Shortened first-line TB treatment in Brazil: potential cost savings for patients and health services.

BACKGROUND: Shortened treatment regimens for tuberculosis are under development to improve treatment outcomes and reduce costs. We estimated potential savings from a societal perspective in Brazil following the introduction of a hypothetical four-month regimen for tuberculosis treatment. METHODS: Data were gathered in ten randomly selected health facilities in Rio de Janeiro. Health service costs were estimated using an ingredient approach. Patient costs were estimated from a questionnaire administered to 126 patients. Costs per visits and per case treated were analysed according to the type of therapy: self-administered treatment (SAT), community- and facility-directly observed treatment (community-DOT, facility-DOT). RESULTS: During the last 2 months of treatment, the largest savings could be expected for community-DOT; on average USD 17,351-18,203 and USD 43,660-45,856 (bottom-up and top-down estimates) per clinic. Savings to patients could also be expected as the median (interquartile range) patient-related costs during the two last months were USD 108 (13-291), USD 93 (36-239) and USD 11 (7-126), respectively for SAT, facility-DOT and community-DOT. CONCLUSION: Introducing a four-month regimen may result in significant cost savings for both the health service and patients, especially the poorest. In particular, a community-DOT strategy, including treatment at home, could maximise health services savings while limiting patient costs. Our cost estimates are likely to be conservative because a 4-month regimen could hypothetically increase the proportion of patients cured by reducing the number of patients defaulting and we did not include the possible cost benefits from the subsequent prevention of costs due to downstream transmission averted and rapid clinical improvement with less side effects in the last two months

Análise dos metabólitos secundários da mangifera indica linneaus como possibilidade de tratamento alternativo para a síndrome pós covid-19 / Analysis of secondary metabolites of mangifera indica linneaus as na alternative treatment possibility for the post-covid-19 syndrome

Desde os tempos mais remotos o ser humano vem fazendo uso de plantas medicinais para cura de seus males espirituais e físicos. Porém, o uso dessas plantas era feito de maneira empírica onde o conhecimento foi sendo construindo de maneira experimental e observado, passando de pais para filhos. Contudo, estudos científicos tornaram seu consumo ainda mais popular e o os tratamentos a base de plantas medicinais vêm se tornando cada vez mais comum. Durante a pandemia do vírus SARS-CoV-2, causador da Covid-19, as folhas verdes de mangueira estavam sendo utilizadas para tratar a chamada síndrome pós Covid-19. Portanto, o presente trabalho buscou identificar através de testes fitoquímicos qualitativos, os principais constituintes das folhas de Mangifera indica Linnaeus, onde durante esse procedimento foram identificados fenóis, taninos, flavonóides, catequinas, saponinas, esteroides, triterpenos e alcaloides no extrato bruto e em suas frações, que confrontados à literatura mostraram que a planta possui potencial para tratar os sintomas da síndrome. Porém são necessários estudos de quantificação e caracterização para saber ao certo quais efeito essas substâncias podem atuar contra as sequelas da síndrome

Evolução temporal das tendências de mortalidade por Câncer de Próstata em Sergipe e Região Nordeste no período de 2008 a 2019 / Temporal evolution of prostate cancer mortality trends in Sergipe and the Northeast region from 2008 to 2019

O Câncer de Próstata (CaP) é a neoplasia maligna visceral mais comum no homem excetuando-se os cânceres de pele não melanoma. Objetivo: Analisar a evolução temporal e comparar as tendências de taxa de mortalidade por CaP no estado de Sergipe e no Nordeste brasileiro, no período de 2008 a 2019. Métodos: Estudo documental, da taxa de mortalidade por CaP, no estado de Sergipe e na região Nordeste. Os dados foram coletados no Sistema de Informação em Mortalidade, do Departamento de Informática do Sistema Único de Saúde. A análise temporal foi realizada com aplicação do modelo de regressão por pontos de in?exão Joinpoint Regression Analysis. Resultados: A taxa de mortalidade por CaP em Sergipe diferentemente do que ocorreu na região Nordeste, apresentou uma tendência de queda entre o período total de 2008 a 2019, com 3 comportamentos temporais. As taxas de mortalidade na Região Nordeste, também obtiveram 3 comportamentos ao logo do período estudado, porém finalizou o estudo se tornando a maior taxa de mortalidade do país. Em Sergipe, destacaram-se os seguintes pontos de inflexão (joinpoints), um aumento da mortalidade de 2012 a 2017 e o segundo uma diminuição de 2017 a 2019. Enquanto o Nordeste apresentou uma taxa de crescimento de 8,4% no ano de 2019. Conclusão: Necessita-se do fortalecimento e ampliação de medidas de promoção em saúde com ações de diagnóstico precoce e tratamento eficaz focadas no rastreamento da população, principalmente a mais idosa. A realização e manutenção dessas ações, a longo prazo, são comprovadamente capazes de impactar, positivamente na redução dos óbitos por essa afecção

A PRODUÇÃO DE UM JOGO RPG ELETRÔNICO COMO ABORDAGEM INTEGRADA DE SISTEMAS DO CORPO HUMANO: UM RELATO DE EXPERIÊNCIA

Introduction: The traditional education, based on expositive classes in which the teachers are the protagonists and the students are put as passive spectators, is still used by the majority of educational institutions. However, some methods can make students directly responsible for their knowledge and have shown to be effective in encouraging autonomy and reasoning. Furthermore, during the Covid-19 pandemic, there was a need to change the way of teaching, investing in active and attractive methodologies, such as electronic games, to ensure that learning is satisfying.Therefore, the objective of this report is to describe the experience of elaborating an educational game for and to medical students. Experience report: Based on the proposal of an academic work from the medical course, the game "Pâncrea Bit", a storyteller role playing game, was created and it integrated some subjects as diabetes 3C and chronic pancreatitis by a group with 13 participants which divided the functions. In addition, an educational material was produced with the topics covered in the game and complementary image animations. Discussion: Although there is no scientific proof of the efficiency of the educational method utilizing games in comparison to the traditional when analyzing the professionals quality, it is already known that this kind of teaching gives more satisfaction to the students.This was demonstrated by the massive participation of other students in conducting and solving the “Pâncrea Bit” quizzes. Conclusion: The gamification aroused interest, motivation and introduced the student as protagonist besides contributing to long-term memory, showing that is a valid  and applicable method to concretize knowledge in every learning stage.Introdução: A forma tradicional de educação, baseada em aulas expositivas, nas quais os professores são figuras protagonistas e o estudante é colocado na posição de espectador passivo, ainda é a mais utilizada pela maioria das instituições de ensino. Entretanto, alguns métodos podem transformar o estudante em ator diretamente responsável pela obtenção do seu conhecimento e demonstram ser eficazes ao incentivar autonomia e raciocínio. Ademais, durante a pandemia do Covid-19, houve a necessidade de modificação do método de ensino, sendo necessário o investimento em metodologias ativas e atrativas, como jogos eletrônicos, para garantir que a aprendizagem ocorra de forma satisfatória. Portanto, este relato objetiva descrever a experiência da elaboração de um jogo didático por estudantes de medicina para seus pares. Relato de experiência: A partir da proposta de um trabalho acadêmico do curso de medicina, houve a criação do jogo intitulado “Pâncrea Bit”, do tipo role playing game (RPG) storyteller, no qual houve a integração de conteúdos do curso médico (diabetes tipo 3C e pancreatite crônica) e a divisão de funções entre os 13 integrantes do grupo. Ademais, foi produzido um material didático com os assuntos abordados do jogo e animações em imagens complementares. Discussão: Apesar de não haver comprovação científica da eficácia do método ativo, através de jogos, em relação ao método tradicional, quando se trata de formar melhores profissionais, sabe-se que essa forma de ensino aumenta a satisfação do educando. Isso foi demonstrado com a participação maciça de outros estudantes na condução e resolução dos quizzes do “Pâncrea Bit”. Conclusão: A gamificação despertou interesse, motivação e introdução do aluno como protagonista, além de contribuir para a memória de longo prazo, mostrando-se um método válido e aplicável para a solidificação do conhecimento em diversos estágios de aprendizagem

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear un derstanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5–7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8–11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world’s most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepre sented in biodiversity databases.13–15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may elim inate pieces of the Amazon’s biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological com munities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple or ganism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region’s vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most ne glected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lostinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear understanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5,6,7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8,9,10,11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world's most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepresented in biodiversity databases.13,14,15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may eliminate pieces of the Amazon's biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological communities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple organism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region's vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most neglected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lost

Mortality from gastrointestinal congenital anomalies at 264 hospitals in 74 low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries: a multicentre, international, prospective cohort study

Summary Background Congenital anomalies are the fifth leading cause of mortality in children younger than 5 years globally. Many gastrointestinal congenital anomalies are fatal without timely access to neonatal surgical care, but few studies have been done on these conditions in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). We compared outcomes of the seven most common gastrointestinal congenital anomalies in low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries globally, and identified factors associated with mortality. Methods We did a multicentre, international prospective cohort study of patients younger than 16 years, presenting to hospital for the first time with oesophageal atresia, congenital diaphragmatic hernia, intestinal atresia, gastroschisis, exomphalos, anorectal malformation, and Hirschsprung’s disease. Recruitment was of consecutive patients for a minimum of 1 month between October, 2018, and April, 2019. We collected data on patient demographics, clinical status, interventions, and outcomes using the REDCap platform. Patients were followed up for 30 days after primary intervention, or 30 days after admission if they did not receive an intervention. The primary outcome was all-cause, in-hospital mortality for all conditions combined and each condition individually, stratified by country income status. We did a complete case analysis. Findings We included 3849 patients with 3975 study conditions (560 with oesophageal atresia, 448 with congenital diaphragmatic hernia, 681 with intestinal atresia, 453 with gastroschisis, 325 with exomphalos, 991 with anorectal malformation, and 517 with Hirschsprung’s disease) from 264 hospitals (89 in high-income countries, 166 in middleincome countries, and nine in low-income countries) in 74 countries. Of the 3849 patients, 2231 (58·0%) were male. Median gestational age at birth was 38 weeks (IQR 36–39) and median bodyweight at presentation was 2·8 kg (2·3–3·3). Mortality among all patients was 37 (39·8%) of 93 in low-income countries, 583 (20·4%) of 2860 in middle-income countries, and 50 (5·6%) of 896 in high-income countries (p<0·0001 between all country income groups). Gastroschisis had the greatest difference in mortality between country income strata (nine [90·0%] of ten in lowincome countries, 97 [31·9%] of 304 in middle-income countries, and two [1·4%] of 139 in high-income countries; p≤0·0001 between all country income groups). Factors significantly associated with higher mortality for all patients combined included country income status (low-income vs high-income countries, risk ratio 2·78 [95% CI 1·88–4·11], p<0·0001; middle-income vs high-income countries, 2·11 [1·59–2·79], p<0·0001), sepsis at presentation (1·20 [1·04–1·40], p=0·016), higher American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score at primary intervention (ASA 4–5 vs ASA 1–2, 1·82 [1·40–2·35], p<0·0001; ASA 3 vs ASA 1–2, 1·58, [1·30–1·92], p<0·0001]), surgical safety checklist not used (1·39 [1·02–1·90], p=0·035), and ventilation or parenteral nutrition unavailable when needed (ventilation 1·96, [1·41–2·71], p=0·0001; parenteral nutrition 1·35, [1·05–1·74], p=0·018). Administration of parenteral nutrition (0·61, [0·47–0·79], p=0·0002) and use of a peripherally inserted central catheter (0·65 [0·50–0·86], p=0·0024) or percutaneous central line (0·69 [0·48–1·00], p=0·049) were associated with lower mortality. Interpretation Unacceptable differences in mortality exist for gastrointestinal congenital anomalies between lowincome, middle-income, and high-income countries. Improving access to quality neonatal surgical care in LMICs will be vital to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 3.2 of ending preventable deaths in neonates and children younger than 5 years by 2030

Effect of School-Based Food and Nutrition Education Interventions on the Food Consumption of Adolescents: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

The school is a favorable environment for the development of interventions to prevent obesity. The objective of this systematic review is to evaluate the effects of school-based food and nutrition education interventions on adolescent food consumption. The literature search was conducted on databases: MEDLINE/PubMed, Embase, Scopus, ERIC, Science Direct, Web of Science, Cochrane, LILACS, and ADOLEC. The following research strategies were focused on: population (adolescents), intervention (food and nutrition education), outcome (food consumption), and study design (clinical trial). The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement guidelines were followed and all stages of this review were performed by two researchers and, when necessary, a third researcher resolved discrepancies. Included studies are randomized clinical trials (RCT). A total of 24 articles were included for review and 11 articles in meta-analysis. In the evaluation of the general effects, there was a significant effect (mean difference (MD) for fruit consumption (MD = 0.09, CI 0.05, 0.14) in serving/day; and for vegetables (MD = 0.59, IC 0.15, 1.03) at times/week. In the consumption of FV (fruits and vegetables), there was no significant effect (standardized mean difference (SMD) of interventions in their consumption (SMD = 0.00, 95% C1 &minus;0.11, 0.11). The evidence available in this review and meta-analysis concludes that food and nutrition education interventions in schools presented favorable results in the food consumption of adolescents. Registered on the PROSPERO database (CRD42019116520)