Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children and SARS-CoV-2 variants: a two-year ambispective multicentric cohort study in Catalonia, Spain.

Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) is a rare but severe disease temporarily related to SARS-CoV-2. We aimed to describe the epidemiological, clinical, and laboratory findings of all MIS-C cases diagnosed in children < 18 years old in Catalonia (Spain) to study their trend throughout the pandemic. This was a multicenter ambispective observational cohort study (April 2020-April 2022).

Is Axillary Assessment of Ductal Carcinoma In Situ of the Breast Necessary in All Cases?

Background: Staging of the axilla in women with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) is a point of controversy. We aimed to assess whether there is a group of patients in whom axillary assessment can be avoided and whether the likelihood of underdiagnosis of infiltrating carcinoma is sufficient to justify this evaluation.

Materials And Methods: This was a multicenter, prospective, observational study of patients who were operated on between 2008 and 2018 in three Spanish hospitals, with a diagnosis by radiological or excisional biopsy of DCIS and clinically and radiologically negative axilla.

Enhancement of biological nutrient removal process with advanced process control tools in full-scale wastewater treatment plant.

One of the major challenges in existing WasteWater Treatment Plants (WWTPs) is to comply with the increasingly stringent nutrient discharge limits established by the competent authorities to enhance environmental protection, while keeping operation costs as low as possible. This paper describes the results obtained from upgrading a full-scale WWTP during seven years (2013-2020) applying five different Advanced Process Control (APC) strategies. Results show that implementation of APC and the development of ammonia-based aeration control, aeration/non-aeration cycles, improved internal/external recirculation and chemical dosage controls resulted in an improvement in nutrients removal rates (+25.

Immunosuppressive profiles in liquid biopsy at diagnosis predict response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in triple-negative breast cancer.

Background: Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is characterised by high pathological complete response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). However, refractory and poor NAC responders still face very poor outcome, emphasising the urgent need for tools that facilitate identification of these patients, so that surgery or alternatives to NAC are considered early in the treatment protocol.

Materials And Methods: We combined metabolomics, exosome circulating miRNAs and flow cytometry experimental approaches in TNBC patients at diagnosis with immunohistochemistry in needle biopsy tumours to generate NAC-response predictive models.

PINK1 displays tissue-specific subcellular location and regulates apoptosis and cell growth in breast cancer cells.

The PINK1 gene is mutated in the germ line of patients with hereditary early-onset Parkinson disease, and PINK1 prosurvival function at neuronal mitochondria has been related with the etiology of this disease. However, the expression and function of PINK1 protein in nonneuronal tissues has not been determined yet. Here, we have analyzed PINK1 protein expression and subcellular distribution in normal and neoplastic human tissues and investigated the function of PINK1 in breast carcinoma cells.

Multicenter study of prevalence of nontuberculous mycobacteria in patients with cystic fibrosis in france.

We performed a multicenter prevalence study of nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) involving 1,582 patients (mean age, 18.9 years; male/female ratio, 1.06) with cystic fibrosis in France.

Non mycobacterial virulence genes in the genome of the emerging pathogen Mycobacterium abscessus.

Mycobacterium abscessus is an emerging rapidly growing mycobacterium (RGM) causing a pseudotuberculous lung disease to which patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) are particularly susceptible. We report here its complete genome sequence. The genome of M.

Inaccuracy of single-target sequencing for discriminating species of the Mycobacterium abscessus group.

We determined nucleotide sequences of rpoB, hsp65, and sodA in 59 clinical isolates (from 58 patients) of the Mycobacterium abscessus group. Identification to the species level, based on three target genes, was concordant for 44 isolates (25 M. abscessus, 13 Mycobacterium massiliense, and 6 Mycobacterium bolletii isolates) and discordant for 15 isolates which had "interspecific composite patterns.

Genomics of glycopeptidolipid biosynthesis in Mycobacterium abscessus and M. chelonae.

Background: The outermost layer of the bacterial surface is of crucial importance because it is in constant interaction with the host. Glycopeptidolipids (GPLs) are major surface glycolipids present on various mycobacterial species. In the fast-grower model organism Mycobacterium smegmatis, GPL biosynthesis involves approximately 30 genes all mapping to a single region of 65 kb.

Hypervirulence of a rough variant of the Mycobacterium abscessus type strain.

We isolated a rough variant of Mycobacterium abscessus CIP 104536T during experimental infection of mice. We show that this variant has lost the ability to produce glycopeptidolipids, is hyperlethal for C57BL/6 mice infected intravenously, and induces a strong tumor necrosis factor-alpha response by murine monocyte-derived macrophages.

[Utility of magnetic resonance cholangiography prior to cholecystectomy in acute biliary pancreatitis].

Aim: To analyze the role of magnetic resonance cholangiography (MRC) in candidates for cholecystectomy after acute biliary pancreatitis (ABP).

Methods: We performed a prospective study of patients with mild ABP (Atlanta criteria) admitted to our hospital from January 2004 to March 2005. Diagnosis of ABP was based on clinical features, serum amylase levels more than 3 times higher than the upper level of normality, and gallstones detected by ultrasonography.

Functional definition of relevant epitopes on the tumor suppressor PTEN protein.

The binding of PTEN to PDZ-domain-containing proteins appears to play an important role in the control of cell growth, motility and apoptosis. In turn, this binding can be abrogated by cleavage of the PTEN C-terminal region by caspase-3. We have generated and characterized monoclonal antibodies (mAb) directed against distinct epitopes at the C-terminal region of PTEN, and used them to define protein-binding epitopes on PTEN and to study its cleavage by caspase-3.

Comparative study of a portable prothrombin time monitor employing three different systems in oral anticoagulant units.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of the portable coagulometer CoaguChek (Roche Diagnostics) as a prothrombin time (PT) monitor, and to correlate capillary blood results with those of three different routine methods used for monitoring oral anticoagulant therapy (OAT): capillary, plasma and whole blood samples. Three hospitals participated in the study with a total of 235 patients on OAT. The international normalized ratio (INR) results obtained with CoaguChek were compared with those obtained using each of the routine methods.

The effect of acenocoumarol on hemorheological parameters.

The effect of acenocoumarol on hemorheological variables was measured in 35 non-valvular chronic atrial fibrillation patients before starting oral anticoagulant therapy (basal) and one and two months after beginning treatment (INR-2,3). Fibrinogen increased significantly from the basal situation: 332+/-99 mg/dl to 386+/-96 mg/dl in the second month (p<0.05).

Spontaneous cervical epidural hematoma associated with oral anticoagulant therapy.

A 54-year-old woman who was on anticoagulant treatment with acenocoumarol for a mitral prothesis developed a cervical spinal epidural hematoma, probably triggered by coughing fits together with supratherapeutic anticoagulation. Because of the subacute evolution of the hematoma, it was not diagnosed until the patient was admitted to the hospital with profuse hemorrhages. Given the subacute nature of the hematoma, along with the favorable evolution, conservative treatment with dexamethasone was decided upon, and it was resolved with almost no sequelae.

Heterogeneous lack of expression of the tumour suppressor PTEN protein in human neoplastic tissues.

PTEN, a tumour suppressor gene located at chromosome 10q23 and commonly mutated or deleted in a variety of tumours, encodes a dual-specific/phosphatidylinositol-3,4,5-triphosphate (PIP3) phosphatase. We report the generation of an anti-PTEN monoclonal antibody (MAb) that recognises an epitope at the C-terminus of PTEN, and describe the heterogeneous lack of expression of the PTEN protein in human tumour tissues, as demonstrated by immunohistochemical methods. Our anti-PTEN MAb provides a useful tool for the study of PTEN protein expression in tumour samples, in the search for tumour prognostic molecular markers.

Genetic alterations and oxidative metabolism in sporadic colorectal tumors from a Spanish community.

Deletions of loci on chromosomes 5q, 17p, 18q, and 22q, together with the incidence of p53 mutations and amplification of the double minute-2 gene were investigated in the sporadic colorectal tumors of 44 patients from a Spanish community. Chromosome deletions were analyzed by means of loss of heterozygosity analysis using a restriction fragment length polymorphism assay. Allelic losses were also detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-single-stranded conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis of a polymorphic site in intron 2 of the p53 gene.