Russellsomerville7943

Pacific oysters (Crassostrea gigas) may bio-accumulate high levels of paralytic shellfish toxins (PST) during harmful algal blooms of the genus Alexandrium. These blooms regularly occur in coastal waters, affecting oyster health and marketability. The aim of our study was to analyse the PST-sensitivity of nerves of Pacific oysters in relation with toxin bio-accumulation. The results show that C. Linsitinib gigas nerves have micromolar range of saxitoxin (STX) sensitivity, thus providing intermediate STX sensitivity compared to other bivalve species. However, theses nerves were much less sensitive to tetrodotoxin. The STX-sensitivity of compound nerve action potential (CNAP) recorded from oysters experimentally fed with Alexandrium minutum (toxic-alga-exposed oysters), or Tisochrysis lutea, a non-toxic microalga (control oysters), revealed that oysters could be separated into STX-resistant and STX-sensitive categories, regardless of the diet. Moreover, the percentage of toxin-sensitive nerves was lower, and the STX concentration necessary to inhibit 50% of CNAP higher, in recently toxic-alga-exposed oysters than in control bivalves. However, no obvious correlation was observed between nerve sensitivity to STX and the STX content in oyster digestive glands. None of the nerves isolated from wild and farmed oysters was detected to be sensitive to tetrodotoxin. In conclusion, this study highlights the good potential of cerebrovisceral nerves of Pacific oysters for electrophysiological and pharmacological studies. In addition, this study shows, for the first time, that C. gigas nerves have micromolar range of STX sensitivity. The STX sensitivity decreases, at least temporary, upon recent oyster exposure to dinoflagellates producing PST under natural, but not experimental environment.Severe asthma is a heterogeneous, complex and chronic disease widespread in the pediatric population. According to the recent findings about the different endotypes of asthma in children, each one characterized by specific intracellular molecular pathways, several innovative biologic therapies have been developed. Due to their precise ability to target specific inflammatory type 2 mediators, biologics have revolutionized the care of chronic allergic diseases in the pediatric and adult population. In this review, we aim to provide the latest evidence about the use, indications, efficacy and safety of biologic therapies to treat severe asthma in children and adolescents.The COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil is extremely severe, and Brazil has the third-highest number of cases in the world. The goal of the study is to identify the prevalence rates and several predictors of depression and anxiety in Brazil during the initial outbreak of COVID-19. We surveyed 482 adults in 23 Brazilian states online on 9-22 May 2020, and found that 70.3% of the adults (n = 339) had depressive symptoms and 67.2% (n = 320) had anxiety symptoms. The results of multi-class logistic regression models revealed that females, younger adults, and those with fewer children had a higher likelihood of depression and anxiety symptoms; adults who worked as employees were more likely to have anxiety symptoms than those who were self-employed or unemployed; adults who spent more time browsing COVID-19 information online were more likely to have depression and anxiety symptoms. Our results provide preliminary evidence and early warning for psychiatrists and healthcare organizations to better identify and focus on the more vulnerable sub-populations in Brazil during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.Precision medicine in cancer treatment refers to targeted therapy based on the evaluation of biomarkers. Although precision medicine for pancreatic cancer (PC) remains challenging, novel biomarker-based therapies, such as pembrolizumab, olaparib, and entrectinib, have been emerging. Most commonly, endoscopic ultrasound-guided tissue acquisition (EUS-TA) had been used for the diagnosis of PC until now. However, advances in EUS-TA devices and biomarker testing, especially next-generation sequencing, have opened up the possibility of sequencing of various genes even in limited amounts of tissue samples obtained by EUS-TA, and identifying potential genetic alterations as therapeutic targets. Precision medicine benefits only a small population of patients with PC, but biomarker-based therapy has shown promising results in patients who once had no treatment options. Now, the role of EUS-TA has extended beyond diagnosis into decision-making regarding the treatment of PC. In this review, we mainly discuss tissue sampling by EUS-TA for biomarker testing and the current status of precision medicine for PC.Myxoid liposarcoma (MLPS) is the second most common subtype of liposarcoma and has tendency to metastasize to soft tissues. To date, the mechanisms of invasion and metastasis of MLPS remain unclear, and new therapeutic strategies that improve patients' outcomes are expected. In this study, we analyzed by immunohistochemistry the immune cellular components and microvessel density in tumor tissues from patients affected by MLPS. In order to evaluate the effects of primary human MLPS cells on macrophage polarization and, in turn, the ability of macrophages to influence invasiveness of MLPS cells, non-contact and 3D organotypic co-cultures were set up. High grade MLPS tissues were found heavily vascularized, exhibited a CD3, CD4, and CD8 positive T lymphocyte-poor phenotype and were massively infiltrated by CD163 positive M2-like macrophages. Conversely, low grade MLPS tissues were infiltrated by a discrete amount of CD3, CD4, and CD8 positive T lymphocytes and a scarce amount of CD163 positive macrophages. Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed a shorter Progression Free Survival in MLPS patients whose tumor tissues were highly vascularized and heavily infiltrated by CD163 positive macrophages, indicating a clear-cut link between M2-like macrophage abundance and poor prognosis in patients. Moreover, we documented that, in co-culture, soluble factors produced by primary human MLPS cells induce macrophage polarization toward an M2-like phenotype which, in turn, increases MLPS cell capability to spread into extracellular matrix and to cross endothelial monolayers. The identification of M2-like polarization factors secreted by MLPS cells may allow to develop novel targeted therapies counteracting MLPS progression.