Relative telomere length impact on mortality of COVID-19: Sex differences

Increasing age is associated with severity and higher mortality of COVID-19. Telomere shortening is associated with higher risk of infections and may be used to identify those patients who are more likely to die. We evaluated the association between relative telomere length (RTL) and COVID-19 mortality. RTL was measured in patients hospitalized because of COVID-19. We used Kaplan-Meier method to analyze survival probabilities, and Cox regression to investigate the association between RTL and mortality (30 and 90 days). Six hundred and eight patients were included in the analysis (mean age =72.5 years, 41.1% women, and 53.8% Caucasic). During the study period, 75 people died from COVID-19 and 533 survived. Lower RTL was associated with a higher risk of death in women either at 30 (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] (aHR) = 3.33; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.05-10.00; p = 0.040) and at 90 days (aHR = 3.57; 95%CI = 1.23-11.11; p = 0.019). Lower RTL was associated with a higher risk of dying of COVID-19 in women. This finding suggests that RTL has an essential role in the prognosis of this subset of the population.This study was supported by grants from Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII; grant number COV20/1144 [MPY224/20] to AFR/MAJS) and Fundación Universidad Alfonso X el Sabio (FUAX) – Santander (1.013.005). MAJS is Miguel Servet researcher supported and funded by ISCIII (grant number: CP17CIII/00007). The study was also supported by the Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red (CIBER) en Enfermedades Infecciosas (CB21/13/00044). We also acknowledge the Spanish Coalition to Unlock Research on Host Genetics on COVID‐19 (SCOURGE).S

Role of age and comorbidities in mortality of patients with infective endocarditis

[Purpose]: The aim of this study was to analyse the characteristics of patients with IE in three groups of age and to assess the ability of age and the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) to predict mortality. [Methods]: Prospective cohort study of all patients with IE included in the GAMES Spanish database between 2008 and 2015.Patients were stratified into three age groups:<65 years,65 to 80 years,and ≥ 80 years.The area under the receiver-operating characteristic (AUROC) curve was calculated to quantify the diagnostic accuracy of the CCI to predict mortality risk. [Results]: A total of 3120 patients with IE (1327 < 65 years;1291 65-80 years;502 ≥ 80 years) were enrolled.Fever and heart failure were the most common presentations of IE, with no differences among age groups.Patients ≥80 years who underwent surgery were significantly lower compared with other age groups (14.3%,65 years; 20.5%,65-79 years; 31.3%,≥80 years). In-hospital mortality was lower in the <65-year group (20.3%,<65 years;30.1%,65-79 years;34.7%,≥80 years;p < 0.001) as well as 1-year mortality (3.2%, <65 years; 5.5%, 65-80 years;7.6%,≥80 years; p = 0.003).Independent predictors of mortality were age ≥ 80 years (hazard ratio [HR]:2.78;95% confidence interval [CI]:2.32–3.34), CCI ≥ 3 (HR:1.62; 95% CI:1.39–1.88),and non-performed surgery (HR:1.64;95% CI:11.16–1.58).When the three age groups were compared,the AUROC curve for CCI was significantly larger for patients aged <65 years(p < 0.001) for both in-hospital and 1-year mortality. [Conclusion]: There were no differences in the clinical presentation of IE between the groups. Age ≥ 80 years, high comorbidity (measured by CCI),and non-performance of surgery were independent predictors of mortality in patients with IE.CCI could help to identify those patients with IE and surgical indication who present a lower risk of in-hospital and 1-year mortality after surgery, especially in the <65-year group

Impacto de la implantación de un Check-list de Seguridad en una unidad de cuidados intensivos

Introducción: La prevención de eventos adversos es fundamental en la calidad asistencial del paciente crítico. Mejorar los registros de enfermería y fomentar la vigilancia de aspectos críticos mejora la seguridad del paciente. Para ello, en nuestra Unidad implantamos un listado de verificación de seguridad. Objetivo: Valorar el impacto en la seguridad del paciente crítico de un check-list de seguridad. Metodología: Se realizó un estudio cuasiexperimental  antes-después incluyendo a todos los pacientes ingresados en UCI durante, al menos, cinco días. Se recogieron variables generales (nº identificativo, estancia en UCI, presencia de ventilación mecánica [VM], paciente quirúrgico), variables dependientes (registro de balance hídrico, número de constantes mal registradas, número de cambios posturales, glucemia media, registro de parámetros de VM, registro de la presión del neumotaponamiento, revisión de herida quirúrgica, analgesia pautada y registro del riesgo de úlcera por presión) y variable independiente: paciente con o sin check-list. Se recogieron datos antes de la implantación del check-list y después. Se utilizó SPSS 18.0, prueba T para comparación de medias y chi cuadrado para variables cualitativas. Resultados y Conclusiones: El número de constantes mal registradas por el sistema disminuyó significativamente (p=0,009). La glucemia media de los pacientes mejoró de 144,85 a 120,64 (p=0,003). El registro de parámetros respiratorios y de presión de neumotaponamiento mejoró de manera estadísticamente significativa (p=0,000 en ambos). El registro del riesgo de UPP aumentó del 40,4% al 59,6% (p=0,03). Hubo tendencia a la significación (p=0,055) en el registro de datos de balance hídrico, mejorando la media de 33,03 a 41,73. No hubo diferencias significativas en cambios posturales, revisión de herida y pauta de analgesia. Aunque estas variables no  empeoraron. El check-list creado por el grupo de seguridad del paciente de nuestra UCI es eficaz para mejorar los registros de enfermería y, por tanto, para preservar la seguridad del paciente crítico.  Introduction: The prevention of adverse events is fundamental in the quality of care of critical patients. Improving nursing records and encouraging the monitoring of critical aspects improves patient safety. For this, in our Unit we implement a security verification list. Objective: To assess the impact on critical patient safety of a safety check-list. Methodology: XA quasi-experimental study before-after including all patients admitted to the ICU for at least five days. General variables were collected (identification number, stay in ICU, presence of mechanical ventilation [VM], Hossurgical patient), dependent variables (water balance record, number of constants poorly recorded, number of postural changes, mean glycemia, MV parameter registry, pressure record of the pneumotape, revision of surgical wound, scheduled analgesia and pressure ulcer risk registry) and independent variable: patient with or without check-list. Data was collected before the implementation of the check-list and afterwards. SPSS 18.0 was used, T test for comparison of means and chi square for qualitative variables. Results and conclusions: The number of constants poorly recorded by the system decreased significantly (p = 0.009). The mean glycemia of the patients improved from 144.85 to 120.64 (p = 0.003). The recording of respiratory and pressure parameters of pneumothorax improved in a statistically significant way (p = 0.000 in both). There were no significant differences in postural changes, wound revision and analgesia regimen. Although these variables did not get worse. The check-list created by the patient safety group of our ICU is effective in improving nursing records and, therefore, in order to preserve the safety of critical patients

CALING (Corpus of Linguistic Accessibility): technologies for teaching and researching in audiovisual translation and linguistic accessibility (subtitling for deaf, audio description for blind and Spanish Sign Language)

El proyecto continúa con la creación del CALING con materiales y evaluaciones de receptores reales (sordos y ciegos) comenzado en el proyecto anterior para la enseñanza-aprendizaje de la accesibilidad lingüística en la TAV y en la LSE.The current project continues compiling the corpus CALING with materials and evaluations by real recepients (deaf and blind people) which was started in the previous project for teaching, learning and researching in linguistic accessibility in audiovisual translation and Spanish Sign Language.Depto. de Estudios Ingleses: Lingüística y LiteraturaFac. de FilologíaFALSEUniversidad Complutense de Madridsubmitte

Linguistic Accesibility in audiovisual translation: technologies, strategies, teaching and learning the UNE norms for accessibility in audiovisual materials

Página web del Proyecto Innova: http://avlearningarchive.com/El proyecto continúa con el corpus lingüístico de materiales y evaluaciones de receptores reales (sordos y ciegos) comenzado en el proyecto de innovación anterior para la enseñanza-aprendizaje de la accesibilidad lingüística en la TAV.This project continues the compilation of the CALING corpus which includes materials and evaluations by real deaf and blind population in order to improve how teaching and learning of linguistic accesibility is carrried out at a university level.Depto. de Estudios Ingleses: Lingüística y LiteraturaFac. de FilologíaFALSEUniversidad Complutense de Madridsubmitte