Body composition in clinical practice

Nutritional status is the results of nutrients intake, absorption and utilization, able to influence physiological and pathological conditions. Nutritional status can be measured for individuals with different techniques, such as CT Body Composition, quantitative Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Ultrasound, Dual-Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry and Bioimpendance. Because obesity is becoming a worldwide epidemic, there is an increasing interest in the study of body composition to monitor conditions and delay in development of obesity-related diseases. The emergence of these evidence demonstrates the need of standard assessment of nutritional status based on body weight changes, playing an important role in several clinical setting, such as in quantitative measurement of tissues and their fluctuations in body composition, in survival rate, in pathologic condition and illnesses. Since body mass index has been shown to be an imprecise measurement of fat-free and fat mass, body cell mass and fluids, providing no information if weight changes, consequently there is the need to find a better way to evaluate body composition, in order to assess fat-free and fat mass with weight gain and loss, and during ageing. Monitoring body composition can be very useful for nutritional and medical interventional. This review is focused on the use of Body Composition in Clinical Practice

Planejamento da atividade leiteira: sugestões para os produtores iniciantes.

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Targeting CD20 in the treatment of interstitial lung diseases related to connective tissue diseases: A systematic review

INTRODUCTION: The effectiveness of CD20 targeting in connective tissue diseases (CTD) with lung involvement is controversial. This paper aims to review the current evidence about rituximab (RTX) use in CTD-related interstitial lung disease (ILD). METHODS: We performed a systematic review of papers published between January 2009 and May 2019. We included clinical trials, case/control studies and cohort studies. We excluded letters, case reports, case series, reviews, and full articles when not in English. The selected studies listed as primary or secondary outcome a variation in pulmonary function tests or in the scores used to radiologically stage lung involvement, in CTD-related ILD patients after RTX. RESULTS: Out of 1206 potentially eligible articles, 24 papers were selected: 3 retrospectively described cohorts of patients with different CTD, 14 dealt with systemic sclerosis (SSc)-related ILD, 5 with idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIMs)-related ILD, and 2 with Sjögren's Syndrome-related ILD. A direct comparison of the selected studies was hampered by their heterogeneity for outcomes, follow-up duration, the severity of lung involvement, and clinical features of study populations. However, an overall agreement existed concerning the effectiveness of RTX in the stabilization of lung disease, with some studies reporting an improvement of functional parameters from baseline. IIM-related ILD appeared more responsive than other CTD-related ILD to CD20 targeting. CONCLUSION: RTX is a promising therapeutic tool in CTD-related ILD. This systematic review remarks the unmet need of multicenter prospective studies aiming to evaluate the effectiveness of RTX with adequate sample size and study design

Experimental study of fusion neutron and proton yields produced by petawatt-laser-irradiated D2-3He or CD4-3He clustering gases

We report on experiments in which the Texas Petawatt laser irradiated a mixture of deuterium or deuterated methane clusters and helium-3 gas, generating three types of nuclear fusion reactions: D(d, 3He)n, D(d, t)p and 3He(d, p)4He. We measured the yields of fusion neutrons and protons from these reactions and found them to agree with yields based on a simple cylindrical plasma model using known cross sections and measured plasma parameters. Within our measurement errors, the fusion products were isotropically distributed. Plasma temperatures, important for the cross sections, were determined by two independent methods: (1) deuterium ion time-of-flight, and (2) utilizing the ratio of neutron yield to proton yield from D(d, 3He)n and 3He(d, p)4He reactions, respectively. This experiment produced the highest ion temperature ever achieved with laser-irradiated deuterium clusters.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figure

Temperature measurements of fusion plasmas produced by petawatt laser-irradiated D2-3He or CD4-3He clustering gases

Two different methods have been employed to determine the plasma temperature in a laser-cluster fusion experiment on the Texas Petawatt laser. In the first, the temperature was derived from time-of-flight data of deuterium ions ejected from exploding D2 or CD4 clusters. In the second, the temperature was measured from the ratio of the rates of two different nuclear fusion reactions occurring in the plasma at the same time: D(d, 3He)n and 3He(d, p)4He. The temperatures determined by these two methods agree well, which indicates that: i) The ion energy distribution is not significantly distorted when ions travel in the disassembling plasma; ii) The kinetic energy of deuterium ions, especially the hottest part responsible for nuclear fusion, is well described by a near-Maxwellian distribution.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figure

Classic Bioelectrical Impedance Vector Reference Values for Assessing Body Composition in Male and Female Athletes

Bioimpedance standards are well established for the normal healthy population and in clinical settings, but they are not available for many sports categories. The aim of this study was to develop reference values for male and female athletes using classic bioimpedance vector analysis (BIVA). In this study, 1556 athletes engaged in different sports were evaluated during their off-season period. A tetrapolar bioelectrical impedance analyzer was used to determine measurements of resistance (R) and reactance (Xc). The classic BIVA procedure, which corrects bioelectrical values for body height, was applied, and fat-free mass, fat mass, and total body water were estimated. In order to verify the need for specific references, classic bioelectrical values were compared to the reference values for the general male and female populations. Additionally, athletes were divided into three groups: endurance, velocity/power, and team sports. In comparison with the general healthy male and female populations, the mean vectors of the athletes showed a shift to the left on the R-Xc graph. Considering the same set of modalities, BIVA confidence graphs showed that male and female endurance athletes presented lower body fluids, fat mass, and fat-free mass than other sets of modalities. This study provides BIVA reference values for an athletic population that can be used as a standard for assessing body composition in male and female athletes

Single-shot electrons and protons time-resolved detection from high-intensity laser–solid matter interactions at SPARC_LAB

Laser–plasma interactions have been studied in detail over the past twenty years, as they show great potential for the next generation of particle accelerators. The interaction between an ultra-intense laser and a solid-state target produces a huge amount of particles: electrons and photons (X-rays and γ -rays) at early stages of the process, with protons and ions following them. At SPARC_LAB Test Facility we have set up two diagnostic lines to perform simultaneous temporally resolved measurements on both electrons and protons