Profiling alumni of a Brazilian public dental school

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Follow-up studies of former students are an efficient way to organize the entire process of professional training and curriculum evaluation. The aim of this study was to identify professional profile subgroups based on job-related variables in a sample of former students of a Brazilian public dental school.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A web-based password-protected questionnaire was sent to 633 registered dentists who graduated from the Federal University of Goias between 1988 and 2007. Job-related information was retrieved from 14 closed questions, on subjects such as gender, occupational routine, training, profits, income status, and self-perception of professional career, generating an automatic database for analysis. The two-step cluster method was used for dividing dentists into groups on the basis of minimal within-group and maximal between-group variation, using job-related variables to represent attributes upon which the clustering was based.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>There were 322 respondents (50.9%), predominantly female (64.9%) and the mean age was 34 years (SD = 6.0). The automatic selection of an optimal number of clusters included 289 cases (89.8%) in 3 natural clusters. Clusters 1, 2 and 3 included 52.2%, 30.8% and 17.0% of the sample respectively. Interpretation of within-group rank of variable importance for cluster segmentation resulted in the following characterization of clusters: Cluster 1 - specialist dentists with higher profits and positive views of the profession; Cluster 2 - general dental practitioners in small cities; Cluster 3 - underpaid and less motivated dentists with negative views of the profession. Male dentists were predominant in cluster 1 and females in cluster 3. One-way Anova showed that age and time since graduation were significantly lower in Cluster 2 (<it>P </it>< 0.001). Alternative solutions with 4 and 5 clusters revealed specific discrimination of Cluster 1 by gender and dental education professionals.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Cluster analysis was a valuable method for identifying natural grouping with relatively homogeneous cases, providing potentially meaningful information for professional orientation in dentistry in a variety of professional situations and environments.</p

Assessment of the Anthelmintic Efficacy of Albendazole in School Children in Seven Countries Where Soil-Transmitted Helminths Are Endemic

Soil-transmitted helminths (roundworms, whipworms and hookworms) infect millions of children in (sub)tropical countries, resulting in malnutrition, growth stunting, intellectual retardation and cognitive deficits. Currently, there is a need to closely monitor anthelmintic drug efficacy and to develop standard operating procedures, as highlighted in a World Health Organization–World Bank meeting on “Monitoring of Drug Efficacy in Large Scale Treatment Programs for Human Helminthiasis” in Washington DC at the end of 2007. Therefore, we have evaluated the efficacy of a commonly used treatment against these parasitic infections in school children in Africa, Asia and South-America using a standardized protocol. In addition, different statistical approaches to analyzing the data were evaluated in order to develop standardized procedures for data analysis. The results demonstrate that the applied treatment was highly efficacious against round- and hookworms, but not against whipworms. However, there was large variation in efficacy across the different trials which warrants further attention. This study also provides new insights into the statistical analysis of efficacy data, which should be considered in future monitoring and evaluation studies of large scale anthelmintic treatment programs. Finally, our findings emphasize the need to update the World Health Organization recommended efficacy threshold for the treatment of STH

Oceanic protists with different forms of acquired phototrophy display contrasting biogeographies and abundance

Leles, S.G. ... et. al.-- 6 pages, 3 figures, supplementary material https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/suppl/10.1098/rspb.2017.0664This first comprehensive analysis of the global biogeography of marine protistan plankton with acquired phototrophy shows these mixotrophic organisms to be ubiquitous and abundant; however, their biogeography differs markedly between different functional groups. These mixotrophs, lacking a constitutive capacity for photosynthesis (i.e. non-constitutive mixotrophs, NCMs), acquire their phototrophic potential through either integration of prey-plastids or through endosymbiotic associations with photosynthetic microbes. Analysis of field data reveals that 40–60% of plankton traditionally labelled as (non-phototrophic) microzooplankton are actually NCMs, employing acquired phototrophy in addition to phagotrophy. Specialist NCMs acquire chloroplasts or endosymbionts from specific prey, while generalist NCMs obtain chloroplasts from a variety of prey. These contrasting functional types of NCMs exhibit distinct seasonal and spatial global distribution patterns. Mixotrophs reliant on ‘stolen’ chloroplasts, controlled by prey diversity and abundance, dominate in high-biomass areas. Mixotrophs harbouring intact symbionts are present in all waters and dominate particularly in oligotrophic open ocean systems. The contrasting temporal and spatial patterns of distribution of different mixotroph functional types across the oceanic provinces, as revealed in this study, challenges traditional interpretations of marine food web structures. Mixotrophs with acquired phototrophy (NCMs) warrant greater recognition in marine researchPeer Reviewe

The Mitochondrial Genome of Baylisascaris procyonis

BACKGROUND: Baylisascaris procyonis (Nematoda: Ascaridida), an intestinal nematode of raccoons, is emerging as an important helminthic zoonosis due to serious or fatal larval migrans in animals and humans. Despite its significant veterinary and public health impact, the epidemiology, molecular ecology and population genetics of this parasite remain largely unexplored. Mitochondrial (mt) genomes can provide a foundation for investigations in these areas and assist in the diagnosis and control of B. procyonis. In this study, the first complete mt genome sequence of B. procyonis was determined using a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based primer-walking strategy. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The circular mt genome (14781 bp) of B. procyonis contained 12 protein-coding, 22 transfer RNA and 2 ribosomal RNA genes congruent with other chromadorean nematodes. Interestingly, the B. procyonis mtDNA featured an extremely long AT-rich region (1375 bp) and a high number of intergenic spacers (17), making it unique compared with other secernentean nematodes characterized to date. Additionally, the entire genome displayed notable levels of AT skew and GC skew. Based on pairwise comparisons and sliding window analysis of mt genes among the available 11 Ascaridida mtDNAs, new primer pairs were designed to amplify specific short fragments of the genes cytb (548 bp fragment) and rrnL (200 bp fragment) in the B. procyonis mtDNA, and tested as possible alternatives to existing mt molecular beacons for Ascaridida. Finally, phylogenetic analysis of mtDNAs provided novel estimates of the interrelationships of Baylisasaris and Ascaridida. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The complete mt genome sequence of B. procyonis sequenced here should contribute to molecular diagnostic methods, epidemiological investigations and ecological studies of B. procyonis and other related ascaridoids. The information will be important in refining the phylogenetic relationships within the order Ascaridida and enriching the resource of markers for systematic, population genetic and evolutionary biological studies of parasitic nematodes of socio-economic importance