4,954 research outputs found
Mesotelioma deciduóide pleural: uma entidade rara numa mulher jovem
Deciduoid Mesothelioma is a rare variant of epithelioid mesothelioma; it was initially thought that it only occurred in the peritoneum of young women and had nothing to do with asbestos exposure. However, since these early findings it has also been observed in the pleura and the pericardium, with possible association to asbestos. In general the prognosis is poor compared to epithelioid mesothelioma. 45 cases have been reported in the literature up to now, 22 of these were located in the pleural cavity. The authors describe a case of deciduoid pleural mesothelioma in a 40-year-old-woman who presented with right pleuritic chest pain, with no history of asbestos exposure, treated with chemotherapy followed by surgery and who died postoperatively
In-Hospital and Long-Term Prognosis after Spontaneous Intracerebral Hemorrhage among Young Adults Aged 18-65 Years
BACKGROUND:
Spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) accounts for 10%-15% of all strokes and has an estimated annual incidence of 5/100,000 in young adults. Limited data on prognosis after ICH in young adults are available. We aimed to identify prognostic predictors after ICH among adults aged 18-65 years.
METHODS:
We retrospectively selected all patients with ICH from a prospective single-center registry of adults with first stroke before 65 years between 1997 and 2002. We recorded in-hospital mortality as well as mortality and recurrent stroke after discharge until December 1, 2018. For in-hospital analysis, we compared patients that died in-hospital versus patients discharged alive. For long-term analysis, we compared patients that died in follow-up versus patients still alive. Independent prognostic predictors were identified using multivariate analyses.
RESULTS:
Among 161 patients included, 24 (14.9%) died in-hospital. Among in-hospital survivors, 5-year survival was 92.0%, 10-year survival 78.1%, and 15-year survival 62.0%. After median follow-up of 17 years, 47.4% of patients died, 18 patients had ischemic stroke, and 6 recurrent ICH. Regarding in-hospital prognosis, coma at admission (OR .02 [.00-.11]) was independent predictor for mortality whereas alcoholic habits (OR 12.32 [1.82-83.30]) was independent predictor for survival. An increasing age (OR 1.08 [1.03-1.12]), higher blood glucose levels (OR 1.01 [1.00-1.01]), and hypertension (OR 2.21 [1.22-4.00]) were independent predictors of long-term mortality after ICH.
CONCLUSIONS:
Alcoholic habits may influence in-hospital survival after ICH in young adults. Long-term mortality in young adults seems to be lower than in elderly and was predicted by higher blood glucose levels and hypertension.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
A perspectiva Macaronésica
"As 100 espécies seleccionadas como prioritárias para a gestão na Macaronésia europeia (i.e., Açores, Madeira, Selvagens e Canárias) são maioritariamente das Canárias (51 taxa), em segundo lugar do arquipélago da Madeira (26 taxa) e em terceiro lugar do arquipélago dos Açores (23 taxa). Esta distribuição é apenas mais ou menos concordante com a riqueza relativa das três regiões, já que estão registadas apenas 420 espécies endémicas para os Açores (Borges et al., 2005, 2008a), 1284 espécies endémicas para os arquipélagos da Madeira e Selvagens (Borges et al., 2008b) e 3572 espécies endémicas para as ilhas Canárias (Martín et al., 2005). A lista "Top 100" inclui taxa da flora e da fauna dos três arquipélagos macaronésicos acima referidos. O grupo dominante, ao nível do filo ou da divisão, é o das fanerogâmicas ou plantas com flor, no qual se incluem 66 taxa, seguido dos artrópodes, representados por 17 taxa. A distribuição por arquipélagos é desigual, e embora este padrão global se repita entre as espécies da Madeira e das Canárias, no caso dos Açores isso não sucede: o grupo mais numeroso é de longe o dos artrópodes, que compreende 12 dos 23 taxa selecionados"
A Lista Top 100
"Evitar a extinção das espécies é um dos maiores desafios actuais da ciência da conservação. A magnitude da perda de espécies é hoje tão importante que alguns autores defendem que estamos a ser testemunhas da sexta grande extinção na história da vida (Leakey & Lewin, 1995). De facto, no nosso planeta desta vez é a acção devastadora do Homem a força motriz que está a alterar habitats, a colocar em risco ecossistemas, e a extinguir inúmeras espécies, muitas delas desconhecidas para a ciência (Lawton & May, 1995; Pimm et al., 1995, 1996; Chapin et al., 2000). Durante os últimos séculos estas extinções tem sido muito significativas nas ilhas de todo o mundo (Reid & Miller, 1989; Lawton & May, 1995; Sadler, 1999; Steadman & Martin, 2003), o que tem estimulado o debate sobre a questão se os endemismos insulares são intrinsecamente mais sensíveis às ameaças do que as formas continentais (Manne et al., 1999; Sax et al., 2002; Frankham, 2005). Contudo embora não pareça claro que assim seja (Manne & Pimm, 2001; Biber, 2002), o facto é que as ilhas por serem territórios com muitos taxa endémicos de distribuição reduzida a espaços limitados e, como consequência disso, com poucas possibilidades de escapar a uma eventual ameaça –como por exemplo a introdução de um novo predador–, tem o risco de extinção aumentado (Duncan & Blackburn, 2007). Evidências mostram igualmente que nas ilhas o número de espécies de plantas vasculares não nativas tem subido mais do que a extinção do número de espécies nativas mas que nas aves as extinções igualam o ganho de espécies exóticas (Sax et al., 2002). O facto é que, independentemente da maior ou menor propensão ao desaparecimento das espécies insulares, as consequências devastadoras das ameaças externas nos territórios isolados levam a que as extinções nas ilhas sejam mais frequentes do que nos espaços abertos continentais (Quammen, 1997). [...]
Chromosome numbers for the Italian flora: 3
In this contribution new chromosome data obtained from material collected in Italy are presented. It includes four chromosome counts for the following genera: Bellevalia (Asparagaceae), Genista (Fabaceae), Linaria (Plantaginaceae), and Teucrium (Lamiaceae)
Piecewise smooth systems near a co-dimension 2 discontinuity manifold: can one say what should happen?
We consider a piecewise smooth system in the neighborhood of a co-dimension 2
discontinuity manifold . Within the class of Filippov solutions, if
is attractive, one should expect solution trajectories to slide on
. It is well known, however, that the classical Filippov
convexification methodology is ambiguous on . The situation is further
complicated by the possibility that, regardless of how sliding on is
taking place, during sliding motion a trajectory encounters so-called generic
first order exit points, where ceases to be attractive.
In this work, we attempt to understand what behavior one should expect of a
solution trajectory near when is attractive, what to expect
when ceases to be attractive (at least, at generic exit points), and
finally we also contrast and compare the behavior of some regularizations
proposed in the literature.
Through analysis and experiments we will confirm some known facts, and
provide some important insight: (i) when is attractive, a solution
trajectory indeed does remain near , viz. sliding on is an
appropriate idealization (of course, in general, one cannot predict which
sliding vector field should be selected); (ii) when loses attractivity
(at first order exit conditions), a typical solution trajectory leaves a
neighborhood of ; (iii) there is no obvious way to regularize the
system so that the regularized trajectory will remain near as long as
is attractive, and so that it will be leaving (a neighborhood of)
when looses attractivity.
We reach the above conclusions by considering exclusively the given piecewise
smooth system, without superimposing any assumption on what kind of dynamics
near (or sliding motion on ) should have been taking place.Comment: 19 figure
The spike train statistics for consonant and dissonant musical accords
The simple system composed of three neural-like noisy elements is considered.
Two of them (sensory neurons or sensors) are stimulated by noise and periodic
signals with different ratio of frequencies, and the third one (interneuron)
receives the output of these two sensors and noise. We propose the analytical
approach to analysis of Interspike Intervals (ISI) statistics of the spike
train generated by the interneuron. The ISI distributions of the sensory
neurons are considered to be known. The frequencies of the input sinusoidal
signals are in ratios, which are usual for music. We show that in the case of
small integer ratios (musical consonance) the input pair of sinusoids results
in the ISI distribution appropriate for more regular output spike train than in
a case of large integer ratios (musical dissonance) of input frequencies. These
effects are explained from the viewpoint of the proposed theory.Comment: 22 pages, 6 figure
Multiparametric Whole Blood Dissection: A one-shot comprehensive picture of the human hematopoietic system
Human hematopoiesis is a complex and dynamic system where morphologically and functionally diverse mature cell types are generated and maintained throughout life by bone marrow (BM) Hematopoietic Stem/Progenitor Cells (HSPC). Congenital and acquired hematopoietic disorders are often diagnosed through the detection of aberrant frequency or composition of hematopoietic cell populations. We here describe a novel protocol, called “Whole Blood Dissection” (WBD), capable of analyzing in a single test‐tube, hematopoietic progenitors and all major mature cell lineages composing either BM or peripheral blood (PB) through a multiparametric flow‐cytometry analysis. WBD allows unambiguously identifying in the same tube up to 23 different blood cell types including HSPC subtypes and all the major myeloid and lymphoid lineage compartments at different stages of maturation, through a combination of 17 surface and 1 viability cell markers. We assessed the efficacy of WBD by analyzing BM and PB samples from adult (n = 8) and pediatric (n = 9) healthy donors highlighting age‐related shift in cell composition. We also tested the capability of WBD on detecting aberrant hematopoietic cell composition in clinical samples of patients with primary immunodeficiency or leukemia unveiling expected and novel hematopoietic unbalances. Overall, WBD allows unambiguously identifying >99% of the cell subpopulations composing a blood sample in a reproducible, standardized, cost‐, and time‐efficient manner. This tool has a wide range of potential pre‐clinical and clinical applications going from the characterization of hematopoietic disorders to the monitoring of hematopoietic reconstitution in patients after transplant or gene therapy
Mantra 2.0: An online collaborative resource for drug mode of action and repurposing by network analysis
Elucidation of molecular targets of a compound (mode of action, MoA) and of its off-targets is a crucial step in drug development. We developed an online collaborative resource (MANTRA 2.0) that supports this process by exploiting similarities between drug-induced transcriptional profiles. Drugs are organised in a network of nodes (drugs) and edges (similarities) highlighting “communities” of drugs sharing a similar MoA. A user can upload gene expression profiles (GEPs) before and after drug treatment in one or multiple cell types. An automated processing pipeline transforms the GEPs into a unique drug ”node” embedded in the drug-network. Visual inspection of the neighbouring drugs and communities helps in revealing its MoA, and to suggest new applications of known drugs (drug repurposing). MANTRA 2.0 allows storing and sharing user-generated network nodes, thus making MANTRA 2.0 a collaborative ever-growing resource
Characterization of a bean landrace from Sicily: the ‘fagiolo Badda di Polizzi'
Inside the project “Piano per la Produzione di Proteine Vegetali in Sicilia” investigations were
carried out to characterize a bean population cultivated in the Parco delle Madonie area, the
‘Fagiolo Badda di Polizzi’. The producers’ interest for this landrace and the appreciation of the
consumers could justify the start up of a valorization program through a product certification.
Researches on the morpho-physiological aspects and on the nutritional profile were made in
trials conducted between 2005 and 2007. All the Badda bean accessions showed an indeterminate
plant growth habit, white flowers and a very delayed flowering time. In particular, a certain
variability was seen and described for the size and shape of pods and seeds. Two types of Badda
are cultivated, differentiated by the secondary seed colour: the “white Badda” and the “black
Badda”. Both have ivory has a primary seed coat colour, but the “white Badda” has a brownish spot
on the hilum, whereas the “black Badda” shows a black spot. In addition, the secondary colour of
the seed coat of the “black Badda” showed two different pigmentations: violet and black, that
suggested a genetic differentiation into different sub-populations. Finally, the “black Badda”
resulted less susceptible to viral infections than the “white” one.
At the molecular level, three accessions of Badda bean (two ‘white’ and one ‘black’) have
been compared with control varieties, including one accessions of ‘Fagiolo del Purgatorio’ from
Gradoli (VT), seven landraces of the Borlotto type collected in the Marche region and the cultivars
Bat, Jalo, Clio and Big Borlotto. The analyses were carried out using 12 Inter Simple Sequence
Repeats (ISSR) primers yielding a total of 140 bands. Although no specific band for the Badda
landrace were detected, two amplicons were found only in the accessions of Badda and in
Monachello, a bicol-seeded type from the Marche region, morphologically similar to the “black
Badda”. The dendrogram obtained from the genetic distances based on ISSRs indicated that the
Badda type belongs to the Andean gene pool and that it is distinguishable from the tested controls
being grouped into a separate cluster. Within the Badda type, the ‘white’ accessions were not
separated from the ‘black’ one
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