Blackberry can be considered a source of phenolic compounds with antioxidant properties, especially anthocyanins, which are responsible for the attractive color of the juice. However, blackberry juice quality can be reduced under severe heat treatments, resulting in darkened color and altered taste. Membrane separation processes are an alternative for the clarification and concentration of fruit juices, with advantages as the maintenance of the nutritional, sensory, and functional characteristics of the product.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) is a widely used self-report measure of subjective well-being, but studies of its measurement invariance across a large number of nations remain limited. Here, we utilised the Body Image in Nature (BINS) dataset-with data collected between 2020 and 2022 -to assess measurement invariance of the SWLS across 65 nations, 40 languages, gender identities, and age groups (N = 56,968). All participants completed the SWLS under largely uniform conditions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFViruses
November 2024
Hantaviruses are zoonotic pathogens associated with severe human diseases such as hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome and hantavirus pulmonary syndrome. Despite the extensive study of rodent-borne hantaviruses, research on bat-associated hantaviruses remains limited. This study aimed to investigate the seroprevalence and cross-reactivity of neotropical bat samples with rodent- and bat-associated recombinant hantavirus nucleoproteins (rNPs) to improve hantavirus surveillance in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Colorectal cancer (CRC) incidence and mortality before 50 have been rising alarmingly in the recent decades.
Methods: Using a cohort of 10,000 patients, this study investigates the clinical, mutational, and co-mutational features of CRC in early-onset (EOCRC, < 50 years) compared to late-onset (LOCRC, ≥ 50 years).
Results: EOCRC was associated with a higher prevalence of Asian and Hispanic patients, rectal or left-sided tumors (72% vs.
Background: England aims to reach the World Health Organization (WHO) elimination target of decreasing HCV incidence among people who inject drugs (PWID) to <2 per 100 person-years (/100pyrs) by 2030. We assessed what testing and treatment strategies will achieve this target and whether they are cost-effective.
Methods: A dynamic deterministic HCV transmission model among PWID was developed for four England regions, utilising data on the scale-up of HCV treatment among PWID in prisons, drug treatment centres (DTC, where opioid agonist therapy is provided), and any other setting (e.
Brain Behav Immun
December 2024
Angiotensin II is well known to have an important influence on blood pressure, mediated via the angiotensin II type 1 receptor (AT1R), but more recent studies have shown that angiotensin II may play an important additional role in eliciting pain via a distinct action at the angiotensin II type 2 receptor (AT2R). Signalling pathways that link activation of AT2R to a sensation of pain are, however, incompletely understood. Here we use rodent inflammatory pain models to confirm that selective activation of AT2R triggers aversive responses, and that these are abolished by either antagonism or genetic deletion of AT2R.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIatrogenic cerebral amyloid angiopathy, a disease caused by contact with neurosurgical material or human growth hormone contaminated by beta-amyloid peptide (Aβ), has a prion-like transmission mechanism. We present a series of three patients under 55 years of age who underwent cranial surgery. All of them developed multiple cerebral hemorrhages, transient focal neurological deficits, and/or cognitive impairment after 3-4 decades.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRev Soc Bras Med Trop
December 2024
Sporotrichosis is caused by fungi belonging to the genus Sporothrix, and is generally acquired by traumatic inoculation. A 26-year-old man developed pustular lesions and a 6-kg weight loss after developing a lesion on his right hand 6 months previously. He was diagnosed with acquired human immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and disseminated sporotrichosis cultures of bone and muscle biopsy and blood samples grew Sporothrix schenckii.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Bat-borne hantaviruses have been identified worldwide but little is known about neotropical bats in the megadiverse biomes of the American continent. Although serological evidence has hinted at hantavirus circulation in Brazil, the scarce number of genomic detection represents a gap to understand viral diversity, prevalence, and ecology of bat-borne hantaviruses.
Objective: We aim to investigate and evaluate the presence and prevalence of bat-borne hantavirus in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest.
Visualization of guanine-rich oligonucleotides that fold into G-quadruplex (G4) helical structures is of great interest in cell biology. There is a large body of evidence that suggests that these noncanonical structures form and play important biological roles. A promising recent development highlighted fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) as a robust technique for the direct and quantitative imaging of G4s in live cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Validate a novel approach for assessing residual astigmatism's impact on visual acuity in pseudophakic patients using defocus curves and spherical equivalent compensation.
Materials And Methods: Thirteen patients over 40 with cataracts and normal ophthalmological examinations were enrolled in a prospective, non-randomized cohort study. The defocus curve method was employed, wherein visual acuity was measured with spherical lenses ranging from -2.
Neurotrophin receptors of the Trk family are involved in the regulation of brain development and neuroplasticity, and therefore can serve as targets for anti-cancer and stroke-recovery drugs, antidepressants, and many others. The structures of Trk protein domains in various states upon activation need to be elucidated to allow rational drug design. However, little is known about the conformations of the transmembrane and juxtamembrane domains of Trk receptors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Determining the etiology of hyperprolactinemia is fundamental for selecting the most appropriate treatment strategy. The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness and accuracy of prolactin levels in predicting the etiology of nonphysiological hyperprolactinemia.
Subjects And Methods: In this retrospective study, we reviewed medical records of patients with nonphysiological hyperprolactinemia seen at two neuroendocrine reference centers located in Recife, Brazil, from January 2000 to December 2019.
The immune revolution that swept the field of oncology in the mid-2010s with the advent of checkpoint inhibitors has led to a paradigm shift in approaches toward adapting new cancer prevention modalities. Cancer vaccines have emerged from this era with astounding potential as a durable intervention to prevent cancers especially for patients with hereditary susceptibilities such as Lynch syndrome carriers. This review covers new insights in the immunoprevention landscape for patients living with Lynch syndrome including highlights ranging from clinical trials exploring the use of chemoprevention agents to boost immune cellularity to investigative studies using novel vaccine approaches to induce long-term antitumor immunity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: There has been a rise in endometrial cancer (EC) incidence leading to increased mortality. To counter this trend, improving the stratification of post-surgery recurrence risk and anticipating disease relapse and treatment resistance is essential. Liquid biopsy analyses offer a promising tool for these clinical challenges, though the best strategy for applying them in EC must be defined.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFImportance: Disparity in overall survival (OS) and differences in the frequency of driver gene variants by race and ethnicity have been separately observed in patients with colorectal cancer; however, how these differences contribute to survival disparity is unknown.
Objective: To quantify the association of molecular, socioeconomic, and clinical covariates with racial and ethnic disparities in overall survival among patients with colorectal cancer.
Design, Setting, And Participants: This single-center cohort study was conducted at a tertiary-level cancer center using relevant data on all patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer from January 1, 1973, to March 1, 2023.
Current anticancer therapies suffer from issues such as off-target side effects and the emergence of drug resistance; therefore, the discovery of alternative therapeutic approaches is vital. These can include the development of drugs with different modes of action, and the exploration of new biomolecular targets. For the former, there has been increasing interest in drugs that are activated by an external stimulus (e.
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