A precision agriculture solution for water stress estimation in Hass avocado farms in Colombia.

Agriculture 4.0 technologies continue to see low adoption among small and medium-sized farmers, primarily because these solutions often fail to account for the specific challenges of rural areas. In this work, we propose and implement a design methodology to develop a Precision Agriculture solution aimed at assisting farmers in managing water stress in Hass avocado crops.

Relationship between adiponectin and muscle mass in patients with metabolic syndrome and obesity.

Background: Adiponectin is one of the most important adipokines in human beings. Obesity and sarcopenia are associated with a low-level chronic inflammatory status, and adiponectin plays an anti-inflammatory role.

Aims: The objective of the current work was to study the association between muscle mass, determined via bioelectrical impedance (BIA), and circulating adiponectin levels among obese patients with metabolic syndrome who are older than 60 years of age.

Diabetic Sarcopenia. A proposed muscle screening protocol in people with diabetes : Expert document.

Objectives: To propose the grounds for "diabetic sarcopenia" as a new comorbidity of diabetes, and to establish a muscle screening algorithm proposal to facilitate its diagnosis and staging in clinical practice.

Method: A qualitative expert opinion study was carried out using the nominal technique. A literature search was performed with the terms "screening" or "diagnostic criteria" and "muscle loss" or "sarcopenia" and "diabetes" that was sent to a multidisciplinary group of 7 experts who, in a face-to-face meeting, discussed various aspects of the screening algorithm.

Role of irisin and myostatin on sarcopenia in malnourished patients diagnosed with GLIM criteria.

Objectives: Sarcopenia is characterized by the loss of muscle mass. Skeletal muscle can produce and secrete different molecules called myokines. Irisin and myostatin are antagonistic myokines, and to our knowledge, no studies of both myokines have been conducted in patients with disease-related malnutrition (DRM).

Anthropometric, muscle and serum myokine levels effects of physical exercise with an online platform in female patients with obesity.

Introduction: Under physical exercise conditions, muscles can synthetise and release myokines and these molecules can exert paracrine and endocrine actions. Females with obesity have a sedentary lifestyle with alterations in myokine levels.

Objective: The aim of our study was to evaluate the effect of physical exercise on myokine levels, anthropometric parameters, clinical data, impedance parameters, and muscle ultrasound data in sedentary females with obesity.

Role of beta-2 adrenergic receptor polymorphism (rs1042714) on body weight and glucose metabolism response to a meal-replacement hypocaloric diet.

Objectives: The beta-2 adrenergic receptor (ADRB2) is involved in energy balance regulation. The objective of our study was to evaluate the role of the rs1042714 genetic variant of ADRB2 gene on weight loss, body composition, and metabolic changes secondary to partial meal replacement (pMR) hypocaloric diet in women with obesity.

Methods: We conducted an interventional study in 95 premenopausal women with body mass index ≥ 35 kg/m.

Correlation of the Phase Angle with Muscle Ultrasound and Quality of Life in Obese Females.

Introduction: Phase angle (PhA) has been suggested to be an indicator of body cell mass and nutritional status. Clinically, the phase angle supposedly reflects body cell mass and cell membrane function, and the higher the phase angle, the better is the cell function. Muscle ultrasound (US) is an emerging nutritional assessment technique.

Delirium in oncological palliative care and clinical cardiology units: A comparative analysis.

Objective: The aim of this study was to compare the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of delirium in patients treated in a clinical cardiology unit (CCU) and an oncological palliative care unit (OPCU) at a high-complexity institution.

Context: Delirium is a neuropsychiatric syndrome with multicausal etiology, associated with increased morbidity and mortality.

Method: This was a cross-sectional, analytical observational study.

Double-Lung Transplantation in a Patient with Pulmonary Type B Niemann-Pick Disease: A Valid Treatment Option.

Niemann-Pick disease is a rare autosomal recessive disease characterized by an abnormal intracellular lipid accumulation. Type B is later in onset and a less severe form of the disease, so affected people may survive in adulthood. Storage of sphingomyelin in pulmonary macrophages can lead to interstitial lung disease.

Use of high flow nasal cannula in Spanish neonatal units.

Introduction: The use of high-flow cannula therapy (HFNC) in neonatal units has increased in recent years, but there are no consensus guidelines on its indications and application strategies. Our aim was to know the rate of use of HFNC, their indications and the management variability among Spanish neonatal units.

Material And Methods: Twenty-five-question survey for medical and nursing staff.

Factors Related to Weight Gain in Subjects with Sleeve Gastrectomy During Lockdown by the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic could exacerbate the risk factors for weight gain in patients with previous bariatric surgery. The aim of this study was to evaluate factors related to weight gain during lockdown in patients with a sleeve gastrectomy.

Materials And Methods: A group of 48 obese subjects with previous bariatric surgery was enrolled.

Profile of Cardiovascular Disease Patients Who are Diagnosed with COPD in a Smoking-Cessation Unit.

Introduction: Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have similar prevalence rates and risk factors, and both frequently occur in the same patient. The primary objective of the study was to evaluate the rate of COPD patients among subjects with some form of CVD referring to a smoking cessation unit. The secondary objective was to analyze the demographic and clinical profile of these subjects and to identify independent factors potentially associated with COPD.

Hemorrhagic colloid cyst of the third ventricle: A rare cause of colloid cyst growth and progressive hydrocephalus. Case report.

Introduction: Acute spontaneous bleeding within a colloid cyst of the third ventricle is extremely rare. Accordingly, is difficult to establish reliable prognostic factors, risk factors for obstructive hydrocephalus remain poorly defined, and there are no standard management strategies.

Case Presentation: 19-Year-old man with a colloid cyst of the third ventricle causing obstructive hydrocephalus is described, initially treated with partial endoscopic removal and ventriculo-peritoneal shunt placement.

Recognizing animal personhood in compassionate conservation.

Compassionate conservation is based on the ethical position that actions taken to protect biodiversity should be guided by compassion for all sentient beings. Critics argue that there are 3 core reasons harming animals is acceptable in conservation programs: the primary purpose of conservation is biodiversity protection; conservation is already compassionate to animals; and conservation should prioritize compassion to humans. We used argument analysis to clarify the values and logics underlying the debate around compassionate conservation.

S-Nitrosylation in Regulation of Inflammation and Cell Damage.

Background: Cell signaling through nitric oxide (NO) is a multifaceted mechanism, which regulates metabolic activities and fate in different tissues. The peroxynitrite (ONOO-) formed as reaction product of nitric oxide radical and superoxide interacts with cell membrane phospholipids and proteins causing damage.

Objective: The reaction kinetics to form nitrotyrosine (ONOO-tyrosine) and/or nitrosylated cysteine (ONOO-cysteine) in protein molecules during posttranslational modification and nitration of lipids are therefore critical in determining cells' signaling mechanism for survival or apoptosis.

Surgical Emergencies in Intestinal Venous Malformations.

Background:  Venous malformations (VMs) can occur in any part of the body; however, the gastrointestinal tract is a frequent location. These are usually asymptomatic, thus, representing a challenge to diagnosis. Intestinal location of VMs can be associated with severe complications that ultimately require an emergency surgery.

MERITXELL: The Multifrequency Experimental Radiometer with Interference Tracking for Experiments over Land and Littoral-Instrument Description, Calibration and Performance.

MERITXELL is a ground-based multisensor instrument that includes a multiband dual-polarization radiometer, a GNSS reflectometer, and several optical sensors. Its main goals are twofold: to test data fusion techniques, and to develop Radio-Frequency Interference (RFI) detection, localization and mitigation techniques. The former is necessary to retrieve complementary data useful to develop geophysical models with improved accuracy, whereas the latter aims at solving one of the most important problems of microwave radiometry.

Species identification in forensic samples using the SPInDel approach: A GHEP-ISFG inter-laboratory collaborative exercise.

DNA is a powerful tool available for forensic investigations requiring identification of species. However, it is necessary to develop and validate methods able to produce results in degraded and or low quality DNA samples with the high standards obligatory in forensic research. Here, we describe a voluntary collaborative exercise to test the recently developed Species Identification by Insertions/Deletions (SPInDel) method.

Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Referral to a Transplantation Unit.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), although being infrequent, is the second-most common primary hepatic malignancy in children, after hepatoblastoma (HB). The prognosis is very poor. We present our series of children with HCC referred to our transplant unit to be assessed as candidates for liver transplantation (LT).

Digital Environment for Movement Control in Surgical Skill Training.

Intelligent environments are increasingly becoming useful scenarios for handling computers. Technological devices are practical tools for learning and acquiring clinical skills as part of the medical training process. Within the framework of the advanced user interface, we present a technological application using Leap Motion, to enhance interaction with the user in the process of a laparoscopic surgical intervention and integrate the navigation through augmented reality images using manual gestures.

A randomised controlled trial of an automated oxygen delivery algorithm for preterm neonates receiving supplemental oxygen without mechanical ventilation.

Aim: Providing consistent levels of oxygen saturation (SpO2 ) for infants in neonatal intensive care units is not easy. This study explored how effectively the Auto-Mixer(®) algorithm automatically adjusted fraction of inspired oxygen (FiO2 ) levels to maintain SpO2 within an intended range in extremely low birth weight infants receiving supplemental oxygen without mechanical ventilation.

Methods: Twenty extremely low birth weight infants were randomly assigned to the Auto-Mixer(®) group or the manual intervention group and studied for 12 h.

Guidelines for biomarker testing in advanced non-small-cell lung cancer. A national consensus of the Spanish Society of Medical Oncology (SEOM) and the Spanish Society of Pathology (SEAP).

Patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) carrying epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations can now have specific treatment based on the result of biomarker analysis and patients with rearrangements of the anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) gene will probably soon be able to. This will give them better quality of life and progression-free survival than conventional chemotherapy. This consensus statement was conceived as a joint initiative of the Spanish Society of Medical Oncology (SEOM) and the Spanish Society of Pathology (SEAP), and makes diagnostic and treatment recommendations for advanced NSCLC patients based on the scientific evidence on biomarker use.