Severity and duration of allergic conjunctivitis: are they associated with severity and duration of allergic rhinitis and asthma?

Comorbiditat al·lèrgica; Conjuntivitis al·lèrgica; Malaltia respiratòria al·lèrgicaAllergic comorbidity; Allergic conjunctivitis; Allergic respiratory diseaseComorbilidad alérgica; Conjuntivitis alérgica; Enfermedad respiratoria alérgicaObjective. The association of allergic conjunctivitis (AC) with rhinitis and/or asthma is poorly understood. The objective of this study was to apply the Consensus Document for Allergic Conjunctivitis (DECA) criteria for the classification of AC to a population of patients with AC to assess the association between the severity and duration of AC and rhinitis and/or asthma. Methods. Patients with ocular symptoms of AC who participated in the 'Alergológica 2015' study were included. The demographics, classification according to the DECA criteria, etiology, and comorbidities were evaluated by age groups (less or equal than 14 and greater than 14 years). Results. A total of 2,914 patients (age range, 1-90 years) were included in the "Alergológica 2015" study. Of these, 965 patients (33.1%) were diagnosed with AC (77.5% > 14 years). AC was classified as severe, moderate, or mild in 1.8%, 46.4%, and 51.8%, respectively; and as intermittent or persistent in 51.6% and 48.4% of the patients. AC alone occurred in 4% of patients. AC was mainly associated with rhinitis (88.4%), asthma (38.2%), food allergy (8.3%) and atopic dermatitis (3.5%). In allergic respiratory disease rhinitis preceded AC and asthma developed later. The severity and duration of AC was significantly associated with severity and duration of rhinitis (p less than 0.001 for both age groups) and asthma (p less than 0.001 only in adults). Conclusions. The application of the new DECA classification for AC reveals a direct relationship between AC, rhinitis and asthma respect to severity and duration. These relationships suggest that AC should be considered an integral part of the "one airway, one disease" hypothesis

Actividad física y factores de riesgo cardiovascular en empleados de un hospital

 Introduction: Occupational tasks and the environment are important influences on individuals' physical activity and sedentary behaviors. Aim: To describe the cardiovascular risk and level of physical activity, in addition to exploring the association between these variables in working adults of a health institution. Methodology: Cross-sectional correlational descriptive study in hospital employees. Results: The sample consisted of 165 workers with an age range of 30 to 58 years (x ̅ = 43.16, SD = 6.10), female n = 104 (63.0%) and male n = 61 (37%), with respect to health data, it is highlighted that the mean abdominal circumference, SAT and BMI are higher than the health recommendations. Conclusions: The CVR factors with the greatest presence in the study population were: age, arterial hypertension, smoking, diabetes mellitus and overweight / obesity, all of them highly linked to physical inactivity.  Introducción: Las tareas ocupacionales y el medio ambiente son influencias importantes en la actividad física de los individuos y conductas sedentarias. Objetivo: Describir el riesgo cardiovascular y nivel de actividad física, además de explorar la asociación entre estas variables en adultos trabajadores de una institución de salud. Metodología: Estudio descriptivo correlacional de corte transversal en empleados de un hospital. Resultados: La muestra estuvo compuesta por 165 trabajadores con rango de edad de 30 a 58 años (x ̅ = 43,16, DE = 6,10), sexo femenino n=104 (63,0 %) y masculino n=61 (37%), respecto a los datos de salud se destaca que la media del perímetro abdominal, TAS e IMC son mayores a las recomendaciones de salud. Conclusiones: Los factores de RCV con mayor presencia en la población estudiada fueron: edad, hipertensión arterial, tabaquismo, diabetes mellitus y sobrepeso/obesidad, todos ellos altamente ligados a la inactividad física. &nbsp

Non-L\'evy mobility patterns of Mexican Me'Phaa peasants searching for fuelwood

We measured mobility patterns that describe walking trajectories of individual Me'Phaa peasants searching and collecting fuelwood in the forests of "La Monta\~na de Guerrero" in Mexico. These one-day excursions typically follow a mixed pattern of nearly-constant steps when individuals displace from their homes towards potential collecting sites and a mixed pattern of steps of different lengths when actually searching for fallen wood in the forest. Displacements in the searching phase seem not to be compatible with L\'evy flights described by power-laws with optimal scaling exponents. These findings however can be interpreted in the light of deterministic searching on heavily degraded landscapes where the interaction of the individuals with their scarce environment produces alternative searching strategies than the expected L\'evy flights. These results have important implications for future management and restoration of degraded forests and the improvement of the ecological services they may provide to their inhabitants.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures. First version submitted to Human Ecology. The final publication will be available at http://www.springerlink.co

Skin manifestations in COVID-19: prevalence and relationship with disease severity

Background: Data on the clinical patterns and histopathology of SARS-CoV-2 related skin lesions, as well as on their relationship with the severity of COVID-19 are limited. Methods and Materials: Retrospective analysis of a prospectively collected cohort of patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection in a teaching hospital in Barcelona, Spain, from 1 April to 1 May 2020. Clinical, microbiological and therapeutic characteristics, clinicopathological patterns of skin lesions, and direct immunofluorescence and immunohistochemical findings in skin biopsies were analyzed. Results: Fifty-eight out of the 2761 patients (2.1%) either consulting to the emergency room or admitted to the hospital for COVID-19 suspicion during the study period presented COVID-19 related skin lesions. Cutaneous lesions could be categorized into six patterns represented by the acronym "GROUCH": Generalized maculo-papular (20.7%), Grover's disease and other papulo-vesicular eruptions (13.8%), livedo Reticularis (6.9%), Other eruptions (22.4%), Urticarial (6.9%), and CHilblain-like (29.3%). Skin biopsies were performed in 72.4%, including direct immunofluorescence in 71.4% and immunohistochemistry in 28.6%. Patients with chilblain-like lesions exhibited a characteristic histology and were significantly younger and presented lower rates of systemic symptoms, radiological lung infiltrates and analytical abnormalities, and hospital and ICU admission compared to the rest of patients. Conclusion: Cutaneous lesions in patients with COVID-19 appear to be relatively rare and varied. Patients with chilblain-like lesions have a characteristic clinicopathological pattern and a less severe presentation of COVID-19

Geomorphological and sedimentary processes of the glacially influenced northwestern Iberian continental margin and abyssal plains

The offshore region of northwestern Iberia offers an opportunity to study the impacts of along-slope processes on the morphology of a glacially influenced continental margin, which has traditionally been conceptually characterised by predominant down-slope sedimentary processes. High-resolution multibeam bathymetry, acoustic backscatter and ultrahigh-resolution seismic reflection profile data are integrated and analysed to describe the present-day and recent geomorphological features and to interpret their associated sedimentary processes. Seventeen large-scale seafloor morphologies and sixteen individual echo types, interpreted as structural features (escarpments, marginal platforms and related fluid escape structures) and depositional and erosional bedforms developed either by the influence of bottom currents (moats, abraded surfaces, sediment waves, contourite drifts and ridges) or by gravitational features (gullies, canyons, slides, channel-levee complexes and submarine fans), are identified for the first time in the study area (spanning ~90,000 km2 and water depths of 300m to 5 km). Different types of slope failures and turbidity currents are mainly observed on the upper and lower slopes and along submarine canyons and deep-sea channels. The middle slope morphologies are mostly determined by the actions of bottom currents (North Atlantic Central Water, Mediterranean Outflow Water, Labrador Sea Water and North Atlantic Deep Water), which thereby define the margin morphologies and favour the reworking and deposition of sediments. The abyssal plains (Biscay and Iberian) are characterised by pelagic deposits and channel-lobe systems (the Cantabrian and Charcot), although several contourite features are also observed at the foot of the slope due to the influence of the deepest water masses (i.e., the North Atlantic Deep Water and Lower Deep Water). Thiswork shows that the study area is the result of Mesozoic to present-day tectonics (e.g. themarginal platforms and structural highs). Therefore, tectonism constitutes a long-term controlling factor, whereas the climate, sediment supply and bottom currents play key roles in the recent short-term architecture and dynamics. Moreover, the recent predominant along-slope sedimentary processes observed in the studied northwestern Iberian Margin represent snapshots of the progressive stages and mixed deep-water system developments of the marginal platforms on passive margins and may provide information for a predictive model of the evolution of other similar margins.Departamento de Investigación y Prospectiva Geocientífica, Unidad de Tres Cantos, Instituto Geológico y Minero de España, EspañaDepartamento de Geología y Geoquímica, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, EspañaDepartment of Earth Sciences, Royal Holloway University of London, Reino Unid

Polarization control of isolated high-harmonic pulses

High-harmonic generation driven by femtosecond lasers makes it possible to capture the fastest dynamics in molecules and materials. However, thus far, the shortest isolated attosecond pulses have only been produced with linear polarization, which limits the range of physics that can be explored. Here, we demonstrate robust polarization control of isolated extreme-ultraviolet pulses by exploiting non-collinear high-harmonic generation driven by two counter-rotating few-cycle laser beams. The circularly polarized supercontinuum is produced at a central photon energy of 33 eV with a transform limit of 190 as and a predicted linear chirp of 330 as. By adjusting the ellipticity of the two counter-rotating driving pulses simultaneously, we control the polarization state of isolated extreme-ultraviolet pulses—from circular through elliptical to linear polarization—without sacrificing conversion efficiency. Access to the purely circularly polarized supercontinuum, combined with full helicity and ellipticity control, paves the way towards attosecond metrology of circular dichroism.The experimental work was carried out at National Tsing Hua University, Institute of Photonics Technologies, supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan (grants 105-2112-M-007-030-MY3, 105-2112-M-001-030 and 104-2112-M-007-012-MY3). The concept of isolated circularly polarized attosecond pulses was developed by C.H.-G., D.D.H., M.M.M., C.G.D., H.C.K., A.B. and A.J.-B.. C.H.-G. acknowledges support from the Marie Curie International Outgoing Fellowship within the EU Seventh Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development (2007–2013), under Research Executive Agency grant agreement no. 328334. C.H.-G. and L.P. acknowledge support from Junta de Castilla y León (SA046U16) and the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (FIS2013-44174-P, FIS2016-75652-P). C.H.-G. acknowledges support from a 2017 Leonardo Grant for Researchers and Cultural Creators (BBVA Foundation). M.M.M. and H.C.K. acknowledge support from the Department of Energy Basic Energy Sciences (award no. DE-FG02-99ER14982) for the concepts and experimental set-up. For part of the theory, A.B., A.J.-B., C.G.D., M.M.M. and H.C.K. acknowledge support from a Multidisciplinary University Research Initiatives grant from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (award no. FA9550-16-1-0121). A.J.-B. also acknowledges support from the US National Science Foundation (grant no. PHY-1734006). This work utilized the Janus supercomputer, which is supported by the US National Science Foundation (grant no. CNS-0821794) and the University of Colorado, Boulder. This research made use of the high-performance computing resources of the Castilla y León Supercomputing Center (SCAYLE, www.scayle.es), financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). J.L.E. acknowledges support from the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (DGE-1144083). L.R. acknowledges support from the Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte (FPU16/02591)

Clinical experience with integrase inhibitors in HIV-2-infected individuals in Spain.

Background: HIV-2 is a neglected virus despite estimates of 1–2 million people being infected worldwide. The virus is naturally resistant to some antiretrovirals used to treat HIV-1 and therapeutic options are limited for patients with HIV-2. Methods: In this retrospective observational study, we analysed all HIV-2-infected individuals treated with inte- grase strand transfer inhibitors (INSTIs) recorded in the Spanish HIV-2 cohort. Demographics, treatment modal- ities, laboratory values, quantitative HIV-2 RNA and CD4 counts as well as drug resistance were analysed. Results: From a total of 354 HIV-2-infected patients recruited by the Spanish HIV-2 cohort as of December 2017, INSTIs had been given to 44, in 18 as first-line therapy and in 26 after failing other antiretroviral regimens. After a median follow-up of 13 months of INSTI-based therapy, undetectable viraemia for HIV-2 was achieved in 89% of treatment-naive and in 65.4% of treatment-experienced patients. In parallel, CD4 gains were 82 and 126cells/mm3, respectively. Treatment failure occurred in 15 patients, 2 being treatment-naive and 13 treatment-experienced. INSTI resistance changes were recognized in 12 patients: N155H (5), Q148H/R (3), Y143C/G (3) and R263K (1). Conclusions: Combinations based on INSTIs are effective and safe treatment options for HIV-2-infected individ- uals. However, resistance mutations to INSTIs are selected frequently in failing patients, reducing the already limited treatment options

Trends of adverse drug reactions related-hospitalizations in Spain (2001-2006)

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Adverse drug reactions (ADR) are a substantial cause of hospital admissions. We conducted a nationwide study to estimate the burden of hospital admissions for ADRs in Spain during a six-year period (2001-2006) along with the associated total health cost.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Data were obtained from the national surveillance system for hospital data (Minimum Basic Data Set) maintained by the Ministry of Health and Consumer Affairs, and covering more than 95% of Spanish hospitals. From these admissions we selected all hospitalization that were code as drug-related (ICD-9-CM codes E), but intended forms of overdoses, errors in administration and therapeutics failure were excluded. The average number of hospitalizations per year, annual incidence of hospital admissions, average length of stay in the hospital, and case-fatality rate, were calculated.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>During the 2001-2006 periods, the total number of hospitalized patients with ADR diagnosis was 350,835 subjects, 1.69% of all acute hospital admissions in Spain. The estimated incidence of admissions due to ADR decreased during the period 2001-2006 (p < 0.05). More than five percent of patients (n = 19,734) died during an ADR-related hospitalization. The drugs most commonly associated with ADR-related hospitalization were antineoplastic and immunosuppressive drugs (n = 75,760), adrenal cortical steroids (n = 47,539), anticoagulants (n = 26,546) and antibiotics (n = 22,144). The costs generated by patients in our study increased by 19.05% between 2001 and 2006.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Approximately 1.69% of all acute hospital admissions were associated with ADRs. The rates were much higher for elderly patients. The total cost of ADR-related hospitalization to the Spanish health system is high and has increased between 2001 and 2006. ADRs are an important cause of admission, resulting in considerable use of national health system beds and a significant number of deaths.</p

Revealing the last 13,500 years of environmental history from the multiproxy record of a mountain lake (Lago Enol, northern Iberian Peninsula)

This is the author's accepted manuscript. The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10933-009-9387-7.We present the Holocene sequence from Lago Enol (43°16′N, 4°59′W, 1,070 m a.s.l.), Cantabrian Mountains, northern Spain. A multiproxy analysis provided comprehensive information about regional humidity and temperature changes. The analysis included sedimentological descriptions, physical properties, organic carbon and carbonate content, mineralogy and geochemical composition together with biological proxies including diatom and ostracod assemblages. A detailed pollen study enabled reconstruction of variations in vegetation cover, which were interpreted in the context of climate changes and human impact. Four distinct stages were recognized for the last 13,500 years: (1) a cold and dry episode that includes the Younger Dryas event (13,500–11,600 cal. year BP); (2) a humid and warmer period characterizing the onset of the Holocene (11,600–8,700 cal. year BP); (3) a tendency toward a drier climate during the middle Holocene (8,700–4,650 cal. year BP); and (4) a return to humid conditions following landscape modification by human activity (pastoral activities, deforestation) in the late Holocene (4,650–2,200 cal. year BP). Superimposed on relatively stable landscape conditions (e.g. maintenance of well established forests), the typical environmental variability of the southern European region is observed at this site.The Spanish Inter-Ministry Commission of Science and Technology (CICYT), the Spanish National Parks agency, the European Commission, the Spanish Ministry of Science, and the European Social Fund

Revealing the last 13,500 years of environmental history from the multiproxy record of a mountain lake (Lago Enol, northern Iberian Peninsula)

This is the author's accepted manuscript. The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10933-009-9387-7.We present the Holocene sequence from Lago Enol (43°16′N, 4°59′W, 1,070 m a.s.l.), Cantabrian Mountains, northern Spain. A multiproxy analysis provided comprehensive information about regional humidity and temperature changes. The analysis included sedimentological descriptions, physical properties, organic carbon and carbonate content, mineralogy and geochemical composition together with biological proxies including diatom and ostracod assemblages. A detailed pollen study enabled reconstruction of variations in vegetation cover, which were interpreted in the context of climate changes and human impact. Four distinct stages were recognized for the last 13,500 years: (1) a cold and dry episode that includes the Younger Dryas event (13,500–11,600 cal. year BP); (2) a humid and warmer period characterizing the onset of the Holocene (11,600–8,700 cal. year BP); (3) a tendency toward a drier climate during the middle Holocene (8,700–4,650 cal. year BP); and (4) a return to humid conditions following landscape modification by human activity (pastoral activities, deforestation) in the late Holocene (4,650–2,200 cal. year BP). Superimposed on relatively stable landscape conditions (e.g. maintenance of well established forests), the typical environmental variability of the southern European region is observed at this site.The Spanish Inter-Ministry Commission of Science and Technology (CICYT), the Spanish National Parks agency, the European Commission, the Spanish Ministry of Science, and the European Social Fund