a los 6 meses. No se pudo establecer una correlación clínico-radiológica ni encontramos un valor hemodinámico predictor de respuesta al tratamiento. (AU)

Introduction and objective: Phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors (PDE-5) are the first-line treatment. ED diagnostic and evaluation methods are clinical: erection self-perception and evaluation questionnaires. It is necessary to identify predictive markers to choose the best drug and the best dose for each individual patient. This study seeks to evaluate the effect of tadalafil 5mg daily treatment on penile haemodynamics (penis in flaccidity, using doppler ultrasound, without using alprostadil) and to study if these changes are clinically associated.Material and methods: 40 patients who started treatment with tadalafil 5mg daily were consecutively selected in a prospective study. Each patient underwent a penile doppler ultrasound and completed questionnaires (IIEF-6, EHS, SEP-2, SEP-3) at three different times: before starting the treatment, at 3 months and at 6 months (within the last 30 days without treatment).Results and conclusions: Tadalafil 5mg daily treatment for 3 months did not result in significant modifications to VPS and AS. There was clinical improvement according to the questionnaires after three months of treatment, which was not maintained at 6 months. Neither a clinical-radiological correlation nor a haemodynamic value predicting response to treatment could be established. (AU)

[Effect of tadalafil 5mg daily treatment on penile haemodynamics in patients with erectile dysfunction]. / Efecto del tadalafilo 5mg/día en la hemodinámica peniana en pacientes con disfunción eréctil.

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE: Phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors (PDE-5) are the first-line treatment. ED diagnostic and evaluation methods are clinical: erection self-perception and evaluation questionnaires. It is necessary to identify predictive markers to choose the best drug and the best dose for each individual patient. This study seeks to evaluate the effect of tadalafil 5mg daily treatment on penile haemodynamics (penis in flaccidity, using doppler ultrasound, without using alprostadil) and to study if these changes are clinically associated. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 40 patients who started treatment with tadalafil 5mg daily were consecutively selected in a prospective study. Each patient underwent a penile doppler ultrasound and completed questionnaires (IIEF-6, EHS, SEP-2, SEP-3) at three different times: before starting the treatment, at 3 months and at 6 months (within the last 30 days without treatment). RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Tadalafil 5mg daily treatment for 3 months did not result in significant modifications to VPS and AS. There was clinical improvement according to the questionnaires after three months of treatment, which was not maintained at 6 months. Neither a clinical-radiological correlation nor a haemodynamic value predicting response to treatment could be established.

Biological invasions and climate change amplify each other's effects on dryland degradation.

Climate models predict that, in the coming decades, many arid regions will experience increasingly hot conditions and will be affected more frequently by drought. These regions are also experiencing rapid vegetation change, notably invasion by exotic grasses. Invasive grasses spread rapidly into native desert ecosystems due, in particular, to interannual variability in precipitation and periodic fires. The resultant destruction of non-fire-adapted native shrub and grass communities and of the inherent soil resource heterogeneity can yield invader-dominated grasslands. Moreover, recurrent droughts are expected to cause widespread physiological stress and mortality of both invasive and native plants, as well as the loss of soil resources. However, the magnitude of these effects may differ between invasive and native grasses, especially under warmer conditions, rendering the trajectory of vegetated communities uncertain. Using the Biosphere 2 facility in the Sonoran Desert, we evaluated the viability of these hypothesized relationships by simulating combinations of drought and elevated temperature (+5°C) and assessing the ecophysiological and mortality responses of both a dominant invasive grass (Pennisetum ciliare or buffelgrass) and a dominant native grass (Heteropogan contortus or tanglehead). While both grasses survived protracted drought at ambient temperatures by inducing dormancy, drought under warmed conditions exceeded the tolerance limits of the native species, resulting in greater and more rapid mortality than exhibited by the invasive. Thus, two major drivers of global environmental change, biological invasion and climate change, can be expected to synergistically accelerate ecosystem degradation unless large-scale interventions are enacted.

Short-wavelength infrared (SWIR) photodetector based on multi-layer 2D GaGeTe.

Recent theoretical studies proposed that two-dimensional (2D) GaGeTe crystals have promising high detection sensitivity at infrared wavelengths and can offer ultra-fast operation. This can be attributed to their small optical bandgap and high carrier mobility. However, experimental studies on GaGeTe in the infrared region are lacking and this exciting property has not been explored yet. In this work, we demonstrate a short-wavelength infrared (SWIR) photodetector based on a multilayer (ML) GaGeTe field-effect transistor (FET). Fabricated devices show a p-type behavior at room temperature with a hole field-effect mobility of 8.6 - 20 cm2 V-1s-1. Notably, under 1310 nm illumination, the photo responsivities and noise equivalent power of the detectors with 65 nm flake thickness can reach up to 57 A/W and 0.1 nW/Hz1/2, respectively, at a drain-source bias (Vds) = 2 V. The frequency responses of the photodetectors were also measured with a 1310 nm intensity-modulated light. Devices exhibit a response up to 100 MHz with a 3dB cut-off frequency of 0.9 MHz. Furthermore, we also tested the dependence of the device frequency response on the applied bias and gate voltages. These early experimental findings stimulate the potential use of multilayer GaGeTe for highly sensitive and ultrafast photodetection applications.

Targeting Nanomaterials to Head and Neck Cancer Cells Using a Fragment of the Shiga Toxin as a Potent Natural Ligand.

Head and Neck Cancer (HNC) is the seventh most common cancer worldwide with a 5-year survival from diagnosis of 50%. Currently, HNC is diagnosed by a physical examination followed by an histological biopsy, with surgery being the primary treatment. Here, we propose the use of targeted nanotechnology in support of existing diagnostic and therapeutic tools to prevent recurrences of tumors with poorly defined or surgically inaccessible margins. We have designed an innocuous ligand-protein, based on the receptor-binding domain of the Shiga toxin (ShTxB), that specifically drives nanoparticles to HNC cells bearing the globotriaosylceramide receptor on their surfaces. Microscopy images show how, upon binding to the receptor, the ShTxB-coated nanoparticles cause the clustering of the globotriaosylceramide receptors, the protrusion of filopodia, and rippling of the membrane, ultimately allowing the penetration of the ShTxB nanoparticles directly into the cell cytoplasm, thus triggering a biomimetic cellular response indistinguishable from that triggered by the full-length Shiga toxin. This functionalization strategy is a clear example of how some toxin fragments can be used as natural biosensors for the detection of some localized cancers and to target nanomedicines to HNC lesions.

Experimental studies of plasmonics-enhanced optical physically unclonable functions.

We present an experimental analysis of optical Physically Unclonable Functions enhanced using plasmonic metal nanoparticles in a Silicon on Insulator based integrated structure. We experimentally demonstrate the behavior of possible configurations of simple PUF structures defined only by the nanoparticle distribution. The devices show a promising response when tested with transverse magnetic polarized light. This response offers an easy-to-implement methodology to enhance the behavior of previously proposed optical PUFs. We additionally make a comprehensive analysis of the power, thermal, and polarization stability of the devices for possible side-channels attacks to the systems.

Artificial Vision Algorithms for Socially Assistive Robot Applications: A Review of the Literature.

Today, computer vision algorithms are very important for different fields and applications, such as closed-circuit television security, health status monitoring, and recognizing a specific person or object and robotics. Regarding this topic, the present paper deals with a recent review of the literature on computer vision algorithms (recognition and tracking of faces, bodies, and objects) oriented towards socially assistive robot applications. The performance, frames per second (FPS) processing speed, and hardware implemented to run the algorithms are highlighted by comparing the available solutions. Moreover, this paper provides general information for researchers interested in knowing which vision algorithms are available, enabling them to select the one that is most suitable to include in their robotic system applications.

Asociación entre sarcopenia medida con el índice del psoas por tomografía abdominal y complicaciones posoperatorias tempranas en pacientes concáncer gástrico / Association between sarcopenia measured with the psoas index by abdominal tomography and early postoperative complications in patients with gastric cancer

Introducción. En Colombia el cáncer gástrico representa un problema de salud pública teniendo en cuenta su alta incidencia y sus elevadas tasas de mortalidad. Cerca del 15 % de los pacientes sufren una pérdida significativa de peso, lo que se asocia con un incremento en la morbilidad y mortalidad. Método. Se realizó un estudio de corte transversal, con el objetivo de determinar la presencia de sarcopenia a través de la medición del índice del psoas por tomografía computarizada y su asociación con morbimortalidad postoperatoria temprana en pacientes con cáncer gástrico. Se incluyeron los pacientes con cáncer gástrico admitidos entre el 1° de enero de 2014 y el 31 de agosto de 2019 en el Hospital Militar Central, en Bogotá, D.C., Colombia. Se hizo un análisis descriptivo, un análisis bivariado y un análisis de regresión logística univariado para determinar la asociación de sarcopenia y complicaciones a 30 días. Todos los análisis fueron realizados en R®. Resultados. Se estudiaron 70 pacientes, encontrando una frecuencia de sarcopenia de 54,3 % (n=38), edad media de 69 años (RIC 54 - 74), mayor proporción de hombres 68,6 % (n=48), siendo menor en el grupo de sarcopenia 55,3 % (n=21), índice de psoas de 0,63 mm (RIC 0,55 - 0,7), mortalidad 2,9 % (n=2) y asociación de sarcopenia con desenlaces a 30 días (OR 1,2; IC95% 0,59 - 2,4). Discusión. Se encontraron resultados similares a los informados en la literatura mundial, con una mortalidad inferior al 3 %. En este estudio, la sarcopenia no se asoció con la aparición de complicaciones a 30 días

Introduction. Gastric cancer represents a public health problem in Colombia considering its high incidence and high mortality rates. About 15% of patients suffer a significant weight loss, which is associated with an increase in morbidity and mortality.Method. A cross-sectional study was carried out in order to determine the presence of sarcopenia by measuring the psoas index by computed tomography and its association with early postoperative morbidity and mortality in patients with gastric cancer. Gastric cancer patients admitted between January 1, 2014 and August 31, 2019 at Hospital Militar Central, in Bogotá, D.C., Colombia were included. Descriptive analysis, bivariate analysis, and univariate logistic regression analysis were performed to determine the association of sarcopenia and complications at 30 days. All analyzes were performed in R®.Results. Seventy patients were studied, finding a frequency of sarcopenia of 54.3% (n=38), mean age of 69 years (IQR 54-74), higher proportion of men 68.6% (n=48), being lower in sarcopenia group 55.3% (n=21), psoas index of 0.63 mm (IQR 0.55 - 0.7), mortality 2.9% (n=2) and no association of sarcopenia with outcomes a 30 days (OR 1.2; 95% CI 0.59 - 2.4). Discussion. Similar results were found to those reported in the world literature, with a mortality of less than 3%. In this study, sarcopenia was not associated with the development of complications at 30 days

Coupling of hippocampal theta and ripples with pontogeniculooccipital waves.

The hippocampus has a major role in encoding and consolidating long-term memories, and undergoes plastic changes during sleep1. These changes require precise homeostatic control by subcortical neuromodulatory structures2. The underlying mechanisms of this phenomenon, however, remain unknown. Here, using multi-structure recordings in macaque monkeys, we show that the brainstem transiently modulates hippocampal network events through phasic pontine waves known as pontogeniculooccipital waves (PGO waves). Two physiologically distinct types of PGO wave appear to occur sequentially, selectively influencing high-frequency ripples and low-frequency theta events, respectively. The two types of PGO wave are associated with opposite hippocampal spike-field coupling, prompting periods of high neural synchrony of neural populations during periods of ripple and theta instances. The coupling between PGO waves and ripples, classically associated with distinct sleep stages, supports the notion that a global coordination mechanism of hippocampal sleep dynamics by cholinergic pontine transients may promote systems and synaptic memory consolidation as well as synaptic homeostasis.