Comfort from the perspective of families of people hospitalized in the intensive care unit

This study aimed at understanding the meaning of comfort to the families of people in intensive care units. It consists of a qualitative study carried out in the intensive care unit of a hospital in Salvador-Bahia. Fourteen family members were interviewed. The authors utilized the theoretical principles of symbolic interactionism and the technique of qualitative data analysis. Results indicated that the categories Safety, Receptiveness, Information, Proximity, Social and Spiritual Support, Convenience and Integration expressed the meaning of comfort, which was comprised of reliability in terms of technical-scientific competence and a supportive and sensitive attitude of the team, chance of recovery, access to information and the opportunity to be close to the patient, support of people in their social life, spiritual sources and the environmental structure of the hospital, preservation of self-care and routine activities. It was concluded that the family is important as objects and subjects of the actions in healthcare and must be the focus in public health policies and programs in Brazil

Hybrid Approach in Microscale Transport Phenomena: Application to Biodiesel Synthesis in Micro-reactors

A hybrid engineering approach to the study of transport phenomena, based on the synergy among computational, analytical, and experimental methodologies is reviewed. The focus of the chapter is on fundamental analysis and proof of concept developments in the use of nano- and micro-technologies for energy efficiency and heat and mass transfer enhancement applications. The hybrid approach described herein combines improved lumped-differential modeling, hybrid numericalanalytical solution methods, mixed symbolic-numerical computations, and advanced experimental techniques for micro-scale transport phenomena. An application dealing with micro-reactors for continuous synthesis of biodiesel is selected to demonstrate the instrumental role of the hybrid approach in achieving improved design and enhanced performance

Improvement of regeneration in pepper: a recalcitrant species

[EN] Organogenesis is influenced by factors like genotype, type of explant, culture medium components, and incubation conditions. The influence of ethylene, which can be produced in the culture process, can also be a limiting factor in recalcitrant species like pepper. In this work, bud induction was achieved from cotyledons and hypocotyls-from eight pepper cultivars-on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 22.2 mu M 6-benzyladenine (6BA) and 5.71 mu M indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), in media with or without silver nitrate (SN) (58.86 mu M), a suppressor of ethylene action. In the SN-supplemented medium, the frequencies of explants with buds and with callus formation were lower in both kinds of explant, but higher numbers of developed shoots were isolated from explants cultured on SN. Bud elongation was better in medium with gibberellic acid (GA(3)) (2.88 mu M) than in medium free of growth regulators or supplemented with 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) at 34.5 mu M. However, isolation of shoots was difficult and few plants were recovered. The effect of adding SN following bud induction (at 7 d) and that of dark incubation (the first 7 d of culture) was also assessed in order to improve the previous results. When SN was added after bud induction, similar percentages of bud induction were found for cotyledons (average frequency 89.37% without SN and 94.37% with SN) whereas they doubled in hypocotyls (50% without SN and 87.7% with SN). In addition, in both kinds of explant, the number of developed plants able to be transferred to soil (developed and rooted) was greatly increased by SN. Dark incubation does not seem to improve organogenesis in pepper, and hypocotyl explants clearly represent a better explant choice-with respect to cotyledonary explants-for the pepper cultivars assayed.We thank the COMAV germplasm bank at Universitat Politecnica de Valencia and the Arid Lands Institute for pepper seeds and the Tunisian Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research who fund N. Gammoudi's stay.Gammoudi, N.; San Pedro-Galan, T.; Ferchichi, A.; Gisbert Domenech, MC. (2018). Improvement of regeneration in pepper: a recalcitrant species. In Vitro Cellular & Developmental Biology - Plant. 54(2):145-153. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11627-017-9838-1S145153542Ashrafuzzaman M, Hossain MM, Razi Ismail M, Shahidul Haque M, Shahidullah SM, Uz Zaman S (2009) Regeneration potential of seedling explants of chilli (Capsicum annuum). Afr J Biotechnol 8:591–596Bortesi L, Fischer R (2015) The CRISPR/Cas9 system for plant genome editing and beyond. Biotechnol Adv 33:41–52Brooks C, Nekrasov V, Lippman ZB, Van Eck J (2014) Efficient gene editing in tomato in the first generation using the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/CRISPR-associated9 system. Plant Physiol 166:1292–1297Brown DC, Thorpe TA (1995) Crop improvement through tissue culture. World J Microbiol Biotechnol 11:409–415Carvalho MAF, Paiva R, Stein VC, Herrera RC, Porto JMP, Vargas DP, Alves E (2014) Induction and morpho-ultrastructural analysis of organogenic calli of a wild passion fruit. Braz Arch Biol Technol 57:581–859Christopher T, Rajam MV (1996) Effect of genotype, explant and medium on in vitro regeneration of red pepper. Plant CellTiss Org Cult 46:245–250Dabauza M, Peña L (2001) High efficiency organogenesis in sweet pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) tissues from different seedling explants. Plant Growth Regul 33:221–229De Filippis LF (2014) Crop improvement through tissue culture. In: Ahmad P, Wani MR, Azooz MM, Tran LSP (eds) Improvement of crops in the era of climate changes, vol 1. Springer, New York, pp 289–346Gammoudi N, Ben Yahia L, Lachiheb B, Ferchichi A (2016) Salt response in pepper (Capsicum annuum L.): components of photosynthesis inhibition, proline accumulation and K+/Na+ selectivity. JJ Aridland Agri 2:1–12González A, Arigita L, Majada J, Sánchez Tamés R (1997) Ethylene involvement in in vitro organogenesis and plant growth of Populus tremula L. Plant Growth Regul 22:1–6Grozeva S, Rodeva V, Todorova V (2012) In vitro shoot organogenesis in Bulgarian sweet pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) varieties. EJBio 8:39–44Gunay AL, Rao PS (1978) In vitro plant regeneration from hypocotyls and cotyledon explants of red pepper (Capsicum). Plant Sci Lett 11:365–372Huxter TJ, Thorpe TA, Reid DM (1981) Shoot initiation in light- and dark-grown tobacco callus: the role of ethylene. 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Plant Cell Rep 9:360–364Maligeppagol M, Manjula R, Navale PM, Babu KP, Kumbar BM, Laxman RH (2016) Genetic transformation of chilli (Capsicum annuum L.) with Dreb1A transcription factor known to impart drought tolerance. Indian J Biotechnol 15:17–24Mantiri FR, Kurdyukov S, Chen SK, Rose RJ (2008) The transcription factor MtSERF1 may function as a nexus between stress and development in somatic embryogenesis in Medicago truncatula. Plant Signal Behav 3:498–500Mezghani N, Jemmali A, Elloumi N, Gargouri-Bouzid R, Kintzios S (2007) Morpho-histological study on shoot bud regeneration in cotyledon cultures of pepper (Capsicum annuum). Biologia 62:704–710Mohamed-Yasseen Y (2001) Influence of agar and activated charcoal on uptake of gibberellin and plant morphogenesis in vitro. In Vitro Cell Dev Biol - Plant 37:204–205Moshkov IE, Novikova GV, Hall MA, George EF (2008) Plant growth regulators III: ethylene. In: George EF, Hall MA, Klerk G-JD (eds) Plant propagation by tissue culture, vol 1, 3rdedn. Springer, Dordrecht, The Netherlands, pp 239–248Murashige T, Skoog F (1962) A revised medium for rapid growth and bioassays with tobacco tissue cultures. Physiol Plant 15:473–497Nogueira RC, Paiva R, de Oliveira LM, Soares GA, Soares FP, Castro AHF, Paiva PDO (2007) Calli induction from leaf explants of murici-pequeno (Byrsonima intermedia A. Juss.) Ciênc Agrotec 31:366–370Ochoa-Alejo N, Ramirez-Malagon R (2001) In vitro chili pepper biotechnology. In Vitro Cell Devl Biol Plant 37:701–729Orlińska M, Nowaczy P (2015) In vitro plant regeneration of 4 Capsicum spp. genotypes using different explant types. Turk J Biol 39:60–68Reid MS (1995) Ethylene in plant growth, development and senescence. In: Davies PJ (ed) Plant hormones: physiology, biochemistry and molecular biology, 2nd edn. Kluwer Acad Publ, Dordrecht, The Netherlands, pp 486–508Sanatombi K, Sharma GJ (2008) In vitro plant regeneration in six cultivars of Capsicum spp. using different explants. Biol Plant 52:141–145Santana-Buzzy N, Canto-Flick A, Barahona-Pérez F, Montalvo-Peniche MC, Zapata-Castillo PY, Solís-Ruiz A, Zaldívar-Collí A, Gutiérrez-Alonso O, Miranda-Ham ML (2005) Regeneration of habanero pepper (Capsicum chinense Jacq.) via organogenesis. Hortscience 40:1829–1831Santana-Buzzy N, Canto-Flick A, Iglesias-Andreu LG, Montalvo-Peniche MC, López-Puc G, Barahona-Pérez F (2006) Improvement of in vitro culturing of habanero pepper by inhibition of ethylene effects. Hortscience 41:405–409Sawai S, Ohyama K, Yasumoto S, Seki H, Sakuma T, Yamamoto T, Takebayashi Y, Kojima M, Sakakibara H, Aoki T, Muranaka T, Saito K, Umemoto N (2014) Sterol side chain reductase 2 is a key enzyme in the biosynthesis of cholesterol, the common precursor of toxic steroidal glycoalkaloids in potato. Plant Cell 26:3763–3774Shah SH, Ali S, Jan SA, Din J, Ali GM (2014) Assessment of silver nitrate on callus induction and in vitro shoot regeneration in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum Mill.) Pakistan J Bot 46:2163–2172Steinitz B, Wolf D, Matzevitch-Josef T, Zelcer A (1999) Regeneration in vitro and genetic transformation of pepper (Capsicum spp.): the current state of the art. Capsicum Eggplant Plant Newsletter 18:9–15Tamimi SM (2015) Effects of ethylene inhibitors, silver nitrate (AgNO3), cobalt chloride (CoCl2) and aminooxyacetic acid (AOA), on in vitro shoot induction and rooting of banana (Musa acuminata L.) Afr J Biotechnol 14:2510–2516Trujillo-Moya C, Gisbert C (2012) The influence of ethylene and ethylene modulators on shoot organogenesis in tomato. Plant Cell Tissue Organ Cult 111:41–48Yasmin S, Mensuali-Sodi A, Perata P, Pucciariello C (2014) Ethylene influences in vitro regeneration frequency in the FR13A rice harbouring the SUB1A gene. 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The Global COVID-19 Observatory and Resource Center for Childhood Cancer: A response for the pediatric oncology community by SIOP and St. Jude Global

The COVID-19 pandemic quickly led to an abundance of publications and recommendations, despite a paucity of information on how COVID-19 affects children with cancer. This created a dire need for a trusted resource with curated information and a space for the pediatric oncology community to share experiences. The Global COVID-19 Observatory and Resource Center for Childhood Cancer was developed, launched, and maintained by the International Society of Pediatric Oncology and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. The three components (Resource Library, Global Registry, and Collaboration Space) complement each other, establishing a mechanism to generate and transfer knowledge rapidly throughout the community

Global characteristics and outcomes of SARS-CoV-2 infection in children and adolescents with cancer (GRCCC): a cohort study

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have shown that children and adolescents with COVID-19 generally have mild disease. Children and adolescents with cancer, however, can have severe disease when infected with respiratory viruses. In this study, we aimed to understand the clinical course and outcomes of SARS-CoV-2 infection in children and adolescents with cancer. METHODS: We did a cohort study with data from 131 institutions in 45 countries. We created the Global Registry of COVID-19 in Childhood Cancer to capture de-identified data pertaining to laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infections in children and adolescents (<19 years) with cancer or having received a haematopoietic stem-cell transplantation. There were no centre-specific exclusion criteria. The registry was disseminated through professional networks through email and conferences and health-care providers were invited to submit all qualifying cases. Data for demographics, oncological diagnosis, clinical course, and cancer therapy details were collected. Primary outcomes were disease severity and modification to cancer-directed therapy. The registry remains open to data collection. FINDINGS: Of 1520 submitted episodes, 1500 patients were included in the study between April 15, 2020, and Feb 1, 2021. 1319 patients had complete 30-day follow-up. 259 (19·9%) of 1301 patients had a severe or critical infection, and 50 (3·8%) of 1319 died with the cause attributed to COVID-19 infection. Modifications to cancer-directed therapy occurred in 609 (55·8%) of 1092 patients receiving active oncological treatment. Multivariable analysis revealed several factors associated with severe or critical illness, including World Bank low-income or lower-middle-income (odds ratio [OR] 5·8 [95% CI 3·8-8·8]; p<0·0001) and upper-middle-income (1·6 [1·2-2·2]; p=0·0024) country status; age 15-18 years (1·6 [1·1-2·2]; p=0·013); absolute lymphocyte count of 300 or less cells per mm3 (2·5 [1·8-3·4]; p<0·0001), absolute neutrophil count of 500 or less cells per mm3 (1·8 [1·3-2·4]; p=0·0001), and intensive treatment (1·8 [1·3-2·3]; p=0·0005). Factors associated with treatment modification included upper-middle-income country status (OR 0·5 [95% CI 0·3-0·7]; p=0·0004), primary diagnosis of other haematological malignancies (0·5 [0·3-0·8]; p=0·0088), the presence of one of more COVID-19 symptoms at the time of presentation (1·8 [1·3-2·4]; p=0·0002), and the presence of one or more comorbidities (1·6 [1·1-2·3]; p=0·020). INTERPRETATION: In this global cohort of children and adolescents with cancer and COVID-19, severe and critical illness occurred in one fifth of patients and deaths occurred in a higher proportion than is reported in the literature in the general paediatric population. Additionally, we found that variables associated with treatment modification were not the same as those associated with greater disease severity. These data could inform clinical practice guidelines and raise awareness globally that children and adolescents with cancer are at high-risk of developing severe COVID-19 illness. FUNDING: American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities and the National Cancer Institute

Characterizing the Clinical Features and Atrophy Patterns of MAPT-Related Frontotemporal Dementia With Disease Progression Modeling

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Mutations in the MAPT gene cause frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Most previous studies investigating the neuroanatomical signature of MAPT mutations have grouped all different mutations together and shown an association with focal atrophy of the temporal lobe. However, the variability in atrophy patterns between each particular MAPT mutation is less well characterised. We aimed to investigate whether there were distinct groups of MAPT mutation carriers based on their neuroanatomical signature. METHODS: We applied Subtype and Stage Inference (SuStaIn), an unsupervised machine learning technique that identifies groups of individuals with distinct progression patterns, to characterise patterns of regional atrophy in MAPT-associated FTD within the Genetic FTD Initiative (GENFI) cohort study. RESULTS: 82 MAPT mutation carriers were analysed, the majority of whom had P301L, IVS10+16 or R406W mutations, along with 48 healthy non-carriers. SuStaIn identified two groups of MAPT mutation carriers with distinct atrophy patterns: a 'temporal' subtype in which atrophy was most prominent in the hippocampus, amygdala, temporal cortex and insula, and a 'frontotemporal' subtype in which atrophy was more localised to the lateral temporal lobe and anterior insula, as well as the orbitofrontal and ventromedial prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate. There was a one-to-one mapping between IVS10+16 and R406W mutations and the temporal subtype, and a near one-to-one mapping between P301L mutations and the frontotemporal subtype. There were differences in clinical symptoms and neuropsychological test scores between subtypes: the temporal subtype was associated with amnestic symptoms, whereas the frontotemporal subtype was associated with executive dysfunction. DISCUSSION: Our results demonstrate that different MAPT mutations give rise to distinct atrophy patterns and clinical phenotype, providing insights into the underlying disease biology, and potential utility for patient stratification in therapeutic trials