Prevention of antigen-induced bronchial hyperreactivity and airway inflammation in sensitized guinea-pigs by tacrolimus.

We examined the effect of the immunosuppressive agent, tacrolimus (FK506), on antigen-induced bronchial hyperreactivity to acetylcholine and leukocyte infiltration into the airways of ovalbumin-challenged guinea-pigs. Subcutaneous injection of 0.5 mg/kg of FK506, 1 h before and 5 h after intra-nasal antigen challenge prevented bronchial hyperreactivity to aerosolized acetylcholine, eosinophilia in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid and bronchial tissue and the invasion of the bronchial wall by CD4+ T-lymphocytes. FK506 also suppressed ovalbumin-induced increase in the number of leukocytes adhering to the pulmonary vascular endothelium and expressing alpha4-integrins. Inhibition by FK506 of antigen-induced bronchial hyperreactivity in sensitized guinea-pigs may thus relate to its ability to prevent the emergence of important inflammatory components of airway inflammation, such as eosinophil accumulation, as well as CD4+ T-lymphocyte infiltration into the bronchial tissue

Atividade antimicrobiana de subfrações padronizadas da planta Arrabidaea chica Verl.

Este estudo analisou o potencial terapêutico de extratos e subfrações padronizadas da planta amazônica Arrabidaea chica, visando seu uso tópico como medicamento e eficácia comprovada em doenças cutâneas

Cyclotron resonant scattering feature simulations. I. Thermally averaged cyclotron scattering cross sections, mean free photon-path tables, and electron momentum sampling

Electron cyclotron resonant scattering features (CRSFs) are observed as absorption-like lines in the spectra of X-ray pulsars. A significant fraction of the computing time for Monte Carlo simulations of these quantum mechanical features is spent on the calculation of the mean free path for each individual photon before scattering, since it involves a complex numerical integration over the scattering cross section and the (thermal) velocity distribution of the scattering electrons. We aim to numerically calculate interpolation tables which can be used in CRSF simulations to sample the mean free path of the scattering photon and the momentum of the scattering electron. The tables also contain all the information required for sampling the scattering electron's final spin. The tables were calculated using an adaptive Simpson integration scheme. The energy and angle grids were refined until a prescribed accuracy is reached. The tables are used by our simulation code to produce artificial CRSF spectra. The electron momenta sampled during these simulations were analyzed and justified using theoretically determined boundaries. We present a complete set of tables suited for mean free path calculations of Monte Carlo simulations of the cyclotron scattering process for conditions expected in typical X-ray pulsar accretion columns (0.01<B/B_{crit}<=0.12, where B_{crit}=4.413x10^{13} G and 3keV<=kT<15keV). The sampling of the tables is chosen such that the results have an estimated relative error of at most 1/15 for all points in the grid. The tables are available online at http://www.sternwarte.uni-erlangen.de/research/cyclo.Comment: A&A, in pres

Publicidade persuasiva. Revisão bibliográfica

The present work emphasizes an exploration focused on the persuasion of communication, as well as the means to which they can be extended. In a search for a bibliographic review  with the greatest possible timeliness, a focus was found on the rhetorical part that comes from the famous Aristotle (384-322 BC). The Greek philosopher wanted during the classical Greek period to understand a model of communication that is still used today. Even though communication today is more media, through the media and in turn in advertising, the analysis of speeches, argumentation techniques and figures of style is promoted, in order to transmit relevant information and adopt appropriate behaviors. Currently there is an evolution as modern rhetoric predominates, with greater sophistication. It should be noted that persuasion still has limitations due to the subjects’ beliefs. The literature tells us that the psychosociological causes of advertising occur due to conformism and social imitation, also due to the culture in which we operate and often even unconsciously.O presente trabalho dá enfase a uma exploração centrada na persuasão da comunicação, tal como os meios a que se podem estender. Numa busca de revisão bibliográfica com a maior atualidade possível, foi verificado um enfoque na parteretórica queadvém do célebre Aristóteles(384-322 a.c.). Quis o filósofo grego durante o período clássico grego que compreendessem um modelo de comunicação que ainda hoje é utilizado. Ainda que hoje a comunicação seja mais mediática, através dos media e por sua vez na publicidade, promove se a analise dos discursos, técnicas de argumentação e figuras de estilo, de modo, a ser transmitida a informação relevante e a adotar comportamentos adequados. Atualmente há uma evolução na medida em que a retórica moderna predomina, existindo uma maior sofisticação. É de salientar que a persuasão ainda tem limitações devido às crenças dossujeitos. Diz-nos a literatura de que as causas psicossociológicas da publicidade ocorrem por meio do conformismo e imitação social, devido também à cultura em que nos inserimos e muitas vezes ainda de um modo inconsciente

O fator fake news na atualidade, na mira da psicologia

With this article we pretend to define and understand the central aspects of Fake News. This event has gain attention in personal conversations and in the social media. It is important to understand how this phenome happens and how the receptor is persuaded to believe in the massage,so wecan understand the damage it can cause in the society, for example the elections that have been directly affected for this phenome and establish how to prevent it. Based in studies of other authors we understood the motivations and elements necessary to make and disseminate the information. Since fake news look like real ones its easier for people to believe in them without questioning. Considering the difficult and complexity of the combat of fake news, at the end of this article we analyse a few methods that are been used and highlight the favourable points and possible advances.Vivemos na era da informação digital e rápida. Hoje em dia constatamos infelizmente que mesmo em situação de crise, como a que estamos a viver face ao Covid19, as fake news aparecem e alastram-se comprometendo muitas vezes situações delicadas. Assim tem como objetivo este estudo exploratório definir e perceber as principais questões envolvidas na existência das fake news. Esta terminologia tem ganhado fama entre várias conversas e é um tema presente nas redes sociais. Entender como este fenómeno ocorre e em que medida ele pode persuadir o recetor da mensagem é importante para analisar os danos causado na sociedade, como por exemplo as eleições que foram afetadas diretamente por esses tipos de notícias, e estabelecer um método preventivo. Na análise de diferentes estudos já realizados constatou-se que existem motivações e elementos essenciais para a produção e disseminação deste tipo de informação. As fake news parecem noticias verdadeiras e isso aumenta a possibilidade de que as pessoas acedam essas informações e acreditem na sua veracidade sem que esta seja verificada.Como combater a disseminação destas informações não é simples, a psicologia com toda a sua humildade e bem querer, numa promoção continua de positividade e lucidez procurará sempre analisar algumas medidas já utilizadas, destacando vantagens e possíveis melhorias

Combined 18F-fluoride and 18F-FDG PET/CT scanning for evaluation of malignancy: results of an international multicenter trial

(18)F-FDG PET/CT is used in a variety of cancers, but because of variable rates of glucose metabolism, not all cancers are reliably identified. (18)F(-) PET/CT allows for the acquisition of highly sensitive and specific images of the skeleton. We prospectively evaluated combined (18)F(-)/(18)F-FDG as a single PET/CT examination for evaluation of cancer patients and compared it with separate (18)F(-) PET/CT and (18)F-FDG PET/CT scans. METHODS: One hundred fifteen participants with cancer were prospectively enrolled in an international multicenter trial evaluating (18)F(-) PET/CT, (18)F-FDG PET/CT, and combined (18)F(-)/(18)F-FDG PET/CT. The 3 PET/CT scans were performed sequentially within 4 wk of one another for each patient. RESULTS: (18)F(-)/(18)F-FDG PET/CT allowed for accurate interpretation of radiotracer uptake outside the skeleton, with findings similar to those of (18)F-FDG PET/CT. In 19 participants, skeletal disease was more extensive on (18)F(-) PET/CT and (18)F(-)/(18)F-FDG PET/CT than on (18)F-FDG PET/CT. In another 29 participants, (18)F(-) PET/CT and (18)F(-)/(18)F-FDG PET/CT showed osseous metastases where (18)F-FDG PET/CT was negative. The extent of skeletal lesions was similar in 18 participants on all 3 scans. CONCLUSION: This trial demonstrated that combined (18)F(-)/(18)F-FDG PET/CT shows promising results when compared with separate (18)F(-) PET/CT and (18)F-FDG PET/CT for evaluation of cancer patients. This result opens the possibility for improved patient care and reduction in health-care costs, as will be further evaluated in future trials

Enhanced attentional bias towards sexually explicit cues in individuals with and without compulsive sexual behaviours.

Compulsive sexual behaviour (CSB) is relatively common and has been associated with significant distress and psychosocial impairments. CSB has been conceptualized as either an impulse control disorder or a non-substance 'behavioural' addiction. Substance use disorders are commonly associated with attentional biases to drug cues which are believed to reflect processes of incentive salience. Here we assess male CSB subjects compared to age-matched male healthy controls using a dot probe task to assess attentional bias to sexually explicit cues. We show that compared to healthy volunteers, CSB subjects have enhanced attentional bias to explicit cues but not neutral cues particularly for early stimuli latency. Our findings suggest enhanced attentional bias to explicit cues possibly related to an early orienting attentional response. This finding dovetails with our recent observation that sexually explicit videos were associated with greater activity in a neural network similar to that observed in drug-cue-reactivity studies. Greater desire or wanting rather than liking was further associated with activity in this neural network. These studies together provide support for an incentive motivation theory of addiction underlying the aberrant response towards sexual cues in CSB.This is the published version of the manuscript. It is originally published by PLoS in PLoS ONE here: http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0105476