1,635 research outputs found

    VARIEDADES LOCALES DE JUDÍAS DE LA REGIÓN DE MURCIA COMO BASE PARA LA PRODUCCIÓN ECOLÓGICA. EL CAUPÍ (VIGNA UNGUICULATA (L.) WALP.)

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    Cowpea or “judía de vaca” variability in the Murcia Region is studied under organic conditions. Fourteen accessions studied are grouped in six well-defi ned cultivarieties, from which four (bisuelo, habichuela, chicharro negro, judía culebra) are related with the sesquipedalis group, while two (caricas del señor y cerigüelos) with the unguiculata group. A detailed description of the species is included. Finally, the importance of these cultivarieties in organic production is discussed in the context of their endangered survival.Se analiza la variabilidad del caupí o judía de vaca en la Región de Murcia, bajo condiciones de cultivo ecológico. Las 14 entradas estudiadas se reúnen en 6 cultivariedades bien diferenciadas, de las cuales 4 (bisuelo, habichuela, chicharro negro y judía culebra) están relacionadas con el grupo sesquipedalis y dos (caricas del señor y cerigüelos) con el grupo unguiculata. Se incluye una descripción detallada de la especie. Finalmente, se destaca la importancia que puede tener el cultivo de estas cultivariedades, en peligro de extinción, en sistemas de producción ecológica

    HDTQ: Managing RDF Datasets in Compressed Space

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    HDT (Header-Dictionary-Triples) is a compressed representation of RDF data that supports retrieval features without prior decompression. Yet, RDF datasets often contain additional graph information, such as the origin, version or validity time of a triple. Traditional HDT is not capable of handling this additional parameter(s). This work introduces HDTQ (HDT Quads), an extension of HDT that is able to represent quadruples (or quads) while still being highly compact and queryable. Two HDTQ-based approaches are introduced: Annotated Triples and Annotated Graphs, and their performance is compared to the leading open-source RDF stores on the market. Results show that HDTQ achieves the best compression rates and is a competitive alternative to well-established systems

    Cumplimiento, conocimiento y automedicación como factores asociados a los resultados clínicos negativos de la farmacoterapia

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    The patient plays a fundamental role in the attainment of good results in pharmacotherapy. Noncompliance,self-medication, or insufficient knowledge of the therapy being employed may provide asource for the causes of these negative clinical outcomes, otherwise known as medicine related problems(MRP). he Dader method was used in the evaluation, identification and classification of MRP. Theassociation of variables was established through the statistical Chi square test. Patient knowledge of themedicine, degree of compliance to therapy and self-medication were studied as causes of the negativeoutcomes encountered. 2556 patients were interviewed throughout the year that the study took place,giving a total of 2261 of valid cases. 33% presented an MRP as the cause of his/her visit to the hospitalemergency ward. Knowledge of the medicine, compliance and self-medication were only studied in thepopulation that presented an MRP and in this work it is demonstrated that these are aspects that areassociated with different dimensions of MRP. It is not possible to establish an association between theexistence or not of negative clinical outcomes in patients with the factors of knowledge of medication,compliance and self-medication. This is due to the fact that these variables are not attributable to thepatient himself, but rather are associated with the characteristics of each medicine.El paciente juega un papel primordial en la consecución de los resultados terapéuticos. El incumplimiento,la automedicación, o la falta de conocimiento del la farmacoterapia pueden ser causas de esosresultados clínicos negativos, denominados en ocasiones problemas relacionados con medicamentos(PRM). El método Dáder se utilizó para la evaluación, identificación y clasificación de PRM. Laasociación de variables se estableció mediante el estadístico chi cuadrado. El conocimiento de la medicación,el cumplimiento y la automedicación fueron estudiados como causa de estos resultados negativosde la medicación. Fueron entrevistados 2556 pacientes durante el año de estudio, resultando 2261 casosválidos. El 33 % presentaron un PRM como causa de visita a urgencias. El conocimiento de la medicación,el cumplimiento y la automedicación fueron estudiados solo en la población que presentó unPRM y se demuestra que son aspectos asociados a las distintas dimensiones de PRM. No es posibleestablecer asociación entre la existencia o no de resultados clínicos negativos en los pacientes con elconocimiento de la medicación, el cumplimiento y la automedicación, debido a que estas variables noson atributos del paciente sino que están asociadas a cada medicamento

    Gene Expression Analyses in Non Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer Reveals a Role for Alternative Splicing and Tp53 Status

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    Non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) represents a crucial problem for the national health care systems due to its high rates of recurrence and the consequent need of frequent follow-ups. Here, gene expression analyses in patients diagnosed as NMIBC were performed to determine those molecular pathways involved in tumor initiation, finding that both MYC and E2F are up regulated and helps to tumor initiation and progression. Our results also support an important involvement of alternative splicing events, modifying key pathways to favour bladder tumor evolution. Finally, since MDM2 showed differential exon usage, mutations in TP53 and its protein expression have been also studied in the same patients. Our data support that recurrence is epigenetically mediated and favoured by an increase protein expression of TP53, which appears more frequently mutated in advanced stages and grades, being associated to a worse prognosis. Therefore, TP53 mutational status could be used as a potential biomarker in the first stages of NMIBC to predict recurrence and prognosis.We express our deepest acknowledgement to patients and their families. The authors also acknowledge the computing resources and technical support provided by Abel Paz-Gallardo and Alfonso Pardo from Extremadura Research Centre for Advanced Technologies (CETA−CIEMAT). This work was supported FEDER cofounded MINECO grant SAF2015-66015-R, ISCIII-RETIC RD12/0036/0009, and PIE15/00076 and CB/16/00228 (to J.M. Paramio); MMF was supported by a Jose Castillejo Fellowship (CAS16/00115)

    Effectiveness of individualized inhaler technique training on low adherence (LowAd) in ambulatory patients with COPD and asthma

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    © 2022. This document is made available under the CC-BY 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by /4.0/ This document is the published version of a published work that appeared in final form in npj primary care respiratory medicineTo analyze whether there is improvement in adherence to inhaled treatment in patients with COPD and asthma after an educational intervention based on the teach-to-goal method. This is a prospective, non-randomized, single-group study, with intervention and before-after evaluation. The study population included 120 patients (67 females and 53 males) diagnosed with asthma (70.8%) and COPD (29.1%). The level of adherence (low and optimal) and the noncompliance behavior pattern (erratic, deliberate and unwitting) were determined by the Test of the adherence to Inhalers (TAI). This questionnaire allows you to determine the level of adherence and the types of noncompliance. Low Adherence (LowAd) was defined as a score less than 49 points. All patients received individualized educational inhaler technique intervention (IEITI). Before the IEITI, 67.5% of the patients had LowAd. Following IEITI, on week 24, LowAd was 55% (p = 0.024). Each patient can present one or more types of noncompliance. The most frequent type was forgetting to use the inhaler (erratic), 65.8%. The other types were deliberate: 43.3%, and unwitting: 57.5%. All of them had decreased on the final visit: 51.7% (p = 0.009), 25.8% (p = 0.002), 39.2% (p = 0.002). There were no significant differences in adherence between asthma and COPD patients at the start of the study. The only predicting factor of LowAd was the female gender. An individualized educational intervention, in ambulatory patients with COPD and asthma, in real-world clinical practice conditions, improves adherence to the inhaled treatment

    COVID-19’s impact on care practice for alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency patients

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    Alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency; COVID-19; Patient managementDeficiencia de alfa-1-antitripsina; COVID-19; Gestión del pacienteDeficiència d'alfa-1-antitripsina; COVID-19; Gestió del pacientBackground Patients with alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD), commonly categorized as a rare disease, have been affected by the changes in healthcare management brought about by COVID-19. This study’s aim was to identify the changes that have taken place in AATD patient care as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain and to propose experts’ recommendations aimed at ensuring humanized and quality care for people with AATD in the post-pandemic situation. Methods A qualitative descriptive case study with a holistic single-case design was conducted, using focus groups with experts in AATD clinical management, including 15 health professionals with ties to the Spanish health system (12 pneumologists and 2 hospital pharmacists from 11 different hospitals in Spain) and 1 patient representative. Results COVID-19 has had a major impact on numerous aspects of AATD clinical patient management in Spain, including diagnostic, treatment, and follow-up phases. The experts concluded that there is a need to strengthen coordination between Primary Care and Hospital Care and improve the coordination processes across all the organizations and actors involved in the healthcare system. Regarding telemedicine and telecare, experts have concluded that it is necessary to promote this methodology and to develop protocols and training programs. Experts have recommended developing personalized and precision medicine, and patient participation in decision-making, promoting self-care and patient autonomy to optimize their healthcare and improve their quality of life. The possibility of monitoring and treating AATD patients from home has also been proposed by experts. Another result of the study was the recommendation of the need to ensure that plasma donations are made on a regular basis by a sufficient number of healthy individuals. Conclusion The study advances knowledge by highlighting the challenges faced by health professionals and changes in AATD patient management in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. It also proposes experts’ recommendations aimed at ensuring humanized and quality care for people with AATD in the post-pandemic situation. This work could serve as a reference study for physicians on their daily clinical practice with AATD patients and may also provide guidance on the changes to be put in place for the post-pandemic situation.This study was funded by CSL Behring

    Occurrence of Corynebacterium striatum as an emerging antibiotic-resistant nosocomial pathogen in a Tunisian hospital

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    Corynebacterium striatum is a nosocomial opportunistic pathogen increasingly associated with a wide range of human infections and is often resistant to several antibiotics. We investigated the susceptibility of 63 C. striatum isolated at the Farhat-Hached hospital, Sousse (Tunisia), during the period 2011?2014, to a panel of 16 compounds belonging to the main clinically relevant classes of antimicrobial agents. All strains were susceptible to vancomycin, linezolid, and daptomycin. Amikacin and gentamicin also showed good activity (MICs90 = 1 and 2 mg/L, respectively). High rates of resistance to penicillin (82.5%), clindamycin (79.4%), cefotaxime (60.3%), erythromycin (47.6%), ciprofloxacin (36.5%), moxifloxacin (34.9%), and rifampicin (25.4%) were observed. Fifty-nine (93.7%) out of the 63 isolates showed resistance to at least one compound and 31 (49.2%) were multidrug-resistant. Twenty-nine resistance profiles were distinguished among the 59 resistant C. striatum. Most of the strains resistant to fluoroquinolones showed a double mutation leading to an amino acid change in positions 87 and 91 in the quinolone resistance-determining region of the gyrA gene. The 52 strains resistant to penicillin were positive for the gene bla, encoding a class A ?-lactamase. Twenty-two PFGE patterns were identified among the 63 C. striatum, indicating that some clones have spread within the hospital

    Tobacco control policies in hospitals before and after the implementation of a national smoking ban in Catalonia, Spain

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    Background: Diverse projects and guidelines to assist hospitals towards the attainment of comprehensive smoke-free policies have been developed. In 2006, Spain government passed a new smoking ban that reinforce tobacco control policies and banned completely smoking in hospitals. This study assesses the progression of tobacco control policies in the Catalan Network of Smokefree Hospitals before and after a comprehensive national smoking ban. Methods: We used the Self-Audit Questionnaire of the European Network for Smoke-free Hospitals to score the compliance of 9 policy standards (global score = 102). We used two crosssectional surveys to evaluate tobacco control policies before (2005) and after the implementation of a national smoking ban (2007) in 32 hospitals of Catalonia, Spain. We compared the means of the overall score in 2005 and 2007 according to the type of hospital, the number of beds, the prevalence of tobacco consumption, and the number of years as a smoke-free hospital. Results: The mean of the implementation score of tobacco control policies was 52.4 (95% CI:45.4-59.5) in 2005 and 71.6 (95% CI: 67.0-76.2) in 2007 with an increase of 36.7% (p 300 beds (41.1% increase; p < 0.01), hospitals with employees' tobacco consumption prevalence 35-39% (72.2% increase; p < 0.05) and hospitals that had recently implemented smoke-free policies (74.2% increase; p < 0.01). Conclusion: The national smoking ban appears to increase tobacco control activities in hospitals combined with other non-bylaw initiatives such as the Smoke-free Hospital Network

    Trajectory planning of a quadrotor to monitor dependent people

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    This article introduces a framework for assisting dependent people at home through a vision-based autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). Such an aircraft equipped with onboard cameras can be useful for monitoring and recognizing a dependent's activity. This work is focused on the problem of planning the flight path of a quadrotor to perform monitoring tasks. The objective is to design a trajectory planning algorithm that allows the UAV to position itself for the sake of capturing images of the dependent person's face. These images will be later treated by a base station to evaluate the persons emotional state, together with his/her behavior, this way determining the assistance needed in each situation. Numerical simulations have been carried out to validate the proposed algorithms. The results show the effectiveness of the trajectory planner to generate smooth references to our previously designed GPI (generalized proportional integral) controller. This demonstrates that a quadrotor is able to perform monitoring flights with a high motion precision.- This work has been partially supported by Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovacion y Universidades, Agencia Estatal de Investigacion (AEI)/European Regional Development Fund (FEDER, UE) under DPI2016-80894-R grant. Lidia M. Belmonte holds FPU014/05283 scholarship from Spanish Ministerio de Educacion y Formacion Profesional

    MT-InSAR and Dam Modeling for the Comprehensive Monitoring of an Earth-Fill Dam: The Case of the Benínar Dam (Almería, Spain)

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    The Benínar Dam, located in Southeastern Spain, is an earth-fill dam that has experienced filtration issues since its construction in 1985. Despite the installation of various monitoring systems, the data collected are sparse and inadequate for the dam’s lifetime. The present research integrates Multi-Temporal Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (MT-InSAR) and dam modeling to validate the monitoring of this dam, opening the way to enhanced integrated monitoring systems. MT-InSAR was proved to be a reliable and continuous monitoring system for dam deformation, surpassing previously installed systems in terms of precision. MT-InSAR allowed the almost-continuous monitoring of this dam since 1992, combining ERS, Envisat, and Sentinel-1A/B data. Line-of-sight (LOS) velocities of settlement in the crest of the dam evolved from maximums of −6 mm/year (1992–2000), −4 mm/year (2002–2010), and −2 mm/year (2015–2021) with median values of −2.6 and −3.0 mm/year in the first periods (ERS and Envisat) and −1.3 mm/year in the Sentinel 1-A/B period. These results are consistent with the maximum admissible modeled deformation from construction, confirming that settlement was more intense in the dam’s early stages and decreased over time. MT-InSAR was also used to integrate the monitoring of the dam basin, including critical slopes, quarries, and infrastructures, such as roads, tracks, and spillways. This study allows us to conclude that MT-InSAR and dam modeling are important elements for the integrated monitoring systems of embankment dams. This conclusion supports the complete integration of MT-InSAR and 3D modeling into the monitoring systems of embankment dams, as they are a key complement to traditional geotechnical monitoring and can overcome the main limitations of topographical monitoring
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