Ensuring Community Engagement in Disease Surveillance: The Municipal Case Investigation and Contact Tracing System for COVID-19 in Puerto Rico.

To describe the implementation of a novel disease surveillance model in Puerto Rico, the Municipal Case Investigation and Contact Tracing System for COVID-19, established during the pandemic as the primary response. We analyzed data from July 2020 to June 2021, including all COVID-19 cases reported by public and private laboratories in Puerto Rico to describe the accomplishments and limitations of the surveillance. During the first year, the system was successfully implemented in all Puerto Rican municipalities, collecting data on more than 132 000 confirmed COVID-19 cases.

Influence of peritoneal residual volume on the results of the peritoneal equilibration test. Prospective study.

Background: Categorization of the capacity of ultrafiltration during a peritoneal equilibration test (PET) is a usual step during the monitoring of peritoneal transport characteristics of Peritoneal Dialysis (PD) patients. Quantifying the peritoneal residual volume (Vr) after the dwell preceding the PET (Vrpre) and at the end of the test (Vrpost) could help to improve the accuracy of the estimation of this variable.

Method: Following a prospective design, we calculated Vrpre and Vrpost in 116 patients, incident or prevalent on DP, who underwent one or two (n = 27) PET with 3,86/4,25% glucose-based PD solutions and complete drainage at 60 min.

COVID-19 with and without pneumonia: clinical outcomes in the internal medicine ward.

The clinical features of COVID-19 differ substantially upon the presence (or absence) of viral pneumonia. The aim of this article was to describe the clinical characteristics of COVID-19 patients admitted to the Internal Medicine ward, as divided into those with and without pneumonia. This single-center prospective cohort study was conducted in a tertiary teaching public hospital in Buenos Aires City named Hospital General de Agudos Carlos G.

Density of Green Spaces and Cardiovascular Risk Factors in the City of Madrid: The Heart Healthy Hoods Study.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the relationship between the density of green spaces at different buffer sizes (300, 500, 1000 and 1500 m) and cardiovascular risk factors (obesity, hypertension, high cholesterol, and diabetes) as well as to study if the relationship is different for males and females. We conducted cross-sectional analyses using the baseline measures of the Heart Healthy Hoods study ( = 1625). We obtained data on the outcomes from clinical diagnoses, as well as anthropometric and blood sample measures.

How a Bottom-Up Multi-Stakeholder Initiative Helped Transform the Renal Replacement Therapy Landscape in Spain.

Healthcare reforms aim to change certain parts of the health system to improve quality of care, access, or financial sustainability. Traditionally, healthcare reform is understood as an action undertaken by a government at a national or local level. However, bottom-up changes can also lead to improvements in the health system.

Ferroportin mRNA is down-regulated in granulosa and cervical cells from infertile women.

Objective: To explore the relationship between iron and infertility by investigating iron-related gene expression in granulosa and uterine cervical cells.

Design: Case-control study.

Setting: Two tertiary hospitals.

Analysis of Ultrafiltration Failure Diagnosed at the Initiation of Peritoneal Dialysis with the Help of Peritoneal Equilibration Tests with Complete Drainage at Sixty Minutes. A Longitudinal Study.

Unlabelled: ♦

Background: Ultrafiltration failure (UFF) diagnosed at the initiation of peritoneal dialysis (PD) has been insufficiently characterized. In particular, few longitudinal studies have analyzed the time course of water transport in patients with this complication. ♦

Objective: To investigate the time course of peritoneal water transport during the first year on PD in patients presenting UFF since the initiation of this therapy (study group).

Effect of fat content on physical, microbial, lipid and protein changes during chill storage of foal liver pâté.

The effect of fat content (30%, 35% and 40%) on physical, microbial, lipid and protein changes, during chill storage, of foal liver pâté was studied. Microbial counts showed differences (P<0.05) during storage time and among fat levels.

Iron and obesity status-associated insulin resistance influence circulating fibroblast-growth factor-23 concentrations.

Fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF-23) is known to be produced by the bone and linked to metabolic risk. We aimed to explore circulating FGF-23 in association with fatness and insulin sensitivity, atherosclerosis and bone mineral density (BMD). Circulating intact FGF-23 (iFGF-23) and C-terminal (CtFGF-23) concentrations (ELISA) were measured in 133 middle aged men from the general population in association with insulin sensitivity (Cohort 1); and in association with fat mass and bone mineral density (DEXA) and atherosclerosis (intima media thickness, IMT) in 78 subjects (52 women) with a wide range of adiposity (Cohort 2).

Effectiveness of treatment with oral paricalcitol in patients on peritoneal dialysis: a Spanish multicenter study.

Aims: Recently, oral form of paricalcitol has allowed extension of treatment to ambulatory patients on peritoneal dialysis but few data have been published about the benefits of paricalcitol in this subgroup. A multicenter, retrospective study was carried out to increase current knowledge on the effectiveness and safety of paricalcitol in 162 peritoneal dialyzed patients with secondary hyperparathyroidism.

Methods: Case histories of patients treated with paricalcitol for at least 6 months were reviewed to extract data on 12 biochemical parameters related to bone disease and health status.

Changes in IL-10 and specific antibodies associated to successful Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus immunotherapy in children during the first year of treatment.

Background: Allergen-specific immunotherapy (SIT) is a long-term treatment of respiratory allergy.

Objective: To look for early predictors of the effectiveness of Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus SIT.

Methods: A prospective multi-centre study was carried out in Spain.

Effect of self-administered intraperitoneal bemiparin on peritoneal transport and ultrafiltration capacity in peritoneal dialysis patients with membrane dysfunction. A randomized, multi-centre open clinical trial.

Background: Progressive peritoneal membrane injury and dysfunction are feared repercussions of peritoneal dialysis (PD), and may compromise the long-term feasibility of this therapy. Different strategies have been attempted to prevent or reverse this complication with limited success.

Methods: We performed a randomized, open multi-centre trial, aimed at scrutinizing the efficacy of self-administered intraperitoneal (i.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in two Spanish traditional smoked sausage varieties: "Androlla" and "Botillo".

The polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) content in two traditional smoked sausages from Spain was determined. Determination and quantification of PAHs in smoked sausages were performed by HPLC with fluorescence detection. Results showed, that total mean levels of PAHs found were higher in "Androlla" (36.

[Correlates of potassium transport during peritoneal equilibration tests using different dialysate glucose concentrations].

Background: there are gaps in the knowledge of factors which influence peritoneal potassium transport in Peritoneal Dialysis (PD). The aims of this study were to compare peritoneal potassium transport in PD patients undergoing 2.27% and 3.

Categorization of sodium sieving by 2.27% and 3.86% peritoneal equilibration tests--a comparative analysis in the clinical setting.

Background: Analysis of the dialysate sodium concentration during a peritoneal equilibration test (PET) provides information on the rates of water and solute transport through different membrane pathways. A hypertonic (3.86%) glucose-based dialysate may enhance the accuracy of analysis.

Treatment of peritoneal dialysis-related peritonitis with ciprofloxacin monotherapy: clinical outcomes and bacterial susceptibility over two decades.

Background: There is controversy about the preferred initial antibiotic therapy for peritoneal dialysis (PD)-related peritonitis. Quinolones have been used extensively in this setting, yet their long-term effectiveness is unknown.

Aim: To analyze the results of a protocol of treatment of PD-related peritonitis with ciprofloxacin, maintained over two decades.

Serum levels of anti-alphaGalactosyl antibodies predict survival and peritoneal dialysis-related enteric peritonitis rates in patients undergoing renal replacement therapy.

Background: Anti-Galalpha1-3Gal antibodies (anti-alphaGal) represent a significant fraction of natural antibodies and were implicated in several disease states, yet their origin and physiological significance remain largely undisclosed.

Methods: Under a prospective observational design, we estimated anti-alphaGal immunoglobulin G (IgG)/IgM and antipig hemolytic antibody (APA) levels in 133 patients starting dialysis therapy and again after a 1-year follow-up. We used baseline data to show correlations with demographic, nutritional, inflammatory, and anemia markers and analyzed their correlation with outcomes by using univariate and multivariate strategies of survival analysis.

Allergy to freshwater shrimp (Gammarus).

We report three new cases of allergy to Gammarus, two of them involving cutaneous symptoms, and the third one with occupational asthma. The results showed exposure to feed containing Gammarus shrimp to be the main cause of the allergic symptoms in the three patients. In all cases the intervention of IgE was demonstrated, with the absence of cross-reactions with other common allergenic arthropods.

Incidence and significance of peritoneal eosinophilia during peritoneal dialysis-related peritonitis.

Objective: To determine the incidence and significance of peritoneal eosinophilia (PEo) during peritoneal dialysis (PD)-related peritonitis.

Design: Retrospective observational study.

Setting: Tertiary-care public hospital.

Sodium removal in patients undergoing CAPD and automated peritoneal dialysis.

Objectives: To compare sodium removal in continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) and automated peritoneal dialysis (APD) patients, and to identify the main factors that modify Na removal in clinical practice in these patients.

Design: Study in three steps. Cross-sectional observational (Study A), and longitudinal interventional (Studies B and C).

Hyperleptinemia in uremic patients undergoing conservative management, peritoneal dialysis, and hemodialysis: A comparative analysis.

We performed a cross-sectional study in a wide sample of patients with chronic renal failure undergoing conservative therapy (CTh) (n = 79), peritoneal dialysis (PD) (n = 75), and hemodialysis (HD) (n = 51), with the aim of analyzing the impact of the different modes of therapy on serum leptin levels. We used a multivariate approach, taking into consideration the potential effects of other epidemiological, dialysis-related, nutritional, and hormonal factors on serum leptin. Leptin levels were higher in patients treated with PD (median, 36 ng/mL) than in those undergoing CTh (10.