236 research outputs found
Practical approach to obtain the mid-sagittal plane of the fetal face at 11-13 weeks' gestation by two-dimensional ultrasound
No full text'Bat-like' choroid plexus and other sonographic features in trisomy 22 at the first trimester of pregnancy.
No full textCerato-platanin from C. fimbriata f. sp. platani is an host resistance inducing protein and is produced by other strains of C. fimbriata and by some other species of the genus Ceratocystis
No full textCerato-platanin (CP) is a 120 amino acids protein [1, 5], produced by the Ascomycete Ceratocystis fimbriata f. sp. platani (Cfp), the causal agent of the plane canker stain. The species C. fimbriata attacks various other plants of considerable importance in agriculture, forestry and for their ornamental value; as a rule, one fungal strain isolated from one host is not virulent on the other plant species, and conversely, susceptible hosts are resistant to C. fimbriata strains if they come from hosts other than themselves. This means that the forma specialis platani of the species C. fimbriata attacks only the trees belonging to the genus Platanus, but not the hosts of the all other formae speciales of the fungus. CP is located in the cell walls of Cfp ascospores, hyphae and conidia, and is early secreted when Cfp is grown in liquid culture [2, 3]. CP elicits phytoalexin synthesis and/or cell necrosis in host and in non-host tissues; in plane leaves the main effects of CP are to cause a great increase in primary starch and a certain degree of intercellular and intracellular disorganization of the spongy parenchyma cells and plasmolysis processes; in addition, an increase of intracellular phenolic compounds has been observed in the palisade cells [3, 4]. In the present work we report that the minimum CP concentration able to induce the decrease of the 50% Cfp growth on plane leaves is of about 5 x 10-5 M; the maximum inducing effect has been obtained 24-48 hours post treatment. At this time, numerous defense-related genes are over-expressed, as it has been shown by Suppressive Subtractive Hybridisation. Moreover, results so far obtained by immunotechnical experiments on a total of 17 strains (9 of C. fimbriata, as well as 1 isolate each of C. moniliforme, C. allantospora, C. fagacearum, C. laricicola, C. ambrosia, Microascus cirrosus, Ophiostoma ulmi and O. novo-ulmi) indicate that a CP-homologous protein occurs in all strains of C. fimbriata and in some other species of Ceratocystis. For some strains of C. fimbriata the coding sequences of the cp-hortologous genes have been obtained, and then the sequences of the deduced proteins. BIBLIOGRAFIA 1. Pazzagli L, Cappugi G, Manao G, Camici G, Santini A and Scala A, 1999. Purification of cerato-platanin, a new phytotoxic protein from Ceratocystis fimbriata f.sp. platani. Journal of Biological Chemistry 274: 24959-24964. 2. Boddi S, Comparini C, Calamassi R, Pazzagli L, Cappugi G and Scala A, 2004. Cerato-platanin protein is located in the cell walls of ascospores, conidia and hyphae of Ceratocystis fimbriata f. sp. platani. FEMS Microbiology Letters 233: 341-346. 3. Scala A, Pazzagli L, Comparini C, Santini A, Tegli S and Cappugi G, 2004. Cerato-platanin, an early-produced protein by Ceratocystis fimbriata f. sp. platani, elicits phytoalexin synthesis in host and non-host plants. Journal of Plant Pathology 86: 23-29. 4. Bennici A, Calamassi R, Pazzagli L, Comparini C, Schiff S, Bovelli R, Mori B, Tani C and Scala A, 2005. Cytological and ultrastructural responses of Platanus acerifolia (Ait.) Willd. leaves to cerato-platanin, a protein from Ceratocystis fimbriata f. sp. platani. Phytopathologia Mediterranea 44: 153-161. 5. Pazzagli L, Pantera B, Carresi L, Zoppi C, Pertinhez TA, Spisni A, Tegli S, Scala A, Cappugi G, 2006. Cerato-platanin, the first member of a new fungal protein family: cloning, expression and characterization. Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics 44: 512-521
Detailed fetal anatomy assessment in the first trimester at 11, 12 and 13 weeks of gestation.
No full textOBJECTIVE:
The aim of the present observational study was to evaluate the feasibility of a morphological scan and determine the detection rate of fetal organs, structures and systems in the first trimester of pregnancy.
METHODS:
977 single pregnant women attending our Fetal Medicine Section to undergo first trimester screening for aneuploidies were enrolled and divided into three groups depending on gestational age and crown-rump-length measurement. Scans targeted on a total of 26 fetal anatomical structures were performed by a single operator.
RESULTS:
The overall detection rate was 96% at 11 weeks and reached 100% at 12 and 13 weeks, with a significant statistical difference between 11 and 12/13 weeks for the majority of the investigated fetal anatomical structures.
CONCLUSIONS:
Evaluation of most part of the fetal anatomical structures is feasible with high accuracy in the first trimester. Visualization of the majority of the targeted fetal organs improves from 11 to 13 weeks
Does nuchal translucency thickness in the first trimester predict GDM onset during pregnancy?
No full textBACKGROUND AND AIMS:
This study was planned to evaluate whether increased nuchal translucency (NT) thickness in the first trimester of gestation can be related to onset of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) during pregnancy.
METHODS:
From January 2006 to August 2008, a group of 678 singleton pregnancies who had developed GDM has been selected as a study group among a total of 3966 pregnant women who had undergone first trimester screening for aneuploidies at 11-14 weeks of gestation. A group of 420 single pregnant women with physiological pregnancy were enrolled as control group. Both fetal structural and karyotype's anomalies were excluded in the two groups. NT was mesured by a Fetal Medicine Foundation certificated operator; GDM was diagnosed at 24-28 weeks of gestation following Carpenter and Coustan criteria. In the analyses of continuos variables, study and control group were compared by Student's t-test and Anova test.
RESULTS:
There was no significative difference (p = 0.585) between NT values in the study (mean = 1.56) and control group (mean = 1.54).
CONCLUSIONS:
NT thickness does not show a significative increase in those women who subsequently develop GDM. Therefore, NT assessment does not prove to be an useful ultrasound parameter for predicting GDM onset during pregnancy
Autenticidade: entre socialização e embriaguez
No full textLUCHI, José Pedro. Autenticidade: entre socialização e embriaguez. Argumentos Revista de Filosofia, Fortaleza, ano 8, n. 15, p. 189-201, jan./jun. 2016.This article confronts different aspects from the authenticity concept. Ch. Taylor
sees the authenticity as the construction of subjective originality that always implies
a reference to social values and also investigates their cultural roots and its risks.
His conceptual elaboration of the authenticity ideal includes expressionist shift, and
its expansion to all social levels. The proposal is not the rejection of the ideal of selfrealization
but to redeem their best promises. C. Menke, inspired by Nietzsche,
thinks the artistic-existential creativity, thematising the esthetic concept of force,
that points to pre-social sources of what is new. The complete well-being, for Menke,
must combine as much inclusion in the social rules as energy of unsocial forces.Este artigo confronta diferentes aspectos do conceito de autenticidade. Ch. Taylor
vê autenticidade como construção da própria originalidade subjetiva que implica
sempre uma referência aos valores sociais e investiga também suas raízes culturais
e seus riscos. Sua elaboração conceitual do ideal da autenticidade inclui a guinada
expressivista e sua ampliação a todas as camadas sociais. A proposta não é de
rejeição do ideal da autorrealização, mas de resgate de suas melhores promessas.
C. Menke, inspirando-se em Nietzsche, pensa a criatividade artístico-existencial,
tematizando o conceito estético de força, que acena para as fontes pré-sociais do
que é novo. O Bem completo, para Menke, deve conjugar tanto a inserção nas
regras sociais como a energia de forças associais
Diagnosis and laparoscopic management of a 5-week ectopic pregnancy in a rudimentary uterine horn: A case report
No full textUterine anomalies result from the failure of complete fusion of the Müllerian ducts during embryogenesis. A unicornuate uterus with a rudimentary horn is the rarest anomaly and results from the failure of one of the Müllerian ducts to develop completely and an incomplete fusion with the contralateral side. Diagnosis and surgical management of a 5-week ectopic pregnancy in a non-communicating rudimentary horn in an 18-year-old nulliparous woman in whom this congenital uterine anomaly was previously unknown are described
Predicting current and future disease outbreaks of Diplodia sapinea shoot blight in Italy: species distribution models as a tool for forest management planning
No full textSpecies distribution models (SDMs) provide realistic scenarios to explain the influence of bioclimatic variables on plant pathogen distribution. Diplodia sapinea is most harmful to plantations of both exotic and native pine species in Italy, causing economic consequences expecially to edible seed production. In this study, we developed maximum entropy models for D. sapinea in Italy to reach the following goals: (i) to carry out the pathogen's first geographical distribution analysis in Italy and determine which eco-geographical variables (EGVs) may influence its outbreaks; (ii) to detect the effect of climate change on the potential occurrence of disease outbreaks by 2050 and 2070. We used Maxent ver. 3.4.0 to develop SDMs. We used six global climate models (BCC-CSM1-1, CCSM4, GISS-E2-R, MIROC5, HadGEM2-ES and MPI-ESM-LR) for two representative concentration pathways (4.5 and 8.5) and two time projections (2050 and 2070) to detect future climate projections of D. sapinea. The most important EGVs influencing outbreaks were land cover, altitude, mean temperature of driest and wettest quarter, precipitation of wettest quarter, precipitation seasonality and minimum temperature of coldest month. The distribution of D. sapinea mostly expanded in central and southern Italy and shifted in altitude upwards on average by ca. 93m a.s.l. Moreover the fungus expanded the range where disease outbreaks may be recorded in response to an increase in the mean temperature of wettest and driest quarter by ca. 1.9 °C and 5.8 °C, respectively in all climate change scenarios. Precipitation of wettest quarter did not differ between current and any of future models. Under different climate change scenarios D. sapinea's disease outbreaks will be likely to affect larger areas of pine forests in the country, probably causing heavy effects on the dynamics and evolution of these stands or perhaps constraining their survival
Screening for Common Fetal Trisomies in Twin Pregnancies : First-Trimester Combined, Cell-Free DNA, or Both?
No full textObjective: To examine the distribution of risks for fetal trisomies after first-trimester combined screening in twins and to investigate different strategies for clinical implementation of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) testing. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed all twin pregnancies undergoing first-trimester combined screening over a 10 years' period. The population was stratified according to various risk cut-offs, and we examined different screening strategies for implementation of cfDNA testing in terms of impact on invasive testing rate, cfDNA test failure rate, and economic costs. Results: We included 572 twin pregnancies: 480 (83.92%) dichorionic and 92 (16.08%) monochorionic. Performing a first-line combined screening and offering cfDNA testing to the group with a risk between 1 in 10 and 1 in 1,000, would lead to an invasive testing rate of 2.45%, and cfDNA testing would be performed in 22.20% of the population. This strategy would be cost-neutral compared to universal combined screening alone. Conclusions: First-trimester combined screening results can be used to stratify twin pregnancies into different risk categories and select those that could be offered cfDNA testing. A contingent screening strategy would substantially decrease the need for invasive testing in twins and it would be cost-neutral compared to combined testing alone
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