HIGH PREVALENCE OF Strongyloides stercoralis INFECTION AMONG THE ELDERLY IN BRAZIL

SUMMARY Little is known about the frequency of intestinal parasites in the elderly due to a lack of attention given to the occurrence of these infections among older adults. This study compares the frequency of Strongyloides stercoralis and other enteroparasites between elderly living in nursing homes (n = 100) and those noninstitutionalized (n = 100) from Uberlândia, state of Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil, associated with data of epidemiological and socio-demographic conditions. Through coproparasitological examination of both groups, enteroparasites were detected in 15 of 200 individuals examined (7.5%; CI: 5.1- 9.9). S. stercoralis was the most frequent parasite 10/200 (5%; CI: 4.2-5.8), being significantly higher in males and in individuals with autonomy for daily living activities. There were no statistical differences in the prevalence of parasites between the two groups compared. In conclusion, S. stercoralis infection was highly prevalent in elderly patients and it does not depend on whether the individual was institutionalized or not

Customization of therapy for gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma patients

Gastroesophageal adenocarcinomas (GEACs) remain a global health problem. These are most often diagnosed at advanced stage and the estimated 5-year relative survival rate is about 5%. Although cure is not possible for patients with advanced GEAC, systemic therapy (chemotherapy or biochemotherapy) can palliate symptoms, improve survival and provide a better quality of life. One of the most promising options for some patients with advanced stage GEAC is immunotherapy, which can result in durable responses. Numerous phase III trials evaluating targeted therapies in different lines are ongoing and it is hoped that better biomarkers will emerge to identify patients who can benefit from targeted agents and immunotherapy in the future. Surgery remains as the corner stone for localized GEAC and adjunctive therapies can increase the survival rates by about 10%. The high toxicity and low completion rates of adjuvant therapy led to the strategies of preoperative treatment. With the results of ongoing pre-operative therapy trials we will be able to determine the optimal adjunctive approach for resectable GEAC. Keywords: Therapy, Gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma, Esophageal adenocarcinoma, Gastric adenocarcinom

Facing the urban overheating: recent developments. Mitigation potential and sensitivity of the main technologies

Summarization: Urban overheating represents an internationally acknowledged anthropogenic phenomenon related to climate change and to the massive shift of population worldwide toward urban areas, which are increasingly enlarging their size and density. The consequences of this urban warming (i.e., urban heat island) may compromise citizens’ quality of life in urban areas, indoor and outdoor comfort perception, and building energy performance in summer conditions. In this panorama, this review presents recent contributions demonstrating the effectiveness and urgent need of existing mitigation strategies. The same strategies are also comparatively assessed by means of a sensitivity analysis demonstrating their effect with varying climate conditions and urban context. Results of existing studies, validated by the present assessment, aimed at quantitatively investigating the effect of mitigation strategies for reducing building cooling needs and enhancing urban well-being, thanks to international scientific effort carried out in the last decades. To this aim, the logical flow of the review deals with the main technologies for urban warming mitigation are described, together with the main findings of numerical and experimental research initiatives, demonstrating the field effect of improving pedestrians comfort and urban well-being all around the world. Then, the mitigation potential of key green, water and cool strategies is critically reviewed, and further scientific and implementation needs are discussed. All the reviewed contributions demonstrate an undeniable technology readiness level for their practical implementation and highlight the true necessity of a shared and synergistic policy effort worldwide. This article is categorized under: Energy and Urban Design > Systems and Infrastructure Concentrating Solar Power > Climate and Environment Energy Efficiency > Climate and Environment.Presented on

Rapid transformation of wildfire emissions to harmful background aerosol

Abstract Wildfires are a significant source of organic aerosol during summer, with major impacts on air quality and climate. However, studies in Europe suggest a surprisingly low (less than 10%) contribution of biomass burning organic aerosol to average summertime fine particulate matter levels. In this study we combine field measurements and atmospheric chemical transport modeling, to demonstrate that the contribution of wildfires to fine particle levels in Europe during summer is seriously underestimated. Our work suggests that the corresponding contribution has been underestimated by a factor of 4–7 and that wildfires were responsible for approximately half of the total OA in Europe during July 2022. This discrepancy with previous work is due to the rapid physicochemical transformation of these emissions to secondary oxidized organic aerosol with an accompanying loss of its organic chemical fingerprints. These atmospheric reactions lead to a regionally distributed background organic aerosol that is responsible for a significant fraction of the health-related impacts caused by fine particles in Europe and probably in other continents. These adverse health effects can occur hundreds or even thousands of kilometers away from the fires. We estimate that wildfire emissions are responsible for 15–22% of the deaths in Europe due to exposure to fine particulate matter during summer