The relationship between physician and cancer patient when initiating adjuvant treatment and its association with sociodemographic and clinical variables

Purpose The aim of this study was to analyze differences in physician and patient satisfaction in shared decision-making (SDM); patients' emotional distress, and coping in subjects with resected, non-metastatic cancer. Methods 602 patients from 14 hospitals in Spain were surveyed. Information was collected regarding physician and patient satisfaction with SDM, participants' emotional distress and coping, as well as patient sociodemographic and clinical characteristics by means of specific, validated questionnaires. Results Overall, 11% of physicians and 19% of patients were dissatisfied with SDM; 22% of patients presented hopelessness or anxious preoccupation as coping strategies, and 56% presented emotional distress. By gender, female patients showed a higher prevalence of dissatisfaction with SDM (23 vs 14%), anxious preoccupation (26 vs 17%), and emotional distress (63 vs 44%) than males. Hopelessness was more prevalent in individuals with stage III disease than those with stages I-II (28 vs 18%). Conclusion Physicians must be mindful of the importance of emotional support and individual characteristics when communicating treatment options, benefits, and adverse effects of each alternative to oncological patients

Molecular structure and biodegradation kinetics of Linear Alkylbenzene Sulphonates in sea water.

The present paper describes the results of the application of the biodegradation test proposed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) “Biodegradability in sea water” Office of Prevention, Pesticides, and Toxic Substances (OPPTS) 835.3160, to Linear Alkylbenzene Sulphonate (LAS), the synthetic surfactant with the highest consumption volume on a world-wide basis. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) has been employed for the separation and quantification of the different homologues and isomers of the surfactant. Water from the Bay of Cádiz (South–West of the Iberian peninsula) has been used as test medium. The results indicate how both lag and t50 time shows a significant linear relationship with the length of the alkyl chain of the homologue; the effect of this is that the homologues of longer chain length not only begin to degrade first but also degrade at a faster rate. Regarding the isomeric composition, it is observed that as the percentage of biodegradation increases, there is an increase in the proportion of internal isomers, in comparison with the isomeric relationships of the original test substanc

Human milk and mucosal lacto- and galacto-N-biose synthesis by transgalactosylation and their prebiotic potential in Lactobacillus species

Lacto-N-biose (LNB) and galacto-N-biose (GNB) are major building blocks of free oligosaccharides and glycan moieties of glyco-complexes present in human milk and gastrointestinal mucosa. We have previously characterized the phospho-β-galactosidase GnbG from Lactobacillus casei BL23 that is involved in the metabolism of LNB and GNB. GnbG has been used here in transglycosylation reactions, and it showed the production of LNB and GNB with N-acetylglucosamine and N-acetylgalactosamine as acceptors, respectively. The reaction kinetics demonstrated that GnbG can convert 69 ± 4 and 71 ± 1 % of o-nitrophenyl-β-D-galactopyranoside into LNB and GNB, respectively. Those reactions were performed in a semi-preparative scale, and the synthesized disaccharides were purified. The maximum yield obtained for LNB was 10.7 ± 0.2 g/l and for GNB was 10.8 ± 0.3 g/l. NMR spectroscopy confirmed the molecular structures of both carbohydrates and the absence of reaction byproducts, which also supports that GnbG is specific for β1,3-glycosidic linkages. The purified sugars were subsequently tested for their potential prebiotic properties using Lactobacillus species. The results showed that LNB and GNB were fermented by the tested strains of L. casei, Lactobacillus rhamnosus (except L. rhamnosus strain ATCC 53103), Lactobacillus zeae, Lactobacillus gasseri, and Lactobacillus johnsonii. DNA hybridization experiments suggested that the metabolism of those disaccharides in 9 out of 10 L. casei strains, all L. rhamnosus strains and all L. zeae strains tested relies upon a phospho-β-galactosidase homologous to GnbG. The results presented here support the putative role of human milk oligosaccharides for selective enrichment of beneficial intestinal microbiota in breast-fed infants

Specificity of Synaptic Connectivity between Layer 1 Inhibitory Interneurons and Layer 2/3 Pyramidal Neurons in the Rat Neocortex

Understanding the structure and function of the neocortical microcircuit requires a description of the synaptic connectivity between identified neuronal populations. Here, we investigate the electrophysiological properties of layer 1 (L1) neurons of the rat somatosensory neocortex (postnatal day 24–36) and their synaptic connectivity with supragranular pyramidal neurons. The active and passive properties of visually identified L1 neurons (n = 266) suggested division into 4 groups according to the Petilla classification scheme with characteristics of neurogliaform cells (NGFCs) (n = 72), classical-accommodating (n = 137), fast-spiking (n = 23), and burst-spiking neurons (n = 34). Anatomical reconstructions of L1 neurons supported the existence of 4 major neuronal groups. Multiparameter unsupervised cluster analysis confirmed the existence of 4 groups, revealing a high degree of similarity with the Petilla scheme. Simultaneous recordings between synaptically connected L1 neurons and L2/3 pyramidal neurons (n = 384) demonstrated neuronal class specificity in both excitatory and inhibitory connectivity and the properties of synaptic potentials. Notably, all groups of L1 neurons received monosynaptic excitatory input from L2/3 pyramidal neurons (n = 33), with the exception of NGFCs (n = 68 pairs tested). In contrast, NGFCs strongly inhibited L2/3 pyramidal neurons (n = 12 out 27 pairs tested). These data reveal a high specificity of excitatory and inhibitory connections in the superficial layers of the neocortex