Wild solitary bees and their use of bee hotels in southwest Spain

There is an increasing interest in preserving and, if possible, increasing wild bee populations as evidenced by increasinginvestigations into providing supplemental nesting resources, commonly called bee hotels. The study presented herewas carried out in 2017 and 2018 with two objectives: a) to understand the role that insect refuges could have onbeneficial arthropod fauna, especially bees, and b) to evaluate different materials and which species used them. We pre-sent the preliminary results of three constructed refuges in Seville, Spain: Hymenoptera visited the refuges most fre-quently (88.7% of the visitors), of which the social wasps (Polistes dominula(Christ)) were most common, followed bybees. Bees were observed visiting bamboo canes, Arundo canes, drilled logs, and grooved boards. Drilled logs were themost used material (31.5 and 37.6% occupied in 2017 and 2018, respectively), followed by bamboo canes (14.1 and17.4% of occupied in 2017 and 2018, respectively). For drilled logs, holes of 4.9–6.5mm (2017) and 7.0–9.2 mm (2018)were preferred, whilst diameters of 2.6/2.7–4.9/5.0 mm (both 2017 and 2018) were preferred for bamboo canes. Forgrooved boards, holes of 5.0 mm (only 2018) were preferred. The bee species most frequently nesting in bamboo caneswereCeratina cucurbitina(Rossi) andCeratina dentiventrisGerstacker, whereas in drilled logsHoplitis lepeletieri(P erez)was most common, butHoplitis adunca(Panzer) was also recorded. Their abundance throughout the study period variedbetween species, and their role in biodiversity and sustaining wild flora is discussed

Delaying surgery for patients with a previous SARS-CoV-2 infection

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Effects of alirocumab on cardiovascular and metabolic outcomes after acute coronary syndrome in patients with or without diabetes: a prespecified analysis of the ODYSSEY OUTCOMES randomised controlled trial

Background After acute coronary syndrome, diabetes conveys an excess risk of ischaemic cardiovascular events. A reduction in mean LDL cholesterol to 1.4-1.8 mmol/L with ezetimibe or statins reduces cardiovascular events in patients with an acute coronary syndrome and diabetes. However, the efficacy and safety of further reduction in LDL cholesterol with an inhibitor of proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) after acute coronary syndrome is unknown. We aimed to explore this issue in a prespecified analysis of the ODYSSEY OUTCOMES trial of the PCSK9 inhibitor alirocumab, assessing its effects on cardiovascular outcomes by baseline glycaemic status, while also assessing its effects on glycaemic measures including risk of new-onset diabetes

Apolipoprotein B, Residual Cardiovascular Risk After Acute Coronary Syndrome, and Effects of Alirocumab.

Background: Apolipoprotein B (apoB) provides an integrated measure of atherogenic risk. Whether apoB levels and apoB lowering hold incremental predictive information on residual risk after acute coronary syndrome beyond that provided by low-density lipoprotein cholesterol is uncertain. Methods: The ODYSSEY OUTCOMES trial (Evaluation of Cardiovascular Outcomes After an Acute Coronary Syndrome During Treatment With Alirocumab) compared the proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 inhibitor alirocumab with placebo in 18 924 patients with recent acute coronary syndrome and elevated atherogenic lipoproteins despite optimized statin therapy. Primary outcome was major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE; coronary heart disease death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, fatal/nonfatal ischemic stroke, hospitalization for unstable angina). Associations between baseline apoB or apoB at 4 months and MACE were assessed in adjusted Cox proportional hazards and propensity score–matched models. Results: Median follow-up was 2.8 years. In proportional hazards analysis in the placebo group, MACE incidence increased across increasing baseline apoB strata (3.2 [95% CI, 2.9–3.6], 4.0 [95% CI, 3.6–4.5], and 5.5 [95% CI, 5.0–6.1] events per 100 patient-years in strata 35–<50, and ≤35 mg/dL, respectively). Compared with propensity score–matched patients from the placebo group, treatment hazard ratios for alirocumab also decreased monotonically across achieved apoB strata. Achieved apoB was predictive of MACE after adjustment for achieved low-density lipoprotein cholesterol or non–high-density lipoprotein cholesterol but not vice versa. Conclusions: In patients with recent acute coronary syndrome and elevated atherogenic lipoproteins, MACE increased across baseline apoB strata. Alirocumab reduced MACE across all strata of baseline apoB, with larger absolute reductions in patients with higher baseline levels. Lower achieved apoB was associated with lower risk of MACE, even after accounting for achieved low-density lipoprotein cholesterol or non–high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, indicating that apoB provides incremental information. Achievement of apoB levels as low as ≤35 mg/dL may reduce lipoprotein-attributable residual risk after acute coronary syndrome. Registration: URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov ; Unique identifier: NCT01663402.gov; Unique identifier: NCT01663402.URL: https://www