Suchergebnisse

The constant progress in terms of sustainable development and the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) under 2030 Agenda are preoccupations of first concern for all the actors involved. Through this research, we conduct an investigation regarding the performance of the 28 EU member states in terms of achievements related to sustainable development as well as the factors supporting these efforts, starting from the data provided by the SDG Index and Dashboards and Eurostat. The results highlight the importance of R & D investments as the main driver of advancement in achieving the SDGs. At the same time, research results can provide support for policy makers and companies to contribute to more efficient allocation of available resources and maximizing the impact of relevant factors to ensure prosperity and security for people and society ; El progreso constante en términos de desarrollo sostenible y el logro de los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible (ODS) bajo la Agenda 2030 son preocupaciones de primera magnitud para todos los actores involucrados. A través de esta investigación, llevamos a cabo una investigación sobre el desempeño de los 28 estados miembros de la UE en términos de logros relacionados con el desarrollo sostenible, así como los factores que respaldan estos esfuerzos, a partir de los datos proporcionados por el Índice SDG y Dashboards y Eurostat. Los resultados destacan la importancia de las inversiones en I + D como principal impulsor del avance en el logro de los ODS. Al mismo tiempo, los resultados de la investigación pueden brindar apoyo a los responsables políticos y a las empresas para contribuir a una asignación más eficiente de los recursos disponibles y maximizar el impacto de los factores relevantes para garantizar la prosperidad y la seguridad de las personas y la sociedad

The constant progress in terms of sustainable development and the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) under 2030 Agenda are preoccupations of first concern for all the actors involved. Through this research, we conduct an investigation regarding the performance of the 28 EU member states in terms of achievements related to sustainable development as well as the factors supporting these efforts, starting from the data provided by the SDG Index and Dashboards and Eurostat. The results highlight the importance of R & D investments as the main driver of advancement in achieving the SDGs. At the same time, research results can provide support for policy makers and companies to contribute to more efficient allocation of available resources and maximizing the impact of relevant factors to ensure prosperity and security for people and society. ; El progreso constante en términos de desarrollo sostenible y el logro de los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible (ODS) bajo la Agenda 2030 son preocupaciones de primera magnitud para todos los actores involucrados. A través de esta investigación, llevamos a cabo una investigación sobre el desempeño de los 28 estados miembros de la UE en términos de logros relacionados con el desarrollo sostenible, así como los factores que respaldan estos esfuerzos, a partir de los datos proporcionados por el Índice SDG y Dashboards y Eurostat. Los resultados destacan la importancia de las inversiones en I + D como principal impulsor del avance en el logro de los ODS. Al mismo tiempo, los resultados de la investigación pueden brindar apoyo a los responsables políticos y a las empresas para contribuir a una asignación más eficiente de los recursos disponibles y maximizar el impacto de los factores relevantes para garantizar la prosperidad y la seguridad de las personas y la sociedad.

IntroductionIn the last years, we observed an alarming increase in the number of newly diagnosed HIV infected intravenous drug users (IDUs) co‐infected with hepatitis viruses or with severe bacterial infections. The aim of our study was to assess the incidence, the demographic and clinical characteristics of IDUs diagnosed with HIV, HCV and tuberculosis (TB).Materials and MethodsProspective study on HIV infected IDUs with HCV and TB admitted in a single centre between January 2009 and April 2014. Data were compared to a group of HIV infected IDUs without TB. Statistical analysis was performed using Graphpad Prism 4.01.ResultsOut of 450 HIV infected IDUs, 134 (29.7%) were diagnosed with HIV, HCV and TB. TB incidence among IDUs increases from 0% in 2009 to 30.2% in 2013. The TB coinfected patients had a mean age at diagnosis of 30 [15–56] years; were in majority males, 106 (84.4%); from urban areas, 120 (89.5%); and had significantly lower education level (85% vs 68.3%, p<0.0001) and higher rates of unemployment (80% vs 55%, p<0.0001) than those without TB. The median CD4 cell count was lower in the TB versus non TB IDUs (143 vs 472/mm3, p<0.0001). TB infected IDUs tend to be more frequently late presenters (59.7 vs 24.6, p<0.0001) and to have advanced HIV disease (47.7 vs 7.59%, p<0.0001) than those without TB. TB cultures were positive in 64 (47.7%) patients, 3 (2.2%) had multidrug resistant TB and 2 (1.5%) had extended drug resistance. Disseminated and/or extrapulmonary TB was diagnosed in 51 patients (38%). The overall mortality rate was higher in TB compared to non TB IDUs (19.4% vs 8.2%, p=0.0007), disseminated TB being associated with the most severe immunosuppression (median CD4 cell count 42/mm3) and the highest mortality rate (27.4%).ConclusionsThe incidence of TB in HIV/HCV coinfected IDUs was high and rose over the time. TB infection was more frequent in patients with severe immunosuppression and the mortality rate was higher in IDUs with disseminated and/or extrapulmonary disease. IDUs are important candidates for acquiring and transmitting HIV infection, viral hepatitis and TB, being difficult to control due to their high‐risk behaviours. Strengthening of HIV transmission prevention strategies, particularly in identified risk groups, is mandatory.

Post-concussion symptoms; SCAT2; Head injury ; Síntomas posteriores a la conmoción cerebral; SCAT2; Lesión craneal ; Símptomes posteriors a la commoció cerebral; SCAT2; Lesió cranial ; Self-report measures, particularly symptom inventories, are critical tools for identifying patients with persistent post-concussion symptoms and their follow-up. Unlike in military or sports-related assessment, in general civilian settings pre-injury levels of concussion-like symptoms are lacking. Normative data are available in adolescent and college populations, but no reference data exist to guide clinical adult explorations. The purpose of this study was to use the second edition of the Sport Concussion Assessment Tool (SCAT2) to profile a cohort of 60 healthy community volunteers who had not sustained a head injury. Participating volunteers underwent MRI scanning and were evaluated with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Participants reported a median of 3 concussion-like symptoms and the 97.5 percentile score was found at 10.5 symptoms, out of a total of 22. The median severity score was 4.9 points, and 28.9 was the upper limit of the reference interval. Only 10 participants (16.7%) did not endorse any symptom. The most frequently endorsed symptom was feeling difficulty in concentrating, with 41.7% of the sample reporting it. Age, sex and general distress, anxiety and depressive symptoms were not associated with concussion-like symptoms. Our data yielded elevated cut-offs scores for both the number of symptoms and the symptom severity. In conclusion, postconcussive-like symptoms are frequent in the general non-concussed adult population and it should be taken into account in any future models developed for screening patients at risk of developing physical, cognitive, and psychological complaints following mild traumatic injury. ; UNINN is supported by a Grant from the Generalitat de Catalunya (SGR 2014-844, http://agaur.gencat.cat). This work has been supported in part by the Fondo de Investigacion Sanitaria (Instituto de Salud Carlos III, https://portalfis.isciii.es) with grants FIS PI11/00700 (J.S.) and grant FIS PI13/02397 (M.A.P.), which were co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). A.R. was a recipient of a pre-doctoral grant from the Fundacio Institut de Recerca VHIR (PRED-VHIR-2012-26, http://en.vhir.org).

Publisher's version (útgefin grein) ; Objectives There are currently few data on the long‐term risk of cancer and death in individuals taking raltegravir (RAL). The aim of this analysis was to evaluate whether there is evidence for an association. Methods The EuroSIDA cohort was divided into three groups: those starting RAL‐based combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) on or after 21 December 2007 (RAL); a historical cohort (HIST) of individuals adding a new antiretroviral (ARV) drug (not RAL) to their cART between 1 January 2005 and 20 December 2007, and a concurrent cohort (CONC) of individuals adding a new ARV drug (not RAL) to their cART on or after 21 December 2007. Baseline characteristics were compared using logistic regression. The incidences of newly diagnosed malignancies and death were compared using Poisson regression. Results The RAL cohort included 1470 individuals [with 4058 person‐years of follow‐up (PYFU)] compared with 3787 (4472 PYFU) and 4467 (10 691 PYFU) in the HIST and CONC cohorts, respectively. The prevalence of non‐AIDS‐related malignancies prior to baseline tended to be higher in the RAL cohort vs. the HIST cohort [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 1.31; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.95–1.80] and vs. the CONC cohort (aOR 1.89; 95% CI 1.37–2.61). In intention‐to‐treat (ITT) analysis (events: RAL, 50; HIST, 45; CONC, 127), the incidence of all new malignancies was 1.11 (95% CI 0.84–1.46) per 100 PYFU in the RAL cohort vs. 1.20 (95% CI 0.90–1.61) and 0.83 (95% CI 0.70–0.99) in the HIST and CONC cohorts, respectively. After adjustment, there was no evidence for a difference in the risk of malignancies [adjusted rate ratio (RR) 0.73; 95% CI 0.47–1.14 for RALvs. HIST; RR 0.95; 95% CI 0.65–1.39 for RALvs. CONC] or mortality (adjusted RR 0.87; 95% CI 0.53–1.43 for RALvs. HIST; RR 1.14; 95% CI 0.76–1.72 for RALvs. CONC). Conclusions We found no evidence for an oncogenic risk or poorer survival associated with using RAL compared with control groups. ; EuroSIDA was supported by the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under EuroCoord grant agreement no. 260694. Current support includes unrestricted grants from Bristol‐Myers Squibb, Gilead, GlaxoSmithKline LLC, Janssen R&D, Merck and Co. Inc. and Pfizer Inc. The participation of centres from Switzerland was supported by The Swiss National Science Foundation (Grant 108787). The study is also supported by a grant (grant number DNRF126) from the Danish National Research Foundation. ; Peer Reviewed

To access publisher's full text version of this article click on the hyperlink below ; According to guidelines all HIV-HBV-coinfected patients should receive tenofovir-based combination antiretroviral therapy (cART). We aimed to investigate uptake and outcomes of tenofovir-based cART among HIV-HBV patients in the EuroSIDA study. All hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)+ patients followed up after 1 March 2002 were included. Changes in the proportion taking tenofovir-based cART over time were described. Poisson regression was used to investigate the relationship between tenofovir use and clinical events. 953 HIV-HBV patients were included. Median age was 41 years and patients were predominantly male (85%), White (82%) and ART-experienced (88%). 697 and 256 were from Western and Eastern Europe, respectively. 55 started cART during follow-up, the proportion starting with CD4 Although use of tenofovir-based cART among HIV-HBV patients has increased across Europe, a substantial proportion are still starting cART late and are receiving suboptimal HBV therapy. ; European Union's Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration Bristol-Myers Squibb Gilead GlaxoSmithKline LLC Janssen RD Merck and Co. Inc. Pfizer Inc. Swiss National Science Foundation Danish National Research Foundation

To find sequence variants affecting prostate cancer (PCA) susceptibility in an unscreened Romanian population we use a genome‐wide association study (GWAS). The study population included 990 unrelated pathologically confirmed PCA cases and 1034 male controls. DNA was genotyped using Illumina SNP arrays, and 24.295.558 variants were imputed using the 1000 Genomes data set. An association test was performed between the imputed markers and PCA. A systematic literature review for variants associated with PCA risk identified 115 unique variants that were tested in the Romanian sample set. Thirty of the previously reported SNPs replicated (P‐value < 0.05), with the strongest associations observed at: 8q24.21, 11q13.3, 6q25.3, 5p15.33, 22q13.2, 17q12 and 3q13.2. The replicated variants showing the most significant association in Romania are rs1016343 at 8q24.21 (P = 2.2 × 10−4), rs7929962 at 11q13.3 (P = 2.7 × 10−4) and rs9364554 at 6q25.2 (P = 4.7 × 10−4). None of the variants tested in the Romanian GWAS reached genome‐wide significance (P‐value <5 × 10−8) but 807 markers had P‐values <1 × 10−4. Here, we report the results of the first GWAS of PCA performed in a Romanian population. Our study provides evidence that a substantial fraction of previously validated PCA variants associate with risk in this unscreened Romanian population. ; This study was funded in part by the European Union FP7 Program (ProMark project 202059) and by the EEA grant (ROMCAN project RO14-0017; EEAJRPRO-NO-20131-10191). ; Peer Reviewed

Over the last decade the continuous improvements in sensor technologies, connected with recent hardware reconfigurable devices evolution, enable engineers to merge sensors and reconfigurable devices to develop new applications or to improve the existing ones. The miniaturization and integration of multiple sensors in one chip and the increase of precision, stability and power efficiency allow sensors to play an even more important role in medical technology with the main objective of building more accurate and smaller devices that help medical personal to monitor human biomedical parameters. This paper describes a secured wireless system design and implementation. The proposed system consists in one or more wearable sensor nodes that measure human biomedical parameters and then sends the collected data to a base station in order to be analyzed by qualified personal. This system can be used to monitor patient state-of-health or to supervise military personal in training or even in battles, because the new system uses secured transmission. The typical monitored parameters are body temperature, blood oxygen level, heart rate, respiratory rate, movement and position of the subject, but it can be extended and more other different sensors such as cameras or microphones can be added. Reconfigurable devices are used to process data in both sensor node and base station in an innovative environment. Keywords: biomedical parameters, reconfigurable devices, sensor nodes, wireless.

Publisher's version (útgefin grein) ; Two familial forms of colorectal cancer (CRC), Lynch syndrome (LS) and familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP), are caused by rare mutations in DNA mismatch repair genes (MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, PMS2) and the genes APC and MUTYH, respectively. No information is available on the presence of high‐risk CRC mutations in the Romanian population. We performed whole‐genome sequencing of 61 Romanian CRC cases with a family history of cancer and/or early onset of disease, focusing the analysis on candidate variants in the LS and FAP genes. The frequencies of all candidate variants were assessed in a cohort of 688 CRC cases and 4567 controls. Immunohistochemical (IHC) staining for MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, and PMS2 was performed on tumour tissue. We identified 11 candidate variants in 11 cases; six variants in MLH1, one in MSH6, one in PMS2, and three in APC. Combining information on the predicted impact of the variants on the proteins, IHC results and previous reports, we found three novel pathogenic variants (MLH1:p.Lys84ThrfsTer4, MLH1:p.Ala586CysfsTer7, PMS2:p.Arg211ThrfsTer38), and two novel variants that are unlikely to be pathogenic. Also, we confirmed three previously published pathogenic LS variants and suggest to reclassify a previously reported variant of uncertain significance to pathogenic (MLH1:c.1559‐1G>C). ; This study was funded in part by the European Union FP7 Program (ProMark project 202059) and by the EEA grant (ROMCAN project RO14‐0017; EEAJRP‐RO‐NO‐20131‐10191). We thank the study participants, the staff at deCODE Genetics Iceland and Landspitali University Hospital. ; Peer Reviewed