Information provided by health care professionals is crucial to create a climate of social opinion. This is important in organ donation and transplantation (ODT), where the participation of the ...general public is essential to obtain organs.
To determine the attitude toward the Law of Presumed Consent (LPC) among Spanish university students and to analyze their relation with attitude toward ODT.
and design. The type of study was a sociologic, multicenter, observational study. The population included medical and nursing students in Spanish universities. Database of Collaborative International Donor Project was used stratified by geographic area and academic course. A validated questionnaire (Collaborative International Donor Project, organ donation and transplantation questionnaire in Spanish PCID-DTO-RIOS) was self-administered and completed anonymously. A sample of 9598 medical and 10,566 nursing students was analyzed (99% confidence and precision of ±1%) and stratified by geographic area and year of study.
Completion rate was 90%. Regarding attitude toward LPC, 66% of the students were against the law, whereas 34% accepted it. Of the students surveyed, 9% considered the law as a gesture of solidarity, 25% as an effective way of not wasting organs, 48% as an abuse of power, and 18% as offenses against the family. Those students who were in favor of LPC also had a more favorable attitude toward ODT (86% vs 76%; P < .001).
Comparing groups, nursing students were less in favor of LPC than medical students (32% vs 36%; P < .000).
Sixty-six percent of Spanish university medical and nursing students were against the LPC. The favorable attitude toward ODT is associated with considering the law as a gesture of solidarity or as an effective way of not wasting organs.
•Sixty-six percent of Spanish university medical and nursing students were against the Law of Presumed Consent.•Nursing students were less in favor of the Law of Presumed Consent than medical students.•A favorable attitude toward organ donation and transplantation is associated with the views that LPC is a gesture of solidarity or an effective way of not wasting organs.
A primary care physician (PCP) not only accompanies the patient in the process of an illness, but throughout his or her life. The confidence we have in these health professionals is fundamental, and ...their favorable attitude toward organ donation and transplantation (ODT) has a significant influence on the population.
To analyze trust in PCPs among Spanish medical and nursing students, the relationship with their attitude toward ODT, and the factors that condition it.
A sociologic, multicenter, and observational study. Population: medical and nursing students in Spanish universities. Database: Collaborative International Donor Project, stratified by geographic area and academic course. A validated questionnaire (PCID-DTO-RIOS) was self-administered and completed anonymously. A sample of 9598 medical and 10,566 nursing students (99% confidence and precision of ±1%), stratified by geographic area and year of study.
Completion rate: 90%. With respect to students’ trust in their physician, 18% (n = 3267) of them totally trust (completely), 45% (n = 8101) trust enough, 30% (n = 5478) of them have not enough trust, and 7% not at all. Comparing groups, medical students totally trust more in PCPs than nursing students (55% vs 45%; P < .000), however, nursing students have less than enough trust in their PCP than medical students (53% vs 47%; P < .000). Students that totally trust in their PCP were more in favor toward ODT than students with not enough trust (83% vs 77%; P < .000).
Only 18% of Spanish medical and nursing students totally trust in their PCP. Attitude toward ODT is related to a higher level of trust in PCPs among these students.
•Only 18% of Spanish medical and nursing students have total trust in their primary care physician.•Attitude toward ODT is related to a higher level of trust in primary care physicians among these students.•Information about ODT given by primary care physicians is of great significance in the population.
In adult albino mice the effects of increased intraocular pressure on the outer retina and its circuitry was investigated at intervals ranging 3–14 weeks. Ocular hypertension (OHT) was induced by ...cauterizing the vessels draining the anterior part of the mice eye, as recently reported (Salinas-Navarro et al., 2009a). Electroretinographic (ERG) responses were recorded simultaneously from both eyes and compared each other prior to and at different survival intervals of 2, 8 or 12 weeks after lasering. Animals were processed at 3, 9 or 14 weeks after lasering, and radial sections were obtained in the cryostat and further processed for immunocytochemistry using antibodies against recoverin, γ-transducin, Protein Kinase C-α (PKC-α), calbindin or synaptophysin. The synaptic ribbons were identified using an antibody against the protein bassoon, which labels photoreceptor ribbons and nuclei were identified using TO-PRO. Laser photocoagulation of the perilimbar and episcleral veins of the left eye resulted in an increase in mean intraocular pressure to approximately over twice its baseline by 24
h that was maintained for approximately five days reaching basal levels by 1 week. ERG recordings from the different groups of mice showed their a-, b-wave and scotopic threshold response (STR) amplitudes, when compared to their contralateral fellow eye, reduced to 62%, 52% and 23% at 12 weeks after lasering.
Three weeks after lasering, immunostaining with recoverin and transducin antibodies could not document any changes in the outer nuclear layer (ONL) but both ON-rod bipolar and horizontal cells had lost their dendritic processes in the outer plexiform layer (OPL). Sprouting of horizontal and bipolar cell processes were observed into the ONL. Fourteen weeks after lasering, protein kinase-C antibodies showed morphologic changes of ON-rod bipolar cells and calbindin staining showed abnormal horizontal cells and a loss of their relationship with their presynaptic input. Moreover, at this time, quantitative studies indicate significant diminutions in the number of photoreceptor synaptic ribbons/100 μm, and in the thickness of the outer nuclear and plexiform layer, when compared to their fellow eyes. Increased intraocular pressure in Swiss mice results in permanent alterations of their full field ERG responses and in changes of the inner and outer retinal circuitries.
Dada la escasez de órganos para trasplante en España, se ha investigado la opinión de los pacientes en lista de espera para trasplante renal y hepático hacia la donación de vivo y el xenotrasplante, ...dos de las principales alternativas como fuentes de órganos. Por tanto, los objetivos fueron conocer la opinión hacia la donación de vivo relacionada de los pacientes de la lista de espera en el Hospital U. Virgen de la Arrixaca, analizar las variables psicosociales que condicionan la opinión hacia esta donación, definir el perfil psicosocial a favor de la donación de vivo relacionada, conocer la opinión hacia el xenotrasplante de órgano sólido, analizar las variables psicosociales que condicionan dicha opinión y definir el perfil psicosocial a favor del xenotrasplante.
Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissues are a source of biological material for molecular studies; several methods to extract DNA from FFPE tissues have been reported. This process is ...challenging because of formaldehyde-induced cross-linking between proteins and DNA as well as molecule fragmentation when unbuffered formalin is used for fixation. Here, 2 methods for DNA extraction from FFPE tissues, based on a chelating resin and silica membrane columns, were modified and compared in their capacity to detect human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) in congenital infections. Both methods were tested on 121 samples of brain, lung, spleen, and liver derived from 36 deceased preterm newborns. Twelve patients were selected, and UL55 and UL75 HCMV genes were detected by polymerase chain reaction in 16/36 samples. These 2 methods represent a useful tool for DNA recovery from FFPE tissues and HCMV molecular identification with the advantage of low cost, minimal steps, minimal sample use, being solvent-free, and being easy to implement in the laboratory.
Abstract
Hypothesis
About 1% of patients clinically diagnosed as type 1 diabetes have non-autoimmune monogenic diabetes. The distinction has important therapeutic implications but, given the low ...prevalence and high cost of testing, selecting patients to test is important. We tested the hypothesis that low genetic risk for type 1 diabetes can substantially contribute to this selection.
Methods
As proof of principle, we examined by exome sequencing families with 2 or more children, recruited by the Type 1 Diabetes Genetics Consortium (T1DGC) and selected for negativity for 2 autoantibodies and absence of risk human leukocyte antigen haplotypes.
Results
We examined 46 families that met the criteria. Of the 17 with an affected parent, 7 (41.2%) had actionable monogenic variants. Of 29 families with no affected parent, 14 (48.3%) had such variants, including 5 with recessive pathogenic variants of WFS1 but no report of other features of Wolfram syndrome. Our approach diagnosed 55.8% of the estimated number of monogenic families in the entire T1DGC cohort, by sequencing only 11.1% of the autoantibody-negative ones.
Conclusions
Our findings justify proceeding to large-scale prospective screening studies using markers of autoimmunity, even in the absence of an affected parent. We also confirm that nonsyndromic WFS1 variants are common among cases of monogenic diabetes misdiagnosed as type 1 diabetes.
Mangrove crabs are ecosystem engineers through their bioturbation activity. On Mayotte Island, the abundance of
Neosarmatium africanum
decreased in wastewater-impacted areas. Previous analyses showed ...that global crab metabolism is impacted by wastewater, with a burst in O
2
consumption that may be caused by osmo-respiratory trade-offs since gill functioning was impacted. As the hepatopancreas is a key metabolic organ, the purpose of this study was to investigate the physiological effects of wastewater and ammonia-N 5-h exposure on crabs to better understand the potential trade-offs underlying the global metabolic state. Catalase, superoxide dismutase, glutathione S-transferase, total digestive protease, and serine protease (trypsin and chymotrypsin) activities were assessed. Histological analyses were performed to determine structural modifications. No effect of short-term wastewater and ammonia-N exposure was found in antioxidant defenses or digestive enzyme activity. However, histological changes of B-cells indicate an increase in intracellular digestive activity through higher vacuolization processes and tubule dilation in wastewater-exposed crabs.
Summary
Cis-diamminedichloroplatinum(II) (CDDP), known as cisplatin, has been extensively used against breast cancer, which is the most frequent cancer among women, and lung cancer, the leading ...cancer that causes death worldwide. Novel compounds such as thiazole derivatives have exhibited antiproliferative activity, suggesting they could be useful against cancer treatment. Herein, we synthesized two novel thiosemicarbazones and an aldehyde to combine with CDDP to enhance efficacy against ER-positive breast MCF7 cancer cells, triple-negative/basal-B mammary carcinoma cells (MDA-MB231) and lung adenocarcinoma (A549) human cells. We synthesized 2,3,5,6-tetrafluoro-4-(2-mercaptoetanothiolyl)benzaldehyde (
ALD
), 5-(2,3,5,6-tetrafluoro-4-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)thio-2-furaldehyde thiosemicarbazone (
TSC1
) and 5-(4-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)thio-2-furaldehyde thiosemicarbazone (
TSC2
) and used them alone or in combination with subtoxic CDDP concentrations to evaluate cytotoxicity, cytoskeleton integrity and mitochondrial function. We found that none of the synthesized compounds improved CDDP activity against MCF7 cell cultures; however,
TSC2
was effective in enhancing the cytotoxicity of CDDP against MDA-MB231 and A549 cancer cell cultures. We demonstrated that the cytotoxic effect is related to the
TSC2
capacity to induce disruption in the cytoskeleton network and to decrease mitochondrial function.
Patients with pneumonia treated in the internal medicine department (IMD) are often at risk of healthcare-associated pneumonia (HCAP). The importance of HCAP is controversial. We invited physicians ...from 72 IMDs to report on all patients with pneumonia hospitalized in their department during 2 weeks (one each in January and June 2010) to compare HCAP with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) and hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP). We analysed 1002 episodes of pneumonia: 58.9% were CAP, 30.6% were HCAP and 10.4% were HAP. A comparison between CAP, HCAP and HAP showed that HCAP patients were older (77, 83 and 80.5 years; p < 0.001), had poorer functional status (Barthel 100, 30 and 65; p < 0.001) and had more risk factors for aspiration pneumonia (18, 50 and 34%; p < 0.001). The frequency of testing to establish an aetiological diagnosis was lower among HCAP patients (87, 72 and 79; p < 0.001), as was adherence to the therapeutic recommendations of guidelines (70, 23 and 56%; p < 0.001). In-hospital mortality increased progressively between CAP, HCAP and HAP (8, 19 and 27%; p < 0.001). Streptococcus pneumoniae was the main pathogen in CAP and HCAP. Pseudomonas aeruginosa and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) caused 17 and 12.3% of HCAP. In patients with a confirmed aetiological diagnosis, the independent risk factors for pneumonia due do difficult-to-treat microorganisms (Enterobacteriaceae, P. aeruginosa or MRSA) were HCAP, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases and higher Port Severity Index. Our data confirm the importance of maintaining high awareness of HCAP among patients treated in IMDs, because of the different aetiologies, therapy requirements and prognosis of this population.
PDF
