Deciphering the chemical phenotype in Atta laevigata (Smith, 1858) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae): A relationship between polymorphism and cuticular hydrocarbons

In the Attina subtribe the division of labor among workers is based on different tasks performed by morphological subcastes. Considering that cuticular chemical compounds play important roles as protection against water loss and mediates interactions between nestmates, and that studies on the cuticular chemical profile of ants of the genus Atta are still scarce, the aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between morphological and chemical phenotypes in the subcastes of Atta laevigata (Smith, 1858) workers. The cuticular chemical composition of the different subcastes was assessed by Gas Chromatography coupled to Mass Spectrometry technique. The compounds found in the cuticle of the different subcastes had carbon chain size between 18 and 31 atoms, with higher content of linear alkanes in workers and soldiers and higher content of branched alkanes in gardeners and generalists, probably related to the type of tasks they perform in their colonies, since some workers perform more intra- or extranidal tasks in relation to others. The results show significant qualitative differences in the cuticular composition of the different subcastes, with a greater relationship between them according to the environmental restrictions that each subcaste is more subjected to due to the role played in the colony

Use of an indicator to evaluate physician adherence to prescription guidelines for the treatment of heart failure

The aim of this study was to use indicators to evaluate physician adherence to prescription guidelines for heart failure treatment in a university hospital. This was a prospective cohort study conducted in a university hospital. The information collected at the time of patient admission, including therapeutic indication, absolute contra indications and intolerance, was utilised for the formulation of a guideline adherence indicator (GAI). This indicator was calculated as follows: (the number of patients who used the medication/the number of eligible patients) x 100. The percentage of eligible patients was calculated using the following formula: (the number of eligible patients/the total number patients) x 100. The GAI was applied to a population of 53 patients. Inhibitors of angiotensin-converting enzyme/angiotensin receptor blocker (ACE-I/ARB) combination therapy were used in the greatest percentage of eligible patients (92.4%) and demonstrated the largest GAI value (73.5%). The percentages of patients who were eligible for beta-blockers, spironolactone and digitalis treatments were 81.1%, 52.8% and 60.4%, respectively. The GAI values for the use of beta-blockers, spironolactone and digitalis were 60.4%, 57.1% and 56.2%, respectively. For the studied patient population, the GAI was consistent with the proportion of patients who were eligible to receive digitalis and spironolactone.O objetivo deste estudo foi utilizar indicadores para avaliar a adesão de médicos às diretrizes para tratamento da Insuficiência Cardíaca em um hospital universitário. Estudo de coorte prospectivo, conduzido em um hospital universitário. As variáveis coletadas na admissão do paciente foram: indicação terapêutica, contraindicações absolutas e intolerância, sendo utilizadas para elaboração de um indicador de adesão à diretriz (IAD). Este indicador foi calculado através da relação: (número de pacientes que utilizaram o medicamento/número de pacientes elegíveis) x 100. A % de pacientes elegíveis foi calculada da seguinte forma: (número de pacientes elegíveis/número total de pacientes) x 100. Os IAD foram aplicados para uma população de 53 pacientes. Os Inibidores da Enzima Conversora de Angiotensina/Bloqueadores dos Receptores de Angiotensina foram as classes farmacológicas que apresentaram maior % de pacientes elegíveis (92,4%) e apresentaram o melhor IAD (73,5%). A % de pacientes elegíveis para beta-bloqueadores, espironolactona e digitálicos foi de 81,1%, 52,8% e 60,4%, respectivamente. O IAD para beta-bloqueadores foi 60,4%, espironolactona 57,1% e digitálicos 56,2%. Na população estudada, o IAD foi compatível com a proporção de pacientes elegíveis para digitálicos e espironolactona

Comparative study of the synthesis and characterization of reduced graphene oxide (RGO) using an eco friendly reducing agent

In this work, the reducing action of four reducing agents—ascorbic acid, inorganic salt, sodium hydrosulfte and polysaccharide—was investigated. Some reducing agents, in addition to being environmentally friendly, are good substitutes for dangerous chemicals used industrially. Graphene oxide (GO) was synthesized by the modifed Hummers method and was reduced with ascorbic acid (RGO-AA), inorganic salt (RGO-SI), sodium hydrosulfte (RGO-HS) and polysaccharide (RGO-PS). The microstructural, morphological, optical, electrochemical and thermal properties of GO, RGO-AA, RGOSI, RGO-HS and RGO-PS were characterized by x-ray difraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy/attenuated total refectance (FTIR-ATR), x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM)/energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS), feld-emission scanning electron microscopy (FEG-SEM), UV–Vis, zeta potential, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and diferential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The conclusive results showed that the four agents demonstrated reducing capability. It was observed that the reducing agent derived from inverted sugar (polysaccharide) was the most efcient because it presented a reduction in GO with fewer microstructural defects, a lower number of sheets, and electrochemical and thermal properties superior to the properties obtained from conventional reducing agents. Therefore, with these impressive results obtained with polysaccharide, it was concluded that an efective GO reducing agent was obtained using this green and ecological product, resulting in a reduced graphene oxide (RGO) with few sheets and fewer defects and, consequently, with greater supercapacitor application potential.CNPq -Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico(45034/2020-3

Machine learning in sports medicine: A new approach in human exercise

The present study aimed to investigate the possible correlations between the cytokine and adipokine Tumour Necrosis Factor Alpha with parameters of body composition and lipid metabolism in young, high-level athletes after an incremental treadmill test observed in a sample of five individuals, male, high-level running athletes who the difficulty of treating large databases with different individuals, multiple biomarkers, and collection times, in addition to physical parameters and sample characteristics, added to the decrease in new findings induced by the application of statistical tools of univariate analysis, indicate the need to apply exploratory machine learning strategies, generating holistic and integrated analysis of the results. The present study showed a negative correlation between TNF and HDL and a similarity between the same TNF and LDL. These findings do not indicate a cause-and-effect relationship but suggest a possible modulation of the immune system, lipid metabolism, and exercise that requires further investigation

Factors related to survival in Intensive Care Unit patients with Covid-19: a study from a single center in Brazil

Introduction: Analysis of the outcome of 268 ICU patients in a single-center, as well the impact of viral infection on patients with preexisting medical conditions and how these factors affected survival and hospital stay. Methodology: Patients admitted to the ICU from March-August, 2020 were retrospectively analyzed under the same protocol at Hospital Alemão Oswaldo Cruz, São Paulo, Brazil. Several factors were considered and the results were presented using 95% confidence intervals. For statistical significance, p <0.05 was adopted. Results: Patient median age was 72 years, 64,2 years for discharged patients and 79.9 years for those deceased (p<0.001). The most common comorbidities were: systemic arterial hypertension, diabetes, thyroid disease, cardiovascular and kidney disease. Predictors of survival through univariate analysis: myalgia (p=0.001), cerebrovascular disease (p=0.002), COPD (p=0.003), dementia (p=0.000), mechanical ventilation (p=0.000), dialysis (0.000), vasopressor use (0.000), SAPS3 (0.000), lymphopenia (p=0.004), elevated D-dimer (P=0.011), time in ICU before tracheostomy (p=0.002), and performing a tracheostomy (p=0.000). The independent predictors of mortality were: advanced age (p=0.003) and tracheostomy performed in ICU (p=0.002). Discussion: COVID-19 affects usually older adults, where there already is a higher fatality rate. Acute respiratory distress syndrome is the primary cause of death and <5% of patients were reported as experiencing co-infection at admission. Conclusion: age, vasopressor use in patients with tracheostomy, and systemic coronary disease, heart failure, neoplasia, and COPD, were found to be significantly associated with COVID-19 severity

Comparação dos métodos de Papanicolaou e Gram para diagnóstico laboratorial de vaginose bacteriana em material coletado da região cervical e fundo de saco vaginal/ Comparison of Papanicolaou and Gram methods for laboratory diagnosis of bacterial vaginosis in material collected from the cervical region and vaginal fornix

Introdução: Vaginose bacteriana é definida como uma síndrome clínica polimicrobiana envolvendo a substituição de Lactobacillus spp. por microrganismos de vários gêneros, incluindo bactérias anaeróbias como Prevotella sp., Mobiluncus sp., Atopobium vaginae; Gardnerella vaginalis, Mycoplasma hominis, Ureaplasma urealyticum entre outras bactérias. O diagnóstico laboratorial de escolha para pesquisa de VB é a bacterioscopia pelo Gram, método simplificado por Nugent. No entanto, a VB e outras alterações relacionadas às infecções do trato genital feminino podem ser determinadas método de Papanicolaou, pela evidência de base nebulosa de pequenos cocobacilos, presença de clue cells e ausência notável de lactobacilos. Método: estudo transversal, com 102 mulheres, das quais foram examinados esfregaços da região ecto e endocervical do colo do útero pelo método de Papanicolaou, e de fundo de saco vaginal pelo método de Gram interpretados pelo escore de Nugent. Resultados: parâmetros indicadores de vaginose pelo PapaClue e Bethesda pelo Papanicolaou, comparado com o método de Gram segundo os critérios de Nugent mostrou que a maior parte dos resultados dos dois testes (Gram e Pap) é discordante na população estudada, concordância ruim (Kappa = 0,349) e concordância boa (Kappa = 0,489), respectivamente (p < 0,001). Quando os parâmetros do Papanicolaou são comparados entre si, a combinação PapaClue/Bethesda apresentou concordância boa (Kappa < 0,539),  também com significância estatística (p < 0,001). Conclusão: Esta pesquisa demonstrou baixa detecção de VB pelo Pap (5 %) em relação ao Gram (19%), em maioria (75%) de mulheres na fase reprodutiva

Molecular Investigation Confirms Myotis Genus Bats as Common Hosts of Polychromophilus in Brazil

Plasmodium spp. and some other blood parasites belonging to the order Haemosporida are the focus of many epidemiological studies worldwide. However, haemosporidian parasites from wild animals are largely neglected in scientific research. For example, Polychromophilus parasites, which are exclusive to bats, are described in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Oceania, but little is known about their presence and genetic diversity in the New World. In this study, 224 samples of bats from remaining fragments of the Atlantic Forest and Pantanal biomes, as well as urbanized areas in southern and southeastern Brazil, were analyzed for the presence of haemosporidian parasites by PCR of the mitochondrial gene that encodes cytochrome b (cytb). The PCR fragments of the positive samples were sequenced and analyzed by the Bayesian inference method to reconstruct the phylogenetic relationships between Polychromophilus parasites from bats in Brazil and other countries. Sequences from Brazilian lineages of Polychromophilus were recovered in a clade with sequences from Polychromophilus murinus and close to the one Polychromophilus sequence obtained in Panama, the only available sequence for the American continent. This clade was restricted to bats of the family Vespertilionidae and distinct from Polychromophilus melanipherus, a parasite species mainly found in bats of the family Miniopteridae. The detection of Polychromophilus and the genetic proximity to P. murinus were further confirmed with the amplification of two other genes (clpc and asl). We also found a Haemosporida parasite sequence in a sample of Noctilio albiventris collected in the Pantanal biome, which presents phylogenetic proximity with avian Haemoproteus sequences. Morphological and molecular studies are still needed to conclude and describe the Polychromophilus species in Brazilian Myotis bats in more detail and to confirm Haemoproteus parasites in bats. Nevertheless, these molecular results in Brazilian bats confirm the importance of studying these neglected genera.Fil: da Silva Mathias, Bruno. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Minozzo, Guilherme Augusto. No especifíca;Fil: Biondo, Alexander Welker. Universidade Federal do Paraná; BrasilFil: de Oliveira Jorge Costa, Jaciara. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Sousa Soares, Herbert. Universidade de Santo Amaro; BrasilFil: Marcili, Arlei. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: de Oliveira Guimarães, Lilian. Instituto Pasteur; BrasilFil: a Clares dos Anjos, Carolina. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Pires Dos Santos, Andrea. Purdue University; Estados UnidosFil: Riediger, Irina Nastassja. No especifíca;Fil: Fecchio, Alan. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Centro de Investigación Esquel de Montaña y Estepa Patagónica. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia "San Juan Bosco". Centro de Investigación Esquel de Montaña y Estepa Patagónica; ArgentinaFil: Bueno, Marina Galvão. Fundación Oswaldo Cruz; BrasilFil: Pinho, João Batista. Universidade Federal do Mato Grosso do Sul; BrasilFil: Kirchgatter, Karin. Universidade de Sao Paulo; Brasi

Perfil clínico-epidemiológico da criptococose associada e não associada à infecção pelo HIV na região Centro-Oeste do Brasil / Clinical and epidemiological aspects of cryptococcosis associated and non-associated to HIV infection in Central Western region of Brazil

Objetivo: Analisar as características clínicas-epidemiológicas, segundo a infecção pelo HIV, dos casos de criptococose no estado de Goiás. Métodos: Estudo transversal dos casos de criptococose no período de 2011 a 2014. Utilizou-se registros laboratoriais e prontuários médicos de unidades de saúde referência para a doença. Aplicou testes estatísticos para comparar o grupo HIV positivos e HIV negativos com as variáveis estudadas. Resultados: Identificou 130 casos de criptococose, 116(89,2%) HIV positivos e 14(10,8%) negativos. A meningoencefalite foi a forma clínica predominante em ambos os grupos, assim como a espécie Cryptococcus neoformans. Entre os casos HIV negativos (64,3%) usavam medicamentos imunossupressores. A média da contagem de células TCD4 dos casos HIV positivos foi 58,7 células/mm3e 60,8% foram a óbito, entre os sobreviventes, 43,1% ficaram com sequelas, sendo o déficit visual o mais frequente. Conclusões:  A criptococose é uma doença grave, dada a elevada letalidade e potencial de provocar danos funcionais

Nursing workload and occurrence of adverse events in intensive care: a systematic review

Abstract OBJECTIVE To identifyevidences of the influence of nursing workload on the occurrence of adverse events (AE) in adult patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). METHOD A systematic literature review was conducted in the databases MEDLINE, CINAHL, LILACS, SciELO, BDENF, and Cochrane from studies in English, Portuguese, or Spanish, published by 2015. The analyzed AE were infection, pressure ulcer (PU), patient falls, and medication errors. RESULTS Of 594 potential studies, eight comprised the final sample of the review. TheNursing Activities Score (NAS; 37.5%) and the Therapeutic Intervention Scoring System(TISS; 37.5%) were the instruments most frequently used for assessing nursing workload. Six studies (75.0%) identified the influence of work overload in events of infection, PU, and medicationerrors. An investigation found that the NAS was a protective factor for PU. CONCLUSION The nursing workload required by patients in the ICU influenced the occurrence of AE, and nurses must monitor this variable daily to ensure proper sizing of staff and safety of care