Marina Baixa Research Articles

Population-Based Survey Showing That Breastfed Babies Have a Lower Frequency of Risk Factors for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Than Nonbreastfed Babies.

Justification: Breastfeeding provides the best infant food, and closeness to the mother is crucial for successful breastfeeding. However, sharing parents' beds and sleeping on the stomach poses a high risk for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). There is little information on these practices regarding the Spanish population.Objective: To explore breastfeeding and bed-sharing practices in the study populationMaterials and Methods: A cross sectional observational study was conducted through an anonymous telephone survey with a representative random sample of babies born in the Health Area of La Marina Baixa, Alicante, between 2018 and 2019. A previous-day strategy was implemented to determine the feeding and bed-sharing variables.Results: The total breastfeeding and formula-feeding rates were 47.0% and 52.9%, respectively. The overall bed-sharing rate was 66.5%. The breastfeeding rate was 86.4% with bed-sharing and 13.6% without bed-sharing. The rate of prone sleeping position in children younger than 6 months of age was 9.3–3.5% with breastfeeding and 5.8% with formula feeding. Lower frequencies of tobacco, alcohol, and nonsupine sleeping positions were observed among mothers who practiced breastfeeding and bed-sharing.Conclusions: We found a close relationship between breastfeeding and bed-sharing and a lower frequency of SIDS risk factors associated with both practices. Families should be informed about the risk factors associated with SIDS to encourage safe bed-sharing while avoiding recommendations that discourage breastfeeding.

Servicio de Atención Psicológica en el Hospital Marina Baixa (SAPMB) durante la Pandemia Covid-19

El presente trabajo pretende desarrollar la puesta en marcha de un servicio de atención psicológica en el Hospital Marina Baixa (Villajoyosa, Alicante), así como detallar la intervención realizada con diferentes tipos de afectados, tras el comienzo de la pandemia por COVID-19. La fundamentación de la creación del servicio fue la importancia dada a la prevención primaria, resaltar el cuidado emocional de las personas y ofrecer intervención en crisis. Se propusieron diferentes objetivos como prestar apoyo psicológico al personal interviniente en primera línea, a personas ingresadas afectadas por el virus y a sus familiares. Con el personal sanitario se llevaron a cabo intervenciones grupales de regulación emocional basadas en Mindfulness e intervenciones telefónicas/presenciales con aquellos que lo requirieron. Respecto a los pacientes, la intervención consistió en asistencia psicológica de manera presencial y telefónica a pacientes positivos ingresados y los familiares de éstos. Se registraron el número de usuarios atendidos en las diferentes formas de intervención, que se tuvo que ir adaptando a las necesidades detectadas en la población atendida y a la evolución de la pandemia. Los resultados muestran que, mediante la creación de este servicio, se cumplieron los objetivos marcados.

Endometriosis and ovarian cancer: Their association and relationship.

ObjectivesTo study endometriosis-associated borderline or malignant ovarian epithelial tumors by analyzing their differential clinical features, as well as the histological pattern, survival and immunohistochemical data compared with those without associated endometriosis.Study designSetting: Hospital Marina Baixa and San Juan University Hospital, Alicante, Spain. This retrospective study included clinical and pathological data from 36 operated cases with endometriosis-associated ovarian epithelial tumors and 305 cases of ovarian epithelial tumors without endometriosis, including borderline and invasive tumors. We also studied hormonal receptors and p53 protein expression in 13 cases with endometriosis-associated endometrioid and clear cell tumors, and report two cases with histologically-confirmed previous endometriosis.ResultsAssociated endometriosis was observed in 10.5% of patients with borderline or invasive ovarian epithelial tumor, 53% of those with endometrioid, and 22% with clear cell tumors. Patients with endometriosis-associated ovarian epithelial tumors were younger, had lower parity, were more frequently premenopausal, had a lower tumor stage or were borderline, and in general had better prognosis and longer survival, although they also more frequently had an associated endometrial carcinoma. Associated endometriosis and endometrioid tumors were generally estrogen-receptor positive, whereas they were negative in the clear cell tumor component. p53 protein positivity was generally observed in clear cell tumors and in associated endometriosis. Two reported cases with previous, known endometriosis were followed in their evolution to borderline endometrioid carcinoma and clear cell carcinoma, respectively.ConclusionsOur results and review of the literature suggest that the association of ovarian epithelial tumors and endometriosis is a factor for good prognosis for ovarian cancer and that this association might correspond in many cases to an intermediate stage in the development of endometriosis to endometrioid, clear cell, or other invasive carcinomas.

Assessing the Crop Growing Period According to the Climate Change Forecasts for Marina Baixa (SE Spain)

The present work aims to assess the likely effects of climate change on the length of growing period (LGP) of crops in Marina Baixa (SE, Spain). LGP can be assessed by a balance between preci- pitation and reference evapotranspiration. Less rainfall and an increased evapotranspiration, forecast by Global Climate Models (GCMs), are considered as a high risk for agriculture. This area is located in a semiarid climate region where water is a very limited resource. It is a typical example of areas where the agricultural sector has to compete for water with the tourism industry. In this context, by using observed and projected precipitation data set (model HadCM3, Scenario A2), calculating reference evapotranspiration (ETo), and applying the frequency analysis of a probability-type method, we estimated the growing period length in the observed period (1961-1990) and three 30-year future periods (2011-40, 2041-70 and 2071-99) in the study area. The results show a drop in annual precipitations (&#45 30%) and an increased ETo (+18%) towards the end of this century with respect to the observed period (mean annual rainfall: 356 mm; mean ETo: 1476 mm). The results also show a decrease in the number of decades (10 days) when precipitation exceeds half of the ETo, which means shorter growing periods as the 21st century advances. This expected reduction in growing period length towards the end of the present century will imply that many rainfed crops, like olives, almonds and cereals, will require a higher irrigation water supply to maintain suitable growth and performance levels. The results are an early warning to manage water resources in Marina Baixa in a sustainable way.

AB0360 Comparative study of the characteristics of spanish and european patients in a local registry of patients with rheumatoid arthritis

ObjectivesTo evaluate the characteristics of patients in a local registry of patients with rheumatoid arthritis, according to their nationality.MethodsWe analyzed data from 303 patients from a local registry of patients...

Pharmacological and clinical evidence of nevirapine immediate- and extended-release formulations

We reviewed the current information available on nevirapine immediate- and extended-release formulations and its role in single-dose and combination antiretroviral therapy. Nevirapine was approved in 1996 and was the first non-nucleoside reverse-transcriptase inhibitor available for the treatment of HIV-1 infection. Nevirapine has demonstrated good efficacy and a well-characterized safety profile. A major drawback is the low genetic barrier, allowing the emergence of resistance in the presence of single mutations in the reverse-transcriptase gene. This shortcoming is particularly relevant when nevirapine is administered in a single dose to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV-1 infection, compromising the efficacy of future non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase–inhibitor regimens. Studies published recently have probed the noninferiority of nevirapine compared to ritonavir-boosted atazanavir with both tenofovir disoproxil fumarate and emtricitabine in antiretroviral treatment–naïve patients. In 2011, a new formulation of nevirapine (nevirapine extended release) that allowed once-daily dosing was approved by the Food and Drug Administration and by the European Medicines Agency. VERxVe, a study comparing nevirapine extended release with nevirapine immediate release in antiretroviral treatment–naïve patients, and TRANxITION, a study carried out in antiretroviral treatment–experienced patients who switched therapy from nevirapine immediate release to nevirapine extended release, provided data on the noninferiority of the new formulation of nevirapine compared with nevirapine immediate release in terms of efficacy and safety. Nevirapine extended release will further increase the durability and persistence of nevirapine-containing antiretroviral therapy, allowing once-daily dosing regimens.

Sustained increase in bone mineral density with alendronate in combination with indapamide in postmenopausal women with idiopathic hypercalciuria associated to osteoporosis: A 1-year randomized trial followed by a 2-year extension

Sustained increase in bone mineral density with alendronate in combination with indapamide in postmenopausal women with idiopathic hypercalciuria associated to osteoporosis: A 1-year randomized trial followed by a 2-year extension

Riesgo de inundación y ordenación territorial en el área litoral sur de la Marina Baixa (Alicante)

La Comunidad Valenciana ha sido uno de los territorios pioneros en el estudio del riesgo de inundación a escala regional, culminado con el patricova. En este trabajo se presenta un método de análisis del riesgo de inundación a nivel local que abarca la caracterización de cuencas, determinación de umbrales de escorrentía, cálculo de precipitaciones y caudales, incluyendo las cartografías de riesgo y las recomendaciones para mitigarlo en las zonas afectadas. Esta metodología se ha aplicado al caso del litoral meridional de la comarca de la Marina Baixa (provincia de Alicante), concretamente a la franja costera de los términos municipales de Villajoyosa y Finestrat. En ella, el riesgo de inundación está ligado principalmente a la ocupación y desaparición de cauces.

Human Impacts on Land Cover and Water Balances in a Coastal Mediterranean County

We analyzed the effects of changes in land cover on the water balance in Spain's Marina Baixa County, on the Mediterranean coast. To reveal how different land management strategies have affected the area's environment, four municipalities within the same catchment were studied: Benidorm, Callosa d'en Sarrià, Beniardà, and Guadalest. In the municipalities of Callosa and Benidorm, the proportion of the area covered by woodland declined by 4.2% and 30.2%, respectively, and woodland was replaced by agriculture and urban development. The abandonment of farmland produced a 17% increase in the proportion of the area covered by vegetation in Guadalest and Beniardá, where frequent forest fires have exacerbated a decrease in the area of pine woodland. Tourism development in Benidorm has been accompanied by an increase in the transportation infrastructure and by an expansion of areas with an impermeable surface, with the lowest level of infiltration into the aquifer system. These changes have generated a net water deficit in Callosa and Benidorm of more than 6 Mm(3)/year, creating a high demand for water imported from other municipalities (Guadalest and Beniardá) or from outside of the county to maintain the sustainability of the current water management strategies. The Marina Baixa case study is representative of many of the world's coastal areas that are undergoing rapid urban development based on an inappropriate understanding of human progress based mainly on economic development and thus provides insights into water management in other areas.

Sobre el nombre de la ciudad ibérica y romana de Villajoyosa y la ubicación del topónimo Alonís/Alonai/Allon

En este artículo revisamos la argumentación que realizamos hace diez años en nuestra Tesis doctoral sobre la identificación de Alonís/Alonai/Allon con la ciudad ibérica y romana de Villajoyosa, analizando las recientes publicaciones de otros autores en las que se ha abordado esta cuestión y poniéndolo todo a la luz de las nuevas evidencias arqueológicas. El papel de este núcleo como lugar central de la comarca de la Marina Baixa y su relevancia en el contexto de las costas valencianas en las épocas ibérica y romana (en la que llegó a alcanzar el rango de municipium), así como las importantes evidencias arqueológicas monumentales y muebles, hacen improbable que su nombre no se viese reflejado reiteradamente en las fuentes grecolatinas. Del mismo modo, Alonís/Alonai/Allon son topónimos que aparecen en las fuentes clásicas (este último, en varias ocasiones). Analizamos la coherencia con esas fuentes de su reducción a Villajoyosa, que permite casar la ciudad privilegiada sin nombre y el nombre reiterado sin ciudad.

Renal Safety of Tenofovir Disoproxil Fumarate in HIV-1 Treatment-experienced Patients with Adverse Events Related to Prior NRTI Use

Renal Safety of Tenofovir Disoproxil Fumarate in HIV-1 Treatment-experienced Patients with Adverse Events Related to Prior NRTI Use

Cartografía de las coberturas y usos del suelo de la Marina Baixa (Alicante) para 1956, 1978 y 2000

El estudio de las coberturas y usos del suelo y su variación a lo largo del tiempo obedece a gran cantidad de fines: estudios medioambientales, económicos, sociales, planificación territorial (infraestructuras, urbanismo o agrícola), estratégicos, etc., como fuente de información y de diagnóstico geográfico, asimismo constituye un elemento clave en la toma de decisiones. El análisis de la evolución de las coberturas y usos del suelo en el tiempo desde una perspectiva multidisciplinar en la Marina Baixa permite la evaluación de las políticas llevadas a cabo y la anticipación para la adecuada orientación de actuaciones futuras. En este sentido, se considera conveniente poner a punto una metodología de entrada y tratamiento de los datos espaciales, basada en la utilización de Sistemas de Información Geográfica (S.I.G.) y fotografía aérea. El presente trabajo trata de mostrar y cuantificar la cronosecuencia de las coberturas y usos de suelo de la comarca de la Marina Baixa, como resultado de la tarea de fotointerpretación y cartografiado, sin atender a las causas que la motivan o las consecuencias que implican. Próximos estudios dentro del mismo proyecto incurrirán en los efectos sobre la biodiversidad vegetal y los balances hídricos para el periodo estudiado.

Asistencia neurológica ambulatoria en el área de la Marina Baixa, Alicante

The demand for neurological care depends on the type of population to be attended, among other variables. The Marina Baixa area, which includes towns such as Altea and Benidorm, has its own peculiar characteristics due to its being one of the places that is often chosen by pensioners from northern and central Spain and Europe to set up residence. The aim of this study was to determine the characteristics of the ambulatory neurological care in our health area. Data on 1,000 patients attended in the Neurological Clinic at the Specialty Centre in Benidorm (age, sex, reason for visit, tests requested and destination on discharge) were recorded prospectively and consecutively. The mean age was 58.04 years (range 14-94) and 56.4% were females. 25% of the patients attended were over 75 years old. The main reasons for visiting were headache (28.2%) and cognitive impairment (21%). 26.5% were first-time visits, with a mean age of 55.02 years, which is significantly lower than that of the review patients (59.12 years; p = 0.003). 15.6% of the patients were discharged from hospital. A prolonged follow-up was foreseen for over 50% of them. The demand for care in 2003 was 27.5 per 1,000 inhabitants/year in the population above the age of 14 years. The higher the mean age of the population is, the greater the prevalence of neurodegenerative diseases will become and the more demand there will be for ambulatory care. Resources must be adjusted to this new situation and there is also a need to adopt the most suitable model of health care for chronic neurological patients.

Síndrome de Burnout en profesionales de enfermería de cuidados críticos

The concept of the "Burnout Syndrome" has come as a result of the chronic work-stress developed in workers involved in human services during their professional activity. The working conditions and the specific characteristics of the job developed at the Intensive Care Units by the nursing staff, involve a high risk for this group to acquire this syndrome. The main objective of this study is to assess the prevalence of the Burnout Syndrome in the nursing staff of the ICUs in different hospitals of the Alicante province, Spain, by means of the Malsach Burnout Inventory questionnaire. This questionnaire is self-administered and was handed to all the nursing staff at the ICUs in the University Hospitals of Alicante and Elche and in the Hospital Marina Baixa of Villajoyosa. form the total of 107 questionnaires, 83 proved to be valid. The average total of MBI was of 55.05, indicating low values of emotional tiredness, low depersonalisation, and an adequate level of personal accomplishment.

Desertification and Land Degradation in Mediterranean Areas: from Science to Integrated Policy Making

In the domain of desertification and climate change an important amount of new knowledge and research material has been obtained from the many projects carried out in the EU-DG12 Environment and Climate programme. However, so far little effort has gone into making this scientific material available as part of practical planning or management tools for regional public policy makers. In this presentation, we will dwell on the experiences gathered in developing a generic spatial Decision Support System for integrated environmental policy-making at the regional level. The experiences are taken from a two year EC-project, MODULUS. In this project models and scientific material from 4 past EU-projects are integrated that represent the climatological, physical, economic and social aspects of land degradation and desertification in the Northern Mediterranean. The individual models operate at very different temporal and geographical scales. At the most detailed temporal scale, processes taking few minutes are represented, and, at the most detailed geographical scale dynamic models running on top of raster-GIS layers are implemented. The MODULUS DSS is developed as a very interactive, transparent and (geo)graphical instrument. It runs on PC machines under Windows NT and makes extensive use of Active X and component technology. In order to demonstrate its generic applicability the MODULUS DSS is applied to two case regions: the Argolid (Greece) and the Marina Baixa (Spain). In the presentation we will dwell on the practical and scientific lessons learned from the project, and more in particular on the difficulties involved in adapting scientific material to the needs of integrated policy-making.

Risk Factors for Acquisition of Urinary Tract Infections Caused by Ciprofloxacin Resistant Escherichia Coli

From January 1990 to December 1992, ciprofloxacin resistant Escherichia coli was isolated in 125 of 1,946 urine cultures (6.4%) with more than 10(5) colony-forming units per ml. To determine the risk factors for acquisition of urinary tract infections caused by ciprofloxacin resistant E. coli a retrospective chart review was done. Data from 54 patients with urinary tract infections caused by ciprofloxacin resistant E. coli were compared with 51 controls matched by temporal occurrence and randomly selected among 540 patients with urinary tract infections caused by ciprofloxacin susceptible E. coli. Patients had greater proportions of asymptomatic bacteriuria or lower urinary tract symptoms (85% versus 61%, p = 0.01) and of relapse (22% versus 0%, p = 0.001) than controls. Urinary tract abnormalities (odds ratio 7.98, 95% confidence interval 2.7 to 3.1, p < 0.001), patient age 65 years or older (odds ratio 6.48, 95% confidence interval 2.2 to 19.1, p < 0.001), previous treatment with quinolones (odds ratio 19.09, 95% confidence interval 2.2 to 166.5, p = 0.008) and urinary catheterization (odds ratio 2.92, 95% confidence interval 1.1 to 8.5, p = 0.048) were independently associated with infections caused by ciprofloxacin resistant strains. Our results suggest that patients with urological abnormalities previously treated with quinolones are especially prone to urinary tract infection caused by ciprofloxacin resistant strains.