RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Pharmacy professionals, given their health expertise, can play a role in enhancing health education within their communities and among patients. The potential of the pharmacy workforce to enhance health education among primary school children is underexplored. AIM: This study aimed to investigate the perspectives of pharmacy staff on the provision of education regarding self-care and treatment of minor ailments to primary school-aged children and to identify roles that pharmacists could play in this regard. METHOD: Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted online with frontline pharmacy staff in the UK who had patient facing roles with primary school-aged children and parents. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Thematic data analysis was applied to the transcripts. RESULTS: A total of 17 participants were recruited. Participants included 12 pharmacists, two pharmacy technicians and three pharmacy dispensers. All participants worked within community, hospital or primary care facilities. Five themes emerged from the data analysis: sources of health knowledge accessed by children and parents; a perceived lack of knowledge regarding self-care and treatments for minor ailments among children and parents; a perceived positive impact of education on self-care; barriers to health education; and the potential role of pharmacy staff in self-care education in schools. CONCLUSION: Pharmacy staff recognise the value of integrating health education into primary school curricula. A collaborative approach with educational institutions could bridge the gap in knowledge regarding self-care and treatment of minor ailments, and could empower children and reduce unnecessary use of healthcare resources.
RESUMO
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is the most common neurodegenerative disease affecting motor neurons. The pathophysiology of ALS is not well understood but TDP-43 proteinopathy (aggregation and mislocalization) is one of the major phenomena described. Several factors can influence TDP-43 behavior such as mild pH alterations that can induce conformational changes in recombinant TDP-43, increasing its propensity to aggregate. However to our knowledge, no studies have been conducted yet in a cellular setting, in the context of ALS. We therefore tested the effect of cellular pH alterations on the localization, aggregation, and phosphorylation of TDP-43. HEK293T cells overexpressing wildtype TDP-43 were incubated for 1 h with solutions of different pH (6.4, 7.2, and 8). Incubation of cells for 1 h in solutions of pH 6.4 and 8 led to an increase in TDP-43-positive puncta. This was accompanied by the mislocalization of TDP-43 from the nucleus to the cytoplasm. Our results suggest that small alterations in cellular pH affect TDP-43 and increase its mislocalization into cytoplasmic TDP-43-positive puncta, which might suggest a role of TDP-43 in the response of cells to pH alterations.
RESUMO
Traditional phosphorus fertilizers are necessary for plant growth but about 80-90% are lost into the surrounding environment via irrigation, therefore nano-fertilizers have been developed as slow-release fertilizers to achieve sustainable agriculture. This trial investigated the impact of the foliar application of hydroxyapatite nanoparticles (HA-NPs) as a source of nano-phosphorus (P-NPs) on two cultivars of sweet corn (yellow and white) throughout two seasons. The morphology and structure of the prepared HA-NPs were characterized via transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffractometry (XRD). In addition, agro-morphological criteria, chemical contents (i.e., photosynthetic pigments, phenols, indoles, minerals, etc.), and genomic template stability percentage (GTS%) were evaluated in the produced sweet corn. The application of 50 mg/l HA-NPs improved the growth characteristics, yield per hectare, leaf pigments, and chemical content of yellow sweet corn, whereas the application of 100 mg/l of HA-NPs to white sweet corn enhanced the vegetative characteristics, production, photosynthetic pigments, phenols, and indoles. The difference in results may be due to the presence of a +ve unique band with SCoT-4 and SCot-2 primers at 1250 and 470 bp in yellow and white corn treated with 50 and 100 mg/l, respectively. The minimum GTS% was recorded at a concentration of 75 mg/l for both white and yellow corn. The HA-NPs can be applied as a foliar source of P-NPs to achieve agricultural sustainability.
Assuntos
Fertilizantes , Nanopartículas , Zea mays , Fósforo/farmacologia , Agricultura/métodos , Verduras , Instabilidade Genômica , Indóis , FenóisRESUMO
The gut-brain axis has received increasing attention recently due to evidence that colonic microbes can affect brain function and behavior. However, little is known about the innervation of the colon by a major component of the gut-brain axis, vagal afferent neurons. Furthermore, it is currently unknown whether individual NG neurons or DRG neurons innervate both the proximal and distal colon. We aimed to quantify the number of vagal and spinal afferent neurons that innervate the colon; and determine whether these individual neurons simultaneously innervate the mouse proximal and distal colon. C57Bl/6 mice received injections of a combination of retrograde tracers that were either injected into the muscularis externa of the proximal or the distal colon: fast blue, DiI and DiO. Five to seven percent of lumbosacral and thoracolumbar spinal afferent neurons, and 25% of vagal afferent neurons were labelled by injections of DiI and DiO into the colon. We also found that approximately 8% of NG neurons innervate the distal colon. Ten percent of labeled thoracolumbar and 15% of labeled lumbosacral DRG neurons innervate both the distal and proximal colon. Eighteen percent of labeled NG neurons innervated both the distal and proximal colon. In conclusion, vagal afferent innervation of the distal colon is less extensive than the proximal colon, whereas a similar gradient was not observed for the spinal afferent innervation. Furthermore, overlap appears to exist between the receptive fields of vagal and spinal afferent neurons that innervate the proximal and distal colon.
Assuntos
Neurônios Aferentes , Neurônios , Camundongos , Animais , Colo/inervaçãoRESUMO
The use of agricultural fertilizers is one of the methods to beat the desired enormous increase in universal food production. The application of nanotechnology in agriculture is regarded as one of the promising approaches to elevate crop production. Whereas mineral nutrients play a crucial role in the growth and yield of the common bean. The experiments were conducted to investigate the application effect of micronutrients as nanoparticles (MN-NPs) on the common ben plants. The trial was performed in the field in El-Menofya, Egypt, through two seasons (2019 & 2020) in a randomized complete block design with three replicates and four combinations of MN-NPs (ZnO, MnO2 and MoO3) with concentrations 0, 10, 20, 30, 40 mg/L as a foliar application. The data exhibited that the foliar application of MN-NPs significantly upgraded the vegetative growth characters, flower number/plant, photosynthetic pigments, and yield. The concentration of 40 mg/L of MN-NPs leads to improving the vegetative growth, flowering number, and yield characteristics of the common bean. While the biochemical components varied in their response to MN-NPs combinations. The recommended MN-NPs concentration to ameliorate the common bean growth and yield was 40 mg/L.
Assuntos
Phaseolus , Phaseolus/fisiologia , Compostos de Manganês/farmacologia , Óxidos/farmacologia , Fertilizantes , Micronutrientes/farmacologia , Instabilidade GenômicaRESUMO
OBJECTIVE: Dietary therapies for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) have received increasing interest but predicting which patients will benefit remains a challenge due to a lack of mechanistic insight. We recently found evidence of a role for the microbiota in dietary modulation of pain signalling in a humanised mouse model of IBS. This randomised cross-over study aimed to test the hypothesis that pain relief following reduced consumption of fermentable carbohydrates is the result of changes in luminal neuroactive metabolites. DESIGN: IBS (Rome IV) participants underwent four trial periods: two non-intervention periods, followed by a diet low (LFD) and high in fermentable carbohydrates for 3 weeks each. At the end of each period, participants completed questionnaires and provided stool. The effects of faecal supernatants (FS) collected before (IBS FS) and after a LFD (LFD FS) on nociceptive afferent neurons were assessed in mice using patch-clamp and ex vivo colonic afferent nerve recording techniques. RESULTS: Total IBS symptom severity score and abdominal pain were reduced by the LFD (N=25; p<0.01). Excitability of neurons was increased in response to IBS FS, but this effect was reduced (p<0.01) with LFD FS from pain-responders. IBS FS from pain-responders increased mechanosensitivity of nociceptive afferent nerve axons (p<0.001), an effect lost following LFD FS administration (p=NS) or when IBS FS was administered in the presence of antagonists of histamine receptors or protease inhibitors. CONCLUSIONS: In a subset of IBS patients with improvement in abdominal pain following a LFD, there is a decrease in pronociceptive signalling from FS, suggesting that changes in luminal mediators may contribute to symptom response.
RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization (FISH) played an essential role to locate the ribosomal RNA genes on the chromosomes that offered a new tool to study the chromosome structure and evolution in plant. The 45S and 5S rRNA genes are independent and localized at one or more loci per the chromosome complement, their positions along chromosomes offer useful markers for chromosome discriminations. In the current study FISH has been performed to locate 45S and 5S rRNA genes on the chromosomes of nine Lathyrus species belong to five different sections, all have chromosome number 2n=14, Lathyrus gorgoni Parl, Lathyrus hirsutus L., Lathyrus amphicarpos L., Lathyrus odoratus L., Lathyrus sphaericus Retz, Lathyrus incospicuus L, Lathyrus paranensis Burkart, Lathyrus nissolia L., and Lathyrus articulates L. RESULTS: The revealed loci of 45S and 5S rDNA by FISH on metaphase chromosomes of the examined species were as follow: all of the studied species have one 45S rDNA locus and one 5S rDNA locus except L. odoratus L., L. amphicarpos L. and L. sphaericus Retz L. have two loci of 5S rDNA. Three out of the nine examined species have the loci of 45S and 5S rRNA genes on the opposite arms of the same chromosome (L. nissolia L., L. amphicarpos L., and L. incospicuus L.), while L. hirsutus L. has both loci on the same chromosome arm. The other five species showed the loci of the two types of rDNA on different chromosomes. CONCLUSION: The detected 5S and 45S rDNA loci in Lathyrus could be used as chromosomal markers to discriminate the chromosome pairs of the examined species. FISH could discriminate only one chromosome pair out of the seven pairs in three species, in L. hirsutus L., L. nissolia L. and L. incospicuus L., and two chromosome pairs in five species, in L. paranensis Burkart, L. odoratus L., L. amphicarpos L., L. gorgoni Parl. and L. articulatus L., while it could discriminate three chromosome pairs in L. sphaericus Retz. these results could contribute into the physical genome mapping of Lathyrus species and the evolution of rDNA patterns by FISH in the coming studies in future.
RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Genus Vicia is a member of family Fabaceae and comprises 180 to 210 species. The most important species is faba bean (Vicia faba) which is still one of the most favourable grain legumes over all the world. The genus contains some additional food crops and a number of forage plants and some other weedy strains such as Vicia angustifolia and Vicia cordata. The aim of the present investigation is to elucidate the phylogenetic relationships among four Vicia species, two species (Vicia angustifolia L. ssp. Angustifolia (2n = 12) and Vicia cordata wulfen ex Hoppe (2n = 10)) belong to section Vicia, Vicia dalmatica A. Kern (2n = 12, section Cracca), and Vicia johannis tamamsch (2n = 14, section Faba). RESULTS: Two tools have been applied to identify the genetic relationships among the examined species, double fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) has been used to localize the sites of 5S and 45S rDNA, and sodium dodecyl sulfate-poly acrylamide gel electrophoretic (SDS-PAGE) patterns of total seed storage protein fractions. Double FISH experiment has not shown any variation in the loci number, but the positions along the chromosomes were different; both Vicia johannis and Vicia dalmatica exhibited the same interstitial 45S rRNA gene loci, while Vicia angustifolia and Vicia cordata have shown single large stretched 45S rRNA loci almost at the terminal region of the shortest chromosome. It could be concluded from the similarity matrix among the Vicia species as computed according to Jaccard coefficient from the SDS-PAGE, that V. cordata is similar to V. angustifolia and V. dalmatica by a percentage of 73 and 69%, respectively, and the most related species to V. johannis is V. dalmatica (~ 64%). CONCLUSION: FISH and SDS-PAGE of the total seed storage proteins together reflected the similar genetic relationship among the studied species as fellows, V. angustifolia is more related to V. cordata then comes V. dalmatica and then V. johannis which is at a distal position from the other species.
RESUMO
Molybdenum is considered one of the most important micronutrients applied as a foliar fertilizer for common dry bean. In this study, molybdenum oxide nanoparticles (MoO3-NPs) were applied in different concentrations (0, 10, 20, 30 and 40 ppm) over two sequent seasons, 2018 and 2019, to investigate their effect on the plant morphological criteria, yield, and the genomic stability of DNA. The results showed that the application of 40 ppm MoO3-NPs as a foliar fertilizer showed preferable values of plant morphological criteria, such as the number of leaves and branches per plant, as well as the fresh and dry weight with regard to the common bean plant. In addition, the seed yield increased by 82.4% and 84.1% with 40 ppm, while the shoot residue increased by 32.2% and 32.1% with 20 ppm of MoO3-NPs during two seasons, 2018 and 2019, respectively. Furthermore, the common bean treated with 20 and 40 ppm MoO3-NPs had positive unique bands with ISSR primer 848 at 1400 bp (Rf 0.519) and with primer ISSR2M at 200 bp (Rf 0.729), respectively. In addition, SDS-PAGE reveald some proteins in seedlings which were absent in the flowering stage at 154, 102, 64, 37 and 34 KDa, which may be due to differences in plant proteins required for metabolic processes in each stage. In conclusion, the application of 40 ppm MoO3-NPs was more effective on the productivity of the common bean plants.
Assuntos
Fertilizantes , Instabilidade Genômica , Molibdênio/administração & dosagem , Phaseolus/crescimento & desenvolvimento , Phaseolus/genética , DNA de Plantas/genética , Nanopartículas Metálicas , Óxidos/administração & dosagem , Folhas de Planta , PlântulaRESUMO
AIMS: The main function of the colon is water and electrolyte absorption. Total colectomy eliminates this colonic function and may alter the absorptive capacity of the small intestine for nutrients. This study examines the effect of total colectomy on jejunal glucose absorption and investigates the potential role of aldosterone in mediating the alterations in glucose uptake post-colectomy using the aldosterone antagonist spironolactone. MAIN METHODS: Total colectomy with ileo-rectal anastomosis was performed on anesthetized rats. Sham rats were identically handled without colon resection. Two days post-surgery, groups of colectomized rats were injected with either a daily subcutaneous dose of spironolactone or sesame oil for 12days. Body weight changes and food and water intake were measured in all experimental groups. Glucose absorption was measured by in-vivo single pass perfusion in the rat jejunum of control, sham, colectomized, colectomized with spironolactone, and colectomized with sesame oil treatment. Na/K ATPase, SGK1, SGLT1 and GLUT2 expressions were determined in jejunal mucosa in control, colectomized and colectomized/spironolactone injected rats by Western blot analysis. Histological assessment was performed on jejunal sections in control and colectomized groups. KEY FINDINGS: Glucose absorption significantly increased in colectomized rats with an observed increase in Na/K ATPase and SGK1 expression. No significant expression change in SGLT1 and GLUT2 was detected in the jejunum in colectomized rats. Spironolactone, however, significantly decreased the glucose uptake post-colectomy and normalized Na/K ATPase and SGK1 expression. SIGNIFICANCE: Our results suggest that jejunal glucose uptake increases post-colectomy as a possible consequence of an aldosterone-mediated function.