Urinary incontinence related to perineal muscle strength in the first trimester of pregnancy: cross-sectional study

Objective To analyze pelvic floor muscle strength (PFMS), urinary continence and quality of life related to urinary incontinence (UI) of women in the first trimester of pregnancy. Method Cross-sectional study with a sample of 500 women who started prenatal care in a complementary healthcare facility in Guarulhos, state of São Paulo, from 2012 and 2013. Pelvic floor muscle strength was evaluated through perineometry. The pregnant women who presented UI answered the International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Short Form (ICIQ-SF). Results It was found that maternal age (OR=1.06; CI95% 1.02-1.11) and prior UI (OR=15.12; 95%CI 8.19-27.92) are the variables that, in tandem, best explain the occurrence of UI at the beginning of pregnancy. The mean score on the ICIQ-SF was 8.2 (SD=3.9), considered a moderate impact on quality of life. Conclusion Older pregnant women with prior UI are more likely to have UI in the first trimester of pregnancy.
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Electric Field-Tuned Topological Phase Transition in Ultra-Thin Na3Bi - Towards a Topological Transistor

The electric field induced quantum phase transition from topological to conventional insulator has been proposed as the basis of a topological field effect transistor [1-4]. In this scheme an electric field can switch 'on' the ballistic flow of charge and spin along dissipationless edges of the two-dimensional (2D) quantum spin Hall insulator [5-9], and when 'off' is a conventional insulator with no conductive channels. Such as topological transistor is promising for low-energy logic circuits [4], which would necessitate electric field-switched materials with conventional and topological bandgaps much greater than room temperature, significantly greater than proposed to date [6-8]. Topological Dirac semimetals(TDS) are promising systems in which to look for topological field-effect switching, as they lie at the boundary between conventional and topological phases [3,10-16]. Here we use scanning probe microscopy/spectroscopy (STM/STS) and angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy (ARPES) to show that mono- and bilayer films of TDS Na3Bi [3,17] are 2D topological insulators with bulk bandgaps >400 meV in the absence of electric field. Upon application of electric field by doping with potassium or by close approach of the STM tip, the bandgap can be completely closed then re-opened with conventional gap greater than 100 meV. The large bandgaps in both the conventional and quantum spin Hall phases, much greater than the thermal energy kT = 25 meV at room temperature, suggest that ultrathin Na3Bi is suitable for room temperature topological transistor operation

Cuspy No More: How Outflows Affect the Central Dark Matter and Baryon Distribution in Lambda CDM Galaxies

We examine the evolution of the inner dark matter (DM) and baryonic density profile of a new sample of simulated field galaxies using fully cosmological, Lambda CDM, high resolution SPH + N-Body simulations. These simulations include explicit H2 and metal cooling, star formation (SF) and supernovae (SNe) driven gas outflows. Starting at high redshift, rapid, repeated gas outflows following bursty SF transfer energy to the DM component and significantly flatten the originally `cuspy' central DM mass profile of galaxies with present day stellar masses in the 10^4.5 -- 10^9.8 Msolar range. At z=0, the central slope of the DM density profile of our galaxies (measured between 0.3 and 0.7 kpc from their centre) is well fitted by rhoDM propto r^alpha with alpha \simeq -0.5 + 0.35 log_10(Mstar/10^8Msolar) where Mstar is the stellar mass of the galaxy and 4 < log_10 Mstar < 9.4. These values imply DM profiles flatter than those obtained in DM--only simulations and in close agreement with those inferred in galaxies from the THINGS and LITTLE THINGS survey. Only in very small halos, where by z=0 star formation has converted less than ~ 0.03% of the original baryon abundance into stars, outflows do not flatten the original cuspy DM profile out to radii resolved by our simulations. The mass (DM and baryonic) measured within the inner 500 pc of each simulated galaxy remains nearly constant over four orders of magnitudes in stellar mass for Mstar 10^9 Msolar. This finding is consistent with estimates for faint Local Group dwarfs and field galaxies. These results address one of the outstanding problems faced by the CDM model, namely the strong discrepancy between the original predictions of cuspy DM profiles and the shallower central DM distribution observed in galaxies.Comment: MNRAS in press. Accepted version, a few references added. 12 pages. Animation at http://youtu.be/FbcgEovabDI?hd=

2MASS photometry of edge-on spiral galaxies. I. Sample and general results

A sample of edge-on spiral galaxies aimed at a study of the main structural and photometric parameters of edge-on galaxies both of early and late types is presented. The data were taken from the 2MASS in the J, H and K_s filters. The sample consists of 175 galaxies in the K_s-filter, 169 galaxies in the H-filter and 165 galaxies in the J-filter. We present bulge and disc decompositions of each galaxy image. All galaxies have been modelled with a Sersic bulge and exponential disc with the BUDDA v2.1 package. The main conclusions of our general statistical analysis of the sample are: (1) The distribution of the apparent bulge axis ratio q_b for the subsample with n < 2 can be attributed to triaxial, nearly prolate bulges that are seen from different projections, while n > 2 bulges seem to be oblate spheroids with moderate flattening. (2) For the sample galaxies, the effective radius of the bulge r_{e,b}, the disc scalelength h and the disc scaleheight z_0 are well correlated. However, there is a clear trend for the ratio r_{e,b}/h to increase with n. (3) There is a hint that the fundamental planes of discs, which links only disc parameters and the maximum rotational velocity of gas, are different for galaxies with different bulges. (4) The investigation of the Photometric Plane of sample bulges shows that the plane is not flat and has a prominent curvature towards small values of n. For bulges this fact was not noticed earlier. (5) The clear relation between the flattening of stellar discs h/z_0 and the relative mass of a spherical component, including a dark halo, is confirmed not for bulgeless galaxies but for galaxies with massive bulges. (Abridged)Comment: 20 pages, 13 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

Atopic dermatitis and vitamin D: facts and controversies

Patients with atopic dermatitis have genetically determined risk factors that affect the barrier function of the skin and immune responses that interact with environmental factors. Clinically, this results in an intensely pruriginous and inflamed skin that allows the penetration of irritants and allergens and predisposes patients to colonization and infection by microorganisms. Among the various etiological factors responsible for the increased prevalence of atopic diseases over the past few decades, the role of vitamin D has been emphasized. As the pathogenesis of AD involves a complex interplay of epidermal barrier dysfunction and dysregulated immune response, and vitamin D is involved in both processes, it is reasonable to expect that vitamin D's status could be associated with atopic dermatitis' risk or severity. Such association is suggested by epidemiological and experimental data. in this review, we will discuss the evidence for and against this controversial relationship, emphasizing the possible etiopathogenic mechanisms involved.Univ Brasilia UNB, Brasilia, DF, BrazilFed Dist Hlth State Dept SES DF, Brasilia, DF, BrazilUniv Brasilia HUB UNB, Brasilia Univ Hosp, Brasilia, DF, BrazilSão Paulo Fed Univ UNIFESP, Brasilia, DF, BrazilSão Paulo Fed Univ UNIFESP, Brasilia, DF, BrazilWeb of Scienc

Molecular evidence of adenosine deaminase linking adenosine A2A receptor and CD26 proteins

Adenosine is an endogenous purine nucleoside that acts in all living systems as a homeostatic network regulator through many pathways, which are adenosine receptor (AR)-dependent and -independent. From a metabolic point of view, adenosine deaminase (ADA) is an essential protein in the regulation of the total intracellular and extracellular adenosine in a tissue. In addition to its cytosolic localization, ADA is also expressed as an ecto-enzyme on the surface of different cells. Dipeptidyl peptidase IV (CD26) and some ARs act as binding proteins for extracellular ADA in humans. Since CD26 and ARs interact with ADA at opposite sites, we have investigated if ADA can function as a cell-to-cell communication molecule by bridging the anchoring molecules CD26 and A2AR present on the surfaces of the interacting cells. By combining site-directed mutagenesis of ADA amino acids involved in binding to A2AR and a modification of the bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET) technique that allows detection of interactions between two proteins expressed in different cell populations with low steric hindrance (NanoBRET), we show direct evidence of the specific formation of trimeric complexes CD26-ADA-A2AR involving two cells. By dynamic mass redistribution assays and ligand binding experiments, we also demonstrate that A2AR-NanoLuc fusion proteins are functional. The existence of this ternary complex is in good agreement with the hypothesis that ADA could bridge T-cells (expressing CD26) and dendritic cells (expressing A2AR). This is a new metabolic function for ecto-ADA that, being a single chain protein, it has been considered as an example of moonlighting protein, because it performs more than one functional role (as a catalyst, a costimulator, an allosteric modulator and a cell-to-cell connector) without partitioning these functions in different subunits

Search for new physics in the multijet and missing transverse momentum final state in proton-proton collisions at √s=8 Tev

Peer reviewe

Measurement of Higgs boson production and properties in the WW decay channel with leptonic final states

Peer reviewe

Sex differences in the cognitive performance in adults: role of impaired sleep

OBJECTIVE: Poor sleep quality negatively affects cognitive performance. However, there are limited data on sex differences in functional outcomes of impaired sleep on cognition. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the association between sleep quality and performance of men and women in cognitive tests. MATERIALS AND METHODS: After screening, 97 individuals with and without insomnia complaints participated of this study. Behavioral scales were evaluated using a number of instruments and the sleep pattern was recorded by actigraph. Subsequently, the participants were submitted to visuospatial/verbal working memory (WM), visual attention, and psychomotor vigilance tests (PVT). RESULTS: The actigraphic recordings indicated that men sleep later (d=-0.56, p<0.05), fall asleep faster (d=0.42, p<0.05), showed shorter sleep duration (d=0.53, p<0.05), and more sleep fragmentation than women (d=-0.41, p<0.05). The performance in the cognitive tasks also showed sex differences: the men showed better performance in the visuospatial short-term memory (d=-0.78, p<0.05); verbal (d=-0.61, p<0.05), and visuospatial-WM tests (d=-0.84, p<0.05); they also responded faster in the PVT (d=0.69, p<0.05), although made more mistakes (d=-0.85, p<0.01). Longer sleep latency was associated with poor performance in visual attention (r=0.52, p<0.05) and verbal memory tasks (r=-0.30, p<0.05) in men. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that difficulty in falling asleep was associated with cognitive impairment, especially in men. Sex differences in sleep quality and cognitive skills should be taken into account in future research in this field