High prevalence of hepatitis B virus and low vaccine response in children and adolescents in Northeastern Brazil

Children have an increased likelihood of becoming carriers of the chronic hepatitis B virus. A total of 1,381 children and adolescents were assessed in five municipalities of Maranhao State, Brazil, for detection of anti-HBc, HBsAg and anti-HBs serologic markers and sociodemographic and behavioral features. Among those who were HBsAg negative and anti-HBc negative, the proportion of anti-HBs positives was calculated after the individuals had completed the vaccination schedule. The robust variance of the Poisson’s regression model was used in order to have adjusted tables and calculate the prevalence ratio. Multivariate analysis was performed to identify the factors associated with the prevalence of anti-HBc with or without HBsAg and the vaccine response. It was observed that 163 children were anti-HBc positive and nine individuals were HBsAg positive. The factors associated with the infection were: municipality of residence (residing in Morros municipality or Humberto de Campos municipality), residence in a rural area, aged between 13 and 15 years old, and illicit drug use. The percentage of individuals who were anti-HBc negative and received all three doses of the vaccine was 48.5%. Among these, only 276 (38.9%) had antibodies at protective concentrations. In an adjusted analysis, Morros municipality presented an increased positivity of vaccine response (p < 0.001), and the age ranging between 6 and 10 years old presented a reduced frequency of response. This study reveals a high prevalence of current and past HBV infection within the targeted age group which, in addition to the low vaccination coverage and serological responses, raises concerns about the management of prevention measures, especially the quality of vaccination in these locations

ASSOCIAÇÃO DO CARCINOMA PAPILÍFERO DE TIREÓIDE E TIREOIDITE DE HASHIMOTO

RESUMO: Este relato de caso pretende mostrar a relação entre Carcinoma Papilar da Tireóide (CPT) e Tireoidite de Hashimoto (TH) ocorrendo em uma mulher jovem, uma vez que representam os tipos de tumor mais comuns da tireóide e as principais causas de hipotireoidismo respectivamente e ambos são de ocorrência mais comum em mulheres. Acredita-se que haja um background genético comum em relação ao CPT e a TH. Levanta-se a questão acerca da necessidade de atenção no manejo de pacientes com TH.ASSOCIATION OF PAPILLARY THYROID CARCINOMA AND HASHIMOTOThis case report intents to show the relationship between Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma (PTC) and Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis (HT) occurring in a young woman as they are the most common neoplasm and the main cause for hypothyroidism respectively and both are more commonly to occur in women. It is believed that there is a genetic background concerned to PTC and HT. It issues the need of attention while managing patients with HT.Keywords: Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. papillary thyroid carcinoma. Thyroid

Plantas alimentícias não convencionais e seus principais compostos bioativos

Atualmente, as pessoas têm procurado consumir alimentos mais saudáveis, com propriedades funcionais e sustentáveis. As Plantas Alimentícias Não Convencionas (PANCs), apresentam-se como uma ótima fonte nutricional e funcional para a alimentação humana, cujo consumo é amparado por uma série de pesquisas científicas, que indicam não só a segurança de seu uso, mas também suas funções nutricionais, além de outras funções biológicas devido à presença de compostos bioativos. É importante saber identificar corretamente a planta, suas partes comestíveis e a forma de preparo indicada para o consumo. As PANCS geram autonomia para o ser humano que deseja obter por suas próprias mãos os nutrientes que necessita e os sabores que mais lhe agradam. Assim, esse trabalho teve como objetivo identificar os principais compostos bioativos presentes em plantas alimentícias não convencionais. Realizou-se uma busca de artigos científicos publicados nas bases de dados “PubMed”, “Scielo” e “Google Acadêmico”. Os descritores utilizados para a busca foram: plantas alimentícias, antioxidantes, PANCS, compostos bioativos. Foram selecionados artigos publicados entre os anos de 2015 a 2021, em português. Nesse trabalho identificou-se a existência de uma variedade de PANCs com elevado valor nutricional e rica em compostos bioativos, como a ora-pro-nóbis (Pereskia aculeata) que contém carotenoides nas folhas, a mangaba (Hancornia speciosa) com betacaroteno, fenóis e flavonoides. Outras plantas que se destacam são: a Capuchinha (Tropaeolum majus) que é fonte de antocianinas, carotenoides e flavonoides, a Jasmim-manga (Plumeria rubra), cujas flores são ricas em antocianinas, a azedina (Rumex acetosa L.) que é fonte de Proantocianidinas, a bertalha (Basella alba) que contém um corante de cor purpúrea, presente na parte carnosa dos frutos, chamado betalaína, a moringa (Moringa oleifera L.), cujas folhas são ricas em betacaroteno, a tansagem (Plantago major L.) com folhas compostas de taninos, flavonoides e betacaroteno. Portanto, conclui-se que essas plantas são uma excelente alternativa para a alimentação humana e que seu consumo frequente pode trazer diversos benefícios à saúde humana, principalmente na prevenção de doenças, pois são ricas em compostos bioativos, sendo necessário um aprofundamento nos estudos em relação ao tema

A New Clustering Approach for Automatic Oscillographic Records Segmentation

The analysis of waveforms related to transient events is an important task in power system maintenance. Currently, electric power systems are monitored by several event recorders called phasor measurement units (PMUs) which generate a large amount of data. The number of records is so high that it makes human analysis infeasible. An alternative way of solving this problem is to group events in similar classes so that it is no longer necessary to analyze all the events, but only the most representative of each class. Several automatic clustering algorithms have been proposed in the literature. Most of these algorithms use validation indexes to rank the partitioning quality and, consequently, find the optimal number of clusters. However, this issue remains open, as each index has its own performance highly dependent on the data spatial distribution. The main contribution of this paper is the development of a methodology that optimizes the results of any clustering algorithm, regardless of data spatial distribution. The proposal is to evaluate the internal correlation of each cluster to proceed or not in a new partitioning round. In summary, the traditional validation indexes will continue to be used in the cluster’s partition process, but it is the internal correlation measure of each one that will define the stopping splitting criteria. This approach was tested in a real waveforms database using the K-means algorithm with the Silhouette and also the Davies–Bouldin validation indexes. The results were compared with a specific methodology for that database and were shown to be totally consistent

Nanocomposite Treatment Reduces Disease and Lethality in a Murine Model of Acute Graft-versus-Host Disease and Preserves Anti-Tumor Effects

<div><p>Graft versus host disease (GVHD) is an immunological disorder triggered by bone marrow transplantation that affects several organs, including the gastrointestinal tract and liver. Fullerenes and their soluble forms, fullerols, are nanocomposites with a closed symmetrical structure with anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties. The present study evaluated the effects of treatment with the fullerol (C60(OH)18-20) in the development and pathogenesis of GVHD in a murine model. Mice with experimental GVHD that were treated with the fullerol showed reduced clinical signs of disease and mortality compared with untreated mice. Treatment with the fullerol decreased the hepatic damage associated with reduced hepatic levels of reactive oxygen species, pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines (IFN-γ TNF-α, CCL2, CCL3 and CCL5) and reduced leukocyte accumulation. The amelioration of GVHD after treatment with the fullerol was also associated with reduced intestinal lesions and consequent bacterial translocation to the blood, liver and peritoneal cavity. Moreover, the fullerol treatment alleviated the GVHD while preserving effects of the graft against a leukemia cell line (GFP+P815). In summary, the fullerol was effective in reducing the GVHD inflammatory response in mice and may suggest novel ways to treat this disease.</p></div

Fullerol reduces the concentration of cytokines, chemokines and reactive oxygen species in the liver.

<p>GVHD was induced by the transfer of splenocytes from semi-allogeneic WT or C57BL/6J donors to B6D2F1 mice. The mice that received splenocytes from the syngeneic (B6D2F1) mice did not develop the disease and were considered the control group. Fullerol (10 mg/Kg in 100 ml of PBS, i.p.) was given to the WT mice 30 min before transplantation and every 48 hours thereafter during the entire duration of the experiments. At 20 days after the induction of GVHD, the mice were killed, the concentrations of IFN-γ (A), TNF-α (B), CCL2 (C), CCL3 (D) and CCL5 (E) in the liver were evaluated by ELISA, and the levels of reactive oxygen species were evaluated by fluorescence units in the liver (F). The results are shown as the mean ± SEM (n = 6). * and #P <0,05 compared with the control and GVHD groups, respectively.</p

Fullerol treatment was associated with the inhibition of bacterial translocation and intestinal injury.

<p>GVHD was induced by the transfer of splenocytes from semi allogeneic C57BL/6J donors to B6D2F1 mice. Fullerol (10 mg/Kg in 100 ml of PBS, i.p.) was given to the B6D2F1 mice 30 min before transplantation and every 48 hours thereafter during the entire duration of the experiments. The mice that received splenocytes from the syngeneic (B6D2F1) mice did not develop the disease and were considered the control group. At Day 20 after transplant, the mice were sacrificed and bacterial translocation to the peritoneal cavity (A), blood (B), and liver (C) were quantified. The small intestine samples were also removed for histopathological analysis (D). The histological aspects of the H&E-stained small intestine sections in control, GVHD, and fullerol treated mice, respectively (E-G) The scale bar = 50 μm for all the panels. Control group (n = 5); GVHD group (n = 6); and fullerol group (n = 6). * and # <i>P</i> < 0.05 compared with the control and GVHD groups, respectively.</p

Fullerol treatment reduces hepatic injury in mice with experimental GVHD.

<p>GVHD was induced by the transfer of splenocytes from semi allogeneic C57BL/6J donors to B6D2F1 mice. Fullerol (10 mg/Kg in 100 ml of PBS, i.p.) was given to the B6D2F1 mice 30 min before transplantation and every 48 hours thereafter during the entire duration of the experiments. The mice that received splenocytes from the syngeneic (B6D2F1) mice did not develop the disease and were considered the control group. After the induction of GVHD, the mice were killed and the liver sampled for histopathological analysis and scoring at 20 days post-transplantation (A). Histological aspects of the H&E-stained liver sections in the control, GVHD, and fullerol treated mice, respectively (B-D). The scale bar = 50 μm for all the panels. The results are presented as the mean ± SEM (n = 6); * and #, P < 0.05 when compared with the control and GVHD groups, respectively.</p

Fullerol treatment does not interfere with GVL in mice with experimental GVHD.

<p>GVHD was induced by the transfer of splenocytes from allogeneic (C57BL/6J) donors to B6D2F1 mice. GFP+P815 cells were injected i.v. into the B6D2F1 recipients on day 0 of transplantation. The mice that received splenocytes alone from the syngeneic (B6D2F1) mice did not develop the disease and were considered the control group. The P815 group received the GFP+P815 cells alone and the other groups received splenocytes from the allogeneic (C57BL/6J) donors and the GFP+P815 cells. Fullerol (10 mg/Kg in 100 ml of PBS, i.p.) was given to the WT mice 30 min before transplantation and every 48 hours thereafter during the entire duration of the experiments. After the induction of GVHD, the mice were monitored every 2 d for survival (A). The results are shown as the mean ± SEM (n = 6). In other experiment, GFP+P815 cells were evaluated in lymphoid organs by confocal microscopy (B). Arrows show GFP+P815. 60x. The scale bar: GVHD = 62 μm; P815 = 62 μm; GVHD + P815 = 80 μm and GVHD + P815 + ful = 80 μm. Red arrows show GFP+P815 tumor cells. * and # P <0,05 compared with the control and GVHD groups, respectively.</p