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Nitrogen is an important factor determining grain yield of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.). Optimal rates and application timing can vary according to the environmental conditions under which the crop is grown. For 8 years barley yield, tillering, and leaf-area response to N application rates and timing were studied in southern Spain. The results showed that, under our experimental conditions, the most advantageous N rate for grain yield was 60 kg/ha, either split equally between sowing and tillering, or else with the greater proportion applied at tillering. Nitrogen applied at sowing increased number of tillers per plant, and N applied at tillering favoured tiller survival for later spike formation. In addition, N applied at tillering increased the number of leaves per plant, leaf area per plant, and the leaf area index, the maximum value of which occurred at anthesis.

In this study, conducted from 1979 to 1986 in southern Spain, the objective was to analyze the effects of a possible interaction between soil‐applied N and foliar S applied to barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) during tillering on grain yield and to identify the mechanism involved. From 1979 to 1982, we used rates of 20, 40, 60 and 80 kg a.i. N ha−1, together with 12.5 or 25 kg foliar a.i. S ha−1 during tillering. The results demonstrated that foliar S at both dosages acted as a partial (but not total) substitute for N, when the latter was applied at levels of 40 to 60 kg ha−1. These effects of S did not appear to result only from a nutritive mechanism, but rather from a hormonal mechanism through the increase in ethylene biosynthesis. Therefore, during 1983 to 1986, we used 40, 60 and 80 kg a. i. N ha−1, together with 12.5 a. i. S ha−1 and 0.55 kg a.i. ethrel (2‐chloroethyl‐phosphonic acid) ha−1. The results showed that the effects of S and ethrel on yield were practically the same. Assayed with 40 and 60 kg N ha−1, S and ethrel acted as partial (but not total) substitutes for N, exceeding the yield of the control without S or ethrel, and equalling the yield obtained with 20 kg more of N ha−1. The S or ethrel applied with 80 kg N ha−1 presented an additive effect with the N. The increases in yield using S or ethrel were in all cases due to the increased final number of spikes m−2, which was principally a consequence of the higher number of tillers formed but also a result of increased survival of tillers to form a viable spike. In addition, the positive effects of S on yield were greater the smaller the N dosage and the lower the annual yield. Finally, we present a possible mechanism of hormonal action, to explain how foliar S applied during tillering affects grain yield in barley.

BackgroundInterstitial lung disease (ILD) is one of the most frequent extra-articular manifestations of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and leads to a significantly increased risk for morbidity and mortality compared with RA alone [1]. The analysis of Electronic Health Records (ERHs) using machine learning (ML) and Natural Language Processing (NLP) holds great promise to better characterize the disease in real-world settings.ObjectivesThis study aims to a) estimate the prevalence of RA in Spain, b) determine the frequency of RA-ILD among RA patients, and c) describe the demographic and clinical characteristics in RA/RA-ILD patients.MethodsObservational, retrospective, and multicenter study based on the secondary use of unstructured clinical data in EHRs from 6 Spanish hospitals between January 1, 2014 and December 31, 2019. The free-text information from patients’ records was captured with SAVANA’s EHRead, a validated NLP technology which extracts clinical information from EHRs and standardizes it into a SNOMED-CT-based clinical terminology [2]. The study population comprised all adult patients ≥18 years with RA in the selected period and sites. Descriptive statistics were presented in summary tables. Prevalence was calculated dividing the total number of patients with RA over the total number of attended patients. This analysis was performed by age and sex.ResultsAmong all attended patients in the participating hospitals within the study period, 11,163 patients with RA were identified; of these, 8.6% (n = 959) had RA-associated ILD (RA-ILD). The age-adjusted prevalence of RA is shown in Figure 1. The estimated prevalence (95% CI) in the overall population was 0.49 (0.37-0.60), being 0.26 (0.19-0.32) in males and 0.71 (0.54-0.87) in females. Most patients in the RA (73.9%; n = 8,250) and RA-ILD populations (63.3%, n = 607) were female (Table 1). The median age (Q1, Q3) was 60.8 (49, 74) and 67 (56, 77) years in the RA and RA-ILD groups, respectively. Regarding disease course, the time from RA to ILD diagnosis was 27.6 (3.7, 73.2) months. Most comorbidities presented higher rates in the RA-ILD population, as shown in Table 1. Among patients with available ILD subtype information (n = 618), the most common was usual interstitial pneumonia (29.8%; n = 184).Table 1.Demographics and comorbidities in the RA and RA-ILD patient populationsRA* N=11,163RA-ILD N=959Gender, n (%) Female8,250 (73.9)607 (63.3) Male2,913 (26.1)352 (36.7)Age at first mention of disease (years)1  Median (Q1, Q3)61 (49, 74)67 (56, 77)Comorbidities, n (%)Dyslipidaemia4369 (39.1)316 (33)Hypertension3851 (34.5)320 (33.4)Diabetes mellitus2970 (26.6)248 (25.9)Infections2129 (19.1)328 (34.2)Bone fracture1875 (16.8)210 (21.9)Osteoporosis1275 (11.4)150 (15.6)Malignancies1004 (9)169 (17.6)Kidney failure1006 (9)156 (16.3)Heart failure993 (8.9)184 (19.2)Depression825 (7.4)99 (10.3)Psoriasis773 (6.9)39 (4.1)Obesity732 (6.6)90 (9.4)Asthma740 (6.6)82 (8.6)Atrial Fibrillation729 (6.5)102 (10.6)*RA includes patients in the RA-ILD population. 1Patients’ age when either RA or ILD was first detected in the EHRs. RA = rheumatoid arthritis; ILD = interstitial lung diseaseConclusionThis pioneering study is the first to characterize RA-ILD using NLP methodology in a multicenter setting. By analyzing readily available real-world data in patients EHRs, we were able to estimate the prevalence of RA in the Spanish population and describe the demographic and clinical characteristics of patients with RA/RA-ILD.References[1]Bongartz T, Nannini C, Medina-Velasquez YF et al. Incidence and mortality of interstitial lung disease in rheumatoid arthritis: a population-based study. Arthritis and rheumatism 2010; 62: 1583-1591.[2]Canales L, Menke S, Marchesseau S et al. Assessing the Performance of Clinical Natural Language Processing Systems: Development of an Evaluation Methodology. JMIR Med Inform 2021; 9: e20492.AcknowledgementsRA-W-ILD Study GroupDisclosure of InterestsJose Andrés Román Ivorra Speakers bureau: AbbVie, Bristol Myers Squibb, FER, Galápagos, GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen, Lilly, Novartis, Pfizer, Consultant of: AbbVie, Bristol Myers Squibb, FER, Galápagos, GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen, Lilly, Novartis, Pfizer, Grant/research support from: AbbVie, Bristol Myers Squibb, FER, GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen, Lilly, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer, UCB, Isabel de la Morena Speakers bureau: Pfizer, Novartis, Janssen, AbbVie, MSD, UCB, Sanofi, Roche, Nordic, Lilly, NEREA COSTAS TORRIJO Speakers bureau: UCB, Novartis, Pfizer, Belen Safont Speakers bureau: AstraZeneca, Roche, Boehringer Ingelheim, Grant/research support from: Boehringer Ingelheim, J. Fernández-Melón Speakers bureau: Bristol Myers Squibb, UCB, Galapagos, Belen Nuñez Speakers bureau: Boehringer Ingelheim, Roche, Bristol Myers Squibb, Grant/research support from: Boehringer Ingelheim, Roche, Lucía Silva Fernández Speakers bureau: Bristol Myers Squibb, Consultant of: Novartis, MSD, Laura Cebrián Méndez Speakers bureau: Pfizer, Lilly, Gebro, Novartis, Consultant of: Pfizer, Leticia Lojo Consultant of: UCB, Belén López-Muñiz Speakers bureau: Boehringer Ingelheim, Roche, AstraZeneca, Novartis, Mundipharma, Gebro, GlaxoSmithKline, Ernesto Trallero Speakers bureau: Amgen, MSD, Maria Lopez Lasanta: None declared, Raul Maria Veiga Cabello: None declared, Maria Del Pilar Ahijado Guzman: None declared, Diego Benavent Speakers bureau: Janssen, Roche, Grant/research support from: Novartis, Employee of: Savana, David Vilanova Shareholder of: Bristol Myers Squibb, Employee of: Bristol Myers Squibb, Celgene, Raul Castellanos Moreira Speakers bureau: Lilly, Pfizer, Roche, Sanofi, UCB, Bristol Myers Squibb, Consultant of: Bristol Myers Squibb, Employee of: Bristol Myers Squibb, Sara Lujan Valdés Shareholder of: Bristol Myers Squibb, Employee of: Bristol Myers Squibb

Background Gaucher Disease (GD), the most prevalent glycolipid storage disease, is an autosomal recessive metabolic disorder that is caused by an inherited deficiency of the lysosomal enzyme, glycocerebrosidase. This defect leads to reduce enzyme activity, resulting in the accumulation of glucosylceramide in cells of the monocyte-macrophages linage, known as Gaucher cells. Common presenting features include anemia, thrombocytopenia, hepatosplenomegaly and bone abnormalities. Skeletal disorders include osteopenia, bone pain crisis, bone infarctions, avascular bone necrosis (of the proximal and distal end of femur, proximal end of tibia and humerus), osteolytic lesions and fractures. Currently enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) has demonstrated a fast recovery of the cytopenias and visceromegalies. Besides, it has shown beneficial effects in both bone pain and the development of osteoporosis. Objectives The objective of this work was to analyze the clinical characteristics and bone involvement of Gaucher disease patients diagnosed and controlled in our department. Methods Descriptive study including Gaucher disease patients diagnosed in our department. In all patients we analyzed clinical and laboratory data (including PTH, 25OHD, P1NP and BCTX); bone mineral density of lumbar spine and femur and MRI of spine, femur, tibia and humerus bilaterally. Results 9 GD patients (6 men and 3 women) were studied, with a mean age of 48 years (34-70), with an average time of evolution of the illness of 21 years (2-43). Currently, all patients receive ERT, with a mean duration of 10,5 years (1-16). Most of them (n=6) started with bone symptoms such as pain and bone crisis. Before received ERT, patients developed the following bone abnormalities: bone infarctions in 8 patients (89%), Erlenmeyer flask deformity in 2 patients, femur avascular necrosis in 5 patients, 80% of them required hip replacement (one of them bilaterally). Also 4 patients had been splenectomized. The study with serial MRI demonstrated that once the ERT is initiated none of the bone manifestations (bone infarctions and avascular necrosis) progressed in any of the patients. GD patients present mean values of 25OHD of 27,4±10,5 ng/ml. Insufficient vitamin D levels (25OHD <30 ng/ml) were observed in most GD patients (87%), 14% showed deficient levels (25OHD <20 ng/ml). As for bone remodeling markers we found values of P1NP 60,75±34 ng/ml and bCTX 552±240 pg/ml. None of the patients received supplementation with calcium and vitamin D. According to densitometry criteria 22% of the patients have osteoporosis and 22% are in the range of osteopenia. 1 pathological fracture was registered (vertebral). Conclusions ERT prevents progression of bone abnormalities in GD. Vitamin D insufficiency is frequent in GD and almost half of the patients have decreased bone mass. Disclosure of Interest None declared DOI 10.1136/annrheumdis-2014-eular.5379