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Neisseria elongata (NE) is an aerobic Gram-negative organism that constitutes part of the commensal human normal oropharyngeal flora. Although previously considered not to be pathogenic, it has been recognized as an occasional cause of significant infections in humans. We report here the first case in Italy of infective endocarditis of a native prolapsing mitral valve in a patient with Marfan syndrome, caused by NE subspecies nitroreducens which has been rarely isolated from clinical specimens. The culprit organism has been confirmed by mass spectrometry directly from the positive blood culture, as previously reported. The amplified gene has been deposited in GenBank under accession number KT591873. In spite of the reported aggressive nature of NE, clinical remission was promptly obtained, there being no requirement for surgery.

Com o objetivo de problematizar os desafios postos à efetivação da atividade de estudo no contexto do ensino superior público brasileiro, especialmente no âmbito das licenciaturas, o presente artigo organiza-se, do ponto de vista metodológico, como um ensaio teórico que se tece desde uma análise crítica construída a partir da história do ensino superior e da formação docente no Brasil. O caminho argumentativo proposto possui três pilares: considerações acerca do projeto político-social e educacional historicamente assumido pela universidade pública brasileira e o projeto necessário para uma formação inspirada nos princípios da psicologia histórico-cultural, referencial teórico-metodológico que sustenta o debate apresentado; reflexões sobre os problemas históricos da formação de professores no Brasil e a hegemonia privatista neste campo e, por fim, discussões a respeito dos limites que determinam as condições concretas de estudo de licenciandos considerando problemas no âmbito da permanência estudantil e saúde mental. A partir dessas chaves de análise, pretende-se defender a tese de que a potência crítica e revolucionária da psicologia histórico-cultural, expressa por meio de seu arcabouço teórico-metodológico, irá contribuir para o enfrentamento dos problemas educacionais brasileiros à medida em que partirmos de uma análise concreta das condições, problemas, contradições e desafios postos aos profissionais, famílias, estudantes, militantes e pesquisadores do campo da educação escolar de nosso país. Como síntese das conclusões alcançadas, vislumbra-se a necessidade de profundas mudanças no ensino universitário e na formação docente, principalmente no que se refere ao enfrentamento da lógica e ética privatista, elitista, pragmática e utilitarista que vêm, historicamente, hegemonizando esses campos.

Pautando-se nos pressupostos teórico-metodológicos da psicologia histórico-cultural, o presente artigo assume como objeto de análise a BNC-formação e apresenta como objetivo problematizar as concepções psicológicas sobre aprendizagem e desenvolvimento expressas e implícitas nesse documento. Inspiradas na abordagem da análise documental e partindo de uma perspectiva ensaística, as reflexões estão organizadas a partir do seguinte caminho argumentativo: uma análise histórica acerca da presença da psicologia na formação de professores no Brasil; a contextualização da BNC-Formação a partir da publicação da BNCC (Base Nacional Comum Curricular); diálogos entre as concepções psicológicas que subjazem a BNC-Formação e os pressupostos da psicologia histórico-cultural. As análises apresentadas evidenciam que as concepções de aprendizagem e desenvolvimento expressas nesse documento – assim como os projetos de sociedade, de educação e de ensino nele implícitos –, servem ao esvaziamento dos potenciais humanizadores e críticos da educação, reforçando o lugar histórico que a psicologia tem ocupado nesse campo no sentido de culpabilizar indivíduos por problemas coletivos e de ordem político-social.

Negation is frequently used in natural language, yet relatively little is known about its processing. More importantly, what is known regarding the neurophysiological processing of negation is mostly based on results of studies using written stimuli (the word-by-word paradigm). While the results of these studies have suggested processing costs in connection to negation (increased negativities in brain responses), it is difficult to know how this translates into processing of spoken language. We therefore developed an auditory paradigm based on a previous visual study investigating processing of affirmatives, sentential negation (not), and prefixal negation (un-). The findings of processing costs were replicated but differed in the details. Importantly, the pattern of ERP effects suggested less effortful processing for auditorily presented negated forms (restricted to increased anterior and posterior positivities) in comparison to visually presented negated forms. We suggest that the natural flow of spoken language reduces variability in processing and therefore results in clearer ERP patterns.

Asif H Khan,1 Adeline Abbe,1 Bruno Falissard,2 Paulo Carita,1 Claus Bachert,3,4 Joaquim Mullol,5 Matthew Reaney,6 Jingdong Chao,7 Leda P Mannent,1 Nikhil Amin,7 Puneet Mahajan,8 Gianluca Pirozzi,8 Laurent Eckert1 1Sanofi, Chilly-Mazarin, France; 2Centre de recherche en epidémiologie et santé des populations (CESP), INSERM U1018, Paris, France; 3Upper Airways Research Laboratory, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium; 4CLINTEC, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; 5Rhinology Unit & Smell Clinic, ENT Department, Hospital Clínic, Universitat de Barcelona; Clinical and Experimental Respiratory Immunoallergy, IDIBAPS; and CIBERES, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain; 6IQVIA, Reading, UK; 7Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Tarrytown, NY, USA; 8Sanofi, Bridgewater, NJ, USACorrespondence: Asif H KhanSanofi, 1 Avenue Pierre Brossolette, Chilly-Mazarin, 91380, FranceTel +33 1 60 49 77 77Email asif.khan@sanofi.comPurpose: Patient perspective is an important and increasingly sought-after complement to clinical assessment. The aim of this study was to transcribe individual patients’ experience of treatment in a dupilumab clinical trial through free-text responses with analysis using natural language processing (NLP) to obtain the unique perspective of patients on disease impact and unmet needs with existing treatment to inform future trial design.Patients and Methods: Patients with chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP) who were enrolled in a Phase IIa randomized controlled trial comparing dupilumab with placebo (NCT01920893) were invited to complete a self-assessment of treatment (SAT) tool at the end of treatment, asking, “What is your opinion on the treatment you had during the trial? What did you like or dislike about the treatment?” Free-text responses were analyzed for the overall cohort and according to treatment assignment using natural language processing including sentiment scoring. In a mixed-methods approach, quantitative patient-reported outcome (PRO) results were utilized to complement the qualitative analysis of free-text responses.Results: Of 60 patients enrolled in the study, 43 (71.6%) completed the SAT and responses from 37 patients were analyzed (placebo, n = 16; dupilumab, n = 21). Word analyses showed that the most common words were “smell,” “improve,” “staff,” “great,” “time,” and “good.” Across the whole cohort, “smell” was the most common symptom-related word. The words “smell” and “experience” were more likely to occur in patients treated with dupilumab. Patients treated with dupilumab also had more positive sentiment in their SAT responses than those who received placebo. The results from this qualitative analysis were reflected in quantitative PRO results.Conclusion: “Smell” was important to patients with CRSwNP, highlighting its importance as a patient-centric efficacy outcome measure in the context of clinical trials in CRSwNP.Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT01920893. Registered 12 August 2013, https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01920893.Keywords: CRSwNP, free-text data mining, patient perspective, self-assessment, sense of smell

The aim of this article is to shed light on how sensory perceptions are communicated through authentic language. What are the language resources available to match multimodal perceptions, and how do we use them in real communication? We discuss insights from previous work on the topic of the interaction of perception, cognition, and language and explain how language users recontextualise perception in communication about sensory experiences. Within the framework of cognitive semantics, we show that the complexities of multimodal perception are clearly reflected in the multifunctional use of words to convey meanings and feelings. To showcase the language resources employed, we base our findings on research on how architects convey their perceptions of built space. Two main patterns emerge: they use multimodal expressions (soft, bland, and jarring) and descriptions of built space through motion (the building reaches out, or routes and directions such as destination, promenade, route, or landscape in combination with verbs such as start and lead) in which case the architect may either be the observer or the emerged actor. The important take-home message is that there is no neat and clear a priori link between words and meanings, but rather “unforeseen” patterns surface in natural production data describing sensory perceptions.

Background--Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) is a robust tool to evaluate left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), myocardial salvage index, microvascular obstruction, and myocardial hemorrhage in patients with ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction. We evaluated the additional prognostic benefit of a CMR score over standard prognostic stratification with global registry of acute coronary events (GRACE) score and transthoracic echocardiography LVEF measurement. Methods and Results--Two hundred nine consecutive patients with ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction (age, 61.4±11.4 years; 162 men) underwent transthoracic echocardiography and CMR after succesful primary percutaneous coronary intervention. Major adverse cardiac events (MACE) were assessed at a mean follow-up of 2.5±1.2 years. MACE occurred in 24 (12%) patients who at baseline showed higher GRACE risk score (P<0.01), lower LVEF with both transthoracic echocardiography and CMR, lower myocardial salvage index, and higher per-patient myocardial hemorrhage and microvascular obstruction prevalence and amount as compared with patients without MACE (P<0.01). The best cut-off values of transthoracic echocardiography-LVEF, CMR-LVEF, myocardial salvage index, and microvascular obstruction to predict MACE were 46.7%, 37.5%, 0.4, and 2.6% of left ventricular mass, respectively. Accordingly, a weighted CMR score, including the following 4 variables (CMR-LVEF, myocardial salvage index, microvascular obstruction, and myocardial hemorrhage), with a maximum of 17 points was calculated and included in the multivariable analysis showing that only CMR score (hazard ratio, 1.867 per SD increase [1.311-2.658]; P<0.001) was independently associated with MACE with the highest net reclassification improvement as compared to GRACE score and transthoracic echocardiography-LVEF measurement. Conclusions--CMR score provides incremental prognostic stratification as compared with GRACE score and transthoracic echocardiography-LVEF and may impact the management of patients with ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many studies exclude loci that exhibit linkage disequilibrium (LD); however, high LD can signal reduced recombination around genomic features such as chromosome inversions or sex-determining regions. Chromosome inversions and sex-determining regions are often involved in adaptation, allowing for the inheritance of co-adapted gene complexes and for the resolution of sexually antagonistic selection through sex-specific partitioning of genetic variants. Genomic features such as these can escape detection when loci with LD are removed; in addition, failing to account for these features can introduce bias to analyses. We examined patterns of LD using network analysis to identify an overlapping chromosome inversion and sex-determining region in chum salmon. The signal of the inversion was strong enough to show up as false population substructure when the entire dataset was analyzed, while the effect of the sex-determining region on population structure was only obvious after restricting analysis to the sex chromosome. Understanding the extent and geographic distribution of inversions is now a critically important part of genetic analyses of natural populations. Our results highlight the importance of analyzing and understanding patterns of LD in genomic dataset and the perils of excluding or ignoring loci exhibiting LD. Blindly excluding loci in LD would have prevented detection of the sex-determining region and chromosome inversion while failing to understand the genomic features leading to high-LD could have resulted in false interpretations of population structure.

Assumindo como fio condutor de sua análise a formação da atividade de estudo, a partir das determinações da relação escola-família-sociedade, este ensaio tem como objetivo defender a necessidade de que a compreensão deste fenômeno, no âmbito da Educação Escolar brasileira, demanda a construção de interpretações sobre as repercussões da conjuntura político-social-cultural nas relações escolares. Para tanto, adotamos como ponto de partida as tessituras teóricas sobre a constituição da atividade de estudo, no âmbito da Psicologia Histórico-Cultural soviética, de modo a identificar determinantes particulares-universais essenciais para a interpretação deste fenômeno no contexto brasileiro atual. Em síntese, as análises buscam evidenciar como a dinâmica de ruptura-continuidade, característica da história brasileira, produz engendramentos sociais que, na atualidade, fortalecem as contradições e acirram as dificuldades históricas postas ao desenvolvimento da atividade de estudo no contexto das instituições escolares brasileiras. Por fim, defendemos que as crises sociais da atual conjuntura também guardam um potencial de superação dos problemas que as produziram.

Introduction Contrast induced nephropathy is an unfavorable acute event which can complicate the clinical course of patients undergoing coronary angiography. Clinical characteristics predisposing to its occurrence are still rather obscure. Methods We enrolled 591 patients (mean age 64.2 ± 10.98; 449 male and 142 female) who underwent emergency or elective Coronary angiography/Angioplastic in our Cardiologic Division between 10/2006 and 06/2008, paying attention to their Cardiovascular risk factors, dose and type of contrast medium, type and number of affected coronary arteries, pharmacological therapies, baseline renal function and extracoronary atherosclerosis. We performed a univariate and multivariate analysis to compare these factors, analyzing them by χ 2 or Fisher test and T Student test. Results 105 patients developed contrast induced nephropathy (increase in creatinine level ≥ 25% of baseline, decrease of GFR of >10%): affected patients were the oldest of the sample and, in most case, they were affected by diabetes mellitus, hypertension, or under diuretic therapy, in acute cardiocirculatory failure, treated with higher contrast doses, affected by more marked extracoronary atherosclerosis and previous renal insufficiency and with higher inflammation indexes (CRP, fibrinogen, ESS). Conclusions Different Contrast induced nephropathy risk factors can be taken into account to identify high risk patient before performing contrast techniques: they include both patient and procedural factors, and particularly general inflammation and atherosclerosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Aggressive B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHL) in children, adolescents, and young adults (CAYA) include Burkitt lymphoma (BL), diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), and a subset of high-grade tumors with features intermediate between these entities whose genetic and molecular profiles have not been completely elucidated. In this study, we have characterized 37 aggressive B-NHL in CAYA, 33 with high-grade morphology, and 4 DLBCL with MYC rearrangement (MYC-R), using targeted next-generation sequencing and the aggressive lymphoma gene expression germinal center B-cell-like (GCB), activated B-cell-like (ABC), and dark zone signatures (DZsig). Twenty-two tumors had MYC-R without BCL2 breaks, and two MYC-non-R cases had BCL6 translocations. MYC-R cases, including DLBCL, carried BL-related mutations and copy number alterations. Conversely, MYC-non-R lymphomas had alterations in the B-cell receptor signaling/NF-κB pathway (71%). DZsig was expressed in 12/13 of MYC-R tumors but only in 2/10 of MYC-non-R GCB tumors (P