Evolution of Video Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery for Thoracic Disc Herniation: Towards Biportal Thoracoscopic Approach.

Objective: This work aims to describe the evolution of the video-assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery (VATS) approach from a multiportal access to a biportal access for thoracic herniated disc surgery. Thoracic disc herniation remains a challenging pathology for spine surgeons. VATS of the thoracic spine was described in the 90s and represented an important technical leap by including minimally invasive options for thoracic pathology.

Transesterification with CE15 glucuronoyl esterase from Cerrena unicolor reveals substrate preferences.

Purpose: Glucuronoyl esterases (GE, family CE15) catalyse the cleavage of ester linkages in lignin-carbohydrate complexes (LCCs), and this study demonstrate how transesterification reactions with a fungal GE from Cerrena unicolor (CuGE) can reveal the enzyme's preference for the alcohol-part of the ester-bond.

Methods: This alcohol-preference relates to where the ester-LCCs are located on the lignin molecule, and has consequences for how the enzymes potentially interact with lignin. It is unknown exactly what the enzymes prefer; either the α-benzyl or the γ-benzyl position.

Essential oils and extracts of plants as biocides against microorganisms isolated from the ruins of the Roman city of Conímbriga (Portugal).

Biodeterioration of monumental complexes is in large part due to the proliferation of various microorganisms that attack the physical-chemical structures of support materials. Various conservation and restoration interventions use commercial biocides of synthetic origin, which exhibit some human and environmental toxicity and sometimes side effects on support materials. The main objective of this work is the assessment of new biocides obtained from endemic Mediterranean plants, to be used in the preservation of cultural heritage with the goal of contributing to the sustainable use of ecosystems and to the development of Mediterranean local communities.

Substrate specificity and transglycosylation capacity of α-L-fucosidases across GH29 assessed by bioinformatics-assisted selection of functional diversity.

Glycoside hydrolase family 29 (GH29) encompasses α-L-fucosidases, i.e. enzymes that catalyze the hydrolytic release of fucose from fucosylated glycans, including N- and O-linked glycans on proteins, and these α-L-fucosidases clearly play important roles in biology.

Enzymatic production of a suite of human milk oligosaccharides directly in milk.

Human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) denote specific glycans in human breast milk. They function as prebiotics, immune modulating, and antimicrobial agents in the gut of breastfed infants, and certain HMOs even promote the cognitive development of the baby. HMOs are virtually absent in cow's milk and hence in infant formula, which provides a huge incentive for identifying ways in which HMOs can be produced to improve infant formulas.

Vitamin D status of inmates: the experience of penitentiaries prisons in the province of Salerno in Southern Italy.

Introduction: Prisoners are at risk of developing vitamin D deficiency due to their lacking exposure to sunlight. So far, there are no published studies evaluating blood levels of vitamin D in relation to the health status of inmates and the quality of the Italian prison system.

Aim: To investigate vitamin D status and its determinants in a cohort of prisoners.

A new FTIR assay for quantitative measurement of endo-fucoidanase activity.

Endo-fucoidanases, including EC 3.2.1.

The Endo-α(1,4) Specific Fucoidanase Fhf2 From Releases Highly Sulfated Fucoidan Oligosaccharides.

Fucoidanases are endo-fucoidanases (also known as endo-fucanases) that catalyze hydrolysis of α-glycosidic linkages in fucoidans, a family of sulfated fucose-rich polysaccharides primarily found in the cell walls of brown seaweeds. Fucoidanases are promising tools for producing bioactive fucoidan oligosaccharides for a range of biomedical applications. High sulfation degree has been linked to high bioactivity of fucoidans.

May standard basal echocardiogram allow to obtain predictors of asymptomatic cardiac dysfunction in alcoholics?

Background: Long-lasting heavy alcohol intake has been progressively recognized as a leading cause of nonischemic dilated cardiomyopathy, involving 10% of all people who use alcohol. It is of huge importance to identify the earliest markers of this dysfunction and it is known that the newest echocardiographic techniques such as speckle tracking may allow to do it. In this study we investigated if standard basal echocardiogram features allow to obtain predictors of asymptomatic cardiac dysfunction in alcoholics.

Enzymatic production of 3'-sialyllactose in milk.

Human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) are lactose-based glycan molecules present in human breast milk. HMOs are essentially not present in cow's milk and hence not naturally available in infant formulas. HMOs possess several health and developmentally beneficial properties, and the sialylated HMOs are thought to play a particularly important role for infant brain development.

Laccase activity measurement by FTIR spectral fingerprinting.

Laccases (EC 1.10.3.

Multiple Reaction Monitoring for quantitative laccase kinetics by LC-MS.

Laccases (EC 1.10.3.

On the Origins and Dissemination of Domesticated Sorghum and Pearl Millet across Africa and into India: a View from the Butana Group of the Far Eastern Sahel.

Four decades have passed since Harlan and Stemler (1976) proposed the eastern Sahelian zone as the most likely center of domestication. Recently, new data on seed impressions on Butana Group pottery, from the fourth millennium BC in the southern Atbai region of the far eastern Sahelian Belt in Africa, show evidence for cultivation activities of sorghum displaying some domestication traits. may have been undergoing domestication shortly thereafter in the western Sahel, as finds of fully domesticated pearl millet are present in southeastern Mali by the second half of the third millennium BC, and present in eastern Sudan by the early second millennium BC.

Uniportal right upper video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery lobectomy: safe and feasible.

Uniportal video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) lobectomy is now well established and performed all around the world. We are going to share the surgical technique for uniportal VATS right upper lobectomy based on our experience. A 62-year-old patient underwent Uniportal VATS right upper lobectomy for a primary non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Uniportal video-assisted thoracoscopic lobectomy versus other video-assisted thoracoscopic lobectomy techniques: a randomized study.

Objectives: A prospective, randomized study was carried out on patients undergoing lung cancer surgery, with the aim of determining if uniportal video-assisted lobectomy has more favourable postoperative outcomes than other video-assisted thoracoscopic lobectomy techniques (Duke approach and Copenhagen approach).

Methods: Patients were randomly assigned to two groups; uniportal video-assisted lobectomy (Group A; n = 51) and other video-assisted thoracoscopic lobectomy techniques (Group B; n = 55). The primary outcome measures were: postoperative pain (analogue visual scale) and supplementary doses of analgesics (morphine, milligrams); the secondary outcome measures were: the delay in removing the paravertebral catheter and the chest drain, the duration of the postoperative hospital stay, postoperative complications and the operative or 30-day mortality.

Quantitative enzymatic production of sialylated galactooligosaccharides with an engineered sialidase from Trypanosoma rangeli.

Sialylated galactooligosaccharides (GOS) represent a potential infant formula ingredient, which is believed to contribute with a combination of the beneficial properties of the prebiotic GOS as well as of sialylated human milk oligosaccharides. Sialylated GOS do not exist in natural milk, but can be produced from κ(kappa)-casein glycomacropeptide (CGMP), a sialylated side stream component from cheese-making, by sialidase-catalyzed transsialylation. Using a rationally designed mutant of the sialidase from Trypanosoma rangeli, Tr13, with enhanced transsialylation activity, six different GOS preparations with a varying degree of polymerization (DP) were effectively sialylated with molar yields of 20-30% on the CGMP sialyl in batch reactions.

Adrenocortical adenomas with regression and myelolipomatous changes: urinary steroid profiling supports a distinctive benign neoplasm.

Background: Adrenocortical neoplasms are classically divided into adenomas (ACA) and carcinomas (ACC). Heterogeneous appearance and greater size are criteria to suggest malignancy, along with the urinary steroid profile (USP). The presence of regression and myelolipomatous changes in adenomas (ACA-RML) can contribute to confusion with ACC and its USP remains unknown.

Effective treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis restores plasma leptin levels.

An impaired immune response in tuberculosis patients seems to be related to weight loss that coexists with an immunoendocrine imbalance. Thus, wasting is well-recognised as a prominent feature of tuberculosis (TB), which may not be reversed even after six months of treatment. Adipokines may play a role in the immune response to M.

Microbial community composition and reactor performance during hydrogen production in a UASB reactor fed with raw cheese whey inoculated with compost.

This study investigated the microbial community developed in a UASB reactor for hydrogen production and correlated it to reactor performance. The reactor was inoculated with kitchen waste compost and fed with raw cheese whey at two organic loading rates, 20 gCOD/Ld and 30 gCOD/Ld. Hydrogen production was very variable, using an OLR of 30 gCOD/Ld averaged 1.

Liver AMP/ATP ratio and fructokinase expression are related to gender differences in AMPK activity and glucose intolerance in rats ingesting liquid fructose.

Women, but not men, show an association between fructose consumption and an increased risk of Type 2 diabetes mellitus. As rats are considered a model for human fructose metabolism, we sought to determine whether such a gender-related difference is present in Sprague-Dawley rats and to analyze the molecular mechanism behind. Male and female Sprague-Dawley rats had free access to water or to a 10% w/v fructose solution for 14 days.

[Prognostic factors in chest traumas: a prospective study of 500 patients].

Objective: Identify the factors of greatest impact in patients with chest trauma.

Patients And Methods: prospective study of 500 patients (425 men and 75 women) with chest trauma treated between January 2006 and December 2008. The parameters assessed include the degree of trauma, the abbreviated injury scale (AIS), the injury severity score (ISS), pre-hospital intubation, duration of mechanical ventilation, stay in the intensive care unit (ICU), number of rib fractures, presence of pulmonary contusion, haemothorax and cardio-pulmonary effects.

Pneumomediastinum: is this really a benign entity? When it can be considered as spontaneous? Our experience in 47 adult patients.

Objective: Spontaneous pneumomediastinum is uncommon and is traditionally considered a benign, self-limited disorder that usually occurs in young adults without any apparent precipitating factor or disease. The purpose of this study is to present 47 new cases because of their different clinical behaviours.

Methods: A descriptive, retrospective case series was conducted to identify adult patients with spontaneous pneumomediastinum who were diagnosed and treated in a single institution between 2000 and 2008.

Localized (solitary) fibrous tumors of the pleura: an analysis of 15 patients.

Background: Localized fibrous tumors of the pleura (LFTPs) are rare neoplasms, which are considered to originate from submesothelial connective tissue. The aim of this article is to present 15 new cases because of their different clinical behaviors and to discuss the treatment of choice of such neoplasms.

Methods: The records of 15 consecutive patients with LFTP operated at our Institution between 1995 and 2006 were retrospectively reviewed.