Preserving isohydricity: vertical environmental variability explains Amazon forest water use strategies.

Increases in hydrological extremes, including drought, are expected for Amazon forests. A fundamental challenge for predicting forest responses lies in identifying ecological strategies which underlie such responses. Characterization of species-specific hydraulic strategies for regulating water use, thought to be arrayed along an 'isohydric-anisohydric' spectrum, is a widely used approach. However, recent studies have questioned the usefulness of this classification scheme, because its metrics are strongly influenced by environments, hence can lead to divergent classifications even within the same species. Here, we propose an alternative approach positing that individual hydraulic regulation strategies emerge from the interaction of environments with traits. Specifically, we hypothesize that the vertical forest profile represents a key gradient in drought-related environments (atmospheric vapor pressure deficit, soil water availability) that drives divergent tree water use strategies for coordinated regulation of stomatal conductance (gs) and leaf water potentials (ΨL) with tree rooting depth, a proxy for water availability. Testing this hypothesis in a seasonal eastern Amazon forest in Brazil, we found that hydraulic strategies indeed depend on height-associated environments. Upper canopy trees, experiencing high VPD, but stable soil water access through deep rooting, exhibited isohydric strategies, defined by little seasonal change in the diurnal pattern of gs and steady seasonal minimum ΨL. By contrast, understory trees, exposed to less variable VPD but highly variable soil water availability, exhibited anisohydric strategies, with fluctuations in diurnal gs that increased in the dry season along with increasing variation in ΨL. Our finding that canopy height structures the coordination between drought-related environmental stressors and hydraulic traits provides a basis for preserving the applicability of the isohydric-to-anisohydric spectrum, which we show here may consistently emerge from environmental context. Our work highlights the importance of understanding how environmental heterogeneity structures forest responses to climate change, providing a mechanistic basis for improving models of tropical ecosystems.

Perfil Epidemiológico de Pacientes Oncológicos Atendidos em um Serviço Odontológico de Referência do Estado do Ceará: Estudo Retrospectivo / Epidemiological Profile of Oncology Patients Followed Up at a Reference Dental Service in the State of Ceará: a Retrospective Study / Perfil Epidemiológico de Pacientes Oncológicos Atendidos en un Servicio de Odontología de Referencia en el Estado de Ceará: Estudio Retrospectivo

Introdução: Pacientes com câncer necessitam de atendimento odontológico personalizado em virtude das terapias antineoplásicas para minimizar a ocorrência ou a gravidade dos efeitos adversos causados por essas terapias nos tecidos bucais. Objetivo: Traçar o perfil epidemiológico e odontológico de pacientes oncológicos acompanhados em um serviço de referência em odontologia do Estado do Ceará. Método: Estudo retrospectivo observacional transversal, baseado em prontuários de pacientes com necessidades especiais atendidos ambulatorialmente entre 2017 e 2021. Tais variáveis foram analisadas utilizando os testes exato de Fisher ou qui-quadrado de Pearson, adotando um nível de confiança de 95% com o software SPSS versão 20.0 para Windows. Resultados: A maioria dos pacientes avaliados era do sexo masculino (55,8%), com idade entre 51 e 60 anos (39,0%), sendo o câncer de cabeça e pescoço o mais prevalente (37,7%). Os principais motivos de procura por atendimento odontológico foram adequação bucal pré-tratamento de câncer (36,4%), tratamento pós-câncer (22,05%) e dor (15,6%), a maioria em fase pós-quimioterapia (42,9%) e pós-radioterapia (39,0%). Os procedimentos odontológicos mais realizados entre os pacientes foram dentística (64,9%), periodontia (59,7%) e cirurgia (48,1%). Em relação à higiene bucal, 49,2% escovavam os dentes uma vez ao dia e 54,5% não utilizavam fio dental; 47,8% desses pacientes apresentaram índice CPO-D (dentes permanentes cariados, perdidos e obturados) superior a 20. Conclusão: Aproximadamente metade dos pacientes procurou atendimento odontológico para adequação pré-tratamento oncológico, entretanto, a maior parte deles buscou atendimento após o fim da quimioterapia e radioterapia, o que pode estar associado ao elevado índice de CPO-D

Introduction: Cancer patients need personalized dental care due to antineoplastic therapies to minimize the occurrence or severity of adverse effects caused on oral tissues. Objective: Design the epidemiological and dental profile of cancer patients followed up at a reference dentistry service in the State of Ceará. Method: Cross-sectional observational retrospective study, based on medical records of patients with special needs followed up at an outpatient clinic from 2017 to 2021. The variables were tabulated using Fisher's or Pearson's chi-square tests, with a confidence level of 95% with the software SPSS version 20.0 for Windows. Results: The majority of patients evaluated were males (55.8%), aged between 51 and 60 years (39.0%) with head and neck cancer as the most prevalent (37.7%). The main reasons for seeking dental care were oral adequacy pre-cancer treatment (36.4%), post-cancer treatment (22.05%) and pain (15.6%), with the majority in post-chemotherapy phase (42.9%) and after radiotherapy (39.0%). Restorative dentistry (64.9%), periodontics (59.7%) and surgery (48.1%) were the dental procedures most performed. Regarding oral hygiene, 49.2% brushed their teeth once a day and 54.5% did not use dental floss, 47.8% of these patients had a DMFT Index (decayed, missing, filled teeth) greater than 20. Conclusion: Approximately half of the patients sought dental care for pre-oncological treatment adjustment, however, the majority sought care post-chemotherapy and radiotherapy, which may be associated with high DMFT index

Introducción: Los pacientes oncológicos necesitan una atención odontológica personalizada debido a las terapias antineoplásicas, con el objetivo de minimizar la aparición o severidad de los efectos adversos que estas terapias provocan en los tejidos orales. Objetivo: Trazar el perfil epidemiológico y odontológico de pacientes oncológicos seguidos en un servicio de referencia en odontología en el estado de Ceará. Método: Estudio retrospectivo observacional transversal, basado en historias clínicas de pacientes atendidos ambulatoriamente para pacientes con necesidades especiales de 2017 a 2021. Dichas variables se tabularon mediante las pruebas de Fisher o ji-cuadrada de Pearson, adoptando un nivel de confianza del 95% en el software SPSS v20.0 para Windows. Resultados: La mayoría de los pacientes evaluados fueron del sexo masculino (55,8 %), con edad entre 51 y 60 años (39,0 %), siendo el cáncer más prevalente entre ellos, los de cabeza y cuello (37,7%). Los principales motivos de búsqueda de atención odontológica fueron tratamiento precanceroso de adecuación oral (36,4%), tratamiento poscanceroso (22,05%) y dolor (15,6%), siendo la mayoría en fase posquimioterapia (42,9%) y después radioterapia (39,0%). Los procedimientos odontológicos más realizados entre los pacientes fueron odontología restauradora (64,9%), periodoncia (59,7%) y cirugía (48,1%). En cuanto a la higiene bucal, el 49,2% se cepillaba los dientes una vez al día y el 54,5% no utilizaba hilo dental, donde el 47,8% de estos pacientes presentaba un índice de CPOD (dientes permanentes, con caries, perdidos y curados) superior a 20. Conclusión: Aproximadamente la mitad de los pacientes buscó atención odontológica para ajustar el tratamiento preoncológico, sin embargo, la mayoría de los pacientes buscó atención después del final de la quimioterapia y radioterapia, lo que puede estar asociado con la alta tasa de CPOD

Synchrotron X-ray biosample imaging: opportunities and challenges.

Synchrotron radiation phase-contrast microtomography is sensitive to low attenuating tissues, giving an alternative visualisation of the sample and being useful for investigating microstructure inside biological specimens without staining them with a contrast medium. The phase-contrast technique has been widely used in the scientific community, as it is a technique associated with radiography and microscopy and able to enhance contrast in soft tissues, specifically at the edges, showing details that could not be seen by the absorption technique. This work aims to show the ability of synchrotron-based phase-contrast microtomography for the visualisation of soft tissues and hard internal structures of millimetre-sized biological organisms. Case studies of the anatomy of Rhodnius prolixus head and Thoropa miliaris tadpole are presented to illustrate the imaging technique.

Performance evaluation of segmentation methods for assessing the lens of the frog Thoropa miliaris from synchrotron-based phase-contrast micro-CT images.

PURPOSE: In the context of synchrotron microtomography using propagation-based phase-contrast imaging (XSPCT), we evaluated the performance of semiautomatic and automatic image segmentation of soft biological structures by means of Dice Similarity Coefficient (DSC) and volume quantification. METHODS: We took advantage of the phase-contrast effects of XSPCT to provide enhanced object boundaries and improved visualization of the lenses of the frog Thoropa miliaris. Then, we applied semiautomatic segmentation methods 1 and 2 (Interpolation and Watershed, respectively) and method 3, an automatic segmentation algorithm using the U-Net architecture, to the reconstructed images. DSC and volume quantification of the lenses were used to quantify the performance of image segmentation methods. RESULTS: Comparing the lenses segmented by the three methods, the most pronounced difference in volume quantification was between methods 1 and 3: a reduction of 4.24%. Method 1, 2 and 3 obtained the global average DSC of 97.02%, 95.41% and 89.29%, respectively. Although it obtained the lowest DSC, method 3 performed the segmentation in a matter of seconds, while the semiautomatic methods had the average time to segment the lenses around 1 h and 30 min. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that the performance of U-Net was impaired due to the irregularities of the ROI edges mainly in its lower and upper regions, but it still showed high accuracy (DSC = 89.29%) with significantly reduced segmentation time compared to the semiautomatic methods. Besides, with the present work we have established a baseline for future assessments of Deep Neural Networks applied to XSPCT volumes.

Is Bilateral Sagittal Split Osteotomy of the Mandible With no Step Possible? A Modification in the Technique.

The mandibular ramus sagittal osteotomy is a usual procedure used to correct deformities of the lower third of the face. Modifications of the procedure will be presented to avoid the presence of palpable gap at mandibular body, easily seen in greater movements.

Graph cuts and neural networks for segmentation and porosity quantification in Synchrotron Radiation X-ray µCT of an igneous rock sample.

X-ray Synchrotron Radiation Micro-Computed Tomography (SR-µCT) allows a better visualization in three dimensions with a higher spatial resolution, contributing for the discovery of aspects that could not be observable through conventional radiography. The automatic segmentation of SR-µCT scans is highly valuable due to its innumerous applications in geological sciences, especially for morphology, typology, and characterization of rocks. For a great number of µCT scan slices, a manual process of segmentation would be impractical, either for the time expended and for the accuracy of results. Aiming the automatic segmentation of SR-µCT geological sample images, we applied and compared Energy Minimization via Graph Cuts (GC) algorithms and Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs), as well as the well-known K-means and Fuzzy C-Means algorithms. The Dice Similarity Coefficient (DSC), Sensitivity and Precision were the metrics used for comparison. Kruskal-Wallis and Dunn's tests were applied and the best methods were the GC algorithms and ANNs (with Levenberg-Marquardt and Bayesian Regularization). For those algorithms, an approximate Dice Similarity Coefficient of 95% was achieved. Our results confirm the possibility of usage of those algorithms for segmentation and posterior quantification of porosity of an igneous rock sample SR-µCT scan.

Utilização de agente esclerosante no tratamento de hemangioma lingual: relato de caso / Use of sclerosing agent in the treatment of lingual hemangioma: a case report

O hemangioma é uma neoplasia benigna que se caracteriza por proliferação endotelial anormal. Acomete a região maxilofacial com predileção pelos lábios, língua e mucosa jugal. O tratamento pode ser realizado por diferentes formas terapêuticas, desde corticoterapia até a excisão cirúrgica. Neste trabalho, descrevemos um caso clínico de hemangioma lingual, no qual se optou pela utilização de oleato de monoetanolamina a 5% - ethamolin®, obtendo-se total involução da lesão em 3 aplicações, além de nenhum sinal de recidiva após 15 meses

The hemangioma is a benign neoplasm characterized by abnormal endothelial proliferation. It affects the maxillofacial region with predilection for the lips, tongue and buccal mucosa. The treatment can be performed by different therapeutics, since steroids to surgical excision. In this work we describe a case of lingual hemangioma, where we opted to use monoethanolamine oleate 5% - ethamolin® to get the total lesion regression in 3 applications, and no sign of recurrence after 15 months

Segmentation of synchrotron radiation micro-computed tomography images using energy minimization via graph cuts.

The research on applications of segmentation algorithms to Synchrotron Radiation X-Ray micro-Computed Tomography (SR-µCT) is an open problem, due to the interesting and well-known characteristics of SR images, such as the phase contrast effect. The Energy Minimization via Graph Cuts (EMvGC) algorithm represents state-of-art segmentation algorithm, presenting an enormous potential of application in SR-µCT imaging. We describe the application of the algorithm EMvGC with swap move for the segmentation of bone images acquired at the ELETTRA Laboratory (Trieste, Italy).

Phase contrast X-ray synchrotron imaging for assessing external and internal morphology of Rhodnius prolixus.

PhC-SR-µCT is a nondestructive technique that allows the microanatomical investigations and 3D images reconstructions. This technique is performed in blood sucker, Rhodnius prolixus--one of the most important insect vectors of Trypanosoma cruzi, ethiologic agent of Chagas' disease in Latin America--was able to provide excellent information about the microanatomy of the thorax and head allowing a new tool for further studies of development and physiology of triatomine by a non-invasive method of observation.