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- Sousa-Pinto, Bernardo, et al.
(author)
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Consistent trajectories of rhinitis control and treatment in 16,177 weeks : the MASK-air® longitudinal study
- 2023
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In: Allergy. European Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0105-4538 .- 1398-9995. ; 78:4, s. 968-983
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Introduction: Data from mHealth apps can provide valuable information on rhinitis control and treatment patterns. However, in MASK-air®, these data have only been analyzed cross-sectionally, without considering the changes of symptoms over time. We analyzed data from MASK-air® longitudinally, clustering weeks according to reported rhinitis symptoms. Methods: We analyzed MASK-air® data, assessing the weeks for which patients had answered a rhinitis daily questionnaire on all 7 days. We firstly used k-means clustering algorithms for longitudinal data to define clusters of weeks according to the trajectories of reported daily rhinitis symptoms. Clustering was applied separately for weeks when medication was reported or not. We compared obtained clusters on symptoms and rhinitis medication patterns. We then used the latent class mixture model to assess the robustness of results. Results: We analyzed 113,239 days (16,177 complete weeks) from 2590 patients (mean age ± SD = 39.1 ± 13.7 years). The first clustering algorithm identified ten clusters among weeks with medication use: seven with low variability in rhinitis control during the week and three with highly-variable control. Clusters with poorly-controlled rhinitis displayed a higher frequency of rhinitis co-medication, a more frequent change of medication schemes and more pronounced seasonal patterns. Six clusters were identified in weeks when no rhinitis medication was used, displaying similar control patterns. The second clustering method provided similar results. Moreover, patients displayed consistent levels of rhinitis control, reporting several weeks with similar levels of control. Conclusions: We identified 16 patterns of weekly rhinitis control. Co-medication and medication change schemes were common in uncontrolled weeks, reinforcing the hypothesis that patients treat themselves according to their symptoms.
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| 2. |
- Teixeira, Marcos A.L., et al.
(author)
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Revealing the diversity of the green Eulalia (Annelida, Phyllodocidae) species complex along the European coast, with description of three new species
- 2023
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In: Organisms Diversity and Evolution. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1439-6092 .- 1618-1077. ; 23:3, s. 477-503
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The green phyllodocids Eulalia clavigera and E. viridis are a known European pseudo-cryptic complex, but questions about its distribution and evidence of additional lineages in previous studies call for an investigation of the real diversity within the complex. We analyze DNA sequences (mtCOI-5P, ITS, and 28S rRNA) of different populations of E. clavigera from intertidal and subtidal marine waters along the North East Atlantic, Mediterranean Sea, theAzores and Webbnesia (Madeira, Savage islands andCanaries), and populations of E. viridis from the Scandinavia. This provided compelling evidence for the existence of six additional divergent evolutionary lineages, three of the most abundant being described here as new species: Eulalia feliciae sp. nov., intertidal and unique to the Western Mediterranean, Eulalia madeirensis sp. nov., subtidal and unique to the Madeira Island (Portugal), and Eulalia xanthomucosa sp. nov., mostly subtidal and occurring in the British Isles and southern France. Complementary morphometric analyses showed that E. feliciae sp. nov. and E. madeirensis sp. nov. formed two independent morphometric clusters, while E. xanthomucosa sp. nov. often overlapped with E. clavigera sensu stricto (s. s.), although being unique in showing a yellow coloration and parapodial cirri on median segments larger in relation to its body size. Recent biotechnological findings based on “E. clavigera” specimens highlight the importance of formally describing cryptic complexes, since each lineage chemistry might be unique and may have a range of distinct effects and applications.
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