A bio-economic model to improve profitability in a large national beef cattle population

A bio-economic model was developed for estimating economic values for use in improving profitability in a large national beef cattle population from birth to slaughter. Results were divided into fattening costs, production costs and income. Economic values were derived for 17 traits for two regions, mature weight (-0.43 € and -0.38 €/+1 kg of live weight), age at first calving (-0.13 € and -0.11 €/+1d), calving interval (-1.06 € and -1.02 €/+1d), age at last calving (0.03 € and 0.03 €/+1d), mortality 0-48 h (-5.86 € and -5.63 €/1% calves per cow and year), pre-weaning mortality (-5.96 € and -5.73 €/+1% calves per cow and year), fattening mortality (-8.23 € and -7.88 €/+1% calves per cow and year), adult mortality (-8.92 € and -7.34 €/+1% adult cows per cow and year), pre-weaning average daily gain (2.56 € and 2.84 €/+10g/d), fattening young animals average daily gain (2.65 € and 3.00 €/+10g/d), culled cow in fattening average daily gain (0.25 € and 0.16 €/+10g/d), culled cow dressing carcass percentage (3.09 € and 2.42 €/+1%), culled cow price (4.59 € and 3.59 €/+0.06 €/kg), carcass conformation score (16.39 € and 15.3 €/+1 SEUROP class), dressing carcass rate of calf (18.22 € and 18.23 €/+1%), carcass growth (9.00 € and 10.09 €/+10g of carcass weight/d) and age at slaughter (0.27 € and 0.44 €/+1d). Two sample herds were used to show the economic impact of calving interval and age at first calving shortening in the profit per slaughtered young animal, which was 178 € and 111 € for Herds A and B, respectively. The economic values of functional traits were reduced and production traits were enhanced when fertility traits were improved. The model could be applied in a Spanish national program

Influence of Immunocastration and Diet on Meat and Fat Quality of Heavy Female and Male Pigs

Two experiments were carried out; one with female pigs and the other with male pigs destined for Teruel dry-cured ham production, to evaluate the effect of immunocastration (entire gilts-EG vs. immunocastrated gilts-IG and surgically castrated males vs. immunocastrated males-IM) and diet (control vs. high energy vs. low crude protein and amino acids) on meat quality and fat composition. Fifteen meat samples and eight fat samples of each treatment were analyzed in both experiments. In the case of males, six fat samples per treatment were analyzed to determine boar taint. Immunocastration is a good strategy in gilts intended for dry-cured ham production because improves meat composition; however, in males, immunocastration impairs the results of pork chemical composition compared with surgical castration. The IG presented a lower polyunsaturated/saturated fatty acids ratio than EG, improving fat technological quality. Diets had little effect on pork or fat quality in gilts, but a high-energy level using oilseeds and a low-crude-protein and -amino-acids diet from 80 to 137 kg of body weight could be interesting in IM to maintain or increase fat consistency, respectively. Moreover, in general, immunocastration is effective in avoiding boar taint in males.This research was funded by Agencia Estatal de Investigación—AEI—and Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional—FEDER—(Project AGL2016-78532-R). L. Pérez-Ciria was supported by a fellowship from the Gobierno de Aragón in Spain

Propuesta metodológica para la digitalización de la Colección Documental José Dolores Gámez depositada en el Archivo General de la Nación

En la actualidad, con las facilidades que brindan las Tecnologías de la lnformación y la Comunicación, así como el internet; en la difusión y consulta de fuentes documentales custodiadas en unidades de información; los procesos de digitalización de los mismos se convierien en una necesidad, elemento entre otros, que justifican esta propuesta metodológica para la digitalización de la colección documental José Dolores Gámez depositada en el Archivo General de la Nación. Entre las distintas finalidades de los procesos de digitalización está la necesidad de realizar copias de los fondos que se conservan en un archivo. Las fotocopias en papel y en microfilm han dado paso al formato digital, mismo que presenta ventajas significativas, para que en el contexto actual las instituciones depositen en el entorno digital muchas expectativa

Creación de un sistema de vigilancia para las prácticas odontológicas de la Facultad de Odontología de la UEES

Los sistemas de vigilancia permiten monitorear, evaluar y orientar los servicios de salud hacia el logro de la calidad. En este sentido, la facultad de Odontología UEES creó un sistema para medir el rendimiento estudiantil y el cumplimiento de los programas de estudio para las prácticas odontológicas del Doctorado en Cirugía Dental a ejecutarse en 4 fases. Las variables a vigilar fueron el grado de cumplimiento de las horas de práctica para cada nivel de la clínica y los tratamientos validos por asignatura realizados en paciente con los que se obtienen las horas requerida

Production of spinach in intensive Mediterranean horticultural systems can be sustained by organic-based fertilizers without yield penalties and withlow environmental impacts

Agricultural production of leafy vegetables in Mediterranean countries aims to achieve high yields without elevated nitrate contents in the edible parts. This implies an adjusted nutrient management, especially of nitrogen (N), in irrigated horticultural systems under semiarid conditions. These horticultural systems are highly relevant in SE Spain from an economic perspective. However, the management of N fertilizer, generally applied in large amounts (150–250 kg N ha−1 in a split application), could trigger losses of reactive N to the environment. The use of novel fertilizers may fulfill the nitrogen requirements of the crop, but should also help to decrease the environmental impacts of production, thus achieving carbon-neutral horticultural systems through (e.g.) enhancement of carbon (C) stocks and greenhouse gases (GHG) emission abatement. In this experiment, eight different fertilizing scenarios at a normalized N application rate of 150 kg N ha−1 were assessed in terms of crop yields, nutrients uptake, C stocking capacity, and yield-scaled GHG emissions. Inorganic NPK fertilizers, digestates, biosolids, composts, and vermicomposts were included among this set of fertilizers. Our results show that organic-based stabilized materials, especially composts, lowered the NO3 − concentration in spinach leaves, in comparison to organic raw materials and synthetic fertilizers. They also produced yields similar to those of slow-release synthetic fertilizers, but with a significant increase in soil organic C 61 days after application. In general, N2O emissions were positively affected by the treatments. Nevertheless, direct N2O emissions were generally low (the highest emission factor, 0.13, being for the biosolid treatment) due to the combined mitigating effect of both the edapho-climatic conditions and the management practices. In general, cumulative CO2 emissions were high in all organic scenarios compared to the control treatment (299 kg C-CO2 ha−1), the highest values being observed in the treatment with biosolid (589 kg C-CO2 ha−1), probably due to differences in the labile organic C contents. In conclusion, some of the organic-based treatments showed multiple positive effects: on crop quality (i.e. leaf N content), crop yields, and GHG mitigation potential. Based on our results, the use of these materials represents an optimized N fertilizer strategy to help achieve a circular economy, by closing nutrient loops and decreasing the environmental impacts of horticultural production systems in semiarid regions of southern Europ

Association of microbiological factors with mortality in Escherichia coli bacteraemia presenting with sepsis/septic shock: a prospective cohort study

[EN] Objectives: This study aimed to determine the association of Escherichia coli microbiological factors with 30-day mortality in patients with bloodstream infection (BSI) presenting with a dysregulated response to infection (i.e. sepsis or septic shock). Methods: Whole-genome sequencing was performed on 224 E coli isolates of patients with sepsis/septic shock, from 22 Spanish hospitals. Phylogroup, sequence type, virulence, antibiotic resistance, and pathogenicity islands were assessed. A multivariable model for 30-day mortality including clinical and epidemiological variables was built, to which microbiological variables were hierarchically added. The predictive capacity of the models was estimated by the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results: Mortality at day 30 was 31% (69 patients). The clinical model for mortality included (adjusted OR; 95% CI) age (1.04; 1.02-1.07), Charlson index >= 3 (1.78; 0.95-3.32), urinary BSI source (0.30; 0.16-0.57), and active empirical treatment (0.36; 0.11-1.14) with an AUROC of 0.73 (95% CI, 0.67-0.80). Addition of microbiological factors selected clone ST95 (3.64; 0.94-14.04), eilA gene (2.62; 1.14-6.02), and astA gene (2.39; 0.87-6.59) as associated with mortality, with an AUROC of 0.76 (0.69-0.82). Discussion: Despite having a modest overall contribution, some microbiological factors were associated with increased odds of death and deserve to be studied as potential therapeutic or preventive targets. Natalia Maldonado, Clin Microbiol Infect 2024;30:1035 (c) 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).This study was funded by Instituto de Salud Carlos III through grant PI16/01432 and co-funded by the European Union (Development Regional Fund 'A Way to Achieve Europe').Maldonado, N.; López-Hernández, I.; López-Cortés, LE.; Pérez-Crespo, PM.; Retamar-Gentil, P.; García-Montaner, A.; Riestra, S.... (2024). Association of microbiological factors with mortality in Escherichia coli bacteraemia presenting with sepsis/septic shock: a prospective cohort study. Clinical Microbiology and Infection. 30(8):1035-1041. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmi.2024.04.0011035104130

CEACAM7 polymorphisms predict genetic predisposition to mortality in post-surgical septic shock patients

We carried out a retrospective exploratory study on 173 patients who underwent major surgery and developed septic shock after surgery. Our findings suggest that CEACAM7 rs1001578, rs10409040, and rs889365 polymorphisms could influence septic shock-related death in individuals who underwent major surgery.This work has been supported by grants given by Instituto de Salud Carlos III (grant number PI15/01451 to ET), “Gerencia de Salud, Consejería de Sanidad, Junta de Castilla y Leon” [grant number GRS 463/A/10 and 773/A/13 to ET], and PFIZER [grant number CT25-ESP01-01 to SR]. MAJS and AFR are supported by “Instituto de Salud Carlos III” [grant numbers CP17CIII/00007 and CP14CIII/00010, respectively]S

Identification of a pathogenic mutation in ARPP21 in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Background and objective: Between 5% and 10% of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) cases have a family history of the disease, 30% of which do not have an identifiable underlying genetic cause after a comprehensive study of the known ALS-related genes. Based on a significantly increased incidence of ALS in a small geographical region from Spain, the aim of this work was to identify novel ALS-related genes in ALS cases with negative genetic testing. Methods: We detected an increased incidence of both sporadic and, especially, familial ALS cases in a small region from Spain compared with available demographic and epidemiological data. We performed whole genome sequencing in a group of 12 patients with ALS (5 of them familial) from this unique area. We expanded the study to include affected family members and additional cases from a wider surrounding region. Results: We identified a shared missense mutation (c.1586C>T; p.Pro529Leu) in the cyclic AMP regulated phosphoprotein 21 (ARPP21) gene that encodes an RNA-binding protein, in a total of 10 patients with ALS from 7 unrelated families. No mutations were found in other ALS-causing genes. Conclusions: While previous studies have dismissed a causal role of ARPP21 in ALS, our results strongly support ARPP21 as a novel ALS-causing gene

Use of eltrombopag for patients 65 years old or older with immune thrombocytopenia

Background Eltrombopag is useful for immune thrombocytopenia (ITP). However, results of clinical trials may not accurately mirror clinical practice reality. Here we evaluated eltrombopag for primary and secondary ITP in our ≥65‐year‐old population. Methods A total of 106 primary ITP patients (16 with newly diagnosed ITP, 16 with persistent ITP, and 74 with chronic ITP) and 39 secondary ITP patients (20 with ITP secondary to immune disorders, 7 with ITP secondary to infectious diseases, and 12 with ITP secondary to lymphoproliferative disorders [LPD]) were retrospectively evaluated. Results Median age of our cohort was 76 (interquartile range, IQR, 70‐81) years. 75.9% of patients yielded a platelet response including 66.2% complete responders. Median time to platelet response was 14 (IQR, 8‐21) days. Median time on response was 320 (IQR, 147‐526) days. Sixty‐three adverse events (AEs), mainly grade 1‐2, occurred. The most common were hepatobiliary laboratory abnormalities (HBLAs) and headaches. One transient ischemic attack in a newly diagnosed ITP and two self‐limited pulmonary embolisms in secondary ITP were the only thrombotic events observed. Conclusion Eltrombopag showed efficacy and safety in ITP patients aged ≥65 years with primary and secondary ITP. However, efficacy results in LPD‐ITP were poor. A relatively high number of deaths were observed

Integrative development of a short screening questionnaire of highly processed food consumption (sQ-HPF)

Background: Recent lifestyle changes include increased consumption of highly processed foods (HPF), which has been associated with an increased risk of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). However, nutritional information relies on the estimation of HPF consumption from food-frequency questionnaires (FFQ) that are not explicitly developed for this purpose. We aimed to develop a short screening questionnaire of HPF consumption (sQ-HPF) that integrates criteria from the existing food classification systems. Methods: Data from 4400 participants (48.1% female and 51.9% male, 64.9 +/- 4.9 years) of the Spanish PREDIMED-Plus (PREvention with MEDiterranean DIet) trial were used for this analysis. Items from the FFQ were classified according to four main food processing-based classification systems (NOVA, IARC, IFIC and UNC). Participants were classified into tertiles of HPF consumption according to each system. Using binomial logistic regression, food groups associated with agreement in the highest tertile for at least two classification systems were chosen as items for the questionnaire. ROC analysis was used to determine cut-off points for the frequency of consumption of each item, from which a score was calculated. Internal consistency of the questionnaire was assessed through exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and Cronbach's analysis, and agreement with the four classifications was assessed with weighted kappa coefficients. Results: Regression analysis identified 14 food groups (items) associated with high HPF consumption for at least two classification systems. EFA showed that items were representative contributors of a single underlying factor, the HPF dietary pattern (factor loadings around 0.2). We constructed a questionnaire asking about the frequency of consumption of those items. The threshold frequency of consumption was selected using ROC analysis. Comparison of the four classification systems and the sQ-HPF showed a fair to high agreement. Significant changes in lifestyle characteristics were detected across tertiles of the sQ-HPF score. Longitudinal changes in HPF consumption were also detected by the sQ-HPF, concordantly with existing classification systems. Conclusions: We developed a practical tool to measure HPF consumption, the sQ-HPF. This may be a valuable instrument to study its relationship with NCDs