University of São Paulo

About: University of São Paulo is a education organization based out in São Paulo, Brazil. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Context (language use). The organization has 136513 authors who have published 272320 publications receiving 5127869 citations. The organization is also known as: USP & Universidade de São Paulo.

The dual burden household and the nutrition transition paradox

Abstract: OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to document the prevalence of households with underweight and overweight persons (henceforth referred to as dual burden households) and their association with income and urban residence. The explorations by urban residence and income will test whether dual burden households differ from 'underweight only' and 'overweight only' households, respectively. These comparisons are relevant to differentiating or adapting nutrition-related interventions wherever obesity and undernutrition cluster at the household level. POPULATION: Data analysis is based on national surveys conducted in Brazil, China, Indonesia, the Kyrgyz Republic, Russia, Vietnam and the United States. METHODS: All persons were first classified into categories for underweight and overweight, using body mass index (BMI) cutoffs, and then all households were categorized into four types: dual burden, overweight, underweight and normal. Income and urban residence were explored as key risk factors for being a dual burden household, with the effects modeled separately for each country. Multiple logistic regression was used to explore income and urban risk factors, controlling for household size, region of residence and either urban residence or income, as appropriate. RESULTS: In six of the countries studied, 22-66% of households with an underweight person also had an overweight person. Countries with the highest prevalence of dual burden households were those in the middle range of gross national product (GNP). The dual burden household is easily distinguished from the 'underweight only' households in Brazil, China, Indonesia, the United States and Vietnam. In these five countries dual burden households were more likely to be urban and more likely to be among the highest income tertile. There were no significant differences between dual burden and 'underweight only' households in Russia and the Kyrgyz Republic. In contrast, dual burden households were not easily distinguished from the 'overweight only' households in China, Indonesia, the Kyrgyz Republic, the United States and Vietnam. In Brazil and Russia dual burden households were more likely to be lower income and urban than 'overweight only' households. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of dual burden households presents a significant public health concern, particularly for those countries in the middle range of GNP. In some countries (China, Indonesia, the Kyrgyz Republic, the United States and Vietnam), dual burden households share sociodemographic profiles with overweight households, raising concerns for underweight individuals who may inadvertently become the focus of obesity prevention initiatives. For this reason, obesity prevention efforts should focus on messages that are beneficial to the good health of all, such as increasing fruit and vegetable intake, improving overall diet quality and increasing physical activity.

Chlorhexidine Arrests Subclinical Degradation of Dentin Hybrid Layers in vivo

Abstract: The recent paradigm that endogenous collagenolytic and gelatinolytic activities derived from acid-etched dentin result in degradation of hybrid layers requires in vivo validation. This study tested the null hypothesis that there is no difference between the degradation of dentin bonded with an etch-and-rinse adhesive and that in conjunction with chlorhexidine, an MMP inhibitor, applied after phosphoric-acid-etching. Contralateral pairs of bonded Class I restorations in primary molars of clinical subjects were retrieved after a six-month period of intra-oral functioning and processed for transmission electron microscopy. Hybrid layers from the chlorhexidine-treated teeth exhibited normal structural integrity of the collagen network. Conversely, abnormal hybrid layers were seen in the control teeth, with progressive disintegration of the fibrillar network, to the extent that it was beyond detection by collagen staining. Self-destruction of collagen matrices occurs rapidly in resin-infiltrated dentin in vivo and may be arrested with the use of chlorhexidine as an MMP inhibitor.

Inflammasomes are activated in response to SARS-CoV-2 infection and are associated with COVID-19 severity in patients.

Abstract: Severe cases of COVID-19 are characterized by a strong inflammatory process that may ultimately lead to organ failure and patient death. The NLRP3 inflammasome is a molecular platform that promotes inflammation via cleavage and activation of key inflammatory molecules including active caspase-1 (Casp1p20), IL-1β, and IL-18. Although participation of the inflammasome in COVID-19 has been highly speculated, the inflammasome activation and participation in the outcome of the disease are unknown. Here we demonstrate that the NLRP3 inflammasome is activated in response to SARS-CoV-2 infection and is active in COVID-19 patients. Studying moderate and severe COVID-19 patients, we found active NLRP3 inflammasome in PBMCs and tissues of postmortem patients upon autopsy. Inflammasome-derived products such as Casp1p20 and IL-18 in the sera correlated with the markers of COVID-19 severity, including IL-6 and LDH. Moreover, higher levels of IL-18 and Casp1p20 are associated with disease severity and poor clinical outcome. Our results suggest that inflammasomes participate in the pathophysiology of the disease, indicating that these platforms might be a marker of disease severity and a potential therapeutic target for COVID-19.

Chest electrical impedance tomography examination, data analysis, terminology, clinical use and recommendations: consensus statement of the TRanslational EIT developmeNt stuDy group

Abstract: Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) has undergone 30 years of development. Functional chest examinations with this technology are considered clinically relevant, especially for monitoring regional lung ventilation in mechanically ventilated patients and for regional pulmonary function testing in patients with chronic lung diseases. As EIT becomes an established medical technology, it requires consensus examination, nomenclature, data analysis and interpretation schemes. Such consensus is needed to compare, understand and reproduce study findings from and among different research groups, to enable large clinical trials and, ultimately, routine clinical use. Recommendations of how EIT findings can be applied to generate diagnoses and impact clinical decision-making and therapy planning are required. This consensus paper was prepared by an international working group, collaborating on the clinical promotion of EIT called TRanslational EIT developmeNt stuDy group. It addresses the stated needs by providing (1) a new classification of core processes involved in chest EIT examinations and data analysis, (2) focus on clinical applications with structured reviews and outlooks (separately for adult and neonatal/paediatric patients), (3) a structured framework to categorise and understand the relationships among analysis approaches and their clinical roles, (4) consensus, unified terminology with clinical user-friendly definitions and explanations, (5) a review of all major work in thoracic EIT and (6) recommendations for future development (193 pages of online supplements systematically linked with the chief sections of the main document). We expect this information to be useful for clinicians and researchers working with EIT, as well as for industry producers of this technology.

Young organic matter as a source of carbon dioxide outgassing from Amazonian rivers

Abstract: Rivers are generally supersaturated with respect to carbon dioxide, resulting in large gas evasion fluxes that can be a significant component of regional net carbon budgets 1,2 Amazonian rivers were recently shown to outgas more than ten times the amount of carbon exported to the ocean in the form of total organic carbon or dissolved inorganic carbon 1 High carbon dioxide concentrations in rivers originate largely from in situ respiration of organic carbon 1‐3 , but little agreement exists about the sources or turnover times of this carbon 2,4,5 Here we present results of an extensive survey of the carbon isotope composition ( 13 C and 14 C) of dissolved inorganic carbon and three size-fractions of organic carbon across the Amazonian river system We find that respiration of contemporary organic matter (less than five years old) originating on land and near rivers is the dominant source of excess carbon dioxide that drives outgassing in medium to large rivers, although we find that bulk organic carbon fractions transported by these rivers range from tens to thousands of years in age We therefore suggest that a small, rapidly cycling pool of organic carbon is responsible for the large carbon fluxes from land to water to atmosphere in the humid tropics Riverine CO2 concentrations in Amazonian lowlands are 5–30 times supersaturated with respect to atmospheric equilibrium 1 ; such conditions may be prevalent throughout the humid tropics In situ respiration is the primary source of CO2 sustaining supersaturation in rivers, although inputs from groundwater supersaturated by soil respiration can be important in small systems and from submerged root respiration in floodplain-influenced systems 1–3,6–8 Although air–water gas exchange is a bi-directional process, atmospheric CO2 invasion has a negligible role compared to the large CO2 evasion fluxes, except at low supersaturation 2,3,6,7 13 C and 14 C isotopes can provide constraints on sources and turnover times of organic carbon fuelling river respiration, but no previous tropical study has used a dual-isotope approach to address these questions Studies in temperate eastern USA provide contrasting findings In the Hudson River, up to 70% of the centuries-old terrestrial organic carbon entering the river is respired in transit, and the average age of riverine organic carbon decreases downstream 2 However, the youngest components of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) are preferentially respired in the York River 5 , and modern dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) in the Parker River may be explained by respiration of young DOC produced within the estuary 4 Documenting key patterns and controls on CO2 sources in diverse ecosystems is critical to advance our understanding of CO2 outgassing from rivers and its contribution to regional net carbon budgets To identify dominant sources and turnover times of riverine carbon throughout the Amazon basin, we analysed 14 C and 13 Co f