he genome and genetics of a high oxidative stress tolerant Serratia sp. LCN16 isolated from the plant parasitic nematode Bursaphelenchus xylophilus

Background: Pine wilt disease (PWD) is a worldwide threat to pine forests, and is caused by the pine wood nematode (PWN) Bursaphelenchus xylophilus. Bacteria are known to be associated with PWN and may have an important role in PWD. Serratia sp. LCN16 is a PWN-associated bacterium, highly resistant to oxidative stress in vitro, and which beneficially contributes to the PWN survival under these conditions. Oxidative stress is generated as a part of the basal defense mechanism used by plants to combat pathogenic invasion. Here, we studied the biology of Serratia sp. LCN16 through genome analyses, and further investigated, using reverse genetics, the role of two genes directly involved in the neutralization of H2O2, namely the H2O2 transcriptional factor oxyR; and the H2O2-targeting enzyme, catalase katA. Results: Serratia sp. LCN16 is phylogenetically most closely related to the phytosphere group of Serratia, which includes S. proteamaculans, S. grimessi and S. liquefaciens. Likewise, Serratia sp. LCN16 shares many features with endophytes (plant-associated bacteria), such as genes coding for plant polymer degrading enzymes, iron uptake/ transport, siderophore and phytohormone synthesis, aromatic compound degradation and detoxification enzymes. OxyR and KatA are directly involved in the high tolerance to H2O2 of Serratia sp. LCN16. Under oxidative stress, Serratia sp. LCN16 expresses katA independently of OxyR in contrast with katG which is under positive regulation of OxyR. Serratia sp. LCN16 mutants for oxyR (oxyR::int(614)) and katA (katA::int(808)) were sensitive to H2O2 in relation with wild-type, and both failed to protect the PWN from H2O2-stress exposure. Moreover, both mutants showed different phenotypes in terms of biofilm production and swimming/swarming behaviors. Conclusions: This study provides new insights into the biology of PWN-associated bacteria Serratia sp. LCN16 and its extreme resistance to oxidative stress conditions, encouraging further research on the potential role of this bacterium in interaction with PWN in planta environment

Earthquakes in central Italy in 2016: comparison between Norcia and Amatrice

Trabalho apresentado em 16th European Conference on Earthquake Engineering (16ECEE), 18-21 june 2018, Thessaloniki, GreeceIn this paper lessons are extracted from the comparison between the very different consequences that a set of earthquakes had on the neighbouring towns of Amatrice and Norcia during the 2016 central Italy earthquake sequence. The paper initially describes the prevention programs implemented in Amatrice and Norcia starting from the reconstruction after the 1860 Norcia earthquake. The earthquake intensities in Amatrice and Norcia during the 2016 Central Italy events were considering accelerometric recordings of the Italian Strong Motion Network. In the same municipalities, the damage has been assessed through site visits and analysis of the results of the post-earthquake safety assessment performed after the events. It was found that the differences in damage were essentially due to the strengthening of most houses in Norcia done during the previous decades. This is also likely to lead to a much faster recover of the economy and livelihood in Norcia, as Amatrice needs to be entirely rebuilt.N/

Binge eating disorders and psychotherapy: is it possible to systematize a psychodynamic formulation case?

The Core Conflictual Relationship Theme (CCRT) method establishes psychotherapeutic guidelines for a patient's relational patterns. The CCRT was used in the analysis of narratives coming from psychodynamic psychotherapy sessions (taped and transcribed) from a patient suffering from Binge Eating Episodes. The CCRT method made it possible to systematize the connection between psychological conflicts and symptoms, not always an easy task for psychiatrists and psychologists in training.O método Tema Central de Conflito nos Relacionamentos - CCRT sistematiza as inferências feitas por psicoterapeutas dos padrões de relacionamento de pacientes submetidos à psicoterapia. O CCRT foi utilizado na análise das narrativas de uma paciente com Compulsão Alimentar Periódica, submetida a sessões de psicoterapia (gravadas e transcritas). Com o método CCRT foi possível sistematizar a relação entre os conflitos psíquicos e o aparecimento de sintomas, uma tarefa nem sempre fácil para psiquiatras e psicólogos em formação.Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP)Universidade de São Paulo Instituto de PsicologiaUniversidade de São Paulo Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciência e Letras de Ribeirão PretoUniversidade de São Paulo Faculdade de Medicina Hospital das ClínicasUNIFESPSciEL

Is the chlorophyll derivative Zn(II)e6Me a good photosensitizer to be used in root canal disinfection?

The aim of this study was to assess antimicrobial efficacy and cytotoxic outcomes of a chlorophyll based photosensitizer (PS) Zn(II)chlorin e6 methyl ester (Zn(II)e6Me), when applied to human dentin discs and root blocks infected with 48 h biofilms. The results were compared with the ones obtained with FotoSan® (commercial Toluidine Blue O formulation) and 3% sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl).publishe

Ecografia de Nervos Periféricos – Um Tutorial Guiado por Imagem para Iniciante

Avanços técnicos na ecografia facilitou de forma fiável a avaliação de pequenas estruturas.Atualmente, a avaliação de nervos periféricos depende ainda de dados clínicos suplementados por estudos eletrofisiológicos.A ultrassonografia pode ser aplicada na avaliação de patologia de nervos periféricos, contribuindo para o diagnóstico diferencial de patologias músculo-esqueléticas. O crescimento exponencial de publicações sobre esta temática nos últimos 10 anos foi fortemente fomentado pelo desenvolvimento de intervenção guiada por imagem, frequentemente utilizada em procedimentos analgésicos e anestésicos, tais como bloqueios nervosos. A Medicina da Dor é outro campo para a ecografia de nervos periféricos, onde a intervenção pode ser usada como forma de tratamento ou diagnóstico.A ecografia é uma técnica segura, embora fortemente dependente do utilizador, implicando firmes conhecimentos de anatomia.Elaborou-se uma revisão pictórica, assim como dos parâmetros e peculiaridades técnicas utilizadas para otimizar a imagem obtida. Serão demonstrados os marcos anatómicos mais frequentes e reconhecíveis no pescoço, membro superior, virilha, membro inferior, assim como a forma de colocação da sonda.Será efetuada uma breve revisão dos achados descritos em casos patológicos.Um firme conhecimento da ecografia dos nervos periféricos é um pré-requisito para os interessados na avaliação destes. O papel da intervenção guiada por ecografia tem evoluído no campo da anestesia e no campo da medicina da dor. Os radiologistas estão em excelente posição para relacionar a adequada técnica e o conhecimento anatómico, permitindo expandir o papel dos procedimentos guiados por imagem

On assessing importance of components in dysfunction urban systems given an earthquake: the case of Mt. Etna region

Mt Etna region (Sicily, Italy) is one of the test areas studied in the European Project “Urban disaster Prevention Strategies using MAcroseismic fields and FAult sources” ( UPStrat-MAFA) to which the methodology of Disruption Index (hereafter DI), recently developed to evaluate the dysfunction of urban systems caused by earthquakes (Ferreira et al., 2014), has been applied on a trial basis

Body mass index as a predictor of the presence but not the severity of coronary artery disease evaluated by cardiac computed tomography

Background The relation between body mass index (BMI) and coronary artery disease (CAD) extension remains controversial. The aim of this study was to evaluate the correlation between BMI and CAD extension documented by coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA). Methods and results Prospective registry including 1706 consecutive stable patients that performed CCTA (dual source scanner) for the evaluation of CAD. The population was stratified by BMI: normal 530 (31.1\%), overweight 802 (47.0\%) and obesity 374 (21.9\%). BMI was significantly higher in patients with CAD (27.74.3vs 26.8 +/- 4.3kg/m(2), p5 segments with plaque (15.4\% patients). The prevalence of SIS >5 among the BMI classes was: 18.7\%, 13.7\% and 13.6\% for normal, overweight and obesity respectively (p values for the specific classes versus all other patients: 0.241, 0.450 and 0.663). Conclusions In this population of stable patients undergoing CCTA for suspected CAD, BMI was an independent predictor of its presence, but was not correlated with the coronary disease severity.publishersversionpublishe

Thymidylate synthase gene variants as predictors of clinical response and toxicity to fluoropyrimidine-based chemotherapy for colorectal cancer

Abstract Background: Fluoropyrimidines form the chemotherapy backbone of advanced and metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC). These drugs are frequently associated with toxicity events that result in dose adjustments and even suspension of the treatment. The thymidylate synthase (TYMS) gene is a potential marker of response and toxicity to fluoropyirimidines as this enzyme is the molecular target of these drugs. Our aim was to assess the association between variants of TYMS with response and toxicity to fluoropyrimidines in patients with CRC in independent retrospective and prospective studies. Methods: Variants namely rs45445694, rs183205964, rs2853542 and rs151264360 of TYMS were genotyped in 105 CRC patients and were evaluated to define their association with clinical response and toxicity to fluoropyrimidines. Additionally, the relationship between genotypes and tumor gene expression was analyzed by quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Results: The 2R/2R (rs45445694) was associated with clinical response (p = 0.05, odds ratio (OR) = 3.45) and severe toxicity (p = 0.0014, OR = 5.21, from pooled data). Expression analysis in tumor tissues suggested a correlation between the 2R/2R genotype and low TYMS expression. Conclusions: The allele 2R (rs45445694) predicts severe toxicity and objective response in advanced CRC patients. In addition, the alleles G(rs2853542) and 6bp-(rs151264360) are independent predictors of response failure to chemotherapy. This is the first study made on a Latin American population that points out TYMS gene variants have predictive values for response and toxicity in patients with CRC treated with fluoropyrimidine-based chemotherapy

Integrative literature review of the reported uses of serological tests in leprosy management

An integrative literature review was conducted to synthesize available publications regarding the potential use of serological tests in leprosy programs. We searched the databases Literatura Latino-Americana e do Caribe em Ciências da Saúde, Índice Bibliográfico Espanhol em Ciências da Saúde, Acervo da Biblioteca da Organização Pan-Americana da Saúde, Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online, Hanseníase, National Library of Medicine, Scopus, Ovid, Cinahl, and Web of Science for articles investigating the use of serological tests for antibodies against phenolic glycolipid-I (PGL-I), ML0405, ML2331, leprosy IDRI diagnostic-1 (LID-1), and natural disaccharide octyl-leprosy IDRI diagnostic-1 (NDO-LID). From an initial pool of 3.514 articles, 40 full-length articles fulfilled our inclusion criteria. Based on these papers, we concluded that these antibodies can be used to assist in diagnosing leprosy, detecting neuritis, monitoring therapeutic efficacy, and monitoring household contacts or at-risk populations in leprosy-endemic areas. Thus, available data suggest that serological tests could contribute substantially to leprosy management.

Sleep quality and chronic pain in community dwelling older adults: preliminary results

Background: The natural process of human aging causes biopsychosocial alterations, which can trigger chronic pain and poor sleep quality in older adults. Considering the high prevalence and possible association between these two clinical conditions, special attention from public health policies is necessary to provide quality aging. Objective: To verify if there is an association between chronic pain and sleep quality among older adults in the community. Methods: A quantitative, cross-sectional study on the association of chronic pain with the sleep quality among older people in the community. Participants were evaluated using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI); Visual Analog Pain scale; questionnaires of sociodemographic and clinical data, assessment of cognitive impairment through the Mini Mental State Examination, and anthropometric assessments. The data were submitted to descriptive statistics. The means between the groups of older people with and without chronic pain were compared using the Student's t test for independent samples and Pearson's correlation coefficient (r) was used to analyze the association of PSQI with pain intensity. Results: In total, 51 older women were included, with a mean age of 70 ± 8 years. The majority had a low level of education (52.9%), low financial income (64.7%), and chronic pain (56.9%). It was found that the older adults with chronic pain presented worse sleep quality when compared those without chronic pain and a moderate (r=0.595) and significant (p<0.01) correlation between sleep quality and the intensity of chronic pain was observed. Conclusion: Older adults in the community with chronic pain present worse sleep quality when compared to the older adults without pain. There is a strong correlation between the intensity of chronic pain and sleep quality in older adults; the greater the intensity of pain, the worse the sleep quality