3,164 research outputs found

    Comparative study on the relationship between stroke hemisphere and functional evolution in right-handed individuals

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    OBJETIVO: O hemisfério esquerdo é dominante para o controle motor e o direito para a orientação espacial. Este estudo visou testar as hipóteses de que a lesão à esquerda causa maior prejuízo da movimentação voluntária e a lesão à direita resulta em perda na atenção espacial e no controle postural. Indivíduos com lesão à esquerda foram comparados com indivíduos com lesão à direita, com relação ao comprometimento inicial e recuperação três meses pós-lesão. MATERIAIS E MÉTODOS: Vinte e dois indivíduos destros com lesão isquêmica no território da artéria cerebral média (11 à esquerda e 11 à direita) foram avaliados mensalmente nos três primeiros meses pós-lesão em termos de sensibilidade, tônus, força, postura, marcha, independência funcional e atenção espacial. RESULTADOS: Com relação ao comprometimento inicial, não houve diferença na sensibilidade, tônus, força, postura e atenção dos grupos. O grupo com lesão à esquerda apresentou pior desempenho inicial nos testes de marcha e de independência funcional. Com relação à taxa de recuperação, não houve diferenças na sensibilidade, tônus, força, postura, atenção e independência funcional dos dois grupos. Porém, a taxa de recuperação da marcha do grupo com lesão à esquerda foi inferior à do outro grupo. CONCLUSÕES: Foi confirmada a hipótese de que a lesão à esquerda causa maior comprometimento da movimentação voluntária, representada pela marcha e independência funcional, que a lesão à direita. Não foi obtida, no entanto, evidência de que a lesão à direita compromete de modo mais intenso a atenção espacial e a manutenção da postura que a lesão à esquerda.OBJECTIVE: The left hemisphere is supposed to be dominant for motor control and the right hemisphere dominant for spatial orientation. This study aimed to test the hypothesis that left-side lesions cause greater impairment of voluntary movement, while right-side lesions cause loss of spatial attention loss and postural control. Individuals with left-side lesions were compared with individuals with right-side lesions, in relation to initial impairment and recovery three months after their stroke. METHODS: Twenty-two right-handed individuals with an ischemic lesion in the area of the middle cerebral artery (11 on the left side and 11 on the right side) were assessed monthly, for the first three months after their stroke, in terms of sensitivity, tonus, posture, gait, functional independence and spatial attention. RESULTS: In relation to the initial impairment, there was no difference in sensitivity, tonus, strength, posture and spatial attention between the groups. The left-side lesion group presented worse initial performance in gait and functional independence tests. In relation to the recovery rate, there were no differences in sensitivity, tonus, strength, posture, spatial attention or functional independence between the two groups. However, the gait recovery rate in the left-side lesion group was slower than in the other group. CONCLUSIONS: The hypothesis that left-side lesions cause greater impairment of voluntary movement (represented by gait and functional independence) than do right-side lesions was supported. However, no evidence that right-side lesions cause greater impairment of spatial attention and posture maintenance than do left-side lesions was found

    Optimal space-time coverage and exploration costs in groundwater monitoring networks

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    A method to determine the optimal subset of stations from a reference level groundwater monitoring network is proposed. The method considers the redundancy of data from historical time series, the times associated with the total distance required to run through the entire monitoring network, and the sum of the times for each monitoring station. The method was applied to a hypothetical case-study consisting of a monitoring network with 32 stations. Cost-benefit analysis was performed to determine the number of stations to include in the new design versus loss of information. This optimisation problem was solved with simulated annealing. Results showed that the relative reduction in exploration costs more than compensates for the relative loss in data representativeness.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

    Percepción de padres y enfermeros sobre la atención de enfermería en neonatología – una revisión integradora

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    Background: The admission of a Newborn (NB) to a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) requires specialised skills from nurses in order to not only assess the NB’s biological features, but also focus care on the NB/parents binomial. Objectives: To analyse the scientific evidence on the Nursing care experienced at NICUs from the perspective of nurses and parents of NBs during their hospital stay at those units. Methodology: An integrative literature review was conducted. The following databases were searched in the EBSCOhost platform: CINAHL; MEDLINE and Cochrane. Scientific studies published in databases of reference from 2004 to 2013 were selected based on previously defined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Results: Nine studies which emphasised the diversity of perceptions of care were included. The analysis of these studies allowed organising the results into three themes: therapeutic relationship, humanisation of care and suffering. Conclusion: The evidence obtained in this study suggest that parents of NBs admitted to NICUs experience a great emotional overload and need to receive information and support from nurses.Contexto: A admissão de um Recém-Nascido (RN) numa Unidade de Cuidados Intensivos Neonatais (UCIN) requer dos enfermeiros competências especializadas, de modo a considerar não somente os aspetos biológicos do RN, mas centrando o cuidar no binómio RN/pais. Objetivos: Conhecer a evidência científica sobre os cuidados de Enfermagem experienciados em UCIN, na perceção dos enfermeiros e dos pais dos RN durante o período de internação nessas unidades. Metodologia: Realizou-se uma revisão integrativa da literatura. Elegeuse a plataforma EBSCOhost e selecionaram-se as bases bibliográficas eletrónicas: CINAHL, MEDLINE e Cochrane. Os estudos científicos publicados em bases de dados de referência, entre 2004-2013, foram selecionados com critérios de inclusão e exclusão previamente definidos. Resultados: Incluídos nove estudos que ressaltaram diversidade de perceções sobre os cuidados de Enfermagem. A análise destes estudos permitiu organizar os resultados em três temas: relação terapêutica; humanização dos cuidados e sofrimento. Conclusão: As evidências, neste estudo, mostram que os pais que têm um RN internado em UCIN experienciam uma grande sobrecarga emocional, necessitam de receber informações e apoio dos enfermeiros.Contexto: La admisión de un Recién Nacido (RN) en una Unidad de Cuidados Intensivos Neonatales (UCIN) requiere que los enfermeros tengan competencias especializadas con el fin de tener en cuenta no solo los aspectos biológicos del RN, sino centrando la atención en el binomio RN/padres. Objetivos: Conocer la evidencia científica sobre la atención de enfermería experimentada en las UCIN, en la percepción de los enfermeros y de los padres de los RN durante el período de internamiento hospitalario en estas unidades. Metodología: Se realizó una revisión integradora de la literatura. Para ello, se consultó la plataforma EBSCOhost y se seleccionaron las bases bibliográficas electrónicas: CINAHL; MEDLINE y Cochrane. Los estudios científicos publicados en las bases de datos de referencia, entre 2004 y 2013, fueron seleccionados con criterios de inclusión y exclusión previamente definidos. Resultados: Se incluyeron nueve estudios que resaltaron una diversidad de percepciones sobre la atención de enfermería. El análisis de estos estudios permitió organizar los resultados en tres temas: relación terapéutica, humanización de la atención y sufrimiento. Conclusión: En este estudio, las evidencias indican que los padres que tienen un RN ingresado en una UCIN experimentan una gran sobrecarga emocional y necesitan recibir información y apoyo de los enfermeros.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

    CYP2D6 genetic polymorphisms are associated with susceptibility to pituitary tumors

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    Several polymorphisms of drug-metabolizing enzymes have been implicated in the susceptibility to tumor development. The role of the CYP2D6, GSTM1 and GSTT1 genes has been extensively studied, with alleles conferring different metabolic efficiencies and tumor risk. We studied the relationship between the main polymorphisms of these genes and the susceptibility to develop pituitary tumors, by performing a case-control study comprising 235 patients and 256 controls which were genotyped by means of PCR-RFLP based assays. Frequencies of the CYP2D6*1 and of the poor metabolizer allele CYP2D6*4, were determined along with the frequencies of the GSTM1 and GSTT1 null genotypes. CYP2D6 genotype frequencies were similar in patients and controls (p=0.087). CYP2D6*1 and CYP2D6*4 allele frequencies were 83.8%, 16.2% in cases and 78.3%, 21.7% in controls, showing a significant difference between the two groups (p=0.012). There were no significant differences between the frequencies of the GSTM1 and GSTT1 null genotypes in both groups. No association was found between histological type and any of the studied polymorphisms. Our data suggest an association of the CYP2D6*1 allele and the susceptibility to pituitary adenomas, which could be due to an increased metabolism of unidentified procarcinogens or to linkage disequilibrium with another gene involved in pituitary tumorigenesis

    Street trees reduce the negative effects of urbanization on birds

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    The effects of streets on biodiversity is an important aspect of urban ecology, but it has been neglected worldwide. Several vegetation attributes (e.g. street tree density and diversity) have important effects on biodiversity and ecological processes. In this study, we evaluated the influences of urban vegetationÐrepresented by characteristics of street trees (canopy size, proportion of native tree species and tree species richness)Ðand characteristics of the landscape (distance to parks and vegetation quantity), and human impacts (human population size and exposure to noise) on taxonomic data and functional diversity indices of the bird community inhabiting streets. The study area was the southern region of Belo Horizonte (Minas Gerais, Brazil), a largely urbanized city in the understudied Neotropical region. Bird data were collected on 60 point count locations distributed across the streets of the landscape. We used a series of competing GLM models (using Akaike's information criterion for small sample sizes) to assess the relative contribution of the different sets of variables to explain the observed patterns. Seventy-three bird species were observed exploiting the streets: native species were the most abundant and frequent throughout this landscape. The bird community's functional richness and Rao's Quadratic Entropy presented values lower than 0.5. Therefore, this landscape was favoring few functional traits. Exposure to noise was the most limiting factor for this bird community. However, the average size of arboreal patches and, especially the characteristics of street trees, were able to reduce the negative effects of noise on the bird community. These results show the importance of adequately planning the urban afforestation process: increasing tree species richness, preserving large trees and planting more native trees species in the streets are management practices that will increase bird species richness, abundance and community functional aspects and consequently improve human wellbeing and quality of life

    The use of histological analysis for the detection of somatic embryos in sugarcane

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    The aim of this study was to establish an in vitro system for the induction, maturation and regeneration of somatic embryo in sugarcane from buds of cultivar RB 867515. Embryogenic calluses were obtained on semi-solid MS medium supplemented with 4.42 mg L-1 2,4-D. After four weeks of culture of explants on the callus induction medium, globular structures were obtained. At the end of 20 days in maturation medium, somatic embryos were observed. Histological analysis showed somatic embryos with caulinarand root apex, protodermal tissue, and the vascular system, which  apparently has no connection with the vascular tissue explant that gave rise to it confirming the presence of the somatic embryo. The embryos were transferred to regeneration medium containing 1 mg L-1 GA3 and BAP, and after 1 to 2 weeks of culture, green points were observed, indicating the beginning of the formation of shoots. Key words: Saccharum spp, bud culture, 2.4-D, morphogenetic pathway, embryogenesis, plant regeneration

    Transcriptome analysis of reproductive tissue and intrauterine developmental stages of the tsetse fly (Glossina morsitans morsitans)

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    <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Tsetse flies, vectors of African trypanosomes, undergo viviparous reproduction (the deposition of live offspring). This reproductive strategy results in a large maternal investment and the deposition of a small number of progeny during a female's lifespan. The reproductive biology of tsetse has been studied on a physiological level; however the molecular analysis of tsetse reproduction requires deeper investigation. To build a foundation from which to base molecular studies of tsetse reproduction, a cDNA library was generated from female tsetse (<it>Glossina morsitans morsitans</it>) reproductive tissues and the intrauterine developmental stages. 3438 expressed sequence tags were sequenced and analyzed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Analysis of a nonredundant catalogue of 1391 contigs resulted in 520 predicted proteins. 475 of these proteins were full length. We predict that 412 of these represent cytoplasmic proteins while 57 are secreted. Comparison of these proteins with other tissue specific tsetse cDNA libraries (salivary gland, fat body/milk gland, and midgut) identified 51 that are unique to the reproductive/immature cDNA library. 11 unique proteins were homologus to uncharacterized putative proteins within the NR database suggesting the identification of novel genes associated with reproductive functions in other insects (hypothetical conserved). The analysis also yielded seven putative proteins without significant homology to sequences present in the public database (unknown genes). These proteins may represent unique functions associated with tsetse's viviparous reproductive cycle. RT-PCR analysis of hypothetical conserved and unknown contigs was performed to determine basic tissue and stage specificity of the expression of these genes.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This paper identifies 51 putative proteins specific to a tsetse reproductive/immature EST library. 11 of these proteins correspond to hypothetical conserved genes and 7 proteins are tsetse specific.</p

    Effects of Low-Moderate Load High-Velocity Resistance Training on Physical Performance of Under-20 Futsal Players

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    Resistance training (RT) is an effective methodology to improve physical performance of athletes. However, up to now, no studies have addressed the RT benefits in under-20 futsal players. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of six weeks of RT with high-velocity movements, low-to-moderate loads, and low volume on physical performance of under-20 futsal players. A total of 21 players were divided into two groups: A control group (CG, n = 10) and a RT group (RTG, n = 11). The RTG performed two weekly training sessions constituted by leg-press, jumps, and sprints, along with three futsal training sessions, while the CG only performed the futsal training. Before and after the intervention, the sprint time in 0⁻10 m (T10), 10⁻20 m (T10⁻20), and 0⁻20 m (T20), the countermovement jump (CMJ) height, the T-Test time, the kicking ball speed (KBS), and the maximum dynamic strength in the leg-press, were assessed. In post-test, significant improvements in CMJ, T-Test, KBS, and leg-press were found for the RTG, whilst a significant decrease in T10⁻20 was evidenced in the CG. The present results suggested that RT based on high velocity movements, low-to-moderate loads, and low volume produce positive effects on physical performance of under-20 futsal players.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

    The salivary gland transcriptome of the neotropical malaria vector Anopheles darlingi reveals accelerated evolution of genes relevant to hematophagy

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    BackgroundMosquito saliva, consisting of a mixture of dozens of proteins affecting vertebrate hemostasis and having sugar digestive and antimicrobial properties, helps both blood and sugar meal feeding. Culicine and anopheline mosquitoes diverged ~150 MYA, and within the anophelines, the New World species diverged from those of the Old World ~95 MYA. While the sialotranscriptome (from the Greek sialo, saliva) of several species of the Cellia subgenus of Anopheles has been described thoroughly, no detailed analysis of any New World anopheline has been done to date. Here we present and analyze data from a comprehensive salivary gland (SG) transcriptome of the neotropical malaria vector Anopheles darlingi (subgenus Nyssorhynchus).ResultsA total of 2,371 clones randomly selected from an adult female An. darlingi SG cDNA library were sequenced and used to assemble a database that yielded 966 clusters of related sequences, 739 of which were singletons. Primer extension experiments were performed in selected clones to further extend sequence coverage, allowing for the identification of 183 protein sequences, 114 of which code for putative secreted proteins.ConclusionComparative analysis of sialotranscriptomes of An. darlingi and An. gambiae reveals significant divergence of salivary proteins. On average, salivary proteins are only 53% identical, while housekeeping proteins are 86% identical between the two species. Furthermore, An. darlingi proteins were found that match culicine but not anopheline proteins, indicating loss or rapid evolution of these proteins in the old world Cellia subgenus. On the other hand, several well represented salivary protein families in old world anophelines are not expressed in An. darlingi
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