Epithelioid angioleiomyoma (EALM) is rare in the skin and subcutaneous tissues. To the best of our knowledge, only two previous cases of this tumor have been reported. We document here the case of an ...83‐year‐old woman who underwent complete removal of a squamous cell carcinoma of the retromolar trigone and lymph node dissection of the neck. An incidental EALM was observed in the adipose tissue. The tumor formed a unilocular, poorly demarcated neoplasm measuring 0.3 cm, and showed cavernous angiomatous spaces with villiform growth of large epithelioid cells arranged in clusters. Besides the epithelioid cells of muscular origin, bundles of well‐differentiated smooth muscle cells were observed. Epithelioid cells accounted for 70% of the total. The neoplasm originated in the wall of a medium‐sized vein. Epithelioid and spindle cells were positive for alpha‐smooth muscle actin, calponin, h‐caldesmon, and muscle‐specific actin. The endothelial cells lining the vascular spaces showed intense and diffuse positivity for CD31 and ERG. The main differential diagnosis includes metastatic carcinoma, melanoma, perivascular epithelioid cell neoplasm, myopericytoma, glomangiomyoma, epithelioid glomus tumor, and epithelioid leiomyosarcoma. This report expands the morphological spectrum of the EALM. Awareness of this uncommon morphologic variant of angioleiomyoma and the use of adequate techniques can avoid misdiagnosis.
In this case report, we analyze the possible causes of the poor health status of a professional Apis mellifera iberiensis apiary located in Gajanejos (Guadalajara, Spain). Several factors that ...potentially favor colony collapse were identified, including Nosema ceranae infection, alone or in combination with other factors (e.g., BQCV and DWV infection), and the accumulation of acaricides commonly used to control Varroa destructor in the beebread (coumaphos and tau-fluvalinate). Based on the levels of residues, the average toxic unit estimated for the apiary suggests a possible increase in vulnerability to infection by N. ceranae due to the presence of high levels of acaricides and the unusual climatic conditions of the year of the collapse event. These data highlight the importance of evaluating these factors in future monitoring programs, as well as the need to adopt adequate preventive measures as part of national and international welfare programs aimed at guaranteeing the health and fitness of bees.
Different types of commercial polyethylene films, low‐density polyethylene (LDPE), high‐density polyethylene (HDPE), and biodegradable polyethylene (BIO‐PE), were exposed to UV‐B radiation at ...different exposure time and domestic composting during spring and fall at ambient conditions. The effects of UV‐B radiation and domestic composting on LDPE, HDPE, and BIO‐PE degradation were characterized by FTIR spectroscopy. LDPE, HDPE, and BIO‐PE exposed to UV‐B radiation underwent photo oxidation reactions leading to the formation of carbonyl (CO) and vinyl (CH2CH) groups and hydrophilic surface modification. Also, the exposure of LDPE, HDPE, and BIO‐PE to domestic composting at ambient conditions at different seasons suffered biodegradation reactions leading to the formation of polysaccharides. In both different seasons LDPE, HDPE, and BIO‐PE underwent partial biodegradation, remaining in the domestic composting as unwanted polymer debris. However, biodegradation in domestic composting is not recommended as feasible disposal routes for nonbiodegradable and commercially labeled as biodegradable PE.
Commercial polyethylene films of different types were exposed to UV‐B radiation in order to increase their biodegradation in domestic compost. UV‐B radiation causes PE chain scission and photooxidation reaction, leading the modification of the chemical structure. UV‐B radiation causes the formation of unsaturated chemical groups, increasing the biodegradability of all the types of PE analyzed; nevertheless, during domestic compost treatment they underwent only partial biodegradation, remaining in the compost as polymer debris.
Pesticides can be found in beehives for several reasons, including contamination from surrounding crops or for their use by beekeepers, which poses a risk to bee ecosystems and consumers. Therefore, ...efficient and sensitive methods are needed for determining pesticide residues in bee products. In this study, a new analytical method has been developed and validated to determine seven acaricides (atrazine, chlorpyrifos, chlorfenvinphos, α-endosulfan, bromopropylate, coumaphos, and τ-fluvalinate) in bee pollen using gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry. After an optimization study, the best sample treatment was obtained when using a modified QuEChERS (Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged, and Safe) method employing an ethyl acetate and cyclohexane as the extractant mixture, and a mixture of salts for the clean-up step. A chromatographic analysis (<21 min) was performed in an Agilent DB-5MS column, and it was operated under programmed temperature conditions. The method was fully validated in terms of selectivity, limits of detection (0.2-3.1 µg kg
) and quantification (0.6-9.7 µg kg
), linearity, matrix effect (<20% in all cases), trueness (recoveries between 80% and 108%), and precision. Finally, the proposed method was applied to analyze commercial bee pollen samples, and some of the target pesticides (chlorfenvinphos, α-endosulfan, coumaphos, and τ-fluvalinate) were detected.
Background
This study aims to evaluate the usefulness of endoscopic ultrasound‐guided fine‐needle aspiration cytology (EUS‐FNAC) in the diagnosis of the gastric gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST).
...Methods
We retrospectively investigated the efficacy and accuracy of EUS‐FNAC in the diagnosis of gastric GIST. Cytological smears and cytoblock sections including immunohistochemistry and mutational studies from patients diagnosed as gastric GISTs were retrieved.
Results
Thirty patients (mean age 68.8 years, range 32‐88 years, Male:Female 1:1.7) were diagnosed by cytological and cytoblock study to have GIST. The size of tumors ranged from 1.6 to 25 cm (mean 6.0 cm). 7 (23%) cases were incidentally discovered. Location was: gastric body 13 (43.3%), fundus 8 (26.7%), antrum 7 (23.3%), cardia 2 (6.7%). The study of removed tumors was correlated with the cytological findings. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and diagnostic accuracy were 75%, 100%, 100%, 46%, and 96%. There were no false‐positive cases. The preoperative risk assessment of 27 cases with cytoblock were: none 3 (11.1%), very low 8 (29.6%), low 12 (44.4%), high 3 (11.1%), insufficient clinical data 1 (3.7%). The follow‐up varied from 2 to 120 months (mean 46.7 months). Only 1 patient of the high‐risk group died. The most frequent mutations found were those of c‐KIT in exon 11.
Conclusions
Pathological diagnosis was based on a combination of cytological, histopathological, and immunohistochemical features. EUS‐FNAC is a reliable, accurate, and safe method for the diagnosis of GIST. The cytoblock allows tumor risk classification and mutational study of the cases.
•Bee pollen is a good source of bioactive compounds.•The composition of bee pollen depends strongly on plant source.•Solvent extraction has been the most used sample treatment.•UV–vis and titration ...have been mainly employed for determining the total content.•LC (RP or NP) has been the technique of choice when determining individual content.
Since ancient times bee pollen has been considered a good source of bioactive substances and energy. Taking into account the current demand for healthy and natural foods, it is not surprising that bee pollen has been attracting commercial interest in recent years, making it one of the most widely consumed food supplements. It has been extensively reported that bee pollen contains several health-promoting compounds, such as proteins, amino acids, lipids, phenolic compounds, vitamins or minerals. Thus, this study aims to give an overview of the extraction and determination techniques of several of the above-mentioned compounds which have been published in the last few years (2011-2017). The design of the study is in accordance with the different families of bioactive compounds, and the extraction procedures together with the analytical techniques employed and their determination are discussed. A list of some of the most relevant applications is provided for each category, including a brief summary of the experimental conditions. The references included will provide the reader with a comprehensive overview of and insight into the analysis of bioactive compounds from bee pollen.
Background
Heart failure is one of the most pressing current public health concerns. However, in Spain there is a lack of population data. We aimed to examine thirteen‐year nationwide trends in heart ...failure hospitalization, in‐hospital mortality and 30‐day readmission rates in Spain.
Methods
We conducted a retrospective observational study of patients discharged with the principal diagnosis of heart failure from The National Health System’ acute hospitals during 2003‐2015. The source of the data was the Minimum Basic Data Set. Temporal trends were modelled using Poisson regression analysis. The risk‐standardized in‐hospital mortality ratio was calculated using a multilevel risk adjustment logistic regression model.
Results
A total of 1 254 830 episodes of heart failure were selected. Throughout 2003‐2015, the number of hospital discharges with principal diagnosis of heart failure increased by 61%. Discharge rates weighted by age and sex increased during the period incidence rate ratio (IRR): 1.03; 95% confidence interval (95% CI): 1.03‐1.03; P < .001), although this increase was motivated by the increase in older age groups (≥75 years old). The crude mortality rate diminished (IRR: 0.99; 95% CI: 0.98‐1, P < .001), but 30‐day readmission rate increased (IRR: 1.05; 95% CI: 1.04‐1.06; P < .001). The risk‐standardized in‐hospital mortality ratio did not change throughout the study period (IRR: 0.997; 95% CI: 0.992‐1; P = .32).
Conclusions
From 2003 to 2015, heart failure admission rates increased significantly in Spain as a consequence of the sustained increase of hospitalization in the population ≥75 years. 30‐day readmission rates increased, but the risk‐standardized in‐hospital mortality ratio did not significantly change for the same period.
Normothermic regional perfusion (NRP) allows the in situ perfusion of organs with oxygenated blood in donation after the circulatory determination of death (DCDD). We aimed at evaluating the impact ...of NRP on the short‐term outcomes of kidney transplants in controlled DCDD (cDCDD). This is a multicenter, nationwide, retrospective study comparing cDCDD kidneys obtained with NRP versus the standard rapid recovery (RR) technique. During 2012–2018, 2302 cDCDD adult kidney transplants were performed in Spain using NRP (n = 865) or RR (n = 1437). The study groups differed in donor and recipient age, warm, and cold ischemic time and use of ex situ machine perfusion. Transplants in the NRP group were more frequently performed in high‐volume centers (≥90 transplants/year). Through matching by propensity score, two cohorts with a total of 770 patients were obtained. After the matching, no statistically significant differences were observed between the groups in terms of primary nonfunction (p = .261) and mortality at 1 year (p = .111). However, the RR of kidneys was associated with a significantly increased odds of delayed graft function (OR 1.97 95% CI 1.43–2.72; p < .001) and 1‐year graft loss (OR 1.77 95% CI 1.01–3.17; p = .034). In conclusion, compared with RR, NRP appears to improve the short‐term outcomes of cDCDD kidney transplants.
This multicenter, nationwide, retrospective study that uses propensity score matching shows lower delayed graft function and higher 1‐year graft survival rates for transplants using kidneys from controlled donation after circulatory determination of death donors procured with normothermic regional perfusion versus through rapid recovery.
We introduce and study the minimum distance function of a graded ideal in a polynomial ring with coefficients in a field, and show that it generalizes the minimum distance of projective ...Reed–Muller-type codes over finite fields. This gives an algebraic formulation of the minimum distance of a projective Reed–Muller-type code in terms of the algebraic invariants and structure of the underlying vanishing ideal. Then we give a method, based on Gröbner bases and Hilbert functions, to find lower bounds for the minimum distance of certain Reed–Muller-type codes. Finally we show explicit upper bounds for the number of zeros of polynomials in a projective nested cartesian set and give some support to a conjecture of Carvalho, Lopez-Neumann and López.
•Chirobiotic T2 column was used, for the first time, using subcritical conditions.•Optimal conditions were using high percentage of modifier and water as additive.•Analysis of the amino acids can be ...achieved below 7min (or 15min simultaneously).•Quality control of food supplements containing aromatic amino acids was achieved.
The enantiomeric recognition capability of the teicoplanin-based Chirobiotic T2 column for the analysis of amino acids using subcritical fluid chromatography is presented in this work. The chiral separation of the aromatic protein amino acids phenylalanine, tyrosine and tryptophan was studied employing an elevated percentage of organic modifier (ranging from 35 to 60% v/v), and a high percentage of water as additive (2–10%, v/v). Baseline enantioseparation of the individual amino acids was achieved in 7min (in 15min for their simultaneous separation by serially coupling of chiral/achiral columns) using 40% of modifier composed of a mixture methanol/water (90:10 v/v) without the necessity of other acidic or basic additives. The proposed method was validated obtaining suitable levels of recovery, precision and linearity. The detection and quantification limits ranged from 0.5 to 2.0μg/mL and from 1.7 to 6.7μg/mL, respectively, which allowed the determination of low amounts of d-amino acids (up to 0.2% for tryptophan) in the presence of a large excess of corresponding l-enantiomers. Finally, the method was applied to the determination of l-phenylalanine, l-tyrosine and l-tryptophan in five commercial food supplements, and the quality of these food supplements was confirmed through the absence of enantiomeric impurity in all of them.
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