A cronologia de desenvolvimento do segundo molar e sua relação com a estimativa forense da idade

Introdução: A estimativa da idade insere-se numa área de conhecimento científico que tem vindo a assumir especial importância no âmbito da Medicina Dentária Forense. Apresenta maior relevância em indivíduos vivos e o seu principal objeto de estudo são as crianças, constituindo uma ferramenta chave para o estabelecimento da sua identidade. O estudo da maturação dentária, através de radiografias panorâmicas, constitui um dos métodos mais credíveis para a estimativa da idade. Objetivos: Avaliar a aplicabilidade do método de Demirjian para a estimativa da idade em crianças e investigar a possível correlação entre o estadio de mineralização do dente 3.7 e a idade cronológica da criança, numa amostra populacional da Clínica Dentária da Universidade Católica Portuguesa de Viseu. Materiais e métodos: Para o efeito, serão examinadas as radiografias panorâmicas de todas as crianças constantes no ficheiro clínico da CDU – Viseu, entre os 5 e os 16 anos de idade. Este estudo foi baseado na escala de pontuações do segundo molar em ambos os sexos, para os diferentes estadios de desenvolvimento dentário, segundo o método de Demirjian. A diferença entre a idade dentária e a idade cronológica foi analisada e comparada através da utilização de modelos de regressão multilinear. Resultados: O desenvolvimento do dente 3.7 assente na metodologia desenvolvida por Demirjian é um indicador válido para prever a idade em crianças e adolescentes da população de Viseu, Portugal. Discussão: Foi possível observar a existência de uma correlação entre a idade estimada e a idade cronológica e ainda que o desenvolvimento dentário, concretamente do segundo molar mandibular, ocorre mais precocemente nas raparigas do que nos rapazes. Estes resultados vão de encontro aos de outros estudos Conclusão: Existe uma associação expressiva entre a idade estimada e os estadios de mineralização atribuídos ao segundo molar permanente inferior, segundo o método de Demirjian.Introduction The age estimation belongs to an area of scientific knowledge that has assumed particular importance in the context of Forensic Dentistry. Presents greater relevance in living individuals and the main object of study are children, since it is a key tool for the establishment of their identity. The study of dental maturation, through panoramic radiographs, is one of the most reliable methods for age estimation. Objectives: The aim of this study is to evaluate the applicability of Demirjian’s method for age estimation and investigate the possible correlation between the stage of the 3.7 tooth, and the chronological age in a population sample of Viseu, from the Catholic University’s Dental Clinic. Materials and methods: For this purpose, will be examined, the panoramic radiographs of all children between 5 to16 years of age. This study was based on scale scores of the second molar, in both sexes, for different stages of tooth development, according to Demirjian’s method. The difference between dental age and chronological age will be analyzed and compared by using multilinear regression models. Results: The development of tooth 3.7, based on the methodology developed by Demirjian, is a valid indicator to predict the age of child and adolescent population of Viseu, Portugal. Discussion: It was possible to observe the existence of a correlation between the estimated age and chronological age and also the tooth development, specifically the mandibular second molar, that occurs earlier in girls than in boys. These results agree with those of other studies. Conclusion: There is a significant association between the estimated age and stages of mineralization attributed to the lower second molar, according to Demirjian’s method

In a community-based setting spondyloarthritis patients report higher levels of physical disability than chronic low back pain patients-results from EpiReuma.pt

Publisher Copyright: © 2023, Sociedade Portuguesa de Reumatologia. All rights reserved.Objectives: Chronic low back pain (CLBP) is a common health problem and in most patients it is not possible to identify a specific cause (non-specific CLBP). Spondyloarthritis is a musculoskeletal disorder characterized by (often inflammatory) back pain and spinal stiffness. The impact of CLBP and spondyloarthritis on patients’ physical function may be different. This study aims to compare physical disability in patients with spondyloarthritis and CLBP, in a population-based setting. Furthermore, we aim to identify modifiable risk factors for physical disability among these two populations. Methods: Data from EpiReumaPt, a national health cohort with 10 661 individuals, conducted from September 2011 to December 2013, was used. Physical function was accessed by the Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index (HAQ-DI) and by the physical function dimension of the 36-Item Short Form Survey (SF-36). Univariable and multivariable linear regression analyses were used to assess the differences between groups. Factors associated with physical disability were explored for both diseases. Results: We evaluated 92 patients with spondyloarthritis, 1376 patients with CLBP and 679 subjects without rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs). Spondyloarthritis and CLBP patients reported significantly higher levels of disability in HAQ-DI (b=0.33; p<0.001 and b=0.20; p<0.001, respectively) than subjects without RMDs. In comparison to CLBP patients, spondyloarthritis patients reported higher disability (b=0.14; p=0.03). The physical domains of SF-36, bodily pain and general health, where more affected in spondyloarthritis patients than in CLBP patients (b=-6.61; p=0.02 and b=-5.94; p=0.001, respectively). Spondyloarthritis and CLBP patients had a worse physical summary score (PCS) than mental summary score (MCS), and only PCS was significantly worse in comparison to subjects without RMDs. Factors associated with physical disability in CLBP were low back pain intensity, older age, obesity, multimorbidity, and retirement. Similarly, in spondyloarthritis physical disability was associated with retirement and multimorbidity. Factors associated with lower disability were alcohol consumption and male gender in CLBP, and regular physical exercise was associated with lower disability in both disorders. Conclusions: In this nationwide cohort, spondyloarthritis and CLBP patients reported significant physical disability. Regular physical exercise was associated with lower disability in both diseases.publishersversionpublishe

Mitochondrial apoptosis-inducing factor is involved in doxorubicin-induced toxicity on H9c2 cardiomyoblasts

AbstractThe cardiotoxicity induced by the anti-cancer doxorubicin involves increased oxidative stress, disruption of calcium homeostasis and activation of cardiomyocyte death. Nevertheless, antioxidants and caspase inhibitors often show little efficacy in preventing cell death. We hypothesize that a caspase-independent cell death mechanism with the release of the apoptosis-inducing factor from mitochondria is involved in doxorubicin toxicity. To test the hypothesis, H9c2 cardiomyoblasts were used as model for cardiac cells. Our results demonstrate that z-VAD-fmk, a pan-caspase inhibitor, does not prevent doxorubicin toxicity in this cell line. Doxorubicin treatment results in AIF translocation to the nuclei, as confirmed by Western Blotting of cell fractions and confocal microscopy. Also, doxorubicin treatment of H9c2 cardiomyoblasts resulted in the appearance of 50kbp DNA fragments, a hallmark of apoptosis-inducing factor nuclear effects. Apoptosis-inducing factor knockdown using a small-interfering RNA approach in H9c2 cells resulted in a reduction of doxorubicin toxicity, including decreased p53 activation and poly-ADP-ribose-polymerase cleavage. Among the proteases that could be responsible for apoptosis-inducing factor cleavage, doxorubicin decreased calpain activity but increased cathepsin B activation, with inhibition of the latter partly decreasing doxorubicin toxicity. Altogether, the results support that apoptosis-inducing factor release is involved in doxorubicin-induced H9c2 cell death, which explains the limited ability of caspase inhibitors to prevent toxicity

Thrombus Formation on a Left Atrial Appendage Closure Device

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Synthesis, Bioavailability, and Cytotoxicity Studies

Funding Information: This work was supported by Portuguese funds from FCT/MCTES through the Associate Laboratory for Green Chemistry—LAQV (UIDB/50006/2020 and UIDP/50006/2020) and the project numbers PTDC/QUI-QOR/32406/2017 and PTDC/EAM-AMB/2023/2021. Ana R. Jesus and Ana Rita C. Duarte acknowledge the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme, under grant agreement No ERC-2016-CoG 725034. Publisher Copyright: © 2023 by the authors.Thyroid diseases affect a considerable portion of the population, with hypothyroidism being one of the most commonly reported thyroid diseases. Levothyroxine (T4) is clinically used to treat hypothyroidism and suppress thyroid stimulating hormone secretion in other thyroid diseases. In this work, an attempt to improve T4 solubility is made through the synthesis of ionic liquids (ILs) based on this drug. In this context, [Na][T4] was combined with choline [Ch]+ and 1-(2-hydroxyethyl)-3-methylimidazolium [C2OHMiM]+ cations in order to prepare the desired T4-ILs. All compounds were characterized by NMR, ATR-FTIR, elemental analysis, and DSC, aiming to check their chemical structure, purities, and thermal properties. The serum, water, and PBS solubilities of the T4-ILs were compared to [Na][T4], as well as the permeability assays. It is important to note an improved adsorption capacity, in which no significant cytotoxicity was observed against L929 cells. [C2OHMiM][T4] seems to be a good alternative to the commercial levothyroxine sodium salt with promising bioavailability.publishersversionpublishe

Trigger and Target of Renal Functions

This work was supported by “Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia” – FCT to AP (PD/BD/136887/2018); MJM (PD/BD/114256/2016), MPM (PTDC/DTP-EPI/0207/2012), DOB e MPM (PTDC/BIM-MET/2115/2014); iNOVA4Health (UIDB/Multi/04462/2020), by the European Commission Marie Skłodowska -Curie Actions H2020 (grant agreements nos. 722619 and 734719), and by the Sociedade Portuguesa de Diabetologia.Kidney function in metabolism is often underestimated. Although the word “clearance” is associated to “degradation”, at nephron level, proper balance between what is truly degraded and what is redirected to de novo utilization is crucial for the maintenance of electrolytic and acid–basic balance and energy conservation. Insulin is probably one of the best examples of how diverse and heterogeneous kidney response can be. Kidney has a primary role in the degradation of insulin released in the bloodstream, but it is also incredibly susceptible to insulin action throughout the nephron. Fluctuations in insulin levels during fast and fed state add another layer of complexity in the understanding of kidney fine-tuning. This review aims at revisiting renal insulin actions and clearance and to address the association of kidney dysmetabolism with hyperinsulinemia and insulin resistance, both highly prevalent phenomena in modern society.publishersversionpublishe

Biopsia do cório fetal em cães

With the great development of the gestational studies in all of the species, we noticed the necessity of adaptations of these techniques for prenatal diagnosis in dogs. Based on this, we studied the feasibility of chorion biopsy guided by ultrasound. Our results demonstrated accuracy on the sex determination being 2 males and 12 females, as well as it would be possible to identify chromosome alteration due to the quality of samplings. Sex determination was accomplished with the identification of Y gene chromosomes in PCR technique. After the collection, fragments were prepared for light microscopy studies and revealed fetal chorion tissue, blood colloid and erythrocyte. In the whole material we found hemosiderin impregnations due to the hemolysis and to the residue of blood of the placental marginal hematomes. The submitted female dogs to this technique demonstrated normal puppy births without death.Com o grande desenvolvimento dos estudos gestacionais em todas as espécies, percebemos a necessidade de adaptarmos técnicas para diagnóstico pré-natal para cães. Assim, buscamos bases nas técnicas já existentes empregadas em humanos, e através destas, conseguimos estabelecer um método para coleta em cães, utilizando PCR para garantirmos a integridade das amostras. O procedimento foi realizado através de punção da cinta placentária com agulha de biopsia guiada por ultra-som. De todas as 14 amostras coletadas, duas apresentaram-se positivas para o cromossomo Y, presente apenas em machos, confirmando assim a viabilidade das amostras demonstrando com isso que através desta técnica podemos coletar material fetal para diagnóstico de alterações gênicas ou cromossômicas presentes nos cães antes mesmo destes virem a termo. A microscopia de material revelou fragmentos de cório fetal, colóide sangüíneo e eritrócitos. Em todo o material encontramos impregnações de hemosiderina devido à hemólise e ao resíduo de sangue dos hematomas marginais placentários. As cadelas submetidas a esta técnica tiveram partos normais sem óbito de nenhum filhote.FAPES

Aspectos Morfológicos do cordão umbilical de búfalos (Bubalus bubalis)

Buffalo is an important livestock resource, with a great participation in agricultural systems, providing milk, meat, and work power. Umbilical cord is responsible for maternal-fetal nutrients exchange during pregnancy, and its alterations can compromise the fetal development. We investigated ten pregnant uteruses collected from cross-bread buffaloes in different stages of gestation. Pregnancy and fetal age was determined by measuring the apex sacral length and development period was calculated by previously published formula. Umbilical cords were measured for length determination. Umbilical cord vascular net and anastomosis were observed by injection of Neoprene latex. Histological sections of the umbilical cord were studied after stain with HE, picrossirius, toluidine blue, orceine, and PAS reaction. Buffaloes' umbilical cord was formed by two central arteries, an allantois duct and two peripheral veins. The artery wall was composed by large quantity of collagen, elastic fibers, fibroblasts and large number of vasa vasorum. The allantois duct was located between the arteries and presented a great number of small nourishing vessels. Small nourishing vessels should be carefully considered to avoid to be mistaken to the arterials and veins vasa vasorum. Medium length of umbilical cord from buffalos was 11.8cm (minimum of 6.8cm and maximum of 17.4cm).Búfalo é uma importante fonte de recurso nos rebanhos animais, apresentando uma grande participação na agropecuária, provendo leite, carne e força de trabalho. O Cordão umbilical é responsável pela troca de nutrientes materno-fetais durante a gestação, e suas alterações podem comprometer o desenvolvimento fetal. Nós investigamos dez úteros gravídicos de búfalos de raças cruzadas em fases diferentes de gestação. O período de gestação e a idade fetal foram determinados pelo comprimento ápice sacral, aplicando fórmulas previamente estabelecidas. Posteriormente mediu-se o comprimento do cordão umbilical. A rede vascular do cordão umbilical e anastomoses foram observadas por injeção ou látex de neoprene. O cordão umbilical foi estudado a partir de cortes histológicos, corados por HE, picrossirius, azul de Toluidina, orceína e reação histoquímica de PAS. O cordão umbilical de búfalos é formado por duas artérias centrais, ducto alantóide e duas veias periféricas e apresentam forma de ampulheta. A parede da artéria umbilical é composta por grande quantidade de fibras colágenas e elásticas, fibroblastos e um grande número de vasa vasorum. O ducto alantóide fica alocado entre as artérias e apresenta um grande número de pequenos vasos nutritivos. Os vasos nutritivos devem ser cuidadosamente identificados para evitar-se confundi-los com vasa vasorum. O comprimento médio do cabo de cordão umbilical dos búfalos era 11.8cm (mínimo de 6.8cm e máximo de 17.4cm)

Relationship between professional motivations and the expectation of staying at the same workplace: a cross-sectional descriptive study with physicians in Portugal

There is a global trend related to the migration of health professionals, particularly physicians, to the most densely populated areas. In Portugal, the unequal distribution of medical professionals is justified by the fact that in the most favoured areas, there are more career opportunities, better infrastructures and equipment, better working conditions and supervision, more and better social facilities and better salary. The aim of this work was to identify professional reasons associated with the expectation of staying at the same workplace. It was selected a simple random sample of 594 physicians out of a total of 18,711 registered physicians in Northern Regional Section of the Order of Physicians (NRSOP), Portugal Most physicians would like to stay at the same workplace due to: the prospect of training and working at the current location, the organizational level of the unit, the level of differentiation of the hospital/health centre, the availability to use the state-of-the-art medical and surgical technology, better rewards, the level of work differentiation in the unit/service, the possibility of reconciling public and private practice, good references of the current unit/working group, avoid unit/workgroup with bad references and the prospect of career progression. This study revealed that, for physicians, professional motivations/purposes have an influence on the expectations of staying or not at the same workplace. Therefore, the study recommends that policy makers should prioritize professional reasons when formulating and implementing measures to promote the fixing of medical professionals in order to achieve greater equity in access to health care.This work is supported by: the European Structural and Investment Funds in the FEDER component, through the Operational Competitiveness and Internationalization Programme (COMPETE 2020) [Project No. 006971 (UID/SOC/04011)]; and national funds, through the FCT – Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology under the project UID/SOC/04011/2013.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Experimental Tests and Preliminary Life Cycle Assessment

Funding Information: Thanks are also due to FCT for the project PTDC/BII-BIO/30884/2017. A.F.P. and M.M.M. thank FCT for funding through the Individual Call to Scientific Employment Stimulus (ref. 2020.01614.CEECIND/CP1596/CT0007 and CEEC-IND/02702/2017, respectively). O.D. is thankful for the Ph.D. grant supported by FCT (2021.05322.BD). Funding Information: This work was funded by Portuguese funds through Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT/MCTES) in the framework of the projects UIDB/50006/2020, UIDP/50006/2020, and EXPL/BII-BIO/0436/2021 and also by BIP Proof 2022/2023 through UI-Transfer, a cofunding project by European Union through COMPETE 2020-Portugal 2020, CIQUP, Centro de Investigação em Química da Universidade do Porto (UIDB/00081/2020), and IMS, Institute of Molecular Sciences (LA/P/0056/2020). Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.The control of the oxidative stability of biodiesel and blends of biodiesel with diesel is one of the major concerns of the biofuel industry. The oxidative degradation of biodiesel can be accelerated by several factors, and this is most critical in the so-called second generation biodiesel, which is produced from low-cost raw materials with lower environmental impacts. The addition of antioxidants is imperative to ensure the oxidative stability of biodiesel, and these are considered products of high commercial value. The antioxidants currently available on the market are from synthetic origin, so the existence/availability of alternative antioxidants of natural origin (less dependent on fossil sources) at a competitive price presents itself as a strong business opportunity. This work describes and characterizes a sustainable alternative to synthetic antioxidants used in the biodiesel market developed from extracts of vineyard pruning waste (VPW), which are naturally rich in phenolic compounds with antioxidant properties. A hydrothermal extraction process was applied as a more efficient and sustainable technology than the conventional one with the potential of the extracts as antioxidant additives in biodiesel evaluated in Rancitech equipment. The VPW extract showed comparable antioxidant activity as the commercial antioxidant butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) typically used in biodiesel. The stability of the biodiesel is dependent from the amount of the extract added. Further, for the first time, the assessment of the environmental impacts of using natural extracts to control the oxidative stability of biodiesel in the production process is also discussed as a key factor of the process environmental sustainability.publishersversionpublishe