Influence of seasonality and biological activity on infection by helminths in Cantabrian bear.

This study aimed to investigate the variations of parasites in the feces of brown bears Ursus arctos inhabiting the Cantabrian Mountains (NW Spain). A total of 248 bear fecal samples were collected throughout one year, spanning from August 2018 to September 2019, at an approximate frequency of 20 samples per month. The results were analyzed in relation to both the season and the biological activity of the brown bears, i.e., hibernation, mating and hyperphagia. Among the examined samples, eggs of Dicrocoelium dendriticum (32.2%; 95% Confidence Interval: 26.4-38.1), Baylisascaris sp. (44.8%; 38.5-50.9), ancylostomatids (probably belonging to Uncinaria spp.) (16.5%; 11.9-21.1) and Trichuris sp. (1.2%; 0-2.6) were observed. Significant seasonal differences were noted for Baylisascaris and ancylostomatids (χ2 = 21.02, P = 0.001 and χ2 = 34.41, P = 0.001, respectively). Furthermore, the presence of helminth eggs was correlated with the activity phase of the brown bears. Dicrocoelium attained the highest prevalence during the mating phase, while Baylisascaris and ancylostomatids were more frequent during hyperphagia. Notably, the highest egg-output counts for Dicrocoelium and Baylisascaris sp. were recorded during the mating phase and hibernation, respectively, whereas ancylostomatids eggs peaked during hyperphagia. Additionally, variations in egg-output counts were significant for all helminths concerning the season, with the exception of Trichuris sp., and for Dicrocoelium and Baylisascaris sp. According to bear activity. It is concluded that infection by gastrointestinal helminths depends on the season and the biological activity of the bears from the Cantabrian Mountains, and their health status could result influenced.

Translokin (Cep57) interacts with cyclin D1 and prevents its nuclear accumulation in quiescent fibroblasts.

Nuclear accumulation of cyclin D1 because of altered trafficking or degradation is thought to contribute directly to neoplastic transformation and growth. Mechanisms of cyclin D1 localization in S phase have been studied in detail, but its control during exit from the cell cycle and quiescence is poorly understood. Here we report that translokin (Tlk), a microtubule-associated protein also termed Cep57, interacts with cyclin D1 and controls its nucleocytoplasmic distribution in quiescent cells. Tlk binds to regions of cyclin D1 also involved in binding to cyclin-dependent kinase 4 (Cdk4), and a fraction of cyclin D1 associates to the juxtanuclear Tlk network in the cell. Downregulation of Tlk levels results in undue nuclear accumulation of cyclin D1 and increased Cdk4-dependent phosphorylation of pRB under quiescence conditions. In turn, overexpression of Tlk prevents proper cyclin D1 accumulation in the nucleus of proliferating cells in an interaction-dependent manner, inhibits Cdk4-dependent phosphorylation of pRB and hinders cell cycle progression to S phase. We propose that the Tlk acts as a key negative regulator in the pathway that drives nuclear import of cyclin D1, thus contributing to prevent pRB inactivation and to maintain cellular quiescence.

Frequent attendance in primary care: comparison and implications of different definitions.

BACKGROUND: The diversity of definitions of frequent attendance in the literature hampers comparison of their precision, validity, and associated factors. AIM: To examine different definitions of frequent attendance in order to identify the sociodemographic and clinical factors associated with frequent attendance in primary care, according to each definition. DESIGN OF STUDY: One-phase cross-sectional study. SETTING: Seventy-seven primary care centres in Catalonia, Spain. METHOD: A total of 3815 primary care patients were interviewed between October 2005 and March 2006. Three definitions of frequent attendance were tested: (1) frequent attenders as the top 25% and the top 10% consulting patients; (2) frequent attenders as the top 25% and the top 10% consulting patients stratified by age and sex; and (3) frequent attenders as the top 25% and the top 10% consulting patients stratified by the presence of physical/mental conditions (patients with only mental disorders, with only chronic physical conditions, with comorbid conditions, and with no condition). Multilevel logistic regressions were used. RESULTS: The following factors were systematically related to frequent attender status: being on sick leave, being born outside of Spain, reporting mental health problems as the main reason for consulting, and having arthritis/rheumatism, or bronchitis. Major depression was related to frequent attendance in two of the three definitions. The factor 'GP' was related to frequent attendance when the top decile cut-off point was used. The models with a 10% cut-off point were more discriminative than those with a 25% cut-off point: the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for models with a 25% cut-off and a 10% cut-off ranged between 0.71 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.70 to 0.73) and 0.75 (95% CI = 0.74 to 0.77) and between 0.79 (95% CI = 0.78 to 0.81) and 0.85 (95% CI = 0.83 to 0.86), respectively. CONCLUSION: The way frequent attendance is defined is of crucial importance. It is recommended that a more discriminative definition of frequent attendance is used (the top 10%).

Is major depression adequately diagnosed and treated by general practitioners? Results from an epidemiological study.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to (1) to explore the validity of the depression diagnosis made by the general practitioner (GP) and factors associated with it, (2) to estimate rates of treatment adequacy for depression and factors associated with it and (3) to study how rates of treatment adequacy vary when using different assessment methods and criteria. METHODS: Epidemiological survey carried out in 77 primary care centres representative of Catalonia. A total of 3815 patients were assessed. RESULTS: GPs identified 69 out of the 339 individuals who were diagnosed with a major depressive episode according to the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders (SCID-I) (sensitivity 0.22; kappa value: 0.16). The presence of emotional problems as the patients' primary complaint was associated with an increased probability of recognition. Rates of adequacy differed according to criteria: in the cases detected with the SCID-I interview, adequacy was 39.35% when using only patient self-reported data and 54.91% when taking into account data from the clinical chart. Rates of adequacy were higher when assessing adequacy among those considered depressed by the GP. CONCLUSION: GPs adequately treat most of those whom they consider to be depressed. However, they fail to recognise depressed patients when compared to a psychiatric gold standard. Rates of treatment adequacy varied widely depending on the method used to assess them.

Penfigoide ampollar de la infancia / Bullous pemphogoid in childhood

El penfigoide ampollar es una enfermedad adquirida que usualmente afecta a adultos.Es rara en niños y clínicamente puede ser indistinguible de otras enfermedades ampollares.Presentamos un caso de penfigoide ampollar en una niña de 3 meses de vida con ampollas generalizadas

Chenopodium petiolare H.B.K. (Llipcha) como anticoagulante in vitro y su utilización en hemogramas

El resultado de anticuagulación fué contundente, al evidenciarse que 100 por ciento de las muestras tratadas con el extracto de Chenopodium Petiolare H.B.K.(Llipcha), no coagularon por un tiempo mayor a 24 horas, que fue el tiempo de observación controlado, siendo el resultado estadístico altamente significativo. En la tabla 1 apreciamos la estadística descriptiva del tiempode coagulación de las muestras en estudio, observándose valores dentro de lo normal(5.8). Obteniendse luego la muestra que se agregó al extracto de Chenopodium Petiolare H.B.K, produciendose la anticuagulación, a partir de la cual se realizaron los hemogramas, cuyos resultados a continuación describimos. Las tablas 2 y 3 nos muestras que el promedio de las fórmulas leucocitarias obtendas en el oxalato de amonio y potasio Chenopodium Petiolare H.B.K(Llipcha), a los cero minutos son similares. En la tabla 4 se compara la lectura de la fórmula leucocitaria obtenida por oxalato de amonio y potasio y el Chenopodium Petiolare H.B.K(Llipcha), a los cero minutos, no encontrando diferncia estadísticamente significativa(p>0.05). En las tablas 5 y 6 se aprecia el promedio de las fórmulas leucocitarias obtenidas con el oxalato de amonio y potasio y el Chenopodium Petiolare H.B.K(Llipcha) a los 45, encontrándose valores similares. En la tabla 7 se compara los resultados de ambos métodos a los 45 minutos, no se halla diferencia estadísticamente significativa(p>0.05). Por los resultados obtenidos en las tablas 4 y 7 podemos asegurar que la realización de los hemogramas con Chenopodium Petiolarea los cero y cuarenta y cinco minutos, es una alternativa al uso del oxalato de amonio y potasio. Es importante señalar que se ha observado en los frotis sanguineos algunas alteraciones morfológicas en los hematíes con el empleo del extracto de Chenopodium Petiolare H.B.K(llipcha), razon por la que se sugiere realizar estudios adicionales orientados al trabajo hematológico con los eritrocitos