Post-COVID-19 condition in pregnant and postpartum women: a long-term follow-up, observational prospective study.

Background: Post-COVID-19 condition has recently been defined as new or persistent common COVID-19 symptoms occurring three months after disease onset. The pathology of the disease is unclear, but immune and vascular factors seem to play a significant role. The incidence, severity, and implications of the disease after COVID-19 infection in pregnancy have not been established.

A new order, Entrophosporales, and three new species in Glomeromycota.

As a result of phylogenomic, phylogenetic, and morphological analyses of members of the genus , four potential new glomoid spore-producing species and , a new order, Entrophosporales, with one family, Entrophosporaceae (=Claroideoglomeraceae), was erected in the phylum Glomeromycota. The phylogenomic analyses recovered the Entrophosporales as sister to a clade formed by Diversisporales and Glomeraceae. The strongly conserved entrophosporoid morph of , provided with a newly designated epitype, was shown to represent a group of cryptic species with the potential to produce different glomoid morphs.

A serosurvey of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis infection of goats in the North of Portugal.

To better understand the epizootiology of caprine paratuberculosis in the North of Portugal, a cross-sectional study was conducted from 2014 to 2015. The seroprevalence and risk factors for Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (Map) seropositivity were evaluated.

Establishment of Colorectal Cancer Organoids in Microfluidic-Based System.

Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death worldwide. Significant advances in the molecular mechanisms underlying colorectal cancer have been made; however, the clinical approval of new drugs faces many challenges. Drug discovery is a lengthy process causing a rapid increase in global health care costs.

Characterization and strong risk association of to polymorphism and and their influence on mRNA expression in gastric cancer.

Background: Toll-like receptor-2 () is responsible for recognizing () and activating the immune response. Polymorphisms in may modulate gastric carcinogenesis.

Aim: To evaluate whether the (rs3804099) and - (rs111200466) polymorphisms contribute to gastric carcinogenesis in the Brazilian population, and to determine the influence of both polymorphisms and infection on mRNA expression.

A non-canonical RNA degradation pathway suppresses RNAi-dependent epimutations in the human fungal pathogen Mucor circinelloides.

Mucorales are a group of basal fungi that includes the casual agents of the human emerging disease mucormycosis. Recent studies revealed that these pathogens activate an RNAi-based pathway to rapidly generate drug-resistant epimutant strains when exposed to stressful compounds such as the antifungal drug FK506. To elucidate the molecular mechanism of this epimutation pathway, we performed a genetic analysis in Mucor circinelloides that revealed an inhibitory role for the non-canonical RdRP-dependent Dicer-independent silencing pathway, which is an RNAi-based mechanism involved in mRNA degradation that was recently identified.

EGFR-Based Immunoisolation as a Recovery Target for Low-EpCAM CTC Subpopulation.

Circulating tumour cells (CTCs) play a key role in the metastasis process, as they are responsible for micrometastasis and are a valuable tool for monitoring patients in real-time. Moreover, efforts to develop new strategies for CTCs isolation and characterisation, and the translation of CTCs into clinical practice needs to overcome the limitation associated with the sole use of Epithelial Cell Adhesion Molecule (EpCAM) expression to purify this tumour cell subpopulation. CTCs are rare events in the blood of patients and are believed to represent the epithelial population from a primary tumour of epithelial origin, thus EpCAM immunoisolation is considered an appropriate strategy.

The RNAi machinery controls distinct responses to environmental signals in the basal fungus Mucor circinelloides.

Background: RNA interference (RNAi) is a conserved mechanism of genome defence that can also have a role in the regulation of endogenous functions through endogenous small RNAs (esRNAs). In fungi, knowledge of the functions regulated by esRNAs has been hampered by lack of clear phenotypes in most mutants affected in the RNAi machinery. Mutants of Mucor circinelloides affected in RNAi genes show defects in physiological and developmental processes, thus making Mucor an outstanding fungal model for studying endogenous functions regulated by RNAi.

A non-canonical RNA silencing pathway promotes mRNA degradation in basal Fungi.

The increasing knowledge on the functional relevance of endogenous small RNAs (esRNAs) as riboregulators has stimulated the identification and characterization of these molecules in numerous eukaryotes. In the basal fungus Mucor circinelloides, an emerging opportunistic human pathogen, esRNAs that regulate the expression of many protein coding genes have been described. These esRNAs share common machinery for their biogenesis consisting of an RNase III endonuclease Dicer, a single Argonaute protein and two RNA-dependent RNA polymerases.

Nano-droplet systems by surfactant self-assembly and applications in the pharmaceutical industry.

Liquid systems containing droplets with size in the nanoscale range are attractive from both scientific and technological points of view as they have many current and potential applications in several industries and products. The formation and stabilization of nano-droplet systems are mostly based on the self-assembly of surfactant (amphiphilic) molecules at interfaces, driven by the solvophobic effect. Surfactants are involved in both top-bottom (high energy) and bottom- up (low energy) methods.

A single argonaute gene participates in exogenous and endogenous RNAi and controls cellular functions in the basal fungus Mucor circinelloides.

The mechanism of RNAi is well described in metazoans where it plays a role in diverse cellular functions. However, although different classes of endogenous small RNAs (esRNAs) have been identified in fungi, their biological roles are poorly described due, in part, to the lack of phenotype of mutants affected in the biogenesis of these esRNAs. Argonaute proteins are one of the key components of the RNAi pathways, in which different members of this protein family participate in the biogenesis of a wide repertoire of esRNAs molecules.

Molecular tools for carotenogenesis analysis in the zygomycete Mucor circinelloides.

The carotene producer fungus Mucor circinelloides is the zygomycete more amenable to genetic manipulations by using molecular tools. Since the initial development of an effective procedure of genetic transformation, more than two decades ago, the availability of new molecular approaches such as gene replacement techniques and gene expression inactivation by RNA silencing, in addition to the sequencing of its genome, has made Mucor a valuable organism for the study of a number of processes. Here we describe in detail the main techniques and methods currently used to manipulate M.

[Association of Schizophrenia and its Clinical Implications with the NOS1AP Gene in the Colombian Population].

Introduction: The nitric oxide synthase 1 adaptor protein (NOS1AP) gene is possibly implicated in schizophrenia etiopathogenesis.

Objective: To determine the association of NOS1AP gene variants with schizophrenia and the relationship of variants with the clinical dimensions of the disorder in the Colombian population.

Methodology: It is a case-control study with 255 subjects per group.

Two distinct RNA-dependent RNA polymerases are required for initiation and amplification of RNA silencing in the basal fungus Mucor circinelloides.

RNA-dependent RNA polymerases (RdRPs) play key roles in the RNA silencing pathway in a number of organisms. They have been involved in the production of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) molecules that initiate the silencing mechanism as well as in the amplification of the silencing signal. The roles of RdRPs from fungi in these processes are poorly described compared with other eukaryotes.

Trends of knowledge production in health education in Brazil.

This literature review aimed to identify the concept of Health Education used by researchers in Collective Health; to present the main trends and pedagogical references defended in these studies and to exemplify studies constructed with the objective to promote health education by means of participant strategies with the community's involvement. After reading and analyzing 22 articles searched in the Scientific Electronic Library Online that answered the study questions, the following categories of analysis were constructed: Health Education in Brazil--conceptual aspects; pedagogical practices in education and health; health education applied to professional practices. Health education is an essential field to the development of a society and educative practices are opportunities to apply knowledge directed to social growth.

Chitosan nanoparticles as a potential drug delivery system for the ocular surface: toxicity, uptake mechanism and in vivo tolerance.

Purpose: To study the in vitro and in vivo interaction of chitosan nanoparticles (CSNPs), a new particulate drug carrier, with epithelial cells on the ocular surface.

Methods: CSNPs labeled with fluorescein isothiocyanate-bovine serum albumin were produced by ionotropic gelation. Human conjunctival epithelial cells (IOBA-NHC) were exposed for 15, 30, 60, and 120 minutes to three different CSNP concentrations.

Transport of PLA-PEG particles across the nasal mucosa: effect of particle size and PEG coating density.

The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of the size and PEG coating density of Poly(lactic acid)-poly(ethylene glycol) (PLA-PEG) nano- and microparticles on their transport across the nasal mucosa. Particles were made of PLA-PEG copolymers of two different molecular weights (Mw: 37 and 28 kDa) and also PLA of Mw 28 kDa, and prepared using different techniques (simple emulsion (o/w), double emulsion (w/o/w), and nanoprecipitation techniques). The particles were characterized for their size, zeta potential, morphology [Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM)], and PEG coating efficiency.

Low molecular weight chitosan nanoparticles as new carriers for nasal vaccine delivery in mice.

High molecular weight (Mw) chitosan (CS) solutions have already been proposed as vehicles for nasal immunization. The aim of the present work was to investigate the potential utility of low Mw CS in the form of nanoparticles as new long-term nasal vaccine delivery vehicles. For this purpose, CS of low Mws (23 and 38 kDa) was obtained previously by a depolymerization process of the commercially available CS (70 kDa).