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Author(s): J. Ortega-Barón [sup.1] , J. M. Machimbarrena [sup.2] , I. Montiel [sup.1] , J. González-Cabrera [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.13825.3d, 0000 0004 0458 0356, Faculty of Education, Universidad Internacional [...], In recent years, viral challenges on the Internet have become a very frequent phenomenon. These allude to the actions that are proposed to Internet users to record themselves performing a challenge and disseminate it on different online platforms so that other users will also perform it. Despite its rapid expansion, there is no evidence of any validated assessment tool of this phenomenon. To meet this need, the Viral Internet Challenges Scale (VICH-S) was designed. The main objective of this study was to establish the psychometric properties of this scale, the prevalence of different types of challenges (social, solidary, and dangerous), as well as the single or conjoint performance of these types of challenges using the VICH-S. Furthermore, the construct validity of the scale was tested with these variables: Fear of Missing Out, Loss of Connection (nomophobia), Self-Online, and Emotional Attention Online. Participants were 417 preadolescents (41.2% boys) with age ranging from 10 to 14 years. Exploratory factor analysis of the VICH-S scale revealed the existence of two factors: Challenge Satisfaction and Social Motivation. Convergent validity indicators showed positive and significant correlations between these two dimensions and the Fear of Missing Out, Loss of Connection (nomophobia), Self-Online, and Emotional Attention Online. The most frequent challenges were social challenges (80.3%), followed by solidary (20.6%) and dangerous challenges (7.7%). This study has relevant implications, as the VICH-S presents adequate psychometric properties to evaluate this barely explored and growing phenomenon of viral challenges on the Internet in preadolescence.

A carbon paper-based gas diffusion electrode (GDE) is used with a bismuth(III) subcarbonate active catalyst phase for the electrochemical reduction of CO 2 in a gas/electrolyte flow-by configuration electrolyser at high current density. It is demonstrated that in this configuration, the gas and catholyte phases recombine to form K 2 CO 3 /KHCO 3 precipitates to an extent that after electrolyses, vast amount of K + ions is found by EDX mapping in the entire GDE structure. The fact that the entirety of the GDE gets wetted during electrolysis should, however, not be interpreted as a sign of flooding of the catalyst layer, since electrolyte perspiring through the GDE can largely be removed with the outflow gas, and the efficiency of electrolysis (toward the selective production of formate) can thus be maintained high for several hours. For a full spatial scale quantitative monitoring of electrolyte penetration into the GDE, (relying on K + ions as tracer) the method of inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) assisted energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) tomography is introduced. This new, cheap and robust tomography of non-uniform aspect ratio has a large planar span that comprises the entire GDE surface area and a submicrometer depth resolution, hence it can provide quantitative information about the amount and distribution of K + remnants inside the GDE structure, in three dimensions., (© 2024 The Author(s). Small Methods published by Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

The inhibitory avoidance (IA) task is a paradigm widely used to investigate the molecular and cellular mechanisms involved in the formation of long-term memory of aversive experiences. In this review, we discuss studies on different brain structures in rats associated with memory consolidation, such as the hippocampus, striatum, and amygdala, as well as some cortical areas, including the insular, cingulate, entorhinal, parietal and prefrontal cortex. These studies have shown that IA training triggers the release of neurotransmitters, hormones, growth factors, etc., that activate intracellular signaling pathways related to protein kinases, which induce intracellular non-genomic changes or transcriptional mechanisms in the nucleus, leading to the synthesis of proteins. We have summarized the temporal dynamics and crosstalk among protein kinase A, protein kinase C, mitogen activated protein kinase, extracellular-signal-regulated kinase, and Ca 2+ /calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II described in the hippocampus. Protein kinase activity has been associated with structural changes and synaptic strengthening, resulting in memory storage. However, little is known about the molecular mechanisms involved in intense IA training, which protects memory from typical amnestic treatments, such as protein synthesis inhibitors, and induces increased spinogenesis, suggesting an unexplored mechanism independent of the genomic pathway. This highly emotional experience causes an extinction-resistant memory, as has been observed in some pathological states such as post-traumatic stress disorder. We propose that the changes in spinogenesis observed after intense IA training could be generated by protein kinases via non-genomic pathways., (© 2024 the author(s), published by De Gruyter, Berlin/Boston.)

Objective: Conflicting evidence for the association between COVID-19 and adverse perinatal outcomes exists. This study examined the associations between maternal COVID-19 during pregnancy and adverse perinatal outcomes including preterm birth (PTB), low birth weight (LBW), small-for-gestational age (SGA), large-for-gestational age (LGA) and fetal death; as well as whether the associations differ by trimester of infection., Design and Setting: The study used a retrospective Mexican birth cohort from the Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social (IMSS), Mexico, between January 2020 and November 2021., Participants: We used the social security administrative dataset from IMSS that had COVID-19 information and linked it with the IMSS routine hospitalisation dataset, to identify deliveries in the study period with a test for SARS-CoV-2 during pregnancy., Outcome Measures: PTB, LBW, SGA, LGA and fetal death. We used targeted maximum likelihood estimators, to quantify associations (risk ratio, RR) and CIs. We fit models for the overall COVID-19 sample, and separately for those with mild or severe disease, and by trimester of infection. Additionally, we investigated potential bias induced by missing non-tested pregnancies., Results: The overall sample comprised 17 340 singleton pregnancies, of which 30% tested positive. We found that those with mild COVID-19 had an RR of 0.89 (95% CI 0.80 to 0.99) for PTB and those with severe COVID-19 had an RR of 1.53 (95% CI 1.07 to 2.19) for LGA. COVID-19 in the first trimester was associated with fetal death, RR=2.36 (95% CI 1.04, 5.36). Results also demonstrate that missing non-tested pregnancies might induce bias in the associations., Conclusions: In the overall sample, there was no evidence of an association between COVID-19 and adverse perinatal outcomes. However, the findings suggest that severe COVID-19 may increase the risk of some perinatal outcomes, with the first trimester potentially being a high-risk period., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2024. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Introduction: The objective of this report is to describe the clinical pathway for early treatment of patients with acute SARS-CoV-2 infection and to evaluate the first results of its implementation., Methods: This is a descriptive and retrospective study of the implementation of a clinical pathway of treatment in outpatients (January 1 to June 30 2022). Clinical pathway: detection and referral systems from Primary Care, Emergency services, hospital specialities and an automated detection system; clinical evaluation and treatment administration in the COVID-19 day-hospital and subsequent clinical follow-up. Explanatory variables: demographics, comorbidity, vaccination status, referral pathways and treatment administration., Outcome Variables: hospitalization and death with 30 days, grade 2-3 toxicity related to treatment., Results: Treatment was administered to 262 patients (53,4% women, median age 60 years). The treatment indication criteria were immunosupression (68,3%), and the combination of age, vaccination status and comorbidity in the rest 47,3% of the patients s received remdesivir, 35,9% nirmatrelvir/ritonavir, 13,4% sotrovimab and 2,4% combined treatment with a median of 4 days after symptom onset. Hospital admission was required for 6,1% of the patients, 3,8% related to progression COVID-19. No patient died. Toxicity grade 2-3 toxicity was reported in 18,7%, 89,8% dysgeusia and metallic tasted related nirmatrelvir/ritonavir. Seven patients discontinued treatment due to toxicity., Conclusion: The creation and implementation of a clinical pathway for non-hospitalized patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection is effective and it allows early accessibility and equity of currently available treatments., (Copyright © 2022 Sociedad Española de Enfermedades Infecciosas y Microbiología Clínica. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.)

Bird feathers have been widely used as environmental indicators, providing key information on environmental pollution. However, there is little available information on the adsorption of natural radioactivity in bird feathers and consequently, its impact on the field of movement ecology is not yet known. This study investigates the concentration and distribution of 210 Pb in wing- and tail-feathers of different bird species with contrasting migratory strategies, and discusses its potential use as a tracer of age and flight times. Adsorption of 210 Pb in bird feathers is directly related to the interaction of feathers with air, therefore it is hypothesised that the presence of this radionuclide is proportional to the length of flight times, and is asymmetrically distributed in flight feathers. Consequently, a significant difference is expected between 210 Pb concentrations in feathers of long-distance migrants when compared to sedentary species. For this purpose, a total of 45 samples from eight individuals of three bird species with distinct migratory strategies were analysed: a highly aerial and long-distance migratory species (Common swift Apus apus), and two largely sedentary species widely distributed across Europe (Great tit Parus major and Tawny owl Strix aluco). Novel findings show that the content of 210 Pb in bird feathers of adult migratory birds is much higher than in sedentary birds or juvenile individuals, demonstrating this naturally occurring radionuclide can provide information about the contact time between feathers and air. Additionally, 210 Pb adsorption was not evenly distributed in bird feathers. The findings provide a new method to trace age and flight time of birds using 210 Pb in feathers, complementing conventional techniques in bird migration studies., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Background: Type 2 diabetes elevates the risk of severe outcomes in COVID-19 patients, with multiple studies reporting higher case fatality rates. Metformin is a widely used medication for glycemic management. We hypothesize that improved adherence to metformin may lower COVID-19 post-infection mortality risk in this group. Utilizing data from the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS), we investigate the relationship between metformin adherence and mortality following COVID-19 infection in patients with chronic metformin prescriptions., Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study consisting of 61,180 IMSS beneficiaries who received a positive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) or rapid test for SARS-CoV-2 and had at least two consecutive months of metformin prescriptions prior to the positive test. The hypothetical intervention is improved adherence to metformin, measured by proportion of days covered (PDC), with the comparison being the observed metformin adherence values. The primary outcome is all-cause mortality following COVID-19 infection. We defined the causal parameter using shift intervention, an example of modified treatment policies. We used the targeted learning framework for estimation of the target estimand., Findings: Among COVID-19 positive patients with chronic metformin prescriptions, we found that a 5% and 10% absolute increase in metformin adherence is associated with a respective 0.26% (95% CI: -0.28%, 0.79%) and 1.26% (95% CI: 0.72%, 1.80%) absolute decrease in mortality risk., Interpretation: Subject to the limitations of a real-world data study, our results indicate a causal association between improved metformin adherence and reduced COVID-19 post-infection mortality risk., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2024 The Authors.)

Background: Assisted reproduction techniques in birds have contributed to many species' conservation and sustainable use. One of these techniques is semen cryopreservation, which is possible following the discovery of suitable cryoprotectants., Aims: This study aimed to characterize the fresh and post-thaw ejaculates of different species of birds of prey., Methods: The following species were included in the study: red-tailed hawk ( Buteo jamaicensis ) n=3, golden eagle ( Aquila chrysaetos ) n=3, and Harris's hawk ( Parabuteo unicinctus ) n=3. Twenty-five ejaculates were obtained for each species. The percentage of spermatozoa motility, viability, and morphology were evaluated., Results: Evident differences were observed among the ejaculates of the three species, particularly in sperm length and between the fresh and post-thaw parameters of the same species in which the motility reduced to approximately 40% after thawing. It was demonstrated that sperm cryopreservation of the studied species was possible using the same freezing protocol., Conclusion: This study showed that sperm characteristics could influence the parameters obtained during their in vitro conservation, both in the fresh and post-thaw states., Competing Interests: All authors declare that there is no conflict of interest of any kind.

Objective: COVID-19 would kill fewer people if health programmes can predict who is at higher risk of mortality because resources can be targeted to protect those people from infection. We predict mortality in a very large population in Mexico with machine learning using demographic variables and pre-existing conditions., Design: Cohort study., Setting: March 2020 to November 2021 in Mexico, nationally represented., Participants: 1.4 million laboratory-confirmed patients with COVID-19 in Mexico at or over 20 years of age., Primary and Secondary Outcome Measures: Analysis is performed on data from March 2020 to November 2021 and over three phases: (1) from March to October in 2020, (2) from November 2020 to March 2021 and (3) from April to November 2021. We predict mortality using an ensemble machine learning method, super learner, and independently estimate the adjusted mortality relative risk of each pre-existing condition using targeted maximum likelihood estimation., Results: Super learner fit has a high predictive performance (C-statistic: 0.907), where age is the most predictive factor for mortality. After adjusting for demographic factors, renal disease, hypertension, diabetes and obesity are the most impactful pre-existing conditions. Phase analysis shows that the adjusted mortality risk decreased over time while relative risk increased for each pre-existing condition., Conclusions: While age is the most important predictor of mortality, younger individuals with hypertension, diabetes and obesity are at comparable mortality risk as individuals who are 20 years older without any of the three conditions. Our model can be continuously updated to identify individuals who should most be protected against infection as the pandemic evolves., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2023. Re-use permitted under CC BY. Published by BMJ.)

Background: Leclercia adecarboxylata is a bacteria closely related to Escherichia coli according to its biochemical characteristics and is commonly considered non-pathogenic although a growing number of publications classify it as an emerging pathogen. Fosfomycin resistance is a common trait for L. adecarboxylata encoded by fosA LA gene., Objective: To analyze genomic traits of sixteen L. adecarboxylata strains isolated from blood culture and a bottle of total parenteral nutrition., Methods: Twenty-eight L. adecarboxylata strains isolated from blood culture and a bottle of total parenteral nutrition were identified biochemically with a Vitek ® automated system. The strains were phenotyped by their growth on Eosin Methylene Blue agar or MacConkey agar plates. Additionally, Pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) was performed to establish the clonal relationship. The genomic DNA of sixteen strains was obtained using a Qubit ® dsDNA HS Assay Kit and sequenced on an Illumina ® MiSeq instrument. Draft genomes were assembled using PROKKA and Rast. Assemblies were submitted to Resfinder and PathogenFinder from the Center for Genomic Epidemiology in order to find resistance genes and pathogenic potential. IslandViewer4 was also used to find Pathogenicity and Phage Islands. For identification of the fosA gene, manual curation and Clustal analysis was performed. A novel FosA variant was identified. Finally, phylogenetic analysis was performed using VAMPhyRE software and Mega X., Results: In this paper, we report the genomes of sixteen strains of Leclercia adecarboxylata causing an outbreak associated with parenteral nutrition in public hospitals in Mexico. The genomes were analyzed for genetic determinants of virulence and resistance. A high pathogenic potential (pathogenicity index 0.82) as well as multiple resistance genes including carbapenemics, colistin and efflux pumps were determined. Based on sequence analysis, a new variant of the fosA LA gene was described. Finally, the outbreak was confirmed by establishing the clonal relationship among the sixteen genomes obtained., Conclusions: Commensal strains of L. adecarboxylata may acquire genetic determinants that provide mechanisms of host damage and go unnoticed in clinical diagnosis. L. adecarboxylata can evolve in a variety of ways including the acquisition of resistance and virulence genes representing a therapeutic challenge in patient care., (© 2023. The Author(s) under exclusive licence to The Genetics Society of Korea.)

Introduction: The objective of this report is to describe the clinical pathway for early treatment of patients with acute SARS-CoV-2 infection and to evaluate the first results of its implementation., Methods: This is a descriptive and retrospective study of the implementation of a clinical pathway of treatment in outpatients (January 1 to June 30 2022). Clinical pathway: detection and referral systems from Primary Care, Emergency services, hospital specialities and an automated detection system; clinical evaluation and treatment administration in the COVID-19 day-hospital and subsequent clinical follow-up. Explanatory variables: demographics, comorbidity, vaccination status, referral pathways and treatment administration., Outcome Variables: hospitalization and death with 30 days, grade 2-3 toxicity related to treatment., Results: Treatment was administered to 262 patients (53,4% women, median age 60 years). The treatment indication criteria were immunosupression (68,3%), and the combination of age, vaccination status and comorbidity in the rest47,3% of the patients s received remdesivir, 35,9% nirmatrelvir/ritonavir, 13,4% sotrovimab and 2,4% combined treatment with a median of 4 days after symptom onset. Hospital admission was required for 6,1% of the patients, 3,8% related to progression COVID-19. No patient died. Toxicity grade 2-3 toxicity was reported in 18,7%, 89,8% dysgeusia and metallic tasted related nirmatrelvir/ritonavir. Seven patients discontinued treatment due to toxicity., Conclusion: The creation and implementation of a clinical pathway for non-hospitalized patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection is effective and it allows early accessibility and equity of currently available treatments., (© 2022 Sociedad Española de Enfermedades Infecciosas y Microbiología Clínica. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.)

The advantage of employing gas diffusion electrodes (GDEs) in carbon dioxide reduction electrolyzers is that they allow CO 2 to reach the catalyst in gaseous state, enabling current densities that are orders of magnitude larger than what is achievable in standard H-type cells. The gain in the reaction rate comes, however, at the cost of stability issues related to flooding that occurs when excess electrolyte permeates the micropores of the GDE, effectively blocking the access of CO 2 to the catalyst. For electrolyzers operated with alkaline electrolytes, flooding leaves clear traces within the GDE in the form of precipitated potassium (hydrogen)carbonates. By analyzing the amount and distribution of precipitates, and by quantifying potassium salts transported through the GDE during operation (electrolyte perspiration), important information can be gained with regard to the extent and means of flooding. In this work, a novel combination of energy dispersive X-ray and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry based methods is employed to study flooding-related phenomena in GDEs differing in the abundance of cracks in the microporous layer. It is concluded that cracks play an important role in the electrolyte management of CO 2 electrolyzers, and that electrolyte perspiration through cracks is paramount in avoiding flooding-related performance drops., (© 2022 The Authors. Small Methods published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.)