The entrainment phenomenon, by which an oscillator adjusts its natural rhythm to an external periodic signal, has been observed in many natural systems. Recently, attention has focused on which are ...the optimal conditions for achieving entrainment. Here we use a semiconductor laser with optical feedback, operating in the low-frequency fluctuations (LFFs) regime, as a testbed for a controlled entrainment experiment. In the LFF regime the laser intensity displays abrupt spikes, which can be entrained to a weak periodic signal that directly modulates the laser pump current. We compare the performance of three modulation waveforms for producing 1:1 locking (one spike is emitted in each modulation cycle), as well as higher order locking regimes. We characterize the parameter regions where high-quality locking occurs, and those where the laser emits spikes which are not entrained to the external signal. The role of the modulation amplitude and frequency, and the role of the dc value of the laser pump current (that controls the natural spike frequency) in the entrainment quality are discussed.
The healthcare programs of the Region of Tuscany (Italy) have started the process of integration of some types of complementary medicine (CM), including homeopathy, which began in 1996. The ...Homeopathic Clinic of Lucca was opened in 1998, followed by the Homeopathic Clinic for Women in 2003, and the Clinic for CM and Diet in Oncology in 2013.
Observational longitudinal studies conducted on 5,877 patients (3,937 in the general clinic, 1,606 in the women's clinic and 334 in oncology) were consecutively examined from 2003 to 2016. The Outcome in Relation to Impact on Daily Living (ORIDL) was generally used to assess outcomes.
Comparing the clinical conditions before and after homeopathic treatment, improvement was observed in 88.8% of general medicine patients with follow-up (45.1%); in particular, 68.1% of the patients had a major improvement in or resolution (ORIDL +2, +3, +4) of their condition. In women, an improvement was obtained in 74.1% cases and a major improvement in 61.2%. In cancer patients with homeopathic and integrative treatment, a significant improvement was observed for all the symptoms during anti-cancer therapy, particularly for hot flashes, nausea, depression, asthenia, and anxiety.
These results suggest that homeopathy can effectively be integrated with allopathic medicine and that the Tuscan experience could provide a useful reference for developing national and European regulations on the use of CM and homeopathy in public healthcare.
El uso continuado de los fungicidas tiabendazol e imazalil en los empaques citrícolas de la región del río Uruguay ha llevado a la selección y proliferación de aislamientos de moho verde resistentes; ...este hongo es la principal causa de podredumbres en poscosecha. Recientemente, el fungicida pirimetanil (anilino-pirimidina) (PYR) se ha incorporado a los programas de control de esta enfermedad. El objetivo del presente trabajo fue estudiar la resistencia a este fungicida de una colección de aislamientos, obtenida luego de que este principio activo se incorporara a los programas de control en los empaques citrícolas durante un período de aproximadamente 5 años. 122 aislamientos de moho verde fueron recolectados desde Monte Caseros (Corrientes) hasta Concordia (Entre Ríos) durante 2015. Estos fueron obtenidos de frutos con síntomas del patógeno en campo y empaque. Se determinó la concentración de PYR que reduce el crecimiento de las colonias en un 50% (EC50) para cada aislamiento. La EC50 media de los aislamientos recolectados en campo fue de 0,16 ± 0,02 μg mL-1. No se observaron aislamientos resistentes en campo donde el fungicida no es usado. Por el contrario, el 64,4% de los aislamientos recolectados en empaques se muestran resistentes a PYR, con una EC50 media de 5,51 ± 0,37 μg mL-1. Los sensibles presentan una EC50 media de 0,20 ± 0,02 μg mL-1. La información suministrada en este trabajo resulta importante en el monitoreo de la susceptibilidad del moho verde al fungicida PYR en la región citrícola del río Uruguay. La incorporación de este fungicida en los programas de control de moho verde debe hacerse en forma cuidadosa, implementando distintas estrategias para lograr resultados efectivos.
Los frutos cítricos de maduración temprana producidos en la Argentina y que son destinados a la exportación, son sometidos a un desverdizado y tiempo de atemperado (descanso) antes de su procesado. ...Los efectos de la aplicación de etileno y la conservación refrigerada sobre la calidad de los cítricos están bien documentados, sin embargo, no se conoce la influencia de las condiciones del descanso seguidas de una conservación refrigerada en la calidad de estos frutos. En este estudio se evaluaron mandarinas de la variedad Satsuma en distintas condiciones de temperatura, humedad relativa (HR) y contenido de dióxido de carbono (CO2) durante el descanso; como así también distintas concentraciones de CO2 en un almacenamiento refrigerado. El desverdizado se realizó con 1-3 ppm de etileno, durante 72 h a 21 ºC y 90% HR. En el descanso se evaluaron condiciones ambientales, 21 ºC con y sin control de humedad relativa y frutos envueltos con polietileno a 21 ºC. Luego las mandarinas fueron procesadas en una línea de empaque y almacenadas a 5 ºC durante 25 días. Para evaluar la influencia del CO2 en la conservación, los frutos fueron envueltos con polietileno y almacenados a 5 ºC con revisaciones a los 30 y 60 días. Se determinó que las condiciones en las que se realiza el descanso influyen en la calidad de los cítricos y que dichas alteraciones se mantienen hasta el final de la comercialización. Contenidos elevados de CO2 durante el descanso no retrasan la evolución del color; sin embargo, los elevados porcentajes de pérdida de peso durante este período provocaron alteraciones en la piel de los frutos luego del almacenamiento refrigerado. Concentraciones altas de CO2 en la conservación favorecieron la aparición de alteraciones en la piel de los frutos que no son habituales en esta variedad y no se encuentran documentadas.
Variations in cancer cell adhesion to extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins might underlie an enhanced metastatic potential. ECM binding is mediated by cell-adhesion molecules, the membrane expression ...of which might be influenced by soluble mediators, such as cytokines. The aims of our study were to ascertain whether epidermal growth factor (EGF), transforming growth factor beta1 (TGF-beta1), interleukin 1alpha (IL-1alpha), or interleukin 1beta (IL-1beta) can modify MIA PaCa 2 (pancreatic cancer cell line) and CAPAN-1 (metastatic pancreatic cancer cell line) adhesion to fibronectin, laminin, or type I collagen, and whether these cytokines can shift the membrane expression of the hyaluronic acid receptor (CD44). EGF significantly enhanced MIA PaCa 2, but not CAPAN-1, adhesion to fibronectin, laminin, and type I collagen. TGF-beta1 reduced MIA PaCa 2 adhesion to type I collagen, but enhanced CAPAN-1 adhesion to fibronectin and laminin. IL-1alpha was found to enhance MIA PaCa 2 adhesion to fibronectin, while reducing adhesion to type I collagen, whereas IL-1beta reduced the adhesion to laminin. IL-1alpha enhanced CAPAN-1 adhesion to laminin in a dose-dependent manner; IL-1beta slightly increased the adhesion of these cells to laminin at low dosage, and to type I collagen at high dosage. Both IL-1alpha and IL-1beta reduced CD44 membrane expression of MIA PaCa 2, while TGF-beta1 increased the percentage of CD44-positive CAPAN-1 cells. We suggest that the effects on cell adhesion induced by different cytokines depend on the status of the target pancreatic cancer cell. EGF and, in part, IL-1alpha can favor nonmetastatic pancreatic cancer cell adhesion to ECM, possibly favoring tumor spread. Metastatic cells seem to lose the responsiveness to EGF, while becoming hyperresponsive to IL-1alpha. TGF-beta1 might exert an antidiffusive effect on primary, and a prodiffusive effect on metastatic pancreatic cancer cells. Only IL-1alpha, IL-1beta, and TGF-beta1 seem to influence CD44 membrane expression. All the results presented in this study were obtained in vitro, and in vivo studies are needed to verify whether the studied cytokines can favor or counteract pancreatic cancer spread.
To analyze seizure control and treatment in pregnant women with epilepsy.
Seizure control and treatment were recorded prospectively in 1,956 pregnancies of 1,882 women with epilepsy participating in ...EURAP, an international antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) and pregnancy registry.
Of all cases, 58.3% were seizure-free throughout pregnancy. Occurrence of any seizures was associated with localization-related epilepsy (OR: 2.5; 1.7 to 3.9) and polytherapy (OR: 9.0; 5.6 to 14.8) and for tonic-clonic seizures, with oxcarbazepine monotherapy (OR: 5.4; 1.6 to 17.1). Using first trimester as reference, seizure control remained unchanged throughout pregnancy in 63.6%, 92.7% of whom were seizure-free during the entire pregnancy. For those with a change in seizure frequency, 17.3% had an increase and 15.9% a decrease. Seizures occurred during delivery in 60 pregnancies (3.5%), more commonly in women with seizures during pregnancy (OR: 4.8; 2.3 to 10.0). There were 36 cases of status epilepticus (12 convulsive), which resulted in stillbirth in one case but no cases of miscarriage or maternal mortality. AED treatment remained unchanged in 62.7% of the pregnancies. The number or dosage of AEDs were more often increased in pregnancies with seizures (OR: 3.6; 2.8 to 4.7) and with monotherapy with lamotrigine (OR: 3.8; 2.1 to 6.9) or oxcarbazepine (OR: 3.7; 1.1 to 12.9).
The majority of patients with epilepsy maintain seizure control during pregnancy. The apparently higher risk of seizures among women treated with oxcarbazepine and the more frequent increases in drug load in the oxcarbazepine and lamotrigine cohorts prompts further studies on relationships with pharmacokinetic changes. Risks associated with status epilepticus appear to be lower than previously reported.
A reduced glucose tolerance or frank diabetes mellitus is a frequent finding in patients with pancreatic cancer. The aim of this study was to verify whether the pancreatic cancer cell line MIA PaCa2 ...was able to produce any factor which could induce hyperglycemia in SCID (severe complete immunodeficient) mice. MIA PaCa2 cells were cultured in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium (DMEM) for 7 days. Twenty-five female SCID mice were used. They were daily i.p. injected with 300 ul of cell culture supernatants (Group T, n = 13) or with 300 ul of DMEM (Group C, n = 12) and followed up for 82 days. Blood glucose levels were significantly higher in Group T than in Group C on days 10 and 25. Intravenous glucose tolerance test, success-fully performed in 9 animals (4 controls and 5 treated), demonstrated a significantly reduced glucose tolerance in Group T compared to Group C mice. At sacrifice, plasma and pancreatic insulin and glucagon levels did not vary between groups. The ratio between pancreatic and plasma insulin was significantly lower in Group T than in Group C. We conclude that: 1. The pancreatic cancer cell line MIA PaCa2 produces one or more soluble factors able to cause hyperglycemia in vivo; 2. this effect is not immunologically mediated, and 3. this/these factor/s could both interfere with the pancreatic beta cells and/or with insulin peripheral action.
The aim of this study was to assess the behavior of fasting serum glucose, C-peptide levels and OGTT in pancreatic cancer follow-up. We studied 49 patients with pancreatic cancer (stage I = 8 pts; II ...= 16 pts; III = 12 pts; IV = 13 pts). At diagnosis 13/49 patients had fasting serum glucose levels of above 140 mg/dL. Of the remaining 36 pts, 22 underwent OGTT, which indicated diabetes mellitus in 9/22 (41%) and impaired glucose tolerance in 7/22 (32%) cases. C-peptide basal values were within the normal range (0.8-2.0 micrograms/L) in 14/49 (28%), above 2.0 micrograms/L in 6/49 (13%) and below 0.8 micrograms/L in 29/49 (59%) of the cases. No significant correlation was found between tumor stage or size and the presence of diabetes or of a reduced glucose tolerance. Twenty-four patients underwent curative resection (group 1) and 16 palliative resection, while the remaining nine did not undergo surgery (group 2). Group 1 and 2 patients had a follow-up of 2 to 40 months (mean = 14 months) and from 1 to 7.5 months (mean = 3.5 months) respectively. In group 1 patients no significant difference was found between pre- and post-operative fasting serum glucose levels. However, in 11/15 (73%) patients who underwent OGTT before and after surgery, an improvement in glucose tolerance was observed after tumor resection. In group 2 patients, a significant increase in fasting serum glucose levels was found during follow-up. In neither of the groups studied were significant variations found in C-peptide levels during the follow-up, although a slight increase was observed in patients who did not undergo surgery. In conclusion, the reduced glucose tolerance or frank diabetes mellitus, which frequently occurs during the onset of pancreatic cancer, does not seem to be related to tumor stage or size. Curative resection ameliorates glucose intolerance, while tumor persistence can enhance serum glucose levels.
The aims of this study were (1) to assess possible variations in the serum levels of epidermal growth factor (EGF), insulin-like growth factor I (IGF I) and somatostatin in patients with pancreatic ...cancer as compared to other pancreatic or extrapancreatic diseases and (2) to ascertain the role of these substances in tumour growth and spread. 35 patients with pancreatic cancer were compared to 15 patients with chronic pancreatitis, 15 with benign hepatobiliary diseases, 23 with benign or malignant gastro-intestinal diseases and 22 control subjects. Increased EGF and IGF I serum levels were found in 10% of patients with pancreatic cancer. Somatostatin levels were increased in 8/16 (50%) patients with pancreatic cancer. No correlation was found between EGF, IGF I or somatostatin and tumour size or stage. In pancreatic cancer somatostatin serum levels were correlated with total bilirubin (p < 0.04), while EGF and IGF I were inversely correlated with fasting serum glucose levels (p < 0.05). In conclusion, (1) the serum levels of EGF, IGF I and somatostatin were not related to tumour size and clinical stage of pancreatic cancer, (2) the serum levels EGF and IGF I may be related to altered glucose metabolism, and (3) liver impairment can influence somatostatin serum levels.
PDF
