Low-temperature Thermodynamic Study of the Empty Clathrate Hydrates

UID/QUI/50006/2019authorsversionpublishe

Face Pose Estimation using a Tree of Boosted Classifiers

Face detection in images or video sequences is a very challenging problem. It has a wide range of applications but at the same time it presents a great number of difficulties, since faces are non-rigid and very changeable objects that can adopt a lot of different poses and with a high inter and intra-person variation and a high sensitivity to lighting conditions. Along this document, a new approach to the face detection and pose estimation problem is given. This approach is based on the method proposed by Viola and Jones in [1] but considering a wide range of face poses, varying the elevation and the out-of-plane rotation, and building specific classifiers for each one. The proposed method can be easily adapted to consider other poses or to detect other objects. Especially, this approach is interesting when an object that can adopt several positions want to be detected, since the partition of the pose space allows to build classifiers specialised in only one or a few poses, which limits the large variance of the global class, the class containing all the poses. In order to facilitate the reproduction of all the processes done in this document, we have used standard face datasets to train and test the system

Toxidermias em Idade Pediátrica

Cutaneous adverse drug reactions (CADRs) are common during childhood, although there are still some characteristics that need to be studied. CADRs in children may differ from those in adults in terms of clinical presentation, medications involved, prognosis and treatment. Their prompt diagnosis and suspension of the culprit medication is extremely important to reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with these cutaneous reactions. The aim of this study is to review the characteristics that differentiate CADRs in children from those in adults, in order to help their recognition and understand how its investigation can be improved.As toxidermias em idade pediátrica são frequentes, contudo existem características específicas desta faixa etária pouco estudadas. Estas diferem frequentemente das toxidermias do adulto em termos de apresentação clínica, fármacos implicados, prognóstico e tratamento. O seu reconhecimento precoce e suspensão do fármaco causador são de extrema importância para diminuição do risco de morbimortalidade. O objetivo deste trabalho é rever as principais características que diferenciam as toxidermias da criança das do adulto, de forma a facilitar o seu reconhecimento e perceber como a sua investigação pode ser melhorada

Importância da Deformação Longitudinal na Deteção da Cardiotoxicidade Induzida por Quimioterapia e na Identificação de Padrões Específicos de Afetação Segmentar

INTRODUCTION: Serial echocardiographic assessment of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) is the gold standard in screening for chemotherapy-induced cardiotoxicity (CIC). Measurement of myocardial deformation using speckle tracking enables more detailed assessment of myocardial contractility. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between global and regional longitudinal strain and CIC. METHODS: This was a prospective study of 158 breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy with anthracyclines with or without adjuvant trastuzumab who underwent serial monitoring by transthoracic echocardiography with assessment of myocardial deformation. CIC was defined as a decrease in LVEF to <53%. Global longitudinal strain (GLS) was estimated using EchoPAC BT12 software on a GE Vivid E9 cardiac ultrasound system. Patients were classified according to the 2015 ASE/EACVI criteria as having impaired myocardial deformation when GLS was reduced (less negative), with a cutoff of -18%. RESULTS: During a mean follow-up of 5.4 months (1-48 months), the incidence of CIC was 18.9%. A decrease in GLS was observed during follow-up for the entire cohort (baseline GLS -20.1±3.5% vs. -18.7±3.4% at last follow-up assessment, p=0.001). A total of 97 patients (61.4%) were observed to have impaired myocardial deformation (GLS ≥18%) at some point during follow-up. This decrease was more significant in patients who eventually developed CIC (GLS -17.2±2.5%, p=0.02). On analysis of regional strain, impaired contractility was observed in the septal (6 out of 6) and anterior (2 out of 3) segments. Multivariate logistic regression showed that patients who developed impaired longitudinal strain had a 4.9-fold increased risk of developing CIC (odds ratio 4.88, confidence interval 1.32-18.0, p=0.017). CONCLUSIONS: Worsening of myocardial deformation as assessed by speckle tracking is common in breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, with predominantly septal and anterior wall involvement. Impaired myocardial deformation was independently associated with increased incidence of CIC.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Influence of Il-18 genetic polymorphisms in antidepressant treatment phenotypes

Recent studies suggested that immune activation and cytokines might be involved in depression. The proinflammatory cytokine interleukin-18 (IL-18) is less reported in depression but is still relevant since it is expressed in the brain and serum levels of IL-18 have been found to be increased in patients with moderate to severe depression. Therefore, it seems reasonable that IL-18 promoter SNPs may have an effect in antidepressant response phenotypes.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Role of genetic polymorphisms on neuroplasticity pathways in a cohort of Portuguese patients with Major Depressive Disorder

Growing evidence suggests the implication of brain plasticity in antidepressant drug (AD) efficacy. Several authors have been pointing out the role of the BDNF-TrkB signaling pathway, including the downstream kinases Akt and ERK, and the mTOR pathway in neuroplasticity [1-3]. Furthermore, the prediction of AD response phenotypes of depressed patients treated with AD drugs remains a challenge for clinicians. Although previous studies have suggested that genetic variants may play a key role in the mechanism of Treatment Resistance Depression and Relapse, attempts to identify risk polymorphisms within genes with putative interest in AD response, had a limited success.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Circulating miRNAs are associated with the systemic extent of atherosclerosis : novel observations for miR-27b and miR-146

Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).The mechanisms that regulate the systemic extent of atherosclerosis are not fully understood. We investigated whether the expression of circulating miRNAs is associated with the extent of stable atherosclerosis to a single territory or multiple territories (polyvascular) and with the severity of atherosclerosis in each territory. Ninety-four participants were prospectively recruited and divided into five age- and sex-matched groups: presenting no atherosclerosis, isolated coronary atherosclerosis, coronary and lower extremity atherosclerosis, coronary and carotid atherosclerosis, and atherosclerosis of the coronary, lower extremity, and carotid territories. The expression of six circulating miRNAs with distinct biological roles was assessed. The expression of miR-27b and miR-146 differed across groups (p < 0.05), showing a decrease in the presence of atherosclerosis, particularly in the three territories. miR-27b and miR-146 expression decreased in association with a higher severity of coronary, lower extremity, and carotid atherosclerosis. Polyvascular atherosclerosis involving the three territories was independently associated with a decreased miR-27b and miR-146 expression. Both miRNAs presented an area under the curve of ≥0.75 for predicting polyvascular atherosclerosis involving the three territories. To conclude, miR-27b and miR-146 were associated with the presence of severe polyvascular atherosclerosis and with the atherosclerosis severity in each territory. Both are potential biomarkers of severe systemic atherosclerosis.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Association between mir-146a and tumor necrosis factor alpha (Tnf-α) in stable coronary artery disease

Background and Objectives: Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) is proatherogenic and associated with the risk of acute ischemic events, although the mechanisms that regulate TNF-α expression in stable coronary artery disease (SCAD) are not fully understood. We investigated whether metabolic, inflammatory, and epigenetic (microRNA (miRNA)) markers are associated with TNF-α expression in SCAD. Materials and Methods: Patients with SCAD were prospectively recruited and their metabolic and inflammatory profiles were assessed. TNF-α levels were assessed using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The relative expression of six circulating miRNAs associated with the regulation of inflammation and/or atherosclerosis was determined. Results: Of the 24 included patients with the mean age of 65 (9) years, 88% were male, and 54% were diabetic. The TNF-α levels were (median (interquartile range)) 1.0 (0.7–1.1) pg/mL. The percentage of glycosylated hemoglobin (r = 0.418, p = 0.042), serum triglyceride levels (r = 0.429, p = 0.037), and C-reactive protein levels (r = 0.407, p = 0.048) were positively correlated with TNF-α levels. Of the candidate miRNAs, miR-146a expression levels were negatively correlated with TNF-α levels (as indicated by r = 0.500, p = 0.035 for correlation between delta cycle threshold (∆Ct) miR-146a and TNF-α levels). In multivariate analysis, serum triglyceride levels and miR-146a expression levels were independently associated with TNF-α levels. miR-146 expression levels were not associated with metabolic or other inflammatory parameters and were negatively correlated with the number of coronary vessels with obstructive disease (as indicated by r = 0.556, p = 0.017 for correlation between ∆Ct miR-146a and number of diseased vessels). Conclusions: miR-146a expression levels were negatively correlated with TNF-α levels in patients with SCAD, irrespective of other metabolic or inflammatory markers, and with the severity of coronary artery disease. The results add to the knowledge on the role of miR-146a in TNF-α-based inflammation in SCAD and support future research on the potential therapeutic use of miR-146a in such a clinical scenario.publishersversionpublishe