Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso

About: Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso is a education organization based out in Cuiabá, Brazil. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Species richness. The organization has 7748 authors who have published 10181 publications receiving 89994 citations.

Altered platelet indices as potential markers of severe and complicated malaria caused by Plasmodium vivax: a cross-sectional descriptive study

Abstract: This study described altered platelet indices in patients with acute malaria caused by Plasmodium vivax and determined whether these alterations are associated with warning signs of severe and complicated malaria. A total of 186 patients attending the Malaria Clinic at the University Hospital from the Federal University of Mato Grosso, Brazil, between 2008 and 2013 were included in this study. After parasitological confirmation of exclusive infection by P. vivax, blood cell counts and platelet indices were determined. Disease gravity was evaluated on the basis of classic signs of Plasmodium falciparum severe malaria, including severe anemia, or by changes in serum levels of glucose, bilirubin, aminotransferases and creatinine at the time of the patient’s admission. Patients with a longer duration of symptoms or those identified as primo infected were considered potential candidates for evolution into the severe form of malaria. The mean platelet volume (MPV), platelet distribution width (PDW), and plateletcrit (PCT) values exhibited significant variability. A significant inverse relationship was observed between parasitaemia and PCT. Patients with warning signs for evolution into severe disease, with primo infection, or presenting with symptoms for over three days had the highest MPV and PDW. The adjusted analyses showed the presence of warning signs for the development of severe and complicated malaria remained independently linked to elevated MPV and PDW. Altered platelet indices should be analysed as potential markers for the severity of malaria caused by P. vivax. Future studies with appropriate methodology for prognostic evaluation could confirm the potential use of these indices in clinical practice.

Cross-Comparisons between Experiment, TD-DFT, CC, and ADC for Transition Energies.

Abstract: Considering 41 electronic transitions in small- and medium-sized organic molecules, we benchmark the performances of 36 hybrid functionals within time-dependent density-functional theory (TD-DFT) and nine wave function theory (WFT) methods [CCSDT, CC3, CCSDT-3, CCSDR(3), CCSD, CC2, ADC(3), ADC(2), and SOS-ADC(2)]. Compared to highly accurate experimental 0-0 energies, it turns out that all coupled cluster (CC) approaches that include contributions from the triples [i.e., CCSDT, CC3, CCSDT-3 and CCSDR(3)] deliver a root-mean-square error (RMSE) smaller than or equal to 0.05 eV. The remaining WFT methods [i.e., CCSD, CC2, ADC(3), ADC(2), and SOS-ADC(2)] yield larger deviations with RMSE lying between 0.11 and 0.27 eV. Irrespective of the exchange-correlation functional, TD-DFT yields larger deviations (RMSE ⩾ 0.30 eV). For vertical transitions without clear experimental equivalents (such as vertical absorption and fluorescence), a comparison between TD-DFT and CC3 provides a globally unchanged ranking of the various functionals. However, the errors on emission energies tend to be larger than on absorption energies, hinting that studying the latter property is not sufficient to gain a complete view of TD-DFT's performances. Finally, by cross-comparisons between TD-DFT and WFT, we observe that the WFT method selected as reference significantly impacts the conclusions regarding the overall accuracy of a given exchange-correlation functional. For example, for vertical absorption energies, the "best" functional is TPSSh (RMSE = 0.29 eV) based on CC3 reference energies, while LC-ωPBE (RMSE = 0.12 eV) is superior to the other functionals when one considers ADC(3) as the reference method.

Exercise counteracts fatty liver disease in rats fed on fructose-rich diet

Abstract: This study aimed to analyze the effects of exercise at the aerobic/anaerobic transition on the markers of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), insulin sensitivity and the blood chemistry of rats kept on a fructose-rich diet. We separated 48 Wistar rats into two groups according to diet: a control group (balanced diet AIN-93 G) and a fructose-rich diet group (60% fructose). The animals were tested for maximal lactate-steady state (MLSS) in order to identify the aerobic/anaerobic metabolic transition during swimming exercises at 28 and 90 days of age. One third of the animals of each group were submitted to swimming training at an intensity equivalent to the individual MLSS for 1 hours/day, 5 days/week from 28 to 120 days (early protocol). Another third were submitted to the training from 90 to 120 days (late protocol), and the others remained sedentary. The main assays performed included an insulin tolerance test (ITT) and tests of serum alanine aminotransferase [ALT] and aspartate aminotransferase [AST] activities, serum triglyceride concentrations [TG] and liver total lipid concentrations. The fructose-fed rats showed decreased insulin sensitivity, and the late-exercise training protocol counteracted this alteration. There was no difference between the groups in levels of serum ALT, whereas AST and liver lipids increased in the fructose-fed sedentary group when compared with the other groups. Serum triglycerides concentrations were higher in the fructose-fed trained groups when compared with the corresponding control group. The late-training protocol was effective in restoring insulin sensitivity to acceptable standards. Considering the markers here evaluated, both training protocols were successful in preventing the emergence of non-alcoholic fatty liver status disease.

Diabetes induced immunological and biochemical changes in human colostrum

Abstract: Aim: This article describes the changes and relationships between biochemical and immunological parameters in the colostrum and serum of diabetic women. Methods: Colostrum and blood samples were collected from 30 diabetic and 15 normoglycaemic women. Glucose, total protein, antibody, complement proteins (C3 and C4), fat and calorie content, amylase, lipase and superoxide dismutase (SOD) were determined. Results: Glucose was higher in both the colostrum and serum of diabetic mothers compared to that of their normoglycaemic counterparts. In both groups, total protein was higher in colostrum than in serum. IgA and IgG were lower in the colostrum of hyperglycaemic mothers, whereas IgM did not vary between the groups. Colostral C3 protein was significantly lower in diabetic mothers, but colostral C4 protein was similar between normoglycaemic and hyperglycaemic mothers. Fat content was lower in the colostrum of the diabetic mothers, although calorie content did not vary between the groups. Amylase was lower in colostrum than in serum in both groups. Lipase was higher in the colostrum and serum of diabetic mothers. Colostral SOD was similar between the groups. Conclusions: Our results support the hypothesis that the colostrum of diabetic mothers suffers biochemical and immunological alterations that affect the levels of its components.