Early pseudoprogression following chemoradiotherapy in glioblastoma patients: the value of RANO evaluation

Early Pseudo-progression Following Chemoradiotherapy in Glioblastoma Patients: The Value of RANO EvaluationThe aim of this study was to determine the frequency of pseudoprogression in a cohort of glioblastoma (GBM) patients following radiotherapy/temozolomide (RT/TMZ) by comparing Macdonald criterial to Response Assessment in Neuro-Oncology (RANO) criteria. The impact on prognosis and survival analysis was also studied. Materials and Methods. All patients receiving RT/TMZ for newly diagnosed GBM from January 2005 to December 2009 were retrospectively evaluated, and demographic, clinical, radiographic, treatment, and survival data were reviewed. Updated RANO criteria were used for the evaluation of the pre-RT and post-RT MRI and compared to classic Macdonald criteria. Survival data was evaluated using the Kaplan-Meier and log-rank analysis. Results and Discussion. 70 patients were available for full radiological response assessment. Early progression was confirmed in 42 patients (60%) according to Macdonald criteria and 15 patients (21%) according to RANO criteria. Pseudoprogression was identified in 10 (23.8%) or 2 (13.3%) patients in Macdonald and RANO groups, respectively. Cumulative survival of pseudoprogression group was higher than that of true progression group and not statistically different from the non-progressive disease group. Conclusion. In this cohort, the frequency of pseudoprogression varied between 13% and 24%, being overdiagnosed by older Macdonald criteria, which emphasizes the importance of RANO criteria and new radiological biomarkers for correct response evaluation.The authors acknowledge Francisco Soares, MD, for statistical support

Semi-automatic quantification of the epicardial fat in CT images

In this work we present a technique to automatically or semi-automatically quantify the epicardial fat in noncontrasted Computed Tomography (CT) images. In CT images, the epicardial fat is very close to the pericardial fat, distincted only by the pericardium. The pericardium appears in the image as a very thin line, very hard to discriminate. To enhance the pericardium line and to remove noise as well as higher intensities due to calcifications, some pre-processing was applied, namely region growing, thresholding and average filtering techniques. To detect the pericardium line an algorithm was developed that considerer the heart anatomy to find control points belonging to that line. From the points detected an interpolation was done based on the cubic spline method. This method was also improved to avoid incorrect interpolation that occurs when one of the coordinates of the points is repeated. After having the line delineation, the pixels bellow the line were counted, considering only the pixels in the fat window (-190 to -30 Hounsfiel Units). In 10 images tested, in 4 the system fully automatically returned the correct value for epicardial fat. In the other 6 the system needed a small correction by moving 1 or 2 points to return the correct value of epicardial fat. The values of the automatic quantification were compared to the values obtained by the manual process, having 10% as maximum error allowed. We concluded that this method is able to, automatically or with a small interaction, return the value of the epicardial fat, for the non contrast CT images tested

Influence of a cognitive behavioural training program on health: a study among primary teachers

Este estudio longitudinal se llevó a cabo para evaluar la eficacia de un programa de entrenamiento cognitivo-conductual que se diseñó para modificar los procesos cognitivos y emocionales relacionados con el estrés laboral en una muestra de profesores. El grupo de entrenamiento constaba de 21 profesores, y el grupo no entrenado estaba compuesto por 16 profesores. El programa de entrenamiento se dividió en cuatro sesiones presenciales y el intervalo entre el tiempo 1 y tiempo 2 fue de 4 meses. El programa de entrenamiento redujo significativamente los niveles de problemas psicosomáticos en el grupo de entrenamiento del tiempo 1 al tiempo 2, y aumentó significativamente los niveles de cortisol del tiempo 1 al tiempo 2

Bacterioplankton Community Shifts during a Spring Bloom of Aphanizomenon gracile and Sphaerospermopsis aphanizomenoides at a Temperate Shallow Lake

Climate change is enhancing the frequency of cyanobacterial blooms not only during summer but also in spring and autumn, leading to increased ecological impacts. The bacterioplankton community composition (BCC), in particular, is deeply affected by these blooms, although at the same time BCC can also play important roles in blooms’ dynamics. However, more information is still needed regarding BCC during species-specific cyanobacterial blooms. The goal of this study was to assess BCC succession in a hypereutrophic shallow lake (Vela Lake, Portugal) during a warm spring using a metagenomic approach to provide a glimpse of the changes these communities experience during the dominance of Aphanizomenon-like bloom-forming species. BCC shifts were studied using 16S rRNA gene metabarcoding and multivariate analyses. A total of 875 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were retrieved from samples. In early spring, the dominant taxa belonged to Proteobacteria (mainly Alphaproteobacteria—Rickettsiales) and Bacteroidetes (Saprospirales, Flavobacteriales and Sphingobacteriales). However, at the end of May, a bloom co-dominated by cyanobacterial populations of Aphanizomenon gracile, Sphaerospermopsis aphanizomenoides and Synechococcus sp. developed and persisted until the end of spring. This led to a major BCC shift favouring the prevalence of Alphaproteobacteria (Rickettsiales and also Rhizobiales, Caulobacteriales and Rhodospirillales) and Bacteroidetes (Saprospirales, followed by Flavobacteriales and Sphingobacteriales). These results contribute to the knowledge of BCC dynamics during species-specific cyanobacterial blooms, showing that BCC is strongly affected (directly or indirectly) by Aphanizomenon-Sphaerospermopsis blooms.publishe

Involvement of vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) on ovarian physiology

Abstrac t In addition to the central nervous system, vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) containing nerves have been described throughout the female genital tract. VIP is reported to be produced by nerves fibers innervating follicles at all stages of development in rodents. There is growing evidence that VIP and their receptors play important roles in the local regulat ion of ovarian physiology mostly through cAMP pathway. It has been reported that VIP regulates the ovarian follicle survival and growth, oocyte maturation, ovulation and steroidogenesis. Studies also demonstrated that VIP inhibits apoptosis of rat follicles and is an important factor for the gro wth of preantral follicles enclosed in caprine ovarian tissue. Even though the addition of VIP to the culture med iu m did not improve in vitro maturation and fert ilization of oocytes, it has been shown to stimu late ovulation in perfused rat ovaries. VIP is also involved in the regulation of steroidogenic activity. Therefore, this review aims to summarize current data on the importance of VIP on ovarian physiology

Delay dynamics of neuromorphic optoelectronic nanoscale resonators: Perspectives and applications

With the recent exponential growth of applications using artificial intelligence (AI), the development of efficient and ultrafast brain-like (neuromorphic) systems is crucial for future information and communication technologies. While the implementation of AI systems using computer algorithms of neural networks is emerging rapidly, scientists are just taking the very first steps in the development of the hardware elements of an artificial brain, specifically neuromorphic microchips. In this review article, we present the current state of the art of neuromorphic photonic circuits based on solid-state optoelectronic oscillators formed by nanoscale double barrier quantum well resonant tunneling diodes. We address, both experimentally and theoretically, the key dynamic properties of recently developed artificial solid-state neuron microchips with delayed perturbations and describe their role in the study of neural activity and regenerative memory. This review covers our recent research work on excitable and delay dynamic characteristics of both single and autaptic (delayed) artificial neurons including all-or-none response, spike-based data encoding, storage, signal regeneration and signal healing. Furthermore, the neural responses of these neuromorphic microchips display all the signatures of extended spatio-temporal localized structures (LSs) of light, which are reviewed here in detail. By taking advantage of the dissipative nature of LSs, we demonstrate potential applications in optical data reconfiguration and clock and timing at high-speeds and with short transients. The results reviewed in this article are a key enabler for the development of high-performance optoelectronic devices in future high-speed brain-inspired optical memories and neuromorphic computing. (C) 2017 Author(s).Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia (FCT) [UID/Multi/00631/2013]European Structural and Investment Funds (FEEI) through the Competitiveness and Internationalization Operational Program - COMPETE 2020National Funds through FCT [ALG-01-0145-FEDER-016432/POCI-01-0145-FEDER-016432]European Commission under the project iBROW [645369]project COMBINA [TEC2015-65212-C3-3-PAEI/FEDER UE]Ramon y Cajal fellowshipinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Cianobactérias: problemática e estratégias de gestão em sistemas dulçaquícolas com uso recreativo

A Ciência ocupa hoje um lugar de relevo no desenvolvimento das sociedades. Assim, a aquisição de competências conducentes ao desenvolvimento do pensamento científico deve ser acessível a todos os cidadãos, e não apenas aos futuros cientistas, para que todos possam ter uma participação ativa nas democracias modernas. O desenvolvimento do pensamento científico e de atitudes positivas face à Ciência dependem assim da ligação estreita entre o ensino da Ciência, as investigações científicas autênticas e/ou o desenvolvimento de novas tecnologias, o que é possível através do envolvimento dos alunos na investigação de situações reais, inseridas no seu contexto geográfico, social e cultural. A revista CAPTAR, Ciência e Ambiente para Todos, acessível on-line, apresenta-se assim como uma publicação científica periódica, escrita em português, onde alunos e docentes podem ser confrontados com dados científicos atuais, assim como com os procedimentos científicos utilizados pelos investigadores para a sua obtenção. Esta publicação periódica poderá constituir ainda uma ferramenta extremamente útil aos docentes do Ensino Básico e Secundário (EBS), na promoção da discussão, em sala de aula, de casos de estudo atuais e respetivos dados gerados, uma etapa fundamental ao envolvimento dos alunos no delineamento e execução das suas próprias pesquisas, com vista à geração de novo conhecimento. O acesso frequente a artigos científicos, no seu formato tradicional, ajudará igualmente os alunos a desenvolverem a sua capacidade de argumentação e de fundamentação de conclusões, apoiando o desenvolvimento de competências específicas requeridas na disciplina científica envolvida. Em suma, esta fonte de informação permitirá aos alunos percecionarem a Ciência como um discurso com formas de linguagem e modos de aquisição de conhecimento diferentes das que utilizam no seu dia–a-dia, mas que efetivamente regulam universalmente todos os que pensaram, pensam e pensarão Ciência, o que os ajudará a desenvolver a capacidade crítica sobre a atualidade porque mais facilmente compreenderão “linguagem científica”. Pelo facto de se encontrar facilmente acessível on-line, a Revista Captar pretende ainda assumir-se como um campo de treino e aprendizagem de jovens investigadores, já que aqui os alunos do EBS, assim como os do ensino superior podem iniciar a sua atividade de comunicação em Ciência, submetendo artigos sobre os seus trabalhos de investigação na escola e passando pelo processo de revisão por pares, bem como pela tomada de consciência das responsabilidades e benefícios associados à publicação de um trabalho científico. Mais ainda, esta é uma revista de divulgação científica junto do cidadão em geral, que, se a explorar, tomará conhecimento sobre as principais áreas de investigação na área das ciências naturais e ambiente, desenvolvidas em diferentes laboratórios e instituições de ensino superior nacionais