The test sites analyzed here consist of clay deposits located in the Jacarepaguá Lowlands in Rio de Janeiro, characterized by high plasticity, high compressibility and low undrained shear strength. ...The deposits are made up of lightly overconsolidated aged clays, montmorillonite being the predominant clay mineral. Soft clay deposits are usually superficial, with thicknesses generally varying between 6 m and 17 m and geologically recent and originated from marine regressions and transgressions, that occurred between 6000 and 3500 years ago. The objective of this study is to analyze a large database of undrained shear strength measurements obtained by 461 vane tests performed at 15 different sites. In general, most of the data correspond to very soft clays, with undrained shear strength values lower than 25 kPa. The undrained shear strength measurements are correlated with plasticity index and with maximum excess pore pressure, measured with piezocone tests. The method for estimating the undrained shear strength su(DT) of soil from the excess pore pressure generated during piezocone dissipation tests proposed by Mantaras et al. (2015) was validated against the vane test database.
Renal dysfunction frequently occurs during the periods preceding and following orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT), and in many cases, renal replacement therapy (RRT) is required. Information ...regarding the duration of RRT and the rate of kidney function recovery after OLT is crucial for transplant program management. We evaluated a sample of 155 stable patients undergoing post-intensive care hemodialysis (HD) from a patient population of 908 adults who underwent OLT. We investigated the average time to renal function recovery (duration of RRT required) and determined the risk factors for remaining on dialysis > 90 days after OLT. Log-rank tests were used for univariate analysis, and Cox proportional hazards models were used to identify factors associated with the risk of remaining on HD. The results of our analysis showed that of the 155 patients, 28% had pre-OLT diabetes mellitus, 21% had pre-OLT hypertension, and 40% had viral hepatitis. Among the patients, the median MELD (Model for End-Stage Liver Disease) score was 27 (interquartile range IQR 22-35). When they were listed for liver transplantation, 32% of the patients had serum creatinine (Scr) levels > 1.5 mg/dL or were on HD, and 50% had serum creatinine (Scr) levels > 1.5 mg/dL or were on HD at the time of OLT. Of the transplanted patients, 25% underwent pre-OLT intermittent HD, and 14% and 41% underwent continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) pre-OLT and post-OLT, respectively. At 90 days post-OLT, 118 (76%) patients had been taken off dialysis, and 16 (10%) patients had died while undergoing HD. The median recovery time of these post-OLT patients was 33 (IQR 27-39) days. In the multivariate analysis, fulminant hepatic failure as the cause of liver disease (p<0.001), the absence of pre-OLT hypertension (p = 0.016), a lower intraoperative fresh-frozen plasma (FFP) transfusion volume (p = 0.019) and not undergoing pre-OLT intermittent HD (p = 0.032) were associated with performing RRT for less than 90 days. Therefore, a high proportion of OLT patients showed improved renal function after OLT, and those who were diagnosed with fulminant hepatic failure, had no pre-OLT hypertension, received a lower transfused volume of intraoperative FFP and did not undergo pre-OLT intermittent HD had a higher probability of recovery.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Inflammation is a complex biological response that in spite of having available treatments, their side effects limit their usefulness. Because of this, natural products have been the subject of ...incessant studies, among which the class of terpenes stands out. They have been the source of study for the development of anti‐inflammatory drugs, once their chemical diversity is well suited to provide skeleton for future anti‐inflammatory drugs. This systematic review reports the studies present in the literature that evaluate the anti‐inflammatory activity of terpenes suffering any change in their structures, assessing whether these changes also brought changes in their effects. The search terms anti‐inflammatory agents, terpenes, and structure–activity relationship were used to retrieve English language articles in SCOPUS, PUBMED and EMBASE published between January 2002 and August 2013. Twenty‐seven papers were found concerning the structural modification of terpenes with the evaluation of anti‐inflammatory activity. The data reviewed here suggest that modified terpenes are an interesting tool for the development of new anti‐inflammatory drugs.
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BFBNIB, DOBA, FZAB, GIS, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Chromoblastomycosis (CBM) is a neglected human implantation mycosis caused by several dematiaceous fungal species. Currently available therapy is usually associated with physical methods, especially ...surgery, and with high refractoriness. Therefore, drug discovery for CBM is essential. Drug repositioning is a strategy used to facilitate the discovery of new treatments for several diseases. The aim of this study was to discover substances with antifungal activity against CBM agents from a collection of drugs previously approved for use in human diseases. A screening was performed with the NIH Clinical Collection against
. Ten substances, with clinical applicability in CBM, inhibited fungal growth by at least 60%. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of these substances was determined against other CBM agents, and the benzimidazoles albendazole, mebendazole and thiabendazole presented the lowest MIC values. The selectivity index, based on MIC and cytotoxicity of these substances, revealed albendazole to be more selective. To investigate a possible synergism of this benzimidazole with itraconazole and terbinafine, the chequerboard method was used. All interactions were classified as indifferent. Our current results suggest that benzimidazoles have repositioning potential against CBM agents. Albendazole seems to be the most promising, since it presented the highest selectivity against all dematiaceous fungi tested.
Recent studies performed in humans and rats have reported that exercise can alter the intestinal microbiota. Athletic horses perform intense exercise regularly, but studies characterizing horse ...microbiome during aerobic conditioning programs are still limited. Evidence has indicated that this microbial community is involved in the metabolic homeostasis of the host. Research on ergogenic substances using new sequencing technologies have been limited to the intestinal microbiota and there is a considerable demand for scientific studies that verify the effectiveness of these supplements in horses. L-carnitine and chromium are potentially ergogenic substances for athletic humans and horses since they are possibly able to modify the metabolism of carbohydrates and lipids. This study aimed to assess the impact of acute exercise and aerobic conditioning, associated either with L-carnitine or chromium supplementation, on the intestinal microbiota of fillies. Twelve "Mangalarga Marchador" fillies in the incipient fitness stage were distributed into four groups: control (no exercise), exercise, L-carnitine (10g/day) and chelated chromium (10mg/day). In order to investigate the impact of acute exercise or aerobic conditioning on fecal microbiota all fillies undergoing the conditioning program were analyzed as a separate treatment. The fillies underwent two incremental exercise tests before and after training on a treadmill for 42 days at 70-80% of the lactate threshold intensity. Fecal samples were obtained before and 48 h after acute exercise (incremental exercise test). Bacterial populations were characterized by sequencing the V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene using the MiSeq Illumina platform, and 5,224,389 sequences were obtained from 48 samples. The results showed that, overall, the two most abundant phyla were Firmicutes (50.22%) followed by Verrucomicrobia (15.13%). The taxa with the highest relative abundances were unclassified Clostridiales (17.06%) and "5 genus incertae sedis" from the phylum Verrucomicrobia (12.98%). There was a decrease in the phylum Chlamydiae and in the genus Mycobacterium after the second incremental exercise test. Intense exercise changed the community's structure and aerobic conditioning was associated with changes in the composition and structure of the intestinal bacterial population of fillies. The intra-group comparison showed that chromium or L-carnitine induced moderate changes in the fecal microbiota of fillies, but the microbiota did not differ from the control group, which was exercised with no supplementation. Fecal pH correlated positively with Simpson's index, while plasma pH correlated negatively. Our results show that exercise and aerobic conditioning can change in the microbiota and provide a basis for further studies enrolling a larger number of horses at different fitness levels to better understand the effects of exercise and training on the intestinal microbiota of horses.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Brazil has experienced an unprecedented epidemic of Zika virus (ZIKV), with ~30,000 cases reported to date. ZIKV was first detected in Brazil in May 2015, and cases of microcephaly potentially ...associated with ZIKV infection were identified in November 2015. We performed next-generation sequencing to generate seven Brazilian ZIKV genomes sampled from four self-limited cases, one blood donor, one fatal adult case, and one newborn with microcephaly and congenital malformations. Results of phylogenetic and molecular clock analyses show a single introduction of ZIKV into the Americas, which we estimated to have occurred between May and December 2013, more than 12 months before the detection of ZIKV in Brazil. The estimated date of origin coincides with an increase in air passengers to Brazil from ZIKV-endemic areas, as well as with reported outbreaks in the Pacific Islands. ZIKV genomes from Brazil are phylogenetically interspersed with those from other South American and Caribbean countries. Mapping mutations onto existing structural models revealed the context of viral amino acid changes present in the outbreak lineage; however, no shared amino acid changes were found among the three currently available virus genomes from microcephaly cases. Municipality-level incidence data indicate that reports of suspected microcephaly in Brazil best correlate with ZIKV incidence around week 17 of pregnancy, although this correlation does not demonstrate causation. Our genetic description and analysis of ZIKV isolates in Brazil provide a baseline for future studies of the evolution and molecular epidemiology of this emerging virus in the Americas.
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BFBNIB, NMLJ, NUK, ODKLJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
Previously, we have demonstrated the analgesic-like property of p-cymene in rodents. Short half-life is a limitation for p-cymene application and several approaches have been used to improve ...pharmaceutical properties of monoterpenes, including the employment of drug-delivery systems. Here, we used p-cymene/β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) complex and p-cymene (PC) isolated to evaluated whether the complex formulation is able to improve the antinociceptive activity of this monoterpene. Male mice (26–30g) were pretreated with PC/β-CD (20 or 40mg/kg, p.o.), PC (20 or 40mg/kg, p.o.) or vehicle (distilled water), 0.5h before painful tests and antinociceptive effect was evaluated at times: 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 8, and 16h after treatment. We evaluated the analgesic-like effect of PC/β-CD and PC in acetic acid-induced abdominal writhes, hot-plate, carrageenan-induced paw edema and in rota-rod apparatus. Our results demonstrated that acute treatment with complex PC/β-CD produced an antinocicepitve effect (p<0.01 or p<0.001) for 8h followed whereas isolated PC produced the same effect for 2h. Similar results were obtained in hot-plate test, PC/β-CD, in all doses, significantly reduces (p<0.01 or p<0.001) nociceptive behavior for 8h while isolated PC for 1h, did so only in higher dose. Such results were unlikely to be caused by motor abnormality. Systemic pretreatment with PC/β-CD and PC inhibited the development paw edema by carrageenan 1%, but PC/β-CD did so during a longer period when compared with isolated monoterpene alone. Our results provide evidence to propose that the complex with β-CD improved analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects of p-cymene.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
The objective of the study was to evaluate the prevalence and factors associated with Burnout Syndrome (BS) in Primary Health Care (PHC) nursing professionals from the state of Bahia, Brazil. A ...multicentre, cross-sectional population-based study was conducted in a cluster sample among 1125 PHC Nursing professionals during the years 2017 and 2018. We used a questionnaire that included sociodemographic, labor and lifestyle variables and the Maslach Burnout Inventory scale to identify BS. The associations were evaluated using a robust Poisson regression with the hierarchical selection of the independent variables. The prevalence of BS was 18.3% and the associated factors were ethnicity (prevalence ratio (PR) = 0.62, confidence interval (CI) 95% = 0.47-0.83), residence (PR = 2.35, CI 95% = 1.79-3.09), economic situation (PR = 1.40, CI 95% = 1.06-1.86), satisfaction with current occupation (PR = 1.75, CI 95% = 1.31-2.33), (PR = 1.60, CI 95% = 1.23-2.08), rest (PR = 1.83, 95% CI = 1.41-2.37), technical resources and equipment (PR = 1.37, CI 95% = 1.06-1.77), night shift (PR = 1.49, CI 95% = 1.14-1.96), physical activity practice (PR = 1.72; CI 95% = 1.28-2.31), smoking (PR = 1.82, CI 95% = 1.35-2.45), and satisfaction with physical form (PR = 1.34, CI 95% = 1.01-179). Strategies are needed to prevent BS, with an emphasis on implementing worker health programs in the context of PHC.
Cactus (Opuntia and Nopalea) nutritive value: A review Dubeux, José Carlos Batista; Santos, Mércia Virginia Ferreira dos; Cunha, Márcio Vieira da ...
Animal feed science and technology,
20/May , Volume:
275
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
•Cactus have potential to improve livestock productivity in dry environments.•Environment, management practices, and species affect cactus nutritive value.•Cactus is a source of water and energy for ...ruminants in semiarid regions.•Cactus maintains its nutritive value for a longer period compared to other forages.•Cactus may be stored without losing its nutritive value.
Cactus is an important fodder option for semiarid regions of the world. The energy and water supplied by this forage has long been used by livestock, and cactus cultivation has increased food security and reduced hunger and poverty in semiarid areas. The environmental and management practices affect the nutritive value of cacti and animal performance. The major species of cacti used for livestock includes Opuntia ficus-indica Mill., O. lindheimeri Engelm, O. ellisiana, O. engelmannii Salm Dyck, O. chrysacantha Berg, O. amyclae, O. rastrera Weber, O. stricta Haw, and Nopalea cochenillifera Salm Dyck. Under similar environmental conditions, N. cochenillifera usually presents greater dry matter (DM), water-soluble carbohydrates, and in vitro digestible organic matter concentrations, and lesser crude protein (CP) when compared with O. ficus-indica. The planting density also affects cactus growth and its chemical composition: a greater plant N concentration was observed in a population of 5000 plants/ha (11.2 g/ kg) compared to a population of 40,000 plants/ha (9.0 g/kg). Young cladodes are present in greater proportions in less dense plant populations, presenting greater nutrient concentration and lesser DM than older cladodes. Fertilizer application also affects the chemical composition. Nitrogen fertilization increased cladode N concentration (ranging from 6.7 g/kg to 13.9 g/kg) in Opuntia ficus-indica, with a positive linear response (0 up to 300 kg N/ha/year) occurring in three out of four locations in NE Brazil. The harvest management may affect the nutritive value, as a reduced harvest intensity will increase the proportion of younger cladodes. However, as cactus maintains its nutritive value for a longer period compared to other forages, the harvest frequency has little influence on overall nutritive value. Cladodes may be stored in a dry and shaded location without losing its nutritive value for at least two weeks, which may facilitate the logistics of transportation, reducing the total costs. Therefore, this review provides an overview of how agronomic and environmental factors affect the chemical composition and nutritive value of cacti with the potential to improve livestock productivity in arid environments.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
We report the structural evolution of BiPO
4
prepared in aqueous under different synthesis conditions viz., templates and temperatures to explore their electrochemical performance for supercapacitor ...applications. The templates (hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB)), sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) were added in bismuth precursor solution at 60 °C, alternatively ethylene glycol (EG), a less toxic additive was incorporated at 90 °C. BiPO
4
exhibits a monoclinic phase, whereas a hexagonal structure was observed with the addition of the templates SDS and CTAB. Interestingly, both monoclinic and hexagonal phases were obtained by the addition of EG. The presence of mixed phase was thoroughly validated through Raman spectra, where vibrational modes for both monoclinic and hexagonal phases of BiPO
4
-EG were witnessed. The effect of template was clearly seen through electron microscopy with a rod-like morphology with (no template) and unfaceted (template). The electrochemical behavior of the synthesized materials was investigated, and it was found that the mixed structure of BiPO
4
-EG exhibited the highest specific capacity (167.15 C g
−1
) at a scan rate of 5 mV s
−1
, good capacitance retention at high current densities of up to 10 A g
−1
and the lowest electrochemical series resistance (ESR) of 57 Ω.
Graphical abstract
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
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