Partner Interference with Health Care: Do We Want One More Piece of a Complex Puzzle?

As I sit down to write, scattered images of former patients fill my mind: a well-educated, elderly woman presenting to the hospital 2 days after having a large myocardial infarction; a young diabetic woman with erratic blood glucose control; one of my colleague’s “frequent flyers” coming in to see me on a Friday afternoon, panicked, asking for yet another early refill of her hydrocodone; a very ill, middle-aged woman whose doting husband kept immaculate notes on her many medical issues and 12 medications. Each of these women has her own, complex story. Each had a partner who negatively interfered with her medical care

Nuevos datos sobre los hongos hipogeos de España. II. Géneros Balsamia, Delastria y Genea, novedades para el catálogo español

A new contribution to the knowledge of the hypogeous fungi of Spain is given. From the13 species here mentioned, 6 are new records for the catalogue. Balsamia vulgaris Vitt., Delastria Rosea Tul., Genea klotzschii Berk. & Br., Gautieria mexicana (E. Fischer) Zeller & Dodge, Hymenoqaster bulliardi Vitt., and Hymenogaster populetorum Tul. The genera Balsamia, Delastria and Genea are mentioned for the first time in Spain. With those additions, the Spanish catalogue of hypogeus fungi raises to 64 species, belonging to 20 genera.Se realiza una nueva contribución al conocimiento de los hongos hipogeos del catalogo español. De las 13 especies estudiadas en esta ocasión, 6 son nuevas: Balsamia vulgaris Vitt., Delastria rosea Tul. , Genea klotzschii Berk. & Br., Gautieria mexicana (E. Fischer) ZeUer & Dodge, Hymenogaster bulliardi Vitt., y Hymenogaster populetorum Tul. Tres géneros son nuevos para España: Balsamia, Delastria y Genea. Con todo ello, el catálogo español de hongos hipogeos comprende actualmente 64 especies, incluidas en 20 géneros

Contribución al estudio de los ascomicetes españoles : I. Algunas especies nuevas o raras encontradas en Cataluña y Madrid

18 species of Ascomycetes are described, two of them, Aleuria rhenana Fuckel, and Fimaria ripensis (E.C. Hansen) Korf are new to the Spanish Catalogne, and three are mentioned for the second instance in Spain: Gyromitra wamei(Peck) Harmaja, Geopyxis majalis (Fr.) Sacc., and Peziza endocarpoides Berk. Notes on the geographical distribution of the other species are also given.Se describen 18 especies de Ascomicetes encontrados en Cataluña y Madrid, dando cuenta de su distribución geoqréfica en España. De entre ellos, Aleuria rhenana Fuckel y Fimaria repensis (E.C. Hansen) Korf son nuevas para el catalogo español y constituyen segundas citas las especies Gyromitra wamei (Peck) Harmaja, Geopyxis majalis (Fr.) Sacc., y Peziza endocarpoides Berk

Contribución al estudio de los ascomicetes españoles : I. Algunas especies nuevas o raras encontradas en Cataluña y Madrid

18 species of Ascomycetes are described, two of them, Aleuria rhenana Fuckel, and Fimaria ripensis (E.C. Hansen) Korf are new to the Spanish Catalogne, and three are mentioned for the second instance in Spain: Gyromitra wamei(Peck) Harmaja, Geopyxis majalis (Fr.) Sacc., and Peziza endocarpoides Berk. Notes on the geographical distribution of the other species are also given.Se describen 18 especies de Ascomicetes encontrados en Cataluña y Madrid, dando cuenta de su distribución geoqréfica en España. De entre ellos, Aleuria rhenana Fuckel y Fimaria repensis (E.C. Hansen) Korf son nuevas para el catalogo español y constituyen segundas citas las especies Gyromitra wamei (Peck) Harmaja, Geopyxis majalis (Fr.) Sacc., y Peziza endocarpoides Berk

Nuevos datos sobre los hongos hipogeos de España. II. Géneros Balsamia, Delastria y Genea, novedades para el catálogo español

A new contribution to the knowledge of the hypogeous fungi of Spain is given. From the13 species here mentioned, 6 are new records for the catalogue. Balsamia vulgaris Vitt., Delastria Rosea Tul., Genea klotzschii Berk. & Br., Gautieria mexicana (E. Fischer) Zeller & Dodge, Hymenoqaster bulliardi Vitt., and Hymenogaster populetorum Tul. The genera Balsamia, Delastria and Genea are mentioned for the first time in Spain. With those additions, the Spanish catalogue of hypogeus fungi raises to 64 species, belonging to 20 genera.Se realiza una nueva contribución al conocimiento de los hongos hipogeos del catalogo español. De las 13 especies estudiadas en esta ocasión, 6 son nuevas: Balsamia vulgaris Vitt., Delastria rosea Tul. , Genea klotzschii Berk. & Br., Gautieria mexicana (E. Fischer) ZeUer & Dodge, Hymenogaster bulliardi Vitt., y Hymenogaster populetorum Tul. Tres géneros son nuevos para España: Balsamia, Delastria y Genea. Con todo ello, el catálogo español de hongos hipogeos comprende actualmente 64 especies, incluidas en 20 géneros

Tear fluid biomarkers in ocular and systemic disease: potential use for predictive, preventive and personalised medicine

In the field of predictive, preventive and personalised medicine, researchers are keen to identify novel and reliable ways to predict and diagnose disease, as well as to monitor patient response to therapeutic agents. In the last decade alone, the sensitivity of profiling technologies has undergone huge improvements in detection sensitivity, thus allowing quantification of minute samples, for example body fluids that were previously difficult to assay. As a consequence, there has been a huge increase in tear fluid investigation, predominantly in the field of ocular surface disease. As tears are a more accessible and less complex body fluid (than serum or plasma) and sampling is much less invasive, research is starting to focus on how disease processes affect the proteomic, lipidomic and metabolomic composition of the tear film. By determining compositional changes to tear profiles, crucial pathways in disease progression may be identified, allowing for more predictive and personalised therapy of the individual. This article will provide an overview of the various putative tear fluid biomarkers that have been identified to date, ranging from ocular surface disease and retinopathies to cancer and multiple sclerosis. Putative tear fluid biomarkers of ocular disorders, as well as the more recent field of systemic disease biomarkers, will be shown

The Temperature-Sensitive Role of Cryptococcus neoformans ROM2 in Cell Morphogenesis

ROM2 is associated with Cryptococcus neoformans virulence. We examined additional roles of ROM2 in C. neoformans and found that ROM2 plays a role in several cell functions specifically at high temperature conditions. Morphologically rom2 mutant cells demonstrated a “tear”-like shape and clustered together. A sub-population of cells had a hyperelongated phenotype at restrictive growth conditions. Altered morphology was associated with defects in actin that was concentrated at the cell periphery and with abnormalities in microtubule organization. Interestingly, the ROM2 associated defects in cell morphology, location of nuclei, and actin and microtubule organization were not observed in cells grown at temperatures below 37°C. These results indicate that in C. neoformans, ROM2 is important at restrictive temperature conditions and is involved in several cell maintenance functions

Establishing Human Lacrimal Gland Cultures with Secretory Function

PURPOSE: Dry eye syndrome is a multifactorial chronic disabling disease mainly caused by the functional disruptions in the lacrimal gland. The treatment involves palliation like ocular surface lubrication and rehydration. Cell therapy involving replacement of the gland is a promising alternative for providing long-term relief to patients. This study aimed to establish functionally competent lacrimal gland cultures in-vitro and explore the presence of stem cells in the native gland and the established in-vitro cultures. METHODS: Fresh human lacrimal gland from patients undergoing exenteration was harvested for cultures after IRB approval. The freshly isolated cells were evaluated by flow cytometry for expression of stem cell markers ABCG2, high ALDH1 levels and c-kit. Cultures were established on Matrigel, collagen and HAM and the cultured cells evaluated for the presence of stem cell markers and differentiating markers of epithelial (E-cadherin, EpCAM), mesenchymal (Vimentin, CD90) and myofibroblastic (α-SMA, S-100) origin by flow cytometry and immunocytochemistry. The conditioned media was tested for secretory proteins (scIgA, lactoferrin, lysozyme) post carbachol (100 µM) stimulation by ELISA. RESULTS: Native human lacrimal gland expressed ABCG2 (mean±SEM: 3.1±0.61%), high ALDH1 (3.8±1.26%) and c-kit (6.7±2.0%). Lacrimal gland cultures formed a monolayer, in order of preference on Matrigel, collagen and HAM within 15-20 days, containing a heterogeneous population of stem-like and differentiated cells. The epithelial cells formed 'spherules' with duct like connections, suggestive of ductal origin. The levels of scIgA (47.43 to 61.56 ng/ml), lysozyme (24.36 to 144.74 ng/ml) and lactoferrin (32.45 to 40.31 ng/ml) in the conditioned media were significantly higher than the negative controls (p<0.05 for all comparisons). CONCLUSION: The study reports the novel finding of establishing functionally competent human lacrimal gland cultures in-vitro. It also provides preliminary data on the presence of stem cells and duct-like cells in the fresh and in-vitro cultured human lacrimal gland. These significant findings could pave way for cell therapy in future

Cost-Effectiveness of Risk-Stratified Colorectal Cancer Screening Based on Polygenic Risk: Current Status and Future Potential

Background: Although uniform colonoscopy screening reduces colorectal cancer (CRC) mortality, risk-based screening may be more efficient. We investigated whether CRC screening based on polygenic risk is a cost-effective alternative to current uniform screening, and if not, under what conditions it would be. Methods: The MISCAN-Colon model was used to simulate a hypothetical cohort of US 40-year-olds. Uniform screening was modeled as colonoscopy screening at ages 50, 60, and 70 years. For risk-stratified screening, individuals underwent polygenic testing with current and potential future discriminatory performance (area under the receiveroperating curve [AUC] of 0.60 and 0.65–0.80, respectively). Polygenic testing results were used to create risk groups, for which colonoscopy screening was optimized by varying the start age (40–60 years), en