Publications by authors named "Jose Quintana"

Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates how effective a fourth dose of bivalent mRNA COVID-19 vaccine is for individuals over 60, especially when compared to those who have only received three doses.
  • Results show that the fourth dose significantly reduces the risk of COVID-19 infection, hospitalization, and death.
  • Additionally, having a history of prior COVID-19 infection lowers the risk of adverse outcomes in both groups, highlighting the importance of both vaccination and previous infections in protection against severe disease.
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The nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug naproxen (NPX) is among the most consumed pharmaceuticals worldwide, being detected in surface waters within the ng to μg/L range. Considering the limited chronic ecotoxicity data available for NPX in aquatic ecosystems, the present study aimed at evaluating its impact in the model organism , following a full life-cycle exposure to environmentally relevant concentrations (0.1 to 5.

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Article Synopsis
  • * The study developed in-vitro testing methods to analyze how much of these harmful chemicals leach from common plastic types (like polyethylene and PVC) in conditions that mimic marine environments and digestive systems.
  • * Results showed that more hydrophilic compounds (DMP, DEP, BPA) leach significantly in saline waters with high bioaccessibility rates, leading to recommendations for a new dual-compartment gastrointestinal test to assess how these chemicals affect fish intake from various contamination levels.
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Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) is a well-established approach that can provide objective and real-time data on the consumption of substances such as pharmaceuticals. However, most of the studies reported so far compares consumption data obtained using WBE with those derived from prescription data from public health systems, which is often incomplete and might represent a source of uncertainty. This study aims to compare the measured pharmaceutical consumption back calculated with the WBE approach with consumption derived from dispensed pharmaceuticals in two regions of Spain, managed by two different Health Systems.

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Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are chemical compounds that have been widely used in industry and manufacture. Occurrence, together with persistence and recent toxicological effects data, has promoted the regulation of 20 PFAS (carboxylic and sulfonic) acids in drinking water through the recent Directive 2020/2184/EU. This Regulation included PFAS with different carbon chain lengths (from C to C) and limited the total PFAS concentration (as sum) to a maximum of 0.

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Graphene-like molecules with multiple zigzag edges are emerging as promising gain materials for organic lasers. Their emission wavelengths can vary widely, ranging from visible to near-infrared (NIR), as the molecular size increases. Specifically, rhombus-shaped molecular graphenes with two pairs of parallel zigzag edges, known as [n]rhombenes, are excellent candidates for NIR lasers due to their small energy gaps.

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Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) has become an invaluable tool for tracking the evolution of use or exposure of/to numerous substances. Bisphenols, commonly utilized in manufacturing plastic goods, have been categorized as endocrine disrupting chemicals, underscoring the critical need for real-time data on their local-level exposure to safeguard public health. In this study, we have developed a novel analytical method and WBE framework for the assessment of population-level exposure to bisphenol A (BPA) and its most prominent substitutes, bisphenols F and S (BPF and BPS), through the determination their Phase II metabolites in wastewater by WBE.

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Article Synopsis
  • * A study examined how 3-MMC is metabolized in the human body using liver samples and human matrices like plasma, urine, and hair, identifying three main metabolites of the substance.
  • * This research is significant as it confirmed the presence of the metabolites in a large sample set, suggesting their potential use as biomarkers for monitoring 3-MMC usage in various contexts.
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Background: There exists consistent empirical evidence in the literature pointing out ample heterogeneity in terms of the clinical evolution of patients with COVID-19. The identification of specific phenotypes underlying in the population might contribute towards a better understanding and characterization of the different courses of the disease. The aim of this study was to identify distinct clinical phenotypes among hospitalized patients with SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia using machine learning clustering, and to study their association with subsequent clinical outcomes as severity and mortality.

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Bisphenols are widely used as monomers and additives in plastic production. Thus, bisphenol A (BPA) and its most prominent substitutes have been detected in many environmental and human samples. This study proposes an online solid-phase extraction analytical methodology coupled to liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry for the determination of six bisphenols (BPA and bisphenols F (BPF), S (BPS), AF (BPAF), B (BPB), and E (BPE)) in urine samples as an efficient and automated methodology.

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This study assessed for the first time the bioremediation potential of an organic horse amendment in soils contaminated with solid wastes of the obsolete pesticide lindane (α-hexachlorocyclohexane (α-HCH) = 80 mg kg, β-HCH = 40 mg kg, γ,δ,ε-HCH≈10 mg kg) searching for a self-sufficient bio-based economy. Four treatments were implemented: polluted (PS, ΣHCHs = 130 mg kg) and control (CS, ΣHCHs = 1.24 mg kg) soils and the respective amended soils (APS and ACS).

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As global effects of water scarcity raise concerns and environmental regulations evolve, contemporary wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) face the challenge of effectively removing a diverse range of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) from municipal effluents. This study focuses on the assessment of advanced oxidation processes (AOPs), specifically UV-C/HO and UV-C/Chlorine, for the removal of 14 target CECs in municipal secondary effluent (MSE, spiked with 10 μg L of each CEC) or in the subsequent MSE nanofiltration retentate (NF, no spiking). Phototreatments were carried out in continuous mode operation, with a hydraulic retention time of 3.

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Article Synopsis
  • The Covid-19 pandemic significantly affected the mental health of healthcare professionals, with nurses experiencing higher rates of anxiety, depression, and insomnia compared to doctors.
  • A total of 1,580 healthcare workers were studied using various established mental health assessments, revealing that nurses, especially those in high-contact roles, were more vulnerable to mental health issues.
  • Despite the elevated symptoms of anxiety and depression among nurses, both groups reported similar levels of overall quality of life during the pandemic.
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Tris (1-chloro-2-propyl) phosphate (TCIPP) is one of the major organophosphate flame retardants present in the indoor and outdoor environment. Knowledge of biotransformation pathways is important to elucidate potential bioavailability and toxicity of TCIPP and to identify relevant biomarkers. This study aimed to identify TCIPP metabolites through human metabolism assays and finally to confirm these findings in urine samples from an occupationally exposed population to propose new biomarkers to accurately monitor exposure to TCIPP.

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In this work, organic chemicals associated with microplastics (MPs) exposed to a coastal anthropogenized environment for up to eight weeks have been screened for, in order to discern the (de)sorption dynamics of chemicals in the marine ecosystem. Low-density polyethylene (LDPE) pellets were studied since they represent primary MPs used by the plastic industry and a relevant input of MPs into the oceans. To maximize the coverage of chemicals that could be detected, both liquid and gas chromatography coupled to quadrupole-time-of-flight (GC-QTOF and LC-QTOF, respectively) were used.

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Objective: To study the suitability of costsensitive ordinal artificial intelligence-machine learning (AIML) strategies in the prognosis of SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia severity.

Materials & Methods: Observational, retrospective, longitudinal, cohort study in 4 hospitals in Spain. Information regarding demographic and clinical status was supplemented by socioeconomic data and air pollution exposures.

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Objective: The aim of this study was to create a prognostic instrument for COPD with a multidimensional perspective that includes physical activity (PA). The score also included health status, dyspnoea and forced expiratory volume in 1 s (HADO.2 score).

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Aim: To establish amongst a cohort of patients admitted with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease which factors were associated with their level of Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior prior to the admission event.

Methods: Prospective observational cohort study. Nine Spanish hospitals participated.

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Perylenediimide (PDI) compounds are widely used as the active units of thin-film organic lasers. Lately, PDIs bearing two sterically hindering diphenylphenoxy groups at the 1,7-bay positions have received attention because they provide a way to red-shift the emission with respect to bay-unsubstituted PDIs, while maintaining a good amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) performance at high doping rates. Here, we report the synthesis of a series of six PDI derivatives with different aryloxy groups ( to ) or ethoxy groups () at the 1,7 positions of the PDI core, together with a complete characterization of their optical properties, including absorption, photoluminescence, and ASE.

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Objectives: Tools to identify patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 are as yet unavailable. Our aims were to identify factors associated with nonadverse outcomes and develop a scale to predict nonadverse evolution in patients with COVID-19 (the CoNAE scale) in hospital emergency departments.

Material And Methods: Retrospective cohort study of patients who came to one of our area's national health service hospitals for treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection from July 1, 2020, to July 31, 2021.

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