Validation of a cable speedometer for butterfly evaluation

Getting fast results from the evaluation of swimmers is one of the most important goals to achieve with technological development in the field. The purpose of this study was to validate a real-time velocimetric device (speedometer) through the comparison of their results with computer assisted videogrametry. The sample included 7 international level swimmers (3 females and 4 males). Each swimmer performed four 25m trials, two at 200m race pace and two at 50m race pace. For each trial, two stroke cycles were studied, resulting on a total of 28 cycles SWIMMING EVALUATION, ADVICE AND BIOFEEDBACK Rev Port Cien Desp 6(Supl.2) 201–282 237 analysed. Hip v(t) curves obtained from speedometer and videogrametry were compared, as well as the speedometer hip curve with the one of the centre of mass (CM). The higher mean correlation obtained was between vhip1 and vhip2 (0.955±0.028), followed by vhip1 with vCM (0.920±0.049). The lower correlation was vhip2 vs. vCM (0.878±0.053). It was concluded that the speedometer is a reliable, fast and interactive tool for training advice

CICATRIZAÇÃO SECUNDÁRIA EM FERIDAS DERMOEPIDÉRMICAS TRATADAS COM ÁCIDOS GRAXOS ESSENCIAIS, VITAMINAS A e E, LECITINA DE SOJA E IODO POLIVINILPIRROLIDONA EM CÃES

Com o objetivo de avaliar os efeitos da solução contendo ácidos graxos essenciais, lecitina de soja e vitaminas A e E sobre a cicatrização secundária de feridas dermoepidérmicas, observou-se a evolução da reparação tecidual em nove cães machos, SRD, com idade variando entre três e cinco anos e peso de 12 kg em média. Para isto, em cada paciente foram produzidos dois defeitos de pele, medindo 6cm de altura (sentido dorsoventral) x 4cm de largura (sentido craniocaudal) em ambas as faces laterais do tórax e do abdome, sendo que nas lesões do lado esquerdo procedeu-se a avaliação física e mensuração diária, enquanto que nas feridas do lado direito, realizou-se biópsia incisional a cada dois dias. Nas lesões abdominais esquerdas, tratadas com ácidos graxos e curativos úmidos com solução fisiológica 0,9%, tanto macro como microscopicamente, observou-se inflamação aguda durante os três primeiros dias, sendo esta seguida pelos eventos de granulação, contração e reepitelização completa até o 25º dia. Nas feridas torácicas esquerdas, expostas ao iodo polivinilpirrolidona e curativos úmidos, constatouse a predominância dos eventos inflamatórios agudos por sete dias, seguida dos fenômenos proliferativos, de contração e completa reepitelização até o 31º dia pós cirúrgico. A ausência de sinais compatíveis com toxicidade sistêmica e a mais rápida cicatrização das lesões tratadas com ácidos graxos, permitem a indicação desta solução para o tratamento de feridas abertas dermoepidérmicas, em cães. Secondary cicatrization in dermoepidermal wounds treated with essential fatty acids, vitamins A and E, soy lecithin and polynylpyrrolidone-iodine in dogs Abstract The effects of a solution containing essential fatty acids, soy lecithin and vitamins A and E in the healing of canine second intention dermoepidermal wounds were evaluated. In order to observe evolution of the tissue repair. Nine male, mixed breed dogs, with age varying between three and five years and average weight of 12 kg, were used in the experiment. Skin wounds were surgically performed in each dog. Two defects (6 x 4 cm) were performed in both thoracic and abdominal lateral faces of the animals. Daily physical evaluation and measurement were analyzed in the lesions situated on the left side, while incisional biopsy every other day was performed in the right side lesions. The left abdominal lesions, treated with fatty acids and humid curatives with physiologic solution 0.9 %, showed macro and microscopic changes such as acute inflammation during the firs three days. After this period and until the 25th day, granulation tissue followed by contraction events and total reepitelization were observed. The left thoracic lesions, treated with povidone-iodine and humid curatives, showed predominance of acute inflammatory events during the first seven days; these events were followed by proliferative and contraction events and by the total recovery of the epithelial surface until the 31st day after the surgery. In conclusion, the absence of compatible signs with systemic toxicity and the fastest healing of the lesions treated with fatty acids allow its indication for dermoepidermal wound treatment in dogs

Structure-antifouling activity relationship and molecular targets of bio-inspired(Thio)xanthones

The development of alternative ecological and effective antifouling technologies is still challenging. Synthesis of nature-inspired compounds has been exploited, given the potential to assure commercial supplies of potential ecofriendly antifouling agents. In this direction, the antifouling activity of a series of nineteen synthetic small molecules, with chemical similarities with natural products, were exploited in this work. Six (4, 5, 7, 10, 15 and 17) of the tested xanthones showed in vivo activity toward the settlement of Mytilus galloprovincialis larvae (EC50: 3.53–28.60 µM) and low toxicity to this macrofouling species (LC50 > 500 µM and LC50/EC50: 17.42–141.64), and two of them (7 and 10) showed no general marine ecotoxicity (<10% of Artemia salina mortality) after 48 h of exposure. Regarding the mechanism of action in mussel larvae, the best performance compounds 4 and 5 might be acting by the inhibition of acetylcholinesterase activity (in vitro and in silico studies), while 7 and 10 showed specific targets (proteomic studies) directly related with the mussel adhesive structure (byssal threads), given by the alterations in the expression of Mytilus collagen proteins (PreCols) and proximal thread proteins (TMPs). A quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) model was built with predictive capacity to enable speeding the design of new potential active compounds.This research was supported by national funds through FCT - Foundation for Science and Technology within the scope of UIDB/04423/2020 and UIDP/04423/2020 and under the project PTDC/AAG-TEC/0739/2014 (reference POCI-01-0145-FEDER-016793) supported through national funds provided by FCT and ERDF - European Regional Development Fund through the COMPETE - Programa Operacional Factores de Competitividade (POFC) programme and RIDTI - Reforçar a Investigação, o Desenvolvimento Tecnológico e a Inovação (project 9471) and the project NASCEM PTDC/BTA-BTA/31422/2017 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-031422) also financed by FCT, COMPETE2020 and PORTUGAL2020

Tritordeum breads are well tolerated with preference over gluten-free breads in non-celiac wheat-sensitive patients and its consumption induce changes in gut bacteria

BACKGROUND The ingestion of wheat and other cereals are related to several gut disorders. The specific components responsible for non-celiac wheat-sensitivity (NCWS) may include gluten and other compounds. Tritordeum is a new cereal derived from crossing durum wheat with a wild barley species, which differs from bread wheat in its gluten composition. In the present work, we examined the response of NCWS patients to tritordeum bread Gastrointestinal symptoms as well as tritordeum acceptability, gluten immunogenic peptides excretion, and the composition and structure of the intestinal microbiota were evaluated. RESULTS Gastrointestinal symptoms of the subjects showed no significant change between the gluten-free bread and the tritordeum bread. Participating subjects rated tritordeum bread higher than the gluten-free bread. Analysis of the bacterial gut microbiota indicated that tritordeum consumption does not alter the global structure and composition of the intestinal microbiota, and only a few changes in some butyrate-producing bacteria were observed. CONCLUSIONS All the results derived from acceptability, biochemical and microbiological tests suggest that tritordeum may be tolerated by a sub-set of NCWS sufferers who do not require strict exclusion of gluten from their diet. (c) 2020 Society of Chemical Industry

The first genetic landscape of inherited retinal dystrophies in Portuguese patients identifies recurrent homozygous mutations as a frequent cause of pathogenesis.

Inherited retinal diseases (IRDs) are a group of ocular conditions characterized by an elevated genetic and clinical heterogeneity. They are transmitted almost invariantly as monogenic traits. However, with more than 280 disease genes identified so far, association of clinical phenotypes with genotypes can be very challenging, and molecular diagnosis is essential for genetic counseling and correct management of the disease. In addition, the prevalence and the assortment of IRD mutations are often population-specific. In this work, we examined 230 families from Portugal, with individuals suffering from a variety of IRD diagnostic classes (270 subjects in total). Overall, we identified 157 unique mutations (34 previously unreported) in 57 distinct genes, with a diagnostic rate of 76%. The IRD mutational landscape was, to some extent, different from those reported in other European populations, including Spanish cohorts. For instance, the EYS gene appeared to be the most frequently mutated, with a prevalence of 10% among all IRD cases. This was, in part, due to the presence of a recurrent and seemingly founder mutation involving the deletion of exons 13 and 14 of this gene. Moreover, our analysis highlighted that as many as 51% of our cases had mutations in a homozygous state. To our knowledge, this is the first study assessing a cross-sectional genotype-phenotype landscape of IRDs in Portugal. Our data reveal a rather unique distribution of mutations, possibly shaped by a small number of rare ancestral events that have now become prevalent alleles in patients

AutoMap is a high performance homozygosity mapping tool using next-generation sequencing data.

Homozygosity mapping is a powerful method for identifying mutations in patients with recessive conditions, especially in consanguineous families or isolated populations. Historically, it has been used in conjunction with genotypes from highly polymorphic markers, such as DNA microsatellites or common SNPs. Traditional software performs rather poorly with data from Whole Exome Sequencing (WES) and Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS), which are now extensively used in medical genetics. We develop AutoMap, a tool that is both web-based or downloadable, to allow performing homozygosity mapping directly on VCF (Variant Call Format) calls from WES or WGS projects. Following a training step on WES data from 26 consanguineous families and a validation procedure on a matched cohort, our method shows higher overall performances when compared with eight existing tools. Most importantly, when tested on real cases with negative molecular diagnosis from an internal set, AutoMap detects three gene-disease and multiple variant-disease associations that were previously unrecognized, projecting clear benefits for both molecular diagnosis and research activities in medical genetics

Boson-fermion stars: exploring different configurations

We use the flexibility of the concept of a fermion-boson star to explore different configurations, ranging from objects of atomic size and masses of the order $10^{18}$ g, up to objects of galactic masses and gigantic halos around a smaller core, with possible interesting applications to astrophysics and cosmology, particularly in the context of dark matter.Comment: 8 pages. Minor changes, new reference added and a few typos correcte

Partial sequence and toxic effects of granulitoxin, a neurotoxic peptide from the sea anemone Bunodosoma granulifera

A neurotoxic peptide, granulitoxin (GRX), was isolated from the sea anemone Bunodosoma granulifera. The N-terminal amino acid sequence of GRX is AKTGILDSDGPTVAGNSLSGT and its molecular mass is 4958 Da by electrospray mass spectrometry. This sequence presents a partial degree of homology with other toxins from sea anemones such as Bunodosoma caissarum, Anthopleura fuscoviridis and Anemonia sulcata. However, important differences were found: the first six amino acids of the sequence are different, Arg-14 was replaced by Ala and no cysteine residues were present in the partial sequence, while two cysteine residues were present in the first 21 amino acids of other toxins described above. Purified GRX injected ip (800 µg/kg) into mice produced severe neurotoxic effects such as circular movements, aggressive behavior, dyspnea, tonic-clonic convulsion and death. The 2-h LD50 of GRX was 400 ± 83 µg/kg