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Optimization of the molecular diagnosis of the acute hepatitis E virus infection
Get PDFTo evaluate the diagnostic value of the combination of two broad-range PCR assays targeting two different and conserved regions of the viral genome for the diagnosis of acute Hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection. Patients with acute hepatitis were prospectively recruited. In all, HEV-IgM antibodies were tested together with evaluation of HEV viraemia by two PCR assays (ORF3 and ORF1). The number of individuals exhibiting negative IgM antibody results but carrying viral RNA was calculated by each PCR assay. Four-hundred and seventy individuals were included, of whom 145 (30.8%) were diagnosed as having acute HEV. Of them, 122 (84.1%) exhibited HEV-IgM antibodies, and 81 (55.8%) had detectable viral RNA for at least one PCR. Using the ORF3 molecular assay, 70 (48.3%) individuals were identified with HEV infection. When the ORF1 molecular assay was applied, 49 (33.8%) individuals were identified. The ORF3 assay detected viral RNA in 32 patients not detected by the ORF1 assay. In contrast, the ORF1 assay could amplify viral RNA in 11 patients who were not detected by the ORF3 assay. The parallel use of two broad-range PCR assays significantly increased the performance of the molecular diagnosis of HEV
Low-profile FSS design methodology to increase isolation between vehicle-borne multifrequency antennas
Get PDFThe present work describes a new approach for the design of a Frequency-Selective Surface (FSS) in the context of frequency filters to increase isolation between two vehicle-borne antennas. A compact FSS design based on nested square meandered resonators is optimized for multifrequency operation. Furthermore, a design workflow is proposed. In general, the measurement of low-profile FSS does not correspond to simulation through Floquet modes based on periodic boundary conditions due to the lack of uniformity of mutual coupling among the FSS unit cells. The proposed method demonstrates the agreement between the infinite simulation and the measurement of the finite prototype once a convenient scale factor is applied, which facilitates the design workflow. In this case, an FSS is used as an efficient filter to increase the isolation between antennas by 6 dB in three representative bands (3GPP, WiFI I and II). In this way, multifrequency antennas can be placed at approximately half their actual distance with the same performance in spatial-constrained vehicular environments
Illiberalism and the Deinstitutionalization of Public Diplomacy: The Rise of Hungary and Viktor Orbán in American Conservative Media
Get PDFThe promotion of Hungary and Viktor Orbán among American conservatives is often presented as a warning of conservative embrace of illiberal politics. While acknowledging the draw of Hungary’s illiberal policies as the motivating factor for American conservative interest in Hungary, our focus seeks to answer to what extent this embrace of Hungary can be considered a form of public diplomacy. We examined the frequency and substance of mentions of Hungary and Viktor Orbán in 1643 articles within 13 American conservative media outlets to track how the narrative around the country and the prime minister has evolved over the past four years, bearing in mind the impact of Tucker Carlson’s interview with Viktor Orbán in late 2021. We found both an increase in the quantity of articles focused on Hungary and Viktor Orbán as well as a largely positive trend defending and praising the policies of Hungary and the prime minister. We also observed a strong focus on Orbán as the primary actor of Hungarian public diplomacy and argue that this hyper-presidentialized focus exemplifies the deinstitutionalization of public diplomacy, along with other elements that contribute to the enhancement of Orbán as an individual public diplomacy actor
Muerte y ritual bajo el manto celeste: en torno a un concepto religioso de tradición osiriana en el Egipto romano
Get PDFIn ancient societies where multiple religious communities of ancient roots coexisted, the study of the interaction produced in terms of beliefs and funerary practices is of special interest. In this sense, the present work intends to study the origins of a religious motif that appears on some of the funerary assemblages of Osirian tradition in Roman Egypt, consisting of the mummification of the deceased under the sky as a mantle.En las sociedades antiguas donde convivían múltiples comunidades religiosas de antigua raigambre resulta de especial interés el estudio de la interacción producida en el plano de las creencias y prácticas funerarias. En este sentido, el presente trabajo pretende estudiar los orígenes de un motivo religioso que aparece en algunos de los ajuares funerarios de tradición osiriana en el Egipto romano, consistente en la momificación del difunto bajo el cielo como manto
Increasing stakeholder engagement in research projects through standardization activities
Get PDFPurpose – This research assesses the implications of integrating standardization activities into European
research projects to foster the engagement of project internal and external stakeholders and into different
project stakeholder management theories.
Design/methodology/approach – This paper analyzes the integration of standardization and the
engagement of project internal and external stakeholders in standardization activities in a multi-case study of
four European Framework Program projects and with the projects Advancing Resilience of Historic Areas
Against Climate-Related and Other Hazards (ARCH) and Smart Mature Resilience (SMR) in two separate case
studies more deeply. The multi-case study mainly evaluates the stakeholder participation in 10 CEN Workshop
Agreements. While in the two case studies, among other things, two project surveys are used to investigate how
stakeholder engagement was supported by standardization activities.
Findings – The results show that standardization significantly supports stakeholder engagement and lead to
a proposal on how standardization can support achieving stakeholder engagement goals in the different
research project phases.
Originality/value – This research provides practical information for policy-makers who support
standardization as a tool for research, as well as for researchers and project managers who want to use
standardization activities efficiently in research projects
The BIDIAP index: a clinical, analytical and ultrasonographic score for the diagnosis of acute appendicitis in children
Get PDFBackground: Pediatric acute appendicitis (PAA) continues to be a diagnostic challenge today. The diagnostic performance of classical indices is only moderate, especially in pediatric population. This study aimed to define a clinical, radiological and analytical index for the diagnosis of PAA.
Materials and methods: This prospective study included 151 patients divided into two groups: (1) 53 patients with non-surgical abdominal pain (NSAP) and (2) 98 patients with a confirmed PAA. Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics were compared between groups using the Mann-Whitney U test and the Fisher exact test. To identify the predictors of PAA, we performed a multivariable logistic regression using a forward stepwise analysis and we assigned multiples of integer values to the selected variables. The diagnostic performance of the index was assessed by calculating the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve. Intra-cohort calibration was assessed with the Hosmer-Lemeshow test.
Results: We developed the BIDIAP index (BIomarkers for the DIagnosis of Appendicitis in Pediatrics), which included three variables that independently predicted higher odds of PAA: appendiceal caliber (≥ 6.9 mm), systemic immune-inflammation index (≥ 890) and peritoneal irritation, which scored 4, 3 and 2 points, respectively. Mean (SD) score of the participants was 2.38 (2.06) in group 1 and 7.89 (1.50) in group 2. The area under the ROC was 0.97 (95% CI 0.95-0.99). The cut-off point was established at 4 points, resulting in a sensitivity of 98.98% and a specificity of 77.78%.
Conclusions: The BIDIAP index has an exceptional diagnostic performance in PAA. The importance of these results lies in its novelty and in the simplicity of the index. Although external validation will be necessary, initial results look promising
Epidemias y remedios en el virreinato del Perú. Dos tratados médicos sobre el garrotillo y el sarampión (Francisco de Figueroa y Francisco Bermejo)
Get PDFLas epidemias y las enfermedades, las crisis resultantes de ellas y sus curaciones son episodios constantes que enfrentan las sociedades humanas. Si bien los estudios vinculados con las políticas de salud tienen ya una larga y productiva relación con las Humanidades, poco han aportado en el ámbito específico de los estudios de los Siglos de Oro con una mirada interdisciplinaria. El proyecto «Enfermedades y epidemias en el mundo hispánico del Siglo de Oro. Realidades médicas y percepciones sociales en el Perú virreinal» (VRI-UP), del Vicerrectorado de Investigación de la Universidad del Pacífico (Perú), subraya la importancia de aplicar los métodos tradicionales para los textos del siglo XVII en el complejo entramado social del virreinato peruano. El objetivo fundamental fue la recuperación de algunos materiales textuales del Siglo de Oro en el Nuevo Mundo relativos a epidemias y enfermedades epidémicas, principalmente sarampión y difteria, ya que para fundamentar los estudios históricos, sociológicos o de historia de la medicina, es indispensable disponer de ediciones de garantía de los textos, que comprenden tratados médicos y morales, relaciones de sucesos y otras obras literarias. En este volumen se publican, en condiciones de fiabilidad crítica, con estudios y la anotación correspondiente, el tratado de Francisco de Figueroa sobre «el garrotillo o esquilencia mortal» (1615); y el Discurso de la enfermedad sarampión experimentada en la Ciudad de los Reyes del Perú (1694) de Francisco de Bermejo y Roldán
Natalia Quintas-Froufe and Ana González-Neira (Coords.), Los estudios de la audiencia: De la tradición a la innovación. Published by Gedisa, Barcelona (2021), 261 pp. [RESEÑA]
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Effect of Combining Impact-Aerobic and Strength Exercise, and Dietary Habits on Body Composition in Breast Cancer Survivors Treated with Aromatase Inhibitors
Get PDFThis study examines both the effect of a twice-weekly combined exercise-1 h session of strength and 1 h session of impact-aerobic-on body composition and dietary habits after one year of treatment with aromatase inhibitors (AI) in breast cancer survivors. Overall, forty-three postmenopausal women with a BMI ¿ 35 kg/m2, breast cancer survivors treated with AI, were randomized into two groups: a control group (CG) (n = 22) and a training group (IG) (n = 21). Body composition, i.e., abdominal, visceral, and subcutaneous adipose tissue) was measured by magnetic resonance. In addition, some questionnaires were used to gather dietary data and to measure adherence to the Mediterranean diet. After one year, women in the IG showed a significant improvement in body composition, indicated by decreases in subcutaneous and visceral adipose tissue, and total fat tissue. Furthermore, the dietary habits were compatible with moderate adherence to the Mediterranean diet pattern and a low dietary intake of Ca, Zn, Folic Ac, and vitamins D, A, and E. A twice-weekly training program combining impact aerobic exercise and resistance exercise may be effective in improving the body composition for postmenopausal women who have breast cancer treated with AI, and the results suggest the need for nutritional counselling for this population
Digital image correlation after focused ion beam micro-slit drilling: A new technique for measuring residual stresses in hardmetal components at local scale
Get PDFA new method has been developed for measuring residual stresses at the surface of hardmetal components with
higher spatial resolution than standard X-ray diffraction methods. It is based on measuring the surface displacements produced when stresses are partially released by machining a thin slit perpendicularly to the tested
surface. Slit machining is carried out by focused ion beam (FIB). Measurement of the displacement fields around
the FIB slit are performed by applying an advanced digital image correlation algorithm based on Fourier analysis
with sub-pixel resolution. This method compares SEM images of the same area of the hardmetal surface before
and after slitting. The method has been successfully applied to as-ground and femto-laser textured surfaces
showing good correlation with the standard sin2
ψ XRD technique. It is concluded that texturing induced by laser
pulses in the femtoseconds regime is not perfectly adiabatic, since residual stresses are reduced by 15