Decennial comparison of changes in social vulnerability: a municipal analysis in support of risk management

The concept of Social Vulnerability (SV) is characterized and distinguished by its complexity and multidisciplinarity. This concept takes into account the specific characteristics of the individual and his social and economic relations, as well as the physical environment where he is inserted. These differentiating characteristics make Social Vulnerability (SV) an indispensable work tool in the process of characterizing and understanding the degree of exposure of communities, as well as evaluating their capacity for resilience and recovery from hazardous events. This paper presents a comparison between the SV performed in 2008 with the results obtained in 2017 for the 278 municipalities of mainland Portugal. The methodology was based on the work developed by the Center for Social Studies of the University of Coimbra, which is distinguished by the fact that SV is composed of two components: Criticity and Support Capability. The analysis of SV and its components was done using Principal Components Analysis (PCA) starting from an initial set of 235 variables (90 for Criticality and 145 for Support Capability). With respect to Criticality, the results point out the importance of factors related to the economic condition, employment and factors related to the disadvantaged population and risk groups. Support Capability is strongly influenced by the population density and the most relevant factors for the final results are those related to civil protection response, economic and environmental dynamism and logistic and service capacity. Regarding the SV spatial distribution, the highest values are located mainly in the central and northern parts of the country, with emphasis on the Douro river valley and surrounding municipalities; also a general decrease of SV was recorded in the southern regions from 2008 to 2017.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Leptin As A Marker Of Sexual Dimorphism In Newborn Infants

Objective: To determine cord blood leptin levels in newborns appropriate for gestational age, according to gender, birth weight, birth height and ponderal index. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out with 132 term newborns appropriate for gestational age (68 females, 64 males), gestational age between 35-42 weeks. Data were collected through interviews with the mothers at the maternity, anthropometrycal study of the newborns, and cord blood estradiol, testosterone and leptin assays obtained immediately after birth. Results: The levels of leptin were significantly higher in females than in males (8.34±0.65 ng/ml versus 6.06±0.71 ng/ml; p = 0.000). The concentrations of estradiol and testosterone did not differ between males and females. Leptin levels were positively correlated with gestational age (r = 0.394, p < 0.01), birth weight (r = 0.466, p < 0.01), birth length (r = 0.335, p < 0.01) and ponderal index (r = 0.326, p < 0.01). Conclusions: Leptin concentration in the umbilical cord is positively correlated with gestational age, birth weight, birth height, and ponderal index, suggesting its participation in the neonatal growth process. In addition, a gender difference with higher levels of leptin in females neonates was observed, suggesting that the sexual dimorphism in relation to body composition already exists in newborns. Copyright © 2004 by Sociedade Brasileira de Pediatria.804305308Zhang, Y., Proenca, R., Maffei, M., Barone, M., Leopold, L., Friedman, J., Positional cloning of the mouse obese gene and its human homologue (1994) Nature, 372, pp. 425-432Seeley, R.J., Schwartz, M.W., Neuroendocrine regulation of food intake (1999) Acta Paediatr Suppl, 88 (428), pp. 58-61Cunningham, M.J., Clifton, D.K., Steiner, R.A., Leptini's actions on the reproductive axis: Perspectives and mechanisms (1999) Biol Reprod, 60, pp. 216-222Koistinen, H.A., Koivisto, V.A., Kontula, K., Andersson, S., Teramo, K.A., Leptin concentration in cord blood correlates with intrauterine growth (1997) J Clin Endocrinol Metab, 82, pp. 3328-3330Schubring, C., Kiess, W., Englaro, P., Rascher, W., Dotsch, J., Blum, W., Levels of leptin in maternal serum, amniotic fluid, and arterial and venous cord blood: Relation to neonatal and placental weight (1997) J Clin Endocrinol Metab, 82, pp. 1480-1483Tarquini, B., Tarquini, R., Perfetto, F., Cornelissen, G., Halberg, F., Genetic and environmental influences on human cord blood leptin concentration (1999) Pediatrics, 103, pp. 998-1006Alexander, G.R., Himes, J.H., Kaufman, R.B., Mor, J., Kogan, M., A United States National Reference for fetal growth (1996) Obstet Gynecol, 87, pp. 163-168Monte, O., Longui, C.A., Calliari, L.E.P., (1998) Endocrinologia Pediátrica, , São Paulo: Editora AtheneuVan Den Brandle, J.L., Somatomedins on the move (1990) Horm Res, 33, pp. 58-68Gómez, L., Carrascosa, A., Yeste, D., Potau, N., Riqué, S., Almar, J., Leptin values in placental cord blood of human newborns with normal intrauterine growth after 30-42 weeks of gestation (1999) Horm Res, 51, pp. 10-14Vatten, L.J., Nilsen, S.T., Odegård, R.A., Romundstad, P.R., Austgulen, R., Insulin-like growth factor I and leptin in umbilical cord plasma and infant birth size at term (2002) Pediatrics, 109, pp. 1131-1135Hassink, S.G., Lancey, E., Sheslow, D.V., Considine, R.V., Dostal, K., Smith-Kirwin, S.M., Placental leptin: Important new growth factor in intrauterine and neonatal development? (1997) Pediatrics, 100, pp. E1Tamura, T., Goldenberg, R.L., Johnston, K.E., Cliver, S.P., Serum leptin concentrations during pregnancy and their relationship to fetal growth (1998) Obstet Gynecol, 91, pp. 389-395Schubring, C., Englaro, P., Siebler, T., Blum, W.F., Demirakca, T., Kiess, W., Longitudinal analysis of maternal serum leptin levels during pregnancy, at birth and up to six weeks after birth: Relation to body mass index, skinfolds, sex steroids and umbilical blood leptin levels (1998) Horm Res, 50, pp. 276-283Matsuda, J., Yokota, I., Iiida, M., Murakami, T., Naito, E., Ito, M., Serum leptin concentration in cord blood: Relationship to birth weight and gender (1997) J Clin Endocrinol Metab, 82, pp. 1642-1644Helland, I.B., Reseland, J.E., Saugstad, O.D., Drevon, C.A., Leptin levels in pregnant women and newborn infants: Gender differences and reduction during the neonatal period (1998) Pediatrics, 101, pp. E12Geary, M., Pringle, P.J., Persaud, M., Wilshin, J., Hindmarsh, P.C., Rodeck, C.H., Leptin concentrations in maternal serum and cord blood: Relationship to maternal anthropometry and fetal growth (1999) Br J Obstet Gynaecol, 106, pp. 1054-1060Schulz, S., Häckel, C., Weise, W., Hormonal regulation of neonatal weight: Placental leptin and leptin receptors (2000) BJOG, 107, pp. 1486-1491Lepercq, J., Lahlou, N., Timsit, J., Girard, J., Mouzon, S.H., Macrosomia revisited: Ponderal index and leptin delineate subtypes of fetal overgrowth (1999) Am J Obstet Gynecol, 181, pp. 621-625Papadopoulou, F.G., Mamopoulos, A.M., Triantos, A., Constantinidis, T.C., Papadimas, J., Assimakopoulos, E.A., Leptin levels in maternal and cord serum: Relationship with fetal development and placental weight (2000) J Matern Fetal Med, 9, pp. 298-302Ogueh, O., Sooranna, S., Nicolaides, K.H., Johnson, M.R., The relationship between leptin concentration and bone metabolism in the human fetus (2000) J Clin Endocrinol Metab, 85, pp. 1997-1999Christou, H., Connors, J.M., Ziotopoulou, M., Hatzidakis, V., Papathanassoglou, E., Ringer, S.A., Cord blood leptin and insulin-like growth factor levels are independent predictors of fetal growth (2001) J Clin Endocrinol Metab, 86, pp. 935-938Su, P.H., Wang, S.L., Chen, J.Y., Lai, C.P., Jian, S.H., Serum leptin levels in preterm, healthy and sick-term newborns (2002) Acta Paediatr, 43, pp. 249-254. , TaiwanYang, M.J., Liu, R.S., Hung, J.H., Leptin concentrations in the umbilical vein and artery. Relationship to maternal and neonatal anthropometry (2002) J Reprod Med, 47, pp. 645-650Ong, K.K., Ahmed, M.L., Sherriff, A., Woods, K.A., Watts, A., Golding, J., Cord blood leptin is associated with size at birth and predicts infancy weight gain in humans (1999) J Clin Endocrinol Metab, 84, pp. 1145-1148Copper, R.L., Goldenberg, R.L., Cliver, S.P., Dubard, M.B., Hoffman, H.J., Davis, R.O., Anthropometric assessment of body size differences of full-term male and female infants (1993) Obstet Gynecol, 81, pp. 161-16

Subtelomeric I-scei-mediated Double-strand Breaks Are Repaired By Homologous Recombination In Trypanosoma Cruzi

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Trypanosoma cruzi chromosome ends are enriched in surface protein genes and pseudogenes (e.g., trans-sialidases) surrounded by repetitive sequences. It has been proposed that the extensive sequence variability among members of these protein families could play a role in parasite infectivity and evasion of host immune response. In previous reports we showed evidence suggesting that sequences located in these regions are subjected to recombination. To support this hypothesis we introduced a double-strand break (DSB) at a specific target site in a T. cruzi subtelomeric region cloned into an artificial chromosome (pTAC). This construct was used to transfect T. cruzi epimastigotes expressing the I-SceI meganuclease. Examination of the repaired sequences showed that DNA repair occurred only through homologous recombination (HR) with endogenous subtelomeric sequences. Our findings suggest that DSBs in subtelomeric repetitive sequences followed by HR between them may contribute to increased variability in T. cruzi multigene families. © 2016 Chiurillo, Moraes Barros, Souza, Marini, Antonio, Cortez, Curto, Lorenzi, Schijman, Ramirez and da Silveira.7DEC11/51475-3, FAPESP, Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo11/51693-0, FAPESP, Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo306591/2015-4, CNPq, Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e TecnológicoFundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq

Genotipagem de Toxoplasma gondii em galinhas domésticas em uma área rural do Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil

Free-range chickens may ingest oocysts of T. gondii present in the environment and consequently harbor virulent strains of this parasite in different tissues, without any clinical signs. Isolation of T. gondii through bioassays on mice and cats from naturally infected chicken tissues has been described in several countries, demonstrating the importance of free-range chickens in the transmission of this parasite. The aim of this study was the genotypic characterization of T. gondii isolates obtained from naturally infected free-range chickens in a rural area of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Brain and heart tissue from 12 chickens seropositive for T. gondii were processed using peptic digestion technique for parasite isolation. From 12 samples subjected to mouse bioassay, nine isolates were obtained. RFLP-PCR genotypic characterization was performed using 11 genetic markers: SAG1, 5'-3'SAG2, alt.SAG2, SAG3, BTUB, GRA6, c22-8, c29- 2, L358, PK1 and Apico. Genetic characterization of the isolates revealed the presence of five atypical genotypes according to ToxoDB (# 11, # 55, # 64, # 140 and # 163). Our results showed a wide genetic diversity of T. gondii in free-range chickens in this region.Galinhas criadas ao ar livre podem ingerir oocistos de T. gondii presentes no ambiente e, com isso, albergar cepas virulentas desse parasita em diferentes tecidos, sem sinais clínicos. O isolamento de T. gondii por meio de bioensaios em camundongos e gatos, a partir de tecidos de galinhas naturalmente infectadas, tem sido descrito em vários países. Isso demonstra a importância das galinhas caipiras na epidemiologia desse parasita. O objetivo deste trabalho foi caracterizar genotipicamente isolados de T. gondii obtidos de galinhas caipiras naturalmente infectadas em uma área rural do município de Santa Maria, estado do Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil. Fragmentos de cérebro e de coração, de 12 galinhas soropositivas para T. gondii, foram processados pela técnica de digestão péptica para isolamento do parasita. Das 12 amostras submetidas a bioensaio com camundongos, nove isolados foram obtidos. A caracterização genotípica por RFLP-PCR foi realizada utilizando-se 11 marcadores genéticos: SAG1, 5'- 3'SAG2, alt.SAG2, SAG3, BTUB, GRA6, c22-8, c29-2, L358, PK1 e Apico e revelou a presença de cinco genótipos atípicos de acordo com o ToxoDB (# 11, # 55, # 64, # 140 e # 163). Os resultados mostraram uma ampla diversidade genética de T. gondii em galinhas caipiras nessa região.Fil: Camillo, G.. Universidade Federal de Santa Maria; BrasilFil: Machado, M. E. A.. Universidade Federal de Santa Maria; BrasilFil: Cadore, G.C.. Universidade Federal de Santa Maria; BrasilFil: Bräunig, P.. Universidade Federal de Santa Maria; BrasilFil: Venturini, María Cecilia. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Departamento de Epizootiología y Salud Pública. Laboratorio de Inmunoparasitología; ArgentinaFil: Pardini, Lais Luján. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Departamento de Epizootiología y Salud Pública. Laboratorio de Inmunoparasitología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Barros, L.D.. Universidade Estadual de Londrina; BrasilFil: Garcia, J.L.. Universidade Estadual de Londrina; BrasilFil: Sangioni, L.A.. Universidade Federal de Santa Maria; BrasilFil: Vogel, F.S.F.. Universidade Federal de Santa Maria; Brasi

Using discrete Ricci curvatures to infer COVID-19 epidemic network fragility and systemic risk

The damage of the novel Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is reaching unprecedented scales. There are numerous classical epidemiology models trying to quantify epidemiology metrics. Usually, to forecast epidemics, classical approaches need parameter estimations, such as the contagion rate or the basic reproduction number. Here, we propose a data-driven, parameter-free, geometric approach to access the emergence of a pandemic state by studying the Forman-Ricci and Ollivier- Ricci network curvatures. Discrete Ollivier-Ricci curvature has been used successfully to forecast risk in nancial networks and we suggest that those results can provide analogous results for COVID-19 epidemic time-series. We rst compute both curvatures in a toy-model of epidemic time-series with delays, which allows us to create epidemic networks. We also compared our results to classical network metrics. By doing so, we are able to verify that the Ollivier-Ricci and Forman-Ricci curvatures can be a parameter-free estimate for identifying a pandemic state in the simulated epidemic. On this basis, we then compute both Forman-Ricci and Ollivier-Ricci curvatures for real epidemic networks built from COVID-19 epidemic time-series available at the World Health Organization (WHO). This approach allow us to detect early warning signs of the emergence of the pandemic. The advantage of our method lies in providing an early geometrical data marker for the pandemic state, regardless of parameter estimation and stochastic modelling. This work opens the possibility of using discrete geometry to study epidemic networks. Keywords: COVID-19, SARS2, Forman-Ricci Curvature, Ollivier-Ricci curvature, Epidemiology, Topologi- cal Data Analysi

Completeness of the Trajectories of Particles Coupled to a General Force Field

We analyze the extendability of the solutions to a certain second order differential equation on a Riemannian manifold $(M,g)$, which is defined by a general class of forces (both prescribed on $M$ or depending on the velocity). The results include the general time-dependent anholonomic case, and further refinements for autonomous systems or forces derived from a potential are obtained. These extend classical results for Lagrangian and Hamiltonian systems. Several examples show the optimality of the assumptions as well as the applicability of the results, including an application to relativistic pp-waves.Comment: Archive for Rational Mechanics and Analysis (to appear

Illusions of general relativity in Brans-Dicke gravity

Contrary to common belief, the standard tenet of Brans-Dicke theory reducing to general relativity when omega tends to infinity is false if the trace of the matter energy-momentum tensor vanishes. The issue is clarified in a new approach using conformal transformations. The otherwise unaccountable limiting behavior of Brans-Dicke gravity is easily understood in terms of the conformal invariance of the theory when the sources of gravity have radiation-like properties. The rigorous computation of the asymptotic behavior of the Brans-Dicke scalar field is straightforward in this new approach.Comment: 16 pages, LaTeX, to appear in Physical Review

Rotational Surfaces in L3\mathbb{L}^3 and Solutions in the Nonlinear Sigma Model

The Gauss map of non-degenerate surfaces in the three-dimensional Minkowski space are viewed as dynamical fields of the two-dimensional O(2,1) Nonlinear Sigma Model. In this setting, the moduli space of solutions with rotational symmetry is completely determined. Essentially, the solutions are warped products of orbits of the 1-dimensional groups of isometries and elastic curves in either a de Sitter plane, a hyperbolic plane or an anti de Sitter plane. The main tools are the equivalence of the two-dimensional O(2,1) Nonlinear Sigma Model and the Willmore problem, and the description of the surfaces with rotational symmetry. A complete classification of such surfaces is obtained in this paper. Indeed, a huge new family of Lorentzian rotational surfaces with a space-like axis is presented. The description of this new class of surfaces is based on a technique of surgery and a gluing process, which is illustrated by an algorithm.Comment: PACS: 11.10.Lm; 11.10.Ef; 11.15.-q; 11.30.-j; 02.30.-f; 02.40.-k. 45 pages, 11 figure