An XMRV Derived Retroviral Vector as a Tool for Gene Transfer

Background: Retroviral vectors are widely used tools for gene delivery and gene therapy. They are useful for gene expression studies and genetic manipulation in vitro and in vivo. Many retroviral vectors are derived from the mouse gammaretrovirus, murine leukemia virus (MLV). These vectors have been widely used in gene therapy clinical trials. XMRV, initially found in prostate cancer tissue, was the first human gammaretrovirus described. Findings: We developed a new retroviral vector based on XMRV called pXC. It was developed for gene transfer to human cells and is produced by transient cotransfection of LNCaP cells with pXC and XMRV-packaging plasmids. Conclusions: We demonstrated that pXC mediates expression of inserted transgenes in cell lines. This new vector will be a useful tool for gene transfer in human and non-human cell lines, including gene therapy studies

Cáncer de colon: análisis del costo de enfermedad para los estadios iii yiv en cansercoop ips

El cáncer de colon presenta una incidencia creciente en la sociedad colombiana y es una de las principales causas de morbi-mortalidad en este grupo de enfermedades, con una gran carga emocional y económica. Desde el punto de vista del efecto económico no hay mucha información en el contexto colombiano. Por tal razón, este trabajo hace un análisis de caso en una institución prestadora de servicios (ips), aplicando la metodología de “costo enfermedad” basada en la prevalencia de la enfermedad. Objetivo: estimar costos totales, directos e indirectos, para cáncer de colon, establecer una distribución de recursos para estadios iii y iv. Método: se empleó el modelo de análisis de costo de enfermedad por prevalencia, en pacientes diagnosticados en estadios iii y iv con cáncer de colon, entre enero de 2005 y octubre de 2007, y se revisó una base de datos en cansercoop ips. Resultados: se identificaron 79 individuos, 44 en estadio iii de la enfermedad y 35 en estadio iv; el 59,5% son mujeres. De acuerdo con la edad, el 45,6% son mayores de 60 años, y el 58,2% están afiliados a Salud Total como empresa promotora de salud (eps). El costo total fue $348.254.762; 98,41$ 1.700.816 (49.288-11.529.013), estadio iii y $7.653.742 (13.523-70.354.423), estadio iv. El 65,66$ 77.143.347 y $271.111.415, respectivamente, en los que los medicamentos representan$ 42.444.492 para el estadio iii y $182.570.717 para el iv. Este análisis puede considerarse un estudio preliminar; sin embargo, representa un paso para posteriores evaluaciones económicas en salud.The cancer colon has an increased incidence in Colombia and is a leading causes of mortality and morbidity in this group of diseases with a high economic and emotional burden, from the standpoint of economic impact there is little information in the Colombian context, for this reason, this work makes a case study in a health institution providing services, applying the methodology of “Cost of Illness” based on the prevalence of disease. Aim: To estimate the whole costs, both direct and indirect to cancer colon; establishing a distribution resources to iii and iv stages. Method: analysis cost of Illness was used in patients were diagnosed as having both iii and iv stages with cancer colon, from January 2005 to October 2007; checking a base data in cansercoop ips. Results: 79 people were identified, 44 (iii stage) and 35 (iv stage), 59.9$ 348.254.762, 98.4% were direct costs and 1.59% were indirect costs. Average cost for each patient was $1.700.816 (49.288-11.529.013), iii stage and$ 7.653.742 (13.523-70.354.423), iv stage. 65.66% are medicines. Conclusions: the total costs, both iii and iv stages were $77.143.347 and$ 271.111.415 in iii stage and $182.570.717 in iv stage. This analysis can be considered as a preliminary study; however it means a step to subsequent economic health assessments

Analyses of chondrogenic induction of adipose mesenchymal stem cells by combined co-stimulation mediated by adenoviral gene transfer

INTRODUCTION: Adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) have the potential to differentiate into cartilage under stimulation with some reported growth and transcriptional factors, which may constitute an alternative for cartilage replacement approaches. In this study, we analyzed the in vitro chondrogenesis of ASCs transduced with adenoviral vectors encoding insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), transforming growth factor beta-1 (TGF-β1), fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2), and sex-determining region Y-box 9 (SOX9) either alone or in combinations. METHODS: Aggregate cultures of characterized ovine ASCs were transduced with 100 multiplicity of infections of Ad.IGF-1, Ad.TGF-β1, Ad.FGF-2, and Ad.SOX9 alone or in combination. These were harvested at various time points for detection of cartilage-specific genes expression by quantitative real-time PCR or after 14 and 28 days for histologic and biochemical analyses detecting proteoglycans, collagens (II, I and X), and total sulfated glycosaminoglycan and collagen content, respectively. RESULTS: Expression analyses showed that co-expression of IGF-1 and FGF-2 resulted in higher significant expression levels of aggrecan, biglycan, cartilage matrix, proteoglycan, and collagen II (all P ≤0.001 at 28 days). Aggregates co-transduced with Ad.IGF-1/Ad.FGF-2 showed a selective expression of proteoglycans and collagen II, with limited expression of collagens I and × demonstrated by histological analyses, and had significantly greater glycosaminoglycan and collagen production than the positive control (P ≤0.001). Western blot analyses for this combination also demonstrated increased expression of collagen II, while expression of collagens I and × was undetectable and limited, respectively. CONCLUSION: Combined overexpression of IGF-1/FGF-2 within ASCs enhances their chondrogenic differentiation inducing the expression of chondrogenic markers, suggesting that this combination is more beneficial than the other factors tested for the development of cell-based therapies for cartilage repair

Plan de responsabilidad social empresarial Italy Pizza.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4fSOsjjACY&rel=0 Poster: permite mostrar un resumen muy corto de lo trabajo, los estudios y hallazgos realizados, para que sea mas interesanteLa responsabilidad social empresarial está fundamentada en el desarrollo sostenible; lo que permite un crecimiento económico, bienestar social y el aprovechamiento de los recursos naturales; generando así un equilibrio que permite hacer negocio y que este garantice una sostenibilidad, mayor productividad, lealtad del cliente, acceso a mercados y credibilidad. Italy pizza Mediante la implementación del Plan de Responsabilidad Social Empresarial quiere adoptar una postura activa y responsable frente a las actividades relacionadas directamente e indirectamente con la empresa. La implementación de las políticas de responsabilidad social permitirá generar un impacto positivo a nivel interno como a lo externo de la empresa, mediante la ejecución de prácticas empresariales se generara desarrollo empresarial y a nivel de sus stakeholders.Corporate social responsibility is based on sustainable development; what allows economic growth, social welfare and the use of natural resources; thus generating a balance that allows business to be done and that this guarantees sustainability, greater productivity, customer loyalty, access to markets and credibility. Italy pizza Through the implementation of the Corporate Social Responsibility Plan, it want to take an active position and responsible for activities directly and indirectly related to the company. The implementation of social responsibility policies will generate a positive impact internally as well as externally of the company, through the execution of business practices, business development is generated at the level of its stakeholder

Propuesta de Supply Chain Management y Logística para la empresa Sodexo

Imagenes,graficas,diagramasLa estrategia de Supply Chain Management es un proceso el cual las organizaciones aplican para garantizar una buena gestión de su cadena de suministro, es decir por medio de este modelo, cada actividad de provisión, fabricación y distribución se ejecuta de la mejor manera, para asegurar que cada requerimiento exigido por los clientes, sean cubiertos eficientemente, permitiendo así, que la empresa obtenga un crecimiento de las ventas de forma exponencial, logrando una ventaja competitiva frente a otras compañías. El proceso de Supply Chain Management en el presente trabajo, se le aplico a la empresa Sodexo, que es una empresa prestadora de servicios, para el caso puntual del actual trabajo se abordó el servicio de la limpieza y desinfección (Aseo), para este caso, se le realizó un análisis bastante detallado a su cadena de suministros, permitiéndonos encontrar diversas oportunidades de mejora, que harán más eficiente y productivo cada proceso u etapa del SCM, previniendo de esta manera toma de decisiones erróneas que no van a generar valor en la prestación del servicio a su clientes contratados. Dentro de los principales resultados encontrados del análisis realizado a la cadena suministro de la empresa en estudio, se encuentra la de mejorar su almacén, dado que el que posee actualmente es algo pequeño, permitiendo de esta manera hacer propuestas de layout en base al conocimiento adquirido hasta ese momento, dejando en evidencia que con la buena gestión de cada etapa del SC, se garantiza procesos operativos eficientes y que generan valor impactando de manera positiva a los clientes por tener un enfoque preventivo y no correctivo.The Supply Chain Management strategy is a process that organizations apply to guarantee a good management of their supply chain, that is, by means of this model, each activity of supply, manufacture and distribution is executed in the best way, to ensure that each requirement demanded by the customers, is covered efficiently, thus allowing the company to obtain an exponential growth of sales, achieving a competitive advantage over other companies. The process of Supply Chain Management in this paper is applied to the company Sodexo, which is a company providing services, for the specific case of the current work we addressed the service of cleaning and disinfection (Aseo), for this case we carried out a very detailed analysis of its supply chain, allowing us to find various opportunities for improvement, which will make more efficient and productive each process or stage of the SCM, thus preventing in this way making erroneous decisions that will not generate value in the provision of the service to its contracted clients. Among the main results found in the analysis of the supply chain of the company under study, there is the improvement of its warehouse, given that the warehouse currently has is somewhat small, thus allowing to make layout proposals based on the knowledge acquired so far, showing that with the good management of each stage of the SC, efficient operational processes are guaranteed and generate value positively impacting clients by having a preventive and non-corrective approach

Identification of viral infections in the prostate and evaluation of their association with cancer

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Several viruses with known oncogenic potential infect prostate tissue, among these are the polyomaviruses BKV, JCV, and SV40; human papillomaviruses (HPVs), and human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infections. Recently, the Xenotropic Murine Leukemia Virus-related gammaretrovirus (XMRV) was identified in prostate tissue with a high prevalence observed in prostate cancer (PC) patients homozygous for the glutamine variant of the RNASEL protein (462Q/Q). Association studies with the R462Q allele and non-XMRV viruses have not been reported. We assessed associations between prostate cancer, prostate viral infections, and the RNASEL 462Q allele in Mexican cancer patients and controls.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>130 subjects (55 prostate cancer cases and 75 controls) were enrolled in the study. DNA and RNA isolated from prostate tissues were screened for the presence of viral genomes. Genotyping of the RNASEL R462Q variant was performed by Taqman method.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>R/R, R/Q, and Q/Q frequencies for R462Q were 0.62, 0.38, and 0.0 for PC cases and 0.69, 0.24, and 0.07 for controls, respectively. HPV sequences were detected in 11 (20.0%) cases and 4 (5.3%) controls. XMRV and HCMV infections were detected in one and six control samples, respectively. The risk of PC was significantly increased (Odds Ratio = 3.98; 95% CI: 1.17-13.56, p = 0.027) by infection of the prostatic tissue with HPV. BKV, JCV, and SV40 sequences were not detected in any of the tissue samples examined.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We report a positive association between PC and HPV infection. The 462Q/Q RNASEL genotype was not represented in our PC cases; thus, its interaction with prostate viral infections and cancer could not be evaluated.</p

Genomic diversity of human papillomavirus-16, 18, 31, and 35 isolates in a Mexican population and relationship to European, African, and Native American variants

AbstractCervical cancer, mainly caused by infection with human papillomaviruses (HPVs), is a major public health problem in Mexico. During a study of the prevalence of HPV types in northeastern Mexico, we identified, as expected from worldwide comparisons, HPV-16, 18, 31, and 35 as highly prevalent. It is well known that the genomes of HPV types differ geographically because of evolution linked to ethnic groups separated in prehistoric times. As HPV intra-type variation results in pathogenic differences, we analyzed genomic sequences of Mexican variants of these four HPV types. Among 112 HPV-16 samples, 14 contained European and 98 American Indian (AA) variants. This ratio is unexpected as people of European ethnicity predominate in this part of Mexico. Among 15 HPV-18 samples, 13 contained European and 2 African variants, the latter possibly due to migration of Africans to the Caribbean coast of Mexico. We constructed phylogenetic trees of HPV-31 and 35 variants, which have never been studied. Forty-six HPV-31 isolates from Mexico, Europe, Africa, and the United States (US) contained a total of 35 nucleotide exchanges in a 428-bp segment, with maximal distances between any two variants of 16 bp (3.7%), similar to those between HPV-16 variants. The HPV-31 variants formed two branches, one apparently the European, the other one an African branch. The European branch contained 13 of 29 Mexican isolates, the African branch 16 Mexican isolates. These may represent the HPV-31 variants of American Indians, as a 55% prevalence of African variants in Mexico seems incomprehensible. Twenty-seven HPV-35 samples from Mexico, Europe, Africa, and the US contained 11 mutations in a 893-bp segment with maximal distances between any two variants of only 5 mutations (0.6%), including a characteristic 16-bp insertion/deletion. These HPV-35 variants formed several phylogenetic clusters rather than two- or three-branched trees as HPV-16, 18, and 31. An HPV-35 variant typical for American Indians was not identifiable. Our research suggests type specific patterns of evolution and spread of HPV-16, 18, 31, and 35 both before and after the worldwide migrations of the last four centuries. The high prevalence of highly carcinogenic HPV-16 AA variants, and the extensive diversity of HPV-18, 31, and 35 variants with unknown pathogenic properties raise the possibility that HPV intra-type variation contributes to the high cervical cancer burden in Mexico

Population based prostate cancer screening in north Mexico reveals a high prevalence of aggressive tumors in detected cases

Background: Prostate Cancer (PCa) is the second most frequent neoplasia in men worldwide. Previous reports suggest that the prevalence of PCa in Hispanic males is lower than in Africans (including communities with African ancestry) and Caucasians, but higher than in Asians. Despite these antecedents, there are few reports of open population screenings for PCa in Latin American communities. This article describes the results of three consecutive screenings in the urban population of Monterrey, Mexico. Methods: After receiving approval from our University Hospital's Internal Review Board (IRB), the screening was announced by radio, television, and press, and it was addressed to male subjects over 40 years old in general. Subjects who consented to participate were evaluated at the primary care clinics of the University Health Program at UANL, in the Metropolitan area of Monterrey. Blood samples were taken from each subject for prostate specific antigen (PSA) determination; they underwent a digital rectal examination (DRE), and were subsequently interviewed to obtain demographic and urologic data. Based on the PSA (>4.0 ng/ml) and DRE results, subjects were appointed for transrectal biopsy (TRB). Results: A total of 973 subjects were screened. Prostate biopsy was recommended to 125 men based on PSA values and DRE results, but it was performed in only 55 of them. 15 of these biopsied men were diagnosed with PCa, mostly with Gleason scores ≥ 7. Conclusion: Our results reflect a low prevalence of PCa in general, but a high occurrence of high grade lesions (Gleason ≥ 7) among patients that resulted positive for PCa. This observation remarks the importance of the PCa screening programs in our Mexican community and the need for strict follow-up campaigns

Population based prostate cancer screening in north Mexico reveals a high prevalence of aggressive tumors in detected cases

Background: Prostate Cancer (PCa) is the second most frequent neoplasia in men worldwide. Previous reports suggest that the prevalence of PCa in Hispanic males is lower than in Africans (including communities with African ancestry) and Caucasians, but higher than in Asians. Despite these antecedents, there are few reports of open population screenings for PCa in Latin American communities. This article describes the results of three consecutive screenings in the urban population of Monterrey, Mexico. Methods: After receiving approval from our University Hospital's Internal Review Board (IRB), the screening was announced by radio, television, and press, and it was addressed to male subjects over 40 years old in general. Subjects who consented to participate were evaluated at the primary care clinics of the University Health Program at UANL, in the Metropolitan area of Monterrey. Blood samples were taken from each subject for prostate specific antigen (PSA) determination; they underwent a digital rectal examination (DRE), and were subsequently interviewed to obtain demographic and urologic data. Based on the PSA (>4.0 ng/ml) and DRE results, subjects were appointed for transrectal biopsy (TRB). Results: A total of 973 subjects were screened. Prostate biopsy was recommended to 125 men based on PSA values and DRE results, but it was performed in only 55 of them. 15 of these biopsied men were diagnosed with PCa, mostly with Gleason scores ≥ 7. Conclusion: Our results reflect a low prevalence of PCa in general, but a high occurrence of high grade lesions (Gleason ≥ 7) among patients that resulted positive for PCa. This observation remarks the importance of the PCa screening programs in our Mexican community and the need for strict follow-up campaigns