Challenging Paradigms Around the Role of Colony Size, Taxa, and Environment on Bleaching Susceptibility.

Understanding how bleaching severity varies across space and among and within taxa helps predict changes in community composition due to climate change and informs conservation efforts. Photogrammetry offers a non-invasive and time effective method for quantifying attributes of thousands of coral colonies across large, environmentally diverse reef areas. This approach circumvents the limitations of traditional survey methods, where detailed tracking of individual colonies comes at the expense of large sampling areas and sample sizes.

Transcriptional time-course analysis during ash dieback infection revealed different responses in tolerant and susceptible Fraxinus excelsior genotypes.

Hymenoscyphus fraxineus, the causal agent of Ash Dieback (ADB), has been introduced to eastern Europe in the 1990s from where it spread causing decline in European ash populations. However, the genetic basis of the molecular response in tolerant and susceptible ash trees to this disease is still largely unknown. We performed RNA-sequencing to study the transcriptomic response to the disease in four ash genotypes (ADB-tolerant FAR3 and FS36, and ADB-susceptible UW1 and UW2), during a time-course of 7, 14, 21, and 28 days post-inoculation, including mock-inoculated trees as control samples for each sampling time point.

Enhancing Cancer Supportive Care: Integrating Psychosocial Support, Nutrition, and Physical Activity Using Telehealth Solutions.

This review explores current guidelines for integrating psychosocial support, nutrition, and physical activity into cancer care and examines the resources available to deliver comprehensive care effectively and equitably, with a focus on telehealth solutions. A review of current guidelines related to psychosocial support, nutrition, and exercise in oncology published between the years 2020 and 2024 was conducted. Additionally, relevant articles from the authors' personal archives were included.

Clinicogenetic characterization and response to disease-modifying therapies in spinal muscular atrophy: real-world experience from a reference center in Southern Brazil.

Objective: Spinal Muscular Atrophy linked to chromosome 5q (SMA) is an autosomal recessive neurodegenerative disease characterized by progressive proximal muscle atrophy and weakness. This study addresses the scarcity of research on novel disease-modifying therapies for SMA in Latin America by reporting a real-world experience in Southern Brazil.

Methodology: This is a single-center historical cohort that included all patients diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy at a Regional Reference Service for rare diseases.

Prevalence of muscle atrophy in pediatric patients during ICU hospitalization.

To evaluate the muscle thickness and prevalence of muscle atrophy of the biceps brachii/brachialis (BB) and quadriceps femoris (QF) in critically ill children using ultrasound (US). The prospective longitudinal study was conducted in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) of a tertiary hospital in southern Brazil with children and adolescents of both sexes, aged 1 month to 12 years, on invasive mechanical ventilation for 24 h. US measurements were taken up to 24 h after admission, 72 h after, and weekly until discharge from the PICU.

Geographic variation of mutagenic exposures in kidney cancer genomes.

International differences in the incidence of many cancer types indicate the existence of carcinogen exposures that have not yet been identified by conventional epidemiology make a substantial contribution to cancer burden. In clear cell renal cell carcinoma, obesity, hypertension and tobacco smoking are risk factors, but they do not explain the geographical variation in its incidence. Underlying causes can be inferred by sequencing the genomes of cancers from populations with different incidence rates and detecting differences in patterns of somatic mutations.

Outpatient Palliative Care Program: Impact on Home Death Rate in Brazil.

While the positive impact of early palliative care on the quality of life of cancer patients is well established, there is a noticeable research gap in developing countries. This study sought to determine the impact of an outpatient palliative care (OPC) program on the location of death among patients in Brazil. This was a retrospective study including patients with cancer who died between January 2022 and December 2022 in 32 private cancer centers in Brazil.

No apparent trade-offs associated with heat tolerance in a reef-building coral.

As marine species adapt to climate change, their heat tolerance will likely be under strong selection. Yet trade-offs between heat tolerance and other life history traits could compromise natural adaptation or assisted evolution. This is particularly important for ecosystem engineers, such as reef-building corals, which support biodiversity yet are vulnerable to heatwave-induced mass bleaching and mortality.

DNA damage and antioxidant capacity in COPD patients with and without lung cancer.

Background And Objective: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is characterized by chronic inflammation of the lower airways, and COPD patients show two to five times higher risk of lung cancer than smokers with normal lung function. COPD is associated with increased oxidative stress, which may cause DNA damage and lung carcinogenesis. Our aim was to evaluate DNA damage and oxidative stress (lipid peroxidation and antioxidant status) and their relationship in patients with COPD with and without lung cancer.

Nine-Year Follow-Up of Interleukin 6 in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease - Complementary Results from Previous Studies.

Background: Systemic manifestations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are related to increased systemic inflammatory process; however, it is not entirely clear how much they are related and how the systemic inflammation, in particular interleukin-6 (IL-6), is associated with exacerbation and mortality risk.

Objective: To evaluate the role of IL-6 in COPD patients over nine years.

Study Design And Methods: A total of 133 COPD patients were assessed at baseline between 2004 and 2006 and reassessed after three and nine years through clinical evaluation, comorbidities, hematological blood count and IL-6 analysis.

Photogrammetry as a tool to improve ecosystem restoration.

Ecosystem restoration has been practiced for over a century and is increasingly supported by the emergent applied science of restoration ecology. A prerequisite for successful ecosystem restoration is determining meaningful and measurable goals. This requires tools to monitor success in a standardized way.

Predictive factors for premature birth and respiratory exacerbation in pregnancies of women with cystic fibrosis.

Objective: In this present study, the authors evaluated the predictive factors for adverse maternal-fetal outcomes in pregnancies of women with cystic fibrosis (CF). Patients were followed up by a referral center for adults in southern Brazil.

Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study that used data from electronic medical records regarding pregnancies of women diagnosed with CF.

Translation of the UK-Birth-Satisfaction-Scale-Revised (BSS-R) into Brazilian (Portuguese) and description of initial measurement properties.

Rationale: The concept of birth satisfaction embraces many factors, which include for example perceived quality of care provision, stress experienced, and personal coping strategies. A woman's birth experience has the power to affect her mental health, decisions surrounding future birth planning, and quality of relationships with her partner and family. The UK-Birth-Satisfaction-Scale-Revised (UK-BSS-R) is currently recommended as the tool of choice by the International Consortium for Health Outcome Measures (ICHOM) for measuring women's experiences of childbirth.

Peripheral Blood Eosinophils and Nine Years Mortality in COPD Patients.

Background: Eosinophil counts increase during chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbation and influence the response to different agents (such as inhaled and systemic corticosteroids), as well as increase the production of other inflammatory cytokines. However, few studies have evaluated the association between peripheral blood eosinophils with mortality rate.

Objective: To evaluate the association between peripheral blood eosinophils and mortality rate in COPD patients over a nine-year period.

HOSPITAL PHYSICAL THERAPY MANAGEMENT IN PEDIATRIC PATIENTS WITH COVID-19: CASE REPORTS.

Objective: To report the physiotherapeutic management of two pediatric cases with COVID-19 admitted in a reference state hospital to treat the disease in Porto Alegre, Southern Brazil.

Cases Description: Case 1, female, 10-month-old child, pre-existing chronic disease, hospitalized since birth, mechanical ventilation dependency via tracheotomy, progressed with hypoxemia, requiring oxygen therapy, and increased ventilator parameters, and a diagnosis of COVID-19 was confirmed. Airway clearance and pulmonary expansion maintenance therapies were performed.

Exploring C-CAM plasticity within the Portulaca oleracea complex.

Portulaca oleracea is a C herb capable of performing CAM under drought stress. It is distributed worldwide and is either considered a polymorphic species or a complex of subspecies, due to its numerous morphological variations. We evaluated CAM plasticity within P.

Functional deficit in children with congenital heart disease undergoing surgical correction after intensive care unit discharge.

Objective: To evaluate the functional status of pediatric patients undergoing congenital heart surgery after discharge from the intensive care unit, and to evaluate the correlations among clinical variables, functional status and surgical risk.

Methods: Cross-sectional study including patients aged 1 month to less than 18 years undergoing congenital heart surgery between October 2017 and May 2018. Functional outcome was assessed by the Functional Status Scale, surgical risk classification was determined using the Risk Adjustment for Congenital Heart Surgery-1 (RACHS-1), and clinical variables were collected from electronic medical records.

3D Imaging Insights into Forests and Coral Reefs.

Forests and coral reefs are structurally complex ecosystems threatened by climate change. In situ 3D imaging measurements provide unprecedented, quantitative, and detailed structural information that allows testing of hypotheses relating form to function. This affords new insights into both individual organisms and their relationship to their surroundings and neighbours.

C and crassulacean acid metabolism within a single leaf: deciphering key components behind a rare photosynthetic adaptation.

Although biochemically related, C and crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) systems are expected to be incompatible. However, Portulaca species, including P. oleracea, operate C and CAM within a single leaf, and the mechanisms behind this unique photosynthetic arrangement remain largely unknown.

Challenges and perspectives in porcine model of acute lung injury using oleic acid.

The oleic acid (OA) models of lung injury try to simulate the findings of human Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS). However, these models are difficult to replicate because they vary in terms of animals species, OA doses, time for establishment of lung injury, different observation periods and settings of mechanical ventilation. The objective of this study was to evaluate a protocol of administration of OA in lung injury model, challenges in its development and its effects on respiratory mechanics, hemodynamic changes, histology, gas exchange and mortality.

Refugia under threat: Mass bleaching of coral assemblages in high-latitude eastern Australia.

Environmental anomalies that trigger adverse physiological responses and mortality are occurring with increasing frequency due to climate change. At species' range peripheries, environmental anomalies are particularly concerning because species often exist at their environmental tolerance limits and may not be able to migrate to escape unfavourable conditions. Here, we investigated the bleaching response and mortality of 14 coral genera across high-latitude eastern Australia during a global heat stress event in 2016.

Functional Status Scale: Cross-Cultural Adaptation and Validation in Brazil.

Objective: The goal of the present study was to perform a cross-cultural adaptation and clinical validation of the Functional Status Scale for use in the Brazilian population.

Design: Cross-cultural adaptation study followed by a cross-sectional validation study.

Setting: Single-center PICU at a hospital in Porto Alegre, Brazil.

Early mobilization protocols for critically ill pediatric patients: systematic review.

Objective: To describe the existing early mobilization protocols in pediatric intensive care units.

Methods: A systematic literature review was performed using the databases MEDLINE®, Embase, SciELO, LILACS and PeDRO, without restrictions of date and language. Observational and randomized and nonrandomized clinical trials that described an early mobilization program in patients aged between 29 days and 18 years admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit were included.