Search results for "EFE"
showing 10 items of 5785 documents
Mineral analysis of human diets by spectrometry methods
2016
Abstract Mineral element determination in human diets is very important for human health, due to the presence in foods of essential and toxic elements or their incorporation in the manipulation and cooking food process. Different instrumental techniques have been used to determine mineral elements in human diets, but atomic spectroscopy and mass spectrometry based ones are the most commonly employed. Sampling procedures for diet analysis are the main critically step for mineral element determination, being employed different standardised protocols. This review summarised critically the state-of-the-art of mineral analysis in human diets, considering sampling, sample preparation and determin…
Reference interval of monocyte distribution width (MDW) in healthy blood donors.
2020
Abstract Background The aim of the study was to accurately establish the reference interval (RI) of monocyte distribution width (MDW) in healthy blood donors by the direct method using different statistical approaches. Methods MDW was measured in 486 subjects. RI of MDW was calculated by the non-parametric method, the robust method and, the Harrell-Davis bootstrap method and using different tests to identify potential outliers (Dixon-Reed and Tukey). Results Lower and upper reference limits of the RI calculated by the non-parametric method were, 16.22 (90%CI 15.78–16.47) – 23.15 (90%CI 22.80–24.10) (without outlier removal), and 16.44 (90%CI 16.21–16.67) – 22.99 (90%CI 22.33–23.22) (after o…
Lepidopteran species have a variety of defence strategies against bacterial infections
2017
The insect immune system has versatile ways of coping with microbial insults. Currently, innate immune priming has been described in several invertebrates, and the first insights into its mechanistic basis have been described. Here we studied infections with two different strains of Serratia marcescens bacteria in two different Lepidopteran hosts. The results reveal fundamental differences between the two hosts, a well-known model organism Galleria mellonella and a non-model species Arctia plantaginis. They differ in their strategies for resisting oral infections; priming their defences against a recurring sepsis; and upregulating immunity related genes as a response to the specific pathoge…
Exposure to a Highly Caloric Palatable Diet During Pregestational and Gestational Periods Affects Hypothalamic and Hippocampal Endocannabinoid Levels…
2016
Journal Article; Exposure to unbalanced diets during pre-gestational and gestational periods may result in long-term alterations in metabolism and behavior. The contribution of the endocannabinoid system to these long-term adaptive responses is unknown. In the present study, we investigated the impact of female rat exposure to a hypercaloric-hypoproteic palatable diet during pre-gestational, gestational and lactational periods on the development of male offspring. In addition, the hypothalamic and hippocampal endocannabinoid contents at birth and the behavioral performance in adulthood were investigated. Exposure to a palatable diet resulted in low weight offspring who exhibited low hypotha…
Role of AxyZ Transcriptional Regulator in Overproduction of AxyXY-OprZ Multidrug Efflux System in Achromobacter Species Mutants Selected by Tobramycin
2017
ABSTRACT AxyXY-OprZ is an RND-type efflux system that confers innate aminoglycoside resistance to Achromobacter spp. We investigated here a putative TetR family transcriptional regulator encoded by the axyZ gene located upstream of axyXY-oprZ . An in-frame axyZ gene deletion assay led to increased MICs of antibiotic substrates of the efflux system, including aminoglycosides, cefepime, fluoroquinolones, tetracyclines, and erythromycin, indicating that the product of axyZ negatively regulates expression of axyXY-oprZ . Moreover, we identified an amino acid substitution at position 29 of AxyZ (V29G) in a clinical Achromobacter strain that occurred during the course of chronic respiratory tract…
Mineral Profile of Children’s Fast Food Menu Samples
2017
Abstract Children’s fast food menus, including hamburgers served with french fries, dessert, and a soft drink, were analyzed to obtain the mineral profile of trace elements. The developed analytical methodology involved sample digestion under pressure inside a microwave oven with a mixture of HNO3 and H2O2 and inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry. The method was validated by carrying out the analysis of certified reference materials (NIST 1570a spinach leaves, NCS ZC73016 chicken, and NIST 1568a rice flour) and using recovery experiments. Repeatability was verified by analyzing replicate samples. Twenty-six elements were studied, 12 of which—aluminum, barium, calcium, co…
Health gains through loss frames: Testing the effectiveness of message framing on citizens' use of nutritional warnings.
2021
Abstract The aim of the present work was twofold: (i) to evaluate the effect of nutritional warnings and health-related packaging cues (nutrient claim and images of natural foods) on consumers' food choices, and (ii) to evaluate the influence of two types of messages (gain-framed and loss-framed) aimed at encouraging the use of such warnings and packaging cues on food choices. A total of 510 participants were recruited using an advertisement on Facebook and Instagram targeted at Uruguayan adult users. Participants were randomly allocated to one of three experimental groups: control (n = 167), loss-framed messages (n = 177) and gain-framed messages (n = 166). Then, they completed a choice-co…
What is the impact of a novel MED12 variant on syndromic conotruncal heart defects? Analysis of case report on two male sibs
2020
Abstract Background Syndromic congenital heart disease accounts for 30% of cases and can be determined by genetic, environmental or multifactorial causes. In many cases the etiology remains uncertain. Many known genes are responsible for specific morphopathogenetic mechanisms during the development of the heart whose alteration can determine specific phenotypes of cardiac malformations. Case presentation We report on two cases of association of conotruncal heart defect with facial dysmorphisms in sibs. In both cases the malformations’ identification occurred by ultrasound in the prenatal period. It was followed by prenatal invasive diagnosis. The genetic analysis revealed no rearrangements …
Antimicrobial photodynamic therapy using diode laser activated indocyanine green as an adjunct in the treatment of chronic periodontitis: A randomize…
2016
Abstract Introduction Clinical studies have shown the usefulness of antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT) as an adjunctive in periodontal therapy. These studies did not utilize indocyanine green (ICG) as a recently introduced photosensitizer. The aim of this study was to perform a full-mouth double-blind randomized controlled clinical study to test the efficacy of adjunctive aPDT with ICG compared with scaling and root planing (SRP) alone in chronic periodontitis treatment. Materials and methods Fifty patients were selected for this study. All patients received SRP. Then, each patient was randomly assigned to either the test group (aPDT + SRP) or the control group (SRP). aPDT was perfor…
Are the Motives for Food Choices Different in Orthorexia Nervosa and Healthy Orthorexia?
2019
Recent research points to the bidimensional nature of orthorexia, with one dimension related to interest in healthy eating (healthy orthorexia) and another dimension related to a pathological preoccupation with eating healthily (orthorexia nervosa). Research was needed to provide further support for this differentiation. We examined the food-choice motives related to both aspects of orthorexia. Participants were 460 students from a Spanish university who completed the Teruel Orthorexia Scale and the Food Choice Questionnaire. By means of structural equation modeling, we analyzed the relationship between orthorexia, food-choice motives, gender, body mass index, and age. The motives predictin…