Browsing by Issue Date, starting with "2019-11"
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- Atuação na crise de asma moderada a grave na criançaPublication . Serra, Catarina MartinsSegundo a última atualização do GINA (Global Initiative for Asthma), a asma é uma doença heterogénea caracterizada por inflamação crónica e hiperreactividade das vias aéreas a uma variedade de estímulos como o exercício físico, exposição a alergénios ou irritantes, mudanças climáticas ou infeções respiratórias (virais). É definida pela história de sintomas respiratórios como pieira, dispneia, sensação de aperto torácico e tosse, que varia no tempo e de intensidade, juntamente com uma limitação variável do fluxo aéreo expiratório. Os sintomas e a limitação do fluxo aéreo podem resolver espontaneamente ou com o tratamento, e também podem estar ausentes por semanas ou meses. No entanto, doentes asmáticos podem apresentar exacerbações da sua doença que podem ameaçar a vida.
- The seagoing scientist's toolbox: integrated methods for quality control of marine geophysical data at seaPublication . Hamilton, Michael; Wessel, Paul; Luis, Joaquim; Taylor, Brian; Ko, YoungtakWe announce a new and integrated system for planning and executing marine geophysical surveys and for scrutinizing and visualizing incoming shipboard data. The system incorporates free software designed for use by scientists and shipboard operators and pertains to underway geophysics and multibeam sonar surveys. Regarding underway data, a crucial first step in the approach is to reduce and merge incoming center beam depth, gravity, and towed magnetic data with navigation, then reformat to the standard exchange format. We are then able to apply established quality control methods including along-track and cross-track analyses to identify error sources and to incrementally build the candidate archive file as new data are acquired. Regarding multibeam data, these are subjected to both an automated error removal scheme for quick visualization and to subsequent ping editing in detail. The candidate archive file and sonar data are automatically and periodically updated and adapted for display in Google Earth, wherein survey planning is also carried out. Data layers are also updated automatically in Google Earth, allowing scientists to focus on visual inspection and interpretation of incoming data. By visualizing underway and sonar data together with reference gravity, magnetic, and bathymetry grids in Google Earth, data familiarity is enhanced and the likelihood of noticing extreme errors increased. We hope scientists will embrace these techniques so that each data set being submitted to a data repository is vetted by the seagoing science party.
- Tanaidaceans (Crustacea: Peracarida: Apseudidae) from southern Portugal with description of the new species Apseudopsis formosus, report of five first records and a biogeographic overview: unexpected expansion or understudied hotspot?Publication . Carvalho, Andre N.; Pereira, Fabio; Piló, David; Gaspar, Miguel; Esquete, PatriciaThis study describes Apseudopsis formosus sp. nov., a new apseudomorph tanaidacean species from the Ria Formosa lagoon (southern Portugal). Species description was based on 223 individuals (22 juveniles, 60 males and 141 females), comprising diverse developmental stages (juveniles II, males I and II, preparatory, copulatory and intermediate females). The total length of the studied population ranged from 2.2 to 3.0 mm in juveniles, 2.5 to 4.8 mm in males and 2.9 to 4.9 mm in females. Overall, Apseudopsis formosus sp. nov. differs from congeneric tanaidaceans from the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea by the presence of combined different morphological characters such as short pointed rostrum, posterolateral pointed corners on pereonites 2-6, hyposphenium only on pereonite 6, antennular outer flagellum 7- to 10-segmented, inner flagellum 3-segmented and five spines on propodus of pereopod 1, and sexual dimorphism evidenced by a pronounced mid-dorsal triangular wing-shaped protuberance on male merus cheliped, unique in Apseudopsis genus. At each studied developmental stage, some individuals presented abnormalities in spination, having only four spines in one of the propodus of pereopod 1. Additionally, five first records of Apseudopsis from the Algarve coast (A. adami, A. bacescui, A. elisae, A. mediterraneus and A. uncidigitatus) are reported for Portuguese waters. A biogeographic overview of the genus Apseudopsis is presented through the compilation and mapping of all worldwide reported occurrences. Passive dispersion can explain the most recent species distribution, yet not disregarding that the study area is taxonomically understudied. This study contributes to improve the current knowledge on tanaidacean taxonomy and updates the geographical distribution range of the Apseudopsis-complex.
- A small place, by Jamaica Kincaid: envisioning literary tourism in AntiguaPublication . Baleiro, Rita; Quinteiro, SílviaThis work departs from a reading of the novelistic essay A small place (1988), by Jamaica Kincaid, to analyse the representation of the tourism industry and of tourists in Antigua (the author's birthplace). From there, we present Kincaid's text as ?tourist literature? (Hendrix, 2014), also aiming to contribute to the examination of tourism-centred literary texts. Within the context of literature and tourism studies as well as comparative studies, this paper examines Kincaid's literary text in order to consider the promotion of literary tourism in Antigua. This example is then considered in light of recent contributions from literary tourism, space production, community-based tourism, mass tourism as well as responsible and sustainable tourism. Literary heritage as a resource for the tourism industry could bring tourists and locals closer and conspire to break down barriers between the largely dark-skinned hosts and the white tourists in Antigua.
- Restoring brain cholesterol turnover improves autophagy and has therapeutic potential in mouse models of spinocerebellar ataxiaPublication . Nóbrega, Clévio; Mendonca, Liliana; Marcelo, Adriana; Lamaziere, Antonin; Tome, Sandra; Despres, Gaetan; Matos, Carlos A; Mechmet, Fatich; Langui, Dominique; den Dunnen, Wilfred; de Almeida, Luis Pereira; Cartier, Nathalie; Alves, SandroSpinocerebellar ataxias (SCAs) are devastating neurodegenerative disorders for which no curative or preventive therapies are available. Deregulation of brain cholesterol metabolism and impaired brain cholesterol turnover have been associated with several neurodegenerative diseases. SCA3 or Machado-Joseph disease (MJD) is the most prevalent ataxia worldwide. We show that cholesterol 24-hydroxylase (CYP46A1), the key enzyme allowing efflux of brain cholesterol and activating brain cholesterol turnover, is decreased in cerebellar extracts from SCA3 patients and SCA3 mice. We investigated whether reinstating CYP46A1 expression would improve the disease phenotype of SCA3 mouse models. We show that administration of adeno-associated viral vectors encoding CYP46A1 to a lentiviral-based SCA3 mouse model reduces mutant ataxin-3 accumulation, which is a hallmark of SCA3, and preserves neuronal markers. In a transgenic SCA3 model with a severe motor phenotype we confirm that cerebellar delivery of AAVrh10-CYP46A1 is strongly neuroprotective in adult mice with established pathology. CYP46A1 significantly decreases ataxin-3 protein aggregation, alleviates motor impairments and improves SCA3-associated neuropathology. In particular, improvement in Purkinje cell number and reduction of cerebellar atrophy are observed in AAVrh10-CYP46A1-treated mice. Conversely, we show that knocking-down CYP46A1 in normal mouse brain impairs cholesterol metabolism, induces motor deficits and produces strong neurodegeneration with impairment of the endosomal-lysosomal pathway, a phenotype closely resembling that of SCA3. Remarkably, we demonstrate for the first time both in vitro, in a SCA3 cellular model, and in vivo, in mouse brain, that CYP46A1 activates autophagy, which is impaired in SCA3, leading to decreased mutant ataxin-3 deposition. More broadly, we show that the beneficial effect of CYP46A1 is also observed with mutant ataxin-2 aggregates. Altogether, our results confirm a pivotal role for CYP46A1 and brain cholesterol metabolism in neuronal function, pointing to a key contribution of the neuronal cholesterol pathway in mechanisms mediating clearance of aggregate-prone proteins. This study identifies CYP46A1 as a relevant therapeutic target not only for SCA3 but also for other SCAs.
- Generalized Navier-Stokes equations with nonlinear anisotropic viscosityPublication . de Oliveira, H. B.The purpose of this work is to study the generalized Navier-Stokes equations with nonlinear viscosity that, in addition, can be fully anisotropic. Existence of very weak solutions is proved for the associated initial and boundary-value problem, supplemented with no-slip boundary conditions. We show that our existence result is optimal in some directions provided there is some compensation in the remaining directions. A particular simplification of the problem studied here, reduces to the Navier-Stokes equations with (linear) anisotropic viscosity used to model either the turbulence or the Ekman layer in atmospheric and oceanic fluid flows.
- Fleur de sel composition and production: analysis and numerical simulation in an artisanal salternPublication . Sainz, Noa; Boski, T.; DMR, SampathThis study is a first approach to modelling of fleur de sel production, aimed at increasing its efficiency and contributing to the scarce literature on the topic. Quantitative forecasting of daily production of fleur de sel was applied to an artisanal solar pond unit in the environmentally protected area of Castro Marim, SE Portugal. The numerical model was based on simulations of the evaporation process, taking into account the effect of reduced vapour pressure of the brine solution. The controlling variables chosen as input parameters to the forecast model were brine temperature, brine concentration, harvesting efficiency, albedo, incoming solar radiation, precipitation, air relative humidity, air temperature, atmospheric pressure, day of the year, wind direction, and wind speed. Production predicted by the model was tested against actual production in two crystallisers in the years 2015 and 2017. The statistically evaluated match between the estimated and actual production was highly significant with a mean R-2 of 0.8 and overall error of estimation was 14.5%. The chemical composition of nine samples of fleur de sel was analysed, showing the temporal evolution of several components during the harvesting period. A decrease of NaCl content from 96% to 87% and an increase by one order of magnitude of Mg, S, K, Br, and As were observed. The range of Ca, Si, Al, and Sr contents was 0.12-0.65%, 0.1-0.85%, 0.08- 0.3%, and 0.009-0.013%, respectively. Ba, Fe, Mn, Mo, Pb, and Sn contents had the following ranges: 0.051-0.145, 1.2-5.5, 0.44-1.66, 0.03-0.05, <0.05-0.55, and <0.05-0.1 mg/kg, respectively. The following elements were below the detection limit and below the limits of the Codex Alimentarius: Cd, Th, U, Cu, Cr, Co, Ni, V, Bi, Zn, Rb, and Hg.
- Resistin as a predictor of cardiovascular hospital admissions and renal deterioration in diabetic patients with chronic kidney diseasePublication . Bonito, Bruno; Silva, Ana Paula; Rato, Fátima; Santos, Nélio; Neves, Pedro LeãoBackground: High resistin levels have been associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD). Cardiovascular hospitalizations are common, especially in diabetic and renal impaired patients. The purpose of this study is to determine the role of serum resistin as a predictor of cardiovascular hospitalizations in type 2 diabetic patients with mild to moderate chronic kidney disease (CKD). Methods: We conducted a prospective, observational study. 78 diabetic patients with mild to moderate CKD and no previous CVD were included. The population was divided in two groups: G-1 with cardiovascular related admission (n = 13) and G-2 without cardiovascular related admission (n = 65). A Student's t-test was conducted to determine correlations between laboratory findings and hospitalization. We used logistic regression to assess predictors of cardiovascular events requiring hospitalization and Cox regression to identify predictors of end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Results: eGFR, albumin, HbA1c, phosphorous, PTH, IR, CRP, resistin and active vitamin D, were related to cardiovascular admissions. In a multivariate regression model, resistin (OR = 2.074, p = 0.047) was an independent predictor of cardiovascular hospitalization. Cox regression showed that resistin (HR = 1.931, p = 0.031) and UACr (HR = 1.151, p = 0.048) were also independent predictors of renal disease progression. Conclusion: Resistin demonstrated to be valuable in predicting hospital admissions and progression to ESRD. (C) 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
- DPOC agudizada: breve revisão da abordagem pré-hospitalarPublication . Coelho, Margarida VianaAgudização da doença pulmonar obstrutiva crónica (DPOC) é definida formalmente como um evento agudo, com rápido agravamento dos sintomas respiratórios (dispneia, tosse e/ou expetoração), superior à variabilidade diária, suficiente para implicar alteração na terapêutica de base e geralmente acompanhado por uma degradação da função respiratória (1,2). Fatores como a gravidade da doença, número de internamentos e co-morbilidades, conferem maior risco de agudização (2-5). A abordagem pré-hospitalar é frequentemente dificultada pelo desconhecimento do diagnóstico, por parte do próprio doente (continuando a ser uma doença frequentemente subdiagnosticada), bem como pelo vasto número de diagnósticos diferenciais e possíveis causas de agudização
- Improving the fitness of Holothuria arguinensis larvae through different microalgae dietsPublication . Dominguez-Godino, Jorge A.; Gonzalez-Wanguemert, MercedesDevelopment and design of adequate feeding protocols on sea cucumber larvae are necessary for improvements on larvae growth, survival and production of competent juveniles. This work assessed the Holothuria arguinensis larvae growth and survival, fed with three different single microalgae diets of Chaetoceros calcitrans, Isochrysis galbana and Tetraselmis chui, and two microalgae diets based on a combination of C. calcitrans and T. chuii (C:T 1:1) and C. calcitrans, T. chuii and I. galbana (C:T:I 1:1:1) during 2 months. Holothuria arguinensis larvae fed with T:C:I, showed higher survival and larger larval and stomach sizes than the ones fed with the other diets. Comparing the results obtained from the single diets, H. arguinensis larvae fed with I. galbana grew and survived better during the first 5 days. However, higher growth was obtained on the larvae fed with C. calcitrans from day 5 to day 12 since this day, larvae fed with T. chuii showed the largest size. These results could be related to the different microalgae size and morphology, in addition to the nutritional value of the different microalgae used. However, no competent larvae that metamorphosed into doliolaria were obtained during this experiment. The tanks used were transparent, which could be causing light stress to the larvae, since competent larvae were obtained in opaque production tanks in our aquaculture installations during the same time period. The combined diet of C. calcitrans, T. chuii and I. galbana (C:T:I) could improve the growth and larvae competency of H. arguinensis.