Your browser doesn't support javascript.
loading
Show: 20 | 50 | 100
Results 1 - 20 de 718
Filter
1.
Database (Oxford) ; 20242024 Jul 11.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38994795

ABSTRACT

Biomedical relation extraction is an ongoing challenge within the natural language processing community. Its application is important for understanding scientific biomedical literature, with many use cases, such as drug discovery, precision medicine, disease diagnosis, treatment optimization and biomedical knowledge graph construction. Therefore, the development of a tool capable of effectively addressing this task holds the potential to improve knowledge discovery by automating the extraction of relations from research manuscripts. The first track in the BioCreative VIII competition extended the scope of this challenge by introducing the detection of novel relations within the literature. This paper describes that our participation system initially focused on jointly extracting and classifying novel relations between biomedical entities. We then describe our subsequent advancement to an end-to-end model. Specifically, we enhanced our initial system by incorporating it into a cascading pipeline that includes a tagger and linker module. This integration enables the comprehensive extraction of relations and classification of their novelty directly from raw text. Our experiments yielded promising results, and our tagger module managed to attain state-of-the-art named entity recognition performance, with a micro F1-score of 90.24, while our end-to-end system achieved a competitive novelty F1-score of 24.59. The code to run our system is publicly available at https://github.com/ieeta-pt/BioNExt. Database URL: https://github.com/ieeta-pt/BioNExt.


Subject(s)
Natural Language Processing , Data Mining/methods , Humans
3.
Genet Mol Biol ; 47(2): e20230301, 2024.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38985012

ABSTRACT

The sacred ayahuasca brew, utilized by indigenous communities in the Amazon and syncretic religious groups in Brazil, primarily consists of a decoction of two plants: (i) the Amazonian liana known as Mariri or Jagube (Banisteriopsis caapi), and (ii) the shrub referred as Chacrona or Rainha (Psychotria viridis). While Chacrona leaves are rich in N,N-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT), a potent psychedelic, the macerated vine of Mariri provides beta-carboline alkaloids acting as monoamine oxidase inhibitors, preventing DMT's degradation. This study sequenced, assembled, and analyzed the complete genome of B. caapi's mitochondrion, yielding a circular structure spanning 503,502 bp. Although the mtDNA encompasses most plant mitochondrial genes, it lacks some ribosomal genes, presents some atypical genes, and contains plastid pseudogenes, suggesting gene transfer between organelles. The presence of a 7-Kb repetitive segment containing copies of the rrnL and trnfM genes suggests mitogenome isomerization, supporting the hypothesis of dynamic mitogenome maintenance in plants. Phylogenetics and phylogenomics across 24 Malpighiales confirms the sample's placement in the "Tucunacá" ethnovariety, aligning with morphological identification. This study spearheads efforts to decode the genome of this esteemed Malpighiaceae.

4.
Gigascience ; 132024 Jan 02.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38837946

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Theobroma grandiflorum (Malvaceae), known as cupuassu, is a tree indigenous to the Amazon basin, valued for its large fruits and seed pulp, contributing notably to the Amazonian bioeconomy. The seed pulp is utilized in desserts and beverages, and its seed butter is used in cosmetics. Here, we present the sequenced telomere-to-telomere genome of cupuassu, disclosing its genomic structure, evolutionary features, and phylogenetic relationships within the Malvaceae family. FINDINGS: The cupuassu genome spans 423 Mb, encodes 31,381 genes distributed in 10 chromosomes, and exhibits approximately 65% gene synteny with the Theobroma cacao genome, reflecting a conserved evolutionary history, albeit punctuated with unique genomic variations. The main changes are pronounced by bursts of long-terminal repeat retrotransposons at postspecies divergence, retrocopied and singleton genes, and gene families displaying distinctive patterns of expansion and contraction. Furthermore, positively selected genes are evident, particularly among retained and dispersed tandem and proximal duplicated genes associated with general fruit and seed traits and defense mechanisms, supporting the hypothesis of potential episodes of subfunctionalization and neofunctionalization following duplication, as well as impact from distinct domestication process. These genomic variations may underpin the differences observed in fruit and seed morphology, ripening, and disease resistance between cupuassu and the other Malvaceae species. CONCLUSIONS: The cupuassu genome offers a foundational resource for both breeding improvement and conservation biology, yielding insights into the evolution and diversity within the genus Theobroma.


Subject(s)
Evolution, Molecular , Genome, Plant , Phylogeny , Chromosomes, Plant , Genomics/methods , Malvaceae/genetics
5.
Int J Med Inform ; 189: 105507, 2024 Jun 04.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38870885

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of chronic diseases has shifted the burden of disease from incidental acute inpatient admissions to long-term coordinated care across healthcare institutions and the patient's home. Digital healthcare ecosystems emerge to target increasing healthcare costs and invest in standard Application Programming Interfaces (API), such as HL7 Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (HL7 FHIR) for trusted data flows. OBJECTIVES: This scoping review assessed the role and impact of HL7 FHIR and associated Implementation Guides (IGs) in digital healthcare ecosystems focusing on chronic disease management. METHODS: To study trends and developments relevant to HL7 FHIR, a scoping review of the scientific and gray English literature from 2017 to 2023 was used. RESULTS: The selection of 93 of 524 scientific papers reviewed in English indicates that the popularity of HL7 FHIR as a robust technical interface standard for the health sector has been steadily rising since its inception in 2010, reaching a peak in 2021. Digital Health applications use HL7 FHIR in cancer (45 %), cardiovascular disease (CVD) (more than 15 %), and diabetes (almost 15 %). The scoping review revealed that references to HL7 FHIR IGs are limited to âˆ¼ 20 % of articles reviewed. HL7 FHIR R4 was most frequently referenced when the HL7 FHIR version was mentioned. In HL7 FHIR IGs registries and the internet, we found 35 HL7 FHIR IGs addressing chronic disease management, i.e., cancer (40 %), chronic disease management (25 %), and diabetes (20 %). HL7 FHIR IGs frequently complement the information in the article. CONCLUSIONS: HL7 FHIR matures with each revision of the standard as HL7 FHIR IGs are developed with validated data sets, common shared HL7 FHIR resources, and supporting tools. Referencing HL7 FHIR IGs cataloged in official registries and in scientific publications is recommended to advance data quality and facilitate mutual learning in growing digital healthcare ecosystems that nurture interoperability in digital health innovation.

6.
Environ Manage ; 2024 Jun 08.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38851641

ABSTRACT

In the Mediterranean, we find a mosaic of natural and cultural landscapes, where a variety of forest management practices created intermediate disturbance regimes that potentially increased biodiversity values. Nonetheless, it is essential to understand the species' long-term response to the dynamic management in agroecosystems, since the species tolerance to disturbance can change throughout the life cycle. Mammalian carnivores can be sensitive to human disturbance and are an essential part of ecosystems due to their regulatory and community structuring effects. We investigated the spatial response of five mesocarnivores species to spatially- and temporally- varying management practices in an agroforestry landscape. More specifically, we assessed the mesocarnivores' temporal changes in space use by implementing multi-season occupancy models in a Bayesian framework, using seasonal camera-trapping surveys for a 2-year period. All species had a weak response of local extinction to forestry management and livestock grazing pressure. For forest-dwelling species, occupancy was higher where productivity of perennial vegetation was high, while colonization between seasons was positively associated with vegetation cover. For habitat generalist species, we found that occupancy in the wet season increased with the distance to cattle exclusion plots. Most of these plots are pine stands which are subject to forestry interventions during winter. During the 2-year period we found seasonal fluctuations in occupancy for all species, with an overall slight decrease for three mesocarnivore species, while for the two forest-dwelling species there was an increase in occupancy between years. The weak species response to management practices supports the importance of traditional management for upholding a diverse mesocarnivore community in agroforestry systems but could also reflect these species' ecological plasticity and resilience to disturbance.

7.
J Fungi (Basel) ; 10(6)2024 Jun 06.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38921397

ABSTRACT

Komagataella phaffii (formerly Pichia pastoris) is a methylotrophic yeast widely used in laboratories around the world to produce recombinant proteins. Given its advantageous features, it has also gained much interest in the context of modern biotechnology. In this review, we present the utilization of K. phaffii as a platform to produce several products of economic interest such as biopharmaceuticals, renewable chemicals, fuels, biomaterials, and food/feed products. Finally, we present synthetic biology approaches currently used for strain engineering, aiming at the production of new bioproducts.

8.
J Fungi (Basel) ; 10(5)2024 Apr 27.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38786676

ABSTRACT

Cotton is an important plant-based protein. Cottonseed cake, a byproduct of the biodiesel industry, offers potential in animal supplementation, although the presence of the antinutritional sesquiterpenoid gossypol limits utilization. The macrofungus Panus lecomtei offers potential in detoxification of antinutritional factors. Through an enzymatic and proteomic analysis of P. lecomtei strain BRM044603, grown on crushed whole cottonseed contrasting in the presence of free gossypol (FG), this study investigated FG biodegradation over a 15-day cultivation period. Fungal growth reduced FG to levels at 100 µg/g, with a complex adaptive response observed, involving primary metabolism and activation of oxidative enzymes for metabolism of xenobiotics. Increasing activity of secreted laccases correlated with a reduction in FG, with enzyme fractions degrading synthetic gossypol to trace levels. A total of 143 and 49 differentially abundant proteins were observed across the two contrasting growth conditions after 6 and 12 days of cultivation, respectively, revealing a dynamic protein profile during FG degradation, initially related to constitutive metabolism, then later associated with responses to oxidative stress. The findings advance our understanding of the mechanisms involved in gossypol degradation and highlight the potential of P. lecomtei BRM044603 in cotton waste biotreatment, relevant for animal supplementation, sustainable resource utilization, and bioremediation.

9.
Int J Cardiol ; 409: 132161, 2024 Aug 15.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38744339

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Studies suggest increased likelihood of atrial fibrillation (AF) recurrence after catheter ablation (CA) in women than in men, indicating that sex may be an independent risk factor for recurrence. Nevertheless, the influence of sex on AF recurrence and underlying mechanisms remains unclear. METHODS: Retrospective, single-centre study including patients undergoing AF CA between 2017 and 2021. Late recurrence (LR) was defined as AF recurrence ≥90 days after ablation, whereas early recurrence (ER) occurred within 90 days. RESULTS: 656 patients (32% women) were included, with a median follow-up period of 26 months. Compared to men, women undergoing CA were older, had higher body mass indexes, and had higher rates of hypertension, thyroid dysfunction, and valvular disease. Women also had increased LR risk after CA (HR 1.76, 95% CI [1.19, 2.59]). A time-split multivariable analysis at one year of follow-up showed no difference in LR risk during the first 12 months after CA (HR 1.19, 95% CI [0.73, 1.94]); however, LR risk increased in women (HR 2.90, 95% CI [1.68, 5.01]) after 12 months. In a sex-stratified analysis, coronary calcium score (CCS) >100 was associated with increased LR risk in men (HR 1.81, 95% CI [1.06, 3.08]), but not in women. Cardiac adipose tissue volume was not associated with increased LR risk. CONCLUSIONS: Fewer women underwent CA than men and LR was more frequent in women, particularly one year after the procedure. CCS was associated with increased LR risk in men.


Subject(s)
Atrial Fibrillation , Catheter Ablation , Pulmonary Veins , Recurrence , Humans , Atrial Fibrillation/surgery , Atrial Fibrillation/epidemiology , Atrial Fibrillation/physiopathology , Female , Male , Middle Aged , Retrospective Studies , Pulmonary Veins/surgery , Catheter Ablation/methods , Catheter Ablation/adverse effects , Catheter Ablation/trends , Aged , Risk Factors , Follow-Up Studies , Sex Factors , Sex Characteristics
10.
Sci Rep ; 14(1): 11128, 2024 05 15.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38750112

ABSTRACT

This study focused on comparing distributed learning models with centralized and local models, assessing their efficacy in predicting specific delivery and patient-related outcomes in obstetrics using real-world data. The predictions focus on key moments in the obstetric care process, including discharge and various stages of hospitalization. Our analysis: using 6 different machine learning methods like Decision Trees, Bayesian methods, Stochastic Gradient Descent, K-nearest neighbors, AdaBoost, and Multi-layer Perceptron and 19 different variables with various distributions and types, revealed that distributed models were at least equal, and often superior, to centralized versions and local versions. We also describe thoroughly the preprocessing stage in order to help others implement this method in real-world scenarios. The preprocessing steps included cleaning and harmonizing missing values, handling missing data and encoding categorical variables with multisite logic. Even though the type of machine learning model and the distribution of the outcome variable can impact the result, we reached results of 66% being superior to the centralized and local counterpart and 77% being better than the centralized with AdaBoost. Our experiments also shed light in the preprocessing steps required to implement distributed models in a real-world scenario. Our results advocate for distributed learning as a promising tool for applying machine learning in clinical settings, particularly when privacy and data security are paramount, thus offering a robust solution for privacy-concerned clinical applications.


Subject(s)
Machine Learning , Obstetrics , Humans , Female , Pregnancy , Bayes Theorem , Decision Trees
11.
Cancer Treat Res Commun ; 40: 100818, 2024 May 11.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38761788

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND: Hormone Receptor-positive (HR+) and Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2-negative (HER2-) breast cancer is the most common subtype, predominantly treated with endocrine therapy. The efficacy of CDK4/6 inhibitors combined with endocrine therapy in this context remains to be fully evaluated. MATERIALS (OR PATIENTS) AND METHODS: This study compared the effectiveness of CDK4/6 inhibitors (palbociclib and ribociclib) in combination with an aromatase inhibitor or fulvestrant against endocrine therapy alone in patients with HR+/HER2- advanced breast cancer. The main focus was on progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). The study involved a population treated exclusively with endocrine therapy for bone involvement, examining median OS and PFS, and adjusting for variables like stage, visceral metastasis, age, and treatment line. RESULTS: The study found no significant OS difference between treatments with palbociclib, ribociclib, and endocrine therapy alone. However, ribociclib combined with letrozole significantly improved PFS over letrozole alone. Propensity score weighting indicated a potential 50 % reduction in death risk with ribociclib compared to palbociclib, though this was not confirmed by cox regression. CONCLUSION: CDK4/6 inhibitors, particularly ribociclib in combination with letrozole, show promise in improving outcomes for HR+/HER2- breast cancer patients. While palbociclib may not be superior to traditional endocrine therapy, the results underscore the need for further research. These findings could influence future treatment protocols, emphasizing the importance of personalized therapy in this patient group.

12.
Clin Neurol Neurosurg ; 241: 108305, 2024 06.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38713964

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: Establish the evolution of the connectome before and after resection of motor area glioma using a comparison of connectome maps and high-definition differential tractography (DifT). METHODS: DifT was done using normalized quantitative anisotropy (NQA) with DSI Studio. The quantitative analysis involved obtaining mean NQA and fractional anisotropy (FA) values for the disrupted pathways tracing the corticospinal tract (CST), and white fiber network changes over time. RESULTS: We described the baseline tractography, DifT, and white matter network changes from two patients who underwent resection of an oligodendroglioma (Case 1) and an IDH mutant astrocytoma, grade 4 (Case 2). CASE 1: There was a slight decrease in the diffusion signal of the compromised CST in the immediate postop. The NQA and FA values increased at the 1-year follow-up (0.18 vs. 0.32 and 0.35 vs. 0.44, respectively). CASE 2: There was an important decrease in the immediate postop, followed by an increase in the follow-up. In the 1-year follow-up, the patient presented with radiation necrosis and tumor recurrence, increasing NQA from 0.18 in the preop to 0.29. Fiber network analysis: whole-brain connectome comparison demonstrated no significant changes in the immediate postop. However, in the 1-year follow up there was a notorious reorganization of the fibers in both cases, showing the decreased density of connections. CONCLUSIONS: Connectome studies and DifT constitute new potential tools to predict early reorganization changes in a patient's networks, showing the brain plasticity capacity, and helping to establish timelines for the progression of the tumor and treatment-induced changes.


Subject(s)
Brain Neoplasms , Connectome , Diffusion Tensor Imaging , Feasibility Studies , Glioma , Humans , Diffusion Tensor Imaging/methods , Connectome/methods , Brain Neoplasms/surgery , Brain Neoplasms/diagnostic imaging , Brain Neoplasms/pathology , Glioma/surgery , Glioma/diagnostic imaging , Glioma/pathology , Male , Middle Aged , Adult , Motor Cortex/diagnostic imaging , Motor Cortex/surgery , Motor Cortex/physiopathology , Pyramidal Tracts/diagnostic imaging , Female , Oligodendroglioma/surgery , Oligodendroglioma/diagnostic imaging , Oligodendroglioma/pathology , Astrocytoma/surgery , Astrocytoma/diagnostic imaging , Astrocytoma/pathology
13.
Viruses ; 16(4)2024 04 09.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38675917

ABSTRACT

The incidence of chikungunya has dramatically surged worldwide in recent decades, imposing an expanding burden on public health. In recent years, South America, particularly Brazil, has experienced outbreaks that have ravaged populations following the rapid dissemination of the chikungunya virus (CHIKV), which was first detected in 2014. The primary vector for CHIKV transmission is the urban mosquito species Aedes aegypti, which is highly prevalent throughout Brazil. However, the impact of the locally circulating CHIKV genotypes and specific combinations of local mosquito populations on vector competence remains unexplored. Here, we experimentally analyzed and compared the infectivity and transmissibility of the CHIKV-ECSA lineage recently isolated in Brazil among four Ae. aegypti populations collected from different regions of the country. When exposed to CHIKV-infected AG129 mice for blood feeding, all the mosquito populations displayed high infection rates and dissemination efficiency. Furthermore, we observed that all the populations were highly efficient in transmitting CHIKV to a vertebrate host (naïve AG129 mice) as early as eight days post-infection. These results demonstrate the high capacity of Brazilian Ae. aegypti populations to transmit the locally circulating CHIKV-ECSA lineage. This observation could help to explain the high prevalence of the CHIKV-ECSA lineage over the Asian lineage, which was also detected in Brazil in 2014. However, further studies comparing both lineages are necessary to gain a better understanding of the vector's importance in the epidemiology of CHIKV in the Americas.


Subject(s)
Aedes , Chikungunya Fever , Chikungunya virus , Mosquito Vectors , Animals , Aedes/virology , Chikungunya virus/genetics , Chikungunya virus/classification , Chikungunya virus/physiology , Chikungunya virus/isolation & purification , Brazil/epidemiology , Chikungunya Fever/transmission , Chikungunya Fever/virology , Chikungunya Fever/epidemiology , Mice , Mosquito Vectors/virology , Genotype , Female , Phylogeny
14.
Heliyon ; 10(7): e28560, 2024 Apr 15.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38590890

ABSTRACT

Single Sign-On (SSO) methods are the primary solution to authenticate users across multiple web systems. These mechanisms streamline the authentication procedure by avoiding duplicate developments of authentication modules for each application. Besides, these mechanisms also provide convenience to the end-user by keeping the user authenticated when switching between different contexts. To ensure this cross-application authentication, SSO relies on an Identity Provider (IdP), which is commonly set up and managed by each institution that needs to enforce SSO internally. However, the solution is not so straightforward when several institutions need to cooperate in a unique ecosystem. This could be tackled by centralizing the authentication mechanisms in one of the involved entities, a solution raising responsibilities that may be difficult for peers to accept. Moreover, this solution is not appropriate for dynamic groups, where peers may join or leave frequently. In this paper, we propose an architecture that uses a trusted third-party service to authenticate multiple entities, ensuring the isolation of the user's attributes between this service and the institutional SSO systems. This architecture was validated in the EHDEN Portal, which includes web tools and services of this European health project, to establish a Federated Authentication schema.

15.
Data Brief ; 54: 110373, 2024 Jun.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38623550

ABSTRACT

Real-world data collections are generally not easily available. Energy measurements from buildings, houses and other devices can be used within different areas of research while being employed to plan or train models, allowing the improvement of power grid energy efficiency or providing more insight on how an energy community can work. This paper provides a dataset concerning a Portuguese community of 172 households that are geographically close to each other, enabling the establishment of relationships among buildings and the analysis of a community's power consumption. In addition to the consumed energy values, the related local weather information is included in the data. The intersection of weather data and energy measurements can be helpful to train AI models, contributing to explain variations in energy consumption and the absolute values of the energy readings. The inclusion of these weather parameters aims to unveil features that can correlate to the energy measurements, enabling them to be used in multiple areas of research. Hence, it will provide added value to the data as it can be reused to explore Machine Learning algorithms or community energy planning by grid operators.

16.
JMIR Form Res ; 8: e54109, 2024 Apr 08.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38587885

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The escalating prevalence of cesarean delivery globally poses significant health impacts on mothers and newborns. Despite this trend, the underlying reasons for increased cesarean delivery rates, which have risen to 36.3% in Portugal as of 2020, remain unclear. This study delves into these issues within the Portuguese health care context, where national efforts are underway to reduce cesarean delivery occurrences. OBJECTIVE: This paper aims to introduce a machine learning, algorithm-based support system designed to assist clinical teams in identifying potentially unnecessary cesarean deliveries. Key objectives include developing clinical decision support systems for cesarean deliveries using interoperability standards, identifying predictive factors influencing delivery type, assessing the economic impact of implementing this tool, and comparing system outputs with clinicians' decisions. METHODS: This study used retrospective data collected from 9 public Portuguese hospitals, encompassing maternal and fetal data and delivery methods from 2019 to 2020. We used various machine learning algorithms for model development, with light gradient-boosting machine (LightGBM) selected for deployment due to its efficiency. The model's performance was compared with clinician assessments through questionnaires. Additionally, an economic simulation was conducted to evaluate the financial impact on Portuguese public hospitals. RESULTS: The deployed model, based on LightGBM, achieved an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 88%. In the trial deployment phase at a single hospital, 3.8% (123/3231) of cases triggered alarms for potentially unnecessary cesarean deliveries. Financial simulation results indicated potential benefits for 30% (15/48) of Portuguese public hospitals with the implementation of our tool. However, this study acknowledges biases in the model, such as combining different vaginal delivery types and focusing on potentially unwarranted cesarean deliveries. CONCLUSIONS: This study presents a promising system capable of identifying potentially incorrect cesarean delivery decisions, with potentially positive implications for medical practice and health care economics. However, it also highlights the challenges and considerations necessary for real-world application, including further evaluation of clinical decision-making impacts and understanding the diverse reasons behind delivery type choices. This study underscores the need for careful implementation and further robust analysis to realize the full potential and real-world applicability of such clinical support systems.

17.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38567900

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: With modern treatment paradigms, olfactory neuroblastoma (ONB) has favorable overall survival (OS); however, the incidence of recurrence remains high. The primary aims of this study were to delineate the prognosis of recurrence of ONB and explore how recurrence subsites are associated with OS, disease-specific survival (DSS), and further recurrence. METHODS: A retrospective chart review of ONB cases from nine academic centers between 2005 and 2021 was completed. Tumor characteristics, recurrence subsites, timelines to recurrence, additional recurrences, and survival estimates were determined using descriptive and time-to-event analyses. RESULTS: A final cohort of 233 patients was identified, with 70 (30.0%) patients recurring within 50.4 (standard deviation ±40.9) months of diagnosis on average, consisting of local (50%), neck (36%), intracranial (9%), and distant (6%) recurrence. Compared with subjects without recurrence, patients with recurrence had significantly different primary American Joint Committee on Cancer T stage (p < 0.001), overall stage (p < 0.001), and modified Kadish scores (p < 0.001). Histopathology identified that dural involvement and positive margins were significantly greater in recurrent cases. First recurrence was significantly associated with worse 5-year DSS (hazard ratio = 5.62; p = 0.003), and subjects with neck or local recurrence had a significantly better DSS compared to intracranial or distant recurrence. CONCLUSIONS: Recurrent cases of ONB have significantly different stages and preoperative imaging factors. Patients with local or neck recurrence, however, have better DSS than those with intracranial or distant recurrence, independent of initial tumor stage or Hyams grade. Identifying specific factors that confer an increased risk of recurrence and DSS is important for patient counseling in addition to surveillance planning.

18.
Enzyme Microb Technol ; 177: 110424, 2024 Jun.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38479075

ABSTRACT

In this work, the polygalacturonase (TL-PG1) from the thermophilic fungus Thermomyces lanuginosus was heterologously produced for the first time in the yeast Komagataella phaffii. The TL-PG1 was successfully expressed under the control of the AOX1 promoter and sequentially purified by His-tag affinity. The purified recombinant pectinase exhibited an activity of 462.6 U/mL toward polygalacturonic acid under optimal conditions (pH 6 and 55 ˚C) with a 2.83 mg/mL and 0.063 µmol/minute for Km and Vmax, respectively. When used as supplementation for biomass hydrolysis, TL-PG1 demonstrated synergy with the enzymatic cocktail Ctec3 to depolymerize orange citrus pulp, releasing 1.43 mg/mL of reducing sugar. In addition, TL-PG1 exhibited efficiency in fabric bioscouring, showing potential usage in the textile industry. Applying a protein dosage of 7 mg/mL, the time for the fabric to absorb water was 19.77 seconds (ten times faster than the control). Adding the surfactant Triton to the treatment allowed the reduction of the enzyme dosage by 50% and the water absorption time to 6.38 seconds. Altogether, this work describes a new versatile polygalacturonase from T. lanuginosus with the potential to be employed in the hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass and bioscouring.


Subject(s)
Fungal Proteins , Polygalacturonase , Saccharomycetales , Biomass , Eurotiales/enzymology , Eurotiales/genetics , Fungal Proteins/genetics , Fungal Proteins/metabolism , Hydrolysis , Kinetics , Polygalacturonase/metabolism , Polygalacturonase/genetics , Recombinant Proteins/metabolism , Recombinant Proteins/genetics , Saccharomycetales/genetics , Saccharomycetales/enzymology , Saccharomycetales/metabolism , Textile Industry , Textiles
19.
Curr Opin Insect Sci ; 63: 101194, 2024 06.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38522648

ABSTRACT

Mosquitoes are vectors for arboviruses, such as dengue, Zika, and Chikungunya. Symbiotic interactions can affect the intrinsic ability of mosquitoes to acquire and transmit arboviruses, referred to as vector competence. Insect-specific viruses (ISVs) are commonly found in symbiotic associations with mosquitoes in the wild and can affect many aspects of mosquito biology. Here, we review current knowledge on the effects of symbiotic ISV-mosquito interactions on vector competence. We discuss potential mechanisms underlying these interactions and their implications for shaping new biological control strategies. Finally, we highlight the need for field data analyzing the circulation of ISVs in mosquitoes associated with mechanistic studies in the laboratory.


Subject(s)
Arboviruses , Mosquito Vectors , Symbiosis , Animals , Mosquito Vectors/virology , Mosquito Vectors/physiology , Arboviruses/physiology , Insect Viruses/physiology , Culicidae/virology , Culicidae/physiology , Arbovirus Infections/transmission
20.
Neurosurg Rev ; 47(1): 129, 2024 Mar 27.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38532178

ABSTRACT

Despite great advancements and the diffusion of awake surgery for brain tumors, the literature shows that the tests applied during the procedure are heterogeneous and non-standardized. This prospective, observational, descriptive study collected data on intraoperative brain mapping and the performance of multiple neurocognitive tests in 51 awake surgeries for diffuse low-grade glioma. Frequency of use and rate of intraoperative findings of different neurocognitive tests were analyzed. Patients mean age at the time of surgery was 35.1 (20-57) years. We performed 26 (51.0%) surgeries on the left hemisphere (LH) and 25 (49.0%) on the right hemisphere (RH). Significant differences were observed between the total number of functional findings (cortical and subcortical) identified in the LH and RH (p = 0.004). In subcortical findings alone, the differences remained significant (p = 0.0004). The RH subcortical region showed the lowest number of intraoperative findings, and this was correlated with functional outcome: Karnofsky performance scale at five days (p = 0.022), three months (p = 0.002) and one year (p = 0.002) post-surgery. On average, more tests were used to map the RH, with a lower frequency of both cortical and subcortical functional findings. Even though subcortical findings were less frequent than cortical findings, they were crucial to defining the resection margins. Based on the intraoperative findings, frequency of use, and rate of findings per use of the tests analyzed, the most relevant tests for each hemisphere for awake brain mapping were identified.


Subject(s)
Brain Neoplasms , Glioma , Humans , Adult , Middle Aged , Brain Neoplasms/surgery , Wakefulness , Prospective Studies , Glioma/surgery , Brain Mapping/methods , Mental Status and Dementia Tests
SELECTION OF CITATIONS
SEARCH DETAIL
...