The Usefulness of Biological and Neuroimaging Markers for the Diagnosis of Early-Onset Alzheimer's Disease

The recent proposed criteria for Alzheimer's Disease (AD) have strongly claimed the usefulness of biological and neuroimaging markers for early identification AD. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) Tau/Abeta ratio, hippocampal atrophy, posterior cingulate, and neocortical associative area hypometabolism, or amyloid burden evaluated by PiB compound, held the premises to increase diagnostic accuracy in the preclinical disease stages. Despite many efforts to identify subjects at risk of developing AD, less attention has been paid to presenile AD diagnosis. A few data are already available in early onset AD, mainly obtained in cases of monogenic disorder. In this paper, we discuss the current literature on the role of biological and neuroimaging markers in presenile AD

Mejora de procesos para incrementar la productividad en una empresa minera

El presente trabajo de investigación su problemática general fue sobre: ¿De qué manera la implementación de una Mejora de procesos influye en el incremento de la productividad en una empresa minera?, el objetivo general fue: Determinar de qué manera la implementación de una Mejora de procesos influye en el incremento de la productividad en una empresa minera y la hipótesis general que se contrastó fue: La implementación de una Mejora de procesos influye significativamente en el incremento de la productividad en una empresa minera. El método de investigación fue el científico, el tipo de investigación fue aplicada, con un nivel explicativo, el diseño fue cuasi experimental. La población estuvo constituida por la producción de concentrado de cobre durante 6 meses en la empresa minera en estudio, la muestra de tipo no probabilístico estuvo constituida por la producción de concentrado de cobre durante 3 meses antes y 3 meses después de la implementación de la propuesta de mejora. En conclusión, se ha demostrado que la implementación de mejoras en los procesos en las empresas mineras tiene un impacto significativo en las ganancias de productividad, pasando de 80.86% a 88.54%, aumentando así en un 9.50%; asimismo la eficiencia mejoró un 2,39% y la eficacia aumentó un 6,93%

Musical games and rhythmic reading learning processes

Orientador: Silvia Cordeiro NassifDissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de ArtesResumo: Este trabalho propõe a realização de um estudo sobre o uso de jogos musicais como possibilidade metodológica no processo de aprendizado da leitura rítmica. Sob a perspectiva teórica da psicologia histórico-cultural de Vigotski foi realizada uma análise da proposta pedagógica dos jogos rítmicos dos capítulos três e quatro do livro Jogos pedagógicos para educação musical (2005) de Rosa Lúcia dos Mares Guia e Cecília Cavalieri França considerando suas contribuições para o desenvolvimento musical. A partir da análise dos jogos pedagógicos, num segundo momento, foram colocadas em discussão questões sobre o ensino de leitura rítmica e a atividade lúdica, além de se estabelecer um contraponto com propostas pedagógicas não lúdicas de desenvolvimento da leitura rítmica. Com base nos estudos realizados, podemos considerar o jogo como uma atividade significativa e diretamente relacionada aos processos de aprendizado e desenvolvimento da leitura musical, apresentando um grande potencial pedagógicoAbstract: This project attempts to investigate the use of musical games as a methodological possibility in the process of rhythmic reading learning. From the perspective of the cultural-historical psychology of Vigotski this research analyses the pedagogical purposes of the rhythmic games presented in the chapters three and four of Rosa Lúcia dos Mares Guia and Cecília Cavalieri França's book "Jogos pedagógicos para educação musical" (2005) considering its contributions to the musical development. From the analysis of the pedagogical games, in a second moment, questions about the teaching of rhythmic reading and the playful activity were discussed, besides establishing a counterpoint with non-playful pedagogical proposals for the development of rhythmic reading. Based on previous studies, it is argued that games are a significant activity directly related to the learning and development processes of music reading, presenting a great pedagogical potentialMestradoMúsica, Teoria, Criação e PráticaMestra em Música88882.180255/2018-01CAPE

The Phagocytosis and Toxicity of Amorphous Silica

BACKGROUND: Inhalation of crystalline silica is known to cause an inflammatory reaction and chronic exposure leads to lung fibrosis and can progress into the disease, silicosis. Cultured macrophages bind crystalline silica particles, phagocytose them, and rapidly undergo apoptotic and necrotic death. The mechanism by which particles are bound and internalized and the reason particles are toxic is unclear. Amorphous silica has been considered to be a less toxic form, but this view is controversial. We compared the uptake and toxicity of amorphous silica to crystalline silica. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Amorphous silica particles are phagocytosed by macrophage cells and a single internalized particle is capable of killing a cell. Fluorescent dextran is released from endo-lysosomes within two hours after silica treatment and Caspase-3 activation occurs within 4 hours. Interestingly, toxicity is specific to macrophage cell lines. Other cell types are resistant to silica particle toxicity even though they internalize the particles. The large and uniform size of the spherical, amorphous silica particles allowed us to monitor them during the uptake process. In mCherry-actin transfected macrophages, actin rings began to form 1-3 minutes after silica binding and the actin coat disassembled rapidly following particle internalization. Pre-loading cells with fluorescent dextran allowed us to visualize the fusion of phagosomes with endosomes during internalization. These markers provided two new ways to visualize and quantify particle internalization. At 37 °C the rate of amorphous silica internalization was very rapid regardless of particle coating. However, at room temperature, opsonized silica is internalized much faster than non-opsonized silica. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our results indicate that amorphous and crystalline silica are both phagocytosed and both toxic to mouse alveolar macrophage (MH-S) cells. The pathway leading to apoptosis appears to be similar in both cases. However, the result suggests a mechanistic difference between FcγRIIA receptor-mediated and non-opsonized silica particle phagocytosis

A yeast-based repurposing approach for the treatment of mitochondrial DNA depletion syndromes led to the identification of molecules able to modulate the dNTP pool

Mitochondrial DNA depletion syndromes (MDS) are clinically heterogenous and often severe diseases, characterized by a reduction of the number of copies of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) in affected tissues. In the context of MDS, yeast has proved to be both an excellent model for the study of the mechanisms underlying mitochondrial pathologies and for the discovery of new therapies via high-throughput assays. Among the several genes involved in MDS, it has been shown that recessive mutations in MPV17 cause a hepatocerebral form of MDS and Navajo neurohepatopathy. MPV17 encodes a non selective channel in the inner mitochondrial membrane, but its physiological role and the nature of its cargo remains elusive. In this study we identify ten drugs active against MPV17 disorder, modelled in yeast using the homologous gene SYM1. All ten of the identified molecules cause a concomitant increase of both the mitochondrial deoxyribonucleoside triphosphate (mtdNTP) pool and mtDNA stability, which suggests that the reduced availability of DNA synthesis precursors is the cause for the mtDNA deletion and depletion associated with Sym1 deficiency. We finally evaluated the effect of these molecules on mtDNA stability in two other MDS yeast models, extending the potential use of these drugs to a wider range of MDS patients

Maxillary fungus ball: zinc-oxide endodontic materials as a risk factor

open7openNICOLAI, Piero; MENSI, Magda; Marsili, F.; Piccioni, M.; SALGARELLO, Stefano Alessandro; GILBERTI, Maria Enrica; Apostoli, P.Nicolai, Piero; Mensi, Magda; Marsili, F.; Piccioni, M.; Salgarello, Stefano Alessandro; Gilberti, Maria Enrica; Apostoli, P