Psychological and functional impacts associated with restrictions in long-term care facilities (LTCF) due to the COVID-19 pandemic: A multicentre study

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Aging and Mental Health on 2022-12-20, available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2022.2158306Objectives: To analyze the impacts of the restrictions implemented in LTCF during the COVID-19 pandemic on the psychological and functional status of older adults. Design: A retrospective multicentre study. We hypothesize that the negative effects of the restrictions will lead to a higher rate of decline between the measures taken immediately before and after the lockdown than between the two measures taken before the lockdown. Setting and participants: 365 participants recruited in four Spanish LTCFs in Galicia and Valencia. Methods: Impacts of restrictions on cognitive (MMSE), affective (GDS) and functional status (Barthel index, Tinetti) were analyzed by Linear Mixed Models with random intercepts, random slopes, and personal and contextual factors as covariates. Results: Social measures covaried significantly with the cognitive and functional status but did not predict longitudinal change. MMSE, Barthel index and Tinetti scores decreased significantly across pre- and post-lockdown measurement times, but only the Tinetti scores showed a specific impact of the restrictions. Conclusions and Implications: Only performance-based functional measures showed the real impact of restrictions. The findings highlight the importance of having data from several pre-lockdown measurements to enable identification of changes that can be causally attributed to the restrictions. The findings also support the resilience of older adults in mitigating the effect of the restrictions.This work was financially supported with FEDER founds (‘A way to make Europe’) by the Spanish AEI (Doi: 10.13039/501100011033; Refs. PID2020-114521RB-C21 and PSI2017-89389-C2-1-R) and by the Galician Government (Consellería de Cultura, Educación e Ordenación Universitaria; axudas para a consolidación e estruturación de unidades de investigación competitivas do Sistema Universitario de Galicia ED431C 2021/04; GI-1807-USC: Ref. 2021-PG011).S

Combined use of coenzyme Q10 and citicoline: A new possibility for patients with glaucoma

Glaucoma is the leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide. Several risk factors have been involved in the pathogenesis of the disease. By now, the main treatable risk factor is elevated intraocular pressure. Nevertheless, some patients, whose intraocular pressure is considered in the target level, still experience a progression of the disease. Glaucoma is a form of multifactorial ocular neurodegeneration with complex etiology, pathogenesis, and pathology. New evidence strongly suggests brain involvement in all aspects of this disease. This hypothesis and the need to prevent glaucomatous progression led to a growing interest in the pharmacological research of new neuroprotective, non-IOP-lowering, agents. The aim of this paper is to report evidence of the usefulness of Coenzyme Q10 and Citicoline, eventually combined, in the prevention of glaucomatous neurodegeneration

Reference Ontologies to Support the Development of New Product-Service Lifecycle Systems

In competitive and time sensitive market places, organisations are tasked with providing Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) approaches to achieve and maintain competitive advantage, react to change and understand the balance of possible options when making decisions on complex multi-faceted problems, Global Production Networks (GPN) in one such domain in which this applies. When designing and configuring GPN to develop, manufacture and deliver product-service provision, information requirements that affect decision making become more complex. The application of reference ontologies to a domain and its related information requirements can enhance and accelerate the development of new product-service lifecycle systems with a view towards the seamless interchange of information or interoperability between systems and domains. This paper present preliminary results for the capture and modelling of end-user information and an initial higher level reference core ontology for the development of reference ontologies to ameliorate product-service lifecycle management for GPNPalmer, C.; Urwin, E.; Pinazo-Sanchez, J.; Sánchez Cid, F.; Pajkovska-Goceva, S.; Young, R. (2014). Reference Ontologies to Support the Development of New Product-Service Lifecycle Systems. En Advances in Production Management Systems: Innovative and Knowledge-Based. Springer Verlag. 642-649. doi:10.1007/978-3-662-44736-9_78S642649Vandermerwe, S., Rada, J.: Servitization of business: adding value by adding services. European Management Journal 6(4), 314–324 (1988)Coe, N.M., Dicken, P., Hess, M.: Global production networks: realizing the potential. Economic Geography Research Group, Working Paper Series No. 05.07 (2007)Young, R.I.M., Gunendran, A.G., Chungoora, N., Harding, J.A., Case, K.: Enabling interoperable manufacturing knowledge sharing in PLM. In: Proceedings of the Sixth Interna-tional Conference on Product Life Cycle Management PLM 2009, University of Bath, Bath, UK, July 6-8, pp. 130–138. Inderscience Enterprises Ltd., Switzerland (2009)Chungoora, N., Young, R.I.M.: The configuration of design and manufacture know-ledge models from a heavyweight ontological foundation. International Journal of Production Research 49(15), 4701–4725 (2011)Chungoora, N., Cutting-Decelle, A.-F., Young, R.I.M., Gunendran, G., Usman, Z., Harding, J.A., Case, K.: Towards the ontology-based consolidation of production-centric standards. International Journal of Production Research 51(2), 327–345 (2013a)Hastilow, N.: An Ontological Approach to Manufacturing Systems Interoperability in Dynamic Change Environments. PhD Thesis. School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Loughborough University, UK (2013)Highfleet Ontology Library Reference. Highfleet Inc., Baltimore (2014)International Standards Society, ISO/IEC 15288:2008 Systems and Software Engineering – System lifecycle processes. ISO, Genève (2008)Banathy, B.H.: A systems view of education: Concepts and principles for effective practice. Educational Technology (1992)OMG, 2012 OMG unified modeling language (OMG UML), superstructure and infrastructure version 2.4.1 (2012), http://www.omg.org/spec/UML/2.4.1/ (accessed May 9, 2014)Mizoguchi, R., Kozaki, K., Kitamura, Y.: Ontological analyses of roles. In: 2012 Federated Conference on Computer Science and Information Systems (FedCSIS), pp. 489–496. IEEE (September 2012)FIPS PUBs: Integration definition for function modelling (IDEF0). Federal information processing standards publication, 183 (1993)POP* Revised framework Work package – A1.8, Athena European integrated project no. 507849 public deliverable (2006

Factores contributivos del programa Pensión 65 y su relación con el bienestar del adulto mayor

Aging leads to the physical and mental deterioration of the person, it is a stage of maximum fragility, so the presence of social assistance programs that promote a decent stay at this stage is dispensable. For this reason, the Pension 65 program emerges, whose purpose is to ensure the well-being of the elderly living in poverty. Therefore, the objective of the research was to determine the contributory factors of the Pension 65 program and its relationship with the well-being of the elderly in the district of Pilcuyo, province of El Collao. The study was framed within the quantitative approach of the correlational type, non-experimental design. The sample consisted of 196 elderly beneficiaries. The results showed that there is a relationship between: household targeting (r=0.903**) and affiliation criteria, non-contributory pension (r=0.875**) and access to basic services, and between social assistance (r=0.890* *) and social satisfaction. In conclusion, the contributory factors of Pension 65 are significantly related (+0.891**, p<0.05) with the well-being of the elderly.El envejecimiento conlleva al deterioro físico y mental de la persona, es una etapa de máxima fragilidad, por lo que se hace prescindible la presencia de programas de asistencia social que fomente una estadía digna en esta etapa. En razón a ello, emerge el programa Pensión 65 cuyo propósito es asegurar el bienestar de las personas de la tercera edad en situación de pobreza. Por ende, el objetivo de la investigación fue determinar los factores contributivos del programa Pensión 65 y su relación con el bienestar del adulto mayor en el distrito de Pilcuyo, provincia de El Collao. El estudio se enmarcó dentro del enfoque cuantitativo del tipo correlacional, diseño no-experimental. La muestra estuvo conformada por 196 adultos mayores beneficiarios. Los resultados evidenciaron que existe relación entre: focalización de hogares (r=0,903**) y criterios de afiliación, pensión no contributiva (r=0,875**) y acceso a los servicios básicos, y entre la asistencia social (r=0,890**) y satisfacción social. En conclusión, los factores contributivos de Pensión 65 se relacionan de forma significativa (+0,891**, p<0,05) con el bienestar del adulto mayor

Biochemical–molecular–genetic biomarkers in the tear film, aqueous humor, and blood of primary open-angle glaucoma patients

Introduction: Glaucoma is a chronic neurodegenerative disease, which is the leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide. As a response to high intraocular pressure, the clinical and molecular glaucoma biomarkers indicate the biological state of the visual system. Classical and uncovering novel biomarkers of glaucoma development and progression, follow-up, and monitoring the response to treatment are key objectives to improve vision outcomes. While the glaucoma imaging field has successfully validated biomarkers of disease progression, there is still a considerable need for developing new biomarkers of early glaucoma, that is, at the preclinical and initial glaucoma stages. Outstanding clinical trials and animal-model study designs, innovative technology, and analytical approaches in bioinformatics are essential tools to successfully uncover novel glaucoma biomarkers with a high potential for translation into clinical practice. Methods: To better understand the clinical and biochemical-molecular-genetic glaucoma pathogenesis, we conducted an analytical, observational, and case-comparative/control study in 358 primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) patients and 226 comparative-control individuals (CG) to collect tears, aqueous humor, and blood samples to be processed for identifying POAG biomarkers by exploring several biological pathways, such as inflammation, neurotransmitter/neurotrophin alteration, oxidative stress, gene expression, miRNAs fingerprint and its biological targets, and vascular endothelial dysfunction, Statistics were done by using the IBM SPSS 25.0 program. Differences were considered statistically significant when p ≤ 0.05. Results: Mean age of the POAG patients was 70.03 ± 9.23 years, and 70.62 ± 7.89 years in the CG. Malondialdehyde (MDA), nitric oxide (NO), interleuquin (IL)-6, endothelin-1 (ET-1), and 5 hydroxyindolacetic acid (5-HIAA), displayed significantly higher levels in the POAG patients vs. the CG (p < 0.001). Total antioxidant capacity (TAC), brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), 5-hydroxy tryptamine (5-HT), solute carrier family 23-nucleobase transporters-member 2 (SLC23A2) gene, and the glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4) gene, showed significantly lower levelsin the POAG patients than in the CG (p < 0.001). The miRNAs that differentially expressed in tear samples of the POAG patients respect to the CG were the hsa miR-26b-5p (involved in cell proliferation and apoptosis), hsa miR-152-3p (regulator of cell proliferation, and extracellular matrix expression), hsa miR-30e-5p (regulator of autophagy and apoptosis), and hsa miR-151a-3p (regulator of myoblast proliferation). Discussion: We are incredibly enthusiastic gathering as much information as possible on POAG biomarkers to learn how the above information can be used to better steer the diagnosis and therapy of glaucoma to prevent blindness in the predictable future. In fact, we may suggest that the design and development of blended biomarkers is a more appropriate solution in ophthalmological practice for early diagnosis and to predict therapeutic response in the POAG patients

Plasma-Derived Extracellular Vesicles as Potential Biomarkers in Heart Transplant Patient with Chronic Chagas Disease

Chagas disease is emerging in countries to which it is not endemic. Biomarkers for earlier therapeutic response assessment in patients with chronic Chagas disease are needed. We profiled plasma-derived extracellular vesicles from a heart transplant patient with chronic Chagas disease and showed the potential of this approach for discovering such biomarkers.Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) receives support from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities through the Centro de Excelencia Severo Ochoa 2019–2023 Program (CEX2018-000806-S). ISGlobal and Institut d’Investigació en Ciències de la Salut Germans Trias i Pujol (IGTP) are members of the Centres de Recerca de Catalunya (CERCA Program), Generalitat de Catalunya. Work in the laboratory of C.F.B. is funded by Fundació La Marató de TV3 (reference 566/U/2018) and Fundación Mundo Sano. This project was co-financed by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund with the support of Secretaria d’Universitats i Recerca del Departament d’Empresa i Coneixement de la Generalitat de Catalunya. N.C., M.G., J.G., and M.J.P. receive funds from the Redes temáticas de investigación cooperativa en salud (RETICS), Spanish Tropical Diseases Network “RD12/0018/0010” and from the Agencia de Gestió d’Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca, Generalitat de Catalunya; grant “2017 SGR 00924.” M.G., C.B., J.G., M.J.P., and I.C.A. belong to the Ibero-American Nuevas Herramientas para el Diagnóstico y la Evaluación del Paciente con Enfermedad de Chagas network. I.C.A. is partially supported by grants no. 2G12MD007592 and 5U54MD007592 from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities of the US National Institutes of Health. We are grateful to the Biomolecule Analysis Core Facility at University of Texas at El Paso, Border Biomedical Research Center, funded by National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities grants 2G12MD007592 and 5U54MD007592. M.T.M. received a PhD fellowship from the Science Without Borders Program, Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior, Brazil.S

Mirroring the Zika epidemics in Cuba: The view from a European imported diseases clinic

Dear Editor, the changing epidemiology of Zika virus infection has been described before and in this letter we would like to show how the local epidemiology of Zika in Cuba is reflected in imported cases in returning travellers to Barcelona. The spread of the 2015 Zika epidemic was mostly reported in South America and the Caribbean. While increasing numbers of cases raised in South-America, Cuba was still free of cases. On 2nd March 2016 the first imported case from Cuba (Artemisa province) was reported. The first autochthonous case was reported on 16th March 2016 in La Habana. Onwards, cases were reported in Camagüey, Cienfuegos, Guantánamo, Havana and Santiago. During 2017 transmission has been reported in municipalities of Arroyo Naranjo and Regla in the province of Havana

A gemini cationic lipid with histidine residues as a novel lipid-based gene nanocarrier: a biophysical and biochemical study

This work reports the synthesis of a novel gemini cationic lipid that incorporates two histidine-type head groups (C3(C16His)2). Mixed with a helper lipid 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero3-phosphatidyl ethanol amine (DOPE), it was used to transfect three different types of plasmid DNA: one encoding the green fluorescence protein (pEGFP-C3), one encoding a luciferase (pCMV-Luc), and a therapeutic anti-tumoral agent encoding interleukin-12 (pCMV-IL12). Complementary biophysical experiments (zeta potential, gel electrophoresis, small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), and fluorescence anisotropy) and biological studies (FACS, luminometry, and cytotoxicity) of these C3(C16His)2/DOPE-pDNA lipoplexes provided vast insight into their outcomes as gene carriers. They were found to efficiently compact and protect pDNA against DNase I degradation by forming nanoaggregates of 120–290 nm in size, which were further characterized as very fluidic lamellar structures based in a sandwich-type phase, with alternating layers of mixed lipids and an aqueous monolayer where the pDNA and counterions are located. The optimum formulations of these nanoaggregates were able to transfect the pDNAs into COS-7 and HeLa cells with high cell viability, comparable or superior to that of the standard Lipo2000*. The vast amount of information collected from the in vitro studies points to this histidine-based lipid nanocarrier as a potentially interesting candidate for future in vivo studies investigating specific gene therapies

Validation of a method to estimate direct normal irradiance of UVA and PAR bands from global horizontal measurements for cloudless sky conditions in Valencia, Spain, by a measurement campaign

A method is proposed to provide measurement of direct normal solar irradiance of bands with wavelength ranges (315-400 nm, 400-700 nm) from measurements of global horizontal band irradiance for cloudless sky conditions in Valencia. Global and normal direct irradiance data for every air mass were obtained by applying the SMART2 model to the atmosphere of Valencia. The direct normal to global irradiance ratio was parameterized versus the relative optical air mass. A measurement campaign of global horizontal and diffuse irradiance of UVA and PAR bands was carried out in Valencia, after which, the inferred direct normal irradiance was compared with those provided by the method. The result of the comparison shows that the method is acceptably accurate. The proposed model tends to underestimate the direct normal irradiance of the UVA band by 6%, although for values below 25 W/m2 the model overestimates the direct irradiance by 6%, while for values above 25 W/m2 the model underestimates it by 10%. The other two error estimators used ranging from 11% to 15% are similar in the defined interval measurements in relation to the whole UVA band. Regarding the PAR band, the model overestimates the direct normal irradiance of the PAR band by only 2.2%. With this, the results of the PAR band are more conclusive, as it has been found that for direct normal irradiance values higher than 280 W/m2 the MBE error is almost zero and the other two estimator errors are small, about 5%. © 2010 Springer-Verlag.This work was supported by the Spanish Government through MEC grant MAT2009-14625-C03-03, and is a part of the activities of the Grup d'Optoelectronica i Semiconductors of the Polytechnic University of Valencia. The translation of this paper was funded by the Universidad Politecnica de Valencia, Spain.Serrano Jareño, MA.; Boscá Berga, JV. (2011). Validation of a method to estimate direct normal irradiance of UVA and PAR bands from global horizontal measurements for cloudless sky conditions in Valencia, Spain, by a measurement campaign. Theoretical and Applied Climatology. 103(1):95-101. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-010-0284-9S951011031Barth J, Cadet J, Césarini JP, Fitzpatrick TB, McKinlay A, Mutzhas M, Pathak M, Peak M, Sliney D, Urbach F (1999) TC 6-26 report: Standardization of the terms UV-A1, UV-A2 and UV-B, CIE 134-1999 ISBN 3-900-734-94-1Batlles FJ, Olmo FJ, Alados-Arboledas L (1995) On shadowband correction methods for diffuse irradiance measurements. Solar Energy 54(5):105–114Drummond AJ (1956) On the measurement of sky radiation. Arch 602 Meteor Geophys Bioklim B 7:413–436Gueymard C (1995) SMARTS2: a simple model of the atmospheric radiative transfer of sunshine: algorithms and performance assessment. FSEC-PF-270-95, Florida Solar Energy CenterGueymard C (2003) SMARTS2 code, versión 2.9.2. User’s Manual, Solar Consulting Services Bailey CO. Available from http://rredc.nrel.gov/solar/models/SMARTS/smarts_index.htmlGueymard C (2004) The sun’s total and spectral irradiance for solar energy applications and solar radiation models. Solar Energy 76:423–453Häder DP, Lebert M, Marangoni R, Colombetti G (1999) ELDONET-European light dosimeter network hardware and software. J Photochem Photobiol B: Biol 52:51–58Häder DP, Lebert M, Colombetti G, Figueroa F (2001) European light dosimeter network (ELDONET). Helgol Mar Res 55:35–44Iqbal M (1983) An introduction to solar radiation. Academic, TorontoKudish AI, Evseev EG (2008) The assessment of four different correction models applied to the diffuse radiation measured with a shadow ring using global and normal beam radiation measurements for Beer Sheva, Israel. Solar Energy 82(2):144–156LeBaron BA, Michalsky JJ, Perez R (1990) A simple procedure for correcting shadowband data for all sky conditions. Solar Energy 44:249–256Marín Fernández MJ (2007) Estudio de la irradiancia solar ultravioleta y eritemática en la Comunidad Valenciana. Doctoral Thesis University of Valencia (Spain)Perez R, Ineichen P, Seals R, Michalsky JJ, Stewart R (1990) Modelling daylight availability and irradiance components from direct and global irradiance. Sol Energy 44:271–289Pinazo JM, Cañada J, Bosca JV (1995) A new method to determine Ångström's turbidity coefficient: its application for Valencia. Solar Energy 54:219–226Serrano MA, Boscá JV, Cañada J (2008) The determination of a band factor to express irradiance of UV and PAR wavelength ranges in a clean and dry atmosphere at Valencia (Spain). Int J Ambient Energy 29(4):171–180Utrillas MP, Boscà JV, Martinez-Lozano JA, Cañada J, Tena F, Pinazo JM (1998) A comparative study of Spectral2, and Smarts2 parameterised models based on spectral irradiance measurements at Valencia, Spain. Solar Energy 63:161–171Utrillas MP, Marín MJ, Esteve AR, Tena F, Cañada J, Estellés V, Martínez Lozano JA (2007) Diffuse UV erythemal radiation experimental values. J Geophy Res 112:387–39