Space, City and Post colonialism in the Poetic Discourse of the “Independent Writers of Pernambuco”

In Altas literaturas (High Literatures), Leyla Perrone Moisés reminds us that in the scope of Catholicism the canon acquired the meaning of a "list of saints recognized by the papal authority" which "by extension came to mean the set of literary authors recognized as masters of tradition" (1988, p. 61) .That, undoubtedly, guided the literary studies in Brazil until very recently. These studies ignored non-canonical literary works. In other words, the canonical thinking was oblivious to a rich literary production which was not in accordance with a colonialist view of the academic studies developed in our universities. In this work, we intend to study the literary production of some poets in Recife (Brazil), in the 1980s in relation to the established canon. We focus on the Movement, known as “Independent Writers of Pernambuco” aiming to bring to light a literary movement forgotten by Brazilian academic community.. Our study has a postcolonial perspectives we explore the need to pay attention to literary production by writers who do not always belong to “traditional canon” (Said, 2004). The poetical works of the movement we study may play a vital role in the context of Brazil and Pernambuco. By considering the emerging social responsibilities of writers and intellectuals in an ever more interdependent world, we suggest that studying the movement and its authors who are not much explored by Brazilian scholars we may be decolonizing the knowledge on literature in Brazil. Wetake into account the movement´s relations with Brazilian Northeastern culture and its program of action, dating from 1981, the beginning of the so-called "Lost Decade." The movement had an important voice against the most conservative and traditionalist criticism at that time. We believe that by studying the movement we are offering the opportunity to rethink our Brazilian and Pernambucan literary canon

Inteligência Artificial em Radiologia: Do Processamento de Imagem ao Diagnóstico

The objective of this article is to present a view on the potential impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on processing medical images, in particular in relation to diagnostic. This topic is currently attracting major attention in both the medical and engineering communities, as demonstrated by the number of recent tutorials [1-3] and review articles [4-6] that address it, with large research hospitals, as well as engineering research centers contributing to the area. Furthermore, several large companies like General Electric (GE), IBM/Merge, Siemens, Philips or Agfa, as well as more specialized companies and startups are integrating AI into their medical imaging products. The evolution of GE in this respect is interesting. GE SmartSignal software was developed for industrial applications to identify impending equipment failures well before they happen. As written in the GE prospectus, with this added lead time, one can transform from reactive maintenance to a more proactive maintenance process, allowing the workforce to focus on fixing problems rather than looking for them. With this background experience from the industrial field, GE developed predictive analytics products for clinical imaging, that embodied the Predictive component of P4 medicine (predictive, personalized, preventive, participatory). Another interesting example is the Illumeo software from Philips that embeds adaptive intelligence, i. e. the capacity to improve its automatic reasoning process from its past experience, to automatically pop out related prior exams for radiology in face of a concrete situation. Actually, with its capacity to tackle massive amounts of data of different sorts (imaging data, patient exam reports, pathology reports, patient monitoring signals, data from implantable electrophysiology devices, and data from many other sources) AI is certainly able to yield a decisive contribution to all the components of P4 medicine. For instance, in the presence of a rare disease, AI methods have the capacity to review huge amounts of prior information when confronted to the patient clinical data

Discovery of spirooxadiazoline oxindoles with dual-stage antimalarial activity

© 2022 Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.Malaria remains a prevalent infectious disease in developing countries. The first-line therapeutic options are based on combinations of fast-acting artemisinin derivatives and longer-acting synthetic drugs. However, the emergence of resistance to these first-line treatments represents a serious risk, and the discovery of new effective drugs is urgently required. For this reason, new antimalarial chemotypes with new mechanisms of action, and ideally with activity against multiple parasite stages, are needed. We report a new scaffold with dual-stage (blood and liver) antiplasmodial activity. Twenty-six spirooxadiazoline oxindoles were synthesized and screened against the erythrocytic stage of the human malaria parasite P. falciparum. The most active compounds were also tested against the liver-stage of the murine parasite P. berghei. Seven compounds emerged as dual-stage antimalarials, with IC50 values in the low micromolar range. Due to structural similarity with cipargamin, which is thought to inhibit blood-stage P. falciparum growth via inhibition of the Na + efflux pump PfATP4, we tested one of the most active compounds for anti-PfATP4 activity. Our results suggest that this target is not the primary target of spirooxadiazoline oxindoles and further studies are ongoing to identify the main mechanism of action of this scaffold.This work was supported by FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P.) through iMed.ULisboa (UID/DTP/04138/2019), project PTDC/QUI-QOR/29664/2017, and PhD fellowship SFRH/BD/137544/2018 (E. Lopes). The NMR spectrometers are part of the National NMR Network (PTNMR) and are partially supported by Infrastructure Project Nº 022161 (co-financed by FEDER through COMPETE 2020, POCI and PORL and FCT through PIDDAC). Financial support from FCT and Portugal 2020 to the Portuguese Mass Spectrometry Network (Rede Nacional de Espectrometria de Massa – RNEM; LISBOA-01-0145-FEDER-402-022125) is also acknowledged.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Physical and chemical properties of pigmented oil obtained from shrimp heads

En este trabajo se presenta el análisis proximal, caracterización físico-química, perfil de ácidos grasos y contenido de astaxantina en aceite pigmentado aislado por fermentación láctica de los residuos de camarón. Los lípidos son los componentes mayoritarios (95%). El índice de saponificación es 178.62 mg KOH/g, el de yodo 139.8 cg yodo/g, y los peróxidos no fueron detectados. La densidad y la viscosidad fueron de 0.92 mg/ml y 64 centipoises, respectivamente. Los ácidos grasos en mayor cantidad fueron el linoleico (C18:2n6), oleico (C18:1n9) y palmítico (C16:0). El ácido eicosapentaenoico (C20:5n3, EPA) y el docosahexaenoico (C22:6n3, DHA) suman el 9% del total. El contenido promedio de astaxantina fue de 2.72 mg/g base seca. El aceite pigmentado es una fuente dietética de nutrientes con alto valor como la astaxantinaIn this work the proximal analysis, physicochemical characterization, fatty acid profile and astaxanthin content of pigmented oil obtained by fermentation shrimp heads are presented. Lipids are the major components in the oil (95%). The saponification number is 178.62 mg KOH/g, iodine value 139.8 cg iodine/g, and the peroxide value was not detected. Density and viscosity were 0.92 mg/ml and 64 centipoises, respectively. The highest contents of fatty acids were linoleic (C18:2n6), oleic (C18:1n9) and palmitic (C16:0). Eicosapentaenoic acid (C20:5n3, EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (C22:6n3, DHA) account for 9% of the total. The content of astaxanthin was 2.72 mg/g dry weight. The pigmented oil is a dietary source of nutrients with high value such as astaxanthinEsta investigación ha sido financiada por el Proyecto FONCICYT número C002-2008-1/ALA - 127 249. El primer autor agradece a CONACYT la beca para estudios de doctoradoS

Integration of cardiovascular risk assessment with COVID-19 using artificial intelligence

Artificial Intelligence (AI), in general, refers to the machines (or computers) that mimic "cognitive" functions that we associate with our mind, such as "learning" and "solving problem". New biomarkers derived from medical imaging are being discovered and are then fused with non-imaging biomarkers (such as office, laboratory, physiological, genetic, epidemiological, and clinical-based biomarkers) in a big data framework, to develop AI systems. These systems can support risk prediction and monitoring. This perspective narrative shows the powerful methods of AI for tracking cardiovascular risks. We conclude that AI could potentially become an integral part of the COVID-19 disease management system. Countries, large and small, should join hands with the WHO in building biobanks for scientists around the world to build AI-based platforms for tracking the cardiovascular risk assessment during COVID-19 times and long-term follow-up of the survivors

Impact of COVID-19 on cardiovascular testing in the United States versus the rest of the world

Objectives: This study sought to quantify and compare the decline in volumes of cardiovascular procedures between the United States and non-US institutions during the early phase of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the care of many non-COVID-19 illnesses. Reductions in diagnostic cardiovascular testing around the world have led to concerns over the implications of reduced testing for cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality. Methods: Data were submitted to the INCAPS-COVID (International Atomic Energy Agency Non-Invasive Cardiology Protocols Study of COVID-19), a multinational registry comprising 909 institutions in 108 countries (including 155 facilities in 40 U.S. states), assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on volumes of diagnostic cardiovascular procedures. Data were obtained for April 2020 and compared with volumes of baseline procedures from March 2019. We compared laboratory characteristics, practices, and procedure volumes between U.S. and non-U.S. facilities and between U.S. geographic regions and identified factors associated with volume reduction in the United States. Results: Reductions in the volumes of procedures in the United States were similar to those in non-U.S. facilities (68% vs. 63%, respectively; p = 0.237), although U.S. facilities reported greater reductions in invasive coronary angiography (69% vs. 53%, respectively; p < 0.001). Significantly more U.S. facilities reported increased use of telehealth and patient screening measures than non-U.S. facilities, such as temperature checks, symptom screenings, and COVID-19 testing. Reductions in volumes of procedures differed between U.S. regions, with larger declines observed in the Northeast (76%) and Midwest (74%) than in the South (62%) and West (44%). Prevalence of COVID-19, staff redeployments, outpatient centers, and urban centers were associated with greater reductions in volume in U.S. facilities in a multivariable analysis. Conclusions: We observed marked reductions in U.S. cardiovascular testing in the early phase of the pandemic and significant variability between U.S. regions. The association between reductions of volumes and COVID-19 prevalence in the United States highlighted the need for proactive efforts to maintain access to cardiovascular testing in areas most affected by outbreaks of COVID-19 infection

Canagliflozin and renal outcomes in type 2 diabetes and nephropathy

BACKGROUND Type 2 diabetes mellitus is the leading cause of kidney failure worldwide, but few effective long-term treatments are available. In cardiovascular trials of inhibitors of sodium–glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2), exploratory results have suggested that such drugs may improve renal outcomes in patients with type 2 diabetes. METHODS In this double-blind, randomized trial, we assigned patients with type 2 diabetes and albuminuric chronic kidney disease to receive canagliflozin, an oral SGLT2 inhibitor, at a dose of 100 mg daily or placebo. All the patients had an estimated glomerular filtration rate (GFR) of 30 to &lt;90 ml per minute per 1.73 m2 of body-surface area and albuminuria (ratio of albumin [mg] to creatinine [g], &gt;300 to 5000) and were treated with renin–angiotensin system blockade. The primary outcome was a composite of end-stage kidney disease (dialysis, transplantation, or a sustained estimated GFR of &lt;15 ml per minute per 1.73 m2), a doubling of the serum creatinine level, or death from renal or cardiovascular causes. Prespecified secondary outcomes were tested hierarchically. RESULTS The trial was stopped early after a planned interim analysis on the recommendation of the data and safety monitoring committee. At that time, 4401 patients had undergone randomization, with a median follow-up of 2.62 years. The relative risk of the primary outcome was 30% lower in the canagliflozin group than in the placebo group, with event rates of 43.2 and 61.2 per 1000 patient-years, respectively (hazard ratio, 0.70; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.59 to 0.82; P=0.00001). The relative risk of the renal-specific composite of end-stage kidney disease, a doubling of the creatinine level, or death from renal causes was lower by 34% (hazard ratio, 0.66; 95% CI, 0.53 to 0.81; P&lt;0.001), and the relative risk of end-stage kidney disease was lower by 32% (hazard ratio, 0.68; 95% CI, 0.54 to 0.86; P=0.002). The canagliflozin group also had a lower risk of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, or stroke (hazard ratio, 0.80; 95% CI, 0.67 to 0.95; P=0.01) and hospitalization for heart failure (hazard ratio, 0.61; 95% CI, 0.47 to 0.80; P&lt;0.001). There were no significant differences in rates of amputation or fracture. CONCLUSIONS In patients with type 2 diabetes and kidney disease, the risk of kidney failure and cardiovascular events was lower in the canagliflozin group than in the placebo group at a median follow-up of 2.62 years