Rheumatic heart disease: 15 years of clinical and immunological follow-up

Roney O Sampaio, Kellen C Fae, Lea MF Demarchi, Pablo MA Pomerantzeff, Vera D Aiello, Guilherme S Spina, Ana C Tanaka, Sandra E Oshiro, Max Grinberg, Jorge Kalil, Luiza GuilhermeHeart Institute (InCor), University of São Paulo, BrazilAbstract: Rheumatic fever (RF) is a sequel of group A streptococcal throat infection and occurs in untreated susceptible children. Rheumatic heart disease (RHD), the major sequel of RF, occurs in 30%–45% of RF patients. RF is still considered endemic in some regions of Brazil and is responsible for approximately 90% of early childhood valvular surgery in the country. In this study, we present a 15-year clinical follow-up of 25 children who underwent surgical valvular repair. Histopathological and immunological features of heart tissue lesions of RHD patients were also evaluated. The patients presented severe forms of RHD with congestive symptoms at a very young age. Many of them had surgery at the acute phase of RF. Histological analysis showed the presence of dense valvular inflammatory infiltrates and Aschoff nodules in the myocardium of 21% of acute RHD patients. Infiltrating T-cells were mainly CD4+ in heart tissue biopsies of patients with rheumatic activity. In addition, CD4+ and CD8+ infiltrating T-cell clones recognized streptococcal M peptides and cardiac tissue proteins. These findings may open the possibilities of new ways of immunotherapy. In addition, we demonstrated that the surgical procedure during acute phase of the disease improved the quality of life of young RHD patients.Keywords: rheumatic heart disease, Streptococcus pyogenes, heart failure, inflammatory infiltrate, T lymphocytes, molecular mimicr

Minimizar o aumento de temperatura em soluções POE (POWER OVER ETHERNET)

Dossier TelecomunicaçõesA tecnologia PoE (Power Over Ethernet) permite a transmissão de energia elétrica e de dados, em simultâneo, através do cabo de pares de cobre, eliminando a necessidade de infraestrutura elétrica, minimizando os custos de instalação. O conceito de Power Over Ethernet está forçosamente relacionado com Alexander Bell e a telefonia analógica, uma vez que o telefone é definido como um aparelho eletroacústico que permite a transformação de energia acústica em energia elétrica no emissor, e a transformação dessa energia elétrica em acústica no recetor; assim, é possível a troca de informação, falada e ouvida, entre dois ou mais assinantes. O sinal elétrico era comutado por uma central telefónica analógica que gerava uma corrente de chamada para uma linha analógica, linha essa que utilizava o cabo de cobre como meio de transmissão.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (4th edition)

In 2008, we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, this topic has received increasing attention, and many scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Thus, it is important to formulate on a regular basis updated guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Despite numerous reviews, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to evaluate autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. Here, we present a set of guidelines for investigators to select and interpret methods to examine autophagy and related processes, and for reviewers to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of reports that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a dogmatic set of rules, because the appropriateness of any assay largely depends on the question being asked and the system being used. Moreover, no individual assay is perfect for every situation, calling for the use of multiple techniques to properly monitor autophagy in each experimental setting. Finally, several core components of the autophagy machinery have been implicated in distinct autophagic processes (canonical and noncanonical autophagy), implying that genetic approaches to block autophagy should rely on targeting two or more autophagy-related genes that ideally participate in distinct steps of the pathway. Along similar lines, because multiple proteins involved in autophagy also regulate other cellular pathways including apoptosis, not all of them can be used as a specific marker for bona fide autophagic responses. Here, we critically discuss current methods of assessing autophagy and the information they can, or cannot, provide. Our ultimate goal is to encourage intellectual and technical innovation in the field