Perceived vulnerability to Coronavirus infection: impact on dental practice

SARS-CoV-2 is a new virus responsible for the outbreak of the respiratory disease COVID-19, which has spread to several countries around the world, causing considerable consternation and a fear of contagions in global healthcare settings. The objective of this study is to identify, among Madrid’s adult population, the impact of COVID-19 on self-perceived vulnerability, infectiousness, aversion to germs, and other behaviors in the current situation regarding dental practice. This cross-sectional observational study involves 1,008 persons randomly surveyed on the streets of Madrid, Spain between March 1 and March 8, 2020. Their perceived vulnerability to disease was measured using the perceived vulnerability to disease scale. An additional questionnaire evaluated basic sociodemographic aspects, medical history, personal hygiene behavior, willingness to go to certain places and the perception of the risk of contagion when going to a dental practice. There are significant differences by sex on the germ aversion subscale (p < 0.05) and in the risk of waiting in the waiting room (p < 0.01), tooth extraction ((p < 0.05), endodontics (p < 0.05) and fillings ((p < 0.05). Women consider the risk to be higher than men do. The risk group (over 60 and with systemic disease) has significant differences on the subscales of infectivity (p < 0.01) and germ aversion (p < 0.01). Our study shows high levels of vulnerability regarding contracting COVID-19 and avoiding dental care as perceived by the population over 60 years old and with a systemic disease

Lifestyle and comorbid conditions as risk factors for community-acquired pneumonia in outpatient adults (NEUMO-ES-RISK project)

Introduction: Information about community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) risk in primary care is limited. We assess different lifestyle and comorbid conditions as risk factors (RF) for CAP in adults in primary care. Methods: A retrospective-observational-controlled study was designed. Adult CAP cases diagnosed at primary care in Spain between 2009 and 2013 were retrieved using the National Surveillance System of Primary Care Data (BiFAP). Age-matched and sex-matched controls were selected by incidence density sampling (ratio 2:1). Associations are presented as percentages and OR. Binomial regression models were constructed to avoid bias effects. Results: 51 139 patients and 102 372 controls were compared. Mean age (SD) was 61.4 (19.9) years. RF more significantly linked to CAP were: HIV (OR [95% CI]: 5.21 [4.35 to 6.27]), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (2.97 [2.84 to 3.12]), asthma (2.16 [2.07,2.26]), smoking (1.96 [1.91 to 2.02]) and poor dental hygiene (1.45 [1.41 to 1.49]). Average prevalence of any RF was 82.2% in cases and 69.2% in controls (2.05 [2.00 to 2.10]). CAP rate increased with the accumulation of RF and age: risk associated with 1RF was 1.42 (1.37 to 1.47) in 18-60-year-old individuals vs 1.57 (1.49 to 1.66) in >60 years of age, with 2RF 1.88 (1.80 to 1.97) vs 2.35 (2.23, 2.48) and with >/= 3 RF 3.11 (2.95, 3.30) vs 4.34 (4.13 to 4.57). Discussion: Prevalence of RF in adult CAP in primary care is high. Main RFs associated are HIV, COPD, asthma, smoking and poor dental hygiene. Our risk stacking results could help clinicians identify patients at higher risk of pneumonia

Morphological, Electrical, and Chemical Characteristics of Poly(sodium 4-styrenesulfonate) Coated PVDF Ultrafiltration Membranes after Plasma Treatment

A commercial ultrafiltration (UF) membrane (HFM-183 de Koch Membrane Systems) made of poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF), was recovered with a negatively-charged polyelectrolyte (poly(sodium 4-styrenesulfonate)) (PSS), and the effects on its electric, chemical, and morphological properties were analyzed. Atomic force microscopy (AFM), liquid-liquid displacement porometry, Electrical Impedance Spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy were used to investigate the modifications induced by the deposition of PSS on the PVDF positively-charged membrane and after its treatment by a radio frequency Ar-plasma. These techniques confirmed a real deposition and posterior compaction of PSS with increasing roughness and decreasing pore sizes. The evolution of the electric resistances of the membranes confirmed crosslinking and compaction with shielding of the sulfonated groups from PSS. In this way, a membrane with a negatively-charged active layer and a pore size which was 60% lower than the original membrane was obtained. The composition of the additive used by manufacturers to modify PVDF to make it positively charged was obtained by different procedures, all of which depended upon the results of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, leading to fairly consistent results. This polymer, carrying positive charges, contains quaternary nitrogen, as confirmed by XPS. Moreover, Raman spectroscopy confirmed that PVDF changes from mostly the β to the α phase, which is more stable as a substrate for the deposited PSS. The aim of the tested modifications was to increase the retention of divalent anions without reducing permeability.Fil: Sandoval Olvera, Ivette G.. Universidad de Guanajuato; MéxicoFil: González Muñoz, Pilar. Universidad de Guanajuato; MéxicoFil: Diaz, Dario Ramón. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto de Física Aplicada "Dr. Jorge Andrés Zgrablich". Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Ciencias Físico Matemáticas y Naturales. Instituto de Física Aplicada "Dr. Jorge Andrés Zgrablich"; ArgentinaFil: Maroto Valiente, Ángel. Universidad de Guanajuato; MéxicoFil: Ochoa, Nelio Ariel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto de Física Aplicada "Dr. Jorge Andrés Zgrablich". Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Ciencias Físico Matemáticas y Naturales. Instituto de Física Aplicada "Dr. Jorge Andrés Zgrablich"; ArgentinaFil: Carmona, Francisco J.. Universidad de Extremadura; EspañaFil: Palacio, Laura. Universidad de Valladolid. Facultad de Ciencias; EspañaFil: Calvo, José I.. Universidad de Valladolid. Facultad de Ciencias; EspañaFil: Hernández, Antonio. Universidad de Valladolid. Facultad de Ciencias; EspañaFil: Ávila Rodríguez, Mario. Universidad de Guanajuato; MéxicoFil: Prádanos, Pedro. Universidad de Valladolid. Facultad de Ciencias; Españ

Effect of Different Drying Methods on the Phenolic, Flavonoid and Volatile Compounds of Stevia rebaudiana Leaves

[EN] Different drying methods (hot air drying, freeze drying and shade drying) were evaluated to discern the optimal conditions for the preservation of flavonoid, phenolic and volatile compounds in stevia leaves. All the methods applied affected the antioxidant and volatile compounds in dried stevia leaves differently. 2-Hexenal, hexanal and -pinene were the most abundant volatile compounds produced by freeze drying and shade drying (21.1-19.7; 14.2-10 and 19.4-5.04 mu g/g, respectively); and furan tetrahydro and -pinene (3.2 and 3.1 mu g/g, respectively) by air drying. While chlorogenic acid, coumaric acid and sinapic acid were the most abundant phenolic compounds produced by all the drying treatments (with values that ranged between 88.6-191.8; 41.7-91.3 and 33.2-178.5 mg/100g dry weight of stevia, respectively). The content of volatile compounds was higher with shade drying, whereas most flavonoids and phenolic acids had higher concentrations following freeze drying, although some flavonoids and phenolic acids exhibited a higher increment with air drying. There is no best drying treatment, however, freeze drying results in an extract with satisfactory antioxidant properties and good aromatic characteristics. Copyright (c) 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.The authors thank the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia (Spain) (for funding the project PAID 2011-ref: 2012 and the PhD scholarship), and the Generalitat Valenciana (Spain) (for the project GV/2013/029).Periche Santamaría, A.; Castelló Gómez, ML.; Heredia Gutiérrez, AB.; Escriche Roberto, MI. (2016). Effect of Different Drying Methods on the Phenolic, Flavonoid and Volatile Compounds of Stevia rebaudiana Leaves. Flavour and fragrance journal (Online). 31(2):173-177. https://doi.org/10.1002/ffj.3298S173177312Wölwer-Rieck, U. (2012). The Leaves of Stevia rebaudiana (Bertoni), Their Constituents and the Analyses Thereof: A Review. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 60(4), 886-895. doi:10.1021/jf2044907Lemus-Mondaca, R., Vega-Gálvez, A., Zura-Bravo, L., & Ah-Hen, K. (2012). Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni, source of a high-potency natural sweetener: A comprehensive review on the biochemical, nutritional and functional aspects. Food Chemistry, 132(3), 1121-1132. doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2011.11.140(2011). Revised exposure assessment for steviol glycosides for the proposed uses as a food additive. EFSA Journal, 9(1), 1972. doi:10.2903/j.efsa.2011.1972Periche, A., Koutsidis, G., & Escriche, I. (2013). Composition of Antioxidants and Amino Acids in Stevia Leaf Infusions. Plant Foods for Human Nutrition, 69(1), 1-7. doi:10.1007/s11130-013-0398-1Carbonell-Capella, J. M., Barba, F. J., Esteve, M. J., & Frígola, A. (2013). High pressure processing of fruit juice mixture sweetened with Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni: Optimal retention of physical and nutritional quality. Innovative Food Science & Emerging Technologies, 18, 48-56. doi:10.1016/j.ifset.2013.01.011Shukla, S., Mehta, A., Mehta, P., & Bajpai, V. K. (2012). Antioxidant ability and total phenolic content of aqueous leaf extract of Stevia rebaudiana Bert. Experimental and Toxicologic Pathology, 64(7-8), 807-811. doi:10.1016/j.etp.2011.02.002Muanda, F. N., Soulimani, R., Diop, B., & Dicko, A. (2011). Study on chemical composition and biological activities of essential oil and extracts from Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni leaves. LWT - Food Science and Technology, 44(9), 1865-1872. doi:10.1016/j.lwt.2010.12.002Kaushik, R., Narayanan, P., Vasudevan, V., Muthukumaran, G., & Usha, A. (2010). Nutrient composition of cultivated stevia leaves and the influence of polyphenols and plant pigments on sensory and antioxidant properties of leaf extracts. Journal of Food Science and Technology, 47(1), 27-33. doi:10.1007/s13197-010-0011-7Chatsudthipong, V., & Muanprasat, C. (2009). Stevioside and related compounds: Therapeutic benefits beyond sweetness. Pharmacology & Therapeutics, 121(1), 41-54. doi:10.1016/j.pharmthera.2008.09.007Lin, S.-D., Sung, J.-M., & Chen, C.-L. (2011). Effect of drying and storage conditions on caffeic acid derivatives and total phenolics of Echinacea Purpurea grown in Taiwan. Food Chemistry, 125(1), 226-231. doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2010.09.006Hossain, M. B., Barry-Ryan, C., Martin-Diana, A. B., & Brunton, N. P. (2010). Effect of drying method on the antioxidant capacity of six Lamiaceae herbs. Food Chemistry, 123(1), 85-91. doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2010.04.003Capecka, E., Mareczek, A., & Leja, M. (2005). Antioxidant activity of fresh and dry herbs of some Lamiaceae species. Food Chemistry, 93(2), 223-226. doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2004.09.020Chan, E. W. C., Lim, Y. Y., Wong, S. K., Lim, K. K., Tan, S. P., Lianto, F. S., & Yong, M. Y. (2009). Effects of different drying methods on the antioxidant properties of leaves and tea of ginger species. Food Chemistry, 113(1), 166-172. doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2008.07.090Pinela, J., Barros, L., Carvalho, A. M., & Ferreira, I. C. F. R. (2011). Influence of the drying method in the antioxidant potential and chemical composition of four shrubby flowering plants from the tribe Genisteae (Fabaceae). Food and Chemical Toxicology, 49(11), 2983-2989. doi:10.1016/j.fct.2011.07.054Abascal, K., Ganora, L., & Yarnell, E. (2005). The effect of freeze-drying and its implications for botanical medicine: a review. Phytotherapy Research, 19(8), 655-660. doi:10.1002/ptr.1651Lewicki, P. P. (2006). Design of hot air drying for better foods. Trends in Food Science & Technology, 17(4), 153-163. doi:10.1016/j.tifs.2005.10.012Di Cesare, L. F., Forni, E., Viscardi, D., & Nani, R. C. (2003). Changes in the Chemical Composition of Basil Caused by Different Drying Procedures. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 51(12), 3575-3581. doi:10.1021/jf021080oM., D.-M., M., P.-C., & M., C. (2002). Effect of different drying methods on the volatile components of parsley ( Petroselinum crispum L. ). European Food Research and Technology, 215(3), 227-230. doi:10.1007/s00217-002-0529-7Escriche, I., Kadar, M., Juan-Borrás, M., & Domenech, E. (2011). Using flavonoids, phenolic compounds and headspace volatile profile for botanical authentication of lemon and orange honeys. Food Research International, 44(5), 1504-1513. doi:10.1016/j.foodres.2011.03.049Commission Decision 2002/657/EC of 12 August, Implementing Council Directive 96/23/EC concerning the performance of analytical methods and the interpretation of results, OJEC L221 2002Cacciola, F., Delmonte, P., Jaworska, K., Dugo, P., Mondello, L., & Rader, J. I. (2011). Employing ultra high pressure liquid chromatography as the second dimension in a comprehensive two-dimensional system for analysis of Stevia rebaudiana extracts. Journal of Chromatography A, 1218(15), 2012-2018. doi:10.1016/j.chroma.2010.08.081Ghanta, S., Banerjee, A., Poddar, A., & Chattopadhyay, S. (2007). Oxidative DNA Damage Preventive Activity and Antioxidant Potential ofStevia rebaudiana(Bertoni) Bertoni, a Natural Sweetener. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 55(26), 10962-10967. doi:10.1021/jf071892qLi, J., Jiang, H., & Shi, R. (2009). A new acylated quercetin glycoside from the leaves of Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni. Natural Product Research, 23(15), 1378-1383. doi:10.1080/14786410802447294Karaköse, H., Jaiswal, R., & Kuhnert, N. (2011). Characterization and Quantification of Hydroxycinnamate Derivatives in Stevia rebaudiana Leaves by LC-MSn. 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Adherence to nucleos(t)ide analogue therapies for chronic Hepatitis B infection: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Successful treatment outcomes for chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection requires high levels of adherence to treatment. We searched three databases and abstracts from two conferences up to January 2018 for studies reporting the proportion of patients who were adherent to HBV antiviral therapy and pooled data using random effects meta‐analysis. We included 30 studies, providing data for 23,823 patients. Overall, adherence to treatment was 74.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] 67.1%‐82.1%). Adherence was similar in high‐income settings (75.1%; 95% CI, 65.4%‐85.0%) and in low‐income and middle‐income settings (72.9%; 95% CI, 57.8%‐88.0%). Reported barriers to adherence included forgetting, limited understanding of the importance of adherence, and change to routine. Conclusion: There is a need to reinforce assessment and reporting of adherence as a routine part of HBV care and to assess the extent to which evidence‐based interventions to improve adherence to medication for human immunodeficiency virus [HIV] and other chronic diseases are effective for HBV infection

Ancient DNA reveals the lost domestication history of South American camelids in northern Chile and across the Andes

The study of South American camelids and their domestication is a highly debated topic in zooarchaeology. Identifying the domestic species (alpaca and llama) in archaeological sites based solely on morphological data is challenging due to their similarity with respect to their wild ancestors. Using genetic methods also presents challenges due to the hybridization history of the domestic species, which are thought to have extensively hybridized following the Spanish conquest of South America that resulted in camelids slaughtered en-masse. In this study we generated mitochondrial genomes for 61 ancient South American camelids dated between 3,500 - 2,400 years before the present (Early Formative period) from two archaeological sites in Northern Chile (Tulán-54 and Tulán-85), as well as 66 modern camelid mitogenomes and 815 modern mitochondrial control region sequences from across South America. In addition, we performed osteometric analyses to differentiate big and small body size camelids. A comparative analysis of these data suggests that a substantial proportion of the ancient vicuña genetic variation has been lost since the Early Formative period as it is not present in modern specimens. Moreover, we propose a domestication hypothesis that includes an ancient guanaco population that no longer exists. Finally, we find evidence that interbreeding practices were widespread during the domestication process by the early camelid herders in the Atacama during the Early Formative period and predating the Spanish conquest

Reliability of Monte Carlo event generators for gamma-ray dark matter searches

We study the differences in the gamma-ray spectra simulated by four Monte Carlo event generator packages developed in particle physics. Two different versions of PYTHIA and two of HERWIG are analyzed, namely PYTHIA 6.418 and HERWIG 6.5.10 in Fortran and PYTHIA 8.165 and HERWIG 2.6.1 in C++. For all the studied channels, the intrinsic differences between them are shown to be significative and may play an important role in misunderstanding dark matter signals