Features of family caregivers of people with dementia attended at a neurology consultation

Providing care to someone with dementia is a complex task, that requires a set of speci*c skills and knowledge that family caregivers often lack. Training family caregivers of people with dementia is paramount, and the *rst step towards such purpose should be the identi*cation of their features and the evaluation of their needs. The main aim of this study is to identify the major characteristics of family caregivers of people with dementia in early or moderate stage living at home, who attend the dementia consultation at a hospital in the north of Portugal, through a quantitative, descriptive and cross-sectional study. This study is a section from a previous randomized controlled trial, performed to assess the short-term e+cacy of a training programme for family caregivers of people with dementia (the programme “Living together with Dementia”). Regarding the *ndings, we realized that the average age of family caregivers is 52, and these are mostly women, married, with basic education levels and employed. They display intense overload and di+- culties levels, but also high degrees of satisfaction. They mostly resort to mixed coping/ problem resolution strategies and their main needs are expressed as follows: managing emotions and feelings associated with the caring process; developing strategies to preserve physical and mental health; developing knowledge about dementia and its stages and *nally, seeking support from formal institutionsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Primera cita de Epilobium ciliatum Raf. (Onagraceae) en la Comunidad Valenciana

Se comunica la presencia de la especie alóctona Epilobium ciliatum Raf. (Onograceae) en la Comunidad Valenciana (España). Esta cita constituye la segunda referencia para la especie en la Península Ibérica, tras su localización reciente en la Comunidad de Madrid. Se comentan algunos aspectos de su posible introducción en el territorio valenciano así como su estado como planta alóctona potencialmente invasora y los caracteres morfológicos más útiles para su identificación

Notas sobre el complejo taxonómico Cardamine flexuosa With. (Cruciferae) y su presencia en la Comunidad Valenciana

Se comunica la presencia de Cardamine flexuosa With. s. str. como primera cita para la Comunidad Valenciana y de Cardamine flexuosa subsp. debilis O. E. Schulz como primera cita para la provincia de Valencia. Se repasan ciertos aspectos nomenclaturales, taxonómicos, corológicos y ecológicos referentes a los dos táxones, así como de Cardamine hirsuta L., especie morfológicamente afín. Se propone una clave dicotómica para la identificación y discriminación de estos tres táxones. Se informa sobre la probable vía de entrada de C. flexuosa s.l. y se evalúa su estado como posible potencial invasor.First record of Cardamine flexuosa With. s. str. from the Valencian Community and first record of Cardamine flexuosa subsp. debilis O. E. Schulz from the Province of Valencia, both placed at Eastern Spain, are reported. Some nomenclatural, taxonomic, chorological and ecological aspects reporting both taxa are reviewed, as well as those related to Cardamine hirsuta L., a morphologically very similar species. A dichotomous key to identify and separate these three taxa is proposed. The introduction way of the alien species C. flexuosa s.l. is suggested and an evaluation of the status as a possible potential invasive species is made

Information needs of family caregivers of dependent individuals

The increase in the number of dependent individuals means that more and more families find themselves in the situation of caregivers, with all the consequences that performing this role entails. Based on this reality, we considered it to be completely relevant to systematize knowledge in this area. This study aimed to identify the information needs of the family caregiver-dependent individuals in the available scientific literature, having performed an integrative review of the literature. The main results and conclusions indicate that the information needs of family caregivers can be grouped into three main themes: 1) caregiver knowledge and skills, 2) potential resources for the caregiver and 3) caregiver coping strategies and well-being. The comprehensive nature of the integrative review as the chosen method allowed us to get a good understanding of the information needs of family caregivers of dependent individuals. The relevance of this study to clinical practice is that, although it is still necessary to expand and enhance the scope of research in this area, we consider this information essential for all health professionals seeking to provide effective support to family caregivers, as well as to serve as support for the development of intervention projects and health servicesinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Effect of Denoising in Band Selection for Regression Tasks in Hyperspectral Datasets

This paper presents a comparative analysis of six band selection methods applied to hyperspectral datasets for biophysical variable estimation problems, where the effect of denoising on band selection performance has also been analyzed. In particular, we consider four hyperspectral datasets and three regressors of different nature ("�SVR, Regression Trees, and Kernel Ridge Regression). Results show that the denoising approach improves the band selection quality of all the tested methods. We show that noise filtering is more beneficial for the selection methods that use an estimator based on the whole dataset for the prediction of the output than for methods that use strategies based on local information (neighboring points)

Un año de registro de traumatismos graves en Cataluña. Análisis de los primeros resultados

Objetivo: Evaluar los resultados del primer año de implantación de un registro poblacional hospitalario de traumatismos graves en Cataluña (TraumCat). Método: Un total de 15 hospitales han recogido de forma prospectiva información sobre pacientes traumáticos graves, adultos y pediátricos (menores de 16 años), durante un periodo de un año (del 1 julio 2012 al 1 julio 2013) y la han introducido en un registro informatizado accesible en red. Resultados: Se han registrado 1.106 casos de pacientes con traumatismos de alta energía (12,2% en menores de 16 años). Un 84% de los traumatismos fueron no intencionales en adultos jóvenes. El 54,4% de los traumatismos se originaron en accidentes de circulación y el 26,9% en precipitaciones. Un 5,4% correspondían a agresiones. Un 46% de pacientes presentaban un ISS mayor a 15, mientras que el NISS era mayor a 15 en un 51%. La tasa media de mortalidad fue del 10%. Sin embargo, en mayores de 60 años la tasa alcanzó el 25,2%. Conclusiones: TraumCat permite conocer la dimensión y evaluar el proceso asistencial en torno al traumatismo grave en Cataluña. Es preciso avanzar en la consolidación y mejora de esta herramienta como estrategia de monitorización del proceso asistencial y análisis de resultados

Continuous manufacturing of lentiviral vectors

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Continuous production of lentiviral vectors using a fixed-bed bioreactor

Lentiviral vectors (LVs) have emerged as indispensable tools for mediating stable transfer of large transgenes in mammalian cells, which has resulted in the widespread application of LVs for the manufacture of gene-modified cell therapies, particularly chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T-cell) therapies. The typical manufacture of LVs through chemical transfection of adherent embryonic kidney 293T-cells with plasmid DNA is highly versatile and enables manufacturing to pivot to produce vectors with alternative transgenes and envelope proteins. However, transient transfection presents several challenges, including batch-to-batch variability, limited scalability and high costs attributed to the plasmid DNA and transfection reagent. Therefore, the transition towards continuous LV production using producer cell lines would allow for cost effective and scalable manufacturing along with enhanced safety and reproducibility. Specifically, continuous production using stable producer cell lines could extend vector expression by counteracting the limited post-induction expression time and eliminating the requirement for removal of the inducing agent during downstream processing. In this study, a continuous LV manufacturing process was established using a stable producer cell line, which constitutively expresses third-generation LVs pseudotyped the RDpro envelope protein (WinPacRDpro). Production of LVs in typical 2D culture vessels was performed, however, these systems lack the control of culture parameters, such as pH and dissolved oxygen, and require laborious handling, which introduce risks of contamination. Therefore, the transition to LV production in bioreactors is a necessary step to achieve sufficient LV supply, e.g. for late-stage clinical trials. This work demonstrates the establishment of a quasi-perfusion process using repetitive batch strategy with medium exchange, first, in 2D culture vessels and then, to an iCELLis fixed-bed bioreactor to continuously produce RDpro-pseudotyped LVs. This initial work using a continuous process-mimic in a fixed-bed bioreactor enables cell expansion in a controlled environment and the bioreactor characterization was used to gain insights for the development of a perfusion strategy. Growth, substrate utilization, lactate generation and LV production were evaluated under different medium exchange strategies. Finally, the established bioreactor process was then transformed to perfusion culture with studies aimed at understanding the impact of perfusion conditions on LV production

The use of clinical practice guidelines in primary care: professional mindlines and control mechanisms

Objective : To identify the relevant barriers and enablers perceived by primary care professionals in implementing the recommendations of clinical practice guidelines (CPG). Methods : Two focus groups were conducted with primary care physicians and nurses in Catalonia (Spain) between October and December 2012. Thirty-nine health professionals were selected based on their knowledge and daily use of CPG. Finally, eight general practitioners and eight nurses were included in the discussion groups. Participants were asked to share their views and beliefs on the accessibility of CPG, their knowledge and use of these documents, the content and format of CPG, dissemination strategy, training, professional-patient relationship, and the use of CPG by the management structure. We recorded and transcribed the content verbatim and analysed the data using qualitative analysis techniques

Barriers and facilitators to research translation into health care decision making: A scoping review

To provide useful insights into the design of strategies to better put into practice health research outcomes in the case of cancer, heart disease and sexuallty transmitted infections, we designed a study to identify barriers and facilitators to implement clinical or public health guidelines recommendations. ..