Diacutaneous fibrolysis versus passive stretching after articular immobilisation : muscle recovery and extracellular matrix remodelling

Introduction Atrophy and muscle shortening due to articular immobilisation are common problems in musculoskeletal rehabilitation. Muscle stretching mechanical stimuli might be considered as the golden standard procedure to improve muscle flexibility in rehabilitation. Muscle stretching generates mechanotransduction, potentiating specific gene expression and promotes sarcomerogenesis and extracellular matrix remodelling on shortened and atrophied muscles. Hypothesis Diacutaneous fibrolysis, like stretching, uses an external force to stress connective and muscle tissues mechanically to treat muscle shortening; thus, it is widely used in clinical practice even if there is no evidence to support it. Considering this subject, we have hypothesised that diacutaneous fibrolysis can generate mechanotransduction, affecting muscle hypertrophy and extracellular matrix remodelling after immobilisation. Evaluation of hypothesis We have designed a laboratory experimental study with a sample of 50 rats. The sample was randomly divided into five groups: Control group (n = 10) with non–immobilised rats; 3–week immobilisation group (n = 10); 3–week immobilisation/3–week non–immobilisation group (n = 10);3–week immobilisation/3–week stretching group (n = 10); and 3–week immobilisation/3–week diacutaneous fibrolysis group (n = 10). All rats had their left tibiotarsal joint immobilised in maximum plantar flexion with the orthotics for 3 consecutive weeks. After the immobilisation period, the intervention groups received their respective intervention on their left triceps suralis for 3 weeks. Dependent variables of the study were sarcomere analysis, polymerase chain reaction, connective tissue density, collagen birefringence and matrix metalloproteinases. Statistical analysis was performed using analysis of variance and Duncan post hoc test was applied for differences between groups. For all calculations, a 5% (p < 0.05) significance level was established. Conclusion If the hypothesis is confirmed, the present study might provide evidence to support the use of this physical therapy resource widely used to treat muscle dysfunctions

Optimization of the HgI2 Crystal Preparation for Application as a Radiation Semiconductor Detector

The effect of HgI2 crystal encapsulation using different polymer resins, with the intent of avoiding the oxidation of the crystal surface, was evaluated in this work. The crystal was purified and grown by the physical vapor transport (PVT) technique modified. Systematic measurements were carried out for evaluating the stoichiometry, structure orientation, surface morphology and impurity of the crystal grown. The purer region of the crystal grown was selected to be prepared as a radiation detector, applying water-based conductive ink contacts and copper wire on the crystal surfaces. After that, the crystal was encapsulated with a polymeric resin which insulates atmospheric gases, aiming to improve the stability of the HgI2 detector. Four resins were used for crystal encapslation and the performance of the detector depended on the composition of the resins used. Among the four resins studied to evaluate the influence of encapsulation on the performance of crystals, as a radiation detector, the best result of resistivity and energy spectrum was obtained for the resin #3 (50% - 100% of Methylacetate and 5% - 10% of n-butylacetate). The encapsulation of crystals with polymer resins, performed with the intent of avoiding the oxidation of the crystal surface, did not compromise the measurements and were fully capable of detecting the presence of gamma radiation. The stability of the encapsulated HgI2 crystal detector was of up to 78 hs, while the stability found for HgI2 detector no encapsulated was in order 3 ~4 hs

Estimativas mensais da formação bruta de capital fixo pública no Brasil (2002-2010)

This article presents new monthly estimates of the gross fixed capital formation of the Brazilian general government for the 2002-2010 years. A significant research effort was made to carry out the estimations. First, the many differences between the concepts of "public investment" (as used in the Brazilian public accounting manuals) and "gross fixed capital formation of the general government" (as used in the United Nations System of National Accounts) were carefully identified, and so were the peculiarities of the Brazilian budget process that distort official estimates of the annual gross fixed capital formation of the Brazilian general government and affect the precision of naive estimates of the same variable in higher frequencies. Second, several procedures were developed to correct or mitigate these problems. Finally, additional information was obtained from 20 out of 26 Brazilian states, the federal district, and tens of (large) municipalities in order to allow us to circumvent the relative scarcity of information on the finances of Brazilian state and local governments.Este artigo apresenta estimativas inéditas de séries mensais da formação bruta de capital fixo (FBCF) das administrações públicas no Brasil de 2002 a 2010. A estimação exigiu um esforço significativo de pesquisa. Em primeiro lugar, realizou-se uma análise criteriosa dos conceitos da contabilidade pública e da contabilidade nacional, enfatizando-se as peculiaridades do processo orçamentário brasileiro que enviesam as estimativas anuais dos investimentos públicos divulgadas nas estatísticas oficiais e que afetam a precisão das informações de alta frequência. Em segundo lugar, desenvolveram-se procedimentos para mitigar estes problemas. Por fim, buscou-se contornar a escassez de informações dos governos subnacionais solicitando-se informações adicionais de centenas de contadores públicos, técnicos ou secretários de Fazenda/Planejamento de todos os estados da Federação, do Distrito Federal (DF) e dos maiores municípios

Acute Auditory Stimulation with Different Styles of Music Influences Cardiac Autonomic Regulation in Men

Background: No clear evidence is available in the literature regarding the acute effect of different styles of music on cardiac autonomic control. Objectives: The present study aimed to evaluate the acute effects of classical baroque and heavy metal musical auditory stimulation on Heart Rate Variability (HRV) in healthy men. Patients and Methods: In this study, HRV was analyzed regarding time (SDNN, RMSSD, NN50, and pNN50) and frequency domain (LF, HF, and LF / HF) in 12 healthy men. HRV was recorded at seated rest for 10 minutes. Subsequently, the participants were exposed to classical baroque or heavy metal music for five minutes through an earphone at seated rest. After exposure to the first song, they remained at rest for five minutes and they were again exposed to classical baroque or heavy metal music. The music sequence was random for each individual. Standard statistical methods were used for calculation of means and standard deviations. Besides, ANOVA and Friedman test were used for parametric and non-parametric distributions, respectively. Results: While listening to heavy metal music, SDNN was reduced compared to the baseline (P = 0.023). In addition, the LF index (ms2 and nu) was reduced during exposure to both heavy metal and classical baroque musical auditory stimulation compared to the control condition (P = 0.010 and P = 0.048, respectively). However, the HF index (ms2) was reduced only during auditory stimulation with music heavy metal (P = 0.01). The LF/HF ratio on the other hand decreased during auditory stimulation with classical baroque music (P = 0.019). Conclusions: Acute auditory stimulation with the selected heavy metal musical auditory stimulation decreased the sympathetic and parasympathetic modulation on the heart, while exposure to a selected classical baroque music reduced sympathetic regulation on the heart

Anandamide Effects in a Streptozotocin-Induced Alzheimer’s Disease-Like Sporadic Dementia in Rats

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is characterized by multiple cognitive deficits including memory and sensorimotor gating impairments as a result of neuronal and synaptic loss. The endocannabinoid system plays an important role in these deficits but little is known about its influence on the molecular mechanism regarding phosphorylated tau (p-tau) protein accumulation – one of the hallmarks of AD –, and on the density of synaptic proteins. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the preventive effects of anandamide (N-arachidonoylethanolamine, AEA) on multiple cognitive deficits and on the levels of synaptic proteins (syntaxin 1, synaptophysin and synaptosomal-associated protein, SNAP-25), cannabinoid receptor type 1 (CB1) and molecules related to p-tau degradation machinery (heat shock protein 70, HSP70), and Bcl2-associated athanogene (BAG2) in an AD-like sporadic dementia model in rats using intracerebroventricular (icv) injection of streptozotocin (STZ). Our hypothesis is that AEA could interact with HSP70, modulating the level of p-tau and synaptic proteins, preventing STZ-induced cognitive impairments. Thirty days after receiving bilateral icv injections of AEA or STZ or both, the cognitive performance of adult male Wistar rats was evaluated in the object recognition test, by the escape latency in the elevated plus maze (EPM), by the tone and context fear conditioning as well as in prepulse inhibition tests. Subsequently, the animals were euthanized and their brains were removed for histological analysis or for protein quantification by Western Blotting. The behavioral results showed that STZ impaired recognition, plus maze and tone fear memories but did not affect contextual fear memory and prepulse inhibition. Moreover, AEA prevented recognition and non-associative emotional memory impairments induced by STZ, but did not influence tone fear conditioning. STZ increased the brain ventricular area and this enlargement was prevented by AEA. Additionally, STZ reduced the levels of p-tau (Ser199/202) and increased p-tau (Ser396), although AEA did not affect these alterations. HSP70 was found diminished only by STZ, while BAG2 levels were decreased by STZ and AEA. Synaptophysin, syntaxin and CB1 receptor levels were reduced by STZ, but only syntaxin was recovered by AEA. Altogether, albeit AEA failed to modify some AD-like neurochemical alterations, it partially prevented STZ-induced cognitive impairments, changes in synaptic markers and ventricle enlargement. This study showed, for the first time, that the administration of an endocannabinoid can prevent AD-like effects induced by STZ, boosting further investigations about the modulation of endocannabinoid levels as a therapeutic approach for AD

Spectrochemical analysis in blood plasma combined with subsequent chemometrics for fibromyalgia detection

Fibromyalgia is a rheumatologic condition characterized by multiple and chronic body pain, and other typical symptoms such as intense fatigue, anxiety and depression. It is a very complex disease where treatment is often made by non-medicated alternatives in order to alleviate symptoms and improve the patient’s quality of life. Herein, we propose a method to detect patients with fibromyalgia (n = 252, 126 controls and 126 patients with fibromyalgia) through the analysis of their blood plasma using attenuated total reflection Fourier-transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy in conjunction with chemometric techniques, hence, providing a low-cost, fast and accurate diagnostic approach. Different chemometric algorithms were tested to classify the spectral data; genetic algorithm with linear discriminant analysis (GA-LDA) achieved the best diagnostic results with a sensitivity of 89.5% in an external test set. The GA-LDA model identified 24 spectral wavenumbers responsible for class separation; amongst these, the Amide II (1,545 cm−1) and proteins (1,425 cm−1) were identified to be discriminant features. These results reinforce the potential of ATR-FTIR spectroscopy with multivariate analysis as a new tool to screen and detect patients with fibromyalgia in a fast, low-cost, non-destructive and minimally invasive fashion