Activity of arginine-phenylalanine and arginine-tryptophan-based surfactants against Staphylococcus aureus.

Aims: This study aimed to evaluate the antibacterial effect of two new cationic surfactants based on phenylalanine-arginine (LPAM) and tryptophan-arginine (LTAM). Materials & methods: Antibacterial activity, mechanism of action and interactions with Staphylococcus aureus enzymes were measured through microbiological, flow cytometry and molecular docking assays, respectively. Results & conclusion: These compounds showed antibacterial activity in the range of 4.06-16.24 µg/ml against planktonic cells and no activity against mature biofilms, since they caused a loss of membrane integrity and increased DNA damage, as revealed by flow cytometry analysis. In silico assays revealed the existence of molecular bonds such as hydrogen bonds, mainly with DNA. Therefore, these compounds have promising pharmacological activity against MRSA strains.

Socioecological vulnerability and the risk of zoonotic disease emergence in Brazil.

In developing countries, outbreaks of zoonotic diseases (ZDs) result from intertwined ecological, socioeconomic, and demographic processes that shape conditions for (i) increased contact between vulnerable human population and wildlife in areas undergoing environmental degradation and (ii) the rapid geographic spread of infections across socially vulnerable regions. In Brazil, recent increases in environmental and social vulnerabilities, amplified by economic and political crises, are potential triggers for outbreaks. We discuss Brazilian features that favor outbreaks and show a novel quantitative method for zoonotic risk assessment. Using data on nine ZDs from 2001 to 2019, we found that the most significant causal variables were vegetation cover and city remoteness. Furthermore, 8 of 27 states presented low-level risk of ZD outbreaks. Given the ZD-bushmeat connection, we identified central hunted mammals that should be surveilled to prevent spillover events. The current challenge is to coordinate intersectoral collaboration for effective One Health management in megadiverse countries with high social vulnerability and growing environmental degradation like Brazil.

Direct Femtosecond Laser Printing of Silk Fibroin Microstructures.

Fabrication of functional silk fibroin microstructures has extensive applications in biotechnology and photonics. Considerable progress has been made based on lithographic methods and self-assembly approaches. However, most methods require chemical modification of silk fibroin, which restricts the functionalities of the designed materials. At the same time, femtosecond laser-induced forward transfer (fs-LIFT) has been explored as a simple and attractive processing tool for microprinting of high-resolution structures. In this paper, we propose the use of LIFT with fs-pulses for creating high-resolution structures of regenerated silk fibroin (SF). Furthermore, upon adding Eu3+/Tb3+ complexes to SF, we have been able to demonstrate the printing by LIFT of luminescent SF structures with a resolution on the order of 2 µm and without material degradation. This approach provides a facile method for printing well-defined two-dimensional (2D) micropatterns of pure and functionalized SF, which can be used in a wide range of optical and biomedical applications.

[Perception of medical communication skills during the clinical interview in a Peruvian teaching hospital: validation and application of an assessment tool]. / Percepción de la competencia comunicativa médica durante la entrevista clínica en un hospital docente peruano: validación y aplicación de un instrumento evaluativo.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the perception of patients regarding physicians communication skills at the outpatient clinic of a teaching hospital in Lima-Peru, using the Communication Assessment Tool (CAT). METHODS: The study population was the group of patients treated in the outpatient clinics of the Cayetano Heredia Hospital. The CAT questionnaire contains 15 questions, and a version validated for Spanish was used. The perception of communication skills was defined as the sum of the scores of all the items, over the number of items, defined as: poor (1), fair (2), good (3), very good, (4), and excellent (5). RESULTS: The percentage of patients who rated communication skills as "poor" (average CAT Score) was 6.8%, "fair" 27.2%, "good" 23.9%, "very good" 30.1 and "excellent" 12.1%. Statistically significant differences were found when comparing the age ranges and among the different levels of education. The group of patients between 18 and 29 years old gave higher scores in the instrument (range 2.2 to 4.87, p = 0.001). Furthermore, when the educational level of the respondent was high, the participants tended to rate physicians with higher scores (range 3.67 to 4.73, p = 0.001). CONCLUSION: We found that 66.2% of patients had a positive perception of the physicians communication skills; only 12.1% rated it as "excellent," a value well below what is reported in the literature. Those who gave the best rating were younger patients with the highest level of education.

OBJETIVO: Determinar la percepción de los pacientes sobre la destreza en la comunicación de los médicos que atienden en consultorio externo de un hospital docente de Lima, Perú, según el instrumento Communication Assessment Tool. MÉTODOS: La población de estudio fue el colectivo de pacientes atendidos en los consultorios externos del Hospital Cayetano Heredia. El cuestionario Communication Assessment Tool consta de 15 preguntas, se utilizó una versión validada al castellano. La percepción de la destreza en comunicación se determinó como la sumatoria de los puntajes del total de las premisas, entre la cantidad de las premisas. Se definió como mala (1), justa (2), buena (3), muy buena (4) y excelente (5). RESULTADOS: El porcentaje de pacientes que calificaron la competencia comunicativa como “mala” (puntaje Communication Assessment Tool promedio) fue de 6,8%, “justa” 27,2%, “buena” 23,9%, “muy buena” 30,1% y “excelente” 12,1%. Se hallaron diferencias estadísticamente significativas respecto a los rangos de edad y entre los distintos grados de instrucción. El grupo de pacientes entre 18 y 29 años otorgó puntajes más altos en el Communication Assessment Tool (rango = 2,2 a 4,87; p = 0,001). Además, cuando el nivel educativo del encuestado fue superior tendió a colocar puntajes más altos (rango = 3,67 a 4,73; p = 0,001). CONCLUSIONES: Se determinó que 66,2% de los pacientes tuvo una percepción positiva, sólo 12,11% lo calificó como “excelente”, un valor muy por debajo a lo reportado en la literatura. Los que brindaron mejor calificación fueron los pacientes jóvenes y con mayor grado de instrucción.

Monitoring of coagulation by intraoperative thromboelastometry of liver transplantation in a patient using warfarin - case report / Monitoração da coagulação pela tromboelastometria no intraoperatório de transplante hepático em um paciente usando varfarina - relato de caso

Abstract Introduction: Advanced hepatic disease may - in addition to the widely recognized hemorrhagic complications - occur with thrombotic events. We describe the case of a cirrhotic patient taking warfarin and whose coagulation management during liver transplantation was guided by thromboelastometry (ROTEM®). Case report: A 56 year-old male patient diagnosed with alcohol cirrhosis using warfarin (2.5 mg.day−1) for partial portal vein thrombosis with the International Normalized Ratio (INR) of 2.14. At the beginning of surgery, the ROTEM® parameters were all normal. In the anhepatic phase, EXTEM and INTEM remained normal, but FIBTEM showed reduction of amplitude after 10 min and maximum clot firmness. Finally, in the neohepatic phase, there was a slight alteration in the hypocoagulability of most of the parameters of the EXTEM, INTEM and FIBTEM, besides a notable correction of the Coagulation Time (CT) in HEPTEM compared to the CT of the INTEM. Therefore, the patient did not receive any transfusion of blood products during surgery and in the postoperative period, being discharged on the 8th postoperative day. Discussion: Coagulation deficit resulting from cirrhosis distorts INR as a parameter of anticoagulation adequacy and as a determinant of the need for blood transfusion. Thus, thromboelastometry can provide important information for patient management.

Resumo Introdução: A doença hepática avançada pode, além das complicações hemorrágicas amplamente reconhecidas, ocorrer com eventos trombóticos. Descrevemos o caso de um paciente cirrótico em uso de varfarina, cujo manejo da coagulação durante o transplante de fígado foi guiado por tromboelastometria (ROTEM®). Relato de caso: Paciente do sexo masculino, 56 anos, diagnosticado com cirrose alcoólica, recebendo varfarina (2,5 mg.dia−1) para trombose parcial da veia porta, com razão normalizada internacional (INR) de 2,14. No início da cirurgia, os parâmetros ROTEM® estavam todos normais. Na fase não hepática, EXTEM e INTEM permaneceram normais, mas FIBTEM mostrou redução da amplitude após 10 min e firmeza máxima do coágulo. Por fim, na fase neo-hepática houve uma ligeira alteração da hipocoagulabilidade na maioria dos parâmetros de EXTEM, INTEM e FIBTEM, além de uma correção notável do tempo de coagulação (CT) de HEPTEM em comparação com o CT de INTEM. Portanto, o paciente não recebeu transfusão de hemoderivados durante a cirurgia e no período pós-operatório, obteve alta no oitavo dia de pós-operatório. Discussão: O déficit de coagulação resultante da cirrose distorce o INR como um parâmetro da adequação da anticoagulação e como um determinante da necessidade de transfusão de sangue. Portanto, a tromboelastometria pode fornecer informações importantes para o manejo do paciente.

[Monitoring of coagulation by intraoperative thromboelastometry of liver transplantation in a patient using warfarin - case report]. / Monitoração da coagulação pela tromboelastometria no intraoperatório de transplante hepático em um paciente usando varfarina ­ relato de caso.

INTRODUCTION: Advanced hepatic disease may - in addition to the widely recognized hemorrhagic complications - occur with thrombotic events. We describe the case of a cirrhotic patient taking warfarin and whose coagulation management during liver transplantation was guided by thromboelastometry (ROTEM®). CASE REPORT: A 56 year-old male patient diagnosed with alcohol cirrhosis using warfarin (2.5mg.day-1) for partial portal vein thrombosis with the International Normalized Ratio (INR) of 2.14. At the beginning of surgery, the ROTEM® parameters were all normal. In the anhepatic phase, EXTEM and INTEM remained normal, but FIBTEM showed reduction of amplitude after 10min and maximum clot firmness. Finally, in the neohepatic phase, there was a slight alteration in the hypocoagulability of most of the parameters of the EXTEM, INTEM and FIBTEM, besides a notable correction of the Coagulation Time (CT) in HEPTEM compared to the CT of the INTEM. Therefore, the patient did not receive any transfusion of blood products during surgery and in the postoperative period, being discharged on the 8th postoperative day. DISCUSSION: Coagulation deficit resulting from cirrhosis distorts INR as a parameter of anticoagulation adequacy and as a determinant of the need for blood transfusion. Thus, thromboelastometry can provide important information for patient management.

Twelve Weeks of Plyometric Training Improves Motor Performance of 7- to 9-Year-Old Boys Who Were Overweight/Obese: A Randomized Controlled Intervention.

Nobre, GG, de Almeida, MB, Nobre, IG, dos Santos, FK, Brinco, RA, Arruda-Lima, TR, de-Vasconcelos, KL, de-Lima, JG, Borba-Neto, ME, Damasceno-Rodrigues, EM, Santos-Silva, SM, Leandro, CG, and Moura-dos-Santos, MA. Twelve weeks of plyometric training improves motor performance of 7- to 9-year-old boys who were overweight/obese: a randomized controlled intervention. J Strength Cond Res 31(8): 2091-2099, 2017-The prevalence of childhood overweight/obesity has increased, and physical training at school may to be effective to combat this scenario. We analyzed the effects of a protocol of plyometric training on body composition and motor performance of boys who were overweight/obese aged 7-9 years. The sample was randomly assigned into 2 groups: plyometric training group (T, n = 40) and control group (C, n = 19). Training consisted of 20 min·d (twice a week, during 12 weeks) of lower extremity plyometric exercise. Health-related physical fitness was measured by handgrip strength, standing long jump (SLJ), curl-ups, sit and reach, square test, running speed, and mile run test. Gross motor coordination was evaluated by means of the Körperkoordinations-test für Kinder (KTK) tests. Baseline and postintervention differences were investigated, and effect size was estimated through Cohen's d coefficient. Both groups showed increased body weight, height, and sitting height after intervention with a negligible effect size. Only T group showed increased fat-free mass (p = 0.011) compared with baseline values with small effect size. Plyometric training improved handgrip strength (d = 0.23), sit and reach (d = 0.18), curl-ups (d = 0.39), SLJ (d = 0.80), agility (d = 0.48), and time in the mile run test (d = 0.38). For gross motor coordination results, T group showed better performance in all tests after plyometric training with moderate/large effect size. Thus, 12 weeks of PT improved health-related physical fitness components and motor coordination acquisition of 7- to 9-year-old boys who were overweight/obese.

Aspects on the catalysis of lipase from porcine pancreas (type VI-s) in aqueous media: development of ion-pairs

This article reports a first contribution for the elucidation of catalytic mechanism of Lipase from porcine pancreas, type VI-s (PPL), in hydrolyzing an ester substrate in aqueous media. The conclusions were based on the pH-profiles of Michaelis-Menten parameters k cat/Km, k cat and Km, as well as on the absolute temperature profile of k cat/Km, obtained during the hydrolysis of p-nitrophenyl laurate by PPL. It was found that (a) PPL performs catalysis by means of ion pairs formed either as Ser152-Ο-/His263-Im+H and/or Carbonyl-Ο-/His263-Im+H, (b) the parameter k cat/Km equals to k1 and thus ES is formed and destroyed in the course of a series of consecutive reactions governed by the dynamic constant K S = k2/k1, and (c) the hydrolysis of substrate is assisted by a hydrogen bond developed between deprotonated Asp176 and the positively charged imidazole of His263 across a pKa-value 3.85, necessary for efficient catalysis.

A comparison of the psychometric strengths of the public-domain Zung Self-rating Depression Scale with the proprietary Beck Depression Inventory-II in Barbados.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the psychometric strengths of two venerable measures of depression, the Zung Self-rating Depression Scale (Zung SDS) and the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) in a Caribbean university student population and to provide researchers and clinicians interested in measures of depression with psychometric evidence that differentiates the two instruments for a Caribbean sample. METHODS: Undergraduate student volunteers (n = 415; 75% females, 25% males; mean age = 25.2 years) completed the instruments as part of a larger study. Correlational analyses evaluated internal con-sistency reliabilities. Missing value analyses and corrected item-total correlations are also reported for each scale. RESULTS: The BDI-II demonstrated marginally superior internal consistency reliability (alpha = 0.88) than the Zung SDS (alpha = 0.85). Correlation between the Zung SDS and the BDI-II was strong (r = 0.67, p < 0.01). The Zung SDS was less psychometrically adequate, only 53% of respondents (compared to 81% for the BDI-II) completed the entire form, suggesting that the structure or wording of the questions may be problematic. Comparison of corrected item-total correlations and missing value analyses indicates that many Zung SDS items are problematic. A preliminary effort to evaluate the factor structure of the Zung SDS was complicated by the large number of missing values. CONCLUSION: Head-to-head comparison of the Zung SDS and the BDI-II indicates that the BDI-II demonstrates superior psychometric properties. This paper does not evaluate sensitivity and specificity; nonetheless, researchers interested in measures of depressive symptoms and clinicians looking for a tool to assess depression in Barbados can be confident in the strong psychometric properties of the BDI-II demonstrated thus far Modified versions of the Zung SDS merit further research.

Necessary auxiliary background for efficient use of an existing computer program of non-parametric fitting of nonlinear equations

This work constituted a significant contribution for more efficient use of a valuable computer program of non-parametric fitting of nonlinear multiparametric equations to experimental data. However, prerequisite in this context was the transformation of nonlinear multiparametric equations into linear hyperplane forms before their incorporation within the computer program; this latter was decisive and a matter of proper programming practice. Herein, a series of widely used equations useful in different fields of chemical processes, in biochemistry and/or in biotechnology, along with their suitable transformations as well as the appropriate programming support are being reported.

Este trabalho constitui uma contribuição significativa para um uso mais eficiente de um programa de computador valioso do encaixe não-paramétrico de equações multiparamétricas não lineares aos dados experimentais. Entretanto, o pré-requisito neste contexto é a transformação de equações multiparamétricas não lineares em formulários lineares do hyperplano antes de sua incorporação dentro do programa de computador; este último é decisive e uma matéria da prática de programação apropriada. Nisto, nós relatamos uma série das equações extensamente usadas úteis em campos diferentes de processos químicos, em bioquímia e/ou em biotechnologia, junto com suas transformações apropriadas além a sustentação de programação apropriada.

Treatment of phenylmercury salts by heterogeneous photocatalysis over TiO(2).

UV/TiO(2) photocatalysis of phenylmercury salts in aqueous solutions has been performed starting from both acetate (C(6)H(5)HgCH(3)CO(2), PMA) and chloride (C(6)H(5)HgCl, PMC) salts, in the presence or the absence of oxygen at acidic pH. Removal of Hg(II) in solution took place with the simultaneous deposit of dark or pale gray solids on the photocatalyst, identified as metallic Hg (when starting from PMA) or mixtures of Hg(0) and Hg(2)Cl(2) (when starting from PMC). Partial mineralization of the organic part of both compounds has also been achieved. Hg(II) removal and mineralization were enhanced in the absence of oxygen. PMA photocatalysis followed a saturation kinetics, going from first order at low concentration to zero order at higher concentrations (>0.5mM). For PMA, reaction was faster at high pH (11) with formation of mixtures of Hg and HgO. Phenol was detected as a product of the reaction in both cases, PMA and PMC, and no formation of dangerous methyl- or ethylmercury species was observed in the first case. A mechanism for the photocatalytic reaction has been proposed. The fact that calomel was found as a deposit when starting from PMC under nitrogen suggests that the mechanism of Hg(II) transformation proceeds through successive one-electron transfer reactions passing by mercurous forms.

Análise da prontidão para o tratamento em alcoolistas em um centro de tratamento / Analysis of the readiness for the treatment in alcoholics in a treatment center

O objetivo desta pesquisa foi verificar a prontidão para o tratamento em alcoolistas participantes de uma intervenção terapêutica, seguindo o Modelo Minnesota. Participaram desta pesquisa 25 alcoolistas, de grau moderado e grave, com idade entre 23 a 60 anos, de ambos os sexos. Foram aplicadas as escalas SADD e SOCRATES na primeira entrevista, no início do tratamento. Três entrevistas adicionais realizadas no meio, no final e um mês após o tratamento, avaliaram a prontidão para o tratamento por meio da escala SOCRATES. Os resultados mostraram que, embora tenha havido 64 por cento de adesão, não houve diminuição da ambivalência dos alcoolistas. Houve correlação significativa entre os fatores da escala SOCRATES. Esta pesquisa aponta para a necessidade de se utilizar técnicas motivacionais para a diminuição da ambivalência, visando o aumento na adesão e prevenção de recaída.