Comparative study of paediatric prescription drug utilization between the spanish and immigrant population

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The immigrant population has increased greatly in Spain in recent years to the point where immigrants made up 12% of the infant population in 2008. There is little information available on the profile of this group with regard to prescription drug utilization in universal public health care systems such as that operating in Spain. This work studies the overall and specific differences in prescription drug utilization between the immigrant and Spanish population.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Use was made of the Aragonese Health Service databases for 2006. The studied population comprises 159,908 children aged 0-14 years, 13.6% of whom are foreign nationals. Different utilization variables were calculated for each group. Prescription-drug consumption is measured in Defined Daily Doses (DDD) and DDD/1000 persons/day/(DID).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 833,223 prescriptions were studied. Utilization is lower for immigrant children than in Spanish children for both DID (66.27 v. 113.67) and average annual expense (€21.55 v. €41.14). Immigrant children consume fewer prescription drugs than Spanish children in all of the therapy groups, with the most prescribed (in DID) being: respiratory system, anti-infectives for systemic use, nervous system, sensory organs. Significant differences were observed in relation to the type of drugs and the geographical background of immigrants.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Prescription drug utilization is much greater in Spanish children than in immigrant children, particularly with reference to bronchodilators (montelukast and terbutaline) and attention-disorder hyperactivity drugs such as methylphenidate. There are important differences regarding drug type and depending on immigrants' geographical backgrounds that suggest there are social, cultural and access factors underlying these disparities.</p

X chromosome inactivation does not necessarily determine the severity of the phenotype in Rett syndrome patients

Rett syndrome (RTT) is a severe neurological disorder usually caused by mutations in the MECP2 gene. Since the MECP2 gene is located on the X chromosome, X chromosome inactivation (XCI) could play a role in the wide range of phenotypic variation of RTT patients; however, classical methylation-based protocols to evaluate XCI could not determine whether the preferentially inactivated X chromosome carried the mutant or the wild-type allele. Therefore, we developed an allele-specific methylation-based assay to evaluate methylation at the loci of several recurrent MECP2 mutations. We analyzed the XCI patterns in the blood of 174 RTT patients, but we did not find a clear correlation between XCI and the clinical presentation. We also compared XCI in blood and brain cortex samples of two patients and found differences between XCI patterns in these tissues. However, RTT mainly being a neurological disease complicates the establishment of a correlation between the XCI in blood and the clinical presentation of the patients. Furthermore, we analyzed MECP2 transcript levels and found differences from the expected levels according to XCI. Many factors other than XCI could affect the RTT phenotype, which in combination could influence the clinical presentation of RTT patients to a greater extent than slight variations in the XCI pattern

Roadmap on dynamics of molecules and clusters in the gas phase

status: publishe

Effect of atmospheric microwave plasma treatment on organic lubricant on a metallic surface

International audienceCoaxial injection microwave excited plasma torch, operating at atmospheric pressure has been tested to treat greased metallic surfaces. The treatment conditions were controlled using optical emission spectroscopy. The plasma treatment was carried out using argon plasma, with argon or oxygen in the periphery. The effect of plasma treatment on the grease was evaluated, using gravimetric analysis by weighing the sample before and after treatment, surface energy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic measurements. Initial period of treatment yielded etching of the grease, but, later on, the grease stabilized forming polymeric films, independent of the gas present in the periphery. The etching behavior was explained by different mechanisms involved in the plasma grease surface and sub-surface interactions

Hitos demográficos del siglo XXI : envejecimiento. Tomo I

Es posible afirmar que en pleno siglo XXI la población tiene una vida más prolongada debido a la mejora en los adelantos médicos y atención en salud, educación y en lo relativo al bienestar económico. Sin embargo, el envejecimiento poblacional lleva consigo desafíos políticos, económicos, sociales y culturales. Dar cuenta de este proceso social ha requerido y seguirá requiriendo de investigaciones y estudios que expliquen los factores determinantes que confluyen en esta circunstancia,y aporten elementos para abordar de la mejor manera los aspectos que tienen que ver con la calidad de vida en esta última etapa de la existencia de las personas. Esto convierte al envejecimiento demográfico en un asunto de Estado.Sin duda estos procesos de cambios demográficos están transformando el panorama social que habrá de modificar las políticas públicas hacia estos grupos de edad

Quality of surgery and neoadjuvant combined therapy in the ISG-GEIS trial on soft tissue sarcomas of limbs and trunk wall

Background: To explore correlation between the quality of surgery and outcome in high-risk soft tissue sarcoma (STS) patients treated within a phase III randomized trial. Patients and Methods: In the trial, all patients received three cycles of preoperative chemotherapy (CT) with epirubicin 120 mg/m2 and ifosfamide 9 g/m2 and were randomly assigned to receive two further postoperative cycles. Radiotherapy (RT) could be delivered in the preoperative or postoperative setting. The association between surgical margins andoverall survival (OS) was studied in a univariate and multivariate fashion. Results: Two hundred and fifty-two patients completed the whole treatment and were operated conservatively. At a median follow-up of 60 months (IQR, 45-74 months), the 5-year OS was 0.73,even in patients with positive and negative margins. The 5-year cumulative incidence (CI) of local recurrence (LR) in patients with positive and negative microscopic margins was 0.17 (standard error, SE, 0.08) and 0.03 (SE, 0.01), respectively. In the subgroup of patients receiving combined preoperative CT-RT and with positive surgical margins, the CI of LR was 0. Conclusions: In this setting of high-risk STS treated by preoperative CT or CT-RT, the negative impact of positive margins on the outcome was limited. When close margins can be anticipated preoperative CT-RT may be a reasonable option to maximize the chance of cure