West Nile Virus Lineage 2 Spreads Westwards in Europe and Overwinters in North-Eastern Spain (2017-2020).

West Nile virus lineage 2 (WNV-L2) emerged in Europe in 2004; since then, it has spread across the continent, causing outbreaks in humans and animals. During 2017 and 2020, WNV-L2 was detected and isolated from four northern goshawks in two provinces of Catalonia (north-eastern Spain). In order to characterise the first Spanish WNV-L2 isolates and elucidate the potential overwintering of the virus in this Mediterranean region, complete genome sequencing, phylogenetic analyses, and a study of phenotypic characterisation were performed. Our results showed that these Spanish isolates belonged to the central-southern WNV-L2 clade. In more detail, they were related to the Lombardy cluster that emerged in Italy in 2013 and has been able to spread westwards, causing outbreaks in France (2018) and Spain (2017 and 2020). Phenotypic characterisation performed in vitro showed that these isolates presented characteristics corresponding to strains of moderate to high virulence. All these findings evidence that these WNV-L2 strains have been able to circulate and overwinter in the region, and are pathogenic, at least in northern goshawks, which seem to be very susceptible to WNV infection and may be good indicators of WNV-L2 circulation. Due to the increasing number of human and animal cases in Europe in the last years, this zoonotic flavivirus should be kept under extensive surveillance, following a One-Health approach.

Detección precoz de la incontinencia urinaria femenina ¿En qué fallamos? / Early detection of female urinary incontinence: what are we doing wrong?

Objetivo. Identificar factores relaciona-dos con el fallo en la detección de pérdidas de orina en la mujer adulta como preámbulo a la incontinencia urinaria. Sujetos/material. Estudio transversal descriptivo en mujeres mayores de 20 años seleccionadas al azar en varios centros de salud de Tenerife, a las que se administra un formulario para identificar las posibles causas de la no identificación de pérdidas de orina por los profesionales sanitarios. Los resultados se ofrecen con el valor puntual de la muestra y en intervalos de confianza al 95%. Resultados. Se estudiaron 409 mujeres de cuatro centros de salud. Con una edad de 43 años (12), el 65% (60%-70%) refirió padecer pérdidas de orina. El problema afecta al 55% (40%-60%) de las mujeres en edad fértil. Un 68%, (62%-74%) de las mujeres afectadas no consultó con ningún profesional mientras que el 74% (69%-79%) indicó que ningún profesional sanitario les había preguntado sobre esta cuestión. El 55% (49%-61%) de las mujeres con pérdida de orina que no consulta alega no hacerlo porque no le da importancia, el 27% (22%-32%), porque no afecta a su vida diaria, el 15% (11%-19%), porque no lo considera un problema de salud el 9% (5%-13%), porque lo considera inevitable por su edad, el 7% (4%-10%), por no tener tiempo para ello, y el 6% (3%-9%), por causarles vergüenza con frecuencias menores al 3% (1%-5%), por otros motivos. Conclusiones. La prevalencia de pérdidas de orina en mujeres es elevada y no se consulta a los profesionales sanitarios por considerar este problema normal y aceptable, sin haber una búsqueda activa de casos por parte de los profesionales sanitarios

Objective. To identify possible risk factors related with failure detecting urine loss in adult women before suffering from urinary incontinence. Subjects/material. Descriptive cross-sectional study in randomly selected women older than 20 years in several health centers in Tenerife who are given a test to identify possible causes of not detecting urine loss by health professionals. The results are offered with the punctual value of the sample and in 95% confidence intervals. Results. 409 women from four health centers were studied; 65% (60%-70%) of wo-men aged 43 years old (12) reported suffering urine loss. This problem affects 55% (40%-60%) childbearing age women. 68% (62%-74%) of affected women didn’t consult any health professional and 74% (69%-79%) indicated that no health professional had asked them about this issue. 55% (49%-61%) of women suffering from urine loss who doesn’t consult claims not doing it cause they judge it irrelevant, 27% (22%-32%) because it doesn’t affect their daily life, 15% (11%-19%) because the don't think that's a health problem, 9% because they think that's inevitable for their age, 7% (4%-10%) because they didn’t have any time to ask, and 6% (3%-9%) because they felt ashamed for it, and less than 3% (1%-5%) for other reasons. conclusions. Prevalence of urine loss in women is high and women don’t ask health professionals because they think that this is a normal and acceptable problem, as well as there isn’t an active case search by health professionals

Removal of endocrine disrupting compounds from wastewater by microalgae co-immobilized in alginate beads.

Microalgae systems have been found to be efficient for removing microcontaminants from wastewater effluents, but the effectiveness of immobilized microalgae for removing endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) has not yet been addressed. This paper assesses the effect of free and immobilized microalgae on removal efficiency for 6 EDCs by mixing them in 2.5 L reactors with treated wastewater. The experimental design also included control reactors without microalgae. After 10 days of incubation, 64 and 89% of the NH4-N and 90 and 96% of total phosphorous (TP) had been eliminated in the free microalgae and immobilized microalgae reactors, respectively, while the control reactors eliminated only 40% and 70% of the NH4-N and TP, respectively. Both the free and immobilized microalgae reactors were able to remove up to 80% of most of the studied EDCs within 10 days of incubation. Free microalgae were found to increase the kinetic removal rate for bisphenol A, 17-α-ethinylestradiol, and 4-octylphenol (25%, 159%, and 41%, respectively). Immobilizing the microalgae in alginate beads additionally enhanced the kinetic removal rate for bisphenol AF, bisphenol F, and 2,4-dichlorophenol. This study shows that the use of co-immobilized microalgae-based wastewater treatment systems increases the removal efficiency for nutrients and some EDCs from wastewater effluents.

[Assessment of self-perceived body image in female adolescents aged 12-21 years in the city of Reus (Spain)]. / Valoración de la propia imagen corporal en adolescentes femeninas de 12 a 21 años de la ciudad de Reus.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the degree of body image distortion in female adolescents and evaluate its association with the social esthetic model and the adoption of dietary measures. METHOD: We performed a cross sectional, observational study in a random sample of female adolescents aged 12 to 21 years old. Information was gathered via two different sources. A structured questionnaire including sociodemographic and anthropometric items was administered to determine adolescents' desire to resemble advertising models, their satisfaction with trouser size, and whether they would follow an unsupervised diet, etc. A game consisting of 9 images of female shapes of increasing size was used to evaluate self-perceived body image. The subjects chose the shape they believed most closely resembled their own. RESULTS: A sample of 401 subjects with a mean age of 17.6 (standard deviation = 2.6) years was evaluated. Seventy-five percent had normal weight, 11% were overweight, 13% were obese, and 0.8% were underweight. A total of 76.8% of the subjects had distorted body image and wished to look like advertising models (p < 0.001), 47.7% were dissatisfied with their trouser size (p < 0.001), and 15.3% were following special diets without supervision (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The majority of adolescents aged between 13 and 21 years old were dissatisfied with their body image. A distorted body image translates into wanting to resemble advertising models and dissatisfaction with trouser size, which in turn leads to following unsupervised diets.

Valoración de la propia imagen corporal en adolescentes femeninas de 12 a 21 años de la ciudad de Reus / Assessment of self-perceived body image in female adolescents aged 12-21 years in the city of Reus (Spain)

Objetivo. Determinar el grado de distorsión de la autoimagen corporal en adolescentes femeninas, y evaluar su asociación con el modelo estético-social y la adopción de medidas dietéticas. Método. Estudio observacional y transversal. Muestra aleatoria poblacional de adolescentes femeninas de entre 12 y 21 años de edad. La información fue recogida a través de 2 fuentes: mediante un cuestionario estructurado sobre datos sociodemográficos y antropométricos (deseo de parecerse a las modelos publicitarias, satisfacción con la talla de pantalón que usaban, si realizaban dietas sin supervisión, etc.) y valoración de la autopercepción de la propia imagen corporal mediante un juego de 9 imágenes de siluetas femeninas de anchura creciente. Resultados. Se analizaron 401 adolescentes con una media de edad de 17,6 años (desviación estándar = 2,6). En cuanto al peso, el 75,3% tenía normopeso, el 11% sobrepeso, el 13% obesidad y el 0,8% bajopeso. Respecto a la percepción de la imagen, el 76,8% presentaba distorsión de la autoimagen corporal y le gustaba parecerse a las modelos publicitarias (p < 0,001). El 47,7% no estaba de acuerdo con la talla de pantalón que usaba (p < 0,001). El 15,3% realizaba dieta sin supervisión (p < 0,001). Conclusiones. La mayoría de adolescentes en edades comprendidas entre 13 y 21 años no está conforme con su imagen corporal. La distorsión de la autoimagen corporal se traduce en querer parecerse más a las modelos publicitarias y a no estar satisfechas con sus tallas de pantalón. Esto las lleva a la realización de dietas sin supervisión

Objective. To assess the degree of body image distortion in female adolescents and evaluate its association with the social esthetic model and the adoption of dietary measures. Method. We performed a cross sectional, observational study in a random sample of female adolescents aged 12 to 21 years old. Information was gathered via two different sources. A structured questionnaire including sociodemographic and anthropometric items was administered to determine adolescents' desire to resemble advertising models, their satisfaction with trouser size, and whether they would follow an unsupervised diet, etc. A game consisting of 9 images of female shapes of increasing size was used to evaluate self-perceived body image. The subjects chose the shape they believed most closely resembled their own. Results. A sample of 401 subjects with a mean age of 17.6 (standard deviation 5 2.6) years was evaluated. Seventy-five percent had normal weight, 11% were overweight, 13% were obese, and 0.8% were underweight. A total of 76.8% of the subjects had distorted body image and wished to look like advertising models (p < 0.001), 47.7% were dissatisfied with their trouser size (p < 0.001), and 15.3% were following special diets without supervision (p < 0.001). Conclusions. The majority of adolescents aged between 13 and 21 years old were dissatisfied with their body image. A distorted body image translates into wanting to resemble advertising models and dissatisfaction with trouser size, which in turn leads to following unsupervised diets