Metallic brackets bonded with resin-reinforced glass lonomer cements under different enamel conditions

Objective: To assess the shear bond strength of metallic orthodontic brackets bonded with either Fuji Ortho or Ortho Glass LC resin-reinforced glass ionomer cements to enamel surfaces under different conditions, namely, enamel without etching, enamel conditioned with 37% phosphoric acid and enamel conditioned with Transbond Plus Self Etching Primer (TPSEP). Materials and Methods: One hundred and five bovine inferior incisors were divided into seven groups (n = 15). In group 1 (control) Transbond XT was used according to the manufacturer's recommendations. In groups 2, 3, and 4 all using Fuji Ortho LC, the brackets were bonded, respectively, to enamel nonetched, enamel etched with 37% phosphoric acid, and enamel etched with TPSEP. In groups 5, 6, and 7, the bonding was performed using Ortho Glass LC under the same enamel conditions observed in the other experimental groups. After 24 hours, shear bond strength tests were performed for all samples at a crosshead speed of 0.5 mm/min. Results: The results (MPa) showed no statistically significant difference between groups 1, 3, and 4 (P >.05). However, such groups were statistically superior to the others (P .05). Group 5 showed the lowest shear strength value, which was also statistically inferior to the other groups (P <.05). Conclusions: Regardless of the enamel treatment, Fuji Ortho LC yielded shear strength values superior to those from Ortho Glass LC.76470070

Adesão à terapêutica antirretroviral de pessoas vivendo com HIV/aids em um município do interior paulista

RESUMO Objetivo Avaliar a adesão aos antirretrovirais de pessoas vivendo com o HIV/AIDS e identificar sua associação com variáveis sociodemográficas e clínicas. Métodos Estudo analítico transversal que utilizou instrumento sociodemográfico e o CEAT-HIV, com dados coletados no período de 2014 a 2015. Resultados Identificou-se 75,0% com grau de adesão bom/adequado. Verificou-se que os indivíduos com idade entre 40 e 59 anos (p=0,029) e com mais de oito anos de estudo (p=0,043) obtiveram maior grau de adesão, assim como aqueles com diagnóstico de HIV/AIDS há mais de 10 anos (p=0,002), contagem de TCD4 >350 células/mm3 (p<0,001) e carga viral indetectável (p=0,025). Conclusão Nesse estudo, identificou-se uma boa adesão entre os sujeitos e observou-se que indivíduos de maior faixa etária, maior grau de escolaridade, maior tempo de diagnóstico, elevada contagem de células TCD4 e carga viral indetectável estiveram associados a uma maior adesão ao tratamento

Chikungunya virus entry is strongly inhibited by phospholipase A2 isolated from the venom of Crotalus durissus terrificus

Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is the etiologic agent of Chikungunya fever, a globally spreading mosquito-borne disease. There is no approved antiviral or vaccine against CHIKV, highlighting an urgent need for novel therapies. In this context, snake venom proteins have demonstrated antiviral activity against several viruses, including arboviruses which are relevant to public health. In particular, the phospholipase A2CB (PLA2CB), a protein isolated from the venom of Crotalus durissus terrificus was previously shown to possess anti-inflammatory, antiparasitic, antibacterial and antiviral activities. In this study, we investigated the multiple effects of PLA2CB on the CHIKV replicative cycle in BHK-21 cells using CHIKV-nanoluc, a marker virus carrying nanoluciferase reporter. The results demonstrated that PLA2CB possess a strong anti-CHIKV activity with a selectivity index of 128. We identified that PLA2CB treatment protected cells against CHIKV infection, strongly impairing virus entry by reducing adsorption and post-attachment stages. Moreover, PLA2CB presented a modest yet significant activity towards post-entry stages of CHIKV replicative cycle. Molecular docking calculations indicated that PLA2CB may interact with CHIKV glycoproteins, mainly with E1 through hydrophobic interactions. In addition, infrared spectroscopy measurements indicated interactions of PLA2CB and CHIKV glycoproteins, corroborating with data from in silico analyses. Collectively, this data demonstrated the multiple antiviral effects of PLA2CB on the CHIKV replicative cycle, and suggest that PLA2CB interacts with CHIKV glycoproteins and that this interaction blocks binding of CHIKV virions to the host cells

Assessment and management of pain in newborns hospitalized in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit: a cross-sectional study

ABSTRACT Objective: to determine the frequency of pain, to verify the measures adopted for pain relief during the first seven days of hospitalization in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and to identify the type and frequency of invasive procedures to which newborns are submitted. Method: cross-sectional retrospective study. Out of the 188 hospitalizations occurred during the 12-month period, 171 were included in the study. The data were collected from the charts and the presence of pain was analyzed based on the Neonatal Infant Pain Scale and on nursing notes suggestions of pain. For statistical analysis, the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences was used, and the significance level was set at 5%. Results: there was at least one record of pain in 50.3% of the hospitalizations, according to the pain scale adopted or nursing note. The newborns underwent a mean of 6.6 invasive procedures per day. Only 32.5% of the pain records resulted in the adoption of pharmacological or non-pharmacological intervention for pain relief. Conclusion: newborns are frequently exposed to pain and the low frequency of pharmacological or non-pharmacological interventions reinforces the undertreatment of this condition

PESFOR-W: Improving the design and environmental effectiveness of woodlands for water Payments for Ecosystem Services

ABSTRACT: The EU Water Framework Directive aims to ensure restoration of Europe?s water bodies to ?good ecological status? by 2027. Many Member States will struggle to meet this target, with around half of EU river catchments currently reporting below standard water quality. Diffuse pollution from agriculture represents a major pressure, affecting over 90% of river basins. Accumulating evidence shows that recent improvements to agricultural practices are benefiting water quality but in many cases will be insufficient to achieve WFD objectives. There is growing support for land use change to help bridge the gap, with a particular focus on targeted tree planting to intercept and reduce the delivery of diffuse pollutants to water. This form of integrated catchment management offers multiple benefits to society but a significant cost to landowners and managers. New economic instruments, in combination with spatial targeting, need to be developed to ensure cost effective solutions - including tree planting for water benefits - are realised. Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) are flexible, incentive-based mechanisms that could play an important role in promoting land use change to deliver water quality targets. The PESFOR-W COST Action will consolidate learning from existing woodlands for water PES schemes in Europe and help standardize approaches to evaluating the environmental effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of woodland measures. It will also create a European network through which PES schemes can be facilitated, extended and improved, for example by incorporating other ecosystem services linking with aims of the wider forestscarbon policy nexus

Co-infection and ICU-acquired infection in COIVD-19 ICU patients: a secondary analysis of the UNITE-COVID data set

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic presented major challenges for critical care facilities worldwide. Infections which develop alongside or subsequent to viral pneumonitis are a challenge under sporadic and pandemic conditions; however, data have suggested that patterns of these differ between COVID-19 and other viral pneumonitides. This secondary analysis aimed to explore patterns of co-infection and intensive care unit-acquired infections (ICU-AI) and the relationship to use of corticosteroids in a large, international cohort of critically ill COVID-19 patients.Methods: This is a multicenter, international, observational study, including adult patients with PCR-confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis admitted to ICUs at the peak of wave one of COVID-19 (February 15th to May 15th, 2020). Data collected included investigator-assessed co-infection at ICU admission, infection acquired in ICU, infection with multi-drug resistant organisms (MDRO) and antibiotic use. Frequencies were compared by Pearson's Chi-squared and continuous variables by Mann-Whitney U test. Propensity score matching for variables associated with ICU-acquired infection was undertaken using R library MatchIT using the "full" matching method.Results: Data were available from 4994 patients. Bacterial co-infection at admission was detected in 716 patients (14%), whilst 85% of patients received antibiotics at that stage. ICU-AI developed in 2715 (54%). The most common ICU-AI was bacterial pneumonia (44% of infections), whilst 9% of patients developed fungal pneumonia; 25% of infections involved MDRO. Patients developing infections in ICU had greater antimicrobial exposure than those without such infections. Incident density (ICU-AI per 1000 ICU days) was in considerable excess of reports from pre-pandemic surveillance. Corticosteroid use was heterogenous between ICUs. In univariate analysis, 58% of patients receiving corticosteroids and 43% of those not receiving steroids developed ICU-AI. Adjusting for potential confounders in the propensity-matched cohort, 71% of patients receiving corticosteroids developed ICU-AI vs 52% of those not receiving corticosteroids. Duration of corticosteroid therapy was also associated with development of ICU-AI and infection with an MDRO.Conclusions: In patients with severe COVID-19 in the first wave, co-infection at admission to ICU was relatively rare but antibiotic use was in substantial excess to that indication. ICU-AI were common and were significantly associated with use of corticosteroids