Analysis of palmprints and soleprints of black-tufted marmosets (Callithrix penicillata): are there similarities to humans?

Friction ridges are important and unique biometric features that have been studied in fingerprint science since antiquity and used for human identification. This study aimed to analyze palmprints and soleprints of Callithrix penicillata, including the description of flexion creases, regions, minutiae classification, and delta counting, in order to evaluate the uniqueness of these data and feasibility of using this information as an identification method. Palmprints and footprints were collected using commercial fingerprint ink on A4 size paper. Following image digitalization using the GIMP (2.10.14) image editing program, regions and flexion creases were identified. A total of 600 minutiae were classified in females (288 palms and 312 soles) and 732 in males (360 palms and 372 soles), and all deltas were counted. It was possible to identify three main inconstant flexion creases, in both palmprints and soleprints, with different distribution and orientation when compared to those in humans. Less variety in the types of minutiae and differences in the distribution of deltas were found when compared to human studies. In addition, the hypothesis of non-coincident characteristics in each sample was confirmed.

Bifidobacteria define gut microbiome profiles of golden lion tamarin (Leontopithecus rosalia) and marmoset (Callithrix sp.) metagenomic shotgun pools.

Gut microbiome disruptions may lead to adverse effects on wildlife fitness and viability, thus maintaining host microbiota biodiversity needs to become an integral part of wildlife conservation. The highly-endangered callitrichid golden lion tamarin (GLT-Leontopithecus rosalia) is a rare conservation success, but allochthonous callitrichid marmosets (Callithrix) serve as principle ecological GLT threats. However, incorporation of microbiome approaches to GLT conservation is impeded by limited gut microbiome studies of Brazilian primates. Here, we carried out analysis of gut metagenomic pools from 114 individuals of wild and captive GLTs and marmosets. More specifically, we analyzed the bacterial component of ultra filtered samples originally collected as part of a virome profiling study. The major findings of this study are consistent with previous studies in showing that Bifidobacterium, a bacterial species important for the metabolism of tree gums consumed by callitrichids, is an important component of the callitrichid gut microbiome - although GTLs and marmosets were enriched for different species of Bifidobacterium. Additionally, the composition of GLT and marmoset gut microbiota is sensitive to host environmental factors. Overall, our data expand baseline gut microbiome data for callitrichids to allow for the development of new tools to improve their management and conservation.

Parkinson's Disease-Cognitive Rating Scale (PD-CRS): Normative Data and Mild Cognitive Impairment Assessment in Brazil.

Background: The Parkinson's Disease-Cognitive Rating Scale (PD-CRS) assesses posterior-cortical and frontal-subcortical cognitive functioning and distinguishes mild cognitive impairment in Parkinson's disease (PD-MCI); however, it was not evaluated in Brazil. Objectives: To investigate PD-CRS's reliability, validity, normative data, and accuracy for PD-MCI screening in Brazil. Methods: The effects of age, education, and sex on PD-CRS scores were explored. The instrument was tested in 714 individuals (53% female, 21-94 years), with a broad range of education and no neurodegenerative disorder. Trail Making, Consonant Trigrams, Five-Point, and semantic fluency tests were administered for comparison. A second study enrolled patients with PD and intact cognition (n = 44, 59.75 ± 10.79 years) and with PD-MCI (n = 25, 65.76 ± 10.33 years) to investigate criterion validity. PD-CRS subtests were compared with the Cambridge Automated Neuropsychological Battery memory and executive tasks. Results: PD-CRS was unidimensional and reliable (McDonald's ω = 0.83). Using robust multiple regressions, age, and education predicted the total and derived scores in the normative sample. At the 85-point cutoff, PD-MCI was detected with 68% sensitivity and 86% specificity (area under the curve = 0.870). PD-CRS scores strongly correlated with executive and verbal/visual memory tests in both normative and clinical samples. Conclusions: This study investigated the applicability of PD-CRS in the Brazilian context. The scale seems helpful in screening for PD-MCI, with adequate internal consistency and construct validity. The PD-CRS variance is influenced by age and educational level, a critical issue for cognitive testing in countries with educational and cultural heterogeneity.

Discovery of two novel Torque Teno viruses in Callithrix penicillata provides insights on Anelloviridae diversification dynamics.

The development of high-throughput sequencing (HTS) technologies and metagenomics protocols deeply impacted the discovery of viral diversity. Moreover, the characterization of novel viruses in the Neotropical primates (NP) is central for the comprehension of viral evolution dynamics in those hosts, due to their evolutionary proximity to Old World primates, including humans. In the present work, novel anelloviruses were detected and characterized through HTS protocols in the NP Callithrix penicillata, the common black-tufted marmoset. De novo assembly of generated sequences was carried out, and a total of 15 contigs were identified with complete Anelloviridae ORF1 gene, two of them including a flanking GC-rich region, confirming the presence of two whole novel genomes of ~3 kb. The identified viruses were monophyletic within the Epsilontorquevirus genus, a lineage harboring previously reported anelloviruses infecting hosts from the Cebidae family. The genetic divergence found in the new viruses characterized two novel species, named Epsilontorquevirus callithrichensis I and II. The phylogenetic pattern inferred for the Epsilontorquevirus genus was consistent with the topology of their host species tree, echoing a virus-host diversification model observed in other viral groups. This study expands the host span of Anelloviridae and provides insights into their diversification dynamics, highlighting the importance of sampling animal viral genomes to obtain a clearer depiction of their long-term evolutionary processes.

Study of Geometric Illusory Visual Perception - A New Perspective in the Functional Evaluation of Children With Strabismus.

Despite the various perceptual-motor deficits documented in strabismus, there is a paucity of studies evaluating visual illusions in patients with strabismus. The aim of this study was to examine how the illusionary perception occurs in children/adolescents (10-15 years old) with strabismus with referral for surgery to correct ocular deviations. A controlled cross-sectional study was carried out in which 45 participants with strabismus and 62 healthy volunteers aged 10-15 years were evaluated. The behavioral response to three geometric illusions [Vertical-Horizontal illusion, Müller-Lyer illusion (Bretano version) and Ponzo illusion] and respective neutral stimuli (non-illusory images) regarding the estimation of image size and response time were measured using the Method of Adjustment. To analyze the influence of secondary factors: type of ocular deviation (convergent, divergent or associated with vertical deviation); amount of eye deviation; presence of amblyopia and stereopsis, a one-way ANOVA was performed. Among the tested illusions, children with strabismus showed greater susceptibility (p = 0.006) and response time (p = 0.004) to Ponzo's illusory images. Children with strabismus and preserved stereopsis, on the other hand, showed similar susceptibility and response time to control group patients to the Ponzo illusion (p < 0.005). Patients with amblyopia showed overcorrection in the estimate of non-illusory Ponzo images (p = 0.046). Children with horizontal ocular deviation (esotropia or exotropia) associated with vertical deviation (hypertropia, DVD and/or alphabetical anisotropy) showed higher susceptibility to vertical adjustment images for the Müller-Lyer illusion (Brentano version) (p = 0.017). Individuals with strabismus tended to overcorrect the length of the straight-line segment adjusted for non-illusory images when testing non-illusory images in the Müller-Lyer test (Brentano version) (p = 0.009), as well as for the neutral images in the Vertical-Horizontal test (p = 0.000). The findings indicated impairment in the perception of geometric illusions and neutral figures, especially for the Ponzo illusion test by children with strabismus. As the behavioral response to illusory images may indirectly reflect the visual and morphofunctional alterations present in these individuals, we suggest that the investigation of visual illusory perception can be used as a new research strategy in the field of investigating the visual function in strabismus.

Inhibitory control training in healthy and highly educated older adults.

Executive function training is considered a promising tool for delaying the natural effects of aging on cognition. However, there are still few studies that propose a unimodal intervention with a focus on inhibitory control, and none of them has studied the effect of this type of intervention on older adults (OA). OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to investigate the benefits of inhibitory control training in healthy OA by comparing the two assessment time points, namely, before and after training. METHODS: Twenty-seven participants were included after interview and checking the inclusion criteria. The training was based on the stop-signal paradigm and carried out in 21 sessions. RESULTS: Participants performed better after training by reducing the false alarm error rate (i.e., for stop-signal trials), reducing omission error rate, showing an increase in hit rate, Go response time (i.e., for go-signal trials), stop-signal response time, and showing a decrease in the level of anxiety. The executive function training had no significant impact on the scores obtained in the complementary neuropsychological tests. CONCLUSIONS: These results are consistent with previous studies that support the viability and effectiveness of cognitive intervention for executive functions in OA and suggest a positive effect of the intervention, which may be related to the learning experience of a new and challenging task.

O treinamento das funções executivas é considerado uma ferramenta promissora para retardar os efeitos naturais do envelhecimento na cognição. No entanto, ainda são poucos os estudos que propõem uma intervenção unimodal com foco no controle inibitório, e nenhum deles estudou o efeito desse tipo de intervenção em idosos. OBJETIVO: Investigar os benefícios do treinamento de controle inibitório em idosos saudáveis, comparando os dois momentos da avaliação: antes e depois do treinamento. Método: Um total de 27 participantes foi incluído após entrevista e verificação dos critérios de inclusão. O treinamento foi baseado no paradigma Stop-Signal e realizado em 21 sessões. RESULTADOS: Os participantes tiveram um melhor desempenho após o treinamento, reduzindo a taxa de erro de alarme falso (nas tentativas stop), reduzindo a taxa de omissões e mostrando aumento na taxa de acerto e GoTR (nas tentativas go), no SSRT e mostrando uma diminuição significativa no nível de ansiedade. O treinamento não teve impacto significativo nas pontuações obtidas nos testes neuropsicológicos complementares. CONCLUSÕES: Esses resultados são consistentes com estudos anteriores que sustentam a viabilidade e eficácia da intervenção cognitiva para funções executivas em idosos, além de sugerirem um efeito positivo da intervenção, que pode estar relacionado à experiência de aprendizagem de uma tarefa nova e desafiadora.

Comparative anatomy of the encephalon of new world primates with emphasis for the Sapajus sp.

Studies about the anatomy of the New World Primates are scarce, mainly comparative neuroanatomy, then a morphological comparative analysis about the tropical Primates were performed and a effort was made for an Old World Primates and modern humans relationship for the obtained data; plus, comments about behavior e and allometry were performed to try link the high cognition and abilities of the Sapajus with the neuroanatomical results, however, despite the deep neuroanatomic data obtained, we do not found an intrinsic relation to explain that.

Inhibitory control training in healthy and highly educated older adults / Treinamento de controle inibitório em idosos saudáveis com alta escolaridade

ABSTRACT. Executive function training is considered a promising tool for delaying the natural effects of aging on cognition. However, there are still few studies that propose a unimodal intervention with a focus on inhibitory control, and none of them has studied the effect of this type of intervention on older adults (OA). Objective: The aim of this study is to investigate the benefits of inhibitory control training in healthy OA by comparing the two assessment time points, namely, before and after training. Methods: Twenty-seven participants were included after interview and checking the inclusion criteria. The training was based on the stop-signal paradigm and carried out in 21 sessions. Results: Participants performed better after training by reducing the false alarm error rate (i.e., for stop-signal trials), reducing omission error rate, showing an increase in hit rate, Go response time (i.e., for go-signal trials), stop-signal response time, and showing a decrease in the level of anxiety. The executive function training had no significant impact on the scores obtained in the complementary neuropsychological tests. Conclusions: These results are consistent with previous studies that support the viability and effectiveness of cognitive intervention for executive functions in OA and suggest a positive effect of the intervention, which may be related to the learning experience of a new and challenging task.

RESUMO. O treinamento das funções executivas é considerado uma ferramenta promissora para retardar os efeitos naturais do envelhecimento na cognição. No entanto, ainda são poucos os estudos que propõem uma intervenção unimodal com foco no controle inibitório, e nenhum deles estudou o efeito desse tipo de intervenção em idosos. Objetivo: Investigar os benefícios do treinamento de controle inibitório em idosos saudáveis, comparando os dois momentos da avaliação: antes e depois do treinamento. Método: Um total de 27 participantes foi incluído após entrevista e verificação dos critérios de inclusão. O treinamento foi baseado no paradigma Stop-Signal e realizado em 21 sessões. Resultados: Os participantes tiveram um melhor desempenho após o treinamento, reduzindo a taxa de erro de alarme falso (nas tentativas stop), reduzindo a taxa de omissões e mostrando aumento na taxa de acerto e GoTR (nas tentativas go), no SSRT e mostrando uma diminuição significativa no nível de ansiedade. O treinamento não teve impacto significativo nas pontuações obtidas nos testes neuropsicológicos complementares. Conclusões: Esses resultados são consistentes com estudos anteriores que sustentam a viabilidade e eficácia da intervenção cognitiva para funções executivas em idosos, além de sugerirem um efeito positivo da intervenção, que pode estar relacionado à experiência de aprendizagem de uma tarefa nova e desafiadora.

The importance on the use of active methods when teaching human morphophysiology.

Traditional didactic methods have not been successful in promoting independent and reflective students. Thus new teaching techniques are essential to optimize the way students learn. This study aimed to evaluate the perception of students, from the Faculty of Ceilandia, University of Brasília (FCE/UnB), about the active method "inverted class," which has as its primary characteristic to stimulate the student to study and research the contents before the theoretical classes or explanation of the teacher. To this end, 64 students of the summer course participated in the Flipped Classroom and later evaluated the discipline method. Initially, they received a script with clinical questions about the class's content, which should be discussed and answered about the basic, clinical, and practical application concepts. To evaluate the didactic method applied, on the last day of class, the summer class students were invited to answer a survey about satisfaction when learning the contents. For 98% of the students, the teaching method used was approved. It is also emphasized that this class had 48 repeating students, unmotivated with the course because, for many, they declared themselves unable to be approved. Given the success of the method, we decided to apply it throughout 2018, so the method was applied to over 180 students of FCE/UnB health courses. In short, it is considered that the results presented here to support other studies that highlight the need for changes in traditional teaching methods, which is a didactic option in undergraduate courses.

Cognitive impairment in Parkinson's disease: A clinical and pathophysiological overview.

Cognitive dysfunction in Parkinson's disease (PD) has received increasing attention, and, together with other non-motor symptoms, exert a significant functional impact in the daily lives of patients. This article aims to compile and briefly summarize selected published data about clinical features, cognitive evaluation, biomarkers, and pathophysiology of PD-related dementia (PDD). The literature search included articles indexed in the MEDLINE/PubMed database, published in English, over the last two decades. Despite significant progress on clinical criteria and cohort studies for PD-mild cognitive impairment (PD-MCI) and PDD, there are still knowledge gaps about its exact molecular and pathological basis. Here we overview the scientific literature on the role of functional circuits, neurotransmitter systems (monoaminergic and cholinergic), basal forebrain, and brainstem nuclei dysfunction in PD-MCI. Correlations between neuroimaging and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers, clinical outcomes, and pathological results are described to aid in uncovering the neurodegeneration pattern in PD-MCI and PDD.

Biodistribution and biocompatibility of DMSA-stabilized maghemite magnetic nanoparticles in nonhuman primates (Cebus spp.).

AIM: This work represents the first reported investigation on the effects of magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) in nonhuman primates. Biodistribution, biocompatibility and nanotoxicity of maghemite nanoparticles stabilized with dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) were accessed. MATERIALS & METHODS: A control animal was used and three other animals were intravenously injected with DMSA-MNPs and euthanized 12 h, 30 and 90 days following administration. Extracted organs were processed by histological techniques. An additional animal was used to collect blood samples to complementarily assess biocompatibility 12 h, 7, 15, 30, 60 and 90 days after DMSA-MNP injection. RESULTS: DMSA-MNPs were preferentially addressed to the lungs, liver and kidneys. Hematological and serum biochemical results corroborated histological findings, supporting DMSA-MNP biocompatibility while preserving both hepatic and renal normal activity. CONCLUSION: DMSA-MNPs were preferentially distributed to the lung, liver and kidneys. Furthermore, DMSA-MNPs were considered biocompatible, supporting their application as a promising nanomaterial platform for future biomedical use.

Atenção ao paciente renal crônico, em hemodiálise, sob a ótica do usuário / Care for chronic renal patients undergoing hemodialysis, from the perspective of the user

Estudo transversal com o objetivo de avaliar, sob a ótica do usuário, as condições de atenção ao paciente em tratamento hemodialítico. O estudo foi realizado nos oito Serviços de Diálise do Estado do Maranhão. A amostra foi constituída de 330 pacientes. Os dados foram coletados no período de agosto de 2008 a dezembro de 2009, por meio de um questionário estruturado. Observou-se que a média de idade dos pacientes foi de 57 anos, 57,6% eram do sexo masculino; 59,6% eram casados; 39,4% possuíam ensino fundamental, embora tenha sido identificado 17,3% de analfabetos; 49,1% dos pacientes recebiam benefício, subsídio do INSS por doença, 26,7% eram aposentados e 63,9% recebiam de 1 a 2 salários mínimo; 34,8% eram de unidades de urgência e emergência, 49,7% tiveram como problema inicial hipertensão arterial e 15,7%, diabetes, 70,8% têm transporte garantido por seu município de origem, 42,5% informaram que os serviços de diálise estão atendendo às suas expectativas e 45,0% sugeriram a necessidade de descentralização dos serviços. Conclui-se que considerando os baixos níveis de escolaridade e renda familiar é necessário garantir o transporte gratuito, o diagnóstico precoce e a implantação de novos serviços para melhor distribuição regional da atenção ao paciente. As unidades de diálise bem como os profissionais de saúde têm potencial para intervir, com planejamento estratégico e ações multiprofissionais, para promoverem melhoria da atenção ao paciente em tratamento hemodialítico.

Perception of the Müller-Lyer illusion in capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella).

Visual illusions are formed by differences between the perception of one figure and its real physical characteristics. The Müller-Lyer illusion is the best known and most studied geometric illusion, consisting in the subject's judgment between two parallel lines that have the same size, one flanked with outward-pointing arrowheads, and the other with inward-pointing arrowheads. These arrowheads act as inductors that make the lines to be perceived as having different sizes, inward-pointing stimuli being estimated as longer. This study aimed to investigate the Müller-Lyer illusion in capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella), a New World primate not yet investigated for this illusion. For this purpose, stimuli were presented on a touch screen monitor. Ten adult subjects (five females and five males) were used. Before the tests, they were trained to discriminate between two physically different lines with and without arrowheads. The longer lines were always the positive (rewarded) stimuli. Regarding the Müller-Lyer Illusion test, all monkeys, unrespective of gender, demonstrated susceptibility to the illusion, by choosing preferentially the line with inward-pointing arrowheads. In order to determine the degree of the illusion, a point of subjective equality test (PSE) was performed. The PSE without arrowheads values were lower than the PSE with arrowheads. Thus, it was demonstrated that capuchin monkeys were susceptible to the Müller-Lyer illusion, once the perception of the lines' size was influenced by the presence of the arrowheads and by their orientation.

Ritmicidade biológica e desempenho cognitivo em primatas humanos e não-humanos / Biological rhythmicity and cognitive performance in human and non-human primates

Ritmos circadianos têm sido demonstrados em diversas funções, dentre as quais o desempenho cognitivo humano. Assim, a eficiência no desempenho numa tarefa depende - entre outros fatores - da hora do dia em que ela é realizada. Pouco se conhece entretanto, sobre variações circadianas do desempenho cognitivo em primatas não-humanos. Neste estudo investigamos, em macacos (Cebus apella) e humanos, o efeito da hora do dia sobre o desempenho cognitivo através de testes computadorizados de tempo de reação e de memória operacional de curto prazo. Os sujeitos foram testados em cinco horários a intervalos regulares de sua fase de vigília durante cinco dias consecutivos. Os resultados obtidos indicam variações no tempo de reação em humanos e macacos em função do horário e do dia de teste, mas não nos níveis de acertos nos testes de memória operacional. 0 tempo de reação dos humanos variou também em função do cronotipo dos indivíduos. Nos testes de memória operacional, o desempenho dos animais foi inversamente correlacionado à velocidade com a qual as tarefas foram realizadas. Um padrão circadiano no desempenho foi observado para macacos e humanos tanto no teste de tempo de reação como na latência de resposta nos testes de memória. Estes resultados são discutidos com base no papel da ritmicidade biológica sobre processos cognitivos (AU)

Ritmicidade biológica e desempenho cognitivo em primatas humanos e não-humanos / Biological rhythmicity and cognitive performance in human and non-human primates

Ritmos circadianos têm sido demonstrados em diversas funções, dentre as quais o desempenho cognitivo humano. Assim, a eficiência no desempenho numa tarefa depende - entre outros fatores - da hora do dia em que ela é realizada. Pouco se conhece entretanto, sobre variações circadianas do desempenho cognitivo em primatas não-humanos. Neste estudo investigamos, em macacos (Cebus apella) e humanos, o efeito da hora do dia sobre o desempenho cognitivo através de testes computadorizados de tempo de reação e de memória operacional de curto prazo. Os sujeitos foram testados em cinco horários a intervalos regulares de sua fase de vigília durante cinco dias consecutivos. Os resultados obtidos indicam variações no tempo de reação em humanos e macacos em função do horário e do dia de teste, mas não nos níveis de acertos nos testes de memória operacional. 0 tempo de reação dos humanos variou também em função do cronotipo dos indivíduos. Nos testes de memória operacional, o desempenho dos animais foi inversamente correlacionado à velocidade com a qual as tarefas foram realizadas. Um padrão circadiano no desempenho foi observado para macacos e humanos tanto no teste de tempo de reação como na latência de resposta nos testes de memória. Estes resultados são discutidos com base no papel da ritmicidade biológica sobre processos cognitivos