COVID-19 incidence, severity, medication use, and vaccination among dentists: survey during the second wave in Brazil

Objective: This cross-sectional study with dentists in Brazil assessed the COVID-19 incidence and severity, its vaccination status, and the level of confidence in vaccines in May 2021 (COVID-19 second wave). The medications used to prevent or treat COVID-19, including controversial substances (vitamin D, ivermectin, zinc, and chloroquine), were analyzed. Methodology: Dentists were recruited by email and responded to a pretested questionnaire until May 31, 2021. Bivariate and multivariate regression analyses were performed (α=0.05). Prevalence ratios were calculated for the association between professional characteristics and two outcomes: SARS-CoV-2 infection and use of controversial substances. Results: In total, 1,907 responses were received (return rate of 21.2%). One third of dentists reported intermediate levels of confidence in the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines, but 96% had received at least one vaccine dose, mainly CoronaVac. The effect of the pandemic on dental practice was classified as lower/much lower, in comparison with the first wave, by 46% of participants. Moreover, 27% of dentists had already tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 and about 50% had relatives or friends who had been hospitalized or died from COVID-19. At least one medication was used by 59% of participants and 43% used two or more substances. Vitamin D (41%), ivermectin (35%), and zinc (29%) were the most frequent substances. More experienced dentists (≥21 years of professional experience) were 42% more likely to use controversial substances than less experienced dentists. The prevalence of use of controversial substances was 30% higher among dentists with residency or advanced training, such as postgraduate degrees, in comparison with participants holding MSc or PhD degrees. Participants with low confidence in vaccines were 2.1 times more likely to use controversial substances than participants with a very high confidence. Conclusion: The results of this study show the high severity of the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil and raised questions about the use of scientific evidence by dentists in their decision to use controversial substances

A QUADRIPOLAR EPISTEMIC PROPOSITION OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP CONSTRUCT

Este artigo aborda, à luz da proposição de Bruyne, Herman e Schouthute(1977) sobre os “quatro polos da prática metodológica: epistemológico, morfológico, teórico e técnico”, a forma pela qual vem se constituindo o Empreendedorismo nos estudos da Administração. Realizou-se uma análise bibliométrica a partir dos artigos publicados nos eventos vinculados à ANPAD. A seguir, fez-se a análise de conteúdo dos artigos selecionados, buscando identificar como se tem configurado o tema, considerando-se cada um dos polos. Verificou-se um excesso de pesquisas que privilegiam o polo técnico em detrimento dos demais, o que, provavelmente, está contribuindo para o esvaziamento da própria área na ANPAD. Nossas maiores contribuições se dão no polo técnico, aquele relacionado à coleta dos dados, e são inúmeros os estudos de caso encontrados. Na realidade, é para onde converge a maioria das pesquisas empíricas que abordam o empreendedorismo e seus temas relacionados. Aliada a essa discrepância está o fato de que a maioria das pesquisas também é resultado de estudos exploratório-descritivos. Há que lembrar que os estudos exploratório-descritivos estão no nível que Bruyne et al. (1977) denominam de “grau zero” de teorização.This article presents, based on the Bruyne, Herman and Schoutheete’s proposition (1977) on the “four poles of the methodological practice: epistemological, morphological, theoretical, and technical”, how entrepreneurship is being construed in Business Administration studies. We carried out a bibliometric analysis from articles published in events linked to ANPAD – National Association of graduate studies and research in business administration. Then we made a content analysis on selected articles in order to identify how the theme is approached considering each of the poles. There was an excess of researches favoring the technical pole comparing to the others, which is probably contributing with the emptying of ANPAD’s area itself. Our main contributions are given in the technical pole, related to data collection, and there are countless case studies. In reality it is where most empirical researches on entrepreneurship and related topics converge to. Allied to this discrepancy is the fact that most of researches are also the result of exploratory and descriptive studies. We must remember that the exploratory and descriptive studies are at the level that Bruyne et al. (1977) call the “ground zero” of theorization.Este artículo presenta, a la luz de la proposición de Bruyne at al. (1977), sobre los “cuatro polos de la práctica metodológica: epistemológico, morfológico, teórico y técnico”, como se viene constituyendo el Emprendedorismo en los estudios de Administración. Se realizó un análisis bibliométrico a partir de los artículos publicados en los eventos vinculados a la ANPAD. En seguida, se realizó el análisis de contenido en los artículos seleccionados, buscando identificar cómo se ha configurado el tema considerando cada uno de los polos. Se verificó un exceso de investigaciones que dan prioridad al polo técnico en perjuicio de los demás, lo que, probablemente, esté contribuyendo con el vaciado de la propia área en la ANPAD. Nuestras mayores contribuciones aparecen en el polo técnico, aquél relacionado a la colecta de los datos y son innumerables los estudios de caso encontrados. En realidad es para donde converge la mayoría de las investigaciones empíricas que abordan el emprendedorismo y sus temas relacionados. Aliada a esta discrepancia está el hecho de que la mayoría de las investigaciones también es resultado de estudios exploratorio-descriptivos. Hay que recordar que los estudios exploratorio-descriptivos están en el nivel que Bruyne et al. (1977) denominan de “grado cero” de teorización

Is the social wasp fauna in the tree canopy different from the understory? Study of a particular area in the Brazilian Amazon Rainforest

Most studies about the insect community in rainforests only focus on the forest understory, and even though the rainforest canopy is one of the most fascinating and diverse environments, it remains poorly explored. Therefore, we analyzed the difference between the social wasp composition in these two strata at the ZF-2 Station in the Brazilian Amazon Rainforest, Amazonas, Manaus, using flight interception Malaise traps, in the rainforest understory and canopy. We collected ninety-two species belonging to 18 genera; Polybia was the richest genera (22 species), followed by Mischocyttarus (14) and Agelaia (13). Forty-four species were exclusively collected in the understory, twenty exclusively collected in the canopy, and twenty-eight in both strata. The understory was distinctly more diverse and more abundant than the canopy, while some rare or poorly collected species were only found in the canopy. We found a relationship between the species composition at the ZF-2 Station and the Ducke Reserve, Manaus. Therefore, we suggest using traps in canopy in the Amazon biome as an effective method for collecting a higher diversity of social wasps. © 2019 Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana. All rights reserved

Magnetic nanostructures for emerging biomedical applications

Magnetic nanostructures have been widely studied due to their potential applicability into several research fields such as data storage, sensing and biomedical applications. Focusing on the biomedical aspect, some new approaches deserve to be mentioned: cell manipulation and separation, contrast-enhancing agents for magnetic resonance imaging, and magnetomechanically induced cell death. This work focuses on understanding three different magnetic nanostructures, disks in the vortex state, synthetic antiferromagnetic particles and nanowires, first, by explaining their interesting properties and how they behave under an applied external field, before reviewing their potential applications for each of the aforementioned techniques.The authors acknowledge funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Grant Agreement No. 734801. C.R. and R.M. acknowledge funding from Basque Government Grant Nos. PIBA 2018-11 and IT1162-19, and Spanish Grant No. FIS2016-76058 (AEI/FEDER, UE). D.N. acknowledges the Spanish Ministry for Science, Innovation and Universities, for funding through the “Ramon y Cajal” program RYC-2017-22820. C.T. Sousa thanks FCT for financial support through the Investigador FCT program (Contract No. IF/01159/2015). R. Magalhães is grateful to the FCT SFRH/BD/148563/2019 PhD grant. This work was also supported by the Portuguese Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) and COMPETE 2020 (FEDER) under the projects POCI-01-0145-FEDER-028676/PTDC/CTM-CTM/28676/2017, POCI-01-0145/FEDER-032257/PTDC/FIS-OTI/32257/2017, POCI-01-0145-FEDER031302/PTDC/FIS-MAC/31302/2017, and POCI-01-0141-FEDER032527

Estudos sobre a paz e cultura da paz

Segundo o autor, a cultura da paz implica uma mudança quer na forma como a “alta cultura” lida com a realidade quer no tipo de abordagem que o senso comum faz às relações sociais, sendo que a ruptura com a ideologia conservadora, ou seja, com o senso comum realista só é possível graças a estas alterações. O autor realça tanto a importância que os estudos sobre a paz têm para o surgimento de um conceito amplo de paz, desenvolvido por Johan Galtung, como o facto destes estarem estrategicamente orientados para a transformação do sistema internacional. Sequentemente, conclui que a paz é uma categoria moral e cultural que só pode ser alcançada através do comportamento quotidian

Rarity of monodominance in hyperdiverse Amazonian forests.

Tropical forests are known for their high diversity. Yet, forest patches do occur in the tropics where a single tree species is dominant. Such "monodominant" forests are known from all of the main tropical regions. For Amazonia, we sampled the occurrence of monodominance in a massive, basin-wide database of forest-inventory plots from the Amazon Tree Diversity Network (ATDN). Utilizing a simple defining metric of at least half of the trees ≥ 10 cm diameter belonging to one species, we found only a few occurrences of monodominance in Amazonia, and the phenomenon was not significantly linked to previously hypothesized life history traits such wood density, seed mass, ectomycorrhizal associations, or Rhizobium nodulation. In our analysis, coppicing (the formation of sprouts at the base of the tree or on roots) was the only trait significantly linked to monodominance. While at specific locales coppicing or ectomycorrhizal associations may confer a considerable advantage to a tree species and lead to its monodominance, very few species have these traits. Mining of the ATDN dataset suggests that monodominance is quite rare in Amazonia, and may be linked primarily to edaphic factors

A New Method to Predict the Epidemiology of Fungal Keratitis by Monitoring the Sales Distribution of Antifungal Eye Drops in Brazil

Purpose: Fungi are a major cause of keratitis, although few medications are licensed for their treatment. The aim of this study is to observe the variation in commercialisation of antifungal eye drops, and to predict the seasonal distribution of fungal keratitis in Brazil. Methods: Data from a retrospective study of antifungal eye drops sales from the only pharmaceutical ophthalmologic laboratory, authorized to dispense them in Brazil (Opthalmos) were gathered. These data were correlated with geographic and seasonal distribution of fungal keratitis in Brazil between July 2002 and June 2008. Results: A total of 26,087 antifungal eye drop units were sold, with a mean of 2.3 per patient. There was significant variation in antifungal sales during the year (p < 0.01). A linear regression model displayed a significant association between reduced relative humidity and antifungal drug sales (R-2 = 0.17, p < 0.01). Conclusions: Antifungal eye drops sales suggest that there is a seasonal distribution of fungal keratitis. A possible interpretation is that the third quarter of the year (a period when the climate is drier), when agricultural activity is more intense in Brazil, suggests a correlation with a higher incidence of fungal keratitis. A similar model could be applied to other diseases, that are managed with unique, or few, and monitorable medications to predict epidemiological aspects.Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e TecnologicoConselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico [302005/2009-9]Fundacao de Apoio ao Ensino, Pesquisa e Assistencia do Hospital das Clinicas da Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirao Preto da Universidade de Sao PauloFundacao de Apoio ao Ensino, Pesquisa e Assistencia do Hospital das Clinicas da Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirao Preto da Universidade de Sao Paul