Practical Aspects of Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation for Patients with Poor-risk Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia

Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation has become a viable option for younger patients with poor-risk chronic lymphocytic leukemia. The results obtained with either conventional or reduced-intensity conditioning regimens have been recently evaluated and compared with alternative nontransplant strategies. This manuscript deals with practical aspects of the procedure, including patient and donor selection, conditioning regimen, GVHD prophylaxis, disease monitoring, infectious and noninfectious complications, and timing of the procedure. Finally, we speculate on how we could improve the results obtained with the procedure and new advances currently in clinical trials

Control psicológico parental y violencia escolar entre adolescentes en una muestra mexicana

Se analizó la asociación entre control psicológico parental y violencia escolar en una muestra de 403 adolescentes (50.1% hombres y 49.9% mujeres), con edades entre 12 y 16 años (Media= 13.21; D.E=.85), de dos secundarias en el estado de Colima, México. Se aplicaron dos cuestionario tipo Likert, uno para identificar las situaciones de violencia escolar (victimización y agresión) y otro para evaluar la percepción de los adolescentes respecto al control psicológico ejercido por sus papás y mamás. Se encontró que las mujeres comparadas con los hombres, perciben mayor control psicológico materno hacia ellas; con respecto al control psicológico paterno, las diferencias por sexo no fueron significativas. Los resultados también muestran una correlación positiva baja pero significativa, tanto para las situaciones de agresión como para las de victimización, con lo que se evidencia el valor predictivo que puede tener la variable de control psicológico parental sobre la dinámica del acoso escolar.We analyzed the association between parental psychological control and school violence in a sample of 403 adolescents (50.1% male and 49.9% female), aged between 12 and 16 years (M = 13.21, SD = .85), two secondary schools in the state of Colima, Mexico. We applied two Likert questionnaires, one to identify situations of school violence (victimization and aggression) and one to assess adolescents' perceptions regarding psychological control exercised by their dads and moms. They found that women compared to men, perceive greater maternal psychological control to them; with respect to parental psychological control, gender differences were not significant. The results also show a low but significant positive correlation, both aggression and situations for victimization, which is evidence that the predictive value of the variable can have parental psychological control on the dynamics of bullying.peerReviewe

La heurística en los virus

La heurística tiene dos objetivos: el uso de algoritmos en buen tiempo de ejecución y que sea óptimo para el trabajo, en caso de los virus su objetivo es penetrar al sistema con éxito sin ser detectado por algún sistema de protección, con la finalidad de infectar la computadora, archivos entre otras cosas. Para que los virus no sean detectados y que puedan sobrevivir más los hackers o personas malintencionadas utilizan métodos heurísticos para que los antivirus no los puedan detectar, tanto la base de datos del mismo programa, hasta el código malicioso con el que se generó. Generalmente, la programación heurística es considerada como una de las aplicaciones de inteligencia artificial y también como herramientas para la solución de problemas. Los antivirus utilizan diferentes técnicas para detectar los virus, malware entre otras cosas. Los antivirus pueden reconocer la firma de un virus, entre más instrucciones específicas contengan el virus o el código malicioso estas definen como comportarse y actuar

Apolipoprotein C-III in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus

Background: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) has been associated with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (CV) and an altered lipid profile. High levels of apolipoprotein C-III (ApoC3) are associated with elevated triglyceride levels and an increased risk of CV. In the present study, we aimed to study circulating ApoC3 in patients with SLE and describe its relationship with the manifestations of the disease. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study that included 186 patients with SLE. Disease-related data, CV comorbidity, full lipid profile, and serum levels of ApoC3 were assessed. A multivariable regression analysis was performed to study how ApoC3 was related to SLE features. Results: Classic CV risk factors were significantly and strongly associated with circulating ApoC3. After a fully multivariable analysis that included classic CV risk factors and lipid profile molecules, SLICC damage (beta coef. 0.10 [95% CI 0.02?0.19] mg/dl, 0.020) and Katz severity (beta coef. 0.11 [95% CI 0.03-0.19] mg/dl, p = 0.011) indices and SLEDAI activity score (beta coef. 0.05 [95% CI 0.05-0.08] mg/dl, p = 0.004) were all independently associated with higher levels of circulating ApoC3. Conclusion: Among SLE patients, disease activity, severity, and disease damage are independently associated with higher ApoC3 serum levels.Funding: This work was supported by a grant to I.F-A. from the Spanish Ministry of Health, Subdirección General de Evaluación y Fomento de la Investigación, Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica y Técnica y de Innovación 2013–2016 and by Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional—FEDER—(Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias, PI17/00083)

Impact of the functional CD5 polymorphism A471V on the response of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia to conventional chemotherapy regimens.

Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) represents an abnormal clonal expansion of mature antigen-experienced CD5+ B1a cells (Chiorazzi et al, 2005), which present with a highly heterogeneous clinical course depending on associated chromosomal aberrations, somatic mutations within the immunoglobulin variable heavy chain genes (IGHV), and surface CD38 or intracytoplasmic ZAP-70 expression. Given that key signalling components of the B-cell receptor (BCR) are relevant contributors to the variable clinical behaviour of CLL (Stevenson et al, 2011) we explored the influence of functionally relevant germline CD5 variants on CLL prognosis

Electrical properties of reduced 3YTZP ceramics consolidated by spark plasma sintering

3 mol% Yttria doped zirconia ceramics were consolidated by spark plasma sintering (SPS) at two sintering temperatures with the aim of achieving two different reduction levels. Microstructural characterization of the ceramics was performed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Electrical properties were investigated by means of impedance spectroscopy from room temperature up to 500 °C. The two ceramics presented a remarkably different electrical behavior. The effect of the extra electrons introduced by reduction during SPS on both the bulk and the grain boundary conductivity was analyzed and discussed.España Mineco MAT2009-11078 MAT2012-34217Junta de Andalucia P12-FQM-107

Conocimientos sobre reanimación cardiopulmonar básica y avanzada de adultos de médicos residentes de un hospital de tercer nivel en Paraguay

El objetivo de este trabajo consistió en determinar el nivel de conocimiento que tienen los médicos residentes del Hospital Nacional de Itauguá sobre reanimación cardiopulmonar básica y avanzada en adultos. Estudio observacional, descriptivo, de corte transverso, con muestreo no probabilístico de casos consecutivos que incluyó a médicos residentes del Hospital Nacional de Itauguá, de distintas especialidades. Los participantes completaron un cuestionario de 20 preguntas seleccionadas del banco de preguntas de las guías de Soporte Vital Básico para profesionales de la salud (BLS) y Soporte Vital Avanzado en Adultos (ACLS) de la American Heart Association, actualización del 2010. Participaron del estudio 135 médicos, de los cuales 76 (56,3%) fueron del sexo masculino y 59 (43,7%) del sexo femenino. La edad media de los participantes fue de 27,57 ± 4 años, estando 92 (68,1%) médicos con edades comprendidas entre los 26 y 31 años. En cuanto al conocimiento de los participantes sobre la reanimación cardiopulmonar de adultos, 113 (83,7%) presentaron un nivel no satisfactorio, al responder menos de 17 preguntas del cuestionario de manera correcta. La evidente deficiencia que mostraron los médicos residentes participantes de este estudio en sus conocimientos sobre reanimación cardiopulmonar, nos hace plantear la necesidad de insistir que todas las Facultades de Medicina del país incorporen un mejor y mayor enfoque teórico y práctico de los contenidos sobre reanimación cardiopulmonar dentro de sus planes de estudio e implementen estrategias de capacitación continua en esta área

A topical microemulsion for the prevention of allergic rhinitis symptoms: results of a randomized, controlled, double-blind, parallel group, multicentre, multinational clinical trial (Nares study)

Background: Since barrier protection measures to avoid contact with allergens are being increasingly developed, we assessed the clinical efficacy and tolerability of a topical nasal microemulsion made of glycerol esters in patients with allergic rhinitis. Methods: Randomized, controlled, double-blind, parallel group, multicentre, multinational clinical trial in which adult patients with allergic rhinitis or rhinoconjunctivitis due to sensitization to birch, grass or olive tree pollens received treatment with topical microemulsion or placebo during the pollen seasons. Efficacy variables included scores in the mini-RQLQ questionnaire, number and severity of nasal, ocular and lung signs and symptoms, need for symptomatic medications and patients" satisfaction with treatment. Adverse events were also recorded. Results: Demographic characteristics were homogeneous between groups and mini-RQLQ scores did not differ significantly at baseline (visit 1). From symptoms recorded in the diary cards, the ME group showed statistically significant better scores for nasal congestion (0.72 vs. 1.01; p = 0.017) and mean total nasal symptoms (0.7 vs. 0.9; p = 0.045). At visit 2 (pollen season), lower values were observed in the mini-RQLQ in the ME group, although there were no statistically significant differences between groups in both full analysis set (FAS) and patients completing treatment (PPS) populations. The results obtained in the nasal symptoms domain of the mini-RQLQ at visit 2 showed the highest difference (−0.43; 95% CI: -0.88 to 0.02) for the ME group in the FAS population. The topical microemulsion was safe and well tolerated and no major discomforts were observed. Satisfaction rating with the treatment was similar between the groups. Conclusions: The topical application of the microemulsion is a feasible and safe therapy in the prevention of allergic symptoms, particularly nasal congestion

Patterns of change in treatment, response, and outcome in patients with follicular lymphoma over the last four decades: a single-center experience.

Although the introduction of immunotherapy has improved outcomes for follicular lymphoma (FL) patients, histological transformation (HT) and early relapse still confer a poor prognosis. We sought to describe the patterns of change in treatment, response, and outcome of FL patients at our institution over the last four decades. Seven hundred and twenty-seven patients (389 F/338 M; median age, 57 years) consecutively diagnosed with grade 1-3a FL between 1980 and 2017, categorized into four decades according to the time of diagnosis, constituted the study population. Clinical characteristics, treatment, response, absolute and relative survival, HT, second malignancies (SM), and causes of death were assessed. Median OS for the entire cohort was 17.6 years. From decade 1 to 4, there was an increase in the complete response rate (48 to 70%), progression-free survival (40 to 56% at 5 years), OS (77 to 86% at 5 years), and relative survival ratio (0.83 to 0.94 at 5 years), with no significant differences in the risk of HT or SM. Lymphoma remained the most common cause of death in all four decades. These findings illustrate the overall improvement in outcome for FL patients, but support the need for further research into risk stratification and management

Pedogenic information from fine-sand. A study in Mediterranean soils

The fine sand fraction (50–250μm) of Mediterranean soils from southern Spainprovides valuable information on soil genesis and the origin of their parentmaterials. This study considers the whole fine sand and heavy fine sand(ρ> 2.82 g cm−3) of Luvisols, Calcisols and Fluvisols, which form achronosequence (ages from 600 to 0.3 ka) of the River Guadalquivir terrace sys-tem. Advanced techniques (X-ray diffraction, inductively coupled plasma massspectrometry, inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy, vari-able pressure scanning electron microscope with an energy dispersive X-rayspectroscopy system and Raman analysis) were employed. Inheritance is theprincipal pedogenic process. The whole fine sand consisted of carbonates (cal-cite and dolomite), tectosilicates (quartz, K-feldspar and plagioclases),phyllosilicates (illite/moscovite, biotite, Na-mica, chlorite, kaolinite, inter-stratified vermiculite-chlorite, vermiculite-illite and smectite-illite) and ironoxides (goethite and haematite). The minor minerals (rutile, anatase, ilmenite,zircon, staurolite, monazite, barite, apatite, andalusite, garnet and titanite) areconcentrated, also through inheritance, in the heavy fine sand. However, thereis also substantiated evidence for neoformation of rutile in these soils, neverreported previously. In addition, we report that (a) the geochemical indices cal-culated in fine sand (SiO2/CaO, Chemical Index of Weathering (CIW),Weathering Index of Parker (WIP), Weathering Index (WI), Base DepletionIndex (BDI), Weathering Ratio (WR) and Sr/Zr) are closely related to soil age,allowing chronofunctions to be established, and (b) geochemical indices pro-vide information on the origin of soils and permit the establishment of a“criti-cal point”corresponding to“time zero;”that is, the start of pedogenicalteration of the parent materia