Environmental variables affecting an arid coastal nebkha.

Foredunes in arid coastal dune systems comprise nebkhas, which originate by interactions between vegetation and aeolian sedimentation. While continuous foredunes in temperate climates have been widely studied, knowledge of interactions between biotic and abiotic drivers in foredunes formed by nebkha is still scarce. With the aim of exploring variables affecting arid foredunes, a range of morphological, sedimentological, and vegetation characteristics were measured on a single nebkha formed by a Traganum moquinii plant located in the foredune of Caleta de Famara beach (Lanzarote, Canary Islands).

Methotrexate Ameliorates Systemic Inflammation and Septic Associated-Lung Damage in a Cecal Ligation and Puncture Septic Rat Model.

Background: Sepsis is a serious, heterogeneous clinical entity produced by a severe and systemic host inflammatory response to infection. Methotrexate (MTX) is a folate-antagonist that induces the generation of adenosine and also inhibits JAK/STAT pathway; MTX it is widely used as an anti-inflammatory drug to control the immune system.

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the beneficial effects of a single and low dose of MTX in the systemic response and acute lung injury (ALI) induced by sepsis.

An approach to antibiotic treatment in patients with sepsis.

Sepsis is a medical emergency and life-threatening condition due to a dysregulated host response to infection, which is time-dependent and associated with unacceptably high mortality. Thus, when treating suspicious or confirmed cases of sepsis, clinicians must initiate broad-spectrum antimicrobials within the first hour of diagnosis. Optimizing antibiotic use is essential to ensure successful outcomes and to reduce adverse antibiotic effects, as well as preventing drug resistance.

Family Communication and Verbal Child-to-Parent Violence among Adolescents: The Mediating Role of Perceived Stress.

In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of reported incidents of child-to-parent violence (CPV); however, this type of intra-family violence remains vastly understudied compared with other forms of family violence. The aim of this study is to analyze the relationship between family communication and verbal CPV through the mediation of adolescent perceived stress. The sample consisted of 2399 Spanish students of both genders between the ages of 11 and 20 years.

Impact of hemoperfusion with polymyxin B added to hemofiltration in patients with endotoxic shock: a case-control study.

Background: Septic shock is a leading cause of death in critical patients. In patients with gram-negative septic shock, hemoperfusion with polymyxin B aims to remove endotoxins from plasma. We analyzed the clinical and biological response to hemoperfusion in patients with septic shock and acute kidney injury.

Improved empirical antibiotic treatment of sepsis after an educational intervention: the ABISS-Edusepsis study.

Background: Early appropriate antibiotic treatment is essential in sepsis. We aimed to evaluate the impact of a multifaceted educational intervention to improve antibiotic treatment. We hypothesized that the intervention would hasten and improve the appropriateness of empirical antibiotic administration, favor de-escalation, and decrease mortality.

Hair follicle-containing punch grafts accelerate chronic ulcer healing: A randomized controlled trial.

Background: A prominent role of hair follicle-derived cells in epidermal wound closure is now well established but clinical translation of basic research findings is scarce. Although skin punch grafts have been used as a therapeutic intervention to improve healing of chronic leg ulcers, they are normally harvested from nonhairy areas, thus not taking advantage of the reported role of the hair follicle as a wound-healing promoter.

Objective: We sought to substantiate the role of hair follicles in venous leg ulcer healing by transplanting hair follicle-containing versus nonhairy punch grafts.

Impact of Source Control in Patients With Severe Sepsis and Septic Shock.

Objectives: Time to clearance of pathogens is probably critical to outcome in septic shock. Current guidelines recommend intervention for source control within 12 hours after diagnosis. We aimed to determine the epidemiology of source control in the management of sepsis and to analyze the impact of timing to source control on mortality.

Changes in cyst's nuclear chromatin resulting after experimental manipulation of Taenia crassiceps mice infections: biological implications.

During some estimations of the nuclear DNA content, based on determinations propidium iodide (PI) binding through fluorocytometry for Taenia crassiceps cysticerci, significant variation in the results were found. This initial observation led to a series of experiments designed to explain the variation. These changes could be induced by the diameter of the needles in the syringes used for the mouse to mouse transfer of the cysts.

Thenar oxygen saturation and invasive oxygen delivery measurements in critically ill patients in early septic shock.

This prospective study was aimed to test the hypothesis that tissue hemoglobin oxygen saturation (StO₂) measured noninvasively using near-infrared spectroscopy is a reliable indicator of global oxygen delivery (DO₂) measured invasively using a pulmonary artery catheter (PAC) in patients with septic shock. The study setting was a 26-bed medical-surgical intensive care unit at a university hospital. Subjects were adult patients in septic shock who required PAC hemodynamic monitoring for resuscitation.

Alteration of medial-edge epithelium cell adhesion in two Tgf-beta3 null mouse strains.

Although palatal shelf adhesion is a crucial event during palate development, little work has been carried out to determine which molecules are responsible for this process. Furthermore, whether altered palatal shelf adhesion causes the cleft palate presented by Tgf-beta3 null mutant mice has not yet been clarified. Here, we study the presence/distribution of some extracellular matrix and cell adhesion molecules at the time of the contact of palatal shelves in both wild-type and Tgf-beta3 null mutant palates of two strains of mice (C57/BL/6J (C57), and MF1) that develop cleft palates of different severity.