This article sets out to explore the extent to which the maritime policies that have been formulated in recent years are public policies on a par with other State-level policies, or whether the ...geographical domain where they are applied makes them exceptional. Maritime policy and territorial structure are very closely related, and it can be seen that maritime policies are beginning to shift towards the domain of State internal affairs, necessitating the rethinking of the way powers are distributed between territorial bodies that have the legal power to be involved in the formulation of these policies and some instruments, such as marine spatial planning.
Avocado is one of the most important fruits in the world. Avocado “native mexicano” (Persea americana var. drymifolia) seeds are widely used in the propagation of this plant and are the primary ...source of rootstocks globally for a variety of avocado cultivars, such as the Hass avocado. Here, we report the isolation of 5005 ESTs from the 5′ ends of P. americana var. drymifolia seed cDNA clones representing 1584 possible unigenes. These avocado seed ESTs were compared with the avocado flower EST library, and we detected several genes that are expressed either in both tissues or only in the seed. The snakin gene, which encodes an element of the innate immune response in plants, was one of those most frequently found among the seed ESTs, and this suggests that it is abundantly expressed in the avocado seed. We expressed the snakin gene in a heterologous system, namely the bovine endothelial cell line BVE-E6E7. Conditioned media from transfected BVE-E6E7 cells showed antimicrobial activity against strains of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. This is the first study of the function of the snakin gene in plant seed tissue, and our observations suggest that this gene might play a protective role in the avocado seed.
•A ESTs collection was obtained from avocado seed.•Abundant expression genes preferentially seed expressed are reported.•A gene expressed in the seed codifies for snakin, an antimicrobial peptide (PA).•Heterologous expression of this gene show antimicrobial activity.•This is the first report of a snakin gene isolated from an avocado seed.
The growing use of biomaterials with different therapeutic purposes increases the need for their physiological understanding as well as to seek its integration with the human body. Chronic ...inflammatory local pathologies, generally associated with infectious or autoimmunity processes, have been a current therapeutic target due to the difficulty in their treatment. The recent development of biomaterials with immunomodulatory capacity would then become one of the possible strategies for their management in local pathologies, by intervening in situ, without generating alterations in the systemic immune response. The treatment of periodontal disease as an inflammatory entity has involved the use of different approaches and biomaterials. There is no conclusive, high evidence about the use of these biomaterials in the regeneration of periodontitis sequelae, so the profession keeps looking for other different strategies. The use of biomaterials with immunomodulatory properties could be one, with a promising future. This review of the literature summarizes the scientific evidence about biomaterials used in the treatment of periodontal disease.
Background: Mineral intake may protect against cognitive impairment (CI) and all-cause dementia, which affects a large number of adults worldwide. The aim of this study was to investigate the ...association between mineral intake and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), which is a sensitive and specific test. Methods: In total, 201 adults were included in a cross-sectional study. They completed a three-day dietary record to estimate their average daily intake of minerals. Contributions to dietary reference intakes (DRIs) were also calculated. The participants were divided into tertiles according to their mineral intake. CI classifications were determined via the MoCA (score < 26). Apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotyping was carried out, and the patients’ anthropometric measurements and physical activity, health and personal data were collected. Results: The prevalence of CI in this selective sample was 54.2% (34.3% females and 19.9% males). In women, being in the third tertiles of iron and manganese intake was associated with lower odds of having CI (OR 95% CI: 0.32 0.11 ± 0.93; 0.33 0.12 ± 0.93, p < 0.05). No significant differences were observed for any of the nutrients studied in men. Conclusions: These findings suggest that a low mineral intake, especially low iron and manganese intake in women, is associated with a worse cognition as assessed by MoCA.
One of the most common and severe complications affecting peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients is exit-site infection of the peritoneal catheter; it is therefore of vital importance to prevent it. This ...complication has a negative impact on the success of the technique. In spite of this, there are no clear guidelines concerning how to take care of the exit site. The objective of this study was to assess the efficacy of polyhexanide in preventing exit-site infection over a 12-month period.
We designed a single-center, prospective, open-labeled, randomized controlled clinical trial with parallel groups. Requirements for participation in the study included implantation of the peritoneal catheter at least six weeks before entering the study and no infectious complications requiring either hospital admission or antibiotic treatment for at least three months before entering into the study. Patients were randomized to be daily cured as follows: Group A: traditional care with saline serum and povidone-iodine; and Group B: polyhexanide solution. Exit sites were evaluated at baseline and every four to six weeks or if any event occurred, according to the Twardowski criteria.
Of the 60 included patients, 46 completed the 12-month follow-up period. Six underwent transplantation, five died and three were transferred to hemodialysis (HD). The treatment was well tolerated, with no side effects nor abandonments due to such effects. Throughout the study period, six patients (20%) undergoing traditional care and only two (6,7%) receiving polyhexanide developed an exit-site infection (p = 0.032). There were a total number of 12 infections; nine occurred in patients following the traditional approach and only three in patients treated with polyhexanide (p = 0.037). The germs responsible for the infections were: S. aureus (six cases), Corynebacterium jeikeium (two cases) and P. aeruginosa (one case) in the saline serum and povidone-iodine group and P. aeruginosa (three cases) in the polyhexanide group. The mean rate of exit-site infection was 1 episode/36.6 patient-months for the traditional care group and 1 episode/102.7 patient-months for the polyhexanide group (p = 0.017). Patients following the traditional treatment required fewer days to get infected than those using polyhexanide (p = 0.033; log rank: 4.2).
These results show that using polyhexanide is efficient for the prevention of exit-site infections. Patients treated with this product suffer from fewer infections and need more time to become infected. Polyhexanide application is painless, no allergies have been described and it is well tolerated by patients. We therefore propose that it may be used routinely from now on for the care of healthy exit site.
(1) Background: The liver-first approach may be indicated for colorectal cancer patients with synchronous liver metastases to whom preoperative chemotherapy opens a potential window in which liver ...resection may be undertaken. This study aims to present the data of feasibility and short-term outcomes in the liver-first approach. (2) Methods: A prospective observational study was performed in Spanish hospitals that had a medium/high-volume of HPB surgeries from 1 June 2019 to 31 August 2020. (3) Results: In total, 40 hospitals participated, including a total of 2288 hepatectomies, 1350 for colorectal liver metastases, 150 of them (11.1%) using the liver-first approach, 63 (42.0%) in hospitals performing <50 hepatectomies/year. The proportion of patients as ASA III was significantly higher in centers performing ≥50 hepatectomies/year (difference: 18.9%;
= 0.0213). In 81.1% of the cases, the primary tumor was in the rectum or sigmoid colon. In total, 40% of the patients underwent major hepatectomies. The surgical approach was open surgery in 87 (58.0%) patients. Resection margins were R0 in 78.5% of the patients. In total, 40 (26.7%) patients had complications after the liver resection and 36 (27.3%) had complications after the primary resection. One-hundred and thirty-two (89.3%) patients completed the therapeutic regime. (4) Conclusions: There were no differences in the surgical outcomes between the centers performing <50 and ≥50 hepatectomies/year. Further analysis evaluating factors associated with clinical outcomes and determining the best candidates for this approach will be subsequently conducted.
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