Development and adaptations of the Graded Prognostic Assessment (GPA) scale: a systematic review.

The Graded Prognostic Assessment (GPA) score has the best accuracy among prognostic scales for patients with brain metastases (BM). A wide range of GPA-derived scales have been established to different types of primary tumor BM. However, there is a high variability between them, and their characteristics have not been described altogether yet.

Birefringence analysis of collagen supraorganization in cat corneas with tropical keratopathy.

Objective: To evaluate the birefringent properties of the cornea and examine the supraorganizational aspects of collagen fibers in cats with tropical keratopathy.

Procedure: In this study, 10-micrometer-thick sections of corneal tissue from cats with tropical keratopathy were examined, both in the opaque and transparent areas of the anterior stroma. Control samples were obtained from healthy cat corneas.

A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis on the Occurrence of Toxoplasmosis in Animals Slaughtered in Brazilian Abattoirs.

Toxoplasmosis is mainly transmitted to human beings through the consumption of contaminated food, and several outbreaks caused by infected meat consumption have been reported in Brazil. We performed a systematic literature review on the prevalence and risk factors for toxoplasmosis in slaughtered animals and performed a meta-analysis of its prevalence for different species and regions. Furthermore, we also discussed the infectivity of seropositive animals, risk factors, and preventive strategies.

Ellagic acid prevents myocardial infarction-induced left ventricular diastolic dysfunction in ovariectomized rats.

Estrogen deficiency is associated with increased oxidative stress, which can contribute to left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (LVDD). We hypothesized that oral treatment with ellagic acid (EA), a potent and natural antioxidant compound, can improve MI-induced LVDD in ovariectomized rats, by reducing the formation of reactive oxygen species. Ovariectomized rats MI-induced LVDD followed by treatment with vehicle (DD) or EA (DD + EA) for 4 weeks.

Perception of animal welfare and its certification system by Brazilian consumers and dairy farmers.

The practices adopted in dairy farms can positively or negatively affect the perception of consumers. To meet consumer expectations and improve the productivity of dairy farms, a welfare certification system has recently been initiated in Brazil. In this research communication we describe the perceptions of Brazilian consumers and farmers regarding the implementation of welfare certification systems and the most common practices that affect animal welfare on dairy farms.

Covid-19: Signs and symptoms related to the feeding behavior.

COVID-19 reached pandemic level in March 2020 and the number of confirmed cases continued to increase worldwide. The clinical course of the disease has not yet been fully characterized, and some specific symptoms related to smell, taste, and feeding behavior require further examination. The present study aimed to assess the presence of symptoms related to the feeding behavior occurred during and/or after COVID-19 in adults residing in Portugal and to link them to disease severity using a multivariate approach.

Oxandrolone treatment in juvenile rats induced anxiety-like behavior in young adult animals.

Aims: Oxandrolone (OXA) is a synthetic steroid used for the treatment of clinical conditions associated with catabolic states in humans, including children. However, its behavioral effects are not well known. Our goal was to evaluate the anxiety-like behavior induced in young adult rats after the treatment of juvenile animals with OXA.

Low and high doses of oxandrolone promote pathological cardiac remodeling in young male rats.

Unlabelled: Oxandrolone (OXA) used in clinical practice, however, its misuse is frequent, including by adolescents pursuing an aesthetic goal. However, the impacts of noxious doses on the cardiovascular system remain unknown.

Aim: To investigate cardiac effects of OXA in low (LD) and high (HD) doses.

Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of 1-(Diarylmethyl)-1-1,2,4-triazoles and 1-(Diarylmethyl)-1-imidazoles as a Novel Class of Anti-Mitotic Agent for Activity in Breast Cancer.

We report the synthesis and biochemical evaluation of compounds that are designed as hybrids of the microtubule targeting benzophenone phenstatin and the aromatase inhibitor letrozole. A preliminary screening in estrogen receptor (ER)-positive MCF-7 breast cancer cells identified 5-((2-1,2,3-triazol-1-yl)(3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl)methyl)-2-methoxyphenol as a potent antiproliferative compound with an IC value of 52 nM in MCF-7 breast cancer cells (ER+/PR+) and 74 nM in triple-negative MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells. The compounds demonstrated significant G/M phase cell cycle arrest and induction of apoptosis in the MCF-7 cell line, inhibited tubulin polymerisation, and were selective for cancer cells when evaluated in non-tumorigenic MCF-10A breast cells.

The impact of SARS-CoV-2 in dementia across Latin America: A call for an urgent regional plan and coordinated response.

The SARS-CoV-2 global pandemic will disproportionately impact countries with weak economies and vulnerable populations including people with dementia. Latin American and Caribbean countries (LACs) are burdened with unstable economic development, fragile health systems, massive economic disparities, and a high prevalence of dementia. Here, we underscore the selective impact of SARS-CoV-2 on dementia among LACs, the specific strain on health systems devoted to dementia, and the subsequent effect of increasing inequalities among those with dementia in the region.

The success of the fertilization and early larval development of the tropical sea urchin Echinometra lucunter (Echinodermata: Echinoidea) is affected by the pH decrease and temperature increase.

The decrease in the pH of oceans and the increase in their temperature are the two main problems observed in the marine ecosystems due to the increasing emission of CO in the atmosphere. Both conditions can affect the ecological processes of reproduction, recruitment and survival of the marine biota. Thus, the objective of the present study was to evaluate the effects of pH decrease and temperature increase of seawater on the fertilization success and embryo-larval development of a species of tropical sea urchin.

Effect of silver nanoparticles (AgNP's) from Duddingtonia flagrans on cyathostomins larvae (subfamily: cyathostominae).

The in vitro effect of silver nanoparticles of the Duddingtonia flagrans filtrate enriched with chitin was evaluated on infective larvae of cyathostomins (L). After biosynthesis, an assay was carried out with two experimental groups in microtubes, for a period of 24 h: G1 (AgNP's-D. flagrans (43.

Effects of Drugs, Phytoestrogens, Nutrients and Probiotics on Endothelial Dysfunction in the Estrogen-Deficient State.

Background: Endothelial dysfunction is commonly present in estrogen-deficient states, e.g., after menopause.

Automated and Reproducible Detection of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) in Renal Tissue Sections.

Background: Manual analysis of tissue sections, such as for pathological diagnosis, requires an analyst with substantial knowledge and experience. Reproducible image analysis of biological samples is steadily gaining scientific importance. The aim of the present study was to employ image analysis followed by machine learning to identify vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in kidney tissue that had been subjected to hypoxia.

Long-term treatment with kefir probiotics ameliorates cardiac function in spontaneously hypertensive rats.

This work evaluated the effects of long-term kefir treatment in cardiac function (cardiac contractility and calcium-handling proteins) and the central nervous system (CNS) control of the sympathetic signaling in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). Male normotensive rats [Wistar Kyoto rats (WKYs)] and SHRs were divided into three groups: WKYs and SHRs treated with vehicle, and SHRs treated with milk fermented by the grains of kefir (5%; SHR-Kefir; oral gavage, 0.3 ml/100 g daily/9 weeks).

An affordable apparatus for fine-controlled emulation of buzzing frequencies of bees for the testing hypothesis in buzz interactions.

The buzzing foraging behavior of female bees for pollen harvesting called the attention of early pollination biologists. Flower types that demand this buzzing behavior comprise about 20,000 species of different and phylogenetically unrelated plant taxa, suggesting that it had independently evolved many times among the flowering plants. Between the late 1970s and early 1980s, theoretical papers had modeled the energetics of buzz pollination, but, up to this moment, no hypothesis was experimentally tested concerning the theoretical basis of the energetics of buzz pollination.

Coadministration of Nematophagous Fungi for Biological Control over Nematodes in Bovine in the South-Eastern Brazil.

This study compared the coadministration among the three nematode predatory fungi, , , and , in the biological control of cattle gastrointestinal nematodiasis in comparison with the use of the fungus alone. Five groups consisting of eight Girolando heifers were kept in paddocks of for six months. Each heifer received 1 g/10 kg of pellets containing the fungi (0.

The benefits of soluble non-bacterial fraction of kefir on blood pressure and cardiac hypertrophy in hypertensive rats are mediated by an increase in baroreflex sensitivity and decrease in angiotensin-converting enzyme activity.

Objectives: We aimed to evaluate whether long-term treatment with the soluble non-bacterial fraction of kefir affects mean arterial pressure (MAP) and cardiac hypertrophy through the modulation of baroreflex sensitivity, ACE activity, and the inflammatory-to-anti-inflammatory cytokine ratio in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs).

Methods: SHRs were treated with the soluble non-bacterial kefir fraction (SHR-kefir) or with kefir vehicle (SHR-soluble fraction of milk). Normotensive control Wistar Kyoto animals received the soluble fraction of milk.

Tropidurus torquatus (Squamata: Tropiduridae) as a bioindicator of heavy metal (aluminum and zinc) pollution in Vila Velha, Brazil.

Urbanization is responsible for numerous environmental changes including pollution. Information on the susceptibility of reptiles to environmental contaminants is relatively scarce. Tropidurus torquatus represents a potential bioindicator of heavy metal pollution.

Extracellular biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles using the cell-free filtrate of nematophagous fungus .

The biosynthesis of metallic nanoparticles (NPs) using biological systems such as fungi has evolved to become an important area of nanobiotechnology. Herein, we report for the first time the extracellular synthesis of highly stable silver NPs (AgNPs) using the nematophagous fungus (AC001). The fungal cell-free filtrate was analyzed by the Bradford method and 3,5-dinitrosalicylic acid assay and used to synthesize the AgNPs in the presence of a 1 mM AgNO solution.

Cell Viability by CellProfiler Software as Equivalent to MTT Assay.

Objective: This study evaluated cell viability by the colorimetric MTT stands for 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazolyl-2)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) (3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazolyl-2)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay compared to image analysis by CellProfiler software.

Materials And Methods: Hepatoma (Hepa-1c1c7) and fibroblast (L929) cells were exposed to isolated substances, camptothecin, lycorine, tazettine, albomaculine, 3-epimacronine, trispheridine, galanthine and , sp. methanolic extract, and Ravenna ethyl acetate in different concentrations.

Objective detection of apoptosis in rat renal tissue sections using light microscopy and free image analysis software with subsequent machine learning: Detection of apoptosis in renal tissue.

Objective: The current study proposes an automated machine learning approach for the quantification of cells in cell death pathways according to DNA fragmentation.

Methods: A total of 17 images of kidney histological slide samples from male Wistar rats were used. The slides were photographed using an Axio Zeiss Vert.

Gastroprotective activity of the resin from Virola oleifera.

Context: The resin from the trunk wood of Virola oleifera (Schott) A. C. Smith (Myristicaceae) is used in folk medicine to hasten wound repair and to treat pain and inflammatory conditions, and our previous report indicated the anti-oxidative properties in other oxidative stress model.

Effects of β-caryophyllene and Murraya paniculata essential oil in the murine hepatoma cells and in the bacteria and fungi 24-h time-kill curve studies.

Context: Orange Jessamine [Murraya paniculata L. (Rutaceae)] has been used worldwide in folk medicine as an anti-inflammatory, antibiotic and analgesic.

Objective: The objective of this study is to investigate the in vitro antioxidant, cytotoxic, antibacterial and antifungal activity and the time-kill curve studies of orange jessamine essential oil and β-caryophyllene, as well as the chemical composition of the essential oil.

Effects of Kefir on the Cardiac Autonomic Tones and Baroreflex Sensitivity in Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats.

Aims: It has been previously shown that the probiotic kefir (a symbiotic matrix containing acid bacteria and yeasts) attenuated the hypertension and the endothelial dysfunction in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). In the present study, the effect of chronic administration of kefir on the cardiac autonomic control of heart rate (HR) and baroreflex sensitivity (BRS) in SHR was evaluated.

Methods: SHR were treated with kefir (0.