La relación entre la experiencia de la atención sanitaria y la depresión perinatal durante la pandemia COVID-19

Background: The prevalence of peripartum depression (PPD) has increased substantially since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. To reduce the probability of contagion, hospitals had to adapt their care protocols, including the care of women in the perinatal period. Method: A cross-sectional study was used in a total sample of 3,356 women, 1,402 in the prenatal period and 1,954 in the postnatal period. They completed the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale to assess depressive symptoms and the Spanish version of the Coronavirus Perinatal Experiences to assess health experience. Results: The results showed that feeling very well supported by a health professional was associated with a lower risk of PPD. On the other hand, believing it very important to have access to a mental health professional and being concerned about changes in infant care due to COVID-19 were associated with a higher risk of PPD. Conclusion: The results showed the relationship between health experience and the risk of depressive symptoms, highlighting the importance of considering the psychological aspects in the development of measures and protocols for perinatal care.Antecedentes: La prevalencia de la depresión perinatal ha aumentado sustancialmente desde el inicio de la pandemia debido al coronavirus (COVID-19). Para reducir la probabilidad de contagio, los hospitales tuvieron que adaptar sus protocolos asistenciales, incluyendo la atención a las mujeres en el periodo perinatal. Método: Se utilizó un estudio transversal en una muestra total de 3,356 mujeres, 1,402 en el período prenatal y 1,954 en el período postnatal. Cumplimentaron la Escala de Depresión Postnatal de Edimburgo para evaluar los síntomas depresivos y la versión española de la Encuesta sobre Experiencias Perinatales durante el Coronavirus para evaluar la experiencia de la atención sanitaria. Resultados. Los resultados mostraron que sentirse muy bien apoyada por un profesional de la salud se asoció con un menor riesgo de desarrollar depresión perinatal. Por otro lado, creer que es muy importante tener acceso a un profesional de la salud mental y estar preocupada por los cambios en el cuidado del bebé debido al COVID-19 se asociaron con un mayor riesgo de depresión perinatal. Conclusión: Los resultados mostraron la relación entre la experiencia sanitaria y el riesgo de síntomas depresivos, destacando la importancia de considerar los aspectos psicológicos en el desarrollo de medidas y protocolos de atención perinatal

The Relationship between Healthcare Experience and Perinatal Depression during COVID-19 Pandemic

Background: The prevalence of peripartum depression (PPD) has increased substantially since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. To reduce the probability of contagion, hospitals had to adapt their care protocols, including the care of women in the perinatal period. Method: A cross-sectional study was used in a total sample of 3,356 women, 1,402 in the prenatal period and 1,954 in the postnatal period. They completed the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale to assess depressive symptoms and the Spanish version of the Coronavirus Perinatal Experiences to assess health experience. Results: The results showed that feeling very well supported by a health professional was associated with a lower risk of PPD. On the other hand, believing it very important to have access to a mental health professional and being concerned about changes in infant care due to COVID-19 were associated with a higher risk of PPD. Conclusion: The results showed the relationship between health experience and the risk of depressive symptoms, highlighting the importance of considering the psychological aspects in the development of measures and protocols for perinatal care

Effectiveness of the Dader Method for pharmaceutical care in patients with bipolar I disorder: EMDADER-TAB: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Background Bipolar I disorder (BD-I) is a chronic mental illness characterized by the presence of one or more manic episodes, or both depressive and manic episodes, usually separated by asymptomatic intervals. Pharmacists can contribute to the management of BD-I, mainly with the use of effective and safe drugs, and improve the patient’s life quality through pharmaceutical care. Some studies have shown the effect of pharmaceutical care in the achievement of therapeutic goals in different illnesses; however, to our knowledge, there is a lack of randomized controlled trials designed to assess the effect of pharmacist intervention in patients with BD. The aim of this study is to assess the effectiveness of the Dader Method for pharmaceutical care in patients with BD-I.Methods/design Randomized, controlled, prospective, single-center clinical trial with duration of 12 months will be performed to compare the effect of Dader Method of pharmaceutical care with the usual care process of patients in a psychiatric clinic. Patients diagnosed with BD-I aged between 18 and 65 years who have been discharged or referred from outpatients service of the San Juan de Dios Clinic (Antioquia, Colombia) will be included. Patients will be randomized into the intervention group who will receive pharmaceutical care provided by pharmacists working in collaboration with psychiatrists, or into the control group who will receive usual care and verbal-written counseling regarding BD. Study outcomes will be assessed at baseline and at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months after randomization. The primary outcome will be to measure the number of hospitalizations, emergency service consultations, and unscheduled outpatient visits. Effectiveness, safety, adherence, and quality of life will be assessed as secondary outcomes. Statistical analyses will be performed using two-tailed McNemar tests, Pearson chi-square tests, and Student’s t-tests; a P value <0.05 will be considered as statistically significant.Discussion As far as we know, this is the first randomized controlled trial to assess the effect of the Dader Method for pharmaceutical care in patients with BD-I and it could generate valuable information and recommendations about the role of pharmacists in the improvement of therapeutic goals, solution of drug-related problems, and adherence.Trial registration Registration number NCT01750255 on August 6, 2012. First patient randomized on 24 November 2011.The Pharmaceutical Promotion and Prevention Group received financial support from the Committee for Development Research, (CODI), and sustainability program (2013-2014), Universidad de Antioquia

Electroreflectance spectroscopy in self-assembled quantum dots: lens symmetry

Modulated electroreflectance spectroscopy $\Delta R/R$ of semiconductor self-assembled quantum dots is investigated. The structure is modeled as dots with lens shape geometry and circular cross section. A microscopic description of the electroreflectance spectrum and optical response in terms of an external electric field (${\bf F}$) and lens geometry have been considered. The field and lens symmetry dependence of all experimental parameters involved in the $\Delta R/R$ spectrum have been considered. Using the effective mass formalism the energies and the electronic states as a function of ${\bf F}$ and dot parameters are calculated. Also, in the framework of the strongly confined regime general expressions for the excitonic binding energies are reported. Optical selection rules are derived in the cases of the light wave vector perpendicular and parallel to $$. Detailed calculation of the Seraphin coefficients and electroreflectance spectrum are performed for the InAs and CdSe nanostructures. Calculations show good agreement with measurements recently performed on CdSe/ZnSe when statistical distribution on size is considered, explaining the main observed characteristic in the electroreflectance spectra

Interdigitated μ-electrodes for development of an impedimetric immunosensor for atrazine detection.

This contribution describes the development of an impedimetric immunosensor for atrazine detection. This immunosensor is based on the use of interdigitated metallic μ-electrodes (IDμEs) The method described in this work does not use any redox mediator and relies on the direct detection of immunochemical competitive reaction between the pesticide and a haptenized-protein immobilized on interdigitated μ-electrodes for the specific antibody. The immunoreagents used were specifically developed to detect atrazine. The immunochemical detection of this pesticide is achieved without using any label. The immunosensor shows a limit of detection of 8.34±1.37 μg L-1, witch is lower than the Maximun Residue Level (MRL) (50μg L-1)established by EU (European Union)for residues of atrazine as herbicide in the wine grapes and other foodstuff products.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

The jigsaw of PRRSV virulence

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) is the causative agent of the, probably, most economically important disease for the pig industry worldwide. This disease, characterised by producing reproductive failure in sows and respiratory problems in growing pigs, appeared in the late 1980s in the United States and Canada. Since its appearance, strains capable of producing higher mortality rates as well as greater severity in clinical signs and lesions than classical strains have been identified. However, since the first reports of these “virulent” PRRSV outbreaks, no homogeneity and consensus in their description have been established. Moreover, to the authors’ knowledge, there is no published information related to the criteria that a PRRSV strain should fulfil to be considered as a “virulent” strain. In this review, we revise the terminology used and gather the information related to the main characteristics and differences in clinical signs, lesions, viral replication and tropism as well as immunological parameters between virulent and classical PRRSV strains and propose a first approximation to the criteria to define a virulent PRRSV strain

Chocolate and health-related quality of life: A prospective study

Background Chocolate consumption has been associated with a short-term reduction in blood pressure and cholesterol, and improvement of insulin sensitivity; however, participants could not be aware of presenting hypertension or hypercholesterolemia. Moreover, the effect of chocolate on mental health is uncertain. This study assessed the association of regular chocolate consumption with the physical (PCS) and mental (MCS) components of health-related quality of life (HRQL). Materials and methods We analyzed data from a cohort of 4599 individuals recruited in 2008–2010 and followed-up once prospectively to January 2013 (follow-up mean: 3.5 years). Regular chocolate consumption was assessed at baseline with a validated diet history. HRQL was assessed with the SF-12 v.2 at baseline and at follow-up. Analyses were performed with linear regression and adjusted for the main confounders, including HRQL at baseline. Results At baseline, 72% of the study participants did not consume chocolate, 11% consumed 10 g/day and 17% >10 g/day. Chocolate consumption at baseline did not show an association with PCS and MCS of the SF-12 measured three years later. Compared to those who did not consume chocolate, the PCS scores were similar in those who consumed 10g/day (beta: -0.07; 95% confidence interval (95% CI): -0.94 to 0.80) and in those who consumed >10g/day (beta: 0.02; 95% CI:-0.71 to 0.75); corresponding figures for the MCS were 0.29; 95% CI: -0.67 to 1.26, and -0.57; 95%CI: -1.37 to 0.23. Similar results were found for sex, regardless of obesity, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, diabetes or depression Conclusions No evidence was found of an association between chocolate intake and the physical or mental components of HRQLBaseline data collection (ENRICA study) was funded by Sanofi-Aventis. Data collection during follow-up was funded by FIS grant 09/162 (Ministry of Health of Spain). Funding specific for this analysis was obtained from FIS grants PI11/01379 and PI12/ 1166 (Ministry of Health of Spain), and from the "Cátedra UAM de Epidemiología y Control del Riesgo Cardiovascular

Activation of T-bet, FOXP3, and EOMES in Target Organs From Piglets Infected With the Virulent PRRSV-1 Lena Strain

Transcription factors (TFs) modulate genes involved in cell-type-specific proliferative and migratory properties, metabolic features, and effector functions. Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) is one of the most important pathogen agents in the porcine industry; however, TFs have been poorly studied during the course of this disease. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the expressions of the TFs T-bet, GATA3, FOXP3, and Eomesodermin (EOMES) in target organs (the lung, tracheobronchial lymph node, and thymus) and those of different effector cytokines (IFNG, TNFA, and IL10) and the Fas ligand (FASL) during the early phase of infection with PRRSV-1 strains of different virulence. Target organs from mock-, virulent Lena-, and low virulent 3249-infected animals humanely euthanized at 1, 3, 6, 8, and 13 days post-infection (dpi) were collected to analyze the PRRSV viral load, histopathological lesions, and relative quantification through reverse transcription quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) of the TFs and cytokines. Animals belonging to both infected groups, but mainly those infected with the virulent Lena strain, showed upregulation of the TFs T-bet, EOMES, and FOXP3, together with an increase of the cytokine IFN-g in target organs at the end of the study (approximately 2 weeks post-infection). These results are suggestive of a stronger polarization to Th1 cells and regulatory T cells (Tregs), but also CD4+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs), effector CD8+ T cells, and gdT cells in virulent PRRSV-1-infected animals; however, their biological functionality should be the object of further studies

Electrochemical sensor for rapid determination of fibroblast growth factor receptor 4 in raw cancer cell lysates

The first electrochemical immunosensor for the determination of fibroblast growth factor receptor 4 (FGFR4) biomarker is reported in this work. The biosensor involves a sandwich configuration with covalent immobilization of a specific capture antibody onto activated carboxylic-modified magnetic microcarriers (HOOC-MBs) and amperometric detection at disposable carbon screen-printed electrodes (SPCEs). The biosensor exhibits a great analytical performance regarding selectivity for the target protein and a low LOD of 48.2 pg mL-1. The electrochemical platform was successfully applied for the determination of FGFR4 in different cancer cell lysates without any apparent matrix effect after a simple sample dilution and using only 2.5 μg of the raw lysate. Comparison of the results with those provided by a commercial ELISA kit shows competitive advantages by using the developed immunosensor in terms of simplicity, analysis time, and portability and cost-affordability of the required instrumentation for the accurate determination of FGFR4 in cell lysates

Fertilization and connectivity in the Garrucha Canyon (SE-Spain) Implications for Marine Spatial Planning

Postprin