Surgical treatment of rectal cancer: prospective cohort study about good oncologic results and low rates of abdominoperineal excision.

Objectives: the purpose of this study was to evaluate the outcome of rectal cancer surgery, in a unit adopting the principles of total mesorectal excision (TME) with a high restorative procedure rate and with a low rate of abdominoperineal excision (APE).

Methods: we enrolles patients with extraperitoneal rectal cancer undergoing TME or TME+APE. Patients with mid rectal tumors underwent TME, and patients with tumors of the lower rectum and no criteria for APE underwent TME and intersphincteric resection.

A Dedicated Stitch to Allow Early Safe Mobilization Avoiding Drain-Induced Heart Injury.

Placement of a mediastinal drain is a routine procedure following heart surgery. Postoperative bed rest is often imposed due to the fear of potential risk of drain displacement and cardiac injury. We developed an encapsulating stitch as a feasible, effective and low-cost technique, which does not require advanced surgical skills for placement.

Hemodynamic Changes During Heart Displacement in Aorta No-Touch Off-Pump Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery: A Pilot Study.

Objective: To evaluate the sequential changes of hemodynamic and metabolic parameters in patients who underwent aorta no-touch off-pump coronary artery bypass surgery (OPCAB).

Methods: Prospective study involving twenty-seven consecutive patients who underwent aorta no-touch OPCAB. The FloTrac/PreSep/Vigileo™ system (Edwards Lifesciences) was used to continuously record heart rate (HR), mean arterial blood pressure (MABP), central venous pressure (CVP), continuous cardiac index (FCI), stroke volume (SV), stroke volume variation (SVV), and central venous oxygen saturation (ScvO2).

The renewed concept of the Batista operation for ischemic cardiomyopathy: maximum ventricular reduction.

Objectives: The reconstruction of the left ventricle (LV) is effective in the treatment of ischemic cardiomyopathy with large akinetic or dyskinetic areas. However, late survival outcomes are related to the remnant left ventricular cavity size, thus eliminating intracavitary patch placement provides additional LV reduction. The aim of this study was to analyze the results with left ventricular reconstruction surgery using the concept of maximum ventricular reduction, with systematic patch abolition.

Spectral features and stability of oligomeric pyranoanthocyanin-flavanol pigments isolated from red wines.

The spectral characteristics and stability of three red wine pigments (pyranoMv-catechin, pyranoMv-epicatechin, and pyranoMv-dimer B3) toward pH variation and bisulfite bleaching, as well as their color stability and degradation during storage, have been studied. Unlike the absorbance spectra of most wine pigments, the intensity of which is more increased in more acidic conditions, oligomeric pyranoMv-flavanols have maximum absorbance at wine pH around 3.6, up to 30-50% higher than that in pH 1.

Quantum Semiempirical Energy Based (SEEB) Descriptors Performance with Benzamidine Inhibitors of Trypsin.

MLR is a classical approach to regression problems in QSARs. In this study, the behaviour of SEEB descriptors was analysed with a MLR model. For this purpose a SEEB/MLR 3D-QSAR model was developed to evaluate the efficiency of benzamide trypsin inhibitors.

Unusual color change of vinylpyranoanthocyanin-phenolic pigments.

Anthocyanins are responsible for an interesting variety of colors in flowers, red fruits, and plant-derived foodstuffs. Experimental evidence is presented supporting an unusual color change from red to blue during storage. It has been investigated as a function of temperature at constant pH (pH <2).

Pediatric liver transplantation: 10 years of experience at a single center in Brazil.

Objectives: To evaluate the first 10 years' experience of the liver transplantation department at the Alfa Institute, Hospital das Clínicas da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Methods: A descriptive study, based on a retrospective analysis of 84 children and adolescents enrolled on a liver transplantation waiting list, from March 1995 to January 2006, based on the following variables: age, etiology of underlying liver disease, Child-Pugh, Malatack, model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) and pediatric end-stage liver disease (PELD) scores, time on waiting list, complications and survival after the procedure.

Results: Forty children had 42 liver transplants.

Isolation and structural characterization of new acylated anthocyanin-vinyl-flavanol pigments occurring in aging red wines.

Three newly formed pigments were detected and isolated from a 2-year-old Port wine through TSK Toyopearl HW-40(S) gel column chromatography and characterized by UV-visible spectrophotometry, NMR, and mass spectrometry (ESI/MS). (1)H NMR and (13)C NMR data for these pigments obtained using 1D and 2D NMR techniques (COSY, NOESY, gHSQC, and gHMBC) are reported for the first time. The structure of the pigments was found to correspond to the vinyl cycloadducts of malvidin 3-coumaroylglucoside bearing either a procyanidin dimer or a flavanol monomer ((+)-catechin or (-)-epicatechin).