Uncooled TATO microwave system for liver ablation.

Aim: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of uncooled TATO microwave ablation (MWA) for primary and metastatic liver cancer. Materials & methods: This was a retrospective study on percutaneous liver ablations performed with TATO MWA. Twenty-five ablations were performed; 11 (44%) were performed for hepatocellular carcinoma, 14 (56%) for colorectal carcinoma, gastric and pancreatic metastases. Results: Adverse events were reported only in one (4%) ablation: an abscess that was observed in the ablated area and was resolved with a percutaneous drainage and antibiotic therapy. Local tumor control rate was 92% at the 3-month follow-up. Conclusion: TATO MWA was safe and effective with high reproducibility in treating primary and secondary liver cancer with satisfactory technical and clinical outcomes.

The removal of cancer from the liver or liver metastases from cancers in distant sites can be performed safely and effectively with a system that uses a microwave generator (TATO) that allows a good visibility of ablation procedure under intraprocedural real-time ultrasound imaging.

Optical coherence tomography: Translation from 3D-printed vascular models of the anterior cerebral circulation to the first human images of implanted surface modified flow diverters.

BACKGROUND: The new generation of flow diverters includes a surface modification with a synthetic biocompatible polymer, which makes the device more biocompatible and less thrombogenic. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) can be used to visualize perforators, stent wall apposition, and intra-stent thrombus. Unfortunately real world application of this technology has been limited because of the limited navigability of these devices in the intracranial vessels. In this report, we share our experience of using 3D-printed neurovascular anatomy models to simulate and test the navigability of a commercially available OCT system and to show the application of this device in a patient treated with the new generation of surface modified flow diverters. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Navigability of OCT catheters was tested in vitro using four different 3D-printed silicone replicas of the intracranial anterior circulation, after the implantation of surface modified devices. Intermediate catheters were used in different tortuous anatomies and positions. After this assessment, we describe the OCT image analysis of a Pipeline Shield for treating an unruptured posterior communicating artery (PCOM) aneurysm. RESULTS: Use of intermediate catheters in the 3D-printed replicas was associated with better navigation of the OCT catheters in favorable anatomies but did not help as much in unfavorable anatomies. OCT image analysis of a PCOM aneurysm treated with Pipeline Embolization Device Shield demonstrated areas of unsatisfactory apposition with no thrombus formation. CONCLUSIONS: OCT improves the understanding of the flow diversion technology. The development of less thrombogenic devices, like the Pipeline Flex with Shield Technology, reinforces the need for intraluminal imaging for neurovascular application.

Severe cerebral vasospasm in chronic cocaine users during neurointerventional procedures: A report of two cases.

Cocaine is a widespread recreational drug that has the potential to induce neurological vascular diseases, including ischaemic and haemorrhagic stroke. Although arterial vasospasm has been suggested as a pathogenic factor in the development of neurovascular complications, it remains unclear whether cocaine users carry an increased risk to suffer iatrogenic vasospasm during endovascular procedures. We report the case of two patients with a history of cocaine abuse, who developed unusual severe vasospasms during different interventional procedures. The first case occurred in a middle-aged woman with an unruptured left internal carotid artery bifurcation aneurysm who was scheduled for treatment by remodelling assisted coiling. Just after the placement of the remodelling balloon, a severe occlusive vasospasm interrupted the procedure. The second case happened to a 46-year-old man with a non-aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage and a symptomatic vasospasm in the right-sided anterior circulation who developed another occlusive vasospasm after the first attempt at transluminal balloon angioplasty. Further research is needed to establish a relation between cocaine use and increased risk of iatrogenic vasospasm in endovascular procedures, but we suggest practitioners be extremely cautious when treating this subgroup of patients.

La atribución de responsabilidad: de la cognición al sujeto / A atribuição de responsabilidade: da cognição ao sujeito / The attribution of responsibility: from cognition to subject

El estudio de los procesos de responsabilización es especialmente importante para la comprensión del discurso político neoliberal que apela, mediante la paradoja, a valores individuales para afrontar problemas socioestructurales. La adscripción de responsabilidad ha sido tratada en la psicología social en el marco, principalmente, de la teoría de la atribución causal. Aun cuando la propuesta original de Heider es compleja y susceptible de un desarrollo sociológico, el autor opta por un enfoque cognitivo individual. Consideramos necesario ampliar el estudio de los procesos de responsabilización en la dirección de una reconsideración del carácter social de la atribución de responsabilidades. Para ello recurriremos a la obra de Gustav Ichheiser, así como a algunos planteamientos recientes sobre la constitución social del sujeto responsable, tales como los de Axel Honneth.

O estudo dos processos de responsabilização é especialmente importante para a compreensão do discurso político neoliberal que apela, por paradoxo, a valores individuais para enfrentar os problemas socioestruturais. A atribuição de responsabilidade tem sido abordada em psicologia social no contexto principalmente da teoria da atribuição de causalidade. Embora a proposta original de Heider seja complexa e suscetível a um desenvolvimento sociológico, o autor escolhe uma abordagem cognitiva individual. Consideramos que é necessário ampliar o estudo dos processos de responsabilização no sentido de uma reconsideração do caráter social da atribuição de responsabilidade. Vamos recorrer ao trabalho de Gustav Ichheiser, bem como algumas abordagens recentes à constituição social do sujeito responsável, tais como os de Axel Honneth.

The study of the processes of holding and taking responsibility is especially important for understanding the neoliberal political discourse that appeals, in a paradoxical way, to individual values in order to face social problems. The assignment of responsibility has been addressed in social psychology mainly in the context of the causal attribution theory. Although Heider's original proposal is complex and susceptible to a sociological development, the author opts for a individual cognitive approach. In our opinion it is necessary to extend the study of the processes of accountability in the direction of a consideration of its social nature. In this way we appeal to the work of Gustav Ichheiser as well as to some recent approaches about social constitution of the subject such as that by Axel Honneth.

La atribución de responsabilidad: de la cognición al sujeto / A atribuição de responsabilidade: da cognição ao sujeito / The attribution of responsibility: from cognition to subject

El estudio de los procesos de responsabilización es especialmente importante para la comprensión del discurso político neoliberal que apela, mediante la paradoja, a valores individuales para afrontar problemas socioestructurales. La adscripción de responsabilidad ha sido tratada en la psicología social en el marco, principalmente, de la teoría de la atribución causal. Aun cuando la propuesta original de Heider es compleja y susceptible de un desarrollo sociológico, el autor opta por un enfoque cognitivo individual. Consideramos necesario ampliar el estudio de los procesos de responsabilización en la dirección de una reconsideración del carácter social de la atribución de responsabilidades. Para ello recurriremos a la obra de Gustav Ichheiser, así como a algunos planteamientos recientes sobre la constitución social del sujeto responsable, tales como los de Axel Honneth.(AU)

O estudo dos processos de responsabilização é especialmente importante para a compreensão do discurso político neoliberal que apela, por paradoxo, a valores individuais para enfrentar os problemas socioestruturais. A atribuição de responsabilidade tem sido abordada em psicologia social no contexto principalmente da teoria da atribuição de causalidade. Embora a proposta original de Heider seja complexa e suscetível a um desenvolvimento sociológico, o autor escolhe uma abordagem cognitiva individual. Consideramos que é necessário ampliar o estudo dos processos de responsabilização no sentido de uma reconsideração do caráter social da atribuição de responsabilidade. Vamos recorrer ao trabalho de Gustav Ichheiser, bem como algumas abordagens recentes à constituição social do sujeito responsável, tais como os de Axel Honneth.(AU)

The study of the processes of holding and taking responsibility is especially important for understanding the neoliberal political discourse that appeals, in a paradoxical way, to individual values in order to face social problems. The assignment of responsibility has been addressed in social psychology mainly in the context of the causal attribution theory. Although Heider's original proposal is complex and susceptible to a sociological development, the author opts for a individual cognitive approach. In our opinion it is necessary to extend the study of the processes of accountability in the direction of a consideration of its social nature. In this way we appeal to the work of Gustav Ichheiser as well as to some recent approaches about social constitution of the subject such as that by Axel Honneth.(AU)

[Spontaneous resolution of a type IV dural arteriovenous fistula]. / Resolución espontánea de una fístula dural arteriovenosa tipo IV.

TITLE: Resolucion espontanea de una fistula dural arteriovenosa tipo IV.

Resolución espontánea de una fístula dural arteriovenosa tipo IV / Spontaneous resolution of a type IV dural arteriovenous fistula

No disponible

Las paradojas de las políticas de empleo europeas: de la justicia a la terapia / Paradoxes of European Employment Policies: From Fairness towards Therapy

Las sociedades europeas están experimentando importantes cambios en los pilares axiológicos y políticos de su modelo social. Las políticas sociales y de empleo contemporáneas tienen como principal característica un desplazamiento radical hacia la psicologización y moralización del trabajo. Un análisis de las nociones centrales del discurso de las instituciones europeas sobre el trabajo (empleabilidad, activación, flexiguridad) permite desvelar las doxas o presupuestos que lo fundamentan. La paradoja es una estructura retórica fundamental de este discurso. Esta paradoja es reveladora del carácter perverso del discurso neoliberal que, por un lado, apela a la responsabilidad personal, pero, por otro, desprovee al sujeto de las condiciones sociales y políticas necesarias para el ejercicio de la autonomía.

European societies are undergoing important changes in the axiological and political pillars of its social model. One of the main current features of social and employment policies is a radical shift towards the psychologization and moralization of work. An analysis of the key concepts of the EU discourse on employment (employability, activation, flexicurity) allows unveiling the underlying doxas and assumptions. The paradox is a principally rhetorical structure of this discourse. This paradox reveals the perverse nature of the neoliberal discourse which, on the one hand, appeals to personal responsibility, but on the other hand, it deprives to subject of the social and political conditions necessary to be autonomous.

Iridovirus-like viruses in erythrocytes of lacertids from Portugal.

Icosahedral nucleo-cytoplasmic large DNA viruses (NCLDV)-like viruses, which forminclusions in the erythrocyte cytoplasm of reptiles, were previously presented as candidates for a new genus of the Iridoviridae family. The present work describes the distribution of infected lizard hosts and ultrastructural characteristics of the viral inclusions of NCLDV-like viruses from Portugal and adjacent locations in Spain. Giemsa-stained blood smears of 235 Lacerta schreiberi from Portugal and Spain, 571 Lacerta monticola from the mountain Serra da Estrela (Portugal), 794 Podarcis hispanica from several localities in Portugal and Spain, and 25 Lacerta dugesii from Madeira Island, were studied. Infection in L. schreiberi was only found in mountain populations, up to 30% in Serra da Estrela and 9-11% elsewhere. It was absent in lizards from lowlands. Prevalence of infection among L. monticola in Serra da Estrela was 10%; infected lizards were found during March to July and October but not in August and September. Infection in P. hispanica was below 3.3%. Only one infected specimen of L. dugesii was identified by light microscopy. Ultrastructural examination of infected samples revealed that the inclusions are virus assembly sites of icosahedral cytoplasmic iridovirus-like virions. Virions from different host species have different ultrastructural features and probably represent different related viruses.

Teaching and research on Developmental Biology in Portugal.

Developmental Biology has established itself as a solid field of teaching and research in Portugal. Its history is recent, generally considered to have started with the pioneering work of Augusto Celestino da Costa at the beginning of the 20th century. However, research groups were very few and, until the early 1990s, teaching beyond morphological and comparative embryology was uncommon. In 1994, the first university course dedicated to Developmental Biology as a separate field from Embryology was created at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon and a course on Plant Differentiation and Morphogenesis was also initiated. A Masters programme in Developmental Biology followed at the Lusofona University in 1996. Subsequently, modules of Developmental Biology were included in many Embryology courses and eventually more Developmental Biology courses were created. From 1999 onwards, the number of research groups working in Developmental Biology started to increase, many of which were initiated by researchers who had had the opportunity to pursue their PhD and/or post-doc studies abroad. The Instituto Gulbenkian de Cincia (Gulbenkian Institute of Science) became the first home of most of these groups, but several later spread to other institutions. This increased activity in turn has stimulated teaching of Developmental Biology and more students have been getting interested in the field. This positive feedback loop makes it a nice time to be teaching and working in Developmental Biology in Portugal.

Nonoptimal propagation of advertisement calls of midwife toads in Iberian habitats.

This study compares the efficiency of transmission of the advertisement calls of two species of midwife toads, Alytes cisternasii and A. obstetricans, in both native and non-native habitats in the Iberian Peninsula. Recorded calls of both species and pure tones were broadcast at ten sites native to either the relatively small A. cisternasii or the larger A. obstetricans. A large variation in the patterns of excess attenuation between localities was observed for calls measured at distances of 0.5 to 8 m from a loudspeaker. However, attenuation rates were higher for calls of both species in habitats of A. obstetricans relative to habitats of A. cisternasii. The calls of A. obstetricans experienced lower attenuation rates than those of A. cisternasii in both conspecific and heterospecific localities. Thus, although A. cisternasii occupies habitats more favorable for sound transmission, its advertisement call spectrum is not optimized for these habitats; the calls of A. obstetricans suffer less attenuation in A. cisternasii habitats. This result argues against the notion that spectral features of the calls are adapted to enhance transmission efficiency in natural habitats, and suggests that differences in call dominant frequency between the two species result from constraints imposed by selection on body size.

Extensive intraspecific polymorphism detected by SSCP at the nuclear C-mos gene in the endemic Iberian lizard Lacerta schreiberi.

C-mos is a highly conserved intronless gene that has proved useful in the analysis of ancient phylogenetic relationships within vertebrates. We selected the Iberian endemic Schreiber's green lizard (Lacerta schreiberi) that persisted in allopatric refugia since the late Pliocene to investigate the utility of the C-mos nuclear gene for intraspecific phylogeographic studies. Our combination of DNA sequencing with the high resolving power of single-strand conformational polymorphism (SSCP) effectively discriminated four common alleles showing strong population structuring (F(ST) = 0.46). In addition, reconstruction of allele phylogenetic relationships further improved our understanding of C-mos spatial patterns of variation and allowed a comparison with previously described mitochondrial DNA data. Finally, limited sequencing of an extended C-mos fragment in six additional Lacerta species showed extensive polymorphism, to our knowledge representing a rare example of variation in a highly conserved nuclear gene.

Relación costo-beneficio de productos destinados a la nutrición de gestantes y niños

Se realizó un estudio descriptivo con el objetivo de comparar la composición de dos productos destinados a la nutrición de gestantes y niños, elaborados en la Empresa de Productos Lácteos de Bayamo, Granma y mostrar en que medida cubren los requerimientos nutricionales diarios; determinar sus costos de producción y compararlos con los costos hospitalarios por ingresos relacionados con desnutrición materna e infantil. Se revisaron las normas de producción y las fichas de costos en el bimestre Enero-Febrero 2002. Se compararon los costos productivos con los costos hospitalarios por ingresos en ese bimestre en los hospitales Carlos Manuel de Céspedes y General Milanés. Se obtuvo que el Materlac y el Cemni, como suplementos dietéticos constituyen una valiosa ayuda para cumplir con los requerimientos nutricionales. Los altos costos de producción se justifican por la repercusión social y humana de esta estrategia de intervención nutricional, la cual al influir en la mejoría del estado de nutrición de gestantes y niños, contribuiría a disminuir los costos hospitalarios por ingresos relacionados con la desnutrición materna e infantil(AU)

Experimental infection of lacertids with lizard erythrocytic viruses.

OBJECTIVE: Lizard erythrocytic viruses (LEVs) produce inclusions in the cytoplasm of erythrocytes, but their impact on the infected host is poorly understood. This work reports on an experimental study of the infection process in Lacerta monticola and Lacerta schreiberi from Serra da Estrela Mountain, Portugal. METHODS: A time sequence light microscope and transmission electron microscope (TEM) study of the infection process was performed in peripheral blood erythrocytes of experimentally infected lizards. Virions were searched for by TEM in visceral organs and bone marrow of the animals. RESULTS: Infection was usually restricted to erythrocytes, but occasionally became systemic and induced disease. In the first case, a prevalence of infected erythrocytes of up to 98% followed by recovery was observed. In the latter, infection spread to leukocytes, leading to the death of the infected animals. CONCLUSIONS: The potential of LEVs to induce systemic infections was demonstrated. Sequential TEM examination of LEV-infected cells is described for the first time, demonstrating features such as dense inclusions related to virus nucleoid formation, intranuclear virions, intermediate structures in virion capsid morphogenesis and virus release by budding.

Lavado peritoneal continuo postoperatorio com iodopovidona en las peritonitis agudas generalizadas / Continuous postoperative peritoneal lavage with in iodopovidone acute generalized peritonitis

En 32 pacientes portadores de peritonitis agudas generalizadas, se empleó lavado peritoneal postoperatorio continuo con Iodopovidona. Se describe la técnica, se muestran los resultados obtenidos y se trata de precisar cuáles son las indicaciones del método, aconsejándose su empleo (AU)

Lavado peritoneal continuo postoperatorio com iodopovidona en las peritonitis agudas generalizadas / Continuous postoperative peritoneal lavage with in iodopovidone acute generalized peritonitis

En 32 pacientes portadores de peritonitis agudas generalizadas, se empleó lavado peritoneal postoperatorio continuo con Iodopovidona. Se describe la técnica, se muestran los resultados obtenidos y se trata de precisar cuáles son las indicaciones del método, aconsejándose su empleo