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Introduction: This study sought to analyze the relationships between cutaneous leishmaniasis and its epidemiological, environmental and socioeconomic conditions, in the 22 microregions of Pará state, Brazil, for the period from 2017 to 2022. Methodology: In this ecological and exploratory study, the microregions were used as spatial units because they are formed by contiguous municipalities with similar characteristics. The epidemiological, environmental, socioeconomic, and public health policy data employed were obtained from the official information systems at the Ministry of Health, National Institute for Space Research, and Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. A fuzzy system was developed to identify risk factors for the disease, using Python programming language. The results were analyzed with the bivariate Global Moran spatial analysis technique. Results: It was observed that the Altamira microregion had the highest risk percentage for the disease, while Breves had the lowest, with significant differences in the relevance of its conditioning factors, mainly related to land use and cover patterns, in addition to demography and living conditions index, education and public health policies. Conclusions: The fuzzy system associated with the geostatistical technique was satisfactory for identifying areas with health vulnerability gradients related to deforestation, pasture, poverty, illiteracy, and health services coverage, as its conditioning variables. Thus, it was demonstrated that deforestation was the main risk factor for the disease. The system can also be used in environmental and epidemiological surveillance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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A mild, practical, and environmentally friendly method for the hydrodecarboxylation of fatty acids using an acridine‐based photoredox catalyst and thiophenol was developed. Cn‐1 alkanes were synthesized in good to excellent yields (up to 99 %) from C10−C18 saturated fatty acids under visible light irradiation (405 nm). The developed protocol was employed for a mixture of fatty acids obtained from the hydrolysis of Licuri oil, affording a mixture of C9−C17 hydrocarbons in quantitative yield, which demonstrates the potential application of the method to produce drop‐in biofuels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Fisioterapia Brasil is the property of Atlantica Editora 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.)

Abstract The development of chemoresistance is a major challenge in the treatment of several types of cancers in clinical settings. Stemness and chemoresistance are the chief causes of poor clinical outcomes. In this context, we hypothesized that understanding the signaling pathways responsible for chemoresistance in cancers is crucial for the development of novel targeted therapies to overcome drug resistance. Among the aberrantly activated pathways, the PI3K-Akt/Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway is clinically implicated in malignancies such as colorectal cancer (CRC) and glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). Aberrant dysregulation of phospholipase D (PLD) has been implicated in several malignancies, and oncogenic activation of this pathway facilitates tumor proliferation, stemness, and chemoresistance. Crosstalk involving the PLD and Wnt/β-catenin pathways promotes the progression of CRC and GBM and reduces the sensitivity of cancer cells to standard therapies. Notably, both pathways are tightly regulated and connected at multiple levels by upstream and downstream effectors. Thus, gaining deeper insights into the interactions between these pathways would help researchers discover unique therapeutic targets for the management of drug-resistant cancers. Here, we review the molecular mechanisms by which PLD signaling stimulates stemness and chemoresistance in CRC and GBM. Thus, the current review aims to address the importance of PLD as a central player coordinating cross-talk between the PI3K/Akt and Wnt/β-catenin pathways and proposes the possibility of targeting these pathways to improve cancer therapy and overcome drug resistance.

Background/Aims Quick sequential organ failure assessment (qSOFA) is believed to identify patients at risk of poor outcomes in those with suspected infection. We aimed to evaluate the ability of modified qSOFA (m-qSOFA) to identify high-risk patients among those with acutely deteriorated chronic liver disease (CLD), especially those with acute-onchronic liver failure (ACLF). Methods We used data from both the Korean Acute-on-Chronic Liver Failure (KACLiF) and the Asian Pacific Association for the Study of the Liver ACLF Research Consortium (AARC) cohorts. qSOFA was modified by replacing the Glasgow Coma Scale with hepatic encephalopathy, and an m-qSOFA ≥2 was considered high. Results Patients with high m-qSOFA had a significantly lower 1-month transplant-free survival (TFS) in both cohorts and higher organ failure development in KACLiF than those with low m-qSOFA (Ps

Dengue virus (DENV) is a danger to more than 400 million people in the world, and there is no specific treatment. Thus, there is an urgent need to develop an effective method to combat this pathology. NS2B/NS3 protease is an important biological target due it being necessary for viral replication and the fact that it promotes the spread of the infection. Thus, this study aimed to design DENV NS2B/NS3pro allosteric inhibitors from a matrix compound. The search was conducted using the Swiss Similarity tool. The compounds were subjected to molecular docking calculations, molecular dynamics simulations (MD) and free energy calculations. The molecular docking results showed that two compounds, ZINC000001680989 and ZINC000001679427, were promising and performed important hydrogen interactions with the Asn152, Leu149 and Ala164 residues, showing the same interactions obtained in the literature. In the MD, the results indicated that five residues, Lys74, Leu76, Asn152, Leu149 and Ala166, contribute to the stability of the ligand at the allosteric site for all of the simulated systems. Hydrophobic, electrostatic and van der Waals interactions had significant effects on binding affinity. Physicochemical properties, lipophilicity, water solubility, pharmacokinetics, druglikeness and medicinal chemistry were evaluated for four compounds that were more promising, showed negative indices for the potential penetration of the Blood Brain Barrier and expressed high human intestinal absorption, indicating a low risk of central nervous system depression or drowsiness as the the side effects. The compound ZINC000006694490 exhibited an alert with a plausible level of toxicity for the purine base chemical moiety, indicating hepatotoxicity and chromosome damage in vivo in mouse, rat and human organisms. All of the compounds selected in this study showed a synthetic accessibility (SA) score lower than 4, suggesting the ease of new syntheses. The results corroborate with other studies in the literature, and the computational approach used here can contribute to the discovery of new and potent anti-dengue agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose As introduced, multimodal pain management bundle for ileostomy reversal may be considered to reduce postoperative pain and hospital stay. The aim of this study was to evaluate clinical efficacy of perioperative multimodal pain bundle for ileostomy. Methods Medical records of patients who underwent ileostomy reversal after rectal cancer surgery from April 2017 to March 2020 were analyzed. Sixty-seven patients received multimodal pain bundle protocol with ileostomy reversal (group A) and 41 patients underwent closure of ileostomy with conventional pain management (group B). Results Baseline characteristics, including age, sex, body mass index, American Society of Anesthesiologists classification, diabetes mellitus, and smoking history, were not significantly different between the groups. The pain score on postoperative day 1 was significant lower in group A (visual analog scale, 2.6±1.3 vs. 3.2±1.2; P=0.013). Overall consumption of opioid in group A was significant less than group B (9.7±9.5 vs. 21.2±8.8, P

Simple Summary: In modern livestock, using calves as embryo donors is already a reality; thus, animal genetics can be transmitted before these animals have reached sexual maturity, considerably reducing the interval between generations. This fact becomes more relevant in buffalo species, as they present great inconsistency in the results of in vitro embryo production. This study is the first to describe a safe and effective surgical procedure for obtaining oocytes by laparoscopy in a farm environment using three surgical ports and transabdominal needle aspiration. The technique of laparoscopic oocyte aspiration has been increasingly used in animals; however, there are few records of its use in buffaloes. To describe this technique, six suckling Murrah buffaloes aged between 3 and 5 months were used. Three laparoscopic ovum pick-ups were performed in each animal, with intervals of 15 days between surgeries, completing a total of 18 procedures. The technique used three surgical ports with optics and a high-definition video camera. The introduction of the first portal and insufflation of the abdomen was performed through the open technique, with aspiration using a 20 G needle transabdominally and a vacuum pump calibrated at 50 mmHg. The mean complete surgical time from anesthesia to the removal of the animal from the litter was 49 ± 9.8 min. There were 27.8% cases of insufflation on the wrong side of the omentum. The oocyte recovery rate of 60.3% remained within the normal range. However, the rate of viable oocytes recovered was low, with only 40.8% of those recovered undergoing in vitro embryo production (IVEP). These data demonstrate that this simple, minimally invasive technique is an excellent reproductive tool for the genetic improvement of buffalo species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Aims: The public fear of pancreatic diseases including pancreatic cancer (PC) appears to be growing. The aims of this study were to evaluate the causes of fear of pancreatic diseases and assess clinical outcomes of such individuals. Methods: This was a retrospective study of 249 individuals who visited the Pancreatobiliary Diseases Center at Ewha Womans University Seoul Hospital due to the fear of pancreatic diseases between January 2019 and August 2021. Those referred from other departments or external medical facilities were excluded. Collected data included demographic details, comorbidities, causes of fear of pancreatic diseases, and the presence of pancreatic lesions in imaging studies. Results: The median age was 55 years (range, 22 to 82 years). One hundred eleven subjects (44.6%) were male. The causes of fear of pancreatic diseases were abdominal pain (n=144, 57.8%), back pain (n=114, 45.8%), body weight change (n=35, 14.1%), family history of pancreatic diseases (n=32, 12.9%), and others (n=39, 15.7%). Within the group with family history of pancreatic diseases, 25 subjects had a first-degree relative with PC. Of the 200 subjects who underwent imaging, there was no evidence of pancreatic diseases in 182 (91.0%). Pancreatic lesions identified were cystic lesions (n=15, 7.5%), non-specific calcification (n=1, 0.5%), lipoma (n=1, 0.5%), and solid tumor (n=1, 0.5%), later diagnosed as unresectable PC. Conclusion : s: Abdominal pain and back pain were the major causes of fear of pancreatic diseases. The prevalence of PC among those who underwent imaging was 0.5%. Such characteristics should be considered when consulting individuals with fear of pancreatic diseases.