Alterations in Structural and Functional Connectivities in Patients with End-Stage Renal Disease

Background@#and Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the structural and functional connectivities of brain network using graph theoretical analysis in neurologically asymptomatic patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). We further investigated the prevalence of cognitive impairment (CI) in ESRD patients and analyzed the association between network measures of brain connectivity and cognitive function. @*Methods@#We prospectively enrolled 40 neurologically asymptomatic ESRD patients, 40 healthy controls, and 20 disease controls. All of the subjects underwent diffusion-tensor imaging (DTI) and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI). We calculated measures of structural and functional connectivities based on DTI and rs-fMRI, respectively, and investigated differences therein between the ESRD patients and the healthy controls. We assessed cognitive function in the ESRD patients using the Korean version of the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer’s Disease neuropsychological battery. @*Results@#The ESRD patients exhibited decreased global structural and functional brain connectivities, as well as alterations of network hubs compared to the healthy controls and disease controls. About 70% of the ESRD patients had CI. Moreover, ESRD patients without CI exhibited decreased global connectivity and alterations of network hubs. Furthermore, there was a significant positive association between measures of brain connectivity and cognitive function. @*Conclusions@#We found that ESRD patients exhibited decreased structural and functional brain connectivities, and that there was a significant association between brain connectivity and cognitive function. These alterations in the brain network may contribute to the pathophysiological mechanism of CI in ESRD patients.

Comparison of the MGISEQ-2000 and Illumina HiSeq 4000 sequencing platforms for RNA sequencing

Currently, Illumina sequencers are the globally leading sequencing platform in the next-generation sequencing market. Recently, MGI Tech launched a series of new sequencers, including the MGISEQ-2000, which promise to deliver high-quality sequencing data faster and at lower prices than Illumina’s sequencers. In this study, we compared the performance of two major sequencers (MGISEQ-2000 and HiSeq 4000) to test whether the MGISEQ-2000 sequencer delivers high-quality sequence data as suggested. We performed RNA sequencing of four human colon cancer samples with the two platforms, and compared the sequencing quality and expression values. The data produced from the MGISEQ-2000 and HiSeq 4000 showed high concordance, with Pearson correlation coefficients ranging from 0.98 to 0.99. Various quality control (QC) analyses showed that the MGISEQ-2000 data fulfilled the required QC measures. Our study suggests that the performance of the MGISEQ-2000 is comparable to that of the HiSeq 4000 and that the MGISEQ-2000 can be a useful platform for sequencing.

Characteristics of Residual Symptoms in Korean Patients with Major Depressive Disorder: A Validation Study for the Korean Version of Depression Residual Symptom Scale

OBJECTIVE: Residual symptoms of depression are related to more severe and chronic course of functional impairment with higher risk of relapse. The objective of this study was to validate, and determine psychometric properties of the Korean version of Depression Residual Symptom Scale (KDRSS). METHODS: A total of 203 outpatients with recent episode of major depression based on DSM-IV criteria were enrolled in this study. They had been treated with antidepressants and assessed by KDRSS, Hamilton Depression Rating Scale-24 (HDRS-24), and Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MARDS). The validity and reliability of KDRSS were assessed, including internal consistency reliability, concurrent validity, temporal stability, factorial validity, and discriminative validity. RESULTS: Internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha=0.961), concurrent validity (MADRS: r=0.731, p < 0.01, HDRS-24: r=0.663, p < 0.01), and temporal stability (r=0.726, p < 0.01) of KDRSS were all excellent. KDRSS showed good discriminative validity based on MARDS. KDRSS consisted of one-factor structure accounting for 63.8% of total variance. All subjects except two in full remission group had one or more residual symptoms. In 7 subscales of KDRSS consisting of similar items respectively, ‘lack of energy’ was the most commonly reported, followed by ‘increased emotionalism’ in this group. CONCLUSION: KDRSS is a useful and sensitive instrument for measuring residual depressive symptoms. Since some depressive symptoms including ‘lack of energy’ and ‘increased emotionalism’ in patients with full remission might be persistent during psychiatric intervention, these symptoms need to be focused on in clinical practice.

A Study on Psychological and Physical Health of Families of Victims One Year after the Sewol Ferry Disaster / 정신신체의학

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to assess physical illnesses, psychological difficulties, and daily life function of victims' family members one year after the Sewol ferry disaster, in order to establish a basis of strategies to promote their mental health and resilience. METHODS: We statistically analyzed self-reported data collected from a survey conducted between March 22 and 28, 2015 with 139 family members of victims. RESULTS: All respondents complained about one or more psychological difficulties, and 95.4% of them had newly diagnosed or exacerbated physical illnesses. An increased number of psychological difficulties was associated with a greater tendency to present physical illnesses including chronic headache, gastrointestinal, musculoskeletal, obstetrico-gynecological, genitourinary, and cardiovascular disease. In addition, the majority of respondents reported a decrease in life functioning. Specifically, 71.9% reported interpersonal avoidance and 63.9% reported difficulty in returning to work. CONCLUSIONS: Not only psychological trauma but also physical illness and daily functioning should be evaluated in detail and actively addressed in the bereaved family members after a catastrophe.

Underweight; Overweight and Obesity in Adults Nigerians Living in Rural and Urban Communities of Benue State

Objective: To assess the prevalence of underweight; overweight and obesity among Nigerians aged 18-45 years; living in urban and rural settlements in one state in Nigeria. Materials and Methods: Four hundred and thirty-five subjects between 18 and 45 years of age were recruited for height; weight and waist circumference (WC) measurements. Body mass index (BMI) was calculated (weight/height 2; kg/m 2 ); WHO criteria determined BMI and WC categories. Results: Based on BMI; about 2of the study population was underweight; 22was overweight and 4was obese. There were more normal weight persons in rural than in urban settlement. About 40 and 30of females in urban and rural settlement; respectively; were either overweight or obese. Based on WC of the sample population; 10.34had increased risk for metabolic syndrome [action level I (defi ned as WC ?94 cm in men and ?80 cm in women)] and 2.8had substantially increased risk [action level II (defi ned as WC ?102 cm in men and ?88 cm in women)]. At action level II; there was no obese male. Conclusion: This study revealed that underweight; overweight and obesity exist in young adults; but overweight and obesity are more prevalent. Therefore; concerted efforts should be made to control this in young adults for their present well-being and to possibly avoid the risk of disease later in life

Health care-related infections in solid organ transplants

The health care-related infections are well-known in a critical care setting, but reports of those infections in solid organ transplanted patients are scarce. We developed a study of retrospective cohort in a tertiary teaching hospital for 14 months. Eighty-one patients underwent solid organ transplants. The global incidence of health care-related infection was 42.0 percent. Fifteen percent of the cases were occurrences of surgical site infections, 14.0 percent pneumonias, 9.0 percent primary blood stream infections, 4.0 percent urinary tract infections and 2.0 percent skin infection. The most prevalent etiologic agents were K. pneumoniae (8.6 percent), P. aeruginosa (7.4 percent); A. baumannii (5.0 percent) and S. aureus (2.5 percent). Mortality was 18.0 percent, none of then related to health care infections. The high rate of those infections, mainly surgical site infections, suggests a demand for stricter measures to prevent and control health care-related infections.

Ventilación mecánica en el recién nacido de muy bajo peso al nacer / Respiration artificial in the infant very low birth weight

Este artículo podrá servir de guía para uno de los desafíos más importantes de la neonatología intensivaLa ventilación es sólo una parte de su manejo integral y complejo, pero de ser mal utilizada se asocia con mortalidad innecesaria o con morbilidad que puede durar el resto de la vida

Asociación entre el fenotipo fisura labiopalatina no sindrómica y marcadores de microsatélites ubicados en 6p, 17q y 19q / Association study of the nonsyndromic cleft lip/palate phenotype and microsatellite markers located in 6p, 17q and 19q

Background: In the search of the major genes responsible for the genetic etiology of Nonsyndromic Cleft Lip and Palate (NSCLP), an association study between this malformation and four molecular markers, F13A1 and EDN1 (6p), D17S579 (17q) and BCL3 (19q), was done. Aim: To determine, in a Chilean population, the presence of NSCLP susceptibility regions, as proposed for Caucasian populations in the 6p, 17q and 19q chromosomal regions. Material and Methods: A sample of unrelated NSCLP patients, that belonged to Simplex (Sx) and Multiplex (Mx) families, was analyzed. Blood donors were used as a control group (Co). The DNA of the four markers was amplified by means of PCR, their products analyzed by PAGE denaturants and visualized by silver staining. Statistical analysis was performed using c2 log ratio. Results: Allele frequency distribution of D17S579 was significantly different in all patients with NSCLP and their subgroups, when compared to control subjects. Significant differences in EDN1 frecuency were observed between the total groups of NSCLP patients and those pertaining to the Mx subgroup, when compared to controls. Differences in F13A1 distribution were only observed between NSCLP-Mx patients and controls. There was a slight difference in BCL3 distribution, between the total sample of NSCLP patients and controls. Conclusions: Our results support the hypothesis of the existence of cleft susceptibility regions in 6p and 17q. The small significance of BCL3, suggests that ethnicity can influence the interactions between involved genes

Asociación entre el fenotipo fisura labiopalatina no sindrómica y marcadores de microsatélite ubicados en 4q / Association between nonsyndromic cleft lip/palate with microsatellite markers located in 4q

Background: Nonsyndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate (NSCLP) is a common craniofacial defect. Association studies have suggested that a cleftinglocus is located on chromosome 4q at or near two microsatellite markers D4S175 and D4S192. Aim: To test the hypothesis on the possible presence of a clefting locus on chromosome 4q. Material and methods: We carried out an association study on a sample of unrelated NSCLP patients, of their unaffected relatives and in controls. Both probands and relatives were further analyzed depending if they originated from simplex or multiplex families. DNA was analyzed with two PCR markers close to the putative NSCLP locus, dinucleotide repeats D4S175 and D4S192. PCR products were resolved by PAGE and visualized by silver staining. Statistical analysis was performed by means of c2 log ratio. Results: Significant differences between NSCLP and controls were observed when comparing the allele frequency distribution of D4S192 both in the total sample as well as in NSCLP-multiplex and simplex cases. No significant differences for D4S175 were observed in any of the comparisons. Unaffected relatives showed significant differences with controls both for D4S175 and D4S192. Conclusions: Our results support the hypothesis that a NSCLP locus maps on chromosome 4q close to the microsatellite marker D4S192. No differences were observed between NSCLP multiplex and simplex cases versus controls, implying that they do not represent different etiologic entities. The results of the present and previous studies in the same group of patients support the hypothesis that several major interacting genes participate in the etiology of NSCLP

Resultados de la cirugía conservadora en el carcinoma invasor de mama precoz / Results of the conservative surgery in the early breast invasive carcinoma

Se analizan los resultados de la cirugía conservadora sin vaciamiento axilar, seguida de radioterapia y la sobrevida en 127 pacientes con cáncer de mama en estadio T1 - T2 No Mo a 144 meses. La población en estudio está constituida por 59 pacientes (46,4%) en T1 y 68 (53,5%) en T2. La edad promedio fue de 53 años para T1 y de 56 años para T2. El 83,2% de las pacientes en T1 tiene una SSEE a 120 meses. La mediana de seguimiento es de 54 meses. La sobrevida total actuarial es de 89,9%. El 11,8% (7/59) fracasaron. Tres (5%) en la zona locorregional y 4 (6,6%) a distancia. El 8% de los fracasos locorregionales lo hicieron en axila, mientras que en mama fue el 1,7%. Dos pacientes tienen fracaso en 2 o más localizaciones simultáneas. El 60,5% de las pacientes en T2 tienen una SSEE a 120 meses. La mediana de seguimiento es de 61 meses. La sobrevida total actuarial es de 77,7%. El 30% (21/68) fracasaron, 4 en la zona locorregional y 17 a distancia. Dos de los fracasos locorregionales fueron en axila y dos en la mama. Seis pacientes tienen dos o más fracasos simultáneos (locorregionales a distancia). Se concluye que en comparación a publicaciones con tratamientos similares, los resultados obtenidos son semejantes; pero al compararlos con los resultados obtenidos con técnicas conservadoras, en que se hace vaciamiento axilar, aquéllos son significativamente superiores, especialmente por los resultados obtenidos en axila