A Systematic Review of Algorithms with Linear-time Behaviour to Generate Delaunay and Voronoi Tessellations

Triangulations and tetrahedrizations are important geometrical discretization procedures applied to several areas, such as the reconstruction of surfaces and data visualization. Delaunay and Voronoi tessellations are discretization structures of domains with desirable geometrical properties. In this work, a systematic review of algorithms with linear-time behaviour to generate 2D/3D Delaunay and/or Voronoi tessellations is presented

Felicidade: uma revisão

BACKGROUND: Happiness is a basic emotion characterized by a positive emotional state, with feelings of well-being and pleasure, associated with a perception of sucess and a coherent and lucid comprehension of the world. Recently, several researchers have been involved in the elucidation of the relationship between happiness and mental health. OBJECTIVE: Critically review the scientific literature concerning the topic happiness and its contributions to mental health and to psychiatry. METHODS: Systematic review of the literature through the MedLine database, using the uniterms: happiness, mental health, well-being, positive psychology, resilience, optimism, gratitude, quality of life, positive emotions and personality. RESULTS: Variables such as origin, physical and mental health, religiosity and certain psychological characteristics are positively associated with happiness. There is no evidence suggesting that age, gender, marital status, wealthiness or the occurrence of external factors (favorable or not) significantly associate with happiness. CONCLUSION: Happiness is a predominantly subjective phenomenon, subordinated to psychological and socio-cultural traits much more than to external factors. The identification of these factors is particularly useful when applied to subjects that are more predisposed to mental disorders, favoring the development of prevention approaches, which have potential repercussion in the social and occupational areas.CONTEXTO: A felicidade é uma emoção básica caracterizada por um estado emocional positivo, com sentimentos de bem-estar e de prazer, associados à percepção de sucesso e à compreensão coerente e lúcida do mundo. Nos últimos anos, diversos pesquisadores têm se preocupado em desvendar as relações entre felicidade e saúde mental. OBJETIVO: Revisar criticamente a literatura científica que aborda o tema da felicidade, assim como as suas contribuições para a saúde mental e a psiquiatria. MÉTODOS: Revisão sistemática da literatura por meio do indexador MedLine, utilizando-se dos unitermos: happiness, mental health, well-being, positive psychology, resilience, optimism, gratitude, quality of life, positive emotions, personality. RESULTADOS: Variáveis como origem, saúdes física e mental, religiosidade e determinadas características psicológicas se associam positivamente à felicidade. Não há evidências de que idade, gênero, estado civil, poder aquisitivo nem ocorrência de eventos externos (favoráveis ou não) se associem significativamente à felicidade. CONCLUSÃO: A felicidade é um fenômeno predominantemente subjetivo, estando subordinada mais a traços psicológicos e socioculturais do que a fatores externamente determinados. A identificação desses fatores é particularmente útil na subpopulação que é mais predisposta a doenças mentais, favorecendo o desenvolvimento de abordagens preventivas, com potencial repercussão nas áreas social e ocupacional

Vulvar myiasis during pregnancy.

Myiasis is a parasitic infestation caused by the larvae of several fly species. Diagnosis and treatment are simple. The location of this infestation at the vulvar area is, however, an extremely rare occurrence. The authors present two cases of vulvar myiasis affecting pregnant women. The first case is a 19-year-old pregnant girl with vulvar myiasis and concomitant syphilis, vaginal trichomoniasis and genital candidiasis. The patient was also HIV-positive. The second case is a 17-year-old pregnant girl with vulvar myiasis associated with extensive vulvar condyloma acuminatum lesions

Asymptomatic HIV-people present different profile of sCD14, sRAGE, DNA damage and vitamins, according to the use of cART and CD4+ T cells restoration.

We aimed to analyze markers of immune activation, inflammation, and oxidative stress in 92 asymptomatic HIV-infected patients according to the adequate (AR, >500 cells/mm(3)) or inadequate (IR, nAR > LTNP > tAR > tIR. Higher levels of 8-isoprostane were observed in nIR. LTNP presented a higher retinol dosage than tAR and less genotoxic damage induced by oxidative stress than the other groups. We suggest that the therapy, despite being related to lesser immune activation and inflammation, alters the vitamin profile and consequently increases the oxidative stress of patients. In addition, the lowest genotoxic index for LTNP indicates that both VL and cART could be responsible for the increased DNA damage. More studies are needed to understand the influence of cART on persistent immune activation and inflammation

The GO-DACT protocol : a multicentre, randomized, double-blind, parallel-group study to compare the efficacy of golimumab in combination with methotrexate (MTX) versus MTX monotherapy

© 2001-2020 Sociedade Portuguesa de ReumatologiaThe GO-DACT is an investigator-initiated, national, multicentric randomized placebo-controlled double-blinded trial, that assesses dactylitis as primary endpoint. Psoriatic arthritis patients naïve to methotrexate and biologic disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs, with at least one active dactylitis, were assigned to golimumab in combination with methotrexate or placebo in combination with methotrexate, for 24 weeks. Both clinical (dactylitis severity score and the Leeds dactylitis index) and imaging (high resolution magnetic resonance imaging), among others, were assessed as outcomes. The main objective of GO-DACT is to provide evidence to improve the treatment algorithm and care of psoriatic arthritis patients with active dactylitis. In this manuscript we describe the GO-DACT protocol and general concepts of the methodology of this trial.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Aortic Response to Strength Training and Spirulina platensis Dependent on Nitric Oxide and Antioxidants

Studies have shown that supplementation with Spirulina platensis improves vascular reactivity. However, it is unclear whether in association with strength training this effect can be enhanced. Thus, this study aimed to determine the effects of strength training and S. platensis on the reactivity of the aorta from Wistar rat and the possible mechanisms involved. The animals were supplemented with S. platensis and divided into sedentary (SG, SG50, SG150, and SG500) and trained groups (TG, TG50, TG150, and TG500). Nitrite, malondialdehyde (MDA) and antioxidant activity were determined by biochemical assays. To evaluate vascular response, cumulative concentration—response curves to phenylephrine (PHE) and acetylcholine (ACh) were constructed. L-NAME was used to assess the participation of nitric oxide (NO). It was observed that the PHE contractile potency was reduced in TG50, TG150, and TG500 groups compared to SG50, SG150, and SG500 groups, respectively. However, the presence of L-NAME increased the contractile response in all groups. Strength training potentiated the increase in relaxing activity induced by S. platensis, where the pCE50 values of ACh increased in TG150 and TG500. These responses were accompanied by increased nitrite production, MDA reduction and increased antioxidant activity in the aorta of both TG150 and TG500 groups. Thus, the present study demonstrated that combined with strength training, S. platensis potentiates vascular improvement through the participation of NO and reduction of oxidative stress

Controlo químico de infestantes

Uma planta é considerada infestante quando nasce espontaneamente num local e momento indesejados, podendo interferir negativamente com a cultura instalada. As infestantes competem com as culturas para o espaço, a luz, água e nutrientes, podendo atrasar e prejudicar as operações de colheita, depreciar o produto final e assegurarem a reinfestação nas culturas seguintes. Dado o modo de propagação diferenciado das diversas espécies de infestantes, com as anuais a propagarem-se por semente e as perenes ou vivazes a assegurarem a sua propagação através de órgãos vegetativos (rizomas, bolbos, tubérculos, etc.), assim, também o seu controlo quer químico, quer mecânico terá que ser diferenciado, ou seja, para controlar infestantes anuais será suficiente destruir a sua parte aérea, enquanto para controlar infestantes perenes teremos que destruir os seus órgãos reprodutivos. O controlo de infestantes poderá ser químico, através da utilização de herbicidas, ou mecânico pela utilização de alfaias agrícolas, tais como a charrua de aivecas, a charrua de discos, a grade de discos, o escarificador e a fresa. Quando a técnica utilizada na instalação das culturas é a sementeira directa, o controlo das infestantes terá que ser obrigatoriamente químico, enquanto se o recurso à mobilização do solo for a técnica mais utilizada (sistema de mobilização tradicional ou sistema de mobilização reduzida), o controlo das infestantes tanto poderá ser químico como mecânico. Neste trabalho iremos abordar apenas, o controlo químico de infestantes

SARS-CoV-2 uses CD4 to infect T helper lymphocytes

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the agent of a major global outbreak of respiratory tract disease known as Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). SARS-CoV-2 infects mainly lungs and may cause several immune-related complications, such as lymphocytopenia and cytokine storm, which are associated with the severity of the disease and predict mortality. The mechanism by which SARS-CoV-2 infection may result in immune system dysfunction is still not fully understood. Here, we show that SARS-CoV-2 infects human CD4+ T helper cells, but not CD8+ T cells, and is present in blood and bronchoalveolar lavage T helper cells of severe COVID-19 patients. We demonstrated that SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein (S) directly binds to the CD4 molecule, which in turn mediates the entry of SARS-CoV-2 in T helper cells. This leads to impaired CD4 T cell function and may cause cell death. SARS-CoV-2-infected T helper cells express higher levels of IL-10, which is associated with viral persistence and disease severity. Thus, CD4-mediated SARS-CoV-2 infection of T helper cells may contribute to a poor immune response in COVID-19 patients.</p