Bilateral deep brain stimulation : the placement of the second electrode is not necessarily less accurate than that of the first one

Introduction La stimulation cérébrale profonde est reconnue comme étant un traitement efficace des pathologies du mouvement. Nous avons récemment modifié notre technique chirurgicale, en limitant le nombre de pénétrations intracérébrales à trois par hémisphère. Objectif Le premier objectif de cette étude est d'évaluer la précision de l'électrode implantée des deux côtés de la chirurgie, depuis l'implémentation de cette technique chirurgicale. Le deuxième objectif est d'étudier si l'emplacement de l'électrode implantée était amélioré grâce à l'électrophysiologie. Matériel et méthode Il s'agit d'une étude rétrospective reprenant les protocoles opératoires et imageries à résonnance magnétique (IRM) cérébrales de 30 patients ayant subi une stimulation cérébrale profonde bilatérale. Pour l'électrophysiologie, nous avons utilisé trois canules parallèles du « Ben Gun », centrées sur la cible planifiée grâce à l'IRM. Les IRM pré- et post-opératoires ont été fusionnées. La distance entre la cible planifiée et le centre de l'artéfact de l'électrode implantée a été mesurée. Résultats Il n'y a pas eu de différence significative concernant la précision du ciblage des deux côtés (hémisphères) de la chirurgie. Il y a eu plus d'ajustements peropératoires du deuxième côté de la chirurgie, basé sur l'électrophysiologie, ce qui a permis d'approcher de manière significative la cible planifiée grâce à l'IRM, sur l'axe médio- latéral. Conclusion Il y a plus d'ajustements nécessaires de la position de la deuxième électrode, possiblement en lien avec le « brain shift ». Nous suggérons de ce fait d'utiliser une trajectoire d'électrode centrale accompagnée par de l'électrophysiologie, associé à une évaluation clinique. En cas de résultat clinique sub-optimal, nous proposons d'effectuer une exploration multidirectionnelle.

Whole-body MRI: comprehensive evaluation on a 48-channel 3T MRI system in less than 40 minutes. Preliminary results

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate a comprehensive MRI protocol that investigates for cancer, vascular disease, and degenerative/inflammatory disease from the head to the pelvis in less than 40 minutes on a new generation 48-channel 3T system. MATERIALS AND METHODS: All MR studies were performed on a 48-channel 3T MR scanner. A 20-channel head/neck coil, two 18-channel body arrays, and a 32-channel spine array were employed. A total of 4 healthy individuals were studied. The designed protocol included a combination of single-shot T2-weighted sequences, T1-weighted 3D gradient-echo pre- and post-gadolinium. All images were retrospectively evaluated by two radiologists independently for overall image quality. RESULTS: The image quality for cancer was rated as excellent in the liver, pancreas, kidneys, lungs, pelvic organs, and brain, and rated as fair in the colon and breast. For vascular diseases ratings were excellent in the aorta, major branch vessel origins, inferior vena cava, portal and hepatic veins, rated as good in pulmonary arteries, and as poor in the coronary arteries. For degenerative/inflammatory diseases ratings were excellent in the brain, liver and pancreas. The inter-observer agreement was excellent. CONCLUSION: A comprehensive and time efficient screening for important categories of disease processes may be achieved with high quality imaging in a new generation 48-channel 3T system.

Longer and less overlapping food webs in anthropogenically disturbed marine ecosystems: confirmations from the past

The human exploitation of marine resources is characterised by the preferential removal of the largest species. Although this is expected to modify the structure of food webs, we have a relatively poor understanding of the potential consequences of such alteration. Here, we take advantage of a collection of ancient consumer tissues, using stable isotope analysis and SIBER to assess changes in the structure of coastal marine food webs in the South-western Atlantic through the second half of the Holocene as a result of the sequential exploitation of marine resources by hunter-gatherers, western sealers and modern fishermen. Samples were collected from shell middens and museums. Shells of both modern and archaeological intertidal herbivorous molluscs were used to reconstruct changes in the stable isotopic baseline, while modern and archaeological bones of the South American sea lion Otaria flavescens, South American fur seal Arctocephalus australis and Magellanic penguin Spheniscus magellanicus were used to analyse changes in the structure of the community of top predators. We found that ancient food webs were shorter, more redundant and more overlapping than current ones, both in northern-central Patagonia and southern Patagonia. These surprising results may be best explained by the huge impact of western sealing on pinnipeds during the fur trade period, rather than the impact of fishing on fish populations. As a consequence, the populations of pinnipeds at the end of the sealing period were likely well below the ecosystem's carrying capacity, which resulted in a release of intraspecific competition and a shift towards larger and higher trophic level prey. This in turn led to longer and less overlapping food webs.

Uptake and factors that influence the use of ‘sit less, move more’ occupational intervention strategies in Spanish office employees

Background Little is known about the types of ‘sit less, move more’ strategies that appeal to office employees, or what factors influence their use. This study assessed the uptake of strategies in Spanish university office employees engaged in an intervention, and those factors that enabled or limited strategy uptake. Methods The study used a mixed method design. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with academics and administrators (n = 12; 44 ± 12 mean SD age; 6 women) at three points across the five-month intervention, and data used to identify factors that influenced the uptake of strategies. Employees who finished the intervention then completed a survey rating (n = 88; 42 ± 8 mean SD age; 51 women) the extent to which strategies were used [never (1) to usually (4)]; additional survey items (generated from interviewee data) rated the impact of factors that enabled or limited strategy uptake [no influence (1) to very strong influence (4)]. Survey score distributions and averages were calculated and findings triangulated with interview data. Results Relative to baseline, 67% of the sample increased step counts post intervention (n = 59); 60% decreased occupational sitting (n = 53). ‘Active work tasks’ and ‘increases in walking intensity’ were the strategies most frequently used by employees (89% and 94% sometimes or usually utilised these strategies); ‘walk-talk meetings’ and ‘lunchtime walking groups’ were the least used (80% and 96% hardly ever or never utilised these strategies). ‘Sitting time and step count logging’ was the most important enabler of behaviour change (mean survey score of 3.1 ± 0.8); interviewees highlighted the motivational value of being able to view logged data through visual graphics in a dedicated website, and gain feedback on progress against set goals. ‘Screen based work’ (mean survey score of 3.2 ± 0.8) was the most significant barrier limiting the uptake of strategies. Inherent time pressures and cultural norms that dictated sedentary work practices limited the adoption of ‘walk-talk meetings’ and ‘lunch time walking groups’. Conclusions The findings provide practical insights into which strategies and influences practitioners need to target to maximise the impact of ‘sit less, move more’ occupational intervention strategies.

Óleo essencial de Gochnatia polymorpha (Less) Cabr. ssp floccosa Cabr.

The essential oil isolated by hydrodistillation from flowers and root bark of Gochnatia polymorpha (Less) Cabr. ssp floccosa Cabr. (Asteraceae) was analyzed by capillary GC/MS. Thirty components were identified in oil of flowers. The composition depends on the stage of flowering. At the beginning of flowering, the main components were (E)-nerolidol (20,4%) and eugenol (17,9%) whereas at the end they were phenylacetaldehyde (14,6%) and tricosane (12,0%). In the essential oil of root bark ten sesquiterpenes were identified. The major components were beta-bisabolene (31,0%) and beta-bisabolol (21,5%). This paper describes for the first time the composition of essential oil in the genus Gochnatia.

Patterns of impact resulting from a 'sit less, move more' web-based program in sedentary office employees

Purpose Encouraging office workers to ‘sit less and move more’ encompasses two public health priorities. However, there is little evidence on the effectiveness of workplace interventions for reducing sitting, even less about the longer term effects of such interventions and still less on dual-focused interventions. This study assessed the short and mid-term impacts of a workplace web-based intervention (Walk@WorkSpain, W@WS; 2010-11) on self-reported sitting time, step counts and physical risk factors (waist circumference, BMI, blood pressure) for chronic disease. Methods Employees at six Spanish university campuses (n=264; 42±10 years; 171 female) were randomly assigned by worksite and campus to an Intervention (used W@WS; n=129; 87 female) or a Comparison group (maintained normal behavior; n=135; 84 female). This phased, 19-week program aimed to decrease occupational sitting time through increased incidental movement and short walks. A linear mixed model assessed changes in outcome measures between the baseline, ramping (8 weeks), maintenance (11 weeks) and followup (two months) phases for Intervention versus Comparison groups.A significant 2 (group) × 2 (program phases) interaction was found for self-reported occupational sitting (F[3]=7.97, p=0.046), daily step counts (F[3]=15.68, p=0.0013) and waist circumference (F[3]=11.67, p=0.0086). The Intervention group decreased minutes of daily occupational sitting while also increasing step counts from baseline (446±126; 8,862±2,475) through ramping (+425±120; 9,345±2,435), maintenance (+422±123; 9,638±3,131) and follow-up (+414±129; 9,786±3,205). In the Comparison group, compared to baseline (404±106), sitting time remained unchanged through ramping and maintenance, but decreased at follow-up (-388±120), while step counts diminished across all phases. The Intervention group significantly reduced waist circumference by 2.1cms from baseline to follow-up while the Comparison group reduced waist circumference by 1.3cms over the same period. Conclusions W@WSis a feasible and effective evidence-based intervention that can be successfully deployed with sedentary employees to elicit sustained changes on “sitting less and moving more”.

Spottier Targets Are Less Attractive to Tabanid Flies: On the Tabanid-Repellency of Spotty Fur Patterns

During blood-sucking, female members of the family Tabanidae transmit pathogens of serious diseases and annoy their host animals so strongly that they cannot graze, thus the health of the hosts is drastically reduced. Consequently, a tabanid-resistant coat with appropriate brightness, colour and pattern is advantageous for the host. Spotty coats are widespread among mammals, especially in cattle (Bos primigenius). In field experiments we studied the influence of the size and number of spots on the attractiveness of test surfaces to tabanids that are attracted to linearly polarized light. We measured the reflection-polarization characteristics of living cattle, spotty cattle coats and the used test surfaces. We show here that the smaller and the more numerous the spots, the less attractive the target (host) is to tabanids. We demonstrate that the attractiveness of spotty patterns to tabanids is also reduced if the target exhibits spottiness only in the angle of polarization pattern, while being homogeneous grey with a constant high degree of polarization. Tabanid flies respond strongly to linearly polarized light, and we show that bright and dark parts of cattle coats reflect light with different degrees and angles of polarization that in combination with dark spots on a bright coat surface disrupt the attractiveness to tabanids. This could be one of the possible evolutionary benefits that explains why spotty coat patterns are so widespread in mammals, especially in ungulates, many species of which are tabanid hosts

Isolation and quantitative HPLC-PDA analysis of lupeol in phytopharmaceutical intermediate products from Vernonanthura ferruginea (Less.) H. Rob.

Prior to obtain a standardized dried extract from V. ferruginea, lupeol was first time isolated from leaves and used as chemical maker. An analytical method using HPLC-PDA for lupeol determination in V. ferruginea intermediate products was developed using a C8 reverse-phase column, acetonitrile-acetic acid (99.99:0.01, v/v) as mobile phase at 0.8 mL min-1, oven temperature at 23-25 ºC, sample injection volume at 30 µL and detection at 210 nm. The method presented linearity from 10 to 160 µg mL-1, accuracy, precision, robustness and suitable sensitivity proving to be a useful tool to the obtainment process of lupeol standardized dried extracts of V. ferruginea.

Seasonal variation of the major secondary metabolites present in the extract of Eremanthus mattogrossensis Less (Asteraceae: Vernonieae) leaves

The species Eremanthus mattogrossensis, known as "veludo do cerrado" (cerrado velvet), is native to the Brazilian Cerrado. Because the amount of metabolites present in plants may be influenced by biological and environmental factors, here we conducted an HPLC-DAD-MS/MS investigation of the metabolite concentrations found in the MeOH/H2O extract of the leaves of this species. The main compounds were identified and quantified, and the metabolites were grouped by chemical class (caffeoylquinic acids, flavonoids, and sesquiterpene lactone). Statistical analysis indicated a straight correlation between the quantity of metabolites and seasonality, suggesting that environmental properties elicit important metabolic responses.

Preconcentration of copper from natural water samples using ligand-less in situ surfactant-based solid phase extraction prior to FAAS determination

In the present work, a simple and rapid ligand-less, in situ, surfactant-based solid phase extraction for the preconcentration of copper in water samples was developed. In this method, a cationic surfactant (n-dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide) was dissolved in an aqueous sample followed by the addition of an appropriate ion-pairing agent (ClO4-). Due to the interaction between the surfactant and ion-pairing agent, solid particles were formed and subsequently used for the adsorption of Cu(OH)2 and CuI. After centrifugation, the sediment was dissolved in 1.0 mL of 1 mol L-1 HNO3 in ethanol and aspirated directly into the flame atomic absorption spectrometer. In order to obtain the optimum conditions, several parameters affecting the performance of the LL-ISS-SPE, including the volumes of DTAB, KClO4, and KI, pH, and potentially interfering ions, were optimized. It was found that KI and phosphate buffer solution (pH = 9) could extract more than 95% of copper ions. The amount of copper ions in the water samples varied from 3.2 to 4.8 ng mL-1, with relative standard deviations of 98.5%-103%. The determination of copper in water samples was linear over a concentration range of 0.5-200.0 ng mL-1. The limit of detection (3Sb/m) was 0.1 ng mL-1 with an enrichment factor of 38.7. The accuracy of the developed method was verified by the determination of copper in two certified reference materials, producing satisfactory results.

Trichoderma spp. NA EMERGÊNCIA E CRESCIMENTO DE MUDAS DE CAMBARÁ (Gochnatia polymorpha (Less.) Cabrera)1

Neste trabalho, o objetivo foi avaliar o efeito de isolados de Trichoderma spp. na emergência de plântulas e no crescimento de mudas de cambará (Gochnatia polymorpha). Utilizou-se, em casa de vegetação, substrato esterilizado e não esterilizado, sendo avaliados os efeitos de quatro isolados de trichoderma: TSM1 e TSM2 de Trichoderma viride, 2B2 e 2B22 de Trichoderma harzianum mais um mix preparado com a mistura desses quatro isolados, além de dois produtos comerciais à base de trichoderma. A análise dos dados permitiu concluir que os isolados de trichoderma testados não interferem na emergência das plântulas, mas os isolados 2B2 e 2B22 de T. harzianum apresentam potenciais como promotores de crescimento de mudas de cambará.

Vulvar reconstruction should be performed using gluteal-fold perforator flap because of less morbidities and complications

The autors present a case of bilateral vulvar defects after abrasion of malignant skin neoplasm, reconstructed with a gluteal-fold perforator flap, resulting in a successful outcome.

Experimental and discrete element simulation studies of bell-less charging of blast furnace

This thesis presents an experimental study and numerical study, based on the discrete element method (DEM), of bell-less charging in the blast furnace. The numerical models are based on the microscopic interaction between the particles in the blast furnace charging process. The emphasis is put on model validation, investigating several phenomena in the charging process, and on finding factors that influence the results. The study considers and simulates size segregation in the hopper discharging process, particle flow and behavior on the chute, which is the key equipment in the charging system, using mono-size spherical particles, multi-size spheres and nonspherical particles. The behavior of the particles at the burden surface and pellet percolation into a coke layer is also studied. Small-scale experiments are used to validate the DEM models.

Morfoanatomia comparada dos frutos em desenvolvimento de Vernonia brevifolia Less. e V. herbacea (Vell.) Rusby (Asteraceae)

Neste trabalho, o pericarpo e pápus de Vernonia brevifolia e V. herbacea são descritos morfoanatômica e ontogeneticamente. As espécies são muito similares entre si, possuindo ovário ínfero, bicarpelar, sincárpico e unilocular. Na formação do pericarpo, nenhuma das regiões é multiplicativa. O exocarpo é unisseriado e recoberto por fina cutícula. Observam-se tricomas tectores longos, multicelulares e bisseriados, que persistem até a maturidade; os tricomas glandulares capitados não se mantêm na maturidade. O mesocarpo externo é composto por duas ou três camadas de fibras em V. herbacea e apenas uma em V. brevifolia, acumulando cristais prismáticos. O mesocarpo interno é similar nas espécies, de natureza parenquimática. Feixes vasculares colaterais ocorrem imersos entre o mesocarpo externo e o interno. O endocarpo é unisseriado, havendo duas a três camadas apenas nas regiões de fusão dos carpelos. Na porção apical do pericarpo, observa-se uma protuberância onde se insere o pápus duplo, composto por células lignificadas, algumas projetadas perifericamente. Na base do fruto, ocorre o carpopódio que, em V. herbacea, é mais amplo e abriga drusas e estilóides; em V. brevifolia, o carpopódio é reduzido e não ocorrem cristais. Na maturidade, o pericarpo de ambas as espécies é desidratado, de modo que a maioria das camadas fica colapsada, distinguindo-se apenas algumas células do exocarpo e tricomas tectores, as fibras e cristais mesocárpicos externos e o xilema dos feixes vasculares.