Tropical forest loss and geographic location drive the functional genomic diversity of an endangered palm tree.

Human activity has diminished forests in different terrestrial ecosystems. This is well illustrated in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, which still hosts high levels of species richness and endemism, even with only 28% of its original extent remaining. The consequences of such forest loss in remaining populations can be investigated with several approaches, including the genomic perspective, which allows a broader understanding of how human disturbance influences the genetic variability in natural populations. In this context, our study investigated the genomic responses of Euterpe edulis Martius, an endangered palm tree, in forest remnants located in landscapes presenting different forest cover amount and composed by distinct bird assemblage that disperse its seeds. We sampled 22 areas of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest in four regions using SNP markers inserted into transcribed regions of the genome of E. edulis, distinguishing neutral loci from those putatively under natural selection (outlier). We demonstrate that populations show patterns of structure and genetic variability that differ between regions, as a possible reflection of deforestation and biogeographic histories. Deforested landscapes still maintain high neutral genetic diversity due to gene flow over short distances. Overall, we not only support previous evidence with microsatellite markers, but also show that deforestation can influence the genetic variability outlier, in the scenario of selective pressures imposed by these stressful environments. Based on our findings, we suggest that, to protect genetic diversity in the long term, it is necessary to reforest and enrich deforested areas, using seeds from populations in the same management target region.

Everything you always wanted to know about gene flow in tropical landscapes (but were afraid to ask).

The bulk of the world's biodiversity is found in tropical regions, which are increasingly threatened by the human-led degradation of natural habitats. Yet, little is known about tropical biodiversity responses to habitat loss and fragmentation. Here we review all available literature assessing landscape effects on gene flow in tropical species, aiming to help unravel the factors underpinning functional connectivity in the tropics. We map and classify studies by focus species, the molecular markers employed, statistical approaches to assess landscape effects on gene flow, and the evaluated landscape and environmental variables. We then compare qualitatively and quantitatively landscape effects on gene flow across species and units of analysis. We found 69 articles assessing landscape effects on gene flow in tropical organisms, most of which were published in the last five years, were concentrated in the Americas, and focused on amphibians or mammals. Most studies employed population-level approaches, microsatellites were the preferred type of markers, and Mantel and partial Mantel tests the most common statistical approaches used. While elevation, land cover and forest cover were the most common gene flow predictors assessed, habitat suitability was found to be a common predictor of gene flow. A third of all surveyed studies explicitly assessed the effect of habitat degradation, but only 14 of these detected a reduced gene flow with increasing habitat loss. Elevation was responsible for most significant microsatellite-based isolation by resistance effects and a single study reported significant isolation by non-forested areas in an ant. Our study reveals important knowledge gaps on the study of landscape effects on gene flow in tropical organisms, and provides useful guidelines on how to fill them.

Diagnosis of degenerative lesions of supraspinatus rotator cuff tendons by Fourier transform-Raman spectroscopy.

The Fourier transform (FT)-Raman spectroscopy technique is used to assess the biochemical alterations that occur in the degenerative process of the rotator cuff supraspinatus tendon. The main alterations observed occur in the glycine, proline, hydroxyproline, cysteine, cistine, phenylalanine, tyrosine, collagen I and III, nucleic acid, lipids, glycosaminoglycans, and metalloproteinases bands. An increasing intensity for these bands is found in degenerated tendons, a finding well correlated with hyaline state and cellular activity. Statistical analysis (principal components analysis and clustering) shows a clear separation of the spectra into nonhyalinized and hyalinized clusters, which enables the construction of a binary diagnosis model based on logistic regression. Best diagnosis provided a sensitivity of 66.0% and a specificity of 74.7% with 79.6% concordant pairs. The discriminating power of the diagnostic test is assessed by computing the area under the receiving-operator characteristic curve (AUC), which indicates good accuracy (AUC=0.81). In principle, these results indicate that Raman spectroscopy can be used as an auxiliary aid to improve shoulder tendon surgery quality by guiding anchoring onto more healthy (nonhyaline) pieces of tendons. This should contribute to a decrease in the current high rerupture rate (13 to 68%) for this procedure.

Estágio em serviço público de saúde: percepções de estudantes de Odontologia e consonância com propostas curriculares / Internship in public health services: dental students' perceptions and consonance with curricular proposals

O estágio supervisionado em serviço público de saúde é o momento no qual o estudante pode colocar em prática toda a sua carga recebida de teoria em diferentes cenários comunitários. A proposta deste estudo foi analisar se a percepção dos estudantes do curso de Odontologia acerca dessa modalidade de estágio está de acordo com os objetivos de aprendizagem da disciplina de Estágio Supervisionado em Serviço de Saúde (ESSS) de uma universidade privada de Curitiba/PRe com as Diretrizes Curriculares Nacionais (DCN). O desenho desteestudo foi o transversal quali-quantitativo. Uma amostra de conveniência contou com 135 estudantes do último ano do curso, de ambos os gêneros e turnos, que haviam concluído a disciplina de ESSSno ano de 2018. Os participantes responderam a um questionário padrão, o qual é entregue ao término do estágio. As perguntas abertas foram analisadas por meio da análise de conteúdo proposta por Bardin e as categorias de análises foram estruturadas de acordo com as competências gerais descritas nas DCN: atenção à saúde, tomada de decisão, comunicação, liderança, administração e gerenciamento e educação permanente. A questão fechada foi analisada, quantitativamente, pela medida de frequências, em SPSS versão 21.0. Os estudantes afirmaram que puderam desenvolver habilidades e competências quecorroboram o disposto nos objetivos de aprendizagem da disciplina de ESSS e nas DCN. A classificação do estágio como excelente foi feita por 80,0% dos pesquisados.Concluiu-se que a percepção dos estudantes acerca do estágio está em consonância com o proposto nos documentos que o norteiam (AU).

Supervised internshipsin public health servicesarethe moment when studentscan put into practice in different community settingsall the theory they have learned. The purpose of this study was to analyze whetherdental students'perceptions about this type of internshiparein accordance with the learning objectives of theSupervised Health Service Internship(SHSI) disciplineand the National Curriculum Guidelines (NCG)(Diretrizes Curriculares Nacionais)for Dentistry. This study had a mixed qualitative and quantitative cross-sectionaldesign. A convenience sample of 135 students from the final year of the course, of both genders and from each of the two course shifts, had finishedtheir(SHSI) in 2018. Participants completed a standard questionnaire, which is administered at the end of the internship. The answers to the open-endedquestions were analyzed using content analysis as proposed by Bardin and the categories of analysis were structured according to the general competencies described in the NCG: health care, decision making, communication, leadership, administration and management,and continuing education. The answers to the closed-endedquestion wereanalyzed quantitatively by measuring frequencies in SPSSversion 21.0. The students stated that they were able to develop skills and competencies in keeping with the provisions of thelearning objectives of the SHSIdiscipline and the NCG. The internshipwas classified as excellent by 80.0% of respondents. The conclusion was reached that the students' perception about the internshipis in line with what is proposed in the documents that guide it (AU).

Effect of Brassica oleracea in rats skin wound healing.

PURPOSE: To investigate the effect of Brassica oleracea herbal balsam on the healing of skin wounds in rats. METHODS: Twenty four rats (Wistar, 60 days, 250 g) were divided into four groups: untreated animals (C) and treated with the ointment (T), subdivided into two experimental times (seven and 16 days). A 3cm² skin wound was made in the back of all animals. 100 ml of the Brassica oleracea was applied twice a day in T group. Biometric analysis was made with images captured at one, four, seven, ten, 13, and 16 days. At seven and 16 days, animals of each group were euthanized. The wound area removed was processed for histological and histomorphometric analysis to quantify birefringent collagen fibers. Statistical analysis was made considering p < 0.05 as significant. RESULTS: Biometric analysis revealed no significant differences between groups in both experimental times studied. However, histomorphometric analysis showed that the number of type I collagen fibers was significantly higher in the specimens of the group T16 compared to the other groups. CONCLUSION: Brassica oleracea accelerated the wound healing process increasing the number of type I collagen fibers and the maturity of the newly formed tissue.

Study of advanced rheumatoid arthritis

INTRODUCTION: Rheumatic diseases are considered public health problems affecting millions of people worldwide resulting in high and rising health-care costs. In this work, Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy associated to Partial Least Square regression (PLS) analysis was used to diagnose rheumatoid arthritis (RA) from human serum. METHODS: The sera of 94 individuals were collected, which included 47 from rheumatic patients and 47 from healthy individuals. The results from PLS analysis were compared to standard clinical trials such as anti-citrullinated peptide antibodies, C- Reactive protein, and Rheumatoid factor. RESULTS: For clinical diagnosis, the anti-citrullinated peptide antibodies of second generation proved to be the most specific to diagnosis rheumatoid arthritis even after long periods of drug therapy. CONCLUSIONS: The qualitative PLS analysis has shown higher values of IgM of RA group, but the difference was very small. The RA patients were under medication, which interfered with the IgM concentration.

Comparação da percepção subjetiva de qualidade de vida e bem-estar de idosos que vivem sozinhos, com a família e institucionalizados / Comparison of subjective perceptions of quality of life and well-being of elderly people living alone, with family and institutionalized

OBJETIVO: Comparar a percepção subjetiva de qualidade de vida e bem-estar de idosos que vivem sozinhos, com a família e institucionalizados, por meio dos instrumentos WHOQOL-BREF e WHOQOL-OLD. MÉTODO: Foram avaliados, em corte transversal, 51 idosos de ambos os sexos, com idade igual ou superior a 60 anos, frequentadores do centro de convivência Casa do Idoso, em São José dos Campos (SP) e moradores das instituições Lar São Vicente de Paulo e Lar de Amparo à Velhice e à Infância de Barra Bonita, ambos localizados na cidade de Barra Bonita (SP), no período de novembro de 2010 a fevereiro de 2011. RESULTADOS: Os idosos analisados apresentaram bons níveis de qualidade de vida em todos os domínios do WHOQOL-BREF e facetas do WHOQOL-OLD, quando comparados à pontuação máxima (100%) dos escores para cada domínio e/ou faceta. Somente foram encontradas diferenças estatisticamente significativas no que diz respeito ao WHOQOL-BREF em seu domínio físico, quando se comparou o grupo de idosos que vivem com a família com aqueles institucionalizados, sendo que este último apresentou maior grau de satisfação. CONCLUSÃO: O estudo permitiu verificar que, apesar do esperado, os idosos institucionalizados não apresentaram pior percepção de sua qualidade de vida quando comparados aos indivíduos não-institucionalizados. Além disso, reforçou ainda mais a importância do convívio social, do bem-estar psicológico, da prática de atividade física, entre outros fatores, para uma melhor percepção de qualidade de vida.

OBJECTIVE: Compare the subjective perception of quality of life and well-being of older people living alone, with the family and institutionalized, by means of instruments WHOQOL-BREF and WHOQOL-OLD. METHOD: We evaluated, in cross section, 51 elderly of either sex, aged over 60 years, attending the daycare center Casa do Idoso, in São José dos Campos city, State of São Paulo, Brazil, and residents of institutions Lar São Vicente de Paulo and Lar de Amparo à Velhice e à Infância de Barra Bonita, both in the city of Barra Bonita-SP, from November 2010 to February 2011. RESULTS: The group analyzed had high levels of quality of life in all domains of WHOQOL-BREF and WHOQOL-OLD facets, compared to the maximum score (100%) for each domain and/or facet. Only statistically significant differences were found regarding the WHOQOL-BREF in its physical domain, comparing the group of elderly living with their families with those institutionalized, being that the latter showed a higher degree of satisfaction. CONCLUSION: The study shows that despite the expected, the institutionalized elderly did not show worse perception of their quality of life when compared to non-institutionalized individuals. In addition, it strengthened the importance of social conviviality, psychological well-being, physical activity, among other factors, for a better perception of the quality of life.

Effect of Brassica oleracea in rats skin wound healing

PURPOSE: To investigate the effect of Brassica oleracea herbal balsam on the healing of skin wounds in rats. METHODS: Twenty four rats (Wistar, 60 days, 250 g) were divided into four groups: untreated animals (C) and treated with the ointment (T), subdivided into two experimental times (seven and 16 days). A 3cm² skin wound was made in the back of all animals. 100 ml of the Brassica oleracea was applied twice a day in T group. Biometric analysis was made with images captured at one, four, seven, ten, 13, and 16 days. At seven and 16 days, animals of each group were euthanized. The wound area removed was processed for histological and histomorphometric analysis to quantify birefringent collagen fibers. Statistical analysis was made considering p < 0.05 as significant. RESULTS: Biometric analysis revealed no significant differences between groups in both experimental times studied. However, histomorphometric analysis showed that the number of type I collagen fibers was significantly higher in the specimens of the group T16 compared to the other groups. CONCLUSION: Brassica oleracea accelerated the wound healing process increasing the number of type I collagen fibers and the maturity of the newly formed tissue.