Activity

Pregnant women are at a high risk for experiencing sleep disturbances, excess energy intake, low physical activity, and excessive gestational weight gain (GWG). Scant research has examined how sleep behaviors influence energy intake, physical activity, and GWG over the course of pregnancy. This study conducted secondary analyses from the Healthy Mom Zone Study to examine between- and within-person effects of weekly sleep behaviors on energy intake, physical activity, and GWG in pregnant women with overweight/obesity (PW-OW/OB) participating in an adaptive intervention to manage GWG. The overall sample of N = 24 (M age = 30.6 years, SD = 3.2) had an average nighttime sleep duration of 7.2 h/night. In the total sample, there was a significant between-person effect of nighttime awakenings on physical activity; women with >1 weekly nighttime awakening expended 167.56 less physical activity kcals than women with less then 1 nighttime awakening. A significant within-person effect was also found for GWG such that for every increase in one weekly nighttime awakening there was a 0.76 pound increase in GWG. There was also a significant within-person effect for study group assignment; study group appeared to moderate the effect of nighttime awakenings on GWG such that for every one increase in weekly nighttime awakening, the control group gained 0.20 pounds more than the intervention group. There were no significant between- or within-person effects of sleep behaviors on energy intake. These findings illustrate an important need to consider the influence of sleep behaviors on prenatal physical activity and GWG in PW-OW/OB. Future studies may consider intervention strategies to reduce prenatal nighttime awakenings.Sortase A (SrtA) is a membrane-associated enzyme that anchors surface-exposed proteins to the cell wall envelope of Gram-positive bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus. As SrtA is essential for Gram-positive bacterial pathogenesis but dispensable for microbial growth or viability, SrtA is considered a favorable target for the enhancement of novel anti-infective drugs that aim to interfere with key bacterial virulence mechanisms, such as biofilm formation, without developing drug resistance. Here, we used virtual screening to search an in-house natural compound library and identified two natural compounds, N1287 (Skyrin) and N2576 ((4,5-dichloro-1H-pyrrol-2-yl)-[2,4-dihydroxy-3-(4-methyl-pentyl)-phenyl]-methanone) that inhibited the enzymatic activity of SrtA. These compounds also significantly reduced the growth of S. this website aureus but possessed moderate mammalian toxicity. Furthermore, S. aureus strains treated with these compounds exhibited reduction in adherence to host fibrinogen, as well as biofilm formation. Hence, these compounds may represent an anti-infective therapy without the side effects of antibiotics.Cutaneous basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most common type of human tumor, and its incidence rate is increasing worldwide. Up until a few years ago, therapeutic options have been limited for patients with advanced BCC (including metastatic and locally-advanced BCC). Over the last few years, promising systemic therapies have been investigated for the treatment of advanced BCC. In particular, the Hedgehog signaling inhibition has shown remarkable results for this population. Hedgehog inhibitors, represented by vismodegib and sonidegib, have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency for the treatment of both locally advanced and metastatic BCC, with, generally, a good safety profile. Notwithstanding the late onset of BCC in the global population, associated with life expectancy increase, only a few clinical trials have evaluated the efficacy and safety profile of Hedgehog inhibitors in this complex and neglected population. Herein, we review the major mechanisms implicated in the pathogenesis of BCC focusing on the Hedgehog signaling pathway and its therapeutic role in the elderly population. Finally, we report two case reports of BCC elderly patients in order to demonstrate both efficacy and safety of the Hedgehog inhibitors.The prediction of postpartum depression (PPD) should be conceptualized from a biopsychosocial perspective. This study aims at exploring the longitudinal contribution of a set of biopsychosocial factors for PPD in perinatal women. A longitudinal study was conducted, assessment was made with a website and included biopsychosocial factors that were measured during pregnancy (n = 266, weeks 16-36), including age, affective ambivalence, personality characteristics, social support and depression. Depression was measured again at postpartum (n = 101, weeks 2-4). The analyses included bivariate associations and structural equation modeling (SEM). Age, affective ambivalence, neuroticism, positive, and negative affect at pregnancy were associated with concurrent depression during pregnancy (all p less then 0.01). Age, affective ambivalence, positive affect, and depression at pregnancy correlated with PPD (all p less then 0.05). Affective ambivalence (β = 1.97; p = 0.003) and positive (β = -0.29; p less then 0.001) and negative affect (β = 0.22; p = 0.024) at pregnancy remained significant predictors of concurrent depression in the SEM, whereas only age (β = 0.27; p = 0.010) and depression (β = 0.37; p = 0.002) at pregnancy predicted PPD. Biopsychosocial factors are clearly associated with concurrent depression at pregnancy, but the stability of depression across time limits the prospective contribution of biopsychosocial factors. Depression should be screened early during pregnancy, as this is likely to persist after birth. The use of technology, as in the present investigation, might be a cost-effective option for this purpose.Targeting trace amine-associated receptor 1 (TAAR1) receptor continues to offer an intriguing opportunity to develop innovative therapies in different pharmacological settings. Pursuing our endeavors in the search for effective and safe human TAAR1 (hTAAR1) ligands, we synthesized a new series of 1-amidino-4-phenylpiperazine derivatives (1-16) based on the application of a combined pharmacophore model/scaffold simplification strategy for an in-house series of biguanide-based TAAR1 agonists. Most of the novel compounds proved to be more effective than their prototypes, showing nanomolar EC50 values in functional activity at hTAAR1 and low general cytotoxicity (CC50 > 80 µM) when tested on the Vero-76 cell line. In this new series, the main determinant for TAAR1 agonism ability appears to result from the appropriate combination between the steric size and position of the substituents on the phenyl ring rather than from their different electronic nature, since both electron-withdrawing and electron donor groups are permitted.