Cognitive impairment in a Brazilian sample of patients with bipolar disorder Prejuízo cognitivo em uma amostra brasileira de pacientes com transtorno do humor bipolar

OBJECTIVE: Persistent neurocognitive deficits have been described in bipolar mood disorder. As far as we are aware, no study have examined whether the cognitive impairment is presented in the same way in a Brazilian sample. METHOD: Cognitive function of 66 patients with bipolar disorder (32 with depressive symptoms and 34 euthymic) and 28 healthy subjects was examined using a complete cognitive battery. RESULTS: Patients with bipolar disorder presented a significantly poorer performance in eight of the 12 subtests when compared to healthy subjects. There was no significant difference between the subgroups of patients. These patients showed impairment in both verbal and non-verbal cognitive function. CONCLUSION: Cognitive impairment was found in both groups of patients with bipolar disorder. The findings described here suggest an overall impairment of cognitive function, independent of mood symptoms. This is in line with data showing that cognitive deficits may be a persistent characteristic of bipolar disorder.<br>OBJETIVO: Déficits neurocognitivos persistentes têm sido descritos no transtorno do humor bipolar; entretanto, não há estudos em amostras brasileiras para avaliar se o prejuízo se apresenta da mesma forma. MÉTODO: Foi realizada uma avaliação cognitiva em 66 pacientes bipolares (32 com sintomas depressivos e 34 eutímicos) e 28 controles, utilizando-se uma bateria cognitiva completa. RESULTADOS: Em oito dos 12 subtestes avaliados os pacientes apresentaram desempenho significativamente inferior em relação aos controles. Não houve diferença significativa entre os grupos de pacientes. Foram encontrados prejuízos cognitivos tanto na área verbal como na área não verbal da cognição. CONCLUSÃO: Foi observada uma performance inferior em ambos os grupos de pacientes com transtorno bipolar. As dificuldades cognitivas encontradas apontam para um prejuízo global no funcionamento cognitivo, independente da presença de sintomas, sugerindo estabilidade ou cronicidade dos déficits cognitivos

Low‐burden TP53 mutations represent frequent genetic events in CLL with an increased risk for treatment initiation

Abstract TP53 aberrations predict chemoresistance and represent a contraindication for the use of standard chemoimmunotherapy in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL). Recent next‐generation sequencing (NGS)‐based studies have identified frequent low‐burden TP53 mutations with variant allele frequencies below 10%, but the clinical impact of these low‐burden TP53 mutations is still a matter of debate. In this study, we aimed to scrutinise the subclonal architecture and clinical impact of TP53 mutations using a sensitive, NGS‐based mutation analysis in a ‘real‐world’ cohort of 901 patients with CLL. In total, 225 TP53 mutations were identified in 17.5% (158/901) of the patients; 48% of these alterations represented high‐burden mutations, while 52% were low‐burden TP53 mutations. Low‐burden mutations as sole alterations were identified in 39% (62/158) of all mutated cases with 82% (51/62) of these being represented by a single low‐burden TP53 mutation. Patients harbouring low‐burden TP53 mutations had significantly lower time to first treatment compared to patients with wild‐type TP53. Our study has expanded the knowledge on the frequency, clonal architecture, and clinical impact of low‐burden TP53 mutations. By demonstrating that patients with sole low‐burden TP53 variants represent more than one‐third of patients with TP53 mutations and have an increased risk for treatment initiation, our findings strengthen the need to redefine the threshold of TP53 variant reporting to below 10% in the routine diagnostic setting

Characterisation of microbial attack on archaeological bone

As part of an EU funded project to investigate the factors influencing bone preservation in the archaeological record, more than 250 bones from 41 archaeological sites in five countries spanning four climatic regions were studied for diagenetic alteration. Sites were selected to cover a range of environmental conditions and archaeological contexts. Microscopic and physical (mercury intrusion porosimetry) analyses of these bones revealed that the majority (68%) had suffered microbial attack. Furthermore, significant differences were found between animal and human bone in both the state of preservation and the type of microbial attack present. These differences in preservation might result from differences in early taphonomy of the bones. © 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved

Observation of Bs0^0_s mesons and measurement of the Bs0^0_s/B+^+ yield ratio in PbPb collisions at sNN\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}} = 5.02 TeV

The B$^0_s$ and B$^+$ production yields are measured in PbPb collisions at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of 5.02 TeV. The data sample, collected with the CMS detector at the LHC, corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 1.7 nb$^{-1}$. The mesons are reconstructed in the exclusive decay channels B$^0_s$$\to$ J/$\psi(\mu^+\mu^-)\phi($K$^+$K$^-)$ and B$^+$$\to$ J/$\psi(\mu^+\mu^-)$K$^+$. The B$^0_s$ meson is observed with a statistical significance in excess of five standard deviations for the first time in nucleus-nucleus collisions. The measurements are performed as functions of the transverse momentum of the B mesons and of the PbPb collision centrality. The ratio of production yields of B$^0_s$ and B$^+$ is measured and compared to theoretical models that include quark recombination effects

Observation of Bs0^0_s mesons and measurement of the Bs0^0_s/B+^+ yield ratio in PbPb collisions at sNN\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}} = 5.02 TeV

The B$^0_s$ and B$^+$ production yields are measured in PbPb collisions at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of 5.02 TeV. The data sample, collected with the CMS detector at the LHC, corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 1.7 nb$^{-1}$. The mesons are reconstructed in the exclusive decay channels B$^0_s$$\to$ J/$\psi(\mu^+\mu^-)\phi($K$^+$K$^-)$ and B$^+$$\to$ J/$\psi(\mu^+\mu^-)$K$^+$. The B$^0_s$ meson is observed with a statistical significance in excess of five standard deviations for the first time in nucleus-nucleus collisions. The measurements are performed as functions of the transverse momentum of the B mesons and of the PbPb collision centrality. The ratio of production yields of B$^0_s$ and B$^+$ is measured and compared to theoretical models that include quark recombination effects