PERFIL E MOTIVOS DE NEGATIVAS DE FAMILIARES PARA DOAÇÃO DE ÓRGÃOS E TECIDOS PARA TRANSPLANTE

Objetivo: descrever o perfil de familiares e de potenciais doadores e os motivos de negativas para doação de órgãos e tecidos para transplantes. Método: estudo quantitativo, transversal, com coleta de dados por meio do formulário de entrevista familiar, realizado de 2008 a 2014, no Sul do Brasil. Resultados: o potencial doador predominantemente era do sexo masculino, entre 41 e 60 anos, casado, doador de córneas, e o familiar, de primeiro grau. Houve negativa familiar para doação de órgãos em 74,9% do total de 630 prontuários. Entre as 472 negativas: 20,8% por desconhecimento da vontade do potencial doador, 17,6% pela convicção prévia de não ser um doador e 13,8% por desacordo familiar. Conclusão: a descrição do perfil de familiares e de potenciais doadores e a identificação dos principais motivos da não doação podem contribuir para o planejamento e desenvolvimento de intervenções que estimulem a doação de tecidos e órgãos.Descritores: Obtenção de Tecidos e Órgãos. Doador Cadáver. Família. Estudos Epidemiológicos. Enfermagem

Quality of the forage apparently consumed by beef calves in natural grassland under fertilization and oversown with cool season forage species

The objective of this study was to evaluate the chemical composition of the forage apparently consumed by steers in a natural grassland on region of Campanha, in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, subjected or not to different inputs: NP - natural pasture without inputs; FNP - fertilized natural pasture and INP - improved natural grassland with fertilization and over-seeded with cultivated winter species. Three Angus steers testers and a variable number of regulator animals per experimental unit were utilized in order to maintain 13 kg of DM/100 kg of live weight (LW) as forage allowance. One time at each season, hand plucking samples were performed along the daily grazing time simulating forage harvested by the animals. The collected samples after drying and grind were submitted to chemical analysis to determine the forage quality. Except in winter and spring, the values of neutral detergent fiber were higher than the critical value of 550 g/kg of DM, which could limit forage intake, demonstrating that the values of forage on offer provided (15.6; 13.7; 13.5; 15.8 kg of DM/100 kg of LW/day in summer, autumn, winter and spring, respectively) were not restrictive to intake. The oversowing of winter cultivated species or fertilization positively alter the degradable fiber content. The seasons had marked influence on the chemical composition of forage apparently consumed; positively increasing some fractions of forage chemical composition in the seasons in which native or cultivated winter species increased their participation. The forage chemical composition is the determining factor in animal performance in natural pasture

Investigation of hospital discharge cases and SARS-CoV-2 introduction into Lothian care homes

Background The first epidemic wave of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) in Scotland resulted in high case numbers and mortality in care homes. In Lothian, over one-third of care homes reported an outbreak, while there was limited testing of hospital patients discharged to care homes. Aim To investigate patients discharged from hospitals as a source of SARS-CoV-2 introduction into care homes during the first epidemic wave. Methods A clinical review was performed for all patients discharges from hospitals to care homes from 1st March 2020 to 31st May 2020. Episodes were ruled out based on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) test history, clinical assessment at discharge, whole-genome sequencing (WGS) data and an infectious period of 14 days. Clinical samples were processed for WGS, and consensus genomes generated were used for analysis using Cluster Investigation and Virus Epidemiological Tool software. Patient timelines were obtained using electronic hospital records. Findings In total, 787 patients discharged from hospitals to care homes were identified. Of these, 776 (99%) were ruled out for subsequent introduction of SARS-CoV-2 into care homes. However, for 10 episodes, the results were inconclusive as there was low genomic diversity in consensus genomes or no sequencing data were available. Only one discharge episode had a genomic, time and location link to positive cases during hospital admission, leading to 10 positive cases in their care home. Conclusion The majority of patients discharged from hospitals were ruled out for introduction of SARS-CoV-2 into care homes, highlighting the importance of screening all new admissions when faced with a novel emerging virus and no available vaccine

SARS-CoV-2 Omicron is an immune escape variant with an altered cell entry pathway

Vaccines based on the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 are a cornerstone of the public health response to COVID-19. The emergence of hypermutated, increasingly transmissible variants of concern (VOCs) threaten this strategy. Omicron (B.1.1.529), the fifth VOC to be described, harbours multiple amino acid mutations in spike, half of which lie within the receptor-binding domain. Here we demonstrate substantial evasion of neutralization by Omicron BA.1 and BA.2 variants in vitro using sera from individuals vaccinated with ChAdOx1, BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273. These data were mirrored by a substantial reduction in real-world vaccine effectiveness that was partially restored by booster vaccination. The Omicron variants BA.1 and BA.2 did not induce cell syncytia in vitro and favoured a TMPRSS2-independent endosomal entry pathway, these phenotypes mapping to distinct regions of the spike protein. Impaired cell fusion was determined by the receptor-binding domain, while endosomal entry mapped to the S2 domain. Such marked changes in antigenicity and replicative biology may underlie the rapid global spread and altered pathogenicity of the Omicron variant

Geopolítica y Energía

Uno de los problemas cruciales, si no el más desafiante que está enfrentando el modelo globalizador perverso (como le llamaba Milton Santos), y que puede marcar los límites a su expansión, es el calentamiento global y la necesidad de transitar hacia una nueva matriz energética, tanto a nivel de países como a nivel global. Parece evidente que los precios del petróleo seguirán en los altos niveles alcanzados. Pero no se aprecia todavía una voluntad real de las naciones no firmantes del Protocolo de Kyoto de hacerlo, y al parecer, las dilaciones seguirán por mucho tiempo. Una sociedad como la norteamericana no está en condiciones de hacerlo, pues todo su modelo de ocupación del territorio ha estado basado en la creciente asfaltización y automovilización del país, además del transporte a largas distancias (Ver: Delgado-Ramos en Polis 20). Según éste, citando a Heinberg, señala que: «En plena discrepancia, algunas estimaciones calculan que, en cambio, el conductor estadounidense consume en promedio su peso en petróleo crudo cada semana. En otras palabras esto significa a nivel mundial, que los automóviles sobrepasan en peso a la población en una relación de 4 a 1 y consumen en combustible una cantidad de energía cercana a esa misma proporción que la gente en alimentos

Geopolítica y Energía

Uno de los problemas cruciales, si no el más desafiante que está enfrentando el modelo globalizador perverso (como le llamaba Milton Santos), y que puede marcar los límites a su expansión, es el calentamiento global y la necesidad de transitar hacia una nueva matriz energética, tanto a nivel de países como a nivel global. Parece evidente que los precios del petróleo seguirán en los altos niveles alcanzados. Pero no se aprecia todavía una voluntad real de las naciones no firmantes del Protocolo de Kyoto de hacerlo, y al parecer, las dilaciones seguirán por mucho tiempo. Una sociedad como la norteamericana no está en condiciones de hacerlo, pues todo su modelo de ocupación del territorio ha estado basado en la creciente asfaltización y automovilización del país, además del transporte a largas distancias (Ver: Delgado-Ramos en Polis 20). Según éste, citando a Heinberg, señala que: «En plena discrepancia, algunas estimaciones calculan que, en cambio, el conductor estadounidense consume en promedio su peso en petróleo crudo cada semana. En otras palabras esto significa a nivel mundial, que los automóviles sobrepasan en peso a la población en una relación de 4 a 1 y consumen en combustible una cantidad de energía cercana a esa misma proporción que la gente en alimentos