Muscle thickness of the pectoralis major and rectus abdominis and level of physical activity in chronic hemodialysis patients.

Introduction: Patients on chronic hemodialysis tend to lose lean body mass and have sedentary behavior.

Objective: To compare the level of physical activity and the morphology of the muscles pectoralis major and rectus abdominis of patients on hemodialysis with healthy subjects.

Methods: We studied 17 patients and 17 healthy individuals.

Current distribution pattern of biopsy-proven glomerular disease in Salvador, Brazil, 40 years after an initial assessment.

Introduction: A report on the prevalence of glomerular disease diagnosed via renal biopsy in Salvador, BA, Brazil was published in 1973 and showed a predominance of membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis, which was frequently associated with hepatosplenic schistosomiasis.

Objective: In this study, we investigate the potential changes in the distribution of glomerular diseases after a period of important epidemiological transition in Brazil.

Methods: Pathology reports of all patients subjected to kidney biopsy from 2003 to 2015 in a referral nephrology service were reviewed.

Suppression of a single BAHD gene in Setaria viridis causes large, stable decreases in cell wall feruloylation and increases biomass digestibility.

Feruloylation of arabinoxylan (AX) in grass cell walls is a key determinant of recalcitrance to enzyme attack, making it a target for improvement of grass crops, and of interest in grass evolution. Definitive evidence on the genes responsible is lacking so we studied a candidate gene that we identified within the BAHD acyl-CoA transferase family. We used RNA interference (RNAi) silencing of orthologs in the model grasses Setaria viridis (SvBAHD01) and Brachypodium distachyon (BdBAHD01) and determined effects on AX feruloylation.

A simple, rapid and green ultrasound assisted and ionic liquid dispersive microextraction procedure for the determination of tin in foods employing ETAAS.

This paper proposes a simple, rapid and green ultrasound assisted and ionic liquid dispersive microextraction procedure using pyrocatechol violet (PV) as complexing reagent and 1-hexyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)-imide [CMIM][TfN] as ionic liquid for the detection of tin employing electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry (ETAAS). The optimization step was performed using a two-level full factorial design involving the following factors: pH of the working media, amount reagents, ionic liquid volume and extraction time and the chemometric response was tin recovery. The procedure allowed the determination of tin with limits of detection and quantification of 3.

Agronomic efficiency of phosphate fertilizers produced by the re-use of a metallurgical acid residue.

The production of fertilizers with industrial wastes reduces the environmental impacts of waste disposal and improves environmental sustainability by generating added-value products. Our objective with this study was to evaluate the agronomic performance and potential soil/plant contamination with heavy metals of alternative phosphate (P) fertilizers, obtained from the acidulation of phosphate rocks (PR) by a metallurgical acidic waste. Seven P fertilizers were evaluated: three PR (Araxá, Patos, and Bayóvar), their respective acidulated products (PAPR), and triple superphosphate fertilizer (TSP).

Sera from Visceral Leishmaniasis Patients Display Oxidative Activity and Affect the TNF- Production by Macrophages .

Mammalian protection against leishmanial infection depends on the development of an effective immune response. Zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis (ZVL) patients are usually unable to mount an effective immune response against the parasite and indeed appear to be severely immunosuppressed. This suppression has strong nonspecific and specific components mediated by serum factors and leishmanicidal activity of infected macrophages, respectively.

Selecting the right gate to identify relevant cells for your assay: a study of thioglycollate-elicited peritoneal exudate cells in mice.

Objective: In this study, we investigate the diversity and modulation of leukocyte populations represented in the gates defined by size and granularity at different time points of thioglycollate-induced peritonitis in mouse.

Results: The inflammatory cells were distributed into four regions (R1-R4) of a data plot graph defined by cell size and granularity. R1 and R2 contained agranular cells that were small in size and predominately included T (CD3) lymphocytes along with B (B220) lymphocytes.

Sonographic Findings of Hands and Wrists in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Patients With Jaccoud Arthropathy.

Introduction: Jaccoud arthropathy (JA) is a deforming nonerosive arthropathy, characterized by the presence of "reversible" joint deformity. The study aims at describing the main musculoskeletal ultrasound (US) findings of a series of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients with JA.

Methods: Consecutive patients diagnosed as having JA and SLE were included in the study.

Bismuth Vanadate Photoelectrodes with High Photovoltage as Photoanode and Photocathode in Photoelectrochemical Cells for Water Splitting.

Using dual-photoelectrode photoelectrochemical (PEC) devices based on earth-abundant metal oxides for unbiased water splitting is an attractive means of producing green H fuel, but is challenging, owing to low photovoltages generated by PEC cells. This problem can be solved by coupling n-type BiVO with n-type Bi V O to create a virtual p/n junction due to the formation of a hole-inversion layer at the semiconductor interface. Thus, photoelectrodes with high photovoltage outputs were synthesized.

Clinical and immunopathological findings during long term follow-up in Leishmania infantum experimentally infected dogs.

Canine Visceral Leishmaniasis (CVL) is caused by Leishmania infantum, which in the New World is transmitted by Lutzomyia longipalpis. While prospective clinical and immunological assessments of dogs experimentally challenged with L. infantum have been previously reported over a relatively short follow-up period, the long-term characterization of infected animals has not been performed to date.

Small Molecule Mitochondrial Uncouplers and Their Therapeutic Potential.

Small molecule mitochondrial uncouplers transport protons from the mitochondrial inner membrane space into the mitochondrial matrix independent of ATP synthase, uncoupling nutrient metabolism from ATP generation. The therapeutic potential of mitochondrial uncouplers has been investigated for the treatment of metabolic diseases such as obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2D), ischemia-reperfusion injury, and neurodegenerative diseases. This communication will review the small molecule mitochondrial uncouplers reported to date and explore their potential as therapeutics.

Effect of the inoculation of sugarcane silage with and on feeding behavior and milk yield of dairy cows.

Despite its low NDF digestibility, sugarcane is an option for feeding dairy cattle in tropical regions. We evaluated the effect of sugarcane silages inoculated with CCMA 0170 (LH; an epiphytic bacteria isolated from sugarcane) or with NCIMB 40788 (LB; a commercial strain isolated from temperate grasses) on dairy cow performance and feeding behavior. The microbial inoculums were previously grown in the laboratory to obtain 5 log cfu/g of fresh forage.

Applying the ICF linking rules to compare population-based data from different sources: an exemplary analysis of tools used to collect information on disability.

Background: Data on disability are regularly collected by different institutions or ministries using specific tools for different purposes, for instance to estimate the prevalence of disability or eligibility of specific populations for social benefits. The interoperability of disability data collected in countries is essential for policy making and to monitor the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The first objective of this paper is to map and compare tools that collect data on disability for different purposes, more specifically the Brazilian National Health Survey and the Brazilian Functioning Index to the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank Model Disability Survey (MDS), currently recommended as a standard tool for disability measurement.

Mobilization studies in mice deficient in sphingosine kinase 2 support a crucial role of the plasma level of sphingosine-1-phosphate in the egress of hematopoietic stem progenitor cells.

Sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) is a bioactive lipid involved in cell signaling and, if released from cells, also plays a crucial role in regulating the trafficking of lympho-hematopoietic cells, including primitive hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPCs). It has been demonstrated that S1P chemoattracts HSPCs, and its level in peripheral blood creates a gradient directing egress of these cells during mobilization. In this paper we analyzed hematopoiesis in mice deficient in sphingosine kinase 2 (Sphk2-KO mice) and studied the effect of this mutation on plasma S1P levels.

The Allele and Anti-D Alloimmunization Present With High Frequency in Brazilian Sickle Cell Disease Patients.

Background: Antigens DIIIa, DAR and DAU are common in people of African descent and are involved in anti-D alloimmunization. Sickle cell disease (SCD) patients frequently need blood therapy and are vulnerable to alloimmunization.

Methods: The study included SCD patients from the Brazilian state of Bahia, which has the highest incidence of the disease in Brazil; 241 SCD patients and 220 healthy individuals were studied.

Evaluation of a new set of recombinant antigens for the serological diagnosis of human and canine visceral leishmaniasis.

Current strategies for the control of zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis (VL) rely on its efficient diagnosis in both human and canine hosts. The most promising and cost effective approach is based on serologic assays with recombinant proteins. However, no single antigen has been found so far which can be effectively used to detect the disease in both dogs and humans.

Bioaccessibility assessment of toxic and essential elements in produced pulses, Bahia, Brazil.

The objective of this study was to analyze the effect of heat treatment on the bioaccessibility of major (K, Ca, Mg, P) and trace elements (As, Ba, Cu, Fe, Mn, Cd, Cr, Hg, Mo, Ni, Pb, Se, Sb, Sn, and Zn) in three different pulse species: Vigna unguiculata L. Walp (cowpea beans), Cajanus cajan L. (pigeon pea) and Lablab purpureus L.

Collagen content in the bladder of men with LUTS undergoing open prostatectomy: A pilot study.

Aims: To evaluate the collagen content in the bladder wall of men undergoing open prostate surgery.

Methods: From July 2014 to August 2016, men aged ≥ 50 years, presenting LUTS and undergoing open prostate surgery due to benign prostatic enlargement (BPE) or prostate cancer were prospectively enrolled. Preoperative assessment included validated questionnaires (IPSS and OAB-V8), lower urinary tract ultrasound, and urodynamics.

Light-Directed Patchy Particle Fabrication and Assembly from Isotropic Silver Nanoparticles.

We demonstrate the creation of anisotropic patchy silver nanospheroids (AgNSs) using linearly polarized UV light and a photo-uncaging o-nitrobenzyl-based ligand, which anchors to the AgNSs by two gold-sulfur bonds. Exposure to a 1 J/cm dose of UV light induces a photo-uncaging reaction in the ligand that reveals a primary amine on the surface. By using linearly polarized UV light, we meter the exposure dose such that only the poles of the nanoparticle receive a full dose, limiting the photo-uncaging reaction primarily to the particle's plasmonic hot spots.

Monoaminergic neurotransmission is mediating the antidepressant-like effects of Passiflora edulis Sims fo. edulis.

The genus Passiflora is popularly used to treat anxiety. Recent studies showed antidepressant-like effects of two varieties of P. edulis (edulis and flavicarpa) in mice.

Brønsted Base-Mediated Regio- and Stereoselective trans-Silaboration of Propargylamides: Access to 1,2-Vinylborasilanes.

A facile method for the preparation of β-boryl-α-silyl aryl acrylamides using phenyllithium, dimethylphenylsilylpinacolborane, and propargylamides is reported. A key feature of this transition metal-free reaction is the Brønsted base deprotonation of aryl secondary propargylamide to produce a Lewis base that activates the B-Si bond, which is followed by a sequential intramolecular α-silylation-trans-β-borylation. The reaction proceeds in complete regio- and stereoselectivity.

Disease Modifying Effects of the Spider Toxin Parawixin2 in the Experimental Epilepsy Model.

(1) Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is the most common type of epilepsy in adults. It is also the one with the highest percentage of drug-resistance to the current available anti-epileptic drugs (AED). Additionaly, most antiepileptic drugs are only able to control seizures in epileptogenesis, but do not decrease the hippocampal neurodegenerative process.

Chronic Effects of Resistance Training in Breast Cancer Survivors.

To analyse effects of resistance training (RT) in breast cancer survivors (BCS) and how protocols and acute variables were manipulated. Search was made at PubMed, Science Direct, and LILACS. All articles published between 2000 and 2016 were considered.

Branched Peptides: Acridine and Boronic Acid Derivatives as Antimicrobial Agents.

The emergence of microbial resistance presents a challenge in the development of next generation therapeutics. Herein, we report the discovery of branched peptides decorated with acridine and boronic acid moieties with potent antimicrobial activity. The results revealed minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) as low as 1 μg/mL against , , and .

Design and evaluation of a modular lower limb exoskeleton for rehabilitation.

This paper deals with the evaluation of an exoskeleton designed for assisting individuals to rehabilitate compromised lower limb movements resulting from stroke or incomplete spinal cord injury. The exoskeleton is composed of lightweight tubular structures and six free joints that provide a modular feature to the system. This feature allows the exoskeleton to be adapted to assist the movement of one or more patient joints.