Los sonidos del pasado. Aproximación a la tradición oral como fuente histórica: análisis de la epopeya de Sundjata Keita

Treballs Finals de Grau en Història, Facultat de Geografia i Història, Universitat de Barcelona, Curs: 2012-2013, Tutor: Natalia Moragas SeguraEl presente trabajo se expone como un acercamiento a la tradición oral de pueblos, hasta hace poco, ágrafos, intentando dilucidar las formas de su pensamiento y de la transmisión de su sabiduría. Como caso de estudio tomaré la producción oral de epopeyas heroicas en el Oeste africano y, específicamente, el relato de Sundjata Keita y el papel protagonista que ostenta el griot en su transmisión, erigiéndose como guardián de la tradición de su comunidad

Role of age and comorbidities in mortality of patients with infective endocarditis

[Purpose]: The aim of this study was to analyse the characteristics of patients with IE in three groups of age and to assess the ability of age and the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) to predict mortality. [Methods]: Prospective cohort study of all patients with IE included in the GAMES Spanish database between 2008 and 2015.Patients were stratified into three age groups:<65 years,65 to 80 years,and ≥ 80 years.The area under the receiver-operating characteristic (AUROC) curve was calculated to quantify the diagnostic accuracy of the CCI to predict mortality risk. [Results]: A total of 3120 patients with IE (1327 < 65 years;1291 65-80 years;502 ≥ 80 years) were enrolled.Fever and heart failure were the most common presentations of IE, with no differences among age groups.Patients ≥80 years who underwent surgery were significantly lower compared with other age groups (14.3%,65 years; 20.5%,65-79 years; 31.3%,≥80 years). In-hospital mortality was lower in the <65-year group (20.3%,<65 years;30.1%,65-79 years;34.7%,≥80 years;p < 0.001) as well as 1-year mortality (3.2%, <65 years; 5.5%, 65-80 years;7.6%,≥80 years; p = 0.003).Independent predictors of mortality were age ≥ 80 years (hazard ratio [HR]:2.78;95% confidence interval [CI]:2.32–3.34), CCI ≥ 3 (HR:1.62; 95% CI:1.39–1.88),and non-performed surgery (HR:1.64;95% CI:11.16–1.58).When the three age groups were compared,the AUROC curve for CCI was significantly larger for patients aged <65 years(p < 0.001) for both in-hospital and 1-year mortality. [Conclusion]: There were no differences in the clinical presentation of IE between the groups. Age ≥ 80 years, high comorbidity (measured by CCI),and non-performance of surgery were independent predictors of mortality in patients with IE.CCI could help to identify those patients with IE and surgical indication who present a lower risk of in-hospital and 1-year mortality after surgery, especially in the <65-year group

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

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

Identification of regulatory variants associated with genetic susceptibility to meningococcal disease.

Non-coding genetic variants play an important role in driving susceptibility to complex diseases but their characterization remains challenging. Here, we employed a novel approach to interrogate the genetic risk of such polymorphisms in a more systematic way by targeting specific regulatory regions relevant for the phenotype studied. We applied this method to meningococcal disease susceptibility, using the DNA binding pattern of RELA - a NF-kB subunit, master regulator of the response to infection - under bacterial stimuli in nasopharyngeal epithelial cells. We designed a custom panel to cover these RELA binding sites and used it for targeted sequencing in cases and controls. Variant calling and association analysis were performed followed by validation of candidate polymorphisms by genotyping in three independent cohorts. We identified two new polymorphisms, rs4823231 and rs11913168, showing signs of association with meningococcal disease susceptibility. In addition, using our genomic data as well as publicly available resources, we found evidences for these SNPs to have potential regulatory effects on ATXN10 and LIF genes respectively. The variants and related candidate genes are relevant for infectious diseases and may have important contribution for meningococcal disease pathology. Finally, we described a novel genetic association approach that could be applied to other phenotypes

Higher COVID-19 pneumonia risk associated with anti-IFN-α than with anti-IFN-ω auto-Abs in children

We found that 19 (10.4%) of 183 unvaccinated children hospitalized for COVID-19 pneumonia had autoantibodies (auto-Abs) neutralizing type I IFNs (IFN-alpha 2 in 10 patients: IFN-alpha 2 only in three, IFN-alpha 2 plus IFN-omega in five, and IFN-alpha 2, IFN-omega plus IFN-beta in two; IFN-omega only in nine patients). Seven children (3.8%) had Abs neutralizing at least 10 ng/ml of one IFN, whereas the other 12 (6.6%) had Abs neutralizing only 100 pg/ml. The auto-Abs neutralized both unglycosylated and glycosylated IFNs. We also detected auto-Abs neutralizing 100 pg/ml IFN-alpha 2 in 4 of 2,267 uninfected children (0.2%) and auto-Abs neutralizing IFN-omega in 45 children (2%). The odds ratios (ORs) for life-threatening COVID-19 pneumonia were, therefore, higher for auto-Abs neutralizing IFN-alpha 2 only (OR [95% CI] = 67.6 [5.7-9,196.6]) than for auto-Abs neutralizing IFN-. only (OR [95% CI] = 2.6 [1.2-5.3]). ORs were also higher for auto-Abs neutralizing high concentrations (OR [95% CI] = 12.9 [4.6-35.9]) than for those neutralizing low concentrations (OR [95% CI] = 5.5 [3.1-9.6]) of IFN-omega and/or IFN-alpha 2

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 ar

Galician Students’Perceptions of their Own Variety and Other speakers’ Dialectal Varieties

Presentamos neste artigo parte dos resultados dunha investigación realizada coa técnica do grupo de discusión entre o alumnado do último curso de secundaria de diferentes puntos de Galicia. A análise do discurso do alumnado centrámola nesta ocasión arredor da variación diatópica, desde o nivel de coñecemento ata a valoración da diversidade que o alumnado desta idade posúe, tanto sobre o castelán coma sobre o galego. Nesta última lingua puxemos o foco para analizar máis polo miúdo a forma en que o estudantado galegofalante denominaba e valoraba o seu xeito de falar, aspecto que nos levou a afondar na cuestión do castrapo.In this paper we present part of the results of an investigation carried out through the group discussion technique with the pupils of the last grade of Secondary school from different parts in Galicia. This time the analysis of the student discourse was focused on the diatopic variation, considering from the students’ knowledge up to their appraisal of their own language diversity as regards both Spanish and Galician. As for the Galician language, we concentrated on the way the Galician-speaking students named and assessed their mode of speaking; this issue led us to delve into the concept of «castrapo»

Detección precoz del uso problemático de Internet en adolescentes, en pediatría de atención primaria

Background: Use of the Internet has grown exponentially and adolescents are considered one of the most vulnerable groups in this new environment. Hence the problematic use of the Internet (PIU) at this stage has become a concern for a growing number of researchers. Taking into account the interest that this issue has generated at many levels, the aim of this paper is to find the prevalence of PIU among adolescents in the health area of Vigo (Spain). Methods: Cross-sectional descriptive study. The PIU validated scale was applied to children between 10 and 16 years old, captured by systematic sampling with replacement in the primary care consultations of four health centers. A descriptive and bivariate analysis was performed. Results: The questionnaire was applaid to 165 children, 51.2% men. Problematic Internet use was observed in 38.8% (95% CI: 31.7-46.4), higher in women (46.3%) than in men (31.8%), with no significant differences (p 0.07). By age groups, the positive rate on the scale reached 36.8% in the 13-14 year range and 48.6% in the 15-16 range. The item that reached the highest score was “When I am online, I feel that time flies and hours pass without me realizing it” (60.6%). Conclusions: The prevalence of UPI in children / adolescents is similar to that observed in Asian adolescents. This study is the first to apply a scale validated and adapted to the Spanish cultural context in the daily practice of Primary Care consultations. Its use would allow to identify the PIU in this context and intervene if necessary.Fundamentos: El uso de Internet ha crecido exponencialmente y los adolescentes son considerados uno de los grupos más vulnerables en este nuevo contexto. De ahí que el uso problemático de Internet (UPI) en esta etapa se haya convertido en una preocupación para un número creciente de investigadores. Teniendo en cuenta el interés que este tema ha generado en muchos niveles, el objetivo de este trabajo fue conocer la prevalencia del uso problemático de Internet entre los niños/adolescentes del área sanitaria de Vigo (España). Métodos: Se realizó un estudio descriptivo transversal. Se aplicó la escala validada EUPI-a a niños entre 10 y 16 años, captados por muestreo sistemático con reposición en las consultas de atención primaria de cuatro centros de salud. Se elaboró posteriormente un análisis descriptivo y bivariante. Resultados: Se entregó el cuestionario a 165 niños, de los que el 51,2% eran varones. Se objetivó un uso problemático de Internet en el 38,8% (IC 95%: 31,7-46,4), mayor en mujeres (46,3%) que en varones (31,8%), aunque no se constataron diferencias estadísticamente significativas (p=0,07). Por grupos de edad, la tasa de positivos en la escala alcanzó un 36,8% en la franja de 13-14 años y un 48,6% en la de 15-16 años. El ítem que alcanzó mayor puntuación fue “Cuando me conecto siento que el tiempo vuela y pasan las horas sin darme cuenta” (60,6%). Conclusiones: La prevalencia de UPI en niños/adolescentes es similar a la observada en adolescentes asiáticos. Este estudio es el primero en aplicar una escala validada y adaptada al contexto cultural español en la práctica diaria de una consulta de atención primaria. Su utilización en este entorno permitiría identificar el UPI e intervenir si fuera preciso