Journals
2013 EN
Akemi Gálvez · Andrés Iglesias.
Fitting spline curves to data points is a very important issue in many applied fields. It is also challenging, because these curves typically depend on many continuous variables in a highly interrelated nonlinear way. In general, it is not possible to compute these parameters analytically, so the problem is formulated as a continuous nonlinear optimization problem, for which traditional optimization techniques usually fail. This paper presents a new bioinspired method to tackle this issue. In this method, optimization is performed through a combination of two techniques. Firstly, we apply the indirect approach to the knots, in which they are not initially the subject of optimization but precomputed with a coarse approximation scheme. Secondly, a powerful bioinspired metaheuristic technique, the firefly algorithm, is applied to optimization of data parameterization; then, the knot vector is refined by using De Boor’s method, thus yielding a better approximation to the optimal knot vector. This scheme converts the original nonlinear continuous optimization problem into a convex optimization problem, solved by singular value decomposition. Our method is applied to some illustrative real-world examples from the CAD/CAM field. Our experimental results show that the proposed scheme can solve the original continuous nonlinear optimization problem very efficiently.
Journals
2013 EN
Eliana PeresiLordelo · Larissa Ragozo Cardoso de Oliveira · Weber Laurentino da Silva
+7 more
Cytokines play an essential role during active tuberculosis disease and cytokine genes have been described in association with altered cytokine levels. Therefore, the aim of this study was to verify if IFNG, IL12B, TNF, IL17A, IL10, and TGFB1 gene polymorphisms influence the immune response of Brazilian patients with pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) at different time points of antituberculosis treatment (T1, T2, and T3). Our results showed the following associations: IFNG +874 T allele and IFNG +2109 A allele with higher IFN- γ levels; IL12B +1188 C allele with higher IL-12 levels; TNF −308 A allele with higher TNF- α plasma levels in controls and mRNA levels in PTB patients at T1; IL17A A allele at rs7747909 with higher IL-17 levels; IL10 −819 T allele with higher IL-10 levels; and TGFB1 +29 CC genotype higher TGF- β plasma levels in PTB patients at T2. The present study suggests that IFNG +874T/A, IFNG +2109A/G, IL12B +1188A/C, IL10 −819C/T, and TGFB1 +21C/T are associated with differential cytokine levels in pulmonary tuberculosis patients and may play a role in the initiation and maintenance of acquired cellular immunity to tuberculosis and in the outcome of the active disease while on antituberculosis treatment.
Hindawi Publishing Corporation
Journals
2013 EN
Luiz Carlos Porcello Marrone · Bianca Fontana Marrone · Tharick A. Pascoal
+5 more
Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) is a clinicoradiologic entity characterized by headaches, altered mental status, seizures, visual loss, and characteristic imaging pattern in brain MRI. The cause of PRES is not yet understood. We report a case of a 27-year-old woman that developed PRES after the use of FOLFOX 5 (oxaliplatin/5-Fluoracil/Leucovorin) chemotherapy for a colorectal cancer.
Hindawi Publishing Corporation
Journals
2013 EN
Francesco Girelli · Simone Bernardi · Lucia Gardelli
+5 more
Drug Rash Eosinophilia Systemic Symptoms (DRESS) syndrome is a systemic hypersensitivity reaction characterized by exfoliative dermatitis and maculopapular rash, lymphadenopathy, fever, eosinophilia, leukocytosis, and involvement of internal organs as liver, lung, heart, and kidney; the disorder starts within 2–6 weeks after taking a drug with an incidence that ranges from 1/1000 to 1/10000 exposures. Fatal cases are reported. The exact pathogenesis of DRESS syndrome is not completely understood, while it is reported that amoxicillin could trigger it in patients who are taking allopurinol, sulfasalazine, NSAIDs, carbamazepine, strontium ranelate, lisinopril, lansoprazole, and minocycline. Amoxicillin could act directly, inducing the reactivation of a viral infection (HHV 6 and EBV) with symptoms similar to DRESS syndrome or by reducing the patients' ability to detoxify the body from substances chronically taken. We describe a case of a patient admitted to our hospital for a DRESS syndrome flared after amoxicilline intake during treatment with sulfasalazine; this combination can activate severe reactions often with an insidious onset that can mimic an infectious disease.
Hindawi Publishing Corporation
Journals
2013 EN
Mauro Ajaj Saieg · Felipe Yazawa · Manuela Horta
+3 more
Endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) is a fast and minimally invasive methodology with a crucial impact on patients’ management. It has an important and established role in the diagnosis and staging of mediastinal and abdominal malignancies, but little is discussed in the literature on the usefulness of this technique in the diagnosis of infectious diseases. In the current report, we present three different cases where EUS was essential for reaching the diagnosis of tuberculosis and paracoccidiodomicosis in cases otherwise seen as malignant. In conclusion, EUS was successful not only in obtaining enough cells for morphological analysis, but also for the production of cell blocks and assessment of the presence of the microorganisms by special stains. EUS allied to fine needle biopsy was an important tool in determining diagnoses of enlarged lymph nodes, revealing the diagnosis of infectious diseases in cases otherwise seen as malignant. The wide use of this methodology in cases such as those reported here cannot only rule out malignancy, but also aid critically ill patients by installing early proper therapy without the need for aggressive interventions.
Journals
2013 EN
Akemi Gálvez · Andrés Iglesias.
This paper introduces a new method to compute the approximating explicit B-spline curve to a given set of noisy data points. The proposed method computes all parameters of the B-spline fitting curve of a given order. This requires to solve a difficult continuous, multimodal, and multivariate nonlinear least-squares optimization problem. In our approach, this optimization problem is solved by applying the firefly algorithm, a powerful metaheuristic nature-inspired algorithm well suited for optimization. The method has been applied to three illustrative real-world engineering examples from different fields. Our experimental results show that the presented method performs very well, being able to fit the data points with a high degree of accuracy. Furthermore, our scheme outperforms some popular previous approaches in terms of different fitting error criteria.
Journals
2013 EN
Francisco Elizaudo de Brito · Dayanne Rakelly de Oliveira · Elizângela Beneval Bento
+20 more
Croton campestris A. St.-Hill., popularly known as “velame do campo,” is a species native to the savannah area of Northeast Brazil, which is used by traditional communities in folk medicine for variety of health problems, especially detoxification, inflammation, and gastritis. The hydroalcoholic extract of C. campestris leaves (HELCC) was assessed for its antiulcerogenic effect in gastric lesion models and effect on intestinal motility in mice, and possible mechanisms of action were examined. HELCC showed significant gastroprotective action in all models of gastric ulcer evaluated; the results suggest that this action probably involves the nitric oxide pathway. HELCC did not show alteration of intestinal motility in mice. It was also found that C. campestris represents a promising natural source with important biological potential, justifying some of its uses in folk medicine.
Hindawi Publishing Corporation
Journals
2013 EN
Hiroyuki Konno · Yoshiaki Kanai · Mikiyuki Katagiri
+7 more
Melinjo ( Gnetum gnemon L.) seed extract (MSE) containing trans -resveratrol (3,5,4′-trihydroxy- trans -stilbene) and other derivatives exerts various beneficial effects. However, its mechanism of action in humans remains unknown. In this study, we aimed to investigate beneficial effects of MSE in healthy adult males. In this double-blind, randomized controlled study, 30 males aged 35–70 years with ≤10% flow-mediated dilatation received placebo or 750 mg MSE powder for 8 weeks, and twenty-nine males (45.1 ± 8.8 years old) completed the trial. There was a significant difference in the melinjo and placebo groups. Compared with the placebo control, MSE significantly reduced serum uric acid at 4 weeks and 8 weeks ( n = 14 and 15, resp.). HDL cholesterol was significantly increased in the melinjo group. To clarify the mechanism of MSE for reducing uric acid, we investigated xanthine oxidase inhibitory activity, angiotensin II type 1 (AT1) receptor binding inhibition rate, and agonistic activities for PPAR α and PPAR γ . MSE, trans -resveratrol, and a resveratrol dimer, gnetin C (GC), significantly inhibit AT1 receptor binding and exhibit mild agonistic activities for PPAR α and PPAR γ . In conclusion, MSE may decrease serum uric acid regardless of insulin resistance and may improve lipid metabolism by increasing HDL cholesterol.
Hindawi Publishing Corporation
Journals
2013 EN
Shirley Telles · Elisa Harumi Kozasa · Luciano Bernardi
+1 more
Yoga was intended for spiritual evolution [1], but increasingly nowadays it is used for its incidental benefits such as stress reduction and managing lifestyle related disorders. Despite its Indian origin, the number of yoga practitioners in Western society is growing: in the United States, for example, a national survey showed that 6.1% of the adults were practicing yoga in 2007 [2]. Apart from the benefits of Yoga practice in preventing and managing disease, yoga has several applications in rehabilitation (rehabilitare = to restore, in Latin). Rehabilitation is of different types such as (i) physical, (ii) psychological, and (iii) social. Yoga, as a way of life, has helped persons with physical disorders to return to health, an example being coronary artery disease [3, 4]. Other conditions which have benefitted from yoga practice include stroke after cerebrovascular accidents [5] and patients with heart failure, in whom exercise capacity, oxygen saturation, and parasympathetic activity were restored [6, 7]. Yoga breathing or pranayama was especially beneficial for COPD [8]. Practicing yoga has also been used with good results in degenerative disorders such as idiopathic Parkinson's syndrome [9] and muscular dystrophy [10]. With regard to psychological rehabilitation, yoga practice has helped restore the psychological function and mental equilibrium in persons with posttraumatic stress disorder [11] and even certain psychotic conditions [12]. Finally, yoga practice can help people who are at a disadvantage because of their social circumstances. This includes persons in jail [13], those from the “inner city” [14], children in remand homes [15, 16], and older people living in community centers [17, 18]. Social rehabilitation includes dimensions of physical and psychological rehabilitation. Despite the research cited above, there is a continued need for research. A summary of yoga reviews pointed to the importance of larger-scale, rigorous research with higher methodological quality and adequate control groups. Additionally, it should be stressed that although research should be aimed at yoga as a whole (hence including postures as well as meditation, respiratory practices, diet, and other aspects) this is obviously very complex, as the contribution of many different aspects cannot be easily identified, and confounding factors may play a decisive role. Also, the complexity and variety of different yoga techniques make a comparison between different studies very difficult. On the other hand, a “reductionist” approach seems to be more feasible from a scientific point of view, due to an easier separation of the specific effects of a single intervention (e.g., the analysis of one posture or the analysis of a single type of pranayama), but it is obviously at the risk of missing the whole effect of yoga. As a typical example, if one measures only the energy expenditure of a single yoga session, one may conclude that yoga will be of no use to lose weight, but other crucial effects of yoga related to weight control could be missed, such as the attention to diet and possibly a direct effect of pranayama on the hypothalamus, through which yoga does actually lead to weight loss. Thus, a careful balance between these opposite aspects needs to be taken into account when planning research on yoga. The analyzed reviews suggested a number of areas where yoga may be beneficial, but more research is required for them to really establish such benefits. Nevertheless, some meta-analyses indicated that there are several randomized clinical trials of relatively high quality indicating beneficial effects of yoga for pain-associated disability and mental health [8]. Considering the large number of different yoga techniques and schools of yoga, it is also important for researchers to describe, in detail, the specific method used in a given study. Yoga is worth investigating as it is relatively cost-effective, its practices can be adapted for different groups of patients, and if well oriented, the risks of side effects are very low. We hope that this special issue will give new insights for the development of novel, well-designed studies in the field of yoga and rehabilitation. Shirley Telles Elisa Kozasa Luciano Bernardi Marc Cohen
Hindawi Publishing Corporation
Journals
2013 EN
Caren Luciane Bernardi · Ana Carolina Tramontina · Patrícia Nardin
+12 more
Physical exercise effects on brain health and cognitive performance have been described. Synaptic remodeling in hippocampus induced by physical exercise has been described in animal models, but the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. Changes in astrocytes, the glial cells involved in synaptic remodeling, need more characterization. We investigated the effect of moderate treadmill exercise (20 min/day) for 4 weeks on some parameters of astrocytic activity in rat hippocampal slices, namely, glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), glutamate uptake and glutamine synthetase (GS) activities, glutathione content, and S100B protein content and secretion, as well as brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels and glucose uptake activity in this tissue. Results show that moderate treadmill exercise was able to induce a decrease in GFAP content (evaluated by ELISA and immunohistochemistry) and an increase in GS activity. These changes could be mediated by corticosterone, whose levels were elevated in serum. BDNF, another putative mediator, was not altered in hippocampal tissue. Moreover, treadmill exercise caused a decrease in NO content. Our data indicate specific changes in astrocyte markers induced by physical exercise, the importance of studying astrocytes for understanding brain plasticity, as well as reinforce the relevance of physical exercise as a neuroprotective strategy.
Hindawi Publishing Corporation