Usefulness of optical enhancement endoscopy combined with magnification to improve detection of intestinal metaplasia in the stomach.

Background and study aims The light blue crest observed in narrow band imaging endoscopy has high diagnostic accuracy for diagnosis of gastric intestinal metaplasia (GIM). The objective of this prospective study was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of magnifying i-scan optical enhancement (OE) imaging for diagnosing the LBC sign in patients with different levels of risk for gastric cancer in a Mexican clinical practice. Patients and methods Patients with a history of peptic ulcer and symptoms of dyspepsia or gastroesophageal reflux disease were enrolled. Diagnosis of GIM was made at the predetermined anatomical location and white light endoscopy and i-scan OE Mode 1 were captured at the two predetermined biopsy sites (antrum and pyloric regions). Results A total of 328 patients were enrolled in this study. Overall GIM prevalence was 33.8 %. The GIM distribution was 95.4 % in the antrum and 40.5 % in the corpus. According to the Operative Link on Gastritis/Intestinal-Metaplasia Assessment staging system, only two patients (1.9 %) were classified with high-risk stage disease. Sensitivity, specificity, positive​ and negative predictive values, positive and negative likelihood ratios, and accuracy of both methods (95 % C. I.) were 0.50 (0.41-0.60), 0.55 (0.48-0.62), 0.36 (0.31-0.42), 0.68 (0.63-0.73), 1.12 (0.9-1.4), 0.9 (0.7-1.1), and 0.53 (0.43-0.60) for WLE, and 0.96 (0.90-0.99), 0.91 (0.86-0.94), 0.84 (0.78-0.89), 0.98 (0.94-0.99), 10.4 (6.8-16), 0.05 (0.02-0.12), and 0.93 (0.89-0.95), respectively. The kappa concordance was 0.67 and the reliability coefficient was 0.7407 for interobserver variability. Conclusions Our study demonstrated the high performance of magnifying i-scan OE imaging for endoscopic diagnosis of GIM in Mexican patients.

Effect of Physical and Enzymatic Pre-Treatment on the Nutritional and Functional Properties of Fermented Beverages Enriched with Cricket Proteins.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of γ-irradiation (IR), ultrasound (US), and combined treatments of ultrasound followed by γ-irradiation (US-IR), ultrasound followed by enzymatic hydrolysis with and without centrifugation (US-E and US-EWC, respectively), and ultrasound followed by γ-irradiation and enzymatic hydrolysis (US-IRE), on the digestibility and the nutritional value of fermented beverages containing probiotics. Results showed that US (20 min), IR (3 kGy) and US-IR (tUS = 20 min, dose = 3 kGy) treatments raised protein solubility from 11.5 to 21.5, 24.3 and 29.9%, respectively. According to our results, these treatments were accompanied by the increased amount of total sulfhydryl groups, surface hydrophobicity and changes to the secondary structure of the proteins measured by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Fermented probiotic beverages, non-enriched (C) and enriched with untreated (Cr) or treated cricket protein with combined treatments were also evaluated for their in vitro protein digestibility. Results showed that the soluble fraction of US-IRE fermented beverage had the highest digestibility (94%) as compared to the whole fermented tested beverages. The peptides profile demonstrated that US-IRE had a low proportion of high molecular weight (MW) peptides (0.7%) and the highest proportion of low MW peptides by over 80% as compared to the other treatments.

Panhypopituitarism and cranial mononeuropathy, manifestation of NK/T lymphoma that imitates meningeal tuberculosis.

INTRODUCCIÓN: El linfoma extranodal derivado de células NK/T (LNK/T) es una variedad de linfoma no Hodgkin; el tipo nasal constituye la presentación más común. Nuestro objetivo es presentar un caso de LNK/T con afección del sistema nervioso central (SNC) que simuló una tuberculosis meningea. CASO CLÍNICO: Varón de 31 años con sensación de obstrucción nasal, cefalea, fiebre, panhipopituitarismo y mononeuropatía craneal múltiple, con lesión hipofisaria por imagen de resonancia magnética y engrosamiento dural, que evolucionó con pancitopenia y úlcera en el paladar blando. El diagnóstico se realizó mediante biopsia de cornete nasal compatible con infiltración por linfoma de estirpe T maduro NK. CONCLUSIONES: La afección del LNK/T al SNC es una forma rara de presentación. El diagnóstico de LNK/T se puede ver retrasado por la presencia de síntomas heterogéneos. En nuestra población, la infección por Mycobacterium debe ser considerada como diagnóstico diferencial. BACKGROUND: Lymphoma of NK/T cells (LNK/T) is a variety of non-Hodgkin lymphoma; the nasal type is the most common presentation. The aim of this article is to present a case of LNK/T with affection to central nervous system that imitates meningeal tuberculosis. CASE REPORT: 31 years old man with nasal blockage feeling, headache, fever, panhypopituitarism and multiple cranial mononeuropathy, with a pituitary injury demonstrated by magnetic resonance image and meningeal thickening, that progress with pancytopenia and soft palate ulcer. The diagnosis was made by nasal concha biopsy compatible with lymphoma infiltration, of LNK/T cell linage. CONCLUSIONS: The affectation of LNK/T cell lymphoma in central nervous system is a rare presentation. the diagnosis could be delayed for the presence of heterogeneous symptoms. Mycobacterium infection must be considered as a differential diagnosis in our population.

Closely related fungi employ diverse enzymatic strategies to degrade plant biomass.

BACKGROUND: Plant biomass is the major substrate for the production of biofuels and biochemicals, as well as food, textiles and other products. It is also the major carbon source for many fungi and enzymes of these fungi are essential for the depolymerization of plant polysaccharides in industrial processes. This is a highly complex process that involves a large number of extracellular enzymes as well as non-hydrolytic proteins, whose production in fungi is controlled by a set of transcriptional regulators. Aspergillus species form one of the best studied fungal genera in this field, and several species are used for the production of commercial enzyme cocktails. RESULTS: It is often assumed that related fungi use similar enzymatic approaches to degrade plant polysaccharides. In this study we have compared the genomic content and the enzymes produced by eight Aspergilli for the degradation of plant biomass. All tested Aspergilli have a similar genomic potential to degrade plant biomass, with the exception of A. clavatus that has a strongly reduced pectinolytic ability. Despite this similar genomic potential their approaches to degrade plant biomass differ markedly in the overall activities as well as the specific enzymes they employ. While many of the genes have orthologs in (nearly) all tested species, only very few of the corresponding enzymes are produced by all species during growth on wheat bran or sugar beet pulp. In addition, significant differences were observed between the enzyme sets produced on these feedstocks, largely correlating with their polysaccharide composition. CONCLUSIONS: These data demonstrate that Aspergillus species and possibly also other related fungi employ significantly different approaches to degrade plant biomass. This makes sense from an ecological perspective where mixed populations of fungi together degrade plant biomass. The results of this study indicate that combining the approaches from different species could result in improved enzyme mixtures for industrial applications, in particular saccharification of plant biomass for biofuel production. Such an approach may result in a much better improvement of saccharification efficiency than adding specific enzymes to the mixture of a single fungus, which is currently the most common approach used in biotechnology.

Complicaciones mecánicas del infarto: rotura de pared libre ventricular. Presentación de un caso / Mechanical complications of myocardial infarction: ventricular free wall rupture. Report of a case

En los pacientes con síndrome coronario agudo, dos terceras partes de los casos fallece sin alcanzar a recibir atención hospitalaria (principalmente en las primeras dos horas) debido a la muerte súbita. Del tercio restante, el 50% lo hará en las 24 horas siguientes a su ingreso hospitalario, principalmente debido a las complicaciones mecánicas del infarto. Actualmente, la identificación y estratificación inmediata del paciente con síndrome coronario agudo, el papel de las unidades coronarias y la reperfusión temprana (farmacológica o mecánica) en los casos indicados, han demostrado disminuir la morbimortalidad por cardiopatía isquémica. Dentro de las complicaciones mecánicas del infarto, la ruptura de pared libre ventricular se presenta en el 5-10% de los pacientes hospitalizados que fallecen por infarto agudo del miocardio con elevación del segmento ST. Se presenta un caso clínico con estas características.

In patients with acute coronary ischemic syndrome, two-thirds of cases die without reaching hospital care (mainly in the first two hours) due to sudden death. Of the remaining third, 50% will do so within 24 hours of hospital admission, mainly due to mechanical complications of infarction. Currently, the identification and early stratification, the role of coronary care units and early reperfusion (pharmacologic or mechanical) where indicated, have been shown to decrease morbidity and mortality from ischemic heart disease. Within the mechanical complications of infarction, ventricular free wall rupture occurs in 5-10% of hospitalized patients dying of acute myocardial infarction with ST segment elevation. We report a case with these features.

A single amino acid change (Y318F) in the L-arabitol dehydrogenase (LadA) from Aspergillus niger results in a significant increase in affinity for D-sorbitol.

BACKGROUND: L-arabitol dehydrogenase (LAD) and xylitol dehydrogenase (XDH) are involved in the degradation of L-arabinose and D-xylose, which are among the most abundant monosaccharides on earth. Previous data demonstrated that LAD and XDH not only differ in the activity on their biological substrate, but also that only XDH has significant activity on D-sorbitol and may therefore be more closely related to D-sorbitol dehydrogenases (SDH). In this study we aimed to identify residues involved in the difference in substrate specificity. RESULTS: Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that LAD, XDH and SDH form 3 distinct groups of the family of dehydrogenases containing an Alcohol dehydrogenase GroES-like domain (pfam08240) and likely have evolved from a common ancestor. Modelling of LadA and XdhA of the saprobic fungus Aspergillus niger on human SDH identified two residues in LadA (M70 and Y318), that may explain the absence of activity on D-sorbitol. While introduction of the mutation M70F in LadA of A. niger resulted in a nearly complete enzyme inactivation, the Y318F resulted in increased activity for L-arabitol and xylitol. Moreover, the affinity for D-sorbitol was increased in this mutant. CONCLUSION: These data demonstrates that Y318 of LadA contributes significantly to the substrate specificity difference between LAD and XDH/SDH.

Post-genomic insights into the plant polysaccharide degradation potential of Aspergillus nidulans and comparison to Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus oryzae.

The plant polysaccharide degradative potential of Aspergillus nidulans was analysed in detail and compared to that of Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus oryzae using a combination of bioinformatics, physiology and transcriptomics. Manual verification indicated that 28.4% of the A. nidulans ORFs analysed in this study do not contain a secretion signal, of which 40% may be secreted through a non-classical method.While significant differences were found between the species in the numbers of ORFs assigned to the relevant CAZy families, no significant difference was observed in growth on polysaccharides. Growth differences were observed between the Aspergilli and Podospora anserina, which has a more different genomic potential for polysaccharide degradation, suggesting that large genomic differences are required to cause growth differences on polysaccharides. Differences were also detected between the Aspergilli in the presence of putative regulatory sequences in the promoters of the ORFs of this study and correlation of the presence of putative XlnR binding sites to induction by xylose was detected for A. niger. These data demonstrate differences at genome content, substrate specificity of the enzymes and gene regulation in these three Aspergilli, which likely reflect their individual adaptation to their natural biotope.

Constitutive and inducible pectinolytic enzymes from Aspergillus flavipes FP-500 and their modulation by pH and carbon source / Enzimas pectinolíticas constitutivas e indutíveis de Aspergillus flavipes FP-500 e sua modulação pelo pH e fonte de carbono

Growth and enzymes production by Aspergillus flavipes FP-500 were evaluated on pectin, polygalacturonic acid, galacturonic acid, arabinose, rhamnose, xylose, glycerol and glucose at different initial pH values. We found that the strain produced exopectinases, endopectinases and pectin lyases. Exopectinases and pectin lyase were found to be produced at basal levels as constitutive enzymes and their production was modulated by the available carbon source and pH of culture medium and stimulated by the presence of inducer in the culture medium. Endo-pectinase was basically inducible and was only produced when pectin was used as carbon source. Our results suggest that pectinases in A. flavipes FP-500 are produced in a concerted way. The first enzyme to be produced was exopectinase followed by Pectin Lyase and Endo-pectinase.

Avaliou-se o crescimento e a produção de enzimas por Aspergillus flavipes FP-500 em pectina, ácido poligalacturônico, ácido galacturônico, arabinose, ramnose, xilose, glicerol e glicose, em diferentes valores de pH inicial. Verificamos que a cepa produziu exopectinases, endopectinases e pectina liases. Exopectinases e pectina liases foram produzidas em níveis basais como enzimas constitutivas e sua produção foi modulada pela fonte de carbono disponível e pelo pH do meio de cultura e estimulada pela presença de indutores no meio de cultura. Endopectinase foi indutível e produzida somente quando pectina foi utilizada como fonte de carbono. Nossos resultados sugerem que as pectinases de A. flavipes FP-500 são produzidas de forma planejada. A primeira enzima a ser produzida foi expopectinase, seguida por pectina liase e endopectinase.

Constitutive and inducible pectinolytic enzymes from Aspergillus flavipes FP-500 and their modulation by pH and carbon source.

Growth and enzymes production by Aspergillus flavipes FP-500 were evaluated on pectin, polygalacturonic acid, galacturonic acid, arabinose, rhamnose, xylose, glycerol and glucose at different initial pH values. We found that the strain produced exopectinases, endopectinases and pectin lyases. Exopectinases and pectin lyase were found to be produced at basal levels as constitutive enzymes and their production was modulated by the available carbon source and pH of culture medium and stimulated by the presence of inducer in the culture medium. Endo-pectinase was basically inducible and was only produced when pectin was used as carbon source. Our results suggest that pectinases in A. flavipes FP-500 are produced in a concerted way. The first enzyme to be produced was exopectinase followed by Pectin Lyase and Endo-pectinase.

The secretome of the maize pathogen Ustilago maydis.

Ustilago maydis establishes a biotrophic relationship with its host plant, i.e. plant cells stay alive despite massive fungal growth in infected tissue. The genome sequence has revealed that U. maydis is poorly equipped with plant cell wall degrading enzymes and uses novel secreted protein effectors as crucial determinants for biotrophic development. Many of these effector genes are clustered and differentially regulated during plant colonization. In this review, we analyze the secretome of U. maydis by differentiating between secreted enzymes, likely structural proteins of the fungal cell wall (excluding GPI-anchored proteins) as well as likely effectors with either apoplastic or cytoplasmic function. This classification is based on the presence of functional domains, general domain structure and cysteine pattern. In addition, we discuss possible functions of selected protein classes with a special focus on disease development.

Effect of high- and low-molecular-weight components of Lactobacillus casei on resistance against Babesia microti in NIH mice.

Three assays were carried out in order to assess the effect of low- and high-molecular-weight components (LMWc and HMWc, respectively) of Lactobacillus casei on the resistance of mice to Babesia microti infection. In the first study, 23 components were identified in a total extract of L. casei by SDS-PAGE. In the second experiment, 15 components (ranging from 19 to 148 kDa) from L. casei (viable) and 12 other components (from 21 to 148 kDa) from L. casei (dead) were recognized by the sera of immunized mice in the extracts of sonicated L. casei. On the basis of these results, samples of sonicated L. casei were separated by preparative gel electrophoresis, and then those gel fragments containing the HMWc (range 63 to 111 kDa) and LMWc (range 19 to 59 kDa) were cut and eluted to constitute the LMWc and HMWc of L. casei. In the third study, five groups of 6 mice each received the following treatments: PBS in the control (C) group, L. casei LMWc in the LcL group, L. casei HMWc in the LcH group, total sonicated L. casei (LMWc + HMWc) in the LcT group, and viable L. casei in the LcV group. At day 0 each mouse in all groups was challenged with 2 x 10(4)B. microti parasitized erythrocytes. At day 8 after challenge, the average percentage of parasitized erythrocytes +/- SEM was significantly higher (P < 0.05) in the C group (11.8 +/- 0.9) as compared with LcL (7.7 +/- 1.5), LcH (10.3 +/- 6.9), LcT (3.6 +/- 0.7), and LcV (6.9 +/- 1.9) groups. The results suggest that L. casei LMWc can induce an early protective immune response, similar to that generated by LcV in mice, against B. microti infection.

Propiedades psicométricas de uninstrumento para medir bienestar subjetivo en la población mexicana / Psychometric properties of an instrument measuring subjetive well-being in the Mexican population

El objetivo del presente estudio fue analizar las propiedades psicométricas de un instrumento para evaluar bienestar subjetivo. Se trabajó con una muestra de 1.000 sujeto del noroeste de México, divididos en cuota por edad y sexo, conformándose cinco grupos de edad de 100 hombres y 100 mujeres en cada grupo. Se realizaron análisis descriptivos por cada reactivo, la prueba t de Student para verificar el poder discriminativo de los reactivos, el análisis factorial, los índices de consistencia interna (alfa de Cronbach) y la correlación de Pearson. Se obtienen dos dimensiones, la primera es la dimensión emocional con seis factores: emocional negativa, emocional positiva, afectividad positiva, afectividad negativa, expresividad negativa y anticipadores. La segunda es la dimensión de satisfacción, con siete factores: familia, social, amigos, personal, religión, gobierno y economía. Se calcularon las correlaciones entre los factores, así como análisis de varianza por sexo, edad, estado civil y ocupación. En los análisis de varianza por sexo, edad, estado civil y ocupación. En los análisis de varianza por sexo se observa que las mujeres muestran satisfacción con la familia, religión, amigos, gobierno y social, y expresan sentir los sentimientos de cariño, felicidad, alegría y amor (AU)