Laboratory diagnosis and prevalence of onychomycosis caused by Fusarium and Scytalidium species

Scytalidium and Fusarium are opportunistic saprophytic fungi commonly found in subtropical areas, being responsible for several cases of onychomycoses caused by non-dermatophytic filamentous fungi in these regions. The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of onychomycoses caused by these pathogens, which population and site of infection are most affected, and which morphological characteristics should be considered for the culture method. Methods: A 5-year retrospective analysis was performed with data collected from mycological examinations at a clinical analysis laboratory located in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Results: Of the 2479 cases of onychomycosis studied, Scytalidium and Fusarium had a prevalence of 3% and 7%, respectively. About 57% of these infections affected women aged 30-69 years. In 78% of the cases of onychomycosis, toenails were affected. Positive reports of Scytalidium spp. exhibited chain-shaped arthroconidia, while Fusarium spp., fusiform, elongated or canoe-shaped macroconidia, and elongated ovoid microconidia were observed. Conclusion: This retrospective study revealed that Fusarium spp. has a higher prevalence than Scytalidium spp. The feet are the most affected body region. Elderly women are the most affected population by these fungi. For diagnosis, the main findings of Scytalidium spp. and Fusarium spp. are the cylindrical chain arthroconidia and the canoe-shaped, fusiform, or half-moon-shaped macroconidia, respectively.Os fungos Scytalidium e Fusarium são sapróbios oportunistas que tem como habitat regiões subtropicais, sendo responsáveis por grande parte das onicomicoses causadas por Fungos Filamentosos não Dermatófitos nestas regiões. O objetivo deste trabalho foi determinar a prevalência das onicomicoses causadas por esses fungos, a região mais afetada, grupo populacional mais acometido e quais características morfológicas devem ser consideradas utilizando o método cultural. Métodos: Foi realizada uma análise retrospectiva de dados dos últimos cinco anos, utilizando laudos de exames micológicos de um laboratório de análises clínicas localizado na região de Porto Alegre. Resultados: Foi identificado uma prevalência de 3% para o Scytalidium spp. e 7% para o Fusarium spp., onde 57% das infecções acometeram mulheres com idade entre 30-69 anos e em 78% as unhas dos pés foram afetadas. Os laudos positivos para Scytalidium spp. apresentaram artroconídios em cadeia, já para o Fusarium spp. foram observados macroconídios fusiformes, alongados ou em canoa e microconídios ovoides e alongados. Conclusão: Esta análise revelou que o Fusarium spp. tem maior prevalência que o Scytalidium spp., sendo a região dos pés a mais acometida, e as mulheres em idade adulta as mais afetadas por estes fungos. Para o diagnóstico, os principais achados dos fungos Scytalidium spp. e Fusarium spp., são os artroconídios cilíndricos em cadeia e os macroconídios em formato de canoa, fusiforme ou meia-lua, respectivamente

Infecção pelo Parvovírus Canino em filhotes com gastrenterite em Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil de 1995 a 1997

Amostras fecais de cães com gastrenterite, até 6 meses de idade, foram testadas para a presença do parvovírus canino (CPV-2) pela reação de hemaglutinação (HA) e confirmadas pela reação de inibição da hemaglutinação (HI). Quarenta das 79 amostras, recebidas no período de abril de 1995 a junho de 1997, foram consideradas positivas. Aproximadamente 70% destas amostras foram obtidas de animais entre 2 e 4 meses de idade, época em que o risco de contraírem a infecção pelo CPV-2 é alto apesar da vacinação. Nenhuma variação sazonal da infecção pelo parvovírus canino pôde ser observada, e um estudo retrospectivo realizado na PolVet - UFF mostrou que em um período de 6 anos (1991-97), casos de gastrenterite ocorreram durante todos os anos em Niterói, sem uma sazonalidade definida.Fecal samples from puppies with gastroenteritis less than 7 months old were examined for canine parvovirus infection (CPV-2) by hemagglutination (HA) and subsequent hemagglutination-inhibition (HI) tests. Forty of the 79 samples collected from April 1995 to June 1997 were found to be positive. About 70% of these samples were from 2 to 4 months old puppies, age in which they are at increased risk of developing CPV-2 infection, despite of vaccination. No seasonal distribution of canine parvovirus cases was found and it was supported by the results of a retrospective study realized at PolVet-UFF, which showed that gastroenteritis cases occurred throughout the year, for a six-year period (1991-97) in Niterói, Rio de Janeiro

Methane emission, intake, digestibility, performance and blood metabolites in sheep supplemented with cupuassu and tucuma cake in the eastern Amazon

The use of co-products as a feed supplement for ruminants makes livestock sustainable and optimizes the use of available areas and animal performance. Furthermore, when cakes are used, the residual fat composition can influence ruminal metabolism and methane (CH4) production. This study aimed to assess the effects of a diet containing cupuassu (CUP; Theobroma grandiflorum) and tucuma (TUC; Astrocaryum vulgare Mart.) cakes on intake, digestibility, serum metabolites, performance, and CH4 emissions in confined sheep in the Amazon. Approximately 28 animals, Dorper-Santa Inês, castrated, with an average initial live weight (ILW) of 35 ± 2.3 kg, were distributed in metabolic cages, in a completely randomized design, with four treatments and seven replications: (1) Control (C40), without the addition of Amazonian cake and with 40 g of ether extract (EE)/kg of dietary dry matter (DM); (2) CUP, the inclusion of the CUP cake and 70 g of EE/kg; (3) TUC, the inclusion of the TUC cake and 70 g of EE/kg; and (4) Control (C80), without the addition of Amazonian cake and with 80 g of EE/kg of dietary DM, with roughage to concentrate ratio of 40:60. The use of the TUC cake as a feed supplement reduced the intake of DM, crude protein (CP), and EE compared to the inclusion of the CUP cake (p < 0.05); however, it increased the intake of neutral detergent fiber (NDF) by 32% (p < 0.01). The highest averages of DM (732 g/kg) and CP (743 g/kg) digestibility were presented in C40, while the highest digestibility of NDF was presented in TUC (590 g/kg). Albumin levels stayed above and protein levels were below the reference values, and the C40 diet also obtained below results for cholesterol, triglycerides and High Density Lipoprotein (HDL) (P < 0.05). Sheep fed CUP (91 g) and TUC (45 g) had lower daily weight gains (DWGs) than those fed with diets without the inclusion of cakes (C40 = 119 g; C80 = 148 g), and feed efficiency (FE) was also lower in CUP (84) and TUC (60) diets than in C40 (119) and C80 (137) diets. CH4 emissions were lower in animals fed TUC (26 L/day) and higher in C40 (35 L/day); however, TUC resulted in higher CH4 emissions in grams/body live weight (BW) gain/day (353 g/BW/day) vs. 183 g/BW/day (C40), 157 g/BW/day (C80), and 221 g/BW/day (CUP). The supplementation with cakes did not improve intake, digestibility and performance, did not compromise blood metabolites and did not reduce the enteric CH4 emission in confined sheep in the Amazon; however, the use of CUP cake showed similar results to the control treatments and did not increase CH4 emissions, as occurred with the inclusion of TUC cake

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

The role of fullerenes in the environmental stability of polymer:fullerene solar cells

Environmental stability is a common challenge for the commercialisation of low cost, encapsulation-free organic opto-electronic devices. Understanding the role of materials degradation is the key to address this challenge, but most such studies have been limited to conjugated polymers. Here we quantitatively study the role of the common fullerene derivative PCBM in limiting the stability of benchmark organic solar cells, showing that a minor fraction (<1%) of photo-oxidised PCBM, induced by short exposure to either solar or ambient laboratory lighting conditions in air, consistent with typical processing and operating conditions, is sufficient to compromise device performance severely. We identify the effects of photo-oxidation of PCBM on its chemical structure, and connect this to specific changes in its electronic structure, which significantly alter the electron transport and recombination kinetics. The effect of photo-oxidation on device current–voltage characteristics, electron mobility and density of states could all be explained with the same model of photoinduced defects acting as trap states. Our results demonstrate that the photochemical instability of PCBM and chemically similar fullerenes remains a barrier for the commercialisation of organic opto-electronic devices

Alcoolismo em pacientes submetidos a cirurgia bariátrica: uma revisão sistemática: Alcoholism in patients undergoing bariatric surgery: a systematic review

A Cirurgia bariátrica tem sido uma opção de muitas pessoas que visam superar a obesidade e garantir qualidade de vida e saúde. No entanto, casos de complicações clínicas após operação tem ocorrido, sendo comum a incidência de alcoolismo. Este estudo teve como objetivo refletir sobre as causas da incidência de alcoolismo entre pacientes que foram submetidos a cirurgias bariátricas. Para o alcance dessa finalidade, realizou-se uma revisão sistemática de literatura, selecionando-se fontes das bases de dados Scielo Brasil, PubMed e Biblioteca Virtual em Saúde (BVS), publicados em língua portuguesa, nos anos de 2017 a 2022. Realizando-se a análise dos dados concluiu-se que o transtorno do uso de álcool em pessoas submetidas à cirurgia bariátrica tem sido recorrente, especialmente entre homens de baixa renda e que fizeram a cirurgia do tipo bypass gástrico. Observou-se também que o consumo de álcool é maior no pós-operatório e que boa parte dos pacientes que se submeteu a esse tipo de cirurgia ignorava o risco de desenvolver o referido transtorno. Em função disso, boa parte dos estudos que integraram esta revisão reconhece a necessidade do acompanhamento, pela equipe de saúde, dos pacientes logo após a cirurgia bariátrica e a adesão desses ao tratamento devido, visando prevenir o transtorno do uso de álcool

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 understanding 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,5,6,7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8,9,10,11 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 underrepresented in biodiversity databases.13,14,15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 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,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 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