Pulmonary Effects of Neonatal Hydrocortisone Treatment in Ventilator-Dependent Preterm Infants

Background/Objective. Hydrocortisone, administered to ventilated preterm neonates to facilitate extubation, has no adverse long-term effects, but short-term pulmonary effects have not been described previously. In the present study, we analyzed effects of hydrocortisone on ventilator settings and FiO2 in ventilator-dependent preterm infants. Patients and Methods. Fifty-five preterm children were included in this retrospective cohort study. Hydrocortisone was administered at a postnatal age of > 7 days to treat chronic lung disease (CLD). Ventilator settings before and after hydrocortisone administration were recorded as well as FiO2 at 36 weeks' gestational age. Presence of cerebral palsy was assessed at a mean corrected age of 24.1 months. Results. Hydrocortisone administered at a median postnatal age of 14 days significantly reduced FiO2 from a median of 0.39 to 0.30, mean airway pressure (MAP) from a median of 10.0 cm H2O to 7.6 cm H2O, and PaCO2 from a median of 53.5 mmHg to 47 mmHg. Extubation was achieved in all patients. CLD at 36 weeks was present in 11 of the 52 patients (21.1%). None developed cerebral palsy. Conclusions. Hydrocortisone was effective in reducing the FiO2, MAP, and PaCO2 and facilitated extubation. Hydrocortisone was not associated with cerebral palsy

Participação dos professores na escola

Na proximidade do século XXI, a Escola Portuguesa vive momentos de incerteza, de preocupação e desafio face ao futuro. Estamos perante uma sociedade que não se compadece com uma escola parada no tempo, mas, sim, exige uma escola activa, dinâmica e aberta ao meio. Pretende-se uma escola que desenvolva uma cultura de participação1, que saiba partilhar a educação com a família (principal entidade, responsável pela educação), com os trabalhadores não docentes, com a comunidade envolvente e assim todos possam contribuir para o desenvolvimento pleno e harmonioso da personalidade dos indivíduos, tornando-os cidadãos mais responsáveis e livres na sociedade. É este tipo de escola que é preconizada pela Lei de Bases (Lei nº46 / 86, de 14 de Outubro) e que exige uma mudança do Sistema Tradicional de Ensino. Por isso, a escola de hoje exige novas posturas, novas responsabilidades de todos os que nela intervêm e contribuem para uma melhoria do ensino, quer sejam professores, pais ou outros. Mas, o papel do professor, como principal impulsionador e dinamizador, é e será determinante para o sucesso de qualquer reforma do sistema educativo. O professor assume o papel primordial de dinamizador de participação e de mobilização de todos os outros intervenientes, no sentido de os levar a darem o seu contributo e a assumirem a sua cota parte de responsabilidade na educação, para que a escola possa realizar os seus objectivos. A escola é um local onde se trocam experiências, onde todos os que aí participam vivem um pouco ou grande parte da sua vida. Por isso, é imprescindível que cada um se sinta parte integrante dela. Assim, abordaremos a escola como um espaço de interacção, bem como as formas de participação dos seus intervenientes. Porque compreender a acção dos que fazem a escola leva-nos a conhecer os estatutos de cada membro e os papéis a eles associados, as normas organizacionais que orientam a interacção e o contributo de cada um para a prossecução das actividades. É na conjugação destes factores que se definem as formas de cada um estar na escola

3-200 keV spectral states and variability of the INTEGRAL Black Hole binary IGR J17464-3213

On March 2003, IBIS, the gamma-ray imager on board the INTEGRAL satellite, detected an outburst from a new source, IGR J17464-3213, that turned out to be a HEAO-1 transient, H1743-322. In this paper we report on the high energy behaviour of this BHC studied with the three main instruments onboard INTEGRAL. The data, collected with unprecedented sensitivity in the hard X-Ray range, show a quite hard Comptonised emission from 3 keV up to 150 keV during the rising part of the source outburst, with no thermal emission detectable. A few days later, a prominent soft disk multicolour component appears, with the hard tail luminosity almost unchanged: 10-9 erg*cm-2*s-1. Two months later, during a second monitoring campaign near the end of the outburst, the observed disk component was unchanged. Conversely, the Comptonised emission from the central-hot part of the disk reduced by a factor of 10. We present here its long term behaviour in different energy ranges and the combined JEM-X, SPI and IBIS wide band spectral evolution of this source.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, accepted for pubblication in AP

7-Nitroindazole reduces L-DOPA-induced dyskinesias in non-human Parkinsonian primate

©2023. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ This document is the Submitted, Accepted, Published, version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in Open Biology. To access the final edited and published work see https://doi.org/10.1098/rsob.22037

Neutrino flares from black hole coronae

We present a model for neutrino flares in accreting black holes based on the injection of a non-thermal population of relativistic particles in a magnetized corona. The most important products of hadronic and photohadronic interactions at high energies are pions. Charged pions decay into muons and neutrinos; muons also decay yielding neutrinos. Taking into account these effects, coupled transport equations are solved for all species of particles and the neutrino production is estimated for the case of accreting galactic black holes.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in Advances in Space Researc

The sieve-element endoplasmic reticulum: A focal point of phytoplasma-host plant interaction?

The rough endoplasmic reticulum (r-ER) is of paramount importance for adaptive responses to biotic stresses due to an increased demand for de novo synthesis of immunity-related proteins and signaling components. In nucleate cells, disturbance of r-ER integrity and functionality leads to the “unfolded protein response” (UPR), which is an important component of innate plant immune signalling. In contrast to an abundance of reports on r-ER responses to biotic challenges, sieve-element endoplasmic reticulum (SE-ER) responses to phytoplasma infection have not been investigated. We found that morphological SE-ER changes, associated with phytoplasma infection, are accompanied by differential expression of genes encoding proteins involved in shaping and anchoring the reticulum. Phytoplasma infection also triggers an increased release of bZIP signals from the (SE-ER)/r-ER and consequent differential expression of UPR-related genes. The modified expression patterns seem to reflect a trade-off between survival of host cells, needed for the phytoplasmic biotrophic lifestyle, and phytoplasmas. Specialized plasmodesmata between sieve element and companion cell may provide a corridor for transfer of phytoplasma effectors inducing UPR-related gene expression in companion cells

MAXI J1659-152: the shortest orbital period black-hole binary

Following the detection of a bright new X-ray source, MAXI J1659-152, a series of observations was triggered with almost all currently flying high-energy missions. We report here on XMM-Newton, INTEGRAL and RXTE observations during the early phase of the X-ray outburst of this transient black-hole candidate. We confirm the dipping nature in the X-ray light curves. We find that the dips recur on a period of 2.4139+/-0.0005 hrs, and interpret this as the orbital period of the system. It is thus the shortest period black-hole X-ray binary known to date. Using the various observables, we derive the properties of the source. The inclination of the accretion disk with respect to the line of sight is estimated to be 60-75 degrees. The companion star to the black hole is possibly a M5 dwarf star, with a mass and radius of about 0.15 M_sun and 0.23 R_sun, respectively. The system is rather compact (orbital separation is about 1.35 R_sun) and is located at a distance of roughly 7 kpc. In quiescence, MAXI J1659-152 is expected to be optically faint, about 28 mag in the V-band.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, to be published in the proceedings of the 4th International MAXI Workshop `The First Year of MAXI: Monitoring variable X-ray sources', 2010 Nov 30 - Dec 2, Tokyo, Japa

AVALIAÇÃO DE CENÁRIOS PARA PAGAMENTOS DE SERVIÇOS AMBIENTAIS (PSA) EM UNIDADES DE CONSERVAÇÃO (UC): UM ESTUDO DE CASO EM SÃO FRANCISCO DO SUL (SC)

With the growing environmental degradation observed in the last century, there was a sharp loss of benefits generated by ecosystems for human societies. Socio-environmental problems have been increasingly addressed through the perspective of ecosystem services. The impact of anthropic actions has direct consequences on the quality and quantity of natural resources. This fact highlights the need to conserve natural resources. The implementation of a Payment for Environmental Services (PSA) mechanism encourages the conservation of the environment and its biodiversity through financial rewards for maintaining conserved natural areas. The creation of a Priority Areas (PA) can be considered an important strategy for the preservation and valuation of natural resources. In this way, the objective of this work is to evaluate scenarios for the implementation of a Payment for Environmental Services (PES) program at UC REVIS Nascentes do Saí, located in the municipality of São Francisco do Sul/SC. The present research is in the development phase, in this way the theoretical framework and the methodological composition will be presented together with the expected results in the development of the work

The time-dependent localization of Ki 67 antigen-positive cells in human skin wounds

A total of 77 human skin wounds with a post-infliction interval between 3 h and 7 months were investigated and the proliferation marker antigen Ki 67 was visualized in paraffin sections using a specific monoclonal antibody (MIB). The re-built epidermal layer covering the former lesional area showed only a few basal cells positively staining for Ki 67 antigen. No enhanced reactivity was found when compared to uninjured skin. In basal cells of the epidermis adjacent to the wound area, however, varying numbers of positive cells occurred, but no information useful for a reliable time estimation of skin wounds could be obtained due to the considerable variability in the number of Ki 67 positive epidermal basal cells found in non-damaged skin. Fibroblastic cells in the wound area revealed an increased number of Ki 67-positive sites which could first be detected in a 1.5-day-old skin lesion. Positive results could be obtained in every specimen investigated after a post-infliction interval of 6 days up to 1.5 months. Only the scar tissue of the oldest wound examined (wound age 7 months) revealed no increase in the number of positively staining fibroblasts. Therefore, positive results indicate a wound age of at least approximately 1.5 days and the lack of an increased number of positive fibroblastic cells in a sufficient number of specimens indicates at a wound age of less than 6 days, but cannot totally exclude longer post-infliction intervals

Phytoplasma infection in tomato is associated with re-organization of plasma membrane, ER stacks, and actin filaments in sieve elements

Phytoplasmas, biotrophic wall-less prokaryotes, only reside in sieve elements of their host plants. The essentials of the intimate interaction between phytoplasmas and their hosts are poorly understood, which calls for research on potential ultrastructural modifications. We investigated modifications of the sieve-element ultrastructure induced in tomato plants by ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma solani,’ the pathogen associated with the stolbur disease. Phytoplasma infection induces a drastic re-organization of sieve-element substructures including changes in plasma membrane surface and distortion of the sieve-element reticulum. Observations of healthy and stolbur-diseased plants provided evidence for the emergence of structural links between sieve-element plasma membrane and phytoplasmas. One-sided actin aggregates on the phytoplasma surface also inferred a connection between phytoplasma and sieve-element cytoskeleton. Actin filaments displaced from the sieve-element mictoplasm to the surface of the phytoplasmas in infected sieve elements. Western blot analysis revealed a decrease of actin and an increase of ER-resident chaperone luminal binding protein (BiP) in midribs of phytoplasma-infected plants. Collectively, the studies provided novel insights into ultrastructural responses of host sieve elements to phloem-restricted prokaryotes