Systematic Ultrasound Screening for Lower Extremity Deep Vein Thrombosis in ICU Patients with Severe COVID-19: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Background: Venous thromboembolism (VTE), whether pulmonary embolism (PE) or deep vein thrombosis (DVT), is common in patients with COVID-19. Recommendations on systematic screening in the intensive care unit (ICU) are lacking.

Research Question: Is there any clinical benefit of systematic screening for DVT in critically ill patients with severe COVID-19?

Study Design And Methods: Single-center randomized clinical trial (RCT) of COVID-19 cases admitted to the ICU.

Natural Products from Chilean and Antarctic Marine Fungi and Their Biomedical Relevance.

Fungi are a prolific source of bioactive molecules. During the past few decades, many bioactive natural products have been isolated from marine fungi. Chile is a country with 6435 Km of coastline along the Pacific Ocean and houses a unique fungal biodiversity.

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on a Cancer Fast-Track Programme.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted many aspects of clinical practice in oncology, particularly regarding early cancer diagnosis, sparking public health concerns that possible delays could increase the proportion of patients diagnosed at advanced stages. In 2009, a cancer fast-track program (CFP) was implemented at the Clinico-Malvarrosa Health Department in Valencia, Spain with the aim of shortening waiting times between suspected cancer symptoms, diagnosis and therapy initiation.

Objectives: The study aimed to explore the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on our cancer diagnosis fast-track program.

Secondary Metabolites Isolated from Chilean Marine Algae: A Review.

Chile is in the extreme southwestern part of America, and it has an extreme length, of approximately 4300 km that increases to 8000 km considering the Chilean Antarctic Territory. Despite the large extent of its coastal territory and the diversity of geographic environments and climates associated with Chilean coasts, the research on marine resources in Chile has been rather scarce. From marine organisms found in Chilean coastal waters, algae have been the most studied, since they contain a wide range of interesting secondary metabolites that have some structural traits that make them unique and uncharacteristic.

Synthesis, characterisation, crystal structure and antimicrobial evaluation of novel 6-alkoxyergosta-4,6,8(14),22-tetraen-3-one derived from natural ergosta-5,7,22-trien-3β-ol.

In this study, we report a facile transformation starting from 5α-hydroxyergosta-7,22-dien-3,6-dione to afford two novel compounds: 6-methoxyergosta-4,6,8(14),22-tetraen-3-one and 6-ethoxyergosta-4,6,8(14),22-tetraen-3-one ( using alcoholic acid catalysis. Their structures were elucidated using NMR experiments, FT-IR, MS and X-ray analysis. These compounds were evaluated for antibacterial activity using the disk and broth diffusion test.

Ten-year assessment of a cancer fast-track programme to connect primary care with oncology: reducing time from initial symptoms to diagnosis and treatment initiation.

Background: Cancer is the second leading cause of mortality worldwide. Integrating different levels of care by implementing screening programmes, extending diagnostic tools and applying therapeutic advances may increase survival. We implemented a cancer fast-track programme (CFP) to shorten the time between suspected cancer symptoms, diagnosis and therapy initiation.

Assessing adherence to inhaled medication in asthma: Impact of once-daily versus twice-daily dosing frequency. The ATAUD study.

Introduction: This study was aimed at evaluating whether once-daily regimens (od-r) show benefits in adherence when compared to twice-daily (td-r).

Methods: Prospective, multicenter, 6-month follow-up study with two visits. The main objective was to compare adherence assessed by the electronic prescription refill rate (EPRR) and by the 10-item Test of Adherence to Inhalers (TAI) in patients with od-r and td-r.

[Hansen disease, an emergent condition in Chile].

Hansen's disease (HD) is caused by Mycobacterium leprae. It has a chronic course and preferentially affects the skin and the peripheral nerves. It's an emergent infection in Chile due to migration waves.

A set of biogenetically interesting polyhalogenated acetogenins from Ptilonia magellanica.

Ptilonines A-F, pyranosylmagellanicus D-E and magellenediol are previously undescribed acetogenins isolated from the red alga Ptilonia magellanica. Their structures were determined from spectroscopic evidence. The absolute configuration of the known pyranosylmagellanicus A, was established by derivatization with (R)- and (S)-α-methoxy -α-phenylacetic acids (MPA).

End-of-life practices in patients with devastating brain injury in Spain: implications for organ donation.

Objective: To describe end-of-life care practices relevant to organ donation in patients with devastating brain injury in Spain.

Design: A multicenter prospective study of a retrospective cohort.

Period: 1 November 2014 to 30 April 2015.

Satiety Innovations: Food Products to Assist Consumers with Weight Loss, Evidence on the Role of Satiety in Healthy Eating: Overview and In Vitro Approximation.

The prevalence of overweight and obesity is increasing globally, driven by the availability of energy-dense palatable foods. Most dietary strategies fail because of hunger generated by calorie restriction, and interventions that specifically control hunger and/or promote fullness may aid success. Current consumers have a limited choice of satiety-enhancing products with proven health benefits, and innovative ways to produce new foods (as structural modification) to enhance satiety/satiation may provide new opportunities.

Antimicrobial Diterpenes from Azorella Species Against Gram-Positive Bacteria.

The present study was aimed at evaluating the antibacterial activity of mulinane and azorellane diterpenes isolated from the Andean plants Azorella compacta and A. trifoliolata and semisynthetic derivatives against reference and multidrug-resistant strains. The results revealed that the semisynthetic compound 7-acetoxy-mulin-9,12-diene (5) exhibited antibacterial activity against reference and multidrug-resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus and moderate antimycobacterial activity against Mycobacterium smegmatis ATCC 14468.

Vibrational Circular Dichroism Absolute Configuration of 9,12-Cyclomulin-13-ol, a Diterpene from Azorella and Laretia Species.

The absolute configuration of the diterpenoid 9,12-cyclomulin-13-ol (1), a constituent of Azorella and Laretia species, has been established by vibrational circular dichroism spectroscopy in combination with density functional theory calculations. The obtained normal diterpene absolute configuration confirms that of azorellanol (2), which was determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction.

Intensive care practices in brain death diagnosis and organ donation.

We conducted a multicentre study of 1844 patients from 42 Spanish intensive care units, and analysed the clinical characteristics of brain death, the use of ancillary testing, and the clinical decisions taken after the diagnosis of brain death. The main cause of brain death was intracerebral haemorrhage (769/1844, 42%), followed by traumatic brain injury (343/1844, 19%) and subarachnoid haemorrhage (257/1844, 14%). The diagnosis of brain death was made rapidly (50% in the first 24 h).

Molecular Docking Studies of the Antitumoral Activity and Characterization of New Chalcone.

Phytochemical investigation of Azorella madreporica led to the isolation of four known compounds and an unknown chalcone. The structure of the new compound was identified by spectroscopy, including two-dimensional NMR techniques and comparison with published spectral data. The antioxidant activity of chalcone (compound 1) was measured using the 1,2-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging assay, and the bioactivity was evaluated against five bacteria (Mycobacterium smegmatis ATCC 14468, clinical isolates of Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella granulomatis, Morganella morganii and Escherichia coli) and four cancer cell lines.

Implementation and assessment of a fast-track programme to improve communication between primary and specialized care in patients with suspected cancer: how to shorten time between initial symptoms of cancer, diagnosis and initiation of treatment.

Purpose: This study aims to asses a cancer fast-track programme (CFP) to shorten the time since a patient with suspicion of cancer is referred by the primary care (PC) physician to the specialized medical team.

Methods: Guidelines for main suspected tumours were designed to help PC physicians to detect and rapidly refer cases to the CFP oncology coordinator, who sent them to the appropriate department to accelerate diagnosis, staging and therapy. All patients analysed in this report were referred from June 2009 to July 2012.

Microarray analysis reveals moderate gene expression changes in cortical neural stem cells cultured on nanowire arrays.

Although nanowires are widely used in biological applications, especially as cell-manipulation tools, the effect of nanowires on living cells has not been fully investigated. Here, we examined the full gene expression of mouse cortical stem cells cultured on vertical nanowire substrates using RNA microarrays. Genes involved in cell adhesion, cell morphology regulation and cell metabolism were up regulated on the nanowire substrates as compared to flat controls.

New diterpenes from Azorella spinosa.

Two new diterpenes,2-acetoxy-13-hydroxy-mulin-11-ene and 2-acetoxy-mulin-11, 13-diene,have been isolated from the aerial parts of Azorella spinosa and their structures determined by spectroscopic and conventional chemical methods. Furthermore, 2, 13-dihydroxy-mulin-11-ene was obtained using a basic hydrolysis of the first compound. Two diterpenes reported for other Azorella species have also been found, namely mulinolic acid and 13beta-hydroxyazorellane, as well as the triterpene lactone of ursolic acid,quercetin, and 7-hydroxycoumarin.

Diversity of cultivable fungi associated with Antarctic marine sponges and screening for their antimicrobial, antitumoral and antioxidant potential.

The diversity of sponge-associated fungi has been poorly investigated in remote geographical areas like Antarctica. In this study, 101 phenotypically different fungal isolates were obtained from 11 sponge samples collected in King George Island, Antarctica. The analysis of ITS sequences revealed that they belong to the phylum Ascomycota.

Biological activity of isoflavonoids from Azorella madreporica.

Four isoflavones, isolated from the whole plant of Azorella madreporica, were identified as angustone C (1), alpinumisoflavone (2), licoisoflavone A (3) and isolupalbigenin (4) by spectroscopic studies. The compounds were evaluated for antibacterial and gastroprotective activities. This is the first time that isoflavonoids have been reported in this genus.

Gastroprotective activity of epitaondiol and sargaol.

The effects of epitaondiol (1) and sargaol (2), isolated from the brown alga Stypopodium flabelliforme on HCl/ethanol-induced gastric lesions in mice were evaluated and compared with that of lansoprazole. Epitaondiol and sargaol (6.25 - 50 mg/kg) dose-dependently inhibited the appearance of gastric lesions in mice, displaying similar values to lansoprazole at 20 mg/kg.

Anti-proliferative activity of meroditerpenoids isolated from the brown alga Stypopodium flabelliforme against several cancer cell lines.

The sea constitutes one of the most promising sources of novel compounds with potential application in human therapeutics. In particular, algae have proved to be an interesting source of new bioactive compounds. In this work, six meroditerpenoids (epitaondiol, epitaondiol diacetate, epitaondiol monoacetate, stypotriol triacetate, 14-ketostypodiol diacetate and stypodiol) isolated from the brown alga Stypopodium flabelliforme were tested for their cell proliferation inhibitory activity in five cell lines.

Psychological care: social and family support for patients awaiting a liver transplant.

Introduction: In patients awaiting a transplant, the help received from friends and/or family members is considered to be an important factor in the transplantation process. Our objective was to determine the level of social/family support for patients on the liver transplant waiting list and to determine the relationship between clinical psychopathology and the level of social/family support.

Materials And Methods: The study population consisted of 70 patients on the liver transplant waiting list.