Virtual clinical simulation as a paedagogical strategy in healthcare learning: Evidence and Gap Map protocol.

Introduction: Virtual clinical simulation involves creating and applying scenarios using technology like computers or virtual reality. This method provides a secure experiential learning environment, encouraging active student participation and stimulating clinical, critical and reflective thinking. This article outlines the development of the Evidence and Gap Map, which aims to identify, quantify and visually and interactively classify existing systematic reviews on the effectiveness of virtual clinical simulations in health professional training.

Hospital admissions for chronic liver diseases: a temporal study in the South Region of Brazil.

Objective: The aim of the study was to compare the epidemiology and clinical profiles of hospital admissions in a single Brazilian Hepatology Unit from the period 2014-2017 to 2019-2022.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of hospital database from the abovementioned periods was done. The study included patients over the age of 18 years who were hospitalized due to complications of diseases such as viral hepatitis, alcoholic disease, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, and autoimmune liver and drug-induced hepatitis.

Tools developed in Brazil for the promotion and assessment of adequate and healthy eating habits: A scoping review.

The objective of this study was to identify and discuss the tools for the promotion and evaluation of adequate and healthy eating based on the Food Guide for the Brazilian Population. The scoping review was conducted according to the JBI Manual for Evidence Synthesis via the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) checklist and by searching PubMed/MEDLINE, EMBASE, SciELO and LILACS. Sixteen studies on relevant tools, based on the food guide for individuals of all age groups, were thus included: two descriptive studies, two randomized clinical trial protocols, eleven methodological analyses, and one psychometric paper, aimed at either a focal population (n=12) or health professionals (n=4).

Fat Intake and High Triglyceride-Glucose Index in Individuals at Cardiometabolic Risk: An Isocaloric Substitution Analyses.

Insulin resistance (IR) is an important risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, and the triglyceride-glucose index (TyG index) is a potential IR biomarker. Evidence also suggests that fat intake may modulate IR status, but this relationship remains unclear. Thus, the present study aimed to analyze the relationship between the TyG index and isocaloric replacement of macronutrients, including the profile of dietary fatty acids in individuals at cardiometabolic risk.

Effect of kombucha intake on the gut microbiota and obesity-related comorbidities: A systematic review.

Kombucha is a fermented nonalcoholic tea-based beverage produced through a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeasts. studies have demonstrated antimicrobial, antioxidant, antiproliferative, and anti-carcinogenic properties of kombucha. However, no systematic reviews have evaluated the effects of kombucha .

Culture medium for improved production of conidia for identification and systematic studies of Fusarium pathogens.

Fusarium guttiforme and Fusarium ananatum are the etiological agents of fusariosis and fruitlet core rot in pineapple, respectively, producing mycotoxins that are harmful to the health of consumers. These two fungi are morphologically similar and difficulty in obtaining macroconidia of the species limits their identification. Different types of media are available for the culture of these pathogens, but not all of them favor F.

Evaluation of the susceptibility test of polymyxin B using the commercial test Policimbac®.

Broth microdilution (BMD), the reference method to determine bacterial susceptibility to polymyxins, is a laborious and time-consuming technique. Policimbac® is a commercial test panel which uses lyophilized polymyxin B to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration for Gram-negative isolates. This study evaluated the performance of Policimbac® in comparison with BMD for 110 isolates.

Detection of Enterobacterales resistant to polymyxins using Rapid Polymyxins NP test.

Two hundred isolates of Enterobacterales were tested by Rapid Polymyxins NP for the detection of polymyxin resistance and compared to the reference test broth microdilution (BMD). The sensitivity and specificity of the NP test were 98% and the results are faster than the BMD, decreasing from approximately 24 to 2 h.

NTRK2 (TrkB gene) variants and temporal lobe epilepsy: A genetic association study.

Objective: The NTRK2 gene encodes a member of the neurotrophic tyrosine kinase receptor family known as TrkB. It is a membrane-associated receptor with signaling and cellular differentiation properties that has been involved in neuropsychiatric disorders, including epilepsy. We report here the frequencies of NTRK2 allele variants in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) compared to controls without epilepsy and explore the impact of these polymorphisms on major clinical variables in TLE.

Tyrosine receptor kinase B gene variants (NTRK2 variants) are associated with depressive disorders in temporal lobe epilepsy.

Rationale: Psychiatric comorbidities are highly prevalent in epilepsy, adding an important burden to the disease and profoundly affecting the quality of life of these individuals. Patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) are especially at risk to develop depression and several lines of evidence suggest that the association of depression with epilepsy might be related to common biological substrates. In this study, we test whether NTRK2 allele variants are associated with mood disorders or depressive disorders in patients with TLE.

In vivo inhibition of tumor progression by 5 hydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone (juglone) and 2-(4-hydroxyanilino)-1,4-naphthoquinone (Q7) in combination with ascorbate.

The purpose of the study was to obtain further in vivo data of antitumor effects and mechanisms triggered by juglone and Q7 in combination with ascorbate. The study was done using Ehrlich ascites tumor-bearing mice. Treatments were intraperitoneal every 24 h for 9 days.

Report of outbreaks of classical scrapie in Dorper sheep and associated prion protein gene polymorphisms in affected flocks.

Scrapie is an infectious neurodegenerative disease affecting sheep and goats, related with conformational alteration of an isoform of the prion protein that leads to deposition and aggregation in the host's central nervous system. Occurrence of the natural disease can be influenced by host genetic factors, such as a single nucleotide polymorphism of the prion protein gene. This study reports three scrapie-affected Dorper flocks located on three different farms in Brazil.

DNA damage and inhibition of akt pathway in mcf-7 cells and ehrlich tumor in mice treated with 1,4-naphthoquinones in combination with ascorbate.

The aim of this study was to enhance the understanding of the antitumor mechanism of 1,4-naphthoquinones and ascorbate. Juglone, phenylaminonaphthoquinone-7, and 9 (Q7/Q9) were evaluated for effects on CT-DNA and DNA of cancer cells. Evaluations in MCF-7 cells are DNA damage, ROS levels, viability, and proliferation.

Inhibition of tumor proliferation associated with cell cycle arrest caused by extract and fraction from Casearia sylvestris (Salicaceae).

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Casearia sylvestris is a tree found in tropical America. In Brazil it is known mainly as Guaçatonga. Literature reports suggest that the leaves and other plant parts have been used by indigenous populations from South America in preparations, mainly aqueous or hydroethanolic macerations or decoctions, most times taken orally for the primary treatment of several diseases, including cancer.

Effect of glucans from Caripia montagnei mushroom on TNBS-induced colitis.

In this study, we evaluated the effect of different doses of polysaccharides extracted from Caripia montagnei mushroom at different intervals of treatment on colonic injury in the model of colitis induced by 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS). The FT-IR analysis and NMR showed that the polysaccharides from this species of mushroom are composed of α- and β-glucans. The colonic damage was evaluated by macroscopic, histological, biochemical and immunologic analyses.

Chloroquine use improves dengue-related symptoms.

Dengue is the most important arboviral disease in the world. As chloroquine, an antimalarial agent, has shown some antiviral effects, this study evaluated its effect in patients with dengue. A randomised, double-blind study was performed by administering chloroquine or placebo for three days to 129 patients with dengue-related symptoms.

Genetic variability in Microsporum canis isolated from cats, dogs and humans in Brazil.

Dermatophytosis caused by Microsporum canis is a heterogeneous disease with variable clinical manifestations. M. canis is a zoophilic dermatophyte and the most frequent fungi isolated from dogs, cats and children in Brazil.

Development of a real-time polymerase chain reaction assay for single nucleotide polymorphism genotyping codons 136, 154, and 171 of the prnp gene and application to Brazilian sheep herds.

Scrapie is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy of sheep and goats and is associated with the deposition of an abnormal isoform of prion protein (PrP(sc)). This isoform presents an altered conformation that leads to its aggregation in the host's central nervous and lymphoreticular systems. A predisposition to the prion-agent infection can be influenced by specific genotypes that are related to polymorphisms in the ovine prnp gene.

Proteomic survey of the pathogenic Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae strain 7448 and identification of novel post-translationally modified and antigenic proteins.

Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae is an important pathogen for pigs, being the causative agent of enzootic pneumonia. Recently, the genome sequences of three strains, J, 7448 and 232 have been reported. Here, we describe the results of a proteomic analysis, based on two-dimensional gel electrophoresis of soluble protein extracts, immunoblot and mass spectrometry, which was carried out aiming the identification of gene products and antigenic proteins from the M.

Variable number of tandem aminoacid repeats in adhesion-related CDS products in Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae strains.

The Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae genome contains at least 22 regions with a variable number of tandem nucleotide repeats (VNTRs) within coding DNA sequences (CDSs). In this work, the VNTR-containing CDSs were analysed in order to evaluate their degree of variation, possible correlations with antigenic properties, and their potential to be used as a basis for a strain typing PCR assay. We have analysed the VNTRs in five M.

Swine and poultry pathogens: the complete genome sequences of two strains of Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae and a strain of Mycoplasma synoviae.

This work reports the results of analyses of three complete mycoplasma genomes, a pathogenic (7448) and a nonpathogenic (J) strain of the swine pathogen Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae and a strain of the avian pathogen Mycoplasma synoviae; the genome sizes of the three strains were 920,079 bp, 897,405 bp, and 799,476 bp, respectively. These genomes were compared with other sequenced mycoplasma genomes reported in the literature to examine several aspects of mycoplasma evolution. Strain-specific regions, including integrative and conjugal elements, and genome rearrangements and alterations in adhesin sequences were observed in the M.