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Fulltext Bibliometric profile of the global scientific research on methanol poisoning (1902-2012)

Zyoud SH, Al-Jabi SW, Sweileh WM, Awang R, Waring WS

J Occup Med Toxicol, 2015;10:17.
PMID: 25949270 DOI: 10.1186/s12995-015-0062-9

BACKGROUND: Methanol poisoning is on the rise and has been associated with high morbidity and mortality; it has resulted in growing research in the field of toxicology. The aim of this study was to reveal underlying patterns in scientific outputs related to methanol poisoning at the global level by evaluating different bibliometric indices.
METHODS: We searched for publications that contained specific words regarding methanol poisoning in Scopus database.
RESULTS: A total of 912 articles, with 8,317 citations and with an average of 9.1 citations per document, were retrieved on methanol poisoning, and the bulk of the articles were published from the USA (20.9%), followed by Spain (4.4%), Canada (4.3%), India (3.1%), and France (3.0%). The articles were published belonging to 57 countries. No data related to methanol poisoning were published from 155 (73.1%) out of 212 countries. Twenty-one documents (2.3%) were published in Clinical Toxicology, whereas 18 (2.0%) were published in The Lancet.
CONCLUSIONS: Scientific production related to methanol poisoning is increasing. articles have been published in a wide range of journals with a variety of subject areas, most notably clinical toxicology; and the country with the greatest production was the USA.

Matched MeSH terms: Spain
Fulltext The Use of Drones in Spain: Towards a Platform for Controlling UAVs in Urban Environments

Chamoso P, González-Briones A, Rivas A, Bueno De Mata F, Corchado JM

Sensors (Basel), 2018 May 03;18(5).
PMID: 29751554 DOI: 10.3390/s18051416

Rapid advances in technology make it necessary to prepare our society in every aspect. Some of the most significant technological developments of the last decade are the UAVs (Unnamed Aerial Vehicles) or drones. UAVs provide a wide range of new possibilities and have become a tool that we now use on a daily basis. However, if their use is not controlled, it could entail several risks, which make it necessary to legislate and monitor UAV flights to ensure, inter alia, the security and privacy of all citizens. As a result of this problem, several laws have been passed which seek to regulate their use; however, no proposals have been made with regards to the control of airspace from a technological point of view. This is exactly what we propose in this article: a platform with different modes designed to control UAVs and monitor their status. The features of the proposed platform provide multiple advantages that make the use of UAVs more secure, such as prohibiting UAVs’ access to restricted areas or avoiding collisions between vehicles. The platform has been successfully tested in Salamanca, Spain.

Matched MeSH terms: Spain
Fulltext Mortality risk in patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 of the lineage B.1.1.7 in the UK

Kow CS, Merchant HA, Hasan SS

J Infect, 2021 Jul;83(1):e14-e15.
PMID: 33992685 DOI: 10.1016/j.jinf.2021.05.008
Matched MeSH terms: Spain
Views on Memory and Treatment of Cognitive Impairment in 17th-Century Spain: Juan Gutiérrez de Godoy's Work

Palma JA, Palma F

Neurology, 2022 Sep 05;99(10):424-427.
PMID: 35794022 DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000201025

Memory and its care were significant sociocultural and scientific topics in early modern Spain. Although a major interest in memory was related to its legal and rhetorical implications, medical treatises discussing memory, cognitive impairment, and its treatment began to appear in the 16th and 17th century. Among these treatises, Disputationes phylosophicæ ac medicæ super libros Aristotelis de memoria, et reminiscentia (Philosophical and medical arguments on Aristotle's "De memoria et reminiscentia"), published in 1629 by the physician Juan Gutiérrez de Godoy, is unique in that it is entirely devoted to the medical aspects of memory. Although many of its concepts are now superseded, the treatise is valuable to understand the views on memory and cognitive impairment in 17th-century Spain and their sources, as Gutiérrez quoted many classical, medieval, and contemporary scholars and physicians. The book, written in Latin, is exclusively devoted to memory from a physiologic and medical point of view, with chapters on the classification of memory loss, a description of its causes (including old age, something not widely recognized before), and several chapters on its prevention and treatment, with a fascinating emphasis on confectio anacardina, or anacardium, an intranasal concoction made with the "marking nut," the fruit of the Semecarpus anacardium tree (also known as Malacca bean), with alleged memory-enhancing properties. We review Gutiérrez's Disputationes phylosophicæ, putting it into the wider intellectual and social context in the Europe of its time, and discuss the relevance and purported neuropharmacologic effects of anacardina.

Matched MeSH terms: Spain
Fulltext Detection of reassortant influenza B strains from 2004 to 2015 seasons in Barcelona (Catalonia, Spain) by whole genome sequencing

Andrés C, Del Cuerpo M, Rabella N, Piñana M, Iglesias-Cabezas MJ, González-Sánchez A, et al.

Virus Res, 2023 Jun;330:199089.
PMID: 37011863 DOI: 10.1016/j.virusres.2023.199089

BACKGROUND: Influenza B viruses (FLUBV) have segmented genomes which enables the virus to evolve by segment reassortment. Since the divergence of both FLUBV lineages, B/Victoria/2/87 (FLUBV/VIC) and B/Yamagata/16/88 (FLUBV/YAM), PB2, PB1 and HA have kept the same ancestor, while some reassortment events in the other segments have been reported worldwide. The aim of the present study was to find out reassortment episodes in FLUBV strains detected in cases attended at Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron and Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau (Barcelona, Spain) from 2004 to 2015 seasons.
METHODS: From October 2004 to May 2015, respiratory specimens were received from patients with respiratory tract infection suspicion. Influenza detection was carried out by either cell culture isolation, immunofluorescence or PCR-based assays. A RT-PCR was performed to distinguish both lineages by agarose gel electrophoresis. Whole genome amplification was performed using the universal primer set by Zhou et al. in 2012, and subsequently sequenced using Roche 454 GS Junior platform. Bioinformatic analysis was performed to characterise the sequences with B/Malaysia/2506/2007 and B/Florida/4/2006 corresponding sequences as reference of (B/VIC) and (B/YAM), respectively.
RESULTS: A total of 118 FLUBV (75 FLUBV/VIC and 43 FLUBV/YAM), from 2004 to 2006, 2008-2011 and 2012-2015 seasons, were studied. The whole genome of 58 FLUBV/VIC and 42 FLUBV/YAM viruses was successfully amplified. Based on HA sequences, most FLUBV/VIC viruses (37; 64%) belonged to clade 1A (B/Brisbane/60/2008) except to 11 (19%), which fell within clade 1B (B/HongKong/514/2009) and 10 (17%) to B/Malaysia/2506/2004. Nine (20%) FLUBV/YAM viruses belonged to clade 2 (B/Massachusetts/02/2012), 18 (42%) to clade 3 (B/Phuket/3073/2013) and 15 (38%) fell within Florida/4/2006. Numerous intra-lineage reassortments in PB2, PB1, NA and NS were found in 2 2010-2011 viruses. An important inter-lineage reassortment event from 2008 to 2009 (11), 2010-2011 (26) and 2012-2013 (3) FLUBV/VIC (clade 1) strains to FLUBV/YAM (clade 3) was found, in addition to 1 reassortant NS in 2010-2011 B/VIC virus.
CONCLUSIONS: Intra- and inter-lineage reassortment episodes were revealed by WGS. While PB2-PB1-HA remained in complex, NP and NS reassortant viruses were found in both lineages. Despite reassorment events are not often, the characterisation only by HA and NA sequences might be underestimating their detection.

Matched MeSH terms: Spain/epidemiology
Trait driving anger and driving styles among Colombian professional drivers

Useche SA, Cendales B, Alonso F, Montoro L, Pastor JC

Heliyon, 2019 Aug;5(8):e02259.
PMID: 31440599 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2019.e02259

This study analyzes the association between trait driving anger and driving styles in a sample of Colombian professional drivers. Additionally, the internal and external validity of the Deffenbacher's Driving Anger Scale (DAS-14) was examined in the study population. The DAS-14 and the Spanish Version of the Multidimensional Driving Style Inventory (S-MDSI) were administered to 492 urban bus and taxi operators. Average trait driving anger scores in the study population were similar to those reported in previous validation studies from Spain, Argentina, China, and Malaysia. After deleting three cross-loaded items, confirmatory factor analyses revealed a three-dimensional latent structure for the DAS-14, similar but not equal to the previous Spanish speaking validations. This factorial structure fits the data reasonably well. Finally, linear regression analyses revealed that the three factors of the DAS-14 (impeded progress by others, illegal driving, and direct hostility) significantly predict adaptive and maladaptive driving styles. Overall, the results of this study suggest that the DAS-14 is a reasonably reliable measure of driving anger traits among professional drivers, and it also provides relevant insights for the prevention of risky driving styles in this occupational group.

Matched MeSH terms: Spain
On the indirect environmental outcomes of COVID-19: short-term revival with futuristic long-term implications

Irfan M, Ahmad M, Fareed Z, Iqbal N, Sharif A, Wu H

Int J Environ Health Res, 2021 Jan 15.
PMID: 33448868 DOI: 10.1080/09603123.2021.1874888

The aim of this study is to identify and highlight the positive and negative indirect environmental impacts of COVID-19, with a particular focus on the most affected economies (USA, China, Spain, and Italy). In this respect, the empirical and theoretical dimensions of the contents of those impacts are analyzed. Research findings reveal a significant relationship between contingency actions and positive indirect impacts such as air quality improvements, clean beaches, and the decline in environmental noise. Besides, negative indirect impacts also exist, such as the rise in waste level and curtailment in recycling, further threatening the physical spaces (land and water), besides air. It is expected that global businesses will revive in the near future (though slowly), but the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions during this short time span is not a sustainable way of environmental mitigation. Thus, long-term mitigation policies should be strengthened to cope with the undesirable deterioration of the environment. Research findings provide an up-to-date glimpse of the pandemic from the perspectives of current and future indirect environmental impacts and the post-pandemic situation. Finally, it is suggested to invent and prepare action plans to induce a sustainable economic and environmental future in the post-pandemic world scenario.

Matched MeSH terms: Spain
Long term flow change threatens invertebrate diversity in temporary streams: Evidence from an island

Garcia C, Gibbins CN, Pardo I, Batalla RJ

Sci Total Environ, 2017 Feb 15;580:1453-1459.
PMID: 28027801 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.12.119

Here we provide the first evidence of long term reductions in flow in temporary streams on the Mediterranean island of Mallorca and use a simple metric of the degree of water permanence (the number of days with water) to highlight the implications of flow change for aquatic invertebrate diversity. Analysis of a 33year data set for 13 streams on the island yielded evidence of consistent downward trends in water permanence, particularly in spring and summer. Data from 27 relatively undisturbed mountain streams indicate that the diversity of benthic invertebrates in temporary streams across the island is directly related to water permanence. Streams with lower values of water permanence support few species overall and have less abundant invertebrate assemblages; the abundance and species richness of sensitive mayfly, stonefly and caddisfly taxonomic groups is also reduced in streams with lower water permanence. Although developed using spatial data, these flow-invertebrate relationships suggest that future reductions in water permanence may lead to reduced diversity. We argue that the 'number of days with water' is a simple but ecologically-relevant metric of water permanence that can be used effectively to monitor change in threatened temporary streams worldwide.

Matched MeSH terms: Spain
Is targeted removal a suitable means for tuberculosis control in wild boar?

Che'Amat A, Armenteros JA, González-Barrio D, Lima JF, Díez-Delgado I, Barasona JA, et al.

Prev Vet Med, 2016 Dec 01;135:132-135.
PMID: 27843020 DOI: 10.1016/j.prevetmed.2016.11.002

We assessed the suitability of targeted removal as a means for tuberculosis (TB) control on an intensely managed Eurasian wild boar (Sus scrofa) hunting estate. The 60km(2) large study area included one capture (treatment) site, one control site, and one release site. Each site was fenced. In the summers of 2012, 2013 and 2014, 929 wild boar were live-captured on the treatment site. All wild boar were micro-chipped and tested using an animal side lateral flow test immediately after capture in order to detect antibodies to the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTC). The wild boar were released according to their TB status: Seropositive individuals onto the release site (hunted after summer), and seronegative individuals back onto the treatment site. The annual summer seroprevalence of antibodies to the MTC declined significantly in live-captured wild boar piglets from the treatment site, from 44% in 2012 to 27% in 2013 (a reduction of 39%). However, no significant further reduction was recorded in 2014, during the third capture season. Fall-winter MTC infection prevalence was calculated on the basis of the culture results obtained for hunter-harvested wild boar. No significant changes between hunting seasons were recorded on either the treatment site or the control site, and prevalence trends over time were similar on both sites. The fall-winter MTC infection prevalence on the release site increased significantly from 40% in 2011-2012 to 64% in 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 (60% increase). Recaptures indicated a persistently high infection pressure. This experiment, the first attempt to control TB in wild boar through targeted removal, failed to reduce TB prevalence when compared to the control site. However, it generated valuable knowledge on infection pressure and on the consequences of translocating TB-infected wild boar.

Matched MeSH terms: Spain/epidemiology
Fulltext Prediagnostic Plasma Bile Acid Levels and Colon Cancer Risk: A Prospective Study

Kühn T, Stepien M, López-Nogueroles M, Damms-Machado A, Sookthai D, Johnson T, et al.

J Natl Cancer Inst, 2020 May 01;112(5):516-524.
PMID: 31435679 DOI: 10.1093/jnci/djz166

BACKGROUND: Bile acids have been proposed to promote colon carcinogenesis. However, there are limited prospective data on circulating bile acid levels and colon cancer risk in humans.
METHODS: Associations between prediagnostic plasma levels of 17 primary, secondary, and tertiary bile acid metabolites (conjugated and unconjugated) and colon cancer risk were evaluated in a nested case-control study within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort. Bile acid levels were quantified by tandem mass spectrometry in samples from 569 incident colon cancer cases and 569 matched controls. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) for colon cancer risk across quartiles of bile acid concentrations.
RESULTS: Positive associations were observed between colon cancer risk and plasma levels of seven conjugated bile acid metabolites: the primary bile acids glycocholic acid (ORquartile 4 vs quartile 1= 2.22, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.52 to 3.26), taurocholic acid (OR = 1.78, 95% CI = 1.23 to 2.58), glycochenodeoxycholic acid (OR = 1.68, 95% CI = 1.13 to 2.48), taurochenodeoxycholic acid (OR = 1.62, 95% CI = 1.11 to 2.36), and glycohyocholic acid (OR = 1.65, 95% CI = 1.13 to 2.40), and the secondary bile acids glycodeoxycholic acid (OR = 1.68, 95% CI = 1.12 to 2.54) and taurodeoxycholic acid (OR = 1.54, 95% CI = 1.02 to 2.31). By contrast, unconjugated bile acids and tertiary bile acids were not associated with risk.
CONCLUSIONS: This prospective study showed that prediagnostic levels of certain conjugated primary and secondary bile acids were positively associated with risk of colon cancer. Our findings support experimental data to suggest that a high bile acid load is colon cancer promotive.

Matched MeSH terms: Spain/epidemiology
Fulltext At-admission prediction of mortality and pulmonary embolism in an international cohort of hospitalised patients with COVID-19 using statistical and machine learning methods

Mesinovic M, Wong XC, Rajahram GS, Citarella BW, Peariasamy KM, van Someren Greve F, et al.

Sci Rep, 2024 Jul 16;14(1):16387.
PMID: 39013928 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-63212-7

By September 2022, more than 600 million cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection have been reported globally, resulting in over 6.5 million deaths. COVID-19 mortality risk estimators are often, however, developed with small unrepresentative samples and with methodological limitations. It is highly important to develop predictive tools for pulmonary embolism (PE) in COVID-19 patients as one of the most severe preventable complications of COVID-19. Early recognition can help provide life-saving targeted anti-coagulation therapy right at admission. Using a dataset of more than 800,000 COVID-19 patients from an international cohort, we propose a cost-sensitive gradient-boosted machine learning model that predicts occurrence of PE and death at admission. Logistic regression, Cox proportional hazards models, and Shapley values were used to identify key predictors for PE and death. Our prediction model had a test AUROC of 75.9% and 74.2%, and sensitivities of 67.5% and 72.7% for PE and all-cause mortality respectively on a highly diverse and held-out test set. The PE prediction model was also evaluated on patients in UK and Spain separately with test results of 74.5% AUROC, 63.5% sensitivity and 78.9% AUROC, 95.7% sensitivity. Age, sex, region of admission, comorbidities (chronic cardiac and pulmonary disease, dementia, diabetes, hypertension, cancer, obesity, smoking), and symptoms (any, confusion, chest pain, fatigue, headache, fever, muscle or joint pain, shortness of breath) were the most important clinical predictors at admission. Age, overall presence of symptoms, shortness of breath, and hypertension were found to be key predictors for PE using our extreme gradient boosted model. This analysis based on the, until now, largest global dataset for this set of problems can inform hospital prioritisation policy and guide long term clinical research and decision-making for COVID-19 patients globally. Our machine learning model developed from an international cohort can serve to better regulate hospital risk prioritisation of at-risk patients.

Matched MeSH terms: Spain/epidemiology
Fulltext Giant reactions to tuberculin in lepromatous leprosy patients

Waters MFR, Stanford JL

Int. J. Lepr. Other Mycobact. Dis., 1985 Dec;53(4):546-53.
PMID: 4086918

A detailed account and definition is given of the previously inadequately described "giant reactions" to tuberculin occasionally seen in leprosy patients. The reaction is an accelerated and exaggerated response to species-specific antigens of Mycobacterium tuberculosis found in both PPD and New tuberculin. Our studies were performed in Malaysia, Uganda, Spain, and England. There was a significantly higher incidence of the phenomenon in Malaysia than in the other centers, but this may have been because there alone previously untreated lepromatous (LL and BL) patients were serially tested for up to three years after starting chemotherapy. Of the 28 patients exhibiting giant reactions, 27 occurred among lepromatous patients (24 LL and 3 BL), of which only 3 (1 LL and 2 BL) were untreated. One treated BL patient had developed, and one untreated BL patient was a family contact of, active tuberculosis. Giant reactions are uncommon in untreated and in very long-term treated LL patients, but may occur in up to a fifth of those receiving their first 1-3 years of chemotherapy. Although the mechanism is not yet understood, it appears to be a coincidence of delayed hypersensitivity of the tuberculin type and a less-delayed phenomenon of excessive local edema associated with local lymphadenopathy and short-lasting symptoms of malaise and pyrexia. It is suggested that the majority of giant reactions occur during a period of temporary lack of immune regulation associated with changing levels of antigenic load.

Matched MeSH terms: Spain
Fulltext British and Japanese international retirement migration and creative responses to health and care challenges: a bricolage perspective

Hall K, Ono M, Kohno A

Comp Migr Stud, 2021;9(1):7.
PMID: 33654657 DOI: 10.1186/s40878-020-00217-x

Most research on international retirement migration has focused on the Western context and the motivations and lifestyle choices of migrants when they are healthy. This paper instead explores how British retirees in Spain and Japanese retirees in Malaysia respond to declining health and increasing care needs through bricolage as they begin to 'age in place'. The paper combines qualitative interviews, focus groups and observations collected by the authors from 215 British and Japanese international retirement migrants. We focus on two key types of bricolage behaviour: 'within-system bricolage' undertaken by migrants to help them access and navigate existing health and care systems; and 'added-to-system bricolage' that is enacted to fill gaps in health and care provision. Our analysis suggests that IRMs engage in 'transnational care bricolage' by combining multiple economic, social and legal resources across local and transnational spaces to address their health and care needs.

Matched MeSH terms: Spain
Fulltext Covid-19: the next steps for the world

Malay Kanti Mridha

Borneo Journal of Medical Sciences, 2021;15(1):1-4.
MyJurnal

Since December 2019, COVID-19 is impacting the health, economy, education, and well-being of every country in the world. The total number of reported COVID-19 cases will soon surpass 100 million and the death toll will be more than 20 million. At this moment, the top 10 countries with the most reported number of cases currently are the USA, India, Brazil. Russia, UK, France, Turkey, Italy, Spain, and Germany. These countries altogether represent 31.7% of the world’s population. However, they reported 65.5% of the total COVID-19 cases and 58.9% of total deaths. For containing the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, Malaysia was one of the most successful countries in the world. However, since September 2020, the situation in Malaysia started changing, and at this moment Malaysia is reporting more than 2,500 new cases per day. During the past year, all the countries in the world acted fast and took different initiatives to reduce transmission of SARS-CoV-2, find effective drugs that can improve the clinical outcomes of COVID-19, and invent vaccines that can give immune protection. The first vaccine that was approved was invented by Pfizer/BioNTech and in December 2020, within one year of the beginning of the pandemic, the UK was the first country to start mass vaccination. As reported by the World Health Organization (WHO) in January 2021, more than 50 COVID-19 vaccines were in different phases of clinical trial and five vaccines received certain national regulatory approval for mass vaccination. However, given all these developments the COVID-19 pandemic is still making a devastating impact on the whole world and the pandemic is not going to over soon. Therefore, we need to discuss what we can do now to deal with the pandemic and ensure the health and wellbeing of the citizens of the world.

Matched MeSH terms: Spain
Barcelona 2002: law, ethics, and human rights. Global battle cry: health is a right, not a commodity

Fernandez I

Can HIV AIDS Policy Law Rev, 2002 Dec;7(2-3):80-4.
PMID: 14743815

Health is a fundamental right, not a commodity to be sold at a profit, argues Irene Fernandez in the second Jonathan Mann Memorial Lecture delivered on 8 July 2002 to the XIV International AIDS Conference in Barcelona. Ms Fernandez had to obtain a special permit from the Malaysian government to attend the Conference because she is on trial for having publicly released information about abuse, torture, illness, corruption, and death in Malaysian detention camps for migrants. This article, based on Ms Fernandez' presentation, describes how the policies of the rich world have failed the poor world. According to Ms Fernandez, the policies of globalization and privatization of health care have hindered the ability of developing countries to respond to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The article decries the hypocrisy of the industrialized nations in increasing subsidies to farmers while demanding that the developing world open its doors to Western goods. It points out that the rich nations have failed to live up their foreign aid commitments. The article concludes that these commitments--and the other promises made in the last few years, such as those in the United Nations' Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS--can only become a reality if they are translated into action.

Matched MeSH terms: Spain
First Life Table of Synthesiomyia nudiseta (Diptera: Muscidae) From Palearctic Region for Analyzing the Effect on Its Dispersal Ability

Ivorra T, García-Martínez B, Martínez-Sánchez A

J Med Entomol, 2021 11 09;58(6):2247-2254.
PMID: 34279664 DOI: 10.1093/jme/tjab129

To better understand the population dynamics and dispersal ability of insect species, it is often helpful to derive a life table containing fundamental demographic data. The aim of this study was to determine a life table for the predatory necrophagous species Synthesiomyia nudiseta (van der Wulp, 1883) on a pig liver diet and under controlled laboratory conditions (29.5 ± 2. 5°C, RH 50 ± 15%, and a photoperiod of 12:12). This species has medical and veterinary importance and its distribution extends in tropical and subtropical areas and now it has been established in the southwestern of Europe. The mean adult longevity was 36. 18 ± 2. 06 d and the net reproduction rate, R, was 27.65 offspring/female, the mean generation time, T, was 22. 09 d, the finite rate of increase, λ, was 1. 16 d-1, and the intrinsic rate of increase, r, was 0. 15 d-1. These results indicate that S. nudiseta cannot be considered an r-strategist as the most common synanthropic necrophagous blowflies due to its predatory behavior; however, its invasive and colonist abilities are discussed. This is the first life table study of this species from Palearctic region to analyze the effect of its dispersal ability.

Matched MeSH terms: Spain
Health Care Provider Perceptions of Facilitators and Barriers to Human Papillomavirus Vaccination Delivery in Five Countries

Islam JY, Gurbani A, Ramos S, Morgan K, Kim CJ, Richter KL, et al.

Sex Transm Dis, 2021 Aug 01;48(8):557-564.
PMID: 34014055 DOI: 10.1097/OLQ.0000000000001389

BACKGROUND: National human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination programs could reduce global cervical cancer morbidity and mortality with support from health care providers. We assessed providers' perceptions of HPV vaccination in 5 countries.
METHODS: We identified providers from 5 countries where national HPV vaccination programs were at various stages of implementation: Argentina, Malaysia, South Africa, South Korea, and Spain. Providers authorized to administer adolescent vaccines completed an in-depth survey, reporting perceptions of barriers and facilitators to initiating and completing HPV vaccination, and logistical challenges to HPV vaccination.
RESULTS: Among 151 providers, common barriers to HPV vaccination initiation across all countries were parents' lack of awareness (39%), concerns about vaccine safety or efficacy (33%), and cost to patients (30%). Vaccination education campaign (70%) was the most commonly cited facilitator of HPV vaccination initiation. Common barriers to series completion included no reminder system or dosing schedule (37%), loss to follow-up or forgetting appointment (29%), and cost to patients (25%). Cited facilitators to completing the vaccine series were education campaigns (45%), affordable vaccination (32%), and reminder/recall systems (22%). Among all countries, high cost of vaccination was the most common logistical challenge to offering vaccination to adolescents (33%).
CONCLUSIONS: Incorporating provider insights into future HPV vaccination programs could accelerate vaccine delivery to increase HPV vaccination rates globally.

Matched MeSH terms: Spain
Complement C6 and C7 DNA polymorphisms analysed by PCR in seven ethnic groups and characterisation of the C6 MspI RFLP

Fernie BA, Finlay A, Price D, Chan E, Orren A, Joysey VC, et al.

Exp. Clin. Immunogenet., 1996;13(2):92-103.
PMID: 9063701

Five polymorphisms in the C6 and C7 genes have been investigated in seven ethnic groups. The allele frequencies are broadly similar in most groups except C7 M/N which is monomorphic in our group of Africans, and C6 MspI and C7 S367T where the allele frequencies in African and Cape Coloured subjects are very different from the other ethnic groups. There is very little allelic association except between C6 A/B and C6 MspI. Seventeen of the 32 possible haplotypes have been observed, suggesting that much recombination has taken place. We describe a new method for the investigation of the MspI RFLP located in intron 3 of C6 (approximately 3 kbp 3' from exon 3 and 1.5 kbp 5' from exon 4) and its molecular basis, together with an improved method for the isolation of DNA from stored serum.

Matched MeSH terms: Spain/ethnology
Fulltext First case of detection of Plasmodium knowlesi in Spain by Real Time PCR in a traveller from Southeast Asia

Ta TT, Salas A, Ali-Tammam M, Martínez Mdel C, Lanza M, Arroyo E, et al.

Malar J, 2010;9:219.
PMID: 20663184 DOI: 10.1186/1475-2875-9-219

Previously, Plasmodium knowlesi was not considered as a species of Plasmodium that could cause malaria in human beings, as it is parasite of long-tailed (Macaca fascicularis) and pig-tailed (Macaca nemestrina) macaques found in Southeast Asia. A case of infection by P. knowlesi is described in a Spanish traveller, who came back to Spain with daily fever after his last overseas travel, which was a six-month holiday in forested areas of Southeast Asia between 2008 and 2009. His P. knowlesi infection was detected by multiplex Real time quantitative PCR and confirmed by sequencing the amplified fragment. Using nested multiplex malaria PCR (reference method in Spain) and a rapid diagnostic test, the P. knowlesi infection was negative. This patient was discharged and asymptomatic when the positive result to P. knowlesi was reported. Prior to this case, there have been two more reports of European travellers with malaria caused by P. knowlesi, a Finnish man who travelled to Peninsular Malaysia during four weeks in March 2007, and a Swedish man who did a short visit to Malaysian Borneo in October 2006. Taken together with this report of P. knowlesi infection in a Spanish traveller returning from Southeast Asia, this is the third case of P. knowlesi infection in Europe, indicating that this simian parasite can infect visitors to endemic areas in Southeast Asia. This last European case is quite surprising, given that it is an untreated-symptomatic P. knowlesi in human, in contrast to what is currently known about P. knowlesi infection. Most previous reports of human P. knowlesi malaria infections were in adults, often with symptoms and relatively high parasite densities, up to the recent report in Ninh Thuan province, located in the southern part of central Vietnam, inhabited mainly by the Ra-glai ethnic minority, in which all P. knowlesi infections were asymptomatic, co-infected with P. malariae, with low parasite densities and two of the three identified cases were very young children under five years old.

Matched MeSH terms: Spain
Fulltext International Physical Activity and Built Environment Study of adolescents: IPEN Adolescent design, protocol and measures

Cain KL, Salmon J, Conway TL, Cerin E, Hinckson E, Mitáš J, et al.

BMJ Open, 2021 01 18;11(1):e046636.
PMID: 33462102 DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-046636

INTRODUCTION: Only international studies can provide the full variability of built environments and accurately estimate effect sizes of relations between contrasting environments and health-related outcomes. The aims of the International Physical Activity and Environment Study of Adolescents (IPEN Adolescent) are to estimate the strength, shape and generalisability of associations of the community environment (geographic information systems (GIS)-based and self-reported) with physical activity and sedentary behaviour (accelerometer-measured and self-reported) and weight status (normal/overweight/obese).
METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The IPEN Adolescent observational, cross-sectional, multicountry study involves recruiting adolescent participants (ages 11-19 years) and one parent/guardian from neighbourhoods selected to ensure wide variations in walkability and socioeconomic status using common protocols and measures. Fifteen geographically, economically and culturally diverse countries, from six continents, participated: Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Czech Republic, Denmark, Hong Kong SAR, India, Israel, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Portugal, Spain and USA. Countries provided survey and accelerometer data (15 countries), GIS data (11), global positioning system data (10), and pedestrian environment audit data (8). A sample of n=6950 (52.6% female; mean age=14.5, SD=1.7) adolescents provided survey data, n=4852 had 4 or more 8+ hours valid days of accelerometer data, and n=5473 had GIS measures. Physical activity and sedentary behaviour were measured by waist-worn ActiGraph accelerometers and self-reports, and body mass index was used to categorise weight status.
ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethical approval was received from each study site's Institutional Review Board for their in-country studies. Informed assent by adolescents and consent by parents was obtained for all participants. No personally identifiable information was transferred to the IPEN coordinating centre for pooled datasets. Results will be communicated through standard scientific channels and findings used to advance the science of environmental correlates of physical activity, sedentary behaviour and weight status, with the ultimate goal to stimulate and guide actions to create more activity-supportive environments internationally.

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