45 research outputs found
Colon Adenocarcinoma and Paraneoplastic Polymyositis: the Importance of a Rehabilitation Program
O carcinoma do cólon e recto é o tumor gastrointestinal mais frequente. A polimiosite é uma doença rara,
inflamatória, frequentemente idiopática, que se manifesta por diminuição da força muscular proximal.
Raramente, pode associar-se a síndrome paraneoplásica. Existem diversos estudos sobre a relação entre neoplasias e dermatomiosite ou polimiosite. Contudo, a associação do adenocarcinoma do cólon e miopatias inflamatórias é uma raridade, especialmente na ausência de lesões cutâneas. Apresentamos o caso clínico de uma doente com adenocarcinoma do cólon, avaliada no serviço de urgência por quadro de polimiosite paraneoplásica, e posterior seguimento clínico em enfermaria, salientando o papel da reabilitação na vertente do doente oncológico e nesta entidade clínica em particular.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Ballistic Josephson junctions in edge-contacted graphene
Hybrid graphene-superconductor devices have attracted much attention since
the early days of graphene research. So far, these studies have been limited to
the case of diffusive transport through graphene with poorly defined and modest
quality graphene-superconductor interfaces, usually combined with small
critical magnetic fields of the superconducting electrodes. Here we report
graphene based Josephson junctions with one-dimensional edge contacts of
Molybdenum Rhenium. The contacts exhibit a well defined, transparent interface
to the graphene, have a critical magnetic field of 8 Tesla at 4 Kelvin and the
graphene has a high quality due to its encapsulation in hexagonal boron
nitride. This allows us to study and exploit graphene Josephson junctions in a
new regime, characterized by ballistic transport. We find that the critical
current oscillates with the carrier density due to phase coherent interference
of the electrons and holes that carry the supercurrent caused by the formation
of a Fabry-P\'{e}rot cavity. Furthermore, relatively large supercurrents are
observed over unprecedented long distances of up to 1.5 m. Finally, in the
quantum Hall regime we observe broken symmetry states while the contacts remain
superconducting. These achievements open up new avenues to exploit the Dirac
nature of graphene in interaction with the superconducting state.Comment: Updated version after peer review. Includes supplementary material
and ancillary file with source code for tight binding simulation
A multi-stage genome-wide association study of bladder cancer identifies multiple susceptibility loci.
We conducted a multi-stage, genome-wide association study of bladder cancer with a primary scan of 591,637 SNPs in 3,532 affected individuals (cases) and 5,120 controls of European descent from five studies followed by a replication strategy, which included 8,382 cases and 48,275 controls from 16 studies. In a combined analysis, we identified three new regions associated with bladder cancer on chromosomes 22q13.1, 19q12 and 2q37.1: rs1014971, (P = 8 × 10⁻¹²) maps to a non-genic region of chromosome 22q13.1, rs8102137 (P = 2 × 10⁻¹¹) on 19q12 maps to CCNE1 and rs11892031 (P = 1 × 10⁻⁷) maps to the UGT1A cluster on 2q37.1. We confirmed four previously identified genome-wide associations on chromosomes 3q28, 4p16.3, 8q24.21 and 8q24.3, validated previous candidate associations for the GSTM1 deletion (P = 4 × 10⁻¹¹) and a tag SNP for NAT2 acetylation status (P = 4 × 10⁻¹¹), and found interactions with smoking in both regions. Our findings on common variants associated with bladder cancer risk should provide new insights into the mechanisms of carcinogenesis
Quantum oscillations of the critical current and high-field superconducting proximity in ballistic graphene
Graphene-based Josephson junctions provide a novel platform for studying the
proximity effect due to graphene's unique electronic spectrum and the
possibility to tune junction properties by gate voltage. Here we describe
graphene junctions with a mean free path of several micrometres, low contact
resistance and large supercurrents. Such devices exhibit pronounced
Fabry-P\'erot oscillations not only in the normal-state resistance but also in
the critical current. The proximity effect is mostly suppressed in magnetic
fields below 10mT, showing the conventional Fraunhofer pattern. Unexpectedly,
some proximity survives even in fields higher than 1 T. Superconducting states
randomly appear and disappear as a function of field and carrier concentration,
and each of them exhibits a supercurrent carrying capacity close to the
universal quantum limit. We attribute the high-field Josephson effect to
mesoscopic Andreev states that persist near graphene edges. Our work reveals
new proximity regimes that can be controlled by quantum confinement and
cyclotron motion
Impact of PGL-I Seropositivity on the Protective Effect of BCG Vaccination among Leprosy Contacts: A Cohort Study
Although leprosy has become a neglected disease, it is an important cause of disability, and 250,000 new cases are still diagnosed worldwide every year. The current study was carried out in Brazil, where almost 40,000 new cases of leprosy are diagnosed every year. The study targeted contacts of leprosy patients, who are at the highest risk of contracting the disease. We studied 2,135 contacts who were diagnosed at the Leprosy Outpatient Clinic at the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation in Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil, between 1987 and 2007. The presence of antibodies against a specific Mycobacterium leprae antigen (PGL-I) at the first examination and BCG vaccination status were evaluated. PGL-I-positive contacts had a higher risk of developing leprosy than PGL-I-negative contacts. Among the former, vaccinated contacts were at higher risk than unvaccinated contacts. Our results indicate that contact examination combined with PGL-I testing and BCG vaccination appears to justify the targeting of PGL-I-positive individuals for enhanced surveillance. Furthermore, it is highly recommended that PGL-I-positive contacts and contacts with a high familial bacterial index (i.e., the sum of results from index and co-prevalent cases), regardless of serological response, should be monitored. This group could be considered as a target for chemoprophylaxis
The intergenerational association between parents' problem gambling and impulsivity-hyperactivity/inattention behaviors in children
Despite the well-established association between problem gambling and ADHD core categories of impulsivity-hyperactivity and inattention, the link between parents’ problem gambling and impulsivity-hyperactivity/inattention (IH/I) behaviors in children has not been investigated. This study investigated the association between parents’ problem gambling and children’s IH/I behaviors while controlling for potential confounding variables. A population-based prospective cohort followed-up from kindergarten to age 30, the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Kindergarten Children (QLSKC), provided data over three generations. Among 1358 participants at age 30, parents with a child aged 1 year or older (N=468; Mean age=4.65 years; SD=2.70) were selected. Generalized Linear Models included measures of grandparents’ and parents’ problem gambling, parents’ IH/I behaviors in childhood, and a host of risk factors and comorbidities to predict IH/I in children. Intergenerational bivariate associations were observed between grandparents’ problem gambling, parents’ IH/I in childhood and problem gambling at age 30, and between parents’ IH/I, problem gambling, and children’s IH/I behaviors. Parents’ problem gambling predicted children’s IH/I behaviors above and beyond the effects of covariates such as family and socioeconomic characteristics, alcohol and drug use, depression symptoms and parents’ gambling involvement. Parents’ IH/I behaviors in childhood also predicted children’s IH/I and had a moderating, enhancing effect on parents’ problem gambling association with their offspring’s IH/I behaviors. Problem gambling is a characteristic of parents’ mental health that is distinctively associated with children’s IH/I behaviors, above and beyond parents’ own history of IH/I and of typically related addictive, psychopathological or socioeconomic risk factors and comorbidities
Nucleo-cytoplasmic transport of proteins and RNA in plants
Merkle T. Nucleo-cytoplasmic transport of proteins and RNA in plants. Plant Cell Reports. 2011;30(2):153-176.Transport of macromolecules between the nucleus and the cytoplasm is an essential necessity in eukaryotic cells, since the nuclear envelope separates transcription from translation. In the past few years, an increasing number of components of the plant nuclear transport machinery have been characterised. This progress, although far from being completed, confirmed that the general characteristics of nuclear transport are conserved between plants and other organisms. However, plant-specific components were also identified. Interestingly, several mutants in genes encoding components of the plant nuclear transport machinery were investigated, revealing differential sensitivity of plant-specific pathways to impaired nuclear transport. These findings attracted attention towards plant-specific cargoes that are transported over the nuclear envelope, unravelling connections between nuclear transport and components of signalling and developmental pathways. The current state of research in plants is summarised in comparison to yeast and vertebrate systems, and special emphasis is given to plant nuclear transport mutants