Plasma levels of intestinal fatty-acid binding protein (I-FABP), abdominal distension and hydrogen concentration after lactitol small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) test / Niveles plasmáticos de intestino proteína fijadora de ácidos grasos (I-FABP), distensión abdominal y concentración de hidrógeno después del lactitol intestino delgado prueba de sobrecrecimiento bacteriano (SIBO)

Breath tests with glucose, lactulose or lactitol are useful for diagnosis of small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO). Nevertheless, they have suboptimal sensitivity and specificity and, indeed, are positive in a considerable number of patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). The complexity in the management of patients with functional intestinal disorders and the availability of these tests are leading to frequent diagnoses of SIBO. Intestinal Fatty-Acid Binding protein (I-FABP) is a protein present in the cytosol of intestinal epithelial cells. Its plasmatic levels have been related to different enteropathies and, therefore, could be a marker of early intestinal damage with unconfirmed clinical utility. Hence, we have studied the plasmatic I-FABP level of patients who are requested a lactitol test to confirm SIBO and related it to clinical and laboratory characteristics and SIBO test results.(AU)

Removal of NO at low concentrations from polluted air in semi-closed environments by activated biochars from renewables feedstocks.

Efficient measures are urgently required in large cities for nitric oxide (NO) elimination from air in urban semi-closed environments (parking lots and tunnels), characterized by low NO concentrations (<10 ppmv) and temperatures. One of the most promising abatement alternatives is the NO oxidation to NO2, which can be further easily captured in an alkali solution or over a porous solid. However, most of the research devoted to this topic is focused on the elimination of NO from fuel exhaust gases, with high NO concentrations (400-2000 ppmv). In this work, sustainable and low-cost activated biochars of different origin and having very different ash contents were employed in NO removal at very low concentrations. Thus, low ash content forestry (oak woodchips, OAK) and high ash content from agriculture (oilseed rape straw, OSR) biochars were subjected to physical activation with CO2 at 900 °C (OAK550-A900CO2 and OSR700-A900CO2, respectively). The NO removal performance tests of such activated carbons were carried out at different experimental conditions: i.e., temperature, relative humidity (0-50 vol% RH), NO-containing gas (N2 or air), amount of activated carbon, and NO concentration, to assess how the activated biochar properties influence their NO removal capacity. The sample OSR700-A900CO2 contained a higher population of oxygen surface functionalities, which might play an important role in the NO removal efficiency in dry conditions since they could assist NO oxidation on carbon active sites when used above room temperature (50-75 °C). However, at room temperature (25 °C), the presence of narrow micropore size distribution at 6 Å became a more relevant property, since it facilitates an intimate contact between NO and O2. Accordingly, the activated biochar from OAK was much more efficient, achieving complete removal of NO from air flow (dry or with 50 vol% RH) at 25 °C during 400 min of testing, making it an ideal candidate as biofilter for purifying air streams of semi-closed spaces contaminated with low concentrations of NO.

Plasma levels of intestinal fatty-acid binding protein (I-FABP), abdominal distension and hydrogen concentration after lactitol small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) test.

Breath tests with glucose, lactulose or lactitol are useful for diagnosis of small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO). Nevertheless, they have suboptimal sensitivity and specificity and, indeed, are positive in a considerable number of patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). The complexity in the management of patients with functional intestinal disorders and the availability of these tests are leading to frequent diagnoses of SIBO. Intestinal Fatty-Acid Binding protein (I-FABP) is a protein present in the cytosol of intestinal epithelial cells. Its plasmatic levels have been related to different enteropathies and, therefore, could be a marker of early intestinal damage with unconfirmed clinical utility. Hence, we have studied the plasmatic I-FABP level of patients who are requested a lactitol test to confirm SIBO and related it to clinical and laboratory characteristics and SIBO test results.

Removal of NO at low concentration from air in urban built environments by activated miscanthus biochar.

This work presents an innovative and sustainable approach to remove NO emissions from urban ambient air in confined areas (underground parking areas or tunnels) using low-cost activated carbons obtained from Miscanthus biochar (MSP700) by physical activation (with CO2 or steam) at temperatures ranging from 800 to 900 °C. The NO removal capacity of the activated biochars was evaluated under different conditions (temperature, humidity and oxygen concentration) and compared against a commercial activated carbon. This last material showed a clear dependence on oxygen concentration and temperature, exhibiting a maximum capacity of 72.6% in air at 20 °C, whilst, its capacity notably decreased at higher temperatures, revealing that physical NO adsorption is the limiting step for the commercial sample that presents limited oxygen surface functionalities. In contrast, MSP700-activated biochars reached nearly complete NO removal (99.9%) at all tested temperatures in air ambient. Those MSP700-derived carbons only required low oxygen concentration (4 vol%) in the gas stream to achieve the full NO removal at 20 °C. Moreover, they also showed an excellent performance in the presence of H2O, reaching NO removal higher than 96%. This remarkable activity results from the abundance of basic oxygenated surface groups, which act as active sites for NO/O2 adsorption, along with the presence of a homogeneous microporosity of 6 Å, which enables intimate contact between NO and O2. These features promote the oxidation of NO to NO2, which is further retained over the carbon surface. Therefore, the activated biochars studied here could be considered promising materials for the efficient removal of NO at low concentrations from air at moderate temperatures, thus closely approaching real-life conditions in confined spaces.

Conferencia de Consenso de los Grupos Españoles de Trasplante Cardiaco / Spanish Heart Transplant Units Consensus Conference

La Sección de Insuficiencia Cardiaca, Trasplante Cardiaco y otras Alternativas Terapéuticas de la Sociedad Española de Cardiología desarrolló en Sevilla, en junio de 2005, una Conferencia de Consenso sobre trasplante cardiaco (TC) a la que fueron invitados a participar todos los grupos españoles de TC. El objetivo fue determinar, discutir y consensuar los aspectos más relevantes y/o controvertidos de diferentes áreas del TC en la actualidad: organización, selección del receptor, donantes, rechazo, inmunosupresión, enfermedad vascular del injerto, complicaciones a largo plazo y TC pediátrico. Este documento reúne las recomendaciones del grupo de trabajo incluyendo el grado de evidencia con que se respalda cada una (AU)

The Spanish Society of Cardiology’s working group on heart failure, heart transplantation and associated therapies organized a consensus conference on heart transplantation that was held in Seville, Spain in June 2005 and to which all Spanish heart transplant teams were invited. The aim was to evaluate, discuss and reach a consensus on the most important and controversial topics in different areas of heart transplantation today: organization, recipient selection, donors, rejection, immunosuppression, allograft vasculopathy, long-term complications, and pediatric heart transplantation. This report summarizes the working group’s recommendations, and reports the level of evidence supporting each recommendation (AU)

[Successful ablation of an automatic rhythm originating from his bundle]. / Ablación con éxito de un automático del haz de His.

Automatic junctional tachycardias are rare supraventricular tachyarrhythmias observed mainly in infants and children. This arrhythmia has a high mortality rate. We report the case of a 22-month-old infant in which the electrophysiological study disclosed an incessant junctional tachycardia originating from an automatic focus located in the His bundle region. Radiofrequency pulse delivery to the His bundle with controlled progressive heating of this region resulted in a definitive ablation of the ectopic focus without complications.

Ablación con éxito de un ritmo automático del haz de His / Successful ablation of an automatic rhythm originating from His bundle

Las taquicardias automáticas de la unión son una rara forma de taquiarritmia supraventricular, con incidencia sobre todo en la edad pediátrica y acompañadas de un mal pronóstico en su evolución espontánea. Presentamos el caso de un paciente de 22 meses de edad con una taquicardia incesante de la unión auriculoventricular con origen en un foco automático localizado en el haz de His o inmediato al mismo. Las aplicaciones de radiofrecuencia con incremento escalonado de temperatura en la misma región del haz de His consiguieron eliminar este automatismo sin complicaciones. (AU)