Introduction: this research aims to carry out a systematic review of physical activity programs that improve self-efficacy in children and adolescents with obesity, to realize their characteristics ...and thus design a more comprehensive and effective program for this population. Objective: to analyze the characteristics of physical activity programs that improve self-efficacy in children and adolescents with obesity, through a systematic review. Methodology: systematic review of observational-descriptive design; the search was realized in databases of the health area: PubMed, ERIC, Cochrane, Redalyc, and Google academic. Free access articles in English and Spanish from the last 10 years were selected. The temporality was from March 2012 to May 2022. The descriptors used were; "physical activity program", "training program", "self-efficacy", "children", "adolescents", and "obesity". Results: six studies were included (n = 10). Different types of interventions that improved self-efficacy in the participant were identified, such as recreational activities, traditional games, sports, and structured activities for health care. The methodology implemented and the timing and duration were key variables to show positive changes in childhood overweight and obesity (6 a 19 years). Conclusions: it is crucial to identify the principal health care characteristics included in programs focused on increasing self-efficacy in childhood. These features lay the foundation for designing comprehensive programs.
Real-Time PCR-High Resolution Melting (qPCR-HRM) analysis has been recently described for rapid drug susceptibility testing (DST) of Mycobacterium leprae. The purpose of the current study was to ...further evaluate the validity, reliability, and accuracy of this assay for M. leprae DST in clinical specimens.
The specificity and sensitivity for determining the presence and susceptibility of M. leprae to dapsone based on the folP1 drug resistance determining region (DRDR), rifampin (rpoB DRDR) and ofloxacin (gyrA DRDR) was evaluated using 211 clinical specimens from leprosy patients, including 156 multibacillary (MB) and 55 paucibacillary (PB) cases. When comparing the results of qPCR-HRM DST and PCR/direct DNA sequencing, 100% concordance was obtained. The effects of in-house phenol/chloroform extraction versus column-based DNA purification protocols, and that of storage and fixation protocols of specimens for qPCR-HRM DST, were also evaluated. qPCR-HRM results for all DRDR gene assays (folP1, rpoB, and gyrA) were obtained from both MB (154/156; 98.7%) and PB (35/55; 63.3%) patients. All PCR negative specimens were from patients with low numbers of bacilli enumerated by an M. leprae-specific qPCR. We observed that frozen and formalin-fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) tissues or archival Fite's stained slides were suitable for HRM analysis. Among 20 mycobacterial and other skin bacterial species tested, only M. lepromatosis, highly related to M. leprae, generated amplicons in the qPCR-HRM DST assay for folP1 and rpoB DRDR targets. Both DNA purification protocols tested were efficient in recovering DNA suitable for HRM analysis. However, 3% of clinical specimens purified using the phenol/chloroform DNA purification protocol gave false drug resistant data. DNA obtained from freshly frozen (n = 172), formalin-fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) tissues (n = 36) or archival Fite's stained slides (n = 3) were suitable for qPCR-HRM DST analysis. The HRM-based assay was also able to identify mixed infections of susceptible and resistant M. leprae. However, to avoid false positives we recommend that clinical specimens be tested for the presence of the M. leprae using the qPCR-RLEP assay prior to being tested in the qPCR-HRM DST and that all specimens demonstrating drug resistant profiles in this assay be subjected to DNA sequencing.
Taken together these results further demonstrate the utility of qPCR-HRM DST as an inexpensive screening tool for large-scale drug resistance surveillance in leprosy.
The aim of this study was to systematically review randomized clinical trials comparing the treatment of individuals with overactive bladder syndrome through the use of behavioral therapy versus drug ...therapy. A systematic electronic search of MEDLINE via PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library was performed, including studies indexed until August 2019. Five randomized clinical trials were included. The studies presented a high risk of bias. There was no significant difference between the evaluated treatments. Thus, behavioral therapy and drug therapy also promote the improvement of the symptoms of overactive bladder syndrome, and the behavioral therapy does not have significant adverse effects reported. Due to the high risk of bias in included studies, data should be interpreted with caution. Future studies with more comprehensive protocols may change the effect estimates of behavioral therapy on overactive bladder syndrome.
Targeted mutagenesis and complementation are important tools for studying genes of unknown function in the Lyme disease spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi. A standard method of complementation is ...reintroduction of a wild-type copy of the targeted gene on a shuttle vector. However, shuttle vectors are present at higher copy numbers than B. burgdorferi plasmids and are potentially unstable in the absence of selection, thereby complicating analyses in the mouse-tick infectious cycle. B. burgdorferi has over 20 plasmids, with some, such as linear plasmid 25 (lp25), carrying genes required by the spirochete in vivo but relatively unstable during in vitro cultivation. We propose that complementation on an endogenous plasmid such as lp25 would overcome the copy number and in vivo stability issues of shuttle vectors. In addition, insertion of a selectable marker on lp25 could ensure its stable maintenance by spirochetes in culture. Here, we describe the construction of a multipurpose allelic-exchange vector containing a multiple-cloning site and either of two selectable markers. This suicide vector directs insertion of the complementing gene into the bbe02 locus, a site on lp25 that was previously shown to be nonessential during both in vitro and in vivo growth. We demonstrate the functional utility of this strategy by restoring infectivity to an ospC mutant through complementation at this site on lp25 and stable maintenance of the ospC gene throughout mouse infection. We conclude that this represents a convenient and widely applicable method for stable gene complementation in B. burgdorferi.
Low-fat diets, lipid-modifying nutraceuticals and a higher level of physical activity are often recommended to reduce dyslipidemia. A double-blind, randomized, crossover, controlled trial was ...designed to evaluate the independent and synergistic effects of
(
)
supplementation (4.5 g·day
) with or without performing a physical exercise program (
: aerobic exercise (3 days·week
) + high-intensity interval training (2 days·week
)) on blood lipids and BMI of 52 sedentary men with excess body weight. During six weeks, all participants were assigned to four intervention treatments (
with PEP (SE), placebo with PEP (Ex),
without PEP (Sm), placebo without PEP (C; control)) and plasma lipids were evaluated spectrophotometrically pre- vs. post intervention in stratified subgroups (overweight, obese and dyslipidemic subjects). Pre/post comparisons showed significant reductions in all plasma lipids in the SE group, particularly in those with dyslipidemia (
≤ 0.043). Comparing the final vs. the initial values, BMI, total cholesterol, triglycerides and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol were decreased. High-density lipoprotein cholesterol increased in all treatment groups compared to C. Changes were observed mostly in SE interventions, particularly in dyslipidemic subjects (
< 0.05).
supplementation enhances the hypolipidemic effect of a systematic PEP in men with excess body weight and dyslipidemia.
Environmentally responsive synthesis of surface proteins represents a hallmark of the infectious cycle of the Lyme disease agent, Borrelia burgdorferi. Here we created and analyzed a B. burgdorferi ...mutant lacking outer-surface protein C (OspC), an abundant Osp that spirochetes normally synthesize in the tick vector during the blood meal and down-regulate after transmission to the mammal. We demonstrate that B. burgdorferi strictly requires OspC to infect mice but not to localize or migrate appropriately in the tick. The induction of a spirochetal virulence factor preceding the time and host in which it is required demonstrates a developmental sequence for transmission of this arthropod-borne pathogen.
Analysis of the transcriptome of Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease, during infection has proven difficult due to the low spirochete loads in the mammalian tissues. To overcome ...this challenge, we have developed an In Vivo Expression Technology (IVET) system for identification of B. burgdorferi genes expressed during an active murine infection. Spirochetes lacking linear plasmid (lp) 25 are non-infectious yet highly transformable. Mouse infection can be restored to these spirochetes by expression of the essential lp25-encoded pncA gene alone. Therefore, this IVET-based approach selects for in vivo-expressed promoters that drive expression of pncA resulting in the recovery of infectious spirochetes lacking lp25 following a three week infection in mice. Screening of approximately 15,000 clones in mice identified 289 unique in vivo-expressed DNA fragments from across all 22 replicons of the B. burgdorferi B31 genome. The in vivo-expressed candidate genes putatively encode proteins in various functional categories including antigenicity, metabolism, motility, nutrient transport and unknown functions. Candidate gene bbk46 on essential virulence plasmid lp36 was found to be highly induced in vivo and to be RpoS-independent. Immunocompetent mice inoculated with spirochetes lacking bbk46 seroconverted but no spirochetes were recovered from mouse tissues three weeks post inoculation. However, the bbk46 gene was not required for B. burgdorferi infection of immunodeficient mice. Therefore, through an initial IVET screen in B. burgdorferi we have identified a novel in vivo-induced virulence factor critical for the ability of the spirochete to evade the humoral immune response and persistently infect mice.
The urban environment induces stress on trees and its impact can be identified by observing the condition of the crown. The aim of this study is to correlate the variables of crown density (Cdn), ...crown transparency (Ctr) and dieback (Cdie) with the following vegetation indices: the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), enhanced vegetation index (EVI), blue-normalized difference vegetation index (BNDVI), green-normalized difference vegetation index (GNDVI), green–red vegetation index (GRVI) and red–green–blue vegetation index (RGBVI) of the crowns of trees located in urban green areas, as well as chlorophyll fluorescence (Fv/Fm) as an indirect indicator of the overall tree health condition. A total of 549 trees were evaluated, represented in 24 families, 36 genera and 53 species; the variables had average values of 67.96% for Cdn, 35.19% for Ctr and 1% for Cdie. Correlations were found between Fv/Fm, NDVI and BNDVI. NDVI and BNDVI correlated with variables such as Cdn and Ctr, mainly in species such as Ligustrum lucidum, Jacaranda mimosifolia and Fraxinus uhdei. Therefore, it is possible to evaluate the tree health condition of trees in urban green environments through the identification of unfavorable conditions at the crown level by using vegetation indices for some of the species studied.
Para interlocutores Ticuna casar e constituir conjugalidade são formas particulares de expressar as relações entre pessoas e suas capacidades agentivas, fazendo aparecer domínios generizados de ...socialidades através dos quais observamos operar regimes complexos de saberes, estruturas de troca e de etiquetas políticas. Ao examinar o processo matrimonial de Constância, este texto lança luzes sobre modos ticuna de administrar relações de parentesco, especificamente aquelas mobilizadas pelas capacidades predatórias femininas relacionadas à domesticação de uma categoria de afinidade potencial interétnica em um genro verdadeiro. A partir dessa situação etnográfica apresenta-se uma formulação inicial sobre práticas femininas de consanguinização de pontos de vista outros, acompanhando, para isso, os sentidos contidos nas ações de amansar marido, alterando antigos inimigos em bons esposos.Palavras-chaves: mulheres ticuna; predação familiarizante; gênero; aliança