Search

The official currency of the Dominican Republic is the Dominican peso (RD $), circulated in one and five, 10 and 25 peso coins and in 10, 20, 50, 100, 1,000, [...]

The Dominican Republic enjoys a mostly tropical climate year-round, with temperatures in most parts of the country averaging around 77-85[degrees]F (25-29[degrees]C). Expect year-round averages of 73[degrees]F (23[degrees]C) in the early [...]

The Dominican Republic occupies the eastern two-thirds of Hispaniola, the second-largest island in the Caribbean after Cuba. The separate nation of Haiti, with which it shares a 170-mile frontier, occupies [...]

* GOVERNMENT As its name suggests, the Dominican Republic (Republica Dominicana) is a republic (or 'representative democracy,' as the US State Department calls it). The country first gained its independence [...]

With the exception of the country's botanical gardens, zoos, and commercial wildlife parks, the most likely places to see the plants and animals of the Dominican Republic are in its [...]

History The Dominican Republic has a long and turbulent history, with enough milestones to make for a crowded holiday calendar and enough 'firsts' to fill a page in an almanac. [...]

Part-mountain range, part-desert, part-coastline--the Dominican Republic's great southwest is the most geographically diverse region on the island. And for adventurous travelers, it can be the most exciting part of the [...]

Visitors to the capital city have three options for a base camp: the seaside Malecon, lined with five-star hotels overlooking the Caribbean, and one of the capital's top nightlife centers; [...]

* Rio San Juan This sleepy, quiet, small town is bordered by the thick mangrove swamps of Laguna Gri-Gri (see Eco-Travel, above), and, a few miles east, the glorious 1 [...]

With its pine-covered mountain terrain, comparatively cool climate, and European village atmosphere--including narrow streets and cabin-like architecture--the heart of the DR's vast Cordillera Central mountain range has become known as [...]

* On Water Beaches The beaches below are listed from east to west, starting southeast of Cabrera and traveling west along the coast to Montecristi. Cabrera to Rio San Juan [...]

* Pronunciation Guide Unlike English, with Spanish pronunciation what you see is what you get. In other words, pronunciation is pretty much phonetic once you know the rules. Every letter [...]

Best known around the world as 'Punta Cana,' the Coconut Coast is nothing less than central casting's vision of a Caribbean beach resort. All the superlatives--and all the cliches--are here [...]

Poking out like a thumb on the far northeastern corner of the Dominican Republic, away from the crunch and bustle of big cities and tourist hordes, the 30-mile-long Samana Peninsula [...]

* Zona Colonial La Residencia (Calle de las Damas near Plaza Espana, [telephone] 685-9955) $$$$ This elegant restaurant attached to the Sofitel Nicolas de Ovando Hotel consistently produces excellent Mediterranean-style [...]

Starting just beyond the hustle and bustle of Santo Domingo, and continuing east almost all the way to the southeastern tip of the island, lies what most visitors come to [...]

* Museums of the Zona Colonial For more information on some of the following museums and the Old City, see Zona Colonial Walking Tour, above. Museo de las Atarazanas (Atarazanas [...]

Documents You'll Need US citizens and Canadian and British nationals may enter the Dominican Republic with an official photo ID such as a current valid passport or driver's license and [...]

* Colonial Zone Balcon Habanero (Arzobispo Portes 10, between 19 de Marzo and Eugenio Maria de Hostos, [telephone] 682-5672) This small Cuban bar in an upscale residential district has lots [...]

* Taxis Taxis are the most comfortable--as well as the most expensive--means of getting around the city, short of hiring your own car complete with chauffeur (see Rental Cars, below). [...]

Intervertebral disc herniation is a very common neurosurgical pathology. Most commonly disc disease occurs in adults and series published in children are only few and each reports only few cases. A genetic factor has been considered but in none of our patients there was a family history of disc disease.We report ten patients with disc herniations in adolescents occurring among 1920 patients operated of herniated discs between 1988 and 1998. These herniations in adolescents were all related to some sport activities, and they occurred in the age range of 12 to 16 years. Symptoms were back pain and lower extremities pains of roots L5 or S1. All were studied with magnetic resonance imaging and in all patients the herniated disc was either in L4 L5 or L5 S1 intervertebral spaces. All disc were subligamental and 81.5% were posterolateral in position. Pathological studies of the herniated discs showed elastic consistency with high water content without degenerative changes.After microscopic removal of the herniated discs pain disappeared and remained so in the follow up. It was not necessary to reoperate in any of these patients and the postoperative follow up was between 2 and 5 years.Herniated disc disease is very infrequent in adolescents and all recovered completely after surgery, and the localization is posterolateral and subligamental.

Microsporidium sp. has been considered as a rare cause of diarrhea in AIDS patients. However, the improvement of some histochemical stains in the analysis of small bowel biopsies has shown an increase in its prevalence. In Mexico there are no series reporting intestinal microsporidiasis.Small bowel biopsies of 98 patients with AIDS and chronic diarrhea stained with HE and Giemsa were reviewed (January 1987-December 1994). The clinical, demographic and laboratory information was obtained from the clinical charts.In 50 patients an opportunistic microorganism was identified in the small bowel biopsy (51%). Microsporidium sp. was identified in 30 patients (31%). The clinical charts were reviewed in all but six cases. Of the 24 patients with microsporidiasis as the cause of diarrhea, 17 were male and seven female with a median age, of 33 years, old. Homosexuality was the main risk factor in males (11/17), and blood transfusion in females (4/7). A low socioeconomical classification was found in 75% cases. The initial manifestation of AIDS was diarrhea in 16/24 (67%), CD4 count cell below 200 mm3 was identified in 13/24 patients and more than 200 mm3 in 2/24. The stool examination and the original histologic interpretations were negative for Microsporidium sp. Lymphoplasmocytic inflammatory infiltrate with eosinophils in the lamina propia and atrophy was frequently seen. A pale red and gray color was observed in spore and merogonial phases of Microsporidium stained with Giemsa.Microsporidium sp. was present as the only pathogen in 31% of the small bowel biopsies reviewed by light microscopy. Diarrhea due to Microsporidium sp. is frequently seen in advanced stages of AIDS with CD4 count cell below 200 mm3 Giemsa stain in the evaluation of small biopsies is a cheap and useful method to, identify Microsporidium sp.

To evaluate the information content in our surgical pathology reports of colon and rectum carcinoma.A third level hospital.Consecutive surgical reports from 1988 to 1994 were retrieved. The gross and histological variables with prognostic relevance according to the TNM system were registered using a checklist with standardized variables as proposed by two groups of pathologists. The adequacy of our reports was surveyed counting the number of histopathological variables in relation to the 11 prognostic parameters that must be included in routine surgical reports of large colon carcinomas.The surgical reports were 135. The histologic type, tumor grade and histological tumor invasion were provided in most of the reports. In 90% the lymph node characteristics were described and 85% had gross and histologic margin assessment. But other variables were poorly informed, i.e. vascular invasion was informed in one case (0.7%).Our surgical reports were considered adequate as 113/135 (84%) recorded more than eight prognostic variables. Insufficient data were: 1) a poor gross description; 2) lack of tumor grading in 12%; and 3) omission of anatomic site in 29%.

This study reports the predictive value, in septic patients, of septic shock at presentation (SS factor) alone and in combination with multiple markers, using survival of the sepsis episode as the outcome measure. The SS factor correctly predicted the outcome in 53/68 (78%) of patients in this study. The Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II Score (APACHE II or APII) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) and IL-6 soluble receptor (IL-6sR) concentrations were evaluated in combination with the SS factor in the same 68 patient population which was randomly divided into design (# = 50) and test groups (# = 18). Two iterations of an algorithm were evaluated using randomized patient groups corresponding to those producing the best (Group A) and worst (Group B) performance using a neural network. The four-input algorithm (APII, IL-6, IL-6sR, SS factor) correctly classified 16/18 (89%, Group A) and 14/18 (78%, Group B) of patients in the test subset. The corresponding four-input neural network model (10 iterations) correctly classified 61 to 89% of the 18 patients in the 10 test subsets.

The prognostic potentials of physiological ([Acute Physiologic and Chronic Health Evaluation] APACHE II score) and biochemical (Interleukin 6 [IL-6], Interleukin 6 soluble receptor [IL-6sR], and Interleukin 2 receptor [IL-2R], nitrates) measures were evaluated in sepsis. The APACHE II scores were calculated, and concentrations of the biochemical markers were measured, based upon information and samples obtained from 68 septic patients at time of diagnosis. Outcome (survival/non-survival) was determined at the end of the hospital stay associated with the septic episode. Statistically significant differences between survivors (S) and non-survivors (non-S) were found for APACHE II (p0.0001), IL-6 (p0.005), IL-6sR (p0.05), IL-2R (p0.02). No significant differences were found for nitrates. None of the markers could serve individually as an effective prognostic indicator. However, those markers demonstrating a significant difference between survivors and non-survivors may be able to contribute to a multi-parameter prognostic model.

Prosaposin is a multifunctional protein encoded at a single locus in humans and mice. The precursor contains, in tandem, four glycoprotein activators or saposins, termed A, B, C, and D, that are essential for specific glycosphingolipid hydrolase activities. Prosaposin appears to be a potent neurotrophic factor. To explore the proteolytic processing from prosaposin to mature activator proteins, metabolic labeling was done with human prosaposin expressed in insect cells, human fibroblasts, neuronal stem cells (NT2) and retinoic acid-differentiated NT2 neurons. In all cell types, the major processing pathway was through a tetrasaposin, A-B-C-D, from which saposin A was then removed. In mammalian cells monosaposins were derived from the trisaposin B-C-D by cleavage to the disaposins, B-C and C-D, that were processed to monosaposins. In insect cells the major end products were the disaposins, with A-B and C-D derived from the tetrasaposin, A-B-C-D, or with B-C and C-D derived from the trisaposin, B-C-D. In insect and mammalian cells, the nonsignal NH2-terminal peptide preceding saposin A (termed Nter) was usually removed prior to saposin A cleavage. In NT2-derived differentiated neurons, precursor tetrasaposins containing A-B-C-D were secreted with and without Nter. Immunofluorescence studies using prosaposin-specific antisera showed large steady state amounts of uncleaved prosaposin in Purkinje cells, cortical neurons, and other specific cell types in adult mice. These studies indicate that prosaposin processing is highly regulated at a proteolytic level to produce prosaposin, tetrasaposins, or mature monosaposins in specific mammalian cells.

26 6 471 479

The prognostic potential of the antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) was evaluated in sepsis. Enzyme concentrations were determined in samples obtained from septic patients at time of diagnosis. Statistically significant increases in activities of total plasma SOD (P0.003, n = 32), erythrocyte (RBC) SOD (P0.007, n = 16), plasma CAT (P0.0001, n = 32), and RBC CAT (P0.005, n = 16) were found in septic patients when compared with healthy adult controls (n = 7). Further, within the group of septic patients, statistically significant differences were found for total plasma SOD (P0.05) and plasma CAT (P0.009) (but not for RBC determinations) when survivors (n = 15) were compared with nonsurvivors (n = 17). No significant differences were found for either plasma or RBC enzyme concentrations when patients who developed adult respiratory distress syndrome were compared with those who did not. The most striking finding was that plasma total SOD values of10 kU/L were found in 7 of 21 (30%) patients who did not survive their sepsis and that these values did not overlap with any surviving patients or controls. However, while high total plasma SOD activity appears to have some potential as a prognostic indicator, lower values (0.0-8.8 kU/L) do not. For plasma CAT, despite finding statistically significant differences between survivors and nonsurvivors, the substantial overlap in the values obtained for the two groups limits the practical prognostic potential of this enzyme.