Management of Coronavirus Disease 2019 Patients With Lung Cancer: Experience From a Thoracic Oncology Center

Background: Cancer patients appear to be at a higher risk of complications from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Specific data related to lung cancer (LC) patient management, active treatment, and/or recent diagnosis are still very limited. Here, we aimed to investigate the clinical presentation, baseline features, and clinical outcomes of LC patients with COVID-19. Methods: A retrospective case study was performed at Centro Hospitalar Universitário de São Joao, a tertiary hospital in the North of Portugal. Data from LC patients diagnosed with COVID-19 were collected during the first 10 months of the COVID-19 pandemic (March 2020–January 2021). Results: Twenty-eight patients with active LC were diagnosed with COVID-19, being adenocarcinoma the most common histological type present (n = 13, 46.4%). Sixteen patients had metastatic stage IV LC (61.5%). Twenty-five patients (89.3%) had relevant comorbidities including hypertension (39.3%) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (32.1%). For patients undergoing antineoplastic treatment, the median time from the last chemotherapy administration to COVID-19 diagnosis was of 16 days (interquartile range = 13–41 days). Half of patients were previously on corticosteroid therapy. Twenty patients (71.4%) needed hospitalization, 18 received oxygen therapy (64.3%), 3 (10.7%) of them received high-flow nasal cannula with good tolerability, and 1 (3.6%) needed non-invasive ventilation. Hydroxychloroquine and antibiotics were given to 4 (14.3%) and 12 (42.9%) patients, respectively. Seven patients (25%) died at a median time of 5 days following COVID-19 diagnosis. Conclusion: This is one of the first studies reporting the adverse outcomes associated with COVID-19 in LC patients at same time that adds evidence regarding the need to create protocols and guidelines to reduce the infection risk in such patients.NC-M acknowledges the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology under the Horizon 2020 Program (PTDC/PSI-GER/28076/2017)

Estratégias de manejo de solos em sistema agroflorestal em lote da reforma agrária.

Resumo: Sistemas Agroflorestais - sistemas embasados pelos princípios da agroecologia, o manejo dos solos deve levar em consideração a ciclagem de nutrientes, o teor de matéria orgânica e o equilíbrio entre os componentes vivos e não vivos do solo. Este artigo busca resgatar as estratégias utilizadas por um agricultor que trabalha com sistemas agroflorestais há 4 anos, evidenciando o manejo da biomassa, as espécies escolhidas, os motivos, a época de plantio e capina e os resultados observados por ele. A propriedade esta situada no Assentamento Sepé Tiaraju, localizado na região de Ribeirão Preto, SP, que constitui-se o primeiro assentamento ecológico do Estado de São Paulo. O manejo da biomassa é a principal estratégia de uso, manejo e conservação de solo para o sistema agroflorestal em estudo, o qual é caracterizado como sucessional e bastante biodiverso. As principais plantas utilizadas são: urucum (Bixa orellana), bananeira (Musa sp), mamona (Ricinus communis) e as leguminosas como o feijão de porco (Canavalia ensiformis), crotalarias (Crotalaria sp), feijão guandu (Cajanus cajan) e fedegoso (Cassia spectabilis). Vê-se que o agricultor tende a retirar do sistema as gramíneas, substituindo-as por plantas de mais fácil manejo como as leguminosas, caracterizando mudanças nas condições físicas, químicas e biológicas do solo que são descritas na bibliografia cientifica. Abstract: Agroforestry - systems based in the principles of agroecology, soil management should take into consideration the cycling of nutrients, organic matter content and balance between living and nonliving components of soil. This article seeks to rescue the strategies used by one farmer that work with agroforestry systems for 4 years, emphasizing the management of biomass, the species chosen, the reasons, the time of planting and weeding, and the results observed by owner This farm is located the Sepé Tiarauú settlement, in Ribeirão Preto, SP, which constitutes in the first ecological settlement in state of São Paulo. The management of biomass corresponds to the main strategy use, management and soil conservation in agroforestry system in study, which is characterized as successional and highly biodiverse. The main plants components used are: ?urucum? (Bixa orellana), banana (Musa sp), castobean (Ricinus communis) and legumes like ?feijão de porco? (Canavalia ensiformis), Crotalaria (Crotalaria sp), pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan) and ?fedegoso? (Cassia spectabilis). It is seen that the farmer tends to put the grass out of the system, replacing them with plants easier to work as Leguminosae family, featuring changes in physical, chemical and biological conditions of soil

Anticholinesterase activity evaluation of alkaloids and coumarin from stems of Conchocarpus fontanesianus

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Conchocarpus fontanesianus (A. St.-Hill.) Kallunki & Pirani, Rutaceae, popularly known as pitaguara, is a native and endemic tree from Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro States, Brazil. Based in the information that anticholinesterasic derivatives could act as new prototypes to treatment of Alzheimer disease, this work describes the fractionation guided by evaluation of the anticholinesterase activity of the ethanolic stems extract from C. fontanesianus. This procedure afforded the alkaloids dictamnine (1), gamma-fagarine (2), skimianine (3), and 2-phenyl-1-methyl-4-quinolone (4), as well as the coumarin marmesin (5).222374380Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq

Liquid biopsy for disease monitoring in non-small cell lung cancer: The link between biology and the clinic

Introduction: Cell-free DNA (cfDNA) analysis offers a non-invasive method to identify sensitising and resistance mutations in advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) patients. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) of circulating free DNA (cfDNA) is a valuable tool for mutations detection and disease' s clonal monitoring. Material and methods: An amplicon-based targeted gene NGS panel was used to analyse 101 plasma samples of advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with known oncogenic mutations, mostly EGFR mutations, serially collected at different clinically relevant time points of the disease. Results: The variant allelic frequency (VAF) monitoring in consecutive plasma samples demonstrated different molecular response and progression patterns. The decrease in or the clearance of the mutant alleles was associated with response and the increase in or the emergence of novel alterations with progression. At the best response, the median VAF was 0% (0.0% to 3.62%), lower than that at baseline, with a median of 0.53% (0.0% to 9.9%) (p = 0.004). At progression, the VAF was significantly higher (median 4.67; range: 0.0–36.9%) than that observed at the best response (p = 0.001) and baseline (p = 0.006). These variations anticipated radiographic changes in most cases, with a median time of 0.86 months. Overall, the VAF evolution of different oncogenic mutations predicts clinical outcomes. Conclusion: The targeted NGS of circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) has clinical utility to monitor treatment response in patients with advanced lung adenocarcinoma.This work was supported by FEDER—Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional funds through the COMPETE 2020—Operacional Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalisation (POCI), Portugal 2020; and by FCT—Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia/Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação in the framework of the projects “Institute for Research and Innovation in Health Sciences” (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007274), and “Transferencia horizontal de resistencia à terapia: mudança de paradigma na monitorização de pacientes com cancro” (PTDC/DTPPIC/2500/2014); and by Norte Portugal Regional Programme (NORTE 2020), under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), in the framework of the project NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000029

Effect of increased salt water intake on the production and composition of dairy goat milk.

The high consumption of water by livestock is a major drawback from an environmental point of view. In addition, the fact that arid or semi-arid areas have water with high salinity can decrease the quality of the products derived from these animals. Therefore, the present work is proposed with the objective of understanding how the supply of water with different salinities can affect the quality of milk. Therefore, the results of this work will derive important conclusions of vital importance for farmers in these areas

Perfil de ácidos graxos do leite de cabras mestiças Moxotó suplementadas com óleo de licuri ou de mamona.

Os lipídios vêm sendo utilizados na alimentação animal no intuito de melhorar o perfil dos ácidos graxos do leite, além de ser fonte de energia. Neste trabalho foram utilizadas 10 cabras mestiças Moxotó x Alpina Francesa em lactação, suplementadas com óleos vegetais em dois níveis (3 e 5%), com objetivo de avaliar o efeito da dieta no perfil dos ácidos graxos do leite produzido. Os tratamentos consistiam em um grupo controle sem óleo, óleo de licuri a 3% e 5%, óleo de mamona a 3% e 5%, na matéria seca das dietas. As cabras foram mantidas alocadas em baias individuais, distribuídas em um delineamento de quadrado latino duplo (5 x 5), com períodos de 15 dias para cada tratamento, sendo 12 dias de adaptação e três dias de coleta de leite. A suplementação com óleo de licuri elevou os ácidos graxos de cadeia curta e média do leite com, conseqüente, aumento do índice de aterogenicidade. A adição do óleo de mamona gerou redução nos teores de ácidos graxos de cadeia curta e nos ácidos graxos saturados e aumentou os ácidos graxos insaturados resultando numa boa razão saturado:insaturado e num melhor índice de aterogenicidade. O óleo de licuri elevou os ácidos graxos de cadeia curta, os saturados e reduziu os insaturados. A adição de óleo de mamona melhorou o perfil de ácidos graxos do leite de cabra, conferindo ao produto importante características nutricionais à saúde humana