Long-term follow-up of treatment outcomes in Graves' disease and toxic nodular disease.

Purpose: Hyperthyroidism guidelines have not been updated over the past five years, despite numerous data on the subject, and recent studies providing a wide variation in treatment success rates. We aim to compare the effectiveness and safety of treatment modalities in patients with Graves' disease or toxic nodular disease.

Methods: Single center retrospective cohort study of Graves' disease and toxic nodular disease patients treated between 1983 and 2023.

Prognostic impact of red blood cell distribution width in chronic heart failure patients with left ventricular dysfunction.

Aims: Red blood cell (RBC) distribution width (RDW) measures RBC variations in size. Higher RDW values have been associated with poor outcome in acute heart failure (HF). We aimed to assess the prognostic impact of the RDW in chronic HF.

Prognostic impact of neurohormonal modulation in very old patients with chronic heart failure.

Background: A gap in evidence exists concerning the survival-benefit of neurohormonal blockade in older patients with chronic heart failure (HF). The purpose of our study was to investigate the neurohormonal modulation therapy in older HF patients.

Methods: We retrospectively analysed data on chronic HF patients with systolic dysfunction from January 2012 to May 2018 at a central tertiary academic hospital in Porto, Portugal.

Report of Two Cases of Acquired Idiopathic Haemophilia.

Acquired haemophilia is a rare haemorrhagic dyscrasia caused by autoantibodies against coagulation factors, most commonly factor VIII (FVIII). Even though about half of the cases are classified as idiopathic, acquired haemophilia is more common in the elderly and/or in individuals diagnosed with other immunogenic conditions such as malignancies, autoimmune diseases, or during puerperium. It can be life-threatening, presenting more frequently with major bleeding.

Simultaneous Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Flare and Disseminated Tuberculosis: Balancing Anti-Mycobacterial and Autoimmune Treatments.

Here, we report the case of a 53-year-old man with suspected autoimmune arthritis on low-dose corticosteroid therapy. He was recently hospitalized due to presumed bacterial pneumonia and a seizure episode attributed to high fever. His condition deteriorated after discharge, and he presented to our institution with a persistent cough, weight loss, skin rash, arthralgias, fever, and altered mental status.

Double-Positive Anti-GBM and ANCA-MPO Vasculitis Presenting With Crescentic Glomerulonephritis.

We report the case of a 61-year-old man with rapidly progressing glomerulonephritis (RPGN) due to double-positive anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA) and anti-glomerular basement membrane antibodies (GBM) vasculitis. The past medical history included stable untreated psoriatic arthritis and arterial hypertension. He presented with asthenia, anorexia, and rapidly deteriorating renal function with metabolic acidosis and hyperkalemia evolving with the need for hemodialysis.

C and P pool restoration by a no-tillage system on Brazilian Cerrado Oxisol in Piauí State.

The Cerrado soil is under constant modification, especially because of the use of agricultural systems, which affect soil carbon (C) and phosphorus (P) functioning. Thus, the objective of this study was to determine the C and P dynamics in Brazilian Cerrado Oxisol in Piauí State under natural and anthropic conditions, considering that conservational agricultural management and no-tillage systems can restore the C and P pools in that soil. Four soil samples with distinct characteristics (native Cerrado, NC; burned native Cerrado, BNC; conventional tillage agricultural system, CTS; and no-tillage agricultural system, NTS) were collected in the study area for chemical and physical laboratory analysis.

Maternal near miss and death among women with severe hypertensive disorders: a Brazilian multicenter surveillance study.

Background: Hypertensive disorders represent the major cause of maternal morbidity in middle income countries. The main objective of this study was to identify the prevalence and factors associated with severe maternal outcomes in women with severe hypertensive disorders.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional, multicenter study, including 6706 women with severe hypertensive disorder from 27 maternity hospitals in Brazil.

Exercise and physical activity in the prevention of pre-eclampsia: systematic review.

Exercise and physical activity have been studied and suggested as a way to reduce or minimize the effects of pre-eclampsia. Our aim was to evaluate the association between exercise and/or physical activity and occurrence of pre-eclampsia. We conducted electronic searches without year of publication and language limitations.

The prognostic value of a normal oral glucose tolerance test in pregnant women who tested positive at screening: a validation study.

Background: Controversies surround a diagnosis of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). The objective of this study was to evaluate the oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) for the prediction of adverse gestational and perinatal outcomes in pregnant women with a positive screening test for diabetes mellitus and a negative diagnosis, i.e.

Mother-to-child transmission of human immunodeficiency virus in aten years period.

Objectives: to evaluate mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) rates and related factors in HIV-infected pregnant women from a tertiary hospital between 2000 and 2009.

Subjects And Method: cohort of 452 HIV-infected pregnant women and their newborns. Data was collected from recorded files and undiagnosed children were enrolled for investigation.

[Brain-sparing effect: comparison of diagnostic indices].

Purpose: to describe adverse perinatal outcomes in patients with fetal blood flow centralization, using the relationship between the pulsatility indexes of the middle cerebral and umbilical arteries (MCAPI/UAPI), and between the resistance indexes of the middle cerebral and umbilical arteries (MCARI/UARI), as well as to compare both diagnostic indexes.

Methods: 151 pregnant women with diagnosis of blood flow centralization, attended to at the maternity hospital of Universidade Estadual de Campinas, whose delivery occurred up to 15 days after the ultrasonographic diagnosis, were included. It was considered as adverse perinatal outcomes: Apgar index lower than 7 at the fifth minute, permanence in neonatal ICU, small fetus for the gestational age, severe fetal suffering, perinatal death, hypoglycemia, polycythemia, necrotizing enterocolitis, brain hemorrhage, lung hemorrhage, anemia, septicemia, hyaline membrane disease, convulsive syndromes, hyperreflexia syndrome and kidney insufficiency.

Expression and subcellular localization of a novel nuclear acetylcholinesterase protein.

Acetylcholine is found in the nervous system and also in other cell types (endothelium, lymphocytes, and epithelial and blood cells), which are globally termed the non-neuronal cholinergic system. In this study we investigated the expression and subcellular localization of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) in endothelial cells. Our results show the expression of the 70-kDa AChE in both cytoplasmic and nuclear compartments.

Continuous immobilized yeast reactor system for complete beer fermentation using spent grains and corncobs as carrier materials.

Despite extensive research carried out in the last few decades, continuous beer fermentation has not yet managed to outperform the traditional batch technology. An industrial breakthrough in favour of continuous brewing using immobilized yeast could be expected only on achievement of the following process characteristics: simple design, low investment costs, flexible operation, effective process control and good product quality. The application of cheap carrier materials of by-product origin could significantly lower the investment costs of continuous fermentation systems.

Kinetic study of the immobilization of galvanic sludge in clay-based matrix.

The viability of inertization of galvanic wastes through their incorporation in clay-based materials, such as common formulations for tiles and bricks, is here studied by determining the leaching kinetics in different media. Metals immobilization is assured by firing at reasonably high temperatures, since intimately contact and/or reaction between residue and clay particles is promoted but also due to formation of insoluble metal oxides that rest unreactive towards clay grains. For most metals, leaching rate follows a zero-order kinetic law, with values between 0.

Physical and chemical characterisation of metal finishing industrial wastes.

In EU countries approximately 150,000 tons/year of galvanic sludges are generated by 4000 industrial units from the corresponding wastewater treatment plants. These sludges are generally classified as hazardous (European Waste Catalogue as adopted in Council Decision 2000/532/CE and as amended by Decisions 2001/118/EC, 2001/119/EC and 2001/573/CE), basically due to the presence of heavy metals. This work attempts to better understand the physical and chemical characteristics of these sludges, by studying 39 samples collected in different Portuguese industries that should represent all kinds of similar wastes independent of their place of generation.