61 research outputs found
Dermal denticles and morphometrics of the sailfin roughshark Oxynotus paradoxus (Elasmobranchii, Oxynotidae), with comments on its geographic distribution
The dermal denticles of the sailfin roughshark Oxynotus paradoxus are described and illustrated with SEM pictures, based on two specimens captured at the Azores. The flank denticles are similar to those of O. centrina, with a central cusp flanked by two smaller lateral cusps, rising from the lateral ridges, and a secondary median cusp posterior to the main one. Differences in squamation between both species are described. Body proportions of the Azorean specimens are given and found to be consistent with those reported by previous authors. The published information shows depth of capture to have a mode at 570 m. A bathybenthic habitat has been suggested, with spring reproductive migrations to the continental shelf. The presence of this species in the Azores and Mid-Atlantic Ridge represents a significant westward extension of its previously known geographic distribution, the continental shelf and upper slope of the north and eastern Atlantic. It is possible that O. paradoxus is continuously distributed along the north-eastern Atlantic floor, deeper than presently known. Alternatively, separate slope and ridge populations may exist
Contributo para o conhecimento da biodiversidade marinha da ilha das Flores
XIII Expedição Científica do Departamento de Biologia - Flores e Corvo 2007.No âmbito da XIII Expedição Científica Flores e Corvo/2007, organizada pelo
Departamento de Biologia da Universidade dos Açores, efectuaram-se várias observações
e recolhas de organismos marinhos, utilizando 3 metodologias: mergulho (bentos), arrasto (plâncton) e prospecção no intertidal
Isolated ventricular noncompaction: a case report
Isolated ventricular noncompaction is an extremely rare cardiomyopathy, not fully clarified
SARS-CoV-2 introductions and early dynamics of the epidemic in Portugal
Genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in Portugal was rapidly implemented by
the National Institute of Health in the early stages of the COVID-19 epidemic, in collaboration
with more than 50 laboratories distributed nationwide.
Methods By applying recent phylodynamic models that allow integration of individual-based
travel history, we reconstructed and characterized the spatio-temporal dynamics of SARSCoV-2 introductions and early dissemination in Portugal.
Results We detected at least 277 independent SARS-CoV-2 introductions, mostly from
European countries (namely the United Kingdom, Spain, France, Italy, and Switzerland),
which were consistent with the countries with the highest connectivity with Portugal.
Although most introductions were estimated to have occurred during early March 2020, it is
likely that SARS-CoV-2 was silently circulating in Portugal throughout February, before the
first cases were confirmed.
Conclusions Here we conclude that the earlier implementation of measures could have
minimized the number of introductions and subsequent virus expansion in Portugal. This
study lays the foundation for genomic epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 in Portugal, and highlights the need for systematic and geographically-representative genomic surveillance.We gratefully acknowledge to Sara Hill and Nuno Faria (University of Oxford) and
Joshua Quick and Nick Loman (University of Birmingham) for kindly providing us with
the initial sets of Artic Network primers for NGS; Rafael Mamede (MRamirez team,
IMM, Lisbon) for developing and sharing a bioinformatics script for sequence curation
(https://github.com/rfm-targa/BioinfUtils); Philippe Lemey (KU Leuven) for providing
guidance on the implementation of the phylodynamic models; Joshua L. Cherry
(National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, National
Institutes of Health) for providing guidance with the subsampling strategies; and all
authors, originating and submitting laboratories who have contributed genome data on
GISAID (https://www.gisaid.org/) on which part of this research is based. The opinions
expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not reflect the view of the
National Institutes of Health, the Department of Health and Human Services, or the
United States government. This study is co-funded by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia
and Agência de Investigação Clínica e Inovação Biomédica (234_596874175) on
behalf of the Research 4 COVID-19 call. Some infrastructural resources used in this study
come from the GenomePT project (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-022184), supported by
COMPETE 2020 - Operational Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalisation
(POCI), Lisboa Portugal Regional Operational Programme (Lisboa2020), Algarve Portugal
Regional Operational Programme (CRESC Algarve2020), under the PORTUGAL
2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund
(ERDF), and by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
uma nova ferramenta de vigilância transnacional da tuberculose no espaço lusófono
A Tuberculose (TB) permanece um grave problema de saúde pública na Comunidade dos Países de Língua Portuguesa (CPLP). Apesar da ampla variância da incidência da TB nos seus estados-membro e de um fluxo migratório contínuo entre os países que integram este grupo, existe uma enorme lacuna no que diz respeito ao conhecimento da estrutura populacional conjunta do Mycobacterium tuberculosis e circulação de estirpes entre estes países. Para fazer face a esta necessidade, foi agregado e analisado o maior conjunto de dados respeitante à diversidade genotípica e resistência fenotípica na CPLP que compreende um total de 1447 isolados clínicos, incluindo 423 isolados multirresistentes de cinco países da CPLP. Por forma a tornar estes dados disponíveis para a comunidade científica e autoridades de saúde pública, foi desenvolvida a CPLP-TB (disponível em http://cplp-tb.ff.ulisboa.pt), uma base de dados disponível online e provida de aplicativos para análise exploratória do conteúdo. Como ferramenta de saúde pública, espera-se que venha a contribuir para um conhecimento mais aprofundado da estrutura populacional do M. tuberculosis e circulação de estirpes na CPLP de forma a apoiar a avaliação de risco e tendências específicas para diversos clones. Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major health problem within the Community of Portuguese Language Speaking Countries (CPLP). Despite the marked variation in TB incidence across its member-states and continued human migratory flux between countries, a considerable gap in the knowledge on the Mycobacterium tuberculosis population structure and strain circulation between the countries still exists. To address this, we have assembled and analyzed the largest CPLP M . tuberculosis molecular and drug susceptibility dataset, comprised by a total of 1447 clinical isolates, including 423 multidrug-resistant isolates, from five CPLP countries. To make this data available to the scientific community and public health authorities we developed CPLP-TB (available at http://cplp-tb.ff.ulisboa.pt), an online database coupled with web-based tools for exploratory data analysis. As a public health tool, it is expected to contribute to improved knowledge on the M. tuberculosis population structure and strain circulation within the CPLP, thus supporting the risk assessment of strain-specific trends.publishersversionpublishe
Impact of Smoking Status on Mortality in STEMI Patients Undergoing Mechanical Reperfusion for STEMI : Insights from the ISACS–STEMI COVID-19 Registry
The so-called “smoking paradox”, conditioning lower mortality in smokers among STEMI
patients, has seldom been addressed in the settings of modern primary PCI protocols. The ISACS–
STEMI COVID-19 is a large-scale retrospective multicenter registry addressing in-hospital mortality,
reperfusion, and 30-day mortality among primary PCI patients in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Among the 16,083 STEMI patients, 6819 (42.3%) patients were active smokers, 2099 (13.1%) previous smokers, and 7165 (44.6%) non-smokers. Despite the impaired preprocedural recanalization
(p < 0.001), active smokers had a significantly better postprocedural TIMI flow compared with nonsmokers (p < 0.001); this was confirmed after adjustment for all baseline and procedural confounders,
and the propensity score. Active smokers had a significantly lower in-hospital (p < 0.001) and 30-day
(p < 0.001) mortality compared with non-smokers and previous smokers; this was confirmed after
adjustment for all baseline and procedural confounders, and the propensity score. In conclusion, in
our population, active smoking was significantly associated with improved epicardial recanalization
and lower in-hospital and 30-day mortality compared with previous and non-smoking histor
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