Evaluation of diabetic foot amputation rate

Acta Med Port. 2003 Nov-Dec;16(6):373-80. Epub 2003 Dec 1. [Evaluation of diabetic foot amputation rate]. [Article in Portuguese] Horta C, Vilaverde J, Mendes P, Gonçalves I, Serra L, Pinto PS, Almeida R, Carvalho R, Dores J, Serra MB. Serviços de Endocrinologia, Ortopedia e Cirurgia Vascular, Hospital Geral de Santo António, Porto. Abstract In 1987, it was created the first portuguese Diabetic Foot Clinic in Oporto, at the Hospital Geral de Santo António. The distinction between neuropathic and ischaemic foot was the key stone to reduce drastically the rate of major amputations in the first two years of activity. Since then and until 1995 the rate of major amputations had stabilised around 8%. The aim of the present study was to evaluate if there was any change in the last three years. A retrospective study was performed reviewing the clinical files of 843 new patients between 1998 and 2000. The 593 patients who presented with a foot ulcer with or without infection were selected: 60.4% with neuropathic foot and 39.6% with ischaemic one. Overall, 31 of the 593 patients with ulcer or infection were treated with major amputation (5.2%). There was a statistical difference between the major amputation outcome among the two types of foot (p < 0.001). Necrosis showed to carry a poor prognosis (30.7% in ischaemic foot vs 8,3% in neuropathic, p = 0.024). There was no further statistical significance for age, sex, type or duration of diabetes as risk factors for major amputation. This retrospective study has showed a slight reduction in the rate of major amputations since 1995. Poor prognosis was related to necrosis and ischaemic foot. Further improvement requires harder investment in patients' education, as well as in alerting the primary health care physicians, for the most unpredictable catastrophic complication of diabetes. PMID: 15631847 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE

Factors controlling spatio-temporal variation in carbon dioxide efflux from surface litter, roots, and soil organic matter at four rain forest sites in the eastern Amazon

[1] This study explored biotic and abiotic causes for spatio-temporal variation in soil respiration from surface litter, roots, and soil organic matter over one year at four rain forest sites with different vegetation structures and soil types in the eastern Amazon, Brazil. Estimated mean annual soil respiration varied between 13-17 t C ha(-1) yr(-1), which was partitioned into 0-2 t C ha(-1) yr(-1) from litter, 6-9 t C ha(-1) yr(-1) from roots, and 5-6 t C ha(-1) yr(-1) from soil organic matter. Litter contribution showed no clear seasonal change, though experimental precipitation exclusion over a one-hectare area was associated with a ten-fold reduction in litter respiration relative to unmodified sites. The estimated mean contribution of soil organic matter respiration fell from 49% during the wet season to 32% in the dry season, while root respiration contribution increased from 42% in the wet season to 61% during the dry season. Spatial variation in respiration from soil, litter, roots, and soil organic matter was not explained by volumetric soil moisture or temperature. Instead, spatial heterogeneity in litter and root mass accounted for 44% of observed spatial variation in soil respiration (p < 0.001). In particular, variation in litter respiration per unit mass and root mass accounted for much of the observed variation in respiration from litter and roots, respectively, and hence total soil respiration. This information about patterns of, and underlying controls on, respiration from different soil components should assist attempts to accurately model soil carbon dioxide fluxes over space and time

Reactive phenotypes after acute and chronic NK‐cell activation

J Biol Regul Homeost Agents. 2004 Jul-Dec;18(3-4):331-4. Reactive phenotypes after acute and chronic NK-cell activation. Lima M, Almeida J, Teixeira MA, Santos AH, Queirós ML, Fonseca S, Moura J, Gonçalves M, Orfão A, Pinto Ribeiro AC. Service of Clinical Hematology, Laboratory of Cytometry, Hospital Geral de Santo António, Porto, Portugal. [email protected] Abstract Several phenotypic changes have been shown to occur after NK-cell stimulation, involving molecules that have been proved to regulate NK-cell migration into tissues and NK-cell activation and proliferation as well as target cell recognition and killing. Here, we review the reactive phenotypes observed in vivo after acute and chronic NK-cell activation. PMID: 15786700 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE

Immunophenotype and TCR‐Vbeta repertoire of peripheral blood T‐cells in acute infectious mononucleosis.

Blood Cells Mol Dis. 2003 Jan-Feb;30(1):1-12. Immunophenotype and TCR-Vbeta repertoire of peripheral blood T-cells in acute infectious mononucleosis. Lima M, Teixeira Mdos A, Queirós ML, Santos AH, Gonçalves C, Correia J, Farinha F, Mendonça F, Soares JM, Almeida J, Orfão A, Justiça B. Service of Clinical Haematology, Hospital Santo António, Porto, Portugal. [email protected] Abstract Although a number of studies on the phenotypic changes that occur after T-cell activation have already been published, the specific immunophenotypic features of T-lymphocytes and the frequency at which TCR-variable region (TCR-V) restricted T-cell expansions occur "in vivo" during acute viral infection still remains to be established. We report on the immunophenotype and TCR-V repertoire of peripheral blood T-cells from 28 patients with acute infectious mononucleosis. Immunophenotypic studies were performed by flow cytometry using direct immunofluorescence techniques and stain-and-then-lyse sample preparation protocols with three- and four-colour combinations of monoclonal antibodies directed against a large panel of T- and NK-cell associated markers, activation- and adhesion-related molecules and TCR-Vbeta, -Vgamma and -Vdelta families. Nearly all patients (27/28) showed a massive expansion of CD8(+)/TCRalphabeta(+) T cells, the majority (>90%) of which displayed an immunophenotype compatible with T-cell activation: CD2(+high), CD7(+low), CD11a(+high), CD38(+high), HLA-DR(+high), CD28(+/-low), CD45RO(+high), CD45RA(-/+low), CD11b(-/+low), CD11c(+/-low), CD16(-), CD56(-), CD57(-), CD62L(-), CD94(-), CD158a(-), CD161(-), NKB1(-). Additionally, the levels of both CD3 and CD5 were slightly decreased compared to those found in normal individuals. Late-activation antigens, such as CD57, were found in small proportions of CD8(+)/TCRalphabeta(+) T-cells. Increased numbers of CD4(+)/TCRalphabeta(+) T-cells, TCRgammadelta(+) T-cells and NK-cells were also noticed in 17, 16 and 13 of the 28 cases studied, respectively. Evidence for activation of CD4(+)/TCRalphabeta(+) and TCRgammadelta(+) T-cells relied on changes similar to those described for CD8(+)/TCRalphabeta(+) although less pronounced, except for higher levels of both CD5 and CD28 in the absence of reactivity for CD11c on CD4(+)/TCRalphabeta(+) T-cells and higher levels of CD161 and CD94 on TCRgammadelta(+) T-cells. Small expansions of one or more TCR-Vbeta families accounting for 12 +/- 7% of either the CD8(+)/TCRalphabeta(+) or the CD4(+)/TCRalphabeta(+) T-cell compartment were found in 12 of 14 patients studied, whereas the distribution of the TCR-Vgamma and -Vdelta repertoires tested in 2 of the individuals with expanded TCRgammadelta(+) T-cells was similar to that observed in control individuals. The results presented here provide evidence for an extensive T-cell activation during acute viral infection and establish the immunophenotype patterns associated with this condition. PMID: 12667982 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE

Sutureless bioprosthesis for aortic valve replacement: surgical and clinical outcomes

© 2022 The Authors. Journal of Cardiac Surgery published by Wiley Periodicals LLC. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.Background: Aortic valve stenosis is the most common adult valve disease in industrialized countries. The aging population and the increase in comorbidities urge the development of safer alternatives to the current surgical treatment. Sutureless bioprosthesis has shown promising results, especially in complex procedures and in patients requiring concomitant surgeries. Objectives: Assess the clinical and hemodynamic performance, safety, and durability of the Perceval® prosthetic valve. Methods: This single-center retrospective longitudinal cohort study collected data from all adult patients with aortic valve disease who underwent aortic valve replacement with a Perceval® prosthetic valve between February 2015 and October 2020. Of the 196 patients included (mean age 77.20 ± 5.08 years; 45.4% female; mean EuroSCORE II 2.91 ± 2.20%), the majority had aortic stenosis. Results: Overall mean cross-clamp and cardiopulmonary bypass times were 33.31 ± 14.09 min and 45.55 ± 19.04 min, respectively. Mean intensive care unit and hospital stay were 3.32 ± 3.24 days and 7.70 ± 5.82 days, respectively. Procedural success was 98.99%, as two explants occurred. Four valves were reimplanted due to intraoperative misplacement. Mean transvalvular gradients were 7.82 ± 3.62 mmHg. Pacemaker implantation occurred in 12.8% of patients, new-onset atrial fibrillation in 21.9% and renal replacement support was necessary for 3.1%. Early mortality was 2.0%. We report no structural valve deterioration, strokes, or endocarditis, and one successfully treated valve thrombosis. Conclusions: Our study confirms the excellent clinical and hemodynamic performance and safety of a truly sutureless aortic valve, up to a 5-year follow-up. These results were consistent in isolated and concomitant interventions, solidifying this device as a viable option for the treatment of isolated aortic valve disease.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Caracterização morfobiológica, morfométrica e ultraestrutural de isolados silvestres de Trypanosoma cruzi do estado do Rio de Janeiro, Brasil

Triatoma vitticeps is a triatomine with geographic distribution restrict to Brazil, which exhibits high prevalence of Trypanosoma cruzi natural infection. Of special epidemiologic concern, this species often invades households in the states of Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais and Espirito Santo. The objective of this study was to evaluate morphological and ultrastructural parameters on three T. cruzi isolates obtained from wild T. vitticeps specimens. The growth and cell differentiation of the parasite was evaluated through epimastigote and trypomastigote forms obtained in the growth curves for three distinct isolates. The maximum growth showed differences at the 20th day of the curve. Our in vitro results show a heterogeneity, regarding these features for samples cultivated under the same conditions. Morphometric analyzes based on the shape of epimastigotes and trypomastigotes corroborated such differentiation. These results highlight the need of better understanding the meaning of this diversity under an eco-epidemiological perspective792294303COORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DE PESSOAL DE NÍVEL SUPERIOR - CAPESFUNDAÇÃO CARLOS CHAGAS FILHO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DO RIO DE JANEIRO - FAPERJTriatoma vitticeps é um triatomíneo com distribuição geográfica restrita ao território brasileiro, apresentando alta prevalência de infecção natural pelo Trypanosoma cruzi. Esta espécie é relevante sob o ponto de vista epidemiológico por invadir domicílios com frequência nos estados do Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais e Espírito Santo. O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar parâmetros morfológicos e ultraestruturais, em três isolados de T. cruzi obtidos a partir de triatomíneos silvestres. O crescimento e a diferenciação celular do parasita foi avaliado através das formas epimastigotas e tripomastigotas obtidas nas curvas de crescimento para os três isolados. O crescimento máximo mostrou diferenças no 20º dia da curva. Nossos resultados in vitro mostram uma heterogeneidade, em relação a essas características para amostras cultivadas nas mesmas condições. As análises morfométricas baseadas na conformação de epimastigotas e trypomastigotes corroboraram essa diferenciação. Estes resultados ressaltam a necessidade de uma melhor compreensão do significado desta diversidade sob uma perspectiva eco-epidemiológicaThe authors thank “Fundação Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ); Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES); Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (IOC-FIOCRUZ), Brasi

Phyllachora balansae speg. em Cedrella fissilis vell. no Acre, Brasil.

O plantio de mudas de essências florestais com alta qualidade e livre de doenças requer o conhecimento dos fungos fitopatogênicos que incidem na fase de viveiro. O objetivo deste trabalho é relatar a descoberta do fungo Phyllachora balansae Spegazzini associado a doença e morte de mudas de Cedrela fissilis (cedro-rosa) em viveiro no Acre. Mudas de C. fissilis com aproximadamente seis meses de idade, em tubetes, com substrato organo-mineral, foram trazidas ao Laboratório de Fitopatologia da Embrapa Acre para diagnóstico de doença

Qualidade e perfil de fermentação das silagens de três cultivares de milheto.

Objetivando avaliar a qualidade e o perfil de fermentacao da silagem de milheto, foram estudados tres genotipos (CMS01, CMS02 e BN02). Os silos foram abertos com 01, 03, 05, 07, 14, 28 e 56 dias. Os teores de MS variaram de 22,64 a 24,49, a silagem foi considerada de mediana qualidade. Os teores de PB variaram de 9,59% a 11,32% nao observou-se queda acentuada durante a ensilagem. As porcentagens de N-NH3/Ntotal variaram de 3,32% a 9,01%, classificando a silagem como bem preservada. Observou-se variacao de pH de 3,56 a 5,13, estabilizando a partir do dia 14

Extreme Starbursts in the Local Universe

The "Extreme starbursts in the local universe" workshop was held at the Insituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia in Granada, Spain on 21-25 June 2010. Bearing in mind the advent of a new generation of facilities such as JWST, Herschel, ALMA, eVLA and eMerlin, the aim of the workshop was to bring together observers and theorists to review the latest results. The purpose of the workshop was to address the following issues: what are the main modes of triggering extreme starbursts in the local Universe? How efficiently are stars formed in extreme starbursts? What are the star formation histories of local starburst galaxies? How well do the theoretical simulations model the observations? What can we learn about starbursts in the distant Universe through studies of their local counterparts? How important is the role of extreme starbursts in the hierarchical assembly of galaxies? How are extreme starbursts related to the triggering of AGN in the nuclei of galaxies? Overall, 41 talks and 4 posters with their corresponding 10 minutes short talks were presented during the workshop. In addition, the workshop was designed with emphasis on discussions, and therefore, there were 6 discussion sessions of up to one hour during the workshop. Here is presented a summary of the purposes of the workshop as well as a compilation of the abstracts corresponding to each of the presentations. The summary and conclusions of the workshop along with a description of the future prospects by Sylvain Veilleux can be found in the last section of this document. A photo of the assistants is included.Comment: worksho

Imobilização de glicose oxidase para a síntese de ácidos aldônicos.

Os ácidos aldônicos — glicônico e xilônico — estão entre as moléculas de alto valor agregado que podem ser obtidas a partir de biomassa lignocelulósica e apresentam elevado potencial de aplicação comercial em diferentes campos. A síntese de ácidos aldônicos é possível por meio de diferentes processos, como: químico, eletroquímico, microbiano e enzimático. Porém, independentemente da opção escolhida, ainda existem vários obstáculos para que a produção em larga escala seja bem estabelecida. Entre esses obstáculos, está o desenvolvimento de um catalisador eficaz e estável para a síntese dos ácidos aldônicos a partir de hidrolisados de biomassa lignocelulósica, cuja composição apresenta, além dos monômeros de interesse (glicose e xilose), um grande número de inibidores. Neste estudo, um biocatalisador estável foi obtido pela imobilização de glicose oxidase (GOX) em esferas de agarose e alginato ativadas com glutaraldeído (GOX-AA). O desempenho desse biocatalisador foi avaliado com o uso de glicose e xilose como substratos, em reatores do tipo tanque agitado e leito fixo. GOX-AA apresentou melhor desempenho em reator de leito fixo, onde foi possível converter xilose/glicose (presente em hidrolisado de bagaço de cana-de-açúcar) em ácido xilônico/glicônico a uma taxa de 33% no estado estacionário. Esse sistema passou por trocas sequenciais de solução de substratos, em diferentes concentrações, e ainda assim continuou funcionando por 18 dias seguidos, sem perda de atividade catalítica. Aldonic acids (gluconic and xylonic) are among the high value-added molecules that can be obtained from lignocellulosic biomass and has a high potential for commercial application in different fields. The synthesis of aldonic acids is possible by chemical, electrochemical, microbial and enzymatic route and each of these processes still face several challenges to have a well-stablished large-scale production. Among these obstacles is the development of an effective and stable catalyst for aldonic acids synthesis from hydrolysate of biomass, which contains a large number of inhibitors. In this work, a stable biocatalyst was obtained by the immobilization of glucose oxidase (GOX) in agarose and alginate beads activated with glutaraldehyde (GOX-AA). The performance of this biocatalyst was evaluated in stirred tank and fixed bed type reactors. Glucose and xylose were used as substrate. The GOX-AA showed better performance in the fixed bed reactor, where it was possible to convert xylose/glucose (present in hydrolysate of sugarcane bagasse) to xylonic/gluconic acid at a steady state rate of 33%. This system underwent sequential substrate solution changes at different concentrations and ran for 18 consecutive days without loss of its catalytic activity.bitstream/item/215068/1/Imobilizac807a771o-de-glicose-oxidase-2020.pd