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P Delgado

Publications and source records attributed to P Delgado.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1992

A broad molecular phylogeny of ciliates: identification of major evolutionary trends and radiations within the phylum.

The cellular architecture of ciliates is one of the most complex known within eukaryotes. Detailed systematic schemes have thus been constructed through extensive comparative morphological and ultrastructural analysis of the ciliature and of its internal cytoskeletal derivatives (the infraciliature), as well as of the architecture of the oral apparatus. In recent years, a consensus was reached in which the phylum was divided in eight classes as defined by Lynn and Corliss [Lynn, D. H. & Corliss, J. O. (1991) in Microscopic Anatomy of Invertebrates: Protozoa (Wiley-Liss, New York), Vol. 1, pp. 333-467]. By comparing partial sequences of the large subunit rRNA molecule, and by using both distance-matrix and maximum-parsimony-tree construction methods (checked by boot-strapping), we examine the phylogenetic relationships of 22 species belonging to seven of these eight classes. At low taxonomic levels, the traditional grouping of the species is generally confirmed. At higher taxonomic levels, the branching pattern of these seven classes is resolved in several deeply separated major branches. Surprisingly, the first emerging one contains the heterotrichs and is strongly associated with a karyorelictid but deeply separated from hypotrichs. The litostomes, the oligohymenophorans, and the hypotrichs separate later in a bush-like topology hindering the resolution of their order of diversification. These results show a much more ancient origin of heterotrichs than was classically assumed, indicating that asymmetric, abundantly ciliated oral apparatuses do not correspond to "highly evolved" traits as previously thought. They also suggest the occurrence of a major radiative explosion in the evolutionary history of the ciliates, yielding five of the eight classes of the phylum. These classes appear to differ essentially according to the cytoskeletal architecture used to shape and sustain the cellular cortex (a process of essential adaptative and morphogenetic importance in ciliates).

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Laboratory and clinical comparison of a rapid versus a classic progesterone radioimmunoassay for use in determining abnormal and ectopic pregnancies.

A rapid, solid-phase, nonextraction progesterone kit (n = 36) was compared with an established extraction method, liquid phase tritium radioimmunoassay for progesterone (n = 79). Logistic regression of the rapid method over the extraction method gave a correlation coefficient of r = 0.968. Logistic regression gave a discriminatory zone (abnormal vs normal pregnancy) of 22.58 ng/ml by the rapid method compared with 15 ng/ml for the extraction method (log Y = 0.253 + 0.936 log X). Similar sensitivity (100% and 100%), specificity (63% and 59%), and predictive values of positive and negative tests (positive predictive value = 91% and 75%, negative predictive value = 100% and 100%) were found using a discriminatory level of 15 and 20 ng/ml for the extraction method (n = 79) and rapid method (n = 76), respectively. Clinically, curettage for patients with values less than these discriminatory zones would have given unacceptable rates for termination of a potentially normal pregnancy (38%). Clinical comparison of abnormal (ectopic or abortion) and normal (term pregnancy) outcomes in two populations of women presenting with first-trimester bleeding revealed that progesterone levels would accelerate the workup in only a small percentage (27%, 15 of 56) of patients with ectopic pregnancies. The rate of ruptured ectopic pregnancies in the observed patients was similar (20%, 3 of 15) to studies using progesterone levels prospectively. Therefore in this retrospective analysis progesterone levels would have given no greater benefit than conventional management.

Abortion, Spontaneous↗
PubMed1991

17 alpha-substituted analogs of estradiol for the development of fluorescent estrogen receptor ligands.

For the successful development of a high-affinity fluorophore-estradiol conjugate, the fluorophore must be attached to the estradiol molecule at a position that interferes least with its binding to the receptor. We have concentrated on 17 alpha substituents as models for fluorophore attachment, based on literature precedent and on our earlier work with small 17 alpha side chains. In this report, we describe syntheses and estrogen receptor binding affinities of 19 analogs of estradiol substituted in the 17 alpha position with larger side chains (of six to 11 carbons), some of which may be synthetically modified to link a fluorophore. These analogs were synthesized either by nucleophilic cleavage of estrone-17 beta-oxirane 3-benzyl ether and subsequent debenzylation (4 to 18), by cross-coupling of alkynes (21 to 24), by alkylation of 17 alpha-ethynylestradiol 3,17-bis(tetrahydropyranyl ether) and subsequent acidic hydrolysis (25 to 28), or by reacting estrone either with appropriate aryl/alkynyllithium reagents (29, 30, and 32) or with benzylmagnesium bromide (31). Relative binding affinities of these newly synthesized analogs were determined for estrogen receptor (rat uterus) using a standard competition assay. The results suggest that analogs with reduced mobility and/or more polarizable electron density in the side chain generally bind more strongly to the receptor. The relative affinities of several selected compounds were also determined in the presence of 4% dimethylformamide; some compounds bearing larger, nonpolar 17 alpha substituents showed dramatically improved affinities, while affinities for compounds with shorter nonpolar side chains remained largely unchanged. These binding affinity results should be useful in designing new high-affinity fluorescent ligands for the estrogen receptor.

Fluorescence↗
PubMed1991

Microtubule diversity in ciliated cells: evidence for its generation by post-translational modification in the axonemes of Paramecium and quail oviduct cells.

The diversity of microtubular networks was analyzed in quail oviduct and in Paramecium cells using conventional and confocal immunofluorescence as well as pre- and post-embedding EM immunocytochemistry with a variety of anti-tubulin antibodies. The 6-11B-1 monoclonal antibody, specific for the post-translational acetylation of Lys 40 of alpha-tubulin, and a polyclonal antibody raised against Paramecium axonemal tubulin (anti-PA tubulin antibody) both decorated stable microtubular arrays in Paramecium ie ciliary axonemes and a set of microtubular bundles associated with the cortex, suggesting that the two antibodies may be directed against the same epitope. However, several differences in the immunocytological patterns yielded by each antibody on the two cell types were evident. For example, in quail, as in all other Metazoa, the anti-PA tubulin antibody only decorated axonemes enclosed in normal ciliary membrane while it was unreactive on cytoplasmic tubulins. Immunoblotting of peptide maps of axonemal tubulins demonstrated that the epitopes of the two antibodies were indeed completely different. Double immunolabelling of dividing paramecia using a universal anti-tubulin antibody and the anti-PA tubulin one revealed that all newly assembled microtubular arrays were first detected by the universal antibody and, only shortly afterwards, by the anti-PA tubulin one. This provided a strong indication that the anti-PA tubulin antibody is directed against a post-translational modification taking place on already assembled microtubules (MTs) (as previously known to be the case for acetylation and detyrosination). In taxol-treated quail cells undergoing ciliogenesis, massive assembly of MTs and even axonemes occurred in the cytoplasm. These MTs were not decorated by the anti-PA tubulin antibody however, suggesting that in Metazoa the post-translational modification can only take place within the ciliary lumen. The present work provides one further mechanism for generating MT immunological and biochemical diversity post-translationally; this may account for the high multiplicity of tubulin isoforms observed in ciliates which contain very little if any genetic diversity of tubulin genes.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Alpha/beta inversion of the Euplotes and Oxytricha tubulins.

Immunoblotting studies, using a polyclonal antibody specific for the alpha-tubulin of ciliates and an anti-beta-tubulin monoclonal antibody, demonstrated that the tubulins of the ciliates Euplotes and Oxytricha show alpha/beta inversion although less accentuated than that observed in Paramecium and Tetrahymena. Results suggest that (a) the alpha/beta inversion may be a common characteristic within the Phylum Ciliophora; and (b) the electrophoretic behaviour of the alpha-tubulin may be useful for establishing evolutionary relatedness between the ciliates.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

[Incidence of anti-HCV and ALT in blood donors].

A study was carried out in 2,000 blood donors aimed to assess the incidence of anti-C hepatitis virus antibodies. Of the total number of samples, 10 cases were found positive (0.5%), a figure lower than the national average. Of these 10 cases, ALT levels were high in 5 (0.2%). The potential risk of post-transfusion C hepatitis increases in accordance with the number of blood units transfused. This incidence of anti-C hepatitis virus antibodies is discussed with regard to previous findings in other countries, the incidence of positive donors being also very low.

Alanine Transaminase↗
PubMed1989

The Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale. II. Validity.

The development design and reliability of the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale have been described elsewhere. We focused on the validity of the Yale-Brown Scale and its sensitivity to change. Convergent and discriminant validity were examined in baseline ratings from three cohorts of patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (N = 81). The total Yale-Brown Scale score was significantly correlated with two of three independent measures of obsessive-compulsive disorder and weakly correlated with measures of depression and of anxiety in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder with minimal secondary depressive symptoms. Results from a previously reported placebo-controlled trial of fluvoxamine in 42 patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder showed that the Yale-Brown Scale was sensitive to drug-induced changes and that reductions in Yale-Brown Scale scores specifically reflected improvement in obsessive-compulsive disorder symptoms. Together, these studies indicate that the 10-item Yale-Brown Scale is a reliable and valid instrument for assessing obsessive-compulsive disorder symptom severity and that it is suitable as an outcome measure in drug trials of obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Adult↗
PubMed1976

Evaluation of dissection of the axilla in modified radical mastectomy.

Fifty consecutive unselected patients with infiltrating carcinoma of the breast underwent radical mastectomy in two consecutive stages. The initial operation was a modified radical mastectomy, with preservation of the pectoral muscles, and the second stage, a procedure to transform the initial operation into a standard radical mastectomy. An analysis of the location and the number of the lymph nodes recovered in the two stage operation shows that a so-called modified radical mastectomy is inadequate to ensure the clearing of the axilla. Lymph nodes were recovered at the second stage of the operation in 36 patients, and seven of these patients had metastasis. Modified radical mastectomy was effective in erradicating the lymph nodes of the lower part of the axilla but inadequate for lymph nodes at levels II and III and, especially, the interpectoral lymph nodes.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Rett's syndrome in the Spanish population].

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE: Rett syndrome was described in 1966 and became known through the English medical literature in 1983. There are typical and atypical forms. The objective of this study was to record the cases diagnosed in Spain and discover their clinical characteristics in order to describe its phenotype and geographical distribution. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We know of 207 cases and have obtained the records of 168 of these patients. A protocol and data collection programme has been developed giving the criteria for inclusion, and data which support or exclude this. Data collection was by post and the data for identification were the date of birth and the initials of the name and two surnames. With these variables, double-registering of patients was almost impossible. A statistical study with descriptive analysis and a study of continuous and alternating variables was immediately done. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The results gave the main characteristics, the differences between typical and atypical cases and a comparative study of variables. It has given clinical data which may be useful for prognosis of the condition in the future.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Research in the 21st century: Euroconference].

The INVESTEN group of the "Instituto de Salud Carlos III", INVESTEN-ISCIII, organized the first Euro-conference related with Nursing Research, "Building a European Nursing Research Strategy", which was held in Salamanca from 13-17 March 1999. The aim of the Euro-conference was to establish the priorities and recommendations for Nursing Research needed to potentiate Nursing Research in Europe at the Beginning of the next millennium. Fourty countries participated in the Euro-conference, which was partially financed by the European Union. Based on the Strasburg Recommendations, the Euro-conference included five main topics in Nursing Research: structure and organization, integrating nursing research into practice, training, financing and priorities. Topics were studied and discussed in working groups of 15-20 participants. Each group was coordinated by different members of the INVESTEN-ISCIII group, with experts on each subject and nurses working in teaching, investigation and clinical practice. The objective was to create a report reflecting the present state of Nursing Research.

European Union↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Clinical factors predicting the appearance of vascular events following a transient ischemic attack].

INTRODUCTION: Patients who have suffered a transient ischemic attack (TIA) have a high risk of undergoing a severe vascular event. Most of them do not receive early attention and cannot benefit from an adequate diagnosis and treatment. AIMS: The aim of this study is to identify the clinical factors that predict the appearance of a new vascular event in these patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We conducted a prospective study of 104 TIA patients, who had been given attention during the first 24 hours after the onset of symptoms, for a mean follow up time of 12.6 months. RESULTS: The incidence rates of strokes, ischemic heart disease, peripheral arteriopathy and death were 13, 6, 3 and 8%, respectively. Multivariate analysis identified the following aspects as independent predictors of new strokes: an age above 73 odds ratio (OR) 4.46 (CI 95%, 1.15 17.38) and an atherothrombotic aetiology OR 4.36 (CI 95%, 1.4413.18); and episodes of ischemic heart disease, a history of suffering from such heart disease OR 30.65 (CI 95%, 2.94319.17) and taking oral antidiabetic drugs OR 31.23 (CI 95%, 2.65368.74). Leukocytosis OR 11.21 (CI 95%, 1.25100.39) is linked to the deaths caused by vascular disorders, whereas an atherothrombotic aetiology OR 3.83 (CI 95%, 1.31 11.20) and being male OR 3.44 (CI 95%, 1.02 11.60) were seen to be predictors of the appearance of any vascular event. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings showed that the risk of suffering severe vascular events after a TIA becomes higher. There are a number of useful clinical variables (age above 73, atherothrombotic aetiology, being male, taking oral antidiabetic drugs and leukocytosis) for identifying the patients at the highest risk.

Age Factors↗