Enhanced recovery after surgery pathways in thoracic surgery, do they end at discharge?

Fast track pulmonary resection protocols have shown to be feasible and to improve hospital related costs, shortening length of stay and maintaining quality of care (1-4). Despite the increasing number of scientific literature addressing the benefits of specific lobectomy pathways (4,5) and the recent publication of Enhanced Recovery after Surgery (ERAS®) guidelines in thoracic surgery (4-6) the truth is that the description of most of these interventions ends at patients’ discharge, with no clear indications for follow up or measures to prevent unintended hospital readmissions (2,3

TNFA-863 polymorphism is associated with a reduced risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a replication study

We replicated the previously reported association between the TNFA -863 SNP and COPD. TNFA -863A allele may confer a protective effect to the susceptibility to the disease in the Spanish populatio

EFECTO DE LOS FOSFOLÍPIDOS MARINOS SOBRE BIOMARCADORES NUTRICIONALES Y DE ESTRÉS FISIOLÓGICO DE LAS PARALARVAS DEL PULPO COMÚN (OCTOPUS VULGARIS) BAJO CONDICIONES DE CULTIVO ESTANDARIZADAS EN TRES CENTROS

El efecto del enriquecimiento de la Artemia con fosfolípidos marinos (LC60), sobre el crecimiento, la supervivencia y los biomarcadores de condición nutricional (ARN/ADN) y de estrés fisiológico (proteínas de estrés (HSP70), enzimas antioxidantes y peroxidación lipídica) en paralarvas cultivadas de pulpo común (Octopus vulgaris) se evaluó bajo un protocolo estandarizado en tres centros. Las paralarvas recién eclosionadas mostraron diferencias significativas entre centros en peso seco y en la mayor parte de los biomarcadores analizados. Por el contario, en paralarvas cultivadas de 15 días, se encontraron diferencias significativas debidas a la dieta, presentando un incremento en la tasa de crecimiento específica (TCE) en el grupo alimentado con Artemia enriquecida con LC60 y mayores niveles de actividad GPX T y GR. Sin embargo, la dieta no tuvo efecto en la supervivencia de las paralarvas. Los biomarcadores de condición nutricional y de estrés fisiológicos presentaron diferencias entre los centros. Los resultados indican que el uso de fosfolípidos marinos como enriquecimiento de Artemia mejora el crecimiento de las paralarvas, si bien no se observa un efecto positivo de dicho tratamiento sobre la supervivencia de las mismas

Epidemiological trends of HIV/HCV coinfection in Spain, 2015-2019

Altres ajuts: Spanish AIDS Research Network; European Funding for Regional Development (FEDER).Objectives: We assessed the prevalence of anti-hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibodies and active HCV infection (HCV-RNA-positive) in people living with HIV (PLWH) in Spain in 2019 and compared the results with those of four similar studies performed during 2015-2018. Methods: The study was performed in 41 centres. Sample size was estimated for an accuracy of 1%. Patients were selected by random sampling with proportional allocation. Results: The reference population comprised 41 973 PLWH, and the sample size was 1325. HCV serostatus was known in 1316 PLWH (99.3%), of whom 376 (28.6%) were HCV antibody (Ab)-positive (78.7% were prior injection drug users); 29 were HCV-RNA-positive (2.2%). Of the 29 HCV-RNA-positive PLWH, infection was chronic in 24, it was acute/recent in one, and it was of unknown duration in four. Cirrhosis was present in 71 (5.4%) PLWH overall, three (10.3%) HCV-RNA-positive patients and 68 (23.4%) of those who cleared HCV after anti-HCV therapy (p = 0.04). The prevalence of anti-HCV antibodies decreased steadily from 37.7% in 2015 to 28.6% in 2019 (p < 0.001); the prevalence of active HCV infection decreased from 22.1% in 2015 to 2.2% in 2019 (p < 0.001). Uptake of anti-HCV treatment increased from 53.9% in 2015 to 95.0% in 2019 (p < 0.001). Conclusions: In Spain, the prevalence of active HCV infection among PLWH at the end of 2019 was 2.2%, i.e. 90.0% lower than in 2015. Increased exposure to DAAs was probably the main reason for this sharp reduction. Despite the high coverage of treatment with direct-acting antiviral agents, HCV-related cirrhosis remains significant in this population

Estudios de marcado y recaptura de especies marinas

Los resultados obtenidos del marcado y posterior recaptura de los ejemplares son una herramienta muy valiosa para contribuir a mejorar el conocimiento de la biología y ecología de una especie, examinando ciertos aspectos como son: el crecimiento, los movimientos o migraciones, la mortalidad o supervivencia, la abundancia y distribución de la especie, el hábitat y diferenciación de poblaciones o stocks. Actualmente la técnica de marcado se aplica a muchas especies, tanto terrestres como marinas, pertenecientes a diversos grupos zoológicos: peces, crustáceos, reptiles, moluscos y mamíferos. Este libro repasa algunos ejemplos de marcado de especies marinas de interés comercial. No todas las especies pueden ser marcadas, porque es necesario cumplir una serie de requisitos para poder llevar a cabo con éxito un experimento de marcado. En uno de los apartados de esta guía, se describen los distintos aspectos a tener en cuenta para obtener buenos resultados. Se describen los principales proyectos de marcado actualmente en ejecución o en marcha llevados a cabo por el Instituto Español de Oceanografía (IEO). En primer lugar, se describe brevemente la especie, su distribución, crecimiento, reproducción, alimentación, etc. A continuación, se presenta la información del marcado, es decir, campañas realizadas, número de ejemplares marcados y algunos de los resultados obtenidos hasta la fecha a partir de las recapturas disponibles. En algunas especies, los programas de marcado se llevan realizando desde hace más de 20 años, como es el caso del atún rojo, por lo que la información disponible es bastante amplia. En otros casos por el contrario como la merluza, los proyectos son relativamente recientes, no obstante los resultados son bastante interesantes y prometedores.Nowadays many different marine animals are being tagged. This book summarizes recent tagging programs carried out by the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO). Although the objectives of these various studies mainly depend on the species and each project in particular, the general aim is to better understand the biology and ecology of these animals the structure and dynamics of their populations and their capacity to respond to human activities. This book provides an overview of different aspects of this technique such as a brief history of tagging, the types of tags currently used, including both conventional and electronic tags, where and how to put them on the marine animals, some recommendations regarding how to perform a tagging survey and where to go or what to do if anyone recovers a tagged fish or marine animal. The book then summarizes the main species tagged by the IEO, making a short description of their biology followed by some of the results obtained from tagging studies undertaken until now. Other applications are to know the spatial distribution (spawning or feeding areas), estimate growth parameters, mortality and survival rates, longevity, the size of the population or identifying stocks. Nowadays the advances in electronics have also open new fields such us the possibility of tracking an animal and knowing its habitat preferences and behaviour. Besides some of these tags have the capacity of recording this information during long periods and sending the data from long distances even without the need to recover the animal. Tagging activities constitute a very useful tool to improve the knowledge of many species and contribute to their management and conservation. For that reason this methodology is included in many IEO projects in which other activities like the monitoring of the fishery (landings, fishing effort, fleet characteristics, fishing areas, biological sampling, etc.) are carried out. Some projects are related with coastal pelagic fisheries including anchovy, sardine and mackerel or oceanic pelagic fisheries like tuna and billfish species and pelagic sharks. Others are focused on benthic and demersal species such as hake, black spot seabream, anglerfish, flatfish, etc. Nevertheless not all species can be tagged, as they have to survive being caught and handled before being release. For this reason, tagging techniques may not easily be applied to some species.Versión del edito

Plasma lipid profiles discriminate bacterial from viral infection in febrile children

Fever is the most common reason that children present to Emergency Departments. Clinical signs and symptoms suggestive of bacterial infection are often non-specific, and there is no definitive test for the accurate diagnosis of infection. The 'omics' approaches to identifying biomarkers from the host-response to bacterial infection are promising. In this study, lipidomic analysis was carried out with plasma samples obtained from febrile children with confirmed bacterial infection (n = 20) and confirmed viral infection (n = 20). We show for the first time that bacterial and viral infection produces distinct profile in the host lipidome. Some species of glycerophosphoinositol, sphingomyelin, lysophosphatidylcholine and cholesterol sulfate were higher in the confirmed virus infected group, while some species of fatty acids, glycerophosphocholine, glycerophosphoserine, lactosylceramide and bilirubin were lower in the confirmed virus infected group when compared with confirmed bacterial infected group. A combination of three lipids achieved an area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of 0.911 (95% CI 0.81 to 0.98). This pilot study demonstrates the potential of metabolic biomarkers to assist clinicians in distinguishing bacterial from viral infection in febrile children, to facilitate effective clinical management and to the limit inappropriate use of antibiotics

New insights into the genetic etiology of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias

Characterization of the genetic landscape of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related dementias (ADD) provides a unique opportunity for a better understanding of the associated pathophysiological processes. We performed a two-stage genome-wide association study totaling 111,326 clinically diagnosed/'proxy' AD cases and 677,663 controls. We found 75 risk loci, of which 42 were new at the time of analysis. Pathway enrichment analyses confirmed the involvement of amyloid/tau pathways and highlighted microglia implication. Gene prioritization in the new loci identified 31 genes that were suggestive of new genetically associated processes, including the tumor necrosis factor alpha pathway through the linear ubiquitin chain assembly complex. We also built a new genetic risk score associated with the risk of future AD/dementia or progression from mild cognitive impairment to AD/dementia. The improvement in prediction led to a 1.6- to 1.9-fold increase in AD risk from the lowest to the highest decile, in addition to effects of age and the APOE ε4 allele

Enhanced recovery after surgery pathways in thoracic surgery, do they end at discharge?

Fast track pulmonary resection protocols have shown to be feasible and to improve hospital related costs, shortening length of stay and maintaining quality of care (1-4). Despite the increasing number of scientific literature addressing the benefits of specific lobectomy pathways (4,5) and the recent publication of Enhanced Recovery after Surgery (ERAS®) guidelines in thoracic surgery (4-6) the truth is that the description of most of these interventions ends at patients’ discharge, with no clear indications for follow up or measures to prevent unintended hospital readmissions (2,3

Usos y aplicaciones de programas informáticos en nutrición y dietética

La evolución tecnológica constante en el campo de la informática ha permitido el diseño de aplicaciones muy variadas en nutrición y dietética que posibilitan recoger y manejar un gran volumen de información nutricional de forma rápida, lógica y ordenada. Entre estas aplicaciones destacan las destinadas a la automatización de los servicios de dietas, a la evaluación del estado nutritivo de un individuo o colectividad, las empleadas en la enseñanza asistida en el ordenador y las utilizadas en investigación nutricional y campos afines. Los programas que registran la ingesta dietética y analizan los nutrientes de la dieta deben contar con una base de datos con la composición de los alimentos c ompleta, actualizada, modificable y de fácil acceso. Un programa informático de nutrición debe ser exacto, flexible, de fácil manejo, práctico, y en definitiva, debe responder a las necesidades específicas del usuario