Search

The main risk factor for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is cigarette smoke (CS). It can alter many immune cells functions such as phagocytosis, efferocytosis and cytokine production. Cytokines play a role in the orchestration of inflammation in COPD. The JAK/STAT pathways are among the most important signalling components of cytokines. The objective of this work was to investigate the role of the JAK/STAT pathway with regard to cytokine release and microsphere uptake capacity (to minimize the non-specific scavenging) in human monocyte-derived-macrophages (MDMs). The MDMs were stimulated by cigarette smoke extract (CSE) alone or in combination with lipopolysaccharide (LPS). CSE alone was not associated with significant changes in the cytokine, with the exception of IL-8/CXCL8 production. However, CSE disturbed cytokine production in LPS-stimulated MDMs. CSE increase CXCL-8 and CCL2 release in LPS-stimulated monocyte-derived macrophages and suppressed the production of IL-6 and CXCL1 in these cells. CSE also decreased microsphere uptake capacity by MDMs. Then, CSE + LPS-stimulated MDMs were treated with two different JAK inhibitors. AG490 (specific inhibitor of JAK2) and ruxolitinib (inhibitor of JAK1 and JAK2). JAK/STAT inhibitors, particularly ruxolitinib, attenuated in cytokine production without completely inhibiting when compared with dexamethasone. On the other hand, the cells exposed to dexamethasone are nearly unable to capture the microspheres, while both JAK inhibitors do not affect the uptake capacity. In summary, our results showed the versatility of ruxolitinib which might bring a better balance disturbance of cytokine release and uptake capacity. The information regarding the distinctive effect of JAK/STAT inhibitors may be useful in the development of novel treatments for COPD.

Objetivo: identificar a tendência da produção científica da enfermagem acerca do abuso sexual infantil. Método: Trata-se de uma revisão narrativa de literatura, realizada entre outubro e novembro de 2021, nas bases de dados Literatura Latino- Americano e do Caribe em Ciências da Saúde e Scientific Eletronic Library Online. Na LILACS utilizou-se as seguintes palavras-chave: “abuso sexual infantil AND enfermagem”, “abuso sexual na infância AND cuidados de enfermagem”. E, na SciELO: “abuso sexual infantil” AND enfermagem”. Selecionou-se 16 artigos. Resultados: identificou-se que os estudos possuem uma tendência em discorrer sobre o perfil de crianças abusadas sexualmente, que são na maioria do sexo feminino, e como ocorre a abordagem às crianças pela enfermagem e pela família, o qual mostram que esses não se sentem preparados para lidar com casos de abuso em crianças. Conclusão: é importante que os profissionais, bem como a família e a escola saibam identificar e estejam preparados para evitar as situações de violência.

Fanconi anaemia (FA) is a rare genetic disorder marked by progressive bone marrow failure, chromosomal fragility, and increased cancer susceptibility. Laboratory diagnosis includes chromosomal instability test and mutation investigation. A total of 15%-25% of all patients may have somatic mosaicism, characterized by two distinct haematopoietic cell populations, one resistant and one sensitive to agents that induce chromosomal breakage, which complicates the diagnosis by a high incidence of reverted cells leading to inconclusive or false-negative results. The study aimed to evaluate the use of bone marrow stromal mesenchymal cells (BM-MSCs) as an alternative, non-haematopoietic tissue for diagnosis.Bone marrow mesenchymal stromal cells from 12 patients with positive diepoxybutane (DEB) tests were cultivated and analysed by cytogenetics and mutation investigation.The DEB test was performed at 0.1 and 0.01 μg/ml concentrations, with an index ranging from 0.24 to 1.00. At higher concentration, the metaphases number was lower, probably due to toxicity. Regarding the molecular investigation, all the mutations previously found in peripheral blood were identified on BM-MSC.This study demonstrated the possibility of using BM-MSCs as an alternative tissue for cytogenetic and molecular investigation. Future tests using an intermediate DEB concentration may lead to an optimal protocol that could be non-toxic to cells but provides conclusive results.

A doença celíaca (DC) é uma condição autoimune que afeta o intestino delgado, desenvolvida em indivíduos geneticamente susceptíveis como consequência da ingestão de glúten. O tratamento da DC consiste unicamente ou preferencialmente no consumo de uma dieta livre de glúten rigorosa por toda a vida, visto que seu seguimento leva à recuperação intestinal e melhoria clínica. O objetivo desta pesquisa foi investigar a adequação nutricional da dieta livre de glúten (DLG) consumida por celíacos adultos no município de Sobral, CE. Trata-se de uma pesquisa de campo, quantitativa, descritiva e transversal, com celíacos adultos, através da aplicação de um registro alimentar. A DLG apresentou elevado consumo médio de lipídios e proteínas, porém baixo de glicídios. Houve insuficiente ingestão de fibras, ácido fólico, cálcio e magnésio, mas elevado consumo de niacina, piridoxina e zinco. O estado nutricional dos celíacos deve ser monitorado constantemente, para manter a sua qualidade de vida.

COPD, one of world’s leading contributors to morbidity and mortality, is characterized by airflow limitation and heterogeneous clinical features. Three main phenotypes are proposed: overlapping asthma/COPD (ACO), exacerbator, and emphysema. Disease severity can be classified as mild, moderate, severe, and very severe. The molecular basis of inflammatory amplification, cellular aging, and immune response are critical to COPD pathogenesis. Our aim was to investigate EP300 (histone acetylase, HAT), HDAC 2 (histone deacetylase), HDAC3, and HDAC4 gene expression, telomere length, and differentiation ability to M1/M2 macrophages. For this investigation, 105 COPD patients, 42 smokers, and 73 non-smoker controls were evaluated. We identified a reduced HDAC2 expression in patients with mild, moderate, and severe severity; a reduced HDAC3 expression in patients with moderate and severe severity; an increased HDAC4 expression in patients with mild severity; and a reduced EP300 expression in patients with severe severity. Additionally, HDAC2 expression was reduced in patients with emphysema and exacerbator, along with a reduced HDAC3 expression in patients with emphysema. Surprisingly, smokers and all COPD patients showed telomere shortening. COPD patients showed a higher tendency toward M2 markers. Our data implicate genetic changes in COPD phenotypes and severity, in addition to M2 prevalence, that might influence future treatments and personalized therapies.

The corn leafhopper, Dalbulus maidis (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae), spreads maize stunt pathogens and requires timely and effective crop protection. We determined the interaction between maize phenology and the vector feeding/infection period by stunt pathogens with the residual efficacy of neonicotinoid insecticidal seed treatments. Greenhouse- and field-grown maize plants, seed-treated with clothianidin or imidacloprid insecticides, were infested during seven growth stages with corn leafhoppers reared under controlled conditions on maize plants displaying infection symptoms by both spiroplasma (corn stunt spiroplasma, Spiroplasma kunkelii) and phytoplasma (maize bushy phytoplasma) pathogens.In the greenhouse and field settings, seed treatment reduced the stunt disease symptoms and corn yield loss during the VE-V4 maize growth stages and caused no phytotoxicity. The neonicotinoid seed treatment reduced 20-60% of the yield losses from the corn stunt disease until the V4 growth stage. Infestation by infective corn leafhoppers in the V12 maize growth stage caused a 25-30% yield loss irrespective of seed treatment, yet no stunt disease symptom was evident. Nonetheless, corn yield losses and visual stunt symptoms as rated by a nine-category ordinal scale were strongly correlated (r = 0.79, P 0.01).These results reinforce that maize plants are more susceptible to leafhopper stunt disease during the VE-V4 growth stages (emergence to the fourth-leaf stage). Seed treatment helps reduce the damage in the early growth stages (VE-V2), although supplemental control measures depending on leafhopper population density may be needed from VE-V12 to protect yield losses from the maize stunt condition. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.

The relative and synergistic contributions of genetics and environment to inter-individual immune response variation remain unclear, despite its implications for understanding both evolutionary biology and medicine. Here, we quantify interactive effects of genotype and environment on immune traits by investigating three inbred mouse strains rewilded in an outdoor enclosure and infected with the parasite,Trichuris muris. Whereas cytokine response heterogeneity was primarily driven by genotype, cellular composition heterogeneity was shaped by interactions between genotype and environment. Notably, genetic differences under laboratory conditions can be decreased following rewilding, and variation in T cell markers are more driven by genetics, whereas B cell markers are driven more by environment. Importantly, variation in worm burden is associated with measures of immune variation, as well as genetics and environment. These results indicate that nonheritable influences interact with genetic factors to shape immune variation, with synergistic impacts on the deployment and evolution of defense mechanisms.

Introduction Nurses from the night shift are exposed to sleep deprivation, which is associated with circadian rhythm alteration, lifestyle changes, psychosocial stress, and, consequently, increased risk of blood pressure (BP) deregulation and hypertension. Objective To analyze risk factors associated with elevated BP levels in nursing workers. Methods A transversal, quantitative study was conducted with 172 nursing professionals of a large hospital in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The following data were collected: anthropometric and BP measurements, sociodemographic characteristics, clinical variables, and lifestyle habits. Results were evaluated by bivariate analysis and logistic regression. The level of significance adopted in the statistical analysis was 5%. Results Participants’ average age was 42.7 ± 9.6 years old; 86.6% (n = 149) were female, and 20.3% (n = 35) had previous diagnosis of hypertension. Overweight and obesity (odds ratio [OR]: 2.187, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.060 – 4.509) and night shift (OR: 2.100, CI 95%: 1.061 – 4.158) were statistically significant (p < 0.05) for increased risk of elevated BP level. Conclusion Excessive weight and night shift were significant factors for increased BP in nursing workers.

Este artigo é resultado de uma pesquisa que teve como objetivo compreender a importância da avaliação da aprendizagem enquanto processo e no tocante a diversificação de instrumentos avaliativos no Ensino Superior durante o período remoto em decorrência da COVID19. Para tanto, o estudo contou com teóricos que abordam acerca da temática em questão, tais como: Perrenoud (1993), Hoffman (2002), Luckesi (2002), Vasconcelos (2000), Kenski (1994), Rodrigues (2020), entre outros. A metodologia da investigação baseou-se na abordagem qualitativa, com a realização de questionário com perguntas abertas via formulário Google Forms aos professores atuantes durante o ensino remoto em uma instituição de Ensino Superior privada na cidade de Chapadinha - MA. Os resultados apontaram que os professores tiveram que enfrentar e superar dificuldades quanto a elaboração e acompanhamento dos instrumentos avaliativos construídos considerando o período pandêmico. Foi notável que mesmo no Ensino Superior a avaliação da aprendizagem ainda é caracterizada por momentos “ritualísticos” ligados meramente a exigências de notas perdendo o objetivo de acompanhamento da aprendizagem dos alunos, ponto crucial dado as peculiaridades das mediações propostas durante o remoto.

BACKGROUND The highly polyphagous and invasive fall armyworm (FAW, Spodoptera frugiperda) can feed on different plant parts of host crops, damaging whorls and stalks in early maize growth stages. Systemic insecticide seed treatment (IST) could minimize this damage, although the residual efficacy may vary with the plant tissue damaged. Using damage rating scales and artificial infestation in controlled conditions, we determined the potential of IST against FAW attacking maize whorl leaves or the stalk base. RESULTS Chlorantraniliprole, cyantraniliprole, or thiodicarb+imidacloprid IST similarly killed >80% FAWs for one or two weeks after plant emergence depending on the plant tissue attacked. The residual efficacy (i.e., time after plant emergence sustaining >80% larval mortality) lasted from the first to the eleventh day (VE-V3 maize growth stages), while for cutworm on the maize stalk base, it lasted 3-7 days after plant emergence (V1-V2 stages). In terms of damage, the ISTs lasted 15 days after emergence (V4 stage) for FAW on whorl leaves and 10 days (V3 stage) for FAW feeding on the stalk base. The larvae surviving on the seed-treated plants underwent sublethal effects in growth and development, reducing insect fitness. CONCLUSION Diamide or carbamate+neonicotinoid seed treatments kill FAW larvae on maize whorls or stalks in favorable edaphoclimatic and insecticide-susceptibility conditions. The cumulative impacts of systemic IST on above-ground insect pests go beyond mortality. The ISTs studied can be valuable against FAW in maize, for instance, to help protect varieties that may not express sufficient insect resistance in maize early growth stages. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

O Programa Primeiro Emprego (PPE) é responsável, atualmente, pela contratação formal de cerca de 1.200 jovens pela Secretaria da Saúde do Estado da Bahia (Sesab), que atuam em mais de 80 unidades de saúde, distribuídas em 35 municípios. Entretanto, o cenário de emergência em saúde pública gerado pelo novo coronavírus trouxe a necessidade de avaliação e adequação das ações da Coordenação de Integração da Educação e do Trabalho (CIET), na Escola de Saúde Pública da Bahia Professor Jorge Novis (ESPBA), que assume o papel de ordenar as vagas de estágio e da contratação formal pelo PPE na Sesab. Assim, foi necessário promover uma reflexão sobre a nova realidade posta, para traçar estratégias de enfrentamento e suporte. A experiência foi revisitada por meio de consulta documental às fontes de informação do PPE, instituído em 2015, até o ano de 2020. Os desafios enfrentados pelo programa nesse período foram: escassez de recursos humanos no quadro da Sesab; incompatibilidade entre a oferta de egressos formados e a demanda dos serviços de saúde; paralisação do estágio de nível médio técnico; e necessidade de qualificação dos profissionais na pandemia. Dessa forma, avalia-se que o PPE se destacou durante a pandemia não apenas como programa social, mas também como apoio importante de recursos humanos para o setor de saúde, garantindo postos de trabalho temporários capazes de dotar esses indivíduos de capacidade técnica dentro da área da sua formação, atendendo ao escopo das atividades do serviço público.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: In volleyball, the high demand for shoulder sports makes it susceptible to injuries due to the repetition of sporting gestures. The presence of pain in the shoulder can lead to the disability to perform movements correctly, resulting in reduced sports performance. The study aimed to evaluate and correlate the presence of pain and functional disability of the upper extremity in volleyball athletes. METHODS: Cross-sectional descriptive study, developed with 30 female volleyball athletes. Functional disability was assessed using the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand Questionnaire (DASH) and pain intensity using the Visual Numeric Scale (VNS). The study was conducted in an online format. The IBM SPSS 21.0 statistical package for Windows was used, where descriptive measures, Wilcoxon, and Spearman correlation tests were performed, adopting p≤0.05. RESULTS: Nineteen athletes reported mild to moderate pain to perform daily activities, and 21 athletes reported pain to perform sporting gestures, with pain being significantly more intense in the dominant shoulder in the spike movement (p