A Simplified Algorithm for the Diagnosis, Treatment, and Management of COPD in Routine Primary Care Practice.

Background: Diagnostic and treatment strategies for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) vary greatly. Despite international efforts to standardize the management of COPD, two-thirds of primary care patients are not diagnosed, treated, or managed according to current evidence-based guidelines, probably because of the difficulty of applying these in routine practice. The aim of this study was to develop a simplified algorithm for diagnosing, treating, and managing COPD in primary care whose consistency, scientific relevance, and applicability to routine clinical practice met approval bct 3y family doctors (FDs) and pulmonologists.

Acetate correlates with disability and immune response in multiple sclerosis.

Background: Gut microbiota has been related to multiple sclerosis (MS) etiopathogenesis. Short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) are compounds derived from microbial metabolism that have a role in gut-brain axis.

Objectives: To analyse SCFA levels in plasma of MS patients and healthy donors (HD), and the possible link between these levels and both clinical data and immune cell populations.

Training health providers to address unhealthy alcohol use in primary care: a cross-sectional, multicenter study.

Background: Health professionals' training is a key element to address unhealthy alcohol use in Primary Care (PC). Education about alcohol use can be effective in improving PC provider's knowledge and skills addressing alcohol-related problems. The aim of the study was to evaluate the training of health professionals to address unhealthy alcohol use in PC.

Predictive factors and early biomarkers of response in multiple sclerosis patients treated with natalizumab.

There are an increasing number of treatments available for multiple sclerosis (MS). The early identification of optimal responders to individual treatments is important to achieve individualized therapy. With this aim, we performed a multicenter retrospective longitudinal study including 186 MS patients treated with natalizumab who were followed for 2 years.

First-passage percolation under extreme disorder: From bond percolation to Kardar-Parisi-Zhang universality.

We consider the statistical properties of arrival times and balls on first-passage percolation (FPP) two-dimensional square lattices with strong disorder in the link times. A previous work showed a crossover in the weak disorder regime, between Gaussian and Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) universality, with the crossover length decreasing as the noise amplitude grows. On the other hand, this work presents a very different behavior in the strong-disorder regime.

[Clinical-epidemiological characteristics of the atrial fibrillation in patients 65 years of age or older diagnosed in primary care.].

Objective: The identification of atrial fibrillation in older patients who come to Primary Care consultations is a topic of interest that has been scarcely studied. The objective of this work was to estimate the frequency of new cases of atrial fibrillation and to analyze the clinical-epidemiological characteristics of patients 65 years of age or older, detected in Primary Care in Spain.

Methods: An observational, descriptive, national, multicenter study was carried out in 48 health centers, in which 218 doctors and 101 Primary Care nurses recruited 7,068 patients, who underwent an arterial pulse and an electrocardiogram.

Early detection of lysosomal diseases by screening of cases of idiopathic splenomegaly and/or thrombocytopenia with a next-generation sequencing gene panel.

Lysosomal diseases (LD) are a group of about 70 rare hereditary disorders (combined incidence 1:5000) in which diverse lysosomal functions are impaired, impacting multiple organs and systems. The first clinical signs and symptoms are usually unspecific and shared by hundreds of other disorders. Diagnosis of LD traditionally relies on performing specific enzymatic assays, if available, upon clinical suspicion of the disorder.

Bone marrow infiltration by flow cytometry at diffuse large B-cell lymphoma NOS diagnosis implies worse prognosis without considering bone marrow histology.

Background: The significance of discrepant findings between histology (BMB) and flow cytometry (FC) in bone marrow (BM) examination at diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) diagnosis is uncertain.

Methods: We performed a 5-year retrospective single-center study of patients diagnosed by DLBCL not otherwise specified (n = 82), divided into three groups according to BM infiltration at diagnosis: BMB-/FC- (75.6%), BMB+/FC+ (13.

Adaptive Features of Natural Killer Cells in Multiple Sclerosis.

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) has been recently related with a lower susceptibility to multiple sclerosis (MS). HCMV promotes an adaptive development of NK cells bearing the CD94/NKG2C receptor with a characteristic phenotypic and functional profile. NK cells are proposed to play an immunoregulatory role in MS, and expansion of the NKG2C(+) subset was recently associated with reduced disability progression.

Impact of a primary care training program on the prevention and management of unhealthy alcohol use: A quasi-experimental study.

Objective: To assess the impact of a training program targeted to Primary Care (PC) professionalson the acquisition of communication skills, attitudes, and knowledge about the prevention and management of unhealthy alcohol use.

Methods: A quasi-experimental, pre- and post-intervention study was performed in PC centers of Cordoba (Spain). Family doctors, residents and nurses participated in the study.

Teriflunomide induces a tolerogenic bias in blood immune cells of MS patients.

Objectives: Teriflunomide, a disease-modifying treatment approved for multiple sclerosis (MS), inhibits reversibly dihydroorotate dehydrogenase, an enzyme involved in de novo pyrimidine biosynthesis and down-regulates proliferation of activated lymphocytes. We aimed to study the impact of this drug in the lymphocyte profiles of MS patients.

Methods: Fifty-five patients with relapsing-remitting MS who initiated teriflunomide treatment were included in the study.

Factors associated with dimethyl fumarate-induced lymphopenia.

Background: Lymphopenia is a major concern in MS patients treated with dimethyl-fumarate (DMF) as it increases the risk of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy.

Objective: To identify factors associated with lymphopenia in DMF-treated patients and explore changes in blood lymphocyte subsets associated with DMF-induced lymphopenia.

Methods: Prospective longitudinal study including 106 patients initiating DMF treatment followed for a median time of 24.

Multiparameter Flow Cytometry Identification of Neoplastic Subclones: A New Biomarker in Monoclonal Gammopathy of Undetermined Significance and Multiple Myeloma.

Multiparameter flow cytometry (MFC)-based clonality assessment is a powerful method of diagnosis and follow-up in monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) and multiple myeloma (MM). However, the relevance of intraclonal heterogeneity in immunophenotypic studies remains poorly understood. The main objective of this work was to characterize the different immunophenotypic subclones in MGUS and MM patients and to investigate their correlation with disease stages.

Multi-centre validation of a flow cytometry method to identify optimal responders to interferon-beta in multiple sclerosis.

Background And Objectives: Percentages of blood CD19+CD5+ B cells and CD8+perforin+ T lymphocytes can predict response to Interferon (IFN)-beta treatment in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patients. We aimed to standardize their detection in a multicenter study, prior to their implementation in clinical practice.

Methods: Fourteen hospitals participated in the study.

Correction to: Blood lymphocyte subsets identify optimal responders to IFN-beta in MS.

The author claims that his name is incorrectly listed on PubMed. It seems that the first and last name has been mixed up.

Multi-Sensor Information Fusion for Optimizing Electric Bicycle Routes Using a Swarm Intelligence Algorithm.

The use of electric bikes (e-bikes) has grown in popularity, especially in large cities where overcrowding and traffic congestion are common. This paper proposes an intelligent engine management system for e-bikes which uses the information collected from sensors to optimize battery energy and time. The intelligent engine management system consists of a built-in network of sensors in the e-bike, which is used for multi-sensor data fusion; the collected data is analysed and fused and on the basis of this information the system can provide the user with optimal and personalized assistance.

Blood lymphocyte subsets identify optimal responders to IFN-beta in MS.

Response to interferon-beta (IFN-beta) treatment is heterogeneous in multiple sclerosis (MS). We aimed to search for biomarkers predicting no evidence of disease activity (NEDA) status upon IFN-beta treatment in MS. 119 patients with relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) initiating IFN-beta treatment were included in the study, and followed prospectively for 2 years.

Combining Multi-Agent Systems and Wireless Sensor Networks for Monitoring Crop Irrigation.

Monitoring mechanisms that ensure efficient crop growth are essential on many farms, especially in certain areas of the planet where water is scarce. Most farmers must assume the high cost of the required equipment in order to be able to streamline natural resources on their farms. Considering that many farmers cannot afford to install this equipment, it is necessary to look for more effective solutions that would be cheaper to implement.

Optimal response to dimethyl fumarate associates in MS with a shift from an inflammatory to a tolerogenic blood cell profile.

Background: The precise mechanism of action of dimethyl fumarate (DMF) treatment in MS remains unknown.

Objective: To identify the changes in the blood lymphocyte profile of MS patients predicting no evidence of disease activity (NEDA) status after DMF treatment.

Methods: We studied blood lymphocyte subsets of 64 MS patients treated with DMF at baseline and after 6 months of treatment by flow cytometry.

Gut dysbiosis and neuroimmune responses to brain infection with Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus.

Recent studies have begun to point out the contribution of microbiota to multiple sclerosis (MS) pathogenesis. Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus induced demyelinating disease (TMEV-IDD) is a model of progressive MS. Here, we first analyze the effect of intracerebral infection with TMEV on commensal microbiota and secondly, whether the early microbiota depletion influences the immune responses to TMEV on the acute phase (14 dpi) and its impact on the chronic phase (85 dpi).