Health Benefits of Mediterranean Diet

Growing evidence shows that a dietary pattern inspired by Mediterranean dietprinciples is associated with numerous health benefits. A Mediterranean-typediet has been demonstrated to exert a preventive effect toward cardiovasculardiseases, in both Mediterranean and non-Mediterranean populations. Part ofthese properties may depend on a positive action toward healthier metabolism,decreasing the risk of diabetes and metabolic-syndrome-related conditions.Some studies also suggested a potential role in preventing certain cancers. Finally,newer research has showed that a higher adherence to the Mediterranean diet isassociated with a lower risk of cognitive decline, depression, and other mentaldisorders. Overall, a better understanding of the key elements of this dietarypattern, the underlying mechanisms, and targets, are needed to corroboratecurrent evidence and provide insights on new and potential outcomes.ThisSpecial Issue welcomes original research and reviews of literature concerningthe Mediterranean diet and various health outcomes:Observational studies onestablished nutritional cohorts (preferred), case-control studies, or populationsample on the association with non-communicable diseases;Level of evidenceon the association with human health, including systematic reviews and metaanalyses;Evaluation of application of Mediterranean diet principles in non-Mediterranean countries;Description of mechanisms of action, pathways, andtargets at the molecular level, including interaction with gut microbiota

Characterization of egg yolk immunoglobulin (IgY) against enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli and evaluation of its effects on bovine intestinal cells

Escherichia coli (ETEC) infection is common in calves. Egg yolk antibodies (IgY) have been used to treat gastrointestinal infectious diseases. This study aimed to characterize IgY against bovine ETEC and to evaluate its effects on bovine intestinal cell culture challenged with a bovine ETEC strain. IgY was isolated from the egg yolks of hens immunized with ETEC. The characteristics of IgY were determined by Bradford, ELISA, gel electrophoresis and immunoblotting. Significant differences in anti-ETEC activity between anti-ETEC IgY and non-specific IgY were found in lyophilized fractions. In the bacterial growth assay, anti-ETEC IgY (40 mg/mL) showed growth inhibition of ETEC after 2 h of incubation (p<0.05). The difference in bacterial growth between anti-ETEC IgY and non-specific IgY groups was 0.51 log CFU/ml after an 8 h incubation (p<0.05). The bacterial adhesion assay indicated that anti-ETEC IgY (40 mg/ml) significantly decreased the adhesion of ETEC to bovine intestinal epithelial cells within 4 h (about 1.36 log units compared with the control group; p<0.05). This study demonstrates that anti-ETEC IgY inhibits the growth and adherence of ETEC to bovine intestinal cells and is a potential alternative to traditional treatments of infections.Fil: Bellingeri, Romina Valeria. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto. Facultad de Agronomía y Veterinaria. Departamento de Anatomía Animal; ArgentinaFil: Busso, Lucila. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto. Facultad de Agronomía y Veterinaria. Departamento de Anatomía Animal; ArgentinaFil: Alustiza, Fabrisio Eduardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Fisicoquímicas y Naturales. Departamento de Química; ArgentinaFil: Picco, Natalia Yanina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto. Facultad de Agronomía y Veterinaria. Departamento de Anatomía Animal; ArgentinaFil: Molinero, Daniela Paola. Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Fisicoquímicas y Naturales. Departamento de Ciencias Naturales. Laboratorio de Genética y Mutagenesis Ambiental; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Grosso, Maria Carolina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto. Facultad de Agronomía y Veterinaria. Departamento de Anatomía Animal. Laboratorio de Radioisótopos; ArgentinaFil: Motta, Carlos. Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto. Facultad de Agronomía y Veterinaria. Departamento de Anatomía Animal; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Vivas, Adriana Beatriz. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto. Facultad de Agronomía y Veterinaria. Departamento de Anatomía Animal; Argentin

Exchange Traded Funds: replicação física e sintética em mercados emergentes

Mestrado em Análise FinanceiraA presente dissertação pretende evidenciar o comportamento de 16 Exchange Traded Funds, físicos e sintéticos, cotados na Europa, aplicados à classe dos mercados emergentes, tendo como benchmark o índice MSCI Emerging Markets. O período em análise compreende 7 anos, de 2015 a 2021, tendo sido dividido em dois subperíodos de forma a captar o impacto da crise causada pela pandemia da COVID-19. Com recurso a medidas como os rácios de Sharpe, Treynor e Sortino, a medida de Jensen e o cálculo do tracking error, os resultados permitem aferir que os ETFs apresentam um desempenho reduzido e que a sua precisão de replicação face ao índice de referência é fraca, condição que se agrava durante a pandemia. Comparando o tipo de exposição física com o tipo de exposição sintética, determina-se que esta acarreta mais risco, mas consegue normalmente obter um desempenho superior. Através da análise aos determinantes do tracking error, com base no modelo de dados em painel de efeitos fixos, conclui-se que das variáveis selecionadas, apenas a idade do fundo e o risco são estatisticamente significativas para qualquer nível de significância e apresentam uma relação positiva com a variável dependente, e o coeficiente beta da variável dummy COVID indica uma associação negativa entre esta e o tracking error. Este tipo de investimento não constitui uma mais-valia para os investidores, mas aquando da aquisição destes ativos é imprescindível uma análise ao método de replicação dos mesmos.This dissertation aims to demonstrate the behavior of 16 equity Exchange Traded Funds, physical and synthetic, traded on European exchanges that track the MSCI Emerging Markets Index. The period analyzed comprises 7 years, from 2015 to 2021, having been divided into two subperiods in order to capture the impact of the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Using measures such as Sharpe, Treynor and Sortino ratios, Jensen’s alpha and the tracking error calculation, the results allow us to verify that ETFs have a weak performance and that the ETFs accuracy in replicating their benchmark is low, especially during the pandemic crisis. When comparing a physical exposure to a synthetic one it is determined that the latter carries more risk but usually achieves superior performances. When analyzing the tracking error determinants, based on panel data fixed effects model, we conclude that from the selected variables, only fund’s age and risk are statistically significant for any level of significance and show a positive relation with the dependent variable, and the beta coefficient for the dummy variable COVID indicates a negative association between this variable and the tracking error. This kind of investment does not bring added value for investors but when acquiring these assets, an analysis of their replication method is essential.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Utility of fibroblasts derived from broncho-alveolar lavage of patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis or related disorders to develop in vitro models

Broncho-alveolar lavage (BAL) represents a safe tool for the differential diagnosis of various pulmonary fibrotic diseases. Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) belongs to a heterogeneous group of diseases, interstitial lung disease (ILD), presenting a progressive impairment of pulmonary functions. IPF is characterized by the excessive accumulation of extracellular matrix (ECM) in the alveolar parenchyma that may lead to irreversible pulmonary remodeling. Although the exact pathogenetic mechanisms leading to IPF development are still unclear it has been demonstrated that fibroblasts differentiating toward myofibroblasts are the major actors involved in this process. The possibility of obtaining and expanding fibroblasts from the BAL of ILD patients for research purposes has been recently explored. This approach is discussed here as a reliable chance, helpful to advance the scientific community knowledge and to devise two- and three-dimensional (2D/3D) pre-clinical in vitro models of these diseases, further overcoming technical and ethical concerns related to the use of fibroblasts derived from tissue biopsy

New membranes obtained by grafted irradiated PVDF foils

The present work describes a new method to produce membranes of poly(Acrylicacid-Xmonomer) using the grafting procedure. PVDF foils irradiated with Ar+ beamwith energies between 30 and 150 keV were employed as substratum. Differentcombinations of monomers in water solutions were used: acrylic acid (AAc); acrylicacid - glycidyl methacrylate (AAc-GMA); acrylic acid - styrene (AAc-S), acrylic acid-N-isopropyl acrylamide (AAc-NIPAAm) and acrylic acid - N-isopropyl acrylamide -glycidyl methacrylate (AAc-NIPAAm-GMA). A large percentage of grafting results forspecific values of: ion fluence and energy, AAc and sulfuric acid concentration, anddifferent substrata PVDF polymorphous (alpha or beta). At a particular time of thegrafting process, the Poly(AAc-Xmonomer) membranes detach from the substratum andcontinue their grafting in the solution. This method is useful to produce increasedreplicated membranes of the irradiated original surface.Fil: Mazzei, R.. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional; Argentina. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica; ArgentinaFil: Garcia Bermudez, Gerardo Jose. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Escuela de Ciencia y Tecnología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Camporotondi, Daniela Edhit. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica. Gerencia del Área de Investigaciones y Aplicaciones no Nucleares. Gerencia de Física (Centro Atómico Constituyentes); Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Arbeitman, Claudia Roxana. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: del Grosso, Mariela Fernanda. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica; Argentina. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional. Facultad Regional General Pacheco; ArgentinaFil: Behar, M.. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; Brasi

A new case of 13q12.2q13.1 microdeletion syndrome contributes to phenotype delineation.

A recently described genetic disorder has been associated with 13q12.3 microdeletion spanning three genes, namely, KATNAL1, LINC00426, and HMGB1. Here, we report a new case with similar clinical features that we have followed from birth to 5 years old. The child carried a complex rearrangement with a double translocation: 46,XX,t(7;13)(p15;q14),t(11;15)(q23;q22). Array-CGH identified a de novo microdeletion at 13q12.2q13.1 spanning 3–3.4 Mb and overlapping 13q12.3 critical region. Clinical features resembling those reported in the literature confirm the existence of a distinct 13q12.3 microdeletion syndrome and provide further evidence that is useful to characterize its phenotypic expression during the 5 years of development

Dietary polyphenol intake, blood pressure, and hypertension: A systematic review and Meta-Analysis of observational studies

Background: Dietary polyphenols, including flavonoids, have been the focus of major recent attentions due to their wide content in a variety of foods commonly consumed and the findings from numerous studies showing evidence of an association with positive outcomes on human health. Methods: A systematic search using electronic databases PubMed and EMBASE was performed to retrieve English language studies published from the earliest indexing year of each database to April 2019, reporting on the association between dietary flavonoids intake and hypertension. Results: The search strategy resulted in the final selection of 20 studies including 15 cross-sectional investigations and 7 prospective cohorts (1 study reported on 3 prospective cohorts). 5 prospective cohorts, comprising 200,256 individuals and 45,732 cases of hypertension were included in the quantitative analysis. Analysis by extreme quantiles of intake of flavonoid showed a non-significant association with decreased risk of hypertension (RR (risk ratio): 0.96, 95% CI (confidence interval): 0.89, 1.03). Taking into consideration individual flavonoid subclasses, dietary anthocyanins intake was associated with 8% reduction in risk of hypertension, when comparing highest vs. lowest exposure (RR: 0.92, 95% CI: 0.88, 0.97). Conclusions: Further studies are needed to strengthen the retrieved association between anthocyanins consumption and decreased risk of hypertension and clarify whether total flavonoids or rather individual subclasses may exert beneficial effects on blood pressure