Acute kidney disease and renal recovery : consensus report of the Acute Disease Quality Initiative (ADQI) 16 Workgroup

Consensus definitions have been reached for both acute kidney injury (AKI) and chronic kidney disease (CKD) and these definitions are now routinely used in research and clinical practice. The KDIGO guideline defines AKI as an abrupt decrease in kidney function occurring over 7 days or less, whereas CKD is defined by the persistence of kidney disease for a period of > 90 days. AKI and CKD are increasingly recognized as related entities and in some instances probably represent a continuum of the disease process. For patients in whom pathophysiologic processes are ongoing, the term acute kidney disease (AKD) has been proposed to define the course of disease after AKI; however, definitions of AKD and strategies for the management of patients with AKD are not currently available. In this consensus statement, the Acute Disease Quality Initiative (ADQI) proposes definitions, staging criteria for AKD, and strategies for the management of affected patients. We also make recommendations for areas of future research, which aim to improve understanding of the underlying processes and improve outcomes for patients with AKD

High vancomycin resistance among biofilms produced by Staphylococcus species isolated from central venous catheters

Biofilm production is an important mechanism that allows microbes to escape host defences and antimicrobial therapy. Vancomycin has been used largely for the treatment of methicillin-resistant staphylococcal infections. Here, we determined the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimal biofilm eradication concentration (MBEC) for 82 Staphylococcus species isolated from central venous catheters (CVC). Our results showed that the 41 strong and moderate-biofilm-producing isolates presented a higher MBEC/MIC ratio for vancomycin than the 24 weak-biofilm-producing isolates, illustrating the importance of biofilm production ability and the difficulty in treating biofilm-related infections. The MBEC was significantly higher in moderate-biofilm-producing isolates than in weak-biofilm-producing isolates (p < 0.001) and in strong-biofilm-producing isolates than in weak-biofilm-producing isolates (p = 0.001). The correlation between the MIC and the MBEC was poor. Based on our results, we recommend that bacterial biofilms be suspected in all cases of CVC infection

Catálogo Taxonômico da Fauna do Brasil: setting the baseline knowledge on the animal diversity in Brazil

The limited temporal completeness and taxonomic accuracy of species lists, made available in a traditional manner in scientific publications, has always represented a problem. These lists are invariably limited to a few taxonomic groups and do not represent up-to-date knowledge of all species and classifications. In this context, the Brazilian megadiverse fauna is no exception, and the Catálogo Taxonômico da Fauna do Brasil (CTFB) (http://fauna.jbrj.gov.br/), made public in 2015, represents a database on biodiversity anchored on a list of valid and expertly recognized scientific names of animals in Brazil. The CTFB is updated in near real time by a team of more than 800 specialists. By January 1, 2024, the CTFB compiled 133,691 nominal species, with 125,138 that were considered valid. Most of the valid species were arthropods (82.3%, with more than 102,000 species) and chordates (7.69%, with over 11,000 species). These taxa were followed by a cluster composed of Mollusca (3,567 species), Platyhelminthes (2,292 species), Annelida (1,833 species), and Nematoda (1,447 species). All remaining groups had less than 1,000 species reported in Brazil, with Cnidaria (831 species), Porifera (628 species), Rotifera (606 species), and Bryozoa (520 species) representing those with more than 500 species. Analysis of the CTFB database can facilitate and direct efforts towards the discovery of new species in Brazil, but it is also fundamental in providing the best available list of valid nominal species to users, including those in science, health, conservation efforts, and any initiative involving animals. The importance of the CTFB is evidenced by the elevated number of citations in the scientific literature in diverse areas of biology, law, anthropology, education, forensic science, and veterinary science, among others

Disease: A Hitherto Unexplored Constraint on the Spread of Dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) in Pre-Columbian South America

Although debate continues, there is agreement that dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) were first domesticated in Eurasia, spreading from there to other parts of the world. However, while that expansion already extended as far as Europe, China, and North America by the early Holocene, dogs spread into (and south of) the tropics only much later. In South America, for example, the earliest well attested instances of their presence do not reach back much beyond 3000 cal. BC, and dogs were still absent from large parts of the continent – Amazonia, the Gran Chaco, and much of the Southern Cone – at European contact. Previous explanations for these patterns have focused on cultural choice, the unsuitability of dogs for hunting certain kinds of tropical forest prey, and otherwise unspecified environmental hazards, while acknowledging that Neotropical lowland forests witness high rates of canine mortality. Building on previous work in Sub-Saharan Africa (Mitchell 2015) and noting that the dog’s closest relatives, the grey wolf (C. lupus) and the coyote (C. latrans), were likewise absent from South and most of Central America in Pre- Columbian times, this paper explores instead the possibility that infectious disease constrained the spread of dogs into Neotropical environments. Four diseases are considered, all likely to be native and/or endemic to South America: canine distemper, canine trypanosomiasis, canine rangeliosis, and canine visceral leishmaniasis caused by infection with Leishmania amazonensis and L. colombiensis. The paper concludes by suggesting ways in which the hypothesis that disease constrained the expansion of dogs into South America can be developed further

Complicações da cirurgia videolaparoscópica no tratamento de doenças da vesícula e vias biliares Videolaparoscopy complications in the management of biliary diseases

RACIONAL: O tratamento de escolha para as doenças da vesícula biliar é a colecistectomia, cujo objetivo é o alívio de sintomas e o tratamento e/ou prevenção das complicações. OBJETIVO: Identificar as principais complicações da cirurgia videolaparoscópica no tratamento das doenças da vesícula biliar e vias biliares. MÉTODO: Realizou-se busca eletrônica na base de dados LILACS e Medline desde o ano de 1981 a agosto de 2007; foram encontrados 57 artigos, sendo utilizados para o estudo 31 e três capítulos de livros. RESULTADOS: A produção científica submetida à análise de conteúdo evidenciou os seguintes núcleos temáticos: variações anatômicas (3 artigos), iatrogenias (5 artigos), síndrome pós-colecistectomia (1 artigo), complicações raras (3 artigos), síndrome de Mirizzi (1 artigo), complicações pulmonares (2 artigos) e tratamento (1 capítulo de livro e três artigos). CONCLUSÕES: As complicações que podem ocorrer na cirurgia videolaparoscópica da vesícula biliar e das vias biliares têm basicamente duas vertentes: uma é a inexperiência dos cirurgiões com o método laparoscópico (curva de aprendizado) e outra, as variações anatômicas com as quais os cirurgiões, mesmo os mais experientes, podem se deparar.<br>BACKGROUND: The treatment of choice for diseases affecting the gallbladder is the cholecystectomy, whose aim is improvement of symptoms, treatment and/or prevention of complications. AIM: Identify the main complications with laparoscopic surgery used to treat diseases affecting the gallbladder and the bile ducts. METHODS: An internet search in the LILACS and Medline database covering the period from 1981 up to August 2007 was carried out and 57 studies were found relevant. The present work draws on 31 of these studies and one textbook chapter. RESULTS: The analysis of the content of the studies selected yielded the following thematic issues: anatomic variations (3 studies), iatrogenies (5 studies), post-cholecystectomy syndrome (1 study), rare complications (3 studies), Mirizzi's syndrome (1 study), pulmonary complications (5 studies) and treatment (1 chapter of a medicine textbook and 3 studies). CONCLUSIONS: The complications arising from the videolaparoscopic surgery of the gallbladder and bile ducts are fundamentally due to two factors: the surgeon's lack of training in the laparoscopic technique (learning curve), and the unexpected anatomic variations, which even experienced surgeons may face