Impact of aging on the auditory system and related cognitive functions: A narrative review

Age-related hearing loss (ARHL), presbycusis, is a chronic health condition that affects approximately one-third of the world’s population. The peripheral and central hearing alterations associated with age-related hearing loss have a profound impact on perception of verbal and non-verbal auditory stimuli. The high prevalence of hearing loss in the older adults corresponds to the increased frequency of dementia in this population. Therefore, researchers have focused their attention on age-related central effects that occur independent of the peripheral hearing loss as well as central effects of peripheral hearing loss and its association with cognitive decline and dementia. Here we review the current evidence for the age-related changes of the peripheral and central auditory system and the relationship between hearing loss and pathological cognitive decline and dementia. Furthermore, there is a paucity of evidence on the relationship between ARHL and established biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease, as the most common cause of dementia. Such studies are critical to be able to consider any causal relationship between dementia and ARHL. While this narrative review will examine the pathophysiological alterations in both the peripheral and central auditory system and its clinical implications, the question remains unanswered whether hearing loss causes cognitive impairment or vice versa

Electrospinning : processing technique for tissue engineering scaffolding

Electrospinning has attracted tremendous interest in the research community as a simple and versatile technique to produce synthetic polymeric ultrafine fibres with diameters ranging from a few micrometres to tens of nanometres. Recently, some natural origin polymers have also been successfully electrospun. Owing to their very small diameter, polymeric nanofibres exhibit unusual properties such as high specific surface area, flexibility in surface functionalities and superior mechanical properties. In addition, electrospun non-woven meshes could physically mimic the extracellular matrix structure of native tissues. These remarkable properties render electrospun nanofibres useful for many applications, particularly those related to the field of biomedical engineering. The first part of this review is intended to provide a fundamental survey of the electrospinning process (apparatus, governing parameters) and of recent improvements of the technique, including associated structural modifications of polymeric nanofibre meshes. The prospective tissue engineering/biomedical applications of electrospun polymeric nanofibres are then reviewed, namely, wound dressings, medical prostheses, drug delivery systems, DNA release and tissue engineering scaffolds. The essential properties of scaffolds in terms of the structural features of electrospun nanofibre meshes are discussed. Finally, the future perspectives for applications of electrospun nanofibres, particularly in the field of tissue engineering, are considered

Resonance induced by repulsive interactions in a model of globally-coupled bistable systems

We show the existence of a competition-induced resonance effect for a generic globally coupled bistable system. In particular, we demonstrate that the response of the macroscopic variable to an external signal is optimal for a particular proportion of repulsive links. Furthermore, we show that a resonance also occurs for other system parameters, like the coupling strength and the number of elements. We relate this resonance to the appearance of a multistable region, and we predict the location of the resonance peaks, by a simple spectral analysis of the Laplacian matrix

Parasitos de Oreochromis niloticus, Cichlidae invasor da Bacia do Igarapé Fortaleza, região do estuário amazônico do Estado do Amapá.

ENBRAPOA

Parasitos das brânquias de 16 espécies de Cichlidae da Bacia do Igarapé Fortaleza, Macapá, Estado do Amapá, Brasil.

ENBRAPOA

Avaliação do potencial de estirpes de rizóbio em fixar nitrogênio associadas ao feijão-caupi em Petrolina-PE.

O feijão-caupi é uma cultura leguminosa de grande importância para a alimentação humana, constituindo-se em uma fonte de proteína para a maioria da população rural. A eficiência de diferentes estirpes de rizóbio em fixar o nitrogênio atmosférico em associação com o feijão-caupi foi testada ao nível de campo na Estação Experimental da Caatinga, da Embrapa Semi-Árido, localizada no município de Petrolina-PE (09o23'S e 40o30'W, altitude: 350 m). O experimento foi implantado em condições de sequeiro, com delineamento de blocos ao acaso e seis repetições, constando de seis tratamentos, sendo quatro estirpes de rizóbio - BR 3267, BR 3299, BR 33o1 e BR 3302, uma dose de nitrogênio mineral - 50 kg ha-1 e uma testemunha. Aos trinta dias após o plantio, o número e peso seco de nódulos, peso de matéria seca e concentração de nitrogênio na parte aérea da planta foram determinados. Todas as estirpes superaram significativamente o tratamento testemunha, tanto em número como em peso seco de nódulos, denotando uma alta eficiência em nodular as raízes de feijão-caupi em relação às estirpes de rizóbio existentes no solo da área experimental

Circumferential vascular strain rate to estimate vascular load in aortic stenosis: a speckle tracking echocardiography study

Evaluation of vascular mechanics through two-dimensional speckle-tracking (2D-ST) echocardiography is a feasible and accurate approach for assessing vascular stiffening. Degenerative aortic stenosis (AS) is currently considered a systemic vascular disease where rigidity of arterial walls increases. To assess the circumferential ascending aorta strain rate (CAASR) in thoracic aortas of patients with AS, applying 2D-ST technology. 45 patients with indexed aortic valve areas (iAVA) ≤0.85 cm(2)/m(2) were studied. Global CAASR served to assess vascular deformation. Clinical, echocardiographic, and non-invasive hemodynamic data were collected. A follow up (955 days) was also performed. Average age of the cohort was 76. ± 10.3 years, with gender balance. Mean iAVA was 0.43 ± 0.15 cm(2)/m(2). Waveforms adequate for determining CAASR were found in 246 (91 %) of the 270 aortic segments evaluated, for a mean global CAASR of 0.74 ± 0.26 s(-1). Both intra- and inter-observer variability of global CAASR were deemed appropriate. CAASR correlated significantly with age (r = -0.49, p < 0.01), the stiffness index (r = -0.59, p < 0.01), systemic arterial compliance and total vascular resistance. There was a significant positive correlation between CAASR, body surface area (BSA), iAVA, and a negative relationship with valvulo-arterial impedance and E/e' ratio (r = -0.37, p = 0.01). The stiffness index was (β = -0.41, p < 0.01) independently associated with CAASR, in a model adjusted for age, BSA, iAVA and E/e'. Patients with a baseline CAASR ≤0.66 s(-1) had a worse long-term outcome (survival 52.4 vs. 83.3 %, Log Rank p = 0.04). CAASR is a promising echocardiographic tool for studying the vascular loading component of patients with AS.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Hyaluronic acid/poly-L-lysine bilayered silica nanoparticles enhance the osteogenic differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells

First published online 15 Aug 2014Herein, we evaluate the influence of a PLL–HA bilayer on the surface of silica nanoparticles on their capacity to induce the osteogenic differentiation of human bone marrow stem cells (hBMSCs), as a function of their concentration (50 μg mL−1, 25 μg mL−1 and 12.5 μg mL−1). To this purpose, we synthesized silica nanoparticles (diameter of 250 nm; ζ-potential of −25 mV) that were coated with PLL–HA (diameter of 560 nm; ζ-potential of −35 mV). The cell viability, cell proliferation, protein quantification (i.e. MTS, DNA and ALP, respectively) and gene expression (of osteogenesis-related genes: ALP, osteocalcin, collagen type I, bone sialoprotein, Runx-2, osteopontin and osterix) were monitored, for 21 days. We observed the overexpression of most of the tested osteogenic transcripts in the hBMSCs cultured with SiO2–PLL–HA, at concentrations of 25 μg mL−1 and 12.5 μg mL−1. These results indicate that the proposed nanoparticles temporarily improve the osteogenic differentiation of hBMSCs at low nanoparticle concentrations.We acknowledge funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement number REGPOT-CT2012-316331-POLARIS. AM acknowledges QREN (project "RL1-ABMR-NORTE-01-0124-FEDER-000016" co-financed by the North Portugal Regional Operational Programme (ON. 2, "O Novo Norte") under the NSRF through the ERDF) for financing this research work

The End Magnets of the Ifusp Race-track Microtron Booster

The end magnets of the IFUSP race-track microtron booster, second stage of the electron accelerator under construction at the Linear Accelerator Laboratory, are presented. They deflect, focus and return the beam to the accelerating section. Details about the project are discussed, Poisson code was used to give the final geometry of the end magnets. The end magnets incorporate auxiliary pole pieces (clamps) which create a reverse fringe field region that avoids the beam vertical defocusing and reduces the horizontal displacement produced by extended fringe fields (EFF). The small gap height used for the clamps provided reverse field distributions with fringe fields of short extensions, avoiding the traditional use of inactive clamps. Measurements and calculations concerning particle trajectories and reverse field distribution are presented. The floating wire technique, employing an original procedure to register orbits, was used to corroborate the calculated beam trajectories and represents a good experimental option in the lack of the accelerator beam. The experimental results showed agreement of about 0.1% with the calculations