Pathogenesis of sudden death following water immersion (immersion syndrome)

Sympathetic activity under cold stress is investigated. Predominantly vagal cardio-depressive reflexes are discussed besides currently known mechanisms of sudden death after water immersion. Pronounced circulatory centralization in diving animals as well as following exposure in cold water indicates additional sympathetic activity. In cold water baths of 15 C, measurements indicate an increase in plasma catecholamine levels by more than 300 percent. This may lead to cardiac arrhythmias by the following mechanisms: cold water essentially induces sinus bradycardia; brady-and tachycardiarrhythmias may supervene as secondary complications; sinusbradycardia may be enhanced by sympathetic hypertonus. Furthermore, ectopic dysrhythmias are liable to be induced by the strictly sympathetic innervation of the ventricle. Myocardial ischemia following a rise in peripheral blood pressure constitutes another arrhythmogenic factor. Some of these reactions are enhanced by alcohol intoxication

Simple method for the simulation of multiple elastic scattering of electrons

A screened Rutherford cross section is modified by means of a correction factor to obtain the proper transport cross section computed by partial¿wave analysis. The correction factor is tabulated for electron energies in the range 0¿100 keV and for elements in the range from Z=4 to 82. The modified screened Rutherford cross section is shown to be useful as an approximation for the simulation of plural and multiple scattering. Its performance and limitations are exemplified for electrons scattered in Al and Au

Recent advances in food allergy

Food allergy is a public health issue that has significantly increased worldwide in the past decade, affecting consumers’ quality of life and making increasing demands on health service resources. Despite recent advances in many areas of diagnosis and treatment, our general knowledge of the basic mechanisms of the disease remain limited i.e., not at pace with the exponential number of new cases and the explosion of new technologies. Many important key questions remain: What defines a major allergen? Why do some individuals develop food allergies and others do not? Which are the environmental factors? Could the environmental factors be monitored through epigenetics or modified by changes in the microbiome? Can tolerance to food be induced? Why are some foods more likely to trigger allergies than others? Does the route and timing of exposure have any role on sensitization? These and many other related questions remain unanswered. In this short review some of these topics are addressed in the light of recent advances in the area

Differential response of human basophil activation markers: a multi-parameter flow cytometry approach

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Basophils are circulating cells involved in hypersensitivity reactions and allergy but many aspects of their activation, including the sensitivity to external triggering factors and the molecular aspects of cell responses, are still to be focused. In this context, polychromatic flow cytometry (PFC) is a proper tool to investigate basophil function, as it allows to distinguish the expression of several membrane markers upon activation in multiple experimental conditions. </p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Cell suspensions were prepared from leukocyte buffy coat of K2-EDTA anticoagulated blood specimens; about 1500-2500 cellular events for each tested sample, gated in the lymphocyte CD45dim area and then electronically purified as HLADRnon expressing/CD123bright, were identified as basophilic cells. Basophil activation with fMLP, anti-IgE and calcium ionophore A23187 was evaluated by studying up-regulation of the indicated membrane markers with a two-laser six-color PFC protocol.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Following stimulation, CD63, CD13, CD45 and the ectoenzyme CD203c up-regulated their membrane expression, while CD69 did not; CD63 expression occurred immediately (within 60 sec) but only in a minority of basophils, even at optimal agonist doses (in 33% and 14% of basophils, following fMLP and anti-IgE stimulation respectively). CD203c up-regulation occurred in the whole basophil population, even in CD63non expressing cells. Dose-dependence curves revealed CD203c as a more sensitive marker than CD63, in response to fMLP but not in response to anti-IgE and to calcium ionophore.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Use of polychromatic flow cytometry allowed efficient basophil electronic purification and identification of different behaviors of the major activation markers. The simultaneous use of two markers of activation and careful choice of activator are essential steps for reliable assessment of human basophil functions.</p

Lapatinib Induces Autophagy, Apoptosis and Megakaryocytic Differentiation in Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia K562 Cells

Lapatinib is an oral, small-molecule, dual tyrosine kinase inhibitor of epidermal growth factor receptors (EGFR, or ErbB/Her) in solid tumors. Little is known about the effect of lapatinib on leukemia. Using human chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) K562 cells as an experimental model, we found that lapatinib simultaneously induced morphological changes resembling apoptosis, autophagy, and megakaryocytic differentiation. Lapatinib-induced apoptosis was accompanied by a decrease in mitochondrial transmembrane potential and was attenuated by the pancaspase inhibitor z-VAD-fmk, indicating a mitochondria-mediated and caspase-dependent pathway. Lapatinib-induced autophagic cell death was verified by LC3-II conversion, and upregulation of Beclin-1. Further, autophagy inhibitor 3-methyladenine as well as autophagy-related proteins Beclin-1 (ATG6), ATG7, and ATG5 shRNA knockdown rescued the cells from lapatinib-induced growth inhibition. A moderate number of lapatinib-treated K562 cells exhibited features of megakaryocytic differentiation. In summary, lapatinib inhibited viability and induced multiple cellular events including apoptosis, autophagic cell death, and megakaryocytic differentiation in human CML K562 cells. This distinct activity of lapatinib against CML cells suggests potential for lapatinib as a therapeutic agent for treatment of CML. Further validation of lapatinib activity in vivo is warranted

CD133/prominin-1 is a potential therapeutic target for antibody-drug conjugates in hepatocellular and gastric cancers

CD133/prominin-1 is a pentaspan transmembrane glycoprotein overexpressed in various solid tumours including colorectal and glioblastomas. CD133 was found here to be highly expressed in ⩾50% of pancreatic, gastric and intrahepatic cholangiocarcinomas. Quantitative flow cytometric analysis showed that a panel of established hepatocellular, pancreatic and gastric cancer cell lines expressed CD133 at levels higher than normal epithelial cells or bone marrow progenitor cells. A murine anti-human CD133 antibody (AC133) conjugated to a potent cytotoxic drug, monomethyl auristatin F (MMAF), effectively inhibited the growth of Hep3B hepatocellular and KATO III gastric cancer cells in vitro with IC50 values of 2–7 ng ml−1. MMAF induced apoptosis in the cancer cells as measured by caspase activation. The anti-CD133-drug conjugate (AC133-vcMMAF) was shown to internalise and colocalised with the lysosomal marker CD107a in the sensitive cell lines. In contrast, in the resistant cell line Su.86.86, the conjugate internalised and colocalised with the caveolae marker, Cav-1. Addition of ammonium chloride, an inhibitor of lysosomal trafficking and processing, suppressed the cytotoxic effect of AC133-vcMMAF in both Hep3B and KATO III. Anti-CD133-drug conjugate treatment resulted in significant delay of Hep3B tumour growth in SCID mice. Anti-CD133 antibody-drug conjugates warrant further evaluation as a therapeutic strategy to eradicate CD133+ tumours

Enfermedades crónicas

Adherencia al tratamiento farmacol&oacute;gico y relaci&oacute;n con el control metab&oacute;lico en pacientes con DM2Aluminio en pacientes con terapia de reemplazo renal cr&oacute;nico con hemodi&aacute;lisis en Bogot&aacute;, ColombiaAmputaci&oacute;n de extremidades inferiores: &iquest;est&aacute;n aumentando las tasas?Consumo de edulcorantes artificiales en j&oacute;venes universitariosC&oacute;mo crecen ni&ntilde;os normales de 2 a&ntilde;os que son sobrepeso a los 7 a&ntilde;osDiagn&oacute;stico con enfoque territorial de salud cardiovascular en la Regi&oacute;n MetropolitanaEfecto a corto plazo de una intervenci&oacute;n con ejercicio f&iacute;sico, en ni&ntilde;os con sobrepesoEfectos de la cirug&iacute;a bari&aacute;trica en pacientes con s&iacute;ndrome metab&oacute;lico e IMC &lt; 35 KG/M2Encuesta mundial de tabaquismo en estudiantes de profesiones de saludEnfermedades cr&oacute;nicas no transmisibles: Consecuencias sociales-sanitarias de comunidades rurales en ChileEpidemiolog&iacute;a de las muertes hospitalarias por patolog&iacute;as relacionadas a muerte encef&aacute;lica, Chile 2003-2007Estado nutricional y conductas alimentarias en adolescentes de 4&ordm; medio de la Regi&oacute;n de CoquimboEstudio de calidad de vida en una muestra del plan piloto para hepatitis CEvaluaci&oacute;n del proceso asistencial y de resultados de salud del GES de diabetes mellitus 2Factores de riesgo cardiovascular en poblaci&oacute;n universitaria de la Facsal, universidad de Tarapac&aacute;Implicancias psicosociales en la g&eacute;nesis, evoluci&oacute;n y tratamiento de pacientes con hipertensi&oacute;n arterial esencialInfarto agudo al miocardio (IAM): Realidad en el Hospital de Puerto Natales, 2009-2010Introducci&oacute;n de nuevas TIC y mejor&iacute;a de la asistencia a un programa de saludNi&ntilde;os obesos atendidos en el Cesfam de Puerto Natales y su entorno familiarPerfil de la mortalidad por c&aacute;ncer de cuello uterino en R&iacute;o de JaneiroPerfil del paciente primo-consultante del Programa de Salud Cardiovascular, Consultorio Cordillera Andina, Los AndesPrevalencia de automedicaci&oacute;n en mujeres beneficiarias del Hospital Comunitario de Til-TiPrevalencia de caries en poblaci&oacute;n preescolar y su relaci&oacute;n con malnutrici&oacute;n por excesoPrevalencia de retinopat&iacute;a diab&eacute;tica en comunas dependientes del Servicio de Salud Metropolitano Occidente (SSMOC)Problemas de adherencia farmacol&oacute;gica antihipertensiva en poblaci&oacute;n mapuche: Un estudio cualitativoRol biol&oacute;gico de los antioxidantes innatos en pacientes portadores de VIH/SidaSobrepeso en empleados de un restaurante de una universidad p&uacute;blica del estado de S&atilde;o Paul