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The floristic diversity in two plots of 0.1 ha of two subandean forest, in Amazonian (La Campucana, Putumayo) and Pacific (Ñarnbí, Nariño) Andean slopes at southwestern Colombia, was studied. The La Campucana forest was more diverse (269 species, 69 families and 158 genera) than Ñambí forest (205 species, 59 families and 122 genera). Rubiaceae was the most diverse family in both localities, followed byAraceae and Melastomataceae in Ñambí and Lauraceae and Sapotaceae in La Campucana. The distribution of life forms ts as follows: there were 32% trees, 28% treelets in Ñambí, and herbs and climbers are structurally more important than shrubs, lianes and hemiepiphytes. In La Campucana there were 49% of trees, 22% treelets; herbs and shrubs were less important while the lianas were more important. Species with dbh > 2.5 cm were more abundant in La Campucana than in Ñambí. The number of individuals was higher in La Campucana (1444) than in Ñambí (1349). At the specific level the similarity between regions was low. The diversity and dominance indexes showed that the two sampled forests were highly diversified.Se realizó un estudio comparativo de la diversidad florística en dos localidades entre 1350 y 1450 m de altitud, en las vertientes amazónica (La Campucana, Putumayo) y pacífica (Ñambí, Nariño) al sur de Colombia. En 0.1 ha se muestrearon todos los individuos con DAP mayor o igual a 1 cm. El número de especies fue mayor en el bosque de La Campucana (269 especies, 69 familias y 158 géneros), que en Ñambí (205 especies, 59 familias y 122 géneros). Rubiaceae fue la familia con mayor diversidad específica en las dos localidades, seguida por Araceae y Melastomataceae en Ñambí, y Lauraceae y Sapotaceae en La Campucana. En Ñambí el 32 % de las especies fueron árboles, el 28 % arbolitos; las hierbas y trepadoras herbáceas fueron más importantes que los arbustos, bejucos y hemiepífitos. En La Campucana, el 49 % fueron árboles, el 22 % arbolitos, los bejucos tuvieron mayor importancia estructural y las hierbas y arbustos estuvieron en muy baja proporción. En La Campucana el número de especies con diámetros mayores de 2.5 cm fue mayor, mientras que en Ñambí hay más especies con diámetros menores. En Ñambí se encontraron 1347 individuos y en La Campucana 1444. Los índices de similitud entre las dos localidades son muy bajos. Los índices de diversidad indican que los dos bosques estudiados son muy diversos.

Condalia thomasiana (Rhamnaceae), a new species representing the first report of this genus for Colombia, is described and illustrated. Some ecological and taxonomic aspects of the species are discussed and a key for the nearest species and one for the colombian genera of the family are presented.Se describe e ilustra Condalia thomasiana, una nueva especie de Rhamnaceae, que constituye el primer registro de este género para Colombia. Se comentan aspectos ecológicos y afinidades taxonómicas de la nueva especie. Se presenta una clave para las especies consideradas más cercanas y una para los géneros de ramnáceas conocidos en Colombia.

The systematic position of Phragmotheca in the tribe quararibeae is discussed and a key for the Bombacaceae with simple or unifoliolate leaves occurring in northern South America is included. The diagnostic utility of some characters in the segregation of species in Phragmotheca, is reviewed and a diagnostic key is presented. Four new species and two new infraspecific taxa are described and illustrated: P.rubriflora, P.lemniscata, P.hydra, P.siderosa subsp. megacarpa and P. amazonica varo leticiana from Colombia and P.sidereotricha from Perú.Se comenta la posición sistemática de Phragmotheca en relación con la tribu Quararibeae y se incluye una clave para la separación de los géneros de bombacáceas de hoja entera o unifoliolada del norte de Suramérica. Se revisa la utilidad de algunos caracteres en la separación de las especies y se presenta una clave diagnóstica. Se describen e ilustran 4 nuevas especies y dos taxones infraespecíficos P. rubriflora, P. lemniscata, P. hydra, P. siderosa subsp. megacarpa, P. amazonica varo leticiana de Colombia y P. sidereotricha de Perú.

The distribution in Colombia of Anetanthus (Gesneriaceae) at one species with two subspecies in its territory is presented. One of this, new subspecies, is described and illustrated in this note.Se presenta la distribución en Colombia del género Anetanthus (Gesneriaceae), representado en el territorio por una especie con dos subespecies. Una de ellas, subespecie nueva, se describe e ilustra en esta nota.

Dentro del grupo de géneros de bombacáceas de hojas simples que componen la tribu Quararibeae (= Matisieae Hutchinson), es Matisia Humb. & Bonpl. el que cuenta con mayor número de especies en Colombia. Al respecto se presentaron recientemente algunas consideraciones preliminares sobre la diversidad de especies en este grupo en Colombia (Fernández Alonso, 1991).

Se describe una nueva especie del género Aragoa H.B.K. (Scrophulariaceae). A. romeroi Fernández Alonso, propia de zonas subparamunas de la Sierra de Perijá, Cordillera Oriental, Colombia. Se subdivide el género en tres "grupos" de especies, comentándose su relación morfológica y fitogeográfica. Paralelamente se discute la ubicación de la nueva especie dentro del género. A new species of Aragoa H.B.K. (Scrophulariaceae), A. romeroi Fernández Alonso, characteristic of the subparamo zone of the Sierra de Perijá, Eastern Cordillera, Colombia is described. A division of the genus in three groups is made and their morphological and phytogeographical relationships are commented. Simultaneously, the location of the new species within the genus is discussed.

A 52 year old man who had been receiving haemodialysis for 13 years, with a history of renal tuberculosis, right ischial tuberculous osteomyelitis, and dialysis arthropathy, developed a soft tissue tumour in his left buttock. Histological analysis, immunohistological staining, and electron microscopic examination of the surgically removed tumour showed massive deposits of beta 2-microglobulin (beta 2-M) amyloid. This case shows the expanding clinical spectrum of this type of amyloidosis, and it is suggested that amyloid infiltration should be considered in the differential diagnosis of gluteal tumours in these patients. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Potato, one of the most important staple crops, originates from the highlands of the equatorial Andes. There, potatoes propagate vegetatively via tubers under short days, constant throughout the year. After their introduction to Europe in the sixteenth century, potatoes adapted to a shorter growing season and to tuber formation under long days. Here, we traced the demographic and adaptive history of potato introduction to Europe. To this end, we sequenced 88 individuals that comprise landraces, modern cultivars and historical herbarium samples, including specimens collected by Darwin during the voyage of the Beagle. Our findings show that European potatoes collected during the period 1650-1750 were closely related to Andean landraces. After their introduction to Europe, potatoes admixed with Chilean genotypes. We identified candidate genes putatively involved in long-day pre-adaptation, and showed that the 1650-1750 European individuals were not long-day adapted through previously described allelic variants of the CYCLING DOF FACTOR1 gene. Such allelic variants were detected in Europe during the nineteenth century. Our study highlights the power of combining contemporary and historical genomes to understand the complex evolutionary history of crop adaptation to new environments.

Background: Production of antibodies against donor-specific antigens is one of the central mechanisms of allograft rejection. This antibody-mediated rejection (AMR) is evidenced by the presence of circulating donor-specific antibodies and deposition of complement component C4d on renal endothelium. Although anti-human leukocyte antigen (HLA) antibodies account for a high proportion of AMR, in many cases anti-HLA antibodies cannot be demonstrated. In liver transplant, antibodies against glutathione-S-transferase T1 (GSTT1) expressed on the graft may induce an antibody response leading to a severe graft dysfunction. In addition, presence of antibodies against major-histocompatibility-complex class I chain-related gene A (MICA) has been associated with a poor graft survival in kidney transplantation., Methods: Pre- and posttransplantation sera from 19 patients fulfilling the criteria for AMR including C4d deposition in renal biopsies were included. Donor-specific antibodies against HLA-I and -II and MICA were studied using Luminex. Anti-GSTT1 antibodies were analyzed by indirect immunofluorescence and by an ELISA method. A control group of 39 patients with graft dysfunction negative for C4d was also included., Results: At the time of the biopsy, 4 (21%) patients had only anti-HLA class I antibodies; 3 (15.8%) had anti-GSTT1, 2 (10.5%) had anti-HLA-class II, and 2 (10.5%) had anti-MICA; four patients had combination of antibodies: HLA-I + MICA (n=1), HLA-I + GSTT1 (n=2), and GSTT1+MICA (n=1). No antibodies were found in 4 (21%) patients. In total, 6 (31.6%) C4d+ patients had anti-GSTT1 antibodies, whereas, among the 39 C4d-negative patients, only 3 (7.7%) had anti-GSTT1 antibodies (P=0.027)., Conclusion: Besides anti-HLA antibodies, donor-specific antibodies against MICA and GSTT1 antigens could be responsible for the occurrence of antibody-mediated kidney graft rejection.

Unlabelled: The Light chain deposition disease (LCDD) is a strange entity characterised by the deposition of only one type of light chain in the renal tubular basement membranes. It can be associated to a plasma cell dyscrasia, however, it can occur in the absence of any detectable hematological disorder and it is called idiopathic LCDD. The clinical manifestation is renal insufficiency and nephrotic proteinuria, it does not have a clearly fixed treatment and has a severe prognosis. The aim of this work is to analyse the characteristics of the LCDD cases diagnosed within our environment. Six cases were identified, all of them between 1999 and 2005, from a total amount of 640 renal biopsies performed during this period, 4 women and 2 men, average age of 57. Multiple myeloma in 3 patients were detected (50%). The acute renal failure or rapidly progressive renal insufficiency was the most frequent clinical presentation (66%) together with nephrotic proteinuria (66%). All the biopsies showed tubular basement membranes thickening and kappa chains with a linear distribution within the same. The most frequent glomerular pathological finding was the nodular sclerosing glomerulopathy (83%). In one of the cases the affectation was exclusively tubular interstitial with tubular casts. 3 patients were treated, 2 with multiple myeloma. 5 patients needed dialysis: 3 with idiopathic LCDD within an average time of 7 days from the diagnosis to its reception and 2 with myeloma, who started needing dialysis in an average of 46 days. 4 patients died, 2 of them with myeloma. The monitoring time until the death was 13 weeks for the patients with myeloma and 110 weeks for the rest., Conclusion: The LCDD seems to be more frequent than what has been published and it is associated to the myeloma in half of the cases. It appears together with severe renal insufficiency and the patient's and renal prognosis is poor.

The renal affectation is infrequent in scleroderma, unlike other collagen diseases. The appearance of nephrotic syndrome has been related to the drug use, specially the D-penicilamine, or rarely as a manifestation of secondary amilodosis, quite infrequent in scleroderma. We report a case of nephrotic syndrome in a patient with systemic scleroderma, produced by a membranous glomerulonephritis, exceptionally described in literature., (Copyright © 2007 Elsevier España S.L Barcelona. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: The prevalence of cerebral palsy in Western countries is estimated to be around 2 cases/1,000 inhabitants. The objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence of cerebral palsy in the Autonomous Community of Castilla y León and to assess potential differences among the nine provinces of this region., Patients and Methods: The number of patients with CP in 1999, separated by provinces and by age groups, was obtained from the Community Sectorial Program for Persons with Disabilities. These data originally came from handicap evaluations carried out in each base center. Prevalences were calculated using population data from the National Institute of Statistics., Results: A total of 335 patients aged 0-13 years were registered as having a diagnosis of cerebral palsy in 1999. The prevalence of cerebral palsy was 1.05 cases/1,000 inhabitants aged 0-13 years. Statistically significant differences were found in the prevalence of cerebral palsy among provinces (p < 0.0001). The highest prevalence was found in Salamanca, with 1.87 cases/1,000 inhabitants, while the lowest prevalence was found in Segovia, with 0.33 cases/ 1,000 inhabitants., Conclusions: The prevalence of cerebral palsy in childhood in Castilla y León was lower than that reported in western countries. Substantial differences were found among provinces. The prevalence of cerebral palsy is probably underreported in some provinces. These differences could be due to a disparity in diagnostic criteria, especially in young children.

We describe a naive HIV-infected patient who developed a Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia and disseminate and fatal cytomegalovirus disease within 3 months after initiation of HAART, suggesting due to coincidence in time, an immune restoration disease. We propose an alternative hypothesis.

Neutrophil-rich CD30+ anaplastic large-cell lymphoma (ALCL) is a rare pathological entity without distinct clinical behavior. Twelve cases of neutrophil-rich CD30+ anaplastic large-cell lymphoma (ALCL) have been reported, three of them were HIV-infected patients. All these reports stressed the presence of neutrophil infiltration as a new morphologic feature of CD30+ ALCL. Only one case of cutaneous involvement presented with microabscess formation. We describe a case of neutrophil-rich CD30+ ALCL in an AIDS patient with a clinical picture determined by the massive neutrophil infiltration of the tumor without necrosis nor local infection, but with the formation of abscesses.

Aim: To determine the incidence of hospital admissions for bronchiolitis in our environment, to analyze the importance of neonatal malformations as a risk factor for hospitalization for bronchiolitis and to establish the variables available on admission that are associated with a worse evolution., Patients and Methods: Descriptive study of admissions for bronchiolitis in a sample of the general population and in children with severe neonatal malformations. Descriptive and analytical study of the clinical characteristics available on admission for bronchiolitis that predict a worse evolution. Sixty-one children born at the Medina del Campo Hospital in Spain were studied. All the children were diagnosed according to McConnochie's criteria and classified into three groups according to evolution (mild, moderate and severe)., Results: The annual cumulative incidence of admissions due to bronchiolitis was 1.79 % (95 % CI, 1.37-2.30). This incidence was higher in children with a history of severe neonatal malformations (13.11 %) than in those without malformations (1.59 %) (RR 5 8.26; CI 95 %, 4.10-16.02). Children with severe bronchiolitis were younger (p 5 0.0056; median 1.0, quartiles 1.0-2.75) than those with moderate bronchiolitis (median 5.0; quartiles 2.0-8.0) or mild bronchiolitis (median 5.5; quartiles 3.25-9.0). Using the group with mild bronchiolitis as reference, diminished appetite (OR 5 4.08; 95 % CI, 1.10-16.80), vomiting (OR 5 4.22; 95 % CI, 1.14-25.30) and prolonged expiration (OR 5 5.35, 95 % CI, 1.14-24.30) were associated with moderate-severe evolution. Using the mild-moderate group as reference, vomiting (p 5 0.004), crepitant rales (p 5 0.002), decreased ventilation (p, 0.001) and radiological consolidations (p 5 0.017) were associated with severe evolution., Conclusions: The incidence of hospital admission for bronchiolitis in our environment was similar to data reported from other countries. Variables available at admission predicting a worse evolution were age lower than 3 months, vomiting, diminished appetite, prolonged expiration, crepitant rales, decreased ventilation and radiological consolidations. Severe neonatal malformations were an important risk factor for hospital admission due to bronchiolitis.

An 8-year-old girl with no previous symptoms was admitted to hospital with aseptic meningitis syndrome. The girls father is a shepherd and there was a familial antecedent of brucellosis, but the patient did not consume unpasteurized goat milk products nor did she take part in the care of the sheep stock. The clinical evolution did not follow the usual development of a viral or partially treated bacterial meningitis. Brucella melitensis was isolated in the cerebrospinal fluid and blood. Specific treatment (doxycycline and rifampin) produced favorable evolution. The patient may have been infected through the respiratory tract or mucous membranes, or by contact with clothes used by other members of the household who looked after infected animals. These forms of infection should be considered in family members who come into contact with the clothes of those caring for animals and with other utensils used by them. Meningitis as the only sign of brucellosis is exceptional both in children and in adults.

Clinical and pathological postmortem study of a patient with NPA which died due to a fulminant pulmonary hemorrhage. In the postmortem study, diffuse pulmonary capillaries was observed as the cause of the disease, as well as lesions of necrotizing glomerulonephritis with granulomas, within the framework of a typical NPA. Correlation with the NPA-type overlapping polyangiitic syndrome and microscopic polyarteritis are discussed, as well as the correlation between the latter and Wegener's granulomatosis.

We report a pure choriocarcinoma of the liver studied at necropsy. The tumour was diagnosed ante-mortem and treated by chemotherapy with no satisfactory response. Previous cases of hepatic choriocarcinoma are reviewed and criteria to diagnose this extragonadal neoplasm are recommended.

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infections acquire characteristics of special severity when they occur in patients suffering primary or secondary cellular immune depression. We present a case of pneumonia with fatal evolution caused by CMV, in a female patient suffering systemic lupus erythematosus. The underlying disease, of recent onset, presented multiorgan involvement (skin, joints, kidney, blood) which could be controlled with steroids and azathioprine. The patient presented a few days after she had overcome an acute outbreak of the disease, a febrile status with rapid evolution with a diffuse pulmonary interstitial infiltrate. Circulating anti CMV antibodies were detected, of IgM class, by a enzyme-immunoassay. The necropsy showed a multiorgan infiltrate (liver, lung, skin, kidney) with cells containing cytomegalic inclusion.

The cerebral trunk infection by Listeria monocytogenes is a very rare process, with only 24 described cases and only 2 in immunodepressed patients. We present a new case of cerebral trunk encephalitis caused by Listeria in a patient diagnosed of Polyarteritis nodosa on steroids and cyclophosamide treatment and fatal evolution, and whose hemoculture, spinal fluid culture and cranial CT scan did not contribute to the diagnosis. A necrotizing lesion in the protuberance with mesencephalic extension was observed in the necropsy study in which intra- and extracellular Gram + and silver positive bacilli were detected. Since L. monocytogenes was suspected as the causative agent, indirect immunofluorescence was performed on histological preparations with hyperimmune anti-L. monocytogenes serum giving a clearly positive result. In our case, this technique permitted the etiological diagnosis in the absence of positive cultures.

We report a case of idiopathic granulomatous hypophysitis diagnosed at autopsy in a 69-year-old female who, after endocrine coma, died from gastrointestinal hemorrhage. Immunohistochemical studies disclosed a predominance of T-lymphocytes in the inflammatory pituitary infiltrates. In addition to hypophysitis, lymphocytic thyroiditis and adrenalitis lesions and atrophic gastritis were found. These findings, consistent with autoimmune disease, are similar to those reported for lymphocytic hypophysitis, and raise the possibility that both types of hypophysitis are different aspects of the same condition.

Certain rare, reactive, non-neoplastic processes are defined under the term inflammatory pseudotumor, which is constituted by the proliferation of connective tissue and chronic inflammatory infiltrate of circumscribed location. Its etiopathogenesis ins unknown, although it is thought to have a possible infectious nature. It has been described various organs, but location in the liver is exceptional. We present a new case of inflammatory pseudotumor of hepatic location, related to an "hour-glass" abscess adhered to diaphragm, this being the first case of this relation. We reviewed the literature concerning etiopathogenic, histopathologic, clinical and diagnostic aspects, and our findings are discussed.

The UV and visible spectra of radical cations of several phenothiazine derivatives were studied using different solvents. The establishment of a relationship between these bands and the R2 and R10 substituents was attempted. The influence of the disolvents on the bands also was studied. The characteristic charge transfer band was observed in the solid state using diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. The R2 substituent did not appear to influence the band, while the R10 substituent influenced the band considerably, probably due to steric effects.