Chitosan as an antimicrobial agent for footwear leather components

In the footwear industry, microorganisms’ growth can pose problems of material deterioration with associated unpleasant smell and generate possible infections in susceptible individuals. Generally, footwear presents high relative humidity conditions that enable the growth of bacteria and fungi. Additionally, leather itself and some tannery agents such as oils and greases, provide a substrate where microorganisms can grow. In the foot, microtraumas caused by ingrown nails, abrasions and lacerations can allow microbial invasion through epidermis, resulting in skin infection. In this work, the applicability of chitosan functional coatings to leather was tested, with the purpose to develop new base materials to produce footwear components. The leather treated with chitosan was then studied for its antibacterial properties against 3 different bacteria.COMPETE, QREN and EU (project QREN-ADI-1585-ADVANCEDSHOE)

Missed opportunities in full immunization coverage:findings from low- and lower-middle-income countries

BackgroundAn estimated 23 million infants are still not being benefitted from routine immunization services. We assessed how many children failed to be fully immunized even though they or their mothers were in contact with health services to receive other interventions.DesignFourteen countries with Demographic and Health Surveys and Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys carried out after 2000 and with coverage for DPT (Diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis) vaccine below 70% were selected. We defined full immunization coverage (FIC) as having received one dose of BCG (bacille Calmette-Guérin), one dose of measles, three doses of polio, and three doses of DPT vaccines. We tabulated FIC against: antenatal care (ANC), skilled birth attendance (SBA), postnatal care for the mother (PNC), vitamin A supplementation (VitA) for the child, and sleeping under an insecticide-treated bed-net (ITN). Missed opportunities were defined as the percentage of children who failed to be fully immunized among those receiving one or more other interventions.ResultsChildren who received other health interventions were also more likely to be fully immunized. In nearly all countries, FIC was lowest among children born to mothers who failed to attend ANC, and highest when the mother had four or more ANC visits Côte d'Ivoire presented the largest difference in FIC: 54 percentage points (pp) between having four or more ANC visits and lack of ANC. SBA was also related with higher FIC. For instance, the coverage in children without SBA was 36 pp lower than for those with SBA in Nigeria. The largest absolute difference on FIC in relation to PNC was observed for Ethiopia: 31 pp between those without and with PNC. FIC was also positively related with having received VitA. The largest absolute difference was observed in DR Congo: 41 pp. The differences in FIC among whether or not children slept under ITN were much smaller than for other interventions. Haiti presented the largest absolute difference: 16 pp.ConclusionsOur results show the need to develop and implement strategies to vaccinate all children who contact health services in order to receive other interventions

Genetic variants of CYP2C9 and IL-6 on female infertility

AIM: To study the polymorphic variants in CYP2C9*2*3 and the C-174G promoter polymorphism of the IL-6 gene on Infertile Women.BACKGROUND: - Infertility affects 15–20% of couples worldwide. Within the past decades, there has been a steady rise in the treatment of female infertility with several drugs; - The cytochrome P450 (CYP) genes are oxygenases involved in estrogen biosynthesis and metabolism, generation of DNA damaging procarcinogens, and response to anti-estrogen therapies used in female infertility treatments: - Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is a pleiotropic proinflammatory cytokine, highly expressed in the female urogenital tract and reproductive organs. It has been implicated in estrogen metabolism imbalance.N/

Gene trio signatures as molecular markers to predict response to doxorubicin cyclophosphamide neoadjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancerpatients

In breast cancer patients submitted to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (4 cycles of doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide, AC), expression of groups of three genes (gene trio signatures) could distinguish responsive from non-responsive tumors, as demonstrated by cDNA microarray profiling in a previous study by our group. In the current study, we determined if the expression of the same genes would retain the predictive strength, when analyzed by a more accessible technique (real-time RT-PCR). We evaluated 28 samples already analyzed by cDNA microarray, as a technical validation procedure, and 14 tumors, as an independent biological validation set. All patients received neoadjuvant chemotherapy (4 AC). Among five trio combinations previously identified, defined by nine genes individually investigated (BZRP, CLPTM1,MTSS1, NOTCH1, NUP210, PRSS11, RPL37A, SMYD2, and XLHSRF-1), the most accurate were established by RPL37A, XLHSRF-1based trios, with NOTCH1 or NUP210. Both trios correctly separated 86% of tumors (87% sensitivity and 80% specificity for predicting response), according to their response to chemotherapy (82% in a leave-one-out cross-validation method). Using the pre-established features obtained by linear discriminant analysis, 71% samples from the biological validation set were also correctly classified by both trios (72% sensitivity; 66% specificity). Furthermore, we explored other gene combinations to achieve a higher accuracy in the technical validation group (as a training set). A new trio, MTSS1, RPL37 and SMYD2, correctly classified 93% of samples from the technical validation group (95% sensitivity and 80% specificity; 86% accuracy by the cross-validation method) and 79% from the biological validation group (72% sensitivity and 100% specificity). Therefore, the combined expression of MTSS1, RPL37 and SMYD2, as evaluated by real-time RT-PCR, is a potential candidate to predict response to neoadjuvant doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide in breast cancer patients

Patterns and determinants of antenatal care utilization:analysis of national survey data in seven countdown countries

Antenatal care (ANC) is critical for improving maternal and newborn health. WHO recommends that pregnant women complete at least four ANC visits. Countdown and other global monitoring efforts track the proportions of women who receive one or more visits by a skilled provider (ANC1+) and four or more visits by any provider (ANC4+). This study investigates patterns of drop–off in use between ANC1+ and ANC4+, and explores inequalities in women’s use of ANC services. It also identifies determinants of utilization and describes countries’ ANC–related policies, and programs

Urinary Estrogen Metabolites and Self-Reported Infertility in Women Infected with Schistosoma haematobium

Schistosomiasis is a neglected tropical disease, endemic in 76 countries, that afflicts more than 240 million people. The impact of schistosomiasis on infertility may be underestimated according to recent literature. Extracts of Schistosoma haematobium include estrogen-like metabolites termed catechol-estrogens that down regulate estrogen receptors alpha and beta in estrogen responsive cells. In addition, schistosome derived catechol-estrogens induce genotoxicity that result in estrogen-DNA adducts. These catechol estrogens and the catechol-estrogen-DNA adducts can be isolated from sera of people infected with S. haematobium. The aim of this study was to study infertility in females infected with S. haematobium and its association with the presence of schistosome-derived catechol-estrogens

Qualidade sanitária e fisiológica de sementes de abóbora variedade menina Brasileira.

O trabalho teve como objetivos avaliar e correlacionar a qualidade sanitária e fisiológica de sementes de abóbora, variedade Menina Brasileira (Cucurbita moschata.). Foram avaliados dois lotes de sementes de abóbora produzidas no sistema agroecológico e quatro no sistema convencional, com e sem tratamento químico. Os lotes foram submetidos aos testes de sanidade, seguindo a metodologia do “Blotter test”, com congelamento, germinação e vigor (primeira contagem, índice de velocidade de germinação, envelhecimento acelerado e emergência de plântulas). Os resultados indicaram a separação dos lotes de diferentes origens a partir da qualidade sanitária e fisiológica, onde as maiores incidências de fungos foram observadas nos lotes agroecológicos e o maior potencial fisiológico foi observado nos lotes de origem convencional não tratados. Foram encontrados os fungos Fusarium oxysporum, Alternaria alternata, Cladosporium cucumerinum, Aspergillus niger, Penicillium digitatum, Rhizopus stolonifer e Phoma terrestris. A qualidade sanitária não interferiu na qualidade fisiológica das sementes de abóbora, variedade Menina Brasileira

Survival of patients with AIDS and association with level of education level and race/skin color in South and Southeast Brazil: a cohort study, 1998-1999

Analisar a sobrevida de pessoas com aids e sua associação com escolaridade e raça/cor da pele. Coorte de diagnosticados entre 1998 e 1999, nas regiões Sul e Sudeste do Brasil, com análise de sobrevida (método de Kaplan--Meier), estratificada por escolaridade e raça/cor da pele; a análise multivariada foi realizada mediante regressão de Cox. Foram incluídas 2.091 pessoas com sobrevida em 60 meses, a percentuais de 65% entre brancos e 62% entre pretos/pardos; o uso irregular de antirretrovirais (HR=11,2 - IC95%8,8;14,2) e a idade ≥60 anos (HR=2,5 - IC95%1,4;4,4) foram relacionados com menor sobrevida; escolaridade >8 anos (HR=0,4 - IC95%0,3;0,6) e sexo feminino (HR=0,6 - IC95%0,5;0,8) relacionaram-se positivamente com sobrevida; os menos escolarizados tiveram sobrevida menor. Menor escolaridade sobrepôs-se às diferenças de raça/cor da pele, quando relacionada à sobrevida; tais desigualdades explicaram as diferenças observadas, mesmo com políticas de acesso universal aos antirretrovirais. Síndrome da Imunodeficiência Adquirida; Sobrevivência (Saúde Pública); Análise de Sobrevida; Escolaridade; Origem Étnica e Saúde281To analyze the survival of people with AIDS and association with schooling and race/skin color. METHODS: this was a retrospective cohort study of people diagnosed with AIDS between 1998 and 1999, in the South and Southeast regions of Brazil. We used survival analysis (Kaplan-Meier method), stratified by schooling and race/skin color and multivariate analysis was performed using Cox regression. RESULTS: the study included 2,091 people who had survived at 60 months, with 65% survival among White participants and 62% among Black/brown participants. Irregular use of antiretroviral (HR=11.2 - 95%CI8.8;14.2), and age ≥60 years (HR=2.5 - 95%CI1.4;4.4) were related to lower survival; schooling >8 years (HR=0.4 - 95%CI0.3;0.6) and being female (HR=0.6 - 95%CI0.5;0.8) were positively related to survival; those with less schooling had lower survival. CONCLUSION: lower schooling levels overlap race/skin color differences in relation to survival; these inequalities explain the differences found, despite the policies on universal access to antiretroviral.OBJETIVO: analisar a sobrevida de pessoas com aids e sua associação com escolaridade e raça/cor da pele. MÉTODOS: coorte de diagnosticados entre 1998 e 1999, nas regiões Sul e Sudeste do Brasil, com análise de sobrevida (método de Kaplan--Meier), estratificada por escolaridade e raça/cor da pele; a análise multivariada foi realizada mediante regressão de Cox. RESULTADOS: foram incluídas 2.091 pessoas com sobrevida em 60 meses, a percentuais de 65% entre brancos e 62% entre pretos/pardos; o uso irregular de antirretrovirais (HR=11,2 - IC95%8,8;14,2) e a idade ≥60 anos (HR=2,5 - IC95%1,4;4,4) foram relacionados com menor sobrevida; escolaridade >8 anos (HR=0,4 - IC95%0,3;0,6) e sexo feminino (HR=0,6 - IC95%0,5;0,8) relacionaram-se positivamente com sobrevida; os menos escolarizados tiveram sobrevida menor. CONCLUSÃO: menor escolaridade sobrepôs-se às diferenças de raça/cor da pele, quando relacionada à sobrevida; tais desigualdades explicaram as diferenças observadas, mesmo com políticas de acesso universal aos antirretrovirais.OBJETIVO: analizar la sobrevida de personas con sida y su asociación con escolaridad y raza/color de la piel. MÉTODOS: cohorte de diagnosticados entre 1998 y 1999, en las regiones Sur y Sudeste de Brasil, con análisis de supervivencia (Kaplan-Meier), estratificados por educación y raza/color de la piel; el análisis multivariante se realizó con regresión de Cox. RESULTADOS: fueron incluidas 2.091 personas con sobrevida de 60 meses, a porcentuales de 65% entre blancos y 62% entre negros/pardos; el uso irregular de antirretrovirales (HR=11,2 - IC95%8,8;14,2) y la edad ≥60 años (HR=2,5 - IC95%1,4;4,4) se relacionaron con una menor sobrevida; escolaridad >8 años (HR=0,4 - IC95%0,3;0,6) y sexo femenino (HR=0,6 - IC95%0,5;0,8) se relacionaron positivamente con sobrevida; los menos escolarizados tuvieron sobrevida menor. CONCLUSIÓN: menor escolaridad se superpuso a las diferencias de raza/color de la piel referida, cuando relacionada a la supervivencia; tales desigualdades explicaron las diferencias observadas, aún con políticas de acceso universal a antirretrovirales

A new staggered algorithm for thermomechanical coupled problems

This study presents a new staggered coupled strategy to deal with thermomechanical problems. The proposed strategy is based on the isothermal split methodology, i.e. the mechanical problem is solved at constant temperature and the thermal problem is solved for a fixed configuration. Nevertheless, the procedure for this strategy is divided into two phases within each increment: the prediction and the correction phases, while the interchange of information is performed on both. This allows taking advantage of automatic time-step control techniques, previously implemented for the mechanical problem, which is the main feature that distinguishes it from the classical strategies. The aim of the proposed strategy is to reduce the computational cost without compromising the accuracy of the results. The new coupling strategy is validated using three numerical examples, comparing its accuracy and performance with the ones obtained with the classical (commonly employed) strategies for solving thermomechanical problems. Moreover, the influence of the time-step size on the accuracy is analysed. The results indicate that the proposed strategy presents accuracy close to the one obtained with the implicit coupling algorithm, while the computational cost is only slightly higher than the one required by the explicit strategy. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under projects P2020-PTDC/EMS-TEC/0702/2014 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-016779) and P2020-PTDC/EMS-TEC/6400/2014 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-016876) by UE/FEDER through the program COMPETE 2020. The second author is also grateful to the FCT for the Postdoctoral grant SFRH/BPD/101334/2014.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio