Publications by authors named "Leal N"

Postgraduate medical education (PGME) is an essential part of medical education and increasingly shifts into focus of educational stakeholders. Structured postgraduate medical training programs are required in the U.S.

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Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common form of age-related dementia. In AD, the death of neurons in the central nervous system is associated with the accumulation of toxic amyloid β peptide (Aβ) and mitochondrial dysfunction. Mitochondria are signal transducers of metabolic and biochemical information, and their impairment can compromise cellular function.

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Yersinia pestis, the causative agent of plague, is a highly virulent bacterium that poses a significant threat to human health. Preserving this bacterium in a viable state is crucial for research and diagnostic purposes. This paper presents and evaluates a simple lyophilization protocol for the long-term storage of Y.

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Article Synopsis
  • Organelles create membrane contact sites for molecule and signal transfer, with mitochondria-endoplasmic reticulum contact sites (MERCS) playing a key role in various diseases, including neurodegenerative disorders.
  • A genome-wide screen identified 410 genes that regulate MERCS, with 29 genes chosen for further analysis; particularly, GET4 and BAG6 were found to significantly influence MERCS when suppressed.
  • Investigating GET4 and BAG6 revealed that their loss increases MERCS and enhances mitochondrial function, while also showing neuroprotective effects in a Drosophila model of Alzheimer's disease.
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The endoplasmic reticulum is a subcellular organelle key in the control of synthesis, folding, and sorting of proteins. Under endoplasmic reticulum stress, an adaptative unfolded protein response is activated; however, if this activation is prolonged, cells can undergo cell death, in part due to oxidative stress and mitochondrial fragmentation. Here, we report that endoplasmic reticulum stress activates c-Abl tyrosine kinase, inducing its translocation to mitochondria.

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Accumulation of amyloid β-peptide (Aβ) is a driver of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Amyloid precursor protein (App) knock-in mouse models recapitulate AD-associated Aβ pathology, allowing elucidation of downstream effects of Aβ accumulation and their temporal appearance upon disease progression. Here we have investigated the sequential onset of AD-like pathologies in App and App knock-in mice by time-course transcriptome analysis of hippocampus, a region severely affected in AD.

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Introduction: Antiretroviral therapy (ART) monitoring using viral load (VL) testing is challenging in high-burden, limited-resources settings. Chemokine IP-10 (interferon gamma-induced protein 10) strongly correlates with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) VL. Its determination could serve to predict virological failure (VF) and to triage patients requiring VL testing.

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Acinetobacter baumannii is Gram-negative pathogen with extensive role in healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). Plasmids in this species are important carriers of antimicrobial resistance genes. In this work, we investigated the plasmids of 227 Brazilian A.

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Background: Pain in the postoperative period of amputation surgeries, when not managed correctly, can have consequences for the patient.

Purposes And Objectives: The aim of this study was to map the scientific evidence on pain management in patients in the postoperative period of amputation surgeries.

Design: Scoping review with elaboration based on the recommendations of the Joanna Briggs Institute, supported by The PAGER framework and guided by the PRISMA-ScR Checklist.

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This study aimed to describe maternal satisfaction with their experience during childbirth and birth and their association with sociodemographic, clinical and obstetric, and good practice characteristics during childbirth care. The sample included 2,069 women who wanted to express their opinions at the end of the interview of the Stork Network Assessment survey. Exploratory factor analysis was performed to summarize the variables of interest, creating latent variables, for input in the multiple logistic regression model.

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Article Synopsis
  • The innate immune response, which helps defend against foreign threats, weakens with age and can lead to diseases if improperly activated.
  • Research indicates that damaged mitochondria can trigger inflammation, and mutations in the pink1 gene linked to mitochondrial health are tied to Parkinson's disease, particularly in a fly model (Drosophila melanogaster).
  • In pink1 mutant flies, defective mitochondria activate inflammatory signals that lead to intestinal cell death and neurotoxicity, but suppressing inflammation can restore mitochondrial function and protect the nervous system.
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Eukaryotic Tribbles proteins are pseudoenzymes that regulate multiple aspects of intracellular signalling. Both Drosophila melanogaster and mammalian members of this family of pseudokinases act as negative regulators of insulin signalling. Mammalian tribbles pseudokinase (TRIB) genes have also been linked to insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes mellitus.

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There has been minimal research linking the effects on racial-ethnic minorities' health outcomes, particularly research focused on racial-ethnic minorities seeking outpatient substance abuse treatment in the United States. The Great Recession from December 2007 to June 2009 in the United States provides the backdrop against the completion of substance abuse treatments among racial-ethnic minorities that may be associated with the impacts on users' social realities. We utilized data from the 2006-2011 Treatment Episode Datasets-Discharge (TEDS-D) dataset which collects data on outpatient substance abuse treatment institutions throughout the United States.

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Parkinson's disease (PD) is characterised by selective death of dopaminergic (DA) neurons in the midbrain and motor function impairment. Gastrointestinal issues often precede motor deficits in PD, indicating that the gut-brain axis is involved in the pathogenesis of this disease. The features of PD include both mitochondrial dysfunction and activation of the unfolded protein response (UPR) in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER).

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We developed a simple new selective LB-based medium, named CYP broth, suitable for recovering long-term stored Y. pestis subcultures and for isolation of Y. pestis strains from field-caught samples for the Plague surveillance.

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Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) induces activation of the TrkB receptor and several downstream pathways (MAPK, PI3K, PLC-γ), leading to neuronal survival, growth, and plasticity. It has been well established that TrkB signaling regulation is required for neurite formation and dendritic arborization, but the specific mechanism is not fully understood. The non-receptor tyrosine kinase c-Abl is a possible candidate regulator of this process, as it has been implicated in tyrosine kinase receptors' signaling and trafficking, as well as regulation of neuronal morphogenesis.

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Objective: Semantically validate an educational technology with the caregiver of children and adolescents undergoing chemotherapy.

Method: Methodological study, with a quantitative approach, guided by the theoretical framework of psychometry, developed between March and April 2022, with nine caregivers of children and adolescents undergoing chemotherapy. Educational technology is a digital animation film about the pediatric chemotherapy treatment process, used as a tool for health education.

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Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) research has relied on mouse models overexpressing human mutant A βPP; however, newer generation knock-in models allow for physiological expression of amyloid-β protein precursor (AβPP) containing familial AD mutations where murine AβPP is edited with a humanized amyloid-β (Aβ) sequence. The AppNL-F mouse model has shown substantial similarities to AD brains developing late onset cognitive impairment.

Objective: In this study, we aimed to characterize mature primary cortical neurons derived from homozygous AppNL-F embryos, especially to identify early mitochondrial alterations in this model.

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Hepatocellular Adenomas (HA) are rare benign tumors of the liver which occur predominantly in young women. Although benign, HA may have complications such as hemorrhage and malignant transformation. So, sometimes conservative management is not enough.

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Post-translational modifications (PTMs) of core histones are important epigenetic determinants that correlate with functional chromatin states. However, despite multiple linker histone H1s PTMs have been identified, little is known about their genomic distribution and contribution to the epigenetic regulation of chromatin. Here, we address this question in Drosophila that encodes a single somatic linker histone, dH1.

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As the productivity and quality of tomato fruits are responsive to Mg applications, without surpassing the threshold of toxicity, the assessment of potential levels of Mg accumulation in tissues, as well as the interactions with Ca and physicochemical properties, prompt this study. An agronomic workflow for Mg enrichment, consisting of six foliar applications of MgSO with four concentrations (0%, 0.25%, 1% and 4%), equivalent to 0, 43.

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Calcium is essential for plants, yet as its mobility is limited, the understanding of the rate of Ca accumulation and deposition in tissues of tubers, as well as the interactions with other critical nutrients prompted this study. To assess the interactions and differential accumulation of micro and macronutrients in the tissues of tubers, L. varieties Agria and Rossi were cultivated and, after the beginning of tuberization, four foliar sprayings (at 8-10 day intervals) with CaCl (3 and 6 kg ha) or Ca(NO) (2 and 4 kg ha) solutions were performed.

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Indocyanine green (ICG)-guided near-infrared fluorescence has been recently adopted in pediatric surgery, although its use in the treatment of congenital hyperinsulinism has not been reported. We present a case of focal congenital hyperinsulinism in which ICG-navigation with ICG was used during surgical treatment. A 3-month-old infant was referred to our institution from a peripheral hospital for episodes of persistent hypoglycemia since birth, with no response to intravenous treatment with diazoxide, octreotide, or hydrochlorothiazide.

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We report the case of a 32-year-old woman presenting to the emergency department with ankle edema and arthralgia. Only later in the follow-up period, she developed erythema nodosum. The study revealed bilateral hilar and mediastinal lymphadenopathy and biopsy demonstrated non-caseating granulomas consistent with a diagnosis of Lofgren's syndrome.

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