AVALIAÇÃO DA QUALIDADE NA ATENÇÃO BÁSICA.

El objetivo fue evaluar la calidad de los servicios ofrecidos en Unidades Básicas de Salud de la Familia (UBASF) por medio de la técnica de “entrevista de salida” aplicada en usuarios del servicio. Estudio cualitativo, realizado en octubre de 2002 en dos UBASF’s de un municipio de la III Célula Regional de Salud de Ceará. Fueron entrevistados 20 usuarios. Conforme los resultados revelaron, la busca por el usuario del servicio de salud estaba relacionada con el recibo de medicamentos y la busca de consultas médicas y odontológicas, mientras la mejoría de la calidad del servicio fue asociada al aumento de la oferta de los servicios, a la mejoría de las relaciones humanas profesionales-usuarios y a la ampliación de la estructura física de la UBASF. Se concluye que la “entrevista de salida” con usuarios es una herramienta adecuada para la determinación de la eficiencia de los servicios de la atención básica. Por lo tanto, los gestores municipales y/o los gerentes de unidades pueden aplicarla regularmente para obtener elementos que mejoren el servicio en relación a oferta, relaciones humanas y estructura física.Objetivou-se avaliar a qualidade dos serviços oferecidos em Unidades Básicas de Saúde da Família (UBASF) por meio da técnica de “entrevista de saída” aplicada com usuários do serviço. Estudo qualitativo, realizado em outubro de 2002 em duas UBASFs de um município da III Célula Regional de Saúde do Ceará. Foram entrevistados 20 usuários. Conforme os resultados revelaram, a procura do usuário pelo serviço de saúde estava relacionada ao recebimento de medicamentos e à busca de consultas médicas e odontológicas, enquanto a melhoria da qualidade do serviço foi associada ao aumento da oferta dos serviços, à melhoria das relações humanas profissionais-usuários e à ampliação da estrutura física da UBASF. Conclui-se que a “entrevista de saída” com usuários é ferramenta adequada à determinação da eficiência dos serviços da atenção básica. Portanto, os gestores municipais e/ou gerentes de unidades podem aplicá-la regularmente para obterem elementos para melhorar o serviço quanto à oferta, relações humanas e estrutura física

Studies of Copaifera luetzelburgii Harms in reproductive pharmacology: In vivo and in vitro approaches

The objective of this study was to evaluate the estrogenic and anti-estrogenic actions, as well as the reproductive and foetal toxicity, of the ethanol extract from Copaifera luetzelburgii (EEtOH-Cl). In the experiment of (anti) estrogenicity, nulliparous Wistar rats were treated for 3 days with EEtOH-Cl (125, 250 and 500 mg/kg); estradiol (E, 5 μg/kg); E + EEtOH-Cl; tamoxifen (T, 4mg/kg). This extract presented estrogenic activity by increasing the relative weight (%) of the uterus of rats treated at doses of 125, 250 and 500 mg/kg (0.267 ± 0.016*, 0.231 ± 0.014*, 0.242 ± 0.015*), and it showed anti-estrogenic activity when associated with estradiol (0.116 ± 0.006*, 0.103 ± 0.06*, 0.098 ± 0.05*), respectively. For assessment of toxicity in pregnancy, the animals were divided into two groups and treated daily with EEtOH-Cl. In the first group, the effect of the extract on the development of pregnancy from first to seventh day was observed, and in the second group, from 8 to 21 days, there was no change of these parameters or the viability of the progeny when the study assessed reproductive and foetal toxicity; however, there was shortening of pregnancy (125 mg/kg) without affecting the progeny. In the in vitro study, uterine strips of pregnant (P) and non-pregnant (NP) females were used. In both groups, half received EEtOH-Cl (vo) for 13 days (treated females - T), and the other half received EEtOH-Cl directly to the isolated organ bath system (untreated - NT). In vitro study on the uterus of pregnant animals pretreated with doses of 250 and 500 mg/kg showed that there was inhibition of KCl 80-induced phasic contractions (0.490 ± 0.110, 0.540 ± 0.092), respectively. Also, the contractions induced by oxytocin were inhibited at a dose of 500 mg/kg (0.380 ± 0.109). In non-pregnant, non-treated females, the extract at a concentration of 125 μg/mL (0.180 ± 0.062) also inhibited the contractions induced by oxytocin. Thus, EEtOH-Cl demonstrated estrogenic activity, but when combined with estradiol, it demonstrated anti-estrogenic activity. It did not induce toxicity in the progenitors or in the progeny, and it inhibited isometric contractions induced by oxytocin and KCl 80 mM in pregnant and non-pregnant rats.Keywords: Copaifera luetzelburgii, (anti-)estrogenicity, reproductive toxicity, phasic contractionsAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(24), pp. 3864-387

The program for biodiversity research in Brazil: The role of regional networks for biodiversity knowledge, dissemination, and conservation

The Program for Biodiversity Research (PPBio) is an innovative program designed to integrate all biodiversity research stakeholders. Operating since 2004, it has installed long-term ecological research sites throughout Brazil and its logic has been applied in some other southern-hemisphere countries. The program supports all aspects of research necessary to understand biodiversity and the processes that affect it. There are presently 161 sampling sites (see some of them at Supplementary Appendix), most of which use a standardized methodology that allows comparisons across biomes and through time. To date, there are about 1200 publications associated with PPBio that cover topics ranging from natural history to genetics and species distributions. Most of the field data and metadata are available through PPBio web sites or DataONE. Metadata is available for researchers that intend to explore the different faces of Brazilian biodiversity spatio-temporal variation, as well as for managers intending to improve conservation strategies. The Program also fostered, directly and indirectly, local technical capacity building, and supported the training of hundreds of undergraduate and graduate students. The main challenge is maintaining the long-term funding necessary to understand biodiversity patterns and processes under pressure from global environmental changes

The European Reference Genome Atlas: piloting a decentralised approach to equitable biodiversity genomics.

ABSTRACT: A global genome database of all of Earth’s species diversity could be a treasure trove of scientific discoveries. However, regardless of the major advances in genome sequencing technologies, only a tiny fraction of species have genomic information available. To contribute to a more complete planetary genomic database, scientists and institutions across the world have united under the Earth BioGenome Project (EBP), which plans to sequence and assemble high-quality reference genomes for all ∼1.5 million recognized eukaryotic species through a stepwise phased approach. As the initiative transitions into Phase II, where 150,000 species are to be sequenced in just four years, worldwide participation in the project will be fundamental to success. As the European node of the EBP, the European Reference Genome Atlas (ERGA) seeks to implement a new decentralised, accessible, equitable and inclusive model for producing high-quality reference genomes, which will inform EBP as it scales. To embark on this mission, ERGA launched a Pilot Project to establish a network across Europe to develop and test the first infrastructure of its kind for the coordinated and distributed reference genome production on 98 European eukaryotic species from sample providers across 33 European countries. Here we outline the process and challenges faced during the development of a pilot infrastructure for the production of reference genome resources, and explore the effectiveness of this approach in terms of high-quality reference genome production, considering also equity and inclusion. The outcomes and lessons learned during this pilot provide a solid foundation for ERGA while offering key learnings to other transnational and national genomic resource projects.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Familial hypercholesterolaemia in children and adolescents from 48 countries: a cross-sectional study

Background Approximately 450 000 children are born with familial hypercholesterolaemia worldwide every year, yet only 2·1% of adults with familial hypercholesterolaemia were diagnosed before age 18 years via current diagnostic approaches, which are derived from observations in adults. We aimed to characterise children and adolescents with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolaemia (HeFH) and understand current approaches to the identification and management of familial hypercholesterolaemia to inform future public health strategies. Methods For this cross-sectional study, we assessed children and adolescents younger than 18 years with a clinical or genetic diagnosis of HeFH at the time of entry into the Familial Hypercholesterolaemia Studies Collaboration (FHSC) registry between Oct 1, 2015, and Jan 31, 2021. Data in the registry were collected from 55 regional or national registries in 48 countries. Diagnoses relying on self-reported history of familial hypercholesterolaemia and suspected secondary hypercholesterolaemia were excluded from the registry; people with untreated LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) of at least 13·0 mmol/L were excluded from this study. Data were assessed overall and by WHO region, World Bank country income status, age, diagnostic criteria, and index-case status. The main outcome of this study was to assess current identification and management of children and adolescents with familial hypercholesterolaemia. Findings Of 63 093 individuals in the FHSC registry, 11 848 (18·8%) were children or adolescents younger than 18 years with HeFH and were included in this study; 5756 (50·2%) of 11 476 included individuals were female and 5720 (49·8%) were male. Sex data were missing for 372 (3·1%) of 11 848 individuals. Median age at registry entry was 9·6 years (IQR 5·8–13·2). 10 099 (89·9%) of 11 235 included individuals had a final genetically confirmed diagnosis of familial hypercholesterolaemia and 1136 (10·1%) had a clinical diagnosis. Genetically confirmed diagnosis data or clinical diagnosis data were missing for 613 (5·2%) of 11 848 individuals. Genetic diagnosis was more common in children and adolescents from high-income countries (9427 [92·4%] of 10 202) than in children and adolescents from non-high-income countries (199 [48·0%] of 415). 3414 (31·6%) of 10 804 children or adolescents were index cases. Familial-hypercholesterolaemia-related physical signs, cardiovascular risk factors, and cardiovascular disease were uncommon, but were more common in non-high-income countries. 7557 (72·4%) of 10 428 included children or adolescents were not taking lipid-lowering medication (LLM) and had a median LDL-C of 5·00 mmol/L (IQR 4·05–6·08). Compared with genetic diagnosis, the use of unadapted clinical criteria intended for use in adults and reliant on more extreme phenotypes could result in 50–75% of children and adolescents with familial hypercholesterolaemia not being identified. Interpretation Clinical characteristics observed in adults with familial hypercholesterolaemia are uncommon in children and adolescents with familial hypercholesterolaemia, hence detection in this age group relies on measurement of LDL-C and genetic confirmation. Where genetic testing is unavailable, increased availability and use of LDL-C measurements in the first few years of life could help reduce the current gap between prevalence and detection, enabling increased use of combination LLM to reach recommended LDL-C targets early in life. Funding Pfizer, Amgen, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Sanofi–Aventis, Daiichi Sankyo, and Regeneron