The immediate effects of Therasuit® on the gait pattern of a child with unilateral spastic cerebral palsy

Aims: This study analyzes the immediate effects of using TheraSuit® (TS) on the gait of a child with left spastic hemiplegia level II (GMFCS). Methods: Spatiotemporal gait parameters and kinematic variables in the sagittal plane were compared between baseline and TS conditions. Results: Positive effects were noted on temporal parameters in the TS condition, such as a reduced gait cadence. The analysis of angular displacements in joint angles showed that at initial contact there was a reduction in the: (i) Plantarflexion on the paretic side; (ii) Dorsiflexion on the non-paretic side; and (iii) Knee flexion angles in both limbs. Furthermore, an increase in hip and knee extension angles during stance, and a decrease in knee and hip flexion on the non-paretic limb during swing were also detected. Conclusions: Further investigations with larger samples are necessary to confirm these effects of wearing TS on gait kinematics, aiming toward providing a more functional and safer gait pattern in children with spastic hemiplegia.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in Client-Owned Cats from Portugal

Funding Information: The participation of T.L.M. was supported by the projects UIDB/CVT/00772/2020 and LA/P/0059/2020, funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT). The participation of M.A.P was supported by Global Health and Tropical Medicine (GHTM) under the project UID/04413/2020 and by the Centre for Natural Resources, Environment and Society (CERNAS) through the project UIDB/00681/2020, both founded by FCT, and by the Instituto Politécnico de Viseu (IPV) through the project Biossegurança: um passo firme na melhoria de um futuro incerto. Ref. BiossAPESPCall2. The participation of H.V. was supported by the Centre for the Research and Technology of Agro-Environmental and Biological Sciences (CITAB) through the project UIDB/04033/2020 and by CERNAS through the project UIDB/00681/2020, both funded by FCT, and by IPV through the project Biossegurança: um passo firme na melhoria de um futuro incerto. Ref. BiossAPESPCall2. Publisher Copyright: © 2022 by the authors.The close contact between humans and domestic cats raises concerns about the potential risks of SARS-CoV-2 transmission. Thus, this study aims to investigate anti-SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in client-owned cats from Portugal and evaluate the infection risk of cats that maintain contact with human COVID-19 cases. A total of 176 cats, belonging to 94 households, were sampled. Cat owners answered an online questionnaire, and cats were screened for antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 using a commercial ELISA. Twenty (21.3%) households reported at least one confirmed human COVID-19 case. Forty cats (22.7%) belonged to a COVID-19-positive and 136 (77.3%) to a COVID-19-negative household. The seroprevalences of cats from COVID-19-positive and -negative households were 5.0% (2/40) and 0.7% (1/136). The two SARS-CoV-2-seropositive cats from COVID-19-positive households had an indoor lifestyle, and their owners stated that they maintained a close and frequent contact with them, even after being diagnosed with COVID-19, pointing towards human-to-cat transmission. The SARS-CoV-2-seropositive cat from the COVID-19-negative household had a mixed indoor/outdoor lifestyle and chronic diseases. Owners of the three SARS-CoV-2-seropositive cats did not notice clinical signs or behavior changes. This study highlights the low risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission from COVID-19-positive human household members to domestic cats, even in a context of close and frequent human–animal contact.publishersversionpublishe

Morphological transition of Helicobacter pylori adapted to water

To view the supplementary data that accompany this paper please visit the journal website at: www. futuremedicine.com /doi/full/10.2217/fmb-2016-0174.Aim: This study aims to investigate the morphological transition of Helicobacter pylori during adaptation to water. Materials \& methods: Different strains were adapted to water. Changes regarding cultivability and cellular morphology were recorded. Expression of 11 genes involved in H. pylori morphological changes was evaluated by real-time PCR. Results: H. pylori presented increased cultivability in water after adaptation. The permanent loss of the spiral shape was observed, but no transition into coccoid form has occurred. Expression levels of genes involved in peptidoglycan assembly of H. pylori 26695 have shown significant changes between adapted and nonadapted strains. Conclusion: Adaption to water favors the culturable phenotype and the morphological transition to the rod shape, into a process that implicates the peptidoglycan turnover.This work was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the project ‘Heliwater’ (PTDC/BIA-MIC/108811/2008), the strategic funding of UID/BIO/04469/2013 unit and COMPETE 2020 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006684) and BioTecNorte operation (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000004) funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the scope of Norte2020 – Programa Operacional Regional do Norte. No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The immediate effects of a dynamic orthosis on gait patterns in children with unilateral spastic cerebral palsy: a kinematic analysis

This study analyzes the immediate effects of wearing a Therasuit on sagittal plane lower limb angular displacements during gait in children with unilateral spastic cerebral palsy (US-CP). Seven participants (median age = 7.00 years; ranging from 5.83 to 9.00 years) with US-CP, levels I and II of the Gross Motor Function Classification System, were assessed with kinematic gait analysis in three different conditions: (A) Baseline; (B) Therasuit without elastics and (C) Therasuit with elastics. Significant improvements were observed at the hip joint of both lower limbs during most of the gait cycle in participants wearing a Therasuit, including a decrease in the flexion pattern at the initial contact and swing phase in both lower limbs, and an increase in the extension pattern in the paretic lower limb during the stance phase. At the knee joint in the paretic lower limb, significant differences were found between the baseline and Therasuit with elastics conditions on the knee angle at initial contact, and between baseline and both Therasuit conditions on the flexion angle at swing phase. However, the inter-individual variability in kinematic patterns at the knee joint was high. At the ankle joint, decreased plantar flexion at initial contact and increased dorsiflexion during stance and swing phases were observed at the Therasuit with elastics condition, helping to correct the equinus-foot in the paretic lower limb during the whole gait cycle. The Z-values showed large effect sizes particularly for most of the angular hip variables in both lower limbs and for the angular ankle variables in the paretic lower limb. The Therasuit seems to have some positive immediate effects on gait kinematics in children with spastic unilateral cerebral palsy by providing a more functional and safer gait pattern. Future investigations with larger samples are recommended to further support these findings.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Atrial fibrosis and decreased connexin 43 in rat hearts after exposure to high-intensity infrasound

Background: Noise is an important environmental risk factor. Industrial environments are rich in high-intensity infrasound (hi-IFS), which we have found to induce myocardial and coronary perivascular fibrosis in rats. The effects of exposure to IFS on the ventricles have been studied, but not on the atria. We hypothesized that rats exposed to hi-IFS develop atrial remodeling involving fibrosis and connexin 43, which we sought to evaluate. Material and methods: Seventy-two Wistar rats, half exposed to hi-IFS (120 dB, < 20 Hz) during a maximum period of 12 weeks and half age-matched controls, were studied. Atrial fibrosis was analyzed by Chromotropeaniline blue staining. The immunohistochemical evaluation of Cx43 was performed using the polyclonal antibody connexin-43 m diluted 1:1000 at 4 degrees C overnight. Digitized images were obtained with an optical microscope using 400 x magnifications. The measurements were performed using image J software. A two-way ANOVA model was used to compare the groups. Results: The mean values of the ratio "atrial fibrosis / cardiomyocytes" increased to a maximum of 0.1095 +/- 0,04 and 0.5408 +/- 0,01, and of the ratio "CX43 / cardiomyocytes" decreased to 0.0834 +/- 0,03 and 0.0966 +/- 0,03, respectively in IFS-exposed rats and controls. IFS-exposed rats exhibited a significantly higher ratio of fibrosis (p < .001) and lower ratio of Cx43 (p = .009). Conclusion: High-intensity infrasound exposure leads to an increase in atrial interstitial fibrosis and a decrease in connexin 43 in rat hearts. This finding reinforces the need for further experimental and clinical studies concerning the effects of exposure to infrasound

Two-dimensional PCA highlights the differentiated antitumor and antimicrobial activity of methanolic and aqueous extracts of Laurus nobilis L. from different origins

"Article ID 520464"Natural matrices are important sources of new antitumor and antimicrobial compounds. Species such as Laurus nobilis L. (laurel) might be used for this purpose, considering its medicinal properties. Herein, in vitro activity against human tumor cell lines, bacteria, and fungi was evaluated in enriched phenolic extracts. Specifically, methanol and aqueous extracts of wild and cultivated samples of L. nobilis were compared considering different phenolic groups. Principal component analysis (PCA) was applied to understand how each extract acts differentially against specific bacteria, fungi, and selected human tumor cell lines. In general, the extract type induced the highest differences in bioactivity of laurel samples. However, from the PCA biplot, it became clear that wild laurel samples were higher inhibitors of tumor cell lines (HeLa, MCF7, NCI-H460, and HCT15). HepG2 had the same response to laurel from wild and cultivated origin. It was also observed that methanolic extracts tended to have higher antimicrobial activity, except against A. niger, A. fumigatus, and P. verrucosum. The differences in bioactivity might be related to the higher phenolic contents in methanolic extracts. These results allow selecting the extract type and/or origin with highest antibacterial, antifungal, and antitumor activity.The authors are grateful to Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia (FCT, Portugal) for the financial support to CIMO (strategic project PEst-OE/AGR/UI0690/2011) and REQUIMTE (PEst-C/EQB/LA0006/2011). M. I. Dias, R. Calhelha, and J. C. M. Barreira also thank FCT, POPHQREN, and FSE for their Grants (SFRH/BD/84485/2012, SFRH/BPD/ 68344/2010, and BPD/72802/2010). The authors also thank to Serbian Ministry of Education and Science for financial support (grant number 173032)

Unlocking the in vitroanti- inflammatory and antidiabetic potential of Polygonum maritimum

Context: Several Polygonum species (Polygonaceae) are used in traditional medicine in Asia, Europe and Africa to treat inflammation and diabetes. Objective: Evaluate the in vitro antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antidiabetic potential of methanol and dichloromethane extracts of leaves and roots of the halophyte Polygonum maritimum L. Material and methods: Antioxidant activity was determined (up to 1mg/mL) as radical-scavenging activity (RSA) of 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2'azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) (ABTS), copper (CCA) and iron (ICA) chelating activities and iron reducing power (FRAP). NO production was measured in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated macrophages for 24 h at concentrations up to 100 mu g/mL and antidiabetic potential was assessed by alpha-amylase and alpha-glucosidase inhibition (up to 10 g/mL) assays. The phytochemical composition of the extracts was determined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Results: The methanol leaf extract had the highest activity against DPPH center dot (IC50 = 26 mu g/mL) and ABTS1(+)center dot (IC50 = 140 mu g FRAP (IC50 = 48 mu g/mL) and CCA (IC50 = 770 mu g/mL). Only the dichloromethane leaf extract (LDCM) showed anti-inflammatory activity (IC50 = 48 mu g/mL). The methanol root (IC50 = 19 mu g/mL) and leaf (IC50 = 29 mu g/mL) extracts strongly inhibited baker's yeast alpha-glucosidase, but LDCM had higher rat's alpha-glucosidase inhibition (IC50 = 2527 mu g/mL) than acarbose (IC50 = 4638 mu g/mL). GC-MS analysis identified beta-sitosterol, stigmasterol, 1-octacosanol and linolenic acid as possible molecules responsible for the observed bioactivities. Conclusions: Our findings suggest P. maritimum as a source of high-value health promoting commodities for alleviating symptoms associated with oxidative and inflammatory diseases, including diabetes.XtremeBio project - Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) [PTDC/MAR-EST/4346/2012]; Portuguese National Budget; FCT [CCMAR/Multi/04326/ 2013, IF/00049/2012, SFRH/BPD/86071/2012, UID/Multi/00612/2013

A synthesis of 8,10-dimethoxyellipticine via a diphenylamine

8,10-Dimethoxyellipticine has been synthesised from readily available benzene derivatives via palladium acetate or photochemical cyclisation of intermediate diphenylamine derivatives. The route has advantages over indole based syntheses.We thank the British Council for awards under the Treaty of Windsor Programme and JNICT (IBQF - UM) Portugal for financial support.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Magnetic nanoparticles covered by or entrapped in lipid bilayers: Advances towards dual cancer therapy

In this work, both aqueous magnetoliposomes (magnetic nanoparticles entrapped in liposomes) and solid magnetoliposomes (a cluster of particles covered by a lipid bilayer) have been developed, containing either nickel/silica core/shell nanoparticles, nickel ferrite or manganese ferrite nanoparticles, with diameters below 150 nm, suitable for biomedical applications. Moreover, both aqueous (AMLs) and solid (SMLs) magnetoliposomes show a superparamagnetic behavior, the SMLs exhibiting a high saturation magnetization.Financial support by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) in the framework of the Strategic Funding UID/FIS/04650/2013 and UID/QUI/00686/2016 is acknowledged. A.R.O Rodrigues thanks the FCT for SFRH/BD/90949/2012 PhD grant and funding to MAP-Fis Doctoral Program.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Analysis of ripening-related gene expression in papaya using an Arabidopsis-based microarray

Background Papaya (Carica papaya L.) is a commercially important crop that produces climacteric fruits with a soft and sweet pulp that contain a wide range of health promoting phytochemicals. Despite its importance, little is known about transcriptional modifications during papaya fruit ripening and their control. In this study we report the analysis of ripe papaya transcriptome by using a cross-species (XSpecies) microarray technique based on the phylogenetic proximity between papaya and Arabidopsis thaliana. Results Papaya transcriptome analyses resulted in the identification of 414 ripening-related genes with some having their expression validated by qPCR. The transcription profile was compared with that from ripening tomato and grape. There were many similarities between papaya and tomato especially with respect to the expression of genes encoding proteins involved in primary metabolism, regulation of transcription, biotic and abiotic stress and cell wall metabolism. XSpecies microarray data indicated that transcription factors (TFs) of the MADS-box, NAC and AP2/ERF gene families were involved in the control of papaya ripening and revealed that cell wall-related gene expression in papaya had similarities to the expression profiles seen in Arabidopsis during hypocotyl development. Conclusion The cross-species array experiment identified a ripening-related set of genes in papaya allowing the comparison of transcription control between papaya and other fruit bearing taxa during the ripening process