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This working paper examines the potential of the directive on work-life balance (WLBD) to increase the role of fathers in care, and thereby, to enhance possibilities for mothers to retain and strengthen their link to the labour market. The main instruments through which the directive seeks to lead to enhanced social rights for fathers/second carers are paternity leave (10 days, payable at the level of sick pay), and earmarked parental leave (2 months, with a high level of compensation). These provisions are examined in the national case studies, applying two components of the power resources framework: normative and instrumental resources. Regarding instrumental resources, we focus on easily accessible (digital) application procedures; the development of information targeted at workers, i.e. through union representatives and/or HR departments; and targeted information campaigns. Concerning normative resources, in three countries that had long leave, but did not previously earmarked paid parental leave (Denmark, the Netherlands and Poland), the planned financial compensation for the new period of reserved leave will be relatively high, which can be conducive to take-up. Thus, the countries that were furthest away from the father-specific provisions pre-directive, are most ambitious regarding implementation of formal social rights. By contrast, for France, where the level of compensation for parental leave is very low, i.e. below the minimum income, changes to the level of compensation have not yet been settled. In Spain and Germany, which have relatively long reserved rights for fathers pre-directive, few changes are planned. However, even in countries with generous formal social rights to formally implement the WLBD, there are significant differences in the instrumental resources devoted to a shift from de jure to de facto use of social rights. Concerning accessible (digital) application procedures, this is extremely important to plan, to incentivize leave among fathers. Denmark is making plans to ensure that all citizens understand and have access to their (new) rights. In the Netherlands, similar efforts are underway, while in Poland, this is currently not being addressed, as the aim of the government is to maintain the status quo in terms of parental leave take-up (mainly by women). In Germany and France, there are, no new resources currently devoted to communicating or simplifying the application procedure. In both countries, it is highly complex, due to separate applications for leave and for financial compensation. The analysis shows that it is important to consider normative with instrumental social rights, to understand the dynamics of potential take-up of rights. The deliverable concludes with policy recommendations to reap the benefits of the WLBD for European citizens, focusing on the importance of formal leave rights with high compensation, easily accessible and simple information about leave rights, to be communicated by unions & HR departments, easily accessible (digital) application procedures, clarity of terms related to leave and information campaigns targeted in sectors where take-up is low.

Trabajo presentado al: XII Encontro Internacional de Fitossociologia. Castelo Branco (Portugal). 6-8 septiembre.

Trabajo presentado al: XII Encontro Internacional de Fitossociologia. Castelo Branco (Portugal). 6-8 septiembre. 2022.

Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text., Precis: Multiple questionnaires exist to measure glaucoma’s impact on quality of life (QoL). Selecting the right questionnaire for the research question is essential, as is patients’ acceptability of the questionnaire to enable collection of relevant patient-reported outcomes. Purpose: QoL relating to a disease and its treatment is an important dimension to capture. This scoping review sought to identify the questionnaires most appropriate for capturing the impact of glaucoma on QoL. Methods: A literature search of QoL questionnaires used in glaucoma, including patient-reported outcomes measures, was conducted and the identified questionnaires were analyzed using a developed quality criteria assessment. Results: Forty-one QoL questionnaires were found which were analyzed with the detailed quality criteria assessment leading to a summary score. This identified the top 10 scoring QoL questionnaires rated by a synthesis of the quality criteria grid, considering aspects such as reliability and reproducibility, and the authors’ expert clinical opinion. The results were ratified in consultation with an international panel of ophthalmologists (N=49) from the Educational Club of Ocular Surface and Glaucoma representing 23 countries. Conclusions: Wide variability among questionnaires used to determine vision related QoL in glaucoma and in the responses elicited was identified. In conclusion, no single existing QoL questionnaire design is suitable for all purposes in glaucoma research, rather we have identified the top 10 from which the questionnaire most appropriate to the study objective may be selected. Development of a new questionnaire that could better distinguish between treatments in terms of vision and treatment-related QoL would be useful that includes the patient perspective of treatment effects as well as meeting requirements of regulatory and health authorities. Future work could involve development of a formal weighting system with which to comprehensively assess the quality of QoL questionnaires used in glaucoma.

10 p.-4 fig.-2 tab. 1 graph. abst., Background: C3 glomerulopathy is a rare and heterogeneous complement-driven disease. It is often challenging to accurately predict in clinical practice the individual kidney prognosis at baseline. We herein sought to develop and validate a prognostic nomogram to predict long-term kidney survival., Methods: We conducted a retrospective, multicenter observational cohort study in 35 nephrology departments belonging to the Spanish Group for the Study of Glomerular Diseases. The dataset was randomly divided into a training group (n = 87) and a validation group (n = 28). The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression was used to screen the main predictors of kidney outcome and to build the nomogram. The accuracy of the nomogram was assessed by discrimination and risk calibration in the training and validation sets., Results: The study group comprised 115 patients, of whom 46 (40%) reached kidney failure in a median follow-up of 49 months (range 24–112). No significant differences were observed in baseline estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), proteinuria or total chronicity score of kidney biopsies, between patients in the training versus those in the validation set. The selected variables by LASSO were eGFR, proteinuria and total chronicity score. Based on a Cox model, a nomogram was developed for the prediction of kidney survival at 1, 2, 5 and 10 years from diagnosis. The C-index of the nomogram was 0.860 (95% confidence interval 0.834–0.887) and calibration plots showed optimal agreement between predicted and observed outcomes., Conclusions: We constructed and validated a practical nomogram with good discrimination and calibration to predict the risk of kidney failure in C3 glomerulopathy patients at 1, 2, 5 and 10 years., Work on this study was supported by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III / Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (ISCIII/FEDER; grants PI16/01685 and PI19/1624) and Red de Investigación Renal (RD12/0021/0029; to M.P.) and the Autonomous Region of Madrid (S2017/BMD-3673; to M.P.). S.R.d.C. is supported by the Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad (grant PID2019-104912RB-I00) and the Autonomous Region of Madrid (grant S2017/BMD-3673).

Resumen Introducción: El estado de alarma decretado por la pandemia del virus SARS COV-2 del 14 de marzo hasta el 21 de junio, ha supuesto un desafío para el área de pacientes externos de los Servicios de Farmacia. Nos centramos en los pacientes con hemofilia que se administran factores de la coagulación de forma crónica para prevenir hemorragias. Objetivos: Analizar durante este periodo el porcentaje de pacientes que han recogido su medicación, han mantenido la adherencia al tratamiento y las barreras encontradas para ello. Cuantificar el número y gravedad de episodios hemorrágicos (EH) sufridos y su relación con la pandemia. Analizar la prevalencia y gravedad de COVID en hemofílicos. Métodos: Uno objetivo, utilizando los registros del hospital y otro subjetivo, mediante encuesta oral durante la consulta de atención farmacéutica presencial o telemática. Resultados: El 80% de los pacientes retiraron medicación durante el periodo de estudio, un 30% en domicilio. El último mes las dispensaciones a domicilio se acompañaron de consulta telemática. Un 24% de pacientes disminuyó su adherencia respecto al 2019. Las principales causas fueron dificultad para acudir al hospital, y percepción de no necesitar tratamiento ante la inactividad. No se registraron más EH o ingresos por causas imputables a la pandemia. No hubo ningún enfermo COVID-19 grave y la incidencia de pacientes con síntomas leves fue similar a la población general. Conclusión: La mayoría de los pacientes con hemofilia pudieron acceder a su medicación. La adherencia se redujo. Los EH no aumentaron por causas atribuibles a la pandemia. La incidencia de COVID-19 fue similar a la población.

After the discovery of antibiotics, efforts were made to develop new drugs in order to treat infections caused by a wide range of bacterial strains. With the use of antibiotics for decades, bacteria have adapted, so that resistant strains have emerged. Moreover, the uncontrolled and abusive use of antibiotics has increased, which aggravates the emergence of new resistant strains. The emergence of multidrug resistant (MDR) bacteria has quickly become a worldwide health problem, so new strategies must be developed in order to control MDR bacteria, namely the rational development of new drugs. Imidazole derivatives have several biological activities, including antibacterial activity. In this sense, efforts have been made to develop imidazole-based compounds, because they present higher curative effect than other antibiotics used in clinical practice, lower toxicity and less side effects.1 With this in mind, we report the synthesis of two 2,4,5-tri(hetero)arylimidazoles 3a-b based on thieno[3,2-b]thiophene heterocyclic spacer (Figure 1), through the Radziszewski reaction2 and their characterization by 1H and 13C NMR, UV-Vis absorption and fluorescence spectroscopies. In addition, a screening for antibacterial activity with the synthetized imidazole derivatives against Bacillus subtilis was carried out, using the agar diffusion technique. The results showed the inhibition of Bacillus subtilis proliferation, suggesting antibacterial activity. Therefore, these new imidazole derivatives have the potential for the development of new antibacterial drugs., Thanks are due to Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) and FEDER (European Fund for Regional Development)-COMPETE-QRENEU for financial support through the Chemistry Research Centre of the University of Minho (UID/QUI/00686/2020). This work was also supported by the “Contrato-Programa” UIDB/04050/2020 funded by national funds through the FCT I.P. Thanks are also due to FCT for financial support to the Portuguese NMR network (PTNMR, Bruker Avance III – Univ. Minho)., info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion