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Biomedical subjects

E Carrera

Publications and source records attributed to E Carrera.

32 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1997

Cloning and expression analysis of a gene that shows developmental regulation upon tuberization in potato.

Differential screening of a potato leaf cDNA library with cDNA probes made from tuberizing and non-tuberizing Solanum demissum plants led to the identification of a clone that is upregulated in leaves and other tissues upon tuberization. This clone was also shown to have a high level of expression in green tomato fruit, its expression falling off as the fruit turns red. No sucrose or hormonal regulation of the expression of this clone was observed and it did not respond to wounding or heat stress. Clone 32B is 532 bp long and contains an open reading frame encoding a small protein of 98 amino acids. The deduced protein sequence has a putative signal peptide for ER transport and a 10 amino acid domain in the C-terminal region of the protein, both of which are also found in the cotton LEA5, Arabidopsis Di21 and the mungbean Arg2 proteins.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1997

Monoclonal antibodies and an indirect ELISA for detection of psychrotrophic bacteria in refrigerated milk.

Monoclonal antibodies generated against live cells of Pseudomonas fluorescens have been used in an indirect ELISA format for the detection of Pseudomonas spp. and related psychrotrophic bacteria in refrigerated milk. The immunorecognition of monoclonal antibodies adsorbed to bacteria bound to the wells of a microtiter plate was performed with rabbit anti-mouse immunoglobulins conjugated to horseradish peroxidase. Subsequent enzymic conversion of the substrate resulted in distinct absorbance differences when assaying milk samples containing psychrotrophic bacteria in the range 10(5) to 10(9) CFU ml(-1) . The detection threshold for the ELISA assay developed in this work is 10(5) CFU ml(-1).

Animals↗
PubMed1985

A complete computerized program for nutritional management in the neonatal intensive care nursery.

A computerized program in BASIC, which integrates the infant's fluid and nutritional requirements per gestational age and weight with the infant's postpartum age, was developed using the Apple II Plus microcomputer, dual floppy disks, and an Epson printer. Daily requirements of fluids, proteins, fat, CHO, vitamins, minerals, and trace elements are computed. For reference, the program displays the composition and indications for intravenous and hyperalimentation solutions, mature human milk, and 14 commercial formulas. Safety limits to prevent overload or deficient formulations are strategically displayed, warning the physician about possible complications and gradually orienting him toward achieving adequate nutritional balance in the patient. The nutritional intake, weight, and other important clinical variables are stored and retrieved for future evaluation. The flexibility of the program allows for modifications in intravenous and oral composition according to clinical requirements. The program improves the efficiency of the arduous daily formulation of nutritional needs, reduces the possibility of human error, facilitates the calculation process, diminishes time spent on the calculations, and increases the ease of nutritional data retrieval and the development of output programs.

Birth Weight↗
PubMed1985

Magnesium metabolism studies in children with chronic inflammatory disease of the bowel.

Magnesium metabolism was studied in seven patients with severe chronic inflammatory disease of the bowel (CIDB), and in 20 children without intestinal pathology. Four of the CIDB patients had ulcerative colitis and three had granulomatous disease of the bowel. All had diarrhea as well as other gastrointestinal complaints for 1 to 6 years prior to the study. All were being treated with sulfasalazine and were also receiving corticosteroids intermittently. All but one had had intestinal surgery. Basal plasma and urine were obtained in all patients and, if surgery was performed, a piece of muscle was excised. The CIDB patients received an intravenous magnesium infusion of 2 mEq/kg/day for 4 days, 2 days postsurgery. Electrocardiograms were recorded throughout the study. The mean basal plasma magnesium levels were reduced in CIDB patients as compared with controls. Mild hypomagnesemia was observed in six of seven CIDB patients. The mean basal urine excretion of magnesium was also reduced in CIDB patients, but the muscle concentrations of this element were similar to controls. Basal hypomagnesuria was present in only two of the three patients with granulomatous disease and in one patient with ulcerative colitis. The three patients with granulomatous disease excreted minimal amounts of magnesium in the urine during intravenous administration of this ion. A positive magnesium balance persisted throughout the 4-day period of infusion. In contrast, only two of the four patients with ulcerative colitis had magnesium retention during the first day of intravenous administration, and all four had negative magnesium balances thereafter. The data suggest that hypomagnesemia in CIDB patients may occur with or without magnesium deficiency.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

Lactose maldigestion in Ascaris-infected preschool children.

Two studies were conducted to investigate the contribution of Ascaris lumbricoides to lactose maldigestion in preschool children in two different communities in Panama where milk is available as a source of nutrients and the prevalence of Ascaris is known to be high. Both Ascaris-infected and uninfected children were given a standard lactose load and lactose absorption was studied by measuring the rise in plasma glucose in study 1 and by determination of breath hydrogen concentrations at regular intervals after ingestion of the test dose in study 2. All children were tested before anthelmintic treatment with levamisole and 3 wk after therapy. The mean rise in blood glucose from infected (n = 13) children 40 min after the ingestion of lactose was about half of that of the controls (n = 21). After deworming, lactose digestion improved in previously infected children. In study 2, significant differences in breath hydrogen concentrations postmilk ingestion were observed between the Ascaris-infected (n = 47) and the uninfected children (n = 35) before treatment. There was a substantial reduction of breath hydrogen after milk ingestion in the previously infected children after therapy. No differences were observed in breath hydrogen content of the uninfected children during the pre- and posttreatment phases of the study in the lactose tolerance test. These studies provide evidence that infection with Ascaris lumbricoides impairs lactose digestion in preschool children.

Ascariasis↗
PubMed1984

Mucosal surface lesions in young protein-deficient pigs infected with Ascaris suum (Nematoda).

The morphology of the mucosal surface of samples from the small intestine of young protein-deficient pigs was examined by scanning electron microscopy. Three pigs had been infected with Ascaris suum for at least 58 days while 1 had remained uninfected; all pigs were housed and maintained under the same conditions, at the same time. The tissue samples collected at post mortem examination from pigs which contained A. suum showed varying degrees of villous atrophy and fusion. In addition, unusual small craters and as yet unidentified objects were observed at the surfaces of the enterocytes of Ascaris-infected pigs. These changes in mucosal morphology were not seen in the tissue taken from the uninfected pig. The possible association between the mucosal lesions and lactose maldigestion in young, protein-deficient pigs infected with A. suum is discussed.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Oral rehydration therapy in well-nourished ambulatory children.

Oral rehydration solutions (ORS) containing 90 mmol/liter or 50 mmol/liter of sodium have been successfully used in the treatment of hospitalized well-nourished and undernourished children; however, few data are available on the use of these ORS in well-nourished ambulatory children with minimal dehydration. We therefore compared the safety and efficacy of both ORS with standard outpatient management in a controlled, randomized study among 93 well-nourished children aged 3 months to 2 years, with minimal dehydration secondary to acute diarrhea at an outpatient clinic in Panama. Patients in all three groups were hydrated successfully. However, patients in both ORS groups gained significantly (P less than 0.05) more weight at the 2-week follow-up compared to the control group. There were no complications due to the use of either ORS. No child developed hypernatremia nor hyponatremia during therapy. These studies indicate that both ORS (containing 90 or 50 mmol/liter of sodium) are effective and safe in hydrating well-nourished ambulatory children with minimal dehydration.

Ambulatory Care↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Boar spermadhesins AQN-1 and AQN-3: oligosaccharide and zona pellucida binding characteristics.

AQN-1 and AQN-3 form part of the complement of surface-associated lectins which coat the plasma membrane overlying the acrosomal cap of in vitro capacitated boar spermatozoa. They belong to the spermadhesin protein family and have binding affinity for glycoconjugates of the zona pellucida, the extracellular investment surrounding mammalian eggs. The oligosaccharide and zona pellucida binding characteristics of spermadhesins AQN-1 and AQN-3 were investigated using a solid-phase assay and biotinylated glycoprotein ligands. Both sperm proteins bind glycoproteins containing Gal beta (1-4)-GlcNAc and Gal beta-(1-3)-GalNAc oligosaccharide sequences with dissociation constants (Kd) of 0.08 to 0.8 microM, and to zona pellucida glycoproteins with Kd = 0.15-0.25 microM. However, 5-N-acetyl neuraminic acid alpha (2-3/6)-linked to the galactose residue decreases the affinity of glycosylated ligands to AQN-1 three-fold, although it did not affect oligosaccharide binding to AQN-3. In addition, AQN-3 binds preferentially to glycoproteins with either a linear or tri- and tetraantennary carbohydrates than to those containing diantennary N-acetyllactosamine structures. The similar but distinct oligosaccharide recognition capabilities of spermadhesins AQN-1 and AQN-3 (this work) and AWN-1 (Dostálová, Z, Calvete, J.J., Sanz, L., and Töpfer-Petersen, E. (1995) Eur. J. Biochem. 230, 329-336) suggest that, in the pig, sperm-zona pellucida binding might be mediated by lectins displaying similar although distinct carbohydrate-recognition abilities.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Application of polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformational polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) to identification of flatfish species.

A method of DNA analysis based on polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformational polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) was developed to verify the authenticity of labeled raw and frozen fillets of some flatfish species. PCR was used to amplify a short fragment (201 bp) of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene, which was denatured and analyzed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis for detection of SSCPs. Species-specific patterns of DNA bands were obtained for sole (Solea solea), European plaice (Pleuronectes platessa), flounder (Platichthys flesus), and Greenland halibut (Reinhardtius hippoglossoides).

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Identification of smoked Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) and rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) using PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism of the p53 gene.

Raw and smoked samples of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) and rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) were identified using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) of the p53 gene. DNA from S. salar and 0. mykiss was amplified by using primers flanking exons 5 to 6 of the p53 nuclear gene. PCR products of different length were obtained for each species (532 and 518 base pairs, respectively). Sequences of PCR products obtained from S. salar and O. mykiss were compared in the search for polymorphic restriction sites. The restriction fragments obtained with Eco RV, Hinf I, and Taq I endonucleases showed interspecific polymorphism, making it a useful method for identification of Atlantic salmon and rainbow trout.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Extraskeletical malformations in the Jarcho-Levin syndrome: postmortem study of three cases.

We report on pathologic examination of three autopsied newborns with Jarcho-Levin syndrome. The most important abnormalities noted were multiple extraskeletical defects such as cardiovascular, urogenital, respiratory, and central nervous system malformations. These cases add new information to the multiple vertebral segmentation defects found in this syndrome.

Bone and Bones↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Cryptosporidium y Giardia in surface water].

The aim of this work was to determine Giardia and Cryptosporidium levels in surface water used either as recreational or drinking water source, and to estimate the relationship with bacteriological and physicochemical parameters determining water quality. This study was carried out during 22 months, in Santa Fe and Santo Tomé cities (Santa Fe Province, Argentina). Cryptosporidium from 100% of the recreational samples (44-2404 oocysts/100 l) and from 92% of water sources (< 20-539 oocysts/100 l) was detected, while Giardia was found in lower concentrations and frequencies: 72% (< 20-670 cysts/100 l) and 31% (< 20-65 cysts/100 l), respectively. Statistically significant relationships were found between these parasites and organic matter, turbidity and bacteriological indicators of contamination (Escherichia coli, streptococci, Enterococcus spp, Pseudomonas aeruginosa). These relationships, however, vary according to the sampling place, the source and levels of contamination.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[The action of different coagulants to remove Cryptosporidium during the process of water treatment].

Cryptosporidium is one of the microorganisms of main concern from the point of view of Public Health, being a priority problem for water treatment plants and water regulatory institutions. Due to its small size and resistance to chlorination, Cryptosporidium removal during the process of drinking water treatment is a hard task. The effectiveness of different coagulants commonly used in the process of removal of oocysts was analyzed. The technique used was the Jar Test. It was found that: 1) coagulants with the addition of polimeric coadjuvants produce over 2 logs of oocyst removal; 2) a low value in turbidity does not necessarily mean optimal parasite removal, and 3) the addition of polyelectrolites to ferric chloride diminishes variability, both in final turbidity and Cryptosporidium removal.

Animals↗