Genetic structure of the threatened West-Pannonian population of Great Bustard (Otis tarda)

The genetic diversity, population structure and gene flow of the Great Bustards (Otis tarda) living in Austria-Slovakia-West Hungary (West-Pannonian region), one of the few populations of this globally threatened species that survives across the Palaearctic, has been assessed for the first time in this study. Fourteen recently developed microsatellite loci identified one single population in the study area, with high values of genetic diversity and gene flow between two different genetic subunits. One of these subunits (Heideboden) was recognized as a priority for conservation, as it could be crucial to maintain connectivity with the central Hungarian population and thus contribute to keeping contemporary genetic diversity. Current conservation efforts have been successful in saving this threatened population from extinction two decades ago, and should continue to guarantee its future survival

Patient-reported outcomes in European spondyloarthritis patients: a systematic review of the literature

Objective: This review aims to summarize the current literature on patient-reported outcomes (PROs) in spondyloarthritis (SpA). Patients and methods: We performed a systematic literature review to identify studies (original articles and narrative and systematic reviews) regarding PROs (health-related quality of life [HRQoL], satisfaction, preferences, adherence/compliance, and persistence) in SpA patients published in the European Union through December 2016. International databases (Medline/ PubMed, Cochrane Library, ISI Web of Knowledge, Scopus) were searched using keywords in English. The methodological quality of the studies was assessed using the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine criteria. Results: A total of 26 publications met the inclusion criteria. Generally, studies indicated that SpA has a negative impact on patients’ HRQoL. In patients with ankylosing spondylitis, physical domains were more affected than emotional ones, whereas for psoriatic arthritis, both physical and psychological factors were strongly affected by the disease. Data indicated that biological agents (BAs) greatly contributed to improvement in HRQoL in both ankylosing spondylitis and psoriatic arthritis patients. Findings on compliance with BAs were heterogeneous. However, persistence rates exceeded 50% irrespective of the BA administered. Results on preferences indicated that most SpA patients prefer being involved in decisions regarding their treatment and that besides efficacy and safety, frequency and route of administration may influence patients’ preferences for BAs. Conclusion: Implementing management programs for SpA patients focuses on the physical, emotional, and social consequences of the disease, in addition to assessing and including patient preferences in the treatment decision-making process, could be crucial to improve patients’ HRQoL and ensure their satisfaction and compliance with treatment

Kink manifolds in a three-component scalar field theory

Preprint[EN] In this work we identify the manifold of solitary waves arising in a three-component scalar field model using the Bogomol'nyi arrangement of the energy functional. A rich structure of topological and non-topological kinks exists in the different sub-models contained in the theory. [ES] En este trabajo identificamos el colector de ondas solitarias procedentes de un modelo de campo escalar con tres componentes usando la disposición Bogomol'nyi de la energía funcional. Una estructura enriquecida de Plieges topológicos y no topológico existe en los diferentes sub-modelos contenidos en la teoría

Ultrasonic Sensors in Urban Traffic Driving-Aid Systems

Currently, vehicles are often equipped with active safety systems to reduce the risk of accidents, most of which occur in urban environments. The most prominent include Antilock Braking Systems (ABS), Traction Control and Stability Control. All these systems use different kinds of sensors to constantly monitor the conditions of the vehicle, and act in an emergency. In this paper the use of ultrasonic sensors in active safety systems for urban traffic is proposed, and the advantages and disadvantages when compared to other sensors are discussed. Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) for urban traffic based on ultrasounds is presented as an application example. The proposed system has been implemented in a fully-automated prototype vehicle and has been tested under real traffic conditions. The results confirm the good performance of ultrasonic sensors in these systems

Utilidad diagnóstica de los tiempos de positividad de hemocultivos para distinguir verdaderas bacteriemias de contaminantes en base a un sistema automatizado

Objetivo. Determinar la utilidad diagnóstica de los tiempos de positividad de hemocultivos para distinguir verdaderas bacteriemias de contaminantes en el  sistema automatizado «BACT/ALERT®». Materiales y métodos. Se realizó un estudio transversal de tipo pruebas diagnósticas, a partir de una base de datos de muestras de hemocultivos procesadas entre enero del 2016 y agosto del 2021. Se incluyeron todas las muestras de hemocultivos de pacientes con sospecha de bacteriemia, las muestras de hemocultivos fueron ingresadas al sistema «BACT/ALERT®» para diferenciar verdaderas bacteriemias de contaminantes. Resultados. Se analizó un total de 33 951 frascos de hemocultivos y se obtuvieron 3875 frascos positivos. El 75,2% (n=2913) del total de hemocultivos positivos fueron verdaderas bacteriemias y 24,8% (n=962) fueron contaminantes. La mediana de tiempo de positividad en los hemocultivos con verdaderas bacteriemias fue significativamente menor (16,3 horas; RIC: 11,2 – 24,9) que la mediana de tiempo de positividad de hemocultivos con contaminantes (22,5 horas; RIC: 18,4 – 31,8; p<0,001). El tiempo de positividad demostró capacidad discriminante para diferenciar verdaderas bacteriemias de contaminantes, con un AUC-ROC de 0,73 (IC95%: 0,71 – 0,75), con 85% y 63% de sensibilidad y especificidad respectivamente para el diagnóstico de contaminantes cuando el tiempo de positividad supera las 16,5 horas. La administración de antibióticos previos a la toma retrasó el tiempo de positividad, en cambio, haber presentado fiebre antes de la toma de muestra acortó el tiempo de positividad. Conclusiones. Nuestros resultados muestran un buen desempeño de los tiempos de positividad de hemocultivos para diferenciar verdaderas bacteriemias de contaminantes utilizando el sistema «BACT/ALERT®» cuando el tiempo de positividad fue superior a 16,5 horas

Development and feasibility of 4 checklists for the evaluation of comorbidity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, axial spondyloarthritis and psoriatic arthritis: GECOAI Project

Objective: To develop and assess the feasibility in daily practice of four comorbidity checklists, for common use in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA). Methods: A multidisciplinary panel of experts on comorbidity was established. Data from the GECOAR, GECOAX and GECOAP projects were analysed and a narrative literature review in Medline on RA, axSpA and PsA comorbidity was performed in order to select the most relevant and common comorbidities across the three diseases. With these results and those obtained from a focus group of patients, in a nominal group meeting, the experts generated preliminary checklists. These were afterwards modified by an external evaluation by two associations, a patients’ association and an association of health professionals related to rheumatology. As a result, the final checklists were generated. A cross-sectional study was conducted to test the feasibility of three of the checklists in daily practice, in which eight health professionals evaluated the checklists in five patients with RA, five with axSpA and five with SpA. Results: Four comorbidity checklists were designed, three for health professionals (one to assess current comorbidity, one on prevention/health promotion and one with the referral criteria to other health professionals), and another for patients. The feasibility study showed them to be simple, clear, and useful for use in routine clinical practice. Conclusions: The use of specific and common checklists for patients with RA, axSpA and PsA is feasible and might contribute favorably to their prognosis as well as in daily practice.Este proyecto fue financiado por Merck Sharp & Dohme® España y avalado por las siguientes asociaciones/sociedades: CONARTRITIS (Coordinadora Nacional de Artritis asociación, de pacientes que representa a las personas afectadas por AR, APs, AIJ y EspA), OPENREUMA (Asociación de otros profesionales sanitarios dedicados a la reumatología) y SORCOM (Sociedad de Reumatología de la Comunidad de Madrid

Menstrual Problems and Lifestyle among Spanish University Women

[EN] Menstrual problems affect many young women worldwide, conditioning both their academic performance and quality of life. This study sought to analyse the prevalence of menstrual problems and their possible relationship with lifestyle among Spanish university women, as part of a research project (UniHcos Project) involving a cohort of 11 Spanish universities with 7208 university students. A descriptive analysis was performed using the bivariate chi-square test and the Student’s t-test together with a binary logistic regression, in which the dependent variable was ‘suffering from menstrual problems’. Menstrual problems were identified in 23.8% of the students, representing women who paid more visits to the doctor and to emergency rooms, and who consumed more painkillers and contraceptives. In relation to dietary preferences, menstrual problems were 1.39 (CI 95% 1.22–1.61; p = 0.000) times more likely among women classified as high-risk alcohol users according to the AUDIT questionnaire, and 1.187 (CI 95% 1.029–1.370; p = 0.019) times greater among those who consumed sweets daily, 1.592 (CI 95% 1.113–2.276; p = 0.011) times more frequent among those who eat fish daily, and 1.199 (CI 95% 1.004–1.432; p = 0.045) times greater among those who were dieting. Menstrual problems affect many college students and potentially modifiable lifestyle variables exist which may influence their prevalence. It would be interesting to develop programmes to promote women’s health in the university context.S

Monovision-based vehicle detection, distance and relative speed measurement in urban traffic

This study presents a monovision-based system for on-road vehicle detection and computation of distance and relative speed in urban traffic. Many works have dealt with monovision vehicle detection, but only a few of them provide the distance to the vehicle which is essential for the control of an intelligent transportation system. The system proposed integrates a single camera reducing the monetary cost of stereovision and RADAR-based technologies. The algorithm is divided in three major stages. For vehicle detection, the authors use a combination of two features: the shadow underneath the vehicle and horizontal edges. They propose a new method for shadow thresholding based on the grey-scale histogram assessment of a region of interest on the road. In the second and third stages, the vehicle hypothesis verification and the distance are obtained by means of its number plate whose dimensions and shape are standardised in each country. The analysis of consecutive frames is employed to calculate the relative speed of the vehicle detected. Experimental results showed excellent performance in both vehicle and number plate detections and in the distance measurement, in terms of accuracy and robustness in complex traffic scenarios and under different lighting conditions

A deletion at Adamts9-magi1 Locus is associated with psoriatic arthritis risk

Objective: Copy number variants (CNVs) have been associated with the risk to develop multiple autoimmune diseases. Our objective was to identify CNVs associated with the risk to develop psoriatic arthritis (PsA) using a genome-wide analysis approach. Methods: A total of 835 patients with PsA and 1498 healthy controls were genotyped for CNVs using the Illumina HumanHap610 BeadChip genotyping platform. Genomic CNVs were characterised using CNstream analysis software and analysed for association using the χ2 test. The most significant genomic CNV associations with PsA risk were independently tested in a validation sample of 1133 patients with PsA and 1831 healthy controls. In order to test for the specificity of the variants with PsA aetiology, we also analysed the association to a cohort of 822 patients with purely cutaneous psoriasis (PsC). Results: A total of 165 common CNVs were identified in the genome-wide analysis. We found a highly significant association of an intergenic deletion between ADAMTS9 and MAGI1 genes on chromosome 3p14.1 (p=0.00014). Using the independent patient and control cohort, we validated the association between ADAMTS9-MAGI1 deletion and PsA risk (p=0.032). Using next-generation sequencing, we characterised the 26 kb associated deletion. Finally, analysing the PsC cohort we found a lower frequency of the deletion compared with the PsA cohort (p=0.0088) and a similar frequency to that of healthy controls (p>0.3). Conclusions: The present genome-wide scan for CNVs associated with PsA risk has identified a new deletion associated with disease risk and which is also differential from PsC risk

The effect of early treatment with ivermectin on viral load, symptoms and humoral response in patients with non-severe COVID-19: A pilot, double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial.

Background Ivermectin inhibits the replication of SARS-CoV-2 in vitro at concentrations not readily achievable with currently approved doses. There is limited evidence to support its clinical use in COVID-19 patients. We conducted a Pilot, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial to evaluate the efficacy of a single dose of ivermectin reduce the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 when administered early after disease onset. Methods Consecutive patients with non-severe COVID-19 and no risk factors for complicated disease attending the emergency room of the Clínica Universidad de Navarra between July 31, 2020 and September 11, 2020 were enrolled. All enrollments occurred within 72 h of onset of fever or cough. Patients were randomized 1:1 to receive ivermectin, 400 mcg/kg, single dose (n = 12) or placebo (n = 12). The primary outcome measure was the proportion of patients with detectable SARS-CoV-2 RNA by PCR from nasopharyngeal swab at day 7 post-treatment. The primary outcome was supported by determination of the viral load and infectivity of each sample. The differences between ivermectin and placebo were calculated using Fisher's exact test and presented as a relative risk ratio. This study is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT04390022. Findings All patients recruited completed the trial (median age, 26 [IQR 19-36 in the ivermectin and 21-44 in the controls] years; 12 [50%] women; 100% had symptoms at recruitment, 70% reported headache, 62% reported fever, 50% reported general malaise and 25% reported cough). At day 7, there was no difference in the proportion of PCR positive patients (RR 0·92, 95% CI: 0·77-1·09, p = 1·0). The ivermectin group had non-statistically significant lower viral loads at day 4 (p = 0·24 for gene E; p = 0·18 for gene N) and day 7 (p = 0·16 for gene E; p = 0·18 for gene N) post treatment as well as lower IgG titers at day 21 post treatment (p = 0·24). Patients in the ivermectin group recovered earlier from hyposmia/anosmia (76 vs 158 patient-days; p < 0.001). Interpretation Among patients with non-severe COVID-19 and no risk factors for severe disease receiving a single 400 mcg/kg dose of ivermectin within 72 h of fever or cough onset there was no difference in the proportion of PCR positives. There was however a marked reduction of self-reported anosmia/hyposmia, a reduction of cough and a tendency to lower viral loads and lower IgG titers which warrants assessment in larger trials. Funding ISGlobal, Barcelona Institute for Global Health and Clínica Universidad de Navarra