Influence of acute pancreatitis on the in vitro responsiveness of rat mesenteric and pulmonary arteries

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Acute pancreatitis is an inflammatory disease characterized by local tissue injury and systemic inflammatory response leading to massive nitric oxide (NO) production and haemodynamic disturbances. Therefore, the aim of this work was to evaluate the vascular reactivity of pulmonary and mesenteric artery rings from rats submitted to experimental pancreatitis.</p> <p>Male Wistar rats were divided into three groups: saline (SAL); tauracholate (TAU) and phospholipase A₂(PLA₂). Pancreatitis was induced by administration of TAU or PLA₂from <it>Naja mocambique mocambique </it>into the common bile duct of rats, and after 4 h of duct injection the animals were sacrificed. Concentration-response curves to acetylcholine (ACh), sodium nitroprusside (SNP) and phenylephrine (PHE) in isolated mesenteric and pulmonary arteries were obtained. Potency (pEC₅₀) and maximal responses (E_MAX) were determined. Blood samples were collected for biochemical analysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In mesenteric rings, the potency for ACh was significantly decreased from animals treated with TAU (about 4.2-fold) or PLA₂(about 6.9-fold) compared to saline group without changes in the maximal responses. Neither pEC₅₀nor E_MAXvalues for Ach were altered in pulmonary rings in any group. Similarly, the pEC₅₀and the E_MAXvalues for SNP were not changed in both preparations in any group. The potency for PHE was significantly decreased in rat mesenteric and pulmonary rings from TAU group compared to SAL group (about 2.2- and 2.69-fold, for mesenteric and pulmonary rings, respectively). No changes were seen in the E_MAXfor PHE. The nitrite/nitrate (NO_x^-) levels were markedly increased in animals submitted to acute pancreatitis as compared to SAL group, approximately 76 and 68% in TAU and PLA₂protocol, respectively.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Acute pancreatitis provoked deleterious effects in endothelium-dependent relaxing response for ACh in mesenteric rings that were strongly associated with high plasma NO_x^-levels as consequence of intense inflammatory responses. Furthermore, the subsensitivity of contractile response to PHE in both mesenteric and pulmonary rings might be due to the complications of this pathological condition in the early stage of pancreatitis.</p

Data mining and neural networks to determine the financial market prediction

Predicting stock market movements has been a complex task for years by gaining the increasing interest of researchers and investors present all around the world. These have tried to get ahead of the way in order to know the levels of return and thus reduce the risk they face in investments [1]. Capital markets are areas of fundamental importance for the development of economies and their good management that favors the transition from savings to investment through the purchase and sale of shares [2]. These actions are so important that they are influenced by economic, social, political, and cultural variables. Therefore, it is reasonable to consider the value of an action in an instant not as a deterministic variable but as a random variable, considering its temporal trajectory as a stochastic process

Comparison of infant malaria incidence in districts of Maputo province, Mozambique

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Malaria is one of the principal health problems in Mozambique, representing 48% of total external consultations and 63% of paediatric hospital admissions in rural and general hospitals with 26.7% of total mortality. <it>Plasmodium falciparum </it>is responsible for 90% of all infections being also the species associated with most severe cases. The aim of this study was to identify zones of high malaria risk, showing their spatially and temporal pattern.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Space and time Poison model for the analysis of malaria data is proposed. This model allows for the inclusion of environmental factors: rainfall, temperature and humidity as predictor variables. Modelling and inference use the fully Bayesian approach via Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) simulation techniques. The methodology is applied to analyse paediatric data arising from districts of Maputo province, Mozambique, between 2007 and 2008.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Malaria incidence risk is greater for children in districts of Manhiça, Matola and Magude. Rainfall and humidity are significant predictors of malaria incidence. The risk increased with rainfall (relative risk - RR: .006761, 95% interval: .001874, .01304), and humidity (RR: .049, 95% interval: .03048, .06531). Malaria incidence was found to be independent of temperature.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The model revealed a spatial and temporal pattern of malaria incidence. These patterns were found to exhibit a stable malaria transmission in most non-coastal districts. The findings may be useful for malaria control, planning and management.</p

Inverse Association between Dietary Iron Intake and Gastric Cancer: A Pooled Analysis of Case‐Control Studies of the Stop Consortium

Background: Inconsistent findings have been reported regarding the relationship between dietary iron intake and the risk of gastric cancer (GC). Methods: We pooled data from 11 case‐control studies from the Stomach Cancer Pooling (StoP) Project. Total dietary iron intake was derived from food frequency questionnaires combined with national nutritional tables. We derived the odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for quartiles of dietary iron through multivariable unconditional logistic regression models. Secondary analyses stratified by sex, smoking status, caloric intake, anatomical subsite and histological type were performed. Results: Among 4658 cases and 12247 controls, dietary iron intake was inversely associated with GC (per quartile OR 0.88; 95% CI: 0.83–0.93). Results were similar between cardia (OR = 0.85, 95% CI = 0.77–0.94) and non‐cardia GC (OR = 0.87, 95% CI = 0.81–0.94), and for diffuse (OR = 0.79, 95% CI = 0.69–0.89) and intestinal type (OR = 0.88, 95% CI = 0.79–0.98). Iron intake exerted an independent effect from that of smoking and salt intake. Additional adjustment by meat and fruit/vegetable intake did not alter the results. Conclusions: Dietary iron is inversely related to GC, with no difference by subsite or histological type. While the results should be interpreted with caution, they provide evidence against a direct effect of iron in gastric carcinogenesis. © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.This study was supported by the Fondazione AIRC per la Ricerca sul Cancro, Project no. 21378 (Investigator Grant). The Unidade de Investigação em Epidemiologia—Instituto de Saúde Pública da Universidade do Porto (EPIUnit; UIDB/04750/2020) and the Laboratório para a Investigação Integrativa e Translacional em Saúde Populacional (ITR; LA/P/0064/2020) were funded by the Foundation for Science and Technology—FCT (Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education). SM was supported by the project “NEON‐PC—Neuro‐oncological complications of prostate cancer: longitudinal study of cognitive decline” (POCI‐01‐0145‐FEDER‐032358; ref. PTDC/SAU‐EPI/32358/2017), which is funded by FEDER through the Operational Programme competitiveness and Internationalization, and national funding from FCT and the EPIUnit—Junior Research—Prog Financing (UIDP/04750/2020). The authors thank the European Cancer Prevention (ECP) Organization for providing support for the StoP Project meetings and all MCC‐Spain study collaborators (CIBERESP, ISCIII, ISGlobal, ICO, University of Huelva, University of Oviedo, University of Cantabria, ibs.Granada, Instituto Salud Pública de Navarra, FISABIO, Murcia Regional Health Authority and cols)

HbA1c levels in schoolchildren with type 1 diabetes are seasonally variable and dependent on weather conditions

Aims/hypothesis: We evaluated seasonal HbA$_{1c}$ changes in children with type 1 diabetes and its relation with measures of weather conditions. Methods: HbA$_{1c}$ changes over more than 3 years were evaluated in type 1 diabetic patients who were younger than 18 years and had diabetes duration of more than 12 months, and correlated with measures of weather conditions (ambient temperature, hours of sunshine and solar irradiance). After comparison of autocorrelation patterns, patterns of metabolic control and meteorological data were evaluated using Spearman rank correlation. Results: A total of 3,935 HbA$_{1c}$ measurements in 589 school (≥7 years) and 88 preschool (<7 years) children were analysed. Mean (±SD) HbA$_{1c}$ level for the whole study period was 7.65±1.12%. The lowest HbA$_{1c}$ levels were observed in late summer and the highest in winter months, with differences consistently exceeding 0.44%. Autocorrelation analysis of HbA$_{1c}$ levels in schoolchildren showed a sine-wave pattern with a cycle length of roughly 12 months, which mirrored changes in ambient temperature. Strong negative correlations of HbA$_{1c}$ with ambient temperature (R=−0.56; p=0.0002), hours of sunshine (R=−0.52; p=0.0007) and solar irradiance (R=−0.52; p=0.0006) were present in schoolchildren, but not in preschoolers (p≥0.29 for each correlation). Conclusions/interpretation: Seasonal changes of HbA$_{1c}$ levels in schoolchildren with type 1 diabetes are a significant phenomenon and should be considered in patient education and diabetes management. They may potentially affect the results of clinical trials using HbA$_{1c}$ levels as their primary outcome, as well as HbA$_{1c}$-based diagnosis of diabetes