Metal cross-contamination relationships between sediments and loricariidae species (siluriform) in a neotropical riverine system.

Human activities have changed the natural rates at which metals are moved and accumulated in both land and water environments, resulting in negative impacts on local wildlife. In this study, concentrations of Cr, Ni, Cd, Pb, Cu, Mn, Co, and Zn were evaluated in water and riverbed sediment samples collected from the Verde River basin (VR), as well as in tissue samples from five native Loricariidae species. Sediment samples collected from the central section of the VR riverbed indicated the presence of metal concentrations, which were primarily attributed to scattered pollution sources linked to rural activities in the surrounding areas. The bioconcentration factor in the Loricariids liver presented the highest average values for Zn (1.27-58.21), Co (0.48-14.91) and Cu (1.15-11.14). The same pattern was observed in the muscle, but in a lower proportion. Regarding the bioaccumulation factor, Co (1.54-34.84), Cu (5.85-25.22) and Zn (0.64-18.08) attained the highest average values in the liver. The co-inertia analysis examined the spatial distribution of metal concentrations in riverbed sediments and in tissues of Loricariids from the upper, middle, and lower stretches of the river, including the river mouth. The analysis revealed varying patterns, with samples from some regions showing higher bioaccumulation levels. This suggests that riverbed sediments are a primary source of metal contamination in Loricariids from these areas. The pollution has had a significant impact on the bioaccumulation of metals in the VR' Loricariids, which are good indicators of sediment-associated metal bioaccumulation. The metal concentrations recorded in both the riverbed sediments and Loricariids surpassed international and Brazilian limits set for aquatic health and safe human consumption. Given the importance of the Verde River in terms of its ecological, social, cultural, and economic roles, it is essential to implement biomonitoring and control measures to safeguard both terrestrial and aquatic resources.

Evaluation of the mandibular condylar bone microarchitecture in people living with HIV.

OBJECTIVES: People living with HIV (PLWH) have been shown to have lower bone density at the spine, hip, and radius. However, whether a similar bone phenotype is seen in craniofacial bones is not known. The goal of this study was to evaluate the bone microarchitecture of the mandibular condyle in PLWH. METHODS: We recruited 212 participants, which included 88 HIV-negative participants and 124 PLWH on combination antiretroviral therapy with virological suppression from a single academic center. Each participant filled out a validated temporomandibular disorder (TMD) pain screening questionnaire and had cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) of their mandibular condyles. Qualitative radiographic evidence of temporomandibular joint disorders-osteoarthritis (TMJD-OA) assessment and quantitative microarchitecture analysis of their mandibular condylar bones were conducted. RESULTS: There was no statistically significant difference in either self-reported TMD or in radiographic evidence of TMJD-OA in PLWH compared with HIV-negative controls. Linear regression analysis revealed that positive HIV status remained significantly associated with increased trabecular thickness, decreased cortical porosity, and increased cortical bone volume fraction after adjusting for race, diabetes, sex, and age. CONCLUSION: PLWH have increased mandibular condylar trabecular bone thickness and cortical bone volume fraction compared with HIV-negative controls.

Phenotypic plasticity in Copaifera langsdorffii Desf. in different forest fragments in São Paulo state, Brazil.

Forest fragments are susceptible to environmental shifts and this demands high phenotypic plasticity of the species growing in these areas. In this context, the objective of the present work was to study the phenotypic plasticity of copaíba (Copaifera langsdorffii Desf.) based on morphological and anatomical metrics of the leaflets of plants from six forest fragments. The leaflets of C. langsdorffii individuals of the different fragments did not show qualitative differences, nonetheless, they demonstrated quantitative plasticity. Stomatal density (p = 0.017), specific leaf area (p = 0.009), palisade parenchyma (p = 0.008) and relative water content (p = 0.002), indicated a high luminous, water and nutritional influence on the development of leaflets. Based on the dry mass of the leaflets and the thickness of the palisade parenchyma, the principal component analysis explained 57.43% of the differences found between the variables. The data presented here provides evidence of the phenotypic plasticity of C. langsdorffii which, although occurring in similar soils, showed significant quantitative differences in its morphoanatomical characters.

Effect of humic compost on the adsorption of cadmium (II) in aqueous medium.

The humic compost obtained from the treatment of tobacco from smuggled cigarettes (SCT) and industrial sewage sludge (ISS) was evaluated as adsorbent for Cd (II) in aqueous solution, for possible decontamination of water resources. Optimum conditions were found at pH 5 and a 3 g/L adsorbent concentration, which presented 92% Cd (II) removal and maximum adsorption capacity of 28.546 mg/g. The pseudo-second-order kinetic model presented the best fit, pointing 120 min as the time needed to attain a steady state. FTIR and EDX results suggest the formation of coordinated Cd (II) bonds by functional groups between the compost and the solution. The results obtained in real samples showed that, even under different environmental conditions, the Cd (II) adsorption varied between 80.05 and 91.61%. The results indicated that the compost evaluated can be used for remediation of Cd (II)-contaminated water resources.

Microcrustaceans in rice fields: A scientometric analysis from 1977 to 2019.

We evaluated the worldwide trends in studies of the active and dormant forms of microcrustaceans in rice fields, and the potential of this environment as a stock of diversity through a scientometric analysis. Web of Science and Scopus databases were used to compile the 77 studies published before 2019. Publications were distributed over 35 years, with a positive correlation between the number of studies and the year of publication (rho = 0.34). The identified studies were from 18 countries, and 58.4% were conducted in Japan, Italy, the United States, and Spain. Most studies addressed more than two groups of microcrustaceans (37.6%), followed by those focused on Cladocera (27.2%) and Ostracoda (18.1%). We quantified 301 species from six groups of microcrustaceans, the majority of which were Cladocera (41.5%) and Ostracoda (39.8%). The greatest richness of microcrustaceans identified in studies were found in Italy, Thailand, Malaysia, Spain, France, Japan, and Brazil. Of the studies, 87% were centered on the active forms of microcrustaceans rather than dormant forms. We found that 15.5% of the countries that grow rice have identified the richness of microcrustaceans, and even though they are artificial environments, rice fields have high potential to store a high diversity of microcrustaceans.

Anticancer activity of monoterpenes: a systematic review.

Secondary metabolites have been recognized for centuries as medicinal agents, in particular monoterpenes which have been the target of research in the discovery of antineoplastic drugs, as they have potential antitumor effect and low toxicity and are used as additives in foods and cosmetics. Another advantage of monoterpenes is structural diversity, which gives greater plasticity when interacting with cells. The purpose of this review was to summarize and critically discuss the anticancer potential of monoterpenes and their respective mechanisms of action. A systematic review of articles in the MEDLINE/PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus and Science Direct electronic databases was independently conducted by three reviewers using the combination of the following keywords: monoterpenes AND anticancer AND in vitro. Restriction in selecting articles followed pre-established inclusion and exclusion criteria by the reviewers, and also a time limitation with works published between 2015 and 2019 being selected. In total, 39 works were deemed eligible for inclusion in the final review. Monoterpenes have cytotoxic activity in a wide variety of tumor cell lines, and mainly appear to exert this effect by inducing apoptosis caused by oxidative stress. In addition, improved use of monoterpenes when used in drug delivery systems and the synergistic effect with conventional chemotherapeutic drugs are reported. These findings validate this class of compounds as a promising source of chemotherapeutic drugs yet to be explored.

Panoramic Dental Reconstruction for Faster Detection of Dental Pathology on Medical Non-dental CT Scans: a Proof of Concept from CT Neck Soft Tissue.

Even though teeth are often included in the field of view for a variety of medical CT studies, dental pathology is often missed by radiologists. Given the myriad morbidity and occasional mortality associated with sequelae of dental pathology, an important goal is to decrease these false negatives. However, given the ever-increasing volume of cases studies that radiologists have to read and the number of structures and diseases they have to evaluate, it is important not to place undue time restraints on the radiologist to this end. We hypothesized that generating panoramic dental radiographs from non-dental CT scans can permit identification of key diseases, while not adding much time to interpretation. The key advantage of panoramic dental radiographs is that they display the plane of the teeth in two dimensions, thereby facilitating fast and accurate assessment. We found that interpreting panoramic radiographic reconstructions compared to the full CT volumes reduced time-to-diagnosis of key dental pathology on average by roughly a factor of four. This expedition was statistically significant, and the average time-to-diagnosis for panoramic reconstructions was on the order of seconds, without a loss in accuracy compared to full CT. As such, we posit that panoramic reconstruction can serve as a one-slice additional series in any CT image stack that includes the teeth in its field of view.

Post-treatment of anaerobic reactor effluent for reuse using a triple filtration system.

This study evaluated the triple filtration technology efficiency as a post-treatment of anaerobic reactor effluent. This study was carried out employing different concentrations of ferric chloride as coagulant and peracetic acid or calcium hypochlorite as oxidant. The filtration rates used were 150 m3/m2 d and 120 m3/m2 d. The efficiency of the system was evaluated through physicochemical and microbiological parameters. The best conditions found were those using 20 mg/L ferric chloride, 120 m3/m2 d filtration rate and 0.8 and 1.6 mg/L free chlorine. These conditions resulted in turbidity <1.0 NTU, Total Organic Carbon <1.5 mg/L, Chemical Oxygen Demand <1.0 mg/L, Biochemical Oxygen Demand <1.0 mg/L, in addition 100% removal of Total Phosphorus and Linear Alkylate Sulfonate. The post-oxidation process promoted inactivation of 100% Total Coliforms and E. coli. The post-treatment was able to produce effluent with characteristics that enable its urban, damming, creation and maintenance of wetlands, industrial and agricultural reuse proposed by USEPA.

Development, validation and matrix effect of a QuEChERS method for the analysis of organochlorine pesticides in fish tissue.

This study aims to develop and validate a method to determine OCPs in fish tissues, minimizing the consumption of sample and reagents, by using a modified QuEChERS along with ultrasound, d-SPE and gas chromatography with an electron capture detector (GC-ECD), refraining the pooling. Different factorial designs were employed to optimize the sample preparation phase. The validation method presented a recovery of around 77.3% and 110.8%, with RSD lower than 13% and the detection limits were between 0.24 and 2.88 µgkg-1, revealing good sensitiveness and accuracy. The method was satisfactorily applied to the analysis of tissues from different species of fish and OCPs residues were detected. The proposed method was shown effective to determine OCPs low concentrations in fish tissues, using small sample mass (0.5 g), making the sample analyses viable without the need for grouping (pool).

Translocation of metal ions from soil to tobacco roots and their concentration in the plant parts.

This paper presents a study on the translocation factors (TFs) and bioconcentration factors (BCFs) of copper (Cu), manganese (Mn), zinc (Zn), cobalt (Co), chromium (Cr), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), iron (Fe), nickel (Ni), and arsenic (As) ions in roots, stems, and leaves of tobacco. The results revealed that during the tobacco growth, the roots are able to increase the sensitiveness of the physiological control, reducing the translocation of the metals Ni (0.38) and Pb (0.48) to the leaves. Cd and Zn presented factors TF and BCF >1 in the three tissues under analysis, which indicates the high potential for transportation and accumulation of these metals in all plant tissues. The TF values for Cr (0.65) and As (0.63) revealed low translocation of these ions to the aerial parts, indicating low mobility of ions from the roots. Therefore, tobacco can be considered an efficient accumulator of Ni, Cr, As and Pb in roots and Cd and Zn in all plant parts.

Breast cancer pharmacogenetics: a systematic review.

Breast cancer was declared the most prevalent type of cancer in 2020. Among other factors, treatment response can be affected by genetic polymorphisms - which is the focus of pharmacogenetics - and ethnicity is also a contributing factor in this context. Relevant genes in disease treatment pathways were selected to evaluate treatment response from the pharmacogenetic perspective; polymorphism frequencies and ethnic and continental representation across the available literature were also assessed through a systematic review. The identified associations and gaps have been described in this study with the purpose that, in the future, treatments can be personalized and thus be more effective, safer, and accessible to all.

Phase III, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical study: a study on the safety and clinical efficacy of AZVUDINE in moderate COVID-19 patients.

Background: In 2019, a highly pathogenic coronavirus named severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) surfaced and resulted in the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). With the aim of finding effective drugs to fight against the disease, several trials have been conducted since COVID-19 can only be considered a treatable disease, from a clinical point of view, after the availability of specific and effective antivirals. AZVUDINE (FNC), initially developed for treating HIV, is a potential treatment for COVID-19 as it has the capability to lower the patient's viral load and promote recovery. Methods: Volunteers infected with SARS-CoV-2 confirmed by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), with good kidney and liver function, who were not using other antivirals or monoclonal antibodies were eligible. Samples from patients were assessed for viral load every 48 h during treatment using reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and droplet digital polymerase chain reaction (ddPCR). Results: The study's primary outcome measure was the percentage of participants showing an improvement in clinical scores, while the secondary outcome measure was the percentage of participants with a clinical outcome of cure. These measures were used to assess the safety and efficacy of FNC for treating COVID-19. In the analysis of sociodemographic variables, no significant differences were detected between patients in the FNC and the placebo group for race, age group, or sex. The results showed a potential benefit to participants who received FNC during the study, as observed in the shorter hospital stay, shorter negative conversion time of SARS-CoV-2, and a significant reduction in viral load. Furthermore, the reduction in fever and chills were significant at D1, D2, and D3. In this study, a total of 112 adverse events cases were noted, with 105 cases being categorized as non-serious and only 7 cases as serious adverse events. Conclusion: The pandemic is not being effectively controlled and is causing multiple waves of infection that require extensive medical resources. However, FNC has demonstrated potential to reduce the treatment duration of moderate COVID-19 cases, thereby saving significant medical resources. This makes FNC a promising candidate for COVID-19 treatment.Clinical trial registration: [clinicaltrials.gov], identifier [NCT04668235].

Exposure to Anacardiaceae volatile oils and their constituents induces lipid peroxidation within food-borne bacteria cells.

The chemical composition of the volatile oils from five Anacardiaceae species and their activities against Gram positive and negative bacteria were assessed. The peroxidative damage within bacterial cell membranes was determined through the breakdown product malondialdehyde (MDA). The major constituents in Anacardium humile leaves oil were (E)-caryophyllene (31.0%) and α-pinene (22.0%), and in Anacardium occidentale oil they were (E)-caryophyllene (15.4%) and germacrene-D (11.5%). Volatile oil from Astronium fraxinifolium leaves were dominated by (E)-ß-ocimene (44.1%) and α-terpinolene (15.2%), whilst the oil from Myracrodruon urundeuva contained an abundance of δ-3-carene (78.8%). However, Schinus terebinthifolius leaves oil collected in March and July presented different chemical compositions. The oils from all species, except the one from A. occidentale, exhibited varying levels of antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus and Escherichia coli. Oil extracted in July from S. terebinthifolius was more active against all bacterial strains than the corresponding oil extracted in March. The high antibacterial activity of the M. urundeuva oil could be ascribed to its high δ-3-carene content. The amounts of MDA generated within bacterial cells indicate that the volatile oils induce lipid peroxidation. The results suggest that one putative mechanism of antibacterial action of these volatile oils is pro-oxidant damage within bacterial cell membrane explaining in part their preservative properties.

Combined process of chemically enhanced sedimentation and rapid filtration for urban wastewater treatment for potable reuse.

The objective of this study is to propose a new post-treatment of effluents from Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket (UASB) using rapid filtration, aiming at the production of water for potable reuse. The final quality of the effluent produced by the treatment using gravel, sand, clinoptilolite and activated carbon associated with disinfection was evaluated by physical chemical analysis, heavy metals and persistent organic contaminants. Experiments were carried out in jar test, filter operation time, evaluation of the efficiency using peracetic acid and free chlorine as disinfectant and all results were statistically analysed. The best conditions were those using 20 mg/L of ferric chloride and natural pH of the effluent (≈ 7.0), which resulted in less reagent consumption. The use of intermediate fund discharges made it possible to obtain approximately 91% of recovered water efficiency. The effluent treated under these conditions showed DOC <2.0 mg/L, COD <1.0 mg/L, BOD <1.0 mg/L, turbidity <1.0 NTU, TSS <1.0 mg/L, ammonia <0.1 mg/L, total phosphorus <0.1 mg/L and surfactants <0.1 mg/L. The disinfection process with free chlorine and PAA allowed the total inactivation of faecal coliforms and total coliforms. The treatment using rapid filtration with disinfection by chlorine reached the appropriate level for urban, environmental, industrial and indirect potable water reuse.

The effects of anaerobic reactor post-treatments by rapid filtration systems and conventional techniques.

Although anaerobic reactors are an excellent alternative in the treatment of domestic effluents, they have the disadvantage of requiring post-treatment. Many technologies have been studied and, recently, rapid filtration systems have been presented as a viable alternative for post-treatment. This work compared post-treatment techniques for anaerobic upflow sludge blanket (UASB) reactors by rapid filtration systems (double filtration (DF); triple filtration with clinoptilolite (TFc); and triple filtration with activated carbon (TFac)) to conventional systems (facultative pond (FP); biological filter (BF); biological filter with recirculation and decantation (BFD)), verifying their potential for improvement of the final effluent quality. The UASB effluent post-treatments by FP, BF, BFD, DF, TFc, and TFac were evaluated. The removal of turbidity in both BFD and FP post-treatments was below 75%. The DF, TFc, and TFac treatments showed over 99% removal of the same parameters. COD removal in the FP, BF, and BFD post-treatments was over 10%, while in the DF, TFc, and TFac treatments, it was over 80%. The greatest total phosphorus removal was observed in TFc and TFac, whose values were over 99%. The best removal of ammoniacal nitrogen, 99% was observed in the TFc treatment. Regarding Al, Cd, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn removal, all rapid filtration systems showed better performance when compared to conventional systems. The DF, TFc, and TFac systems showed over 90% removal of most metals evaluated, while the FP and BF treatments presented values below 50% for most metals, and in the BFD system, the removal values were below 80% for most metals. The results indicate that rapid filtration systems were better at removing all evaluated parameters when compared to conventional systems.

In vitro anticancer properties of anthocyanins: A systematic review.

Anthocyanins have been associated with beneficial effects on human health. Cancer has been one of the main public health issues due to its aggressiveness and high mortality rate. This systematic review aimed to address recent research (from January 2000 to September 2021) on the anticancer activity of anthocyanins assessed by in vitro assays. The selected studies revealed that anthocyanins have anticancer potential by inhibiting cancer cell viability and proliferation, controlling cell cycle, and promoting apoptosis.

The Effect of Different Formulations of Praziquantel in Reducing Worms in the Prepatent Period of Schistosomiasis in Murine Models.

Schistosomiasis is a widely distributed parasitic disease and one of the most important neglected tropical diseases globally, for which Praziquantel® (PZQ) is the only available treatment. In this context, tests with new PZQ formulations become relevant for disease control. This study evaluated the effects of PZQ treatment in the prepatent phase of schistosomiasis using two formulations: nanoencapsulated (PZQ-NANO) and active pharmaceutical ingredient (PZQ-API). Five experimental groups were established, for which the following serological parameters were evaluated: ALT, AST, ALP, and TP. Animals treated with PZQ-API at 15 and 30 days post-infection showed decreased eggs per gram of feces (EPG) compared to untreated infected animals. The same animals showed reductions of 63.6 and 65.1%, respectively, at 60 days post-infection. Animals treated with PZQ-NANO experienced no significant changes in EPG at any time of observation. Animals treated with either PZQ-API or PZQ-NANO had higher ALT and AST levels in the patent period (60 and 90 days post-infection). Treatment with PZQ, either API or NANO, at 15 days post-infection reduced AST, ALT, and TP levels. It is concluded that prepatent treatment with PZQ-API can reduce the parasite load of infected animals and that treatment at 15 days post-infection can prevent increased serum levels of ALT, AST, and TP.

Seasonal variation in the chemical composition and antimicrobial activity of volatile oils of three species of Leptospermum (Myrtaceae) grown in Brazil.

This study investigates the seasonal variation of three species of Leptospermum (Myrtaceae) grown in Brazil. The chemical composition of the volatile oils of L. flavescens and L. petersonii did not show any significant seasonal variation in the major components, while for Leptospermum madidum subsp. sativum the levels of major constituents of the volatile oils varied with the harvest season. Major fluctuations in the composition of L. madidum subsp. sativum oil included α-pinene (0-15.2%), ß-pinene (0.3-18.5%), α-humulene (0.8-30%), 1,8-cineole (0.4-7.1%) and E-caryophyllene (0.4-11.9%). Levels of ß-pinene (0.3-5.6%), terpinen-4-ol (4.7-7.2%) and nerolidol (55.1-67.6%) fluctuated seasonally in the L. flavescens oil. In L. petersonii, changes were noted for geranial (29.8-32.8%), citronellal (26.5-33.9%) and neral (22.7-23.5%). The activity of the volatile oils against the tested bacteria differed, depending on season the oils were obtained. In general, the volatile oils were more active against Gram-positive bacteria.

Bioaccumulation and bioconcentration of metals in Characidae from a Neotropical river basin under anthropic activities.

Natural rates of metal mobilization and deposition in terrestrial and aquatic environments have been changed due to anthropic activities, exposing the native biota to dangerous effects related to bioconcentration and bioaccumulation of metals. This study assessed the concentrations of Cr, Ni, Cd, Pb, Cu, Mn, Co, and Zn in the water and riverbed sediment samples from the Verde River basin (VR), and in tissue samples from two native fishes, the Psalidodon paranae, a VR inhabitant, and the Psalidodon aff. fasciatus, a migratory species. Arithmetic mean values of metal concentrations recorded in waters were Cr: 46.16, Ni: 40.29, Cd 43.19, Pb: 57.74, Cu: 63.72, Mn: 98.36, Co: 64.53, Zn: 81.19, while for riverbed sediments were Cr: 11.84, Ni: 10.52, Cd: 7.14, Pb: 15.00, Cu: 22.16, Mn: 334.77, Co: 24.62, Zn: 434.44. For several analyzed samples, metal concentrations found were higher than Brazilian and international limits set for healthy aquatic life and human uses. Analyzed fish tissues also presented metal concentrations higher than Brazilian and international limits set, indicating a high ecological and health risk for the region. Psalidodon paranae showed affinity to bioconcentrate Pb, Zn, and Cd, while Psalidodon. aff. fasciatus tended to bioconcentrate Ni, Zn, and Cr. Multivariate analyses revealed spatial and temporal patterns in the metal contaminations in VR. These patterns were associated with rural and urban activities developed along VR, which practice inadequate soil handling, indiscriminate use of agrochemicals, and the dumping of domestic garbage and untreated and treated sewage into the river. The implementation of public policies for biomonitoring and pollution control by metals in VR is essential to safeguard regional water resources and their biota.