EPIDEMIOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION OF SCHISTOSOMIASIS MANSONI IN MUNICIPALITIES IN THE MARANHÃO STATE, BRAZIL

Schistosomiasis is a serious parasitic infectious disease, one of the most important waterborne diseases, which is closely related to poverty, lack of health education and basic sanitation. It is a public health problem in Brazil, presenting endemic in some municipalities in the Maranhão State. In this way, this study aimed to evaluate the research profile of schistosomiasis mansoni in some endemic municipalities in the Maranhão State. A descriptive, retrospective and quantitative study was carried out with data obtained in “Programa de Controle da Esquistossomose (PCE) – MA” (Program for Schistosomiasis Control) between 2005 and 2015. We evaluated 42, 40 and 25 municipalities in the years 2005, 2010 and 2015, respectively. In 2005 the population evaluated was 184787, in 2010 162220 and in 2015 they were only 48484. The highest number of people evaluated in the year 2015 was in São Luís (8068) and the lowest was in Tutoia (83). The municipalities of Bacurituba, Guimarães, Guimaraes, Mirinzal, Paulino Neves and São João Batista presented a survey coverage of schistosomiasis major in the year 2015, compared to 2005 and 2010. Schistosomiasis remains a public health problem in the Maranhão State, however, its scope of research is still low, taking into account the number of endemic municipalities, sites susceptible to infection and the number of people examined.Key words: Schistosomiasis; Schistosoma mansoni; Maranhão

Uso de metodologia ativa na formação de médicos veterinários residentes para atuação no Sistema Único de Saúde: potencialidades e fragilidades.

O Programa de Residência em Área Profissional da Saúde em Medicina Veterinária da Universidade Federal Rural do Pernambuco tem como parte do objetivo capacitar residentes Médicos Veterinários por meio do treinamento em serviço para atuação na saúde pública, nas áreas de vigilância em saúde. Dessa forma, o presente estudo objetivou descrever o método utilizado na formação teórica e prática dos residentes, previamente à inserção dos mesmos no Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS), destacando suas potencialidades e fragilidades. Antes do início das atividades na Secretaria de Vigilância em Saúde e no Núcleo de Apoio à Saúde da Família, foram oferecidas duas disciplinas utilizando-se metodologias ativas: Políticas Públicas em Saúde e Integração Ensino Serviço Comunidade. Ao final de cada disciplina foi solicitado aos residentes aprovados (100% dos residentes matriculados) que relatassem suas opiniões sobre as mesmas, elencando as potencialidades e as fragilidades. As potencialidades mais relatadas foram: uso de metodologias ativas como Aprendizagem Baseada em Problemas (ABP) e estudos de casos (77,8%), leitura de artigos e elaboração de resumos (27,8%) e esclarecimentos sobre a vigilância em saúde (22,2%). Em relação as fragilidades, os residentes relataram em maior porcentagem a leitura de muitos artigos em um único dia (61,1%), dificuldade em interpretar artigos com temas diferentes da área de atuação (22,2%) e muito tempo de vivência no SUS (16,7%). Conclui-se que a metodologia ativa apresenta pontos positivos e negativos, como relatado pelos residentes, porém o modelo favorece uma forma de ensino-aprendizagem necessária à implementação dos residentes médicos veterinários para atuação no SUS

ATLANTIC-PRIMATES: a dataset of communities and occurrences of primates in the Atlantic Forests of South America

Primates play an important role in ecosystem functioning and offer critical insights into human evolution, biology, behavior, and emerging infectious diseases. There are 26 primate species in the Atlantic Forests of South America, 19 of them endemic. We compiled a dataset of 5,472 georeferenced locations of 26 native and 1 introduced primate species, as hybrids in the genera Callithrix and Alouatta. The dataset includes 700 primate communities, 8,121 single species occurrences and 714 estimates of primate population sizes, covering most natural forest types of the tropical and subtropical Atlantic Forest of Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina and some other biomes. On average, primate communities of the Atlantic Forest harbor 2 ± 1 species (range = 1–6). However, about 40% of primate communities contain only one species. Alouatta guariba (N = 2,188 records) and Sapajus nigritus (N = 1,127) were the species with the most records. Callicebus barbarabrownae (N = 35), Leontopithecus caissara (N = 38), and Sapajus libidinosus (N = 41) were the species with the least records. Recorded primate densities varied from 0.004 individuals/km 2 (Alouatta guariba at Fragmento do Bugre, Paraná, Brazil) to 400 individuals/km 2 (Alouatta caraya in Santiago, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil). Our dataset reflects disparity between the numerous primate census conducted in the Atlantic Forest, in contrast to the scarcity of estimates of population sizes and densities. With these data, researchers can develop different macroecological and regional level studies, focusing on communities, populations, species co-occurrence and distribution patterns. Moreover, the data can also be used to assess the consequences of fragmentation, defaunation, and disease outbreaks on different ecological processes, such as trophic cascades, species invasion or extinction, and community dynamics. There are no copyright restrictions. Please cite this Data Paper when the data are used in publications. We also request that researchers and teachers inform us of how they are using the data. © 2018 by the The Authors. Ecology © 2018 The Ecological Society of Americ

Rationale, study design, and analysis plan of the Alveolar Recruitment for ARDS Trial (ART): Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Background: Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is associated with high in-hospital mortality. Alveolar recruitment followed by ventilation at optimal titrated PEEP may reduce ventilator-induced lung injury and improve oxygenation in patients with ARDS, but the effects on mortality and other clinical outcomes remain unknown. This article reports the rationale, study design, and analysis plan of the Alveolar Recruitment for ARDS Trial (ART). Methods/Design: ART is a pragmatic, multicenter, randomized (concealed), controlled trial, which aims to determine if maximum stepwise alveolar recruitment associated with PEEP titration is able to increase 28-day survival in patients with ARDS compared to conventional treatment (ARDSNet strategy). We will enroll adult patients with ARDS of less than 72 h duration. The intervention group will receive an alveolar recruitment maneuver, with stepwise increases of PEEP achieving 45 cmH(2)O and peak pressure of 60 cmH2O, followed by ventilation with optimal PEEP titrated according to the static compliance of the respiratory system. In the control group, mechanical ventilation will follow a conventional protocol (ARDSNet). In both groups, we will use controlled volume mode with low tidal volumes (4 to 6 mL/kg of predicted body weight) and targeting plateau pressure <= 30 cmH2O. The primary outcome is 28-day survival, and the secondary outcomes are: length of ICU stay; length of hospital stay; pneumothorax requiring chest tube during first 7 days; barotrauma during first 7 days; mechanical ventilation-free days from days 1 to 28; ICU, in-hospital, and 6-month survival. ART is an event-guided trial planned to last until 520 events (deaths within 28 days) are observed. These events allow detection of a hazard ratio of 0.75, with 90% power and two-tailed type I error of 5%. All analysis will follow the intention-to-treat principle. Discussion: If the ART strategy with maximum recruitment and PEEP titration improves 28-day survival, this will represent a notable advance to the care of ARDS patients. Conversely, if the ART strategy is similar or inferior to the current evidence-based strategy (ARDSNet), this should also change current practice as many institutions routinely employ recruitment maneuvers and set PEEP levels according to some titration method.Hospital do Coracao (HCor) as part of the Program 'Hospitais de Excelencia a Servico do SUS (PROADI-SUS)'Brazilian Ministry of Healt

Biodegradable seeds of holmium don?t change neurological function after implant in brain of rats.

Aim: To evaluate the surgical procedure and parenchymal abnormalities related to implan-tation of ceramic seeds with holmium-165 in rats? brain.Background: An effective method of cancer treatment is brachytherapy in which radioactiveseeds are implanted in the tumor, generating a high local dose of ionizing radiation thatcan eliminate tumor cells while protecting the surrounding healthy tissue. BiodegradableHo166-ceramic-seeds have been addressed recently.Methods and materials: The experiments in this study were approved by the Ethics Com-mittee on Animal Use at the Federal University of Ouro Preto, protocol number 2012/034.Twenty-one adult Fischer rats were divided into Naive Group, Sham Group and Group forseed implants (ISH). Surgical procedures for implantation of biodegradable seeds were doneand 30 days after the implant radiographic examination and biopsy of the brain were per-formed. Neurological assays were also accomplished to exclude any injury resulting fromeither surgery or implantation of the seeds.Results: Radiographic examination confirmed the location of the seeds in the brain. Neuro-logical assays showed animals with regular spontaneous activity. The histological analysisshowed an increase of inflammatory cells in the brain of the ISH group. Electron microscopyevidenced cytoplasmic organelles to be unchanged. Biochemical analyzes indicate there was neither oxidative stress nor oxidative damage in the ISH brain. CAT activity showed no difference between the groups as well as lipid peroxidation measured by TBARS. Conclusions: The analysis of the data pointed out that the performed procedure is safe as no animal showed alterations of the neurological parameters and the seeds did not promote histological architectural changes in the brain tissue

Ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) of the state of Amazonas, Brazil

The tick fauna of Brazil is currently composed by 72 species. The state of Amazonas is the largest of Brazil, with an area of ≈ 19% of the Brazilian land. Besides its vast geographic area, only 19 tick species have been reported for Amazonas. Herein, lots containing ticks from the state of Amazonas were examined in three major tick collections from Brazil. A total of 5933 tick specimens were examined and recorded, comprising 2693 males, 1247 females, 1509 nymphs, and 484 larvae. These ticks were identified into the following 22 species: Amblyomma cajennense sensu lato, Amblyomma calcaratum, Amblyomma coelebs, Amblyomma dissimile, Amblyomma dubitatum, Amblyomma geayi, Amblyomma goeldii, Amblyomma humerale, Amblyomma latepunctatun, Amblyomma longirostre, Amblyomma naponense, Amblyomma oblongoguttatum, Amblyomma ovale, Amblyomma rotundatum, Amblyomma scalpturatum, Amblyomma varium, Dermacentor nitens, Haemaphysalis juxtakochi, Ixodes cf. Ixodes fuscipes, Ixodes luciae, Rhipicephalus microplus, Rhipicephalus sanguineus sensu lato. Ticks were collected from 17 (27.4%) out of the 62 municipalities that currently compose the state of Amazonas. The following four species are reported for the first time in the state of Amazonas: A. coelebs, A. dubitatum, H. juxtakochi, and Ixodes cf. I. fuscipes. The only tick species previously reported for Amazonas and not found in the present study is Amblyomma parvum. This study provides a great expansion of geographical and host records of ticks for the state of Amazonas, which is now considered to have a tick fauna composed by 23 species. It is noteworthy that we report 1391 Amblyomma nymphs that were identified to 13 different species. © 2018, Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature

AMAZONIA CAMTRAP: A data set of mammal, bird, and reptile species recorded with camera traps in the Amazon forest

The Amazon forest has the highest biodiversity on Earth. However, information on Amazonian vertebrate diversity is still deficient and scattered across the published, peer-reviewed, and gray literature and in unpublished raw data. Camera traps are an effective non-invasive method of surveying vertebrates, applicable to different scales of time and space. In this study, we organized and standardized camera trap records from different Amazon regions to compile the most extensive data set of inventories of mammal, bird, and reptile species ever assembled for the area. The complete data set comprises 154,123 records of 317 species (185 birds, 119 mammals, and 13 reptiles) gathered from surveys from the Amazonian portion of eight countries (Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela). The most frequently recorded species per taxa were: mammals: Cuniculus paca (11,907 records); birds: Pauxi tuberosa (3713 records); and reptiles: Tupinambis teguixin (716 records). The information detailed in this data paper opens up opportunities for new ecological studies at different spatial and temporal scales, allowing for a more accurate evaluation of the effects of habitat loss, fragmentation, climate change, and other human-mediated defaunation processes in one of the most important and threatened tropical environments in the world. The data set is not copyright restricted; please cite this data paper when using its data in publications and we also request that researchers and educators inform us of how they are using these data

NEOTROPICAL CARNIVORES: a data set on carnivore distribution in the Neotropics

Mammalian carnivores are considered a key group in maintaining ecological health and can indicate potential ecological integrity in landscapes where they occur. Carnivores also hold high conservation value and their habitat requirements can guide management and conservation plans. The order Carnivora has 84 species from 8 families in the Neotropical region: Canidae; Felidae; Mephitidae; Mustelidae; Otariidae; Phocidae; Procyonidae; and Ursidae. Herein, we include published and unpublished data on native terrestrial Neotropical carnivores (Canidae; Felidae; Mephitidae; Mustelidae; Procyonidae; and Ursidae). NEOTROPICAL CARNIVORES is a publicly available data set that includes 99,605 data entries from 35,511 unique georeferenced coordinates. Detection/non-detection and quantitative data were obtained from 1818 to 2018 by researchers, governmental agencies, non-governmental organizations, and private consultants. Data were collected using several methods including camera trapping, museum collections, roadkill, line transect, and opportunistic records. Literature (peer-reviewed and grey literature) from Portuguese, Spanish and English were incorporated in this compilation. Most of the data set consists of detection data entries (n = 79,343; 79.7%) but also includes non-detection data (n = 20,262; 20.3%). Of those, 43.3% also include count data (n = 43,151). The information available in NEOTROPICAL CARNIVORES will contribute to macroecological, ecological, and conservation questions in multiple spatio-temporal perspectives. As carnivores play key roles in trophic interactions, a better understanding of their distribution and habitat requirements are essential to establish conservation management plans and safeguard the future ecological health of Neotropical ecosystems. Our data paper, combined with other large-scale data sets, has great potential to clarify species distribution and related ecological processes within the Neotropics. There are no copyright restrictions and no restriction for using data from this data paper, as long as the data paper is cited as the source of the information used. We also request that users inform us of how they intend to use the data

Rationale, study design, and analysis plan of the Alveolar Recruitment for ARDS Trial (ART): Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Background: Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is associated with high in-hospital mortality. Alveolar recruitment followed by ventilation at optimal titrated PEEP may reduce ventilator-induced lung injury and improve oxygenation in patients with ARDS, but the effects on mortality and other clinical outcomes remain unknown. This article reports the rationale, study design, and analysis plan of the Alveolar Recruitment for ARDS Trial (ART). Methods/Design: ART is a pragmatic, multicenter, randomized (concealed), controlled trial, which aims to determine if maximum stepwise alveolar recruitment associated with PEEP titration is able to increase 28-day survival in patients with ARDS compared to conventional treatment (ARDSNet strategy). We will enroll adult patients with ARDS of less than 72 h duration. The intervention group will receive an alveolar recruitment maneuver, with stepwise increases of PEEP achieving 45 cmH(2)O and peak pressure of 60 cmH2O, followed by ventilation with optimal PEEP titrated according to the static compliance of the respiratory system. In the control group, mechanical ventilation will follow a conventional protocol (ARDSNet). In both groups, we will use controlled volume mode with low tidal volumes (4 to 6 mL/kg of predicted body weight) and targeting plateau pressure <= 30 cmH2O. The primary outcome is 28-day survival, and the secondary outcomes are: length of ICU stay; length of hospital stay; pneumothorax requiring chest tube during first 7 days; barotrauma during first 7 days; mechanical ventilation-free days from days 1 to 28; ICU, in-hospital, and 6-month survival. ART is an event-guided trial planned to last until 520 events (deaths within 28 days) are observed. These events allow detection of a hazard ratio of 0.75, with 90% power and two-tailed type I error of 5%. All analysis will follow the intention-to-treat principle. Discussion: If the ART strategy with maximum recruitment and PEEP titration improves 28-day survival, this will represent a notable advance to the care of ARDS patients. Conversely, if the ART strategy is similar or inferior to the current evidence-based strategy (ARDSNet), this should also change current practice as many institutions routinely employ recruitment maneuvers and set PEEP levels according to some titration method.13Hospital do Coracao (HCor) as part of the Program 'Hospitais de Excelencia a Servico do SUS (PROADI-SUS)'Brazilian Ministry of Healt