Binding and cleavage of pro-urokinase by a tegument extract of Fasciola hepatica newly excysted juveniles activate the host fibrinolytic system.

Plasmin, the final product of fibrinolysis, is a broad-spectrum serine protease that degrades extracellular matrix (ECM) components, a function exploited by multiple pathogens for dissemination purposes. The trematode Fasciola hepatica is the leading cause of fasciolosis, a major disease of livestock and an emerging zoonosis in humans. Infection success depends on the ability of F.

Progress in mentalizing ability among people with psychosis through dialogic literary gatherings.

Background: People with psychosis often experience a fragmented sense of self, making it difficult to integrate perceptions, memories, thoughts, and emotions related to themselves and others. Enhancing mentalization processes and fostering reflection are crucial for comprehensive recovery. As these processes are naturally developed through meaningful interactions and dialogue, incorporating a dialogic approach into the treatment of psychotic disorders may significantly support recovery.

Automated AI-based image analysis for quantification and prediction of interstitial lung disease in systemic sclerosis patients.

Background: Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a rare connective tissue disease associated with rapidly evolving interstitial lung disease (ILD), driving its mortality. Specific imaging-based biomarkers associated with the evolution of lung disease are needed to help predict and quantify ILD.

Methods: We evaluated the potential of an automated ILD quantification system (icolung) from chest CT scans, to help in quantification and prediction of ILD progression in SSc-ILD.

Single, double, and triple-hit strategies to establish a long-term premature rabbit model of bronchopulmonary dysplasia.

Background: Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is a chronic lung condition of premature neonates, yet without an established pharmacological treatment. The BPD rabbit model exposed to 95% oxygen has been used in recent years for drug testing. However, the toxicity of the strong hyperoxic hit precludes a longer-term follow-up due to high mortality after the first week of life.

Nurse management of minor problems in primary care emergencies: a non-randomized controlled trial.

Background: Health systems must implement strategies to adapt to the high demand in primary care caused by social changes. Since 2009, the Catalan Institute of Health has been expanding the Nurse Demand Management programme through which nursing autonomously addresses minor health problems. This study aims to analyse whether this programme is a factor in improving the efficiency and quality of care in a primary care emergency centre.

Perceptions of care and family support from patients and family caregivers during the COVID-19 pandemic: a phenomenological study in Spain.

Background: Since the declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 and throughout the health crisis, health authorities recommended restriction measures to minimize the risk of contagion and avoid the collapse of health centers. The restrictive health and safety measures conditioned the way in which patients were cared for, as well as their social and family life. The purpose of the study was to explore patients and caregivers' perception of family care and support during hospitalization in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic in a Manacor hospital.

Evaluating the use of Uromune autovaccine in recurrent urinary tract infections: a pilot unicenter retrospective study in Reus, Spain.

Background: Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are a significant global health issue, especially among women, with growing concerns related to antibiotic resistance and adverse effects. The Uromune, a sublingual, heat-inactivated, polybacterial vaccine, represents a promising therapeutic alternative by enhancing immune responses against uropathogens.

Methods: This pilot retrospective study, conducted at Hospital Universitari de Sant Joan de Reus from January 2018 to August 2022, assessed the association between Uromune administration and changes in recurrent UTIs.

Framework for types of metainferences in mixed methods research.

Background: The generation of metainferences is a core and significant feature of mixed methods research. In recent years, there has been some discussion in the literature about criteria for appraising the quality of metainferences, the processes for generating them, and the critical role that assessing the "fit" of quantitative and qualitative data and results plays in this generative process. However, little is known about the types of insights that emerge from generating metainferences.

Amoebas: the omnipotent organism and silent assassin.

Amoebas are characterized by their unique ability to exist both as free-living organisms and, occasionally, as parasites within host tissues, earning them the designation 'amphizoic amoebae'. While amoebic infections are less prevalent, their health impact can be tremendous, leading to several diseases. In low-income countries, poor sanitation and socioeconomic conditions significantly increase the risk of amoebic infections, particularly E.

Unveiling the functional connectivity of astrocytic networks with AstroNet, a graph reconstruction algorithm coupled to image processing.

Astrocytes form extensive networks with diverse calcium activity, yet the organization and connectivity of these networks across brain regions remain largely unknown. To address this, we developed AstroNet, a data-driven algorithm that uses two-photon calcium imaging to map temporal correlations in astrocyte activation. By organizing individual astrocyte activation events chronologically, our method reconstructs functional networks and extracts local astrocyte correlations.

Reformulating the meta-analytical random effects model of the standardized mean difference as a mixture model.

The classical meta-analytical random effects model (REM) has some weaknesses when applied to the standardized mean difference, g. Essentially, the variance of the studies involved is taken as the conditional variance, given a δ value, instead of the unconditional variance. As a consequence, the estimators of the variances involve a dependency between the g values and their variances that distorts the estimates.

Development of a checklist for cognitive assessment requirements (CARE) based on a Delphi consensus study.

Situational factors can influence cognitive performance and should be considered for conducting cognitive assessments. The objective of this project was to develop a checklist for Cognitive Assessment Requirements (CARE) to identify these situational factors before conducting cognitive assessments and account for them. This study employed a four-round Delphi approach involving 22 experts to identify situational factors that can impact cognitive assessment results.

Autosomal and Y-STR genetic database from a population of the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) and the postwar period.

Under the initiative of the "Direcció General de Memòria democràtica-Departament de Justícia" (Generalitat of Catalonia, Spain), a multi-disciplinar project was funded to identify the remains of people disappeared in Catalonia during and after the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). Samples were officially sent by Autonomous Government of Catalonia to the Laboratory of Forensic and Population Genetics at Complutense University, Madrid, Spain, to be genotyped. Our study presents a database of 343 victims genotyped for STRs comprised in GlobalFiler™ PCR Amplification Kit (Thermofisher Scientific) and a subset of 292 typed with Y-STRs from Yfiler™ Plus PCR Amplification Kit (Thermofisher Scientific).

Subsistence hunting impacts wildlife assemblages and functional ecology in tropical forests.

Unsustainable wild meat hunting poses a significant threat to wildlife and tropical forest ecosystems. While high levels of extraction linked to commercial trade have received significant attention, the sustainability of subsistence hunting by Indigenous Peoples in Africa has been less studied. Understanding how changing lifestyles, particularly the sedentarisation of former hunter-gatherers, have affected the use of forest resources is crucial for wildlife conservation and livelihoods.

Effect of a virtual walking and exercise-based intervention on muscle strength and activation in people with incomplete spinal cord injury.

This study aims to assess the effect of combining virtual walking (VW) therapy with a physical exercise (PE) program compared to PE alone on lower limb strength and muscle activation in people with incomplete spinal cord injury (iSCI). 38 participants performed 3 sessions/week during 6 weeks of Experimental Intervention (EI): VW and PE; or Control intervention (CI): Placebo-VW and PE. Strength and muscle activation of main lower limb muscles were assessed.

Critical mobility in policy making for epidemic containment.

When considering airborne epidemic spreading in social systems, a natural connection arises between mobility and epidemic contacts. As individuals travel, possibilities to encounter new people either at the final destination or during the transportation process appear. Such contacts can lead to new contagion events.

Identifying time patterns in Huntington's disease trajectories using dynamic time warping-based clustering on multi-modal data.

One of the principal goals of Precision Medicine is to stratify patients by accounting for individual variability. However, extracting meaningful information from Real-World Data, such as Electronic Health Records, still remains challenging due to methodological and computational issues. A Dynamic Time Warping-based unsupervised-clustering methodology is presented in this paper for the clustering of patient trajectories of multi-modal health data on the basis of shared temporal characteristics.

Giant pit craters on the modern seafloor above magma-induced hydrothermal vent complexes of Scotia Sea, offshore Antarctica.

Massive injection of C depleted carbon to the ocean and atmosphere coincided with major environmental upheaval multiple times in the geological record. For several events, the source of carbon has been attributed to explosive venting of gas produced when magmatic sills intruded organic-rich sediment. The concept mostly derives from studies of a few ancient sedimentary basins with numerous hydrothermal vent complexes (HTVCs) where craters appear to have formed across large areas of the seafloor at the same time, but good examples remain rare in strata younger than the Early Eocene.

KLRB1 expression in nasopharyngeal mucosa as a prognostic biomarker in COVID-19 patients.

The resurgence of COVID-19 and the rise in severe outcomes emphasize the need for reliable prognostic markers to guide patient care and optimize ICU and hospital resources. This study investigates the potential of nasopharyngeal swabs to identify biomarkers that predict ICU admission or death in hospitalized COVID-19 patients. We analyzed nasopharyngeal exudates from 95 hospitalized patients in 2020 using high-plex RNA quantification on the NanoString nCounter platform.

In-situ probing of the Fischer-Tropsch reaction on Co single crystal surfaces up to 1 bar.

The surface chemistry of the Fischer-Tropsch catalytic reaction over Co has still several unknows. Here, we report an in-situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy study of Co and Co( ), and in-situ high energy surface X-ray diffraction of Co during the Fischer-Tropsch reaction at 0.15 bar - 1 bar and 406 K - 548 K in a H/CO gas mixture.

Unplanned Reoperation After Anatomical Pulmonary Resection for Lung Cancer: Rate, Risk Factors, Early Outcomes and Long-term Prognostic Influence Within a Prospective Multicentre Database.

Objectives: The study aimed to identify perioperative variables associated with unplanned reoperation (UR) following anatomical pulmonary resection for lung cancer and investigate its impact on long-term prognostic outcomes.

Methods: The records of patients who underwent anatomical pulmonary resection for lung cancer from December 2016 to March 2018 within a nationwide prospective registry were reviewed. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to find the risk factors for UR.

Bibliometric analysis of the scientific production of rheumatology departments in Spain during the 2013-2022 period.

Background And Objective: Bibliometric studies of scientific production in Spanish Rheumatology are scarce. The aim of this study was to analyze the bibliographic production of Rheumatology Services in Spain over the period 2013-2022.

Materials And Methods: Original articles and reviews with the affiliation of the first or corresponding author to a Spanish rheumatology Service/Department/Section/Unit were identified in the Web of Science Core Collection and Scopus databases.