Publications by authors named "Joana Rocha"

Although the classification of chest radiographs has long been an extensively researched topic, interest increased significantly with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Existing results are promising; however, the radiological similarities between COVID-19 and other types of respiratory diseases limit the success of conventional image classification approaches that focus on single instances. This study proposes a novel perspective that conceptualizes COVID-19 pneumonia as a deviation from a normative distribution of typical pneumonia patterns.

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  • Several clinical trials confirm that dupilumab is effective and safe for treating atopic dermatitis (AD), but there’s limited information on its long-term real-world outcomes.
  • A retrospective study of 312 adult patients in Portugal found a 30-month drug survival rate of 82%, with 12.5% discontinuing treatment mainly due to treatment failure or adverse effects.
  • Significant improvements were observed in skin severity (EASI score), itchiness (NRS), and quality of life (DLQI), showcasing the drug's effectiveness over the follow-up period.
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  • Apes have two sex chromosomes: the essential Y chromosome for male reproduction and the X chromosome necessary for both reproduction and cognition, with differences in mating patterns affecting their function.
  • Studying these chromosomes is challenging due to their repetitive structures, but researchers created gapless assemblies for five great apes and one lesser ape to explore their evolutionary complexities.
  • The Y chromosomes are highly variable and undergo significant changes compared to the more stable X chromosomes, and this research can provide insights into human evolution and aid in the conservation of endangered ape species.
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Water security and industrial wastewater treatment are significant global concerns. One of the main issues with environmental contamination has been the discharge of dye wastewater from the textile and dye industries, contributing to an ever-growing problem with water pollution, poisoning water supplies, and harming the ecosystem. The traditional approach to wastewater treatment has been found to be inefficient, and biosorption techniques and mechanisms have been proven to be a successful replacement for conventional methods.

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The adoption of agriculture, first documented ~12,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent, triggered a rapid shift toward starch-rich diets in human populations. Amylase genes facilitate starch digestion and increased salivary amylase copy number has been observed in some modern human populations with high starch intake, though evidence of recent selection is lacking. Here, using 52 long-read diploid assemblies and short read data from ~5,600 contemporary and ancient humans, we resolve the diversity, evolutionary history, and selective impact of structural variation at the amylase locus.

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This study aims to evaluate the hepatoprotective, hypolipidemic and aortic morphometric effects of fish oil rich in omega-3 in hypercholesterolemic BALB/c mice. This is an experimental model that included 16 male BALB/c mice () divided into three groups (G1 (standard commercial chow and 0.9% saline solution), G2 (hypercholesterolemic diet and 0.

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Chest X-ray scans are frequently requested to detect the presence of abnormalities, due to their low-cost and non-invasive nature. The interpretation of these images can be automated to prioritize more urgent exams through deep learning models, but the presence of image artifacts, e.g.

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  • Apes have two main sex chromosomes, X and Y, where Y is crucial for male reproduction and its deletions can lead to infertility, while X is important for both reproduction and brain function.
  • Recent advancements in genomic techniques helped researchers create complete structures of the X and Y chromosomes for multiple great ape species, allowing them to explore their evolutionary complexities.
  • Findings indicate that Y chromosomes are highly variable and undergo rapid changes due to unique genetic regions and transposable elements, while X chromosomes are more stable, highlighting differing evolutionary paths among great ape species.
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Background And Objective: Convolutional neural networks are widely used to detect radiological findings in chest radiographs. Standard architectures are optimized for images of relatively small size (for example, 224 × 224 pixels), which suffices for most application domains. However, in medical imaging, larger inputs are often necessary to analyze disease patterns.

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The reprogramming of cellular metabolism of immune cells is an essential process in the regulation of antifungal immune responses. In particular, glucose metabolism has been shown to be required for protective immunity against infection with Aspergillus fumigatus. However, given the intricate cross talk between multiple metabolic networks and signals, it is likely that cellular metabolic pathways other than glycolysis are also relevant during fungal infection.

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Chicks are ideal to follow the development of the intestinal microbiota and to understand how a pathogen perturbs this developing population. Taxonomic/metagenomic analyses captured the development of the chick microbiota in unperturbed chicks and in chicks infected with Salmonella enterica serotype Typhimurium (STm) during development. Taxonomic analysis suggests that colonization by the chicken microbiota takes place in several waves.

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Tendon and ligament traumatic injuries are among the most common diagnosed musculoskeletal problems. Such injuries limit joint mobility, reduce musculoskeletal performance, and most importantly, lower people's comfort. Currently, there are various treatments that are used to treat this type of injury, from surgical to conservative treatments.

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The knowledge of bacterial species diversity within the female urinary microbiome (FUM) is essential for understanding the role of the FUM in urinary tract health and disease. This study aimed to characterize the bacterial species diversity of the FUM of asymptomatic reproductive-age European women by combining extended culturomics and long-read sequencing of the near-full-length 16S rRNA gene. A total of 297 bacterial species (median of 53 species/sample) were identified, yet only 22% of the species were detected by both culture and sequencing methods.

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Semi-empirical models are used to predict the power spectral density of wall pressure fluctuations in the turbulent boundary layer. Current advancements in power spectral density wall pressure fluctuation prediction have focused on expanding the range of experiments that can be predicted to include adverse pressure gradient flows; however, favorable pressure gradient flows have not received much attention. An experiment was performed to capture the effects of the favorable pressure gradient on the power spectral density.

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Pyoderma gangrenosum (PG) is a rare chronic neutrophilic dermatosis that can be associated with underlying conditions, such as inflammatory bowel disease and neoplasms, or can be idiopathic. Classically, it presents as painful skin lesions. We present a case of a 54-year-old woman who got a synovial cyst removed from her left hand, which later aggravated into a non-healing wound, and subsequently a painful necrotic ulcer.

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The objective of this study is to assess, in zebrafish, the effects of combining linseed oil (LO) and clove leaf essential oil (CLEO) on the incorporation of fatty acids in the muscle, oxidative markers, lipid peroxidation and expression of the PPAR-α (Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor-α) and the SREBP-2 (Sterol Regulatory Element Binding Protein-2) genes. Six diets were prepared, containing combinations of LO (3, 6 and 9%) and CLEO (0.5 and 1%): 3% LO + 0.

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The evolutionary history of African ungulates has been explained largely in the light of Pleistocene climatic oscillations and the way these influenced the distribution of vegetation types, leading to range expansions and/or isolation in refugia. In contrast, comparatively fewer studies have addressed the continent's environmental heterogeneity and the role played by its geomorphological barriers. In this study, we performed a range-wide analysis of complete mitogenomes of sable antelope (Hippotragus niger) to explore how these different factors may have contributed as drivers of evolution in southcentral Africa.

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  • * The Portuguese Society of Dermatology and Venereology's Atopic Dermatitis Group created guidelines to address clinical questions about treating moderate-to-severe cases with biologic agents and JAK inhibitors.
  • * The recommendations are based on a comprehensive review of existing guidelines, new treatment options, and expert opinions, covering aspects like treatment goals, severity assessment, and monitoring for these therapies.
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Deserts are among the harshest environments on Earth. The multiple ages of different deserts and their global distribution provide a unique opportunity to study repeated adaptation at different timescales. Here, we summarize recent genomic research on the genetic mechanisms underlying desert adaptations in mammals.

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The data was collected in the Karagwe and Kyerwa districts of the Kagera region in north-west Tanzania. It encompasses 150 smallholder farming households, which were interviewed on the composition of their household, agricultural production and use of organic farm waste. The data covers the two previous rainy seasons and the associated vegetation periods between September 2016 and August 2017.

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Two Gram-stain-positive strains, c9Ua_26_M and c11Ua_112_M, were isolated from voided urine samples from two healthy women. Comparative 16S rRNA gene sequences demonstrated that these novel strains were members of the genus . Phylogenetic analysis based on gene sequences and core genomes showed that each strain formed a separated branch and are closest to DSM 5837.

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Background: To date, information on healthy female urinary microbiota is available mostly at genus level and at one time point. However, profound species-level characterization of healthy urinary microbiome and its stability over time are essential for further correct interpretation of its role in healthy urogenital tract. In this study, we investigated female urogenital microbiome (FUM) at two timepoints (within 2.

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Evolution is a key concept of biology, fundamental to understand the world and address important societal problems, but research studies show that it is still not widely understood and accepted. Several factors are known to influence evolution acceptance and understanding, but little information is available regarding the impacts of the curriculum on these aspects. Very few curricula have been examined to assess the coverage of biological evolution.

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