Molecular Epidemiology of Anisakis spp. in Wedge Sole, Dicologlossa cuneata (Moreau, 1881), from Fishmarkets in Granada (Southern Spain), Caught in Two Adjacent NE and CE Atlantic Areas.

The presence of third stage larvae (L3) of Anisakis spp. in wedge sole, Dicologlossa cuneata (Moreau, 1881), purchased in fishmarkets in the city of Granada (Andalusia, southern Spain) was assessed. The wedge sole were caught in two FAO zones: area 27.IXa NE Atlantic (SW Spain coast) and area 34.1.11 CE Atlantic (NW Morocco coast). Only Anisakis larvae, type I, were detected in the largest fish (>20 cm) from the CE Atlantic. These were molecularly identified as A. simplex s.s. The prevalence (P) of Anisakis in this area was 12.5% and the mean intensity (MI) was 1. The presence of Hysterothylacium spp. larvae was also detected in the fish from both areas, with the prevalence being approximately double in the CE Atlantic area (12.5 vs. 5.7). A comparison between the Anisakis-infected and non-infected fish from this area showed that the former were significantly longer than the latter (p < 0.01). These results show that Anisakis parasitization of wedge sole sold in the markets of the city of Granada is of low prevalence and intensity (P = 4.5, MI = 1), especially in those from area 27.IXa (P = 0), indicating that the risk of human infection is low, particularly as this fish is traditionally prepared by deep-frying in oil in Andalusia (southern Spain).

The Evolution of Consanguineous Marriages in the Archdiocese of Granada, Spain (1900-1979).

In the 20th century Spain maintained some of the highest rates of consanguineous marriage in Europe. In many regions these rates were still high in the 1950s and 1960s but then decreased rapidly, and by the 1970s a generalized transformation in mating patterns was under way. In the following decades the marriage of persons closely related by birth became rare. Consanguinity and inbreeding have been much studied in Spain but almost exclusively in the central and northern regions of the country. This is the first study of a whole large diocese in the southern region of Andalusia. This article is based on the analysis of 15,440 records of consanguineous unions registered between 1900 and 1979 in the Archbishopric of Granada in Andalusia. In this period, the rate of consanguinity up to second cousins was 5.51%, and the mean coefficient of inbreeding, α, was 2.04 × 10-3. There is a high range of variability within the research area: the rate of consanguinity was more than three times higher in rural areas (6.74%; α = 2.44 × 10-3) than in the capital city (2.03%; α = 0.93 × 10-3). There was a high frequency of unions between first cousins and first cousins once removed. These amounted to 35.3% and 13% of all consanguineous marriages, respectively, and contributed to 70% of α-values. Consanguinity here has been strongly related to local endogamy. Thus, 76% of all consanguineous couples were born in the same locality, and 89% resided in the same locality at marriage. By the end of the 1960s premarital migration increased and local endogamy started to decrease. On the other hand, inbreeding is inversely related to spatial endogamy. The more inbred couples, such as uncles-nieces (C12) or first cousins (C22), show significantly higher exogamy rates than second cousins (C33) and third cousins (C44), and higher rates of premarital migration. Neither males nor females in intrafamily unions seem to be significantly younger than those in nonconsanguineous unions. Considering their temporal evolution, consanguinity rates increased in the first third of the century, reaching a maximum in the late 1920s, when over 7.4% of all marriages were consanguineous (8.3% for the rural areas), and the resulting α-value was the highest of the century (α = 2.71 × 10-3 for the whole diocese; α = 3.00 × 10-3 for the rural areas). Rates of inbreeding remained high until the 1950s and decreased thereafter in a period of accelerated emigration to cities, urbanization, industrialization, and social modernization. Overall, levels of inbreeding are similar and sometimes larger than those found in dioceses in the northwest of Spain, although marriages between uncle and niece were less common. Some of the counties in the diocese had very high consanguinity levels, not only the isolated area of La Alpujarra, previously studied, but also other ecological and historical microregions (comarcas). These results indicate that the widely accepted north-south divisions of the Iberian Peninsula in terms of consanguinity and inbreeding patterns require considerable reevaluation.

A cave-dwelling Iberian palpigrade (Arachnida: Palpigradi) of the Eukoenenia mirabilis group.

A new species Eukoenenia amatei sp. nov. is described on the basis of a female captured in a cave in south-eastern Spain. It is characterized by the presence of a single blade on the lateral organ and the absence of a glandular complex on sternites IV and VI. Some of these characters are shared with five other species distributed in Europe, Asia, Africa and South and Central America. The new species is remarkable for the elongation of basitarsus of leg IV which is the second longest in the E. mirabilis group. Only one other species in this group, E. indalica, has similar troglomorphic characters. In addition, formulas of palp and leg chaetotaxy are provided to facilitate species comparison.

Mortalidad por neumonía en Andalucía / Pneumonia mortality in Andalusia

ResumenLa neumonía es una enfermedad respiratoria con alcance mundial. En particular, es en niños menores de cinco años donde se presenta como primera causa de muerte.Objetivo:Determinar la mortalidad por neumonía en España para la Comunidad Autónoma de Andalucía y serie 1992-2001.Metodología:Revisión de la mortalidad por neumonía a partir de los datos aportados por el Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Gobierno de España, Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad).Resultados:En España y Andalucía la tasa ajustada para la población europea de altas por neumonía por 100 000 habitantes se incrementa a lo largo de los años. La mortalidad por neumonía en España para la serie indicada muestra una tendencia relativamente estable y similar según sexo, aunque en Andalucía es llamativo el incremento en el femenino. En lo relativo a la mortalidad por neumonía según el sexo y tasa ajustada por edad, por población europea por 100 000 habitantes, los valores de Andalucía superan a los de España.Conclusión:Los datos epidemiológicos sirven para la mejora de la protección de la salud, así como el planteamiento de intervenciones sanitarias para la prevención y el control de la enfermedad.

AbstractPneumonia is a respiratory disease with global scope. Specially, in children under five years it appears as the first cause of death.Objective: Determine pneumonia mortality in Spain and Autonomous Community of Andalusia from 1992 to 2001.Methodology: Review of pneumonia mortality from data provided by the Institute of Health Carlos III (Government of Spain, Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness).Results:In Spain and Andalusia adjusted rate for European population of pneumonia discharges per 100,000 persons increases over the years. Pneumonia mortality in Spain for the indicated period shows a relatively steady trend and similar by sex, although in Andalusia there is a striking increase in the female. Regarding pneumonia mortality by sex and age-adjusted rate for European population per 100,000 inhabitants, Andalusia surpasses values of Spain.Conclusion: Epidemiological data can be used to improve the protection of health and the approach of health interventions for disease prevention and control.

Enfoque al riesgo de Legionella sp. en centros sanitarios del sur de España / Approach to the risk of Legionella spp. in health centres in the south of Spain

La legionelosis es una enfermedad respiratoria producida por la bacteria legionella sp. Ésta al colonizar medios artificiales presenta un riesgo para la salud, especialmente en ambientes con población expuesta o especialmente sensible. El ámbito sanitario se presenta como vulnerable, en el que es usual identificar fuentes de desarrollo y proliferación del agente biológico. El objetivo del estudio es establecer la relación entre la estacionalidad de equipos de intercambio aire-agua y la presencia de legionella pneumophila, así como investigar la de ciertos métodos preventivos de desinfección del agua sobre las variables anteriores. Durante 2008 se realiza un estudio en cuatro centros sanitarios situados en Andalucía (España) incluyendo siete torres de refrigeración ubicadas en ellos. Mediante un análisis descriptivo y el empleo de medidas de asociación se identificó: un recuento elevado (>10000 UFC/l) en dispositivos de funcionamiento anual, según los métodos de desinfección empleados un riesgo menor en instalaciones estacionales, e independencia entre el recuento de la bacteria y la estacionalidad de los sistemas. A nivel sanitario y con objeto de prevenir la presencia de la bacteria en el sur de España, se considera preceptivo la realización de estudios ambientales y de control del mantenimiento higiénico de las instalaciones con riesgo de desarrollo de legionella sp.

Legionellosis is a respiratory disease caused by the bacterium Legionella spp. When this colonizes artificial mediums it shows a health risk, especially in environments with particularly sensitive or exposed population. The health centre environment is presented as vulnerable, where it is usual to identify sources of development and proliferation of biological agent. The aim of this study is to establish the relationship between seasonal use of water cooling systems and the presence of Legionella pneumophila, and to investigate certain preventive methods of water disinfection on the above variables. In 2008, a study was performed in four health centres situated in Andalusia (Spain) including seven cooling towers located on them. Through a descriptive analysis and the use of measures of association, these findings were identified: a high count (>10,000 CFU/l) in annual operating devices, according to the methods of disinfection a lower risk in seasonal facilities, and independence between the count of the bacterium and seasonal nature of the systems. At health level and in order to prevent the presence of the bacterium in southern Spain, environmental studies and routine monitoring of sanitary maintenance of facilities with risk of development of Legionella spp. are considered mandatory.

Biomedical scientific publication patterns in the Scopus database: a case study of Andalusia, Spain / Patrones de publicación científica en Biomedicina en la base de datos Scopus: Un caso de estudio de Andalucía, España

This paper characterises scientific output in biomedicine in Andalusia, and Spain as a whole, and conduct a first-time comparison to Europe- and world-wide production. The data were extracted from the Scopus database. Three families of indicators are explored to analyse research quantity, quality and collaboration. The results show an upward trend on biomedical output in Andalusia. Over 50 % was in clinical medicine, whose growth doubled the basic medicine. We found greater than nationwide specialisation in biochemistry, genetics and molecular biology, immunology and microbiology, and pharmacology, while psychology proved to be the most prominent emerging area. The publication in most cited journals together with national and international collaboration enhanced research visibility. More citable papers were published on basic than clinical medicine, and the number of citations received by the former was also larger. The higher citation rate in basic medicine may also be explained by the bigger percentage of papers published in international instead domestic journals. Hence, publication patterns would appear to affect research visibility. The methodology proposed may provide guidance for public policy makers to improve, encourage and intensify good biomedical research practice.

Este trabajo presenta una caracterización bibliométrica de la producción científica biomédica en Andalucía y España durante la década 1996-2007, comparándola por primera vez a nivel europeo y mundial. El análisis se ha realizado con los datos procedentes del índice multidisciplinar de citas Scopus, que duplica en volumen a los índices Thomson Reuters. Se exploran tres bloques de indicadores bibliométricos para el análisis de la dimensión cuantitativa, cualitativa y colaborativa. Los resultados han revelado una tasa de crecimiento de la investigación en Andalucía del 124 % frente al 97 % nacional, principalmente en el campo de la Medicina Básica más que en la Clínica. También se ha detectado una mayor especialización temática con respecto a España en Bioquímica, Genética y Biología Molecular, en Inmunología y Microbiología y finalmente en Farmacología, mientras que Psicología destaca como el área más claramente emergente. La publicación de una mayor cantidad de documentos citables, la publicación en revistas nacionales y la colaboración internacional influyen en la visibilidad de la investigación. Por tanto, los patrones de publicación parecen estar influyendo en su visibilidad. La metodología propuesta proporciona una batería de indicadores y representaciones gráficas que permiten hacer un seguimiento de estos patrones para detectar buenas prácticas de publicación con el fin de incrementar la visibilidad de la investigación producida por cualquier agregado científico y ayudar a los gestores científicos en la toma de decisiones.