•PAH accumulation as a function of drying temperature, fuel, and industrial process.•Drying temperatures has little influence on PAH deposition in rice grains.•Drying with wood causes higher ...contamination of PAHs in rice.•Parboiling promotes the migration of PAHs to grains.•Electric heating and polishing reduces contamination by PAHs.
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are carcinogenic compounds produced naturally in the environment or during pyrolysis of organic fuels for thermal applications. The effect of four heating sources (wood, rice husk, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), and electric heating) on the PAHs content in rice grains during different treatments was evaluated. The treatment conditions included three drying temperatures (40, 60, and 80 °C), three different industrial processes (dehusking, polishing, and parboiling), and cooking. The drying air temperature had little influence on the PAHs content. Of the sixteen PAHs monitored, nine were detected in the different treatments. Highest total PAH concentration was found when drying with wood (131.6 μg kg−1), followed by rice husk (45.7 μg kg−1), LPG (15.9 μg kg−1), and electric heating (7.7 μg kg−1). Parboiling increased the PAHs content, mainly the phenanthrene content, with an increase of 120.6% (wood), 236.4% (rice rusk), 663.3% (LGP), and 471.4% (electric heating) when compared with brown rice. On the other hand, polishing reduced the PAHs content and upon subsequent cooking, no residual PAHs were detected. The solubility and adsorption capacity of the individual compounds affected directly the PAH contamination in parboiled rice.
Flavonoid compounds are widely used as natural protective species, which can act as anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anticoagulant, antihypertensive and antitumor agents. This study set out to ...investigate the probable pharmacological activities, along with the antibacterial and antioxidant effects, of flavone and its hydroxy derivatives: 3-hydroxyflavone, 5-hydroxyflavone and 6-hydroxyflavone. To do so, we investigated their pharmacological characteristics, using in silico tests that indicate likelihood of activity or inactivity, with the PASS online software, and the antimicrobial potential against Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria was also analyzed, including bacteria of clinical importance. We also tested for oxidant and antioxidant potential in these molecules in the presence of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and phenylhydrazine (Ph). The results revealed the following characteristics: pharmacological activities for the flavonoids as agonists of cell membrane integrity and as permeability inhibitors, as antagonists of anaphylatoxin receptors, as inhibitors of both kinase and peroxidase, and as having both antimutagenic capacity and vaso-protective potential. All of the flavonoids exhibited moderate antibacterial activity against Gram positive and Gram negative strains, with the flavones being bactericidal at 200 μg/mL for the strains of
ATCC 8027,
ATCC 25619 and
104; the other flavonoids revealed bacteriostatic action. The substances did not promote erythrocyte oxidation and behaved as sequestrators and antioxidants of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) and phenylhydrazine (Ph). It was concluded that the analyzed compounds have various pharmacological activities in accordance with the predictions of PASS online, as their antibacterial and antioxidant activities were confirmed. The study also helps to consolidate the use of computational chemistry in silico tools to guide new drug search and discovery protocols.
COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which induces a high release of pro-inflammatory chemokines and cytokines, leading to severe systemic disorders. Further, evidence ...has shown that recovered COVID-19 patients still have some symptoms and disorders from COVID-19. Physical exercise can have many health benefits. It is known to be a potent regulator of the immune system, which includes frequency, intensity, duration, and supervised by a professional. Given the confinement and social isolation or hospitalization of COVID-19 patients, the population became sedentary or opted for physical exercise at home, assuming the guarantee of the beneficial effects of physical exercise and reducing exposure to SARS-CoV-2. This study aimed to investigate the effects of a supervised exercise protocol and a home-based unsupervised exercise protocol on chemokine and cytokine serum levels in recovered COVID-19 patients. This study was a prospective, parallel, two-arm clinical trial. Twenty-four patients who had moderate to severe COVID-19 concluded the intervention protocols of this study. Participants were submitted to either supervised exercise protocol at the Clinical Hospital of the Federal University of Pernambuco or home-based unsupervised exercise for 12 weeks. We analyzed serum levels of chemokines (CXCL8/IL-8, CCL5/RANTES, CXCL9/MIG, CCL2/MCP-1, and CXCL10/IP-10) and cytokines (IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, IL-17A, TNF-α, and IFN-γ). Before the interventions, no significant differences were observed in the serum levels of chemokines and cytokines between the supervised and home-based unsupervised exercise groups. The CXCL8/IL-8 (
= 0.04), CCL2/MCP-1 (
= 0.03), and IFN-γ (
= 0.004) levels decreased after 12 weeks of supervised exercise. In parallel, an increase in IL-2 (
= 0.02), IL-6 (
= 0.03), IL-4 (
= 0.006), and IL-10 (
= 0.04) was observed after the supervised protocol compared to pre-intervention levels. No significant differences in all the chemokines and cytokines were found after 12 weeks of the home-based unsupervised exercise protocol. Given the results, the present study observed that supervised exercise was able to modulate the immune response in individuals with post-COVID-19, suggesting that supervised exercise can mitigate the inflammatory process associated with COVID-19 and its disorders.
https://ensaiosclinicos.gov.br/rg/RBR-7z3kxjk, identifier U1111-1272-4730.
The search for charging electric vehicles using renewable energy sources and ensuring the stability of the electrical system has been growing. This has led to the development of charging stations ...that integrate photovoltaic systems, energy storage systems in batteries, and charging stations. The storage system allows for applications that increase the reliability of the electrical network. The objective of this work is to study, based on real operational scenarios, the impacts, and criteria of energy quality of a charging solution containing a photovoltaic system, a storage system, and a charging station. In the solution, the batteries are lead-carbon type and photovoltaics have priority in energy supply, using excess generation to charge the batteries. In this aspect, the work presents relevant contributions to the study of energy quality. An improvement in energy quality is pointed out with the use of batteries, proving that even in the most diverse operating situations, such as partial shading of the photovoltaic modules, with 20% shading relative to the nominal power, charging is not impacted and reductions in distortions are achieved, with a 50% reduction in voltage imbalance, when the storage system is a voltage reference and reference to the microgrid.
Although maternal nutrition has an impact on fetal development and gestational outcome, tracking maternal nutrition in outpatient practice is still complex and involves proper technical capacitation ...in this area. Nevertheless, the association between nutritional variables may broaden the ability to predict the occurrence of gestational disorders and prevention management. We aimed to identify factors that could indicate the probability of adverse outcomes in mid-pregnancy. From a cohort of 1165 nulliparous pregnant women without any previous disease, the nutritional status was assessed by body mass index (BMI) and mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC), associated with dietary patterns and sociodemographic characteristics. Two predictive models with nutritional status for screening the occurrence of adverse outcomes of preterm birth, gestational diabetes mellitus, small-for-gestational-age newborns and preeclampsia were developed. The odds of adverse outcomes were higher in non-white (
< 0.05) obese women and with high protein consumption. There was no significant difference between the models, with an overall accuracy of 63% for both models and a probability of success in predicting adverse outcomes (BMI = 61%, MUAC = 52%). This study of Brazilian pregnant nulliparous women offers two possible options for early tracking of adverse gestational outcomes that should be further externally validated.
The consequences of cocaine use are multisystemic, such as, for instance, renal failure, hepatotoxicity and pulmonary toxicity, with renal alterations being the focus of the present study. The use of ...substances that modify the base composition of cocaine (or adulterants) aiming to potentiate its effects also has an impact on these manifestations. The present study aims to report three cases with different diagnosis of acute kidney injury related to cocaine use.
Case 01 - A 30-year-old female patient, who regularly used cocaine, started to have lower-limb edema, which showed a progressive and ascending evolution, affecting the face a few days later, associated with an isolated febrile episode and oligoanuria. The presence of cytoplasmic antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (C-ANCA) was verified: reactive 1:80, with renal biopsy compatible with rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis (RPGN). Case 02 - A 34-year-old female patient, with difficult-to-control hypertension and a frequent user of cocaine, showed generalized sudden edema together with diffuse and progressive pruritus associated with oliguria, fever, nausea, and vomiting. Schistocyte screening was positive, with negative direct Coombs test, and negative serologies for hepatitis B, C and HIV, as well as negative anti-double-stranded DNA, Anti-SSA and Anti-SSB. The renal biopsy was compatible with thrombotic microangiopathy, associated with moderate interstitial fibrosis and acute tubular necrosis Case 03 - A 25-year-old male patient who had been a cocaine user for 5 years had a sudden onset of generalized disabling myalgia (especially in the lower limbs) associated with recent frontotemporal headache, palpitation, dizziness, and a non-measured febrile episode; the patient had used cocaine at the night before symptom onset. CPK was 1731 U/L.The final probable diagnosis was AKI secondary to cocaine-induced rhabdomyolysis.
In conclusion basically, 05 etiologies of acute kidney injury should always be remembered: rhabdomyolysis, thrombotic microangiopathy, vasculitis, acute interstitial nephritis and renal infarction. Emphasis should be given to rhabdomyolysis due to its higher prevalence. Considering the increasing rates of cocaine use, especially with the use of adulterating substances, these pathologies will likely be increasingly prevalent.
Peritonitis remains as the most frequent cause of peritoneal dialysis (PD) failure, impairing patient's outcome. No large multicenter study has addressed socioeconomic, educational, and geographic ...issues as peritonitis risk factors in countries with a large geographic area and diverse socioeconomic conditions, such as Brazil.
Incident PD patients recruited from 114 dialysis centers and reporting to BRAZPD, a multicenter observational study, from December 2004 through October 2007 were included. Clinical, dialysis-related, demographic, and socioeconomic variables were analyzed. Patients were followed up until their first peritonitis. Cox proportional model was used to determine independent factors associated with peritonitis.
In a cumulative follow-up of 2032 patients during 22.026 patient-months, 474 (23.3%) presented a first peritonitis episode. In contrast to earlier findings, PD modality, previous hemodialysis, diabetes, gender, age, and family income were not risk predictors. Factors independently associated with increased hazard risk were lower educational level, non-white race, region where patients live, shorter distance from dialysis center, and lower number of patients per center.
Educational level and geographic factors as well as race and center size are associated with risk for the first peritonitis, independent of socioeconomic status, PD modality, and comorbidities.
Hereditary myotonia (HM) is characterized by delayed muscle relaxation after contraction as a result of a mutation in the CLCN1 gene. We describe here a complex CLCN1 variant in a mixed-breed dog ...with clinical and electromyographic signs of HM. Blood samples from the myotonic dog, as well as from his male littermate and parents, were analyzed via amplification of the 23 exons encoding CLCN1. After sequencing the CLCN1 gene, a complex variant was found in exon 6 c.705T>G; 708del; 712_732del, resulting in a premature stop codon in exon 7 and a protein that was 717 amino acids shorter than the normal CLC protein. The myotonic dog was identified as homozygous recessive for the complex CLCN1 variant; its parents were heterozygous, and its male littermate was homozygous wild-type. Knowledge of the CLCN1 mutations responsible for the development of hereditary myotonia allows greater clarification of this condition.
Rosmarinic acid (RA) is a secondary metabolite present in several plant species that has already demonstrated antioxidant, antiallergic, anticancer, antimicrobial, neuroprotective, and ...hepatoprotective effects experimentally. Due to the promising pharmacological properties found previously, this study aimed to assess the oral acute toxicity and the gastroprotective effect of RA using animal models. Acute toxicity was assessed according to OECD guide 423. Ethanol, stress, NSAIDs, and pylorus ligature-induced gastric ulcer models were used to investigate antiulcer properties. The related mechanisms of action were also evaluated from ethanol-induced gastric lesions protocol. RA (300 and 2000 mg/kg) showed no changes in behavioral, water and food intake, body and organs weight parameters with LD
50
set around 2500 mg/kg. RA presented gastroprotective activity in all assessed doses (25, 50, 100, and 200 mg/kg) using different animal models. Besides, it was observed that this effect is not related to the modulation of gastric juice parameters (pH, volume, and H
+
), the participation of nitric oxide, mucus, and prostaglandins. However, increased sulfhydryl groups, GSH and IL-10 levels as well as reduced of proinflammatory cytokine (TNF-α and IL-1β) levels were found for RA-treated groups. RA presents low acute toxicity and gastroprotective activity, preventing ulcer formation via cytoprotective, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory mechanisms.
Graphical abstract
Purpose
Banded Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) was a common bariatric procedure in the 2000s, and the ring slippage is one of its late adverse events. Both plastic and metallic stents have been ...reported as adjunct methods to induce erosion and facilitate endoscopic removal of the ring.
Objective
To compare the safety and effectiveness of self-expanding metallic stents (SEMS) and plastic stents (SEPS) to treat ring slippage.
Materials and Methods
We conducted a retrospective longitudinal study analyzing consecutive patients with ring dysfunction treated with stents plus endoscopic removal.
Results
Ninety patients were enrolled (36 SEMS vs. 54 SEPS). The mean age was 48.56 ± 13.07 and 45.6 ± 12.1 in the SEMS and SEPS groups, respectively. All patients had band slippage, but 24 from SEMS group and 23 from SEPS group had further complications. There were more complications in metallic stent concerning mean absolute number of therapy-related adverse events (1.33 ± 0.48 vs. 1.72 ± 0.5,
p
> 0.05) and time until erosion (14.9 ± 1.6 vs. 13.8 ± 1.4 days,
p
> 0.05). Female sex and age > 41 years old correlated with longer time to band erosion and higher incidence of adverse events in SEMS patients. In SEPS group, only female sex was a risk factor for adverse events.
Conclusion
Both procedures were efficient at inducing band erosion with similar safety profiles. Older and female patients are at a higher risk of treatment-related adverse events, especially those receiving SEMS.
Graphical abstract
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