Influence of grape pomace extract incorporation on chitosan films properties.

Chitosan has been studied as a renewable polymer to form edible films allowing the incorporation of functional compounds. The aim of this work was to evaluate the effects in the chitosan films properties of the incorporation of grape pomace extracts: 0.15% of hot water extract (mainly polysaccharides), 0.

Oral health behaviors in a sample of portuguese adolescents: an educational issue.

Background: The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of oral health behaviors among a sample of Portuguese adolescents and to evaluate the association with socio-demographic factors.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 447 adolescents aged 12-19 years, attending a public school in Sátão, Portugal. A self-administered questionnaire was applied for data collection.

Effect of apoptotic cell recognition on macrophage polarization and mycobacterial persistence.

Intracellular Mycobacterium leprae infection modifies host macrophage programming, creating a protective niche for bacterial survival. The milieu regulating cellular apoptosis in the tissue plays an important role in defining susceptible and/or resistant phenotypes. A higher density of apoptotic cells has been demonstrated in paucibacillary leprosy lesions than in multibacillary ones.

Clinical and genetic factors predicting response to therapy in patients with Crohn's disease.

Aim: To identify clinical and/or genetic predictors of response to several therapies in Crohn's disease (CD) patients.

Methods: We included 242 patients with CD (133 females) aged (mean ± standard deviation) 39 ± 12 years and a disease duration of 12 ± 8 years. The single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) studied were ABCB1 C3435T and G2677T/A, IL23R G1142A, C2370A, and G9T, CASP9 C93T, Fas G670A and LgC844T, and ATG16L1 A898G.

[Validation of the Portuguese version of an instrument to measure the degree of patient knowledge about their medication].

The scope of this study was the validation of a cross-culturally adapted questionnaire into Portuguese in five community pharmacies in Portugal. The discriminatory power of items, content and construct validity and factor analysis of the main components and their reliability and stability were determined. A high degree of semantic equivalence between the original questionnaire and the cross-culturally adapted questionnaire into Portuguese was observed.

Ga[NO2A-N-(α-amino)propionate] chelates: synthesis and evaluation as potential tracers for ⁶⁸Ga PET.

The availability of commercial (68)Ge/(68)Ga cyclotron-independent (68)Ga(3+) generators is making Positron Emission Tomography (PET) accessible to most hospitals, which is generating a surge of interest in the design and synthesis of bi-functional chelators for Ga(3+). In this work we introduce the NO2A-N-(α-amino)propionic acid family of chelators based on the triazacyclononane scaffold. Complexation of the parent NO2A-N-(α-amino)propionic acid chelator and of a low molecular weight (model) amide conjugate with Ga(3+) was studied by (1)H and (71)Ga NMR.

Resective surgery in the treatment of super-refractory partial status epilepticus secondary to NMDAR antibody encephalitis.

Background: Anti-NMDAR encephalitis is an increasingly described clinical entity in children, comprising 40% of all cases. We present a case of super-refractory status epilepticus secondary to anti-NMDAR encephalitis treated with emergent resective surgery.

Case Study: A 7 years-old boy presented with progressive abnormal irritability.

Immunosuppression abrogates resistance of young rabbits to Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease (RHD).

Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease (RHD) is caused by a calicivirus (RHDV) that kills 90% of infected adult European rabbits within 3 days. Remarkably, young rabbits are resistant to RHD. We induced immunosuppression in young rabbits by treatment with methylprednisolone acetate (MPA) and challenged the animals with RHDV by intramuscular injection.

Correlation between demographic and clinical variables and fibromyalgia severity.

Introduction: Fibromyalgia (FM) is a rheumatic condition characterized by a picture of generalized chronic pain, hyperalgesia and allodynia. Symptoms such as fatigue, sleep disorders, morning stiffness, headache and paresthesia can also be present. It is also associated with other comorbidities, such as depression, anxiety, irritable bowel syndrome, myofascial pain syndrome and nonspecific urethral syndrome.

HIV-1-infected patients with advanced disease failing a raltegravir-containing salvage regimen in São Paulo, Brazil.

Raltegravir (RAL) is the first licensed antiretroviral integrase inhibitor that may be used both for treatment-naïve human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) patients and for salvage therapy. The Brazilian public free access programme limits its use for salvage therapy, with scarce information regarding RAL resistance from patients failing a RAL-containing salvage regimen. This study evaluated RAL resistance mutations detected by population sequencing in 69 HIV-infected patients with advanced disease failing a RAL-containing regimen in a real-world setting.

Inhibiting AKT phosphorylation employing non-cytotoxic anthraquinones ameliorates TH2 mediated allergic airways disease and rhinovirus exacerbation.

Background: Severe asthma is associated with T helper (TH) 2 and 17 cell activation, airway neutrophilia and phosphoinositide-3-kinase (PI3K) activation. Asthma exacerbations are commonly caused by rhinovirus (RV) and also associated with PI3K-driven inflammation. Anthraquinone derivatives have been shown to reduce PI3K-mediated AKT phosphorylation in-vitro.

Evaluation of buccal bone coverage in the anterior region by cone-beam computed tomography.

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to compare the sensitivity of diagnoses of buccal bone coverage in anterior teeth between axial and sagittal reconstructions using cone-beam computed tomography.

Methods: Five dry skulls were clinically evaluated to detect bone defects in the anterior maxilla and mandible to establish a gold standard. The skulls were prepared and placed on a Kodak 9000 3-dimensional scanner (Trophy, Marne La Vallée, France) for image acquisition.

IL23R polymorphisms influence phenotype and response to therapy in patients with ulcerative colitis.

Objective: We aimed to identify the clinical and genetic [IL23 receptor (IL23R) single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs)] predictors of response to therapy in patients with ulcerative colitis.

Patients And Methods: A total of 174 patients with ulcerative colitis, 99 women and 75 men, were included. The mean age of the patients was 47±15 years and the mean disease duration was 11±9 years.

TLR2-induced IL-10 production impairs neutrophil recruitment to infected tissues during neonatal bacterial sepsis.

Sepsis is the third most common cause of neonatal death, with Group B Streptococcus (GBS) being the leading bacterial agent. The pathogenesis of neonatal septicemia is still unsolved. We described previously that host susceptibility to GBS infection is due to early IL-10 production.

Functionalization of polydimethylsiloxane membranes to be used in the production of voice prostheses.

The voice is produced by the vibration of vocal cords which are located in the larynx. Therefore, one of the major consequences for patients subjected to laryngectomy is losing their voice. In these cases, a synthetic one-way valve set (voice prosthesis) can be implanted in order to allow restoration of speech.

Preparation of crystal-like periodic mesoporous phenylene-silica derivatized with ferrocene and its use as a catalyst for the oxidation of styrene.

The surface silanol groups in crystal-like mesoporous phenylene-silica have been derivatized with trimethylsilyl, benzyldimethylsilyl and dimethylsilyl(ferrocene) groups by performing a post-synthetic grafting reaction with the corresponding chlorosilane precursors. The success of the grafting procedure was demonstrated by transmission FT-IR spectroscopy and diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS), and (13)C and (29)Si magic-angle spinning (MAS) NMR spectroscopy. Powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and N2 adsorption data for the modified materials indicated preservation of the mesostructure as well as the molecular-scale periodicity in the pore walls.

Diagnostic value and cost-benefit analysis of 24 hours ambulatory blood pressure monitoring in primary care in Portugal.

Background: Hypertensive patients (HTs) are usually attended in primary care (PC). We aimed to assess the diagnostic accuracy and cost-benefit ratio of 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) in all newly diagnosed hypertensive patients (HTs) attended in PC.

Methods: In a cross-sectional study ABPM was recorded in all 336 never treated HTs (Office BP ≥140 and/or ≥ 90 mm Hg) that were admitted during 16 months.

Discrepancies of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase resistance interpretation of insertions and deletions between two genotypic algorithms.

Background: Bioinformatics algorithms have been developed for the interpretation of resistance from sequence submission, which supports clinical decision making. This study evaluated divergences of the interpretation of the genotyping in two commonly used algorithms, using sequences with indels of reverse transcriptase genes.

Methods: Sequences were obtained from virus RNA of patients failing highly active antiretroviral therapy from 2004 to 2011.

Group B Streptococcus hijacks the host plasminogen system to promote brain endothelial cell invasion.

Group B Streptococcus (GBS) is the leading cause of meningitis in neonates. We have previously shown that plasminogen, once recruited to the GBS cell surface and converted into plasmin by host-derived activators, leads to an enhancement of bacterial virulence. Here, we investigated whether plasmin(ogen) bound at the GBS surface contributes to blood-brain barrier penetration and invasion of the central nervous system.

High resolution melting analysis of KRAS, BRAF and PIK3CA in KRAS exon 2 wild-type metastatic colorectal cancer.

Background: KRAS is an EGFR effector in the RAS/RAF/ERK cascade that is mutated in about 40% of metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). Activating mutations in codons 12 and 13 of the KRAS gene are the only established negative predictors of response to anti-EGFR therapy and patients whose tumors harbor such mutations are not candidates for therapy. However, 40 to 60% of wild-type cases do not respond to anti-EGFR therapy, suggesting the involvement of other genes that act downstream of EGFR in the RAS-RAF-MAPK and PI3K-AKT pathways or activating KRAS mutations at other locations of the gene.

Microwave assisted N-alkylation of amine functionalized crystal-like mesoporous phenylene-silica.

N-alkylation reaction of amine functionalized phenylene moieties in crystal-like mesoporous silica is successfully achieved with about 87% of conversion in two reaction cycles. A potassium iodide catalyzed method commonly used for the selective N-monoalkylation of aniline is adapted and optimized to the N-monoalkylation reactions of the amine functionalized periodic mesoporous phenylene-silica (NH2-PMO) under microwave irradiation with preservation of the ordered mesostructure and of the crystal-like molecular scale periodicity of the material. This functionalization opens an avenue for the preparation of new materials with different amino-alkyl groups specially designed for a desired application, namely on the adsorption or catalytic fields.

Platelet oxygen consumption as a peripheral blood marker of brain energetics in a mouse model of severe neurotoxicity.

Interactions of chemicals with cerebral cellular systems are often accompanied by similar changes involving components in non-neural tissues. On this basis, indirect strategies have been developed to investigate neural cell function parameters by methods using accessible cells, including platelets and/or peripheral blood lymphocytes. Therefore, here it was investigated whether peripheral blood markers may be useful for assessing the central toxic effects of methylmercury (MeHg).

Thermodynamic stability and relaxation studies of small, triaza-macrocyclic Mn(II) chelates.

Due to its favorable relaxometric properties, Mn(2+) is an appealing metal ion for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agents. This paper reports the synthesis and characterization of three new triazadicarboxylate-type ligands and their Mn(2+) chelates (NODAHep, 1,4,7-triazacyclononane-1,4-diacetate-7-heptanil; NODABA, 1,4,7-triazacyclononane-1,4-diacetate-7-benzoic acid; and NODAHA, 1,4,7-triazacyclononane-1,4-diacetate-7-hexanoic acid). The protonation constants of the ligands and the stability constants of the chelates formed with Mn(2+) and the endogenous Zn(2+) ion have been determined by potentiometry.