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Biomedical subjects

C Paniagua

Publications and source records attributed to C Paniagua.

36 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Molecular cloning and characterization of an extracellular protease gene from Aeromonas hydrophila.

A structural gene which codes for an extracellular protease in Aeromonas hydrophilia SO2/2 and D13 was cloned in Escherichia coli C600-1 by using pBR322 as a vector. The gene codes for a temperature-stable protease with a molecular mass of approximately 38,000 daltons. The protein was secreted to the periplasm of E. coli C600-1 and purified by osmotic shock. Cloned protease (P3) was identical in molecular mass and properties to the one purified from A. hydrophila SO2/2 culture supernatant as an extracellular product.

Aeromonas↗

Pathogenicity factors and virulence for rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri) of motile Aeromonas spp. isolated from a river.

Ninety-seven motile Aeromonas strains were isolated over a period of a year from samples of water and sediment collected at different sites along a river. Strains were regularly recovered from all samples, regardless of the source of isolation or seasonal conditions. Isolates were biochemically characterized by the API 20NE system (Analytab Products, Plainview, N.Y.) and classified as Aeromonas hydrophila (74 strains), Aeromonas sobria (11 strains), and Aeromonas caviae (12 strains). Despite the high level of homogeneity observed in their biochemical patterns, they displayed different degrees of virulence for fish; 72.02% of A. hydrophila isolates and 63% of A. sobria isolates were virulent for fish by intramuscular challenge, but lower frequencies of virulence were observed when intraperitoneal injections were used. All A. caviae strains proved to be avirulent. Caseinases, hemolysins, and Vero cytotoxins were produced by 100, 91, and 94.59%, respectively, of A. hydrophila strains and with lower frequencies and lower caseinase activities by A. sobria isolates. No correlation was found between these activities and the degree of virulence of the strains for fish. Most hydrophobic strains seem to be concentrated in A. caviae, A. sobria, and avirulent A. hydrophila groups. Known virulence markers commonly associated with virulent strains (acriflavine negative and self-pelleting negative and precipitation after boiling positive phenotypes) had a low representation in the total of strains studied and were not associated with virulence.

Aeromonas↗

[Acute promyelocytic leukemias: clinico-biological aspects, prognostic factors, therapeutic response, and possibilities of cure in 34 cases (1970-1988)].

Thirty-four new cases of acute promyelocytic leukaemia (M3) were diagnosed at the authors' Centre between 1970 and 1988 (19 males and 15 females) with ages between 5 and 73 years (median age, 32 years). Three cases were of the hypogranular variant or M3-v (8.8%). The clinical picture included: haemorrhagic diathesis (85%), pallor/malaise (82%), fever/infection (41%), hepatomegaly (26%), splenomegaly (12%). Leucopenia of less than 5 x 10(9)/L was present in 23/34 cases, laboratory signs of DIC in 26/31, increased LDH, over 400 U/mL, in 6/31, and abnormal karyotype in 7/15. One of the patients rejected any treatment; two others died of brain haemorrhage before therapy was started, and seven died in the first two weeks of treatment. Of the 31 patients treated, complete remission (CR) was achieved in 21 cases (67.7%). Allogeneic BMT was carried out in two of them, with further relapse and death. Post-remission treatment was given to the remaining 19 patients, and there were 13 relapses. Six patients have been in CR, 5 of them after cessation of therapy, for the last 1.5-11.5 years. Age under 50 years and leucocyte count below 5 x 10(9)/L at diagnosis were favourable prognostic factors according to the univariate statistical analysis performed. The survival plateau of the actuarial curve was reached beyond 2.75 years by 15% of all the patients treated (33 cases), 23% of the patients who achieved CR (21 cases), 31% of the patients under 50 years of age and 5 x 10(9)/L leucocyte count at diagnosis (15 cases) and 36% of these last achieving CR (13 cases).

Actuarial Analysis↗

Unusual serotypes of Escherichia coli from piglet diarrhea in north Spain.

Eighteen strains of Escherichia coli isolated from piglet diarrhea were examined with a wide range of antisera and were found not to belong to the common serotypes found in this disease. Several different serotypes were found; nine strains belonged to O153, and an O group (not commonly associated with piglet diarrhea) belonged to four different serobiotypes.

Animals↗

Stereotactic evacuation and local administration in intracerebral haematomas. A comparative study.

Based on current controversies on optimal treatment for spontaneous intracerebral haematomas, chronic experiments to investigate the validity of open surgery, stereotactic evacuation and local urokinase administration in these lesions were performed in 52 dogs. Under general anesthesia diverse volumes of autologous blood were intracerebrally injected to produce the haematoma. A catheter was introduced and chronically implanted in the contralateral ventricle for intracranial pressure monitoring. The animals were divided in two groups of 26 dogs each, according to haematoma location in subcortical or basal ganglia structures. The natural history was studied in both groups. Different types of treatment consisting in surgery, stereotactic evacuation, urokinase injection within the clot and both latter techniques combined were carried out 24 or 72 hours following haematoma production. Clinical status, systemic arterial pressure, intracranial pressure and CT scanning were used for result evaluation. Brain specimens were submitted for pathological examination. Our results indicate that stereotactic evacuation performed during the first 24 hours after haematoma occurrence was the most effective and innocuous procedure for basal ganglia lesions. Local urokinase plus stereotactic aspiration showed a high efficacy in controlling delayed basal ganglia and subcortical blood collections. Other therapeutic approaches behaved almost as the natural history.

Animals↗

Can clinical psychoanalysis be scientific?

Criticism of psychoanalysis as a scientific discipline has increased recently. Even though psychoanalytic theory deserves ample criticism by the scientific community for its ambiguous definitions, deficient construct validity and precarious operationalization of its procedures, as long as there are clinical observables susceptible of recording, psychoanalysis remains in the realm of science. The scientific merit is reviewed of some psychoanalytic concepts such as repression, the unconscious, psychic structures, and intrapsychic conflict. The possibility of objectivity, prediction, and confirmation of hypotheses is discussed.

Child Development↗

Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in adults: results of a 'total-therapy' programme in 47 patients over 15 years old.

For the last 13 years, 47 patients with ALL over 15 years old (range 15-72; median 21) entered a 'total-therapy' programme. All cases received a 6-8 week induction course of PRD, VCR, DRB and/or L-ASN. Prophylaxis of CNS was done by cranial radiotherapy plus i.t. MTX in 32/45 patients who attained complete remission (CR). After CR, subsequent therapy involved a programme of maintenance with 6MP and MTX at full doses. Pulses of intermittent reinforcement (PRD, VCR and DRB) were done for 2 weeks, every 3 months, for at least 3 years. CR was achieved in 42/47 patients (89.3%). The median relapse-free survival of the patients who attained CR was 57 months, with an 8-year estimated disease-free survival rate of 43% for those cases. If actuarial assumptions were to be sustained, it would indicate an encouraging cure rate of 38% of all our adult ALL patients (mainly in those cases between 15 and 30 years old).

Adolescent↗

Psychodynamics of the mildly retarded and borderline intelligence adult.

In psychiatric literature there is a lack of interest in the psychodynamics of mildly retarded and borderline intelligence adults, despite the fact that these patients are known to be plagued by emotional problems and that their psychic conflicts, mobilization of defenses, and neurotic/psychotic solutions often represent a model of psychodynamic transparency. The authors discuss the special problems of development and adjustment to the community of these patients, and provide four case studies with psychodynamic formulations.

Adult↗

Metaphors and isomorphisms: analogical reasoning in Beyond the Pleasure Principle.

The mind uses analogies in order to understand the unknown. The utilization of these is explored in Freud's writings and in science in general. Analogies can be metaphorical (figurative) or isomorphic (literal); the latter are used in the induction of scientific hypotheses. The distinction between these two forms of comparing can be ambiguous. The inappropriate transformation of metaphors into isomorphisms in the construction of theory leads to illegitimate inferences. This paper comments on the use of this type of vitiated logic in Beyond the Pleasure Principle, particularly with reference to Freud's comparison of protozoan biology with human psychology.

Freudian Theory↗

Selective isolation and characteristics of Bacteriodes succinogenes from the rumen of a cow.

Eleven isolates of Bacteriodes succinogenes were obtained from the rumen of a cow by an enrichment method with dewaxed cotton fibers as the selective substrate. All of the isolates degraded cotton fibers, but none formed clear zones in cellulose agar, having only a limited ability to degrade the type of cellulose powder used. One isolate, BL2, was studied in greater detail and was found to accumulate a glycogen-like polysaccharide when excess (0.5 to 1.0%) soluble carbohydrate was supplied in the nutrient medium. Although the pattern of growth and polysaccharide accumulation by strain BL2 changed during maintenance of the organism in the laboratory, the maximum amount of carbohydrate found in the cells was constant, at around 74% of the cell dry weight. The findings are discussed in relation to the methods of assessing the role of B. succinogenes in the rumen fermentation.

Animals↗

[Neurobiology and psychoanalysis].

Psychiatry obtains benefits from integrating the findings of neurobiology with the knowledge of depth psychology. In this paper, relevant recent research in neuroscience is reviewed from the perspective of psychoanalytic theory. Psychoanalytic experience and hypotheses have stimulated numerous experiments and research projects in neurobiology. Neurobiological findings have brought forward the neurophysiological substrate of clinical phenomena described by psychoanalysts, assisting in the specification of some theoretical notions, and making us modify others that were considered as already established. From a neurobiological viewpoint, some studies considered pertinent are commented upon on associations, apperception and unconscious perception, memory, and hemispheric specialisation and its psychological corollary.

Brain↗