Phenotypic and genotypic characteristics of shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli strains isolated from children in São Paulo, Brazil

The biochemical and serological characteristics, virulence properties, and genetic relatedness of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) strains isolated in São Paulo, from April 1989 through March 1990, were determined. This is also the first report on clinic findings of human STEC infections in Brazil. The only three STEC strains identified in that period were lysine decarboxylase negative, belonged to serotype O111ac: non-motile, were Stx1 producers, carried the eae and astA genes, and 2 of them also presented the EHEC-hly sequence. The children carrying STEC were all boys, with less than two years old, and had no previous history of hospitalization. None of them presented blood in stools. Vomiting, cough and coryza were the most common clinical manifestations observed. Although the STEC strains were isolated during summer months, and presented similar phenotypic and genotypic characteristics, carbohydrate fermentation patterns and PFGE analysis suggested that these diarrheal episodes were not caused by a single clone.Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) Escola Paulista de Medicina Departamento de Microbiologia, Imunologia e ParasitologiaUSP Hospital das Clínicas Instituto da CriançaUniversidade Estadual do Rio de JaneiroUniversidade Federal Fluminense Departamento de Microbiologia e ParasitologiaUNIFESP, EPM, Depto. de Microbiologia, Imunologia e ParasitologiaSciEL

12,500+ and counting: biodiversity of the Brazilian Pampa

Knowledge on biodiversity is fundamental for conservation strategies. The Brazilian Pampa region, located in subtropical southern Brazil, is neglected in terms of conservation, and knowledge of its biodiversity is fragmented. We aim to answer the question: how many, and which, species occur in the Brazilian Pampa? In a collaborative effort, we built species lists for plants, animals, bacteria, and fungi that occur in the Brazilian Pampa. We included information on distribution patterns, main habitat types, and conservation status. Our study resulted in referenced lists totaling 12,503 species (12,854 taxa, when considering infraspecific taxonomic categories [or units]). Vascular plants amount to 3,642 species (including 165 Pteridophytes), while algae have 2,046 species (2,378 taxa) and bryophytes 316 species (318 taxa). Fungi (incl. lichenized fungi) contains 1,141 species (1,144 taxa). Animals total 5,358 species (5,372 taxa). Among the latter, vertebrates comprise 1,136 species, while invertebrates are represented by 4,222 species. Our data indicate that, according to current knowledge, the Pampa holds approximately 9% of the Brazilian biodiversity in an area of little more than 2% of Brazil’s total land The proportion of species restricted to the Brazilian Pampa is low (with few groups as exceptions), as it is part of a larger grassland ecoregion and in a transitional climatic setting. Our study yielded considerably higher species numbers than previously known for many species groups; for some, it provides the first published compilation. Further efforts are needed to increase knowledge in the Pampa and other regions of Brazil. Considering the strategic importance of biodiversity and its conservation, appropriate government policies are needed to fund studies on biodiversity, create accessible and constantly updated biodiversity databases, and consider biodiversity in school curricula and other outreach activitie

Projeto CTE Jr.: criação de uma empresa júnior multidisciplinar

Promover novas competências ao aproximar os alunos do ensino superior da realidade social, mercadológica, econômica e ambiental da comunidade é finalidade de uma Empresa Junior (EJ). Este trabalho é um relato de experiência do projeto de criação de uma EJ multidisciplinar, denominada “Ciência, Tecnologia e Engenharia Júnior (CTE Jr.)”, na Universidade Federal do Maranhão/Campus Balsas. Objetiva atender aos cursos de graduação desta unidade acadêmica a partir de uma experiência empreendedora, visando contribuir no processo formativo dos alunos. A operacionalização do trabalho envolveu atividades como aquisição de estrutura física, seleção de alunos, treinamentos, pesquisas no ambiente interno e externo, constituição jurídica da empresa e ações colaborativas. Como resultado, o planejamento do negócio foi feito, o regimento e o estatuto foram aprovados e o Cadastro Nacional de Pessoa Jurídica realizado. Além disso, o grupo de alunos se engajou na organização de eventos durante as semanas de meio ambiente e de ciência e tecnologia. Com essas atividades, os alunos enfrentaram situações que exigiram métodos de organização interna, atitudes empreendedoras e aplicação de conhecimentos adquiridos no curso

Projeto CTE Jr.: criação de uma empresa júnior multidisciplinar

Promover novas competências ao aproximar os alunos do ensino superior da realidade social, mercadológica, econômica e ambiental da comunidade é finalidade de uma Empresa Junior (EJ). Este trabalho é um relato de experiência do projeto de criação de uma EJ multidisciplinar, denominada “Ciência, Tecnologia e Engenharia Júnior (CTE Jr.)”, na Universidade Federal do Maranhão/Campus Balsas. Objetiva atender aos cursos de graduação desta unidade acadêmica a partir de uma experiência empreendedora, visando contribuir no processo formativo dos alunos. A operacionalização do trabalho envolveu atividades como aquisição de estrutura física, seleção de alunos, treinamentos, pesquisas no ambiente interno e externo, constituição jurídica da empresa e ações colaborativas. Como resultado, o planejamento do negócio foi feito, o regimento e o estatuto foram aprovados e o Cadastro Nacional de Pessoa Jurídica realizado. Além disso, o grupo de alunos se engajou na organização de eventos durante as semanas de meio ambiente e de ciência e tecnologia. Com essas atividades, os alunos enfrentaram situações que exigiram métodos de organização interna, atitudes empreendedoras e aplicação de conhecimentos adquiridos no curso

Projeto CTE Jr.: criação de uma empresa júnior multidisciplinar / CTE Jr. Project: creation of a multidisciplinary junior company

Promover novas competências ao aproximar os alunos do ensino superior da realidade social, mercadológica, econômica e ambiental da comunidade é finalidade de uma Empresa Junior (EJ). Este trabalho é um relato de experiência do projeto de criação de uma EJ multidisciplinar, denominada “Ciência, Tecnologia e Engenharia Júnior (CTE Jr.)”, na Universidade Federal do Maranhão/Campus Balsas. Objetiva atender aos cursos de graduação desta unidade acadêmica a partir de uma experiência empreendedora, visando contribuir no processo formativo dos alunos. A operacionalização do trabalho envolveu atividades como aquisição de estrutura física, seleção de alunos, treinamentos, pesquisas no ambiente interno e externo, constituição jurídica da empresa e ações colaborativas. Como resultado, o planejamento do negócio foi feito, o regimento e o estatuto foram aprovados e o Cadastro Nacional de Pessoa Jurídica realizado. Além disso, o grupo de alunos se engajou na organização de eventos durante as semanas de meio ambiente e de ciência e tecnologia. Com essas atividades, os alunos enfrentaram situações que exigiram métodos de organização interna, atitudes empreendedoras e aplicação de conhecimentos adquiridos no curso

SARS-CoV-2 introductions and early dynamics of the epidemic in Portugal

Genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in Portugal was rapidly implemented by the National Institute of Health in the early stages of the COVID-19 epidemic, in collaboration with more than 50 laboratories distributed nationwide. Methods By applying recent phylodynamic models that allow integration of individual-based travel history, we reconstructed and characterized the spatio-temporal dynamics of SARSCoV-2 introductions and early dissemination in Portugal. Results We detected at least 277 independent SARS-CoV-2 introductions, mostly from European countries (namely the United Kingdom, Spain, France, Italy, and Switzerland), which were consistent with the countries with the highest connectivity with Portugal. Although most introductions were estimated to have occurred during early March 2020, it is likely that SARS-CoV-2 was silently circulating in Portugal throughout February, before the first cases were confirmed. Conclusions Here we conclude that the earlier implementation of measures could have minimized the number of introductions and subsequent virus expansion in Portugal. This study lays the foundation for genomic epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 in Portugal, and highlights the need for systematic and geographically-representative genomic surveillance.We gratefully acknowledge to Sara Hill and Nuno Faria (University of Oxford) and Joshua Quick and Nick Loman (University of Birmingham) for kindly providing us with the initial sets of Artic Network primers for NGS; Rafael Mamede (MRamirez team, IMM, Lisbon) for developing and sharing a bioinformatics script for sequence curation (https://github.com/rfm-targa/BioinfUtils); Philippe Lemey (KU Leuven) for providing guidance on the implementation of the phylodynamic models; Joshua L. Cherry (National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health) for providing guidance with the subsampling strategies; and all authors, originating and submitting laboratories who have contributed genome data on GISAID (https://www.gisaid.org/) on which part of this research is based. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not reflect the view of the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Health and Human Services, or the United States government. This study is co-funded by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia and Agência de Investigação Clínica e Inovação Biomédica (234_596874175) on behalf of the Research 4 COVID-19 call. Some infrastructural resources used in this study come from the GenomePT project (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-022184), supported by COMPETE 2020 - Operational Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalisation (POCI), Lisboa Portugal Regional Operational Programme (Lisboa2020), Algarve Portugal Regional Operational Programme (CRESC Algarve2020), under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), and by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Health-related quality of life in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus in the different geographical regions of Brazil : data from the Brazilian Type 1 Diabetes Study Group

Background: In type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) management, enhancing health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is as important as good metabolic control and prevention of secondary complications. This study aims to evaluate possible regional differences in HRQoL, demographic features and clinical characteristics of patients with T1DM in Brazil, a country of continental proportions, as well as investigate which variables could influence the HRQoL of these individuals and contribute to these regional disparities. Methods: This was a retrospective, cross-sectional, multicenter study performed by the Brazilian Type 1 Diabetes Study Group (BrazDiab1SG), by analyzing EuroQol scores from 3005 participants with T1DM, in 28 public clinics, among all geographical regions of Brazil. Data on demography, economic status, chronic complications, glycemic control and lipid profile were also collected. Results: We have found that the North-Northeast region presents a higher index in the assessment of the overall health status (EQ-VAS) compared to the Southeast (74.6 ± 30 and 70.4 ± 19, respectively; p < 0.05). In addition, North- Northeast presented a lower frequency of self-reported anxiety-depression compared to all regions of the country (North-Northeast: 1.53 ± 0.6; Southeast: 1.65 ± 0.7; South: 1.72 ± 0.7; Midwest: 1.67 ± 0.7; p < 0.05). These findings could not be entirely explained by the HbA1c levels or the other variables examined. Conclusions: Our study points to the existence of additional factors not yet evaluated that could be determinant in the HRQoL of people with T1DM and contribute to these regional disparities

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