Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI): state of the art techniques and future perspectives.

Transcatheter aortic valve therapies are the newest established techniques for the treatment of high risk patients affected by severe symptomatic aortic valve stenosis. The transapical approach requires a left anterolateral mini-thoracotomy, whereas the transfemoral method requires an adequate peripheral vascular access and can be performed fully percutaneously. Alternatively, the trans-subclavian access has been recently proposed as a third promising approach. Depending on the technique, the fine stent-valve positioning can be performed with or without contrast injections. The transapical echo-guided stent-valve implantation without angiography (the Lausanne technique) relies entirely on transoesophageal echocardiogramme imaging for the fine stent-valve positioning and it has been proved that this technique prevents the onset of postoperative contrast-related acute kidney failure. Recent published reports have shown good hospital outcomes and short-term results after transcatheter aortic valve implantation, but there are no proven advantages in using the transfemoral or the transapical technique. In particular, the transapical series have a higher mean logistic Euroscore of 27-35%, a procedural success rate above 95% and a mean 30-day mortality between 7.5 and 17.5%, whereas the transfemoral results show a lower logistic Euroscore of 23-25.5%, a procedural success rate above 90% and a 30-day mortality of 7-10.8%. Nevertheless, further clinical trials and long-term results are mandatory to confirm this positive trend. Future perspectives in transcatheter aortic valve therapies would be the development of intravascular devices for the ablation of the diseased valve leaflets and the launch of new stent-valves with improved haemodynamic, different sizes and smaller delivery systems.

Condiciones bio-oceanográfica frente a la costa norte y centro del Perú durante octubre y noviembre 1995 (Operación MOPFEN 9510-11)

Constituye una análisis de la información oceanográfica obtenida de la Operación MOPFEN 9510-11 que se ejecutó del 25 de Octubre al 10 de noviembre de 1995, a bordo de la E/E Huamanga del CEP de Paita. Para ello, se realizó seis perfiles oceanográficos frente a Puerto Pizarro, Paita, Punta Falsa, Chicama, Chimbote y Callao. El estudio tuvo por finalidad conocer la variación que han tenido los parámetros ambientales durante la primavera e identificar la tendencia de las condiciones del mar peruano para el mes de diciembre de 1995 e inicios del verano de 1996, todo ello en base a ocurrencias de anomalías ambientales relacionadas al Fenómeno El Niño.

I Prospección bio-oceanográfica y pesca en el Callao (Playas carpayo, Arenilla, Cocos y Mar Brava)

Presenta el estudio bio-oceanográfico en las playas de Carpayo, Arenilla, Cocos y Mar Brava del Callao, con la finalidad de ampliar el conocimiento sobre la intensidad del fenómeno El Niño 1991-1993 a través de indicadores biológicos y definir la fauna típica estacional de la zona.

Notas sobre el estado actual del stock de anchoveta a base del informe del panel de expertos realizado en julio de 1972 y de los últimos estudios y prospecciones bio-oceanológicas efectuados por el Instituto del Mar

Revisa los acontecimientos recientes de la pesquería de anchoveta a la luz de las investigaciones contínuas realizadas y de las conclusiones del terce informe del Panel de Expertos en dinámica de poblaciones.

Can sibling species of the Drosophila willistoni subgroup be recognized through combined microscopy techniques?

ABSTRACT In several arthropod groups, male genitalia is the most important feature for species identification, especially in cryptic species. Cryptic species are very common in the Drosophila genus, and the Neotropical Drosophila willistoni species group is a good example. This group currently includes 24 species divided into three subgroups: alagitans, bocainensis and willistoni. There are six sibling species in the willistoni subgroup – D. willistoni, D. insularis, D. tropicalis, D. equinoxialis, D. pavlovskiana and D. paulistorum, which is a species complex composed of six semispecies – Amazonian, Andean-Brazilian, Centroamerican, Interior, Orinocan and Transitional. The objective of this study was to characterize male genitalia of the willistoni subgroup, including the D. paulistorum species complex, using scanning electron microscopy and light microscopy. We also tried to contribute to the identification of these cryptic species and to add some comments about evolutionary history, based on male genitalia characters. Despite being cryptic species, some differences were found among the siblings, including the Drosophila paulistorum semispecies.

Minimum requirements for application of ink dating methods based on solvent analysis in casework

Several ink dating methods based on solvents analysis using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) were proposed in the last decades. These methods follow the drying of solvents from ballpoint pen inks on paper and seem very promising. However, several questions arose over the last few years among questioned documents examiners regarding the transparency and reproducibility of the proposed techniques. These questions should be carefully studied for accurate and ethical application of this methodology in casework. Inspired by a real investigation involving ink dating, the present paper discusses this particular issue throughout four main topics: aging processes, dating methods, validation procedures and data interpretation. This work presents a wide picture of the ink dating field, warns about potential shortcomings and also proposes some solutions to avoid reporting errors in court.

Monitoreo bio-oceanográfico pesquero en el litoral sur del Perú. MOBOP 0708.

El monitoreo se realizó en agosto 2007, a bordo de la L/P IMARPE IV, desde La Yarada hasta 40 mn frente a Quilca. La temperatura superficial varió de 13,7 a 16,4 °C, menores valores (<14,5 °C) se registraron entre Tancona y Quilca dentro de las 15 mn y mayores (>16 °C) entre Punta Coles y el Dominio Marítimo Sur por fuera de 20 mn. Las anomalías térmicas variaron de -1,4 a -0,8 °C. La gradiente térmica vertical estuvo conformada por 3 isotermas (14 a 16 °C), la isolínea de 15 °C se presentó entre la superficie (zonas costeras) y 35 m. La anchoveta tuvo mayor distribución hasta 40 mn frente a Mollendo, dentro de las 5 mn se ubicó mezclada con múnida, principalmente frente a Playa Tacna y Mollendo.

Algunos aspectos bio-ecológicos del "Muy Muy" Emerita analoga (Stimpson, 1857) (DECAPODA: ANOMURA) en playas al sur de Lima

Da a conocer algunos parámetros de la dinámica - poblacional de este crustáceo en la zona central del litoral peruano, tales como: estructura poblacional, densidad, crecimiento, reproducción, ciclo sexual y comportamiento. Así mismo, referir la comunidad biótica de la Playa arenosa estudiada y dar a conocer el valor nutritivo de la especie en cuestión.

Limitations of stimulated echo acquisition mode (STEAM) techniques in cardiac applications.

Stimulated echoes are widely used for imaging functional tissue parameters such as diffusion coefficient, perfusion, and flow rates. They are potentially interesting for the assessment of various cardiac functions. However, severe limitations of the stimulated echo acquisition mode occur, which are related to the special dynamic properties of the beating heart and flowing blood. To the well-known signal decay due to longitudinal relaxation and through-plane motion between the preparation and the read-out period of the stimulated echoes, additional signal loss is often observed. As the prepared magnetization is fixed with respect to the tissue, this signal loss is caused by the tissue deformation during the cardiac cycle, which leads to a modification of the modulation frequency of the magnetization. These effects are theoretically derived and corroborated by phantom and in vivo experiments.

Condiciones bio-oceanográficas en San José, islas Lobos de Afuera, Perú. 2010

En este estudio se muestra la variabilidad oceanográfica que se presenta en Lambayeque. Se evidenció con la generación del evento frío La Niña, después que se registrara el arribo de ondas Kelvin hacia la costa desde fines del 2009, lo que se llegó a considerar como la ocurrencia de un evento El Niño de intensidad moderada. Esta situación propició que los recursos pesqueros se ausentaran de sus áreas habituales de pesca, sumado a la presencia de oleajes anómalos y fuertes vientos que dificultaron las faenas de pesca. Durante el 2010, la Extensión Sur de la Corriente de Cromwell (ESCC) se presentó moderadamente fortalecida en marzo, evidenciada por la relativa alta concentración de oxígeno disuelto en las áreas más profundas de San José, situación inusual para la época en la zona. La proyección de la ESCC se vio intensificada en abril, pero comenzó a debilitarse en junio hasta ausentarse en noviembre, como se puede deducir de los valores de oxígeno encontrados cerca del fondo durante las prospecciones realizadas.

Identification and quantification techniques in mass spectrometry-based proteomics

Résumé La protéomique basée sur la spectrométrie de masse est l'étude du proteome l'ensemble des protéines exprimées au sein d'une cellule, d'un tissu ou d'un organisme - par cette technique. Les protéines sont coupées à l'aide d'enzymes en plus petits morceaux -les peptides -, et, séparées par différentes techniques. Les différentes fractions contenant quelques centaines de peptides sont ensuite analysées dans un spectromètre de masse. La masse des peptides est enregistrée et chaque peptide est séquentiellement fragmenté pour en obtenir sa séquence. L'information de masse et séquence est ensuite comparée à une base de données de protéines afin d'identifier la protéine d'origine. Dans une première partie, la thèse décrit le développement de méthodes d'identification. Elle montre l'importance de l'enrichissement de protéines comme moyen d'accès à des protéines de moyenne à faible abondance dans le lait humain. Elle utilise des injections répétées pour augmenter la couverture en protéines et la confiance dans l'identification. L'impacte de nouvelle version de base de données sur la liste des protéines identifiées est aussi démontré. De plus, elle utilise avec succès la spectrométrie de masse comme alternative aux anticorps, pour valider la présence de 34 constructions de protéines pathogéniques du staphylocoque doré exprimées dans une souche de lactocoque. Dans une deuxième partie, la thèse décrit le développement de méthodes de quantification. Elle expose de nouvelles approches de marquage des terminus des protéines aux isotopes stables et décrit la première méthode de marquage des groupements carboxyliques au niveau protéine à l'aide de réactifs composé de carbone 13. De plus, une nouvelle méthode, appelée ANIBAL, marquant tous les groupements amines et carboxyliques au niveau de la protéine, est exposée. Summary Mass spectrometry-based proteomics is the study of the proteome -the set of all expressed proteins in a cell, tissue or organism -using mass spectrometry. Proteins are cut into smaller pieces - peptides - using proteolytic enzymes and separated using different separation techniques. The different fractions containing several hundreds of peptides are than analyzed by mass spectrometry. The mass of the peptides entering the instrument are recorded and each peptide is sequentially fragmented to obtain its amino acid sequence. Each peptide sequence with its corresponding mass is then searched against a protein database to identify the protein to which it belongs. This thesis presents new method developments in this field. In a first part, the thesis describes development of identification methods. It shows the importance of protein enrichment methods to gain access to medium-to-low abundant proteins in a human milk sample. It uses repeated injection to increase protein coverage and confidence in identification and demonstrates the impact of new database releases on protein identification lists. In addition, it successfully uses mass spectrometry as an alternative to antibody-based assays to validate the presence of 34 different recombinant constructs of Staphylococcus aureus pathogenic proteins expressed in a Lactococcus lactis strain. In a second part, development of quantification methods is described. It shows new stable isotope labeling approaches based on N- and C-terminus labeling of proteins and describes the first method of labeling of carboxylic groups at the protein level using 13C stable isotopes. In addition, a new quantitative approach called ANIBAL is explained that labels all amino and carboxylic groups at the protein level.

Imagerie cardiaque non invasive: apport spécifique en clinique des nouvelles modalités (II). Evaluation fonctionnelle [Cardiac imaging: specific clinical role of newly developed non invasive techniques. Part II: functional evaluation].

The non-invasive evaluation of myocardial ischemia is a priority in cardiology. The preferred initial non-invasive test is exercise ECG, because of its high accessibility and its low cost. Stress radionuclide myocardial perfusion imaging or stress echocardiography are now routinely performed, and new non-invasive techniques such as perfusion-MRI, dobutamine stress-MRI or 82rubidium perfusion PET have recently gained acceptance in clinical practice. In the same time, an increasing attention has been accorded to the concept of myocardial viability in the decisional processes in case of ischemic heart failure. In this indication, MRI with late enhancement after intravenous injection of gadolinium and 18F-FDG PET showed an excellent diagnostic accuracy. This article will present these new imaging modalities and their accepted indications.