Ability of vitamin D to reduce inflammation in adults without acute illness

In vitro studies and some clinical studies suggest that vitamin D plays an important role in reducing inflammation. the objective of this review was to examine recent evidence that vitamin D status influences the level of inflammation in adults without acute illness or injury. Five large cross-sectional studies and two randomized controlled trials are the focus of this review. Associations between 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) and inflammation markers are significant and inverse in study populations with low 25OHD levels (<21ng/mL). They are also inverse in adults with relatively high inflammation levels. These associations in the few available randomized controlled vitamin D intervention trials have been null; this may be because they were not examined in populations with sufficiently low levels of 25OHD or high levels of inflammation. (C) 2013 International Life Sciences InstituteU.S. Department of AgricultureUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, BrazilTufts Univ, Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutr Res Ctr Aging, Boston, MA 02111 USAUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, BrazilU.S. Department of Agriculture: 58-1950-0-014Web of Scienc

Barriers to enrollment in pulmonary rehabilitation in a private hospital in Brazil: a physician survey study

Introduction: Pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) plays a key role in the management of chronic lung diseases, but it remains largely underused worldwide. The aim of this study was to assess clinicians’ knowledge about PR and to identify the barriers they encounter when referring patients with medical insurance to PR in a private hospital in Brazil. Methodology: This was a survey-based cross-sectional study conducted in 2019 at a reference hospital in São Paulo, Brazil. Eligible participants were physicians registered with the following specialties: Internal Medicine, Geriatrics, Cardiology, Pulmonology or Thoracic Surgery. Results: We collected 72 responses. While 99% of participants recognized COPD as a potential indication for PR, interstitial lung disease, bronchiectasis and pulmonary hypertension were less often recognized (75%). Most participants (67%) incorrectly associated PR with lung function improvement, while 28% of cardiologists and 35% of internists/geriatricians failed to recognize benefits on mood disorders. Notably, 18% of participants recommended PR only to patients on supplemental oxygen and 14% prescribed only home physiotherapy, patterns more commonly seen among non-respiratory physicians. The 3 most perceived barriers to referral and adherence were health insurance coverage (79%), transportation to the PR center (63%) and lack of social support (29%). Conclusions: Financial, logistic and social constraints pose challenges to PR enrollment even for patients with premium healthcare insurance plans. Moreover, physician knowledge gaps may be an additional barrier to PR referral and uptake. Providing continued medical education, incorporating automatic reminders in electronic medical records and using telerehabilitation tools may improve PR referral, adherence and ultimately patient care

Using okara in diets for growing broilers

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of okara inclusion in diet for growing broilers on performance, carcass yield, blood and bone variables, quality and lipid oxidation of meat, and economic viability. For that, 575 Cobb 21-d-old male broilers were distributed in a completely randomized design with four levels of okara inclusion (25, 50, 75, and 100 g of okara kg−1 diet) and a control group with five replicates and 23 birds each. There was no significant difference (P > 0.05) of okara levels on the performance variables, carcass yield, bone variables, and serum triglycerides, calcium and phosphorus at 42-d-old. Serum cholesterol levels showed a quadratic response (P < 0.05), in which the lowest value estimated was 65.3 g of okara kg−1 of diet. Okara can be included in diets for broilers up to the level of 100 g kg−1 without affecting the performance, carcass yield, bone variables, and lipid oxidation of meat. However, the best economic results were observed up to 50 g of okara kg−1 of diet.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author

An interdisciplinary approach aiding the diagnosis of primary progressive aphasia: A case report

ABSTRACT Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is one of the most common causes of early-onset dementia with primary progressive aphasia (PPA) being the second-most-frequent form of this degenerative disease. Despite the similarity with progressive dementia (especially in early stages of Alzheimer´s disease), three types of PPA can be differentiated: semantic, agrammatic and logopenic (subtype discussed in this study). To date, no medications have been shown to improve or stabilize cognitive deficits in patients with PPA. We report the case of a 62-year-old woman with difficulty naming objects and planning. An interdisciplinary evaluation, including imaging and lab exams, together with neuropsychological and personality assessments, confirmed that the patient had logopenic PPA on the basis of repetition difficulty, phonemic and semantic paraphasias and absence of agrammatism. The timing of the assessment in this case, along with the resources available and commitment of an integrated interdisciplinary team, allowed a differential diagnosis (from other classical dementias) to be reached

BY-PRODUCT OF PASSION FRUIT SEED (Passiflora edulis) IN THE DIET OF BROILERS

Two experiments were performed to determine the chemical composition of by-product of passion fruit seed (BPFS) and to evaluate the performance, blood variables, carcass yield, meat quality and oxidation of broilers fed diets containing increasing levels of BPFS. In experiment 1, a total of 60 21-d-old Cobb male broilers were distributed in a completely randomized design, with two treatments (reference feed and test diet) and five replicates of six birds each. Energy content in BPFS was 3,945 kcal kgâ 1 of apparent metabolizable energy corrected for nitrogen balance (AMEn) and 10.68 % CP. In experiment 2, a total of 864 1-day-old male Cobb broilers were distributed in a completely randomized design, with six treatments (control, 2.5%, 5.0%, 7.5%, 10%, and 12.5% BPFS) and six replicates of 24 birds each. Feed conversion linearly worsened (PThe accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author

PERCEPTION of HEALTH STUDENTS ABOUT OLDER ADULTS in BRAZIL

Univ São Paulo, Sch Med, Dept Clin Med, BR-14049 Ribeirao Preto, SP, BrazilUniv São Paulo, Sch Med, Hosp Clin, Dept Internal Med, São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Hosp São Paulo, Dept Internal Med, São Paulo, BrazilUniv São Paulo, Sch Arts Sci & Humanities, São Paulo, BrazilPrefeitura Municipio São Paulo, São Paulo, BrazilUniv São Paulo, Sch Med, Dept Pathol, Disciplina Informat Med, São Paulo, BrazilUniv São Paulo, Sch Med, Dept Orthoped & Trauma Orthogeriatr Grp, São Paulo, BrazilUniv São Paulo, Sch Med, Dept Internal Med, São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Hosp São Paulo, Dept Internal Med, São Paulo, BrazilWeb of Scienc

Description and performance of track and primary-vertex reconstruction with the CMS tracker

A description is provided of the software algorithms developed for the CMS tracker both for reconstructing charged-particle trajectories in proton-proton interactions and for using the resulting tracks to estimate the positions of the LHC luminous region and individual primary-interaction vertices. Despite the very hostile environment at the LHC, the performance obtained with these algorithms is found to be excellent. For tbar t events under typical 2011 pileup conditions, the average track-reconstruction efficiency for promptly-produced charged particles with transverse momenta of p(T) > 0.9GeV is 94% for pseudorapidities of |η| < 0.9 and 85% for 0.9 < |η| < 2.5. The inefficiency is caused mainly by hadrons that undergo nuclear interactions in the tracker material. For isolated muons, the corresponding efficiencies are essentially 100%. For isolated muons of p(T) = 100GeV emitted at |η| < 1.4, the resolutions are approximately 2.8% in p(T), and respectively, 10μm and 30μm in the transverse and longitudinal impact parameters. The position resolution achieved for reconstructed primary vertices that correspond to interesting pp collisions is 10–12μm in each of the three spatial dimensions. The tracking and vertexing software is fast and flexible, and easily adaptable to other functions, such as fast tracking for the trigger, or dedicated tracking for electrons that takes into account bremsstrahlung