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J Herrero

Publications and source records attributed to J Herrero.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Serum erythropoietin levels in ovarian cancer patients receiving chemotherapy.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of repeated cis-dichlorodiamine-platinum (CDDP) exposure on serum erythropoietin (Epo) levels. STUDY DESIGN: In seven patients with ovarian cancer, Epo and haemoglobin concentration (c(Hb)) were measured before, 24h and 7 days after administration of the first three courses of chemotherapy. In seven control patients undergoing gynaecological surgery for non-malignant reasons, Epo and c(Hb) were measured before, 24h and 7 days after the operation. RESULTS: Following Epo increased, independent of concomitant anaemia, especially after the third course: 51mU/ml (S.D. 46) versus 122mU/ml (S.D. 83) (P=0.02). In the control patients, Epo was lower although the decrease of c(Hb) was significantly higher. CONCLUSION: Cis-platinum chemotherapy induces an increase in erythropoietin levels independent of anaemia. The underlying mechanism remains to be investigated.

Aged↗
PubMed2001

Annotated draft genomic sequence from a Streptococcus pneumoniae type 19F clinical isolate.

The public availability of numerous microbial genomes is enabling the analysis of bacterial biology in great detail and with an unprecedented, organism-wide and taxon-wide, broad scope. Streptococcus pneumoniae is one of the most important bacterial pathogens throughout the world. We present here sequences and functional annotations for 2.1-Mbp of pneumococcal DNA, covering more than 90% of the total estimated size of the genome. The sequenced strain is a clinical isolate resistant to macrolides and tetracycline. It carries a type 19F capsular locus, but multilocus sequence typing for several conserved genetic loci suggests that the strain sequenced belongs to a pneumococcal lineage that most often expresses a serotype 15 capsular polysaccharide. A total of 2,046 putative open reading frames (ORFs) longer than 100 amino acids were identified (average of 1,009 bp per ORF), including all described two-component systems and aminoacyl tRNA synthetases. Comparisons to other complete, or nearly complete, bacterial genomes were made and are presented in a graphical form for all the predicted proteins.

DNA, Bacterial↗
PubMed2001

A hierarchical unsupervised growing neural network for clustering gene expression patterns.

MOTIVATION: We describe a new approach to the analysis of gene expression data coming from DNA array experiments, using an unsupervised neural network. DNA array technologies allow monitoring thousands of genes rapidly and efficiently. One of the interests of these studies is the search for correlated gene expression patterns, and this is usually achieved by clustering them. The Self-Organising Tree Algorithm, (SOTA) (Dopazo,J. and Carazo,J.M. (1997) J. Mol. Evol., 44, 226-233), is a neural network that grows adopting the topology of a binary tree. The result of the algorithm is a hierarchical cluster obtained with the accuracy and robustness of a neural network. RESULTS: SOTA clustering confers several advantages over classical hierarchical clustering methods. SOTA is a divisive method: the clustering process is performed from top to bottom, i.e. the highest hierarchical levels are resolved before going to the details of the lowest levels. The growing can be stopped at the desired hierarchical level. Moreover, a criterion to stop the growing of the tree, based on the approximate distribution of probability obtained by randomisation of the original data set, is provided. By means of this criterion, a statistical support for the definition of clusters is proposed. In addition, obtaining average gene expression patterns is a built-in feature of the algorithm. Different neurons defining the different hierarchical levels represent the averages of the gene expression patterns contained in the clusters. Since SOTA runtimes are approximately linear with the number of items to be classified, it is especially suitable for dealing with huge amounts of data. The method proposed is very general and applies to any data providing that they can be coded as a series of numbers and that a computable measure of similarity between data items can be used. AVAILABILITY: A server running the program can be found at: http://bioinfo.cnio.es/sotarray.

Algorithms↗
PubMed2000

Land Evaluation in a Salt-Affected Irrigated District Using an Index of Productive Potential.

/ The indiscriminate allocation of funds supporting agricultural policies can lead to land misuse, with undesirable effects either on the shorter to mid-term productivity or on the environment. This article proposes a methodology, based on land rating, that can be useful to land-use planning or to decide about environmental protection measures. The methodology is applied to the land evaluation of a 260-km(2) semiarid irrigated area with salt-affected soils. The available soil map is at 1:100,000 scale and its mapping units are used for the land evaluation with the FAO framework. These data are then elaborated using the index value method. This procedure gives a map of land evaluation units and a table that rates the productive potential of these units for six crops: alfalfa, barley, maize, rice, sunflower, and wheat.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2000

[Tubal involvement in nasopharyngeal carcinoma].

Nasopharyngeal carcinomas are frequently diagnosed in advanced stages in patients who present with secretory otitis or neck mass. However, survival after treatment is directly related to early diagnosis. The present study analyzed Eustachian tube involvement in nasopharyngeal carcinoma as a pathogenic mechanism in secretory otitis. The presence of otologic symptoms was correlated with the morphological description of the tumor and clinical manifestations in 198 patients with nasopharyngeal carcicoma.

Carcinoma↗
PubMed2000

Expression profiles and biological function.

Expression arrays facilitate the monitoring of changes in expression patterns of large collections of genes. It is generally expected that genes with similar expression patterns would correspond to proteins of common biological function. We assess this common assumption by comparing levels of similarity of expression patterns and statistical significance of biological terms that describe the corresponding protein functions. Terms are automatically obtained by mining large collections of Medline abstracts. We propose that the combined use of the tools for expression profiles clustering and automatic function retrieval, can be useful tools for the detection of biologically relevant associations between genes in complex gene expression experiments. The results obtained using publicly available experimental data show how, in general, an increase in the similarity of the expression patterns is accompanied by an enhancement of the amount of specific functional information or, in other words, how the selected terms became more specific following an increase in the specificity of the expression patterns. Particularly interesting are the discrepancies from this general trend, i.e. groups of genes with similar expression patterns but very little in common at the functional level. In these cases the similarity of their expression profiles becomes the first link between previously unrelated genes.

Cluster Analysis↗
PubMed1999

Different cumulative pregnancy rates in patients with repeated IVF- or ICSI cycles: possible influence of a male factor.

The low rate of ongoing pregnancies in IVF cycles leads to a high number of repeated cycles in couples with previously failed attempts. Therefore it would be helpful to have a prediction about the chance of becoming pregnant in a repeated cycle. In a retrospective study the data of about 4246 cycles were analysed. Because the pregnancy rates in IVF- and ICSI cycles are generally different, these two groups were distinguished between and the outcome in patients with one, two or more attempts was analysed. The rate of ongoing pregnancies per patient was lower after IVF (24.9%) than after ICSI (32.9%), but was similar or even slightly increased in patients with more than one attempt. On the other hand, there was a high pregnancy rate with ICSI in the first two cycles (35.9%), but patients with more than two ICSI cycles had a significantly lower chance of becoming pregnant (20.7%). Factors that are known to influence the pregnancy rate, such as stimulation protocol, oocyte quality or number of transferred embryos, were similar in all groups. However, significantly reduced embryo quality with successive cycles was only observed in ICSI patients. There might be a negative selection of patients with poor embryo quality and previously failed attempts after ICSI, possibly due to an andrological factor. The differences between IVF- and ICSI patients are based on treatment indications, and andrological diseases are the predominant indication for ICSI. Although no correlation was found between changes in conventional sperm parameters and number of treated cycles, there might be a subgroup of andrological patients selected by repeatedly failed ICSI cycles. Chromosomal or genetic disturbances in spermatozoa of this subgroup could be the reason for failure.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Leiomyomatosis peritonealis disseminata associated with endometriosis: a case report and literature review.

Leiomyomatosis peritonealis disseminata (LPD) is a rare disease characterised by the presence of multiple smooth muscle tumour nodules throughout the peritoneal cavity. Approximately 50 cases of LPD have been reported to date in the world literature. There is a very high association with excess exogenous and endogenous female gonadal steroids, specifically oestrogen and progesterone. LPD has been described almost only in premenopausal women and is mostly asymptomatic. Four cases of malignant transformation of this disease have been reported. We report a case of a patient with prolonged exposure to oral contraceptives, operated because of hypermenorrhea and 'myoma in statu nascendi'. A metastasing myomatous tumour was suspected during the operation. LPD was diagnosed by intraoperative histological examination. Abdominal hysterectomy was performed. Five months later a second laparotomy had to be done because of an ovarian endometriosis tumour of about 10 cm size. A bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy and omentectomy were performed.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Malignant proliferating trichilemmal tumours: an histopathological and immunohistochemical study of three cases with DNA ploidy and morphometric evaluation.

AIMS: Malignant proliferating trichilemmal tumours (MPTT) are rare neoplasms capable of tissue invasion and metastasis, the diagnosis of which is based essentially on histological features. In difficult cases, however, evaluation of additional parameters may be needed to diagnose malignancy. METHODS AND RESULTS: We report three cases of MPTT in which, in addition to the histological features, we have determined the DNA ploidy, nuclear area and proliferative fraction. CD34 immunoreactivity has also been tested. Two cases were aneuploid, and one diploid with increased proliferating index. PCNA immunostaining labelled 40% and 80% of tumour cells in aneuploid tumours and 30% of the diploid neoplasm. In all cases, nuclear area was consistent with large pleomorphic tumour cells. No CD34 immunostaining was detected. CONCLUSIONS: Aneuploidy is common in MPTT, particularly in tumours with a high proliferative fraction. Loss of CD34 immunoreactivity is an additional feature of potential, though limited, value. Therefore, evaluation of the DNA content, proliferation markers and CD34 immunostaining may be helpful in the diagnosis of MPTT.

Aged↗
PubMed1998

[Gameprost, sulproston and dinoproston for induced abortion in the 15th-24th week of pregnancy].

In a randomized, prospective study at the Dept. of Obstetrics and Gynecology of the University Hospital of Giessen 4 different ways of inducing abortions with prostaglandins were tested between the 15th and 24th week of gestation. The aim of the study was to determine the best approach to inducing abortion in order to minimize the psychological and physical stress to the patient. Subjects randomized to the first two groups got a single cervical installation of either 0.5 mg Dinoprostongel (Prepidil, N = 22) or 0.5 mg Sulprostongel (Nalador, N = 21). Six hours later, i.v. infusion with Sulproston (8.3 micrograms/min) was started and continued until the abortion was complete. Patients randomized to the third and fourth group received either 0.5 mg Dinoprostongel intracervically (N = 15) or 1 mg Gemeprost vaginal suppositories (Cergem, N = 21) every 6 hours until the cervix was 1-2 cm dilated. Subsequently the patients received an i.v. infusion with Sulproston until the abortion was complete. In the first group with intracervical application of Sulproston the total time until abortion was 17.8 h +/- 7.8 h. This was shorter than following a single application of Dinoprostongel (22.5 h +/- 14.7 h). Although there was a five hours difference, the between-group differences were not statistically different because of a wide range in values following Dinoproston treatment. This range could not be explained by the age of the mother, week of gestation or parity. In the group receiving multiple intracervical applications of Dinoproston the time till expulsion was twice as long as that after multiple vaginal suppositories of Gemeprost (33.8 h +/- 13.9 h vs. 15.6 +/- 6.0 h, p < 0.01). The time span until a cervical dilatation of 1-2 cm was 27.0 h +/- 13.7 h in the group with repeated Dinoproston application. This period of time was more than twice the time span seen in the group with repeated Gemeprost application (12.5 h +/- 4.2 h, p < 0.01). On the average four treatments with intracervical Dinoprostongel were required while the average with Gemeprost vaginal suppositories was two to achieve a cervical dilatation of 1-2 cm. Furthermore in 7 of 21 cases treatment with Gemeprost achieved the expulsion of the fetus without Sulproston infusion (11.4 h +/- 5.2 h). Comparing single versus repetitive prostaglandin application we could demonstrate that the duration of Sulproston infusion was cut in half after repeated therapy with Gemeprost. We conclude that repetitive application of Gemeprost vaginal suppositories decreases the time to abortion and subject discomfort tremendously. The application of Gemeprost suppositories provides the easiest and most efficient therapeutic approach for both patients and staff. Furthermore the regiment that provided the best results was also the most cost-effective (range 180,-DM to 317,- DM per case).

Abortifacient Agents, Nonsteroidal↗
PubMed1996

Maternal and perinatal health in Mali, Togo and Nigeria.

OBJECTIVE: The health care system in many developing countries is less efficient compared with that in the industrialized world. The aim of the present study was to investigate the differences of the efficiency of the health care in obstetrics in Nigeria, Mali and Togo. STUDY DESIGN: The data were collected in African district hospitals from Lomé/Togo (n = 1002), Bamako/Mali (n = 1462) and Kaduna/Nigeria (n = 1055) with a routinely applied questionnaire analyzed at the University Giessen and compared with the data from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Giessen (Germany) (referral hospital) (n = 1313) and the total data pool of the perinatal survey 1993 in Hesse (n = 58430). RESULTS: The medical history indicates important differences: the incidence of young mothers below 18 is highest in Mali (9.8%) compared with Nigeria (2.7%) and Togo (2.6%) (Hesse 0.6%). In general there is an increased rate of previous pregnancies of more than five: 13-28% (Hesse 2.1%). The rate of prenatal visits is also reduced: more than ten visits have 2% in Togo, 10.6% in Mali and 15.5% in Nigeria (Hesse 72%). Ultrasound examinations are very rare (1-12%) and tocolysis is nearly unknown. As a result the incidence of dead infants in the medical history is high: Mali 28%, Togo 18%, Nigeria 10.8% (Hesse 1.7%), as well as the rate of low birth weight infants. This is also reflected in the perinatal mortality which ranged from 115/1000 in Mali, 77/1000 in Togo and 68/1000 in Nigeria (Hesse 5.3/1000, Ob/Gyn Giessen 16.4/1000). CONCLUSION: The improvement of perinatal and maternal health in the developing world can only be achieved if family planning, prenatal care, selection of high risk pregnancies goes in parallel with a sound organization implemented and supported by the government.

Birth Weight↗
PubMed1996

[Changes in the epidemiology of gastric cancer in the last 15 years].

AIM: To determine whether the epidemiological profile of gastric cancer is changing in our patient referral area. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: We have compared the incidence rates of gastric cancer in our Hospital in two three year periods (1975 to 1977 and 1990 to 1992). Gastric cancer was diagnosed by endoscopy or surgery and confirmed histologically. Incidence rate was obtained calculating the ratio (cases of gastric cancer)/ (patients assisted at the hospital) for each period. RESULTS: 522 patients were identified in the first period, and only 255 in the second. Then, the overall incidence fell from 96 x 10(5) to 37 x 10(5). In both periods a male predominance, with a sex ratio male/ female of 1.9 in the first period and 1.6 in the second, was observed. The mean age was also similar in both periods: 61 years (range 20-89) and 65.5 (range 28-90) respectively. Adenocarcinoma was the predominant neoplasm in both periods (98% and 95% respectively). There was also a predominance of antral tumors with a slight decrease of their incidence in the later series (ratio antrum/other gastric sites) from 1.6 to 1.1 respectively (p = 0.07). CONCLUSIONS: Although gastric cancer is still very common, its incidence in our referral area is decreasing. In addition, the characteristic antral predominance also seems to be decreasing. It remains to be established whether the changing pattern we have observed is related to environmental variation.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMed1995

[Laparoscopic ante-fixation of the uterus--modification of the Menge operation].

Surgical antefixation of the retroflected uterus is today for several reasons a rare event. We report on a forty-year old patient with dyspareunia, dysmenorrhoea and lumbalgia. Elevation of the uterus by means of a Hodge pessary relieved her symptoms. This prompted laparoscopical suspension of the diagnosed retroflexio uteri mobilis. We used a modification of Menge's technique stitching the rotund ligament to the anterior surface of the uterus. This modified technique is especially useful because it can be performed easily by laparoscopy. In addition shortening of the round ligaments achieves a physiological position of the uterus in the pelvis without major changes in the pelvic anatomy.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Brainstem haematomas: early and late prognosis.

The purpose of the present retrospective study is to analyse 14 patients harbouring brainstem haematomas and to discuss the early and late prognosis. The patients were divided into two groups: group A (survivors), 8 patients with follow-up duration ranging between 8 months and 12 years; and group B (nonsurvivors), 6 patients. At the time of onset or hospital admission, the former were under 50 years of age and had no important clinical history. Their degree of consciousness was altered only slightly or moderately and their brainstem haemorrhages were focal or only slightly diffuse. Three patients in this group underwent surgical treatment. The members of group B, who died within days of their admission to the hospital, were over 60 years of age, had a number of clinical antecedents and severe alterations of consciousness, while 83% of them presented diffuse brainstem haemorrhages. None of the patients of this group were treated surgically. It was concluded that: 1) the indications for surgery for these lesions were progressive hydrocephalus, increase in the mass effect with progressive symptomatology and suspected "cryptic vascular malformation" with risk of later rebleeding or brain tumour; 2) surgical treatment was necessary to improve the symptomatology in 3 patients in group A, although there were no significant differences between surgically treated and nonsurgically treated patients in the same group with respect to prognosis; 3) age, clinical history, degree of alteration of consciousness and type of haemorrhage are the major factors affecting the early and late prognosis of brainstem haemorrhages.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Effect of histamine on the longitudinal and circular muscle of the oestrogen dominated rat uterus.

The response of the longitudinal and circular myometrial strips to histamine was studied in oestrogen-treated rats. Histamine produced a dose-related inhibitory response in KCl-contracted longitudinal and circular uterine strips. Histamine was equipotent in producing the relaxant response but the maximal effect achieved in the longitudinal muscle was higher than the circular one. Ranitidine antagonized the histamine-induced relaxation with a similar dose ratio in both longitudinal and circular strips. Clemizole and reserpine treatment did not produce any modification of the dose-response curve to histamine. In the longitudinal and circular strips which were not preconstricted by KCl, neither histamine nor 2-pyridylethylamine, even in strips pretreated with ranitidine, produced any effect when added to the organ bath. Our results show that the response of histamine in both longitudinal and circular uterine layers of the oestrogen-treated rats are mediated exclusively by histamine H2-receptors.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

Self-expandable prostheses in the tracheobronchial tree.

Under endoscopic and radiologic control, two types of self-expandable metal prostheses were implanted in tracheobronchial lesions to help reestablish airway caliber. Thirty-nine metal stent prostheses (6-20 mm in diameter) and 35 Gianturco stents (30 mm in diameter) were used in 55 adult patients with 62 lesions of the trachea (n = 33) or bronchi (n = 29). All lesions except one were endoscopically confirmed to be noninflammatory. Immediately after implantation, radiologic and endoscopic studies verified reestablishment of a satisfactory airway diameter in all patients. At a mean follow-up of 10.35 (range, 3-27) months, improvement in the respiratory status of 49 of the 55 patients (89%) was maintained and tolerance of the device was excellent. For the Wallstent endoprosthesis, the six complications observed at endoscopy were successfully treated. The Gianturco stent, however, led to a high rate of complications: 30% of cases had migration and/or rupture of the metallic mesh, potentially leading to obstruction or wall perforation; one case of respiratory distress was fatal. This procedure offers rapid epithelialization and incorporation of the device into the tracheobronchial wall.

Adult↗