Cocoa effects on blood pressure, endothelial function, and inflammation: a systematic review

Hypertension has affected 1,13 billion people worldwide and is one of the main risk factors for cardiovascular disease, which has a high mortality rate. The aim of the study was to review the effect of cocoa on systolic and diastolic blood pressure in hypertensive patients, and its alterations in endothelial function and inflammation. We searched PubMed, Scopus, Science Direct, Lilacs and MedLine databases in August 2018. Inclusion criteria were limited to hypertensive individuals, cardiovascular diseases, intervention and randomized clinical studies; published since 2000 and in English, Spanish and Portuguese languages. A total of 433 articles were found in the search, which 13 met the inclusion criteria. The trials had a sample of 19 to 122 participants. The cocoa was offeredas chocolate bars and cocoa beverage. Chocolate bars doses ranged from 6 g to 100 g/ day and cocoa powder doses ranged from 5 g to 31 g/ day. Intervention ranged from 2 to 18 weeks. The results observed revealed a significant blood pressure-reducing effect of cocoa, an increase in flow-mediated dilation in the evaluation of endothelial function, and no changes in antioxidant and anti-inflammatory capacity were observed after intervention. The conclusion suggests that cocoa has a blood pressure lowering effect, but new studies are still required with hypertensive individuals so that their mechanisms are better evaluates and their efficacy proven

Integrative review on oral cancer

Objetivo: Analisar estudos nacional e internacional sobre o câncer bucal. Método: Trata-se de uma revisão integrativa da literatura. Foram selecionados 28 artigos que atenderam aos critérios de inclusão da pesquisa. Os dados foram processados no software IRAMUTEC e analisados pela classificação hierárquica descendente com base no dendograma. Resultados: Foram apresentados em 05 classes, a saber: 1-A prevenção e o tratamento das morbidades orais. 2- A reabilitação do paciente com câncer de boca. 3-Qualidade de vida dos pacientes em terapia para câncer bucal. 4- A equipe profissional multidisciplinar de saúde nos cuidados de prevenção do câncer oral. 5- O rastreio do câncer oral para diminuição da prevalência. Conclusão: O câncer oral é um grave problema de saúde pública no Brasil e no mundo.  Há necessidade de maiores investimentos nas pesquisas relacionadas com o câncer bucal e implementação das políticas públicas para o rastreio do câncer oral e diminuição da prevalência

Integrative review on oral cancer

Objetivo: Analisar estudos nacional e internacional sobre o câncer bucal. Método: Trata-se de uma revisão integrativa da literatura. Foram selecionados 28 artigos que atenderam aos critérios de inclusão da pesquisa. Os dados foram processados no software IRAMUTEC e analisados pela classificação hierárquica descendente com base no dendograma. Resultados: Foram apresentados em 05 classes, a saber: 1-A prevenção e o tratamento das morbidades orais. 2- A reabilitação do paciente com câncer de boca. 3-Qualidade de vida dos pacientes em terapia para câncer bucal. 4- A equipe profissional multidisciplinar de saúde nos cuidados de prevenção do câncer oral. 5- O rastreio do câncer oral para diminuição da prevalência. Conclusão: O câncer oral é um grave problema de saúde pública no Brasil e no mundo.  Há necessidade de maiores investimentos nas pesquisas relacionadas com o câncer bucal e implementação das políticas públicas para o rastreio do câncer oral e diminuição da prevalência

Integrative review on oral cancer

Objetivo: Analisar estudos nacional e internacional sobre o câncer bucal. Método: Trata-se de uma revisão integrativa da literatura. Foram selecionados 28 artigos que atenderam aos critérios de inclusão da pesquisa. Os dados foram processados no software IRAMUTEC e analisados pela classificação hierárquica descendente com base no dendograma. Resultados: Foram apresentados em 05 classes, a saber: 1-A prevenção e o tratamento das morbidades orais. 2- A reabilitação do paciente com câncer de boca. 3-Qualidade de vida dos pacientes em terapia para câncer bucal. 4- A equipe profissional multidisciplinar de saúde nos cuidados de prevenção do câncer oral. 5- O rastreio do câncer oral para diminuição da prevalência. Conclusão: O câncer oral é um grave problema de saúde pública no Brasil e no mundo.  Há necessidade de maiores investimentos nas pesquisas relacionadas com o câncer bucal e implementação das políticas públicas para o rastreio do câncer oral e diminuição da prevalência

Assessment of risk scores to predict mortality of COVID-19 patients admitted to the intensive care unit

ObjectivesTo assess the ABC2-SPH score in predicting COVID-19 in-hospital mortality, during intensive care unit (ICU) admission, and to compare its performance with other scores (SOFA, SAPS-3, NEWS2, 4C Mortality Score, SOARS, CURB-65, modified CHA2DS2-VASc, and a novel severity score).Materials and methodsConsecutive patients (≥ 18 years) with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 admitted to ICUs of 25 hospitals, located in 17 Brazilian cities, from October 2020 to March 2022, were included. Overall performance of the scores was evaluated using the Brier score. ABC2-SPH was used as the reference score, and comparisons between ABC2-SPH and the other scores were performed by using the Bonferroni method of correction. The primary outcome was in-hospital mortality.ResultsABC2-SPH had an area under the curve of 0.716 (95% CI 0.693–0.738), significantly higher than CURB-65, SOFA, NEWS2, SOARS, and modified CHA2DS2-VASc scores. There was no statistically significant difference between ABC2-SPH and SAPS-3, 4C Mortality Score, and the novel severity score.ConclusionABC2-SPH was superior to other risk scores, but it still did not demonstrate an excellent predictive ability for mortality in critically ill COVID-19 patients. Our results indicate the need to develop a new score, for this subset of patients

Educomunicação, Transformação Social e Desenvolvimento Sustentável

Esta publicação apresenta os principais trabalhos dos GTs do II Congresso Internacional de Comunicação e Educação nos temas Transformação social, com os artigos que abordam principalmente Educomunicação e/ou Mídia-Educação, no contexto de políticas de diversidade, inclusão e equidade; e, em Desenvolvimento Sustentável os artigos que abordam os avanços da relação comunicação/educação no contexto da educação ambiental e desenvolvimento sustentável

ATLANTIC EPIPHYTES: a data set of vascular and non-vascular epiphyte plants and lichens from the Atlantic Forest

Epiphytes are hyper-diverse and one of the frequently undervalued life forms in plant surveys and biodiversity inventories. Epiphytes of the Atlantic Forest, one of the most endangered ecosystems in the world, have high endemism and radiated recently in the Pliocene. We aimed to (1) compile an extensive Atlantic Forest data set on vascular, non-vascular plants (including hemiepiphytes), and lichen epiphyte species occurrence and abundance; (2) describe the epiphyte distribution in the Atlantic Forest, in order to indicate future sampling efforts. Our work presents the first epiphyte data set with information on abundance and occurrence of epiphyte phorophyte species. All data compiled here come from three main sources provided by the authors: published sources (comprising peer-reviewed articles, books, and theses), unpublished data, and herbarium data. We compiled a data set composed of 2,095 species, from 89,270 holo/hemiepiphyte records, in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay, recorded from 1824 to early 2018. Most of the records were from qualitative data (occurrence only, 88%), well distributed throughout the Atlantic Forest. For quantitative records, the most common sampling method was individual trees (71%), followed by plot sampling (19%), and transect sampling (10%). Angiosperms (81%) were the most frequently registered group, and Bromeliaceae and Orchidaceae were the families with the greatest number of records (27,272 and 21,945, respectively). Ferns and Lycophytes presented fewer records than Angiosperms, and Polypodiaceae were the most recorded family, and more concentrated in the Southern and Southeastern regions. Data on non-vascular plants and lichens were scarce, with a few disjunct records concentrated in the Northeastern region of the Atlantic Forest. For all non-vascular plant records, Lejeuneaceae, a family of liverworts, was the most recorded family. We hope that our effort to organize scattered epiphyte data help advance the knowledge of epiphyte ecology, as well as our understanding of macroecological and biogeographical patterns in the Atlantic Forest. No copyright restrictions are associated with the data set. Please cite this Ecology Data Paper if the data are used in publication and teaching events. © 2019 The Authors. Ecology © 2019 The Ecological Society of Americ

Inadequacy of Vitamin D Does Not Interfere with Body Weight Loss in Women of Reproductive Age after Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass

Objective: To assess the influence of vitamin D on body weight loss in women who had previously undergone Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB). Methodology: This is an analytical, longitudinal and retrospective study comprising 40 women of reproductive age who had previously undergone RYGB. To investigate the influence of the serum concentrations of vitamin D on body weight reduction, the variables were analyzed in the pre-operative period (T0), in the first (T1) and in the second postoperative year (T2) and were stratified according to the BMI measured in T1 and T2. In addition, in the pre-operative period, participants were subdivided into groups based on adequacy (G1), deficiency (G2) and insufficiency (G3), according to their serum concentrations of vitamin D. Results: Although weight loss occurred in a substantial way in T1, it continued to decrease in T2 (p = 0.017). The women who reached normal weight within two years of surgery showed the lowest vitamin D concentrations preoperatively when compared to those who were overweight (p = 0.011). Women with preoperative vitamin D deficiency showed increased concentrations in the assessed times (p p = 0.001) occurred in women with adequacy. Conclusion: The study showed that inadequacy of vitamin D does not interfere with weight loss in the two-year-follow-up after RYGB and highlights that vitamin D can present a differentiated response postoperatively, to the detriment of the pre-operative period

Integrative review on oral cancer

Objetivo: Analisar estudos nacional e internacional sobre o câncer bucal. Método: Trata-se de uma revisão integrativa da literatura. Foram selecionados 28 artigos que atenderam aos critérios de inclusão da pesquisa. Os dados foram processados no software IRAMUTEC e analisados pela classificação hierárquica descendente com base no dendograma. Resultados: Foram apresentados em 05 classes, a saber: 1-A prevenção e o tratamento das morbidades orais. 2- A reabilitação do paciente com câncer de boca. 3-Qualidade de vida dos pacientes em terapia para câncer bucal. 4- A equipe profissional multidisciplinar de saúde nos cuidados de prevenção do câncer oral. 5- O rastreio do câncer oral para diminuição da prevalência. Conclusão: O câncer oral é um grave problema de saúde pública no Brasil e no mundo.  Há necessidade de maiores investimentos nas pesquisas relacionadas com o câncer bucal e implementação das políticas públicas para o rastreio do câncer oral e diminuição da prevalência

Altered superoxide dismutase-1 activity and intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1) levels in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Inflammation and oxidative stress are linked to type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). In this work, we analyzed patients' blood markers of antioxidant capacity, oxidative stress and inflammation in individuals with T2DM, in pre-diabetes state (pre-DM) and controls without diabetes. Patients were divided into three groups, according to glycated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c): 9%. Superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) activities, total thiols, nitric oxide (•NO), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1) levels of the individuals were measured. Plasma SOD activity was higher in T2DM subjects compared to the controls. While total thiols levels were lower in T2DM groups when compared to pre-DM, the values remained unchanged when compared to controls. ICAM-1 levels of T2DM groups were lower than in controls, while GPx activity, •NO, and TNF-α levels were similar among all groups. A positive correlation was found between SOD and HbA1c levels. Concluding, individuals with T2DM present altered SOD activity, total thiols, and ICAM-1 levels, which might contribute to further complications. There is a positive correlation between SOD activity and HbA1c levels. No apparent correlation exists between total thiols and ICAM-1 levels and with any other of the parameters evaluated in this study