Specialized or secondary metabolites are small molecules of biological origin, often showing potent biological activities with applications in agriculture, engineering and medicine. Usually, the biosynthesis of these natural products is governed by sets of co-regulated and physically clustered genes known as biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs). To share information about BGCs in a standardized and machine-readable way, the Minimum Information about a Biosynthetic Gene cluster (MIBiG) data standard and repository was initiated in 2015.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRoundup Transorb (RDT) is the most popular glyphosate-based herbicide (GHB) used in agriculture, and its impact extends to non-target organisms. The annual killifish Austrolebias charrua is an endangered species endemic to southern South America and inhabits temporary ponds. This study evaluates the effects of RDT concentrations (0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: 3D reconstruction of Wilms' tumor provides several advantages but are not systematically performed because manual segmentation is extremely time-consuming. The objective of our study was to develop an artificial intelligence tool to automate the segmentation of tumors and kidneys in children.
Methods: A manual segmentation was carried out by two experts on 14 CT scans.
Background: A mismatch between myocardial oxygen supply and demand is the most common cause of ischemic myocardial injury in older persons. The subendocardial viability ratio (SEVR) can usefully estimate the degree of myocardial perfusion relative to left-ventricular workload. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the ability of SEVR to predict long-term mortality in the older population.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: To identify drivers of preference for growth hormone deficiency (GHD) treatment in French children, and their caregivers, and to quantify the relative importance of different aspects of treatment modalities using a discrete choice experiment (DCE).
Materials And Methods: Attributes characterizing GHD treatment modalities were identified through a literature review, qualitative interviews and focus groups with children, adolescents, and caregivers. A DCE questionnaire of 12 choice tasks was administered online to four groups of participants: autonomous adolescents (12 to 18 years), non-autonomous adolescent / caregiver dyads, caregivers of non-autonomous children (3 to 11 years) and autonomous children / caregiver dyads.
We demonstrate a novel scheme for Raman-pulse and Bragg-pulse atom interferometry based on the 5S-6P blue transitions of ^{87}Rb that provides an increase by a factor ∼2 of the interferometer phase due to accelerations with respect to the commonly used infrared transition at 780 nm. A narrow-linewidth laser system generating more than 1 W of light in the 420-422 nm range was developed for this purpose. Used as a cold-atom gravity gradiometer, our Raman interferometer attains a stability to differential acceleration measurements of 1×10^{-8} g at 1 s and 2×10^{-10} g after 2000 s of integration time.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To evaluate the quality of information on gestational syphilis (GS) and congenital syphilis (CS) on the Sistema de Informação de Agravos de Notificação (SINAN-Syphilis Brazil - Notifiable Diseases Information System) by compiling and validating completeness indicators between 2007 and 2018.
Methods: Overall, care, and socioeconomic completeness scores were compiled based on selected variables, by using ad hoc weights assigned by experts. The completeness scores were analysed, considering the region and area of residence, the pregnant woman's race/colour, and the year of case notification.
Background: Physical activity at high-altitudes is increasingly widespread, both for tourist trekking and for the growing tendency to carry out sports and training activities at high-altitudes. Acute exposure to this hypobaric-hypoxic condition induces several complex adaptive mechanisms involving the cardiovascular, respiratory and endocrine systems. A lack of these adaptive mechanisms in microcirculation may cause the onset of symptoms of acute mountain sickness, a frequent disturbance after acute exposure at high altitudes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Congenital syphilis (CS) is a major and avoidable cause of neonatal death worldwide. In this study, we aimed to estimate excess all-cause mortality in children under 5 years with CS compared to those without CS.
Methods And Findings: In this population-based cohort study, we used linked, routinely collected data from Brazil from January 2011 to December 2017.
The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to investigate the influence of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), related to genes in salivary composition and flow, on dental caries experience. Sixteen studies were included in the systematic review and ten in the meta-analysis. Forty-four SNPS, covering four genes ( and ) were identified.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: In Brazil, asbestos was intensively used from the 1960s until its ban in 2017. Mesothelioma, asbestosis, and pleural plaques are typical asbestos-related diseases (ARD-T). To create an ARD-T national database, death records from 1996-2017 were retrieved from several health information systems (HIS).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Exposure to high altitudes determines several adaptive mechanisms affecting in a complex way the whole cardiovascular, respiratory, endocrine systems because of the hypobaric hypoxic condition. The aim of our study was to evaluate the circulatory adaptive mechanisms at high altitudes, during a scientific expedition in the Himalayas. Methods: Arterial distensibility was assessed measuring carotid-radial and carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity.
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View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe aim of this study is to compare the mortality rates for typical asbestos-related diseases (ARD-T: mesothelioma, asbestosis, and pleural plaques) and for lung and ovarian cancer in Brazilian municipalities where asbestos mines and asbestos-cement plants had been operating (areas with high asbestos consumption, H-ASB) compared with in other municipalities. The death records for adults aged 30+ years were retrieved from multiple health information systems. In the 2000-2017 time period, age-standardized mortality rates (standard: Brazil 2010) and standardized rate ratios (SRR; H-ASB vs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Environ Health Res
June 2023
Front Endocrinol (Lausanne)
February 2022
Objective: Efficacy of pharmacological treatments for acromegaly has been assessed in many clinical or real-world studies but no study was interested in economics evaluation of these treatments in France. Therefore, the objective of this study was to estimate the cost-utility of second-line pharmacological treatments in acromegaly patients.
Methods: A Markov model was developed to follow a cohort of 1,000 patients for a lifetime horizon.
High-power and narrow-linewidth laser light is a vital tool for atomic physics, being used for example in laser cooling and trapping and precision spectroscopy. Here we produce Watt-level laser radiation at 457.75 nm and 460.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground Estimation of the balance between subendocardial oxygen supply and demand could be a useful parameter to assess the risk of myocardial ischemia. Evaluation of the subendocardial viability ratio (SEVR, also known as Buckberg index) by invasive recording of left ventricular and aortic pressure curves represents a valid method to estimate the degree of myocardial perfusion relative to left ventricular workload. However, routine clinical use of this parameter requires its noninvasive estimation and the demonstration of its reliability.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnvironmental factors might influence the carbon balance and sugar content in grapevine. In this two-year research, the STELLA software was employed to predict dry matter accumulation in Sangiovese vines, comparing the traditional vertical shoot positioning (VSP) and the single high wire (SHW) trellis systems. Every week, vegetative, eco-physiological and grape quality parameters were collected for 15 tagged vines per trellis system to set up the software.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA patient with history of dilated cardiomyopathy, a cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillator, and endocardial ablation presented for refractory ventricular tachycardia 3 years after implantation of a Jarvik 2000 left ventricular assist device (Jarvik Heart, Inc., New York, New York). Open-chest epicardial ablation safely and effectively terminated the arrhythmia, without ventricular tachycardia recurrence at 9-month follow-up and in the absence of complications during the hospital stay.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOccup Med (Lond)
August 2021
Background: Brazil has a long history of heavy asbestos consumption. However, the number of asbestos-related diseases (ARDs) falls far below the one expected compared with other asbestos consumer countries.
Aims: To examine underreporting of ARDs, that is mesothelioma, asbestosis and pleural plaques, in Brazil's Mortality Information System (SIM).
Grapevine canopy defoliation is a fundamentally important technique for the productivity and quality of grapes. Leaf removal is a pivotal operation on high-density vines which aims to improve air circulation, light exposure, and leaf gas exchange. The effects of leaf removal (LR) on vine physiology and berry composition in Cabernet Sauvignon grapevines were studied during the 2018-2019 growing season in the Bolgheri area, Tuscany, Italy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To develop a linkage algorithm to match anonymous death records of cancer of the larynx (ICD-10 C32X), retrieved from the Mortality Information System (SIM) and the Hospital Information System of the Brazilian Unified National Health System (SIH-SUS) in Brazil.
Methodology: Death records containing ICD-10 C32X codes were retrieved from SIM and SIH-SUS, limited to individuals aged 30 years and over, between 2002 and 2012, in the state of São Paulo. The databases were linked using a unique key identifier developed with sociodemographic data shared by both systems.