Search

El diagnóstico de lesiones quísticas hepáticas supone un hallazgo incidental cada vez más frecuente en nuestro entorno, debido al aumento de la disponibilidad de las pruebas de imagen. Por ello, conocer las distintas lesiones quísticas y su manejo es crucial en la práctica clínica. Para el diagnóstico diferencial debemos tener en cuenta los antecedentes personales del paciente, la historia clínica y, lo más importante, conocer los hallazgos radiológicos de las distintas lesiones. La prueba de imagen inicial en la mayoría de los pacientes será la ecografía abdominal simple, siendo a veces necesario completar el estudio con resonancia magnética o tomografía computarizada. El estudio histológico se llevará a cabo en lesiones con características atípicas o datos que orienten a malignidad. Aunque la mayoría de las lesiones hepáticas son benignas, algunas están asociadas a enfermedades sistémicas o a hepatopatía crónica, siendo necesario manejarlas en unidades multidisciplinares especializadas.

A microbial electrolysis cell integrated in an anaerobic digestion system (MEC-AD) is an efficient configuration to produce methane from an exhausted vine shoot fermentation broth (EVS). The cell worked in a single-chamber two-electrode configuration at an applied potential of 1 V with a feeding ratio of 30/70 (30% EVS to 70% synthetic medium). In addition, an identical cell operated in an open circuit was used as a control reactor. Experimental results showed similar behavior in terms of carbon removal (70–76%), while the specific averaged methane production from cycle 7 was more stable and higher in the connected cell (MECAD) compared with the unpolarized one (OCAD) accounting for 403.7 ± 33.6 L CH4·kg VS−1and 121.3 ± 49.7 L CH4·kg VS−1, respectively. In addition, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy revealed that the electrical capacitance of the bioanode in MECADwas twice the capacitance shown by OCAD. The bacterial community in both cells was similar but a clear adaptation of MethanosarcinaArchaea was exhibited in MECAD, which could explain the increased yields in CH4production. In summary, the results reported here confirm the advantages of integrating MEC-AD for the treatment of real organic liquid waste instead of traditional AD treatment.

Methanogenic biocathodes (MB) can convert CO2and electricity into methane. This feature, that allows them to potentially be used for long-term electrical energy storage, has aroused great interest during the past 10 years. MB can also operate as biological supercapacitors, a characteristic that can be exploited for short-term energy storage and that has received much less attention. In this study, we investigate the electrical charge storage capabilities of carbon-felt-based MB modified with graphene oxide. The charge-discharge experiments revealed that the potential of the electrode plays an important role during the discharging period: low potentials (−1.2 V vs Ag/AgCl) created an inrush of faradaic current that masked any capacitive current. At more positive potentials (−0.8 V vs Ag/AgCl), the biological electrodes were outperformed by the abiotic electrodes, and only when the potential was set at −1.0 V vs Ag/AgCl the graphene-modified biological electrode showed its superior charge storage capacity. Overall, results indicated that the graphene modification is crucial to obtain bioelectrodes with improved capacitance: untreated bioelectrodes showed a charge storage capacity inferior to that measured in the abiotic electrodes.

Gastrointestinal angiodysplasias are defined as vascular dilations that communicate capillaries and veins in the walls of the digestive tract. The clinical presentation of these lesions varies from chronic occult bleeding to severe gastrointestinal hemorrhage.

Las angiodisplasias gastrointestinales se definen como dilataciones vasculares que comunican capilares y venas en las paredes del tracto digestivo. La presentación clínica de estas lesiones varía desde sangrado oculto crónico a hemorragia gastrointestinal grave.

Los pacientes cirróticos presentan infecciones bacterianas más graves y frecuentes que la población general. Esta predisposición se debe a las alteraciones inmunológicas y de la barrera intestinal que se desarrollan a lo largo de la evolución de su enfermedad.

Las enfermedades fibropoliquísticas del hígado comprenden una serie de trastornos relacionados entre sí (figura 1). En cada uno de ellos se combinan diferentes grados de fibrosis con dilataciones quísticas del árbol biliar. El predominio y localización de cada uno de estos componentes difiere en función de cada enfermedad condicionando la presentación.

La ascitis es una complicación frecuente de la cirrosis hepática y de la hipertensión portal. Aproximadamente, un 5-10% de los pacientes presenta una ascitis refractaria que empeora de forma considerable su calidad de vida y especialmente su supervivencia.

La aparición de insuficiencia renal en el curso de la cirrosis hepática es frecuente y se trata de un dato de mal pronóstico si no se identifica y se trata de forma precoz. Estos pacientes presentan múltiples factores de riesgo para desarrollar un daño renal agudo.

El trasplante constituye hoy en día la única posibilidad de supervivencia para muchos pacientes con enfermedad hepática grave.

Identificar acciones preventivas que minimicen el riesgo para la seguridad de los pacientes atendidos en las unidades de tratamiento del dolor, y agrupar en lotes las acciones preventivas que presenten características homogéneas. El trabajo es una parte de un proyecto de mejora de la seguridad de pacientes atendidos en dichas unidades, cuyo propósito global ha sido la identificación, priorización y prevención de riesgos.

Background:Linguistic inquiry and word count (LIWC), a computerized method for text analysis, is often used to examine suicide writings in order to characterize the quantitative linguistic features of suicidal texts. Aims:To analyze texts compiled in Marilyn Monroe’s Fragmentsusing LIWC, in order to explore the use of different linguistic categories in her narrative over the years. Method:Selected texts were grouped into four periods of similar word count and processed with LIWC. Spearman’s rank correlation was used to assess changes in language use across the documents over time. The Kruskal-Wallis test was applied to compare means between periods and for each of the 80 LIWC output scores. Results:Significant differences (p< .05) were found in 11 categories, the most relevant being a progressive decrease in the use of negative emotion words, a reduction in the use of long words in the third period, and an increase in the proportion of personal pronouns used as Monroe approached the time of her death. Conclusions:The consistently elevated usage of first-person personal singular pronouns and the consistently diminished usage of first-person personal plural pronouns are in line with previous studies linking this pattern with a low level of social integration, which has been related to suicide according to different theories.

The sensorial system developed is based on the emission of an infrared beam, recovering the reflected beam and measuring distances to significant points in the environment. This system is able to detect and model obstacles in unknown environments. Features of the capture system allow large fields of view to be caught at short distances, aiding the robot's mobility. Several algorithms are used to find the formation centre of the image and so model the distortion introduced by the wide-angle lens. Parameters of the optical model are inserted into the calibration matrix to obtain the camera model. We present also an algorithm which extracts the points on the image that belong to the laser beam. All of the above work is in unknown environments with variable conditions of illumination. The robot's trajectory is obtained and modified in real time, with a splinefunction, using four different reference systems. Finally, empirical tests have been carried out on a mobile platform, using a CCD camera with a wide-angle lens of 65° and 110°, a 15 mW laser emitter and a frame grabber for image processing.

Reports of epidemiological surveys do not always provide adequate careful descriptions of the methodology used and the sociocultural context involved. Galicia, a natural region in south‐west Europe, possesses certain characteristics that differ from those in other communities within the Spanish state. Galician is a Romance language, which is, in fact, closer to Portuguese than it is to Spanish. The population (2.7 million inhabitants) is widely dispersed, with two‐thirds of them living in the countryside. More than 18% are older than 65, and the educational level of this elderly population is low. A total of 681 persons over 60 years of age were interviewed in their homes using the DIS‐III as the main diagnostic instrument during the second phase of the Galicia Study of Mental Health of the Elderly. This paper analyses some methodological implications of this epidemiological study, focusing on the translation of the DIS into Galician and its performance and acceptability in this community. The possible cultural bias that can affect the rates of prevalence in some specific disorders, the limitations of lifetime prevalence and the advantages of using six‐month prevalence rates is discussed. Besides some interesting anecdotes, which are described in the article, the main result is the very high acceptance of DIS‐III in this elderly population. Copyright © 2000 Whurr Publishers Ltd.

Reports of epidemiological surveys do not always adequately provide a careful description of the methodology used and the sociocultural context involved. The objective of this paper is to describe the methodology used in a survey whose aim was to study the prevalence of the wide range of psychiatric disorders that were present in a population aged 60 and above who were living at home. The Galicia Community Study of Mental Health of the Elderly was designed in two phases. In the first, a random sample of 3,580 people over 60 years of age, representative of each of the nine public health authority areas, was interviewed at home. The 60‐item version of Goldberg's General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) was the screening instrument. In the second phase, all the traced subjects with high GHQ scores (N = 532) and a representative sample (N = 149) of people below the cut‐off point, were interviewed at home using the Diagnostic Interview Schedule (DIS‐III). This paper analyses the sociodemographic context of Galicia (a natural region in south‐western Europe with a population of 2.7 million inhabitants), the sampling method, the sociodemographic makeup of the sample, the fieldwork, and the method for obtaining the estimate of prevalence. Copyright © 2000 Whurr Publishers Ltd.

Seeds of two species of Erythrina(Leguminosae) were examined for the presence of biologically active alkaloids. Undifferentiated callus of Erythrina coralloidesand E. americanaproduced the tetracyclic alkaloids typical for each species, but an unexpected profile of oxygenated alkaloids was observed. The tissue was analysed after isolation and purification, and identification of the alkaloids was by gas chromatography‐mass spectrometry (GC‐MS). A higher amount of alkaloid was observed in seeds compared with callus of E. americana.A considerable difference is observed when the alkaloid content from callus is compared with that of the intact plant. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Seeds of two species of Erythrina (Leguminosae) were examined for the presence of biologically active alkaloids. Undifferentiated callus of Erythrina coralloides and E. americana produced the tetracyclic alkaloids typical for each species, but an unexpected profile of oxygenated alkaloids was observed. The tissue was analysed after isolation and purification, and identification of the alkaloids was by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). A higher amount of alkaloid was observed in seeds compared with callus of E. americana. A considerable difference is observed when the alkaloid content from callus is compared with that of the intact plant. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Brucellosis has been described rarely in patients infected with HIV, despite the fact that eradication of intracellular brucellae is largely dependent on cell-mediated immunity. The characteristics of all patients with HIV infection and brucellosis seen in seven Spanish hospitals are reported. Since the beginning of the AIDS epidemic, 12 HIV-infected patients were diagnosed with brucellosis (8 with cultures positive forBrucellaspp., 4 with high anti-Brucellaantibody titers). Most patients were male and intravenous drug users. Eleven patients had no symptoms of HIV infection when first diagnosed with brucellosis and had relatively preserved cellular immunity (median CD4+ cell count 588, range 136–1006). There was a clear epidemiologic antecedent for acquisition of brucellosis in 11 patients. Clinical symptoms included fever, arthromyalgia, and sweating in all patients; four patients presented with focal disease. All patients had high agglutinin titers, and eight of nine had cultures positive forBrucella. Therapy with doxycycline and streptomycin was curative in all cases. Two patients experienced a recurrence of symptoms after initial treatment, although no microbiological relapses were documented after a median follow-up period of 18 months. HIV infection does not seem to increase the incidence of brucellosis. Since most cases occur in asymptomatic patients with relatively preserved immunity, the epidemiology, clinical presentation, diagnosis, response to therapy, and outcome are similar to those observed in non-HIV infected patients.

Abstract Brucellosis has been described rarely in patients infected with HIV, despite the fact that eradication of intracellular brucellae is largely dependent on cell-mediated immunity. The characteristics of all patients with HIV infection and brucellosis seen in seven Spanish hospitals are reported. Since the beginning of the AIDS epidemic, 12 HIV-infected patients were diagnosed with brucellosis (8 with cultures positive for Brucella spp., 4 with high anti-Brucella antibody titers). Most patients were male and intravenous drug users. Eleven patients had no symptoms of HIV infection when first diagnosed with brucellosis and had relatively preserved cellular immunity (median CD4+ cell count 588, range 136-1006). There was a clear epidemiologic antecedent for acquisition of brucellosis in 11 patients. Clinical symptoms included fever, arthromyalgia, and sweating in all patients; four patients presented with focal disease. All patients had high agglutinin titers, and eight of nine had cultures positive for Brucella. Therapy with doxycycline and streptomycin was curative in all cases. Two patients experienced a recurrence of symptoms after initial treatment, although no microbiological relapses were documented after a median follow-up period of 18 months. HIV infection does not seem to increase the incidence of brucellosis. Since most cases occur in asymptomatic patients with relatively preserved immunity, the epidemiology, clinical presentation, diagnosis, response to therapy, and outcome are similar to those observed in non-HIV infected patients.