Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive, neurodegenerative disease with motor symptoms that are well understood, but non-motor symptoms may be present and appear at different temporal stages of the ...disease. Physical activity based on dance movements is emerging as a complementary therapeutic approach to a range of PD symptoms as a multidimensional activity that requires rhythmic synchronization and more neuromuscular functions.
To evaluate the effects of physical activity based on dance movements on the movement, executive functions, depressive symptoms, quality of life, and severity of PD in individuals diagnosed with PD.
13 individuals with PD (Hoehn & Yahr I-III, MDS-UPDRS 67.62 ± 20.83), underwent physical activity based on dance movements (2x week for 6 months). Participants were assessed at baseline and after 6 months on movement (POMA, TUG and MDS-UPDRS Part III), executive function (FAB), depressive symptoms (MADRS), quality of life (PDQ-39), and severity of PD (MDS-UPDRS TOTAL). Student's t-test was used to compare pre and post-intervention results.
We observed a significant improvement in the movement (balance and gait) by the POMA test, p = 0.0207, executive function by the FAB test, p = 0.0074, abstract reasoning and inhibitory control by the FAB, Conceptualization test, p = 0.0062, and Inhibitory Control, p = 0.0064, depressive symptoms assessed by the MADRS test significantly reduced, p = 0.0214, and the quality of life by the PDQ-39 had a significant increase after the intervention, p = 0.0006, showed significant improvements between the pre-and post-intervention periods of physical activity based on dance movements.
Physical activity based on dance movements contributed to significant improvements in movement (balance and gait), executive functions, especially in cognitive flexibility and inhibitory control, and the quality of life too. Sensorimotor integration, most cognitive processing and social skills may have contributed to the results.
The study was registered in the Brazilian registry of clinical trials: RBR-3bhbrb5.
Inter-basin water transfer (IBWT) involves the transport of water from one geographically distinct basin to another to balance the distribution of water resources. Although the socio-economic ...benefits of implementing these projects are well recognized, little is known about the subsequent effects on the water quality of the receiving systems. We evaluated the effects of an IBWT on the water quality of three receiving reservoirs of an intermittent river in a semi-arid region. We compared the similarity among the reservoirs before and after the IBWT to assess how the reservoirs responded to the introduction of water. Although the last two reservoirs that have received water have become similar in terms of physical and chemical characteristics and algal biomass (chlorophyll-a), the first reservoir has not. The IBWT resulted in an improvement in the water quality of the first reservoir but a decrease in the water quality of the two successive reservoirs, along with a significant increase in algal biomass. Long river sections located upstream that were dry at the time of IBWT probably contributed nutrients to the water as it moved downstream and into the reservoirs. Significant differences in the water quality were observed for different sampling months after the IBWT, but not for different sampling depths. Before the IBWT, the predictor variables for algal biomass were basically transparency and non-algal turbidity, with which it established a positive relationship. After IBWT, however, algal biomass also showed a positive relationship with pH and temperature. We conclude that IBWT affects the water quality of receiving reservoirs and that the responses are reservoir specific. IBWT also increases the complexity of the correlations of physical and chemical variables with algal biomass.
Identifying areas at high risk of invasion is considered an important step for prioritization of phytosanitary measures to prevent biological invasions. Because climate change is likely to affect ...species' habitat suitability, ideally this should be considered in invasion risk assessments.
We evaluated whether climate change affects habitat suitability and invasion risk of eight potentially invasive Eucalyptus pests in Brazil: Eucalyptolyma maideni, Mnesampela privata, Ophelimus maskelli, Orgyia postica, Paropsis atomaria, Paropsisterna beata, Paropsisterna cloelia and Trachymela sloanei.
The shifts in the distribution range varied depending on the species, year and climate change scenario. While a decrease in the distribution range was predicted for four species, an increase was predicted for two species. Moreover, a decrease and/or increase in distribution depending on the climate change scenario was predicted for two species.
Increases in invasion risk were predicted in major Eucalyptus‐producing areas near international airports and high cargo volume seaports.
Our study provides an important contribution to knowledge on the effects of climate change on the distribution of eight potentially invasive Eucalyptus pests and reinforces the need to consider the changes in species' habitat suitability in invasion risk assessments.
Transparent fluorotellurite glasses were prepared by melt-quenching in the ternary system TeO2-Nb2O5-PbF2. The synthesis conditions were adjusted to minimize fluorine loss monitored as HF release. It ...was found that 10 mol% of Nb2O5 is the optimum content for PbF2 incorporation up to 35 mol% in the tellurite matrix without loss of glass forming ability. Such glass compositions exhibit a wide optical window from 380 nm to about 6 μm. Crystallization properties were carefully investigated by thermal analysis and compositions with higher PbF2 contents exhibit preferential precipitation of lead oxyfluoride Pb2OF2 at lower temperatures. The lead oxyfluoride crystallization mechanism is also governed by a volume nucleation, barely reported in tellurite glasses. Eu3+ doping of these glass compositions also promotes a more efficient nucleation step under suitable heat-treatments, resulting in transparent Eu3+-doped glass-ceramics whereas undoped glass-ceramics are translucent. Finally, Eu3+ spectroscopy pointed out a progressive, more symmetric surrounding around the rare earth ions with increasing PbF2 contents as well as higher quantum efficiencies. These new fluorotellurite glass compositions are promising as luminescent hosts working in the middle infrared.
Determination of the critical state of tailings is essential to the stability analysis of tailings dams, especially to assess the susceptibility to flow liquefaction failures. In contrast to the peak ...resistance, which can be determined in triaxial tests at relatively small strains, the critical state is often reached at higher strains. Therefore, determining the critical state in triaxial extension tests is more difficult than in compression tests because the concentration of stresses and strains in extension tests is more severe and usually inevitable, resulting in necking that may greatly affect the computed deviatoric stress and void ratio (if the test is drained). This paper presents a simple and cost-effective method of necking correction using photography. The method was used in the determination of the critical state in drained triaxial extension tests. A sample of silty sand tailings obtained from the reservoir of the Fundao dam two years prior to its collapse was used. The critical state friction angle was approximately the same in compression and extension, showing that the proposed method is promising as many authors consider that the critical state friction angle is the same in these two conditions.
Photobiomodulation therapy (PBMT) has proven to reduce inflammation and pain and increase wound healing. Thus, the aim of this study was to analyze the effects of PBMT parameters on migration, ...proliferation, and gene expression after ionizing radiation and bacterial-induced stress in an in vitro study.
Keratinocytes (HaCaT) and Fibroblasts (HGFs) were grown in DMEM with 10 % fetal bovine serum until stressful condition induction with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) of Escherichia coli (1 µg/mL), Porphyromonas gingivalis protein extract (5 µg/mL) and ionizing radiation (8 Gy). Low-laser irradiation (660 nm, 30 mW) was carried out in four sessions, with 6 h intervals, and energy density of 2, 3, 4, and 5 J/cm². Scratch assays, immunofluorescence, and RT-qPCR were performed.
Treated fibroblasts and keratinocytes showed significant response in proliferation and migration after scratch assays (p < 0.05). Higher expressions of α-SMA in fibroblasts and F-actin in keratinocytes were observed in cells subjected to 3 J/cm². PI3K-pathway genes expression tended to enhance in fibroblasts, presenting a higher relative expression when compared to keratinocytes. In keratinocytes, PBMT groups demonstrated deregulated expression for all inflammatory cytokines' genes tested while fibroblasts presented a tendency to enhance those genes expression in a dose dependent way.
The present study showed that delivering 660 nm, 30 mW was effective to stimulate cell migration, proliferation and to accelerate wound healing. PBMT can modulate cytokines and pathways involved in wound repair. The different energy densities delivering distinct responses in vitro highlights that understanding laser parameters is fundamental to improve treatment strategies.
The eutrophication of aquatic ecosystems combined with the rise in global temperature has favored the frequency and intensity of harmful cyanobacterial blooms. Although the importance of temperature ...and nutrients on biomass, biovolume, and toxin production by the cyanobacterium
Raphidiopsis raciborskii
(Woloszynska) Aguliera et al. has been studied, the synergistic effects of these factors have not received due attention. We investigated the individual and combined effects of high nitrogen, phosphorus, and temperature on the biomass, cell volume, and saxitoxin (STXs) content of
R. raciborskii
. The cyanobacterium was exposed to high nitrogen (N +) and phosphorus (P +) concentrations at two temperatures, 24 and 30 °C, for 8 days.
Raphidiopsis raciborskii
biomass was highest under conditions P + and N + at 30 °C. The highest growth rates were observed at 24 °C in cultures exposed to the N + conditions. The changes in cell volume induced by nutrients, temperatures, and incubation time were interactively significant. Cultures incubated at 30 °C had significantly reduced cell volume regardless of the nitrogen condition. Condition P + stimulated higher STXs production by the cyanobacterium at 24 °C compared to the other experimental conditions tested. Linear regression models indicated that P + had a strong relationship with biomass and saxitoxins production at the investigated temperatures—24 and 30 °C. Our results suggest a synergy of nutrient and temperature variation promotes the proliferation of
R. raciborskii
, supporting the existing hypothesis on the geographic expansion of this species. However, it is not yet clear whether elevated temperatures could reduce the toxicity of STX-producing strains.
Among the many lysosomal storage disorders (LSDs) that would benefit from the establishment of novel cell models, either patient-derived or genetically engineered, is mucopolysaccharidosis type II ...(MPS II). Here, we present our results on the establishment and characterization of two MPS II patient-derived stem cell line(s) from deciduous baby teeth. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time a stem cell population has been isolated from LSD patient samples obtained from the dental pulp. Taking into account our results on the molecular and biochemical characterization of those cells and the fact that they exhibit visible and measurable disease phenotypes, we consider these cells may qualify as a valuable disease model, which may be useful for both pathophysiological assessments and in vitro screenings. Ultimately, we believe that patient-derived dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs), particularly those isolated from human exfoliated deciduous teeth (SHEDs), may represent a feasible alternative to induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) in many labs with standard cell culture conditions and limited (human and economic) resources.
The increase in bacterial resistance to available antibiotics has driven several researchers to search for new agents with therapeutic properties. Diosgenin is a naturally occurring steroidal saponin ...that has demonstrated several pharmacological properties. In the present study, we report the antimicrobial activity of diosgenin against the standard and multidrug-resistant bacteria of Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus, in addition to the efflux pump inhibitory activity against Staphylococcus aureus strains carrying NorA and MepA pumps. For this purpose, the broth microdilution method was used, from which the value of the Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) was obtained, and this was associated with subinhibitory concentration (MIC/8) with antibiotic of clinical use and ethidium bromide for strains carrier by efflux pump. Diosgenin showed antimicrobial activity for standard S. aureus bacteria and potentiating activity in association with gentamicin and ampicillin for P. aeruginosa multidrug-resistant bacteria, it also showed potentiation in association with norfloxacin against the E. coli strain and gentamicin against the S. aureus strain. Antimicrobial activity against efflux pump-bearing strains revealed that saponin did not interfere with the efflux pump mechanism or intervened antagonistically. Thus, saponin has shown to be very promising against bacterial resistance in association with aminoglycoside, fluoroquinolones and beta-lactam, however additional studies should be carried out to better elucidate the mechanism of action of diosgenin.
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