Dermatophylosis in Santa Inês sheep from Distrito Federal

Relataram-se quatro casos de dermatofilose em ovinos da raça Santa Inês, no período de um ano. Microscopicamente observaram-se filamentos na forma de "trilho de bonde" e zoósporos nos quatro casos. A tentativa do isolamento do microrganismo foi realizada por meio do método de Haalstra e em apenas um caso obteve-se sucesso, observando-se colônias de aparência lisa, formato circular, cor amarelada e hemolítica em ágar sangue. O exame direto com coloração de Gram mostrou-se um método bastante eficiente na confirmação da presença do microrganismo afetando a epiderme em razão da morfologia típica do agente.Four cases of dermatophylosis were reported in Santa Inês sheep in a study period of one year. Microscopically, septate filaments and coccoid forms zoospores were observed. Attempts to isolate the microorganisms were accomplished using Haastra's method and it was successful in only one case. Dermatophilus congolensis samples have grown on blood agar, colonies where hemolytic, small, round and pigmentation vary from yellow to orange. The gram staining method was efficient to confirm the presence of the microorganism affecting the epidermis due to typical morphology of the agent

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time, and attempts to address it require a clear understanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space. While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes, vast areas of the tropics remain understudied. In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world's most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity, but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepresented in biodiversity databases. To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications may eliminate pieces of the Amazon's biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological communities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge, it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple organism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region's vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most neglected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lost

Estudo sobre a evolução do risco de infecção tuberculosa em área com elevada cobertura por BCG The trend in the risk of tuberculous infection in an area with wide coverage with BCG vaccination

A partir da prevalência de infecção tuberculosa em escolares com 7 anos de idade, calculou-se a taxa de redução do risco anual de infecção na cidade de São Paulo (Brasil), entre 1974 e 1982. Nesse período o declínio médio foi de 5% ao ano. Nas 59 escolas municipais pesquisadas não houve correlação entre a cobertura de vacinação BCG e a prevalência de infecção natural em não-vacinados, à idade estudada. A alergia tuberculínica no grupo de crianças vacinadas, que recebeu a vacina em alguma idade anterior entre o 1° e o 6° ano de vida, revelou-se 2,5 vezes mais intensa do que a alergia no grupo de mesma idade (7 anos), não vacinado previamente. Foram feitos comentários quanto à impropriedade do material utilizado com vistas ao cálculo do verdadeiro valor do risco de infecção tuberculosa na área em questão.<br>The estimation of the risk of tuberculous infection from prevalence data obtained at school-age, in 1974 and in 1982, permitted the determination of the relevant trend in the city of S. Paulo, Brazil, between those years. The risk of infection decreased, on average, by 5% annually during the period. There was no evidence of any association between the proportions of vaccinated children and that of infected children among those unvaccinated, in the 59 schools studied. Tuberculin sensitivity in 7 years old school-children, vaccinated with BCG at any age between the 1st and the 6th year of life was 2.5 times more intense than that in unvaccinaetd children of the same age. With regard to the calculation of the true value of the risk of tuberculous infection, commentaries about the unrealiability of the available data were made