Psychological Distress Affects Performance during Exercise-Based Cardiac Rehabilitation.

BACKGROUND: It is known that psychosocial distress affects the morbidity and mortality of patients with cardiovascular disease of every age. The aim of this study was to produce novel information on how psychological distress can influence cardiovascular performance in patients after cardiac surgery undergoing multidisciplinary cardiac rehabilitation. METHODS: Patients (n = 57) admitted after cardiac surgery for valvular or coronary disease underwent, within 5 days of admission, the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R) self-report questionnaire to measure psychiatric symptoms and the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) to assess the level of psychological distress. The Positive Symptom Distress Index (PSDI) was measured to indicate the amplitude of symptom distress. Cardiovascular performance was assessed by a 6 min walking test (6MWT) at admission and discharge, and oxygen consumption (VO2 max) was derived. RESULTS: Within the SCL-90-R score, somatic symptoms (47.4%), depressive and anxiety symptoms (36.8% and 33.3%, respectively), symptoms of phobic anxiety (21.1%), and psychoticism (24.6%) were over-represented. As for the GHQ-12, 75.4% of the sample reported an abnormally negative perception of their health status. An inverse correlation was shown between the variation in 6MWT and SCL depression (p = 0.048), PSDI (p = 0.022), and the GHQ-12 (p = 0.040). Similarly, an inverse correlation was shown between the variation in the VO2 max, GHQ-12 (p = 0.041), and the PSDI (p = 0.023). CONCLUSIONS: Post-cardiac surgery cardiac rehabilitation was associated with increased symptoms of psychological discomfort, as compared with the general population. The amplitude of psychological distress, depression, and hostility are associated with limited improvement in performance. These data strengthen the need for psychological support during cardiac rehabilitation programs.

A Novel Nonsense Pathogenic TTN Variant Identified in a Patient with Severe Dilated Cardiomyopathy.

Both genetic and environmental factors contribute to the development of dilated cardiomyopathy. Among the genes involved, TTN mutations, including truncated variants, explain 25% of DCM cases. We performed genetic counseling and analysis on a 57-year-old woman diagnosed with severe DCM and presenting relevant acquired risk factors for DCM (hypertension, diabetes, smoking habit, and/or previous alcohol and cocaine abuse) and with a family history of both DCM and sudden cardiac death. The left ventricular systolic function, as assessed by standard echocardiography, was 20%. The genetic analysis performed using TruSight Cardio panel, including 174 genes related to cardiac genetic diseases, revealed a novel nonsense TTN variant (TTN:c.103591A > T, p.Lys34531*), falling within the M-band region of the titin protein. This region is known for its important role in maintaining the structure of the sarcomere and in promoting sarcomerogenesis. The identified variant was classified as likely pathogenic based on ACMG criteria. The current results support the need of genetic analysis in the presence of a family history, even when relevant acquired risk factors for DCM may have contributed to the severity of the disease.

Virulence behavior of uropathogenic Escherichia coli strains in the host model Caenorhabditis elegans.

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are among the most common bacterial infections in humans. Although a number of bacteria can cause UTIs, most cases are due to infection by uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC). UPEC are a genetically heterogeneous group that exhibit several virulence factors associated with colonization and persistence of bacteria in the urinary tract. Caenorhabditis elegans is a tiny, free-living nematode found worldwide. Because many biological pathways are conserved in C. elegans and humans, the nematode has been increasingly used as a model organism to study virulence mechanisms of microbial infections and innate immunity. The virulence of UPEC strains, characterized for antimicrobial resistance, pathogenicity-related genes associated with virulence and phylogenetic group belonging was evaluated by measuring the survival of C. elegans exposed to pure cultures of these strains. Our results showed that urinary strains can kill the nematode and that the clinical isolate ECP110 was able to efficiently colonize the gut and to inhibit the host oxidative response to infection. Our data support that C. elegans, a free-living nematode found worldwide, could serve as an in vivo model to distinguish, among uropathogenic E. coli, different virulence behavior.

Populações de minhocas em sistemas agroflorestais com café convencional e orgânico / Earthworms populations in agroforestry systems with conventional and organic coffee

Objetivou-se, neste estudo, determinar se as populações das minhocas são alteradas em função do manejo do café (Coffea arabica) em Turrialba, CostaRica. Os seguintes sistemas de cultivo do café foram estudados: a pleno sol (PS) e sombreado com eritrina, Erythrina poeppigiana (E); terminalia, Terminalia amazonia (T) e cashá, Chloroleucon eurycyclum (Ab). A hipótese foi de que o manejo orgânico do café e o fornecimento da serapilheira de melhor qualidade favoreceria a diversidade, a densidade e a biomassa das minhocas. As populações das minhocas foram alteradas, em função do manejo com insumos sintéticos ou orgânicos , sendo a densidade menor no café a pleno sol. Entre as espécies utilizadas no sombreamento, a eritrina parece limitar a abundância das minhocas. Contudo, favorece a diversidade das mesmas, tendo sido registradas duas espécies de minhocas com papéis ecológicos diferenciados, Pontoscolex corethrurus, endogeica e Metaphire californica, anécica; ao contrário dos demais tratamentos, onde somente foi encontrada a primeira espécie, considerada cosmopolita com distribuição pantropical.

The aim of this study was to determine whether the populations of the earthworms are altered by coffee systems in Turrialba, Costa Rica. The following coffee management systems were studied: the sun and shading with Erythrina poeppigiana; terminalia, Terminalia amazonia or cashá, Chloroleucon eurycyclum. The hypothesis was that the organic management of the coffee and the litter input of better quality would favor the diversity, the density and the biomass of the earthworms. The populations of earthworms were differentiated with the synthetic or organic input. However, the density was lower in the coffee under the sun anyone the used species in the agroforestry, the eritrina seems to limit the abundance of the earthworms, but it favors the diversity of the same ones, being registered two species of earthworms with differentiated ecological roles, Pontoscolex corethrurus, endogeic, specie cosmopolita with pantropical distribution and Metaphire californica, anecic. On the contrary of other treatments where only the first species was found.

[Susceptibility of six Arabic coffee cultivars to fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritoidea) under shaded and unshaded organic management in Valença, State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil]. / Susceptibilidade de seis cultivares de café arábica às moscas-das-frutas (Diptera: Tephritoidea) em sistema orgânico com e sem arborização em Valença, RJ.

The infestation indices by fruit flies were determined for six cultivars of Coffea arabica L. in shaded and unshaded systems under organic management. The experiment was set in a completely randomized design with a split-split-plot arrangement and four replicates. A 250g-sample of maturing fruits per plot was harvested in May 2005. The cultivars Icatu Amarelo and Catucaí Amarelo were the least susceptible to attack by tephritids in both systems. As for lonchaeids, Oeiras, Catucaí Amarelo and Catuaí Vermelho were the least susceptible cultivars in the shaded system, and there was no difference among the cultivars in the unshaded system. The following tephritid species were obtained: Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann), Anastrepha fraterculus (Wiedemann) and A. sororcula Zucchi (Tephritidae). Lonchaeids were represented by Neosilba bifida Strikis & Prado, N. certa (Walker), N. glaberrima (Wiedemann), N. pendula (Bezzi), N. pseudopendula (Korytkowski and Ojeda), Dasiops rugifrons Hennig, Neosilba n.sp.10 and Neosilba n.sp.14.

Susceptibilidade de seis cultivares de café arábica às moscas-das-frutas (Diptera: Tephritoidea) em sistema orgânico com e sem arborização em Valença, RJ / Susceptibility of six arabic coffee cultivars to fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritoidea) under shaded and unshaded organic management in Valença, State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Foram determinados os índices de infestação por moscas-das-frutas em seis cultivares de Coffea arabica L. nos sistemas com e sem arborização, sob manejo orgânico. O delineamento experimental foi inteiramente casualizado com parcelas sub-subdivididas e quatro repetições. Uma amostra de 250 g de frutos maduros por parcela foi colhida em maio de 2005. As cultivares Icatu Amarelo e Catucaí Amarelo mostraram menor susceptibilidade aos tefritídeos, nos dois sistemas de cultivo. Quanto aos lonqueídeos, Oeiras, Catucaí Amarelo e Catuaí Vermelho foram as cultivares menos susceptíveis no sistema arborizado, não havendo diferença entre as cultivares no sistema sem arborização. Dos frutos foram obtidas as seguintes espécies de Tephritidae: Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann), Anastrepha fraterculus (Wiedemann) e A. sororcula Zucchi (Tephritidae). Os lonqueídeos foram representados por: Neosilba bifida Strikis & Prado, N. certa (Walker), N. glaberrima (Wiedemann), N. pendula (Bezzi), N. pseudopendula (Korytkowski & Ojeda), Dasiops rugifrons Hennig, Neosilba n.sp.10 e Neosilba n.sp.14.

The infestation indices by fruit flies were determined for six cultivars of Coffea arabica L. in shaded and unshaded systems under organic management. The experiment was set in a completely randomized design with a split-split-plot arrangement and four replicates. A 250g-sample of maturing fruits per plot was harvested in May 2005. The cultivars Icatu Amarelo and Catucaí Amarelo were the least susceptible to attack by tephritids in both systems. As for lonchaeids, Oeiras, Catucaí Amarelo and Catuaí Vermelho were the least susceptible cultivars in the shaded system, and there was no difference among the cultivars in the unshaded system. The following tephritid species were obtained: Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann), Anastrepha fraterculus (Wiedemann) and A. sororcula Zucchi (Tephritidae). Lonchaeids were represented by Neosilba bifida Strikis & Prado, N. certa (Walker), N. glaberrima (Wiedemann), N. pendula (Bezzi), N. pseudopendula (Korytkowski and Ojeda), Dasiops rugifrons Hennig, Neosilba n.sp.10 and Neosilba n.sp.14.

Infestação natural de moscas frugívoras (Diptera: Tephritoidea) em café arábica, sob cultivo orgânico arborizado e a pleno sol, em Valença, RJ / Natural infestation by frugivorous flies (Diptera: Tephritoidea) in shaded and unshaded arabic coffee under organic management in Valença, RJ, Brazil

As moscas frugívoras vêm assumindo grande importância econômica em cafezais por provocarem queda prematura de frutos e redução significativa da qualidade da bebida. O café é um repositório natural de espécies de Tephritidae que infestam frutas de importância econômica. Este estudo avaliou a influência dos sistemas de café sombreado e a pleno sol, sob manejo orgânico, na infestação natural de frutos de Coffea arabica L. Icatu Amarelo por moscas frugívoras. Um experimento inteiramente casualizado foi instalado em Valença, RJ, com dois tratamentos (café sombreado com Musa sp. e Erithrina verna Vell. e solteiro a pleno sol) e quatro repetições. Uma amostra de 1 kg de frutos maduros por parcela foi colhida em março de 2004 para avaliar a infestação e identificar as espécies infestantes. O índice médio de infestação dos frutos foi significativamente maior no sistema sombreado. Quatro espécies de Tephritidae (Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann), Anastrepha fraterculus (Wiedemann), Anastrepha obliqua (Macquart) e Anastrepha sororcula Zucchi) e seis de Lonchaeidae (Neosilba pendula (Bezzi), Neosilba pseudopendula (Korytkowski and Ojeda), Neosilba certa (Walker), Neosilba glaberrima (Wiedemann), Neosilba n.sp.9 e Neosilba n.sp.10) foram obtidas dos frutos de café. Nove espécies de parasitóides foram identificadas, das quais seis pertencem a Braconidae (Asobara anastrephae (Muesebeck), Doryctobracon areolatus (Szépligeti), Doryctobracon brasiliensis (Szépligeti), Utetes anastrephae (Viereck), Opius bellus Gahan e Opius sp.) e três a Figitidae (Aganaspis pelleranoi (Brèthes), Dicerataspis flavipes (Kieffer) e Odontosema anastrephae Borgmeier). A percentagem de parasitismo total foi de 8,8 por cento e 12,4 por cento em café sombreado e a pleno sol, respectivamente.

Frugivorous flies have been acquiring great economic importance in coffee crop because they cause premature dropping of coffee beans and significantly decrease the quality of the beverage. The coffee plant is also a natural reservoir of Tephritidae species that infest fruits of economic importance. This study evaluated the influence of the shaded and unshaded coffee systems, under organic management, on the natural infestation of fruits of Coffea arabica L. var. Icatu Amarelo by frugivorous flies. An experiment in completely randomized design was carried out in Valença, RJ, Brazil, with two treatments (shaded coffee with Musa sp. and Erithrina verna Vell. and unshaded coffee monoculture) and four replicates. A 1kg-sample of maturing fruits per plot was harvested in Mach 2004 to evaluate infestation and identify the flies. The mean infestation index was significantly higher in the shaded coffee system. Four species of Tephritidae (Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann), Anastrepha fraterculus (Wiedemann), Anastrepha obliqua (Macquart) and Anastrepha sororcula Zucchi), and six of Lonchaeidae (Neosilba pendula (Bezzi), Neosilba pseudopendula (Korytkowski and Ojeda), Neosilba certa (Walker), Neosilba glaberrima (Wiedemann), Neosilba n.sp.9 and Neosilba n.sp.10) were recovered from coffee fruits. Nine parasitoid species were obtained, six belonging to Braconidae (Asobara anastrephae (Muesebeck), Doryctobracon areolatus (Szépligeti), Doryctobracon brasiliensis (Szépligeti), Utetes anastrephae (Viereck), Opius bellus Gahan and Opius sp.), and three to Figitidae (Aganaspis pelleranoi (Brèthes), Dicerataspis flavipes (Kieffer) and Odontosema anastrephae Borgmeier). The total percent parasitism was 8.8 percent and 12.4 percent in the shaded and unshaded coffee systems, respectively.