Clinicopathological Analysis Of Salivary Gland Tumors Over A 15-year Period

Salivary gland tumors (SGT) are rare neoplasms that generate interest due to their histopathological diversity and clinical behavior. The aims of the present study were to investigate clinicopathological aspects of SGTs diagnosed at a tertiary health center and compare the findings with epidemiological data from different geographic locations. Cases of tumor in the head and neck region at a single health center in the period between 1995 and 2010 were reviewed. Patient gender, age and ethnic group as well as anatomic location, histological type and clinical behavior of the tumor were recorded. Availability of complete information about these aspects was considered the inclusion criteria. Descriptive statistical analysis of the data was performed using the frequencies of categorical variables. Among the 2168 cases of tumors in the head and neck region, 243 (11.20%) cases were diagnosed in the salivary glands, 109 of which met the inclusion criteria: 85 (78%) benign tumors and 24 (22%) malignant tumors. Mean patient age was 46.47 years. The female gender accounted for 56 cases (51.4%) and the male gender accounted for 53 (48.3%). The major salivary glands were affected more (75.2%) than the minor glands. The most frequent benign and malignant SGTs were pleomorphic adenoma (81.2%) and adenoid cystic carcinoma (58.3%), respectively. In conclusion, pleomorphic adenoma and adenoid cystic carcinoma are the most frequent benign and malignant lesions, respectively. Comparing the present data with previous studies on SGTs, one may infer that some demographic characteristics and the predominance of malignant tumors vary in different geographic regions.301Postgraduate Research Group of the Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre [GPPG/FIPE: 12-0339

Composição do banco de sementes em diferentes profundidades de uma área cultivada com capim Aruana

Para um correto manejo das pastagens, é imprescindível a avaliação do banco de sementes que compõe o solo, possibilitando uma possível estratégia de controle e conhecimento da dinâmica populacional das plantas. O levantamento de espécies daninhas, por amostragens do banco de sementes do solo, permite a identificação e a quantificação da flora infestante, bem como a determinação da sua evolução e dessa forma possibilitem a programação de estratégias de controle. O objetivo deste trabalho foi realizar o levantamento da composição do banco de sementes em diferentes profundidades de uma área cultivada com capim Aruana, no Centro de Ciências Agrárias da Universidade Federal de Alagoas (CECA-UFAL) no município de Rio Largo - AL, no ano de 2014. A presente pesquisa foi realizada em casa de vegetação e foram retiradas 20 amostras a cada profundidade do solo na área onde foram coletadas as amostras para o estudo da composição do banco de sementes foram identificação 34 espécies vegetais distribuídas em 17 famílias botânicas, a família Asteraceae foi a mais representativa, as espécies Ageratum conyzóides, Cyperus rotundus e Digitaria sanguinalis, destacaram-se na área de estudo nas duas profundidades de solo. A densidade total de plantas decresceu com aumento profundidade do solo, modificando a dinâmica da flora existente

Detection of human neutrophil elastase (HNE) on wound dressings as marker of inflammation

Chronic wound fluids have elevated concentration of human neutrophil elastase (HNE) which can be used as inflammation/infection marker. Our goal is to develop functional materials for fast diagnosis of wound inflammation/infection by using HNE as a specific marker. For that, fluorogenic peptides with a HNE-specific cleavage sequence were incorporated into traditional textile dressings, to allow real-time detection of the wound status. Two different fluorogenic approaches were studied in terms of intensity of the signal generated upon HNE addition: a fluorophore 7-amino-4-trifluormethylcoumarin (AFC) conjugated to a HNE-specific peptide and two fluorophore/quencher pairs (FAM/Dabcyl and EDANS/Dabcyl) coupled to a similar peptide as a Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) strategy. Also, two immobilization methods were tested: sonochemistry immobilization onto a cotton bandage and glutaraldehyde (GTA)-assisted chemical crosslinking onto a polyamide dressing. The immobilized fluorogenic AFC peptide showed an intense fluorescence emission in the presence of HNE. HNE also induced an enhanced fluorescent signal with the EDANS/Dabcyl FRET peptide which showed to be a more sensitive and effective strategy than the AFC peptide. However, its chemical immobilization onto the polyamide dressing greatly decreased its detection, mainly due to the more difficult access of the enzyme to the cleavage sequence of the immobilized peptide. After optimization of the in situ immobilization, it will be possible to use these fluorescence-functionalized dressings for an effective and specific monitoring of chronic wounds by simply using a portable ultraviolet (UV) light source. We envision that the development of this point-of-care medical device for wound control will have a great impact on patients life quality and reduction of costs on health care system.This study was funded by the European project InFact-Functional materials for fast diagnosis of wound infection (FP7-NMP-2013-SME-7-grant agreement no. 604278). The work done at Centre of Biological Engineering (CEB) was also supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UID/BIO/04469/2013 unit, COMPETE 2020 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006684) and BioTecNorte operation (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000004) funded by European Regional Development Fund under the scope of Norte 2020-Programa Operacional Regional do Norte

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements

The complete genome sequence of Chromobacterium violaceum reveals remarkable and exploitable bacterial adaptability

Chromobacterium violaceum is one of millions of species of free-living microorganisms that populate the soil and water in the extant areas of tropical biodiversity around the world. Its complete genome sequence reveals (i) extensive alternative pathways for energy generation, (ii) ≈500 ORFs for transport-related proteins, (iii) complex and extensive systems for stress adaptation and motility, and (iv) wide-spread utilization of quorum sensing for control of inducible systems, all of which underpin the versatility and adaptability of the organism. The genome also contains extensive but incomplete arrays of ORFs coding for proteins associated with mammalian pathogenicity, possibly involved in the occasional but often fatal cases of human C. violaceum infection. There is, in addition, a series of previously unknown but important enzymes and secondary metabolites including paraquat-inducible proteins, drug and heavy-metal-resistance proteins, multiple chitinases, and proteins for the detoxification of xenobiotics that may have biotechnological applications

Avaliação da via de sinalização HGF/C-MET em neoplasias benignas e malignas de glândulas salivares

As neoplasias de glândula salivar (NGS) são tumores raros que despertam interesse por sua diversidade histopatológica e comportamento clínico. A compreensão da patobiologia assim como, dos mecanismos envolvidos no comportamento invasivo destas lesões é necessária para melhor entender a biologia das NGS e posteriormente delinear novas estratégias terapêuticas. A presente tese foi dividida em dois artigos. O objetivo do primeiro estudo foi descrever os dados demográficos, clinicopatológicos e de prognóstico das NGS diagnosticados em um centro de atenção terciário. Para tal, foi realizada uma análise retrospectiva utilizando os dados de arquivos e de prontuários. Foram identificados 109 casos de NGS cuja média de idade dos pacientes foi de 46.47 anos e a relação homens:mulheres foi de 0.94:1. As glândulas salivares maiores foram mais acometidas (75.2%) e os tumores benignos os mais prevalentes (75.2%) sendo o adenoma pleomórfico o tumor benigno mais comum e o carcinoma adenóide cístico o principal maligno. O objetivo do segundo estudo foi analizar o padrão de expressão da via de sinalização do HGF/c-Me/PI3K em NGS e correlacionar com o perfi proliferativo e desfechos clínicos das lesões. Foram construídos microarranjos de tecido (TMAs) de 93 casos de NGs e as lâminas foram submetidas a análise imunoistoquímica para HGF, p-Met, p-Akt e Ki67. Foi observada maior expressão de HGF nos tumores benignos (p=0.04), enquanto que as protínas p-Met (p=0.03), p-Akt (p=0.00) e Ki-67 (p=0.00) foram mais expressas nos tumores malignos. Nas neoplasias malignas houve maior ativação da via HGF observada pela maior expressão do seu receptor fosforilado (p-Met) bem como, maior ativação da via do PI3k pela fosforilação de Akt (p-Akt) resultando em um maior perfil proliferativo. Pode-se concluir que a via de sinalização do HGF/c-Met/PI3k parece estar ativa nas NGS regulando a proliferação especialmente nas neoplasias malignas.Salivary gland tumors (SGT) are rare yet interesting neoplasms due to their histopatological diversity and clinical behavior. Understanding the pathobiology as well as the mechanisms involved in the invasive behavior of these lesions is needed to better comprehend the biology of SGT and further delineate new therapeutic strategies. This thesis was divided in two papers. The aim of the first study was to describe the demographic, clincopathological and prognostic data of SGT diagnosed in a tertiary care center. For this purpose, a retrospective analysis using data from the archives and records was performed. One hundred and nine cases of SGT were identified. The patients mean age was 46.47 years and the male:female ratio was 0.91:1. The major salivary glands were the most affected (75.2%) and the benign SGT were more prevalent (78%) being pleomorphic adenoma the most common benign tumor and adenoid cystic carcinoma the most common malignant tumor. The objective of the second study was to analyze the expression pattern of HGF/c-Met/PI3K signaling pathway in SGT and correlate the findings with the proliferative profile and clinical outcomes of cases. Tissue microarrays (TMAs) of 93 cases of SGT were constructed; the slides were submitted to immunohistochemical analysis for HGF, p-Met, p-Akt and Ki-67. Increased expression of HGF was observed in benign tumors (p = 0.04), while p-Met (P = 0.03), p-Akt (p = 0:00) and Ki-67 (p = 0:00) were most expressed in malignant tumors. In salivary glands carcinomas there was a higher activation of the HGF pathway observed by the higher expression of its phosporylated receptor (p-Met) as well as the higher activation of PI3k pathway through Akt (p-Akt) phosphorilation, resulting in a higher proliferative profile. It can be concluded that HGF/c-Met/PI3K signaling pathway appears to be active in SGT regulating the proliferation specially in malignant tumors