Thalidomide-induced sensory polyneuropathy and electrophysiological study of the sural nerve as a screening diagnosis: a case report

Polineuropatia é uma condição clínica freqüente com sintomatologia debilitante e o tratamento depende fundamentalmente da etiologia. Inúmeras são as causas possíveis deste tipo de distúrbio e o diagnóstico etiológico nem sempre é fácil. Neste relato de caso descrevemos um caso de um paciente com mieloma múltiplo que evoluiu com polineuropatia puramente sensitiva, comprovada por estudo eletrofisiológico, induzida por talidomida.Polyneuropathy is a common clinical condition with debilitating symptoms whose treatment depends on etiology. There are numerous possible causes of this type of disorder and the etiological diagnosis is not always easy. In this case report we describe a case of a patient with multiple myeloma who developed purely sensory polyneuropathy, confirmed by electrophysiological study, induced by thalidomide

Social representations and the politics of participation

Recent work has called for the integration of different perspectives into the field of political psychology (Haste, 2012). This chapter suggests that one possible direction that such efforts can take is studying the role that social representations theory (SRT) can play in understanding political participation and social change. Social representations are systems of common-sense knowledge and social practice; they provide the lens through which to view and create social and political realities, mediate people's relations with these sociopolitical worlds and defend cultural and political identities. Social representations are therefore key for conceptualising participation as the activity that locates individuals and social groups in their sociopolitical world. Political participation is generally seen as conditional to membership of sociopolitical groups and therefore is often linked to citizenship. To be a citizen of a society or a member of any social group one has to participate as such. Often political participation is defined as the ability to communicate one's views to the political elite or to the political establishment (Uhlaner, 2001), or simply explicit involvement in politics and electoral processes (Milbrath, 1965). However, following scholars on ideology (Eagleton, 1991; Thompson, 1990) and social knowledge (Jovchelovitch, 2007), we extend our understanding of political participation to all social relations and also develop a more agentic model where individuals and groups construct, develop and resist their own views, ideas and beliefs. We thus adopt a broader approach to participation in comparison to other political-psychological approaches, such as personality approaches (e.g. Mondak and Halperin, 2008) and cognitive approaches or, more recently, neuropsychological approaches (Hatemi and McDermott, 2012). We move away from a focus on the individual's political behaviour and its antecedents and outline an approach that focuses on the interaction between psychological and political phenomena (Deutsch and Kinnvall, 2002) through examining the politics of social knowledge

Blood pro-resolving mediators are linked with synovial pathology and are predictive of DMARD responsiveness in rheumatoid arthritis.

Biomarkers are needed for predicting the effectiveness of disease modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs). Here, using functional lipid mediator profiling and deeply phenotyped patients with early rheumatoid arthritis (RA), we observe that peripheral blood  specialized pro-resolving mediator (SPM) concentrations are linked with both DMARD responsiveness and disease pathotype. Machine learning analysis demonstrates that baseline plasma concentrations of resolvin D4, 10S, 17S-dihydroxy-docosapentaenoic acid, 15R-Lipoxin (LX)A4 and n-3 docosapentaenoic-derived Maresin 1 are predictive of DMARD responsiveness at 6 months. Assessment of circulating SPM concentrations 6-months after treatment initiation establishes that differences between responders and non-responders are maintained, with a decrease in SPM concentrations in patients resistant to DMARD therapy. These findings elucidate the potential utility of  plasma SPM concentrations as biomarkers of DMARD responsiveness in RA

Wettability and corrosion of [NTf2] anion-based ionic liquids on steel and PVD (TiN, CrN, ZrN) coatings

Thewetting and corrosion behavior of three bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide-based ionic liquids: 1-Dodecyl-3- methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide [C12MIM][NTf2], tributylmethylammonium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide [N4441][NTf2] and methyltrioctylammonium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide [N1888][NTf2] are tested in this research. The surface tension was measured for temperatures of 293–353 K resulting in the expected linearly decreasing behavior with temperature increase. In addition, contact angle measurements were made on AISI 52100 steel and three coatings (TiN, CrN and ZrN) obtained by PVD technique, finding the regular behavior in hydrophobic (non-polar) systems: high contact angles led to high surface tensions. Complementary parameters like spreading parameter and polarity fraction were calculated to enhance the wetting evaluation of these ionic liquids. [N1888][NTf2]/TiN resulted as the best IL-surface combination for a good wettability, due to the higher dispersion of the charge on the large size cation in this IL and the higher values of total and polar component of the surface free energy for this coating. Finally, SEM-EDS analysis determined that [N1888][NTf2]/ZrN was the best option in order to avoid corrosion problems. The evaporation of water, present as impurity in the ionic liquids, was found the main reason because of corrosion did not occur in the tests carried out at 100 °C

Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy for structural characterization of bioactive compounds

The structural assignment of a new natural product molecule is not only to establish the 3D structure of a compound, but potentially to provide the basis for research in a multitude of disciplines, ultimately generating new therapeutic agents and/or new understanding of disease biology. The development of modern spectroscopic techniques has transformed the structure assignment process, which previously was essentially based on chemical degradation or derivatization followed by partial or total synthesis. Notably, it was only in the specialization era of the spectroscopic structural assignment of natural products that the field of marine natural products chemistry took shape. Today the processes of marine and terrestrial natural product isolation and structural determination are frequently streamlined and expeditious due to the spectacular advances in chromatographic and spectroscopic technologies as well as chemical synthesis. The NMR spectroscopy is a powerful tool in structure elucidation because the properties it displays can be related to the molecular structure. The chemical environment of a particular nucleus is associated with the chemical shift (d, ppm), and the area of a resonance, usually presented as its relative integral, is related to the number of nuclei giving rise to the NMR signal. The interactions between individual nuclei, mediated by electrons in a chemical bond, determine the coupling constant (J, Hz). In this chapter we will present the techniques commonly used, basic concepts, and how they are useful for chemists in the structural elucidation of mainly bioactive marine natural products. Its complex planar structure is determined by 1H and 13C NMR analysis strongly supported by other 1D (DEPT) and 2D (COSY, TOCSY, HSQC/HMQC, HMBC) NMR techniques. The stereochemistry is generally based on NOE experiments (NOE difference, NOESY, and ROESY), 1H–1H and 1H–13C coupling constants, chiral derivatizing agents, and also in empirical procedures comparing the chemical shifts of unknown vicinal and proximal centers with libraries of configurationally known stereomodels. However, the most reliable option to assign all the 3D structure of a marine natural product still is their total synthesis. The use of NMR hyphenated with other chromatographic and spectroscopic techniques and microcoil probes and narrow diameter tube probes for the structural elucidation of bioactive marine natural products, mainly associated with the quantitative NMR determinations, will be also briefly described. The chapter will finish with a description of the structural characterization of several types of marine natural products using all the referred NMR techniques followed by a small reference to the misassignments that still are very common

High fat diet modifies the association of lipoprotein lipase gene polymorphism with high density lipoprotein cholesterol in an Asian Indian population

Background Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in lipoprotein lipase gene (LPL) have been shown to influence metabolism related to lipid phenotypes. Dietary factors have been shown to modify the association between LPL SNPs and lipids; however, to date, there are no studies in South Asians. Hence, we tested for the association of four common LPL SNPs with plasma lipids and examined the interactions between the SNPs and dietary factors on lipids in 1,845 Asian Indians. Methods The analysis was performed in 788 Type 2 diabetes cases and 1,057 controls randomly chosen from the cross-sectional Chennai Urban Rural Epidemiological Study. Serum triacylglycerol (TAG), serum total cholesterol, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) were measured using a Hitachi-912 autoanalyzer (Roche Diagnostics GmbH, Mannheim, Germany). Dietary intake was assessed using a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire. The SNPs (rs1121923, rs328, rs4922115 and rs285) were genotyped by polymerase chain reaction followed by restriction enzyme digestion and 20% of samples were sequenced to validate the genotypes obtained. Statistical Package for Social Sciences for Windows version 22.0 (SPSS, Chicago, IL) was used for statistical analysis. Results After correction for multiple testing and adjusting for potential confounders, SNPs rs328 and rs285 showed association with HDL-C (P = 0.0004) and serum TAG (P = 1×10−5), respectively. The interaction between SNP rs1121923 and fat intake (energy %) on HDL-C (P = 0.003) was also significant, where, among those who consumed a high fat diet (28.4 ± 2.5%), the T allele carriers (TT + XT) had significantly higher HDL-C concentrations (P = 0.0002) and 30% reduced risk of low HDL-C levels compared to the CC homozygotes. None of the interactions on other lipid traits were statistically significant. Conclusion Our findings suggest that individuals carrying T allele of the SNP rs1121923 have increased HDL-C levels when consuming a high fat diet compared to CC homozygotes. Our finding warrants confirmation in prospective studies and randomized controlled trials

Perfil de dispensação da toxina botulínica para tratamento da espasticidade: dados nacionais brasileiros

The physiatrists specialized in treating spasticity were brought together for a panel discussion about the use of botulinum toxin (BT) in the public system in different states of Brazil. The data analyzed during the discussion of Datasus demonstrate a low-demand profile of the product dispensed by the Unified Health System (SUS), with heterogeneity in the distribution of TB in the Brazilian states. This scenario seems to be set up mainly for lack of a properly planned public policy, such as lack of unification and standardization of distribution centers, the lack or inadequacy of TB compensation proceeding to treatment centers, in a standardized manner by SUS and shortage of trained doctors to do it together with the lack of qualified multidisciplinary rehabilitation centers. The use of botulinum toxin for therapeutic purposes in Brazil began in the 90s, to treat dystonia and spasticity. It is currently employed in different clinical conditions; however, despite growing demand and indications over the years, there are few reports or publications on its use and benefit to patients served by the Unified Health System (SUS). To address this issue, in May 2015, in São Paulo, physiatrists from different states of Brazil met and discussed the relevance of botulinum toxin in treating spasticity.Os fisiatras especializados no tratamento de espasticidade foram reunidos para um painel de discussão a respeito do uso de toxina botulínica (TB) na rede pública de diferentes estados do Brasil. Os dados analisados durante a discussão do Datasus demonstram um baixo perfil de demanda desse produto dispensado pelo Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS), com uma heterogeneidade na distribuição da TB nos estados brasileiros. Esse quadro parece se configurar principalmente por falta de uma política pública devidamente planejada, como a falta de unificação e normatização dos centros de distribuição, pela falta ou inadequação da remuneração do procedimento de aplicação da TB aos centros de tratamento, de modo padronizado pela tabela SUS e escassez de médicos capacitados para realizá-lo junto à falta de centros de reabilitação multidisciplinar habilitados. O uso de toxina botulínica com finalidade terapêutica no Brasil teve início nos anos 90, para tratamento de distonia e de espasticidade. Atualmente, é empregada em diferentes condições clínicas, porém, apesar da crescente demanda e indicações ao longo dos anos, há poucos relatos ou publicações sobre seu uso e benefício para pacientes atendidos pela Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS). Para abordar esse tema, em maio de 2015, na cidade de São Paulo, fisiatras de diferentes estados do Brasil se encontraram e discutiram a relevância da toxina botulínica no tratamento de espasticidade