Introduction: Recurrent major depressive disorder (MDD) has been associated with cognitive impairment and hippocampus atrophy. Additionally, in older adults it is related to increased dementia risk, as well as being dementia’s prodromal syndrome.

Case Report: A 68-year-old female patient, with a history of MDD beginning in 2014, has been under the care of the Psychogeriatrics service at HC-UFMG. In 2015, she was 60-year-old and underwent her first MRI scan. At that time, the Medial Temporal Atrophy Score (MTA) was 2 and she had a treatment resistant depression (TRD). She began multimodal treatments, including ECT, achieving only partial remission. Since then, the patient had recurrences of depression without the remission of cognitive impairment. In 2021, her MTA Score was still 2 with TDR symptoms. Currently, she is on Venlafaxine 150mg, Mirtazapine 30mg, Lithium 300mg, Olanzapine 5mg, Clonazepam 0.25mg and maintenance ECT every 45 days. The patient remains with cognitive impairment that leads to disabilities but had not significantly progressed. On the other hand, the main impact in functionality is related to depressive symptoms, especially to the loss of interest and apathy.

Discussion: This case stands out due to the combination of hippocampal atrophy at a relatively young age and severe depression with cognitive impairment that has not progressed to dementia in 9 years. Severe depression can lead to significant cognitive deficits, as well as, hippocampus atrophy. While depression is related to hippocampus atrophy, it has not been related to TRD in a review study with Voxel-Based Morphometry. Conversely, Alzheimer’s Disease is related to MTA ≥2 scores, as well as depressive symptoms. MTA 2 in a person of 60 years of age is not considered normal. When combined with cognitive impairment, these findings are generally related to neurodegeneration. Since both MTA and cognitive deficits were relatively stable, the hypothesis of a cognitive impairment and hippocampus atrophy due to depression were more likely.

Conclusions: MDD leads to cognitive impairment in older adults, as well as hippocampus atrophy. Nevertheless, depression and age are important risk factors for dementia and, therefore, a progression to dementia due to a neurodegenerative disease is still possible.

Background: The Cognitive Domains and Functional Assessment Questionnaire (CDFAQ) assess cognitive and functional decline based on the DSM-5 criteria for Neurocognitive Disorders. Its accuracy has been assessed and was translated and validated into English. The informant version (CDFAQ-IV) is a 30-item questionnaire that assesses six cognitive domains with 5 items each: Complex Attention (CA), Executive Functions (EF), Learning and

Memory (LM), Language (L), Perceptual-Motor (PM) and Social Cognition. The development of CDFAQ-IV was based on theDSM-5 cognitive domains, but its factor analysis has not been done yet.

Objectives: To perform a Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the CDFAQ-IV to assess the six-factor cognitive domain model.

Methods: Older adults and their informants were invited to participate in this study. The CDFAQ-IV was applied in 292 older adults’ informants. We used the JASP for a Confirmatory Factor Analysis based on Lavaan R Packages. The confirmatory factor analysis was chosen to manual six-factor model. This study was approved by the ethics committee of UFMG.

Results: Concerning model fitness in the confirmatory factor analysis the X2 was significant (p < .001), standardized root mean square residual (SRMR) was .059 (accepted < .08) and the goodness of fit index (GFI) .984 (accepted > .9). However, the root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) was marginal to the accepted fitness .066 (accepted < .06) and the comparative fit index CFI was .839 under the accepted cutoff (accepted > .9).

Conclusions: The six-factor model of the showed a good fit for three parameters, marginal for one and negative for the CFI. These results point to a convergence of the questionnaire and factors the DSM-5 cognitive domains. These are still preliminary results and we aim to increase our sample to further assess the confirmatory factor analysis.

Introduction: Throughout the course of the dementia, patients generally need a guardian to protect their rights due to the severity of their mental disabilities. The laws and procedures for guardianship for people with disabilities have been updated in several countries based on the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities promulgated in 2006.

Objectives: To compare the law and procedures for guardianship for people with mental disabilities of twelve countries from six continents.

Methods: Narrative review searching for civil codes/guardianship procedures, date of promulgation, scope of the guardian authority, preferred guardian, duration of the guardianship.

Results: Most countries predominantly promulgated their laws after the year 2000, being half of them updated after 2006. Most countries have two types of guardianship scopes: one concerning financial affairs and the other concerning personal affairs (such as welfare and medical care). Generally, guardianship concerning financial matters is the first to be established. In addition, most countries maintain the ward’s right to vote. In five out of twelve countries, there is an order of preference for choosing the guardian, being the spouses and adult children the preferred guardians. All these countries have the possibility of temporary guardianship. Three countries have a maximum period for guardianship with the possibility of renewal, while all others have indefinite time for guardianship duration. Only France explicitly grants the right to the ward to make medical decisions within guardianship procedures. Brazil’s Civil Code restricts guardianship to financial matters, whereas the Civil Procedure Code requires judges to define the scope of guardianship’s authority for each of the activities of the civil life. Since both codes hold equal authority, judges typically determine the extent of guardianship on a case- by-case basis.

Conclusions: Half of the nations have updated their laws after the promulgation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Dementia is expected to increase worldwide and further Discussion concerning the rights of people with dementia is still needed. Although there is no ideal legal framework, the comparison of procedures from different countries may lead to valuable insights for further Discussions andassessments.

The fibrous scaffolds for bone tissue engineering that mimic the extracellular matrix with bioactive and bactericidal properties could provide adequate conditions for regeneration of damaged bone. Electrospun ultrathin fiber covered with nano-hydroxyapatite is a favorable fibrous scaffold design. We developed a fast and reproducible strategy to produce polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF)/nano-hydroxyapatite (nHAp) nanofibrous scaffolds with bactericidal and bioactive properties. Fibrous PVDF scaffolds were obtained first by the electrospinning method. Then, their surfaces were modified using oxygen plasma treatment followed by electrodeposition of nHAp. This process formed nanofibrous and superhydrophilic PVDF fibers (133.6 nm, fiber average diameter) covered with homogeneous nHAp (202.6 nm, average particle diameter) crystals. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry demonstrated the presence of calcium phosphate, indicating a Ca/P molar ratio of approximately 1.64. X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy spectra identified β-phase of nHAp. Thermal analysis indicated a slight reduction in stability after nHAp electrodeposition. Bactericidal assays showed that nHAp exhibited 99.8% efficiency against Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria. The PVDF/Plasma and PVDF/nHAp groups had the highest cell viability, total protein, and alkaline phosphatase activity by 7 days after exposure of the scaffolds to MG63 cell culture. Therefore, the developed scaffolds are an exciting alternative for application in bone regeneration.

Nutritionists have been discussing whether the dietary supplementation of cyst(e)ine is required as a part of the dietary methionine (Met) in the total sulfur amino acid (TSAA) requirement to achieve optimum performance in broilers. Part of Met is converted to cysteine (Cys) to meet the Cys requirement, especially for feather growth. The TSAA requirement has been determined by using graded levels of free Met in the diet, without supplementation of free cyst(e)ine. It has also been argued that the Met to Cys ratio (Met : Cys) changes with age and even with different Met sources. The objective of this study was to evaluate the two sources of Met, while determining the proportion of Met and Cys in total dietary TSAA that optimize the performance of broilers. A performance assay was carried out in a factorial arrangement (5 × 2) using 1080 broilers from 42 to 56 days of age fed diets having different dietary proportions of Met and Cys (44 : 56, 46 : 54, 48 : 52, 50 : 50 or 52 : 48) while maintaining the same dietary TSAA in the diets. Two synthetic Met sources (dl-Met or l-Met) were used for each of the diets with different dietary Met : Cys ratios. Twenty-one broilers of the same age were fed the diets 44 : 56, 48 : 52 and 52 : 48 by supplementing the diet with L-(15N) Met or L-(15N2) Cystine to study the metabolism of TSAA. No differences were observed between Met sources for feed intake, BW gain and feed conversion ratio (FCR; P > 0.05); however, FCR was numerically improved at 50 : 50 Met : Cys. Regarding TSAA utilization, the conversion of Met to Cys increased with increase in Met : Cys ratios, but the concentration of Met intermediates decreased. Broiler chickens responded to different dietary proportions of sulfur amino acids by altering their sulfur amino acid metabolism, and diets containing 50 : 50 Met : Cys is recommended for broilers of age 42 to 56 days.

Abstract

Bipolar disorder is a chronic, debilitating psychiatric disease. The management of this disorder involves treating current episodes and preventing their long-term recurrence.

Many patients with Bipolar Disorder are hospitalized at some point in the course of their illness. Although most bipolar patients do not require extended inpatient psychiatric hospitalizations, short-term hospitalizations may be necessary during acute or potential crises.

Hospitalization is among the most expensive treatment options available, and it is therefore offered sparingly and generally only when no other treatment options will prove sufficient to ensure patient safety.

A hospital setting should be considered when safety is in question due to suicidal, homicidal, or aggressive impulses or actions, as well as inability to care for self. Other clear indications for hospital admission are the need for diagnostic procedures, history of rapidly progressive symptoms (especially psychotic phenomena), the rupture of patient"s usual support systems and a patient"s grossly reduced ability to take care of themselves.

The aim of this study is to characterize the inpatient treatment of bipolar patients admitted in the Hospital São João's Psychiatry Department. Data were collected from clinical files using an investigation protocol especially developed for this purpose. This protocol includes sociodemographic information, the referral source, the admission path, reason for hospitalization, current phase of disease, voluntary versus involuntary status, number of previous admissions, prescribed medications and length of stay.

In recent decades, concern about rabbit welfare and sustainability has increased. The housing system is a very important factor for animal welfare. However, information about how different available housing types for female rabbits affect their health status is scarce, but this is an important factor for their welfare. Hence, the objective of this study was to evaluate the health status of female rabbits in five common housing systems: three different single-housing systems with distinct available surfaces and heights; a single-housing system with a platform; a collective system. Female rabbits in the collective and platform cages had greater cortisol concentrations in hair than those in the single-housing system with no platform. Haptoglobin concentrations and kit mortality rates during lactation were greater for the collective-cage female rabbits. The collective group had more culled females and more lesions than in the other groups. The main reasons for culling in all the groups were reproduction problems and presence of abscesses, and the collective group of females was the most affected. In conclusion, it appears that keeping females together in collective systems negatively affects their health status and welfare, while single-housing systems imply lower kit mortality rates during lactation and cortisol concentrations, and fewer lesions in female rabbits.

The Rio Grande Cone is a major fanlike depositional feature in the continental slope of the Pelotas Basin, Southern Brazil. Two representative sediment cores collected in the Cone area were retrieved using a piston core device. In this work, the organic matter (OM) in the sediments was characterized for a continental vs. marine origin using chemical proxies to help constrain the origin of gas in hydrates. The main contribution of OM was from marine organic carbon based on the stable carbon isotope (δ13C-org) and total organic carbon/total nitrogen ratio (TOC:TN) analyses. In addition, the 14C data showed important information about the origin of the OM and we suggest some factors that could modify the original organic matter and therefore mask the “real” 14C ages: (1) biological activity that could modify the carbon isotopic composition of bulk terrestrial organic matter values, (2) the existence of younger sediments from mass wasting deposits unconformably overlying older sediments, and (3) the deep-sediment-sourced methane contribution due to the input of “old” (>50 ka) organic compounds from migrating fluids.

Non-decorticated sunflower meal (SFM) is a potential protein source for dairy cows with high-fibre content but high ruminal degradability. The effect of replacement of soybean meal (SBM) and wheat middlings (WM) with SFM on the intake, digestibility, microbial protein synthesis, nitrogen utilization and milk production of dairy cows was evaluated. Twelve Holstein cows were blocked by days in milk and distributed in three 4 × 4 Latin squares. Diets were formulated to be isonitrogenous and contained 550 g maize silage/kg dry matter (DM). Treatment diets were no SFM (CON) or 70, 140 and 210 g/kg DM of SFM replacing fixed mixture of SBM and WM (536 and 464 g/kg of the mixture, respectively). The inclusion of SFM in diet did not affect DM intake, but intake of rumen degradable protein increased linearly. Inclusion of SFM reduced or tended to reduce total-tract digestibility of non-fibre carbohydrate, total digestible nutrients and excretion of purine derivatives. Milk production, milk protein content and efficiency of nitrogen use for lactation were reduced with increasing levels of SFM in the diet. The use of non-decorticated SFM as a replacement for SBM–WM mixture in diet reduces performance and efficiency of nutrient use in lactating dairy cows. The outcome of the current study is attributed to reduced fibre digestibility in SFM hulls. Therefore, future studies should evaluate the use of decorticated SFM.

The mineralogy of the silt fraction of a 1.5 m-deep, well developed, intensely weathered, greyish soil profile from a toposequence on a tableland covered by agricultural crops in the upper valley of the Jequitinhonha river basin, Minas Gerais, Brazil, has been studied by X-ray powder diffraction, 57Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy at 298 K and 80 K, and vibrating sample magnetometry. Mössbauer data collected at room temperature indicated about 17 atom% of the iron content of the sample to be structural Fe2+ in phyllosilicates, which X-ray diffraction showed to be mainly halloysite and kaolinite. The magnetization curve also indicates the presence of a ferrimagnetic phase, tentatively identified by Mössbauer spectroscopy as maghemite (γ-Fe2O3).

These findings support a pedogenetic model for this soil profile, by which the remaining Fe2+ bearing minerals were first formed under relatively anoxic palaeo-conditions of an intense hydric regime. Subsequent drier local conditions, due to a much improved drainage, favoured intensive weathering, leading to the presently developed Oxisol. Even under the more oxidative conditions, part of the Fe2+ -containing phyllosilicates still remained in the profile, which is believed to impart the rather unusual greyish colour (Munsell 10YR 3/2) to this deep tropical soil.

Reducing the risk of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) transmission is still a public health priority. The development of effective control strategies relies on the quantification of the effects of prophylactic and therapeutic measures in disease incidence. Although several assays can be used to estimate HIV incidence, these estimates are limited by the poor performance of these assays in distinguishing recent from long-standing infections. To address such limitation, we have developed an assay to titrate p24-specific IgG3 antibodies as a marker of recent infection. The assay is based on a recombinant p24 protein capable to detect total IgG antibodies in sera using a liquid micro array and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Subsequently, the assay was optimised to detect and titrate anti-p24 IgG3 responses in a panel of sequential specimens from seroconverters over 24 months. The kinetics of p24-specific IgG3 titres revealed a transient peak in the 4 to 5-month period after seroconversion. It was followed by a sharp decline, allowing infections with less than 6 months to be distinguished from older ones. The developed assay exhibited a mean duration of recent infection of 144 days and a false-recent rate of ca. 14%. Our findings show that HIV-1 p24-specific IgG3 titres can be used as a tool to evaluate HIV incidence in serosurveys and to monitor the efficacy of vaccines and other transmission control strategies.

The cryopreservation of epididymal sperm is an important technique that allows genetic material to be preserved, even post mortem. However, cryopreservation leads to increased oxidative stress and impaired sperm viability. Polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) supplementation may improve certain sperm characteristics, but it also makes sperm more susceptible to oxidative stress, therefore adding antioxidants that counteract oxidative stress has become an option. In this context, this study aimed to evaluate the effect of the interaction between docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and antioxidants on the quality after the cryopreservation of epididymal bull sperm. Twenty epididymides were collected after slaughter, and epididymal sperm was cryopreserved with bovine extender supplemented with docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and superoxide dismutase (SOD). We verified an improvement in motility in the group that was treated only with DHA 5 µM and a concentration-dependent effect on susceptibility to lipid peroxidation that was associated with DHA concentration (1 µM, 5 µM or 10 µM). Moreover, treatment with DHA (5 µM) and SOD (20 IU/ml) resulted in higher sperm motility. Thus, the association between DHA (5 µM) and SOD (20 IU/ml) appears to be an option for increased epididymal sperm features in bulls.