122 research outputs found
Balanço do nitrogênio e fósforo em solo com cultivo orgânico de hortaliças após a incorporação de biomassa de guandu.
Os objetivos deste trabalho foram avaliar os efeitos de faixas de guandu (Cajanus cajan) e da incorporação da biomassa proveniente de sua poda na fertilidade do solo e na produtividade de três hortaliças sob cultivo orgânico. O delineamento usado foi de blocos casualizados completos em esquema de parcelas subsubdivididas com três repetições. As produtividades de beterraba, cenoura e feijão-de-vagem não foram afetadas pelos tratamentos. Nas parcelas onde não houve incorporação da biomassa de guandu, o balanço de nitrogênio no sistema foi negativo, ao passo que com a incorporação, esse balanço foi positivo. Embora tenha ocorrido balanço positivo para o fósforo nas parcelas sem a incorporação de biomassa de guandu, houve um aumento significativo na absorção desse elemento pelas hortaliças quando o material foi incorporado. O sistema de cultivo em aléias de guandu pode representar uma prática vantajosa para os produtores orgânicos, por contribuir na manutenção da fertilidade do solo
Rational use of medicines: prescribing indicators at different levels of health care
Este estudo multicêntrico teve como objetivo investigar o padrão de prescrição de medicamentos para pacientes ambulatoriais atendidos em serviços de saúde vinculados a universidades com diferentes níveis de atenção, em oito cidades do sul e centro-oeste do Brasil. As prescrições coletadas foram submetidas à análise de diversos itens, incluindo os indicadores de prescrição propostos pela OMS. No total, 2.411 prescrições foram analisadas e 469 medicamentos foram identificados. O número de medicamentos prescritos por consulta, a frequência de polifarmácia e a porcentagem de consultas com pelo menos um medicamento injetável ou um antimicrobiano prescrito foram maiores em centros de saúde que ofereciam cuidados de atenção básica, em comparação com aqueles que não dispunham desse tipo de atendimento. A maioria dos medicamentos foi prescrita pelo nome genérico (86,1%). Em unidades com cuidados de atenção básica, a acessibilidade foi maior, a prescrição de medicamentos presentes nas Listas Nacional e Municipais de Medicamentos Essenciais foi mais frequente e instruções foram fornecidas aos pacientes mais comumente. Entretanto, advertências e medidas não farmacológicas foram indicadas com menor frequência. Este estudo revela tendências de prescrição de medicamentos em serviços de saúde ligados a universidades, com diferentes níveis de atenção, e indica possíveis áreas de melhoria na prática da prescrição.This multicenter study aimed to investigate prescribing patterns of drugs at different levels of health care delivery in university-affiliated outpatient clinics located in eight cities in the South and Midwest of Brazil. All prescriptions collected were analyzed for various items, including WHO prescribing indicators. A total of 2,411 prescriptions were analyzed, and 469 drugs were identified. The number of drugs prescribed per encounter, the frequency of polypharmacy, and the percentage of encounters with at least one injection or antibiotic prescribed were higher in centers providing primary health care services, compared to those where this type of care is not provided. Most drugs (86.1%) were prescribed by generic name. In centers with primary health care services, drug availability was higher, drugs included in the National and Municipal Lists of Essential Medicines were more frequently prescribed, and patients were given more instructions. However, warnings and non-pharmacological measures were less frequently recommended. This study reveals trends in drug prescribing at different levels of health care delivery in university-affiliated outpatient clinics and indicates possible areas for improvement in prescribing practices
Bronchoscopist's perception of the quality of the single-use bronchoscope (Ambu aScope4™) in selected bronchoscopies: a multicenter study in 21 Spanish pulmonology services
Background: The disposable bronchoscope is an excellent alternative to face the problem of SARS-CoV-2 and other cross infections, but the bronchoscopist's perception of its quality has not been evaluated.
Methods: To evaluate the quality of the Ambu-aScope4 disposable bronchoscope, we carried out a cross-sectional study in 21 Spanish pulmonology services. We use a standardized questionnaire completed by the bronchoscopists at the end of each bronchoscopy. The variables were described with absolute and relative frequencies, measures of central tendency and dispersion depending on their nature. The existence of learning curves was evaluated by CUSUM analysis.
Results: The most frequent indications in 300 included bronchoscopies was bronchial aspiration in 69.3% and the median duration of these was 9.1 min. The route of entry was nasal in 47.2% and oral in 34.1%. The average score for ease of use, image, and aspiration quality was 80/100. All the planned techniques were performed in 94.9% and the bronchoscopist was satisfied in 96.6% of the bronchoscopies. They highlighted the portability and immediacy of the aScope4TM to start the procedure in 99.3%, the possibility of taking and storing images in 99.3%. The CUSUM analysis showed average scores > 70/100 from the first procedure and from the 9th procedure more than 80% of the scores exceeded the 80/100 score.
Conclusions: The aScope4™ scored well for ease of use, imaging, and aspiration. We found a learning curve with excellent scores from the 9th procedure. Bronchoscopists highlighted its portability, immediacy of use and the possibility of taking and storing images
Posterior circulation collaterals as predictors of outcome in basilar artery occlusion: a sub-analysis of the BASICS randomized trial
Introduction and purpose: Basilar artery occlusion (BAO) is still one of the most devastating neurological conditions associated with high morbidity and mortality. In the present study, we aimed to assess the role of posterior circulation collaterals as predictors of outcome in the BASICS trial and to compare two grading systems (BATMAN score and PC-CS) in terms of prognostic value. Methods: We performed a sub-analysis of the BASICS trial. Baseline clinical and imaging variables were analyzed. For the imaging analysis, baseline CT and CTA were analyzed by a central core lab. Only those patients with good or moderate quality of baseline CTA and with confirmed BAO were included. Multivariable binary logistic regression analysis was used to test the independent association of clinical and imaging characteristics with a favorable outcome at 3 months (defined as a modified Rankin Score of ≤3). ROC curve analysis was used to assess and compare accuracy between the two collateral grading systems. Results: The mean age was 67.0 (±12.5) years, 196 (65.3%) patients were males and the median NIHSS was 21.5 (IQR 11–35). Median NCCT pc-ASPECTS was 10 (IQR10-10) and median collateral scores for BATMAN and PC-CS were 8 (IQR 7–9) and 7 (IQR 6–8) respectively. Collateral scores were associated with favorable outcome at 3 months for both BATMAN and PC-CS but only with a modest accuracy on ROC curve analysis (AUC 0.62, 95% CI [0.55–0.69] and 0.67, 95% CI [0.60–0.74] respectively). Age (OR 0.97, 95% CI [0.95–1.00]), NIHSS (OR 0.91, 95% CI [0.89–0.94]) and collateral score (PC-CS – OR 1.2495% CI [1.02–1.51]) were independently associated with clinical outcome. Conclusion: The two collateral grading systems presented modest prognostic accuracy. Only the PC-CS was independently associated with a favorable outcome at 3 months
Tissue culture of ornamental cacti
Cacti species are plants that are well adapted to growing in arid and semiarid regions where the main problem is water availability. Cacti have developed a series of adaptations to cope with water scarcity, such as reduced leaf surface via morphological modifications including spines, cereous cuticles, extended root systems and stem tissue modifications to increase water storage, and crassulacean acid metabolism to reduce transpiration and water loss. Furthermore, seeds of these plants very often exhibit dormancy, a phenomenon that helps to prevent germination when the availability of water is reduced. In general, cactus species exhibit a low growth rate that makes their rapid propagation difficult. Cacti are much appreciated as ornamental plants due to their great variety and diversity of forms and their beautiful short-life flowers; however, due to difficulties in propagating them rapidly to meet market demand, they are very often over-collected in their natural habitats, which leads to numerous species being threatened, endangered or becoming extinct. Therefore, plant tissue culture techniques may facilitate their propagation over a shorter time period than conventional techniques used for commercial purposes; or may help to recover populations of endangered or threatened species for their re-introduction in the wild; or may also be of value to the preservation and conservation of the genetic resources of this important family. Herein we present the state-of-the-art of tissue culture techniques used for ornamental cacti and selected suggestions for solving a number of the problems faced by members of the Cactaceae family
Narrowband Searches for Continuous and Long-duration Transient Gravitational Waves from Known Pulsars in the LIGO-Virgo Third Observing Run
Isolated neutron stars that are asymmetric with respect to their spin axis are possible sources of detectable continuous gravitational waves. This paper presents a fully coherent search for such signals from eighteen pulsars in data from LIGO and Virgo's third observing run (O3). For known pulsars, efficient and sensitive matched-filter searches can be carried out if one assumes the gravitational radiation is phase-locked to the electromagnetic emission. In the search presented here, we relax this assumption and allow both the frequency and the time derivative of the frequency of the gravitational waves to vary in a small range around those inferred from electromagnetic observations. We find no evidence for continuous gravitational waves, and set upper limits on the strain amplitude for each target. These limits are more constraining for seven of the targets than the spin-down limit defined by ascribing all rotational energy loss to gravitational radiation. In an additional search, we look in O3 data for long-duration (hours-months) transient gravitational waves in the aftermath of pulsar glitches for six targets with a total of nine glitches. We report two marginal outliers from this search, but find no clear evidence for such emission either. The resulting duration-dependent strain upper limits do not surpass indirect energy constraints for any of these targets. © 2022. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society
NEOTROPICAL XENARTHRANS: a data set of occurrence of xenarthran species in the Neotropics
Xenarthrans – anteaters, sloths, and armadillos – have essential functions for ecosystem maintenance, such as insect control and nutrient cycling, playing key roles as ecosystem engineers. Because of habitat loss and fragmentation, hunting pressure, and conflicts with 24 domestic dogs, these species have been threatened locally, regionally, or even across their full distribution ranges. The Neotropics harbor 21 species of armadillos, ten anteaters, and six sloths. Our dataset includes the families Chlamyphoridae (13), Dasypodidae (7), Myrmecophagidae (3), Bradypodidae (4), and Megalonychidae (2). We have no occurrence data on Dasypus pilosus (Dasypodidae). Regarding Cyclopedidae, until recently, only one species was recognized, but new genetic studies have revealed that the group is represented by seven species. In this data-paper, we compiled a total of 42,528 records of 31 species, represented by occurrence and quantitative data, totaling 24,847 unique georeferenced records. The geographic range is from the south of the USA, Mexico, and Caribbean countries at the northern portion of the Neotropics, to its austral distribution in Argentina, Paraguay, Chile, and Uruguay. Regarding anteaters, Myrmecophaga tridactyla has the most records (n=5,941), and Cyclopes sp. has the fewest (n=240). The armadillo species with the most data is Dasypus novemcinctus (n=11,588), and the least recorded for Calyptophractus retusus (n=33). With regards to sloth species, Bradypus variegatus has the most records (n=962), and Bradypus pygmaeus has the fewest (n=12). Our main objective with Neotropical Xenarthrans is to make occurrence and quantitative data available to facilitate more ecological research, particularly if we integrate the xenarthran data with other datasets of Neotropical Series which will become available very soon (i.e. Neotropical Carnivores, Neotropical Invasive Mammals, and Neotropical Hunters and Dogs). Therefore, studies on trophic cascades, hunting pressure, habitat loss, fragmentation effects, species invasion, and climate change effects will be possible with the Neotropical Xenarthrans dataset
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