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The present work aimed to diagnose honey microbiological profile of samples obtained in the Center-North region of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. A total of 25 honey samples were analyzed for: counts of total and thermotolerant coliforms, filamentous fungi and yeasts, Staphylococcus spp., Clostridium spp. and Bacillus spp. and detection of Salmonella spp. The results of microbiological analyzes detected the most significant presence of filamentous fungi and yeasts, mesophilic bacteria, Bacillus cereus and Staphylococcus spp. Although the majority of honey samples presented positive isolations for microbiological markers, the counting results were in accordance with the limits established by national legislation. Only three (12%, 3/25) honey samples presented counts above the recommended limit for filamentous fungi, yeasts and mesophilic bacteria, reflecting an unsatisfactory hygienic-sanitary pattern for consumption. The detection of these microbiological markers in honey samples sold in the Center-North region of Rio de Janeiro points to the strengthening of public policies to support beekeeping and food safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Featured Application: A basic framework for further large-area OLEDs via printed electronics. The effects of the solvent used for the active layer materials of an OLED based on TADF emitters play a fundamental role in solution-deposited devices. This work focuses on the effects on the performance of different solvents employed to fabricate a very simple two-organic-layer OLED based on a green TADF emitter, under the concept of host: guest matrix. From the different results of the main figures of merit, it was possible to conclude that the OLED that used toluene as a solvent for the active layer reached a maximum EQE of 14%, almost the maximum already obtained for this emitter in more complex device structures. With the analysis of the charge-transport processes, it was possible to establish an explanatory model for the obtained results. Through impedance spectroscopy, additional characterization of the nature of charge-transport processes was carried out. With these results, it was possible to correlate the relaxation times, with the electrical properties of the active layer, and make inferences about the interaction between the electrical charges and the defect levels, opening new possibilities for further development in printed OLEDs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Brazilian Journal of Transplantation is the property of Brazilian Journal of Transplantation 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.)

The impact of social isolation in the pandemic context on elderly Brazilian mental health is little known, especially about the occurrence of depressive symptoms. In this study, we evaluated elderly people undergoing social isolation in order to identify factors associated with depression and which of these are more important to characterize elderly Brazilians with depression. In a cross-sectional, exploratory, and analytical study of a quantitative nature, the mental profile of elderly individuals subjected to social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic period was used. A total of 450 participants was divided into normal and depressive groups, and a form covering sociodemographic data, opinions/perceptions about the pandemic, and a Reduced Geriatric Depression Scale was used to assess participants' mental health. To assess the statistical significance between the variables, chi-square test was applied, considering the p-value <0.05. The effect size was analyzed to identify the magnitude of the difference between groups. To identify the most important characteristics to define the groups Multilayer Perceptron algorithm were applied. We found that elderly people with a depressive profile are (in Multilayer Perceptron rank order) (1) showing signs of anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic, (2) of low education, (3) being divorced, (4) having more than one mental disorder, (5) reading, watching, or listening to information about COVID-19, and (6) being previously diagnosed with depression. In conclusion, elderly Brazilians in social isolation tend to develop depressive disorders during quarantine. Thus, we can consider that the pandemic requires effective and safe gerontological care and monitoring, especially with regard to mental health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Post-operative atrial fibrillation (POAF) is the most common complication after cardiac surgery. Recent studies had shown this phenomenon is no longer considered transitory and is associated with higher risk of thromboembolic events or death. The aim of this study was to systematically review and analyze previous studies comparing oral anticoagulation therapy with no anticoagulation, regarding these long-term outcomes. Methods: PubMed/MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science and Cochrane Database were systematically searched to identify the studies comparing the risk of stroke, or thromboembolic events or mortality of POAF patients who received anticoagulation compared with those who were not anticoagulated. Incidence of stroke, thromboembolic events and all-cause mortality were evaluated up to 10 years after surgery. Time-to-event outcomes were collected through hazard ratio (HR) along with their variance and the early endpoints using frequencies or odds ratio (OR). Random effect models were used to compute statistical combined measures and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Heterogeneity was evaluated through Q statistic-related measures of variance (Tau2, I2, Chi-squared test). Results: Eight observational cohort studies were selected, including 15,335 patients (3492 on Oral Anticoagulants (OAC) vs 11,429 without OAC) that met the inclusion criteria for qualitative synthesis. Patients had a wide gender distribution (38.6–82.3%), each study with a mean age above 65 years (67.5–85). Vitamin K antagonists were commonly prescribed anticoagulants (74.3–100%). OAC was associated with a protective impact on all-cause mortality at a mean of 5.0 years of follow-up (HR is 0.85 [0.72–1.01]; p = 0.07; I2 = 48%). Thromboembolic events did not differ between the two treatment arms (HR 0.68 [0.40–1.15], p = 0.15). Conclusion: Current literature suggests a possibly protective impact of OAC therapy for all-cause mortality in patients with new-onset atrial fibrillation after cardiac surgery. However, it does not appear to impact thromboembolism rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Doc On-Line: Revista Digital de Cinema Documentário is the property of Doc On-Line: Revista Digital de Cinema Documentario 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.)

Post-operative acute kidney injury (AKI) complicates approximately 40% of cases of cardiac surgery, increasing patient morbidity and mortality. Its pathophysiology is complex, with multiple risk factors. Amongst these, anemia is seldomly included in risk prediction models, despite being present in 20 to 30 % of patients undergoing cardiac surgery. We aimed to evaluate the impact of preoperative anemia in the risk of developing AKI after cardiac surgery. A retrospective cohort study was undertaken in a single-center University Hospital on consecutive patients undergoing heart surgery between October 2022 and December 2022. Data analysis included descriptive statistics, as well as a bivariate analysis and a binominal logistic regression. In the statistical analyses, factors considered potential effect modifiers were age, sex, body mass index, hypertension, diabetes, smoking, preoperative ejection fraction, EuroScore, II type of cardiac surgery and cardiopulmonarybypass. The normally distributed variables were analysed by calculating the means and standard deviations, and for the other variables we calculated medians and interquartile ranges. Anemia was defined according to the World Health Organization as haemoglobin level < 13 g/dl for men and <12 g/dl for women. The primary endpoint of the study was AKI developing and was defined according to KDIGO criteria. A total of 178 patients were included. Cardiac surgery associated acute kidney injury occurred in 46 patients (25.8%) and preoperative anemia was presented in 55 (30.9%) patients. There was no difference in all demographic and preoperative variables between groups, except for preoperative haemoglobin and EuroSCORE II. A logistic regression was performed to ascertain the effects of preoperative anemia and EuroScore II on the likelihood of developing AKI. The logistic regression model was statistically significant X2(2) = 35.401, p <0.001, the model´s AU-ROC curve was 0.655 (95% CI: 0.561-0.749). The Hosmer and Lemeshow test did not show evidence for lack of fit (p = 0.222) and the model correctly classified 75.3% of cases. After adjustment, preoperative anemia remained significantly associated with CSA-AKI. Patients with preoperative anemia were 2.13 times more likely to exhibit CSA-AKI than patients without preoperative anemia (OR 2.132, 95% CI: 1.040-4.37). Preoperative anemia is a modifiable independent predictor of acute kidney injury associated to cardiac surgery, which is one of the strongest postoperative risk factor for death. Our work reinforces the importance on the management of preoperative anemia in patients undergoing heart surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Doc On-Line: Revista Digital de Cinema Documentário is the property of Doc On-Line: Revista Digital de Cinema Documentario 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.)

Mercury is a toxic metal that can be found in the environment in three different forms - elemental, organic and inorganic. Inorganic mercury has a lower liposolubility, which results in a lower organism absorption and reduced passage through the blood-brain barrier. For this reason, exposure models that use inorganic mercury in rats in order to evaluate its effects on the central nervous system are rare, especially in adult subjects. This study investigated if a chronic exposure to low doses of mercury chloride (HgCl2), an inorganic form of mercury, is capable of promoting motor alterations and neurodegenerative in the motor cortex of adult rats. Forty animals were exposed to a dose of 0.375 mg/kg/day, for 45 days. They were then submitted to motor evaluation and euthanized to collect the motor cortex. Measurement of mercury deposited in the brain parenchyma, evaluation of oxidative balance, quantification of cellular cytotoxicity and apoptosis and density of mature neurons and astrocytes of the motor cortex were performed. It was observed that chronic exposure to inorganic mercury caused a decrease in balance and fine motor coordination, formation of mercury deposits and oxidative stress verified by the increase of lipoperoxidation and nitrite concentration and a decrease of the total antioxidant capacity. In addition, we found that this model of exposure to inorganic mercury caused cell death by cytotoxicity and induction of apoptosis with a decreased number of neurons and astrocytes in the motor cortex. Our results provide evidence that exposure to inorganic mercury in low doses, even in spite of its poor ability to cross biological barriers, is still capable of inducing motor deficits, cell death by cytotoxicity and apoptosis, and oxidative stress in the motor cortex of adult rats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last years, heavy ethanol consumption by teenagers/younger adults has increased considerably among females. However, few studies have addressed the long-term impact on brain structures' morphology and function of chronic exposure to high ethanol doses from adolescence to adulthood in females. In line with this idea, in the current study we investigated whether heavy chronic ethanol exposure during adolescence to adulthood may induce motor impairments and morphological and cellular alterations in the cerebellum of female rats. Adolescent female Wistar rats (35 days old) were treated with distilled water or ethanol (6.5 g/kg/day, 22.5% w/v) during 55 days by gavage. At 90 days of age, motor function of animals was assessed using open field (OF), pole, beam walking and rotarod tests. Following completion of behavioral tests, morphological and immunohistochemical analyses of the cerebellum were performed. Chronic ethanol exposure impaired significantly motor performance of female rats, inducing spontaneous locomotor activity deficits, bradykinesia, incoordination and motor learning disruption. Moreover, histological analysis revealed that ethanol exposure induced atrophy and neuronal loss in the cerebellum. These findings indicate that heavy ethanol exposure during adolescence is associated with long-lasting cerebellar degeneration and motor impairments in female rats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Periodontitis is an oral chronic infection/inflammatory condition, identified as a source of mediators of inflammation into the blood circulation, which may contribute to exacerbate several diseases. There is increasing evidence that inflammation plays a key role in the pathophysiology of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Although inflammation is present in both diseases, the exact mechanisms and crosslinks between periodontitis and AD are poorly understood. Therefore, this article aims to review possible comorbidity between periodontitis and AD. Here, the authors discuss the inflammatory aspects of periodontitis, how this oral condition produces a systemic inflammation and, finally, the contribution of this systemic inflammation for worsening neuroinflammation in the progression of AD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Brasileira em Promoção da Saúde is the property of Revista Brasileira em Promocao da Saude 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.)

Background: The regeneration of integrity and tissue homeostasis after injury is a fundamental property and involves complex biological processes fully dynamic and interconnected. Although there are medications prescribed to accelerate the process of wound healing by reducing the exaggerated inflammatory response, comes the need to search for different compounds of Amazonian biodiversity that can contribute to the acceleration of the healing process. Among these products, the copaiba oil-resin is one of the most prominent feature in this scenario, as they have been reported its medicinal properties. Methods: Aiming to evaluate the anti-inflammatory and healing effect of copaiba oil-resin (Copaifera reticulata Ducke) in transfixing injury of rats' tongues first proceeded up the copaiba oil-resin oral toxicity test in 5 male mice to stipulate the therapeutic dose which was established at 200 mg/kg/day. Then it was induced transfixing injury in a total of 15 Wistar rats. The animals were randomly divided into three groups based on the treatment: control group, dexamethasone group and copaiba oil-resin group. After 7 days of treatment, histological slides stained with hematoxylin and eosin was prepared. Immunohistochemistry for CD68 (macrophage marker) was performed and analyzed by the cell counter Image J. Results: The acute toxicity test showed that the oil-resin copal has low toxicity. Furthermore, copaiba oil-resin therapy modulates the inflammatory response by decreasing the chronic inflammatory infiltrate, edema and specifically the number of macrophages. Conclusions: The results indicate the potential of the Amazon region and showed up relevant because therapy with this extract modulates the inflammatory process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]