Retinal progression biomarkers of early and intermediate age-related macular degeneration

Funding Information: Funding: This work was supported by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia project PTDC/MED-PAT/30385/2017 and iNOVA4Health-UIDB/04462/2020, a program financially supported by Fun-dação para a Ciência e Tecnologia/Ministério da Educação e Ciência, Portugal, through national funds and co-funded by FEDER under the PT2020 Partnership Agreement. Funding Information: This work was supported by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia project PTDC/MEDPAT/30385/2017 and iNOVA4Health-UIDB/04462/2020, a program financially supported by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia/Ministério da Educação e Ciência, Portugal, through national funds and co-funded by FEDER under the PT2020 Partnership Agreement. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.Early and intermediate AMD patients represent a heterogeneous population with an important but variable risk of progression to more advanced stages of the disease. The five-year progression from early and intermediate AMD to late disease is known to range from 0.4% to 53%. This wide variation explains the particular interest in searching predictive AMD biomarkers. Clinical parameters such as drusen size, presence of pigmentary abnormalities, and fellow eye status were, traditionally, the more important predictive elements. Multimodal retinal assessment (Color Fundus Photography, Optical Coherence Tomography, Optical Coherence Angiography and Fundus Autofluorescence) is providing new and accurate image biomarkers, useful in research and in daily practice. If individual progression risk could be anticipated, then management plans should be adapted accordingly, considering follow-up intervals and therapeutic interventions. Here, we reviewed the most important image progression biomarkers of early and intermediate AMD with relevant interest in clinical practice.publishersversionpublishe

Characterization of haemosporidian infections in warblers and sparrows at south-western European reed beds

Abstract The prevalence and intensity of avian haemosporian infections (genera Haemoproteus and Plasmodium) were investigated using molecular techniques and microscopy in nine passerine species at three Portuguese reed beds along a small latitudinal gradient. The effect of age, sex, season, site and year in the infection prevalence was evaluated for some of these host species. Of the sampled birds, 34.5% were infected, all with low level parasitemias. Haemoproteus spp. was only present in migrant species and was not locally transmitted, while Plasmodium spp. infected more species and reached a higher overall prevalence. Prevalence differed among bird species and was affected by different variables for each species: it was associated with age in the Reed Warbler Acrocephalus scirpaceus, with season in the Cetti's Warbler Cettia cetti and with year in the House Sparrow Passer domesticus. Site did not influence prevalence for any species at this small geographical scale. Reed Warbler adults had already migrated to Africa and contacted with two different parasite faunas, whereas juveniles had not, thereby explaining the importance of age to explain parasitemia in this species. For the resident Cetti's Warbler, prevalence varied significantly with season, perhaps due to lower food availability in autumn and winter, making birds weaker and more prone to infection

Genetic variants of ABC and SLC transporter genes and chronic myeloid leukaemia: impact on susceptibility and prognosis

Solute carrier (SLC) and ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters comprise a variety of proteins expressed on cell membranes responsible for intrusion or extrusion of substrates, respectively, including nutrients, xenobiotics, and chemotherapeutic agents. These transporters mediate the cellular disposition of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), and their genetic variants could affect its function, potentially predisposing patients to chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) and modulating treatment response. We explored the impact of genetic variability (single nucleotide variants—SNVs) of drug transporter genes (ABCB1, ABCG2, SLC22A1, and SLC22A5) on CML susceptibility, drug response, and BCR-ABL1 mutation status. We genotyped 10 SNVs by tetra-primers-AMRS-PCR in 198 CML patients and 404 controls, and assessed their role in CML susceptibility and prognosis. We identified five SNVs associated with CML predisposition, with some variants increasing disease risk, including TT genotype ABCB1 (rs1045642), and others showing a protective effect (GG genotype SLC22A5 rs274558). We also observed different haplotypes and genotypic profiles associated with CML predisposition. Relating to drug response impact, we found that CML patients with the CC genotype (rs2231142 ABCG2) had an increased risk of TKI resistance (six-fold). Additionally, CML patients carrying the CG genotype (rs683369 SLC22A1) presented a 4.54-fold higher risk of BCR-ABL1 mutations. Our results suggest that drug transporters’ SNVs might be involved in CML susceptibility and TKI response, and predict the risk of BCR-ABL1 mutations, highlighting the impact that SNVs could have in therapeutic selection.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

African Linguistics in Central and Eastern Europe, and in the Nordic Countries

Non peer reviewe

Episódios: da teorização estética em Fernando Pessoa

Tese de Doutoramento em Ciências da Literatura - Ramo do Conhecimento Teoria da LiteraturaEste trabalho estuda a teorização estética em Fernando Pessoa, propondo, através da leitura e da discussão de textos ensaísticos do autor, alguns inéditos, um mapa das suas ideias estéticas. O seu ideário estético será estudado a partir dos seguintes episódios críticos: a relação entre poesia e música; a fragmentariedade como conceito fundamental na poética do autor; considerações sobre a leitura e a crítica literárias; e reflexões sobre tradução. Na leitura dos textos pessoanos, na detecção do que neles é insistência e do que nessa repetição é diferença, veremos a “organização” que alicerça a produção ensaística do autor. É o conhecimento deste organon imperfeito, como todos em Pessoa, que este estudo visa. Nos vários capítulos, discutir-se-á o olhar pessoano sobre a arte, em particular sobre a poesia. Esse olhar vê muitas vezes a poesia como inscrita num tempo, como sinal do tempo. Pensar a poesia é, para Pessoa, pensar as suas possibilidades e limitações na esfera das potencialidades cognitivas humanas; é reflectir sobre a linguagem como medium para a coisa poética; é pensar-se como autor e como autor que pensa leitores. Esta reflexão implica a consciência de que há heranças que conformam o que se é, e o que se sonha ser depende em muito do modo como estas são olhadas. Por isso, nestes episódios, ao acompanharmos Pessoa a teorizar sobre alguns destes tópicos estéticos, estaremos, muitas vezes, a ler a leitura que o autor faz dessas tradições que o compõem e que determinam o seu tempo. O que seja o “moderno” em arte, especialmente em poesia, é reflexão indissociável, em Pessoa, do pensamento sobre a poesia. A análise desta reflexão fundamenta a releitura de Pessoa aqui apresentada.This work deals with Fernando Pessoa’s aesthetic theorization, aiming at drawing a map of the poet’s aesthetic ideas, through the reading and the discussion of some of the author’s essays, some unpublished. This will be done taking into account the following critical episodes: the relation between poetry and music; the idea of fragment as a basic concept in the author’s poetics; considerations on literary reading and criticism; and reflections on translation. Through the reading of Pessoa’s texts, by noticing insisting ideas and the differences within that repetition, we will identify the “organization” that founds the author’s essayism. The understanding of this imperfect organon, as imperfect as any other in Pessoa, is the aim of this study. Throughout the several chapters, we will discuss Pessoa’s view on art, and particularly on poetry. Pessoa often looks at poetry as something inscribed in time, as a signal of times. For Pessoa, to think about poetry implies, implies to take into account its possibilities and limitations within the sphere of human cognitive potentialities; it means to reflect upon language as a medium to poetry; it means to think about oneself as an author, and as an author who imagine his readers. This implies the consciousness that there are heritages that shape what we are, and that what we dream to be depends, to a large extent, on the way we face those heritages. Therefore, in these episodes, as we follow Pessoa theorizing about some of these aesthetic topics, we will often be following his reading of the traditions that build him and determine his time. In Pessoa, the reflection on whatever may be “modern” in art, especially in poetry, is inseparable from the very reflection on poetry. The discussion of this reflection grounds the rereading of Pessoa presented here

Implementação da nova intranet, HeiPort : caso de estudo Sociedade Central de Cervejas e Bebidas

A comunicação é algo que faz parte de nós enquanto indivíduos e algo que constitui uma mais valia em qualquer ambiente onde nos encontramos. Assim como o homem precisa de comunicar para satisfazer as suas próprias necessidades, também as empresas possuem essa carência, e cada vez mais, querem fazê-lo de forma rápida, interativa e que lhes permita ser suficientemente competitivas. Por essa razão a comunicação organizacional tornou-se um dos principais desafios do mundo empresarial. De forma a garantirem a sua sobrevivência, as empresas têm de manter os seus Colaboradores alinhados e ligados ao negócio, partilhar os seus êxitos e derrotas, e reforçar a cultura de empresa, aumentando a motivação das suas pessoas. Comunicar estes valores torna-se um importante objetivo para as grandes empresas que, conscientes desta preocupação, encaram a comunicação como um dos principais fatores para atingir o sucesso. O fenómeno da intranet surge num contexto atual, onde a emergência das Tecnologias de Informação e Comunicação proporcionam uma forte aposta por parte das organizações na área da Comunicação Interna. O caso de estudo da implementação do HeiPort, que merecerá um grande destaque no decorrer da investigação, tem como objetivo perceber o impacto que este novo canal de comunicação trouxe à estratégia da Comunicação Interna da SCC e para o dia-a-dia dos seus Colaboradores. Para o efeito realizou-se um estágio de 6 meses na própria empresa, onde se recolheu toda a informação necessária e se aplicou um inquérito especificamente desenvolvido para o efeito.Communication is something that is part of us as individuals and an asset in any environment. Just as human beings need to communicate to satisfy their own needs, companies also have this need, and increasingly want to do it quickly, interactively and enabling them to be competitive enough. For this reason organizational communication has become one of the main challenges of the business world. To ensure their survival, companies have to keep their employees connected and aligned to the business, share their successes and failures and enhance corporate culture, increasing the motivation of their people. Reporting these values has become an important goal for companies who are aware of this concern and face communication as a key factor for success. The intranet phenomenon arises in the present context, where the emergence of information and communication technologies provides a strong focus for organizations in the area of Internal Communications. The case study of the implementation of HeiPort which deserved a major highlight during this investigation, aims to realize the impact that this new channel of communication has brought to the SCC Internal Communications strategy and the daily lives of the employees. For this we performed a 6-month internship in the Company, where all the necessary information was collected and a specifically designed survey was applied for this purpose

Identifying Imaging Predictors of Intermediate Age-Related Macular Degeneration Progression

Flores, R., Fradinho, A. C., Pereira, R. S., Mendes, J. M., Seabra, M. C., Tenreiro, S., & Carneiro, Â. (2023). Identifying Imaging Predictors of Intermediate Age-Related Macular Degeneration Progression. Translational Vision Science & Technology, 12(7), 1-13. [22]. https://doi.org/10.1167/tvst.12.7.22 --- Supported by iNOVA4Health – UIDB/04462/2020 and UIDP/04462/2020, and by the Associated Laboratory LS4FUTURE (LA/P/0087/2020), two programs financially supported by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT)/Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Ensino Superior. ACF was recipient of individual PhD fellowship funded by FCT (PD/BD/135503/2018).Purpose: Intermediate age-related macular degeneration (iAMD) is a risk factor for progression to advanced stages, but rates of progression vary between individuals. Predicting individual risk is advantageous for programing timely and effective treatment and for patient stratification into future clinical trials. Methods: We conducted a prospective and noninterventional study following patients with iAMD for 24 months. Optical coherence tomography parameters related with drusen, hyper-reflective foci (HRF), presence of incomplete retinal pigment epithelial and outer retinal atrophy (iRORA) and ellipsoid zone (EZ) status were explored at the baseline. Patients were reclassified at the end of the follow-up period and divided according to their progression. A risk prediction model for progression to late AMD was developed. Results: A total of 135 patients were enrolled in the study and 30.4% developed late disease. A multivariate logistic regression model was created using those optical coherence tomography parameters, further optimized by backward feature elimination. Parameters offering the best fit in prediction progression were presence of iRORA, EZ status, drusen area and presence of HRF. iRORA is the feature that provides a higher probability of developing late AMD (odds ratio, 12.91; P = 0.000), followed by EZ disruption status (odds ratio, 3.54; P = 0.0018). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve calculated for the testing set was 0.77 (95% confidence interval, 0.56–0.98). Conclusions: The combination of iRORA and EZ disruption constitute a high risk of progression to complete RORA within 2 years. Translational Relevance: We propose a practical and useful model to help clinicians in their daily practice in predicting individual progression to advanced AMD.publishersversionpublishe