El ejercicio físico y la función cognitiva: una revisión

Exercise and physical training are known as promoters of several alterations, and among them, cardiorespiratory benefits, increase in the mineral bone density and decrease in the risk for chronic-degenerative diseases. Recently, another aspect has become notorious: an improvement in the cognitive function. Although it is very controversial, several studies have shown that physical exercises improve and protect the cerebral function, suggesting that physically active individuals present lower risk to develop mental disorders compared to sedentary individuals. This demonstrates that participating in physical exercise programs exerts benefits in the physical and psychological spheres, and it is probable that physically active individuals have a faster cognitive processing. Although the cognitive benefits of the physically active life-style seem to be related to the level of the regular physical activities, that is, exercises performed along the whole lifetime, suggesting a cognitive reserve, it is never too late to start a physical exercise program. Thus, using physical exercises as an alternative to achieve an improvement in the cognitive function seems to be a aim to be attained mainly due to its applicability, since it is a relatively less expensive method that can be used by the major part of the population. Thus, the purpose of the present review is to discuss the associative aspects between physical exercises and the cognitive function, thus allowing to reflect on its use as an alternative and supportive element.El ejercicio y la educación física así como los entrenamientos son conocidos porque promueven varios cambios en el cuerpo, incluso beneficia los efectos cardio-respiratorios, el aumento de la densidad mineral del hueso y la disminución del riesgo del enfermedades crónico-degenerativas. Más recientemente hay otro aspecto que ha obtenido fama reconocida sobre esos beneficios; se trata de la mejora en la función cognitiva. Aunque hay grandes controversias, varios estudios han estado demostrando que el ejercicio físico mejora y protege la función cerebral, mientras se hace una sugerencia que las personas se presentasen físicamente activas tendrán riesgo más pequeño sobre ataques por desórdenes mentales en relación al sedentario. Esto demonstra que la participación en programas de ejercicios tienen beneficios en las esferas física y psicológica, y que probablemente, los individuos físicamente activos tengan un procesamiento cognitivo más rápido. Aunque los beneficios cognitivos del estilo de vida fisicamente activo parecen relacionarse al nivel de actividades físicas regular, cumplido durante una vida, mientras podemos pensar que para una reserva cognitiva, nunca es tarde para empezar un programa de ejercicios físicos. De esta forma el uso del ejercicio físico como alternativa para mejorar la función cognitiva parece ser un objetivo a ser alcanzado, principalmente debido a la aplicabilidad del individuo por el logro personal-ademas de ser un método relativamente barato que la gran parte de la población tiene acceso. Así, el objetivo de la revisión presente es él de discutir los aspectos asociativos entre el ejercicio físico y la función cognitiva, permitiendo una consideración entre los que la usan como una alternativa y un elemento de apoyo.O exercício e o treinamento físico são conhecidos por promover diversas alterações, incluindo benefícios cardiorrespiratórios, aumento da densidade mineral óssea e diminuição do risco de doenças crônico-degenerativas. Recentemente outro aspecto tem ganhando notoriedade: trata-se da melhoria na função cognitiva. Embora haja grande controvérsia, diversos estudos têm demonstrado que o exercício físico melhora e protege a função cerebral, sugerindo que pessoas fisicamente ativas apresentam menor risco de serem acometidas por desordens mentais em relação às sedentárias. Isso mostra que a participação em programas de exercícios físicos exercem benefícios nas esferas física e psicológica e que, provavelmente, indivíduos fisicamente ativos possuem um processamento cognitivo mais rápido. Embora os benefícios cognitivos do estilo de vida fisicamente ativo pareçam estar relacionados ao nível de atividade física regular, ou seja, exercício realizado durante toda a vida, sugerindo uma reserva cognitiva, nunca é tarde para se iniciar um programa de exercícios físicos. Dessa forma, o uso do exercício físico como alternativa para melhorar a função cognitiva parece ser um objetivo a ser alcançado, principalmente em virtude da sua aplicabilidade, pois se trata de um método relativamente barato, que pode ser direcionado a grande parte da população. Assim, o objetivo da presente revisão é o de discutir os aspectos associativos entre exercício físico e função cognitiva, permitindo uma ponderação entre o seu uso enquanto alternativa e elemento coadjuvante.Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) EPM Departamento de PsicobiologiaUNIFESP-EPM Centro de Estudos em Psicobiologia e ExercícioUNIFESP, EPM, Depto. de PsicobiologiaUNIFESP, EPM Centro de Estudos em Psicobiologia e ExercícioSciEL

The low oxygen consumption is reflected on depression scores in elderly

The study aimed to investigate the effects of different types of exercise in indicative scores of depression in the elderly. Participated 168 elderly volunteers of both sexes, aged 60-75 years (65.66 ± 4.28 years), 40 women and 128 men. The volunteers were divided into seven distinct groups: a) Sedentary control (n = 40); b) Resisted control (n = 23); c) Walking (n = 23); d) Outdoor (n = 20); e) Cycle ergometer (n = 23); f) Resisted 50% of 1RM (n = 19); and g) Resisted 80% of 1RM (n = 20), and subjected to a protocol of six months of physical training three times a week. The group a remained without changing their routine activities during the study period and did not engage in any exercise program, as the group b appeared in the laboratory, but performed the exercises without charge. Before and immediately after the study period, the volunteers underwent an evaluation protocol for determination of oxygen consumption and responded to the Geriatric Depression Scale. The results revealed that the groups c and e, who exercised at intensities with predominant aerobic metabolism, showed reduction in depression scores, and other measures were not sufficient to promote reduction in this variable. The data suggest that exercise dominance in aerobic metabolism is more effective in reducing depression scores in elderly.O objetivo do estudo foi investigar os efeitos de diferentes tipos de exercício físico nos escores indicativos de depressão em idosos. Participaram 168 voluntários idosos, de ambos os sexos, com idades de 60 a 75 anos (65,66±4,28 anos), sendo 40 mulheres e 128 homens. Os voluntários foram alocados em sete grupos distintos: a) Controle sedentário (n=40); b) Controle resistido (n=23); c) Caminhada (n=23); d) Lazer (n= 20); e) Cicloergômetro (n=23); f) Resistido 50% de 1RM (n=19); e g) Resistido 80% de 1RM (n=20), sendo submetidos a um protocolo de seis meses de treinamento físico, três vezes por semana. O grupo a permaneceu sem alterar suas atividades de rotina durante o período de estudo e não se engajou em nenhum programa de exercício físico, já o grupo b compareceu no laboratório, mas realizou os exercícios sem carga. Antes e imediatamente após o período de estudo, os voluntários foram submetidos a um protocolo de avaliação para determinação do consumo de oxigênio e responderam à Escala Geriátrica de Depressão. Os resultados revelaram que os grupos c e e, que se exercitaram em intensidades com predomínio do metabolismo aeróbio, apresentaram redução nos escores de depressão, sendo que as demais intervenções não foram suficientes para promover redução nessa variável. Os dados sugerem que exercícios com predominância no metabolismo aeróbio são mais efetivos em promover reduções em escores de depressão de idosos.Centro de Estudos em Psicobiologia e ExercícioUniversidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) Departamento de BiociênciasUniversidade Federal do ABC Centro de Matemática, Computação e CogniçãoUniversidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) Escola Paulista de Medicina Departamento de PsicobiologiaUNIFESP, Depto. de BiociênciasUNIFESP, EPM, Depto. de PsicobiologiaSciEL

Resistivity study of the pseudogap phase for (Hg,Re) - 1223 superconductors

The pseudogap phase above the critical temperature of high $T_{c}$ superconductors (HTSC) presents different energy scales and it is currently a matter of intense study. The complexity of the HTSC normal state requires very accurate measurements with the purpose of distinguishing different types of phenomena. Here we have performed systematically studies through electrical resistivity ($\rho$) measurements by several different current densities in order to obtain an optimal current for each sample. This approach allows to determine reliable values of the pseudogap temperature $T^{*}(n)$, the layer coupling temperature between the superconductor layers $T_{LD}(n)$, the fluctuation temperature $T_{scf}(n)$ and the critical temperature $T_{c}(n)$ as function of the doping $n$. The interpretation of these different temperature scales allows to characterize possible scenarios for the (Hg,Re) - 1223 normal state. This method, described in detail here, and used to derive the (Hg,Re)-1223 phase diagram is general and can be applied to any HTSC.Comment: 31 pages, 12 figures, Latex; 25 pages, LaTeX; 11 figures; rewrited section II and III; added 18 reference; rewrited title, added discussion sectio

Uso de nanobast?es de ouro para o desenvolvimento de aulas pr?ticas de nanotecnologia.

Use of gold nanoparticles functionalization experiment was conducted in a biotechnology summer course at UFOP as a model for the introduction of the laboratory practice in nanotechnology for postgraduate courses in the areas of chemistry and biotechnology. The gold nanorods were synthesized by the seed method and then, functionalized with anti-IL-6 antibodies using the reagents EDAC/NHS and polyethyleneimine (PEI). This nanocompound was tested against the binding with the specific antigen (IL-6) and changes in the longitudinal plasmon absorption spectrum showed the coupling efficiency, which was also verified by the decrease in zeta potential. The experiment was satisfactory, with a positive feedback from participants, and could be implemented in nanotechnology practical classes from postgraduate courses, as a way for improve education in the emergent area of nanobiotechnology

Multicenter Diagnostic Evaluation of a Novel Coronavirus Antigen Lateral Flow Test among Symptomatic Individuals in Brazil and the United Kingdom

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to the commercialization of many antigen-based rapid diagnostic tests (Ag-RDTs), requiring independent evaluations. This report describes the clinical evaluation of the Novel Coronavirus 2019-nCoV Antigen Test (Colloidal Gold) (Beijing Hotgen Biotech Co., Ltd.), at two sites within Brazil and one in the United Kingdom. The collected samples (446 nasal swabs from Brazil and 246 nasopharyngeal samples from the UK) were analyzed by the Ag-RDT and compared to reverse transcription-quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR). Analytical evaluation of the Ag-RDT was performed using direct culture supernatants of SARS-CoV-2 strains from the wild-type (B.1), Alpha (B.1.1.7), Delta (B.1.617.2), Gamma (P.1), and Omicron (B.1.1.529) lineages. An overall sensitivity and specificity of 88.2% (95% confidence interval [CI], 81.3 to 93.3) and 100.0% (95% CI, 99.1 to 100.0), respectively, were obtained for the Brazilian and UK cohorts. The analytical limit of detection was determined as 1.0 × 103 PFU/mL (Alpha), 2.5 × 102 PFU/mL (Delta), 2.5 × 103 PFU/mL (Gamma), and 1.0 × 103 PFU/mL (Omicron), giving a viral copy equivalent of approximately 2.1 × 104 copies/mL, 9.0 × 105 copies/mL, 1.7 × 106 copies/mL, and 1.8 × 105 copies/mL for the Ag-RDT, respectively. Overall, while a higher sensitivity was claimed by the manufacturers than that found in this study, this evaluation finds that the Ag-RDT meets the WHO minimum performance requirements for sensitivity and specificity of COVID-19 Ag-RDTs. This study illustrates the comparative performance of the Hotgen Ag-RDT across two global settings and considers the different approaches in evaluation methods

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear un derstanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5–7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8–11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world’s most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepre sented in biodiversity databases.13–15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may elim inate pieces of the Amazon’s biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological com munities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple or ganism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region’s vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most ne glected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lostinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A SARS-CoV-2 Negative Antigen Rapid Diagnostic in RT-qPCR Positive Samples Correlates With a Low Likelihood of Infectious Viruses in the Nasopharynx

Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) transmission occurs even among fully vaccinated individuals; thus, prompt identification of infected patients is central to control viral circulation. Antigen rapid diagnostic tests (Ag-RDTs) are highly specific, but sensitivity is variable. Discordant RT-qPCR vs. Ag-RDT results are reported, raising the question of whether negative Ag-RDT in positive RT-qPCR samples could imply the absence of infectious viruses. To study the relationship between negative Ag-RDT results with virological, molecular, and serological parameters, we selected a cross-sectional and a follow-up dataset and analyzed virus culture, subgenomic RNA quantification, and sequencing to determine infectious viruses and mutations. We demonstrated that RT-qPCR positive while SARS-CoV-2 Ag-RDT negative discordant results correlate with the absence of infectious virus in nasopharyngeal samples. A decrease in sgRNA detection together with an expected increase in detectable anti-S and anti-N IgGs was also verified in these samples. The data clearly demonstrate that a negative Ag-RDT sample is less likely to harbor infectious SARS-CoV-2 and, consequently, has a lower transmissible potential