POS1005 ASSESSMENT OF DAREA AND MODIFIED DAREA IN AN ARGENTINIAN-GUATEMALAN REACTIVE ARTHRITIS COHORT

Background:

Reactive Arthritis (ReA) is an inflammatory joint disease and, as in rheumatoid or psoriatic arthritis, composite indices are the most useful tools to measure disease activity. The Disease Activity Index for Reactive Arthritis (DAREA) is the only developed index for ReA, which requires a 66/68 joint count and CRP for its assessment, the latter being difficult to acquire in our setting. Therefore, we developed a simplified index, the modified DAREA (DAREAm), with a lower joint count and ESR for its evaluation.

Objectives:

1) To evaluate the DAREA and the DAREAm in a cohort of patients with diagnosis of ReA and post-infectious arthritis 2) To assess the correlation of the DAREA and DAREAm with several clinical variables, functional capacity and quality of life in a cohort of patients with ReA.

Methods:

Patients with diagnosis of ReA (Calin’79) and post-infectious arthritis were included. Demographic data were collected, patient´s pain and global assessment were evaluated through a visual analog scale (VAS) and a 3-point scale (no pain = 0, mild = 1, moderate = 2, severe = 3), physician´s global assessment, morning stiffness (MS) and VAS fatigue. Functional capacity was assessed by HAQ and quality of life according to EuroQol-5 dimensions (EQ-5D), and the activity indices DAS28, DAREA and DAREAm were calculated. Statistical analysis: a descriptive analysis of the variables and correlation between numerical variables with Spearman rank correlation were performed.

Results:

57 patients were included, 53 with diagnosis of ReA, the majority post urogenital (63%) and gastrointestinal (17%), and 4 with diagnosis of post-infectious arthritis. Fifty six percent were male, mean age: 40 years old (SD ± 14) and median ReA duration: 15 months (IQR 2-45). The number of painful and swollen joints in a 66/68 joint count showed a median of 2 (IQR 0-3) and 1 (IQR 1-2) respectively. Median VAS pain 43 (IQR 15-70), patient´s disease activity 40 (IQR 20-60) and physician´s 40 (IQR 20-60), MS 10 (IQR 0-50) and fatigue 30 (IQR 0-80). Median DAS28 3.6 (IQR 2.3-4.3), DAREA 7.4 (IQR 2.5-10.6), DAREAm 8.6 (IQR 4.6-12.7), HAQ 0.625 (IQR 0.125-1). The dimensions with the greatest compromise in the EQ-5D were pain/discomfort (63%) and anxiety/depression (51%), and the median VAS EQ-5D was 60 (IQR 32-80). DAREA correlated with DAREAm (rs= 0.89; p <0.001), DAS28 (rs= 0.84; p <0.001), medical VAS (rs= 0.60; p <0.001), MS (rs= 0, 50; p <0.001), HAQ (rs= 0.53; p <0.001), VAS fatigue (rs= 0.57; p <0.001) and mobility subscales of the EQ5D (rs= 0.56; p <0.001), pain/discomfort (rs= 0.49; p <0.001) and anxiety/depression (rs= 0.61; p <0.001). The DAREAm correlated with DAS28 (rs= 0.93; p <0.001), physician VAS (rs= 0.58; p <0.001), fatigue VAS (rs= 0.53; p <0.001), HAQ (rs= 0 .51; p <0.001) and the EQ5D subscales: mobility (rs= 0.64; p <0.001), pain/discomfort (rs= 0.56; p <0.001) and anxiety/depression (rs= 0.66; p <0.001)

Conclusion:

This is the first study that assess activity indices in a cohort of patients with ReA. The DAREAm demonstrated a very good correlation with both DAREA and DAS28. We encourage the use of this simplified index in daily practice to evaluate patients with ReA.

Disclosure of Interests:

None declared.

Where and when? How phenological patterns of armyworm moths (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) change along a latitudinal gradient in Brazil

The phenological patterns exhibited by different organisms are known as adaptive responses to the cyclical environmental conditions. However, only a limited number of researches explore which factors are responsible for these phenological patterns in pest species. In the current study, abundance patterns were studied in the phenology of three Spodoptera Guenée, 1852 species, along the 29° latitudinal gradient in South America. The goal was to test whether widely distributed and abundant crop pest species would exhibit different phenological responses to seasonal meteorological variables and host plant availability. To test this, 13 light traps were set up in Brazil to collect adult Spodoptera samples at the time of the new moon, every month, from June 2015 to May 2016. The time of occurrence and intensity of the phenology were determined for each species, employing circular statistics. Both metrics revealed significant variations among the different species, as well as the factors associated with them. Latitude was found to affect the period of occurrence in Spodoptera cosmioides (Walker, 1858) and Spodoptera albula (Walker, 1857), whereas in Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith, 1797) its effect was evident only in the intensity of its phenology. Further, both meteorological variables and host plant availability in the sampling sites produced predictive models to account for the phenological patterns expressed. These findings suggest that different species of Spodoptera exhibit different adaptive strategies in their life cycles in response to environmental conditions, thus necessitating specific management practices regarding their seasonal population fluctuation.

Mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) from crepuscular period in an Atlantic Forest area in Southern Brazil

Abstract Crepuscular period is one of the factors that may influence the biting activity of mosquitoes. Many of these insects have a peak activity in this period. The purpose of this study was to investigate the afternoon crepuscular activity of Culicidae in a remaining area of Atlantic Forest in western Santa Catarina, southern Brazil. Moreover, the possible influence of abiotic factors, the abundance and species richness were verified. In order to better analyze the influence of crepuscular period in specific composition and abundance of mosquitoes, the dusk was divided into three periods: pre-sunset, sunset and post-sunset. At the end of the study, nine hundred and eight four specimens distributed in 12 genera and 23 species were collected. Trichoprosopon pallidiventer (Lutz, 1905) (59.76%), Aedes crinifer (Theobald, 1903) (8.13%), Ae. scapularis (Rondani, 1848) (5.89%) were the most abundant species. Spring time presented the greatest abundance and species richness. During the study, among the three periods evaluated, pre-sunset had the greatest abundance and post-sunset the lowest. Pre-sunset and sunset had the greatest similarity between species. Regarding to the abiotic factors evaluated seven and 15 days before sampling, they did not present significant correlation for the three most abundant species. However, temperature had a positive correlation to these species. Moreover, the correlation between collected species and its possible role as vectors of etiological agents of diseases was discussed.

Registered Replication Report: Rand, Greene, and Nowak (2012)

In an anonymous 4-person economic game, participants contributed more money to a common project (i.e., cooperated) when required to decide quickly than when forced to delay their decision (Rand, Greene & Nowak, 2012), a pattern consistent with the social heuristics hypothesis proposed by Rand and colleagues. The results of studies using time pressure have been mixed, with some replication attempts observing similar patterns (e.g., Rand et al., 2014) and others observing null effects (e.g., Tinghög et al., 2013; Verkoeijen & Bouwmeester, 2014). This Registered Replication Report (RRR) assessed the size and variability of the effect of time pressure on cooperative decisions by combining 21 separate, preregistered replications of the critical conditions from Study 7 of the original article (Rand et al., 2012). The primary planned analysis used data from all participants who were randomly assigned to conditions and who met the protocol inclusion criteria (an intent-to-treat approach that included the 65.9% of participants in the time-pressure condition and 7.5% in the forced-delay condition who did not adhere to the time constraints), and we observed a difference in contributions of -0.37 percentage points compared with an 8.6 percentage point difference calculated from the original data. Analyzing the data as the original article did, including data only for participants who complied with the time constraints, the RRR observed a 10.37 percentage point difference in contributions compared with a 15.31 percentage point difference in the original study. In combination, the results of the intent-to-treat analysis and the compliant-only analysis are consistent with the presence of selection biases and the absence of a causal effect of time pressure on cooperation.