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Introducción: La hernia inguinal es una de las enfermedades que más comúnmente requiere tratamiento operatorio y representa entre el 10- 15 % de todas las intervenciones programadas. El porcentaje de complicaciones posoperatorias es de 5- 10 % y aunque no son totalmente evitables, deben conocerse sus posibles causas para lograr reducir su incidencia. Objetivo: Identificar los factores asociados a las complicaciones de la cirugía electiva de las hernias inguinales. Métodos: Se realizó un estudio observacional y descriptivo, de una serie de 246 pacientes operados de hernias inguinales mediante cirugía electiva en el servicio de Cirugía General del Hospital Provincial Docente "Saturnino Lora" de Santiago de Cuba durante el bienio 2016-2017. Resultados: Se constataron 18 complicaciones (7,3 %). Predominó el grupo etario de 51 a 70 años (47,8 %) y el sexo masculino sobre las féminas con razón de 15,4:1. El estado físico preoperatorio fue clasificado ASA 1 en 183 pacientes (74,4 %) y ASA 2 en 62 (25,2 %). El 72,2 % de los complicados tenían al menos una enfermedad asociada. El tipo 2 según clasificación de Nyhus prevaleció con 73 (29,7 %) y 8 (44,4 %) de los complicados. Conclusiones: Los factores referentes a la edad mayor de 50 años, sexo masculino, antecedentes de hipertensión arterial y diabetes mellitus, y hernias tipo II según la clasificación de Nyhus se asocian a la presentación de complicaciones agudas (edema del cordón espermático e infección del sitio operatorio) y crónicas (recidiva y granuloma) de la cirugía electiva de las hernias inguinales.

Abstract Pantothenate kinase‐associated neurodegeneration (PKAN) is an inborn error of CoA metabolism causing dystonia, parkinsonism, and brain iron accumulation. Lack of a good mammalian model has impeded studies of pathogenesis and development of rational therapeutics. We took a new approach to investigating an existing mouse mutant of Pank2 and found that isolating the disease‐vulnerable brain revealed regional perturbations in CoA metabolism, iron homeostasis, and dopamine metabolism and functional defects in complex I and pyruvate dehydrogenase. Feeding mice a CoA pathway intermediate, 4′‐phosphopantetheine, normalized levels of the CoA‐, iron‐, and dopamine‐related biomarkers as well as activities of mitochondrial enzymes. Human cell changes also were recovered by 4′‐phosphopantetheine. We can mechanistically link a defect in CoA metabolism to these secondary effects via the activation of mitochondrial acyl carrier protein, which is essential to oxidative phosphorylation, iron–sulfur cluster biogenesis, and mitochondrial fatty acid synthesis. We demonstrate the fidelity of our model in recapitulating features of the human disease. Moreover, we identify pharmacodynamic biomarkers, provide insights into disease pathogenesis, and offer evidence for 4′‐phosphopantetheine as a candidate therapeutic for PKAN.

Endocan is a soluble dermatan sulfate proteoglycan expressed by endothelial cells and detected in serum/plasma. Its expression is increased in tumors/tumor vessels in several human malignancies, and high expression (high serum/plasma levels or tumor levels) has an adverse prognostic impact in several malignancies. The p14 endocan degradation product can also be detected in serum/plasma, but previous clinical studies as well as previously unpublished results presented in this review suggest that endocan and p14 endocan fragment levels reflect different biological characteristics, and the endocan levels seem to reflect the disease heterogeneity in acute leukemia better than the p14 fragment levels. Furthermore, decreased systemic endocan levels in previously immunocompetent sepsis patients are associated with later severe respiratory complications, but it is not known whether this is true also for immunocompromised acute leukemia patients. Finally, endocan is associated with increased early nonrelapse mortality in (acute leukemia) patients receiving allogeneic stem cell transplantation, and this adverse prognostic impact seems to be independent of the adverse impact of excessive fluid overload. Systemic endocan levels may also become important to predict cytokine release syndrome after immunotherapy/haploidentical transplantation, and in the long-term follow-up of acute leukemia survivors with regard to cardiovascular risk. Therapeutic targeting of endocan is now possible, and the possible role of endocan in acute leukemia should be further investigated to clarify whether the therapeutic strategy should also be considered.

Chronic graft versus host disease (cGVHD) is a common long-term complication after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. The objective of our study was to compare the metabolic profiles for allotransplant recipients and thereby identify metabolic characteristics of patients with treatment-requiring cGVHD. The study included 51 consecutive patients (29 men and 22 women; median age: 44 years, range: 15–66 years) transplanted with peripheral blood stem cells derived from human leukocyte antigen-matched family donors. All serum samples investigated by global metabolomic profiling were collected approximately 1 year posttransplant (median 358 days). Thirty-one of the 51 patients (61%) had cGVHD 1 year posttransplant. The affected organs were (number of patients) liver/bile duct (23), eyes (15), gastrointestinal tract (14), skin (13), mouth (10), lungs (3), and urogenital tract (1). We compared the metabolic profile for patients with and without cGVHD, and a Random Forrest Classification Analysis then resulted in 75% accuracy in differentiating the two groups. The 30 top-ranked metabolites from this comparison included increased levels of bile acids, several metabolites from the cytokine-responsive kynurenine pathway for tryptophan degradation, pro-inflammatory lipid metabolites, phenylalanine and tyrosine metabolites derived from the gut microbial flora, and metabolites reflecting increased oxidative stress. However, nine of these 30 top-ranked metabolites were probably altered due to cyclosporine or steroid treatment, and we therefore did a hierarchical clustering analysis including all 51 patients but only based on the other 21 cGVHD-specific metabolites. This analysis identified three patient subsets: one cluster included mainly patients without cGVHD and had generally low metabolite levels; another cluster included mainly patients with cGVHD (most patients with at least three affected organs) and high metabolite levels, and the last intermediate group including cGVHD patients with limited organ involvement. We conclude that allotransplant recipients with cGVHD have an altered metabolic profile caused both by the disease and its immunosuppressive treatment.

Biosurfactants have several desirable characteristics in the industrial sector: detergency, antimicrobial effects, skin hydration, and emulsibility. Several yeast glycolipids are currently being utilized in these capacities: sophorolipids, ustilagic acid, and mannosylerythritol lipids (MELs). An emerging class of glycolipids, termed polyol esters of fatty acids (PEFA), have recently been reported for Rhodotorula babjevae, a basidiomycetous yeast species that secretes hyperacetylated congeners of PEFA (typically with 3-6 acetylation modifications). While screening Rhodotorula species for surfactant production, we identified a new environmental isolate identified as Rhodotorula taiwanensis MD1149 that dropped the surface tension of the liquid medium, indicating that it produced a potent biosurfactant. Acid depolymerization of the purified biosurfactants, followed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis revealed that the biosurfactants were composed of PEFA compounds composed mainly of mannitol and arabitol esters of 3-hydroxy fatty acid, 3-methoxy fatty acid, and fatty acids with a single double bond; chain lengths were mainly C16 and C18. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) confirmed the predicted accurate mass of these compounds. Interestingly, PEFA compounds produced by Rhodotorula taiwanensis MD1149 were more surface active due to their hypoacetylation profile (0-4 acetylation modifications) compared to Rhodotorula babjevae MD1169. These disparate surface active properties, based on acetylation, change the hydrophilic-lipophilic balance (HLB) of these compounds, and their potential utility within industrial applications.

Se efectuó un estudio descriptivo y transversal para determinar la morbilidad y mortalidad por apendicitis aguda en el Hospital Integral Comunitario del municipio de Monteagudo de la República de Bolivia, desde agosto de 2006 hasta mayo de 2008. Entre los 55 pacientes operados predominaron: el sexo masculino, los menores de 15 años de edad y el estadio gangrenoso. La enfermedad de Chagas constituyó la afección asociada más frecuente y la infección de la herida quirúrgica devino la principal complicación. La mayoría de los integrantes de la serie recibieron anestesia espinal, fueron intervenidos entre 30 minutos y 1 hora y permanecieron hospitalizados entre 5 y 10 días. Hubo un fallecido por choque séptico.A descriptive and cross sectional study was carried out to determine the morbidity and mortality due to acute appendicitis in the Community General Hospital of Monteagudo municipality from the Republic of Bolivia, from August, 2006 to May, 2008. Among the 55 surgically treated patients the male sex, those younger than 15 years old and the gangrenous condition prevailed. The Chagas disease constituted the most frequent associated disorder and the infection of the surgical wound became the main complication. Most of the patients of the series received spinal anesthesia, their surgical treatment lasted between 30 minutes and 1 hour and they were hospitalized from 5 to 10 days. There was a death due to septic shock.

Endothelial cells are involved in the pathogenesis of acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) after allogeneic stem cell transplantation. These cells express several molecules that can be detected as biologically active soluble forms; serum levels of these molecules may thereby reflect the functional status of endothelial cells. Furthermore, acute GVHD is an inflammatory reaction and endothelial cells function as local regulators of inflammation. We therefore investigated whether differences in preconditioning/pretransplant serum levels of endothelium-expressed molecules (i.e., endocan, vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 (VCAM-1), and E-selectin) were associated with a risk of posttransplant GVHD. Our study should be regarded as a population-based study of consecutive and thereby unselected patients (n=56). Analysis of this pretreatment endothelium biomarker profile by unsupervised hierarchical clustering identified a subset of patients with increased early nonrelapse mortality. Furthermore, low endocan levels were significantly associated with acute GVHD in the liver and gastrointestinal tract, whereas high VCAM-1 levels were associated with acute GVHD in the skin only. Our study suggests that the preconditioning/pretransplant status of endothelial cells (possibly through altered trafficking of immunocompetent cells) is important for the risk and the organ involvement of later acute GVHD.

There are concerns that recent climate change is altering the frequency and magnitude of river floods in an unprecedented way 1 . Historical studies have identified flood-rich periods in the past half millennium in various regions of Europe 2 . However, because of the low temporal resolution of existing datasets and the relatively low number of series, it has remained unclear whether Europe is currently in a flood-rich period from a long-term perspective. Here we analyse how recent decades compare with the flood history of Europe, using a new database composed of more than 100 high-resolution (sub-annual) historical flood series based on documentary evidence covering all major regions of Europe. We show that the past three decades were among the most flood-rich periods in Europe in the past 500 years, and that this period differs from other flood-rich periods in terms of its extent, air temperatures and flood seasonality. We identified nine flood-rich periods and associated regions. Among the periods richest in floods are 1560-1580 (western and central Europe), 1760-1800 (most of Europe), 1840-1870 (western and southern Europe) and 1990-2016 (western and central Europe). In most parts of Europe, previous flood-rich periods occurred during cooler-than-usual phases, but the current flood-rich period has been much warmer. Flood seasonality is also more pronounced in the recent period. For example, during previous flood and interflood periods, 41 per cent and 42 per cent of central European floods occurred in summer, respectively, compared with 55 per cent of floods in the recent period. The exceptional nature of the present-day flood-rich period calls for process-based tools for flood-risk assessment that capture the physical mechanisms involved, and management strategies that can incorporate the recent changes in risk.

Different histochemical identification methods for muscle fibre types have been introduced over the years. Most of them have been based on myosin ATPase activity after different kinds of preincubations, alone or in combination with oxidative enzymes. Comparative studies have shown, however, that the different methods result in nonidentical subgroups of type II fibres. Optical density values of individual fibres after incubation of serial sections for alkali- or copper-preincubated ATPase, NADH-TR, and fibre diameter, combined in two-dimensional plots, have for a long time been used in our laboratory to separate three subgroups of type II fibres. A cluster analysis, based on the data mentioned above, results in three subgroups of type II fibres in rat plantaris muscle. In comparison, earlier studies comparing different histochemical methods and reporting lack of correspondence between them have been based on two subgroups of type II fibres only. It is suggested that part of the lack of correspondence is due to unequal and incomplete separation by the methods used in the comparative studies, and that the three subgroups of type II fibres identified in the cluster analysis are type IIA, IIX and IIB, respectively. The need for a consensus on a common basis for histochemical identification of muscle fibre types is emphasized.