Amanitin determination in bile samples by UHPLC-MS: LR-MS and HR-MS analytical performance.

Consumption of misidentified foraged mushrooms containing bicyclic amanitin octapeptides is a worldwide public health and veterinary problem, being considered one of the deadliest accidental human and canine food ingestion due to acute liver failure (ALF). Reversal of advanced ALF and complete clinical recovery can be achieved following definitive removal of accumulated amatoxin laden bile from the gallbladder. An accurate means of quantifying amanitin content in aspirated bile is, therefore, urgently needed. Building on our prior work validating a method to detect and quantify amanitin in hepatic autopsy tissue, the development of an accurate method of measuring α- and ß-amanitin in aspirated gallbladder bile was performed to evaluate the efficiency of this emergency procedure applied as a clinical treatment for intoxicated patients. A solid-phase extraction (SPE) procedure was optimized followed by detection based on ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS). Low resolution mass spectrometry (LRMS) was compared with high resolution (HRMS) by the validation of UHPLC-MS/MS (triple quadrupole MS) and UHPLC-ToF-MS (time-of-flight MS). Both methods were able to detect amatoxins in bile with limits of detection and quantification ranging from 2.71 to 3.46 µg.kg-1, and 8.36-9.03 µg.kg-1 for α-amanitin and, 0.32-1.69 µg.kg-1 and 0.55-5.62 µg.kg-1 for ß-amanitin, respectively. Validation was completed with the evaluation of linearity, specificity, robustness, recovery, and precision following the ICH guidelines and CIR 808/2021. The validated methods were finally applied to bile samples obtained 48-96 hours + post-ingestion from 4 amatoxin poisoning patients who underwent gallbladder drainage procedures in Vietnam, Canada, and California. Gallbladder bile from patients with amatoxin mushroom poisoning contained significant amanitin content, even when aspirated several days post-ingestion, thus confirming the important role of enterohepatic circulation in amatoxin hepatotoxicity. This work represents a high and unique analytical throughput in amanitin poisoning allowing to efficiently respond to this fatal health problem.

Epidemiological, immunological, and treatment response profile of patients with lupus nephritis in Brazil.

BACKGROUND AND HYPOTHESIS: Brazil has the largest number of individuals of African descent outside Africa and a very admixed population. Among cases of lupus nephritis (LN) in the country, there are differences in incidence, and even in severity, depending on the location and characteristics of the population studied. The aim of this study was to describe the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of LN in Brazil, as well as to determine which of those characteristics would be risk factors for a poor renal prognosis. METHODS: This was a retrospective, descriptive observational study of patients diagnosed with LN who underwent kidney biopsy between 1999 and 2015 in the Nephrology Department of the Hospital das Clínicas, in São Paulo, Brazil. Data were collected from electronic medical records. RESULTS: We evaluated 398 patients, among who 94.1% and 77.7% tested positive for antinuclear antibodies and anti-DNA antibodies, respectively, whereas 33.7% showed the full-house pattern. The time from LN symptom onset to biopsy was <6 months in 47.5% (early biopsy group) and ≥6 months in 52.5% (late biopsy group). In the early biopsy group, the chronicity index was lower and the activity index was higher. Multivariate analysis showed that a higher chronicity index was the only independent risk factor for progression to requiring kidney replacement therapy. CONCLUSION: Late biopsy seems to be associated with negative renal outcomes in LN. However, it seems that a higher chronicity index is the main predictor of a poor renal outcome among patients with LN in Brazil.

Clinical and ultrasound findings of 'swimmer's shoulder' and its association with training history in elite Portuguese swimmers: a cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the prevalence of shoulder injuries and ultrasound findings in elite Portuguese swimmers and their association with symptoms and personal or training-related factors. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted at the Portuguese Open and Youth Swimming National Championships between 27 and 30th July 2022. Each athlete entered details regarding personal and training history into a questionnaire and underwent a physical and ultrasound shoulder examination. RESULTS: A total of 102 swimmers out of 662 Portuguese athletes were included in the study. Shoulder pain experienced during the previous season was reported by 42% of the athletes. A high prevalence of shoulder structural abnormalities was noted, specifically supraspinatus tendinosis (91%), tears (29%), and subacromial bursitis (29%). Specific training for injury prevention was associated with higher rates of infraspinatus tendinosis (p = 0.047), and supraspinatus tears were linked to greater swimming distances per week (p < 0.001) and practice (p < 0.001), more years of practice (p = 0.018), shoulder pain at the time of evaluation (p = 0.023), a higher number of missed competitions (p = 0.041), and shoulder injections (p = 0.009). Subacromial bursitis was associated with shoulder pain at the time of evaluation (p = 0.002) and during the previous season (p < 0.001), missed competitions (p < 0.001), and requirement for physical therapy (p = 0.006). CONCLUSIONS: A high prevalence of shoulder morphological changes was found in surveyed swimmers and there were several associations with training load, regardless of individual characteristics of each athlete. It is essential to understand the true impact of current injury prevention programs and to develop effective measures to protect swimmers' health.

Diversity and botanical composition of native species in the Pampa biome in vineyards cultivated on soils with high levels of copper, zinc and manganese and phytoremediation potential.

Viticulture allows the preservation of native species inside vineyards in the Pampa biome. However, phytosanitary treatments in these areas can increase the levels of Cu, Zn and Mn. The study aimed to (i) verify the influence of Cu, Zn and Mn contents in Pampa biome soils; (ii) identify variables related to Cu, Zn and Mn that most contribute to the variation in richness, diversity, and dry matter production of native vegetation, (iii) investigate the phytoremediation potential of species present in vineyards. Botanical composition, Cu, Zn, Mn available in the soil, and plant nutritional composition in two vineyards (V1 and V2) and native field (NF) were evaluated. Vineyards showed higher Cu, Zn and Mn contents in the soil, resulting in the lowest biomass, richness, and diversity of native species. Mn in tissue was the most important variable in explaining the variation in dry matter. Zn in the soil helped to explain the difference in species richness and diversity. P concentration in tissue was important in elucidating the variation in species diversity. Paspalum plicatulum and Paspalum notatum have potential for phytostabilization of metals in vineyards.

Paraplegia Following Ultrasound-Guided Caudal Epidural Block in Chronic Lumbosciatica: What Can Be Learned From This Complication?

Caudal epidural block is a procedure that involves the injection of anesthetic agents through the sacral hiatus, commonly used for regional anesthesia. It is also valuable for chronic pain management in lumbosacral conditions, trauma, and palliative care. Ultrasound-guided caudal epidural blocks can be an alternative to fluoroscopy-guided techniques and have demonstrated a notably high success rate. However, despite both techniques being generally regarded as safe, they can lead to severe complications, such as abscesses, epidural hematomas, and subdural punctures. Furthermore, documented instances of lumbosacral region anomalies, stemming from either anatomical variations or underlying pathology, have been associated with an elevated risk of some of these complications. The authors report a rare case of paraplegia following an ultrasound-guided caudal block in a patient with refractory chronic lumbosciatica. This case underscores the need for vigilance in risk assessment and detailed procedural planning. It also highlights the importance of transparent communication, particularly during informed consent, to convey risks and benefits to the patient and their family.

Regulated and Emerging Mycotoxins in Bulk Raw Milk: What Is the Human Risk?

Mycotoxins are abiotic hazards whose contamination occurs at the pre- and post-harvest stages of the maize value chain, with animal exposure through contaminated feed leading to their excretion into milk. Currently, only aflatoxin M1 is regulated in milk products. Since feed materials and complete feed present a multi-mycotoxin composition and are the main mycotoxin source into milk, it is important to recognize the occurrence of multiple toxins and their co-occurrence in this highly consumed food product. The aim of this study was to determine the content of regulated and emerging mycotoxins in milk samples, which allowed for evaluating the occurrence and co-occurrence patterns of different mycotoxins known to contaminate feed materials and complete animal feed. Human exposure considering the occurrence patterns obtained was also estimated. Aflatoxins, fumonisins, zearalenone, and emerging mycotoxins were among the mycotoxins found to be present in the 100 samples analyzed. Concentrations ranged from 0.006 to 16.3 µg L-1, with no sample exceeding the AFM1 maximum level. Though several mycotoxins were detected, no exceeding values were observed considering the TDI or PMTDI. It can be concluded that the observed exposure does not pose a health risk to milk consumers, though it is important to recognize vulnerable age groups.

Does the Elapsed Time from Bleaching and the Use of Sodium Ascorbate Influence the Bond Strength of Resin Cement to Bleached Enamel?

The objective of this study was to evaluate different delaying times after bleaching and the use of different sodium ascorbate (SA) concentrations (10% and 35%) in the bond strength of adhesive cementation to enamel. This study used 54 sound bovine incisors, which were randomly assigned to the following groups: G1 (unbleached/control+ adhesive cementation (AC)); G2 (bleached + AC after 7 days); G3 (bleached + 10% SA + AC after 24 h); G4 (bleached + 10% SA + AC after 7 days); G5 (bleached + 35% SA + AC after 24 h); and G6 (bleached + 35% SA + AC after 7 days). After bleaching, G3, G4, G5, and G6 received an application of SA before the cylinders build up with RelyX Veneer cement. The samples were subjected to microshear test, and the results were analyzed by two-way ANOVA with Tukey's post hoc test. Group one presented the highest mean bond strength (19.1 MPa) and G3 the lowest (16.96 MPa). There was no statistical difference between the groups tested (p ˃ 0.05). The fracture pattern observed was predominantly mixed. The adhesive cementation may be performed 24 h after bleaching when SA (10% or 35%) is used or after 7 days, without compromising bond strength.

Cell-free supernatant of probiotic bacteria exerted antibiofilm and antibacterial activities against Pseudomonas aeruginosa: A novel biotic therapy.

Aim: This study aims to verify the antibacterial and antibiofilm action of cell-free spent medium (CFSM) from four lactic acid bacteria with potential probiotic characteristics (Lactiplantibacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus johnsonii, and Lactobacillus delbrueckii) against two Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains. Main methods: The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of the CFSM, antibacterial activity by analysing the formation of inhibition zones, and inhibition of planktonic cultures were determined. Whether an increase in the concentration of CFSM influenced the growth of pathogenic strains and the anti-adhesive activity of the CFSM in biofilm formation (crystal violet and MTT assays) were determined, which were all corroborated by using scanning electron microscopy. Key findings: The relationship between the MIC and MBC values showed a bactericidal or bacteriostatic effect for all the cell-free spent media (CFSMs) tested for P. aeruginosa 9027™ and 27853™ strains. The CFSM supplemental doses of 18 or 22%, 20 or 22%, 46 or 48%, and 50 or 54% of L. acidophilus, L. delbrueckii, L. plantarum, and L. johnsonii, respectively, could completely inhibit the growth of both pathogen strains. The antibiofilm activity of the CFSM in three biofilm conditions (pre-coated, co-incubated, and preformed) demonstrated values ranging between 40% and 80% for biofilm inhibition, and similar results were observed for cell viability. Significance: This work provides strong evidence that the postbiotic derived from different Lactobacilli could be practical as an adjuvant therapy for reducing the use of antibiotics, being a good candidate to overcome the growing challenge of hospital infections due to this pathogen.

Assessing pharmaceuticals in the green seaweed Ulva lactuca through a multi-residue UHPLC-ToF-MS strategy.

Seaweeds have become an important asset in several sectors, including the food and feed industries, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals, among others. Whether harvested or reared, interest in algae has been growing worldwide due to the resources they offer, including proteins, vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, essential fatty acids, and dietary fiber, as well as sources of biologically active compounds. However, given their morphology and physiology, as well as their harvest and cultivation environments, algae are prone to the presence of hazards, including pharmaceuticals taken up from the water. Thus, to ensure human and animal safety as well as environmental health, monitoring is essential. Therefore, this work describes the development and validation of a sensitive screening and confirmatory analytical method based on ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-ToF-MS). This multi-residue method enables the determination of 62 pharmaceuticals distributed between 8 therapeutic classes and was fully validated according to Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/808.

Data Science Methods and Tools for Industry 4.0: A Systematic Literature Review and Taxonomy.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution, also named Industry 4.0, is leveraging several modern computing fields. Industry 4.0 comprises automated tasks in manufacturing facilities, which generate massive quantities of data through sensors. These data contribute to the interpretation of industrial operations in favor of managerial and technical decision-making. Data science supports this interpretation due to extensive technological artifacts, particularly data processing methods and software tools. In this regard, the present article proposes a systematic literature review of these methods and tools employed in distinct industrial segments, considering an investigation of different time series levels and data quality. The systematic methodology initially approached the filtering of 10,456 articles from five academic databases, 103 being selected for the corpus. Thereby, the study answered three general, two focused, and two statistical research questions to shape the findings. As a result, this research found 16 industrial segments, 168 data science methods, and 95 software tools explored by studies from the literature. Furthermore, the research highlighted the employment of diverse neural network subvariations and missing details in the data composition. Finally, this article organized these results in a taxonomic approach to synthesize a state-of-the-art representation and visualization, favoring future research studies in the field.

Posture monitoring in healthcare: a systematic mapping study and taxonomy.

Palliative treatments for back pain usually include exercise, analgesics, physiotherapy, prostheses, and surgery in severe cases. Technologies for postural monitoring are growing, and they are important in preventing back pain and mitigating permanent damage. Remote work, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic, made people spend more time than usual in chairs and environments not certified by the health aspects of work. This research investigated through a Systematic Mapping Study (SMS) contributions in posture monitoring for healthcare in smart environments, including the different methods to obtain the posture, the limitations, and the target audience of the proposed models. The SMS was conducted in eight databases, including articles from January 2012 to March 2022. The initial search yielded 3161 articles, of which 34 were selected after applying the filtering criteria. Moreover, this study presents the challenges related to posture behavior monitoring, identifying studies and implementations that apply assistive technology for postural monitoring and improving the health and life of remote workers. In addition, three commercial postural devices are presented, and what challenges they currently face. Regarding healthcare, results showed a prevalence of using the Internet of Things (IoT) devices such as wireless sensor networks and inertial measurement unit (IMU) sensors. This article also proposes a taxonomy, showing the most used technologies and algorithms for improving posture, besides the posture-monitoring hierarchy classifying into three important branches: (a) Data Collect; (b) Data Transmission; and (c) Data Analysis.

Breast cancer dataset with biomarker Biglycan.

This dataset is composed of photomicrographs of the immunohistochemical expression of Biglycan (BGN) in breast tissue, with and without cancer, using only the staining of 3-3' diaminobenzidine (DAB), after processing images with color deconvolution plugin, from Image J. The immunohistochemical DAB expression of BGN was obtained using the monoclonal antibody (M01) (clone 4E1-1G7 - Abnova Corporation, mouse anti-human). Photomicrographs were obtained, under standard conditions, using an optical microscope, with UPlanFI 100x objective (resolution: 2.75 mm), yielding an image size of 4800 × 3600 pixels. After color deconvolution, the dataset with 336 images was divided into 2 two categories: (I) with cancer and (II) without cancer. This dataset allows the training and validation of machine learning models to diagnose, recognize and classify the presence of breast cancer, using the intensity of the colors of the BGN.

Mycotoxins in Raw Bovine Milk: UHPLC-QTrap-MS/MS Method as a Biosafety Control Tool.

Mycotoxins are compounds produced by several fungi that contaminate agricultural fields and, either directly or by carry-over, final food products. Animal exposure to these compounds through contaminated feed can lead to their excretion into milk, posing threats to public health. Currently, aflatoxin M1 is the sole mycotoxin with a maximum level set in milk by the European Union, as well as the most studied. Nonetheless, animal feed is known to be contaminated by several groups of mycotoxins with relevance from the food safety point of view that can be carried over into milk. To evaluate the multi-mycotoxin occurrence in this highly consumed food product it is crucial to develop precise and robust analytical methodologies towards their determination. In this sense, an analytical method for the simultaneous identification of 23 regulated, non-regulated, and emerging mycotoxins in raw bovine milk using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) was validated. A modified QuEChERS protocol for extraction purposes was used, and further validation was performed by assessing the selectivity and specificity, limits of detection and quantification (LOD and LOQ), linearity, repeatability, reproducibility, and recovery. The performance criteria were compliant with mycotoxin-specific and general European regulations for regulated, non-regulated, and emerging mycotoxins. The LOD and LOQ ranged between 0.001 and 9.88 ng mL-1 and 0.005 and 13.54 ng mL-1, respectively. Recovery values were between 67.5 and 119.8%. The repeatability and reproducibility parameters were below 15 and 25%, respectively. The validated methodology was successfully applied to determine regulated, non-regulated, and emerging mycotoxins in raw bulk milk from Portuguese dairy farms, proving the importance of widening the monitoring scope of mycotoxins in dairy products. Additionality, this method presents itself as a new strategic and integrated biosafety control tool for dairy farms for the analysis of these natural and relevant human risks.

Ubiquitous computing in light of human phenotypes: foundations, challenges, and opportunities.

The interest in human phenotypes has leveraged interdisciplinary efforts encouraging a better understanding of the broad spectrum of psychological and behavioral disorders. Moreover, the usage of mobile and wearable devices along with unobtrusive computational capabilities provides an extensive amount of information that allows the characterization of phenotypes. This article describes the human phenotype through the lens of computational range and reviews state-of-the-art computational phenotyping. Furthermore, the article discusses computational phenotyping's extension concerning the combination of intelligent environments and personal mobile devices, addressing technical, managerial, and ethical challenges. This combination reinforces ubiquitous computational capabilities for phenotyping as a facilitator of interdisciplinary information convergence in favor of clinical and biomedical research.

Imbalanced data preprocessing techniques for machine learning: a systematic mapping study.

Machine Learning (ML) algorithms have been increasingly replacing people in several application domains-in which the majority suffer from data imbalance. In order to solve this problem, published studies implement data preprocessing techniques, cost-sensitive and ensemble learning. These solutions reduce the naturally occurring bias towards the majority sample through ML. This study uses a systematic mapping methodology to assess 9927 papers related to sampling techniques for ML in imbalanced data applications from 7 digital libraries. A filtering process selected 35 representative papers from various domains, such as health, finance, and engineering. As a result of a thorough quantitative analysis of these papers, this study proposes two taxonomies-illustrating sampling techniques and ML models. The results indicate that oversampling and classical ML are the most common preprocessing techniques and models, respectively. However, solutions with neural networks and ensemble ML models have the best performance-with potentially better results through hybrid sampling techniques. Finally, none of the 35 works apply simulation-based synthetic oversampling, indicating a path for future preprocessing solutions.

SARcopenia Assessment in Hypertension: The SARAH Study.

OBJECTIVES: The aims of the study were to investigate the relationship between sarcopenia and renin-angiotensin system-related disorders and to explore the effects of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin II receptor blockers on muscle mass/function and physical performance. DESIGN: This multicenter, cross-sectional study was performed using ISarcoPRM algorithm for the diagnosis of sarcopenia. RESULTS: Of the 2613 participants (mean age = 61.0 ± 9.5 yrs), 1775 (67.9%) were hypertensive. All sarcopenia-related parameters (except chair stand test in males) were worse in hypertensive group than in normotensive group (all P < 0.05). When clinical/potential confounders were adjusted, hypertension was found to be an independent predictor of sarcopenia in males (odds ratio = 2.403 [95% confidence interval = 1.514-3.813]) and females (odds ratio = 1.906 [95% confidence interval = 1.328-2.734], both P < 0.001). After adjusting for confounding factors, we found that all sarcopenia-related parameters (except grip strength and chair stand test in males) were independently/negatively related to hypertension (all P < 0.05). In females, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors users had higher grip strength and chair stand test performance values but had lower anterior thigh muscle thickness and gait speed values, as compared with those using angiotensin II receptor blockers (all P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Hypertension was associated with increased risk of sarcopenia at least 2 times. Among antihypertensives, while angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors had higher muscle function values, angiotensin II receptor blockers had higher muscle mass and physical performance values only in females.

Towards ubiquitous requirements engineering through recommendations based on context histories.

The growing technological advance is causing constant business changes. The continual uncertainties in project management make requirements engineering essential to ensure the success of projects. The usual exponential increase of stakeholders throughout the project suggests the application of intelligent tools to assist requirements engineers. Therefore, this article proposes Nhatos, a computational model for ubiquitous requirements management that analyses context histories of projects to recommend reusable requirements. The scientific contribution of this study is the use of the similarity analysis of projects through their context histories to generate the requirement recommendations. The implementation of a prototype allowed to evaluate the proposal through a case study based on real scenarios from the industry. One hundred fifty-three software projects from a large bank institution generated context histories used in the recommendations. The experiment demonstrated that the model achieved more than 70% stakeholder acceptance of the recommendations.

The application of parallel processing in the selection of spectral variables in beer quality control.

Parallel data analysis was investigated to improve performance in variable selection and to develop predictive models for beer quality control. A set of spectral near infrared (NIR) data from 60 beer samples and its primitive extracts as the original concentration was used. The dataset was distributed to Raspberry Pi 3 Model B devices connected to a network that was running a Machine Learning service. With more than 4 devices acting in parallel, it was possible to reduce time in 57% to find the best linear regression coefficient (0.999) with the lower RMSECV (0.216) if compared to a singular desktop computer. Thus, parallel processing can significantly reduce the time to indicate the best model fitted during the variable's selection.

Inhibitory control stimulation in elementary school children through digital games: A systematic mapping study.

The inhibitory control is a component of the executive functions that allows the individual to inhibit inadequate behaviors, resist distractions and select a relevant stimulus when executing activities. In the neuropsychology field, evidences of stimulation and improvement of the inhibitory control through school interventions is sought by using computerized software, such as digital games. These research studies constitute an important investigation area within the executive functions in ecological approaches. This paper presents a systematic mapping study on inhibitory control stimulation in elementary school children with the use of digital games. The investigation encompassed an automated database search with further backward snowballing procedure with the final selection for additional publications as research strategy. The automated search considered six databases: SCOPUS, PubMed, IEEE Explore Digital Library, ACM Library, Springer Link, and Scielo. The initial database search found 641 works published between 2014 and 2019. After the exclusion and inclusion criteria were considered, three publications related to digital games or mobile applications were found and selected for analysis, which focused on inhibitory control or correlated processes stimulation in school-based interventions with elementary school children. Results indicated that investigations within the field are incipient, pointing to an emerging research area.

Ultrasound-Guided Procedures in the Cervical Spine.

Cervical pain is a common symptom among the general population. When conservative strategies fail to provide pain relief, cervical spine injections may be considered. Compared with cervical surgery, cervical injections have low major complications and, with the right indication, have demonstrated good results. Traditionally, these types of procedures have been performed under fluoroscopy; however, in recent years, ultrasound has become a more common imaging modality to guide spinal injections. Although ultrasound presents an excellent quality image for soft tissue and allows ​the observation of vascular tissues, nerves, and the contour of bone surfaces, the cervical region has a complicated neurovascular network and a comprehensive understanding of the cervical sonoanatomy should remain as the basis before one can plan cervical ultrasound-guided intervention. This paper aims to show the advantages of ultrasound in facilitating the performance of cervical spine procedures, including facet joint injections, medial branch blocks, and selective nerve root blocks; analyze the sonoanatomy and landmarks of commonly intervened cervical structures; and illustrate how these procedures can be performed safely and precisely under ultrasound guidance.