Estudo clínico duplo cego comparando praziquantel com oxamniquine

Com objetivo de se compararem a tolerabilidade e eficácia do praziquantel e oxamniquine, procedeu-se a um estudo prospectivo duplo-cego envolvendo 120 pacientes com esquistossomose intestinal ou hepatintestinal. Os pacientes foram randomizados em dois grupos. Um foi tratado com praziquantel, na dose de 55 mg/kg de peso, o outro com oxamniquine, 15 mg/kg de peso, sempre administrados em dose única por via oral. O diagnóstico e seguimento parasitológicos basearam-se ho exame de fazes peio método de Kate Katz. Em 73 de 77 casos negativos após tratamento, executaram-se biópsias retais. Efeitos colaterais, principalmente tontura, sonolência, dores abdominais, cefaléia, náuseas e diarréia foram observados em 87% dos casos. Sua incidência, intensidade e duração foram semelhantes em ambos os grupos, mas a dor abdominal foi significativamente mais freqüente após praziquantel, havendo maior tendência para tontura intensa após oxamniquine. Observou-se aumento significante de alamina-aminotransferase e gama-glutamiltransferase após oxamniquine e de bilirrubina total após praziquantel. Um total de 48 pacientes tratados com praziquantel e 46 com oxamniquine completaram os exames de controle até o sexto mês. As percentages de cura foram de 79,2% e de 84,8% respectivamente, diferença não significativa. Os pacientes não curados mostraram redução média do número de ovos de 93,5% e de 84,1%, diferença não significativa. Cinco pacientes retratados com praziquantel curaram-se, mas somente um de três retratados com oxamniquine. Estes resultados mostram, que ambas as drogas-apesar de diferentes propriedades farmacológicas provocam reações colaterais semelhantes e apresentam eficácia terapêutica comparável.A double-blind clinical trial involving 120 patients with chronic schistosomiasis was carried out to compare the tolerability and efficacy of praziquantel and oxamniquine. The patients were randomly allocated into two groups. One was treated with praziquantel, 55 mg/kg of body weight CBWT), and the other one with oxamniquine, 15mg/kg bwt, administered in a single oral dose. The diagnosis and the parasitological follow-up was based on stool examinations by quantitative Kato-Katz method and on rectal biopsies. Side-effects mainly dizziness, sleepness, abdominal distress, headache, nausea and diarrhea were observed in 87% of the cases. Their incidence, intensity and duration were similar for both drugs but abdominal pain was significantly more frequent after praziquantel intake and severe dizziness was more commonly reported after oxamniquine. A significant increase of alanine-aminotransferase and y-glutamyltransferase was found with the latter drug and of total bilirubin with the former one. A total of 48 patients treated with praziquantel and 46 with oxamniquine completed with negative findings the required three post-treatment parasitological controls three slides of each stool sample on the first, third and sixth month. The achieved cure rates were 79.2% and 84.8%, respectively, a difference without statistical significance. The non-cured cases showed a mean reduction in the number of eggs per gram of feces of 93.5% after praziquantel and of 84.1% after oxamniquine. This diference also was not significant. Five patients retreated with praziquantel were cured but only one out of three treated a second time with oxamniquine. These findings show that both drugs despite their different chemical structures, pharmacological properties and mechanisms-of-action induce similar side-effects as well as a comparable therapeutical efficacy, in agreement with the results reported from analogous investigations

A História da Alimentação: balizas historiográficas

Os M. pretenderam traçar um quadro da História da Alimentação, não como um novo ramo epistemológico da disciplina, mas como um campo em desenvolvimento de práticas e atividades especializadas, incluindo pesquisa, formação, publicações, associações, encontros acadêmicos, etc. Um breve relato das condições em que tal campo se assentou faz-se preceder de um panorama dos estudos de alimentação e temas correia tos, em geral, segundo cinco abardagens Ia biológica, a econômica, a social, a cultural e a filosófica!, assim como da identificação das contribuições mais relevantes da Antropologia, Arqueologia, Sociologia e Geografia. A fim de comentar a multiforme e volumosa bibliografia histórica, foi ela organizada segundo critérios morfológicos. A seguir, alguns tópicos importantes mereceram tratamento à parte: a fome, o alimento e o domínio religioso, as descobertas européias e a difusão mundial de alimentos, gosto e gastronomia. O artigo se encerra com um rápido balanço crítico da historiografia brasileira sobre o tema

Catálogo Taxonômico da Fauna do Brasil: setting the baseline knowledge on the animal diversity in Brazil

The limited temporal completeness and taxonomic accuracy of species lists, made available in a traditional manner in scientific publications, has always represented a problem. These lists are invariably limited to a few taxonomic groups and do not represent up-to-date knowledge of all species and classifications. In this context, the Brazilian megadiverse fauna is no exception, and the Catálogo Taxonômico da Fauna do Brasil (CTFB) (http://fauna.jbrj.gov.br/), made public in 2015, represents a database on biodiversity anchored on a list of valid and expertly recognized scientific names of animals in Brazil. The CTFB is updated in near real time by a team of more than 800 specialists. By January 1, 2024, the CTFB compiled 133,691 nominal species, with 125,138 that were considered valid. Most of the valid species were arthropods (82.3%, with more than 102,000 species) and chordates (7.69%, with over 11,000 species). These taxa were followed by a cluster composed of Mollusca (3,567 species), Platyhelminthes (2,292 species), Annelida (1,833 species), and Nematoda (1,447 species). All remaining groups had less than 1,000 species reported in Brazil, with Cnidaria (831 species), Porifera (628 species), Rotifera (606 species), and Bryozoa (520 species) representing those with more than 500 species. Analysis of the CTFB database can facilitate and direct efforts towards the discovery of new species in Brazil, but it is also fundamental in providing the best available list of valid nominal species to users, including those in science, health, conservation efforts, and any initiative involving animals. The importance of the CTFB is evidenced by the elevated number of citations in the scientific literature in diverse areas of biology, law, anthropology, education, forensic science, and veterinary science, among others

Caracterização de geoambientes da floresta nacional do purus, Amazônia ocidental: uma contribuição ao plano de manejo Geoenvironments of the purus national forest: a contribution to the management plan

A falta de estudos básicos necessários para o plano de manejo vem retardando a implementação efetiva de diversas Unidades de Conservação na região amazônica. Neste trabalho, interpretações de imagens orbitais e semiorbitais aliadas a trabalhos de campo foram utilizadas para a caracterização geoambiental da Floresta Nacional (FLONA) do Purus. Através da geração de mapas temáticos, criou-se uma base digital georreferenciada que constitui a primeira plataforma para o SIG da FLONA. Foram identificados quatro geoambientes principais: Platôs Dissecados com Mata sobre Latossolos e Argissolos; Encostas e Rampas com Mata sobre Argissolos; Planícies Aluviais Eutróficas com Neossolos Flúvicos e Gleissolos; e Planícies Aluviais Distróficas com Gleissolos. Os aluviões holocênicos na área sob influência do rio Purus são ricos em nutrientes (eutróficos), com influência de sedimentos subandinos. Em contraste, a maior parte da FLONA possui solos extremamente ácidos e pobres em nutrientes (distróficos), formados a partir do intemperismo de sedimentos da Formação Solimões. O manejo dessas áreas deve visar ao incremento do aporte de biomassa na superfície dos solos, aumentando a eficiência da ciclagem de nutrientes pela vegetação, já que a reserva química natural é extremamente baixa.<br>The lack of basic studies for the elaboration of management plans has delayed the effective implementation of conservation units in the Amazon region. In this work, the interpretation of orbital and sub-orbital images, together with field surveys were used for the geoenvironmental characterization of the Purus National Forest (PNF). A georreferenced digital database composed of thematic maps was produced and constitutes the base of a GIS for the PNF. Four geoenvironments were identified and mapped: Dissecated Plateaux with forest vegetation on Latosols and Argisols; Forested slopes on Argisols; Alluvial plains with eutric soils; Alluvial plains with dystric soils. The holocenic alluviums influenced by the Purus River are eutric, and receive sub-Andenean sediments. On the other hand, most of the PNF has extremely poor and acid soils related to the Solimões Formation. Since the nutrient levels in the mineral substrate are very low, the management of these areas should seek the increment of biomass in the system, which would enhance nutrient cycling by the vegetation since the nutrient levels in the mineral substrate are very low

A interiorização da assistência à infância durante a primeira república: de São Paulo a Ribeirão Preto The internalization of childhood welfare along the first republic in Brazil: from São Paulo to Ribeirão Preto

A interiorização em análise neste texto refere-se a uma região e sua cidade expoente, Ribeirão Preto, que, entre o final do século XIX e o início do XX, se recriou devido à cafeicultura, à ferrovia, ao trabalho assalariado, à imigração e ao aumento demográfico, motivador de sua urbanização. Devido a esses processos, a cidade experimentou diversos problemas sociais, entre os quais o abandono de crianças. Para resolver o abandono de crianças, assim como prover os cuidados médicos e higiênicos com a infância e lidar com a delinquência infanto-juvenil, os modelos institucionais adotados na cidade imitaram ou incorporam elementos das práticas assistenciais vigentes no início da Primeira República, sobretudo daquelas estabelecidas na capital paulista. Assim, o propósito deste artigo é demonstrar que o Asilo Anália Franco, o Instituto de Proteção e Assistência à Infância e o Patronato "Diogo Feijó" são exemplos do processo de interiorização da assistência à infância em Ribeirão Preto.<br>The internalization, in analysis in this text refers to a region and its exponent city, Ribeirão Preto, from late nineteenth to early twentieth century, which was reformed/altered due to coffee farming, the arrival of the railroad, paid labor, immigration and the resultant increase of population, leading to it becoming urbanized. Due to these processes, the city experienced many social problems, including the abandonment of children. To respond to the abandonment of children, as well as providing medical care, and hygiene, to children and to deal with juvenile delinquency, the institutional models adopted by the city, imitated or incorporated elements of existing care practices utilized at the beginning of the First Republic, especially those established in the state capital, São Paulo. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that the Asilo Anália Franco, the Institute for Protection and Assistance of Children, and the Patronage of "Diogo Feijó" are examples of this process of child care in Ribeirão Preto

Treatment of patients with Schistosomiasis mansoni: a double blind clinical trial comparing praziquantel with oxamniquine

A double-blind clinical trial involving 120 patients with chronic schistosomiasis was carried out to compare the tolerability and efficacy of praziquantel and oxamniquine. The patients were randomly allocated into two groups. One was treated with praziquantel, 55 mg/kg of body weight CBWT), and the other one with oxamniquine, 15mg/kg bwt, administered in a single oral dose. The diagnosis and the parasitological follow-up was based on stool examinations by quantitative Kato-Katz method and on rectal biopsies. Side-effects — mainly dizziness, sleepness, abdominal distress, headache, nausea and diarrhea — were observed in 87% of the cases. Their incidence, intensity and duration were similar for both drugs but abdominal pain was significantly more frequent after praziquantel intake and severe dizziness was more commonly reported after oxamniquine. A significant increase of alanine-aminotransferase and y-glutamyltransferase was found with the latter drug and of total bilirubin with the former one. A total of 48 patients treated with praziquantel and 46 with oxamniquine completed with negative findings the required three post-treatment parasitological controls — three slides of each stool sample on the first, third and sixth month. The achieved cure rates were 79.2% and 84.8%, respectively, a difference without statistical significance. The non-cured cases showed a mean reduction in the number of eggs per gram of feces of 93.5% after praziquantel and of 84.1% after oxamniquine. This diference also was not significant. Five patients retreated with praziquantel were cured but only one out of three treated a second time with oxamniquine. These findings show that both drugs — despite their different chemical structures, pharmacological properties and mechanisms-of-action — induce similar side-effects as well as a comparable therapeutical efficacy, in agreement with the results reported from analogous investigations

A non-functional galanin receptor-2 in a multiple sclerosis patient

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory neurodegenerative disease that affects approximately 2.5 million people globally. Even though the etiology of MS remains unknown, it is accepted that it involves a combination of genetic alterations and environmental factors. Here, after performing whole exome sequencing, we found a MS patient harboring a rare and homozygous single nucleotide variant (SNV; rs61745847) of the G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR) galanin-receptor 2 (GALR2) that alters an important amino acid in the TM6 molecular toggle switch region (W249L). Nuclear magnetic resonance imaging showed that the hypothalamus (an area rich in GALR2) of this patient exhibited an important volumetric reduction leading to an enlarged third ventricle. Ex vivo experiments with patient-derived blood cells (AKT phosphorylation), as well as studies in recombinant cell lines expressing the human GALR2 (calcium mobilization and NFAT mediated gene transcription), showed that galanin (GAL) was unable to stimulate cell signaling in cells expressing the variant GALR2 allele. Live cell confocal microscopy showed that the GALR2 mutant receptor was primarily localized to intracellular endosomes. We conclude that the W249L SNV is likely to abrogate GAL-mediated signaling through GALR2 due to the spontaneous internalization of this receptor in this patient. Although this homozygous SNV was rare in our MS cohort (1:262 cases), our findings raise the potential importance of impaired neuroregenerative pathways in the pathogenesis of MS, warrant future studies into the relevance of the GAL/GALR2 axis in MS and further suggest the activation of GALR2 as a potential therapeutic route for this disease1917282CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO - CNPQCOORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DE PESSOAL DE NÍVEL SUPERIOR - CAPESFUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULO - FAPESP480138/2013-323038.007775/2014-98; 7350-15-5; 1197-79-42013/24293-7, 2015/07925-5, 2016/06488-3Associacao Beneficente Alzira Denise Hertzog Silva (ABADHS); Coordenacao de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior (CAPES, Brazil)CAPES [23038.007775/2014-98, 7350-15-5, 1197-79-4]; Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico (CNPq, Brazil)National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) [480138/2013-3]; Fundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Sao PauloFundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Sao Paulo (FAPESP) [2013/24293-7, 2015/07925-5, 2016/06488-3

Bias in Federal Reserve Inflation Forecasts: Is the Federal Reserve Irrational or Just Cautious?

Inflation forecasts of the Federal Reserve systematically under-predicted inflation before Volcker and systematically over-predicted it afterward. Furthermore, under quadratic loss, commercial forecasts have information not contained in those forecasts. To investigate the cause, this paper recovers the loss function implied by Federal Reserve’s forecasts. It finds that the cost of having inflation above an implicit time-varying target was larger than the cost of having inflation below it for the period since Volcker, and that the opposite was true for the pre-Volcker era. Once these asymmetries are taken into account, the Federal Reserve is found to be rational. (JEL C53, E52

Bivalve distribution in hydrographic regions in South America: historical overview and conservation

Based on literature review and malacological collections, 168 native freshwater bivalve and five invasive species have been recorded for 52 hydrographic regions in South America. The higher species richness has been detected in the South Atlantic, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Amazon Brazilian hydrographic regions. Presence or absence data were analysed by Principal Coordinate for PhylogenyWeighted. The lineage Veneroida was more representative in hydrographic regions that are poorer in species and located West of South America. The Mycetopodidae and Hyriidae lineages were predominant in regions that are richest in species toward the East of the continent. The distribution of invasive speciesLimnoperna fortuneiis not related to species richness in different hydrographic regions there. The species richness and its distribution patterns are closely associated with the geological history of the continent. The hydrographic regions present distinct phylogenetic and species composition regardless of the level of richness. Therefore, not only should the richness be considered to be a criterion for prioritizing areas for conservation, but also the phylogenetic diversity of communities engaged in services and functional aspects relevant to ecosystem maintenance. A plan to the management of this fauna according to particular ecological characteristics and human uses of hydrographic regions is neededFil: Pereira, Daniel . Universidade Federal Do Rio Grande Do Sul; BrasilFil: Dreher Mansur, Maria Cristina . Universidade Federal Do Rio Grande Do Sul; BrasilFil: Duarte, Leandro D. S. . Universidade Federal Do Rio Grande Do Sul; BrasilFil: Schramm de Oliveira, Arthur . Universidade Federal Do Rio Grande Do Sul; BrasilFil: Mansur Pimpao, Daniel . Universidade Federal Do Rio Grande Do Sul; BrasilFil: Tasso Callil, Claudia . Universidade Federal Do Mato Grosso Do Sul; BrasilFil: Ituarte, Cristian Federico. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales; ArgentinaFil: Parada, Esperanza . Plataforma de Investigación en Ecohidrología y Ecohidráulica (ECOHYD); ChileFil: Peredo, Santiago . Plataforma de Investigación en Ecohidrología y Ecohidráulica (ECOHYD); ChileFil: Darrigran, Gustavo Alberto. Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Facultad de Cs.naturales y Museo. Div.zoologia Invertebrados; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Scarabino, Fabrizio . Museo Nacional de Historia Natural; UruguayFil: Clavijo, Cristhian. Museo Nacional de Historia Natural; UruguayFil: Lara, Gladys . Universidad Católica de Temuco; ChileFil: Miyahira, Igor Christo . Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro; BrasilFil: Raya Rodriguez, Maria Teresa . Universidade Federal Do Rio Grande Do Sul; BrasilFil: Lasso, Carlos . Instituto de Investigacion de Recursos Biologicos Alexander von Humboldt; Colombi