Anti-inflammatory and utero-relaxant effect of α-bisabolol on the pregnant human uterus

Victor Manuel Muñoz-Pérez,Mario I. Ortiz,Héctor A. Ponce-Monter,Vicente Monter-Pérez,Guillermo Barragán-Ramírez 대한약리학회 2018 The Korean Journal of Physiology & Pharmacology Vol.22 No.4

The aim of this study was to evaluate the in vitro anti-inflammatory and utero-relaxant effect of α-bisabolol on the pregnant human myometrium. Samples from the pregnant human myometrium were used in functional tests to evaluate the inhibitory effect of α-bisabolol (560, 860, 1,200 and 1,860 µM) on spontaneous myometrial contractions. The intracellular cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) levels generated in response to α-bisabolol in human myometrial homogenates were measured by ELISA. The anti-inflammatory effect of α-bisabolol was determined through the measurement of two pro-inflammatory cytokines, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFα) and interleukin (IL)-1β, and the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10, in pregnant human myometrial explants stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Forskolin was used as a positive control to evaluate the cAMP and cytokine levels. α-Bisabolol was found to induce a significant inhibition of spontaneous myometrial contractions at the highest concentration level (p<0.05). α-Bisabolol caused a concentration-dependent decrease in myometrial cAMP levels (p<0.05) and a concentration-dependent decrease in LPS-induced TNFα and IL-1β production, while IL-10 production did not increase significantly (p>0.05). The anti-inflammatory and utero-relaxant effects induced by α-bisabolol were not associated with an increase in cAMP levels in pregnant human myometrial samples. These properties place α-bisabolol as a potentially safe and effective adjuvant agent in cases of preterm birth, an area of pharmacological treatment that requires urgent improvement.

Classification of Pulmonary Nodules in 2-[ 18 F]FDG PET/CT Images with a 3D Convolutional Neural Network

Victor Manuel Alves 대한핵의학회 2024 핵의학 분자영상 Vol.58 No.1

Purpose 2-[18F]FDG PET/CT plays an important role in the management of pulmonary nodules. Convolutional neuralnetworks (CNNs) automatically learn features from images and have the potential to improve the discrimination betweenmalignant and benign pulmonary nodules. The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a CNN model for classificationof pulmonary nodules from 2-[18F]FDG PET images. Methods One hundred thirteen participants were retrospectively selected. One nodule per participant. The 2-[18F]FDG PETimages were preprocessed and annotated with the reference standard. The deep learning experiment entailed random datasplitting in five sets. A test set was held out for evaluation of the final model. Four-fold cross-validation was performed fromthe remaining sets for training and evaluating a set of candidate models and for selecting the final model. Models of threetypes of 3D CNNs architectures were trained from random weight initialization (Stacked 3D CNN, VGG-like and Inceptionv2-like models) both in original and augmented datasets. Transfer learning, from ImageNet with ResNet-50, was also used. Results The final model (Stacked 3D CNN model) obtained an area under the ROC curve of 0.8385 (95% CI: 0.6455–1.0000)in the test set. The model had a sensibility of 80.00%, a specificity of 69.23% and an accuracy of 73.91%, in the test set, foran optimised decision threshold that assigns a higher cost to false negatives. Conclusion A 3D CNN model was effective at distinguishing benign from malignant pulmonary nodules in 2-[18F]FDGPET images.

New species and new records of <i>Crinipellis</i> from tropical and subtropical forests of the east coast of Mexico

Bandala, Victor Manuel,Ryoo, Rhim,Montoya, Leticia,Ka, Kang-Hyeon Informa UK (TaylorFrancis) 2012 Mycologia Vol.104 No.3

<P>Crinipellis brunneoaurantiaca, C. pallidibrunnea and C. rubella are described as new species and their taxonomic position is discussed. The two former were collected in subdeciduous tropical forest and the latter in the montane cloud forest, all from the east coast of Mexico (central Veracruz). Crinipellis podocarpi, C. pseudostipitaria var. mesites, C. setipes, recorded in montane cloud forest, and C. tucumanensis, collected in subdeciduous tropical forest, also are discussed. Detailed macro- and microscopic descriptions, illustrations of distinctive microscopic characters and plates are presented for each species.</P>

Anti-inflammatory and utero-relaxant effect of α-bisabolol on the pregnant human uterus

Munoz-Perez, Victor Manuel,Ortiz, Mario I.,Ponce-Monter, Hector A.,Monter-Perez, Vicente,Barragan-Ramirez, Guillermo The Korean Society of Pharmacology 2018 The Korean Journal of Physiology & Pharmacology Vol.22 No.4

The aim of this study was to evaluate the in vitro anti-inflammatory and utero-relaxant effect of ${\alpha}$-bisabolol on the pregnant human myometrium. Samples from the pregnant human myometrium were used in functional tests to evaluate the inhibitory effect of ${\alpha}$-bisabolol (560, 860, 1,200 and $1,860{\mu}M$) on spontaneous myometrial contractions. The intracellular cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) levels generated in response to ${\alpha}$-bisabolol in human myometrial homogenates were measured by ELISA. The anti-inflammatory effect of ${\alpha}$-bisabolol was determined through the measurement of two pro-inflammatory cytokines, tumor necrosis factor-${\alpha}$ ($TNF{\alpha}$) and interleukin $(IL)-1{\beta}$, and the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10, in pregnant human myometrial explants stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Forskolin was used as a positive control to evaluate the cAMP and cytokine levels. ${\alpha}$-Bisabolol was found to induce a significant inhibition of spontaneous myometrial contractions at the highest concentration level (p<0.05). ${\alpha}$-Bisabolol caused a concentration-dependent decrease in myometrial cAMP levels (p<0.05) and a concentration-dependent decrease in LPS-induced $TNF{\alpha}$ and $IL-1{\beta}$ production, while IL-10 production did not increase significantly (p>0.05). The anti-inflammatory and utero-relaxant effects induced by ${\alpha}$-bisabolol were not associated with an increase in cAMP levels in pregnant human myometrial samples. These properties place ${\alpha}$-bisabolol as a potentially safe and effective adjuvant agent in cases of preterm birth, an area of pharmacological treatment that requires urgent improvement.

Relaxant and anti-inflammatory effect of two thalidomide analogs as PDE-4 inhibitors in pregnant rat uterus

Munoz-Perez, Victor Manuel,Fernandez-Martinez, Eduardo,Ponce-Monter, Hector,Ortiz, Mario I. The Korean Society of Pharmacology 2017 The Korean Journal of Physiology & Pharmacology Vol.21 No.4

The aim of this study was to evaluate the relaxant and anti-inflammatory effects of two thalidomide analogs as phosphodiesterase-4 (PDE-4) inhibitors in pregnant rat uterus. Uteri from Wistar female rats were isolated at 19 day of pregnancy. Uterine samples were used in functional studies to evaluate the inhibitory effects of the thalidomide analogs, methyl 3-(4-nitrophthalimido)-3-(3,4- dimethoxyphenyl)-propanoate (4NO2PDPMe) and methyl 3-(4-aminophthalimido)- 3-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-propanoate (4APDPMe), on prostaglandin-$F2{\alpha}$ ($PGF2{\alpha}$)-induced phasic, $K^+$-induced tonic, and $Ca^{2+}$-induced contractions. Accumulation of cAMP was quantified in uterine homogenates by ELISA. Anti-inflammatory effect was assessed by using ELISA for determination of the pro-inflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor-${\alpha}$ ($TNF{\alpha}$) and interleukin (IL)-$1{\beta}$, and anti-inflammatory IL-10, from uterine explants stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Nifedipine, forskolin and rolipram were used as positive controls where required. Both thalidomide analogs induced a significant inhibition of the uterine contractions induced by the pharmaco- and electro-mechanic stimuli. Nifedipine and forskolin were more potent than the analogs to inhibit the uterine contractility, but these were more potent than rolipram, and 4APDPMe was equieffective to nifedipine. Thalidomide analogs increased uterine cAMP-levels in a concentration-dependent manner. The LPS-induced $TNF{\alpha}$ and $IL-1{\beta}$ uterine secretion was diminished in a concentration-dependent fashion by both analogs, whereas IL-10 secretion was increased significantly. The thalidomide analogs induced utero-relaxant and anti-inflammatory effects, which were associated with the increased cAMP levels as PDE-4 inhibitors in the pregnant rat uterus. Such properties place these thalidomide analogs as potentially safe and effective tocolytic agents in a field that urgently needs improved pharmacological treatments, as in cases of preterm labor.

Influence of substituting steam-flaked corn for dry rolled corn on feedlot cattle growth performance when cattle are allowed either ad libitum or restricted access to the finishing diet

Gonzalez-Vizcarra, Victor Manuel,Plascencia, Alejandro,Ramos-Avina, Daniel,Zinn, Richard Avery Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2017 Animal Bioscience Vol.30 No.11

Objective: The influence of substituting steam-flaked corn (SFC) for dry rolled corn (DRC) on feedlot cattle growth performance and dietary net energy when cattle are allowed either ad libitum or 2-h restricted access to the finishing diet was evaluated. Methods: Treatment effects were tested using 96 crossbred steers ($251{\pm}2kg$) during the initial 56 d of the finishing phase. Cattle were blocked by weight and randomly assigned within blocks to 16 pens (4 pens/treatment). Bunk space was sufficient (41 cm/head) to allow all steers access to the feed bunk at the same time. Treatments consisted of two finishing diets containing (dry matter basis) 77.1% corn grain processed by dry rolling (density = 0.50 kg/L) or steam flaking (density = 0.36 kg/L). Cattle were fed twice daily at 06:00 and 14:00 h, allowing for approximately 5% residual. In the case of restricted feeding, steers were allowed access to feeders for 1 h following each feeding, after which residual feed was withdrawn. Results: There were no treatment interactions on dry matter intake (DMI), average daily gain (ADG), gain efficiency (G:F), or dietary net energy (NE). Restricting feed access time reduced (p<0.01) feed intake, and hence, ADG. Substitution of SFC for DRC increased (p<0.01) ADG, feed efficiency (G:F), and estimated dietary NE, without affecting DMI. Based on tabular net energy of maintenance ($NE_m$) value (2.18 Mcal/kg) for DRC, the estimated $NE_m$ value for SFC using the replacement technique, averaged 2.44 Mcal/kg; an improvement of 10.7%. The ratio of observed-to-expected dietary NE was not affected by feed access time. Conclusion: Substitution of SFC for DRC in finishing diets for feedlot cattle enhanced ADG, gain efficiency, and the NE value of the diet. Although restriction of feed access time depressed DMI and ADG, it did not affect the comparative benefit of steam flaking toward enhancement of ADG, G:F, and dietary NE.

Optimal area for rectangular isolated footings considering that contact surface works partially to compression

Victor Bonifacio Vela-Moreno,Arnulfo Luévanos-Rojas,Sandra López-Chavarría,Manuel Medina-Elizondo,Ricardo Sandoval-Rivas,Carmela Martínez-Aguilar 국제구조공학회 2022 Structural Engineering and Mechanics, An Int'l Jou Vol.84 No.4

This paper presents a new model to obtain the minimum area of the contact surface for rectangular isolated footings, considering that the contact surface works partially to compression (a part of the contact surface of the footing is subjected to compression and the other is not in compression or tension). The methodology is developed by integration to obtain the axial load “P”, moment around the X axis “Mx” and moment around the Y axis “My”. This document presents the simplified and precise equations of the four possible cases of footing subjected to uniaxial bending and five possible cases of footing subjected to biaxial bending. The current model considers the contact area of the footing that works totally in compression, and other models consider the contact area that works partially under compression and these are developed by very complex iterative processes. Numerical examples are presented to obtain the minimum area of rectangular footings under an axial load and moments in two directions, and the results are compared with those of other authors. The results show that the new model presents smaller areas than the other authors presented.

Validation of Serpent-SUBCHANFLOW-TRANSURANUS pin-by-pin burnup calculations using experimental data from the Temelín II VVER-1000 reactor

Garcia, Manuel,Vocka, Radim,Tuominen, Riku,Gommlich, Andre,Leppanen, Jaakko,Valtavirta, Ville,Imke, Uwe,Ferraro, Diego,Uffelen, Paul Van,Milisdorfer, Lukas,Sanchez-Espinoza, Victor Korean Nuclear Society 2021 Nuclear Engineering and Technology Vol.53 No.10

This work deals with the validation of a high-fidelity multiphysics system coupling the Serpent 2 Monte Carlo neutron transport code with SUBCHANFLOW, a subchannel thermalhydraulics code, and TRANSURANUS, a fuel-performance analysis code. The results for a full-core pin-by-pin burnup calculation for the ninth operating cycle of the Temelín II VVER-1000 plant, which starts from a fresh core, are presented and assessed using experimental data. A good agreement is found comparing the critical boron concentration and a set of pin-level neutron flux profiles against measurements. In addition, the calculated axial and radial power distributions match closely the values reported by the core monitoring system. To demonstrate the modeling capabilities of the three-code coupling, pin-level neutronic, thermalhydraulic and thermomechanic results are shown as well. These studies are encompassed in the final phase of the EU Horizon 2020 McSAFE project, during which the Serpent-SUBCHANFLOW-TRANSURANUS system was developed.

Success rate of nitrous oxide-oxygen procedural sedation in dental patients: systematic review and meta-analysis

Rossit, Marco,Gil-Manich, Victor,Ribera-Uribe, Jose Manuel The Korean Dental Society of Anesthsiology 2021 Journal of Dental Anesthesia and Pain Medicine Vol.21 No.6

The aim of this systematic review was to determine the success rate of nitrous oxide-oxygen procedural sedation (NOIS) in dentistry. A systematic digital search was conducted for publications or reports of randomized controlled trials evaluating the clinical performance of NOIS. Abstracts of research papers were screened for suitability, and full-text articles were obtained for those who met the inclusion and exclusion criteria accordingly. The quality of the studies was assessed using the revised Cochrane risk-of-bias tool (RoB 2). A total of 19 articles (eight randomized clinical trials with parallel intervention groups and 11 crossover trials), published between May 1988 and August 2019, were finally selected for this review. The studies followed 1293 patients reporting NOIS success rates, with a cumulative mean value of 94.9% (95% CI: 88.8-98.9%). Thirteen trials were conducted on pediatric populations (1098 patients), and the remaining six were conducted on adults (195 patients), with cumulative efficacy rates of 91.9% (95% CI: 82.5-98.1%) and 99.9% (95% CI: 97.7-100.0%), respectively. The difference was statistically significant (P = 0.002). Completion of treatment and Section IV of the Houpt scale were the most used efficacy criteria. Within the limitations of this systematic review, the present study provides important information on the efficacy rate of NOIS. However, further well-designed and well-documented clinical trials are required and there is a need to develop guidelines for standardization of criteria and definition of success in procedural sedation. Currently, completion of treatment is the most used parameter in clinical practice, though many others also do exist at the same time. To maximize NOIS efficacy, clinicians should strictly consider appropriate indications for the procedure.

Warm autoimmune hemolytic anemia: experience from a single referral center in Mexico City

Hernandez-Company Alonso,Anguiano-Alvarez Victor Manuel,Carmona Gonzalez Carlos Amir,Rodriguez-Rodriguez Sergio,Pomerantz Allan,Lopez-Karpovitch Xavier,Tuna-Aguilar Elena Juventina 대한혈액학회 2017 Blood Research Vol.52 No.1

Background: Autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA) is characterized by an autoimmune-mediated de-struction of red blood cells. Warm AIHA (wAIHA) represents 60% of AIHA cases and is associated with the positive detection of IgG and C3d in the direct antiglobulin test (DAT). This study aimed to assess the clinical and laboratorial differences between primary and secondary wAIHA patients from a referral center in Mexico City. Methods: All patients diagnosed with wAIHA in our institution from January 1992 to December 2015 were included and received corticosteroids as the first-line treatment. We analyzed the response to the first-line treatment, relapse-free survival, and time to splenectomy. Results: Eighty-nine patients were included. Secondary wAIHA represented 55.1% of the cases. At diagnosis, secondary wAIHA patients showed a DAT mixed pattern more frequently than primary wAIHA patients (36.7 vs. 17.5%, P<0.001). In the survival analysis, patients with secondary wAIHA had a lower time to response (18 vs. 37 days, P=0.05), median disease-free survival (28.51 vs. 50.95 weeks, P=0.018), and time to splenectomy (43.5 vs. 61 wks, P=0.029) than those with primary wAIHA. Due to economic constraints, ritux-imab was considered as the third-line treatment in only two patients. Conclusion: Secondary wAIHA may benefit from a longer low-dose steroid maintenance period mainly due to its shorter time to relapse and time to splenectomy than primary wAIHA.