Configuração espacial da Dengue no contexto socioeconômico de Alfenas/MG: Retrato de uma década

Introduction: The relation between dengue and socioeconomic factors is object of controversy and there’s no record of studies in Alfenas-MG that had described such interaction in a municipal scale. Objectives: Characterize and group the census sectors of Alfenas-MG in socioeconomic levels and describe the distribution of the dengue cases around the area. Methods: Transversal study, in which were used demographic variables, multivariate statistics and analysis of the group to generate parameters of socioeconomic stratification. Confirmed cases of classic dengue between the years of 2001 to 2010 were geocoded to estimate the density of points by the Kernel’s Technique and describe the spatial distribution of the disease by the socioeconomic clusters. Results: There were obtained four clusters that grouped the census units in socioeconomic levels, in which the number 1 is regarded as the best, and the number 4 the worst, and the extracts 2 and 3 as intermediary levels. The residency’s area from the cases made several groups, with a random distribution around the territory, in an indifferent way to the socioeconomic results. The concentration of points varied both located in sectors with better socioeconomic condition and in less privileged areas, as the middle of census areas with distinct levels. Conclusion: The results points toward the direction that there were no relations at all between the levels of geographic distribution of the disease with the different socioeconomic groups of the City to the studied period.Introdução: A relação entre dengue e fatores socioeconômicos é objeto de controvérsia e não há registro de estudos em Alfenas-MG que tenham descrito tal interação na escala municipal. Objetivos: Caracterizar e agrupar os setores censitários de Alfenas-MG em níveis socioeconômicos e descrever a distribuição dos casos de dengue pelo território. Métodos: Estudo transversal em que foram utilizadas variáveis demográficas, estatística multivariada e análise de agrupamentos para gerar parâmetros de estratificação socioeconômica. Os casos confirmados de dengue clássico entre os anos de 2001 e 2010 foram geocodificados para estimar a densidade de pontos pela Técnica de Kernel e descrever a distribuição espacial da doença pelos clusters socioeconômicos. Resultados: Foram obtidos quatro clusters que agruparam as unidades censitárias em níveis socioeconômicos, sendo o número 1 considerado como melhor, o número 4 como pior, e os extratos 2 e 3 como níveis intermediários. Os locais de residência dos casos formaram diversos aglomerados, com distribuição aleatória pelo território, de forma indiferente aos níveis socioeconômicos. Ou seja, foi possível visualizar concentrações de casos de dengue tanto nas regiões com melhor perfil socioeconômico quanto nas áreas menos favorecidas quanto ao saneamento ambiental, condições de renda, escolaridade e adensamento populacional. Conclusão: Os resultados apontam que não houve relação alguma entre o padrão de distribuição geográfica da doença com os diferentes agrupamentos socioeconômicos do Município para o período estudado

A computational method for the identification of dengue, zika and chikungunya virus species and genotypes

In recent years, an increasing number of outbreaks of Dengue, Chikungunya and Zika viruses have been reported in Asia and the Americas. Monitoring virus genotype diversity is crucial to understand the emergence and spread of outbreaks, both aspects that are vital to develop effective prevention and treatment strategies. Hence, we developed an efficient method to classify virus sequences with respect to their species and sub-species (i.e. serotype and/or genotype). This tool provides an easy-to-use software implementation of this new method and was validated on a large dataset assessing the classification performance with respect to whole-genome sequences and partial-genome sequences.publishersversionpublishe

Differential microRNA Profile in Operational Tolerance: A Potential Role in Favoring Cell Survival

Background: Operational tolerance (OT) is a state of graft functional stability that occurs after at least 1 year of immunosuppressant withdrawal. MicroRNAs (microRNA) are small non-coding RNAs that downregulate messenger RNA/protein expression of innumerous molecules and are critical for homeostasis. We investigated whether OT in kidney transplantation displays a differential microRNA profile, which would suggest that microRNAs participate in Operational Tolerance mechanisms, and may reveal potential molecular pathways.Methods: We first compared serum microRNA in OT (n = 8) with chronic rejection (CR) (n = 5) and healthy individuals (HI) (n = 5), using a 768-microRNA qPCR-panel. We used the Thermo Fisher Cloud computing platform to compare the levels of microRNAs in the OT group in relation to the other study groups. We performed validation experiments for miR-885-5p, by q-PCR, in a larger number of study subjects (OT = 8, CR = 12, HI = 12), as individual samples.Results: We detected a differential microRNA profile in OT vs. its opposing clinical outcome—CR—suggesting that microRNAs may integrate transplantation tolerance mechanisms. Some miRNAs were detected at higher levels in OT: miR-885-5p, miR-331-3p, miR-27a-5p vs. CR; others, we found at lower levels: miR-1233-3p, miR-572, miR-638, miR-1260a. Considering highly predicted/experimentally demonstrated targets of these miRNAs, bioinformatics analysis revealed that the granzyme B, and death receptor pathways are dominant, suggesting that cell death regulation integrates transplantation tolerance mechanisms. We confirmed higher miR-885-5p levels in OT vs. CR, and vs. HI, in a larger number of subjects.Conclusions: We propose that epigenetics mechanisms involving microRNAs may integrate human transplantation tolerance mechanisms, and regulate key members of the cell death/survival signaling. miR-885-5p could favor cell survival in OT by diminishing the levels of CRADD/RAIDD and CASP3. Nonetheless, given the nature of any complex phenomenon in humans, only cumulative data will help to determine whether this microRNA differential profile may be related to the cause or consequence of operational tolerance

Synthesis, Biological Evaluation, and Molecular Modeling Studies of New Thiadiazole Derivatives as Potent P2X7 Receptor Inhibitors

Twenty new 2-(1H-pyrazol-1-yl)-1,3,4-thiadiazole analogs were synthetized to develop P2X7 receptor (P2X7R) inhibitors. P2X7R inhibition in vitro was evaluated in mouse peritoneal macrophages, HEK-293 cells transfected with hP2X7R (dye uptake assay), and THP-1 cells (IL-1β release assay). The 1-(5-phenyl-1,3,4-thiadiazol-2-yl)-1H-pyrazol-5-amine derivatives 9b, 9c, and 9f, and 2-(3,5-dimethyl-1H-pyrazol-1-yl)-5-(4-fluorophenyl)-1,3,4-thiadiazole (11c) showed inhibitory effects with IC50 values ranging from 16 to 122 nM for reduced P2X7R-mediated dye uptake and 20 to 300 nM for IL-1β release. In addition, the in vitro ADMET profile of the four most potent derivatives was determined to be in acceptable ranges concerning metabolic stability and cytotoxicity. Molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulation studies of the molecular complexes human P2X7R/9f and murine P2X7R/9f indicated the putative intermolecular interactions. Compound 9f showed affinity mainly for the Arg268, Lys377, and Asn266 residues. These results suggest that 2-(1H-pyrazol-1-yl)-1,3,4-thiadiazole analogs may be promising novel P2X7R inhibitors with therapeutic potential

Produção de serapilheira como bioindicador de recuperação em plantio adensado de revegetação

Litter deposition pattern was applied as bioindicator to compare sites at different successional stages with a dense restoration plantation. Litter traps (0.25 m2) were used and a production of 10.17 Mg ha-1 year-1 was obtained for secondary forest similar to a medium sector in the restoration area (8.98 Mg ha-1 year-1). Lower (5.85 Mg ha-1 year-1), upper (5.81 Mg ha-1 year -1), and bush (5.63 Mg ha-1 year-1) land production were similar to litter deposition values obtained from disturbed forests. Despite the need of more comparative parameters, litter deposition can be applied as restoration bioindicator