Spatial pattern of mortality from breast and cervical cancer in the city of São Paulo

OBJETIVOS: Verificar o padrão espacial da mortalidade pelos cânceres de mama e do colo do útero, em áreas da atenção primária à saúde, levando em consideração as condições socioeconômicas. MÉTODOS: O estudo é ecológico, de janeiro de 2000 a dezembro de 2016. A área de estudo é o município de São Paulo, Brasil, e suas 456 áreas de abrangência das unidades básicas de saúde. As informações sobre óbitos de mulheres com 20 anos ou mais de idade foram geocodificadas segundo endereço de residência. Foram calculadas as taxas de mortalidade, padronizadas por idade, e suavizadas pelo método bayesiano empírico local, além de agrupadas em três ou dois anos para reduzir a flutuação aleatória dos dados. Além disso, foram calculados os índices de Moran global e local bivariados, para verificar a existência de aglomeração espacial das taxas de mortalidade padronizadas com um domínio de condição socioeconômica, elaborado a partir do Índice Paulista de Vulnerabilidade Social. RESULTADOS: A taxa de sucesso da geocodificação foi de 98,9%. A mortalidade por câncer de mama, sem estratificação por tempo, apresentou um padrão com maiores taxas localizadas nas regiões centrais e com melhores condições socioeconômicas. Apresentou queda ao final do período e mudança de padrão espacial, com aumento da mortalidade nas regiões periféricas. Já a mortalidade por câncer do colo do útero manteve-se com as maiores taxas nas regiões periféricas e com piores condições socioeconômicas, apesar de apresentar redução ao longo do tempo. CONCLUSÃO: O padrão espacial da mortalidade pelos cânceres do estudo, ao longo do tempo, sugere associação com as melhores condições socioeconômicas do município, seja como proteção (colo) ou risco (mama). Esse conhecimento pode direcionar recursos para a prevenção e a promoção da saúde nos territórios.OBJECTIVE: To verify the spatial pattern of mortality from breast and cervical cancer in areas of primary health care, considering socioeconomic conditions. METHODS: Th is i s a n e cological s tudy, f rom J anuary 2 000 t o D ecember 2 016. Th e s tudy area is the municipality of São Paulo, Brazil, and its 456 coverage areas of primary health units. Information on deaths of women aged 20 years or over were geocoded according to residence address. We calculated mortality rates, standardized by age, and smoothed by the local empirical Bayesian method, and grouped into three or two years to reduce the random fluctuation of the data. In addition, bivariate global and local Moran indexes were calculated to verify the existence of spatial agglomeration of standardized mortality rates with a domain of socioeconomic condition, elaborated based on the Índice Paulista de Vulnerabilidade Social (IPVS – São Paulo Index of Social Vulnerability). RESULTS: The success rate of geocoding was 98.9%. Mortality from breast cancer, without stratification by time, showed a pattern with higher rates located in central regions with better socioeconomic conditions. It showed a decrease at the end of the period and a change in spatial pattern, with increased mortality in peripheral regions. On the other hand, mortality from cervical cancer remained with the highest rates in peripheral regions with worse socioeconomic conditions, despite being reduced over time. CONCLUSION: The spatial pattern of mortality from the studied cancers, over time, suggests association with the best socioeconomic conditions of the municipality, either as protection (cervical) or risk (breast). This knowledge may direct resources to prevent and promote health in the territories

Oral Health Care of Children and Adolescents with Different Impairments of Cerebral Palsy: Barriers and Challenges

Objective: To evaluate the barriers to access and oral health care faced by children and adolescents with Cerebral Palsy (CP) according to their motor impairment through the perception of caregivers. Material and Methods: A case series study was carried out at three health institutions in Pernambuco, Brazil. The study sample consisted of 94 caregivers of 5-to-18-year-old patients with CP, according to GMFCS (The Gross Motor Function Classification System). Data were collected using a semi-structured form to evaluate the barriers to access and analyzed statistically by the chi-square and Fisher exact tests, adopting a 5% level of significance. In addition, binary logistic regression was performed to determine the weight of the variables in explaining the outcome variable. Results: There were major difficulties involving transportation (p=0.04) and structural accessibility to dental services (p<0.01) among children and adolescents with severe CP. In addition, the more severe the CP, the greater the difficulty of accessibility (OR=4.09,) and the lower the income (OR=8.80), the greater the motor impairment. Conclusion: Despite the availability of access to dental services, low-income families have more severe CP patients, contributing to the daily difficulties already faced by them in oral health care

Multidrug-Resistant Nontuberculous Mycobacteria Isolated from Cystic Fibrosis Patients

Worldwide, nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) have become emergent pathogens of pulmonary infections in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients, with an estimated prevalence ranging from 5 to 20%. This work investigated the presence of NTM in sputum samples of 129 CF patients (2 to 18 years old) submitted to longitudinal clinical supervision at a regional reference center in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. From June 2009 to March 2012, 36 NTM isolates recovered from 10 (7.75%) out of 129 children were obtained. Molecular identification of NTM was performed by using PCR restriction analysis targeting the hsp65 gene (PRA-hsp65) and sequencing of the rpoB gene, and susceptibility tests were performed that followed Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute recommendations. for evaluating the genotypic diversity, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and/or enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus sequence PCR (ERIC-PCR) was performed. the species identified were Mycobacterium abscessus subsp. bolletii (n = 24), M. abscessus subsp. abscessus (n = 6), Mycobacterium fortuitum (n = 3), Mycobacterium marseillense (n = 2), and Mycobacterium timonense (n = 1). Most of the isolates presented resistance to five or more of the antimicrobials tested. Typing profiles were mainly patient specific. the PFGE profiles indicated the presence of two clonal groups for M. abscessus subsp. abscessus and five clonal groups for M. abscesssus subsp. bolletii, with just one clone detected in two patients. Given the observed multidrug resistance patterns and the possibility of transmission between patients, we suggest the implementation of continuous and routine investigation of NTM infection or colonization in CF patients, including countries with a high burden of tuberculosis disease.Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)PDTIS-FIOCRUZUniv Fed Rio de Janeiro, Programa Posgrad Clin Med, Hosp Univ Clementino Fraga Filho, Rio de Janeiro, BrazilUniv Fed Rio Grande do Sul, Programa Posgrad Ciencias Med, Porto Alegre, RS, BrazilUniv Fed Rio de Janeiro, Fac Ciencias Med, Dept Microbiol Imunol & Parasitol, Rio de Janeiro, BrazilInst Fernandes Figueira Fiocruz, Rio de Janeiro, BrazilUniv Estado Rio de Janeiro, Hosp Univ Pedro Ernesto, Rio de Janeiro, BrazilUniv Fed Rio de Janeiro, Inst Microbiol, BR-21941 Rio de Janeiro, BrazilFundacao Oswaldo Cruz, Inst Pesquisa Evandro Chagas, Rio de Janeiro, BrazilInst Doencas Torax, Rio de Janeiro, BrazilJohns Hopkins Univ, Baltimore, MD USAUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Escola Paulista Med, Dept Microbiol Imunol & Parasitol, São Paulo, BrazilUniv Fed Fluminense, Inst Biomed, Niteroi, RJ, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Escola Paulista Med, Dept Microbiol Imunol & Parasitol, São Paulo, BrazilFAPERJ: 103.225/2011FAPERJ: 103.287/2011FAPERJ: 110.272/2010FAPERJ: 110.761/2010FAPERJ: 111.497/2008CNPq: 476536/2012-0CNPq: 473444/2010-0CNPq: 567037/2008-8Web of Scienc

Programa USP recicla e os agentes petianos por um bem comum: exercício da conscientização, atitudes e cidadania por um ambiente sustentável/ USP program recycles and petians agents for a common good: exercise of awareness, attitudes and citizenship for a sustainable environment

A Semana Integrada do Meio Ambiente de Bauru (SIMAB) (https://sites.bauru.sp.gov.br/simab/projeto.aspx) é um evento que ocorre anualmente na cidade, durante a 1ª semana do mês de junho, envolvendo Instituições públicas e privadas, que contribui diretamente e/ou indiretamente na promoção de atividades envolvendo o tema “meio ambiente”. A USP de Bauru é uma das instituições parceiras do projeto, atuando dentro do campus através de eventos temáticos, com o objetivo de conscientizar sobre responsabilidade socioambiental. Durante essa semana, temos a distribuição de compostos orgânicos (https://www.mma.gov.br/informma/item/7594-compostagem), produzidos pela própria instituição, por meio da compostagem do lixo orgânico (restos de preparo de alimentos e podas/folhas de varrição) recolhido pela mesma. Também realizamos a Campanha “Diga Não Ao Desperdício” no Restaurante Universitário do Campus USP Bauru, na qual é feita a pesagem das sobras das bandejas dos usuários, visando avaliar a quantidade de alimentos desperdiçados e levantar dados sobre desperdício dentro da instituição que ajudem a estabelecer estratégias de incentivo ao consumo consciente. Além disso, promovemos a Feira de Trocas (BURSZTYN; BURSZTYN, 2012), que visa encorajar o consumo a partir da reutilização de materiais, de forma descontraída para cativar o público e buscar adesão da comunidade interna e externa. Durante estes três eventos, o grupo PET Odontologia tem participação direta, atuando na promoção de informação e conscientização acerca da adoção de atitudes sustentáveis, voltadas à comunidade do Campus de Bauru, o que mostrou produtivo no desenvolvimento de competências éticas e atitudinais dos estudantes. O objetivo do trabalho é a implementação de ações educativas, reflexivas e resolutivas pautadas nos 3 Rs (reduzir, reutilizar e reciclar), além de contribuir com discussões acerca da necessidade de incorporação de valores socioambientais e boas práticas ambientais no cotidiano, dentro do que está ao nosso alcance como indivíduo, por vezes negligenciadas na rotina estudantil

Photography-based taxonomy is inadequate, unnecessary, and potentially harmful for biological sciences

The question whether taxonomic descriptions naming new animal species without type specimen(s) deposited in collections should be accepted for publication by scientific journals and allowed by the Code has already been discussed in Zootaxa (Dubois & Nemésio 2007; Donegan 2008, 2009; Nemésio 2009a–b; Dubois 2009; Gentile & Snell 2009; Minelli 2009; Cianferoni & Bartolozzi 2016; Amorim et al. 2016). This question was again raised in a letter supported by 35 signatories published in the journal Nature (Pape et al. 2016) on 15 September 2016. On 25 September 2016, the following rebuttal (strictly limited to 300 words as per the editorial rules of Nature) was submitted to Nature, which on 18 October 2016 refused to publish it. As we think this problem is a very important one for zoological taxonomy, this text is published here exactly as submitted to Nature, followed by the list of the 493 taxonomists and collection-based researchers who signed it in the short time span from 20 September to 6 October 2016

Increase in pediatric recurrent fever evaluations during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic in North America

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on new diagnoses of recurrent fevers and autoinflammatory diseases is largely unknown. The Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatology Research Alliance (CARRA) PFAPA/AID Working Group aimed to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the number of pediatric patients evaluated for recurrent fevers and autoinflammatory diseases in North America. The absolute number of new outpatient visits and the proportion of these visits attributed to recurrent fever diagnoses during the pre-pandemic period (1 March 2019–29 February 2020) and the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic (1 March 2020–28 February 2021) were examined. Data were collected from 27 sites in the United States and Canada. Our results showed an increase in the absolute number of new visits for recurrent fever evaluations in 21 of 27 sites during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the pre-pandemic period. The increase was observed across different geographic regions in North America. Additionally, the proportion of new visits to these centers for recurrent fever in relation to all new patient evaluations was significantly higher during the first year of the pandemic, increasing from 7.8% before the pandemic to 10.9% during the pandemic year (p < 0.001). Our findings showed that the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with a higher number of evaluations by pediatric subspecialists for recurrent fevers. Further research is needed to understand the reasons behind these findings and to explore non-infectious triggers for recurrent fevers in children

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear un derstanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5–7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8–11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world’s most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepre sented in biodiversity databases.13–15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may elim inate pieces of the Amazon’s biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological com munities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 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 or ganism 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 ne glected 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 lostinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Consistent patterns of common species across tropical tree communities

Trees structure the Earth’s most biodiverse ecosystem, tropical forests. The vast number of tree species presents a formidable challenge to understanding these forests, including their response to environmental change, as very little is known about most tropical tree species. A focus on the common species may circumvent this challenge. Here we investigate abundance patterns of common tree species using inventory data on 1,003,805 trees with trunk diameters of at least 10 cm across 1,568 locations1,2,3,4,5,6 in closed-canopy, structurally intact old-growth tropical forests in Africa, Amazonia and Southeast Asia. We estimate that 2.2%, 2.2% and 2.3% of species comprise 50% of the tropical trees in these regions, respectively. Extrapolating across all closed-canopy tropical forests, we estimate that just 1,053 species comprise half of Earth’s 800 billion tropical trees with trunk diameters of at least 10 cm. Despite differing biogeographic, climatic and anthropogenic histories7, we find notably consistent patterns of common species and species abundance distributions across the continents. This suggests that fundamental mechanisms of tree community assembly may apply to all tropical forests. Resampling analyses show that the most common species are likely to belong to a manageable list of known species, enabling targeted efforts to understand their ecology. Although they do not detract from the importance of rare species, our results open new opportunities to understand the world’s most diverse forests, including modelling their response to environmental change, by focusing on the common species that constitute the majority of their trees.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe