Donor-derived cell-free DNA monitoring for early diagnosis of antibody-mediated rejection after kidney transplantation: a randomized trial.

Background And Hypothesis: Donor-derived cell-free DNA (dd-cfDNA) shows good diagnostic performance for the detection of antibody-mediated rejection (AMR) in kidney transplant recipients (KTR). However, the clinical benefits of dd-cfDNA monitoring need to be established. Early diagnosis of AMR at potentially reversible stages may be increasingly important due to emerging treatment options for AMR.

Metal tolerance of Río Tinto fungi.

Southwest Spain's Río Tinto is a stressful acidic microbial habitat with a noticeably high concentration of toxic heavy metals. Nevertheless, it has an unexpected degree of eukaryotic diversity in its basin, with a high diversity of fungal saprotrophs. Although some studies on the eukaryotic diversity in Rio Tinto have been published, none of them used molecular methodologies to describe the fungal diversity and taxonomic affiliations that emerge along the river in different seasons.

Design Guidelines of Mobile Apps for Older Adults: Systematic Review and Thematic Analysis.

Background: Mobile apps are fundamental tools in today's society for practical and social endeavors. However, these technologies are often not usable for older users. Given the increased use of mobile apps by this group of users and the impact that certain services may have on their quality of life, such as mobile health, personal finance, or online administrative procedures, a clear set of guidelines for mobile app designers is needed.

Integrated health system to assess and manage frailty in community dwelling: Co-design and usability evaluation.

Objective: We aimed to co-create and evaluate an integrated system to follow-up frailty in a community dwelling environment and provide a multi-modal tailored intervention. Frailty and dependency among the older population are a major challenge to the sustainability of healthcare systems. Special attention must be paid to the needs and particularities of frail older persons as a vulnerable group.

A panoramic view and swot analysis of artificial intelligence for achieving the sustainable development goals by 2030: progress and prospects.

The17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) established by the United Nations Agenda 2030 constitute a global blueprint agenda and instrument for peace and prosperity worldwide. Artificial intelligence and other digital technologies that have emerged in the last years, are being currently applied in virtually every area of society, economy and the environment. Hence, it is unsurprising that their current role in the pursuance or hampering of the SDGs has become critical.

Home Monitoring System for Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment in Patient's Dwelling: System Design and UX Evaluation.

Population aging threatens the sustainability of welfare systems since it is not accompanied by an extended healthy and independent period in the last years of life. The Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) has been shown to be efficient in maintaining the healthy period at the end of the life. Frailty monitoring is typically carried out for an average period of 6 months in clinical settings, while more regular monitoring could prevent the transition to disability.

Usability, User Experience, and Acceptance Evaluation of CAPACITY: A Technological Ecosystem for Remote Follow-Up of Frailty.

Frailty predisposes older persons to adverse events, and information and communication technologies can play a crucial role to prevent them. CAPACITY provides a means to remotely monitor variables with high predictive power for adverse events, enabling preventative personalized early interventions. This study aims at evaluating the usability, user experience, and acceptance of a novel mobile system to prevent disability.

Applicability of Multi-Agent Systems and Constrained Reasoning for Sensor-Based Distributed Scenarios: A Systematic Mapping Study on Dynamic DCOPs.

: At present, sensor-based systems are widely used to solve distributed problems in changing environments where sensors are controlled by intelligent agents. On Multi-Agent Systems, agents perceive their environment through such sensors, acting upon that environment through actuators in a continuous cycle. These problems have not always been addressed from an ad-hoc perspective, designed specifically for the circumstances of the problem at hand.

A polymer - zeolite composite for mixed metal removal from aqueous solution.

Heavy metals become inevitable pollutants that are toxic to life. Lots of treatment methods are available; adsorption is a cheap option. Metals are mostly found as mixtures in wastewaters.

Automatic and Real-Time Computation of the 30-Seconds Chair-Stand Test without Professional Supervision for Community-Dwelling Older Adults.

The present paper describes a system for older people to self-administer the 30-s chair stand test (CST) at home without supervision. The system comprises a low-cost sensor to count sit-to-stand (SiSt) transitions, and an Android application to guide older people through the procedure. Two observational studies were conducted to test (i) the sensor in a supervised environment ( = 7; m = 83.

A Supporting Platform for Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment and Multi-Modal Tailored Interventions.

Frailty condition is an intermediate state in the ageing trajectory, preceding the onset of disability, and is becoming both challenging and priority to guarantee the sustainability of healthcare systems. To address it, we designed a software platform for supporting CGA and monitoring the activities performed at patients' dwelling. We have implemented an alert engine to inform the care professionals of intrinsic capacity decline, and a decision support system for referral recommendations.

Portable Ultrasound-Based Device for Detecting Older Adults' Sit-to-Stand Transitions in Unsupervised 30-Second Chair-Stand Tests.

Lower-limb strength is a marker of functional decline in elders. This work studies the feasibility of using the quasi-periodic nature of the distance between a subjects' back and the chair backrest during a 30-s chair-stand test (CST) to carry out unsupervised measurements based on readings from a low-cost ultrasound sensor. The device comprises an ultrasound sensor, an Arduino UNO board, and a Bluetooth module.

The effect of migraine and tension-type headaches on female sexual functions: A prospective, cross-sectional, controlled study.

Objective: We aimed to investigate the effects of migraine and tension-type headaches (TTH) on female sexual function.

Material And Methods: In this prospective study, sexually active females; 45 who were suffering from migraines, 47 who were TTH patients as diagnosed by a neurology clinic, and 50 who were healthy women that served as the control group were included. Sexual functions of the cases were evaluated through the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) with Turkish validation and the results were compared among the groups.

Effects of Abdominoplasty on Intra-Abdominal Pressure and Pulmonary Function.

Background: Abdominal wall weakness is a consequence of rectus abdominis diastasis and flaccidity of the myofascial component. A degree of plicature of the rectus abdominis generates an increase of intra-abdominal pressure (IAP), which may result in an increase of intrathoracic pressure, thus affecting thoracic hemodynamics and leading to inadequate ventilation.

Objectives: To assess changes generated by plicature of the rectus abdominis on IAP and pulmonary function in patients undergoing abdominoplasty.

Pathological Investigation of Childhood Foreskin: Are Lichen Sclerosus and Phimosis Common?

Objective: To evaluate histopathological results of foreskin removed during circumcision in the pediatric age group and the relationship between these and the degree of phimosis.

Study Design: Cross-sectional study.

Place And Duration Of Study: Department of Urology, Samsun Training and Research Hospital, Samsun, Turkey, from June to December 2014.

Primary Carcinoid Tumor of the Testis: Case Report.

Carcinoid tumors conform less than 1% of all testicular tumors and most of them are neuroendocrine tumors which are primarily seen in testes. They are in the form of testicular metastasis from other organs. Carcinoid tumors may occur from differentiation of malignant teratomas.

The efficacy of udenafil in end-stage renal disease patients undergoing hemodialysis.

Introduction: Erectile dysfunction (ED) is frequently observed in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients on hemodialysis (HD) compared to non-uremic patients. This situation causes severe psychogenic problems in patients and disrupts the quality of life. Different phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE-5) inhibitors have been used, and efficacies revealed, for the treatment of ED in HD patients; however, there are no studies related to udenafil use or results for HD patients.

The Application of Kidney Injury Molecule-1 to Determine the Duration Between Shockwave Lithotripsy Sessions.

Purpose: We aimed to evaluate the role of kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1) in determining the intervals between shockwave lithotripsy (SWL) sessions.

Patients And Methods: This was a prospective, controlled study. It included 40 patients with unilateral kidney stones and 40 healthy persons of a similar age group as controls.

Fungal jarosite biomineralization in Río Tinto.

Río Tinto is an extreme environment located at the core of the Iberian Pyrite Belt (IPB). It is an unusual ecosystem due to its size, constant acidic pH, high concentration of heavy metals and a high level of microbial diversity, mainly eukaryotic. Recently it was described the biomineralization of jarosite by Purpureocillium lilacinum, an acidic filamentous fungi isolated from the banks of the Tinto basin.

Specific jarosite biomineralization by Purpureocillium lilacinum, an acidophilic fungi isolated from Río Tinto.

Río Tinto (Huelva, southwestern Spain) is an extreme environment with a remarkably constant acidic pH and a high concentration of heavy metals, conditions generated by the metabolic activity of chemolithotrophic microorganisms thriving in the rich complex sulfides of the Iberian Pyrite Belt (IPB). Fungal strains isolated from the Tinto basin were characterized morphologically and phylogenetically. The strain identified as Purpureocillium lilacinum specifically induced the formation of a yellow-ocher precipitate, identified as hydronium-jarosite, an iron sulfate mineral which appears in abundance on the banks of Río Tinto.

Rapid identification and typing of Staphylococcus aureus by PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of the aroA gene.

The Staphylococcus aureus aroA gene, which encodes 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase, was used as a target for the amplification of a 1,153-bp DNA fragment by PCR with a pair of primers of 24 and 19 nucleotides. The PCR products, which were detected by agarose gel electrophoresis, were amplified from all S. aureus strains so far analyzed (reference strains and isolates from cows and sheep with mastitis, as well as 59 isolates from humans involved in four confirmed outbreaks).

Secretion of the sweet-tasting protein thaumatin by recombinant strains of Aspergillus niger var. awamori.

A recombinant form of the sweet-tasting protein thaumatin has been produced in the filamentous fungus Aspergillus niger var. awamori. Expression cassettes containing a synthetic gene encoding thaumatin II were prepared and used to transform Aspergillus niger var.