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Background: Frequent attenders to GP clinics can place an unnecessary burden on primary care. Interventions to reduce frequent attendance have had mixed results.Aim: To assess the effectiveness of a GP intervention to reduce frequent-attender consultations.Design Of Study: Randomised controlled trial with frequent attenders divided into an intervention group and two control groups (one control group was seen by GPs also providing care to patients undergoing the intervention).Setting: A health centre in southern Spain.Method: Six GPs and 209 randomly-selected frequent attenders participated. Three GPs were randomly allocated to perform the new intervention: of the 137 frequent attenders registered with these three GPs, 66 were randomly allocated to receive the intervention (IG) and 71 to a usual care control group (CG2). The other three GPs offered usual care to the other 72 frequent attenders (CG1). The main outcome measure was the total number of consultations 1 year post-intervention. Baseline measurements were recorded of sociodemographic characteristics, provider-user interface, chronic illnesses, and psychosocial variables. GPs allocated to the new intervention received 15 hours' training which incorporated biopsychosocial, organisational, and relational approaches. After 1 year of follow-up frequent attenders were contacted. An intention-to-treat analysis was used.Results: A multilevel model was built with three factors: time, patient, and doctor. After adjusting for covariates, the mean number of visits at 1 year in IG was 13.10 (95% confidence interval [CI]=11.39 to 14.94); in the CG1 group was 19.37 (95% CI=17.31 to 21.55); and in the CG2 group this was 16.72 (95% CI=4.84 to 18.72).Conclusion: The new intervention with GPs resulted in a significant and relevant reduction in frequent-attender consultations. Although further trials are needed, this intervention is recommended to GPs interested in reducing consultations by their frequent attenders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused an unprecedented global health crisis, with several countries imposing lockdowns to control the coronavirus spread. Important research efforts are focused on evaluating the association of environmental factors with the survival and spread of the virus and different works have been published, with contradictory results in some cases. Data with spatial and temporal information is a key factor to get reliable results and, although there are some data repositories for monitoring the disease both globally and locally, an application that integrates and aggregates data from meteorological and air quality variables with COVID-19 information has not been described so far to the best of our knowledge. Here, we present DatAC (Data Against COVID-19), a data fusion project with an interactive web frontend that integrates COVID-19 and environmental data in Spain. DatAC is provided with powerful data analysis and statistical capabilities that allow users to explore and analyze individual trends and associations among the provided data. Using the application, we have evaluated the impact of the Spanish lockdown on the air quality, observing that NO 2 , CO, PM 2.5 , PM 10 and SO 2 levels decreased drastically in the entire territory, while O 3 levels increased. We observed similar trends in urban and rural areas, although the impact has been more important in the former. Moreover, the application allowed us to analyze correlations among climate factors, such as ambient temperature, and the incidence of COVID-19 in Spain. Our results indicate that temperature is not the driving factor and without effective control actions, outbreaks will appear and warm weather will not substantially limit the growth of the pandemic. DatAC is available at https://covid19.genyo.es., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Aminopeptidase A is responsible for the hydrolysis of angiotensin II and cholecystokinin. By measuring its activity we obtain a reflection of the functional status of its endogenous substrates. Dopamine coexists with these neuropeptides in striatum and prefrontal cortex. If the content of any of them is altered, the others and the functions they are involved in would also be affected. Wistar Kyoto (WKY) and spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) are rat models with different motor behavior and mood. We hypothesized that aminopeptidase A activity could be modified in WKY or SHR affecting the brain dopamine. The results may provide new insights for the understanding of dopamine-related disorders such as schizophrenia, depression or Parkinson's disease. To analyze the influence of unilateral depletions of dopamine on the intra- and inter-hemispheric behavior of aminopeptidase A in striatum and prefrontal cortex of WKY and SHR, aminopeptidase A activity was measured fluorometrically, using an arylamide derivative as substrate, in the left and right sides of striatum and prefrontal cortex of WKY and SHR treated with saline (control groups) or following left or right intrastriatal injections of 6-hydroxydopamine (lesioned groups). Differential asymmetrical intra- and inter-hemispheric behaviors of aminopeptidase A were observed, depending on the lesioned hemisphere, the region and the strain analyzed. Results also demonstrated differential intra and inter-hemispheric correlations between striatum and prefrontal cortex and between both regions and motor behavior depending on the side of lesion. The changes mostly involved the left hemisphere. The functions in which the aminopeptidase A activity is involved could be modified depending on whether the dopamine depletion occurs on the left or right hemisphere., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Depression is viewed as a major and increasing public health issue, as it causes high distress in the people experiencing it and considerable financial costs to society. Efforts are being made to reduce this burden by preventing depression. A critical component of this strategy is the ability to assess the individual level and profile of risk for the development of major depression. This paper presents the cost-effectiveness of a personalized intervention based on the risk of developing depression carried out in primary care, compared with usual care., Methods: Cost-effectiveness analyses are nested within a multicentre, clustered, randomized controlled trial of a personalized intervention to prevent depression. The study was carried out in 70 primary care centres from seven cities in Spain. Two general practitioners (GPs) were randomly sampled from those prepared to participate in each centre (i.e. 140 GPs), and 3326 participants consented and were eligible to participate. The intervention included the GP communicating to the patient his/her individual risk for depression and personal risk factors and the construction by both GPs and patients of a psychosocial programme tailored to prevent depression. In addition, GPs carried out measures to activate and empower the patients, who also received a leaflet about preventing depression. GPs were trained in a 10- to 15-h workshop. Costs were measured from a societal and National Health care perspective. Qualityadjustedlife years were assessed using the EuroQOL five dimensions questionnaire. The time horizon was 18 months., Results: With a willingness-to-pay threshold of €10,000 (£8568) the probability of cost-effectiveness oscillated from 83% (societal perspective) to 89% (health perspective). If the threshold was increased to €30,000 (£25,704), the probability of being considered cost-effective was 94% (societal perspective) and 96%, respectively (health perspective). The sensitivity analysis confirmed these results., Conclusions: Compared with usual care, an intervention based on personal predictors of risk of depression implemented by GPs is a cost-effective strategy to prevent depression. This type of personalized intervention in primary care should be further developed and evaluated., Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT01151982. Registered on June 29, 2010.

Changes in the basal brain bilateral morphologic, neurochemical and/or functional patterns may be partly responsible for some brain disorders such as those involving mood. WKY and SHR strains as well as 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA)-lesioned animals are validated models for the study of mood disorders. Because dopamine and enkephalins are involved in anxiety-related behaviors, the aim of our study was to analyze enkephalinase activity, assayed as aminopeptidase M activity, in the left and right medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) of WKY and SHR treated with saline (sham group) or following left or right intrastriatal injections of the neurotoxic 6-OHDA. Sham left and sham right WKY exhibited a significant left predominance. Left 6-OHDA-lesioned rats inverted the left predominance of sham to right predominance. In right 6-OHDA-lesioned rats, the left predominance in sham right rats disappeared. Sham left as well as sham right SHR did not show any bilateral differences. In contrast, while the left lesion demonstrated a highly significant left predominance, the right lesion showed a slight but significant right predominance. A significant negative correlation between enkephalinase activity of the right mPFC and blood pressure and heart rate was observed only in left-lesioned SHR. Our results demonstrate that unilateral nigrostriatal injections of 6-OHDA influence the bilateral distribution of enkephalinase activity depending on both the side of the lesion and the strain analyzed. These results support the hypothesis that DA pathways may interact asymmetrically with enkephalins in the mPFC and that enkephalinase activity may play a role in the regulatory mechanisms underlying this interaction., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Little is known about the risk of progressing to hazardous alcohol use in abstinent or low-risk drinkers., Aim: To develop and validate a simple brief risk algorithm for the onset of hazardous alcohol drinking (HAD) over 12 months for use in primary care., Design and Setting: Prospective cohort study in 32 health centres from six Spanish provinces, with evaluations at baseline, 6 months, and 12 months., Method: Forty-one risk factors were measured and multilevel logistic regression and inverse probability weighting were used to build the risk algorithm. The outcome was new occurrence of HAD during the study, as measured by the AUDIT., Results: From the lists of 174 GPs, 3954 adult abstinent or low-risk drinkers were recruited. The 'predictAL-10' risk algorithm included just nine variables (10 questions): province, sex, age, cigarette consumption, perception of financial strain, having ever received treatment for an alcohol problem, childhood sexual abuse, AUDIT-C, and interaction AUDIT-C*Age. The c-index was 0.886 (95% CI = 0.854 to 0.918). The optimal cutoff had a sensitivity of 0.83 and specificity of 0.80. Excluding childhood sexual abuse from the model (the 'predictAL-9'), the c-index was 0.880 (95% CI = 0.847 to 0.913), sensitivity 0.79, and specificity 0.81. There was no statistically significant difference between the c-indexes of predictAL-10 and predictAL-9., Conclusion: The predictAL-10/9 is a simple and internally valid risk algorithm to predict the onset of hazardous alcohol drinking over 12 months in primary care attendees; it is a brief tool that is potentially useful for primary prevention of hazardous alcohol drinking., (© British Journal of General Practice 2017.)

Background: Not enough is known about universal prevention of depression in adults., Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of an intervention to prevent major depression., Design: Multicenter, cluster randomized trial with sites randomly assigned to usual care or an intervention. (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01151982)., Setting: 10 primary care centers in each of 7 cities in Spain., Participants: Two primary care physicians (PCPs) and 5236 nondepressed adult patients were randomly sampled from each center; 3326 patients consented and were eligible to participate., Intervention: For each patient, PCPs communicated individual risk for depression and personal predictors of risk and developed a psychosocial program tailored to prevent depression., Measurements: New cases of major depression, assessed every 6 months for 18 months., Results: At 18 months, 7.39% of patients in the intervention group (95% CI, 5.85% to 8.95%) developed major depression compared with 9.40% in the control (usual care) group (CI, 7.89% to 10.92%) (absolute difference, -2.01 percentage points [CI, -4.18 to 0.16 percentage points]; P = 0.070). Depression incidence was lower in the intervention centers in 5 cities and similar between intervention and control centers in 2 cities., Limitation: Potential self-selection bias due to nonconsenting patients., Conclusion: Compared with usual care, an intervention based on personal predictors of risk for depression implemented by PCPs provided a modest but nonsignificant reduction in the incidence of major depression. Additional study of this approach may be warranted., Primary Funding Source: Institute of Health Carlos III.

Background: There is limited evidence for a moderating role of both serotonin transporter (SERT) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) genes on the risk for major depression (MD) developing after childhood maltreatment. However, research on this topic remains inconclusive, and there is a lack of data from longitudinal studies with large and representative population samples. Our study aimed to clarify whether, in the presence of previous childhood maltreatment, individuals carrying low functional alleles for both SERT 5-HTTLPR and BDNF Val66Met polymorphisms had a higher risk for MD., Methods: We explored 2- and 3-way gene (SERT and BDNF) × environment (childhood maltreatment) interactions in a large sample of Spanish adults who were followed up over a 3-year period and assessed in person for both DSM-IV MD and exposure to childhood maltreatment., Results: Our study included 2679 participants. Those with both the 5-HTTLPR s allele and the BDNF Met allele showed the highest risk of MD if they had previously experienced emotional (z = 2.08, p = 0.037), sexual (z = 2.19, p = 0.029) or any kind of childhood abuse (z = 2.37, p = 0.018). These 3-way interactions remained significant regardless of whether the 5-HTTLPR triallelic or the 5-HTTLPR biallelic polymorphisms were included in the analyses., Limitations: Retrospective assessment of childhood maltreatment may have resulted in a moderate degree of recall bias., Conclusion: Our results confirm that the risk of depression conferred by childhood maltreatment is modified by variation at both SERT and BDNF genes.

Objective: Menopause status has been associated with an increase in venous diseases and lower limb-related symptoms. The purpose of our study was to evaluate pain associated with chronic venous insufficiency and its risk factors in postmenopausal women., Methods: A controlled cross-sectional study was performed in 139 postmenopausal women with chronic venous insufficiency and 40 control women. Pain was assessed with a visual analogue scale, the McGill Pain Questionnaire, and the Pain Matcher (Cefar Medical AB, Lund, Sweden). The influence of several demographic and clinical risk factors was analyzed using bivariate and multivariate regression analyses., Results: Women in the chronic venous insufficiency group had significantly higher pain intensity and significantly lower pain threshold (P = 0.001) than the control group. The level of pain was independently and significantly associated with venous refill time and osteoarthritis index scores. It was not associated with other risk factors or with disease severity according to the clinical, etiological, anatomical, and pathophysiological classification., Conclusions: Venous pain is a consistent symptom in postmenopausal women with chronic venous insufficiency, in whom nociceptive thresholds are generally decreased. Reduced physical activity, venous reflux, and osteoarthritis seem to influence pain level in chronic venous insufficiency.

We tested the capacity of the Sysmex UF-1000i system to detect yeasts in urine by screening a total of 22 132 urine samples received for culture in our microbiology laboratory during 1 year. We also analyzed different dilutions of previously filtered urine inoculated with a strain of Candida albicans. With clinical samples, a single cut-off point of 50 yeast-like cells (YLCs)/μL detected candiduria ≥10 000 colony forming units (CFU)/mL and >100 000 CFU/mL with a sensitivity of 87.3%/95.4%, a specificity of 97%, a negative predictive value of 95.9%, and a positive predictive value of 9.3%/5.7%. With the simulated samples, a linear relationship was observed between the dilution factor and the number of cells detected by UF-1000i. This instrument appears to be able to reliably rule out candiduria of a magnitude of at least 10 000 CFU/mL and facilitate urine sample screening, thereby providing fast results. The Sysmex UF1000i system can be adapted for candiduria screening by the use of an appropriate YLCs/μL cut-off point that takes account of the prevalence of candiduria in the population., (© 2013 APMIS. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background: The List of Threatening Experiences (LTE) questionnaire is frequently used to assess stressful events; however, studies of its psychometric properties are scarce. We examined the LTE's reliability, factorial structure, construct validity and explored the association between LTE scores and psychosocial variables and mental disorders., Method: This study involved interviewing 5442 primary care attendees from Spain. Associations between four different methods of quantifying LTE scores, psychosocial factors, major depression (CIDI), anxiety disorders (PRIME-MD), alcohol misuse and dependence (AUDIT) were measured., Results: The LTE showed high test-retest reliability (Kappa range=0.61-0.87) and low internal consistency (α=0.44). Tetrachoric factorial analysis yielded four factors (spousal and relational problems; employment and financial problems; personal problems; illness and bereavement in close persons). Logistic multilevel regression found a strong association between greater social support and a lower occurrence of stressful events (OR range=0.36-0.79). The association between religious-spiritual beliefs and the LTE, was weaker. The association between mental disorders and LTE scores was greater for depression (OR range=1.64-2.57) than anxiety (OR range=1.35-1.97), though the highest ORs were obtained with alcohol dependence (OR range=2.86-4.80). The ordinal score (ordinal regression) was more sensitive to detect the strength of association with mental disorders., Limitations: We are unable to distinguish the direction of the association between stressful events, psychosocial factors and mental disorders, due to our cross-sectional design of the study., Conclusions: The LTE is a valid and reliable measure of stress in mental health, and the strength of association with mental disorders depends on the method of quantifying LTE scores., (© 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: The 'predictD algorithm' provides an estimate of the level and profile of risk of the onset of major depression in primary care attendees. This gives us the opportunity to develop interventions to prevent depression in a personalized way. We aim to evaluate the effectiveness, cost-effectiveness and cost-utility of a new intervention, personalized and implemented by family physicians (FPs), to prevent the onset of episodes of major depression., Methods/design: This is a multicenter randomized controlled trial (RCT), with cluster assignment by health center and two parallel arms. Two interventions will be applied by FPs, usual care versus the new intervention predictD-CCRT. The latter has four components: a training workshop for FPs; communicating the level and profile of risk of depression; building up a tailored bio-psycho-family-social intervention by FPs to prevent depression; offering a booklet to prevent depression; and activating and empowering patients. We will recruit a systematic random sample of 3286 non-depressed adult patients (1643 in each trial arm), nested in 140 FPs and 70 health centers from 7 Spanish cities. All patients will be evaluated at baseline, 6, 12 and 18 months. The level and profile of risk of depression will be communicated to patients by the FPs in the intervention practices at baseline, 6 and 12 months. Our primary outcome will be the cumulative incidence of major depression (measured by CIDI each 6 months) over 18 months of follow-up. Secondary outcomes will be health-related quality of life (SF-12 and EuroQol), and measurements of cost-effectiveness and cost-utility. The inferences will be made at patient level. We shall undertake an intention-to-treat effectiveness analysis and will handle missing data using multiple imputations. We will perform multi-level logistic regressions and will adjust for the probability of the onset of major depression at 12 months measured at baseline as well as for unbalanced variables if appropriate. The economic evaluation will be approached from two perspectives, societal and health system., Discussion: To our knowledge, this will be the first RCT of universal primary prevention for depression in adults and the first to test a personalized intervention implemented by FPs. We discuss possible biases as well as other limitations., Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01151982.

We investigated the effects of uninephrectomy (UNX) in 6-week-old male and female rats on blood pressure (BP), renal sodium handling, salt sensitivity, oxidative stress, and renal injury over 18 months postsurgery, studying control sham-operated and UNX-operated rats at 6, 12, and 18 months postsurgery, evaluating their renal sodium handling, BP, urinary isoprostanes, N-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminidase, and proteinuria before and after a 2-week high-salt intake period. At 18 months, plasma variables were measured and kidney samples were taken for the analysis of renal morphology and tissue variables. BP was increased at 6 months in male UNX rats versus controls and at 12 and 18 months in both male and female UNX rats and was increased in male versus female UNX groups at 18 months. UNX did not affect water and sodium excretion under basal conditions and after the different test in male and female rats at different ages. However, the renal function curve was shifted to the right in both male and female UNX rats. High-salt intake increased BP in both UNX groups at 6, 12, and 18 months and in the female control group at 18 months, and it increased proteinuria, N-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminidase, and isoprostanes in both UNX groups throughout the study. Renal lesions at 18 months were more severe in male versus female UNX rats. In summary, long-term UNX increased the BP, creatinine, proteinuria, pathological signs of renal injury, and salt sensitivity. Earlier BP elevation was observed and morphological lesions were more severe in male than in female UNX rats.

Schizophrenia is a highly disabling and limiting disorder for patients and the possibility that infections by some microorganisms may be associated to its development may allow prevention and recovery. In the current study we have done a meta-analysis of studies that have assessed the possible association between detection of different infectious agents and schizophrenia. We report results that support the idea that there is a statistically significant association between schizophrenia and infection by Human Herpesvirus 2 (OR=1.34; CI 95%: 1.09-1.70; p=0.05), Borna Disease Virus (OR=2.03; CI 95%: 1.35-3.06; p<0.01), Human Endogenous Retrovirus W (OR=19.31; CI 95%: 6.74-55.29; p<0.001), Chlamydophila pneumoniae (OR=6.34; CI 95%: 2.83-14.19; p<0.001), Chlamydophila psittaci (OR=29.05; CI 95%: 8.91-94.70; p<0.001) and Toxoplasma gondii (OR=2.70; CI 95%: 1.34-4.42; p=0.005). The implications of these findings are discussed and further research options are also explicated., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Testosterone (T) plays an important role in developing brain, dictating sex-specific behavior and physiology. 3α,5α-Reduced neurosteroids also regulate reproductive behavior. The key enzyme in the biosynthesis of these neurosteroids is 5α-reductase (5α-R), expressed as two isozymes, 5α-R1 and 5α-R2. In this study, T and sesame oil (vehicle) were administered during postnatal sexual differentiation of the central nervous system (CNS) and mRNA levels of 5α-R isozymes, were measured using quantitative RT-PCR in prefrontal cortex of male and female rats with different androgenic status at adulthood. Our results indicate that T concentrations during postnatal sexual differentiation of the rat CNS, among other sex-dependent factors, influence brain levels of 5α-R isozymes in adulthood and the pattern of their regulation by androgen hormones., (Copyright © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Background: Few data exist on the psychosocial factors associated with attrition in longitudinal surveys. This study was undertaken to determine psychosocial and sociodemographic predictors of attrition from a longitudinal study of the onset and persistence of episodes of major depression in primary care., Methods: A systematic random sample of general practice attendees was recruited in seven Spanish provinces between October 2005 and February 2006. Major depression was diagnosed using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview and a set of 39 individual and environmental risk factors for depression were assessed at baseline and after 6 and 12 months of follow-up. Data were analysed using multilevel logistic regression., Results: 7777 primary care attendees aged 18-75 years were selected, of whom 1251 (16.1%) were excluded. Of the remaining 6526, 1084 (16.6%) refused to participate. Thus, 5442 patients (attending 231 family physicians in 41 health centres) were interviewed at baseline, of whom 3804 (70%) and 3567 (66%) remained at 6 and 12 months of follow-up, respectively. The province and sociodemographic factors were stronger predictors of attrition than psychosocial factors. Depression and anxiety had no effect but other psychosocial factors affected attrition. There were different profiles for the patients lost at 12 months when predictors measured at baseline versus 6 months were included., Conclusions: These findings suggest that several psychosocial factors might be considered factors of attrition in primary care cohorts and confirm that baseline characteristics are insufficient for analysing non-response in longitudinal studies, indicating that different retention strategies should be applied for patients interviewed at 6 and 12 months.

Objectives: To identify patient expectations of clinical decision-making at consultations with their general practitioners for distinct health problems and to determine the patient and general practitioner characteristics related to these expectations, with special focus on gender., Methods: We performed a multicenter cross-sectional study in 360 patients who were interviewed at home. Data on patients' sociodemographic, clinical characteristics and satisfaction were gathered. General practitioners supplied information on their gender and postgraduate training in family medicine. A questionnaire was used to collect data on patients' expectations that their general practitioner <> at consultations with their general practitioner for five problems or hypothetical clinical scenarios (strong chest pain/cold with fever/abnormal discharge/depression or sadness/severe family problem). Patients were asked to indicate their preference that decisions on diagnosis and treatment be taken by: a) the general practitioner alone; b) the general practitioner, taking account of the patient's opinion; c) the patient, taking account of the general practitioner's opinion and d) the patient alone. A logistic regression was performed for clinical decision-making., Results: The response rate was 90%. The mean age was 47.3 + or - 16.5 years and 51% were female. Patients' expectations that their general practitioner listen, explain and take account of their opinions were higher than their expectations of participating in decision-making, depending on the problem in question: 32% wished to participate in chest pain and 49% in family problems. Women had lower expectations of participating in depression and family problems. Patients with female general practitioners had higher expectations of participating in family problems and colds., Conclusions: Most patients wished to be listened to, informed and taken into account by their general practitioners and, to a lesser extent, wished to take decisions autonomously, especially for biomedical problems., (Copyright 2009 SESPAS. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.)

Assessment of HIV tropism using bioinformatic tools based on V3 sequences correlates poorly with results provided by phenotypic tropism assays, particularly for recognizing X4 viruses. This may represent an obstacle for the use of CCR5 antagonists. An algorithm combining several bioinformatic tools might improve the correlation with phenotypic tropism results. A total of 200 V3 sequences from HIV-1 subtype B, available in several databases with known phenotypic tropism results, were used to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of seven different bioinformatic tools (PSSM, SVM, C4.5 decision tree generator and C4.5, PART, Charge Rule, and Geno2pheno). The best predictive bioinformatic tools were identified, and a model combining several of these was built. Using the 200 reference sequences, SVM and geno2-pheno showed the highest sensitivity for detecting X4 viruses (98.8% and 93.7%, respectively); however, their specificity was relatively low (62.5% and 86.6%, respectively). For R5 viruses, PSSM and C4.5 gave the same results and outperformed other bioinformatic tools (95.7% sensitivity, 82% specificity). When results from three out of these four tools were concordant, the sensitivity and specificity, taking as reference the results from phenotypic tropism assays, were over 90% in predicting either R5 or X4 viruses (AUC: 0.9701; 95% CI: 0.9358-0.9889). An algorithm combining four distinct bioinformatic tools (SVM, geno2pheno, PSSM and C4.5), improves the genotypic prediction of HIV tropism, and merits further evaluation, as it might prove useful as a screening strategy in clinical practice., (Copyright 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.)

Background: The effects of putative risk factors on the onset and/or persistence of depression remain unclear. We aim to develop comprehensive models to predict the onset and persistence of episodes of depression in primary care. Here we explain the general methodology of the predictD-Spain study and evaluate the reliability of the questionnaires used., Methods: This is a prospective cohort study. A systematic random sample of general practice attendees aged 18 to 75 has been recruited in seven Spanish provinces. Depression is being measured with the CIDI at baseline, and at 6, 12, 24 and 36 months. A set of individual, environmental, genetic, professional and organizational risk factors are to be assessed at each follow-up point. In a separate reliability study, a proportional random sample of 401 participants completed the test-retest (251 researcher-administered and 150 self-administered) between October 2005 and February 2006. We have also checked 118,398 items for data entry from a random sample of 480 patients stratified by province., Results: All items and questionnaires had good test-retest reliability for both methods of administration, except for the use of recreational drugs over the previous six months. Cronbach's alphas were good and their factorial analyses coherent for the three scales evaluated (social support from family and friends, dissatisfaction with paid work, and dissatisfaction with unpaid work). There were 191 (0.16%) data entry errors., Conclusion: The items and questionnaires were reliable and data quality control was excellent. When we eventually obtain our risk index for the onset and persistence of depression, we will be able to determine the individual risk of each patient evaluated in primary health care.

Hyperthyroidism in rats is associated with increased oxidative stress. These animals also show abnormal renal hemodynamics and an attenuated pressure-diuresis-natriuresis (PDN) response. We analyzed the role of oxidative stress as a mediator of these alterations by examining acute effects of tempol, a superoxide dismutase mimetic. The effects of increasing bolus doses of tempol (25-150 micromol/kg) on mean arterial pressure (MAP), renal vascular resistance (RVR), and cortical (CBF) and medullary (MBF) blood flow were studied in control and thyroxine (T4)-treated rats. In another experiment, tempol was infused at 150 micromol.kg(-1).h(-1) to analyze its effects on the glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and on PDN response in these animals. Tempol dose dependently decreased MAP and RVR and increased CBF and MBF in control and T4-treated rats, but the T4 group showed a greater responsiveness to tempol in all of these variables. The highest dose of tempol decreased RVR by 13.5 +/- 2.1 and 5.5 +/- 1.2 mmHg.ml(-1).min(-1) in hyperthyroid (P < 0.01) and control rats, respectively. GFR was not changed by tempol in controls but was significantly increased in the hyperthyroid group. Tempol did not change the absolute or fractional PDN responses of controls but significantly improved those of hyperthyroid rats, although without attaining normal values. Tempol increased the slopes of the relationship between renal perfusion pressure and natriuresis (T4+tempol: 0.17 +/- 0.05; T4: 0.09 +/- 0.03 microeq.min(-1).g(-1).mmHg(-1); P < 0.05) and reduced 8-isoprostane excretion in hyperthyroid rats. These results show that antioxidant treatment with tempol improves renal hemodynamic variables and PDN response in hyperthyroid rats, indicating the participation of an increased oxidative stress in these mechanisms.

Objectives: The purpose was to determine by multivariate analysis in a large series of dental implants the variables associated with primary endosseous dental implant stability (DIS)., Material and Methods: A 10-year retrospective study was conducted of 1084 Brånemark implants placed in 316 patients. Clinical variables (age, gender, smoking habit, and periodontal status), implant diameter, implant length, and Periotest values (PTVs) were analyzed in bivariate and multivariate studies in order to determine their influence on DIS, using a cut-off PTV value of -2., Results: The site of implant insertion showed the strongest association with primary DIS failure among the study variables. Implants in the anterior mandible had a 6.43-fold lower risk of primary DIS risk vs. those at other sites [95% confidence interval (CI) 3.28-12.61], and implants in the maxillary had a 2.70-fold higher risk of primary DIS failure vs. those in the mandible (95% CI 1.82-4). Among other variables, females had a 1.54-fold higher risk of primary DIS failure vs. males (95% CI 1.88-2.22) and implants <15 mm in length had a 1.49-fold higher risk of failure vs. longer implants (95% CI 1.09-2.04)., Conclusion: According to these findings, primary DIS failure is more likely in females, at sites other than the anterior mandible, and with dental implants shorter than 15 mm, at least when non-threaded titanium implants are used. These data may be of value in the identification of patients at a high risk of primary DIS failure with immediate implant loading.

Twelve beta-lactam and non-beta-lactam antibiotics were evaluated against 115 clinical isolates of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing (ESBLs) Escherichia coli using a broth microdilution test in accordance with the CLSI guidelines. Susceptibility was 100% with imipenem, ertapenem and amikacin, 95.7% with piperacillin-tazobactam, 91.3% with cefoxitin, 87% with tobramycin, 81.7% with amoxicillin-clavulanate, 80% with cefepime, 67.8% with ceftazidime, 27.8% with ciprofloxacin, 27% with levofloxacin and 13% with ceftriaxone. Ertapenem was the antibiotic with the lowest minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) for all isolates. There were no clinically relevant differences in the activity of the antibiotics in the presence of CTX-M-9 or SHV enzymes.

Mutations in the quinolone resistance-determining regions of gyrA, gyrB, parC, and parE were studied in 30 fluoroquinolone-resistant clinical isolates of Escherichia coli producing extended-spectrum beta-lactamases. Ten isolates showed a mutation in parE that was significantly associated with an increase in the MIC for fluoroquinolones.

We evaluated the activity of several antibiotics against 225 clinical isolates of Staphylococcus aureus and 252 isolates of Streptococcus agalactiae. Only tigecycline, glycopeptides, and linezolid were active against all the isolates of S. aureus, whereas the beta-lactams were also active against S. agalactiae. Tigecycline could be a good alternative to ampicillin in the treatment of group B Streptococcus infections in patients allergic to beta-lactam.

Introduction: Since community-based health care was introduced, the use of mental health services by patients with serious mental disorders has been an issue of much interest. However, our knowledge of intervening factors is both scarce and partial., Objective: To study socio-demographic variables which may predict time-lapse (in days) between each out-patient contact among a cohort of schizophrenia patients., Method: Data comes from the South Granada Schizophrenia Case Register. We used Cox's regression analysis to study the influence of the socio-demographic variables in the time lapsed between out-patient contacts., Results: After adjusting for all other socio-demographic variables included, we found that to live in a rural area and being younger independently predicted a longer time-lapse between out-patient contacts while being retired predicted a shorter interval between such contacts. Other variables such as sex, educational level and marital status did not determine such length between out-patients contacts., Conclusion: Socio-demographic variables, and not only psychopathological ones, determine mental health out-patient service use.