Influence of Menstrual Cycle Length and Age at Menarche on Symptoms, Cognition, Social Cognition, and Metacognition in Patients with First-Episode Psychosis

Altres ajuts: PERIS call (grant no. SLT006/17/00231); the Progress and Health Foundation of the Andalusian Regional Ministry of Health (grant no. PI-0634/2011 and PI-0193/2014); Obra Social La Caixa (RecerCaixa call 2013); CERCA Programme/Generalitat de Catalunya; Obra Social Sant Joan de Déu (BML); and FI19/00062 (Ayudas para la Contratación de Personal Predoctoral).A protective effect has traditionally been attributed to estrogen in psychotic disorders. The aim of this study was to investigate cumulative lifetime estrogen by assessing the menstrual cycle length, age at menarche, and years of difference between the onset of psychotic symptoms and the age of menarche, measuring their effects on symptoms, cognition, social cognition, and metacognition. As it was not possible to directly measure cumulative estrogen levels over the lifetime of a patient, the study sample was composed of 42 women with first-episode psychosis; estrogen levels were inferred by the menstrual cycle length, age at menarche, and years of difference between the onset of psychotic symptoms and menarche. All patients were assessed with a battery of questionnaires using the BDI, PSYRATS, PANSS, STROOP, TAVEC, WSCT, IPSAQ, and BCIS questionnaires. The results related to menstrual cycle length showed a relationship with memory; specifically, shorter cycles with semantic strategies (p = 0.046) and longer cycles with serial strategies in the short term (p = 0.005) as well as in the long term (p = 0.031). The results also showed a relationship with perseverative errors (p = 0.035) and self-certainty (p = 0.049). Only personalized bias (p = 0.030) was found to be significant in relation to the age at menarche. When analyzing the differences in years of difference between the age at menarche and the onset of psychotic symptoms, the results indicated lower scores in women with a smaller difference between both events in memory (short-term (p = 0.050), long-term (p = 0.024), intrusions (p = 0.013), and recognition (p = 0.043)) and non-perseverative errors (p = 0.024). No relationship was found between symptoms and menstrual characteristics. The investigatory outcomes seem to indicate a relationship between estrogen cumulative effects and the memory domain. More in-depth investigations in the field are necessary in order to improve personalized treatment in women with psychosis

Hyperkalemia in Heart Failure Patients in Spain and Its Impact on Guidelines and Recommendations: ESC-EORP-HFA Heart Failure Long-Term Registry

[Abstract] Introduction and objectives: Hyperkalemia is a growing concern in the treatment of patients with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction because it limits the use of effective drugs. We report estimates of the magnitude of this problem in routine clinical practice in Spain, as well as changes in potassium levels during follow-up and associated factors. Methods: This study included patients with acute (n=881) or chronic (n=3587) heart failure recruited in 28 Spanish hospitals of the European heart failure registry of the European Society of Cardiology and followed up for 1 year. Various outcomes were analyzed, including changes in serum potassium levels and their impact on treatment. Results: Hyperkalemia (K+> 5.4 mEq/L) was identified in 4.3% (95%CI, 3.7%-5.0%) and 8.2% (6.5%-10.2%) of patients with chronic and acute heart failure, respectively, and was responsible for 28.9% of all cases of contraindication to mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist use and for 10.8% of all cases of failure to reach the target dose. Serum potassium levels were not recorded in 291 (10.8%) of the 2693 chronic heart failure patients with reduced ejection fraction. During follow-up, potassium levels increased in 179 of 1431 patients (12.5%, 95%CI, 10.8%-14.3%). This increase was directly related to age, diabetes, and history of stroke and was inversely related to history of hyperkalemia. Conclusions: This study highlights the magnitude of the problem of hyperkalemia in patients with heart failure in everyday clinical practice and the need to improve monitoring of this factor in these patients due to its interference with the possibility of receiving optimal treatment.[Resumen] Introducción y objetivos. La hiperpotasemia es una preocupación creciente en el tratamiento de los pacientes con insuficiencia cardiaca y fracción de eyección reducida, pues limita el uso de fármacos eficaces. Este trabajo ofrece estimaciones de la magnitud de este problema en la práctica clínica habitual en España, los cambios en las concentraciones de potasio en el seguimiento y los factores asociados. Métodos. Pacientes con insuficiencia cardiaca aguda (n = 881) y crónica (n = 3.587) seleccionados en 28 hospitales españoles del registro europeo de insuficiencia cardiaca de la European Society of Cardiology y seguidos 1 año para diferentes desenlaces, incluidos cambios en las cifras de potasio y su impacto en el tratamiento. Resultados. La hiperpotasemia (K+ > 5,4 mEq/l) está presente en el 4,3% (IC95%, 3,7-5,0%) y el 8,2% (6,5-10,2%) de los pacientes con insuficiencia cardiaca crónica y aguda; causa el 28,9% de todos los casos en que se contraindica el uso de antagonistas del receptor de mineralocorticoides y el 10,8% de los que no alcanzan la dosis objetivo. Del total de 2.693 pacientes ambulatorios con fracción de eyección reducida, 291 (10,8%) no tenían registrada medición de potasio. Durante el seguimiento, 179 de 1.431 (12,5%, IC95%, 10,8-14,3%) aumentaron su concentración de potasio, aumento relacionado directamente con la edad, la diabetes mellitus y los antecedentes de ictus e inversamente con los antecedentes de hiperpotasemia. Conclusiones. Este trabajo destaca el problema de la hiperpotasemia en pacientes con insuficiencia cardiaca de la práctica clínica habitual y la necesidad de continuar y mejorar la vigilancia de este factor en estos pacientes por su interferencia en el tratamiento óptimo

Kwapa: Gente del río. Estrategias transmedia de impacto social

PAP Alter Código produce materiales de interacción audiovisual que se organizan en un universo transmedia, trabaja con personas de todas las edades, su meta es difundir representaciones no estigmatizantes de grupos socialmente desfavorecidos, además de compartir esta visión a todo aquel que colabore en el proyecto. En la temporada de verano 2023, el equipo Alter CÓDIGO continuó con el desarrollo del videojuego “A la orilla del río”, para ello la organización del trabajo se dividió en múltiples áreas tanto como comunitarias como digitales para dar una mayor profundidad al producto. Los avances más significativos van desde una versión más actualizada del guion, storyboards, una primera animación, un demo, este último de lo que sería el gameplay, y un minijuego. Asimismo, se muestra la vinculación comunitaria e impacto social que se logró con el desarrollo de los talleres de intervención fotográfica con niños acerca de su territorio. Paralelamente se aborda la creación de redes sociales y página web para la difusión del proyecto por fuera del PAP. En los dos meses de trabajo se cumplieron con los ideales del Proyecto de Aplicación Profesional y se logró una difusión transmedia. A pesar de que el proyecto aún no llega a su finalización, los avances y el alcance superaron las metas que se otorgaron al inicio de la temporada.ITESO, A.C

Assessing the impact of COVID-19 on liver cancer management (CERO-19).

BACKGROUND & AIMS: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has posed unprecedented challenges to healthcare systems and it may have heavily impacted patients with liver cancer (LC). Herein, we evaluated whether the schedule of LC screening or procedures has been interrupted or delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: An international survey evaluated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on clinical practice and clinical trials from March 2020 to June 2020, as the first phase of a multicentre, international, and observational project. The focus was on patients with hepatocellular carcinoma or intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma, cared for around the world during the first COVID-19 pandemic wave. RESULTS: Ninety-one centres expressed interest to participate and 76 were included in the analysis, from Europe, South America, North America, Asia, and Africa (73.7%, 17.1%, 5.3%, 2.6%, and 1.3% per continent, respectively). Eighty-seven percent of the centres modified their clinical practice: 40.8% the diagnostic procedures, 80.9% the screening programme, 50% cancelled curative and/or palliative treatments for LC, and 41.7% modified the liver transplantation programme. Forty-five out of 69 (65.2%) centres in which clinical trials were running modified their treatments in that setting, but 58.1% were able to recruit new patients. The phone call service was modified in 51.4% of centres which had this service before the COVID-19 pandemic (n = 19/37). CONCLUSIONS: The first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic had a tremendous impact on the routine care of patients with liver cancer. Modifications in screening, diagnostic, and treatment algorithms may have significantly impaired the outcome of patients. Ongoing data collection and future analyses will report the benefits and disadvantages of the strategies implemented, aiding future decision-making. LAY SUMMARY: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has posed unprecedented challenges to healthcare systems globally. Herein, we assessed the impact of the first wave pandemic on patients with liver cancer and found that routine care for these patients has been majorly disrupted, which could have a significant impact on outcomes

The management of acute venous thromboembolism in clinical practice. Results from the European PREFER in VTE Registry

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in Europe. Data from real-world registries are necessary, as clinical trials do not represent the full spectrum of VTE patients seen in clinical practice. We aimed to document the epidemiology, management and outcomes of VTE using data from a large, observational database. PREFER in VTE was an international, non-interventional disease registry conducted between January 2013 and July 2015 in primary and secondary care across seven European countries. Consecutive patients with acute VTE were documented and followed up over 12 months. PREFER in VTE included 3,455 patients with a mean age of 60.8 ± 17.0 years. Overall, 53.0 % were male. The majority of patients were assessed in the hospital setting as inpatients or outpatients (78.5 %). The diagnosis was deep-vein thrombosis (DVT) in 59.5 % and pulmonary embolism (PE) in 40.5 %. The most common comorbidities were the various types of cardiovascular disease (excluding hypertension; 45.5 %), hypertension (42.3 %) and dyslipidaemia (21.1 %). Following the index VTE, a large proportion of patients received initial therapy with heparin (73.2 %), almost half received a vitamin K antagonist (48.7 %) and nearly a quarter received a DOAC (24.5 %). Almost a quarter of all presentations were for recurrent VTE, with >80 % of previous episodes having occurred more than 12 months prior to baseline. In conclusion, PREFER in VTE has provided contemporary insights into VTE patients and their real-world management, including their baseline characteristics, risk factors, disease history, symptoms and signs, initial therapy and outcomes

Outcomes from elective colorectal cancer surgery during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic

This study aimed to describe the change in surgical practice and the impact of SARS-CoV-2 on mortality after surgical resection of colorectal cancer during the initial phases of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements

Measurement of t(t)over-bar normalised multi-differential cross sections in pp collisions at root s=13 TeV, and simultaneous determination of the strong coupling strength, top quark pole mass, and parton distribution functions

Peer reviewe

Measurement of the top quark forward-backward production asymmetry and the anomalous chromoelectric and chromomagnetic moments in pp collisions at √s = 13 TeV

Abstract The parton-level top quark (t) forward-backward asymmetry and the anomalous chromoelectric (d̂ t) and chromomagnetic (μ̂ t) moments have been measured using LHC pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, collected in the CMS detector in a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb−1. The linearized variable AFB(1) is used to approximate the asymmetry. Candidate t t ¯ events decaying to a muon or electron and jets in final states with low and high Lorentz boosts are selected and reconstructed using a fit of the kinematic distributions of the decay products to those expected for t t ¯ final states. The values found for the parameters are AFB(1)=0.048−0.087+0.095(stat)−0.029+0.020(syst),μ̂t=−0.024−0.009+0.013(stat)−0.011+0.016(syst), and a limit is placed on the magnitude of | d̂ t| < 0.03 at 95% confidence level. [Figure not available: see fulltext.