Urinary cell microRNA-based prognostic classifier for non-muscle invasive bladder cancer.

Current prognostic tools for non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) do not have enough discriminative capacity to predict the risk of tumour progression. This study aimed to identify urinary cell microRNAs that may be useful as non-invasive predictive biomarkers of tumour progression in NMIBC patients. To this end, 210 urine samples from NMIBC patients were included in the study.

Community-based cardiovascular health promotion in Argentina. A systematic review.

In Argentina, cardiovascular disease (CVD) accounts for 30% of deaths and more than 600 000 disability-adjusted life years. However, no reviews describing local studies on interventions to address CVD risk factors have been identified. The purpose of this study is to characterize those population-based interventions and public policies implemented in Argentina to reduce the burden of cardiovascular disease with an adequate evaluation of their impact on population health.

[Financial impact of smoking on health systems in Latin America: A study of seven countries and extrapolation to the regional level].

Objective: Estimate smoking-attributable direct medical costs in Latin American health systems.

Methods: A microsimulation model was used to quantify financial impact of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), pneumonia, lung cancer, and nine other neoplasms. A systematic search for epidemiological data and event costs was carried out.

[Burden of disease attributable to tobacco use in Argentina and potential impact of price increases through taxes].

Objective: Evaluate burden of disease associated with tobacco use in Argentina and estimate health and economic impacts of cigarette price increases through taxes.

Methods: A microsimulation model was used to quantify smoking-attributable impact on mortality, quality of life, and costs for cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; pneumonia; and ten cancers. Modeling was done for effect of different price increase scenarios on tobacco use and their impact on health and economics.

Androgen deprivation therapy as backbone therapy in the management of prostate cancer.

Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) is well established as a backbone therapy for metastatic prostate cancer (mPCa), and both European and American guidelines emphasize the importance of maintaining ADT after progression to metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). However, the use of ADT varies widely in clinical practice despite these recommendations. Both research and development of increasingly precise assay technologies have improved our understanding of androgen production and signaling, and the recent data have suggested that a new serum testosterone cutoff value of <0.

Pain relief after triamcinolone infiltration in patients with bladder pain syndrome with Hunner's ulcers.

Introduction And Hypothesis: Bladder pain syndrome (BPS) is a chronic condition with severe implications in the patient's quality of life with no definitive treatment. Our objective was to assess pain relief after triamcinolone injection in patients with BPS with Hunner's ulcers (HU).

Methods: Retrospective study of 20 consecutive patients with BPS treated at the Hospital Clinic of Barcelona with triamcinolone injection with flexible cystoscope between 2015 and 2016.

Evolution of Game Demands From Young to Elite Players in Men's Volleyball.

Purpose: To assess the evolution of the volleyball's game demands throughout players' development in men's volleyball.

Methods: A total of 150 sets and 6.671 rallies were analyzed.

Burden of Heart Failure in Latin America: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Introduction And Objectives: Heart failure is a major public health concern. The aim of this review was to estimate the burden of heart failure in Latin America.

Methods: Systematic review and meta-analysis following a search in MEDLINE, EMBASE, LILACS, and CENTRAL for articles published between January 1994 and June 2014, with no language restrictions.

Acetazolamide Therapy for Metabolic Alkalosis in Pediatric Intensive Care Patients.

Objective: Patients in PICUs frequently present hypochloremic metabolic alkalosis secondary to loop diuretic treatment, especially those undergoing cardiac surgery. This study evaluates the effectiveness of acetazolamide therapy for metabolic alkalosis in PICU patients.

Design: Retrospective, observational study.

Effective methylation of phosphonic acids related to chemical warfare agents mediated by trimethyloxonium tetrafluoroborate for their qualitative detection and identification by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

The effective methylation of phosphonic acids related to chemical warfare agents (CWAs) employing trimethyloxonium tetrafluoroborate (TMO·BF4) for their qualitative detection and identification by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) is presented. The methylation occurs in rapid fashion (1 h) and can be conveniently carried out at ambient temperature, thus providing a safer alternative to the universally employed diazomethane-based methylation protocols. Optimization of the methylation parameters led us to conclude that methylene chloride was the ideal solvent to carry out the derivatization, and that even though methylated products can be observed surfacing after only 1 h, additional time was not found to be detrimental but beneficial to the process particularly when dealing with analytes at low concentrations (∼10 μg mL(-1)).

Effects of extreme pH on ionic transport through protein nanopores: the role of ion diffusion and charge exclusion.

We combine electrophysiological experiments with the structure-based Poisson-Nernst-Planck 3D calculations to investigate the transport properties of the bacterial porin OmpF under large pH gradients and particularly low salt concentrations. We show that under extreme pH conditions protons and hydroxyls contribute decisively to the overall measured current, challenging the traditional interpretation of some electrokinetic parameters such as channel selectivity and rectification properties. We analyze with unprecedented detail the two intertwined factors ruling the ionic permeation through the channel, namely the differences between cation and anion mobilities and the electrostatic exclusion due to the interaction between permeating ions and channel ionizable residues.

Prior Lubrication of the Urethra Does Not Reduce Pain Perception in Men Undergoing Flexible Cystoscopy.

Objective: The study aimed to test the hypothesis that the instillation of lidocaine gel does not reduce the pain related to flexible cystoscopy.

Material And Methods: A prospective randomized study was designed to compare the pain perception between intraurethral instillation of lidocaine gel and saline solution in flexible cystoscopy. One hundred consecutive male patients attending for flexible cystoscopy were randomized to receive 10 ml of lidocaine gel or 10 ml of saline solution.

Stochastic pumping of ions based on colored noise in bacterial channels under acidic stress.

Fluctuation-driven ion transport can be obtained in bacterial channels with the aid of different types of colored noise including the biologically relevant Lorentzian one. Using the electrochemical rectification of the channel current as a ratchet mechanism we observe transport of ions up to their concentration gradient under conditions similar to that met in vivo, namely moderate pH gradients and asymmetrically charged lipid membranes. We find that depending on the direction of the concentration gradient the channel can pump either cations or anions from the diluted side to the concentrated one.

Obstructive sleep apnea and Fuhrman grade in patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma treated surgically.

Purpose: To assess the association between obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and Fuhrman grade in patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). As secondary endpoints, we studied its association with tumor size, metastasis-free survival (MFS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS).

Methods: We reviewed the databases of two tertiary care centers, identifying 2579 patients who underwent partial or radical nephrectomy for ccRCC between 1991 and 2014.

On the different sources of cooperativity in pH titrating sites of a membrane protein channel.

Cooperative interactions play a central role in the regulation of protein functions. Here we show that in multi-site systems like ion channels the application of the Hill formalism could require a combination of different experiments, even involving site-directed mutagenesis, to identify the different sources of cooperativity and to discriminate between genuine and apparent cooperativity. We discuss the implications for the channel function in the bacterial porins PorA (N.

Marine Mammal Brucella Reference Strains Are Attenuated in a BALB/c Mouse Model.

Brucellosis is a zoonosis of worldwide distribution with numerous animal host species. Since the novel isolation of Brucella spp. from marine mammals in 1994 the bacteria have been isolated from various marine mammal hosts.

Intraoperative prognostic factors and atypical patterns of recurrence in patients with upper urinary tract urothelial carcinoma treated with laparoscopic radical nephroureterectomy.

Objective The aims of this study were to identify clinical, intraoperative and pathological prognostic factors for predicting extraurothelial recurrence and cancer-specific survival (CSS) in patients with upper urinary tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC) who had undergone laparoscopic radical nephroureterectomy (LRNU), and to investigate the site-specific patterns of recurrence and the associated outcomes. Materials and methods A retrospective revision was undertaken of 117 consecutive patients who had undergone transperitoneal LRNU for UTUC between 2007 and 2012. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were used to identify prognostic factors and Kaplan-Meier was used to estimate CSS.

Development of a Pig Model for Laparoscopic Kidney Transplant.

Objectives: Our aim was to describe a standardized laparoscopic kidney transplant procedure in a pig model.

Materials And Methods: Ten pigs underwent laparoscopic kidney autotransplant. A right-hand assisted nephrectomy was performed through a Pfannenstiel incision.

Using gene expression from urine sediment to diagnose prostate cancer: development of a new multiplex mRNA urine test and validation of current biomarkers.

Background: Additional accurate non-invasive biomarkers are needed in the clinical setting to improve prostate cancer (PCa) diagnosis. Here we have developed a new and improved multiplex mRNA urine test to detect prostate cancer (PCa). Furthermore, we have validated the PCA3 urinary transcript and some panels of urinary transcripts previously reported as useful diagnostic biomarkers for PCa in our cohort.

Bioelectrical Signals and Ion Channels in the Modeling of Multicellular Patterns and Cancer Biophysics.

Bioelectrical signals and ion channels are central to spatial patterns in cell ensembles, a problem of fundamental interest in positional information and cancer processes. We propose a model for electrically connected cells based on simple biological concepts: i) the membrane potential of a single cell characterizes its electrical state; ii) the long-range electrical coupling of the multicellular ensemble is realized by a network of gap junction channels between neighboring cells; and iii) the spatial distribution of an external biochemical agent can modify the conductances of the ion channels in a cell membrane and the multicellular electrical state. We focus on electrical effects in small multicellular ensembles, ignoring slow diffusional processes.

Quality of life in patients with lower urinary tract symptoms associated with BPH: change over time in real-life practice according to treatment--the QUALIPROST study.

Purpose: To evaluate change in quality of life (QoL) and symptoms in patients with lower urinary tract symptoms/benign prostatic hyperplasia (LUTS/BPH) in conditions of current clinical practice.

Methods: Prospective, longitudinal, multicenter open-label study was carried out in urology outpatient clinics. Patients were ≥40 years of age with an International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) score ≥ 8.

The Role of Surgery in Local Recurrences after Radical Cystectomy for Bladder Cancer.

Introduction: Local recurrence (LR) after radical cystectomy (RC) for bladder cancer has a bad prognosis. Treatment options include chemotherapy, radiation therapy and surgical excision, but few data is available on the advantages of surgery for these patients.

Patients And Methods: We evaluated our series of 8 selected patients who underwent surgery for locally recurrent bladder cancer after RC.