Karyological analysis of Proechimys cuvieri and Proechimys guyannensis (Rodentia, Echimyidae) from central Amazon

The aim was to characterize the karyotype of rodents of the genus Proechimys from three localities in the central Brazilian Amazon, in the search for new markers that might shed light on our understanding of the taxonomy and evolutionary history of this taxon. Two karyotypes were found, viz., 2n = 28, FN = 46 in individuals from the NRSP (Cuieiras River) and REMAN (Manaus), and 2n = 46, FN = 50 in individuals from the Balbina Hydroelectric Plant. While individuals with the karyotype with 2n = 28 chromosomes were morphologically associated with Proechimys cuvieri, their karyotype shared similarities with those of the same diploid number in two other regions. Although three karyotypes are described for Proechimys cuvieri, no geographic distribution pattern that defined a cline could be identified. Based on the morphological examination of voucher specimens and additional results from molecular analysis, the karyotype with 2n = 46 and FN = 50 could be associated with P. guyannensis

Portuguese multidisciplinary recommendations for non-pharmacological and non-surgical interventions in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

BACKGROUND: Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) report significant levels of disease impact, which are improved, but not fully abrogated by immunosuppressive therapy, even when remission is achieved. This imposes the need for adjuvant interventions targeting the uncontrolled domains of disease impact. Non-pharmacological interventions are widely used for this purpose, but they have not been the object of professional recommendations or guidelines. OBJECTIVE: To propose multidisciplinary recommendations to inform clinical care providers regarding the employment of non-pharmacological and non-surgical interventions in the management of patients with RA. METHODS: The EULAR standardized operating procedures for the development of recommendations were followed. First, a systematic literature review was performed. Then, a multidisciplinary Technical Expert Panel (TEP) met to develop and discuss the recommendations and research agenda. For each developed recommendation i) the level of evidence and grade of recommendation were determined, and ii) the level of agreement among TEP members was set. A recommendation was adopted if approved by ≥75% of the TEP members, and the level of agreement was considered high when ≥8. All relevant national societies were included in this construction process to attain their endorsement. RESULTS: Based on evidence and expert opinion, the TEP developed and agreed on five overarching principles and 12 recommendations for non-pharmacological and non-surgical interventions in patients with RA. The mean level of agreement between the TEP members ranged between 8.5 and 9.9. The recommendations include a broad spectrum of intervention areas, such as exercise, hydrokinesiotherapy, psychological interventions, orthoses, education, general management of comorbidities, among others; and they set the requirements for their application. CONCLUSIONS: These recommendations are based on the consensus judgment of clinical experts from a wide range of disciplines and patients' representatives from Portugal. Given the evidence for effectiveness, feasibility and safety, non-pharmacological and non-surgical interventions should be an integral part of standard care for people with RA. It is hoped that these recommendations should be widely implemented in clinical practice. The target audience for these recommendations includes all health professionals involved in the care of patients with RA. The target patient population includes adult Portuguese people with RA.publishersversionpublishe

Hepatic and neurobiological effects of foetal and breastfeeding and adulthood exposure to methylmercury in Wistar rats

Methylmercury (MeHg) is an organic bioaccumulated mercury derivative that strongly affects the environment and represents a public health problem primarily to riparian communities in South America. Our objective was to investigate the hepatic and neurological effects of MeHg exposure during the phases foetal and breast-feeding and adult in Wistar rats. Wistar rats (n = 10) were divided into 3 groups. Control group received mineral oil; The simple exposure (SE) group was exposed only in adulthood (0.5 mg/kg/day); and double exposure (DE) was pre-exposed to MeHg 0.5 mg/kg/day during pregnancy and breastfeeding (±40 days) and re-exposed to MeHg for 45 days from day 100. After, we evaluated possible abnormalities. Behavioral and biochemical parameters in liver and occipital cortex (CO), markers of liver injury, redox and AKT/GSK3β/mTOR signaling pathway. Our results showed that both groups treated with MeHg presented significant alterations, such as decreased locomotion and exploration and impaired visuospatial perception. The rats exposed to MeHg showed severe liver damage and increased hepatic glycogen concentration. The MeHg groups showed significant impairment in redox balance and oxidative damage to liver macromolecules and CO. MeHg upregulated the AKT/GSK3β/mTOR pathway and the phosphorylated form of the Tau protein. In addition, we found a reduction in NeuN and GFAP immunocontent. These results represent the first approach to the hepatotoxic and neural effects of foetal and adult MeHg exposure

Gênero e sustentabilidade como proposta desafiadora para urbanismo de cidades equalitárias / Gender and sustainability as a challenging proposal for urbanism in equal cities

Desigualdade de gênero e o consumo imoderado de recursos naturais são problemas de grande importância atualmente. O cenário que abrange grande parte desses problemas ainda é o urbano. O objetivo deste trabalho é associar as relações de gênero, problemas urbanísticos e sustentabilidade ambiental, de forma que as saídas a serem buscadas possam ser interseccionais nesses três campos, otimizando o tempo e recursos gastos na solução destes problemas. Para relacionar as três problemáticas acima citadas, realizou-se uma pesquisa exploratória de publicações com os seguintes termos: “urbanismo sustentável”, “urbanismo feminista”, e “ecofeminismo”, na tentativa de elucidar os motivos que estreitam as relações das mulheres com a sustentabilidade no meio urbano. As intersecções encontradas acabaram por transcorrer várias temáticas como governança, participação, meio ambiente e mobilidade, com destaque para as especificidades das mulheres no contexto urbano. As diferentes necessidades de mobilidade e aparato urbano para as mulheres, o importante nicho de consumo que elas representam, e sua crescente participação econômica, foram pontos chave destacados neste trabalho para que sejam considerados na construção de políticas públicas urbanas, em busca de cidades mais sustentáveis, equalitárias e justas. 

ESTATURA E MASSA CORPORAL DE JOGADORES ADOLESCENTES DE FUTEBOL POR POSIÇÃO EM CAMPO

O futebol é um esporte de jogo coletivo de invasão, composto por duas equipes de onze jogadores cada, e que tem como objetivo marcar o maior número de gols que seu adversário. A antropometria é um ramo da antropologia que tem como finalidade usar técnicas para medir o corpo humano. O objetivo da pesquisa realizada foi descrever por posição a estatura e a massa corporal (MC) de cada atleta da categoria SUB-15 que atuam na Associação Chapecoense de Futebol. O protocolo utilizado para as medições seguiu os padrões da ISAK (Austrália), utilizando como instrumentos estadiômetro e balança oficial. Os resultados mostram que os Meias-atacantes tem a maior média de estatura (m=181,00cm), seguindo em ordem decrescente pelos Zagueiros (m=177,50cm); Goleiros (m=176,00cm); Volantes (m=169,40); Atacantes (m=167,80cm); Laterais Direitos (LD, m=163,67cm); Laterais Esquerdos (LE, m=161cm) e os Meias (m=156cm). Já para a MC, os Zagueiros também apresentaram a maior média (m=70,93kg), seguido dos Goleiros (m=68,07kg); Meia Atacantes (m=66,75kg); Atacantes (m=60,20kg); Volantes (m=59,35kg); LD (m=54,02kg); LE (m=53,00kg) e Meias (m=49,77kg). Chegou-se a conclusão de que os jogadores nas posições de zagueiro, meia atacante e goleiro são os maiores, e os nas posições de meia e lateral, tanto direito quanto esquerdo, são os menores. Aponta-se a preferência do treinador e o estilo de jogo do clube como fatores que influenciam nestes resultados

Whole-genome sequencing of 1,171 elderly admixed individuals from Brazil

As whole-genome sequencing (WGS) becomes the gold standard tool for studying population genomics and medical applications, data on diverse non-European and admixed individuals are still scarce. Here, we present a high-coverage WGS dataset of 1,171 highly admixed elderly Brazilians from a census-based cohort, providing over 76 million variants, of which ~2 million are absent from large public databases. WGS enables identification of ~2,000 previously undescribed mobile element insertions without previous description, nearly 5 Mb of genomic segments absent from the human genome reference, and over 140 alleles from HLA genes absent from public resources. We reclassify and curate pathogenicity assertions for nearly four hundred variants in genes associated with dominantly-inherited Mendelian disorders and calculate the incidence for selected recessive disorders, demonstrating the clinical usefulness of the present study. Finally, we observe that whole-genome and HLA imputation could be significantly improved compared to available datasets since rare variation represents the largest proportion of input from WGS. These results demonstrate that even smaller sample sizes of underrepresented populations bring relevant data for genomic studies, especially when exploring analyses allowed only by WGS