Perivascular adipose tissue as a relevant fat depot for cardiovascular risk in obesity

Obesity is associated with increased risk of premature death, morbidity, and mortality from several cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), including stroke, coronary heart disease (CHD), myocardial infarction, and congestive heart failure. However, this is not a straightforward relationship. Although several studies have substantiated that obesity confers an independent and additive risk of all-cause and cardiovascular death, there is significant variability in these associations, with some lean individuals developing diseases and others remaining healthy despite severe obesity, the so-called metabolically healthy obese. Part of this variability has been attributed to the heterogeneity in both the distribution of body fat and the intrinsic properties of adipose tissue depots, including developmental origin, adipogenic and proliferative capacity, glucose and lipid metabolism, hormonal control, thermogenic ability, and vascularization. In obesity, these depot-specific differences translate into specific fat distribution patterns, which are closely associated with differential cardiometabolic risks. The adventitial fat layer, also known as perivascular adipose tissue (PVAT), is of major importance. Similar to the visceral adipose tissue, PVAT has a pathophysiological role in CVDs. PVAT influences vascular homeostasis by releasing numerous vasoactive factors, cytokines, and adipokines, which can readily target the underlying smooth muscle cell layers, regulating the vascular tone, distribution of blood flow, as well as angiogenesis, inflammatory processes, and redox status. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge and discuss the role of PVAT within the scope of adipose tissue as a major contributing factor to obesity-associated cardiovascular risk. Relevant clinical studies documenting the relationship between PVAT dysfunction and CVD with a focus on potential mechanisms by which PVAT contributes to obesity-related CVDs are pointed out

Optimal Inverter-Based Resource Installation to Minimize Technical Energy Losses in Distribution Systems

This paper proposes an algorithm for the optimal installation of inverter-based resources (IBR) composed of wind energy conversion systems, photovoltaic systems, and battery energy storage systems in distribution systems using genetic algorithm (GA) and the cuckoo search (CS) as optimization techniques. The OpenDSS software is used to calculate the power flow in the distribution system with different penetration levels of IBRs. It is used a standard load shape of the IEEE 123 bus system programmed in OpenDSS and irradiance, temperature, and wind speed curves from Brazil. The proposed algorithm, using a genetic algorithm and cuckoo search, was able to define the quantity and the location of hybrid renewable generation arrangements reducing electrical energy losses. Case studies were carried out for maximum penetration from 20% to 60%, totaling 5 cases, where each simulation was performed for a period of 24 hours. It is simple, fast and efficient, achieving satisfactory results and being able to be applied to larger systems. The proposed method stands out for the possibility of using IBR in conjunction with energy storage, in addition to having a customizable hybrid array and being able to carry out case studies with high penetration while optimally locating and sizing the hybrid array configured accordingly with the needs of each problem, reducing losses and maintaining the quality of the system\u27s electrical voltage

Primary Tuberculosis of the Esophagus

Os autores reportam o caso de uma doente de 38 anos de idade com um quadro clínico de odinofagia, dor retroesternal e emagrecimento. Os exames complementares de diagnóstico revelaram a presença de uma lesão ulcerada no esófago, como forma de manifestação de tuberculose primária do esófago. A Tuberculose esofágica é uma doença pouco frequente, sendo responsável por 0,15% da mortalidade por tuberculose. A Tuberculose primária do esófago, sem envolvimento de outros órgãos, como o nosso caso clínico, é ainda mais raro. A maioria dos casos é tratada de forma eficaz com tuberculostáticos, sendo que o atraso no diagnóstico e início da terapêutica dita um mau prognóstico

The variability behavior of CoRoT M-giant Stars

For 6 years the Convection, Rotation, and Planetary Transits (CoRoT) space mission has acquired photometric data from more than one hundred thousand point sources towards and directly opposite from the inner and outer regions of the Galaxy. The high temporal resolution of the CoRoT data combined with the wide time span of the observations has enabled the study of short and long time variations in unprecedented detail. From the initial sample of 2534 stars classified as M-giants in the CoRoT databasis, we selected 1428 targets that exhibit well defined variability, using visual inspection. The variability period and amplitude of C1 stars (stars having Teff < 4200 K) were computed using Lomb-Scargle and harmonic fit methods. The trends found in the V-I vs J-K color-color diagram are in agreement with standard empirical calibrations for M-giants. The sources located towards the inner regions of the Galaxy are distributed throughout the diagram while the majority of the stars towards the outer regions of the Galaxy are spread between the calibrations of M-giants and the predicted position for Carbon stars. The stars classified as supergiants follow a different sequence from the one found for giant stars. We also performed a KS test of the period and amplitude of stars towards the inner and outer regions of the Galaxy. We obtained a low probability that the two samples come from the same parent distribution. The observed behavior of the period-amplitude and period-Teff diagrams are, in general, in agreement with those found for Kepler sources and ground based photometry, with pulsation being the dominant cause responsible for the observed modulation. We also conclude that short-time variations on M-Giant stars do not exist orare very rare and the few cases we found are possibly related to biases or background stars.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figure

Photon-number-resolving segmented avalanche-photodiode detectors

We investigate the feasibility and performance of photon-number-resolved photodetection employing avalanche photodiodes (APDs) with low dark counts. The main idea is to split n photons over m modes such that every mode has no more than one photon, which is detected alongside propagation by an APD. We characterize performance by evaluating the purities of positive-operator-valued measurements (POVMs), in terms of APD number and photon loss.Comment: 5 pages, 7 figures, submitted for publicatio