Workforce scheduling efficiency assessment in construction projects through a multi-objective optimization model in the COVID-19 context.

The COVID-19 disease has caused a drastic stoppage in the construction industry as a result of quarantines. For this reason, this study focuses on the workforce scheduling problem when working under COVID labor distancing constraints, and additional costs derived from deviation hours or hiring new employees that managers must assume on a project due to circumstances. A multi-objective mixed integer linear programming model was developed and solved using weighting and epsilon constraint methods to evaluate workforce scheduling and the mentioned COVID costs.

Effects of Canine-Obtained Lactic-Acid Bacteria on the Fecal Microbiota and Inflammatory Markers in Dogs Receiving Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Treatment.

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) may cause enteropathy in dogs and probiotics may be one option to prevent this. The objective of this study was to determine whether the administration of canine-obtained lactic acid bacteria (LAB) has an effect on the frequency of diarrhea, the composition of the fecal microbiota, and/or markers of gastrointestinal inflammation in dogs receiving NSAIDs when compared to dogs given NSAIDs and a placebo. A total of 22 dogs treated with NSAIDs for various clinical indications were enrolled in a seven-day randomized, double-blinded placebo-controlled interventional study.

Diagnostic accuracy of regadenoson stress echocardiography: concordance with gated-spect myocardial perfusion imaging.

Regadenoson Stress Echocardiography (RSE) can detect myocardial ischemia, and its diagnostic accuracy should be evaluated. We sought to investigate the agreement between RSE and gated-SPECT myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) and appraise its diagnostic accuracy. Consecutive patients (n = 202) referred for non-invasive evaluation of myocardial ischemia, with (38.

Asphyxia Caused by a Giant Fibrovascular Polyp of the Esophagus.

Fibrovascular polyps (FVPs) are rare, benign tumors of the esophagus; they usually appear as an intraluminal mass within the esophagus, which can grow and reach enormous sizes if left untreated. They can cause a variety of symptoms, from mild dysphagia to life-threatening asphyxia. Diagnosis is challenging because FVPs can resemble any respiratory condition, which can lead to misdiagnosis and potentially dangerous therapies.

Organ donation in the Basque country: 18 years experience.

Purpose: We reviewed of the trends in organ donation within a coordinated transplant program over the last 18 years.

Methods: Two thousand three hundred and fifty five potential donors (PD) were evaluated in 18 years including 1282 who were effective donors (EDs) and the 4081 harvested organs. A retrospective analysis of various parameters was performed comparing four different periods: 1981 to 1986 (P0); 1987 to 1992 (P1); 1993 to 1998 (P2); and 1999 to 2004 (P3).

Mexican chihuahua cheese: sensory profiles of young cheese.

Sensory profiles of fresh semihard Chihuahua cheese produced in the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua were developed to characterize the flavors and textures of this traditionally made Hispanic-style cheese. Multiple allotments of Chihuahua cheese, 9 brands made with raw milk (RM) and 5 brands made with pasteurized milk (PM), were obtained within 3 d of manufacture from 12 different cheese plants throughout Chihuahua, México. Cheeses were shipped overnight to Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania, and flavor analyses were conducted within 14 to 18 d after manufacture.

[Tricuspid stenosis after pacemaker implantation without evidence of bacterial endocarditis. A case report].

Tricuspid stenosis related to endocardial pacemaker leads is uncommon. We report the case of a patient with severe tricuspid stenosis documented 15 years after the implantation of a permanent DDD pacemaker for symptomatic congenital heart block. The atrial and ventricular leads both had a loop at the level of the tricuspid valve that may have caused endothelial damage and, eventually, tricuspid stenosis.

Pre-infarction angina elicits greater myocardial viability on reperfusion after myocardial infarction: a dobutamine stress echocardiographic study.

Objectives: We sought to evaluate myocardial viability (inotropic reserve) after myocardial infarction (MI) and its relationship with the presence of unstable pre-infarction angina (PIA).

Background: Several studies have suggested that PIA can limit infarct size, but it is not known whether PIA can elicit myocardial viability after an acute MI, with left ventricular function improvement.

Methods: Before discharge from the hospital, 91 patients with a reperfused MI (either fibrinolysis or primary coronary angioplasty) had low-dose dobutamine echocardiography performed to assess the myocardial inotropic reserve of the infarct-related area.

[Intracranial hemorrhage with fluid level. A case report without coagulation alterations].

The presence of intracranial hemorrhage with a fluid-blood level in patients receiving anticoagulant medication or with coagulopathy is an infrequent but well-documented complication. We reported a patient with a fluid-blood level with normal haemostasis. A 62-year-old-man was admitted with a left putaminal hemorrhage containing a fluid-blood level, but without abnormal haemostasis.

Limited education as a risk factor in cervical cancer.

The study reported here analyzes the influence of formal education on the behavior and age at onset of carcinoma of the cervix in 2204 women in Quito, Ecuador, between 1985 and 1994. The results indicate that education had a considerable degree of influence on the behavior of this neoplasia. That is, women with primary education or less were found to have almost twice the cervical cancer incidence of those with secondary or higher education, while those who were illiterate had almost six times the incidence found among university-educated women.

Prevalence of HPV DNA in cervical lesions in patients from Ecuador and Japan.

Cervical cancer is about 6 times more frequent in Ecuador than in Japan. We investigated the association between infection by the human papillomavirus (HPV) and the genesis of cervical cancer in specimens of lesions of the cervical epithelium obtained from patients in Ecuador and Japan. We also examined the results of HPV DNA detection and typing by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) performed under the same technical conditions in areas with differing rates of cervical cancer.

Quantitative Comparison of Selected Virulence Associated Characteristics in Food and Clinical Isolates of Listeria.

Thirty food and clinical isolates of Listeria were compared quantitatively in regard to lethality in immunocompromised mice, hemolytic activity for sheep erythrocytes, invasiveness towards Hep-2 epithelial cells, and cytotoxicity to CHO cells. All Listeria monocytogenes isolates were hemolytic, invasive, weakly cytotoxic, and lethal to immunocompromised mice. Listeria ivanovii isolates expressed the first three properties but were non-virulent.

Comparison of enrichment and plating media for isolation of Yersinia.

Yersinia enterocolitica (Serotypes 0:3 or 0:8), Yersinia frederiksenii, Yersinia kristensenii, or Yersinia intermedia along with 10(8) cells of each of three extraneous organisms (Escherichia coli, Enterobacter aerogenes, Pseudomonas fragi), all commonly found on market poultry, were inoculated into five enrichment media followed by streaking onto 11 plating media to determine the most-efficacious combinations for future surveys or assessment studies. For Yersinia enterocolitica (0:8), infrequent recoveries were made using yeast extract-rosebengal-bile oxalate sorbose broth and phosphate-buffered saline (4 C) followed by plating onto pectin, DNase-Tween 80 (polyoxyethylene sorbitan monooleate)-sorbitol, MacConkey-Tween 80, or cefsulodin-irgasan-novobiocin (CIN) agars. With Y.

The presence of Yersinia enterocolitica and other Yersinia species on the carcasses of market broilers.

Sixty ready-to-cook broiler carcasses obtained from several local supermarkets were tested for the presence of Yersinia enterocolitica and other Yersinia species. In the present study, the authors used two enrichment broths, yeast-extract/rosebengal-bile oxalate sorbose (YER-BOS) and phosphate-buffered saline with a postenrichment KOH treatment (PBS-KOH), and two plating media, cefsulodin-irgasan-novobiocin (CIN) and pectin agar. Yersinia organisms were found on 34 of 60 carcasses (56.

Characterization of the Aeromonas hydrophila group isolated from retail foods of animal origin.

During a recent survey of retail fresh foods of animal origin (fish and seafood, raw milk, poultry, and red meats) for organisms of the Aeromonas hydrophila group, we isolated representative strains from the various foods. In this study, we sought to characterize these isolates for biochemical properties and virulence-associated factors and to compare the food isolates with clinical isolates. We identified all food and clinical isolates as A.

Comparison of lithium chloride-phenylethanol-moxalactam and modified Vogel Johnson agars for detection of Listeria spp. in retail-level meats, poultry, and seafood.

The effectiveness of Modified Vogel Johnson agar and lithium chloride-phenylethanol-moxalactam agar for detection of Listeria spp. in foods was compared by using the media to analyze retail-level meat, poultry, and seafood both by direct plating and in conjunction with a three-tube most-probable-number enrichment. The most-probable-number protocol detected Listeria species, including Listeria monocytogenes, in a substantial portion of the fresh meat and seafood samples.