COMPOSTAGEM DE RESÍDUOS SÓLIDOS

Resíduos são os resultados de processos de diversas atividades da comunidade, sendo de origem industrial, doméstica, hospitalar, comercial, agrícola, de serviços e ainda da varrição pública. Os resíduos apresentam-se nos estados sólido, gasoso e líquido. Produzidos em todos os estágios das atividades humanas, os resíduos, em termos tanto de composição como de volume, variam em função das práticas de consumo e dos métodos de produção. Para solucionar a problemática que envolve os resíduos sólidos, como deposição inadequada em lixões que contaminam o solo e os recursos hídricos e saturação de aterros sanitários, é necessário adotar o gerenciamento integrado de resíduos sólidos que compreendem a redução da geração destes, a reutilização, a reciclagem de materiais que podem servir de matéria prima e a compostagem que trata o resíduo orgânico, dando a este uma nova utilidade. Tendo em vista a problemática da disposição de resíduos sólidos nos mais diversos procedimentos industrias, agroindustrias e domésticos, da sua deposição no ambiente sem tratamento prévio poluindo solos e mananciais hídricos, da possível transmissão de doenças e da busca de alternativas de tratamento desses resíduos, objetiva-se com esse trabalho além da preservação ambiental, a avaliação e estudo do processo de compostagem como método de tratamento de resíduos sólidos

Multidrug-Resistant Nontuberculous Mycobacteria Isolated from Cystic Fibrosis Patients

Worldwide, nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) have become emergent pathogens of pulmonary infections in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients, with an estimated prevalence ranging from 5 to 20%. This work investigated the presence of NTM in sputum samples of 129 CF patients (2 to 18 years old) submitted to longitudinal clinical supervision at a regional reference center in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. From June 2009 to March 2012, 36 NTM isolates recovered from 10 (7.75%) out of 129 children were obtained. Molecular identification of NTM was performed by using PCR restriction analysis targeting the hsp65 gene (PRA-hsp65) and sequencing of the rpoB gene, and susceptibility tests were performed that followed Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute recommendations. for evaluating the genotypic diversity, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and/or enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus sequence PCR (ERIC-PCR) was performed. the species identified were Mycobacterium abscessus subsp. bolletii (n = 24), M. abscessus subsp. abscessus (n = 6), Mycobacterium fortuitum (n = 3), Mycobacterium marseillense (n = 2), and Mycobacterium timonense (n = 1). Most of the isolates presented resistance to five or more of the antimicrobials tested. Typing profiles were mainly patient specific. the PFGE profiles indicated the presence of two clonal groups for M. abscessus subsp. abscessus and five clonal groups for M. abscesssus subsp. bolletii, with just one clone detected in two patients. Given the observed multidrug resistance patterns and the possibility of transmission between patients, we suggest the implementation of continuous and routine investigation of NTM infection or colonization in CF patients, including countries with a high burden of tuberculosis disease.Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)PDTIS-FIOCRUZUniv Fed Rio de Janeiro, Programa Posgrad Clin Med, Hosp Univ Clementino Fraga Filho, Rio de Janeiro, BrazilUniv Fed Rio Grande do Sul, Programa Posgrad Ciencias Med, Porto Alegre, RS, BrazilUniv Fed Rio de Janeiro, Fac Ciencias Med, Dept Microbiol Imunol & Parasitol, Rio de Janeiro, BrazilInst Fernandes Figueira Fiocruz, Rio de Janeiro, BrazilUniv Estado Rio de Janeiro, Hosp Univ Pedro Ernesto, Rio de Janeiro, BrazilUniv Fed Rio de Janeiro, Inst Microbiol, BR-21941 Rio de Janeiro, BrazilFundacao Oswaldo Cruz, Inst Pesquisa Evandro Chagas, Rio de Janeiro, BrazilInst Doencas Torax, Rio de Janeiro, BrazilJohns Hopkins Univ, Baltimore, MD USAUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Escola Paulista Med, Dept Microbiol Imunol & Parasitol, São Paulo, BrazilUniv Fed Fluminense, Inst Biomed, Niteroi, RJ, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Escola Paulista Med, Dept Microbiol Imunol & Parasitol, São Paulo, BrazilFAPERJ: 103.225/2011FAPERJ: 103.287/2011FAPERJ: 110.272/2010FAPERJ: 110.761/2010FAPERJ: 111.497/2008CNPq: 476536/2012-0CNPq: 473444/2010-0CNPq: 567037/2008-8Web of Scienc

Membrane Cholesterol Regulates Lysosome-Plasma Membrane Fusion Events and Modulates Trypanosoma cruzi Invasion of Host Cells

Trypanosoma cruzi, is the etiological agent of a neglected tropical malady known as Chagas' disease, which affects about 8 million people in Latin America. 30–40% of affected individuals develop a symptomatic chronic infection, with cardiomyopathy being the most prevalent condition. T. cruzi utilizes an interesting strategy for entering cells: T. cruzi enhances intracellular calcium levels, which in turn trigger the exocytosis of lysosomal contents. Lysosomes then donate their membrane for the formation of the parasitophorous vacuole. Membrane rafts, cholesterol-enriched microdomains in the host cell plasma membrane, have also been implicated in T. cruzi invasion process. Since both plasma membrane and lysosomes collaborate in parasite invasion, we decided to study the importance of these membrane domains for lysosomal recruitment and fusion during T. cruzi invasion into host cells. Our results show that drug dependent depletion of plasma membrane cholesterol changes raft organization and induces excessive lysosome exocytosis in the earlier stages of treatment, leading to a depletion of lysosomes near the cell cortex, which in turn compromises T. cruzi invasion. Based on these results, we propose that cholesterol depletion leads to unregulated exocytic events of pre-docked lysosomes, reducing lysosome availability at the cell cortex and consequently compromising T. cruzi infection

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

Photography-based taxonomy is inadequate, unnecessary, and potentially harmful for biological sciences

The question whether taxonomic descriptions naming new animal species without type specimen(s) deposited in collections should be accepted for publication by scientific journals and allowed by the Code has already been discussed in Zootaxa (Dubois & Nemésio 2007; Donegan 2008, 2009; Nemésio 2009a–b; Dubois 2009; Gentile & Snell 2009; Minelli 2009; Cianferoni & Bartolozzi 2016; Amorim et al. 2016). This question was again raised in a letter supported by 35 signatories published in the journal Nature (Pape et al. 2016) on 15 September 2016. On 25 September 2016, the following rebuttal (strictly limited to 300 words as per the editorial rules of Nature) was submitted to Nature, which on 18 October 2016 refused to publish it. As we think this problem is a very important one for zoological taxonomy, this text is published here exactly as submitted to Nature, followed by the list of the 493 taxonomists and collection-based researchers who signed it in the short time span from 20 September to 6 October 2016

Post-intervention Status in Patients With Refractory Myasthenia Gravis Treated With Eculizumab During REGAIN and Its Open-Label Extension

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether eculizumab helps patients with anti-acetylcholine receptor-positive (AChR+) refractory generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG) achieve the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America (MGFA) post-intervention status of minimal manifestations (MM), we assessed patients' status throughout REGAIN (Safety and Efficacy of Eculizumab in AChR+ Refractory Generalized Myasthenia Gravis) and its open-label extension. METHODS: Patients who completed the REGAIN randomized controlled trial and continued into the open-label extension were included in this tertiary endpoint analysis. Patients were assessed for the MGFA post-intervention status of improved, unchanged, worse, MM, and pharmacologic remission at defined time points during REGAIN and through week 130 of the open-label study. RESULTS: A total of 117 patients completed REGAIN and continued into the open-label study (eculizumab/eculizumab: 56; placebo/eculizumab: 61). At week 26 of REGAIN, more eculizumab-treated patients than placebo-treated patients achieved a status of improved (60.7% vs 41.7%) or MM (25.0% vs 13.3%; common OR: 2.3; 95% CI: 1.1-4.5). After 130 weeks of eculizumab treatment, 88.0% of patients achieved improved status and 57.3% of patients achieved MM status. The safety profile of eculizumab was consistent with its known profile and no new safety signals were detected. CONCLUSION: Eculizumab led to rapid and sustained achievement of MM in patients with AChR+ refractory gMG. These findings support the use of eculizumab in this previously difficult-to-treat patient population. CLINICALTRIALSGOV IDENTIFIER: REGAIN, NCT01997229; REGAIN open-label extension, NCT02301624. CLASSIFICATION OF EVIDENCE: This study provides Class II evidence that, after 26 weeks of eculizumab treatment, 25.0% of adults with AChR+ refractory gMG achieved MM, compared with 13.3% who received placebo

Minimal Symptom Expression' in Patients With Acetylcholine Receptor Antibody-Positive Refractory Generalized Myasthenia Gravis Treated With Eculizumab

The efficacy and tolerability of eculizumab were assessed in REGAIN, a 26-week, phase 3, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study in anti-acetylcholine receptor antibody-positive (AChR+) refractory generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG), and its open-label extension

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements