Linezolid: idoneidad de prescripción y afectación de la función renal y hematológica

The objective of the study was to evaluate the suitability of linezolid prescription, incidence of thrombocytopenia incritically ill patients and its infl uence on critical ill patients with renal disorder before the linezolid treatment. Weobserved that the 37.5% of linezolid prescriptions were in Non-Approved Indications in Spain (NAIS). The incidenceof thrombocytopenia was 5.9%. We observed a signifi cant improvement in renal function of patients after two weeks oflinezolid treatment (p=0.024). The incidence of thrombocytopenia was similar to describe in bibliography. It seems tobe necessary approved news indications in Spain.El objeto de este estudio fue evaluar la idoneidad de prescripción de linezolid y si ésta se ajusta a las indicacionesaprobadas en España (IAE), la incidencia de trombocitopenia en pacientes críticos y la infl uencia de linezolid eneste tipo de pacientes con función renal alterada previamente a la instauración del tratamiento con dicho antibiótico.Se recogieron retrospectivamente datos clínicos y analíticos, observando que el 37.5% de las prescripcionesde linezolid eran en indicaciones no aprobadas en España (INAE), una incidencia de trombocitopenia del 5.9% yuna mejora signifi cativa de la función renal (p=0.024) tras dos semanas de tratamiento con linezolid. La incidenciade trombocitopenia en nuestro estudio fue similar a la descrita en la bibliografía. Parece necesario replantearse laampliación de las INAE

Misoprostol en la interrupción temprana del embarazo en pacientes adolescentes

OBJETIVO: evaluar la eficacia y seguridad del misoprostol vaginal como abortivo y la indicación de este proceder en la adolescencia. MÉTODOS: nuestra investigación se trata de un ensayo clínico aleatorio, abierto, monocéntrico, con un grupo de tratamiento para extender el uso de un método abortivo farmacológico en pacientes que solicitan interrupción de la gestación hasta las 12 sem de embarazo y hasta los 20 años de edad. Se incluyeron todas las pacientes adolescentes que acudieron a la consulta de interrupción de embarazo del hospital Ramón González Coro y que cumplieron con los criterios de inclusión, en un cohorte de 100 casos. RESULTADOS: los resultados encontrados muestran que el 89 % de las adolescentes tenían más de 16 años, las primeras relaciones sexuales (76 %) fueron antes de los 16 años y las infecciones de tramisión sexual (ITS) aparecen en el 51 %. Con respecto al método el 71 % expulsó antes de las 16 h de impuesto (primera y segunda dosis) con una tasa de fallo del 8 %.Todas fueron estudiadas con US a las 72 h. El 85 % considera satisfactorio el método y 96 salieron con algún método anticonceptivo. CONCLUSIÓN: el uso del misoprostol por vía vaginal en la adolescencia resultó ser un método útil y confiable como alternativa para la interrupción del embarazo en el primer trimestre.http://scielo.sld.cu/pdf/gin/v36n1/gin12110.pd

Dusty Planetary Systems

Extensive photometric stellar surveys show that many main sequence stars show emission at infrared and longer wavelengths that is in excess of the stellar photosphere; this emission is thought to arise from circumstellar dust. The presence of dust disks is confirmed by spatially resolved imaging at infrared to millimeter wavelengths (tracing the dust thermal emission), and at optical to near infrared wavelengths (tracing the dust scattered light). Because the expected lifetime of these dust particles is much shorter than the age of the stars (>10 Myr), it is inferred that this solid material not primordial, i.e. the remaining from the placental cloud of gas and dust where the star was born, but instead is replenished by dust-producing planetesimals. These planetesimals are analogous to the asteroids, comets and Kuiper Belt objects (KBOs) in our Solar system that produce the interplanetary dust that gives rise to the zodiacal light (tracing the inner component of the Solar system debris disk). The presence of these "debris disks" around stars with a wide range of masses, luminosities, and metallicities, with and without binary companions, is evidence that planetesimal formation is a robust process that can take place under a wide range of conditions. This chapter is divided in two parts. Part I discusses how the study of the Solar system debris disk and the study of debris disks around other stars can help us learn about the formation, evolution and diversity of planetary systems by shedding light on the frequency and timing of planetesimal formation, the location and physical properties of the planetesimals, the presence of long-period planets, and the dynamical and collisional evolution of the system. Part II reviews the physical processes that affect dust particles in the gas-free environment of a debris disk and their effect on the dust particle size and spatial distribution.Comment: 68 pages, 25 figures. To be published in "Solar and Planetary Systems" (P. Kalas and L. French, Eds.), Volume 3 of the series "Planets, Stars and Stellar Systems" (T.D. Oswalt, Editor-in-chief), Springer 201

Wheat-barley hybridization – the last forty years

Abstract Several useful alien gene transfers have been reported from related species into wheat (Triticum aestivum), but very few publications have dealt with the development of wheat/barley (Hordeum vulgare) introgression lines. An overview is given here of wheat 9 barley hybridization over the last forty years, including the development of wheat 9 barley hybrids, and of addition and translocation lines with various barley cultivars. A short summary is also given of the wheat 9 barley hybrids produced with other Hordeum species. The meiotic pairing behaviour of wheat 9 barley hybrids is presented, with special regard to the detection of wheat– barley homoeologous pairing using the molecular cytogenetic technique GISH. The effect of in vitro multiplication on the genome composition of intergeneric hybrids is discussed, and the production and characterization of the latest wheat/barley translocation lines are presented. An overview of the agronomical traits (b-glucan content, earliness, salt tolerance, sprouting resistance, etc.) of the newly developed introgression lines is given. The exploitation and possible use of wheat/barley introgression lines for the most up-to-date molecular genetic studies (transcriptome analysis, sequencing of flow-sorted chromosomes) are also discussed

Supplementation of Male Pheromone on Rock Substrates Attracts Female Rock Lizards to the Territories of Males: A Field Experiment

Background: Many animals produce elaborated sexual signals to attract mates, among them are common chemical sexual signals (pheromones) with an attracting function. Lizards produce chemical secretions for scent marking that may have a role in sexual selection. In the laboratory, female rock lizards (Iberolacerta cyreni) prefer the scent of males with more ergosterol in their femoral secretions. However, it is not known whether the scent-marks of male rock lizards may actually attract females to male territories in the field. Methodology/Principal Findings: In the field, we added ergosterol to rocks inside the territories of male lizards, and found that this manipulation resulted in increased relative densities of females in these territories. Furthermore, a higher number of females were observed associated to males in manipulated plots, which probably increased mating opportunities for males in these areas. Conclusions/Significance: These and previous laboratory results suggest that female rock lizards may select to settle in home ranges based on the characteristics of scent-marks from conspecific males. Therefore, male rock lizards might attract more females and obtain more matings by increasing the proportion of ergosterol when scent-marking their territories. However, previous studies suggest that the allocation of ergosterol to secretions may be costly and only high quality male

Visceral leishmaniasis caused by Leishmania infantum in a Spanish patient in Argentina: What is the origin of the infection? Case report

BACKGROUND: The question "Where have you been?" is a common one asked by doctors in Northern Europe and America when faced with clinical symptoms not typical of their country. This question must also arise in the clinics of developing countries in which non-autochthonous cases such as the one described here can appear. Important outbreaks of Leishmania infantum have been recorded in the last decade in several Latin American countries but its presence has not yet been recorded in Argentina. We report the first case of visceral leishmaniasis owing to L. infantum in this country. CASE PRESENTATION: A 71-year-old Spanish woman who has been living in Mendoza, Argentina, during the last 40 years presented with a history of high fever and shivering, anemia, leukopenia and splenomegaly over two years. Argentinian doctors did not suspect visceral leishmaniasis even when the histological analysis revealed the presence of "intracytoplasmatic spheroid particles compatible with fungal or parasitic infection". After a serious deterioration in her health, she was taken to Spain where she was evaluated and visceral leishmaniasis was established. Specific identification of the parasite was done by PCR-ELISA, isoenzyme electrophoresis and RAPD-PCR. CONCLUSION: We would like to point out that: i) cases such as the one described here, which appear in non-endemic areas, can pass unnoticed by the clinical physician. ii) in countries in which these introduced cases reside, in-depth parasitological studies are required into vectors and possible reservoirs to rule out the rare case of local infection and, once infection has taken place, to ensure that this does not spread by anthroponotic transmission or a competent reservoir

Assessment of Chemical Inhibitor Addition to Improve the Gas Production from Biowaste

The coexistence of sulphate-reducing bacteria and methanogenic archaea in the reactors during the anaerobic digestion from sulphate-containing waste could favor the accumulation of sulfide on the biogas, and therefore reduce its quality. In this study, the effect of sulphate-reducing bacteria inhibitor (MoO−2 4 ) addition in a two phase system from sulphate-containing municipal solid waste to improve the quality of the biogas has been investigated. The results showed that although SRB and sulphide production decreased, the use of inhibitor was not effective to improve the anaerobic digestion in a two phase system from sulphate-containing waste, since a significant decrease on biogas and organic matter removal were observed. Before MoO−2 4 addition the average values of volatile solid were around 12 g/kg, after 5 days of inhibitor use, those values did exceed to 28 g/kg. Molybdate caused acidification in the reactor and it was according to decrease in the pH values. In relation to microbial consortia, the effect of inhibitor was a decrease in Bacteria (44%; 60% in sulphate-reducing bacteria) and Archaea (38%) population