Arachnidism, scorpionism and ophidism in Ouro Preto Municipality, Minas Gerais State, Brazil

Abstract: INTRODUCTION This retrospective study shows the profile of arachnidism, ophidism, and scorpionism in the Ouro Preto Municipality, Brazil, from January 2007 to December 2013. METHODS The data were gathered from forms of the Epidemiological Surveillance Sector of the town's Health's Municipal Secretary. RESULTS Of the 412 envenomations, 308 were caused by spiders, 78 by scorpions, and 26 by snakes. The highest number of incidents involved people aged 20-34 years. Females were more affected than males. There were no reports of death. CONCLUSIONS The results show that envenomations caused by spiders, scorpions and snakes have decreased in recent years

SRFR1 Negatively Regulates Plant NB-LRR Resistance Protein Accumulation to Prevent Autoimmunity

Plant defense responses need to be tightly regulated to prevent auto-immunity, which is detrimental to growth and development. To identify negative regulators of Resistance (R) protein-mediated resistance, we screened for mutants with constitutive defense responses in the npr1-1 background. Map-based cloning revealed that one of the mutant genes encodes a conserved TPR domain-containing protein previously known as SRFR1 (SUPPRESSOR OF rps4-RLD). The constitutive defense responses in the srfr1 mutants in Col-0 background are suppressed by mutations in SNC1, which encodes a TIR-NB-LRR (Toll Interleukin1 Receptor-Nucleotide Binding-Leu-Rich Repeat) R protein. Yeast two-hybrid screens identified SGT1a and SGT1b as interacting proteins of SRFR1. The interactions between SGT1 and SRFR1 were further confirmed by co-immunoprecipitation analysis. In srfr1 mutants, levels of multiple NB-LRR R proteins including SNC1, RPS2 and RPS4 are increased. Increased accumulation of SNC1 is also observed in the sgt1b mutant. Our data suggest that SRFR1 functions together with SGT1 to negatively regulate R protein accumulation, which is required for preventing auto-activation of plant immunity

The incidence of smoking and risk factors for smoking initiation in medical faculty students: cohort study

BACKGROUND: Medical education requires detailed investigation because it is a period during which the attitudes and behaviors of physicians develop. The purpose of this study was to calculate the yearly smoking prevalence and incidence rates of medical faculty students and to identify the risk factors for adopting smoking behaviour. METHODS: This is a cohort study in which every student was asked about their smoking habits at the time of first registration to the medical faculty, and was monitored every year. Smoking prevalence, yearly incidence of initiation of smoking and average years of smoking were calculated in analysis. RESULTS: At the time of registration, 21.8% of the students smoked. At the end of six years, males had smoked for an average of 2.6 ± 3.0 years and females for 1.0 ± 1.8 years (p < 0.05). Of the 93 medical students who were not smokers at the time of registration, 30 (32.3%) were smokers at the end of the 6 years of the course. CONCLUSION: The first 3 years of medical education are the most risky period for initiation of smoking. We found that factors such as being male, having a smoking friend in the same environment and having a high trait anxiety score were related to the initiation of smoking. Targeted smoking training should be mandatory for students in the Medical Faculty

Influence of low birth weight on C-reactive protein in asymptomatic younger adults: the bogalusa heart study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Both low birth weight, an indicator of intrauterine growth restriction, and low grade systemic inflammation depicted by high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) have emerged as independent predictors of cardiovascular (CV) disease and type 2 diabetes. However, information linking low birth weight and hs-CRP in a biracial (black/white) population is scant. We assessed a cohort of 776 black and white subjects (28% black, 43% male) aged 24-43 years (mean 36.1 years) enrolled in the Bogalusa Heart Study with regard to birth weight and gestational age data were retrieved from Louisiana State Public Health Office.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>Black subjects had significantly lower birth weight than white subjects (3.145 kg vs 3.441 kg, p < 0.0001) and higher hs-CRP level (3.29 mg/L vs 2.57 mg/L, p = 0.011). After adjusting for sex, age, body mass index (BMI), smoking status and race (for total sample), the hs-CRP level decreased across quartiles of increasing birth weight in white subjects (p = 0.001) and the combined sample (p = 0.002). Adjusting for sex, age, BMI, smoking status and race for the total sample in a multivariate regression model, low birth weight was retained as an independent predictor variable for higher hs-CRP levels in white subjects (p = 0.004) and the total sample (p = 0.007). Conversely, the area under the receiver operative curve (c statistic) analysis adjusted for race, sex, age, smoking status and BMI yielded a value of 0.777 with regard to the discriminating value of hs-CRP for predicting low birth weight.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The deleterious effect of low birth weight on systemic inflammation depicted by the hs-CRP levels in asymptomatic younger adults may potentially link fetal growth retardation, CV disease and diabetes, with important health implications.</p

Syzygium jambolanum treatment improves survival in lethal sepsis induced in mice

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The leaves and the fruits from <it>Syzygium jambolanum </it>DC.(Myrtaceae), a plant known in Brazil as sweet olive or 'jambolão', have been used by native people to treat infectious diseases, diabetes, and stomachache. Since the bactericidal activity of <it>S. jambolanum </it>has been confirmed <it>in vitro</it>, the aim of this work was to evaluate the effect of the prophylactic treatment with <it>S. jambolanum </it>on the <it>in vivo </it>polymicrobial infection induced by cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) in mice.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>C57Bl/6 mice were treated by the subcutaneous route with a hydroalcoholic extract from fresh leaves of <it>S. jambolanum </it>(HCE). After 6 h, a bacterial infection was induced in the peritoneum using the lethal CLP model. The mice were killed 12 h after the CLP induction to evaluate the cellular influx and local and systemic inflammatory mediators' production. Some animals were maintained alive to evaluate the survival rate.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The prophylactic HCE treatment increased the mice survival, the neutrophil migration to infectious site, the spreading ability and the hydrogen peroxide release, but decreased the serum TNF and nitrite. Despite the increased migration and activation of peritoneal cells the HCE treatment did not decrease the number of CFU. The HCE treatment induced a significant decrease on the bone marrow cells number but did not alter the cell number of the spleen and lymph node.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We conclude that the treatment with <it>S. jambolanum </it>has a potent prophylactic anti-septic effect that is not associated to a direct microbicidal effect but it is associated to a recruitment of activated neutrophils to the infectious site and to a diminished systemic inflammatory response.</p