Clonal chromosomal mosaicism and loss of chromosome Y in elderly men increase vulnerability for SARS-CoV-2

The pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19) had an estimated overall case fatality ratio of 1.38% (pre-vaccination), being 53% higher in males and increasing exponentially with age. Among 9578 individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 in the SCOURGE study, we found 133 cases (1.42%) with detectable clonal mosaicism for chromosome alterations (mCA) and 226 males (5.08%) with acquired loss of chromosome Y (LOY). Individuals with clonal mosaic events (mCA and/or LOY) showed a 54% increase in the risk of COVID-19 lethality. LOY is associated with transcriptomic biomarkers of immune dysfunction, pro-coagulation activity and cardiovascular risk. Interferon-induced genes involved in the initial immune response to SARS-CoV-2 are also down-regulated in LOY. Thus, mCA and LOY underlie at least part of the sex-biased severity and mortality of COVID-19 in aging patients. Given its potential therapeutic and prognostic relevance, evaluation of clonal mosaicism should be implemented as biomarker of COVID-19 severity in elderly people. Among 9578 individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 in the SCOURGE study, individuals with clonal mosaic events (clonal mosaicism for chromosome alterations and/or loss of chromosome Y) showed an increased risk of COVID-19 lethality

Centralización de instalaciones térmicas mediante energías renovables para una agrupación de bloques de viviendas = Centralisation of thermal installations using renewable energies for a group of blocks of flats

Aproximadamente el 30 % de las emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero, tienen su origen en los edificios, principalmente en la quema de combustibles de origen fósil. Para remediarlo, los organismos internacionales impulsan políticas para reducir estas cifras, tanto en edificios nuevos como rehabilitaciones. Ante esta situación, se ha realizado un estudio energético de un edificio residencial de siete plantas con 217 viviendas situado en Burgos (España), para conocer sus demandas, consumos y emisiones en su estado actual, con la intención de disminuirlos, mediante la implementación de nuevas tecnologías que cumplan con los requisitos mínimos exigidos por la legislación vigente. El objetivo de este trabajo es el estudio de la viabilidad y el proyecto de sustitución de 217 calderas individuales (gas natural). Tras una evaluación de las distintas soluciones posibles se ha optado por una instalación centralizada de calderas de biomasa y apoyadas por energía solar, con el fin de satisfacer las demandas anuales de calefacción y ACS.AbstractApproximately 30 % of greenhouse gas emissions originate in buildings, mainly from the burning of fossil fuels. To remedy this, international organisations are promoting policies to reduce these figures, both in new buildings and in renovations. In view of this situation, an energy study has been carried out on a seven-storey residential building with 217 dwellings located in Burgos (Spain), in order to find out its demands, consumption and emissions in its current state, with the intention of reducing them by implementing new technologies that comply with the minimum requirements demanded by current legislation. The aim of this work is to study the feasibility and the project for the replacement of 217 individual boilers (natural gas). After an evaluation of the different possible solutions, a centralised installation of biomass boilers supported by solar energy has been chosen in order to meet the annual heating and DHW demand

International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortiu (INICC) report, data summary of 43 countries for 2007-2012. Device-associated module

We report the results of an International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium (INICC) surveillance study from January 2007-December 2012 in 503 intensive care units (ICUs) in Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Europe. During the 6-year study using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) U.S. National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) definitions for device-associated health care–associated infection (DA-HAI), we collected prospective data from 605,310 patients hospitalized in the INICC's ICUs for an aggregate of 3,338,396 days. Although device utilization in the INICC's ICUs was similar to that reported from ICUs in the U.S. in the CDC's NHSN, rates of device-associated nosocomial infection were higher in the ICUs of the INICC hospitals: the pooled rate of central line–associated bloodstream infection in the INICC's ICUs, 4.9 per 1,000 central line days, is nearly 5-fold higher than the 0.9 per 1,000 central line days reported from comparable U.S. ICUs. The overall rate of ventilator-associated pneumonia was also higher (16.8 vs 1.1 per 1,000 ventilator days) as was the rate of catheter-associated urinary tract infection (5.5 vs 1.3 per 1,000 catheter days). Frequencies of resistance of Pseudomonas isolates to amikacin (42.8% vs 10%) and imipenem (42.4% vs 26.1%) and Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates to ceftazidime (71.2% vs 28.8%) and imipenem (19.6% vs 12.8%) were also higher in the INICC's ICUs compared with the ICUs of the CDC's NHSN