Catalogue Search | MBRL
Are you sure you want to remove the book from the shelf?
{{itemTitle}}
27
result(s) for
"Bofill, Francesc"
Sort by:
Rapunzel = Rapunzel
A beautiful girl with extraordinarily long golden hair is imprisoned in a lonely tower by a witch.
Book
Emphysematous Hepatitis
An 82-year-old man presented to the emergency department with fever and confusion. Computed tomography of the abdomen showed gas in the liver, and a diagnosis of emphysematous hepatitis was made after cultures grew extended-spectrum beta-lactamase
Klebsiella pneumoniae.
Journal Article
Identification of Lynch Syndrome Carriers among Patients with Small Bowel Adenocarcinoma
Background: Small bowel adenocarcinoma (SBA) is a rare disease which can be associated with Lynch syndrome (LS). LS tumors are characterized by the presence of microsatellite instability (MSI) and/or the loss of mismatch repair (MMR) protein expression. In SBA, the frequency of MMR deficient (MMRd) tumors varies from 5% to 35%. This study aims to describe the prevalence of LS carriers among patients with MMRd small bowel adenocarcinomas. Methods: A multicenter retrospective study with identification and MMR testing of all consecutive SBA between 2004 and 2020 in a multicenter Spanish study. Demographical data, tumor characteristics, follow-up and survival information were collected. Germline testing was driven by identification of MMRd tumors. Results: A total of 94 individuals diagnosed with SBA were recruited. We observed 20 (21.3%) MMRd tumors. In 9/15 (60%) patients with MMRd tumors, a pathogenic variant was identified (three MLH1, four MSH2, one MSH6 and one PMS2). Accordingly, the prevalence of LS among all SBA cases was 10.1%. Conclusions: More than one-fifth of SBA display MMRd and in more than a half is due to LS. Our data supports the implementation of universal MMR tumor testing among SBA for the identification of LS families.
Journal Article
Susceptibility of Human Lymphoid Tissue Cultured ex vivo to Xenotropic Murine Leukemia Virus-Related Virus (XMRV) Infection
Xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus (XMRV) was generated after a recombination event between two endogenous murine leukemia viruses during the production of a prostate cancer cell line. Although the associations of the XMRV infection with human diseases appear unlikely, the XMRV is a retrovirus of undefined pathogenic potential, able to replicate in human cells in vitro. Since recent studies using animal models for infection have yielded conflicting results, we set out an ex vivo model for XMRV infection of human tonsillar tissue to determine whether XMRV produced by 22Rv1 cells is able to replicate in human lymphoid organs. Tonsil blocks were infected and infection kinetics and its pathogenic effects were monitored
XMRV, though restricted by APOBEC, enters and integrates into the tissue cells. The infection did not result in changes of T or B-cells, immune activation, nor inflammatory chemokines. Infectious viruses could be recovered from supernatants of infected tonsils by reinfecting DERSE XMRV indicator cell line, although these supernatants could not establish a new infection in fresh tonsil culture, indicating that in our model, the viral replication is controlled by innate antiviral restriction factors.
Overall, the replication-competent retrovirus XMRV, present in a high number of laboratories, is able to infect human lymphoid tissue and produce infectious viruses, even though they were unable to establish a new infection in fresh tonsillar tissue. Hereby, laboratories working with cell lines producing XMRV should have knowledge and understanding of the potential biological biohazardous risks of this virus.
Journal Article
Spin Symmetry Requirements in Density Functional Theory: The Proper Way to Predict Magnetic Coupling Constants in Molecules and Solids
In this paper it is argued that the use of density functional theory (DFT) to solve the exact, non-relativistic, many-electron problem, for magnetic systems requires imposing space and spin symmetry constraints exactly in the same way as it is currently done in ab initio wave function theory. This strong statement is supported on pertinent calculations for selected systems representative of organic diradicals, molecular magnets and antiferromagnetic solids. These calculations include several wave function methods of increasing accuracy and different forms of the exchange- correlation functional. The comparisons of numerical results carried out always within the same standard Gaussian Type Orbital atomic basis set show that imposing or not the spin and space constraints (restricted or unrestricted formalisms) leads to contradictory results. Therefore, it appears that, in the case of the Heisenberg magnetic constant, the present exchange-correlation functionals may provide reasonable numerical results although for the wrong physical reasons thus evidencing the failure of the current DFT methods to properly describe magnetic systems.
Journal Article
Susceptibility of Human Lymphoid Tissue Cultured ex vivo to Xenotropic Murine Leukemia Virus-Related Virus
Xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus (XMRV) was generated after a recombination event between two endogenous murine leukemia viruses during the production of a prostate cancer cell line. Although the associations of the XMRV infection with human diseases appear unlikely, the XMRV is a retrovirus of undefined pathogenic potential, able to replicate in human cells in vitro. Since recent studies using animal models for infection have yielded conflicting results, we set out an ex vivo model for XMRV infection of human tonsillar tissue to determine whether XMRV produced by 22Rv1 cells is able to replicate in human lymphoid organs. Tonsil blocks were infected and infection kinetics and its pathogenic effects were monitored XMRV, though restricted by APOBEC, enters and integrates into the tissue cells. The infection did not result in changes of T or B-cells, immune activation, nor inflammatory chemokines. Infectious viruses could be recovered from supernatants of infected tonsils by reinfecting DERSE XMRV indicator cell line, although these supernatants could not establish a new infection in fresh tonsil culture, indicating that in our model, the viral replication is controlled by innate antiviral restriction factors. Overall, the replication-competent retrovirus XMRV, present in a high number of laboratories, is able to infect human lymphoid tissue and produce infectious viruses, even though they were unable to establish a new infection in fresh tonsillar tissue. Hereby, laboratories working with cell lines producing XMRV should have knowledge and understanding of the potential biological biohazardous risks of this virus.
Journal Article
Human Papillomavirus 16 Integration and Risk Factors Associated in Anal Samples of HIV-1 Infected Men
Background: The integration of HPV-16 DNA into the host genome is considered an important event in the progression of premalignant cervical lesions to cervical cancer. The aim of our study was to assess the prevalence of HPV-16 integration in anal cytologie specimens of HIV-1 infected men and its association with risk factors. Patients Methods: This cross-sectional study included 269 HIV-infected males. Detection and typing of HPV-infection was done by multiplex PCR, and integration of HPV-16 by real-time PCR. Results: The overall anal HPV-infection prevalence was 78% (209/269), 29% (77/269) for HPV-16 infection, and 9% (25/269) for HPV-16 integration. In HPV-16 infected group, the integration prevalence represented 32% (25/77). The only risk factor associated with HPV-16 integration was the time since HIV diagnosis (OR = 1.2, 95% CI: 1.0-1.3; P = 0.010). The risk factors associated with abnormal cytology results were: HPV infection (OR = 17.8, 95% CI: 6.8-46.6), HPV-16 infection (OR = 4.6, 95% CI: 2.5-8.4), and presence of HPV-16 integrated forms (OR = 11.7, 95% CI: 1.5-93.5). Moreover, in the multivariate analysis, the HPV-16 integration continued representing the most important risk factor (OR = 20, 95% CI: 1.6-226) for anal cytologie abnormalities. Conclusion: HPV-16 infection and its integration in anal cells were highly prevalent in HIV-infected men. The assessment of HPV-16 integration rather than HPV-infection could be a good biomarker for predicting anal precancerous lesions in HIV-positive men.
Journal Article
PepsiCo Deploys AI-Driven Pricing and Promotion Optimization at Scale
Effective pricing and promotion planning constitutes a central pillar of strategic revenue management for firms operating in highly competitive and dynamic markets. These planning activities require the simultaneous consideration of demand elasticity, competitor actions, channel and market specific constraints, and financial objectives. As the dimensionality and interdependencies inherent in these problems increase, manual or traditional approaches become suboptimal and insufficient. In this context, Operations Research provides a robust methodological foundation for scalable, data-driven decision support systems that can optimize complex planning processes across large product and customer portfolios. This paper presents two large-scale optimization systems developed and deployed at PepsiCo to support Revenue Growth Management initiatives: PromoAI and PricingAI. PromoAI couples machine learning-based promotional forecasts with a mixed-integer linear programming model to optimize promotional calendars across trade channels, searching millions of product-promotion-timing combinations for the one that maximizes PepsiCo and retailer revenues subject to customizable business constraints. PricingAI optimizes base prices across product portfolios over multi-period horizons, using Bayesian hierarchical models to estimate own- and cross-price elasticities and competitive interactions, then feeding these into a nonlinear programming engine that recommends price changes aligned with revenue and margin targets under operational constraints. Together, these systems demonstrate the feasibility and scalability of advanced optimization in large-scale enterprise environments. They highlight the value of integrating statistical learning with mathematical programming to enable enterprise-level, automated decision-making that is both data-informed and aligned with strategic business objectives.
Paper