[Community reorientation of primary care in a health area: ROCAP project]. / Reorientación comunitaria de la atención primaria en un área de salud: proyecto ROCAP.

AIM: Evaluate the effectiveness of an intervention to incorporate group and community activities on a sustained basis in all the Basic Health Zones (ZBS) of a health area. DESIGN: During January and February 2019, two members of the research team traveled to each ZBS to interview the medical and nursing coordinators who had previously received an ad hoc initial assessment questionnaire (QAI) by email. PLACE: The scope is the 11 ZBS of a health area. PARTICIPANTS: The study population is the ZBS and the respective teams represented by the medical and nursing coordinations. INTERVENTIONS: Promote a community health commission, carry out training actions, record activities in clinical history and incorporate management objectives. MAIN MEASUREMENTS: Quantitative and qualitative analysis was carried out pre and post after the first year of intervention. RESULTS: In the pre-evaluation: 6 primary care teams (EAP) reported having group activities, 4 were participating in local action projects, 4 had a professional referent for community activities, 3 participated in projects with populations in vulnerable situations and 4 stated have specific meetings on community health. After the intervention: 11 EAPs had group activities, 8 had a reference professional, 6 were participating in local action projects, 4 collaborated in projects with vulnerable populations and 5 held meetings on community health. CONCLUSIONS: The intervention proved effective after its first year of implementation, since all the EAPs carried out group activities and collaborated with the local councils in the area; the majority had leading professionals in community care and, to a lesser extent, participation in local action projects and in vulnerable populations increased.

[Adequacy of the safety of metamizole and agranulocytosis]. / Adecuación de la seguridad del metamizol y agranulocitosis.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze whether the drug safety update issued by the Spanish Agency of Medicines and Healthcare Products (AEMPS), dated October 30, 2018, on agranulocytosis and metamizole contains accurate and necessary information to protect patients from the presentation of this adverse reaction (AR) and if the official documentation of medicines containing metamizole for doctors, pharmacists and the general population conforms to the guidelines of the AEMPS to reduce this risk. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Drug safety update, bibliographic search, information at the European Medicines Agency on metamizole drugs marketed in Spain, technical datasheets, leaflets, Bot PLUS Health Information Database and Catalog of Pharmaceutical Specialties. Notification of 4cases of agranulocytosis due to metamizole after the drug safety update was issued. MAIN INTERVENTIONS AND MEASUREMENTS: Comparison of the key points of the drug safety update and official documents on metamizole with the bibliography. Description of the 4cases of agranulocytosis due to metamizole and application of the causality and severity algorithm. RESULTS: The drug safety update contains omissions and contradiction in respect to the bibliography and the actual use of metamizole in healthcare practice. The official documents show a lack of updating, unapproved indications and doses higher than those recommended. The drug safety update has not stopped the presentation of cases of agranulocytosis due to metamizole. CONCLUSIONS: The AEMPS drug safety update can be improved and it is necessary to update the official information documents on metamizole for health professionals and patients in order to decrease the risk of agranulocytosis.

Artificial neural networks and linear discriminant analysis: a valuable combination in the selection of new antibacterial compounds.

A set of topological descriptors has been used to discriminate between antibacterial and nonantibacterial drugs. Topological descriptors are simple integers calculated from the molecular structure represented in SMILES format. The methods used for antibacterial activity discrimination were linear discriminant analysis (LDA) and artificial neural networks of a multilayer perceptron (MLP) type. The following plot frequency distribution diagrams were used: a function of the number of drugs within a value interval of the discriminant function and the output value of the neural network versus these values. Pharmacological distribution diagrams (PDD) were used as a visualizing technique for the identification of antibacterial agents. The results confirmed the discriminative capacity of the topological descriptors proposed. The combined use of LDA and MLP in the guided search and the selection of new structures with theoretical antibacterial activity proved highly effective, as shown by the in vitro activity and toxicity assays conducted.

Drugs and nondrugs: an effective discrimination with topological methods and artificial neural networks.

A set of topological and structural descriptors has been used to discriminate general pharmacological activity. To that end, we selected a group of molecules with proven pharmacological activity including different therapeutic categories, and another molecule group without any activity. As a method for pharmacological activity discrimination, an artificial neural network was used, dividing molecules into active and inactive, to train the network and externally validate it. The following plot frequency distribution diagrams were used: a function of the number of drugs within a value interval, and the output value of the neural network versus these values. Pharmacological distribution diagrams (PDD) were used as a visualizing technique for the identification of drug and nondrug molecules. The results confirmed the discriminative capacity of the topological descriptors proposed.

Discrimination and selection of new potential antibacterial compounds using simple topological descriptors.

The aim of the work was to discriminate between antibacterial and non-antibacterial drugs by topological methods and to select new potential antibacterial agents from among new structures. The method used for antibacterial activity selection was a linear discriminant analysis (LDA). It is possible to obtain a QSAR interpretation of the information contained in the discriminant function. We make use of the pharmacological distribution diagrams (PDDs) as a visualizing technique for the identification and selection of new antibacterial agents.