Comparison between breathing and aerobic exercise on clinical control in patients with moderate-to-severe asthma: protocol of a randomized trial

Abstract\ud \ud Background\ud Asthma is a chronic inflammatory airway disease characterized by reversible obstruction, inflammation and hyperresponsiveness to different stimulus. Aerobic and breathing exercises have been demonstrated to benefit asthmatic patients; however, there is no evidence comparing the effectiveness of these treatments.\ud \ud \ud Methods/design\ud This is a prospective, comparative, blinded, and randomized clinical trial with 2 groups that will receive distinct interventions. Forty-eight asthmatic adults with optimized medical treatment will be randomly divided into either aerobic (AG) or breathing exercises (BG). Patients will perform breathing or aerobic exercise twice a week for 3 months, totalizing 24 sessions of 40 minutes each. Before intervention, both groups will complete an educational program consisting of 2 educational classes. Before and after interventions, the following parameters will be quantified: clinical control (main outcome), health related quality of life, levels of anxiety and depression, daily living physical activity and maximal exercise capacity (secondary outcome). Hyperventilation syndrome symptoms, autonomic nervous imbalance, thoracoabdominal kinematics, inflammatory cells in the sputum, fraction of exhaled nitric oxide (FENO) and systemic inflammatory cytokines will also be evaluated as possible mechanisms to explain the benefits of both interventions.\ud \ud \ud Discussion\ud Although the benefits of breathing and aerobic exercises have been extensively studied, the comparison between both has never been investigated. Furthermore, the findings of our results will allow us to understand its application and suitability to patients that will have more benefits for every intervention optimizing its effect.\ud \ud \ud Trial registration\ud Clinicaltrials.gov; Identifier: \ud NCT02065258\ud \ud .This work was supported by São Paulo Research Foundation - FAPESP (grants\ud 2009/53904-9 and 2011/50071-6)

ATINER's Conference Paper Series ENV2012-0168 Nanotechnology Safety Assessment: A Methodology Proposal for Environmental Evaluation Nanotechnology Safety Assessment: A Methodology Proposal for Environmental Evaluation Post-doctoral Student Embrapa Environ

Abstract The investigation of the effects of nanotechnology on the quality of life of the population through level-headed consults to specialists will allow answering relevant questions about environmental effects of nanotechnology and about the use and destination of its products and wastes. We present herein a method for assessing an index of nanotechnology safety based technical parameters. This methodology includes validating the indicators and methods created based on the advice of specialists in nanotechnology and related areas. Therefore, the development of a new approach to assess the safety of the nanotechnologies is an effective mitigatory measure to face the growing challenges pointed out by scientists and legislators concerning environmental degradation, ethical and social issues. The present study aims at creating a methodology for safety assessment of nanotechnologies based on technical data on technology usage from the literature. Those data could be used as a guide to ex ante or ex post evaluations of nanotechnology uses and their effects on the environment

Increased interregional virus exchange and nucleotide diversity outline the expansion of chikungunya virus in Brazil

Abstract The emergence and reemergence of mosquito-borne diseases in Brazil such as yellow fever, zika, chikungunya, and dengue have had serious impacts on public health. Concerns have been raised due to the rapid dissemination of the chikungunya virus across the country since its first detection in 2014 in Northeast Brazil. In this work, we carried out on-site training activities in genomic surveillance in partnership with the National Network of Public Health Laboratories that have led to the generation of 422 chikungunya virus genomes from 12 Brazilian states over the past two years (2021–2022), a period that has seen more than 312 thousand chikungunya fever cases reported in the country. These genomes increased the amount of available data and allowed a more comprehensive characterization of the dispersal dynamics of the chikungunya virus East-Central-South-African lineage in Brazil. Tree branching patterns revealed the emergence and expansion of two distinct subclades. Phylogeographic analysis indicated that the northeast region has been the leading hub of virus spread towards other regions. Increased frequency of C > T transitions among the new genomes suggested that host restriction factors from the immune system such as ADAR and AID/APOBEC deaminases might be driving the genetic diversity of the chikungunya virus in Brazil