Local people standings on existing farm animal welfare legislation in the BRIC countries and the USA. Comparison with Western European legislation

This study explored the demand for improved farm animal welfare (FAW) legislation in the BRIC countries and the USA. Results are discussed in comparison to Europe. Interviewees ranked their willingness to support or oppose introduction of more FAW-friendly laws in their country. A multinomial logistic regression was fit to the data (p < 0.001), with the parameters ?country ? gender? (p < 0.001) and ?country ? age? (p < 0.001) found significant. Americans, Russian women, and older Brazilian men are very supportive. The age effect is also felt in India, where older people are more supportive. Chinese, American men, and younger Indians are less supportive. Russian males are the group that oppose the most, followed by younger Brazilians and Indians. The law and its application vary a lot between countries. Nevertheless, the societal willingness to improve FAW legislation is high in all countries. The willingness is higher in Europe. The different cultural backgrounds, the socio-economic factors, and the social, economic, and environmental sustainability are enough reasons to create barriers to policy harmonization in the global trade of farm animal products.0F1A-358B-43B5 | Fernando Jorge Ribeiro da MataN/

Establishment of a new PNA-FISH method for Aspergillus fumigatus identification: first insights for future use in pulmonary samples

Aspergillus fumigatus is the main causative agent of Invasive Aspergillosis. This mold produces conidia that when inhaled by immunocompromized hosts can be deposited in the lungs and germinate, triggering disease. In this paper, the development of a method using peptide nucleic acid-fluorescence in situ hybridization (PNA-FISH) is described. The PNA-FISH probe was tested in several strains and a specificity and sensitivity of 100% was obtained. Detection of A. fumigatussensu stricto was then achieved in artificial sputum medium (ASM) pre-inoculated with 1 × 102 conidia·mL−1–1 × 103 conidia·mL−1, after a germination step of 24 h. The PNA-FISH method was evaluated in 24 clinical samples (10 sputum, 8 bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL), and 6 bronchial lavage (BL)) that were inoculated with 1 × 104 conidia·mL−1 in sputum; 1 × 103 conidia·mL−1 in BL and BAL, for 24 h. Despite a specificity of 100%, the sensitivity was 79%. This relatively low sensitivity can be explained by the fact that hyphae can yield “fungal ball“ clusters, hindering pipetting procedures and subsequent detection, leading to false negative results. Nonetheless, this study showed the potential of the PNA-FISH method for A. fumigatussensu stricto detection since it takes only 1 h 30 m to perform the procedure with a pre-enrichment step of 6 h (pure cultures) and 24 h (clinical samples), and might provide a suitable alternative to the existing methods for studies in pure cultures and in clinical settings.This research was funded by: Base Funding — UIDB/00511/2020 of the Laboratory for Process Engineering, Environment, Biotechnology and Energy—LEPABE—funded by national funds through the FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC)—Projects POCI-01-0145-FEDER-029961 and POCI-01-0145-FEDER-031011, funded by FEDER funds through COMPETE2020—Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalização (POCI) and by national funds (PIDDAC) through FCT/MCTES. Laura Cerqueira is also financed by Project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-029961.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Como ser profissional e mãe: a construção mediática da maternidade ideal de Gisele Bündchen

This article aims to analyze the mass media coverage of Brazilian top-model Gisele Bündchen pregnancy and motherhood. The research seeks to reflect on the possible versions and contradictions of being a mother in the context of neoliberal societies, defined by the imperative of individual responsibility for building a successful life. In Bündchen’s statements about motherhood and breastfeeding, there is both a conservative perspective, which reaffirms the place of women as mothers, and the absence of any conflict between motherhood and her career as a top-model. Gisele Bündchen’s postpartum professional activity, well publicized in the media, leads to the discussion about the construction of an ideal mother-woman and the contradictions, responsibilities, expectations and priorities of / for women nowadays. Keywords: motherhood, celebrity, Gisele Bündchen, feminism, care.Este artigo tem como objetivo analisar as maneiras como a gravidez e a maternidade de Gisele Bündchen foram narradas pelos meios de comunicação massivos. O texto reflete sobre as possíveis versões e tensões dos sentidos de ser mãe hoje tendo em vista o contexto das sociedades neoliberais, marcadas pelo imperativo da responsabilidade individual para a construção da vida bem-sucedida. Nas declarações da modelo sobre a maternidade e a amamentação, observam-se tanto a presença de falas deontológicas conservadoras, que reafirmam o lugar da mulher-mãe, quanto a ausência de qualquer sinal de conflito entre a maternidade e a carreira como modelo. A atividade profissional de Gisele Bündchen no pós-parto, bastante divulgada na mídia, provoca a discussão sobre a construção de um ideal de mulher-mãe midiática e as contradições, responsabilidades, expectativas e prioridades de/para mulheres na contemporaneidade. Palavras-chave: maternidade, celebridade, Gisele Bündchen, feminismo, care

Development and application of Peptide Nucleic Acid Fluorescence in situ Hybridization for the specific detection of Listeria monocytogenes

Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https:// doi.org/10.1016/j.fm.2018.12.009.Listeria monocytogenes is one of the most important foodborne pathogens due to the high hospitalization and mortality rates associated to an outbreak. Several new molecular methods that accelerate the identification of L. monocytogenes have been developed, however conventional culture-based methods still remain the gold standard. In this work we developed a novel Peptide Nucleic Acid Fluorescence in situ Hybridization (PNA-FISH) method for the specific detection of L. monocytogenes. The method was based on an already existing PNA probe, LmPNA1253, coupled with a novel blocker probe in a 1:2 ratio. The method was optimized for the detection of L. monocytogenes in food samples through an evaluation of several rich and selective enrichment broths. The best outcome was achieved using One Broth Listeria in a two-step enrichment of 24h plus 18h. For validation in food samples, ground beef, ground pork, milk, lettuce and cooked shrimp were artificially contaminated with two ranges of inoculum: a low level (0.22CFU/25g or mL) and a high level (210CFU/25g or mL). The PNA-FISH method performed well in all types of food matrices, presenting an overall accuracy of 99% and a detection limit of 0.5CFU/25g or mL of food sample.Nuno R. da Silva acknowledges the financial support byFundac¸ ão para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) of the Portuguese’s Min-istry for Science, Technology and Higher Education (MCTES), in theframework of the POCH – Programa Operacional Capital Humano,co-funded by the European Social Fund (SFRH/BD/111825/2015).This work was also supported by FCT under the scope ofthe strategic funding of UID/BIO/04469 unit and COMPETE2020 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006684) and BioTecNorte opera-tion (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000004) funded by the EuropeanRegional Development Fund under the scope of Norte2020 – Pro-grama Operacional Regional do Norte.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Presence of high-risk HLA genotype is the most important individual risk factor for coeliac disease among at-risk relatives

Background Family screening has been advocated as a means to reduce the major underdiagnosis of coeliac disease. However, the precise risk of the disease in relatives and the impact of patient- and relative-related individual factors remain obscure. Aims To investigate the individual risk of coeliac disease among patients' relatives. Methods Altogether 2943 relatives of 624 index patients were assessed for the presence of previous coeliac disease diagnosis, or were screened for the disease. Coeliac disease-associated human leucocyte antigen (HLA) genotype was determined from all participants. The association between individual factors and new screening positivity was assessed by logistic regression. Results There were 229 previously diagnosed non-index relatives with coeliac disease and 2714 non-affected (2067 first-degree, 647 more distant) relatives. Of these 2714 relatives, 129 (4.8%) were screening-positive (first-degree 5.1%, second-degree 3.6%, more distant 3.5%). The combined prevalence of the previously diagnosed and now detected cases in relatives was 12.2% (6.3% clinically detected, 5.9% screen-detected). In univariate analysis, agePeer reviewe

Validation of a peptide nucleic acid fluorescence in situ hybridization for the specific detection of salmonella species in food matrices

Salmonella is a Gram-negative flagellated rod-shaped bacterium that is one of the most important etiological agents in bacterial foodborne diseases [1,2]. Despite human salmonellosis generally presenting as a self-limiting episode of enterocolitis, the infection can degenerate into chronic and debilitating conditions [2]. To diagnose a Salmonella infection, standard cultural methods are routinely used, which implies bacterial identification by biochemical and serological tests, to confirm the suspect colonies grown on the selective agar [3]. However, this methodology is time-consuming and takes too long to deliver the results [4]. Due to these limitations, more rapid techniques for detection have been developed [5-7]. For that, in this study, we developed a novel Peptide Nucleic Acid Fluorescence in situ Hybridization (PNA FISH) method for the specific detection of Salmonella spp. The method was based on a new PNA probe, SalPNA1692, coupled with a novel blocker probe in a 1:1 ratio. The method was optimized for the detection of Salmonella in food samples through an evaluation of several rich and selective enrichment broths. The best outcome was achieved using Buffered Peptone water as a pre-enrichment for 24 h followed by 16 h of selective enrichment in RambaQuick broth. For validation in food samples, fresh ground beef was artificially contaminated with two ranges of inoculum: a low level (0.22 CFU/25 g) and a high level (210 CFU/25 g). For both levels of contamination, the confirmed positives were the same comparing the PNA-FISH method and the reference method (ISO 6579-1: 2017). The new PNA-FISH method presented a specificity of 100 % and is a faster time-to-result method, making it a good candidate for routine application in food safety laboratories.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Development of a novel peptide nucleic acid probe for the detection of Legionella spp. in water samples

Legionella are opportunistic intracellular pathogens that are found throughout the environment. The Legionella contamination of water systems represents a serious social problem that can lead to severe diseases, which can manifest as both Pontiac fever and Legionnaires’ disease (LD) infections. Fluorescence in situ hybridization using nucleic acid mimic probes (NAM-FISH) is a powerful and versatile technique for bacterial detection. By optimizing a peptide nucleic acid (PNA) sequence based on fluorescently selective binding to specific bacterial rRNA sequences, we established a new PNA-FISH method that has been successfully designed for the specific detection of the genus Legionella. The LEG22 PNA probe has shown great theoretical performance, presenting 99.9% specificity and 96.9% sensitivity. We also demonstrated that the PNA-FISH approach presents a good signal-to-noise ratio when applied in artificially contaminated water samples directly on filtration membranes or after cells elution. For water samples with higher turbidity (from cooling tower water systems), there is still the need for further method optimization in order to detect cellular contents and to overcome interferents’ autofluorescence, which hinders probe signal visualization. Nevertheless, this work shows that the PNA-FISH approach could be a promising alternative for the rapid (3–4 h) and accurate detection of Legionella.This work was financially supported by: LA/P/0045/2020 (ALiCE), UIDB/00511/2020 and UIDP/00511/2020 (LEPABE), funded by national funds through the FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC); Projects POCI-01-0145-FEDER-029961, POCI-01-0145-FEDER-031011 and POCI-01-0145-FEDER-030431 funded by FEDER funds through COMPETE2020—Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacional ização (POCI) and by national funds (PIDDAC) through FCT/MCTES. Montserrat Nácher-Vázquez and Laura Cerqueira were also financed by Project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-029961.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Proporção de sintomas osteomusculares em operadores de caixa de supermercados do Distrito Federal

Com o avanço tecnológico, algumas categorias profissionais tornaram-se mais expostas a lesões relacionadas ao trabalho, dada a maior exigência por ritmos e cadências. O objetivo deste estudo foi levantar e discutir os sintomas osteomusculares apresentados por operadores de caixas de supermercados do Distrito Federal. Participaram do trabalho 72 operadores de caixa de 11 supermercados, os quais responderam o Questionário Nórdico de Sintomas Osteomusculares. Todas as pessoas entrevistadas eram do sexo feminino. A região dos punhos, mãos e dedos foi a mais acometida pela dor e também a responsável pela maior parte de impedimentos no trabalho em virtude de sintomas osteomusculares. Os resultados sugerem que a atividade de operadores de caixa de supermercados é de alto risco para o desenvolvimento de LER/DORT. A partir dos resultados deste trabalho, novos estudos poderão ser realizados para investigar os possíveis fatores associados ao aparecimento desses sintomas, com a finalidade de contribuir para a melhoria das condições de trabalho destes trabalhadores

Evolução de indicadores antropométricos de portadores de mucopolissacaridoses: realidade de um centro de referência / Evolution of anthropometric indicators of mucopolysaccharidosis carriers: reality of a reference center

Objetivo: Avaliar a evolução dos parâmetros antropométricos de pacientes com mucopolissacaridoses (MPS) I, II e VI cadastrados no Centro de tratamento de Erros Inatos do Metabolismo em Pernambuco. Métodos: Estudo prospectivo com crianças, adolescentes e adultos em terapia de reposição enzimática, sendo avaliados: índice de massa corporal (IMC), circunferência do braço (CB), circunferência muscular do braço (CMB), área muscular do braço corrigida (AMBc) e prega cutânea tricipital (PCT) em dois momentos distintos, com intervalo médio de 15 meses. Resultados: participaram 29 indivíduos, sendo 2 portadores de MPS I, 6 de MPS II e 21 de MPS VI, com mediana de idade de 14,6 (3 - 40) anos na segunda entrevista. Em ambas as avaliações, houve uma frequência de eutrofia e excesso de peso pelo IMC e de déficit de estatura entre os participantes, com redução no percentual de desnutrição pela CMB.  Houve uma variação positiva e significativa para peso, estatura, IMC, CB e CMB entre as crianças, e na estatura, CB, CMB e AMBc entre os adolescentes ao final do estudo. Conclusões: verificou-se uma prevalência de eutrofia e excesso de peso, e uma melhora dos parâmetros antropométricos, destacando àqueles relacionados ao compartimento muscular, com redução no percentual de desnutrição de acordo com a CMB

PNA-FISH as a new diagnostic method for the determination of clarithromycin resistance of Helicobacter pylori

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Triple therapy is the gold standard treatment for <it>Helicobacter pylori </it>eradication from the human stomach, but increased resistance to clarithromycin became the main factor of treatment failure. Until now, fastidious culturing methods are generally the method of choice to assess resistance status. In this study, a new genotypic method to detect clarithromycin resistance in clinical samples, based on fluorescent <it>in situ </it>hybridization (FISH) using a set of peptide nucleic acid probes (PNA), is proposed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The set of probes targeting the point mutations responsible for clarithromycin resistance was applied to <it>H. pylori </it>suspensions and showed 100% sensitivity and specificity (95% CI, 79.9-100 and 95% CI, 71.6-100 respectively). This method can also be amenable for application to gastric biopsy samples, as resistance to clarithromycin was also detected when histological slides were tested.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The optimized PNA-FISH based diagnostic method to detect <it>H. pylori </it>clarithromycin resistance shown to be a very sensitive and specific method for the detection of clarithromycin resistance in the <it>H. pylori </it>smears and also proved to be a reliable method for the diagnosis of this pathogen in clinical samples and an alternative to existing plating methods.</p