Feeding desires: Understanding the food needs and wishes of women experiencing homelessness in São Paulo.

Food desires have been studied as a critical subjective aspect of eating and are closely linked to the pleasure and comprehensive care associated with food. Women experiencing homelessness (WeH) face food insecurity intertwined with social stigma and neglect based on sex, race, and sexuality. However, the WeH's desire is often overlooked in studies and government policies on food security.

Unheralded Adrenergic Receptor Signaling in Cellular Oxidative Stress and Death.

Catecholamines (CAs) bind and activate adrenergic receptors (ARs), thus exuding a key role in cardiac adaptations to global physiological queues. Prolonged exposure to high levels of CAs promotes deleterious effects on the cardiovascular system, leading to organ dysfunction and heart failure (HF). In addition to the prominent role of ARs in inotropic and chronotropic responses, recent studies have delved into elucidating mechanisms contributing to CA toxicity and cell death.

Immunogenicity of COVID-19 adsorbed inactivated vaccine (CoronaVac) and additional doses of mRNA BNT162b2 vaccine in immunocompromised adults compared with immunocompetent persons.

Inactivated COVID-19 vaccines data in immunocompromised individuals are scarce. This trial assessed the immunogenicity of two CoronaVac doses and additional BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine doses in immunocompromised (IC) and immunocompetent (H) individuals. Adults with solid organ transplant (SOT), hematopoietic stem cell transplant, cancer, inborn immunity errors or rheumatic diseases were included in the IC group.

Exploring the role of pyroptosis in the pathogenicity of heart disease.

Cell death is an essential cellular mechanism that ensures quality control and whole-body homeostasis. Various modes of cell death have been studied and detailed. Unbalanced cell death can lead to uncontrolled cell proliferation (i.

Assessment of biomarkers and clinical parameters as predictors of survival in patients with chagasic heart failure.

Background: Chagas disease, endemic in Latin America and spreading globally due to emigration, has a significant health burden, particularly in relation to chagasic heart failure (HF). Chagasic cardiomyopathy (CCM) is characterized by chronic inflammatory myocardial disease. This study aimed to identify inflammatory parameters and biomarkers that could aid in the management of patients with chagasic HF.

Developing a guide to climate & health justice education: Process and content.

Climate justice and health education can address the disproportionate health impacts of climate change on minoritized communities by providing frameworks to build awareness and instigate action on climate-related health inequities. The provides a framework for educators, activists and health professionals to lead lessons on health and climate justice that center the experiences of those Most Affected People and Areas (MAPA) by climate change. Collaborators in Brazil, the Philippines, and Uganda engaged in stakeholder meetings to assess priorities and needs about climate and health with policymakers, doctors, activists, and students.

Association between cardiovascular risk and coronavirus disease 2019: findings from 2021 National Health Interview Survey.

Purpose: To examine the association between pre-existing cardiovascular disorders and the risk of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) among community-dwelling adults in the United States.

Methods: We analyzed data from the 2021 National Health Interview Survey, encompassing 28,848 nationally representative participants aged ≥18. We examined the association by two age groups, younger adults (aged 18-59) and older adults (aged ≥60).

Clinically silent Plasmodium vivax infections in native Amazonians of northwestern Brazil: acquired immunity or low parasite virulence?

Background: Malaria remains common among native Amazonians, challenging Brazil's elimination efforts.

Objectives: We examined the epidemiology of malaria in riverine populations of the country's main hotspot - the upper Juruá Valley in Acre state, close to the Brazil-Peru border, where Plasmodium vivax accounts for > 80% of cases.

Methods: Participants (n = 262) from 10 villages along the Azul River were screened for malaria parasites by microscopy and genus-specific, cytochrome b (cytb) gene-based polymerase chain reaction.

Loss of Nuclear Envelope Integrity and Increased Oxidant Production Cause DNA Damage in Adult Hearts Deficient in PKP2: A Molecular Substrate of ARVC.

Background: Arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC) is characterized by high propensity to life-threatening arrhythmias and progressive loss of heart muscle. More than 40% of reported genetic variants linked to ARVC reside in the gene, which encodes the PKP2 protein (plakophilin-2).

Methods: We describe a comprehensive characterization of the ARVC molecular landscape as determined by high-resolution mass spectrometry, RNA sequencing, and transmission electron microscopy of right ventricular biopsy samples obtained from patients with ARVC with mutations and left ventricular ejection fraction >45%.

"I Like the One With Minions": The Influence of Marketing on Packages of Ultra-Processed Snacks on Children's Food Choices.

Objective: This study aimed to assess the most consumed school snacks using the free listing and understand how marketing strategies on food labels influenced children's perceptions of snacks focus groups.

Design: The study design involved free lists and semi-structured focus group interviews.

Setting: São Paulo, Brazil.

SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity and COVID-19 among 5 years-old Amazonian children and their association with poverty and food insecurity.

Background: The epidemiology of childhood SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19-related illness remains little studied in high-transmission tropical settings, partly due to the less severe clinical manifestations typically developed by children and the limited availability of diagnostic tests. To address this knowledge gap, we investigate the prevalence and predictors of SARS-CoV-2 infection (either symptomatic or not) and disease in 5 years-old Amazonian children.

Methodology/principal Findings: We retrospectively estimated SARS-CoV-2 attack rates and the proportion of infections leading to COVID-19-related illness among 660 participants in a population-based birth cohort study in the Juruá Valley, Amazonian Brazil.

Consumer perceptions of non-caloric sweeteners and the content of caloric and non-caloric sweeteners in ultra-processed products in Brazil.

Food industries are reformulating their products to lower total sugar and caloric content. Caloric sugars are often substituted by or combined with non-caloric sweeteners. Our study analyzed information about the presence, number and type, and content of different sweeteners displayed on the ingredient list of 10 key ultra-processed products (UPP), from 3 different categories.

Double life: How GRK2 and β-arrestin signaling participate in diseases.

G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR) kinases (GRKs) and β-arrestins play key roles in GPCR and non-GPCR cellular responses. In fact, GRKs and arrestins are involved in a plethora of pathways vital for physiological maintenance of inter- and intracellular communication. Here we review decades of research literature spanning from the discovery, identification of key structural elements, and findings supporting the diverse roles of these proteins in GPCR-mediated pathways.

Myocardial GRK2 Reduces Fatty Acid Metabolism and β-Adrenergic Receptor-Mediated Mitochondrial Responses.

G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR) kinase 2 (GRK2) is upregulated in heart failure (HF) patients and mouse models of cardiac disease. GRK2 is a regulator of β-adrenergic receptors (βARs), a GPCR involved in ionotropic and chronotropic responses. We and others have recently reported GRK2 to be localized in the mitochondria, although its function in the mitochondria and/or metabolism remain not clearly defined.

Under the 'weight' of norms: Social representations of overweight and obesity among Brazilian, French and Spanish dietitians and laywomen.

Most contemporary Western cultures are characterized by fatphobia. The fat body is seen as morally incorrect, a sign of disease, loss of control and weakness. People with obesity and overweight, especially women, are discriminated against and stigmatized for their body size, including by health professionals like dietitians.

The Dermatophyte Induces Neutrophil Extracellular Traps Release by Human Neutrophils.

Neutrophils are the first leukocytes recruited to the site of infection and are thought to be responsible for fungal elimination from the skin such as dermatophytes. Neutrophils are able to secrete reactive oxygen species (ROS) and neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) that can kill different fungi, including , spp., , and .

Oral administration of buparvaquone nanostructured lipid carrier enables in vivo activity against Leishmania infantum.

Leishmaniasis, a neglected tropical disease, is prevalent in 98 countries with the occurrence of 1.3 million new cases annually. The conventional therapy for visceral leishmaniasis requires hospitalization due to the severe adverse effects of the drugs, which are administered parenterally.

Evaluation of antimicrobial susceptibility testing of Nocardia spp. isolates by broth microdilution with resazurin and spectrophotometry.

Background: Nocardia species are ubiquitous in natural environments and can cause nocardiosis. In the present study, the use of Resazurin salt and Spectrophotometry were proposed as alternative methods to reduce subjectivity in the interpretation of susceptibility results to antimicrobials by the broth microdilution method for Nocardia spp.

Results: The susceptibility of Nocardia spp.

Analysis of the isomerization of diketopiperazine consisting of proline and aromatic amino acid residues using nuclear magnetic resonance.

Under different concentrations of the base potassium deuteroxide KOD, the progress of reactions, such as enolization, D-substitution, isomerization, and conformational changes of diketopiperazine cyclo(L-Pro-L-Xxx) and cyclo(D-Pro-L-Xxx) (Xxx = Phe, Tyr) in DO solution, was investigated by H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Cyclo(L-Pro-L-Xxx) is mostly isomerized to cyclo(D-Pro-L-Xxx) in DO solution, whereas cyclo(D-Pro-L-Xxx) is only slightly isomerized to cyclo(L-Pro-L-Xxx) even under stronger basic conditions. After adding a deuterated organic solvent (CDCOCD, CDSOCD or CDOD) to a DO solution of cyclo(L-Pro-L-Xxx), cyclo(D-Pro-L-Xxx), or increasing the temperature of the DO solution, CH-π interaction between H and the benzene ring of cyclo (D-Pro-L-Xxx) was stronger than that between H and the benzene ring of cyclo(L-Pro-L-Xxx).

Burden of Uncontrolled Hyperglycemia and Its Association with Patients Characteristics and Socioeconomic Status in Philadelphia, USA.

To examine the burden of uncontrolled hyperglycemia in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) and their characteristics in a large urban city. A randomized sample of 4993 patients with DM ≥18 years old who received routine health care in a large university teaching hospital in the city of Philadelphia was analyzed. Uncontrolled hyperglycemia was classified as blood hemoglobin A1c >8%.

GRK2 contributes to glucose mediated calcium responses and insulin secretion in pancreatic islet cells.

Diabetes is a metabolic syndrome rooted in impaired insulin and/or glucagon secretory responses within the pancreatic islets of Langerhans (islets). Insulin secretion is primarily regulated by two key factors: glucose-mediated ATP production and G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) signaling. GPCR kinase 2 (GRK2), a key regulator of GPCRs, is reported to be downregulated in the pancreas of spontaneously obesogenic and diabetogenic mice (ob/ob).

Monocyte-Derived Dendritic Cells Can Revert In Vitro Antigen-Specific Cellular Anergy in Active Human Paracoccidioidomycosis.

We investigated the in vitro effects of two antigens on monocyte-derived dendritic cells (moDCs) from patients with paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM). MoDCs from patients with active or treated PCM and non-PCM subjects were generated, stimulated with TNF-α, and antigens, 43 kDa glycoprotein (gp43) and cell-free antigen (CFA), and analyzed by flow cytometry and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA). Our data revealed that patients with PCM had a high frequency of HLA-DR cells, but the treated group had more CD86 cells with increased IL-12p40.

Mitochondrial Membrane Intracellular Communication in Healthy and Diseased Myocardium.

Research efforts in the twenty-first century have been paramount to the discovery and development of novel pharmacological treatments in a variety of diseases resulting in improved life expectancy. Yet, cardiac disease remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Over time, there has been an expansion in conditions such as atrial fibrillation (AF) and heart failure (HF).

A Specific Polymorphic Genotype Modulates the Risk of Parasitemia While , , and Variant Profiles and HIV Infection Protect Against Cardiomyopathy in Chagas Disease.

Background: Chagas disease caused by () affects approximately six million individuals worldwide. Clinical manifestations are expected to occur due to the parasite persistence and host immune response. Herein we investigated potential associations between , , , or polymorphism profiles and cardiomyopathy or parasitemia, as well as the impact of HIV infection on cardiopathy.