High risk human papillomaviruses (HPV) are implicated in the aetiology of malignant cervical disease. The usefulness of HPV DNA tests in identifying women at risk of cervical cancer as an adjunct to ...cervical cytology is under evaluation.
This is a retrospective analysis of 47 women positive for high risk HPV but with negative cytology and negative colposcopy at the start of the study. Women were observed for three years or more (in 96% cases) using six-monthly combined HPV DNA tests, cytological and colposcopic evaluation.
At the end of follow-up, 29/47 (62%) women were still positive for high risk HPV, 45/47 (96%) women had normal cytology and 47/47 (100%) women continued to have normal colposcopy.
Normal colposcopy has an excellent negative predictive value for HPV positive women with normal cytology. These women can be safely screened cytologically on a three-yearly basis.
The ideal regimen for the prevention of postoperative infections occurring after elective cholecystectomy has been widely debated. This double-blind, randomized study was conducted to compare the ...effectiveness and safety of cefuroxime with that of cefazolin in 295 patients undergoing elective cholecystectomy who were considered to be at high risk for postoperative infection. Patients were randomly assigned to receive either a single 1.5 gram dose of cefuroxime plus three doses of placebo, or four 1 gram doses of cefazolin. Each regimen was begun 30 to 60 minutes preoperatively and repeated every six hours for three doses postoperatively. Patients were evaluated during the hospitalization period and again at 30 days. All postoperative infections, including remote infections, were included in the definition of failure. Bacteriologic success rates were 95.5 percent in the cefuroxime group and 98.2 percent in the cefazolin group (p > 0.05). Corresponding clinical success rates were 91.4 and 94.9 percent (p > 0.05), respectively. There was no association between intraoperative bile cultures and the risk of failure or the type of microorganism isolated from postoperative infections. Both regimens were well-tolerated. In view of the additional costs and time associated with preparation and administration of multiple doses, a single preoperative 1.5 gram dose of cefuroxime may be a cost-effective alternative to four 1 gram doses of cefazolin in patients undergoing elective cholecystectomy who are at high risk for postoperative infection.
Biogenic amines and related compounds in the suboesophageal ganglia and the auricle and ventricle of the heart of the snail Helix lucorum L. have been identified and quantified using the technique of ...reversed phase ion-pair HPLC with amperometric detection. HPLC analysis revealed the presence of two catecholamines, Dopamine (DA) and Norepinephrine (NE), one indoleamine, Serotonin (5HT), its immediate precursor 5-Hydroxytryptophan (5HTP) and their metabolites 3,4-Dihydroxy phenylacetic acid (DOPAC) and 5-Hydroxyindole-3-acetic acid (5HIAA). Quantitatively, DA and 5HT were the most prominent monoamines detected, with the ganglia containing the highest concentrations of both. The ganglia contained also assayable amounts of NE and DOPAC.
Recent studies have documented that angiogenesis plays a significant role in haematological malignancies, including mylodysplastic syndromes (MDS). Basic fibroblast growth factor (b-FGF), Hepatocyte ...growth factor (HGF) and Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) are multifunctional cytokines that potently stimulate angiogenesis. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the microvascular density (MVD) and the serum levels of these angiogenic factors in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). In 61 patients with MDS, MVD was measured in bone marrow biopsies and b-FGF, HGF and TNF-alpha were determined in the serum of the same patients by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Serum levels of b-FGF, HGF and TNF-alpha as well as MVD in the bone marrow were increased in MDS patients compared to healthy controls (p<0.0001). Levels of b-FGF, HGF and TNF-alpha were also significantly higher in high-risk for leukemic transformation MDS than in low-risk (p<0.0001). Significant differences were also found regarding MVD in high and low risk patients (p<0.001). Both b-FGF and HGF levels were significant predictors of survival (p<0.0005, log-rank test). The present study showed that serum levels of b-FGF, HGF and TNF-alpha are significantly increased and dependent on the severity of MDS suggesting that the determination of these parameters may offer considerable information regarding disease progression and prognosis.
La FAO, Organización de las Naciones Unidas para la Alimentación y la Agricultura por sus siglas en inglés, orienta su trabajo a mitigar la pobreza, reducir el hambre entre otros aspectos; ...promoviendo la producción agrícola, el incremento de la productividad, el uso racional de los recursos naturales, todo ello, enfocado a lograr una mejor nutrición para alcanzar la seguridad y soberanía alimentaria de los pueblos, en el trabajo se expone el resultado de las acciones que como parte del proyecto que desarrolla esta organización en la microcuenca Membrillo del cantón Bolívar, en la que se han instalado sistemas de riego artesanales para la producción de hortalizas en huertos; productos que por lo general son comprados por pobladores a pesar de tener condiciones para producirlos. La producción de estos cultivos para el consumo directo y para generar excedentes para la comercialización es de vital importancia por cuanto se propicia la disponibilidad de productos de mejor calidad que cuando se adquieren en los mercados que pueden mermar en más de un 50% su calidad y permiten ahorrar entre $5.00 y $12.00 semanales según versiones de los productores. En el trabajo, además, se expone el impacto que desde el punto de vista de formación han tenido los estudiantes de ciencias agrícolas en su proceso de formación, con el programa de visitas a los sistemas de producción de riego, producción orgánica y otras alternativas, en la cuales los estudiantes expresan la satisfacción por conocer directamente las prácticas de los productores y las alternativas para la producción.Palabras clave: riego, profesionales, sistemas de producción, huertos, soberanía alimentariaABSTRACTThe Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), focuses its work to alleviate poverty, reduce hunger among other things, promoting agricultural production, increasing productivity, rational use of natural resources, everything focused on better nutrition to achieve food security and sovereignty of the people, this study discusses the results of actions as part of developing this project by the organization in the Membrillo watershed of Bolivar Canton, which installed irrigation systems for the production of vegetable in orchards, products that are usually bought by people despite having conditions of producing themselves. The production of these crops for direct consumption and generate surpluses after marketing is important since it facilitates the availability of better quality products instead of purchasing them in the market that reduces more than 50% of quality and saving between $ 5.00 and $ 12.00 per week as producers. This research, also discussed the impact from the training point of view of agricultural science students in their educational process, visiting the irrigated production systems, organic production and other alternatives, these students express satisfaction by direct knowledge of the producers’ practices and production alternatives.
Objective
To investigate the lymphocyte subpopulations (T4, T8 and macrophages) and major histocompatibility (MHC) II antigens in patients with superficial bladder cancer before and after ...intravesical instillations of recombinant interferon‐γ (IFN‐γ).
Patients and methods
Four intravesical weekly instillations of either 1.3 mg (20 patients, group A) or 0.7 mg (11 patients, group B) IFN‐γ were administered in 31 evaluable patients (28 men and three women, mean age 68.5 years). The CD4+, CD8+, CD68+and HLA‐DR antigens were detected immunohistochemically in tumours and a marker tumour before and after intravesical instillations.
Results
The median number of T4 lymphocytes increased from 15 per high‐power field (HPF) to 27.5 in group A (P=0.0029) and to 45 in group B (P=0.0117). Macrophages increased from 6 cells/HPF to 15 cells/HPF in group A (P=0.0029) and from 2 to 8.75 cells/HPF in group B (P=0.0117). The T8 lymphocyte subpopulation decreased from 4 to 3 cells/HPF (P=0.0231) in group A and from 5 to 2 cells/HPF (P=0.0759) in group B. The median percentage of HLA‐DR antigens increased from 1.5% to 18% in general, (P<0.001), from 2.5% to 15% in group A (P=0.0064) and from 0% to 20% in group B (P=0.0077). The induction of HLA‐DR antigens was statistically significant in those receiving the lower dose (from 0% before instillation to 20% afterward, P=0.0277), while it was not with the higher dose (from 0% to 5%, P=0.068). Irrespective of the dose of IFN used, T4 lymphocytes and macrophages increased significantly after treatment in patients in whom the tumour HLA‐DR antigens were either upregulated or remained stable. The median net increase in T4 cells was 17.5 and 30 cells/HPF for groups A and B, respectively (P=0.0429).
Conclusion
T4 lymphocytes, macrophages and HLA‐DR antigens increased after intravesical IFN‐γ in patients with superficial bladder cancer, but T8 lymphocytes decreased. Irrespective of the drug dose used, patients with either upregulated or stable HLA‐DR antigens after treatment showed the same pattern of changes in the lymphocyte subpopulations. The two doses generally had the same effect on the immunological variables assessed but the lower dose was more effective in inducing HLA‐DR antigens and in increasing the number of T4 lymphocytes in the tumours.
Sequential Symbolic Regression (SSR) is a technique that recursively induces functions over the error of the current solution, concatenating them in an attempt to reduce the error of the resulting ...model. As proof of concept, the method was previously evaluated in one-dimensional problems and compared with canonical Genetic Programming (GP) and Geometric Semantic Genetic Programming (GSGP). In this paper we revisit SSR exploring the method behaviour in higher dimensional, larger and more heterogeneous datasets. We discuss the difficulties arising from the application of the method to more complex problems, e.g., overfitting, along with suggestions to overcome them. An experimental analysis was conducted comparing SSR to GP and GSGP, showing SSR solutions are smaller than those generated by the GSGP with similar performance and more accurate than those generated by the canonical GP.
PDF