People with dementia and their family caregivers may face a great burden through social isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which can be manifested as various behavioral and clinical symptoms.
To ...investigate the impacts of social isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic on individuals with dementia and their family caregivers.
Two semi-structured questionnaires were applied via telephone to family caregivers of people diagnosed with dementia in three cities in Argentina, Brazil, and Chile, in order to assess clinical and behavioral changes in people with dementia and in their caregivers.
In general, 321 interviews were conducted. A significant decline in memory function has been reported among 53.0%of people with dementia. In addition, 31.2%of individuals with dementia felt sadder and 37.4%had increased anxiety symptoms. These symptoms of anxiety were greater in individuals with mild to moderate dementia, while symptoms of agitation were greater in individuals with severe dementia. Moreover, compulsive-obsessive behavior, hallucinations, increased forgetfulness, altered appetite, and increased difficulty in activities of daily living were reported more frequently among individuals with moderate to severe dementia. Caregivers reported feeling more tired and overwhelmed during this period and these symptoms were also influenced by the severity of dementia.
Social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic triggered a series of negative behavioral repercussions, both for people with dementia and for their family caregivers in these three South American countries.
Previous studies reported the negative impact of social isolation on mental health in people with dementia (PwD) and their caregivers, butlongitudinal studies seem scarcer.
To describe a one-year ...follow-up impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on PwD and their caregivers in both Brazil and Chile.
This study analyzed the impact of the pandemic on the psychological and physical health of PwD and their family caregivers after one year of follow-up in three outpatient clinics in Brazil (n = 68) and Chile (n = 61).
In both countries, PwD reduced their functional capacity after one year of follow-up (p = 0.017 and p = 0.009; respectively) and caregivers reported worse physical and mental health (p = 0.028 and p = 0.039). Only in Chile, caregivers reported more sadness associated with care (p = 0.001), and reduced time sleeping (p = 0.07).
In conclusion, the COVID-19 pandemic appears to have had a long-lasting impact on PwD and their caregivers. However, it is essential to acknowledge that the inherent progression of dementia itself may also influence changes observed over a year.
To investigate the influence of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and soluble tumor necrosis factor receptors (sTNFR) in fatigued Parkinson's disease (PD) patients. Forty-four PD patients were evaluated, and ...fatigue was assessed with the Parkinson Fatigue Scale. Logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the contribution of disease severity scores and cytokine levels on fatigue scores. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to evaluate the diagnostic values of IL-6 in fatigue. Fatigued PD patients had worse cognitive function and depressive symptoms. These patients had worse PD signs and symptoms, displayed more advanced stages of PD, and had greater functional dependence. There was a significant difference in IL-6 serum levels (p=0.026), but there was no difference in sTNFR levels. Total scores on the Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale (β=1.108; p=0.004) and IL-6 levels (β=12.843; p=0.020) were found to be significant predictors of fatigue scores. A ROC curve revealed that IL-6 concentrations of 1.18pg/ml represented the best cut-off value for detecting fatigue (sensitivity of 0.941 and specificity of 0.704). Fatigued PD patients have poor clinical outcomes and elevated IL-6 serum levels when compared with non-fatigued patients. These results suggest that IL-6 may play a role in the pathophysiology of fatigue in PD.
•Fatigue is a common problem in Parkinson's disease.•Fatigue is associated with poor clinical outcomes in Parkinson's disease.•IL-6 serum levels are elevated in fatigued Parkinson's disease patients.
Objetivo: Mapear os estudos sobre as plataformas Peer-to-Peer (P2P), apresentando considerações importantes em uma agenda para pesquisas futuras.
Originalidade/Valor: Existe grande interesse em ...entender melhor as plataformas baseadas na interação entre pessoas, pois muitas são apontadas como ecológicas, democráticas e com preços menores (Wirtz et al., 2019). Contudo, há uma lacuna quanto a uma sistematização das publicações que tratam do modelo de negócios das plataformas P2P, no contexto amplo da economia compartilhada, uma vez que os estudos se encontram fragmentados.
Métodos: Foi adotada a Systematic Literature Network Analysis (SLNA) que combina a Revisão Sistemática da Literatura com Análise de Rede de Citações (Colicchia & Strozzi, 2012). Para a revisão sistemática foi enfatizado os critérios de pesquisa, e na análise de redes foi utilizado o software VOSviewer®.
Resultados: Mediante as redes construídas e suas conexões, foi proposta uma agenda com quatro direções futuras: i) efeitos do compartilhamento pelas plataformas P2P; ii) estrutura de mercado das plataformas P2P; iii) o setor de acomodação P2P; e, iv) temas emergentes.
Conclusões: A pesquisa foi além da descrição e se aprofundou direcionando temáticas de pesquisa. Foi possível contribuir com o estímulo da investigação e discussão no campo teórico e prático, uma vez que, para Chen et al. (2020) as plataformas digitais continuam a florescer no mundo dos negócios.
Homocysteine is considered to be neurotoxic and a risk factor for neurodegenerative diseases. Despite the increasing evidences of excitotoxic mechanisms of homocysteine (Hcy), little is known about ...the action of Hcy on the cytoskeleton. In this context, the aim of the present work was to investigate the signaling pathways involved in the mechanism of action of Hcy on cytoskeletal phosphorylation in cerebral cortex and hippocampus of rats during development. Results showed that 100 μM Hcy increased the intermediate filament (IF) phosphorylation only in 17‐day‐old rat hippocampal slices without affecting the cerebral cortex from 9‐ to 29‐day‐old animals. Stimulation of 45Ca2+ uptake supported the involvement of NMDA receptors and voltage‐dependent channels in extracellular Ca2+ flux, as well as Ca2+ release from intracellular stores through inositol‐3‐phosphate and ryanodine receptors. Moreover, the mechanisms underlying the Hcy effect on hippocampus cytoskeleton involved the participation of phospholipase C, protein kinase C, mitogen‐activated protein kinase, phosphoinositol‐3 kinase and calcium/calmodulin‐dependent protein kinase II. The Hcy‐induced IF hyperphosphorylation was also related to Gi protein and inhibition of cAMP levels. These findings demonstrate that Hcy at a concentration described to induce neurototoxicity activates the IF‐associated phosphorylating system during development in hippocampal slices of rats through different cell signaling mechanisms. These results probably suggest that hippocampal rather than cortical cytoskeleton is succeptible to neurotoxical concentrations of Hcy during development and this could be involved in the neural damage characteristic of mild homocystinuric patients.
Objetivo: A partir de experiência realizada de modo articulado entre biblioteca universitária e sala de aula, com o emprego da enciclopédia digital Wikipédia, o estudo aborda a biblioteca ...universitária como dispositivo educativo, ocupado com a apropriação de saberes informacionais pelos estudantes. Metodologia: Pesquisa qualitativa, exploratória e participante. Resultados: A experiência revelou indícios do potencial de uso da Wikipédia em práticas de produção textual que contribuam à construção, junto aos estudantes, de percepções acerca da apropriação e da produção de informações na cultura científico-acadêmica. Além disso, expôs a relevância da biblioteca universitária como dispositivo educativo ao se ocupar com ações voltadas às dinâmicas de produção de sentidos no contexto científico-acadêmico. Conclusões: O estudo destacou a importância dos diálogos entre biblioteca universitária e sala de aula por meio do desenvolvimento de ações que tenham como uma meta comum, a ambas as esferas, a formação do estudante como sujeito que se relaciona afirmativamente com informação e conhecimento. Considerou-se que, ao desenvolvimento da dimensão educativa da biblioteca universitária, são demandadas metodologias e práticas concretas em torno da apropriação de saberes informacionais, aspecto que levou a pontuar o potencial de uso da Wikipédia em ações relacionadas aos processos de pesquisa, leitura, escrita e, também, para o estudante experimentar a escrita como ato autônomo e criativo.
Objetiva-se discutir o ativismo digital materno no que concerne aos benefícios quanto às novas formas de ação e de lutas por meio da cibercultura. O foco é apresentar a mobilização de mulheres-mães ...como movimento social em rede, que se apropria das potencialidades da internet para propor olhar inovador sobre a maternidade na vida contemporânea. Como decorrência, o artigo relaciona ativismo digital x competência informacional como agente propulsor de engajamento dos atores sociais, o que resulta em revisão de literatura, que incorpora os itens: identidade da mulher-mãe e sua ressignificação frente ao ativismo digital; e competência em informação, com ênfase para o papel da mulher-mãe no âmbito da Ciência da Informação. Em termos metodológicos, configura-se como pesquisa bibliográfica, que favorece informar ao pesquisador o status quo da temática central: maternidade e ativismo digital. O estudo também é descritivo, exploratório e qualitativo. Descritivo, pois se limita a descrever, registrar, analisar e interpretar fatos ou fenômenos da realidade, sem qualquer interveniência. No caso da pesquisa exploratória, seu intuito é favorecer visão genérica de determinadas questões de pesquisa, em geral, temas pouco explorados. Por fim, a pesquisa qualitativa privilegia particularidades e experiências individuais e grupais, haja vista que seu alvo é apreender o comportamento de determinado grupo social. No caso, as inferências confirmam a presença crescente das mulheres-mães nas redes sociais recorrendo às tecnologias como ferramenta para colocar a maternidade em pauta.
Species substitution in meat products is a common problem reported worldwide. This type of food fraud is, typically, an intentional act for economic gain, using sources of low‐priced meats in ...high‐value meat products. Consequences include economic, health, and religious concerns. Highly sensitive and efficient techniques are thus required to detect meat species. This paper describes a method based on real‐time PCR to detect 10 animal species (Bos taurus, Sus scrofa, Ovis aries, Capra hircus, Gallus gallus, Meleagris gallopavo, Bubalus bubalis, Equus caballus, Felis catus, and Canis familiaris) in meat product. The method combines species‐specific and universal (used here as internal positive control) primers, and applies melt curve analysis for amplicon checking. Method accuracy was evaluated on 46 experimental meat mixtures and all species were correctly identified in all cases, at 1% test sensitivity. Analysis of 14 commercial meat products revealed that 6 of 14 samples had nondeclared bovine and/or chicken material. We performed an interlaboratory comparison using the reference meat mixtures and commercial samples, achieving 100% of reproducibility. The developed test proved to be effective and reliable for routine analysis of meat products.
Practical Application
This paper describes a fast and reliable method for species detection in meat products based on real‐time PCR. It can be applied for analysis of in natura or processed meat. The method proposed here can play an important role in controlling the origin of meat products, ensuring their quality and safety for the entire food industry—producers to consumers.
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