Juan Pedro

Correction to: Nature Cell Biology https://doi.org/10.1038/ncb3225 , published online 17 August 2015

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon. Taenia crassiceps has been used for decades as an experimental model for the study of human and porcine cysticercosis.

The aging of the population in developed and developing countries, together with the degree of maturity reached by certain technologies, means that the design of care environments for the elderly with a high degree of technological innovation is now being seriously considered. Assistive environments for daily living (Ambient Assisted Living, AAL) include the deployment of sensors and certain actuators in the home or residence where the person to be cared for lives so that, with the help of the necessary computational management and decision-making mechanisms, the person can live a more autonomous life. Although the cost of implementing such technologies in the home is still high, they are becoming more affordable, and their use is, therefore, becoming more popular. At a time when some countries are finding it difficult to provide adequate care for their elderly, this option is seen as a help for carers and to avoid collapsing health care services. However, despite the undoubted potential of the services offered by these AAL systems, there are serious problems of acceptance today. In part, these problems arise from the design phase, which often does not sufficiently take into account the end users—older people but also carers. On the other hand, it is complex for these older people to interact with interfaces that are sometimes not very natural or intuitive. The use of a socially assistive robot (SAR) that serves as an interface to the AAL system and takes responsibility for the interaction with the person is a possible solution. The robot is a physical entity that can operate with a certain degree of autonomy and be able to bring features to the interaction with the person that, obviously, a tablet or smartphone will not be able to do. The robot can benefit from the recent popularization of artificial intelligence-based solutions to personalize its attention to the person and to provide services that were unimaginable just a few years ago. Their inclusion in an AAL ecosystem should, however, also be carefully assessed. The robot's mission should not be to replace the person but to be a tool to facilitate the elderly person's daily life. Its design should consider the AAL system in which it is integrated, the needs and preferences of the people with whom it will interact, and the services that, in conjunction with this system, the robot can offer. The aim of this article is to review the current state of the art in the integration of SARs into the AAL ecosystem and to determine whether an initial phase of high expectations but very limited results have been overcome.

Background: One-carbon metabolism coenzymes may influence brain aging in cognitively unimpaired adults. Methods: Baseline data were used from the UK Biobank cohort. Estimated intake of vitamin B6, B12, and folate was regressed onto neural network functional connectivity in five resting-state neural networks. Linear mixed models tested coenzyme main effects and interactions with Alzheimer's disease (AD) risk factors. Results: Increased B6 and B12 estimated intake were linked with less functional connectivity in most networks, including the posterior portion of the Default Mode Network. Conversely, higher folate was related to more connectivity in similar networks. AD family history modulated these associations: Increased estimated intake was positively associated with stronger connectivity in the Primary Visual Network and Posterior Default Mode Network in participants with an AD family history. In contrast, increased vitamin B12 estimated intake was associated with less connectivity in the Primary Visual Network and the Cerebello–Thalamo–Cortical Network in those without an AD family history. Conclusions: The differential patterns of association between B vitamins and resting-state brain activity may be important in understanding AD-related changes in the brain. Notably, AD family history appears to play a key role in modulating these relationships.

Continuous oxygenation monitoring of machine-perfused organs or transposed autologous tissue is not currently implemented in clinical practice. Oxygenation is a critical parameter that could be used to verify tissue viability and guide corrective interventions, such as perfusion machine parameters or surgical revision. This work presents an innovative technology based on oxygen-sensitive, phosphorescent metalloporphyrin-based devices allowing continuous and non-invasive oxygen monitoring of ex-vivo perfused vascularized fasciocutaneous flaps. The method comprises a small, low-energy optical transcutaneous oxygen sensor applied on the flap’s skin paddle as well as oxygen sensing devices placed into the tubing. An intermittent perfusion setting was designed to study the response time and accuracy of this technology over a total of 54 perfusion cycles. We further evaluated correlation between the continuous oxygen measurements and gold-standard perfusion viability metrics such as vascular resistance, with good agreement suggesting potential to monitor graft viability at high frequency, opening the possibility to employ feedback control algorithms in the future. This proof-of-concept study opens a range of research and clinical applications in reconstructive surgery and transplantation at a time when perfusion machines undergo rapid clinical adoption with potential to improve outcomes across a variety of surgical procedures and dramatically increase access to transplant medicine.

Pediatrics Department, Reference Unit for Rare Diseases DiERCyL, University Hospital of Salamanca, 37007 Salamanca, Spain

Background/Objectives: To analyze the best noninvasive tests prognosis marker in patients with diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) who underwent endovascular revascularization based on clinical outcomes, such as healing rate, time to heal, and free amputation survival after at least a six-month follow-up. Methods: A multicentric prospective observational study was performed with 28 participants with ischemic or neuroischemic DFU who came to the participant centers and underwent endovascular revascularization between January 2022 and March 2023. Toe systolic pressure (TP), ankle systolic pressure (AP), the ankle brachial pressure index (ABPI), the toe brachial pressure index (TBPI), transcutaneous pressure of oxygen (TcPO2), and skin perfusion pressure (SPP) were evaluated using PeriFlux 6000 System, Perimed, Sweden, before (Visit 0) and four weeks after revascularization (Visit 1). The primary clinical outcome was an evaluation of the clinical evolution of noninvasive tests comparing Visit 0 and Visit 1, estimating the sensitivity for predicting wound healing of noninvasive tests at six months following initial recruitment. Results: After six months, 71.43% (n = 20) of DFU healed, four patients (14.3%) received major amputations, and one (3.5%) died. The two tests that best predicted wound healing after revascularization according to the ROC curve were TcPO2 and TP with sensitivities of 0.89 and 0.70 for the cut-off points of 24 mmHg and 46 mmHg, respectively. Conclusions: TcPO2 and TP were the two tests that best predicted wound healing in patients who underwent endovascular revascularization. Clinicians should consider the importance of the evaluation of microcirculation in the healing prognosis of patients with diabetic foot ulcers.

Abstract Background Canine leishmaniosis (CanL), caused by Leishmania infantum , is an important vector-borne parasitic disease in dogs with implications for human health.

Parasites & Vectors , Article number: Cite this article Abstract

Spain has one of Europe's most extraordinary biodiverse environments and a significant risk of fires in its forests. At the same time, rural areas are affected by several challenges, such as desertification, population decrease, and loss of income. Fortunately, some green sparks arise on the horizon. Among them, we use critical enabling technologies for fire prevention and extinction, renewable energy, and resilience solutions by adopting a system of systems approach given by the systems engineering frameworks. We analyse recent Research and Development (R&D) projects focused on fire prevention to detect (1) the key enabling technologies used and (2) engineering practices. A motivational case is presented, which evaluates the potential interest of the mineral water industry sector in applied R&D with key enabling technologies, including the replicability potential and the replicability potential for using the R&D results. After that, the authors initialize an innovative R-ISSUES model to promote early interoperability between energy and environment systems engineering towards the shared mission of designing digital and rural jobs to preserve our biosphere. The model is used to answer specific research questions and detect gaps or potential improvements for the model itself by using the recent scientific literature.