Relative Pigment Composition and Remote Sensing Reflectance of Caribbean Shallow-Water Corals.

Reef corals typically contain a number of pigments, mostly due to their symbiotic relationship with photosynthetic dinoflagellates. These pigments usually vary in presence and concentration and influence the spectral characteristics of corals. We studied the variations in pigment composition among seven Caribbean shallow-water Scleractinian corals by means of High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) analysis to further resolve the discrimination of corals. We found a total of 27 different pigments among the coral species, including some alteration products of the main pigments. Additionally, pigments typically found in endolithic algae were also identified. A Principal Components Analysis and a Hierarchical Cluster Analysis showed the separation of coral species based on pigment composition. All the corals were collected under the same physical environmental conditions. This suggests that pigment in the coral's symbionts might be more genetically-determined than influenced by prevailing physical conditions of the reef. We further investigated the use of remote sensing reflectance (Rrs) as a tool for estimating the total pigment concentration of reef corals. Depending on the coral species, the Rrs and the total symbiont pigment concentration per coral tissue area correlation showed 79.5-98.5% confidence levels demonstrating its use as a non-invasive robust technique to estimate pigment concentration in studies of coral reef biodiversity and health.

Home versus hospital mortality from cancer in Mexico (1999-2009).

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the place of death from cancer in México from 1999 to 2009 and find the associated factors. METHODS: We collected data on mortality by cancer from the national database including age, gender, area of residence, level of education, place of death, and type of cancer. RESULTS: The proportion of deaths at home and hospital was 55.67% and 39%, respectively. Factors associated with home deaths were old age, female gender, rural area of residence, and lack of formal education. There was a short but significant decrease in home deaths for cervical cancer and leukemia. CONCLUSIONS: In México, mortality in home is greater than in hospital for patients with cancer. Our results have important implications for palliative care professionals and health services of México.

[Peritoneal dialysis in obstetric patients]. / Diálisis peritoneal en pacientes obstétricas.

INTRODUCTION: The prevalence of acute renal failure (ARF) in obstetric patients in our country is estimated to be between 3 and 42.8%. The most important causes are preeclampsia, especially when associated with thrombotic microangiopathy and hemolysis and less frequently to hemorrhagic shock. Early peritoneal dialysis (EPD) is the temporary treatment. For these patients, 100 % recovery in renal function was observed. When ARF is associated with multiple organ failure (MOF), the reported mortality ranges between 0 and 20 %. OBJECTIVE: To describe clinical features and medical outcomes of patients treated with early peritoneal dialysis in pregnancy complicated by ARF. METHODS: A case series was conducted at the Research Unit of the Instituto Materno Infantil del Estado de México. We reviewed the cases of patients admitted to the ICU matching the criteria for ARF. They were divided into two groups: those who received EPD vs. those who did not require EPD. The most important national series were included describing the association with preeclampsia and thrombotic microangiopathy with hemolysis. RESULTS: In a 5-year period, 1272 patients were admitted to the ICU; in 38 patients ARF was documented requiring peritoneal dialysis. In nine cases ARF was associated with thrombotic microangiopathy with hemolysis, two cases of stillbirth, and one case of mortality with MOF. A 100% recovery in renal function was observed in all cases, using 1.5% solution with an average of 34 dialysis treatments. CONCLUSIONS: The early use of peritoneal dialysis in obstetric patients with ARF has a good prognosis.