Unidad de diagnóstico rápido (UDR) en patología tumoral

Objetivos: Desarrollar una UDR, vinculada al Servicio de Urgencias Hospitalario (SUH), proporcionando prioridad en el radiodiagnóstico y mayor accesibilidad a las consultas de especializada, supone un abordaje de la patología tumoral más dinámico. Nuestro objetivo fue analizar el impacto de la UDR en el manejo de dicha patología. Metodología: Estudio descriptivo, retrospectivo, de base poblacional, realizado en la Clínica USP-Palmaplanas, hospital de 150 camas Analizando el manejo del total de pacientes con tumores atendidos en la UDR desde abril 2006 a marzo 2008. Se utilizaron los indicadores de actividad y calidad creados para dicho fin. Resultados: Total pacientes atendidos en la UDR 2473, total pacientes con diagnóstico de patología tumoral 73. Tiempo de espera desde su atención en el SUH hasta valoración en la UDR (<48h 41%, 2-4 días 36%), tiempo de espera desde atención inicial- final en las UDR (mismo día 17%, <8 días 64%), tiempo de espera desde alta UDR hasta su atención para el abordaje terapéutico (<48h en el 91%), se cursaron 11 ingresos hospitalarios tras el diagnóstico desde la UDR. Conclusiones: La UDR permite agilizar el diagnóstico y tratamiento precoces de la patología tumoral, mejorando claramente la eficiencia y la seguridad con una reducción en la estancia media hospitalaria y en la carga emocional del paciente.Objectives: The implementation of a Hospital Emergency Unit based RDU in order to prioritise diagnostic imaging and the access to specialised outpatient clinics, has dynamized the management of patients first diagnosed with cancer. Our objective was to analyze the impact of an RDU in the management of this group of patients. Methods: Descriptive, retrospective study of the population seen at USP Palmaplanas Clinic, a 150 bed hospital, which analyses the management of patients seen in the RDU from April 2006 to March 2008. Activity and quality indicators were created to support this study. Results: Total number of patients seen in the RDU: 2473. 73 of these patients were diagnosed with possible cancer. Waiting times to be seen in RDU from the Emergency Unit: <48 hours in 41% of the cases, 2-4 days in 36%. Waiting times from first visit at RDU to last visit: same day in 17%, <8 days in 64%. Waiting times from first visit to RDU to treatment: <48 hours in 91% of the cases. 11 patients were admitted to hospital for management. Discussion: RDU allows a dynamic management of patients with cancer, from first diagnosis to early treatment, improving patient care, efficiency and safety. It also reduces hospital stay and reduces patients’ emotional distress

Psychometric Properties of the Barrier Autoinform for the Practice of the Physical Exercise (ABPEF)

El estudio consistió en examinar las propiedades psicométricas del cuestionario de autoinforme de barreras para la práctica del ejercicio físico (ABPEF) y comprobar el efecto del género sobre dichas barreras. Se han estudiado sus propiedades psicométricas con una muestra de 342 adolescentes (media de edad: 15.02±1.86). Se realizaron análisis de confiabilidad, análisis factorial exploratorio, correlación ítem con puntaje total y análisis factorial confirmatorio. Se encuentra una buena confiabilidad interna (α = .86), adecuada correlación ítem con puntaje total, y la presencia de cuatro factores en el análisis factorial exploratorio con correlaciones significativas entre las mismas. El análisis factorial confirmatorio mostró adecuado ajuste a los datos de un modelo tetrafactorial del cuestionario (χ2 /gl = 3.696; GFI=.89; AGFI=.86; RMSEA=.061). El género femenino presenta mayores barreras para la práctica del ejercicio físico. Este cuestionario es un instrumento fiable y válido y se sugiere su uso en futuras investigacionesThe objective of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the self-report questionnaire for physical exercise (ABPEF). And to chek the effect of gender on those barriers. Their psychometric properties were studied with a sample of 342 adolescents (mean age: 15.02 ± 1.86). We performed reliability analysis, exploratory factor analysis, item correlation with total score and confirmatory factor analysis. We found a good internal reliability (α = .86), an adequate item correlation with total score, and the presence of four factors in the exploratory factor analysis with significant correlations between them. The confirmatory factor analysis showed adequate adjustment to the data of a tetrafactorial model of the questionnaire (χ2 / gl = 3.696; GFI = .89; AGFI = .86; RMSEA = .061). The female gender presents greater barriers to the practice of physical exercise. This questionnaire is a reliable and valid instrument for the population under study, and its use in future research is suggeste

Obesity dependent metabolic signatures associated with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease progression

Our understanding of the mechanisms by which nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) progresses from simple steatosis to steatohepatitis (NASH) is still very limited. Despite the growing number of studies linking the disease with altered serum metabolite levels, an obstacle to the development of metabolome-based NAFLD predictors has been the lack of large cohort data from biopsy-proven patients matched for key metabolic features such as obesity. We studied 467 biopsied individuals with normal liver histology (n=90) or diagnosed with NAFLD (steatosis, n=246; NASH, n=131), randomly divided into estimation (80% of all patients) and validation (20% of all patients) groups. Qualitative determinations of 540 serum metabolite variables were performed using ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (UPLCMS). The metabolic profile was dependent on patient body-mass index (BMI), suggesting that the NAFLD pathogenesis mechanism may be quite different depending on an individual’s level of obesity. A BMI-stratified multivariate model based on the NAFLD serum metabolic profile was used to separate patients with and without NASH. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.87 in the estimation and 0.85 in the validation group. The cutoff (0.54) corresponding to maximum average diagnostic accuracy (0.82) predicted NASH with a sensitivity of 0.71 and a specificity of 0.92 (negative/positive predictive values = 0.82/0.84). The present data, indicating that a BMI-dependent serum metabolic profile may be able to reliably distinguish NASH from steatosis patients, have significant implications for the development of NASH biomarkers and potential novel targets for therapeutic intervention

Electrochemical devices for cholesterol detection

Cholesterol can be considered as a biomarker of illnesses such as heart and coronary artery diseases or arteriosclerosis. Therefore, the fast determination of its concentration in blood is interesting as a means of achieving an early diagnosis of these unhealthy conditions. Electrochemical sensors and biosensors have become a potential tool for selective and sensitive detection of this biomolecule, combining the analytical advantages of electrochemical techniques with the selective recognition features of modified electrodes. This review covers the different approaches carried out in the development of electrochemical sensors for cholesterol, differentiating between enzymatic biosensors and non-enzymatic systems, highlighting lab-on-a-chip devices. A description of the different modification procedures of the working electrode has been included and the role of the different functional materials used has been discussed

Determination of aluminium using different techniques based on the Al(III)-morin complex

Three different methods for the determination of Al(III) in aqueous samples were compared. The different described procedures were based on the formation of the Al(III)-morin complex. UV–Vis spectrophotometry, spectrofluorimetry and differential pulse adsorptive stripping voltammetry (DPAdSV) techniques were compared under optimized experimental conditions. The DPAdSV method showed a better performance for the analysis of Al(III) in terms of capability of detection (70 nM) in comparison with the value obtained for UV–Vis spectrophotometric (300 nM) and spectrofluorimetic (110 nM) techniques. Thus, DPAdSV method was selected for the analysis of aluminium in river, tap and bottled water samples under the following optimized experimental conditions: pH = 4.4, deposition potential = +243 mV, deposition time = 210 s, giving satisfactory results

Effectiveness of a multifactorial intervention in increasing adherence to the mediterranean diet among patients with diabetes mellitus type 2: a controlled and randomized study (EMID Study)

The Mediterranean diet (MD) is recognized as one of the healthiest dietary patterns and has benefits such as improving glycaemic control among patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM). Our aim is to assess the effectiveness of a multifactorial intervention to improve adherence to theMD, diet quality and biomedical parameters. The EMID study is a randomized and controlled clinical trial with two parallel groups and a 12-month follow-up period. The study included 204 subjects between 25–70 years with T2DM. The participants were randomized into intervention group (IG) and control group (CG). Both groups received brief advice about healthy eating and physical activity. The IG participants additionally took part in a food workshop, five walks and received a smartphone application for three months. The population studied had a mean age of 60.6 years. At the 3-month follow-up visit, there were improvements in adherence to the MD and diet quality of 2.2 and 2.5 points, compared to the baseline visit, respectively, in favour of the IG. This tendency of the improvement was maintained, in favour of the IG, at the 12-month follow-up visit. In conclusion, the multifactorial intervention performed could improve adherence to the MD and diet quality among patients with T2DM.Regional Health Management through the 2016 grants to carry out research projects in biomedicine, health management and socio-health care (GRS 1276/B/16), the 2016 program for the professional development of nurses in their research activity (BOCYL-D-11022016-2) and the 2015 incentive program for nurses who have completed their residency (ORDER SAN / 360/2015). The study was also co-financed by the Carlos III Health Institute and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) (RD 16/0007/0003)

Influence of exogenous enzymes in presence of Salix babylonica extract on digestibility, microbial protein synthesis and performance of lambs fed maize silage

In Mexico, there are native trees that can be used as an alternative feed when forages are scarce and of poor quality in the dry season (Palma et al. 1995). However, the use of plants or their extracts as feed additives is restricted by their secondary compound content (Salem et al. 2014c): although the ideal concentrations can modify and support the utilization of nutrients in the rumen (Salem et al. 2014a, b, c), an inverse relationship between secondary compound concentration and animal performance has been observed (Vasta & Luciano 2011; Salem et al. 2011a, 2013).Sixteen Suffolk lambs with 29 ± 2·0 kg body weight were housed in individual cages for 60 days and allotted to four treatments in a completely randomized design to determine the effect of administration of Salix babylonica (SB) extract and/or exogenous enzymes (ZADO®) on lamb performance. Lambs were fed with 300 g/kg concentrate (160 g crude protein (CP)/kg, 13·4 MJ metabolizable energy (ME)/kg dry matter (DM)) and 700 g/kg maize silage (80 g/kg CP, 11·7 MJ ME/kg DM) as a basal diet (control). Another three treatments were tested; the SB extract was administered at 30 ml/day (SB) and exogenous enzymes ZADO® (i.e. an exogenous enzyme cocktail in a powder form) directly fed at 10 g/day (EZ), while the last treatment contained ZADO® at 10 g/day + SB extract at 30 ml/day (EZSB). Lambs of the treatment EZSB had the greatest average daily weight gain (ADG) and feed conversion throughout the period of the experiment. However, during the first 30 days SB was more effective for ADG than EZ and vice versa during the last 30 days of the experiment.Water consumption was greater for SB, followed by EZ and EZSB compared to the control. Intakes ofDMand organicmatter (OM) were the highest in EZSB followed by EZ, which had the greatest neutral detergent fibre, acid detergent fibre (ADF) and nitrogen (N) intakes. The EZSB treatment had the greatest DM and OM digestibilities compared to the other treatments; however, SB had the greatest ADF digestibility. Combination of EZ and SB had the best N balance. Allantoin, total purine derivatives (PD), allantoin : -creatinine ratio, and PD: creatinine ratio were increased in EZSB compared to the other treatments. However, EZ supplementation increased uric acid concentration, whereas the microbial N (g N/day) and metabolizable protein (g N/day) were increased in EZSB versus the other treatments. It can be concluded that addition of 10 g ZADO® in combination with S. babylonica extract at 30 ml/day in the diet of lambs increased feed intake, nutrient digestibility and daily gain, with a positive impact on the use of N and microbial protein synthesis

Pathways to quiescence: SHARDS view on the star formation histories of massive quiescent galaxies at 1.0 < z < 1.5

et al.We present star formation histories (SFHs) for a sample of 104 massive (stellar massM> 1010 M) quiescent galaxies (MQGs) at z = 1.0-1.5 from the analysis of spectrophotometric data from the Survey for High-z Absorption Red and Dead Sources (SHARDS) and HST/WFC3 G102 and G141 surveys of the GOODS-North field, jointly with broad-band observations from ultraviolet (UV) to far-infrared (far-IR). The sample is constructed on the basis of restframe UVJ colours and specific star formation rates (sSFRs = SFR/Mass). The spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of each galaxy are compared to models assuming a delayed exponentially declining SFH. A Monte Carlo algorithm characterizes the degeneracies, which we are able to break taking advantage of the SHARDS data resolution, by measuring indices such as MgUV and D4000. The population of MQGs shows a duality in their properties. The sample is dominated (85 per cent) by galaxies with young mass-weighted ages, t 1.0, when our galaxies were 0.5-1.0 Gyr old. According to these SFHs, all the MQGs experienced a luminous infrared galaxy phase that lasts for ~500 Myr, and half of them an ultraluminous infrared galaxy phase for ~100 Myr. We find that the MQG population is almost assembled at z ~ 1, and continues evolving passively with few additions to the population.We acknowledge support from the Spanish Programa Nacional de Astronomía y Astrofísica under grants AYA2012-31277. NCL acknowledges financial support from AYA2013-46724-P. AAH and AHC acknowledge support from the Spanish Programa Nacional de Astronomía y Astrofísica under grant AYA2012-31447, which is partly funded by the Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional programme. The work of AC is supported by the STARFORM Sinergia Project funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation. SC acknowledges support from the ERC via an Advanced Grant under grant agreement no. 321323-NEOGAL. DC thanks AYA2012-32295. GB acknowledges support for this work from the National Autonomous University of México (UNAM), through grant PAPIIT IG100115.Peer Reviewe