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Macaiba pulp is a source of bioactive compounds. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of macaiba pulp on anxiety behavior, memory and brain oxidative stress in dyslipidemic rats. The animals were divided into four groups (n = 10): Control (CG), Macaíba (MG), Dyslipidemic (DG) and Dyslipidemic Macaiba (DMG). Animals from the DG and DMG were induced to dyslipidemia consuming a high fatty emulsion for 14 days before treatment with macaiba pulp. During treatment the MG and DMG received the macaiba pulp (1 g/kg body weight) for 28 days. The rats were evaluated with the open field (OFT) and elevated plus maze (EPM) tests to measure anxiety-like behavior; memory was evaluated using the object recognition test (ORT). After euthanasia, the fatty acid profile of the animals' brain tissue was measured and the levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) and total glutathione (GSH) were quantified. The data were evaluated using one-way ANOVA followed by the Tukey (p < 0.05) test. Both groups (MG and DMG) that consumed the macaiba pulp showed anxiolytic-like behavior for parameters of grooming, rearing and ambulation in the OFT test and time in the center and time and entries in the open arms in the EMP test; The MG and DMG groups increased exploration rate in the ORT. The DMG showed a reduction in MDA levels (p < 0.05); however, MG and DMG had decreased in GSH (p < 0.05). The results showed that macaiba pulp consumption induces anxiolytic-like behavior and reduces brain oxidative damage in dyslipidemic animals, and improves memory in healthy and dyslipidemic rats., Competing Interests: Declarations. Ethics approval: The experimental protocol followed ethical recommendations and was approved by the Ethics Committee for Animal Use of the Federal University of Campina Grande (number 057-2016). Consent to participate: Not applicable. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Conflicts of interest: The authors declare there are no conflicts of interest., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

We aimed to present a case of two mesocolonic hydatid cysts that mimicked the presentation of peritoneal pseudomyxoma. Hydatidosis is a zoonotic parasitic infection caused by the cestode Echinococcus spp., whose larval stage affects various organs. The present case describes a 40-year-old male patient who presented with severe lower abdominal pain and was diagnosed with acute appendicitis. The patient underwent an appendectomy and was later referred to an oncology surgery clinic because of imaging findings suggestive of peritoneal pseudomyxoma or carcinomatosis. A video-assisted laparoscopic procedure revealed two cysts and microscopic findings confirmed hydatid cysts. The patient was from a hydatidosis-endemic region of southern Brazil. This case highlights the diagnostic challenges and the need for a multidisciplinary approach and careful histopathological analysis in patients with complex abdominal conditions. This also demonstrates the importance of disseminating knowledge about this condition and its management., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Background: The consensus in scientific literature is that each child undergoes a unique linguistic development path, albeit with shared developmental stages. Some children excel or lag behind their peers in language skills. Consequently, a key challenge in language acquisition research is pinpointing factors influencing individual differences in language development., Methods: We observed children longitudinally from 3 to 24 months of life to explore early predictors of vocabulary size. Based on the productive vocabulary size of children at 24 months, 30 children met our sample selection criteria: 10 late talkers and 10 early talkers, and we compared them with 10 typical talkers. We evaluated interactive behaviors at 3, 6, 9 and 12 months, considering vocal production, gaze at mother's face, and gestural production during mother-child interactions, and we considered mothers' report of children's actions and gestures and receptive-vocabulary size at 15 and 18 months., Results: Results indicated early precursors of language outcome at 24 months identifiable as early as 3 months in vocal productions, 6 months for gaze at mother's face and 12 months for gestural productions., Conclusions: Our research highlights both theoretical and practical implications. Theoretically, identifying the early indicators of belonging to the group of late or early talkers underscores the significant role of this developmental period for future studies. On a practical note, our findings emphasize the crucial need for early investigations to identify predictors of vocabulary development before the typical age at which lexical delay is identified., Competing Interests: No competing interests were disclosed., (Copyright: © 2024 Logrieco MG et al.)

Implementing a structured COVID-19 lung ultrasound system, using COVID-RADS standardization. This case series exams revealed correlations between ultrasonographic and tomographic findings. Ventilatory assessments showed that higher categories required second-line oxygen. This replicable tool will aid in screening and predicting disease severity beyond the pandemic., Objective: We aimed to share our experience in implementing a structured system for COVID-19 lung findings, elucidating key aspects of the lung ultrasound score to facilitate its standardized clinical use beyond the pandemic scenario., Methods: Using a scoring system to classify the extent of lung involvement, we retrospectively analyzed the ultrasound reports performed in our institution according to COVID-RADS standardization., Results: The study included 69 thoracic ultrasound exams, with 27 following the protocol. The majority of patients were female (52%), with ages ranging from 1 to 96 years and an average of 56 years. Classification according to COVID-RADS was as follows: 11.1% in category 0, 37% in category 1, 44.4% in category 2, and 7.4% in category 3. Ground-glass opacities on tomography correlated with higher COVID-RADS scores (categories 2 and 3) in 82% of cases. Ventilatory assessment revealed that 50% of cases in higher COVID-RADS categories (2 and 3) required second-line oxygen supplementation, while none of the cases in lower categories (0 and 1) utilized this support., Conclusion: Lung ultrasound has been widely utilized as a diagnostic tool owing to its availability and simplicity of application. In the context of the pandemic emergency, a pressing need for a focused and easily applicable assessment arose. The structured reporting system, incorporating ultrasound findings for stratification, demonstrated ease of replicability. This system stands as a crucial tool for screening, predicting severity, and aiding in medical decisions, even in a non-pandemic context. Lung ultrasound enables precise diagnosis and ongoing monitoring of the disease. Ultrasound is an effective tool for assessing pulmonary findings in COVID-19. Structured reports enhance communication and are easily reproducible.

The present study aims to explore the forms of psychological parental control that are interconnected with dysfunctional emotional states (i.e., anxiety and depression), and how these internalizing problems may manifest as distorted behaviors (i.e., vigorexic and orthorexic behaviors) during adolescence. Participants included 403 Italian adolescent athletes (231 boys and 172 girls) aged 14 to 18 years. The participants completed self-report questionnaires designed to assess psychological parental control oriented towards dependence and achievement, anxiety and depression, and vigorexia and orthorexia. The results highlight how both forms of psychological parental control predict anxiety and depression. Furthermore, anxiety was found to be linked to both vigorexic and orthorexic behaviors, while depression is connected only to vigorexia. This study delves into the intricacies of parental influence on adolescents, revealing that both dependency-oriented and success-oriented psychological parental control have notable implications for the mental well-being of adolescents. The findings underscore the interconnectedness of these factors, demonstrating that anxiety can set off a chain reaction, leading to engagement in vigorexic and orthorexic behaviors. On the other hand, depression appears to be uniquely associated with vigorexia. These insights contribute to our understanding of the complex dynamics between parental control and adolescent mental health. The implications of this research extend to both theoretical frameworks and practical interventions, emphasizing the need for a nuanced approach to supporting adolescents in navigating these challenges.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused many enduring changes in the everyday life of families, with negative effects on parents' and children's wellbeing. However, there is a lack of studies in the literature exploring the emotional reactions and coping strategies of both mothers and children of different ages. Furthermore, most studies used only self-reports. This study aimed to identify the emotions and coping strategies of children, adolescents and their mothers and to verify the association between maternal and child wellbeing. A mixed-method design using interviews and questionnaires was applied to collect information on wellbeing (emotional reactions, behavioral/emotional problems) and coping strategies of both mothers ( n = 65; M age = 42.17; SD = 4.40; M age = 41.63; SD = 4.48), and their children ( n = 35, 8-10 year; n = 30, 11-13 year) during the second wave of the pandemic (December 2020). No differences between the groups emerged concerning the emotional reactions reported. In contrast, mothers and children of different ages reported different self-regulation and other-regulation strategies. Moreover, maternal strategies had different effects on children's wellbeing. The integration of qualitative and quantitative results was informative to understand how families adapted to the radical changes of everyday life related to the pandemic. The implications for developing interventions in such similar stressful situations to promote family wellbeing are discussed.

The Pequi fruit ( Caryocar Brasiliense cambess ), typical of the Brazilian cerrado or savannah, is a source of essential fatty acids, carotenoids, and phenolic compounds. The aim of this study was to analyze the effects of consuming this fruit on anxiety behavior and lipid peroxidation in the brains of rats whose mothers were treated (by gavage) during pregnancy and lactation with Pequi fruit (pulp or nuts) at 2000 mg/kg of body weight. Anxiety parameters were assessed using the open field (OF), elevated plus maze (EPM), and light/dark box (LDB) tests. The brain was removed to measure malondialdehyde (MDA) levels. Data were analyzed using One-way Anova (p < 0.05). In the OF, the animals in the pulp group presented more time spent in the central area (20.37 ± 0.73 vs Control: 12.51 ± 0.39; Nuts: 8.28 ± 0.40) and increased locomotion (159.7 ± 6.10) compared to the other groups (Control: 127.3 ± 5.54; Nuts: 139.08 ± 6.57). In the EPM, the pulp group entered into the open arms (8.57 ± 0.36) and stayed more time in the central area (19.44 ± 1.17) compared to the Nuts group (7.14 ± 0.34; 13.00 ± 1.57). In the LDB the pulp group entered more (8.00 ± 0.42 vs Control: 7.16 ± 0.16 and Nuts: 7.42 ± 0.75) and stayed longer in the clear light side (92.18 ± 6.42) than all the other groups (Control: 71.44 ± 3.53; Nuts: 80.57 ± 6.50), respectively. Pulp group presented lower MDA in the brain (55.34 ± 3.04) compared to Control (72.06 ± 4.66) and Nuts (66.57 ± 2.45). We conclude that Pequi pulp consumption during pregnancy and lactation reduces lipid peroxidation in brain tissue and induces anxiolytic-like behavior in rat offspring. These effects were not observed in the Pequi nuts group., Competing Interests: The authors declare no known conflict of interest., (© 2023 The Authors.)

Nopalea cochenillifera (Cactaceae), popularly known as "palma" or "palma doce", is from Mexico, but it was widely introduced in Brazil through crops. It has been used as food and in traditional medicine and is a good source of phenolic compounds. In this study the phytochemical profile and gastroprotective activity of phenolic-rich extract of N. cochenillifera in acute gastric lesion models induced by ethanol and indomethacin were evaluated. High-performance liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (HPLC/ESI/MS n ) allowed the characterization of 12 compounds such as sugars, phenolics and flavonoids. Among polyphenols, the main peak was assigned to isorhamnetin-3- O -(2'',3''- O -di-rhamnose)-glucoside. The TPC and TFC in the dry extract were 67.85 mg of gallic acid equivalent per g/extract and 46.16 mg quercetin equivalent per g/extract, respectively. In the in vitro MTT assay, the extract showed no cytotoxicity and suppressed ROS levels in LPS-treated RAW 264.7 cells. Preclinical models in rats showed that a dose of 100 mg kg -1 ( p < 0.0001) in the ethanol model and doses of 100 mg kg -1 ( p < 0.5) and 200 mg kg -1 ( p < 0.01) in the indomethacin model reduced the gastric lesions. Also, the extract reduced the MPO, MDA, TNF-α and IL-1β levels and increased the GSH and IL-10 levels. The pre-treatment with the extract led to the upregulation of SOD and the downregulation of COX-2 by immunohistochemical analysis. It also showed a cytoprotective effect in the histopathological analysis and stimulated the restoration of the mucus content as observed in the periodic acid-Schiff analysis without modifying the pH, volume or total acidity of the gastric juice. Taken together, N. cochenillifera extract can be applied as a novel gastroprotective ingredient for food or pharmaceutical products.