Intussusception in a pregnant woman

Abdominal pain in a pregnant woman with a history of laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (LRYGB) in the emergency department is challenging. Intussusception is a rare cause of small bowel obstruction after LRYGB and can lead to intestinal necrosis, perforation, sepsis and death. The authors report a case of a 34-week pregnant patient, previously submitted to LRYGB, presenting to the emergency department with abdominal pain and vomiting. A computed tomography scan suggested the presence of ileoileal intussusception. So, an emergent laparotomy was performed with invagination reduction. The postoperative period was uneventful, as well as pregnancy and caesarian performed 4 weeks after surgery. At the 45-month follow-up, there was no recurrence of intussusception.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Influence of storage conditions on fruit quality of ‘Royal Time’ and ‘Royal Summer’ peach cultivars

Peach is a very perishable climacteric fruit whose firmness may decay rapidly depending on the temperature. Refrigeration is usually used to delay ripening and maintain fruit quality. However, often temperature storage conditions are not optimized. This work aims to characterize the storage conditions (temperature and humidity) of three peach producers of Beira Interior region, Portugal. Additionally, correlate those conditions with peach quality evolution comparing two peach cultivars – Royal Summer and Royal Time – with similar harvest dates but very different acidity content. The three refrigeration chambers monitored have very distinct conditions of average air temperature, namely 8.29±3.53 °C (local C), 5.50±0.88 °C (local G) and 0.80±0.83 °C (local L) but similar high humidity, in an average range of 90%-98%. At harvest time, major differences were in fruit firmness and acidity. ‘Royal Summer’ firmness was 6.61 kgf and ‘Royal Time’ was 5.20 kgf. For all storage conditions, fruit firmness decrease faster for ‘Royal Time’ cultivar than for ‘Royal Summer’. The results suggest that in general farmers use inadequate range temperature for long storage period. For short periods of 7 days, conditions like those of local G allow fruit quality maintenance like firmness and loss of weight without problems of chilling injury, and, simultaneously, save energy that is also not only a desirable international goal but also contributes to decrease of production costs.O pêssego é um fruto climatérico, altamente perecível, cuja firmeza diminui rapidamente dependendo da temperatura de conservação. A refrigeração é o processo utilizado para atrasar a maturação e manter a qualidade embora, em muitos casos, a temperatura de refrigeração não seja otimizada. Este trabalho pretende caracterizar as condições de refrigeração (temperatura e humidade) das câmaras de três produtores de pêssego da Beira Interior. Adicionalmente, pretende também relacionar essas condições com a evolução da qualidade dos frutos utilizando duas cultivares – Royal Summer e Royal Time – com data de colheita semelhante, mas teor de acidez distinto. As três câmaras de refrigeração monitorizadas corresponderam a condições bastante diferentes de temperatura, nomeadamente, 8,29±3,53°C (local C), 5,50±0,88°C (local G) e 0,80±0,83°C (local L), mas semelhantes em termos de humidade, que está compreendida entre 90% e 98%. À colheita, as maiores diferenças observadas foram a firmeza e acidez. A firmeza dos pêssegos da ‘Royal Summer’ foi de 6,61 kgf e a da ‘Royal Time’ foi de 5,20 kgf. Para todas as condições de conservação, a firmeza diminuiu mais rapidamente na ‘Royal Time’. Os resultados sugerem que, em geral, os produtores usam intervalos de temperatura inadequados para períodos de conservação longos. Contudo, considerando períodos curtos, entre 7 dias, as condições observadas no local G permitiram manter a qualidade como firmeza e perda de peso, sem se observarem danos por frio. Simultaneamente, permitem economizar energia o que é um objetivo internacional e contribui para a diminuição dos custos de produção.This research work is part of project “PrunusPÓS – Otimização de processos de armazenamento, conservação em frio e embalamento inteligente no pós-colheita de pêssego e cereja”, n.º PDR2020-101-031695 (PDR 020), Portugal 2020. The authors would like to thank the producers who allowed the use of the refrigeration chambers and the respective monitoring of its conditions.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

CLIMATIC VARIABILITY OF THE SOUTH PACIFIC OCEAN DURING 1900–2010 IN THE ENVIRONMENTAL RECORDS OF WEST ANTARCTICA

In this work, we present the climatic evolution of the South Pacific Ocean from 1900 to 2010 and its environmental influence over West Antarctica. We analyzed the sea surface temperature, mean sea level pressure, and meridional wind (at 850 hPa) of the South Pacific Ocean using ERA-20C reanalysis (European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts) and compared these parameters with the regional temperature obtained indirectly (by proxy) from two ice cores from the West Antarctic ice sheet (Mount Johns and Ferrigno). The sea surface temperature increased in almost the entire South Pacific Ocean from 1900 to 2010; in the equatorial Pacific, it increased by 2.1 °C from 1916 to 1997, while in the middle latitudes of the South Pacific, it increased by 1.1 °C from 1923 to 2001. This increase occurred concurrently with a positive trend in the Southern Annular Mode and a change the mean sea level pressure anomaly from 1960 onwards. This atmospheric pressure increased at middle latitudes and decreased around Antarctica in the circumpolar low-pressure zone, strengthening the Amundsen Sea Low and changing the pattern of the meridional wind anomaly (at 850 hPa) between medium and high latitudes in the South Pacific. Furthermore, since 1960, a greater flow from north to south (onshore) has predominated from the southeast South Pacific to the north of West Antarctica. Such changes caused a reduction in the sea ice extent in the Amundsen and Bellingshausen Seas and an increase in average atmospheric temperature primarily in the coastal region of West Antarctica, as demonstrated by the Ferrigno ice core record. Conversely, the Mount Johns region did not show the same trend in atmospheric temperature, as it was influenced mainly by cold air masses from the Antarctic ice shee

Playing Darwin. Part B. 20 years of domestication in Drosophila subobscura

Adaptation to a new environment (as well as its underlying mechanisms) is one of the most important topics in Evolutionary Biology. Understanding the adaptive process of natural populations to captivity is essential not only in general evolutionary studies but also in conservation programmes. Since 1990, the Group of Experimental Evolution (CBA/FCUL) has been performing long-term, real-time evolutionary studies, with the characterization of laboratory adaptation in populations of Drosophila subobscura founded in different times and from different locations. Initially, these experiments involved phenotypic assays and more recently were expanded to studies at the molecular level (microsatellite and chromosomal polymorphisms) and with different population sizes. Throughout these two decades, a clear pattern of evolutionary convergence to long-established laboratory populations has been consistently observed in several life-history traits. However, contingencies across foundations were also found during the adaptive process. In characters with complex evolutionary trajectories, the data suggested that the comparative method lacked predictive capacity relative to real-time evolutionary trajectories (experimental evolution). Microsatellite analysis revealed general similarity in gene diversity and allele number between studied populations, as well as an unclear association between genetic variability and evolutionary potential. Nevertheless, ongoing studies in all foundations are being carried out to further test this hypothesis. A comparison between recently introduced and long-term populations (founded from the same natural location) has shown higher degree of chromosomal polymorphism in recent ones. Finally, our findings suggest higher heterogeneity between small-sized populations, as well as a slower evolutionary rate in characters close to fitness (such as fecundity and mating behaviour). This comprehensive study is aimed at better understanding the processes and patterns underlying adaptation to captivity, as well as its genetic basis

Early immune modulation in European Seabass (Dicentrarchus labra) juveniles in response to Betanodavirus infection

The early host–pathogen interaction between European seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax) and Betanodavirus was examined by using juvenile fish infected intramuscularly with RGNNV (red-spotted grouper nervous necrosis virus). The time course selected for sampling (0–144 h post-infection (hpi)) covered the early stages of infection, with hematological, antioxidant and immunological responses examined. Early activation of the host’s immune system was seen in the first few hours post-infection (6 to 9 hpi), as evidenced by an increase in tnfa, cd28 and c3 expression in the head kidney of infected fish. Most hematological parameters that were examined showed significant differences between sampling times, including differences in the number of thrombocytes and various leukocyte populations. The plasma lysozyme concentration decreased significantly over the course of the trial, and most antioxidant parameters examined in the liver showed significant differences over the infection period. At 144 hpi, peak expression of tnfa and il-1b coincided with the appearance of disease symptoms, peak levels of virus in the brain and high levels of fish mortality. The results of the study show the importance of analyzing the early interactions between European seabass and Betanodavirus to establish early indicators of infection to prevent more severe outcomes of the infection from occurring.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Typology of seismic motion and seismic engineering design

The paper deals with the influence of the seismic motion typology on the structural response and with engineering design under exceptional actions. Various aspects of seismic motion typology that lead to exceptional actions on the structures are covered. The influence of near fault ground motions, the effect of local site parameters and the magnification of the seismic action on short-period structures are among the parameters identified as dominant for the structural response. The paper presents also a methodology for handling uncertainty in engineering design, based on the mathematical framework of fuzzy analysis. Finally the paper presents various applications of performance based design, which is viewed as a tool as a tool for the analysis of structural behaviour under extreme seismic events. The influence of connection behaviour on the structural response is studied, and applications of the capacity design methodology and of the direct displacement design approach for the evaluation of reinforce concrete structures are presented

sensitivity analysis

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Dynamics of a Dual SARS-CoV-2 Lineage Co-Infection on a Prolonged Viral Shedding COVID-19 Case: Insights into Clinical Severity and Disease Duration

A few molecularly proven severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) cases of symptomatic reinfection are currently known worldwide, with a resolved first infection followed by a second infection after a 48 to 142-day intervening period. We report a multiple-component study of a clinically severe and prolonged viral shedding coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) case in a 17-year-old Portuguese female. She had two hospitalizations, a total of 19 RT-PCR tests, mostly positive, and criteria for releasing from home isolation at the end of 97 days. The viral genome was sequenced in seven serial samples and in the diagnostic sample from her infected mother. A human genome-wide array (>900 K) was screened on the seven samples, and in vitro culture was conducted on isolates from three late samples. The patient had co-infection by two SARS-CoV-2 lineages, which were affiliated in distinct clades and diverging by six variants. The 20A lineage was absolute at the diagnosis (shared with the patient's mother), but nine days later, the 20B lineage had 3% frequency, and two months later, the 20B lineage had 100% frequency. The 900 K profiles confirmed the identity of the patient in the serial samples, and they allowed us to infer that she had polygenic risk scores for hospitalization and severe respiratory disease within the normal distributions for a Portuguese population cohort. The early-on dynamic co-infection may have contributed to the severity of COVID-19 in this otherwise healthy young patient, and to her prolonged SARS-CoV-2 shedding profile.The authors acknowledge the support of the i3S Scientific Platforms BioSciences Screening and Genomics, members of the national infrastructure PPBI-Portuguese Platform of Bioimaging (PPBI-POCI-01-0145-FEDER-022122), PT-OPENSCREEN, GenomePT project (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-022184)

Do incarcerated male juvenile recidivists differ from first-time offenders on self-reported psychopathic traits? A retrospective study

The current study analyzed the relation between recidivism and self-reported psychopathic traits, more specifically the callous-unemotional, impulsivity, and narcissism dimensions of the psychopathy construct. The Antisocial Process Screening Device – Self-Report (APSD-SR) and other self- report instruments independently measuring the three different dimensions of psychopathy (that is, Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits, Barratt Impulsiveness Scale-11, Narcissistic Personality-13) were completed by a sample of incarcerated male juvenile offenders (N = 244) who were retrospectively classified as recidivists versus non-recidivists. The only statistically significant relation found between recidivism and self-reported psychopathic traits after controlling for age and socioeconomic status was with the impulsivity dimension of the APSD-SR. Additionally, results showed that recidivism was associated with alcohol use but not with drug use or crime seriousness.This study was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT; Grant SFRH/BPD/86666/2012) with co-financing of the European Social Fund (POPH/FSE), the Portuguese Ministry of Education and Science (MEC), and the PT2020 Partnership Agreement (UID/PSI/01662/2013)

Supercritical fluid extraction of Eucalyptus globulus bark: a promising approach for triterpenoid production

Eucalyptus bark contains significant amounts of triterpenoids with demonstrated bioactivity, namely triterpenic acids and their acetyl derivatives (ursolic, betulinic, oleanolic, betulonic, 3-acetylursolic, and 3-acetyloleanolic acids). In this work, the supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) of Eucalyptus globulus deciduous bark was carried out with pure and modified carbon dioxide to recover this fraction, and the results were compared with those obtained by Soxhlet extraction with dichloromethane. The effects of pressure (100-200 bar), co-solvent (ethanol) content (0, 5 and 8% wt), and multistep operation were studied in order to evaluate the applicability of SFE for their selective and efficient production. The individual extraction curves of the main families of compounds were measured, and the extracts analyzed by GC-MS. Results pointed out the influence of pressure and the important role played by the co-solvent. Ethanol can be used with advantage, since its effect is more important than increasing pressure by several tens of bar. At 160 bar and 40 degrees C, the introduction of 8% (wt) of ethanol greatly improves the yield of triterpenoids more than threefold