Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Incidence of Hip Fracture: A Nested Case-Control Study in the EpiChron Cohort

Purpose: To determine whether chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a risk factor for hip fracture and identify other factors associated with hip fracture. Patients and Methods: Observational nested case-control study was conducted in Aragon, Spain in 2010. We included COPD patients aged >40 years, in the EpiChron cohort. Each COPD patient was matched for age, sex, and number of comorbidities with a control subject without COPD. Patients with an existing diagnosis of osteoporosis and those with hip fracture before 2011 were excluded. We collected baseline demographic, comorbidity, and pharmacological treatment data. During a 5-year follow-up period, we recorded the incidence of hip fracture. A logistic regression model was constructed to identify factors associated with hip fracture. Results: The study population consisted of 26, 517 COPD patients and the same number of controls (median [interquartile range] age, 74 [17] years; women, 24.7%). Smoking and heart failure were more frequent in COPD patients, and obesity, hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, stroke, arthritis, and visual or hearing impairment were less frequent (all p<0.001). Consumption of benzodiazepines (p=0.037), bronchodilators (p<0.001), and corticosteroids (p<0.001) was higher in the COPD group, while that of beta-blockers and thiazides was lower (both p<0.001). During follow-up, 898 (1.7%) patients experienced hip fracture, with no differences observed between COPD and control patients. Multivariate analysis revealed that independent of COPD status, age, female sex, chronic liver disease, heart failure, and benzodiazepine use were independently associated with a higher risk of hip fracture, and obesity with a lower risk. In COPD patients, use of inhaled anticholinergics was independently associated with hip fracture (OR, 1.390; 95% CI 1.134-1.702; p=0.001). Conclusion: COPD is not a risk factor for a hip fracture within 5 years. The association between the use of inhaled anticholinergics and risk of hip fracture warrants further study

Principales características hidrogeoquímicas del acuífero de Balerma-Las Marinas (Almería)

The Balerma-Las Marinas aquifer, which features mainly Pliocene calcarenite rocks, is one of the three distinct hydrogeological units that have been identified in the Campo de Dalías area of Almería. Its hydrogeochemistry has been established by analyzing one hundred and eight samples from different points along the aquifer. The high sodium chloride content of the water is put down to fairly recent relative changes in the sea and continent levels, which have left saline water trapped by a series of blocks that divide the aquifer into various separate compartments. This relative lack of hydraulic continuity between the aquifer and the sea, together with fact that its resources are not subject to overuse, make it very unlikely that marine intrusion is the cause of the high saline content of the water. The conclusion to be drawn is that these waters are not very suitable either for human consumption or for irrigation.El acuífero de Balerma-Las Marinas, esencialmente integrado por calcarenitas pliocenas, constituye una unidad hidrogeológica de las tres diferenciadas en el Campo de Dalías. Sobre la base de ciento ocho análisis químicos de muestras de agua recogidas en otros tantos puntos acuíferos se llega a establecer la hidrogeoquímica del acuífero; el predominio de aguas de facies clorurada sódica es interpretado como relicto de movimientos relativos mar-continente, recientes, unido a la existencia de una serie de bloques que compartimentan el acuífero y que han hecho posible que permanezca entrampada el agua salobre. La escasa explotación a que está sometido el acuífero y la baja continuidad hidráulica existente entre el acuífero y el mar descartan los procesos de intrusión marina como responsables del alto contenido salino de las aguas. Consecuentemente con lo expuesto, las aguas tienen calidad mediocre a mala, tanto para consumo humano como para su uso agrícola

Importancia de la embolización preoperatoria en el tratamiento del quiste óseo aneurismático: Presentación de un caso clínico

Se describe el tratamiento de un quiste óseo aneurismático localizado en el raquis dorsal, en un niño de 8 años de edad. El quiste óseo aneurismático es una lesión benigna y a menudo extremadamente vascular. En la columna puede causar extensa destrucción ósea y compromiso de las estructuras neurales. Se demuestra el valor de la embolización preoperatoria reduciendo la vascularización y permitiendo su extirpación quirúrgica total.I n this report, th e managemen t o f a n aneurysma l bon e cyst i n th e thoraci c spin e o f an 8 year s ol d bo y is described . Aneurysma l bon e is a histologicall y benig n lesio n tha t is ofte n extremel y vascular . I n th e spine , it ca n caus e extensiv e bon e destructio n an d compress neura l structures. Th e valu e o f preoperativ e embo - lizatio n t o reduc e vascularity , allowin g tota l excisio n is demonstrated

Time Reversal Violation from the entangled B0-antiB0 system

We discuss the concepts and methodology to implement an experiment probing directly Time Reversal (T) non-invariance, without any experimental connection to CP violation, by the exchange of "in" and "out" states. The idea relies on the B0-antiB0 entanglement and decay time information available at B factories. The flavor or CP tag of the state of the still living neutral meson by the first decay of its orthogonal partner overcomes the problem of irreversibility for unstable systems, which prevents direct tests of T with incoherent particle states. T violation in the time evolution between the two decays means experimentally a difference between the intensities for the time-ordered (l^+ X, J/psi K_S) and (J/psi K_L, l^- X) decays, and three other independent asymmetries. The proposed strategy has been applied to simulated data samples of similar size and features to those currently available, from which we estimate the significance of the expected discovery to reach many standard deviations.Comment: 17 pages, 2 figures, 6 table

Radon and material radiopurity assessment for the NEXT double beta decay experiment

The Neutrino Experiment with a Xenon TPC (NEXT), intended to investigate the neutrinoless double beta decay using a high-pressure xenon gas TPC filled with Xe enriched in 136Xe at the Canfranc Underground Laboratory in Spain, requires ultra-low background conditions demanding an exhaustive control of material radiopurity and environmental radon levels. An extensive material screening process is underway for several years based mainly on gamma-ray spectroscopy using ultra-low background germanium detectors in Canfranc but also on mass spectrometry techniques like GDMS and ICPMS. Components from shielding, pressure vessel, electroluminescence and high voltage elements and energy and tracking readout planes have been analyzed, helping in the final design of the experiment and in the construction of the background model. The latest measurements carried out will be presented and the implication on NEXT of their results will be discussed. The commissioning of the NEW detector, as a first step towards NEXT, has started in Canfranc; in-situ measurements of airborne radon levels were taken there to optimize the system for radon mitigation and will be shown too.Comment: Proceedings of the Low Radioactivity Techniques 2015 workshop (LRT2015), Seattle, March 201

Calibration and performance tests of detectors for laser-accelerated protons

We present the calibration and performance tests carried out with two detectors for intense proton pulses accelerated by lasers. Most of the procedures were realized with proton beams of 0.46-5.60 MeV from a tandem accelerator. One approach made use of radiochromic films, for which we calibrated the relation between optical density and energy deposition over more than three orders of magnitude. The validity of these results and of our analysis algorithms has been confirmed by controlled irradiation of film stacks and reconstruction of the total beam charge for strongly non-uniform beam profiles. For the spectral analysis of protons from repeated laser shots, we have designed an online monitor based on a plastic scintillator. The resulting signal from a photomultiplier directly measured on a fast oscilloscope is especially useful for time-of-flight applications. Variable optical filters allow for suppression of saturation and an extension of the dynamic range. With pulsed proton beams we have tested the detector response to a wide range of beam intensities from single particles to 3 ×105 protons per 100 ns time interval.Project funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and co-funded with FEDER's funds within the INNPACTO 2011 program under Grant No. IPT-2011-0862-900000. This work was supported by the Spanish Plan Nacional de Investigacion Cientifica, Desarrollo e Innovacion Tecnologica (I+D+i) under Grant No. TEC 2013-48036-C3-1-R and the Valencian Local Government under Grants PROMETEOII/2013/010 and ISIC 2011/013. The work of A. J. Gonzalez is financed by CSIC with a JAE-Doc contract under Junta de Ampliacion de Estudios program, cofinanced by the European Social Fund.Peer Reviewe