Background. From April through June 2008, we identified 12 patients in the intensive care unit and 3 patients on other wards infected with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus that was also ...resistant to linezolid. We investigated the mechanism of resistance —point mutations in domain V of 23S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) or presence of the cfr gene —involved in the outbreak. Methods. Strains for the study were obtained in the intensive care unit and other wards. Minimal inhibitory concentrations were determined using automated methods, the E-test, or dilution in Mueller-Hinton agar in accordance with Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute guidelines. Strains were genotyped using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and were sequenced to determine the presence of point mutations in 23S rRNA. The presence of the cfr gene was determined by specific polymerase chain reaction. Results. The minimal inhibitory concentrations of linezolid ranged from 16 mg/L to 32 mg/L, and all the strains were susceptible to tigecycline, vancomycin, and daptomycin. Typing of strains sequentially isolated by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis showed that each patient carried only 1 clonal type of linezolid-resistant, methicillin-resistant S. aureus as detected by sequential isolations. The presence of the cfr gene was confirmed in all the isolates. Furthermore, sequencing of domain V of 23S rRNA showed that the most common mechanism of linezolid resistance reported to date, mutation G2576T, was not detected in any of the strains analyzed. Conclusions. We report the presence of the cfr gene underlying the resistance mechanism involved in a clinical outbreak of linezolid-resistant S. aureus.
Introduction
In this study we used nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy in prostate tissue to provide new data on potential biomarkers of prostate cancer in patients eligible for prostate biopsy.
...Material and Methods
Core needle prostate tissue samples were obtained. After acquiring all the spectra using a Bruker Avance III DRX 600 spectrometer, tissue samples were subjected to routine histology to confirm presence or absence of prostate cancer. Univariate and multivariate analyses with metabolic and clinical variables were performed to predict the occurrence of prostate cancer.
Results
A total of 201 patients, were included in the study. Of all cores subjected to high‐resolution magic angle spinning (HR‐MAS) followed by standard histological study, 56 (27.8%) tested positive for carcinoma. According to HR‐MAS probe analysis, metabolic pathways such as glycolysis, the Krebs cycle, and the metabolism of different amino acids were associated with presence of prostate cancer. Metabolites detected in tissue such as citrate or glycerol‐3‐phosphocholine, together with prostate volume and suspicious rectal examination, formed a predictive model for prostate cancer in tissue with an area under the curve of 0.87, a specificity of 94%, a positive predictive value of 80% and a negative predictive value of 84%.
Conclusions
Metabolomics using HR‐MAS analysis can uncover a specific metabolic fingerprint of prostate cancer in prostate tissue, using a tissue core obtained by transrectal biopsy. This specific fingerprint is based on levels of citrate, glycerol‐3‐phosphocholine, glycine, carnitine, and 0‐phosphocholine. Several clinical variables, such as suspicious digital rectal examination and prostate volume, combined with these metabolites, form a predictive model to diagnose prostate cancer that has shown encouraging results.
Up to 22 June 2022, 508 confirmed cases of monkeypox (MPX) have been reported in the Madrid region of Spain, 99% are men (n = 503) with a median age of 35 years (range: 18-67). In this ongoing ...outbreak, 427 cases (84.1%) reported condomless sex or sex with multiple partners within the 21 days before onset of symptoms, who were predominantly men who have sex with men (MSM) (n = 397; 93%). Both the location of the rash, mainly in the anogenital and perineal area, as well as the presence of inguinal lymphadenopathy suggest that close physical contact during sexual activity played a key role in transmission. Several cases reported being at a sauna in the city of Madrid (n = 34) or a mass event held on the Spanish island of Gran Canaria (n = 27), activities which may represent a conducive environment for MPX virus spread, with many private parties also playing an important role. Because of the rapid implementation of MPX surveillance in Madrid, one of the largest outbreaks reported outside Africa was identified. To minimise transmission, we continue to actively work with LGBTIQ+ groups and associations, with the aim of raising awareness among people at risk and encouraging them to adopt preventive measures.
Abstract
Intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW) is a serious and overwhelming public concern. Neuroimaging techniques have provided insights into the brain mechanisms underlying IPVAW ...perpetration. The purpose of this study is to examine the resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) involving the process of social decision-making of male perpetrators. Twenty-six male perpetrators convicted for an IPVAW crime were compared to 29 men convicted for crimes other than IPVAW (other offenders) and 29 men with no criminal records (non-offenders) using a seed-based approach. Seeds were located in areas involved in reflective (prefrontal), impulsive (amygdala and striatum) and interoceptive (insula) processing. Then, as an exploratory analysis, the connectivity networks on male perpetrators were correlated with measures of executive functions and socioemotional self-report measures. Male perpetrators in comparison to other offenders and non-offenders, presented higher rsFC between prefrontal, limbic, brainstem, temporal and basal ganglia areas. Also male perpetrators showed higher rsFC between insula, default mode network and basal ganglia, while lower rsFC was found between prefrontal and motor areas and between amygdala, occipital and parietal areas. Exploratory correlations suggest that the specific rsFC in male perpetrators might be more related to socioemotional processes than to executive functions. These results showed that male perpetrators present a specific rsFC in brain systems that are essential for an adaptive social decision-making.
Ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) is widely used; however, the efficiency of extraction depends on the raw materials. Therefore, optimization of UAE must be investigated for each type of plant ...material. By-products from soursop fruit have not been studied as a source of bioactive compounds. In this work, the optimization of UAE conditions (extraction time (5, 10, and 15 min), pulse cycle (0.4, 0.7, and 1 s), and sonication amplitude (40%, 70%, and 100%)) for the extraction of phenolic compounds (soluble, hydrolyzable, condensed tannins, and total polyphenols) from soursop by-products (seed, peel, and columella) and pulp was evaluated using response surface methodology. The optimal conditions for UAE to obtain the highest total polyphenol content from by-products and pulp was dependent on the raw material. Peel resulted in the highest content of total polyphenols (187.32 mg/g dry matter DM) followed by columella (164.14 mg/g DM), seed (36.15 mg/g DM), and pulp (33.24 mg/g DM). The yield of polyphenolic content from peel and columella obtained with UAE was higher (32⁻37%) than conventional extraction for 2 h under stirring (14⁻16%). The contents of gallic acid (0.36⁻15.86 µg/g DM), coumaric acid (0.07⁻1.37 µg/g DM), and chlorogenic acid (9.18⁻32.67 µg/g DM) in the different parts of the fruit were higher in the extracts obtained by UAE compared with a conventional extraction method (0.08⁻0.61, 0.05⁻0.08, 3.15⁻13.08 µg/g DM, respectively), although it was dependent on the raw materials. Soursop by-products can be functionally important if they are used to extract bioactive compounds by UAE; a technology with high potential for commercial extraction on a large scale.
The availability of multiple treatments for type 1 Gaucher disease increases the need for real-life studies to evaluate treatment efficacy and safety and provide clinicians with more information to ...choose the best personalized therapy for their patients.
To determine whether treatment with eliglustat produces, in adult GD1 patients, ans optimal response in daily clinical practice.
We designed a real-life study with 2 years of follow-up (TRAZELGA GEE-ELI-2017-01) to uniformly evaluate the response and adverse events to eliglustat treatment. This study, conducted in 30 patients across Spain and previously treated with other therapies, included the evaluation of safety and efficacy by assessing visceral enlargement, bone disease (DEXA and T and Z scores), concomitant treatments and adverse events, as well as a quality of life evaluation (SF-36). In addition, the quantification of classical biomarkers (chitotriosidase activity, CCL18/PARC and glucosylsphingosine (GluSph)) and new candidates for GD biomarkers (YKL-40, cathepsin S, hepcidin and lipocalin-2 determined by immunoassay) were also assessed. Non-parametric statistical analysis was performed and p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Thirty patients were enrolled in the study. The median age was 41.5 years and the male-female ratio was 1.1:1. 84% of the patients had received ERT and 16% SRT as previous treatment. The most common symptoms at baseline were fatigue (42%) and bone pain (38%), no patient had a bone crisis during the study, and two years after switching, 37% had reduced their use of analgesics. Patient-reported outcomes showed a significant increase in physical function scores (p = 0.027) and physical pain scores (p = 0.010). None of the enrolled patients discontinued treatment due to adverse events, which were mild and transient in nature, mainly gastrointestinal and skin dryness. None of the biomarkers show a significant increase or decompensation after switching. CCL18/PARC (p = 0.0012), YKL-40 (p = 0.00004) and lipocalin-2 (p = 0.0155) improved after two years and GluSph after one year (p = 0.0008) and two years (p = 0.0245) of oral therapy.
In summary, this real-life study, showed that eliglustat maintains stability and can improve quality of life with few side effects. Significant reductions in classic and other novel biomarkers were observed after two years of therapy.
It is not standardised what is the endometrial thickness that discriminates between normal and potentially malignant. The objective of this study was to determine the endometrial thickness cut-off ...point from which the risk of endometrial cancer (EC) increases in asymptomatic postmenopausal women; and to evaluate the risk factors linked to malignant endometrial pathology as well as other associated ultrasound findings.
This was a retrospective observational study that included hysteroscopies performed at the Hospital Materno-Infantil on 267 asymptomatic menopausal women with an increase in endometrial thickness (AET) >5 mm, from 2015 to 2019. The results shows that the prevalence of malignant pathology in asymptomatic postmenopausal women with a casual finding of endometrial thickening was 3.7%. This percentage was 16.3% when the cut-off point of AET was established at 10 mm. There was a significant association for the diagnosis of malignant pathology with this cut-off point.
There is a significant association between the 10 mm endometrial thickness cut-off point from which the risk of EC increases in asymptomatic postmenopausal women.
Impact statement
What is already known on this subject? Several studies have established the cut-off point for asymptomatic endometrial thickening (AET) for atypical endometrial hyperplasia and endometrial cancer at 10 mm. Although no cut-off point has optimal accuracy for the diagnosis of malignant endometrial pathology, it has been found that with a cut-off value of AET >10 mm no cases are missed. Likewise, a cut-off point of AET > 11 mm may provide a balance between cancer detection and histopathological workup extension.
What do the results of this study add? A significant association was found at the cut-off point of AET > 10 mm, which suggests that screening postmenopausal women at this thickness is acceptable and unlikely to miss cases of endometrial hyperplasia and endometrial cancer.
What are the implications of these findings for clinical practice and/or further research? After analysing our results we can conclude, like other published studies, that by establishing a cut-off point of 10 mm we obtain a good discrimination between benign and malignant pathology, which would allow us to diagnose 100% of malignant pathology. Above this cut-off point, the risk of endometrial cancer increases, and it would therefore be advisable to extend the study. A multicentre study is needed to confirm the cut-off point at which the risk of endometrial cancer increases in postmenopausal women with asymptomatic endometrial thickening.
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•Truffle aromatic compounds can be trapped by sunflower oil and honey.•Fresh truffle is more suitable than freeze-dried in a 24 h aromatization process.•Sulphurous attributes were ...scored highly in fresh truffle home-made products.•Pasteurization is preferable to sterilization to preserve truffle aromatic compounds.
Truffles are highly valued by their aromatic properties and can aromatize food products. However, the truffle aroma could be reduced or lost with heat treatments (pasteurization and sterilization) necessary for products security and safety. In this study, sunflower oil and honey were aromatized with black truffle (lyophilized and fresh) using two different concentrations (5 and 10 %) for 24 h and then heat treatments (pasteurization and sterilization) were carried out. Truffle organic volatile compounds from products were investigated by SPME-GC–MS and sensory analysis by trained panel. More than 80 compounds were detected. Some of them were affected differently by heat process depending on the food matrix. Professional tasters scored higher key aromatic attributes such as sulphurous and olive oil in fresh truffle products, regardless the heat treatment applied.
Truffles are a well-known worldwide product mainly appreciated by their unique aroma, which is composed by more than 50 volatile compounds. However, to this day, no one has accomplished to find the ...aromatic key that evokes the real aroma of truffles for its use as food flavoring. Among them, black truffle was selected for extraction with supercritical fluids using CO2 as solvent recovering natural truffle aroma fraction. To achieve the optimal extraction ratio, time, pressure and grapeseed oil addition to the separators were evaluated. Aroma from black truffle powder, extracts obtained, and residual cakes fractions were characterized by headspace gas chromatography-spectrometry and olfactometry techniques. The results indicated that optimal extraction conditions were 30 MPa for 3 h. Also, grapeseed oil addition enhanced trapping some key truffle aromatic compounds as 2,3-butanodione, 2-methyl-1-butanol, octanal and dimethyl disulphide. Olfactometry study showed the aromatic profile of the extracts indicating the molecules ethyl pentanoate (fruity), 1-hexen-3-one (metallic) and ethyl hexanoate (fruity) as the main compounds of extracts samples. For the first time, a natural truffle aroma has been obtained using low-value truffles. After aromatic extraction, carbohydrates, proteins, and phenolic compounds were analysed within the residues, showing a potential source of bioactive compounds.
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•SFE-CO2 (30 MPa, 3 h) generated enrich odor fractions from black truffle.•Grapeseed oil addition into the separators helped to trap key volatile compounds.•A total of 91 volatile and 36 odor compounds were detected by HS-GC-MS and CG-O.•The bioactive compounds from truffle were not affected after SFE extraction.
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