Damage in a large systemic lupus erythematosus cohort from the Spanish Society of Rheumatology Lupus Registry (RELESSER) with emphasis on the cardiovascular system: a longitudinal analysis.

Objective: To assess organ damage, with emphasis on the cardiovascular system, over the different stages of the disease in a large SLE cohort.

Methods: Multicentre, longitudinal study of a cohort of 4219 patients with SLE enrolled in the Spanish Society of Rheumatology Lupus Registry. Organ damage was ascertained using the Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics/American College of Rheumatology Damage Index (SDI).

Is pre-diabetes a predictor of events in patients with atrial fibrillation?

Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) increases the probability of presenting atrial fibrillation (AF) and it is a predictor of its ischemic stroke. There is limited information of the association between glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels and ischemic, embolic or bleeding events in patients with pre-DM and AF.

Methods: To investigate whether the presence of pre-DM in patients with AF predicts ischemic or bleeding events, myocardial infarction or mortality, we performed a retrospective study with a final cohort of 2993 non-diabetic patients with AF and data of glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c).

Liver fibrosis and outcomes of atrial fibrillation: the FIB-4 index.

Background And Aims: Liver diseases play an important role in the development and progression of atrial fibrillation (AF). The Fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) index is a non-invasive score recommended for detecting liver fibrosis. Since the association between liver fibrosis and outcomes of AF patients is still not well defined, we aim to analyze prognosis impact of FIB-4 index in those patients.

Psychosocial Risks in Teachers from Portugal and England on the Way to Society 5.0.

Being a teacher is one of the most demanding jobs, as a result of this responsibility, these workers face many psychosocial risks. This study aims to characterize and compare psychosocial factors in Portuguese and British teachers and discuss how new developments in technology, namely digital technology can improve education and, in particular, contribute to fewer issues related to mental health. The Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire Medium Version (COPSOQ II) was applied to the teachers of six Portuguese schools (three public schools and three private schools), three British public schools and three private schools with an international British curriculum (Switzerland, Spain and Portugal).

The interaction between liver cirrhosis, infection by Streptococcus bovis, and colon cancer.

Whether cirrhotic patients with Streptococcus bovis bacteremia have an increased risk of colorectal neoplasm is uncertain. A multicentric retrospective cohort study was conducted investigating associations between S. bovis biotype and species, cirrhosis, and colorectal neoplasm.

Genetic linkage analysis of head and neck cancer in a Spanish family.

Objectives: To describe the genetic variants that may be associated with the development of head and neck cancer (HNC) and functionally validating the molecular implications.

Materials And Methods: A prospective observational study was carried out on a family of 3 generations in which 3 members had developed HNC. Peripheral blood sample was taken in a routine procedure for exome sequencing in one relative and genotyping in the remaining twelve relatives.

How to Prevent Hostile Behaviors and Emotional Exhaustion among Law Enforcement Professionals: The Negative Spiral of Role Conflict.

The nature and characteristics of the current work environment of law enforcement professionals point out role-conflict situations as one of the main reasons leading to the occurrence of hostile behaviors and the worsening of employees' well-being. Precisely, this research analyzes the mediating role of role conflict between laissez-faire leadership and hostility or police professionals' emotional exhaustion. To mitigate the negative effects of role-conflict situations, the moderating role of certain personal resources such as self-efficacy, and organizational variables such as interactional justice, the meaning of the work and family-work enrichment is also analyzed.

Temporomandibular Joint Arthroscopic Surgical Techniques: Electrocoagulation and Myotomy Indications.

Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) surgical arthroscopy has become a usual operation to treat different pathologies such as internal derangements and degenerative joint diseases and osteoarthritis. Although many instruments such as palpators, forceps, scissors, scrapers, scalpels, and motorized terminals are needed to perform different arthroscopic surgical procedures, it is of paramount importance to have devices that allow the surgeon to cut and coagulate tissues safely. Coblation (cold ablation) is a process that using a radiofrequency electrical energy passing through saline solution and produces plasma that can be applied precisely to tissues to break molecular bonds within cells.

A method for determining groups in nonparametric regression curves: Application to prefrontal cortex neural activity analysis.

Generalized additive models provide a flexible and easily-interpretable method for uncovering a nonlinear relationship between response and covariates. In many situations, the effect of a continuous covariate on the response varies across groups defined by the levels of a categorical variable. When confronted with a considerable number of groups defined by the levels of the categorical variable and a factor-by-curve interaction is detected in the model, it then becomes important to compare these regression curves.

Processing and Testing of Reinforced PA66 Based Composites.

The new requirements in different sectors, such as aerospace, automotive and construction, for lightweight materials have led to an increase in demand for composite materials suitable for use in high rate production processes, such as plastic injection. This makes it necessary to look for matrices and reinforcements that, in addition to being compatible with each other, are also compatible with the injection process. It is in this area of research where the work presented here arises.

Evolution of Surgical Management of Hemorrhoidal Disease: An Historical Overview.

Hemorrhoidal disease (HD) is the symptomatic enlargement and/or distal displacement of the normal hemorrhoidal cushions and is one of the most frequent diseases in colorectal surgery. Several surgical or office-based therapies are currently available, with the aim of being a more tailored approach. This article aimed to elucidate the historical evolution of surgical therapy for HD from ancient times, highlighting the crucial steps, controversies, and pioneers in the field.

Microwave ablation of colorectal liver metastases: Impact of a 10-mm safety margin on local recurrence in a tertiary care hospital.

Microwave ablation (MWA) for colorectal liver metastasis (CLM) has been traditionally considered inferior to surgery due to the higher rate of local recurrence. The study investigated whether a safety margin of 10 mm can improve local control in patients undergoing surgical MWA. Surgical MWA was used to treat 53 lesions in 22 patients with CLM at our Institution from June 2012 to June 2017.

Predictability of COVID-19-related morbidity and mortality based on model estimations to establish proactive protocols of countermeasures.

The COVID-19 pandemic (SARS-CoV-2) has revealed the need for proactive protocols to react and act, imposing preventive and restrictive countermeasures on time in any society. The extent to which confirmed cases can predict the morbidity and mortality in a society remains an unresolved issue. The research objective is therefore to test a generic model's predictability through time, based on percentage of confirmed cases on hospitalized patients, ICU patients and deceased.

Invasive clams (Ruditapes philippinarum) are better equipped to deal with harmful algal blooms toxins than native species (R. decussatus): evidence of species-specific toxicokinetics and DNA vulnerability.

This study aims to assess and compare the kinetics (accumulation/elimination) of the marine biotoxins okadaic acid (OA) and dinophysistoxin-1 (DTX1), between native (Ruditapes decussatus) and invasive (Ruditapes philippinarum) clam species, and their genotoxic effects and DNA recover capacity after, exposure to toxic dinoflagellates Prorocentrum lima. Clams were fed with P. lima for 5 days and then to non-toxic algae (post-exposure) during other 5 days.

Seasonal Fe Uptake of Young Citrus Trees and Its Contribution to the Development of New Organs.

This work quantifies Fe uptake in young citrus trees, its partitioning among plant compartments, and the contribution of the Fe absorbed from fertilizer to the development of new tissues. A soil pot experiment was conducted using 4-year-old clementine trees ( Hort ex Tan), and a dose of 240 mg Fe was applied by labeled fertilizer (92% atom Fe excess). Plants were uprooted at five different phenologic states: end of flowering (May 15), end of fruit setting and fruit drop (July 1), two fruit growing moments (August 1 and October 15), and at complete fruit maturity (December 10).

Characterization and Cytotoxic Effect of Biosurfactants Obtained from Different Sources.

In this work, five biosurfactant extracts, obtained from different sources, all of them with demonstrated antimicrobial properties, were characterized and subjected to a cytotoxic study using mouse fibroblast cells (NCTC clone 929). Biosurfactant extracts obtained directly from corn steep water (CSW) showed similar surfactant characteristics to those of the extracellular biosurfactant extract produced by isolated from CSW and grown in tryptic soy broth, observing that they are amphoteric, consisting of viscous and yellowish liquid with no foaming capacity. Contrarily, cell-bound biosurfactant extracts produced from or produced by sp isolated from CSW are nonionic, consisting of a white powder with foaming capacity.

Polymorphisms in the BER and NER pathways and their influence on survival and toxicity in never-smokers with lung cancer.

Polymorphisms in DNA repair pathways may play a relevant role in lung cancer survival in never-smokers. Furthermore, they could be implicated in the response to chemotherapy and toxicity of platinum agents. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of various genetic polymorphisms in the BER and NER DNA repair pathways on survival and toxicity in never-smoker LC patients.

Identification of Prognosis Associated microRNAs in HNSCC Subtypes Based on TCGA Dataset.

Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma (HNSCC) includes cancers from the oral cavity, larynx, and oropharynx and is the sixth-most common cancer worldwide. MicroRNAs are small non-coding RNAs for which altered expression has been demonstrated in pathological processes, such as cancer. The objective of our study was to evaluate the different expression profile in HNSCC subtypes and the prognostic value that one or several miRNAs may have.

Immunoexpression of Apoptosis and Cell-cycle Arrest Markers in Oral Lichen Planus.

The expression pattern of a panel of 5 molecular markers (p53, cyclin D1, Ki-67, BCL-2, and BAX) was studied in samples from patients with oral lichen planus (OLP) and normal oral mucosa (NOM) of healthy controls to investigate the implications of cell cycle and apoptosis in OLP. The 59 OLP and 16 NOM biopsies were stained by an inmunoperoxidase technique for p53, cyclin D1, Ki-67, BCL-2, and BAX and assessed microscopically for semiquantitative analysis. Positivity for BCL-2 and Ki-67 was significantly more frequent in NOM than in OLP (P<0.

Assessment of saliva and oral candidiasis levels 12, 24 and 36 months after radiotherapy in patients with head and neck cancer.

Introduction: Hyposalivation is a serious complication during radiotherapy (RT) and it is one of the major risk factors for the presence of candidiasis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the salivary hypofunction during the different stages of RT, analysing its connection with the presence of candidiasis.

Material And Methods: A retrospective study was performed in 83 patients who had been diagnosed with head and neck tumours and who were undergoing RT treatment.