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In Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiologic agent of Chagas disease, Rad51 (TcRad51) is a central enzyme for homologous recombination. Here we describe the different roles of TcRad51 in DNA repair. Epimastigotes of T. cruzi overexpressing TcRAD51 presented abundant TcRad51-labeled foci before gamma irradiation treatment, and a faster growth recovery when compared to single-knockout epimastigotes for RAD51. Overexpression of RAD51 also promoted increased resistance against hydrogen peroxide treatment, while the single-knockout epimastigotes for RAD51 exhibited increased sensitivity to this oxidant agent, which indicates a role for this gene in the repair of DNA oxidative lesions. In contrast, TcRad51 was not involved in the repair of crosslink lesions promoted by UV light and cisplatin treatment. Also, RAD51 single-knockout epimastigotes showed a similar growth rate to that exhibited by wild-type ones after treatment with hydroxyurea, but an increased sensitivity to methyl methane sulfonate. Besides its role in epimastigotes, TcRad51 is also important during mammalian infection, as shown by increased detection of T. cruzi cells overexpressing RAD51, and decreased detection of single-knockout cells for RAD51, in both fibroblasts and macrophages infected with amastigotes. Besides that, RAD51-overexpressing parasites infecting mice also presented increased infectivity and higher resistance against benznidazole. We thus show that TcRad51 is involved in the repair of DNA double strands breaks and oxidative lesions in two different T. cruzi developmental stages, possibly playing an important role in the infectivity of this parasite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of Acta Scientiarum: Biological Sciences is the property of Universidade Estadual de Maringa and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Esta revisão de literatura sobre aprendizagem organizacional aponta cinco principais desafios enfrentados por pesquisadores desse campo. Os desafios identificados foram de caráter teórico, conceitual e metodológico e merecem atenção especial no momento de planejamento de projetos de pesquisa nessa área. A primeira constatação do levantamento bibliográfico é que inexiste uma teoria da aprendizagem organizacional e, portanto, os pesquisadores enfrentam o desafio de erigir teoria relativa a esse fenômeno complexo e multifacetado. Já o segundo desafio refere-se à análise multinível de um processo que ocorre em nível individual e transcende o grupo, a organização e outras organizações, exigindo um modelo de análise adequado. O tema vem sendo estudado por diversas disciplinas sob perspectivas distintas, representando a terceira constatação da pesquisa e o desafio de construir pontes interdisciplinares para o desenvolvimento de uma teoria abrangente e útil em diversos campos da ciência. Esse desafio se torna ainda mais complexo diante da constatação da multiplicidade de conceitos e construtos de pesquisa relacionados diretamente com o mesmo processo de geração e operação de conhecimento para adaptação e performance organizacional. Por fim, o quinto desafio refere-se às metodologias de pesquisa sobre aprendizagem organizacional, com possibilidades pouco exploradas e uma hegemonia dos instrumentos de percepção individual.

The search toward the establishment of novel serological tests for the diagnosis of leishmaniasis and proper differential diagnosis may represent one alternative to the invasive parasitological methods currently used to identify infected individuals. In the present work, we investigated the potential use of recombinant peroxidoxin (rPeroxidoxin) of Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis as a potential antigen for the immunodiagnosis of human tegumentary (TL) and visceral leishmaniasis (VL) and canine visceral leishmaniasis (CVL). Linear B-cell epitope mapping was performed to identify polymorphic epitopes when comparing orthologous sequences present in Trypanosoma cruzi, the agent for Chagas disease (CD), and the Homo sapiens and Canis familiaris hosts. The serological assay (ELISA) demonstrated that TL, VL and CVL individuals showed high levels of antibodies against rPeroxidoxin, allowing identification of infected ones with considerable sensitivity and great ability to discriminate (specificity) between non-infected and CD individuals (98.46% and 100%; 98.18% and 95.71%; 95.79% and 100%, respectively). An rPeroxidoxin ELISA also showed a greater ability to discriminate between vaccinated and infected animals, which is an important requirement for the public campaign control of CVL. A depletion ELISA assay using soluble peptides of this B-cell epitope confirmed the recognition of these sites only by Leishmania-infected individuals. Moreover, this work identifies two antigenic polymorphic linear B-cell epitopes of L. braziliensis. Specific recognition of TL and VL patients was confirmed by significantly decreased IgG reactivity against rPeroxidoxin after depletion of peptide-1- and peptide-2-specific antibodies (peptide 1: reduced by 32%, 42% and 5% for CL, ML and VL, respectively; peptide-2: reduced by 24%, 22% and 13% for CL, ML and VL, respectively) and only peptide-2 for CVL (reduced 9%). Overall, rPeroxidoxin may be a potential antigen for the immunodiagnosis of TL, VL or CVL, as it has a higher agreement with parasitological assays and is better than other reference tests that use soluble Leishmania antigens for diagnosing CVL in Brazil (EIE-LVC, Bio-manguinhos, FIOCRUZ). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Several forms of conservative treatment have been the focus of many recent studies in knee osteoarthritis (OA). Among these techniques, the application of pulsed shortwave (PSW) treatment has been widely used, but the optimal dose and application time have not been well established. Objective. The purposes of this study were: (1) evaluate the effect of PSW treatment in different doses and (2) to compare low-dose and high-dose PSW groups with control and placebo groups. Design. This was a randomized clinical trial. Setting. The study was conducted in the physical therapy department of 2 large urban hospitals. Patients. One hundred twenty-one women (mean age=60 years, SD=9) with a diagnosis of knee OA participated in the study. Intervention and Measurements. Participants were distributed randomly into 4 groups: 35 participants did not receive any treatment (control group), 23 received a placebo treatment, 32 received low-dose PSW treatment (power of 14.5 W, treatment duration of 19 minutes, and total energy of 17 kJ), and 31 received high-dose PSW treatment (power of 14.5 W, treatment duration of 38 minutes, and total energy of 33 kJ). An 11-point numerical pain rating scale and the Knee Osteoarthritis Outcome Score were used to assess pain and function in 3 stages: at initial evaluation (pretreatment), immediately after treatment, and at 12-month follow-up. Results. The 4 groups were homogeneous prior to treatment with respect to demographics, pain, and functional scale data. The results demonstrated the short-term effectiveness of the PSW at low and high doses in patients with knee OA. Both treatment groups showed a significant reduction in pain and improvement in function compared with the control and placebo groups (effect size: range=20.0 -23.4 for the low-dose PSW group and range=15.7-16.5 for the high-dose PSW group). There were no differences in results between PSW doses, although a low dose of PSW appeared to be more effective in the long term. Limitations. These results were achieved without physical exercise, which could have positively influenced the results. Conclusions. Pulsed shortwave treatment is an effective method for pain relief and improvement of function and quality of life in the short term in women with knee OA. On the basis of the results, application of PSW treatment is recommended in the female population with knee OA. However, conclusions regarding the 12-month follow-up should be analyzed carefully due to the high dropout rate. INSET: The Bottom Line. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article states that eccentric exercise, with or without pain, was efficient in the improvement of knee function and pain intensity in Brazilian athletes with patellar tendinopathy. The athletes performed squat exercises on a slope of 25% for 12 weeks. Knee function was evaluated using the Victorian Institute of Sport Assessment-Patellar (VISA-P) and pain intensity was measured using the visual analog scale (VAS)- before treatment, and after 8 and 12 weeks from the start of treatment.

The acute limb ischemia may manifest itself, albeit unusual, as a consequence of vasculitis associated with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). This case report described a patient seropositive for HIV who developed bilateral distal ischemia with temperature decrease of distal legs and feet, severe pain, cyanosis of fixed toes, and absence of distal pulses. She underwent treatment with thrombolytic therapy, showed signs of injury resulting from ischemia and reperfusion tissue injury with tissue loss in the distal regions of the fingers, but with improvement of the signs and symptoms of lower limbs. It is a rare case in literature due to the association of vasculitis with HIV and to the torment of distal vases of the lower limbs. Despite of that, the knowledge of the pathology is extremely important because of the repercussion in the patients' lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leucurolysin-a (leuc-a) is a class P-I snake-venom metalloproteinase isolated from the venom of the South American snake Bothrops leucurus (white-tailed jararaca). The mature protein is composed of 202 amino-acid residues in a single polypeptide chain. It contains a blocked N-terminus and is not glycosylated. In vitro studies revealed that leuc-a dissolves clots made either from purified fibrinogen or from whole blood. Unlike some other venom fibrinolytic metalloproteinases, leuc-a has no haemorrhagic activity. Leuc-a was sequenced and was crystallized using the hanging-drop vapour-diffusion technique. Crystals were obtained using PEG 6000 or PEG 1500. Diffraction data to 1.80 and 1.60 Å resolution were collected from two crystals (free enzyme and the endogenous ligand-protein complex, respectively). They both belonged to space group P212121, with very similar unit-cell parameters ( a = 44.0, b = 56.2, c = 76.3 Å for the free-enzyme crystal). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We consider asymptotic line fields on generic surfaces in 4-space and show that they are globally defined on locally convex surfaces, and their singularities are the inflection points of the surface. As a consequence of the generalized Poincaré-Hopf formula, we obtain some relations between the number of inflection points in a generic surface and its Euler number. In particular, it follows that any 2-sphere, generically embedded as a locally convex surface in 4-space, has at least 4 inflection points. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Epidemiology is considered both a field of research and a methodological approach within the broader health sciences. It aims to understand health-related events' causes and effects and provide the evidence necessary to prevent disease and implement effective control and prevention strategies. One of the main focuses of epidemiology is identifying the determinant factors in the health situation of populations since health-related anomalies are not randomly distributed among people. This understanding brings up the necessity of considering each place's particularities and observing the regularity of diseases in a population context. Methods: We present the Contextual-Compositional Approach (CCA) for the discovery of associations between Health Indicators (HI) and Health Determinants (HD) for neonatal mortality rate monitoring in situations of anomalies. CCA uses time series concepts, anomaly detection, and data distribution between classes for studying HD under expected conditions and comparing them to the anomaly conditions indicated by the anomaly detection in the HI. CCA is evaluated using a neonatal mortality database in health facilities in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Results: The results show that CCA can reveal essential associations between the health condition and the population's social, economic, and cultural characteristics on different scales. Conclusion: CCA stands out because it is easy to apply and understand, requiring little computational resources and parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bovine cysticercosis, caused by Taenia saginata metacestodes, is the cause of significant economic losses to the meat production chain by condemnation and downgrading of infected carcasses. It is also a public health issue causing human taeniasis. This study evaluated the occurrence of bovine cysticercosis at the meat inspection procedures in slaughterhouses of south and north regions of the Tocantins State in Brazil. Specimens identified as cysts of T. saginata were collected and analyzed by molecular (PCR) and histopathological techniques. The cysts were collected from March to December of 2010 in slaughterhouses located in the cities of Alvorada (South) and Araguaína (North). The frequency of cystic lesions during the study was 0.033% (53/164,091) with 69.81% of calcified lesions and 30.9% of live cysts at meat inspection. From 14 samples submitted to molecular analysis, 28.57% (4/14) were positive for T. saginata. The histopathological analysis of the non-T. saginata samples showed lesions suggestive of granuloma and hydatid disease. The results indicated that the identification of the etiological agent is difficult by macroscopic inspection, emphasizing the need to associate specific diagnostic methods at meat inspection in abattoirs. In addition, species-specific PCR would be an effective tool for diagnosis, monitoring, and identifying cysticercosis, assisting the conventional tests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a case study of an 88 year old patient with a history of hypertension, increased cholesterol and smoking, who underwent endovascular treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysm. It is mentioned that a triple layer of nitinol stents was placed in right aortic moniliacal position for treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysm and right common iliac artery.

An abstract of the article "Interleukin-22 and Its Crystal Structure," by Ronaldo Alves Pinto Nagem and colleagues is presented.

Intent Based Networking (IBN) is a promising approach for automating and managing large and complex networks. Integrating Voice-enabled Virtual Assistants (VVAs) with IBN and Software Defined Networking (SDN) has improved network management efficiency and flexibility. However, there is still room for optimization improvement in installing intents in industrial scenarios. Network Orchestration Automation plays an important role within the Beyond 5G and 6G Networks, considering existing practices for orchestrating 5G Network Functions. This work presents an extended preliminary architecture for a voice-enabled IBN system called VINIA for industrial network automation. The new approach allows the configuration of more network assets (e.g., 5G networks), leveraging Network Orchestrators and Network Slice Managers, thus improving the system's capabilities. The results provide insights into this solution's potential benefits and limitations to enhance the automation of industrial networks' management and orchestration procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional, slow and error-prone human-driven methods to configure and manage Internet service requests are proving unsatisfactory. This is due to an increase in Internet applications with stringent quality of service (QoS) requirements. Which demands faster and fault-free service deployment with minimal or without human intervention. With this aim, intent-driven service management (IDSM) has emerged, where users express their service level agreement (SLA) requirements in a declarative manner as intents. With the help of closed control-loop operations, IDSM performs service configurations and deployments, autonomously to fulfill the intents. This results in a faster deployment of services and reduction in configuration errors caused by manual operations, which in turn reduces the SLA violations. This article is an attempt to provide a systematic review of How the IDSM systems manage and fulfill the SLA requirements specified as intents. As an outcome, the review identifies four intent management activities, which are performed in a closed-loop manner. For each activity, a taxonomy is proposed and used to compare the existing techniques for SLA management in IDSM systems. A critical analysis of all the considered research articles in the review and future research directions are presented in the conclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To systematically review and assess the risk of bias in the literature evaluating the performance of INTERGROWTH-21st estimated fetal weight (EFW) standards to predict maternal, fetal and neonatal adverse outcomes. Searches were performed in seven electronic databases (Scopus, Web of Science, Medline, Embase, Lilacs, Scielo and Google Scholar) using citation tools and keywords (intergrowth AND (standard OR reference OR formula OR model OR curve); all from 2014 to the last search on April 16th, 2021). We included full-text articles investigating the ability of INTERGROWTH-21st EFW standards to predict maternal, fetal or neonatal adverse outcomes in women with a singleton pregnancy who gave birth to infants with no congenital abnormalities. The study was registered on PROSPERO under the number CRD42020115462. Risk of bias was assessed with a customized instrument based on the CHARMS checklist and composed of 9 domains. Meta-analysis was performed using relative risk (RR [95%CI]) and summary ROC curves on outcomes reported by two or more methodologically homogeneous studies. Sixteen studies evaluating fifteen different outcomes were selected. The risk of bias was high (>50% of studies with high risk) for two domains: blindness of assessment (81.3%) and calibration assessment (93.8%). Considering all the outcomes investigated, for 95% of the results, the specificity was above 73.0%, but the sensitivity was below 64.1%. Pooled results demonstrated a higher RR of neonatal small for gestational age (6.71 [5.51–8.17]), Apgar <7 at 5 min (2.17 [1.48–3.18]), and neonatal intensive care unit admission (2.22 [1.76–2.79]) for fetuses classified <10th percentile when compared to those classified above this limit. The limitation of the study is the absence of heterogeneity exploration or publication bias investigation, whereas no outcomes were evaluated by more than five studies. The IG-21 EFW standard has low sensitivity and high specificity for adverse events of pregnancy. Classification <10th percentile identifies a high-risk group for developing maternal, fetal and neonatal adverse outcomes, especially neonatal small for gestational age, Apgar <7 at 5 min, and neonatal intensive care unit admission. Future studies should include blind assessment of outcomes, perform calibration analysis with continuous data, and evaluate alternative cutoff points. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: 1. To describe what exercises and intervention variables are used in resistance training interventions in randomised controlled trials for lower limb tendinopathy 2. To assess completeness of reporting as assessed by the Consensus on Exercise Reporting Template (CERT) and the Toigo and Boutellier framework. 3. To assess the implementation of scientific resistance training principles. 4. To assess therapeutic quality of exercise interventions with the i-CONTENT tool. Data sources: We searched MEDLINE, CINAHL, AMED, EMBase, SPORTDiscus, and the Cochrane library databases. Review methods: Systematic review of randomised controlled trials that reported using resistance exercises for lower limb tendinopathies. Results: We included 109 RCTs. Eccentric heel drops were the most common exercise (43 studies), followed by isotonic heel raises (21), and single leg eccentric decline squats (18). Reporting of exercise descriptor items from the Toigo and Boutellier framework ranged from 0–13, with an average score of 9/13, and only 7 studies achieved a full 13/13. Reporting of items from the CERT ranged from 0–18, with an average score of 14/19. No study achieved a full 19/19, however 5 achieved 18/19. Scoring for resistance training principles ranged from 1–10, with only 11 studies achieving 10/10. Reporting across studies for the i-CONTENT tool ranged from 2–7, with an average score of 5 across included studies. A total of 19 studies achieved a full 7/7 score. Less than 50% of studies achieved an overall low risk of bias, highlighting the methodological concerns throughout studies. Conclusion: The reporting of exercise descriptors and intervention content was generally high across RCTs for lower limb tendinopathy, with most allowing exercise replication. However, reporting for some tendinopathies and content items such as adherence was poor, limiting optimal translation to clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The success and quality of this journal depends on the dedication and expertise of a large number of reviewers. On behalf of the Editorial Board, I would like to thank them explicitly for their excellent work during the non-trivial year 2021. Their substantial and constructive reviews have proven to be very valuable to the authors and are highly appreciated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transthyretin was discovered in the 1940s, named after its ability to bind thyroid hormones and retinol. In the genomic era, transthyretins were found to be part of a larger family with homologs of no obvious function, then called transthyretin-related proteins. Thus, it was proposed that the transthyretin gene could be the result of gene duplication of an ancestral of this newly identified homolog, later found out to be an enzyme involved in uric acid degradation, then named HIUase (5-hydroxy-isourate hydrolase). Here, we sought to re-enact the evolutionary history of this protein family by reconstructing, from a phylogeny inferred from 123 vertebrate sequences, three ancestors corresponding to key moments in their evolution—before duplication; the common transthyretin ancestor after gene duplication and the common ancestor of Eutheria transthyretins. Experimental and computational characterization showed the reconstructed ancestor before duplication was unable to bind thyroxine and likely presented the modern HIUase reaction mechanism, while the substitutions after duplication prevented that activity and were enough to provide stable thyroxine binding, as confirmed by calorimetry and x-ray diffraction. The Eutheria transthyretin ancestor was less prone to characterization, but limited data suggested thyroxine binding as expected. Sequence/structure analysis suggests an early ability to bind the Retinol Binding Protein. We solved the X-ray structures from the two first ancestors, the first at 1.46 resolution, the second at 1.55 resolution with well-defined electron density for thyroxine, providing a useful tool for the understanding of structural adaptation from enzyme to hormone distributor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The intensification of Brazil's beef cattle production system can involve different strategies to increase beef production while reducing deforestation in the Amazon biome and mitigating climate change. This study economically evaluates a cooperating beef farm in the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil's Amazon biome over three crop years (2015–16 to 2017–18), transitioning from an extensive grazing system to a semi-intensive system using five sustainable agricultural intensification (SAI) practices. These five practices include (1) grain supplementation for cattle, (2) pasture fertilization, (3) pasture re-seeding, (4) crop–livestock integration (CLI) and (5) irrigated and fertilized pasture that is rotationally grazed. The relative costs of these five SAI strategies used on this cooperating farm are compared. The adoption of SAI strategies increased beef productivity 5.7% (228–241 kg live-weight sold per hectare) and gradually improved net farm income by ~130% over the 3 years of transition (−US$94.79 to $29.80 ha−1). Grain supplementation (US$188 ha−1) had the cheapest cost per hectare, followed by pasture fertilization (US$477 ha−1) and pasture reseeding (US$650 ha−1). The most costly practice was in-ground irrigation of fenced rotationally grazed pasture (US$1600 ha−1) with the second most costly being CLI (US$672 ha−1). Despite adoption challenges of these SAI practices, past research confirm these five practices can increase beef productivity and profitability while reducing carbon footprint. Regardless of the cost per hectare of each practice, farmer adoption can be improved through education, support and incentives from both the public and private sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) syndrome is characterized by a triad: symptoms, clinical signs and imaging findings. Some individuals, especially athletes, have only imaging alterations. The objective of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of cam and pincer morphology in professional soccer players compared with a control group of non-athletes and to investigate the association between the age at which players start playing competitive soccer more than three times per week and duration of the soccer career with the prevalence of these radiographic findings.Methods: The prevalence of cam and pincer morphology in sixty professional adult male soccer players and thirty-two male controls was determined using pelvic anteroposterior radiography. Data were recorded for all hips and correlated with the age at which the players started competitive soccer practice and with the duration of their soccer career.Results: The prevalence of morphological FAI in the soccer players was 92.5% versus 28.1% in the controls (p < 0.001). The duration of the soccer career was positively correlated with the alpha angle (p = 0.033) and negatively correlated with the retroversion index (p = 0.009). The age at which competitive play began was inversely correlated with the alpha angle (p < 0.001).Conclusion: The study showed a high prevalence of cam and pincer morphology in Brazilian professional soccer players compared with controls. The duration of the soccer career was associated with an increased alpha angle and a decreased retroversion index, and the age at which competitive soccer participation began was negatively associated with alpha angle values. Finally, this manuscript provides data about the association between greater exposure to soccer and cam and pincer morphological changes in the hip; specifically, cam morphology was more common in patients who began participating in sports at earlier ages. This information serves as an alert for coaches of youth teams to manage the training load in youth athletes.Level Of Evidence: III. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. House dust mites are important allergen sources and some of these allergenic proteins may contain carbohydrate moieties, which are able to be isolated using lectins, as Concanavalin A (ConA). This study aimed to investigate allergenicity (IgE) and antigenicity (IgG1 and IgG4) of ConA-unbound and ConA-bound Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus (Dpt) crude extracts using sera of mite-allergic patients as well as inhibition capacity of antibody binding. Material and Methods. We obtained mannose-enriched and mannose-depleted fractions from Dpt by ConA affinity chromatography. Both ConA-bound and ConA-unbound fractions were evaluated by ELISA and Western Blotting for specific IgE, IgG1, and IgG4 reactivity with sera obtained from 95 mite-allergic patients (DP+) and 92 nonallergic (NA) subjects. Inhibition ELISA was used to assess cross-reactivity between Dpt extract and its fractions. Results. Among the DP+ patients, no difference was found between ConA-unbound and ConA-bound fractions regarding the levels of specific IgE, IgG1, and IgG4. Nonallergic subjects had the same levels of specific IgG1 to both ConA-unbound and ConA-bound fractions, although for specific IgG4, values were higher for ConA-bound. A positive correlation was found among specific IgE, IgG1, and IgG4 levels when Dpt was compared to ConA-unbound and ConA-bound fractions. Recognition of crude Dpt by IgE, IgG1, and IgG4 was highly inhibited by ConA-unbound and ConA-bound fractions. Western Blotting revealed a broad spectrum of bands ranging from 14 to 116 kDa recognized by specific IgE and IgG4. However, IgG1 reached higher frequency values on high molecular weight polypeptides. Conclusion. ConA-unbound and ConA-bound fractions derived from D. pteronyssinus crude extract revealed important components involved in the IgE recognition in allergic patients as well as IgG1 and/or IgG4 in allergic and healthy subjects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Infection with Strongyloides sp. induces a host immune response, predominantly the Th2 type, that is able to eliminate the parasite. However, little is known about the role of the nitric oxide (NO) mediator, induced by the enzyme nitric oxide synthase (NOS), in strongyloidiasis. Therefore, in this study, we investigated the immune response of mice genetically deficient in the enzyme inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS−/−), infected with Strongyloides venezuelensis. C57BL/6 wild‐type (WT) and iNOS−/− mice were individually inoculated by subcutaneous injection of 3000 S. venezuelensis L3 larvae. In the absence of iNOS, mice were more susceptible to the infection than WT animals, in which the parasite was completely eliminated. The overall production of cytokines and specific IgG, IgG1 or IgE antibodies against the parasite was significantly lowered in infected iNOS−/− mice. The expression of iNOS was observed in the intestine of WT hosts but mainly in the wall of the parasite, despite the presence of iNOS in mice. Altogether, we concluded that iNOS expression may play an important role in the control of S. venezuelensis infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The success and quality of this journal critically depends on the dedication and expertise of a large number of reviewers. On behalf of the Editorial Board, I would like to thank them for their excellent work. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

STUDY DESIGN: Clinical measurement study. BACKGROUND: Ankle sprain is a common condition. Therefore, translated, culturally adapted, and clinimetrically tested instruments for measuring the ankle are needed. OBJECTIVES: To translate and cross-culturally adapt the Sports Athlete Foot and Ankle Score (SAFAS) and the global rating of change (GROC) into Brazilian Portuguese. This study also aimed to test the measurement properties of the SAFAS, the GROC, and the existing Brazilian-Portuguese versions of the numeric pain-rating scale (NPRS) and the ankle-hindfoot scale of the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) in a group with ankle sprain. METHODS: The SAFAS and GROC instruments were cross-culturally adapted into Brazilian Portuguese and pretested in this population (n = 18). The measurement properties of the SAFAS, GROC, NPRS, and AOFAS (internal consistency, ceiling and floor effects, construct validity, reproducibility, and responsiveness) were tested in a test-retest design in patients with ankle sprain at baseline (n = 63) and at follow-up periods of 48 to 72 hours (n = 53) and 4 weeks (n = 43) after baseline. RESULTS: The SAFAS, GROC, NPRS, and AOFAS yielded considerable internal consistency (Cronbach alpha ranging from .76 to .97), moderate reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient model 2,1 ranging from 0.59 to 0.80), and dubious agreement (percentage of the standard error of measurement ranging from 13% to 22.43%). The highest correlations on construct validity were observed among the 4 SAFAS subscales (Pearson r = 0.75 to 0.86, P<.01), but statistically significant values appeared in the intercorrelation of instruments. There were no observed floor or ceiling effects in any of the instruments. All of their scores of change showed moderate correlation with the GROC (r = -0.48 to 0.30, P<.05) and could be classified as responsive. CONCLUSION: The Brazilian-Portuguese versions of the SAFAS, GROC, NPRS, and AOFAS had acceptable measurement properties in high-performing athletes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Snake venom metalloproteinases are important toxins that play fundamental roles during envenomation. They share a structurally similar catalytic domain, but with diverse hemorrhagic capabilities. To understand the structural basis for this difference, we build and compare two dynamical models, one for the hemorrhagic atroxlysin-I from Bothrops atrox and the other for the non-hemorraghic leucurolysin-a from Bothrops leucurus. The analysis of the extended molecular dynamics simulations shows some changes in the local structure, flexibility and surface determinants that can contribute to explain the different hemorrhagic activity of the two enzymes. In agreement with previous results, the long Ω-loop (from residue 149 to 177) has a larger mobility in the hemorrhagic protein. In addition, we find some potentially-relevant differences at the base of the S′ pocket, what may be interesting for the structure-based design of new anti-venom agents. However, the sharpest differences in the computational models of atroxlysin-I and leucurolysin-a are observed in the surface electrostatic potential around the active site region, suggesting thus that the hemorrhagic versus non-hemorrhagic activity is probably determined by protein surface determinants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]