Estimation of periodontitis national and regional prevalence based on the study of periodontal health Almada-Seixal

Dissertação para obtenção do grau de Mestre no Instituto Universitário Egas MonizAims: To estimate the risk of periodontitis in the Portuguese population at a regional level and the prevalence of periodontitis in the municipalities that make up the clusters with peri-urban characteristics. Materials and Methods: In this study, we have estimated the periodontitis risk for Portuguese population, at regional/territory-level, based on a multivariate approach, using sociodemographic, economic and health services data. The information was gathered for all 308 Portuguese municipalities and compiled in a large set of 52 variables. Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Factor Analysis (FA) and clustering techniques were used to model the nationwide geographical distribution of the disease. Estimation of periodontitis risk for each municipality was achieved by calculation of a normalized score, obtained as an adjusted linear combination of six independent factors that were extracted through PCA/FA. The municipalities were also classified according to a quartile-based risk grade, in each cluster. Additionally, linear regression was used to estimate the periodontitis prevalence within the peri-urban municipalities clusters, accounting for 30.5% of the Portuguese population. Results: A total of nine municipalities clusters were obtained with the following characteristics: mainly rural/low populated, including small villages (1), partly rural/including small cities (2), partly rural/including small and médium cities (3), mainly urban/peri-urban/including medium to large size cities (4 and 5). Uninominal clusters with their own characteristics were also obtained, grouped in clusters 6,7,8 and 9. The estimated periodontitis prevalence for the 18 municipalities included in the four peri-urban clusters, ranged from 41.2 to 69.0%. Conclusions: Periodontitis proved to be a disease with high prevalence in Portugal. The most affected population tends to be the oldest, with the highest unemployment rate, low income, precarious housing and with less schooling. To counter these values, it is foreseen the need to invest in oral health through the National Health Service.Objetivos: Estimar o risco de periodontite na população portuguesa a nível regional e a prevalência de periodontite dos municípios que integram os clusters com características periurbanas. Materiais e Métodos: Neste estudo, estimou-se o risco de periodontite para a população portuguesa, a nível regional/territorial, com base numa abordagem multivariada, utilizando dados sociodemográficos, económicos e dos serviços de saúde. A informação foi recolhida para todos os 308 municípios portugueses e compilada num conjunto de 52 variáveis. A Análise de Componentes Principais (ACP), Análise Fatorial (AF) e técnicas de agrupamento foram utilizadas para modelar a distribuição geográfica nacional da doença. A estimativa do risco de periodontite para cada município foi obtida pelo cálculo de um score normalizado, obtido como uma combinação linear ajustada de fatores independentes que foram extraídos por ACP/AF. Os municípios também foram classificados de acordo com um grau de risco baseado em quartis, em cada cluster. Adicionalmente, a regressão linear foi utilizada para estimar a prevalência de periodontite nos aglomerados de municípios periurbanos, representando 30,5% da população portuguesa. Resultados: Obteve-se um total de nove aglomerados (clusters) de municípios com as seguintes características: principalmente rural/pouco povoado, incluindo pequenas aldeias (1), parcialmente rural/incluindo pequenas cidades (2), parcialmente rural incluindo pequenas e médias cidades (3), principalmente urbano/periurbano/incluindo cidades de médio a grande porte (4 e 5). Obtiveram-se ainda aglomerados uninominais com caraterísticas próprias agrupados nos clusters 6,7,8 e 9. A prevalência estimada de periodontite para os 18 municípios incluídos nos quatro clusters periurbanos variou de 41,2 a 69,0%. Conclusão: A periodontite mostrou ser uma doença com elevada prevalência em Portugal. A população mais afetada tem tendência a ser a mais envelhecida, com maior taxa de desemprego, baixo rendimento, precariedade habitacional e com menor formação escolar. Para contrariar estes valores prevê-se a necessidade de apostar na saúde oral através do Serviço Nacional de Saúde

Brazilian Flora 2020: Leveraging the power of a collaborative scientific network

International audienceThe shortage of reliable primary taxonomic data limits the description of biological taxa and the understanding of biodiversity patterns and processes, complicating biogeographical, ecological, and evolutionary studies. This deficit creates a significant taxonomic impediment to biodiversity research and conservation planning. The taxonomic impediment and the biodiversity crisis are widely recognized, highlighting the urgent need for reliable taxonomic data. Over the past decade, numerous countries worldwide have devoted considerable effort to Target 1 of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC), which called for the preparation of a working list of all known plant species by 2010 and an online world Flora by 2020. Brazil is a megadiverse country, home to more of the world's known plant species than any other country. Despite that, Flora Brasiliensis, concluded in 1906, was the last comprehensive treatment of the Brazilian flora. The lack of accurate estimates of the number of species of algae, fungi, and plants occurring in Brazil contributes to the prevailing taxonomic impediment and delays progress towards the GSPC targets. Over the past 12 years, a legion of taxonomists motivated to meet Target 1 of the GSPC, worked together to gather and integrate knowledge on the algal, plant, and fungal diversity of Brazil. Overall, a team of about 980 taxonomists joined efforts in a highly collaborative project that used cybertaxonomy to prepare an updated Flora of Brazil, showing the power of scientific collaboration to reach ambitious goals. This paper presents an overview of the Brazilian Flora 2020 and provides taxonomic and spatial updates on the algae, fungi, and plants found in one of the world's most biodiverse countries. We further identify collection gaps and summarize future goals that extend beyond 2020. Our results show that Brazil is home to 46,975 native species of algae, fungi, and plants, of which 19,669 are endemic to the country. The data compiled to date suggests that the Atlantic Rainforest might be the most diverse Brazilian domain for all plant groups except gymnosperms, which are most diverse in the Amazon. However, scientific knowledge of Brazilian diversity is still unequally distributed, with the Atlantic Rainforest and the Cerrado being the most intensively sampled and studied biomes in the country. In times of “scientific reductionism”, with botanical and mycological sciences suffering pervasive depreciation in recent decades, the first online Flora of Brazil 2020 significantly enhanced the quality and quantity of taxonomic data available for algae, fungi, and plants from Brazil. This project also made all the information freely available online, providing a firm foundation for future research and for the management, conservation, and sustainable use of the Brazilian funga and flora