The importance of serological assays in diagnosing acute pulmonary histoplasmosis

Histoplasmosis is a systemic mycosis caused by inhalation of Histoplasma capsulatum microconidia. The disease does not normally affect immunocompetent individuals after a single, transient inhalation exposure. However, longer exposure may cause chronic or disseminated acute pulmonary infection. Herein, we report the case of a 24-year-old immunocompetent patient, who presented fever, cough and dyspnea for one month. The chest radiography revealed interstitial infiltrate and diffuse micronodules. The patient reported having had close and prolonged contact with bats. Diagnosis was confirmed by positive double immunodifusion and immunoblotting assays. She was treated with ketoconazole (400 mg) and there was complete resolution of the disease

Condições socioeconômicas e padrões alimentares de crianças de 4 a 11 anos: estudo SCAALA - Salvador/ Bahia

OBJETIVOS: identificar os padrões alimentares de crianças e sua associação com o nível socioeconômico das famílias. MÉTODOS: estudo transversal com 1260 crianças de 4 a 11 anos, residentes em Salvador-Bahia que incluiu aplicação de um Questionário de Frequência Alimentar semi-quantitativo. Os padrões alimentares foram identificados, empregando-se análise fatorial por componentes principais. O nível socioeconômico foi avaliado por meio de um indicador socioeconômico composto. Regressão logística multivariada foi empregada. RESULTADOS: identificaram-se quatro padrões que explicaram 45,9% da variabilidade dos dados de frequência alimentar. Crianças que pertencem ao nível socioeconômico mais alto têm 1,60 vezes mais chance (p<0,001) de apresentarem maior frequência de consumo de alimentos do padrão 1 (frutas, verduras, leguminosas, cereais e pescados) e 3,09 vezes mais chance (p<0,001) de apresentarem maior frequência de consumo dos alimentos do padrão 2 (leite/ derivados, catchup/ maionese/ mostarda e frango), quando se compara com aquele de crianças de nível socioeconômico mais baixo. Resultado inverso foi observado no padrão 4 (embutidos, ovos e carnes vermelhas); isto é, quanto maior o nível socioeconômico menor a chance da adoção desse padrão. Tendência similar foi notada para o padrão 3 (frituras, doces, salgadinhos, refrigerante/ suco artificial). CONCLUSÕES: padrões alimentares de crianças são dependentes das condições socioeconômicas das famílias e a adoção de itens alimentares mais saudáveis associa-se aos grupos de mais altos níveis socioeconômicos

Protective Effect of Nasal Colonisation with ∆cps/piaA and ∆cps/proABCStreptococcus pneumoniae Strains against Recolonisation and Invasive Infection

RATIONALE: Nasopharyngeal administration of live virulence-attenuated Streptococcus pneumoniae strains is a potential novel preventative strategy. One target for creating reduced virulence S. pneumoniae strains is the capsule, but loss of the capsule reduces the duration of S. pneumoniae colonisation in mice which could impair protective efficacy against subsequent infection. OBJECTIVES: To assess protective efficacy of nasopharyngeal administration of unencapsulated S. pneumoniae strains in murine infection models. METHODS: Strains containing cps locus deletions combined with the S. pneumoniae virulence factors psaA (reduces colonisation) or proABC (no effect on colonisation) were constructed and their virulence phenotypes and ability to prevent recolonisation or invasive infection assessed using mouse infection models. Serological responses to colonisation were compared between strains using ELISAs, immunoblots and 254 S. pneumoniae protein antigen array. Measurements and Main Results: The ∆cps/piaA and ∆cps/proABC strains were strongly attenuated in virulence in both invasive infection models and had a reduced ability to colonise the nasopharynx. ELISAs, immunoblots and protein arrays showed colonisation with either strain stimulated weaker serological responses than the wild type strain. Mice previously colonised with these strains were protected against septicaemic pneumonia but, unlike mice colonised with the wild type strain, not against S. pneumoniae recolonisation. CONCLUSIONS: Colonisation with the ∆cps/piaA and ∆cps/proABC strains prevented subsequent septicaemia, but in contrast, to published data for encapsulated double mutant strains they did not prevent recolonisation with S. pneumoniae. These data suggest targeting the cps locus is a less effective option for creating live attenuated strains that prevent S. pneumoniae infections

Dengue Virus Type 4 Phylogenetics in Brazil 2011: Looking beyond the Veil

Dengue Fever and Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever are diseases affecting approximately 100 million people/year and are a major concern in developing countries. In the present study, the phylogenetic relationship of six strains of the first autochthonous cases of DENV-4 infection occurred in Sao Paulo State, Parana State and Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil, 2011 were studied. Nucleotide sequences of the envelope gene were determined and compared with sequences representative of the genotypes I, II, III and Sylvatic for DEN4 retrieved from GenBank. We employed a Bayesian phylogenetic approach to reconstruct the phylogenetic relationships of Brazilian DENV-4 and we estimated evolutionary rates and dates of divergence for DENV-4 found in Brazil in 2011. All samples sequenced in this study were located in Genotype II. The studied strains are monophyletic and our data suggest that they have been evolving separately for at least 4 to 6 years. Our data suggest that the virus might have been present in the region for some time, without being noticed by Health Surveillance Services due to a low level of circulation and a higher prevalence of DENV-1 and DENV- 2

Deep reinforcement learning for drone navigation using sensor data

Mobile robots such as unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) can be used for surveillance, monitoring and data collection in buildings, infrastructure and environments. The importance of accurate and multifaceted monitoring is well known to identify problems early and prevent them escalating. This motivates the need for flexible, autonomous and powerful decision-making mobile robots. These systems need to be able to learn through fusing data from multiple sources. Until very recently, they have been task specific. In this paper, we describe a generic navigation algorithm that uses data from sensors on-board the drone to guide the drone to the site of the problem. In hazardous and safety-critical situations, locating problems accurately and rapidly is vital. We use the proximal policy optimisation deep reinforcement learning algorithm coupled with incremental curriculum learning and long short-term memory neural networks to implement our generic and adaptable navigation algorithm. We evaluate different configurations against a heuristic technique to demonstrate its accuracy and efficiency. Finally, we consider how safety of the drone could be assured by assessing how safely the drone would perform using our navigation algorithm in real-world scenarios