Factors associated with recurrence and survival in liver transplant patients with HCC--a single center retrospective study.

Introduction: Hepatocellular carcinoma is the most common primary tumor of the liver and is diagnosed in more than a half million people worldwide each year. This study aims to assess factors associated with the recurrence and survival of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma and liver transplantation in a cohort of patients from Medellín, Colombia.

Material And Methods: This was a descriptive retrospective study of a consecutive series of liver transplant patients from the Pablo Tobon Uribe Hospital of Medellín from January 2004 to May 2013.

Disulfide stress and its targets in acute pancreatitis.

Under physiological conditions, the balance between ROS production and removal properly maintains the intracellular redox-sensitive signaling as well as the appropriate status of protein thiols and disulfides. However, inflammation among other factors can modify this balance causing a rapid increase in intracellular ROS levels and hence thiol oxidation, eventually leading to oxidative stress. In the case of acute pancreatitis, both redox signaling and oxidative stress seem to contribute to the progression of the severe form of the disease.

The gut microbiota of Colombians differs from that of Americans, Europeans and Asians.

Background: The composition of the gut microbiota has recently been associated with health and disease, particularly with obesity. Some studies suggested a higher proportion of Firmicutes and a lower proportion of Bacteroidetes in obese compared to lean people; others found discordant patterns. Most studies, however, focused on Americans or Europeans, giving a limited picture of the gut microbiome.

The efficacy of targeted health agents education to reduce the duration of untreated psychosis in a rural population.

The duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) is a key determinant in the severity of symptoms in patients with schizophrenia. DUP is a modifiable factor that if reduced can improve patient outcome and treatment response. We sought to decrease DUP in rural Argentina by instituting annual training of local health agents to better identify signs of mental illness and offer earlier intervention.

Detection of batch effects in liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry metabolomic data using guided principal component analysis.

Metabolomics based on liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) is a powerful tool for studying dynamic responses of biological systems to different physiological or pathological conditions. Differences in the instrumental response within and between batches introduce unwanted and uncontrolled data variation that should be removed to extract useful information. This work exploits a recently developed method for the identification of batch effects in high throughput genomic data based on the calculation of a δ statistic through principal component analysis (PCA) and guided PCA.

Formation of recent Pb-Ag-Au mineralization by potential sub-surface microbial activity.

Las Cruces is a base-metal deposit in the Iberian Pyrite Belt, one of the world's best-known ore provinces. Here we report the occurrence of major Pb-Ag-Au mineralization resulting from recent sub-surface replacement of supergene oxyhydroxides by carbonate and sulphide minerals. This is probably the largest documented occurrence of recent microbial activity producing an ore assemblage previously unknown in supergene mineralizing environments.

Threshold selection criteria for quantification of lumbosacral cerebrospinal fluid and root volumes from MRI.

Background And Purpose: The high variability of CSF volumes partly explains the inconsistency of anesthetic effects, but may also be due to image analysis itself. In this study, criteria for threshold selection are anatomically defined.

Methods: T2 MR images (n = 7 cases) were analyzed using 3-dimentional software.

[The spread of KPC-3 Klebsiella pneumoniae in hospitals in Bogotá over a three-year period (2008-2010)].

Unlabelled: Introduction : One of the major worldwide public health problems today are the infections caused by carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE), among which carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (CRKP), constitutes one of the most common pathogens causing nosocomial infection.

Objective: This study was aimed at describing the dissemination of KPC-3 enzyme-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae in clinical isolates from hospitals in Bogotá.

Materials And Methods: Eighty-two CRKP isolates collected from 10 hospitals in Bogotá from 2008-2010 were analysed; disk diffusion and microdilution were used for phenotypic detection of enzymes and PCR for genotyping.

Infrared biospectroscopy for a fast qualitative evaluation of sample preparation in metabolomics.

Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) has been increasingly used in biomedicine to study the dynamic metabolomic responses of biological systems under different physiological or pathological conditions. To obtain an integrated snapshot of the system, metabolomic methods in biomedicine typically analyze biofluids (e.g.

Frequencies of Blood Group Systems MNS, Diego, and Duffy and Clinical Phases of Carrion's Disease in Amazonas, Peru.

Carrion's disease (CD), is a human bartonellosis, that is, endemic in the Andes of Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia. Bartonella bacilliformis, a native hemotrophic bacteria, is the causative agent of CD, and the interaction with the host could have produced changes in the gene frequencies of erythrocyte antigens. The goal here is to investigate the relationship between allele frequencies of blood group systems MNS, Diego, and Duffy and the clinical phases of CD, within a genetic context.

Metabolic adaptation and neuroprotection differ in the retina and choroid in a piglet model of acute postnatal hypoxia.

Background: Hypoxic-ischemic insults to the neonatal brain may cause neurodevelopmental disorders. Vulnerability of different areas of the neural tissue to hypoxic-ischemic stress might be explained by either heterogeneous sensitivity to oxygen or neuroprotective capability. Our understanding of regional heterogeneity is still incomplete in terms of metabolic reconfiguration and/or activation of neuroprotective mechanisms.

Analysis of lipid peroxidation biomarkers in extremely low gestational age neonate urines by UPLC-MS/MS.

Extremely low gestational age neonates (ELGAN) frequently require the use of oxygen supply in the delivery room leading to systemic inflammation and oxidative stress that are responsible for increased morbidity and mortality. The objective of this study was to establish reference ranges of a set of representative isoprostanes and prostaglandins, which are stable biomarkers of lipid peroxidation often correlated with oxidative stress-related disorders. First, a quantitative ultra performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) method was developed and validated.

Assessment of oxidative damage to proteins and DNA in urine of newborn infants by a validated UPLC-MS/MS approach.

The assessment of oxidative stress is highly relevant in clinical Perinatology as it is associated to adverse outcomes in newborn infants. This study summarizes results from the validation of an Ultra Performance Liquid Chromatography-tandem Mass Spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) method for the simultaneous quantification of the urinary concentrations of a set of endogenous biomarkers, capable to provide a valid snapshot of the oxidative stress status applicable in human clinical trials, especially in the field of Perinatology. The set of analytes included are phenylalanine (Phe), para-tyrosine (p-Tyr), ortho-tyrosine (o-Tyr), meta-tyrosine (m-Tyr), 3-NO2-tyrosine (3NO2-Tyr), 3-Cl-tyrosine (3Cl-Tyr), 2'-deoxyguanosine (2dG) and 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8OHdG).

Resuscitation of preterm infants with different inspired oxygen fractions.

Objective: To test the hypothesis that an initial fraction of inspired oxygen (FiO2) of 30% during resuscitation of preterm infants results in less oxidative stress and is associated with improved clinical outcomes compared with an FiO2 of 65%.

Study Design: Preterm infants of gestational age <32 weeks (n = 193) were randomized to start resuscitation with either 30% oxygen (low-oxygen group) or 65% oxygen (high-oxygen group), after which the FiO2 was adjusted based on oxygen saturation values. The primary outcome was bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) assessed at 36 weeks postmenstrual age.

Multisystem component phenotypes of bipolar disorder for genetic investigations of extended pedigrees.

Importance: Genetic factors contribute to risk for bipolar disorder (BP), but its pathogenesis remains poorly understood. A focus on measuring multisystem quantitative traits that may be components of BP psychopathology may enable genetic dissection of this complex disorder, and investigation of extended pedigrees from genetically isolated populations may facilitate the detection of specific genetic variants that affect BP as well as its component phenotypes.

Objective: To identify quantitative neurocognitive, temperament-related, and neuroanatomical phenotypes that appear heritable and associated with severe BP (bipolar I disorder [BP-I]) and therefore suitable for genetic linkage and association studies aimed at identifying variants contributing to BP-I risk.

Disulfide stress: a novel type of oxidative stress in acute pancreatitis.

Glutathione oxidation and protein glutathionylation are considered hallmarks of oxidative stress in cells because they reflect thiol redox status in proteins. Our aims were to analyze the redox status of thiols and to identify mixed disulfides and targets of redox signaling in pancreas in experimental acute pancreatitis as a model of acute inflammation associated with glutathione depletion. Glutathione depletion in pancreas in acute pancreatitis is not associated with any increase in oxidized glutathione levels or protein glutathionylation.

Force of adhesion upon loss of contact angle hysteresis: when a liquid behaves like a solid.

The theoretically predicted vanishment of the macroscopic contact angle hysteresis is found experimentally along with a small but finite force of adhesion (F(Ad)≈-0.5 μN) that, unexpectedly, is independent of the history of the preload. Our results agree with the prediction of a model in which the surface tension of the liquid provides the counterpart of the restoring force of an elastic solid, evidencing that the dewetting of a liquid in the absence of strong pinning points is equivalent to the detachment of an elastic solid.

Insulin infusion stimulates whole-body protein synthesis and activates the upstream and downstream effectors of mechanistic target of rapamycin signaling in the gluteus medius muscle of mature horses.

Little is known about the role insulin plays in regulating whole-body and muscle protein metabolism in horses. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of graded rates of insulin infusion on plasma amino acid concentrations and the activation of factors in the mechanistic target of rapamycin signaling pathway in the skeletal muscle of horses. Isoglycemic, hyperinsulinemic clamp procedures were conducted in 8 mature, thoroughbred mares receiving 4 rates of insulin infusion: 0 mU · kg(-1) · min(-1) (CON), 1.

Effects of the rate of insulin infusion during isoglycemic, hyperinsulinemic clamp procedures on measures of insulin action in healthy, mature thoroughbred mares.

The objective of this study was to determine whether the rate of insulin infusion during isoglycemic hyperinsulinemic clamp procedures affected measures of insulin action, including glucose disposal and plasma non-esterified fatty acid, endothelin-1, and nitric oxide concentrations, in mature, healthy horses. Eight thoroughbred mares were studied during a 2-h hyperinsulinemic clamp procedure, conducted at each of 4 rates of insulin infusion: 0 (CON), 1.2 (LOWINS), 3 (MEDINS), and 6 (HIGHINS) mU · kg(-1) · min(-1).

Evaluation of the effect of chance correlations on variable selection using Partial Least Squares-Discriminant Analysis.

Variable subset selection is often mandatory in high throughput metabolomics and proteomics. However, depending on the variable to sample ratio there is a significant susceptibility of variable selection towards chance correlations. The evaluation of the predictive capabilities of PLSDA models estimated by cross-validation after feature selection provides overly optimistic results if the selection is performed on the entire set and no external validation set is available.