Suicidal process,suicidal communication and psychosocial situation of young suicide attempters in a rural Vietnamese community

The study aimed to explore the suicidal process, suicidal communication and psychosocial situation of young suicide attempters in a rural community in Hanoi, Vietnam. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, in a community setting, with 19 suicide attempters aged 15-24 who had been consecutively hospitalized in an intensive care unit. In 12 of 19 cases, the first pressing, distinct and constant suicidal thoughts appeared less than one day before the suicide attempt in question. However, distress and mild, fleeting suicidal thoughts had been present up to six months before the suicide attempt in 16 cases. Five respondents had a suicide plan one to three days before attempting suicide. Altogether, 13 engaged in some form of suicidal communication before their attempt. This communication was, however, difficult for outsiders to interpret. Twelve of the respondents were victims of regular physical abuse and 16 had suffered psychological violence for at least one year before attempting suicide. Eighteen of the respondents used pesticides or raticides in their suicide attempts. None sought advice or consultation in the community despite long-standing psychosocial problems. The strategy of reducing the availability of suicide means (e.g., pesticides or raticides) in Asian countries should be complemented with a long-term suicide-preventive strategy that targets school dropouts and domestic violence, and promotes coping abilities and communication about psychological and social problems as well as recognition of signs of distress and suicidal communication.     

Leaf blade structure of Verbesina macrophylla (Cass.) F. S. Blake (Asteraceae): ontogeny,duct secretion mechanism and essential oil composition

• Secretory structures are common in Asteraceae, where they exhibit a high degree of morphological diversity. The species Verbesina macrophylla, popularly known as assa‐peixe, is native to Brazil where it is widely used for medicinal purposes. Despite its potential medical importance, there have been no studies of the anatomy of this species, especially its secretory structures and secreted compounds. This study examined leaves of V. macrophylla with emphasis on secretory structures and secreted secondary metabolites.
• Development of secretory ducts and the mechanism of secretion production are described for V. macrophylla using ultrastructure, yield and chemical composition of its essential oils.
• Verbesina macrophylla has a hypostomatic leaf blade with dorsiventral mesophyll and secretory ducts associated with vascular bundles of schizogenous origin. Histochemistry identified the presence of lipids, terpenes, alkaloids and mucopolysaccharides. Ultrastructure suggests that the secretion released into the duct lumen is produced in plastids of transfer cells, parenchymal sheath cells and stored in vacuoles in these cells and duct epithelial cells. The essential oil content was 0.8%, and its major components were germacrene D, germacrene D‐4‐ol, β‐caryophyllene, bicyclogermacrene and α‐cadinol.
• Secretory ducts of V. macrophylla are squizogenous. Substances identified in tissues suggest that both secretions stored in the ducts and in adjacent parenchyma cells are involved in chemical defence. The essential oil is rich in sesquiterpenes, with germacrene D and its derivatives being notable components.

     

Cytoplasmic shuttling of protons in anabaena sensory rhodopsin: implications for signaling mechanism

It was found recently that Anabaena sensory rhodopsin (ASR), which possibly serves as a photoreceptor for chromatic adaptation, interacts with a soluble cytoplasmic transducer. The X-ray structure of the transducer-free protein revealed an extensive hydrogen-bonded network of amino acid residues and water molecules in the cytoplasmic half of ASR, in high contrast to its haloarchaeal counterparts. Using time-resolved spectroscopy of the wild-type and mutant ASR in the visible and infrared ranges, we tried to determine whether this hydrogen-bonded network is used to translocate protons and whether those proton transfers are important for interaction with the transducer. We found that the retinal Schiff base deprotonation, which occurs in the M intermediate of the photocycle of all-trans-ASR, results in protonation of Asp217 on the cytoplasmic side of the protein. The deprotonation of the Schiff base induces a conformational change of ASR observed through the perturbation of associated lipids. We suggest that the cytoplasmic shuttling of protons in the photocycle of all-trans-ASR and the ensuing conformational changes might activate the transducer. Consequently, the M intermediate may be the signaling state of ASR.     

Global 5-Hydroxymethylcytosine Levels Are Profoundly Reduced in Multiple Genitourinary Malignancies

Solid tumors are characterized by a plethora of epigenetic changes. In particular, patterns methylation of cytosines at the 5-position (5mC) in the context of CpGs are frequently altered in tumors. Recent evidence suggests that 5mC can get converted to 5-hydroxylmethylcytosine (5hmC) in an enzymatic process involving ten eleven translocation (TET) protein family members, and this process appears to be important in facilitating plasticity of cytosine methylation. Here we evaluated the global levels of 5hmC using a validated immunohistochemical staining method in a large series of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (n = 111), urothelial cell carcinoma (n = 55) and testicular germ cell tumors (n = 84) and matched adjacent benign tissues. Whereas tumor-adjacent benign tissues were mostly characterized by high levels of 5hmC, renal cell carcinoma and urothelial cell carcinoma showed dramatically reduced staining for 5hmC. 5hmC levels were low in both primary tumors and metastases of clear cell renal cell carcinoma and showed no association with disease outcomes. In normal testis, robust 5hmC staining was only observed in stroma and Sertoli cells. Seminoma showed greatly reduced 5hmC immunolabeling, whereas differentiated teratoma, embryonal and yolk sack tumors exhibited high 5hmC levels. The substantial tumor specific loss of 5hmC, particularly in clear cell renal cell carcinoma and urothelial cell carcinoma, suggests that alterations in pathways involved in establishing and maintaining 5hmC levels might be very common in cancer and could potentially be exploited for diagnosis and treatment.     

Real-time PCR in HIV/Trypanosoma cruzi coinfection with and without Chagas disease reactivation: association with HIV viral load and CD4 level

Background

Reactivation of chronic Chagas disease, which occurs in approximately 20% of patients coinfected with HIV/Trypanosoma cruzi (T. cruzi), is commonly characterized by severe meningoencephalitis and myocarditis. The use of quantitative molecular tests to monitor Chagas disease reactivation was analyzed.

Methodology

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of kDNA sequences, competitive (C-) PCR and real-time quantitative (q) PCR were compared with blood cultures and xenodiagnosis in samples from 91 patients (57 patients with chronic Chagas disease and 34 with HIV/T. cruzi coinfection), of whom 5 had reactivation of Chagas disease and 29 did not.

Principal Findings

qRT-PCR showed significant differences between groups; the highest parasitemia was observed in patients infected with HIV/T. cruzi with Chagas disease reactivation (median 1428.90 T. cruzi/mL), followed by patients with HIV/T. cruzi infection without reactivation (median 1.57 T. cruzi/mL) and patients with Chagas disease without HIV (median 0.00 T. cruzi/mL). Spearman''s correlation coefficient showed that xenodiagnosis was correlated with blood culture, C-PCR and qRT-PCR. A stronger Spearman correlation index was found between C-PCR and qRT-PCR, the number of parasites and the HIV viral load, expressed as the number of CD4⁺ cells or the CD4⁺/CD8⁺ ratio.

Conclusions

qRT-PCR distinguished the groups of HIV/T. cruzi coinfected patients with and without reactivation. Therefore, this new method of qRT-PCR is proposed as a tool for prospective studies to analyze the importance of parasitemia (persistent and/or increased) as a criterion for recommending pre-emptive therapy in patients with chronic Chagas disease with HIV infection or immunosuppression. As seen in this study, an increase in HIV viral load and decreases in the number of CD4⁺ cells/mm³ and the CD4⁺/CD8⁺ ratio were identified as cofactors for increased parasitemia that can be used to target the introduction of early, pre-emptive therapy.     

Inclusion complexes of pyrimethamine in 2-hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin: characterization, phase solubility and molecular modelling

The inclusion complexation of pyrimethamine in 2-hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin has been investigated by 2D (1)H NMR, FTIR and UV/visible spectroscopy and also by molecular modelling methods (AM1, PM3, MM3). From the phase-solubility diagram a linear increase was observed in pyrimethamine aqueous solubility in the presence of 2-hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin, evidencing the formation of a soluble inclusion complex. According to the continuous variation method (Job's plot) applied to fluorescence measurements, a 1:1 stoichiometry has been proposed for the complex. Concerning the structure of the complex, a Cl-in orientation of pyrimethamine in the 2-hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin cavity has been proposed from the theoretical calculations, being confirmed by two-dimensional (1)H NMR spectroscopy (ROESY). The thermal behaviour has also been studied, providing complementary evidences of complex formation.     

Effects of 24 weeks of progressive resistance training on knee extensors peak torque and fat-free mass in older women

This study examined the effects of resistance training (RT) on knee extensor peak torque (KEPT) and fat-free mass (FFM) in older women. Seventy-eight volunteers (67.1 ± 5.9 years old) underwent 24 weeks of progressive RT (RTG) while 76 (67.4 ± 5.9 years old) were studied as controls (CG). Dominant knee extension peak torque was assessed using an isokinetic dynamometer (Biodex System 3) and FFM measurements were performed by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry. Muscle strength and FFM were evaluated before and after the intervention in all volunteers. Participants in the RTG trained major muscle groups 3 times per week during 24 weeks. Training load was kept at 60% of 1 repetition maximum in the first 4 weeks, 70% in the following 4 weeks, and 80% in the remaining 16 weeks, with repetitions, respectively, decreasing from 12, 10, and 8. A Split-plot analysis of variance was performed to examine between- and within-group differences, and the level of significance was accepted at p ≤ 0.05. It was observed that the RTG showed significant increases in KEPT (from 89.9 ± 21.8 to 102.8 ± 22.6 N·m; p < 0.05) and FFM (from 36.4 ± 4.0 to 37.1 ± 4.2 kg, p < 0.05). Appendicular FFM was also significantly increased after the intervention period in the RTG (13.9 ± 1.8 to 14.2 ± 1.9 kg, p < 0.05). None of these changes were observed for the CG. Consistent with the literature, it is concluded that a progressive RT program promotes not only increases in muscle strength, as evaluated by an isokinetic dynamometer, but also in FFM as evaluated by the DXA, in elderly women.     

Species-specific codon context rules unveil non-neutrality effects of synonymous mutations

BackgroundCodon pair usage (codon context) is a species specific gene primary structure feature whose evolutionary and functional roles are poorly understood. The data available show that codon-context has direct impact on both translation accuracy and efficiency, but one does not yet understand how it affects these two translation variables or whether context biases shape gene evolution.ConclusionsSince in vivo studies provide evidence for a role of codon context on decoding fidelity in E. coli and for decoding efficiency in mammalian cells, our data support the hypothesis that, like codon usage, codon context modulates the evolution of gene primary structure and fine tunes the structure of open reading frames for high genome translational fidelity and efficiency in the 3 domains of life.     

Fish biodiversity of Saint Peter and Saint Paulʼs Archipelago,Mid-Atlantic Ridge,Brazil: new records and a species database

Saint Peter and Saint Paul's Archipelago (SPSPA), one of the smallest and most isolated island groups in the world, is situated on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, between Brazil and the African continent. SPSPA has low species richness and high endemism; nonetheless, the diversity of fishes from deep habitats (>30 m depth) had not been previously studied in detail. Several expeditions conducted between 2009 and 2018 explored the shallow and deep reefs of SPSPA using scuba, closed-circuit rebreathers, manned submersibles, baited remote underwater stereo-videos (stereo-BRUV) and fishing between 0 and 1050 m depth. These expeditions yielded 41 new records of fishes for SPSPA: 9 in open waters, 9 in shallow waters (0–30 m), 8 in mesophotic ecosystems (30–150 m) and 15 in deeper reefs (>150 m). Combined with literature records of adult pelagic, shallow and deep-reef species, as well as larvae, the database of the fish biodiversity for SPSPA currently comprises 225 species (169 recorded as adult fishes and 79 as larvae, with 23 species found in both stages). Most of them (112) are pelagic, 86 are reef-associated species and 27 are deep-water specialists. Species accumulation curves show that the number of fish species has not yet reached an asymptote. Whereas the number of species recorded in SPSPA is similar to that in other oceanic islands in the Atlantic Ocean, the proportion of shorefishes is relatively lower, and the endemism level is the third highest in the Atlantic. Twenty-nine species are listed as threatened with extinction. Observations confirm the paucity of top predators on shallow rocky reefs of the island, despite the presence of several pelagic shark species around SPSPA. Because all of the endemic species are reef associated, it is argued that the new marine-protected areas created by the Brazilian government do not ensure the protection and recovery of SPSPA's biodiversity because they allow exploitation of the most vulnerable species around the archipelago itself. This study suggests a ban on reef fish exploitation inside an area delimited by the 1000 m isobath around the islands (where all known endemics are concentrated) as the main conservation strategy to be included in the SPSPA management plan being prepared by the Brazilian government.