Measurement of blood acetoacetate and β-hydroxybutyrate in an automatic analyser

g-hydroxybutyrate and acetoacetate as well as lactate and pyruvate are intermediary metabolites normally present in blood. The g-hydroxybutyrate/acetoacetate ratio is an expression of the mitochondrial oxido-reduction state. This ketone body ratio can provide a clue to diagnosis and metabolic status in congenital errors of the electron transport chain and pyruvate metabolism. The standardization of these analytical procedures improves the interpretation of the results helping in the difficult diagnosis of mitochondrial diseases in children. This study describes an adaptation to a Dimension R 2 L (Dade Behring, Newark, Delaware, USA) automatic analyser for a method to measure blood ketone bodies (g-hydroxybutyrate and acetoacetate). The method allows the metabolites to be measured directly in nondeproteinized plasma (fluoride/ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid). This adaptation simplifies the analytical procedure and limits the turnaround time to 20 minutes. With a sample volume of 200 μ l metabolite concentrations ranging from 12 to 1300 μ molL−1 of g-hydroxybutyrate and from 10 to 450 μ molL−1 of acetoacetate may be measured with a reliable analytical response

Lesson 27. Metabolism of Amino Acids (I) Origin of Amino Acids

El document forma part dels materials docents programats mitjançant l'ajut del Servei de Política Lingüística de la Universitat de ValènciaIn this lesson, we will study origin and destination of amino acids, including essential and non essential biosynthesis, and protein turnover, as well as well amino acids destiny to synthesize other molecules as biogenic amines

Advanced clinical diagnostic techniques: omics and their application to the molecular study of diseases

El document forma part dels materials docents programats mitjançant l'ajut del Servei de Política Lingüística de la Universitat de ValènciaOmics development is allowing to improve clinical diagnostic techniques in clinical biochemistry. Omics investigate organisms as a whole and allow to study several parameters from a holistic perspective. Through the groundbreakingly development of cytomics, metabolomics and genomics and transcriptomics we can study cells, metabolites and genes as biomarkers for the diagnostic of several pathologies through the application of biochemical and molecular biology techniques. In this seminar, a state-of-the-art review is performed, in order to evaluate the influence of omics in the molecular study of diseases

Analytical evaluation of two automatic methods to measure blood CK-MB mass and troponin I

The lack of standardization of methods to measure cardiac markers for coronaria ischaemia, particularly troponin, led us to perform an analytical evaluation of two new immunoassays to quantify CK-MB mass and troponin I using the Dimension R×L automatic analyser. The reliability and analytical intervals of the methods were studied as well as reference values (0.010— 0.228 μg l-1 for troponin I, 0.20—3.90 mg μg l-1 for CK-MB mass) and cuto¡ values (0.77 μg l-1 for troponin I, 5 μg l-1 for CK-MB mass) established. The cutoff values were established from 37 patients with acute myocardial infarction and from 20 with unstable angina. The absence of method cross-reactivity was corroborated using myocardial, brain and skeletal muscle tissue. Both methods were highly specific and showed good reliability and practicability in the diagnosis of coronaria ischaemia after 6 h of precordial pain

Dimensional characterization with Phased Array Ultrasonic testing of induced discontinuities in ASTM A36 steel by EDM and SMAW welding processes

This research evaluates the effect of the variables of Phased Array Ultrasonic Testing (PAUT) on the sectoral angular beam scans “S-Scan” and the geometric morphology of planar discontinuities such as the inclination for the ultrasonic beam and the shape of the extremity on accuracy in measurements. The study was carried out in two stages. During the first stage, eight ASTM A36 steel samples with machined notches by penetration from EDM and a welded sample with lack of penetration in a butt weld were designed and produced. In the second stage, it was measured the size of the discontinuities using ultrasound inspection and different configurations of the phase arrangement. The effect of each variable and inspection setting with errors between 0.2 % and 120 % were determined by statistical analysis.En esta investigación se evaluó el efecto que tienen las variables de la técnica de ultrasonido con arreglo de fases en los escaneos con haz angular sectorial “S-Scan” y la morfología geométrica de las discontinuadas planares como la inclinación respecto al haz ultrasónico y la forma del extremo sobre la exactitud en las mediciones. El estudio se desarrolló en dos etapas: en la primera se diseñaron y elaboraron ocho muestras de acero ASTM A36 con entallas mecanizadas mediante electroerosión por penetración y una muestra soldada con falta de penetración en una soldadura a tope; y en la segunda la medición del tamaño de las discontinuidades a partir de mediciones con ultrasonido empleando diferentes configuraciones del arreglo de fases. Mediante análisis estadístico se determinó el efecto de cada variable y configuraciones de inspección con errores entre 0,2 % y 120 %

Segmenting colour images on the basis of a fuzzy hierarchical approach

In this paper we deal with two problems related to imprecision in colour image segmentation processes: to decide whether a set of pixels verify the property "to be homogeneously coloured", and to represent the set of possible segmentations of an image at different precision levels. In order to solve the first problem we introduce a measure of distance between colours in the CIE L*a*b* space, that allows us to measure the degree of homogeneity of two pixels p and q on the basis of the maximum distance between the colours of consecutive pairs of pixels in any path linking p and q . Since homogeneity is a matter of degree, we define a (fuzzy) segmentation of an image as a set of fuzzy regions, each of them being a fuzzy subset of pixels, that we obtain by using a region growing technique. The membership degree of each pixel to each region is calculated on the basis of our homogeneity measure. The second problem is solved by introducing a fuzzy similarity relation between the fuzzy regions in this initial segmentation. The different α-cuts of the similarity relation define the set of precision levels, from which a nested hierarchy of fuzzy segmentations is finally obtained

Pediatric oral ranula : clinical follow-up study of 57 cases

Objective: To present 57 cases of oral ranula in children, analyzing the clinical characteristics, treatment and outcome of these lesions. Methods: The clinical histories of patients diagnosed with oral ranula, seen between 1998 and 2008 at the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Unit of a reference Children?s Hospital (0-14 years) were reviewed. All patients with clinical diagnosis of oral ranula were included. Results: Fifty-seven patients, 21 boys and 36 girls, with a mean age of 5.1 years were included in the study. Thirtytwo cases were located on the left side of the floor of the mouth. The lesion diameter varied between 1 and 3 cm in 27 cases, 22 were less than 1 cm, and 8 were larger than 3 cm. Fifty-four cases were asymptomatic and 3 ranulas had pain on swallowing. Twenty-two cases were resolved by opening with a tract dilator and 35 by marsupialization. Seven cases recurred at a mean of 12 months after treatment, three of these from the marsupialization group. Conclusion: The majority of the oral ranulas occurred in females, asymptomatic, on the left side of the floor of the mouth, with a mean size of 1 to 3 cm; all lesions were treated by surgery, of which 7 recurred