Protein Network Analysis of Whole Exome Sequencing of Severe Preeclampsia.

Preeclampsia is a hypertensive disorder of pregnancy, which complicates up to 15% of US deliveries. It is an idiopathic disorder associated with several different phenotypes. We sought to determine if the genetic architecture of preeclampsia can be described by clusters of patients with variants in genes in shared protein interaction networks.

Protein interaction networks define the genetic architecture of preterm birth.

The likely genetic architecture of complex diseases is that subgroups of patients share variants in genes in specific networks sufficient to express a shared phenotype. We combined high throughput sequencing with advanced bioinformatic approaches to identify such subgroups of patients with variants in shared networks. We performed targeted sequencing of patients with 2 or 3 generations of preterm birth on genes, gene sets and haplotype blocks that were highly associated with preterm birth.

Systematic review of Latin American national oral health surveys in adults.

Background: Oral diseases represent a main public health problem worldwide. There is scarce information about oral health indicators in adults in middle-income countries in Latin America and Africa.

Objectives: To identify and describe national health surveys with national representative samples that included oral health assessment for adults in Latin America.

Measuring the Benefits of Healthcare: DALYs and QALYs - Does the Choice of Measure Matter? A Case Study of Two Preventive Interventions.

Background: The measurement of health benefits is a key issue in health economic evaluations. There is very scarce empirical literature exploring the differences of using quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) or disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) as benefit metrics and their potential impact in decision-making.

Methods: Two previously published models delivering outputs in QALYs, were adapted to estimate DALYs: a Markov model for human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccination, and a pneumococcal vaccination deterministic model (PNEUMO).

Patient-Reported Outcomes in Latin America: Implementation in Research and Role in Emerging HTA Systems.

Background: Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) are increasingly used to demonstrate the value of interventions and support health technology assessment (HTA).

Objective: The objective of this work was to analyze trends regarding PROs in Latin America (LatAm), highlight challenges in the application of PROs in this region, and suggest solutions.

Methods: A team of researchers with expertise in PROs conducted a nonsystematic PubMed literature search pertaining to the use of PROs in LatAm.

Inhibitory activity of Lactobacillus plantarum TF711 against Clostridium sporogenes when used as adjunct culture in cheese manufacture.

Bacteriocins produced by lactic acid bacteria are of great interest to the food-processing industry as natural preservatives. This work aimed to investigate the efficacy of bacteriocin-producing Lactobacillus plantarum TF711, isolated from artisanal Tenerife cheese, in controlling Clostridium sporogenes during cheese ripening. Cheeses were made from pasteurised milk artificially contaminated with 10(4) spores m/l C.

Social valuation of EQ-5D health states: the Chilean case.

Background: Cost-effectiveness analysis has been recommended by many national agencies around the world as a valid methodology to improve resource allocation within the health-care system. If the preferences of the society are taken into account in such a decision-making process, it is generally recommended that these values should be elicited by using a generic health-related quality-of-life instrument, such as the EuroQol five-dimensional (EQ-5D) questionnaire.

Objectives: To estimate a set of social values for EQ-5D questionnaire based on the time trade-off valuation technique for use in Chile.

[Economic evaluations of health technologies: a global perspective for their implementation in Latin America].

Phenomena as the progressive increase of health expenditure and the population aging have lead many countries to consider economic methodologies in order to obtain bigger sanitary benefits in contexts of limited resources. This article describes the basic components to consider in a health technology assessment , it analyses the process of decision making with cost-effectiveness analysis and reports how this methodology has been widely implemented in Latin America and the rest of the world.

Production objectives and breeding goals of Sahiwal cattle keepers in Kenya and implications for a breeding programme.

The Sahiwal breed has been used for upgrading the East African Zebu (EAZ) for improved milk production and growth performance in the southern rangelands of Kenya. Main users of this breed are Maasai pastoralists. Until now, there has been no deliberate effort to understand why these pastoralists specifically prefer to keep Sahiwal genetic resources as well as which traits are considered important by them and what is the underlying reason for this.

[Methodology for evaluating cost-effectiveness in primary health care centers in Chile].

Objective: Present a methodology for evaluating cost-effectiveness in primary health care centers (PHCs) in Chile based on the family health care model promoted in Chile and evaluate the results of the first two years of operation of the first pilot center to work under this new primary-care model.

Methods: A cost-effectiveness study with a social perspective and a one-year time frame was conducted. In order to compare the university health center in question with the control (a municipal health center), a Family Health Center Composite Quality Index (FHCCQI) was devised.

[Impact of asthma among primary attention children].

Background: Asthma is one of the chronic diseases that generate an impact on quality of life and major health care expenses.

Aim: To evaluate the impact of asthma on primary attention expenses, the health related quality of life (HRQOL) and the sanitary resources use.

Material And Methods: Follow up of a cohort of 56 asthmatic children aged 6 to 14 years (56% women), during 12 months.

Estimating Domestic Values for EQ-5D Health States Using Survey Data From External Sources.

Background: Health status measures used to quantify outcomes for economic evaluation must be capable of representing health gain in a single index, usually calibrated in terms of the social preferences elicited from "the relevant population." The general problem faced in the majority of countries where social preferences are required for cost-effectiveness analysis is the absence of a value set based on domestic data sources.

Objectives: This article establishes a methodology for estimating domestic visual analog scale (VAS)-based values for EQ-5D health states by adjusting data sets from countries where valuation studies have been carried out.

Hispanic valuation of the EQ-5D health states: a social value set for Latin Americans.

Objectives: Cost-effectiveness analysis has been recommended by national health agencies worldwide. In the United Kingdom, the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence supports the use of generic health-related quality of life instruments such as EuroQol EQ-5D when quality-adjusted life-years are used to measure health benefits. Despite the urgent need for appropriate methodologies to improve the use of scarce resources in Latin American countries, little is known about how health is valued.

Antimicrobial activity of lactic acid bacteria isolated from Tenerife cheese: initial characterization of plantaricin TF711, a bacteriocin-like substance produced by Lactobacillus plantarum TF711.

Aims: The screening and initial characterization of bacteriocins produced by lactic acid bacteria (LAB) from raw Tenerife goats' cheese with possible application as biopreservatives or ripening accelerators for Tenerife cheese.

Methods And Results: One hundred and eighty LAB of the genera Lactobacillus (95), Leuconostoc (64) and Lactococcus (21) isolated from raw Tenerife goats' cheese were screened for the production of antimicrobial substances. Lactobacillus plantarum TF711, which had the broadest spectrum of antimicrobial activity, was selected for further characterization.

Effect of dwarf (dw) and frizzle (F) genes on the performance of layers under Senegalese conditions.

The influence of sex-linked dwarf (dw) and incompletely dominant frizzle (F) genes on growth, egg production and quality were investigated. The experimental stock comprised 100 chicks of four genotypes: normal feathered, normal size (ffDw): normal feathered, dwarf (ffdw); frizzle, normal size (FfDw); and frizzle, dwarf (Ffdw). The dwarf gene reduced the body weight, shank length, feed intake, egg production and egg weight.

Random amplified polymorphic DNA analysis for differentiation of Leuconostoc mesenteroides subspecies isolated from Tenerife cheese.

Aims: In the present study, a RAPD-PCR fingerprinting method was developed to assign Tenerife cheese Leuconostoc mesenteroides strains to its three subspecies (mesenteroides, cremoris and dextranicum).

Methods And Results: Arbitrarily primed-PCR gave different DNA banding patterns for each type strain of Leuc. mesenteroides subspecies consisting in three major and intense bands of: 1800, 1600 and 1150 bp for subspecies mesenteroides 1800, 1150 and approximately 350 bp for subspecies cremoris; and 1800, 1600 and 1500 bp for subspecies dextranicum.