Nitric oxide (NO • ) strongly inhibits the proliferation of human A431 tumour cells. It also inhi... more Nitric oxide (NO • ) strongly inhibits the proliferation of human A431 tumour cells. It also inhibits tyrosine phosphorylation of a 170-kDa band corresponding to the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and induces the phosphorylation at tyrosine residue(s) of a 58-kDa protein which we have denoted NOIPP-58 (nitric oxide-induced 58-kDa phosphoprotein). The NO • -induced phosphorylation of NOIPP-58 is strictly dependent on the presence of EGF. Phosphorylation of NOIPP-58 and inhibition of the phosphorylation of the band corresponding to EGFR are both cGMP-independent processes. We also demonstrate that the p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38MAPK) pathway is activated by NO • in the absence and presence of EGF, whereas the activity of the extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) and the c-Jun N-terminal kinase 1/2 (JNK1/2) pathways are not significantly affected or are slightly decreased, respectively, on addition of this agent. Moreover, we show that the p38MAPK inhibitor, SB202190, induces rapid vanadate/peroxovanadate-sensitive dephosphorylation of prephosphorylated EGFR and NOIPP-58. We propose that the dephosphorylation of both NOIPP-58 and EGFR are mediated by a p38MAPKcontrolled phosphotyrosine-protein phosphatase (PYPP). Activation of the p38MAPK pathway during nitrosative stress probably prevents the operation of this PYPP, allowing NOIPP-58, and in part EGFR, to remain phosphorylated and therefore capable of generating signalling events.
A flexible selection criterion for spectral estimators based on the weighted statistical accuracy... more A flexible selection criterion for spectral estimators based on the weighted statistical accuracy (benefit) of estimation of decisive spectral parameters under the constraint of low computational complexity (cost) is proposed. This new cost/benefit criterion also selects the model order for parametric spectral estimators-selecting model orders significantly lower than those determined by accepted criteria. The importance of different Doppler signal parameters (e.g., mean frequency and spectral bandwidth) and their accuracy of estimation is incorporated by the use of weighting factors. The use of this method with simulated Doppler signals led to the selection of the modified covariance Alt estimator.
Biopsia del ganglio centinela en el melanoma cutáneo: estudio de 45 casos en una serie de 142 mel... more Biopsia del ganglio centinela en el melanoma cutáneo: estudio de 45 casos en una serie de 142 melanomas Sr. Editor: Aunque por el momento no se ha comprobado la repercusión de la biopsia del ganglio centinela (BGC) sobre la supervivencia de los pacientes con melanoma, su aportación al pronóstico (el estado del ganglio centinela [GC] se incluye en el sistema de estadificación de melanoma del AJCC de 2002 1 ) y sus implicaciones terapéuticas son hechos ampliamente aceptados. Se realizó un estudio prospectivo no aleatorizado de los pacientes consultados por melanoma en el Servicio de Dermatología del Complejo Hospitalario Universitario Juan Canalejo, durante los años 2001-2003. Los datos se recogieron mediante un formulario de la base de datos Microsoft Access. Se realizó biopsia del ganglio centinela, previa firma del consentimiento informado específico, en melanomas con índice de Breslow mayores de 1 mm, nivel de Clark superior a III o ulcerados (estadios IB-IIC). La técnica de la cartografía linfática y BGC fue similar a la descrita en otros trabajos 2-5 , con la peculiaridad de que no se empleó colorante azul 6 . La identificación intraoperatoria del GC se realizó con una sonda Neoprobe 2000 y se definió como GC el que tenía un recuento isotópico 10 veces superior a la base. Se efectuó estudio inmunohistoquímico del ganglio con S-100, HMB-45 y Melan A. Salvo en 2 casos, los pacientes fueron intervenidos quirúrgicamente en la Unidad de Cirugía Mayor Ambulatoria: los GC correspondientes a melanomas de tronco y extremidades fueron identificados siempre por el mismo cirujano general y los de cabeza y cuello siempre por el mismo cirujano maxilofacial. Durante el período de estudio se diagnosticaron 142 melanomas en 141 pacientes, de los cuales 102 eran mujeres (72%) y 39, varones (28%), con una media de edad de 64,56 años. El índice de Breslow medio fue 1,75 mm y el máximo, 19 mm; 17 melanomas (12%) presentaban ulceración. Se realizó BGC en 45 pacientes (32%), 28 mujeres (62%) y 17 varones (38%), con una edad media de 60,8 años; en estos casos el índice de Breslow osciló entre 0,3 y 9 mm y se detectó ulceración en 14 (31%). En 37 pacientes la BGC se realizó en cirugía general (82%), en 6 en cirugía maxilofacial (13%) y en 2 en cirugía plástica (4%). En 31 pacientes (69%) se realizó, además, ampliación de márgenes quirúrgicos. En 34 pacientes (76%) la BGC se realizó ambulatoriamente, los otros 11 (24%) fueron hospitalizados, 6 de ellos con melanomas de cabeza y cuello. En 27 casos (60%) se utilizó anestesia local; en 12 (27%), anestesia general, y en 6 (13%), anestesia regional. De los 12 casos en cuya intervención se utilizó anestesia general, 7 correspondían a melanomas de cabeza y cuello. La tasa de detección de la linfoescintigrafía isotópica fue del 100%. En 3 pacientes (7%) se objetivaron drenajes múltiples, los 3 con melanomas en tronco, que drenaban en axila e ingle homolaterales (2 casos) y en ambas axilas (1 caso). El número de drenajes linfáticos/lesión fue de 1,07. Se identificaron intraoperatoriamente 57 GC (1,27 ganglios/paciente). No se identificó GC en 1 paciente, lo que
In a previous paper, we determined the effect of either ethanol or pentazocine administered separ... more In a previous paper, we determined the effect of either ethanol or pentazocine administered separately on the ganglioside content of rat liver. In the present paper we have investigated the effect of pentazocine injection on the liver ganglioside contents of chronic alcoholic rats. The effect of high carbohydrate ingestion was also studied. Thirty male Wistar rats were divided into three experimental groups that received ethanol and pentazocine, a carbohydrate supplemented diet or a laboratory diet and water. Liver ganglioside contents were slightly increased in the ethanol plus pentazocine group as compared to the control and high carbohydrate diet groups. No differences were found between the two latter groups. The percentage distribution of individual gangliosides (ganglioside pattern) was also modified. A decrease in gangliosides belonging to the b-series (GD3, GD1b, GT1b and GQ1b) in parallel with an increase in that of the a-series (GM2, GM1 and GD1a) were found for both the ethanol plus pentazocine and the highcarbohydrate fed rats. The results suggest that ethanol or high carbohydrate ingestion diminishes the activity of GD3 synthase, a key enzyme in the metabolism of gangliosides, which determines the proportion of gangliosides, belonging to the a- and b-series.
Angioplasty and stenting of the atheromatous internal carotid artery (ICA), besides in patients w... more Angioplasty and stenting of the atheromatous internal carotid artery (ICA), besides in patients with a high surgical risk, may be indicated in specific cases such as contralateral occlusion, acute stroke clinical signs, or atherosclerotic pseudo-occlusion (APO). APO of the ICA is an underrecognized condition due to diagnostic difficulties both with noninvasive methods and even with angiography. Once recognized, there is usually the opportunity for successful revascularization with carotid endarterectomy. However, as the natural history of the APO is poorly characterized, the management of patients remains controversial. While some authors advocate a surgical approach, others consider that APO patients are not at high risk of stroke, making any interventional approach unnecessary. The perioperative risk of stroke in patients with APO is not appreciably greater than in patients with lesser degrees of stenosis and clear recommendation of surgery, although at 2 years that risk seems to be considerably much higher than in the latter patients. Looking for safer interventional procedures is worthwhile. Results of angioplasty and stenting in patients with ICA-APO have not been published yet. We report the results and complications associated with this procedure to address the issue of appropriate management of patients with ICA-APO.
Doppler blood flow spectral estimation is a technique for non-invasive cardiovascular disease det... more Doppler blood flow spectral estimation is a technique for non-invasive cardiovascular disease detection. Blood flow velocity and disturbance may be determined by measuring the spectral mean frequency and bandwidth, respectively. The work presented here, evaluates a high performance parallel-Doppler Signal Processing architecture (SHARC) for the computation of a parametric model-based spectral estimation method known as the modified covariance algorithm. The
Temperature modelling of a homogeneous medium, when this medium is radiated by therapeutic ultras... more Temperature modelling of a homogeneous medium, when this medium is radiated by therapeutic ultrasound, is a fundamental step in order to analyse the performance of estimators for in-vivo modelling. In this paper punctual and invasive temperature estimation in a homo-geneous medium is employed. Radial Basis Functions Neural Networks (RBFNNs) are used as estimators. The best fitted RBFNNs are selected using a Multi-objective Genetic Algorithm (MOGA). An absolute average error of 0.0084°C was attained with these estimators.
Nitric oxide (NO • ) strongly inhibits the proliferation of human A431 tumour cells. It also inhi... more Nitric oxide (NO • ) strongly inhibits the proliferation of human A431 tumour cells. It also inhibits tyrosine phosphorylation of a 170-kDa band corresponding to the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and induces the phosphorylation at tyrosine residue(s) of a 58-kDa protein which we have denoted NOIPP-58 (nitric oxide-induced 58-kDa phosphoprotein). The NO • -induced phosphorylation of NOIPP-58 is strictly dependent on the presence of EGF. Phosphorylation of NOIPP-58 and inhibition of the phosphorylation of the band corresponding to EGFR are both cGMP-independent processes. We also demonstrate that the p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38MAPK) pathway is activated by NO • in the absence and presence of EGF, whereas the activity of the extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) and the c-Jun N-terminal kinase 1/2 (JNK1/2) pathways are not significantly affected or are slightly decreased, respectively, on addition of this agent. Moreover, we show that the p38MAPK inhibitor, SB202190, induces rapid vanadate/peroxovanadate-sensitive dephosphorylation of prephosphorylated EGFR and NOIPP-58. We propose that the dephosphorylation of both NOIPP-58 and EGFR are mediated by a p38MAPKcontrolled phosphotyrosine-protein phosphatase (PYPP). Activation of the p38MAPK pathway during nitrosative stress probably prevents the operation of this PYPP, allowing NOIPP-58, and in part EGFR, to remain phosphorylated and therefore capable of generating signalling events.
A flexible selection criterion for spectral estimators based on the weighted statistical accuracy... more A flexible selection criterion for spectral estimators based on the weighted statistical accuracy (benefit) of estimation of decisive spectral parameters under the constraint of low computational complexity (cost) is proposed. This new cost/benefit criterion also selects the model order for parametric spectral estimators-selecting model orders significantly lower than those determined by accepted criteria. The importance of different Doppler signal parameters (e.g., mean frequency and spectral bandwidth) and their accuracy of estimation is incorporated by the use of weighting factors. The use of this method with simulated Doppler signals led to the selection of the modified covariance Alt estimator.
Biopsia del ganglio centinela en el melanoma cutáneo: estudio de 45 casos en una serie de 142 mel... more Biopsia del ganglio centinela en el melanoma cutáneo: estudio de 45 casos en una serie de 142 melanomas Sr. Editor: Aunque por el momento no se ha comprobado la repercusión de la biopsia del ganglio centinela (BGC) sobre la supervivencia de los pacientes con melanoma, su aportación al pronóstico (el estado del ganglio centinela [GC] se incluye en el sistema de estadificación de melanoma del AJCC de 2002 1 ) y sus implicaciones terapéuticas son hechos ampliamente aceptados. Se realizó un estudio prospectivo no aleatorizado de los pacientes consultados por melanoma en el Servicio de Dermatología del Complejo Hospitalario Universitario Juan Canalejo, durante los años 2001-2003. Los datos se recogieron mediante un formulario de la base de datos Microsoft Access. Se realizó biopsia del ganglio centinela, previa firma del consentimiento informado específico, en melanomas con índice de Breslow mayores de 1 mm, nivel de Clark superior a III o ulcerados (estadios IB-IIC). La técnica de la cartografía linfática y BGC fue similar a la descrita en otros trabajos 2-5 , con la peculiaridad de que no se empleó colorante azul 6 . La identificación intraoperatoria del GC se realizó con una sonda Neoprobe 2000 y se definió como GC el que tenía un recuento isotópico 10 veces superior a la base. Se efectuó estudio inmunohistoquímico del ganglio con S-100, HMB-45 y Melan A. Salvo en 2 casos, los pacientes fueron intervenidos quirúrgicamente en la Unidad de Cirugía Mayor Ambulatoria: los GC correspondientes a melanomas de tronco y extremidades fueron identificados siempre por el mismo cirujano general y los de cabeza y cuello siempre por el mismo cirujano maxilofacial. Durante el período de estudio se diagnosticaron 142 melanomas en 141 pacientes, de los cuales 102 eran mujeres (72%) y 39, varones (28%), con una media de edad de 64,56 años. El índice de Breslow medio fue 1,75 mm y el máximo, 19 mm; 17 melanomas (12%) presentaban ulceración. Se realizó BGC en 45 pacientes (32%), 28 mujeres (62%) y 17 varones (38%), con una edad media de 60,8 años; en estos casos el índice de Breslow osciló entre 0,3 y 9 mm y se detectó ulceración en 14 (31%). En 37 pacientes la BGC se realizó en cirugía general (82%), en 6 en cirugía maxilofacial (13%) y en 2 en cirugía plástica (4%). En 31 pacientes (69%) se realizó, además, ampliación de márgenes quirúrgicos. En 34 pacientes (76%) la BGC se realizó ambulatoriamente, los otros 11 (24%) fueron hospitalizados, 6 de ellos con melanomas de cabeza y cuello. En 27 casos (60%) se utilizó anestesia local; en 12 (27%), anestesia general, y en 6 (13%), anestesia regional. De los 12 casos en cuya intervención se utilizó anestesia general, 7 correspondían a melanomas de cabeza y cuello. La tasa de detección de la linfoescintigrafía isotópica fue del 100%. En 3 pacientes (7%) se objetivaron drenajes múltiples, los 3 con melanomas en tronco, que drenaban en axila e ingle homolaterales (2 casos) y en ambas axilas (1 caso). El número de drenajes linfáticos/lesión fue de 1,07. Se identificaron intraoperatoriamente 57 GC (1,27 ganglios/paciente). No se identificó GC en 1 paciente, lo que
In a previous paper, we determined the effect of either ethanol or pentazocine administered separ... more In a previous paper, we determined the effect of either ethanol or pentazocine administered separately on the ganglioside content of rat liver. In the present paper we have investigated the effect of pentazocine injection on the liver ganglioside contents of chronic alcoholic rats. The effect of high carbohydrate ingestion was also studied. Thirty male Wistar rats were divided into three experimental groups that received ethanol and pentazocine, a carbohydrate supplemented diet or a laboratory diet and water. Liver ganglioside contents were slightly increased in the ethanol plus pentazocine group as compared to the control and high carbohydrate diet groups. No differences were found between the two latter groups. The percentage distribution of individual gangliosides (ganglioside pattern) was also modified. A decrease in gangliosides belonging to the b-series (GD3, GD1b, GT1b and GQ1b) in parallel with an increase in that of the a-series (GM2, GM1 and GD1a) were found for both the ethanol plus pentazocine and the highcarbohydrate fed rats. The results suggest that ethanol or high carbohydrate ingestion diminishes the activity of GD3 synthase, a key enzyme in the metabolism of gangliosides, which determines the proportion of gangliosides, belonging to the a- and b-series.
Angioplasty and stenting of the atheromatous internal carotid artery (ICA), besides in patients w... more Angioplasty and stenting of the atheromatous internal carotid artery (ICA), besides in patients with a high surgical risk, may be indicated in specific cases such as contralateral occlusion, acute stroke clinical signs, or atherosclerotic pseudo-occlusion (APO). APO of the ICA is an underrecognized condition due to diagnostic difficulties both with noninvasive methods and even with angiography. Once recognized, there is usually the opportunity for successful revascularization with carotid endarterectomy. However, as the natural history of the APO is poorly characterized, the management of patients remains controversial. While some authors advocate a surgical approach, others consider that APO patients are not at high risk of stroke, making any interventional approach unnecessary. The perioperative risk of stroke in patients with APO is not appreciably greater than in patients with lesser degrees of stenosis and clear recommendation of surgery, although at 2 years that risk seems to be considerably much higher than in the latter patients. Looking for safer interventional procedures is worthwhile. Results of angioplasty and stenting in patients with ICA-APO have not been published yet. We report the results and complications associated with this procedure to address the issue of appropriate management of patients with ICA-APO.
Doppler blood flow spectral estimation is a technique for non-invasive cardiovascular disease det... more Doppler blood flow spectral estimation is a technique for non-invasive cardiovascular disease detection. Blood flow velocity and disturbance may be determined by measuring the spectral mean frequency and bandwidth, respectively. The work presented here, evaluates a high performance parallel-Doppler Signal Processing architecture (SHARC) for the computation of a parametric model-based spectral estimation method known as the modified covariance algorithm. The
Temperature modelling of a homogeneous medium, when this medium is radiated by therapeutic ultras... more Temperature modelling of a homogeneous medium, when this medium is radiated by therapeutic ultrasound, is a fundamental step in order to analyse the performance of estimators for in-vivo modelling. In this paper punctual and invasive temperature estimation in a homo-geneous medium is employed. Radial Basis Functions Neural Networks (RBFNNs) are used as estimators. The best fitted RBFNNs are selected using a Multi-objective Genetic Algorithm (MOGA). An absolute average error of 0.0084°C was attained with these estimators.
Uploads
Papers by Maria Ruano