Methodology to improve water and energy use by proper irrigationscheduling in pressurised networks

With the aim of reducing energy consumption and improving water use in pressurised irrigation systems, the methodology to minimise energy consumption by grouping intakes of pressurised irrigation networks into sectors, as developed by Jimenez Bello et al. (2010a), was modified to enable irrigation intakes to operate during the scheduled period for each intake instead of operating during restricted irrigation periods of the same length. Moreover, a method was developed to detect the maximum number of intakes that can operate without extra energy if the source has sufficient head to feed at least some of the intakes. These methods were applied to a Mediterranean irrigation system, where the total cropped area was mainly citrus orchards. In this case study, water was allocated to two groups of intakes, one fed by gravity and the other by pumps. A saving of 36.3 % was achieved by increasing the total volume supplied by gravity, decreasing the injection pump head, and improving the pump performance. Therefore, all the intakes only operated during the irrigation periods at the minimum required pressure.This research was supported by funds from Climate-KIC AGADAPT and from EU 7th Framework Programme FIGARO projects. The authors wish to acknowledge the support provided by Picassent Sector XI staff. The revision of this paper was funded by "The Universitat Politecnica de Valencia, Spain".Jiménez Bello, MA.; Royuela Tomás, Á.; Manzano Juarez, J.; García Prats, A.; Martínez Alzamora, F. (2015). Methodology to improve water and energy use by proper irrigationscheduling in pressurised networks. Agricultural Water Management. 149:91-101. doi:10.1016/j.agwat.2014.10.026S9110114

Glial and neuronal markers in cerebrospinal fluid in different types of multiple sclerosis

In the present study, CSF concentrations of NFL, t-tau, p-tau, GFAP, S-100B, YKL-40, MCP-1, α-sAPP, β-sAPP, and Aβ38, Aβ40, Aβ42 were measured in 324 MS patients to test whether a correlation among the biomarkers exists and whether the profile of CSF biomarkers varies among the different types of MS. The CSF concentrations of NFL were significantly higher in RRMS while CSF concentrations of GFAP were higher in PPMS. CSF concentrations of NFL correlated with YKL-40 in CIS patients while CSF concentrations of GFAP correlated with YKL-40 in RRMS patients

Overlapping demyelinating syndromes and anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis

Objective: To report the clinical, radiological, and immunological association of demyelinating disorders with anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) encephalitis. Methods: Clinical and radiological analysis was done of a cohort of 691 patients with anti-NMDAR encephalitis. Determination of antibodies to NMDAR, aquaporin-4 (AQP4), and myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) was performed using brain immunohistochemistry and cell-based assays. Results: Twenty-three of 691 patients with anti-NMDAR encephalitis had prominent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and/or clinical features of demyelination. Group 1 included 12 patients in whom anti-NMDAR encephalitis was preceded or followed by independent episodes of neuromyelitis optica (NMO) spectrum disorder (5 cases, 4 anti-AQP4 positive) or brainstem or multifocal demyelinating syndromes (7 cases, all anti-MOG positive). Group 2 included 11 patients in whom anti-NMDAR encephalitis occurred simultaneously with MRI and symptoms compatible with demyelination (5 AQ4 positive, 2 MOG positive). Group 3 (136 controls) included 50 randomly selected patients with typical anti-NMDAR encephalitis, 56 with NMO, and 30 with multiple sclerosis; NMDAR antibodies were detected only in the 50 anti-NMDAR patients, MOG antibodies in 3 of 50 anti-NMDAR and 1 of 56 NMO patients, and AQP4 antibodies in 48 of 56 NMO and 1 of 50 anti-NMDAR patients (p < 0.0001 for all comparisons with Groups 1 and 2). Most patients improved with immunotherapy, but compared with anti-NMDAR encephalitis the demyelinating episodes required more intensive therapy and resulted in more residual deficits. Only 1 of 23 NMDAR patients with signs of demyelination had ovarian teratoma compared with 18 of 50 anti-NMDAR controls (p = 0.011). Interpretation: Patients with anti-NMDAR encephalitis may develop concurrent or separate episodes of demyelinating disorders, and conversely patients with NMO or demyelinating disorders with atypical symptoms (eg, dyskinesias, psychosis) may have anti-NMDAR encephalitis

Effect of central nervous system (CNS) metastases in a real-world multicenter cohort study of Spanish ALK-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients (p)

Background: CNS is a common site of metastases in patients with ALK-positive NSCLC. CNS metastases are associated with a number of deleterious effects, such as reduction in quality of life. However, the relationship between brain metastases and prognosis remains unclear. We aimed to evaluate the effect of CNS metastases on overall survival (OS) in a multicenter cohort of Spanish ALK-positive NSCLC patients diagnosed between 2008 and 2017. Methods: We included patients with stage IV at diagnoses, followed up to April 2018; OS (months [m]) was estimated with the Kaplan-Meier method. Survival curves were compared between groups of patients using the log-rank test. Hazard risk (HR) to death was estimated with multivariable Cox model. Results: Out of 163 patients in the cohort, a total of 116 were evaluated, with a median of follow-up of 29.2 m and 59 deaths reported. Characteristics at diagnosis were a median age of 58 years, 50% female, 58.6% never-smokers, 54.3% with comorbidities, PS by ECOG 0-1 93.1%. CNS metastases (median number of lesions 6) were present in 43.1% of patients and 34% of patients with CNS metastases were treated with local therapy (11.8 % local radiotherapy and 76.5% holocraneal radiotherapy). ALK inhibitors as first line and second line treatment were administered to 45.5% and 78.6% of patients, respectively. The median OS was 39 months; OS in patients with CNS metastases at diagnosis was 34.4 m and 39.0 m in those without CNS metastases at diagnosis (p=.9). In patients without CNS metastases at baseline (n=60), 22 developed CNS, with a median OS greater than in those without CNS metastases during follow-up, although the difference is not significant (45.5 m vs 33.3 m; p=.9). There were 81 patients who presented with metastases in more than one organ and 33 patients with metastases in a single organ. The risk of death increased as the number of metastatic organs at diagnoses increased (HR=1.26, p=.0305), with worse OS in those presenting with liver metastases at diagnoses (21.1%, OS: 20 m), compared to those without tumor involvement (OS: 45.4 m; p =.008). Conclusions: OS was similar for ALK-positive NSCLC patients with and without CNS metastases at diagnoses. OS was worse as the number of metastatic organs at diagnosis increased, with liver metastases being associated with the highest risk of mortality

Hormonal dependence and cancer in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Objective: To estimate the incidence and analyze any cancer-associated factors in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), differentiating between hormone-sensitive (HS) and non-HS cancers. Methods: This was a retrospective multicenter study of a patient cohort from the Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Registry of the Spanish Society of Rheumatology. Included were the first cancer post-SLE diagnosis, clinical and sociodemographic information, cumulative damage, severity, comorbidities, treatments, and refractoriness. Cancers were classified as HS (prostate, breast, endometrium, and ovarian) and non-HS (the remainder). The standardized incidence ratio (SIR) was calculated and logistic regression models were built. Results: A total of 3,539 patients (90.4% women) were included, 154 of whom had cancer (91% female), and 44 had HS cancer (100% female). The cancer SIR was 1.37 (95% confidence interval [95% CI] 1.15-1.59), with higher values in women age <65 years (SIR 2.38 [95% CI 1.84-2.91]). The SIR in women with HS versus non-HS cancer was 1.02 (95% CI 0.13-1.91) and 1.93 (95% CI 0.98-2.89). In HS versus non-HS cancers, SLE diagnostic age (odds ratio [OR] 1.04 [P = 0.002] versus 1.04 [P = 0.019]), and period of disease evolution (OR 1.01 [P < 0.001] versus 1.00 [P = 0.029]) were associated with cancer. The Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics/American College of Rheumatology Damage Index (OR 1.27 [P = 0.022]) and angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor prescriptions (OR 2.87 [P = 0.048]) were associated with non-HS cancers. Conclusion: Cancer incidence in patients with SLE was higher than in the Spanish population, particularly among young women. This increase might be due to non-HS cancers, which would be associated with SLE involving greater cumulative damage where more ACE inhibitors are prescribed.The RELESSER Registry was partially funded by GSK, Roche, UCB, Lilly and Novartis. The sponsors had no role in the study design, data collection, analysis or interpretation, in writing the report, or in the decision to submit the article for publication. Dr. Pego-Reigosa is supported by grant 316265 (BIOCAPS) from the European Union 7th Framework Program (FP7/REGPOT-2012- 2013.1). The FIS Grant PI11/02857 (Instituto Carlos III, Fondos FEDER) supported this study

Potential group B Streptococcus interspecies transmission between cattle and people in Colombian dairy farms

Group B Streptococcus (GBS), is a leading cause of neonatal death and an emerging pathogen in adults. Additionally, GBS is a bovine pathogen causing intramammary infections. The likelihood of GBS interspecies transmission is largely unknown. We explored the potential transmission of GBS between cattle and people on dairy farms in Colombia and compared the antimicrobial resistance (AMR) profiles of isolates from both host species. Across 33 farms, throat swabs and rectal swabs were collected from 191 people, and rectal swabs and composite milk samples from 2092 cattle, yielding 60 human isolates and 301 bovine isolates. The majority (64%) of isolates belonged to shared sequence types (ST). Sequence type (ST) 1 was the most common strain in both host species, suggesting that interspecies transmission may be possible. Two members of the bovine-specific clonal complex 61/67 were detected in human samples (ST718 and ST1175), providing evidence for the lack of genuine species barriers. Apparent prevalence of penicillin resistance was surprisingly high in human and bovine isolates. Further investigation of this phenomenon is needed and could lead to modification of standard testing and treatment recommendations in human and veterinary medicine

First observation of Bs -> D_{s2}^{*+} X mu nu decays

Using data collected with the LHCb detector in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV, the semileptonic decays Bs -> Ds+ X mu nu and Bs -> D0 K+ X mu nu are detected. Two structures are observed in the D0 K+ mass spectrum at masses consistent with the known D^+_{s1}(2536) and $D^{*+}_{s2}(2573) mesons. The measured branching fractions relative to the total Bs semileptonic rate are B(Bs -> D_{s2}^{*+} X mu nu)/B(Bs -> X mu nu)= (3.3\pm 1.0\pm 0.4)%, and B(Bs -> D_{s1}^+ X munu)/B(Bs -> X mu nu)= (5.4\pm 1.2\pm 0.5)%, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second is systematic. This is the first observation of the D_{s2}^{*+} state in Bs decays; we also measure its mass and width.Comment: 8 pages 2 figures. Published in Physics Letters

Determination of essential biomarkers in lung cancer : a real-world data study in Spain with demographic, clinical, epidemiological and pathological characteristics

Background The survival of patients with lung cancer has substantially increased in the last decade by about 15%. This increase is, basically, due to targeted therapies available for advanced stages and the emergence of immunotherapy itself. This work aims to study the situation of biomarker testing in Spain. Patients and methods The Thoracic Tumours Registry (TTR) is an observational, prospective, registry-based study that included patients diagnosed with lung cancer and other thoracic tumours, from September 2016 to 2020. This TTR study was sponsored by the Spanish Lung Cancer Group (GECP) Foundation, an independent, scientific, multidisciplinary oncology society that coordinates more than 550 experts and 182 hospitals across the Spanish territory. Results Nine thousand two hundred thirty-nine patients diagnosed with stage IV non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) between 2106 and 2020 were analysed. 7,467 (80.8%) were non-squamous and 1,772 (19.2%) were squamous. Tumour marker testing was performed in 85.0% of patients with non-squamous tumours vs 56.3% in those with squamous tumours (p-value < 0.001). The global testing of EGFR, ALK, and ROS1 was 78.9, 64.7, 35.6% respectively, in non-squamous histology. PDL1 was determined globally in the same period (46.9%), although if we focus on the last 3 years it exceeds 85%. There has been a significant increase in the last few years of all determinations and there are even close to 10% of molecular determinations that do not yet have targeted drug approval but will have it in the near future. 4,115 cases had a positive result (44.5%) for either EGFR, ALK, KRAS, BRAF, ROS1, or high PDL1. Conclusions Despite the lack of a national project and standard protocol in Spain that regulates the determination of biomarkers, the situation is similar to other European countries. Given the growing number of different determinations and their high positivity, national strategies are urgently needed to implement next-generation sequencing (NGS) in an integrated and cost-effective way in lung cancer

Treatment of MOG-IgG-associated disorder with rituximab: An international study of 121 patients

OBJECTIVE: To assess the effect of anti-CD20 B-cell depletion with rituximab (RTX) on relapse rates in myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody-associated disorder (MOGAD). METHODS: Retrospective review of RTX-treated MOGAD patients from 29 centres in 13 countries. The primary outcome measure was change in relapse rate after starting rituximab (Poisson regression model). RESULTS: Data on 121 patients were analysed, including 30 (24.8%) children. Twenty/121 (16.5%) were treated after one attack, of whom 14/20 (70.0%) remained relapse-free after median (IQR) 11.2 (6.3-14.1) months. The remainder (101/121, 83.5%) were treated after two or more attacks, of whom 53/101 (52.5%) remained relapse-free after median 12.1 (6.3-24.9) months. In this 'relapsing group', relapse rate declined by 37% (95%CI=19-52%, p<0.001) overall, 63% (95%CI=35-79%, p = 0.001) when RTX was used first line (n = 47), and 26% (95%CI=2-44%, p = 0.038) when used after other steroid-sparing immunotherapies (n = 54). Predicted 1-year and 2-year relapse-free survival was 79% and 55% for first-line RTX therapy, and 38% and 18% for second-/third-line therapy. Circulating CD19+B-cells were suppressed to <1% of total circulating lymphocyte population at the time of 45/57 (78.9%) relapses. CONCLUSION: RTX reduced relapse rates in MOGAD. However, many patients continued to relapse despite apparent B-cell depletion. Prospective controlled studies are needed to validate these results

Neurological update: MOG antibody disease

Myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) antibody disease (MOG-AD) is now recognised as a nosological entity with specific clinical and paraclinical features to aid early diagnosis. Although no age group is exempt, median age of onset is within the fourth decade of life, with optic neuritis being the most frequent presenting phenotype. Disease course can be either monophasic or relapsing, with subsequent relapses most commonly involving the optic nerve. Residual disability develops in 50–80% of patients, with transverse myelitis at onset being the most significant predictor of long-term outcome. Recent advances in MOG antibody testing offer improved sensitivity and specificity. To avoid misdiagnosis, MOG antibody testing should be undertaken in selected cases presenting clinical and paraclinical features that are felt to be in keeping with MOG-AD, using a validated cell-based assay. MRI characteristics can help in differentiating MOG-AD from other neuroinflammatory disorders, including multiple sclerosis and neuromyelitis optica. Cerebrospinal fluid oligoclonal bands are uncommon. Randomised control trials are limited, but observational open-label experience suggests a role for high-dose steroids and plasma exchange in the treatment of acute attacks, and for immunosuppressive therapies, such as steroids, oral immunosuppressants and rituximab as maintenance treatment