Comparison of two sample preparation methods for 1H-NMR wine profiling: Direct analysis and solid-phase extraction

This study compares two sample preparation methods: direct analysis (DA) and solid-phase extraction (SPE) for wine samples analysis by proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR) spectroscopy. For this purpose, the profile of Mexican commercial wines was evaluated. The selected wines were produced with different grape varieties: ('Barbera', 'Nebbiolo', 'Zinfandel', 'Merlot', 'Petite Syrah', 'Cabernet Sauvignon', 'White Zinfandel' and mixture of 'Chenin blanc' and 'Colombard') coming from the principal wine-producing region of Mexico, Baja California State. DA provided faster data acquisition in comparison to SPE and preserved the original sample composition. Using DA-NMR thirty two metabolites were identified, including organic acids, amino acids, sugars, alcohols and phenolic compounds. Furthermore, SPE-NMR using a polymeric sorbent allowed to retain phenolic compounds giving a better picture on the aromatic region and eliminating major polar compounds like water, ethanol and sugars. Fourteen compounds were identified by SPE-NMR including higher alcohols, flavanols and hydroxybenzoates. A control chart for the first principal component allowed to confirm the precision of the SPE-NMR method, while a comparison of the concentration of two metabolites found in both methods was used to evaluate their recovery (20 % for isoamyl alcohol and 78 % for phenethyl alcohol). The information obtained with both methods about the main compounds and phenolic metabolites provides new insights into the metabolomic profile of wine, which could be useful in future targeted studies

Bottom-Water Conditions in a Marine Basin after the Cretaceous–Paleogene Impact Event: Timing the Recovery of Oxygen Levels and Productivity

An ultra-high-resolution analysis of major and trace element contents from the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary interval in the Caravaca section, southeast Spain, reveals a quick recovery of depositional conditions after the impact event. Enrichment/depletion profiles of redox sensitive elements indicate significant geochemical anomalies just within the boundary ejecta layer, supporting an instantaneous recovery –some 102 years– of pre-impact conditions in terms of oxygenation. Geochemical redox proxies point to oxygen levels comparable to those at the end of the Cretaceous shortly after impact, which is further evidenced by the contemporary macrobenthic colonization of opportunistic tracemakers. Recovery of the oxygen conditions was therefore several orders shorter than traditional proposals (104–105 years), suggesting a probable rapid recovery of deep-sea ecosystems at bottom and in intermediate waters.This research was supported by Projects CGL2009-07603, CGL2008-03007, CGL2012-33281 and CGL2012-32659 (Secretaría de Estado de I+D+I, Spain), Projects RNM-3715 and RNM 05212, and Research Groups RNM-178 and 0179 (Junta de Andalucía)

Endoscopic Therapy of Colonic Liver Flexure Mucocele

Colorectal mucoceles usually arise in the appendix, and colonic disease is very rare. We report the first case of a mucocele of the colonic liver flexure that was treated successfully with endoscopy. A 36-year-old man was admitted to our hospital because of abdominal distension persisting for 3 days. Colonoscopic examination revealed a round polyp in the hepatic flexure, and we performed hot snare polypectomy with argon plasma coagulation. Histologically, the polypectomy specimen was confirmed to be a mucocele, with no neoplastic changes. Follow-up examinations at 6 and 12 months showed no evidence of recurrence

Efectividad y seguridad comparada de inhibidores del cotransportador sodio-glucosa tipo 2 (iSGLT2) en diabetes mellitus tipo 2: revisión rápida de revisiones sistemáticas y metaanálisis

Objetivo: recopilar y evaluar la evidencia disponible respecto a la efectividad y seguridad comparada de inhibidores del cotransportador de sodio glucosa tipo 2 (iSGLT2) en pacientes con diabetes mellitus tipo 2. Metodología: se realizó una revisión sistemática rápida de revisiones sistemáticas de iSGLT2 en las bases de datos Medline y Embase hasta septiembre de 2019. El desenlace primario cardiovascular incluyó eventos adversos cardiovasculares mayores (MACE) que corresponden a muerte por causa cardiovascular, ataque cerebrovascular (ACV) no fatal, infarto agudo de miocardio (IAM) no fatal, además de hospitalización por insuficiencia cardíaca; desenlace renal (definido como progresión de enfermedad renal), disminución de la tasa de filtración glomerular (TFG) y de la relación albuminuria-creatinuria. El desenlace de seguridad agrupó hipoglucemia, fracturas, infecciones urinarias, entre otros. La calidad metodológica de las revisiones se evaluó con el instrumento A measurement Tool to Assess Systematic Review (AMSTAR-2) modificado. Resultados: se incluyeron 5 revisiones sistemáticas de la literatura de calidad media y alta según AMSTAR-2 modificado, entre las cuales se encontró que los iSGLT2 reducen el riesgo de mortalidad cardiovascular en un 23 %, de mortalidad por todas las causas en 20 % y en admisión hospitalaria por insuficiencia cardíaca en un 33 %, en comparación con el cuidado estándar. En cuanto al desenlace renal, los iSGLT2 enlentecen el deterioro de la enfermedad renal y reducen la progresión a albuminuria en pacientes con proteinuria ya documentada. En el desenlace de seguridad se observa una mayor posibilidad de desarrollar infecciones del tracto genitourinario respecto a antidiabéticos orales. Conclusiones: la evidencia sugiere que los iSGLT2 son efectivos en la reducción del riesgo de mortalidad cardiovascular, de mortalidad por todas las causas, de admisión hospitalaria por insuficiencia cardíaca, de progresión de la nefropatía y del desarrollo de enfermedad renal en estadio final. En desenlaces de seguridad, la evidencia sugiere que los iSGLT2 tienen menor riesgo de eventos de hipoglucemia

Krill Excretion Boosts Microbial Activity in the Southern Ocean

Antarctic krill are known to release large amounts of inorganic and organic nutrients to the water column. Here we test the role of krill excretion of dissolved products in stimulating heterotrophic bacteria on the basis of three experiments where ammonium and organic excretory products released by krill were added to bacterial assemblages, free of grazers. Our results demonstrate that the addition of krill excretion products (but not of ammonium alone), at levels expected in krill swarms, greatly stimulates bacteria resulting in an order-of-magnitude increase in growth and production. Furthermore, they suggest that bacterial growth rate in the Southern Ocean is suppressed well below their potential by resource limitation. Enhanced bacterial activity in the presence of krill, which are major sources of DOC in the Southern Ocean, would further increase recycling processes associated with krill activity, resulting in highly efficient krill-bacterial recycling that should be conducive to stimulating periods of high primary productivity in the Southern Ocean.This research is a contribution to projects ICEPOS (REN2002-04165-CO3-O2) and ATOS (POL2006-00550/CTM), funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation

Nutlin-3, the small-molecule inhibitor of MDM2, promotes senescence and radiosensitises laryngeal carcinoma cells harbouring wild-type p53

BACKGROUND: Primary radiotherapy (RT) is a mainstay of treatment for laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC). Although the cure rates for early (T1) vocal cord tumours are high, RT proves ineffective in up to a third of T3 carcinomas. Moreover, RT is associated with debilitating early- and late-treatment-related toxicity, thus finding means to de-escalate therapy, while retaining/augmenting therapeutic effectiveness, is highly desirable. p53 is a key mediator of radiation responses; we therefore investigated whether Nutlin-3, a small-molecule inhibitor of MDM2 (mouse double minute 2; an essential negative regulator of p53), might radiosensitise LSCC cells. METHODS: We performed clonogenic assays to measure radiosensitivity in a panel of LSCC cell lines (for which we determined p53 mutational status) in the presence and absence of Nutlin-3. RESULTS: LSCC cells harbouring wild-type p53 were significantly radiosensitised by Nutlin-3 (P<0.0001; log-rank scale), and displayed increased cell cycle arrest and significantly increased senescence (P<0.001) in the absence of increased apoptosis; thus, our data suggest that senescence may mediate this increased radiosensitivity. CONCLUSION: This is the first study showing Nutlin-3 as an effective radiosensitiser in LSCC cells that retain wild-type p53. The clinical application of Nutlin-3 might improve local recurrence rates or allow treatment de-escalation in these patients

The Effects of Copper Pollution on Fouling Assemblage Diversity: A Tropical-Temperate Comparison

BACKGROUND: The invasion of habitats by non-indigenous species (NIS) occurs at a global scale and can generate significant ecological, evolutionary, economic and social consequences. Estuarine and coastal ecosystems are particularly vulnerable to pollution from numerous sources due to years of human-induced degradation and shipping. Pollution is considered as a class of disturbance with anthropogenic roots and recent studies have concluded that high frequencies of disturbance may facilitate invasions by increasing the availability of resources. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: To examine the effects of heavy metal pollution as disturbance in shaping patterns of exotic versus native diversity in marine fouling communities we exposed fouling communities to different concentrations of copper in one temperate (Virginia) and one tropical (Panama) region. Diversity was categorized as total, native and non-indigenous and we also incorporated taxonomic and functional richness. Our findings indicate that total fouling diversity decreased with increasing copper pollution, whether taxonomic or functional diversity is considered. Both native and non-indigenous richness decreased with increasing copper concentrations at the tropical site whereas at the temperate site, non-indigenous richness was too low to detect any effect. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Non-indigenous richness decreased with increasing metal concentrations, contradicting previous investigations that evaluate the influence of heavy metal pollution on diversity and invasibility of fouling assemblages. These results provide first insights on how the invasive species pool in a certain region may play a key role in the disturbance vs. non-indigenous diversity relationship

Exosomes derived from mesenchymal stem cells enhance radiotherapy-induced cell death in tumor and metastatic tumor foci

We have recently shown that radiotherapy may not only be a successful local and regional treatment but, when combined with MSCs, may also be a novel systemic cancer therapy. This study aimed to investigate the role of exosomes derived from irradiated MSCs in the delay of tumor growth and metastasis after treatment with MSC + radiotherapy (RT). The tumor cell loss rates found after treatment with the combination of MSC and RT and for exclusive RT, were: 44.4% % and 12,1%, respectively. Concomitant and adjuvant use of RT and MSC, increased the mice surviving time 22,5% in this group, with regard to the group of mice treated with exclusive RT and in a 45,3% respect control group. Moreover, the number of metastatic foci found in the internal organs of the mice treated with MSC + RT was 60% less than the mice group treated with RT alone. We reasoned that the exosome secreted by the MSC, could be implicated in tumor growth delay and metastasis control after treatment. Our results show that exosomes derived form MSCs, combined with radiotherapy, are determinant in the enhancement of radiation effects observed in the control of metastatic spread of melanoma cells and suggest that exosome-derived factors could be involved in the bystander, and abscopal effects found after treatment of the tumors with RT plus MSC. Radiotherapy itself may not be systemic, although it might contribute to a systemic effect when used in combination with mesenchymal stem cells owing the ability of irradiated MSCs-derived exosomes to increase the control of tumor growth and metastasis.This work was supported by CNPq, Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico – Brasil, Junta de Andalucía, project of Excellence from Junta de Andalucía P12-CTS-383 to FJO, Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness SAF2015-70520-R to FJO and JMRdA, RTICC RD12/0036/0026 and CIBER Cáncer ISCIII CB16/12/00421 to FJO

Mucinous cystic neoplasms of the mesentery: a case report and review of the literature

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Mucinous cystic neoplasms arise in the ovary and various extra-ovarian sites. While their pathogenesis remains conjectural, their similarities suggest a common pathway of development. There have been rare reports involving the mesentery as a primary tumour site.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>A cystic mass of uncertain origin was demonstrated radiologically in a 22 year old female with chronic abdominal pain. At laparotomy, the mass was fixed within the colonic mesentery. Histology demonstrated a benign mucinous cystadenoma.</p> <p>Methods and results</p> <p>We review the literature on mucinous cystic neoplasms of the mesentery and report on the pathogenesis, biologic behavior, diagnosis and treatment of similar extra-ovarian tumors. We propose an updated classification of mesenteric cysts and cystic tumors.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Mucinous cystic neoplasms of the mesentery present almost exclusively in women and must be considered in the differential diagnosis of mesenteric tumors. Only full histological examination of a mucinous cystic neoplasm can exclude a borderline or malignant component. An updated classification of mesenteric cysts and cystic tumors is proposed.</p