Understanding gaps in academic representation while considering the intersectionality concept is paramount to promoting real progress towards a more inclusive STEM. Here we discuss ways in which STEM ...careers can be sown and germinated so that inclusivity can flourish.
This case report describes the surgical treatment of a grade II mast cell tumour in the vulvar region of a 4-year-old female Miniature Pinscher dog. The patient weighed 2 kg, and the tumour measured ...2 cm in diameter. The surgery involved an episiotomy, a partial vaginectomy, and a subsequent urethroplasty. Due to the patient’s small size, the surgical margins were set at 2 cm laterally and 2 cm deep, which meant that the entire vulva, as well as the ventral part of the vaginal canal had to be removed. Afterwards, the urethral ostium was elliptically fixed to the skin at the end of the urethroplasty. The follow-up evaluations revealed an excellent recovery without metastasis or recurrence over the following two years.
Vitamin D (VD) has been shown to play an important role in cardiac function. However, this vitamin exerts a biphasic "dose response" curve in cardiovascular pathophysiology and may cause deleterious ...effects, even in non-toxic doses. VD exerts its cellular functions by binding to VD receptor. Additionally, it was identified that the thioredoxin-interacting protein (TXNIP) expression is positively regulated by VD. TXNIP modulate different cell signaling pathways that may be important for cardiac remodeling.
To evaluate whether VD supplementation lead to cardiac remodeling and if TXNIP and thioredoxin (Trx) proteins are associated with the process.
A total of 250 Male Wistar rats were allocated into three groups: control (C, n=21), with no VD supplementation; VD3 (n = 22) and VD10 (n=21), supplemented with 3,000 and 10,000 IU of VD/ kg of chow respectively, for two months. The groups were compared by one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Holm-Sidak post hoc analysis, (variables with normal distribution), or by Kruskal-Wallis test and Dunn's test post hoc analysis. The significance level for all tests was 5%.
TXNIP protein expression was higher and Trx activity was lower in VD10. The animals supplemented with VD showed increased lipid hydroperoxide and decreased superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase. The protein Bcl-2 was lower in VD10. There was a decrease in fatty acid β-oxidation, tricarboxylic acid cycle and electron transport chain with shift to increase in glycolytic pathway.
VD supplementation led to cardiac remodeling and this process may be modulated by TXNIP and Trx proteins and consequently oxidative stress.
We documented 4 cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 reinfection by non-variant of concern strains among healthcare workers in Campinas, Brazil. We isolated infectious particles ...from nasopharyngeal secretions during both infection episodes. Improved and continued protection measures are necessary to mitigate the risk for reinfection among healthcare workers.
This work presents a simple, fast and low‐cost method for the simultaneous determination of three drugs by flow‐injection analysis with multiple‐pulse amperometric (MPA) detection using a wall‐jet ...flow cell with a boron‐doped diamond electrode. The amperometric determination of caffeine (CF), ibuprofen (IB) and paracetamol (PC) was performed by the application of a four‐potential waveform using the MPA technique. PC is oxidized at E1 (1.20 V/70 ms) and thus selectively detected; PC and CF are oxidized at E2 (1.49 V/40 ms); PC, CF and IB are oxidized at E3 (1.70 V/70 ms); and E4 (1.80 V/100 ms) is applied for electrode cleaning. The subtraction of currents obtained at the different potentials did not provide accurate determinations of CF and IB, thus it was required to investigate correction factors to determine CF and IB without the interference from PC and CF using the respective amperometric signals obtained at E2 and E3. The proposed method was successfully applied for the determination of three drugs in pharmaceutical samples with low generation of residues and a high analytical frequency (150 h−1) in comparison with HPLC‐DAD method.
Purpose
Chemotherapy is indicated for patients with metastatic malignancy in order to improve quality of life and in some cases to increase survival. However, the greatest difficulty regarding the ...choice of treatment is to evaluate the clinical benefit and intrinsic toxicity of each procedure. The best strategy is the integration between oncology and palliative care, which is still mostly insufficient. The main objective of this study was to assess time to palliative care referral for cancer patients with advanced local or metastatic disease and to investigate the impact of covariates on this relationship.
Methods
A retrospective, cross-sectional, observational pilot study was conducted on 286 patients divided into two groups, one consisting of metastatic patients and the other of non-metastatic patients at diagnosis. Karnofsky Performance Scale (KPS), setting, and survival time were evaluated.
Results
One hundred eighteen patients (41.25%) were metastatic and 168 (58.74%) had locally advanced malignant disease. The median time of metastatic patient referral to the group of palliative care (GPC) was 5.3 months, with 39.8% referred earlier and 60.2% referred late (≥3 months). 60.2% of metastatic patients were referred to the GPC with a KPS <70% and 56% of non-metastatic patients were referred earlier and 44% after 3 months. There was improved survival only in metastatic patients referred to the GPC with a KPS ≥70% (
p
= 0.02).
Conclusions
Many oncology patients were referred late to the GPC. A higher KPS was a risk factor for late referral because only severe patients were referred earlier. Metastatic patients referred with a KPS ≥70% had a longer survival.
The present study investigated the use of choline chloride:glycerol deep eutectic solvent as an adjuvant for tuning the ethanol extraction of astaxanthin from Litopenaeus vannamei processing ...residues. The adjuvant concentration did not show a clear trend on the total carotenoid, however, the addition of adjuvant proved to be advantageous in the ultrasound-assisted experiments. In order to establish a balance between total carotenoid and productivity, an operational condition with ultrasound, 5% (m/v) choline chloride:glycerol and 10 min of incubation was selected, which provided 737.69 μg g-1 total carotenoids and 32.71 μg g-1 astaxanthin. When compared to the astaxanthin standard, the shrimp residue extract obtained greater antioxidant activity in free radical scavenging tests. In addition, the shrimp residue extract dramatically reduced the dosage of norfloxacin (up to 87.5%) and gentamicin (up to 75.0%) antibiotics in tests to inhibit the growth of gram-negative bacteria.
Oxidative stress plays a key role in the initiation and progression of metabolic diseases, including obesity. Preventing the accumulation of reactive oxygen species and oxidative damage to ...macromolecules is a beneficial strategy for reducing comorbidities associated with obesity. Fruits from the Spondias genus are known for their antioxidant activity, but they are not available year-round due to their seasonality. In this context, we investigated the antioxidant activity and identified the chemical constituents of the aqueous extract of the stem bark of Spondias purpurea L. (EBSp). Additionally, we evaluated the effect of EBSp consumption on metabolic parameters in mice with obesity induced by a high-fat diet. Chemical analyses revealed 19 annotated compounds from EBSp, including flavan-3-ols, proanthocyanidins, methoxylated coumarin, and gallic and ellagic acids, besides other phenolic compounds. In vitro, EBSp showed antioxidant activity through the scavenging of the free radicals and the protection of macromolecules against oxidative damage. Cellular assays revealed that EBSp reduced the levels of malondialdehyde produced by erythrocytes exposed to the oxidizing agent AAPH. Flow cytometry studies showed that EBSp reduced reactive oxygen species levels in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells treated with hydrogen peroxide. Obese mice treated with EBSp (400 mg.kg-1) for 60 days showed reduced levels of malondialdehyde in the heart, liver, kidneys, and nervous system. The total cholesterol levels in mice treated with EBSp reached levels similar to those after treatment with the drug simvastatin. Together, the results show that the combination of the different phenolic compounds in S. purpurea L. bark promotes antioxidant effects in vitro and in vivo, resulting in cytoprotection in the context of oxidative stress associated with obesity and a reduction in hypercholesterolemia. From a clinical perspective, the reduction in oxidative stress in obese individuals contributes to the reduction in the emergence of comorbidities associated with this metabolic syndrome.
Background
Rio de Janeiro (RJ) has been of major importance for the epidemiology of dengue viruses (DENVs) in Brazil. After the DENV 1–4 introductions in 1986, 1990, 2000 and 2011, respectively, the ...state has suffered explosive epidemics. We aimed to describe laboratorial, epidemiological and clinical aspects due to the emergence and re-emergence of distinct DENV in a 2-year period.
Methods
Suspected dengue cases (n=2833), including 190 fatal cases, were submitted to virus isolation, RT-PCR and non-structural 1 (NS1) antigen capture ELISA, IgM antibody-capture (MAC)-ELISA and IgG-ELISA.
Results
Case confirmation was 47.5%. MAC-ELISA confirmed 32.6% of the cases, RT-PCR confirmed 56.3%; DENV was recovered in 33.1% of samples inoculated and NS1 ELISA confirmed 27.5% of the cases. DENV-2 was prevalent in 2010, DENV-1 in 2011 and DENV-4 in 2012. Individuals infected by DENV-3 and over 65 years-old, and children 15 years-old and under infected by DENV-2 had a significantly higher risk of developing a severe disease. Fatal cases confirmed (n=67) were due to DENV-1 (26.8%), DENV-2 (14.9%), DENV-3 (2.9%) and DENV-4 (7.4%).
Conclusions
It has been shown here that viral emergences or re-emergences may play different roles in the disease epidemiology, especially when many serotypes co-circulate.
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