Consensus Paper: Radiological Biomarkers of Cerebellar Diseases

Hereditary and sporadic cerebellar ataxias represent a vast and still growing group of diseases whose diagnosis and differentiation cannot only rely on clinical evaluation. Brain imaging including magnetic resonance (MR) and nuclear medicine techniques allows for characterization of structural and functional abnormalities underlying symptomatic ataxias. These methods thus constitute a potential source of radiological biomarkers, which could be used to identify these diseases and differentiate subgroups of them, and to assess their severity and their evolution. Such biomarkers mainly comprise qualitative and quantitative data obtained from MR including proton spectroscopy, diffusion imaging, tractography, voxel-based morphometry, functional imaging during task execution or in a resting state, and from SPETC and PET with several radiotracers. In the current article, we aim to illustrate briefly some applications of these neuroimaging tools to evaluation of cerebellar disorders such as inherited cerebellar ataxia, fetal developmental malformations, and immune-mediated cerebellar diseases and of neurodegenerative or early-developing diseases, such as dementia and autism in which cerebellar involvement is an emerging feature. Although these radiological biomarkers appear promising and helpful to better understand ataxia-related anatomical and physiological impairments, to date, very few of them have turned out to be specific for a given ataxia with atrophy of the cerebellar system being the main and the most usual alteration being observed. Consequently, much remains to be done to establish sensitivity, specificity, and reproducibility of available MR and nuclear medicine features as diagnostic, progression and surrogate biomarkers in clinical routine

Spatially explicit models in local Ddynamics analysis: the potential natural vegetation (PNV) as a tool for beach and coastal management

The concept of Potential Natural Vegetation (PNV) and its mapping have become extremely important within the scope of habitat restoration in almost every European country. The aim of this study is to predict the PNV in the sites of Natura 2000 Network ‘Sado Estuary’ and ‘Comporta-Galé’ based on the vegetation series and the main environmental variables. The modelling approach is based on the distribution of communities referred to as classification then modelling. Subsequently, several statistical model-fitting techniques, such as regression models, machine learning and rule-based, were successfully applied to the survey data (9 vegetation series; and 7 environmental/predictor variables). The spatial database was organized as a Geographic Information System (GIS) and was also used to perform the Species Distribution Models (SDM) at community level. The results show a high correspondence between the vegetation series and the environmental gradients. The predicted PNV maps based on the Maximum Entropy Model were validated with the official map of the PNV of the sites of Natura 2000 Network ‘Sado Estuary’ and ‘Comporta-Galé’, and presented an overall accuracy of 86%. Often, conservation planning and biodiversity resource management is carried out at more detailed scales, where SDM allows integration of community direct observations and improve our interpretation of PNV local distributions along environmental gradients VNP in beach and coastal sand dunes environments.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Inclusion of Sunflower Oil in the Bovine Diet Improves Milk Nutritional Profile

Milk and its derivatives are important foods that contribute to daily nutrient requirements and improve consumers’ health. This study evaluated the effects of supplementing the diet of lactating dairy cows with sunflower oil (SFO), selenium, and vitamin E on the milk’s fatty acid profile and fat oxidative stability as well as the acceptability of the milk by consumers. For this purpose, 32 Jersey dairy cows were allocated to four treatment groups for 60 days, as follows: C (control diet); A (3.5 mg/kg DM (dry matter) organic selenium + 2000 IU vitamin E/cow per day); O (4% SFO DM); OA (equal doses of A and O treatments). The inclusion of SFO decreased the contents of 10:0, 10:1, 11:0, 12:0, 12:1, 14:0, and 9c-14:1 fatty acids as well as odd- and branched-chain fatty acids (13:0, iso 13:0, anteiso 13:0, 15:0, iso 15:0, and 17:0). There was also a tendency for 8:0 and 16:0 fatty acid concentrations to decrease when SFO was included in the cows´ diet. SFO decreased the concentration of 10:0 to 15:0 fatty acids in milk. The sum of the conjugated linoleic acids (CLAs), conjugated alpha-linolenic acid intermediates (CLnAs; 18:3 ω6 + 18:3 ω3), and 22:0 fatty acids in milk tended to increase, and there were significant increases in 18:0 and 9c11t-18:2 with SFO. In terms of the effects of SFO on the health-related lipid indices, the atherogenicity index tended to decrease and h/H tended to increase. When cows were supplemented with antioxidants, the concentration of 20:2 fatty acids decreased, the 6 + 7 + 8 + 9t-18:1, 16t-18:1, 20:0, 22:2, and 24:0 fatty acid concentrations increased, and there was a trend for the 22:1 ω9 fatty acid concentration to increase with antioxidants plus oil. There was a tendency for ω6 fatty acids and ω6/ω3 to increase with milk treated with antioxidants plus oil. The oxidative stability of milk was not influenced by the presence of SFO or antioxidants in the diet of dairy cows. Consumers desired the color and mouthfeel of the milk that was treated with SFO. Cows fed with 4% sunflower oil produced milk with an improved fatty acid profile for human nutrition, containing a higher CLA content and an improved ratio of hypocholesterolemic and hypercholesterolemic fatty acids, without increasing the milk’s susceptibility to oxidation. The milk was also rated as being more acceptable by consumers

Sociodemographic Characteristics, Behavioral Problems, Parental Concerns and Children’s Strengths Reported by Parents

Parental report is essential to understand adaptive difficulties in childhood. The aim of the study was to identify concerns of parents and qualities of children reported by parents, as well as the association of these variables with sociodemographic factors and child behavior problems. Parents of 353 schoolchildren from three public schools and one private school took part in the study. Assessment of behavior problems and parental reports about concerns and children’s strengths were obtained from the Child Behavior Checklist - CBCL. We submitted parents’ answers to the open-ended questions in the CBCL to a lexical analysis with the IRAMUTEQ software. Results concerning ‘strengths’ were related to affective and social interaction, while ‘concerns’ were related to academic performance and prevention of behavior problems. We concluded that parent concerns are targets of preventive interventions in childhood, while child strengths reported by parents are skills that need to be developed, as they help in adaptive functioning.El relato de padres es esencial para la comprensión de dificultades adaptativas de niños. Los objetivos de este estudio fueron identificar preocupaciones y cualidades relatadas por padres y verificar sus asociaciones con fatores sociodemográficos y problemas de conducta. Fueron participantes 353 padres de alumnos de cuatro escuelas públicas y una privada. La evaluación de problemas de comportamiento de los hijos y el relato de los padres sobre preocupaciones y cualidades fueron obtenidos con la Lista de Comportamientos para Niños y Adolescentes (CBCL). Conducimos un análisis lexical de las respuestas a las preguntas abiertas de la CBCL mediante el software IRAMUTEQ. Los resultados sobre las cualidades del niño fueron relacionados con la interacción afectiva y social. Las preocupaciones estuvieron relacionadas al desempeño académico y la prevención de problemas de comportamiento. Concluimos que las preocupaciones de los padres indican metas para intervenciones preventivas en la infancia, mientras que las cualidades, si desarrolladas, podrán auxiliar el funcionamento adaptativo.O relato de pais é essencial na compreensão de dificuldades adaptativas na infância. O objetivo do estudo foi identificar preocupações dos pais e qualidades dos filhos, relatadas pelos pais, bem como a associação dessas variáveis com fatores sociodemográficos e problemas de comportamento das crianças. Participaram 353 pais de alunos de três escolas públicas e uma escola privada. A avaliação de problemas de comportamento dos filhos e o relato dos pais sobre preocupações e qualidades foram obtidos com o Inventário de Comportamentos para Crianças e Adolescentes - CBCL. As respostas às questões abertas do CBCL foram submetidas à análise lexical no software IRAMUTEQ. Resultados sobre qualidades da criança foram relacionados à interação afetiva e social. As preocupações foram relacionadas a desempenho acadêmico e prevenção de problemas de comportamento. Concluímos que as preocupações relatadas são indicativas de alvos para intervenções preventivas e as qualidades, se desenvolvidas, poderão auxiliar no funcionamento adaptativo