Occurrence of influenza B/Hong Kong-Like strains in Brazil, during 2002

Through the influenza virus surveillance from January to October 2002, influenza B/Hong Kong-like strains circulating in the Southeast and Centre East regions of Brazil have been demonstrated. This strain is a variant from B/Victoria/02/88 whose since 1991 and until recently have been isolated relatively infrequently and have been limited to South-Eastern Asia. A total of 510 respiratory secretions were collected from patients 0 to 60 years of age, with acute respiratory illness, living in the Southeast and Centre East regions of Brazil, of which 86 (17.13%) were positive for influenza virus. Among them 12 (13.95%) were characterized as B/Hong Kong/330/2001; 3 (3.49%) as B/Hong Kong/1351/2002 a variant from B/Hong Kong/330/2001; 1 (1.16%) as B/Sichuan/379/99; 1 (1.16%) as B/Shizuoka/5/2001, until now. The percentages of cases notified during the surveillance period were 34.88%, 15.12%, 15.12%, 4.65%, 15.12%, 13.95%, in the age groups of 0-4, 5-10, 11-15, 16-20, 21-30, 31-50, respectively. The highest proportion of isolates was observed among children younger than 4 years but serious morbidity and mortality has not been observed among people older than 65 years, although B influenza virus component for vaccination campaign 2002 was B/Sichuan/379/99 strain. This was probably due to the elderly protection acquired against B/Victoria/02/88. In addition, in influenza A/Panama/2007/99-like (H3N2) strains 22 (25.58%) were also detected, but influenza A(H1N1) has not been detected yet.A vigilância do vírus da influenza, no periodo de janeiro a outubro de 2002, detectou a circulação da estirpe B/Hong Kong/330/2001 nas regiões Sudeste e Centro Oeste do país. Esta estirpe é uma variante do vírus da influenza B/Victoria/02/88 a qual teve sua circulação circunscrita no continente asiático por volta de 1991. Variantes da estirpe B/Hong Kong/330/2001 (B/Hong Kong/1351/2002) e da estirpe B/Sichuan/379/99 (B/Shizuoka/5/2001) também foram detectadas. A porcentagem de vírus caracterizados durante a epidemia foi de 34,88%, 15,12%, 15,12%, 4,65%, 15,12%, 13,95%, nas faixas etárias de 0-4, 5-10, 11-15, 16-20, 21-30, 31-50, respectivamente. Observou-se maior incidência da doença entre os indivíduos menores de 4 anos. Atribuiu-se a ausência de notificação nos indivíduos maiores de 60 anos ao contato prévio, desta faixa etária, com o vírus na década de 80. No mesmo período, detectou-se a circulação do vírus da influenza A/Panamá/2007/99-like (H3N2), por outro lado evidenciou-se a ausência da circulação da estirpe A(H1N1) até a presente data

Epidemia de influenza A (H1N1) no Município de Iporanga, SP, Brasil

From June to July 1999 an outbreak of acute respiratory illness occurred in the town of Iporanga. Out of a total of 4,837 inhabitants, 324 cases were notified to the Regional Surveillance Service. Influenza virus was isolated from 57.1% of the collected samples and 100% seroconversion to influenza A (H1N1) was obtained in 20 paired sera tested. The isolates were related to the A/Bayern/07/95 strain (H1N1). The percentages of cases notified during the outbreak were 28.4%, 29.0%, 20.7%, 6.2% and 15.7% in the age groups of 0-4, 5-9, 10-14, 15-19 and older than 20 years, respectively. The highest proportion of positives was observed among children younger than 14 years and no cases were notified in people older than 65 years, none of whom had been recently vaccinated against influenza. These findings suggest a significant vaccine protection against A/Bayern/7/95, the H1 component included in the 1997-98 influenza vaccine for elderly people. This viral strain is antigenically and genetically related to A/Beijing/262/95, the H1 component of the 1999 vaccine. Vaccines containing A/Beijing/262/95 (H1N1) stimulated post-immunization hemagglutination inhibition antibodies equivalent in frequency and titre to both A/Beijing/262/95-like and A/Bayern/7/95-like viruses. Thus, this investigation demonstrates the effectiveness of vaccination against influenza virus in the elderly.Durante os meses de junho e julho de 1999, foram notificados 324 casos de doença respiratória aguda no Município de Iporanga-SP. O isolamento do vírus da influenza do tipo A/Bayern/07/95 (H1N1) e a conversão sorológica para a estirpe viral (H1N1) foram de 57,1% e 100%, respectivamente. A porcentagem de casos com diagnóstico clínico notificados durante a epidemia foi de 28,4%, 29,0%, 20,7%, 6,2% e 15,7%, nas faixas etárias de 0-4, 5-9, 10-14, 15-19 anos e indivíduos acima de 20 anos de idade, respectivamente. Observou-se maior incidência da doença entre os indivíduos menores de 14 anos. Atribui-se a ausência de notificação de casos em indivíduos maiores de 65 anos à campanha de vacinação, na população idosa de Iporanga, que em 1999 atingiu 72,4%. O virus isolado é genética e antigenicamente semelhante à estirpe A/Beijing/262/95 (H1N1), o componente H1 da vacina de 1999. Vacinas contendo a estirpe A/Beijing/262/95 (H1N1) estimularam, após imunização, anticorpos inibidores da hemaglutinação, os quais foram equivalentes em freqüência e título para ambas as estirpes: A/Bayern/07/95 e A/Beijing/262/95

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

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

In vitro citotoxicity test as an alternative to in vivo Draize test for the evaluation of cosmetic

Os procedimentos descritos por Draize são a base dos testes de irritação ocular e cutânea adotados internacionalmente para avaliar produtos e substâncias. Entretanto, eles têm sido criticados por motivos éticos, devido à crueldade com os animais e, por isso, metodologias alternativas têm sido estudas para avaliar a toxicidade de produtos que entram em contato com o ser humano. Sendo assim, um estudo comparativo foi realizado entre testes de irritação ocular, cutânea e mucosa oral usando coelhos e testes in vitro pelos métodos de difusão em ágar e de captura do vermelho neutro, ambos usando as linhagens celulares NCTC clone 929, FPC-IAL e SIRC. Os cosméticos avaliados foram batons, bases faciais, pós compactos, blushes, sombras para os olhos, máscaras para os cílios, lápis ou delineadores para os olhos, e sabonetes líquidos de uso adulto e infantil. Os testes in vivo e as linhagens celulares utilizadas no método de difusão em ágar foram escolhidas de acordo com o local de uso dos produtos, com exceção da linhagem NCTC clone 929 que foi utilizada na avaliação de todas as amostras. Das 204 amostras, 141 foram avaliadas pelo teste de irritação cutânea e linhagem FPC-IAL, 80 pelo teste de irritação ocular e linhagem SIRC e 78 pelo teste de irritação de mucosa oral e linhagem FPC-IAL. Somente as amostras de sabonetes líquidos foram avaliadas também pelo método de captura do vermelho neutro com as três linhagens celulares. Na avaliação in vitro as amostras foram analisadas em diferentes concentrações e o parâmetro observado foi viabilidade celular com o corante vermelho neutro. Os resultados obtidos permitiram observar que as amostras positivas no método de difusão em ágar que apresentaram até índice de zona 3 ou seja, halo de morte celular variando de 0,5 a 1,0 cm a partir da amostra, segundo a Farmacopéia Americana, não apresentaram irritação ocular, cutânea ou de mucosa oral. As amostras que apresentaram índice de zona 4, apresentaram diferentes graus de irritação ocular e cutânea com exceção de 2 sabonetes líquidos de uso infantil que não apresentaram reações in vivo, embora apresentaram citotoxicidade até a concentração de 10%. Este método apresentou correlação significante com o teste de irritação ocular, inclusive para os valores individuais da córnea e conjuntiva. Quanto ao método de captura do vermelho neutro obteve-se correlação significante para o teste de irritação cutânea e ocular, podendo inferir que quando as amostras de sabonetes líquidos apresentarem IC50 maior que 0,085% não irão induzir irritação cutânea e ocular nos coelhos. Não foi observada relação entre a origem das linhagens celulares usadas e o tecido alvo utilizado no teste in vivo, sendo que todas as linhagens mostraram correlação significante com a linhagem NCTC clone 929. De acordo com os dados, conclui-se que os métodos in vitro são mais sensíveis e que o método de difusão em ágar usando a graduação da Farmacopéia Americana, pode ser adotado como ensaio de triagem na avaliação de cosméticos. Isto resulta de sua capacidade de predizer a irritação, contribuindo significativamente para a redução dos testes que utilizam animais.The procedures described by Draize are the basis of both ocular and cutaneous irritation tests and have been adopted internationally for in vivo evaluation of products and substances. However, they have been criticized for ethical reasons, due to their cruelty towards animals. Therefore, alternative methodologies are being studied to evaluate the toxicity of products, which have contact with human beings. Thus, a comparative study was performed between ocular, cutaneous and oral mucosa irritation tests using rabbits and in vitro tests through agar diffusion method and neutral red uptake method, both with the use of NCTC clone 929, FPC-IAL and SIRC cell lines. Lipsticks, makeup base, face powder, blushes, eye shadows, mascara, pencils and eyeliners, as well as liquid soap for children and adult use were evaluated. The in vivo tests and the cell lines used in the agar diffusion test were chosen according to the place where the products are used. Only the NCTC clone 929 linage was used in the evaluation of all the samples. From the 204 analyzed samples, 141 were evaluated through the cutaneous irritation test and FPC-IAL lineage, 80 through the ocular irritation test and SIRC lineage, and 78 through the oral mucosa irritation test and FPC-IAL lineage. Only the samples of liquid soap were also evaluated through the neutral red uptake method with the three cells lines. The samples submitted to the in vitro evaluation were analyzed in different concentrations and the observed parameter was cellular viability with the use of neutral red. The results obtained revealed that the agar diffusion test positive samples which presented up to degree 3 zone rate, that is cellular death halo varying from 0,5 to 1,0cm from the samples, according to USP 25, didn’t provoke ocular, cutaneous or oral mucosa irritation. The samples which presented degree 4 zone also showed different degrees of ocular and cutaneous irritation, except to two units of liquid soap for children use which didn’t present in vivo reactions, although citotoxicity up to 10% concentration. This method showed significant correlation with the ocular irritation test and also concerning the individual values of cornea and conjunctiva. As for the neutral red uptake test, it presented significant correlation in the ocular and cutaneous irritation test, what make it possible to infer that when the liquid soap samples present IC50 above 0,085% they won’t cause ocular and cutaneous irritations in rabbits. No relation was observed between the origin of the cell lines and the target tissue used in the in vivo test, having all the cellular lines shown significant correlation with the NCTC clone 929 line. According to the data, the in vitro methods are more sensitive and the diffusion agar method, using the American Pharmacopeia graduation, can be adopted as a sorting procedure in the evaluation of cosmetics. This is a result of its capacity of predicting irritation, what largely contributes for the reduction of animal using tests

In vitro citotoxicity test as an alternative to in vivo Draize test for the evaluation of cosmetic

Os procedimentos descritos por Draize são a base dos testes de irritação ocular e cutânea adotados internacionalmente para avaliar produtos e substâncias. Entretanto, eles têm sido criticados por motivos éticos, devido à crueldade com os animais e, por isso, metodologias alternativas têm sido estudas para avaliar a toxicidade de produtos que entram em contato com o ser humano. Sendo assim, um estudo comparativo foi realizado entre testes de irritação ocular, cutânea e mucosa oral usando coelhos e testes in vitro pelos métodos de difusão em ágar e de captura do vermelho neutro, ambos usando as linhagens celulares NCTC clone 929, FPC-IAL e SIRC. Os cosméticos avaliados foram batons, bases faciais, pós compactos, blushes, sombras para os olhos, máscaras para os cílios, lápis ou delineadores para os olhos, e sabonetes líquidos de uso adulto e infantil. Os testes in vivo e as linhagens celulares utilizadas no método de difusão em ágar foram escolhidas de acordo com o local de uso dos produtos, com exceção da linhagem NCTC clone 929 que foi utilizada na avaliação de todas as amostras. Das 204 amostras, 141 foram avaliadas pelo teste de irritação cutânea e linhagem FPC-IAL, 80 pelo teste de irritação ocular e linhagem SIRC e 78 pelo teste de irritação de mucosa oral e linhagem FPC-IAL. Somente as amostras de sabonetes líquidos foram avaliadas também pelo método de captura do vermelho neutro com as três linhagens celulares. Na avaliação in vitro as amostras foram analisadas em diferentes concentrações e o parâmetro observado foi viabilidade celular com o corante vermelho neutro. Os resultados obtidos permitiram observar que as amostras positivas no método de difusão em ágar que apresentaram até índice de zona 3 ou seja, halo de morte celular variando de 0,5 a 1,0 cm a partir da amostra, segundo a Farmacopéia Americana, não apresentaram irritação ocular, cutânea ou de mucosa oral. As amostras que apresentaram índice de zona 4, apresentaram diferentes graus de irritação ocular e cutânea com exceção de 2 sabonetes líquidos de uso infantil que não apresentaram reações in vivo, embora apresentaram citotoxicidade até a concentração de 10%. Este método apresentou correlação significante com o teste de irritação ocular, inclusive para os valores individuais da córnea e conjuntiva. Quanto ao método de captura do vermelho neutro obteve-se correlação significante para o teste de irritação cutânea e ocular, podendo inferir que quando as amostras de sabonetes líquidos apresentarem IC50 maior que 0,085% não irão induzir irritação cutânea e ocular nos coelhos. Não foi observada relação entre a origem das linhagens celulares usadas e o tecido alvo utilizado no teste in vivo, sendo que todas as linhagens mostraram correlação significante com a linhagem NCTC clone 929. De acordo com os dados, conclui-se que os métodos in vitro são mais sensíveis e que o método de difusão em ágar usando a graduação da Farmacopéia Americana, pode ser adotado como ensaio de triagem na avaliação de cosméticos. Isto resulta de sua capacidade de predizer a irritação, contribuindo significativamente para a redução dos testes que utilizam animais.The procedures described by Draize are the basis of both ocular and cutaneous irritation tests and have been adopted internationally for in vivo evaluation of products and substances. However, they have been criticized for ethical reasons, due to their cruelty towards animals. Therefore, alternative methodologies are being studied to evaluate the toxicity of products, which have contact with human beings. Thus, a comparative study was performed between ocular, cutaneous and oral mucosa irritation tests using rabbits and in vitro tests through agar diffusion method and neutral red uptake method, both with the use of NCTC clone 929, FPC-IAL and SIRC cell lines. Lipsticks, makeup base, face powder, blushes, eye shadows, mascara, pencils and eyeliners, as well as liquid soap for children and adult use were evaluated. The in vivo tests and the cell lines used in the agar diffusion test were chosen according to the place where the products are used. Only the NCTC clone 929 linage was used in the evaluation of all the samples. From the 204 analyzed samples, 141 were evaluated through the cutaneous irritation test and FPC-IAL lineage, 80 through the ocular irritation test and SIRC lineage, and 78 through the oral mucosa irritation test and FPC-IAL lineage. Only the samples of liquid soap were also evaluated through the neutral red uptake method with the three cells lines. The samples submitted to the in vitro evaluation were analyzed in different concentrations and the observed parameter was cellular viability with the use of neutral red. The results obtained revealed that the agar diffusion test positive samples which presented up to degree 3 zone rate, that is cellular death halo varying from 0,5 to 1,0cm from the samples, according to USP 25, didnt provoke ocular, cutaneous or oral mucosa irritation. The samples which presented degree 4 zone also showed different degrees of ocular and cutaneous irritation, except to two units of liquid soap for children use which didnt present in vivo reactions, although citotoxicity up to 10% concentration. This method showed significant correlation with the ocular irritation test and also concerning the individual values of cornea and conjunctiva. As for the neutral red uptake test, it presented significant correlation in the ocular and cutaneous irritation test, what make it possible to infer that when the liquid soap samples present IC50 above 0,085% they wont cause ocular and cutaneous irritations in rabbits. No relation was observed between the origin of the cell lines and the target tissue used in the in vivo test, having all the cellular lines shown significant correlation with the NCTC clone 929 line. According to the data, the in vitro methods are more sensitive and the diffusion agar method, using the American Pharmacopeia graduation, can be adopted as a sorting procedure in the evaluation of cosmetics. This is a result of its capacity of predicting irritation, what largely contributes for the reduction of animal using tests

RC-IAL: linhagem celular contínua de rim de coelho - características e substrato para replicação de vírus

Uma linhagem celular de rim de coelho (denominada RC-IAL), que foi isolada em 1976, e que atualmente está na 150ª passagem, teve suas características analisadas. As células apresentaram morfologia semelhante aos fibroblastos desde o início de seu cultivo. A proporção de crescimento celular não se alterou desde seu isolamento, com uma eficiência de clonagem ao redor de 9%. A linhagem mostrou crescimento dependente de ancoragem, e a análise cromossômica apresentou o número modal da espécie com pequenas variações para mais ou menos um cromossomo, resultando uma somatória de 50%. Sua espécie de origem foi comprovada através da reação de imunofluorescência indireta e a susceptibilidade da linhagem a alguns vírus, com demonstração do efeito citopático, foi verificada com os vírus da vacínia, cowpox, herpes simples tipo 1 e 2 e da rubéola. Esse substrato celular está livre de contaminantes, satisfazendo assim, as condições para seu uso em trabalhos científicos, principalmente os relacionadas à saúde pública