Trypanosoma cruzi high infectivity in vitro is related to cardiac lesions during long-term infection in Beagledogs

Trypanosoma cruzi is a hemoflagelate parasite associated with heart dysfunctions causing serious problems in Central and South America. Beagle dogs develop the symptoms of Chagas disease in humans, and could be an important experimental model for better understanding the immunopathogenic mechanisms involved in the chagasic infection. In the present study we investigated the relation among biological factors inherent to the parasite (trypomastigote polymorphism and in vitro infectivity) and immunoglobulin production, inflammation, and fibrosis in the heart of Beagle dogs infected with either T. cruzi Y or Berenice-78 strains. In vitro infectivity of Vero cells as well as the extension of cardiac lesions in infected Beagle was higher for Y strain when compared to Berenice-78 strain. These data suggested that in vitro infectivity assays may correlate with pathogenicity in vivo. In fact, animals infected with Y strain, which shows prevalence of slender forms and high infectivity in vitro, presented cardiomegaly, inflammation, and fibrosis in heart area. Concerning the immunoglobulin production, no statistically significant difference was observed for IgA, IgM or IgG levels among T. cruzi infected animals. However, IgA together IgM levels have shown to be a good marker for the acute phase of Chagas disease

Organizational Practices for Learning with work accidents

O SHO 2010, Colóquio Internacional de Segurança e Higiene OcupacionaAs estatísticas europeias revelam que os acidentes de trabalho representam ainda um problema social importante para a nossa sociedade (Comissão Europeia, 2004) e, ao mesmo tempo, tem sido reconhecida a necessidade de usar a informação dos acidentes para a prevenção, através da aprendizagem (p. ex., Koornneef, 2000; Toft & Reynolds, 1997). O enfoque na aprendizagem salienta a necessidade de se ter informação disponível, disseminada, discutida, e mudanças implementadas. De acordo com Reason (1997) a aprendizagem decorre ao longo de um ciclo que começa com a observação de um acontecimento e termina com a acção que permite evitar a sua repetição. Até à data foram realizados poucos estudos que tenham abrangido todo o processo e etapas da aprendizagem ao longo do ciclo. O presente estudo visa contribuir para o aumento da compreensão sobre o modo como as empresas estão a usar a informação dos acidentes de trabalho para o desenvolvimento de estratégias e práticas de aprendizagem, tendo em consideração todas as fases do ciclo. Realizaram-se dezassete estudos de caso com organizações portuguesas que operam em diferentes sectores de actividade que foram identificadas como tendo “boas práticas”.Os dados foram recolhidos por meio de entrevistas semi- estruturadas realizadas com pessoas-chave na área da Segurança e/ou Recursos Humanos. Os resultados sugerem que as organizações estudadas têm alguns procedimentos bem definidos para a recolha, registo, codificação e análise de informações de acidentes. Simultaneamente, observa-se que alguns procedimentos são caracterizados pela não-padronização. Palavras-chave: apEuropean statistics show that accidents at work are still a major social problem for our society (European Commission, 2004) and at the same time, it has been recognized the need to use the information for accident prevention through learning (eg., Koornneef, 2000; Toft & Reynolds, 1997). The focus on learning emphasizes the need to have information available, disseminated, discussed, and changes need to be implemented. According to Reason (1997) learning takes place over a cycle that begins with the observation of an event and ends with action to prevent its recurrence. To date few studies have been conducted that have covered the whole process and stages of learning throughout the cycle. This study aims to contribute to increased understanding of how companies are using the information on accidents at work to develop strategies and practices of learning, taking into account all phases of the cycle. Seventeen case studies were conducted within Portuguese organizations from different activity sectors that have been identified as having "good practice". Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with key people in the area of safety and/or Human Resources Management. The results suggest that the organizations studied have some well-defined procedures for the collection, recording, coding and analysis of accidents. Simultaneously, we observed that some procedures are characterized by nonstandardization

Organizational Practices for Learning with work accidents

O SHO 2010, Colóquio Internacional de Segurança e Higiene OcupacionaAs estatísticas europeias revelam que os acidentes de trabalho representam ainda um problema social importante para a nossa sociedade (Comissão Europeia, 2004) e, ao mesmo tempo, tem sido reconhecida a necessidade de usar a informação dos acidentes para a prevenção, através da aprendizagem (p. ex., Koornneef, 2000; Toft & Reynolds, 1997). O enfoque na aprendizagem salienta a necessidade de se ter informação disponível, disseminada, discutida, e mudanças implementadas. De acordo com Reason (1997) a aprendizagem decorre ao longo de um ciclo que começa com a observação de um acontecimento e termina com a acção que permite evitar a sua repetição. Até à data foram realizados poucos estudos que tenham abrangido todo o processo e etapas da aprendizagem ao longo do ciclo. O presente estudo visa contribuir para o aumento da compreensão sobre o modo como as empresas estão a usar a informação dos acidentes de trabalho para o desenvolvimento de estratégias e práticas de aprendizagem, tendo em consideração todas as fases do ciclo. Realizaram-se dezassete estudos de caso com organizações portuguesas que operam em diferentes sectores de actividade que foram identificadas como tendo “boas práticas”.Os dados foram recolhidos por meio de entrevistas semi- estruturadas realizadas com pessoas-chave na área da Segurança e/ou Recursos Humanos. Os resultados sugerem que as organizações estudadas têm alguns procedimentos bem definidos para a recolha, registo, codificação e análise de informações de acidentes. Simultaneamente, observa-se que alguns procedimentos são caracterizados pela não-padronização. Palavras-chave: apEuropean statistics show that accidents at work are still a major social problem for our society (European Commission, 2004) and at the same time, it has been recognized the need to use the information for accident prevention through learning (eg., Koornneef, 2000; Toft & Reynolds, 1997). The focus on learning emphasizes the need to have information available, disseminated, discussed, and changes need to be implemented. According to Reason (1997) learning takes place over a cycle that begins with the observation of an event and ends with action to prevent its recurrence. To date few studies have been conducted that have covered the whole process and stages of learning throughout the cycle. This study aims to contribute to increased understanding of how companies are using the information on accidents at work to develop strategies and practices of learning, taking into account all phases of the cycle. Seventeen case studies were conducted within Portuguese organizations from different activity sectors that have been identified as having "good practice". Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with key people in the area of safety and/or Human Resources Management. The results suggest that the organizations studied have some well-defined procedures for the collection, recording, coding and analysis of accidents. Simultaneously, we observed that some procedures are characterized by nonstandardization

A Multi-Analytical study of Rock Paintings from Leandro 5 Megalithic Barrow, North-Weastern Portugal

The colourant composition of a northern Portugal megalithic barrow decorated with ‘solar’ motifs was studied using a multi-analytical approach, allowing the characterisa- tion of the painting techniques, pigments and binders. The red pigment was prepared with iron oxide minerals, using vegetal oils as organic additives, while the black pigment was char- coal without any organic additives or binders. The solar motif was first drawn with charcoal and subsequently painted with a red pigment.The work was supported by UID/QUI/50006/2019 with funding from FCT/MCTES through national funds. César Oliveira acknowledges Instituto de Ciências e Tecnologias Agrárias e Agro-Alimentares, Porto (ICETA), for his contract under project NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000011. This work was also developed under the project ‘Funerary and ceremonial practices between the Neolithic and the Bronze Age approached by archaeometry’ (ARQUEOM/Project-Sept2014)

Proposal for a definition for response to treatment, inactive disease and damage for JIA associated uveitis based on the validation of a uveitis related JIA outcome measures from the Multinational Interdisciplinary Working Group for Uveitis in Childhood (MIWGUC)

Correction: PEDIATRIC RHEUMATOLOGY Volume: 18 Issue: 1 Article Number: 14 DOI: 10.1186/s12969-019-0396-4Background JIA-associated uveitis (JIAU) is a serious, sight-threatening disease with significant long-term complications and risk of blindness, even with improved contemporary treatments. The MIWGUC was set up in order to propose specific JIAU activity and response items and to validate their applicability for clinical outcome studies. Methods The group consists of 8 paediatric rheumatologists and 7 ophthalmologists. A consensus meeting took place on November 2015 in Barcelona (Spain) with the objective of validating the previously proposed measures. The validation process was based on the results of a prospective open, international, multi-centre, cohort study designed to validate the outcome measures proposed by the initial MIWGUC group meeting in 2012. The meeting used the same Delphi and nominal group technique as previously described in the first paper from the MIWGUC group (Arthritis Care Res 64:1365-72, 2012). Patients were included with a diagnosis of JIA, aged less than 18 years, and with active uveitis or an uveitis flare which required treatment with a disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug. The proposed outcome measures for uveitis were collected by an ophthalmologist and for arthritis by a paediatric rheumatologist. Patient reported outcome measures were also measured. Results A total of 82 patients were enrolled into the validation cohort. Fifty four percent (n = 44) had persistent oligoarthritis followed by rheumatoid factor negative polyarthritis (n = 15, 18%). The mean uveitis disease duration was 3.3 years (SD 3.0). Bilateral eye involvement was reported in 65 (79.3%) patients. The main findings are that the most significant changes, from baseline to 6 months, are found in the AC activity measures of cells and flare. These measures correlate with the presence of pre-existing structural complications and this has implications for the reporting of trials using a single measure as a primary outcome. We also found that visual analogue scales of disease activity showed significant change when reported by the ophthalmologist, rheumatologist and families. The measures formed three relatively distinct groups. The first group of measures comprised uveitis activity, ocular damage and the ophthalmologists' VAS. The second comprised patient reported outcomes including disruption to school attendance. The third group consisted of the rheumatologists' VAS and the joint score. Conclusions We propose distinctive and clinically significant measures of disease activity, severity and damage for JIAU. This effort is the initial step for developing a comprehensive outcome measures for JIAU, which incorporates the perspectives of rheumatologists, ophthalmologists, patients and families.Peer reviewe

Vaccinia Virus Infection in Monkeys, Brazilian Amazon

To detect orthopoxvirus in the Brazilian Amazon, we conducted a serosurvey of 344 wild animals. Neutralizing antibodies against orthopoxvirus were detected by plaque-reduction neutralizing tests in 84 serum samples. Amplicons from 6 monkey samples were sequenced. These amplicons identified vaccinia virus genetically similar to strains from bovine vaccinia outbreaks in Brazil

Anisotropy and chemical composition of ultra-high energy cosmic rays using arrival directions measured by the Pierre Auger Observatory

The Pierre Auger Collaboration has reported evidence for anisotropy in the distribution of arrival directions of the cosmic rays with energies $E>E_{th}=5.5\times 10^{19}$ eV. These show a correlation with the distribution of nearby extragalactic objects, including an apparent excess around the direction of Centaurus A. If the particles responsible for these excesses at $E>E_{th}$ are heavy nuclei with charge $Z$, the proton component of the sources should lead to excesses in the same regions at energies $E/Z$. We here report the lack of anisotropies in these directions at energies above $E_{th}/Z$ (for illustrative values of $Z=6,\ 13,\ 26$). If the anisotropies above $E_{th}$ are due to nuclei with charge $Z$, and under reasonable assumptions about the acceleration process, these observations imply stringent constraints on the allowed proton fraction at the lower energies

Guidance on noncorticosteroid systemic immunomodulatory therapy in noninfectious uveitis: fundamentals of care for uveitis (focus) initiative

Topic: An international, expert-led consensus initiative to develop systematic, evidence-based recommendations for the treatment of noninfectious uveitis in the era of biologics. Clinical Relevance: The availability of biologic agents for the treatment of human eye disease has altered practice patterns for the management of noninfectious uveitis. Current guidelines are insufficient to assure optimal use of noncorticosteroid systemic immunomodulatory agents. Methods: An international expert steering committee comprising 9 uveitis specialists (including both ophthalmologists and rheumatologists) identified clinical questions and, together with 6 bibliographic fellows trained in uveitis, conducted a Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses protocol systematic reviewof the literature (English language studies from January 1996 through June 2016; Medline [OVID], the Central Cochrane library, EMBASE,CINAHL,SCOPUS,BIOSIS, andWeb of Science). Publications included randomized controlled trials, prospective and retrospective studies with sufficient follow-up, case series with 15 cases or more, peer-reviewed articles, and hand-searched conference abstracts from key conferences. The proposed statements were circulated among 130 international uveitis experts for review.Atotal of 44 globally representativegroupmembersmet in late 2016 to refine these guidelines using a modified Delphi technique and assigned Oxford levels of evidence. Results: In total, 10 questions were addressed resulting in 21 evidence-based guidance statements covering the following topics: when to start noncorticosteroid immunomodulatory therapy, including both biologic and nonbiologic agents; what data to collect before treatment; when to modify or withdraw treatment; how to select agents based on individual efficacy and safety profiles; and evidence in specific uveitic conditions. Shared decision-making, communication among providers and safety monitoring also were addressed as part of the recommendations. Pharmacoeconomic considerations were not addressed. Conclusions: Consensus guidelines were developed based on published literature, expert opinion, and practical experience to bridge the gap between clinical needs and medical evidence to support the treatment of patients with noninfectious uveitis with noncorticosteroid immunomodulatory agents