In recent years, the myocardium has been rediscovered under the lenses of immunology, and lymphocytes have been implicated in the pathogenesis of cardiomyopathies with different etiologies. Aging is an important risk factor for heart diseases, and it also has impact on the immune system. Thus, we sought to determine whether immunological activity would influence myocardial structure and function in elderly mice. Morphological, functional, and molecular analyses revealed that the age-related myocardial impairment occurs in parallel with shifts in the composition of tissueresident leukocytes and with an accumulation of activated CD4 + Foxp3 − (forkhead box P3) IFN-γ + T cells in the heart-draining lymph nodes. A comprehensive characterization of different aged immune-deficient mouse strains revealed that T cells significantly contribute to age-related myocardial inflammation and functional decline. Upon adoptive cell transfer, the T cells isolated from the mediastinal lymph node (med-LN) of aged animals exhibited increased cardiotropism, compared with cells purified from young donors or from other irrelevant sites. Nevertheless, these cells caused rather mild effects on cardiac functionality, indicating that myocardial aging might stem from a combination of intrinsic and extrinsic (immunological) factors. Taken together, the data herein presented indicate that heart-directed immune responses may spontaneously arise in the elderly, even in the absence of a clear tissue damage or concomitant infection. These observations might shed new light on the emerging role of T cells in myocardial diseases, which primarily affect the elderly population.T he myocardial cellular composition has been revisited in recent years, and leukocyte subsets residing in the healthy heart have been described (1-10). Cardiac-resident macrophages exhibiting an M2-like gene expression profile were found to be distributed in close association with the coronary vascular bed (3), and niches for dendritic cells (CD11c + MHC-II high CD80/86 low ) were found near the cardiac valves of the intact heart (1). It was also demonstrated that cardiac-resident MHCII + cells process and present myosin heavy chain-alpha-derived peptides under steady-state conditions (11, 12) and prime T cells ex vivo (1). However, whether lymphocytes can seed the intact myocardium and whether T-cell priming with myocardial antigens can occur in the absence of an infection or autoimmune myocarditis remain elusive.More recently, accumulating evidence indicated that noninfectious myocardial diseases are modulated by T cells. During the last couple of years, our group demonstrated that ischemic, sterile myocardial injuries can elicit lymphocyte activation directed against cardiac antigens (13-16). Our previous data, showing for the first time that CD4 + T cells reactive to cardiac components can foster the healing process that takes place after myocardial infarction, were corroborated by several other reports (13,15,(17)(18)(19)(20). However, these autoreactive T cells can also b...
The importance of isothiazole and of compounds containing the isothiazole nucleus has been growing over the last few years. Isothiazolinones are used in cosmetic and as chemical additives for occupational and industrial usage due to their bacteriostatic and fungiostatic activity. Despite their effectiveness as biocides, isothiazolinones are strong sensitizers, producing skin irritations and allergies and may pose ecotoxicological hazards. Therefore, their use is restricted by EU legislation. Considering the relevance and importance of isothiazolinone biocides, the present review describes the state-of-the-art knowledge regarding their synthesis, antibacterial components, toxicity (including structure–activity–toxicity relationships) outlines, and (photo)chemical stability. Due to the increasing prevalence and impact of isothiazolinones in consumer’s health, analytical methods for the identification and determination of this type of biocides were also discussed.
Health literacy, a more complex concept than knowledge, is a required capacity to obtain, understand, integrate and act on health information [1], in order to enhance individual and community health, which is defined by different levels, according to the autonomy and personal capacitation in decision making [2]. Medium levels of Health literacy in an adolescent population were found in a study conducted in 2013/2014, being higher in sexual and reproductive health and lower in substance use. It was also noticed that the higher levels of health literacy were in the area adolescents refer to have receipt more health information. The health literacy competence with higher scores was communication skills, and the lower scores were in the capacity to analyze factors that influence health. Higher levels were also found in younger teenagers, but in a higher school level, confirming the importance of health education in these age and development stage. Adolescents seek more information in health professionals and parents, being friends more valued as a source information in older adolescents, which enhance the importance of peer education mainly in older adolescents [3]. As a set of competences based on knowledge, health literacy should be developed through education interventions, encompassing the cultural and social context of individuals, since the society, culture and education system where the individual is inserted can define the way the development and enforcement of the health literacy competences [4]. The valued sources of information should be taken into account, as well as needs of information in some topics referred by adolescents in an efficient health education. Schizophrenia is a serious and chronic mental illness which has a profound effect on the health and well-being related with the well-known nature of psychotic symptoms. The exercise has the potential to improve the life of people with schizophrenia improving physical health and alleviating psychiatric symptoms. However, most people with schizophrenia remains sedentary and lack of access to exercise programs are barriers to achieve health benefits. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of exercise on I) the type of intervention in mental health, II) in salivary levels of alpha-amylase and cortisol and serum levels of S100B and BDNF, and on III) the quality of life and selfperception of the physical domain of people with schizophrenia. The sample consisted of 31 females in long-term institutions in the Casa de Saúde Rainha Santa Isabel, with age between 25 and 63, and with diagnosis of schizophrenia according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR). Physical fitness was assessed by the six-minute walk distance test (6MWD). Biological variables were determined by ELISA (Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay). Psychological variables were assessed using SF-36, PSPP-SCV, RSES and SWLS tests. Walking exercise has a positive impact on physical fitness (6MWD -p = 0.001) and physical components of the psychological test...
Fruit cracking is one of the main concerns in sweet cherry production and is caused by a heavy rainfall before and during the harvest. This physiological disorder leads to severe economic losses, which can be more or less effective depending on the cracked region of the fruit: in the cheeks (side cracks), in the stylar scar region, or in the stem cavity region. Sweet cherry cracking can be affected by several factors such as cultivar, growing conditions, rootstock, fruit size, flesh osmotic potential, cuticular characteristics of the skin, and stage of fruit development. In this sense, the objective of this work was to evaluate the cracking incidence in two sweet cherry cultivars (Early Bigi and Lapins grafted on “Saint Lucie 64” rootstock) and correlate the cracking index with other quality parameters. Fruits were harvested on 2 May (cv. Early Bigi) and on 27 May (cv. Lapins) 2019 at their commercial ripening stage. In the field, the total yield and the trunk cross-sectional area were determined for each tree in order to calculate the yield efficiency. In the laboratory, the cracking index was determined in 150 fruits without visual defects. In addition, fruit size and weight, wax content, flesh firmness, epidermis rupture force, total soluble solids, pH, titratable acidity, and maturity index of 30 fruits were also evaluated. In general, all the analyzed quality parameters were influenced by the cultivar, being that cv. Lapins presented larger, heavier, firmer, and sweeter fruits, with more acidity and higher maturation index. However, cv. Lapins also presented higher cracking index, which was positively correlated with all the parameters above-mentioned and negatively correlated with the wax content. In fact, cv. Early Bigi presented a high wax content and simultaneously a low cracking index. The stylar scar region cracks were the most prevalent in both cultivars. These results allowed us to conclude that, in the North Portugal region, the Lapins cherries presented better quality attributes than the Early Bigi cherries. However, the latter are still very valuable to the region due to its early ripening. Additionally, it was also possible to conclude that bigger, firmer, more mature, and with lower wax content cherries were more sensitive to cracking than the smaller fruits, soft-fleshed, less mature, and with higher wax content.
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