p518, a small floR plasmid from a South American isolate of Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae

A small (3.9 kb) plasmid (p518), conferring resistance to florfenicol (MIC >8 μg/mL) and chloramphenicol (MIC >8 μg/mL) was isolated from an Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae clinical isolate from Southeastern Brazil. To date, this is the smallest florfenicol resistance plasmid isolated from a member of the Pasteurellaceae. The complete nucleotide of this plasmid revealed a unique gene arrangement compared to previously reported florfenicol resistance plasmids found in other members of the Pasteurellaceae. In addition to the floR gene and a lysR gene, common to various florfenicol resistance plasmids, p518 also encodes strA and a partial strB sequence. An origin of replication (oriV) similar to that in the broad host range plasmid, pLS88, was identified in p518, and transformation into Escherichia coli MFDpir confirmed the ability to replicate in other species. Mobilisation genes appear to have been lost, with only a partial mobC sequence remaining, and attempts to transfer p518 from a conjugal donor strain (E. coli MFDpir) were not successful, suggesting this plasmid is not mobilisable. Similarly, attempts to transfer p518 into a competent A. pleuropneumoniae strain, MIDG2331, by natural transformation were also not successful. These results suggest that p518 may be only transferred by vertical descent

Computer simulation of simultaneous evolution of individual texture components During recrystallization of an IF steel

Computer simulation of simultaneous evolution of individual texture components during recrystallization of an IF steel is carried out. A new methodology has been developed that takes as its starting point experimental data of each texture component evolving during recrystallization. In particular, Magnusson et al. data on IF steel was analyzed in a previous work with the help of the exact analytical tools developed by Rios and Villa for simultaneous transformations. From this analysis parameters such as number of nuclei of each texture component per unit of volume could be obtained and were employed as input for the present computer simulation. From this input 3-d microstructures could then be generated. The methodology proposed here combines experimental data, exact analytical methods and computer simulation and may be employed to extract the maximum information from the experimental data

Depression Among Portuguese Pregnant Women During Covid-19 Lockdown: A Cross Sectional Study

Introduction: Coronavirus disease 2019 was declared as a pandemic on March 2020. Research on its psychological effects is still lacking. Perinatal depression is a medical complication of pregnancy, especially in situations of stress. In this study, we aimed to investigate the presence of symptoms of depression in pregnant women during the lockdown period in Portugal. Methods: This study consisted in a cross-sectional study among Portuguese pregnant women, who completed an online self-report questionnaire between 25th April and 30th April 2020. An anonymous online questionnaire was developed to assess depression and concerns related to COVID-19. This study was approved by the IRB of Hospital Dona Estefânia and performed in accordance with the ethical standards laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki. Eligibility criteria included pregnant women, ≥ 18 years and living in Portugal. The primary outcome was to evaluate the presence of depressive symptoms and its association to socio-demographic characteristics and to concerns related to COVID-19. Results: A total of 1698 pregnant women were enrolled. The mean age was 31.9 years. 82.4% felt a negative impact of the pandemic in the surveillance of pregnancy and 43% felt insufficient support. 26.3% showed "possible depression" according to the EPDS. A regression analysis revealed the possibility of depression increased as the concerns about COVID increased and was lower for women with support. The possibility of depression was higher for women with psychiatric medical history. Conclusion: This study demonstrated a significant increase in clinically significant depressive symptoms in pregnant women during the lockdown. It also revealed some of the socio-demographic characteristics of women at risk for depression. If left untreated, depression tends to persist, affecting the woman and also the child. Our findings suggest that COVID-19 represents a serious challenge for this population and reinforce the urgent need for early detection and intervention on mental health issues during pregnancy, especially during the pandemic.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A democracia como um terreno em disputa: as tensões do liberalismo com a ampliação dos direitos políticos

O conceito de democracia foi sempre um terreno de disputa. Nesse sentido, a sua significação assume tons diferentes conforme o seu contexto histórico e geopolítico. Apesar disso, naturalizou-se uma relação indissolúvel entre democracia e liberalismo, que não corresponde à história do pensamento político liberal, tampouco o regime político instaurado pelas revoluções burguesas. Para desvelar tal questão, este estudo objetiva analisar a contradição entre o liberalismo (em particular, de Benjamin Constant e Alexy de Tocqueville) e a ampliação dos direitos políticos a partir da adoção do sufrágio universal

Application of amorphous carbon based materials as antireflective coatings on crystalline silicon solar cells

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)We report on the investigation of the potential application of different forms of amorphous carbon (a-C and a-C:H) as an antireflective coating for crystalline silicon solar cells. Polymeric-like carbon (PLC) and hydrogenated diamond-like carbon films were deposited by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition. Tetrahedral amorphous carbon (ta-C) was deposited by the filtered cathodic vacuum arc technique. Those three different amorphous carbon structures were individually applied as single antireflective coatings on conventional (polished and texturized) p-n junction crystalline silicon solar cells. Due to their optical properties, good results were also obtained for double-layer antireflective coatings based on PLC or ta-C films combined with different materials. The results are compared with a conventional tin dioxide (SnO(2)) single-layer antireflective coating and zinc sulfide/magnesium fluoride (ZnS/MgF(2)) double-layer antireflective coatings. An increase of 23.7% in the short-circuit current density, J(sc), was obtained using PLC as an antireflective coating and 31.7% was achieved using a double-layer of PLC with a layer of magnesium fluoride (MgF(2)). An additional increase of 10.8% was obtained in texturized silicon, representing a total increase (texturization + double-layer) of about 40% in the short-circuit current density. The potential use of these materials are critically addressed considering their refractive index, optical bandgap, absorption coefficient, hardness, chemical inertness, and mechanical stability. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3622515]1104Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Brazilian financial research agency MCTConselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq

The effectiveness of public health interventions to reduce the health impact of climate change:a systematic review of systematic reviews

Climate change is likely to be one of the most important threats to public health in the coming years. Yet despite the large number of papers considering the health impact of climate change, few have considered what public health interventions may be of most value in reducing the disease burden. We aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of public health interventions to reduce the disease burden of high priority climate sensitive diseases

Human Echinococcosis Mortality in the United States, 1990–2007

Human echinococcosis is a parasitic disease that affects an estimated 2–3 million people and results in an annual monetary loss of over $750,000,000 worldwide. It results in the development of life threatening tissue cysts, primarily in the liver and lung, following accidental ingestion of eggs in infected dog, fox or wild canine feces. Echinococcus parasites have a complex, two-host lifecycle (such as in dogs and sheep) in which humans are an aberrant, dead-end host. The vast majority of cases of human echinococcosis occur outside of the United States (US); however, cases within the US do occur. In this study, the authors examined death certificate data of US residents from 1990–2007 in which echinococcosis was listed as one of the diagnoses at death. The analysis demonstrated 41 echinococcosis-related deaths over the 18-year study period with foreign-born persons accounting for the majority of the deaths. This study helps quantify echinococcosis deaths among US residents and adds further support to the importance of funding echinococcosis prevention research