A novel computer software for the evaluation of dynamic visual acuity

Postprint (author's final draft

Result of the intervention “Education”: Diet prescribed in advanced chronic kidney disease

En la consulta de enfermedad renal crónica avanzada (ERCA), se proporcionan cuidados a los pacientes con enfermedad renal crónica con un filtrado glomerular (FG) < 30 ml/min. Estos incluyen diferentes intervenciones de enfermería. Una de ellas es la intervención 5614 Enseñanza: dieta prescrita. Objetivo: Analizar la eficacia de la intervención 5614 Enseñanza: dieta prescrita, en pacientes ERCA realizada en la consulta de enfermería, en la primera visita. Material y métodos: Estudio cuasiexperimental. Se incluyeron 92 pacientes incidentes en la consulta ERCA en 2014. Se realizó la intervención 5614 Enseñanza: dieta prescrita y se evaluaron indicadores de resultado 1004 Estado nutricional a los 2 meses de la intervención. Se llevó a cabo una estadística descriptiva de las variables pre y post intervención. Resultados: Edad media 69,5±15 años, 64,1% (n=59) hombres, 35,9% (n=33) mujeres, 41,3% diabéticos. Después de la intervención el 62% de los pacientes disminuyeron el valor del K, el 54,3% el del P, el 55,4% el del colesterol total, el 59,8% el del colesterol-LDL, y el 44,6% el del ácido úrico. El 67,4% de los pacientes presentó pérdida ponderal. En estos pacientes la variación media de la albúmina fue -0,005±0,0028 mg/dL. El FG permaneció estable en el 63% de los pacientes. La PAS media disminuye en el 42,4% de los pacientes y la PAD media en el 38%. Conclusiones: Tras la intervención 5614 Enseñanza: dieta prescrita realizada a los pacientes ERCA en la primera visita, se observa disminución del peso y valores plasmáticos de P, K, colesterol- LDL, colesterol total y ácido úrico. La Función renal permanece estable. La concentración de albúmina en los pacientes que perdieron peso se mantiene estable. La diferencia de la media para los valores de K y colesterol total fue estadísticamente significativa.Advanced chronic kidney disease (ACKD) units provide care to chronic kidney disease patients <30 ml/min glomerular filtration rate (GFR). These include different nursing interventions as 5614 intervention teaching: prescribed diet intervention. Goal: To analyze the effectiveness of 5614 Education: prescribed diet intervention in ACKD unit patients, on the first visit. Material and methods: Quasi-experimental study. 92 incident ACKD unit patients in 2014 were included. 5614 Teaching: prescribed diet intervention was performed. 1004 nutritional status outcome indicators were evaluated 2 months after nursing intervention. Descriptive statistics of the variables pre and post intervention was performed. Results: Mean age 69.5 ± 15 years, 64.1% (n = 59) men, 35.9% (n = 33) women, 41.3% diabetic. After nursing intervention, 62% of patients decreased the K values, 54.3% with P, 55.4% in total cholesterol, 59.8% in LDL-C, and 44.6% of uric acid. 67.4% of patients lost weight. In these patients the average variation of albumin was -0.005 ± 0.0028 mg /dL. The FG remained stable in 63% of patients. SBP mean decreased in 42.4% of patients and DBP mean in 38% patients. Conclusion: After 5614 Teaching: prescribed diet intervention at first ACKD unit visit weight loss and plasma levels of P, K, LDL-cholesterol, total cholesterol and uric acid were observed. Kidney function remained stable. Albumin concentration in patients who lost weight remained stable. The mean difference for the K values and total cholesterol was statistically significant

A placebo-controlled trial of tinted lenses in adolescents with good and poor academic performance: reading accuracy and speed

Postprint (author's final draft

CoVITEST: A Fast and Reliable Method to Monitor Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Specific T Cells From Whole Blood

Cellular and humoral immune responses are essential for COVID-19 recovery and protection against SARS-CoV-2 reinfection. To date, the evaluation of SARS-CoV-2 immune protection has mainly focused on antibody detection, generally disregarding the cellular response, or placing it in a secondary position. This phenomenon may be explained by the complex nature of the assays needed to analyze cellular immunity compared with the technically simple and automated detection of antibodies. Nevertheless, a large body of evidence supports the relevance of the T cell's role in protection against SARS-CoV-2, especially in vulnerable individuals with a weakened immune system (such as the population over 65 and patients with immunodeficiencies). Here we propose to use CoVITEST (Covid19 anti-Viral Immunity based on T cells for Evaluation in a Simple Test), a fast, affordable and accessible in-house assay that, together with a diagnostic matrix, allows us to determine those patients who might be protected with SARS-CoV-2-reactive T cells. The method was established using healthy SARS-CoV-2-naïve donors pre- and post-vaccination (n=30), and further validated with convalescent COVID-19 donors (n=51) in a side-by-side comparison with the gold standard IFN-? ELISpot. We demonstrated that our CoVITEST presented reliable and comparable results to those obtained with the ELISpot technique in a considerably shorter time (less than 8 hours). In conclusion, we present a simple but reliable assay to determine cellular immunity against SARS-CoV-2 that can be used routinely during this pandemic to monitor the immune status in vulnerable patients and thereby adjust their therapeutic approaches. This method might indeed help to optimize and improve decision-making protocols for re-vaccination against SARS-CoV-2, at least for some population subsets.Copyright © 2022 Egri, Olivé, Hernández-Rodríguez, Castro, De Guzman, Heredia, Segura, Fernandez, de Moner, Torradeflot, Ballús, Martinez, Vazquez, Costa, Dobaño, Mazza, Mazzotti, Pascal, Juan, González-Navarro and Calderón

Descripció i consens dels criteris de complexitat assistencial i nivells d’intervenció en l’atenció al final de la vida

Nivells assistencials; Atenció al final de la vida; Malalts terminalsNiveles asistenciales; Atención al final de la vida; Enfermos terminalesWelfare levels; Attention to the end of life; Terminally illAquest document pretén ser una eina que faciliti l’organització de l’atenció al final de la vida de la persona amb malaltia avançada/terminal i la seva família, especialment pel que fa a la coordinació entre recursos i l’adequació en la utilització de serveis. L’enfocament no es basa en l’orientació diagnòstica ni en el pronòstic vital de la persona, sinó en la selecció, com a població diana, de les deu patologies proposades per McNamara en la seva estimació de mínims. Aquestes deu patologies són: càncer, insuficiència cardíaca, insuficiència hepàtica, insuficiència renal, insuficiència respiratòria, esclerosi lateral amiotròfica (malalties de la motoneurona), malaltia de Parkinson, corea de Huntington, malaltia d’Alzheimer (demències) i sida. D’acord amb els objectius prioritaris de la línia estratègica del Pla director sociosanitari d’atenció al final de la vida, també s’ha considerat oportú considerar com a subjectes d’atenció especial els pacients geriàtrics pluripatològics, els afectats d’insuficiència orgànica crònica avançada, els pacients amb malalties neurodegeneratives i els malalts de sida. Aquest document planteja un pas més en l’evolució de les cures pal·liatives i s’orienta cap a la complexitat de les diferents necessitats i característiques que pot presentar la persona amb malaltia avançada/terminal i la seva família. Per primera vegada, es disposa d’un document de consens en què es defineixen diferents nivells de complexitat associats amb les necessitats globals de la persona i la seva família i es proposa la intervenció de cadascun dels nivells assistencials del sistema sanitari català amb què compta l’atenció al final de la vida

Euclid: Covariance of weak lensing pseudo-C_ell estimates. Calculation, comparison to simulations, and dependence on survey geometry

An accurate covariance matrix is essential for obtaining reliable cosmological results when using a Gaussian likelihood. In this paper we study the covariance of pseudo-C_ estimates of tomographic cosmic shear power spectra. Using two existing publicly available codes in combination, we calculate the full covariance matrix, including mode-coupling contributions arising from both partial sky coverage and non-linear structure growth. For three different sky masks, we compare the theoretical covariance matrix to that estimated from publicly available N-body weak lensing simulations, finding good agreement. We find that as a more extreme sky cut is applied, a corresponding increase in both Gaussian off-diagonal covariance and non-Gaussian super-sample covariance is observed in both theory and simulations, in accordance with expectations. Studying the different contributions to the covariance in detail, we find that the Gaussian covariance dominates along the main diagonal and the closest off-diagonals, but further away from the main diagonal the super-sample covariance is dominant. Forming mock constraints in parameters describing matter clustering and dark energy, we find that neglecting non-Gaussian contributions to the covariance can lead to underestimating the true size of confidence regions by up to 70 per cent. The dominant non-Gaussian covariance component is the super-sample covariance, but neglecting the smaller connected non-Gaussian covariance can still lead to the underestimation of uncertainties by 10--20 per cent. A real cosmological analysis will require marginalisation over many nuisance parameters, which will decrease the relative importance of all cosmological contributions to the covariance, so these values should be taken as upper limits on the importance of each component

Euclid: Covariance of weak lensing pseudo-Cl estimates: Calculation, comparison to simulations, and dependence on survey geometry

An accurate covariance matrix is essential for obtaining reliable cosmological results when using a Gaussian likelihood. In this paper we study the covariance of pseudo-Cestimates of tomographic cosmic shear power spectra. Using two existing publicly available codes in combination, we calculate the full covariance matrix, including mode-coupling contributions arising from both partial sky coverage and non-linear structure growth. For three different sky masks, we compare the theoretical covariance matrix to that estimated from publicly available N-body weak lensing simulations, finding good agreement. We find that as a more extreme sky cut is applied, a corresponding increase in both Gaussian off-diagonal covariance and non-Gaussian super-sample covariance is observed in both theory and simulations, in accordance with expectations. Studying the different contributions to the covariance in detail, we find that the Gaussian covariance dominates along the main diagonal and the closest off-diagonals, but farther away from the main diagonal the super-sample covariance is dominant. Forming mock constraints in parameters that describe matter clustering and dark energy, we find that neglecting non-Gaussian contributions to the covariance can lead to underestimating the true size of confidence regions by up to 70 per cent. The dominant non-Gaussian covariance component is the super-sample covariance, but neglecting the smaller connected non-Gaussian covariance can still lead to the underestimation of uncertainties by 10-20 per cent. A real cosmological analysis will require marginalisation over many nuisance parameters, which will decrease the relative importance of all cosmological contributions to the covariance, so these values should be taken as upper limits on the importance of each component

Euclid: Discovering pair-instability supernovae with the Deep Survey

Pair-instability supernovae are theorized supernovae that have not yet been observationally confirmed. They are predicted to exist in low-metallicity environments. Because overall metallicity becomes lower at higher redshifts, deep near-infrared transient surveys probing high-redshift supernovae are suitable to discover pair-instability supernovae. The Euclid satellite, which is planned to be launched in 2023, has a near-infrared wide-field instrument that is suitable for a high-redshift supernova survey. Although no dedicated supernova survey is currently planned during the Euclid's 6 year primary mission, the Euclid Deep Survey is planned to make regular observations of three Euclid Deep Fields (40 deg2 in total) spanning six years. While the observations of the Euclid Deep Fields are not frequent, we show that the predicted long duration of pair-instability supernovae would allow us to search for high-redshift pair-instability supernovae with the Euclid Deep Survey. Based on the current observational plan of the Euclid mission, we conduct survey simulations in order to estimate the expected numbers of pair-instability supernova discoveries. We find that up to several hundred pair-instability supernovae at z < ~ 3.5 can be discovered by the Euclid Deep Survey. We also show that pair-instability supernova candidates can be efficiently identified by their duration and color that can be determined with the current Euclid Deep Survey plan. We conclude that the Euclid mission can lead to the first confident discovery of pair-instability supernovae if their event rates are as high as those predicted by recent theoretical studies. We also update the expected numbers of superluminous supernova discoveries in the Euclid Deep Survey based on the latest observational plan.Comment: 12 pages, 13 figures, 2 tables, submitted to Astronomy & Astrophysic

Euclid: Forecasts from the void-lensing cross-correlation

The Euclid space telescope will survey a large dataset of cosmic voids traced by dense samples of galaxies. In this work we estimate its expected performance when exploiting angular photometric void clustering, galaxy weak lensing, and their cross-correlation. To this aim, we implemented a Fisher matrix approach tailored for voids from the Euclid photometric dataset and we present the first forecasts on cosmological parameters that include the void-lensing correlation. We examined two different probe settings, pessimistic and optimistic, both for void clustering and galaxy lensing. We carried out forecast analyses in four model cosmologies, accounting for a varying total neutrino mass, Mν, and a dynamical dark energy (DE) equation of state, w(z), described by the popular Chevallier-Polarski-Linder parametrization. We find that void clustering constraints on h and Ωb are competitive with galaxy lensing alone, while errors on ns decrease thanks to the orthogonality of the two probes in the 2D-projected parameter space. We also note that, as a whole, with respect to assuming the two probes as independent, the inclusion of the void-lensing cross-correlation signal improves parameter constraints by 10 − 15%, and enhances the joint void clustering and galaxy lensing figure of merit (FoM) by 10% and 25%, in the pessimistic and optimistic scenarios, respectively. Finally, when further combining with the spectroscopic galaxy clustering, assumed as an independent probe, we find that, in the most competitive case, the FoM increases by a factor of 4 with respect to the combination of weak lensing and spectroscopic galaxy clustering taken as independent probes. The forecasts presented in this work show that photometric void clustering and its cross-correlation with galaxy lensing deserve to be exploited in the data analysis of the Euclid galaxy survey and promise to improve its constraining power, especially on h, Ωb, the neutrino mass, and the DE evolution

Euclid: Forecasts from redshift-space distortions and the Alcock-Paczynski test with cosmic voids

Euclid is poised to survey galaxies across a cosmological volume of unprecedented size, providing observations of more than a billion objects distributed over a third of the full sky. Approximately 20 million of these galaxies will have their spectroscopy available, allowing us to map the three-dimensional large-scale structure of the Universe in great detail. This paper investigates prospects for the detection of cosmic voids therein and the unique benefit they provide for cosmological studies. In particular, we study the imprints of dynamic (redshift-space) and geometric (Alcock-Paczynski) distortions of average void shapes and their constraining power on the growth of structure and cosmological distance ratios. To this end, we made use of the Flagship mock catalog, a state-of-the-art simulation of the data expected to be observed with Euclid. We arranged the data into four adjacent redshift bins, each of which contains about 11000 voids and we estimated the stacked void-galaxy cross-correlation function in every bin. Fitting a linear-theory model to the data, we obtained constraints on f/b and DMH, where f is the linear growth rate of density fluctuations, b the galaxy bias, D-M the comoving angular diameter distance, and H the Hubble rate. In addition, we marginalized over two nuisance parameters included in our model to account for unknown systematic effects in the analysis. With this approach, Euclid will be able to reach a relative precision of about 4% on measurements of f/b and 0.5% on DMH in each redshift bin. Better modeling or calibration of the nuisance parameters may further increase this precision to 1% and 0.4%, respectively. Our results show that the exploitation of cosmic voids in Euclid will provide competitive constraints on cosmology even as a stand-alone probe. For example, the equation-of-state parameter, w, for dark energy will be measured with a precision of about 10%, consistent with previous more approximate forecasts