Genetic relationships within and among Iberian fescues (Festuca L.) based on PCR-amplified markers

The genus Festuca comprises approximately 450 species and is widely distributed around the world. The Iberian Penninsula, with more than 100 taxa colonizing very diverse habitats, is one of its main centers of diversification. This study was conducted to assess molecular genetic variation and genetic relatedness among 91 populations of 31 taxa of Iberian fescues, based on several molecular markers (random amplified polymorphic DNA, amplified fragment length polymorphisms, and trnL sequences). The analyses showed the paraphyletic origin of the broad-leaved (subgenus Festuca, sections Scariosae and Subbulbosae, and subgenus Schedonorus) and the fine-leaved fescues (subgenus Festuca, sections Aulaxyper, Eskia, and Festuca). Schedonorus showed a weak relationship with Lolium rigidum and appeared to be the most recent of the broad-leaved clade. Section Eskia was the most ancient and Festuca the most recent of the fine-leaved clade. Festuca and Aulaxyper were the most related sections, in concordance with their taxonomic affinities. All taxa grouped into their sections, except F. ampla and F. capillifolia (section Festuca), which appeared to be more closely related to Aulaxyper and to a new independent section, respectively. Most populations clustered at the species level, but some subspecies and varieties mixed their populations. This study demonstrated the value in combining different molecular markers to uncover hidden genetic relationships between populations of Festuca

Modes of exercise training for intermittent claudication

Background According to international guidelines and literature, all patients with intermittent claudication should receive an initial treatment of cardiovascular risk modification, lifestyle coaching, and supervised exercise therapy. In the literature, supervised exercise therapy often consists of treadmill or track walking. However, alternative modes of exercise therapy have been described and yielded similar results to walking. This raises the following question: which exercise mode produces the most favourable results? This is the first update of the original review published in 2014.ObjectivesTo assess the effects of alternative modes of supervised exercise therapy compared to traditional walking exercise in patients with intermittent claudication.Search methodsThe Cochrane Vascular Information Specialist searched the Cochrane Vascular Specialised Register, CENTRAL, MEDLINE, Embase and CINAHL databases and World Health Organization International Clinical Trials Registry Platform and ClinicalTrials.gov trials registers to 4 March 2019. We also undertook reference checking, citation searching and contact with study authors to identify additional studies. No language restriction was applied.Selection criteriaWe included parallel-group randomised controlled trials comparing alternative modes of exercise training or combinations of exercise modes with a control group of supervised walking exercise in patients with clinically determined intermittent claudication. The supervised walking programme needed to be supervised at least twice a week for a consecutive six weeks of training.Data collection and analysisTwo review authors independently selected studies, extracted data, and assessed the risk of bias for each study. As we included studies with different treadmill test protocols and different measuring units (metres, minutes, or seconds), the standardised mean difference (SMD) approach was used for summary statistics of mean walking distance (MWD) and pain-free walking distance (PFVVD). Summary estimates were obtained for all outcome measures using a random-effects model. We used the GRADE approach to assess the certainty of the evidence.Main results For this update, five additional studies were included, making a total of 10 studies that randomised a total of 527 participants with intermittent claudication (IC). The alternative modes of exercise therapy included cycling, lower-extremity resistance training, upper-arm ergometry, Nordic walking, and combinations of exercise modes. Besides randomised controlled trials, two quasi-randomised trials were included.Overall risk of bias in included studies varied from high to low. According to GRADE criteria, the certainty of the evidence was downgraded to low, due to the relatively small sample sizes, clinical inconsistency, and inclusion of three studies with risk of bias concerns. Overall, comparing alternative exercise modes versus walking showed no clear differences for MVVD at 12 weeks (standardised mean difference (SMD)-0.01, 950/o confidence interval (CI)-0.29 to 0.27; P = 0.95; 6 studies; 274 participants; low-certainty evidence); or at the end of training (SMD-0.11, 95% CI-0.33 to 0.11; P = 0.32; 9 studies; 412 participants; low-certainty evidence). Similarly, no clear differences were detected in PFWD at 12 weeks (SMD-0.01, 950/o CI-0.26 to 0.25; P= 0.97; 5 studies; 249 participants; low-certainty evidence); or at the end of training (SMD-0.06, 95% CI-0.30 to 0.17; P = 0.59; 8 studies, 382 participants; low-certainty evidence). Four studies reported on health-related quality of life (HR-QoL) and three studies reported on functional impairment. As the studies used different measurements, meta-analysis was only possible for the walking impairment questionnaire (WIQ) distance score, which demonstrated little or no difference between groups (MD-5.52, 95% CI-17A1 to 6.36; P = 0.36; 2 studies; 96 participants; low-certainty evidence).Authors' conclusionsThis review found no clear difference between alternative exercise modes and supervised walking exercise in improving the maximum and pain-free walking distance in patients with intermittent claudication. The certainty of this evidence was judged to be low, due to clinical inconsistency, small sample size and risk of bias concerns. The findings of this review indicate that alternative exercise modes may be useful when supervised walking exercise is not an option. More RCTs with adequate methodological quality and sufficient power are needed to provide solid evidence for comparisons between each alternative exercise mode and the current standard of supervised treadmill walking. Future RCTs should investigate outcome measures on walking behaviour, physical activity, cardiovascular risk, and HRQoL, using standardised testing methods and reporting of outcomes to allow meaningful comparison across studies.</p

Movement of the combined oral contraceptive drug treatment in pharmacy "Mēness aptieka - 80"

Kombinētie orālie kontraceptīvie līdzekļi ir hormonāli izveidota medikamentozā terapija, kas satur sintētiskos sieviešu hormonu analogus. Mūsdienās kombinētie kontraceptīvi ir vieni no visplašāk izrakstītajiem un izmantotajiem galveniem pretapaugļošanas preparātiem, kuri nomāc reproduktīvajā sistēmā ovulāciju, tādējādi ietekmējot apaugļošanās funkcijas, kas tiek raksturota, kā pozitīva KOK ietekme. Šī darba mērķis bija noskaidrot, kādas ir iespējamās visplašāk nozīmētās KOK medikamentozās terapijas, vadoties pēc aptaujāto respondentu vecuma, diagnozi, kā arī noteikt pacientu informētību par pareizu un adekvātu KOK medikamentozās terapijas lietošanu. Tika iegūti rezultāti, ka kombinēto orālo kontracepciju lietošanas pieaugums ir pacientu vecuma no 21 līdz 24 gadiem un no 29 līdz 35 gadiem. Visvairāk un visbiežāk KOK medikamentozā terapijas tiek izmantota kā kontracepcijas jeb pretapaugļošanās līdzeklis vai hormonālā disbalansa regulēšanā. No 58 respondentēm 43 norādīja KOK medikamentozas terapijas laikā, lieto arī citus medikamentus. Visvairāk lietojamas medikamentu grupas KOK lietošanas laikā ir dažādu antibiotiku terapijas kursi. Savukārt izvērtējot norādītās atbildes par KOK terapijas pareizu un precīzu lietošanu, tiek secināts, ka lielākā daļa pacientes ir informētas par KOK terapijas lietošanas principiem, bet 24 respondentes norādīja, ka neievēro pareizu KOK terapijas lietošanu.Combined oral contraceptives are hormonal drug therapy containing synthetic female hormonal analogues. Combined contraceptives are now among the most widely prescribed and used as major contraceptives that inhibit ovulation in the reproductive system by affecting the fertilization function, which is characterized as a positive effect of COPD. The aim of this work was to find out the possible diagnosis of the most widely prescribed COC medications based on the age of the respondents, as well as to find out if patients are inform about the correct and adequate use of COC medication. The performed analysis of the data showed that most of COC is using patients from aged 21 to 24 years and between 29 and 35 years. The most commonly COC medication is used as contraceptive method or for hormonal imbalance regulation. Of the 58 respondents, 43 reported that using COCs medication there were using another group of medication, most commonly used medication group- antibiotics. Assessing the answers for the correct and accurate use of COC therapy, it is concluded that most patients are aware of the using principles of COC therapy, while 24 respondents indicated that they did or do not follow the correct using method for COC therapy

Effects of metformin on microgliosis, cholinergic neurotransmission and synaptic density in sporadic Alzheimer's disease-type pathology

Šajā pētījumā noteica perorāli ievadīta metformīna (75 mg/kg un 100 mg/kg devās) efektus uz vairākiem sporādiskās Alcheimera slimības tipa modeļžurku smadzeņu procesiem: neiroiekaisumu, sinapšu blīvuma samazināšanos un acetilholīnesterāzes aktivitāti. Pētījuma rezultāti parāda, ka abās devās metformīns spēj novērst mikrogliozi, sinaptiskā blīvuma samazināšanos un normalizēt acetilholīnesterāzes blīvumu modeļžurku smadzenēs. Iegūtie dati norāda uz metformīna neiroprotektīvo potenciālu sporādiskās Alcheimera slimības patoloģisko izmaiņu novēršanu. Nepieciešami tālākie pētījumi, lai uzzinātu visu metformīna neiroprotektīva potenciāla klāstu sAD-tipa modelī.In this study, the effects of peroral metformin at doses of 75 mg/kg and 100 mg/kg were assessed in sporadic Alzheimer’s disease-type model-rats on the following processes: neuroinflammation, synaptic density and acetylcholine esterase activity. Results of the study show that metformin at both doses were able to prevent microgliosis, decrease in synaptic density and elevated acetylcholinesterase density in the brain of model animals. Obtained data indicate the neuroprotective potential of metformin in the prevention of pathological changes observed in the sporadic Alzheimer's disease. Further studies are required to discover the full neuroprotective potential of metformin in sAD-type model

Course and treatment of COVID-19 infection in HIV infected patients

Klīniskā farmācijaVeselības aprūpeClinical PharmacyHealth CareŠajā pētījumā noskaidroja COVID-19 infekcijas gaitas smaguma pakāpi HIV inficētiem pacientiem, analizējot pacientu letālo iznākumu biežumu no COVID-19 remdesivira pielietošanas rezultātus HIV inficētiem pacientiem, kas slimo ar COVID-19 infekciju un abpusējo pneimoniju. Pētījuma rezultāti rāda, ka HIV saguma pakāne neietekmē COVID-19 gaitu, letalitātes biežuma cēlonis nav atkarīgs no COVID-19 HIV inficetām personām. Remdesivira pielietošanas rezultāts HIV inficētiem pacientiem ar COVID-19 infekciju un abpusējo pneimoniju uzrādija pozitīvu rezultātu. Iegūtie dati norāda, ka nepastāv pārliecinošu pierādījumu, kas norādītu, ka HIV inficētam pacientiem ir lielāka iespēja saslimt ar COVID-19 infekciju.In this study, determined the severity of the course of COVID-19 infection in HIV-infected patients by analyzing the mortality rate from COVID-19 as a result of the use of remdesivir in HIV-infected patients with COVID-19 infection and bilateral pneumonia. The results of the study show that the effect of the severe stage of HIV on the course of COVID-19, the fatality rate does not depend on COVID-19 in HIV-infected persons, and the result of the use of remdesivir in HIV-infected patients with COVID-19 infection and bilateral pneumonia showed a positive result. The obtained data indicate the susceptibility of HIV-infected patients to contract COVID19, just like the rest of the population through airborne transmissio

Genetic variation and population structure of three Trifolium species

Three diploid Trifolium (Fabaceae) species, T. campestre, T.fragiferum and T. montanum, were electrophoretically assayed to elucidate the range and organization of genetic variation in relation to the mating system, reproduction mode and longevity of the species. T. campestre is an annual self-pollinated species. T.fragiferum and T. montanum are cross-pollinated perennials. The former species reproduces both sexually and vegetatively, whereas the latter relies solely on sexual reproduction. Several populations of each species collected throughout Poland were surveyed for 15 enzymes. The measures of variation included: proportion of polymorphic loci per population, average number of alleles per locus, average gene diversity (He) and genetic distance (D). To describe the organization of diversity in each species, total genetic variation per locus (Ht) was calculated and partitioned into intra-(Hs) and inter-(Dst) populational components. Both cross-pollinated species had more polymorphic loci, higher numbers of alleles per locus and higher level of diversity than self-pollinated T. campestre. Most of genetic variation of the latter species was allocated among populations unlike in T.fragiferum and T. montanum