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Purpose: To analyze the results of the telemedicine screening program for diabetic retinopathy (DR) in patients with type 1 diabetes conducted by the Endocrinology and Nutrition Management Unit of Virgen del Rocío University Hospital., Methods: This cross-sectional study comprised patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM) in our DR screening program from January 2018 to November 2020. Fundus photographs are performed by trained nurses and reviewed by a trained endocrinologist. Those suggestive of pathology are sent to ophthalmology through a telematic program for review., Results: Of the 995 fundus photographs evaluated, 646 (65.3%) showed no evidence of DR, 327 (33.1%) presented possible DR, and 16 (1.6%) were not gradable. The diagnosis was confirmed in 254 patients after reviewing by ophthalmology, and the screening program achieved a positive predictive value for DR of 77.7%. Seventy-three were excluded by ophthalmology due to the absence of DR (false positive rate - 22.3%). In 92.5% of the cases classified by the ophthalmologist, the degree of DR was mild or very mild., Conclusion: Our telemedicine screening program for DR in patients with type 1 DM is consistent with the literature. Effective screening for DR is performed, with patients diagnosed in the early stages. Telemedicine programs facilitate efficient communication among healthcare personnel., (Copyright © 2022 SEEN and SED. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.)

Background: Medical devices can be reservoirs of multidrug-resistant bacteria that may be involved in the acquisition of infections since bacteria with the ability to form biofilms that are difficult to eradicate, mainly in mechanical ventilators. The aim of this work was to evaluate the efficacy of O 3 against biofilms of bacteria ESKAPE group through disinfection studies., Methods: The formation of biofilms of ESKAPE group bacteria was induced in vitro. O 3 was injected at different exposure times at a constant dose of 600 mg/h. The recovery of surviving bacteria after O 3 treatment was assessed by bacterial counts and biofilm disruption was analyzed. Finally, the viability and integrity of biofilms after O 3 treatment was determined by confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM)., Results: O 3 showed bactericidal activity on biofilms from 12 min/7.68 ppm for A. baumannii and C. freundii. P. aeruginosa, K. pneumoniae and S. aureus were killed after 15 min/9.60 ppm. Correlation analyses showed inversely proportional relationships between the variables "disruption versus O 3 ". CLSM revealed that death was time-dependent of biofilms upon O 3 exposure. Orthogonal plane analysis showed that bacteria located in the outer region of the biofilms were the ones that initially suffered damage from O 3 exposure., Conclusions: Our findings suggest that this method could be an alternative for the disinfection in mechanical ventilators colonized by bacteria biofilm forming., (Copyright © 2022 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background . The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic is a predisposing factor for the development of healthcare-associated infections, of which ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is one. Hypothesis . VAP is caused by ESKAPE bacteria and other pathogens not detected by microbiological culture. Aim . To elucidate the bacterial pathogens of severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and VAP patients by massive sequencing and to predict their degree of relationship with the age and sex of the patients. Methods . Analysis of ribosomal libraries of the V3-V4 hypervariable region obtained by Illumina sequencing of bronchoalveolar lavages from COVID-19 and VAP (first wave) patients from Hospital Juárez de México. Results . Acinetobacter and Pseudomonas were the main bacterial genera in the bronchoalveolar lavages (BALs) analysed. Other members of the ESKAPE group, such as Enterococcus and Klebsiella , were also identified. Taxonomic composition per patient showed that non-ESKAPE genera were present with significant relative abundances, such as Prevotella , Stenotrophomas , Enterococcus , Mycoplasma , Serratia and Corynebacterium . Kruskal-Wallis analysis proved that VAP acquisition is an adverse event that is not influenced by the sex and age of COVID-19 patients. Discussion . Metagenomic findings in COVID-19/VAP patients highlight the importance of implementing comprehensive microbiological diagnostics by including alternative tools for the detection of the causal agents of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). Conclusions . Timely identification of bacteria 'not sought' in diagnostic bacteriology laboratories will allow specific and targeted treatments. Implications for the restricted diagnosis of VAP causative agents in COVID-19 patients and the presence of pathogens not detected by classical microbiology are analysed and discussed.

Background: The pecan nutshell contains phytochemicals with various biological activities that are potentially useful in the prevention or treatment of diseases, such as cancer, diabetes, and metabolic imbalances associated with heart diseases., Objective: The aim of this study is to update this topic by means of a literature review and include those studies that contribute to the knowledge of the chemical composition and biological activities of pecan nutshell, particularly those related to the therapeutic potential against some chronic degenerative diseases associated with oxidative stress., Methods: Exhaustive and detailed review of the existing literature was conducted using electronic databases., Conclusion: The pecan nutshell is a promising natural product with pharmaceutical uses in various diseases. However, additional research related to the assessment of efficient extraction methods and characterization, particularly the evaluation of the mechanisms of action in new in vivo models, is necessary to confirm these findings and development of new drugs with therapeutic use., (Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.net.)

Background: Mechanical ventilators are essential biomedical devices for the respiratory support of patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection. These devices can be transmitters of bacterial pathogens. Therefore, it is necessary to implement effective disinfection procedures. The aim of this work was to show the impact of the modification of a cleaning and disinfection method of mechanical ventilators of patients with SARS-CoV-2 and ventilator-associated pneumonia., Methods: A total of 338 mechanical ventilators of patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 and ESKAPE bacteria were divided in two groups. Group A and B were subjected to cleaning and disinfection with superoxidation solution-Cl/enzymatic detergent and isopropyl alcohol, respectively. Both groups were cultured for the detection of ESKAPE bacteria. The isolates were subjected to tests for identification, resistance, adherence, and genomic typing., Results: Contamination rates of 21.6% (n = 36) were identified in group A. The inspiratory limb was the circuit involved in most cases of postdisinfection contamination. Acinetobacter baumanni, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and multi-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae were the pathogens involved in the contamination cases. The pathogens were highly adherent and in the case of A. baumanni, clonal dispersion was detected in 14 ventilators. Disinfection with enzymatic detergents allows a 100% reduction in contamination rates., Conclusions: The implementation of cleaning and disinfection with enzymatic detergents/isopropyl alcohol of mechanical ventilators of patients with SARS-CoV-2 and ESKAPE bacteria had a positive impact on postdisinfection microbial contamination rates., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest All authors report no conflicts of interest relevant to this article., (Copyright © 2021 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Pharmacological inhibitors of Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK) have revolutionized treatment of B-lymphocyte malignancies and show great promise for dampening autoimmunity. The predominant BTK inhibitors tether irreversibly by covalently binding to cysteine 481 in the BTK catalytic domain. Substitution of cysteine 481 for serine (C481S) is the most common mechanism for acquired drug resistance. We generated a novel C481S knock-in mouse model and, using a battery of tests, no overt B-lymphocyte phenotype was found. B lymphocytes from C481S animals were resistant to irreversible, but sensitive to reversible, BTK inhibitors. In contrast, irreversible inhibitors equally impaired T-lymphocyte activation in mice, mimicking the effect of treatment in patients. This demonstrates that T-lymphocyte blockage is independent of BTK. We suggest that the C481S knock-in mouse can serve as a useful tool for the study of BTK-independent effects of irreversible inhibitors, allowing for the identification of novel therapeutic targets and pinpointing potential side effects., (© 2020 by The American Society of Hematology.)

Introduction: Little data is available concerning variations in the clinical characteristics of lymphoid neoplasms at presentation. We decided to investigate whether any variations in these characteristics had occurred in Spain during the last few years., Materials and Methods: The GOTEL group database is an archive of all new lymphoma cases, regardless of their histological subtype, diagnosed in the hospitals within the group. An analysis was made of all the records between 1 January 1999 and 1 January 2009. Though the number of hospitals submitting data has changed over the course of time, data were provided by 26 hospitals from 16 Spanish provinces., Results: A total of 3651 cases of lymphoma were recorded during this period. Grouped by clinical features, 42.8% (1561 patients) had low-grade lymphoma, 30.4% (1110 patients) intermediate-grade lymphoma and 15.2% (556 patients) Hodgkin's lymphoma; 208 patients had T lymphoma (5.7%), 111 patients high-grade lymphoma (3%) and 105 patients (2.9%) suffered lymphomas that were difficult to classify. A total of 6.3% of the diagnoses (231 patients) were made prior to 1999, 29.5% between 2000 and 2001, 25.7% between 2002 and 2003, 19.7% between 2004 and 2005, 11.2% between 2006 and 2007, and there were 200 entries from 2008 to the close of the study period, corresponding to 1.5% of the complete database. The median age at diagnosis was 60 (range 7-105 years), by percentiles: 25 corresponded to 44 years old, 50 to 60 years old and 75 to 71. Distribution by gender was 53.1% male and 46.9% female. An analysis was made of all the clinical variables collected, comparing their behaviour during the different diagnostic periods. The periods, gender, ECOG, stage, LDH, ß2 microglobulin, Hodgkin's or non- Hodgkin's type neoplasm, B lymphoma vs. Hodgkin's, NK or T, nodal or extra-nodal origin, median age at diagnosis and histological type by region of origin did not show any statistically significant differences in their distribution over the course of time., Conclusion: In our experience, there are no significant variations in clinical presentation or histological type in lymphomas diagnosed over the course of time in Spain.

Objective: The relapse rate of Graves' hyperthyroidism after finishing an antithyroid cicle is high. The objective of this work was to prospectively investigate the relapse rate of Graves' hyperthyroidism (GH) in patients with maintenance of a low dose of antithyroid drug (ATD) therapy., Patients and Method: From March 1997, all patients with GH consecutively attending the same center who remained euthyroid with low doses of synthetic ATD (carbimazole or methimazole: 2.5-5mg/day) on 2 consecutive follow-up visits (at 10-12 months) were included in this study. Instead of withdrawing ATD, the aim was to continue with this low dose for a 5-year period (group M: 53 patients). From March 1997, data were also collected from patients with GH who were consecutively followed-up and who, meeting the criteria for inclusion in group M, had stopped receiving ATD before the start of the study (March 1997) (group R: 31 patients)., Main Outcome: GH relapse was observed in 12/53 patients in group M (22.64%) and in 24/31 patients in group R (77.42%) (p<0.000)., Conclusions: The GH relapse rate was significantly lower with long-term maintenance of a low dose of ATD than with therapy withdrawal., (Copyright © 2008 Sociedad Española de Endocrinología y Nutrición. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.)