Preclinical carotid atherosclerosis in patients with latent autoimmune diabetes in adults (LADA), type 2 diabetes and classical type 1 diabetes.

Background: LADA is probably the most prevalent form of autoimmune diabetes. Nevertheless, there are few data about cardiovascular disease in this group of patients. The aim of this study was to investigate the frequency of carotid atherosclerotic plaques in patients with LADA as compared with patients with classic type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes.

Therapeutic inertia in patients treated with two or more antidiabetics in primary care: Factors predicting intensification of treatment.

Aims: To determine the patterns and predictors of treatment intensification in patients with type 2 diabetes on ≥2 non-insulin antidiabetic drugs (NIADs) and inadequate glycaemic control in primary care in Catalonia, Spain.

Material And Methods: This was a retrospective analysis using electronic medical records from patients with HbA1c ≥ 7% and a first prescription for a new NIAD or insulin recorded from January 2010 to December 2014. Therapeutic inertia was defined as no intensification if HbA1c was ≥8% at baseline or during follow-up.

The role of conservative versus innovative nesting behavior on the 25-year population expansion of an avian predator.

Species ranges often change in relation to multiple environmental and demographic factors. Innovative behaviors may affect these changes by facilitating the use of novel habitats, although this idea has been little explored. Here, we investigate the importance of behavior during range change, using a 25-year population expansion of Bonelli's eagle in southern Portugal.

The GLP-1 analogue lixisenatide decreases atherosclerosis in insulin-resistant mice by modulating macrophage phenotype.

Aims/hypothesis: Recent clinical studies indicate that glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) analogues prevent acute cardiovascular events in type 2 diabetes mellitus but their mechanisms remain unknown. In the present study, the impact of GLP-1 analogues and their potential underlying molecular mechanisms in insulin resistance and atherosclerosis are investigated.

Methods: Atherosclerosis development was evaluated in Apoe Irs2 mice, a mouse model of insulin resistance, the metabolic syndrome and atherosclerosis, treated with the GLP-1 analogues lixisenatide or liraglutide.

Anthropometric parameters and permanent remission of comorbidities 10 years after open gastric bypass in a cohort with high prevalence of super-obesity.

Background And Aim: Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) is an effective treatment for weight loss in patients with morbid obesity. However, few studies have assessed its long-term efficacy in super-obese patients. The study objective was to analyse the long-term effectiveness of RYGB and its effect on improvement of comorbidities after 10 years of follow-up, and to compare the results depending on baseline BMI (<50kg/m vs ≥50kg/m).

Neuropeptide FF increases M2 activation and self-renewal of adipose tissue macrophages.

The quantity and activation state of adipose tissue macrophages (ATMs) impact the development of obesity-induced metabolic diseases. Appetite-controlling hormones play key roles in obesity; however, our understanding of their effects on ATMs is limited. Here, we have shown that human and mouse ATMs express NPFFR2, a receptor for the appetite-reducing neuropeptide FF (NPFF), and that NPFFR2 expression is upregulated by IL-4, an M2-polarizing cytokine.

Guest Induced Strong Cooperative One- and Two-Step Spin Transitions in Highly Porous Iron(II) Hofmann-Type Metal-Organic Frameworks.

The synthesis, crystal structure, magnetic, calorimetric, and Mössbauer studies of a series of new Hofmann-type spin crossover (SCO) metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) is reported. The new SCO-MOFs arise from self-assembly of Fe, bis(4-pyridyl)butadiyne (bpb), and [Ag(CN)] or [M(CN)] (M = Ni, Pd). Interpenetration of four identical 3D networks with α-Po topology are obtained for {Fe(bpb)[Ag(CN)]} due to the length of the rod-like bismonodentate bpb and [Ag(CN)] ligands.

Graphene oxide versus graphene for optimisation of PMMA bone cement for orthopaedic applications.

Graphene (G) and graphene oxide (GO) nano-sized powders with loadings ranging from 0.1 to 1.0wt% were investigated as reinforced agents for polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) bone cements.

Protein kinase STK25 aggravates the severity of non-alcoholic fatty pancreas disease in mice.

Characterising the molecular networks that negatively regulate pancreatic β-cell function is essential for understanding the underlying pathogenesis and developing new treatment strategies for type 2 diabetes. We recently identified serine/threonine protein kinase 25 (STK25) as a critical regulator of ectopic fat storage, meta-inflammation, and fibrosis in liver and skeletal muscle. Here, we assessed the role of STK25 in control of progression of non-alcoholic fatty pancreas disease in the context of chronic exposure to dietary lipids in mice.

Heart failure labelled patients with missing ejection fraction in primary care: prognosis and determinants.

Background: It is common to find a high variability in the accuracy of heart failure (HF) diagnosis in electronic primary care medical records (EMR). Our aims were to ascertain (i) whether the prognosis of HF labelled patients whose ejection fraction (EF) was missing in their EMR differed from those that had it registered, and (ii) the causes contributing to the differences in the availability of EF in EMR.

Methods: Retrospective cohort analyses based on clinical records of HF and attended at 52 primary healthcare centres of Barcelona (Spain).

Metal-Controlled Magnetoresistance at Room Temperature in Single-Molecule Devices.

The appropriate choice of the transition metal complex and metal surface electronic structure opens the possibility to control the spin of the charge carriers through the resulting hybrid molecule/metal spinterface in a single-molecule electrical contact at room temperature. The single-molecule conductance of a Au/molecule/Ni junction can be switched by flipping the magnetization direction of the ferromagnetic electrode. The requirements of the molecule include not just the presence of unpaired electrons: the electronic configuration of the metal center has to provide occupied or empty orbitals that strongly interact with the junction metal electrodes and that are close in energy to their Fermi levels for one of the electronic spins only.

Parkinson's disease-associated GPR37 receptor regulates cocaine-mediated synaptic depression in corticostriatal synapses.

GPR37 is an orphan G protein-coupled receptor highly expressed in the brain. The precise function of GPR37 is still unknown, but a number of evidences indicate it modulates the dopaminergic system. Here, we aimed to determine the role of GPR37 on the control of cocaine-mediated electrophysiological effects (synaptic transmission and short-term plasticity) in corticostriatal synapses.

Homozygous Familial Hypercholesterolemia in Spain: Prevalence and Phenotype-Genotype Relationship.

Background: Homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HoFH) is a rare disease characterized by elevated plasma levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and extremely high risk of premature atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. HoFH is caused by mutations in several genes, including LDL receptor (LDLR), apolipoprotein B (APOB), proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9), and LDL protein receptor adaptor 1 (LDLRAP1). No epidemiological studies have assessed HoFH prevalence or the clinical and molecular characteristics of this condition.

Exploiting Pressure To Induce a "Guest-Blocked" Spin Transition in a Framework Material.

A new functionalized 1,2,4-triazole ligand, 4-[(E)-2-(5-methyl-2-thienyl)vinyl]-1,2,4-triazole (thiome), was prepared to assess the broad applicability of strategically producing multistep spin transitions in two-dimensional Hofmann-type materials of the type [FePd(CN)(R-1,2,4-trz)]·nHO (R-1,2,4-trz = a 4-functionalized 1,2,4-triazole ligand). A variety of structural and magnetic investigations on the resultant framework material [FePd(CN)(thiome)]·2HO (A·2HO) reveal that a high-spin (HS) to low-spin (LS) transition is inhibited in A·2HO due to a combination of guest and ligand steric bulk effects. The water molecules can be reversibly removed with retention of the porous host framework and result in the emergence of an abrupt and hysteretic one-step spin transition due to the removal of guest internal pressure.

Glycaemic control and antidiabetic treatment trends in primary care centres in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus during 2007-2013 in Catalonia: a population-based study.

Objectives: To assess trends in prescribing practices of antidiabetic agents and glycaemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).

Design: Cross-sectional analysis using yearly clinical data and antidiabetic treatments prescribed obtained from an electronic population database.

Setting: Primary healthcare centres, including the entire population attended by the Institut Català de la Salut in Catalonia, Spain, from 2007 to 2013.

Strong Cooperative Spin Crossover in 2D and 3D Fe-M Hofmann-Like Coordination Polymers Based on 2-Fluoropyrazine.

Self-assembling iron(II), 2-fluoropyrazine (Fpz), and [M(CN)] (M = Ni, Pd, Pt) or [Au(CN)] building blocks have afforded a new series of two- (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) Hofmann-like spin crossover (SCO) coordination polymers with strong cooperative magnetic, calorimetric, and optical properties. The iron(II) ions, lying on inversion centers, define elongated octahedrons equatorially surrounded by four equivalent centrosymmetric μ-[M(CN)] groups. The axial positions are occupied by two terminal Fpz ligands affording significantly corrugated 2D layers {Fe(Fpz)([M(CN)]}.

Is diabetes mellitus correctly registered and classified in primary care? A population-based study in Catalonia, Spain.

Objective: To assess the prevalence of miscoding, misclassification, misdiagnosis and under-registration of diabetes mellitus (DM) in primary health care in Catalonia (Spain), and to explore use of automated algorithms to identify them.

Methods: In this cross-sectional, retrospective study using an anonymized electronic general practice database, data were collected from patients or users with a diabetes-related code or from patients with no DM or prediabetes code but treated with antidiabetic drugs (unregistered DM). Decision algorithms were designed to classify the true diagnosis of type 1 DM (T1DM), type 2 DM (T2DM), and undetermined DM (UDM), and to classify unregistered DM patients treated with antidiabetic drugs.

Unsaturated Oral Fat Load Test Improves Glycemia, Insulinemia and Oxidative Stress Status in Nondiabetic Subjects with Abdominal Obesity.

Aims: To evaluate the changes in glycemia, insulinemia, and oxidative stress markers during an oral fat load test in nondiabetic subjects with abdominal obesity and to analyze the association between postprandial oxidative stress markers and postprandial glucose and insulin responses.

Methods: We included 20 subjects with abdominal obesity (waist circumference > 102 cm for men and > 88 cm for women) and 20 healthy lean controls (waist circumference < 102 cm for men and < 88 cm for women). After 12 hours of fasting we performed a standardized fat load test (0-8 hours) with supracal® (50 g/m2).

Electronic Structure Modulation in an Exceptionally Stable Non-Heme Nitrosyl Iron(II) Spin-Crossover Complex.

The highly stable nitrosyl iron(II) mononuclear complex [Fe(bztpen)(NO)](PF6 )2 (bztpen=N-benzyl-N,N',N'-tris(2-pyridylmethyl)ethylenediamine) displays an S=1/2↔S=3/2 spin crossover (SCO) behavior (T1/2 =370 K, ΔH=12.48 kJ mol(-1) , ΔS=33 J K(-1)  mol(-1) ) stemming from strong magnetic coupling between the NO radical (S=1/2) and thermally interconverted (S=0↔S=2) ferrous spin states. The crystal structure of this robust complex has been investigated in the temperature range 120-420 K affording a detailed picture of how the electronic distribution of the t2g -eg orbitals modulates the structure of the {FeNO}(7) bond, providing valuable magneto-structural and spectroscopic correlations and DFT analysis.

[Plasma homocysteine, Lp(a), and oxidative stress markers in peripheral macroangiopathy in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus].

Aim: To study new risk factors for peripheral macroangiopathy (PM) in patients with diabetes, as oxidative stress (OS) and its interaction with classical risk factors: age, Lp(a), plasma homocysteine values and HbA1c.

Subjects And Methods: We studied 204 type2 diabetic (T2DM) patients, consecutive selected form a reference hospital and a secondary hospital form our Community (2009-2010). Design was a case (ABI<0.

Structural Preferences in Phosphanylthiolato Platinum(II) Complexes.

Invited for this month's cover picture are the groups of Prof. Alfonso Polo and Dr. Albert Poater at the Universitat de Girona, as well as their collaborators from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and the Institute of Chemical Research of Catalonia.

Structural Preferences in Phosphanylthiolato Platinum(II) Complexes.

The transition-metal complexes of heterotopic phosphanylthiolato ligands are useful in various reactions which depend on the stereochemistry of the complexes. Bis-chelate complex [Pt(SCH2CH2PPh2-κ(2) P,S)2] (1) was obtained in good yields by direct base-free substitution reaction of the corresponding phosphanylthiol (HSCH2CH2PPh2) with K2PtCl4 or by oxidative addition of the same phosphanylthiol to Pt(PPh3)4. In agreement with the antisymbiosis rule, complex 1 shows a cis-P,P arrangement in solid state crystallizing in the monoclinic system (C2/c).

Production of Highly Polarized Positrons Using Polarized Electrons at MeV Energies.

The Polarized Electrons for Polarized Positrons experiment at the injector of the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility has demonstrated for the first time the efficient transfer of polarization from electrons to positrons produced by the polarized bremsstrahlung radiation induced by a polarized electron beam in a high-Z target. Positron polarization up to 82% have been measured for an initial electron beam momentum of 8.19  MeV/c, limited only by the electron beam polarization.

[Health literacy in patients with heart failure treated in primary care].

Objectives: The level of health literacy is examined, as well as its conditioning factors in patients with heart failure who are seen routinely in a Primary Health Care Area.

Design: A multicentre cross-sectional study.

Setting: 10 Primary care centres from the metropolitan area of Barcelona.