Avaliação da incidência da podridão apical em cultivares de tomateiro na região de Manaus-AM.

Foi avaliado o grau de incidência de podridão apical em cultivares de tomate (Lycopersicum esculentum).

Controlo do tratamento endodontico não-cirúrgico de dentes com diagnóstico de necrose pulpar associada ou não a lesão apical

Projeto de Pós-Graduação/Dissertação apresentado à Universidade Fernando Pessoa como parte dos requisitos para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Medicina Dentária

Pendrin: the thyrocyte apical membrane iodide transporter?

In the thyroid, the transport of iodide from the extracellular space to the follicular lumen requires two steps: the transport in the cell at the basal side and in the lumen at the apical side. The first step is mediated by the Na(+)/I(-) symporter (NIS). In most reviews and textbooks, the second step is presented as mediated by pendrin. In this review, we analyze this assumption. There are several arguments supporting the concept that indeed pendrin plays an important role in thyroid physiology. However, biochemical, clinical and histological data on the thyroid of a patient with Pendred syndrome do not suggest an essential role in iodide transport, which is corroborated by the lack of a thyroid phenotype in pendrin knockout mice. Experiments in vivo and in vitro on polarized and unpolarized cells show that iodide is transported transport of iodide at the apex of the thyroid cell. Moreover, ectopic expression of pendrin in transfected non-thyroid cells is capable of mediating iodide efflux. It is concluded that pendrin may participate in the iodide efflux into thyroid lumen but not as the unique transporter. Moreover, another role of pendrin in mediating Cl(-)/HCO(3)(-) exchange and controlling luminal pH is suggested.

Arsenic shoot-grain relationships in field grown rice cultivars

Arsenic (As) accumulation in rice grains is a risk to human health. The mechanism of transfer of As from the shoot into the grain during grain filling is unknown at present. In this study As speciation in the shoot and grains at maturity were examined, and the relationships between phosphorus (P) and As, and silicon (Si) and As were established in a wide range of cultivars grown in As contaminated field trials in Bangladesh and China. No correlations were observed between shoot and grain speciation, with the inorganic form comprising 93.0-97.0% of As in the shoot and 63.0-83.7% in the grains. The percentage of dimethylarsinic acid (DMA) was between 1.4 and 6.6% in the shoot and 14.6 and 37.0% in the grains; however, the concentrations were comparable, ranging from 0.07 to 0.26 mg kg(-1) in the shoots and 0.03 to 0.25 mg kg(-1) in the grains. A positive correlation was observed between shoot As and shoot Si, however, no correlation was observed between shoot Si and grain As. A significant negative correlation was observed between shoot P and grain As concentrations. These results suggest that the translocation of As into the grain from the shoots is potentially using P rather than Si transport mechanisms. The findings also indicate that inorganic As and DMA translocation to the grain differ considerably.

Greatly enhanced arsenic shoot assimilation in rice leads to elevated grain levels compared to wheat and barley

Paired grain, shoot, and soil of 173 individual sample sets of commercially farmed temperate rice, wheat, and barley were surveyed to investigate variation in the assimilation and translocation of arsenic (As). Rice samples were obtained from the Carmargue (France), Doñana (Spain), Cadiz (Spain), California, and Arkansas. Wheat and barleywere collected from Cornwall and Devon (England) and the east coast of Scotland. Transfer of As from soil to grain was an order of magnitude greater in rice than for wheat and barley, despite lower rates of shoot-to-grain transfer. Rice grain As levels over 0.60 microg g(-1) d. wt were found in rice grown in paddy soil of around only 10 microg g(-1) As, showing that As in paddy soils is problematic with respect to grain As levels. This is due to the high shoot/soil ratio of approximately 0.8 for rice compared to 0.2 and 0.1 for barley and wheat, respectively. The differences in these transfer ratios are probably due to differences in As speciation and dynamics in anaerobic rice soils compared to aerobic soils for barley and wheat. In rice, the export of As from the shoot to the grain appears to be under tight physiological control as the grain/shoot ratio decreases by more than an order of magnitude (from approximately 0.3 to 0.003 mg/kg) and as As levels in the shoots increase from 1 to 20 mg/kg. A down regulation of shoot-to-grain export may occur in wheat and barley, but it was not detected at the shoot As levels found in this survey. Some agricultural soils in southwestern England had levels in excess of 200 microg g(-1) d. wt, although the grain levels for wheat and barley never breached 0.55 microg g(-1) d. wt. These grain levels were achieved in rice in soils with an order of magnitude lower As. Thus the risk posed by As in the human food-chain needs to be considered in the context of anaerobic verses aerobic ecosystems.

Improvement in clinical step and shoot intensity modulated radiation therapy delivery accuracy on an integrated linear accelerator control system

Purpose: The dose delivery accuracy of 30 clinical step and shoot intensity modulated radiation therapy plans was investigated using the single integrated multileaf collimator controller of the Varian Truebeam linear accelerator (linac) (Varian Medical Systems, Palo Alto, CA) and compared with the dose delivery accuracy on a previous generation Varian 2100CD C-Series linac.

Methods and Materials: Ten prostate, 10 prostate and pelvic node, and 10 head-and-neck cases were investigated in this study. Dose delivery accuracy on each linac was assessed using Farmer ionization chamber point dose measurements, 2-dimensional planar ionization chamber array measurements, and the corresponding Varian dynamic log files. Absolute point dose measurements, fluence delivery accuracy, leaf position accuracy, and the overshoot effect were assessed for each plan.

Results: Absolute point dose delivery accuracy increased by 1.5% on the Truebeam compared with the 2100CD linac. No improvement in fluence delivery accuracy between the linacs, at a gamma criterion of 3%/3 mm was measured using the 2-dimensional ionization chamber array, with median (interquartile range) gamma passing rates of 98.99% (97.70%-99.72%) and 99.28% (98.26%-99.75%) for the Truebeam and 2100CD linacs, respectively. Varian log files also showed no improvement in fluence delivery between the linacs at 3%/3 mm, with median gamma passing rates of 99.97% (99.93%-99.99%) and 99.98% (99.94%-100%) for the Truebeam and 2100CD linacs, respectively. However, log files revealed improved leaf position accuracy and fluence delivery at 1%/1 mm criterion on the Truebeam (99.87%; 99.78%-99.94%) compared with the 2100CD linac (97.87%; 91.93%-99.49%). The overshoot effect, characterized on the 2100CD linac, was not observed on the Truebeam.

Conclusions: The integrated multileaf collimator controller on the Varian Truebeam improves clinical treatment delivery accuracy of step and shoot intensity modulated radiation therapy fields compared with delivery on a Varian C-series linac. © 2014.

A fully echo-guided trans-apical aortic valve implantation.

The trans-apical aortic valve implantation (TA-AVI) is an established technique for high-risk patients requiring aortic valve replacement. Traditionally, preoperative (computed tomography (CT) scan, coronary angiogram) and intra-operative imaging (fluoroscopy) for stent-valve positioning and implantation require contrast medium injections. To preserve the renal function in elderly patients suffering from chronic renal insufficiency, a fully echo-guided trans-catheter valve implantation seems to be a reasonable alternative. We report the first successful TA-AVI procedure performed solely under trans-oesophageal echocardiogram control, in the absence of contrast medium injections.

Use of a ventricular septal defect occluder for apical closure in transapical aortic valve replacement.

During transapical transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TA-TAVR), the apical closure remains a challenge for the surgeon, having the risk for ventricular tear and massive bleeding. Apical closure devices are already under clinical evaluation, but only a few can lead to a full percutaneous TA-TAVR. We describe the successful use of a 9-mm myocardial occluder (ventricular septal defect occluder) that was used to seal the apex after a standard TA-TAVR (using the Sapien XT 23-mm transcatheter valve and the Ascendra + delivery system). The placement of the nonmodified myocardial occluder was performed through the Ascendra + delivery system, with a very small amount of blood loss and an acceptable sealing of the apical tear. This approach is feasible and represents a further step toward true-percutaneous transapical heart valve procedures. Modified apical occluders are under evaluation in animal models.

Apical access and closure devices for transapical transcatheter heart valve procedures.

The majority of transcatheter aortic valve implantations, structural heart procedures and the newly developed transcatheter mitral valve repair and replacement are traditionally performed either through a transfemoral or a transapical access site, depending on the presence of severe peripheral vascular disease or anatomic limitations. The transapical approach, which carries specific advantages related to its antegrade nature and the short distance between the introduction site and the cardiac target, is traditionally performed through a left anterolateral mini-thoracotomy and requires rib retractors, soft tissue retractors and reinforced apical sutures to secure, at first, the left ventricular apex for the introduction of the stent-valve delivery systems and then to seal the access site at the end of the procedure. However, despite the advent of low-profile apical sheaths and newly designed delivery systems, the apical approach represents a challenge for the surgeon, as it has the risk of apical tear, life-threatening apical bleeding, myocardial damage, coronary damage and infections. Last but not least, the use of large-calibre stent-valve delivery systems and devices through standard mini-thoracotomies compromises any attempt to perform transapical transcatheter structural heart procedures entirely percutaneously, as happens with the transfemoral access site, or via a thoracoscopic or a miniaturised video-assisted percutaneous technique. During the past few years, prototypes of apical access and closure devices for transapical heart valve procedures have been developed and tested to make this standardised successful procedure easier. Some of them represent an important step towards the development of truly percutaneous transcatheter transapical heart valve procedures in the clinical setting.

Changes in the magnitude and pattern of translocation of photoassimilated ¹CO in soybean plants following an acute exposure to gamma radiation /

Young soybean plants (Glycine ~. L. cultivar Harosoy '63), grown under controlled conditions, were exposed to gamma radiation on a single occasion. One hour following exposure to 3,750 rads, the mature trifoliate leaf of the soybean plant was isolated in a closed system and permitted to photoassimilate approximately 1-5 pCi of 14C02 for 15 minutes. After an additional 45 minute-period, the plant was sacrificed and the magnitude of translocation and distribution pattern of 14C determined. In the non-irradiated plants 18~ of the total 14C recovered was outside the fed leaf blades and of this translocated 14c, 28~ was above the node of the fed leaf, 38~ in the stem below the node, 28~ in the roots and 7~ in the petiole. As well, in the irradiated plants, a smaller per cent (6~) of the total 14 C recovered was exported out of the source leaf blades. Of this translocated 14c , a smaller per cent (20~) was found in the apical region above the node of the source leaf and a higher per cent (45~) was recovered from the stem below the node and in the petiole (11~). The per cent of exported 14 C recovered from the root was unaffected by the radiation. Replacement of the shoot apex with 20 ppm IAA immediately following irradiation, only J partially increased the magnitude of translocation but did completely restore the pattern of distribution to that observed in the non-irradiated plants. From supplementary studies showing a radiationinduced reduction of photosynthetic rates in the source leaf and a reduction of the cumulative stem and leaf lengths in the apical sink region, the observed effects of radiation on the translocation process have been correlated to damage incurred by the source and sink regions. These data suggest that the reduction in the magnitude of translocation is the result of damage to both the source and sink regions rather than the phloem conducting tissue itself, whereas the change in the pattern of translocation is probably the result of a reduced rate of 14C-assimilate movement caused by a radiation-induced decrease of sink metabolism, especially the decrease in the metabolism of the apical sink.

Photograph - Business Niagara Magazine 'The Journey into the Entrepreneurial Mind' Photo Shoot

A photograph for Business Niagara Magazine, featuring (from left to right) : John Howard, Vineland Estates Winery; William Lenko, Daniel Lenko Estate Winery; Gene Luczkiw, The Institute for Enterprise Education; Donald Ziraldo, Inniskillin Wines; Paul Speck, Henry of Pelham Family Estate; Joseph Pohorly, Joseph's Estate Wines. The photograph is dated Monday, January 19, 2004 and has a handwritten message that reads: "Donald. Thanks for making the industry what it is today! Cheers Gene"

Handwritten statement (3 pages) regarding life licenses to shoot at Long Point

Handwritten statement (3 pages) regarding life licenses to shoot at Long Point, Oct. 4, 1881.