Chagas disease and HIV co-infection: genetic analyses of two Trypanosoma cruzi strains under experimental immunosuppression

BACKGROUND: Recently new aspects of the immunopathology of Chagas disease have been described in patients infected with HIV and unusual clinical manifestations such as cutaneous lesions, involvement of central nervous system and/or serious cardiac lesions related to the reactivation of the parasite have been reported. Two uncloned Trypanosoma cruzi strains previously isolated from chronic chagasic patients with HIV co-infection were studied in order to evaluate the impact of the immunosuppression on the genetic diversity of the parasite. RESULTS: We have exploited an experimental model to determine whether genetically distinct populations appear after immunosuppression as a consequence of in vivo selection or in vitro propagation. The in vitro and in vivo conditions have allowed us to study the selected populations. The first strain was isolated from a case of reactivation of Chagas disease in a patient which presented four cerebral lesions. It was possible to demonstrate that the patient was infected with at least three distinct populations of T. cruzi. The population, recovered after immunosuppression, in mice was genetically divergent from the primary human isolate. The second strain, isolated from a hemophiliac/HIV positive patient presenting cardiac manifestation of Chagas disease showed no marked genetic difference after experimental immunosuppression. CONCLUSION: The immunological condition of the patient, associated or not to the reactivation of the infection, and also the strain of the parasite may have an important role during the course of the disease. The in vivo mechanism that generates parasite genetic variability or the participation of the selection under stress conditions will require further investigation

A ESPACIALIZAÇÃO E A TERRITORIALIZAÇÃO DAS ESCOLAS DE ENSINO MÉDIO DO CAMPO EM ASSENTAMENTOS DE REFORMA AGRÁRIA: CONSTRUÇÃO COLETIVA E EM MOVIMENTO NO CEARÁ

The present work is the result of a research for a master’s thesis and it has as its central goal to analyze field education in the state of Ceará and whose object is the field secondary school at the agrarian reform settlements from the Landless Rural Workers’ Movement (MST). We sought to contribute to the debate over this theme from the struggle of the social movements in the construction of field education, a new concept and a new proposal which oppose to the current hegemonic education model. Therefore, it is a recent phenomenon in collective and ongoing construction in the country and in Ceará.O presente trabalho é fruto de uma pesquisa de mestrado e tem como objetivo central analisar a educação do campo no estado do Ceará, tendo como objeto a escola de ensino médio do campo dos assentamentos de reforma agrária do Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra. Procuramos contribuir para o debate do tema a partir da luta dos movimentos sociais na construção da educação do campo, um novo conceito e uma nova proposta que se contrapõem ao modelo hegemônico de educação vigente. Portanto, um fenômeno recente, em construção coletiva e em movimento no País e no Ceará

Lugar de vida: ten years

In this issue, we commemorate 10 years in the life of 'Lugar de Vida' - a treatment institution for the autistic or pychotic child. We discuss the theoretical axes that organize the work there, the institutional guides for it and the Therapeutic Education as it is practiced in that institution.Nesta edição em que se comemoram os dez anos de funcionamento do Lugar de Vida - instituição para o tratamento de crianças psicóticas e autistas - , pretende-se fazer uma reflexão sobre os eixos teóricos em torno dos quais se organiza o trabalho clínico-educacional daquela instituição. Aborda-se a dimensão institucional como ferramenta terapêutica do tratamento, bem como o âmbito da Educação Terapêutica ali praticada

The expressibility of modality in representational complement clauses in Brazilian Portuguese

This paper deals with the (im)possibility of expressing a variety of modal categories within the context of the layering approach to complementation in Functional Discourse Grammar (FDG).Our hypothesis is that modal expressions in complement clauses only pertain to operator or modifier classes of the highest layer relevant for that type of embedded construction and for all lower levels. In order to test this hypothesis, occurrences of complement clauses in two databases of spoken Brazilian Portuguese are analyzed. The investigation of this hypothesis is restricted to representational complement clauses

Herbicidal and Plant-growth Stimulating Effects of Phenolic Compounds Isolated from Lichens

The depsides atranorin (7) and diffractaic acid (1), the depsidones hypostictic (2) protocetraric (3), salazinic (4) acids, the xanthone secalonic acid (5), and usnic acid (6) were evaluated for their phytotoxic potentials against the target species Allium cepa cv. Baia periforme (onion, Monocotyledoneae). The bioassays, carried out under laboratory conditions, revealed that diffractaic (1) and hypostictic (2) acids stimulated plant growth; secalonic acid (5) stimulated seed germination and radicle growth, while reducing coleoptile length. Usnic acid (6) promoted seed germination and stronger inhibition of radicle and coleoptile growth. Protocetraric (3) and salazinic (4) acids and atranorin (7) exhibited a herbicidal effect, inhibiting seed germination and reducing radicle and coleoptile growth—features that suggest their utility as natural herbicides. These results invite further investigation to elucidate the mode of action of these compounds and to synthesize them for field experiments. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17807/orbital.v7i3.75

Report from the BfR expert hearing on practicability of hormonal measurements: recommendations for experimental design of toxicological studies with integrated hormonal end points

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Acute norovirus gastroenteritis in children in a highly rotavirus-vaccinated population in Northeast Brazil.

Background: Gastroenteritis is one of the most important causes of morbidity and mortality in children and an important etiological agent is norovirus. Objective: We describe the occurrence and characteristics of norovirus diarrhoea in children from Sergipe, Northeast-Brazil, over two consecutive periods of three years following rotavirus vaccine introduction. Study design: A cross sectional hospital-based survey conducted from October-2006 to September-2009 and from July-2011 to January-2013. Acute diarrhoea cases had a stool sample collected and tested for norovirus by RT-PCR and positive samples were sequenced. Results: In total 280 (19.6%) of 1432 samples were norovirus positive, including 204 (18.3%) of 1,113 samples collected during the first period and 76 (23.9%) of 318 collected during the second period. The proportion of children with norovirus infection increased significantly through the second study period (χ2 for trend = 6.7; p = 0.009), was more frequent in rotavirus vaccinated and in younger children (p < 0.001). Of 280 norovirus-positive specimens, 188 (67.1%) were sequenced. Of these, 12 were genogroup I and 176 genogroup II. The main genotype was GII.4 (149/188, 79.3%), followed by GII.2 (6, 3.2%) and GII.6 (5, 2.6%). Conclusion: Norovirus annual detection rates increased over the study period. The detection of norovirus was higher among young children