Plano amostral para cálculo de densidade larvária de Aedes aegypti e Aedes albopictus no Estado de São Paulo, Brasil

The Yellow Fever and Dengue Vector Control Program developed by the Superintendency for the Control of Endemic Diseases in the State of S. Paulo recommends Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus larval density monitoring in cities with domiciliar infestation. The sampling plan which has been applied in the countries of the Presidente Prudente region (SP- Brazil) since 1987 is described. The infestation is measured by using the Breteau Index. A sample of buildings is drawn, monthly and independently, in the infested cities, in which measurements are to be made. The sample is stratified and the elementary unit selection is made by using two-stage cluster sampling: of blocks and buildings. The sample sizes were defined using the coefficient of variation and the intraclass correlation as estimated for towns covered by the Regional Health Service of S. José do Rio Preto. These sizes must be corrected periodically in accordance with the values of the Breteau Index and its variance obtained in previous months.O Programa de Controle de Vetores de Febre Amarela e Dengue, desenvolvido pela Superintendência de Controle de Endemias do Estado de São Paulo, Brasil, prevê a realização de pesquisa para avaliação da densidade larvária de Aedes aegypti e Aedes albopictus em edificações de municípios com infestação domiciliar. Descreve-se o plano amostral que vem sendo aplicado, desde outubro de 1987, nos municípios da Região de Presidente Prudente. Para acompanhamento da densidade está sendo utilizado o índice de Breteau. São sorteados, nos municípios infestados, mensalmente e de forma independente, amostras de edificações para a obtenção das estimativas do índice. O plano amostral prevê a seleção de conglomerados em 2 estágios: quadras e edificações. O tamanho da amostra foi definido estimando-se o coeficiente da correlação intraconglomerado e variância relativa por elemento através de pesquisas realizadas anteriormente em municípios do Serviço Regional de São José do Rio Preto. O plano propõe que os valores relativos ao tamanho da amostra sejam atualizados periodicamente em função dos valores obtidos para o estimador do Índice de Breteau e sua variância, em meses anteriores

Impactos ambientais da piscicultura de tanque escavado no reservatório Itaparica, semiárido Pernambucano / Environmental impacts of excavated tank pisciculture in the Itaparica reservoir, Pernambuco’s semiarid

A piscicultura possui importância econômica e social, mas é capaz de provocar impactos ambientais. Com objetivo de avaliar os impactos do efluente de piscicultura de tanque escavado no reservatório Itaparica foram realizadas análises físico-químicas e ecotoxicológicas, utilizando Daphnia similis, em cultivos de alevinos, no efluente de cultivos de juvenis antes e após tratamento e no reservatório Itaparica, rio São Francisco. Além de ensaios ecotoxicológicos com 17 ?-metiltestosterona, que causou toxicidade para D. similis, e com oxitetraciclina. O fósforo total no reservatório foi o único parâmetro acima do limite indicado pela legislação. Os resultados mostraram potencial de reuso do efluente, como estratégia para gestão sustentável da atividade e dos recursos hídricos. É evidente a necessidade de controle dos fármacos e monitoramento dos efluentes, para garantir a qualidade da água para os usos múltiplos, e mais importante, segurança hídrica no abastecimento humano

Green synthesis of carbon nanotubes impregnated with metallic nanoparticles: Characterization and application in glyphosate adsorption

In the present work, multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were used as support material for the impregnation of metallic nanoparticles (MNPs) produced by green synthesis. The influences of the plant extracts (pomegranate (Punica Granatum), Eucalyptus, and pecan (Carya illinoinensis, leaves), metal species (copper and iron), metallic concentrations, and type of functionalization (OH and COOH) on the characteristics of the obtained materials were studied. The precursor and impregnated MWCNTs were characterized through X-ray diffraction, Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, point of charge, N2 adsorption/desorption isotherms and, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. All the synthesized materials were tested as adsorbents to remove glyphosate (GLY) in an aqueous medium. The MWCNTs were resistant to withstand the synthesis process, preserving its structure and morphological characteristics. The copper and iron on the surface of MWCNTS confirm the successful synthesis and impregnation of the MNPs. The MWCNTs impregnated with high metallic concentrations showed favorable adsorption of GLY. The adsorption capacity and percentage of removal were 21.17 mg g−1 and 84.08%, respectively, for the MWCNTs impregnated with iron MNPs using the pecan leaves as a reducing agent. The results indicated that an advanced adsorbent for GLY could be obtained by green synthesis, using MWCNTs as precursors and pecan leaves as a reducing agent

Immunogenicity and Reactogenicity of 2009 Influenza A (H1N1) Inactivated Monovalent Non-Adjuvanted Vaccine in Elderly and Immunocompromised Patients

Background\ud \ud Immunosuppressed individuals present serious morbidity and mortality from influenza, therefore it is important to understand the safety and immunogenicity of influenza vaccination among them.\ud Methods\ud \ud This multicenter cohort study evaluated the immunogenicity and reactogenicity of an inactivated, monovalent, non-adjuvanted pandemic (H1N1) 2009 vaccine among the elderly, HIV-infected, rheumatoid arthritis (RA), cancer, kidney transplant, and juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) patients. Participants were included during routine clinical visits, and vaccinated according to conventional influenza vaccination schedules. Antibody response was measured by the hemagglutination-inhibition assay, before and 21 days after vaccination.\ud Results\ud \ud 319 patients with cancer, 260 with RA, 256 HIV-infected, 149 elderly individuals, 85 kidney transplant recipients, and 83 with JIA were included.\ud \ud The proportions of seroprotection, seroconversion, and the geometric mean titer ratios postvaccination were, respectively: 37.6%, 31.8%, and 3.2 among kidney transplant recipients, 61.5%, 53.1%, and 7.5 among RA patients, 63.1%, 55.7%, and 5.7 among the elderly, 59.0%, 54.7%, and 5.9 among HIV-infected patients, 52.4%, 49.2%, and 5.3 among cancer patients, 85.5%, 78.3%, and 16.5 among JIA patients. The vaccine was well tolerated, with no reported severe adverse events.\ud Conclusions\ud \ud The vaccine was safe among all groups, with an acceptable immunogenicity among the elderly and JIA patients, however new vaccination strategies should be explored to improve the immune response of immunocompromised adult patients. (ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT01218685)Fundação Butantan funded the study, and employed several of the authors. The funder had a role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

Associations between cesarean delivery and child mortality: A national record linkage longitudinal study of 17.8 million births in Brazil.

BACKGROUND: There is an increasing use of cesarean delivery (CD) based on preference rather than on medical indication. However, the extent to which nonmedically indicated CD benefits or harms child survival remains unclear. Our hypothesis was that in groups with a low indication for CD, this procedure would be associated with higher child mortality and in groups with a clear medical indication CD would be associated with improved child survival chances. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We conducted a population-based cohort study in Brazil by linking routine data on live births between January 1, 2012 and December 31, 2018 and assessing mortality up to 5 years of age. Women with a live birth who contributed records during this period were classified into one of 10 Robson groups based on their pregnancy and delivery characteristics. We used propensity scores to match CD with vaginal deliveries (1:1) and prelabor CD with unscheduled CD (1:1) and estimated associations with child mortality using Cox regressions. A total of 17,838,115 live births were analyzed. After propensity score matching (PSM), we found that live births to women in groups with low expected frequencies of CD (Robson groups 1 to 4) had a higher death rate up to age 5 years if they were born via CD compared with vaginal deliveries (HR = 1.25, 95% CI: 1.22 to 1.28; p < 0.001). The relative rate was greatest in the neonatal period (HR = 1.39, 95% CI: 1.34 to 1.45; p < 0.001). There was no difference in mortality rate when comparing offspring born by a prelabor CD to those born by unscheduled CD. For the live births to women with a CD in a prior pregnancy (Robson group 5), the relative rates for child mortality were similar for those born by CD compared with vaginal deliveries (HR = 1.05, 95% CI: 1.00 to 1.10; p = 0.024). In contrast, for live births to women in groups with high expected rates of CD (Robson groups 6 to 10), the child mortality rate was lower for CD than for vaginal deliveries (HR = 0.90, 95% CI: 0.89 to 0.91; p < 0.001), particularly in the neonatal period (HR = 0.84, 95% CI: 0.83 to 0.85; p < 0.001). Our results should be interpreted with caution in clinical practice, since relevant clinical data on CD indication were not available. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, we observed that in Robson groups with low expected frequencies of CD, this procedure was associated with a 25% increase in child mortality. However, in groups with high expected frequencies of CD, the findings suggest that clinically indicated CD is associated with a reduction in child mortality

Citalopram reduces aggregation of ATXN3 in a YAC transgenic mouse model of Machado-Joseph disease

Machado-Joseph disease, also known as spinocerebellar ataxia type 3, is a fatal polyglutamine disease with no disease-modifying treatment. The selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor citalopram was shown in nematode and mouse models to be a compelling repurposing candidate for Machado-Joseph disease therapeutics. We sought to confirm the efficacy of citalopram to decrease ATXN3 aggregation in an unrelated mouse model of Machado-Joseph disease. Four-week-old YACMJD84.2 mice and non-transgenic littermates were given citalopram 8 mg/kg in drinking water or water for 10 weeks. At the end of treatment, brains were collected for biochemical and pathological analyses. Brains of citalopram-treated YACMJD84.2 mice showed an approximate 50% decrease in the percentage of cells containing ATXN3-positive inclusions in the substantia nigra and three examined brainstem nuclei compared to controls. No differences in ATXN3 inclusion load were observed in deep cerebellar nuclei of mice. Citalopram effect on ATXN3 aggregate burden was corroborated by immunoblotting analysis. While lysates from the brainstem and cervical spinal cord of citalopram-treated mice showed a decrease in all soluble forms of ATXN3 and a trend toward reduction of insoluble ATXN3, no differences in ATXN3 levels were found between cerebella of citalopram-treated and vehicle-treated mice. Citalopram treatment altered levels of select components of the cellular protein homeostatic machinery that may be expected to enhance the capacity to refold and/or degrade mutant ATXN3. The results here obtained in a second independent mouse model of Machado-Joseph disease further support citalopram as a potential drug to be repurposed for this fatal disorder.This work was funded by Becky Babcox Research Fund/pilot research award G015617, University of Michigan to M.C.C. and NINDS/NIH R01NS038712 to H.L.P. The work performed at the University of Minho was funded by the European Regional Development Funds (FEDER), through the Competitiveness Factors Operational Programme (COMPETE), and by National funds, through the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), under the scope of the project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007038. This article was developed under the scope of the project NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000013, supported by the Northern Portugal Regional Operational Program (NORTE 2020), under the Portugal 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the FEDER. This work was also supported by FCT and COMPETE through the projects [PTDC/SAU-GMG/112617/2009] (to P.M.) and [EXPL/BIM-MEC/ 0239/2012] (to A.T.C.); by FCT through the project [POCI-01-0145- FEDER-016818 (PTDC/NEU-NMC/3648/2014)] (to P.M.); by National Ataxia Foundation (to P.M. and to A.T.C.); and by Ataxia UK (to P.M.). S.D.S. and A.T.C. were supported by fellowships from FCT, SFRH/BD/ 78388/2011 and SFRH/BPD/102317/2014, respectively. FCT fellowships are co-financed by POPH, QREN, Governo da República Portuguesa and EU/FSE

Repetibilidade de peso de fruto e de duração do ciclo em ameixeira e pessegueiro

O objetivo deste trabalho foi comparar o peso de fruto e a duração do ciclo entre cultivares de ameixeira e pessegueiro, estimar os coeficientes de repetibilidade e de determinação e o número de medições, para uma predição segura dessas características, e comparar diferentes métodos de estimação da repetibilidade. Os caracteres foram avaliados em 5 safras, em 9 cultivares de ameixeira (Prunus salicina) e 33 cultivares de pessegueiro (Prunus persica), em delineamento inteiramente casualizado. O coeficiente de repetibilidade foi estimado pelos métodos de análise de variância, componentes principais e análise estrutural. Foi observado o maior peso de fruto nas cultivares de ameixeira Harry Pickstone e Pluma 7 e na cultivar de pessegueiro Santa Áurea. A menor duração do ciclo ocorreu nas cultivares de ameixeira América, Irati e Methley e na cultivar de pessegueiro Granada. Os coeficientes de repetibilidade e de determinação foram altos para ambos os caracteres em ameixeira e pessegueiro. Não houve diferenças no coeficiente de repetibilidade entre os métodos utilizados. São necessárias de uma a três medições de peso de fruto, e de uma a duas medições da duração do ciclo, para obtenção dos valores genotípicos reais das cultivares de ameixeira e pessegueiro, respectivamente, com coeficiente de determinação de 90%