Self-reported neurocognitive symptoms during COVID-19 lockdown and its associated factors in a sample of psychiatric patients. Results from the BRIS-MHC study

Lockdown caused by COVID-19 pandemic has a negative impact on mental health. The aim was to assess self-reported neurocognitive symptoms during the lockdown and identify associated vulnerable and protective factors in a sample of psychiatric patients in a Spanish population.These results are part of the Barcelona ResIlience Survey for Mental Health COVID-19 (BRISMHC) project. Neurocognitive symptoms were assessed through an online survey considering the five items that represented self-reported neurocognitive complaints. We split the sample into two groups based on the severity of the self-reported neurocognitive complaints: intact cognitive function/mild cognitive impairment (CI-) and moderate/severe cognitive impairment (CI+). Univariate analyses were used to compare both groups in terms of sociodemographic and clinical variables. Multiple logistic regression models were carried out to identify clinical variables and coping strategies associated with neurocognitive symptoms. 198 patients with different psychiatric diagnoses were included in this study. One hundred seventeen patients were classified in the CI- group and 81 in the CI+ group. Depressive symptoms and negative psychotic-like symptoms were vulnerable factors for neurocognitive impairment. Coping strategies of performing physical activity, carrying out relaxing activities and maintaining a routine were protective factors against cognitive impairment. Lockdown situation negatively impact on neurocognitive function. Psychopathological symptoms and coping strategies were associated with neurocognitive symptoms during lockdown in subjects with psychiatric illness. The early treatment of psychopathological symptoms in psychiatric patients and promoting coping strategies during lockdown should be considered an intervention strategy against cognitive impairment

Treatment with tocilizumab or corticosteroids for COVID-19 patients with hyperinflammatory state: a multicentre cohort study (SAM-COVID-19)

Objectives: The objective of this study was to estimate the association between tocilizumab or corticosteroids and the risk of intubation or death in patients with coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) with a hyperinflammatory state according to clinical and laboratory parameters. Methods: A cohort study was performed in 60 Spanish hospitals including 778 patients with COVID-19 and clinical and laboratory data indicative of a hyperinflammatory state. Treatment was mainly with tocilizumab, an intermediate-high dose of corticosteroids (IHDC), a pulse dose of corticosteroids (PDC), combination therapy, or no treatment. Primary outcome was intubation or death; follow-up was 21 days. Propensity score-adjusted estimations using Cox regression (logistic regression if needed) were calculated. Propensity scores were used as confounders, matching variables and for the inverse probability of treatment weights (IPTWs). Results: In all, 88, 117, 78 and 151 patients treated with tocilizumab, IHDC, PDC, and combination therapy, respectively, were compared with 344 untreated patients. The primary endpoint occurred in 10 (11.4%), 27 (23.1%), 12 (15.4%), 40 (25.6%) and 69 (21.1%), respectively. The IPTW-based hazard ratios (odds ratio for combination therapy) for the primary endpoint were 0.32 (95%CI 0.22-0.47; p < 0.001) for tocilizumab, 0.82 (0.71-1.30; p 0.82) for IHDC, 0.61 (0.43-0.86; p 0.006) for PDC, and 1.17 (0.86-1.58; p 0.30) for combination therapy. Other applications of the propensity score provided similar results, but were not significant for PDC. Tocilizumab was also associated with lower hazard of death alone in IPTW analysis (0.07; 0.02-0.17; p < 0.001). Conclusions: Tocilizumab might be useful in COVID-19 patients with a hyperinflammatory state and should be prioritized for randomized trials in this situatio

Spatiotemporal Characteristics of the Largest HIV-1 CRF02_AG Outbreak in Spain: Evidence for Onward Transmissions

Background and Aim: The circulating recombinant form 02_AG (CRF02_AG) is the predominant clade among the human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) non-Bs with a prevalence of 5.97% (95% Confidence Interval-CI: 5.41–6.57%) across Spain. Our aim was to estimate the levels of regional clustering for CRF02_AG and the spatiotemporal characteristics of the largest CRF02_AG subepidemic in Spain.Methods: We studied 396 CRF02_AG sequences obtained from HIV-1 diagnosed patients during 2000–2014 from 10 autonomous communities of Spain. Phylogenetic analysis was performed on the 391 CRF02_AG sequences along with all globally sampled CRF02_AG sequences (N = 3,302) as references. Phylodynamic and phylogeographic analysis was performed to the largest CRF02_AG monophyletic cluster by a Bayesian method in BEAST v1.8.0 and by reconstructing ancestral states using the criterion of parsimony in Mesquite v3.4, respectively.Results: The HIV-1 CRF02_AG prevalence differed across Spanish autonomous communities we sampled from (p &lt; 0.001). Phylogenetic analysis revealed that 52.7% of the CRF02_AG sequences formed 56 monophyletic clusters, with a range of 2–79 sequences. The CRF02_AG regional dispersal differed across Spain (p = 0.003), as suggested by monophyletic clustering. For the largest monophyletic cluster (subepidemic) (N = 79), 49.4% of the clustered sequences originated from Madrid, while most sequences (51.9%) had been obtained from men having sex with men (MSM). Molecular clock analysis suggested that the origin (tMRCA) of the CRF02_AG subepidemic was in 2002 (median estimate; 95% Highest Posterior Density-HPD interval: 1999–2004). Additionally, we found significant clustering within the CRF02_AG subepidemic according to the ethnic origin.Conclusion: CRF02_AG has been introduced as a result of multiple introductions in Spain, following regional dispersal in several cases. We showed that CRF02_AG transmissions were mostly due to regional dispersal in Spain. The hot-spot for the largest CRF02_AG regional subepidemic in Spain was in Madrid associated with MSM transmission risk group. The existence of subepidemics suggest that several spillovers occurred from Madrid to other areas. CRF02_AG sequences from Hispanics were clustered in a separate subclade suggesting no linkage between the local and Hispanic subepidemics

Genomic differentiation among varieties of Iberian pig

Aim of study: The objective of this study was to identify the autosomal genomic regions associated with genetic differentiation between three commercial strains of Iberian pig.Area of study: Extremadura (Spain).Material and methods: We used the Porcine v2 BeadChip to genotype 349 individuals from three varieties of Iberian pig (EE, Entrepelado; RR, Retinto; and TT, Torbiscal) and their crosses. After standard filtering of the Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) markers, 47, 67, and 123 haplotypic phases from EE, RR, and TT origins were identified. The allelic frequencies of 31,180 SNP markers were used to calculate the fixation index (FST) that were averaged in sliding windows of 2Mb.Main results: The results confirmed the greater genetic closeness of the EE and RR varieties, and we were able to identify several genomic regions with a divergence greater than expected. The genes present in those genomic regions were used to perform an Overrepresentation Enrichment Analysis (ORA) for the Gene Ontology (GO) terms for biological process. The ORA indicated that several groups of biological processes were overrepresented: a large group involving morphogenesis and development, and others associated with neurogenesis, cellular responses, or metabolic processes. These results were reinforced by the presence of some genes within the genomic regions that had the highest genomic differentiation.Research highlights: The genomic differentiation among varieties of the Iberian pig is heterogeneous along the genome. The genomic regions with the highest differentiation contain an overrepresentation of genes related with morphogenesis and development, neurogenesis, cellular responses and metabolic processes

Options. Journal of the UNAB Financial Engineering Program. Volume 3 No. 6 December 2009

El programa de Ingeniería Financiera enfrenta importantes retos para el 2010, enmarcados en disposiciones y lineamientos que en materia educativa disponen el Estado y la Institución, principalmente, que sumados a expectativas y exigencias de la comunidad, integrada por estudiantes, egresados, empresarios, otras instituciones educativas y relacionados en general, harán necesarias la caracterización de programas de alta calidad y de amplio reconocimiento nacional e internacional. Para ello es indispensable la disposición de estrategias y proyectos específicos que apunten al logro de altos Índices de calidad en cada programa.Editorial. - 5 Generalidades de la administración del riesgo. - 7 Uso de las redes neuronales en la medición del riesgo de crédito. - 21 Teoría del valor extremo, aplicación a índices bursátiles de dos economías: Emergente y desarrollada. - 27 Ingenieros financieros como constructores de la sociedad: emprendimiento e intraemprendimiento. - 35 Determinantes del spread bid-ask de las opciones call y put sobre el Índice Dow-Jones. - 42 Las leyes del servicio o los principios fundamentales. 50The Financial Engineering program faces important challenges for 2010, framed in provisions and guidelines that the State and the Institution have in educational matters, mainly, which added to the expectations and demands of the community, made up of students, graduates, businessmen, other institutions educational and related in general, will make it necessary to characterize high-quality programs with wide national and international recognition. For this, it is essential to have specific strategies and projects aimed at achieving high quality indices in each program

The relationship between cognition and functioning in Bipolar Disorder: An investigation using functional imaging during working memory performance

The psychosocial functioning of individuals suffering from bipolar disorder (BD) has a significant impact on prognosis and quality of life. The aim of this study was to assess brain functional correlates of psychosocial functioning in BD individuals during the performance of a working memory task. Sixty-two subjects (31 euthymic BD individuals and 31 matched healthy controls) underwent structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging scanning while performing the 1- and 2-back versions of the n-back task (1-back and 2-back). The Functional Assessment Short Test (FAST) and its subdomains were used to assess functioning. Whole brain analysis revealed only overall activation differences between BD patients and healthy controls, but the patients showed failure of de-activation in the medial frontal cortex. Six clusters of significant inverse correlation with the FAST scores were found in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, the superior parietal cortex, and temporo-occipital regions bilaterally, and in the left inferior frontal cortex. Cognitive and occupational functioning were the subdomains most significantly associated with brain activation in these clusters. The results suggest that poor psychosocial functioning in BD individuals is associated with hypoactivation in a range of cortical regions, including the fronto-parietal working memory network and inferior temporo-occipital regions

Tu salud la cuidas tú, y nosotros te ayudamos

El trabajo obtuvo el primer premio de la modalidad B: 'Una escuela más cooperativa y equitativa', de los Premios Joaquín Sama 2007. Se recogen páginas web de interés sobre la temática del trabajoSe describen un conjunto de actividades desarrolladas en el IES Siberia Extremeña (Talarrubias, Badajoz) para concienciar a los alumnos y a la comunidad educativa sobre los efectos nocivos del tabaco, el alcohol y otras drogas.ExtremaduraConsejería de Educación. Dirección General de Política Educativa; Calle Delgado Valencia, 6; 06800 Mérida (Badajoz); Tel. +34924006714; Fax +34924006716; [email protected]

COVID-19 in hospitalized HIV-positive and HIV-negative patients : A matched study

CatedresObjectives: We compared the characteristics and clinical outcomes of hospitalized individuals with COVID-19 with [people with HIV (PWH)] and without (non-PWH) HIV co-infection in Spain during the first wave of the pandemic. Methods: This was a retrospective matched cohort study. People with HIV were identified by reviewing clinical records and laboratory registries of 10 922 patients in active-follow-up within the Spanish HIV Research Network (CoRIS) up to 30 June 2020. Each hospitalized PWH was matched with five non-PWH of the same age and sex randomly selected from COVID-19@Spain, a multicentre cohort of 4035 patients hospitalized with confirmed COVID-19. The main outcome was all-cause in-hospital mortality. Results: Forty-five PWH with PCR-confirmed COVID-19 were identified in CoRIS, 21 of whom were hospitalized. A total of 105 age/sex-matched controls were selected from the COVID-19@Spain cohort. The median age in both groups was 53 (Q1-Q3, 46-56) years, and 90.5% were men. In PWH, 19.1% were injecting drug users, 95.2% were on antiretroviral therapy, 94.4% had HIV-RNA < 50 copies/mL, and the median (Q1-Q3) CD4 count was 595 (349-798) cells/μL. No statistically significant differences were found between PWH and non-PWH in number of comorbidities, presenting signs and symptoms, laboratory parameters, radiology findings and severity scores on admission. Corticosteroids were administered to 33.3% and 27.4% of PWH and non-PWH, respectively (P = 0.580). Deaths during admission were documented in two (9.5%) PWH and 12 (11.4%) non-PWH (P = 0.800). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that well-controlled HIV infection does not modify the clinical presentation or worsen clinical outcomes of COVID-19 hospitalization

Discovering HIV related information by means of association rules and machine learning

Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is still one of the main health problems worldwide. It is therefore essential to keep making progress in improving the prognosis and quality of life of affected patients. One way to advance along this pathway is to uncover connections between other disorders associated with HIV/AIDS-so that they can be anticipated and possibly mitigated. We propose to achieve this by using Association Rules (ARs). They allow us to represent the dependencies between a number of diseases and other specific diseases. However, classical techniques systematically generate every AR meeting some minimal conditions on data frequency, hence generating a vast amount of uninteresting ARs, which need to be filtered out. The lack of manually annotated ARs has favored unsupervised filtering, even though they produce limited results. In this paper, we propose a semi-supervised system, able to identify relevant ARs among HIV-related diseases with a minimal amount of annotated training data. Our system has been able to extract a good number of relationships between HIV-related diseases that have been previously detected in the literature but are scattered and are often little known. Furthermore, a number of plausible new relationships have shown up which deserve further investigation by qualified medical experts