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Diabet. Med. 28, 1319-1322 (2011) Abstract Aims To analyse the differences in the prevalence of diabetes and dysglycaemia using fasting plasma glucose and HbA1c criteria. Methods Analytical cross-sectional study undertaken in a random sample of 2144 individuals (age 18-80 years) without known diabetes from the primary care setting in Malaga (Spain). Dysglycaemia was defined as fasting plasma glucose 5.6-6.9 mmol/l or HbA1c 39-46 mmol/mol (5.7-6.4%) and diabetes as fasting plasma glucose ≥ 7.0 mmol/l or HbA1c≥ 48 mmol/mol (≥ 6.5%). Results The proportion of subjects who were normoglycaemic was significantly higher using fasting plasma glucose than HbA1c (83.5 vs. 65%) ( P < 0.0001). Compared with fasting plasma glucose, HbA1c detects more cases of dysglycaemia (32 vs. 14.8%) ( P < 0.0001) and diabetes (3 vs. 1.7%) ( P < 0.0001). Conclusions In our environment, using HbA1c for the diagnosis of pre-diabetes and diabetes could increase the target population for preventive and therapeutic measures. Further cost-effectiveness studies are needed before the widespread diagnostic use of HbA1c can be recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study was undertaken to better define the prevalence, risk factors, as well as the economic and human burden of stress urinary incontinence (SUI) in Europe that will help health care providers better understand the impact of this condition.Methods: A literature search was performed using MEDLINE, EMBASE, BIDS, HealthStar, HSRProj, and HSTAT databases to review the European literature (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK) on SUI between 1990 and 2001. Clinical experts on UI provided advice on this review.Results: In all European countries studied SUI was identified as a distinct and highly prevalent form of urinary incontinence, and in some countries, as many as 80% of all incontinent women were diagnosed with SUI. However, epidemiological figures varied widely between studies, due to different definitions of diagnostic criteria and disease states and study designs used. Parity and vaginal birth were identified as major risk factors for developing SUI. Only a few studies have examined the economic burden of SUI, but have found it to be significant on patients and society. SUI also significantly affects the quality of women’s lives.Conclusion: There is a clear need for harmonisation in defining SUI, standardising survey methods and validation criteria, and outcome measures, if results are to be compared with any validity. A better understanding of the burden of SUI is essential for future research. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Seagrass meadows, key ecosystems supporting fisheries, carbon sequestration and coastal protection, are globally threatened. In Europe, loss and recovery of seagrasses are reported, but the changes in extent and density at the continental scale remain unclear. Here we collate assessments of changes from 1869 to 2016 and show that 1/3 of European seagrass area was lost due to disease, deteriorated water quality, and coastal development, with losses peaking in the 1970s and 1980s. Since then, loss rates slowed down for most of the species and fast-growing species recovered in some locations, making the net rate of change in seagrass area experience a reversal in the 2000s, while density metrics improved or remained stable in most sites. Our results demonstrate that decline is not the generalised state among seagrasses nowadays in Europe, in contrast with global assessments, and that deceleration and reversal of declining trends is possible, expectingly bringing back the services they provide.

Aim: The macrolide antibiotic rifampicin is prescribed against several infections, like tuberculosis disease. This drug decays to rifampicin quinone. Results/methodology: The biological fluids were diluted in a micellar solution and directly injected. Using a C18 column and a mobile phase of 0.15 M SDS-6% 1-pentanol phosphate-buffered at pH 7, running at 1 ml/min, the analytes were resolved in less than 15 min. The detection was by absorbance at 337 nm. Method was validated by the guidelines of the European Medicines Agency. Decomposition of rifampicin to rifampicin quinone was also studied. Discussion/conclusion: Procedure is rapid, easy-to-handle, economic, eco-friendly and with a high sample throughput. It was successfully used to monitor rifampicin in the plasma and urine of tubercular patients.

Background/objectives: The prevalence of abdominal obesity in Mexican children has risen dramatically in the past decade. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) for waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) performed predominantly in European descent adult  populations have identified multiple single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with larger effects in women. The contribution of these SNPs to WHR in non-European children is unknown., Subjects/methods: Mexican children and adolescents (N = 1421, 5-17 years) were recruited in Mexico City. Twelve GWAS SNPs were genotyped using TaqMan Open Array and analyzed individually and as a gene score (GS)., Results: Mexican boys and girls displayed 2.81 ± 0.29 and 3.10 ± 0.31 WHR standard deviations higher than children and adolescents from the United States. WHR was positively associated with TG (β = 0.733 ± 0.190, P = 1.1 × 10 -4 ) and LDL-C (β = 0.491 ± 0.203, P = 1.6 × 10 -2 ), and negatively associated with HDL-C (β = -0.652 ± 0.195, P = 8.0 × 10 -4 ), independently of body mass index. The effect allele frequency (EAF) of 8 of 12 (67%) SNPs differed significantly (P < 4.17 × 10 -3 ) in Mexican children and European adults, with no evidence of effect allele enrichment in both populations (4 depleted and 4 enriched; binomial test, P = 1). Ten out of 12 SNPs (83.3%) had effects that were directionally consistent with those reported in GWAS (P = 0.04). HOXC13 rs1443512 displayed the best fit when modeled recessively, and was significantly associated with WHR under a recessive mode of inheritance (β = 0.140 ± 0.06, P = 2.3 × 10 -2 ). Significant interactions with sex were also observed for HOXC13 rs1443512 and the GS on WHR (P = 2.2 × 10 -2 and 1.2 × 10 -2 , respectively). HOXC13 rs1443512 (β = 0.022 ± 0.012, P = 4.7 × 10 -2 ) and the GS (β = 0.007 ± 0.003, P = 7.0 × 10 -3 ) were significantly associated with WHR in girls only., Conclusions: This study demonstrates that Mexican children are at high risk for abdominal obesity and detrimental lipid profiles. Our data support a partial transferability of sex-specific European GWAS WHR association signals in children and adolescents from the admixed Mexican population.

A procedure based on micellar liquid chromatography has been developed to monitor five tyrosine kinase inhibitors in plasma, prescribed against several kinds of cancer: erlotinib, imatinib, sunitinib, sorafenib and lapatinib. The sample was diluted in a micellar solution and directly injected, thus clean-up steps were not required. The analytes were resolved without interferences in <20 min using a C18 column and a mobile phase of 0.13 M SDS-4% 1-butanol, buffered at pH 3.5, running under isocratic mode at 1 mL/min. The detection was performed by UV-visible absorbance, using a wavelength program to maximize the signal-to-noise ratio. The method was validated following the guideline of the European Medicines Agency in terms of: selectivity, calibration range (0.05-5 μg/mol), linearity (r(2)>0.990), limit of detection (15-35 ng/mL), carry-over effect, accuracy (-10.4 to +11.0%), precision (<9.2%), matrix effect, robustness (<8.4%) and stability. The procedure is rapid, easy-to-handle, uses a low amount of toxic chemical provide reliable results. Finally, the method was successfully used to analyze the studied tyrosine kinase inhibitors in plasma from cancer patients., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The recent identification of a new nanovirus, pea necrotic yellow dwarf virus, from pea in Germany prompted us to survey wild and cultivated legumes for nanovirus infections in several European countries. This led to the identification of two new nanoviruses: black medic leaf roll virus (BMLRV) and pea yellow stunt virus (PYSV), each considered a putative new species. The complete genomes of a PYSV isolate from Austria and three BMLRV isolates from Austria, Azerbaijan and Sweden were sequenced. In addition, the genomes of five isolates of faba bean necrotic yellows virus (FBNYV) from Azerbaijan and Spain and those of four faba bean necrotic stunt virus (FBNSV) isolates from Azerbaijan were completely sequenced, leading to the first identification of FBNSV occurring in Europe. Sequence analyses uncovered evolutionary relationships, extensive reassortment and potential remnants of mixed nanovirus infections, as well as intra- and intercomponent recombination events within the nanovirus genomes. In some virus isolates, diverse types of the same genome component (paralogues) were observed, a type of genome complexity not described previously for any member of the family Nanoviridae. Moreover, infectious and aphid-transmissible nanoviruses from cloned genomic DNAs of FBNYV and BMLRV were reconstituted that, for the first time, allow experimental reassortments for studying the genome functions and evolution of these nanoviruses.

Melamine is a toxic triazine, illegally used as an additive in milk to apparently increase the amount of protein. A chromatographic procedure using a C18 column and a micellar mobile phase of sodium dodecyl sulphate (0.05M) and propanol (7.5%), buffered at pH 3, and a detection set by absorbance at 210nm, was reported for the resolution and quantification of melamine in liquid and powdered milk samples. In this work, samples were diluted with a SDS solution and were directly injected, thus avoiding long extraction and experimental procedures. Melamine was eluted in nearly 9.3min without overlapping the protein band or other endogeneous compounds. The optimal mobile phase composition was taken using a chemometrical approach that considers the retention factor, efficiency and peak shape. Validation was performed following the European Commission's indications (European Decision 2002/657/EC), and the main analytical parameters studied were: linearity (0.02-100ppm; r(2)=0.999), limit of detection (5ppb), intra- and inter-day precision (R.S.D. <7.6% and <9.7%, respectively) and robustness (R.S.D. <7.4% for retention time and <5.0% for area). Sensitivity was adequate to detect melamine under the safety limits proposed by the US FDA. Finally, recoveries for several milk samples were found in the 85-109% range.