Implantación de una Unidad de Ortogeriatría de Agudos en un hospital de segundo nivel

Background

Patients with hip fracture (HF), due to their characteristics, require a specific support. The Acute Orthogeriatric Unit (OGU) has been shown to be one of the most beneficial.

Objective

To evaluate the main variables of HF patients treated at an OGU and compare them with the previous referral model (RC).

Material and methods

A prospective observational study with retrospective control was conducted on 169 patients, split into two groups. In the RC group, patients were admitted to conventional trauma ward. In the OGU group, an early geriatric assessment was performed, and patients were simultaneously attended daily by the orthopaedic surgeon, nurse and geriatrician, and the surgery times, work load, discharge and destination, were planned in a weekly meeting with the rest of professionals.

Results

A total of 71 patients were included in the RC group and 96 in the OGU group. The preoperative characteristics were similar, except for a slightly higher comorbidity in the OGU group. The OGU patients were operated on earlier (3.82±2.08 vs 4.61±2.5 days; P<.32), and overall hospital stay was reduced by 28% (11.84±4.04 vs 16.46±8.4 days; P<.001). The functional efficiency (Barthel Index at discharge-Barthel Index at admission/overall stay - stay before surgery) was higher in the OGU group (1.56±0.7 vs 2.61±1.1; P<.05). There were no differences in functional status, mortality or discharge location.

Conclusions

The OGU is a level of care that provides effective medical care in HF patients in general hospitals.     

Male nest‐building activity influences clutch mass in Pied Flycatchers Ficedula hypoleuca

Capsule Some males brought building materials to nests and females who were paired with such males laid heavier clutches.     

Cryptic homoeology analysis in species and hybrids of genus Zea

Cryptic intergenomic pairing of genus Zea was induced by the use of a diluted colchicine solution in order to elucidate the phylogenetic relations and differentiation of the homoeologous genomes. Results indicate that in species and hybrids with 2n = 20, there was chromosome pairing between the homoeologous A and B genomes with a maximum of 5IV, with the exception of Zea diploperennis and their interspecific hybrids where cryptic homoeologous chromosome pairing was not induced. In almost all 2n = 30 hybrids, observed cryptic pairing increased to a maximum of 10III although Z. mays × Z. mays with 2n = 30 did not show significant differences between treated and untreated materials. Pairing was also observed in species and hybrids with 2n = 40, in which a maximum of 10IV was observed, with the exception of Z. mays with 2n = 40 where treated and untreated cells did not differ significantly.     

2-(1H-Pyrazol-4-yl)acetic acids as CRTh2 antagonists

High throughput screening identified the pyrazole-4-acetic acid substructure as CRTh2 receptor antagonists. Optimisation of the compounds uncovered a tight SAR but also identified some low nanomolar inhibitors.     

Expression,characterization and inhibition of Toxoplasma gondii 1-deoxy-d-xylulose-5-phosphate reductoisomerase

The apicomplexan parasite Toxoplasma gondii, the causative agent of toxoplasmosis, is an important human pathogen. 1-Deoxy-d-xylulose-5-phosphate reductoisomerase (DXR) in the non-mevalonate isoprene biosynthesis pathway is essential to the organism and therefore a target for developing anti-toxoplasmosis drugs. In order to find potent inhibitors, we expressed and purified recombinant T. gondii DXR (TgDXR). Biochemical properties of this enzyme were characterized and an enzyme activity/inhibition assay was developed. A collection of 11 compounds with a broad structural diversity were tested against TgDXR and several potent inhibitors were identified with K_i values as low as 48 nM. Analysis of the results as well as those of Escherichia coli and Plasmodium falciparum DXR enzymes revealed a different structure–activity relationship profile for the inhibition of TgDXR.     

Landscape heterogeneity shapes host‐parasite interactions and results in apparent plant–virus codivergence

Knowledge on how landscape heterogeneity shapes host–parasite interactions is central to understand the emergence, dynamics and evolution of infectious diseases. However, this is an underexplored subject, particularly for plant–virus systems. Here, we analyse how landscape heterogeneity influences the prevalence, spatial genetic structure, and temporal dynamics of Pepper golden mosaic and Pepper huasteco yellow vein begomoviruses infecting populations of the wild pepper Capsicum annuum glabriusculum (chiltepin) in Mexico. Environmental heterogeneity occurred at different nested spatial scales (host populations within biogeographical provinces), with levels of human management varying among host population within a province. Results indicate that landscape heterogeneity affects the epidemiology and genetic structure of chiltepin‐infecting begomoviruses in a scale‐specific manner, probably related to conditions favouring the viruses' whitefly vector and its dispersion. Increased levels of human management of the host populations were associated with higher virus prevalence and erased the spatial genetic structure of the virus populations. Also, environmental heterogeneity similarly shaped the spatial genetic structures of host and viruses. This resulted in the congruence between host and virus phylogenies, which does not seem to be due to host‐virus co‐evolution. Thus, results provide evidence of the key role of landscape heterogeneity in determining plant–virus interactions.     

Variation in eggshell traits between geographically distant populations of pied flycatchers Ficedula hypoleuca

The expression and impact of maternal effects may vary greatly between populations and environments. However, little is known about large‐scale geographical patterns of variation in maternal deposition to eggs. In birds, as in other oviparous animals, the outermost maternal component of an egg is the shell, which protects the embryo, provides essential mineral resources and allows its interaction with the environment in the form of gas exchange. In this study, we explored variation of eggshell traits (mass, thickness, pore density and pigmentation) across 15 pied flycatcher populations at a large geographic scale. We found significant between‐population variation in all eggshell traits, except in pore density, suggesting spatial variation in their adaptive benefits or in the females’ physiological limitations during egg laying. Between‐ population variation in shell structure was not due to geographic location (latitude and longitude) or habitat type. However, eggshells were thicker in populations that experienced higher ambient temperature during egg laying. This could be a result of maternal resource allocation to the shell being constrained under low temperatures or of an adaptation to reduce egg water loss under high temperatures. We also found that eggshell colour intensity was positively associated with biliverdin pigment concentration, shell thickness and pore density. To conclude, our findings reveal large‐ scale between‐population variation of eggshell traits, although we found little environmental dependency in their expression. Our findings call for further studies that explore other environmental factors (e.g. calcium availability and pollution levels) and social factors like sexual selection intensity that may account for differences in shell structure between populations.     

Truck Drivers Sleep-Wake Time Arrangements

Irregular working hours, including night work, change sleep-wake time arrangements which in turn might affect the ability to drive safely. This study aims to compare the effects of an irregular and a fixed day shift system on the sleep-wake cycle of truck drivers. The investigation of sleep-wake cycle was carried-out with 37 truck drivers working on two transportation plants: 24 working on irregular working hours and 13 on fixed day shift. The truck drivers filled out sleep logs and wore actigraphs for 10 consecutive days to identify activity and rest episodes. The group working in irregular hours showed more sleep episodes per 24 h and they were shorter compared to the fixed shift group (p &lt; 0.05). No differences were found between the two transportation plants. These results suggest an the influence of working hours on specific sleep-wake patterns. The polyphasic sleep pattern shown by irregular shift group could be a strategy to cope with sleep deprivation, which may account for their difficulty to resist falling asleep behind the wheel.     

Sleeping on the Job during Night Shifts May Be Associated with Extended Night Shifts and/or Variable Night Shift Onset Times

Continuous rotating shiftworkers temporarily working overtime slept at least once during the working hours of their night shifts. They worked at an electric power distribution plant in São Paulo (Brazil). In order to detect factors that could be associated with sleeping on the job, we compared those who slept (sleep group – S) with those who did not sleep (non-sleep group – NS) as to the number of night shifts, the average length of night shifts, the variability in night shift onset and offset times and the length of sleep episodes at home between consecutive night shifts. Data collection was based on dairies filled in by the workers for 30 consecutive days. For both S and NS groups, the number of night shifts for each worker varied from 5 to 9, no difference being found between groups. Individual means of night shifts length varied from 9.4 ± 0.3 hr to 14.2 ± 0.6 hr; they were significantly longer in the S than in the NS group. Night shift onset times were shown to be significantly more variable in the S than in the NS group, whereas offset times did not differ significantly between groups. Length of sleep episodes at home was not significantly different between groups. Workers who slept on the job were those who had longer working bouts and / or more variable night shift onset times. Differences among workers may be due to individual strategies to cope with a situation in which the work schedule included night shifts that were much longer than the established 8 hours, and with many changes in onset times from one night shift to the next.