298 research outputs found
Port-Access cardiac surgery: from a learning process to the standard.
Background: Port-Accessâ„¢ surgery has been one of the
most innovative and controversial methods in the spectrum
of minimally invasive techniques for cardiac operations and
has been widely used for the treatment of several cardiac diseases.
The technique was introduced in our center to evaluate
its efficacy in reproducing standardized results without an
additional risk.
Methods: Endovascular cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB)
through femoral access and endoluminal aortic occlusion
were used in 129 patients for a variety of surgical procedures,
all of which were video-assisted. A minimal (4-6 cm) anterior
thoracotomy through the fourth intercostal space was used in
all cases as the surgical approach.
Results: More than 96% of the planned cases concluded
as true Port-Accessâ„¢ procedures. Mean CBP and crossclamp
times were 87.2 min. ± 51.2 (range of 10-457) and
54.9 min. ± 30.6 (range of 10-190), respectively. Hospital
mortality for the overall group was 1.5%, and mitral valve
surgery had a 2.2% hospital death rate. The incidence of early
neurological events was 0.7%. Mean extubation time, ICU
stay, and total length of hospital stay were 5 hours ± 6 hrs.
(range of 2-32), 12 hours ± 11.8 hrs. (range of 5-78), and
7 days ± 7.03 days (range of 1-72), respectively.
Conclusions: Our experience indicates that the Port-
Accessâ„¢ technique is safe and permits reproduction of standardized
results with the use of a very limited surgical
approach. We are convinced that this is a superior procedure
for certain types of surgery, including isolated primary or
redo mitral surgery, repair of a variety of atrial septal defects
(ASDs), and atrial tumors. It is especially useful in high-risk
patients, such as elderly patients or those requiring reoperation.
Simplification of the procedure is nevertheless desirable
in order to further reduce the time of operation and to
address other drawbacks
Structure of the complex of an Fab fragment of a neutralizing antibody with foot-and-mouth disease virus: Positioning of a highly mobile antigenic loop
Data from cryo-electron microscopy and X-ray crystallography have been combined to study the interactions of foot-and-mouth disease virus serotype C (FMDV-C) with a strongly neutralizing monoclonal antibody (mAb) SD6. The mAb SD6 binds to the long flexible GH-loop of viral protein 1 (VP1) which also binds to an integrin receptor. The structure of the virus-Fab complex was determined to 30 Ã… resolution using cryo-electron microscopy and image analysis. The known structure of FMDV-C, and of the SD6 Fab co-crystallized with a synthetic peptide corresponding to the GH-loop of VP1, were fitted to the cryo-electron microscope density map. The SD6 Fab is seen to project almost radially from the viral surface in an orientation which is only compatible with monovalent binding of the mAb. Even taking into account the mAb hinge and elbow flexibility, it is not possible to model bivalent binding without severely distorting the Fabs. The bound GH-loop is essentially in what has previously been termed the 'up' position in the best fit Fab orientation. The SD6 Fab interacts almost exclusively with the GH-loop of VP1, making very few other contacts with the viral capsid. The position and orientation of the SD6 Fab bound to FMDV-C is in accord with previous immunogenic data.Peer Reviewe
Pathologic liver lesions in orange spotted grouper Epinephelus coioides exposed To Benzo[a] Pyrene
Benzo[a]pyrene (BaP), is a ubiquitous environmental contaminant present in air, water, and sediment. BaP is readily absorbed by all routes of exposure and can pass directly through the plasma membrane of most cell types. The present study was conducted to examine the effects of BaP on liver tissue structure in orange spotted grouper Epinephelus coioides affected by different concentration of BaP. In the present report, 100 E. coioides were exposed by intraperitoneal injection to 2, 20 and 200 mg/kg of BaP for 14d under laboratory conditions and the samples were taken from fish liver in days 0, 2, 4, 7 and 14 of experiment for histopathological study. The liver samples were fixed in 10%formalin buffer solution. Fivemicrometer thick sections were obtained and were stained in hematoxylin/eosin for examination in light microscopy. No pathological alteration was observed in the liver samples of controls fish. The pathological alterations of liver were including of hepatocyte vacuoletion, increase of melanomacrophage centers, dilation of diss space, sinusoidal dilation, focal necrosis, hepatocytes hypertrophy, nucleus in a lateral position and hepatocyte degeneration. The frequency and severity of tissue changes rose with the increase of BaP concentration in all sampling days. The most frequency and severity of histopathological alteration were observed in fish treated by 200 mg/kg BaP in day 7
Use of Molecular Markers to Assist the Development of Inbred Lines under Open Field Conditions: the Case of Criollo Peppers (Capsicum annuum L.) from Mexico
[EN] Chile peppers are one of the most important crops in Mexico and a plethora of ecotypes can be found there. Most of them are ancient open-pollinated (OP) landraces selected by farmers for uniform phenotype but with an inherent level of genetic diversity, called criollos. In this work 15 pepper accessions, encompassing 2 criollo lines, their open-pollinated progenies, and 5 controls, were characterized with a set of 36 IPGRI descriptors and 23 SSR markers to assess the effect of open pollination in the inbreeding process. Heterozygosity levels were comprised between 12 and 47% in the progenies, which were similar or lower than those values from parent plants and similar or higher than control cultivars. Also, both progenies and parents showed similar levels of agronomic and morphological uniformity. Our results suggest that this OP program is efficient in terms of reaching enough agronomic uniformity in criollo Ancho peppers while preserving certain genetic diversity to confer adaptation to climate change.This work was partly financed by projects INIA RTA2013-00022-C02-02 and RTA2014-00041-C02-02, funded by Instituto Nacional Investigaciones Agrarias (Spain), FEDER funds. Also, Mexican authors thank CONACYT for financing the stay of Gustavo Chavez-Gonzalez in Spain, as well as the Programa Integral de Fortalecimiento Institucional (PIFI) de la UA de Aguascalientes (SEP-Mexico).Pereira-DÃas, L.; Chavez-Gonzalez, G.; Bracho Gil, M.; Fita, A.; Vilanova Navarro, S.; Luna-Ruiz, J.; Perez-Cabrera, L.... (2017). Use of Molecular Markers to Assist the Development of Inbred Lines under Open Field Conditions: the Case of Criollo Peppers (Capsicum annuum L.) from Mexico. Notulae Botanicae Horti Agrobotanici Cluj-Napoca. 45(2):365-368. https://doi.org/10.15835/nbha45210940S36536845
Phase Behavior of Columnar DNA Assemblies
The pair interaction between two stiff parallel linear DNA molecules depends
not only on the distance between their axes but on their azimuthal orientation.
The positional and orientational order in columnar B-DNA assemblies in solution
is investigated, based on the DNA-DNA electrostatic pair potential that takes
into account DNA helical symmetry and the amount and distribution of adsorbed
counterions. A phase diagram obtained by lattice sum calculations predicts a
variety of positionally and azimuthally ordered phases and bundling transitions
strongly depending on the counterion adsorption patterns.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, submitted to PR
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Diversity in Expression of Phosphorus (P) Responsive Genes in Cucumis melo L
Phosphorus (P) is a major limiting nutrient for plant growth in many soils. Studies in model species have identified genes involved in plant adaptations to low soil P availability. However, little information is available on the genetic bases of these adaptations in vegetable crops. In this respect, sequence data for melon now makes it possible to identify melon orthologues of candidate P responsive genes, and the expression of these genes can be used to explain the diversity in the root system adaptation to low P availability, recently observed in this species
Attraction between DNA molecules mediated by multivalent ions
The effective force between two parallel DNA molecules is calculated as a
function of their mutual separation for different valencies of counter- and
salt ions and different salt concentrations. Computer simulations of the
primitive model are used and the shape of the DNA molecules is accurately
modelled using different geometrical shapes. We find that multivalent ions
induce a significant attraction between the DNA molecules whose strength can be
tuned by the averaged valency of the ions. The physical origin of the
attraction is traced back either to electrostatics or to entropic
contributions. For multivalent counter- and monovalent salt ions, we find a
salt-induced stabilization effect: the force is first attractive but gets
repulsive for increasing salt concentration. Furthermore, we show that the
multivalent-ion-induced attraction does not necessarily correlate with DNA
overcharging.Comment: 51 pages and 13 figure
Famosa: Evaluation of a multigene panel in patients with suspected HBOC
Background: Objectives: Characterize 1) the frequency of mutations in patients with clinical criteria for HBOC using a 25-gene panel in a Spanish population (FAMOSA study). 2) The psychological impact of these tests and patient''s counseling preferences.
Methods: Patients with breast or ovarian cancer who met the NCCN criteria for genetic testing with a) prior testing for BRCA genes with NO mutation identified; or b) recently diagnosed (<6 months) and not genetically tested, were enrolled for multiplex cancer testing (MyRisk 25-gene panel). Participants completed self-questionnaires regarding geneting counseling preferences and three psychological scales (MICRA, CWS, R-IES) at base-line, one week, three and twelve months after results disclosure.
Results: From November 14 to February 15, 210 patients were included in the FAMOSA study (109 HBOC). 61 (56%) patients were previously tested for BRCA1/2 gene mutations with conventional techniques; median age: 44y (22-77); gender: 3 males / 106 females; cancer types: breast 95 (87%); ovary 14 (13%). Overall 22 pathogenic variants were identified in 21 patients (19, 3%): 10 BRCA1, 2 BRCA2, 2 PALB2, 3 MUYTH, 1 CDKN2A; 2 ATM, 1 BRAD1, 1 BRIP1. One patient had an unexpected mutation in CDKN2A gene (gluteus sarcoma age 20; bilateral breast ca; ages 45 and 50; father lung ca, age 70; brother melanoma, age 35). Three patients had a significant mutation of a recessive condition in MUYTH. Of 61 patients previously tested negative for HBOC, 1 had a pathogenic variant in BRCA1 and 17/ 19 patients with VUS were classified negative in BRCA genes with MyRisk.Patients are willing to be disclosed all available information from panel testing. Differences were observed among type of results at short and mid-term. Cancer worry was higher in moderate-penetrance carriers than high penetrance carriers. Longer follow up is ongoing.
Conclusions: Panel testing in patients with HBOC yielded a 19, 3% mutation rate, increasing the yield of genetic mutations beyond BRCA. Patients are willing to be disclosed all available information from panel testing
Adsorption of mono- and multivalent cat- and anions on DNA molecules
Adsorption of monovalent and multivalent cat- and anions on a deoxyribose
nucleic acid (DNA) molecule from a salt solution is investigated by computer
simulation. The ions are modelled as charged hard spheres, the DNA molecule as
a point charge pattern following the double-helical phosphate strands. The
geometrical shape of the DNA molecules is modelled on different levels ranging
from a simple cylindrical shape to structured models which include the major
and minor grooves between the phosphate strands. The densities of the ions
adsorbed on the phosphate strands, in the major and in the minor grooves are
calculated. First, we find that the adsorption pattern on the DNA surface
depends strongly on its geometrical shape: counterions adsorb preferentially
along the phosphate strands for a cylindrical model shape, but in the minor
groove for a geometrically structured model. Second, we find that an addition
of monovalent salt ions results in an increase of the charge density in the
minor groove while the total charge density of ions adsorbed in the major
groove stays unchanged. The adsorbed ion densities are highly structured along
the minor groove while they are almost smeared along the major groove.
Furthermore, for a fixed amount of added salt, the major groove cationic charge
is independent on the counterion valency. For increasing salt concentration the
major groove is neutralized while the total charge adsorbed in the minor groove
is constant. DNA overcharging is detected for multivalent salt. Simulations for
a larger ion radii, which mimic the effect of the ion hydration, indicate an
increased adsorbtion of cations in the major groove.Comment: 34 pages with 14 figure
Understanding climate change impacts on biome and plant distributions in the Andes: Challenges and opportunities
Aim: Climate change is expected to impact mountain biodiversity by shifting species ranges and the biomes they shape. The extent and regional variation in these impacts are still poorly understood, particularly in the highly biodiverse Andes. Regional syntheses of climate change impacts on vegetation are pivotal to identify and guide research priorities. Here we review current data, knowledge and uncertainties in past, present and future climate change impacts on vegetation in the Andes.
Location: Andes.
Taxon: Plants.
Methods: We (i) conducted a literature review on Andean vegetation responses to past and contemporary climatic change, (ii) analysed future climate projections for different elevations and slope orientations at 19 Andean locations using an ensemble of model outputs from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project 5, and (iii) calculated changes in the suitable climate envelope area of Andean biomes and compared these results to studies that used species distribution models.
Results: Future climatic changes (2040–2070) are projected to be stronger at high-elevation areas in the tropical Andes (up to 4°C under RCP 8.5), while in the temperate Andes temperature increases are projected to be up to 2°C. Under this worst-case scenario, temperate deciduous forests and the grasslands/steppes from the Central and Southern Andes are predicted to show the greatest losses of suitable climatic space (30% and 17%–23%, respectively). The high vulnerability of these biomes contrasts with the low attention from researchers modelling Andean species distributions. Critical knowledge gaps include a lack of an Andean wide plant checklist, insufficient density of weather stations at high-elevation areas, a lack of high-resolution climatologies that accommodates the Andes' complex topography and climatic processes, insufficient data to model demographic and ecological processes, and low use of palaeo data for distribution modelling.
Main conclusions: Climate change is likely to profoundly affect the extent and composition of Andean biomes. Temperate Andean biomes in particular are susceptible to substantial area contractions. There are, however, considerable challenges and uncertainties in modelling species and biome responses and a pressing need for a region-wide approach to address knowledge gaps and improve understanding and monitoring of climate change impacts in these globally important biomes.publishedVersio
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