Análise da distribuiçao espacial da COVID-19 em Minas Gerais

COVID-19 is an acute respiratory disease that was classified as a pandemic on March 11th, 2020, by the World Health Organization. Many efforts have been made in order to monitor and present the spatial distribution of cases of this disease and at various scales. It is possible to observe many different methodological approaches, such as choropleth maps and cartograms, proportional symbol maps, dynamics or statics, as well as graphs and tables. Each resource adapted to the specificities of the scale or regional context. In order to present methodological contributions for the representation of epidemiological data, we present the spatial distribution of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Minas Gerais until the date of June 21st, 2020, using Univariate Contiguous Areas Cartograms, a Bivariate Choropleth Map and a Proportional Symbol Map for the representation of relative and absolute data. The results showed the tendency of municipalities with larger populations or higher demographic densities to present more confirmed cases of the disease and the measures that relativize the absolute numbers of confirmed cases with the resident population, when represented by cartograms or by the Bivariate Choropleth map, revealed information which used to be visually hidden by the differences of the areas of the municipalities.COVID-19 es una enfermedad respiratoria aguda que fue clasificada como pandemia el 11 de marzo de 2020 por la Organización Mundial de la Salud. Se han realizado muchos esfuerzos para monitorear y presentar la distribución espacial de los casos de esta enfermedad y en varias escalas. . Se observan los enfoques metodológicos más diferentes, como mapas de coropletas y cartogramas, mapas con símbolos proporcionales, dinámicos o estáticos, así como gráficos y tablas. Cada recurso se adaptó a las especificidades de la escala o el contexto regional. Para presentar contribuciones metodológicas para la representación de datos epidemiológicos, presentamos la distribución espacial de los casos confirmados de COVID-19 en Minas Gerais, hasta la fecha del 21 de junio de 2020, utilizando Cartogramas de áreas contiguas univariadas, a partir de un Mapa coroplético bivariado y un mapa de símbolos proporcionales para la representación de datos relativos y absolutos. Los resultados mostraron la tendencia de los municipios con poblaciones más grandes o mayores densidades demográficas a presentar casos más confirmados de la enfermedad y las medidas que relativizan los números absolutos de casos confirmados con la población residente, cuando están representados por cartogramas o por el mapa coropático boplariado, revelaron información que permaneció oculto visualmente por las diferencias en las áreas de los municipios.A COVID-19 é uma doença respiratória aguda que foi classificada como pandemia em 11 de março de 2020, pela Organização Mundial da Saúde. Muitos esforços têm sido despendidos com o intuito de acompanhar e apresentar a distribuição espacial dos casos dessa doença e em várias escalas. São observadas abordagens metodológicas das mais diferenciadas, como mapas coropléticos e cartogramas, mapas com símbolos proporcionais, dinâmicos ou estáticos, além de gráficos e tabelas. Cada recurso adaptado às especificidades da escala ou do contexto regional. Com o objetivo de apresentar contribuições metodológicas para a representação de dados epidemiológicos, apresentamos a distribuição espacial dos casos confirmados da COVID-19 em Minas Gerais, até a data de 21 de junho de 2020, com uso de Cartogramas de Áreas Contíguas Univariados, de um Mapa Coroplético Bivariado e de um Mapa de Símbolos Proporcionais para a representação de dados relativos e absolutos. Os resultados evidenciaram a tendência de municípios com maiores populações ou maiores densidades demográficas apresentarem mais casos confirmados da doença e as medidas que relativizam os números absolutos de casos confirmados com a população residente, quando representados pelos cartogramas ou pelo mapa Coroplético Bivariado, revelaram informações que ficavam visualmente ocultadas pelas diferenças das áreas dos municípios

Propriedades energéticas da madeira e do carvão vegetal de Cenostigma macrophyllum: subsídios ao uso sustentável

O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar a qualidade da madeira de Cenostigma macrophyllum Tul para uso energético e determinar os rendimentos e propriedades do carvão vegetal produzido em diferentes temperaturas de carbonização. Foram retirados discos de 3 cm de espessura nas posições basal, 25%, 50%, 75% e 100% da altura comercial do fuste. Os discos foram cortados em cunhas e metade destas foi utilizada para análises na madeira e a outra metade foi carbonizada em temperaturas finais de 400 oC, 500 oC e 600 oC para avaliação dos rendimentos e características do biorredutor. A densidade básica (1,2 g cm -3 ), teor de lignina (34%), poder calorífico superior (4.845 cal g -1 ) e rendimento gravimétrico de carbonização (RGC) aos 400 oC (41,5%) da madeira do caneleiro se destacaram. O aumento da temperatura de pirólise da madeira de 400 oC para 600 oC resultou em acréscimo de 29,4% do teor de carbono fixo e redução de 19% e 63,4%, respectivamente, do RGC e do teor de materiais voláteis do carvão vegetal. Conclui-se que a espécie apresentou valores satisfatórios para produção energética.This study aimed to evaluate the quality Cenostigma macrophyllum Tul wood for energetic use and to determine the yields and charcoal properties produced at different carbonization temperatures. Discs with 3 cm of thickness were obtained from stem basal positions, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% of commercial height. The discs were split in two parts. One was used to determine wood properties and the other was carbonized at final temperatures of 400 oC, 500 oC and 600 oC for bio-reducer evaluation . Basic density (1.2 g cm -3 ), lignin content (34%), higher calorific value (4,845 cal g -1 ) and gravimetric yield in charcoal (GYC) at 400 oC (41.5%) were the highlights. The increase of wood pyrolysis temperature from 400 oC to 600 oC resulted in 29.4% increase in fixed carbon content and a reduction of 19% and 63.4%, respectively, in charcoal GYC and volatile matter content. In general, the species presented satisfactory energy production

Peri-incisional dysesthesia following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction using central third of patellar tendon

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the prevalence and type of dysesthesia around the incision used to obtain the patellar tendon for anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction surgery. METHODS: Out of a population of 1368 ACL reconstructions using the central third of the patellar tendon, 102 patients (111 knees) were evaluated by means of telephone interview. RESULTS: The mean follow-up was 52 months (ranging from 12 to 88 months). The patients' ages ranged from 16 to 58 years (mean: 34.7 years). There was some degree of peri-incisional dysesthesia in 66 knees (59.46%). In 40.54% of the knees, this condition was not found. In all the cases of dysesthesia, the type encountered was Highet's type II. CONCLUSION: Peri-incisional dysesthesia following ACL reconstruction using the central third of the patellar tendon is highly prevalent. It affected more than half of the cases in this series.OBJETIVO: Avaliar a prevalência e o tipo de disestesia em torno da incisão utilizada para obtenção desse tendão na cirurgia de reconstrução do LCA. MÉTODOS: De uma população de 1.368 reconstruções do LCA com o terço central do tendão patelar, foram avaliados, por entrevista telefônica, 102 pacientes, totalizando 111 joelhos. RESULTADOS: O seguimento médio foi de 52 meses, variando entre 12 e 88 meses. A idade dos pacientes variou entre 16 e 58 anos, com média de 34,7 anos. Em 66 joelhos (59,46%), houve algum grau de disestesia peri-incisional. Em 40,54% dos joelhos, essa condição não foi encontrada. Em todos os casos de disestesia, o tipo encontrado foi o tipo II de Highet. CONCLUSÃO: A disestesia peri-incisional após a reconstrução do LCA com terço central do tendão patelar é muito prevalente, acometendo mais da metade dos casos nessa série.UNIFESPUFMG Faculdade de Medicina Departamento do Aparelho LocomotorHospital Madre Teresa Grupo do JoelhoHospital Madre Teresa Serviço de OrtopediaUFMGUNIFESPSciEL

Prognostic value of MGMT promoter methylation in glioblastoma patients treated with temozolomide-based chemoradiation : a Portuguese multicentre study

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common and aggressive primary brain tumor. The identification of novel molecular prognostic markers of GBM has recently been an area of great interest in neuro-oncology. The methylation status of the MGMT gene promoter is currently a promising molecular prognostic marker, but some controversial data have precluded its clinical use. We analyzed MGMT methylation by methylation-specific PCR in 90 GBM patients from four Portuguese hospitals, uniformly treated with radiotherapy combined with concomitant and adjuvant temozolomide (Stupp protocol). The Kaplan-Meier method was used to construct survival curves, and the log-rank test and a Cox-regression model were used to analyze patient survival. The methylation status of MGMT was successfully determined in 89% (80/90) of the tumors. The frequency of tumoral MGMT promoter methylation was 47.5%. The median overall survivals (OSs) were 16 months (95% CI 12.2-19.8) and 13 months (95% CI 13.3-18.7) for patients whose tumors had a methylated or unmethylated MGMT, respectively. Univariate and multivariate analyses did not show any statistically significant association between MGMT methylation status and patient OS (P=0.583 by the log-rank test; P=0.617 by the Cox-regression test) or progression-free survival (P=0.775 by the log-rank test; P=0.691 by the Cox-regression test). None of the patient clinical features were significantly correlated with survival. This is the first study to report the frequency of MGMT methylation among Portuguese GBM patients. Our data did not show statistically significant associations between MGMT promoter methylation and the outcome of GBM patients treated with temozolomide. Additional robust prospective studies are warranted to clarify whether the MGMT status should be used in clinical decisions.This project was sponsored, in part, by Schering-Ploug Farma (Portugal). B.M.C. and O.M. are recipients of fellowships from the Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation (SFRH/BPD/33612/2009 and SFRH/BD/36463/ 2007). The funding institutions had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, interpretation of the results, the preparation of the manuscript, or the decision to submit the manuscript for publication

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

Consistent patterns of common species across tropical tree communities

Trees structure the Earth’s most biodiverse ecosystem, tropical forests. The vast number of tree species presents a formidable challenge to understanding these forests, including their response to environmental change, as very little is known about most tropical tree species. A focus on the common species may circumvent this challenge. Here we investigate abundance patterns of common tree species using inventory data on 1,003,805 trees with trunk diameters of at least 10 cm across 1,568 locations1,2,3,4,5,6 in closed-canopy, structurally intact old-growth tropical forests in Africa, Amazonia and Southeast Asia. We estimate that 2.2%, 2.2% and 2.3% of species comprise 50% of the tropical trees in these regions, respectively. Extrapolating across all closed-canopy tropical forests, we estimate that just 1,053 species comprise half of Earth’s 800 billion tropical trees with trunk diameters of at least 10 cm. Despite differing biogeographic, climatic and anthropogenic histories7, we find notably consistent patterns of common species and species abundance distributions across the continents. This suggests that fundamental mechanisms of tree community assembly may apply to all tropical forests. Resampling analyses show that the most common species are likely to belong to a manageable list of known species, enabling targeted efforts to understand their ecology. Although they do not detract from the importance of rare species, our results open new opportunities to understand the world’s most diverse forests, including modelling their response to environmental change, by focusing on the common species that constitute the majority of their trees.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe