Bloqueio meiótico como alternativa para aumentar a produção de embriões clone por transferência nuclear

Dissertação (mestrado)—Universidade de Brasília, Faculdade de Agronomia e Medicina Veterinária, 2016.

Hydration status using free water reserve in Portuguese adolescents

Introduction: Few data is available about the hydration status of active adolescents in free living conditions. Cell dehydration may be prevalent in healthy, free-living children at school and they could be in a state of chronic voluntary dehydration. Objective: This study aims to describe hydration status assessed by Free Water Reserve (FWR) in adolescents. Method: Two hundred participants (118 girls), aged 13-18 years completed the study. Urinary volume (ml/d) and urinary osmolality (mosm/kg) were measured by one 24h urinary collection, and coefficient of creatinine was used to validate completeness of urine collections. FWR (measured urine volume minus the obligatory urine volume) was used for characterization of hydration status. Positive values of FWR indicate euhydration, negative values the risk of hypo-hydration. Results: Median urinary volume excretion was 1100.0 ml/d for boys and 1025.0 ml/d for girls (p=0.923). Mean urinary osmolality was 715.7±172.3 mosm/kg for boys and 597.42±193.1 mosm/kg for girls (p=0.247). Median FWR (ml/24h) was positive in both sex groups (173.2 ml/d in boys and 373.2 ml/d in girls); however, 40.2% of boys and 31.4% of girls (p=0.195) were at risk of hypo-hydration status. Conclusions: In this sample of adolescents approximately one third was classified as at risk of hypo-hydration status. Preventive measures to increase the level of total water intake should be considered.

Hernia de Amyand, reporte de un caso: Hospital Vicente Corral Moscoso

La hernia de Amyand es una entidad rara que se caracteriza por la presencia del apéndice vermiforme en el saco herniario de una hernia inguinal. La prevalencia es de aproximadamente el 1% y, por lo general, se presenta en hernias ubicadas al lado derecho; su diagnóstico habitual se realiza durante la intervención quirúrgica. En el presente caso se describe a un paciente de 67 años que acude al servicio de emergencia del Hospital Vicente Corral Moscoso presentando esta patología y su correspondiente manejo.

Caracterização ambiental de bancos areno-lamosos nos campos petrolíferos de Macau e Serra (RN), como subsídio às medidas mitigadoras ao processo erosivo

On Rio Grande do Norte northern coast the process of sediment transport are intensely controlled by wind and sea (waves and currents) action, causing erosion and shoreline morphological instability. Due to the importance of such coastal zone it was realized the multi-spectral mapping and physical-chemical characterization of mudflats and mangroves aiming to support the mitigating actions related to the containment of the erosive process on the oil fields of Macau and Serra installed at the study area. The multi-spectral bands of 2000 and 2008 LANDSAT 5 TM images were submitted on the several digital processing steps and RGB color compositions integrating spectral bands and Principal Components. Such processing methodology was important to the mapping of different units on surface, together with field works. It was possible to make an analogy of the spectral characteristics of wetlands with vegetations areas (mangrove), showing the possibility to make a restoration of this area, contributing with the environmental monitoring of that ecosystem. The maps of several units were integrated in GIS environment at 1:60,000 scale, including the classification of features according to the presence or absence of vegetation cover. Thus, the strategy of methodology established that there are 10.13 km2 at least of sandy-muddy and of these approximately 0.89 km2 with the possibility to be used in a reforestation of typical flora of mangrove. The physical-chemical characterization showed areas with potential to introduce local species of mangrove and they had a pH above neutral with a mean of 8.4. The characteristic particle size is sand in the fine fractions, the high levels of carbonate, organic matter and major and trace element in general are concentrated where the sediment had the less particles size, showing the high correlation that those elements have with smaller particles of sediment. The application of that methodological strategy is relevant to the better understanding of features behavior and physical-chemical data of sediment samples collected on field allow the analysis of efficiency/capability of sandy-muddy to reforestation with local mangrove species for mitigation of the erosive action and coastal processes on the areas occupied by the oil industry

Estudio, edición crítica y traducción del "Memoriale virtvtvm" de Alfonso de Cartagena

Alfonso de Cartagena (1385-1456), possibly the most representative figure of the courtly, political and cultural dimension built around Juan II, was the third son of the famous convert Pablo de Santa Maria, Burgos’ rabbi and, later on, bishop of that same town. He started his career as governor of Cartagena’s cathedral, afterwards he was named dean of Santiago and Segovia, canon of Burgos and, after his father’s death, bishop of Burgos. Alternatively, he played a vital role in Castile’s national and international politics, as an ambassador in Portugal’s court, at Basel’s council and before Poland’s and Germany’s kings. His work, written both in Latin and Romance, either as an historian, treatise writer, theologist or translator, is quite broad; his literary connections were strong either with Italian humanists or with those who were fond of the language arts from Spain. The first part of this Thesis seeks to provide a wide enough perspective of the author, for which we place the emphasis on the most distinctive aspects of his life. Therefore, we divided the introduction in three sections: a biographical overview, his work and, last, a study on the Memoriale uirtutum itself. Thus, regarding the first aspect, we focus on the course of his life (§1.1), where we can highlight his university education, which isn’t restricted to his training as a jurist, but we also observe that his mental vitality takes him to develop certain inquisitiveness for Moral Philosophy or Latin, which leads him to study Grammar and Rhetoric; this would allow the influence of studia humanitatis to emerge, although he never got to learn the Greek language, as we can deduce from the epistolary confrontation between him and Leonardo Bruni. We also focus on the significance of his Jewish past, upon the defence of the converts during the massacre experienced in the XVth century (§1.2), and on his presence at Basel’s council (§1.3). Despite the fact that his work as a diplomat begins during the missions in Portugal as an emissary of king Juan II, he will get recognition owing to his legation in Basel, not only among the European ecclesiastics, but also among the scholars from Italy; the importance of Basel’s council in Cartagena’s life goes beyond his official work there, either as defending the Castilian interests, or as an active member of the purely conciliar functions, since it also had a huge impact in his intellectual growth. During this time period, Cartagena establishes a friendship with Pizzolpaso, Bishop of Milan, writer, humanist, and friend of Leonardo Bruni. As a result of this type of relationship with men of such high cultural standard, he re-awakens the study of the Classical antiquity among his contemporaries, developing a huge interest in the Greco-Roman masterpieces, which will bring him closely to the highly-regarded Spanish humanists of the XVIth century...

Estudo sobre abusos sexuais de crianças em Portugal (estudantes universitários dos 18-25 anos)

Dissertação de Mestrado apresentada no ISPA – Instituto Universitário para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Psicologia especialidade de Psicologia Clínica.

Evaluación del desempeño de pruebas diagnósticas de tuberculosis en pacientes VIH positivo en dos hospitales públicos de Bogotá

La tuberculosis TB es una de las principales causas de muerte en el mundo en individuos con infección por VIH. En Colombia esta coinfección soporta una carga importante en la población general convirtiéndose en un problema de salud pública. En estos pacientes las pruebas diagnósticas tienen sensibilidad inferior y la enfermedad evoluciona con mayor frecuencia hacia formas diseminadas y rápidamente progresivas y su diagnóstico oportuno representa un reto en Salud. El objetivo de este proyecto es evaluar el desempeño de las pruebas diagnósticas convencionales y moleculares, para la detección de TB latente y activa pacientes con VIH, en dos hospitales públicos de Bogotá. Para TB latente se evaluó la concordancia entre las pruebas QuantiFERON-TB (QTF) y Tuberculina (PPD), sugiriendo superioridad del QTF sobre la PPD. Se evaluaron tres pruebas diagnósticas por su sensibilidad y especificidad, baciloscopia (BK), GenoType®MTBDR plus (Genotype) y PCR IS6110 teniendo como estándar de oro el cultivo. Los resultados de sensibilidad (S) y especificidad (E) de cada prueba con una prevalencia del 19,4 % de TB pulmonar y extrapulmonar en los pacientes que participaron del estudio fue: BK S: 64% E: 99,1%; Genotype S: 77,8% E: 94,5%; PCRIS6110 S: 73% E: 95,5%, de la misma forma se determinaron los valores predictivos positivos y negativos (VPP y VPN) BK: 88,9% y 94,8%, Genotype S: 77,8% E: 94,5%; PCRIS6110 S: 90% y 95,7%. Se concluyó bajo análisis de curva ROC que las pruebas muestran un rendimiento diagnóstico similar por separado en el diagnóstico de TB en pacientes con VIH, aumentando su rendimiento diagnostico cuando se combinan

Differenze di genere tra le caratteristiche cliniche e outcome dei pazienti con cancro ospedalizzati per COVID-19.

Obiettivo: Lo scopo principale di questo studio è analizzare lo sviluppo di complicanze cardiovascolari (CV) nei pazienti con neoplasia e malattia moderata-severa da COVID-19 e valutare differenze di genere per il rischio di mortalità intraospedaliera o di complicanze CV. Materiali e Metodi. Popolazione oggetto di studio. Pazienti inclusi nel registro ISACS-COVID 19 (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT05188612), dati raccolti a partire da Febbraio 2020 a Luglio 2022. I pazienti arruolati sono stati reclutati da centri ospedalieri di cinque paesi: Italia, Croazia, Macedonia, Serbia e Romania. Le caratteristiche d’inclusione comprendono: età >18 anni, essere ospedalizzati e avere diagnosi certa d’infezione da SARS-CoV2. Gli endpoint analizzati sono stati: mortalità intraospedaliera e lo sviluppo di scompenso cardiaco acuto (SCA) nei pazienti con neoplasia. Risultati. La popolazione finale oggetto dello studio era di 4,014 pazienti ospedalizzati per malattia da COVID-19. Di questi circa l’8% risultava affetto da neoplasia. I pazienti con neoplasia risultavano essere più frequentemente donne (49% vs 40%, p=0.004), con un’età media più alta (68.3±12.95 vs 65.2±15.6, p<0.001) ma con profilo di rischio CV simile ai pazienti liberi da neoplasia. A seguito di analisi logistica di regressione multivariata, le donne non risultavano avere un incremento del rischio di mortalità intraospedaliera (OR 0.83;95%CI 0.66-2.45), mentre la presenza di tumore era significativamente associata ad incremento di mortalità (OR 1.68;95%CI 1.16-2.45). Restringendo le analisi di regressione logistica ai pazienti oncologici, le donne presentavano un incremento del rischio di sviluppo di SC acuto (OR3.07;95%CI 1.14 – 8.30) così come lo era la presenza di tumore al seno (OR 2.26; 95%CI 1.38 – 12.1). Conclusioni. La presenza di neoplasia rappresenta una condizione che incrementa il rischio di mortalità intraospedaliera nei pazienti ricoverati con COVID-19, mentre il genere femminile no. Le donne sembrano avere un rischio aumentato di sviluppo di SC acuto soprattutto se presentano un tumore al seno

Horizontal profiles of longwave and shortwave radiation components over sea ice near Barrow, Alaska during the 2011 melt

An integrated instrument package for measuring and understanding the surface radiation budget of sea ice is presented, along with results from its first deployment. The setup simultaneously measures broadband fluxes of upwelling and downwelling terrestrial and solar radiation (four components separately), spectral fluxes of incident and reflected solar radiation, and supporting data such as air temperature and humidity, surface temperature, and location (GPS), in addition to photographing the sky and observed surface during each measurement. The instruments are mounted on a small sled, allowing measurements of the radiation budget to be made at many locations in the study area to see the effect of small-scale surface processes on the large-scale radiation budget. Such observations have many applications, from calibration and validation of remote sensing products to improving our understanding of surface processes that affect atmosphere-snow-ice interactions and drive feedbacks, ultimately leading to the potential to improve climate modelling of ice-covered regions of the ocean. The photographs, spectral data, and other observations allow for improved analysis of the broadband data. An example of this is shown by using the observations made during a partly cloudy day, which show erratic variations due to passing clouds, and creating a careful estimate of what the radiation budget along the observed line would have been under uniform sky conditions, clear or overcast. Other data from the setup's first deployment, in June 2011 on fast ice near Point Barrow, Alaska, are also shown; these illustrate the rapid changes of the radiation budget during a cold period that led to refreezing and new snow well into the melt season.

The critical power function is dependent on the duration of the predictive exercise tests chosen

The linear relationship between work accomplished (W-lim) and time to exhaustion (t(lim)) can be described by the equation: W-lim = a + CP.t(lim). Critical power (CP) is the slope of this line and is thought to represent a maximum rate of ATP synthesis without exhaustion, presumably an inherent characteristic of the aerobic energy system. The present investigation determined whether the choice of predictive tests would elicit significant differences in the estimated CP. Ten female physical education students completed, in random order and on consecutive days, five art-out predictive tests at preselected constant-power outputs. Predictive tests were performed on an electrically-braked cycle ergometer and power loadings were individually chosen so as to induce fatigue within approximately 1-10 mins. CP was derived by fitting the linear W-lim-t(lim) regression and calculated three ways: 1) using the first, third and fifth W-lim-t(lim) coordinates (I-135), 2) using coordinates from the three highest power outputs (I-123; mean t(lim) = 68-193 s) and 3) using coordinates from the lowest power outputs (I-345; mean t(lim) = 193-485 s). Repeated measures ANOVA revealed that CPI123 (201.0 +/- 37.9W) > CPI135 (176.1 +/- 27.6W) > CPI345 (164.0 +/- 22.8W) (P < 0.05). When the three sets of data were used to fit the hyperbolic Power-t(lim) regression, statistically significant differences between each CP were also found (P < 0.05). The shorter the predictive trials, the greater the slope of the W-lim-t(lim) regression; possibly because of the greater influence of 'aerobic inertia' on these trials. This may explain why CP has failed to represent a maximal, sustainable work rate. The present findings suggest that if CP is to represent the highest power output that an individual can maintain for a very long time without fatigue then CP should be calculated over a range of predictive tests in which the influence of aerobic inertia is minimised.

Recensão: Claire Bishop, "Radical Museology: or What’s ‘Contemporary’ In Museums of Contemporary Art?"

Recensão de: Claire Bishop, "Radical Museology: or What’s ‘Contemporary’ In Museums of Contemporary Art?", Londres: Koenig Books, 2013

The painted turtles of the genus Chrysemys, by Sherman C. Bishop and F. J. W. Schmidt.

v.18:no.4(1931)

Genome-wide association study of recurrent major depressive disorder in two European case-control cohorts.

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a highly prevalent disorder with substantial heritability. Heritability has been shown to be substantial and higher in the variant of MDD characterized by recurrent episodes of depression. Genetic studies have thus far failed to identify clear and consistent evidence of genetic risk factors for MDD. We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) in two independent datasets. The first GWAS was performed on 1022 recurrent MDD patients and 1000 controls genotyped on the Illumina 550 platform. The second was conducted on 492 recurrent MDD patients and 1052 controls selected from a population-based collection, genotyped on the Affymetrix 5.0 platform. Neither GWAS identified any SNP that achieved GWAS significance. We obtained imputed genotypes at the Illumina loci for the individuals genotyped on the Affymetrix platform, and performed a meta-analysis of the two GWASs for this common set of approximately half a million SNPs. The meta-analysis did not yield genome-wide significant results either. The results from our study suggest that SNPs with substantial odds ratio are unlikely to exist for MDD, at least in our datasets and among the relatively common SNPs genotyped or tagged by the half-million-loci arrays. Meta-analysis of larger datasets is warranted to identify SNPs with smaller effects or with rarer allele frequencies that contribute to the risk of MDD.

IPH response to Seanad Consultation Committee on 'Changes in lifestyle can prevent approximately one third of cancers. How does Government and Society respond to this challenge?'

IPH responded to the Seanad Consultation Committee on the consultation topic ‘Changes in lifestyle can prevent approximately one third of cancers.  How does Government and Society respond to this challenge?’. Between 2010 and 2020 the total number of cancers in Ireland is projected to increase by 40% for women and by just over 50% for men (National Cancer Registry).  A focus is needed on developing social, economical and built environments that support healthy choices. IPH presented recommendations based on the international evidence-base as well as national cancer data and research.

Comparative evaluation under routine conditions of the nitrate reduction assay, the proportion assay and the MGIT 960 assay for drug susceptibility testing of clinical isolates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis

The performance of the nitrate reductase assay (NRA) was compared with the proportion method (PM) on Lowenstein-Jensen medium and the BACTEC MGIT960 assay under routine conditions using 160 clinical isolates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis with a high proportion of resistant strains. The mean time to obtain results was 8.8 days and the overall agreements between NRA and PM and NRA and M960 were 95% and 94%, respectively. NRA was easy to perform and represents a useful tool for the rapid screening of drug-resistant M. tuberculosis strains in low-resource countries.