Enterococci as Fecal Indicator in a Tropical Beach: A Case Study

Fecal enterococci are generally not virulent; however, multidrug-resistant strains have emerged as leading causes of hospital-acquired infections. Thus, periodic enterococci monitoring should be included in highly populated cities to control the dissemination of multidrug-resistant strains to the marine environment. This study aimed to quantify enterococci bacteria from water and intertidal sediment samples in a beach located near Rio de Janeiro touristic spots. We also intended to accomplish if enterococci should be included in touristic beaches sanitary monitoring. Toward this approach, we monitored from August to December 2014 fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) at a beach close to some touristic spots through multiple tube method. Although FIB quantification was within sanitary standards of Brazilian legislation, high enterococci densities (=30 MNP.100 mL-1) were detected in the water collected in August. Thus, enterococci monitoring should be included in touristic beaches to avoid the risk of multidrug-resistant bacteria dissemination among swimmers and beachgoers.Enterococos fecais geralmente não são virulentos, entretanto, cepas multirresistentes emergiram como principais causas de infecções hospitalares. Assim, o monitoramento periódico de enterococos deveria ser incluído em cidades com alta densidade populacional para controlar a disseminação de cepas multirresistentes no ambiente marinho. O objetivo deste estudo foi quantificar enterococos em amostras de água e sedimento intermaré em uma praia localizada perto de pontos turísticos do Rio de Janeiro. Também pretendemos avaliar se os enterococos devem ser incluídos no programa de monitoramento sanitário das praias turísticas. Para essa abordagem, monitoramos de agosto a dezembro de 2014 as bactérias indicadoras fecais (FIB) em uma praia próxima a pontos turísticos através do método de tubos múltiplos. Embora o FIB estivesse dentro dos padrões sanitários da legislação brasileira, altas densidades de enterococos (= 30 MNP.100 mL-1) foram detectadas na água coletada em agosto. Assim, o monitoramento de enterococos deve ser incluído em praias turísticas para evitar o risco de disseminação de bactérias multirresistentes entre nadadores e frequentadores da praia

Transtorno do Espectro Autista e a importância do diagnóstico precoce: uma revisão de literatura

O Transtorno do espectro autista (TEA) é um distúrbio complexo e geneticamente heterogêneo do neurodesenvolvimento. Caracterizado por deficiente interação e comunicação social, padrões estereotipados e repetitivos de comportamento e desenvolvimento intelectual irregular, podendo cursar com retardo mental. Os sinais e sintomas começam ainda na infância, tendo sua etiologia desconhecida em muitos casos. Atualmente, estima- se que, por meio de testes moleculares, é possível detectar alterações genéticas potencialmente causais em cerca de 25% dos pacientes. Considerando-se também a avaliação clínica, a história pré-natal e a investigação de outros aspectos fisiológicos, pode-se atribuir uma etiologia para aproximadamente 40% deles. O objetivo deste trabalho é realizar uma revisão de literatura sobre o TEA, proporcionando maior compreensão e ampliando o conhecimento acerca do assunto, uma vez que a obscuridade do autismo reforça a importância pela busca contínua de informação e avanços no tema. Este estudo também visa a destacar a importância do diagnóstico precoce para que se altere o prognóstico e suavize os sintomas, além de enfatizar a necessidade do processo de reabilitação dos pacientes autistas com base nos avanços científicos da área

Rarity of monodominance in hyperdiverse Amazonian forests.

Tropical forests are known for their high diversity. Yet, forest patches do occur in the tropics where a single tree species is dominant. Such "monodominant" forests are known from all of the main tropical regions. For Amazonia, we sampled the occurrence of monodominance in a massive, basin-wide database of forest-inventory plots from the Amazon Tree Diversity Network (ATDN). Utilizing a simple defining metric of at least half of the trees ≥ 10 cm diameter belonging to one species, we found only a few occurrences of monodominance in Amazonia, and the phenomenon was not significantly linked to previously hypothesized life history traits such wood density, seed mass, ectomycorrhizal associations, or Rhizobium nodulation. In our analysis, coppicing (the formation of sprouts at the base of the tree or on roots) was the only trait significantly linked to monodominance. While at specific locales coppicing or ectomycorrhizal associations may confer a considerable advantage to a tree species and lead to its monodominance, very few species have these traits. Mining of the ATDN dataset suggests that monodominance is quite rare in Amazonia, and may be linked primarily to edaphic factors

Dysregulation of Transcription Factor Networks Unveils Different Pathways in Human Papillomavirus 16-Positive Squamous Cell Carcinoma and Adenocarcinoma of the Uterine Cervix

Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and adenocarcinoma (ADC) are the most common histological types of cervical cancer (CC). The worse prognosis of ADC cases highlights the need for better molecular characterization regarding differences between these CC types. RNA-Seq analysis of seven SCC and three ADC human papillomavirus 16-positive samples and the comparison with public data from non-tumoral human papillomavirus-negative cervical tissue samples revealed pathways exclusive to each histological type, such as the epithelial maintenance in SCC and the maturity-onset diabetes of the young (MODY) pathway in ADC. The transcriptional regulatory network analysis of cervical SCC samples unveiled a set of six transcription factor (TF) genes with the potential to positively regulate long non-coding RNA genes DSG1-AS1, CALML3-AS1, IGFL2-AS1, and TINCR. Additional analysis revealed a set of MODY TFs regulated in the sequence predicted to be repressed bymiR-96-5p ormiR-28-3p in ADC. These microRNAs were previously described to target LINC02381, which was predicted to be positively regulated by two MODY TFs upregulated in cervical ADC. Therefore, we hypothesize LINC02381might act by decreasing the levels ofmiR-96-5p andmiR-28-3p, promoting the MODY activation in cervical ADC. The novel TF networks here described should be explored for the development of more efficient diagnostic tools

Reinfecção da Covid-19 em neonatos e crianças: revisão de literatura : Reinfection of Covid-19 in neonates and children: literature review

Em dezembro de 2019, um novo vírus respiratório foi detectado na China, sendo denominado posteriormente como COVID-19, provindo do vírus SARS-CoV-2. Este vírus se espalhou rapidamente gerando uma pandemia mundial. Vários foram e ainda são os problemas decorrentes deste vírus, que atingiu desde crianças aos idosos, dentre eles, cita-se a reinfeção dos indivíduos, causando como consequência, problemas de saúde inacabáveis. Assim, devido aos estudos elencarem menores sinais e sintomas nas crianças e, ainda, menores taxas de infecção, passou-se a questionar quanto as reinfecções em crianças e neonatos. Por isso, o estudo objetivou realizar uma revisão de literatura sobre reinfecção de COVID-19 em crianças e neonatos. Para isso, realizou-se uma revisão sistemática de literatura, através de uma busca nas bases de dados Latino-Americana e do Caribe em Ciências da Saúde, Google Scholar e Scientific Electronic Library Online, utilizando-se os descritores: Reinfecção COVID-19; Reinfecção COVID-19 em crianças; Reinfecção COVID-19 em neonatos; COVID-19 e reinfecção. Com isso, foram selecionados 10 artigos que compunham os critérios de inclusão e exclusão do presente estudo. Dessa forma, destaca-se que os estudos evidenciaram que o número de reinfecções em crianças e neonatos é baixo, porém, são escassas as literaturas sobre o tema, possuindo, assim diversas lacunas a serem sanadas para uma compreensão melhor do assunto

Local hydrological conditions influence tree diversity and composition across the Amazon basin

Tree diversity and composition in Amazonia are known to be strongly determined by the water supplied by precipitation. Nevertheless, within the same climatic regime, water availability is modulated by local topography and soil characteristics (hereafter referred to as local hydrological conditions), varying from saturated and poorly drained to well-drained and potentially dry areas. While these conditions may be expected to influence species distribution, the impacts of local hydrological conditions on tree diversity and composition remain poorly understood at the whole Amazon basin scale. Using a dataset of 443 1-ha non-flooded forest plots distributed across the basin, we investigate how local hydrological conditions influence 1) tree alpha diversity, 2) the community-weighted wood density mean (CWM-wd) – a proxy for hydraulic resistance and 3) tree species composition. We find that the effect of local hydrological conditions on tree diversity depends on climate, being more evident in wetter forests, where diversity increases towards locations with well-drained soils. CWM-wd increased towards better drained soils in Southern and Western Amazonia. Tree species composition changed along local soil hydrological gradients in Central-Eastern, Western and Southern Amazonia, and those changes were correlated with changes in the mean wood density of plots. Our results suggest that local hydrological gradients filter species, influencing the diversity and composition of Amazonian forests. Overall, this study shows that the effect of local hydrological conditions is pervasive, extending over wide Amazonian regions, and reinforces the importance of accounting for local topography and hydrology to better understand the likely response and resilience of forests to increased frequency of extreme climate events and rising temperatures

Estimating the global conservation status of more than 15,000 Amazonian tree species

Estimates of extinction risk for Amazonian plant and animal species are rare and not often incorporated into land-use policy and conservation planning. We overlay spatial distribution models with historical and projected deforestation to show that at least 36% and up to 57% of all Amazonian tree species are likely to qualify as globally threatened under International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List criteria. If confirmed, these results would increase the number of threatened plant species on Earth by 22%. We show that the trends observed in Amazonia apply to trees throughout the tropics, and we predict thatmost of the world’s >40,000 tropical tree species now qualify as globally threatened. A gap analysis suggests that existing Amazonian protected areas and indigenous territories will protect viable populations of most threatened species if these areas suffer no further degradation, highlighting the key roles that protected areas, indigenous peoples, and improved governance can play in preventing large-scale extinctions in the tropics in this century