Search

Purpose: Thyroid incidentaloma is an abnormal finding detected by imaging exams and which was not the initial reason for performing it. This article aimed to verify the prevalence of TI in PSMA PET/CT and to analyze its risk of malignancy through a systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods: A systematic search through electronic databases was conducted until April 2022 to identify relevant articles on thyroid findings in PSMA PET/CT. Observational studies that reported TI detected with PSMA PET/CT were eligible for inclusion. Results: Three hundred and eighty-four abstracts were reviewed in electronic databases and bibliographic references, including 5 studies containing 8422 patients for qualitative and quantitative analysis. PSMA PET/CT identified 96 TI (1.3%), of which 6 were malignant. Only three studies describe TI uptake pattern. The prevalence of TI with a focal pattern was 67.6% (95% CI 57.2–77.2%; I2= 0%), while the risk of malignancy in focal lesions alone was 9.0% (95% CI 3.0–17.7%; I2= 0.0%). Conclusion: TI is rarely detected on PSMA PET/CT, and the risk of malignancy can reach considerable values in lesions with a focal pattern. Therefore, follow-up and appropriate clinical investigation of lesions with focal PSMA uptake in the thyroid are important.

Objective: To determine which Thyroglobulin (Tg) level after levothyroxine (LT4) withdrawal (stimulated thyroglobulin - sTg) measured before radioiodine therapy (RAIT) is able to predict incomplete response to treatment of differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC) with greater sensitivity and specificity one year after initial treatment with I131. Methods: A chart review was performed in which 375 patients with DTC treated with RAIT were included. The sTg was measured in all patients prior to treatment with I131. Follow up were then performed one year later. Initial sTg levels were associated to DTC outcomes. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was performed to achieve a sTg level able to predict which patients would have a greater chance of having an incomplete response to RAIT. Results: Incomplete response to treatment was found in 122 patients (32.5%), this group had a mean sTg of 23.2 ng/mL. ROC curve showed that the optimal cut-off sTg level was 4.4 ng/mL. (sensitivity: 72.1%; specificity: 72.3%; accuracy: 72.2%; positive predictive value of 55.7%; and negative predictive value: 84.3%). Conclusion: sTg pre-ablation is a valuable predictor of DTC incomplete response to treatment one year after RAIT. Levels of 4.4 ng/ml or more showed higher accuracy to predict this outcome.

The paper focuses on the phenomenon of company towns. Despite the deep impact that firms have on urban landscapes, the existing urban planning/managerial literature lacks the proper consideration of this issue. To fill this gap, this paper sheds light on how firms shape urban landscapes through categorical values, building a different model of company towns. It analyses the case of Ivrea1(Italy) as an interesting example of a 'reversed' company town, rooted in Olivetti's distinctive categorical values. The paper's final remarks underscore the oft-hidden role of categorical values in shaping an urban landscape's tangible dimensions.

This is a case report of a patient presenting an extremely rare cardiac malignancy: malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumour. The 18F-fluorodeoxyglucosis positron emission tomography associated to computed tomography (18F-FDG PET/CT) accesses the tumour anatomy and metabolic activity, thereby making it possible to characterize a malignant neoplasm noninvasively. The diagnostic approach with 18F-FDG PET/CT spared the heart from a likely futile invasive procedure when detecting a distant metastasis and changed the biopsy site and therapeutic planning.

The paper focuses on ethical purchase group (EPG) phenomenon as an alternative model of consumption (i.e., critical consumption), driven by care of community, wellbeing and social responsibility, where consumption itself is a language through which producers and consumers intertwine and exchange each other meanings, beliefs and values. Specifically, having underlined the social role of EPGs in orienting consumers choices, we aim to describe and give evidence of their capability to share knowledge and experiences among members in a virtuous process of mutual learning. Approaching the analysis from a historical perspective, thus, we frame ethical consumer behaviour as a coherent system of decisions inspired by sobriety, social equity and solidarity to offer a real, concrete alternative to consumerism and mass capitalism.

In organisational terms, conflict is not necessarily associated with negative feelings: if well-managed, in fact, it can play an irreplaceable role in people's and teams' development in terms of personal energy, commitment, engagement and creativity. Given this 'subjective' nature, the careful setting of an appropriate management style is a central point in ensuring health and wellbeing of the people within the team. Aiming to contribute in this direction and after an analysis around conflict and team management main issues, the paper focuses on team leaders' social intelligence as an unavoidable lever in moderating conflict and transforming it into an opportunity for pushing creativity and socio-organisational wellbeing.

The paper focuses on the Italian most prominent example of corporate social responsibility and socio-economic wellbeing - the Adriano Olivetti's experience - as the result of a synergic and virtuous exchange among firm, culture and community. Defining wellbeing as the overall health of an organisation - including organisational climate, social climate, employee productivity, performance, turnover - we aim to underline the key role Adriano played in the Italian industry and the anticipatory breadth of his governance. In fact, even if a lot has been said regarding Olivetti and his approach to work organisation, little has been said about Adriano's idea of organisational wellbeing. Adopting the case history methodology and rooting our analysis in Adriano's well-being model (built around ethics and community, culture of innovation and beauty of design), we would like to evidence the new and unrepeated humanity Olivetti gave to his firm.

Purpose This paper aims to focus on distributed technologies with the aim of highlighting their economic-organizational dimensions. In particular, the contribution first presents a deeper understanding of the nature and the dynamics of the economies and diseconomies that arise from the adoption and diffusion of distributed technologies. Second, it aims to shed light on the increasing tension between the hierarchy-based model of production and peer-to-peer (p2p) production, which involves the pervasive diffusion of distributed technologies.Design/methodology/approach Adopting an economic-organizational perspective, which is deeply rooted in the related extant literature, an analytically consistent model is developed to simultaneously take into account the following variables: adoption density independent variable) and economies of knowledge integration and organizational diseconomies (the costs of a loss of control and the costs of organizational decoupling and recoupling) as dependent variables.Findings Distributed technologies allow access to a large quantity and a wide variety of cognitive slacks that have not been possible until now. In doing so, they are leading the transition towards p2p. This is an emerging production paradigm that is characterized – with respect to mass production – by a shift in the relative importance of cognitive slack in comparison with tangible slack. Nevertheless, the unrestrainable diffusion of distributed technologies is not neutral for organizations. On the one hand, these technologies allow for the integration of economies of knowledge, and on the other hand, they involve organizational diseconomies that should not be ignored by managers and researchers.Originality/value This paper fills a gap in the literature by developing a consistent analytical framework that simultaneously takes into account the economies of knowledge integration and potential organizational diseconomies (the costs of coordination and the loss of control) that arise from the adoption and diffusion of distributed technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The contralateral limbs of patients with unilateral lymphedema in the lower limbs (LLs) can exhibit abnormal lymphatic circulation, even in the absence of lymphedema. This idea is based on a number of reports that have studied isolated cases using lymphoscintigraphy. It is likely that these patients previously had some form of lymphopathy, and the lymphedema arose after the action of some external factor. However, there are no studies in the literature that adequately assess the asymptomatic contralateral limbs of these patients or address the prevalence and characteristics of the abnormal lymphatic circulation in these limbs. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of abnormal lymphatic circulation in the asymptomatic contralateral limbs of patients with unilateral lymphedema of the LL.

AbstractEugenia pitanga(O.Berg) Nied., Myrtaceae, popularly known as pitanga-do-campo, is a species native from Pampa biome, in southern of Brazil and is popularly used as antidiarrheal, anti-rheumatic, stimulant and febrifuge. The aim of this work was to determine the chemical composition of essential oil from fresh leaves of Eugenia pitanga(O.Berg) Nied. Preliminaries data about antileishmanial activity in vitroof essential oil against promastigotes forms of Leishmania amazonensisare presented. The method to determine the chemical composition of the essential oil from fresh leaves of E. pitanga(EoEp) was gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. EoEp was assayed in vitrofor antileishmanial activity against promastigotes of Leishmania amazonensis. The EoEp comprised 57 components and was rich in oxygenated sesquiterpenes (72.97 %) with spathulenol (15.34 %), globulol (10.93 %) and (2E,6E) methyl farnesoate (7.40 %) as the major constituents. EoEp was effective against L. amazonensispromastigotes with IC50value of 6.10 ± 1.80 μg/mL. This work reports for the first time the composition of essential oil from leaves of E. pitangafrom Pampa Biome, and it suggests the importance of continuing the studies in order to explain the antileishmanial activity.

Globalisation exacerbates the need to conceive sustainable and shared solutions to the dramatic environmental, social and economic issues at a local level, i.e., for a specific territory. Satisfying this need asks for a decision-making processes awareness of the specific environmental, social and economic features of the territory itself. The paper starts debating the challenge to linking effectiveness and efficiency with a viable sustainability at a local level (par. 1); then, after discussing the vision of the territory in the economic literature (par.2), the work firstly offers deeper insights in understanding the complex nature of the territory according to the viable system approach (VSA) (par. 3) and secondly it proposes a new model, the ConsulCubo VSA, helpful to support the decision-makers facing the increasing challenge of an effective, efficient and sustainable management of territory (par 4); final remarks are then discussed and fully debated (par. 5).

Fish is the primary source of food in the Amazonas State, Brazil. This reality is also valid in Manaus, the main housing and enterprises pole in the North of Brazil. However, for several reasons investigated in the present work, the fishing activity in Amazonas State is not able to supply the needs of the region. Therefore, the research was carried out aiming to understand better these difficulties. The methodology used a series of interviews, questionnaires, and a documental analysis was applied to four study groups: 1) family and business producers; 2) research and education institutions; 3) public organisms; 4) final customers. The results indicate that the segment needs structural actions and improvement in the fields of cooperation, land and environmental issues, technology, infrastructure, specialised qualifications and quality of the product. A local governance with a coordinator agent is suggested, as well as the establishment of sustainable modules, and the implementation of a particular training centre. The centre should have the objective of helping the fish producers in the matters of land, environmental, credit and processing issues. The results pointed out that the local productive fishing cluster needs technical support for improving the activities.

AbstractThe chemical compositions of essential oils extracted by hydrodistillation and of volatile substances extracted by HS-SPME from aerial parts of Microlicia crenulatawere studied. The antimicrobial activity of the essential oil was investigated. The essential oils of M. crenulataconsist of a complex mixture, composed mainly of terpenoid compounds. There is a slight variation in the yield and chemical composition of the essential oils according to the phenological stages of the year. The oil presented moderate inhibitory activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa,but did not inhibit the growth of Bacillus cereusvar. mycoides, Escherichia coliand Staphylococcus aureus.The oil showed moderate antimicrobial activity against Sacharomyces cerevisiaeand Aspergillus flavusfungi, weak activity against Aspergillus nigerand was not active against species of Candidaand Cryptococcusat the highest concentration tested (250 µg/mL). This study is the first to report the composition and antimicrobial properties of the essential oil of M. crenulata.

The paper is focused on the relation among firm and territory and aims to identify the main features (cultural values, core competences and key organisational processes) of a sustainable business model. Wondering about virtuous (and vicious) firm behaviour, the paper starts with a deep literature review with the aim to delineate different relational models on the basis to which firms relate to their territory; then, on the basis of field research, the paper describes four case studies related to Italian secular firms characterised by a sustainable relation with their own territory; the on field research findings provide a model of an ideal-typical enterprise, sustainable and territorially virtuous - the Arbor vitae model; final remarks are then discussed in the last section.

Bone marrow is organized in specialized microenvironments known as ‘marrow niches’. These are important for the maintenance of stem cells and their hematopoietic progenitors whose homeostasis also depends on other cell types present in the tissue. Extrinsic factors, such as infection and inflammatory states, may affect this system by causing cytokine dysregulation (imbalance in cytokine production) and changes in cell proliferation and self-renewal rates, and may also induce changes in the metabolism and cell cycle. Known to relate to chronic inflammation, obesity is responsible for systemic changes that are best studied in the cardiovascular system. Little is known regarding the changes in the hematopoietic system induced by the inflammatory state carried by obesity or the cell and molecular mechanisms involved. The understanding of the biological behavior of hematopoietic stem cells under obesity-induced chronic inflammation could help elucidate the pathophysiological mechanisms involved in other inflammatory processes, such as neoplastic diseases and bone marrow failure syndromes.

The purpose of this article is to propose a methodological approach to analyse how the positioning of actors in an interorganisational network can influence the elements of value creation. This study fills a gap in the existing literature by exploring the relationship between the positioning of actors and the value creation in a context of interorganisational networks. The case study method was employed and the data was obtained from four companies of an interorganisational network, located in Brazil, which produces earthmoving equipments. The central actor in this network is benefited through access to resources, power and information of the other network actors. The centrality position seems to help this company in the absorption and diffusion of knowledge among the other network actors. The research indicates, that a dense core (through strong ties) and redundancy (for triangulation and knowledge absorption), benefited the following value creation elements: tangible; intangible; services and economic.

AbstractNuclear-mitochondrial incompatibilities may be responsible for the development failure reported in embryos and fetuses produced by interspecies somatic cell nuclear transfer (iSCNT). Herein we performed xenooplasmic transfer (XOT) by introducing 10 to 15% of buffalo ooplasm into bovine zygotes to assess its effect on the persistence of buffalo mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). Blastocyst rates were not compromised by XOT in comparison to both in vitrofertilized embryos and embryos produced by transfer of bovine ooplasm into bovine zygotes. Moreover, offspring were born after transfer of XOT embryos to recipient cows. Buffalo mtDNA introduced in zygotes was still present at the blastocyst stage (8.3 vs. 9.3%, p= 0.11), indicating unaltered heteroplasmy during early development. Nonetheless, no vestige of buffalo mtDNA was found in offspring, indicating a drift to homoplasmy during later stages of development. In conclusion, we show that the buffalo mtDNA introduced by XOT into a bovine zygote do not compromise embryo development. On the other hand, buffalo mtDNA was not inherited by offspring indicating a possible failure in the process of interspecies mtDNA replication.

Ooplasmic transfer (OT) has been used in basic mouse research for studying the segregation of mtDNA, as well as in human assisted reproduction for improving embryo development in cases of persistent developmental failure. Using cattle as a large-animal model, we demonstrate that the moderate amount of mitochondria introduced by OT is transmitted to the offspring's oocytes; e.g., modifies the germ line. The donor mtDNA was detectable in 25% and 65% of oocytes collected from two females. Its high variation in heteroplasmic oocytes, ranging from 1.1% to 33.5% and from 0.4% to 15.5%, can be explained by random genetic drift in the female germ line. Centrifugation-mediated enrichment of mitochondria in the pole zone of the recipient zygote's ooplasm and its substitution by donor ooplasm led to elevated proportions of donor mtDNA in reconstructed zygotes compared with zygotes produced by standard OT (23.6% ± 9.6% versus 12.1% ± 4.5%; P< 0.0001). We also characterized the proliferation of mitochondria from the OT parents—the recipient zygote (Bos primigenius taurustype) and the donor ooplasm (B. primigenius indicustype). Regression analysis performed for 57 tissue samples collected from the seven OT fetuses at different points during fetal development found a decreasing proportion of donor mtDNA (r2= 0.78). This indicates a preferred proliferation of recipient taurine mitochondria in the context of the nuclear genotype of the OT recipient expressing a B. primigenius indicusphenotype.

As an important step in the nuclear transfer (NT) procedure, we evaluated the effect of three different treatments for oocyte activation on the in vitro and in vivo developmental capacity of bovine reconstructed embryos: (1) strontium, which has been successfully used in mice but not yet tested in cattle; (2) ionomycin and 6-dimethylaminopurine (6-DMAP), a standard treatment used in cattle; (3) ionomycin and strontium, in place of 6-DMAP. As regards NT blastocyst development, no difference was observed when strontium (20.1%) or ionomycin/6-DMAP (14.4%) were used. However, when 6-DMAP was substituted by strontium (3), the blastocyst rate (34.8%) was superior to that in the other activation groups (p <0.05). Results of in vivo development showed the possibility of pregnancies when NT embryos activated in strontium were transferred to recipient cows (16.6%). A live female calf was obtained when ionomycin/strontium were used, but it died 30 days after birth. Our findings show that strontium can be used as an activation agent in bovine cloning procedures and that activation with a combination of strontium and ionomycin increased the in vitro developmental capacity of reconstructed embryos. This is the first report of a calf produced by adult somatic cell NT in Latin America.

Abstract A polymorphism at codon 129 of the prion protein gene has been shown to confer genetic susceptibility to prion diseases, and to influence the epidemic course of variant Creutzfeldt--Jakob disease. We employed a PCR-endonuclease digestion-based assay to investigate this genetic trait in Brazil, and then compared our results to previously published data from several European and Asian countries.

There are 99 hemoglobin (Hb) variants with increased oxygen affinity inducing compensatory erythrocytosis (Globin Gene Server Web Site: http://globin.cse.psu.edu). One of these mutations, named Hb Coimbra, was described in 1991 in Portugal by Tamagnini et al. (HBBc.300T>A, p.Asp100Glu). Limited amount of published clinical and laboratory data of this condition and the absence of specific guidelines for its management suggest it would be a very benign condition. Here we report clinical and laboratorial findings of carriers of Hb Coimbra with some unexpectedly more severe clinical presentations.

Introduction: Heart disease represents an important cause of mortality and morbidity in sickle cell disease and beta-thalassemia, however the impairment of cardiac function in compound heterozygotes, namely sickle cell/β-thalassemia (HbS/β-thal) remains less known. Studies with patients of Greek origin demonstrated abnormal diastolic function in both ventricules, with unchanged systolic function, and biventricular dilatation along with pulmonary hypertension (Aessopos, A., et al., Ann Hematol, 88(6), 2009, Moyssakis, I., et al., Postgrad Med J, 81(961), 2005). The aim of this study was to evaluate echocardiographic findings and clinical and laboratory parameters in a cohort of Brazilian HbS/β-thal patients to better understand the cardiac involvement in this particular ethnic background.

The dispersal of and the existence of memory in sand flies were measured in a transmission area of cutaneous leishmaniasis, in the municipality of Bandeirantes, Paraná, Brazil. Sand flies were caught in a rural area, with Shannon trap installed in the forest and three Falcão traps installed in a human-inhabited environment (HIE) and three others in an impacted environment presently uninhabited by humans (EUH), from 1800 to 0600 hours. The captured sand flies were marked with yellow, blue, or red fluorescent powder, according to the environments where they were captured. All marked sand flies were released at 0700 hours at a point between the three environments. The recaptures were made with 28 Falcão traps, distributed in the environments from for 10 consecutive days. The sand flies recaptured were examined under a stereomicroscope and later identified. It was concluded that sand flies are able to disperse over an average distance of 73 m, reaching 130 m in 24 h, showing that: 1) the sand flies were attracted with different intensities to each environment, and the ability to move among different environments allows the existence of enzootic cycle of Leishmania; 2) the sand flies possess a spatial memory, olfactory memory, or both, that enable them to return to the environment where they were captured initially, although the distances were different.