Implementing an Android Tool for Visually Impaired Students of E-Learning

This article aims to describe the process of learning and development of an educational tool designed for mobile devices (smartphones) with Android technology. In summary, the application was developed based on the virtual learning environment Moodle and aims to develop a learning environment that supports the visually impaired students of e-learning, allowing them to ask questions, discuss and share ideas through forums and use chat rooms in real time. The fundamental purpose of this application is to cooperate with scientific knowledge in the sense that this is a representation of technological advance on the accessibility tools in distance education mode and provide comfort, flexibility and accessibility for the visually impaired students, realizing that education should always be inclusive

Tuberculose pulmonar: perfil epidemiológico do sertão Pernambucano, Brasil / Pulmonary tuberculosis: epidemiological profile of sertão Pernambucano, Brazil

Atualmente, observa-se que a tuberculose pulmonar constitui um importante problema de Saúde Pública no mundo, uma vez que esse agravo apresentou, em 2015, 10,4 milhões de casos, dos quais, mais de um milhão de pessoas vieram a óbito. Sob essa perspectiva, o presente artigo tem como objetivo traçar um perfil epidemiológico dos casos de Tuberculose Pulmonar notificados no município de Serra Talhada, entre os anos de 2007 a 2017. Foi realizado um estudo de série histórica observacional do tipo transversal, no intervalo de tempo de 2007 a 2017.  No período investigado o número de casos de tuberculose pulmonar foi de 246 casos, o local que teve a maior prevalência foi Serra Talhada, 287 por 100 mil habitantes. Diante dos dados apresentados, é imprescindível concluir, portanto, que esse estudo corrobora o perfil epidemiológico brasileiro para a Tuberculose Pulmonar, o qual indica variabilidade nos índices de acometimento durante o período analisado

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

Virgin Coconut Oil Supplementation Prevents Airway Hyperreactivity of Guinea Pigs with Chronic Allergic Lung Inflammation by Antioxidant Mechanism

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airways characterized by immune cell infiltrates, bronchial hyperresponsiveness, and declining lung function. Thus, the possible effects of virgin coconut oil on a chronic allergic lung inflammation model were evaluated. Morphology of lung and airway tissue exhibited peribronchial inflammatory infiltrate, epithelial hyperplasia, and smooth muscle thickening in guinea pigs submitted to ovalbumin sensitization, which were prevented by virgin coconut oil supplementation. Additionally, in animals with lung inflammation, trachea contracted in response to ovalbumin administration, showed a greater contractile response to carbachol (CCh) and histamine, and these responses were prevented by the virgin coconut oil supplementation. Apocynin, a NADPH oxidase inhibitor, did not reduce the potency of CCh, whereas tempol, a superoxide dismutase mimetic, reduced potency only in nonsensitized animals. Catalase reduced the CCh potency in nonsensitized animals and animals sensitized and treated with coconut oil, indicating the participation of superoxide anion and hydrogen peroxide in the hypercontractility, which was prevented by virgin coconut oil. In the presence of L-NAME, a nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibitor, the CCh curve remained unchanged in nonsensitized animals but had increased efficacy and potency in sensitized animals, indicating an inhibition of endothelial NOS but ineffective in inhibiting inducible NOS. In animals sensitized and treated with coconut oil, the CCh curve was not altered, indicating a reduction in the release of NO by inducible NOS. These data were confirmed by peribronchiolar expression analysis of iNOS. The antioxidant capacity was reduced in the lungs of animals with chronic allergic lung inflammation, which was reversed by the coconut oil, and confirmed by analysis of peribronchiolar 8-iso-PGF2α content. Therefore, the virgin coconut oil supplementation reverses peribronchial inflammatory infiltrate, epithelial hyperplasia, smooth muscle thickening, and hypercontractility through oxidative stress and its interactions with the NO pathway

Risk of Zika virus-associated birth defects in congenital confirmed cases in the Brazilian Amazon

Financial support provided by the Evandro Chagas Institute.Ministério da Saúde. Secretaria de Vigilância em Saúde. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Ananindeua, PA, Brasil.Ministério da Saúde. Secretaria de Vigilância em Saúde. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Ananindeua, PA, Brasil.Ministério da Saúde. Secretaria de Vigilância em Saúde. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Ananindeua, PA, Brasil.Ministério da Saúde. Secretaria de Vigilância em Saúde. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Ananindeua, PA, Brasil.Universidade do Estado do Pará. Belém, PA, Brazil.Universidade do Estado do Pará. Belém, PA, Brazil.Ministério da Saúde. Secretaria de Vigilância em Saúde. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Ananindeua, PA, Brasil.Ministério da Saúde. Secretaria de Vigilância em Saúde. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Ananindeua, PA, Brasil.Ministério da Saúde. Secretaria de Vigilância em Saúde. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Ananindeua, PA, Brasil.Ministério da Saúde. Secretaria de Vigilância em Saúde. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Ananindeua, PA, Brasil.Ministério da Saúde. Secretaria de Vigilância em Saúde. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Ananindeua, PA, Brasil.Ministério da Saúde. Secretaria de Vigilância em Saúde. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Ananindeua, PA, Brasil.Ministério da Saúde. Secretaria de Vigilância em Saúde. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Ananindeua, PA, Brasil.Ministério da Saúde. Secretaria de Vigilância em Saúde. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Ananindeua, PA, Brasil.Ministério da Saúde. Secretaria de Vigilância em Saúde. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Ananindeua, PA, Brasil.Ministério da Saúde. Secretaria de Vigilância em Saúde. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Ananindeua, PA, Brasil.Objective. To establish the risk of microcephaly in neonates born to women infected with ZIKV during pregnancy. Methods. A cohort of laboratory-confirmed ZIKV cases of congenital infections (109 mothers infected during pregnancy and 101 newborns) among 308 suspect cases was followed in Belem, Pará, Brazil, from October 2015 to December 2017. Results. A microcephaly risk of 1.98% (95% CI 0.54-6.93%) was found, or 2 cases among the 101 neonates infected with ZIKV during pregnancy. 72% of the pregnant women had ZIKV infection confirmed by RT-qPCR during gestation. Conclusions. Results showed a low incidence of ZIKV-associated birth defects, stillbirth, and miscarriage, which contrasts with previous studies in other Brazilian regions. Previous exposure to yellow fever vaccine and/ or multiserotype DENV infection could be implicated in the protection from ZIKV congenital infection