SARS-CoV-2 infection in synanthropic rats from Guayaquil city (Ecuador) during COVID-19 pandemic: A proxy to prevent wild reservoirs in the tropics.

Human-to-animal reverse transmission of SARS-CoV-2 is a risk for new reservoirs' emergence and new variants' evolution. SARS-CoV-2 infection of synanthropic rodents in urban settings has been reported during COVID-19 in New York and Mexico cities. In this study, we addressed the potential transmission of SARS-CoV-2 to synanthropic rats in the city of Guayaquil (Ecuador) during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Evaluation of the Short-Term Response in Refractory Trigeminal Neuralgia Treated With CyberKnife.

Objectives Stereotactic radiosurgery combined with pharmacological treatment is currently one of the most acceptable alternatives for the treatment of trigeminal neuralgia (TN). Our primary endpoint was to report the short-term response (one month) outcomes of 10 patients with refractory TN after CyberKnife (CK) radiosurgery; secondary endpoints were to assess early side effects and complications. Methods Ten female patients with TN refractory to pharmacological and/or non-pharmacological treatment received a single dose of 90 Gy with CyberKnife radiosurgery.

Equilibrium, transient dynamics and sustainable reference points under age-specific natural mortality rates and varying levels of population productivity: The case of the Northern cod stock.

Scientific advisory bodies provide scientific advice for sustainable fisheries management based on the precautionary approach and maximum sustainable yield (MSY) reference points, such as spawning stock biomass (SSB) value B, and fishing mortality giving MSY, F. The lack of a stock-recruitment function (SRF) to identify a clear breakpoint B has recently emerged in important stock collapses. It also precludes the use of equilibrium-based methods to analyze the sustainability of F.

SARS-CoV-2 transmission from infected owner to household dogs and cats is associated with food sharing.

Objectives: Several cases of reverse transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from human to pets were reported during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Accordingly, the World Organization for Animal Health has recommended to improve SARS-CoV-2 surveillance on household animals to assess the risk of transmission between species. After such recommendation, we studied the potential SARS-CoV-2 infection in household dogs and cats in the city of Guayaquil, the most populated city in Ecuador.

Contingency Plan for the Intensive Care Services for the COVID-19 pandemic.

In January 2020, the Chinese authorities identified a new virus of the Coronaviridae family as the cause of several cases of pneumonia of unknown aetiology. The outbreak was initially confined to Wuhan City, but then spread outside Chinese borders. On 31 January 2020, the first case was declared in Spain.

Partial molar volumes and isentropic compressions of sugar alcohols in aqueous solutions from 15 °C to 40 °C at atmospheric pressure.

Densities and sound speeds of aqueous solutions of Erythritol, Xylitol, Sorbitol, and Maltitol were measured at 15 °C, 25 °C, 40 °C, and 45 °C using a density and sound velocity meter (DSA 5000M). The results were used to calculate the apparent and standard molar volumes and compressions, the specific volumes and compressions, as well as the hydration numbers and their temperature dependence. The volumetric results are used to characterize the hydration of sugar alcohols and are related to sweet taste chemoreception.

A public health decision support system model using reasoning methods.

Problem: Public health programs must be based on the real health needs of the population. However, the design of efficient and effective public health programs is subject to availability of information that can allow users to identify, at the right time, the health issues that require special attention.

Objective: The objective of this paper is to propose a case-based reasoning model for the support of decision-making in public health.

Outbreak Risk of Club Root Caused by Plasmodiophora brassicae on Oilseed Rape in Chile.

Oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.) plants with typical club root symptoms were detected on two farms in the La Araucanía region (37°35' to 39°37' S), southern Chile. In 2010, affected plants were found in large areas throughout three fields on a single farm and disease incidence ranged from 30 to 100%.

Towards an intelligent decision support system for public health surveillance - a qualitative analysis of information needs.

Public health information systems are often implemented considering the functionalities and requirements established by administrative staff or researchers, but sometimes ignoring the particular needs of decision makers. This paper describes a proposal to support the design of a Decision Support System for Public Health Surveillance in Colombia, by conducting a qualitative study to identify the real needs of people involved in decision making processes. Based on the study results, an intelligent computational component that supports Data Analysis Automation, Prediction of future scenarios and the identification of new Behavioral Patterns is proposed.

Sudden death from ruptured choroid plexus arteriovenous malformation.

Brain vascular malformations are recognized as having potential to produce hemorrhage, but leading to sudden death in children is uncommon. Arteriovenous malformations may be situated in any region of the brain, but very rarely, they can be restricted to the choroid plexus. We report here a rare case of sudden death in a child, caused by a ruptured vascular malformation with an unusual location, which was not identified grossly but only on histological examination.

Surgical Treatment of Dermatofibrosarcoma Protuberans Using a Reversed Adipofascial Sural Flap - Case Report.

Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans is a rare superficial tumor characterized by high rates of local recurrence and low risk of metastasis. Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans occurs most commonly on the trunk and proximal extremities, it affects all races, and often develops between the second and the fifth decade of life. The tumor grows slowly, typically over years.

SU-E-T-264: New Concrete Designed and Evaluation for Megavoltage X Radiotherapy Facilities (CONTEK-RFH2).

Purpose: The most common material for shielding is concrete, which can be made using various materials of different densities as aggregates. New techniques in radiotherapy, as IMRT and VMAT, require more monitor units and it is important to develop specifically designed shielding materials.

Methods: Arraela S.

SU-E-T-388: Verification of Monitor Units and Dose Distributions in IMRT Plans Using Monte Carlo Algorithms on the E-IMRT Web Platform.

Purpose: Currently, quality control (QC) for each IMRT treatment is performed by dose distribution measurements. These techniques are very time-consuming and require long accelerator downtime. QC could be only based in verification of monitor units and dose distributions, if precise control of MLC is carried out.

Noise reduction by recycling dynamically coupled time series.

We say that several scalar time series are dynamically coupled if they record the values of measurements of the state variables of the same smooth dynamical system. We show that much of the information lost due to measurement noise in a target time series can be recovered with a noise reduction algorithm by crossing the time series with another time series with which it is dynamically coupled. The method is particularly useful for reduction of measurement noise in short length time series with high uncertainties.

Reduction of noise of large amplitude through adaptive neighborhoods.

We propose a noise reduction algorithm based on adaptive neighborhood selection that is able to obtain high levels of noise reduction for chaotic vector time series corrupted by observational noises with a noise-to-signal ratio of up to 300%.

[Changes in lacrimal secretion in rabbits according to meibomian glands activity].

Purpose: The purpose of this issue is to create an experimental animal model of dry eye and study the alteration of lachrymal secretion in time.

Materials And Methods: We used a group of 8 rabbits in which the Meibomian gland orifices of the right eye were individually closed by cauterization, the results being related to the sound left eye.

Results: We studied: the quantitative alteration of the lachrymal secretion using Schirmer 1 test; the alteration of lachrymal film using rose-bengal and fluorescein staining; the variation in tear protein concentration and histopathological changes in conjunctiva.

[Dry eye--etiopathogenic and histopathologic correlations].

Aims: To assess the role of the common inflammatory mechanism in the pathogenesis of the dry eye syndrome.

Methods: 64 patients with eye surface symptoms were studied using a diagnostic algorithm: questionnaire (eye symptoms were graded and a symptomatology SCORE was calculated), objective eye examination (including Schirmer's test and the tear film breakup time-BUT). Histopathological examination of 14 conjunctival bioptic fragments was performed.

[The influence of ocular surgery for lacrimal secretion].

Dry eye syndrome remains a constant health problem while more and more patients are being involved and final data concerning the etiopathology is still missing. This study investigates the hypothesis that ocular surgery inflicts damage on the tear production (regarding quantity, quality or the compositional aspect). Ocular symptoms were registered with the help of a questionnaire.

Measuring comparative risk perceptions in an urban minority population: the risk perception survey for diabetes.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess comparative risk perceptions related to diabetes complications and their associations with patient characteristics in an urban minority sample.

Methods: The authors developed the Risk Perception Survey-Diabetes Mellitus (RPS-DM) and administered the survey using a Solomon Four group design with a random half of a sample of 599 adults with diabetes. This was the baseline survey to measure comparative risk perceptions in a multiethnic sample prior to implementation of randomly assigned behavioral interventions to improve diabetic retinopathy screening rates.

Hypersensitivity to paroxetine.

The increasingly extensive use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors will probably increase the number of cases of cutaneous reactions due to these drugs. This report describes a case of generalized exanthema due to paroxetine. Positive results to patch tests indicated delayed hypersensitivity.

Geometric noise reduction for multivariate time series.

We propose an algorithm for the reduction of observational noise in chaotic multivariate time series. The algorithm is based on a maximum likelihood criterion, and its goal is to reduce the mean distance of the points of the cleaned time series to the attractor. We give evidence of the convergence of the empirical measure associated with the cleaned time series to the underlying invariant measure, implying the possibility to predict the long run behavior of the true dynamics.

[Keratotic basal cell carcinoma with orbital extension--case report].

This is a description of a case of a 72-year-old female who developed a basal cell carcinoma of the external angle of the eyelid, with intraorbital extension. This type of cancer of the eyelid developed on keratotic skin lesions of the face; the invasion of the orbit occurred only for two years. The tumour of the eyelid and orbit was completely removed with good postoperative course and a good outcome without recurrence in the past 3 years.

[Intraocular mass lesion--case report].

The authors present a case of a 27 years old patient, admitted in the Ophthalmological Department, presenting an intraocular mass lesion of the right eye, which consist of 2 different tumours of the eyeball (with different shape and location). The patient presents scleral staphiloma due to the intraocular tumours of the eye ball, the change of the shape and colour of the anterior aspect of the eye, loss of vision for two months. The complementary examinations for the diagnosis, that have been done (A Scan and Bscan, MRI of the eye ball) pointed to a possible choroidal hemangioma of the middle tunic of the eyeball.

First Report of Ascochyta Blight of Chickpea Caused by Ascochyta rabiei in Chile.

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) plants with foliar and stem lesions fitting the description of Ascochyta blight were observed in October 2002 in four chickpea crops located in the La Araucania Region (38°S, 72°24'W) in southern Chile. Large, circular foliar and stem lesions containing pycnidia arranged in concentric circles were observed (1).