Nuevos conceptos en el ensayo Varestraint

En este trabajo se describen las modificaciones que se han hecho al ensayo Varesrrainr para obrener el máximo de información de una probeta. Se ensayaron aceros inoxidables del tipo 347 estándar y modificado, encontrando que la técnica usada puede detectar diferencias en la tendencia al agrietamiento de la zona fundida, zona afectada térmicamente del metal previamente fundido y del metal base

End of life in patients with advanced non-curable cancer : patient considerations around the moment of death

Existe conocimiento limitado sobre pacientes colombianos con cáncer avanzado preferencias con respecto a sus momentos finales, lugar de muerte y deseos posteriores a la muerte. A Para comprender mejor estas preferencias, realizamos 23 entrevistas en profundidad con pacientes entre 28 y 78 años que reciben tratamiento en dos hospitales académicos y el Instituto Nacional del Cáncer. Si bien muchos participantes deseaban una muerte pacífica, pocos se sentían cómodos discutiendo directamente el tema de la muerte. Algunos participantes más jóvenes expresó interés en la eutanasia pero no había recibido ninguna orientación o apoyo. Si bien varios participantes prefirieron morir en el hogar, algunos expresaron el deseo de morir en un hospital debido a un mejor control de los síntomas. Además, cuando se habla de post-muerte deseos, algunos participantes expresaron frustración por no poder tener estos conversaciones con sus seres queridos y sus preferencias para los arreglos funerarios.Q3Q2There is limited knowledge regarding Colombian patients with advanced cancer preferences regarding their final moments, place of death, and post-death wishes. To better understand these preferences, we conducted 23 in-depth interviews with patients between the ages of 28 and 78 receiving treatment at two academic hospitals and the National Cancer Institute. While many participants desired a peaceful death, few were comfortable discussing the topic of death directly. Some younger participants expressed an interest in euthanasia but had not received any guidance or support. While several participants preferred a home death, some expressed a desire to die in a hospital due to better symptom control. Additionally, when discussing post-death wishes, some participants expressed frustration about being unable to have these conversations with their loved ones and their preferences for funeral arrangements.Revista Internacional - IndexadaS

Low variability of single-molecule conductance assisted by bulky metal-molecule contacts

A detailed study of the trimethylsilylethynyl moiety, –C[triple bond]CSiMe3 (TMSE) , as an anchoring group in metalmoleculemetal junctions, using a combination of experiment and density functional theory is presented. It is shown that the TMSE anchoring group provides improved control over the molecule-substrate arrangement within metalmoleculemetal junctions, with the steric bulk of the methyl groups limiting the number of highly transmissive binding sites at the electrode surface, resulting in a single sharp peak in the conductance histograms recorded by both the in situ break junction and I(s) STM techniques. As a consequence of the low accessibility of the TMSE group to surface binding configurations of measurable conductance, only about 10% of gold break junction formation cycles result in the clear formation of molecular junctions in the experimental histograms. The DFT-computed transmission characteristics of junctions formed from the TMSE-contacted oligo(phenylene)ethynylene (OPE)-based molecules described here are dominated by tunneling effects through the highest-occupied molecular orbitals (HOMOs). This gives rise to similar conductance characteristics in these TMSE-contacted systems as found in low conductance-type junctions based on comparably structured OPE-derivatives with amine-contacts that also conduct through HOMO-based channels.R. R. F. thanks the Consejería de Educación del Principado de Asturias for a Severo Ochoa grant (BP11-069). V. M. G.-S. thanks the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad for a Ramón y Cajal fellowship (RYC-2010-06053). R. R. F., J. F. and V. M. G.-S. wish to acknowledge financial support from the Spanish grant FIS2012-34858 and the Marie Curie Network MOLESCO. P. C. and S. M. are grateful for financial assistance from the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad of Spain in the framework of the project CTQ2012-33198 as well as the award of the CTQ2013-50187-EXP grant. H. M. O., P. C., and S. M. thank the support from DGA and Fondos FEDER for funding through the Platon research group. H. M. O. is also grateful for financial assistance from the Secretaría Nacional de Educación Superior, Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovaciín from Ministerio de Educación (Ecuador). S. M. thanks the Ministerio de Educación from Spain for financial support through the framework of the Campus de Excelencia Internacional, CEI Iberus. S. J. H., R. J. N., P. J. L. and S. M.-G. thank the EPSRC for funding (EPSRC grants EP/K007785/1, EP/H035184/1, EP/K007548/1, EP/H005595/1). P. J. L. holds an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship (FT120100073) and gratefully acknowledges funding for this work from the ARC (DP140100855).Peer Reviewe

Magnetic order and disorder in nanomagnets probed by superconducting vortices

We have studied two nanomagnet systems with strong (Co/Pd multilayers) and weak (NdCo alloy films) stray magnetic fields by probing the out-of-plane magnetic states with superconducting vortices. The hybrid samples are made of array of nanomagnets embedded in superconducting Nb thin films. The vortex motion detects relevant magnetic state features, since superconducting vortices are able to discriminate between different magnetic stray field strengths and directions. The usual matching effect between the superconducting vortex lattice and the periodic pinning array can be quenched by means of disorder magnetic potentials with strong stray fields at random. Ordered stray fields retrieve the matching effect and yield asymmetry and shift in the vortex dissipation signal. Furthermore vortices can discriminate the sizes of the nanomagnet magnetic domains, detecting magnetic domain sizes as small as 70 nm. In addition, we observe that the vortex cores play the crucial role instead of the supercurrents around the vortex.We thank Spanish MINECO grants FIS2013-45469, FIS2016-76058 (AEI/FEDER, UE), Spanish CM grant S2013/MIT-2850. IMDEA Nanociencia acknowledges support from the ‘Severo Ochoa’ Programme for Centres of Excellence in R&D (MINECO, Grant SEV-2016-0686). DG acknowledges RYC-2012-09864, S2013/MIT-3007 and ESP2015-65597-C4-3-R for financial support.Peer reviewe

Minor malformations and other morphological abnormalities in series of fetal and perinatal necropsies in Bogota

OBJETIVO: Revisar las definiciones de los cambios morfológicos y clasificaciones de las alteraciones observadas en necropsias fetales y neonatales y analizar su relación con la causa de muerte y los demás padecimientos fetales y maternos conocidos. MATERIALES Y MÉTODOS: Estudio observacional y descriptivo de necropsias fetales y perinatales para detallar las características anatómicas de fetos y recién nacidos excluidas de los criterios de normalidad y su correlación con los factores placentarios, las condiciones clínicas maternas, y los desenlaces fetales y del recién nacido. RESULTADOS: En 87 necropsias perinatales se observó predominio de los hallazgos de malformaciones en el sexo femenino, en madres entre 18 y 35 años y en individuos con maceración severa. Las malformaciones mayores más frecuentes ocurrieron en la cara, el abdomen y el esqueleto. En las malformaciones menores predominaron las esqueléticas (clinodactilia (36.75%), braquidactilia (23.52%), brecha de la separación entre el primer y segundo dedos del pie (Sandal gap) (14.7%); faciales (puente nasal deprimido (58.24%), glosoptosis (16.64%) hipertelorismo (8.32%)) y de cuello (alado (31.25%), corto (37.5%) y elongado (18.75%)). Como rupturas se encontraron bandas amnióticas que abarcaban amplios segmentos (2.29%). La deformidad más frecuente fue el pie en equino varo (6.89%). CONCLUSIÓN: En nuestra observación interdisciplinaria enfocada a las muertes perinatales se encontró relación entre cromosomopatía y aborto retenido. Los cambios morfológicos más frecuentes correspondieron a malformaciones menores. Todo cambio en la morfología de un recién nacido o de un feto puede ser la clave del diagnóstico principal, por ello deben reconocerse y distinguirse entre sí para orientar el futuro obstétrico de las familias, brindar consejería genética y lograr que trasciendan a la salud pública.1-10BACKGROUND: During autopsy morphological abnormalities should be classified in major or minor malformations, disruptions, sequences, deformities, trauma, changes attributable to fixation, intrauterine death, or manipulation, among others. Appropriate counseling in genetics and obstetrics is going to depend on this approach. In the current study we want to know the frequencies of morphological changes and their association with clinical presentations. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Observational descriptive study carried out on consecutive perinatal autopsies product from natural deaths in which morphological changes were classified. RESULTS: In 87 perinatal autopsies a female predominance was observed, as well as a major occurrence in mothers between 18 and 35 years and in individuals with severe maceration. The most frequent major malformations were found in the face, abdomen and skeleton. Among minor malformations, the skeletal ones were the most predominant (clinodactyly (36.75%), brachydactyly (23.52%), sandal gap (14.7%)); followed by facial anomalies (depressed nasal bridge (58.24%), glossoptosis (16.64%), hypertelorism (8.32%); and, neck defects (winged neck (31.25%), short (37.5%), elongated (18.75%). Among disruptions, amniotic bands were found covering large segments (2.29%). The most frequent deformity was equinovarus foot (6.89%). CONCLUSIONS: In the present interdisciplinary observation focused on perinatal deaths, a relation between cromosomopathies and severe maceration was identified. The most frequent morphological features corresponded to minor malformations. Any change in the morphology of a newborn or a fetus may be the key to the main diagnosis. For this reason, morphological changes must to be recognized and distinguished among them to guide the reproductive future of the families, provide genetic counseling and achieve a positive impact on public health

Bladder cancer index: cross-cultural adaptation into Spanish and psychometric evaluation

BACKGROUND: The Bladder Cancer Index (BCI) is so far the only instrument applicable across all bladder cancer patients, independent of tumor infiltration or treatment applied. We developed a Spanish version of the BCI, and assessed its acceptability and metric properties. METHODS: For the adaptation into Spanish we used the forward and back-translation method, expert panels, and cognitive debriefing patient interviews. For the assessment of metric properties we used data from 197 bladder cancer patients from a multi-center prospective study. The Spanish BCI and the SF-36 Health Survey were self-administered before and 12 months after treatment. Reliability was estimated by Cronbach's alpha. Construct validity was assessed through the multi-trait multi-method matrix. The magnitude of change was quantified by effect sizes to assess responsiveness. RESULTS: Reliability coefficients ranged 0.75-0.97. The validity analysis confirmed moderate associations between the BCI function and bother subscales for urinary (r = 0.61) and bowel (r = 0.53) domains; conceptual independence among all BCI domains (r ≤ 0.3); and low correlation coefficients with the SF-36 scores, ranging 0.14-0.48. Among patients reporting global improvement at follow-up, pre-post treatment changes were statistically significant for the urinary domain and urinary bother subscale, with effect sizes of 0.38 and 0.53. CONCLUSIONS: The Spanish BCI is well accepted, reliable, valid, responsive, and similar in performance compared to the original instrument. These findings support its use, both in Spanish and international studies, as a valuable and comprehensive tool for assessing quality of life across a wide range of bladder cancer patients

Regulatory T Cells in the Pathogenesis and Healing of Chronic Human Dermal Leishmaniasis Caused by Leishmania (Viannia) Species

The immune inflammatory response is a double edged sword. During infectious diseases, regulatory T cells can prevent eradication of the pathogen but can also limit inflammation and tissue damage. We investigated the role of regulatory T cells in chronic dermal leishmaniasis caused by species of the parasite Leishmania that are endemic in South and Central America. We found that although individuals with chronic lesions have increased regulatory T cells in their blood and at skin sites where immune responses to Leishmania were taking place compared to infected individuals who do not develop disease, their capacity to control the inflammatory response to Leishmania was inferior. However, healing of chronic lesions at the end of treatment was accompanied by an increase in the number and capacity of regulatory T cells to inhibit the function of effector T cells that mediate the inflammatory response. Different subsets of regulatory T cells, defined by the expression of molecular markers, were identified during chronic disease and healing, supporting the participation of distinct regulatory T cells in the development of disease and the control of inflammation during the healing response. Immunotherapeutic strategies may allow these regulatory T cell subsets to be mobilized or mitigated to achieve healing

Envejecimiento de la población

•Actividades básicas de la vida diaria en personas mayores y factores asociados •Asociación entre depresión y posesión de mascotas en personas mayores •Calidad de vida en adultos mayores de Santiago aplicando el instrumento WHOQOL-BREF •Calidad de vida en usuarios con enfermedad de Parkinson, demencia y sus cuidadores, comuna de Vitacura •Caracterización de egresos hospitalarios de adultos mayores en Puerto Natales (2007-2009) •Comportamiento de las patologías incluidas como GES para el adulto mayor atendido en un Cesfam •Contribución de vitaminas y minerales a las ingestas recomendadas diarias en ancianos institucionalizados de Madrid •Estado de salud oral del paciente inscrito en el Programa de Visita Domiciliaria •Evaluación del programa de discapacidad severa en Casablanca con la matriz de marco lógico •Factores asociados a satisfacción vital en una cohorte de adultos mayores de Santiago, Chile •Pauta instrumental para la identificación de riesgos para el adulto mayor autovalente, en su vivienda •Perfil farmacológico del paciente geriátrico institucionalizado y posibles consecuencias en el deterioro cognitivo •Programa de cuidados paliativos y alivio del dolor en Puerto Natales •Rehabilitación mandibular implantoprotésica: efecto en calidad de vida relacionada con salud bucal en adultos mayores •Salud bucodental en adultos mayores autovalentes de la Región de Valparaíso •Transición epidemiológica y el estudio de carga de enfermedad en Brasi

Exploring the link between MORF4L1 and risk of breast cancer.

INTRODUCTION: Proteins encoded by Fanconi anemia (FA) and/or breast cancer (BrCa) susceptibility genes cooperate in a common DNA damage repair signaling pathway. To gain deeper insight into this pathway and its influence on cancer risk, we searched for novel components through protein physical interaction screens. METHODS: Protein physical interactions were screened using the yeast two-hybrid system. Co-affinity purifications and endogenous co-immunoprecipitation assays were performed to corroborate interactions. Biochemical and functional assays in human, mouse and Caenorhabditis elegans models were carried out to characterize pathway components. Thirteen FANCD2-monoubiquitinylation-positive FA cell lines excluded for genetic defects in the downstream pathway components and 300 familial BrCa patients negative for BRCA1/2 mutations were analyzed for genetic mutations. Common genetic variants were genotyped in 9,573 BRCA1/2 mutation carriers for associations with BrCa risk. RESULTS: A previously identified co-purifying protein with PALB2 was identified, MRG15 (MORF4L1 gene). Results in human, mouse and C. elegans models delineate molecular and functional relationships with BRCA2, PALB2, RAD51 and RPA1 that suggest a role for MRG15 in the repair of DNA double-strand breaks. Mrg15-deficient murine embryonic fibroblasts showed moderate sensitivity to γ-irradiation relative to controls and reduced formation of Rad51 nuclear foci. Examination of mutants of MRG15 and BRCA2 C. elegans orthologs revealed phenocopy by accumulation of RPA-1 (human RPA1) nuclear foci and aberrant chromosomal compactions in meiotic cells. However, no alterations or mutations were identified for MRG15/MORF4L1 in unclassified FA patients and BrCa familial cases. Finally, no significant associations between common MORF4L1 variants and BrCa risk for BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation carriers were identified: rs7164529, Ptrend = 0.45 and 0.05, P2df = 0.51 and 0.14, respectively; and rs10519219, Ptrend = 0.92 and 0.72, P2df = 0.76 and 0.07, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: While the present study expands on the role of MRG15 in the control of genomic stability, weak associations cannot be ruled out for potential low-penetrance variants at MORF4L1 and BrCa risk among BRCA2 mutation carriers.RIGHTS : This article is licensed under the BioMed Central licence at http://www.biomedcentral.com/about/license which is similar to the 'Creative Commons Attribution Licence'. In brief you may : copy, distribute, and display the work; make derivative works; or make commercial use of the work - under the following conditions: the original author must be given credit; for any reuse or distribution, it must be made clear to others what the license terms of this work are