Ressenyes

Obra ressenyada: Histria Antiqua [revista]. Pula: University of Zagreb, International Centre of Croatian Universities in Istria; International Research Centre for Archaeology, Brijuni-Medulin

Resultats preliminars de l'excavació arqueològica a la Casa Masferrer (Vic, Osona)

L'excavació arqueològica a la Casa Masferrer ha posat en evidència la continuïtat d'ocupació humana en un dels punts més elevats de la ciutat fortificada de Vic. La presència d'un nivell de circulació d'època romana juntament amb diverses estructures i espais d'activitat d'època medieval i època moderna ens aporten informació cabdal per comprendre la gestió i els usos dels espais de l'entorn del temple romà, posteriorment del Palau dels Montcada, al llarg dels segles

The roman sarcophagus of Tui (Pontevedra, Spain): and example of a foreign marble material in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula

Como parte del proyecto de investigación Marmora Galicia, que pretende analizar la procedencia, uso y distribución del mármol utilizado en época romana dentro del territorio gallego, se ha estudiado el sarcófago marmóreo de Tui, un ejemplar prácticamente inédito. Esta pieza presenta un doble interés: por una parte, es una de las escasas piezas de mármol de gran tamaño presentes en el territorio gallego; y por otra, el estudio arqueométrico e histórico que hemos realizado sobre esta pieza ha permitido la identificación de su materia prima con una procedencia foránea, concretamente del Anticlinal de Estremoz (en el Alentejo portugués). Por lo tanto, su presencia en el noroeste peninsular es significativa para entender la inclusión de este territorio en las redes de comunicación y comercio de este tipo de materiales de época romana.As part of the Marmora Galicia research project, focused on the provenance, use and distribution of marble in Roman times in the territory of modern Galicia, the study of the marble sarcophagus of Tui has been undertaken. Besides being a practically unpublished object, it is also of interest as it is one of the few large-size marble objects found in this territory and its study has confirmed a non-local origin for the marble used to carve it. Indeed, the fact that the marble comes from the Estremoz Anticline (in modern Alentejo, Portugal) adds to the understanding of the communication networks and commerce regarding this sort of Roman materials in the NW of the Iberian Peninsula

Interlaboratory study on Sb2S3 interplay between structure, dielectric function, and morphous-to-crystalline phase change for photonics

Antimony sulfide, Sb2S3, is interesting as the phase-change material for applications requiring high transmission from the visible to telecom wavelengths, with its band gap tunable from 2.2 to 1.6 eV, depending on the amorphous and crystalline phase. Here we present results from an interlaboratory study on the interplay between the structural change and resulting optical contrast during the amorphous-to-crystalline transformation triggered both thermally and optically. By statistical analysis of Raman and ellipsometric spectroscopic data, we have identified two regimes of crystallization, namely 250_C % T < 300_C, resulting in Type-I spherulitic crystallization yielding an optical contrast Dn _ 0.4, and 300 % T < 350 _ C, yielding Type-II crystallization bended spherulitic structure with different dielectric function and optical contrast Dn _ 0.2 below 1.5 eV. Based on our findings, applications of on-chip reconfigurable nanophotonic phase modulators and of a reconfigurable high-refractive-index core/phase-change shell nanoantenna are designed and proposed.The authors acknowledge the support from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (No 899598 - PHEMTRONICS)

Pulmonary function and radiologic features in survivors of critical COVID-19: a 3-month prospective cohort

© 2021 Elsevier. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/BACKGROUND: More than 20% of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 demonstrate ARDS requiring ICU admission. The long-term respiratory sequelae in such patients remain unclear. RESEARCH QUESTION: What are the major long-term pulmonary sequelae in critical patients who survive COVID-19? STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Consecutive patients with COVID-19 requiring ICU admission were recruited and evaluated 3 months after hospitalization discharge. The follow-up comprised symptom and quality of life, anxiety and depression questionnaires, pulmonary function tests, exercise test (6-min walking test [6MWT]), and chest CT imaging. RESULTS: One hundred twenty-five patients admitted to the ICU with ARDS secondary to COVID- 19 were recruited between March and June 2020. At the 3-month follow-up, 62 patients were available for pulmonary evaluation. The most frequent symptoms were dyspnea (46.7%) and cough (34.4%). Eighty-two percent of patients showed a lung diffusing capacity of less than 80%. The median distance in the 6MWT was 400 m (interquartile range, 362-440 m). CT scans showed abnormal results in 70.2% of patients, demonstrating reticular lesions in 49.1% and fibrotic patterns in 21.1%. Patients with more severe alterations on chest CT scan showed worse pulmonary function and presented more degrees of desaturation in the 6MWT. Factors associated with the severity of lung damage on chest CT scan were age and length of invasive mechanical ventilation during the ICU stay. INTERPRETATION: Three months after hospital discharge, pulmonary structural abnormalities and functional impairment are highly prevalent in patients with ARDS secondary to COVID- 19 who required an ICU stay. Pulmonary evaluation should be considered for all critical COVID-19 survivors 3 months after discharge.This study was supported in part by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III [Grant CIBERESUCICOVID, COV20/00110] and was cofunded by European Regional Development Funds, “Una manera de hacer Europa.” D. d. G.-C. has received financial support from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III [Grant Miguel Servet 2020: CP20/00041], co-funded by the European Social Fund “Investing in Your Future.” L. P. acknowledges receiving financial support from the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities for the Training of University Lecturers (FPU19 / 03526).Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Efficacy of naloxegol on symptoms and quality of life related to opioid-induced constipation in patients with cancer: a 3-month follow-up analysis

Objectives: Opioid-induced constipation (OIC) can affect up to 63% of all patients with cancer. The objectives of this study were to assess quality of life as well as efficacy and safety of naloxegol, in patients with cancer with OIC. Methods: An observational study was made of a cohort of patients with cancer and with OIC exhibiting an inadequate response to laxatives and treated with naloxegol. The sample consisted of adult outpatients with a Karnofsky performance status score ≥50. The Patient Assessment of Constipation Quality of Life Questionnaire (PAC-QOL) and the Patient Assessment of Constipation Symptoms (PAC-SYM) were applied for 3 months. Results: A total of 126 patients (58.2% males) with a mean age of 61.3 years (range 34-89) were included. Clinically relevant improvements (>0.5 points) were recorded in the PAC-QOL and PAC-SYM questionnaires (p<0.0001) from 15 days of treatment. The number of days a week with complete spontaneous bowel movements increased significantly (p<0.0001) from 2.4 to 4.6 on day 15, 4.7 after 1 month and 5 after 3 months. Pain control significantly improved (p<0.0001) during follow-up. A total of 13.5% of the patients (17/126) presented some gastrointestinal adverse reaction, mostly of mild (62.5%) or moderate intensity (25%). Conclusions: Clinically relevant improvements in OIC-related quality of life, number of bowel movements and constipation-related symptoms were recorded as early as after 15 days of treatment with naloxegol in patients with cancer and OIC, with a good safety profile

Guía clínica para el diagnóstico y seguimiento de la distrofia miotónica tipo 1, DM1 o enfermedad de Steinert

La enfermedad de Steinert o distrofia miotónica tipo 1 (DM1), (OMIM 160900) es la miopatía más prevalente en el adulto. Es una enfermedad multisistémica con alteración de prácticamente todos los órganos y tejidos y una variabilidad fenotípica muy amplia, lo que implica que deba ser atendida por diferentes especialistas que dominen las alteraciones más importantes. En los últimos anos ˜ se ha avanzado de manera exponencial en el conocimiento de la enfermedad y en su manejo. El objetivo de la guía es establecer recomendaciones para el diagnóstico, el pronóstico, el seguimiento y el tratamiento de las diferentes alteraciones de la DM1. Esta guía de consenso se ha realizado de manera multidisciplinar. Se ha contado con neurólogos, neumólogos, cardiólogos, endocrinólogos, neuropediatras y genetistas que han realizado una revisión sistemática de la literatura. Se recomienda realizar un diagnóstico genético con cuantificación precisa de tripletes CTG. Los pacientes con DM1 deben seguir control cardiológico y neumológico de por vida. Antes de cualquier cirugía con anestesia general debe realizarse una evaluación respiratoria. Debe monitorizarse la presencia de síntomas de disfagia periódicamente. Debe ofrecerse consejo genético a los pacientes con DM1 y a sus familiares. La DM1 es una enfermedad multisistémica que requiere un seguimiento en unidades especializadas multidisciplinares

Treatment with tocilizumab or corticosteroids for COVID-19 patients with hyperinflammatory state: a multicentre cohort study (SAM-COVID-19)

Objectives: The objective of this study was to estimate the association between tocilizumab or corticosteroids and the risk of intubation or death in patients with coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) with a hyperinflammatory state according to clinical and laboratory parameters. Methods: A cohort study was performed in 60 Spanish hospitals including 778 patients with COVID-19 and clinical and laboratory data indicative of a hyperinflammatory state. Treatment was mainly with tocilizumab, an intermediate-high dose of corticosteroids (IHDC), a pulse dose of corticosteroids (PDC), combination therapy, or no treatment. Primary outcome was intubation or death; follow-up was 21 days. Propensity score-adjusted estimations using Cox regression (logistic regression if needed) were calculated. Propensity scores were used as confounders, matching variables and for the inverse probability of treatment weights (IPTWs). Results: In all, 88, 117, 78 and 151 patients treated with tocilizumab, IHDC, PDC, and combination therapy, respectively, were compared with 344 untreated patients. The primary endpoint occurred in 10 (11.4%), 27 (23.1%), 12 (15.4%), 40 (25.6%) and 69 (21.1%), respectively. The IPTW-based hazard ratios (odds ratio for combination therapy) for the primary endpoint were 0.32 (95%CI 0.22-0.47; p < 0.001) for tocilizumab, 0.82 (0.71-1.30; p 0.82) for IHDC, 0.61 (0.43-0.86; p 0.006) for PDC, and 1.17 (0.86-1.58; p 0.30) for combination therapy. Other applications of the propensity score provided similar results, but were not significant for PDC. Tocilizumab was also associated with lower hazard of death alone in IPTW analysis (0.07; 0.02-0.17; p < 0.001). Conclusions: Tocilizumab might be useful in COVID-19 patients with a hyperinflammatory state and should be prioritized for randomized trials in this situatio

CIBERER : Spanish national network for research on rare diseases: A highly productive collaborative initiative

Altres ajuts: Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII); Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación.CIBER (Center for Biomedical Network Research; Centro de Investigación Biomédica En Red) is a public national consortium created in 2006 under the umbrella of the Spanish National Institute of Health Carlos III (ISCIII). This innovative research structure comprises 11 different specific areas dedicated to the main public health priorities in the National Health System. CIBERER, the thematic area of CIBER focused on rare diseases (RDs) currently consists of 75 research groups belonging to universities, research centers, and hospitals of the entire country. CIBERER's mission is to be a center prioritizing and favoring collaboration and cooperation between biomedical and clinical research groups, with special emphasis on the aspects of genetic, molecular, biochemical, and cellular research of RDs. This research is the basis for providing new tools for the diagnosis and therapy of low-prevalence diseases, in line with the International Rare Diseases Research Consortium (IRDiRC) objectives, thus favoring translational research between the scientific environment of the laboratory and the clinical setting of health centers. In this article, we intend to review CIBERER's 15-year journey and summarize the main results obtained in terms of internationalization, scientific production, contributions toward the discovery of new therapies and novel genes associated to diseases, cooperation with patients' associations and many other topics related to RD research