Self-efficacy for coping. Utility of the Cancer behavior inventory (Italian) for use in palliative care

Background: Newer models of palliative and supportive cancer care view the person as an active agent in managing physical and psychosocial challenges. Therefore, personal efficacy is an integral part of this model. Due to the lack of instruments in Italian to assess coping self-efficacy, the present study included the translation and validation of the Italian version of the Cancer Behavior Inventory-Brief (CBI-B/I) and an initial analysis of the utility of self-efficacy for coping in an Italian sample of palliative care patients. Methods: 216 advanced cancer patients who attended palliative care clinics were enrolled. The CBI-B/I was administered along with the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire-Core 30 (EORTC QLQ-C30), the Mini Mental Adjustment to Cancer Scale (Mini-MAC), the Cancer Concerns Checklist (CCL), and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). The Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Status (ECOG-PS) ratings of functional capacity were completed by physicians. Results: Factor analysis confirmed that the structure of the CBI-B/I was consistent with the English version. Internal consistency reliability and significant correlations with the EORTC QLQ-C30, Mini-MAC, and HADS supported the concurrent validity of the CBI-B/I. Differences in CBI-B/I scores for high versus low levels of the CCL and ECOG-PS supported the clinical utility of the CBI-B/I. Conclusions: The CBI-B/I has strong psychometric properties and represents an important addition to newer model of palliative and supportive care. In order to improve clinical practice, the CBI-B/I could be useful in identifying specific self-efficacy goals for coping in structured psychosocial intervention

ASSESSMENT OF SANDBANK DYNAMICS USING HIGH-RESOLUTION IMAGES IN AREAL DO LIMEIRA RIVER, SOUTHERN BRAZIL

The river deposition dynamics is determined by its transport capacity and volume of sediments available in the drainage channel. Such changes in this dynamic can be indicative of an environmental disturbance, and its assessment can assist the territorial planning, management, and ordering. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the dynamics of sandbanks in the Areal do Limeira River, between the years 2009 and 2020, by using high spatial resolution satellite images. The methodology consisted in the use of a series of RapidEye images for the visual vectorization on the image of the sandbanks in the Areal do Limeira River watershed. Subsequently, the data was tabulated, analyzed, and compared with the rainfall volume and land use aspects. There was a higher occurrence of sandbanks between 2009 and 2012, coinciding with the implementation of forestry plantations in the study area, followed by a sharp decline until 2015, and a small increase and stabilization in the following years, when the forestry plantations reached their mature stage. In general, the use of high-resolution images has allowed for the identification of fluvial sandbanks, with adequate precision and quality

AVALIAÇÃO DA DINÂMICA DE BANCOS DE AREIA COM IMAGENS DE ALTA RESOLUÇÃO NO RIO AREAL DO LIMEIRA, SUL DO BRASIL

A dinâmica de deposição dos rios é determinada pela capacidade de transporte e o volume de sedimentos disponíveis no canal de drenagem. Por vezes as mudanças nesta dinâmica pode ser um indicativo de desequilíbrio ambiental, cabendo a sua análise para auxiliar no planejamento e ordenamento territorial. Desta forma, o trabalho tem como objetivo analisar a dinâmica dos bancos de areia no Rio Areal do Limeira entre os anos de 2009 a 2020 com o auxílio de imagens de alta resolução espacial. A metodologia consistiu no uso de uma série de imagens RapidEye, para a vetorização através de interpretação visual sobre a imagem dos bancos de areia na Bacia Hidrográfica do Rio Areal do Limeira. Posteriormente os dados foram tabulados, analisados em função da dinâmica temporal. Houve uma maior ocorrência de bancos de areia entre os anos de 2009 e 2012, coincidindo com a implementação da silvicultura na área de estudo, seguido de uma acentuada queda até o ano de 2015, e uma pequena alta e estabilização nos anos seguintes, quando as plantações de silvicultura estavam em fase mais madura. De modo geral, a utilização de imagens de alta resolução permitiu identificar os depósitos arenosos fluviais, com uma precisão e qualidade adequados

The isopeptidase inhibitor 2cPE triggers proteotoxic stress and ATM activation in chronic lymphocytic leukemia cells

Relapse after treatment is a common and unresolved problem for patients suffering of the B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL). Here we investigated the ability of the isopeptidase inhibitor 2cPE to trigger apoptosis in leukemia cells in comparison with bortezomib, another inhibitor of the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS). Both inhibitors trigger apoptosis in CLL B cells and gene expression profiles studies denoted how a substantial part of genes up-regulated by these compounds are elements of adaptive responses, aimed to sustain cell survival. 2cPE treatment elicits the up-regulation of chaperones, proteasomal subunits and elements of the anti-oxidant response. Selective inhibition of these responses augments apoptosis in response to 2cPE treatment. We have also observed that the product of the ataxia telangiectasia mutated gene (ATM) is activated in 2cPE treated cells. Stimulation of ATM signaling is possibly dependent on the alteration of the redox homeostasis. Importantly ATM inhibition, mutations or down-modulation increase cell death in response to 2cPE. Overall this work suggests that 2cPE could offer new opportunities for the treatment of B-CLL

RELAÇÃO ENTRE A SECA E EROSÃO DO SOLO NA FORMAÇÃO CAMPESTRE DA BACIA HIDROGRÁFICA DO RIO SANTA MARIA (RS)

O papel da precipitação na erosão é amplamente documentado, enquanto a relação entre a erosão e períodos de seca é complexa e pouco pesquisada. A bacia hidrográfica do Rio Santa Maria (BHRSM) é extensivamente estudada no que se refere ao desenvolvimento de feições erosivas lineares (FEL), porém sem associação com os períodos de seca. Dessa forma, o objetivo da pesquisa é avaliar o comportamento do NDVI em porções de formação campestre da BHRSM, para anos chuvosos e secos, e relacionar com as FEL. Os dados utilizados se referem a precipitação, imagens de satélite, MDE, geologia e solos. Para a determinação dos anos chuvosos e secos, foi aplicado o Índice de Anomalia de Chuvas. A BHRSM apresentou mais valores classificados nas categorias de anos secos do que chuvosos. A estação Ponte Toropi II se destacou, pois é a que teve mais anos secos e se localiza justamente onde a BHRSM possui maior concentração de FEL. Os menores valores de NDVI ocorrem no período de inverno e no ano de 1989, mais seco da BHRSM. Observou-se que as FEL da BHRSM se desenvolvem nas porções de formação campestre com menor valor de NDVI. Isso se deve ao fato de que a maior parte da formação campestre da BHRSM está sujeita a degradação, e com os períodos secos intensos ocorre diminuição da cobertura vegetal, prejudicando e retardando o crescimento das plantas. Assim sendo, o solo fica exposto contribuindo para o desenvolvimento de FEL em períodos de eventos extremos de chuva

Growth of Fungal Cells and the Production of Mycotoxins

Some filamentous fungi are able to grow in food and produce toxic metabolites. It occurs mainly in grains, cereals, oilseeds and some by-products. The growth of fungi in a particular food is governed largely by a series of physical and chemical parameters. The production of toxic metabolites is not confined to a single group of molds irrespective of whether they are grouped according to structure, ecology, or phylogenetic relationships. Mycotoxins can be carcinogenic and cause several harmful effects to both human and animal organisms, in addition to generating large economic losses. The major mycotoxins found in food are the aflatoxins, fumonisins, ochratoxins, patulin, zearalenone, and trichothecenes, generally stable at high temperatures and long storage periods. Considering the difficult prevention and control, international organizations for food safety establish safe levels of these toxins in food destined for both human and animal consumption. Good agricultural practices and control of temperature and moisture during storage are factors which contribute significantly to inhibit the production of mycotoxins. The use of some fungistatic products, such as essential oils and antioxidants, as well as physical, mechanical, chemical, or thermal processing, represents important methods to have the concentration of mycotoxins reduced in food

Association of kidney disease measures with risk of renal function worsening in patients with type 1 diabetes

Background: Albuminuria has been classically considered a marker of kidney damage progression in diabetic patients and it is routinely assessed to monitor kidney function. However, the role of a mild GFR reduction on the development of stage 653 CKD has been less explored in type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) patients. Aim of the present study was to evaluate the prognostic role of kidney disease measures, namely albuminuria and reduced GFR, on the development of stage 653 CKD in a large cohort of patients affected by T1DM. Methods: A total of 4284 patients affected by T1DM followed-up at 76 diabetes centers participating to the Italian Association of Clinical Diabetologists (Associazione Medici Diabetologi, AMD) initiative constitutes the study population. Urinary albumin excretion (ACR) and estimated GFR (eGFR) were retrieved and analyzed. The incidence of stage 653 CKD (eGFR < 60 mL/min/1.73 m2) or eGFR reduction > 30% from baseline was evaluated. Results: The mean estimated GFR was 98 \ub1 17 mL/min/1.73m2 and the proportion of patients with albuminuria was 15.3% (n = 654) at baseline. About 8% (n = 337) of patients developed one of the two renal endpoints during the 4-year follow-up period. Age, albuminuria (micro or macro) and baseline eGFR < 90 ml/min/m2 were independent risk factors for stage 653 CKD and renal function worsening. When compared to patients with eGFR > 90 ml/min/1.73m2 and normoalbuminuria, those with albuminuria at baseline had a 1.69 greater risk of reaching stage 3 CKD, while patients with mild eGFR reduction (i.e. eGFR between 90 and 60 mL/min/1.73 m2) show a 3.81 greater risk that rose to 8.24 for those patients with albuminuria and mild eGFR reduction at baseline. Conclusions: Albuminuria and eGFR reduction represent independent risk factors for incident stage 653 CKD in T1DM patients. The simultaneous occurrence of reduced eGFR and albuminuria have a synergistic effect on renal function worsening

Use of pattern recognition and neural networks for non-metric sex diagnosis from lateral shape of calvarium: an innovative model for computer-aided diagnosis in forensic and physical anthropology

Sex determination on skeletal remains is one of the most important diagnosis in forensic cases and in demographic studies on ancient populations. Our purpose is to realize an automatic operator-independent method to determine the sex from the bone shape and to test an intelligent, automatic pattern recognition system in an anthropological domain. Our multiple-classifier system is based exclusively on the morphological variants of a curve that represents the sagittal profile of the calvarium, modeled via artificial neural networks, and yields an accuracy higher than 80 %. The application of this system to other bone profiles is expected to further improve the sensibility of the methodology