Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais

About: Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais is a education organization based out in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Context (language use). The organization has 41631 authors who have published 75688 publications receiving 1249905 citations.

A new consensus for Trypanosoma cruzi intraspecific nomenclature: second revision meeting recommends TcI to TcVI.

Abstract: In an effort to unify the nomenclature of Trypanosoma cruzi, the causative agent of Chagas disease, an updated system was agreed upon at the Second Satellite Meeting. A consensus was reached that T. cruzi strains should be referred to by six discrete typing units (T. cruzi I-VI). The goal of a unified nomenclature is to improve communication within the scientific community involved in T. cruzi research. The justification and implications will be presented in a subsequent detailed report.

Color and genomic ancestry in Brazilians

Abstract: This work was undertaken to ascertain to what degree the physical appearance of a Brazilian individual was predictive of genomic African ancestry. Using a panel of 10 population-specific alleles, we assigned to each person an African ancestry index (AAI). The procedure was able to tell apart, with no overlaps, 20 males from northern Portugal from 20 males from Sao Tome Island on the west coast of Africa. We also tested 10 Brazilian Amerindians and observed that their AAI values fell in the same range as the Europeans. Finally, we studied two different Brazilian population samples. The first consisted of 173 individuals from a rural Southeastern community, clinically classified according to their Color (white, black, or intermediate) with a multivariate evaluation based on skin pigmentation in the medial part of the arm, hair color and texture, and the shape of the nose and lips. In contrast to the clear-cut results with the African and European samples, our results showed large variances and extensive overlaps among the three Color categories. We next embarked on a study of 200 unrelated Brazilian white males who originated from cosmopolitan centers of the four major geographic regions of the country. The results showed AAI values intermediate between Europeans and Africans, even in southern Brazil, a region predominantly peopled by European immigrants. Our data suggest that in Brazil, at an individual level, color, as determined by physical evaluation, is a poor predictor of genomic African ancestry, estimated by molecular markers.

GLIM Criteria for the Diagnosis of Malnutrition: A Consensus Report From the Global Clinical Nutrition Community

Abstract: Summary Rationale This initiative is focused on building a global consensus around core diagnostic criteria for malnutrition in adults in clinical settings Methods In January 2016, the Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition (GLIM) was convened by several of the major global clinical nutrition societies GLIM appointed a core leadership committee and a supporting working group with representatives bringing additional global diversity and expertise Empirical consensus was reached through a series of face-to-face meetings, telephone conferences, and e-mail communications Results A two-step approach for the malnutrition diagnosis was selected, ie, first screening to identify “at risk” status by the use of any validated screening tool, and second, assessment for diagnosis and grading the severity of malnutrition The malnutrition criteria for consideration were retrieved from existing approaches for screening and assessment Potential criteria were subjected to a ballot among the GLIM core and supporting working group members The top five ranked criteria included three phenotypic criteria (non-volitional weight loss, low body mass index, and reduced muscle mass) and two etiologic criteria (reduced food intake or assimilation, and inflammation or disease burden) To diagnose malnutrition at least one phenotypic criterion and one etiologic criterion should be present Phenotypic metrics for grading severity as Stage 1 (moderate) and Stage 2 (severe) malnutrition are proposed It is recommended that the etiologic criteria be used to guide intervention and anticipated outcomes The recommended approach supports classification of malnutrition into four etiology-related diagnosis categories Conclusion A consensus scheme for diagnosing malnutrition in adults in clinical settings on a global scale is proposed Next steps are to secure further collaboration and endorsements from leading nutrition professional societies, to identify overlaps with syndromes like cachexia and sarcopenia, and to promote dissemination, validation studies, and feedback The diagnostic construct should be re-considered every 3–5 years

Characterizing user behavior in online social networks

Abstract: Understanding how users behave when they connect to social networking sites creates opportunities for better interface design, richer studies of social interactions, and improved design of content distribution systems. In this paper, we present a first of a kind analysis of user workloads in online social networks. Our study is based on detailed clickstream data, collected over a 12-day period, summarizing HTTP sessions of 37,024 users who accessed four popular social networks: Orkut, MySpace, Hi5, and LinkedIn. The data were collected from a social network aggregator website in Brazil, which enables users to connect to multiple social networks with a single authentication. Our analysis of the clickstream data reveals key features of the social network workloads, such as how frequently people connect to social networks and for how long, as well as the types and sequences of activities that users conduct on these sites. Additionally, we crawled the social network topology of Orkut, so that we could analyze user interaction data in light of the social graph. Our data analysis suggests insights into how users interact with friends in Orkut, such as how frequently users visit their friends' or non-immediate friends' pages. In summary, our analysis demonstrates the power of using clickstream data in identifying patterns in social network workloads and social interactions. Our analysis shows that browsing, which cannot be inferred from crawling publicly available data, accounts for 92% of all user activities. Consequently, compared to using only crawled data, considering silent interactions like browsing friends' pages increases the measured level of interaction among users.

Metabolite-sensing receptors GPR43 and GPR109A facilitate dietary fibre-induced gut homeostasis through regulation of the inflammasome

Abstract: Diet and the gut microbiota may underpin numerous human diseases. A major metabolic product of commensal bacteria are short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) that derive from fermentation of dietary fibre. Here we show that diets deficient or low in fibre exacerbate colitis development, while very high intake of dietary fibre or the SCFA acetate protects against colitis. SCFAs binding to the 'metabolite-sensing' receptors GPR43 and GPR109A in non-haematopoietic cells mediate these protective effects. The inflammasome pathway has hitherto been reported as a principal pathway promoting gut epithelial integrity. SCFAs binding to GPR43 on colonic epithelial cells stimulates K(+) efflux and hyperpolarization, which lead to NLRP3 inflammasome activation. Dietary fibre also shapes gut bacterial ecology, resulting in bacterial species that are more effective for inflammasome activation. SCFAs and metabolite receptors thus explain health benefits of dietary fibre, and how metabolite signals feed through to a major pathway for gut homeostasis.