Síndrome de Frey – Uma visão global do tema

ResumoIntroduçãoO Síndrome de Frey resulta de uma lesão irritativa ou mecânica das fibras vegetativas do nervo auriculotemporal. Esta lesão provoca uma regeneração aberrante das fibras parassimpáticas pós-ganglionares para os recetores das glândulas sudoríparas e vasos sanguíneos, provocando aumento da sensibilidade, eritema cutâneo e sudação durante a mastigação de alimentos.MétodosEste trabalho foi realizado com base numa pesquisa bibliográfica realizada na base de dados PubMed, utilizando a combinação de palavras (mesh terms): «Frey's syndrome» or «Auriculotemporal syndrome» or «Gustatory sweating».ResultadosNo total foram encontrados 262 artigos que foram publicados no período compreendido entre 1974-2012. Após a leitura dos resumos de cada artigo estes foram selecionados e categorizados a fim de facilitar a análise dos mesmos e excluir os menos relevantes para o estudo. Esta categorização permitiu atingir os objetivos deste trabalho que consistem em apresentar os aspetos principais relativos à Síndrome de Frey, nomeadamente a sua neuroanatomia, fisiopatologia, incidência, etiologia, diagnóstico, prevenção e tratamento.Conclusão Dos doentes submetidos a parotidectomia, apenas uma pequena percentagem apresenta queixas espontâneas sugestivas deste síndrome. Deste modo, o uso rotineiro de procedimentos preventivos deve ser considerado e devidamente ponderado, uma vez que poderão mascarar possíveis recidivas tumorais a longo prazo. Por outro lado, a primeira opção de tratamento continua a ser a injeção de toxina botulínica tipo A.AbstractIntroductionFrey's syndrome is caused by a mechanical irritative lesion of the vegetative fibers from the auriculotemporal nerve. This lesion causes an abnormal regeneration of the post-ganglionic parasympathetic fibers to the receptors sweat gland and blood vessels, causing increases sensitivity, skin erythema and sudation during meals.MethodsA literature search was performed in PubMed, using a combination of words (Mesh terms), such as «Frey's syndrome» or «syndrome Auriculotemporal» or «gustatory sweating».Results262 articles, published between 1974 and 2012, were found. Papers were selected and categorized into several groups after reading their abstracts, to facilitate their analysis and exclude the less relevant to the study. This selection led to the achievement of the objectives of this paper, presenting the most relevant aspects of Frey's syndrome, including neuroanatomy, physiopathology, incidence, etiology, diagnosis, prevention and treatment.ConclusionAmong the patients who had parotidectomies only a few mentioned spontaneously symptoms suggestive of Frey's syndrome. Therefore the routine use of preventive procedures must be previously and thoroughly considered since it may mask tumoral relapse in the long term. When treatment is needed, the first choice is, still, the injection of botulinum toxin type A

FOXO Transcription Factors & Gene Expression

This paper attempts to highlight ForkHead box transcription factors (FOXO -1, -3, and -4) importance of subcellular localization in U87MG and myoblasts

Chelating agent effects in the synthesis of supported Ni nanoparticles as catalysts for hydrogen production

A series of Ni supported over MgAl2O4–CeO2 catalysts have been prepared by the wet impregnation method as catalysts for steam ethanol reforming. The synthesis was performed using nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA) or citric acid (CA) as chelating agents (L) with different L/Ni molar ratios. The features of catalytic solids were determined by DR–UV–Vis–NIR, FTIR, BET, TGA, XRD, H2–TPR, XPS, Raman, HRTEM and SEM. Changes in the crystallite size of NiO and CeO2 were evidenced with the use of NTA, while the addition of CA allowed to reduce the crystallite size of NiO and Ni with a slight effect in CeO2 size. The use of chelating agents induced changes in the Ni-CeO2 interactions and an increase in the Ce/Ni0 surface ratio. Catalytic systems prepared using an L/Ni ratio leading to the most stable complex formation (NTA/Ni=1 and CA/Ni=2) exhibited the best performances in the reforming reaction under the operation conditions studied.Fil: Villagran Olivares, Alejandra Catalina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto de Investigaciones en Tecnología Química. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Química, Bioquímica y Farmacia. Instituto de Investigaciones en Tecnología Química; ArgentinaFil: Barroso, Mariana Noelia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto de Investigaciones en Tecnología Química. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Química, Bioquímica y Farmacia. Instituto de Investigaciones en Tecnología Química; ArgentinaFil: Lopez, Carlos Alberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto de Investigaciones en Tecnología Química. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Química, Bioquímica y Farmacia. Instituto de Investigaciones en Tecnología Química; ArgentinaFil: Llorca Piqué, Jordi. Universidad Politecnica de Catalunya. Escuela de Ingenieria de Barcelona Este.; EspañaFil: Abello, Maria Cristina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto de Investigaciones en Tecnología Química. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Química, Bioquímica y Farmacia. Instituto de Investigaciones en Tecnología Química; Argentin

Factors related to the bullying phenomenon in school context: integrative literature review

As evidências científicas sugerem que o bullying é um fenómeno cada vez mais frequente no contexto escolar, ao qual está inerente um vasto número de consequências para a saúde, pelo que, a sua prevenção deve constituir uma área prioritária. Com o objetivo de identificar os fatores implicados no fenómeno do bullying em contexto escolar, efetuou-se uma revisão da literatura de forma sistematizada na Biblioteca do Conhecimento Online (b-on) com as seguintes palavras-chave: “bullying/ bullying school context”, considerando os seguintes critérios de inclusão: participantes (estudantes do 2º e 3º ciclo); variáveis em estudo (fatores implicados no fenómeno do bullying), sem restrições relativas ao desenho dos estudos. Foram identificados 351 artigos, dos quais não foi possível aceder a 132. Considerando os critérios de inclusão, foram eliminados 203 artigos, os restantes 16 foram analisados. Da análise dos resultados dos estudos que integram esta revisão da literatura, emergem quatro tipologias de fatores, os fatores relacionados com as variáveis sociodemográficas, os fatores relacionados com as variáveis pessoais, os relativos à dimensão familiar e ainda os relacionados com as variáveis escolares. Em função destas tipologias, identificaram-se diversos fatores protetores e fatores de risco implicados no fenómeno de bullying

Towards a tailored approach to neuroplasticity enhancement based on brain and behavioral predictors of language learning success

Individual differences in the functional and morphological architecture of the dorsal and ventral language pathways may explain part of the variability observed in the ability to learn new words in healthy population and in language recovery of persons with aphasia (PWA). The traditional gold-standard of aphasia rehabilitation is speech and language therapy (SLT), yet in many cases its effectiveness is limited and aphasic subjects are left with enduring deficits. More recent studies suggest that benefits of SLT can be boosted by the use of additional therapeutic approaches such as transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). The present project seeks to identify brain and cognitive predictors of treatment response that guide the choice of the language pathway (i.e. dorsal or ventral) and hemisphere (left or right) that must be potentiated to maximize individual benefits. For this, the implication of the dorsal and ventral pathways will be modulated with two validated word-learning tasks: phonological word-learning task and contextual word-learning task. Further, the activity of the left or right cerebral hemispheres will be modulated by using 3different tDCS conditions. This project will be implemented through two studies in two different samples: (i) 30 healthy adults, and (ii) 10 PWA. Each subject will participate in 3 sessions separated by a week. In each session, subjects will receive a different tDCS stimulation condition and will be required to perform the two learning tasks. A magnetic resonance imaging session will be acquired at baseline to obtain structural and functional information. The results of this project will provide helpful hints for making decision in the selection of therapeutic algorithms for tDCS as well as for the selection of tailor-made SLT for aphasic individuals.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Inert Dark Matter and Strong Electroweak Phase Transition

The main virtue of the Inert Doublet Model (IDM) is that one of its spinless neutral bosons can play the role of Dark Matter. Assuming that the additional sources of CP violation are present in the form of higher dimensional operator(s) we reexamine the possibility that the model parameters for which the right number density of relic particles is predicted are compatible with the first order phase transition that could lead to electroweak baryogenesis. We find, taking into account recent indications from the LHC and the constraints from the electroweak precision data, that for a light DM (40-60 GeV) particle and heavy almost degenerate additional scalars $H^\pm$ and $A^0$ this is indeed possible but the two parameters most important for the strength of the phase transition: the common mass of $H^\pm$ and $A^0$ and the trilinear coupling of the Higgs-like particle to DM are strongly constrained. $H^\pm$ and $A^0$ must weight less than $\sim440$ GeV if the inert minimum is to be the lowest one and the value of the coupling is limited by the XENON 100 data. We stress the important role of the zero temperature part of the potential for the strength of the phase transition.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figures, minor chnges, comment on h-->2gamma adde

Resolving galaxies in time and space: II: Uncertainties in the spectral synthesis of datacubes

In a companion paper we have presented many products derived from the application of the spectral synthesis code STARLIGHT to datacubes from the CALIFA survey, including 2D maps of stellar population properties and 1D averages in the temporal and spatial dimensions. Here we evaluate the uncertainties in these products. Uncertainties due to noise and spectral shape calibration errors and to the synthesis method are investigated by means of a suite of simulations based on 1638 CALIFA spectra for NGC 2916, with perturbations amplitudes gauged in terms of the expected errors. A separate study was conducted to assess uncertainties related to the choice of evolutionary synthesis models. We compare results obtained with the Bruzual & Charlot models, a preliminary update of them, and a combination of spectra derived from the Granada and MILES models. About 100k CALIFA spectra are used in this comparison. Noise and shape-related errors at the level expected for CALIFA propagate to 0.10-0.15 dex uncertainties in stellar masses, mean ages and metallicities. Uncertainties in A_V increase from 0.06 mag in the case of random noise to 0.16 mag for shape errors. Higher order products such as SFHs are more uncertain, but still relatively stable. Due to the large number statistics of datacubes, spatial averaging reduces uncertainties while preserving information on the history and structure of stellar populations. Radial profiles of global properties, as well as SFHs averaged over different regions are much more stable than for individual spaxels. Uncertainties related to the choice of base models are larger than those associated with data and method. Differences in mean age, mass and metallicity are ~ 0.15 to 0.25 dex, and 0.1 mag in A_V. Spectral residuals are ~ 1% on average, but with systematic features of up to 4%. The origin of these features is discussed. (Abridged)Comment: A&A, accepte

Is the emergence of speech errors in chronic post-stroke aphasia a result of ongoing compensatory brain plasticity mechanisms?

Traditional descriptions of aphasia have ascribed language disturbances to tissue damage but symptoms expressed as repetitive verbal behaviors such as echolalia, perseverations and so forth, cannot emanate from fully dysfunctional. We propose that in aphasia, repetitive verbal behaviors (such as conduite d’approche (CdA) and mitigated echolalia (ME)) may be compensatory behaviors emerging from ongoing plastic changes occurring in the preserved tissue. CdA is the repetitive and self-initiated approximation to a target word during spontaneous speech or naming tasks. ME refers to the echoing of a just heard sentence introducing a subtle change. At brain level, language deficits usually result from lesions affecting the dorsal and the ventral streams. Damage to the main dorsal pathway is related to deficits in verbal repetition and fluency, while lesions affecting the ventral pathway are related to comprehension deficits. Thus, we propose that ME may emerge from spared dorsal stream when the ventral system is compromised, while CdA may result as an attemp of the ventral stream to compensate dorsal damage. In this study we analysed three cases of aphasia at linguistic and structural (MRI and PET) levels. In patient 1, speech was predominantly characterized by instances of CdA, patient 2 presented predominantly ME instances, and patient 3 had both CdA and ME. Results showed that patient 1 had a disconnection pattern that greatly overlapped with the dorsal language pathway, while patient 2 ́s lesion location bisected the ventral pathway discontinuing the projection of fibers that run through it. Patient 3 presented a disconnection pattern in-between the two previous ones. These findings suggest that symptoms as CdA and ME, that frequently appear in the chronic stage of aphasia may represent the behavioral expression of plastic changes occurring within the preserved language network in an attempt to compensate the linguistic functions associated to the damaged pathway.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Residential proximity to environmental pollution sources and risk of rare tumors in children

Background: Few epidemiologic studies have explored risk factors for rare tumors in children, and the role of environmental factors needs to be assessed. Objectives: To ascertain the effect of residential proximity to both industrial and urban areas on childhood cancer risk, taking industrial groups into account. Methods: We conducted a population-based case-control study of five childhood cancers in Spain (retinoblastoma, hepatic tumors, soft tissue sarcomas, germ cell tumors, and other epithelial neoplasms/melanomas), including 557 incident cases from the Spanish Registry of Childhood Tumors (period 1996-2011), and 3342 controls individually matched by year of birth, sex, and region of residence. Distances were computed from the residences to the 1271 industries and the 30 urban areas with ≥75,000 inhabitants located in the study area. Using logistic regression, odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CIs) for categories of distance to industrial and urban pollution sources were calculated, with adjustment for matching variables and socioeconomic confounders. Results: Children living near industrial and urban areas as a whole showed no excess risk for any of the tumors analyzed. However, isolated statistical associations (OR; 95%CI) were found between retinoblastoma and proximity to industries involved in glass and mineral fibers (2.49; 1.01-6.12 at 3km) and organic chemical industries (2.54; 1.10-5.90 at 2km). Moreover, soft tissue sarcomas registered the lower risks in the environs of industries as a whole (0.59; 0.38-0.93 at 4km). Conclusions: We have found isolated statistical associations between retinoblastoma and proximity to industries involved in glass and mineral fibers and organic chemical industries.This study was funded by Spain's Health Research Fund (Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria - FIS 12/01416) and Scientific Foundation of the Spanish Association Against Cancer (Fundación Científica de la Asociación Española Contra el Cáncer (AECC) – EVP-1178/14).N