Perivascular adipose tissue as a relevant fat depot for cardiovascular risk in obesity

Obesity is associated with increased risk of premature death, morbidity, and mortality from several cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), including stroke, coronary heart disease (CHD), myocardial infarction, and congestive heart failure. However, this is not a straightforward relationship. Although several studies have substantiated that obesity confers an independent and additive risk of all-cause and cardiovascular death, there is significant variability in these associations, with some lean individuals developing diseases and others remaining healthy despite severe obesity, the so-called metabolically healthy obese. Part of this variability has been attributed to the heterogeneity in both the distribution of body fat and the intrinsic properties of adipose tissue depots, including developmental origin, adipogenic and proliferative capacity, glucose and lipid metabolism, hormonal control, thermogenic ability, and vascularization. In obesity, these depot-specific differences translate into specific fat distribution patterns, which are closely associated with differential cardiometabolic risks. The adventitial fat layer, also known as perivascular adipose tissue (PVAT), is of major importance. Similar to the visceral adipose tissue, PVAT has a pathophysiological role in CVDs. PVAT influences vascular homeostasis by releasing numerous vasoactive factors, cytokines, and adipokines, which can readily target the underlying smooth muscle cell layers, regulating the vascular tone, distribution of blood flow, as well as angiogenesis, inflammatory processes, and redox status. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge and discuss the role of PVAT within the scope of adipose tissue as a major contributing factor to obesity-associated cardiovascular risk. Relevant clinical studies documenting the relationship between PVAT dysfunction and CVD with a focus on potential mechanisms by which PVAT contributes to obesity-related CVDs are pointed out

Regeneração natural de castanheira da Amazônia e interação de seu crescimento inicial com atributos do solo e luz.

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The mass of the graviton and the cosmological constant

We show that the graviton acquires a mass in a de Sitter background given by $m_{g}^{2}=-{2/3}\Lambda.$ This is precisely the fine-tuning value required for the perturbed gravitational field to mantain its two degrees of freedom.Comment: Title changed and few details added, without any changes in the conclusio

Optimized generation of spatial qudits by using a pure phase spatial light modulator

We present a method for preparing arbitrary pure states of spatial qudits, namely, D-dimensional (D > 2) quantum systems carrying information in the transverse momentum and position of single photons. For this purpose, a set of D slits with complex transmission are displayed on a spatial light modulator (SLM). In a recent work we have shown a method that requires a single phase-only SLM to control independently the complex coefficients which define the quantum state of dimension D. The amplitude information was codified by introducing phase gratings inside each slit and the phase value of the complex transmission was added to the phase gratings. After a spatial filtering process we obtained in the image plane the desired qudit state. Although this method has proven to be a good alternative to compact the previously reported architectures, it presents some features that could be improved. In this paper we present an alternative scheme to codify the required phase values that minimizes the effects of temporal phase fluctuations associated to the SLM where the codification is carried on. In this scheme the amplitudes are set by appropriate phase gratings addressed at the SLM while the relative phases are obtained by a lateral displacement of these phase gratings. We show that this method improves the quality of the prepared state and provides very high fidelities of preparation for any state. An additional advantage of this scheme is that a complete 2\pi modulation is obtained by shifting the grating by one period, and hence the encoding is not limited by the phase modulation range achieved by the SLM. Numerical simulations, that take into account the phase fluctuations, show high fidelities for thousands of qubit states covering the whole Bloch sphere surface. Similar analysis are performed for qudits with D = 3 and D = 7.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figure

Strategies to refrain reputation crisis during online firestorms in social media

Purpose – Online firestorm, a relatively new phenomenon, has drawn the attention of academia due to its harmful effects. The present paper aims to provide a comparative overview with respect to the employment of two different crisis communication strategies (CCS), namely corrective action vs. apology, in the wake of the phenomenon and to avoid its further escalation. Design/methodology/approach - The present research used a 2 x 3 factorial experimental design, that comprised two levels of image repair strategies (corrective action; apology), and three levels of online firestorm triggers (unethical behaviour; core business problem; communication issue). An online questionnaire was distributed, and 564 valid responses were collected. Findings - Results show that corrective action, as image repair strategy, is more effective than an apology following core business- and communication-related incidents, whilst neither strategy shows to be more effective than the other one following unethical behaviour-related incidents. Furthermore, the effect of image repair strategy on perceptions, attitudes and behavioural intentions is moderated and mediated by users’ attribution related to companies´responsibility and brand attitude, respectively. Last, the absence of an organizational response following an incident has a negative effect on Facebook users’ brand attitude. Research limitations/implications - Fictitious scenarios depicted (no crisis history and prior reputation taken into account). Crisis response timing, crisis origin and media coverage not considered. Facebook as a SNS over Twitter. Practical implications – Contribution towards the body of knowledge of crisis communication and crisis management fields in online settings. Originality/value – This is the first paper that integrates a comparative overview of CCS’ effectiveness into the management of online firestorms.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Osteomielite Crónica de Metatarsico por Pseudomonas após Ferida Perfurante Plantar

As feridas perfurantes dos pés são relativamente comuns e as complicações ósseas e articulares ocorrem em aproximadamente 2% dos casos. Estas infeções são na grande maioria provocadas pela Pseudomonas aeruginosa. A elevada apetência desta bactéria para o tecido cartilagíneo e a utilização frequente de calçado desportivo no grupo etário infantil constituem os dois principais fatores que contribuem para o aumento da incidência desta patologia no pé imaturo da criança. Vários artigos têm chamado a atenção para esta entidade na sua forma aguda. Neste estudo os autores pretende alertar para a evolução subaguda e crónica, cursos menos frequentes da doença. As feridas perfurantes do pé continuam a ser desvalorizadas pelos profissionais de saúde e, muitas vezes, são menosprezadas pelo próprio doente. Como consequência da falta de avaliação e de seguimento no período pós ferida, podem desenvolver-se lesões com repercussões futuras como aconteceu no caso clínico apresentado

Electroreductive intramolecular cyclization of bromoalkoxylated derivatives catalyzed by nickel(I) tetramethylcyclam in "green" media

The (1,4,8,11-tetramethyl-1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclotetra-decane)nickel(I), [Ni(tmc)]+, electrogenerated at glassy carbon cathodes is shown to be an effective catalyst for the intramolecular radical-type cyclisation of bromoalkoxylated derivatives 1 in alcohol and / or alcohol/water mixtures as well as in microemulsions made with cationic and anionic surfactants. The results obtained indicate that the reaction proceeds via cleavage of the carbon–bromine bond to form a radicaltype intermediate that undergoes cyclisation on the unsaturated C-C bond to afford substituted tetrahydrofurans. The reactions are more selective and take place at higher current density than when carried out in conventional aprotic solvents

Modified Gravity on the Brane and Dark Energy

We analyze the dynamics of an AdS5 braneworld with matter fields when gravity is allowed to deviate from the Einstein form on the brane. We consider exact 5-dimensional warped solutions which are associated with conformal bulk fields of weight -4 and describe on the brane the following three dynamics: those of inhomogeneous dust, of generalized dark radiation, and of homogeneous polytropic dark energy. We show that, with modified gravity on the brane, the existence of such dynamical geometries requires the presence of non-conformal matter fields confined to the brane.Comment: Revised version published in Gen. Rel. Grav. Typos corrected, updated reference and some remarks added for clarity. 11 pages, latex, no figure