ABSTRACT
Natural products, specifically plant extracts with biological activity and the ability to act as botanical biopesticides are often mistakenly considered nontoxic. Scientific evidence indicates the contrary, and for this reason, the objective of this work was to evaluate the toxicity of extracts obtained from Petiveria alliacea L. (Caryophyllales, Phytolaccaceae) using Daphnia magna Straus (Cladocera, Daphniidae) as a bioindicator to identify the plant extracts and the respective concentrations that present the highest toxicity. Leaves of P. alliacea were collected in the Peruvian amazone. From this material, three types of extract (hexane, ethanolic and aqueous) were prepared, which were used in the bioassays with D. magna to find the least toxic extract. Acute toxicity bioassays with D. magna during 48 h of exposure to hexane, ethanolic, and aqueous extracts yielded median lethal concentration (LC50) values of 26.9, 230.6, and 657.9 mg L-1, respectively. The aqueous extract presented the lowest toxicity, causing minimal D. magna mortality in the range of 6.67 to 13.33% at concentrations of 10 and 100 mg L-1. This result enables the efficient use of this plant species in a sustainable manner with a minimal environmental impact for the future development of natural products for pest control.
Subject(s)
Daphnia , Plant Extracts , Animals , Plant Extracts/pharmacology , Plant Extracts/chemistry , Daphnia/drug effects , Lethal Dose 50 , Peru , Toxicity Tests, Acute , Daphnia magnaABSTRACT
Staphylococcus spp. are growing pathogens in humans and companion animals. The emergence of multidrug-resistant bacterial infections, such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus-associated infections, due to zoonotic transmission, is a major public health concern. Domestic animals, such as dogs and cats, are possible reservoirs of multi-resistant bacterial species, which makes it relevant to monitor them due to their proximity to humans. However, there is a lack of information on the real scenario in Europe, especially in Portugal, particularly for animal infections caused by Staphylococcus spp. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the antimicrobial resistance profile of Staphylococcus spp. isolated from cats and dogs diagnosed with infection in Northern Portugal. During 2021-2023, 96 Staphylococcus isolates from dogs and cats with symptoms of bacterial infection, including animals being treated in veterinary clinics/hospitals and cadavers submitted for necropsy at INIAV were included in the study collection. Of the 96 isolates, 63 were from dogs and 33 were Staphylococcus spp. from cats, most of which were isolated from ear (57% and 18%, respectively), skin (19â¯% and 27â¯%, respectively) and respiratory tract infections (6â¯% and 27â¯%, respectively). Among all the isolates, 12 different Staphylococcus spp. were identified, with Staphylococcus pseudintermedius being the most identified (61â¯% from dogs and 30â¯% from cats). It is noteworthy that 36â¯% of the isolates were multi-drug resistant and 25â¯% of the isolates showed a methicillin-resistant phenotype, with the mecA gene having been identified in all these isolates. This study highlights a high occurrence of multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus spp. in companion animals in Northern Portugal. This underlines the potential for cats and dogs to act as reservoirs of antimicrobial resistance, that can be transmitted to humans, posing a serious threat to public health.
Subject(s)
Anti-Bacterial Agents , Cat Diseases , Dog Diseases , Pets , Staphylococcal Infections , Staphylococcus , Animals , Cats , Dogs , Portugal/epidemiology , Staphylococcus/drug effects , Staphylococcus/genetics , Staphylococcus/isolation & purification , Cat Diseases/microbiology , Cat Diseases/epidemiology , Staphylococcal Infections/veterinary , Staphylococcal Infections/microbiology , Staphylococcal Infections/epidemiology , Dog Diseases/microbiology , Dog Diseases/epidemiology , Anti-Bacterial Agents/pharmacology , Pets/microbiology , Microbial Sensitivity Tests/veterinary , Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial , Drug Resistance, BacterialABSTRACT
This review essay examines five Spanish-language books published in Latin America on the emergence of engineering in the region. Focusing on a period from roughly 1850 to 1970, these works share themes of foreigners and foreign education, nation-state construction, and social conceptions of prestige. This research suggests that throughout Latin America foreign educators and models were prominent in early engineering programs and enterprises. However, many historians associate the growth of engineering, especially civil engineering, with increasing state consolidation and economic intervention. As social perceptions of the value of professional engineering changed, domestic engineers increasingly became important planners and mediators. Some engineers became state leaders. By contextualizing these works with other scholarship on the history of engineering, this review essay highlights new insights while suggesting the need for greater attention to gender, race, and labor; comparisons between developments in Latin America, Africa, and Asia; and more research on private-sector engineers.
Subject(s)
Books , Engineering , Latin America , History, 20th Century , Engineering/history , Books/history , History, 19th Century , Humans , Language/historyABSTRACT
We theoretically investigate prospects for the creation of nonclassical spin states in trapped ion arrays by coupling to a squeezed state of the collective motion of the ions. The correlations of the generated spin states can be tailored for quantum-enhanced sensing of global or differential rotations of subensembles of the spins by working with specific vibrational modes of the ion array. We propose a pair of protocols to utilize the generated states and demonstrate their viability even for small systems, while assessing limitations imposed by spin-motion entanglement and technical noise. Our work suggests new opportunities for the preparation of many-body states with tailored correlations for quantum-enhanced metrology in spin-boson systems.
Subject(s)
Hemorrhage , Plant Oils , Pulmonary Alveoli , Humans , Hemorrhage/chemically induced , Plant Oils/adverse effects , Plant Oils/administration & dosage , Pulmonary Alveoli/pathology , Lung Diseases/diagnosis , Lung Diseases/chemically induced , Male , Female , Inhalation Exposure/adverse effectsABSTRACT
Humans are quite accurate and precise in interception performance. So far, it is still unclear what role auditory information plays in spatiotemporal accuracy and consistency during interception. In the current study, interception performance was measured as the spatiotemporal accuracy and consistency of when and where a virtual ball was intercepted on a visible line displayed on a screen based on auditory information alone. We predicted that participants would more accurately indicate when the ball would cross a target line than where it would cross the line, because human hearing is particularly sensitive to temporal parameters. In a within-subject design, we manipulated auditory intensity (52, 61, 70, 79, 88 dB) using a sound stimulus programmed to be perceived over the screen in an inverted C-shape trajectory. Results showed that the louder the sound, the better was temporal accuracy, but the worse was spatial accuracy. We argue that louder sounds increased attention toward auditory information when performing interception judgments. How balls are intercepted and practically how intensity of sound may add to temporal accuracy and consistency is discussed from a theoretical perspective of modality-specific interception behavior.
Subject(s)
Hearing , Sound , Humans , Acoustic Stimulation , Attention , HandABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) leads to increased intraspinal pressure that can be prevented by durotomy and duroplasty. The aim of the study was to evaluate fibrosis and neural damage in a porcine model of SCI after duroplasty and application of hyaluronic acid (HA) in the tissue cavity. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Experimental study. We created a porcine SCI model by durotomy and spinal cord hemisection of a cervical segment (1cm). Six pigs (Sus scrofa domestica) were used to evaluate three surgical scenarios: (1) control injury with dural reparative microsurgery, (2) duroplasty using bovine pericardium (BPD), and (3) previous method plus HA applied at the lesion. Animals were sacrificed one-month post-injury to assess fibrotic responses and neural tissue damage using conventional histological and immunohistochemical methods. RESULTS: In the control case, dural suture prevented invasion of the lesion by extradural connective tissue, and the dura mater showed a 1-mm thickening in the perilesional area. The bovine pericardium patch blocked the entrance of extradural connective tissue, decreased dura-mater tension, and satisfactorily integrated within the receptor tissue. However, it also enhanced subdural and perilesional fibrosis, which was not inhibited by filling the lesion cavity with low- or high-molecular-weight HA. CONCLUSIONS: Duroplasty prevents collapse of the dura-mater over the spinal cord tissue, as well as invasion of the lesion by extramedullary fibrotic tissue, without creating additional neural damage. Nevertheless, it enhances the fibrotic response in the spinal cord lesion and the perilesional area. Additional antifibrotic strategies are needed to facilitate spinal cord repair.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Postoperative outcome measurement typically relies on postoperative radiological results and clinical-functional scales; however, there is a growing interest in considering patient satisfaction (including subjective aspects) as part of the success of forefoot surgery. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether showing a preoperative photograph improves satisfaction in postoperative forefoot surgery patients. MATERIAL AND METHODS: An observational, cross-sectional, analytical study was conducted in the foot and ankle unit of our centre. We included 120 participants between 18 and 90 years old who underwent forefoot surgery. The degree of satisfaction was compared using the PSQ-10 questionnaire between a group of patients who received a preoperative foot appearance image at their 3-month postoperative follow-up and those who did not receive it. RESULTS: The overall satisfaction rate was 78.33% at 3 months after the intervention. The 93.6% of patients who received the photograph were satisfied at the postoperative follow-up, while in the control group, it was 86.2% with a p value of 0.218. CONCLUSION: The degree of satisfaction in patients undergoing forefoot surgery is not associated with the presentation of preoperative photographs.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Postoperative outcome measurement typically relies on postoperative radiological results and clinical-functional scales; however, there is a growing interest in considering patient satisfaction (including subjective aspects) as part of the success of forefoot surgery. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether showing a preoperative photograph improves satisfaction in postoperative forefoot surgery patients. MATERIAL AND METHODS: An observational, cross-sectional, analytical study was conducted in the foot and ankle unit of our center. We included 120 participants between 18 and 90 years old who underwent forefoot surgery. The degree of satisfaction was compared using the PSQ-10 questionnaire between a group of patients who received a preoperative foot appearance image at their 3-month postoperative follow-up and those who did not receive it. RESULTS: The overall satisfaction rate was 78.33% at 3 months after the intervention. The 93.6% of patients who received the photograph were satisfied at the postoperative follow-up, while in the control group, it was 86.2% with a p-value of 0.218. CONCLUSION: The degree of satisfaction in patients undergoing forefoot surgery is not associated with the presentation of preoperative photographs.
ABSTRACT
La compresión neurológica se presenta entre el 10-20% de los pacientes que desarrollan una metástasis vertebral. En la última década, la evolución de las técnicas diagnósticas y médicas oncológicas, el cambio de la radiación convencional externa a la radiocirugía y los nuevos instrumentales quirúrgicos, han hecho que el tratamiento de estos pacientes deba de ser indicado de forma personalizada y en consenso, de forma multidisciplinar, en comisiones específicas.Hoy, el estado biológico del paciente, la presencia de inestabilidad mecánica, la valoración neurológica y el grado de compresión epidural, así como la mejor categorización pronóstica del tumor, se establecen como los factores de decisión previa a la indicación del tratamiento quirúrgico, tratamiento que ha pasado de un concepto «citorreductor» al de «separador» o «preparador» de la médula para asegurar una radiocirugía segura.(AU)
Neurological compression occurs in 10%-20% of patients who develop spinal metastases. In the last decade, the evolution of oncological diagnostic and medical techniques, the change from conventional external radiation to radiosurgery and the new surgical instruments have meant that the treatment of these patients must be indicated in a personalized manner and by consensus, multidisciplinary way, in specific commissions.Today, the biological state of the patient, the presence of mechanical instability, the neurological assessment and degree of epidural compression, as well as the best prognostic categorization of the tumor, are established as decision factors prior to the indication of surgical treatment, treatment that has passed from a cytoreductive concept to that of a spinal cord release from tumor in order to ensure safe radiosurgery.(AU)
Subject(s)
Humans , Male , Female , Neoplasm Metastasis , Spine/surgery , Quality of Life , Spinal Neoplasms/drug therapy , Therapeutics/methods , Traumatology , Orthopedic Procedures , Orthopedics , NeoplasmsABSTRACT
La compresión neurológica se presenta entre el 10-20% de los pacientes que desarrollan una metástasis vertebral. En la última década, la evolución de las técnicas diagnósticas y médicas oncológicas, el cambio de la radiación convencional externa a la radiocirugía y los nuevos instrumentales quirúrgicos, han hecho que el tratamiento de estos pacientes deba de ser indicado de forma personalizada y en consenso, de forma multidisciplinar, en comisiones específicas.Hoy, el estado biológico del paciente, la presencia de inestabilidad mecánica, la valoración neurológica y el grado de compresión epidural, así como la mejor categorización pronóstica del tumor, se establecen como los factores de decisión previa a la indicación del tratamiento quirúrgico, tratamiento que ha pasado de un concepto «citorreductor» al de «separador» o «preparador» de la médula para asegurar una radiocirugía segura.(AU)
Neurological compression occurs in 10%-20% of patients who develop spinal metastases. In the last decade, the evolution of oncological diagnostic and medical techniques, the change from conventional external radiation to radiosurgery and the new surgical instruments have meant that the treatment of these patients must be indicated in a personalized manner and by consensus, multidisciplinary way, in specific commissions.Today, the biological state of the patient, the presence of mechanical instability, the neurological assessment and degree of epidural compression, as well as the best prognostic categorization of the tumor, are established as decision factors prior to the indication of surgical treatment, treatment that has passed from a cytoreductive concept to that of a spinal cord release from tumor in order to ensure safe radiosurgery.(AU)
Subject(s)
Humans , Male , Female , Neoplasm Metastasis , Spine/surgery , Quality of Life , Spinal Neoplasms/drug therapy , Therapeutics/methods , Traumatology , Orthopedic Procedures , Orthopedics , NeoplasmsABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) leads to increased intraspinal pressure that can be prevented by durotomy and duroplasty. The aim of the study was to evaluate fibrosis and neural damage in a porcine model of SCI after duroplasty and application of hyaluronic acid (HA) in the tissue cavity. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Experimental study. We created a porcine SCI model by durotomy and spinal cord hemisection of a cervical segment (1cm). Six pigs (Sus scrofa domestica) were used to evaluate three surgical scenarios: (1)control injury with dural reparative microsurgery, (2)duroplasty using bovine pericardium (BPD), and (3)previous method plus HA applied at the lesion. Animals were sacrificed one-month post-injury to assess fibrotic responses and neural tissue damage using conventional histological and immunohistochemical methods. RESULTS: In the control case, dural suture prevented invasion of the lesion by extradural connective tissue, and the dura mater showed a 1-mm thickening in the perilesional area. The bovine pericardium patch blocked the entrance of extradural connective tissue, decreased dura-mater tension, and satisfactorily integrated within the receptor tissue. However, it also enhanced subdural and perilesional fibrosis, which was not inhibited by filling the lesion cavity with low- or high-molecular-weight HA. CONCLUSIONS: Duroplasty prevents collapse of the dura-mater over the spinal cord tissue, as well as invasion of the lesion by extramedullary fibrotic tissue, without creating additional neural damage. Nevertheless, it enhances the fibrotic response in the spinal cord lesion and the perilesional area. Additional antifibrotic strategies are needed to facilitate spinal cord repair.
ABSTRACT
Introducción La enfermedad pulmonar intersticial difusa (EPID) es un grupo de enfermedades que causan un trastorno de la capacidad aeróbica y calidad de vida, además ocasionan una gran tasa de morbimortalidad para esta población. El uso de oxigenoterapia domiciliaria tiene beneficios que aún no se comparan en programas de rehabilitación pulmonar. Objetivo Determinar los efectos de un programa de rehabilitación pulmonar en la capacidad funcional y calidad de vida relacionada con la salud en pacientes con enfermedad pulmonar intersticial difusa con y sin uso de oxígeno domiciliario. Materiales y métodos Estudio cuasiexperimental en el que todos los pacientes, por conveniencia, firmaron el consentimiento informado. Se dividieron en 2 grupos: con y sin oxígeno domiciliario, evaluados antes y después de la rehabilitación pulmonar en variables clínicas, capacidad funcional y calidad de vida. Resultados Se vincularon 31 pacientes que se dividieron en 2 grupos con oxígeno y sin oxígeno domiciliario, la mayor participación fue de hombres, edad promedio de 56 años, y se obtuvo que la mayoría había acudido a urgencias. Ambos grupos presentaron mejorías en la distancia recorrida y en la ansiedad: valor-p<0,05. La calidad de vida presentó mejorías significativas por dominio en ambos grupos: valor-p<0,05. Conclusión El grupo de EPID con uso de oxígeno domiciliario presenta mayores cambios en la capacidad funcional. En cuanto a la calidad de vida el grupo EPID sin uso de oxígeno domiciliario mejoró significativamente el dominio actividades del SGRQ, y el grupo EPID con uso de oxígeno domiciliario presentó mejoría en los dominios síntomas e impacto (AU)
Introduction Diffuse Interstitial Pulmonary Disease is a group of diseases that cause a disorder of aerobic capacity and quality of life, also cause a high rate of morbidity and mortality for this population. The use of home oxygen therapy has benefits that have not yet been compared in pulmonary rehabilitation programs. Objective To determine the effects of a pulmonary rehabilitation program on functional capacity and health-related quality of life in patients with diffuse interstitial lung disease with and without the use of home oxygen. Materials and methods Quasi-experimental study, all patients for convenience who signed the informed consent. They were divided into two groups: with and without home oxygen, evaluated before and after pulmonary rehabilitation in clinical variables, functional capacity and quality of life. Results 31 patients were linked, divided into two groups with oxygen and without home oxygen, the largest participation was men, average age 56 years, it was obtained that the majority had gone to the emergency room. Both groups presented improvements in the distance traveled and in anxiety p-value≤0.05. The quality of life presented significant improvements by domain in both groups p-value≤0.05. Conclusion The ILD group with home oxygen use presents greater changes in functional capacity. Regarding quality of life, the ILD group without home oxygen use significantly improved the activities domain of the SGRQ and the ILD group with home oxygen use showed improvement in the symptoms and impact domains (AU)
Subject(s)
Humans , Male , Female , Middle Aged , Lung Diseases, Interstitial/rehabilitation , Oxygen Inhalation Therapy , Home Care Services , Breathing Exercises , Quality of LifeABSTRACT
Neurological compression occurs in 10%-20% of patients who develop spinal metastases. In the last decade, the evolution of oncological diagnostic and medical techniques, the change from conventional external radiation to radiosurgery and the new surgical instruments have meant that the treatment of these patients must be indicated in a personalized manner and by consensus, multidisciplinary way, in specific commissions. Today, the biological state of the patient, the presence of mechanical instability, the neurological assessment and degree of epidural compression, as well as the best prognostic categorization of the tumor, are established as decision factors prior to the indication of surgical treatment, treatment that has passed from a cytoreductive concept to that of a spinal cord release from tumor in order to ensure safe radiosurgery.
ABSTRACT
Objetivo: Definir el concepto de microhemorragia cerebral y revisar las secuencias de resonancia magnética (RM) utilizadas para su valoración. Revisar cuáles son las patologías que presentan microhemorragias y que pueden beneficiarse del uso de secuencias de susceptibilidad magnética (SWI). Conclusión: Las SWI son útiles en la detección y caracterización de microhemorragias, venas y otras fuentes de susceptibilidad. La secuencia SWI mejora la sensibilidad diagnóstica con respecto a las secuencias convencionales potenciadas en T2* (eco de gradiente T2* [2D-GRE]). Las microhemorragias cerebrales pueden asociarse a diversas enfermedades, aparecer en contextos clínicos menos conocidos o servir como biomarcador tumoral en gliomas (ITTS) y como marcador de actividad inflamatoria en las placas de esclerosis múltiple (EM).(AU)
Objectives: Define the concept of cerebral microbleeds (CMB) and describe the most useful MRI sequences for detecting this finding. Review the entities that most frequently present with CMB and that may benefit from the use of susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI) sequences. Conclusions: SWI is a useful MRI sequence for the detection and characterization of microhemorrhages, venous structures and other sources of susceptibility in imaging. SWI is particularly sensitive to local magnetic field inhomogeneities generated by certain substances and is superior to T2* GRE sequences for this assessment. CMB may be seen in different neurologic conditions, in certain infrequent clinical contexts and have a key role as a biomarker status in gliomas (ITTS) and as a marker of inflammatory activity in multiple sclerosis.(AU)
Subject(s)
Humans , Cerebral Intraventricular Hemorrhage/diagnostic imaging , Radiology , Magnetic Resonance SpectroscopyABSTRACT
We present an implementation of excited-state analytic gradients within the Bethe-Salpeter equation formalism using an adapted Lagrangian Z-vector approach with a cost independent of the number of perturbations. We focus on excited-state electronic dipole moments associated with the derivatives of the excited-state energy with respect to an electric field. In this framework, we assess the accuracy of neglecting the screened Coulomb potential derivatives, a common approximation in the Bethe-Salpeter community, as well as the impact of replacing the GW quasiparticle energy gradients by their Kohn-Sham analogs. The pros and cons of these approaches are benchmarked using both a set of small molecules for which very accurate reference data are available and the challenging case of increasingly extended push-pull oligomer chains. The resulting approximate Bethe-Salpeter analytic gradients are shown to compare well with the most accurate time-dependent density-functional theory (TD-DFT) data, curing in particular most of the pathological cases encountered with TD-DFT when a nonoptimal exchange-correlation functional is used.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: Define the concept of cerebral microbleeds (CMBs) and describe the most useful MRI sequences for detecting this finding. Review the entities that most frequently present with CMBs and that may benefit from the use of susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI) sequences. CONCLUSIONS: SWI is a useful MRI sequence for the detection and characterization of microhemorrhages, venous structures and other sources of susceptibility in imaging. SWI is particularly sensitive to local magnetic field inhomogeneities generated by certain substances and is superior to T2* GRE sequences for this assessment. CMBs may be seen in different neurologic conditions, in certain infrequent clinical contexts and have a key role as a biomarker status in gliomas (ITTS) and as a marker of inflammatory activity in multiple sclerosis.