Morphological analysis and description of the ovaries of female silky sharks, Carcharhinus falciformis (Müller & Henle, 1839)

This work aims to study the female reproductive tract of silky sharks, Carcharhinus falciformis, captured in the South and Equatorial Atlantic Ocean. Samples were collected between January 2008 and March 2010 through oceanic commercial vessels that targeted tuna and swordfish, with a total of 17 females collected. The methodologies followed for analyzing the ovaries of those females included both macroscopic and histological analysis. Macroscopically, it was possible to determine that the ovaries on these sharks is suspended by mesenteries in the anterior section of the body cavity, heavily irrigated by blood vessels, and contains a wide range of oocytes. Ovaries were found in three distinct maturational stages: Stage I (Immature), Stage II (Maturing) and Stage III (Mature). Immature ovaries were small, with widths ranging from 1.0 to 3.1 cm, and had a gelatinous or granulose internal structure; maturing ovaries were slightly larger, ranging in width between 5.2 and 6.0 cm; mature ovaries ranged in width between 6.5 and 7.8 cm, and had a more rounded shape and the presence of large and well developed oocytes. Under microscopic examination, it was observed that the ovaries were covered with simple epithelial tissue during the early development stages and a simple cubic epithelium in the final stages of maturation. During the initial maturation stages the epigonal organ was not differentiated from the ovary. In mature specimens, the ovary showed a simple cubic epithelium and just below this epithelium there was a layer of dense connective tissue and muscle with the presence of vitellogenic oocytes and fat cells. A thin yolk membrane enclosing the oocytes was also evident. Finally, it was possible to distinguish a zona pellucida, separating the oocytes from the follicle wall and a basal lamina between the granular layers and the teak layer.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The association of myocardial strain with cardiac magnetic resonance and clinical outcomes in patients with acute myocarditis

IntroductionThe role of myocardial strain in risk prediction for acute myocarditis (AMC) patients, measured by cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR), deserves further investigation. Our objective was to evaluate the association between myocardial strain measured by CMR and clinical events in AMC patients.Material and methodsThis was a prospective single-center study of patients with AMC. We included 100 patients with AMC with CMR confirmation. The primary outcome was the composite of all-cause mortality, heart failure and AMC recurrence in 24 months. A subgroup analysis was performed on a sample of 36 patients who underwent a second CMR between 6 and 18 months. The association between strain measures and clinical events or an increase in left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) was explored using Cox regression analysis. Global peak radial, circumferential and longitudinal strain in the left and right ventricles was assessed. ROC curve analysis was performed to identify cutoff points for clinical event prediction.ResultsThe mean follow-up was 18.7 ± 2.3 months, and the composite primary outcome occurred in 26 patients. The median LVEF at CMR at baseline was 57.5% (14.6%). LV radial strain (HR = 0.918, 95% CI: 0.858–0.982, p = 0.012), LV circumferential strain (HR = 1.177, 95% CI: 1.046–1.325, p = 0.007) and LV longitudinal strain (HR = 1.173, 95% CI: 1.031–1.334, p = 0.015) were independently associated with clinical event occurrence. The areas under the ROC curve for clinical event prediction were 0.80, 0.79 and 0.80 for LV radial, circumferential, and longitudinal strain, respectively. LV longitudinal strain was independently correlated with prognosis (HR = 1.282, CI 95%: 1.022–1.524, p = 0.007), even when analyzed together with ejection fraction and delayed enhancement. LV and right ventricle (RV) strain were not associated with an increase in LVEF. Finally, when the initial CMR findings were compared with the follow-up CMR findings, improvements in the measures of LV and RV myocardial strain were observed.ConclusionMeasurement of myocardial strain by CMR can provide prognostic information on AMC patients. LV radial, circumferential and longitudinal strain were associated with long-term clinical events in these patients

Caracterização de uso e cobertura da terra na Amazônia utilizando imagens duais multitemporais do COSMO-SkyMed

The use of radar imagery is an alternative source of information to support the monitoring of the Amazon region, since the optical images have imaging limitations in tropical areas due to the occurrence of clouds. Therefore, the goal of this study is to analyze the radar images in X-band multi-temporal polarized obtained by COSMO-SkyMed satellite (COnstellation of small Satellites for Mediterranean basin Observation), in the intensity mode, isolated and/or combined with textural information, to thematic characterization of land use/land cover in the Humaitá, Amazonas State region. The methodology used includes: analysis of the dual images obtained during two subsequent acquisitions, in order to explore the potential of the dataset as a quad-pol intensity; extraction of textural attributes from the co-occurrence matrix (Gray Level Co-occurrence Matrix) and subsequent contextual classification; statistical assessment of the thematic performance of the intensity and textural images, isolated and in polarized groups. Within the results achieved, the group formed only by the intensity images presented a better performance if compared to those containing the textural attributes. In this discrimination, the classes involved were forest, alluvial forest, reforestation, savannah, pasture and burned areas, yielding 66% overall accuracy and a Kappa value of 0.55. The results showed that X band images, from COSMO-SkyMed, StripMap mode (Ping-Pong), multi-polarized, presents a moderate potential to characterize and monitor the dynamics of land use/land land cover in the Brazilian Amazon.A utilização de imagens de radar é fonte alternativa de informações para subsidiar o monitoramento da região amazônica, visto que as imagens ópticas têm limitações de imageamento em zonas tropicais face a ocorrência de nuvens. Por conseguinte este trabalho teve como objetivo analisar a capacidade das imagens-radar de banda X multitemporais e polarizadas obtidas pelo satélite COSMO-SkyMed (COnstellation of small Satellites for Mediterranean basin Observation), no modo intensidade, isoladamente e agregados às informações texturais, na caracterização temática de uso e cobertura da terra no município de Humaitá/AM. A metodologia empregada consistiu daanálise das imagens duais obtidas em duas aquisições subsequentes, de forma a explorar a potencialidade do conjunto de dados na forma quad-pol intensidade; extração dos atributos texturais a partir da matriz de coocorrência (Gray Level Co-occurrence Matrix) e posterior classificação contextual; avaliação estatística de desempenho temático das imagens intensidade e texturais, isoladas e em grupos polarizados. Dentre os vários resultados alcançados, foi verificado que o grupo formado somente pelas imagens intensidade apresentou o melhor desempenho, comparado àqueles contendo os atributos texturais. Nesta separabilidade, estavam envolvidas as classes de floresta, floresta aluvial, reflorestamento, savana, pasto e queimada, obtendo-se 66% de acurácia total e valor Kappa de 0,55. Os resultados mostraram que as imagens de banda X do COSMO-SkyMed, modo StripMap (Ping-Pong), multipolarizadas, têm potencial moderado para a caracterização e monitoramento da dinâmica de uso e cobertura da terra na Amazônia brasileira