Is unicentric familial papillary thyroid microcarcinoma different from multicentric?

BACKGROUND: Familial papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (FPTMC) appears to be more aggressive than sporadic papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (SPTMC). However, there are authors who indicate that unicentric FPTMC has a similar prognosis to SPTMC. The objective is to analyze whether unicentric FPTMC has a better prognosis than multicentric FPTMC. DESIGN AND METHODS: Type of study: National multicenter longitudinal analytical observational study. STUDY POPULATION: Patients with FPTMC. STUDY GROUPS: Two groups were compared: Group A (unicentric FPTMC) vs. Group B (multicentric FPTMC). STUDY VARIABLES: It is analyzed whether between the groups there are: a) differentiating characteristics; and b) prognostic differences. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Cox regression analysis and survival analysis. RESULTS: Ninety-four patients were included, 44% (n = 41) with unicentric FPTMC and 56% (n = 53) with multicentric FPTMC. No differences were observed between the groups according to socio-familial, clinical or histological variables. In the group B a more aggressive treatment was performed, with higher frequency of total thyroidectomy (99 vs. 78%; p = 0.003), lymph node dissection (41 vs. 15%; p = 0.005) and therapy with radioactive iodine (96 vs. 73%; p = 0.002). Tumor stage was similar in both groups (p = 0.237), with a higher number of T3 cases in the group B (24 vs. 5%; p = 0.009). After a mean follow-up of 90 ± 68.95 months, the oncological results were similar, with a similar disease persistence rate (9 vs. 5%; p = 0.337), disease recurrence rate (21 vs. 8%; p = 0.159) and disease-free survival (p = 0.075). CONCLUSIONS: Unicentric FPTMC should not be considered as a SPTMC due to its prognosis is similar to multicentric FPTMC.

Endocarditis infecciosa con compromiso bivalvular por Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae / Infective endocarditis with bivalvular involvement due to Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae. Report of one case

The microbiology of infective endocarditis (IE) varies in different populations and depends on public health conditions and socioeconomic status. In low-income countries, oral Streptococci affect hearts with rheumatic valve disease in patients with poor dentition. In high-income countries, Staphylococci are the most common cause, affecting elderly and immunocompromised patients, or those with invasive devices. Gram - positive bacili as IE pathogens are unusual. Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae is a Gram positive bacili. It causes skin diseases in domestic and farm animals, but in humans, is a very unusual pathogen. This infection is considered a zoonosis, since most cases are linked to direct contact with vector animals. We report a 62 year-old male patient with a history of exposure to animals, who developed an infective endocarditis with severe bivalve regurgitation and septic shock, requiring antimicrobials and surgical resolution. Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae was isolated from blood and valve vegetation cultures. The patient had a successful evolution and was discharged from the hospital.

[Infective endocarditis with bivalvular involvement due to Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae. Report of one case]. / Endocarditis infecciosa con compromiso bivalvular por Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae.

The microbiology of infective endocarditis (IE) varies in different populations and depends on public health conditions and socioeconomic status. In low-income countries, oral Streptococci affect hearts with rheumatic valve disease in patients with poor dentition. In high-income countries, Staphylococci are the most common cause, affecting elderly and immunocompromised patients, or those with invasive devices. Gram - positive bacili as IE pathogens are unusual. Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae is a Gram positive bacili. It causes skin diseases in domestic and farm animals, but in humans, is a very unusual pathogen. This infection is considered a zoonosis, since most cases are linked to direct contact with vector animals. We report a 62 year-old male patient with a history of exposure to animals, who developed an infective endocarditis with severe bivalve regurgitation and septic shock, requiring antimicrobials and surgical resolution. Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae was isolated from blood and valve vegetation cultures. The patient had a successful evolution and was discharged from the hospital.

Biological behavior of familial papillary thyroid microcarcinoma: Spanish multicenter study.

PURPOSE: Familial papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (FPTMC) can present a more aggressive behavior than the sporadic microcarcinoma. However, few studies have analyzed this situation. The objective is to analyze the recurrence rate of FPTMC and the prognostic factors which determine that recurrence in Spain. METHODS: Spanish multicenter longitudinal analytical observational study was conducted. Patients with FPTMC received treatment with curative intent and presented cure criteria 6 months after treatment. Recurrence rate and disease-free survival (DFS) were analyzed. Two groups were analyzed: group A (no tumor recurrence) vs. group B (tumor recurrence). RESULTS: Ninety-four patients were analyzed. During a mean follow-up of 73.3 ± 59.3 months, 13 recurrences of FPTMC (13.83%) were detected and mean DFS was 207.9 ± 11.5 months. There were multifocality in 56%, bilateral thyroid involvement in 30%, and vascular invasion in 7.5%; that is to say, they are tumors with histological factors of poor prognosis in a high percentage of cases. The main risk factors for recurrence obtained in the multivariate analysis were the tumor size (OR: 2.574, 95% CI 1.210-5.473; p = 0.014) and the assessment of the risk of recurrence of the American Thyroid Association (ATA), both intermediate risk versus low risk (OR: 125, 95% CI 10.638-1000; p < 0.001) and high risk versus low risk (OR: 45.454, 95% CI 5.405-333.333; p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: FPTMC has a recurrence rate higher than sporadic cases. Poor prognosis is mainly associated with the tumor size and the risk of recurrence of the ATA.

Deep Learning for the discovery of new pre-miRNAs: Helping the fight against COVID-19.

The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been recently found responsible for the pandemic outbreak of a novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). In this work, a novel approach based on deep learning is proposed for identifying precursors of small active RNA molecules named microRNA (miRNA) in the genome of the novel coronavirus. Viral miRNA-like molecules have shown to modulate the host transcriptome during the infection progression, thus their identification is crucial for helping the diagnosis or medical treatment of the disease. The existence of the mature miRNAs derived from computationally predicted miRNA precursors (pre-miRNAs) in the novel coronavirus was validated with small RNA-seq data from SARS-CoV-2-infected human cells. The results demonstrate that computational models can provide accurate and useful predictions of pre-miRNAs in the SARS-CoV-2 genome, underscoring the relevance of machine learning in the response to a global sanitary emergency. Moreover, the interpretability of our model shed light on the molecular mechanisms underlying the viral infection, thus contributing to the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and the fast development of new treatments. Our study shows how recent advances in machine learning can be used, effectively, in response to public health emergencies. The approach developed in this work could be of great help in future similar emergencies to accelerate the understanding of the singularities of any viral agent and for the development of novel therapies. Data and source code available at: https://sourceforge.net/projects/sourcesinc/files/aicovid/.

DL4papers: a deep learning approach for the automatic interpretation of scientific articles.

MOTIVATION: In precision medicine, next-generation sequencing and novel preclinical reports have led to an increasingly large amount of results, published in the scientific literature. However, identifying novel treatments or predicting a drug response in, for example, cancer patients, from the huge amount of papers available remains a laborious and challenging work. This task can be considered a text mining problem that requires reading a lot of academic documents for identifying a small set of papers describing specific relations between key terms. Due to the infeasibility of the manual curation of these relations, computational methods that can automatically identify them from the available literature are urgently needed. RESULTS: We present DL4papers, a new method based on deep learning that is capable of analyzing and interpreting papers in order to automatically extract relevant relations between specific keywords. DL4papers receives as input a query with the desired keywords, and it returns a ranked list of papers that contain meaningful associations between the keywords. The comparison against related methods showed that our proposal outperformed them in a cancer corpus. The reliability of the DL4papers output list was also measured, revealing that 100% of the first two documents retrieved for a particular search have relevant relations, in average. This shows that our model can guarantee that in the top-2 papers of the ranked list, the relation can be effectively found. Furthermore, the model is capable of highlighting, within each document, the specific fragments that have the associations of the input keywords. This can be very useful in order to pay attention only to the highlighted text, instead of reading the full paper. We believe that our proposal could be used as an accurate tool for rapidly identifying relationships between genes and their mutations, drug responses and treatments in the context of a certain disease. This new approach can certainly be a very useful and valuable resource for the advancement of the precision medicine field. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION: A web-demo is available at: http://sinc.unl.edu.ar/web-demo/dl4papers/. Full source code and data are available at: https://sourceforge.net/projects/sourcesinc/files/dl4papers/. CONTACT: lbugnon@sinc.unl.edu.ar. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

Impact of Hepatic Artery Thrombosis on the Success of a Liver Transplant Because of Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Hepatic artery thrombosis is one of the most serious complications after liver transplant. Our objective is to evaluate the impact of arterial thrombosis on the postoperative evolution of a series of patients who received transplants because of hepatocellular carcinoma. METHODS: A retrospective study of 100 consecutive hepatocellular carcinoma liver transplants was performed from January 2011 to November 2017. RESULTS: Of the 100 transplant recipients, we have observed hepatic artery thrombosis in 4 of them, 3 premature and 1 delayed. All of them received retransplants after diagnosis by hepatic artery ultrasonography and arteriography. The descriptive analysis showed a significant relationship between the appearance of hepatic artery thrombosis with variables of postoperative severity, such as arrhythmias, atelectasis, pleural effusion, hemodialysis requirement, acute kidney failure, and respiratory failure. Although patients with hepatic artery thrombosis had a longer mean hospital stay, this was not statistically significant. There was decreased graft survival and overall survival of patients who experienced hepatic artery thrombosis. CONCLUSION: Although the incidence of hepatic artery thrombosis has been relatively low (4%), the early detection of risk factors, such as arterial anatomic anomalies that condition a complex anastomosis, should draw our attention, thus having at our disposal strict ultrasonography and arteriography surveillance protocols as well as prophylactic anticoagulation guidelines for receptors at risk.

Control de la presión arterial en pacientes con fibrilación auricular tratados con acenocumarol e índice de Rosendaal alterado / Control of blood pressure in patients with atrial fibrillation treated with acenocoumarol and with an altered Rosendaal index

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Mitotic rate as an important prognostic factor in cutaneous malignant melanoma.

BACKGROUND: Recently, the quantification of mitoses in cutaneous melanoma has been discharged from the main prognostic variables of the TNM classification. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the prognostic value of the presence of mitoses in primary cutaneous melanoma and to establish the number of mitoses per mm2 that may have prognostic significance. METHODS: A retrospective observational study was performed on 141 patients treated for cutaneous melanoma, who were assessed by the same pathologist, and who had a minimum follow-up of 2 years. Clinical, epidemiological, histopathological and follow-up variables were gathered and compared with the number of mitoses to distinguish the significance of differences by means of univariate, multivariate, and survival analyses. RESULTS: The cut-off level related to a better sensitivity and specificity was 1.50 mitoses per mm2. The presence of two or more mitoses/mm2 showed a better relationship with prognostic variables and both the overall and disease-free survival than the presence of 1 or more mitoses/mm2. This happens especially in melanomas thicker than 0.8 mm and it could affect the staging in cases with Breslow between 1 and 2 mm. CONCLUSIONS: A mitotic rate of two or more mitoses per mm2 in cutaneous melanoma should be considered as a more accurate prognostic factor than one or more mitoses per mm2, particularly in tumors equal or greater than 0.8 mm in thickness.

Usefulness of lymphocyte-to-monocyte, neutrophil-to-monocyte and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratios as prognostic markers in breast cancer patients treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy

Background. Nowadays, neoadjuvant chemotherapy (nCT) in breast cancer is more and more standardized, not only in advanced tumours but also in those for which there is an attempt to achieve breast-conserving surgery. In literature, we can find evidences of the relationship between several types of tumours and systemic inflammatory response. Our objective is to analyse the prognostic value of blood parameters (lymphocytes, neutrophils, monocytes, lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR), neutrophil-to-monocyte ratio (NMR) and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in breast cancer (BC) patients treated with nCT. Methods. A retrospective cohort of 150 breast cancer patients treated with nCT and subsequently with surgery was analysed. Data about the patients, histology, response to chemotherapy and peripheral blood values of lymphocytes, monocytes and neutrophils was collected, and used to calculate the LMR, NMR and NLR. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed for the variables to see the relationship of the ratios to disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS). Results. Patients with high LMR (≥5.46) and low NLR (<3.33) were associated with a lower percentage of relapse (P = 0.048 and P = 0.015, respectively) and, above all, NLR was associated with a better survival (P = 0.024), being those factors that predict a good progress. Conclusion. High LMR and low NLR can be considered as favourable prognostic factors in BC patients treated with nCT (AU)

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Usefulness of lymphocyte-to-monocyte, neutrophil-to-monocyte and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratios as prognostic markers in breast cancer patients treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

BACKGROUND: Nowadays, neoadjuvant chemotherapy (nCT) in breast cancer is more and more standardized, not only in advanced tumours but also in those for which there is an attempt to achieve breast-conserving surgery. In literature, we can find evidences of the relationship between several types of tumours and systemic inflammatory response. Our objective is to analyse the prognostic value of blood parameters (lymphocytes, neutrophils, monocytes, lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR), neutrophil-to-monocyte ratio (NMR) and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in breast cancer (BC) patients treated with nCT. METHODS: A retrospective cohort of 150 breast cancer patients treated with nCT and subsequently with surgery was analysed. Data about the patients, histology, response to chemotherapy and peripheral blood values of lymphocytes, monocytes and neutrophils was collected, and used to calculate the LMR, NMR and NLR. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed for the variables to see the relationship of the ratios to disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS). RESULTS: Patients with high LMR (≥5.46) and low NLR (<3.33) were associated with a lower percentage of relapse (P = 0.048 and P = 0.015, respectively) and, above all, NLR was associated with a better survival (P = 0.024), being those factors that predict a good progress. CONCLUSION: High LMR and low NLR can be considered as favourable prognostic factors in BC patients treated with nCT.

Implementación de un programa de identificación terapéutica de depresión en adolescentes en el área sanitaria de Santiago de Compostela / Implementation of a therapeutic identification program of depression in young people in health area of Santiago de Compostela

OBJETIVO: Implementar y evaluar un programa de identificación terapéutica de depresión en adolescentes desarrollado en el Reino Unido (TIDY), entre adolescentes de 13-16 años que acuden a centros de Atención Primaria (AP) del área de Santiago de Compostela. MATERIAL Y MÉTODOS: Se reclutaron profesionales de AP (PAP) que voluntariamente quisieron participar en el estudio, cuasi-experimental, de diseño antes-después. Se compararon estadísticamente los cambios en sus conocimientos y actitudes hacia la depresión adolescente y las tasas de cribado e identificación de la misma en los 80 días laborables antes y después de un periodo de formación. Se estudiaron también detalles específicos de la consulta de AP. RESULTADOS: A pesar de la baja tasa de participación (23,19%), se observó una mejoría en los conocimientos y actitudes hacia la depresión adolescente, siendo sólo significativa en una de las características que se incluye en el diagnóstico de depresión (p < 0,05). Después de la formación se pasó de no hacer cribado a aplicarlo sistemáticamente. Las tasas de identificación bajaron del 3,39% al 0,86%. Dicha identificación se asoció con estar en seguimiento por depresión en la Unidad de Salud Mental Infanto-Juvenil (p=,01), tener antecedentes de problemas de salud mental (p = 0,03), y tener un estado de salud subjetivo regular o malo (p = 0,04). CONCLUSIONES: El programa TIDY es un enfoque factible para mejorar la identificación de depresión adolescente en AP. Se requiere una evaluación adicional en un ensayo aleatorizado para evaluar la precisión del profesional, el impacto clínico y el coste-beneficio

OBJECTIVE: Implement and evaluate a therapeutic identification program for depression in adolescents developed in the United Kingdom (TIDY), among adolescents aged 13-16 who attend Primary Care (PC) centers in the Santiago de Compostela area. MATERIAL AND METHODS: PC professionals (PCP) were recruited who voluntarily wanted to participate in the study, quasi-experimental, of before-after design. The changes in their knowledge and attitudes towards adolescent depression and the screening and identification rates of it in the 80 working days before and after a period of training were statistically compared. Specific details of the PC consultation were also studied. RESULTS: In spite of the low rate participation (23,19%), an improvement in knowledge and attitudes towards adolescent depression was observed, being only significant in one of the characteristics included in the diagnosis of depression (p <0.05). After the training, it went from not doing screening to applying it systematically. The identification fees fell from 3.39% to 0.86%. This identification was associated with being monitored for depression in the Child-Mental Health Unit (p =, 01), having a history of mental health problems (p = 0.03) and having a regular or bad subjective health status. (p = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS: The TIDY program is a feasible approach to improve the identification of adolescent depression in PC. An additional evaluation is required in a randomized trial to assess the professional's accuracy, clinical impact and cost benefit

Exploiting electronic strategies to stabilize a planar tetracoordinate carbon in cyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

A new approach to stabilize compounds containing a planar tetracoordinate carbon (ptC), embedded in aromatic hydrocarbons, is presented herein. This is achieved by using ligands that promote the formation of a 3c-2e σ-bond with the ptC under two conditions: without altering the sp2 hybridization of the aromatic carbons; and containing empty orbitals perpendicular to the aromatic ring to participate in the aromatic π-electronic delocalization.

Carcinoma parotídeo epitelial-mioepitelial: presentación de un caso y revisión de la literatura / Parotid epithelial-myoepithelial carcinoma: case presentation and literature review

Se presenta caso de paciente de sexo femenino de 53 años de edad con tumor parotídeo izquierdo de larvada evolución, con crecimiento progresivo y otalgia ipsilateral en los últimos meses, estudiado previamente con tomografía de cuello con contraste y resonancia magnética que destacan masa del lóbulo profundo de la parótida de características imagenológicas benignas. Se realizó parotidectomía del lóbulo profundo con resección tumoral preservando el nervio facial casi en su totalidad con excepción de rama marginal, la biopsia de la pieza quirúrgica fue informada como carcinoma epitelialmioepitelial de bajo grado, un tumor infrecuente de las glándulas salivales. Se decidió completar la parotidectomía superficial y realizar vaciamiento ganglionar selectivo lateral ipsilateral, complementando el tratamiento con radioterapia. Además se presenta una revisión de la literatura correspondiente.

We present a case of a 53 years old female patient with a left parotid tumor, with slow evolution, progressive growth and ipsilateral otalgia during later months. She was previously studied by tomography of the neck with contrast and magnetic resonance, which showed the mass of the deep lobe to have benign imaging characteristics. A parotidectomy of deep lobe was performed, with tumoral resection, preserving the facial nerve with the exception of the marginal branch. The biopsy was informed as epithelial-myoephitelial carcinoma, a rare salivary gland tumor. We completed the parotidectomy with neck dissection and Radiotherapy complementary was made. Besides we presented a literature review.

A novel stereotactic frame for real PET-guided biopsies: A preclinical proof-of-concept.

PURPOSE: To design, build and test a stereotactic device that allows PET image-guided biopsies to be performed. METHODS: An initial prototype consisting of four main pieces, one of which contains radioactive markers to make it visible in the PET images, was built using a 3D printer. Once the device is mounted, a spherical coordinate system is built with the entrance needle point in the skin as the origin of coordinates. Two in-house software programs, namely getCoord.ijm, which obtains the spherical coordinates of the tumour tissue to be biopsied, and getNeedle.ijm, which virtualizes the inner needle tip once the puncture has taken place, were written. This prototype was tested on an FDG-doped phantom to characterize both the accuracy of the system and the procedure time. RESULTS: Up to 11 complete biopsy procedures were conducted. The mean total procedure time was less than 20min, which is less than the procedure time of conventional standard CT-guided biopsies. The overall accuracy of the system was found to be 5.0±1.3mm, which outperforms the criterion used in routine clinical practice when targeting tumours with a diameter of 10mm. CONCLUSIONS: A stereotactic frame to conduct real PET image-guided biopsies has been designed and built. A proof-of-concept was performed to characterize the system. The procedure time and accuracy of the system were found to meet the current needs of physicians performing biopsies.

Satisfacción percibida por pacientes y profesionales participantes de una vía clínica del ligamento cruzado anterior / Satisfaction perceived by outpatients and health professionals participating in a clinical pathway after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction

Introducción. El propósito de este estudio fue evaluar el grado de satisfacción y la calidad asistencial percibida por los pacientes que finalizaron una vía clínica tras la reconstrucción del ligamento cruzado anterior y determinar el grado de satisfacción de los profesionales que participaron en ella. Material y métodos. Estudio observacional transversal. Se incluyeron 42 pacientes que finalizaron la vía clínica. Cumplimentaron una encuesta de satisfacción con 37 ítems: 32 recogían las respuestas en escala tipo Likert con puntuaciones de 1 «muy insatisfecho» a 5 «muy satisfecho», y el resto permitían responder «sí» o «no». Además se entregó una encuesta a los profesionales que participaron. Resultados. Los aspectos mejor valorados del servicio de traumatología fueron la percepción de mejoría de la inestabilidad de la rodilla tras la cirugía y el grado de satisfacción con el servicio (4,5±0,7). El servicio de rehabilitación destacó por la facilidad para conseguir una cita (4,3±0,7). El grado de confianza que transmite el médico rehabilitador y conocer su nombre fueron aspectos con buenas puntuaciones (4,5±0,7). Los ítems con mejor calificación para el fisioterapeuta fueron su preparación y el grado de confianza que transmite (4,5±0,7). El grado de satisfacción global fue del 88,1%; 23 ítems se correlacionaron estadísticamente con la satisfacción global (p<0,001). El 100% de los profesionales se manifestaron «ligeramente de acuerdo» y «muy de acuerdo» con el desarrollo de la vía clínica. Conclusiones. El estudio ha demostrado que existe un alto grado de satisfacción entre los usuarios y los profesionales participantes de la vía clínica (AU)

Introduction. The aim of this study was to evaluate patient satisfaction and perceived quality of care among patients undergoing a clinical pathway after reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament and to determine the degree of satisfaction health professionals participating in the pathway. Material and methods. Cross-sectional observational study. We included 42 patients who finished the clinical pathway. The patients completed a satisfaction survey with 37 items: 32 items elicited Likert-like responses with scores of 1 ‘very dissatisfied’ to 5 ‘highly satisfied’ and the rest elicited a ‘yes/no’ response. A survey was given to the professionals involved. Results. The most positively valued aspects of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery were the perceived improvement in knee instability after surgery and the degree of satisfaction with the department (4.5±.7). The Rehabilitation Department scored highly on ease of obtaining an appointment (4.3±.7). The highest-rated aspects were the trust inspired by the physiatrist and knowing the patient's name (4.5±.7). The items most highly scored by physiotherapists were their training and the degree of trust they inspired (4.5±.7). Overall satisfaction was 88.1%, and 23 items were statistically correlated with overall satisfaction (P<.001). All of the health professionals reported they ‘slightly agreed’ or ‘strongly agreed’ with the development of the clinical pathway. Conclusions. This study shows that there is a high level of satisfaction between outpatients and health professionals involved in the clinical pathway (AU)

Identification of low variability textural features for heterogeneity quantification of 18F-FDG PET/CT imaging / Identificación de texturas de baja variabilidad para la cuantificación de la heterogeneidad en imagen 18F-FDG PET/TC

Objective. To identify those textural features that are insensitive to both technical and biological factors in order to standardise heterogeneity studies on 18F-FDG PET imaging. Materials and methods. Two different studies were performed. First, nineteen series from a cylindrical phantom filled with different 18F-FDG activity concentration were acquired and reconstructed using three different protocols. Seventy-two texture features were calculated inside a circular region of interest. The variability of each feature was obtained. Second, the data for 15 patients showing non-pathological liver were acquired. Anatomical and physiological features such as patient's weight, height, body mass index, metabolic active volume, blood glucose level, SUV and SUV standard deviation were also recorded. A liver covering region of interest was delineated and low variability textural features calculated in each patient. Finally, a multivariate Spearman's correlation analysis between biological factors and texture features was performed. Results. Only eight texture features analysed show small variability (<5%) with activity concentration and reconstruction protocol making them suitable for heterogeneity quantification. On the other hand, there is a high statistically significant correlation between MAV and entropy (P<0.05). Entropy feature is, indeed, correlated (P<0.05) with all patient parameters, except body mass index. Conclusions. The textural features that are correlated with neither technical nor biological factors are run percentage, short-zone emphasis and intensity, making them suitable for quantifying functional changes or classifying patients. Other textural features are correlated with technical and biological factors and are, therefore, a source of errors if used for this purpose (AU)

Objetivo. Identificar las texturas que son independientes de los factores técnicos y biológicos en imagen PET con 18F-FDG con el fin de estandarizar la heterogeneidad en imagen PET. Material y métodos. Se realizaron 2 estudios. En primer lugar, se estudió la variabilidad de 72 parámetros texturales en una región de interés circular en el interior de un maniquí cilíndrico, con 19 concentraciones de actividad y 3 protocolos de reconstrucción diferentes. A continuación, se estudió una población de 15 pacientes sin captaciones hepáticas. De cada paciente se registraron el peso, altura, índice de masa corporal, volumen metabólico activo, niveles de glucosa en sangre, SUV y desviación estándar de SUV. Se obtuvieron las texturas de baja variabilidad de una región de interés centrada en hígado. Finalmente, se realizó un análisis de correlación multivariado de Spearman entre los factores biológicos y los parámetros texturales. Resultados. Solo 8 parámetros texturales muestran baja variabilidad (<5%) con la concentración de actividad y el protocolo de reconstrucción, haciéndolos adecuados para cuantificar la heterogeneidad de la región captante. Por otro lado, existe una correlación estadísticamente significativa entre el volumen metabólico activo y la entropía (p<0,05). La entropía está, además, correlacionada con los demás parámetros, excepto el índice de masa corporal. Conclusiones. Las únicas texturas que no están correlacionadas con ninguno de los parámetros anatómicos o fisiológicos son run percentage, short-zone emphasis e intensidad, siendo estas las más adecuadas para realizar análisis cuantitativos de heterogeneidades mediante parámetros de textura. Otras texturas están relacionadas con factores técnicos y biológicos y, por tanto, constituyen una fuente de errores cuando se utilizan para este fin (AU)

Effect of bovine ABCG2 Y581S polymorphism on concentrations in milk of enrofloxacin and its active metabolite ciprofloxacin.

The ATP-binding cassette transporter G2 (ABCG2) is involved in the secretion of several drugs into milk. The bovine Y581S ABCG2 polymorphism increases the secretion into milk of the fluoroquinolone danofloxacin in Holstein cows. Danofloxacin and enrofloxacin are the fluoroquinolones most widely used in veterinary medicine. Both enrofloxacin (ENRO) and its active metabolite ciprofloxacin (CIPRO) reach milk at relatively high concentrations. The aim of this work was to study the effect of the bovine Y581S ABCG2 polymorphism on in vitro transport as well as on concentrations in plasma and in milk of ENRO and CIPRO. Experiments using cells overexpressing bovine ABCG2 showed the effects of ABCG2 on the transport of CIPRO, demonstrating more efficient in vitro transport of this antimicrobial by the S581 variant as compared with the Y581 variant. Animal studies administering 2.5mg/kg of ENRO subcutaneously to Y/Y 581 and Y/S 581 cows revealed that concentrations in plasma of ENRO and CIPRO were significantly lower in Y/S animals. Regardless of the genotype, the antimicrobial profile in milk after the administration of ENRO was predominantly of CIPRO. With respect to the genotype effects on the amounts of drugs present in milk, AUC0-24 values were more than 1.2 times higher in Y/S cows for ENRO and 2.2 times for CIPRO, indicating a greater capacity of Y581S to transfer these drugs into milk. These results emphasize the clinical relevance of this polymorphism as a factor affecting the concentrations in plasma and in milk of drugs of importance in veterinary medicine.

Identification of low variability textural features for heterogeneity quantification of 18F-FDG PET/CT imaging.

OBJECTIVE: To identify those textural features that are insensitive to both technical and biological factors in order to standardise heterogeneity studies on 18F-FDG PET imaging. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two different studies were performed. First, nineteen series from a cylindrical phantom filled with different 18F-FDG activity concentration were acquired and reconstructed using three different protocols. Seventy-two texture features were calculated inside a circular region of interest. The variability of each feature was obtained. Second, the data for 15 patients showing non-pathological liver were acquired. Anatomical and physiological features such as patient's weight, height, body mass index, metabolic active volume, blood glucose level, SUV and SUV standard deviation were also recorded. A liver covering region of interest was delineated and low variability textural features calculated in each patient. Finally, a multivariate Spearman's correlation analysis between biological factors and texture features was performed. RESULTS: Only eight texture features analysed show small variability (<5%) with activity concentration and reconstruction protocol making them suitable for heterogeneity quantification. On the other hand, there is a high statistically significant correlation between MAV and entropy (P<0.05). Entropy feature is, indeed, correlated (P<0.05) with all patient parameters, except body mass index. CONCLUSIONS: The textural features that are correlated with neither technical nor biological factors are run percentage, short-zone emphasis and intensity, making them suitable for quantifying functional changes or classifying patients. Other textural features are correlated with technical and biological factors and are, therefore, a source of errors if used for this purpose.