Publications by authors named "Pietro P"

Cardiometabolic and cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) remain the leading cause of death worldwide, with well-established risk factors such as smoking, obesity, and diabetes contributing to plaque formation and chronic inflammation. However, emerging evidence suggests that the immune system plays a more significant role in the development and progression of CVD than previously thought. Specifically, the finely tuned regulation of lymphocyte subsets governs post-injury inflammation and tissue damage resolution and orchestrates the functions and activation of endothelial cells, cardiomyocytes, and fibroblasts in CVD-associated lesions (e.

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Background And Aims: Chemotherapy is one of the treatments of choice for patients with hematological or head and neck neoplasms. However, chemotherapy promotes elevate occurrence of adverse events and many of them directly impact nutritional status and patients' quality of life, which may include a low treatment tolerance. Suggested mechanisms include inflammation and oxidative stress as contributing factors to adverse effects of chemotherapy.

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Severe obesity is closely associated with an increased risk of comorbidities and alterations in cardiac structure and function. The primary objective of this study was to investigate cardiovascular (CV) risk factors and ventricular remodeling in individuals from an obese population eligible for bariatric surgery. The secondary objective was to evaluate changes in anthropometric, clinical laboratory, and echocardiographic measurements 12 weeks after surgery compared to baseline values.

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Background And Purpose:: Accumulating evidence suggests circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) are important regulators of biological processes involved in COVID-19 complications. We sought to assess whether circulating miRNAs are associated with COVID-19 clinical phenotype and outcome.

Experimental Approach:: To discover signatures of circulating miRNAs associated with COVID-19 disease severity and mortality, miRNA quantification was performed on plasma samples collected at hospital admission from a cohort of 106 patients with mild or severe COVID-19.

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Background/objectives: Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women globally, and it negatively impacts diet and quality of life, increasing the risk of recurrence. Adhering to World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) and American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) lifestyle guidelines, such as healthy eating habits and nutritional status, can help in primary and secondary cancer prevention. However, no questionnaire was found for self-assessment of these guidelines for the Brazilian population.

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This study aimed to identify meal and snack patterns and assess their association with sleep timing in schoolchildren. This is a cross-sectional study carried out in 2018/2019 with 1333 schoolchildren aged 7-14 years from public and private schools in Florianópolis, Brazil. Previous-day dietary intake data for breakfast, mid-morning snack, lunch, mid-afternoon snack, dinner and evening snack were collected using a validated online questionnaire.

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This study delves into the effects of titanium (Ti) doping on the optical properties of vanadium dioxide (VO), a material well known for its metal-to-insulator transition (MIT) near room temperature. By incorporating Ti into VO's crystal lattice, we aim to uncover the resultant changes in its physical properties, crucial for enhancing its application in smart devices. Utilizing polarized infrared micro-spectroscopy, we examined TiVO single crystals with varying Ti concentrations (x = 0.

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Article Synopsis
  • A study evaluated the effectiveness of the CardioMEMS device for remote monitoring in heart failure patients, focusing on its impact on healthcare outcomes, costs, and patient quality of life.
  • The results showed a significant reduction in hospitalizations (50%) and days spent in the hospital (68.7%), along with improved quality of life and better echocardiographic measures after one year of monitoring.
  • Economically, the CardioMEMS system resulted in average savings of €1580 per patient, with a notable reduction in healthcare costs due to decreased hospital visits and interventions.
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Background: Meals differ in terms of food items and nutritional quality. The aim of the present study was to propose a scale to measure the meals quality of schoolchildren according to food processing degree, perform a preliminary evaluation of the scale's validity and reliability and apply the scale to a representative sample of schoolchildren in a city in southern Brazil.

Methods: A methodological study based on the generalized graded unfolding model (GGUM) of item response theory (IRT) with analysis of secondary data was carried out in 6,399 schoolchildren of 6-15y-old attending 2nd to 5th grades of public elementary schools in Florianópolis, Brazil, in 2013-2015 who answered the validated Food Intake and Physical Activities of Schoolchildren (WebCAAFE) questionnaire.

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  • * A significant complication of CKD is CKD-mineral and bone disorder (MBD), which disrupts bone health and mineral metabolism, causing issues like vascular calcification that are linked to increased cardiovascular risks.
  • * Effective diagnosis and treatment require understanding the connections between mineral metabolism, bone disorders, and vascular calcification, as these factors heavily impact CKD-related morbidity and mortality.
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Until now, the beneficial vascular properties of Hop reported in the literature have been mainly attributed to specific compound classes, such as tannins and phenolic acids. However, the potential vascular action of a Hop subfraction containing a high amount of α or β acids remains completely understood. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the vascular effects of the entire Hop extract and to fraction the Hop extract to identify the main bioactive vascular compounds.

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To examine the effects of 7-days juçara powder (JP) intake on oxidative stress biomarkers and endurance and sprint cycling performances. In a randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover, and triple-blind study, 20 male trained cyclists were assigned to intake 10 g of JP (240 mg anthocyanins) or placebo (PLA) for 7 days and performed a cycling time-to-exhaustion (TTE). A 5 s cycling sprint was performed before and after the cycling TTE.

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In recent decades, as a result of rising mortality rates due to cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), there has been a growing urgency to find alternative approaches to conventional pharmaceutical treatment to prevent the onset of chronic diseases. , commonly known as , is a blue-green cyanobacterium, classified as a "superfood", used worldwide as a nutraceutical food supplement due to its remarkable nutritional value, lack of toxicity, and therapeutic effects. Several scientific studies have evaluated the cardioprotective role of .

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High glucose-induced endothelial dysfunction is an important pathological feature of diabetic vasculopathy. While genome-wide studies have identified an association between type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and increased expression of a C2 calcium-dependent domain containing 4B (C2CD4B), no study has yet explored the possible direct effect of C2CD4B on vascular function. Vascular reactivity studies were conducted using a pressure myograph, and nitric oxide and oxidative stress were assessed through difluorofluorescein diacetate and dihydroethidium, respectively.

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Context: Adverse events from chemotherapy treatment affect food intake, nutritional status, and treatment tolerance in cancer patients. However, the effect of nutritional intervention in patients with hematologic neoplasms receiving chemotherapy remains unknown.

Objective: The aim of this systematic review was to evaluate the evidence on nutritional interventions on nutritional status, treatment tolerance, inflammatory markers, quality of life, and mortality in patients with hematologic neoplasms receiving chemotherapy.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study aimed to analyze trends in obesity, overweight, and thinness among Brazilian schoolchildren, focusing on differences by sex, age, and type of school using WHO and IOTF criteria.
  • Conducted between 2002 and 2018/19, the surveys revealed a significant increase in obesity prevalence among children, particularly in public schools, with rates rising by 72% (IOTF) and 44% (WHO) over the period.
  • The findings indicate that obesity is becoming more common, especially among children from public schools, while the prevalence of thinness did not significantly decrease during the same time span.
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  • The study investigates the interaction between the endocannabinoid system (ECS) and the kisspeptin system (KS) in controlling male reproduction through the hypothalamus-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis in adolescent male rats.
  • Male rats were administered kisspeptin-10 and anandamide, with assessments made on hormone levels, gene expression, and localization of specific neurons to explore the effects of these treatments.
  • The results showed that kisspeptin-10 influenced the expression of proteins related to KS, while anandamide had distinct effects on both KS and ECS, highlighting their complex interaction and influence on reproductive development.
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Sleep timing is one of the dimensions of sleep that refers to the time of day when sleep occurs. It has been included in sleep-related research because of the potential associations between being overweight and the consumption of meals and snacks. This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate associations between sleep timing, meal and snack consumption and weight status in 1333 schoolchildren aged 7-14 years.

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Classical terahertz spectroscopy usually requires the use of Fourier transform or Time-Domain Spectrometers. However, these classical techniques become impractical when using recent high peak power terahertz sources - based on intense lasers or accelerators - which operate at low repetition rate. We present and test the design of a novel Time-Domain Spectrometer, that is capable of recording a whole terahertz spectrum at each shot of the source, and that uses a 1550 nm probe fiber laser.

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Obesity is a growing public health epidemic worldwide and is implicated in slowing improved life expectancy and increasing cardiovascular (CV) risk; indeed, several obesity-related mechanisms drive structural, functional, humoral, and hemodynamic heart alterations. On the other hand, obesity may indirectly cause CV disease, mediated through different obesity-associated comorbidities. Diet and physical activity are key points in preventing CV disease and reducing CV risk; however, these strategies alone are not always sufficient, so other approaches, such as pharmacological treatments and bariatric surgery, must support them.

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The juçara palm tree produces a small spherical and black-purple fruit similar to açaí. It is rich in phenolic compounds, especially anthocyanins. A clinical trial evaluated the absorption and excretion of the main bioactive compounds in urine and the antioxidant capacity in serum and erythrocytes of 10 healthy subjects after juçara juice intake.

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Sacubitril/valsartan (Sac/Val) reduces mortality in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) compared to enalapril. However, its effects on functional capacity remain uncertain; consequently, we sought to compare Sac/Val vs. standard medical therapy, in terms of effects on prognostically significant CPET parameters, in HFrEF patients during a long follow-up period.

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  • Dkk3 (Dickkopf-3) is a protein that influences blood pressure regulation and is linked to hypertension in rats; its full role in cardiovascular health remains unclear.* -
  • Research using genetically modified mice and hypertensive rat models showed that deleting Dkk3 increased blood pressure and impaired blood vessel relaxation, but restoring Dkk3 countered these effects.* -
  • The protein functions by enhancing VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor) expression and activating a signaling pathway that lowers blood pressure, highlighting Dkk3’s potential as a therapeutic target for hypertension.*
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This study aimed to investigate the effect of chemotherapy (CT) and its different types of regimens on the anthropometry and body composition of women with breast cancer. Three-hundred-and-four women with breast cancer were enrolled in this multicenter study. The participants were evaluated before the infusion of the first cycle of CT (pre-CT), and until two weeks after CT completion (post-CT), regarding body weight, body mass index (BMI); waist circumference (WC); waist-to-height ratio (WHtR); conicity index (C-index); fat mass index (FMI); and fat-free mass index (FFMI).

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