Vitamin K catabolite inhibition of ovariectomy-induced bone loss: Structure–activity relationship considerations

The potential benefit of vitamin K as a therapeutic in osteoporosis is controversial and the vitamin K regimen being used clinically (45 mg/day) employs doses that are many times higher than required to ensure maximal gamma‐carboxylation of the vitamin K‐dependent bone proteins. We therefore tested the hypothesis that vitamin K catabolites, 5‐carbon (CAN5C) and 7‐carbon carboxylic acid (CAN7C) aliphatic side‐chain derivatives of the naphthoquinone moiety exert an osteotrophic role consistent with the treatment of osteoporosis

INTERSEÇÃO PSICANÁLISE E SAÚDE MENTAL: O SUJEITO COMO BÚSSOLA DAS IN(TER)VENÇÕES NO AUTISMO.

Esta pesquisa tem por objetivo investigar a incidência do conceito psicanalítico de sujeito na clínica do autismo. A base teórica desta investigação é a psicanálise orientada por Lacan, em seu compromisso de manter viva a teoria e a clínica inventada por Freud, o que implica a visada no sujeito. Assim, inicia-se esta dissertação, no Capítulo 1, delimitando o conceito de sujeito para a psicanálise lacaniana. Em especial, no que se convencionou chamar de seu primeiro ensino, uma vez que, neste momento, o psicanalista se debruça sobre o processo de constituição subjetiva, que tanto nos interessa na clínica do autismo. Neste contexto, o sujeito é pensado em sua dependência radical à estrutura da linguagem e ao campo do Outro. A seguir, no Capítulo 2, propõe-se trabalhar o sujeito em sua articulação com o social, pois, tanto para a psicanálise quanto para a saúde mental, a referência ao laço social é fundamental. Do lado da psicanálise, o laço social é abordado na perspectiva de Lacan, do seu Seminário 17: O avesso da psicanálise. No campo da saúde pública brasileira, recorre-se aos documentos do Ministério da Saúde. Neste sentido, tenta-se alcançar os debates recentes sobre o tipo de atendimento mais adequado e eficiente aos autistas, além de acompanhar a concepção de sujeito que comparece nestes textos. Constata-se que psicanálise e saúde mental se interessam pelo sujeito e que, apesar das diferenças entre esses dois campos na forma de concebê-lo, na saúde mental infanto-juvenil essas noções se aproximam de maneira surpreendente. Por fim, no Capítulo 3, aborda-se os efeitos da incidência do conceito de sujeito sustentado pela psicanálise na interseção com o campo da saúde mental infanto-juvenil, em uma práxis psicanalítica, um grupo com crianças autistas realizado no CAPSi de Vitória-ES em parceria com a UFES. Para isso, delimitam-se as orientações deste grupo fundamentadas nos princípios da psicanálise, que visavam o mesmo objetivo: acolher e favorecer a emergência do sujeito. Cada criança foi acolhida em sua singularidade, dando lugar para o comparecimento da subjetividade no grupo. Além disso, sublinha-se a incidência desta proposta do grupo em cada uma das três crianças, ressaltando a vivência do grupo no singular. Na atualidade, enfocar a noção de sujeito também passa por uma estratégia de marcar a posição política da psicanálise na Batalha do autismo, travada cotidianamente pelos psicanalistas tocados pela clínica do autismo. A psicanálise toma o autista como um sujeito a devir, em contraposição à visão do autista como um deficiente. Conclui-se que o psicanalista inserido numa instituição pública de saúde mental contribui, com seu ato, para sustentar a possibilidade de práticas inventivas que levam em conta o singular de cada criança denominada como autista e o que elas conseguem oferecer ao laço social. Palavras-chave: Psicanálise. Saúde Mental Infanto-juvenil. Clínica. Autismo. Sujeito

Chemical Characterization and Source Apportionment of Household Fine Particulate Matter in Rural, Peri-urban, and Urban West Africa

Household air pollution in sub-Saharan Africa and other developing regions is an important cause of disease burden. Little is known about the chemical composition and sources of household air pollution in sub-Saharan Africa, and how they differ between rural and urban homes. We analyzed the chemical composition and sources of fine particles (PM2.5) in household cooking areas of multiple neighborhoods in Accra, Ghana, and in peri-urban (Banjul) and rural (Basse) areas in The Gambia. In Accra, biomass burning accounted for 39–62% of total PM2.5 mass in the cooking area in different neighborhoods; the absolute contributions were 10–45 μg/m3. Road dust and vehicle emissions comprised 12–33% of PM2.5 mass. Solid waste burning was also a significant contributor to household PM2.5 in a low-income neighborhood but not for those living in better-off areas. In Banjul and Basse, biomass burning was the single dominant source of cooking-area PM2.5, accounting for 74–87% of its total mass; the relative and absolute contributions of biomass smoke to PM2.5 mass were larger in households that used firewood than in those using charcoal, reaching as high as 463 μg/m3 in Basse homes that used firewood for cooking. Our findings demonstrate the need for policies that enhance access to cleaner fuels in both rural and urban areas, and for controlling traffic emissions in cities in sub-Saharan Africa

Online Game Addiction and the Level of Depression Among Adolescents in Manila, Philippines

Introduction: World Health Organization recognizes online game addiction as a mental health condition. The rise of excessive online gaming is emerging in the Philippines, with 29.9 million gamers recorded in the country. The incidence of depression is also increasing in the country. The current correlational analysis evaluated the association between online game addiction and depression in Filipino adolescents. Methods: A paper-and-pencil self-administered questionnaire assessing depression and online game addiction was distributed from August to November, 2018. The questionnaire included socio-demographic profiles of the respondents, and the 14-item Video Game Addiction Test (VAT) (Cronbach's ?=0.91) and the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (Cronbach's ?=0.88) to determine levels of online game addiction and depression, respectively. Multiple regression analyses were used to test the association between depression and online game addiction. Results: Three hundred adolescents (59% males, 41% females) participated in the study. Fifty-three out of 300 respondents (12.0% males, 5.7% females) had high level of online game addiction as reflected in their high VAT scores. In this study, 37 respondents (6.7% males, 5.7% females) had moderately severe depression and 6 (2.0%) females had severe depression. Online game addiction was positively correlated with depression in this study (r=0.31; p<0.001). When multiple regression analysis was computed, depression was found to be a predictor of online game addiction (Coefficient=0.0121; 95% CI-8.1924 - 0.0242; p=0.05). Conclusion: Depression, as associated with online game addiction, is a serious threat that needs to be addressed. High level of online game addiction, as positively correlated to the rate of depression among adolescents in Manila, could potentially be attributed to the booming internet industry and lack of suffiicent mental health interventions in the country. Recommended interventions include strengthening depression management among adolescents and improving mental health services for this vulnerable population groups in schools and within the communities

Clinical and Genomic Profile of Primary Cranial Neurolymphomatosis

Emily B Wolf,1 Robin Imperial,1 Liuyan Jiang,2 Amit K Agarwal,3 Han W Tun1 1Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Mayo Clinic Florida, Jacksonville, FL, USA; 2Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Mayo Clinic Florida, Jacksonville, FL, USA; 3Department of Radiology, Mayo Clinic Florida, Jacksonville, FL, USACorrespondence: Han W Tun, Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Mayo Clinic Florida, 4500 San Pablo Road S, Jacksonville, FL, 32224, USA, Email [email protected]: Primary cranial neurolymphomatosis (PCNL) is a rare subtype of primary CNS lymphoma (PCNSL) in which infiltrative lymphomatous involvement is confined to cranial nerves. Here, we report a case of PCNL with successful genomic profiling. A 57-year-old male had a lengthy prediagnostic phase spanning approximately 30 months, characterized by multiple episodes of cranial neuropathies managed by steroids. At the time of diagnosis, the patient had right-sided cranial neuropathies involving cranial nerves (CN) V, VI, and VII. Pathological findings of the right cavernous lesion biopsy were consistent with large B-cell lymphoma-infiltrating nerve fibers. The clinical course was aggressive and refractory, characterized by relentless progression with the development of cervical spinal neurolymphomatosis, cerebrospinal fluid involvement, and ependymal and intraparenchymal cerebral involvement, despite multiple lines of therapy, including chemoimmunotherapy, Bruton’s tyrosine kinase inhibitor, radiation, autologous stem cell transplant, chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy (CAR-T), and whole-brain radiation. The patient survived for 22 months from the time of the initial diagnosis and 52 months after the first episode of cranial neuropathy. Next-generation sequencing identified mutations (MYD88, CD79b, and PIM1) that are frequently observed in PCNSL. The unusual findings included a total of 22 mutations involving PIM1, indicating a highly active aberrant somatic hypermutation and two missense CXCR4 mutations. CXCR4 mutations have never been described in PCNSL and may have implications for disease biology and therapeutic interventions. We provide a literature review to further elucidate PCNL.Keywords: DLBCL, cranial nerve, autologous stem cell transplant, CAR-T cell therapy, next generation sequencin

Nitrogen mineralization rates in soils amended with different poultry manures

The Nitrogen (N) availability from field-applied poultry manure for crop production is influenced by a number of complex processes. Keeping these in view, an experiment was conducted to evaluate the decomposition of poultry manure by analysing the nitrogen mineralization. Thus the rate and timing of PM applications need to consider the N requirements of the given crop to ensure the efficient use of these products

Lentiviral vector transduction of spermatozoa as a tool for the study of early development

Spermatozoa and lentiviruses are two of nature’s most efficient gene delivery vehicles. Both can be genetically modified and used independently for the generation of transgenic animals or gene transfer/therapy of inherited disorders. Here we show that mature spermatozoa can be directly transduced with various pseudotyped lentiviral vectors and used in in vitro fertilisation studies. Lentiviral vectors encoding Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) were shown to be efficiently processed and expressed in sperm. When these transduced sperm were used in in vitro fertilisation studies, GFP expression was observed in arising blastocysts. This simple technique of directly transducing spermatozoa has potential to be a powerful tool for the study of early and pre-implantation development and could be used as a technique in transgenic development and vertical viral transmission studies

The 2020 Covid-19 pandemic and global value chains

This paper considers the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on firm strategies and, in particular, the configuration of firms’ global value chains (GVCs) once the pandemic has been brought under control. The merits of alternative location strategies (international diversification vs reshoring) are compared, as are the merits of different governance arrangements (internalization vs externalization) for GVC activities. The possibility of fire-sale foreign direct investment is raised, and the wider geopolitical context is emphasized. The widespread human tragedy is noted, as is the dilemma facing national governments around the world in balancing lives and livelihoods