Introduction
Increased mortality has been reported in the Latin American population. The objective is to compare the clinical characteristics and outcome of Latin American and Spanish populations in ...a cohort of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 during the first year of the pandemic.
Methods
We retrospectively analysed all the Latin American patients (born in South or Central America) hospitalized in our centre from February 2020 to February 2021 and compared them with an age- and gender-matched group of Spanish subjects. Variables included were demographics, co-morbidities, clinical and analytical parameters at admission and treatment received. The primary outcomes were ICU admission and mortality at 60 days. A conditional regression analysis was performed to evaluate the independent baseline predictors of both outcomes.
Results
From the 3216 patients in the whole cohort, 216 pairs of case-controls (Latin American and Spanish patients, respectively) with same age and gender were analysed. COPD was more frequent in the Spanish group, while HIV was more prevalent in the Latin American group. Other co-morbidities showed no significant difference. Both groups presented with similar numbers of days from symptom onset, but the Latin American population had a higher respiratory rate (21 vs. 20 bpm,
P
= 0.041), CRP (9.13 vs. 6.22 mg/dl,
P
= 0.001), ferritin (571 vs. 383 ng/ml,
P
= 0.012) and procalcitonin (0.10 vs. 0.07 ng/ml,
P
= 0.020) at admission and lower cycle threshold of PCR (27 vs. 28.8,
P
= 0.045). While ICU admission and IVM were higher in the Latin American group (17.1% vs. 13% and 9.7% vs. 5.1%, respectively), this was not statistically significant. Latin American patients received remdesivir and anti-inflammatory therapies more often, and no difference in the 60-day mortality rate was found (3.2% for both groups).
Conclusion
Latin American patients with COVID-19 have more severe disease than Spanish patients, requiring ICU admission, antiviral and anti-inflammatory therapies more frequently. However, the mortality rate was similar in both groups.
Motivated by the possibility of guiding daughter ions from double beta decay events to single-ion sensors for barium tagging, the NEXT collaboration is developing a program of R&D to test radio ...frequency (RF) carpets for ion transport in high pressure xenon gas. This would require carpet functionality in regimes at higher pressures than have been previously reported, implying correspondingly larger electrode voltages than in existing systems. This mode of operation appears plausible for contemporary RF-carpet geometries due to the higher predicted breakdown strength of high pressure xenon relative to low pressure helium, the working medium in most existing RF carpet devices. In this paper we present the first measurements of the high voltage dielectric strength of xenon gas at high pressure and at the relevant RF frequencies for ion transport (in the 10 MHz range), as well as new DC and RF measurements of the dielectric strengths of high pressure argon and helium gases at small gap sizes. We find breakdown voltages that are compatible with stable RF carpet operation given the gas, pressure, voltage, materials and geometry of interest.
Based on the high incidence of thromboembolic events (TEs) observed in lung adenocarcinomas with ALK translocations and taking into account the biological proximity of ROS1 and ALK, we conducted a ...retrospective analysis of patients with advanced lung carcinoma carrying rearrangements in ROS1 from 23 centres in Spain and one centre in Portugal.
The main objective of the study was to analyse the incidence of TE in this population, looking for predictive risk factors, and its impact on overall survival.
A total of 58 patients were included. The incidence of TEs throughout the disease was 46.6% (n = 27) with a median follow-up of 19 months (range: 1–78 months) and a median overall survival of 52 months in the total population and 50 months for the patients presenting TEs, with a hazards ratio of 1.12 (95% confidence interval: 0.47–2.65) p = 0.78. The majority of the events were venous (n = 24; 89%) and occurred in the ambulatory setting (n = 18; 67%). Almost half of the patients (n = 13; 48%) presented the TE in the peri-diagnostic period.
The high incidence of thrombosis, especially during the cancer diagnosis process, requires special attention from a clinician. Despite the limitations of such a small descriptive study, its results are in accordance with previously reported data. It would be important to design prospective studies of antithrombotic prophylaxis in this population because of their possible impact in reducing the risk of TEs.
•Patients with ROS1 NSCLC have an incidence of thromboembolic events of 46.6%.•Most of the thromboembolic events occurred during the diagnostic process of cancer.•Despite high incidence of thromboembolic events, it had no impact in overall survival.•Low albumin is associated with higher risk of thromboembolic events in this cohort.
An accurate diagnosis of β-lactam (BL) allergy improves the use of antibiotics, increases patients' safety, and reduces costs to health systems. Nevertheless, it requires skin and drug provocation ...tests, which are time-consuming and put the patient at risk. Furthermore, allergy testing is not available in circumstances such as the urgent need for antibiotic therapy.
To evaluate the usefulness of an artificial neural network (ANN) in the prediction of hypersensitivity to BLs, and compare it with logistic regression (LR) analysis.
In a single-center study, 656 patients evaluated for BL allergy between 1994 and 2000 were retrospectively analyzed, and the data were used to construct an ANN. The ANN predictive capabilities were compared with LR and then prospectively evaluated in 615 patients who underwent BL evaluation between 2011 and 2017.
A total of 1271 patients were evaluated. All patients had a definite diagnosis as allergic or nonallergic to BL. The prospective sample showed a lower percentage of patients with allergy than the retrospective sample (20.7% vs 25.8%; P = .018). In the retrospective and prospective series, the ANN reached a sensitivity of 89.5% and 81.1%, a specificity of 86.1% and 97.9%, a positive predictive value of 82.1% and 91.1%, and a negative predictive value of 92.1% and 95.2%, respectively. The ANN's performance was far superior to that of the LR, whose best performance reached a sensitivity of 31.9% and a specificity of 98.8%.
This ANN demonstrated a superior performance than the LR in predicting BL hypersensitivity without misdiagnosing severe allergic reactions. The ANN could be a helpful tool to classify the reaction risk, particularly in the identification of low-risk patients, in which an open challenge could be done to delabel patients.
The "Neutrino Experiment with a Xenon Time-Projection Chamber" (NEXT) is intended to investigate the neutrinoless double beta decay of super(136)Xe, which requires a severe suppression of potential ...backgrounds. An extensive screening and material selection process is underway for NEXT since the control of the radiopurity levels of the materials to be used in the experimental set-up is a must for rare event searches. First measurements based on Glow Discharge Mass Spectrometry and gamma-ray spectroscopy using ultra-low background germanium detectors at the Laboratorio Subterraneo de Canfranc (Spain) are described here. Activity results for natural radioactive chains and other common radionuclides are summarized, being the values obtained for some materials like copper and stainless steel very competitive. The implications of these results for the NEXT experiment are also discussed.
A multidisciplinary analysis of Holocene sediments from La Cascajera (Tinto-Odiel estuary, SW Spain) has allowed to differentiate five sedimentary facies (sandy tidal flat, clayey tidal flat, ...washover fan, salt marsh, edaphic horizon), according to their granulometric characteristics, internal structure, mineralogical composition, clay mineral assemblage and paleontological record. These data, coupled to 14C AMS dating, suggest an evolution from a sandy tidal plain to a chenier before 2100 cal yr BP. This initial chenier was partially eroded later by regional storms between 2100 cal yr BP and 1900 cal yr BP, leading to the deposition of two washover fans. These facies have been eroded in the last centuries by the action of an ebb-tide channel.
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OBJECTIVESTo estimate the prevalence of obesity in patients treated by departments of Internal Medicine and to classify the patients according to the Edmonton Obesity Staging System (EOSS). MATERIAL ...AND METHODSAn observational, descriptive cross-sectional study included outpatients older than 18 years, with a body mass index (BMI)>30, from 38 hospitals between the 1st and 14th of February, 2016. We classified the patients according to the EOSS and analysed their clinical, laboratory and demographic variables. A value of P<.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTSOf the 1,262 patients treated in consultations, we recruited 298 and analysed 265. The prevalence of obesity was 23.6%, the mean age was 62.47±15.27 years, and the mean BMI was 36.1±5.3kg/m2. According to EOSS stage (0, 1, 2, 3 and 4), the prevalence was 4.9, 14.7, 62.3, 15.5 and 2.64%, respectively. Those patients with EOSS>2 were significantly older and had significantly more comorbidities. The multivariate analysis related age (OR 1.06; P<.0003), blood glucose (OR 1.04; P<.0006), total cholesterol (OR 0.98; P<.02) and uric acid (OR 1.32; P<.02) levels with an EOSS>2. An analysis of correspondence grouped, with an explanatory percentage of 78.2%, the patients according to their EOSS, comorbidity, education level, employment status and functional capacity. CONCLUSIONSThe prevalence of obesity in the patients treated by Internal Medicine departments is similar to that of the general population, although the patients are older and have a higher BMI. EOSS is useful for implementing a comprehensive approach for patients with obesity, regardless of the BMI, which can help achieve better health and quality-of-life results.
Se reportan los resultados obtenidos a partir de una investigación acción con componentes participativos, orientada a fortalecer el funcionamiento de redes institucionales y comunitarias para la ...intervención con adolescentes infractores de ley. El articulo da cuenta de los principales resultados obtenidos a partir de este proceso, centrando su análisis en un conjunto de dimensiones que permiten tener una panorámica acerca de los avances y desafíos que presentan los programas involucrados en el estudio. Los resultados reportan las dificultades de los equipos para incluir de modo eficiente los recursos de las redes inter institucionales dada la fragmentación de la política pública destinada a este grupo de adolescentes, así como las barreras para integrar la dimensión comunitaria en el trabajo con los jóvenes producto del formato de intervención así como las modalidades de financiamiento de los programas. Así también se evidencian mejoras en la comprensión e integración de estos componentes por parte de los equipos de los programas durante el proceso articulándose redes interinstitucionales con mejores grados de continuidad y complementariedad en su quehacer y una incorporación paulatina, aunque parcial de la dimensión comunitaria en la intervención.
Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) is an excellent diffuse reflector widely used in light collection systems for particle physics experiments. However, the reflectance of PTFE is a function of its ...thickness. In this work, we investigate this dependence in air for light of wavelengths 260 nm and 450 nm using two complementary methods. We find that PTFE reflectance for thicknesses from 5 mm to 10 mm ranges from 92.5% to 94.5% at 450 nm, and from 90.0% to 92.0% at 260 nm. We also see that the reflectance of PTFE of a given thickness can vary by as much as 2.7% within the same piece of material. Finally, we show that placing a specular reflector behind the PTFE can recover the loss of reflectance in the visible without introducing a specular component in the reflectance.
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