O JOVEM UNIVERSITÁRIO E A BUSCA PELA SAÚDE ATRAVÉS DO EXERCÍCIO FÍSICO

A prtica de exerccios fsicos de extrema importncia, pois protege de uma srie de riscos sade, entre os quais se destacam a obesidade, doenas cardiovasculares, diabetes, osteoporose, depresso e outras doenas de ordem psicolgica. Sendo assim, o objetivo do presente estudo foi verificar a ocorrncia ou no da prtica de exerccios fsicos regulares em jovens universitrios da Universidade Federal de Santa Maria (UFSM). O grupo de estudo se constituiu de 170 universitrios, 82 do gnero feminino (GF) e 88 do gnero masculino (GM), com idade mdia de 22,032,86 anos. No GM, 18,18% dos entrevistados eram alunos do curso de Agronomia e 13,64% do curso de Fsica Licenciatura Plena. No GF, 13,47% eram graduandas do curso de Letras e 10,97% do curso de Pedagogia. Os demais sujeitos cursavam outras graduaes ofertadas pela UFSM. Os dados foram coletados atravs de uma entrevista estruturada, a qual possibilitou verificar que 28,05% do GF e 30,68% do GM praticavam exerccios fsicos regularmente, sendo que os exerccios mais citados pelo GF foram musculao (8,54%), aero-local (8,54%), futsal (7,32%), voleibol (2,44%), caminhada (2,44%) e hidroginstica (2,44%). No GM, os mais mencionados foram musculao (10,23%), voleibol (5,68%) e karat (3,41%). Entre os motivos de prtica de exerccios fsicos regulares, o mais relatado, em ambos os grupos, foi sade, com 12,19% no GF e 13,64% no GM. Portanto, a prtica de exerccios fsicos regulares apresenta uma similaridade entre os gneros, com um discreto envolvimento maior do pblico masculino

SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility and COVID-19 disease severity are associated with genetic variants affecting gene expression in a variety of tissues

Variability in SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility and COVID-19 disease severity between individuals is partly due to genetic factors. Here, we identify 4 genomic loci with suggestive associations for SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility and 19 for COVID-19 disease severity. Four of these 23 loci likely have an ethnicity-specific component. Genome-wide association study (GWAS) signals in 11 loci colocalize with expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) associated with the expression of 20 genes in 62 tissues/cell types (range: 1:43 tissues/gene), including lung, brain, heart, muscle, and skin as well as the digestive system and immune system. We perform genetic fine mapping to compute 99% credible SNP sets, which identify 10 GWAS loci that have eight or fewer SNPs in the credible set, including three loci with one single likely causal SNP. Our study suggests that the diverse symptoms and disease severity of COVID-19 observed between individuals is associated with variants across the genome, affecting gene expression levels in a wide variety of tissue types

New Public Management between reality and illusion: Analysing the validity of performance-based budgeting

Drawing from the theoretical insights of pragmatic constructivism, this paper aims to explain the difficulties faced by organizational actors in the translation of performance-based budgeting (PBB) into practice. The dichotomy of reality and illusion at the centre of pragmatic constructivism sheds light on the limitations and shortcomings that characterize the implementation of a business-like practice introduced as a component of the reform movement known as New Public Management (NPM). The paper investigates the case of an Italian Ministry through the analysis of interviews, policy documents, and governmental reports. The analysis shows that a failed integration of communication, values and aims between actors and an illusionary analysis of factual possibilities constrain the construction of causalities, hence jeopardizing the successful implementation of the performance-based budgeting reform. Rather than engaging in a co-authoring process, the actors are left with illusionary constructs that, while providing the appearance of a compliant organization, fail to produce the desired changes

Association of kidney disease measures with risk of renal function worsening in patients with type 1 diabetes

Background: Albuminuria has been classically considered a marker of kidney damage progression in diabetic patients and it is routinely assessed to monitor kidney function. However, the role of a mild GFR reduction on the development of stage 653 CKD has been less explored in type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) patients. Aim of the present study was to evaluate the prognostic role of kidney disease measures, namely albuminuria and reduced GFR, on the development of stage 653 CKD in a large cohort of patients affected by T1DM. Methods: A total of 4284 patients affected by T1DM followed-up at 76 diabetes centers participating to the Italian Association of Clinical Diabetologists (Associazione Medici Diabetologi, AMD) initiative constitutes the study population. Urinary albumin excretion (ACR) and estimated GFR (eGFR) were retrieved and analyzed. The incidence of stage 653 CKD (eGFR < 60 mL/min/1.73 m2) or eGFR reduction > 30% from baseline was evaluated. Results: The mean estimated GFR was 98 \ub1 17 mL/min/1.73m2 and the proportion of patients with albuminuria was 15.3% (n = 654) at baseline. About 8% (n = 337) of patients developed one of the two renal endpoints during the 4-year follow-up period. Age, albuminuria (micro or macro) and baseline eGFR < 90 ml/min/m2 were independent risk factors for stage 653 CKD and renal function worsening. When compared to patients with eGFR > 90 ml/min/1.73m2 and normoalbuminuria, those with albuminuria at baseline had a 1.69 greater risk of reaching stage 3 CKD, while patients with mild eGFR reduction (i.e. eGFR between 90 and 60 mL/min/1.73 m2) show a 3.81 greater risk that rose to 8.24 for those patients with albuminuria and mild eGFR reduction at baseline. Conclusions: Albuminuria and eGFR reduction represent independent risk factors for incident stage 653 CKD in T1DM patients. The simultaneous occurrence of reduced eGFR and albuminuria have a synergistic effect on renal function worsening

A first update on mapping the human genetic architecture of COVID-19

peer reviewe

ABCC3 Expressed by CD56dim CD16+ NK Cells Predicts Response in Glioblastoma Patients Treated with Combined Chemotherapy and Dendritic Cell Immunotherapy

Recently, we found that temozolomide (TMZ) can upregulate the expression of the multidrug-resistance protein ABCC3 in NK cells from both glioma-bearing mice and glioblastoma patients treated with dendritic cell immunotherapy combined with TMZ, allowing NK cells to escape apoptosis and favoring their role as antitumor effector cells. Here, we demonstrate that CD56dim NK cells expressing CD16+ are predominant in patients surviving more than 12 months after surgery without disease progression. CD56dim CD16+ NK cells co-expressed high levels of ABCC3 and IFN-γ. Notably, not only basal but also TMZ-induced ABCC3 expression was related to a strong, long-term NK cell response and a better prognosis of patients. The identification of the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs35467079 with the deletion of a cytosine (−897DelC) in the promoter region of the ABCC3 gene resulted associated with a better patient outcome. ABCC3 expression in patients carrying DelC compared to patients with reference haplotype was higher and modulated by TMZ. The transcription factor NRF2, involved in ABCC3 induction, was phosphorylated in CD56dim CD16+ NK cells expressing ABCC3 under TMZ treatment. Thus, ABCC3 protein and the SNP −897DelC can play a predictive role in patients affected by GBM, and possibly other cancers, treated with dendritic cell immunotherapy combined with chemotherapy

Paclitaxel-Loaded Silk Fibroin Nanoparticles: Method Validation by UHPLC-MS/MS to Assess an Exogenous Approach to Load Cytotoxic Drugs

The aim of this work was to load an anticancer drug, paclitaxel (PTX), on Silk Fibroin Nanoparticles (SFNs) by using an exogenous approach. SFNs were produced, freeze-dried and then loaded with PTX. An exogenous method allowed us to reduce both drug loss and environmental impact. In order to quantify PTX loaded in SFNs, a simple and reliable method using reversed phase liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (rp-UHPLC-MS/MS) was developed. This methodology was validated by the determination of spiked QC samples in three consecutive days. Good accuracy and precision of the method were obtained, while the intra-day and inter-day precisions were less than 10.3%. For PTX, the limit of quantitation (LOQ) was 5.0 ng/mL. Recovery from the matrix (SFNs-PTX pellets) was calculated (81.2% at LOQ value) as PTX was entrapped in a new matrix like the polymer silk fibroin-based. This method was successfully applied to determine the encapsulation efficiency (1.00 ± 0.19%) and the nanoparticle loading (0.12 ± 0.02% w/w). The in vitro anticancer activity of SFNs-PTX was tested against CFPAC-1 cancer cells; results demonstrated a very high cytotoxic activity of SFNs-PTX, with a dose dependent inhibition of CFPAC-1 proliferation, confirmed by the IC50 value of 3450 ± 750 ng/mL

Discrimination between Fresh and Frozen-Thawed Fish Involved in Food Safety and Fraud Protection

This study aims to discriminate fresh fish from frozen/thawed by identification of the key metabolites that are altered during the freezing/thawing processing. Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) and bullet tuna (Auxis rochei) were selected as they are representative of broad consumption, and susceptible to pathogen contamination. Atlantic salmon samples were subjected to the following regimes: −20 °C (24h) and −35 °C (15 h) freezing, then thawed respectively in the blast chiller and in the cold room and analyzed immediately or after 10 days; (2) bullet tuna samples were frozen at −18 °C and thawed after 15, 30 and 90 days. High resolution mass spectrometry based on untargeted metabolomic analyses and statistical data treatment confirmed significant variations in the quantity of certain metabolites: the amount of l-phenylalanine in salmon increased immediately after thawing while that of anserine decreased. The concentration of l-arginine and its metabolites was altered at the 10th day after thawing rendering them promising markers of salmon freezing/thawing. As regards bullet tuna, compounds resulting from lipid degradation (l-α-Glyceryl-phosphoryl-choline and N-methyl-ethanolamine phosphate) increased notably during the storage period. This approach could be used to reveal common fraudulent incidents such as deliberate replacement of fresh fish with frozen/thawed, with food safety risks as the primary implication