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The objective of this study was to evaluate the fermentative characteristics and chemical composition of cochineal nopal cactus silage additives with urea or Lactobacillus buchneri (LB), as well as the association of both additives in four storage times (7, 15, 60 and 120 days) and during aerobic stability, with evaluations at 0, 48 and 96 h. Four silages were used: no additive, addition of 2% urea, addition of LB and addition of 2% urea and LB. The study was divided into two experiments: the first experiment evaluated the silages at different storage times, and the second experiment evaluated the silages during the aerobic stability test. In both experiments, the experimental design was completely randomized in a factorial scheme (4 × 4 and 4 × 3) with three replicates per treatment. After the ensiling process, lactic acid bacteria predominated in all treatments. The concentration of lactic acid increased significantly from 60 days of ensiling. The concentration of acetic acid varied significantly between the storage times only for the silages treated with urea and LB alone. The silage treated with urea maintained a constant pH value up to 120 days of storage. During the 96 h aerobic stability test, no breaking in the stability of silages was observed. The exclusive or associated use of urea and LB promotes improvement in the fermentative characteristics of cochineal nopal cactus silage, without major alterations in the chemical composition or interfering with the aerobic stability of the silages.
To assess the associations between nutrient intake and dietary patterns with different sarcopenia definitions in older men.
Design:
Cross-sectional study.
Setting:
Sarcopenia was defined using the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH), the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People (EWGSOP) and the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People 2 (EWGSOP2). Dietary adequacy of fourteen nutrients was assessed by comparing participants’ intakes with the Nutrient Reference Values (NRV). Attainment of NRV for nutrients was incorporated into a variable ‘poor’ (meeting ≤ 9) v. ‘good’ (meeting ≥ 10) using the cut-point method. Also, two different dietary patterns, monounsaturated:saturated fat and n-6:n-3 fatty acids ratio and individual nutrients were used as predictor variables.
Participants:
A total of 794 men aged ≥75 years participated in this study.
Results:
The prevalence of sarcopenia by the FNIH, EWGSOP and EWGSOP2 definitions was 12·9 %, 12·9 % and 19·6 %, respectively. With the adjustment, poor nutrient intake was significantly associated with FNIH-defined sarcopenia (OR: 2·07 (95 % CI 1·16, 3·67)), but not with EWGSOP and EWGSPOP2 definitions. The lowest and second-lowest quartiles of protein, Mg and Ca and the lowest quartiles of n-6 PUFA and n-3 PUFA intakes were significantly associated with FNIH-defined sarcopenia. Each unit decrease in n-6:n-3 ratio was significantly associated with a 9 % increased risk of FNIH-defined sarcopenia (OR: 1·09 (95 % CI 1·04, 1·16)).
Conclusions:
Inadequate intakes of nutrients are associated with FNIH-defined sarcopenia in older men, but not with the other two sarcopenia definitions. Further studies are required to understand these relationships.
To examine changes in micronutrient intake over 3 years and identify any associations between socio-economic, health, lifestyle and meal-related factors and these changes in micronutrient intakes among older men.
Design:
Prospective study.
Setting:
Dietary adequacy of individual micronutrient was compared to the estimated average requirement of the nutrient reference values (NRV). Attainment of the NRV for twelve micronutrients was incorporated into a dichotomised variable ‘not meeting’ (meeting ≤ 6) or ‘meeting’ (meeting ≥ 7) and categorised into four categories to assess change in micronutrient intake over 3 years. The multinomial logistic regression analyses were conducted to model predictors of changes in micronutrient intake.
Participants:
Seven hundred and ninety-four men participated in a detailed diet history interview at the third wave (baseline nutrition) and 718 men participated at the fourth wave (3-year follow-up).
Results:
The mean age was 81 years (range 75–99 years). Median intakes of the majority of micronutrients decreased significantly over a 3-year follow-up. Inadequacy of the NRV for thiamine, dietary folate, Zn, Mg, Ca and I were significantly increased at a 3-year follow-up than baseline nutrition. The incidence of inadequate micronutrient intake was 21 % and remained inadequate micronutrient intake was 16·4 % at 3-year follow-up. Changes in micronutrient intakes were significantly associated with participants born in the UK and Italy, low levels of physical activity, having ≥2 medical conditions and used meal services.
Conclusions:
Micronutrient intake decreases with age in older men. Our results suggest that strategies to improve some of the suboptimal micronutrient intakes might need to be developed and implemented for older men.
The aim of this in vitro study was to present a method using confocal laser scanning microscopy for three-dimensional analysis of human dental enamel subjected to ceramic bracket debonding. The labial enamel surfaces of three upper central incisors were prepared and mounted in the form of standardized specimens. A sample repositioning protocol was established to enable surface measurement and analysis before and after bracket debonding. Observations were made of representative areas measuring 1,280 × 1,280 μm2, in the center of the enamel samples, as well as of the total topography (2,500 × 3,500 μm) of the bonding areas provided by the equipment software. Noncontact three-dimensional high-resolution image analyses revealed the capabilities of the employed technique and methodology to permit the examination of specific characteristics and alterations on the surfaces, before and after the debonding and finishing procedures. The new protocol was effective to provide qualitative and quantitative assessments of changes on the same dental surfaces at different trial times. The methodology constitutes a feasible tool for revealing the effects of debonding of ceramic brackets on sound and previously injured dental enamel surfaces.
This study aimed to examine the effects of re-ensiling time and Lactobacillus buchneri on the fermentation profile, chemical composition and aerobic stability of sugarcane silages. The experiment was set up as a repeated measure design consisting of four air-exposure periods (EP)(0, 6, 12, and 24 h) microbial additive (A) (L. buchneri; or lack of there), with five replicates. Sugarcane was ground through a stationary forage chopper and ensiled in four plastic drums of 200-L capacity. After 210 days of storage, the drums were opened and half of the silage mass was treated with L. buchneri at the concentration of 105 cfu/g of forage. Subsequently, the silages were divided into stacks. The re-ensiling process was started immediately, at 0, 6, 12 and 24-hour intervals, by transferring the material to PVC mini-silos. Silos were opened after 120 days of re-ensiling. The use of L. buchneri reduced butyrate concentration but did not change ethanol or acetic acid concentrations and aerobic stability. An interaction effect between L. buchneri and re-ensiling time was observed for dry matter (DM) losses and composition. Lactobacillus buchneri is not effective in improving aerobic stability in re-ensiled sugarcane silages. However, less DM is lost in silages treated with L. buchneri and exposed to air for 24 h. Re-ensiling sugar cane in up to 24 h of exposure to air does not change final product quality.
An understanding of the processes involved in grazing behaviour is a prerequisite for the design of efficient grassland management systems. The purpose of managing the grazing process is to identify sward structures that can maximize animal forage daily intake and optimize grazing time. Our aim was to evaluate the effect of different grazing management strategies on foraging behaviour and herbage intake by sheep grazing Italian ryegrass under rotational stocking. The experiment was carried out in 2015 in southern Brazil. The experimental design was a randomized complete block with two grazing management strategies and four replicates. The grazing management treatments were a traditional rotational stocking (RT), with pre- and post-grazing sward heights of 25 and 5 cm, respectively, and a ‘Rotatinuous’ stocking (RN) with pre- and post-grazing sward heights of 18 and 11 cm, respectively. Male sheep with an average live weight of 32 ± 2.3 kg were used. As intended, the pre- and post-grazing sward heights were according to the treatments. The pre-grazing leaf/stem ratio of the Italian ryegrass pasture did not differ between treatments (P > 0.05) (~2.87), but the post-grazing leaf/stem ratio was greater (P < 0.001) in the RN than in the RT treatment (1.59 and 0.76, respectively). The percentage of the non-grazed area was greater (P < 0.01) in post-grazing for RN compared with RT treatment, with an average of 29.7% and 3.49%, respectively. Herbage nutritive value was greater for the RN than for the RT treatment, with greater CP and lower ADF and NDF contents. The total time spent grazing, ruminating and resting did not differ between treatments (P > 0.05), with averages of 439, 167 and 85 min, respectively. The bite rate, feeding stations per min and steps per min by sheep were greater (P < 0.05) in the RN than in the RT treatment. The grazing time per hour and the bite rate were greater (P < 0.05) in the afternoon than in the morning in both treatments. The daily herbage intake by sheep grazing Italian ryegrass was greater (P < 0.05) in the RN than in the RT treatment (843.7 and 707.8 g organic matter/sheep, respectively). Our study supports the idea that even though the grazing time was not affected by the grazing management strategies when the animal behaviour responses drive management targets, such as in ‘Rotatinuous’ stocking, the sheep herbage intake is maximized, and the grazing time is optimized.
Detrital zircon populations from six samples of upper Triassic sandstone (Algarve Basin) were analysed, yielding mostly Precambrian ages. zircon age populations of the Triassic sandstone sampled from the western and central sectors of the basin are distinct, suggesting local recycling and/or lateral changes in their sources. Our findings and the available detrital zircon ages from the Palaeozoic terranes of SW Iberia, Nova Scotia and NW Morocco were jointly examined using the Kolmogorov–Smirnov test and multidimensional scaling diagrams. The obtained results enable direct discrimination of competing Laurussian-type and Gondwanan-type sediment sources, involving recycling and mixing relationships. The detrital zircon populations of the Algarve Triassic sandstone are very different from those of the lower–upper Carboniferous Mértola and Mira formations (South Portuguese Zone), upper Devonian – lower Carboniferous Horta da Torre, Represa and Santa Iria formations (Pulo do Lobo Zone), and the late Carboniferous Santa Susana and early Permian Viar basins, which are ruled out as potential sources. The detrital zircon populations of Triassic sandstone from the central sector and those from the Ossa–Morena Zone Ediacaran–Cambrian siliciclastic rocks, upper Devonian – Carboniferous Ronquillo, Tercenas, Phyllite-Quartzite and Brejeira formations (South Portuguese Zone), and Frasnian siliciclastic rocks of the Pulo do Lobo Zone are not statistically distinguishable. Thus, sedimentation in the central sector was influenced by Gondwanan- and Laurussian-type putative sources exposed in SW Iberia, in contrast to the western sector, where Meguma Terrane and Sehoul Block Cambrian siliciclastic rocks allegedly constituted the main (Laurussian-type) sources. These findings provide insights into the denudation of distinctive source terranes distributed along the late Palaeozoic suture zone that juxtaposed the Laurussian and Gondwanan margins.
Raw milk cheeses are commonly consumed in France and are also a common source of foodborne outbreaks (FBOs). Both an FBO surveillance system and a laboratory-based surveillance system aim to detect Salmonella outbreaks. In early August 2018, five familial FBOs due to Salmonella spp. were reported to a regional health authority. Investigation identified common exposure to a raw goats' milk cheese, from which Salmonella spp. were also isolated, leading to an international product recall. Three weeks later, on 22 August, a national increase in Salmonella Newport ST118 was detected through laboratory surveillance. Concomitantly isolates from the earlier familial clusters were confirmed as S. Newport ST118. Interviews with a selection of the laboratory-identified cases revealed exposure to the same cheese, including exposure to batches not included in the previous recall, leading to an expansion of the recall. The outbreak affected 153 cases, including six cases in Scotland. S. Newport was detected in the cheese and in the milk of one of the producer's goats. The difference in the two alerts generated by this outbreak highlight the timeliness of the FBO system and the precision of the laboratory-based surveillance system. It is also a reminder of the risks associated with raw milk cheeses.
Alert for the efficiency of the clozapina, in high doses, in refractory mania to pharmacological treatment.
Methods
Review of literature relevant after the description of a clinical case example.
Results
Description of a clinical case: Woman 30 years, ethnicity african, with bipolar disease type 1, with 12 years of evolution, and 11 treatments with around 1 year duration. Specifics took place with medication, such as intolerance to mood stabilizers, including lithium and valproate. Last inpatient care, with 5 months, it was for outbreak manic characterized by huge dysphoria and easy irritability with aggressiveness. There were administered antipsychotics, in high doses, and attempted electroconvulsive therapy, without success. Clinical remission has been achieved by the gradual increase of clozapina, in accordance with the patient tolerance, until 1400 mg daily without occurrence of agranulocytosis. The only intercurrence was a epileptic seizure, controlled with phenytoin.
Conclusions
Refractory mania is treated with clozapina in high doses, which must be administered according to the patient tolerance and clinical improvement. The risk of agranulocytosis (1-3%) is low, and is the only formal indication to suspend the treatment. The extensive metabolizers do not respond to conventional doses of psychotropic substances, they need larger doses and are more frequent in african people.
Intellectual disability (ID) is defined as significantly subaverage intellectual functioning with deficits in adaptive behavior. For ∼40% of individuals, cause for disability remains unknown and these are categorized as idiopathic ID (IID). Various behavioral problems co-occur with ID and thus serotonergic neurotransmission, known to control emotion, mood and drive, has received immense attention. Synaptic serotonin (5-HT) level is primarily maintained by metabolizing enzyme MAOA and serotonin transporter (SLC6A4) which helps in reuptake of the neurotransmitter. Since functional genetic polymorphisms have a potency to affect activities of these proteins, in the present investigation polymorphisms in these genes (MAOA-u VNTR, rs6323, 5-HTTLPR and STIN2) have been analyzed in IID individuals associated with various behavioral problems.
Methods
Families (N=189) with IID probands were recruited following DSM-IV. After obtaining informed written consent for participation, peripheral blood was collected for isolation of genomic DNA used for PCR-based genotyping of target sites followed by family-based statistical analyses of data.
Results
Significant association of MAOA rs6323 “T” allele with female IID (P=0.016) and a trend towards association with female IID patients exhibiting behavioral problems (P=0.046) was noticed. Non significant over transmission of the 5-HTTLPR “L” allele was also observed in female IID probands with behavioral problems (P=0.076). Synergistic epistatic interaction, with a sex-bias, was noticed between MAOA and 5-HTT (P< 0.05).
Conclusions
From the data obtained it could be summarized that serotonergic system may have some role in the etiology of behavioral problems of female IID individuals.
To alert to manic like symptoms in frontotemporal dementia (FTD).
Methods
Review of literature relevant in medline database.
Results
Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is a behavioural syndrome caused by generation of the frontal and anterior temporal lobes.
Bipolar disorder in dementia and the temporal relation between the two conditions have rarely been studied. There is a increased probability of developing a manic episode in patients with dementia.
Those with temporal FTD have impairments in emotional processing and hypomania like behavior. Moria (childish excitement or tendency to joke) or frivolous excitement are common presenting symptoms, and is difficult to distinguish to features in bipolar disease.
The correlation between mania like symptoms and FTD can be make with the help of informations of the family and computed tomography imaging. Those with temporal involvement are particularly at risk of developing deficits in emotional processing secondary to atrophy in the amygdale, anterior temporal cortex, and adjacent orbitofrontal cortex.
Conclusions
Early temporal involvement in FTD is associated with frivolous behavior and right temporal involvement is associated with emotional disturbances.
Moria or frivolous behavior are common presenting symptoms of FTD and the differential diagnosis is made with the help of informant's reports and computed tomography imaging.
Alert to the high prevalence and familial association between schizophrenia and mental retardation.
Methods
Review relevant literature after the description if a clinical case example; additional diagnostic exams.
Results
Description of a clinical case: Man with 25 years old with mental retardation and first episode of pchicosys.
He and his all family works in the fire department. In his family history there is a mother with pchicosys, father with mental retardation, sister with a post partum depression, aunt with bipolar affective disorder, and two uncles who comet suicide.
In January of 2008, he begins to hear voices, in his work, that call him and ask for help; then he begin to see an old lady in his bedroom's window; he stop sleeping and eating. The family brings him to the emergency room and he's started diazepam (15 mg/day) and olanzapina (20 mg/day) and the symptom remit.
Three days later, he stops the medication and the symptoms came back. He gets very scared and begin to take the medication every day.
He did a brain computerized tomography that excludes organic diseases and psychological tests that confirms mental retardation.
Conclusions
It is well established that prevalence of schizophrenia is around three times greater in those with mild mental retardation and the co-association between mental retardation and schizophrenia is highly familial. Both bipolar illness and major depressive disorder have also increased prevalence in the mental retarded. The prognosis is directly linked with family and social support.
To alert to apathy as a sub-syndrome in the spectrum dementia-depression.
Methods
Review of literature relevant in medline database.
Results
The modern concept of apathy implies a reduced volition. Apathy may occur in depression and dementia and the differential diagnosis is difficult. Symptoms of apathy may constitute a sub-syndrome in the spectrum depression-dementia, that are characterized by lack of interest, psychomotor retardation, loss of energy and loss of appetite. Apathy may occur in dementia without depression and is significantly associated with more severe cognitive deficits. In dementia, depression may primarily result from a combination of symptoms of anxiety and apathy. Most patients with dementia and apathy had concomitant depression, but less depressed patients had concomitant apathy. The key to diagnosis may be the mood symptoms: dysthymia could be a negative emotional reaction to the progressive cognitive decline in dementia, whereas major depression could more strongly related to biological factors.
Conclusions
The nosological position of apathy remains obscure, with some studies suggesting that apathy and depression are independent constructs, and other studies showing a significant overlap between apathy and depression. The major interest to the type of syndrome has therapeutics implications.
Knowing the impact that religious beliefs can have on the etiology, diagnosis and course of psychiatric disorders will help psychiatrists better understand their patients, assessing when the religious or spiritual beliefs are used to cope with mental illness and when they may be exacerbating this disease.
Objectives
Alert to the importance of religion in clinical practice.
Methods
Relevant literature review.
Results
Several studies have demonstrated the influence of spirituality on physical, mental and health. In 1988, the World Health Organization (WHO) has given rise to the interest in further investigations in this area, with the inclusion of a spiritual aspect of the multidimensional concept of health. The spiritual well-being can be considered a protective factor for psychiatric disorders.
Although it is not possible to determine with accuracy, the mechanisms of interaction of spirituality on health, especially mental health, several studies suggest that exercise can influence the spiritual activities, psychodynamically, through positive emotions. Furthermore, these emotions may be important for mental health in terms of possible psychophysiological and psychoneuroimmunological mechanisms.
Anthropological sources suggest that beliefs in demons, black magic and evil spirits as cause of mental illness and distress are common. They may be less prevalent in western countries but even in Europe it's possible to see patients thought that their condition have been caused by evil and occult possession.
Conclusions
Clinicians should understand the negative and positive roles that religion plays in those with mental disorders and use this in clinical practice.
The presence of cognitive dysfunction in bipolar disorder is well established, but in the euthymic phase appear a few studies that point to the absence of cognitive deficits.
Objectives
Alert to cases of euthymic bipolar disorder with no cognitive dysfunction.
Methods
Review of relevant literature and description of a clinical case with psychological tests that assess memory and executive functions.
Results
Description of a clinical case: FP is a middle age woman, early retired, with a bipolar disorder type 2, which begins at age 30.
Her disease has several depressive episodes, and in the last 10 years, she spent most of the days lying in bed and repeatedly resorted to the emergency department for excessive voluntary drug intoxication or simply because she “wanted” to be hospitalized; her husband could not stand this situation. In September of 2009, in addition to the medical and psychological consultations, she starts attending group therapy; over the next 6 months her medication was changed and finally her disease goes into remission.
The psychological tests, made at euthymic phase, show’s no significant deficits in verbal memory and executive functions.
Conclusions
This patient has a disease with prolonged course and multiple hospitalizations and drug treatments, but don’t present relevant cognitive deficits, which may point to the fact that cognitive impairment is determined by biological factors.
The suicide of a patient in ongoing treatment is surely among the most traumatic events in the professional life of a psychiatrist.
Objectives
Alert to the psychiatrist's reactions to patient suicide.
Methods
Review of literature relevant in medline database.
Results
A substantial proportion, estimated to range from 15% to 68%, of psychiatrists has experienced a patient suicide. A significant proportion of psychiatrists show strong negative reactions, affecting professional and personal lives at levels of distress that are frequently comparable with those seen in clinical populations. Psychiatrists develop rather classic symptoms of anxiety, depression, or acute or posttraumatic stress symptoms, and their responses are typical: in the beginning occurs shock, disbelief, denial and depersonalization; and in the second phase takes place: grief, shame and guilt (“did I listen to him?”), anger (toward the patient who did not honor a therapeutic contract), relief (for example, after the suicide of a chronically suicidal patient), and the finding of omens that the psychiatrist considered signs of the coming suicide. But they are predictors of increased distress among psychiatrists who experienced a patient suicide, and the more consistent are age, experience, individual personality and psychiatric history. Recognition of all this combined with an avoidance of isolation is an effective coping mechanism that prevents the structuring of a pathological response to the patient's suicide.
Conclusions
Psychiatrist's reactions to patient suicide are specific but not noted; its recognition is important to help them find appropriate coping mechanisms.
The present study aimed to determine whether any gender-related difference exists concerning oxidative stress parameters in a population of 231 subjects, and if these changes might be related to gender-associated differences in major depressive disorder (MDD) or bipolar disorder (BD) vulnerability. This is a case-control nested in a population-based study. The initial psychopathology screen was performed with the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview and the diagnostic was further confirmed with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV. Blood samples were obtained after the interview and the oxidative stress parameters such as uric acid, advanced oxidation protein product (PCC) and lipid hydroperoxides (TBARS) were determined. Our results indicated a higher prevalence of MDD and BD in women when compared to men. In addition, significant gender differences were found in the levels of PCC (0.27 ± 0.27 vs. 0.40 ± 0.31 nmol CO/mg protein, men vs. women, respectively; P = 0.02) and uric acid (4.88 ± 1.39 mg/dL vs. 3.53 ± 1.02 mg/dL, men vs. women, respectively; P = 0.0001), but not in TBARS (0.013 ± 0.01 nmol/mg of protein vs. 0.017 ± 0.02 nmol/mg of protein, men vs. women respectively; P = 0.243). After sample stratification by gender, no association was found between oxidative stress parameters and clinical diagnosis of MDD and BD for women (P = 0.516 for PCC; P = 0.620 for TBARS P = 0.727 for uric acid) and men (P = 0.367 for PCC; P = 0.372 for TBARS P = 0.664 for uric acid). In this study, women seem more susceptible to oxidative stress than male. However, these gender-based differences do not seem to provide a biochemical basis for the epidemiologic differences in mood disorders susceptibility between sexes.