Effect of massage on retinol skin penetration.

Topical administration of active substances may be promoted by optimizing not only the vehicle formulation but also the application protocol. The formulation aspects are widely studied in the literature while a few works are dedicated to the development of application methods. In this context, we studied an application protocol usable as a part of skincare routine by investigating the effect of massage on the skin penetration of retinol.

Spanish Adaptation of the Dimensional Apathy Scale (DAS) in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.

To adapt, translate, and utilize the Dimensional Apathy Scale (DAS) in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) to the Spanish population. We recruited 104 ALS patients (67 of their caregivers) and 49 controls. Participants completed the Spanish-translated DAS, Geriatric Depression Scale- Short form.

Retzius-sparing robot-assisted radical prostatectomy: Perioperative and immediate continence outcomes of an initial series.

Objective: The objective of this work is to present initial perioperative, immediate continence and oncological results in a series of 25 prostate cancer patients treated with Retzius-sparing robot-assisted radical prostatectomy.

Material And Methods: We retrospectively analyzed a series of 25 patients treated with Retzius-sparing robot-assisted radical prostatectomy for cT1-T2b prostate cancer between 2018-2019. The 5 stages of surgery are described.

Evaluation of integrated care services in Catalonia: population-based and service-based real-life deployment protocols.

Background: Comprehensive assessment of integrated care deployment constitutes a major challenge to ensure quality, sustainability and transferability of both healthcare policies and services in the transition toward a coordinated service delivery scenario. To this end, the manuscript articulates four different protocols aiming at assessing large-scale implementation of integrated care, which are being developed within the umbrella of the regional project Nextcare (2016-2019), undertaken to foster innovation in technologically-supported services for chronic multimorbid patients in Catalonia (ES) (7.5 M inhabitants).

Spanish adaptation of the edinburgh cognitive and behavioral amyotrophic lateral sclerosis screen (ECAS).

Objective: Adaptation of the ECAS to the Spanish population.

Methods: The ECAS test was adapted and implemented in a random sample of 102 ALS patients. A test-retest reliability of the instrument and internal consistency assessment were carried out.

LaSrMnO-Based Perovskite Nanoparticles with the A-Site Deficiency as High Performance Bifunctional Oxygen Catalyst in Alkaline Solution.

Perovskite (LaSr)MnIrO (x = 0 (LSM) and 0.05 (LSMI)) nanoparticles with particle size of 20-50 nm are prepared by the polymer-assisted chemical solution method and demonstrated as high performance bifunctional oxygen catalyst in alkaline solution. As compared with LSM, LSMI with the A-site deficiency and the B-site iridium (Ir)-doping has a larger lattice, lower valence state of transition metal, and weaker metal-OH bonding; therefore, it increases the concentration of oxygen vacancy and enhances both oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR).

Tuberin-deficiency downregulates N-cadherin and upregulates vimentin in kidney tumor of TSC patients.

Angiomyolipomas (AMLs) are associated with cell fibrosis in kidney of Tuberous Sclerosis Complex patients. The mechanism by which the fibrotic proteins accumulated in AMLs has not been explored. In the present study, we investigated the role of Akt/tuberin/mTOR pathway in the regulation cell fibrosis proteins.

Novel mechanism of regulation of fibrosis in kidney tumor with tuberous sclerosis.

Background: Deficiency in tuberin results in activation the mTOR pathway and leads to accumulation of cell matrix proteins. The mechanisms by which tuberin regulates fibrosis in kidney angiomyolipomas (AMLs) of tuberous sclerosis patients are not fully known.

Method: In the present study, we investigated the potential role of tuberin/mTOR pathway in the regulation of cell fibrosis in AML cells and kidney tumor tissue from tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) patients.

Self perceived emotional functioning of spanish patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: a longitudinal study.

Background: ALS is a neurodegenerative disease of the entire motor system that most frequently ends with respiratory arrest in few years. Its diagnosis and the rapid progression of the motor dysfunctions produce a continued emotional impact. Studies on this impact are helpful to plan adequate psychotherapeutic strategies.

Technical requirements of spirometers in the strategy for guaranteeing the access to quality spirometry.

Access to quality spirometry is an essential objective in order to be able to minimize the underdiagnosis of respiratory diseases, especially in those that are most frequent, such as COPD and asthma. This objective can be reached in the short term, but it requires the simultaneous integration of different strategies: training of the health-care professionals who perform spirometry, definition of standards for the transmission of the information, technical requirements for acquiring apparatuses and the correct interpretation of the results. This present study shows the use of standards for the electronic exchange of clinical information.

Evidence for direct contact between the RPA3 subunit of the human replication protein A and single-stranded DNA.

Replication Protein A is a single-stranded (ss) DNA-binding protein that is highly conserved in eukaryotes and plays essential roles in many aspects of nucleic acid metabolism, including replication, recombination, DNA repair and telomere maintenance. It is a heterotrimeric complex consisting of three subunits: RPA1, RPA2 and RPA3. It possesses four DNA-binding domains (DBD), DBD-A, DBD-B and DBD-C in RPA1 and DBD-D in RPA2, and it binds ssDNA via a multistep pathway.

Predicting in-hospital mortality with coronary bypass surgery using hospital discharge data: comparison with a prospective observational study.

Introduction And Objectives: The aim was to determine the usefulness of the hospital discharge Minimum Basic Data Set (MBDS) for predicting in-hospital mortality with coronary bypass surgery by using data from a prospective observational study as a reference.

Methods: The observational study involved collecting data on all patients undergoing first coronary bypass surgery at five hospitals in Catalonia, Spain between November 2001 and November 2003. In addition, data covering the same period and hospitals were obtained from the MBDS for procedure code 36.

Spanish adaptation of the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Questionnaire ALSAQ-40 for ALS patients.

We studied the cross-cultural Spanish adaptation of the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Assessment Questionnaire (ALSAQ-40) to assess the subjective health status in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients. The ALSAQ-40 questionnaire was adapted and applied to 53 randomly selected ALS patients from different regions in Spain. Reliability assessment and factorial analysis were performed in order to determine the dimensions of the scale.

[The estimated incidence and case fatality rate of ischemic and hemorrhagic cerebrovascular disease in 2002 in Catalonia].

Introduction And Objectives: The aim of this study was to obtain an estimate of the incidence of cerebrovascular disease (CVD) in the Spanish population in 2002.

Methods: The study involved data on patients aged over 24 years for the year 2002 contained in both the death register and the Minimum Basic Data Set from 65 of the 84 Catalan general hospitals (i.e.

Human replication protein A unfolds telomeric G-quadruplexes.

G-quadruplex structures inhibit telomerase activity and must be disrupted for telomere elongation during S phase. It has been suggested that the replication protein A (RPA) could unwind and maintain single-stranded DNA in a state amenable to the binding of telomeric components. We show here that under near-physiological in vitro conditions, human RPA is able to bind and unfold G-quadruplex structures formed from a 21mer human telomeric sequence.

Glycogen synthase kinase-3 beta is involved in the phosphorylation and suppression of androgen receptor activity.

Kinases can phosphorylate and regulate androgen receptor activity during prostate cancer progression. In particular, we showed that glycogen synthase kinase-3 beta phosphorylates the androgen receptor, thereby inhibiting androgen receptor-driven transcription. Conversely, the glycogen synthase kinase-3 beta inhibitor lithium chloride suppressed the glycogen synthase kinase-3 beta-mediated phosphorylation of the androgen receptor, thereby enabling androgen receptor-driven transcription to occur.

Alleviating the suppression of glycogen synthase kinase-3beta by Akt leads to the phosphorylation of cAMP-response element-binding protein and its transactivation in intact cell nuclei.

Glycogen synthase kinase-3beta (GSK-3beta) activity is suppressed when it becomes phosphorylated on serine 9 by protein kinase B (Akt). To determine how GSK-3beta activity opposes Akt function we used various methods to alleviate GSK-3beta suppression in prostate carcinoma cells. In some experiments, LY294002, a specific inhibitor of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (a kinase involved in activating Akt) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) were used to activate GSK-3beta.

Gender differences in children's hospitalization in Catalonia: another inequality?

The aim of this study was to describe children's hospitalization and to analyse gender differences by selected diagnostic and procedure groups. Using the Clinical Classification for Health Policy Research Version 2 (CCHPR), 81 888 hospitalizations from the Minimum Basic Data Set of Hospital Discharge (CMBDAH) of 1995 related to children under 15 y of age in Catalonia, Spain, were studied. Hospitalization rates, number of days in hospital, average length of stay (d) in hospital and the standardized hospitalization ratio (SHR) (hospitalization rate in boys/hospitalization rate in girls) were computed.

Abrogation of tumorigenicity and metastasis of murine and human tumor cells by transfection with the murine IFN-beta gene: possible role of nitric oxide.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether sustained local production of murine IFN-beta (mIFN-beta) could inhibit the tumorigenicity and metastasis of human and murine tumor cells implanted into nude mice. Human melanoma cells (A375SM), renal carcinoma cells (SN12PM6), and colon carcinoma cells (KM12SM) were transfected with mIFN-beta or a control neomycin resistance vector. All cell lines grew well in culture.

Nitric oxide-mediated apoptosis of K-1735 melanoma cells is associated with downregulation of Bcl-2.

Recent studies have shown that the treatment of nonmetastatic K-1735 murine melanoma cells with cytokines induces the production of nitric oxide (NO) and hence cell death. The purpose of this study was to determine the mechanism of this cytokine-induced NO-mediated apoptosis. Incubation of nonmetastatic K-1735 cells with interleukin-1 alpha (IL-1alpha) and interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) induced high NO production, Bcl-2 downregulation, and apoptotic cell death.