Neuropeptide Y (NPY) is one of the most abundant peptides in the central nervous system of mammals and is involved in several physiological processes through NPY Y, Y, Y and Y receptors. Of those, the Y receptor has particular relevance for its autoreceptor role in inhibiting the release of NPY and other neurotransmitters and for its involvement in relevant mechanisms such as feeding behaviour, cognitive processes, emotion regulation, circadian rhythms and disorders such as epilepsy and cancer. PET imaging of the Y receptor can provide a valuable platform to understand this receptor's functional role and evaluate its potential as a therapeutic target.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis research aimed to explore the direct and indirect effects of students' school engagement, school climate and parenting practices on youth's externalizing behaviors. A quantitative methodology with a sample of 183 Portuguese students, aged between 11 and 16 years old, was used. The main results suggested negative associations between externalizing behaviors and higher levels of school engagement and positive school climate.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMicroneedles have the clinical advantage of being able to deliver complex drugs across the skin in a convenient and comfortable manner yet haven't successfully transitioned to medical practice. Diabetes mellitus is a complicated disease, which is commonly treated with multiple daily insulin injections, contributing to poor treatment adherence. Firstly, this review determines the clinical prospect of microneedles, alongside considerations that ought to be addressed before microneedle technology can be translated from bench to bedside.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNeuropeptide Y (NPY) is a vastly studied biological peptide with numerous physiological functions that activate the NPY receptor family (Y, Y, Y and Y). Moreover, these receptors are correlated with the pathophysiology of several diseases such as feeding disorders, anxiety, metabolic diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, some types of cancers and others. In order to deepen the knowledge of NPY receptors' functions and molecular mechanisms, neuroimaging techniques such as positron emission tomography (PET) have been used.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To evaluate 'real-world' safety and efficacy of the European Society of Endocrinology guidelines for the treatment of severe symptomatic hyponatraemia using hypertonic saline (HTS).
Design: Retrospective, observational, cohort study, examining the use of HTS for severe symptomatic hyponatraemia at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals between 2017 and 2020.
Methods: Patients were identified from pharmacy records and demographic, clinical, and treatment data extracted.
Background: Herpes simplex virus (HSV) keratitis remains a leading infectious cause of blindness worldwide. Although all forms of HSV keratitis are commonly recurrent, the risk is greatest in stromal keratitis, which is the most likely to result in corneal scarring, thinning, and neovascularization. Recent studies showed the ability of Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography (OCTA) to detect and study vascular abnormalities in the anterior segment, including abnormal corneal vessels.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGE Port J Gastroenterol
December 2020
Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome (CHS) is characterized by episodic bursts of nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain, affecting chronic cannabis users. The clinical picture mimics an acute abdomen, usually leading to multiple assessments in the emergency department. Several complementary diagnostic examinations are performed with non-specific results, making differential diagnosis puzzling.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Portugal has one of the highest vaccine coverage rates among European countries, associated with excellent vaccine convenience and confidence levels. Considering both the high rate of pediatric vaccination in Portugal and the excellent indicators of vaccine convenience established, an analysis of confidence and complacency indicators could help understand this positive example. This study aimed to characterize parental beliefs according to the intention to vaccinate a next child and identify cognitive and demographic predictors of that intention in a Portuguese sample.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMedication errors involving insulin in hospital are common, and may be particularly problematic at the point of transfer of care. Our aim was to improve the safety of insulin prescribing on discharge from hospital using a continuous improvement methodology involving cycles of iterative change. A multidisciplinary project team formulated locally tailored insulin discharge prescribing guidance.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiochim Biophys Acta Mol Basis Dis
September 2017
Impaired mitochondrial function and generation of reactive oxygen species are deeply implicated in Parkinson's disease progression. Indeed, mutations in genes that affect mitochondrial function account for most of the familial cases of the disease, and post mortem studies in sporadic PD patients brains revealed increased signs of oxidative stress. Moreover, exposure to 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP), a mitochondrial complex I inhibitor, leads to clinical symptoms similar to sporadic PD.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFParkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurological disorder, mainly characterized by the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta. Although the cause of PD remains elusive, mitochondrial dysfunction and severe oxidative stress are strongly implicated in the cell death that characterizes the disease. Under oxidative stress, the master regulator of cellular redox status, nuclear factor erythroid 2 related factor 2 (Nrf2), is responsible for activating the transcription of several cytoprotective enzymes, namely glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMitochondrial dysfunction has been deeply implicated in the pathogenesis of several neurodegenerative diseases. Thus, to keep a healthy mitochondrial population, a balanced mitochondrial turnover must be achieved. Tauroursodeoxycholic acid (TUDCA) is neuroprotective in various neurodegenerative disease models; however, the mechanisms involved are still incompletely characterized.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Aiming to ascertain whether frequency and severity of knee and foot problems were different between morbid obesity (MO) and superobesity (SO), a prospective clinical study was designed.
Methods: Bariatric candidates (N = 81, body mass index 40-81.3 kg/m(2), 43.
The caterpillar Pseudoplusia includens (Walker, 1857) (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae), known as soybean looper, is a pest that has recently assumed greater importance in soybean in Brazil. Isolates of nucleopolyhedroviruses (NPVs) of this pest have been identified from cotton in Guatemala and soybean farms in Brazil, providing an interesting perspective of potential use of viral insecticide against the insect in lieu to chemical insecticides. With the objective to contribute to the characterization studies of this virus, morphological and molecular analyses and biological activity were carried out with seven P.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis work reports a study carried out on the design and performance of galvanic and polarization resistance sensors to be embedded in concrete systems for permanent monitoring of the corrosion condition of reinforcing steel, aiming to establish a correlation between the galvanic currents, I(gal), and the corrosion currents, I(corr), estimated from the polarization resistance, R(p). Sensors have been tested in saturated Ca(OH)(2) aqueous solutions, under a variety of conditions, simulating the most important parameters that can accelerate the corrosion of concrete reinforcing steel, such as carbonation, ingress of chloride ions, presence or absence of O(2). For all the conditions, the influence of temperature (20 to 55 °C) has also been considered.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF