Imported taeniasis in the context of colon hydrotherapy.

We report a case of imported taeniasis, under the modality of "visiting friends and relatives", in the context of colon hydrotherapy. This technique allows the detection of proglottids, diagnosed in this case as Taenia saginata based on the gravid proglottid that presented more than 13 uterine branches and showed active motility. Moreover, the patient did not consume pork for religious reasons. The treatment with paromomicin sulfate was effective. In this case, a trip to Ethiopia, together with the ingestion of raw beef, was the cause of parasitization. It is highly advisable to obtain detailed information from the patient on their background, especially their travel and dietary histories.

Yoga, aerobic and stretching exercise effects on neurocognition: Randomized controlled trial protocol.

As the global population ages, the prevalence of cognitive decline and dementia is expected to rise, creating a significant health and economic burden. The purpose of this trial is to rigorously test, for the first time, the efficacy of yoga training as a physical activity intervention to mitigate age-related cognitive decline and impairment. We are conducting a 6-month randomized controlled trial (RCT) of exercise among 168 middle aged and older adults to compare the efficacy of yoga vs. aerobic exercise on cognitive function, brain structure and function, cardiorespiratory fitness, and circulating inflammatory and molecular markers. Using a single-blind, three arm RCT, 168 older adults ages 55-79 will be assigned to either: a Hatha yoga group, an aerobic exercise group or a stretching-toning active control group. Participants will engage in hour long group exercise 3x/week for 6-months. A comprehensive neurocognitive test battery, brain imaging, cardiovascular fitness test, and a blood draw will take place at baseline; end of the 6-month intervention, and at 12-month follow-up. Our primary outcomes of interest are brain regions, such as hippocampal volume and prefrontal cortex, and cognitive functions, such as episodic memory, working memory and executive functions, that are typically affected by aging and Alzheimer's disease. Not only will this RCT test whether yoga is a means to mitigate age-related cognitive decline, but it may also offer an alternative to aerobic exercise, which could be particularly appealing to older adults with compromised physical functioning. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04323163.

Efecto del aceite esencial de Chrysactinia mexicana A. Gray sobre aislados clínicos de Candida glabrata / Effect of the essential oil of Chrysactinia mexicana A. Gray on clinical isolates of Candida glabrata

El objetivo del trabajo fue evaluar el efecto del aceite esencial Chrysactinia mexicana A. Gray en aislados clínicos de C. glabrata. Se obtuvo aceite esencial por arrastre de vapor de las flores, hojas y ramas secundarias de C. mexicana. Se realizó cromatografía de gases y espectrometría de masas para conocer la composición del aceite. Se hicieron ensayos de microdilución en fase logarítmica y fase estacionaria con Saccharomyces cerevisiae y aislados clínicos de C. glabrata para determinar la Concentración Mínima Inhibitoria (CMI) en presencia del aceite esencial. Los principales compuestos del aceite esencial fueron la piperitona (29.57 %), eucaliptol (26.86 %), a-terpineol (14.65 %), delta-3-careno (12.37 %) y linalool (3.56 %). Se determinaron las CMI del aceite esencial, para las cinco cepas utilizadas en las dos fases de crecimiento, siendo menor la CMI para S. cerevisiae que para los diferentes aislados clínicos de C. glabrata. El aceite esencial de C. mexicana tiene efecto fungicida en S. cerevisiae y los aislados clínicos de C. glabrata.

Mapping from spatial meaning: bridging Hñahñu (Otomi) ecological knowledge and geo-information tools.

BACKGROUND: Hñahñu (Otomi) farmers organize their experiences and ecological learning into a farmland system designed to grow food in areas of scarce water and low soil fertility. The purpose of this paper is to examine Hñahñu concepts and categories pertaining to the farming landscape and the ecological foundations underlying the system, its management implications, and categorial organization in Huitexcalco de Morelos, Mezquital Valley, Mexico. METHODS: Native terms and their links to landscape were recorded and discussed in various workshops. Open interviews and field trips with local experts were used to explain soil and water management practices that allow Hñahñu farmers to maintain sustained yields throughout the year. We then used participatory mapping in order to explore the semantic relations of the terms with the space and its validity in the productive landscape. RESULTS: We elicited 7 Hñahñu language terms related to landforms, 4 related to land use categories, and 17 related to their constituent components organized in two hierarchical levels. We found that mothe as a term of land usage was followed by mothee, ñut'athee, gadñhe, or muiñhe; these primarily refer to the topographic position of the parcel and the form of access to water for irrigation. Stone barriers and earth channels represent the functional structures that are most commonly used by Hñahñu farmers to retain soil and water. In the participatory mapping results, mothe muiñhe displayed a robust spatial link with the gullies. Identifying other landscape categories required a substantial understanding both of management practices of soil and water and forms of organization. CONCLUSIONS: This study revealed a complex system of knowledge that contributes to the continued proper management of the local landscape. The terms and their elicited meanings are key to understand the ways in which Hñahñu farmers conceptualize and relate the reality of their landscape and its cultural meanings. Scale and perception were found to have a determining role in defining their taxonomic organization, semantic structure, and relations in space.

Occipital Neuralgia: a noninvasive therapeutic approach.

OBJECTIVE: to evaluate the application of a noninvasive intervention consisting of a postural modification using personalized models and osteopathy in people with occipital neuralgia. METHOD: retrospective study of the intervention performed in adult population with occipital neuralgia, consisting of postural modification using personalized plantar orthoses and osteopathy, in a study period of four years. The observed variables were: persistence of headache, alignment of the axes, plantar support, center of gravity and center of mass; medical interview data, visual analogue scale, Win-Track gait analysis system and Kinovea software for video analysis (clinical assessment instruments used). RESULTS: a total of 34 records of people with occipital neuralgia were studied. A fraction of 58.8% of the patients reported improvement after the intervention. The visual analogue scale data were provided for 64.7% of the records and significant differences (p <0.001) between the means before (8.4 ± 1.7) and after the intervention (2.6 ± 2.7) were found. CONCLUSION: postural modification using personalized orthoses and osteopathy substantially improves the symptomatology of patients with occipital neuralgia.

Bispectral Analysis to Enhance Oximetry as a Simplified Alternative for Pediatric Sleep Apnea Diagnosis.

This study aims at assessing the bispectral analysis of blood oxygen saturation (SpO2) from nocturnal oximetry to help in pediatric sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (SAHS) diagnosis. Recent studies have found excessive redundancy in the SAHS-related information usually extracted from SpO2, while proposing only two features as a reduced set to be used. On the other hand, it has been suggested that SpO2 bispectral analysis is able to provide complementary information to common anthropometric, spectral, and clinical variables. We address these novel findings to assess whether bispectrum provides new non-redundant information to help in SAHS diagnosis. Thus, we use 981 pediatric SpO2 recordings to extract both the reduced set of features recently proposed as well as 9 bispectral features. Then, a feature selection method based on the fast correlationbased filter and bootstrapping is used to assess redundancy among all the features. Finally, the non-redundant ones are used to train a Bayesian multi-layer perceptron neural network (BYMLP) that estimate the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI), which is the diagnostic reference variable. Bispectral phase entropy was found complementary to the two previously recommended features and a BY-MLP model trained with the three of them reached high agreement with actual AHI (intra-class correlation coefficient = 0.889). Estimated AHI also showed high diagnostic ability, reaching 82.1%, 81.9%, and 90.3% accuracies and 0.814, 0.880, and 0.922 area under the receiver-operating characteristics curve for three common AHI thresholds: 1 e/h, 5 e/h, and 10 e/h, respectively. These results suggest that the information extracted from the bispectrum of SpO2 can improve the diagnostic performance of the oximetry test.

Treatment of winery wastewater by anodic oxidation using BDD electrode.

The effective removal of organics from winery wastewater was obtained in real residual effluents from the wine industry using anodic oxidation (AO). The effluent had an initial organic load of [COD]0 of 3490 mg L-1 equal to [TOC]0 of 1320 mg L-1. In addition, more than 40 organic compounds were identified by means of GC-MS. Different density currents as well as the addition of electrolytes were tested during electrolysis. The results show the decay of [COD]t by 63.6% when no support electrolyte was added, whereas almost total mineralization and disinfection was reached after adding of 50 mM of sodium sulfate and sodium chloride and applying higher density currents. The presence of sulfate and chloride in large concentration favors the production of oxidants such as hydroxyl radicals and active chlorine species that react with organics in solution. Moreover, the addition of a supporting electrolyte to industrial wastewater increases conductivity, reduces cell potential and therefore, decreases the energy consumption of the AO process.

Occipital Neuralgia: a noninvasive therapeutic approach / Neuralgia Occipital: uma abordagem terapêutica não invasiva / Neuralgia Occipital: un abordaje terapéutico no invasivo

ABSTRACT Objective: to evaluate the application of a noninvasive intervention consisting of a postural modification using personalized models and osteopathy in people with occipital neuralgia. Method: retrospective study of the intervention performed in adult population with occipital neuralgia, consisting of postural modification using personalized plantar orthoses and osteopathy, in a study period of four years. The observed variables were: persistence of headache, alignment of the axes, plantar support, center of gravity and center of mass; medical interview data, visual analogue scale, Win-Track gait analysis system and Kinovea software for video analysis (clinical assessment instruments used). Results: a total of 34 records of people with occipital neuralgia were studied. A fraction of 58.8% of the patients reported improvement after the intervention. The visual analogue scale data were provided for 64.7% of the records and significant differences (p <0.001) between the means before (8.4 ± 1.7) and after the intervention (2.6 ± 2.7) were found. Conclusion: postural modification using personalized orthoses and osteopathy substantially improves the symptomatology of patients with occipital neuralgia.

RESUMO Objetivo: avaliar a aplicação de uma intervenção não invasiva que consiste em uma modificação postural usando modelos personalizados e osteopatia em pessoas com neuralgia occipital. Método: estudo retrospectivo da intervenção realizada em população adulta com neuralgia occipital que consiste de modificação postural empregando órteses plantares personalizadas e osteopatia, em um período de estudo de quatro anos. As variáveis observadas foram: persistência de cefaleia, alinhamento dos eixos, apoio plantar, centro de gravidade e centro de massa; dados da entrevista médica, escala visual analógica, sistema de análise de marcha Win-Track e o software Kinovea para análise de vídeo (instrumentos de avaliação clínica utilizados). Resultados: foram estudados no total 34 registros de pessoas com neuralgia occipital. Uma fração de 58,8% dos pacientes informou apresentar melhoria após a intervenção. Os dados da escala visual analógica foram fornecidos para 64,7% dos registros, encontrando diferenças significativas (p<0,001) entre as médias antes (8,4±1,7) e depois da intervenção (2,6±2,7). Conclusão: a modificação postural empregando órteses personalizadas e osteopatia melhora substancialmente a sintomatologia dos pacientes com neuralgia occipital.

RESUMEN Objetivo: evaluar la aplicación de una intervención no invasiva consistente en una modificación postural empleando plantillas personalizadas y osteopatía en personas con neuralgia occipital. Método: estudio retrospectivo de la intervención llevada a cabo en población adulta con neuralgia occipital, de modificación postural empleando órtesis plantares personalizadas y osteopatía, en un período de estudio de cuatro años. Las variables observadas fueron: persistencia de cefalea, alineación de los ejes, apoyo plantar, centro de gravedad y centro de masa; datos de la entrevista médica, la escala visual análoga, el sistema de análisis de la marcha Win-Track y el software Kinovea para análisis de vídeo (instrumentos de valoración clínica utilizados). Resultados: un total de 34 registros de personas con neuralgia occipital fueron estudiados. Un 58,8% refería presentar mejoría tras la intervención. Los datos de la escala visual análoga eran proporcionados un 64,7% de los registros, encontrándose diferencias significativas (p<0,001) entre las medias previas a la intervención (8,4±1,7) y aquellas posteriores (2,6±2,7). Conclusión: la modificación postural empleando órtesis personalizadas y osteopatía mejora sustancialmente la sintomatología de los pacientes con neuralgia occipital.

Intervertebral Disc Repair by Allogeneic Mesenchymal Bone Marrow Cells: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

BACKGROUND: Degenerative disc disease often causes severe low-back pain, a public health problem with huge economic and life quality impact. Chronic cases often require surgery, which may lead to biomechanical problems and accelerated degeneration of the adjacent segments. Autologous mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) treatments have shown feasibility, safety and strong indications of clinical efficacy. We present here a randomized, controlled trial using allogeneic MSC, which are logistically more convenient than autologous cells. METHODS: We randomized 24 patients with chronic back pain diagnosed with lumbar disk degeneration and unresponsive to conservative treatments into 2 groups. The test group received allogeneic bone marrow MSCs by intradiscal injection of 25 × 10 cells per segment under local anesthesia. The control group received a sham infiltration of paravertebral musculature with the anesthetic. Clinical outcomes were followed up for 1 year and included evaluation of pain, disability, and quality of life. Disc quality was followed up by magnetic resonance imaging. RESULTS: Feasibility and safety were confirmed and indications of clinical efficacy were identified. MSC-treated patients displayed a quick and significant improvement in algofunctional indices versus the controls. This improvement seemed restricted to a group of responders that included 40% of the cohort. Degeneration, quantified by Pfirrmann grading, improved in the MSC-treated patients and worsened in the controls. CONCLUSIONS: Allogeneic MSC therapy may be a valid alternative for the treatment of degenerative disc disease that is more logistically convenient than the autologous MSC treatment. The intervention is simple, does not require surgery, provides pain relief, and significantly improves disc quality.

Inhibition of Leishmania mexicana Growth by the Tuberculosis Drug SQ109.

We report that the tuberculosis drug SQ109 [N-adamantan-2-yl-N'-((E)-3,7-dimethyl-octa-2,6-dienyl)-ethane-1,2-diamine] has potent activity against the intracellular amastigote form of Leishmania mexicana (50% inhibitory concentration [IC50], ∼11 nM), with a good selectivity index (>500). It is also active against promastigotes (IC50, ∼500 nM) and acts as a protonophore uncoupler, in addition to disrupting Ca(2+) homeostasis by releasing organelle Ca(2+) into the cytoplasm, and as such, it is an interesting new leishmaniasis drug hit candidate.

Hypothalamic leptin action is mediated by histone deacetylase 5.

Hypothalamic leptin signalling has a key role in food intake and energy-balance control and is often impaired in obese individuals. Here we identify histone deacetylase 5 (HDAC5) as a regulator of leptin signalling and organismal energy balance. Global HDAC5 KO mice have increased food intake and greater diet-induced obesity when fed high-fat diet. Pharmacological and genetic inhibition of HDAC5 activity in the mediobasal hypothalamus increases food intake and modulates pathways implicated in leptin signalling. We show HDAC5 directly regulates STAT3 localization and transcriptional activity via reciprocal STAT3 deacetylation at Lys685 and phosphorylation at Tyr705. In vivo, leptin sensitivity is substantially impaired in HDAC5 loss-of-function mice. Hypothalamic HDAC5 overexpression improves leptin action and partially protects against HFD-induced leptin resistance and obesity. Overall, our data suggest that hypothalamic HDAC5 activity is a regulator of leptin signalling that adapts food intake and body weight to our dietary environment.

Treatment of Knee Osteoarthritis With Allogeneic Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cells: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

BACKGROUND: Osteoarthritis is the most prevalent joint disease and a common cause of joint pain, functional loss, and disability. Conventional treatments demonstrate only modest clinical benefits without lesion reversal. Autologous mesenchymal stromal cell (MSC) treatments have shown feasibility, safety, and strong indications for clinical efficacy. We performed a randomized, active control trial to assess the feasibility and safety of treating osteoarthritis with allogeneic MSCs, and we obtain information regarding the efficacy of this treatment. METHODS: We randomized 30 patients with chronic knee pain unresponsive to conservative treatments and showing radiological evidence of osteoarthritis into 2 groups of 15 patients. The test group was treated with allogeneic bone marrow MSCs by intra-articular injection of 40 × 10(6) cells. The control group received intra-articular hyaluronic acid (60 mg, single dose). Clinical outcomes were followed for 1 year and included evaluations of pain, disability, and quality of life. Articular cartilage quality was assessed by quantitative magnetic resonance imaging T2 mapping. RESULTS: Feasibility and safety were confirmed and indications of clinical efficacy were identified. The MSC-treated patients displayed significant improvement in algofunctional indices versus the active controls treated with hyaluronic acid. Quantification of cartilage quality by T2 relaxation measurements showed a significant decrease in poor cartilage areas, with cartilage quality improvements in MSC-treated patients. CONCLUSIONS: Allogeneic MSC therapy may be a valid alternative for the treatment of chronic knee osteoarthritis that is more logistically convenient than autologous MSC treatment. The intervention is simple, does not require surgery, provides pain relief, and significantly improves cartilage quality.

Differential modulation of the functionality of white adipose tissue of obese Zucker (fa/fa) rats by the type of protein and the amount and type of fat.

Recent evidence indicates that several metabolic abnormalities developed during obesity are associated with the presence of dysfunctional adipose tissue. Diet is a key factor that modulates several functions of adipose tissue; however, each nutrient in the diet produces specific changes. Thus, the aim of this work was to study the effect of the interaction of the type (coconut or soybean oil) and amount (5% or 10%) of fat with the type of dietary protein (casein or soy protein) on the functionality of white adipose tissue of Zucker (fa/fa) rats. The results showed that soybean oil reduced adipocyte size and decreased esterified saturated fatty acids in white adipose tissue. Excess dietary fat also modified the composition of esterified fatty acids in white adipose tissue, increased the secretion of saturated fatty acids to serum from white adipose tissue and reduced the process of fatty acids re-esterification. On the other hand, soy protein sensitized the activation of the hormone-sensitive lipase by increasing the phosphorylation of this enzyme (Ser 563) despite rats fed soy protein were normoglucagonemic, in contrast with rats fed casein that showed hyperglucagonemia but reduced hormone-sensitive lipase phosphorylation. Finally, in white adipose tissue, the interaction between the tested dietary components modulated the transcription/translation process of lipid and carbohydrate metabolism genes via the activity of the PERK-endoplasmic reticulum stress response. Therefore, our results showed that the type of protein and the type and amount of dietary fat selectively modify the activity of white adipose tissue, even in a genetic model of obesity.

Short-term synaptic plasticity compensates for variability in number of motor neurons at a neuromuscular junction.

We studied how similar postsynaptic responses are maintained in the face of interindividual variability in the number of presynaptic neurons. In the stomatogastric ganglion of the lobster, Homarus americanus, the pyloric (PY) neurons exist in variable numbers across animals. We show that each individual fiber of the stomach muscles innervated by PY neurons received synaptic input from all neurons present. We performed intracellular recordings of excitatory junction potentials (EJPs) in the muscle fibers to determine the consequences of differences in the number of motor neurons. Despite the variability in neuron number, the compound electrical response of muscle fibers to natural bursting input was similar across individuals. The similarity of total synaptic activation was not due to differences in the spiking activity of individual motor neurons across animals with different numbers of PY neurons. The amplitude of a unitary EJP in response to a single spike in a single motor neuron also did not depend on the number of PY neurons present. Consequently, the compound EJP in response to a single stimulus that activated all motor axons present was larger in individuals with more PY neurons. However, when axons were stimulated with trains of pulses mimicking bursting activity, EJPs facilitated more in individuals with fewer PY neurons. After a few stimuli, this resulted in depolarizations similar to the ones in individuals with more PY neurons. We interpret our findings as evidence that compensatory or homeostatic regulatory mechanisms can act on short-term synaptic dynamics instead of absolute synaptic strength.

Three-dimensional culture of mandibular human osteoblasts on a novel albumin scaffold: growth, proliferation, and differentiation potential in vitro.

PURPOSE: Bone tissue engineering is a promising approach for bone reconstruction in oral and maxillofacial surgery. The aim of this study was to investigate the microstructure and biocompatibility of a novel albumin scaffold developed from human serum on human alveolar osteoblasts. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Samples of mandibular bone were obtained during routine oral surgery. Osteoblast cells were cultured and plated in a spongy, noncalcified protein scaffold prepared with plasmatic albumin crossed with a glutaraldehyde-type agent (study group) and in a large-particle mineralized cancellous allograft (control group). Measurement of the differentiation marker alkaline phosphatase and histologic examination were performed after 30 days of incubation. The cultures were examined for cell growth patterns and morphology by scanning electron microscopy and histomorphometry. RESULTS: Cultured osteoblasts showed comparable phenotypic profiles and expressed alkaline phosphatase in albumin scaffold. Hematoxylin-eosin staining revealed a bonelike extracellular matrix in study scaffold and mineralization of osteoblasts cultured in the albumin scaffold was confirmed by von Kossa staining. CONCLUSION: Osteoblasts were able to proliferate in vitro and synthesize a bonelike extracellular matrix and mineralized tissue. The results indicate that this novel albumin scaffold is a favorable substrate for the growth and differentiation of osteoblasts and a promising material for bone tissue engineering and repair of bone defects.

Involvement of nitric oxide in the inhibition of bone cancer-induced hyperalgesia through the activation of peripheral opioid receptors in mice.

Experiments were designed to elucidate the involvement of nitric oxide (NO) in the antihyperalgesic effect induced by the activation of peripheral mu-opioid receptors on osteosarcoma-induced thermal hyperalgesia in mice. Since this pathway has previously been shown to be involved in the antihyperalgesic effect induced by some drugs--including opiates--on inflammatory pain, experiments were also performed in inflamed mice. The intraplantar administration of loperamide (15 microg) abolishes the thermal hyperalgesia that appears 4 weeks after the intratibial inoculation of NCTC 2472 cells in C3H/HeJ mice. The blockade of this effect by coadministering a peripheral opioid receptor antagonist (naloxone methiodide), a nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibitor (L-NMMA), a soluble guanylyl cyclase inhibitor (ODQ), a PKG inhibitor (KT-5823) or a K(+)(ATP)-channel blocker (glibenclamide) shows the involvement of a NO/cGMP/K(+)(ATP)-channel pathway. Accordingly the administration of loperamide produced, in osteosarcoma-bearing mice, an increase in the concentrations of NO metabolites, nitrites and nitrates, extracted from paws. The selective inhibitor of eNOS L-NIO, but not the inhibitors of nNOS (N-omega-propyl-L-arginine) or iNOS (1400w), blocked the effect of loperamide on osteosarcoma-induced hyperalgesia and also the endogenous opioid peripheral hypoalgesia that appears during the initial stages of the development of this osteosarcoma. Although this pathway also participates in the inhibitory effect of loperamide on the thermal hyperalgesia induced by administration of complete Freund's adjuvant, only selective inhibitors of nNOS or iNOS antagonized this effect. Our results demonstrate that the activation of a NO/cGMP/K(+)(ATP)-channel triggered by eNOS participates in the peripheral antihyperalgesic of loperamide on osteosarcoma-induced thermal hyperalgesia.