Onset of chaotic advection in open flows

Non peer reviewedPublisher PD

EVALUACIÓN DE RESULTADOS QUIRÚRGICOS DESDE LA PERSPECTIVA DEL PACIENTE

RESUMENMedir la calidad de vida relacionada a salud y los síntomas de los pacientes es un problema difícil. Las medición de los problemas de salud mediante escalas o cuestionarios se ha desarrollado para crear los Instrumentos de Evaluación desde la Perspectiva del Paciente o PRO's por su nombre en inglés: Patient-reported outcomes. Los PROs evalúan la calidad de vida en forma genérica o específica en un continuo, entregando instrumentos que pueden evaluar la gravedad de una enfermedad o el impacto de una intervención desde la perspectiva del paciente en frecuentes escenarios clínicos. El objetivo de la presente revisión es entregar a clínicos e investigadores una introducción hacia los PROs y resumir sus principales propiedades.SUMMARYQuantifying health-related quality of life and specific patient symptoms it is a difficult problem. Health measurement scales has developed to include rigorous techniques to develop patient-reported outcome measures (PROs). PROs assess objectively the QoL in a continuum, providing instruments to measure the severity of a given disease or the impact of a therapeutic intervention from patient perspective in different clinical problems. The following review aims to introduce the PROs to clinicians and researchers and summarize its main properties

Oxygen free radicals in rheumatoid arthritis

Current knowledge strongly suggests that oxygen free radicals are involved in the pathogenesis of RA. Additional information about the mechanism of free radical attack is necessary in order to find out if interaction with the mechanism of free radical damage can be used in the treatment of this crippling disease. Attention is focussed on the following main questions: Are protective factors against oxygen free radicals present in sufficient amounts in RA (chapter 2, 3). Is iron available in RA in a form able to catalyse the formation of hydroxyl radicals (chapter 4-6). Are non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs able to inhibit o 2- production in vivo (chapter 7)

Are investments in an informal seed system for cowpea a worthwhile endeavour?

Abstract High seed quality is a critical component for realising yield potential. For smallholder cowpea farmers in northern Nigeria the informal seed system is a major supplier of genetically high-quality seed, but the physiological quality of farmers' produced seed remains unknown. The project "Promoting Sustainable Agriculture in Borno State" (PROSAB) trained and supported farmers in seed production in Borno State, Nigeria. We analysed the quality of farmers' produced cowpea seed based on standard quality testing criteria, and evaluated its field emergence as a proxy for non-genetic seed quality. We carried out a survey among seed producing farmers about their production and storage practices, and tested seed quality of samples from these farmers, from seed companies and compared these to foundation seed. Field emergence of farmers' produced seed was not significantly different from that of foundation seed (P=0.47) or seed company samples (P=0.12). Cowpea seed quality, however, was inadequate in both the formal and informal seed systems. Five out of six foundation seed samples, 79 out of 81 samples of farmers' seed, and six out of six seed company samples failed to meet standards for foundation and certified seeds of the National Agriculture Seed Council (NASC), the seed industry regulatory agency in Nigeria. Multiple regression analyses predicting field emergence showed that projects like PROSAB can improve seed quality. Especially proper storage and reducing seed damage can increase field emergence significantly. Our findings suggest that it is worth to invest in improving the informal seed system of cowpea

Preserved emotional awareness of pain in a patient with extensive bilateral damage to the insula, anterior cingulate, and amygdala

Functional neuroimaging investigations of pain have discovered a reliable pattern of activation within limbic regions of a putative "pain matrix" that has been theorized to reflect the affective dimension of pain. To test this theory, we evaluated the experience of pain in a rare neurological patient with extensive bilateral lesions encompassing core limbic structures of the pain matrix, including the insula, anterior cingulate, and amygdala. Despite widespread damage to these regions, the patient's expression and experience of pain was intact, and at times excessive in nature. This finding was consistent across multiple pain measures including self-report, facial expression, vocalization, withdrawal reaction, and autonomic response. These results challenge the notion of a "pain matrix" and provide direct evidence that the insula, anterior cingulate, and amygdala are not necessary for feeling the suffering inherent to pain. The patient's heightened degree of pain affect further suggests that these regions may be more important for the regulation of pain rather than providing the decisive substrate for pain's conscious experience

Protective factors against oxygen free radicals and hydrogen peroxide in rheumatoid arthritis synovial fluid

Oxygen free radicals are probably involved in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The enzymes involved in protection against oxygen free radicals and H2O2 (superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase) were measured. Superoxide dismutase was not increased, glutathione peroxidase was slightly and catalase was strongly elevated in RA synovial fluid (SF) compared with control SF. Although these enzymes are present in SF, the activities are insufficient to protect against oxygen free radicals and H2O2. In contrast to transferrin, ferritin was increased in RA synovial fluid. Ceruloplasmin was also elevated. When rat liver microsomes were used as a target for oxygen free radicals, serum and SF were both protective. Gel filtration experiments showed that the fraction pattern in which there was maximal protective potential against lipid peroxidation corresponded closely to the level of ceruloplasmin. After removal of ceruloplasmin from serum or SF, about 70% of the protective capacity disappeared. It is concluded that ceruloplasmin is an important protector against oxygen free radicals. Copyrigh

Harmful Waste Products as Novel Immune Modulators for Treating Inflammatory Arthritis?

Cope discusses a new study in rats suggesting that oxidative burst inducers might have a role to play in treating inflammatory arthritis

Bleeding assessment following central venous catheter placement, a direct comparison of prospective and retrospective analyses

BACKGROUND: Reported bleeding incidences following central venous catheter (CVC) placement highly depend on methods of bleeding assessment. To determine the direction and magnitude of the bias associated with retrospective data collection, we used data from the PACER randomized controlled trial and a previous retrospective cohort study.STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: A patient-level comparison of CVC-related bleeding severity was made among (1) the prospectively collected clinical bleeding assessment of the PACER trial, (2) centralized assessment of CVC insertion site photographs, and (3) retrospective chart review. Interrater reliability for photographic bleeding assessment and retrospective chart review was assessed using Cohen's κ. The magnitude of underreporting of both methods compared to prospective clinical bleeding assessment at different cutoff points of clinically relevant bleeding was assessed using McNemar's test.RESULTS: Interrater reliability was acceptable for both methods (κ = 0.583 and κ = 0.481 for photographic assessment and retrospective chart review, respectively). Photographic bleeding assessment led to significant underreporting of bleeding complications at all cutoff points. Retrospective chart review led to significant underreporting of minor bleeding complications, with an odds ratio (95% CI) of 0.17 (0.044-0.51) for the cutoff point grade 1 (i.e., self-limiting or requiring at most 20 min of manual compression) or higher. There was no significant underreporting of major bleeding complications with retrospective chart review.DISCUSSION: Centralized photographic bleeding assessment and retrospective chart review lead to biased bleeding assessment compared to prospective clinical bleeding assessment.</p