Dynamical analysis on f(R,G)f(R,\mathcal{G}) cosmology

We use a dynamical system approach to study the cosmological viability of $f(R,\mathcal{G})$ gravity theories. The method consists of formulating the evolution equations as an autonomous system of ODEs, using suitable variables. The formalism is applied to a class of models in which $f(R,\mathcal{G})\propto R^{n}\mathcal{G}^{1-n}$ and its solutions and corresponding stability are analysed in detail. New accelerating solutions that can be attractors in the phase space are found. We also find that this class of models does not exhibit a matter-dominated epoch, a solution which is inconsistent with current cosmological observations.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in Classical and Quantum Gravit

Early Bombardment of the Moon: Connecting the Lunar Crater Record to the Terrestrial Planet Formation

The lunar crater record features $\sim 50$ basins. The radiometric dating of Apollo samples indicates that the Imbrium basin formed relatively late -- from the planet formation perspective -- some $\simeq 3.9$ Ga. Here we develop a dynamical model for impactors in the inner solar system to provide context for the interpretation of the lunar crater record. The contribution of cometary impactors is found to be insignificant. Asteroids produced most large impacts on the terrestrial worlds in the last $\simeq 3$ Gyr. The great majority of early impactors were rocky planetesimals left behind at $\sim 0.5$--1.5 au after the terrestrial planet accretion. The population of terrestrial planetesimals was reduced by disruptive collisions in the first $t \sim 20$ Myr after the gas disk dispersal. We estimate that there were $\sim 4 \times 10^5$ diameter $d>10$ km bodies when the Moon formed (total planetesimal mass $\sim 0.015$ $M_{\rm Earth}$ at $t \sim 50$ Myr). The early bombardment of the Moon was intense. To accommodate $\sim 50$ known basins, the lunar basins that formed before $\simeq 4.35$--4.41 Ga must have been erased. The late formation of Imbrium occurs with a $\sim 15$--35\% probability in our model. About 20 $d>10$-km bodies were expected to hit the Earth between 2.5 and 3.5 Ga, which is comparable to the number of known spherule beds in the late Archean. We discuss implications of our model for the lunar/Martian crater chronologies, Late Veneer, and noble gases in the Earth atmosphere.Comment: Icarus, in pres

CD-62°1346: An extreme halo or hypervelocity CH star?

High-velocity halo stars provide important information about the properties of the extreme Galactic halo. The study of unbound and bound Population II stars permits us to better estimate the mass of the halo. Aims: We carried out a detailed spectroscopic and kinematic study and have significantly refined the distance and the evolutionary state of the star. Methods: Its atmospheric parameters, chemical abundances and kinematical properties were determined using high-resolution optical spectroscopy and employing the local-thermodynamic-equilibrium model atmospheres of Kurucz and the spectral analysis code moog. Results: We found that CD-62°1346 is a metal-poor ([Fe/H] = -1.6) evolved giant star with Teff = 5300 K and log g = 1.7. The star exhibits high carbon and s-element abundances typical of CH stars. It is also a lead star. Our kinematic analysis of its 3D space motions shows that this star has a highly eccentric (e = 0.91) retrograde orbit with an apogalactic distance of ~100 kpc, exceeding by a factor of two the distance of the Magellanic Clouds. The star travels with very high velocity relative to the Galactocentric reference frame (VGRF = 570 km s-1). Conclusions: CD-62°1346 is an evolved giant star and not a subgiant star, as was considered earlier. Whether it is bound or unbound to the Galaxy depends on the assumed mass and on the adopted Galactic potential. We also show that the star HD 5223 is another example of a high-velocity CH star that exceeds the Galactic escape velocity. Possible origins of these two high-velocity stars are briefly discussed. CD-62°1346 and HD 5223 are the first red giant stars to join the restricted group of hypervelocity stars.Fil: Pereira, C. B.. Ministério de Ciencia, Tecnologia e Innovacao. Observatorio Nacional; BrasilFil: Jilinski, E.. Ministério de Ciencia, Tecnologia e Innovacao. Observatorio Nacional; Brasil. Universidade do Estado de Rio do Janeiro; Brasil. Russian Academy of Sciences. Pulkovo Observatory; RusiaFil: Drake, N. A.. Ministério de Ciencia, Tecnologia e Innovacao. Observatorio Nacional; Brasil. Russian Academy of Sciences. Pulkovo Observatory; RusiaFil: de Castro, D. B.. Ministério de Ciencia, Tecnologia e Innovacao. Observatorio Nacional; BrasilFil: Ortega, V. G.. Ministério de Ciencia, Tecnologia e Innovacao. Observatorio Nacional; BrasilFil: Chavero, Carolina Andrea. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Observatorio Astronómico de Córdoba; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Roig, Fernando Virgilio. Ministério de Ciencia, Tecnologia e Innovacao. Observatorio Nacional; Brasi

Enhanced recovery in colorectal surgery: a multicentre study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Major colorectal surgery usually requires a hospital stay of more than 12 days. Inadequate pain management, intestinal dysfunction and immobilisation are the main factors associated with delay in recovery. The present work assesses the short and medium term results achieved by an enhanced recovery program based on previously published protocols.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This prospective study, performed at 12 Spanish hospitals in 2008 and 2009, involved 300 patients. All patients underwent elective colorectal resection for cancer following an enhanced recovery program. The main elements of this program were: preoperative advice, no colon preparation, provision of carbohydrate-rich drinks one day prior and on the morning of surgery, goal directed fluid administration, body temperature control during surgery, avoiding drainages and nasogastric tubes, early mobilisation, and the taking of oral fluids in the early postoperative period. Perioperative morbidity and mortality data were collected and the length of hospital stay and protocol compliance recorded.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The median age of the patients was 68 years. Fifty-two % of the patients were women. The distribution of patients by ASA class was: I 10%, II 50% and III 40%. Sixty-four % of interventions were laparoscopic; 15% required conversion to laparotomy. The majority of patients underwent sigmoidectomy or right hemicolectomy. The overall compliance to protocol was approximately 65%, but varied widely in its different components. The median length of postoperative hospital stay was 6 days. Some 3% of patients were readmitted to hospital after discharge; some 7% required repeat surgery during their initial hospitalisation or after readmission. The most common complications were surgical (24%), followed by septic (11%) or other medical complications (10%). Three patients (1%) died during follow-up. Some 31% of patients suffered symptoms that delayed their discharge, the most common being vomiting or nausea (12%), dyspnoea (7%) and fever (5%).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The following of this enhanced recovery program posed no risk to patients in terms of morbidity, mortality and shortened the length of their hospital stay. Overall compliance to protocol was 65%. The following of this program was of benefit to patients and reduces costs by shortening the length of hospital stay. The implantation of such programmes is therefore highly recommended.</p

Towards a TILLING platform for functional genomics in Piel de Sapo melons

Background The availability of genetic and genomic resources for melon has increased significantly, but functional genomics resources are still limited for this crop. TILLING is a powerful reverse genetics approach that can be utilized to generate novel mutations in candidate genes. A TILLING resource is available for cantalupensis melons, but not for inodorus melons, the other main commercial group. Results A new ethyl methanesulfonate-mutagenized (EMS) melon population was generated for the first time in an andromonoecious non-climacteric inodorus Piel de Sapo genetic background. Diverse mutant phenotypes in seedlings, vines and fruits were observed, some of which were of possible commercial interest. The population was first screened for mutations in three target genes involved in disease resistance and fruit quality (Cm-PDS, Cm-eIF4E and Cm-eIFI(iso)4E). The same genes were also tilled in the available monoecious and climacteric cantalupensis EMS melon population. The overall mutation density in this first Piel de Sapo TILLING platform was estimated to be 1 mutation/1.5 Mb by screening four additional genes (Cm-ACO1, Cm-NOR, Cm-DET1 and Cm-DHS). Thirty-three point mutations were found for the seven gene targets, six of which were predicted to have an impact on the function of the protein. The genotype/phenotype correlation was demonstrated for a loss-of-function mutation in the Phytoene desaturase gene, which is involved in carotenoid biosynthesis. Conclusions The TILLING approach was successful at providing new mutations in the genetic background of Piel de Sapo in most of the analyzed genes, even in genes for which natural variation is extremely low. This new resource will facilitate reverse genetics studies in non-climacteric melons, contributing materially to future genomic and breeding studies.González, M.; Xu, M.; Esteras Gómez, C.; Roig Montaner, MC.; Monforte Gilabert, AJ.; Troadec, C.; Pujol, M.... (2011). Towards a TILLING platform for functional genomics in Piel de sapo melons. BMC Research Notes. 4(289):289-299. doi:10.1186/1756-0500-4-289S2892994289The International Cucurbit Genomics Initiative (ICuGI). [ http://www.icugi.org ]González-Ibeas D, Blanca J, Roig C, González-To M, Picó B, Truniger V, Gómez P, Deleu W, Caño-Delgado A, Arús P, Nuez F, García-Mas J, Puigdomènech P, Aranda MA: MELOGEN: an EST database for melon functional genomics. BMC Genomics. 2007, 8: 306-10.1186/1471-2164-8-306.Fita A, Picó B, Monforte A, Nuez F: Genetics of Root System Architecture Using Near-isogenic Lines of Melon. J Am Soc Hortic Sci. 2008, 133: 448-458.Fernandez-Silva I, Eduardo I, Blanca J, Esteras C, Picó B, Nuez F, Arús P, Garcia-Mas J, Monforte AJ: Bin mapping of genomic and EST-derived SSRs in melon (Cucumis melo L.). Theor Appl Genet. 2008, 118: 139-150. 10.1007/s00122-008-0883-3.Deleu W, Esteras C, Roig C, González-To M, Fernández-Silva I, Blanca J, Aranda MA, Arús P, Nuez F, Monforte AJ, Picó MB, Garcia-Mas J: A set of EST-SNPs for map saturation and cultivar identification in melon. BMC Plant Biol. 2009, 9: 90-10.1186/1471-2229-9-90.Mascarell-Creus A, Cañizares J, Vilarrasa J, Mora-García S, Blanca J, González-Ibeas D, Saladié M, Roig C, Deleu W, Picó B, López-Bigas N, Aranda MA, Garcia-Mas J, Nuez F, Puigdomènech P, Caño-Delgado A: An oligo-based microarray offers novel transcriptomic approaches for the analysis of pathogen resistance and fruit quality traits in melon (Cucumis melo L.). BMC Genomics. 2009, 10: 467-10.1186/1471-2164-10-467.Blanca JM, Cañizares J, Ziarsolo P, Esteras C, Mir G, Nuez F, Garcia-Mas J, Pico B: Melon transcriptome characterization. SSRs and SNPs discovery for high throughput genotyping across the species. Plant Genome. 2011, 4 (2): 118-131. 10.3835/plantgenome2011.01.0003.González VM, Benjak A, Hénaff EM, Mir G, Casacuberta JM, Garcia-Mas J, Puigdomènech P: Sequencing of 6.7 Mb of the melon genome using a BAC pooling strategy. BMC Plant Biology. 2010, 10: 246-10.1186/1471-2229-10-246.Moreno E, Obando JM, Dos-Santos N, Fernández-Trujillo JP, Monforte AJ, Garcia-Mas J: Candidate genes and QTLs for fruit ripening and softening in melon. Theor Appl Genet. 2007, 116: 589-602.Essafi A, Díaz-Pendón JA, Moriones E, Monforte AJ, Garcia-Mas J, Martín-Hernández AM: Dissection of the oligogenic resistance to Cucumber mosaic virus in the melon accession PI 161375. Theor Appl Genet. 2009, 118: 275-284. 10.1007/s00122-008-0897-x.Comai L, Henikoff S: TILLING: practical single-nucleotide mutation discovery. Plant J. 2006, 45: 684-94. 10.1111/j.1365-313X.2006.02670.x.Cooper JL, Till BJ, Laport RG, Darlow MC, Kleffner JM, Jamai A, El-Mellouki T, Liu S, Ritchie R, Nielsen N, et al: TILLING to detect induced mutations in soybean. BMC Plant Biol. 2008, 8 (1): 9-10.1186/1471-2229-8-9.Dalmais M, Schmidt J, Le Signor C, Moussy F, Burstin J, Savois V, Aubert G, de Oliveira Y, Guichard C, Thompson R, Bendahmane A: UTILLdb, a Pisum sativum in silico forward and reverse genetics tool. Genome Biol. 2008, 9: R43-10.1186/gb-2008-9-2-r43.Dierking EC, Bilyeu KD: New sources of soybean meal and oil composition traits identified through TILLING. BMC Plant Biol. 2009, 9: 89-10.1186/1471-2229-9-89.Perry J, Brachmann A, Welham T, Binder A, Charpentier M, Groth M, Haage K, Markmann K, Wang TL, Parniske M: TILLING in Lotus japonicus identified large allelic series for symbiosis genes and revealed a bias in functionally defective ethyl methanesulfonate alleles toward glycine replacements. Plant Physiol. 2009, 151 (3): 1281-1291. 10.1104/pp.109.142190.Caldwell DG, McCallum N, Shaw P, Muehlbauer GJ, Marshall DF, Waugh R: A structured mutant population for forward and reverse genetics in Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.). Plant J. 2004, 40 (1): 143-150. 10.1111/j.1365-313X.2004.02190.x.Henikoff S, Bradley JT, Comai L: TILLING. Traditional mutagenesis meets functional genomics. Plant Physiol. 2004, 135: 630-636. 10.1104/pp.104.041061.Wu JL, Wu C, Lei C, Baraoidan M, Bordeos A, Madamba MR, Ramos-Pamplona M, Mauleon R, Portugal A, Ulat VJ, et al: Chemical- and irradiation-induced mutants of indica rice IR64 for forward and reverse genetics. Plant Mol Biol. 2005, 59 (1): 85-97. 10.1007/s11103-004-5112-0.Slade AJ, Fuerstenberg SI, Loeffler D, Steine MN, Facciotti D: A reverse genetic, nontransgenic approach to wheat crop improvement by TILLING. Nat Biotechnol. 2005, 23: 75-81. 10.1038/nbt1043.Till BJ, Cooper J, Tai TH, Colowit P, Greene EA, Henikoff S, Comai L: Discovery of chemically induced mutations in rice by TILLING. BMC Plant Biol. 2007, 7: 19-10.1186/1471-2229-7-19.Xin Z, Wang ML, Barkley NA, Burow G, Franks C, Pederson G, Burke J: Applying genotyping (TILLING) and phenotyping analyses to elucidate gene function in a chemically induced sorghum mutant population. BMC Plant Biol. 2008, 8: 103-10.1186/1471-2229-8-103.Dong C, Dalton-Morgan J, Vincent K, Sharp P: A modified TILLING method for wheat breeding. Plant Genome. 2009, 2: 39-47. 10.3835/plantgenome2008.10.0012.Sestili F, Botticella E, Bedo Z, Phillips A, Lafiandra D: Production of novel allelic variation for genes involved in starch biosynthesis through mutagenesis. Mol Breeding. 2010, 25: 145-154. 10.1007/s11032-009-9314-7.Watanabe S, Mizoguchi T, Aoki K, Kubo Y, Mori H, Imanishi S, Yamazaki Y, Shibata D, Ezura H: Ethylmethanesulfonate (EMS) mutagenesis of Solanum lycopersicum cv. Micro-Tom for large-scale mutant screens. Plant Biotech. 2007, 24: 33-38. 10.5511/plantbiotechnology.24.33.Elias R, Till BJ, Mba Ch, Al-Safadi B: Optimizing TILLING and Ecotilling techniques for potato (Solanum tuberosum L). BMC Res Notes. 2009, 2: 141-10.1186/1756-0500-2-141.Piron F, Nicolaı M, Minoıa S, Piednoir E, Moretti A, Salgues A, Zamir D, Caranta C, Bendahmane A: An induced mutation in tomato eIF4E leads to immunity to two Potyviruses. PLoS ONE. 2010, 5 (6): e11313-10.1371/journal.pone.0011313.Himelblau E, Gilchrist EJ, Buono K, Bizell C, Mentzer L, Vogelzang R, Osborn T, Amasino RM, Parkin IAP, Haughn : Forward and reverse genetics of papid cycling Brassica oleracea. Theor Appl Genet. 2009, 118: 953-961. 10.1007/s00122-008-0952-7.Stephenson P, Baker D, Girin T, Perez A, Amoah S, King GJ, Østergaard L: A rich TILLING resource for studying gene function in Brassica rapa. BMC Plant Biol. 2010, 10: 62-10.1186/1471-2229-10-62.Pitrat M: Melon (Cucumis melo L.). Handbook of Crop Breeding Vol I. Vegetables. Edited by: Prohens J, Nuez F. 2008, New York:Springer, 283-315.Dahmani-Mardas F, Troadec Ch, Boualem A, Leveque S, Alsadon AA, Aldoss AA, Dogimont C, Bendahman A: Engineering Melon Plants with Improved Fruit Shelf Life Using the TILLING Approach. PLoS ONE. 2010, 5: e15776-10.1371/journal.pone.0015776.Nieto C, Piron F, Dalmais M, Marco CF, Moriones E, Gómez-Guillamón ML, Truniger V, Gómez P, Garcia-Mas J, Aranda MA, Bendahmane A: EcoTILLING for the identification of allelic variants of melon eIF4E, a factor that controls virus susceptibility. BMC Plant Biol. 2007, 7: 34-10.1186/1471-2229-7-34.Qin G, Gu H, Ma L, Peng Y, Deng XW, Chen Z, Qu LJ: Disruption of phytoene desaturase gene results in albino and dwarf phenotypes in Arabidopsis by impairing chlorophyll, carotenoid, and gibberellin biosynthesis. Cell Res. 2007, 17: 471-482. 10.1038/cr.2007.40.Codons Optimized to Deliver Deleterious Lesions (CODDLe). [ http://www.proweb.org/input ]Lasserre E, Bouquin T, Hernández JA, Bull J, Pech JC, Balague C: Structure and expression of three genes encoding ACC oxidase homologs from melon (Cucumis melo L.). Mol Gen Genet. 1996, 251 (1): 81-90.Giovannoni JJ: Fruit ripening mutants yield insights into ripening control. Curr Opin Plant Biol. 2007, 10: 1-7. 10.1016/j.pbi.2006.11.012.Davuluri GR, van Tuinen A, Mustilli AC, Manfredonia A, Newman R, Burgess D, Brummell DA, King SR, Palys J, Uhlig J, Pennings HMJ, Bowler C: Manipulation of DET1 expression in tomato results in photomorphogenic phenotypes caused by post-transcriptional gene silencing. Plant J. 2004, 40: 344-354. 10.1111/j.1365-313X.2004.02218.x.Wei S, Li X, Gruber MI, Li R, Zhou R, Zebarjadi A, Hannoufa A: RNAi-mediated suppression of DET1 alters the levels of carotenoids and sinapate esters in seeds of Brassica napus. J Agric Food Chem. 2009, 57 (12): 5326-5333. 10.1021/jf803983w.Wang TW, Zhang CG, Wu W, Nowack LM, Madey E, Thompson JE: Antisense suppression of deoxyhypusine synthase in tomato delays fruit softening and alters growth and development DHS mediates the first of two sequential enzymatic reactions that activate eukaryotic translation initiation factor-5A. Plant Physiol. 2005, 138: 1372-1382. 10.1104/pp.105.060194.Ng PC, Henikoff S: SIFT: predicting amino acid changes that affect protein function. Nucleic Acids Res. 2003, 31 (13): 3812-3814. 10.1093/nar/gkg509.Guzman P, Ecker JR: Exploiting the triple response of Arabidopsis to identify ethylene-related mutants. The Plant Cell. 1990, 2: 513-523.Henikoff S, Comai L: Single-nucleotide mutations for plant functional genomics. Ann Rev Plant Biol. 2003, 54: 375-401. 10.1146/annurev.arplant.54.031902.135009.Greene EA, Codomo CA, Taylor NE, Henikoff JG, Till BJ, Reynolds SH, Enns LC, Burtner C, Johnson JE, Odden AR, et al: Spectrum of chemically induced mutations from a large-scale reverse genetic screen in Arabidopsis. Genetics. 2003, 164 (2): 731-740.Britt AB: DNA damage and repair in plants. Annu Rev Plant Physiol Plant Mol Biol. 1996, 47: 75-100. 10.1146/annurev.arplant.47.1.75.Truniger V, Nieto C, González-Ibeas D, Aranda M: Mechanism of plant eIF4E-mediated resistance against a Carmovirus (Tombusviridae): cap-independent translation of a viral RNA controlled in cis by an (a)virulence determinant. Plant J. 2008, 56 (5): 716-727. 10.1111/j.1365-313X.2008.03630.x.Gao Z, Johansen E, Eyers S, Thomas CL, Ellis THN, Maule AJ: The potyvirus recessive resistance gene, sbm1, identifies a novel role for translation initiation factor eIF4E in cell-to-cell trafficking. Plant J. 2004, 40 (3): 376-385. 10.1111/j.1365-313X.2004.02215.x.Kang BC, Yeam I, Frantz JD, Murphy JF, Jahn MM: The pvr1 locus in Capsicum encodes a translation initiation factor eIF4E that interacts with Tobacco etch virus VPg. 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Transcriptome characterization and high throughput SSRs and SNPs discovery in Cucurbita pepo (Cucurbitaceae)

Background: Cucurbita pepo belongs to the Cucurbitaceae family. The "Zucchini" types rank among the highest-valued vegetables worldwide, and other C. pepo and related Cucurbita spp., are food staples and rich sources of fat and vitamins. A broad range of genomic tools are today available for other cucurbits that have become models for the study of different metabolic processes. However, these tools are still lacking in the Cucurbita genus, thus limiting gene discovery and the process of breeding.Results: We report the generation of a total of 512,751 C. pepo EST sequences, using 454 GS FLX Titanium technology. ESTs were obtained from normalized cDNA libraries (root, leaves, and flower tissue) prepared using two varieties with contrasting phenotypes for plant, flowering and fruit traits, representing the two C. pepo subspecies: subsp. pepo cv. Zucchini and subsp. ovifera cv Scallop. De novo assembling was performed to generate a collection of 49,610 Cucurbita unigenes (average length of 626 bp) that represent the first transcriptome of the species. Over 60% of the unigenes were functionally annotated and assigned to one or more Gene Ontology terms. The distributions of Cucurbita unigenes followed similar tendencies than that reported for Arabidopsis or melon, suggesting that the dataset may represent the whole Cucurbita transcriptome. About 34% unigenes were detected to have known orthologs of Arabidopsis or melon, including genes potentially involved in disease resistance, flowering and fruit quality. Furthermore, a set of 1,882 unigenes with SSR motifs and 9,043 high confidence SNPs between Zucchini and Scallop were identified, of which 3,538 SNPs met criteria for use with high throughput genotyping platforms, and 144 could be detected as CAPS. A set of markers were validated, being 80% of them polymorphic in a set of variable C. pepo and C. moschata accessions.Conclusion: We present the first broad survey of gene sequences and allelic variation in C. pepo, where limited prior genomic information existed. The transcriptome provides an invaluable new tool for biological research. The developed molecular markers are the basis for future genetic linkage and quantitative trait loci analysis, and will be essential to speed up the process of breeding new and better adapted squash varieties. © 2011 Blanca et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.Blanca Postigo, JM.; Cañizares Sales, J.; Roig Montaner, MC.; Ziarsolo Areitioaurtena, P.; Nuez Viñals, F.; Picó Sirvent, MB. (2011). Transcriptome characterization and high throughput SSRs and SNPs discovery in Cucurbita pepo (Cucurbitaceae). BMC Genomics. 12:104-117. doi:10.1186/1471-2164-12-104S1041171

Roflumilast in moderate-to-severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease treated with longacting bronchodilators: two randomised clinical trials

Background Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have few options for treatment. The efficacy and safety of the phosphodiesterase-4 inhibitor roflumilast have been investigated in studies of patients with moderate-to-severe COPD, but not in those concomitantly treated with longacting inhaled bronchodilators. The effect of roflumilast on lung function in patients with COPD that is moderate to severe who are already being treated with salmeterol or tiotropium was investigated. Methods In two double-blind, multicentre studies done in an outpatient setting, after a 4-week run-in, patients older than 40 years with moderate-to-severe COPD were randomly assigned to oral roflumilast 500 mu g or placebo once a day for 24 weeks, in addition to salmeterol (M2-127 study) or tiotropium (M2-128 study). The primary endpoint was change in prebronchodilator forced expiratory volume in 1s (FEV(1)). Analysis was by intention to treat. The studies are registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT00313209 for M2-127, and NCT00424268 for M2-128. Findings In the salmeterol plus roflumilast trial, 466 patients were assigned to and treated with roflumilast and 467 with placebo; in the tiotropium plus roflumilast trial, 371 patients were assigned to and treated with roflumilast and 372 with placebo. Compared with placebo, roflumilast consistently improved mean prebronchodilator FEV(1) by 49 mL (p<0.0001) in patients treated with salmeterol, and 80 mL (p<0.0001) in those treated with tiotropium. Similar improvement in postbronchodilator FEV(1) was noted in both groups. Furthermore, roflumilast had beneficial effects on other lung function measurements and on selected patient-reported outcomes in both groups. Nausea, diarrhoea, weight loss, and, to a lesser extent, headache were more frequent in patients in the roflumilast groups. These adverse events were associated with increased patient withdrawal. Interpretation Roflumilast improves lung function in patients with COPD treated with salmeterol or tiotropium, and could become an important treatment for these patients

Projecte de rehabilitació i ampliació del Taller de reparació de locomotores del Museu del Ferrocarril de Vilanova i la Geltrú

Primer premiAward-winningPostprint (published version