Venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation bridge to HeartMate 3: An Iberian first

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

BCG Revaccination Does Not Protect Against Leprosy in the Brazilian Amazon: A Cluster Randomised Trial

BCG is a vaccine developed and used to protect against tuberculosis, but it can also protect against leprosy. In Brazil, children receive BCG at birth, and since 1996 a trial has been conducted to find out if a second dose of BCG administered to schoolchildren gives additional protection against tuberculosis. We use this trial to find out if such vaccination protects against leprosy. The trial was conducted in the Brazilian Amazon, involving almost 100,000 children aged 7–14 years who had received neonatal BCG. Half of them received a second dose of BCG at school, and the other half did not. We followed the children for 6 years and observed that there were as many new cases of leprosy in the vaccinated children as in the unvaccinated children. Therefore, we concluded that a second dose of BCG given at school age in the Brazilian Amazon offers no additional protection against leprosy

NECESSIDADES DE QUALIFICAÇÃO DOS ENFERMEIROS DA ESTRATÉGIA SAÚDE DA FAMÍLIA NO CEARÁ, BRASIL

 The study aims to identify the qualification needs and the nurse profiles in the Family Health Strategy (FHS). An exploratory-descriptive research was carried out with 36 male nurses in the municipal districts of Acaraú, Coreaú, Chaval, Granja, Marco, and Santana of the Acaraú, that work in the HSF, and students of the specialization course in residence in family health supplied by the Graduate School in Family Health, Visconde of Sabóia, Brazil. The municipal districts are part of the project Basic Actions of Health in Ceará, Brazil - Program of Qualification of the Secretary of Health of the State of Ceará in partnership with the German agency Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufdau-KfW and the Instituto Brasileiro de Qualidade Nuclear (IBQN). For the collection of data six workshops were carried out during July, 2004, in the municipal districts, at which time a questionnaire was completed. The qualification needs are centered in program actions, relative to the different phases of life –childhood, adolescence, adult and senior -, as well as common legislation, methods and procedures of nursing duties. We catered to the necessities of nurse training in regards to the concepts of promoting health, organizing services and family care in the concept of location.. El estudio tiene el objetivo de identificar las necesidades de cualificación y el perfil de los enfermeros de la Estrategia Salud de la Familia-ESF. La investigación es del tipo exploratorio-descriptivo, realizada con 36 enfermeros de las provincias de Acaraú, Coreaú, Chaval, Granja, Marco e Santana do Acaraú, que actúan en la ESF y alumnos del Curso de Especialización en la modalidad de Residencia en Salud de la Familia administrado por la Escuela de Formación en Salud de la Familia Visconde de Sabóia. Las provincias son las que forman parte del Proyecto Acciones Básicas de Salud del Ceará,– Programa de Cualificación de la Secretaria de Salud del Estado del Ceará, Brasil, en sociedad con la agencia alemana Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufdau-KfW y el Instituto Brasilero de Qualidade Nuclear-IBQN. Para la colecta de datos fueron realizados seis talleres durante el mes de julio de 2004, en las propias provincias, momento en que fue aplicado un cuestionario. Las necesidades de cualificación están centradas en acciones programáticas, relativas a las diferentes fases de la vida – infancia, adolescencia, edad adulta y vejez – como también la legislación, métodos y procedimientos comunes al quehacer del enfermero/a. Atendimos a las necesidades de una formación de los enfermeros con referencia a las concepciones de la promoción de la salud, organización del servicio, cuidado familiar en la perspectiva del concepto de territorio.O estudo objetiva identificar as necessidades de qualificação e o perfil dos enfermeiros da Estratégia Saúde da Família-ESF. A pesquisa do tipo exploratório-descritivo, realizado com 36 enfermeiros dos municípios de Acaraú, Coreaú, Chaval, Granja, Marco e Santana do Acaraú, que atuam na ESF e alunos do Curso de Especialização na modalidade de Residência em Saúde da Família ministrado pela Escola de Formação em Saúde da Família Visconde de Sabóia. Os municípios fazem parte do Projeto Ações Básicas de Saúde do Ceará - Programa de Qualificação da Secretaria da Saúde do Estado do Ceará,Brasil,  em parceria com a agência alemã Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufdau-KfW e o Instituto Brasileiro de Qualidade Nuclear-IBQN. Para a coleta de dados foram realizadas seis oficinas durante o mês de julho de 2004, nos próprios municípios, momento em que foi aplicado um questionário. As necessidades de qualificação estão centradas em ações programáticas, relativas as diferentes fases da vida – infância, adolescência, adulta e idosa-, como também a legislação e métodos e procedimentos comuns ao fazer do/a enfermeiro/a. Atentamos a necessidades de uma formação dos enfermeiros com referência as concepções de promoção da saúde, organização do serviço, cuidado familiar na perspectiva do conceito de território

Matched pairs of human prostate stromal cells display differential tropic effects on LNCaP prostate cancer cells

Prostate stromal cells may play binary roles in the process of prostate cancer development. As the first to be encountered by infiltrating prostate cancer cells, prostate stromal cells form the first defense line against prostate cancer progression and metastasis. However, interaction between prostate cancer and stromal cells may facilitate the formation of a tumor microenvironment favoring cancer cell growth and survival. To establish an experimental system for studying the interaction between cancer and stromal cells, we isolated three matched pairs of normal and cancer-associated human prostate stromal clones. In this report, we describe the morphologic and behavioral characteristics of these cells and their effect on LNCaP prostate cancer cells in co-culture. Unlike LNCaP prostate cancer cells, the isolated prostate stromal clones are large fibroblast-like cells with a slow proliferation rate. Growth and survival of these clones are not affected by androgens. The stromal cells display high resistance to serum starvation, while cancer-associated stromal clones have differentiated survival ability. In co-culture experiments, the stromal cells protected some LNCaP prostate cancer cells from death by serum starvation, and cancer-associated stromal clones showed more protection. This work thus established a panel of valuable human prostate stromal cell lines, which could be used in co-culture to study the interaction between prostate cancer and prostate stromal cells

Genetic deficiency of NOD2 confers resistance to invasive aspergillosis

Invasive aspergillosis (IA) is a severe infection that can occur in severely immunocompromised patients. Efficient immune recognition of Aspergillus is crucial to protect against infection, and previous studies suggested a role for NOD2 in this process. However, thorough investigation of the impact of NOD2 on susceptibility to aspergillosis is lacking. Common genetic variations in NOD2 has been associated with Crohn's disease and here we investigated the influence of these  genetic variations on the anti-Aspergillus host response. A NOD2 polymorphism reduced the risk of IA after hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation. Mechanistically, absence of NOD2 in monocytes and macrophages increases phagocytosis leading to enhanced fungal killing, conversely, NOD2 activation reduces the antifungal potential of these cells. Crucially, Nod2 deficiency results in resistance to Aspergillus infection in an in vivo model of pulmonary aspergillosis. Collectively, our data demonstrate that genetic deficiency of NOD2 plays a protective role during Aspergillus infection.We thank C. Wertz and M. Fanton D'Andon for providing Nod2-deficient mice, M. Schlotter for organizing patient inclusion, B. Rosler for assistance with flowcytometry. We also thank the NOD2-deficient patients for contributing to our study by providing blood samples. M.S.G. was supported by the Erasmus lifelong learning program. F.L.v.d.V. was supported by the E-rare project EURO-CMC. M.O. was supported by the NWO, 016.176.006). A.C. and C.C. were supported by the Northern Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020), under the Portugal 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER) (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000013), and the Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia (FCT) (IF/00735/2014 to A.C. and SFRH/BPD/96176/2013 to C. C.)

Importance of including soil moisture in drought monitoring over the Brazilian semiarid region: An evaluation using the JULES model, in situ observations, and remote sensing

Soil moisture information is essential to monitoring of the intensity of droughts, the start of the rainy season, planting dates and early warnings of yield losses. We assess spatial and temporal trends of drought over the Brazilian semiarid region by combining soil moisture observations from 360 stations, root zone soil moisture from a leading land surface model, and a vegetation health index from remote sensing. The soil moisture dataset was obtained from the network of stations maintained by the National Center of Monitoring and Early Warning of Natural Disasters (Cemaden), in Brazil. Soil water content at 10 to 35 cm depth, for the period 1979–2018, was obtained from running the JULES land surface model (the Joint UK Land Environment Simulator). The modelled soil moisture was correlated with measurements in the common period of 2015–2018, resulting in an average correlation coefficient of 0.48 across the domain. The standardized soil moisture anomaly (SMA) was calculated for the long-term modelled soil moisture and revealed strong negative values during well-known drought periods in the region, especially during El-Niño years. The performance of SMA in identifying droughts during the first 2 months of the raining and cropping season was similar to the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI), commonly used for drought assessment: 12–14 events were identified by both indices. Finally, the temporal relationship between both SMA and SPI with the Vegetation Health Index (VHI) was assessed using the cross-wavelet transform. The results indicated lagged correlations of 1 to 1.5 months in the annual scale, suggesting that negative trends in SMA and SPI can be an early warning to yield losses during the growing season. Public policies on drought assessment should consider the combination of multiple drought indices, including soil moisture anomaly

Host genetic signatures of susceptibility to fungal disease

Our relative inability to predict the development of fungal disease and its clinical outcome raises fundamental questions about its actual pathogenesis. Several clinical risk factors are described to predispose to fungal disease, particularly in immunocompromised and severely ill patients. However, these alone do not entirely explain why, under comparable clinical conditions, only some patients develop infection. Recent clinical and epidemiological studies have reported an expanding number of monogenic defects and common polymorphisms associated with fungal disease. By directly implicating genetic variation in the functional regulation of immune mediators and interacting pathways, these studies have provided critical insights into the human immunobiology of fungal disease. Most of the common genetic defects reported were described or suggested to impair fungal recognition by the innate immune system. Here, we review common genetic variation in pattern recognition receptors and its impact on the immune response against the two major fungal pathogens Candida albicans and Aspergillus fumigatus. In addition, we discuss potential strategies and opportunities for the clinical translation of genetic information in the field of medical mycology. These approaches are expected to transfigure current clinical practice by unleashing an unprecedented ability to personalize prophylaxis, therapy and monitoring for fungal disease.This work was supported by the Northern Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020), under the Portugal 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER) (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000013), the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) (IF/00735/2014 to AC, and SFRH/BPD/96176/2013 to CC), the Institut Mérieux (Mérieux Research Grant 2017 to CC), and the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID Research Grant 2017 to AC)

A new concept for the combination of optical interferometers and high-resolution spectrographs

The combination of high spatial and spectral resolution in optical astronomy enables new observational approaches to many open problems in stellar and circumstellar astrophysics. However, constructing a high-resolution spectrograph for an interferometer is a costly and time-intensive undertaking. Our aim is to show that, by coupling existing high-resolution spectrographs to existing interferometers, one could observe in the domain of high spectral and spatial resolution, and avoid the construction of a new complex and expensive instrument. We investigate in this article the different challenges which arise from combining an interferometer with a high-resolution spectrograph. The requirements for the different sub-systems are determined, with special attention given to the problems of fringe tracking and dispersion. A concept study for the combination of the VLTI (Very Large Telescope Interferometer) with UVES (UV-Visual Echelle Spectrograph) is carried out, and several other specific instrument pairings are discussed. We show that the proposed combination of an interferometer with a high-resolution spectrograph is indeed feasible with current technology, for a fraction of the cost of building a whole new spectrograph. The impact on the existing instruments and their ongoing programs would be minimal.Comment: 27 pages, 9 figures, Experimental Astronomy; v2: accepted versio

Genomic Expression Analysis Reveals Strategies of Burkholderia cenocepacia to Adapt to Cystic Fibrosis Patients' Airways and Antimicrobial Therapy

Pulmonary colonization of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients with Burkholderia cenocepacia or other bacteria of the Burkholderia cepacia complex (Bcc) is associated with worse prognosis and increased risk of death. During colonization, the bacteria may evolve under the stressing selection pressures exerted in the CF lung, in particular, those resulting from challenges of the host immune defenses, antimicrobial therapy, nutrient availability and oxygen limitation. Understanding the adaptive mechanisms that promote successful colonization and long-term survival of B. cenocepacia in the CF lung is essential for an improved therapeutic outcome of chronic infections. To get mechanistic insights into these adaptive strategies a transcriptomic analysis, based on DNA microarrays, was explored in this study. The genomic expression levels in two clonal variants isolated during long-term colonization of a CF patient who died from the cepacia syndrome were compared. One of the isolates examined, IST439, is the first B. cenocepacia isolate retrieved from the patient and the other isolate, IST4113, was obtained three years later and is more resistant to different classes of antimicrobials. Approximately 1000 genes were found to be differently expressed in the two clonal variants reflecting a marked reprogramming of genomic expression. The up-regulated genes in IST4113 include those involved in translation, iron uptake (in particular, in ornibactin biosynthesis), efflux of drugs and in adhesion to epithelial lung tissue and to mucin. Alterations related with adaptation to the nutritional environment of the CF lung and to an oxygen-limited environment are also suggested to be a key feature of transcriptional reprogramming occurring during long-term colonization, antibiotic therapy and the progression of the disease