Health, longevity, infrastructure and competitiveness: The Four Horsemen of COVID-19.

Many researchers around the world are working to reach a general framework to provide solutions for COVID-19 in different ways. From our economic and business orientation, "Health, Longevity, Infrastructure and Competitiveness" are presented in this paper as the Four Horsemen of COVID-19. Our aim is to analyse the relationship between these proposed four factors and their influence on COVID-19.

US-guided Localization and Removal of Soft-Tissue Foreign Bodies.

US-guided foreign body removal is a nonsurgical highly effective technique used to manage symptomatic foreign bodies and should be considered as a first-line treatment procedure. The authors describe a technique used for US detection and US-guided removal of various types of foreign bodies and discuss the efficacy of the procedure. Soft-tissue foreign bodies can result from accidents or medical procedures, and they are a relatively frequent reason that patients obtain medical consultation.

sFlt-1/PlGF for prediction of early-onset pre-eclampsia: STEPS (Study of Early Pre-eclampsia in Spain).

Objective: A high ratio of soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 (sFlt-1) to placental growth factor (PlGF) has been linked to pre-eclampsia (PE). We evaluated the sFlt-1/PlGF ratio as a predictive marker for early-onset PE in women at risk of PE.

Methods: This prospective, Spanish, multicenter study included pregnant women with a risk factor for PE, including intrauterine growth restriction, PE, eclampsia or hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes and low platelet count syndrome in previous pregnancy, pregestational diabetes or abnormal uterine artery Doppler.

Artificial biomembrane based on DPPC--Investigation into phase transition and thermal behavior through ellipsometric techniques.

Organic thin film deposition presents a multiplicity of challenges. Most notably, layer thickness control, homogeneity and subsequent characterization have been not cleared yet. Phospholipid bilayers are frequently used to model cell membranes.

Theoretical and experimental vibrational spectroscopic investigation of two R(1)R(2)-diphenylsilyl-containing monomers and their optically active derivative polymer.

FT-IR and Raman spectra of bis(4-aminophenyl)diphenylsilane (DIA) and a dicarboxylic acid containing the imide function and a L-alanine moiety (L-ALA) and their resultant polymer (PALA) were recorded in the 500-4000 cm(-1) and 400-3800 cm(-1) regions, respectively. The optically active poly(imide-amide) obtained has two sp(3) carbons in the main chain, favoring its flexibility. Raman analysis identifies the fluorescence produced by the electronic conjugation between the aromatic rings and the amidic groups, which affects the molecular fine structure.