Application of two- and multiway chemometric strategies for describing elementomic changes in pepper plants exposed to cadmium stress by multielement determination.

The objective of this work was to evaluate elemental changes in pepper exposed to Cd stress through different chemometric tools. For this purpose, pepper plants were grown under five different treatments with different Cd concentrations in the nutrient solution. Considering the hypothesis that pepper plants exposed to Cd stress during growth undergo changes in the macro- and microelemental distribution in leaves, stems, and roots, principal component analysis (PCA) and parallel factor (PARAFAC) analysis were applied to compare bidirectional and multivariate chemometric strategies to assess elemental changes in pepper plants.

Alternative additives associated in the feeding of laying hens: performance, biometrics, bone traits, and economic evaluation-an unsupervised machine learning approach.

Given the current bans on the use of some growth promoting antibiotics in poultry nutrition, the need to use alternative additives which could replace traditional promoters in diets has arisen. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of alternative additives, associated or not, in replacing the antibiotic growth promoter in the diets of laying hens on performance, egg quality, biometry, bone characteristics, and economic viability. A total of 378 birds at 97 weeks of age, weighing 1691 ± 80g with an average production of 79.

Application of multivariate analysis to assess stress by Cd, Pb and Al in basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) using caffeic acid, rosmarinic acid, total phenolics, total flavonoids and total dry mass in response.

Basil is an edible, aromatic plant, which makes the study of the ecotoxicity of metals in plant metabolism relevant. Given the above, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of metals, aluminum, lead, and cadmium, in the synthesis of phenolic compounds and in the dry mass of basil plants (O. basilicum L.

Exploratory analysis in the evaluation of stress due to aluminum presence in Physalis angulata L. and multielement determination by microwave-induced plasma optical emission spectrometry (MIP OES).

The present work aimed to analyze the mineral nutrition of Physalis angulata L. under stress by aluminum in the nutrient solution. The treatments consisted of five different concentrations of aluminum in the nutrient solution (0, 0.

Early childhood growth and cognitive outcomes: Findings from the MAL-ED study.

Although many studies around the world hope to measure or improve developmental progress in children to promote community flourishing and productivity, growth is sometimes used as a surrogate because cognitive skills are more difficult to measure. Our objective was to assess how childhood measures of anthropometry correlate with measures of child development in low-income settings with high prevalence of poor nutrition and enteric disease, to inform studies considering growth outcomes in the absence of direct child developmental skill assessment. Children from the MAL-ED study were followed from birth to 24 months of age in field sites in 8 low- and middle-income countries across 3 continents.

Enteroaggregative Escherichia coli Subclinical Infection and Coinfections and Impaired Child Growth in the MAL-ED Cohort Study.

Objective: We evaluated the impact of subclinical enteroaggregative Escherichia coli (EAEC) infection alone and in combination with other pathogens in the first 6 months of life on child growth.

Methods: Nondiarrheal samples from 1684 children across 8 Multisite Birth Cohort Study, Malnutrition and Enteric Diseases (MAL-ED) sites in Asia, Africa, and Latin America were tested monthly; more than 90% of children were followed-up twice weekly for the first 6 months of life.

Results: Children with subclinical EAEC infection did not show altered growth between enrollment and 6 months.

Determinant Variables, Enteric Pathogen Burden, Gut Function and Immune-related Inflammatory Biomarkers Associated With Childhood Malnutrition: A Prospective Case-Control Study in Northeastern Brazil.

Malnutrition results in serious consequences for growth and cognitive development in children. We studied select child and maternal biologic factors, socioeconomic factors, enteric pathogenic burden and gut function biomarkers in 402 children 6-24 months of age in Northeastern Brazil. In this prospective case-control study, not being fed colostrum [odds ratio (OR): 3.

Vaccine coverage and adherence to EPI schedules in eight resource poor settings in the MAL-ED cohort study.

Background: Launched in 1974, the Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) is estimated to prevent two-three million deaths annually from polio, diphtheria, tuberculosis, pertussis, measles, and tetanus. Additional lives could be saved through better understanding what influences adherence to the EPI schedule in specific settings.

Methods: The Etiology, Risk Factors and Interactions of Enteric Infections and Malnutrition and the Consequences for Child Health and Development (MAL-ED) study followed cohorts in eight sites in South Asia, Africa, and South America and monitored vaccine receipt over the first two years of life for the children enrolled in the study.

Geography, population, demography, socioeconomic, anthropometry, and environmental status in the MAL-ED cohort and case-control study Sites in Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil.

The Etiology, Risk Factors and Interactions of Enteric Infections and Malnutrition and the Consequences for Child Health and Development (MAL-ED) cohort in the study's Fortaleza, Brazil, catchment area has a population of approximately 82 300 inhabitants. Most of the households (87%) have access to clean water, 98% have electricity, and 69% have access to improved toilet/sanitation. Most childbirths occur at the hospital, and the under-5 mortality rate is 20 per 1000 live births.

Stable phenotype and function of immortalized Lin-Sca-1+ cardiac progenitor cells in long-term culture: a step closer to standardization.

Putative cardiac progenitor cells (CPCs) have been identified in the myocardium and are regarded as promising candidates for cardiac cell-based therapies. Although two distinct populations of CPCs reached the clinical setting, more detailed studies are required to portray the optimal cell type and therapeutic setting to drive robust cell engraftment and cardiomyogenesis after injury. Owing to the scarcity of the CPCs and the need for reproducibility, the generation of faithful cellular models would facilitate this scrutiny.

Evidence for genetic susceptibility to developing early childhood diarrhea among shantytown children living in northeastern Brazil.

To explore the genetic components of susceptibility to early childhood diarrhea (ECD), we used a quantitative genetic approach to estimate the heritability of ECD among children from two Brazilian favelas. Shared environment was used to model common exposure to environmental factors. Genetic relatedness was determined from pedigree information collected by screening household participants (n = 3,267) from two geographically related favelas located in Fortaleza, Brazil.

Ventricular dyssynchrony and increased BNP levels in right ventricular apical pacing.

Background: Long-term right ventricular apical pacing can cause ventricular dyssynchrony and, secondarily, neurohumoral alterations and increase in cardiac morbimortality.

Objective: To analyze ventricular dyssynchrony and its effects on BNP levels in patients with pacemakers and long-term right ventricular (RV) apex pacing.

Methods: Cross-sectional study of 85 patients with single or dual chamber pacemaker, NYHA functional class I or II and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) ≥ 35%.

Health-related quality of life in patients with Chagas disease.

Introduction: Chagas disease (ChD) is a chronic illness related to significant morbidity and mortality that can affect the quality of life (QoL) of infected patients. However, there are few studies regarding QoL in ChD. The objectives of this study are to construct a health-related QoL (HRQoL) profile of ChD patients and compare this with a non-ChD (NChD) group to identify factors associated with the worst HRQoL scores in ChD patients.

Effect of pacing-induced ventricular dyssynchrony on right ventricular function.

Background: Asynchronous electrical activation induced by right ventricular (RV) pacing can cause several abnormalities in left ventricular (LV) function. However, the effect of ventricular pacing on RV function has not been well established. We evaluated RV function in patients undergoing long-term RV pacing.

[Chronotropic-metabolic index in Chagas' disease].

Chronotropic incompetence is a common feature in Chagas' disease patients. New methodologies are now available to evaluate the chronotropic response in different subsets. The chronotropic-metabolic index (CMI) is one of these new indexes and quantifies the relationship between the increment of heart rate and the maximal oxygen consumption (VO2 max) during exercise testing.