Effectiveness and safety of oral anticoagulant therapy in a real-world cohort with atrial fibrillation: The SIESTA-A study protocol.

INTRODUCTION: Oral anticoagulants (OACs) are first-line drugs for stroke prevention in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). The introduction of new lines of therapy with direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) has led to a decreased use of vitamin K antagonists (VKAs). Comparative analyses of DOACs in clinical trials are scarce and the comparator has mostly been warfarin. Their impact on health outcomes in observational studies has not always been consistent. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of DOACs and VKAs in patients with AF using Real-World Data (RWD). METHODS AND ANALYSIS: Population-based retrospective cohort study using RWD from actual practice. Period: January 2012-December 2020. Inclusion criteria: patients with AF who had not taken OACs in the previous 12 months. Exclusion criteria: <40 years, with severe mitral stenosis, or valvular heart disease or aortic and/or mitral valve procedures. Data source: The Andalusian Population Health Database, Spain. Outcome measures: a) Effectiveness: ischaemic stroke, transient ischaemic attack, systemic and pulmonary embolism, and death; b) Safety: gastrointestinal and intracranial haemorrhaging; Independent variables: age, sex, comorbidities, medication and health resource use, CHA2DS2-VASC, HAS-BLED, and analytical tests. Statistical analysis: crude incidence analysis, survival models, Kaplan-Meier, Cox regression analysis adjusted for possible confounding and paired analysis by propensity score matching.

[Evaluation of marine sponge extracts as new sources of antimicrobial substances]. / Evaluación de extractos de esponjas marinas como nuevas fuentes de sustancias antimicrobianas.

As part of the search for new natural sources of antibiotic compounds, in this study, carried out in the northeastern coast of Colombia, 15 sponge species were collected. A crude organic extract was obtained from each one and evaluated regarding their antimicrobial properties in vitro against microorganisms with clinical importance for humans (one strain for each specie of Streptococcus faecalis, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Candida albicans). Sponge extracts from Halichondria spp., Petromica ciocalyptoides and Xestospongia proxima exhibited antibacterial activity against gram-positive bacteria and antifungal activity against the fungi, while the sponge Dragmacidon reticulata showed activity only for the same yeast specie. Bioactivity of the extracts was compared with that of both a antibiotic (cefoperazone) and an antimicotic (nistatine). It was found that inhibition values of X. proxima extracts in vitro are, in some cases, higher than those observed for cefoperazone and nistatine. Crude extracts from the sponges Myrmekioderma gyroderma, Myrmekioderma rea, Biemna cribaria, Cinachyrella kuekenthali, Iotrochota imminuta, Oceanapia peltata, Polymastia tenax, Desmapsamma anchorata, Spirastrella coccinea, Cribrochalina infundibulum and Oceanapia bartschi did not show any antimicrobial activity whatsoever.

A hybrid mathematical modeling approach of the metabolic fate of a fluorescent sphingolipid analogue to predict cancer chemosensitivity.

Sphingolipid (SL) metabolism is a complex biological system that produces and transforms ceramides and other molecules able to modulate other cellular processes, including survival or death pathways key to cell fate decisions. This signaling pathway integrates several types of stress signals, including chemotherapy, into changes in the activity of its metabolic enzymes, altering thereby the cellular composition of bioactive SLs. Therefore, the SL pathway is a promising sensor of chemosensitivity in cancer and a target hub to overcome resistance. However, there is still a gap in our understanding of how chemotherapeutic drugs can disturb the SL pathway in order to control cellular fate. We propose to bridge this gap by a systems biology approach to integrate i) a dynamic model of SL analogue (BODIPY-FL fluorescent-sphingomyelin analogue, SM-BOD) metabolism, ii) a Gaussian mixture model (GMM) of the fluorescence features to identify how the SL pathway senses the effect of chemotherapy and iii) a fuzzy logic model (FLM) to associate SL composition with cell viability by semi-quantitative rules. Altogether, this hybrid model approach was able to predict the cell viability of double experimental perturbations with chemotherapy, indicating that the SL pathway is a promising sensor to design strategies to overcome drug resistance in cancer.

Sylvatic trichinellosis in southwestern Spain.

The epidemiology of Trichinella spp. in their main sylvatic hosts, wild boar (Sus scrofa ferus and red fox (Vulpes vulpes), in Extremadura (southwestern Spain) was studied. We examined 88 Trichinella spp.-positive wild boar muscle-tissue samples from a total of 29,333 killed animals, referred to the Veterinary Parasitology Department (University of Extremadura, Spain) by the Extremadura Veterinary Service. Additionally, 227 red foxes killed during the hunting season and thus not subject to veterinary controls were examined for trichinellosis. Trichinella spp. larvae were found in six (3%) of the red foxes. All samples were examined using direct diagnostic techniques, including trichinoscopy and artificial digestion. The mean intensity of infection was 74.8 larvae/g (LPG) of muscle tissue in wild boars, compared to 30.6 LPG in foxes. Trichinella spiralis (sensu stricto) predominated over T. britovi in wild boars. Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and alloenzyme typing showed that 74% of infected wild boars had only T. spiralis, 21% had only T. britovi, and 5% showed mixed infections. In contrast, 33% of infected foxes were infected only with T. spiralis, while 67% had T. britovi, suggesting a clear predominance of the latter in foxes. We suspect the existence of a paranthropic or sylvatic cycle in large areas of this region; given the ease of transfer between sylvatic and domestic or semi-domestic animals, this implies a high epidemiological risk.

[Word list for evaluating oral language perception in children with total and partial hearing impairment]. / Listas de palabras para evaluar la percepción del lenguaje oral en niños sordos e hipoacúsicos.

This article presents twelve lists of 25 words each that are counterbalanced for use in audiology. The lists are equivalent in phonetic and semantic complexity and difficulty for lipreading. The twelve TAV lists consist of a basic child's vocabulary known by profoundly deaf prolocutive children of school age. These lists allow the evaluation of lipreading, hearing, and language perception. They also make it possible to compare improvements made in technical aids. Four lists of 20 words are added for use with younger deaf children (preschool lists). These lists are useful for people with scant language development. Three training lists are included as well.

[Treatment using structural bone allografts in long bone tumour resections. A review of 37 cases]. / Tratamiento mediante aloinjertos óseos estructurales en resecciones por tumores óseos de huesos largos. Revisión de 37 casos.

Structural bone allografts have become an alternative in the treatment of limb bone tumours with a chance of limb-saving surgery. We present an observational retrospective study on the use of structural bone allografts in bone tumours of the long bones in our hospital between January 1993 and January 2010, with a sample of 37 patients subjected to this surgical technique. After obtaining clinical information from our sample we applied the Mankin and EVACOM HUVA functional scales with excellent, very good and good results in 84%, and with the radiological information we applied the ISOLS osseointegration scale, with 95.6% of excellent results after 24 months. These results demonstrate that structural bone allografts are a valid and reproducible technique in patients with destructive long bone tumours.

Filter effects and low stimulation rate on the middle-latency response in newborns.

Auditory middle-latency responses (MLR) have been recorded in 25 newborns at 60 dB nHL using two wide band-pass filter conditions and a slow stimulation rate of 2/s. With both types of filter, the MLR consisted in an initial positive wave followed by a negative component (Na) and a positive component (Pa). In newborns, this positive component appears in the vicinity of 45 ms and is more prolonged than the Pa of the MLR in adults. The probability of obtaining MLR after averaging only 500 signals was higher with a high-pass filter setting of 10 Hz (12 dB/octave), as compared with 5 Hz (12 dB/octave). No significant differences were found in the detectability rate of MLR between the two-filter band-pass settings. It is important to note that some MLR were unstable and not easily replicable. Therefore, the clinical application of these components is still doubtful.

Changes in the quality of rabbit semen in 14 consecutive ejaculates obtained every 15 minutes.

Modifications of semen quality related to ejaculation frequency is one of the most important and neglected factors from the standpoint of artificial insemination or sperm competition. New Zealand white rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) offer an advantageous experimental model because they have characteristic sexual behavior, they present rapid ejaculation after a single intromission, they have a very short interval between successive ejaculations, and semen can be easily collected. The authors studied the modifications on sperm quality (semen volume, sperm concentration, sperm motility) produced by 14 consecutive ejaculations recovered every 15 min using stimulus females and an artificial vagina. Bucks were exposed every 15 min to a sexually receptive female. After each ejaculation the female was removed and reintroduced 15 min later. Sperm concentration showed a clear biphasic conduct. The amount of spermatozoa per milliliter decreased rapidly until ejaculate number 6, showed a highly significant increase in ejaculates 7-9, and decreased to nil in the last 2 ejaculates. Total number of ejaculated spermatozoa was 557 x 10(6), 76% of which were recovered from the first 4 ejaculates. Ejaculate volume also showed a biphasic conduct. In the first ejaculates the volume decreased linearly until ejaculate number 6, showed a significant increase in ejaculates 7-10, and then decreased. The total semen volume recovered during the experiment was 2.44 mL, 40% of which (0.98 mL) was recovered from the first 2 ejaculates. Individual motility in the first 6 ejaculates was preferentially progressive (60% of the sperms) and turned to random or in situ from the seventh ejaculate up. The proportion of spermatozoa with cytoplasmic droplets increased from ejaculates 6 and 7 up. The results seem to reflect an acceleration of semen transport through the epididymis when the demands for spermatozoa increase.

Application of a colorimetric method to the determination of the protein content of commercial foods, mixed human diets and nitrogen losses in infantile diarrhoea.

Recently we reported on the application of a method for protein determination which measures nitrogen in Kjeldahl digests colorimetrically. This procedure has the advantage of eliminating the distillation and titration steps of the Kjeldahl method and it is ideal for nutritional studies, since many samples can be run in a single day. Accordingly, the purpose of the present report was to extend the application of this method to the determination of the protein content of commercially available foods such as dairy products, dry cereals or cereal based products and legumes and also to evaluate this method in the determination of the protein content of the mixtures of cooked foods served during lunch at the cafeteria of the Universidad Simón Bolívar, Caracas. In both cases the results of the colorimetric nitrogen agreed very well with those obtained by the macro Kjeldahl, indicating that the colorimetric method may be used in monitoring the protein content of commercial foods and in evaluating the protein offered in institutional food services. Finally, to further demonstrate the value of this method in clinical trials, we used it to monitor the daily nitrogen intake and nitrogen losses in 43 male young children with acute diarrhoea, and 15 with persistent diarrhoea fed liquid formulae, and showed that protein digestibility and retention were higher in persistent than in acute diarrhoea. The severity of acute diarrhoea affected negatively (r = -0.62) the percentage of protein absorbed, whereas the protein absorbed (r = 0.70) and retained (r = 0.55) correlated positively with protein consumption.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)