Choroidal metastases as initial manifestation of a papillary thyroid carcinoma: A case report. / Metástasis coroidea como primera manifestación de carcinoma papilar de tiroides: a propósito de un caso.

The case is presented of 78 year-old who consulted due to decreased visual acuity in right eye for several months. Indirect ophthalmoscopy revealed an orange-yellow coloured choroidal mass at the posterior pole, without retinal detachment. Computed tomography showed a thyroid mass in the isthmus, as well as multiple pulmonary nodules and metastatic foci. The findings of transbronchial lung biopsy were compatible with metastatic dissemination. Fine-needle aspiration biopsy of thyroid nodule was diagnostic for a with columnar cell variant of papillary thyroid cancer. Positron emission tomography confirmed papillary thyroid carcinoma. The patient underwent total thyroidectomy and radioactive iodine therapy.

Management of the neovascular choroidal membrane secondary to ocular toxoplasmosis. / Manejo de la membrana neovascular coroidea secundaria a toxoplasmosis ocular.

A 12-year-old patient diagnosed with congenital toxoplasmosis, with no systemic treatment at the time, who presented with a decreased visual acuity (VA) in his left eye (LE). On examination, VA in the LE was 0.05 and the fundus examination revealed a focus of chorioretinitis adjacent to a pigmented macular scar, as well as a large associated subretinal haemorrhage. After confirming the diagnosis of choroidal neovascular membrane secondary to ocular toxoplasmosis, treatment was started with systemic anti-toxoplasmosis drugs and two anti-VEGF intravitreal injections separated by one month. Finally, the patients had a VA in LE of 0.4, with reabsorption of the haemorrhage, leaving an inactive pigmented macular scar. The use of anti-VEGF intravitreal injections in cases of ocular toxoplasmosis has been associated with a reactivation of old lesions, so the prophylactic use of oral anti-toxoplasmosis drugs is recommended in these cases.

Valorization of poly(lactic acid) wastes via mechanical recycling: Improvement of the properties of the recycled polymer.

Poly(lactic acid) (PLA) is a biobased polymer that represents one of the most interesting alternatives to fossil-fuel based polymers in food packaging applications. Most of the PLA used in food packaging is used only once and then discarded, even though the PLA types used in packaging have good properties and stability. Therefore, it seems reasonable to consider the possibility of recycling the used polymer through a mechanical recycling process. The main aims of this work are to study the effect of the mechanical recycling on the properties of PLA and the usefulness of different upgrading methods to obtain recycled PLA with improved properties. A commercial type of PLA was subjected to accelerated thermal, photochemical and hydrolytic aging and then reprocessed. During reprocessing, aged PLA was blended with virgin PLA and a commercial chain extender was added. Results point out that recycling causes the degradation of PLA, and negatively affects the thermal stability and mechanical properties. However, addition of virgin PLA, and the chain extender, led to an increase of up to 9% in the intrinsic viscosity and 8% in the Vickers hardness of the recycled material. These results suggest that mechanically recycled PLA with improved performance can be obtained, a fact which might improve the recyclability of PLA and thus the environmental impact of this material.

Ab initio study of several static and dynamic properties of bulk liquid Ni near melting.

Several static and dynamic properties of bulk liquid Ni at a thermodynamic state near its triple point have been evaluated by ab initio molecular dynamics simulations. The calculated static structure shows very good agreement with the available experimental data, including an asymmetric second peak in the static structure factor, which underlines a marked local icosahedral short-range order in the liquid. The dynamical structure reveals propagating density fluctuations, and the calculated dynamic structure factors, S(q,ω), show a good agreement with the inelastic x-ray scattering measurements. The obtained dispersion relation closely follows that obtained from the inelastic x-ray scattering measurements; moreover we analyze the possible reasons behind its discrepancy with respect to the dispersion relation derived from the inelastic neutron scattering data. The dynamical processes behind the S(q,ω) have been analyzed by using a model with two decay channels (a fast and a slow) associated with the relaxations of the collective excitations. We have found that the transverse current spectral functions exhibit some features which, so far, had previously been shown by high pressure liquid metals only. Furthermore, the calculated S(q,ω) show, within some q-range, the appearance of transverse-like excitation modes, similar to those recently found in other liquid metals. Finally, results are also reported for several transport coefficients.

A novel real-time polymerase chain reaction-based method for the detection and quantification of lactose-fermenting Enterobacteriaceae in the dairy and other food industries.

The presence of lactose-fermenting Enterobacteriaceae and coliforms is routinely assessed to determine the hygienic quality of water and foods, particularly dairy products. This paper reports the use of lacZ-specific primers in an SYBR green I-based real-time PCR method for the easy and rapid detection of coliforms in dairy products. A large number of bacterial species were assayed to establish the specificity of the method. The sensitivity of the method was assessed using artificially contaminated cheeses. The limit of detection was 1 coliform cell in cheese samples enriched for 8h in a culture medium. The entire procedure, including sample processing, enrichment, DNA extraction, and real-time PCR amplification, can be completed within 10 to 12h, making it a single-day assay.

Multiplex PCR for the detection and identification of dairy bacteriophages in milk.

Bacteriophage infections of starter lactic acid bacteria are a serious risk in the dairy industry. Phage infection can lead to slow lactic acid production or even the total failure of fermentation. The associated economic losses can be substantial. Rapid and sensitive methods are therefore required to detect and identify phages at all stages of the manufacture of fermented dairy products. This study describes a simple and rapid multiplex PCR method that, in a single reaction, detects the presence of bacteriophages infecting Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus delbrueckii, plus three genetically distinct 'species' of Lactococcus lactis phages commonly found in dairy plants (P335, 936 and c2). Available bacteriophage genome sequences were examined and the conserved regions used to design five pairs of primers, one for each of the above bacteriophage species. These primers were designed to generate specific fragments of different size depending on the species. Since this method can detect the above phages in untreated milk and can be easily incorporated into dairy industry routines, it might be readily used to earmark contaminated milk for use in processes that do not involve susceptible starter organisms or for use in those that involve phage-deactivating conditions.

Real-time polymerase chain reaction for quantitative detection of histamine-producing bacteria: use in cheese production.

Biogenic amines are toxic substances that appear in foods and beverages as a result of AA decarboxylation. The enzyme histidine decarboxylase catalyzes the decarboxylation of histidine to histamine, the biogenic amine most frequently involved in food poisoning. The aim of the present work was to develop a real-time quantitative PCR assay for the direct detection and quantification of histamine-producing strains in milk and cheese. A set of primers was designed, based on the histidine decarboxylase gene sequence of different gram-positive bacteria. The results show the proposed procedure to be a rapid (total processing time < 2 h), specific and highly sensitive technique for detecting potential histamine-producing strains. Chromatographic methods (HPLC) verified the capacity of real-time quantitative PCR to correctly quantify histamine accumulation.

Multiple malignant primary neoplasms in patients with gatric neoplasms in the health district of León.

OBJECTIVES: We analyzed the characteristics of patients with gastric tumors diagnosed with multiple malignant primary neoplasm (MMPN) in the Health District of León. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Using the information in the Tumor Registry at León Hospital patients selected were those with gastric neoplasms diagnosed between 1993 and 2002. A follow-up was performed until December 31, 2004, and the characteristics of patients diagnosed with a second neoplasm were analyzed. RESULTS: MMPN prevalence was 1,96%; 56% of patients had a history of cancer in first-degree relatives. The most frequent second neoplasms were digestive (26%) and urologic (21%); 87% of patients were diagnosed with a second neoplasm within the first two years. No significative differences in survival were observed among patients with synchronous or metachronous MMPN. CONCLUSIONS: MMPN in patients with gastric neoplasms is a relevant problem. While external carcinogenic agents could act as promoters in the development of second neoplasms, these patients seem to have a genetic background favoring the development of MMPN. Secondary prevention is the best measure to avoid MMPN development.

Applying statistical, uncertainty-based and connectionist approaches to the prediction of fetal outcome: a comparative study.

A common situation in the field of medicine is the availability of a huge quantity of data and knowledge relevant to a problem which is nevertheless, to a greater or lesser degree, incomplete or imprecise. This kind of problem occurs, for example, with respect to the information available for the prognostic tasks required for pregnancy monitoring, where decision-making by physicians calls for the incorporation of predictive skills. There are available however, several knowledge discovery methods that can be applied to data resulting from the performance of one or several of the non-stress tests (NSTs) that are used to evaluate a pregnant patient's antenatal status. This paper presents, discusses and compares the results obtained as a consequence of the application of different prediction methods, namely the Bayes' model, discriminant analysis, artificial neural networks (ANNs) and the Shortliffe and Buchanan uncertainty-based model.

Melatonin blocks the activation of estrogen receptor for DNA binding.

The present study shows that melatonin prevents, within the first cell cycle, the estradiol-induced growth of synchronized MCF7 breast cancer cells. By using nuclear extracts of these cells, we first examined the binding of estradiol-estrogen receptor complexes to estrogen-responsive elements and found that the addition of estradiol to whole cells activates the binding of the estrogen receptor to DNA whereas melatonin blocks this interaction. By contrast, melatonin neither affects the binding of estradiol to its receptor nor the receptor nuclear localization. Moreover, we also show that addition of estradiol to nuclear extracts stimulates the binding of estrogen receptor to DNA, but this activation is also prevented by melatonin. The inhibitory effect caused by melatonin is saturable at nanomolar concentrations and does not appear to be mediated by RZR nuclear receptors. The effect is also specific, since indol derivatives do not cause significant inhibition. Furthermore, we provide evidence that melatonin does not interact with the estrogen receptor in the absence of estradiol. Together, these results demonstrate that melatonin interferes with the activation of estrogen receptor by estradiol. The effect of melatonin suggests the presence of a receptor that, upon melatonin addition, destabilizes the binding of the estradiol-estrogen receptor complex to the estrogen responsive element.

[Bilateral Wilms' tumor. Current treatment]. / El tumor de Wilms bilateral. Tratamiento actual.

Partial nephrectomy combined with chemotherapy has been the most effective treatment in bilateral Wilms tumors. We present two cases. The bilateral synchronous tumor are present in 4.2% and the metachronous tumor in 1.6%, in the world statistics. The synchronous bilateral Wilms tumor, Stage V, have an excellent prognosis: over 87% survival, compared to 40% of the metachronous bilateral Wilms tumors.

El tumor de Wilms bilateral: tratamiento actual / Bilateral Wilms' tumor: current treatment

Partial nephrectomy combined with chemotherapy has been the most effective treatment in bilateral Wilms tumors. We present two cases. The bilateral synchronous tumor are present in 4.2% and the metachronous tumor in 1.6%, in the world statistics. The synchronous bilateral Wilms tumor, Stage V, have an excellent prognosis: over 87% survival, compared to 40% of the metachronous bilateral Wilms tumors