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Purpose: The acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic has had a high impact on patients with chronic diseases. In the literature, there are different perspectives on asthma as comorbidity or risk factor on COVID-19 severity. Patients and Methods: The aim of this retrospective study across 13 allergy departments in Spain was to determine the severity of COVID-19 in asthmatic adults followed in allergy departments and its relationship with atopy, clinical and demographic characteristics, phenotypes and laboratory data. In addition, lung function test and asthma control test (ACT) before and after COVID-19 were analyzed. Data was obtained from electronic medical records from March 2020 to April 2021. Results: Two hundred one asthmatic patients were diagnosed with COVID-19 infection by validated detection test. About 30% of the patients were admitted for bilateral pneumonia. Advanced age, elevated D-dimer, lower numbers of lymphocytes and eosinophils, heart diseases and hypertension were associated with severe COVID-19. Allergic and mixed allergic/eosinophilic phenotype and their biomarkers (total IgE, aeroallergens sensitizations, allergic rhinitis, and blood eosinophilia) were related to fewer hospital admissions. Poor control and lower forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1) were related to worse prognosis of COVID-19. Conclusion: Asthmatic patients with allergic and eosinophilic phenotype have a better evolution of COVID-19 and lower risk of admissions. Older patients, cardiovascular comorbidities, AERD and eosinopenia are related to severity COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neuropsychological evaluations conducted in the United States and abroad commonly include the use of tests translated from English to Spanish. The use of translated naming tests for evaluating predominately Spanish-speakers has recently been challenged on the grounds that translating test items may compromise a test's construct validity. The Texas Spanish Naming Test (TNT) has been developed in Spanish specifically for use with Spanish-speakers; however, it is unlikely patients from diverse Spanish-speaking geographical regions will perform uniformly on a naming test. The present study evaluated and compared the internal consistency and patterns of item-difficulty and -discrimination for the TNT and two commonly used translated naming tests in three countries (i.e., United States, Colombia, Spain). Two hundred fifty two subjects (136 demented, 116 nondemented) across three countries were administered the TNT, Modified Boston Naming Test-Spanish, and the naming subtest from the CERAD. The TNT demonstrated superior internal consistency to its counterparts, a superior item difficulty pattern than the CERAD naming test, and a superior item discrimination pattern than the MBNT-S across countries. Overall, all three Spanish naming tests differentiated nondemented and moderately demented individuals, but the results suggest the items of the TNT are most appropriate to use with Spanish-speakers. Preliminary normative data for the three tests examined in each country are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Here we present three short stories written by Hubert Jennings while he lived in Portugal, in 1968 and 1969: "Rua Dona Estefânia," "From a Lisbon Window," and "At the Brasileira" – the first two unpublished, and the latter having four different versions (three recently found in the Jennings archive, and one published in 1988 in the South African journal Contrast). The introduction to these texts also analyzes the short story "Judica Me Deus," the only fictional chapter of Jennings's book The DHS Story, in which, seemingly for the first time, Fernando Pessoa was turned into a literary character. By focusing on "At the Brasileira" and "Judica Me Deus," comparing and contrasting how those pieces recreate Pessoa, this presentation places Jennings among authors such as José Saramago and Antonio Tabucchi, who would later also turn Pessoa and/or his heteronymous personae into elements of their own fictional worlds.

É forçoso admitir a existência de temas-tabu na sociedade brasileira. Com uma tradição fortemente lastreada em valores cristãos, aos quais se associa a ideia da intangibilidade corporal, falar-se dos limites ético-jurídicos da autonomia da pessoa em relação aos usos do corpo, no Brasil, é tarefa bastante árdua, principalmente se se pretende explorar a fundo a temática dos transplantes de órgãos e tecidos. Embora consista no maior programa público de transplantes do mundo, o Sistema Nacional de Transplantes, totalmente estruturado a partir de doações, não tem conseguido suprir o problema da escassez de enxertos. Registra-se aumento da demanda, com número considerável de pessoas aguardando nas filas de espera. Ao problema da escassez, associam-se a falta de precisão nos critérios de morte e as restrições à autonomia individual nas decisões sobre doação, sendo, portanto, indispensável discutirem-se as bases sobre as quais esse sistema se assenta. Frise-se que a construção de qualquer consenso em uma sociedade democrática, aberta e plural - como pretendido pela nossa - pressupõe um debate fundado no uso público da razão e no império do melhor argumento. Assim, e (re)pensando a questão sob uma perspectiva eminentemente ético-intersubjetiva, é possível apontar falhas, acertos e novas propostas para se tentar alcançar os principais objetivos de um sistema ético de transplantes: reduzir o déficit entre a oferta e a demanda de enxertos, tornar os procedimentos transplantatórios mais seguros, universalmente acessíveis, bem como se valorizarem as escolhas autônomas dos envolvidos.

Glycine-rich RNA-binding proteins (GRPs) are involved in the modulation of the post-transcriptional processing of transcripts and participate as an output signal of the circadian clock. However, neither GRPs nor the circadian rhythmic have been studied in detail in fleshy fruits as yet. In the present work, the GRP1 gene family was analysed in Micro-Tom tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) fruit. Three highly homologous LeGRP1 genes (LeGRP1a-c) were identified. For each gene, three products were found, corresponding to the unspliced precursor mRNA (pre-mRNA), the mature mRNA and the alternatively spliced mRNA (preLeGRP1a-c, mLeGRP1a-c and asLeGRP1a-c, respectively). Tomato GRPs (LeGRPs) show the classic RNA recognition motif and glycine-rich region, and were found in the nucleus and in the cytosol of tomato fruit. By using different Escherichia coli mutants, it was found that LeGRP1s contained in vivo RNA-melting abilities and were able to complement the cold-sensitive phenotype of BX04 cells. Particular circadian profiles of expression, dependent on the fruits' developmental stage, were found for each LeGRP1 form. During ripening off the vine of fruits harvested at the mature green stage, the levels of all LeGRP1a-c forms drastically increased; however, incubation at 4°C prevented such increases. Analysis of the expression of all LeGRP1a-c forms suggests a positive regulation of expression in tomato fruit. Overall, the results obtained in this work reveal a complex pattern of expression of GRPs in tomato fruit, suggesting they might be involved in post-transcriptional modulation of circadian processes of this fleshy fruit.

To extend fruit market life, tomatoes are harvested before red ripe and kept at temperatures below optimum (20°C). In this work, Micro-Tom tomatoes stored at 20°C (normal ripening) were compared with those stored at 15°C or 4°C (chilling injury inducer) for 7 days. In contrast to 4°C, storage at 15°C delayed ripening with the benefit of not enhancing oxidative metabolism and of enabling ripening upon being transferred to 20°C. The transcriptional expression profile of enzymes related to cell wall metabolism was compared at the three temperatures. Although endo-β-1,4-glucanase (Cel1), which is associated with fruit decay, was largely increased after removal from 4°C storage, its expression was not modified in fruits stored at 15°C. Enhanced transcriptional expression of xyloglucan endotransgylcosylase/hydrolases (XTHs) XTH1, -2, -10 and -11, and of two β-xylosidases (Xyl1-2) was detected in fruits stored at 15°C with respect to those at 20°C. Following 2 days at 20°C, these transcripts remained higher in fruits stored at 15°C and XHT3 and -9 also increased. Ethylene evolution was similar in fruits kept at 15°C and 20°C; thus, the changes in the transcript profile and fruit properties between these treatments may be under the control of factors other than ethylene.