Epidemiologia e Avaliação de Métodos Diagnósticos em Micoses Superficiais em Serviço de Dermatologia de Hospital Público em Santos, Brasil

Introduction: Superficial mycoses are fungal infections caused mainly by dermatophytes, yeasts and non-dermatophyte filamentous fungi, which affect the most superficial layers of the skin and its appendages. They have a high prevalence worldwide.The aim of this study is to evaluate the epidemiology of superficial mycoses, as well as the index of agreement between direct mycological exa- mination and fungal culture. Methods: This is a retrospective study carried out at the Dermatology clinic of a tertiary hospital, during 6 years. For diagnostic elucidation, ma- terial was collected by scraping or curettage, for further analysis by direct mycological examination and culture for fungi. Results: Four hundred thirty nine samples of suspicious lesions of superficial mycoses from 420 patients were included, 268 female (63.8% pa- tients) with a mean age of 45.7 years (3 months to 95 years), with most cases from the nails (43.4%) and glabrous skin (24.1%). In general, the most common fungus found in the culture was Trichophyton rubrum, however, not in all studied skin sites. Direct mycological examination showed a statistically significant association with culture (K=0.955), if cases with contamination on culture were eliminated. Conclusion: Direct mycological examination and culture, as diagnostic methods in Dermatology, provide satisfactory and low-cost results, favo- ring patients and the health system. This study allowed us to describe the epidemiological profile of patients at a reference dermatology center, with relevant data in relation to our objective. Agreement between direct mycological examination and culture showed the reliability of the me- thods.Introdução: Micoses superficiais são infecções fúngicas causadas principalmente por dermatófitos, leveduras e fungos filamentosos não dermatófitos, que acometem as camadas mais superficiais da pele e seus anexos. Apresentam alta prevalência em todo o mundo.O objectivo deste estudo é avaliar a epidemiologia das micoses superficiais, assim como o índice de concordância entre o exame micológico direto e a cultura para fungos. Métodos: Trata-se de estudo retrospectivo realizado no ambulatório de Dermatologia de hospital terciário, num intervalo de 6 anos. Para a elu- cidação diagnóstica, foi realizada colheita de material através de raspagem ou curetagem, para posterior análise por exame micológico direto e cultura para fungos. Resultados: Foram incluídas 439 amostras de lesões suspeitas de micoses superficiais de 420 pacientes, 268 do sexo feminino (63,8% doentes) com a média de idade de 45,7 anos (dos 3 meses aos 95 anos), com o maior número de casos das unhas (43,4%) e pele glabra (24,1%). Em geral, o fungo mais encontrado na cultura foi o Trichophyton rubrum; no entanto, não houve esta concordância em todos os locais da pele estudados. O exame micológico direto apresentou associação significativamente estatística com a cultura (K=0,955), se eliminadas os casos em que houve contaminação da cultura. Conclusão: O uso do exame micológico direto e da cultura, como métodos diagnósticos na Dermatologia, é uma opção que fornece resultados satisfatórios e de baixo custo, favorecendo doentes e sistema de saúde. Este estudo permitiu descrever o perfil epidemiológico dos pacientes de um centro de Dermatologia de referência, com dados relevantes em relação ao nosso objetivo. A concordância entre o exame micológico direto e a cultura mostrou a confiabilidade dos métodos

The genomes of two key bumblebee species with primitive eusocial organization

Background: The shift from solitary to social behavior is one of the major evolutionary transitions. Primitively eusocial bumblebees are uniquely placed to illuminate the evolution of highly eusocial insect societies. Bumblebees are also invaluable natural and agricultural pollinators, and there is widespread concern over recent population declines in some species. High-quality genomic data will inform key aspects of bumblebee biology, including susceptibility to implicated population viability threats. Results: We report the high quality draft genome sequences of Bombus terrestris and Bombus impatiens, two ecologically dominant bumblebees and widely utilized study species. Comparing these new genomes to those of the highly eusocial honeybee Apis mellifera and other Hymenoptera, we identify deeply conserved similarities, as well as novelties key to the biology of these organisms. Some honeybee genome features thought to underpin advanced eusociality are also present in bumblebees, indicating an earlier evolution in the bee lineage. Xenobiotic detoxification and immune genes are similarly depauperate in bumblebees and honeybees, and multiple categories of genes linked to social organization, including development and behavior, show high conservation. Key differences identified include a bias in bumblebee chemoreception towards gustation from olfaction, and striking differences in microRNAs, potentially responsible for gene regulation underlying social and other traits. Conclusions: These two bumblebee genomes provide a foundation for post-genomic research on these key pollinators and insect societies. Overall, gene repertoires suggest that the route to advanced eusociality in bees was mediated by many small changes in many genes and processes, and not by notable expansion or depauperation

Common Genetic Variants Contribute to Risk of Transposition of the Great Arteries.

RATIONALE: Dextro-transposition of the great arteries (D-TGA) is a severe congenital heart defect which affects approximately 1 in 4,000 live births. While there are several reports of D-TGA patients with rare variants in individual genes, the majority of D-TGA cases remain genetically elusive. Familial recurrence patterns and the observation that most cases with D-TGA are sporadic suggest a polygenic inheritance for the disorder, yet this remains unexplored. OBJECTIVE: We sought to study the role of common single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in risk for D-TGA. METHODS AND RESULTS: We conducted a genome-wide association study in an international set of 1,237 patients with D-TGA and identified a genome-wide significant susceptibility locus on chromosome 3p14.3, which was subsequently replicated in an independent case-control set (rs56219800, meta-analysis P=8.6x10 CONCLUSIONS: This work provides support for a polygenic architecture in D-TGA and identifies a susceptibility locus on chromosome 3p14.3 nea

The complete genome sequence of Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis FRC41 isolated from a 12-year-old girl with necrotizing lymphadenitis reveals insights into gene-regulatory networks contributing to virulence

Trost E, Ott L, Schneider J, et al. The complete genome sequence of Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis FRC41 isolated from a 12-year-old girl with necrotizing lymphadenitis reveals insights into gene-regulatory networks contributing to virulence. BMC Genomics. 2010;11(1): 728

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

Penilaian Kinerja Keuangan Koperasi di Kabupaten Pelalawan

This paper describe development and financial performance of cooperative in District Pelalawan among 2007 - 2008. Studies on primary and secondary cooperative in 12 sub-districts. Method in this stady use performance measuring of productivity, efficiency, growth, liquidity, and solvability of cooperative. Productivity of cooperative in Pelalawan was highly but efficiency still low. Profit and income were highly, even liquidity of cooperative very high, and solvability was good

Juxtaposing BTE and ATE – on the role of the European insurance industry in funding civil litigation

One of the ways in which legal services are financed, and indeed shaped, is through private insurance arrangement. Two contrasting types of legal expenses insurance contracts (LEI) seem to dominate in Europe: before the event (BTE) and after the event (ATE) legal expenses insurance. Notwithstanding institutional differences between different legal systems, BTE and ATE insurance arrangements may be instrumental if government policy is geared towards strengthening a market-oriented system of financing access to justice for individuals and business. At the same time, emphasizing the role of a private industry as a keeper of the gates to justice raises issues of accountability and transparency, not readily reconcilable with demands of competition. Moreover, multiple actors (clients, lawyers, courts, insurers) are involved, causing behavioural dynamics which are not easily predicted or influenced. Against this background, this paper looks into BTE and ATE arrangements by analysing the particularities of BTE and ATE arrangements currently available in some European jurisdictions and by painting a picture of their respective markets and legal contexts. This allows for some reflection on the performance of BTE and ATE providers as both financiers and keepers. Two issues emerge from the analysis that are worthy of some further reflection. Firstly, there is the problematic long-term sustainability of some ATE products. Secondly, the challenges faced by policymakers that would like to nudge consumers into voluntarily taking out BTE LEI

Differential cross section measurements for the production of a W boson in association with jets in proton–proton collisions at √s = 7 TeV

Measurements are reported of differential cross sections for the production of a W boson, which decays into a muon and a neutrino, in association with jets, as a function of several variables, including the transverse momenta (pT) and pseudorapidities of the four leading jets, the scalar sum of jet transverse momenta (HT), and the difference in azimuthal angle between the directions of each jet and the muon. The data sample of pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV was collected with the CMS detector at the LHC and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 5.0 fb[superscript −1]. The measured cross sections are compared to predictions from Monte Carlo generators, MadGraph + pythia and sherpa, and to next-to-leading-order calculations from BlackHat + sherpa. The differential cross sections are found to be in agreement with the predictions, apart from the pT distributions of the leading jets at high pT values, the distributions of the HT at high-HT and low jet multiplicity, and the distribution of the difference in azimuthal angle between the leading jet and the muon at low values.United States. Dept. of EnergyNational Science Foundation (U.S.)Alfred P. Sloan Foundatio