Niveles séricos del antígeno prostático específico (PSA) dentro de la campaña de prevención del cáncer de próstata

La determinación del antígeno prostático específico (PSA) forma parte del diagnósticodel cáncer de próstata. Como en condiciones patológicas sus niveles aumentan, esconsiderado marcador tumoral útil de diagnóstico de cáncer de próstata en forma precoz.Determinamos los niveles séricos de PSA, dentro de la campaña “Semana de la Próstata”organizado por la Cátedra de Urología del Hospital de Clínicas en Octubre 2007. De los 89pacientes, el 86,5% presentó niveles de PSA entre 0 y 4ng/ml, 10,1% entre 4 y 10 ng/mly el 3,4% entre 10 y 40 ng/ml respectivamente. Se realizó una distribución por edad y sedeterminaron las medias de los valores de PSA en los mismos. El 12,4% del grupo E1(41 a 50 años) con 0,5ng/ml de PSA, el 52,8% del grupo E2 (51 a 60 años) con 7,4ng/mlde PSA, el 28,1% del grupo E3 (61 a 70 años) con 5,2ng/ml de PSA y el 6,7% del grupoE4 (71 a 80 años) con 1,5 ng/ml de PSA. Hallándose valores más elevados de PSA en elgrupo E2 y E3, no así en el grupo E4. En relación al tacto rectal (TR) y los valores delPSA, el 31,5%(28) presentaron TR normal con un valor medio de PSA de 3,4. Mientrasque el 65,1% (58) presentaban TR patológico con valores medios de PSA de 7,17 en 55pacientes y sólo 3 pacientes con TR patológico presentaron niveles de PSA por debajo de2,5 ng/ml. El TR resultó ser la variable con mayor poder de discriminación, con respectoal resultado de PSA en estos pacientes

Predicting species dominance shifts across elevation gradients in mountain forests in Greece under a warmer and drier climate

The Mediterranean Basin is expected to face warmer and drier conditions in the future, following projected increases in temperature and declines in precipitation. The aim of this study is to explore how forests dominated by Abies borisii-regis, Abies cephalonica, Fagus sylvatica, Pinus nigra and Quercus frainetto will respond under such conditions. We combined an individual-based model (GREFOS), with a novel tree ring data set in order to constrain tree diameter growth and to account for inter- and intraspecific growth variability. We used wood density data to infer tree longevity, taking into account inter- and intraspecific variability. The model was applied at three 500-m-wide elevation gradients at Taygetos in Peloponnese, at Agrafa on Southern Pindos and at Valia Kalda on Northern Pindos in Greece. Simulations adequately represented species distribution and abundance across the elevation gradients under current climate. We subsequently used the model to estimate species and functional trait shifts under warmer and drier future conditions based on the IPCC A1B scenario. In all three sites, a retreat of less drought-tolerant species and an upward shift of more drought-tolerant species were simulated. These shifts were also associated with changes in two key functional traits, in particular maximum radial growth rate and wood density. Drought-tolerant species presented an increase in their average maximal growth and decrease in their average wood density, in contrast to less drought-tolerant species

Investigating the coenzyme specificity of phenylacetone monooxygenase from Thermobifida fusca

Type I Baeyer–Villiger monooxygenases (BVMOs) strongly prefer NADPH over NADH as an electron donor. In order to elucidate the molecular basis for this coenzyme specificity, we have performed a site-directed mutagenesis study on phenylacetone monooxygenase (PAMO) from Thermobifida fusca. Using sequence alignments of type I BVMOs and crystal structures of PAMO and cyclohexanone monooxygenase in complex with NADP+, we identified four residues that could interact with the 2′-phosphate moiety of NADPH in PAMO. The mutagenesis study revealed that the conserved R217 is essential for binding the adenine moiety of the nicotinamide coenzyme while it also contributes to the recognition of the 2′-phosphate moiety of NADPH. The substitution of T218 did not have a strong effect on the coenzyme specificity. The H220N and H220Q mutants exhibited a ~3-fold improvement in the catalytic efficiency with NADH while the catalytic efficiency with NADPH was hardly affected. Mutating K336 did not increase the activity of PAMO with NADH, but it had a significant and beneficial effect on the enantioselectivity of Baeyer–Villiger oxidations and sulfoxidations. In conclusion, our results indicate that the function of NADPH in catalysis cannot be easily replaced by NADH. This finding is in line with the complex catalytic mechanism and the vital role of the coenzyme in BVMOs

Control of intestinal stem cell function and proliferation by mitochondrial pyruvate metabolism.

Most differentiated cells convert glucose to pyruvate in the cytosol through glycolysis, followed by pyruvate oxidation in the mitochondria. These processes are linked by the mitochondrial pyruvate carrier (MPC), which is required for efficient mitochondrial pyruvate uptake. In contrast, proliferative cells, including many cancer and stem cells, perform glycolysis robustly but limit fractional mitochondrial pyruvate oxidation. We sought to understand the role this transition from glycolysis to pyruvate oxidation plays in stem cell maintenance and differentiation. Loss of the MPC in Lgr5-EGFP-positive stem cells, or treatment of intestinal organoids with an MPC inhibitor, increases proliferation and expands the stem cell compartment. Similarly, genetic deletion of the MPC in Drosophila intestinal stem cells also increases proliferation, whereas MPC overexpression suppresses stem cell proliferation. These data demonstrate that limiting mitochondrial pyruvate metabolism is necessary and sufficient to maintain the proliferation of intestinal stem cells

Reliability of infrared thermography in skin temperature evaluation of wheelchair users

To examine the reliability of infrared thermography (IRT) in wheelchair users (WCUs), as a noninvasive and risk-free technique to detect the natural thermal radiation emitted by human skin and to allow subsequent interpretations of temperature distributions

Attaining the canopy in dry and moist tropical forests: strong differences in tree growth trajectories reflect variation in growing conditions

Availability of light and water differs between tropical moist and dry forests, with typically higher understorey light levels and lower water availability in the latter. Therefore, growth trajectories of juvenile trees—those that have not attained the canopy—are likely governed by temporal fluctuations in light availability in moist forests (suppressions and releases), and by spatial heterogeneity in water availability in dry forests. In this study, we compared juvenile growth trajectories of Cedrela odorata in a dry (Mexico) and a moist forest (Bolivia) using tree rings. We tested the following specific hypotheses: (1) moist forest juveniles show more and longer suppressions, and more and stronger releases; (2) moist forest juveniles exhibit wider variation in canopy accession pattern, i.e. the typical growth trajectory to the canopy; (3) growth variation among dry forest juveniles persists over longer time due to spatial heterogeneity in water availability. As expected, the proportion of suppressed juveniles was higher in moist than in dry forest (72 vs. 17%). Moist forest suppressions also lasted longer (9 vs. 5 years). The proportion of juveniles that experienced releases in moist forest (76%) was higher than in dry forest (41%), and releases in moist forests were much stronger. Trees in the moist forest also had a wider variation in canopy accession patterns compared to the dry forest. Our results also showed that growth variation among juvenile trees persisted over substantially longer periods of time in dry forest (>64 years) compared to moist forest (12 years), most probably because of larger persistent spatial variation in water availability. Our results suggest that periodic increases in light availability are more important for attaining the canopy in moist forests, and that spatial heterogeneity in water availability governs long-term tree growth in dry forests

Measurement of the Bottom-Strange Meson Mixing Phase in the Full CDF Data Set

We report a measurement of the bottom-strange meson mixing phase \beta_s using the time evolution of B0_s -> J/\psi (->\mu+\mu-) \phi (-> K+ K-) decays in which the quark-flavor content of the bottom-strange meson is identified at production. This measurement uses the full data set of proton-antiproton collisions at sqrt(s)= 1.96 TeV collected by the Collider Detector experiment at the Fermilab Tevatron, corresponding to 9.6 fb-1 of integrated luminosity. We report confidence regions in the two-dimensional space of \beta_s and the B0_s decay-width difference \Delta\Gamma_s, and measure \beta_s in [-\pi/2, -1.51] U [-0.06, 0.30] U [1.26, \pi/2] at the 68% confidence level, in agreement with the standard model expectation. Assuming the standard model value of \beta_s, we also determine \Delta\Gamma_s = 0.068 +- 0.026 (stat) +- 0.009 (syst) ps-1 and the mean B0_s lifetime, \tau_s = 1.528 +- 0.019 (stat) +- 0.009 (syst) ps, which are consistent and competitive with determinations by other experiments.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, Phys. Rev. Lett 109, 171802 (2012