Desde 1989 la economía de Polonia ha experimentado un exitoso proceso de transformación económica. En la literatura económica, el éxito de dicho proceso esta frecuentemente asociado a las políticas ...neoliberales aplicadas durante los primeros años de la década de los 90, la denominada Terapia de Choque. Sin embargo, a lo largo de esta investigación se va a considerar que el exitoso proceso de transformación de la economía de Polonia no es únicamente resultado de la aplicación efectiva de dichas políticas, sino que el posterior éxito cosechado no podría ser entendido sin las políticas orientadas hacia la acumulación y sin la adhesión de Polonia a la UE, que ha permitido alcanzar importantes niveles de desarrollo socioeconómico. Macroeconómicamente, el proceso de transformación es visto como un proceso exitoso, que ha ayudado a Polonia a prosperar económica y socialmente; pero desde la perspectiva social y a pesar de los avances obtenidos, el proceso de transformación no ha conducido una mejora sustancial de los estándares de vida que permitan equiparar a Polonia con los países más avanzados de la Unión Europea.
Desde 1989 la economía de Polonia ha experimentado un exitoso proceso de transformación económica. En la literatura económica, el éxito de dicho proceso esta frecuentemente asociado a las políticas ...neoliberales aplicadas durante los primeros años de la década de los 90, la denominada Terapia de Choque. Sin embargo, a lo largo de esta investigación se va a considerar que el exitoso proceso de transformación de la economía de Polonia no es únicamente resultado de la aplicación efectiva de dichas políticas, sino que el posterior éxito cosechado no podría ser entendido sin las políticas orientadas hacia la acumulación y sin la adhesión de Polonia a la UE, que ha permitido alcanzar importantes niveles de desarrollo socioeconómico.
Abstract
Aims
We aimed to determine whether treatment with sildenafil improves outcomes of patients with persistent pulmonary hypertension (PH) after correction of valvular heart disease (VHD).
...Methods and results
The sildenafil for improving outcomes after valvular correction (SIOVAC) study was a multricentric, randomized, parallel, and placebo-controlled trial that enrolled stable adults with mean pulmonary artery pressure ≥ 30 mmHg who had undergone a successful valve replacement or repair procedure at least 1 year before inclusion. We assigned 200 patients to receive sildenafil (40 mg three times daily, n = 104) or placebo (n = 96) for 6 months. The primary endpoint was the composite clinical score combining death, hospital admission for heart failure (HF), change in functional class, and patient global self-assessment. Only 27 patients receiving sildenafil improved their composite clinical score, as compared with 44 patients receiving placebo; in contrast 33 patients in the sildenafil group worsened their composite score, as compared with 14 in the placebo group odds ratio 0.39; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.22–0.67; P < 0.001. The Kaplan–Meier estimates for survival without admission due to HF were 0.76 and 0.86 in the sildenafil and placebo groups, respectively (hazard ratio 2.0, 95% CI = 1.0–4.0; log-rank P = 0.044). Changes in 6-min walk test distance, natriuretic peptides, and Doppler-derived systolic pulmonary pressure were similar in both groups.
Conclusion
Treatment with sildenafil in patients with persistent PH after successfully corrected VHD is associated to worse clinical outcomes than placebo. Off-label usage of sildenafil for treating this source of left heart disease PH should be avoided.
The trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT00862043.
Streptococcus suis (S. suis) is a Gram-positive bacteria that infects pigs causing meningitis, arthritis, pneumonia, or endocarditis. This increases the mortality in pig farms deriving in severe ...economic losses. The use of saliva as a diagnostic fluid has various advantages compared to blood, especially in pigs. In this study, it was hypothesized that saliva could reflect changes in different biomarkers related to stress, inflammation, redox status, and muscle damage in pigs with S. suis infection and that changes in these biomarkers could be related to the severity of the disease.
A total of 56 growing pigs from a farm were selected as infected pigs (n = 28) and healthy pigs (n = 28). Results showed increases in biomarkers related to stress (alpha-amylase and oxytocin), inflammation (haptoglobin, inter-alpha-trypsin inhibitor heavy chain 4 (ITIH4), total protein, S100A8-A9 and S100A12), redox status (advanced oxidation protein producs (AOPP)) and muscle damage (creatine kinase (CK), CK-MB, troponin I, lactate, aspartate aminotransferase, and lactate dehydrogenase). An increase in adenosine deaminase (ADA), procalcitonin, and aldolase in infected animals were also observed, as previously described. The grade of severity of the disease indicated a significant positive correlation with total protein concentrations, aspartate aminotransferase, aldolase, and AOPP.
This report revealed that S. suis infection caused variations in analytes related to stress, inflammation, redox status, and muscle damage in the saliva of pigs and these can be considered potential biomarkers for this disease.
The incidence of myocarditis after RNA-based vaccines for coronavirus has gained social and medical interest.
We performed an intention-to-treat meta-analysis, following the PRISMA statement. After a ...systematic search, without language restriction, 9 publications were selected. Two were excluded (one was only in subjects with age 12–17 and other might had included subjects from a larger publication). We followed the PRISMA guidelines for abstracting data and assessing data quality and validity. Data was verified by 2 investigators.
We analyzed 17,704,413 subjects, from 7 studies, that included 627 cases of confirmed myocarditis). The incidence of myocarditis was 0.0035% (95% CI 0.0034–0.0035). Mean incidence rate was 10.69 per 100.000 persons-year. Cases reported from Israel represented 45.14% from total (283 out of the 627). Only 1 case of fatal myocarditis or death was reported. There was significant heterogeneity between results. The meta-regression analysis excluded mean age, region, number of cases or number of people included as sources of heterogeneity. No small-study effect was observed (p = 0.19).
Myocarditis incidence after RNA vaccines is very rare (0.0035%) and has a very favorable clinical course.
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•Incidence of myocarditis after RNA-based vaccines for coronavirus has gained social and medical interest.•We performed a meta-analysis with 17,704,413 subjects that included 627 confirmed myocarditis.•The incidence of myocarditis was 0.0035% (95% CI 0.0034–0.0035).•Mean incidence rate was 10.69 per 100.000 persons-year.•Only 1 case of fatal myocarditis or death was reported.
Calprotectin (CALP, S100A8/A9), also named myeloid-related protein 8/14, is a dimer complex of S100A8 and S100A9 that belongs to the S-100 protein family. It is involved in inflammation and has a ...wide range of proinflammatory functions, such as cytokine production and regulation of leukocyte adhesion, migration, and phagocytosis. In humans, CALP traditionally can be measured in faeces, serum, and saliva as a biomarker of inflammation and sepsis. The objective of this study was to validate an automated assay for CALP measurements in the saliva of pigs, having the advantage of the use of a non-invasive sample that is easy to collect. The assay was precise and accurate. CALP in saliva measured by this assay showed significant changes depending on the hour of the day. It also showed significant increases in the saliva of pigs after the administration of lipopolysaccharide (LPS), and showed a rise, although with increases of lower magnitude, after a stressful stimulus. Further studies should be made to gain knowledge about the possible practical applications of the measurements of CALP in the saliva of pigs as a biomarker to evaluate the animals' health and welfare.
The use of saliva as a biological sample from pigs is of high practical interest because blood collection from pigs is difficult and stressful. In this study, the influence of two different ...materials, a cotton roll and a polypropylene sponge, in porcine saliva collection was evaluated. For this purpose, the effect of the material used for sampling was evaluated in a panel of 13 analytes, including those related to stress (cortisol and oxytocin), inflammation and immunity (adenosine deaminase, haptoglobin and myeloperoxidase), redox homeostasis (the cupric reducing ability of saliva, the ferric reducing activity of saliva, and the Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity), and sepsis (procalcitonin), as well as other routine analytes related to metabolism and different tissues and organs, such as lactate dehydrogenase, creatine kinase, urea, and total protein concentration. The polypropylene sponge provided a higher sample volume than the cotton roll. Although the results of some salivary analytes were equivalent for both materials, other analytes, such as creatine kinase, haptoglobin and total proteins, showed significant differences depending on the material used for saliva collection. Therefore, the type of material used for salivary collection in pigs should be considered when interpreting the results of analyses of the salivary analytes.
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