Direct costs of glaucoma: Relationship between cost and severity of the disease

o estimate the direct medical costs associated with the management of patients with primary open-angle glaucoma and to compare the costs of patients according to the degree of severity. A longitudinal retrospective study was carried out using all patients with primary open-angle glaucoma that recorded follow-up from May 2010 to June 2013 at the Hospital Privado de Córdoba. We estimated the cost of the disease from the perspectives of the institution, with a bottom-up approach. Results: The three-year follow-up after treatment of 104 patients revealed that the average cost of care for a patient with primary open-angle glaucoma was US$2746 ± 1560. The first year of treatment was significantly more expensive than subsequent ones (US$1100–$810–$827). Cost was related to the degree of severity of glaucoma; patients in “Stage 0” had significantly lower costs than those in other groups (Kruskal–Wallis test, p < 0.01). This was a consequence of lower costs associated with medication and a lower percentage of patients undergoing surgery. The direct medical costs of a patient with primary open-angle glaucoma vary according to the severity of their disease and the year of treatment. We found that costs increased with disease severity, but decreased over time.Fil: Real, Juan Pablo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Unidad de Investigación y Desarrollo en Tecnología Farmacéutica. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Unidad de Investigación y Desarrollo en Tecnología Farmacéutica; ArgentinaFil: Lafuente, M. C.. Hospital Privado Centro Medico de Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Palma, Santiago Daniel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Unidad de Investigación y Desarrollo en Tecnología Farmacéutica. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Unidad de Investigación y Desarrollo en Tecnología Farmacéutica; ArgentinaFil: Tartara, Luis Ignacio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Unidad de Investigación y Desarrollo en Tecnología Farmacéutica. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Unidad de Investigación y Desarrollo en Tecnología Farmacéutica; Argentin

Vida y virtudes del venerable varon el P. maestro Iuan de Avila... : con algunos elogios de las virtudes, y vidas de algunos de sus mas principales discipulos...

Colofón.Sign.: [calderón]8, A-Z8, Aa-Hh8.Error de foliación en la última h. del texto.Port. con esc. calc. que según Vindel nº 480, es probable que se trate de una marca de impresor o librero.[1] h. de grab. calc. que es un retrato de Juan de Ávila, antes del comienzo del texto, realizado por Martin Boswood

Reassessment of genotype 1 hepatitis c virus subtype misclassification by LiPA 2.0: implications for direct-acting antiviral treatment

The accuracy of LiPA 2.0 for hepatitis C virus 1 (HCV-1) subtype classification was analyzed. LiPA 2.0 genotype results from 101 HCV-1-infected patients were compared to genotype findings determined by direct core sequencing. Eleven (11%) samples were misclassified. Given the influence of the HCV-1-subtype in the anti-HCV therapy response, an alternative classification method is warranted.Fil: Guelfo, Javier R.. Hospital Universitario de Valme. Unidad de Enfermedades Infecciosas y Microbiología; EspañaFil: Macias, Juan. Hospital Universitario de Valme. Unidad de Enfermedades Infecciosas y Microbiología; EspañaFil: Neukam, Karin. Hospital Universitario de Valme. Unidad de Enfermedades Infecciosas y Microbiología; EspañaFil: Di Lello, Federico Alejandro. Hospital Universitario de Valme. Unidad de Enfermedades Infecciosas y Microbiología; España. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Mira José Antonio. Hospital Universitario de Valme. Unidad de Enfermedades Infecciosas y Microbiología; EspañaFil: Merchante, Nicolás. Hospital Universitario de Valme. Unidad de Enfermedades Infecciosas y Microbiología; EspañaFil: Mancebo, María. Hospital Universitario de Valme. Unidad de Enfermedades Infecciosas y Microbiología; EspañaFil: Nuñez Torres, Rocío. Hospital Universitario de Valme. Unidad de Enfermedades Infecciosas y Microbiología; EspañaFil: Pineda, Juan A.. Hospital Universitario de Valme. Unidad de Enfermedades Infecciosas y Microbiología; EspañaFil: Real. Luis M.. Hospital Universitario de Valme. Unidad de Enfermedades Infecciosas y Microbiología; Españ

Magnetic properties of spinel-type oxides NiMn2-xMexO4

New materials, based on the well-known spinel compound NiMn2O4, have been synthesized and characterized from the magnetic point of view. The manganese cation was partially substituted in the general formula NiMn2-xMexO4 , by nonmagnetic and magnetic elements, such as Me = Ga, Zn, Ni and Cr (0 x 1). Prior to the determination of their magnetic properties, the non-substituted spinel NiMn2O4 was carefully characterized and studied as a function of the oxygen stoichiometry, based on the influence of the annealing atmosphere and quenching rate. The ferrimagnetic character was observed in all samples, with a paramagnetic-to-ferromagnetic transition temperature Tc stabilized at 110 K, and well defined long-range antiferromagnetic interactions at lower temperatures, which depend on the applied field and the substitute concentrationAuthors from Chile and O.P. thank projects Fondecyt-Chile 1020066, 7020066 and 1050178. Authors from France and Brazil thank project CAPES/COFECUB 416/03. Authors from France thank Région Bretagne for financial supportPeer reviewe

CCR5 Expression Influences the Progression of Human Breast Cancer in a p53-dependent Manner

Chemokines are implicated in tumor pathogenesis, although it is unclear whether they affect human cancer progression positively or negatively. We found that activation of the chemokine receptor CCR5 regulates p53 transcriptional activity in breast cancer cells through pertussis toxin–, JAK2-, and p38 mitogen–activated protein kinase–dependent mechanisms. CCR5 blockade significantly enhanced proliferation of xenografts from tumor cells bearing wild-type p53, but did not affect proliferation of tumor xenografts bearing a p53 mutation. In parallel, data obtained in a primary breast cancer clinical series showed that disease-free survival was shorter in individuals bearing the CCR5Δ32 allele than in CCR5 wild-type patients, but only for those whose tumors expressed wild-type p53. These findings suggest that CCR5 activity influences human breast cancer progression in a p53-dependent manner

Fractional-order operators: Boundary problems, heat equations

The first half of this work gives a survey of the fractional Laplacian (and related operators), its restricted Dirichlet realization on a bounded domain, and its nonhomogeneous local boundary conditions, as treated by pseudodifferential methods. The second half takes up the associated heat equation with homogeneous Dirichlet condition. Here we recall recently shown sharp results on interior regularity and on $L_p$-estimates up to the boundary, as well as recent H\"older estimates. This is supplied with new higher regularity estimates in $L_2$-spaces using a technique of Lions and Magenes, and higher $L_p$-regularity estimates (with arbitrarily high H\"older estimates in the time-parameter) based on a general result of Amann. Moreover, it is shown that an improvement to spatial $C^\infty$-regularity at the boundary is not in general possible.Comment: 29 pages, updated version, to appear in a Springer Proceedings in Mathematics and Statistics: "New Perspectives in Mathematical Analysis - Plenary Lectures, ISAAC 2017, Vaxjo Sweden

Host Cell Phosphatidylcholine Is a Key Mediator of Malaria Parasite Survival during Liver Stage Infection

During invasion, Plasmodium, the causative agent of malaria, wraps itself in a parasitophorous vacuole membrane (PVM), which constitutes a critical interface between the parasite and its host cell. Within hepatocytes, each Plasmodium sporozoite generates thousands of new parasites, creating high demand for lipids to support this replication and enlarge the PVM. Here, a global analysis of the total lipid repertoire of Plasmodium-infected hepatocytes reveals an enrichment of neutral lipids and the major membrane phospholipid, phosphatidylcholine (PC). While infection is unaffected in mice deficient in key enzymes involved in neutral lipid synthesis and lipolysis, ablation of rate-limiting enzymes in hepatic PC biosynthetic pathways significantly decreases parasite numbers. Host PC is taken up by both P. berghei and P. falciparum and is necessary for correct localization of parasite proteins to the PVM, which is essential for parasite survival. Thus, Plasmodium relies on the abundance of these lipids within hepatocytes to support infection.Seventh Framework Programme (European Commission) (Grant Agreement 311502)Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia (Grant EXCL/IMI-MIC/0056/2012)Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia (Grant PTDC/IMI-MIC/1568/2012

Similar incidence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in patients with rheumatic diseases with and without hydroxychloroquine therapy

Background Hydroxychloroquine is not efficacious as post-exposure prophylaxis against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). It is not known whether as pre-exposure prophylaxis it may prevent COVID-19. Objective To compare the incidence of COVID-19 in Spanish patients with autoimmune rheumatic diseases treated with and without hydroxychloroquine. Patients and methods Retrospective electronic record review, from February 27th to June 21st, 2020, of patients with autoimmune inflammatory diseases followed at two academic tertiary care hospitals in Seville, Spain. The cumulative incidence of confirmed COVID-19, by PCR or serology, was compared between patients with and without hydroxychloroquine as part of their treatment of autoimmune inflammatory diseases. Results Among 722 included patients, 290 (40%) were receiving hydroxychloroquine. During the seventeen-week study period, 10 (3.4% [95% CI: 1.7%-6.7%] cases of COVID-19 were registered among patients with hydroxychloroquine and 13 (3.0% [1.6%-5.1%]) (p = 0.565) in those without hydroxychloroquine. COVID-19 was diagnosed by PCR in four (1.4%, 95% CI 0.38%-3.5%) subject with hydroxychloroquine and six (1.4%, 95% CI 0.5%-3.0%) without hydroxychloroquine (p = 0.697). Three patients on hydroxychloroquine and four patients without hydroxychloroquine were admitted to the hospital, none of them required to be transferred to the intensive care unit and no patient died during the episode. Conclusions The incidence and severity of COVID-19 among patients with autoimmune rheumatic diseases with and without hydroxychloroquine was not significantly different.Instituto de Salud Carlos III I3SNSMinisterio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades CP18/0014

The PNPLA3 Genetic Variant rs738409 Influences the Progression to Cirrhosis in HIV/Hepatitis C Virus Coinfected Patients

Contradictory data about the impact of the rs738409 steatosis-related polymorphism within PNPLA3 gene on liver fibrosis progression in HIV/hepatitis C virus (HIV/HCV)-coinfected patients have been reported. Our objective was to test whether this, and other polymorphisms previously related to fatty liver disease in HIV infection linked to SAMM50 or LPPR4 genes, influence liver fibrosis progression in HIV/HCV-coinfected individuals. Three hundred and thirty two HIV/HCV-coinfected patients who consecutively attended four Spanish university hospitals from November 2011 to July 2013 were included. A liver stiffness cut-off of 14.6 kPa, as determined by transient elastography, was used to diagnose cirrhosis. Liver stiffness progression was studied in 171 individuals who had two available LS determinations without anti-HCV treatment between them. Moreover, 28 HIV/HCV-coinfected patients who underwent liver transplant, as well as 19 non-cirrhotic coinfected individuals used as controls, were included in an additional study. Only rs738409 was associated with cirrhosis: 45 (29.6%) of 152 G allele carriers versus 36 (20.0%) of 180 CC carriers showed cirrhosis (multivariate p = 0.018; adjusted odds ratio = 1.98; 95% confidence interval = 1.12-3.50). Also, 21 (30.4%) of 69 G allele carriers versus 16 (15.7%) of 102 CC patients showed significant liver stiffness progression (adjusted p-value = 0.015; adjusted odds ratio = 2.89; 95% confidence interval = 1.23-6.83). Finally, the proportion of rs738409 G allele carriers was significantly higher in transplanted individuals than in controls (p = 0.044, odds ratio = 3.43; 95% confidence interval = 1.01-11.70). Our results strongly suggest that the rs738409 polymorphism is associated with liver fibrosis progression in HIV/HCV-coinfected patients