Cryptococcus neoformans in cerebrospinal fluid and blood

© © 2022 The Authors. Diagnostic Cytopathology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.Cryptococcosis have a worldwide distribution and is responsible for wide range of clinical presentations (mainly pulmonary, central nervous system, skin and prostate infections, but bone, peritoneum and urinary system infections are sometimes described). Infection start primarily by inhalation of environmental basidiospores or poorly encapsulated yeast cells (with less than 5 μm), that can disseminate, after a latent period within lung lymph nodes. There are two principal species of Cryptococcus spp related with this disease: Cryptococcus neoformans and Cryptococcus gattii. Cryptococcus albidus and Crytpococcus laurentii are rarely associated with cryptococcosis in humans.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Fecal Dipeptidyl Peptidase-4: An Emergent Biomarker in Inflammatory Bowel Disease

INTRODUCTION: Dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) is a membrane-bound glycoprotein that acts as a receptor but also exists in a soluble form. It has been recognized as a mediator of inflammation and considered a biomarker in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). METHODS: We evaluated a prospectively recruited cohort, consisting of 101 patients with IBD, using validated clinical indexes; 22 patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) underwent endoscopic evaluation. Fecal DPP-4 (fDPP-4) levels were analyzed and correlated with clinical scores, Mayo endoscopic score (in UC patients), serum DPP-4, C-reactive protein, and fecal calprotectin. Immunohistochemical staining for DPP-4 in intestinal biopsies was also performed. RESULTS: When compared with remitters, median fDPP-4 levels were higher in patients with ileal Crohn's disease (CD) (7,584 [1,464-7,816] vs 2,104 [630-2,676] ng/mL, P = 0.015) and lower in patients with UC exhibiting clinical activity (1,213 [559-1,682] vs 7,814 [2,555-7,985] ng/mL, P < 0.001). Patients with UC presenting endoscopic activity also had lower levels than remitters (939 [559-1,420] vs 7,544 [4,531-7,940] ng/mL, P = 0.006). Fecal DPP-4 discriminated clinical activity from remission with areas under the curve of 0.76 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.58-0.94, P = 0.015) and 0.80 (95% CI 0.68-0.93, P < 0.001) in CD and UC, respectively; it allowed to differentiate endoscopic activity in patients with UC, with areas under the curve of 0.84 (95% CI 0.63-1.00, P = 0.009). Immunohistochemical analysis revealed higher DPP-4 apical expression in UC remitters, but no statistically significant differences were revealed between patients with ileal CD. DISCUSSION: Our results suggest that fDPP-4 can be used as a biomarker of IBD activity, particularly in UC. The expression profiles in intestinal tissue might represent a functional compartmentalization of DPP-4 expression

Novos biótipos de Trichoderma stromaticum, agente de biocontrole da vassoura-de-bruxa de cacaueiro resistentes a radiação ultra-violeta.

A vassoura-de-bruxa causada pelo fungo Crinipellis perniciosa, é uma das mais destrutivas doenças de cacaueiro. Os métodos de controle utilizados atualmente têm se mostrado ineficientes, pois ainda não se dispõem de variedades de cacaueiros resistentes ao patógeno. Uma alternativa que tem suscitado efeitos positivos de controle é o emprego do fungo Trichoderma stromatium, capaz de colonizar os basidiocarpos do patógeno, evitando sua disseminação. Este trabalho teve como objetivo obter mutantes melhorados de T. stromatium capazes de parasitar C. perniciosa e resistentes á radiação ultra-violeta (UV). Três novos mutantes (5.15, 5.06 e 5.02) foram eficientes em parasitar estruturas vegetativas de C. perniciosa e com maior resistência à UV do que a linhagem selvagem (TVC)

Strategic environmental assessment in Tróia (Portugal)

Proceedings of the First International Conference on Coastal Conservation and Management in the Atlantic and Mediterranean, p. 91-98Over the last two decades, the Tróia peninsula (SW coast of Portugal) has been designated by the Portuguese authorities both as a protected area and as an area of tourism development. The private investor that took over the tourism developments in Tróia asked the Institute of Marine Research (IMAR) to undertake an SEA, to help frame the design and management of the future resort. SEA results were changed by local/central government decisions, granting “more” than stakeholder/owner’s proposal, in terms of loads and densities. This process, as well as the main characteristics and results of the SEA, are presented and discussed

Seleção precoce de famílias de irmãos-completos de batata.

Clonal selection is the preferred breeding method used in potatoes (Solanum tuberosum L.). However this selection procedure is only efficient for more advanced generations and shows no good results when applied in the seedling up to the second clonal generation. This study assessed the feasibility of selection in early generations of full-sib potato families and compares the selection method among and within families with the combined selection under different selection intensities. Six experiments were conducted from the first (C1) until the third clonal generation (C3). In C1 a randomized complete block design with four replications of 25 plants was used. In the remaining generations RCB was employed with three replications of 10 plants. Genetic variances were lower between families than within families, for all traits, but the heritabilities between families were almost always larger. The expected gains from selection between and within families were superior to gains from the combined selection in any intensity of selection. The selection of families should have weaker intensity than selection among clones within families. The selection of families was more efficient when based on the average of environments

Neuropathology of central nervous system involvement in TTR amyloidosis

Hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTRv) is a systemic disease caused by the accumulation of misfolded transthyretin (TTR). It usually presents with an adult-onset progressive axonal peripheral neuropathy and cardiomyopathy. In the central nervous system (CNS), variant TTR is produced by the choroid plexus and accumulates in the leptomeninges. CNS symptoms have been increasingly recognized in this population, including transient focal neurological episodes and stroke, particularly in patients with the V30M mutation and longstanding disease. The prevalence, pathophysiology, and progression of CNS involvement remain to be clarified. The present work explores if there is a recognizable sequence of CNS TTR deposition in ATTRv. We studied the topographical and severity distribution of TTR deposition in 16 patients with ATTRv, aged 27–69 years and with a mean disease duration of 10.9 years (range: 3–29). Our results suggest that CNS pathological involvement in V30M ATTRv occurs early in the disease course, probably starting in pre-symptomatic phases, and follows a distinct sequence. Leptomeninges and subarachnoid meningeal vessels are affected earlier, then followed by perforating cortical vessels and subpial deposition, and finally by deposition in the subependymal and basal ganglia vessels near the ependymal lining. Brainstem and spinal cord show early and severe involvement, with amyloid subpial deposition already seen in initial stages. Despite massive superficial amyloid deposition, no parenchymal deposition outside subpial or subependymal regions was found. Additionally, vascular lesions or superficial cortical siderosis were not frequent. Future studies with more patients from different populations and TTR mutations will be important to confirm these findings. Defining stages of TTR pathology in the CNS may be useful to better understand pathogenic mechanisms leading to symptoms and to interpret neuroimaging biomarkers.Unit for Multidisciplinary Research in Biomedicine (UMIB) is funded by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) Portugal (Grant Numbers UIDB/00215/2020, and UIDP/00215/2020). We acknowledge Portuguese Brain Bank for tissue samples supply. The authors thank José Ferreira for the help in editing the manuscript figures

Intuitionistic fuzzy preference structures

Depto. de Estadística e Investigación OperativaFac. de Ciencias MatemáticasTRUEpu

Functional and morphological assessment of a standardized rat sciatic nerve crush injury with a non-serrated clamp

Peripheral nerve researchers frequently use the rat sciatic nerve crush as a model for axonotmesis.Unfortunately, studies from various research groups report results from different crush techniquesand by using a variety of evaluation tools, making comparisons between studies difficult. The pur-pose of this investigation was to determine the sequence of functional and morphologic changes af-ter an acute sciatic nerve crush injury with a non-serrated clamp, giving a final standardized pres-sure of p9 MPa. Functional recovery was evaluated using the sciatic functional index (SFI), theextensor postural thrust (EPT) and the withdrawal reflex latency (WRL), before injury, and thenat weekly intervals until week 8 postoperatively. The rats were also evaluated preoperatively andat weeks 2, 4, and 8 by ankle kinematics, toe out angle (TOA), and gait-stance duration. In addi-tion, the motor nerve conduction velocity (MNCV) and the gastrocnemius-soleus weight parameterswere measured just before euthanasia. Finally, structural, ultrastructural and histomorphometricanalyses were carried out on regenerated nerve fibers. At 8 weeks after the crush injury, a full func-tional recovery was predicted by SFI, EPT, TOA, and gait-stance duration, while all the other pa-rameters were still recovering their original values. On the other hand, only two of the histomor-phometric parameters of regenerated nerve fibers, namely myelin thickness/axon diameter ratio andfiber/axon diameter ratio, returned to normal values while all other parameters were significantlydifferent from normal values. The employment of traditional methods of functional evaluation inconjunction with the modern techniques of computerized analysis of gait and histomorphometricanalysis should thus be recommended for an overall assessment of recovery in the rat sciatic nervecrush model

Clinical Implications for Carotid Body Neuromodulation

Funding Information: This study was partially supported by the GlaxoSmithKline Bioelectronics R&D ?Innovation Challenge. JS and BM were supported by a contract and a Ph.D. Grant from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology Reference CEECIND/02428/2018 and PD/BD/128336/2017, respectively. This study received funding from the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) (UIDB/05704/2020).Chronic carotid sinus nerve (CSN) electrical modulation through kilohertz frequency alternating current improves metabolic control in rat models of type 2 diabetes, underpinning the potential of bioelectronic modulation of the CSN as a therapeutic modality for metabolic diseases in humans. The CSN carries sensory information from the carotid bodies, peripheral chemoreceptor organs that respond to changes in blood biochemical modifications such as hypoxia, hypercapnia, acidosis, and hyperinsulinemia. In addition, the CSN also delivers information from carotid sinus baroreceptors—mechanoreceptor sensory neurons directly involved in the control of blood pressure—to the central nervous system. The interaction between these powerful reflex systems—chemoreflex and baroreflex—whose sensory receptors are in anatomical proximity, may be regarded as a drawback to the development of selective bioelectronic tools to modulate the CSN. Herein we aimed to disclose CSN influence on cardiovascular regulation, particularly under hypoxic conditions, and we tested the hypothesis that neuromodulation of the CSN, either by electrical stimuli or surgical means, does not significantly impact blood pressure. Experiments were performed in Wistar rats aged 10–12 weeks. No significant effects of acute hypoxia were observed in systolic or diastolic blood pressure or heart rate although there was a significant activation of the cardiac sympathetic nervous system. We conclude that chemoreceptor activation by hypoxia leads to an expected increase in sympathetic activity accompanied by compensatory regional mechanisms that assure blood flow to regional beds and maintenance of hemodynamic homeostasis. Upon surgical denervation or electrical block of the CSN, the increase in cardiac sympathetic nervous system activity in response to hypoxia was lost, and there were no significant changes in blood pressure in comparison to control animals. We conclude that the responses to hypoxia and vasomotor control short-term regulation of blood pressure are dissociated in terms of hypoxic response but integrated to generate an effector response to a given change in arterial pressure.publishersversionpublishe