Two new cases of de novo small supernumerary marker chromosomes (sSMC) detected at prenatal diagnosis

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Modified kraske procedure with mid-sacrectomy and coccygectomy for en bloc excision of sacral giant cell tumors.

Sacral giant cell tumors are rare neoplasms, histologically benign but potentially very aggressive due to the difficulty in achieving a complete resection, their high recurrence rate, and metastization capability. Although many treatment options have been proposed, en bloc excision with tumor-free margins seems to be the most effective, being associated with long term tumor control, improved outcome, and potential cure. An exemplifying case of a 29-year-old female with progressive complaints of pain and paresthesias in the sacral and perianal regions, constipation, and weight loss for 6 months is presented. The surgical technique for en bloc excision of a large sacral giant cell tumor through a modified Kraske procedure with mid-sacrectomy and coccygectomy is described. Complete resection with wide tumor-free margins was achieved. At 5 years of follow-up the patient is neurologically intact, without evidence of local recurrence on imaging studies. A multidisciplinary surgical procedure is mandatory to completely remove sacral tumors. In the particular case of giant cell tumors, it allows minimizing local recurrence preserving neurovascular function, through a single dorsal and definitive approach

A Novel Biomanufacturing System to Produce Multi-Material Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering: Concept and Preliminary Results

This research work aims to validate a new system that enables the fabrication of multimaterial 3D structures using poly(e-caprolactone) and sodium alginate for potential use in Tissue Engineering applications. To produce multi-material scaffolds for Tissue Engineering, accurate techniques are needed to obtain three-dimensional constructs with clinically appropriate size and structural integrity. This paper presents a novel biomanufacturing system which can fabricate 3D scaffolds with precise shape and porosity, through the control of all fabrication modules by an integrated computational platform. The incorporation of a clean flow unit and a camera makes it possible to produce scaffolds in a clean environment and provides a monitoring tool to analyse constructs during the production, respectively.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Propranolol resolution using enantioselective biphasic systems

The commercialization of chiral drugs is an increasing concern in the pharmacological field since the differences in the pharmacological activities of enantiomers may result in serious problems in the treatment of diseases using racemates. The resolution of chiral drugs is important for the development of safer and more active pharmaceuticals. This work aims to develop an enantioseparation platform for the resolution of propranolol (R/S-PRP) resorting to esters of tartaric acid and chiral ionic liquids (CILs) as chiral selectors in biphasic systems. More specifically, the efficiency of enantioselective liquid–liquid extraction (ELLE) systems, both aqueous and non-aqueous biphasic systems, are here studied, aiming to do a direct comparison between these two types of systems for the resolution of R/S-PRP. Studies were carried to evaluate the proper phase forming components of ELLE, R/S-PRP:chiral selector ratio, the potential of CIL over esters of tartaric acid, and the most suitable alkyl chain length for the esters of tartaric acid. It was found that the selected organic phase formers of ELLE, 1,2-dichloroethane and ethyl acetate, greatly impact the potential of the enantiorecognition of the system. The most efficient biphasic system identified was composed of 1,2-dichloroethane- water, and dipentyl-L-tartrate and boric acid as chiral selectors, with a enantioselectivity of 2.54. This system was further employed for the resolution of R/S-PRP in centrifugal partition chromatography, to assess its scalability potential, being shown that it was possible to increase the purity of R-PRP from 59% to 75%.publishe

Direct integration of micro-LEDs and a SPAD detector on a silicon CMOS chip for data communications and time-of-flight ranging

We present integration of singulated micron-sized light emitting diodes (micro-LEDs) directly onto a silicon CMOS drive chip using a transfer printing method. An 8x8 micro-LED device array with individual control over each pixel is demonstrated with modulation bandwidths up to 50 MHz, limited by the large modulation depth of the driver chip. The 2 kHz frame rate CMOS driver also incorporates a Single Photon Avalanche Diode device thus allowing detection and transmission functionality on a single integrated chip. Visible light communications at data rates up to 1 Mbps, and time-of-flight ranging with cm-scale resolution are demonstrated using this hybrid integrated system

A selective journey: enantioselective biphasic systems for the resolution of propranolol

Enantiomers may have different biological properties, leading to complications when using racemates for the treatment of diseases. Considering the difficulty in the synthesis of pure enantiomers, the synthesis of racemates followed by their chiral resolution is deemed as a simpler and cheaper alternative. Enantioselective liquid-liquid extraction (ELLE) is a promising separation process. ELLE is composed of two immiscible phases that enable the optimization of enantioseparation through the addition of a chiral selector, such as chiral ionic liquids (CIL) or tartaric acid derivatives. Upon their introduction in ELLE, these chiral selectors may help increase the selectivity of the system, contributing to high performant extraction/separation approaches. In this work, CILs and tartaric acid derivatives were used in biphasic systems as chiral selectors, aiming to separate R/S-propranolol (R/S-PRP) enantiomers. The most promising system was applied in centrifugal partition chromatography to further improve the enantiomeric purification rates.publishe

Design of a liquid-liquid extraction platform for the resolution of chiral pharmaceuticals

Enantiomers have different pharmacological properties, which can hinder the treatment of pathologies using racemic drugs. Racemates represent around 90 % of the commercialized chiral drugs, raising concerns by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration of United States) and EMA (European Medicines Agency). Therefore, the commercialization of the therapeutically active isomer should be preferential. Obtaining the pure enantiomer relies on direct synthesis or resolution of the existing racemates. Resolution is often considered a simpler and cheaper alternative. Enantioselective liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) is a promising separation process that can be operated in a continuous mode. LLE are composed of two tunable immiscible phases that allow the optimization of enantioseparation by the addition of a chiral selector, which is responsible for the chiral recognition. If the two immiscible phases are composed mainly of water, then the system is an aqueous biphasic system (ABS). Since the majority component of ABS is water, they are considered green, economical and reliable systems. A major advantage of LLE is that it can comprise both enantiomeric recognition and solvent extraction on a single technique. Ionic liquids are alternative solvents with great structural diversity, allowing the design of task-specific solvents, including chiral ionic liquids (CILs). The introduction of CILs in LLE may contribute to high performant extraction/separation systems. Another promising class of green chiral selectors is the tartaric acid esters family which in conjugation with boric acid appear as promising adjuvants for the LLE systems. In this work, two different approaches were explored for the purification of propranolol enantiomers using LLE and ABS. In the first one, CILs and tartaric acid esters were used in LLE systems as chiral selectors, and in the second one, CILs and tartaric acid esters were used as chiral selectors in polymer-polymer-based ABS. The best outcome was scaled-up resorting to centrifugal partition chromatography (CPC).publishe

Gigabit per second visible light communication based on AlGaInP red micro-LED micro-transfer printed onto diamond and glass

Full-color smart displays, which act both as a display and as a high-speed visible light communication (VLC) transmitter, can be realized by the integration of red-green-blue micron-sized light emitting diodes (micro-LEDs) onto a common platform. In this work, we report on the integration of aluminum gallium indium phosphide red micro-LEDs onto diamond and glass substrates by micro-transfer printing and their application in VLC. The device on-diamond exhibits high current density and bandwidth operation, enabled by diamond's superior thermal properties. Employing an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing modulation scheme, error-free data rates of 2.6 Gbps and 5 Gbps are demonstrated for a single micro-LED printed on-glass and on-diamond, respectively. In a parallel configuration, a 2x1 micro-LED array achieves error-free data rates of 3 Gbps and 6.6 Gbps, on-glass and on-diamond, respectively

Temperature but not leptin prevents semi-starvation induced hyperactivity in rats: implications for anorexia nervosa treatment

The hypothesis linking hyperactivity with weight loss associated hypoleptinemia in anorexia nervosa gained momentum after a study showing that leptin suppressed semi-starvation induced hyperactivity in rats. Alternatively, ambient temperature is a key modulating factor of activity in semi-starved rats. The aim of the study is to compare the efficacy of leptin with increased ambient temperature in the prevention of hyperactivity in semi-starved rats. 74 Sprague-Dawley male rats were employed in two experiments with the difference residing in the length of baseline. After an extended (28 days), or shorter (14 days) baseline with free access to food and the running wheel, housed at 21 degrees C, animals were either ad-lib feed or food restricted (60% of food ingested during previous week) and infused with same amount of leptin at 21 degrees C, 25 degrees C, or vehicle at 21 degrees C, 25 degrees C and 32 degrees C for a week. Animals housed at 32 degrees C significantly reduced wheel running and weight loss during food restriction while animals given leptin did not yield no differences in activity or weight loss. Moreover, unlike animals housed at 32 degrees C, body temperature of leptin infused animals housed at 21 degrees C was significantly reduced during food restriction. Furthermore, leptin treated rats without a preceding stable pattern of activity displayed a severe dysregulation of circadian rhythm in activity and a collapse of body temperature. Housing temperature plays a more critical role than leptin in the regulation of semi-starvation induced hyperactivity in rats, which may be of relevance for the management of hyperactivity in anorexia nervosa

The importance of motivation in knowledge management in organizations: A study in a Portuguese company

Atualmente, as mudanças rápidas e frequentes impulsionadas pela tecnologia da informação e por fenómenos económicos, obrigam a que as organizações e os seus colaboradores tenham de gerir mais rapidamente o conhecimento. Perante este cenário, cada vez mais competitivo e em constante mutação, torna-se imperativo criar, adquirir, renovar, partilhar e utilizar o conhecimento nas organizações de forma estratégica. No entanto, para tal é notória a importância que a motivação dos colaboradores assume neste processo. Deste modo, neste estudo pretende-se verificar se existe relação entre a motivação no trabalho e a gestão do conhecimento nas organizações, em contexto empresarial português. Para este efeito, utilizou-se uma metodologia quantitativa baseada num inquérito por questionário composto por três partes, a primeira analisa a gestão do conhecimento organizacional, a segunda refere-se à motivação no trabalho e a terceira caracteriza o perfil sociodemográfico e profissional dos colaboradores. Na amostra em estudo participaram 58 colaboradores de uma empresa que se dedica ao fabrico de moldes metálicos para o ramo automóvel. Os resultados mostram que a motivação no trabalho está positivamente relacionada com a gestão do conhecimento. Assim, os colaboradores motivados no trabalho para a partilha e transferência do conhecimento são um ativo fundamental que impulsiona a gestão do conhecimento.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio