Evidence that the degree of band 3 phosphorylation modulates human erythrocytes nitric oxide efflux – in vitro model of hyperfibrinogenemia

© 2011 – IOS Press and the authors. All rights reservedRecent evidence has shown that plasma fibrinogen, a major cardiovascular risk factor, interacts with the erythrocyte membrane and acts to influence blood flow via erythrocyte nitric oxide (NO) modulation. In the present pioneer in-vitro study, whole blood samples were harvested from healthy subjects and aliquots were incubated in the absence (control aliquots) and presence of fibrinogen at different degrees of band 3 phosphorylation, and the levels of NO, nitrite, nitrate and S-nitroglutathione (GSNO) were determined. Hyperfibrinogenemia interferes with erythrocyte NO mobilization without changing its efflux in a way that seems to be dependent of the degree of band 3 phosphorylation. In presence of higher fibrinogen concentrations the NO efflux is reinforced when band 3 is phosphorylated (p < 0.001). Higher levels of nitrite, nitrate and GSNO were documented (p < 0.05). However, the mechanisms by which fibrinogen signalling modulates erythrocyte function remain to be clarified and are currently under study. These conditions may be considered an approach to be followed in blood storage for transfusions.This study was supported by grants from the FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (project reference PTDC/SAU-OSM/73449/2006

Special subgroups of regular semigroups

This work was partially supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology through the grant UID/MAT/00297/2013 (CMA).Extending the notions of inverse transversal and associate subgroup, we consider a regular semigroup S with the property that there exists a subsemigroup T which contains, for each x∈S, a unique y such that both xy and yx are idempotent. Such a subsemigroup is necessarily a group which we call a special subgroup. Here we investigate regular semigroups with this property. In particular, we determine when the subset of perfect elements is a subsemigroup and describe its structure in naturally arising situations.PostprintPeer reviewe

Knowledge and attitude towards the gradual reduction of salt in bread – an online survey

Aim: Assess knowledge and attitude towards the gradual reduction of salt in bread and the potential impact on eating habits of children (6-18 years) and their families, as part as a Health Impact Assessment pilot study.N/

Medical Escort of Critical Care Patients in the Pre-Hospital Setting

Introduction: Pre-hospital emergency cases include the patient’s transportation to the hospital, with an adequate escort, when indicated. In Portugal, secondary transport’s escort is guided by an escort score published by the Portuguese Medical Association’s Guidelines on the Critical Care Patient’s Transport (2008). This score (TS) defines three levels of escort: no medical escort (level A), doctor or nurse escort (level B), doctor and nurse escort (level C). There is no published data on this score’s application to the pre-hospital setting. Such use could improve resource management in the pre-hospital emergency medical services, as it could support the need to involve a doctor and/or nurse in the patient’s escort to the hospital. Our study’s aim is the evaluate the TS application to the pre-hospital context. Study Methods: We gathered data from primary transports’ escorts between January 2015 and January 2017. We recorded whether the patient was taken to hospital or not, and if yes, the transport’s escort (Doctor, Doctor and Nurse, or only emergency technicians). Posteriorly, we calculated the TS for each of those transport records. Any records with incomplete escort data or where the score could not be calculated were excluded. Using this data, we calculated Sensibility (Ss), Specificity (Sp), positive predicitive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) of the TS for the following situations: Escort by emergency technicians only (level A), escort by doctor or nurse (level B) or escort by doctor and nurse (level C) Results and discussion: We found complete data regarding 556 primary transports 141 patients were escorted by emergency technicians only, 269 by doctor or nurse only, and 146 by a doctor and nurse. TS level A was found to have Ss 85,78%, Sp 70,92%, PPV 89,67% and NPV 62,89% regarding escort by emergency technicians only. These values support the decision of taking no medical escort in a primary transport in the pre-hospital setting when TS is level A. On the other hand, TS level C has Ss 78,08%, Sp 59,72%, PPV 40,57% and NPV 88,36% regarding escort by both a doctor and nurse. These numbers are less clear regarding a decision to take a medical escort. Conclusions: TS appears to be an indicator with enough Ss and Sp to help the pre-hospital team choose whether or not to escort the patient to the hospital with only emergency technicians or with a more differentiated escort, especially when the score’s result is Level A. But it cannot differentiate between doctor or nurse or both doctor and nurse when the result is level B or C. More figures are needed to understand if this score can be implemented as a decision tool regarding the kind of medical escort a patient needs in a primary transport.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

potential strategy for assessing health care policies

© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association. All rights reserved.BACKGROUND: Tuberculosis (TB) causes pressure on healthcare resources, especially in terms of hospital admissions, despite being considered an ambulatory care-sensitive condition for which timely and effective care in ambulatory setting could prevent the need for hospitalization. Our objectives were to describe the spatial and temporal variation in pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) hospitalizations, identify critical geographic areas at municipality level and characterize clusters of PTB hospitalizations to help the development of tailored disease management strategies that could improve TB control. METHODS: Ecologic study using sociodemographic, geographical and clinical information of PTB hospitalization cases from continental Portuguese public hospitals, between 2002 and 2016. Descriptive statistics, spatiotemporal cluster analysis and temporal trends were conducted. RESULTS: The space-time analysis identified five clusters of higher rates of PTB hospitalizations (2002-16), including the two major cities in the country (Lisboa and Porto). Globally, we observed a -7.2% mean annual percentage change in rate with only one of the identified clusters (out of six) with a positive trend (+4.34%). In the more recent period (2011-16) was obtained a mean annual percentage change in rate of -8.12% with only one cluster identified with an increase trend (+9.53%). CONCLUSIONS: Our results show that space-time clustering and temporal trends analysis can be an invaluable resource to monitor the dynamic of the disease and contribute to the design of more effective, focused interventions. Interventions such as enhancing the detection of active and latent infection, improving monitoring and evaluation of treatment outcomes or adjusting the network of healthcare providers should be tailored to the specific needs of the critical areas identified.publishersversionpublishe

Pulmonary artery sling: a rare cause of stridor and respiratory distress

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Congruences associated with inverse transversals

An inverse transversal of a regular semigroup $S$ is an inverse subsemigroup of $S$ that contains a unique inverse $x^\circ$ of every element $x$ of $S$. Here we consider the congruences on such a semigroup, considered as an algebra of type (2, 1). The structure of such semigroups being known, with 'building bricks' the inverse subsemigroup $S^\circ$ and the sub-bands $I = \{xx^\circ; x\in S\},\Lambda = \{x^\circ x; x\in S\}$, we investigate how congruences on $S$ are related to congruences on these building bricks

First report of Meloidogyne naasi parasitizing turfgrass in Portugal

In an exploratory sampling of a football field in Porto, Portugal, the root-knot nematode, Meloidogyne naasi, previously unreported from the Iberian Peninsula, was detected. Diagnosis was based on the analysis of perineal patterns and esterase phenotypes of females excised from grass roots, morphometrics and molecular analysis (PCR with specific primers and analysis of partial 28S sequences obtained by amplification using the primers D2A/D3B) of second- stage juveniles (J2) extracted from soil. When collected in water, J2 aggregated into a worm-star. Endospores of Pasteuria penetrans were frequently found attached to the J2. To our knowledge, this is the first report of M. naasi in Portugal and in the Iberian Peninsula, and the first report of worm-star formation in Meloidogyne.The authors would like to thank Dr. M. Luísa Moura and José F. Azevedo for collaboration in sampling and sample processing. This work was supported by the strategic program UID/BIA/04050/2019 (POCI01-0145-FEDER-007569), funded by national funds through the Portuguese Foundation For Science and Technology (FCT) I.P. and by the ERDF through the COMPETE2020 – Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalização (POCI)

Hidrólise de diacetato de fluoresceína como bioindicador da qualidade de solo de várzea subtropical.

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