Prognostic impact of log odds of positive lymph nodes (LODDS) in the stratification of patients with rectal cancer.

Introduction: The use of the N category of the TNM staging system, lymph node ratio (LNR) and log odds of positive lymph nodes (LODDS) in predicting overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) in patients with rectal cancer is still controversial.

Material And Methods: A retrospective study of 445 patients with rectal cancer who underwent surgery between 2008 and 2017 in the University Complex Hospital of Vigo was performed. Patients were stratified according to number of lymph nodes examined (NLNE), N staging, LNR and LODDS.

Adding vortexing to the Maki technique provides no benefit for the diagnosis of catheter colonization or catheter-related bacteremia.

Background: A previous study compared vortexing and Maki techniques for the diagnosis of catheter-related bloodstream infection (CRBSI), and concluded that vortexing was not superior to Maki method.

Aim: To determine whether the combined use of vortexing and Maki techniques provides profitability versus the Maki technique for the diagnosis of catheter tip colonization (CTC) and CRBSI.

Methods: Observational and prospective study carried out in an Intensive Care Unit.

Tuning plasmid DNA amounts for cost-effective transfections of mammalian cells: when less is more.

Transient gene expression (TGE) in mammalian cells is a well-known approach to the fast expression of recombinant proteins. The human cell line HEK (human embryonic kidney) 293F is widely used in this field, due to its adaptability to grow in suspension to high cell densities in serum-free media, amenability to transfection, and production of recombinant proteins in satisfactory quantities for functional and structural analysis. Amounts of plasmid DNA (pDNA) required in transfections for TGE remain high (usually 1 µg pDNA/mL, or even higher), representing a noticeable proportion of the overall cost.

Structural basis of trehalose recognition by the mycobacterial LpqY-SugABC transporter.

The Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) LpqY-SugABC ATP-binding cassette transporter is a recycling system that imports trehalose released during remodeling of the Mtb cell-envelope. As this process is essential for the virulence of the Mtb pathogen, it may represent an important target for tuberculosis drug and diagnostic development, but the transporter specificity and molecular determinants of substrate recognition are unknown. To address this, we have determined the structural and biochemical basis of how mycobacteria transport trehalose using a combination of crystallography, saturation transfer difference NMR, molecular dynamics, site-directed mutagenesis, biochemical/biophysical assays, and the synthesis of trehalose analogs.

[Commercial airline routes and international distribution of COVID-19].

COVID-19 has had a rapid dissemination. Departing from China, the virus has traveled all around the world. With the use of accurate mathematical models, the global spread of the disease was anticipated.