Acceptability and Feasibility of Saliva-delivered PCR Coronavirus 2019 Tests for Young Children.

OBJECTIVES: Access to readily available, reliable, and easy-to-use coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) tests remains critical, despite great vaccination progress. Universal back-to-school testing offered at early care and education ([ECE]; ie, preschool) sites to screen for positive cases may help preschoolers safely return to, and stay in, ECE. We examined the acceptability and feasibility of using a quantitative polymerase chain reaction COVID-19 saliva test for young children (n = 227, 54.0% girls: mean age = 52.3 ± 8.1 months) and their caregivers (n = 70 teachers: mean = 36.6 ± 14.7 years; n = 227 parents: mean = 35.5 ± 9.1 years) to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and reduce days of school and work missed for households with children who test positive. METHODS: Participants were recruited at ECE sites serving low-income communities as part of the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostic Testing-Underserved Populations Back to Early Care and Education Safely with Sustainability via Active Garden Education project (NCT05178290). RESULTS: Surveys in English or Spanish administered at testing events to children and caregivers at ECE sites showed child and adult acceptability and feasibility ratings were generally high. More favorable child and parent ratings were positively associated with child age and whether the child was able to produce a saliva sample. Language preference was not associated with any outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Saliva sampling for COVID-19 at ECE sites is an acceptable strategy as an additional layer of protection for 4- and 5-year-olds; however, alternate testing strategies may be needed for younger children.

A review of in vitro methods to evaluate the bioaccessibility of phenolic compounds in tropical fruits.

International guidelines strongly advise about the frequent and varied intake of plant in diet. In this scenario, the consumption of fruits is closely related to health benefits due to the abundant presence of bioactive substances. Accordingly, the production of tropical fruits has stood out worldwide, reaching records since the past decade. However, to ensure that phenolic substances are indeed used by the body, they need to be accessible for absorption. For this purpose, several methods are used to assess the phenomenon of bioaccessibility. We provide information on i) in vitro methods for the evaluation of the bioaccessibility of phenolic compounds in tropical fruits, including their derivatives and by-products; ii) a study performed using a semi-dynamic in vitro digestion model; iii) simulated digestion with a dialysis membrane step, polyphenol transport/uptake using cell culture, and in vitro colonic fermentation process. Although standardized static and semi-dynamic in vitro digestion methods already exist, few studies use these protocols to assess the bioaccessibility of polyphenols in tropical fruits. To guarantee that in vitro digestion assays reproduce consistent results compared to in vivo reference methods, it is essential to universalize standardized methods that allow the comparison between results, enabling the validation of in vitro digestion methods.

Composition of fatty acids in the maternal and umbilical cord plasma of adolescent and adult mothers: relationship with anthropometric parameters of newborn.

BACKGROUND: Considering the importance of long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids to fetal development and the lack of studies that have compared the status of fatty acids between adolescents and adults mothers, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the composition of fatty acids in maternal and umbilical cord plasma from adolescent and adults mothers. METHODS: Forty pregnant adolescents and forty pregnant adults were selected to assess the distribution profile of fatty acids in the maternal and umbilical cord plasma. Quantification of fatty acids in the total lipids of the sample groups was performed through the use of gas-liquid chromatography. RESULTS: The maternal and umbilical cord plasma of the adolescents showed a greater concentration of AA than did that of the adults (P < 0.05). However, a greater percentage of EPA was found in the umbilical cord plasma of the adults (P < 0.05). DHA in the plasma of the adolescent mothers correlated positively to birth weight and head circumference. CONCLUSIONS: This suggests that in situations of greater nutritional risk, as in adolescent pregnancy, n-3PUFA concentrations have a greater influence on the proper development of newborns. Moreover, variations in fatty acid concentrations in the maternal and cord plasma of adolescents and adults may indicate that pregnancy affects the LC-PUFA status of adults and adolescents in distinct ways.

Critérios para eficácia clínica da crioterapia: implicações para o tratamento de traumas agudos / Assessment of clinical efficacy of cryotherapy: consequences for the treatment of acute traumas

Crioterapia é um recurso comumente utilizado para tratamento de lesões agudas músculo-esqueléticas, principalmente as lesões relacionadas ao esporte. A praticidade e o baixo custo da crioterapia somada aos benefícios terapêuticos induzidos pela mesma tornaram-na um recurso bastante difundido na prática clínica fisioterápica, entretanto, tem sido utilizada de forma indiscriminada. Frente a isso, este estudo buscou esclarecer o papel da crioterapia no trauma agudo, a fim de embasar cientificamente a utilização desse recurso em tais situações e correlacionar as principais indicações terapêuticas da crioterapia no tratamento de traumas agudos aos objetivos, aos métodos, as técnicas de aplicação e aos resultados obtidos. Para realização deste estudo foram realizadas pesquisas em periódicos e livros da biblioteca da Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais, Campus Coração Eucarístico, e nas bases de dados Medline, PEDro, Pubmed e Scielo. Existem evidências da crioterapia para alívio de dor no pós-trauma imediato e possível influência da reação inflamatória aguda, entretanto, 75 por cento dos estudos foram realizados em sujeitos saudáveis. Com base nesta revisão da literatura, sugere-se que os benefícios da crioterapia no trauma agudo estão relacionados principalmente ao controle álgico e à prevenção e/ou diminuição da hipóxia secundária ao processo inflamatório.

Cryotherapy is a medical therapy commonly used to treat acute muscle-skeletal. injuries, mainly sport-related injuries. Besides being practical and costing little the therapeutic benefits of cryotherapy are high. Consequently it has become largely used in physiotherapy, although sometimes indiscriminately. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to establish the role of cryotherapy in acute trauma in order to determine its use and its therapeutic indications associated to its objectives, methods, techniques applied and results achieved. Research used the periodicals and books in the library of the “Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais” (Catholic University of Minas Gerais), Campus Coração Eucarístico and Medline, PEDro, Pubmed and Scielo database. There are evidences that cryotherapy relieves immediate pain in post trauma situations and may improve acute inflammatory reactions. However around 75 percent of the publications involved healthy individuals. Based on this review of literature, cryotherapy benefits for acute trauma may be related mainly to pain relieving and to prevention and/or reduction of hypoxia caused by the inflammatory process.