Sclerotherapy for vascular malformations in the oral and maxillofacial region: treatment and follow-up of 66 lesions.

Purpose: The aim of the present study was to relate the use of 5% monoethanolamine oleate in sclerotherapy for vascular malformations and to suggest a protocol for its use.

Patients And Methods: A total of 53 patients with 66 vascular malformation lesions were treated with an intralesional injection of 5% monoethanolamine oleate at 0.1 mL/cm of lesion with at least a 15-day interval and as many as 4 applications.

VO2 Off Transient Kinetics in Extreme Intensity Swimming.

Unlabelled: Inconsistencies about dynamic asymmetry between the on- and off- transient responses in oxygen uptake are found in the literature. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to characterize the oxygen uptake off-transient kinetics during a maximal 200-m front crawl effort, as examining the degree to which the on/off regularity of the oxygen uptake kinetics response was preserved. Eight high level male swimmers performed a 200-m front crawl at maximal speed during which oxygen uptake was directly measured through breath-by-breath oxymetry (averaged every 5 s).

Efficacy and safety of intravenous iron sucrose in treating adults with iron deficiency anemia.

Background: Iron deficiency is the most common disorder in the world, affecting approximately 25% of the world`s population and the most common cause of anemia.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of intravenous iron sucrose (IS) in the treatment of adults with iron deficiency anemia

Methods: Eighty-six adult patients with iron deficiency anemia, who had intolerance or showed no effect with oral iron therapy, received a weekly dose of 200 mg of intravenous iron sucrose until the hemoglobin level was corrected or until receiving the total dose of intravenous iron calculated for each patient

Results: The mean hemoglobin and serum ferritin levels were 8.54 g/dL and 7.

Concurrent breast stroma sarcoma and breast carcinoma: a case report.

Introduction: Breast cancer is one of the most important health problems in the world and affects a great number of women over the entire globe. This group of tumors rarely presents as bilateral disease and, when it does happen, normally occurs within the same histological type. We report a rare case of concurrent bilateral breast cancer with two different histology types, a breast carcinoma and a breast sarcoma, in a 42-year-old woman referred to our hospital.

Flutter valve improves respiratory mechanics and sputum production in patients with bronchiectasis.

Background And Purpose: Although the application of airway clearance techniques is considered an important component in the treatment of several obstructive pulmonary diseases, there is no scientific evidence supporting the use of Flutter Valve™ in the management of patients with bronchiectasis. Moreover, the consequences of respiratory physiotherapy techniques on respiratory mechanics have not been fully studied. Therefore, we investigated the acute, short-term effects of Flutter Valve™ on respiratory mechanics and sputum production in bronchiectatic patients.

Distinction of isolated tumour cells and micrometastasis in lymph nodes of breast cancer patients according to the new Tumour Node Metastasis (TNM) definitions.

Isolated tumour cells and micrometastases represent two different staging categories and are often dealt with differently when identified in sentinel lymph nodes of breast cancer patients. The reproducibility of these categories was found to be suboptimal in several studies. The new edition of the TNM (Tumour Node Metastasis) is expected to improve the reproducibility of these categories.

Role of the addition of cabergoline to the management of acromegalic patients resistant to longterm treatment with octreotide LAR.

The aim of this prospective open trial was to evaluate the efficacy in normalizing IGF-I levels of the addition of cabergoline to the treatment of acromegalic patients partially responsive to Octreotide-LAR (OCT-LAR), a long acting somatotastin analog (SSA). Fifty-two patients who did not achieve hormonal control after longterm therapy (at least, 12 months) with OCT-LAR (30 mg every 28 days intramuscularly) were given cabergoline in addition to the SSA treatment. Normalization of IGF-I levels was achieved in 40.

Joint fMRI brain activation detection and segmentation using level sets.

This paper proposes a parametric, multivariate method for the joint detection and segmentation of brain activation based on fMRI data. The proposed technique uses region based level sets to separate between the task-related and non-task-related regions and performs, at each iteration of level set evolution, a separate multivariate linear model (MLM) analysis in each of the two regions. Simulations using synthetic data generated based on typical experimental parameters and noise levels showed a false positive rate of 6% and a false negative rate of 2% for the results obtained with the proposed technique.

Multiple-Model Set-Valued Observers: a new tool for HRF model selection in fMRI.

This paper proposes a new approach for the selection of a biophysical model describing the haemodynamic response function (HRF) measured in BOLD-fMRI data, based on model falsification techniques. Specifically, the novel method of Multiple Model Set-Valued Observers (MMSVOs) is introduced. The observers consider that the initial state lives in a set, the linear time-varying dynamic system obtained from a bilinear approximation of the nonlinear HRF model about the nominal input signal is uncertain, and the output measurements are corrupted by bounded noise.

On the distinguishability of HRF models in fMRI.

The problem of model falsification or model invalidation appears in several areas where we are interested in distinguishing among an eligible set of dynamic systems. In the context of fMRI studies of brain activity, modeling the haemodynamic response function (HRF) is a critical step. The estimation of the dynamic system describing a biophysical model of the HRF may leave much uncertainty on the exact values of the parameters.

Bayesian optimization of perfusion and transit time estimation in PASL-MRI.

Pulsed Arterial Spin Labeling (PASL) techniques potentially allow the absolute, non-invasive quantification of brain perfusion and arterial transit time. This can be achieved by fitting a kinetic model to the data acquired at a number of inversion time points (TI). The intrinsically low SNR of PASL data, together with the uncertainty in the model parameters, can hinder the estimation of the parameters of interest.

An energy balance of the 200 m front crawl race.

The purpose of the present study was to determine the relative contribution of the aerobic (Aer), anaerobic lactic (AnL) and alactic (AnAl) energy sources during each of the four laps of a 200 m front crawl race. Additionally, energy cost (C) and arm stroke efficiency were also computed. Ten international swimmers performed a 200 m front crawl swim, as well as 50, 100, and 150 m at the 200 m pace.

Capsule endoscopy in inflammatory bowel disease type unclassified and indeterminate colitis serologically negative.

Background: The value of capsule endoscopy in the setting of inflammatory bowel disease type unclassified (IBDU) and indeterminate colitis (IC) remains obscure. The aim was to evaluate the clinical impact of capsule endoscopy on IBDU/IC patients with negative serology.

Methods: Eighteen patients with long-standing IBDU (n = 14) and IC (n = 4) were enrolled to undergo a capsule endoscopy and then followed prospectively.

Determination of the drag coefficient during the first and second gliding positions of the breaststroke underwater stroke.

The purpose of the current study was to assess and to compare the hydrodynamics of the first and second gliding positions of the breaststroke underwater stroke used after starts and turns, considering drag force (D), drag coefficient (CD) and cross-sectional area (S). Twelve national-level swimmers were tested (6 males and 6 females, respectively 18.2±4.

The role of stochasticity on compactness of the native state of protein peptide backbone.

A restricted angular random-walk model to build up polypeptide structures, which encompasses properties of the dihedral-angle Ramachandran map of folded proteins, is proposed to study the role of stochasticity on the compactness of the native state of proteins. Sample structures will be built with lengths ranging from 125 up to 400 amino acids for the different fractions of secondary structure motifs, from which dihedral angles were randomly chosen according to narrow Gaussian probability distributions. Physical properties of these polypeptide protein backbones such as the radius of gyration, the compactness parameter, the number of contacts, and the associated energy were computed and analyzed from an ensemble of thousands of realizations of protein peptide chains built with different rates of alpha-helix or beta-strand motifs.

Small-bowel capsule endoscopy in patients with suspected Crohn's disease-diagnostic value and complications.

Background: The aim of this work was to assess the value of capsule enteroscopy in the diagnosis of patients with suspected Crohn's Disease (CD). Methods. This was a retrospective study in a single tertiary care centre involving patients undergoing capsule enteroscopy for suspected CD.

Bis-alkylamine quindolone derivatives as new antimalarial leads.

Quindolone derivatives, designed to target the malaria parasite digestive vacuole and heme detoxification pathway, have been synthesized by reaction with 2-chloro-N,N-diethylethanamine. This reaction gave N,O-, N,N- and O-alkylated products containing one or two basic side-chains. The compounds were evaluated for antiplasmodial activity against the chloroquine-resistant Plasmodium falciparum W2 strain and for cytotoxicity in HepG2 A16 hepatic cells.

CARD15 mutations and colorectal cancer in a South European country.

Purpose: CARD15 mutations are associated with higher susceptibility to Crohn's disease (CD) and longstanding colonic CD increases the risk of developing colorectal cancer (CRC). The relation between these mutations and sporadic CRC remains controversial. The aim of this study was to assess whether germline and/or somatic CARD15 mutations are risk factors for sporadic CRC in Portugal and whether there are genotype-phenotype correlations in these patients.

Air-cathode microbial fuel cell array: a device for identifying and characterizing electrochemically active microbes.

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) have generated excitement in environmental and bioenergy communities due to their potential for coupling wastewater treatment with energy generation and powering diverse devices. The pursuit of strategies such as improving microbial cultivation practices and optimizing MFC devices has increased power generating capacities of MFCs. However, surprisingly few microbial species with electrochemical activity in MFCs have been identified because current devices do not support parallel analyses or high throughput screening.

Influence of aerobic fitness on age-related lymphocyte DNA damage in humans: relationship with mitochondria respiratory chain and hydrogen peroxide production.

The aim of this study was to analyze the influence of aerobic fitness (AF) on age-related lymphocyte DNA damage in humans, giving special attention to the role of the mitochondrial respiratory chain and hydrogen peroxide production. Considering age and AF (as assessed by VO(2)max), 66 males (19-59 years old) were classified as high fitness (HF) or low fitness (LF) and distributed into one of the following groups: young adults (19-29 years old), adults (30-39 years old), and middle-aged adults (over 40 years old). Peripheral lymphocytes obtained at rest were used to assess DNA damage (strand breaks and formamidopyrimidine DNA glycosylase (FPG) sites through the comet assay), activity of mitochondrial complexes I and II (polarographically measured), and the hydrogen peroxide production rate (assayed by fluorescence).

Interdomain conjugal transfer of DNA from bacteria to archaea.

Escherichia coli transforms the methanogenic archaeon Methanococcus maripaludis at frequencies ranging from 0.2 x 10(-6) to 2 x 10(-6) per recipient cell. Transformation requires cell-to-cell contact, oriT, and tra functions, is insensitive to DNase I, and otherwise displays hallmarks of conjugation.