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Cryptococcosis is a neglected fungal disease that causes many deaths annually, is primarily caused by Cryptococcus neoformans and Cryptococcus gattii species. They are environmental fungus that engages lung pneumonia and a severe systemic infection. The rising incidence of affected immunocompetent hosts, particularly by the aggressive Cryptococcus deuterogattii (R265), underscores the urgency to understand factors influencing its dissemination. The immunopathogenesis of R265 infection is incompletely understood. Therefore, we investigate the role of IL-22 and IL-23 cytokines during R265 cryptocococcosis. Our findings highlight the crucial role of IL-22 and IL-23 cytokines in lung barrier homeostasis, preventing excessive lung damage. IL-22 not only prevents neutrophil infiltration and IL-17A production but also facilitates eosinophil lung infiltration. Ultimately, this study contributes vital insights into the selective role of IL-22 and IL-23 cytokines in immune activation and tissue regulation during the aggressive R265 lung and systemic infection., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2024 The Author(s).)

Background: Occlusal interferences lead to changes in mandibular kinematics to compensate and improve function. However, the effects of different types of eccentric disturbance on the comminution capacity are not known., Objective: To determine the immediate effect of eccentric occlusal interferences on masticatory performance., Methods: This crossover clinical trial included 12 healthy dentate subjects aged 25.2 ± 3.3 years who were randomly submitted to seven types of occlusal interference: unilateral and bilateral laterotrusive and mediotrusive, protrusive, dummy and control (no interference). The interference forms were planned in a semi-adjustable articulator, fabricated with composite resin and adhered to the mandibular first molars such that subjects' maximum intercuspation was maintained. Masticatory performance and the chewing rate during 20 cycles were evaluated during subjects' comminution of silicone test food under one interference condition per test day; the multiple sieve method was applied to the comminuted particles. The interference was removed upon test completion, and a 1-week washout period was applied between tests., Results: Comminuted median particle sizes were larger under unilateral (4.94 ± 0.41 mm) and bilateral (4.81 ± 0.49 mm) laterotrusive, bilateral mediotrusive (4.65 ± 0.50 mm) and protrusive (4.83 ± 0.54 mm) interferences (p < .05) than under the control (4.01 ± 0.52 mm) and dummy (4.18 ± 0.58 mm) conditions (p < .05). Only unilateral and bilateral laterotrusive interferences narrowed the comminuted particle size dispersion (p < .05). The chewing rate did not differ among conditions (p = .1944)., Conclusion: Artificial eccentric interferences had an immediate adverse effect on masticatory performance by resulting in larger comminuted particles., Clinical Trial Registration: Brazilian Registry of Clinical Trials (RBR-8g5zfg8)., (© 2023 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Objective: To identify the association between perception of body image and oral health in school bullying among adolescents of an urban locality in Brazil., Methods: A self-questionnaire was applied on 381 students from public school between 12 and 15 years old. The variables studied were sex, age, schooling, school bullying events, and perception about their oral health and body image. The prevalence of bullying was 29.6%. The multivariate analysis showed that those who indicated that they were criticized due to the condition of their teeth had 4.37 more chance of victimization (oral 4371 CI 2325-8218). Those who felt that oral health had little effect on their relationship with other people had 2.2 times more chance to suffer from bullying (oral 2204 CI 1031-4708) than those who did not. Among adolescents who were not satisfied with their body image, 46.7% had more chance to be a victim of bullying (oral 2467 CI 1373-4431)., Conclusion: A high prevalence of students affected by bullying was observed. It was possible to observe an association between bullying and dissatisfaction with oral health and body image. It is important to implement and evaluate public policies on oral health, expanding access to and improving these public services offered to the population., (© 2019 Special Care Dentistry Association and Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

The humid forests of Amazonia are experiencing longer and more intense dry seasons, which are predicted to intensify by the end of the 21st century. Although tree species often have long generation times, they may still have the capacity to rapidly respond to changing climatic conditions through adaptive phenotypic plasticity. We, therefore, predicted that Amazonian trees have shifted their leaf morphology in response to the recent drier climate. We tested this prediction by analysing historical herbarium specimens of six Amazonian tree species collected over a 60-year period and comparing changes in leaf morphology with historical precipitation data. Moreover, we explored spatial and temporal biases in herbarium specimens and accounted for their potentially confounding effect in our analysis. We found pronounced biases in herbarium specimens, with nearly 20% of specimens collected in close geographic proximity and around the 1975s. When accounting for such biases, our results indicate a trend of decreasing leaf size after the 1970s, which may have been spurred by an observed reduction in rainfall. Our findings support the hypothesis that (some) Amazonian trees have the capacity to adaptively change their leaf phenotypes in response to the recent drier climate. Nevertheless, the unavoidable spatial and temporal biases in herbarium specimens call for caution when generalizing our findings to all Amazonian trees.

Winemaking by-products account for more than 30% of the grape production, but this inexpensive feedstock has not yet been fully exploited. Accordingly, we evaluated the potential biological activity of winemaking by-products produced with Syrah grapes in comparison with those of the wine produced using the same grape cultivar. Winemaking by-products showed higher contents of total anthocyanins, flavonols, stilbenes, and flavanols than red wine as evaluated by HPLC-DAD-FD (on a dry weight basis). In contrast, red wine was a better source of phenolic acids. However, the contribution of phenolic acids was minor for both samples. Furthermore, equivalent concentration of winemaking by-products (100 mg/kg/d) showed greater biological activity by than that of red wine by decreasing the levels of VLDL-cholesterol and triacylglycerols in Wistar rats. Therefore, this study supports the use of winemaking by-products as an economical source of bioactive phenolics with potential use in the food and nutraceutical industries., (© 2017 Institute of Food Technologists®.)

Reliable detection of anticoagulation status in patients treated with non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOACs) is challenging but of importance especially in the emergency setting. This study evaluated the potential of a whole-blood clotting time assay based on Surface Acoustic Waves (SAW-CT) in stroke-patients. The SAW-technology was used for quick and homogenous recalcification of whole blood inducing a surface-activated clotting reaction quantified and visualised by real-time fluorescence microscopy with automatic imaging processing. In 20 stroke or transient ischaemic attack (TIA)-patients taking NOACs kinetics of SAW-CT were assessed and correlated to other coagulation parameters (PT, aPTT) and NOAC-plasma concentration measured by tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). In 225 emergency patients with suspicion of acute stroke or TIA, SAW-CT values were assessed. Mean (± SD) SAW-CT in non-anticoagulated stroke patients (n=180) was 124 s (± 21). In patients on dabigatran or rivaroxaban, SAW-CT values were significantly higher 2 and 8 hours (h) after intake rising up to 267 seconds (s) (dabigatran, 2 h after intake) and 250 s (rivaroxaban, 8 h after intake). In patients on apixaban, SAW-CT values were only moderately increased 2 h after intake (SAW-CT 153 s). In emergency patients, SAW-CT values were significantly higher in NOAC and vitamin K antagonist (VKA)-treated as compared to non-anticoagulated patients. In conclusion, the SAW-CT assay is capable to monitor anticoagulant level and effect in patients receiving dabigatran, rivaroxaban and the VKA phenprocoumon. It has a limited sensitivity for apixaban-detection. If specific SAW-CT results were used as cut-offs, SAW-CT yields high diagnostic accuracy to exclude relevant rivaroxaban and dabigatran concentrations in stroke-patients.

Schizolobium parahyba var. amazonicum (Huber ex Ducke) occurs naturally in the Brazilian Amazon. Currently, it is being planted extensively because of its fast growth and excellent use in forestry. Consequently, there is great interest in new strategies to increase wood production. The interaction between soil microorganisms and plants, specifically in the roots, provides essential nutrients for plant growth. These interactions can have growth-promoting effects. In this way, this study assessed the effect of the inoculation with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) on growth of S. parahyba var. amazonicum under field conditions. We used two native species of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, Claroideoglomus etunicatum (Ce), and Acaulospora sp. (Ac); two native strains of Rhizobium sp. (Rh1 and Rh2); and a non-native strain of Burkholderia sp. Different combinations of microorganisms were supplemented with chemical fertilizers (doses D1 and D2) in two planting methods, seed sowing and seedling planting. In seed sowing, the results showed that treatments with Ce/Rh1/Fertilizer D2 and Ac/No PGPR/Fertilizer D2 increased wood yield. In seedling planting, two combinations (Ac/Rh2/Fertilizer D1 and Ac/Rh1/Fertilizer D1) were more effective in increasing seedling growth. In these experiments, inoculation with AMF and PGPR increased wood yield by about 20% compared to the application of fertilizer alone.

Nutrient availability is an important factor in crop production, and regular addition of chemical fertilizers is the most common practice to improve yield in agrosystems for intensive crop production. The use of some groups of microorganisms that have specific activity providing nutrients to plants is a good alternative, and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) enhance plant nutrition by providing especially phosphorus, improving plant growth and increasing crop production. Unfortunately, the use of AMF as an inoculant on a large scale is not yet widely used, because of several limitations in obtaining a large amount of inoculum due to several factors, such as low growth, the few species of AMF domesticated under in vitro conditions, and high competition with native AMF. The objective of this work was to test the infectivity of a Rhizophagus clarus inoculum and its effectiveness as an alternative for nutrient supply in soybean (Glycine max L.) and cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) when compared with conventional chemical fertilization under field conditions. The experiments were carried out in a completely randomized block design with five treatments: Fertilizer, AMF, AMF with Fertilizer, AMF with 1/2 Fertilizer, and the Control with non-inoculated and non-fertilized plants. The parameters evaluated were AMF root colonization and effect of inoculation on plant growth, nutrient absorption and yield. The results showed that AMF inoculation increased around 20 % of root colonization in both soybean and cotton; nutrients analyses in vegetal tissues showed increase of P and nitrogen content in inoculated plants, these results reflect in a higher yield. Our results showed that, AMF inoculation increase the effectiveness of fertilizer application in soybean and reduce the fertilizer dosage in cotton.

Unlabelled: IntroductionThe dimensional approach of the obsessive-compulsive symptoms may help to find more homogeneous groups of patients. The brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) may help to identify neurobiological differences between obsessive-compulsive symptom dimensions., Methods: We compared serum BDNF (pg/μg) levels of 25 unmedicated patients meeting Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition criteria for obsessivecompulsive disorder (OCD) and 25 controls, using the Dimensional Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale, the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale and the Beck's Anxiety and Depression Inventories., Results: There were no sociodemographic differences between the groups. The standard error of mean serum BDNF levels were reduced in unmedicated OCD patients (0.47+0.038) when compared to healthy controls (0.75+0.060) (P<.001). The patients with the presence of sex/religion obsessive-compulsive symptoms (OCS) dimension (P=.002), with chronic course of OCS (P=.022) and the presence of lifetime major depression (P=.016) and social anxiety (P=.030) presented higher levels of BDNF than OCD patients without those features. The severity of aggression (P=.039) and sex/religion (P<.001) OCS dimension presented direct (moderate and strong, respectively) correlation with serum BDNF levels in this sample. Serum BDNF levels were decreased in OCD patients when compared to healthy controls.Discussion/ConclusionSexual and religious content of symptoms and aggression and sex/religion dimensions severity should be better explored, since these specific OCS dimensions could be based on neurocircuits diverse from those of the other OCS dimensions.

Purpose: To compare and evaluate intensity-based registration methods for computation of serial x-ray mammogram correspondence., Methods: X-ray mammograms were simulated from MRIs of 20 women using finite element methods for modeling breast compressions and employing a MRI/x-ray appearance change model. The parameter configurations of three registration methods, affine, fluid, and free-form deformation (FFD), were optimized for registering x-ray mammograms on these simulated images. Five mammography film readers independently identified landmarks (tumor, nipple, and usually two other normal features) on pairs of diagnostic and corresponding prediagnostic digitized images from 52 breast cancer cases. Landmarks were independently reidentified by each reader. Target registration errors were calculated to compare the three registration methods using the reader landmarks as a gold standard. Data were analyzed using multilevel methods., Results: Between-reader variability varied with landmark (p < 0.01) and screen (p = 0.03), with between-reader mean distance (mm) in point location on the diagnostic/prediagnostic images of 2.50 (95% CI 1.95, 3.15)/2.84 (2.24, 3.55) for nipples and 4.26 (3.43, 5.24)/4.76 (3.85, 5.84) for tumors. Registration accuracy was sensitive to the type of landmark and the amount of breast density. For dense breasts (> or = 40%), the affine and fluid methods outperformed FFD. For breasts with lower density, the affine registration surpassed both fluid and FFD. Mean accuracy (mm) of the affine registration varied between 3.16 (95% CI 2.56, 3.90) for nipple points in breasts with density 20%-39% and 5.73 (4.80, 6.84) for tumor points in breasts with density < 20%., Conclusions: Affine registration accuracy was comparable to that between independent film readers. More advanced two-dimensional nonrigid registration algorithms were incapable of increasing the accuracy of image alignment when compared to affine registration.