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RESUMO Um dos princípios da democracia digital é informar ativamente os cidadãos e mobilizá-los para participarem no debate político. Este artigo apresenta uma ferramenta de processamento de documentos políticos públicos para tornar as informações mais acessíveis aos cidadãos e grupos profissionais específicos. Em particular, investigamos e desenvolvemos técnicas de Inteligência Artificial para mineração de textos do Diário da Assembleia da República de Portugal para particionar, analisar, extrair e sintetizar a informação das atas das sessões parlamentares. Desenvolvemos ainda dashboards que mostram as informações extraídas de forma simples e visual, como resumos de falas e tópicos discutidos. O nosso objetivo principal é, mais do que caracterizar o comportamento político, aumentar a transparência e a responsabilidade dos eleitores e das autoridades eleitas.

The thalamus, with its reciprocal connections to and from cortical, subcortical, and cerebellar regions, is a central active participant in multiple functional brain networks. Structural MRI studies measuring the entire thalamus without respect to its regional or nuclear divisions report volume shrinkage in diseases including HIV infection, alcohol use disorder (AUD), and their comorbidity (HIV+AUD). Here, we examined relations between thalamic subregions (anterior, ventral, medial, and posterior) and neuropsychological functions (attention/working memory, executive functioning, episodic memory, and motor skills). Volumes of thalamic subregions were derived from automatic segmentations of standard T1 weighted MRIs of 65 individuals with HIV, 189 with AUD, 80 with HIV+AUD comorbidity, and 141 healthy controls (CTRL). Total thalamic volume was smaller and cognitive and motor composite scores were lower in the three diagnostic groups relative to the CTRL group. The AUD and HIV+AUD groups had significantly smaller thalamic subregional volumes than the CTRL group. The HIV+AUD group had smaller anterior thalamic volume than the HIV-only group and smaller ventral thalamic volume than the AUD-only group. In the HIV+AUD group, memory scores correlated with anterior thalamic volumes, attention/working memory scores correlated with posterior and medial thalamic volumes, and motor skill scores correlated with posterior thalamic volumes. Exploratory analyses focused on the HIV+AUD group indicated that within the posterior thalamic region, the pulvinar and medial geniculate nuclei were related to attention/working memory scores, and the pulvinar was related to motor skills scores. This study is novel in locating volume deficits in specific thalamic subregions, in addition to the thalamus as a whole, in HIV, AUD, and their comorbidity and in identifying functional ramifications of these deficits. Taken together, this study highlights the relevance of thalamic subregional volume deficits to dissociable cognitive and motor processes.

Objetivo: Encontrar evidências sobre a utilização de N-acetil-cisteína (NAC) no perioperatório de transplante de fígado, uma vez que a NAC, por ser o precursor acetilado da L-cisteína e da glutationa reduzida, colabora no abastecimento hepático de glutationa ajudando o fígado a se recuperar da lesão de isquemia e reperfusão. Metodologia: Trata-se de uma revisão de escopo nas bases de dados PubMed, BVS e Web of Science. Foram utilizados os descritores “Liver transplantation”, “N-acetyl-cysteine” e “Reperfusion Ischemia”, com o operador booleano “AND”, e selecionados artigos de relevância para o tema. Inicialmente, foram selecionados 60 artigos, todos publicados nos últimos 24 anos, em português e/ou inglês. Após análise, oito artigos corresponderam ao objetivo proposto. Resultados: Os grupos que receberam NAC durante o TxF apresentaram hipotensão pós-reperfusão, menores valores de pH intraoperatório, concentrações plasmáticas mais elevadas de IL-4 e aumento significativo dos níveis de IL-10 cinco minutos antes da reperfusão. Observou-se ainda a inibição da α-glutationa S-transferase (α-GST) após a reperfusão, ao contrário do grupo controle, que apresentou aumento significativo dessa enzima. Além disso, os níveis de sVCAM-1 e sICAM-1 foram significativamente mais baixos no grupo NAC 24 horas após a reperfusão em comparação com o grupo placebo. O valor máximo de AST durante as primeiras 72 horas de pós-operatório foi semelhante em ambos os grupos, embora o pico de ALT tenha sido menor no grupo NAC do que no grupo placebo. Em enxertos que receberam o NAC na solução de perfusão, as taxas de sobrevivência aos 3 e 12 meses foram de 93% e 90%, respectivamente, e no grupo controle foram de 82% e 70%, respectivamente. A incidência de complicações pós-operatórias foi de 23% no grupo com o NAC e de 51% no grupo controle. A incidência de DPE foi menor para o grupo NAC, que apresentou 15% versus 32% do grupo controle. Em relação à administração do NAC durante o intraoperatório do TxF, a taxa de sobrevivência dos pacientes em um ano foi de 78,4% no grupo NAC em comparação com 80,9% no grupo placebo. Conclusão: A administração intraoperatória de NAC durante a fase anepática esteve associada a um efeito protetor contra a lesão de reperfusão, contudo em outros estudos foram observadas limitações na proteção contra lesões hepáticas, nos biomarcadores de estresse oxidativo, na inflamação e no funcionamento das enzimas hepáticas.

Abstract Studying the oculomotor system provides a unique window to assess brain health and function in various clinical populations. Although the use of detailed oculomotor parameters in clinical research has been limited due to the scalability of the required equipment, the development of novel tablet-based technologies has created opportunities for fast, easy, cost-effective, and reliable eye tracking. Oculomotor measures captured via a mobile tablet-based technology have previously been shown to reliably discriminate between Parkinson’s Disease (PD) patients and healthy controls. Here we further investigate the use of oculomotor measures from tablet-based eye-tracking to inform on various cognitive abilities and disease severity in PD patients. When combined using partial least square regression, the extracted oculomotor parameters can explain up to 71% of the variance in cognitive test scores (e.g. Trail Making Test). Moreover, using a receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analysis we show that eye-tracking parameters can be used in a support vector classifier to discriminate between individuals with mild PD from those with moderate PD (based on UPDRS cut-off scores) with an accuracy of 90%. Taken together, our findings highlight the potential usefulness of mobile tablet-based technology to rapidly scale eye-tracking use and usefulness in both research and clinical settings by informing on disease stage and cognitive outcomes.

Abstract Background Following WHO guidelines, microscopy is the gold standard for malaria diagnosis in endemic countries. The Parasitology-Mycology laboratory (LPM) is the National Reference Laboratory and is currently undergoing ISO 15189 accreditation. In this context, we assessed the performance of the laboratory by confirming the reliability and the accuracy of results obtained in accordance with the requirements of the ISO 15189 standards. This study aimed to verify the method of microscopic diagnosis of malaria at the LPM, in the Aristide Le Dantec hospital (HALD) in Dakar, Senegal. Methods This is a validation/verification study conducted from June to August 2020. Twenty (20) microscopic slides of thick/thin blood smear with known parasite densities (PD) selected from the Cheick Anta Diop University malaria slide bank in Dakar were used for this assessment. Six (6) were used to assess microscopists’ ability to determine PD and fourteen (14) slides were used for detection (positive vs negative) and identification of parasites. Four (4) LPM-HALD microscopists read and recorded their results on prepared sheets. Data analysis was done with Microsoft Excel 2010 software. Results A minimum threshold of 50% concordance was used for comparison. Of the twenty (20) slides read, 100% concordance was obtained on eight (8) detection (positive vs negative) slides. Four (4) out of the six (6) parasite density evaluation slides obtained a concordance of less than 50%. Thirteen (13) out of the fourteen (14) identification slides obtained a concordance greater than 50%. Only one (1) identification slide obtained zero agreement from the microscopists. For species identification a concordance greater than 80% was noted and the microscopists obtained scores between 0.20 and 0.4 on a scale of 0 to 1 for parasite density reading. The microscopists obtained 100% precision, sensitivity, specificity and both negative and positive predictive values. Conclusion This work demonstrated that the microscopic method of malaria diagnosis used in the LPM/HALD is in accordance with the requirements of WHO and ISO 15189. Further training of microscopists may be needed to maintain competency.

Background: Effective treatments for COVID-19 are needed to mitigate disease progression and reduce the burden on healthcare systems. This study investigates the impact of early treatments on SARS-CoV-2 viral shedding duration among high-risk individuals with mild symptoms. Methods: A single-center, retrospective observational study was conducted at Luigi Sacco Hospital in Milan from December 2021 to March 2023. Hospitalized and nonhospitalized adults with a confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection and at high-risk of disease progression were enrolled. Unadjusted and adjusted negative binomial regression models and a Random Forest regression model were performed before and after matching subjects based on their propensity of being treated or not. Results: Results from 518 subjects (428 treated and 90 untreated) revealed a significant reduction in SARS-CoV-2 viral shedding duration among those who received early treatment compared to untreated individuals. Propensity score matching and multivariable regression analyses confirmed this finding. Early treatment significantly reduced the risk of COVID-19-related hospitalization and pneumonia development. Subgroup analysis identified COPD as a potential factor influencing effectiveness of early treatments. Conclusions: Early treatments play a crucial role in reducing SARS-CoV-2 viral shedding and preventing disease progression among high-risk individuals. Shorter viral shedding duration also contributes to improved healthcare resource utilization and infection control measures.

Three heterocyclic diazenyl compounds were synthesized by diazotization of 3-aminopyridine and aniline, followed by coupling with 8-aminoquinoleine, morpholine, 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinoleine, respectively. The obtained azo compounds are brown to yellow in color and were characterized by various methods such as NMR and X-rays. The synthesized compounds were evaluated for their antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecalis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Candida albicans. The MIC of the tested compounds, determined by the microdilution method, showed potential antimicrobial activity against all tested microorganisms. 1-(3-pyridyl)-2-(morpholin-4-yl)diazene (8) and 1-(3-pyridyl)-2-(tetrahydroquinolin-1-yl)diazene (10) showed strong activities against C. albicans with MIC values of 150 µM and 120 µM respectively. 1-(4-trifluoromethylphenyl)-2-(8-aminoquinolin-5-yl)diazene (4) showed the broadest spectrum of activity with good MICs of 1380–2760 µM on the four strains. These diazenyl compounds were also screened for their anticancer activity against breast (MCF-7), lung (Calu-3), pancreas (PANC-1) and prostate (PC-3) cancer cells and on normal fibroblasts. The results showed good anticancer activities on tumor lines with IC50 values ranging from 9.4 to 98 µM. The best anticancer activity was obtained with compound 4 on Calu-3 cancer cells with an IC50 of 9.4 µM. The results suggest that compound 4 is an interesting scaffold for pharmacomodulation as suggested by ADME study.

IntroductionIn recent years, Europe has experienced a significant flux of migrants, often hailing from regions endemic for schistosomiasis and strongyloidiasis, diseases frequently overshadowed by tuberculosis (TB) in healthcare priorities. While TB remains a prevalent concern among this population, chronic schistosomiasis and strongyloidiasis are frequently neglected. Motivated by this observation, we aimed to investigate the prevalence of schistosomiasis and strongyloidiasis in patients attending our TB outpatient clinic.MethodsWe conducted a retrospective, observational study spanning from June 2020 to January 2024, focusing on patients attending the TB outpatient clinic of Luigi Sacco Hospital of Milan, Italy. Serology tests were performed in patients with a history suggestive of exposure to either Schistosoma spp. or Strongyloides stercoralis.ResultsAmong the 228 patients included in the study, 84 (36.8%) individuals were born in Italy, one came from Spain, 80 (35.1%) from strongyloidiasis moderate or high endemic countries and 63 (27.6%) from areas endemic for schistosomiasis and strongyloidiasis. Of these patients, 160 (70.2%) were diagnosed with tuberculosis disease, while 68 (29.8%) had tuberculosis infection. The prevalence of schistosomiasis was 26.7%, while that of strongyloidiasis was 7.8%. Notably, 3 patients tested positive for both infections.ConclusionOur study highlights the often-underestimated prevalence of schistosomiasis and strongyloidiasis among migrants accessing healthcare for TB, underscoring the importance of increased awareness and targeted screening within this population.

Goal: REM Sleep Behavior Disorder (RBD) is a REM parasomnia that is associated to high risk of developing α-synucleinopathies, as Parkinson's disease (PD) or dementia with Lewy bodies, over time. This study aims at investigating the presence of autonomic dysfunctions in RBD subjects, with and without PD, by assessing their sleep structure and autonomous nervous system activity along the different sleep stages. Methods: To this aim, an innovative framework combining a sleep transition model, by Markov chains, with an instantaneous assessment of autonomic state dynamics by statistical modeling of heart rate variability (HRV) dynamics through a point-process approach, was introduced. Results: In general, RBD groups showed lower HRV than controls across all sleep stages, as well as higher probabilities of transitioning towards lighter sleep stages. Subjects also affected by PD present an even lower HRV, but better sleep continuity. Conclusions: RBD patients suffer from sleep fragmentation and overall autonomic dysfunction, mainly due to lower autonomic activation across all sleep stages. Coexistence of PD seems to improve sleep quality, possibly due to a sleep-related relief of their symptoms.

Background: Since the publication of the 2010 Canadian antiplatelet guidelines, several large randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have evaluated the role of aspirin (ASA) use in primary prevention. We evaluated the effect of ASA use, compared with no ASA, on ischemic and bleeding events in patients without known atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases. Methods: We updated a published systematic review and meta-analysis by searching MEDLINE, Embase, and CENTRAL for the period up to March 2023. We included RCTs that enrolled patients for primary prevention of atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases, and compared use of ASA to no ASA. We assessed risk of bias (RoB) using the Cochrane RoB tool, and certainty of evidence using the grading recommendations, assessment, development, and evaluation (GRADE) criteria. The primary efficacy outcome was major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) (death, myocardial infarction, or stroke). The primary safety outcomes were intracranial hemorrhage and extracranial major bleeding events. We used a random-effects model to generate pooled risk ratios (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results: We included 14 RCTs (n = 167,587) at overall low RoB, with a median follow-up of 5 years. Compared to no ASA, ASA use reduced the incidence of MACE (RR 0.90, 95% CI 0.86-0.94), with a higher risk of intracranial hemorrhage (RR 1.33, 95% CI 1.13-1.56) and extracranial major bleeding (RR 1.67, 95% CI 1.36-2.06). In prespecified subgroups of age, sex, and diabetes, effect estimates were consistent. Conclusions: ASA use in primary prevention is associated with a consistent reduction in MACE, but at the expense of major bleeding events. Patient values and preferences should be taken into account when considering ASA use for primary prevention. Résumé: Contexte: Depuis la publication, en 2010, des lignes directrices canadiennes sur les agents antiplaquettaires, plusieurs importants essais contrôlés randomisés (ECR) ont été menés pour évaluer le rôle de l’aspirine (AAS) en prévention primaire. Nous avons comparé l’effet de l’AAS à la non-utilisation de l’AAS sur les événements ischémiques et hémorragiques chez des patients présentant une maladie cardiovasculaire athéroscléreuse (MCVAS) connue. Méthodologie: Nous avons mis à jour une revue systématique et une méta-analyse déjà publiées en effectuant une recherche dans les bases de données MEDLINE, Embase et CENTRAL jusqu’en mars 2023. Nous avons inclus les ECR ayant porté sur la prévention primaire de la MCVAS chez les patients et comparé l’AAS et la non-utilisation de l’AAS. Nous avons évalué le risque de biais à l’aide de l’outil RoB de Cochrane, et le degré de certitude des données probantes au moyen des critères GRADE. Le principal critère d’évaluation de l’efficacité était les événements cardiovasculaires indésirables majeurs (ECIM; décès, infarctus du myocarde ou accident vasculaire cérébral). Les principaux critères d’évaluation de l’innocuité étaient les hémorragies intracrâniennes (HIC) et les saignements extracrâniens majeurs (SECM). Nous avons utilisé un modèle à effets aléatoires afin de générer les rapports de risque (RR) et les intervalles de confiance (IC) à 95 % regroupés. Résultats: Nous avons inclus 14 ECR (n = 167 587) associés à un faible risque de biais et dont le suivi médian était de 5 ans. Comparativement à la non-utilisation d’AAS, l’AAS a réduit les ECIM (RR : 0,90; IC à 95 % : 0,86-0,94), mais était associé à un risque plus élevé d’HIC (RR : 1,33; IC à 95 % : 1,13-1,56) et de SECM (RR : 1,67; IC à 95 % : 1,36-2,06). Les estimations de l’effet étaient constantes dans les sous-groupes définis au préalable selon l’âge, le sexe et le diabète. Conclusion: En prévention primaire, l’AAS est associé à une réduction systématique des ECIM, mais au détriment de manifestations hémorragiques majeures. Les valeurs et les préférences du patient doivent être prises en compte lorsqu’on envisage l’AAS en prévention primaire.

Background: Childhood abuse is an underappreciated source of stress, associated with adverse mental and physical health consequences. Childhood abuse has been directly associated with risky behavior thereby increasing the likelihood of alcohol misuse and risk of HIV infection, conditions associated with brain structural and functional deficits. Here, we examined the neural and behavioral correlates of childhood trauma history in alcohol use disorder (AUD), HIV infection (HIV), and their comorbidity (AUD+HIV). Methods: Occurrence of childhood trauma was evaluated by retrospective interview. Cortical (frontal, temporal, parietal, and occipital), subcortical (hippocampus, amygdala), and regional frontal volumes were derived from structural MRI, adjusted for intracranial volume and age. Test scores of executive functioning, attention/working memory, verbal/visual learning, verbal/visual memory, and motor speed functional domains were standardized on age and education of a laboratory control group. Results: History of childhood abuse was associated with smaller frontal lobe volumes regardless of diagnosis. For frontal subregional volumes, history of childhood abuse was selectively associated with smaller orbitofrontal and supplementary motor volumes. In participants with a child abuse history, poorer verbal/visual memory performance was associated with smaller orbitofrontal and frontal middle volumes, whereas in those without childhood abuse, poorer verbal/visual memory performance was associated with smaller orbitofrontal, frontal superior, and supplemental motor volumes. Conclusions: Taken together, these results comport with and extend the findings that childhood abuse is associated with brain and behavioral sequelae in AUD, HIV, and AUD+HIV comorbidity. Further, these findings suggest that sequelae of abuse in childhood may be best conceptualized as a spectrum disorder as significant deficits may be present in those who may not meet criteria for a formal trauma-related diagnosis yet may be suffering enduring stress effects on brain structural and functional health.

Abstract IPF is a fatal lung disease characterized by intensive remodeling of lung tissue leading to respiratory failure. The remodeling in IPF lungs is largely characterized by uncontrolled fibrosis. Fibroblasts and their contractile phenotype the myofibroblast are the main cell types responsible for typical wound healing responses, however in IPF, these responses are aberrant and result in the overactivation of fibroblasts which contributes to the inelasticity of the lung leading to a decrease in lung function. The specific mechanisms behind IPF pathogenesis have been elusive, but recently the innate and adaptive immunity have been implicated in the fibrotic processes of the disease. In connection with this, several in vitro co-culture models have been used to investigate the specific interactions occurring between fibroblasts and immune cells and how this contributes to the pathobiology of IPF. In this review, we discuss the in vitro models that have been used to examine the abnormal interactions between fibroblasts and cells of the innate and adaptive immune system, and how these contribute to the fibrotic processes in the lungs of IPF patients.

Abstract The pulmonary extracellular matrix (ECM) is a macromolecular structure that provides mechanical support, stability and elastic recoil for different pulmonary cells including the lung fibroblasts. The ECM plays an important role in lung development, remodeling, repair, and the maintenance of tissue homeostasis. Biomechanical and biochemical signals produced by the ECM regulate the phenotype and function of various cells including fibroblasts in the lungs. Fibroblasts are important lung structural cells responsible for the production and repair of different ECM proteins (e.g., collagen and fibronectin). During lung injury and in chronic lung diseases such as asthma, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), an abnormal feedback between fibroblasts and the altered ECM disrupts tissue homeostasis and leads to a vicious cycle of fibrotic changes resulting in tissue remodeling. In line with this, using 3D hydrogel culture models with embedded lung fibroblasts have enabled the assessment of the various mechanisms involved in driving defective (fibrotic) fibroblast function in the lung’s 3D ECM environment. In this review, we provide a summary of various studies that used these 3D hydrogel models to assess the regulation of the ECM on lung fibroblast phenotype and function in altered lung ECM homeostasis in health and in chronic respiratory disease.

Objective: Pharmacologically-treated people living with HIV infection have near-normal life spans with more than 50 % living into at-risk age for dementia and a disproportionate number relative to uninfected people engaging in unhealthy drinking. Accelerated aging in HIV occurs in some brain structures including the multinucleated thalamus. Unknown is whether aging with HIV affects thalamic nuclei and associated functions differentially and whether the common comorbidity of alcohol use disorder (AUD) + HIV accelerates aging. Methods: This mixed cross-sectional/longitudinal design examined 216 control, 69 HIV, and 74 HIV + AUD participants, age 25–75 years old at initial visit, examined 1–8 times. MRI thalamic volumetry, parcellated using THalamus Optimized Multi-Atlas Segmentation (THOMAS), identified 10 nuclei grouped into 4 functional regions for correlation with age and measures of neuropsychological, clinical, and hematological status. Results: Aging in the control group was best modeled with quadratic functions in the Anterior and Ventral regions and with linear functions in the Medial and Posterior regions. Relative to controls, age-related decline was even steeper in the Anterior and Ventral regions of the HIV group and in the Anterior region of the comorbid group. Anterior volumes of each HIV group declined significantly faster after age 50 (HIV = -2.4 %/year; HIV + AUD = -2.8 %/year) than that of controls (-1.8 %/year). Anterior and Ventral volumes were significantly smaller in the HIV + AUD than HIV-only group when controlling for infection factors. Although compared with controls HIV + AUD declined faster than HIV alone, the two HIV groups did not differ significantly from each other in aging rates. Declining Attention/Working Memory and Motor Skills performance correlated with Anterior and Posterior volume declines in the HIV + AUD group. Conclusions: Regional thalamic volumetry detected normal aging declines, differential and accelerated volume losses in HIV, relations between age-related nuclear and performance declines, and exacerbation of volume declines in comorbid AUD contributing to functional deficits.

This study focuses on the synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) using the extract of Aphania senegalensis leaves. The extraction was done using maceration at room temperature in water for 48 h. The synthesized nanoparticles were characterized by IR, XRD, TEM, and SEM. The thermal stability of these nanoparticles was studied by TGA. The zeta potential was used to define the size, charge distribution, and stability of the nanoparticles. Optimization reactions were carried out based on reaction time, pH, and temperature. The nanoparticles obtained from optimal conditions were evaluated on induced inflammation. The determination of the average diameters and geometry of nanoparticles was carried out by XRD by calculating the lattice constants, and they are between 18.11 and 50 nm. The evaluation of anti-inflammatory activity showed that the nanoparticles are 10 times more active than the extract of Aphania senegalensis leaves. Minimum doses of 10 mg/kg orally and 3 mg/kg were obtained for the plant extract, respectively. These results are promising for the possibility of AgNPs to be used for the treatment of inflammation.