Obtaining the spectroscopic quality factor through the luminescent thermometry in 50Li2O · 45B2O3 · 5Al2O3 glasses doped with Nd3+ and fluorides.

Lithium-boron-aluminum (LBA) glasses doped with N d 3+ and fluorides were produced. From the absorption spectra, their Judd-Ofelt intensity parameters, Ω 2,4,6, and spectroscopic quality factors were calculated. Exploiting their near infrared temperature dependent luminescence, we investigated their potential for optical thermometry based on the luminescence intensity ratio (LIR) methodology. Three LIR schemes were proposed, and relative sensitivity values up to 3.57±0.06% K -1 were obtained. From the temperature dependent luminescence, we alternatively calculated their corresponding spectroscopic quality factors. The results indicated that N d 3+-doped LBA glasses are promising systems for optical thermometry and as gain mediums for solid-state lasers.

Interaction Between ACTN3 (R577X), ACE (I/D), and BDKRB2 (-9/+9) Polymorphisms and Endurance Phenotypes in Brazilian Long-Distance Swimmers.

ABSTRACT: Neto, SLdA, Herrera, JJB, Rosa, TS, de Almeida, SS, Silva, GCB, Ferreira, CES, dos Santos, MAP, Silvino, VO, de Melo, GF. Interaction between ACTN3 (R577X), ACE (I/D), and BDKRB2 (-9/+9) polymorphisms and endurance phenotypes in Brazilian long-distance swimmers. J Strength Cond Res 36(6): 1591-1595, 2022-This study investigated the interactions between the polymorphisms ACTN3 (R577X), ACE (I/D), and BDKRB2 (-9/+9) and their association with endurance phenotypes in Brazilian long-distance swimmers. Twenty-six volunteers (aged 18-30 years) were divided into 2 groups as follows: 19 subelite athletes formed the pool swimming experts (PSE: 400-1500 m) group and 7 elite athletes the open water swimming experts (OWSE: 5-25 km) group. ACTN3 (R577X), ACE (I/D), and BDKRB2 (-9/+9) polymorphisms were genotyped through polymerase chain reaction. A nonathletes control (CON) group derived from studies with the Brazilian population was created. Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (X2) was observed in all groups. The total genotype score (TGS) associated with endurance phenotypes was used in this study. A significance level was established at p ≤ 0.05. PSE and CON groups had very similar genotyping distribution. The OWSE group had a greater frequency for the genotypes XX (57.1%), ID (57.1%), and the alleles X (71.4%) and I (57.2%) than CON and PSE groups (XX = 21.1 and 21.1%; ID = 47.1 and 52.6% [p > 0.05]; X = 44.0 and 42.1%; I = 45.3 and 42.1%, respectively). Considering BDKRB2, OWSE and PSE groups had a greater frequency of +9/+9 than the CON group (42.9% and 31.6 vs. 27.5%, respectively). Although the expected genotypic distribution was not verified among athletes, the TGS revealed small supremacy of 3-5 typical alleles in the OWSE group (54.8 ± 26.7%) compared with the PSE group (41.2 ± 17.8%) (p = 0.072; confidence interval = 95%; effect size = 0.95). The OWSE group seem to have benefited from the best genotype profile verified for ACTN3 and ACE. However, the results of this work should be approached with caution because of the small number of athletes and polymorphisms assessed.

Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor and Psychophysiological Response in Youth Badminton Athletes During the Season.

PURPOSE: To analyze peripheral brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels and psychophysiological parameters in youth badminton athletes during the season and to determine the relationship between variables. METHODS: Fourteen young badminton athletes were assessed over the season (preseason, middle season, and final season). Serum BDNF (sBDNF) was determined during the preseason and final season. Sleep time, total physical activity, and time in vigorous activity were measured using an accelerometer. The fat-free mass, skeletal muscle mass, fat mass, handgrip strength, cardiorespiratory fitness (VO2max), and dietary intake were evaluated during the season. The Stroop Color and Word Test was employed to assess cognitive tasks. To evaluate the mood, the Brunel Mood Scale was used. RESULTS: There  were lower sBDNF levels (-16.3% [46.8%]; P = .007) and sleep time (final season = 5.7 [1.1] vs preseason = 6.6 [1.1] h·night-1, P = .043) during the end of the season. The total calories and carbohydrate intake decreased across the season (P < .05). Conversely, better cognitive function was found in the final season with respect to the preseason (P < .05). There were significant correlations between BDNF and VO2max only in the preseason (r = .61, P = .027), but no significant relationship was found among sBDNF and cognitive performance, sleep time, and percentage of won games. CONCLUSIONS: Youth badminton athletes decreased their sBDNF levels, sleep time, carbohydrate, and calorie intake across the season. The athletes improved in cognitive function; however, only the females improved in body composition, and the males improved their VO2max in the middle season. The sBDNF levels were positively correlated with the VO2max in the preseason, and no correlations were observed among the sBDNF and psychological parameters, sleep time, and sport performance during the season.

Post-exercise hypotension effects in response to plyometric training of 7- to 9-year-old boys with overweight/obesity: a randomized controlled study.

BACKGROUND: Physical activity plays an important role on children with obesity. This study evaluated the effects of plyometric training on the anthropometry, body composition, and the blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) of boys with obesity. METHODS: Boys aged 7 to 9 years old were divided in: non-trained (N.=12) and trained (N.=29). The plyometric training program consisted of jumps on nonconsecutive days for twelve weeks. Anthropometry and body composition, BP and HR were evaluated. BP, HR and rate-pressure product were recorded at rest and 2 minutes after the section. Two-way repeated factors ANOVA was used. RESULTS: Trained group had a reduction in skinfolds and an increase in free fat mass (within and between-groups) and a large effect size for most anthropometric and body composition variables. Late systolic response was reduced from 122±1.1 (immediately post-exercise at the first week) to 112±1.0 at the end of plyometric training period. Diastolic reduction was seen two minutes after each session of exercise (from 68±1.1 to 62±1.2). HR was reduced in response to plyometric training (108 bpm to 97 bpm). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings strengthen previous studies that suggest that intense exercise has significant adaptive effects on BP and HR.

Influence of Angiotensin Converting Enzyme I/D Polymorphism on Hemodynamic and Antioxidant Response to Long-Term Intradialytic Resistance Training in Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

ABSTRACT: Corrêa, HdL, Deus, LA, Neves, RVP, Reis, AL, de Freitas, GS, de Araújo, TB, da Silva Barbosa, JM, Prestes, J, Simões, HG, Amorim, CE, dos Santos, MAP, Haro, A, de Melo, GF, Gadelha, AB, Neto, LS, and Rosa, TdS. Influence of angiotensin converting enzyme I/D polymorphism on hemodynamic and antioxidant response to long-term intradialytic resistance training in patients with chronic kidney disease: a randomized controlled trial. J Strength Cond Res 35(10): 2902-2909, 2021-The aim of the study was to verify the influence of Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) I/D genotype on blood pressure, muscle mass, and redox balance response to long-term resistance training (RT) in end-stage renal disease patients. Three hundred and twenty subjects were randomized into 4 groups: II + ID control (II + ID CTL, n = 80), II + ID RT (II + ID RT, n = 79), DD control (DD CTL n = 83), and DD RT (DD RT, n = 78). The RT lasted 24 weeks with a frequency of 3 times per week, on alternative days. Each section consisted of 3 sets of 8-12 repetitions in 11 exercises, with training loads at 6 point (somewhat hard) to 8 point (hard) based on OMNI-RES scale and was prescribed during dialysis (intradialytic). Statistical significance was accepted with p < 0.05. The most relevant benefits in blood pressure were found for DD homozygotes (p < 0.0001), whereas allele I carriers displayed a higher increase in muscle mass (p < 0.0001). Hemodialysis clinics that already use RT for their patients could include the genotyping of ACE to identify the predisposal of the patients to respond to RT and to counteract kidney disease-related comorbidities.

The influence of anthropometric variables, body composition, propulsive force and maturation on 50m freestyle swimming performance in junior swimmers: An allometric approach.

The purpose of the current article was to use allometric models to identify the best body size descriptors and other anthropometric variables, body composition, and offset maturity that might be associated with the youngsters' 50m personal-best (PB) swim speeds (m·s-1). Eighty-five competitive swimmers (male, n=50; 13.5±1.8 y; female, n=35; 12.6±1.8 y) participated in this study. Height, body mass, sitting height, arm span, skinfolds, arm muscle area (AMA), and maturity offset were assessed. Swimming performance was taken as the PB time recorded in competition, and the propulsive force of their arm (PFA) was assessed by the tied swimming test. The multiplicative allometric model relating 50m PB swim speeds (m·s-1) to all the predictor variables found percentage body fat as a negative [(BF%) ß= -.121±.036; P=0.001], and PFA (PFA ß=.108±.033; P=0.001) and the girl's arm span (ß=.850±.301; P=0.006), all log-transformed, as positive significant predictors of log-transformed swim speed. The adjusted coefficient of determination, Radj2 was 54.8% with the log-transformed error ratio being 0.094 or 9.8%, having taken antilogs. The study revealed, using an allometric approach, that body fatness and PFA were significant contributors to 50m freestyle swim performance in young swimmers.

Why are children different in their moderate-to-vigorous physical activity levels? A multilevel analysis / Por que as crianças são diferentes em seus níveis de atividade física de intensidade moderada a vigorosa? Uma análise multinível

Abstract Objective: Children's differences in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity levels are not at random. This study investigates the relevance of individual- and school-level characteristics in explaining these differences. Methods: In total, 307 children (154 girls) aged 5-10 years, from 19 Portuguese schools, were sampled. Height and weight were measured, and body mass index was calculated. Time spent in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity was measured by accelerometry. Gross motor coordination was assessed with the KörperkoordinationsTest für Kinder battery and socio-economic status was obtained via the school social support system. School characteristics were obtained with an objective school audit. A multilevel analysis was used as implemented in Stata 15. Results: Schools explained 18.2% of the total variance in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, with the remainder being ascribed to children's distinct characteristics. Boys were more active (β = 29.59 ± 11.52, p < 0.05), and having higher gross motor coordination levels (β = 0.11 ± 0.04, p < 0.05) was positively associated with daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, whereas being older (β = −5.00 ± 1.57, p < 0.05) and having higher socio-economic status (β = −7.89 ± 3.12, p < 0.05) were negatively related with moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. From the school-level correlates, only playground dimension was significantly associated with moderate-to-vigorous physical activity levels. Children from schools with medium (40 m2 to 69 m2) and large playground dimensions (≥70 m2) were less active than children with smaller playground dimensions (10 m2 to 39 m2). Conclusions: Variation in school children's moderate-to-vigorous physical activity is mostly explained by their individual characteristics; school characteristics also play a role but to a smaller degree. Future intervention programs to change this behavior should be more personalized, emphasizing mostly individual-level characteristics.

Resumo Objetivo As diferenças entre crianças na atividade física moderada a vigorosa não são aleatórias. Este estudo investiga a relevância das características em níveis individuais e escolares para explicar essas diferenças. Métodos Foram amostradas 307 crianças (154 meninas) entre 5 e 10 anos, de 19 escolas portuguesas. A estatura e o peso foram medidos e o índice de massa corporal foi calculado. O tempo gasto em atividade física moderada a vigorosa foi medido por acelerometria. A coordenação motora grossa foi avaliada com a bateria do Körperkoordinationstest für Kinder e o status socioeconômico foi obtido através do sistema de apoio social da escola. As características da escola foram obtidas através de uma auditoria escolar objetiva. Uma análise multinível foi utilizada como implantada no Stata 15. Resultados As escolas explicaram 18,2% da variância total da atividade física moderada a vigorosa, com o restante atribuído às diferentes características das crianças. Os meninos foram mais ativos (β = 29,59 ± 11,52, p < 0,05) e o fato de ter níveis mais altos de coordenação motora grossa (β = 0,11 ± 0,04, p < 0,05) foi positivamente associado com a atividade física moderada a vigorosa diária. Os mais velhos (β = -5,00 ± 1,57, p < 0,05) e com maior status socioeconômico (β = -7,89 ± 3,12, p < 0,05) foram negativamente relacionados com a atividade física moderada a vigorosa. Com base nos correlatos a nível escolar, apenas a dimensão da área recreativa foi significativamente associada aos níveis de atividade física moderada a vigorosa. As crianças das escolas com área recreativa média (40 m2 a 69 m2) e grande (≥ 70 m2) foram menos ativas do que as crianças com áreas recreativas com menores dimensões (10 m2 a 39 m2). Conclusões A variação na atividade física moderada a vigorosa de escolares é explicada principalmente por suas características individuais; as características da escola também desempenham um papel, mas em menor grau. Futuros programas de intervenção para mudar esse comportamento devem ser mais personalizados, enfatizar principalmente as características em nível individual.

Why are children different in their moderate-to-vigorous physical activity levels? A multilevel analysis.

OBJECTIVE: Children's differences in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity levels are not at random. This study investigates the relevance of individual- and school-level characteristics in explaining these differences. METHODS: In total, 307 children (154 girls) aged 5-10 years, from 19 Portuguese schools, were sampled. Height and weight were measured, and body mass index was calculated. Time spent in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity was measured by accelerometry. Gross motor coordination was assessed with the KörperkoordinationsTest für Kinder battery and socio-economic status was obtained via the school social support system. School characteristics were obtained with an objective school audit. A multilevel analysis was used as implemented in Stata 15. RESULTS: Schools explained 18.2% of the total variance in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, with the remainder being ascribed to children's distinct characteristics. Boys were more active (ß=29.59±11.52, p<0.05), and having higher gross motor coordination levels (ß=0.11±0.04, p<0.05) was positively associated with daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, whereas being older (ß=-5.00±1.57, p<0.05) and having higher socio-economic status (ß=-7.89±3.12, p<0.05) were negatively related with moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. From the school-level correlates, only playground dimension was significantly associated with moderate-to-vigorous physical activity levels. Children from schools with medium (40m2 to 69m2) and large playground dimensions (≥70m2) were less active than children with smaller playground dimensions (10m2 to 39m2). CONCLUSIONS: Variation in school children's moderate-to-vigorous physical activity is mostly explained by their individual characteristics; school characteristics also play a role but to a smaller degree. Future intervention programs to change this behavior should be more personalized, emphasizing mostly individual-level characteristics.

Analysis of the microarray gene expression for breast cancer progression after the application modified logistic regression.

Methods based around statistics and linear algebra have been increasingly used in attempts to address emerging questions in microarray literature. Microarray technology is a long-used tool in the global analysis of gene expression, allowing for the simultaneous investigation of hundreds or thousands of genes in a sample. It is characterized by a low sample size and a large feature number created a non-square matrix, and by the incomplete rank, that can generate countless more solution in classifiers. To avoid the problem of the 'curse of dimensionality' many authors have performed feature selection or reduced the size of data matrix. In this work, we introduce a new logistic regression-based model to classify breast cancer tumor samples based on microarray expression data, including all features of gene expression and without reducing the microarray data matrix. If the user still deems it necessary to perform feature reduction, it can be done after the application of the methodology, still maintaining a good classification. This methodology allowed the correct classification of breast cancer sample data sets from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) data series GSE65194, GSE20711, and GSE25055, which contain the microarray data of said breast cancer samples. Classification had a minimum performance of 80% (sensitivity and specificity), and explored all possible data combinations, including breast cancer subtypes. This methodology highlighted genes not yet studied in breast cancer, some of which have been observed in Gene Regulatory Networks (GRNs). In this work we examine the patterns and features of a GRN composed of transcription factors (TFs) in MCF-7 breast cancer cell lines, providing valuable information regarding breast cancer. In particular, some genes whose αi ∗ associated parameter values revealed extreme positive and negative values, and, as such, can be identified as breast cancer prediction genes. We indicate that the PKN2, MKL1, MED23, CUL5 and GLI genes demonstrate a tumor suppressor profile, and that the MTR, ITGA2B, TELO2, MRPL9, MTTL1, WIPI1, KLHL20, PI4KB, FOLR1 and SHC1 genes demonstrate an oncogenic profile. We propose that these may serve as potential breast cancer prediction genes, and should be prioritized for further clinical studies on breast cancer. This new model allows for the assignment of values to the αi ∗ parameters associated with gene expression. It was noted that some αi ∗ parameters are associated with genes previously described as breast cancer biomarkers, as well as other genes not yet studied in relation to this disease.

Are there gross motor coordination spurts during mid-childhood?

OBJECTIVES: The aims of this study were (1) to identify the timing of the mid-growth spurt (MGS) in stature in children and (2) to identify gross motor coordination (GMC) spurts when aligned by the age of attainment of the MGS (aMGS). METHODS: Stature, weight, and GMC were measured in 245 Portuguese children followed annually from 6 to 10 years. GMC was assessed and to estimate children's MGS in stature as well as GMC spurts in each of the four tests aligned by aMGS, we used a nonsmoothed polynomial methodology. RESULTS: In boys, the aMGS was attained at 7.8 years, whereas in girls it was 8.0 years. In boys, the peak MGS was 6.2 cm∙yr-1 and in girls it was 6.4 cm∙yr-1 . In boys, the peak for walking backwards (WB) occurred 18 months before aMGS (14.9-points∙yr-1 ), jumping sideways (JS) was 12 months after aMGS (13.5-points∙yr-1 ), hopping on one leg (HO) was 18 months before aMGS (11.7-points∙yr-1 ), and shifting platform (SP) was 12 months before aMGS (6.8-points∙yr-1 ). In girls, WB spurts occurred 12 months after aMGS (13.3-points∙yr-1 ), JS was 12 months before aMGS (10.5-points∙yr-1 ), HO was coincident with aMGS (10.4-points∙yr-1 ), and SP was 18 as well as 12 months before aMGS (7.2-points∙yr-1 ). No differences were observed in the mean peak spurts between sexes in the GMC tests. CONCLUSIONS: Boys and girls reached their MGS in stature at about the same chronological age. Spurts in GMC did not express themselves in the same biological timing relative to aMGS in stature, and there are sex differences.

Sibling Similarity in Metabolic Syndrome: The Portuguese Sibling Study on Growth, Fitness, Lifestyle and Health.

This study aims to estimate sibling resemblance in metabolic syndrome (MS) markers, and to investigate the associations of biological and behavioral characteristics with MS. The sample comprises 679 biological siblings (363 females; 316 males) aged 9-20 years. MS markers included waist circumference (WC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), triglycerides (TRI), fasting glucose (GLU) and systolic blood pressure (SBP). Body mass index (BMI), biological maturation, muscular, and cardiorespiratory fitness were also assessed. Behavioral characteristics, including dietary intake and physical activity, were self-reported by questionnaire. Multilevel models were used, and sibling resemblance was estimated using the intraclass correlation (ρ). In general, same-sex siblings showed higher resemblance in MS markers than opposite-sex siblings. However, variability in sibling resemblance in MS markers was evident with the inclusion of covariates. Biological characteristics including age, BMI and maturity offset influenced all MS markers except for TRI. Importantly, behavioral characteristics diversely influenced MS markers: fruit and vegetables only influenced SBP, whereas physical activity affected HDL-C. Additionally, muscular fitness impacted significantly on MS Z-score, WC, SBP and GLU, whilst cardiorespiratory fitness only affected WC. In conclusion, biological and behavioral characteristics influenced the expression of MS markers. These results confirmed the importance of considering individual characteristics when designing individualized programs for diminishing the adverse effects of specific MS markers.

Twelve Weeks of Plyometric Training Improves Motor Performance of 7- to 9-Year-Old Boys Who Were Overweight/Obese: A Randomized Controlled Intervention.

Nobre, GG, de Almeida, MB, Nobre, IG, dos Santos, FK, Brinco, RA, Arruda-Lima, TR, de-Vasconcelos, KL, de-Lima, JG, Borba-Neto, ME, Damasceno-Rodrigues, EM, Santos-Silva, SM, Leandro, CG, and Moura-dos-Santos, MA. Twelve weeks of plyometric training improves motor performance of 7- to 9-year-old boys who were overweight/obese: a randomized controlled intervention. J Strength Cond Res 31(8): 2091-2099, 2017-The prevalence of childhood overweight/obesity has increased, and physical training at school may to be effective to combat this scenario. We analyzed the effects of a protocol of plyometric training on body composition and motor performance of boys who were overweight/obese aged 7-9 years. The sample was randomly assigned into 2 groups: plyometric training group (T, n = 40) and control group (C, n = 19). Training consisted of 20 min·d (twice a week, during 12 weeks) of lower extremity plyometric exercise. Health-related physical fitness was measured by handgrip strength, standing long jump (SLJ), curl-ups, sit and reach, square test, running speed, and mile run test. Gross motor coordination was evaluated by means of the Körperkoordinations-test für Kinder (KTK) tests. Baseline and postintervention differences were investigated, and effect size was estimated through Cohen's d coefficient. Both groups showed increased body weight, height, and sitting height after intervention with a negligible effect size. Only T group showed increased fat-free mass (p = 0.011) compared with baseline values with small effect size. Plyometric training improved handgrip strength (d = 0.23), sit and reach (d = 0.18), curl-ups (d = 0.39), SLJ (d = 0.80), agility (d = 0.48), and time in the mile run test (d = 0.38). For gross motor coordination results, T group showed better performance in all tests after plyometric training with moderate/large effect size. Thus, 12 weeks of PT improved health-related physical fitness components and motor coordination acquisition of 7- to 9-year-old boys who were overweight/obese.

Systematic review and meta-analysis of phase I/II targeted therapy combined with radiotherapy in patients with glioblastoma multiforme: quality of report, toxicity, and survival.

To perform a systematic review and meta-analysis of severe adverse events (SAE) reported in early trials combining molecularly targeted therapies (MTT) with radiotherapy (RT), and to compare them to standard therapy. A summary data meta-analysis was performed and compared to the historical standard. Inclusion criteria were phase I and/or II trials published between 2000 and 2011, with glioblastoma multiforme patients treated with RT and MTT. Pooled incidence rates (IR) of SAE were estimated as well as the pooled median progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). Nineteen prospective trials (9 phase I, 1 phase I/II and 9 phase II) out of 29 initially selected were included (n = 755 patients). The exact number of patients who had experienced SAE was mentioned in 37 % of the trials, concerning only 17 % of the patients. Information such as the period during which adverse events were monitored, the planned treatment duration, and late toxicity were not reported in the trials. The pooled IR of overall SAE was 131.2 (95 % CI 88.8-193.7) per 1000 person-months compared to 74.7 (63.6-87.8) for standard therapy (p < 0.01). Significant differences were observed for gastrointestinal events (p = 0.05) and treatment-related deaths (p = 0.02), in favour of standard therapy. No significant difference was observed in PFS and OS. Reporting a summary of toxicity data in early clinical trials should be stringently standardized. The use of MTT with RT compared to standard therapy increased SAE while yielded comparable survival in glioblastoma multiforme patients.

Retrieval of Enterobacteriaceae drug targets using singular value decomposition.

MOTIVATION: The identification of potential drug target proteins in bacteria is important in pharmaceutical research for the development of new antibiotics to combat bacterial agents that cause diseases. RESULTS: A new model that combines the singular value decomposition (SVD) technique with biological filters composed of a set of protein properties associated with bacterial drug targets and similarity to protein-coding essential genes of Escherichia coli (strain K12) has been created to predict potential antibiotic drug targets in the Enterobacteriaceae family. This model identified 99 potential drug target proteins in the studied family, which exhibit eight different functions and are protein-coding essential genes or similar to protein-coding essential genes of E.coli (strain K12), indicating that the disruption of the activities of these proteins is critical for cells. Proteins from bacteria with described drug resistance were found among the retrieved candidates. These candidates have no similarity to the human proteome, therefore exhibiting the advantage of causing no adverse effects or at least no known adverse effects on humans. CONTACT: rita_silverio@hotmail.com. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

Intra-operative electron beam radiotherapy for newly diagnosed and recurrent malignant gliomas: feasibility and long-term outcomes.

INTRODUCTION: Intra-operative electron beam radiotherapy (IOERT) is an alternative to dose escalation for the treatment of central nervous system tumors. The objective of this study was to describe the feasibility and long-term outcomes of IOERT in the treatment of primary and recurrent gliomas. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From January 1992 through December 2002, all patients treated with IOERT at the Hospital San Francisco de Asis, Madrid/Spain were retrospectively reviewed. The selection criteria included patients with superficial tumors, KPS >70 % and lesions <6 cm. Irradiation was administered in one section. The prescribed dose considered the amount of post-resection residual tumor, previous radiotherapy and the tolerance level of brain structures exposed to IOERT. RESULTS: There were 17 patients (53 %) with newly diagnosed malignant brain gliomas and 15 patients with recurrent tumors. The delivered dose varied from 8 to 20 Gy (median 12.5 Gy) for primary and from 8 to 16 Gy (median 10 Gy) for recurrent tumors. The median overall survival for the entire cohort was 13 months (14 and 10.4 months for the primary and recurrent, respectively). Three patients presented with radionecrosis, one patient with osteomyelitis at the craniotomy bone flap, one with intracerebral hemorrhage, and another patient experienced a pulmonary embolism. CONCLUSIONS: IOERT is a feasible technique and can be viewed as a tool in the treatment of newly diagnosed or recurrent brain gliomas.

Cutoff Scanning Matrix (CSM): structural classification and function prediction by protein inter-residue distance patterns.

BACKGROUND: The unforgiving pace of growth of available biological data has increased the demand for efficient and scalable paradigms, models and methodologies for automatic annotation. In this paper, we present a novel structure-based protein function prediction and structural classification method: Cutoff Scanning Matrix (CSM). CSM generates feature vectors that represent distance patterns between protein residues. These feature vectors are then used as evidence for classification. Singular value decomposition is used as a preprocessing step to reduce dimensionality and noise. The aspect of protein function considered in the present work is enzyme activity. A series of experiments was performed on datasets based on Enzyme Commission (EC) numbers and mechanistically different enzyme superfamilies as well as other datasets derived from SCOP release 1.75. RESULTS: CSM was able to achieve a precision of up to 99% after SVD preprocessing for a database derived from manually curated protein superfamilies and up to 95% for a dataset of the 950 most-populated EC numbers. Moreover, we conducted experiments to verify our ability to assign SCOP class, superfamily, family and fold to protein domains. An experiment using the whole set of domains found in last SCOP version yielded high levels of precision and recall (up to 95%). Finally, we compared our structural classification results with those in the literature to place this work into context. Our method was capable of significantly improving the recall of a previous study while preserving a compatible precision level. CONCLUSIONS: We showed that the patterns derived from CSMs could effectively be used to predict protein function and thus help with automatic function annotation. We also demonstrated that our method is effective in structural classification tasks. These facts reinforce the idea that the pattern of inter-residue distances is an important component of family structural signatures. Furthermore, singular value decomposition provided a consistent increase in precision and recall, which makes it an important preprocessing step when dealing with noisy data.

Stereotactic radiosurgery as a salvage treatment option for atypical meningiomas previously submitted to surgical resection.

BACKGROUND: Surgery is the initial treatment for atypical meningiomas (AM), but in cases of recurrence, options become more limited. We present our results from salvage treatment with stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) in previously surgically treated patients. METHODS: Sixteen patients treated between 1993 and 2007 were retrospectively reviewed. The mean follow-up was of 66.5 months. Most of the patients (81.3%) presented a single tumor nodule, while 3 presented multicentric disease (18.7%). Lesion volumes varied from 0.8 to 12 cm3 (mean: 6.1 cm3). A dose of 12 to 16 Gy was prescribed according to isodose curves from 50 to 90%. RESULTS: After SRS, 3 of the patients (18.8%) presented with tumor volume reduction, 7 (43.8%) remained stable, and 6 patients presented with tumor progression. The Kaplan-Maier-estimated progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were 70.3% and 87.1% at 5 years and 44% and 54.4% at 10 years. Age, sex, site and tumor volume were not significantly associated with the prognosis. Patients presenting with multicentric disease presented a poorer prognosis, although without statistical significance (p = 0.14). CONCLUSIONS: SRS provided an effective and safe treatment for this group of patients with recurrent NBM. Patients who present with multicentric disease will probably fare more poorly.

Computer modelling of mixed metal fluorides for optical applications.

This paper describes a new computational method for predicting the optical behaviour of doped inorganic materials. There is considerable interest in using inorganic materials in photonic devices, and in many cases, the optical properties of these materials depend on doping by ions such as those from the rare earth series. Among the inorganic materials of interest are the mixed metal fluorides (e.g. BaLiF(3), BaY(2)F(8), YLiF(4), LiCaAlF(6), LiSrAlF(6)), doped with trivalent rare earth ions. The paper describes the use of Mott-Littleton calculations to determine the optimum location for dopant ions, followed by crystal field calculations which make direct use of the output of the Mott-Littleton calculations to calculate the optical properties of the dopant ion taking into account its symmetry and the positions of the surrounding ions, including any vacancies or interstitial ions present by virtue of charge compensation. It is then possible to predict whether a given dopant ion at a particular site in a material will have favourable optical properties.