109 research outputs found

    Análise espacial do período chuvoso em Minas Gerais.

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    Este trabalho analisa os dados provenientes de séries pluviométricas de 430 estações no Estado de Minas Gerais, Brasil. Das estações analisadas, 192 tiveram períodos compreendidos entre 30 e 65 anos de medições e o restante com mais de 50 anos. Após proceder à análise de consistência dos dados, foram elaborados mapas de precipitação média anual, mapas do início do período chuvoso, término e duração. Os resultados mostram que as áreas de menores índices pluviométricos são as de maior risco de déficit hídrico, isto é, possuem má distribuição das precipitações ao longo do ano. As regiões de maiores incidências de chuvas de alta intensidade são o Triângulo Mineiro, Região Metropolitana de Belo Horizonte, Vale do Rio Doce e Zona da Mata. Dentre essas, apenas a região do Triângulo Mineiro não apresenta relevo acidentado. O período chuvoso em Minas Gerais começa nas regiões oeste, sul e Triângulo (primeira e segunda semana de outubro). O período chuvoso na região nordeste começa somente na segunda semana de novembro e o término acontece nas duas primeiras semanas de março. O trabalho é de grande importância para a agricultura de Minas Gerais, oferecendo subsídios para os agricultores, agentes financeiros e investidores

    Pregnancy during COVID-19: social contact patterns and vaccine coverage of pregnant women from CoMix in 19 European countries.

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    BACKGROUND Evidence and advice for pregnant women evolved during the COVID-19 pandemic. We studied social contact behaviour and vaccine uptake in pregnant women between March 2020 and September 2021 in 19 European countries. METHODS In each country, repeated online survey data were collected from a panel of nationally-representative participants. We calculated the adjusted mean number of contacts reported with an individual-level generalized additive mixed model, modelled using the negative binomial distribution and a log link function. Mean proportion of people in isolation or quarantine, and vaccination coverage by pregnancy status and gender were calculated using a clustered bootstrap. FINDINGS We recorded 4,129 observations from 1,041 pregnant women, and 115,359 observations from 29,860 non-pregnant individuals aged 18-49. Pregnant women made slightly fewer contacts (3.6, 95%CI = 3.5-3.7) than non-pregnant women (4.0, 95%CI = 3.9-4.0), driven by fewer work contacts but marginally more contacts in non-essential social settings. Approximately 15-20% pregnant and 5% of non-pregnant individuals reported to be in isolation and quarantine for large parts of the study period. COVID-19 vaccine coverage was higher in pregnant women than in non-pregnant women between January and April 2021. Since May 2021, vaccination in non-pregnant women began to increase and surpassed that in pregnant women. INTERPRETATION Limited social contact to avoid pathogen exposure during the COVID-19 pandemic has been a challenge to many, especially women going through pregnancy. More recognition of maternal social support desire is needed in the ongoing pandemic. As COVID-19 vaccination continues to remain an important pillar of outbreak response, strategies to promote correct information can provide reassurance and facilitate informed pregnancy vaccine decisions in this vulnerable group

    Determinação das áreas de potencial de riscos de precipitações intensas em Belo Horizonte.

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    A áreas urbanas têm sido objeto de estudos climatológicos por causa da formação de "ilhas de calor", entretanto, as chuvas intensas são as responsáveis por causar os principais desastres. Eventos extremos de precipitações têm aumentado significativamente nas últimas duas décadas no município de Belo Horizonte, ocasionando enchentes urbanas, desabamentos de casas e desmoronamentos. A instalação de uma rede de pluviômetros para a coleta de dados durante a estação chuvosa 2003/04 na região metropolitana, permitiu a análise espacial das precipitações, regionalização dos dados, elaboração de um mapa de regiões com alto potencial de chuvas intensas e a elaboração de alertas diários de tempestades severas

    Analysis through control charts of the number of guests of a hotel establishment in Aracaju, Sergipe, Brazil.

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    Made available in DSpace on 2018-01-23T16:07:06Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 a17v38n26p04.pdf: 701084 bytes, checksum: ae7f32a5ef042c018f6356a6e3ce33f8 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-01-23bitstream/item/171541/1/a17v38n26p04.pd

    Adult Drosophila melanogaster evolved for antibacterial defense invest in infection-induced expression of both humoral and cellular immunity genes

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    <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>While the transcription of innate immunity genes in response to bacterial infection has been well-characterised in the Drosophila model, we recently demonstrated the capacity for such transcription to evolve in flies selected for improved antibacterial defense. Here we use this experimental system to examine how insects invest in constitutive versus infection-induced transcription of immunity genes. These two strategies carry with them different consequences with respect to energetic and pleiotropic costs and may be more or less effective in improving defense depending on whether the genes contribute to humoral or cellular aspects of immunity.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>Contrary to expectation we show that selection preferentially increased the infection-induced expression of both cellular and humoral immunity genes. Given their functional roles, infection induced increases in expression were expected for the humoral genes, while increases in constitutive expression were expected for the cellular genes. We also report a restricted ability to improve transcription of immunity genes that is on the order of 2-3 fold regardless of total transcription level of the gene.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The evolved increases in infection-induced expression of the cellular genes may result from specific cross talk with humoral pathways or from generalised strategies for enhancing immunity gene transcription. A failure to see improvements in constitutive expression of the cellular genes suggests either that increases might come at too great a cost or that patterns of expression in adults are decoupled from the larval phase where increases would be most effective. The similarity in fold change increase across all immunity genes may suggest a shared mechanism for the evolution of increased transcription in small, discrete units such as duplication of <it>cis</it>-regulatory elements.</p

    New herbal bitter liqueur with high antioxidant activity and lower sugar content: innovative approach to liqueurs formulations

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    Herbal liqueurs are spirits with numerous functional properties, due to the presence of bioactive extractable compounds deriving from herbs. The aim of this study was to obtain new herbal bitter liqueur (HBL) on the basis of twelve selected bitter and aromatic plants extracts, with an optimal sensory profile for consumer acceptance. Also, the determination of optimal sugar content in HBL was done. Furthermore, antioxidant (AO) capacity and total phenolic content (TPC) of HBL was evaluated and compared to similar commercial herbal spirits. Among five tested formulations, assessed by 9-point hedonic scale, HBL with the ratio of bitter and aromatic plants 1:4 was the most acceptable. Ideal concentration of sugar in HBL, determined using a just-about-right scale, was found to be 80.32 g/l of sucrose, which is approximately 20% less than the minimum stipulated by European Union Regulation and several times lower than in the majority of commercial liqueurs. Obtained result indicates the possibility of sugar reduction in liqueurs, and suggests the need to carry out sensory analysis before production of these high-calorie beverages. Radical scavenging ability against DPPH and ABTS radicals, as well as ferric reducing antioxidant power and TPC of HBL were convincingly superior in comparison to similar commercial herbal alcoholic beverages. High correlation coefficients between TPC and other assays applied strongly support the significant role of the polyphenols in the total AO capacity of the HBL and other tested commercial herbal spirits. Headspace GC/MS revealed that the most abundant terpenes were menthone (3.75%), eucalyptol (3.42%) and menthol (3.10%), whereas methanol was present in a small amount (4.97 mg/l)

    Effects of hospital facilities on patient outcomes after cancer surgery: an international, prospective, observational study

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    Background Early death after cancer surgery is higher in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) compared with in high-income countries, yet the impact of facility characteristics on early postoperative outcomes is unknown. The aim of this study was to examine the association between hospital infrastructure, resource availability, and processes on early outcomes after cancer surgery worldwide.Methods A multimethods analysis was performed as part of the GlobalSurg 3 study-a multicentre, international, prospective cohort study of patients who had surgery for breast, colorectal, or gastric cancer. The primary outcomes were 30-day mortality and 30-day major complication rates. Potentially beneficial hospital facilities were identified by variable selection to select those associated with 30-day mortality. Adjusted outcomes were determined using generalised estimating equations to account for patient characteristics and country-income group, with population stratification by hospital.Findings Between April 1, 2018, and April 23, 2019, facility-level data were collected for 9685 patients across 238 hospitals in 66 countries (91 hospitals in 20 high-income countries; 57 hospitals in 19 upper-middle-income countries; and 90 hospitals in 27 low-income to lower-middle-income countries). The availability of five hospital facilities was inversely associated with mortality: ultrasound, CT scanner, critical care unit, opioid analgesia, and oncologist. After adjustment for case-mix and country income group, hospitals with three or fewer of these facilities (62 hospitals, 1294 patients) had higher mortality compared with those with four or five (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 3.85 [95% CI 2.58-5.75]; p&lt;0.0001), with excess mortality predominantly explained by a limited capacity to rescue following the development of major complications (63.0% vs 82.7%; OR 0.35 [0.23-0.53]; p&lt;0.0001). Across LMICs, improvements in hospital facilities would prevent one to three deaths for every 100 patients undergoing surgery for cancer.Interpretation Hospitals with higher levels of infrastructure and resources have better outcomes after cancer surgery, independent of country income. Without urgent strengthening of hospital infrastructure and resources, the reductions in cancer-associated mortality associated with improved access will not be realised

    The association between alcohol use, alcohol use disorders and tuberculosis (TB). A systematic review

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    <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In 2004, tuberculosis (TB) was responsible for 2.5% of global mortality (among men 3.1%; among women 1.8%) and 2.2% of global burden of disease (men 2.7%; women 1.7%). The present work portrays accumulated evidence on the association between alcohol consumption and TB with the aim to clarify the nature of the relationship.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A systematic review of existing scientific data on the association between alcohol consumption and TB, and on studies relevant for clarification of causality was undertaken.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>There is a strong association between heavy alcohol use/alcohol use disorders (AUD) and TB. A meta-analysis on the risk of TB for these factors yielded a pooled relative risk of 2.94 (95% CI: 1.89-4.59). Numerous studies show pathogenic impact of alcohol on the immune system causing susceptibility to TB among heavy drinkers. In addition, there are potential social pathways linking AUD and TB. Heavy alcohol use strongly influences both the incidence and the outcome of the disease and was found to be linked to altered pharmacokinetics of medicines used in treatment of TB, social marginalization and drift, higher rate of re-infection, higher rate of treatment defaults and development of drug-resistant forms of TB. Based on the available data, about 10% of the TB cases globally were estimated to be attributable to alcohol.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The epidemiological and other evidence presented indicates that heavy alcohol use/AUD constitute a risk factor for incidence and re-infection of TB. Consequences for prevention and clinical interventions are discussed.</p
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