A comparison of quality of life and burden over caregivers of patients with temporal lobe epilepsy and juvenile myoclonic epilepsy

INTRODUCTION: The relationship pattern between patient and caregiver can influence in quality of life (QOL) and growth of both. OBJECTIVE: To compare QOL and burden over the caregivers of patients with refractory temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) due to mesial temporal sclerosis and juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME). CASUISTIC AND METHODS: 20 caregivers of patients with TLE and 20 of patients with JME were evaluated. The QOL Inventory SF-36 and the Caregiver Burden Questionnaire Burden Interview - Zarit - were applied. RESULTS: When QOL of both groups was compared, no relation statistically significant was observed between caregivers for JME and TLE, as well as burden on them. There was a correlation for burden on the caregivers of JME patients and the following domains of SF-36: General Health Status (p = 0.011), Emotional Limitation Aspects (p = 0.037) e Mental Health (p = 0.002). CONCLUSION: The burden on the caregivers of both groups was similar and did not interfere in QOL in most of SF-36 domains. However, caregivers of patients with JME suffered greater impact in domains related to physical and emotional health. In spite of more adequate seizure control in JME patients this burden might be heavier due to greater exposure to daily activities.INTRODUÇÃO: O padrão de relacionamento que se estabelece entre paciente e cuidador pode comprometer a qualidade de vida e o crescimento de ambos. OBJETIVO: Comparar a qualidade de vida e a sobrecarga dos cuidadores de pacientes com epilepsia do lobo temporal (ELT) com esclerose mesial temporal (EMT) e epilepsia mioclônica juvenil (EMJ). CASUÍSTICA E METODOLOGIA: Foram avaliados 20 cuidadores de pacientes com ELT e 20 cuidadores de pacientes com EMJ, com o Inventário de Qualidade de Vida SF-36 e Questionário de Sobrecarga do Cuidador (Burden Interview - Zarit). RESULTADOS: Houve sobrecarga leve a moderada nos dois grupos (30 no de ELT e 21 pontos para o grupo de EMJ), porém não foi observada associação estatisticamente significante entre os grupos. Ao buscarmos uma correlação entre os domínios do SF-36 e a sobrecarga do cuidador para os dois grupos estudados, observou-se apenas no grupo EMJ: estado geral de saúde (p = 0,011), limitações por aspectos emocionais (p = 0,037) e saúde mental (p = 0,002). CONCLUSÃO: Cuidadores de pacientes dos dois grupos são sobrecarregados de forma semelhante. Esta sobrecarga não interferiu significativamente na qualidade de vida dos mesmos na maioria dos domínios embora cuidadores de pacientes com EMJ tenham revelado impacto em domínios que medem aspectos da saúde emocional e física.Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP)UNIFESPSciEL

Reconhecimento de Dígitos em Imagens de Medidores de Energia no Contexto de um Aplicativo de Autoleitura / Digit Recognition in Energy Meter Images in the Context of a Self-Reading Application

Segundo a Agência Nacional de Energia Elétrica (ANEEL), perdas não-técnicas são aquelas relacionadas a furtos de energia e impedimento de acesso às unidades consumidoras. Uma alternativa viável e de menor custo para a redução dessas falhas seria a leitura realizada pelo próprio consumidor, denominada de autoleitura.  Esse processo engloba o uso de plataformas digitais, por meio das quais o consumidor registraria e enviaria as informações de consumo. Uma etapa primordial desse processo é o reconhecimento automático de dígitos em medidores por meio de imagens. Este trabalho propõe um método computacional para a realização dessa tarefa. São utilizados os descritores de característica Histogram of Oriented Gradients (HoG) e Local Self-similarity (LSS) de forma combinada e o classificador Máquina de Vetores de Suporte (SVM). O método alcança acurácia de 97,90% e 96,72%, respectivamente, para o reconhecimento de dígitos em medidores digitais e analógicos.

Can intraoperative electrocorticography patterns predict surgical outcome in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy secondary to unilateral mesial temporal sclerosis?

Introduction: Intraoperative electrocorticography (ECoG) can be performed in cases of temporal lobe epilepsy due to hippocampal sclerosis (TLE-HS). However, its significance and correlation with surgical outcome are still controversial.Objectives: To analyze the electrophysiological characteristics of temporal lobe structures during ECoG of patients with TLE-HS, with emphasis on the comparison between pre- and post-resection recordings and surgical outcome.Patients and methods: Seventeen patients with refractory TLE-HS submitted to corticoamigdalohipocampectomy were included in the study. Clinical variables included age at the onset, duration of epilepsy and seizure outcome. the postoperative follow-up ranged from 24 to 36 months. According to outcome subjects were divided in two subgroups: (A) individuals free of seizures (Engel 1A), and (B) individuals not-free of seizures (Engel 1B-IV). Four patterns of ECoG findings were identified: isolated discharges; high frequency spikes (HFS); continuous discharges; combination of isolated discharges and HFS. According to predominant topography ECoG was classified as mediobasal, lateral (or neocortical), mediobasal and lateral.Results: the progressive removal of the temporal pole and the hippocampus was associated with significant decrease of neocortical spikes. No correlation between clinical variables and seizure outcome was observed. Patients who only had isolated spikes on intraoperative ECoG presented a statistical trend for excellent surgical control. Patients who presented temporal pole blurring on MRI also had better post-surgical seizure outcome.Conclusions: This study showed that out of diverse clinical and laboratory variables, only isolated discharges on intraoperative ECoG and temporal pole blurring on MRI predicted excellent post-surgicat seizure outcome. However, other studies with larger number of patients are stilt necessary to confirm these findings. (C) 2006 British Epilepsy Association. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Neurol & Neurosurg, Div Neurol, São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Radiol, São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Neurol & Neurosurg, Div Neurosurg, São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Anesthesiol, São Paulo, BrazilUniv São Paulo, Ribeirao Preto Med Sch, Dept Surg, Div Neurosurg, São Paulo, BrazilUniv São Paulo, Ribeirao Preto Med Sch, Dept Neurol Psychiat & Clin Psychol, São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Neurol & Neurosurg, Div Neurol, São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Radiol, São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Neurol & Neurosurg, Div Neurosurg, São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Anesthesiol, São Paulo, BrazilWeb of Scienc

Segmentação Semântica de Medidores de Energia Elétrica e Componentes de Identificação / Semantic Segmentation of Electricity Meters and Identification Components

A Agência Nacional de Energia Elétrica (ANEEL) classifica erros de medição de consumo e processamento de fatura como perdas não-técnicas.  Quando essas irregularidades são identificadas, ´e solicitada a aquisição da imagem do medidor e a captura da localização geográfica do leiturista para registrar a sua presença no local. Essas imagens são enviadas para o setor de auditoria. Este recebe um grande volume de imagens, cuja análise completa é muito lenta. Como alternativa, tem-se a autoleitura, que é a leitura feita pelo próprio cliente através de plataformas digitais. E para garantir a segurança no processo de autoleitura, é necessária uma etapa automática de validação (autoauditoria).  Este trabalho propõe um método baseado em aprendizado profundo para a segmentação semântica de medidores de energia e componentes de identificação, almejando contribuir com mais eficiência ao processo de validação de leitura.  O método apresenta mean average precision (mAP) de 73,10% para os casos em que intersection over union (IoU) ? a 0,50; 42,17% para IoU ? 0,75 e 41,28% quando IoU ? 0,99

Recomendações para o tratamento da crise migranosa - um consenso brasileiro

In this article, a group of experts in headache management of the Brazilian Headache Society developed through a consensus strategic measurements to treat a migraine attack in both the child and the adult. Particular emphasis was laid on the treatment of migraine in women, including at pregnancy, lactation and perimenstrual period743262271Neste artigo um grupo de especialistas no tratamento de cefaleia da Sociedade Brasileira de Cefaleia através de um consenso elaborou medidas estratérgicas para tratar uma crise de migrânea tanto na criança como no adulto. Uma enfase particular foi dada no tratamento da migranea na mulher, incluindo gravidez, lactação e período perimenstrua

SARS-CoV-2 introductions and early dynamics of the epidemic in Portugal

Genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in Portugal was rapidly implemented by the National Institute of Health in the early stages of the COVID-19 epidemic, in collaboration with more than 50 laboratories distributed nationwide. Methods By applying recent phylodynamic models that allow integration of individual-based travel history, we reconstructed and characterized the spatio-temporal dynamics of SARSCoV-2 introductions and early dissemination in Portugal. Results We detected at least 277 independent SARS-CoV-2 introductions, mostly from European countries (namely the United Kingdom, Spain, France, Italy, and Switzerland), which were consistent with the countries with the highest connectivity with Portugal. Although most introductions were estimated to have occurred during early March 2020, it is likely that SARS-CoV-2 was silently circulating in Portugal throughout February, before the first cases were confirmed. Conclusions Here we conclude that the earlier implementation of measures could have minimized the number of introductions and subsequent virus expansion in Portugal. This study lays the foundation for genomic epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 in Portugal, and highlights the need for systematic and geographically-representative genomic surveillance.We gratefully acknowledge to Sara Hill and Nuno Faria (University of Oxford) and Joshua Quick and Nick Loman (University of Birmingham) for kindly providing us with the initial sets of Artic Network primers for NGS; Rafael Mamede (MRamirez team, IMM, Lisbon) for developing and sharing a bioinformatics script for sequence curation (https://github.com/rfm-targa/BioinfUtils); Philippe Lemey (KU Leuven) for providing guidance on the implementation of the phylodynamic models; Joshua L. Cherry (National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health) for providing guidance with the subsampling strategies; and all authors, originating and submitting laboratories who have contributed genome data on GISAID (https://www.gisaid.org/) on which part of this research is based. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not reflect the view of the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Health and Human Services, or the United States government. This study is co-funded by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia and Agência de Investigação Clínica e Inovação Biomédica (234_596874175) on behalf of the Research 4 COVID-19 call. Some infrastructural resources used in this study come from the GenomePT project (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-022184), supported by COMPETE 2020 - Operational Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalisation (POCI), Lisboa Portugal Regional Operational Programme (Lisboa2020), Algarve Portugal Regional Operational Programme (CRESC Algarve2020), under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), and by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Mapping density, diversity and species-richness of the Amazon tree flora

Using 2.046 botanically-inventoried tree plots across the largest tropical forest on Earth, we mapped tree species-diversity and tree species-richness at 0.1-degree resolution, and investigated drivers for diversity and richness. Using only location, stratified by forest type, as predictor, our spatial model, to the best of our knowledge, provides the most accurate map of tree diversity in Amazonia to date, explaining approximately 70% of the tree diversity and species-richness. Large soil-forest combinations determine a significant percentage of the variation in tree species-richness and tree alpha-diversity in Amazonian forest-plots. We suggest that the size and fragmentation of these systems drive their large-scale diversity patterns and hence local diversity. A model not using location but cumulative water deficit, tree density, and temperature seasonality explains 47% of the tree species-richness in the terra-firme forest in Amazonia. Over large areas across Amazonia, residuals of this relationship are small and poorly spatially structured, suggesting that much of the residual variation may be local. The Guyana Shield area has consistently negative residuals, showing that this area has lower tree species-richness than expected by our models. We provide extensive plot meta-data, including tree density, tree alpha-diversity and tree species-richness results and gridded maps at 0.1-degree resolution

Geography and ecology shape the phylogenetic composition of Amazonian tree communities

Aim: Amazonia hosts more tree species from numerous evolutionary lineages, both young and ancient, than any other biogeographic region. Previous studies have shown that tree lineages colonized multiple edaphic environments and dispersed widely across Amazonia, leading to a hypothesis, which we test, that lineages should not be strongly associated with either geographic regions or edaphic forest types. Location: Amazonia. Taxon: Angiosperms (Magnoliids; Monocots; Eudicots). Methods: Data for the abundance of 5082 tree species in 1989 plots were combined with a mega-phylogeny. We applied evolutionary ordination to assess how phylogenetic composition varies across Amazonia. We used variation partitioning and Moran\u27s eigenvector maps (MEM) to test and quantify the separate and joint contributions of spatial and environmental variables to explain the phylogenetic composition of plots. We tested the indicator value of lineages for geographic regions and edaphic forest types and mapped associations onto the phylogeny. Results: In the terra firme and várzea forest types, the phylogenetic composition varies by geographic region, but the igapó and white-sand forest types retain a unique evolutionary signature regardless of region. Overall, we find that soil chemistry, climate and topography explain 24% of the variation in phylogenetic composition, with 79% of that variation being spatially structured (R$^{2}$ = 19% overall for combined spatial/environmental effects). The phylogenetic composition also shows substantial spatial patterns not related to the environmental variables we quantified (R$^{2}$ = 28%). A greater number of lineages were significant indicators of geographic regions than forest types. Main Conclusion: Numerous tree lineages, including some ancient ones (>66 Ma), show strong associations with geographic regions and edaphic forest types of Amazonia. This shows that specialization in specific edaphic environments has played a long-standing role in the evolutionary assembly of Amazonian forests. Furthermore, many lineages, even those that have dispersed across Amazonia, dominate within a specific region, likely because of phylogenetically conserved niches for environmental conditions that are prevalent within regions

Geography and ecology shape the phylogenetic composition of Amazonian tree communities

AimAmazonia hosts more tree species from numerous evolutionary lineages, both young and ancient, than any other biogeographic region. Previous studies have shown that tree lineages colonized multiple edaphic environments and dispersed widely across Amazonia, leading to a hypothesis, which we test, that lineages should not be strongly associated with either geographic regions or edaphic forest types.LocationAmazonia.TaxonAngiosperms (Magnoliids; Monocots; Eudicots).MethodsData for the abundance of 5082 tree species in 1989 plots were combined with a mega-phylogeny. We applied evolutionary ordination to assess how phylogenetic composition varies across Amazonia. We used variation partitioning and Moran's eigenvector maps (MEM) to test and quantify the separate and joint contributions of spatial and environmental variables to explain the phylogenetic composition of plots. We tested the indicator value of lineages for geographic regions and edaphic forest types and mapped associations onto the phylogeny.ResultsIn the terra firme and várzea forest types, the phylogenetic composition varies by geographic region, but the igapó and white-sand forest types retain a unique evolutionary signature regardless of region. Overall, we find that soil chemistry, climate and topography explain 24% of the variation in phylogenetic composition, with 79% of that variation being spatially structured (R2 = 19% overall for combined spatial/environmental effects). The phylogenetic composition also shows substantial spatial patterns not related to the environmental variables we quantified (R2 = 28%). A greater number of lineages were significant indicators of geographic regions than forest types.Main ConclusionNumerous tree lineages, including some ancient ones (>66 Ma), show strong associations with geographic regions and edaphic forest types of Amazonia. This shows that specialization in specific edaphic environments has played a long-standing role in the evolutionary assembly of Amazonian forests. Furthermore, many lineages, even those that have dispersed across Amazonia, dominate within a specific region, likely because of phylogenetically conserved niches for environmental conditions that are prevalent within regions