Salivary IgA Responses During a Week of Training In Under-15 Soccer Players

Introduction There is an apparent consensus around the idea that light exercise can improve the immune response whilst strenuous exercise can depress the defense system, including the mucosal immune system, with reduction of salivary immunoglobulin A (IgA) levels. Salivary IgA acts as a main barrier against the colonization of infectious agents. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence in the pattern of salivary IgA responses in an under-15 soccer team, during a training week. Methods The study was performed during the winter training season, in the competitive period. The training sessions were planned by the coaches without any interference from the researchers. Thirteen players (13 to 15 years) were tested before each of four training sessions during a week period. Before and after training, saliva samples were collected and salivary IgA concentrations and secretion rates determined by ELISA. Thirty minutes after each session, rated perceived effort (RPE) was assessed to quantify training load. Changes in pre-training IgA responses were examined based on multilevel modeling regression using polynomial model (model I). Influence of training load was explored including the explanatory variable at level 2 (model lI). Results Multilevel regression analysis showed no differences between training sessions throughout the week. However, significant residual variance at level I (within-individuals) and at level II (between-individuals), in the intercept and slope (i.e., training sessions). Although limited by the small sample size, a curvilinear trend in pre-training IgA response became apparent when individual athletes´ training loads were controlled in the model. The results showed a significant decrement in IgA response pre-training from the first to the second training session (p \u3c 0.05), and a significant exponential increase in IgA response in the next two training sessions (p \u3c 0.05). The significant random effects at level I suggest that the fit of individual responses may need to be validated in larger samples, although the non significant random effects at level II suggest that the mean responses accounting individual training loads describes well the group behavior in pre training IgA responses. Conclusion The specific relationship that appears to be linked to the intensity, duration and type of physical activity were detected in our study. Monitoring mucosal immune parameters during training periods may provide an assessment of the risk status of these young athletes for upper respiratory tract Infections and allow the coach to have an effective management of periodization

Aneurisma Dissecante de Aorta: A importância do diagnóstico precoce. Revisão de Literatura e Relato de Caso Dissecting aortic aneurysm: the importance of the early diagnostic. Literature review and reported case.

Os autores fizeram uma revisão de literatura, enfatizando aspectos semiológicos e histológicos, sendo este último o ponto essencial para o entendimento sobre a dissecção aórtica. Abordam, também, aspectos patológicos da doença, incluindo sua definição, classificação e etiologia, suas principais manifestações clínicas, o manejo clínico inicial e tratamento cirúrgico. Concomitantemente, relata-se um caso clínico oriundo do SPA do Hospital SAMER, em Resende no estado do Rio de Janeiro

Characterization of Systemic Disease Development and Paw Inflammation in a Susceptible Mouse Model of Mayaro Virus Infection and Validation Using X-ray Synchrotron Microtomography

Mayaro virus (MAYV) is an emerging arthropod-borne virus endemic in Latin America and the causative agent of arthritogenic febrile disease. Mayaro fever is poorly understood; thus, we established an in vivo model of infection in susceptible type-I interferon receptor-deficient mice (IFNAR−/−) to characterize the disease. MAYV inoculations in the hind paws of IFNAR−/− mice result in visible paw inflammation, evolve into a disseminated infection and involve the activation of immune responses and inflammation. The histological analysis of inflamed paws indicated edema at the dermis and between muscle fibers and ligaments. Paw edema affected multiple tissues and was associated with MAYV replication, the local production of CXCL1 and the recruitment of granulocytes and mononuclear leukocytes to muscle. We developed a semi-automated X-ray microtomography method to visualize both soft tissue and bone, allowing for the quantification of MAYV-induced paw edema in 3D with a voxel size of 69 µm3. The results confirmed early edema onset and spreading through multiple tissues in inoculated paws. In conclusion, we detailed features of MAYV-induced systemic disease and the manifestation of paw edema in a mouse model extensively used to study infection with alphaviruses. The participation of lymphocytes and neutrophils and expression of CXCL1 are key features in both systemic and local manifestations of MAYV disease

Soma and Neurite Density MRI (SANDI) of the in-vivo mouse brain and comparison with the Allen Brain Atlas

Diffusion MRI (dMRI) provides unique insights into the neural tissue milieu by probing interactions between diffusing molecules and tissue microstructure. Most dMRI techniques focus on white matter (WM) tissues, nevertheless, interest in gray matter characterizations is growing. The Soma and Neurite Density MRI (SANDI) methodology harnesses a model incorporating water diffusion in spherical objects (assumed to be associated with cell bodies) and in impermeable “sticks” (assumed to represent neurites), which potentially enables the characterization of cellular and neurite densities. Recognising the importance of rodents in animal models of development, aging, plasticity, and disease, we here employ SANDI for in-vivo preclinical imaging and provide a first validation of the methodology by comparing SANDI metrics with cellular density reflected by the Allen mouse brain atlas. SANDI was implemented on a 9.4T scanner equipped with a cryogenic coil, and in-vivo experiments were carried out on N = 6 mice. Pixelwise, ROI-based, and atlas comparisons were performed, magnitude vs. real-valued analyses were compared, and shorter acquisitions with reduced the number of b-value shells were investigated. Our findings reveal good reproducibility of the SANDI parameters, including the sphere and stick fractions, as well as sphere size (CoV < 7%, 12% and 3%, respectively). Additionally, we find a very good rank correlation between SANDI-driven sphere fraction and Allen mouse brain atlas contrast that represents cellular density. We conclude that SANDI is a viable preclinical MRI technique that can greatly contribute to research on brain tissue microstructure

Diagnosis methods for COVID-19: A systematic review

At the end of 2019, the coronavirus appeared and spread extremely rapidly, causing millions of infections and deaths worldwide, and becoming a global pandemic. For this reason, it became urgent and essential to find adequate tests for an accurate and fast diagnosis of this disease. In the present study, a systematic review was performed in order to provide an overview of the COVID-19 diagnosis methods and tests already available, as well as their evolution in recent months. For this purpose, the Science Direct, PubMed, and Scopus databases were used to collect the data and three authors independently screened the references, extracted the main information, and assessed the quality of the included studies. After the analysis of the collected data, 34 studies reporting new methods to diagnose COVID-19 were selected. Although RT-PCR is the gold-standard method for COVID-19 diagnosis, it cannot fulfill all the requirements of this pandemic, being limited by the need for highly specialized equipment and personnel to perform the assays, as well as the long time to get the test results. To fulfill the limitations of this method, other alternatives, including biological and imaging analysis methods, also became commonly reported. The comparison of the different diagnosis tests allowed to understand the importance and potential of combining different techniques, not only to improve diagnosis but also for a further understanding of the virus, the disease, and their implications in humans

A retrospective analysis of clinicopathological and prognostic characteristics of ovarian tumors in the State of Espírito Santo, Brazil

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Ovarian cancer is sixth most common cancer among women and the leading cause of death in women with gynecological malignancies. Despite the great impact ovarian cancer has on women's health and its great impact in public economy, Brazil still lacks valuable information concerning epidemiological aspects of this disease</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We've compiled clinical data of all ovarian tumors registered at the two public hospitals of reference (1997 - 2007), such as: patients' age at diagnosis, tumor histological type, tumor stage, chemotherapy regimens, chemotherapy responsiveness, disease-free survival, and overall survival.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Women's mean age at diagnosis was 54.67 ± 13.84 for ovarian cancer, 46.15 ± 11.15 for borderline tumors, and 42.01 ± 15.06 for adenomas. Among epithelial ovarian cancer cases, 30.1% were of serous, 13.7% were of mucinous, and 13.7% were of endometrioid type; exceptionally serous carcinoma was diagnosed in women younger than 30 years old. Endometrioid cancer had lower disease-free survival than others (p < 0.05). Cases were predominantly diagnosed as poor prognosis disease (FIGO III and IV, 56.2%). Regarding responsiveness to platinum-based therapy, 17.1% of patients were resistant, whereas 24.6%, susceptible. From these, we found equally responsiveness to platinum alone or its association with paclitaxel or cyclophosphamide.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>Our data agreed with other studies regarding mean patients' age at diagnosis, histological type frequency, FIGO stages distribution, and chemotherapy regimens. However, the histological type distribution, with equal contribution of mucinous and endometrioid types seems to be a unique characteristic of the studied highly miscegenated population.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We have enlighten the profile of the studied ovarian cancer population, which might enable the development of more efficient political strategies to control this malignancy that is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related deaths among women.</p

Prioridades Axiológicas, Tempo de Serviço e Cidadania Organizacional

The objective of this research was to study the relationship between value priorities, tenure, and organizationalcitizenship. To our knowledge, personal value priorities have not been studied as antecedents of organizational behavior. Thesample was composed of 300 employees, men and women, with average age of 38.07 years. Two instruments were used: theSchwartz Value Inventory and the Organizational Citizenship Scale. Two groups of value priorities' subjects were considered:a high score group and a low score group. Three levels of organizational tenure were considered. The four second-order factorsof value priorities and the five organizational citizenship factors were considered for the analysis (Anova 2X3). Priorities ofself-transcendence, self-enhancement, collectivism and individualism values had a significant influence on several factors oforganizational citizenship. The impact of organizational tenure was limited to two factors: organizational climate and protectionof organizational patrimonyFoi objetivo desta pesquisa estudar a relação entre as prioridades axiológicas, o tempo de serviço e a cidadania organizacional. Os autores não têm conhecimento de que as prioridades axiológicas do indivíduo tenham sido estudadas comoantecedentes da cidadania organizacional. A amostra foi composta por 300 empregados, homens e mulheres, com idade média de 38,07 anos. Dois instrumentos de medida foram utilizados: o Inventário de Valores de Schwartz e a Escala de Cidadania Organizacional. Os sujeitos foram divididos em dois grupos de acordo com as suas prioridades axiológicas (escore alto e baixo). Os quatro fatores axiológicos de ordem superior e&nbsp; os cinco fatores de cidadania organizacional foram considerados para a análise estatística (Anova 2X3). As prioridades ao nível dos valores de autotranscendência, autopromoção, individualismo e coletivismo tiveram influência significativa sobre vários fatores de cidadania organizacional. O impacto do tempo de serviço foi limitado a dois fatores: clima organizacional externo e proteção&nbsp; ao patrimônio organizacional

Corretion Method of Phantom Images and Classification of their Structures of Interest

O controle de câncer de mama representa um dos grandes desafios que os serviços de \ud saúde pública enfrentam atualmente. Para realizar o controle de qualidade de sistemas \ud mamográficos o Ministério da Saúde exige o uso de simuladores radiográficos (phantoms) \ud de mama. Com o objetivo de reduzir a subjetividade na avaliação das imagens de phantom\ud pela inspeção visual humana, está sendo desenvolvido um sistema computadorizado que \ud utiliza um método de correção em imagens digitalizadas, associado à classificação de suas \ud estruturas de interesse pelo critério de visibilidade. Ao comparar os resultados da \ud classificação através do algoritmo J48 da ferramenta WEKA com e sem a correção das \ud imagens, essa técnica apresentou uma melhora significativa na eficácia para determinadas \ud estruturas do phantom.Breast cancer control represents one of the greatest challenges that public health service \ud faces nowadays. To execute the quality control of mammographic systems, the Brazilian \ud Health Ministry demands the use of breast phantoms. Aiming to reduce the subjectivity \ud present in the evaluation of phantomimages through human visual inspection, a \ud computerised system has been developed that uses a correction method in its digitised \ud images, associated with the classification of its structures of interest by the visibility \ud criterion. Comparing the results of the classification using the J48 algorithm of the WEKA \ud package with and without image correction, this method presented a significant \ud improvement in the effectiveness for determining structures of the phantomCNPqCAPE