Functional Characterization of Preadipocytes Derived from Human Periaortic Adipose Tissue.

Adipose tissue can affect the metabolic control of the cardiovascular system, and its anatomic location can affect the vascular function differently. In this study, biochemical and phenotypical characteristics of adipose tissue from periaortic fat were evaluated. Periaortic and subcutaneous adipose tissues were obtained from areas surrounding the ascending aorta and sternotomy incision, respectively.

[Management of facial injuries in the emergency room].

Facial injuries are cause of consultation in emergency departments. The maxillofacial region contains several structures that are vital for life. Hence, an early assessment and management of facial injuries is important to avoid their consequential complications and eventual mortality.

CT Imaging of Complications Associated with Continuous-Flow Left Ventricular Assist Devices (LVADs).

Heart failure is becoming increasingly prevalent, and more patients are being treated with left ventricular assist devices (LVADs), either as a bridge to transplant or as destination therapy. The use of continuous-flow LVADs is on the rise. LVAD therapy is associated with several classes of complications, including bleeding, thrombosis, and infection.

An optimized background regimen design to evaluate the contribution of levofloxacin to multidrug-resistant tuberculosis treatment regimens: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Current guidelines for treatment of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) are largely based on expert opinion and observational data. Fluoroquinolones remain an essential part of MDR-TB treatment, but the optimal dose of fluoroquinolones as part of the regimen has not been defined.

Methods/design: We designed a randomized, blinded, phase II trial in MDR-TB patients comparing across levofloxacin doses of 11, 14, 17 and 20 mg/kg/day, all within an optimized background regimen.

Human ADMC-Derived Adipocyte Thermogenic Capacity Is Regulated by IL-4 Receptor.

Type two innate immune system is anti-inflammatory and may play an important role as the means whereby "browning" is induced in subcutaneous adipocytes. It was shown that IL-4 may influence the fate of adipose cell precursors by promoting differentiation towards more thermogenic adipocytes in mice. Here, we investigated the influence of IL-4 and IL-4 receptor, a type two immune cytokine pathway, on the metabolic activity and thermogenic potential of human adipocytes differentiated from adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADMSCs) obtained from subcutaneous samples of healthy women undergoing abdominoplasty.

Lack of chronic neuroinflammation in the absence of focal hemorrhage in a rat model of low-energy blast-induced TBI.

Blast-related traumatic brain injury (TBI) has been a common cause of injury in the recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Blast waves can damage blood vessels, neurons, and glial cells within the brain. Acutely, depending on the blast energy, blast wave duration, and number of exposures, blast waves disrupt the blood-brain barrier, triggering microglial activation and neuroinflammation.

Modeling Patient No-Show History and Predicting Future Outpatient Appointment Behavior in the Veterans Health Administration.

Background: Missed appointments reduce the efficiency of the health care system and negatively impact access to care for all patients. Identifying patients at risk for missing an appointment could help health care systems and providers better target interventions to reduce patient no-shows.

Objectives: Our aim was to develop and test a predictive model that identifies patients that have a high probability of missing their outpatient appointments.

Regulation of cancer epigenomes with a histone-binding synthetic transcription factor.

Chromatin proteins have expanded the mammalian synthetic biology toolbox by enabling control of active and silenced states at endogenous genes. Others have reported synthetic proteins that bind DNA and regulate genes by altering chromatin marks, such as histone modifications. Previously, we reported the first synthetic transcriptional activator, the "Polycomb-based transcription factor" (PcTF) that reads histone modifications through a protein-protein interaction between the polycomb chromodomain motif and trimethylated lysine 27 of histone H3 (H3K27me3).

Scale of attitudes toward alcohol - Spanish version: evidences of validity and reliability.

Objective: validate the Scale of attitudes toward alcohol, alcoholism and individuals with alcohol use disorders in its Spanish version.

Method: methodological study, involving 300 Colombian nurses. Adopting the classical theory, confirmatory factor analysis was applied without prior examination, based on the strong historical evidence of the factorial structure of the original scale to determine the construct validity of this Spanish version.

Elaboration of an instrument to investigate the acquisition of minimal contrast perception in the Brazilian sign language.

Purpose: To design an instrument to check the perception of minimal contrasts by through pairs of signs, which differ in one the following parameters: handshape, hand location, hand movement and hand orientation.

Methods: An inventory of minimal pairs was made and some pictures were drawn by a visual artist. These pictures were organized into three columns, which could be equal or different from each other in the pair.

Increased oxidative phosphorylation in response to acute and chronic DNA damage.

Accumulation of DNA damage is intricately linked to aging, aging-related diseases and progeroid syndromes such as Cockayne syndrome (CS). Free radicals from endogenous oxidative energy metabolism can damage DNA, however the potential of acute or chronic DNA damage to modulate cellular and/or organismal energy metabolism remains largely unexplored. We modeled chronic endogenous genotoxic stress using a DNA repair-deficient mouse model of CS.

Engineering of RuMb: Toward a Green Catalyst for Carbene Insertion Reactions.

The small, stable heme protein myoglobin (Mb) was modified through cofactor substitution and mutagenesis to develop a new catalyst for carbene transfer reactions. The native heme was removed from wild-type Mb and several Mb His64 mutants (H64D, H64A, H64V), and the resulting apoproteins were reconstituted with ruthenium mesoporphyrin IX (RuMpIX). The reconstituted proteins (RuMb) were characterized by UV-vis and circular dichroism spectroscopy and were used as catalysts for the N-H insertion of aniline derivatives and the cyclopropanation of styrene derivatives.

Spanish version of the scale of attitudes toward alcohol, alcoholism and alcoholics: content validation.

Unlabelled: ABSTACT Objective: to describe the process of translation and cultural adaptation of the scale of attitudes towards alcohol, alcoholism and alcoholics into the Spanish language.

Methods: this was a methodological study, which followed the international guidelines for translation and adaptation of measurement scales.

Results: During the process of translation and cultural adaptation of scale of attitudes towards alcohol, alcoholism and alcoholics to the Spanish language, the items were adjusted based on semantic, idiomatic and conceptual equivalence of the expressions contained in the scale of attitudes towards alcohol, alcoholism and alcoholics.

Estimating the economic consequences of an increased medication adherence due to a potential improvement in the inhaler technique with Spiromax compared with Turbuhaler in patients with moderate-to-severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Spain.

Objective: The objective of this study was to estimate the economic impact of the introduction of DuoResp Spiromax, budesonide/formoterol fixed-dose combination (FDC), focusing on an increase in medication adherence due to an enhancement of the inhalation technique for the treatment of COPD patients in Spain and 5 regions including Andalusia, Catalonia, Galicia, Madrid, and Valencia.

Methods: A 4-year budget impact model was developed for the time period of 2015-2018. This study aimed at evaluating the budget impact associated with the introduction of DuoResp Spiromax in comparison with Symbicort Turbuhaler and Rilast Turbuhaler.

Preprocedural Risk Assessment Prior to PPVI with CMR and Cardiac CT.

Percutaneous pulmonary valve intervention (PPVI) is a less invasive and less costly approach to pulmonary valve replacement compared with the surgical alternative. Potential complications of PPVI include coronary compression and pulmonary arterial injury/rupture. The purpose of this study was to characterize the morphological risk factors for PPVI complication with cardiac MRI and cardiac CTA.

RA Differentiation Enhances Dopaminergic Features, Changes Redox Parameters, and Increases Dopamine Transporter Dependency in 6-Hydroxydopamine-Induced Neurotoxicity in SH-SY5Y Cells.

Research on Parkinson's disease (PD) and drug development is hampered by the lack of suitable human in vitro models that simply and accurately recreate the disease conditions. To counteract this, many attempts to differentiate cell lines, such as the human SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma, into dopaminergic neurons have been undertaken since they are easier to cultivate when compared with other cellular models. Here, we characterized neuronal features discriminating undifferentiated and retinoic acid (RA)-differentiated SH-SYSY cells and described significant differences between these cell models in 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) cytotoxicity.

Update on disease-modifying therapies for multiple sclerosis.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune, demyelinating disease of the central nervous system (CNS). It predominantly affects young women and is one of the most common causes of disability in young adults. MS is characterized by formation of white matter lesions in the CNS as a result of inflammation, demyelination, and axonal loss.

Spectrum-Diverse Neuroevolution With Unified Neural Models.

Learning algorithms are being increasingly adopted in various applications. However, further expansion will require methods that work more automatically. To enable this level of automation, a more powerful solution representation is needed.

Cultural adaptation and content validation of the Single-Question for screening alcohol abuse.

Objective Describing the stages of translation, cultural adaptation and content validation of the Single-Question into Brazilian Portuguese, which will be named Questão Chave. Method This study is a cultural adaptation. The instrument was translated into Portuguese as two independent versions which led to a synthesis of translations (S1), and later to the synthesis S2, which was then submitted to evaluation by a Committee of Expert Judges in the area of alcohol use and instrument validation.

[Use of non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants in Primary Care: ACTUA study].

Objectives: Approximately 40% of patients with non-valvular auricular fibrillation (NVAF) who receive vitamin K antagonists (VKA) in Primary Care in Spain have poor anticoagulation control. The objective of the study Actuación en antiCoagulación, Tratamiento y Uso de anticoagulantes orales de acción directa (ACOD) en Atención primaria (ACTUA) (Action in Coagulation, Treatment and Use of direct oral anticoagulants [DOACs]) in Primary Care) was to analyse the current situation regarding the use of VKA and non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOACs) in patients with NVAF in Primary Care in Spain and the possible issues arising from it.

Patients And Methods: An online survey was created covering various aspects of the use of oral anticoagulants in NAFV.

Psychometric properties of the Attitudes Scale facing Alcohol and Alcoholism in nursing students.

Objective: to verify the psychometric properties of the Attitudes Scale facing Alcohol and Alcoholism (EAFAA) and people with disorders related to the use of alcohol in nursing students.

Method: a convenience sample (n=420) completed the EAFAA, the data were submitted to Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA).

Results: the EFA resulted in an instrument composed of 48 items divided into four factors.