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Biomedical subjects

J Barrios

Publications and source records attributed to J Barrios.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2003

Type 1 diabetes islet associated antibodies in subjects infected by echovirus 16.

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: To determine whether the emergent infection by echovirus 16 that occurred in Cuba during the year 2000 was related to the presence of Type 1 diabetes associated autoantibodies. METHODS: The presence of ICA, IAA, GADA, IA2 antibodies and neutralizing antibodies (NtAb) to echovirus 16 were determined in sera from 38 infected children and adolescents and 80 control subjects, matched in sex, age, local residence and time of sample collection. RESULTS: The occurrence of a large-scale echovirus 16 epidemic was associated with the appearance of humoral autoimmune markers of Type 1 diabetes, especially for ICA, IAA and GADA. In the convalescent stage, ICA, IAA and GADA seroconversion was shown in 92.1%, 44.7% and 28.9% of echovirus 16 infected subjects. None of the 80 uninfected subjects had ICA or IAA, while one was GADA positive. ICA, IAA and GADA frequency was higher in the convalescent than in the acute stage (p<0.0005). A strong positive correlation was found between the NtAb to echovirus 16 and ICA titres in both acute and convalescent stage (r=0.91; p<0.0001, r=0.55; p=0.0003 respectively). CONCLUSION/INTERPRETATION: This work provides evidence of an association between echovirus 16 infection and the presence of Type 1 diabetes related antibodies (ICA, IAA and GADA). Our data show that the echovirus 16 infection might be capable of inducing a process of autoimmune beta-cell damage and support the hypothesis that enterovirus infections are important risk factors for the development of Type 1 diabetes.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

Synaptonemal complex analysis in oocytes and spermatocytes of threespine stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus (Teleostei, Gasterosteidae).

A surface-spreading synaptonemal complex (SC) technique was employed to analyze spermatocytes and oocytes of stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus, in order to visualize the process of chromosome synapsis. The mean SC length was 150 +/- 18 microm in three males and 143 +/- 12 microm in one female analyzed. A representative SC karyotype with 21 bivalents was also presented. Each SC had lateral elements of equal length. No bivalent displaying the atypical synaptic behaviour which is often associated with heteromorphic sex chromosomes was observed neither in males nor in the female analyzed.

Animals↗
PubMed2001

Persistence of vaccine-derived poliovirus following a mass vaccination campaign in Cuba: implications for stopping polio vaccination after global eradication.

BACKGROUND: With substantial progress made toward polio eradication, developing the appropriate strategy for discontinuing global oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) after global eradication becomes increasingly important. At issue is the theoretical risk of independent circulation of potentially virulent OPV-derived strains. Because Cuba uses OPV only in mass campaigns, it represents an ideal site to assess vaccine-derived poliovirus persistence. METHODS: Infants born after the 1997 biannual mass campaigns were evaluated for past (neutralizing antibody) or current (virus excretion) evidence of vaccine-derived poliovirus exposure. We obtained sera and/or stool specimens from 861 infants; a second serum from 218 infants. RESULTS: All stool specimens were poliovirus negative. Of 762 infants, 113 (14.8%) had initially detectable poliovirus type 1 antibody, 193 (25.3%) type 2, and 94 (12.3%) type 3. A precipitous antibody decline occurred in initially positive sera. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that in a country with high population immunity, vaccine-derived virus is unlikely to establish ongoing circulation.

Cuba↗
PubMed2001

Searching for telomeric sequences in two Allium species.

Some Alliaceae species have no tandemly repeated TTTAGGG sequences. Instead, at the very end of their chromosomes, there are highly repetitive satellite and (or) rDNA sequences. These sequences apparently replace the canonical plant telomeric sequences in these species. A method of preparing two-dimensional surface spreads of plant synaptonemal complexes (SCs), combined with fluorescent in situ hybridization, has revealed that telomeric chromatin is tightly condensed at the ends of SCs in plants and animals. Using this method, we have tested the organization and location of those sequences postulated to cap the chromosomes in two species of the genus Allium: A. cepa and A. altaicum. We have also extended this study to other putative telomere candidates, such as LTR (long terminal repeat) and non-LTR retrotransposons. None of the DNA sequences analyzed showed the characteristic telomeric organization at pachytene.

Allium↗
PubMed2000

Brigadier General Theodore C Lyster [correction of Lister], MD: father of American aviation medicine.

Aviation medicine came into existence as a recognized entity when certain standards were established during and shortly after World War I. During this time, accident rates were high. In fact, a larger number of pilots were dying in accidents than in combat. Figures from Great Britain's casualty list at the close of the first year of World War I indicated that for every 100 aviators killed, 60 died as a result of some individual physical defect, 30 from some form of recklessness or careless behavior, 8 as a result of some mechanical defect in the airplane, and only 2 at the hands of the enemy. Aviators were found to be in poor physical condition. Because there were no established regulations with regard to workloads, aviators were frequently found to have been flying to a point beyond exhaustion. Because of workload, chronic fatigue, and emotional stress, aviators were constantly called upon to perform superhuman feats when not in peak physical condition. Errors in judgement were common. The majority of pilots lost weight as a somatic sign of stress. This was recognized by Theodore Lyster [corrected] who had recently been appointed as the Chief Surgeon, Aviation Section of the U.S. Army. Such problems were not diagnosed by medical officers because they were not trained to recognize them. Theodore Charles Lyster [corrected] was the son of Captain William J. and Martha Doughty Lyster [corrected]. He was an Army "brat" who entered the world on July 10, 1875. His childhood was spent in various posts around the country. At the age of 7, Lyster [corrected] contracted yellow fever while living in Fort Brown, TX. The boy was treated by William Gorgas, a young post surgeon. Gorgas was credited with the young boy's recovery. Later, Gorgas was to marry Lyster's [corrected] aunt making Lyster [corrected] his nephew by marriage. Having survived the yellow fever infection, young Lyster [corrected] had a lifelong immunity to the disease.

Aerospace Medicine↗
PubMed2000

Organization of highly repeated sequences in surface-spread pachytene chromosomes of rye.

A method of preparing two-dimensional surface spreads of plant synaptonemal complexes (SCs) associated with fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) has been applied to analyze the location and organization of five different highly repeated DNA sequences in rye. Our observations indicate that, depending on the type of sequence, the chromatin displays different types of organization. Telomeric sequences were seen tightly associated with the SC while other repetitive DNA sequences were found to form loops that are associated with SCs only at their bases. On the contrary, the FISH signal of a centromeric satellite had a granular appearance, reflecting that the hybridization occurs only with parts of the chromatin loops.

Chromosomes↗
PubMed2000

[Structure and dynamics of the community associated to cultivated Gracilariopsis tenuifrons (Gracilariacea) in Chacopata, Sucre, Venezuela. I: Faunistic inventory].

The associated fauna of Gracilariopsis tenuifrons (Gracilariaceae, Rhodophyta) cultures was collected between October 1994 and December 1996 in Chacopata (Sucre State, Venezuela) and preserved in 10% formaldehyde. The species list includes 17 Crustacea, 14 Mollusca and six Polychaeta, the remaining taxa added ten species (total 47 species in eight Phyla). Grazing by mesoherbivores affected the algae and the mollusk Aplysia protea damaged new cultures significantly. The abundance of tubes built by the amphipod Euricthonius brasiliensis impairs algal aspect and facilitates colonization by other organisms.

Animals↗
PubMed2000

External nasal dilator strips do not affect treadmill performance in subjects wearing mouthguards.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of the Breathe Right (BR) external nasal dilator strip on treadmill exercise performed while wearing an upper maxillary mouthguard. DESIGN AND SETTING: Two-way repeated-measures design with subjects acting as their own controls. Subjects performed 2 randomly assigned bouts of incremental treadmill exercise (with and without the BR strip) while wearing upper maxillary mouthguards. SUBJECTS: Nineteen young, healthy, recreationally active men. MEASUREMENTS: we assessed subjective nasal patency levels at rest. We also recorded heart rate, dyspnea rating, and treadmill speed at 2 submaximal exercise levels and at volitional fatigue. RESULTS: Subjective nasal patency was significantly increased with the strip. Repeated-measures analyses of variance revealed a significant main effect of the BR strip on dyspnea ratings during exercise, but there was no effect of the strip on test duration, heart rate, or running speed during the tests. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that the BR nasal dilator strip does not affect treadmill exercise performance in subjects wearing mouthguards.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1996

[Proximal chemical composition and functional properties of fresh meat of crab claws (Homalaspis plana)].

The research of alternative technological processes is being necessary in order to obtain a better utilization of hydrobiologic resources and food products, with higher added value. Crab (Homolaspis plana) is a crustacean found along the Chilean coast, whose flesh is exported as a frozen product. The resource crab is scantly studied in Chile and could became an excellent raw material for "delicatessen" products, with a high market value. The proximal composition, through the protein, fat, moisture and ashes content was determined. The non nitrogen extract was calculated by difference. The functional properties (water retention, emulsifying and gel-forming capacities) of fresh crab claws meat without additives were measured. The proximal composition for the claw meat was: 79,34 +/- 1.12% moisture, 16.75 +/- 1.29% protein, 1.86 +/- 0.11% ashes, 0.11 +/- 0.01 fat % and 1.93 +/- 1.07% N.N.E. In relation with the emulsifying capacity, claw meat was able to emulsify 2,259.03 +/- 73.04 g vegetal oil/g protein. The water retention was 154.49 +/- 6.85% representing the increase in mass percent; and the force of the gel formed in claw meat was 195.3 +/- 17.16 g-force x cm. According to these results, the claw crab is an attractive food, with a high protein and low fat content. Crab meat showed an excellent emulsifying capacity and water retention, so it can be used as a good raw material for the development of smearing products. In the case of gel-like products, further studies will be required, in order to optimize the conditions in which a stronger gel could be obtained.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

Comparison of Petrifilm method to conventional methods for enumerating aerobic bacteria, coliforms, Escherichia coli and yeasts and molds in foods.

The Petrifilm plates method was compared to conventional methods (PCA, VRBA, Levine EMB agar and OGYE agar) for enumeration of mesophilic aerobic bacteria, coliforms, Escherichia coli, and yeasts+molds in six homogeneous lots of different food groups (pasteurized milk, yoghurt ice cream, eggs, minced meat, fresh strawberries and frozen green beans). For all the microbiological criteria except for yeasts and molds and mesophilic aerobic bacteria in frozen green beans, the mean values of counts with Petrifilm plates were higher than those obtained with traditional methods. The correlation coefficient of Petrifilm aerobic bacteria, coliforms, and yeasts + molds v. PCA, VRBA and OGYE agar for each microbiological criterion for a composite of six food products were 0.897, 0.861 and 0.981, respectively.

Bacteria, Aerobic↗
PubMed1993

Treatment of cervical lymphangioma using fibrin adhesive.

We present a case of cervical lymphangioma operated on when one month old. Three weeks later he suffered a relapse which caused respiratory problems since it affected the retropharyngeal pouch, with movement and compression of the upper airway. Given the technical difficulty of operating again, the transoral injection of fibrin adhesive was used as a sclerotic agent, which resulted in remission of symptoms and acceptable reduction in tumor size. The use of fibrin adhesive may be highly useful for the treatment of lymphangiomata and their complications.

Fibrin Tissue Adhesive↗
PubMed1991

Selective intestinal decontamination prevents spontaneous bacterial peritonitis.

In a prospective randomized study, selective intestinal decontamination with norfloxacin was performed during hospitalization in 32 cirrhotic patients with low ascitic fluid total protein levels. The incidence of infections was compared with that in a control group of 31 nontreated cirrhotic patients of similar characteristics. We found a significantly lower incidence of infections [1/32 (3.1%) vs. 13/31 (41.9%); P less than 0.005] and spontaneous bacterial peritonitis [0/32 (0%) vs. 7/31 (22.5%); P less than 0.05] in patients receiving norfloxacin. The lower incidence of extraperitoneal infections [1/32 (3.1%) vs. 7/31 (22.5%); P = 0.052] in the treated group did not reach statistical significance. The incidence of infections [1/28 (3.6%) vs. 9/22 (40.9%); P less than 0.01] and spontaneous bacterial peritonitis [0/28 (0%) vs. 5/22 (22.7%); P less than 0.05] in cirrhotic patients admitted because of ascites was also significantly lower in the treated group. The decrease in the rate of mortality observed in the group undergoing selective intestinal decontamination did not reach statistical significance. These data show that selective intestinal decontamination is useful to prevent spontaneous bacterial peritonitis and extraperitoneal infections in hospitalized cirrhotic patients with low ascitic fluid total protein levels.

Aged↗
PubMed1990

Selective intestinal decontamination increases serum and ascitic fluid C3 levels in cirrhosis.

Selective intestinal decontamination for 7 days with norfloxacin was performed in 14 cirrhotic patients with ascites and low ascitic fluid total protein. Variations in serum and ascitic fluid of C3 and C4 and ascitic fluid total protein after therapy were compared with those of a control group of 14 untreated patients with similar characteristics. After oral norfloxacin administration, we saw a significant increase of C3 in serum (p less than 0.05) and ascitic fluid (p = 0.01). A significant increase was also observed in ascitic fluid total protein (p less than 0.05) but not in serum and ascitic fluid C4. There were no changes in serum C3, ascitic fluid C3, ascitic fluid C4 or in ascitic fluid total protein in group 2. These data demonstrate that selective intestinal decontamination increases serum and ascitic fluid C3 levels and, therefore, might be useful in preventing spontaneous infections in cirrhotic patients at high risk of infection.

Ascitic Fluid↗
PubMed1986

Large-surface hemodialysis.

A hemodialysis device with a surface of 5 m2, a blood flow (QB) of 500 ml/min, and a dialysate flow (QD) of 1,000 ml/min has enabled the authors to obtain in 6 h/week the same clearances for urea, creatinine, uric acid, phosphates, and vitamin B12 as has conventional hemodialysis (CH), which takes from 12 to 15 h/week. Twenty-five patients were hemodialyzed throughout 1 year with CH and another year with large-surface hemodialysis, 20 with a creatinine clearance (CCr) of 0.5 ml/min and 5 with a CCr between 0.5 and 4.5 ml/min. All followed a free diet and led a normal life. Hemodialysis time was 6 h/week, and the results obtained were equal to those of the previous year with a CH of 12 h/week. The use of a bicarbonate dialysate rich in glucose, with a relatively high level of potassium and sodium, can avoid the disequilibrium syndrome caused by quick hemodialysis and makes possible the removal of excess liquid in only 6 h/week, without disturbances for the patient.

Adult↗