Anomalous Larmour Frequency Dependence of Proton Spin-Lattice Relaxation Time (T1_1) in the Ferroelectric Glycine Phosphite

We report here the results of $^1$H NMR spin-lattice relaxation time (T$_1$) studies in Glycine phosphite which is a ferroelectric below 224 K. The experiments have been carried out in the temperature range from 200 K to 419 K and at two Larmour frequencies of 11.40MHz and 23.56 MHz. We have noticed a Larmour frequency dependence on the high temperature side of the T$_1$ minimum >. A model is proposed based on the BPP theory to explain the observation.Comment: 4 pages, 2 ps figs included, revtex forma

Treatment of Bouveret Syndrome With Electrohydraulic Lithotripsy

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Familial Sneddon's syndrome

A syndrome associating Livedo Reticularis (LR) with Cerebrovascular disease (CVD) was described, in 1965, by Sneddon. It occurs sporadically, but a few familial cases of Sneddon's Syndrome (SS) have been reported, like these 3 cases that represent one of the largest number among siblings. We studied three male brothers, aged 28, 37 and 42 years, with CVD (ischaemic stroke in 2 patients and cerebral haemorrhages in the third) and their sister with no CVD. All patients presented with long lasting Livedo Reticularis, extending beyond the lower limbs. Skin biopsy on the centre of the reticular pattern showed, only in the second patient, partial endothelium detachment in dermo-hypodermic blood vessels. The males also had accesses of Livedoid Vasculitis (LV), in which a skin biopsy showed obliteration of several upper dermal vessels with hialin thrombi and a very scarce inflammatory infiltrate. Complementary studies, with an extensive investigation on pro-coagulation/pro-thrombotic features including antiphospholipid antibodies, were repeatedly negative. Their non-consanguineous parents were not affected, but among these kindred of 9 individuals, apart from the 4 patients reported above, LR and LV were present in two other brothers and also in an aunt and uncle, suggesting autosomal dominant pattern of inheritance, with incomplete penetrance. The relationship between Sneddon's Syndrome and Antiphospholipid Antibody Syndrome is controversial. The present cases, having repeatedly negative antiphospholipid antibodies, support the classification of Sneddon's Syndrome as an independent nosological entity

Gastrointestinal Tuberculosis Mimicking Crohn’s Disease

We present the case of a 24-year-old woman with complaints of abdominal pain, bloody diarrhea, and weight loss for 3 months. An outpatient colonoscopy revealed scattered ulcers, suggestive of Crohn's disease (CD). Histopathology also favored the diagnosis of CD. However, after admission to our hospital for further investigation, a chest radiograph revealed pulmonary cavitations. A computed tomography scan suggested the diagnosis of active pulmonary tuberculosis (TB). Therefore, a bronchofibroscopy, a total colonoscopy with ileoscopy, and an upper endoscopy were performed. Not only were acid-fast bacilli present in both bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and gastric juice, but also in colonic biopsies. A complete resolution of gastrointestinal symptoms was achieved 2 weeks after starting anti-TB drugs.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A new phage-display tumor-homing peptide fused to antiangiogenic peptide generates a novel bioactive molecule with antimelanoma activity

Phage-display peptide libraries have been widely used to identify specific peptides targeting in vivo tumor cells and the tumor vasculature and playing an important role in the discovery of antitumor bioactive peptides. In the present work, we identified a new melanoma-homing peptide, (-CVNHPAFAC-), using a C7C phage-display library directed to the developing tumor in syngeneic mice. Phage were able to preferentially target melanoma in vivo, with an affinity about 50-fold greater than that with normal tissue, and the respective synthesized peptide displaced the corresponding phage from the tumor. A preferential binding to endothelial cells rather than to melanoma cells was seen in cell ELISA, suggesting that the peptide is directed to the melanoma vasculature. Furthermore, the peptide was able to bind to human sonic hedgehog, a protein involved in the development of many types of human cancers. Using a new peptide approach therapy, we coupled the cyclic peptide to another peptide, HTMYYHHYQHHL-NH(2), a known antagonist of VEGFR-2 receptor, using the GYG linker. The full peptide CVNHPAFACGYGHTMYYHHYQHHL-NH(2) was effective in delaying tumor growth (P < 0.05) and increasing animal survival when injected systemically, whereas a scramble-homing peptide containing the same antagonist did not have any effect. This is the first report on the synthesis of a tumor-homing peptide coupled to antiangiogenic peptide as a new anticancer therapeutics

Tumor de Células Germinativas Primário da Próstata – descrição de um caso raro

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Real-world data from the Portuguese Nivolumab Expanded Access Program (EAP) in previously treated Non Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC).

OBJECTIVE: The main aim of the study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety profile of Nivolumab, an immune-checkpoint-inhibitor antibody, in advanced, previously treated, Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) patients, in a real world setting. METHODS: We performed a retrospective, multicentre data analysis of patients who were included in the Portuguese Nivolumab Expanded Access Program (EAP). Eligibility criteria included histologically or citologically confirmed NSCLC, stage IIIB and IV, evaluable disease, sufficient organ function and at least one prior line of chemotherapy. The endpoints included Overall Response Rate (ORR), Disease Control Rate (DCR), Progression Free Survival (PFS) and Overall Survival (OS). Safety analysis was performed with the National Cancer Institute Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE), version 4.0, and immune-related Adverse Events (irAEs) were treated according to protocol treatment guidelines. Tumour response was assessed using the Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumours (RECIST) version 1.1. Data was analysed using SPSS, version 21.0 (IBM Statistics). RESULTS: From June 2015 to December 2016, a total of 229 patients with advanced NSCLC were enrolled at 30 Portuguese centres. Clinical data were collected up to the end of July 2018. The baseline median age was 64 years (range 37-83) and the majority of patients were males (70.3%) and former/current smokers (69.4%). Patients with non-squamous histology predominated (88.1%), and 67.6% of the patients had received 2 or more prior lines of chemotherapy. Out of 229 patients, data was available for 219 patients (3 patients did not start treatment, while data was unavailable in 7 patients); of the 219 patients, 15.5% were not evaluated for radiological tumour assessment, 1.4% had complete response (CR), 21% partial response (PR), 31% stable disease (SD) and 31.1% progressive disease (PD). Thus, the ORR was 22.4% and DCR was 53.4% in this population. At the time of survival analysis the median PFS was 4.91 months (95% CI, 3.89-6.11) and median OS was 13.21 months (95% CI, 9.89-16.53). The safety profile was in line with clinical trial data. CONCLUSIONS: Efficacy and safety results observed in this retrospective analysis were consistent with observations reported in clinical trials and from other centres.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

An optimization model for metabolic pathways

This article is available open access through the publisher’s website through the link below. Copyright @ The Author 2009.Motivation: Different mathematical methods have emerged in the post-genomic era to determine metabolic pathways. These methods can be divided into stoichiometric methods and path finding methods. In this paper we detail a novel optimization model, based upon integer linear programming, to determine metabolic pathways. Our model links reaction stoichiometry with path finding in a single approach. We test the ability of our model to determine 40 annotated Escherichia coli metabolic pathways. We show that our model is able to determine 36 of these 40 pathways in a computationally effective manner. Contact: [email protected] Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online (http://bioinformatics.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/btp441/DC1)

Energy efficiency in olive oil mills

The paper presents some statistical data from olive oil mills in Portugal and Spain, presents the TESLA project and gives some information about energy consumption in olive oil mills

Super-resolution far-field ghost imaging via compressive sampling

Much more image details can be resolved by improving the system's imaging resolution and enhancing the resolution beyond the system's Rayleigh diffraction limit is generally called super-resolution. By combining the sparse prior property of images with the ghost imaging method, we demonstrated experimentally that super-resolution imaging can be nonlocally achieved in the far field even without looking at the object. Physical explanation of super-resolution ghost imaging via compressive sampling and its potential applications are also discussed.Comment: 4pages,4figure