Towards detection of structurally-diverse glycated epitopes in native proteins: Single-chain antibody directed to non-A1c epitope in human haemoglobin.

Over 500 million people worldwide are affected by diabetes mellitus, a chronic disease that leads to high blood glucose levels and causes severe side effects. The predominant biological marker for diagnosis of diabetes is glycated haemoglobin (GHb). In human blood the predominant reducing sugar, glucose, irreversibly conjugates onto accessible amine groups within Hb.

Psychoactive substance consumption: A Portuguese cross-sectional study.

Background: Increasing consumption of psychoactive substances is a major social concern worldwide.

Objectives: To investigate the prevalence of psychoactive substances consumption in the Portuguese, throughout their life as well as recently, and the main reasons for the consumption and associated factors.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was based on the Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST) applied to a sample of 385 Portuguese obtained for convenience.

[Comparison of strength of the handshake with anthropometric and subjective parameters at the patients' nutritional assessment with liver diseas].

Objective: We aimed to assess the nutritional status of patients with chronic liver disease by evaluating the strength of grip of non-dominant hand (SGNDH), correlating it with other methods and analyzing their contribution to this assessment.

Methods: This study was conducted with patients having chronic chronic disease at the outpatient hepatology service of the Instituto de Medicina Integral Professor Fernando Figueira--IMIP, Recife-PE, from February to October 2010. Clinical and demographic variables were collected.

[Prevalence of overweight and abdominal obesity according to anthropometric parameters and the association with sexual maturation in adolescent schoolchildren].

The objective of the present study was to estimate the prevalence of overweight and abdominal obesity in schoolchildren according to anthropometric parameters and sexual maturation. A cross-sectional study was performed in 1,405 children of both genders aged 10-14 years, living in Recife, Pernambuco State, Brazil, in 2007. Body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) were assessed.

Nutritional, clinical and socioeconomic profile of patients with cystic fibrosis treated at a referral center in northeastern Brazil.

Objective: To describe the profile of patients with cystic fibrosis (CF).

Methods: A prospective, cross-sectional study involving CF patients < 18 years of age, evaluated between March and July of 2006 at a referral center in northeastern Brazil. Nutritional assessment was performed using Z scores for height/age (H/A), weight/age (W/A) and weight/height (W/H), as well as %weight/height (%W/H) and body composition measurements.