The exposure of the hybrid detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory

The Pierre Auger Observatory is a detector for ultra-high energy cosmic rays. It consists of a surface array to measure secondary particles at ground level and a fluorescence detector to measure the development of air showers in the atmosphere above the array. The "hybrid" detection mode combines the information from the two subsystems. We describe the determination of the hybrid exposure for events observed by the fluorescence telescopes in coincidence with at least one water-Cherenkov detector of the surface array. A detailed knowledge of the time dependence of the detection operations is crucial for an accurate evaluation of the exposure. We discuss the relevance of monitoring data collected during operations, such as the status of the fluorescence detector, background light and atmospheric conditions, that are used in both simulation and reconstruction.Comment: Paper accepted by Astroparticle Physic

Association of candidate gene polymorphisms with chronic kidney disease : Results of a case-control analysis in the NEFRONA cohort

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a major risk factor for end-stage renal disease, cardiovascular disease and premature death. Despite classical clinical risk factors for CKD and some genetic risk factors have been identified, the residual risk observed in prediction models is still high. Therefore, new risk factors need to be identified in order to better predict the risk of CKD in the population. Here, we analyzed the genetic association of 79 SNPs of proteins associated with mineral metabolism disturbances with CKD in a cohort that includes 2,445 CKD cases and 559 controls. Genotyping was performed with matrix assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry. We used logistic regression models considering different genetic inheritance models to assess the association of the SNPs with the prevalence of CKD, adjusting for known risk factors. Eight SNPs (rs1126616, rs35068180, rs2238135, rs1800247, rs385564, rs4236, rs2248359, and rs1564858) were associated with CKD even after adjusting by sex, age and race. A model containing five of these SNPs (rs1126616, rs35068180, rs1800247, rs4236, and rs2248359), diabetes and hypertension showed better performance than models considering only clinical risk factors, significantly increasing the area under the curve of the model without polymorphisms. Furthermore, one of the SNPs (the rs2248359) showed an interaction with hypertension, being the risk genotype affecting only hypertensive patients. We conclude that 5 SNPs related to proteins implicated in mineral metabolism disturbances (Osteopontin, osteocalcin, matrix gla protein, matrix metalloprotease 3 and 24 hydroxylase) are associated to an increased risk of suffering CKD

Association of a single nucleotide polymorphism combination pattern of the Klotho gene with non-cardiovascular death in patients with chronic kidney disease

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is associated with an elevated risk of all-cause mortality, with cardiovascular death being extensively investigated. However, non-cardiovascular mortality represents the biggest percentage, showing an evident increase in recent years. Klotho is a gene highly expressed in the kidney, with a clear influence on lifespan. Low levels of Klotho have been linked to CKD progression and adverse outcomes. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the Klotho gene have been associated with several diseases, but studies investigating the association of Klotho SNPs with noncardiovascular death in CKD populations are lacking. The main aim of this study was to assess whether 11 Klotho SNPs were associated with non-cardiovascular death in a subpopulation of the National Observatory of Atherosclerosis in Nephrology (NEFRONA) study (n ¼ 2185 CKD patients). After 48 months of follow-up, 62 cardiovascular deaths and 108 non-cardiovascular deaths were recorded. We identified a high non-cardiovascular death risk combination of SNPs corresponding to individuals carrying the most frequent allele (G) at rs562020, the rare allele (C) at rs2283368 and homozygotes for the rare allele (G) at rs2320762 (rs562020 GG/AG þ rs2283368 CC/CT þ rs2320762 GG). Among the patients with the three SNPs genotyped (n ¼ 1016), 75 (7.4%) showed this combination. Furthermore, 95 (9.3%) patients showed a low-risk combination carrying all the opposite genotypes (rs562020 AA þ rs2283368 TT þ rs2320762 GT/TT). All the other combinations [n ¼ 846 (83.3%)] were considered as normal risk. Using competing risk regression analysis, we confirmed that the proposed combinations are independently associated with a higher fhazard ratio [HR] 3.28 [confidence interval (CI) 1.51-7.12]g and lower [HR 6 × 10- (95% CI 3.3 × 10--1.1 × 10-)] risk of suffering a non-cardiovascular death in the CKD population of the NEFRONA cohort compared with patients with the normal-risk combination. Determination of three SNPs of the Klotho gene could help in the prediction of non-cardiovascular death in CKD

RICORS2040 : The need for collaborative research in chronic kidney disease

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a silent and poorly known killer. The current concept of CKD is relatively young and uptake by the public, physicians and health authorities is not widespread. Physicians still confuse CKD with chronic kidney insufficiency or failure. For the wider public and health authorities, CKD evokes kidney replacement therapy (KRT). In Spain, the prevalence of KRT is 0.13%. Thus health authorities may consider CKD a non-issue: very few persons eventually need KRT and, for those in whom kidneys fail, the problem is 'solved' by dialysis or kidney transplantation. However, KRT is the tip of the iceberg in the burden of CKD. The main burden of CKD is accelerated ageing and premature death. The cut-off points for kidney function and kidney damage indexes that define CKD also mark an increased risk for all-cause premature death. CKD is the most prevalent risk factor for lethal coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and the factor that most increases the risk of death in COVID-19, after old age. Men and women undergoing KRT still have an annual mortality that is 10- to 100-fold higher than similar-age peers, and life expectancy is shortened by ~40 years for young persons on dialysis and by 15 years for young persons with a functioning kidney graft. CKD is expected to become the fifth greatest global cause of death by 2040 and the second greatest cause of death in Spain before the end of the century, a time when one in four Spaniards will have CKD. However, by 2022, CKD will become the only top-15 global predicted cause of death that is not supported by a dedicated well-funded Centres for Biomedical Research (CIBER) network structure in Spain. Realizing the underestimation of the CKD burden of disease by health authorities, the Decade of the Kidney initiative for 2020-2030 was launched by the American Association of Kidney Patients and the European Kidney Health Alliance. Leading Spanish kidney researchers grouped in the kidney collaborative research network Red de Investigación Renal have now applied for the Redes de Investigación Cooperativa Orientadas a Resultados en Salud (RICORS) call for collaborative research in Spain with the support of the Spanish Society of Nephrology, Federación Nacional de Asociaciones para la Lucha Contra las Enfermedades del Riñón and ONT: RICORS2040 aims to prevent the dire predictions for the global 2040 burden of CKD from becoming true

Estudios de marcado y recaptura de especies marinas

Los resultados obtenidos del marcado y posterior recaptura de los ejemplares son una herramienta muy valiosa para contribuir a mejorar el conocimiento de la biología y ecología de una especie, examinando ciertos aspectos como son: el crecimiento, los movimientos o migraciones, la mortalidad o supervivencia, la abundancia y distribución de la especie, el hábitat y diferenciación de poblaciones o stocks. Actualmente la técnica de marcado se aplica a muchas especies, tanto terrestres como marinas, pertenecientes a diversos grupos zoológicos: peces, crustáceos, reptiles, moluscos y mamíferos. Este libro repasa algunos ejemplos de marcado de especies marinas de interés comercial. No todas las especies pueden ser marcadas, porque es necesario cumplir una serie de requisitos para poder llevar a cabo con éxito un experimento de marcado. En uno de los apartados de esta guía, se describen los distintos aspectos a tener en cuenta para obtener buenos resultados. Se describen los principales proyectos de marcado actualmente en ejecución o en marcha llevados a cabo por el Instituto Español de Oceanografía (IEO). En primer lugar, se describe brevemente la especie, su distribución, crecimiento, reproducción, alimentación, etc. A continuación, se presenta la información del marcado, es decir, campañas realizadas, número de ejemplares marcados y algunos de los resultados obtenidos hasta la fecha a partir de las recapturas disponibles. En algunas especies, los programas de marcado se llevan realizando desde hace más de 20 años, como es el caso del atún rojo, por lo que la información disponible es bastante amplia. En otros casos por el contrario como la merluza, los proyectos son relativamente recientes, no obstante los resultados son bastante interesantes y prometedores.Nowadays many different marine animals are being tagged. This book summarizes recent tagging programs carried out by the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO). Although the objectives of these various studies mainly depend on the species and each project in particular, the general aim is to better understand the biology and ecology of these animals the structure and dynamics of their populations and their capacity to respond to human activities. This book provides an overview of different aspects of this technique such as a brief history of tagging, the types of tags currently used, including both conventional and electronic tags, where and how to put them on the marine animals, some recommendations regarding how to perform a tagging survey and where to go or what to do if anyone recovers a tagged fish or marine animal. The book then summarizes the main species tagged by the IEO, making a short description of their biology followed by some of the results obtained from tagging studies undertaken until now. Other applications are to know the spatial distribution (spawning or feeding areas), estimate growth parameters, mortality and survival rates, longevity, the size of the population or identifying stocks. Nowadays the advances in electronics have also open new fields such us the possibility of tracking an animal and knowing its habitat preferences and behaviour. Besides some of these tags have the capacity of recording this information during long periods and sending the data from long distances even without the need to recover the animal. Tagging activities constitute a very useful tool to improve the knowledge of many species and contribute to their management and conservation. For that reason this methodology is included in many IEO projects in which other activities like the monitoring of the fishery (landings, fishing effort, fleet characteristics, fishing areas, biological sampling, etc.) are carried out. Some projects are related with coastal pelagic fisheries including anchovy, sardine and mackerel or oceanic pelagic fisheries like tuna and billfish species and pelagic sharks. Others are focused on benthic and demersal species such as hake, black spot seabream, anglerfish, flatfish, etc. Nevertheless not all species can be tagged, as they have to survive being caught and handled before being release. For this reason, tagging techniques may not easily be applied to some species.Versión del edito

Seguimiento de las guías españolas para el manejo del asma por el médico de atención primaria: un estudio observacional ambispectivo

Objetivo Evaluar el grado de seguimiento de las recomendaciones de las versiones de la Guía española para el manejo del asma (GEMA 2009 y 2015) y su repercusión en el control de la enfermedad. Material y métodos Estudio observacional y ambispectivo realizado entre septiembre del 2015 y abril del 2016, en el que participaron 314 médicos de atención primaria y 2.864 pacientes. Resultados Utilizando datos retrospectivos, 81 de los 314 médicos (25, 8% [IC del 95%, 21, 3 a 30, 9]) comunicaron seguir las recomendaciones de la GEMA 2009. Al inicio del estudio, 88 de los 314 médicos (28, 0% [IC del 95%, 23, 4 a 33, 2]) seguían las recomendaciones de la GEMA 2015. El tener un asma mal controlada (OR 0, 19, IC del 95%, 0, 13 a 0, 28) y presentar un asma persistente grave al inicio del estudio (OR 0, 20, IC del 95%, 0, 12 a 0, 34) se asociaron negativamente con tener un asma bien controlada al final del seguimiento. Por el contrario, el seguimiento de las recomendaciones de la GEMA 2015 se asoció de manera positiva con una mayor posibilidad de que el paciente tuviera un asma bien controlada al final del periodo de seguimiento (OR 1, 70, IC del 95%, 1, 40 a 2, 06). Conclusiones El escaso seguimiento de las guías clínicas para el manejo del asma constituye un problema común entre los médicos de atención primaria. Un seguimiento de estas guías se asocia con un control mejor del asma. Existe la necesidad de actuaciones que puedan mejorar el seguimiento por parte de los médicos de atención primaria de las guías para el manejo del asma. Objective: To assess the degree of compliance with the recommendations of the 2009 and 2015 versions of the Spanish guidelines for managing asthma (Guía Española para el Manejo del Asma [GEMA]) and the effect of this compliance on controlling the disease. Material and methods: We conducted an observational ambispective study between September 2015 and April 2016 in which 314 primary care physicians and 2864 patients participated. Results: Using retrospective data, we found that 81 of the 314 physicians (25.8%; 95% CI 21.3–30.9) stated that they complied with the GEMA2009 recommendations. At the start of the study, 88 of the 314 physicians (28.0%; 95% CI 23.4–33.2) complied with the GEMA2015 recommendations. Poorly controlled asthma (OR, 0.19; 95% CI 0.13–0.28) and persistent severe asthma at the start of the study (OR, 0.20; 95% CI 0.12–0.34) were negatively associated with having well-controlled asthma by the end of the follow-up. In contrast, compliance with the GEMA2015 recommendations was positively associated with a greater likelihood that the patient would have well-controlled asthma by the end of the follow-up (OR, 1.70; 95% CI 1.40–2.06). Conclusions: Low compliance with the clinical guidelines for managing asthma is a common problem among primary care physicians. Compliance with these guidelines is associated with better asthma control. Actions need to be taken to improve primary care physician compliance with the asthma management guidelines

Measurement of the energy spectrum of cosmic rays above 10(18) eV using the Pierre Auger Observatory

We report a measurement of the flux of cosmic rays with unprecedented precision and statistics using the Pierre Auger Observatory. Based on fluorescence observations in coincidence with at least one surface detector we derive a spectrum for energies above 10¹⁸ eV. We also update the previously published energy spectrum obtained with the surface detector array. The two spectra are combined addressing the systematic uncertainties and, in particular, the influence of the energy resolution on the spectral shape. The spectrum can be described by a broken power law E−γ with index γ=3.3 below the ankle which is measured at log10(Eankle/eV)=18.6. Above the ankle the spectrum is described by a power law with index 2.6 followed by a flux suppression, above about log10(E/eV)=19.5, detected with high statistical significance.J. Abraham... K. B. Barber... J. A. Bellido... R. W. Clay... M. J. Cooper... B. R. Dawson... A. E. Herve... V. C. Holmes... J. Sorokin... P. Wahrlich... B. J. Whelan... M. G. Winnick..