Different postharvest strategies to preserve broccoli quality during storage and shelf life: controlled atmosphere and 1-MCP.

Broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. italica) is a vegetable that requires the application of postharvest techniques to extend its marketability. Controlled atmosphere and 1-MCP treatments are most used to extend the shelf life of broccoli and reduce post-harvest deterioration. The aim of this study was to evaluate the visual, physicochemical and functional changes of broccoli head samples stored at 1-2 °C and 85-90% relative humidity (RH) in air (Control samples), under controlled atmospheres (10% O(2) and 5% CO(2)) (CA samples) and treated with 1-MCP (0.6 µL/L). After storage all samples were maintained at 20 °C for 2 and 4 days, in order to assess their shelf life. The most suitable postharvest treatment to extend broccoli quality during storage and shelf life, in terms of maintaining the visual quality and reducing loss of health-promoting compounds, was achieved by storage under controlled atmosphere conditions. The use of 1-MCP reduced the loss of green colour and chlorophyll pigments, but only during cold storage not during shelf life at 20 °C.

Is it necessary to treat all patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis?

BACKGROUND AND AIM OF THE WORK: To investigate the clinical course of untreated patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (usual interstitial pneumonia) (IPF/UIP). METHODS: Forty-three patients with IPF/UIP, divided into two groups. Group I consisted of 29 patients treated at diagnosis, while Group II comprised 14 patients who did not receive treatment. The indication of treatment was established whenever patients referred to a significant progression of the degree of dyspnea during the year prior to diagnosis. RESULTS: At diagnosis, patients from Group I had lower FVC (mean +/- SEM, 56+/-3% vs 73+/-3%) (p = 0.0004) and a greater extent of ground glass pattern in high resolution CT scan (18+/-4% vs 4+/-1%) (p = 0.004) than those from Group II. In group I, a follow-up study was carried out on 26 patients for 24+/-4 months. Thirteen of these 26 patients (50%) died 11+/-4 months after the initial assessment. Serial pulmonary functional tests were performed on 19 patients. Thirteen patients from Group II were followed up for 23+/-3 months. Seven of these 13 patients were treated 12+/-3 months after the diagnosis because of progression of the disease. The remaining 6 patients remained untreated and with the disease stable at the end of the follow-up, representing 15% (6 out of 39) of the whole study group. No patients from this group died during the follow-up. At the end of the follow-up, there were no differences in lung function changes between treated patients (19 from Group I and 7 from Group II), and the 6 untreated patients. CONCLUSIONS: Some patients with IPF/UIP remain stable for extended periods of time without treatment.

Pulmonary function tests and CT scan in the management of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

Relationships between pulmonary function testing and high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) were studied in 39 untreated patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) at diagnosis, 23 of whom were followed during 7.5 +/- 0.3 mo (mean +/- SEM). At diagnosis, the extent of overall lung involvement in the HRCT scans showed a moderate but significant correlation only with FVC (r = -0.46, p = 0. 003) and DLCO (r = -0.40, p = 0.03). The extent of ground glass pattern also correlated with FVC (r = -0.58, p = 0.0001). Arterial PO2 at peak exercise (n = 13 patients) showed a significant association with the extent of both ground-glass pattern and overall lung involvement in HRCT (r = -0.60, p = 0.02; and r = -0.64, p = 0. 01, respectively). On multivariate analysis a significant independent correlation between the global disease extent in HRCT and both FVC and DLCO was observed. Changes over time in the total extent of the disease evaluated with HRCT scans were also related to those observed in DLCO and in FVC (r = -0.57, p = 0.01, and r = -0. 51, p = 0.01, respectively). The present study suggests that FVC and DLCO are the physiological variables that best reflect the global extent of disease in IPF and thus may provide significant information for the assessment of the disease's progression.

Interleukin-8 expression in bronchoalveolar lavage cells in the evaluation of alveolitis in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

Interleukin-8 (IL-8) is a neutrophilic chemotactic factor which may have a prominent role in the attraction of neutrophils to the lung in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). The objective of this study was to investigate the usefulness of IL-8 expression in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) cells in the evaluation of alveolitis in IPF. We analysed the BAL cell expression of IL-8 by immunocytochemistry in 19 patients with IPF (six smokers, three ex-smokers and ten non-smokers) and in a control group composed of 14 individuals (six smokers, eight non-smokers). In IPF, BAL was performed on both the pulmonary lobe with the most extensive involvement and the one less extensively involved on high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) scans. The percentages and absolute numbers of BAL IL-8+ macrophages from lobes with the most extensive HRCT scan involvement (36 +/- 6% and (6 +/- 2 x 10(4) ml-1) (SE) and from those less extensively involved [26% +/- 4% and (6 +/- 1) x 10(4) ml-1] were significantly higher with respect to both those from healthy smokers [17% +/- 6% and (7 +/- 4) x 10(4) ml-1] and those from non-smokers [2% +/- 1% and (1 +/- 0.3) x 10(4) ml-1] (P = 0.005 and P = 0.001, respectively), without differences between the two lobes. In contrast, both the proportions and the absolute numbers of BAL neutrophils in IPF were significantly higher in lobes with the most extensively involved HRCT scan in comparison with lobes with the least extensive involvement [13% +/- 3%, (3 +/- 1) x 10(4) ml-1 vs. 8% +/- 2%, (1 +/- 0.3) x 10(4) ml-1, P = 0.05]. Moreover, the numbers of BAL neutrophils, but not those of IL-8+ macrophages, correlated with the extent of total pulmonary HRCT scan abnormalities in the most involved lobe (r = 0.64, P = 0.04). A correlation between neutrophils and IL-8+ cells was not observed. The results of this study suggest that, in IPF, BAL neutrophilia offers a better description of the disease inflammatory process than the expression of IL-8 in BAL cells.

Liver transplantation for small hepatocellular carcinoma: the tumor-node-metastasis classification does not have prognostic power.

Tumoral recurrence rate and survival of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) treated by orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) depend on tumor stage. Thereby, from the beginning of our program, we selected only patients with solitary tumors < or = 5 cm without vascular invasion, thus avoiding the use of the tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) staging system as a selection tool. The present study reports the results obtained in 58 consecutive patients (52 +/- 8 years, 47 males) with HCC (7 incidentals) transplanted between 1989 and 1995. Transplantation was indicated because of tumor diagnosis in 40 cases and advanced liver failure in 18. Mean tumor size at staging was 28.2 +/- 12.1 mm. No adjuvant treatment was applied during the waiting period (58.9 +/- 45.1 days). The pathological tumor-node-metastasis (pTNM) classification allocated 15 patients to stage I, 19 to stage II, 11 to stage IIIA, and 13 to stage IVA showing preoperative understaging in 43% of the cases with known tumor. After a median follow up of 31 months, only two patients have shown tumor recurrence and fifteen have died, the 1-, 3-, and 5-year survival being 84%, 74%, and 74%. All HCV+ patients remain infected and 94% showed significant liver disease (6 cirrhosis). Six patients have had a second transplant. In conclusion, the application of restrictive criteria not following the TNM staging system prompts excellent results for liver transplantation in patients with HCC, both in terms of survival and disease recurrence, even without applying adjuvant treatment; however, the survival data should be tempered by the appearance of complications that may worsen the long-term prognosis.

Transarterial embolization versus symptomatic treatment in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma: results of a randomized, controlled trial in a single institution.

This randomized, controlled trial assessed the effect of transarterial embolization (TAE) (without associated chemotherapy) on the survival of patients with nonsurgical hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Eighty consecutive patients were randomized to treatment with embolization (Group A, n = 40), or to symptomatic treatment (Group B, n = 40), there being no differences between both groups regarding the degree of liver function impairment and tumor stage. Eighty-two percent of the patients presented a self-limited postembolization syndrome, without treatment-related mortality. Fifty-five percent of the treated cases exhibited a partial response, which resulted in a lower probability of tumor progression during follow-up (57% vs. 77% at 1 year; P < .005). However, after a median follow-up of 24 months (30 deaths in each group), there are no differences in survival (Group A: 49% and 13%; Group B: 50% and 27%, at 2 and 4 years, respectively; P = .72). The absence of differences was maintained even when dividing patients according to Child-Pugh's grade, Okuda stage, or performance status test (PST). Furthermore, there were no differences in the probability of complications or in the need of hospital admissions. In conclusion, TAE has a marked antitumoral effect associated to a slower growth of the tumor, but it does not improve the survival of patients with nonsurgical HCC.

Computed tomography-guided bronchoalveolar lavage in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

BACKGROUND: High resolution computed tomography (HRCT) is now recognised as a sensitive tool for predicting the histological characteristics of the lung parenchymal abnormalities in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). A reticular pattern on HRCT scanning is indicative of fibrotic histology while a ground glass pattern has been associated with inflammatory disease. The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether the cell population in the bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid from different lobes differs according to HRCT characteristics in patients with IPF. METHODS: Twenty six patients with IPF (18 men) of mean (SE) age 67 (2) years were included in the study. A semiquantitative analysis of the extent of the abnormalities on the HRCT scan was applied by summing the proportion of both reticular and ground glass patterns in each lobe (expressed as percentage of total area evaluated) and 100 ml double BAL was then randomly performed in the lobe with the most extensive involvement (lobe A) and that with the least extensive involvement (lobe B). RESULTS: Twenty three of the 26 patients (88%) had an abnormal cell count in the BAL fluid from lobe A compared with 18 patients (69%) with abnormalities in the BAL fluid from lobe B. The median (range) percentage of 8.5% (0-34%) and the absolute numbers of neutrophils (1.3 x 10(4)/ml, 0-14.6 x 10(4)/ml) in lobe A were significantly higher than those in lobe B (5% (0-26%) and 1.2 x 10(4)/ml (0-5 x 10(4)/ml), respectively). The percentage (3%, 0-19%) and absolute numbers (0.65 x 10(4)/ml, 0-4 x 10(4)/ml (0-4.8 x 10(4)/ml), respectively). For the group as a whole a correlation was found between the percentage and absolute numbers of neutrophils in the BAL fluid and the total score of abnormalities on the HRCT scan in the most involved lobe (lobe A). Multiple regression analysis indicated that both the percentage and absolute numbers of neutrophils were significantly and independently related to the extent of ground glass pattern. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with IPF the cell population in the BAL fluid is not homogeneous and seems to be related to the characteristics of the abnormalities on the HRCT scan present in the lavaged lobe.

CT of pulmonary epithelioid hemangioendothelioma.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the radiological findings of long-standing pulmonary epithelioid hemangioendothelioma. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Serial radiography and CT, including high-resolution CT scans, were performed in two patients. RESULTS: The tumor has remained radiographically stationary for 10 and 20 years, respectively. On CT, both patients showed multiple calcified pulmonary nodules, up to 1 cm in size with a perivascular distribution. Interstitial involvement was seen in one case. CONCLUSION: Calcification and perivascular location of the tumoral nodules were characteristic CT findings in our cases.

Genetic and environmental contributions to bread-wheat flour quality using the SDS sedimentation test as an index.

The contribution of a locus to the genotypic variance depends not only on the effects of its genes but also on their frequency and on the genetic background in which it segregates. In two synthetic populations, involving common cultivars of our collection, estimates were made of the contributions of alleles at the homoeologous high-molecular-weight glutenin (HMW) loci, Glu-A1, Glu-B1, and Glu-D1, to the variation in flour quality using SDS sedimentation as an index. These estimates were of the magnitude of the contributions relative to each other, relative to the residual genetic variance, and relative to the environmental variance. The first population was a synthetic formed from ten bread-wheat cultivars known for their good quality, and selected under forced random mating for high SDS sedimentation. The second was the selfed progeny of a cross of Ribereño, a very poor quality bread-wheat of genotype (Null, 7-8,2-12), with line 7681, a very good quality bread-wheat with the genotype (2(*), 7-9, 5-10). Slightly over one-half of the phenotypic variance is under genetic control and over one-half of this was accounted for by HMW contributions. The initial response to selection was very rapid, as is expected when genes with large effects are involved. In addition, the frequencies of good HMW alleles increased so quickly that their contribution to the genetic variance was exhausted by the fourth generation of selection. If our estimates are correct, over one-half of the maximum possible advance in quality in heterogeneous populations similar to ours can easily be achieved in 2 years, or less, of marker-assisted selection.

Pelvic Castleman disease: CT and MR appearance.

The localized form of Castleman disease is rare and of unknown origin. Pelvic location of the disease is unusual. We report the CT and MR appearance of a case of pelvic Castleman disease presenting with characteristic calcifications and hypervascularity.

[Accessory spleen: ultrasonographic and tomographic characteristics]. / Bazo accesorio: características ultrasonográficas y tomográficas.

The failure of fusion of splenic tissue results in the formation of accessory spleens. This entity normally appears in post-mortem examinations. The purpose of this work was to determine the incidence of the accessory spleen and to compare the ultrasonographic and tomographic features of the accessory spleen and the main spleen in a group of one thousand patients affected with several abdominal pathologies. Five hundred of these patients were studied by ultrasonography and five hundred patients by computed tomography. The ultrasonographic and tomographic features of the accessory and main spleen were similar. Its diagnosis is specially important in certain groups of patients with hematologic disease or abdominal trauma with splenic tear. This is due to the fact that the hypertrophy of the accessory spleen can produce a relapse of the disease.

Disseminated lymphatic tuberculosis in acquired immunodeficiency syndrome: computed tomography findings.

There is an increased frequency of disseminated tuberculosis in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). The authors reviewed 6 thoracic and 10 abdominal computed tomography scans from 11 patients who had AIDS and disseminated tuberculosis. All scans demonstrated multiple, large, mediastinal or retroperitoneal lymph nodes, or both; low-density centers within enlarged nodes were identified in seven patients (63%). The scans also showed a diffuse miliary pattern (three patients), pericardial effusion (three patients), mild hepatomegaly (six patients), moderate splenomegaly (seven patients), hypodense splenic lesions (one patient), peritoneal fluid (four patients), bowel involvement (two patients) and dilatation of the biliary tract (two patients). Infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis was demonstrated in all cases. The findings of this study show that lymph-node enlargement and nodes with low-density centers in patients who have AIDS are suggestive of disseminated tuberculous infection.

Natural history of hepatocellular carcinoma in Spain. Five year's experience in 249 cases.

In this study we attempted to define the clinical pattern and prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients in Spain. Two hundred and forty-nine patients were included in the study. One hundred and eighty-seven were male and 62 female, with their mean age being 62.5 +/- 0.6 years. The majority of patients (92.8%) had an underlying cirrhosis. In most of the patients, the disease appeared as decompensated liver disease. Only 18.5% of the HCC cases were asymptomatic. Only 8.2% of the cases were HBsAg positive. alpha-Fetoprotein reached diagnostic values in only 37.2% of the patients. Surgical treatment was successfully performed in 14 patients: one underwent orthotopic liver transplantation and the 13 others complete tumor resection. Chemotherapy was administered to 38 subjects, while percutaneous ethanol injection was applied in seven cases. Patients receiving only symptomatic treatment, comprised 76.7%. Survival was related to tumor size and liver function. While the median survival of the whole series was 3.3 +/- 0.4 months, it was 14.5 +/- 2.2 months in patients with preserved liver function and small tumors. These results reflect that in Spain HCC patients are diagnosed at a moderately advanced phase. Since early diagnosis is the only way to increase the proportion of patients suitable for curative treatment, early detection plans are mandatory in the population at risk.

Hepatic Kaposi sarcoma in AIDS: US and CT findings.

Abdominal ultrasonography (US) and computed tomography (CT) were performed in two patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and necropsy-proved hepatic Kaposi sarcoma. At US, small (5-12-mm) hyperechoic nodules and dense periportal bands were seen in the liver. These lesions appeared hypoattenuated on baseline and dynamic CT scans and enhanced on delayed scans after a bolus injection of contrast material. Although nonspecific, these features strongly suggest tumor involvement in the liver in patients with AIDS and Kaposi sarcoma.

Hepatic artery aneurysm: diagnosis by duplex-Doppler ultrasound. Case report.

A case of hepatic aneurysm diagnosed by duplex-Doppler US is reported. The demonstration of a complex hepatic hiliar mass with an arterial turbulent blood flow spectrum, permitted the diagnosis, which was confirmed by subsequent abdominal CT exploration. Our case confirms that duplex-Doppler US is useful non-invasive tool for the diagnosis of hepatic artery aneurysm.

Two fertile Turner women in a family.

Two fertile women, mother and daughter, both presenting sex chromosomal mosaicism (45,X/46,XX/47,XXX and 45,X/46,Xr(X] are reported. The mechanisms through which a Turner women can eventually be fertile are discussed.

Cytogenetic and clinical findings in ten 45,X/46,XY patients.

We report ten cases with 45,X/46,XY karyotype. Cytogenetic and clinical findings have been compared. No constant relationship was found either between blood and gonadal karyotype, or between karyotype and gonadal morphology.

Chromosome studies in two human brain tumors.

The cytogenetic findings based on G- and C-banding in two human brain tumors (a meningioma and an astrocytoma) are reported. Both tumors were characterized by hypodiploid modal numbers (45 and 40 chromosomes, respectively), chromosome 22 abnormalities, and the presence of several markers. This observation supports the hypothesis of the association of No. 22 chromosome abnormalities with tumors of the brain.