Follow-Up in Bone Sarcoma Care:A Cross-Sectional European Study

Background. Follow-up of high-grade bone sarcoma patients with repeated radiological imaging aims at early detection of recurrent disease or distant metastasis. Repeated radiological imaging does expose (mostly young) patients to ionising radiation. At this point, it is not known whether frequent follow-up increases overall survival. Additionally, frequent follow-up subjects patients and families to psychological stress. This study aims to assess follow-up procedures in terms of frequency and type of imaging modalities in bone tumour centres across Europe for comparison and improvement of knowledge as a first step towards a more uniform approach towards bone sarcoma follow-up.Methods. Data were obtained through analysis of several follow-up protocols and a digital questionnaire returned by EMSOS members of bone tumour centres all across Europe. Results. All participating bone tumour centres attained a minimum follow-up period of ten years. National guidelines revealed variations in follow-up intervals and use of repeated imaging with ionising radiation. A local and a chest X-ray were obtained at 47.6% of the responding clinics at every follow-up patient visit.Conclusions. Variations were seen among European bone sarcoma centres with regards to follow-up intervals and use of repeated imaging. The majority of these expert centres follow existing international guidelines and find them sufficient as basis for a follow-up surveillance programme despite lack of evidence. Future research should aim towards evidence-based follow-up with focus on the effects of follow-up strategies on health outcomes, cost-effectiveness, and individualised follow-up algorithms.</p

Follow-Up in Bone Sarcoma Care:A Cross-Sectional European Study

Background. Follow-up of high-grade bone sarcoma patients with repeated radiological imaging aims at early detection of recurrent disease or distant metastasis. Repeated radiological imaging does expose (mostly young) patients to ionising radiation. At this point, it is not known whether frequent follow-up increases overall survival. Additionally, frequent follow-up subjects patients and families to psychological stress. This study aims to assess follow-up procedures in terms of frequency and type of imaging modalities in bone tumour centres across Europe for comparison and improvement of knowledge as a first step towards a more uniform approach towards bone sarcoma follow-up.Methods. Data were obtained through analysis of several follow-up protocols and a digital questionnaire returned by EMSOS members of bone tumour centres all across Europe. Results. All participating bone tumour centres attained a minimum follow-up period of ten years. National guidelines revealed variations in follow-up intervals and use of repeated imaging with ionising radiation. A local and a chest X-ray were obtained at 47.6% of the responding clinics at every follow-up patient visit.Conclusions. Variations were seen among European bone sarcoma centres with regards to follow-up intervals and use of repeated imaging. The majority of these expert centres follow existing international guidelines and find them sufficient as basis for a follow-up surveillance programme despite lack of evidence. Future research should aim towards evidence-based follow-up with focus on the effects of follow-up strategies on health outcomes, cost-effectiveness, and individualised follow-up algorithms.</p

a review

Women have a number of specificities that differentiate them from men. In particular, the role of sex steroid hormones and the menstrual cycle (MC) significantly impact women?s physiology. The literature has shown nonlinear relationships between MC, exercise, and nutritional intake. Notably, these relationships are bidirectional and less straightforward than one would suppose. For example, the theoretical implications of the MC?s phases on exercise performance do not always translate into relevant practical effects. There is often a disconnect between internal measures (e.g., levels of hormone concentrations) and external performance. Furthermore, it is not entirely clear how nutritional intake varies across the MC?s phases and whether these variations impact on exercise performance. Therefore, a thorough review of the existing knowledge could help in framing these complex relationships and potentially contribute to the optimization of exercise prescription and nutritional intake according to the naturally occurring phases of the MC. Throughout this review, an emerging trend is the lack of generalizability and the need to individualize interventions, since the consequences of the MC?s phases and their relationships with exercise and nutritional intake seem to vary greatly from person to person. In this sense, average data are probably not relevant and could potentially be misleading.D915-7373-ED16 | Cesar LeaoN/

Índice de conforto térmico em bubalinos criados em sistema silvipastoril, em Belém, Pará.

Em sistema silvipastoril e pastejo rotacionado intensivo, em Belém, Pará, mediu-se a relação entre o índice de Benezra e variáveis climáticas sobre a fisiologia de 26 búfalos Murrah. Houve interferência das variáveis meteorológicas na freqüência respiratória e temperatura retal. Reduzidas precipitações pluviométricas promoveram elevação na temperatura retal. Observou-se índice de conforto superior a dois, em radiação solar global acima de 12,5 MJ m -2, o que indica a necessidade de manejo no ambiente físic

Organic consequences of ileal transposition in rats with diet-induced obesity

INTRODUCTION: The clinical management of metabolic syndrome - especially diabetes mellitus type 2 - is notoriously complex due to the progressive nature of this disease. At present, there is a need for a surgical procedure that is effective for the treatment of diabetes mellitus type 2, even in non-obese individuals. The isolated ileal transposition theory could lead to an effective alternative therapy. This intervention has not yet been performed in humans, and there are no reports of its use in an experimental model of diet-induced metabolic syndrome.&#xd;&#xa; OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study is to evaluate the physiological effects of ileal transposition in rats with diet-induced metabolic syndrome. The effects of this procedure on glucose and lipid metabolism will be assessed. &#xd;&#xa;METHODS: Forty 12-week-old male rats (albino Rattus norvegicus, Wistar, 2BAW, heterogeneous) will be divided into four groups of 10 animals each: the ileal transposition group (TG) comprising animals on a hypercaloric-hyperlipidic diet; the sham group (SG) containing animals that receive the same diet and undergo the sham surgery; control group 1 (CG1), which will receive a hypercaloric-hyperlipidic diet and will not undergo surgery; and control group 2 (CG2), which will consume standard feed and will not undergo surgery. The surgeries will be performed in 20-week-old animals. Blood samples for laboratory testing will be collected from 12-week-old animals on the day of surgery and after eight postoperative weeks, following determination of the weights of the animals and the administration of anesthesia. The levels of serum glucose, insulin, triglycerides, total cholesterol and fractions, glucagon-like peptide-1, C-peptide and glycated hemoglobin will be assessed in all of the animals. The insulin tolerance test will be performed using PRISMA software, and insulin resistance will be calculated by the HOMA-IR indirect test. On specific days, two 20-week-old rats will be separated and randomly distributed in TG and SG. These animals will be followed until the eighth postoperative week. Subsequently, they will be euthanized, and the retroperitoneal and periepididymal fat deposits will be collected and weighed using a precision scale. In addition, the pancreas, liver and intestinal segments will be sent for pathological and immunohistochemical studies.&#xd;&#xa

How do major roads affect Barn Owls? Distributin, space use, food source and mortality

Road network expansion is known as one of the main factors responsible for the decline of Barn Owl (Tyto alba) populations in Europe, although the full causes of this decline are still poorly understood. In this context we evaluated several issues related to Barn Owl\u2019s ecology, in Southern Portugal, when interacting with major roads: (a) the effect of highway distance on owl\u2019s occurrence pattern, (b) the behavioral in the vicinity of major roads, (c) the role of road verges as an attraction factor due to prey abundance, and (d) owls\u2019 spatial and temporal patterns of road mortality. To assess species occurrence (presence/absence) we broadcasted Barn Owl adult calls in 122 sites at several distances from major roads and detected 47 individuals. From the set of environmental and road-related variables tested using logistic regression, only the distance to the highway showed a significant positive influence on Barn Owl presence (\u3b2= 0.995; p<0.05). Space use patterns and road crossing rates were investigated on the basis of seven radio-tagged individuals (4 &42, 3 &40), captured in their nests located close to the highway (<5 km). The crossing rate was low (one road crossing per 34.19 hours of radio-tracking). Of the tracked individuals only four (3 &42, 1 &40) had sample sizes strong enough to provide robust estimates of home-range size (Fixed Kernel Density Estimator 95%) and just a peripheral overlap between homeranges (ranging from 2.61 km2 to 9.37 km2) and the highway was observed. The overall abundance of small mammals, assessed through live-trapping, was significantly higher in highway verges (n=248) than in the two other dominant land uses (cork oak woodlands (n=35), and croplands (n=64), suggesting that road verges could be a suitable habitat for hunting. Between 2004 and 2007, 373 road-kills were detected in 314 km of national roads surveyed (0.30 Barn Owls kills.km-1.year-1). A higher number of casualties was registered in fall and winter months when the dispersion of juveniles occurs, while lower mortality frequencies were detected in the end of summer and early spring, corresponding to hatching and fledgling periods. Mortality hotspots revealed to be strongly related with altitude (\u3b2 =-0.026; p<0.05), eucalyptus or pine forest cover (\u3b2 =-0.001; p<0.05) and percentage of cropland areas crossed by the road (\u3b2 =0.332; p<0.05). Although major roads do not seem to act as effective barriers to Barn Owls\u2019 movements, their occurrence pattern is significantly affected by this linear structure. Moreover, the potential attraction effect due to higher prey density in the highway verges does not seem to have an effect in the foraging behavior of adults