Efforts to control the spread of invasive alien species (IAS) in coastal dunes are essential to protect biodiversity and maintain the integrity of the ecosystem. However, the timing and extent of ...these control measures often do not consider their potential impact on dune morphodynamics. This study investigated how IAS control measures can affect sand dune mobility. Research involved monitoring short-term morphological and vegetation changes using close-range remote sensing along with historical wind data. Findings revealed that changes in vegetation cover significantly impacted dune system evolution, notably increasing sand mobility when IAS vegetation was removed. Considering the seasonal wind regime, dominated by offshore winds in the summer, removing vegetation during this period can promote seaward sediment transport, potentially resulting in sediment loss to the beach. These findings highlight the importance of understanding sediment mobility patterns when planning vegetation control actions within dune restoration strategies.
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The Campo and Km 119 rivers are sources of irrigation and water supply for the city of Campo Mourão, State of Paraná, Southern Brazil. However, these rivers are under the influence of agricultural ...and urban activities, which compromise the quality of their waters. The present study evaluated the waters of these rivers in the vicinity of this municipality in two different hydrological periods of 2018 for physical and chemical parameters and potential cytotoxic, genotoxic, and toxic effects. Among the eight sites, in the dry and rainy periods, P1, P2, P3, P4, and P6—sites surrounded by agricultural activities, with nearby residences and with low and/or reduced riparian forest—presented a low concentration of dissolved oxygen and high concentration of nitrite, phosphate, and chlorine. The waters of P1, P2, P3, P4, and P6, in the two samplings, were cytotoxic to the root meristem cells of
Allium cepa
at 24 and 48 h of exposure, and toxic to
Artemia salina
nauplii at 24 h of exposure, with LC
50
< 100 ppm. The results characterize water contamination by pesticides and urban waste from stormwater drains and runoff from the urban area. Therefore, waters of the Campo and Km 119 rivers in the vicinity of the city of Campo Mourão demonstrate the potential to cause adverse effects to man and the aquatic ecosystem. These results represent an alert to the public authorities of Campo Mourão and the State of Paraná regarding the need to inspect the anthropic activities in that city in the vicinity of these rivers, and in the implementation of a management plan for the replacement of riparian forests in places close to urban area, in order to preserve the health of the population and the ecosystems that depend on these water resources.
The Rio do Campo and Rio Km 119 rivers are under constant human pressure. Thus, it is necessary to assess the adverse effects caused by waters of these rivers to living organisms. Phytotoxicity and ...enzymatic modulation of waters from eight sites was evaluated against
Lactuca sativa
L.—five located in Rio do Campo (P1, P2, P3, P4, and P5) and three located in Rio Km 119 (P6, P7, and P8)—strategically making up the surroundings of Campo Mourão. For every site, two samplings were made in 2019, one during the dry season (first sampling) and another during the rainy season (second sampling). Waters from P2 and P8, collected in the dry season reduced the seed germination rate. With the exception of P7 in sampling 1, waters from the other sites, in both seasons considered, significantly inhibited radicle elongation. In the dry season, there was an increase in CAT activity, mainly in roots exposed to waters from P3 and P7. In the rainy season, there was a reduction in the activity of this enzyme in roots, caused by waters from P1, P2, P4, P6, and P7. Except for P3 in the first sampling, roots exposed to waters from the eight sites, in samplings 1 and 2, had inhibition in SOD activity. Therefore, waters from the eight sites caused significant phytotoxicity and oxidative stress to
L. sativa
. These results complement and corroborate studies to assess the toxicity of waters of the Rio do Campo and Rio Km 119 rivers present in the literature. The imminent intervention of the public management of Campo Mourão and of the State government is necessary in the urban and agricultural human activities carried out in these springs, given the significant degradation and putting the survival of different species at risk.
remains one of the most altered genes in cancer, although its relevance in cancer biology is still unclear. Recent advances in gene editing techniques, particularly CRISPR/Cas9 systems, offer new ...opportunities to evaluate the function of large genes, such as
. Using a dual sgRNA CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing approach, this study aimed to assess the impact of disrupting
in glioblastoma cell biology. Four sgRNAs were designed for the dual targeting of two
exons (1 and 85). The U87 glioblastoma (GB) cell line was transfected with CRISPR/Cas9 PX459 vectors. To assess
-gene-induced alterations and expression, PCR, Sanger DNA sequencing, and qRT-PCR were carried out. Three clones (clones B9, E6, and H7) were further evaluated. All clones presented altered cellular morphology, increased cellular and nuclear size, and changes in ploidy. Two clones (E6 and H7) showed a significant decrease in cell growth, both in vitro and in the in vivo CAM assay. Proteomic analysis of the clones' secretome identified differentially expressed proteins that had not been previously associated with
alterations. This study demonstrates that the dual sgRNA CRISPR/Cas9 strategy can effectively edit
in GB cells, providing new insights into the impact of
deletions in GBM biology.
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Primary splenic lymphoma (PSL) is a rare disease and an improbable cause of splenomegaly or splenic nodules. On the contrary, splenic secondary involvement as part of an advanced lymphoproliferative ...disorder is more common. The authors present the case of a 49-year-old woman with a primary splenic diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (PS-DLBCL), in which the absence of other organs' involvement determined an ultrasound-guided biopsy of the spleen to achieve a definitive diagnosis. With this case the authors intend to emphasise the extensive differential diagnosis of splenomegaly, splenic nodules or infiltrates, the usefulness of splenic biopsy in establishing the diagnosis and recall a rare disease, with non-specific presenting symptoms, in which the diagnostic workup is challenging.
The differential diagnosis of splenic nodules or infiltrates is vast and challenging, and it includes haematological diseases, systemic infectious diseases but also non-malignant infiltrative diseases.Although some lymphomas frequently present with splenomegaly, this is not the case of DLBCL, with the exception of PS-DLBCL.PS-DLBCL is a very rare pathology, accounting for 1% of all DLBCL and less than 1% of all NHL.
Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) usually presents an excellent prognosis, but some patients present with aggressive metastatic disease. BRAF, RAS, and TERT promoter (TERTp) genes are altered in PTC, ...and their impact on patient outcomes remains controversial. We aimed to determine the role of genetic alterations in PTC patient outcomes (recurrent/persistent disease, structural disease, and disease-specific mortality (DSM)). The series included 241 PTC patients submitted to surgery, between 2002-2015, in a single hospital. DNA was extracted from tissue samples of 287 lesions (primary tumors and metastases). Molecular alterations were detected by Sanger sequencing. Primary tumors presented 143 BRAF, 16 TERTp, and 13 RAS mutations. Isolated TERTp
showed increased risk of structural disease (HR = 7.0,
< 0.001) and DSM (HR = 10.1,
= 0.001). Combined genotypes, BRAF
/TERTp
(HR = 6.8,
= 0.003), BRAF
/TERTp
(HR = 3.2,
= 0.056) and BRAF
/TERTp
(HR = 2.2,
= 0.023) showed increased risk of recurrent/persistent disease. Patients with tumors BRAF
/TERTp
(HR = 24.2,
< 0.001) and BRAF
/TERTp
(HR = 11.5,
= 0.002) showed increased risk of structural disease. DSM was significantly increased in patients with TERTp
regardless of BRAF status (BRAF
/TERTp
, log-rank
< 0.001; BRAF
/TERTp
, log-rank
< 0.001). Our results indicate that molecular markers may have a role in predicting PTC patients' outcome. BRAF
/TERTp
tumors were prone to associate with local aggressiveness (recurrent/persistent disease), whereas TERTp
tumors were predisposed to recurrent structural disease and DSM.
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The presence of TERT promoter (TERTp) mutations in thyroid cancer have been associated with worse prognosis features, whereas the extent and meaning of the expression and activation of TERT in ...thyroid tumours is still largely unknown. We analysed frozen samples from a series of benign and malignant thyroid tumours, displaying non-aggressive features and low mutational burden in order to evaluate the presence of TERTp mutations and TERT mRNA expression in these settings. In this series, TERTp mutations were found in 2%, only in malignant cases, in larger cancers, and from older patients. TERT mRNA expression was detected in both benign and malignant tumours, with increased frequencies in the malignant tumours with aggressive histotypes, larger tumours, and from older patients. In benign tumours, TERT mRNA expression was found in 17% of the follicular thyroid adenoma (FTA) with increased levels of expression in smaller tumours and associated with the presence of thyroiditis. TERTp mutations and TERT mRNA expression are correlated with worse prognosis features in malignant thyroid tumours, whereas TERT mRNA expression in the benign tumours is associated with the presence of thyroiditis.
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(ACE2),
(TMPRSS2), and Furin were known to be key players in the SARS-CoV-2 infection, and the thyroid gland was revealed to be one of the relevant targets of the virus. Regardless of the viral ...infection, the expression of these molecules in the thyroid gland and their putative role in the neoplastic transformation of the thyrocytes has not been thoroughly explored. In this work, we aimed to characterize the mRNA and protein expression pattern of ACE2, TMPRSS2, and Furin in a series of patients with thyroid lesions. Our main results revealed a significantly decreased expression of
mRNA in the thyroid neoplasms in comparison to normal adjacent tissue.
mRNA was significantly increased in thyroid neoplasms when compared to normal adjacent tissue. In addition, a higher
mRNA level in thyroid carcinomas was associated with the presence of lymph node metastasis.
mRNA expression revealed a high discriminatory power between adjacent tissue and neoplasms. Protein expression of these molecules did not correlate with mRNA expression. Our study shows the mRNA downregulation of
and overexpression of
in thyroid neoplasms. Further studies are required to clarify if
expression can be a potential diagnostic indicator in thyroid neoplasia.
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AbstractOffice processes are repetitive, common to multiple projects, involve multiple specialists, and are necessary to support the work of trades. Not much attention has been given to the ...management of office-related processes in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) literature despite their importance in supporting core activities in this industry. Anecdotal evidence provided by industry practitioners and research carried out by the authors suggest that these processes lack transparency (e.g., actual durations are unknown, indicators are not used to manage the process) and suffer from low reliability, that is, planned times do not reflect the reality and are often underestimated. Aiming to address this gap in the literature, this paper presents a two-phase study carried out to investigate the submittal process in a construction company using lean construction concepts and tools. The study revealed that durations used to manage the submittal process are unreliable and often do not match what is indicated in schedules and contractual requirements. Actual lead times to process a submittal are variable and root causes for their variability are not properly understood; consequently, unreliable durations continue to be used to prepare schedules. The authors suggest that by using the method and variables presented in this paper for the submittal process, companies can take the first step in mapping this and other administrative processes in order to visualize the chain of tasks necessary to process information in their offices. This method provided transparency to the process managed and allowed the management team to identify areas that needed improvement in the process.
Osteopontin (OPN) spliced variants (OPN-SV: OPNa, OPNb, and OPNc) are aberrantly expressed in tumors and frequently associated with cancer progression. This holds true for papillary thyroid carcinoma ...(PTC), which is the most common type of thyroid cancer (TC). PTC often presents with desmoplasia and dystrophic calcification, including psammoma bodies (PB). This work aimed to investigate total OPN (tOPN) and OPN-SV expression and their association with the presence of PB in the PTC classical variants (cPTC), as well as the involvement of OPN-SV in matrix calcification of TC cell lines. We found that cPTC samples presenting PB showed higher OPN expression levels. In TC cell lines, OPNa overexpression promotes higher matrix calcification and collagen synthesis when compared to that of clones overexpressing OPNb or OPNc. In response to OPN knockdown, calcification was inhibited, paralleled with the downregulation of calcification markers. In conclusion, our data evidenced that OPN expression is associated with the presence of PB in cPTC samples. Among the OPN-SV, OPNa is the main contributor to matrix calcification in tested TC cells, providing clues to a better understanding on the biology and ethiopathogenesis of the calcification process in TC cells.
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