Petrographic and Petrophysical Characterization of Sandstones from Rio Bonito Formation, Paraná Basin (Southern Brazil).

This study focuses on the laboratory-scale petrophysical characterization of sandstones from the Rio Bonito Formation (Lower Permian), Paraná Basin, carried out from drill core samples from well PN-14-SC.02 obtained by CPRM-Brazilian Geological Service in the 1980s on the eastern edge of the Basin. This study includes integrating experimental data from routine petrophysics, sedimentary petrography, and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) obtained from 6 samples arranged in the normal direction of the stratification, present between 40 and 200 m deep.

Integrated focal psychotherapy: Results from a retrospective study.

Background: The focus-based integrated model (FBIM) is a form of psychotherapy that integrates psychodynamic and cognitive psychotherapy and Erikson's life cycle model. Although there are many studies on the effectiveness of integrated models of psychotherapy, few have examined the efficacy of FBIM.

Objective: This pilot study explores clinical outcome measures concerning individual wellbeing, the presence/absence of symptoms, life functioning, and risk in a cohort of subjects after they received FBIM therapy.

Novel Perspectives for the Management of Multilingual and Multialphabetic Heritages through Automatic Knowledge Extraction: The DigitalMaktaba Approach.

The linguistic and social impact of multiculturalism can no longer be neglected in any sector, creating the urgent need of creating systems and procedures for managing and sharing cultural heritages in both supranational and multi-literate contexts. In order to achieve this goal, text sensing appears to be one of the most crucial research areas. The long-term objective of the project, born from interdisciplinary collaboration between computer scientists, historians, librarians, engineers and linguists, is to establish procedures for the creation, management and cataloguing of archival heritage in non-Latin alphabets.

Effect of Vitamin D and Docosahexaenoic Acid Co-Supplementation on Vitamin D Status, Body Composition, and Metabolic Markers in Obese Children: A Randomized, Double Blind, Controlled Study.

Obese children are at high risk of developing vitamin D deficiency. Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and their derivatives might have a beneficial effect on vitamin D status of obese children, due to their anti-inflammatory action, and increasing its absorption. This multicenter, randomized, double-blind controlled study aims to investigate the effect of vitamin D and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) co-supplementation for six months on vitamin D status, body composition, and metabolic markers of obese children with vitamin D deficiency.

Trace metals enrichment and potential ecological risk in sediments of the Sepetiba Bay (Rio de Janeiro, SE Brazil).

The Sepetiba Bay (SB; SE Brazil) has been severely affected by growing of urbanization and industrial activity. This work aims to analyze the evolution of contamination by metals of sediments in SB. The results show a marked increasing trend in the concentrations of potentially toxic elements (PTEs), which is consistent with the rapid populational and industrial growth, mostly since 1970 CE.

The Italian National Registry for FSHD: an enhanced data integration and an analytics framework towards Smart Health Care and Precision Medicine for a rare disease.

Background: The Italian Clinical network for FSHD (ICNF) has established the Italian National Registry for FSHD (INRF), collecting data from patients affected by Facioscapulohumeral dystrophy (FSHD) and their relatives. The INRF has gathered data from molecular analysis, clinical evaluation, anamnestic information, and family history from more than 3500 participants.

Methods: A data management framework, called Mediator Environment for Multiple Information Sources (MOMIS) FSHD Web Platform, has been developed to provide charts, maps and search tools customized for specific needs.

Disentangling natural vs. anthropogenic induced environmental variability during the Holocene: Marambaia Cove, SW sector of the Sepetiba Bay (SE Brazil).

Multiproxy approach based on textural, mineralogical, geochemical, and microfaunal analyses on a 176-cm-long core (SP8) has been applied to reconstruct the Holocene paleoenvironmental changes and disentangling natural vs. anthropogenic variability in Marambaia Cove of the Sepetiba Bay (SE Brazil). Sepetiba Bay became a lagoonal system due to the evolution and development of the Marambaia barrier island during the Holocene and the presence of an extensive river basin.

Multicenter study demonstrates radiomic features derived from magnetic resonance perfusion images identify pseudoprogression in glioblastoma.

Pseudoprogression (PsP) is a diagnostic clinical dilemma in cancer. In this study, we retrospectively analyse glioblastoma patients, and using their dynamic susceptibility contrast and dynamic contrast-enhanced perfusion MRI images we build a classifier using radiomic features obtained from both Ktrans and rCBV maps coupled with support vector machines. We achieve an accuracy of 90.

Progressive bone impairment with age and pubertal development in neurofibromatosis type I.

Unlabelled: Bone density impairment represents an established complication in adults with neurofibromatosis type 1, while few data exist in the pediatric population. Age- and gender-adjusted bone mass decreases with age and pubertal development, identifying childhood as the best time frame to introduce prevention strategies aiming at peak bone mass achievement.

Purpose: The present study aims at evaluating bone mineral density (BMD) in a population of children with neurofibromatosis type I (NF-1), with particular focus on changes occurring during growth and pubertal development.

Complications of Radiotherapy and Radiosurgery in the Brain and Spine.

Unlabelled: Radiation therapy is an integral part of the standard of care for many patients with brain and spine tumors. Stereotactic radiation surgery is increasingly being used as an adjuvant therapy as well as a sole treatment. However, despite newer and more focused techniques, radiation therapy still causes significant neurotoxicity.

Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser Syndrome and 16p11.2 Recurrent Microdeletion: A Case Report and Review of the Literature.

Background: Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser syndrome (MRKH; Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man #277000) is a rare disorder of the female reproductive tract. Its etiology is still unknown for most patients, although the genetic background of this condition has been intensively studied. Chromosome 16p11.

Relevant aspects of imaging in the diagnosis and management of gout.

Gout is an inflammatory arthritis characterized by the deposition of monosodium urate crystals in the synovial membrane, articular cartilage and periarticular tissues leading to inflammation. Men are more commonly affected, mainly after the 5th decade of life. Its incidence has been growing with the population aging.

Birmingham epidermolysis severity score and vitamin D status are associated with low BMD in children with epidermolysis bullosa.

Unlabelled: Bone status impairment represents a complication of generalized forms of epidermolysis bullosa (EB); however, the prevalence and the main determinants of this event in localized forms remain poorly defined. Birmingham epidermolysis bullosa severity (BEBS) score and 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels are strongly associated with low bone mass, suggesting that vitamin D may play a potential beneficial role in bone health. Further longitudinal studies are needed in order to confirm this hypothesis.

Transcranial direct current stimulation and cognitive training in the rehabilitation of Alzheimer disease: A case study.

In the present study we tested the cognitive effects of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in a case of probable Alzheimer disease (AD). The patient (male, 60 years, mild AD) underwent two cycles of treatments, separated by 2 months. In the first cycle, active stimulation (10 sessions, 2 mA for 20 min; anode over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex) was followed by computerised tasks (CTs) specifically chosen to engage the most impaired cognitive processes in the patient (tDCS+CT condition).

Analysis of short- and long-term metabolic effects of growth hormone replacement therapy in adult patients with craniopharyngioma and non-functioning pituitary adenoma.

Purpose: Adult patients operated for craniopharyngioma develop more frequently GH deficiency (GHD) than patients operated for non-functioning pituitary adenoma (NFPA). The aim of the study was to compare both short- (1 year) and long-term (5 years) effects of rhGH in 38 GHD adult patients (19 operated for Craniopharyngioma (CP) and 19 for NFPA).

Methods: IGF-I levels, body composition (BF%), BMI, lipid profile and glucose homeostasis were evaluated in all patients.

Evaluation of pituitary function after infectious meningitis in childhood.

Background: A number of studies of adults have shown that pituitary deficiencies can develop in a considerable proportion of subjects during the acute phase of meningitis or years after the infection has disappeared. The results of the very few studies of the impact of pediatric meningitis on hypothalamic-pituitary function are conflicting.

Methods: In order to determine the incidence of pituitary dysfunction in children with central nervous system infection, we evaluated pituitary function and anthropometric parameters in 19 children with meningitis of different etiologies (15 males; mean age ± standard deviation [SD] at pituitary evaluation, 5.

Impact of IGF(CA)19 gene polymorphism on the metabolic response to GH therapy in adult GH-deficient patients.

Objective: A polymorphism in the promoter region of the IGF1 gene has been linked to serum IGF1 levels, risk of diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases with conflicting results. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of this polymorphism on the short-term (1 year, n=98) and long-term (5 years, n=50) metabolic response to recombinant human GH (rhGH) in GH-deficient (GHD) adults.

Design And Methods: Prospective study on GHD adults.

One-year repeated cycles of cognitive training (CT) for Alzheimer's disease.

Background: Recent research suggests that a combination of both pharmacological and psychosocial treatments targeting cognitive functions improves cognition in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). The present study evaluated the effectiveness of a 1-year cognitive training (CT) by comparing the cognitive performance of 16 patients with AD treated with CT and cholinesterase inhibitors (ChEIs) (experimental group) with the performance of 16 patients treated with a non-specific cognitive treatment and ChEIs (control group).

Methods: This study was a single-blind randomized controlled trial.

Functional plasticity in Alzheimer's disease: effect of cognitive training on language-related ERP components.

Starting from the observation of a reduced gray matter in the inferior temporal regions of Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients, the present study hypothesized an altered language-related functional activity in left occipito-temporal areas in AD, and the possibility of a plastic change of these regions induced by an intensive cognitive training. To this aim, eleven mild/moderate AD underwent to a 5-week cognitive training (40 h). Before and after the training, evoked potentials were recorded from 26 scalp electrodes during a lexical decision task which required word/no-word discrimination.

Is the 250 μg ACTH test a useful tool for the diagnosis of central hypoadrenalism in adult patients with pituitary disorders?

Objective: The diagnosis of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal insufficiency (HPAI) is a major clinical challenge. The gold standard procedure remains insulin tolerance test (ITT). This study aimed to evaluate the usefulness of standard-dose corticotrophin stimulation test (SDCT) in diagnosing HPAI.

GH replacement improves quality of life and metabolic parameters in cured acromegalic patients with growth hormone deficiency.

Objective: Effects of GH replacement in patients with GH deficiency (GHD) after a cure for acromegaly so far have been poorly studied, although its prevalence among acromegalic patients may reach the 60%. The aim of the study was to evaluate whether metabolic parameters and quality of life are improved by GH replacement in patients with prior acromegaly and severe GHD.

Design And Methods: This was a prospective study on 42 GHD subjects [22 men, mean age (sd): 48 ± 10]: 10 acromegalics treated with recombinant human GH (group A), 12 acromegalics who refused treatment (group B), and 20 subjects operated for nonfunctioning pituitary adenoma on recombinant human GH (group C).

A new structural rearrangement associated to Wolfram syndrome in a child with a partial phenotype.

Wolfram syndrome (WS) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder characterized by diabetes insipidus (DI), insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (DM), optic atrophy (OA) and deafness caused by mutations in WFS1 gene (4p16.1), which encodes an endoplasmic reticulum protein, called Wolframin. We describe the case of an infant who presented hypernatremia and severe hypoplasia of the left eyeball with alteration of visual evoked potentials.

Tumor markers are elevated in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and do not indicate presence of cancer.

Aim: To investigate serum levels of tumor markers in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and their association with disease activity or the presence of cancer.

Method: We performed an observational cohort study including 100 patients with RA and control subjects. Serum levels of tumor markers carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), cancer antigen (CA) 125, CA 19-9 and CA 15-3 were evaluated along with clinical and laboratorial RA data.

Mycophenolate mofetil in primary Sjögren's syndrome: a treatment option for agranulocytosis.

The Sjögren's syndrome (SS) is an autoimmune disease characterized by a lymphocytic infiltration of salivary and lacrimal glands. Hematological manifestations of primary SS (pSS) usually consist of mild anemia, thrombocytopenia, moderate neutropenia, and lymphopenia. Agranulocytosis is rarely reported and usually responds to immunosuppression.