Warfarin Hipersensitivity. How to Deal with it?

Os autores descrevem um caso clínico de hipersensibilidade à varfarina traduzido por uma elevação acentuada do INR, aquando da introdução do fármaco em doente com antecedentes tromboembólicos. Da pesquisa de polimorfismos para os genes VKORC1 e CYP2C9, utilizando técnicas de amplificação por PCR e hibridização reversa, apurou-se heterozigotia para -1639G>A (gene VKORC1) e homozigotia para 1075A>C (genótipo CYP2C9*3/*3). Os autores fazem uma revisão da farmacodinâmica da varfarina e da sua acção sobre a vitamina K, sugerindo-se indicações para a investigação de algumas variações genéticas, no sentido de obviar potenciais complicações associadas ao fármaco

Sociology in Portugal: the Portuguese Sociological Association

WOS:A1994PX63700007 (Nº de Acesso Web of Science

Advances in Food Allergy Diagnosis

An accurate diagnosis of food allergy is extremely important to guide safe and yet not overly restrictive dietary management. The cornerstone of the diagnosis of food allergy is the clinical history; it allows appropriate selection of the allergens to be tested and interpretation of the results of allergy tests, namely Skin Prick Test (SPT), Specific IgE (sIgE) to allergen extracts and, more recently, specific IgE to allergen components and the Basophil Activation Test (BAT). SPT and sIgE to allergen extracts are very sensitive methods to detect IgE sensitization to a specific food and assess the possibility of spontaneous resolution. Cut-offs have been generated based on the probability of clinical reactivity during oral food challenges and can improve the specificity of SPT and sIgE, helping to confirm the diagnosis of food allergy. Specific IgE to allergen components refines food allergy diagnosis as it allows differentiating species-specific from cross-reactive allergens, aiding the differential diagnosis between a true and potentially severe food allergy from pollen-food syndrome or clinically irrelevant sensitization. The BAT is a new diagnostic test which has high specificity and sensitivity and can complement specific IgE, allowing the deferral of OFC in patients with a positive BAT. Depending on the likelihood of clinical allergy determined based on the combination of the history and the results of allergy tests, an oral food challenge may be indicated to confirm or exclude the diagnosis. Oral food challenge is the gold standard for the diagnosis of food allergy, but is a resource-intensive procedure with some level of risk involved; thus they are reserved for the equivocal cases. This review article discusses the above diagnostic techniques detailing the methods, utility, advantages and disadvantages.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Automatic summarization of rushes video using bipartite graphs

In this paper we present a new approach for automatic summarization of rushes, or unstructured video. Our approach is composed of three major steps. First, based on shot and sub-shot segmentations, we filter sub-shots with low information content not likely to be useful in a summary. Second, a method using maximal matching in a bipartite graph is adapted to measure similarity between the remaining shots and to minimize inter-shot redundancy by removing repetitive retake shots common in rushes video. Finally, the presence of faces and motion intensity are characterised in each sub-shot. A measure of how representative the sub-shot is in the context of the overall video is then proposed. Video summaries composed of keyframe slideshows are then generated. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of this approach we re-run the evaluation carried out by TRECVid, using the same dataset and evaluation metrics used in the TRECVid video summarization task in 2007 but with our own assessors. Results show that our approach leads to a significant improvement on our own work in terms of the fraction of the TRECVid summary ground truth included and is competitive with the best of other approaches in TRECVid 2007

A second order cone formulation of continuous CTA model

The final publication is available at link.springer.comIn this paper we consider a minimum distance Controlled Tabular Adjustment (CTA) model for statistical disclosure limitation (control) of tabular data. The goal of the CTA model is to find the closest safe table to some original tabular data set that contains sensitive information. The measure of closeness is usually measured using l1 or l2 norm; with each measure having its advantages and disadvantages. Recently, in [4] a regularization of the l1 -CTA using Pseudo-Huber func- tion was introduced in an attempt to combine positive characteristics of both l1 -CTA and l2 -CTA. All three models can be solved using appro- priate versions of Interior-Point Methods (IPM). It is known that IPM in general works better on well structured problems such as conic op- timization problems, thus, reformulation of these CTA models as conic optimization problem may be advantageous. We present reformulation of Pseudo-Huber-CTA, and l1 -CTA as Second-Order Cone (SOC) op- timization problems and test the validity of the approach on the small example of two-dimensional tabular data set.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Analysis of a coupled fluid-structure interaction model of the left atrium and mitral valve

We present a coupled left atrium ‐ mitral valve model based on computed tomography scans with fibre‐reinforced hyperelastic materials. Fluid‐structure interaction is realised by using an immersed boundary‐finite element framework. Effects of pathological conditions, e.g. mitral valve regurgitation and atrial fibrillation, and geometric and structural variations, namely uniform vs non‐uniform atrial wall thickness and rule‐based vs atlas‐based fibre architectures, on the system are investigated. We show that in the case of atrial fibrillation, pulmonary venous flow reversal at late diastole disappears and the filling waves at the left atrial appendage orifice during systole have reduced magnitude. In the case of mitral regurgitation, a higher atrial pressure and disturbed flows are seen, especially during systole, when a large regurgitant jet can be found with the suppressed pulmonary venous flow. We also show that both the rule‐based and atlas‐based fibre defining methods lead to similar flow fields and atrial wall deformations. However, the changes in wall thickness from non‐uniform to uniform tend to underestimate the atrial deformation. Using a uniform but thickened wall also lowers the overall strain level. The flow velocity within the left atrial appendage, which is important in terms of appendage thrombosis, increases with the thickness of the left atrial wall. Energy analysis shows that the kinetic and dissipation energies of the flow within the left atrium are altered differently by atrial fibrillation and mitral valve regurgitation, providing a useful indication of the atrial performance in pathological situations

Models of Star-Planet Magnetic Interaction

Magnetic interactions between a planet and its environment are known to lead to phenomena such as aurorae and shocks in the solar system. The large number of close-in exoplanets that were discovered triggered a renewed interest in magnetic interactions in star-planet systems. Multiple other magnetic effects were then unveiled, such as planet inflation or heating, planet migration, planetary material escape, and even modification of the host star properties. We review here the recent efforts in modelling and understanding magnetic interactions between stars and planets in the context of compact systems. We first provide simple estimates of the effects of magnetic interactions and then detail analytical and numerical models for different representative scenarii. We finally lay out a series of future developments that are needed today to better understand and constrain these fascinating interactions.Comment: 23 pages, 10 figures, accepted as a chapter in the Handbook of Exoplanet

Cross infection control measures and the treatment of patients at risk of Creutzfeldt Jakob disease in UK general dental practice

AIMS: To determine the suitability of key infection control measures currently employed in UK dental practice for delivery of dental care to patients at risk of prion diseases. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Subjects: Five hundred dental surgeons currently registered with the General Dental Council of the UK. Data collection: Structured postal questionnaire. Analysis: Frequencies, cross-tabulations and chi-squared analysis. RESULTS: The valid response rate to the questionnaire was 69%. 33% of practices had no policy on general disinfection and sterilisation procedures. Only 10 of the 327 responding practices (3%) possessed a vacuum autoclave. 49% of dentists reported using the BDA medical history form but less than 25% asked the specific questions recommended by the BDA to identify patients at risk of iatrogenic or familial CJD. However, 63% of practitioners would refer such patients, if identified, to a secondary care facility. Of the 107 practitioners who were prepared to provide dental treatment, 75 (70%) would do so using routine infection control procedures. CONCLUSIONS: Most of the dental practices surveyed were not actively seeking to identify patients at risk of prion diseases. In many cases, recommended procedures for providing safe dental care for such patients were not in place

Age and environment affect constitutive immune function in Red Knots (Calidris canutus)

We studied subspecies, age and environmental effects on constitutive immune function (natural antibody and complement titres, haptoglobin activity and leukocyte concentrations) in Red Knots (Calidris canutus). We compared C. c. islandica and C. c. canutus in the Wadden Sea and found no difference in immune function between subspecies. However, C. c. canutus on their wintering grounds in Banc d’Arguin had higher natural antibody and lower complement levels than C. c. canutus or C. c. islandica in the Wadden Sea. This suggests that immune function is determined more by the surrounding environment than by subspecies. We also compared age classes in the Wadden Sea and found that first year birds had significantly lower natural antibody levels than adults, but that second year birds no longer differed from adults. Finally, we examined the interaction of age and environment in Banc d’Arguin. We found that first year birds (but not adults) in a low quality habitat had higher leukocyte concentrations than first year birds or adults in a high quality habitat. Differences in available resources and defence needs between environments, and differences among individuals differentially distributed between sites, are likely important contributors to the variation in immune function we report. Future studies, which examine these factors on wild birds, will be important for our understanding of how animals function in their natural environment.

Thin-film composite forward osmosis membranes functionalized with graphene oxide–silver nanocomposites for biofouling control

© 2016 Elsevier B.V. Innovative approaches to prevent bacterial attachment and biofilm growth on membranes are critically needed to avoid decreasing membrane performance due to biofouling. In this study, we propose the fabrication of anti-biofouling thin-film composite membranes functionalized with graphene oxide–silver nanocomposites. In our membrane modification strategy, carboxyl groups on the graphene oxide–silver nanosheets are covalently bonded to carboxyl groups on the surface of thin-film composite membranes via a crosslinking reaction. Further characterization, such as scanning electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy, revealed the immobilization of graphene oxide–silver nanocomposites on the membrane surface. Graphene oxide–silver modified membranes exhibited an 80% inactivation rate against attached Pseudomonas aeruginosa cells. In addition to a static antimicrobial assay, our study also provided insights on the anti-biofouling property of forward osmosis membranes during dynamic operation in a cross-flow test cell. Functionalization with graphene oxide–silver nanocomposites resulted in a promising anti-biofouling property without sacrificing the membrane intrinsic transport properties. Our results demonstrated that the use of graphene oxide–silver nanocomposites is a feasible and attractive approach for the development of anti-biofouling thin-film composite membranes