Identifying COVID-19 variant through symptoms profile: Would it be possible? A rapid review.

The first outbreaks of coronavirus CoV, SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV have occurred in China and Saudi Arabia over the past decade, respectively. From the end of 2019, a great battle began by the world scientific community against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that caused COVID-19, a pathology that generated devastating consequences on all existing continents. Several mutations have already been detected in the structure of the virus, which have been responsible for the generation of many types of variants since the detection of the first COVID-19 virus identified in China.

Exploring Spoken Discourse and Its Neural Correlates in Women With Alzheimer's Disease With Low Levels of Education and Socioeconomic Status.

Purpose: Early impairments in spoken discourse abilities have been identified in Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, the impact of AD on spoken discourse and the associated neuroanatomical correlates have mainly been studied in populations with higher levels of education, although preliminary evidence seems to indicate that socioeconomic status (SES) and level of education have an impact on spoken discourse. The purpose of this study was to analyze microstructural variables in spoken discourse in people with AD with low-to-middle SES and low level of education and to study their association with gray matter (GM) density.

Nano-scaled surfaces and sustainable-antibiotic-release from polymeric coating for application on intra-osseous implants and trans-mucosal abutments.

Multifunctional surfaces may display the potential to accelerate and promote the healing process around dental implants. However, the initial cellular biocompatibility, molecular activity, and the release of functionalized molecules from these novel surfaces require extensive investigation for clinical use. Aiming to develop and compare innovative surfaces for application in dental implants, the present study utilized titanium disks, which were treated and divided into four groups: machined (Macro); acid-etched (Micro); anodized-hydrophilic surface (TNTs); and anodized surface coated with a rifampicin-loaded polymeric layer (poly(lactide-co-glycolide), PLGA) (TNTsRIMP).

The neurotoxic mechanism of Jack Bean Urease in insects involves the interplay between octopaminergic and dopaminergic pathways.

In the last decades, the entomotoxicity of JBU and its derived peptides became an object of study, due mainly to the ubiquitous interaction of these compounds with different species of insects and their potential as natural insecticides. In this work, we investigated the neurotoxic effects of JBU in Nauphoeta cinerea cockroaches by dissecting pharmacologically the monoaminergic pathways involved. Selective pharmacological modulators for monoaminergic pathways in in vivo and ex vivo experimental models were employed.

Environmental pollution and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: A meta-analysis of cohort studies.

There is already knowledge of the extensive risk factors for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and recent studies suggest that environmental pollution may contribute to an increase in the incidence of the disorder. The aim of our study was to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis of the risk of ADHD in people younger than 18 years old after exposure to environmental pollution. We searched the MEDLINE, Embase, SciELO, CINAHL, LILACS, Cochrane Central, and Web of Science databases and investigated the grey literature from inception until May 31, 2021.

Reading and writing habits compensate for aging effects in speech connectedness.

We investigate the association of short- and long-range recurrences (speech connectedness) with age, education, and reading and writing habits (RWH) in typical aging using an oral narrative production task. Oral narrative transcriptions were represented as word-graphs to measure short- and long-range recurrences. Speech connectedness was explained by the combination of age, education, and RWH, and the strength of RWH's coefficient reflects the aging effect.

Structure-Function Insights of Jaburetox and Soyuretox: Novel Intrinsically Disordered Polypeptides Derived from Plant Ureases.

Intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) and intrinsically disordered regions (IDRs) do not have a stable 3D structure but still have important biological activities. Jaburetox is a recombinant peptide derived from the jack bean (Canavalia ensiformis) urease and presents entomotoxic and antimicrobial actions. The structure of Jaburetox was elucidated using nuclear magnetic resonance which reveals it is an IDP with small amounts of secondary structure.

Corticotropin-releasing factor infusion in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis of lactating mice alters maternal care and induces behavioural phenotypes in offspring.

The peripartum period is accompanied by numerous physiological and behavioural adaptations organised by the maternal brain. These changes are essential for adequate expression of maternal behaviour, thereby ensuring proper development of the offspring. The corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) plays a key role in a variety of behaviours accompanying stress, anxiety, and depression.

NFκB1 and NFκB2 gene expression in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus of early life stressed mice exposed to cocaine-induced conditioned place preference during adolescence.

Neuro-immune pathways contribute to the onset and maintenance of cocaine-seeking behaviors, particularly through activation of NFκB signaling in the brain. However, the molecular mechanisms of this relationship are still not completely understood, especially considering the effects of early life stress, a major risk factor to cocaine addiction. The goal of this study was to investigate NFκB1 and NFκB2 gene expression in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and hippocampus of mice exposed to early life stress and cocaine-induced conditioned place preference (CPP) within adolescence.

Evidence for Immune Activation and Resistance to Glucocorticoids Following Childhood Maltreatment in Adolescents Without Psychopathology.

Early-life stress (ELS) increases the risk for psychopathology. Immune and endocrine changes have been reported in adults and are associated with maladaptation of stress-responsive systems. Here we investigated the effects of ELS on endocrine and immune pathways in adolescents without psychopathology.

Decreased comfort food intake and allostatic load in adolescents carrying the A3669G variant of the glucocorticoid receptor gene.

Background: The A3669G single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) gene NR3C1 is associated with altered tissue sensitivity to glucocorticoids (GCs). GCs modulate the food reward circuitry and are implicated in increased intake of palatable foods, which can lead to the metabolic syndrome and obesity. We hypothesized that presence of the G variant of the A3669G SNP would affect preferences for palatable foods and alter metabolic, behavioural, and neural outcomes.

Deep Brain Stimulation Frequency of the Subthalamic Nucleus Affects Phonemic and Action Fluency in Parkinson's Disease.

Deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus (STN-DBS) in Parkinson's disease (PD) has been linked to a decline in verbal fluency. The decline can be attributed to surgical effects, but the relative contributions of the stimulation parameters are not well understood. This study aimed to investigate the impact of the frequency of STN-DBS on the performance of verbal fluency tasks in patients with PD.

Decreasing ADHD phenotypic heterogeneity: searching for neurobiological underpinnings of the restrictive inattentive phenotype.

During the process of developing the DSM-5, a new phenotype of ADHD was proposed-the ADHD restrictive inattentive presentation (ADHD-RI), describing subjects with high endorsement of inattentive symptoms and a low level of hyperactivity. However, this phenotype was not included in the DSM-5 because of the lack of robust neurobiological data. We aimed to assess the specific neurobiological underpinnings of individuals presenting ADHD-RI.

Modulation of cortical activity during comprehension of familiar and unfamiliar text topics in speed reading and speed listening.

Brain activation associated with normal and speeded comprehension of expository texts on familiar and unfamiliar topics was investigated in reading and listening. The goal was to determine how brain activation and the comprehension processes it reflects are modulated by comprehension speed and topic familiarity. Passages on more familiar topics differentially activated a set of areas in the anterior temporal lobe and medial frontal gyrus, areas often associated with text-level integration processes, which we interpret to reflect integration of previous knowledge with the passage content.

Identifying autism from neural representations of social interactions: neurocognitive markers of autism.

Autism is a psychiatric/neurological condition in which alterations in social interaction (among other symptoms) are diagnosed by behavioral psychiatric methods. The main goal of this study was to determine how the neural representations and meanings of social concepts (such as to insult) are altered in autism. A second goal was to determine whether these alterations can serve as neurocognitive markers of autism.

The bilingual brain: flexibility and control in the human cortex.

The goal of the present review is to discuss recent cognitive neuroscientific findings concerning bilingualism. Three interrelated questions about the bilingual brain are addressed: How are multiple languages represented in the brain? how are languages controlled in the brain? and what are the real-world implications of experience with multiple languages? The review is based on neuroimaging research findings about the nature of bilingual processing, namely, how the brain adapts to accommodate multiple languages in the bilingual brain and to control which language should be used, and when. We also address how this adaptation results in differences observed in the general cognition of bilingual individuals.