Late evaluation of the relationship between morphological and functional renal changes and hypertension after non-operative treatment of high-grade renal injuries

Objective: To evaluate the anatomical and functional renal alterations and the association with post-traumatic arterial hypertension. Methods: The studied population included patients who sustained high grades renal injury (grades III to V) successfully non-operative management after staging by computed tomography over a 16-year period. Beyond the review of medical records, these patients were invited to the following protocol: clinical and laboratory evaluation, abdominal computed tomography, magnetic resonance angiography, DMSA renal scintigraphy, and ambulatory blood pressure monitoring. The hypertensive patients also were submitted to dynamic renal scintigraphy (Tc-99m EC), using captopril stimulation to verify renal vascular etiology. Results: Of the 31 patients, there were thirteen grade III, sixteen grade IV (nine lacerations, and seven vascular lesions), and two grade V injuries. All the patients were asymptomatic and an average follow up post-injury of 6.4 years. None had abnormal BUN or seric creatinine. The percentage of renal volume reduction correlates with the severity as defined by OIS. There was no evidence of renal artery stenosis in Magnetic Resonance angiography (MRA). DMSA scanning demonstrated a decline in percentage of total renal function corresponding to injury severity (42.2 +/- 5.5% for grade III, 35.3 +/- 12.8% for grade IV, 13.5 +/- 19.1 for grade V). Six patients (19.4%) had severe compromised function (< 30%). There was statistically significant difference in the decrease in renal function between parenchymal and vascular causes for grade IV injuries (p < 0.001). The 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring detected nine patients (29%) with post-traumatic hypertension. All the patients were male, mean 35.6 years, 77.8 % had a familial history of arterial hypertension, 66.7% had grade III renal injury, and average post-injury time was 7.8 years. Seven patients had negative captopril renography. Conclusions: Late results of renal function after conservative treatment of high grades renal injuries are favorable, except for patients with grades IV with vascular injuries and grade V renal injuries. Moreover, arterial hypertension does not correlate with the grade of renal injury or reduction of renal function

Assessment of different regions of interest-based methods for [99mTc]Tc DAT-SPECT quantification using an anthropomorphic striatal phantom

Abstract Background and aims Molecular imaging of the dopamine transporters (DAT) provides valuable information about neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson’s. This study assessed the accuracy and precision of DAT-SPECT quantification methods. Methods Twenty-three DAT-SPECT images of a striatal phantom were acquired. The specific (caudate and putamen) and the non-specific (background activity) chambers were filled with [99mTc]Tc. Different specific-to-non-specific activity ratios (10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3 and 2 to 1) and the specific binding ratio (SBR) were calculated. Five methods using ROIs were assessed: (a) Manual ROIs on SPECT images; (b) TwoBox and (c) ThreeBox methods and Volume of Interest (VOI) using structural images; (d) MRI and (e) CT. Accuracy was evaluated by the concordance correlation coefficient (CCC) and precision by Pearson’s coefficient and linear regression. Results The SBR quantified in the specific and striatal chambers resulted in a CCC increase with a decrease in the nominal values. For lower SBR, MRI and CT showed higher CCCs when caudate ( $$\hbox {CCC}_{\mathrm{MRI-CA}}$$ CCC MRI - CA = 0.89 e $$\hbox {CCC}_{\mathrm{CT-CA}}$$ CCC CT - CA = 0.84) and putamen ( $$\hbox {CCC}_{\mathrm{MRI-PU}}$$ CCC MRI - PU = 0.86 e $$\hbox {CCC}_{\mathrm{CT-PU}}$$ CCC CT - PU = 0.82) were evaluated. For striatal assessments, the TwoBox method was the most accurate ( $$\hbox {CCC}_{\mathrm{TWOBOX-ST}}$$ CCC TWOBOX - ST = 0.95). High Pearson’s coefficients were found in the correlations between all methods. conclusions All five methods showed high precision even when applied to images with different activities. MRI and CT were the most accurate for assessing the caudate or putamen. To assess the striatal chamber and in the absence of structural information, the TwoBox method is advisable

Inovação nos quintais agrobiodiversos da Cooperativa D’Irituia, Pará

The study investigated the Amazon backyards that serve as agrobiodiversity reservoirs. The backyards of farming families at ‘Cooperativa D'Irituia’ were analyzed for their socioeconomic aspects and botanical composition, in the municipality of Irituia, Pará state. Audiovisual resources, georeferencing, structured and semi-structured interviews, a walk along with the backyard maintainer, empirical floristic inventory and participant observation. Statistical analyzes, Jaccard similarity, Shannon-Weaver index (H') and Pielou index (J) were used to present the results. The relationship between the age and size of the yards and the cluster analysis to the similarity tests did not show statistically significant differences (p> 0.05). Euterpe oleracea Mart. it was the preferred species to self-consumption. Annually, 3,056 kg of fruit pulp is produced in 52% of the backyards visited. The H' diversity index is diversified. However, food production (kg) decreases as the H' index increases regardless of the age of the yard (p> 0.05). Adding value to the product assists in the construction of agrobiodiversity and in the proper management of the backyards, providing food, medicinal and timber resources associated with income generation.O estudo investigou quintais amazônicos que possuem função de reservatório de agrobiodiversidade. Os quintais de famílias agricultoras da Cooperativa D’Irituia foram analisados quanto aos aspectos socioeconômicos e composição botânica, no município de Irituia, Pará. Utilizaram-se recurso audiovisual, georreferenciamento, entrevistas estruturadas e semiestruturadas, caminhada junto ao mantenedor do quintal, inventário florístico empírico e observação participante. As análises estatísticas, similaridade de Jaccard, índice de Shannon-Weaver (H’) e índice de Pielou (J) foram usadas para apresentar os resultados. A relação entre idade e tamanho dos quintais e a análise de agrupamento aos testes de similaridade não apresentaram diferenças estatísticas significativas (p> 0,05). A Euterpe oleracea Mart. foi a espécie preferencial ao autoconsumo. Anualmente, 3.056 kg de polpa de frutas são produzidos em 52% dos quintais visitados. O índice de diversidade de H' apresenta-se diversificado, entretanto, a produção de alimentos (kg) diminui conforme aumenta o índice de H' independentemente da idade do quintal (p> 0,05). A agregação de valor ao produto auxilia na construção da agrobiodiversidade e no manejo adequado dos quintais, disponibilizando recursos alimentícios, medicinais e madeireiros associados à geração de renda

The neurobiological substrates of behavioral manifestations during temporal lobe seizures: A neuroethological and ictal SPECT correlation study

Ictal behavior coupled with SPECT findings during 28 seizures in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) with unilateral hippocampal sclerosis (13 left; 15 right) was displayed as flowcharts from right-sided (RTLE) plus left-sided (LTLE) seizures. Ictal SPECT was classified blind to neuroethology. Behaviors were categorized as ipsilateral to the epileptogenic zone (IL), contralateral to the epileptogenic zone (CL), or bilateral. SPECT intensity and region were categorized as IL or CL to the epileptogenic zone. All patients developed automatisms and had hyperperfusion in their temporal lobes. Patients` verbal responses to questions had statistical interactions in RTLE but not in LTLE sum. Most CL dystonic posturing was correlated to IL basal ganglia hyperperfusion. Basal ganglia activation occurred in seizures without dystonic posturing and CL manual automatisms, and lack of IL dystonic posturing and the presence of CL cerebellar hemispheric hyperperfusion were also observed. Coupling of neuroethology and SPECT findings reliably evaluates ictal behavior and functionality of associated brain areas. (C) 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.FAPESPCinapce-FAPESPCNPqPROAP-CAPESPROEX: Physiology & Neurology/Neuroscience Graduate ProgramsFAEP

Ictal technetium-99 m ethyl cysteinate dimer single-photon emission tomographic findings in epileptic patients with polymicrogyria syndromes: A Subtraction of ictal-interictal SPECT coregistered to MRI study

Purpose To describe the ictal technetium-99 m-ECD SPECT findings in polymicrogyria syndromes (PMG) during epileptic seizures. Methods We investigated 17 patients with PMG syndromes during presurgical workup, which included long-term video-electroencephalographic (EEG) monitoring, neurological and psychiatry assessments, invasive EEG, and the subtraction of ictal-interictal SPECT coregistered to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) (SISCOM). Results The analysis of the PMG cortex, using SISCOM, revealed intense hyperperfusion in the polymicrogyric lesion during epileptic seizures in all patients. Interestingly, other localizing investigations showed heterogeneous findings. Twelve patients underwent epilepsy surgery, three achieved seizure-freedom, five have worthwhile improvement, and four patients remained unchanged. Conclusions Our study strongly suggests the involvement of PMG in seizure generation or early propagation. Both conventional ictal single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and SISCOM appeared as the single contributive exam to suggest the localization of the epileptogenic zone. Despite the limited number of resective epilepsy surgery in our study (n=9), we found a strong prognostic role of SISCOM in predicting surgical outcome. This result may be of great value on surgical decision-making of whether or not the whole or part of the PMG lesion should be surgically resected

A solid-phase bioreactor with continuous sample deposition for matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry

We report the development of a solid-phase proteolytic digestion and continuous deposition microfluidic chip platform for low volume fraction collection and off-line matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry. Tryptic peptides were formed in an on-chip bioreactor and continuously deposited onto a MALDI target plate using a motor-driven xyz stage. The bioreactor consisted of a 4 cm x 200 μm x 50 μm microfluidic channel with covalently immobilized trypsin on an array of 50 μm diameter micropost structures with a 50 μm edge-to-edge inter-post spacing. A 50 μm i.d. capillary tube was directly attached to the end of the bioreactor for continuous sample deposition. The MALDI target plate was modified by spin-coating a nitrocellulose solution containing a MALDI matrix on the surface prior to effluent deposition. Protein molecular weight standards were used for evaluating the performance of the digestion and continuous deposition system. Serpentine sample traces 200 μm wide were obtained with a 30 fmol/mm quantity deposition rate and a 3.3 nL/mm volumetric deposition rate. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

Evaluation of the relevant features of welding defects in radiographic inspection

The use of X-ray as an inspection technique to ensure the integrity of industrial products dates from the beginning of the 20th century. Therefore, it is a tool of non-destructive inspection widely known. Nowadays, however, there are several researches forward on the optimization of such inspection technique, mainly for the development of an automatic system of radiographic image analysis. That is, a system that can identify and classify the defects in the radiography. An important step in the construction of this system is the classification of defects, which is usually done by using some of their features. The purpose of this work is to study the relevance of some defect features in order to classify some of the main classes of defects. The employed technique is the linear correlation between the defect features and the classes of defects. A non-linear pattern classifier is used, implemented by a neural network, to evaluate the performance in the classification. The results showed the efficiency of the method used