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Analytical methods used in mineral analysis laboratories are susceptible to significant sources of random error that define the level of intralaboratory precision. This requires a good quality control system to ensure that analytical performance is within statistical criteria established by institutional, national, or international bodies. The Horwitz equation and the Horwitz ratio (HorRat) are two related parameters derived from the historical reproducibility analysis that allow for predicting interlaboratory precision and establishing control criteria. The Horwitz ratio can be used not only to establish precision control methodologies between laboratories but also within them. This paper presents the development of a methodology based on the Horwitz ratio to enhance the existing precision quality system based on minimum difference tolerances through volumetric analysis. Data obtained from the quantification of iron, nickel, and cobalt by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry were analyzed for precision control verification. The HorRat values for iron ranged from 0.48 to 1.25 across concentrations ranging from 3.5 to 48.95%. For nickel, it ranged from 0.20 to 0.36 within the concentration interval of 0.2 to 4.99%. For cobalt, the HorRat ranged from 0.56 to 2.05 across concentrations from 0.01 to 0.499%. An acceptance criterion of HorRat < 1 was established, revealing problems in the established system resulting from the assumption of volumetric tolerances for a spectrometric method. The main deficiencies in the existing methodology were detected in the quantification of iron. The Horwitz-based methodology presented allowed for the improvement of intralaboratory precision and maintained better control over the process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sugarcane borer, Diatraea saccharalis, is one of the most important pests of sugarcane and corn crops in Argentina. In general, there are no control methods to manage this insect in the cane fields in the country. So, the development of borer resistance in sugarcane through transgenic technology could be the best approach, as in the case of Bt corn derived of the Bacillus thuringensis bacterium that has been the primary tool for managing this borer in the field. However, sugarcane borer control has been threatened by observations of resistance to certain varieties of Bt corn and the protein used in many new varieties. The susceptibility of two populations of sugarcane borer to different Bt toxins expressed in five genetically modified corns (two single and three pyramided genes) was determined for the development of a transgenic sugarcane. In laboratory bioassays, larval mortality of both populations on Bt corn leaf tissue containing Cry1F toxin was lower than other Bt technologies at 3 days of exposure. However, there were no significant differences between larval mortality of the five Bt corns at 7 days after infestation. In a greenhouse trial, larval survival and plant injury were not significant in Bt corns. The results suggest that any Bt protein could be incorporated into sugarcane crops for managing D. saccharalis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sudden cardiac death in children is a rare event, but of great social significance. Generally, it is related to heart disease with a risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD), which may occur with cardiovascular symptoms and/or electrocardiographic markers; thus, a primary care paediatrician (PCP) could detect them. Therefore, we proposed a study that assesses how to put into practice and conduct a cardiovascular assessment within the routine healthy-child check-ups at six and twelve years of age; that reflects cardiovascular signs and symptoms, as well as the electrocardiographic alterations that children with a risk of SCD in the selected population present; and that assesses the PCP's skill at electrocardiogram (ECG) interpretation. In collaboration with PCPs, primary care nurses, and paediatric cardiologists, an observational, descriptive, multicentre, cross-sectional study was carried out in the Balearic Islands (Spain), from April 2021 to January 2022, inclusive. The PCPs gathered patient data through forms (medical record, electrocardiogram, and physical examination) and sent them to the investigator, together with the informed consent document and electrocardiogram. The investigator passed the electrocardiogram on to the paediatric cardiologists for reading, in an identical form to those the paediatricians had filled in. The variables were collected, and a descriptive analysis performed. Three paediatric cardiologists, twelve PCPs, and nine nurses from seven public health centres took part. They collected the data from 641 patients, but 233 patients did not participate (in 81.11% due to the PCP's workload). Therefore, the study coverage was around 64%, representing the quotient of the total number of patients who participated, divided by the total number of patients who were eligible for the study. We detected 30 patients with electrocardiographic alterations compatible with SCD risk. Nine of these had been examined by a paediatric cardiologist at some time (functional murmur in 8/9), five had reported shortness of breath with exercise, and four had reported a family history of sudden death. The physical examination of all the patients whose ECG was compatible with a risk of SCD was normal. Upon analysing to what extent the ECG results of the PCP and the paediatric cardiologist agreed, the percentage of agreement in the final interpretation (normal/altered) was 91.9%, while Cohen's kappa coefficient was 31.2% (CI 95%: 13.8–48.6%). The sensitivity of the ECG interpretation by the PCP to detect an ECG compatible with a risk of SCD was 29% and the positive predictive value 45%. Conclusions: This study lays the foundations for future SCD risk screening in children, performed by PCPs. However, previously, it would be important to optimise their training in reading and interpreting paediatric ECGs. What is Known: • In Spain at present, there is a programme in place to detect heart disease with a risk of sudden death [1], but it targets only children who are starting on or are doing a physical activity as a federated sport. Implementing such screening programmes has proven effective in several countries [2]. However, several studies showed that the incidence of sudden cardiac death is no higher in children competing in sport activities than in those who do not do any sport [3]. This poses an ethical conflict, because at present, children who do not do any federated sport are excluded from screening. According to the revised literature, so far, only in two studies did they screen the child population at schools, and in both, they successfully detected patients with heart disease associated to the risk of sudden death [4-5]. We have found no studies where the screening of these features was included within the routine healthy-child check-ups by primary care paediatricians. What is New: • We did not know whether—in our setting, at present—the primary care paediatrician could perform a screening method within the routine healthy-child check-ups, in order to detect presumably healthy children at risk of sudden cardiac death, as they present one of the SCD risks. In this regard, we proposed our project: to assess how to put into practice and conduct a cardiovascular assessment via SCD risk screening in the healthy child population by primary care paediatricians and appraise primary care paediatricians' skills in identifying the electrocardiographic alterations associated with SCD risk. The ultimate intention of this pilot study was to make it possible, in the future, to design and justify a study aimed at universalising cardiovascular screening and achieving a long-term decrease in sudden cardiac death events in children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a review of voltammetric and related methods implemented with low-cost, mainly lab-made instrumentation. In recent years, there has been a growing interest in developing low-cost electrochemical instrumentation. Advances in electronics and software have made it easier to access high-performance components for the construction of potentiostats. Currently, lab-made instrumentation for electrochemical research can be very simple, with minimal components to perturb the system and record the response signal. It can also be very advanced, using high-performance electronic components and software development. Several authors have presented the feasibility of designing and manufacturing electrochemical instruments for voltammetry, chronoamperometry, chronopotentiometry, and electrodeposition. This review presents some available options, ranging from basic to advanced. The aim is to provide readers with the full range of possibilities for using their own instruments, especially in cases where access to commercial apparatus is difficult or where specific applications are needed, for example in the Internet of Things or artificial intelligence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change induced shifts in treeline position, both towards higher altitudes and latitudes induce changes in soil organic matter. Eventually, soil organic matter is transported to alpine and subarctic lakes with yet unknown consequences for dissolved organic matter (DOM) diversity and processing. Here, we experimentally investigate the consequences of treeline shifts by amending subarctic and temperate alpine lake water with soil-derived DOM from above and below the treeline. We use ultra-high resolution mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS) to track molecular DOM diversity (i.e., chemodiversity), estimate DOM decay and measure bacterial growth efficiency. In both lakes, soil-derived DOM from below the treeline increases lake DOM chemodiversity mainly through the enrichment with polyphenolic and highly unsaturated compounds. These compositional changes are associated with reductions in bulk and compound-level DOM reactivity and reduced bacterial growth efficiency. Our results suggest that treeline advancement has the potential to enrich a large number of lake ecosystems with less biodegradable DOM, affecting bacterial community function and potentially altering the biogeochemical cycling of carbon in lakes at high latitudes and altitudes. Shifts in the treeline may induce changes in organic matter composition of lakes at high altitude and latitude. Here, the authors experimentally unravel effects of soil-derived DOM for lake carbon biogeochemistry and bacterial carbon use efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic posed a major challenge to universities. It forced them to face the urgent need to rapidly transform their traditional onsite teaching into an emergency remote teaching (ERT) model rather than being able to gradually introduce an effective transition to an online model. Based on a sample of 505 students enrolled in the course on Work Organization at the University of Murcia in Spain, this study analyzes the impact of implementing an ERT model on students' academic performance. Results show that students display superior academic performance in an onsite teaching–learning model compared to the online ones adopted during COVID-19. Findings also reveal that students' self-assessment activities enhance their academic performance—both in onsite and online teaching contexts—which implies that ERT model performance can be alleviated by adequately planning self-assessment activities during the course. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sandflies are the primary transmission vector for Leishmania spp parasite in endemic regions. The role of other animals, different from the dog, is under discussion in the leishmaniosis endemic countries. A limited number of reports have been published on the possible role of livestock in European countries for Leishmania maintenance and diffusion. The aim of the present study was to perform a serosurvey on sheep in areas of Spain that are endemic for zoonotic leishmaniosis and establish the possible role of sheep regarding Leishmania infantum infection in endemic areas. Three hundred and two serum samples were obtained from sheep and were evaluated for serological survey to detect L. infantum by using the in-house ELISA technique. Twenty-eight out of the 302 samples included in this study, were positive for L. infantum antibodies (9.27%). In the present study, a significant association was found between adult age and seropositivity (p = 0.006) and female gender and seropositivity (p = 0.02). This association has not been previously described in other European studies related to L. infantum infection in sheep. Our study reveals that domestic sheep in a European Mediterranean country are exposed to L. infantum. To our knowledge, this study demonstrates the presence of seropositive sheep in different regions of Spain for the first time. Further epidemiological studies focus on evaluating the rural cycle of this parasite to know if livestock could act as a potential reservoir are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SARS-CoV-2 is the causal agent of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in humans that emerged in late 2019. This virus is able to infect humans and different animal species. Among pets, cats and ferrets are more susceptible to be infected by the SARS-CoV-2. Epidemiological studies are an important tool to provide information under natural conditions of exposure to SARS-CoV-2 virus. In comparison to cats, limited epidemiological studies have been performed in domestic ferrets (Mustela putorius furo) reporting the presence of antibodies in this species. This study analysed the presence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in 432 cliend-owned ferrets from different geographical areas of Spain during the different waves of COVID-19 outbreaks from December 2019 to May 2023 (42 months). For this purpose, anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies were detected by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent method (ELISA) using the receptor binding domain (RBD) of Spike antigen and confirmed by serum virus neutralization assay. Eighteen of the 432 ferrets included were seroreactive by the in-house ELISA (4.17%, 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 2.65–6.49). In this sense, the wave of COVID-19 with the higher number of seropositive ferrets occurred during the seventh wave when the different Omicron subvariants were the dominant virus variants. Our results suggest that the risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission in domestic ferrets in natural conditions is low. Further research is need to evaluate the potential risk of transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from human to pets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines migration representation in three parliamentary chambers: the Spanish Chamber, the European Parliament, and the British House of Commons. The time span of its analysis coincides with the eighth Legislature of Spain (2004–2008). The reasons for this decision are straightforward. If parliaments portray or construct ideological debates in democratic societies, it seems logical to turn our attention to them as a means of assessing the nature and quality of comparable but different multicultural environments in which migration is a major defining feature. Furthermore, this time span allows for an examination of such societies at different ideological phases, for example, Spain’s conceptualisation of migration in the initial stages of parliamentary representation. The study expands the method of corpus-assisted analysis through a critical theoretical framework proposed by the socio-political scientist Zapata-Barrero. Data were obtained from the European Comparable and Parallel Corpus Archive of Parliamentary Speeches. Well-established tools in corpus linguistics, such as frequency and collocation, were employed, leading to an examination of Zapata-Barrero’s reactive and proactive discourses. The quantitative methods used were especially in-depth, undertaking an exhaustive descriptive and statistical treatment and aiming to strengthen the validity of subsequent qualitative analyses. Consequently, a virtuous circle was achieved: the corpus linguistic procedures reached higher levels of theoretical abstraction, while Zapata-Barrero’s framework gained robustness and more potential for generalisation. The study’s originality, thus, lies in the mutual synergies activated by this theoretical and methodological combination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The lumbopelvic muscle mechanical properties (MMPs) are clinically relevant, but their dependence on sex remains unknown. Therefore, this study aimed to identify if lumbopelvic MMPs depend on the sex in a young adult population. Thirty-five healthy nulliparous women and 35 healthy men were analyzed (age range: 18–50). Lumbopelvic MMPs, that is, tone, stiffness, elasticity, relaxation and creep, assessed with MyotonPRO®, and pelvic floor (PF) health questionnaires were compared between-sexes. Intra-group correlations between sociodemographic and clinical data, and MMPs were also determined. The MMPs of PF were different between healthy non-climacteric adults of both sexes, with women showing higher values of tone and stiffness and lower values of elasticity and viscoelastic properties than men (in all cases, p < 0.03). At lumbar level, tone and stiffness were higher for men at both sides (in all cases, p < 0.04), and relaxation was lower at left side (p = 0.02). The MMPs showed few correlations with sociodemographic data within women. However, within males, there were positive correlations for PF stiffness and viscoelastic parameters with age, BMI and function (0.334 < r < 0.591) and, at lumbar level, negative correlations for tone and stiffness (− 0.385 < r < −0.590) and positive correlations for viscoelastic properties (0.564 < r < 0.719), with BMI. This indicated that between-sexes differences of lumbopelvic MMPs depend on the specific location of assessment in healthy non-obese young individuals. Women show higher tone and stiffness and lower elasticity and viscoelasticity than men, at PF level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 is the causative agent of Coronavirus Disease 2019 in humans. To date, little is known about the persistence of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in animals under natural conditions, in particular susceptible pets such as cat. This study reports the detection and monitoring of the humoral response against SARS-CoV-2 including the detection of immunoglobulins G specific for receptor binding domain of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and neutralizing antibodies by virus neutralization assay. Results showed that these antibodies last longer than 16 months in two naturally apparently healthy infected cats with the absence of clinicopathological findings during the follow-up. Moreover, re-infection is also possible with an important increase in virus neutralization test titers in both animals with no evident systemic signs found during each physical examination and with values of hematologic and biochemical parameters inside the normal reference intervals. Our results confirm a slow but progressive decrease of the kinetics and immunity of neutralizing antibodies in cats after the infection. Furthermore, similar to humans SARS-CoV-2 reinfection can stimulate an increase of the neutralizing antibodies determined by these two serological techniques in domestic cats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numbers and languages are present around the world. While mathematics is deemed as universal, communities around the world have developed mathematical practices that align with their specific context and needs. Rooted in an Indigenous epistemological framework, this manuscript presents a dialogue among four co-researchers and teachers retelling their experiences teaching and learning Mesoamerican numbers in both monolingual (Spanish) and bilingual (Ixil and Spanish) contexts. With a strong desire to learn about and reconnect with the forces of Indigenous mathematical thought and language that move within the teaching and learning of these numbers, the authors collectively reflected on their "tellings" of prior work. It is worthy of note that these reflections on teaching and learning processes of naming Mesoamerican numbers, their symbols, and numerical values help realize that these concepts are more fully animated when presented in contexts that are onto-epistemologically relevant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this article was to assess the cost-effectiveness of screening strategies for cardiovascular diseases (CVD). A decision analytic model was constructed to estimate the costs and benefits of one-off screening strategies differentiated by screening age, sex and the threshold for initiating statin therapy ("uniform" or "age-adjusted") from the Spanish NHS perspective. The age-adjusted thresholds were configured so that the same number of people at high risk would be treated as under the uniform threshold. Health benefit was measured in quality-adjusted life years (QALY). Transition rates were estimated from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC-CVD), a large multicentre nested case-cohort study with 12 years of follow-up. Unit costs of primary care, hospitalizations and CVD care were taken from the Spanish health system. Univariate and probabilistic sensitivity analyses were employed. The comparator was no systematic screening program. The base case model showed that the most efficient one-off strategy is to screen both men and women at 40 years old using a uniform risk threshold for initiating statin treatment (Incremental Cost-Effectiveness Ratio of €3,274/QALY and €6,085/QALY for men and women, respectively). Re-allocating statin treatment towards younger individuals at high risk for their age and sex would not offset the benefit obtained using those same resources to treat older individuals. Results are sensitive to assumptions about CVD incidence rates. To conclude, one-off screening for CVD using a uniform risk threshold appears cost-effective compared with no systematic screening. These results should be evaluated in clinical studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To analyze using Pentacam®, the corneal and anterior chamber changes following periocular botulinum toxin injection in patients with facial dystonia. Methods: Prospective study that included patients with facial dystonia that were going to receive a periocular botulinum toxin injection for the first time or six months or more after the previous injection. A Pentacam® examination was carried out in all patients before and 4 weeks after the injection. Results: Thirty-one eyes were included. Twenty-two had a diagnosis of blepharospasm and nine of hemifacial spasm. Analysis of corneal and anterior chamber parameters revealed a significant decrease in iridocorneal angle after botulinum toxin injection (from 35 ± 10º to 33.8 ± 9.7º, p = 0.022). No other corneal or anterior chamber parameters changed significantly after the injection. Conclusions: Periocular botulinum toxin injection causes narrowing of the iridocorneal angle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Anti-CGRP monoclonal antibodies have shown notable effectiveness and tolerability in migraine patients; however, data on their use in elderly patients is still lacking, as clinical trials have implicit age restrictions and real-world evidence is scarce. In this study, we aimed to describe the safety and effectiveness of erenumab, galcanezumab and fremanezumab in migraine patients over 65 years old in real-life. Methods: In this observational real-life study, a retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data from 18 different headache units in Spain was performed. Migraine patients who started treatment with any anti-CGRP monoclonal antibody after the age of 65 years were included. Primary endpoints were reduction in monthly migraine days after 6 months of treatment and the presence of adverse effects. Secondary endpoints were reductions in headache and medication intake frequencies by months 3 and 6, response rates, changes in patient-reported outcomes and reasons for discontinuation. As a subanalysis, reduction in monthly migraine days and proportion of adverse effects were also compared among the three monoclonal antibodies. Results: A total of 162 patients were included, median age 68 years (range 65–87), 74.1% women. 42% had dyslipidaemia, 40.3% hypertension, 8% diabetes, and 6.2% previous cardiovascular ischaemic disease. The reduction in monthly migraine days at month 6 was 10.1 ± 7.3 days. A total of 25.3% of patients presented adverse effects, all of them mild, with only two cases of blood pressure increase. Headache and medication intake frequencies were significantly reduced, and patient-reported outcomes were improved. The proportions of responders were 68%, 57%, 33% and 9% for reductions in monthly migraine days ≥ 30%, ≥ 50%, ≥ 75% and 100%, respectively. A total of 72.8% of patients continued with the treatment after 6 months. The reduction in migraine days was similar for the different anti-CGRP treatments, but fewer adverse effects were detected with fremanezumab (7.7%). Conclusions: Anti-CGRP mAbs are safe and effective treatments in migraine patients over 65 years old in real-life clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The stem borer, Diatraea saccharalis, is the most important sugarcane pest in Argentina. The objective of this work was to analyze the damage distribution and sugar losses caused by D. saccharalis across 2016–2020 seasons in the Northwest region of Argentina. The average damage level in the seasons studied was 5.97% in Tucumán province and 5.06% in Jujuy province, with total sugar losses of 58.105 tons and 9.869 tons, respectively. Infestation maps were made in the studied provinces using Geographic Information Systems helping us to implement appropriate control strategies against this pest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Milk is a source of proteins with high nutritional value and relevant biological activities. Bioactive milk proteins, like lactoferrin, are important for newborn development and can also be used as ingredients in functional products to improve health. Lactoferrin is essential in infant's diet, since protects against infections and promotes immune system maturation. Bovine lactoferrin is used to supplement formula milk in order to strengthen baby's defences against some pathogenic bacteria. Thus, lactoferrin supplemented formula can be a barrier against emergent pathogens, such as Cronobacter sakazakii, which has caused great concern in the last few years. Milk proteins generate bioactive peptides in the digestion process, and it is known that industrial processing can modify their susceptibility to digestion. Treatments such as heating have been shown to denature whey proteins and make them more easily digestible. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyze the effect of technological treatments and gastrointestinal digestion on the antibacterial activity against C. sakazakii of proteins present in dairy formulas supplemented with lactoferrin. Commercial bovine lactoferrin has been shown to have antibacterial activity against C. sakazakii, both in the native state and after static in vitro gastrointestinal digestion. In addition, the digests obtained from dairy formulas subjected to technological treatments, either homogenization or pasteurization, have higher antibacterial activity than non-treated formulas. The release of low molecular weight peptides during the in vitro gastric digestion is probably the cause that would explain the enhanced antibacterial activity of the digested dairy formulas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 is the causative agent of Coronavirus Disease 2019 in humans. Among domestic animals, cats are more susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 than dogs. The detection of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in seemingly healthy cats and/or infected cats which are in close contact with infected humans has been described. The presence of animals that tested positive by serology or molecular techniques could represent a potential transmission pathway of SARS-CoV-2 that can spill over into urban wildlife. This study analyses the seroprevalence variation of SARS-CoV-2 in stray cats from different waves of outbreaks in a geographical area where previous seroepidemiological information of SARS-CoV-2 was available and investigate if SARS-CoV-2-seropositive cats were exposed to other co-infections causing an immunosuppressive status and/or a chronic disease that could lead to a SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility. For this purpose, a total of 254 stray cats from Zaragoza (Spain) were included. This analysis was carried out by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay using the receptor binding domain of Spike antigen and confirmed by serum virus neutralization assay. The presence of co-infections including Toxoplasma gondii, Leishmania infantum, Dirofilaria immitis, feline calicivirus, feline herpesvirus type 1, feline leukemia virus and feline immunodeficiency virus, was evaluated using different serological methods. A seropositivity of 1.57% was observed for SARS-CoV-2 including the presence of neutralizing antibodies in three cats. None of the seropositive to SARS-CoV-2 cats were positive to feline coronavirus, however, four SARS-CoV-2-seropositive cats were also seropositive to other pathogens such as L. infantum, D. immitis and FIV (n = 1), L. infantum and D. immitis (n = 1) and L. infantum alone (n = 1).Considering other pathogens, a seroprevalence of 16.54% was detected for L. infantum, 30.31% for D. immitis, 13.78%, for T. gondii, 83.86% for feline calicivirus, 42.52% for feline herpesvirus type 1, 3.15% for FeLV and 7.87% for FIV. Our findings suggest that the epidemiological role of stray cats in SARS-CoV-2 transmission is scarce, and there is no increase in seropositivity during the different waves of COVID-19 outbreaks in this group of animals. Further epidemiological surveillances are necessary to determine the risk that other animals might possess even though stray cats do not seem to play a role in transmission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

l-Asparaginase is an antileukemic drug long approved for clinical use to treat childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the most common cancer in this population worldwide. However, the efficacy and its use as a drug have been subject to debate due to the variety of adverse effects that patients treated with it present, as well as the prompt elimination in plasma, the need for multiple administrations, and high rates of allergic reactions. For this reason, the search for new, less immunogenic variants has long been the subject of study. This review presents the main aspects of the l-asparaginase enzyme from a structural, pharmacological, and clinical point of view, from the perspective of its use in chemotherapy protocols in conjunction with other drugs in the different treatment phases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Migraine is one of the most prevalent and disabling medical diseases in the world. The periaqueductal gray matter and the red nucleus play an important role in its pathogenesis. Our aim was to evaluate the echogenicity of the periaqueductal gray matter and the red nucleus in patients with migraine, by means of transcranial ultrasound. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, a group of patients with migraine (according to the International Classification of Headache Disorders) and a group of control subjects with comparable age-and-sex distribution were prospectively included. We evaluated the area and echogenicity of the periaqueductal gray matter and the red nucleus by means of transcranial ultrasound, both bedside and posteriorly analyzed with the medical image viewer Horos. Results: We included 115 subjects: 65 patients with migraine (39 of them with chronic migraine and 26 with episodic migraine), and 50 controls. Median disease duration in patients with chronic migraine was 29 (IQR: 19; 40) years, with a median of 18 (IQR: 14; 27) days of migraine per month. The area of the periaqueductal gray matter was larger in patients with chronic migraine compared to episodic migraine and controls (0.15[95%CI 0.12;0.22]cm2; 0.11[95%CI 0.10;0.14]cm2 and 0.12[95%CI 0.09;0.15]cm2, respectively; p = 0.043). Chronic migraine patients showed an intensity of the periaqueductal gray matter echogenicity lower than controls (90.57[95%CI 70.87;117.26] vs 109.56[95%CI 83.30;122.64]; p = 0.035). The coefficient of variation of periaqueductal gray matter echogenicity was the highest in chronic migraine patients (p = 0.009). No differences were observed regarding the area or intensity of red nucleus echogenicity among groups. Conclusion: Patients with chronic migraine showed a larger area of echogenicity of periaqueductal gray matter, a lower intensity of its echogenicity and a higher heterogenicity within this brainstem structure compared to patients with episodic migraine and controls. The echogenicity of the periaqueductal gray matter should be further investigated as a biomarker of migraine chronification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the extensive use of the cuprizone (CPZ) demyelination animal model, there is little evidence regarding the effects of CPZ on a cellular level. Initial studies have suggested that oligodendrocytes (OL) are the main cell targets for CPZ toxicity. However, recent data have revealed additional effects on neural stem cells and progenitor cells (NSC/NPC), which constitute a reservoir for OL regeneration during brain remyelination. We cultured NSC/NPC as neurospheres to investigate CPZ effects on cell mechanisms which are thought to be involved in demyelination and remyelination processes in vivo. Proliferating NSC/NPC cultures exposed to CPZ showed overproduction of intracellular reactive oxygen species and increased progenitor migration at the expense of a significant inhibition of cell proliferation. Although NSC/NPC survival was not affected by CPZ in proliferative conditions, we found that CPZ-treated cultures undergoing cell differentiation were more prone to cell death than controls. The commitment and cell differentiation towards neural lineages did not seem to be affected by CPZ, as shown by the conserved proportions of OL, astrocytes, and neurons. Nevertheless, when CPZ treatment was performed after cell differentiation, we detected a significant reduction in the number and the morphological complexity of OL, astrogliosis, and neuronal damage. We conclude that, in addition to damaging mature OL, CPZ also reduces NSC/NPC proliferation and activates progenitor migration. These results shed light on CPZ direct effects on NSC proliferation and the progression of in vitro differentiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the ParlaMint corpora containing transcriptions of the sessions of the 17 European national parliaments with half a billion words. The corpora are uniformly encoded, contain rich meta-data about 11 thousand speakers, and are linguistically annotated following the Universal Dependencies formalism and with named entities. Samples of the corpora and conversion scripts are available from the project's GitHub repository, and the complete corpora are openly available via the CLARIN.SI repository for download, as well as through the NoSketch Engine and KonText concordancers and the Parlameter interface for on-line exploration and analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of thermal and ultrasound treatments on denaturation and allergenicity of Pru p 3, the major peach allergenic protein, was determined. The degree of denaturation of Pru p 3 was estimated by sandwich ELISA using specific rabbit IgG, that was previously developed. Validation of ELISA test showed high sensitivity and specificity, and acceptable results of precision and robustness. Allergenicity of Pru p 3 was determined by immunofluorescent assay using three pools of sera from peach allergic individuals. Denaturation of Pru p 3 was dependent on the intensity of the thermal treatment applied and the treatment medium. Thus, the degree of denaturation of Pru p 3 treated at 95 °C for 40 min was about 60% and 95%, for the protein heated in peach extract and in buffer, respectively. Ultrasound treatments denatured Pru p 3 up to 60%, being dependent on amplitude and pressure. However, both heat and ultrasound treatments at the most severe conditions applied inhibited less than 10% the IgE-binding of Pru p 3. These results indicate that although heat and ultrasound treatments induce a considerable denaturation of Pru p 3, they are not effective in reducing its allergenicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Photocatalyst oxides added with silicon improve their photocatalytic properties. In this research, nanostructured β-Bi2O3/SiO2 and β-Bi2O3/Bi2O2.75/SiO2 were obtained by means of a green method mediated by the using the aqueous extract of J. regia shell as the source of reducing biomolecules and as a natural source of plant silicon. Method: The β-Bi2O3/SiO2 and β-Bi2O3/Bi2O2.75/SiO2 nanostructures were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), field emission scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), ultraviolet–visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV–Vis DRS), and photoluminescence spectroscopy. The photocatalytic activity was measured by the degradation of Reactive Black 5 dye (RB-5). Results: FT-IR and XPS demonstrated the presence of plant silicon in the bismuth oxide photocatalysts. HR-TEM showed that the crystal size of the as-synthesized materials is ~ 25 nm and revealed that the β-Bi2O3 synthesized with ground shell extract and heat-treated at 300 °C contains the Bi2O2.75 phase. Good photocatalytic activity was found in all the studied materials; particularly, the heat-treated nanostructures showed excellent properties resulting in 92% degradation of RB-5 under UV–Vis light after 15 min of exposure, and 98% after 180 min. Conclusions: The findings of this research suggest that the metabolites coating the Bi2O3, which generate a large amount of hydroxyl radicals, the plant silicon content, and the crystalline defects conferred by the synthesis medium, all contribute to the improved degradation of the azo dye, providing the nanostructures with better photocatalytic activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Serum resistin is a pro-inflammatory cytokine that has been described as a risk factor associated with mortality in several clinical sets including type 2 diabetes. Mortality studies in the general population are needed to find out the risk of death associated to this cytokine. In a follow-up study of a cohort of adult population (n = 6636) in Spain over a period of fifteen years (447 deaths/102,255 person-years), serum resistin measurements and death records were obtained. The risks of all-cause deaths, and deaths from cardiovascular and oncological diseases were estimated. Hazard ratios (HR) and its confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using multivariable Cox models, adjusting the effect of 11 traditional risk factors. The risk of all-cause mortality among participants exposed to the highest quintile of resistin was always higher than among those in the lowest quintile (HR varied between 1.55 when smoking was the adjusted factor [95% CI 1.17–2.05], and 1.68 when the adjusted factor was physical activity [95% CI 1.27–2.21]). The maximally adjusted model, accounting for the effect of all traditional factors, corroborated this higher risk of all-cause mortality among people in the highest resistin quintile (HR = 1.52; 95% CI 1.13–2.05). The effect of resistin was even higher for cardiovascular deaths (HR = 2.14; 95% CI 1.13–4.06), being exceeded only by suffering diabetes (HR = 3.04; 95% CI 1.98–4.69) or previous acute coronary syndrome (HR = 3.67; 95% CI 2.18–6.18). This findings corroborate the role of resistin as a risk factor for all-cause (and cardiovascular) death in the general population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cardiac cephalalgia is an unusual condition that occurs during an episode of myocardial ischemia. Information about cardiac cephalalgia is scarce and its characteristics and physiopathology remain unclear. Our aim is to provide a narrative review of clinical characteristics and physiopathology of cardiac cephalalgia and to evaluate the current diagnostic criteria. Methods: A search through PubMed was undertaken for studies on cardiac cephalalgia published until 20th September 2022. We summarized the literature and provide a comprehensive review of the headache characteristics and possible mechanisms. We also evaluated current International Classification of Headache Disorders third edition diagnostic criteria based on prior reported cases. Results: In total, 88 cases were found. Headache characteristics were variable. Occipital location and throbbing pain were the most frequently reported. Headache was accompanied in most cases by cardiac symptoms. Criterion B was fulfilled by 98% of cases, criterion C1 by 72%, and criteria C2a and C2b by 37 and 93.2%, respectively. Regarding headache features described in diagnostic criterion C3, 'moderate to severe intensity', 'accompanied by nausea', 'not accompanied by photophobia or phonophobia' and 'aggravated by exertion', were reported in 75, 31, 55 and 55% of cases, respectively. Conclusion: Cardiac cephalalgia characteristics are variable and the headache features described in the diagnostic criterion C3 might not be adequate. Given that cardiac cephalalgia can be the manifestation of a life-threatening condition it is important to increase the knowledge about this entity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Theory of mind (ToM) is the ability to attribute mental states of self and others, such as beliefs (cognitive ToM) and feelings (affective ToM). Based on the role of the hypothalamus in pain and social cognition, our aim is to determine whether ToM is impaired in patients with cluster headache (CH).Methods: Cross-sectional study in which 31 episodic cluster headache (ECH) patients outside the bout and 20 matched controls carried out social cognition and executive function tasks. Patients were recruited from an outpatient Headache Unit.Results: Patients performed worse than healthy controls at cognitive ToM (t = 4.2, p < 0.001) task but not at affective ToM. Executive function was also impaired (t = 4.8, p < 0.001) and higher scores at anxiety and depression questionnaires (t =  - 2.9, p = 0.006; t =  - 3.6, p = 0.001) were reported. There was no correlation between ToM scores and executive function, anxiety and depression symptoms, or disease duration and severity.Discussion: Our results suggest that ECH patients can perceive other people's or selves' feelings (affective ToM) but have more difficulties than healthy subjects at recognizing beliefs (cognitive ToM). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aimed to validate the World Society for Emergent Surgery (WSES) scale for the management of acute left-sided colonic diverticulitis (ALCD). Methods: An observational study based on a prospective database of patients with ultrasound (US) and computerized tomography (CT) confirmed ALCD was conducted at our center from April 2018 to May 2019. The primary outcome was the success rate of outpatient management. Secondary outcomes were the association between different WSES stages, clinical and analytical parameters, treatments modalities, and outcomes, and the accuracy of US for management decisions. Results: A total of 230 patients were included. Outpatient management was successful in 51/53 (96.23%) cases with ALCD stage 0 and 62/72 (86.11%) patients with stage 1A. There were no differences in age (p = 0.076) or the presence of pericolic air bubbles (p = 0.06) between patients who underwent admission or outpatient management. Clinical and analytical data, treatment decisions, and outcomes showed statistically significant differences between WSES stages. In 7/12 patients with stage 2A, percutaneous drainage or emergency surgery was required. All cases with stage 2B (distant air) underwent conservative management without the need for emergency or elective surgery. The accuracy of US WSES stages for management decisions, when compared with CT, was 96.96%. Conclusion: The WSES classification for ALCD seemed to be valid helping clinicians in the decision-making process to select between admission or outpatient management. Differences in clinical and analytical data, elected treatments, and outcomes were found between WSES stages. The US WSES stages showed high accuracy for management decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Corruption and inefficiency of public funds pose a risk in public administrations. This paper analyses the corruption risk at the local level by analysing indicators of public procurement contracts in four deputations of Galicia (Spain). In addition, the pandemic has created opportunities to increase this risk and the misuse of public funds given the need to act quickly. Therefore, the study analyses whether the Covid crisis led to significant changes in expenditure in the four deputations and whether it involves a higher use of minor contracts, an award procedure without publicity or bidding, which has been found as increasing corruption risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Large-bore aspiration catheters enabling greater flow rates and suction force for mechanical thrombectomy might improve outcomes in patients with stroke secondary to large-vessel occlusion. Complete or near-complete reperfusion after a single thrombectomy pass (first-pass effect) is associated with improved clinical outcomes. We assessed the efficacy and safety of novel MIVI Q™ aspiration catheters in combination with stent-retriever devices. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed demographics, procedure characteristics, and clinical data from consecutive patients with acute anterior large-vessel occlusion treated with a combined approach using MIVI Q™ aspiration catheters and stent retrievers. Reperfusion was defined according to the modified thrombolysis in cerebral infarction (mTICI) score. Clinical outcomes were measured by the National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) and modified Rankin scale (mRS) scores. Results: We included 52 patients (median age, 75 y IQR: 64–83); 31 (59.6%) women; 14 (26.9%) with terminal internal carotid artery occlusions, 26 (50%) middle cerebral artery (MCA) segment M1 occlusions, and 12 (23.1%) MCA segment M2 occlusions; median NIHSS score at admission was 19 (IQR: 13–22). After the first pass, 25 (48%) patients had mTICI ≥ 2c. At the end of the procedure, 47 (90.4%) had mTICI ≥ 2b and 35 (67.3%) had mTICI ≥ 2c. No serious device-related adverse events were observed. Symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage developed in 1 patient. Mean NIHSS score was 13 at 24 h and 5 at discharge. At 90 days, 24 (46.2%) patients were functionally independent (mRS 0–2). Conclusion: This preliminary study found good efficacy and safety for MIVI Q™ aspiration catheters used in combination with stent-retriever devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: CA125 is the best available yet insufficiently sensitive biomarker for early detection of ovarian cancer. There is a need to identify novel biomarkers, which individually or in combination with CA125 can achieve adequate sensitivity and specificity for the detection of earlier-stage ovarian cancer.Methods: In the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort, we measured serum levels of 92 preselected proteins for 91 women who had blood sampled ≤18 months prior to ovarian cancer diagnosis, and 182 matched controls. We evaluated the discriminatory performance of the proteins as potential early diagnostic biomarkers of ovarian cancer.Results: Nine of the 92 markers; CA125, HE4, FOLR1, KLK11, WISP1, MDK, CXCL13, MSLN and ADAM8 showed an area under the ROC curve (AUC) of ≥0.70 for discriminating between women diagnosed with ovarian cancer and women who remained cancer-free. All, except ADAM8, had shown at least equal discrimination in previous case-control comparisons. The discrimination of the biomarkers, however, was low for the lag-time of >9-18 months and paired combinations of CA125 with any of the 8 markers did not improve discrimination compared to CA125 alone.Conclusion: Using pre-diagnostic serum samples, this study identified markers with good discrimination for the lag-time of 0-9 months. However, the discrimination was low in blood samples collected more than 9 months prior to diagnosis, and none of the markers showed major improvement in discrimination when added to CA125. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A radon survey was carried out in 18 high schools located in Tenerife Island when anti-pandemic strategies were used to reduce COVID-19 dissemination during 2021. High schools were located in radon-prone areas previously identified by the Spanish Nuclear Safety Council. Our results showed that 12 high schools presented radon activities lower than 100 Bq/m3, 5 high schools presented values in the range 100–200 Bq/m3, and only 1 high school presented radon activity concentration higher than 200 Bq/m3. Such values are below the reference level (300 Bq/m3) recommended by the Spanish legislation in the Basics Document of Health Standards (section HS6) of the Technical Building Code and the European Union directive (2013/59/EURATOM). Assuming an indoor occupancy time of about 1620 h per year, the annual dose contribution due to indoor radon exposure ranged from 0.07 to 1.18 mSv/year. Comparing such result against previous values reported in the literature on the island of Tenerife, we conclude that during the pandemic situation the indoor radon concentration (median valued) was reduced from 130.9 (2007) to 73.5 (2021) Bq/m3. Finally, continuous indoor radon concentration measurements were obtained to study short-time fluctuations (intra-day changes) under different ventilation conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The voltage-dependent potassium (Kv) channel Kvβ family was the first identified group of modulators of Kv channels. Kvβ regulation of the α-subunits, in addition to their aldoketoreductase activity, has been under extensive study. However, scarce information about their specific α-subunit-independent biology is available. The expression of Kvβs is ubiquitous and, similar to Kv channels, is tightly regulated in leukocytes. Although Kvβ subunits exhibit cytosolic distribution, spatial localization, in close contact with plasma membrane Kv channels, is crucial for a proper immune response. Therefore, Kvβ2.1 is located near cell surface Kv1.3 channels within the immunological synapse during lymphocyte activation. The objective of this study was to analyze the structural elements that participate in the cellular distribution of Kvβs. It was demonstrated that Kvβ peptides, in addition to the cytoplasmic pattern, targeted the cell surface in the absence of Kv channels. Furthermore, Kvβ2.1, but not Kvβ1.1, targeted lipid raft microdomains in an S-acylation-dependent manner, which was concomitant with peptide localization within the immunological synapse. A pair of C-terminal cysteines (C301/C311) was mostly responsible for the specific palmitoylation of Kvβ2.1. Several insults altered Kvβ2.1 membrane localization. Therefore, growth factor-dependent proliferation enhanced surface targeting, whereas PKC activation impaired lipid raft expression. However, PSD95 stabilized Kvβ2.1 in these domains. This data shed light on the molecular mechanism by which Kvβ2.1 clusters into immunological synapses during leukocyte activation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Endometrial cancer (EC) is the second most common gynecological malignancy worldwide, the first in developed countries [Sung et al. in CA Cancer J Clin 71:209–249, 2021]. Although a majority is diagnosed at an early stage with a low risk of relapse, an important proportion of patients will relapse. Better knowledge of molecular abnormalities is crucial to identify high-risk groups in early stages as well as for recurrent or metastatic disease for whom adjuvant treatment must be personalized. The objective of this guide is to summarize the current evidence for the diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up of EC, and to provide evidence-based recommendations for clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Survivors to COVID-19 have described long-term symptoms after acute disease. These signs constitute a heterogeneous group named long COVID or persistent COVID. The aim of this study is to describe persisting symptoms 6 months after COVID-19 diagnosis in a prospective cohort in the Northwest Spain. This is a prospective cohort study performed in the COHVID-GS. This cohort includes patients in clinical follow-up in a health area of 569,534 inhabitants after SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 diagnosis. Clinical and epidemiological characteristics were collected during the follow up. A total of 248 patients completed 6 months follow-up, 176 (69.4%) required hospitalization and 29 (10.2%) of them needed critical care. At 6 months, 119 (48.0%) patients described one or more persisting symptoms. The most prevalent were: extra-thoracic symptoms (39.1%), chest symptoms (27%), dyspnoea (20.6%), and fatigue (16.1%). These symptoms were more common in hospitalized patients (52.3% vs. 38.2%) and in women (59.0% vs. 40.5%). The multivariate analysis identified COPD, women gender and tobacco consumption as risk factors for long COVID. Persisting symptoms are common after COVID-19 especially in hospitalized patients compared to outpatients (52.3% vs. 38.2%). Based on these findings, special attention and clinical follow-up after acute SARS-CoV-2 infection should be provided for hospitalized patients with previous lung diseases, tobacco consumption, and women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Face-to-face procedures have been postponed during COVID-19 pandemic. We aim to evaluate the impact of onabotulinumtoxinA follow-up delay in migraine during COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Subjective worsening, intensity of migraine attacks, and frequency of headache and migraine were retrospectively compared between patients with unmodified and interrupted onabotulinumtoxinA follow-up in Headache Units. Results: We included 67 patients with chronic migraine or high-frequency episodic migraine under onabotulinumtoxinA treatment, 65 (97.0%) female, 44.5 ± 12.1 years old. Treatment administration was voluntarily delayed in 14 (20.9%) patients and nine (13.4%) were unable to continue follow-up. Patients with uninterrupted follow-up during lockdown presented 7.6 and 8.1 less monthly days with headache (adjusted p = 0.017) and migraine attacks (adjusted p = 0.009) compared to patients whose follow-up was interrupted, respectively. Conclusion: Involuntary delay of onabotulinumtoxinA follow-up in patients with migraine due to COVID-19 pandemic was associated with a higher frequency of headache and migraine attacks. Safe administration of onabotulinumtoxinA during lockdown should be promoted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To assess the characteristics of the management of patients with migraine who present to the emergency department (ED) with a migraine attack. Retrospective, observational study analyzing demographic, clinical, diagnostic and therapeutic characteristics of patients with migraine diagnosis presenting to ED for a migraine attack between 2016 and 2019. We reviewed the clinical records of 847 cases. 82.2% were women with mean age of 34.9 years. 87.2% had episodic migraine and 12.2% chronic migraine. 62.3% (528/847) had taken analgesics before visiting the ED [non-steroidal-anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) (300/528; 56.9%) and triptans (261/528; 49.5%)]. 25.4% (215/847) received blood testing and 6.4% (55/847) received cranial CT. Medication was administered in 77.2% cases (654/847). The median time-to-treatment was 70 min (IQR 42–120). NSAIDs (81%, 530/654), antiemetics (43.1%, 282/654) and metamizole (39% 255/654) were the most used. Triptans were administered in 7 cases (1.1%) and opioids in 84 (12.8%). At discharge, preventive treatment was prescribed or modified in 8.2% of cases (69/839) and triptans were prescribed in 129 cases (15.3%). 70.5% (592/839) were instructed to follow-up with their primary care provider (PCP), 21.5% (181/839) with a general neurologist and 7.9% (66/839) with a headache specialist. The majority of migraine patients were not receiving the recommended acute migraine-specific medication, both in the outpatient and in the ED setting, being especially remarkable the rare use of triptans in the ED. Furthermore, we found an elevated use of urgent complementary tests, mainly blood tests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/objectives: Neck circumference (NC) has been used for screening overweight/obesity for its high correlation with age, weight, body mass index (BMI), and waist circumference (WC). Cut-offs should be population specific. The aim of the study was to obtain cut-offs of NC for overweight/obesity in Mexican adolescents and to correlate them with anthropometric indicators.Subjects/methods: Weight, height, BMI, NC, WC, and mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) of 465 12-14-year-old Mexican-mestizo students attending a public school in Mexico City were assessed. Using receiver operating characteristics analyses, neck cut-offs were obtained according to the WHO age and sex criteria for overweight/obesity.Results: NC cut-offs with the highest sensitivity and specificity for males and females, respectively, were as follows: 30.0 and 29.3 cm for 12-year-olds; 31.9 and 30.4 cm for 13-year-olds; and, 33.5 and 30.7 cm for 14-year-old adolescents. Overweight/obesity was identified with NC cut-offs in 80% of males and 86% of females, and showed significant correlations (p < 0.01) in males and females with weight (r = 0.821 and r = 0.840, respectively), BMI (r = 0.649 and r = 0.819, respectively), WC (r = 0.710 and r = 0.813, respectively) and MUAC (r = 0.736 and r = 0.815, respectively).Conclusions: Neck circumference may be used as a first-stage screening tool or jointly with BMI to identify overweight/obesity in 12-14-year-old Mexican adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]