Prevalence of adrenal masses in Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>To date, there have been no reports on the prevalence of adrenal masses in type 2 diabetic patients. The present study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of adrenal incidentaloma in type 2 diabetic patients in Japan.</p> <p>Subjects</p> <p>We retrospectively evaluated the presence of adrenal masses using abdominal CT scans in 304 type 2 diabetic patients. In those with adrenal masses, we examined the hormone production capacity of the adrenal mass.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Fourteen patients (4.6%) had an adrenal mass. Hormonal analysis identified one case as having subclinical Cushing's syndrome, two with primary aldosteronism. Eleven cases had non-functioning masses.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>The reported prevalence of adrenal incidentaloma in normal subjects is 0.6-4.0% in abdominal CT scan series. Our results show a relatively high prevalence of adrenal tumors in diabetic patients. On the other hand, the frequency of functional adenoma in diabetic patients is 21.4%, which is similar to that of normal subjects.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Although further studies are needed to evaluate the prevalence of adrenal tumors in diabetic patients, our data suggest that evaluation of the presence of adrenal masses may be needed in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.</p

Improved functionalization of oleic acid-coated iron oxide nanoparticles for biomedical applications

Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles can providemultiple benefits for biomedical applications in aqueous environments such asmagnetic separation or magnetic resonance imaging. To increase the colloidal stability and allow subsequent reactions, the introduction of hydrophilic functional groups onto the particles’ surface is essential. During this process, the original coating is exchanged by preferably covalently bonded ligands such as trialkoxysilanes. The duration of the silane exchange reaction, which commonly takes more than 24 h, is an important drawback for this approach. In this paper, we present a novel method, which introduces ultrasonication as an energy source to dramatically accelerate this process, resulting in high-quality waterdispersible nanoparticles around 10 nmin size. To prove the generic character, different functional groups were introduced on the surface including polyethylene glycol chains, carboxylic acid, amine, and thiol groups. Their colloidal stability in various aqueous buffer solutions as well as human plasma and serum was investigated to allow implementation in biomedical and sensing applications.status: publishe

O potencial pedagógico da Hora do Conto para o desenvolvimento da Comunicação Oral

O presente relatório é produto de um projeto de investigação que pretendeu caracterizar a adequação e dinamização da hora do conto com a finalidade de promover o desenvolvimento da comunicação oral, implementada numa sala de 3/4 anos e a adequação didática de um processo de intervenção educativa de estratégias para a promoção do desenvolvimento da Oralidade (incidindo na dinamização da hora conto) implementado numa turma de 3.º ano do 1.º Ciclo do Ensino Básico. Tendo consciência da desvalorização que é atribuída à temática em análise, acreditamos que os profissionais de educação se tornam responsáveis pelo desenvolvimento e aperfeiçoamento das capacidades de comunicação das crianças/alunos. Neste sentido, consideramos que foi extremamente importante investir neste domínio e nas competências a ele associado, nas vertentes de compreensão e expressão orais. Para atingir os objetivos delineamos, planificamos, construímos, aplicamos e avaliamos em sala de aula, um conjunto de intervenções educativas adotando como estratégia principal a dinamização da hora do conto. Assim sendo, podemos verificar através dos resultados obtidos, que efetivamente, a hora do conto e a utilização de diferentes estratégias para a dinamização da mesma, contribuíram positivamente para o desenvolvimento das competências orais dos intervenientes, potenciando melhorias, a vários níveis, nomeadamente na vertente de compressão e de expressão oral dos dois grupos de aplicação.This report is the product of a research project that aimed to characterize the adequacy and dynamization of the story time with the purpose of promoting the development of oral communication, implemented in a 3/4 year classroom and the didactic adequacy of a process of educational intervention strategies to promote the development of Orality (focusing on the dynamization of the story time) implemented in a 3rd year class of the 1st Cycle of Basic Education. Being aware of the devaluation that is attributed to the theme under analysis, we believe that education professionals become responsible for the development and improvement of communication skills of children/students. In this sense, we believe that it was extremely important to invest in this field and in the skills associated with it, in the areas of understanding and oral expression. In order to achieve the objectives, we delineate, plan, build, apply and evaluate in the classroom, a set of educational interventions adopting as the main strategy the dynamization of the story time. Therefore, we can verify through the results obtained, that effectively, the story time and the use of different strategies for the dynamization of the tale, contributed positively to the development of the oral skills of the participants, enhancing improvements, at various levels, particularly in the compression and oral expression of the two groups of application. Keywords: Oral Communication; Compression and Oral Expression; Story Time; Pre-School; 1st Cycle of Basic Education

Eur J Ophthalmol

Purpose: Management of Graves’ ophthalmopathy remains challenging. Over the last decade, previous studies have shown promising results for Rituximab in the treatment of Graves’ ophthalmopathy. We present the response of 14 individuals with active moderate-to-severe Graves’ ophthalmopathy to Rituximab, representing one of the largest retrospective case series reported to date. Methods: Rituximab was administered intravenously, 1000 mg twice at a 2-week interval. The primary end point was a clinical activity score reduction (improvement by ⩾ 2 points or disease inactivation: clinical activity score < 3) at 24 weeks. Secondary end points included clinical activity score improved by ⩾ 2 points or inactivation of Graves’ ophthalmopathy at 12 weeks, improvement in each item of the clinical activity score, in proptosis, in severity disease by the total eye score and in diplopia according to the Gorman score. Results: A limited improvement in clinical activity score was observed (median improvement at 24 weeks by 1 point, p = 0.002, (5/14 patients, 35.7%). Disease inactivation occurred in 50% of patients (7/14 patients). At 12 weeks, clinical activity score improved by ⩾ 2 points in 2/14 patients (14.3%) and inactivation of Graves’ ophthalmopathy occurred in four patients (28.6%). Improvement in proptosis and total eye score was observed in 3/9 patients (33%) and in 4/14 patients (28.6%) at 24 weeks, respectively. Only one patient experienced moderate adverse event. Conclusion: Rituximab is a well-tolerated treatment with a good safety profile, but offered limited and partial improvement for active moderate-to-severe Graves’ ophthalmopathy with a long duration of disease