Viral RNA load in plasma is associated with critical illness and a dysregulated host response in COVID-19.

Background: COVID-19 can course with respiratory and extrapulmonary disease. SARS-CoV-2 RNA is detected in respiratory samples but also in blood, stool and urine. Severe COVID-19 is characterized by a dysregulated host response to this virus.

Early identification and optimal management of carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative infection.

Background: Carbapenem resistance in Gram-negative bacteria is associated with severe infections in the hospital setting. No uniform screening policy or agreed set of criteria exists within the EU to inform treatment decisions for infections caused by carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative bacteria.

Aim: To develop a range of consensus statements to survey experts in carbapenem resistance, to identify potential similarities and differences across the EU and across specialties.

Plasmapheresis for the Treatment of Acute Pancreatitis due to Severe Hypertriglyceridemia.

Severe hypertriglyceridemia (HTG) is associated with acute pancreatitis (AP). Treatment options include total plasma exchange (TPE). We report a case of AP due to severe HTG treated with TPE.

[Alopecia areata universalis under treatment with sitagliptin : Possible immunological effect of dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors?].

A 64-year old man developed alopecia universalis after one month of treatment with metformin and sitagliptin, a dipeptidyl peptidase‑4 (DPP-4) inhibitor. Diabetes treatment was changed to another genericum of sitagliptin and dapagliflozin. Following our recommendation, sitagliptin was interrupted and monotherapy with dapagliflozin was continued.

Investigating the Efficacy of Genetic, Environmental, and Multifactorial Risk Information When Communicating Obesity Risk to Parents of Young Children.

Background: Effectively communicating with parents about children's obesity risk is of critical importance for preventive medicine and public health.

Purpose: The current study investigates the efficacy of communications focused on two primary causes of obesity: genes and environment.

Methods: We compared parental feeding responses to messages focused on (i) genetics alone, (ii) family environment alone, (iii) genetics-family environment interaction (G × FE), and (iv) no causal message.

Mortality and other adverse outcomes in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus admitted for COVID-19 in association with glucose-lowering drugs: a nationwide cohort study.

Background: Limited evidence exists on the role of glucose-lowering drugs in patients with COVID-19. Our main objective was to examine the association between in-hospital death and each routine at-home glucose-lowering drug both individually and in combination with metformin in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus admitted for COVID-19. We also evaluated their association with the composite outcome of the need for ICU admission, invasive and non-invasive mechanical ventilation, or in-hospital death as well as on the development of in-hospital complications and a long-time hospital stay.

Single-longitudinal-mode pumped pulsed-dye amplifier for high-resolution laser spectroscopy.

The In-Gas-jet Laser Ionization and Spectroscopy (IGLIS) technique relies on narrow-bandwidth, high-peak-power, short-pulse-length (≈10 ns), and high-repetition-rate laser pulses to probe, precisely and efficiently, the hyperfine structure of medium-heavy and heavy isotopes, embedded in a supersonic jet. The power and repetition rate requirements of the laser system are met by combining ≈100 W, 8 ns pulse width, 10 kHz commercial Nd:YAG pump lasers with a single-mode continuous wave seeded Pulsed Dye Amplifier (PDA). The common multi-longitudinal-mode operation of these Nd:YAG pump lasers causes, however, undesirable frequency sidebands in the output spectrum of the PDA system, hindering the attainable spectral resolution, a correct interpretation, and an accurate analysis of the hyperfine spectra.

Trends in Diagnosis of Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency Between 2015 and 2019 in a Reference Laboratory.

Background: Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD) remains largely underdiagnosed despite recommendations of healthcare institutions and programmes designed to increase awareness. The objective was to analyse the trends in AATD diagnosis during the last 5 years in a Spanish AATD reference laboratory.

Methods: This was a retrospective revision of all alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT) determinations undertaken in our laboratory from 2015 to 2019.

Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Retrieval in Coronavirus Disease 2019: A Case-Series of 19 Patients Supported at a High-Volume Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Center.

Objective: To evaluate the performance of the extracorporeal membrane oxygenation retrieval team at a high-volume extracorporeal membrane oxygenation center during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.

Design: Observational study including all adult patients with confirmed infection due to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 cannulated at other centers and transported on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation to the ICU of the Vall d'Hebron University Hospital between 15 March and 10 June 2020.

Setting: The ICU (capacity expanded to 200 during the pandemic) of the Vall d'Hebron University Hospital (a 1,100-bed public university hospital in Barcelona), the referral center for extracorporeal respiratory support in Catalonia (7.

Efficacy and safety of cefiderocol or best available therapy for the treatment of serious infections caused by carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative bacteria (CREDIBLE-CR): a randomised, open-label, multicentre, pathogen-focused, descriptive, phase 3 trial.

Background: New antibiotics are needed for the treatment of patients with life-threatening carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative infections. We assessed the efficacy and safety of cefiderocol versus best available therapy in adults with serious carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative infections.

Methods: We did a randomised, open-label, multicentre, parallel-group, pathogen-focused, descriptive, phase 3 study in 95 hospitals in 16 countries in North America, South America, Europe, and Asia.

Planning for the assistance of critically ill patients in a Pandemic Situation: The experience of Vall d'Hebron University Hospital.

Introduction: In the context of community transmission of the virus, the impact of the pandemic on health-care systems, mainly on intensive care units (ICU), was expected to be devastating. Vall d́Hebron University Hospital (HUVH) implemented an unprecedented critical patient-care planning and management of resources.

Methods: We describe a cohort of critically ill patients during the first two months of the pandemic (from March 3, 2020, to May 2, 2020) in HUVH, Barcelona.

Same-Day Correlates and Prior-Day Predictors of Couples' Violent Behaviors Based upon Partners' Daily Reports.

Although previous research identified predictors of violent events within violent heterosexual couples, findings were limited to the woman's reports, to her perceptions; his assessments were not obtained. This exploratory study was conducted to gain understanding of proximal predictors of violence assessed in "real-time" from the perspective of both partners. Fifteen adult heterosexual couples in which the woman reported experiencing partner violence in the prior 30 days were enrolled in a primary care clinic.

The role of incidental affective states in appetitive risk behavior: A meta-analysis.

Appetitive risk behaviors (ARB), including tobacco use, alcohol consumption, consumption of calorie dense/nutrient-poor foods, and sexual risk behavior contribute substantially to morbidity and mortality. Affective states that arise from a wide array of unrelated circumstances (i.e.

Autologous, Non-Invasively Available Mesenchymal Stem Cells from the Outer Root Sheath of Hair Follicle Are Obtainable by Migration from Plucked Hair Follicles and Expandable in Scalable Amounts.

Background: Regenerative therapies based on autologous mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) as well as stem cells in general are still facing an unmet need for non-invasive sampling, availability, and scalability. The only known adult source of autologous MSCs permanently available with no pain, discomfort, or infection risk is the outer root sheath of the hair follicle (ORS).

Methods: This study presents a non-invasively-based method for isolating and expanding MSCs from the ORS (MSCORS) by means of cell migration and expansion in air-liquid culture.

The ovarian reserve as measured by the anti-Müllerian hormone is not diminished in patients with rheumatoid arthritis compared to the healthy population.

Objectives: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is the most prevalent chronic inflammatory arthritis, affecting 0.5-1% worldwide population and predominates in females. Altered fertility has been reported due to a decrease in ovarian reserve secondary to sustained inflammation.

Protein-conformational diseases in childhood: Naturally-occurring hIAPP amyloid-oligomers and early β-cell damage in obesity and diabetes.

Background And Aims: This is the first time that obesity and diabetes mellitus (DM) as protein conformational diseases (PCD) are reported in children and they are typically diagnosed too late, when β-cell damage is evident. Here we wanted to investigate the level of naturally-ocurring or real (not synthetic) oligomeric aggregates of the human islet amyloid polypeptide (hIAPP) that we called RIAO in sera of pediatric patients with obesity and diabetes. We aimed to reduce the gap between basic biomedical research, clinical practice-health decision making and to explore whether RIAO work as a potential biomarker of early β-cell damage.

Greater benefit of self-affirmation for prevention-focused individuals prior to threatening health messages.

Objective: Individuals are often defensive toward health messages that suggest they are putting their health at risk because such messages threaten their self-competence and integrity. Although self-affirmation can facilitate prevention behaviors in response to health messages, effects are variable. We examined whether disease prevention focus might strengthen self-affirmation's effects in response to disease prevention messages, given that prevention-focused individuals are likeliest to be persuaded by those messages after self-affirmation attenuates defensiveness.

Symptoms of burnout in intensive care unit specialists facing the COVID-19 outbreak.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in an unprecedented healthcare crisis with a high prevalence of psychological distress in healthcare providers. We sought to document the prevalence of burnout syndrome amongst intensivists facing the COVID-19 outbreak.

Methods: Cross-sectional survey among intensivists part of the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine.

International variation in the management of severe COVID-19 patients.

Background: There is little evidence to support the management of severe COVID-19 patients.

Methods: To document this variation in practices, we performed an online survey (April 30-May 25, 2020) on behalf of the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM). A case vignette was sent to ESICM members.

Naturally occurring SARS-CoV-2 gene deletions close to the spike S1/S2 cleavage site in the viral quasispecies of COVID19 patients.

The SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) protein, the viral mediator for binding and entry into the host cell, has sparked great interest as a target for vaccine development and treatments with neutralizing antibodies. Initial data suggest that the virus has low mutation rates, but its large genome could facilitate recombination, insertions, and deletions, as has been described in other coronaviruses. Here, we deep-sequenced the complete SARS-CoV-2 gene from 18 patients (10 with mild and 8 with severe COVID-19), and found that the virus accumulates deletions upstream and very close to the S1/S2 cleavage site (PRRAR/S), generating a frameshift with appearance of a stop codon.