Previsão da incidência da leishmaniose visceral usando o modelo de média móvel integrado autorregressivo sazonal (SARIMA) no Maranhão, Brasil

Universidade Federal do Maranhão. Programa de Pós‑graduação Strictu Sensu em Saúde e Ambiente. São Luís, MA, Brasil.Universidade Estadual do Maranhão - Campus Caxias. Programa de Pós‑graduação Strictu Sensu em Biodiversidade, Ambiente e Saúde. Caxias, MA, Brasil.Ministério da Saúde. Secretaria de Vigilância em Saúde e Ambiente. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Ananindeua, PA, Brasil.Universidade Federal do Maranhão. Programa de Pós‑graduação Strictu Sensu em Saúde e Ambiente. São Luís, MA, Brasil.Universidade Estadual do Maranhão - Campus Caxias. Programa de Pós‑graduação Strictu Sensu em Biodiversidade, Ambiente e Saúde. Caxias, MA, Brasil.Universidade Estadual do Maranhão - Campus Caxias. Programa de Pós‑graduação Strictu Sensu em Biodiversidade, Ambiente e Saúde. Caxias, MA, Brasil.Universidade Estadual do Maranhão - Campus Caxias. Programa de Pós‑graduação Strictu Sensu em Biodiversidade, Ambiente e Saúde. Caxias, MA, Brasil.Universidade Federal do Maranhão. Programa de Pós‑graduação Strictu Sensu em Saúde e Ambiente. São Luís, MA, Brasil.Universidade Federal do Maranhão. Programa de Pós‑graduação Strictu Sensu em Saúde e Ambiente. São Luís, MA, Brasil.Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is an infectious disease predominant in countries located in the tropics. The prediction of occurrence of infectious diseases through epidemiologic modeling has revealed to be an important tool in the understanding of its occurrence dynamic. The objective of this study was to develop a forecasting model for the incidence of VL in Maranhão using the Seasonal Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average model (SARIMA). We collected monthly data regarding VL cases from the National Disease Notification System (SINAN) corresponding to the period between 2001 and 2018. The Box‑Jenkins method was applied in order to adjust a SARIMA prediction model for VL general incidence and by sex (male or female) for the period between January 2019 and December 2013. For 216 months of this time series, 10,431 cases of VL were notified in Maranhão, with an average of 579 cases per year. With regard to age range, there was a higher incidence among the pediatric public (0 to 14 years of age). There was a predominance in male cases, 6437 (61.71%). The Box‑Pierce test figures for overall, male and female genders supported by the results of the Ljung‑Box test suggest that the autocorrelations of residual values act as white noise. Regarding monthly occurrences in general and by gender, the SARIMA models (2,0,0) (2,0,0), (0,1,1) (0,1,1) and (0,1,1) (2, 0, 0) were the ones that mostly adjusted to the data respectively. The model SARIMA has proven to be an adequate tool for predicting and analyzing the trends in VL incidence in Maranhão. The time variation determination and its prediction are decisive in providing guidance in health measure intervention

Vulnerabilidade das microrregiões da Região Sul do Brasil à pandemia do novo coronavírus (SARS-CoV-2)

This is the first report of the ‘Observatório COVID191 - Grupo: Redes de Contágio – Laboratório de Estudos de Defesa’ for the South region of Brazil. We have combined data of confirmed cases of the new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) for the South available up to 17/04/2020, with structural analyses of road networks, from within and between states, to estimate the vulnerability and potential influence of the South micro-regions to propagate the disease.Este é o primeiro relatório do Observatório COVID19 - Grupo: Redes de Contágio – Laboratório de Estudos de Defesa para a região Sul do Brasil. Combinamos dados de casos confirmados do novo coronavírus (SARS-CoV-2) para o Sul, disponíveis até o dia 17/04/2020, com análises estruturais da rede de rotas rodoviárias intra e interestaduais para estimarmos a vulnerabilidade e potencial influência das microrregiões sulinas na propagação da doença

Vulnerabilidade estrutural dos hospitais e cemitérios e crematórios da cidade de São Paulo à COVID-19

This is the first report by the COVID19 Observatory - Group: Contagion Networks analyzing mortality data from the city of São Paulo. In this report, we integrated mortality data for the city of São Paulo between 04/02/2020 and 04/28/2020, with information on the flow of victims between hospitals and cemeteries/crematoriums. We included in our analyzes both confirmed and suspected deaths from COVID-19. The main objectives of this report were: (1) to describe the structure of the flow of victims between locations and (2) to suggest changes in the current flow based on geographical distances in order to avoid a potential overload of the mortuary system. We suggest that the city of São Paulo should plan for a potential overload of the mortuary system (that is, the number of burials), based on the presented results. Thus, our results reinforce the need to adopt specific planning for the management of the extraordinary number of victims of this pandemic. Our predictions are based on the structural analysis of the COVID-19 victim flow network, which shows several hotspots with high vulnerability to system overload. These hotspots concentrate with either the greatest number of deaths (hospital) or of burials (cemetery or crematorium), and therefore have high potential to become overwhelmed by receiving many bodies due to the increase in victims of the pandemic. We recommend special attention to be given to localities on the east side of São Paulo, which has both the most vulnerable hospitals in the city, and also houses cemeteries and crematoriums that have a central role in the network and / or are vulnerable. Based on our optimization analysis, we suggest logistical changes in the current flow of bodies from hospitals to cemeteries/crematoriums so as not to overload the funeral system and minimize transportation costs. In this sense, our results are potentially useful for improving the operational planning of the Municipality of São Paulo, ratifying or rectifying actions underway at the municipal level.Este é o primeiro relatório do Observatório COVID19 - Grupo: Redes de Contágio analisando os dados de óbitos da cidade de São Paulo. Neste relatório, integramos os dados de óbitos da cidade de São Paulo entre os dias 02/04/2020 e 28/04/2020 com informações sobre o fluxo de vítimas entre os hospitais e os cemitérios e crematórios da cidade de São Paulo. Incluímos em nossas análises óbitos confirmados e óbitos suspeitos de COVID-19. Os principais objetivos deste relatório são: (1) descrever a estrutura do fluxo de vítimas entre localidades e (2) sugerir mudanças no fluxo com base em distâncias geográficas de maneira a evitar uma potencial sobrecarga do sistema funerário. Sugere-se à prefeitura da cidade de São Paulo que seja realizado um planejamento para uma potencial sobrecarga do sistema funerário (isto é, número de sepultamentos) da cidade de São Paulo com base nos resultados apresentados. Desta forma, nossos resultados reforçam a necessidade de ser adotado planejamento específico para a gestão dos casos extraordinários visualizados no contexto da pandemia. Esta previsão está baseada na análise estrutural da rede de fluxos de vítimas da COVID-19, que indica a concentração de vários locais com alta vulnerabilidade à sobrecarga do sistema. Tais locais concentram a maior quantidade de óbitos (hospitais) ou a maior concentração de sepultamentos (cemitérios ou crematórios) e tem portanto alto potencial de tornarem-se sobrecarregados por receberem muitos corpos devido ao aumento de vítimas da pandemia. Recomenda-se especial atenção à localidades da zona leste de São Paulo, que apresenta os hospitais mais vulneráveis da cidade e abriga cemitérios e crematórios que possuem papel central na rede e/ou encontram-se vulneráveis. Com base em nossa análise de otimização, sugerimos mudanças logísticas no atual fluxo de corpos de hospitais para cemitérios/crematórios de modo a não sobrecarregar o sistema funerário e minimizar os custos de transporte. Neste sentido, nossos resultados são potencialmente úteis ao aperfeiçoamento do planejamento operacional da Prefeitura Municipal de São Paulo, ratificando ou retificando ações em curso no âmbito municipal

Intrinsic acyl-CoA thioesterase activity of a peroxisomal ATP binding cassette transporter is required for transport and metabolism of fatty acids.

Peroxisomes are organelles that perform diverse metabolic functions in different organisms, but a common function is β-oxidation of a variety of long chain aliphatic, branched, and aromatic carboxylic acids. Import of substrates into peroxisomes for β-oxidation is mediated by ATP binding cassette (ABC) transporter proteins of subfamily D, which includes the human adrenoleukodystropy protein (ALDP) defective in X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy (X-ALD). Whether substrates are transported as CoA esters or free acids has been a matter of debate. Using COMATOSE (CTS), a plant representative of the ABCD family, we demonstrate that there is a functional and physical interaction between the ABC transporter and the peroxisomal long chain acyl-CoA synthetases (LACS)6 and -7. We expressed recombinant CTS in insect cells and showed that membranes from infected cells possess fatty acyl-CoA thioesterase activity, which is stimulated by ATP. A mutant, in which Serine 810 is replaced by asparagine (S810N) is defective in fatty acid degradation in vivo, retains ATPase activity but has strongly reduced thioesterase activity, providing strong evidence for the biological relevance of this activity. Thus, CTS, and most likely the other ABCD family members, represent rare examples of polytopic membrane proteins with an intrinsic additional enzymatic function that may regulate the entry of substrates into the β-oxidation pathway. The cleavage of CoA raises questions about the side of the membrane where this occurs and this is discussed in the context of the peroxisomal coenzyme A (CoA) budget

Seed-dispersal interactions in fragmented landscapes – a metanetwork approach

Mutualistic interactions repeatedly preserved across fragmented landscapes can scale-up to form a spatial metanetwork describing the distribution of interactions across patches. We explored the structure of a bird seed-dispersal (BSD) metanetwork in 16 Neotropical forest fragments to test whether a distinct subset of BSD-interactions may mediate landscape functional connectivity. The metanetwork is interaction-rich, modular and poorly connected, showing high beta-diversity and turnover of species and interactions. Interactions involving large-sized species were lost in fragments < 10 000 ha, indicating a strong filtering by habitat fragmentation on the functional diversity of BSD-interactions. Persistent interactions were performed by small-seeded, fast growing plant species and by generalist, small-bodied bird species able to cross the fragmented landscape. This reduced subset of interactions forms the metanetwork components persisting to defaunation and fragmentation, and may generate long-term deficits of carbon storage while delaying forest regeneration at the landscape level.This work was supported by Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (BIOTA/FAPESP 2014/01986‐0). CE received a FAPESP postdoctoral fellowship (2015/15172‐7, 2016/18355‐8). MAP and MG received fellowships from Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq). PJ was supported by Severo Ochoa Excellence Award (SEV‐2012‐0262) and Programa Ciência Sem Fronteiras (CNPq, PVE‐401258/2012). PRG was supported by FAPESP (2017/08406‐7). AP and SBMR were supported by SISBIOTA network – Top Predators Project (FAPESP, 2010/52315‐7) and CNPq (563299/2010‐0)

Fatores clínicos, epidemiológicos e climáticos relacionados à ocorrência de leishmaniose cutânea em área endêmica no nordeste do Brasil

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (121824/2018-7); Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa e ao Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico do MaranhãoUniversidade Estadual do Maranhão. Departamento de Ciências da Saúde. Curso de Medicina. Caxias, MA, Brasil.Universidade Federal do Maranhão. Programa de Pós-graduação Strictu Sensu em Saúde e Ambiente. São Luís, MA, Brasil.Universidade Estadual do Maranhão. Departamento de Ciências da Saúde. Curso de Medicina. Caxias, MA, Brasil.Ministério da Saúde. Secretaria de Vigilância em Saúde. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Ananindeua, PA, Brasil.Universidade Estadual do Maranhão. Laboratório de Entomologia Médica. Programa de Pós-graduação Strictu Sensu em Biodiversidade, Ambiente e Saúde. Caxias, MA, Brasil.Universidade Estadual do Maranhão. Curso de Ciências Biológicas. Lago da Pedra, MA, Brasil.Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais. Departamento de Parasitologia. Laboratório de Biologia de Leishmania. Belo Horizonte, MG, Brasil.Universidade Estadual do Maranhão. Laboratório de Entomologia Médica. Programa de Pós-graduação Strictu Sensu em Biodiversidade, Ambiente e Saúde. Caxias, MA, Brasil.Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is a neglected tropical disease with a wide distribution in the Americas. Brazil is an endemic country and present cases in all states. This study aimed to describe the occurrence, the underlying clinical and epidemiological factors, and the correlation of climatic variables with the frequency of reported CL cases in the municipality of Caxias, state of Maranhão, Brazil. This is a retrospective and descriptive epidemiological study based on data extracted from the Brazilian Information System of Diseases Notification, from 2007 to 2017. Maximum and minimum temperature, precipitation, and relative air humidity data were provided by the Brazilian National Institute of Meteorology. A total of 201 reported autochthonous CL cases were analyzed. The predominance of cases was observed in males (70.1%). The age range between 31 and 60 years old was the most affected, with 96 cases (47.9%). Of the total number of registered cases, 38.8% of the affected individuals were engaged in agriculture-related activities. The georeferenced distribution revealed the heterogeneity of disease occurrence, with cases concentrated in the Western and Southern regions of the municipality. An association was detected between relative air humidity (monthly mean) and the number of CL cases per month (p = 0.04). CL continues to be a concerning public health issue in Caxias. In this context, there is a pressing need to strengthen measures of prevention and control of the disease through the network of health services of the municipality, considering local and regional particularitie

Genetic diversity and antimicrobial resistance in Staphylococcus aureus and coagulase‐negative Staphylococcus isolates from bovine mastitis in Minas Gerais, Brazil

Abstract The aims of this study were to determine the antimicrobial susceptibility profile and genetic diversity of Staphylococcus spp. isolated from dairy cows in Minas Gerais, Brazil, and to assess the relationship among the isolates’ susceptibility profiles and pulsed‐field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) genotypes. Seventy‐nine isolates were used, including S. aureus (n = 71) and coagulase‐negative staphylococci (CoNS) (n = 8). Susceptibility to 12 antimicrobial agents was performed. All Staphylococcus spp. were subjected to PFGE. Staphylococcus aureus and CoNS isolates exhibited full susceptibility only to cephalothin. The greatest percentages of resistance among Staphylococcus spp. were observed to penicillins, folate pathway inhibitors, and tetracyclines. Twelve S. aureus and four CoNS were classified as multidrug resistance strains. Percentage of MRSA was also higher among CoNS (75%), compared to S. aureus isolates (2.81%). Adopting 100% of similarity, 34 different genotypes were identified. Association of minimum‐spanning tree (MST) analysis with data from municipalities, herds, methicillin‐resistant S. aureus (MRSA), and resistance patterns for all isolates did not show any clustering. However, a clustering pattern of bacterial species was observed. Results from this study indicate a high frequency of antimicrobial resistance, especially among CoNS, and a high genetic diversity among Staphylococcus spp. isolated from dairy cows with mastitis in Minas Gerais, Brazil

In vivo and in vitro effects of fructose on rat brain acetylcholinesterase activity: an ontogenetic study

Increased fructose concentrations are the biochemical hallmark of fructosemia, a group of inherited disorders on the metabolic pathway of this sugar. The main clinical findings observed in patients affected by fructosemia include neurological abnormalities with developmental delay, whose pathophysiology is still undefined. In the present work we investigated the in vitro and in vivo effects of fructose on acetylcholinesterase (AchE) activity in brain structures of developing rats. For the in vitro experiments, fructose was added at increasing concentrations to the incubation medium. It was observed that fructose provoked an inhibition of acetylcholinesterase activity in cerebral cortex of 30-day-old-rats, even at low concentrations (0.1 mM). For the in vivo experiments, rats were killed 1 h after a single fructose administration (5 &#181;mol/g). Control group received the same volume of saline solution. We found that AchE activity was increased in cerebral cortex of 30- and 60-day-old rats receiving fructose administration. Finally, we observed that AchE activity was unaffected by acute fructose administration in cerebral cortex, striatum or hippocampus of 15- and 90-day-old rats. The present data suggest that a disruption in cholinergic homeostasis may be involved in the pathophysiology of brain damage observed in young patients affected by fructosemia