Introduction
Timely diagnosis and proper recognition of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) is essential to establish early management in inpatients and outpatients. There are different classification ...scales to identify SLE, which include various clinical and serological aspects. In 2021, the SLE Risk Probability Index (SLERPI) was published, which focuses predominantly on the clinical characteristics of patients with suspected SLE and uses a simple algorithm for early recognition of the disease. The aim of this study is to compare the European League Against Rheumatism/American College of Rheumatology (ACR/EULAR) classification criteria, the Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics (SLICC) criteria, and the SLERPI criteria in a cohort of Colombian patients with SLE and to analyze the correlations observed between their absolute scores.
Methods
A registry of SLE patients from two referral hospitals in Bogotá, Colombia, was used. 2021 SLERPI, 2019 ACR/EULAR, and 2012 SLICC scores were calculated for each patient and the correlations found between the scales were analyzed. The sensitivities of each were compared, and frequency analyses were conducted among different clinical and laboratory variables.
Results
Between 2016 and 2019, 146 patients diagnosed with SLE were registered, including inpatients and outpatients. The median age was 36 years (interquartile range 26–51), and 82.2% were women. According to the SLERPI criteria, a high prevalence of antinuclear antibodies (92%), immunological disorders (71%), and arthritis (64%) were observed. The most used treatments were corticosteroids (87.6%) and chloroquine (67.8%). A Spearman evaluation analysis was performed, with a moderately strong correlation of 0.76 (p = .000) between the SLERPI and ACR/EULAR scales and very strong correlation of 0.80 (p = .000) between the SLERPI and SLICC. Patients classified with SLE according to the SLERPI scale exhibited a higher incidence of hematological compromise, along with elevated levels of serological markers such as anti-DNA antibodies. Additionally, this group more commonly received treatments involving corticosteroids and azathioprine, and displayed a higher prevalence of hypertension.
Conclusion
The SLERPI scale could be useful in the diagnosis of SLE, especially in early stages, given its good correlation with other classification scales and its good sensitivity.
Partiendo de los supuestos teóricos de la psicología cultural y la socialización lingüística, y siguiendo un enfoque etnográfico, este trabajo ofrece (a) un estudio que explica el proceso de ...escolarización de dos estudiantes recién llegados a España y un alumno dominicano recién llegado al grupo, pero no al colegio; y (b) un marco teórico como forma dinámica de analizar las instituciones educativas, a través del cual hemos identificado prácticas verticales y prácticas horizontales. Este estudio aporta un análisis del comportamiento social de los estudiantes, entendiéndolo como un proceso dinámico en el que las acciones de cada persona son el resultado de la interacción entre contexto y comportamiento individual, destacando la agencia y el poder transformador de un individuo dentro de una comunidad.
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•The polymeric substrate was metallized by wire flame spray.•Chemical surface preparation procedures are eliminated.•Coating adhesion strength of 888 N, without the presence of cracks ...or oxides.•Low resistivity in the coating with a value of 2682 S/m.•Coating with porosity of 0.87%, and an average pore size of 10 µm.
Metallization of polymeric materials is a process that manages to combine the properties of polymers and metals, to expand its range of applications. In this research, the deposition of a Zn-Al alloy on a polymeric substrate (ABS) using wire flame spray was carried out, with a predominant advantage by not using chemical surface preparation processes, thus obtaining materials at low cost, friendly to the environment, without affecting the properties of the substrate, avoiding its degradation by temperature, and gaining a level of electrical conductivity appropriate to nature of the coatings. Substrate roughness is measured by interferometry, coating morphology by SEM, the composition by EDS, structure by XRD, adhesion by Pull-Off, and electrical resistivity is evaluated using the 4-point test. The SEM results show a coating with a thickness of the order of 89 µm, homogeneous in its composition with a Zn and Al crystalline structure, an adhesion strength of 888 N, with a porosity of 0.87% with an average pore size of 10 µm. The electrical conductivity study of the coated material shows a good electrical response, with a value of 2682 S/m.
Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a severe X-linked recessive neuromuscular disease that affects one in 3500 live-born males. The total absence of dystrophin observed in DMD patients is generally ...caused by mutations that disrupt the reading frame of the DMD gene, and about 80% of cases harbour deletions or duplications of one or more exons.
We reviewed 284 cases of males with a genetic diagnosis of DMD between 2007 and 2014. These patients were selected from 8 Spanish reference hospitals representing most areas of Spain. Multiplex PCR, MLPA, and sequencing were performed to identify mutations.
Most of these DMD patients present large deletions (46.1%) or large duplications (19.7%) in the dystrophin gene. The remaining 34.2% correspond to point mutations, and half of these correspond to nonsense mutations. In this study we identified 23 new mutations in DMD: 7 large deletions and 16 point mutations.
The algorithm for genetic diagnosis applied by the participating centres is the most appropriate for genotyping patients with DMD. The genetic specificity of different therapies currently being developed emphasises the importance of identifying the mutation appearing in each patient; 38.7% of the cases in this series are eligible to participate in current clinical trials.
Background
In the COVID‐19 pandemic, older adults from vulnerable ethnoracial groups are at high risk of infection, hospitalization, and death. We aimed to explore the pandemic’s impact on the ...well‐being and cognition of older adults within and outside of the United States (US).
Method
1,747 (646 White, 991 Latino, 77 Black, 33 Asian; 72% female) individuals from the US and 14 Latin American countries completed an online survey regarding well‐being and cognition during the pandemic. Outcome variables (pandemic impact, discrimination, loneliness, purpose of life, subjective cognitive concerns) were compared across four US ethnoracial groups, and Latinos living in the US and Latin America.
Result
Mean age was 66·5 (SD = 7·70) years and mean education was 15·4 (SD = 2·76) years. We found no differences in the pandemic’s overall impact across US ethnoracial groups. Compared to Whites, Latinos reported greater economic impact (p < ·001, ηp2 = .031); while Blacks reported experiencing discrimination more often (p < ·001, ηp2 = .050). Blacks and Latinos reported more positive coping (p < ·001, ηp2 = 040). Latin American Latinos reported greater pandemic impact (p < ·001, ηp2 =.013 ), more positive coping (p =·006, ηp2 =.008 ), and less discrimination than US Latinos (p < ·001, ηp2 = .013 ).
Conclusion
The COVID‐19 pandemic has differentially impacted the well‐being of older ethnically diverse individuals in the US and Latin America. Future studies should examine how mediators like income and coping skills modify the pandemic’s impact.
El síndrome de Sjögren (SS) es una patología autoinmune, con compromiso glandular o extraglandular, secundario a la infiltración de células linfoides. La evolución clínica es variable, depende de la ...susceptibilidad genética, las comorbilidades, la edad del paciente y los factores de riesgo ambientales. La proliferación y diferenciación linfoide es una pieza fundamental en la progresión del SS hacia las neoplasias hematooncológicas o la amiloidosis. Esta última es una entidad secundaria al acúmulo aberrante de proteínas solubles del plasma, derivadas de procesos crónicos infecciosos, inflamatorios, neoplásicos y hematolinfoides. Las manifestaciones clínicas son variables y dependen de la proteína constitutiva y la edad del paciente, de manera que puede haber un compromiso glandular o extraglandular, local o sistémico. De los órganos afectados, el compromiso pulmonar representa un desafío diagnóstico y terapéutico por su curso y manifestación clínica tan variable. A continuación, se reporta el caso de una mujer mayor de 70 años, con SS y amiloidosis con manifestaciones glandulares y extraglandulares a nivel pulmonar.
Sjögren's Syndrome (SS) is an autoimmune pathology with glandular and/or extraglandular compromise, secondary to the infiltration of lymphoid cells. The clinical course varies depending on genetic susceptibility, comorbidities, patient's age, and environmental risk factors. Lymphoid proliferation and differentiation are key factors in the progression of SS to haematological malignancies or amyloidosis. Amyloidosis is a secondary entity to the aberrant accumulation of soluble plasma proteins, derived from chronic infectious, inflammatory, neoplastic and haematolymphoid processes. The clinical manifestations vary and depend on the constitutive protein and the age of the patient; and may have glandular or extraglandular, local, or systemic compromise. Among the affected organs, pulmonary involvement poses a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge due to its variable course and clinical manifestation. The following is a case report of a woman over 70 years old, with SS and amyloidosis with glandular and extra glandular manifestations at pulmonary level.
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