Some notes on a historical perspective of panic disorder

This article aims to describe important points in the history of panic disorder concept, as well as to highlight the importance of its diagnosis for clinical and research developments. Panic disorder has been described in several literary reports and folklore. One of the oldest examples lies in Greek mythology - the god Pan, responsible for the term panic. The first half of the 19th century witnessed the culmination of medical approach. During the second half of the 19th century came the psychological approach of anxiety. The 20th century associated panic disorder to hereditary, organic and psychological factors, dividing anxiety into simple and phobic anxious states. Therapeutic development was also observed in psychopharmacological and psychotherapeutic fields. Official classifications began to include panic disorder as a category since the third edition of the American Classification Manual (1980). Some biological theories dealing with etiology were widely discussed during the last decades of the 20th century. They were based on laboratory studies of physiological, cognitive and biochemical tests, as the false suffocation alarm theory and the fear network. Such theories were important in creating new diagnostic paradigms to modern psychiatry. That suggests the need to consider a wide range of historical variables to understand how particular features for panic disorder diagnosis have been developed and how treatment has emerged.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) screening and cervical cancer burden. A Brazilian perspective

This review tackles the issues related to disease burden caused by cervical cancer (CC) and its precursor (CIN) lesions in Brazil. A special focus is given to new technologies with potential to interfere with the development of CC by reducing the high-risk human papillomavirus (hr-HPV)-induced lesions that remain a major public health burden in all developing countries where organized screening programs do not exist. Globally, 85 % of all incident CC and 50 % of CC deaths occur in the developing countries. Unfortunately, most regions of Brazil still demonstrate high mortality rates, ranking CC as the second most common cancer among Brazilian women. Recently, CC screening programs have been tailored in the country to enable early detection of CC precursor lesions and thereby reduce cancer mortality. A combination of HPV testing with liquid-based cytology (LBC) seems to be a promising new approach in CC screening, with high expectation to offer an adequate control of CC burden in this country.

Development of procedures for the design, optimization and manufacturing of customized orthopaedic and trauma implants: Geometrical/anatomical modelling from 3D medical imaging

Tese de Doutoramento (Programa Doutoral em Engenharia Biomédica)

A genetic perspective on African prehistory

The various genetic systems (mitochondrial DNA, the Y-chromosome and the genome-wide autosomes) indicate that Africa is the most genetically diverse continent in the world and the most likely place of origin for anatomically modern humans. However, where in Africa modern humans arose and how the current genetic makeup within the continent was shaped is still open to debate. Here, we summarize the debate and focus especially on the maternally inherited mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and a recently revised chronology for the African mtDNA tree. We discuss the possible origin of modern humans in southern, eastern or Central Africa; the possibility of a migration from southern to eastern Africa more than 100 ka, carrying lineages within mtDNA haplogroup L0; the evidence for a climate-change-mediated population expansion in eastern Africa involving mtDNA haplogroup L3, leading to the “out-of-Africa” migration around 70–60 ka; the re-population of North Africa from the Near East around 40–30 ka suggested by mtDNA haplogroups U6 and M1; the evidence for population expansions and dispersals across the continent at the onset of the Holocene ; and the impact of the Bantu dispersals in Central, eastern and southern Africa within the last few millennia.

In vivo imaging of glycol chitosan-based nanogel biodistribution

The preclinical development of nanomedicines raises several challenges and requires a comprehensive characterization. Among them is the evaluation of the biodistribution following systemic administration. In previous work, the biocompatibility and in vitro targeting ability of a glycol chitosan (GC) based nanogel have been validated. In the present study, its biodistribution in the mice is assessed, using near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence imaging as a tool to track the nanogel over time, after intravenous administration. Rapid whole body biodistribution of both Cy5.5 labeled GC nanogel and free polymer is found at early times. It remains widespreadly distributed in the body at least up to 6 h postinjection and its concentration then decreases drastically after 24 h. Nanogel blood circulation half-life lies around 2 h with the free linear GC polymer presenting lower blood clearance rate. After 24 h, the blood NIR fluorescence intensity associated with both samples decreases to insignificant values. NIR imaging of the organs shows that the nanogel had a body clearance time of 48 h, because at this time point a weak signal of NIR fluorescence is observed only in the kidneys. Hereupon it can be concluded that the engineered GC nanogel has a fairly long blood circulation time, suitable for biomedical applications, namely, drug delivery, simultaneously allowing efficient and quick body clearance.

Cardiovascular assessment of patients with Ullrich-Turner's Syndrome on Doppler echocardiography and magnetic resonance imaging

OBJECTIVE: To assess the cardiovascular features of Ullrich-Turner's syndrome using echocardiography and magnetic resonance imaging, and to correlate them with the phenotype and karyotype of the patients. The diagnostic concordance between the 2 methods was also assessed. METHODS: Fifteen patients with the syndrome were assessed by echocardiography and magnetic resonance imaging (cardiac chambers, valves, and aorta). Their ages ranged from 10 to 28 (mean of 16.7) years. The karyotype was analyzed in 11 or 25 metaphases of peripheral blood lymphocytes, or both. RESULTS: The most common phenotypic changes were short stature and spontaneous absence of puberal development (100%); 1 patient had a cardiac murmur. The karyotypes detected were as follows: 45,X (n=7), mosaics (n=5), and deletions (n=3). No echocardiographic changes were observed. In regard to magnetic resonance imaging, coarctation and dilation of the aorta were found in 1 patient, and isolated dilation of the aorta was found in 4 patients. CONCLUSION: The frequencies of coarctation and dilation of the aorta detected on magnetic resonance imaging were similar to those reported in the literature (5.5% to 20%, and 6.3% to 29%, respectively). This confirmed the adjuvant role of magnetic resonance imaging to Doppler echocardiography for diagnosing cardiovascular alterations in patients with Ullrich-Turner's syndrome.

Study of the Myocardial Contraction and Relaxation Velocities through Doppler Tissue Imaging Echocardiography: A New Alternative in the Assessment of the Segmental Ventricular Function

OBJECTIVE: Doppler tissue imaging (DTI) enables the study of the velocity of contraction and relaxation of myocardial segments. We established standards for the peak velocity of the different myocardial segments of the left ventricle in systole and diastole, and correlated them with the electrocardiogram. METHODS: We studied 35 healthy individuals (27 were male) with ages ranging from 12 to 59 years (32.9 ± 10.6). Systolic and diastolic peak velocities were assessed by Doppler tissue imaging in 12 segments of the left ventricle, establishing their mean values and the temporal correlation with the cardiac cycle. RESULTS: The means (and standard deviation) of the peak velocities in the basal, medial, and apical regions (of the septal, anterior, lateral, and posterior left ventricle walls) were respectively, in cm/s, 7.35(1.64), 5.26(1.88), and 3.33(1.58) in systole and 10.56(2.34), 7.92(2.37), and 3.98(1.64) in diastole. The mean time in which systolic peak velocity was recorded was 131.59ms (±19.12ms), and diastolic was 459.18ms (±18.13ms) based on the peak of the R wave of the electrocardiogram. CONCLUSION: In healthy individuals, maximum left ventricle segment velocities decreased from the bases to the ventricular apex, with certain proportionality between contraction and relaxation (P<0.05). The use of Doppler tissue imaging may be very helpful in detecting early alterations in ventricular contraction and relaxation.

Doppler tissue imaging to assess systolic function in Chagas' disease

OBJECTIVE: To assess the usefulness of Doppler tissue imaging (DTI) for evaluating the systolic function of chagasic patients with and without electrocardiographic abnormalities, in comparision with echocardiographic study. METHODS: We studied 77 patients divided into 3 groups as follows: group 1 - control; group 2 - chagasic patients with normal electrocardiographic findings; and group 3 - chagasic patients with abnormal electrocardiographic findings. The following parameters were assessed: left ventricular dimensions and ejection fraction, left atrial dimensions and diastolic function on echocardiography. Systolic velocity and regional isovolumic contraction time (IVCTr) of the septal, anterior, lateral, posterior and inferior left ventricular walls were assessed on DTI. RESULTS: Left ventricular cavitary dimensions, ejection fraction and DTI systolic wave showed significant differences between groups 1 and 3 and between groups 2 and 3, which were not found between groups 1 and 2. IVCTr allowed a statistically significant discrimination among the 3 groups. CONCLUSION: DTI allowed discrimination among the different groups assessed, being superior to echocardiography in identifying early abnormalities of contractility, and, therefore, potentially useful for detecting incipient myocardial alterations in chagasic patients with normal electrocardiographic findings.

Sujeto y Política. La constitución de las identidades desde una perspectiva postfundacionalista: hacia la construcción de un marco teórico-metodológico para el análisis histórico-político. Subject and politics. The constitution of political identities from a posfoundational perspective: towards a construction of a theorethico-methodolocal framework for histórico-political analysis.

El proyecto de investigación se dirige a sistematizar un abordaje postfundacionalista de las identidades políticas en vistas a la construcción de un marco teórico-metodológico para el análisis histórico-político. Se parte de la creciente relevancia en las ciencias sociales de la cuestión de la “identidad” para indagar la singularidad del marco teórico adoptado en su estudio. Así, el postfundacionalismo da cuenta de una teoría de las subjetividades políticas que parte de procesos de identificación que suponen una articulación singular entre relativa estructuralidad y agencia. El sujeto emerge en un contexto nunca plenamente suturado ni plenamente abierto, sino a través de un anudamiento de diversas dimensiones reales, simbólicas e imaginarias. Esta visión es altamente productiva para generar conclusiones relevantes en el campo de la ciencia política y del análisis histórico político comparado. This research project seeks to systematise from a postfundationalist view of political identities a theoretico-methodological framework for historico political analysis. The project starts from the increasing relevance of the quistion of 'identity' for contremporary social sciences. Poststructuralism provides an insight of processes of identification that supposes a singular articulation between relative structurality and agency. The subject emerges in a neither fully structured nor fully opened context but through a knotting process of different registers: real, symblic and imaginary. This vision, we believe, is highly productive to generate meaningful conclusions in the field of political science and comparative political analysis.

An emperical study of performance management systems in SMEs in the Republic of Ireland and the People's Republic of China : a cultural perspective

The objectives of this thesis are three. Firstly, finding and analyzing the differences of performance management system in SMEs in Ireland and China. Secondly, finding the cultural differences between China and Ireland and thirdly, integrating the research outcomes of the above research objectives, and then analyzing the effect of these cultural differences on performance management system in SMEs in China and Ireland.

Multimodality Imaging of Heart Valve Disease

Unidentified heart valve disease is associated with a significant morbidity and mortality. It has therefore become important to accurately identify, assess and monitor patients with this condition in order that appropriate and timely intervention can occur. Although echocardiography has emerged as the predominant imaging modality for this purpose, recent advances in cardiac magnetic resonance and cardiac computed tomography indicate that they may have an important contribution to make. The current review describes the assessment of regurgitant and stenotic heart valves by multimodality imaging (echocardiography, cardiac computed tomography and cardiac magnetic resonance) and discusses their relative strengths and weaknesses.

Microwave imaging of high-contrast objects

Imaging microwave reconstruction dielectric contrast regularization iterative multiport cavity measurement

Assessment of Myocardial Infarction by Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Long-Term Mortality

Background: Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging provides detailed anatomical information on infarction. However, few studies have investigated the association of these data with mortality after acute myocardial infarction. Objective: To study the association between data regarding infarct size and anatomy, as obtained from cardiac magnetic resonance imaging after acute myocardial infarction, and long-term mortality. Methods: A total of 1959 reports of “infarct size” were identified in 7119 cardiac magnetic resonance imaging studies, of which 420 had clinical and laboratory confirmation of previous myocardial infarction. The variables studied were the classic risk factors – left ventricular ejection fraction, categorized ventricular function, and location of acute myocardial infarction. Infarct size and acute myocardial infarction extent and transmurality were analyzed alone and together, using the variable named “MET-AMI”. The statistical analysis was carried out using the elastic net regularization, with the Cox model and survival trees. Results: The mean age was 62.3 ± 12 years, and 77.3% were males. During the mean follow-up of 6.4 ± 2.9 years, there were 76 deaths (18.1%). Serum creatinine, diabetes mellitus and previous myocardial infarction were independently associated with mortality. Age was the main explanatory factor. The cardiac magnetic resonance imaging variables independently associated with mortality were transmurality of acute myocardial infarction (p = 0.047), ventricular dysfunction (p = 0.0005) and infarcted size (p = 0.0005); the latter was the main explanatory variable for ischemic heart disease death. The MET-AMI variable was the most strongly associated with risk of ischemic heart disease death (HR: 16.04; 95%CI: 2.64-97.5; p = 0.003). Conclusion: The anatomical data of infarction, obtained from cardiac magnetic resonance imaging after acute myocardial infarction, were independently associated with long-term mortality, especially for ischemic heart disease death.

Analysis of functional magnetic resonance imaging time series by independent component analysis

Independent Component Analysis, Time Series Analysis, Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging