Comprehensive machine learning assessment of zebrafish behaviour and biochemical markers in response to caffeine exposure.

Environmental exposure to caffeine (CAF) poses potential risks to aquatic ecosystems, affecting non-target species. This study investigated the chronic effects of environmentally relevant CAF concentrations, ranging from 0.16-50 µg/L, on zebrafish behaviour.

Barcoding the Caatinga biome bees: a practical review.

Bees play a critical role as pollinators in ecosystem services, contributing significantly to the sexual reproduction and diversity of plants. The Caatinga biome in Brazil, home to around 200 bee species, provides an ideal habitat for these species due to its unique climate conditions. However, this biome faces threats from anthropogenic processes, making it urgent to characterise the local bee populations efficiently.

Baseline Raman Spectral Fingerprints of Zebrafish Embryos and Larvae.

As a highly sensitive vibrational technique, Raman spectroscopy (RS) can provide valuable chemical and molecular data useful to characterise animal cell types, tissues and organs. As a label-free, rapid detection method, RS has been considered a valuable asset in forensics, biology and medicine. The technique has been applied to zebrafish for various purposes, including physiological, biochemical or bioaccumulation analyses.

Cyanobacterial and microalgae polymers: antiviral activity and applications.

At the end of 2019, the world witnessed the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. As an aggressive viral infection, the entire world remained attentive to new discoveries about the SARS-CoV-2 virus and its effects in the human body. The search for new antivirals capable of preventing and/or controlling the infection became one of the main goals of research during this time.

Cultivation of Chlorella vulgaris in wastewater: biodiesel potential and wastewater remediation.

The present investigation has evaluated the use of effluents from a secondary municipal wastewater treatment plant for biomass production and potential of the biomass for biodiesel production. Cultivations of Chlorella vulgaris using wastewater, wastewater with supplementation, and WC medium were carried out. Effect of wastewater collected in different months on biomass productivity (BP) and lipid composition was studied.

Insights into environmental caffeine contamination in ecotoxicological biomarkers and potential health effects of .

Caffeine (CAF) exposures have been shown to cause several pharmacological and biological effects in target and non-target organisms. Although there are already several ecotoxicological studies with CAF in non-target organisms, they are focused on marine organisms, with relevant concentrations in these ecosystems, therefore, less ecologically relevant to freshwater ecosystems (the main ecoreceptor of this type of anthropogenic contaminant). The present study aimed to assess the chronic effects (28 days) of sub-lethal and environmentally relevant concentrations of CAF (0.

Group B rectovaginal colonization screening on term pregnancies: culture or polymerase chain reaction?

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate if screening Group B colonization by intrapartum polymerase chain reaction could improve intrapartum administration of antibiotic prophylaxis, compared with antepartum culture screening and analyze the sensitivity and specificity of polymerase chain reaction test.

Methods: 198 pregnant women with Group B colonization antepartum culture screening were included. When they arrived at hospital for delivery, two rectovaginal swabs were collected: for culture and polymerase chain reaction method.

First assessment of atmospheric pollution by trace elements and particulate matter after a severe collapse of a tailings dam, Minas Gerais, Brazil: An insight into biomonitoring with Tillandsia usneoides and a public health dataset.

In this study, samples of bromeliad Tillandsia usneoides (n = 70) were transplanted and exposed for 15 and 45 days in 35 outdoor residential areas in Brumadinho (Minas Gerais state, Brazil) after one of the most severe mining dam collapses in the world. Trace elements aluminum (Al), arsenic (As), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), mercury (Hg), manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni) and zinc (Zn) were quantified by atomic absorption spectrometry. Scanning electron microscope generated surface images of T.

Physical conditioning in children and adolescents with cerebral palsy: Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Introduction: Cerebral palsy (CP) can be described as a group of permanent non-progressive disorders that occur in the developing fetal or infant brain. Studies have shown that children and adolescents with CP have low cardiorespiratory fitness and higher energy expenditure during daily activities when compared to typical children. Therefore, interventions focused on the physical conditioning of this population could be critical.

Discovery of the Anticancer Activity for Lung and Gastric Cancer of a Brominated Coelenteramine Analog.

Cancer is still a challenging disease to treat, both in terms of harmful side effects and therapeutic efficiency of the available treatments. Herein, to develop new therapeutic molecules, we have investigated the anticancer activity of halogenated derivatives of different components of the bioluminescent system of marine Coelenterazine: Coelenterazine () itself, Coelenteramide (), and Coelenteramine (). We have found that derivatives possess variable anticancer activity toward gastric and lung cancer.

Eugenol β-Amino/β-Alkoxy Alcohols with Selective Anticancer Activity.

Eugenol, 4-allyl-2-methoxyphenol, is the main constituent of clove essential oil and has demonstrated relevant biological activity, namely anticancer activity. Aiming to increase this activity, we synthesized a series of eugenol β-amino alcohol and β-alkoxy alcohol derivatives, which were then tested against two human cancer cell lines, namely gastric adenocarcinoma cells (AGS) and lung adenocarcinoma cells (A549). An initial screening was performed to identify the most cytotoxic compounds.

Is It Back Pain or Pott's Disease?

Tuberculosis is a public health problem in Portugal. It can have extrapulmonary manifestations, with the spine being the most frequent and significant location affected within the bone area. We present the case of a 65-year-old man with left lumbar sciatic pain, 11% body weight loss, and anorexia.

Evaluation of strategies to enhance ammoniacal nitrogen tolerance by cyanobacteria.

In anaerobic digestion of agro-industrial effluents and livestock wastes, concentrations of ammoniacal nitrogen above 800 mg L are reported to lead to the eutrophication of water bodies. Through the metabolic versatility of microalgae, this nitrogen source can be used and removed, producing carotenoids, phycobiliproteins, polyhydroxyalkanoates, and fatty acids of industrial interest. The challenge of making it feasible is the toxicity of ammoniacal nitrogen to microalgae.

Dietary tryptophan supplementation does not affect growth but increases brain serotonin level and modulates the expression of some liver genes in zebrafish (Danio rerio).

This study aimed at assessing the effects of the dietary tryptophan (Trp) supplementation on growth and feed utilization, brain serotonin content, and expression of selected liver genes (involved in the liver serotonin pathway, protein synthesis degradation, and antioxidant activity) in zebrafish. A growth trial was conducted with zebrafish juveniles fed five experimental isoproteic (40%DM) and isolipidic (8%DM) fishmeal-based diets containing graded levels of Trp: a Trp-non-supplemented diet (diet Trp0, with 0.22% Trp) and four Trp-supplemented diets containing 2-16 times higher Trp content (diets Trp2, Trp4, Trp8, and Trp16 with 0.

Is There a Difference in Whole Body Standing Posture in Women With Urinary Incontinence Based on the Presence of Myofascial Dysfunction in the Pelvic Floor Muscles?

Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of postural changes in women who had urinary incontinence (UI) with myofascial dysfunction (MD) and women who had UI without MD in the pelvic floor muscles (PFM).

Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed with 234 women who had UI and were at least 18 years old at the urogynecology outpatient clinic of a tertiary academic hospital. The International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Short Form and the International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Overactive Bladder were used to collect urinary data.

Enterocolitis May Mimic Appendicitis: 12 Years of Experience in a Single Tertiary Center.

Introduction: infection is a zoonotic disease that varies from self-limited gastroenteritis to more severe forms. Its propensity to affect the terminal ileum and to spread to regional lymph nodes explains the potential misdiagnosis with appendicitis.

Methods: We reviewed the infection cases in a pediatric population for the last 12 years.

First year after the Brumadinho tailings' dam collapse: Spatial and seasonal variation of trace elements in sediments, fishes and macrophytes from the Paraopeba River, Brazil.

On January 2019, the B1 iron ore tailings' dam collapsed in Brumadinho, Brazil, being one of the worst mining-related disasters, with 270 human deaths (11 of them still missing) and 12.10 m of tailings released to the environment. The tailings devastated the Córrego do Feijão brook and reached the adjacent Paraopeba River, the region's main watercourse and a major tributary of the São Francisco basin.

Diagnosis of Chediak Higashi disease in a 67-year old woman.

Chediak-Higashi disease is a rare disease caused by bi-allelic mutations in the lysosomal trafficking regulator gene, LYST. Individuals typically present in early childhood with partial oculocutaneous albinism, a bleeding diathesis, recurrent infections secondary to immune dysfunction, and risk of developing hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH). Without intervention, mortality is high in the first decade of life.

Liposomes Containing Gadodiamide: Preparation, Physicochemical Characterization, and In Vitro Cytotoxic Evaluation.

Background: The aim of this study was to develop, characterize and assess the cytotoxic activity of pHsensitive (pHL-Gd), stealth pH-sensitive (SpHL-Gd), and conventional (convL-Gd) liposomes containing gadodiamide (Gd-DTPA-BMA).

Methods: Formulations were prepared by reverse-phase evaporation method and their physicochemical properties were evaluated by means of particle size, zeta potential, and Gd-DTPA-BMA entrapment. SpHL-Gd was considered being the most promising liposome, since it combines stealth and fusogenic characteristics that might contribute to achieve higher therapeutic efficiency.

Development of a bone-targeted pH-sensitive liposomal formulation containing doxorubicin: physicochemical characterization, cytotoxicity, and biodistribution evaluation in a mouse model of bone metastasis.

Background: Despite recent advances in cancer therapy, the treatment of bone tumors remains a major challenge. A possible underlying hypothesis, limitation, and unmet need may be the inability of therapeutics to penetrate into dense bone mineral, which can lead to poor efficacy and high toxicity, due to drug uptake in healthy organs. The development of nanostructured formulations with high affinity for bone could be an interesting approach to overcome these challenges.