Distribuição temporal, sincronia reprodutiva e padrões de acasalamento do sapo de reprodução explosiva Dermatonotus muelleri (Anura: Microhylidae)

The knowledge about natural history of a species is fundamental for the proposition of theories in population, community, and behavioral ecology. Dermatonotus muelleri (Boettger, 1885) is one of the several Neotropical anuran species that still lacks basic information. These frogs are widely distributed in South America and present many peculiar morphological features, such as a reduced head size and a tongue morphology that suggests a specialized diet in ants and termites. However, D. muelleri is rare in anuran surveys, because of the explosive breeding behavior, which restrict its occurrence in aquatic habitats to few days a year, and the semi-fossorial habit, making the individuals inactive during most part of the year. In this study, we describe the reproductive ecology of Dermatonotus muelleri, with special attention to the mechanisms that regulates (i) the reproductive synchrony between males and females and (ii) the operational sex ratio (OSR), and (iii) if size is a good predictor of pairs formation (assortative mating)

Associação entre globulina de ligação a hormônio sexual (SHBG) e síndrome metabólica em homens

CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVE:Metabolic syndrome consists of a set of factors that imply increased risk of cardiovascular diseases. The objective here was to evaluate the association between sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG), sex hormones and metabolic syndrome among men.DESIGN AND SETTING:Retrospective analysis on data from the study Endogenous oestradiol but not testosterone is related to coronary artery disease in men, conducted in a hospital in São Paulo.METHODS:Men (aged 40-70) who underwent coronary angiography were selected. The age, weight, height, waist circumference, body mass index and prevalence of dyslipidemia, hypertension and diabetes of each patient were registered. Metabolic syndrome was defined in accordance with the criteria of the Third Report of the National Cholesterol Education Program Expert Panel on Detection, Evaluation and Treatment of High Blood Cholesterol in Adults (NCEP-ATPIII). Serum samples were collected to assess the levels of glucose, total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol (high density lipoprotein), triglycerides, albumin, SHBG, estradiol and total testosterone (TT). The levels of LDL-cholesterol (low density lipoprotein) were calculated using Friedewald's formula and free testosterone (FT) and bioavailable testosterone (BT) using Vermeulen's formula.RESULTS:141 patients were enrolled in the study. The prevalence of metabolic syndrome was significantly higher in the first SHBG tercile than in the second and third terciles. A statistically significant positive association between the SHBG and TT values was observed, but no such association was seen between SHBG, BT and FT.CONCLUSION:Low serum levels of SHBG are associated with higher prevalence of metabolic syndrome among male patients, but further studies are required to confirm this association.CONTEXTO E OBJETIVO:A síndrome metabólica (SM) consiste em um conjunto de fatores que implicam risco elevado para doenças cardiovasculares. O objetivo foi avaliar a associação entre a globulina ligadora de esteroides sexuais (SHBG), hormônios sexuais e a SM em homens.TIPO DE ESTUDO E LOCAL:Análise retrospectiva de dados do estudo Estradiol mas não testosterona se correlaciona com doença arterial coronariana em homens, conduzido em um hospital em São Paulo.MÉTODOS:Foram selecionados pacientes do sexo masculino com idade entre 40 e 70 anos, submetidos a angiografia coronária. A idade, a prevalência de dislipidemia, hipertensão e diabetes, o peso, a altura, cintura e o índice de massa corpórea de cada paciente foram coletados. A definição de SM seguiu os critérios do NCEP-ATPIII. Amostras séricas foram coletadas para análises da glicose, colesterol total, colesterol-HDL (high density lipoprotein), triglicerídeos, albumina, SHBG, estradiol e testosterona total (TT). O colesterol-LDL (low density lipoprotein) foi calculado pela fórmula de Friedewald e as testosteronas livre (TL) e biodisponível (TB) pela fórmula de Vermeulen.RESULTADOS:Entraram no estudo 141 pacientes. A prevalência de SM foi significativamente maior no primeiro tercil de SHBG em comparação ao segundo e terceiro tercis. Foi verificada uma associação positiva e significativa ente os valores de SHBG e TT, porém essa associação não foi verificada entre SHBG e TB e TL.CONCLUSÃO:Baixos níveis séricos de SHBG estiveram associados com alta prevalência da SM em pacientes do sexo masculino. Faz-se necessário que estudos avaliem essa associação.Universidade Federal do CearáUniversidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP)Instituto Dante Pazzanese de CardiologiaUNIFESPSciEL

Impact of Side Branch Predilation on Percutaneous Coronary Intervention in Complex Coronary Bifurcation Lesions

ABSTRACTBackgroundThe treatment of coronary bifurcation lesions with single stenting in the main vessel and provisional side branch stenting may be limited by the degree of anatomical/morphological complexity. Side branch predilation, a procedural step that is typically avoided, may be required to maintain side branch patency. The impact of side branch predilation on the immediate results of percutaneous coronary intervention in complex coronary bifurcation lesions was investigated.MethodsBetween May, 2008 and August, 2009, 59 patients with single coronary bifurcation lesions and significant involvement of the main and side branches were included in the study. The main exclusion criteria were the involvement of the left main coronary artery, ST-elevation acute myocardial infarction (< 72 hours) and in-stent restenosis.ResultsThe mean age of patients was 61.2±11 years, 25.4% were female, and 30.1% had diabetes mellitus. Lesions were most prevalent in the left anterior descending artery/diagonal branch (86.4%). During the procedure, 8.5% (5/59) of lesions had unsuccessful side branch predilation, and four of these bifurcations were treated with two stents. In the multivariate model, side branch stenosis at baseline was the only significant predictor of unsuccessful side branch predilation (odds ratio 1.15, 95%CI: 1.01–1.30; P=0.04), and side branch stenosis > 87.6% was identified as the most accurate cut-off value to predict failure in the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve.ConclusionsSide branch predilation was associated with immediate side branch failure in < 10% of cases, and the only significant predictor in the multivariate model was side branch stenosis severity (> 85%) at baseline

Case-fatality rate of major bleeding events in patients on dual antiplatelet therapy after percutaneous coronary intervention: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background Assessment of the case-fatality rate (CFR) of major bleeding on dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) may improve balancing risks and benefits of different durations of DAPT following percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Objectives To determine the CFR of major bleeding in patients on DAPT after PCI and to compare rates among different durations of DAPT. Methods Medline, Embase, and CENTRAL were searched from inception to August 2021 for randomized trials that reported fatal bleeding among patients who were randomized to ≥1 month of DAPT following PCI. Summary estimates for CFRs of major bleeding were calculated using the random-effects inverse-variance method. Statistical heterogeneity was evaluated using the I 2 statistic. Results Of 2777 citations obtained by the search, 15 (48%) of 31 potentially eligible studies were excluded because fatal bleeding was not reported, leaving 16 studies that were included in the analysis. Overall, there were 823 major bleeding events including 91 fatal events in 48,884 patients who were assigned to receive DAPT during study follow-up. The CFR of major bleeding was 10.8% (95% confidence interval [CI], 7.1-16.2; I 2 = 50%) in the entire study population, and 13.8% (95% CI, 6.5-27.1; I 2 = 28%), 11.2% (95% CI, 6.7-18.0; I 2 = 0%), and 5.8% (95% CI, 3.0-11.1; I 2 = 0%) in those on short-term (≤6 months; n = 16,553), standard-term (12 months; n = 19,453), and long-term DAPT (>12 months; n = 10,238), respectively. Conclusion Fatal bleeding is not reported in many studies evaluating DAPT after PCI. The CFR of major bleeding on DAPT is substantial and may be higher in the first 12 months of DAPT than during long-term DAPT

Vascular response after implantation of biolimus A9-eluting stent with bioabsorbable polymer and everolimus-eluting stents with durable polymer. Results of the optical coherence tomography analysis of the BIOACTIVE randomized trial

AbstractBackgroundIn BIOACTIVE study, we evaluated vascular responses after the implant of biolimus A9-eluting stent (BES; BioMatrixTM) and the everolimus-eluting stent (EES; XIENCE VTM). In this study, we present the optical coherence tomography analysis (OCT) 6 months post-intervention.MethodsPatients were randomized to treatment with BES (n = 22) or EES (n = 18). The primary outcome was the frequency of non-covered, poorly positioned struts by OCT.ResultsOCT was performed in 26 patients (BES: n = 15; EES: n = 11) and 749 tomographic images and 7,725 stent struts were analyzed. BES and EES showed similar luminal and stent areas. Neointimal hyperplasia area, neointimal thickness and the percentage of in-stent obstruction (8.44 ± 5.10% vs. 9.21 ± 6.36%; p = 0.74) were similar. The rates of not covered struts (BES: 2.10 ± 3.60% vs. ESS: 2.46 ± 2.15%, p = 0.77) and poorly positioned struts (BES: 0.48 ± 1.48% vs. EES 0.44 ± 1.05%, p = 0.94) were similarly low. The frequency of frames with signs consistent with peri-strut inflammatory infiltrate was low and similar between BES (15.53 ± 20.77%) and EES (11.70 ± 27.51%; p = 0.68).ConclusionsThe second-generation drug-eluting stents BES and EES were equally effective at suppressing the neointimal formation after 6 months, with favorable vascular responses. The frequency of frames with peri-strut infiltrate signals per patient was low, and lower than that observed historically with first-generation drug-eluting stents

Two-year angiographic and intravascular ultrasound follow-up after implantation of sirolimus-eluting stents in human coronary arteries

BACKGROUND: The safety and efficacy of sirolimus-eluting stenting have been demonstrated, but the outcome of patients treated with this novel technology beyond the first year remains unknown. We sought to evaluate the angiographic, intravascular ultrasound (IVUS), and clinical outcomes of patients treated with sirolimus-eluting stents 2 years after implantation. METHODS AND RESULTS: This study included 30 patients treated with sirolimus-eluting Bx Velocity stenting (slow release [SR], n=15, and fast release [FR], n=15) in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Twenty-eight patients underwent 2-year angiographic and IVUS follow-up. No deaths occurred during the study period. In-stent late loss was slightly greater in the FR group (0.28+/-0.4 mm) than in the SR group (-0.09+/-0.23 mm, P=0.007). No patient had in-stent restenosis. At 2-year follow-up, only 1 patient (FR group) had a 52% diameter stenosis within the lesion segment, which required repeat revascularization. The target-vessel revascularization rate for the entire cohort was 10% (3/30) at 2 years. All other patients had < or =35% diameter stenosis. Angiographic lumen loss at the stent edges was also minimal (in-lesion late loss was 0.33+/-0.42 mm [FR] and 0.13+/-0.29 mm [SR]). In-stent neointimal hyperplasia volume, as detected by IVUS, remained minimal after 2 years (FR= 9.90+/-9 mm3 and SR=10.35+/-9.3 mm3). CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates the safety and efficacy of sirolimus-eluting Bx Velocity stents 2 years after implantation in humans. In-stent lumen dimensions remained essentially unchanged at 2-year follow-up in the 2 groups, although angiographic lumen loss was slightly higher in the FR group. Restenosis "catch-up" was not found in our patient population

Taking tadpole biology into the 21st century: a consensus paper from the First Tadpoles International Workshop

Although tadpoles are common, frequently encountered vertebrates, their natural history is poorly known. Despite the fact that Brazil harbors the highest anuran diversity in the world, with almost a thousand known species (Segalla et  al., 2014), the larvae of many species remain undescribed. The problem is not unique to Brazil. At the turn of the century, approximately ⅔ of almost 3,300 anuran species with a larval stage lacked tadpole descriptions (McDiarmid & Altig, 1999). The proportion of neotropical anurans with free-swimming larvae that are not described is estimated to be around 40% (Provete et al., 2012).Fil: Rossa Feres, Denise de C.. Universidade Estadual Paulista Julio de Mesquita Filho; BrasilFil: Venesky, Matthew. Allegheny College; Estados UnidosFil: Nomura, Fausto. Universidade Federal de Goias; BrasilFil: Eterovick, Paula C.. Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais; BrasilFil: Vera Candioti, María Florencia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Menin, Marcelo. Universidade Federal do Amazonas; BrasilFil: Juncá, Flora A.. Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana; BrasilFil: Schiesari, Luis C.. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Haddad, Celio F. B.. Universidade Estadual Paulista Julio de Mesquita Filho; BrasilFil: Garey, Michel V.. Universidade Federal da Integração Latino-Americana; BrasilFil: dos Anjos, Luciano A.. Universidade Estadual Paulista Julio de Mesquita Filho; BrasilFil: Wasserug, Richard. Dalhousie University Halifax; Canadá. University Of British Columbia; Canad