Oxidative stress and inflammatory parameters in adult patients presenting with celiac disease

Celiac disease is a chronic small intestinal inflammatory condition caused by an inappropriate immune response to gluten of wheat, rye and barley, with a prevalence of about 1: 100 in the Caucasian population when occurs a inflammatory response and seems to involve high levels of interleukins. Objective: Determine the presence of oxidative stress and inflammation in the gut of patients with CD. Methods: Transversal study that included patients undergoing upper gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopy was performed. The study population consisted 24 cases and 26 controls. The duodenal levels of protein carbonyls, thiobarbituric acid reactive species (TBARS), as well as catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities were measured. Gut levels of interleukin (IL) 6, 10 and 8 were also determined. The Marsh classification was recorded and used as a parameter of disease severity. Results: Both IL-6 and IL-10, but not IL8, were increased in CD patients when compared to healthy individuals. Oxidative damage parameters were increased while antioxidant defenses were decreased in our sample. Both IL6 levels and SOD activity were related to Marsh score. Conclusions: Different markers of inflammation and oxidative stress are altered in the gut of CD patients, and some of them are related to disease severity

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

Introduction to Surface Avatar: the First Heterogeneous Robotic Team to be Commanded with Scalable Autonomy from the ISS

Robotics is vital to the continued development toward Lunar and Martian exploration, in-situ resource utilization, and surface infrastructure construction. Large-scale extra-terrestrial missions will require teams of robots with different, complementary capabilities, together with a powerful, intuitive user interface for effective commanding. We introduce Surface Avatar, the newest ISS-to-Earth telerobotic experiment series, to be conducted in 2022-2024. Spearheaded by DLR, together with ESA, Surface Avatar builds on expertise on commanding robots with different levels of autonomy from our past telerobotic experiments: Kontur-2, Haptics, Interact, SUPVIS Justin, and Analog-1. A team of four heterogeneous robots in a multi-site analog environment at DLR are at the command of a crew member on the ISS. The team has a humanoid robot for dexterous object handling, construction and maintenance; a rover for long traverses and sample acquisition; a quadrupedal robot for scouting and exploring difficult terrains; and a lander with robotic arm for component delivery and sample stowage. The crew's command terminal is multimodal, with an intuitive graphical user interface, 3-DOF joystick, and 7-DOF input device with force-feedback. The autonomy of any robot can be scaled up and down depending on the task and the astronaut's preference: acting as an avatar of the crew in haptically-coupled telepresence, or receiving task-level commands like an intelligent co-worker. Through crew performing collaborative tasks in exploration and construction scenarios, we hope to gain insight into how to optimally command robots in a future space mission. This paper presents findings from the first preliminary session in June 2022, and discusses the way forward in the planned experiment sessions

Influence of the genetic background on the pattern of lesions developed by resistant and susceptible mice infected with Paracoccidioides brasiliensis.

Submitted by Gentil Jeorgina ([email protected]) on 2012-11-26T16:19:51Z No. of bitstreams: 1 In¯uence of the genetic background on the pattern.pdf: 890945 bytes, checksum: e1d1b0a92d76798c34e32b286a8a2084 (MD5)Made available in DSpace on 2012-11-26T16:19:51Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 In¯uence of the genetic background on the pattern.pdf: 890945 bytes, checksum: e1d1b0a92d76798c34e32b286a8a2084 (MD5) Previous issue date: 1999Universidade de São Paulo. Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas. Departamento de Imunologia. São Paulo, SP, Brasil.Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Oswaldo Cruz.Departamento de Patologia. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, BrasilUniversidade de São Paulo. Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas. Departamento de Imunologia. São Paulo, SP, Brasil.Universidade de São Paulo. Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas. Departamento de Imunologia. São Paulo, SP, Brasil.To compare the sequential evolution of lesions developed by resistant (A/Sn) and susceptible (B10.A) mice to Paracoccidioides brasiliensis infection we inoculated a virulent isolate of the fungus and collected the pancreas/peripancreatic omentum monthly (from 1 to 6 months) post infection. After fixation, tissue sections were stained by conventional methods for light microscopy to investigate the cellular composition, the extracellular matrix (ECM) patterns and the morphology of the yeasts in the lesions. In both strains, the fungal lesions were localized mostly in the omentum; a few lesions in the pancreatic parenchyma were observed, mostly in B10.A mice. In both strains, macrophages and plasmocytes were the predominant cells in all lesions, followed by neutrophils (PMN) and macrophages transformed into giant and epithelioid cells. Remarkable differences were observed between resistant and susceptible mice, specially related to the ECM structure of the granulomatous lesions. In A/Sn mice, from the 1st month on, the coexistence of two types of lesions was observed: one type showed a well-defined encapsulated nodule, constituted mainly of type I collagen. Neutrophils were abundant in areas of massive fungal destruction and few viable yeasts were observed. The other type showed residual characteristics, with sparse collagen deposits and presence of xantomatous-like macrophages, containing degenerated fungi. Such residual lesions predominated after the 2nd month and were the only type observed from the 4th month on, indicating the control of the infection. In B10.A mice, on the contrary, only one type of lesion was observed, showing less tendency to encapsulation and the formation of multiple small granulomatous foci, individualized by reticular type III collagen fibers. There were many plasmocytes in the periphery and large numbers of budding yeasts, with no evidence of fungal destruction. In the course of the infection the lesions progressively increased in number and size. Altogether, the comparative histopathological analysis demonstrates the influence of the genetic pattern of the host on the lesions developed by resistant and susceptible mice to P. brasiliensis infection

Evaluation of behavioral and neurochemical parameters in old rats submitted to sepsis

Artigo apresentado como requisito parcial para obtenção do grau de Bacharel, no Curso de Medicina, da Universidade do Extremo Sul Catarinense- UNESCThis study aimed to evaluate behavioral and neurochemical parameters in old and young rats submitted to sepsis. Young (60 days) and old animals (180 days) (n=40) were submitted to sham or sepsis. Some behavioral tests were performed; Immunohistochemistry, western blotting, oxidative stress and cytokines levels were measured in hippocampus and pre-frontal. Behavioral tests have showed decline of cognitive function. β-amyloid levels were increased in old rats in both groups. Cytokines levels are altered in old animals. MDA equivalents were increased in old rats all times. Our data show that systemic inflammation has additive effect on the physiological process of aging, with more expression of pro inflammatory cytokines and more oxidative stress