Characteristics of Liver Transplantation in Argentina: A Multicenter Study

Introduction: There is a lack of information regarding outcomes after liver transplant in Latin America. Objectives: This study sought to describe outcomes after liver transplant in adult patients from Argentina. Methods: We performed an ambispective cohort study of adult patients transplanted between June 2010 and October 2012 in 6 centers from Argentina. Only patients who survived after the first 48 hours postransplantation were included. Pretransplantation and posttransplantation data were collected. Results: A total of 200 patients were included in the study. Median age at time of transplant was 50 (interquartile range [IQR] 26 to 54) years. In total, 173 (86%) patients had cirrhosis, and the most frequent etiology in these patients was hepatitis C (32%). A total of 35 (17%) patients were transplanted with hepatocellular carcinoma. In patients with cirrhosis, the median Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score at time of liver transplant was 25 (IQR 19 to 30). Median time on the waiting list for elective patients was 101 (IQR 27 to 295) days, and 3 (IQR 2 to 4) days for urgent patients. Almost 40% of the patients were readmitted during the first 6 months after liver transplant. Acute rejection occurred in 27% of the patients. Biliary and vascular complications were reported in 39 (19%) and 19 (9%) patients, respectively. Renal failure, diabetes, and dyslipidemia were present in 40 (26%), 87 (57%), and 77 (50%) at 2 years, respectively. Conclusions: We believe the information contained in this article might be of value for reviewing current practices and developing local policies.Fil: Haddad, L.. Instituto Universitario del Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Marciano, S.. Instituto Universitario del Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Cleres, M.. Fundación Favaloro; ArgentinaFil: Zerega, A.. Sanatorio Allende; ArgentinaFil: Piñero, F.. Hospital Universitario Austral; ArgentinaFil: Orozco, F.. Hospital Aleman; ArgentinaFil: Braslavsky, G.. Hospital General de Agudos Cosme Argerich; ArgentinaFil: Mendizabal, M.. Hospital Universitario Austral; ArgentinaFil: Gondolesi, Gabriel Eduardo. Fundación Favaloro; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Medicina Traslacional, Trasplante y Bioingeniería. Fundación Favaloro. Instituto de Medicina Traslacional, Trasplante y Bioingeniería; ArgentinaFil: Gil, O.. Sanatorio Allende; ArgentinaFil: Silva, M.. Hospital Universitario Austral; ArgentinaFil: Mastai, Ricardo. Hospital Aleman; ArgentinaFil: Imvertaza, O.. Hospital General de Agudos Cosme Argerich; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Medicina Traslacional, Trasplante y Bioingeniería. Fundación Favaloro. Instituto de Medicina Traslacional, Trasplante y Bioingeniería; ArgentinaFil: Descalzi, V.. Fundación Favaloro; ArgentinaFil: Gadano, A.. Instituto Universitario del Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires; Argentin

Real-time observation of dissipative soliton formation in nonlinear polarization rotation mode-locked fibre lasers

Formation of coherent structures and patterns from unstable uniform state or noise is a fundamental physical phenomenon that occurs in various areas of science ranging from biology to astrophysics. Understanding of the underlying mechanisms of such processes can both improve our general interdisciplinary knowledge about complex nonlinear systems and lead to new practical engineering techniques. Modern optics with its high precision measurements offers excellent test-beds for studying complex nonlinear dynamics, though capturing transient rapid formation of optical solitons is technically challenging. Here we unveil the build-up of dissipative soliton in mode-locked fibre lasers using dispersive Fourier transform to measure spectral dynamics and employing autocorrelation analysis to investigate temporal evolution. Numerical simulations corroborate experimental observations, and indicate an underlying universality in the pulse formation. Statistical analysis identifies correlations and dependencies during the build-up phase. Our study may open up possibilities for real-time observation of various nonlinear structures in photonic systems

Endogenous risk premium and terms of trade shocks: evidence for developing countries

This paper assesses whether the increase in terms of trade provokes a reduction in the endogenous risk premium in developing countries. Following Gertler and Rogoff (1990) we suppose that the risk premium in economies affected by moral hazard in credit markets depends negatively on the size of the collateral (i.e. natural resources) that guarantee the liabilities. The hypothesis is that terms-of-trade shocks raise the value of this collateral. We alternatively apply five panel data estimation procedures (POLS, FGLS, RE, FE and FEFGLS) to two alternative data sets. Countries were assified into four income groups according to the World Bank procedure.Este trabajo investiga si el incremento en los términos de intercambio provoca una reducción en el premio por riesgo endógeno en los países en desarrollo. Siguiendo a Gertler y Rogoff (1990), se asume que el premio por riesgo en economías que sufren riesgo moral en los mercados de crédito depende negativamente del tamaño del colateral (vr.gr. recursos aturales) que garantiza las obligaciones. La hipótesis es que los shocks de términos de intercambio elevan el valor de este colateral. Se aplican cinco procedimientos de estimación de datos de panel (POLS, FGLS, RE, FE y FEFGLS por sus siglas en inglés) a dos muestras de datos alternativas. Los países fueron clasificados en cuatro grupo de ingresos de acuerdo al proocedimiento del Banco Mundial

The effect of Platelet Lysate on osteoblast proliferation associated with\ua0a transient increase of the inflammatory response in bone regeneration.

Platelet Lysate (PL) contains a cocktail of growth factors and cytokines, which actively participates in tissue repair and its clinical application has been broadly described. The aim of this study was to assess the regenerative potential of PL for bone repair. We demonstrated that PL stimulation induces a transient increase of the inflammatory response in quiescent human osteoblasts, via NF-kB activation, COX-2 induction, PGE2 production and secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Furthermore, we showed that long-term PL stimulation enhances proliferation of actively replicating osteoblasts, without affecting their differentiation potential, along with changes of cell morphology, resulting in increased cell density at confluence. In confluent resting osteoblasts, PL treatment induced resumption of proliferation, change in cell morphology and increase of cell density at confluence. A burst of PL treatment (24-h) was sufficient to trigger such processes in both conditions. These results correlated with up-regulation of the proliferative and survival pathways ERKs and Akt and with cell cycle re-activation via induction of CyclinD1 and phosphorylation of Rb, following PL stimulation. Our findings demonstrate that PL treatment results in activation and expansion of resting osteoblasts, without affecting their differentiation potential. Therefore PL represents a good therapeutic candidate in regenerative medicine for bone repair