Digestive peptidase evolution in holometabolous insects led to a divergent group of enzymes in Lepidoptera.

Trypsins and chymotrypsins are well-studied serine peptidases that cleave peptide bonds at the carboxyl side of basic and hydrophobic L-amino acids, respectively. These enzymes are largely responsible for the digestion of proteins. Three primary processes regulate the activity of these peptidases: secretion, precursor (zymogen) activation and substrate-binding site recognition.

Functional priorities reported by parents of children with cerebral palsy: contribution to the pediatric rehabilitation process.

Background: Collaborative actions between family and therapist are essential to the rehabilitation process, and they can be a catalyst mechanism to the positive outcomes in children with cerebral palsy (CP).

Objectives: To describe functional priorities established by caregivers of CP children by level of severity and age, and to assess changes on performance and satisfaction on functional priorities reported by caregivers, in 6-month interval.

Method: 75 CP children, weekly assisted at Associação Mineira de Reabilitação, on physical and occupational therapy services.

Hand and Arm Bimanual Intensive Therapy Including Lower Extremity (HABIT-ILE) in Children With Unilateral Spastic Cerebral Palsy: A Randomized Trial.

Background: Intensive bimanual training results in more improvement in hand function in children with unilateral spastic cerebral palsy (USCP) than lower intensity conventional interventions. However, it is not known whether combined upper and lower extremity training in an intensive protocol is more efficacious for upper and lower functional abilities than conventional therapies provided in usual customary care.

Objective: To determine the efficacy of Hand and Arm Bimanual Intensive Therapy Including Lower Extremity (HABIT-ILE) for children with USCP.

[Defining characteristics of the dysfunctional ventilatory weaning response as indicators of accuracy of ventilatory weaning].

The study aimed to analyze the defining characteristics of the Dysfunctional Ventilatory Weaning Response as an indicator of the accuracy of ventilatory weaning. Observational study of 38 events of ventilatory weaning in adult patients admitted to intensive care. For the defining characteristics, it was calculated: sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, accuracy or efficiency, likelihood ratio positive and negative, and diagnostic odds ratio.

Elevation of brain allopregnanolone rather than 5-HT release by short term, low dose fluoxetine treatment prevents the estrous cycle-linked increase in stress sensitivity in female rats.

Withdrawal from long-term dosing with exogenous progesterone precipitates increased anxiety-linked changes in behavior in animal models due to the abrupt decrease in brain concentration of allopregnanolone (ALLO), a neuroactive metabolite of progesterone. We show that a withdrawal-like effect also occurs during the late diestrus phase (LD) of the natural ovarian cycle in rats, when plasma progesterone and ALLO are declining but estrogen secretion maintains a stable low level. This effect at LD was prevented by short-term treatment with low dose fluoxetine.

Evaluation of percutaneous absorption performance for human female sexual steroids into pentravan cream.

There is a lack of studies on Pentravan cream, a widespread transdermal vehicle which is used by compounding pharmacies. The purpose of this study was to evaluate this transdermal vehicle. The permeation performance for progesterone, estradiol, and estriol in formulations containing each of those drugs separately, as well as an association of estradiol + estriol (Biest), was evaluated regarding their compounding process and their potential biological application.

Useful Brazilian plants listed in the manuscripts and publications of the Scottish medic and naturalist George Gardner (1812-1849).

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Information regarding the beneficial use of native Brazilian plants was compiled by a number of European naturalists in the 19th century. The Scottish surgeon botanist George Gardner (1812-1849) was one such naturalist; however, the useful plants recorded in his manuscripts have not yet been studied in depth.

Aim Of The Study: To present data recorded by Gardner in his manuscript Catalogue of Brazilian Plants regarding the use of native plants by Brazilian people and evaluate the extent to which they have been explored.

Medial prefrontal cortex serotonergic and GABAergic mechanisms modulate the expression of contextual fear: intratelencephalic pathways and differential involvement of cortical subregions.

Several lines of evidence indicate that the dorsal hippocampus (dH) and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) regulate contextual fear conditioning. The prelimbic (PrL), infralimbic (IL) and the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) subregions of the mPFC likely play distinct roles in the expression of fear. Moreover, studies have highlighted the role of serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT)- and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-mediated mechanisms in the modulation of innate fear in the mPFC.

Hand use at home and in clinical settings by children with cerebral palsy: a qualitative study.

The purpose of this study was to understand the physical, attitudinal, and assistive characteristics of the home and the therapeutic settings that enable and/or hinder hand use by children with spastic hemiparesis CP. A qualitative study with 7 children with CP, their caregivers, and therapists was conducted. Children were observed at home and in their therapeutic settings to understand the supports and barriers from these environments regarding their use of the affected hand.

Feasibility of caregiver-directed home-based hand-arm bimanual intensive training: a brief report.

Objective: To determine feasibility of a home-based, intensive bimanual intervention with children with unilateral spastic cerebral palsy.

Methods: Eleven children (aged 29-54 months) received 90 hours of home hand-arm bimanual intensive therapy (H-HABIT) provided by their trained caregivers. Parenting stress levels and compliance were monitored using the Parenting Stress Index and daily logs.

Quantitative in vivo longitudinal nerve excursion and strain in response to joint movement: A systematic literature review.

Background: Neural system mobilization is widely used in the treatment of several painful conditions. Data on nerve biomechanics is crucial to inform the design of mobilization exercises. Therefore, the aim of this review is to characterize normal nervous system biomechanics in terms of excursion and strain.

Dopamine D2-like receptors modulate unconditioned fear: role of the inferior colliculus.

Background: A reduction of dopamine release or D2 receptor blockade in the terminal fields of the mesolimbic system clearly reduces conditioned fear. Injections of haloperidol, a preferential D2 receptor antagonist, into the inferior colliculus (IC) enhance the processing of unconditioned aversive information. However, a clear characterization of the interplay of D2 receptors in the mediation of unconditioned and conditioned fear is still lacking.

The benzodiazepine midazolam acts on the expression of the defensive behavior, but not on the processing of aversive information, produced by exposure to the elevated plus maze and electrical stimulations applied to the inferior colliculus of rats.

Electrical stimulation of midbrain tectum structures, particularly the dorsal periaqueductal gray (dPAG) and inferior colliculus (IC), produces defensive responses such as freezing and escape behavior. Freezing also results after termination of this stimulation (post-stimulation freezing; PSF). Whereas these responses are critically mediated by GABA in the dPAG, it is unclear how GABA-benzodiazepine mechanisms mediate the expression of fear (freezing and escape behaviors) and the processing of aversive information (PSF) produced by electrical stimulation of the IC.

The effect of eggshell apex abnormalities on table egg quality during storage in 2 seasons of the year.

Mycoplasma synoviae infection of hens has been associated with problems of eggshell quality called eggshell apex abnormalities (EAA). Little is known about the quality of EAA eggs from a commercial point of view, especially during their storage. The study aimed to examine the differences between EAA and normal eggs during storage under controlled conditions in 2 seasons, summer and winter, by comparing internal and external quality parameters.

Phylogenetic study of Geitlerinema and Microcystis (Cyanobacteria) using PC-IGS and 16S-23S ITS as markers: investigation of horizontal gene transfer.

Selection of genes that have not been horizontally transferred for prokaryote phylogenetic inferences is regarded as a challenging task. The markers internal transcribed spacer of ribosomal genes (16S-23S ITS) and phycocyanin intergenic spacer (PC-IGS), based on the operons of ribosomal and phycocyanin genes respectively, are among the most used markers in cyanobacteria. The region of the ribosomal genes has been considered stable, whereas the phycocyanin operon may have undergone horizontal transfer.

Hormonal changes and increased anxiety-like behavior in a perimenopause-animal model induced by 4-vinylcyclohexene diepoxide (VCD) in female rats.

Perimenopause, a transition period that precedes menopause, is characterized by neuroendocrine, metabolic and behavioral changes, and is associated with increased vulnerability to affective disorders. The decrease in ovarian follicles during perimenopause contributes to a dynamic and complex hormonal milieu that is not yet well characterized. In rodents, 4-vinylcyclohexene diepoxide (VCD) induces a gradual depletion of ovarian follicles, modeling the transition to menopause in women.

The use of an integrated molecular-, chemical- and biological-based approach for promoting the better use and conservation of medicinal species: a case study of Brazilian quinas.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Quina is a popular name originally attributed to Cinchona pubescens Vahl (=Cinchona succirubra) and Cinchona. calisaya Wedd., species native from Peru that have the antimalarial alkaloid quinine.

Assessment of microbiological contamination of fresh, minimally processed, and ready-to-eat lettuces (Lactuca sativa), Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil.

Unlabelled: This study aimed to assess the microbiological contamination of lettuces commercialized in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in order to investigate detection of norovirus genogroup II (NoV GII), Salmonella spp., total and fecal coliforms, such as Escherichia coli. For NoV detection samples were processed using the adsorption-elution concentration method associated to real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR).

Molecular and morphological characterization of Contracaecum pelagicum (Nematoda) parasitizing Spheniscus magellanicus (Chordata) from Brazilian waters.

Three new sequences of Mitochondrial cytochrome c-oxidase subunit 2 (mtDNA cox-2) from C. pelagicum parasite of Spheniscus magellanicus, the Magelanicus penguin, were determined from Brazilian waters. The sequences presented 99 and 98% of similarity with C.

Effects of substance P and Sar-Met-SP, a NK1 agonist, in distinct amygdaloid nuclei on anxiety-like behavior in rats.

The amygdala, together with the dorsal periaqueductal gray (dPAG), medial hypothalamus, and deep layers of the superior and inferior colliculi, constitutes the encephalic aversion system, which has been considered the main neural substrate for the organization of fear and anxiety. The basolateral nucleus of the amygdala (BLA) acts as a filter for aversive stimuli to higher structures while the central (CeA) and the medial (MeA) nuclei constitute the output for the autonomic and somatic components of the emotional reaction through major projections to the limbic and brainstem regions. Although some findings point to the distinct participation of the substance P (SP) and the NK1 receptors system in the different nuclei of the amygdala on the expression of emotional behaviors, it is not clear if this system modulates anxiety-like responses in the distinct nuclei of the amygdala as well as the dPAG.

Mineralocorticoid receptors in the ventral tegmental area regulate dopamine efflux in the basolateral amygdala during the expression of conditioned fear.

Despite the recognized involvement of corticosteroids in the modulation of emotional behavior, the specific role of mineralocorticoid receptors (MRs) and glucocorticoid receptors (GRs) in the expression of conditioned fear responses is still open to investigation. The present study sought to clarify the involvement of both types of corticosteroid receptors in two different brain regions--the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and the basolateral amygdala complex (BLA)--on the expression of conditioned fear. The first experiment assessed the effects of intra-VTA or intra-BLA administration of spironolactone (MR antagonist) or mifepristone (GR antagonist) on the expression of conditioned freezing to a light-CS and on motor performance in the open-field test.

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) decreases butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) activity and changes its relationship with lipids.

Many conditions interfere with butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) activity, e.g., pregnancy or presence of the BCHE gene variant -116A can decrease activity whereas obesity and types I and II diabetes mellitus can increase activity.

Distinct effects of haloperidol in the mediation of conditioned fear in the mesolimbic system and processing of unconditioned aversive information in the inferior colliculus.

Chemical and electrical stimulation of the inferior colliculus (IC) causes defensive behavior. Electrical stimulation of the IC at the escape threshold enhances dopamine (DA) release in the prefrontal cortex. Intra-ventral tegmental area injections of quinpirole at doses that act presynaptically reduce the release of DA in the terminal fields of the mesolimbic system and clearly reduce conditioned fear in several animal models of anxiety.

In vitro drug release and ex vivo percutaneous absorption of resveratrol cream using HPLC with zirconized silica stationary phase.

Since the designs of optimal formulations for resveratrol permeation via the skin are lacking, the aim of this study was to establish the profile of resveratrol permeability into and across human skin. For that, a laboratory-made chromatographic column was used (Zr-PMODS), with its performance being compared to a traditional C18 column. In vitro drug release was conducted with polysulfone membranes, and the flux (JS) was 30.