Blood irradiation is an essential practice to prevent transfusion-associated graft versus host disease (TA-GVHD), a rare and fatal syndrome. In this procedure, the T lymphocytes are inactivated; ...otherwise, after transfused to immunodepressed patients, they can trigger the TA-GVHD in the blood receptor. The irradiation procedure can be performed either by a specific irradiator or by devices used for the treatment of cancer patients, such as the linear accelerator. This study aimed to deliver a total dose of 25 Gy in blood bags at different dose rates using a blood specific irradiator and a linear accelerator in order to monitor the extracellular potassium concentration as a function of the dose rate for 28 days, which is the expiration time of the irradiated bag. Blood was collected from 10 volunteers of the Biobank of Clinics Hospital of Federal University of Parana, Brazil. The volume of each concentrated blood bag was divided into three parts: one for inspection sample and the other two irradiated at different dose rates (135 cGy/min, 456 cGy/min, 545 cGy/min - linear accelerator and 448 cGy/min - Gammacell 1000 with cesium-137). For each dose rate, the extracellular potassium concentration was determined (by ion-specific electrode (ISE) indirect method) immediately after irradiation (day 1) and every seven days (day 7, 14, 21 and 28), resulting in 150 values of K-concentration. The extracellular potassium concentration has increased during the first seven days of the irradiation, then started to point downward, tending to the control value after 28 days, suggesting the action of the cell repair mechanisms. Additionally, a correlation between increased extracellular potassium concentration and increased dose rate was also observed.
The present study intended to characterize the phenotypic and genetic diversity of Brazilian isolates of Chromobacterium violaceum from aquatic environments within the Amazon region. Nineteen ...isolates showed morphological properties of C. violaceum and the majority grew at 44 degrees C. Low temperatures, in contrast, showed to be inhibitory to their growth, as eleven isolates did not grow at 10 degrees C and nine did not produce pigmentation, clearly indicating an inhibition of their metabolism. The largest variation among isolates was observed in the citrate test (Simmons), in which 12 isolates were positive, and in the oxidation/fermentation of sucrose, with six positives isolates. Chloramphenicol, gentamicin and sulfonamides efficiently inhibited bacterial growth. Amplified products of the recA gene were digested with HindII or PstI, which produced three or four restriction fragments patterns, respectively. The combined analysis arranged the isolates into six genospecies. The higher diversity observed in Belém (genotypes C, D, E and F) may be a consequence of intense human occupation, pollution of the aquatic environment or due to the higher diversity of the environments sampled in that region. In conclusion, a high level of genetic and phenotypic diversity was observed, and four new genospecies were described.
Much remains to be known about the mechanisms involved in protective
immunity against malaria and the way it is acquired. This is probably
the reason why, in spite of so much progress, it has not yet ...been
possible to develop an anti-malaria vaccine able to induce parasite
specific antibodies (Ab) and/or T-cells. It has been considered in the
early 80s that the induction of efficient protection against the blood
stage forms of Plasmodium falciparum would not be possible without
simultaneously eliciting an autoimmune (AI) response against
erythrocytes, even at the price of inducing an AI pathology. Despite
the description of the reciprocal relationship, i.e. the protective
effect of malaria on the development of AI diseases - demonstrated
since 1970 - no effort has been made to verify the possible involvement
of the AI response in protection against malaria. With this end in view
- and in the light of the knowledge acquired in autoimmunity and the
existence of the so called "natural" (not associated with pathology)
autoantibodies - we propose to examine the hypothesis that the
participation of the AI response (not necessarily restricted to
autologous erythrocyte antigens) in the immune protection against
malaria is possible or even necessary.
The Southern Photometric Local Universe Survey (S-PLUS) is a novel project that aims to map the Southern Hemisphere using a twelve filter system, comprising five broad-band SDSS-like filters and ...seven narrow-band filters optimized for important stellar features in the local universe.
In this paper we use the photometry and morphological information from the first S-PLUS data release (S-PLUS DR1) cross-matched to unWISE data and spectroscopic redshifts from Sloan Digital Sky Survey DR15. We explore three different machine learning methods (Gaussian Processes with GPz and two Deep Learning models made with TensorFlow) and compare them with the currently used template-fitting method in the S-PLUS DR1 to address whether machine learning methods can take advantage of the twelve filter system for photometric redshift prediction. Using tests for accuracy for both single-point estimates such as the calculation of the scatter, bias, and outlier fraction, and probability distribution functions (PDFs) such as the Probability Integral Transform (PIT), the Continuous Ranked Probability Score (CRPS) and the Odds distribution, we conclude that a deep-learning method using a combination of a Bayesian Neural Network and a Mixture Density Network offers the most accurate photometric redshifts for the current test sample. It achieves single-point photometric redshifts with scatter (σNMAD) of 0.023, normalized bias of -0.001, and outlier fraction of 0.64% for galaxies with r_auto magnitudes between 16 and 21.
A coupling distributed solid-state anaerobic digestion model was developed and performed considering a simplified AM2 model and a saturated Mobile-Immobile water Model (MIM). This model allows ...considering both microporosity and macroporosity evolutions as well as the impact on biological kinetics. This model was adapted, implemented and validated on cattle manure in mesophilic conditions and carried out in a solid-state leach-bed reactor. Three 60 L sacrificial leach-bed reactors were used to determine hydrodynamics and kinetic parameters in a calibration-validation approach. A sensitivity analysis was conducted and has shown a high value of hydrolysis kinetics on outputs variables (until 92% for accumulated methane yield and 72% for volatile fatty acids accumulation) which confirmed the necessity to identify accurately the hydrolysis parameter before calibration step. Finally, the solutes present inside each mobile and immobile region evolved in a different way confirming the model relevance.
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•A coupled model considering biokinetics and porosity hydrodynamics was developed.•Calibration step is very sensitive to initialization of kinetic parameters.•Hydrolysis kinetics are significant on methane and volatile fatty acid productions.•The model was implemented on cattle manure in mesophilic conditions.•Solute concentrations have a different behavior between mobile and immobile regions.
To investigate the prognostic value of interim PET (PETi) in adult HL patients, comparing visual with semiquantitative analysis.
Retrospective analysis of Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL) patients diagnosed ...between 2012 and 2016 in the Onco-hematology Department of Instituto Português de Oncologia - Porto (median follow-up: 46.5 months 2.6-66.4). Fifty-eight patients with available PET at diagnosis (PET0) and PETi data were included. PETi scans were analyzed according to Deauville 5-point scale (5-PS), and cut-off values for changes in maximum standardized uptake value SUVmax, peak SUV SUVpeak, metabolic tumour volume MTV and total lesion glycolysis index TLG between PETi and PET0 were computed using ROC analysis. Visual and semiquantitative data were compared with each other in the prediction of patient outcomes.
Semiquantitative analysis obtained a higher sensitivity for persistent/relapsed disease compared to the 5-PS (70% vs. 10%, respectively), but lower specificity. It also demonstrated better predictive performance for response to first-line therapy (negative predictive value >92%). The positive predictive value was similar for all five measurements. At 60 months of follow-up, there was a significant difference between the progression free survival (PFS) curves of patients with positive and negative PETi according to ΔSUVmax (56.9% vs. 88.0%, p<0.05), ΔSUVpeak (55.9% vs. 88.1%, p<0.05), ΔMTV (35.3% vs. 88.7%, p<0.05), and ΔTLG (42.4% vs. 88.1%, p<0.05). Statistical significance was not reached when considering 5-PS results.
PETi interpretation according to a semiquantitative approach appears to discriminate HL patients better than the visual 5-PS analysis. This could allow better detection of persistent or early relapsed disease, while a negative PETi result could support de-escalating therapy intensity.
Neurospheres prepared from multipotent progenitors in the retina obtained from postnatal mice differentiate into neurons and Müller glia (De Melo Reis et al., in Cell Mol Neurobiol 31:835–846, 2011). ...Here, we investigated whether neurospheres prepared from adult chickens (ciliary marginal zone, CMZ) or (ciliary body) retina could also lead to differentiated neurons and glia. Neurospheres were prepared from post-hatched chickens or from adult mice after 7 days in the presence of mitogenic factors (FGFb, insulin, and EGF), generating neurons and glial cells. In addition, Müller (2M6 or glutamine synthetase positive cells) derived from post-hatch chicken CMZ neurospheres displayed the dopaminergic phenotype. Furthermore, we observed that Müller cells derived from adult chickens and mice retina neurospheres released significant amounts of dopamine as well as of its metabolites. Taken together, our data lead us to conclude that as for embryonic (chick) or newborn (mouse), the dopaminergic phenotype is a default condition of Müller glial cells obtained from neurospheres prepared from mature retina. Our data raise the possibility that Müller cells from differentiated tissue could be used to ameliorate neurodegenerative diseases involving dopaminergic dysfunction as in Parkinson’s disease as shown previously (Stutz et al., in J Neurochem 128:829–840, 2014).
The use of fractional operators in control theory is recent and new approaches are emerging more and more. The existing literature shows improvement in control performance when using fractional ...controllers. One of the main reasons for this improvement is due to the greater number of control parameters, inserted by the exponents that represents the fractional-order of the integral or derivative operators. Another interesting feature of fractional calculus is that it is often used to describe phenomena with memory. In this context, this paper proposes a comparison between Sliding Mode Controls of Integer-Order (SMC) and Fractional-Order (FOSMC). Sliding Mode Control is one of the most successful approaches in dealing with uncertainties and one of the most efficient in nonlinear dynamics. The problem chosen for the application of the controllers is a nonlinear bi-stable vibration energy harvesting system, since controlling this system makes the relationship between generated energy and consumed energy (control effort) very important, being an ideal situation to evaluate and compare the performance of the two methods. A novelty in this paper is the use of the Cross Entropy optimization method to obtain the set of optimal parameters (best performance) in the SMC and FOSMC controllers. The result of the optimization tests reinforces the improvement in the use of the fractional operator reducing the control effort by up to 93% when compared to the integer-order controller. The Cross Entropy method was also very effective for controllers with a large number of adjustment parameters.
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