Evaluation of Verbascum flower extracts as a natural source of pigments with potential health benefits.

Crocins are bioactive glucosylated apocarotenoids that confer a yellow pigmentation. In addition to their coloring ability, crocins offer potential health benefits because of their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. These compounds are present in the flowers and fruits of a few plant species, including saffron, gardenia, Buddleja and Verbascum species. Saffron extracts have been used for the formulation of functional foods. However, there is no evidence of the use of the other plants producing crocins in the food industry. This study evaluated the effect of the addition of ground dry flowers of two Verbascum species, with antioxidant activity, as well as dry fruit powder, from a recently engineered tomato plant producing fruits that accumulate high levels of crocins, as functional ingredients during the processing of rice, wheat cous-cous and maize noodles, providing a yellow pigmentation. Correlation analyses revealed that the increased antioxidant activity in the three food matrices was due to the presence of crocins, which showed no toxicity. Furthermore, in vitro digestion showed that crocins were more bioaccessible from rice than from cous-cous or maize noodles, inferring the importance of the food matrix in bio accessibility. The obtained results showed the commercial potential of Verbascum's flowers, as a source of crocins, natural pigments with antioxidant activities.

Diagnosis and Study of Mechanical Vibrations in Cargo Vehicles Using ISO 2631-1:1997.

This study presents the design and implementation of an electronic system aimed at capturing vibrations produced during truck operation. The system employs a graphical interface to display vibration levels, ensuring the necessary comfort and offering indicators as a solution to mitigate the damage caused by these vibrations. Additionally, the system alerts the driver when a mechanical vibration that could potentially impact their health is detected. The field of health is rigorously regulated by various international standards and guidelines. The case of mechanical vibrations, particularly those transmitted to the entire body of a seated individual, is no exception. Internationally, ISO 2631-1:1997/Amd 1:2010 oversees this study. The system was designed and implemented using a blend of hardware and software. The hardware components comprise a vibration sensor, a data acquisition card, and a graphical user interface (GUI). The software components consist of a data acquisition and processing library, along with a GUI development framework. The system underwent testing in a controlled environment and demonstrated stability and robustness. The GUI proved to be intuitive and could be integrated into modern vehicles with built-in displays. The findings of this study suggest that the proposed system is a viable and effective method for capturing vibrations in trucks and informing drivers about vibration levels. This system has the potential to enhance the comfort and safety of truck drivers.

Plant Production Protocols from Seeds of Threatened Atropa baetica and Widespread A. belladonna, Both Rich in Alkaloids.

Members of the genus Atropa contain various tropane alkaloids, including atropine ((±)-hyoscyamine) and scopolamine, which possess medicinal properties. Preserving the diverse genetic background of wild populations via optimal plant production from seeds could be essential for avoiding the loss of potential uses. We analyzed the germination ecology of two Atropa species comprising the threatened A. baetica and widespread A. belladonna to determine the: (1) influence of temperature, light, and seed age on germination patterns; (2) effects of cold stratification and gibberellic acid (GA3); (3) phenology of seedling emergence in outdoor conditions; (4) phenology of dormancy break and loss of viability in buried seeds; and (5) ability to form persistent soil seed banks. Freshly matured seeds exhibited conditional physiological dormancy, with germination at high temperatures (32/18 °C) but not at low and cold ones (5, 15/4, 20/7 °C). The germination ability increased with time of dry storage and with GA3, thereby suggesting nondeep physiological dormancy. Under outdoor conditions, no seedlings emerged during the first post-sown autumn, but emergence peaks occurred in late winter-early spring. Both species could form small persistent soil seed banks with short durations (3-5 years). A plant production protocol from seeds was established for both taxa.

Can botanic gardens serve as refuges for taxonomic and functional diversity of Odonata? The case of the botanic garden of Castilla-La Mancha (Spain).

In a scenario with declining biodiversity and habitat loss, botanic gardens could serve as refuges for invertebrates, but the opportunities they offer for animal conservation are still poorly understood. Odonata is a good model group for conservation studies, because it includes threatened species and responses to habitat disturbance are well documented. In this study, we assessed the role of the botanic garden of Castilla-La Mancha in Spain as a refuge for members of Odonata by analysing their taxonomic and functional diversity. We explored if the small size of the botanic garden might constrain the taxonomic diversity of Odonata and if low habitat diversity might limit their functional diversity. We sampled adult Odonata from five water bodies along a gradient of human impact and characterized the Odonata communities based on 12 functional traits in Odonata. We used a species-area relationship to control for differences in the size of water bodies. Compared with natural lakes, the Odonata communities contained less species and their functional diversity was lower in the botanic garden ponds, where generalist species were basically hosted. Despite these limitations, the botanic garden ponds hosted the number of species expected for natural water bodies with the moderate surface area and functional diversity, thereby demonstrating that they are a valuable habitat for Odonata in an urban environment. Appropriate management involving the removal of exotic fish and habitat diversification, including creating lotic environments, would increase the taxonomic and functional diversity of Odonata in this urban system. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10201-022-00704-3.

Hypertension Diagnosis with Backpropagation Neural Networks for Sustainability in Public Health.

This paper presents the development of a multilayer feed-forward neural network for the diagnosis of hypertension, based on a population-based study. For the development of this architecture, several physiological factors have been considered, which are vital to determining the risk of being hypertensive; a diagnostic system can offer a solution which is not easy to determine by conventional means. The results obtained demonstrate the sustainability of health conditions affecting humanity today as a consequence of the social environment in which we live, e.g., economics, stress, smoking, alcoholism, drug addiction, obesity, diabetes, physical inactivity, etc., which leads to hypertension. The results of the neural network-based diagnostic system show an effectiveness of 90%, thus generating a high expectation in diagnosing the risk of hypertension from the analyzed physiological data.

A SHA-256 Hybrid-Redundancy Hardware Architecture for Detecting and Correcting Errors.

In emergent technologies, data integrity is critical for message-passing communications, where security measures and validations must be considered to prevent the entrance of invalid data, detect errors in transmissions, and prevent data loss. The SHA-256 algorithm is used to tackle these requirements. Current hardware architecture works present issues regarding real-time balance among processing, efficiency and cost, because some of them introduce significant critical paths. Besides, the SHA-256 algorithm itself considers no verification mechanisms for internal calculations and failure prevention. Hardware implementations can be affected by diverse problems, ranging from physical phenomena to interference or faults inherent to data spectra. Previous works have mainly addressed this problem through three kinds of redundancy: information, hardware, or time. To the best of our knowledge, pipelining has not been previously used to perform different hash calculations with a redundancy topic. Therefore, in this work, we present a novel hybrid architecture, implemented on a 3-stage pipeline structure, which is traditionally used to improve performance by simultaneously processing several blocks; instead, we propose using a pipeline technique for implementing hardware and time redundancies, analyzing hardware resources and performance to balance the critical path. We have improved performance at a certain clock speed, defining a data flow transformation in several sequential phases. Our architecture reported a throughput of 441.72 Mbps and 2255 LUTs, and presented an efficiency of 195.8 Kbps/LUT.

Roadblocks and successes in preparing COVID-19 vaccination clinics: Perspectives from pharmacy residents.

PURPOSE: To outline logistics challenges, barriers, and successes in the development of separate programs for mass COVID-19 vaccine distribution and administration to healthcare employees and community members. SUMMARY: In the face of the global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, COVID-19 vaccine development and distribution became a worldwide priority. AdventHealth Orlando was selected as the central hub for vaccination efforts for central Florida. There was a need to quickly evaluate literature, patient safety, and institutional resources and logistics to coordinate the development of employee and community vaccination clinics. These efforts were driven by postgraduate year 2 residents in health-system pharmacy administration and leadership, medication-use safety and policy, and informatics. Clinic development focused on 4 key areas: vaccine quality control, secure inventory movement, safe preparation and administration, and consolidation of inventory. Healthcare worker vaccinations were administered on the health system's main campus, and community vaccination events were carried out at temporary clinic facilities set up in the parking lot of Orlando International Airport. CONCLUSION: In a mass COVID-19 vaccination initiative directed by the pharmacy enterprise leadership of a large Florida health system, postgraduate year 2 pharmacy residents played a key role in developing and implementing vaccination clinics targeting healthcare worker and community populations. During multiple vaccination events, a total of more than 50,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses were administered, with minimal to no vaccine wastage.

CMOS Implementation of ANNs Based on Analog Optimization of N-Dimensional Objective Functions.

The design of neural network architectures is carried out using methods that optimize a particular objective function, in which a point that minimizes the function is sought. In reported works, they only focused on software simulations or commercial complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS), neither of which guarantees the quality of the solution. In this work, we designed a hardware architecture using individual neurons as building blocks based on the optimization of n-dimensional objective functions, such as obtaining the bias and synaptic weight parameters of an artificial neural network (ANN) model using the gradient descent method. The ANN-based architecture has a 5-3-1 configuration and is implemented on a 1.2 µm technology integrated circuit, with a total power consumption of 46.08 mW, using nine neurons and 36 CMOS operational amplifiers (op-amps). We show the results obtained from the application of integrated circuits for ANNs simulated in PSpice applied to the classification of digital data, demonstrating that the optimization method successfully obtains the synaptic weights and bias values generated by the learning algorithm (Steepest-Descent), for the design of the neural architecture.

Low-value care practice in headache: a Spanish mixed methods research study.

BACKGROUND: Headache is one of the most prevalent diseases. The Global Burden of Disease Study ranks it as the seventh most common disease overall and the second largest neurological cause of disability in the world. The "Do Not Do" recommendations are a strategy for increasing the quality of care and reducing the cost of care for headache. This study aimed to identify specific low-value practices in headache care, determine their frequency, and estimate the cost overrun that they represent, in order to establish "Do not Do" recommendations specifically for headache by consensus and according to scientific evidence. METHODS: This was a mixed methods research study that combined qualitative consensus-building techniques, involving a multidisciplinary panel of experts to define the "Do Not Do" recommendations in headache care, and a retrospective observational study with review of a randomized set of patient records from the past 6 months in four hospitals, to quantify the frequency of these "Do Not Do" practices. We calculated the sum of direct costs of medical consultations, medicines, and unnecessary diagnostic tests. RESULTS: Seven "Do Not Do" recommendations were established for headache. In total, 3507 medical records were randomly reviewed. Low-value practices had a highly variable occurrence, depending on the hospital and type of headache. Overall, 34.1% of low-value practices were related to treatment, 21% were related to overuse of imaging in consultation, and 19% were related to emergency care. The estimated cost of low-value practices in the four hospitals was 203,520.47 euros per 1000 patients. CONCLUSIONS: This study identified low-value headache practices that need to be eradicated and provided data on their frequency and cost overruns.

Development and evaluation of physician-precepted advanced pharmacy practice experiences (APPEs) within an accountable care organization (ACO).

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The American Council of Pharmaceutical Education (ACPE) standards emphasize that pharmacy graduates should be "practice- and team-ready," and the American Society for Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) Task Force on accountable care organizations (ACOs) states that curricula at pharmacy schools should be evaluated and reworked to prepare students to practice effectively as members of the health care team within ACOs. The objective of this study was to describe the development of an ACO-based advanced pharmacy practice experience (APPE) rotation block, clinical activities and interventions completed by students during the experience, and perceptions of students, patients, and physician preceptors regarding the experience. EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITY AND SETTING: The rotation block was within outpatient ACO offices and consisted of a four-week rotation with one pharmacy faculty, immediately followed by a four-week elective experience in a different office with a physician serving as primary preceptor. FINDINGS: Eight students completed the rotation block between August 2017 and April 2018. Students documented a total of 1299 clinical activities and 65 interventions. Medication reconciliation and recommendations to initiate a medication were the most commonly completed activities and interventions documented. The experience was positively perceived among surveyed students, patients, and physician preceptors. SUMMARY: The rotation block was successfully implemented with a positive response from students, patients, and physician preceptors. As a result, the program has expanded in accordance with ACPE Standards to create "practice- and team-readiness" among graduates and expose students to interdisciplinary care within ACOs and other settings.

Brassicaceae-specific Gretchen Hagen 3 acyl acid amido synthetases conjugate amino acids to chorismate, a precursor of aromatic amino acids and salicylic acid.

To modulate responses to developmental or environmental cues, plants use Gretchen Hagen 3 (GH3) acyl acid amido synthetases to conjugate an amino acid to a plant hormone, a reaction that regulates free hormone concentration and downstream responses. The model plant Arabidopsis thaliana has 19 GH3 proteins, of which 8 have confirmed biochemical functions. One Brassicaceae-specific clade of GH3 proteins was predicted to use benzoate as a substrate and includes AtGH3.7 and AtGH3.12/PBS3. Previously identified as a 4-hydroxybenzoic acid-glutamate synthetase, AtGH3.12/PBS3 influences pathogen defense responses through salicylic acid. Recent work has shown that AtGH3.12/PBS3 uses isochorismate as a substrate, forming an isochorismate-glutamate conjugate that converts into salicylic acid. Here, we show that AtGH3.7 and AtGH3.12/PBS3 can also conjugate chorismate to cysteine and glutamate, which act as precursors to aromatic amino acids and salicylic acid, respectively. The X-ray crystal structure of AtGH3.12/PBS3 in complex with AMP and chorismate at 1.94 Å resolution, along with site-directed mutagenesis, revealed how the active site potentially accommodates this substrate. Examination of Arabidopsis knockout lines indicated that the gh3.7 mutants do not alter growth and showed no increased susceptibility to the pathogen Pseudomonas syringae, unlike gh3.12 mutants, which were more susceptible than WT plants, as was the gh3.7/gh3.12 double mutant. The findings of our study suggest that GH3 proteins can use metabolic precursors of aromatic amino acids as substrates.

Rhizosphere Microbiomes from Root Knot Nematode Non-infested Plants Suppress Nematode Infection.

Root knot nematodes (RKN, Meloidogyne spp.) are serious pathogens of numerous crops worldwide. Understanding the roles plant rhizosphere soil microbiome play during RKN infection is very important. The current study aims at investigating the impacts of soil microbiome on the activity of RKN. In this study, the 16S rRNA genes of the bacterial communities from nematode-infested and non-infested rhizosphere soils from four different plants were sequenced on the Illumina Hi-Seq platform. The soil microbiome effects on RKN infection were tested in a greenhouse assay. The non-infested soils had more microbial diversity than the infested soils from all plant rhizospheres, and both soil types had exclusive microbial communities. The inoculation of the microbiomes from eggplant and cucumber non-infested soils to tomato plants significantly alleviated the RKN infection, while the microbiome from infested soil showed increased the RKN infection. Furthermore, bacteria Pseudomonas sp. and Bacillus sp. were screened out from non-infested eggplant soil and exhibited biocontrol activity to RKN on tomato. Our findings suggest that microbes may regulate RKN infection in plants and are involved in biocontrol of RKN.

Evaluación del suplemento de vitaminas C y E en el tratamiento antibiótico contra Helicobacter pylori: revisión sistemática y metaanálisis / Assessment of the use of vitamin C and E supplements concomitantly to antibiotic treatment against Helicobacter pylori: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Introducción: La prevalencia de la infección por Helicobacter pylori afecta casi al 50% de la población mundial, siendo un factor de riesgo para enfermedades benignas y malignas gastrointestinales. El aumento de la resistencia al tratamiento antibiótico contra esta infección ha presentado un dilema en el abordaje de otras alternativas en la terapéutica. Objetivo: Determinar la eficacia del suplemento de vitaminasC y E añadido al tratamiento antibiótico en la erradicación de la infección por H. pylori. Métodos: Se realizó una revisión sistemática en las bases de datos de MedLine, Embase y Cochrane Central Register of Clinical Trials (CENTRAL), para estudios que evaluaran la eficacia del suplemento de vitaminasC y/o E en el tratamiento antibiótico de infección por H. pylori. El resultado principal fue erradicación de la infección y el secundario fueron efectos adversos. El metaanálisis fue elaborado mediante el método de efectos aleatorios. Resultados: Se incluyeron 10 estudios y se hicieron 2 grupos. El primero comparó el uso de suplemento de vitaminasC y E incluyendo 973 pacientes, en el cual sin discriminar el número de antibióticos no se obtuvo una relación con la erradicación de la infección (OR: 1,98 [IC95%: 0,92-4,29], p=0,08). La terapia triple o cuádruple antibiótica no tuvo un efecto sobre la erradicación (OR: 1,80 [IC95%: 0,64-5,08], p=0,26, y OR: 2,84 [IC95%: 0,51-15,56], p=0,22, respectivamente). En el grupo en que solo se evaluó el uso de vitaminaC se incluyeron 702pacientes, pero no se obtuvo un efecto sobre la erradicación (OR: 1,17 [IC95%: 0,58-2,31], p=0,65). Los efectos adversos solo fueron reportados en 4 estudios, siendo el más frecuente las náuseas. Conclusiones: El suplemento de vitaminasC y E en la terapia antibiótica contra H. pylori no tuvo ningún efecto. Sin embargo, los estudios presentaron bastantes sesgos y diferencias en la posología de los suplementos y antibióticos

Introduction: Helicobacter pylori infections affect almost 50% of the world population, constituting a risk factor for benign and malignant gastrointestinal diseases. The increased resistance to antibiotic treatment against this infection represents a dilemma in the search of other therapeutic alternatives. Objective: To determine the efficacy of the use of vitaminC and E supplements concomitantly to antibiotic treatment against H. pylori infections. Methods: We performed a systematic review on the MedLine (PubMed), Embase and Cochrane Central Register of Clinical Trials (CENTRAL) databases, searching for studies evaluating the efficacy of vitaminC and/or E supplements in the antibiotic treatment of H. pylori infections. The primary outcome was eradication of the infection. The secondary outcome was the adverse effects. The meta-analysis was conducted using the random effects method. Results: Ten studies were included and analyzed in two groups. The first group, which was comprised by 973patients, compared the use of supplementation with vitaminC and E, showing that, without discriminating the number of antibiotics used, there was no relationship with the eradication of the infection (OR: 1.98 [95%CI: 0.92-4.29] P=.08). The triple or quadruple antibiotic therapy had no effect on eradication rates either (OR 1.80 [95%CI: 0.64-5.08] P=.26 and OR: 2.84 [95%CI: 0.51-15.56] P=.22, respectively). No effect on the eradication rates was observed either in the group that only assessed the use of vitaminC, comprised by 702patients (OR: 1.17 [95%CI: 0.58-2.31] P=.65). Only four studies reported adverse effects, the most common one being nausea. Conclusions: Supplementation with vitaminC and E in the antibiotic treatment against H. pylori has no effect. However, the reviewed studies had several biases and differences in the dosage of the supplements and antibiotics administered

Assessment of the use of vitamin C and E supplements concomitantly to antibiotic treatment against Helicobacter pylori: A systematic review and meta-analysis. / Evaluación del suplemento de vitaminas C y E en el tratamiento antibiótico contra Helicobacter pylori: revisión sistemática y metaanálisis.

INTRODUCTION: Helicobacter pylori infections affect almost 50% of the world population, constituting a risk factor for benign and malignant gastrointestinal diseases. The increased resistance to antibiotic treatment against this infection represents a dilemma in the search of other therapeutic alternatives. OBJECTIVE: To determine the efficacy of the use of vitaminC and E supplements concomitantly to antibiotic treatment against H. pylori infections. METHODS: We performed a systematic review on the MedLine (PubMed), Embase and Cochrane Central Register of Clinical Trials (CENTRAL) databases, searching for studies evaluating the efficacy of vitaminC and/or E supplements in the antibiotic treatment of H. pylori infections. The primary outcome was eradication of the infection. The secondary outcome was the adverse effects. The meta-analysis was conducted using the random effects method. RESULTS: Ten studies were included and analyzed in two groups. The first group, which was comprised by 973patients, compared the use of supplementation with vitaminC and E, showing that, without discriminating the number of antibiotics used, there was no relationship with the eradication of the infection (OR: 1.98 [95%CI: 0.92-4.29] P=.08). The triple or quadruple antibiotic therapy had no effect on eradication rates either (OR 1.80 [95%CI: 0.64-5.08] P=.26 and OR: 2.84 [95%CI: 0.51-15.56] P=.22, respectively). No effect on the eradication rates was observed either in the group that only assessed the use of vitaminC, comprised by 702patients (OR: 1.17 [95%CI: 0.58-2.31] P=.65). Only four studies reported adverse effects, the most common one being nausea. CONCLUSIONS: Supplementation with vitaminC and E in the antibiotic treatment against H. pylori has no effect. However, the reviewed studies had several biases and differences in the dosage of the supplements and antibiotics administered.

Pyramid approach for the reduction of parallax-related artefacts in optical recordings of moving translucent volumes.

Functional optical imaging (OI) of intrinsic signals (like blood oxygenation coupled reflection changes) and of extrinsic properties of voltage sensitive probes (like voltage-sensitive dyes (VSD)) forms a group of invasive neuroimaging techniques, that possess up to date the highest temporal and spatial resolution on a meso- to macroscopic scale. There are different sources that contribute to the OI signal of which many are noise. In our previous works, we have used dense optical flow for the reduction of movement artefacts. The translucent surface of the cortex allows contributions from multiple depths. Due to the depth offield (DOF) effect, we get an implicit relation of depth and 2D frequency components. In this work, we introduce registration on the levels of a Laplacian pyramid to remove movement artefacts which have different motion components in different spatial frequency bands. This aims to resolve artefacts that remain after normal registration and are caused e.g. by parallax motion, dead pixels or dust on the sensor and other high frequent, moving particles on the cortex surface without the compromise of using high smoothness weights.

Tratamiento de la bacteriemia por enterococo resistente a vancomicina con daptomicina versus linezolid: revisión sistemática y metanálisis / Treatment of bacteremia by vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus with daptomycin versus linezolid: asystematic review and meta-analysese / Tratamento da bacteriemia por enterococus resistentea vancomicina com daptomicina versus linezolida: revisão sistemática e metanálise

Introducción: Para el tratamiento de las infecciones por Enterococcus resistente a vancomicina (ERV) se emplean fármacos de segunda línea como daptomicina y linezolid. Objetivo: hacer una revisión sistemática para evaluar el tratamiento de la bacteriemia por ERV, con daptomicina o linezolid. Metodología: búsqueda electrónica en las bases de datos de Pubmed, Embase, Scopus, ScienceDirect, CENTRAL, Lilacs y Google Académico, para identificar estudios anteriores a julio de 2015 que hayan comparado los tratamientos con daptomicina o linezolid de pacientes infectados por ERV. Resultados: se incluyeron 15 estudios de 1307 registros. No hubo diferencias entre daptomicina y linezolid con respecto a la mortalidad a 30 días. Con la daptomicina se logró más tempranamente el control microbiológico (OR: 0,64; IC95 %: 0,45-0,92). No hubo diferencias entre los dos antibióticos en cuanto a la mejoría clínica, la necesidad de admisión a la UCI o la aparición de efectos adversos como trombocitopenia, neutropenia e insuficiencia renal. Conclusiones: no encontramos diferencias entre daptomicina y linezolid en cuanto a la mortalidad de pacientes infectados por ERV, aunque con la daptomicina se logró una cura microbiológica más rápida.

Introduction: Second-line drugs such as linezolid and daptomycin are used for treatment of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) infections. Objective: A systematic review to evaluate treatment of VRE bacteremia with linezolid versus daptomycin. Methods: A search was done in the databases of Pubmed, Embase, Scopus, ScienceDirect, CENTRAL, Lilacs and Google Scholar to identify studies comparing treatment with daptomycin or linezolid of patients infected by VRE up to July 2015. Result: Only 15 studies were included of a total of 1.307 records. There were no differences between daptomycin and linezolid with respect to mortality at 30 days. Microbiological cure was better with daptomycin (OR: 0.64; 95 % CI: 0.45-0.92), whereas there was no difference between the two antibiotics with respect to clinical cure, need to ICU admission, and the occurrence of adverse effects such as thrombocytopenia, neutropenia and renal failure. Conclusions: No significant differences were observed between daptomycin and linezolid in reference to mortality of patients infected with VRE, although daptomycin treatment produced a faster microbiological cure.

Introdução: Para o tratamento das infecções por Enterococcusresistente a vancomicina (ERV) se empregam fármacos de segunda linha como daptomicina e linezolida. Objetivo: fazer uma revisão sistemática para avaliar o tratamento da bacteriemia por ERV, com daptomicina o linezolida. Metodologia: busca eletrônica nas bases de dados de Pubmed, Embase, Scopus, ScienceDirect, CENTRAL, Lilacs e Google Acadêmico, para identificar estudos anteriores a julho de 2015 que foram comparados os tratamentos com daptomicina ou linezolida de pacientes infectados por ERV. Resultados: se incluíram 15 estudos de 1.307 registros. Não houve diferenças entre daptomicina e linezolida com respeito à mortalidade a 30 dias. Com a daptomicina se conseguiu mais precoce o controle microbiológico (OR: 0,64; IC95 %: 0,45-0,92). Não houve diferenças entre os dois antibióticos em quanto à melhoria clínica, a necessidade de admissão à UTI ou a aparição de efeitos adversos como trombocitopenia, neutropenia e insuficiência renal. Conclusões: não encontramos diferenças entre daptomicina e linezolida em quanto à mortalidade de pacientes infectados por ERV, embora com a daptomicina se conseguiu uma cura microbiológica mais rápida.

Motion invariant contrast enhancement of optical imaging data in the gradient domain.

Functional optical imaging (OI) of intrinsic signals (like blood oxygenation coupled reflection changes) and of extrinsic properties of voltage sensitive probes (like voltage-sensitive dyes (VSD)) forms a group of neuroimaging techniques that possess up to date highest temporal and spatial resolution on a meso-to macroscopic scale. An inherent problem of OI is a very low signal to noise ratio (SNR), which restricts the recordings to be completely motionless and requires detailed knowledge of the properties of the different noise sources. In our experiments we performed a durectomy and did not use an imaging chamber to allow us future joint electroencephalography-optical imaging (EEG-OI) measures, which resulted in movement artifacts. With the goal of motion compensation in OI recordings and magnification of signal changes, we present a novel processing pipeline, which is based on optic flow guided denoising and gradient domain tone mapping for spatiotemporal contrast enhancement.

Compensation of pulsation artifacts during optical imaging with and without cranial chamber.

Functional Optical Imaging (OI) through the opened skull forms a group of Neuroimaging techniques characterized by a high temporal and spatial resolution on a meso-to macroscopic scale. State of the art OI experiments are generally difficult to execute, with a very timely surgical preparation preceding the experiment, that requires a skilled surgeon to mount a sealed imaging chamber onto the skull. The chamber reduces brain pulsation artifacts and swelling of the brain through movement restriction. In this work, we present preliminary results of a novel approach that does not rely on the usage of an imaging chamber with the goal to facilitate heavily the surgical animal preparation and to allow straightforward joint Electroencephalography - Optical Imaging recordings in the future. We carried out experiments to compare the movement restricting properties of the imaging chamber with the movement in a recording of an unconstrained and periodically irrigated brain. We used high-level image processing techniques to reduce brain pulsation artifacts and did a quantitative movement analysis of the recordings. Our results suggest that while recordings with imaging chamber show less sagittal movement, both with and without imaging chamber comprise the same lateral movements.

Equivalencia factorial del Cuestionario de Agresores / Victimas de Olweus según género / Factorial invariance of the Olweus Bully / Bullied Questionnaire according to gender

Este trabajo aborda un tema de gran actualidad, pero escasamente evaluado con investigaciones científico-empíricas en la Argentina: el bullying. El Cuestionario Revisado de Agresores / Víctimas de Olweus es uno de los instrumentos más usados en el mundo para medir el ser acosado y acosar a otros alumnos, ya que tiende a funcionar similarmente en las distintas naciones. Estudios extranjeros y preliminares en la Argentina detectaron que dicho cuestionario presenta una dimensión unifactorial tanto para la Escala Ser Agredido como para la Escala Agredir. Así, esta investigación pretendió indagar la equivalencia factorial según género de dichas escalas en una población intencional de adolescentes. Para ello se constituyó una muestra de 1.222 adolescentes (44% varones; media de edad: 14.4 años) que concurrían a escuelas de enseñanza media en la Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires y en la ciudad de Paraná (Argentina), quienes completaron dicho instrumento y un cuestionario sociodemográfico. Con este fin, se llevaron a cabo análisis factoriales confirmatorios multigrupos para varones y mujeres con el Programa AMOS 16. Al fijar las cargas factoriales de los nueve ítemes de la Escala Ser Agredido, los resultados indicaron que los mismos tendían a funcionar similarmente para varones y mujeres. En cambio, los resultados de la Escala Ser Agresor sugerían que las preguntas de agresión con golpes / empujones y decir mentiras funcionaban de modo distinto, según el género. En las conclusiones se destacan las implicancias de estos hallazgos, se desarrollan explicaciones de por qué dichos ítemes funcionarían en forma diferente y se brindan sugerencias para futuras investigaciones.

The purpose of this research was to investigate a problem of great psychosocial and political relevance but scarcely studied with empirical studies in Argentina: bullying in secondary education. Argentina is a developed Latin American country of Italian and Spanish descend. This nation belongs to the high but not to the very high human development group and is the second best positioned nation in Latin America. Bullying is considered to be an important risk factor for mental health of both children and adolescents due to its association with personal, familial and social problems. Victims suffer of internalizing problems (depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, among others), on the other hand, aggressor show higher behavioral problems (antisocial behavior, substance use, among others). Several authors stated that bullying is a subset of aggressive behavior, generally defined as an act intended to inflict injury or discomfort upon another student. It is characterized by certain special features such as an asymmetric power relationship and some repetitiveness. Previous research has shown that this problem is more frequent in adolescence than in childhood. Several studies suggested differences in aggression according to gender; males present higher level of aggression and bullying compared to females due to social and biological factors. Therefore, a vital aspect in this respect is measuring of both victimization and aggression. A well-known tool to measure this problems are self-reports. Although self-reports have disadvantages -as all measures- they are efficient and low-cost techniques. Thus, the main objective was to explore factorial invariance of the Revised Olweus Bully / Victim Questionnaire according to gender. This questionnaire is the most widely used instrument to measure bullying in North America and Northern Europe and several authors suggest that the questionnaire functions similarly in many countries. Besides, studies in first countries and Argentina suggested that this questionnaire showed a unifactorial structure both for the Scale of Being a Bullied and the Scale of Being a Bully as well as good validity and reliability. Even in those countries, however, there are few published studies on their psychometric properties. This instrument asks about being bullied (or bullying other students in a different section of the questionnaire) in the past couple of months, comprising direct physical and verbal harassment and threatening and coercive behaviors as well as indirect ways of bullying. The instrument presents nine items about victimization and nine about aggression. They are rated on a 5-point scale (from 0 to 4). The questionnaire also contains several questions about the reactions of others to bullying. It was administered to a convenience sample of 1222 students belonging to high schools in Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires and Paraná (Argentina), (44% males, average age: 14.4). Besides, a sociodemographic questionnaire was administered to this sample. Questionnaires were administered at school and confidentiality was ensured. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) 17 and AMOS 16 were used for processing data. AMOS 16 was used for performing multigrup confirmatory factorial analysis in males and females. Configural model for being a bullied was acceptable (CFI = .904 y SRMR = .026). Configural model for being a bully was good (CFI = .919 and SRMR = .018), as well. After constrainting parameters, results suggested that nine items of being bullied were invariant across gender. As regards being bully, results indicated that questions regarding hitting, kicking or pushing and regarding telling lies were not invariant across gender (CFIs were .013 and .011, respectively). Conclusions highlight the relevance and implications of these findings; explanations about why those items could be not invariant in males and females are provided. Also, limitations of this research and directions for future research are pointed out.

Equivalencia factorial del Cuestionario de Agresores / Victimas de Olweus según género / Factorial invariance of the Olweus Bully / Bullied Questionnaire according to gender

Este trabajo aborda un tema de gran actualidad, pero escasamente evaluado con investigaciones científico-empíricas en la Argentina: el bullying. El Cuestionario Revisado de Agresores / Víctimas de Olweus es uno de los instrumentos más usados en el mundo para medir el ser acosado y acosar a otros alumnos, ya que tiende a funcionar similarmente en las distintas naciones. Estudios extranjeros y preliminares en la Argentina detectaron que dicho cuestionario presenta una dimensión unifactorial tanto para la Escala Ser Agredido como para la Escala Agredir. Así, esta investigación pretendió indagar la equivalencia factorial según género de dichas escalas en una población intencional de adolescentes. Para ello se constituyó una muestra de 1.222 adolescentes (44% varones; media de edad: 14.4 años) que concurrían a escuelas de enseñanza media en la Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires y en la ciudad de Paraná (Argentina), quienes completaron dicho instrumento y un cuestionario sociodemográfico. Con este fin, se llevaron a cabo análisis factoriales confirmatorios multigrupos para varones y mujeres con el Programa AMOS 16. Al fijar las cargas factoriales de los nueve ítemes de la Escala Ser Agredido, los resultados indicaron que los mismos tendían a funcionar similarmente para varones y mujeres. En cambio, los resultados de la Escala Ser Agresor sugerían que las preguntas de agresión con golpes / empujones y decir mentiras funcionaban de modo distinto, según el género. En las conclusiones se destacan las implicancias de estos hallazgos, se desarrollan explicaciones de por qué dichos ítemes funcionarían en forma diferente y se brindan sugerencias para futuras investigaciones.(AU)

The purpose of this research was to investigate a problem of great psychosocial and political relevance but scarcely studied with empirical studies in Argentina: bullying in secondary education. Argentina is a developed Latin American country of Italian and Spanish descend. This nation belongs to the high but not to the very high human development group and is the second best positioned nation in Latin America. Bullying is considered to be an important risk factor for mental health of both children and adolescents due to its association with personal, familial and social problems. Victims suffer of internalizing problems (depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, among others), on the other hand, aggressor show higher behavioral problems (antisocial behavior, substance use, among others). Several authors stated that bullying is a subset of aggressive behavior, generally defined as an act intended to inflict injury or discomfort upon another student. It is characterized by certain special features such as an asymmetric power relationship and some repetitiveness. Previous research has shown that this problem is more frequent in adolescence than in childhood. Several studies suggested differences in aggression according to gender; males present higher level of aggression and bullying compared to females due to social and biological factors. Therefore, a vital aspect in this respect is measuring of both victimization and aggression. A well-known tool to measure this problems are self-reports. Although self-reports have disadvantages -as all measures- they are efficient and low-cost techniques. Thus, the main objective was to explore factorial invariance of the Revised Olweus Bully / Victim Questionnaire according to gender. This questionnaire is the most widely used instrument to measure bullying in North America and Northern Europe and several authors suggest that the questionnaire functions similarly in many countries. Besides, studies in first countries and Argentina suggested that this questionnaire showed a unifactorial structure both for the Scale of Being a Bullied and the Scale of Being a Bully as well as good validity and reliability. Even in those countries, however, there are few published studies on their psychometric properties. This instrument asks about being bullied (or bullying other students in a different section of the questionnaire) in the past couple of months, comprising direct physical and verbal harassment and threatening and coercive behaviors as well as indirect ways of bullying. The instrument presents nine items about victimization and nine about aggression. They are rated on a 5-point scale (from 0 to 4). The questionnaire also contains several questions about the reactions of others to bullying. It was administered to a convenience sample of 1222 students belonging to high schools in Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires and Paraná (Argentina), (44% males, average age: 14.4). Besides, a sociodemographic questionnaire was administered to this sample. Questionnaires were administered at school and confidentiality was ensured. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) 17 and AMOS 16 were used for processing data. AMOS 16 was used for performing multigrup confirmatory factorial analysis in males and females. Configural model for being a bullied was acceptable (CFI = .904 y SRMR = .026). Configural model for being a bully was good (CFI = .919 and SRMR = .018), as well. After constrainting parameters, results suggested that nine items of being bullied were invariant across gender. As regards being bully, results indicated that questions regarding hitting, kicking or pushing and regarding telling lies were not invariant across gender (CFIs were .013 and .011, respectively). Conclusions highlight the relevance and implications of these findings; explanations about why those items could be not invariant in males and females are provided. Also, limitations of this research and directions for future research are pointed out.(AU)