Strategies for Healthier Meat Foods: An Overview.

Functional food products remain the focus of current market trends toward healthier nutrition. The consumption of meat-based functional foods has been a topic of interest in food innovation since some of these products generate controversy due to their possible adverse effects on health. However, studies have demonstrated that meat-based functional products are considered an opportunity to improve the nutritional profile of meat products through the addition of biologically valuable components and to meet the specific needs of consumers.

Usefulness of UF-5000 automatic screening system in UTI diagnosis.

We have evaluated the Sysmex UF-5000 cytometer use in microbiology for the screening of negative urines, looking for cut-off points to detect bacteria and leukocytes. The number of processed urines was 3569, the highest to date in these studies. The best general cut-off point has been 100 bact/μl, giving an area under the ROC curve of 0.

FlowUTI: An interactive web-application for optimizing the use of flow cytometry as a screening tool in urinary tract infections.

Due to the high prevalence of patients attending with urinary tract infection (UTI) symptoms, the use of flow-cytometry as a rapid screening tool to avoid unnecessary cultures is becoming a widely used system in clinical practice. However, the recommended cut-points applied in flow-cytometry systems differ substantially among authors, making it difficult to obtain reliable conclusions. Here, we present FlowUTI, a shiny web-application created to establish optimal cut-off values in flow-cytometry for different UTI markers, such as bacterial or leukocyte counts, in urine from patients with UTI symptoms.

Quality improvement and rapid PDSA cycles to maintain routine surveillance of pulmonary pathogens during the COVID-19 pandemic in a pediatric cystic fibrosis clinic.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated immediate transition from in person to telehealth encounters; novel nursing practices were needed to ensure that children with cystic fibrosis (CF) receive care that approximates evidence-based guidelines.

Local Problem: The aim was to ensure that as many children as possible received routine surveillance of pulmonary pathogens by a CF culture sputum culture during a pandemic.

Methods: Multiple Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles were utilized to implement practice change over four months.

Regulation of zinc homeostatic genes by environmental pH in the filamentous fungus Aspergillus fumigatus.

Aspergillus fumigatus can grow over a broad range of pH values even though zinc availability is greatly conditioned by ambient pH. It has been previously shown that regulation of zinc homeostatic genes in this fungus relies on the transcription factor ZafA. In addition, their expression is further modulated by the transcription factor PacC depending on ambient pH, which allows this fungus to grow in diverse types of niches, including soils and the lungs of immunosuppressed hosts.

First α-deuterium nitroxides; synthesis and EPR study.

Herein is reported the first preparation of stable α-deuterium nitroxides of the IAPNO family. The confirmation and characteristics of the α-deuterium nitroxides and their α-hydrogen analogues are compared and analyzed. Such α-deuterium nitroxides may find use in biology, medicine and physical chemistry.

Gamma knife radiosurgery for trigeminal neuralgia: first case series from Latin America.

Introduction: Gamma Knife® radiosurgery (GKRS) for trigeminal neuralgia is an effective treatment with at least a 50% reduction of pain in 75-95% of patients.

Objective: To present the first series of patients treated for trigeminal neuralgia using GKRS in Latin America.

Methods: Retrospective analysis.

Inhibition of Growth by Redox Cycling Phenylaminojuglones.

Infection by increases 10 times the risk of developing gastric cancer. Juglone, a natural occurring 1,4-naphthoquinone, prevents growth by interfering with some of its critical metabolic pathways. Here, we report the design, synthesis, and evaluation of a series of juglone derivatives, namely, 2/3-phenylaminojuglones, as potential growth inhibitors.

KCTD5 and Ubiquitin Proteasome Signaling Are Required for Adherence.

In order to establish infection, bacterial pathogens modulate host cellular processes by using virulence factors, which are delivered from the bacteria to the host cell leading to cellular reprogramming. In this context, several pathogens regulate the ubiquitin proteasome system in order to regulate the cellular effectors required for their successful colonization and persistance. In this study, we investigated how affect the ubiquitination of the host proteins to achieve the adherence to the cells, using AGS gastric epithelial cells cultured with strains, 26695 and two isogenic mutants and , to characterize the ability of to reprogram the ubiquitin proteasome systems.

Induced Phosphatidylinositol-3-OH Kinase/mTOR Activation Increases Hypoxia Inducible Factor-1α to Promote Loss of Cyclin D1 and G0/G1 Cell Cycle Arrest in Human Gastric Cells.

() is a human gastric pathogen that has been linked to the development of several gastric pathologies, such as gastritis, peptic ulcer, and gastric cancer. In the gastric epithelium, the bacterium modifies many signaling pathways, resulting in contradictory responses that favor both proliferation and apoptosis. Consistent with such observations, activates routes associated with cell cycle progression and cell cycle arrest.

The histone-like protein HU has a role in gene expression during the acid adaptation response in Helicobacter pylori.

Background: Gastritis, ulcers, and gastric malignancy have been linked to human gastric epithelial colonization by Helicobacter pylori. Characterization of the mechanisms by which H. pylori adapts to the human stomach environment is of crucial importance to understand H.

Undifferentiated connective tissue disease and interstitial lung disease: Trying to define patterns.

Objectives: To identify clinical or immunological features in patients with undifferentiated connective tissue disease (UCTD) associated interstitial lung disease (ILD), in order to group them and recognize different functional and high resolution computed tomography (HRCT) behavior.

Methods: Retrospective cohort study. Patients meeting Kinder criteria for UCTD were included.

[Red cell distribution width as a risk marker in patients with cardiovascular diseases].

Red cell distribution width (RDW) is a measurement of the variation in size, as well as an index of heterogeneity of erythrocytes, which is used in combination with other hematologic parameters as an aid to the differential diagnosis of hypochromic anemia. RDW could also serve as a biomarker in the diagnosis and prognosis patients with cardiovascular diseases. However, it is unclear whether the increased heterogeneity is the cause or consequence of other pathophysiological conditions such as renal failure, malnutrition, inflammation and oxidative stress, which among other conditions are actively involved in the genesis and progression of cardiovascular diseases.

Characterization of a multiprotein complex involved in excitation-transcription coupling of skeletal muscle.

Background: Electrical activity regulates the expression of skeletal muscle genes by a process known as "excitation-transcription" (E-T) coupling. We have demonstrated that release of adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP) during depolarization activates membrane P2X/P2Y receptors, being the fundamental mediators between electrical stimulation, slow intracellular calcium transients, and gene expression. We propose that this signaling pathway would require the proper coordination between the voltage sensor (dihydropyridine receptor, DHPR), pannexin 1 channels (Panx1, ATP release conduit), nucleotide receptors, and other signaling molecules.

Synthesis and stability of cyclic α-hydrogen nitroxides.

Nitroxides (nitroxyl radicals) hold a unique place in science due to their stable radical nature. We have recently reported the first design concept providing a general solution to the problem of designing and preparing monocyclic α-hydrogen nitroxides. The initial studies were limited to aryl derivatives.

Iron Deficiency and IL1β Polymorphisms in Helicobacter pylori-infected Children.

Background: Helicobacter pylori infection has been associated with an imbalance of iron homeostasis. IL-1β has been related with iron absorption disturbances through a variety of mechanisms. The aim of this study was to evaluate the presence of polymorphic variants for IL-1β cluster and gastric IL1β mRNA expression in H.

TRPM4 Is a Novel Component of the Adhesome Required for Focal Adhesion Disassembly, Migration and Contractility.

Cellular migration and contractility are fundamental processes that are regulated by a variety of concerted mechanisms such as cytoskeleton rearrangements, focal adhesion turnover, and Ca2+ oscillations. TRPM4 is a Ca2+-activated non-selective cationic channel (Ca2+-NSCC) that conducts monovalent but not divalent cations. Here, we used a mass spectrometry-based proteomics approach to identify putative TRPM4-associated proteins.

Validation of a high-fidelity model in ureteroscopy incorporating hand motion analysis.

Purpose: To establish the construct validity of a semirigid ureteroscopy in a high-fidelity simulation model, incorporating hand motion analysis as a paramount part of evaluation.

Methods: Participants were divided into 3 groups: group 1 (9 junior residents, without experience in ureteroscopy), group II (9 senior residents, with variable experience in ureteroscopy) and group III (2 experts in endourologist); each group performed a single practice session in the high-fidelity bench model, which was previously prepared with small urinary stone phantom in the mid-ureter. Assessment was done using motion tracking device (ICSAD).

Carbon disulfide formation in papaya under conditions of dithiocarbamate residue analysis.

Golden, Sunrise Solo and Tainung cultivars of papaya were found to release CS2 when submitted to experimental conditions of dithiocarbamate residue analysis. Three common analytical methods were used to quantitate CS2; one spectrophotometric method and two chromatographic methods. All three methods gave positive CS2 results for all three papaya varieties.

Targeting zinc homeostasis to combat Aspergillus fumigatus infections.

Aspergillus fumigatus is able to invade and grow in the lungs of immunosuppressed individuals and causes invasive pulmonary aspergillosis. The concentration of free zinc in living tissues is much lower than that required for optimal fungal growth in vitro because most of it is tightly bound to proteins. To obtain efficiently zinc from a living host A.

Design concept for α-hydrogen-substituted nitroxides.

Stable nitroxides (nitroxyl radicals) have many essential and unique applications in chemistry, biology and medicine. However, the factors influencing their stability are still under investigation, and this hinders the design and development of new nitroxides. Nitroxides with tertiary alkyl groups are generally stable but obviously highly encumbered.