OBJECTIVETo determine the frequency and significance of concurrent glial (glial-Ab) or neuronal-surface (NS-Ab) antibodies in patients with anti–NMDA receptor (NMDAR) encephalitis.
METHODSPatients ...were identified during initial routine screening of a cohort (C1) of 646 patients consecutively diagnosed with anti-NMDAR encephalitis and another cohort (C2) of 200 patients systematically rescreened. Antibodies were determined with rat brain immunostaining and cell-based assays.
RESULTSConcurrent antibodies were identified in 42 patients (4% from C1 and 7.5% from C2)30 (71%) with glial-Ab and 12 (29%) with NS-Ab. Glial-Ab included myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) (57%), glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) (33%), and aquaporin 4 (AQP4) (10%). NS-Ab included AMPA receptor (AMPAR) (50%), GABAa receptor (GABAaR) (42%), and GABAb receptor (8%). In 39 (95%) of 41 patients, concurrent antibodies were detected in CSF, and in 17 (41%), concurrent antibodies were undetectable in serum. On routine clinical-immunologic studies, the presence of MOG-Ab and AQP4-Ab was suggested by previous episodes of encephalitis or demyelinating disorders (8, 27%), current clinical-radiologic features (e.g., optic neuritis, white matter changes), or standard rat brain immunohistochemistry (e.g., AQP4 reactivity). GFAP-Ab did not associate with distinct clinical-radiologic features. NS-Ab were suggested by MRI findings (e.g., medial temporal lobe changes AMPAR-Ab, or multifocal cortico-subcortical abnormalities GABAaR-Ab), uncommon comorbid conditions (e.g., recent herpesvirus encephalitis), atypical tumors (e.g., breast cancer, neuroblastoma), or rat brain immunostaining. Patients with NS-Ab were less likely to have substantial recovery than those with glial-Ab (5 of 10 50% vs 17 of 19 89%, p = 0.03).
CONCLUSIONSBetween 4% and 7.5% of patients with anti-NMDAR encephalitis have concurrent glial-Ab or NS-Ab. Some of these antibodies (MOG-Ab, AQP4-Ab, NS-Ab) confer additional clinical-radiologic features and may influence prognosis.
Visual inspection has been a common practice to determine the number of plants in orchards, which is a labor-intensive and time-consuming task. Deep learning algorithms have demonstrated great ...potential for counting plants on unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-borne sensor imagery. This paper presents a convolutional neural network (CNN) approach to address the challenge of estimating the number of citrus trees in highly dense orchards from UAV multispectral images. The method estimates a dense map with the confidence that a plant occurs in each pixel. A flight was conducted over an orchard of Valencia-orange trees planted in linear fashion, using a multispectral camera with four bands in green, red, red-edge and near-infrared. The approach was assessed considering the individual bands and their combinations. A total of 37,353 trees were adopted in point feature to evaluate the method. A variation of σ (0.5; 1.0 and 1.5) was used to generate different ground truth confidence maps. Different stages (T) were also used to refine the confidence map predicted. To evaluate the robustness of our method, we compared it with two state-of-the-art object detection CNN methods (Faster R-CNN and RetinaNet). The results show better performance with the combination of green, red and near-infrared bands, achieving a Mean Absolute Error (MAE), Mean Square Error (MSE), R2 and Normalized Root-Mean-Squared Error (NRMSE) of 2.28, 9.82, 0.96 and 0.05, respectively. This band combination, when adopting σ = 1 and a stage (T = 8), resulted in an R2, MAE, Precision, Recall and F1 of 0.97, 2.05, 0.95, 0.96 and 0.95, respectively. Our method outperforms significantly object detection methods for counting and geolocation. It was concluded that our CNN approach developed to estimate the number and geolocation of citrus trees in high-density orchards is satisfactory and is an effective strategy to replace the traditional visual inspection method to determine the number of plants in orchards trees.
Histone deacetylases (HDACs) are a large family of epigenetic metalloenzymes that are involved in gene transcription and regulation, cell proliferation, differentiation, migration, and death, as well ...as angiogenesis. Particularly, disorders of the HDACs expression are linked to the development of many types of cancer and neurodegenerative diseases, making them interesting molecular targets for the design of new efficient drugs and imaging agents that facilitate an early diagnosis of these diseases. Thus, their selective inhibition or degradation are the basis for new therapies. This is supported by the fact that many HDAC inhibitors (HDACis) are currently under clinical research for cancer therapy, and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has already approved some of them. In this review, we will focus on the recent advances and latest discoveries of innovative strategies in the development and applications of compounds that demonstrate inhibitory or degradation activity against HDACs, such as PROteolysis-TArgeting Chimeras (PROTACs), tumor-targeted HDACis (e.g., folate conjugates and nanoparticles), and imaging probes (positron emission tomography (PET) and fluorescent ligands).
O. Berg is a native species to the Cerrado biome with significant nutritional value. However, its volatile organic compounds (VOCs) chemical profile is not reported in the scientific literature. VOCs ...are low molecular weight chemical compounds capable of conferring aroma to fruit, constituting quality markers, and participating in the maintenance and preservation of fruit species. This work studied and determined the best conditions for extraction and analysis of VOCs from the pulp of
O. Berg fruit and identified and characterized its aroma. Headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) was employed using different fiber sorbents: DVB/CAR/PDMS, PDMS/DVB, and PA. Gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (GC-MS) were employed to separate, detect, and identify VOCs. Variables of time and temperature of extraction and sample weight distinctly influenced the extraction of volatiles for each fiber. PDMS/DVB was the most efficient, followed by PA and CAR/PDMS/DVB. Thirty-eight compounds that comprise the aroma were identified among sesquiterpenes (56.4%) and monoterpenes (30.8%), such as
-fenchene, guaiol, globulol,
-muurolene,
-himachalene,
-pinene,
-elemene, and patchoulene.
Biomedical applications of nanotechnology Ramos, Ana P.; Cruz, Marcos A. E.; Tovani, Camila B. ...
Biophysical reviews,
04/2017, Letnik:
9, Številka:
2
Journal Article
Recenzirano
The ability to investigate substances at the molecular level has boosted the search for materials with outstanding properties for use in medicine. The application of these novel materials has ...generated the new research field of nanobiotechnology, which plays a central role in disease diagnosis, drug design and delivery, and implants. In this review, we provide an overview of the use of metallic and metal oxide nanoparticles, carbon-nanotubes, liposomes, and nanopatterned flat surfaces for specific biomedical applications. The chemical and physical properties of the surface of these materials allow their use in diagnosis, biosensing and bioimaging devices, drug delivery systems, and bone substitute implants. The toxicology of these particles is also discussed in the light of a new field referred to as nanotoxicology that studies the surface effects emerging from nanostructured materials.
Lockdown during COVID-19 forced the emergence of a new scenario, with men and women teleworkers spending all their time at home. The purpose of this study is to address whether this situation has ...triggered a transformation in gender roles and self-reported well-being, comparing the responses of male and female respondents to the EUROFOUND April to July 2020 survey. The analysis addresses cultural differences across European regions related to diverse gender regimes, employment status, and the possibility of teleworking. It explores male and female well-being through life satisfaction, the distance between happiness and life satisfaction, and rates their feelings about work–life balance. Findings on life satisfaction display a low transformation of social roles, with women still worrying about work–life balance, while men were more affected by the health crisis. Men self-report high life satisfaction across Europe compared to women, although unexpectedly, female freelancers in Northern and Southern European had a higher life satisfaction ratio than men. Both men and women teleworkers reported difficulties with managing work–life balance at home, despite women handling core care and household tasks. These findings suggest that women would have received more support from men, as they worked harder and longer hours during the lockdown, despite their weak position in the labor market. This would seem to be a propitious setting for men to have assumed more responsibility at home, resulting in a more equal distribution of roles at home.
Patients with acromegaly frequently develop cardiovascular comorbidities, which significantly affect their morbidity and contribute to an increased all-cause mortality. In this regard, the most ...frequent complications that these patients may encounter include hypertension, cardiomyopathy, heart valve disease, arrhythmias, atherosclerosis, and coronary artery disease. The specific underlying mechanisms involved in the pathophysiology of these comorbidities are not always fully understood, but uncontrolled GH/IGF-I excess, age, prolonged disease duration, and coexistence of other cardio-vascular risk factors have been identified as significant influencing predisposing factors. It is important that clinicians bear in mind the potential development of cardiovascular comorbidities in acromegalic patients, in order to promptly tackle them, and avoid the progression of cardiac abnormalities. In many cases, this approach may be performed using straightforward screening tools, which will guide us for further diagnosis and management of cardiovascular complications. This article focuses on those cardiovascular comorbidities that are most frequently encountered in acromegalic patients, describes their pathophysiology, and suggests some recommendations for an early and optimal diagnosis, management and treatment.
Communication technologies have become essential for connecting people from different countries searching for employment and challenging careers. Highly skilled migrants keep in touch with family ...members through communication technologies, which have engendered intimacy based on long distance relationships. This work explores the use of communication technologies among the highly skilled, focusing both on professional and personal relationships, with an emphasis on the gender perspective. Throughout their discourses, technology appears as a fundamental tool for managing professional careers from a distance. Findings reveal both persisting patterns of traditional relationships managed by technology and the emergence of new habits and codes for enhancing personal connections. A gender approach illuminates few differences in the professional environment, in which information and communication technologies appear as neutral tools. However, in the personal sphere, although traditional family roles are being reshaped through technology, they are also partially reinforced.
Abstract Preterm birth is commonly defined as any birth before 37 weeks completed weeks of gestation. An estimated 15 million infants are born preterm globally, disproportionately affecting low and ...middle income countries (LMIC). It contributes directly to estimated one million neonatal deaths annually and is a significant contributor to childhood morbidity. However, in many clinical settings, the information available to calculate completed weeks of gestation varies widely. Accurate dating of the last menstrual period (LMP), as well as access to clinical and ultrasonographic evaluation are important components of gestational age assessment antenatally. This case definition assign levels of confidence to categorisation of births as preterm, utilising assessment modalities which may be available across different settings. These are designed to enable systematic safety evaluation of vaccine clinical trials and post-implementation programmes of immunisations in pregnancy.
Social bees are important insect pollinators of wildflowers and agricultural crops, making their reported declines a global concern. A major factor implicated in these declines is the widespread use ...of neonicotinoid pesticides. Indeed, recent research has demonstrated that exposure to low doses of these neurotoxic pesticides impairs bee behaviours important for colony function and survival. However, our understanding of the molecular‐genetic pathways that lead to such effects is limited, as is our knowledge of how effects may differ between colony members. To understand what genes and pathways are affected by exposure of bumblebee workers and queens to neonicotinoid pesticides, we implemented a transcriptome‐wide gene expression study. We chronically exposed Bombus terrestriscolonies to either clothianidin or imidacloprid at field‐realistic concentrations while controlling for factors including colony social environment and worker age. We reveal that genes involved in important biological processes including mitochondrial function are differentially expressed in response to neonicotinoid exposure. Additionally, clothianidin exposure had stronger effects on gene expression amplitude and alternative splicing than imidacloprid. Finally, exposure affected workers more strongly than queens. Our work demonstrates how RNA‐Seq transcriptome profiling can provide detailed novel insight on the mechanisms mediating pesticide toxicity to a key insect pollinator.
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