Riesgo de transfusión perioperatoria en la cirugía del fémur

Se analiza el riesgo perioperatorio de ser transfundido de los pacientes intervenidos de fémur a partir de los datos codificados de los informes de alta. Se han incluido los pacientes operados de fémur durante 1996, codificados según la Clasificación Internacional de Enfermedades (CIE-9-MC), recogiéndose la edad, sexo, los códigos de diagnósticos, de procedimientos, incluidas las transfusiones, y de las intervenciones quirúrgicas. Fueron operados 256 pacientes, de los que 64 (25%) fueron transfundidos. Mediante análisis univariante, el mayor riesgo transfusional, (con significación estadística), es en pacientes mayores de 70 años (29.5%), pacientes con fracturas de fémur (27.7%), y pacientes a los que se realizaron tres o más técnicas quirúrgicas durante la intervención (50%). Mediante regresión logística, la edad y el número de técnicas realizadas, son los factores asociados con el riesgo de transfusión, siendo la probabilidad de transfusión en los pacientes con mayores de 70 años 2.49 veces respecto a los mayores de 70 años (p:0.01), y de 4.03 veces cuando se realizan 3 o más técnicas respecto al grupo con 1 o 2 técnicas (p:0.015). La edad y la complejidad de la operación son los factores con carácter pronóstico del riesgo de transfusión en la cirugía de fémur.The purpose is to analyse the likelihood of perioperative transfusion in fémur surgery ping the data of the abstracted patient discharge records. Patients with femur surgical procedures patient performed during 1996 in the Central Hospital of Asturas were studied. The abstracted patient discharge records were codified according to the ICD-0 CM codes. Gender, age, diagnosis, procedures, among them the transfusions of blood derivates and the surgical procedures were analysed. Out of 256 operated patients, 64 (25%) were transfused. The groups of patients more frequently transfused were those more older than 70 years (29.5), femur fracture (27.7%) and patients undergoing three o more surgical techniques during the surgical intervention (50%). By multivariate logistic regression analysis, the age and the number of surgical techniques where factors independently related with the likelihood of being transfused. The adjusted odds ratio of perioperative transfusion in patients than 70 year in 2.49 times in relation with the rest of people (p:0.01), and in patients who undergoing three or more surgical techniques 4.03 times in relation to those with 1 or 2 surgeries (p:0.015). Among the variables studied, age and the number surgical techniques (as an indirect surgical complexity index) are factors independently related with the likelihood of being transfused

Susceptibilidad de las semillas y brotes de aliso común (Alnus glutinosa) a Phytophthora alni y otras especies del género Phytophthora

Phytophthora alni is a highly destructive host specific pathogen to alders (Alnus spp.) spreading all over Europe. Recently this pathogen has been reported to cause diseases in common alder (Alnus glutinosa) in Spain. Seeds and seedlings of A. glutinosa were tested in vitro for their susceptibility to alder Phytophthora and other Phytophthora species. Isolates of P. alni ssp. alni, P. cinnamomi, P. citrophthora, P. nicotianae and P. palmivora were used in the experiments. Seeds and seedlings were inoculated with a zoospore suspension and uniform mycelial blocks of agar of the Phytophthora species. Susceptibility was calculated in terms of pathogen virulence on seed germination and seedling mortality 42 and 67 days after inoculation respectively. Seed germination and seedling mortality rates varied differently among the isolates used. Results implied that common alder and its seeds and seedlings are at risk to be infected by P. alni. In addition, other Phytophthora species are able to infect this kind of material showing their relative host non-specificity. This is one important finding concerning alder regeneration in infected areas, and the possibility of disease spread on this plant material.Phytophthora alni es un patógeno muy destructivo de los alisos (Alnus spp.) que se está expandiendo por toda Europa. Recientemente este patógeno ha sido citado como causante de enfermedades del aliso común (Alnus glutinosa) en España. Semillas y plántulas de A. glutinosa fueron analizadas in vitro para ver su susceptibilidad a Phytophthora alni y otras especies del género Phytophthora. En el experimento se usaron aislamientos de P. alni ssp. alni, P. cinnamomi, P. citrophthora, P. nicotianae y P. palmivora. Las semillas fueron inoculadas con una suspension de zoosporas mientras que las plántulas fueron inoculadas con bloques uniformes de micelio de agar de las especies de Phytophthora utilizadas. La susceptibilidad fue calculada evaluando la germinación de las semillas y la mortalidad de las plántulas después de 42 y 67 días tras la inoculación respectivamente. Los ratios de germinación de las semillas y de mortalidad de las plántulas variaron significativamente entre los aislamientos utilizados. Los resultados demostraron que el aliso común y sus semillas y plántulas tienen riesgo de ser infectados por P. alni. Además, otras especies de Phytophthora fueron capaces de infectar, lo que evidenció una relativa falta de especificidad por el hospedante. Estos datos son importantes por su transcendencia para la regenaración del aliso en las áreas infectadas, y la dispersión de la enfermedad en este material vegetal

Constraints on Regge models from perturbation theory

We study the constraints that the operator product expansion imposes on large $N_c$ inspired QCD models for current-current correlators. We focus on the constraints obtained by going beyond the leading-order parton computation. We explicitly show that, assumed a given mass spectrum: linear Regge behavior in $n$ (the principal quantum number) plus corrections in $1/n$, we can obtain the logarithmic (and constant) behavior in $n$ of the decay constants within a systematic expansion in $1/n$. Our example shows that it is possible to have different large $n$ behavior for the vector and pseudo-vector mass spectrum and yet comply with all the constraints from the operator product expansion.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figures; two references added, numerical analysis extended, main conclusions unchange

On the relevance of large scale pulsed-laser deposition: Evidence of structural heterogeneities in ZnO thin films

Pulsed-laser deposition is known as a well-suited method for growing thin films of oxide compounds presenting a wide range of functional properties. A limitation of this method for industrial process is the very anisotropic expansion dynamics of the plasma plume, which induces difficulties to grow on large scale films with homogeneous thickness and composition. The specific aspect of the crystalline or orientation uniformity has not been investigated, despite its important role on oxide films properties. In this work, the crystalline parameters and the texture of zinc oxide films are studied as a function of position with respect to the central axis of the plasma plume. We demonstrate the existence of large non-uniformities in the films. The stoichiometry, the lattice parameter, and the distribution of crystallites orientations drastically depend on the position with respect to the plume axis, i.e., on the oblique incidence of the ablated species. The origin of these non-uniformities, in particular, the unexpected tilted orientation of the ZnO c-axis may be attributed to the combined effects of the oblique incidence and of the ratio between oxygen and zinc fluxes reaching the surface of the growing film

The expansion of thymopoiesis in neonatal mice is dependent on expression of high mobility group a 2 protein (Hmga2).

Cell number in the mouse thymus increases steadily during the first two weeks after birth. It then plateaus and begins to decline by seven weeks after birth. The factors governing these dramatic changes in cell production are not well understood. The data herein correlate levels of High mobility group A 2 protein (Hmga2) expression with these temporal changes in thymopoiesis. Hmga2 is expressed at high levels in murine fetal and neonatal early T cell progenitors (ETP), which are the most immature intrathymic precursors, and becomes almost undetectable in these progenitors after 5 weeks of age. Hmga2 expression is critical for the initial, exponential expansion of thymopoiesis, as Hmga2 deficient mice have a deficit of ETPs within days after birth, and total thymocyte number is repressed compared to wild type littermates. Finally, our data raise the possibility that similar events occur in humans, because Hmga2 expression is high in human fetal thymic progenitors and falls in these cells during early infancy

Long non-coding RNA profiling of human lymphoid progenitor cells reveals transcriptional divergence of B cell and T cell lineages.

To elucidate the transcriptional 'landscape' that regulates human lymphoid commitment during postnatal life, we used RNA sequencing to assemble the long non-coding transcriptome across human bone marrow and thymic progenitor cells spanning the earliest stages of B lymphoid and T lymphoid specification. Over 3,000 genes encoding previously unknown long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) were revealed through the analysis of these rare populations. Lymphoid commitment was characterized by lncRNA expression patterns that were highly stage specific and were more lineage specific than those of protein-coding genes. Protein-coding genes co-expressed with neighboring lncRNA genes showed enrichment for ontologies related to lymphoid differentiation. The exquisite cell-type specificity of global lncRNA expression patterns independently revealed new developmental relationships among the earliest progenitor cells in the human bone marrow and thymus

Holographic U(1)_A and String Creation

We analyze the resolution of the U(1)_A problem in the Sakai-Sugimoto holographic dual of large N_c QCD at finite temperature. It has been shown that in the confining phase the axial symmetry is broken at order 1/N_c, in agreement with the ideas of Witten and Veneziano. We show that in the deconfined phase the axial symmetry remains unbroken to all orders in 1/N_c. In this case the breaking is due to instantons which are described by spacelike D0-branes, in agreement with 'tHooft's resolution. The holographic dual of the symmetry breaking fermion condensate is a state of spacelike strings between the D0-brane and the flavor D8-branes, which result from a spacelike version of the string creation effect. In the intermediate phase of deconfinement with broken chiral symmetry the instanton gas approximation is possibly regulated in the IR, which would imply an eta' mass-squared of order exp(-N_c).Comment: 18 pages, 19 figures, minor change

A Nexafs Study of Nitric Oxide Layers Adsorbed from a nitrite Solution onto a Pt(111) Surface

NO molecules adsorbed on a Pt(111) surface from dipping in an acidic nitrite solution are studied by near edge X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy (NEXAFS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), low energy electron diffraction (LEED) and scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) techniques. LEED patterns and STM images show that no long range ordered structures are formed after NO adsorption on a Pt(111) surface. Although the total NO coverage is very low, spectroscopic features in N K-edge and O K-edge absorption spectra have been singled out and related to the different species induced by this preparation method. From these measurements it is concluded that the NO molecule is adsorbed trough the N atom in an upright conformation. The maximum saturation coverage is about 0.3 monolayers, and although nitric oxide is the major component, nitrite and nitrogen species are slightly co-adsorbed on the surface. The results obtained from this study are compared with those previously reported in the literature for NO adsorbed on Pt(111) under UHV conditions

Elaborations on the String Dual to N=1 SQCD

In this paper we make further refinements to the duality proposed between N=1 SQCD and certain string (supergravity plus branes) backgrounds, working in the regime of comparable large number of colors and flavors. Using the string theory solutions, we predict different field theory observables and phenomena like Seiberg duality, gauge coupling and its running, the behavior of Wilson and 't Hooft loops, anomalous dimensions of the quark superfields, quartic superpotential coupling and its running, continuous and discrete anomaly matching. We also give evidence for the smooth interpolation between higgsed and confining vacua. We provide several matchings between field theory and string theory computations.Comment: 44 pages, 6 figures. References added, minor rewritings, published versio

Holographic duals of SQCD models in low dimensions

We obtain gravity duals to supersymmetric gauge theories in two and three spacetime dimensions with unquenched flavor. The supergravity solutions are generated by a set of color branes wrapping a compact cycle in a Calabi-Yau threefold, together with another set of flavor branes extended along the directions orthogonal to the cycle wrapped by the color branes. We construct supergravity backgrounds which include the backreaction induced by a smeared set of flavor branes, which act as delocalized dynamical sources of the different supergravity fields.Comment: 42 pages, 5 figures;v2: typos correcte