Arcuate AgRP, but not POMC neurons, modulate paraventricular CRF synthesis and release in response to fasting

Background: The activation of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis is essential for metabolic adaptation in response to fasting. However, the neurocircuitry connecting changes in the peripheral energy stores to the activity of hypothalamic paraventricular corticotrophin-releasing factor (CRFPVN) neurons, the master controller of the HPA axis activity, is not completely understood. Our main goal was to determine if hypothalamic arcuate nucleus (ARC) POMC and AgRP neurons can communicate fasting-induced changes in peripheral energy stores, associated to a fall in plasma leptin levels, to CRFPVN neurons to modulate the HPA axis activity in mice. Results: We observed increased plasma corticosterone levels associate with increased CRFPVN mRNA expression and increased CRFPVN neuronal activity in 36 h fasted mice. These responses were associated with a fall in plasma leptin levels and changes in the mRNA expression of Agrp and Pomc in the ARC. Fasting-induced decrease in plasma leptin partially modulated these responses through a change in the activity of ARC neurons. The chemogenetic activation of POMCARC by DREADDs did not affect fasting-induced activation of the HPA axis. DREADDs inhibition of AgRPARC neurons reduced the content of CRFPVN and increased its accumulation in the median eminence but had no effect on corticosterone secretion induced by fasting. Conclusion: Our data indicate that AgRPARC neurons are part of the neurocircuitry involved in the coupling of PVNCRF activity to changes in peripheral energy stores induced by prolonged fasting.Fil: Alves Fernandes, Alan Carlos. University Of Ribeirao Preto; BrasilFil: Pereira de Oliveira, Franciane. Universidade Federal de Sao Paulo.; BrasilFil: Fernandez, Gimena. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular; ArgentinaFil: da Guia Vieira, Luane. University Of Ribeirao Preto; BrasilFil: Gugelmin Rosa, Cristiane. University Of Ribeirao Preto; BrasilFil: do Nascimento, Taís. University Of Ribeirao Preto; BrasilFil: de Castro França, Suzelei. University Of Ribeirao Preto; BrasilFil: Donato Jr, Jose. Universidade de Sao Paulo. Departamento de Fisiología; BrasilFil: Vella, Kristen R.. Weill Cornell Medical College; Estados UnidosFil: Antunes Rodrigues, Jose. University Of Ribeirao Preto; BrasilFil: Mecawi , André. Universidade Federal de Sao Paulo.; BrasilFil: Perello, Mario. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular; ArgentinaFil: Leico Kagohara Elias, Lucila. University Of Ribeirao Preto; BrasilFil: Rorato, Rodrigo. Universidade Federal de Sao Paulo.; Brasi

Apolipoprotein E polymorphism influences orthotopic liver transplantation outcomes in patients with hepatitis C virus-induced liver cirrhosis

BACKGROUND: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is responsible for a chronic liver inflammation, which may cause end-stage liver disease and hepatocellular carcinoma. Apolipoprotein E (protein: ApoE, gene: APOE), a key player in cholesterol metabolism, is mainly synthesized in the liver and APOE polymorphisms may influence HCV-induced liver damage. AIM: To determine whether APOE alleles affect outcomes in HCV-infected patients with liver cirrhosis following orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). METHODS: This was a cohort study in which 179 patients, both genders and aged 34-70 years, were included before or after (up to 10 years follow-up) OLT. Liver injury severity was assessed using different criteria, including METAVIR and models for end-stage liver disease. APOE polymorphisms were analyzed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: The APOE3 allele was the most common (67.3%). In inflammation severity of biopsies from 89 OLT explants and 2 patients in pre-transplant, the degree of severe inflammation (A3F4, 0.0%) was significantly less frequent than in patients with minimal and moderate degree of inflammation (≤ A2F4, 16.2%) P = 0.048, in patients carrying the APOE4 allele when compared to non-APOE4. In addition, a significant difference was also found (≤ A2F4, 64.4% vs A3F4, 0.0%; P = 0.043) and (A1F4, 57.4% vs A3F4, 0.0%; P = 0.024) in APOE4 patients when compared to APOE3 carriers. The fibrosis degree of the liver graft in 8 of 91 patients and the lack of the E4 allele was associated with more moderate fibrosis (F2) (P = 0.006). CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that the E4 allele protects against progression of liver fibrosis and degree of inflammation in HCV-infected patients

Brazilian consensus on the treatment of fibromyalgia

UNIFESP Ambulatório de FibromialgiaUFPR HC ambulatório de fibromialgiaUNIFESPUNIFESP Setor de reumatismos de partes molesPUC-SP Departamento de MedicinaPUC-Campinas Hospital Universitário Serviço de ReumatologiaSociedade Brasileira de ReumatologiaSanta Casa de Belo Horizonte Ambulatório de Fibromialgia Programa de Residência Médica em ReumatologiaFMUSP HC Serviço de ReumatologiaSanta Casa de Campo Grande Setor de Reumatologia programa de Residência em Clínica MédicaUniversidade Federal de Ciências da Saúde de Porto AlegreUNiSULUniversidade Federal do Espírito Santo Hospital Universitário serviço de ReumatologiaSociedade Brasileira de Clínica MédicaSociedade Brasileira para o Estudo da DorAssociação Brasileira de Medicina Física e ReabilitaçãoUniversidade de São Paulo Faculdade de MedicinaUniversidade Federal FluminenseAcademia Brasileira de Neurologia Departamento de DorEuropean Neurological Society Subcomitê de DorPeripheral Nerve SocietyFMUSP Grupo de MãoSociedade Brasileira de ortopedia e TraumatologiaAxia.Bio farmacoeconomia e pesquisa em saúdeUNIFESP Núcleo de Gestão de PesquisasUNIFESP, Ambulatório de FibromialgiaUNIFESP, Setor de reumatismos de partes molesUNIFESP, Núcleo de Gestão de PesquisasSciEL

Skin color and severe maternal outcomes: evidence from the brazilian network for surveillance of severe maternal morbidity

Taking into account the probable role that race/skin color may have for determining outcomes in maternal health, the objective of this study was to assess whether maternal race/skin color is a predictor of severe maternal morbidity. This is a secondary analysis of the Brazilian Network for Surveillance of Severe Maternal Morbidity, a national multicenter cross-sectional study of 27 Brazilian referral maternity hospitals. A prospective surveillance was performed to identify cases of maternal death (MD), maternal near miss (MNM) events, and potentially life-threatening conditions (PLTC), according to standard WHO definition and criteria. Among 9,555 women with severe maternal morbidity, data on race/skin color was available for 7,139 women, who were further divided into two groups: 4,108 nonwhite women (2,253 black and 1,855 from other races/skin color) and 3,031 white women. Indicators of severe maternal morbidity according to WHO definition are shown by skin color group. Adjusted Prevalence Ratios (PRadj - 95%CI) for Severe Maternal Outcome (SMO=MNM+MD) were estimated according to sociodemographic/obstetric characteristics, pregnancy outcomes, and perinatal results considering race. Results. Among 7,139 women with severe maternal morbidity evaluated, 90.5% were classified as PLTC, 8.5% as MNM, and 1.6% as MD. There was a significantly higher prevalence of MNM and MD among white women. MNMR (maternal near miss ratio) was 9.37 per thousand live births (LB). SMOR (severe maternal outcome ratio) was 11.08 per 1000 LB, and MMR (maternal mortality ratio) was 170.4 per 100,000 LB. Maternal mortality to maternal near miss ratio was 1 to 5.2, irrespective of maternal skin color. Hypertension, the main cause of maternal complications, affected mostly nonwhite women. Hemorrhage, the second more common cause of maternal complication, predominated among white women. Nonwhite skin color was associated with a reduced risk of SMO in multivariate analysis. Nonwhite skin color was associated with a lower risk for severe maternal outcomes. This result could be due to confounding factors linked to a high rate of Brazilian miscegenation.2019CNPQ - Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico402702/2008-

O perfil semiológico do paciente portador de hemorragia digestiva alta

OBJETIVO: O seguinte estudo objetivou descrever a semiologia do paciente portador de hemorragia digestiva alta, considerando como determinante na avaliação de potencias focos hemorrágicos. METODOLOGIA: Foram realizadas buscas nas plataformas do SciELO, LILACS, PubMed, Scopus e Google Scholar,utilizando os descritores gastrointestinal bleeding, peptic ulcerous disease e varicose hemorrhage, sendo identificados 35 estudos, dos quais foram incluídos 13 artigos completos. Desses estudos, 5 avaliaram as principais etiologias, 2 o surgimento de novos testes diagnósticos, 2 analisaram os aspectos epidemiológicos e 1 a sintomatologia apresentada pelo acometimento da hemorragia digestiva alta. Observou-se inicialmente a abundâncias de informações conceituais sobre o sangramento, como um transtorno clínico comum, acompanhada de inúmeras manifestações, considerando que o foco hemorrágico pode ocorrer em qualquer porção do trato gastrointestinal. Neste estudo, todas as publicações eleitas apresentaram o quadro semiológico composto por algia abdominal, indícios de choque hipovolêmico e taquicardia, alguns exibiram quedas abruptas da pressão arterial, odinofagia, êmese, náuseas e estado ictérico. Os pacientes implicados, cronicamente, já manifestaram ocorrências prévias, devido ao caráter recidivante torna-se essencial investigar a existência de varizes, fístula aorto-entérica, angiodisplasia e doença ulcerosa. CONCLUSÃO: Elucida-se que a hemorragia digestiva alta representa a principal causa de sangramento do trato gastrointestinal, majoritamente manifesta-se como hematêmese ou melena e cursam com o quadro sintomatológico que auxilia na avaliação da gravidade deste e o embasamento de potenciais focos de sangramento e que contribuam para disseminação de informações e intervenções futuras

Photography-based taxonomy is inadequate, unnecessary, and potentially harmful for biological sciences

The question whether taxonomic descriptions naming new animal species without type specimen(s) deposited in collections should be accepted for publication by scientific journals and allowed by the Code has already been discussed in Zootaxa (Dubois & Nemésio 2007; Donegan 2008, 2009; Nemésio 2009a–b; Dubois 2009; Gentile & Snell 2009; Minelli 2009; Cianferoni & Bartolozzi 2016; Amorim et al. 2016). This question was again raised in a letter supported by 35 signatories published in the journal Nature (Pape et al. 2016) on 15 September 2016. On 25 September 2016, the following rebuttal (strictly limited to 300 words as per the editorial rules of Nature) was submitted to Nature, which on 18 October 2016 refused to publish it. As we think this problem is a very important one for zoological taxonomy, this text is published here exactly as submitted to Nature, followed by the list of the 493 taxonomists and collection-based researchers who signed it in the short time span from 20 September to 6 October 2016

The 13th Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: First Spectroscopic Data from the SDSS-IV Survey Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory

The fourth generation of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-IV) began observations in July 2014. It pursues three core programs: APOGEE-2,MaNGA, and eBOSS. In addition, eBOSS contains two major subprograms: TDSS and SPIDERS. This paper describes the first data release from SDSS-IV, Data Release 13 (DR13), which contains new data, reanalysis of existing data sets and, like all SDSS data releases, is inclusive of previously released data. DR13 makes publicly available 1390 spatially resolved integral field unit observations of nearby galaxies from MaNGA,the first data released from this survey. It includes new observations from eBOSS, completing SEQUELS. In addition to targeting galaxies and quasars, SEQUELS also targeted variability-selected objects from TDSS and X-ray selected objects from SPIDERS. DR13 includes new reductions ofthe SDSS-III BOSS data, improving the spectrophotometric calibration and redshift classification. DR13 releases new reductions of the APOGEE-1data from SDSS-III, with abundances of elements not previously included and improved stellar parameters for dwarf stars and cooler stars. For the SDSS imaging data, DR13 provides new, more robust and precise photometric calibrations. Several value-added catalogs are being released in tandem with DR13, in particular target catalogs relevant for eBOSS, TDSS, and SPIDERS, and an updated red-clump catalog for APOGEE.This paper describes the location and format of the data now publicly available, as well as providing references to the important technical papers that describe the targeting, observing, and data reduction. The SDSS website, http://www.sdss.org, provides links to the data, tutorials and examples of data access, and extensive documentation of the reduction and analysis procedures. DR13 is the first of a scheduled set that will contain new data and analyses from the planned ~6-year operations of SDSS-IV.PostprintPeer reviewe

Consistent patterns of common species across tropical tree communities

Trees structure the Earth’s most biodiverse ecosystem, tropical forests. The vast number of tree species presents a formidable challenge to understanding these forests, including their response to environmental change, as very little is known about most tropical tree species. A focus on the common species may circumvent this challenge. Here we investigate abundance patterns of common tree species using inventory data on 1,003,805 trees with trunk diameters of at least 10 cm across 1,568 locations1,2,3,4,5,6 in closed-canopy, structurally intact old-growth tropical forests in Africa, Amazonia and Southeast Asia. We estimate that 2.2%, 2.2% and 2.3% of species comprise 50% of the tropical trees in these regions, respectively. Extrapolating across all closed-canopy tropical forests, we estimate that just 1,053 species comprise half of Earth’s 800 billion tropical trees with trunk diameters of at least 10 cm. Despite differing biogeographic, climatic and anthropogenic histories7, we find notably consistent patterns of common species and species abundance distributions across the continents. This suggests that fundamental mechanisms of tree community assembly may apply to all tropical forests. Resampling analyses show that the most common species are likely to belong to a manageable list of known species, enabling targeted efforts to understand their ecology. Although they do not detract from the importance of rare species, our results open new opportunities to understand the world’s most diverse forests, including modelling their response to environmental change, by focusing on the common species that constitute the majority of their trees.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Detection and Characterization of Oscillating Red Giants: First Results from the TESS Satellite

Since the onset of the "space revolution" of high-precision high-cadence photometry, asteroseismology has been demonstrated as a powerful tool for informing Galactic archeology investigations. The launch of the NASA Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) mission has enabled seismic-based inferences to go full sky—providing a clear advantage for large ensemble studies of the different Milky Way components. Here we demonstrate its potential for investigating the Galaxy by carrying out the first asteroseismic ensemble study of red giant stars observed by TESS. We use a sample of 25 stars for which we measure their global asteroseimic observables and estimate their fundamental stellar properties, such as radius, mass, and age. Significant improvements are seen in the uncertainties of our estimates when combining seismic observables from TESS with astrometric measurements from the Gaia mission compared to when the seismology and astrometry are applied separately. Specifically, when combined we show that stellar radii can be determined to a precision of a few percent, masses to 5%-10%, and ages to the 20% level. This is comparable to the precision typically obtained using end-of-mission Kepler data