The misuse of terms in scientific literature

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Intimate partner violence during pregnancy: prevalence and associated factors

OBJECTIVE: To identify the prevalence of violence during pregnancy and the association with the socioeconomic, behavioral and clinical characteristics of pregnant women. METHODS: Cross-sectional study in a low-risk maternity hospital in the municipality of Cariacica, Espírito Santo. A total of 330 puerperal women were interviewed from August to October 2017. Information on socioeconomic, behavioral, reproductive and clinical characteristics, as well as life experiences, was collected through a questionnaire. To identify the types of violence, the proper World Health Organization instrument was used. Gross bivariate and multivariate analysis was performed and adjusted for Poisson regression with robust variance. RESULTS: Prevalence was 16.1% (95%CI 2.5–20.4) for psychological violence, 7.6% (95%CI 5.1–11.0) for physical violence and 2.7% (95%CI 1.4–5.2) for sexual violence. Psychological violence remained associated with age, family income, beginning of sexual life, disease in pregnancy, desire to interrupt pregnancy and number of partners. Physical violence was associated with schooling, beginning of sexual life and disease in pregnancy. Sexual violence remained associated with marital status and desire to interrupt pregnancy (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Psychological violence by an intimate partner was the most prevalent among pregnant women. Women that were younger, had lower income and less schooling, who started their sexual life before the age of 14 and who wished to interrupt pregnancy, experienced violence more frequently during pregnancy.OBJETIVO: Identificar a prevalência das violências durante a gestação e verificar a associação com as características socioeconômicas, comportamentais e clínicas da gestante. MÉTODOS: Estudo transversal em uma maternidade de baixo risco do município de Cariacica, Espírito Santo. Foram entrevistadas 330 puérperas de agosto a outubro de 2017. Informações sobre as características socioeconômicas, comportamentais, reprodutivas e clínicas, assim como experiências de vida, foram coletadas por meio de questionário. Para identificar os tipos de violência, foi utilizado o instrumento da Organização Mundial da Saúde. Foi realizada análise bivariada e multivariada bruta e ajustada por regressão de Poisson com variância robusta. RESULTADOS: As prevalências foram 16,1% (IC95% 2,5–20,4) para violência psicológica, 7,6% (IC95% 5,1–11,0) para a física e 2,7% (IC95% 1,4–5,2) para a sexual. A violência psicológica manteve-se associada a idade, renda familiar, início da vida sexual, doença na gravidez, desejo de interromper a gestação e número de parceiros. A violência física esteve associada a escolaridade, início da vida sexual e doença na gravidez. Já a violência sexual manteve-se associada a situação conjugal e desejo de interromper a gestação (p < 0,05). CONCLUSÕES: A violência psicológica perpetrada pelo parceiro íntimo foi a de maior prevalência entre as gestantes. Mulheres mais jovens, com menor renda e escolaridade, que iniciaram a vida sexual até os 14 anos e que desejaram interromper a gravidez vivenciaram com maior frequência a violência durante a gestação

ochratoxin a as possible factor trigging autism and its male prevalence via epigenetic mechanism

The role of dysbiosis causing leaky gut with xenobiotic production and absorption is increasingly demonstrated in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) pathogenesis. Among xenobiotics, we focused on ochratoxin A (one of the major food contaminating mycotoxin), that in vitro and in vivo exerts a male-specific neurotoxicity probably via microRNA modulation of a specific target gene. Among possible targets, we focused on neuroligin4X. Interestingly, this gene carries some single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) already correlated with the disease and with illegitimate microRNA binding sites and, being located on X-chromosome, could explain the male prevalence. In conclusion, we propose a possible gene–environment interaction triggering ASD explaining the epigenetic neurotoxic mechanism activated by ochratoxin A in genetically predisposed children. This mechanism offers a clue for male prevalence of the disease and may have an important impact on prevention and cure of ASD

Solving biclustering with a GRASP-like metaheuristic: two case-study on gene expression analysis

The explosion of "omics" data over the past few decades has generated an increasing need of efficiently analyzing high-dimensional gene expression data in several different and heterogenous contexts, such as for example in information retrieval, knowledge discovery, and data mining. For this reason, biclustering, or simultaneous clustering of both genes and conditions has generated considerable interest over the past few decades. Unfortunately, the problem of locating the most significant bicluster has been shown to be NP-complete. We have designed and implemented a GRASP-like heuristic algorithm to efficiently find good solutions in reasonable running times, and to overcome the inner intractability of the problem from a computational point of view. Experimental results on two datasets of expression data are promising indicating that this algorithm is able to find significant biclusters, especially from a biological point of view

Molecular dynamics analysis of the structural properties of the transglutaminases of Kutzneria albida and Streptomyces mobaraensis

The microbial transglutaminase (TGase) from Streptomyces mobaraensis (MTGase) is widely used for industrial applications. However, in the last decades, TGases from other bacteria have been described. We focused our attention on TGase, from Kutzneria albida (KalbTGase), recently characterized as more selective than MTGase and proposed for applications in drug delivery. By comparison of the crystallographic structures, the volume of the catalytic site results smaller in KalbTGase. We compared KalbTGase and MTGase structural flexibility by molecular dynamics (MD) simulations at different conditions. KalbTGase is more rigid than MTGase at 300 K, but the catalytic site has a preserved conformation in both structures. Preliminary studies at higher temperatures suggest that KalbTGase acquires enhanced conformational flexibility far from the active site region. The volume of the catalytic active site pocket of KalbTGase at room temperature is smaller than that of MTGase, and decreases at 335 K, remaining stable after further temperature increase. On the contrary, in MTGase the pocket volume continues to decrease as the temperature increases. Overall, the results of our study suggest that at room temperature the enhanced specificity of KalbTGase could be related to a more closed catalytic pocket and lower flexibility than MTGase. Moreover, by preliminary results at higher temperature, KalbTGase structural flexibility suggests an adaptability to different substrates not recognized at room temperature. Lower adaptability of MTGase at higher temperature with a reduction of the catalytic pocket, instead, suggests a reduction of its activity

Mortality for chronic-degenerative diseases in Tuscany: Ecological study comparing neighboring areas with substantial differences in environmental pollution

Objectives: Environmental pollution is associated with morbidity and mortality for chronic-degenerative diseases. Recent data points out a relationship between proximity to industrial plants and mortality due to neoplasms. The aim of this study has been to compare mortality due to chronic-degenerative diseases in the area of Tuscany (Bassa Val di Cecina), Italy, characterized by the presence of 2 neighboring municipalities similar in terms of size but with substantial differences in industrial activities: Rosignano (the site of chemical, energy production and waste processing industries) and Cecina (with no polluting activity). Material and Methods: Standardized mortality rates for the 2001–2010 decade were calculated; the data of the whole Tuscany was assumed as reference. Environmental levels of pollutants were obtained by databases of the Environmental Protection Agency of Tuscany Region (Agenzia Regionale per la Protezione Ambientale della Toscana – ARPAT). Maximum tolerated pollutant levels set by national laws were assumed as reference. Results: In the whole Bassa Val di Cecina, significantly elevated standardized mortality rates due to mesothelioma, ischemic heart diseases, cerebrovascular diseases and Alzheimer and other degenerative diseases of nervous system were observed. In the municipality of Rosignano, a significant excess of mortality for all these groups of diseases was confirmed. On the contrary, the municipality of Cecina showed only significantly higher mortality rates for ischemic heart diseases. Elevated levels of heavy metals in sea water and of particulate matter which contains particles of diameter ≤ 10 mm (PM10) and ozone in air were detected in Rosignano. Conclusions: This study shows an excess of mortality for chronic-degenerative diseases in the area with elevated concentration of polluting factories. Proximity to industrial plants seems to represent a risk factor for those diseases. Int J Occup Med Environ Health 2017;30(4):641–65

INTERPERSONAL VIOLENCE AGAINST ADOLESCENTS: AN ANALYSIS OF THE CASES NOTIFIED IN THE STATE OF ESPÍRITO SANTO

Objective: to identify the notification frequency of interpersonal violence against adolescents in Espírito Santo, Brazil, and its associated factors.Method: a cross-sectional study conducted with data from the Information System on Notifiable Health Problems from 2011 to 2018. The associations were tested by means of Pearson's chi-square test and Poisson regression.Results: the frequency of interpersonal violence was 72.2%. The outcome was associated with male adolescents, aged from 10 to 12 years old, of black/brown race/skin color, with no disabilities/disorders, occurrence on public roads, and male aggressors who were suspected of alcohol consumption (p<0.05).Conclusion: interpersonal violence is a problem with severe implications throughout life. This study helps to reveal the importance of surveilling violence in order to know the magnitude of the problem, as well as its characteristics for health promotion, prevention of the events and due intervention

Global Diversification, Industrial Diversification, and Firm Value

Using a sample of 27,287 firm-years over the period of 1983-1993 we document an increasing trend in both the incidence and level of global diversification over time. This trend does not, however, reflect a substitution of global for industrial diversification. Global diversification results in average valuation discounts of the same magnitude as those for industrial diversification. Analysis of the changes in excess value associated with changes in diversification status reveals that increases in global diversification reduce excess value, while reductions in global diversification increase excess value