Does the association of prostate cancer with night-shift work differ according to rotating vs. fixed schedule? A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Recent studies suggested that the relation between night-shift work and prostate cancer may differ between rotating and fixed schedules. Objectives: We aimed to quantify the independent association between night-shift work and prostate cancer, for rotating and fixed schedules. Methods: We searched MEDLINE for studies assessing the association of night-shift work, by rotating or fixed schedules, with prostate cancer. We computed summary relative risk (RR) estimates with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) using the inverse variance method and quantified heterogeneity using the I2 statistic. Meta-regression analysis was used to compare the summary RR estimates for rotating and fixed schedules, while reducing heterogeneity. Results: A total of nine studies assessed the effect of rotating and, in addition, four of them provided the effect of fixed night-shift work, in relation to daytime workers. Rotating night-shift work was associated with a significantly increased risk of prostate cancer (RR = 1.06, 95% CI of 1.01 to 1.12; I2 = 50%), but not fixed night-shift work (RR of 1.01, 95% CI of 0.81 to 1.26; I2 = 33%). In meta-regression model including study design, type of population, and control of confounding, the summary RR was 20% higher for rotating vs. fixed schedule, with heterogeneity fully explained by these variables. Conclusions: This is the first meta-analysis suggesting that an increased risk of prostate cancer may be restricted to workers with rotating night shifts. However, the association was weak and additional studies are needed to further clarify this relation before it can be translated into measures for risk reduction in occupational settings

Schwannoma Of The Craniocervical Junction: Surgical Approach Of Two Cases

We report two cases of craniocervical junction schwannomas with a special focus on the surgical approach. The patients underwent a far-lateral approach in the sitting position that facilitated the lesion removal. This report is meant to improve the understanding of this surgical technique as well as improve awareness of its usefulness for similar cases.6103:00:00639641Baldwin, H., Christopher, G., The far lateral/combined supra- and infratentorial approach (1994) J Neurosurg, 81, pp. 60-68Oliveira, E., Rhoton A.L., Jr., Peace, D., Microsurgical anatomy of the region of the foramen magnum (1985) Surg Neurol, 24, pp. 293-352Salas, E., Sekhar, L.N., Ziyal, I.M., Caputy, A.J., Wright, D.C., Variations of the extreme-lateral craniocervical approach: Anatomical study and clinical analysis of 69 patients (1999) J Neurosurg, 90 (SPINE 2), pp. 206-219Martins, R.S., Suzuki, S.H., Sanematsu P., Jr., Plese, J.P.P., Acoustic neuroma in children without association with neurofibromatosis: Report of two cases (1999) Arq Neuropsiquiatr, 57, pp. 96-100Neto, P.M.A., Stamm, A.C., Braga, F.M., Mandibular trigeminal schwannoma: Case report (2001) Arq Neuropsiquiatr, 59, pp. 959-963Siqueira, M.G., Jennings, E., Moraes, O.J.S., Naso-ethmoid schwannoma with intracranial extension: Case report (2001) Arq Neuropsiquitr, 59, pp. 421-423Andrade, G.C., Neto, P.M.A., Braga, F.M., Thalamic intracerebral schwannoma: Case report (2002) Arq Neuropsiquiatr, 60, pp. 308-313Rhoton A.L., Jr., The far-lateral approach and its transcondylar, supracondylar, and paracondylar extensions (2000) Neurosurgery, 47, pp. 195-210Spetzler, R.F., Grahm, T.W., The far-lateral approach to file inferior clivus and the upper cervical region technical note (1990) BNI Quarterly, 6, pp. 35-38Samii, M., Klekamp, J., Carvalho, G., Surgical results for meningiomas of the craniocervical junction (1996) Neurosurgery, 39, pp. 1086-1095Al-Mefty, O., Borba, L.A.B., Aoki, N., Angtuaco, E., Pait, T.G., The transcondylar approach to extradural nonneoplastic lesions of the craniovertebral junction (1996) J Neurosurg, 84, pp. 1-6Bertalanffy, H., Seeger, W., The dorsolateral, suboccipital, transcondilar approach to the lower clivus and anterior portion of the craniocervical junction (1991) Neurosurgery, 29, pp. 815-82

Association Between Physical Activity and Mortality in End-Stage Kidney Disease: a Systematic Review of Observational Studies

Background: End-stage Kidney Disease patients have a high mortality and hospitalization risk. The association of these outcomes with physical activity is described in the general population and in other chronic diseases. However, few studies examining this association have been completed in end-stage Kidney Disease patients, raising the need to systematically review the evidence on the association of physical activity with mortality and hospitalization in this population. Methods: Electronic databases (EBSCO, Scopus and Web of Science) and hand search were performed until March 2020 for observational studies reporting the association of physical activity with mortality or hospitalization in adult end-stage Kidney Disease patients on renal replacement therapy (hemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis and kidney transplant). Methodological quality of the included studies was assessed using the Quality in Prognosis Studies tool. The review protocol was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42020155591). Results: Eleven studies were included: six in hemodialysis, three in kidney transplant, and two in hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis patients. Physical activity was self-reported, except in one study that used accelerometers. All-cause mortality was addressed in all studies and cardiovascular mortality in three studies. Nine studies reported a significant reduction in all-cause mortality with increased levels of physical activity. Evidence of a dose-response relationship was found. For cardiovascular mortality, a significant reduction was observed in two of the three studies. Only one study investigated the association of physical activity with hospitalization. Conclusions: Higher physical activity was associated with reduced mortality in end-stage Kidney Disease patients. Future studies using objective physical activity measures could strengthen these findings. The association of physical activity with hospitalization should be explored in future investigations.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Chitosan/PVA Based Membranes Processed by Gamma Radiation as Scaffolding Materials for Skin Regeneration

Some of the current strategies for the development of scaffolding materials capable of inducing tissue regeneration have been based on the use of polymeric biomaterials. Chitosan, in particular, due to its recognized biological activity has been used in a number of biomedical applications. Aiming the development of chitosan-based membranes with improved cell adhesion and growth properties to be used as skin scaffolds allowing functional tissue replacement, different formulations with chitosan of different molecular weight, poly (vinyl alcohol) and gelatin, were evaluated. To meet the goal of getting ready-to-use scaffolds assuring membranes’ required properties and sterilization, preparation methodology included a lyophilization procedure followed by a final gamma irradiation step. Two radiation dose values were tested. Samples were characterized by TGA, FTIR, and SEM techniques. Their hydrophilic properties, in vitro stability, and biocompatibility were also evaluated. Results show that all membranes present a sponge-type inner structure. Chitosan of low molecular weight and the introduction of gelatin are more favorable to cellular growth leading to an improvement on cells’ morphology and cytoskeletal organization, giving a good perspective to the use of these membranes as potential skin scaffolds.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Environmental impact and biological removal processes of pharmaceutically active compounds: The particular case of sulfonamides, anticonvulsants and steroid estrogens

Pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) have recently received wide attention in the scientific community due to their extensive consumption for human health and consequent discharge to the environment. Release of PhACs into the environment, even in trace amounts, can cause serious environmental damage. This has become a major concern and their removal from water sources is a priority. Although a few PhACs are efficiently removed in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), others remain recalcitrant, and their release is causing damage. In this review, the current state of the art on the biological removal processes of sulfonamide sulfamethoxazole (SMX), the anticonvulsant carbamazepine (CBZ), and steroid estrogens 17-estradiol (E2) and 17-ethinylestradiol (EE2) are discussed, along with their environmental impact. Other systems beyond activated sludge, such as membrane bioreactors, enzymatic membrane reactors, fungi treatments and hybrid systems are also becoming of major interest and are being evaluated for the removal of these compounds. Future perspectives are addressed.Cristiano Leal is recipient of a fellowship supported by a doctoral advanced training (call NORTE-69-2015-15) funded by the European Social Fund under the scope of Norte2020 - Programa Operacional Regional do Norte. The authors thank the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UID/BIO/04469 unit, COMPETE 2020 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006684) and BioTecNorte operation (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000004) funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the scope of Norte2020 - Programa Operacional Regional do Norte.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Polyphosphates and poly-β-hydroxybutyrate granules identification through quantitative image analysis in enhanced biological phosphorus removal systems

Enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) is a widely implemented technique for having the potential to cheaply and reliably remove phosphate from wastewater treatment processes, than traditional chemical methods. EBPR is performed by operating the system sequentially with anaerobic and aerobic conditions. Several studies were already performed ranging from different strategies for the competition between polyphosphate accumulating organisms (PAOs) and glycogen accumulating organisms (GAOs) to modeling both types of bacterial activities. Until now, slight attention has been given to the development of newer, faster, simpler, and better suited monitoring techniques for this type of system. This work is focused on the development of image analysis techniques for polyphosphates and poly-β-hydroxybutyrate granules in EBPR systems since off-line analyses are labor intensive and not able to be performed in full-scale plants. A lab-scale sequencing batch reactor fed with synthetic wastewater containing volatile fatty acids (VFAs) and orthophosphate was used. The reactor had a working volume of 4 L and was operated with a cycle time of 6 h consisting of 2 h anaerobic, 3 h aerobic, 50 min settling and decanting, and 5 min anaerobic idle periods. In each cycle, 2 L of synthetic wastewater was fed to the reactor in the first 5 min of the anaerobic period, resulting in a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 12 h. The pH was controlled during both the anaerobic and aerobic periods around 7, and the temperature was controlled at 30 ºC in order to provide selective advantages to GAOs over PAOs. The ratio between chemical oxygen demand (COD) and P in the feed was kept at 10 (gCOD/g P). Biomass samples were collected at the end of the anaerobic and aerobic phases and fixed with phosphate buffer saline solution (PBS) and ethanol. Two fluorescence staining methods were used: (1) DAPI for poly-P identification; and (2) nile blue for poly-β-hydroxybutyrate granules. So far, promising results were achieved regarding the type of images achieved by these fluorescence staining methods and the image analysis procedures still under development

Image analysis for automatic characterization of polyhydroxyalcanoates granules

A new monitoring approach for polyhydroxyalcanoates (PHA) granules identification and characterization based on image analysis procedures is proposed. PHA granules were analyzed by Sudan Black B (SBB) staining in an enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) system. Color images captured on an optical microscope were analyzed through quantitative image analysis. The distribution of PHA granules was estimated by determination of the proportion of blue-black pixels. A relationship was found between image analysis parameters and PHA concentration. In conclusion, it may be inferred that the present image analysis procedure is suitable to quantify PHA granules in SBB staining images and a promising alternative to standard analysis

Sludge volume index and suspended solids estimation of mature aerobic granular sludge by quantitative image analysis and chemometric tools

Aerobic granular sludge (AGS) is considered a promising technology for wastewater treatment. Furthermore, it is recognized that the stability of the process is related to the balanced growth of the suspended (floccular) and granular fractions. Therefore, the development of adequate techniques to monitor this balance is of interest. In this work the sludge volume index (SVI), volatile suspended solids (VSS) and total suspended solids (TSS) of mature AGS were successfully predicted with multilinear regression (MLR) models using data obtained from quantitative image analysis (QIA) of both fractions (suspended and granular). Relevant predictions were obtained for the SVI (R2 of 0.975), granules TSS (R2 of 0.985), flocs TSS (R2 of 0.971), granules VSS (R2 of 0.984) and flocs VSS (R2 of 0.986). The estimation of the granular fraction ratio from the predicted TSS and VSS was also successful (R2 of 0.985). The predictions help to avoid instability episodes of the AGS system, such as changes in biomass morphology, structure and settling properties.The authors thank the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UID/BIO/04469 unit, BioTecNorte operation (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000004) funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the scope of Norte2020 – Programa Operacional Regional do Norte and the project AGeNT – PTDC/BTA-BTA/31264/2017 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER031264). We would also like to thank the scientific collaboration under the FCT project UID/Multi/50016/2019. Cristiano Leal is recipient of a fellowship supported by a doctoral advanced training (call NORTE-692015-15) funded by the European Social Fund under the scope of Norte2020 – Programa Operacional Regional do Norte. A. Val del Rio is supported by Xunta de Galicia (ED418B 2017/075) and program Iacobus (2017/2018).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio