94 research outputs found
A Survey on Continuous Time Computations
We provide an overview of theories of continuous time computation. These
theories allow us to understand both the hardness of questions related to
continuous time dynamical systems and the computational power of continuous
time analog models. We survey the existing models, summarizing results, and
point to relevant references in the literature
Epidemiological Surveillance of Birth Defects Compatible with Thalidomide Embryopathy in Brazil
The thalidomide tragedy of the 1960s resulted in thousands of children being born with severe limb reduction defects (LRD), among other malformations. In Brazil, there are still babies born with thalidomide embryopathy (TE) because of leprosy prevalence, availability of thalidomide, and deficiencies in the control of drug dispensation. Our objective was to implement a system of proactive surveillance to identify birth defects compatible with TE. Along one year, newborns with LRD were assessed in the Brazilian hospitals participating in the Latin-American Collaborative Study of Congenital Malformations (ECLAMC). A phenotype of LRD called thalidomide embryopathy phenotype (TEP) was established for surveillance. Children with TEP born between the years 2000–2008 were monitored, and during the 2007–2008 period we clinically investigated in greater detail all cases with TEP (proactive period). The period from 1982 to 1999 was defined as the baseline period for the cumulative sum statistics. The frequency of TEP during the surveillance period, at 3.10/10,000 births (CI 95%: 2.50–3.70), was significantly higher than that observed in the baseline period (1.92/10,000 births; CI 95%: 1.60–2.20), and not uniformly distributed across different Brazilian regions. During the proactive surveillance (2007–2008), two cases of suspected TE were identified, although the two mothers had denied the use of the drug during pregnancy. Our results suggest that TEP has probably increased in recent years, which coincides with the period of greater thalidomide availability. Our proactive surveillance identified two newborns with suspected TE, proving to be a sensitive tool to detect TE. The high frequency of leprosy and the large use of thalidomide reinforce the need for a continuous monitoring of TEP across Brazil
Portuguese validation of FACES-IV in adult children caregivers facing parental cancer
The purpose of the present study was to examine the psychometric properties
of the FACES-IV in Portuguese caregivers of cancer patients. In this cross-sectional study,
a sample of 214 adult children caregivers of cancer patients receiving chemotherapy,
completed FACES-IV, Family Communication Scale (FCS), Family Satisfaction Scale
(FSS), and Satisfaction with Social Support Scale (SSSS). Internal consistencies above .70
were found for all FACES-IV scales, except for Enmeshed and Rigid scales, as well as for
the FCS, FSS, and SSSS (except for Intimacy). Strong correlations between FACES-IV
and the validation scales FCS and FSS were found except for the Enmeshed and Rigid
scales. Confirmatory analysis yielded an acceptable model for the six theoretical subscales.
The discriminant analysis between problematic and non-problematic family systems
showed results similar to the original study. These findings suggest that FACES-IV is a
valid measure of family functioning in oncological family caregiving’s contexts.Acknowledgments This study was funded by a grant from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and
Technology (reference SFRH/BD/43275/2008)
A Novel Multiplex Cell Viability Assay for High-Throughput RNAi Screening
Cell-based high-throughput RNAi screening has become a powerful research tool in addressing a variety of biological questions. In RNAi screening, one of the most commonly applied assay system is measuring the fitness of cells that is usually quantified using fluorescence, luminescence and absorption-based readouts. These methods, typically implemented and scaled to large-scale screening format, however often only yield limited information on the cell fitness phenotype due to evaluation of a single and indirect physiological indicator. To address this problem, we have established a cell fitness multiplexing assay which combines a biochemical approach and two fluorescence-based assaying methods. We applied this assay in a large-scale RNAi screening experiment with siRNA pools targeting the human kinome in different modified HEK293 cell lines. Subsequent analysis of ranked fitness phenotypes assessed by the different assaying methods revealed average phenotype intersections of 50.7±2.3%–58.7±14.4% when two indicators were combined and 40–48% when a third indicator was taken into account. From these observations we conclude that combination of multiple fitness measures may decrease false-positive rates and increases confidence for hit selection. Our robust experimental and analytical method improves the classical approach in terms of time, data comprehensiveness and cost
Convergence of Cells from the Progenitor Fraction of Adult Olfactory Bulb Tissue to Remyelinating Glia in Demyelinating Spinal Cord Lesions
Progenitor cells isolated from adult brain tissue are important tools for experimental studies of remyelination. Cells harvested from neurogenic regions in the adult brain such as the subependymal zone have demonstrated remyelination potential. Multipotent cells from the progenitor fraction have been isolated from the adult olfactory bulb (OB) but their potential to remyelinate has not been studied. cell bodies adjacent to and surrounding peripheral-type myelin rings.We report that neural cells from the progenitor fraction of the adult rat OB grown in monolayers can be expanded for several passages in culture and that upon transplantation into a demyelinated spinal cord lesion provide extensive remyelination without ectopic neuronal differentiation
Development of new microalgae-based sourdough "crostini": functional aspects of Arthrospira platensis (spirulina) addition
The aim of this work was to evaluate the influence of Arthrospira platensis F&M-C256 (spirulina)
incorporation on the nutritional and functional properties of “crostini”, a leavened bakery product
largely consumed in Italy and Europe. Sourdough was used as leavening and fermentation agent and
three concentrations of A. platensis F&M-C256 were tested: 2%, 6% and 10% (w/w). Despite a lower
volume increase compared to the control, the A. platensis F&M-C256 “crostini” doughs reached a
technological appropriate volume after fermentation. At the end of fermentation, no significant
differences in microorganisms concentrations were observed. A. platensis F&M-C256 “crostini” showed
higher protein content compared to the control. Considering the European Commission Regulation on
nutritional claims, “crostini” incorporated with 6% and 10% biomass can be claimed to be a “source
of protein”. Six and ten percent A. platensis “crostini” also presented significantly higher antioxidant
capacity and phenolics. A significantly lower value of in vitro dry matter and protein digestibility
between A. platensis F&M-C256 “crostini” and the control was found. The overall acceptability
decreased with increasing A. platensis F&M-C256 addition. The combination of spirulina biomass
addition and the sourdough technology led to the development of a novel microalgae-based bakery
product with nutritional and functional featuresinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
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