Loewenstein Occupational Therapy Cognitive Assessment to Evaluate People with Addictions

Background. The LOTCA (Loewenstein Occupational Therapy Cognitive Assessment) battery is a cognitive screening test which is widely used in occupational health. However, no work has been found that explores its use in addiction treatment. Objectives of Study. To explore the convergent validity of LOTCA with neuropsychological tests that assess related cerebral functional areas. Methods. The LOTCA, along with a battery of neuropsychological tests, was administered to a sample of 48 subjects who start a treatment by substance or gambling addictions. Findings. A correlational pattern was observed of a considerable magnitude between the effects of the LOTCA scales and those of some neuropsychological tests, but not with others. There is barely any convergence in measures with memory and executive function tests. Relevance to Clinical Practice. There is a lack of research applying test of occupational assessment to populations of patients treated by addictive behaviors. The LOTCA seems to be a reliable and valid test for preliminary screening of function in certain cognitive areas, easy, and quick to use (around 30 minutes). However, it must be supplemented with other tests for a full and ecological assessment of patients. Limitations. An incident, small-size sample. Recommendations for Further Research. New studies are needed to explore the applicability, diagnostic validity, and whole psychometric quality of the test in addiction-related treatment

Treatment with tocilizumab or corticosteroids for COVID-19 patients with hyperinflammatory state: a multicentre cohort study (SAM-COVID-19)

Objectives: The objective of this study was to estimate the association between tocilizumab or corticosteroids and the risk of intubation or death in patients with coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) with a hyperinflammatory state according to clinical and laboratory parameters. Methods: A cohort study was performed in 60 Spanish hospitals including 778 patients with COVID-19 and clinical and laboratory data indicative of a hyperinflammatory state. Treatment was mainly with tocilizumab, an intermediate-high dose of corticosteroids (IHDC), a pulse dose of corticosteroids (PDC), combination therapy, or no treatment. Primary outcome was intubation or death; follow-up was 21 days. Propensity score-adjusted estimations using Cox regression (logistic regression if needed) were calculated. Propensity scores were used as confounders, matching variables and for the inverse probability of treatment weights (IPTWs). Results: In all, 88, 117, 78 and 151 patients treated with tocilizumab, IHDC, PDC, and combination therapy, respectively, were compared with 344 untreated patients. The primary endpoint occurred in 10 (11.4%), 27 (23.1%), 12 (15.4%), 40 (25.6%) and 69 (21.1%), respectively. The IPTW-based hazard ratios (odds ratio for combination therapy) for the primary endpoint were 0.32 (95%CI 0.22-0.47; p < 0.001) for tocilizumab, 0.82 (0.71-1.30; p 0.82) for IHDC, 0.61 (0.43-0.86; p 0.006) for PDC, and 1.17 (0.86-1.58; p 0.30) for combination therapy. Other applications of the propensity score provided similar results, but were not significant for PDC. Tocilizumab was also associated with lower hazard of death alone in IPTW analysis (0.07; 0.02-0.17; p < 0.001). Conclusions: Tocilizumab might be useful in COVID-19 patients with a hyperinflammatory state and should be prioritized for randomized trials in this situatio

Current status and economic value of insect-pollinated dependent crops in Latin America

Latin America (LA) plays an important role in the global food supply and dedicates a significant part of its surface to croplands. Current losses of wild and managed pollinators are a threat to agricultural production because the productivity of many crops depends on entomophilous pollination; thus, consequences could be significant for the development of regional economies. We assess the current importance of pollination service for the main crops of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, and Uruguay, which represent approximately 74% of the total surface of LA. Our study focused on three aspects, i) analyses of crops with varying degrees of pollinator dependence in terms of the harvested area and its yield, ii) estimation of economic value attributed to pollinators (EEV) and the vulnerability of each crop category, iii) characterization of the pollinator services provided by managed bees. Regional-level analyses showed that 58% of crops have essential and high dependence levels on insect pollination. LA produced 228.1 million tons of food that can be attributed directly to insect pollination, and an additional 33.9 million tons corresponds to crops that are not directly used for human food. The total production economic value of all crops dependent on pollination was US$77.82 billion, of which the economic value attributable to insect pollination was US$ 22.95 billion. Industrial crops and fruits were the leading crop category in the value of entomophilous pollination, followed by beverages, vegetables, hybrid seeds, citrus, and nuts. Crops occupy an area of 64.8 million hectares, 80% of which is used for soybean production, a clear sign of poor agricultural diversification, with Chile and Mexico being the countries with the highest degree of diversification. We estimated that hybrid seeds, fruits, and beverages whose productivity reached 44 million tons, are the most vulnerable to pollinator decline with 90, 64, and 44% vulnerability ratios. Our valuation demonstrates the vulnerability of agrosystems production, socioeconomic, and ecological terms.EEA ConcordiaFil: Basualdo, Marina. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. PROANVET; ArgentinaFil: Cavigliasso, Pablo. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Concordia; ArgentinaFil: Avila Jr., Rubem Samuel de. Universidade Federal do Pampa. Laboratório de Pesquisa em Interações Ecológicas; BrasilFil: Aldea-Sánchez, Patricia. Universidad SEK. Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud. Instituto de Investigación Interdisciplinar en Ciencias Biomédicas; ChileFil: Correa-Benítez, Adriana. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria y Zootecnia. Departamento de Medicina y Zootecnia de Abejas, Conejos y Organismos Acuáticos; MéxicoFil: Martínez Harms, Jaime. Instituto de Investigaciones Agropecuarias (INIA) INIA La Cruz; ChileFil: Ramos, Ana Karen. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria y Zootecnia. Departamento de Medicina y Zootecnia de Abejas, Conejos y Organismos Acuáticos; MéxicoFil: Rojas-Bravo, Valeska. Instituto de Investigaciones Agropecuarias (INIA) INIA La Cruz; ChileFil: Salvarrey, Sheena. Universidad de la República. Facultad de Ciencias; Urugua

Tendencias en la apicultura y pérdida de colonias de abejas melíferas en América Latina

Over the past decade, several countries have carried out monitoring programs of managed honey bee colonies, which suggest beekeeping difficulties, with high colony loss rates all over the world. Although Latin America plays a major role in the global honey supply, information about trends in beekeeping activities and honey bee colony losses are lacking. Using the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) dataset and a synthesis of unpublished data of colony losses survey carried out over the last 7 years, we reveal a worrying situation of the beekeeping in this region. The Latin American trends in honey production and beehive numbers are drifting from the global pattern, and several high colony loss rates were registered in this region. These results reveal the presence of beekeeping difficulties in Latin America. However, the variability in methods of colony loss survey across initiatives prevent proper conclusion on loss rates. Efforts are needed to adapt, centralize and standardize methods to monitor honey bee health and colony losses across countries in Latin America, the main objective of the “colony losses” working group at the LatinAmerican Society for Bee Research, SOLATINA, a large-scale platform created in 2017 to coordinate bee research programs in Latin America.Durante la última década, varios países han llevado a cabo programas de monitoreo de colmenas de abejas melíferas, que sugieren dificultades en la apicultura relacionadas con altas tasas de pérdida de colonias al rededor del mundo. Aunque América Latina juega un papel importante en la producción mundial de miel, hay un vacío de información sobre la actividad apícola y las pérdidas de colonias en la región. Utilizando el conjunto de datos de la FAO y una síntesis de datos inéditos de encuestas sobre pérdidas de colonias realizada en los últimos siete años, revelamos una preocupante situación para la apicultura en esta región. Las tendencias latinoamericanas en la producción de miel y el número de colonias se desvían del patrón global, y se registran altas tasas de pérdidas de colonias en la región. Estos resultados revelan dificultades en el desarrollo apícola latinoamericano. Sin embargo, la variabilidad en los métodos de valoración de la pérdida de colonias en las diferentes iniciativas impide llegar a conclusiones definitivas sobre las tasas de pérdidas. Se necesitan esfuerzos para adaptar, centralizar y estandarizar los métodos de monitoreo de la salud de las abejas melíferas y las pérdidas de colonias en todos los países de América Latina. Esto constituye el principal objetivo del grupo de trabajo “Pérdida de colonias” de la Sociedad Latinoamericana de Investigación en Abejas, SOLATINA, una plataforma a gran escala creada en 2017 para coordinar los programas de investigación apícola en América Latina.Facultad de Ciencias Veterinaria

SOLATINA: a Latin-American Bee Research Association to foster the interactions between scientists and coordinate large-scale research programs

Bees (members of the super family Apoidea) are the main pollinators in modern agro-ecosystems, where they have a critical positive effect on yield improvement for about 75% of world's crops (Klein et al., 2007; Potts et al., 2016). However, there is evidence of a worldwide decline in the populations of wild bees, and numerous reports of high colony losses of managed bees, which may disrupt crop pollination, honey production and the reproduction of bee-pollinated wild plants (Potts et al., 2010), leading to negative social, economic and ecological effects (Potts et al., 2016). Latin America (hereafter, LA) is home to about 8 million managed honey bee colonies (Apis mellifera L.) which produce more than 200000 tons of honey annually (FAOSTAT, 2018). Several Latin American countries are among the global top 20 in terms of honey production and beehives stock, such as Argentina, Brazil and Mexico (García, 2018; Requier et al., 2018). Moreover, LA hosts a unique fauna of native bees, with about 5,000 identified species, including 391 species of the native stingless bees in the tribu Meliponini (Camargo & Pedro, 2008; Freitas et al., 2009). Some of those native stingless bees are managed since ancient times to produce honey through the practice of “Meliponiculture” (Jaffé et al., 2015). Latin American bee research has contributed to improve our understanding of problems relevant for apiculture, bee diversity and the causes of bee population decline in the region among other topics (see e.g., Maggi et al., 2016; Morales, Arbetman, Cameron, & Aizen, 2013; Vandame & Palacio, 2010). These scientific achievements are mostly the result of research efforts led by groups working independently rather than the product of cooperative research efforts between different countries. We argue that the strength, impact, and relevance of these research efforts, for apiculture and bees in the region, can be improved by promoting interactions between Latin American bee scientists and coordinating large-scale research programs.Fil: Antúnez, Karina. Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas "Clemente Estable"; UruguayFil: Requier, Fabrice. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Río Negro; ArgentinaFil: Aldea Sánchez, Patricia. Universidad Mayor; ChileFil: Basualdo, Marina. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Departamento de Producción Animal; ArgentinaFil: Branchiccella, Belén. Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas "Clemente Estable"; UruguayFil: Calderón, Rafael. Universidad Nacional; Costa RicaFil: Correa Benítez, Adriana. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México; MéxicoFil: Delgado Cañedo, Andres. Universidade Federal do Pampa; BrasilFil: Fuselli, Sandra Rosa. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Morales, Carolina Laura. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universidad Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; ArgentinaFil: Pérez Castro, Eleazar. Universidad Nacional del Centro del Perú; PerúFil: Plischuk, Santiago. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Centro de Estudios Parasitológicos y de Vectores. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. Centro de Estudios Parasitológicos y de Vectores; ArgentinaFil: Porrini, Martín Pablo. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Segui Goncalves, Lionel. Universidad Federal Rural do Semiarido; BrasilFil: Tapia González, José María. Universidad de Guadalajara; MéxicoFil: Torres, Alejandra. Universidad de Pamplona; ColombiaFil: Velarde, Rodrigo. Instituto Apícola Boliviano; BoliviaFil: Invernizzi, Ciro. Universidad de la República; Urugua

First large-scale study reveals important losses of managed honey bee and stingless bee colonies in Latin America

International audienceOver the last quarter century, increasing honey bee colony losses motivated standardized large-scale surveys of managed honey bees ( Apis mellifera ), particularly in Europe and the United States. Here we present the first large-scale standardized survey of colony losses of managed honey bees and stingless bees across Latin America. Overall, 1736 beekeepers and 165 meliponiculturists participated in the 2-year survey (2016–2017 and 2017–2018). On average, 30.4% of honey bee colonies and 39.6% of stingless bee colonies were lost per year across the region. Summer losses were higher than winter losses in stingless bees (30.9% and 22.2%, respectively) but not in honey bees (18.8% and 20.6%, respectively). Colony loss increased with operation size during the summer in both honey bees and stingless bees and decreased with operation size during the winter in stingless bees. Furthermore, losses differed significantly between countries and across years for both beekeepers and meliponiculturists. Overall, winter losses of honey bee colonies in Latin America (20.6%) position this region between Europe (12.5%) and the United States (40.4%). These results highlight the magnitude of bee colony losses occurring in the region and suggest difficulties in maintaining overall colony health and economic survival for beekeepers and meliponiculturists

Pseudomonas aeruginosa antibiotic susceptibility profiles, genomic epidemiology and resistance mechanisms: a nation-wide five-year time lapse analysisResearch in context

Summary: Background: Pseudomonas aeruginosa healthcare-associated infections are one of the top antimicrobial resistance threats world-wide. In order to analyze the current trends, we performed a Spanish nation-wide high-resolution analysis of the susceptibility profiles, the genomic epidemiology and the resistome of P. aeruginosa over a five-year time lapse. Methods: A total of 3.180 nonduplicated P. aeruginosa clinical isolates from two Spanish nation-wide surveys performed in October 2017 and 2022 were analyzed. MICs of 13 antipseudomonals were determined by ISO-EUCAST. Multidrug resistance (MDR)/extensively drug resistance (XDR)/difficult to treat resistance (DTR)/pandrug resistance (PDR) profiles were defined following established criteria. All XDR/DTR isolates were subjected to whole genome sequencing (WGS). Findings: A decrease in resistance to all tested antibiotics, including older and newer antimicrobials, was observed in 2022 vs 2017. Likewise, a major reduction of XDR (15.2% vs 5.9%) and DTR (4.2 vs 2.1%) profiles was evidenced, and even more patent among ICU isolates [XDR (26.0% vs 6.0%) and DTR (8.9% vs 2.6%)] (p < 0.001). The prevalence of Extended-spectrum β-lactamase/carbapenemase production was slightly lower in 2022 (2.1%. vs 3.1%, p = 0.064). However, there was a significant increase in the proportion of carbapenemase production among carbapenem-resistant strains (29.4% vs 18.1%, p = 0.0246). While ST175 was still the most frequent clone among XDR, a slight reduction in its prevalence was noted (35.9% vs 45.5%, p = 0.106) as opposed to ST235 which increased significantly (24.3% vs 12.3%, p = 0.0062). Interpretation: While the generalized decrease in P. aeruginosa resistance, linked to a major reduction in the prevalence of XDR strains, is encouraging, the negative counterpart is the increase in the proportion of XDR strains producing carbapenemases, associated to the significant advance of the concerning world-wide disseminated hypervirulent high-risk clone ST235. Continued high-resolution surveillance, integrating phenotypic and genomic data, is necessary for understanding resistance trends and analyzing the impact of national plans on antimicrobial resistance. Funding: MSD and the Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación and Unión Europea—NextGenerationEU