Glucose-Lowering Drugs and Primary Prevention of Chronic Kidney Disease in Type 2 Diabetes Patients: A Real-World Primary Care Study.

The burden of chronic kidney disease (CKD) is increasing, as is the prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Post-hoc analyses of clinical trials support that sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT-2i) and glucagon-like peptide-1 receptors agonists (GLP-1RAs) prevent CKD in T2DM patients. We used the Spanish primary care database BIFAP to perform a retrospective cohort study with a nested case-control analysis to assess the incidence, risk factors, and the effect of glucose-lowering drugs (GLDs) on the primary prevention of CKD.

Quantum effects in the interaction of low-energy electrons with light.

The interaction between free electrons and optical fields constitutes a unique platform to investigate ultrafast processes in matter and explore fundamental quantum phenomena. Specifically, optically modulated electrons in ultrafast electron microscopy act as noninvasive probes that push space-time-energy resolution to the picometer-attosecond-microelectronvolt range. Electron energies well above the involved photon energies are commonly used, rendering a low electron-light coupling and, thus, only providing limited access to the wealth of quantum nonlinear phenomena underlying the dynamical response of nanostructures.

Generation of entangled waveguided photon pairs by free electrons.

Entangled photons are a key resource in quantum technologies. While intense laser light propagating in nonlinear crystals is conventionally used to generate entangled photons, such schemes have low efficiency due to the weak nonlinear response of known materials and losses associated with in/out photon coupling. Here, we show how to generate entangled polariton pairs directly within optical waveguides using free electrons.

Development and Validation of Case-Finding Algorithms for Digestive Cancer in the Spanish Healthcare Database BIFAP.

Background: electronic health records (EHRs) are helpful tools in epidemiology despite not being primarily collected for research. In Spain, primary care physicians play a central role and manage patients even in specialized care. All of this introduces variability that may lead to diagnostic inconsistencies.

Clinical pharmacology facing the real-world setting: Pharmacovigilance, pharmacoepidemiology and the economic evaluation of drugs.

Traditionally, clinical pharmacology has focused its activities on drug-organism interaction, from an individual or collective perspective. Drug efficacy assessment by performing randomized clinical trials and analysis of drug use in clinical practice by carrying out drug utilization studies have also been other areas of interest. From now on, Clinical pharmacology should move from the analysis of the drug-individual interaction to the analysis of the drug-individual-society interaction.

Risk of Ischemic Stroke Associated with Calcium Supplements and Interaction with Oral Bisphosphonates: A Nested Case-Control Study.

Conflicting results about the association of calcium supplements (CS) with ischemic stroke (IS) have been reported. We tested this hypothesis by differentiating between CS alone (CaM) and CS with vitamin D (CaD) and between cardioembolic and non-cardioembolic IS. We examined the potential interaction with oral bisphosphonates (oBs).

Association of oral bisphosphonates with cardioembolic ischemic stroke: a nested case-control study.

Bisphosphonates have been reported to increase the risk of atrial fibrillation. Therefore, it is conceivable that they may increase the risk of cardioembolic ischemic stroke (IS). However, most epidemiological studies carried out thus far have not shown an increased risk of IS, though none separated by the main pathophysiologic IS subtype (cardioembolic and non-cardioembolic) which may be crucial.

Gate-tunable negative refraction of mid-infrared polaritons.

Negative refraction provides a platform to manipulate mid-infrared and terahertz radiation for molecular sensing and thermal emission applications. However, its implementation based on metamaterials and plasmonic media presents challenges with optical losses, limited spatial confinement, and lack of active tunability in this spectral range. We demonstrate gate-tunable negative refraction at mid-infrared frequencies using hybrid topological polaritons in van der Waals heterostructures.

LTT and HLA testing as diagnostic tools in Spanish vancomycin-induced DRESS cases: A case-control study.

Drug reaction with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms (DRESS) is a severe T-cell-mediated off-target adverse reaction. DRESS cases caused by vancomycin have often been reported. The HLA-A*32:01 allele has been associated with genetic susceptibility to vancomycin-induced DRESS in US citizens of European descent.

Ultrafast Transverse Modulation of Free Electrons by Interaction with Shaped Optical Fields.

Spatiotemporal electron-beam shaping is a bold frontier of electron microscopy. Over the past decade, shaping methods evolved from static phase plates to low-speed electrostatic and magnetostatic displays. Recently, a swift change of paradigm utilizing light to control free electrons has emerged.

Influenza Vaccination and Risk of Ischemic Stroke: A Population-Based Case-Control Study.

Background And Objectives: To assess the relationship between influenza vaccination in the general population and risk of a first ischemic stroke (IS) during pre-epidemic, epidemic, and postepidemic periods.

Methods: A nested case-control study was conducted in a Spanish primary care database over 2001-2015. Individuals aged 40-99 years with at least 1 year registry and no history of stroke or cancer were selected to conform the source cohort, from which incident IS cases were identified and classified as cardioembolic or noncardioembolic.

IL-15/IL-15Rα in SJS/TEN: Relevant Expression of and in Affected Skin.

Stevens-Johnson syndrome/toxic epidermal necrolysis (SJS/TEN) is a life-threatening hypersensitivity reaction to medications characterized by keratinocyte apoptosis and skin detachment. IL-15 serum levels have been associated with severity and prognosis of SJS/TEN. We have measured IL-15 concentrations in serum and blister fluid (BF) from patients with SJS/TEN by ELISA and used quantitative RT-PCR to analyze the expression of and (encoding for IL-15 Receptor-α chain) genes in peripheral blood and BF cells, including isolated monocytes, and in affected skin.

Risk of ischaemic stroke among new users of glucosamine and chondroitin sulphate: a nested case-control study.

Background: Several studies have reported that the use of chondroitin sulphate (CS) and glucosamine may reduce the risk of acute myocardial infarction. Although it is thought that this potential benefit could be extended to ischaemic stroke (IS), the evidence is scarce.

Objective: To test the hypothesis that the use of prescription glucosamine or CS reduces the risk of IS.

Statins and Colorectal Cancer Risk: A Population-Based Case-Control Study and Synthesis of the Epidemiological Evidence.

(1) Background: The pleiotropic effects of statins may explain a chemoprotective action against colorectal cancer (CRC). Many studies have tested this hypothesis, but results have been inconsistent so far. Moreover, few have examined statins individually which is important for determining whether there is a class effect and if lipophilicity and intensity may play a role.

Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors and Risk of Noncardioembolic Ischemic Stroke: A Nested Case-Control Study.

Background: Multiple studies have reported that the use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) is associated with an increased risk of ischemic stroke; however, this finding may be the result of a confounding by indication. We examined the association using different approaches to minimize such potential bias.

Methods: A nested case-control study was carried out in a Spanish primary health-care database over the study period 2001 to 2015.

International cohort study on the effectiveness of dronedarone and other antiarrhythmic drugs for atrial fibrillation in real-world practice (EFFECT-AF).

Aims: To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of dronedarone compared with other commonly used antiarrhythmic drugs (AADs) for preventing atrial fibrillation (AF) recurrences.

Methods And Results: An international observational cohort study in Germany, Spain, Italy, and the USA enrolling patients with AF receiving AAD therapy. Patients with New York Heart Association (NYHA) Class IV heart failure were excluded.

Trends in the use of oral anticoagulants, antiplatelets and statins in four European countries: a population-based study.

Purpose: To evaluate time trends in the prevalence of antithrombotic and statin use in four European countries.

Methods: Using population-based data from the United Kingdom, Denmark, Spain and Italy between 2010 and 2018, we calculated standardized annual prevalence proportions of antithrombotics and statin use, and changes in prevalence proportions (2018 vs. 2010).

Inelastic Scattering of Electron Beams by Nonreciprocal Nanotructures.

Probing optical excitations with high resolution is important for understanding their dynamics and controlling their interaction with other photonic elements. This can be done using state-of-the-art electron microscopes, which provide the means to sample optical excitations with combined meV-sub-nm energy-space resolution. For reciprocal photonic systems, electrons traveling in opposite directions produce identical signals, while this symmetry is broken in nonreciprocal structures.

Influenza vaccine and risk of acute myocardial infarction in a population-based case-control study.

Objective: To assess the relationship between influenza vaccination and risk of a first acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in the general population by different epidemic periods.

Methods: This is a population-based case-control study carried out in BIFAP (Base de datos para la investigación farmacoepidemiológica en atención primaria), over 2001-2015, in patients aged 40-99 years. Per each incident AMI case, five controls were randomly selected, individually matched for exact age, sex and index date (AMI diagnosis).

Risk of acute myocardial infarction among new users of chondroitin sulfate: A nested case-control study.

Objective: To test the hypothesis that the use of chondroitin sulfate (CS) or glucosamine reduces the risk of acute myocardial infarction (AMI).

Design: Case-control study nested in a primary cohort of patients aged 40 to 99 years, using the database BIFAP during the 2002-2015 study period. From this cohort, we identified incident cases of AMI and randomly selected five controls per case, matched by exact age, gender, and index date.

Impact of in-hospital discontinuation with angiotensin receptor blockers or converting enzyme inhibitors on mortality of COVID-19 patients: a retrospective cohort study.

Background: In the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the hypothesis that angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) increased the risk and/or severity of the disease was widely spread. Consequently, in many hospitals, these drugs were discontinued as a "precautionary measure". We aimed to assess whether the in-hospital discontinuation of ARBs or ACEIs, in real-life conditions, was associated with a reduced risk of death as compared to their continuation and also to compare head-to-head the continuation of ARBs with the continuation of ACEIs.

Optical coherence transfer mediated by free electrons.

We theoretically investigate the quantum-coherence properties of the cathodoluminescence (CL) emission produced by a temporally modulated electron beam. Specifically, we consider the quantum-optical correlations of CL produced by electrons that are previously shaped by a laser field. Our main prediction is the presence of phase correlations between the emitted CL field and the electron-modulating laser, even though the emission intensity and spectral profile are independent of the electron state.