Functional validation of LexADBDGim chimeras in saccharomyces cerevisiae

GimC/Prefoldin is a hetero-oligomeric complex involved in cytoskeleton biogenesis. In order to identify by two-hybrid system targets that directly interact with Gims and support the stress phenotypes, this work aimed the functional validation of all Gims in saccharomyces cerevisiae.

The adjusted effect of maternal body mass index, energy and macronutrient intakes during pregnancy, and gestational weight gain on body composition of full-term neonates

Objective - To evaluate the effect of prepregnancy body mass index (BMI), energy and macronutrient intakes during pregnancy, and gestational weight gain (GWG) on the body composition of full-term appropriate-for-gestational age neonates. Study Design - This is a cross-sectional study of a systematically recruited convenience sample of mother-infant pairs. Food intake during pregnancy was assessed by food frequency questionnaire and its nutritional value by the Food Processor Plus (ESHA Research Inc, Salem, OR). Neonatal body composition was assessed both by anthropometry and air displacement plethysmography. Explanatory models for neonatal body composition were tested by multiple linear regression analysis. Results - A total of 100 mother-infant pairs were included. Prepregnancy overweight was positively associated with offspring weight, weight/length, BMI, and fat-free mass in the whole sample; in males, it was also positively associated with midarm circumference, ponderal index, and fat mass. Higher energy intake from carbohydrate was positively associated with midarm circumference and weight/length in the whole sample. Higher GWG was positively associated with weight, length, and midarm circumference in females. Conclusion - Positive adjusted associations were found between both prepregnancy BMI and energy intake from carbohydrate and offspring body size in the whole sample. Positive adjusted associations were also found between prepregnancy overweight and adiposity in males, and between GWG and body size in females.

Magnesium, insulin resistance and body composition in healthy postmenopausal women

Objective: This study was conducted to determine the association between magnesium (Mg), body composition and insulin resistance in 136 sedentary postmenopausal women, 50 to 77 years of age. Methods: Diabetics, hypertensives and women on hormonal replacement therapy were excluded and the remaining 74 were divided according to BMI≥25 (obese: OG) and BMI<25 kg/m2 (non-obese: NOG). Nutritional data disclosed that intakes were high for protein and saturated fat, low for carbohydrates, polyunsaturated fat and Mg and normal for the other nutrients, according to recommended dietary allowances (RDA). Mg values in red blood cells (RBC-Mg) and plasma (P-Mg), were determined, as were fasting glucose, and insulin levels, Homeostasis Model Assessment (HOMA), body mass index (BMI), body fat percent (BF %), abdominal fat (AF) and free fat mass (FFM). Results: RBC-Mg values were low in both groups when compared with normal values. There were significant differences in body composition parameters, HOMA and insulin levels, with higher basal insulin levels in OG. RBC-Mg was directly correlated with insulin, HOMA and FFM in both groups, according to Pearson correlations. HOMA in OG was also directly correlated with BMI, FFM and AF. In NOG, HOMA was only correlated with FFM. The low RBC-Mg levels observed were probably due to low Mg intake and to deregulation of factors that control Mg homeostasis during menopause. Conclusions: Both Mg deficit and obesity may independently lead to a higher risk for insulin resistance and cardiovascular disease.

Does the intake of LC-PUFAS during pregnancy affect the body composition of term neonates? Preliminary results

Background: The effect of the intake of polynsaturated long chain fatty acids (LCPUFAs) during pregnancy on fetal body composition has been assessed by studies using mostly neonatal anthropometry. Their results have been inconsistent, probably because neonatal anthropometry has several validity limitations. Air displacement plethismography (ADP) is a recently validated non-invasive method for assessing body composition in neonates. Objective: To determine the effect of the intake of LCPUFAs during pregnancy on the body composition of term neonates, measured by ADP. Methods: Cross-sectional study of a convenience sample of healthy full-term neonates and their mothers. The diet during pregnancy was assessed using a validated semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire; Food Processor Plus® was used to convert food intake into nutritional values. Body composition was estimated by anthropometry and measured by ADP using Pea Pod™ Life Measurements Inc (fat mass - FM, fat-free mass and %FM) within the first 72h after birth. Univariate and multivariate analysis (linear regression model) were performed. Results: 54 mother-neonate pairs were included. Multivariate analysis adjusted to the maternal body mass index shows positive association between LCPUFAs intake and neonatal mid-arm circumference (= 0,610, p = 0,019) and negative association between n-6:n-3 ratio intake and neonatal %FM (= -2,744, p=0,066). Conclusion: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study on this subject using ADP and showing a negative association between LCPUFAs n-6:n-3 ratio intake in pregnancy and neonatal %FM. This preliminary finding requires confirmation increasing the study power with a greater sample and performing interventional studies.

Microscopic Theory of Anchoring Transitions at the Surfaces of Pure Liquid-Crystals and their Mixtures .1. The Fowler Approximation

We have generalized earlier work on anchoring of nematic liquid crystals by Sullivan, and Sluckin and Poniewierski, in order to study transitions which may occur in binary mixtures of nematic liquid crystals as a function of composition. Microscopic expressions have been obtained for the anchoring energy of (i) a liquid crystal in contact with a solid aligning surface; (ii) a liquid crystal in contact with an immiscible isotropic medium; (iii) a liquid crystal mixture in contact with a solid aligning surface. For (iii), possible phase diagrams of anchoring angle versus dopant concentration have been calculated using a simple liquid crystal model. These exhibit some interesting features including re-entrant conical anchoring, for what are believed to be realistic values of the molecular parameters. A way of relaxing the most drastic approximation implicit in the above approach is also briefly discussed.

Avaliação da aptidão física funcional de idosos hipertensos da Cidade da Praia, Cabo Verde: estudo piloto

Introdução – A avaliação da aptidão física permite a identificação de níveis de incapacidade e risco de perda funcional, pelo que é extremamente útil na estruturação de programas de atividade física específicos, que constituem a primeira intervenção no que toca à intervenção não-farmacológica na Hipertensão Arterial Sistémica (HAS). Objetivo – Avaliar a aptidão física funcional e os níveis de atividade física de idosos hipertensos da Cidade da Praia – Cabo Verde. Metodologia – A flexibilidade, força e resistência muscular, resistência aeróbia e composição corporal foram avaliadas através da bateria de Fullerton e dinamometria isométrica manual. O nível de atividade física foi avaliado pelo questionário Seven Day Physical Activity Recall (7D-PAR). Resultados – Participaram 75 idosos, com idades compreendidas entre os 60 e os 99 anos, 68% dos quais eram mulheres, com índice de massa corporal (IMC) de 25,2±5,4, com diagnóstico clínico de HAS. O tempo despendido em atividades de intensidade moderada encontrava-se dentro dos valores recomendados, embora a atividade intensa se encontrasse muito abaixo do recomendado e não efetuassem qualquer exercício de força e flexibilidade. A resistência aeróbia expressa pelo Teste 6 Minutos de Marcha (T6MM) apresentou valores médios baixos (293,5±112,2m), bem como a flexibilidade e a força de preensão. Esta associação é um indicador de baixa capacidade funcional. Conclusão – Os baixos níveis de aptidão física apresentados, associados a baixos níveis de atividade física indiciam baixa capacidade funcional e justificam a necessidade urgente da inserção de programas de atividade física nesta população.

Association between grip strength, anthropometric data and functional capacity

The hand is one of the most important instruments of the human body, mainly due to the possibility of grip movements. Grip strength has been described as an important predictor of functional capacity. There are several factors that may influence it, such as gender, age and anthropometric characteristics. Functional capacity refers to the ability to perform daily activities which allow the individual to self-care and to live with autonomy. Composite Physical Function (CPF) scale is an evaluation tool for functional capacity that includes daily activities, self-care, sports activities, upper limb function and gait capacity. In 2011, Portugal had 15% of young population (0-14years) and 19% of elderly population (over 65 years). Considering the double-ageing phenomen, it is important to understand the effect of the grip strength in elderly individuals, considering their characteristics, as the need to maintainin dependency as long as possible.

Tissue composition and density impact on the clinical parameters for 125I prostate implants dosimetry

The MCNPX code was used to calculate the TG-43U1 recommended parameters in water and prostate tissue in order to quantify the dosimetric impact in 30 patients treated with (125)I prostate implants when replacing the TG-43U1 formalism parameters calculated in water by a prostate-like medium in the planning system (PS) and to evaluate the uncertainties associated with Monte Carlo (MC) calculations. The prostate density was obtained from the CT of 100 patients with prostate cancer. The deviations between our results for water and the TG-43U1 consensus dataset values were -2.6% for prostate V100, -13.0% for V150, and -5.8% for D90; -2.0% for rectum V100, and -5.1% for D0.1; -5.0% for urethra D10, and -5.1% for D30. The same differences between our water and prostate results were all under 0.3%. Uncertainties estimations were up to 2.9% for the gL(r) function, 13.4% for the F(r,θ) function and 7.0% for Λ, mainly due to seed geometry uncertainties. Uncertainties in extracting the TG-43U1 parameters in the MC simulations as well as in the literature comparison are of the same order of magnitude as the differences between dose distributions computed for water and prostate-like medium. The selection of the parameters for the PS should be done carefully, as it may considerably affect the dose distributions. The seeds internal geometry uncertainties are a major limiting factor in the MC parameters deduction.

Does 6-minutes walk test predict functional capacity in elderly people?

Portugal has an accentuated aging tendency, presenting an elderly population (individuals with more than 65 years old) of 19.2%. The average life expectancy is 79.2 years. Thus, it’s important to maintain autonomy and independency as long as possible. Functional ability concept rises from the need to evaluate the capacity to conduct daily activities in an independent way. It can be estimated with the 6-minute walk test (6MWT) and other validated test. This test is simple, reliable, valid and consists in a daily activity (walk). The goals of this study was to verify associations between functional capacity measured with two different instruments (6MWT and Composite Physical Function (CPF) scale) and between those results and characterization variables.

The influence of number of counts in the myocardium in the determination of reproducible functional parameters in gated-SPECT studies simulated with GATE

Myocardial perfusion gated-single photon emission computed tomography (gated-SPECT) imaging is used for the combined evaluation of myocardial perfusion and left ventricular (LV) function. The aim of this study is to analyze the influence of counts/pixel and concomitantly the total counts in the myocardium for the calculation of myocardial functional parameters. Material and methods: Gated-SPECT studies were performed using a Monte Carlo GATE simulation package and the NCAT phantom. The simulations of these studies use the radiopharmaceutical 99mTc-labeled tracers (250, 350, 450 and 680MBq) for standard patient types, effectively corresponding to the following activities of myocardium: 3, 4.2, 5.4-8.2MBq. All studies were simulated using 15 and 30s/projection. The simulated data were reconstructed and processed by quantitative-gated-SPECT software, and the analysis of functional parameters in gated-SPECT images was done by using Bland-Altman test and Mann-Whitney-Wilcoxon test. Results: In studies simulated using different times (15 and 30s/projection), it was noted that for the activities for full body: 250 and 350MBq, there were statistically significant differences in parameters Motility and Thickness. For the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), end-systolic volume (ESV) it was only for 250MBq, and 350MBq in the end-diastolic volume (EDV), while the simulated studies with 450 and 680MBq showed no statistically significant differences for global functional parameters: LVEF, EDV and ESV. Conclusion: The number of counts/pixel and, concomitantly, the total counts per simulation do not significantly interfere with the determination of gated-SPECT functional parameters, when using the administered average activity of 450MBq, corresponding to the 5.4MBq of the myocardium, for standard patient types.

Relevant elderly gait features for functional fitness level grouping

Locomotor tasks characterization plays an important role in trying to improve the quality of life of a growing elderly population. This paper focuses on this matter by trying to characterize the locomotion of two population groups with different functional fitness levels (high or low) while executing three different tasks-gait, stair ascent and stair descent. Features were extracted from gait data, and feature selection methods were used in order to get the set of features that allow differentiation between functional fitness level. Unsupervised learning was used to validate the sets obtained and, ultimately, indicated that it is possible to distinguish the two population groups. The sets of best discriminate features for each task are identified and thoroughly analysed. Copyright © 2014 SCITEPRESS - Science and Technology Publications. All rights reserved.

Visual functional analysis in medical imaging

Aims of study: 1) Describe the importance of human visual system on lesion detection in medical imaging perception research; 2) Discuss the relevance of research in medical imaging addressing visual function analysis; 3) Identify visual function tests which could be conducted on observers prior to participation in medical imaging perception research.

Chemical composition and antioxidante activity of Tunisian Origanum glandulosum Desf. essential oil and volatile oil obtain by supercritical CO2 extraction

Dried flowers and leaves of Origanum glandulosum Desf. were submitted to hydrodistillation (HD) and supercritical fluid extraction with CO2 (SFE). The essential oils isolated by HD and volatile oils obtained by SFE were analysed by GC and GC/MS. Total phenolics content and antioxidant effectiveness were performed. The main components of the essential oils from Bargou and Nefza were: p-cymene (40.4% and 39%), thymol (38.7% and 34.4%) and γ- terpinene (12.3% and 19.2%), respectively. The major components obtain by SFE in the volatile oil, from Bargou and Nefza, were: p-cymene (32.3% and 36.2%), thymol (41% and 40%) and γ-terpinene (20.3% and 13.3%). Total phenolic content, expressed in gallic acid equivalent (GAE) g kg-1 dry weight, varied from 12 to 27 g kg-1 dw, and the ability to scavenge the DPPH radicals, expressed by IC50 ranged from 44 to143 mg L-1.

The effect of metal transfer modes and shielding gas composition on the emission of ultraafine particles in MAG steel welding

The present study aims to characterize ultrafine particles emitted during gas metal arc welding of mild steel and stainless steel, using different shielding gas mixtures, and to evaluate the effect of metal transfer modes, controlled by both processing parameters and shielding gas composition, on the quantity and morphology of the ultrafine particles. It was found that the amount of emitted ultrafine particles (measured by particle number and alveolar deposited surface area) are clearly dependent from the main welding parameters, namely the current intensity and the heat input of the Welding process. The emission of airborne ultrafine particles increases with the current intensity as fume formation rate does. When comparing the shielding gas mixtures, higher emissions were observed for more oxidizing mixtures, that is, with higher CO2 content, which means that these mixtures originate higher concentrations of ultrafine particles (as measured by number of particles. by cubic centimeter of air) and higher values of alveolar deposited surface area of particles, thus resulting in a more hazardous condition regarding welders exposure.

The effect of metal transfer stability (spattering) on fume generation, morphology and composition in short-circuit MAG welding

The main objective of this work was to evaluate the hypothesis that the greater transfer stability leads also to less volume of fumes. Using an Ar + 25%CO2 blend as shielding gas and maintaining constant the average current, wire feed speed and welding speed, bead-on-plate welds were carried out with plain carbon steel solid wire. The welding voltage was scanned to progressively vary the transfer stability. Using two conditions of low stability and one with high stability, fume generation was evaluated by means of the AWS F1.2:2006 standard. The influence of these conditions on fume morphology and composition was also verified. A condition with greater transfer stability does not generate less fume quantity, despite the fact that this condition produces fewer spatters. Other factors such as short-circuit current, arcing time, droplet diameters and arc length are the likely governing factors, but in an interrelated way. Metal transfer stability does not influence either the composition or the size/morphology of fume particulates. (c) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.