First reports of computed tomographic colonography for the screening of colorectal polyps in acromegalic patients

*Aim:* To analyze the CTC performance for the screening of colorectal polyps in acromegalic patients. 

*Materials and Methods:* A prospective study of 21 acromegalic patients, 12 male and 9 female, average age 49, who underwent CTC and CC. CTC was performed with a GE Helical Multislice Computed Tomography Apparatus. The colonoscopy was performed, in the same day, without previous knowledge of the CTC diagnostics. The study evaluated the capacity of CTC to detect patients with colorectal polyps and identify each colorectal lesion described by CC. 

*Results:* In two patients (2/21), CC was incomplete. However, in all patients CTC was complete. In Phase I (“Per Patient”), CTC diagnosed 8 of the 9 patients with colorectal polyps and showed 88% sensitivity, 75% specificity and 81% accuracy. In Phase II (“Per Polyp”), out of the 21 acromegalic patients included in this study, 12 presented normal findings at CC. A total of 19 polyps were identified in 9 patients. 10 of the 19 polyps were smaller than 10 mm, and 9 were equal to or larger than 10. CTC identified 7 of the 9 polyps ≥ 10 mm described by CC and only 6 of the 10 small polyps identified at CC were detected by CTC. The histological analysis of resected lesions revealed 12 tubular adenomas, 6 hyperplastic polyps and 1 colonic tubulo-villous adenoma with an adenocarcinoma focus. 

*Conclusion:* In this study, CTC was performed without complications and a complete and safe colorectal evaluation was possible in all acromegalic patients. Moreover, CTC showed good sensitivity to identify acromegalic patients with colorectal polyps

Feasibility of (Pb, Ca)TiO3 thin films deposited on Pt/TiO2/SiO2/Si(100) for switching applications

[ES] Se han depositado láminas delgadas de (Pb,Ca)TiO3 sobre substratos de Pt/TiO2/SiO2/Si(100) por centrifugación, partiendo de soluciones sintetizadas por sol -gel. La concentración de las soluciones y el contenido de PbO se seleccionaron para minimizar las tensiones de las láminas cristalizadas y obtener la adecuada estequiometria. La cristalización mediante un calentamiento rápido (RTP), conduce a láminas con orientaciones preferentes [001]/[001], reducida capa interfacial ferroeléctrico-Pt y composición deseada. Los parámetros ferroeléctricos obtenidos muestran una mejora de las propiedades. Estas láminas presentan una fatiga y envejecimiento mucho más moderados que otros materiales alternativos depositados sobre substratos iguales, lo que permite considerar al método descrito como muy valioso para conseguir materiales susceptibles de emplear en aplicaciones de conmutación.[EN] (Pb,Ca)TiO3 ferroelectric thin films have been spin-coated on Pt/TiO2/SiO2/Si(100) substrates from sol-gel synthesized solutions. Selecting the solution concentrations and the excess of PbO content, stoichiometric composicion with reduced strains are obtained. Crystallization process by rapid thermal treatment (RTP) promote preferred orientations [001]/[100] resulting a thiner ferroelectric-platinum interface layer, which causes the improvement of fatigue and retain behaviour, despite the use of platinum electrodes. These experimental finds let to cosider the described methode of processing very convenient to prepare thin films of this composition to use on switching applications such as non volatil RAM memories.Peer reviewe

Validation of 3-day rainfall forecast at the regional scale

Nearly half of the natural disasters in the world are due to hydro-geomorphological hazards. Therefore, rainfall forecast is a key parameter for the implementation of landslides and flash-floods early warning systems. In this work we developed a routine in R software that enables the validation of a 3-day rainfall forecast by comparison with the daily rainfall data recorded in 101 automatic meteorological stations available in mainland Portugal. The routine integrates the pre-processing of base data, the matching between the 3-day rainfall forecast and the daily rainfall registered in the automatic meteorological stations based on sequence of days, the estimation of the difference between the forecasted and the real rainfall values and the computation of error measures, such as the bias, the mean absolute error, the mean absolute percentage error and the root mean square error. The results from the error measures, estimated for the 101 automatic meteorological stations, are then exported to an excel file. The routine is implemented for mainland Portugal and tested using data from February 2015, however, the spatial and temporal data can be easily updated for other regions

Validation of 3-day rainfall forecast at the regional scale

Nearly half of the natural disasters in the world are due to hydro-geomorphological hazards. Therefore, rainfall forecast is a key parameter for the implementation of landslides and flash-floods early warning systems. In this work we developed a routine in R software that enables the validation of a 3-day rainfall forecast by comparison with the daily rainfall data recorded in 101 automatic meteorological stations available in mainland Portugal. The routine integrates the pre-processing of base data, the matching between the 3-day rainfall forecast and the daily rainfall registered in the automatic meteorological stations based on sequence of days, the estimation of the difference between the forecasted and the real rainfall values and the computation of error measures, such as the bias, the mean absolute error, the mean absolute percentage error and the root mean square error. The results from the error measures, estimated for the 101 automatic meteorological stations, are then exported to an excel file. The routine is implemented for mainland Portugal and tested using data from February 2015, however, the spatial and temporal data can be easily updated for other regions. • A routine to validate the rainfall forecast at the regional scale using R programming language is implemented. • The automated routine can be easily updated and adapted with different spatial and temporal scales

Abundance of Anchovy eggs by CUFES: Inter-annual fluctuations and spatial patterns.

Data on the abundance of Anchovy eggs in the Gulf of Cadiz as collected by CUFES are explored in the present work in relation to their spatial pattern and inter-annual fluctuations. These data were gathered in 12 summer surveys, both acoustic (ECOCADIZ series) and DEPM (BOCADEVA series) ones, since 2004 to date (no survey in 2012). A total of 1499 CUFES stations were sampled, which distributed from the strait of Gibraltar, in Spain, to Cape San Vicente, in Portugal (in 2010 to Cape Sta. Maria only). The sampling scheme consisted in a grid of 21 parallel transects, normal to the shoreline and inter-spaced 8 nm, with the samples being collected every 3 nm at a c.a. 600 l/min flow with a 335 μm mesh size net and at a sampling depth of 5 m from the surface. A continuous record of SST and SSS at 5 m (termosalinometer) was coupled to the CUFES sampling. The surveys were carried out in June, July or August depending on the year. Oceanographic variables such as temperature, salinity and chlorophyll, and even the bottom topography of the shelf as well, they all showed significantly different in two regions: to the East and West of the Cape S. Mª. The density of Anchovy eggs presents a high variability between stations showing a very patched distribution. The stations with most eggs are located to the East of Cape Sta. Mª. Egg abundance also showed a very high between-year variability, ranging from 2955 eggs in 2005 to 41941 eggs collected in 2014. Regarding the spatial pattern of egg distribution, the 84.9% of the total egg density (all the surveys pooled) was collected in the area east of the Cape Sta. Mª (37.4 % in 2016), and the 89.8 % of total egg density in stations bellow 100 m depth (47.9 % in 2016). What happened in 2016? The mean temperature registered in 2016 in the Western stratum (22.0ºC) was practically the same that the mean temperature registered from 2004 to 2015 in the Eastern stratum (21.7ºC). The analysis of the centers of gravity of the eggs densities vs longitude and depth show significant trends, but not for latitude, which indicate a displacement towards the West in 2016. However, no trends were found in the centers of gravity of the acoustic energy (NASC) as a proxy of adults. Is then the westward displacement of the spawning in 2016 caused by an advective transport (currents and/or winds) or by other causes? What will be the further effect on recruitment? It would be good to obtain a statistical model in order to explain how the different variables affect the abundance of eggs, including other variables like the wind, tide... The presence of deep canyons crossing the shelf in the East of Cape Sta. Mª indicates that distance to the coast would be a better variable than depth

A rabdomiólise está associada à febre dengue em um paciente lúpico

ResumoEsse relato descreve o caso de uma mulher com lúpus eritematoso sistêmico (LES) que sofreu rabdomiólise em seguida à sua infecção pelo vírus da dengue. Foram relatados apenas alguns casos de LES com manifestação de rabdomiólise, nenhum deles associados à febre dengue.A princípio, a paciente apresentava‐se com febre alta, mialgia, astenia muscular, leve cefaleia, poliartralgia e trombocitopenia, lembrando uma exacerbação lúpica, mas considerando que o número de pessoas infectadas pela dengue na época era alto e tendo em vista que os sintomas das duas condições são parecidos, foi solicitada sorologia para dengue. Trans‐corridos alguns dias, a paciente apresentou rabdomiólise, tendo então sido tratada com medicamentos imunossupressivos, alcalinização urinária e hidratação vigorosa, medidas que melhoraram seus danos musculares e a condição inflamatória. A sorologia positiva para dengue nos foi disponibilizada apenas depois da instauração do tratamento descrito acima. A paciente recebeu alta em estado assintomático.Esse caso demonstra a grande semelhança entre a febre dengue e uma exacerbação lúpica; isso deve alertar o clínico para que, especialmente durante uma epidemia, faça uma cuidadosa diferenciação entre essas doenças, de forma a estabelecer uma terapia correta e eficiente.AbstractThis report describes the case of a woman with systemic lupus erythematous (SLE) that developed rhabdomyolysis after being infected by dengue virus. There are only a few cases of SLE accompanied by rhabdomyolysis, none of them associated with dengue fever.Initially, the woman presented high fever, myalgia, muscular weakness, mild headache, polyarthralgia and thrombocytopenia reminding a lupus flare, but since the number of people infected by dengue at that time was high and the symptoms from both conditions are similar, a dengue serology was requested. After a few days, the patient developed rhabdomyolysis. She was then submitted to immunosuppressive drugs, urinary alkalization and vigorous hydration, which improved her muscle damage and inflammatory condition. The positive dengue serology was only available after the therapy above had been established. She was discharged in an asymptomatic state.This case demonstrates how alike dengue fever and a lupus flare are, warning clinicians that, especially during an epidemic, both diseases should be carefully differentiated in order to establish a correct and efficient therapy

BOCADEVA 0714 Gulf of Cadiz Anchovy Egg Survey and 2014 SSB preliminary estimates

This working document provides a brief description of the survey, laboratory analysis and estimation procedures used to obtain the Gulf of Cadiz anchovy SSB by DEPM for 2014 in the South-Atlantic Iberian Stock. Results are preliminary, because the estimation of the spawning fraction is not available yet

Peptidylprolyl isomerase C (Ppic) regulates invariant Natural Killer T cell (iNKT) differentiation in mice

© 2021 The Authors. European Journal of Immunology published by Wiley-VCH GmbH. 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.Peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase C (Ppic) is expressed in several bone marrow (BM) hematopoietic progenitors and in T-cell precursors. Since the expression profile of Ppic in the hematoimmune system was suggestive that it could play a role in hematopoiesis and/or T lymphocyte differentiation, we sought to test that hypothesis in vivo. Specifically, we generated a Ppic-deficient mouse model by targeting the endogenous locus by CRISPR/Cas9 and tested the requirement of Ppic in hematopoiesis. Several immune cell lineages covering BM progenitors, lymphocyte precursors, as well as mature cells at the periphery were analyzed. While most lineages were unaffected, invariant NKT (iNKT) cells were reduced in percentage and absolute cell numbers in the Ppic-deficient thymus. This affected the most mature stages in the thymus, S2 and S3, and the phenotype was maintained at the periphery. Additionally, immature transitional T1 and T2 B lymphocytes were increased in the Ppic-deficient spleen, but the phenotype was lost in mature B lymphocytes. In sum, our data show that Ppic is dispensable for myeloid cells, platelets, erythrocytes, αβ, and γδ T lymphocytes in vivo in the steady state, while being involved in B- and iNKT cell differentiation.This work was supported by the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência (IGC) of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, and the Portuguese National Research Council (Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia [FCT]) Grant PTDC/BIA-BID/30925/2017 to VCM, that also supports the salary of RSP. VCM is supported by an individual contract awarded by FCT (CEECIND/03106/2018). CVR is a PhD student of the IGC Integrative Biology and Biomedicine (IBB) PhD Program and supported by an individual FCT PhD Fellowship ref. PD/BD/139190/2018. This work had the support of the research infrastructures Congento LISBOA-01-0145-FEDER-022170 and PPBI-POCI-01-0145-FEDER-022122, both cofinanced by FCT and Lisboa2020, under PORTUGAL2020 agreement (European Regional Development Fund).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Developmental Regulation of Transcription in Touriga Nacional Berries under Deficit Irrigation

Grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) is one of the most economically important crops worldwide, especially due to the economic relevance of wine production. Abiotic stress, such as drought, may contribute to low yield, shifts in quality, and important economic loss. The predicted climate change phenomena point to warmer and dryer Mediterranean environmental conditions; as such, it is paramount to study the effects of abiotic stress on grapevine performance. Deficit irrigation systems are applied to optimize water use efficiency without compromising berry quality. In this research, the effect of two deficit irrigation strategies, sustained deficit irrigation (SDI) and regulated deficit irrigation (RDI), in the grape berry were assessed. The effects of different levels of drought were monitored in Touriga Nacional at key stages of berry development (pea size, véraison, and full maturation) through RNA-Seq transcriptome analysis and by specific differentially expressed genes (DEGs) monitoring through RT-qPCR. Handy datasets were obtained by bioinformatics analysis of raw RNA-Seq results. The dominant proportion of transcripts was mostly regulated by development, with véraison showing more upregulated transcripts. Results showed that primary metabolism is the functional category more severely affected under water stress. Almost all DEGs selected for RT-qPCR were significantly upregulated in full maturation and showed the highest variability at véraison and the lowest gene expression values in the pea size stageinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio