Viridans streptococcus endocarditis associated with spondylodiscitis.

Rev Port Cardiol. 2004 May;23(5):723-8. Viridans streptococcus endocarditis associated with spondylodiscitis. [Article in English, Portuguese] Luz A, Castro A, Ribeiro R, Bernardo L, Carvalho H, Bernardo A, Gomes L. SourceServiço de Cardiologia e Medicina 2 do Hospital Geral de Santo António, Porto, Portugal. [email protected] Abstract The authors report a case of a 78-year-old male, admitted to the Hospital with fever, lumbar pain and a systolic murmur. Viridans streptococcus endocarditis associated with spondylodiscitis was diagnosed. Images and results of the exams are presented. This case is compared with similar studies in the literature. PMID: 15279456 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE

Hepatocyte growth factor signalizes peritoneal membrane failure in peritoneal dialysis

BACKGROUND: Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) counteracts peritoneal fibrosis in animal models and in-vitro studies, but no study explored effluent HGF in peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients with ultrafiltration failure (UFF). Our aim was to assess the relationship between effluent HGF with UF profile, free water transport (FWT) and small-solute transport. METHODS: We performed 4-hour, 3.86% PET with additional UF measurement at 60 minutes in 68 PD patients. MTACcreatinine, FWT, small-pore ultrafiltration, and effluent HGF were quantified. RESULTS: Effluent HGF negatively correlated with UF (r=-0.80, p=0.009) and FWT (r=-0.69, p=0.04). Patients with UFF had higher dialysate HGF (103 pg/mL vs 77 pg/mL, p=0.018) and, although not statistically significant, those with FWT compromise had also higher dialysate HGF compared with subgroup of UFF without FWT compromise (104 pg/mL vs 88 pg/mL, p=0.08). FWT≤45% without clinical UFF was documented in some patients who also had increased effluent HGF. CONCLUSIONS: Dialysate HGF concentration is significantly higher among patients with UFF, specially, if FWT is impaired, being a sign of peritoneal membrane deterioration.This study was partially performed with the help of investigations grants from Sociedade Portuguesa de Nefrologia. This work was also supported by UMIB/ICBAS – University of Porto (UP). Multidisciplinary Unit for Biomedical Research (UMIB) is funded by grants from Foundation for Science and Technology (Fcomp-01-0124-FEDER-015896

Scinax cruentommus (Anura: Hylidae) in the upper Rio Negro drainage, Amazonas state, Brazil, with the redescription of its advertisement call

Scinax cruentommus (Anura: Hylidae) na bacia do alto Rio Negro, Amazonas, Brasil, com a redescrição do seu canto de anúncio. Nós apresentamos o primeiro registro de Scinax cruentommus no alto Rio Negro, Amazonas, Brasil. Nós também redescrevemos o seu canto de anúncio e fazemos comparações acústicas com os dados disponíveis para outras espécies do Clado de Scinax ruber da bacia amazônica. Com a obtenção de novos dados para S. cruentommus, os parâmetros acústicos suplementaram a sua diagnose congenérica em relação às outras espécies amazônicas do Clado de S. ruber além das características propostas em sua descrição original.Scinax cruentommus (Anura: Hylidae) in the upper Rio Negro drainage, Amazonas state, Brazil, with the redescription of its advertisement call. We provide the first record for Scinax cruentommus from the upper Rio Negro, Amazonas state, Brazil. We also redescribe its advertisement call and make acoustic comparisons with available data for other species of the Scinax ruber Clade in the Amazon Basin. With the assessment of further data on S. cruentommus, the acoustic traits have supplemented its congeneric diagnosis in comparison with the other Amazonian species of the S. ruber Clade besides the features proposed in its original description

Mesotelioma deciduóide pleural: uma entidade rara numa mulher jovem

Deciduoid Mesothelioma is a rare variant of epithelioid mesothelioma; it was initially thought that it only occurred in the peritoneum of young women and had nothing to do with asbestos exposure. However, since these early findings it has also been observed in the pleura and the pericardium, with possible association to asbestos. In general the prognosis is poor compared to epithelioid mesothelioma. 45 cases have been reported in the literature up to now, 22 of these were located in the pleural cavity. The authors describe a case of deciduoid pleural mesothelioma in a 40-year-old-woman who presented with right pleuritic chest pain, with no history of asbestos exposure, treated with chemotherapy followed by surgery and who died postoperatively

Two-in-One Protocol: Simultaneous Small-Pore and Ultrasmall-Pore Peritoneal Transport Quantification

BACKGROUND: Reduced free water transport (FWT) through ultrasmall pores contributes to net ultrafiltration failure (UFF) and should be seen as a sign of more severe functional deterioration of the peritoneal membrane. The modified peritoneal equilibration test (PET), measuring the dip in dialysate Na concentration, estimates only FWT. Our aim was to simultaneously quantify small-solute transport, FWT, and small-pore ultrafiltration (SPUF) during a single PET procedure. ♢ METHODS: We performed a 4-hour, 3.86% glucose PET, with additional measurement of ultrafiltration (UF) at 60 minutes, in 70 peritoneal dialysis patients (mean age: 50 ± 16 years; 61% women; PD vintage: 26 ± 23 months). We calculated the dialysate-to-plasma ratios (D/P) of creatinine and Na at 0 and 60 minutes, and the Na dip (Dip(D/PNa60')), the delta dialysate Na 0-60 (ΔDNa(0-60)), FWT, and SPUF. ♢ RESULTS: Sodium sieving (as measured by ΔDNa(0-60)) correlated strongly with the corrected Dip(D/PNa60') (r = 0.85, p < 0.0001) and the corrected FWT (r = 0.41, p = 0.005). Total UF showed better correlation with FWT than with indirect measurements of Na sieving (r = 0.46, p < 0.0001 for FWT; r = 0.360, p < 0.0001 for Dip(D/PNa60')). Corrected FWT fraction was 0.45 ± 0.16. A negative correlation was found between time on PD and both total UF and FWT (r = -0.253, p = 0.035 and r = -0.272, p = 0.023 respectively). The 11 patients (15.7%) diagnosed with UFF had lower FWT (89 mL vs 164 mL, p < 0.05) and higher D/P creatinine (0.75 vs 0.70, p < 0.05) than did the group with normal UF. The SPUF correlated positively with FWT in the normal UF group, but negatively in UFF patients (r = -0.709, p = 0.015). Among UFF patients on PD for a longer period, 44.4% had a FWT percentage below 45%. ♢ CONCLUSIONS: Measurement of FWT and SPUF is feasible by simultaneous quantification during a modified 3.86% glucose PET, and FWT is a decisive parameter for detecting causes of UFF in addition to increased effective capillary surface.This study was performed partially with the help of investigation grants to RS from Sociedade Portuguesa Nefrologia, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Fondos FEDER (REDinREN, RETICS 06/0016), and FIS 09/00641

Sorghum, an alternative cereal for gluten-free product.

There is a growing demand for health foods, indicated by the number of searches including the terms celiac disease and gluten free products. Most information is designed not only for celiac and gluten intolerant patients, but by others interested in obtaining additional health benefits from foods. Sorghum has been recently recognized as a cereal with functional properties, able to improve human health, but still of low direct human consumption. This review aims to illustrate the publication trends relating to sorghum for gluten free products and celiac disease. The scientific literature available in databases from the last twenty years was used. We perceived the need for further sensorial studies in order to understand the consumer expectations of gluten free products, considering the large varieties of colored sorghum grains that could be used to prepare different gluten free products. Keywords: Meta-analysis; Antioxidant capacity; Sensorial analysis; Gluten free products.Review Article

Physicians' self-assessed empathy levels do not correlate with patients' assessments

Empathy is a fundamental humanistic component of patient care which facilitates efficient and patient-centered clinical encounters. Despite being the principal recipient of physician empathy little work on how patients perceive/report receiving empathy from their physicians has been undertaken. In the context of doctor-patient interactions, knowledge about empathy has mostly originated from physicians' perspectives and has been developed from studies using self-assessment instruments. In general, self-assessment may not correlate well with the reality observed by others.Funding was provided by Fapesp-Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo(2016/11908-1) to Dr Marco Antonio Carvalho-Filhoinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

LipidTOX: A fatty acid-based index efficient for ecotoxicological studies with marine model diatoms exposed to legacy and emerging contaminants

Contaminants, when present above certain thresholds, can induce physiological constraints to organisms, namely diatoms, a model group representative of marine phytoplankton, triggering feedback mechanisms, such as changes in cell’s fatty acid profiles, that can be used as biomarkers towards xenobiotic exposure. Having this in mind and considering the ecological relevance of diatom fatty acid profiles as well as their recognized potential as biomarkers of contaminant exposure, the present work aims to develop and test the accuracy of an integrative multi-biomarker response index based on the fatty acid profiles of marine diatoms (using Phaeodactylum tricornutum as model diatom) exposed to several emerging contaminants. In terms of the impacts at the individual fatty acid level, it was possible to observe changes transversal to different contaminants, such as the reduction of C14:0 and C16:0 fatty acids, with increasing xenobiotic concentration, as observed, for example, under propranolol and fluoxetine exposure. Enhancement of C16:2n-7 and C16:3n-4 concentrations as well as complete disruption of the basal fatty acid profile was observed in diatoms exposed to copper nanoparticles. These individual diverse and intrinsically connected alterations in fatty acid concentrations depended on the type and dose of the xenobiotic applied, highlighting the need to address these profiles as a whole. The evaluation of the diatom cells’ fatty acids using a multivariate approach revealed a high degree of sensitivity of these biochemical traits to disclose the type of xenobiotic applied to the diatoms, as well as the exogenous concentration used. These biochemical profiles were later incorporated into a unifying numerical index (LipidTOX) using an integrated biomarker response approach. The LipidTOX index showed strong correlations with both the exogenous xenobiotic concentration applied as well as with the growth features assessed for the exposed cultures, revealing a very high efficiency in translating growth impairments imposed by each of the xenobiotics tested at the different test concentrations. The LipidTOX index proved to be an efficient tool for ecotoxicological assays with marine model diatoms and evidenced a high degree of reliability for classifying the exposure of the cells to emerging contaminants. The results and benefits of the LipidTOX index application can be easily communicated to non-expert audiences such as stakeholders, policymakers and environmental managers so that this approach can be used in future toxicological evaluations of the impacts of classical and emerging xenobiotics in marine primary producers.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio