Breast cancer (BC) diagnosis is made by a pathologist who analyzes a portion of the breast tissue under the microscope and performs a histological evaluation. This evaluation aims to determine the ...grade of cellular differentiation and the aggressiveness of the tumor by the Nottingham Grade Classification System (NGS). Nowadays, digital pathology is an innovative tool for pathologists in diagnosis and acquiring new learning. However, a recurring problem in health services is the excessive workload in all medical services. For this reason, it is required to develop computational tools that assist histological evaluation. This work proposes a methodology for the quantitative analysis of BC tissue that follows NGS. The proposed methodology is based on digital image processing techniques through which the BC tissue can be characterized automatically. Moreover, the proposed nuclei characterization was helpful for grade differentiation in carcinoma images of the BC tissue reaching an 0.84 accuracy. In addition, a metric was proposed to assess the likelihood of a structure in the tissue corresponding to a tubule by considering spatial and geometrical characteristics between lumina and its surrounding nuclei, reaching an accuracy of 0.83. Tests were performed from different databases and under various magnification and staining contrast conditions, showing that the methodology is reliable for histological breast tissue analysis.
Onychopapilloma is a benign neoplasm of unknown etiopathogenesis of the distal nail matrix and proximal nail bed. It may have different clinical presentations, which constitute a diagnostic ...challenge. It is usually monodactyl and mainly affects the fingers. Despite that it is not uncommon, doctors outside of dermatology are unaware of this entity. Herein, we report two patients, with a median age of 67 years, who presented with monodactylous chromonychia, including longitudinal erythronychia and longitudinal leukonychia, associated with a subungual keratotic mass. With these clinical features, both patients were diagnosed with onychopapilloma. Key words: Abnormal nail, Nail diseases, Nails
To take advantage of the residues generated in the production of products from green coffee and due to the special interest in the compounds contained in the bean, a by-product obtained after the ...extraction of the oil was studied. The physical characterization of the green-coffee-bean by-product was carried out. Subsequently, the extraction of compound 5-CQA was carried out via leaching using central composition design 24 and evaluating factors such as temperature, time, solid/solvent ratio, and ethanol percentage, and its yield was quantified using HPLC. In addition, the response-surface methodology was used to maximize the efficiency of 5-CQA extraction and to perform the kinetic study. Yields of 59 ± 2 mg of 5-CQA/g from the by-product were obtained, and by selecting the best leaching conditions, the kinetic study was performed at 45, 60, and 75 °C, increasing the yield to a total of 61.8 ± 3 mg of 5-CQA/g. By applying the kinetic model of mass transfer, a fit of R2 > 0.97 was obtained, with KLa values between 0.266 and 0.320 min−1. This study showed an approach to optimize the 5-CQA extraction conditions, resulting in a simple, fast, reproducible, accurate, and low-cost method.
INTRODUCTION:To inform estimations of the potential impact of recently introduced pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV), we report results of 11 years of pre-PCV surveillance for invasive pneumococcal ...disease (IPD) among children in Guatemala City.
METHODS:Cases of IPD in children younger than 5 years were identified by active surveillance at 3 referral hospitals in Guatemala City from October 1996 through 2007. Clinical and demographic data were obtained, and isolates of Streptococcus pneumoniae from normally sterile sites were serotyped using latex agglutination and confirmed by Quellung reaction.
RESULTS:Four hundred fifty-two cases of IPD were identified with a case fatality rate of 21%. Meningitis was the most common cause of death (77% of all deaths) and occurred more often in infancy (median age 5 months) than other clinical syndromes. Of the 137 isolates serotyped, type 1 (26 cases, 17%), type 2 (25 cases, 16%) and type 5 (18 cases, 12%) were the most common. Serotype 2 was associated with a higher case fatality rate (28%), higher rate of meningitis (68%) and occurred in younger infants (median age, 3.5 months) than other common serotypes. Recently introduced PCV13 includes 73% of observed serotypes in the study.
CONCLUSION:Infants with IPD presented at a young age. Serotype 2, rarely reported as a significant cause of IPD and not included in available PCVs, was a common cause of disease in this population. PCV13 introduction in Guatemala, begun in 2013, may not have as great an impact in disease reduction as has been observed in other countries.
The hyaluronic acid (HA) global market growth can be attributed to its use in medical, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical applications; thus, it is important to have validated, analytical methods to ensure ...confidence and security of its use (and to save time and resources). In this work, a size-exclusion chromatography method (HPLC-SEC) was validated to determine the concentration and molecular distribution of HA simultaneously. Analytical curves were developed for concentration and molecular weight in the ranges of 100–1000 mg/L and 0.011–2.200 MDa, respectively. The HPLC-SEC method showed repeatability and reproducibility greater than 98% and limits of detection and quantification of 12 and 42 mg/L, respectively, and was successfully applied to the analysis of HA from a bacterial culture, as well as cosmetic, and pharmaceutical products.
BACKGROUND:Acute bacterial meningitis (ABM) remains a significant cause of pediatric illness and death in low and middle income countries. Identifying severity risk factors and predictive scores may ...guide interventions to reduce poor outcomes.
METHODS:Data from a prospective surveillance study for ABM in children aged 0–59 months admitted to 3 referral hospitals in Guatemala City from 2000 to 2007 were analyzed. ABM was defined as positive cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) culture, positive latex agglutination or CSF white blood cell greater than 100 cells/mL. Univariate and multivariate analyses of risk factors at hospital admission that predicted major morbidity or death during hospitalization were performed, along with validation of the predictive Herson–Todd score (HTS).
RESULTS:Of 809 children with ABM episodes, 221 (27.3%) survived with major morbidity and 192 (23.7%) died. Among 383 children with nonmissing data, the most significant multivariate predictors for death or major morbidity were seizure odds ratio (OR), 101.5; P < 0.001, CSF glucose less than 20 mg/dL (OR, 5.3; P = 0.0004), symptom duration more than 3 days (OR, 3.7; P = 0.003) and coma (OR, 6.3; P = 0.004). Of 221 children with a HTS greater than 5, 204 (92%) died or suffered major morbidity (OR, 10.3; P < 0.0001).
CONCLUSION:ABM is a cause of considerable morbidity and mortality in Guatemala. Several clinical risk factors and the composite HTS predicted death or major morbidity. These predictors could help clinicians in low and middle income country guide medical care for ABM and could contribute to the public health impact assessment in preventing meningitis with vaccines.
•Sample preparation comprised of ultrasonic extraction, saponification and purification.•Validation of the analytical conditions allowed reproducibility of the analytical method.•Low polarity ...solvents favored the ultrasound extraction of PAHs.•Recoveries of carcinogenic PAHs was independent from concentration.•Saponification and purification minimized interferences for PAHs identification.
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are of significant interest due to their genotoxicity in humans. PAHs quantification in coffee is complex since some of its compounds interfere in the chromatographic analysis, which hinders the reliable determination of the PAHs. Analytical conditions for the ultrasound extraction, purification and quantification of 16 PAHs in roasted coffee were studied. The better extraction efficiency of benzoapyrene (68%) from ground-roasted coffee was achieved with a solvent ratio of Hex:MC (9:1 v/v) and three extraction periods of 20min, followed by alkaline saponification and purification of the extracts. The detection limits were 0.85–39.32ngmL−1, and the quantification limits from 2.84 to 131.05ngmL−1, obtained for fluoranthene and chrysene, respectively. The extraction was effective for most of the analytes, with recoveries of 39.8% dibenzoahanthracene and 69.0% benzobfluoranthene. For coffee roasted in a spouted bed reactor, the summation of the 16 PAHs ranged from 3.5 to 16.4μgkg−1.
In this research, a supercritical CO
2
-ethanol extraction was optimized to obtain a green coffee oil rich in bioactive compounds. A face-centered central composite design was used to evaluate the ...effect of temperature (50–70 °C), extraction pressure (15.0–30.0 MPa), and cosolvent content (5–20%) on the extraction yield and total phenolic compound content of green coffee supercritical extract (GCSE). The experimental data were fitted to a second-order polynomial model. According to the statistical analyses, the lack of fit was not significant for either mathematical model. From the response surface plots, the extraction pressure and cosolvent content significantly impacted the extraction yield, while the total phenolic compound content was impacted by temperature and cosolvent content. The optimal conditions were a 20% cosolvent content, a pressure of 30 MPa, and a temperature of 62 °C, which predicted an extraction yield of 7.7% with a total phenol content of 5.4 mg gallic acid equivalent g GCSE
−1
. The bioactive compounds included 5-caffeoylquinic acid (11.53–17.91 mg g GCSE
−1
), caffeine (44.76–79.51 mg g GCSE
−1
), linoleic acid (41.47–41.58%), and palmitic acid (36.07–36.18%). Our results showed that GCSE has the outstanding chemical quality and antioxidant potential, suggesting that GCSE can be used as a functional ingredient.
Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a molecule of significant commercial value with applications in the pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and medical industries. It is typically produced through microbial fermentation. ...However, the efficiency of this type of process can be affected by inhibition phenomena due to the substrate or the product. In this sense, the effect of different initial concentrations of glucose (9.3–59.9 g/L) and lactic acid (10.7–56.0 g/L) was studied in the present investigation to determine their effect on the growth of Streptococcus zooepidemicus and HA production in batch fermentation. The maximum HA concentration obtained was 3.3 g/L from 59.9 g/L glucose, while productivity, yield, and specific rate of HA formation were higher at 31.9 g/L glucose. The biomass produced followed a stepwise pattern with increasing glucose, although the specific growth rate decreased after reaching 39.1 g/L glucose. The initial presence of lactic acid (LA) hurt fermentation, decreasing the amount of biomass and HA produced; the inhibitory effect of LA was more pronounced at 19.4 g/L and above, decreasing productivities, yields, and specific rates. Compared to experimental data, the proposed mathematical model described satisfactorily (R2 > 0.9) the dynamics of the fermentation process at different culture conditions.
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•The initial concentration of glucose reduces the specific growth rate above 31.9 g/L•Growth and hyaluronic acid production were strongly inhibited by the initial addition of lactic acid•Inhibition by the initial lactic acid did not affect the production of the acid itself•The kinetic model developed adequately predicts the culture dynamics
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