Final Pleistocene and Early Holocene at Sitio do Meio, Piauí, Brazil: Stratigraphy and comparison with Pedra Furada

English: Sitio do Meio, in southern Piaui, Brazil, is the second rock shelter presenting fully Pleistocene dates and artefacts after Pedra Furada.  Despite the anthropogenic origin of Pedra Furada artefacts has been questioned, SDM has better chances to be accepted by the scientific community because of the absence of the most relevant stone breaking agents in this kind of site, i.e. waterfalls. This paper presents a critical revision of the history of excavations (1980-2000), stratigraphy, chronology, and the archaeological content of the site (sector 2). At least 98 stone tools have been identified and described, all of them being older than 12,500 BP, i.e. belonging to the Upper Pleistocenic phase of Pedra Furada 3, as defined in the close reference site. The lithic industry of Serra Talhada phase (lower Holocene) is also presented and compared with paleoindian sites of North-Eastern and Central Brazil.French:Le Sitio do meio, dans le  Piaui méridional (Brésil) est le deuxième abri sous roche de la région ayant livré des dates pléistocènes en dehors du site de la Pedra Furada. L'article présente une révision critique des fouilles (1980-2000), la chronostratigraphie et le contenu archéologique du secteur 2. Une centaine d'outils lithiques sont décrits, ils sont plus anciens de 12,5 ka BP  et correspondent à la phase Pléistocène Pedra Furada 3 définie dans le site éponyme de référence. On présente aussi l' industrie lithique de la phase Serra Talhada (Holocène  ancien) en la comparant aux industries paléoindiennes du Nord-Est et du centre du Brésil

Effects of in vitro short- and long-term treatment with telomerase inhibitor in U-251 glioma cells

BACKGROUND: The inhibition of the enzyme telomerase (TERT) has been widely investigated as a new pharmacological approach for cancer treatment, but its real potential and the biochemical consequences are not totally understood. OBJECTIVE: Here, we investigated the effects of the telomerase inhibitor MST-312 on a human glioma cell line after both short- and long-term (290 days) treatments. METHODS: Effects on cell growth, viability, cell cycle, morphology, cell death and genes expression were assessed. RESULTS: We found that short-term treatment promoted cell cycle arrest followed by apoptosis. Importantly, cells with telomerase knock-down revealed that the toxic effects of MST-312 are partially TERT dependent. In contrast, although the long-term treatment decreased cell proliferation at first, it also caused adaptations potentially related to treatment resistance and tumor aggressiveness after long time of exposition. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the short-term effects of telomerase inhibition not being due to telomere erosion, they are at least partially related to the enzyme inhibition, which may represent an important strategy to pave the way for tumor growth control, especially through modulation of the non-canonical functions of telomerase. On the other hand, long-term exposure to the inhibitor had the potential to induce cell adaptations with possible negative clinical implications

Mapping the tuberculosis scientific landscape among BRICS countries: a bibliometric and network analysis

BACKGROUND The five BRICS (Brazil, Russian, Indian, China, and South Africa) countries bear 49% of the world’s tuberculosis (TB) burden and they are committed to ending tuberculosis. OBJECTIVES The aim of this paper is to map the scientific landscape related to TB research in BRICS countries. METHODS Were combined bibliometrics and social network analysis techniques to map the scientific publications related to TB produced by the BRICS. Was made a descriptive statistical data covering the full period of analysis (1993-2016) and the research networks were made for 2007-2016 (8,366 records). The bubble charts were generated by VantagePoint and the networks by the Gephi 0.9.1 software (Gephi Consortium 2010) from co-occurrence matrices produced in VantagePoint. The Fruchterman-Reingold algorithm provided the networks’ layout. FINDINGS During the period 1993-2016, there were 38,315 peer-reviewed, among them, there were 11,018 (28.7%) articles related by one or more authors in a BRICS: India 38.7%; China 23.8%; South Africa 21.1%; Brazil 13.0%; and Russia 4.5% (The total was greater than 100% because our criterion was all papers with at least one author in a BRICS). Among the BRICS, there was greater interaction between India and South Africa and organisations in India and China had the highest productivity; however, South African organisations had more interaction with countries outside the BRICS. Publications by and about BRICS generally covered all research areas, especially those in India and China covered all research areas, although Brazil and South Africa prioritised infectious diseases, microbiology, and the respiratory system. MAIN CONCLUSIONS An overview of BRICS scientific publications and interactions highlighted the necessity to develop a BRICS TB research plan to increase efforts and funding to ensure that basic science research successfully translates into products and policies to help end the TB epidemic

Síndrome Asia relacionada à prótese mamária de silicone: uma revisão literária

Objetivo: O estudo, em questão, tem por objetivo elucidar a discussão sobre a Síndrome ASIA e sua correlação com o implante mamário. Método: As informações foram obtidas por meio de revisão da literatura e artigos selecionados na base de dados do Google Scholar. Considerações finais: O tema apresentado e as publicações levantadas trazem à luz a discussão da abordagem de uma situação ainda pouco estudada e conhecida, que é a ocorrência da Síndrome ASIA mediante o implante mamário de silicone e evidenciam que quando bem executadas a investigação e a conduta, estas se mostram capazes de obter resultados satisfatórios no que diz respeito ao alívio sintomático e melhoria da qualidade de vidas das pacientes

New genetic loci link adipose and insulin biology to body fat distribution.

Body fat distribution is a heritable trait and a well-established predictor of adverse metabolic outcomes, independent of overall adiposity. To increase our understanding of the genetic basis of body fat distribution and its molecular links to cardiometabolic traits, here we conduct genome-wide association meta-analyses of traits related to waist and hip circumferences in up to 224,459 individuals. We identify 49 loci (33 new) associated with waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for body mass index (BMI), and an additional 19 loci newly associated with related waist and hip circumference measures (P < 5 × 10(-8)). In total, 20 of the 49 waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for BMI loci show significant sexual dimorphism, 19 of which display a stronger effect in women. The identified loci were enriched for genes expressed in adipose tissue and for putative regulatory elements in adipocytes. Pathway analyses implicated adipogenesis, angiogenesis, transcriptional regulation and insulin resistance as processes affecting fat distribution, providing insight into potential pathophysiological mechanisms

Detection of Anti-<i>Neospora caninum</i> IgG in Blood Serum and Colostrum Samples in Naturally Infected Sheep and in Their Newborn Offspring

The aim was to detect correlations of IgG antibodies against N. caninum in serum and colostrum samples from ewes, through the IFAT, and to evaluate the presence of this immunoglobulin in the serum of newborn lambs after colostrum ingestion. Blood samples from 162 ewes that did not show any disease in the general physical examination and from their newborn lambs, not more than five days postpartum, along with 162 colostrum samples and 182 blood samples from the neonates, were analyzed. In total, 27.8% (45/162) of the mothers were positive for anti-N. caninum IgG, among which antibodies were detected in the colostrum in 46.7% (21/45). All the ewes with positive colostrum had reactive offspring. The kappa agreement for the correlation between the serological tests on the ewes and the colostrum results was 0.558. This correlation increased as the antibody titers of the mothers increased, and reached 1.000 from the titer of 1:400 from the mothers. Comparison of the antibody detection results between the offspring’s serum and colostrum showed a kappa agreement of 1.000. In conclusion, there was a good agreement regarding the detection of anti-N. caninum IgG between the colostrum samples and the lambs’ serum; the use of colostrum forms a noninvasive alternative for diagnosing N. caninum in sheep herds

Long-term in vitro treatment with telomerase inhibitor MST-312 induces resistance by selecting long telomeres cells

Telomerase is a good target for new anticancer drug development because it is present in over 85% of human tumours. However, despite chronic therapy is a condition for anti-telomerase approach, the effects of long-term treatment with telomerase inhibitors remain not well understood. In this work, it was evaluated the effects of long-term treatment of human MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells with the telomerase inhibitor MST-312. Cells were treated for 72 hours or 140 days, and it was accessed their viability, proliferation rate, morphology, telomeric DNA content, and resistance mechanism. The drug had a clear short-term effect, including chemosensitizing cells for docetaxel and irinotecan, but the chronic exposition led to selection of long telomeres clones, changing characteristics of original cell line. This effect was confirmed in a clonal culture with homogenous karyotype. MRP-1 expression and alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT) were discarded as additional mechanisms of resistance. This data suggest that, considering the intra-tumour heterogeneity (ITH), what is already a big challenge for treatment of cancer, chronic exposition to telomerase inhibitors can promote tumour adaptations with potential clinical repercussion, drawing attention to ongoing clinical trials and pointing important considerations most times neglected on studies about use of these inhibitors on cancer therapy.Significance of the study:Antitumour action of telomerase inhibitors is wellknown, but it depends on a long‐term exposition because cells will undergo telomereerosion only after many duplication cycles. Recently, the frustrating results of clinicaltrials with these inhibitors aroused the interest of the scientific community to under-stand the mechanisms of resistance to anti‐telomerase therapy. In this study, we con-ducted an 18‐week experiment to show that telomerase inhibition can lead to celladaptations and selection of long‐telomeres clones, leading to acquisition of resis-tance. However, we also showed that this inhibitor can sensitize cells to the chemo-therapeutic drugs docetaxel and irinotecan

I Diretriz Brasileira de Cardio-Oncologia da Sociedade Brasileira de Cardiologia

Inst Canc Estado Sao Paulo, BR-01246 Sao Paulo, BrazilUniv Sao Paulo, Hosp Clin, Fac Med, Inst Coracao, BR-05508 Sao Paulo, BrazilUniv Fed Sao Paulo, Escola Paulista Med, Inst Cardiol, Sao Paulo, BrazilUniv Fed Rio Grande do Sul, Hosp Clin Porto Alegre, Serv Cardiol, BR-90046900 Porto Alegre, RS, BrazilUniv Hosp, Brasilia, DF, BrazilHosp Procardiaco, Ctr Insuficiencia Cardiaca, Rio De Janeiro, BrazilUniv Pernambuco, Recife, PE, BrazilUniv Fed Amazonas, Fdn Ctr Oncol Amazonas, Manaus, Amazonas, BrazilMonte Tabor Hosp Sao Rafael, Salvador, BA, BrazilFdn Beneficencia Hosp & Cirurgia, Clin Coracao, Aracaju, SE, BrazilHosp Socor, Ecoctr, Belo Horizonte, MG, BrazilUniv Fed Sao Paulo, Escola Paulista Med, Inst Cardiol, Sao Paulo, BrazilWeb of Scienc