Polymorphisms in base excision repair genes and thyroid cancer risk

We wish to thank Luisa Manso Oliveira, Lylliane Luz, Silvia Morgado Amaro and Maria Catarina Soveral for technical support. This study was supported by the Center for Research in Human Molecular Genetics (CIGMH), Projects PTDC/SAU-OSM/105572/2008, PTDC/SAU-ESA/102367/2008 and PTDC/QUI/67522/2006 from Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia (FCT) and Fundacao Calouste Gulbenkian (Grant 76438/2006). The grants to M. Pingarilho (SFRH/BD/22612/2005) from FCT are also acknowledgedThyroid cancer (TC) is the most frequent endocrine malignancy, accounting however for only 1-2\% of all human cancers, and tilt: best-established risk factor for TC is radiation exposure, particularly during childhood. Since the BER pathway seems to play an important role in the repair of DNA damage induced by IR and other genotoxicants, we carried out a hospital-based case-control study in order to evaluate the potential modifying role of 6 BER polymorphisms on the individual susceptibility to non-familial TC in 109 TC patients receiving iodine-131, and 217 controls matched for age ( 2 years), gender and ethnicity. Our results do not reveal a significant involvement of XRCCI Arg194Trp and Arg399Gln, OGGI Ser326Cys, APEXI Asp148Glu, MUTYH Gln335His and,PARPI Val762Ala polymorphisms on the individual susceptibility towards TC, mostly in aggreement with the limited available evidence. By histological stratification analyis, we observed that the association between the presence of heterozygozity in the MUTYH Gln335His polymorphism and TC risk almost reached significance for the papillary subtype of TC. This was the first time that the putative association between this polymorphism and TC susceptibility was evaluated. However, since the sample size was modest, the possibility of a type I error should not be excluded and this result should, therefore, be interpreted with caution. More in depth studies involving larger populations should be pursued in order to further clarify the potential usefulness of the MUTYH Gln335His genotype as a predictive biomarker of susceptibility to TC and the role of the remaining BER polymorphisms on TC susceptibility.publishersversionpublishe

The relationship between fatty acids and fish: lesser-known aspects and the need for increasingly efficient analytical techniques

When we associate the word fatty acids with fish, most people identify fish as sources of fatty acids from the omega families. This relationship is always present in the valuation of nutritional quality of fish. However, fatty acids have many other crucial functions in fish. The oldest studies related to fatty acids focused essentially on their role as sources metabolic energy in the form of ATP through β-oxidation. Many studies referred the fatty acid role for migrations, energy production during growth and egg formation, among others. Soon fatty acids quickly began to be studied from the point of view of source of essential nutrients for several physiological processes and integral components of biological membranes. The high content of highly polyunsaturated fatty acids found in fish is related to the fact that they are poikilothermic. In the presence of various temperature scenarios, fish can effectively exploit a wide chemical diversity of membrane fatty acid profiles, to defend their physical properties, such as fluidity. In the last decades, fatty acids have been used as either biomarkers because they are limited to certain taxa and they can be transferred conservatively from primary producers to higher trophic level or stock identifiers because the fatty acid composition of phospholipids in some body tissues have a stable genetics basis. In the last decades multiple techniques have been used for fatty acid analysis. As a rule, before the instrumental analysis, the sample requires 2 previous steps. These comprise extraction of lipids from the matrix and derivatization. The combination of these two stages generates multiple methodologies that are not always standardized. Soon, the analysis of fatty acids tends to reduce and standardize these previous analyses while the instrumental analysis should solve problems related to similar mass spectra of the isomers and coelution between fatty acidsFundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) for a PhD scholarship UI/BD/153381/2022.This work was funding by National Funds through FCT - Foundation for Science and Technology under the Project PTDC/BIA-BMA/030517/2017 and the Portuguese Science Foundation through the strategy plan for MED (Mediterranean Institute for Agriculture, Environment and Development), via project UIDB/05183/2020, for MARE (Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre), via project UIDB/04292/2020, UID/50006/2020, and under the project LA/P/0069/2020 granted to the Associate Laboratory ARNET; and for LAQV-REQUIMTE, via project UIDB/50006/2020 and UIDP/50006/202

Phase growth control in low temperature PLD Co: TiO2 films by pressure

This paper reports on the structural and optical properties of Co-doped TiO2 thin films grown onto (0001)Al2O3 substrates by non-reactive pulsed laser deposition (PLD) using argon as buffer gas. It is shown that by keeping constant the substrate temperature at as low as 310 degrees C and varying only the background gas pressure between 7 Pa and 70 Pa, it is possible to grow either epitaxial rutile or pure anatase thin films, as well as films with a mixture of both polymorphs. The optical band gaps of the films are red shifted in comparison with the values usually reported for undoped TiO2, which is consistent with n-type doping of the TiO2 matrix. Such band gap red shift brings the absorption edge of the Co-doped TiO2 films into the visible region, which might favour their photocatalytic activity. Furthermore, the band gap red shift depends on the films' phase composition, increasing with the increase of the Urbach energy for increasing rutile content. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Speed and grade increment during cardiopulmonary treadmill testing : impact on exercise prescription

Background: Maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) and both first (VT1) and second (VT2) thresholds have been used as reference points for exercise prescription in different populations. Objective: We aimed to test the hypothesis that exercise prescription, based on VTs determined by treadmill cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET), is influenced by the rate of increase in treadmill workload. Methods: Nine healthy individuals underwent two CPETs, followed by two sessions of submaximal exercise, both in randomized order. For the “speed” protocol, there was an increment of 0.1 to 0.3 km.h-1 every 15s. The “grade” incremental protocol increased 1% every 30s and 0.1 km.h-1 every 45s. This was followed by submaximal exercise sessions lasting 40min at an intensity corresponding to heart rate (HR) between the VT1 and VT2. Results: The “speed” protocol resulted in higher VT1 (p = 0.01) and VT2 (p = 0.02) when compared to the “grade” incremental protocol, but there was no effect on VO2max. The target HR for the submaximal exercise sessions was higher in the “speed” protocol compared to the “grade” incremental protocol (p < 0.01) and remained stable during the two steady-state exercise sessions. Blood lactate remained stable during the submaximal exercise sessions, with higher values observed during the “speed” protocol than those “grade” incremental protocol (p < 0.01). Conclusions: Compared to a grade-based protocol, a speed-based protocol resulted in higher VT1 and VT2, which significantly affected cardiorespiratory and metabolic responses to prescribed exercise intensity in healthy young adults

KrF pulsed laser deposition of chromium oxide thin films from Cr8O21 targets

Chromium oxides, CrxOy, are of great interest due to the wide variety of their technological applications. Among them, CrO2 has been extensively investigated in recent years because it is an attractive compound for use in spintronic heterostructures. However, its synthesis at low temperatures has been a difficult task due to the metastable nature of this oxide. This is indeed essential to ensure interface quality and the ability to coat thermal-sensitive materials such as those envisaged in spintronic devices. Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD) is a technique that has the potential to meet the requirements stated above. In this work, we describe our efforts to grow chromium oxide thin films by PLD from Cr8O21 targets, using a KrF excimer laser. The as-deposited films were investigated by X-ray diffraction and Rutherford backscattering spectrometry. Structural and chemical composition studies showed that the films consist of a mixture of amorphous chromium oxides exhibiting different stoichiometries depending on the processing parameters, where nanocrystals of mainly Cr2O3 are dispersed. The analyses do not exclude the possibility of co-deposition of Cr2O3 and a low fraction of CrO2

Design, metallurgical characteristics, and mechanical performance

Funding Information: FMBF acknowledges the funding of CENIMAT/i3N by national funds through the FCT‐Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P., within the scope of Multiannual Financing of R&D Units, reference UIDB/50025/2020‐2023. The authors ackowledge Fernanda Carvalho for running the differential scanning calorimetry tests on the endodontic files. Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Authors. International Endodontic Journal published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Endodontic Society.Aim: To compare two flat-side single-file rotary instruments with three single-file reciprocating systems through a multimethod assessment. Methodology: A total of 290 new NiTi single-file rotary (AF F One Blue 25/0.06 and Platinum V.EU 25/0.06) and reciprocating (One Files Blue R25, Reciproc Blue R25, Reciproc R25) instruments were selected, carefully examined for any major deformations, and evaluated regarding their macroscopic and microscopic design, nickel and titanium elements ratio, phase transformation temperatures, and mechanical performance (time/rotation to fracture, maximum torque, angle of rotation, microhardness, maximum bending, and buckling strengths). One-way anova post hoc Tukey, T-test, and nonparametric Mood's median tests were used for statistical comparisons (α = 5%). Results: Tested instruments had identical blade counts and near-identical helical angles of approximately 24° (rotary instruments) and 151° (reciprocating instruments). The flat-side analysis revealed a few inconsistencies, such as discontinuity segments, different orientations, and gaps in the homogeneity of the bluish colour. Microscopically, flat-side instruments exhibited blade discontinuity and an incomplete S-shaped cross-section. The surface finish was smoother for One Files Blue and more irregular for both rotary instruments. There were distinct phase transformation temperatures amongst all instruments. All heat-treated instruments were in R-phase arrangement, and Reciproc was in R-phase plus austenite at test temperature (20°C). Compared with the reciprocating instruments, both flat-side instruments exhibited lower results in the cyclic fatigue tests using two different clockwise kinematics, maximum torque, angle of rotation, and maximum buckling strength (p <.05). The rotary systems also exhibited low flexibility (p <.05). AF F One Blue had the lowest microhardness, whilst Reciproc had the highest value. Conclusion: This multimethod investigation revealed that the flat-side rotary instruments underperformed the reciprocating instruments regarding cyclic fatigue (with two different clockwise kinematics), maximum torque, angle of rotation, maximum buckling strength, and flexibility. Manufacturing inconsistencies were also observed in some of the flat-side instruments, including discontinuity segments, different orientations, and in the homogeneity of their bluish colour given by the heat treatment.publishersversionpublishe

Pre-hydrodynamic evolution in large and small systems

We extend our previous investigation of the effects of pre-hydrodynamic evolution on final-state observables in heavy-ion collisions to smaller systems. We use a state-of-the-art hybrid model for the numerical simulations with optimal parameters obtained from a previous Bayesian study. By studying p-Pb collisions, we find that the effects due to the assumption of a conformal evolution in the pre-hydrodynamical stage are even more important in small systems. We also show that this effect depends on the time duration of the pre-equilibrium stage, which is further enhanced in small systems. Finally, we show that the recent proposal of a free-streaming with subluminal velocity for the pre-equilibrium stage, thus effectively breaking conformal invariance, can alleviate the contamination of final state observables. Our study further reinforces the need for moving beyond conformal approaches in pre-equilibrium dynamics modeling, especially when extracting transport coefficients from hybrid models in the high-precision era of heavy-ion collisions.Comment: 15 pages, 14 figure