Oxidative stress during rehabilitation from protein malnutrition associated with aerobic exercise in rats

This study was designed to evaluate biomarkers of oxidative stress in rats with or without aerobic exercise during recovery from protein malnutrition. From the 30(th) to the 90(th) day of life, male Wistar rats were fed a low protein diet (LP + 6%) followed by a normal protein diet (NP = 17%) until the 120(th) day and separated in two groups: sedentary (S) and exercise trained (E = swimming 1h/day, 5 days/Week, with from the 90(th) to the 120(th) day). Rats fed a normal protein diet were used as controls. Results showed that physical exercise had beneficial effects on body weight gain during nutrition rehabilitation. Erythrocytes catalase and glutathione reductase (biomarkers of the antioxidant system) were significantly reduced in all groups in comparison to the sedentary control group. The plasma concentration of TBARs (biomarkers of the oxidative damage) was also lower in the recovered rats, suggesting that the improvement in body growth after nutritional rehabilitation with physical exercise could be related to a decrease in the oxidative stress level.501455

Effect of a leucine-supplemented diet on body composition changes in pregnant rats bearing Walker 256 tumor

Cancer patients present high mobilization of host protein, with a decrease in lean body mass and body fat depletion occurring in parallel to neoplastic growth. Since leucine is one of the principal amino acids used by skeletal muscle for energy, we investigated the changes in body composition of pregnant tumor-bearing rats after a leucine-supplemented diet. Sixty pregnant Wistar rats divided into six groups were fed a normal protein diet (18%, N) or a leucine-supplemented diet (3% L-leucine, L). The pregnant groups were: control (CN), Walker 256 carcinoma-bearing rats (WN), control rats pair-fed with tumor-bearing rats (pfN), leucine-supplemented (CL), leucine-supplemented tumor-bearing (WL), and leucine-supplemented rats pair-fed with tumor-bearing rats (pfL). At the end of pregnancy, all animals were sacrificed and body weight and tumor and fetal weight were determined. The carcasses were then analyzed for water, fat and total, collagen and non-collagen nitrogen content. Carcass weight was reduced in the WN, WL, pfN and pfL groups compared to control. The lean body mass and total carcass nitrogen were reduced in both tumor-bearing groups. Despite tumor growth and a decrease in fetal weight, there was a slight decrease in collagen (7%) and non-collagen nitrogen (8%) in the WL group compared with the WN group which showed a decrease of 8 and 12%, respectively. Although the WL group presented severe tumor growth effects, total carcass nitrogen and noncollagen nitrogen were particularly higher in this leucine-supplemented group compared to the WN group. These data suggest that the leucine-supplemented diet had a beneficial effect, probably attenuating body wasting.34333333

Dialogic gathering of films. Promoting meaningful online interactions during COVID-19 confinement

A broad body of scientific literature exists on the effects that COVID-19 related confinement has had on the population: mental health problems, isolation, and problems concerning cohesion and employment, among others. However, there is a gap in the literature on the actions that reverse some of the effects generated during lockdown. This article collects the results of a study conducted with 53 people participating in a dialogic gathering of films (DGF) that was held online during two months of confinement. The data from the survey show that the development of this DGF generated improvements in 1) personal welfare and attitudes concerning the management of confinement, 2) living together and online relationships, 3) motivation and creativity in the professional domain, and 4) openness to a diversity of perspectives and realities, which improves the understanding, argumentation and positioning in social, scientific and ethical debates

Breaking the Silence within Critical Pedagogy

There is a wide and rich scientific literature about Gender Violence (GV) in diverse institutions and contexts, now including Isolating Gender Violence (IGV). However, there is an almost absolute silence about GV and IGV within the field of critical pedagogy despite its pretention to influence children's education. This paper is part of a long research program on GV and presents the first evidence about its existence within critical pedagogy. The communicative methodology of this research has included interviews to 15 authors of critical pedagogy and 1 discussion group. The gender dimension is key in this research, most lists of outstanding critical pedagogists include only white males and most of them from North America, in this research there are 15 women of the 21 interviewees and diverse gender options and cultures are represented. The results clearly show that, as in any other social institutions and domains, within critical pedagogy there are upstanders against GV, those who maintain a guilty silence and harassers making direct GV and/or IG

Silver-Catalyzed C-C Bond Formation between Methane and Ethyl Diazoacetate in Supercritical CO2

Even in the context of hydrocarbons’ general resistance to selective functionalization, methane’s volatility and strong bonds pose a particular challenge. We report here that silver complexes bearing perfluorinated indazolylborate ligands catalyze the reaction of methane (CH4) with ethyl diazoacetate (N2CHCO2Et) to yield ethyl propionate (CH3CH2CO2Et). The use of supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) as the solvent is key to the reaction’s success. Although the catalyst is only sparingly soluble in CH4/CO2 mixtures, optimized conditions presently result in a 19% yield of ethyl propionate (based on starting quantity of the diazoester) at 40°C over 14 hours.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (grants CTQ2008-00042-BQU, CTQ2007-65251-BQU, and CTQ2007-30762-E), the European Research Area Chemistry Programme (2nd call “Chemical activation of carbon dioxide and methane” contract no. 1736154), the Consolider Ingenio 2010 (grants CSD2006-003 and CSD2007-00006), the Institut de Chimie of the CNRS, the Junta de Andalucía (P07-FQM-2870), and the Generalitat Velenciana (ACOMP/2010/155).We dedicate this work to Professor Ernesto Carmona. Support for this work was provided by the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion (grants CTQ2008-00042-BQU, CTQ2007-65251-BQU, and CTQ2007-30762-E), the European Research Area Chemistry Programme (2nd call "Chemical activation of carbon dioxide and methane" contract no. 1736154), the Consolider Ingenio 2010 (grants CSD2006-003 and CSD2007-00006), the Institut de Chimie of the CNRS, the Junta de Andalucia (P07-FQM-2870), and the Generalitat Velenciana (ACOMP/2010/155). We thank the Servicio Central de Soporte a la Investigacion Experimental (Universidad de Valencia) for access to the instrumental facilities and J. de la Rosa and A. Sanchez de la Campa (Universidad de Huelva) for ICP-MS analyses

The Missing Part of Seed Dispersal Networks: Structure and Robustness of Bat-Fruit Interactions

Mutualistic networks are crucial to the maintenance of ecosystem services. Unfortunately, what we know about seed dispersal networks is based only on bird-fruit interactions. Therefore, we aimed at filling part of this gap by investigating bat-fruit networks. It is known from population studies that: (i) some bat species depend more on fruits than others, and (ii) that some specialized frugivorous bats prefer particular plant genera. We tested whether those preferences affected the structure and robustness of the whole network and the functional roles of species. Nine bat-fruit datasets from the literature were analyzed and all networks showed lower complementary specialization (H2' = 0.37±0.10, mean ± SD) and similar nestedness (NODF = 0.56±0.12) than pollination networks. All networks were modular (M = 0.32±0.07), and had on average four cohesive subgroups (modules) of tightly connected bats and plants. The composition of those modules followed the genus-genus associations observed at population level (Artibeus-Ficus, Carollia-Piper, and Sturnira-Solanum), although a few of those plant genera were dispersed also by other bats. Bat-fruit networks showed high robustness to simulated cumulative removals of both bats (R = 0.55±0.10) and plants (R = 0.68±0.09). Primary frugivores interacted with a larger proportion of the plants available and also occupied more central positions; furthermore, their extinction caused larger changes in network structure. We conclude that bat-fruit networks are highly cohesive and robust mutualistic systems, in which redundancy is high within modules, although modules are complementary to each other. Dietary specialization seems to be an important structuring factor that affects the topology, the guild structure and functional roles in bat-fruit networks

Exercise training in the aerobic/anaerobic metabolic transition prevents glucose intolerance in alloxan-treated rats

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Ninety percent of cases of diabetes are of the slowly evolving non-insulin-dependent type, or Type 2 diabetes. Lack of exercise is regarded as one of the main causes of this disorder. In this study we analyzed the effects of physical exercise on glucose homeostasis in adult rats with type 2 diabetes induced by a neonatal injection of alloxan.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Female Wistar rats aged 6 days were injected with either 250 mg/kg of body weight of alloxan or citrate buffer 0.01 M (controls). After weaning, half of the animals in each group were subjected to physical training adjusted to meet the aerobic-anaerobic metabolic transition by swimming 1 h/day for 5 days a week with weight overloads. The necessary overload used was set and periodically readjusted for each rat through effort tests based on the maximal lactate steady state procedure. When aged 28, 60, 90, and 120 days, the rats underwent glucose tolerance tests (GTT) and their peripheral insulin sensitivity was evaluated using the HOMA index.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The area under the serum glucose curve obtained through GTT was always higher in alloxan-treated animals than in controls. A decrease in this area was observed in trained alloxan-treated rats at 90 and 120 days old compared with non-trained animals. At 90 days old the trained controls showed lower HOMA indices than the non-trained controls.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Neonatal administration of alloxan induced a persistent glucose intolerance in all injected rats, which was successfully counteracted by physical training in the aerobic/anaerobic metabolic transition.</p

Assessing the impact of COVID-19 on liver cancer management (CERO-19).

BACKGROUND & AIMS: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has posed unprecedented challenges to healthcare systems and it may have heavily impacted patients with liver cancer (LC). Herein, we evaluated whether the schedule of LC screening or procedures has been interrupted or delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: An international survey evaluated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on clinical practice and clinical trials from March 2020 to June 2020, as the first phase of a multicentre, international, and observational project. The focus was on patients with hepatocellular carcinoma or intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma, cared for around the world during the first COVID-19 pandemic wave. RESULTS: Ninety-one centres expressed interest to participate and 76 were included in the analysis, from Europe, South America, North America, Asia, and Africa (73.7%, 17.1%, 5.3%, 2.6%, and 1.3% per continent, respectively). Eighty-seven percent of the centres modified their clinical practice: 40.8% the diagnostic procedures, 80.9% the screening programme, 50% cancelled curative and/or palliative treatments for LC, and 41.7% modified the liver transplantation programme. Forty-five out of 69 (65.2%) centres in which clinical trials were running modified their treatments in that setting, but 58.1% were able to recruit new patients. The phone call service was modified in 51.4% of centres which had this service before the COVID-19 pandemic (n = 19/37). CONCLUSIONS: The first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic had a tremendous impact on the routine care of patients with liver cancer. Modifications in screening, diagnostic, and treatment algorithms may have significantly impaired the outcome of patients. Ongoing data collection and future analyses will report the benefits and disadvantages of the strategies implemented, aiding future decision-making. LAY SUMMARY: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has posed unprecedented challenges to healthcare systems globally. Herein, we assessed the impact of the first wave pandemic on patients with liver cancer and found that routine care for these patients has been majorly disrupted, which could have a significant impact on outcomes

estudos artísticos

A Revista Croma procura as intervenções que a arte proporciona, sejam as mais implicadas ou as que provocam posições que contrariam a indiferença e favorecem a cidadania. São propostas de artistas, sobre outros artistas, tendo como foco uma intervenção na comunidade. São propostas mediadoras que posicionam a audiência no interior do discurso, promovendo uma atualização das retóricas críticas contemporâneas. Para uma consciência ambiental, ou estética numa perspetiva educativa, ou de cidadania e responsabilidade social, a arte propõe-se em desafio ao público como um mergulho: o mergulho da arte. É campo para a Cultura Visual no plano da construção, e também campo para a intervenção. Os dezasseis artigos compreendidos nesta edição da Revista Croma são instância e exemplo da intervenção construtiva e assertiva junto das comunidades.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio