EFEITO DE UM PROGRAMA MULTIPROFISSIONAL NO DESEMPENHO FÍSICO E NUTRICIONAL DE IDOSOS

Introdução: A diminuição da capacidade funcional, do desempenhofísico e a desnutrição são desafios comumente enfrentados pela populaçãoidosa e estão relacionadas à diminuição da qualidade de vida eda independência. Nesse sentido, estratégias de promoção à atividadefísica e à alimentação saudável são estratégias fundamentais para essepúblico. Objetivo: Avaliar o efeito de uma intervenção multidisciplinarsobre o desempenho físico e estado nutricional de idosos. Métodos:Trata-se de um estudo prospectivo de intervenção não controlado. Foiavaliado o desempenho físico, a partir do Short Physical PerformanceBattery (SPPB); o risco de desnutrição, a partir da Mini Avaliação Nutricional(MAN); a vulnerabilidade a partir do Vulnerable Elders Survey(VES-13); e a flexibilidade da articulação coxofemoral, a partir do Testede Flexibilidade. A intervenção teve duração de seis meses e consistiuem 48 sessões de exercícios físicos em grupo, que combinaramexercícios de alongamento, atividade aeróbia e cinesioterapia, e em 12encontros em grupo de educação alimentar e nutricional, abordandoa alimentação saudável. Resultados: Participaram da intervenção 46idosos com média de idade de 70,3 (±9,0) anos. Após a intervenção,foi observada melhora significativa nos escores do SPPB (p<0,001) eno teste de flexibilidade (p = 0,002). Houve melhora também no estadonutricional dos idosos, com aumento no escore da MAN (p = 0,006),diminuindo o número de idosos sob risco de desnutrição. Conclusão:A intervenção melhorou o desempenho físico, com o aumento dacapacidade funcional e flexibilidade, e o estado nutricional, com adiminuição de indivíduos sob risco de desnutrição

Identification of a novel zinc metalloprotease through a global analysis of clostridium difficile extracellular proteins

Clostridium difficile is a major cause of infectious diarrhea worldwide. Although the cell surface proteins are recognized to be important in clostridial pathogenesis, biological functions of only a few are known. Also, apart from the toxins, proteins exported by C. difficile into the extracellular milieu have been poorly studied. In order to identify novel extracellular factors of C. difficile, we analyzed bacterial culture supernatants prepared from clinical isolates, 630 and R20291, using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The majority of the proteins identified were non-canonical extracellular proteins. These could be largely classified into proteins associated to the cell wall (including CWPs and extracellular hydrolases), transporters and flagellar proteins. Seven unknown hypothetical proteins were also identified. One of these proteins, CD630_28300, shared sequence similarity with the anthrax lethal factor, a known zinc metallopeptidase. We demonstrated that CD630_28300 (named Zmp1) binds zinc and is able to cleave fibronectin and fibrinogen in vitro in a zinc-dependent manner. Using site-directed mutagenesis, we identified residues important in zinc binding and enzymatic activity. Furthermore, we demonstrated that Zmp1 destabilizes the fibronectin network produced by human fibroblasts. Thus, by analyzing the exoproteome of C. difficile, we identified a novel extracellular metalloprotease that may be important in key steps of clostridial pathogenesis

Materialist and Post-Materialist Concerns and the Wish for a Strong Leader in 27 Countries

There is evidence that democracies are under threat around the world while the quest for strong leaders is increasing. Although the causes of these developments are complex and multifaceted, here we focus on one factor: the extent to which citizens express materialist and post-materialist concerns. We explore whether objective higher levels of democracy are differentially associated with materialist and post-materialist concerns and, in turn, whether this is related to the wish for a strong leader. Testing this hypothesis across 27 countries (N = 5,741) demonstrated a direct negative effect of democracies' development on the wish for a strong leader. Further, multi-level mediation analysis showed that the relation between the Democracy Index and the wish for a strong leader was mediated by materialist concerns. This pattern of results suggests that lower levels of democracy are associated with enhanced concerns about basic needs and this is linked to greater support for strong leaders.Peer reviewe

Materialist and Post-Materialist Concerns and the Wish for a Strong Leader in 27 Countries

There is evidence that democracies are under threat around the world while the quest for strong leaders is increasing. Although the causes of these developments are complex and multifaceted, here we focus on one factor: the extent to which citizens express materialist and post-materialist concerns. We explore whether objective higher levels of democracy are differentially associated with materialist and post-materialist concerns and, in turn, whether this is related to the wish for a strong leader. Testing this hypothesis across 27 countries (N = 5,741) demonstrated a direct negative effect of democracies' development on the wish for a strong leader. Further, multi-level mediation analysis showed that the relation between the Democracy Index and the wish for a strong leader was mediated by materialist concerns. This pattern of results suggests that lower levels of democracy are associated with enhanced concerns about basic needs and this is linked to greater support for strong leaders.Peer reviewe

STUDY ON ISOLATED MICROSPORE CULTURE IN CITRUS SINENSIS L. OSBECK CV. MORO, A BLOOD ORANGE CULTIVAR

In vitro tissue culture represents a useful support for the advancement of Citrus breeding and propagation. Haploidy technology, that is the single-step development of complete homozygous genotypes from heterozygous parents through gametic embryogenesis, has already a huge impact on many relevant crops, representing an integral part in their breeding programmes (Germanà 2011a; 2011b). In order to increase the number of genotypes responding to gametic embryogenesis, in vitro isolated microspore culture of Citrus sinensis L. Osbeck cv. Moro, has been carried out, investigating the influence of the culture medium composition, and, particularly, of the plant growth regulator types and concentrations. Meta-topolin, a naturally occurring aromatic cytokinin, is considered an alternative to benzyladenine (BA), zeatin (ZEA) and kinetin (KIN) in plant tissue culture (Aremu et al., 2012), and it is used, mainly, to increase the efficiency of in vitro plant propagation of several species, among them also Citrus (Niedz and Evens, 2011). In this study, metatopolin has been added to the culture medium in substitution of BA and ZEA. After seven months of culture, for all the media tested, different structural features have been observed and registered: microspores uninucleated with no development, binucleated with two asymmetrical nuclei (normal gametophytic pathway: one vegetative and one generative nucleus), binucleated with two equal-size vegetativetype nuclei that had just started their sporophytic pathway, trinucleated, tetranucleated, multinucleated, and, for the first time, calli and embryos at different stages have been obtained. These results indicate an advancement in the knowledge of pollen embryogenesis in Citrus sinensis L. Osbeck cv. Moro. Actually, this is the first time that embryo regeneration from isolated microspore cultures has been reported in sweet orange, a genotype markedly recalcitrant to pollen embryogenesis