Energy metabolism: gluconeogenesis and oxidative phosphorylation

Most animal cells are able to meet their energy needs from the oxidation of various types of compounds: sugars, fatty acids, amino acids, but some tissues and cells of our body depend exclusively on glucose and the brain is the largest consumer of all. That is why the body has mechanisms in order to keep glucose levels stable. As it decreases, the degradation of hepatic glycogen occurs, which maintains the appropriate levels of blood glucose allowing its capture continues by those tissues, even in times of absence of food intake. But this reserve is limited, so another metabolic pathway is triggered for glucose production, which occurs in the kidneys and liver and is called gluconeogenesis, which means the synthesis of glucose from non-glucose compounds such as amino acids, lactate, and glycerol. Most stages of glycolysis use the same enzymes as glycolysis, but it makes the opposite sense and differs in three stages or also called deviations: the first is the conversion of pyruvate to oxaloacetate and oxaloacetate to phosphoenolpyruvate. The second deviation is the conversion of fructose 1,6 biphosphate to fructose 6 phosphate and the third and last deviation is the conversion of glucose 6 phosphate to glucose

Anti-inflammatory foods: human food patterns, bioactive principles and mechanisms of action

With the increase in life expectancy accompanied by the gradual decrease in the birth rate as well as the greater income distribution associated with the quantitative increase in the minimum wage above inflation and the increase in its purchasing power, today the Brazilian population shows a moment exactly opposite to that found in the last century both in epidemiological terms and in the nutritional pattern. Brazil is currently experiencing the same pattern of mortality as developed countries: the majority of chronic non-communicable diseases are the main cause of death associated with an established model of obesity and sedentarism. These factors incline the scientific community and health professionals to turn their efforts to find food solutions that ease this epidemiological picture and it is in this context that anti-inflammatory foods have gained prominence. The following describes the main compounds that fit this magnitude of effect and their mechanisms of action

Nutritional physical examination: historical, methodological and applied approach

The historical interest in the use of physical evaluation skills in clinical settings gained new notoriety at the end of the 20th century with evidence that patients in intensive care units experienced increased morbidity and mortality related to poor nutritional status before and/or during their admission. This awareness of the adverse effects of malnutrition led to the need for screening and evaluation tools to identify nutritional risk. no clinical finding of EFN should be considered a diagnosis per se. It is academic, scientific and clinical consensus that its results should be interpreted as suggestive, being crucial to consider the other methods of clinical evaluation of the patient\u27s nutritional status for the correct global nutritional diagnosis. However, the systematic and periodic repetition of the test may help to follow the evolution of the individual\u27s nutritional status, especially in the long term. In summary, although it requires specialized training and continuous practice of the evaluator and/or the team – in addition to requiring complementary nutritional information – the physical nutritional examination can still be considered an effective adjuvant method in the clinical evaluation of the patient’s nutritional status

Endocannabinoid system: conceptual parameters, history and therapeutic possibilities

Among the drugs considered illicit in the West, the Cannabis sativa plant is the most consumed: around 4% of the adult population, 10% of these users are in a situation of dependence. However, the medicinal use of this herb dates back to the early days of the emergence of our own species: some anthropologists theorize that some of the genus Homo has progressed in the struggle for survival with other hominids precisely because of the advanced knowledge – kept to the proper proportions – it possessed of plants like Cannabis. Millennia later, science – even focusing intensely on the chemical characterization of its more than 530 bioactive components – was still not able to generate verifiable hypotheses in order to explain two of the most remarkable characteristics of the recreational use of this plant: because small chemical changes potentiated the effect of the drug up to 100 times and, mainly, because it would be virtually impossible for an individual to suffer a lethal overdose of the substance. To overcome this paradigm, some compounds derived from delta-ninetetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC) - the main component of cannabis – were radioactively marked in an experimental study and, after their induction, it was discovered that they had tropism by brain membranes and that their binding was saturated and stereosleptic. Such evidence strongly suggested the existence of endogenous receptors for the drug and it was these findings that led to the discovery of the Endocanabinoid System (SEC): a physiological apparatus made up of endogenous receptors and binders, philogenetically conserved, responsible for several controls related to neuronal homeostasis

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear un derstanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5–7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8–11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world’s most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepre sented in biodiversity databases.13–15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may elim inate pieces of the Amazon’s biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological com munities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple or ganism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region’s vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most ne glected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lostinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Neurostimulation Combined With Cognitive Intervention in Alzheimer’s Disease (NeuroAD): Study Protocol of Double-Blind, Randomized, Factorial Clinical Trial

Despite advances in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), there is currently no prospect of a cure, and evidence shows that multifactorial interventions can benefit patients. A promising therapeutic alternative is the use of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) simultaneously with cognitive intervention. The combination of these non-pharmacological techniques is apparently a safe and accessible approach. This study protocol aims to compare the efficacy of tDCS and cognitive intervention in a double-blind, randomized and factorial clinical trial. One hundred participants diagnosed with mild-stage AD will be randomized to receive both tDCS and cognitive intervention, tDCS, cognitive intervention, or placebo. The treatment will last 8 weeks, with a 12-month follow-up. The primary outcome will be the improvement of global cognitive functions, evaluated by the AD Assessment Scale, cognitive subscale (ADAS-Cog). The secondary outcomes will include measures of functional, affective, and behavioral components, as well as a neurophysiological marker (Brain-derived neurotrophic factor, BDNF). This study will enable us to assess, both in the short and long term, whether tDCS is more effective than the placebo and to examine the effects of combined therapy (tDCS and cognitive intervention) and isolated treatments (tDCS vs. cognitive intervention) on patients with AD.Clinical Trial Registration: www.ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier NCT02772185—May 5, 2016

Impact of COVID-19 on cardiovascular testing in the United States versus the rest of the world

Objectives: This study sought to quantify and compare the decline in volumes of cardiovascular procedures between the United States and non-US institutions during the early phase of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the care of many non-COVID-19 illnesses. Reductions in diagnostic cardiovascular testing around the world have led to concerns over the implications of reduced testing for cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality. Methods: Data were submitted to the INCAPS-COVID (International Atomic Energy Agency Non-Invasive Cardiology Protocols Study of COVID-19), a multinational registry comprising 909 institutions in 108 countries (including 155 facilities in 40 U.S. states), assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on volumes of diagnostic cardiovascular procedures. Data were obtained for April 2020 and compared with volumes of baseline procedures from March 2019. We compared laboratory characteristics, practices, and procedure volumes between U.S. and non-U.S. facilities and between U.S. geographic regions and identified factors associated with volume reduction in the United States. Results: Reductions in the volumes of procedures in the United States were similar to those in non-U.S. facilities (68% vs. 63%, respectively; p = 0.237), although U.S. facilities reported greater reductions in invasive coronary angiography (69% vs. 53%, respectively; p < 0.001). Significantly more U.S. facilities reported increased use of telehealth and patient screening measures than non-U.S. facilities, such as temperature checks, symptom screenings, and COVID-19 testing. Reductions in volumes of procedures differed between U.S. regions, with larger declines observed in the Northeast (76%) and Midwest (74%) than in the South (62%) and West (44%). Prevalence of COVID-19, staff redeployments, outpatient centers, and urban centers were associated with greater reductions in volume in U.S. facilities in a multivariable analysis. Conclusions: We observed marked reductions in U.S. cardiovascular testing in the early phase of the pandemic and significant variability between U.S. regions. The association between reductions of volumes and COVID-19 prevalence in the United States highlighted the need for proactive efforts to maintain access to cardiovascular testing in areas most affected by outbreaks of COVID-19 infection

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear understanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5,6,7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8,9,10,11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world's most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepresented in biodiversity databases.13,14,15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may eliminate pieces of the Amazon's biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological communities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple organism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region's vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most neglected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lost

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear understanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5,6,7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8,9,10,11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world's most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepresented in biodiversity databases.13,14,15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may eliminate pieces of the Amazon's biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological communities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple organism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region's vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most neglected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lost