RCAAP Repository

Stereotaxic access to brain areas underneath the superior sagittal sinus (SSS) is notoriously challenging. As a major drainage vessel, covering the whole extension of the sagittal fissure, the SSS impedes direct bilateral access to underlying regions for recording and stimulation probes, drug-delivery cannulas, and injection devices. We now describe a new method for transection and retraction of the SSS in rats, that allows the accurate placement of microinjection devices, or chronic electrode probes, while avoiding hemorrhage and the ensuing deleterious consequences for local structures, animal health, and behavior. To demonstrate the feasibility of this approach we evaluated its consequences acutely during surgery, and thereafter during surgical survival, recovery, behavioral testing, as well as postmortem analysis of histologic impact in the related brain structures of male rats. This method provides a new approach enabling direct access for manipulation and recording of activity in brain areas previously obstructed by the SSS.

Introduction: Cluster headache is an excruciating unilateral headache with autonomic symptoms whose periodic nocturnal activity, which interrupts sleep, has been attributed to a hypothalamic generator. Case report: We describe a patient with a longstanding episodic cluster headache who experienced, on two occasions, a period of nocturnal awakenings without pain or autonomic symptoms, lasting one week before the onset of a cluster bout. Awakenings occurred twice/night at the same hours of impending cluster attacks and had no apparent trigger, being unusual for this patient who had no previous sleep disturbances. Neurological examination and brain imaging were normal. Discussion: This case documents two new aspects of cluster headache. It suggests that repeated nocturnal awakenings can be a warning sign of an impending cluster period, a finding that may have therapeutic implications, and also that hypothalamic activation may begin several days before trigemino-autonomic symptoms, thus behaving as a true bout generator.

Este capítulo visa demonstrar alguns dos itens do questionário utilizado para identificar as "Visões dos estudantes". Quando apresentados os resultados da primeira parte da pesquisa, no relatório por país, revelou-se que os estudantes portugueses entrevistados possuem um conhecimento geral do mundo. No entanto, também possuem uma experiência relativamente limitada do mundo. A estrutura da amostra permite identificar experiências e visões distintas do mundo, de acordo com a delimitação da Europa pelos estudantes portugueses, as palavras que eles relacionam com essa entidade e a variação dessas palavras conforme o género, domínio de estudo, cidade de pesquisa, número de línguas faladas, sentimento de pertencimento e nível de renda.

The decomposition of beta-diversity (β-diversity) into its replacement (βrepl) and richness (βrich) components in combination with a taxonomic and functional approach, may help to identify processes driving community composition along environmental gradients. We aimed to understand which abiotic and spatial variables influence ant β-diversity and identify which processes may drive ant β-diversity patterns in Mediterranean drylands by measuring the percentage of variation in ant taxonomic and functional β-diversity explained by local environmental, regional climatic and spatial variables. We found that taxonomic and functional replacement (βrepl) primarily drove patterns in overall β-diversity (βtot). Variation partitioning analysis showed that respectively 16.8%, 12.9% and 21.6% of taxonomic βtot, βrepl and βrich variation were mainly explained by local environmental variables. Local environmental variables were also the main determinants of functional β-diversity, explaining 20.4%, 17.9% and 23.2% of βtot, βrepl and βrich variation, respectively. Findings suggest that niche-based processes drive changes in ant β-diversity, as local environmental variables may act as environmental filters on species and trait composition. While we found that local environmental variables were important predictors of ant β-diversity, further analysis should address the contribution of other mechanisms, e.g. competitive exclusion and resource partitioning, on ant β-diversity.

Cells are subjected to endogenous [e.g., reactive oxygen species (ROS), replication stress] and exogenous insults (e.g., UV light, ionizing radiation, and certain chemicals), which can affect the synthesis and/or stability of different macromolecules required for cell and tissue function. Oxidative stress, caused by excess ROS, and DNA damage, triggered in response to different sources, are countered and resolved by specific mechanisms, allowing the normal physiological equilibrium of cells and tissues to be restored. One process that is affected by oxidative stress and DNA damage is extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling, which is a continuous and highly controlled mechanism that allows tissues to readjust in reaction to different challenges. The crosstalk between oxidative stress/DNA damage and ECM remodeling is not unidirectional. Quite on the contrary, mutations in ECM genes have a strong impact on tissue homeostasis and are characterized by increased oxidative stress and potentially also accumulation of DNA damage. In this review, we will discuss how oxidative stress and DNA damage affect the expression and deposition of ECM molecules and conversely how mutations in genes encoding ECM components trigger accumulation of oxidative stress and DNA damage. Both situations hamper the reestablishment of cell and tissue homeostasis, with negative impacts on tissue and organ function, which can be a driver for severe pathological conditions.

A cidade marca-nos ou nós marcamos a cidade? Qual o enunciado, quem o enuncia? Os 17 artigos selecionados pera este número 16 da Revista Estúdio estabelecem relações com o espaço urbano, recordando as aproximações críticas da etno-metodologia (Perec, 1999) e da proposta da deriva como pré-ocupação revolucionária do espaço modernista (Debord, 1955; 1958; Jacques, 2003). As pessoas ligam-se no entrecruzar das ruas, caminhos, percursos, mudanças, deslocações. Entre as pessoas e os objetos estão possibilidades que, quando repetidas, se transformam em estilos de vida. Entre uns e outros o consenso, para fraturar, questionar. Para interrogar os caminhos, é preciso conhecê-los, e para os conhecer é preciso desconhecê-los: só depois vem a proposta, a inovação, a invenção. Inventa-se um Homem pelo seu caminho. As matérias fazem-se de pensamento, sabem os artistas. É com estas matérias que ocupamos os nossos Estúdios. Onde está este Estúdio? Nas tuas mãos.

Alternativas. A perspetiva sobre a produção artística tem vindo a ganhar nitidez, contornos e ao mesmo tempo novas difusões, desde que em 2010 a revista Estúdio começou a sua publicação. Abre-se um campo de contactos e de autorias que se afirma como um circuito alternativo aos mecanismos hegemónicos de legitimação. Tem-se vindo a afirmar uma produção ensaística sobre artistas emergentes, oriundos das novas potências criativas. A proposta tem sido consequente e perseguida de modo sustentado; surgem novas ligações, ano após ano. Os autores dos países de língua portuguesa e espanhola tomam conhecimento alargado, não do convencionalismo eurocêntrico do grande mercado, mas das alternativas discursivas no mundo.Esta é uma alternativa, uma instância de afirmação, uma concretização para uma perspetiva inovadora e criadora, congregadora e geradora de pensamento crítico.

Vivemos momentos de retrocesso no que respeita à democracia, aos direitos humanos, à justiça social e ao bem-estar de indivíduos, sociedades e ambientes. Várias comunidades sofrem politicamente, emocionalmente e fisicamente, por causa de uma sociedade que não cuida da totalidade dos seus membros, ignorando os mais vulneráveis e sujeitando-os a condições de vida deploráveis e a comportamentos discriminatórios e persecutórios influenciados pela ignorância, pelo preconceito e pela intolerância. Os efeitos negativos do neoliberalismo e da globalização têm-se intensificado e as instituições sociais e políticas parecem incapazes ou não estão dispostas a responder efetivamente às múltiplas situações de injustiça. As assimetrias sociais têm se agravado, perpetuando um sistema que beneficia apenas uma pequena minoria, à custa da degradação do ambiente, da exploração incontrolada e insustentável dos recursos e do sofrimento e da exclusão da maior parte da população. Muitos cidadãos não se sentem capacitados e empoderados para compreenderem e tomarem decisões sobre os problemas sociais e ambientais que afetam as suas comunidades e, ao mesmo tempo, a confiança nos representantes políticos tem diminuído e a apatia política têm ganho terreno, abrindo espaço a movimentos populistas e a uma eventual 'recessão democrática'. O desconhecimento de uma parte significativa da população acerca do que é a ciência, associado à desinformação disseminada por determinados grupos, cria um ambiente propício ao aparecimento e proliferação de visões distorcidas e erróneas e de movimentos anti ciência. O clima político e social global está saturado de raiva, medo, desinformação, desconfiança e desânimo. A polarização política alastra pelo planeta e repercute-se em divisões e conflitos entre países e dentro das comunidades e das famílias. Como podemos contrariar esta situação na perspectiva da educação em ciências? Que desafios se colocam à educação em ciências no combate às causas de tais problemas e injustiças?

We report the adaptation of the Aachen Aphasia Test (AAT) to the Portuguese language (PAAT) and the results of its standardization in 125 persons with aphasia and 153 healthy controls. Patients with aphasia had a previous syndromic diagnosis, obtained through a Portuguese aphasia battery, which served as a reference. The control group was stratified by age and educational level. Hierarchical cluster analyses showed good construct validity. The increasing degree of difficulty and complexity throughout the item sets comprising subtests was confirmed. The discriminatory power of the PAAT for the selection of aphasic from non-aphasic persons proved to be as high as for the AAT versions in other languages. Classification of standard aphasic syndromes by means of discriminant analyses was good. Internal consistency, measured by means of Cronbach's alpha coefficient, was high to very high for the different PAAT subtests. Performance differences caused by age or educational level among the healthy control persons emphasized the need for correction factors. In conclusion, the PAAT showed robust psychometric properties, comparable to the original German and to adaptations to other languages. It constitutes a useful tool for cross-linguistic and multicenter studies.

Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is a critical clinical presentation of coronary artery disease (CAD). As pointed out previously by us, major clinical research efforts have been dedicated to the identification of patients at higher risk and to the diagnosis of CAD and AMI. Although a great pool of information concerning systemic inflammation markers have been so far collected in different cardiovascular conditions, the evolution of AMI is not well depicted.

Este trabalho apresenta a caracterização de uma região de formação de estrelas, associada a nebulosas de reflexão, na região da fonte IRAS 07383 − 3325 localizada no “bordo” inferior do disco Galáctico, na zona da Galáxia exterior. Para o estudo desta região, foram usadas observações de infravermelho-próximo (JHKS) obtidas usando o telescópio VLT/ISAAC, observações no milímetro de espectros de CO obtidos usando o telescópio SEST, e uma imagem óptica na banda V do telescópio YALO. Os espectros de CO foram reduzidos usando o programa XS. Foi feito o folding e a subtração das baselines, seguindo-se a extracção de parâmetros dos espectros. Estes espectros revelaram a presença de uma nuvem molecular na região estudada e levaram à determinação das propriedades da nuvem, como a sua velocidade (radial), a sua massa e a extinção que produz. A zona de maior densidade da nuvem revelou também ser a zona mais dinâmica e coincide espacialmente com uma nebulosa de reflexão descoberta nas nossas imagens de infravermelho. As imagens de infravermelho foram reduzidas usando o programa IRAF, tendo-se corrigido os efeitos do brilho do céu, da não-uniformidade do detector (flatfield) e a presença de bad-pixeis. Foi efectuada a detecção das fontes presentes nas imagens finais seguida da sua fotometria de abertura. Os resultados da fotometria foram analisados de modo a procurar identificar as estrelas jovens embebidas na nuvem e distingui-las das estrelas de campo. Detectou-se assim, um novo enxame de estrelas jovem, composto por algumas dezenas de estrelas, com cerca de um milhão de anos. Demonstrou-se assim a ocorrência de formação de estrelas nesta região fronteira do disco Galáctico.

In 2019, a new virus, SARS-CoV-2, responsible for the COVID-19 disease, was discovered. Asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic patients were forced to quarantine and closely monitor their symptoms and vital signs, most of the time at home. This paper describes e-CoVig, a novel mHealth application, developed as an alternative to the current monitoring paradigm, where the patients are followed up by direct phone contact. The e-CoVig provides a set of functionalities for remote reporting of symptoms, vital signs, and other clinical information to the health services taking care of these patients. The application is designed to register and transmit the heart rate, blood oxygen saturation (SpO2), body temperature, respiration, and cough. The system features a mobile application, a web/cloud platform, and a low-cost specific device to acquire the temperature and SpO2. The architecture of the system is flexible and can be configured for different operation conditions. Current commercial devices, such as oximeters and thermometers, can also be used and read using the optical character recognition (OCR) functionality of the system. The data acquired at the mobile application are sent automatically to the web/cloud application and made available in real-time to the medical staff, enabling the follow-up of several users simultaneously without the need for time consuming phone call interactions. The system was already tested for its feasibility and a preliminary deployment was performed on a nursing home showing promising results.

Women are exposed to increased burden of mental disorders during the perinatal period: 13–19% experience postpartum depression. Perinatal psychological suffering affects early mother-child relationship, impacting child’s emotional and cognitive development. Return-to-work brings additional vulnerability given the required balance between parenting and job demands. The MAternal Mental Health in the WORKplace (MAMH@WORK) project aims to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of a brief and sustainable intervention, promoting (a) maternal mental health throughout pregnancy and first 12 months after delivery, and (b) quality of mother–child interactions, child emotional self-regulation, and cognitive self-control, while (c) reducing perinatal absenteeism and presenteeism. MAMH@WORK is a three-arm randomized controlled trial. A short-term cognitive-behavioral therapy-based (CBT-based) psychoeducation plus biofeedback intervention will be implemented by psychiatrists and psychologists, following a standardized procedure manual developed after consensus (Delphi method). Participants (n = 225, primiparous, singleton pregnant women at 28–30 weeks gestational age, aged 18–40 years, employed) will be randomly allocated to arms: CBT-based psychoeducation intervention (including mindfulness); psychoeducation plus biofeedback intervention; and control. Assessments will take place before and after delivery. Main outcomes (and main tools): mental health literacy (MHLS), psychological wellbeing (HADS, EPDS, KBS, CD-RISC, BRIEF COPE), quality of mother–child interaction, child–mother attachment, child emotional self-regulation and cognitive self-control (including PBQ, Strange Situation Procedure, QDIBRB, SGS-II, CARE-Index), job engagement (UWES), and presenteeism. Intention-to-treat and per-protocol analyses will be conducted; Cohen’s d coefficient, Cramer’s V and odds ratio will be used to assess the effect size of the intervention. MAMH@WORK is expected to contribute to mental health promotion during the perinatal period and beyond. Its results have the potential to inform health policies regarding work–life balance and maternal mental health and wellbeing promotion in the workplace.

Objectives: To systematically review findings of GWAS in schizophrenia (SZ) and in bipolar disorder (BD); and to interpret findings, with a focus on identifying independent replications. Method: PubMed search, selection and review of all independent GWAS in SZ or BD, published since March 2011, i.e. studies using non-overlapping samples within each article, between articles, and with those of the previous review (Li et al., 2012). Results: From the 22 GWAS included in this review, the genetic associations surviving standard GWAS-significance were for genetic markers in the regions of ACSL3/KCNE4, ADCY2, AMBRA1, ANK3, BRP44, DTL, FBLN1, HHAT, INTS7, LOC392301, LOC645434/NMBR, LOC729457, LRRFIP1, LSM1, MDM1, MHC, MIR2113/POU3F2, NDST3, NKAPL, ODZ4, PGBD1, RENBP, TRANK1, TSPAN18, TWIST2, UGT1A1/HJURP, WHSC1L1/FGFR1 and ZKSCAN4. All genes implicated across both reviews are discussed in terms of their function and implication in neuropsychiatry. Conclusion: Taking all GWAS to date into account, AMBRA1, ANK3, ARNTL, CDH13, EFHD1 (albeit with different alleles), MHC, PLXNA2 and UGT1A1 have been implicated in either disorder in at least two reportedly non-overlapping samples. Additionally, evidence for a SZ/BD common genetic basis is most strongly supported by the implication of ANK3, NDST3, and PLXNA2.

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive and fatal neurodegenerative disease in which much burden is geared towards end-of-life care. Particularly in the earlier stages of ALS, many people have found both physiological and psychological boosts from various types of physical exercise for disused muscles. Proper exercise is important for preventing atrophy of muscles from disuse-a key for remaining mobile for as long as possible-and as long as it is possible to exercise comfortably and safely, for preserving cardiovascular fitness. However, the typical neuromuscular patient features a great physical inactivity and disuse weakness, and for that reason many controversial authors have contested exercise in these patients during years, especially in ALS which is rapidly progressive. There is an urgent need for dissecting in detail the real risks or benefits of exercise in controlled clinical trials to demystify this ancient paradigm. Yet, recent research studies document significant benefits in terms of survival and quality of life in ALS, poor cooperation, small sample size, uncontrolled and short-duration trials, remain the main handicaps. Sedentary barriers such as early fatigue and inherent muscle misuse should be overcome, for instance with body-weight supporting systems or non-invasive ventilation, and exercise should be faced as a potential non-monotonous way for contributing to better health-related quality of life.

Hypertension is recognized as one of the major contributing factors to cardiovascular disease, but its etiology remains incompletely understood. Known genetic and environmental influences can only explain a small part of the variability in cardiovascular disease risk. The missing heritability is currently one of the most important challenges in blood pressure and hypertension genetics. Recently, some promising approaches have emerged that move beyond the DNA sequence and focus on identification of blood pressure genes regulated by epigenetic mechanisms such as DNA methylation, histone modification and microRNAs. This review summarizes information on gene-environmental interactions that lead toward the developmental programming of hypertension with specific reference to epigenetics and provides pediatricians and pediatric cardiologists with a more complete understanding of its pathogenesis.

Background: Low molecular weight protein tyrosine phosphatase (LMW-PTP) has been related to tumorigenesis, having both oncogenic and anti-oncogenic roles. The differential roles of its main active isoforms (fast and slow) may account for these discrepancies. The fast isoform has been described to be involved in the bone-metastatic process, although knockdown of the slow isoform was recently reported to reduce osteoclastogenesis. We aimed to study the influence of LMW-PTP isoforms on osteoclast differentiation. Materials and methods: Osteoclast precursors (RAW 264.7) were cultured with conditioned medium from MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells with total knockdown of LMW-PTP and with knockdown of the slow isoform of LMW-PTP. Tartarate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) staining and quantification were performed to assess osteoclast differentiation. Results: Total knockdown of LMW-PTP, but not of slow LMW-PTP significantly reduced osteoclast differentiation of RAW 264.7 cells. Conclusion: We suggest that total LMW-PTP increases osteoclastic differentiation, albeit not at the expense of the slow isoform.

Disorders of sex development generally present in the neonatal period with ambiguity of external genitalia. We report a very old male patient presenting at 75 years because of panhypopituitarism and a large nonsecreting pituitary macroadenoma secondary to long-standing primary hypogonadism due to 46,XX sex reversal disorder now first diagnosed. Sex development disorders may go unrecognised for the entire life span, despite infertility and long-standing primary gonadic failure may lead to uncommon complications.

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are chronic inflammatory conditions affecting the digestive system, comprising two main distinctive entities, ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD). Besides gastrointestinal manifestations, IBD causes extraintestinal manifestations in the central and peripheral nervous system. The incidence of neurological complications in IBD ranges from 0.25% to 47.5%. The pathophysiology of neurological manifestations of IBD is mostly immune mediated, but dysfunction of the brain-gut axis, arterial and venous thromboembolism, infections, nutritional deficiencies and side-effects of medications (steroids, metronidazole, sulfasalazine, anti-TNF-α, anti-integrin antibodies) are other contributory mechanisms. Patients with IBD have an increased risk of arterial and venous stroke, mainly during periods of exacerbations. Vasculitis is extremely rare. There is a bidirectional association between multiple sclerosis and IBD, with a relative risk for comorbidity of 1.54, being 1.53 for the risk of multiple sclerosis in IBD and 1.55 for the risk of IBD in multiple sclerosis patients. Anti-TNF-α therapy is contraindicated in the treatment of patients who have both IBD and multiple sclerosis. Demyelinating disorders can also be a rare complication of anti-TNF-α therapy. Optic neuritis, transverse myelitis, progressive myelopathy, central nervous system infections, epilepsy and encephalopathy are among other uncommon neurological complications. Peripheral nervous system manifestations include peripheral neuropathy, either demyelination and axonal, myasthenia gravis and polymyositis/dermatomyositis and localized forms of myositis.

Este capítulo apresenta a evolução das diversas perspectivas da "Europa" percepcionadas através de um conjunto de manuais escolares de Geografia desde a década de 1030 até à actualidade.