Impact of an educational flyer and sensitization on performance-enhancement attitudes of bodybuilders in United Arab Emirates.

Background: A high proportion of bodybuilders use supplements to improve performance, with some turning to prohibited substances and methods. The attitudes of bodybuilders towards performance enhancement may be gauged through surveys such as the Performance Enhancement Attitude Scales (PEAS). Educational interventions are recommended as part of anti-doping measures. The objective of this project was to assess the impact of a pharmacy-led intervention using an antidoping educational flyer and the performance enhancement attitude scale to measure the attitude of bodybuilders in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Methods: The PEAS eight-item short form questionnaire was administered to male bodybuilders in the UAE. The PEAS was conducted before and after administration of an educational flyer concerning the problems associated with supplement use among bodybuilders. The Wilcoxon Signed-Rank and Kruskal Wallis tests were used for data analysis. Results: A total of 218 bodybuilders, who reported taking dietary supplements, filled out the survey both pre and post viewing the antidoping educational flyer. A difference was observed between the full-time professional bodybuilders, students, and part-time bodybuilders with other primary occupations (p-value <0.05). In addition, PEAS score decreased among the study population for all eight PEAS items (p-value <0.05). Conclusions: The pharmacy-led intervention using an antidoping educational flyer and sensitization by PEAS achieved more favorable scores, suggesting a significant shift of opinion toward avoiding use of performance enhancing substances among the bodybuilder study population. More research is required on sustaining the attitude and demonstrating the impact on doping behavior.

[A Case of Unknown Primary Carcinoma with Dermatomyositis].

A 50-year-old woman was diagnosed with dermatomyositis at the department of neurology in our hospital; she then received steroid pulse therapy. A positron emission computed tomography(PET-CT)revealed swollen lymph nodes near the aorta and in the left inguinal region. She presented at our institution for examination to determine the cause of her lymphadenopathy, but the primary site of the carcinoma was unknown. A histopathological examination of the lymph node specimen obtained using endoscopic ultrasonography-guided fine-needle aspiration(EUS-FNA)revealed a moderately to poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma. The patient underwent lymphadenectomy. After the surgery, a new lymph node metastasis appeared in the lower abdomen. We initiated a combination treatment with chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The patient died because of disease progression 31 months after her first visit.

Autopsy of invasive ductal pancreatic carcinoma that transformed into a tumor producing granulocyte colony-stimulating factor.

A 64-year-old woman was diagnosed with unresectable pancreatic cancer and underwent chemotherapy. However, the number of leukocytes significantly increased as the disease progressed. Serum G-CSF values also increased, and she eventually died on day 511 after diagnosis. Immediately after autopsy, immunohistochemical staining with an anti-G-CSF monoclonal antibody was positive in the poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma area of the primary pancreatic cancer and liver metastatic foci, but negative in the well-differentiated tubular adenocarcinoma part of the primary pancreatic cancer. During de-differentiation, invasive pancreatic ductal carcinoma appeared to have changed to a tumor that produced G-CSF.

Non-islet cell tumor hypoglycemia caused by a big insulin-like growth factor II- producing hepatocellular carcinoma:an autopsy case report.

A 73-year-old man with a hepatocellular carcinoma was admitted to our hospital. He suffered from recurrent severe hypoglycemia. An autopsy was performed after his death. Anti-insulin-like growth factor II (IGF-II) monoclonal antibody immunostaining of the hepatocellular carcinoma was positive. Western immunoblot analysis of the serum revealed highly elevated IGF-II. Therefore, we diagnosed this case as a non-islet cell tumor hypoglycemia caused by a big IGF-II-producing hepatocellular carcinoma.

[Evaluation of Portable Coagulation Analyzer in Comparison with Conventional Hospital Laboratory Instrument with Stratification of International Normalized Ratios by Therapeutic Upper Limit].

Point of care devices have been widely applied to outpatients receiving anticoagulation therapy with warfarin for monitoring prothrombin time-international normalized ratio (PT-INR) regularly. However, accuracy in measurement with the device remains undetermined when PT-INR exceeds therapeutic range. We evaluated the performance of a portable CoaguChek XS coagulation analyzer in comparison with a conventional laboratory method according to therapeutic and supra-therapeutic PT-INR values in cardiac outpatients on oral vitamin K antagonists. All participants were classified into 2 groups on the basis of PT-INR 3.0 by the laboratory method; therapeutic group less than or equal to 3.0 (n=48) and supra-therapeutic group above 3.0 (n=8). The correlation coefficients in therapeutic and in supra-therapeutic groups were r=0.82 and r=0.78, respectively (p<0.05). The difference in PT-INR between the laboratory method and the CoaguChek XS was significantly larger in supra-therapeutic group than therapeutic group (1.03±0.73 versus 0.34±0.26, p=0.042). Our study indicates that CoaguChek XS can be useful handheld coagulation analyzer to determine PT-INR rapidly; however, the device may underestimate PT-INR in supra-therapeutic range.

Poly-2-methoxyethylacrylate-coated cardiopulmonary bypass circuit can reduce transfusion of platelet products compared to heparin-coated circuit during aortic arch surgery.

Several coating techniques for extracorporeal circulation have been developed to reduce the systemic inflammatory response during cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). We compared the clinical effectiveness and biocompatibility of poly-2-methoxyethylacrylate (PMEA)- and heparin-coated CPB circuits in total aortic arch replacement (TAR) with the prolonged use of the bypass technique. Twenty patients who underwent elective TAR were divided randomly into two equal groups: group P (n = 10) to use PMEA-coated circuits and group H (n = 10) to use heparin-coated circuits. Clinical outcomes, hematological variables, and acute phase inflammatory response were analyzed perioperatively. Demographic, CPB, and clinical outcome data were similar for both groups. Hemoglobin and platelet count showed similar time-course curves. However, the amount of platelet products transfused intraoperatively was significantly larger in group H (group P 26.0 ± 7.0 units; group H 33.0 ± 6.7 units, p = 0.04). Total protein, and albumin levels were significantly higher in group P during and after the operation (total protein, p = 0.04; albumin, p = 0.02). The use of PMEA-coated circuit is associated with retainment of perioperative plasma proteins levels and may help to reduce transfusion of platelet products in TAR in comparison with the heparin-coated circuit.

Uptake of L-cystine via an ABC transporter contributes defense of oxidative stress in the L-cystine export-dependent manner in Escherichia coli.

Intracellular thiols like L-cystine and L-cystine play a critical role in the regulation of cellular processes. Here we show that Escherichia coli has two L-cystine transporters, the symporter YdjN and the ATP-binding cassette importer FliY-YecSC. These proteins import L-cystine, an oxidized product of L-cystine from the periplasm to the cytoplasm. The symporter YdjN, which is expected to be a new member of the L-cystine regulon, is a low affinity L-cystine transporter (Km = 1.1 µM) that is mainly involved in L-cystine uptake from outside as a nutrient. E. coli has only two L-cystine importers because ΔydjNΔyecS mutant cells are not capable of growing in the minimal medium containing L-cystine as a sole sulfur source. Another protein YecSC is the FliY-dependent L-cystine transporter that functions cooperatively with the L-cystine transporter YdeD, which exports L-cystine as reducing equivalents from the cytoplasm to the periplasm, to prevent E. coli cells from oxidative stress. The exported L-cystine can reduce the periplasmic hydrogen peroxide to water, and then generated L-cystine is imported back into the cytoplasm via the ATP-binding cassette transporter YecSC with a high affinity to L-cystine (Km = 110 nM) in a manner dependent on FliY, the periplasmic L-cystine-binding protein. The double disruption of ydeD and fliY increased cellular levels of lipid peroxides. From these findings, we propose that the hydrogen peroxide-inducible L-cystine/L-cystine shuttle system plays a role of detoxification of hydrogen peroxide before lipid peroxidation occurs, and then might specific prevent damage to membrane lipids.

Atenolol induced HDL-C change in the pharmacogenomic evaluation of antihypertensive responses (PEAR) study.

We sought to identify novel pharmacogenomic markers for HDL-C response to atenolol in participants with mild to moderate hypertension. We genotyped 768 hypertensive participants from the Pharmacogenomic Evaluation of Antihypertensive Responses (PEAR) study on the Illumina HumanCVD Beadchip. During PEAR, participants were randomized to receive atenolol or hydrochlorothiazide. Blood pressure and cholesterol levels were evaluated at baseline and after treatment. This study focused on participants treated with atenolol monotherapy. Association with atenolol induced HDL-C change was evaluated in 232 whites and 152 African Americans using linear regression. No SNPs achieved a Bonferroni corrected P-value. However, we identified 13 regions with consistent association across whites and African Americans. The most interesting of these regions were seven with prior associations with HDL-C, other metabolic traits, or functional implications in the lipid pathway: GALNT2, FTO, ABCB1, LRP5, STARD3NL, ESR1, and LIPC. Examples are rs2144300 in GALNT2 in whites (P=2.29x10(-4), ß=-1.85 mg/dL) and rs12595985 in FTO in African Americans (P=2.90x10(-4), ß=4.52 mg/dL), both with consistent regional association (P<0.05) in the other race group. Additionally, baseline GALNT2 expression differed by rs2144300 genotype in whites (P=0.0279). In conclusion, we identified multiple gene regions associated with atenolol induced HDL-C change that were consistent across race groups, several with functional implications or prior associations with HDL-C.

Distribution of HNA and LNA bacterial groups in the Southwest Atlantic Ocean

Bacterioplankton was studied in a large area of Southwest Atlantic Ocean between 13 and 25°S and 28 and 42°W. Samples were collected in 108 stations at 20 m depth. Bacteria were enumerated by flow cytometry after nucleic acid staining with syto13 and two subgroups were differentiated: low nucleic acid content (LNA) and high nucleic acid content (HNA) bacteria. Total bacterial numbers varied from 0.37 to 5.53 10(5) cells mL-1. HNA cells represented 15 to 70 percent of the total number while LNA cells represented 30 to 85 percent. Heterotrophic bacterial production was determined by incorporation of tritiated leucine and ranged from 2.7 to 171.07 ng C L-1 h-1. No significant correlation was found between abundance and production. Nevertheless with support of multivariate analysis between bacterial abundance, bacterial production, chlorophyll a and other oceanographic data the distribution of the groups in two different oceanic provinces could be explained by nutrient availability. HNA bacteria accounted for the high percentage of cells found in the area north of 19°S, linked to higher temperature waters and riverine nutrients inputs. LNA bacteria were the dominant cells south of this latitude and were correlated to the higher values of nitrate found for the same area.

Um estudo do bacterioplâncton foi realizado numa área extensa do Oceano Atlântico Sudoeste entre 13 e 25°S e 28 e 42°W. As amostras foram coletadas em 108 estações oceanográficas a 20 m de profundidade. A abundância bacteriana foi determinada por citometria de fluxo após coloração dos ácidos nucléicos com Syto13. Dois grupos de bactérias foram enumerados e distinguidos: bactérias com alto conteúdo de ácidos nucleicos (HNA) e bactérias com baixo conteúdo de ácidos nucleicos (LNA). O número de bactérias variou de 0,37 a 5,53 10(5) células mL-1. As células HNA representaram de 15 a 70 por cento da abundância total enquanto as células LNA representaram de 30 a 85 por cento. A produção bacteriana foi determinada por incorporação de leucina tritiada e variou de 2,7 a 171,07 ng C L-1 h-1. A correlação entre abundância e produção bacterianas não foi significativa. Entretanto uma análise multivariada realizada entre abundância, produção, clorofila a e outros dados oceanográficos revelou que a distribuição dos dois grupos em diferentes províncias oceânicas pode ser atribuída a disponibilidade de nutrientes. As bactérias HNA foram responsáveis pelo maior percentual de células na área ao norte de 19°S e estiveram relacionadas às águas quentes e aos nutrientes de origem pluvial. As bactérias LNA foram dominantes ao sul dessa latitude e estiveram relacionadas à disponibilidade de nitrato cujos valores foram mais altos nessa região.

Mercury and organic carbon distribution in six lakes from the North of Rio de Janeiro State

Devido a sua toxicidade e capacidade de se acumular em organismos, o mercúrio é considerado um poluente extremamente perigoso. Suas propriedades associadas às condições ambientais podem resultar em uma larga dispersão. Nas ultimas décadas diversos trabalhos tem demonstrado a contaminação da região Norte do Estado do Rio de Janeiro por Hg, inclusive com casos de contaminação humana. Desta forma, o objetivo do presente estudo é avaliar a distribuição de Hg em sedimentos de seis lagoas da região norte do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, relacionando as concentrações de Hg com fatores que podem influenciar sua mobilidade nos sedimentos como o carbono orgânico. As amostras de sedimento superficial foram coletadas ao longo de seis das principais lagoas da região e os perfis foram retirados de pontos centrais das mesmas. Os elevados valores de Hg observados nos sedimentos superficiais de lagoas como a do Campelo (349,6 µg.kg -1), parecem reforçar a hipótese de entradas recentes deste elemento para o sistema. Os resultados sugerem ainda que o Hg que foi utilizado no passado proveniente principalmente da aplicação de fungicidas organo-mercuriais e do garimpo de ouro na região, ainda pode estar sendo transportado para sistemas adjacentes. As correlações Hg/carbono orgânico se mostraram significativamente positivas com p< 0,05, indicando que para a região, a matéria orgânica parece possuir papel significativo na retenção do Hg.