3D electrospinning used in medical materials

Electrospinning (ES) is an interesting and efficient technique for biomedical use. This is a method used for the fabrication of polymer fibers used in tissue engineering (TE). The electrospun nano- and microfibers biomaterial, called scaffolds, are also used for regenerative medicine. The aim of the present mini-review is to present methods used to fabricate 3D fibers by electrospinning and their applications in TE. Also, discussed here are issues regarding the electrospinning limitations and research challenges

Asociación obesidad e hiperplasia nodular focal (HNF) telangiectásica. Reevaluación de 24 casos.

La hiperplasia nodular focal no es una verdadera neo plasia. Es una respuesta regenerativa de los hepatocitos a una anomalía vascular. Se reevaluaron 24 casos diagnosticados y confirmados en el estudio anatomopatológico como hiperplasia nodular focal. Tres de los 24 casos fueron reclasificados como adenomas inflamatorios telangiectásico, vinculado con antecedentes de síndromes metabolicos y con imnumorreactividad frente a la Amiloide A. La presencia de ectasia vascular, dilatación sinusoidal, áreas de peliosis con signos inflamatorios focales o difusos asociados a inmunorreactividad frente al Amiloide A son signos histológicos que nos indican la presencia de adenomas hepatocelulares inflamatorios telangiectásicos antiguamente clasificados como hiperplasia nodular focal atípica. El antecedentes de obesidad u hígado graso, unido al incremento en la reactividad frente al Amiloide A caracteriza a los adenomas inflamatorios telan giec - tásicos

Economic corridors in Asia : paradigm of integration?

460 páginasGlobal geopolitics has shifted dramatically over the last thirty years. After the vanishing expectations of a unipolar international system led by the United States, China has gained an increasingly dominant role in areas as innovative as quantum computing, robotics and artificial intelligence. In the ‘non-digital’ dimension, the eastern superpower has made gigantic investments in its Belt and Road Initiative, which include the development of a massive network of highways, industrial centers, harbors, pipelines and bridges, among many other works of infrastructure. These investments allow for the connection of more than 60 countries worldwide, guaranteeing China’s energetic security, easier conditions for trading goods and services and, perhaps more importantly, a significant influence in the political and economic events of the world

New challenges on the production of oral mucosa using Tissue Engineering Techniques

En los últimos años, la fabricación de tejidos artificiales mediante técnicas de Ingeniería Tisular ha sido de gran interés en el área de las ciencias de la salud. En concreto, en el campo odontológico y maxilofacial, la fabricación de una mucosa oral artificial completamente funcional ha sido un reto constante para la Ingeniería Tisular. En este sentido, aunque se han desarrollado diversos modelos de mucosa oral humana, aún existen carencias en lo que se refiere al mimetismo de los tejidos artificiales y los tejidos orales nativos. Dentro de dichas carencias destacan los tiempos prolongados del cultivo de queratinocitos, su baja capacidad de proliferación, la obtención de epitelios delgados y sin crestas epiteliales, la falta de vascularización en la zona implantada y la obtención de tejidos con una unión muco-cutánea para la reconstrucción del labio. El objetivo de esta revisión es mostrar los avances que hasta el momento se han obtenido en materia de la Ingeniería Tisular de la mucosa oral, así como discutir los retos por superar y sus posibles soluciones.In recent years, the production of artificial tissues by Tissue Engineering techniques has been of great interest in the health sciences area. Specifically, in the dental and maxillofacial field. In this context, to develop a fully functional artificial oral mucosa is a constant challenge for Tissue Engineering. In this regard, several human oral mucosa models have been developed. However, prolonged periods of keratinocyte culture, low proliferation capacity, absence of rete ridges, and the lack of vascularization are the major shortcomings in this area. The objective of this review is to show the progress that so far have been obtained in the field of Tissue Engineering of the oral mucosa, as well as discuss the challenges ahead and possible solutions

Expression and Characterization of Flagella in Nonmotile Enteroinvasive Escherichia coli Isolated from Diarrhea Cases

We report that enteroinvasive Escherichia coli (EIEC) serotypes considered to be nonmotile produce an unusually large (77 kDa) flagellin that is assembled into functional flagellum filaments that allow the bacteria to swim in modified motility agar. The EIEC flagellin showed N-terminal identity to most common enterobacterial flagellins, especially those of the E. coli H7 serotype. These data are important in terms of the epidemiology, evolution, and biology of EIEC

Efficacy and safety of adalimumab in the treatment of Crohn's disease in children

Objectives: to describe the efficacy and safety of adalimumab (ADA) in inducing clinical remission and reducing inflammation of intestinal mucosa in children with Crohn's disease (CD). Methods: we carried out a descriptive, observational study with all patients diagnosed with CD and treated with ADA between January 2007 and March 2013. Disease activity was determined using the Pdiatric Crohn's Disease Activity Index (PCDAI), and the degree of mucosa inflammation by fecal calprotectin (FC). Results: sixteen patients were included. Mean age at diagnosis was 10.6 ± 2.5 years, with a mean age at start of ADA treatment of 12.4 ± 1.8 years, and a median of 1.4 years (IQR 0.5-3) duration from CD diagnosis to start of treatment. Twelve patients were naïve to anti-TNF-α. The PCDAI score at start of ADA treatment was significantly reduced at 12 weeks of follow-up (31.25 IQR 26.8-37.5 vs. 1.2 IQR 0.0-5.0; p = 0.001). Similarly, the FC level decreased at 12 weeks (749 µg/g IQR 514-898 vs. 126 µg/g IQR 67.7-239.2; p = 0.02). Surgery was performed in 4 patients. Adverse events were reported in 4 patients. One patient developed lymphoma at 4 years of ADA treatment in monotherapy. Conclusions: ADA has been shown to be effective in children with moderate-to-severe CD. Treatment benefits should be weighed against side effects. Multicenter longitudinal studies with longer follow-up periods are required to determine the true efficacy and safety of long-term ADA treatment

Esophageal multichannel intraluminal impedance and pH-testing in the study of apparent life threatening episode incidents in infants

Introduction: The conventional 24-hour pH monitoring is the gold standard for the diagnosis of gastro-esophageal reflux (GER), a possible cause of Apparent Life Threatening Episodes (ALTE). However, multichannel intraluminal impedance (MII) may provide advantages. Objectives: Comparison of the results of MII and pH monitoring in patients undergoing MII-pH monitoring in the 3-year study period because of having suffered from ALTE. Material and methods: Prospective study of MII-pH monitoring performed in our unit to infants < 12 months of age admitted for ALTE for a 3-year period. Results: Thirty nine patients studied. 2,692 pH monitoring episodes, with median of 24 (IQ: 15-44) episodes/patient, 1.30 (IQ: 0.80-2.60) reflux/hour, 1 (IQ: 0-4) reflux episode > 5 min per patient and clearance of 1.20 (IQ: 0.70-2.20) min/reflux. With pH monitoring analysis, 14 children (35.9 %) could have been diagnosed as GER (8 mild, 4 moderate and 2 severe) based on the classical criteria. MII identified a total of 8,895 events; only 3,219 among them were refluxes, with a median of 75 (IQ: 54-111) per patient, 1.30 (IQ: 1.3-2.6) episodes/hour). With MII-pH monitoring combination there were 21.60 (SD 15.21) acid reflux episodes, 67.33 weekly acid (SD 32.09) and 3.34 (SD 7.23) non-acid, being finally diagnosed 33 patients as GER. Conclusions: The association of pH monitoring and MII provides additional information that improves GER diagnostic performance without posing any additional risk to the infant patient. The non-acid/weekly acid refluxes, not detected by pH monitoring, account for a high percentage of episodes, this may have diagnostic and therapeutic significance, especially in infants. Further studies are needed to assess the normality of MMI in pediatric patients

Metastatic Crohn's disease in pediatrics

Introduction: Metastatic Crohn's disease (MCD) is an extraintestinal manifestation of Crohn's disease, with biopsy as fundamental diagnostic tool. There are few References to MCD in children, with a 0.5-1% estimated incidence in adults. There is no consensus about its therapeutic approach. We describe our diagnostic and therapeutic experience in MCD. Case Reports: Four cases of MCD are described in our Pediatric Gastroenterology Unit in a tertiary care hospital. The age at diagnosis was between 7 and 13 years. Lesions appeared before the diagnosis of Crohn's disease in three of them, and during the course of the disease in another one, with genital location in three patients and bilateral pretibial region in the other. All four cases demonstrated non-caseificant granulomas on biopsy. Only two patients used exclusive enteral nutrition therapy with complete resolution, while other two cases received a combination of therapies (corticosteroids, azathioprine, tacrolimus, infliximab and adalimumab) because of recurrence. Only one case required surgery after poor clinical control. Discussion: The MCD is infrequent but must always be included in the differential diagnosis of cutaneous lesions in Crohn's disease, considering it could be the debut of the disease. We will rely on biopsy anyway for definitive diagnosis. In this series the genital region is verified as the most commonly affected in children. The therapeutic approach does not differ from the management of intestinal involvement