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Background: A high dietary acid load (DAL) can produce metabolic acidosis, which is linked to cancer development through mechanisms of inflammation and cell transformation. There is limited epidemiological evidence linking DAL and cancer risk; however, none of the published studies focused on DAL and esophageal cancer (EC) risk in particular. Therefore, we sought to explore this association in the present study. Methods: A case-control study was performed in 1295 male patients (185 squamous cell EC cases and 1110 age-frequency and urban/rural residence matched controls) through a multitopic inquiry, including a food frequency questionnaire. Food-derived nutrients were calculated from available databases. The DAL was calculated based on two validated measures: Potential renal acid load (PRAL) score and net endogenous acid production (NEAP) score. Odds ratios (OR) and their 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were estimated by unconditional logistic regression, adjusting for confounders. Results: We found direct, significant associations between dietary acid load and EC risk: (OR = 2.28, 95% CI: 1.44-3.61, ptrend <0.0001) and (OR = 2.17, 95% CI: 1.38-3.41, ptrend <0.0001) for highest PRAL and NEAP tertiles, respectively. Our data raise the possibility that a high DAL may contribute to EC development. Both acid load scores were directly associated with animal-based foods (mainly meat) and inversely associated with the intake of plant-based foods. Conclusion:To the best of our knowledge, this is the first epidemiological casecontrol study analyzing associations of DAL and squamous cell EC risk. Further research is warranted to confirm our findings.

Cooperative behaviors in multi-robot systems emerge as an excellent alternative for collaboration in search and rescue tasks to accelerate the finding survivors process and avoid risking additional lives. Although there are still several challenges to be solved, such as communication between agents, power autonomy, navigation strategies, and detection and classification of survivors, among others. The research work presented by this paper focuses on the navigation of the robot swarm and the consensus of the agents applied to the victims detection. The navigation strategy is based on the application of particle swarm theory, where the robots are the agents of the swarm. The attraction and repulsion forces that are typical in swarm particle systems are used by the multi-robot system to avoid obstacles, keep group compact and navigate to a target location. The victims are detected by each agent separately, however, once the agents agree on the existence of a possible victim, these agents separate from the general swarm by creating a sub-swarm. The sub-swarm agents use a modified rendezvous consensus algorithm to perform a formation control around the possible victims and then carry out a consensus of the information acquired by the sensors with the aim to determine the victim existence. Several experiments were conducted to test navigation, obstacle avoidance, and search for victims. Additionally, different situations were simulated with the consensus algorithm. The results show how swarm theory allows the multi-robot system navigates avoiding obstacles, finding possible victims, and settling down their possible use in search and rescue operations.

Background and Purpose: Dietary acid load contributes to metabolic acidosis, leading to inflammation and cell transformation, potentially implicated in cancer development. Albeit an increased risk of recurrence among BC survivors was reported for a high acid load, the epidemiologic evidence associating diet-dependent acid load and cancer risk, particularly for breast cancer (BC), is still very limited. Therefore, we have explored in the present study its role in BC risk. Methods: A case-control study was performed on 1461 patients (572 BC cases and 889 age-frequency matched controls), through a multi-topic questionnaire, which included a food frequency questionnaire. Food-derived nutrients were calculated from available databases. The dietary acid load was calculated based on existing measures as potential renal acid load (PRAL) score and net endogenous acid production (NEAP) score. Odds Ratios (ORs) and their 95% confidence intervals were estimated by logistic regression, adjusting for potential confounders. Results: We found direct associations between dietary acid load and BC risk. Both scores were significantly associated (OR=2.46 and OR=1.78 for highest PRAL and NEAP, respectively). A positive BC family history involved higher risks (OR=6.14 and OR=3.38 for highest PRAL and NEAP, respectively). Linear trends were found in all overall and stratified analyses. Conclusions: Results suggest that a low acid load dietary style may reduce BC risk since both PRAL and NEAP scores were directly associated with meat intake and inversely associated with plant-based foods intake. The findings agree with studies focused on food groups and dietary patterns. Further studies are needed to confirm these findings. Doi: 10.28991/SciMedJ-2021-0302-8 Full Text: PDF