Dietary compounds that modify bilirubin levels

Bilirubin (BL) is a bile pigment that arises from the catabolism of hemeproteins and it is an important biochemical marker for diagnosis and monitoring of hepatic and hematologic diseases. The high concentration of this metabolite in plasma may be associated with disturbances in production, metabolism and/or excretion. Several in vivo in vitro studies have established the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-tumoral bilirubin capacity. The main objective was to verify that the effects of certain drugs and nutritional compounds on the metabolism of bilirubin, as well as studying the effects of radical substances in the UGT1A1 gene in addition have also studied the effect of various enzymes on serum bilirubin. The methodology was a detailed search online database, such as Pubmed, NCBI, ScienceDirect and books, a five-month period. Several studies refer four botanical groups as associated to changes in bilirubin concentrations Cruciferae (e.g., broccoli), Rutaceae (citrus), Liliaceae (e.g., onions), and Leguminosae (legumes). In a hyperbilirubinemic condition, the best approach would include the increasing UGT1A1 expression and this can be achieved with foods from the botanical families Cruciferae, Rutaceae, Liliaceae, and Leguminosae. Regulation of UGTs by phytochemicals has been investigated with a focus on cancer prevention numerous inhibitors from plant origin. The strategy to rise SBL, inhibiting UGT1A1 activity appears unreasonable. Several studies show that low serum bilirubin concentrations are associated with an increased risk of chronic diseases, whereas slightly elevated serum bilirubin levels seems to provide protection. The enzymes HO-1 and BLV will also have an important role in the development of therapeutic strategies based on dietary compounds however for these two enzymes there was considerable less information about their inducers and inhibitors. It is proven that the ingestion of certain foods affects the metabolism of bilirubin and the expression of UGT1A1 gene. Thus, it is justified the need for further studies to demonstrate the potential of food to control the maintenance of bilirubin in order to identify possible functional foods.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Life Cycle Assessment of Iberian Traditional Pig Production System in Spain

Traditional Iberian pig production is characterized by outdoor systems that produce animals fed with natural resources. The aim of this study was to assess the environmental impacts of such systems through Life Cycle Assessment. Environmental impacts were analysed per kilogram of live weight at farm gate. Iberian pig production in montanera had the lowest impacts for climate change (CC), acidification (AC), eutrophication (EU) and cumulative energy demand (CED), being 3.4 kg CO2 eq, 0.091 molc H+ eq, 0.046 kg PO43− eq, and 20.7 MJ, respectively, due to the strict use of natural resources (acorns and grass) during the fattening period. As Iberian farms had a greater dependence on compound feed in cebo campo, environmental impacts on CC, AC, EU and CED were 22, 17, 95 and 28% higher, respectively, than with montanera. For land occupation (LO), however, cebo campo had a lower impact (31.6 m2·year) than montanera (43.0 m2·year) system. Traditional Iberian pig production systems have environmental impacts higher than conventional systems studied in literature but are similar to other traditional systems. Based on the present assessment, it is necessary to account for the contribution of emissions resulting from the consumption of natural resources to avoid the underestimation of environmental impacts.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Do armário à armadura: estratégias de mulheres no enfrentamento da homofobia e do heterossexismo

O objetivo do presente artigo é descrever e analisar as estratégias construídas por mulheres que buscaram o Centro de Referência em Direitos Humanos Rompa o Silêncio (Porto Alegre, RS) para lidar, enfrentar ou contestar os significados estigmatizantes associados a suas identidades de gênero ou práticas eróticas/afetos com outras mulheres. A ferramenta metodológica utilizada foi a entrevista baseada na reconstrução de trajetórias de vida e foram entrevistadas 9 mulheres que haviam acessado o Centro de Referência em 2007. As análises estão divididas em dois eixos temáticos: a) percepções sobre a homofobia na perspectiva das mulheres e b) estratégias de enfrentamento cotidianas e o sentido da busca pela formalização da denúncia e reivindicação de direitos. O material permitiu compreender que as entrevistadas percebem a discriminação e o preconceito como resultado de uma extrapolação dos limites das convenções de gênero. Nesse sentido, acreditam que a homossexualidade masculina e asmulheres que possuem estilos “mais masculinos” estão mais propensos/as a sofrer discriminações. De acordo com elas, a perspectiva de uma maior “aceitação” das relações homoeróticas entre mulheres ocorre na articulação entre estilos mais próximos dos padrões de feminilidade vigentes, bem como por uma apropriação do homoerotismo feminino por parte do fetiche masculino. Quanto às estratégias de enfrentamento, foram encontradas tanto formas de manter identidades “discretas” como modos mais combativos, baseados em uma “subjetivação militante”. De modo geral, as entrevistadas consideram os tempos atuais melhores, devido, segundo elas, mais à atuação do movimento social do que aos aparelhos de proteção e políticas públicas estatais

Accelerated Axonal Loss Following Acute CNS Demyelination in Mice Lacking Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase Receptor Type Z

Protein tyrosine phosphatase receptor type Z (Ptprz) is widely expressed in the mammalian central nervous system and has been suggested to regulate oligodendrocyte survival and differentiation. We investigated the role of Ptprz in oligodendrocyte remyelination after acute, toxin-induced demyelination in Ptprz null mice. We found neither obvious impairment in the recruitment of oligodendrocyte precursor cells, astrocytes, or reactive microglia/macrophage to lesions nor a failure for oligodendrocyte precursor cells to differentiate and remyelinate axons at the lesions. However, we observed an unexpected increase in the number of dystrophic axons by 3 days after demyelination, followed by prominent Wallerian degeneration by 21 days in the Ptprz-deficient mice. Moreover, quantitative gait analysis revealed a deficit of locomotor behavior in the mutant mice, suggesting increased vulnerability to axonal injury. We propose that Ptprz is necessary to maintain central nervous system axonal integrity in a demyelinating environment and may be an important target of axonal protection in inflammatory demyelinating diseases, such as multiple sclerosis and periventricular leukomalacia. (Am J Pathol 2012, 181:1518-1523; http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ajpath.2012.07.011)UK Multiple Sclerosis SocietyMultiple Sclerosis International FederationUniv Cambridge, Dept Vet Med, Cambridge CB3 0ES, EnglandUniv Cambridge, Wellcome Trust & MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Inst, Cambridge CB3 0ES, EnglandUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Biosci, Santos, BrazilMerck Serono Int, Geneva Res Ctr, Geneva, SwitzerlandUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Biosci, Santos, BrazilWeb of Scienc

Concentrations de NO2 développement d'un SIG et influence de la météorologie à Dijon durant l'hiver 1999

ACTIInternational audienceA nitrogen dioxide (NO2) measurements campaign, with passive diffusion tubes, realised by ATMOSF'Air during the winter 1999, allows to realise an atmospheric pollution study in the Dijon urban area. In order to understand the spatial NO2 distribution in the urban area, NO2 is correlated with NO emissions and topography thanks to a Geographical Information System (GIS). With a multiple linear regression, NO2 concentrations are explained principally by traffic and topography. A Principal Components Analysis shows the necessity to nuance the relation between these variables. So, the meteorological datas of Dijon-Longvic, could explain the different NO2 distribution anomalies between the six periods

Improved X-ray detection and particle identification with avalanche photodiodes

Avalanche photodiodes are commonly used as detectors for low energy x-rays. In this work we report on a fitting technique used to account for different detector responses resulting from photo absorption in the various APD layers. The use of this technique results in an improvement of the energy resolution at 8.2 keV by up to a factor of 2, and corrects the timing information by up to 25 ns to account for space dependent electron drift time. In addition, this waveform analysis is used for particle identification, e.g. to distinguish between x-rays and MeV electrons in our experiment.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figure

Secretory IgA mediates retrotranscytosis of intact gliadin peptides via the transferrin receptor in celiac disease

Celiac disease (CD) is an enteropathy resulting from an abnormal immune response to gluten-derived peptides in genetically susceptible individuals. This immune response is initiated by intestinal transport of intact peptide 31-49 (p31-49) and 33-mer gliadin peptides through an unknown mechanism. We show that the transferrin receptor CD71 is responsible for apical to basal retrotranscytosis of gliadin peptides, a process during which p31-49 and 33-mer peptides are protected from degradation. In patients with active CD, CD71 is overexpressed in the intestinal epithelium and colocalizes with immunoglobulin (Ig) A. Intestinal transport of intact p31-49 and 33-mer peptides was blocked by polymeric and secretory IgA (SIgA) and by soluble CD71 receptors, pointing to a role of SIgA–gliadin complexes in this abnormal intestinal transport. This retrotranscytosis of SIgA–gliadin complexes may promote the entry of harmful gliadin peptides into the intestinal mucosa, thereby triggering an immune response and perpetuating intestinal inflammation. Our findings strongly implicate CD71 in the pathogenesis of CD

RENEB accident simulation exercise

Purpose: The RENEB accident exercise was carried out in order to train the RENEB participants in coordinating and managing potentially large data sets that would be generated in case of a major radiological event. Materials and methods: Each participant was offered the possibility to activate the network by sending an alerting email about a simulated radiation emergency. The same participant had to collect, compile and report capacity, triage categorization and exposure scenario results obtained from all other participants. The exercise was performed over 27 weeks and involved the network consisting of 28 institutes: 21 RENEB members, four candidates and three non-RENEB partners. Results: The duration of a single exercise never exceeded 10 days, while the response from the assisting laboratories never came later than within half a day. During each week of the exercise, around 4500 samples were reported by all service laboratories (SL) to be examined and 54 scenarios were coherently estimated by all laboratories (the standard deviation from the mean of all SL answers for a given scenario category and a set of data was not larger than 3 patient codes). Conclusions: Each participant received training in both the role of a reference laboratory (activating the network) and of a service laboratory (responding to an activation request). The procedures in the case of radiological event were successfully established and tested

Sustainable Diets: another hurdle or a better food future?,

The notion of sustainable diets has emerged forcibly onto the food policy agenda in recent years, but has also met resistance. The article reviews the case for sustainable diets. It counterbalances the current dominant policy emphasis on raising food output as the best route to a sustainable food future. The article suggests that a process of democratic experimentation is underway. Some official guidelines have emerged alongside a mix of civil society and academic formulations. More coherence of data, principles and purpose is needed at the global and regional policy-making levels for these to become effective in the common task of reducing the food system’s negative impact on health, environment and economies

Psychometric properties of the measure of achieved capabilities in homeless services

Background Purposeful participation in personally meaningful life tasks, enjoyment of positive reciprocal relationships, and opportunities to realize one’s potential are growth-related aspects of a meaningful life that should be considered important dimensions of recovery from homelessness. The extent to which homeless services support individuals to achieve the capabilities they need to become who they want to be and do what they want to do is, in turn, an important indicator of their efectiveness. In this study, we developed a measure of achieved capabilities (MACHS) for use in homeless services settings, and assessed its construct and concurrent validity. Methods We analysed data collected from homeless services users at two time points in eight European countries to assess the factor structure and psychometric properties of the new measure. Participants were adults engaged with either Housing First (n=245) or treatment as usual (n=320). Results Exploratory and confrmatory factor analyses yielded a four-factor structure of the capabilities measure: community integration, optimism, safety, and self-determination. We obtained evidence for construct validity through observed correlations between achieved capabilities and recovery, working alliance and satisfaction with services. Moreover, we obtained evidence of the measure’s concurrent validity from its positive association between HF and personal recovery, which was fully mediated by achieved capabilities. Conclusions Findings demonstrate that the MACHS is a valid and reliable measure that may be used to assess the extent to which homeless services support their clients to develop capabilities needed for growth-related recovery. Implications for practice and future research directions are discussed.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio