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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to determine the relation between quality of life (QoL), mental illness, challenging behaviour and institutionalisation in an adult population with intellectual disabilities (ID).Design/methodology/approach The study assessed the QoL and its conditioning factors in 142 subjects with different degrees of ID. The GENCAT and Quality of Life in Late Stage Dementia scale were used to evaluate QoL, the Psychiatric Assessment Schedule for Adults with Developmental Disability and Diagnostic Assessment for the Severely Handicapped-II scale to assess mental illness and the Inventory for Client and aetiology Planning scale to assess challenging behaviour.Findings Individuals who live in residential care homes were found to have significantly impaired QoL (<0.001). Individuals with challenging behaviour presented significantly lower QoL, regardless of ID aethiology and degree, while psychiatric disorders did not seem to have a direct influence on individual QoL.Originality/value This paper provides new insight into the importance of challenging behaviour and psychiatric disorders in the QoL of individuals with ID. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Smokers attending smoking cessation units (SCUs) may offer a unique opportunity for early recognition of undiagnosed chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). We aimed at assessing the impact of SCUs on the early diagnosis of COPD and describing the clinical and smoking profile of newly-diagnosed COPD cases at SCUs certified by the Spanish Society of Respiratory Diseases and Thoracic Surgery (SEPAR)., Patients and Methods: A multicenter cross-sectional observational cohort study (DIPREPOQ study) was performed in eight SEPAR-certified SCUs in Spain. Adult current smokers with no previously diagnosed respiratory disease and having one o more respiratory symptoms were included. Lung functional tests were performed and previously undiagnosed COPD cases were identified and characterized based on national guidelines., Results: Out of 401 individuals newly attending the SCUs, 252 participants were included and 73 (28.9%) met the definition of previously undiagnosed COPD. A characterization of patients with COPD being newly recognized in SCUs showed: age (mean±SD) 61±9 years; men 59%; active work status 53.1%; functional class I/II dyspnea 82.8%, GOLD state mild/moderate/severe 57%/31%/12%; non-exacerbators 90%, CAT 14±4; emphysema in X-rays 40%. Most common co-morbidities were cardiovascular and psychiatric (anxiety and depression) ones. Usual smoking history included a lengthy smoking history (41±9 years) and a current consumption of 24±9 cigarettes/day., Conclusions and Implications: Consistently certified SCUs can have a substantial contribution to early diagnosis of COPD. A typical profile of newly detected cases is reported, with most patients being men at their early sixties, with mild symptoms and with high and lengthy smoking history. Our study reports a high usefulness of lung functional tests to detect undiagnosed COPD in appropriately selected participants attending SCUs at a large national scale, using a standardized methodology. This is likely to be facilitated by the certification of SCUs using well-defined requirements by national scientific societies., Competing Interests: JARM has received honoraria for lecturing, scientific advice, participation in clinical studies or writing for publications for (alphabetical order): AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Chiesi, Laboratorios Esteve, Faes, Gebro, GSK, Menarini, Pfizer, and Rovi, outside the submitted work. CRC has received honoraria for lecturing, scientific advice, participation in clinical studies or writing for publications for pharmaceutical companies, such as Laboratorios Esteve, GSK, Menarini Mundi-Pharma, Novartis, Pfizer, and Teva Pharmaceutical. JIGO has received honoraria for lecturing, scientific advice, participation in clinical studies or writing for publications for (alphabetical order): AstraZeneca, Chiesi, Esteve, Faes, Gebro, Menarini, Pfizer, and Rovi. EPE has received lecture fees and/or support for conference attendance from several pharmaceutical companies, such as Chiesi, Boehringer Ingelheim, Menarini, Pfizer, Novartis, Laboratorios Esteve, Teva Pharmaceutical, Ferrer, or Rovi. FJCG has received lecture fees, consultancy fees and/or support for conference attendance from several pharmaceutical companies, such as GlaxoSmithKline, Chiesi, Boehringer Ingelheim, Mundipharma, Menarini, Pfizer, Novartis, Laboratorios Esteve, Teva Pharmaceutical, Ferrer, Rovi, Roche, Astra Zeneca, Bial, Actelion, Grifols, CSL Behring, Faes Farma, and Gebro Pharma. CAJ-R has received honoraria for lecturing, scientific advice, participation in clinical studies or writing for publications for (alphabetical order): Gebro, Menarini and Pfizer. AAA is full-time employee at Laboratorios Esteve, Spain. The remaining authors report no conflicts of interest to be disclosed in this work., (© 2021 Riesco-Miranda et al.)

Molecular techniques and virus concentration methods have shown that previously unknown viruses are shed by humans and animals, and may be transmitted by sewage-contaminated water. In the present study, 10-L river-water samples from urban areas in Barcelona, Spain and Rio Janeiro, Brazil, have been analyzed to evaluate the viral dissemination of human viruses, validating also a low-cost concentration method for virus quantification in fresh water. Three viral groups were analyzed: (i) recently reported viruses, klassevirus (KV), asfarvirus-like virus (ASFLV), and the polyomaviruses Merkel cell (MCPyV), KI (KIPyV) and WU (WUPyV); (ii) the gastroenteritis agents noroviruses (NoV) and rotaviruses (RV); and (iii) the human fecal viral indicators in water, human adenoviruses (HAdV) and JC polyomaviruses (JCPyV). Virus detection was based on nested and quantitative PCR assays. For KV and ASFLV, nested PCR assays were developed for the present study. The method applied for virus concentration in fresh water samples is a one-step procedure based on a skimmed-milk flocculation procedure described previously for seawater. Using spiked river water samples, inter- and intra-laboratory assays showed a viral recovery rate of about 50% (20-95%) for HAdV, JCPyV, NoV and RV with a coefficient of variation ≤ 50%. HAdV and JCPyV were detected in 100% (12/12) of the river samples from Barcelona and Rio de Janeiro. Moreover, NoV GGII was detected in 83% (5/6) and MCPyV in 50% (3/6) of the samples from Barcelona, whereas none of the other viruses tested were detected. NoV GGII was detected in 33% (2/6), KV in 33% (2/6), ASFLV in 17% (1/6) and MCPyV in 50% (3/6) of the samples from Rio de Janeiro, whereas KIPyV and WUPyV were not detected. RV were only analyzed in Rio de Janeiro and resulted positive in 67% (4/6) of the samples. The procedure applied here to river water represents a useful, straightforward and cost-effective method that could be applied in routine water quality testing. The results of the assays expand our understanding of the global distribution of the viral pathogens studied here and their persistence in the environment., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Large numbers of viruses are excreted in human feces and urine, which even at low concentrations may cause illness when ingested. Some of these viruses have not been traditionally monitored in terms of waterborne diseases and are considered emergent viruses, such as hepatitis E virus (HEV) and JC and BK polyomavirus (JCPyV and BKPyV). The high prevalence of human adenoviruses (HAdV) and polyomaviruses, which both show DNA genomes, in sewage from widely divergent areas has suggested the relevance of evaluating these viruses as possible indicators of viral contamination. The concentration of these viruses was analyzed in sewage and river water and after treatment in a drinking-water treatment plant including chlorination, flocculation, ozonation, and granulate active carbon (GAC) filtration. Samples of GAC-filtered water were collected before a second chlorination treatment. The river used as a source of fresh water presented an average concentration of 2.6 x 10(1) JCPyV and 4 x 10(2) HAdV GC (genome copies)/L. A removal of 2 logarithms (99%) of HAdV and JCPyV was observed in the drinking-water treatment plant. All the GAC-filtered water samples studied contained HAdV, with a mean value of 4.3 HAdV GC/L. HEV strains belonging to genotype 3 were frequently detected in low concentrations in urban sewage and in biosolids or sewage containing swine feces but not in the river water samples studied. The detection of viruses by molecular techniques is useful for genetically describe emergent viruses in community wastewaters and water supplies. Quantification of JCPyV and HAdV using quantitative real-time PCR (QPCR) may be useful for evaluating virus removal efficiency in water treatment plants and as an index of the virological quality of water and of the potential presence of human viruses.