Language development and disorders: Possible genes and environment interactions

Language development requires both basic cognitive mechanisms for learning language and a rich social context from which learning takes off. Disruptions in learning mechanisms, processing abilities, and/or social interactions increase the risks associated with social exclusion or developmental delays. Given the complexity of language processes, a multilevel approach is proposed where both cognitive mechanisms, genetic and environmental factors need to be probed together with their possible interactions. Here we review and discuss such interplay between environment and genetic predispositions in understanding language disorders, with a particular focus on a possible endophenotype, the ability for statistical sequential learning

MIcrogreens: Functional food with antiproliferative cancer properties influenced by light

The anti-proliferative/pro-oxidant efficacy of green pea, soybean, radish, Red Rambo radish, and rocket microgreens, cultivated under either fluorescent lighting (predominant spectral peaks in green and orange) or combination light-emitting diode (LED, predominant spectral peak in blue) was investigated using Ewing sarcoma lines, RD-ES and A673, respectively. All aqueous microgreen extracts significantly reduced cell proliferation (cancer prevention effect) to varying extents in two-dimensional sarcoma cell cultures. The effect of the polyphenol fraction in the aqueous food matrix was unrelated to total polyphenol content, which differed between species and light treatment. Only Pisum sativum (LED-grown) extracts exercised anti-proliferative and pro-apoptotic effects in both three-dimensional RD-ES and A673 spheroids (early tumor progression prevention), without cytotoxic effects on healthy L929 fibroblasts. A similar anti-tumor effect of Red Rambo radish (LED and fluorescent-grown) was evident only in the RD-ES spheroids. Aside from the promising anti-tumor potential of the polyphenol fraction of green pea microgreens, the latter also displayed favorable growth quality parameters, along with radish, under both light treatments over the 10 day cultivation period

Combination of Nanodelivery Systems and Constituents Derived from Novel Foods: A Comprehensive Review

: Novel Food is a new category of food, regulated by the European Union Directive No. 2015/2283. This latter norm defines a food as "Novel" if it was not used "for human consumption to a significant degree within the Union before the date of entry into force of that regulation, namely 15 May 1997". Recently, Novel Foods have received increased interest from researchers worldwide. In this sense, the key areas of interest are the discovery of new benefits for human health and the exploitation of these novel sources of materials in new fields of application. An emerging area in the pharmaceutical and medicinal fields is nanotechnology, which deals with the development of new delivery systems at a nanometric scale. In this context, this review aims to summarize the recent advances on the design and characterization of nanodelivery systems based on materials belonging to the Novel Food list, as well as on nanoceutical products formulated for delivering compounds derived from Novel Foods. Additionally, the safety hazard of using nanoparticles in food products, i.e., food supplements, has been discussed in view of the current European regulation, which considers nanomaterials as Novel Foods

A multidisciplinary approach to study the reproductive biology of wild prawns

This work aims to provide deeper knowledge on reproductive biology of P. kerathurus in a multidisciplinary way. Upon 789 examined females, 285 were found inseminated. The logistic equation enabled to estimate the size at first maturity at 30.7 mm CL for female. The Gono-Somatic Index (GSI) showed a pronounced seasonality, ranged from 0.80 ± 0.34 to 11.24 ± 5.72. Histological analysis highlighted five stages of ovarian development. Gonadal fatty acids analysis performed with gas chromatograph evidenced a pronounced seasonal variation; total lipids varied from 1.7% dry weight (dw) in Winter, to 7.2% dw in Summer. For the first time, a chemometric approach (Principal Component Analysis) was applied to relate GSI with total lipid content and fatty acid composition of gonads. The first two components (PC1 and PC2) showed that seasonality explained about 84% of the variability of all data set. In particular, in the period February-May, lipids were characterized by high PUFAs content, that were probably utilized during embryogenesis as energy source and as constituent of the cell membranes. During the summer season, gonads accumulated saturated FAs, that will be used during embryogenesis and early larval stages, while in the cold season total lipids decreased drastically and the gonad reached a quiescent state

Label-Free Optical Sensing and Medical Grade Resins: An Advanced Approach to Investigate Cell–Material Interaction and Biocompatibility

: The Corning Epic® label-free (ELF) system is an innovative technology widely used in drug discovery, immunotherapy, G-protein-associated studies, and biocompatibility tests. Here, we challenge the use of ELF to further investigate the biocompatibility of resins used in manufacturing of blood filters, a category of medical devices representing life-saving therapies for the increasing number of patients with kidney failure. The biocompatibility assays were carried out by developing a cell model aimed at mimicking the clinical use of the blood filters and complementing the existing cytotoxicity assay requested by ISO10993-5. Experiments were performed by putting fibroblasts in both direct contact with two types of selected resins, and indirect contact by means of homemade customized well inserts that were precisely designed and developed for this technology. For both types of contact, fibroblasts were cultured in medium and human plasma. ELF tests confirmed the biocompatibility of both resins, highlighting a statistically significant different biological behavior of a polyaromatic resin compared to control and ion-exchanged resin, when materials were in indirect contact and soaking with plasma. Overall, the ELF test is able to mimic clinical scenarios and represents a promising approach to investigate biocompatibility, showing peculiar biological behaviors and suggesting the activation of specific intracellular pathways

Metodologia da análise seminal para pacientes azoospérmicos no Laboratório Fleury

ResumoA azoospermia é definida como a ausência de espermatozoide no líquido seminal ejaculado pelo homem depois de aplicada a técnica de centrifugação em pelo menos duas amostras. Dada a importância de um diagnóstico correto da análise seminal para os casais, toda amostra que não apresentar espermatozoides no exame a fresco deve seguir em avaliação laboratorial. Com isso, o presente estudo tem como objetivo analisar os resultados de centrifugação de uma alíquota do sêmen ejaculado ou de todo o volume ejaculado de pacientes com diagnóstico de azoospermia para determinar qual o melhor método a ser empregado na análise seminal para esse grupo de pacientes.AbstractThe azoospermia is defined as the absence of sperm in the ejaculate by the seminal fluid man after centrifugation technique conducted in at least two samples. Given the importance of a correct diagnosis of the seminal analysis for couples, all sample no sperm present in fresh examination should follow in laboratory tests. Thus the present study aims to analyze the results of a spin rate of ejaculate or all of the ejaculate volume of patients with azoospermia to determine the best method to be used in semen analysis for this group of patients

Potential Applications of Essential Oils for Environmental Sanitization and Antimicrobial Treatment of Intensive Livestock Infections

The extensive use of antibiotics has contributed to the current antibiotic resistance crisis. Livestock infections of Salmonella spp, Clostridium spp. and E. coli antimicrobial-resistant bacteria represent a public threat to human and animal health. To reduce the incidence of these zoonoses, essential oils (EOs) could be effective antibiotic alternatives. This study aims at identifying EOs safe for use, effective both in complementary therapy and in the environmental sanitization of intensive farming. Natural products were chemo-characterized by gas chromatography. Three S. Typhimurium, three C. perfringens and four E. coli strains isolated from poultry and swine farms were used to assess the antimicrobial properties of nine EOs and a modified GR-OLI (mGR-OLI). The toxicity of the most effective ones (Cinnamomum zeylanicum, Cz; Origanum vulgare, Ov) was also evaluated on porcine spermatozoa and Galleria mellonella larvae. Cz, Ov and mGR-OLI showed the strongest antimicrobial activity; their volatile components were also able to significantly inhibit the growth of tested strains. In vitro, Ov toxicity was slightly lower than Cz, while it showed no toxicity on G. mellonella larvae. In conclusion, the study confirms the importance of evaluating natural products to consolidate the idea of safe EO applications in reducing and preventing intensive livestock infections

Auditoria interna - o contributo do controlo interno na gestão de risco das organizações

Esta versão contém as correcções às críticas e sugestões dos elementos do júriAs empresas para atingirem a estratégia delineada devem estabelecer um modelo de governance que vise efectuar a gestão do risco, conduzindo á implementação de processos e controlos, para reduzir as ameaças e o risco de incerteza subjacentes às principais actividades ou negócios desenvolvidos. A gestão do risco passa pela análise detalhada dos riscos subjacentes ao negócio. Parte da gestão do risco é realizada pela implementação de um sistema de controlo interno, conducente a mitigar os riscos negativos e a potenciar os riscos positivos para a empresa. O controlo interno é fundamental na gestão do risco, pois trata-se do conjunto de mecanismos e práticas utilizadas para evitar ou detectar actividade não autorizada, com o intuito da realização dos objectivos estratégicos da empresa. Neste sentido, o objectivo deste trabalho passou por evidenciar a importância do processo de gestão do risco no delinear da estratégia de negócio e na condução dos trabalhos para a concretização dos objectivos da empresa, e demonstrar a importância do sistema de controlo interno neste processo e como parte fundamental na mitigação do risco. Inicialmente realizou-se uma pesquisa literária para aprofundar os principais conceitos sobre controlo interno e gestão do risco. Seguidamente, procedeu-se à elaboração de um questionário destinado a profissionais de Auditoria e a outros relacionados com a área em análise, de modo a encontrar consensos entre opiniões. Os resultados obtidos conduziram-nos á validação do modelo de análise, proposto no capítulo metodologia de investigação deste trabalho.Companies to achieve the strategy outlined, must establish a governance model that aims to manage risk, leading to the implementation of processes and controls, to reduce the threats and the risk of uncertainty underlying the main activities or businesses developed. Risk management involves a detailed analysis of the risks underlying the business. Part of risk management is carried out by implementing an internal control system, leading to mitigating negative risks and enhancing positive risks for the company. Internal control is fundamental in risk management, as it is the set of mechanisms and practices used to prevent or detect unauthorized activity, with a view to achieving the company's strategic objectives. In this sense, the objective of this work was to highlight the importance of the risk management process in outlining the business strategy and in conducting the work to achieve the company's objectives, and to demonstrate the importance of the internal control system in this process and how fundamental part in risk mitigation. Initially, a literary research was carried out to deepen the main concepts on internal control and risk management. Then, a questionnaire was created for Audit professionals and other parts related to the area under analysis, in order to find consensus between opinions. The results obtained led us to validate the analysis model proposed, in the research methodology chapter of this work

Annexin A1 protein attenuates cyclosporine-induced renal hemodynamics changes and macrophage infiltration in rats

Cyclosporine (CsA) remains an important immunosuppressant for transplantation and for treatment of autoimmune diseases. The most troublesome side effect of CsA is renal injury. Acute CsA-induced nephrotoxicity is characterized by reduced renal blood flow (RBF) and glomerular filtration rate (GFR) due to afferent arteriole vasoconstriction. Annexin A1 (ANXA1) is a potent anti-inflammatory protein with protective effect in renal ischemia/reperfusion injury. Here we study the effects of ANXA1 treatment in an experimental model of acute CsA nephrotoxicity. Salt-depleted rats were randomized to treatment with VH (vehicles 1 mL/kg body weight/day), ANXA1 (Ac2-26 peptide 1 mg/kg body weight/day intraperitoneally), CsA (20 mg/kg body weight/day subcutaneously) and CsA + ANXA1 (combination) for seven days. We compared renal function and hemodynamics, renal histopathology, renal tissue macrophage infiltration and renal ANXA1 expression between the four groups. CsA significantly impaired GFR and RBF, caused tubular dilation and macrophage infiltration and increased ANXA1 renal tissue expression. Treatment with ANXA1 attenuated CSA-induced hemodynamic changes, tubular injury and macrophage infiltration. ANXA1 treatment attenuated renal hemodynamic injury and inflammation in an acute CsA nephrotoxicity model.Fundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Sao Paulo - FAPESP [2008/01,048-9]Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico-CNPq [306,074/2007-9, 307,371/2006-9