HCV epidemiology in high-risk groups and the risk of reinfection

Injecting risk behaviours among people who inject drugs (PWID) and high-risk sexual practices among men who have sex with men (MSM) are important routes of hepatitis C virus (HCV) transmission. Current direct-acting antiviral treatment offers unique opportunities for reductions in HCV-related liver disease burden and epidemic control in high-risk groups, but these prospects could be counteracted by HCV reinfection due to on-going risk behaviours after successful treatment. Based on existing data from small and heterogeneous studies of interferon-based treatment, the incidence of reinfection after sustained virological response range from 2-6/100 person years among PWID to 10-15/100 person years among human immunodeficiency virus-infected MSM. These differences mainly reflect heterogeneity in study populations with regards to risk behaviours, but also reflect variations in study designs and applied virological methods. Increasing levels of reinfection are to be expected as we enter the interferon-free treatment era. Individual- and population-level efforts to address and prevent reinfection should therefore be undertaken when providing HCV care for people with on-going risk behaviour. Constructive strategies include acknowledgement, education and counselling, harm reduction optimization, scaled-up treatment including treatment of injecting networks, post-treatment screening, and rapid retreatment of reinfections

Huella hídrica: Una herramienta eficaz para el desafío de la sostenibilidad del agua

(Eng) Water is an indispensable liquid for subsisting as for the development of society. However, currently the availability of water refers to the world community, at the same time, to the physi cal and economic problems of the resource, reason why it is necessary that this resource has an efficient management of the way to satisfy the current needs, without compromising its use in the future. This article will present a conceptual analysis of the dynamics of the resource with the emphasis on scarcity, and the importance of integral management, around an indicator such as the water footprint, the view as an effective tool for decision making(Spa) El agua es un líquido indispensable tanto para subsistir como para el desarrollo de la sociedad. No obstante, actualmente la disponibilidad de agua preocupa a la comunidad mundial por la intensa aparición de escenarios de escasez física y económica del recurso. Razón por la cual, es necesario que este recurso tenga una gestión eficiente, de tal manera que satisfaga las necesidades actuales, sin comprometer su uso en el futuro. Este artículo, presentará un análisis conceptual de la dinámica del recurso con énfasis en la escasez, y la importancia de la gestión integral, alrededor de un indicador como la huella hídrica, vista como una herramienta eficaz para la toma de decisiones

Identification of novel drought-tolerant-associated SNPs in common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris)

Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is a leguminous in high demand for human nutrition and a very important agricultural product. Production of common bean is constrained by environmental stresses such as drought. Although conventional plant selection has been used to increase production yield and stress tolerance, drought tolerance selection based on phenotype is complicated by associated physiological, anatomical, cellular, biochemical, and molecular changes. These changes are modulated by differential gene expression. A common method to identify genes associated with phenotypes of interest is the characterization of Single Nucleotide Polymorphims (SNPs) to link them to specific functions. In this work, we selected two drought-tolerant parental lines from Mesoamerica, Pinto Villa, and Pinto Saltillo. The parental lines were used to generate a population of 282 families (F3:5) and characterized by 169 SNPs. We associated the segregation of the molecular markers in our population with phenotypes including flowering time, physiological maturity, reproductive period, plant, seed and total biomass, reuse index, seed yield, weight of 100 seeds, and harvest index in three cultivation cycles. We observed 83 SNPs with significant association (p < 0.0003 after Bonferroni correction) with our quantified phenotypes. Phenotypes most associated were days to flowering and seed biomass with 58 and 44 associated SNPs, respectively. Thirty-seven out of the 83 SNPs were annotated to a gene with a potential function related to drought tolerance or relevant molecular/biochemical functions. Some SNPs such as SNP28 and SNP128 are related to starch biosynthesis, a common osmotic protector; and SNP18 is related to proline biosynthesis, another well-known osmotic protector

Use of simple noninvasive biomarkers to predict liver fibrosis in HIV/HCV coinfection in routine clinical practice

This study was supported by a grant from Abbott Laboratories. The authors wish to thank the Spanish Health Ministry (ISCIII-RETIC RD06/006) for financial support.Background Simple noninvasive tests to predict fibrosis, as an alternative to liver biopsy (LB), are needed. Of these, the aspartate aminotransferase (AST) to platelet ratio index (APRI) and the Forns index (FI) have been validated in HIV/hepatitis C virus (HCV) coinfection. However, these indexes may have lower diagnostic value in situations other than the circumscribed conditions of validation studies. We therefore examined the value of the APRI and FI in HIV/HCV-coinfected patients for the detection of significant fibrosis in real-life conditions. Patients and methods HIV/HCV-coinfected patients who had participated in a multicentre cross-sectional retrospective study were selected if they had undergone an LB within 24 months before the last visit. The predictive accuracy of the APRI and FI was measured using the areas under receiver-operating-characteristic curves (AUROCs). Diagnostic accuracy was determined using the positive (PPV) and negative (NPV) predictive values. Results A total of 519 coinfected individuals were included in the study. The AUROC [95% confidence interval (95% CI)] of the APRI was 0.67 (0.66–0.71) and that of the FI was 0.67 (0.62–0.71). The PPV of the APRI was 79% and its NPV was 66%. The PPV of the FI was 74% and its NPV was 64%. LB length was available and was ≥15 mm in 120 individuals. In this group, the PPV of the APRI was 85%, and that of the FI was 81%. Using these indexes, 22% of patients could be spared LB. Applying both models sequentially, 30% of patients could be spared LB. Conclusions In HIV/HCV-coinfected patients, the diagnostic accuracy of the APRI in real-life conditions was similar to that in the validation studies. The FI performed less well. However, combining the two indexes to make decisions on anti-HCV therapy may prevent a significant proportion of patients from having to undergo LB.Abbott LaboratoriesSpanish Health Ministry (ISCIII-RETIC RD06/006

Indexing and summary services, an undervalued opportunity to improve the visibility and dissemination of articles published in Latin American scientific journals: DOAJ case

El objetivo de la presente investigación se centró en analizar el conjunto de datos provistos por el Directorio de Revistas de Acceso Abierto (DOAJ, por sus siglas en ingles), respecto a criterios transversales a la gestión editorial, de cualquier revista independiente de su enfoque, como lo son: cumplimiento de periodicidad, tiempos de respuesta, formatos disponibles, idiomas de publicación, costos de publicación y sometimiento, y manejo de licencias de reproducción. Se realizó un análisis de datos cuantitativo de las 2643 revistas latinoamericanas incluidas en DOAJ a noviembre de 2019. Al analizar los datos de las revistas incluidas en este sistema, se encontró desactualización o falta de precisión en los datos reportados que puede perjudicar la reputación de las revistas. Se concluye, entre otros aspectos, que hay evidencias de demoras en los procesos de revisión y ausencia de formatos interoperables que garanticen el adecuado posicionamiento de los artículos a nivel de la web.The objective of the present research study focused on analyzing transversal criteria data for editorial management of scientific journals, regardless of their field, that is provided by the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). The criteria examined included: response time, formats available, publishing language, publication and reviewing costs, and licensing management. A quantitative analysis was performed analyzing the data of the DOAJ journals resulting in 2643 Latin American journals retrieved. Data analyzes showed that there was outdated information or lack of precision at DOAJ that can harm the reputation of journals. It is concluded, among other aspects, that there was evidence of delays in the review processes and that there was an absence of interoperable formats that are required to ensure the proper positioning of articles on the web.Fil: González-Sanabria, Juan S.. Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia; ColombiaFil: Aparicio, Alicia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Saavedra 15. Centro Argentino de Información Científica y Tecnológica; ArgentinaFil: Burgos-Pineda, Diego A.. Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia; ColombiaFil: Guiza-Pinzón, Fabián D.. Universidad de Boyaca; Colombi

Indexing and summary services, an undervalued opportunity to improve the visibility and dissemination of articles published in Latin American scientific journals: DOAJ case

El objetivo de la presente investigación se centró en analizar el conjunto de datos provistos por el Directorio de Revistas de Acceso Abierto (DOAJ, por sus siglas en ingles), respecto a criterios transversales a la gestión editorial, de cualquier revista independiente de su enfoque, como lo son: cumplimiento de periodicidad, tiempos de respuesta, formatos disponibles, idiomas de publicación, costos de publicación y sometimiento, y manejo de licencias de reproducción. Se realizó un análisis de datos cuantitativo de las 2643 revistas latinoamericanas incluidas en DOAJ a noviembre de 2019. Al analizar los datos de las revistas incluidas en este sistema, se encontró desactualización o falta de precisión en los datos reportados que puede perjudicar la reputación de las revistas. Se concluye, entre otros aspectos, que hay evidencias de demoras en los procesos de revisión y ausencia de formatos interoperables que garanticen el adecuado posicionamiento de los artículos a nivel de la web.The objective of the present research study focused on analyzing transversal criteria data for editorial management of scientific journals, regardless of their field, that is provided by the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). The criteria examined included: response time, formats available, publishing language, publication and reviewing costs, and licensing management. A quantitative analysis was performed analyzing the data of the DOAJ journals resulting in 2643 Latin American journals retrieved. Data analyzes showed that there was outdated information or lack of precision at DOAJ that can harm the reputation of journals. It is concluded, among other aspects, that there was evidence of delays in the review processes and that there was an absence of interoperable formats that are required to ensure the proper positioning of articles on the web.Fil: González-Sanabria, Juan S.. Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia; ColombiaFil: Aparicio, Alicia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Saavedra 15. Centro Argentino de Información Científica y Tecnológica; ArgentinaFil: Burgos-Pineda, Diego A.. Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia; ColombiaFil: Guiza-Pinzón, Fabián D.. Universidad de Boyaca; Colombi

Lifestyle and cardiovascular mortality in menopausal women: a population-based cohort study

Introduction and objectives: There are models for cardiovascular risk prediction in the general population, but the prediction of risk in postmenopausal women has not been specifically studied. This study aimed to determine the association of lifestyle habits and chronic diseases with cardiovascular risk in menopausal women, as well as to build a risk scale. Methods: Retrospective population-based cohort study using data from the 2011 National Health Survey of Spain as a data source, Women 50 years were included. The characteristics that best defined the life habits of the study women were collected, as well as their health status and self-reported medical history at the time of the survey. Follow-up data on all-cause mortality were obtained from participants from 2011 to 2017. Results: A total of 5953 women 50 years of age were included, with a mean age of 66.4 11.4 years. The incidence of cardiovascular mortality in the follow-up period was 4%. Vegetable consumption less than 1 time/week (HR, 1.758), smoking (HR, 1.816) or excess hours of sleep ( 9 h/day, HR, 1.809), or o have main daily activity sitting most of the time (HR, 2.757) were related to cardiovascular mortality. The predictive model presents an honest C-index in test sample of 0.8407 (95%CI, 0.8025-0.8789). Conclusions: Life habits such as the consumption of vegetables, daily main activity, sleeping hours or smoking are risk factors for cardiovascular mortality of great relevance among menopausal women. A simple 6-year self-reported risk scale with high predictive capacity is provide

A genome-wide association study on liver stiffness changes during hepatitis c virus infection cure

Liver stiffness (LS) at sustained virological response (SVR) after direct-acting antivirals (DAA)-based therapy is a predictor of liver events in hepatitis C virus (HCV)-infected patients. The study aim was to identify genetic factors associated with LS changes from the moment of starting anti-HCV therapy to SVR. This prospective study included HCV-infected patients from the GEHEP 011 cohort who achieved SVR with DAA-based therapy, with LS pre-treatment ≥9.5 kPa and LS measurement available at SVR. Plink and Magma software were used to carry out genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-based and gene-based association analyses, respectively. The ShinyGO application was used for exploring enrichment in Gene Ontology (GO) categories for biological processes. Overall, 242 patients were included. Median (quartile 1, quartile 3) LS values at pre-treatment and at SVR were 16.8 (12, 28) kPa and 12.0 (8.5, 19.3) kPa, respectively. Thirty-five SNPs and three genes reached suggestive association with LS changes from the moment of starting anti HCV therapy to SVR. GO categories related to DNA packaging complex, DNA conformation change, chromosome organization and chromatin organization were significantly enriched. Our study reports possible genetic factors associated with LS changes during HCV-infection cure. In addition, our results suggest that processes related to DNA conformation are also involved in these changes