Background: Smoking during pregnancy is the most important preventable perinatal health problem. The aim of this research is to determine smoking prevalence in pregnant women at different times of pregnancy in Andalucia, using biochemical validation methods and to explore factors associated with it...

Purpose: Urinary pH is an important factor linked to renal stone disease and a useful marker in the treatment of urolithiasis. Although the gold standard for measuring urinary pH utilizes a glass electrode and a pH meter, at present dipstick testing is largely used to estimate urinary pH. However, ...

Background: The likelihood of an adolescent taking up smoking may be influenced by his or her society, school and family. Thus, changes in the immediate environment may alter a young person's perception of smoking. Methods/Design: The proposed multi-center, cluster-randomized controlled trial will ...

Aims: The aim of this study was to estimate the intake of antioxidant nutrients in wet age-related macular degeneration (AND) patients, a degenerative and progressive disorder of the macula, which is the central part of the retina, associated with central vision loss. Methods: A sample (n = 52, 78....

Background Patterns of health-care use and comorbidities present in patients in the period before diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are unknown. We investigated these factors to inform future case-finding strategies. Methods We did a retrospective analysis of a clinical coho...

A major goal of recent research in aging has been to examine cognitive plasticity in older adults and its capacity to counteract cognitive decline. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether older adults could benefit from brain training with video games in a cross-modal oddball task d...

Objective: To assess differences in functional foods consumption between European countries. Design: Systematic review. The literature search was conducted in Medlars Online International Literature (MEDLINE), via Pub Med (c) and Scopus. Twenty two studies were identified to examine the differences...

Padilla et al. (2013) recently showed that chronic aerobic exercise in young adults is associated with better inhibitory control as measured by the strategic Stop Signal Task (SST). The aim of the current study was to explore whether better inhibitory abilities, associated with high levels of physi...

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a highly versatile opportunistic pathogen capable of colonizing multiple ecological niches. This bacterium is responsible for a wide range of both acute and chronic infections in a variety of hosts. The success of this microorganism relies on its ability to adapt to enviro...

Background: Transthyretin-associated Familial Amyloid Polyneuropathy (TTR-FAP) is an autosomal dominant disease caused by the deposition of abnormal transthyretin that results from a gene mutation. Although rare worldwide, there are descriptions of several endemic foci, such as in Majorca, Balearic...

The idea of a bioactive surface coating that enhances bone healing and bone growth is a strong focus of on-going research for bone implant materials. Enamel matrix derivate (EMD) is well documented to support bone regeneration and activates growth of mesenchymal tissues. Thus, it is a prime candida...

Background: Occupational exposure to dusts, gases and fumes has been associated with reduced FEV1 and sputum production in COPD patients. The effect of occupational exposure on other characteristics of COPD, especially those reflecting emphysema, has not been studied in these patients. Methods: We ...

Background: Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) is a complex disorder defined as a cluster of interconnected risk factors such as hypertension, dyslipidemia, obesity and high blood glucose levels. Premorbid metabolic syndrome (PMetS) is defined by excluding patients with previously diagnosed cardiovascular d...

Few studies have investigated the relationship between predefined dietary patterns and type 2 diabetes incidence; little is known about the generalisability of these associations. We aimed to assess the association between predefined dietary patterns and type 2 diabetes risk in European populations...

The development of minimally invasive procedures has rekindled interest in endoluminal techniques for the management of Zenker's diverticulum. Tissue sealers as employed in laparoscopic surgery have not been previously used for Zenker's diverticulum septotomy. Supported by the established safety of...

Objective: The objective of the present study was to identify households in which overweight and underweight coexisted (dual burden of malnutrition) and explore the factors that could be contributing to the dual burden of malnutrition at the household level in this population. Study design: Cross-s...

Purpose: To identify tissue microRNAs predictive of sunitinib activity in patients with metastatic renal-cell-carcinoma (MRCC) and to evaluate in vitro their mechanism of action in sunitinib resistance. Methods: We screened 673 microRNAs using TaqMan Low-density-Arrays (TLDAs) in tumors from MRCC p...

Background: Retama monosperma L. (Boiss.) or Genista monosperma L. (Lam.), locally named as R'tam, is an annual and spontaneous plant belonging to the Fabaceae family. In Morocco, Retama genus is located in desert regions and across the Middle Atlas and it has been widely used in traditional medici...

Porcine production is a primary market in the world economy. Controlling swine diseases in the farm is essential in order to achieve the sector necessities. Aujeszky's disease is a viral condition affecting pigs and is endemic in many countries of the world, causing important economic losses in the...

Background: Metabolic syndrome (MS) occurs frequently in patients with obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS). We hypothesized that aldosterone levels are elevated in OSAHS and associated with the presence of MS. Methods: We studied 66 patients with OSAHS (33 with MS and 33 without MS) a...