Epidemiological study in Brazilian women highlights that syphilis remains a public health problem

yphilis, an infectious disease considered a global public health concern, can cause stillbirths and neonatal deaths. This highlights the importance of continuous surveillance studies among women of reproductive age. A cross-sectional study was carried out to analyze the prevalence and risk factors associated with Treponema pallidum infection in women assisted by primary health care units in Dourados, a city located in Mato Grosso do Sul State, Brazil, which borders Paraguay. A questionnaire was applied to a population-based sample, blood samples were collected for syphilis testing and multivariable analyses were performed to screen associations with T. pallidum infection. The prevalence of T. pallidum infection was 6.04%. Bivariate analysis showed that women referring multiple sexual partners (c2: 6.97 [p=0.014]), income less 2 minimal wages (c2: 15.93 [p=0.003]), who did not have high school (c2: 12.64 [p=0.005]), and reporting history of STIs (c2: 7.30 [p=0.018]) are more likely to have syphilis. In the multivariate analysis, a highest prevalence ratio was observed in women with income less than 2 minimal wages (PR: 0.96 [95% CI: 0.85 - 0.97]), and who did not have high school (PR: 0.94 [95% CI: 0.90 - 0.98]). In addition, 80% of the women reported irregular use of condoms and 63.89% declared having sexual intercourses with multiple partners, which creates more opportunities for the transmission of the infection. These results highlight the need for healthcare systems to implement initiatives to monitor syphilis screening and the commitment of patients and their sexual partners to the treatment in order to achieve a decrease of new cases

The quality of crude glycerine influences the fermentation and nutritive value of Piatã grass silage

We aimed to evaluate the effects of crude glycerine purity and levels of glycerol on the fermentative profile, microorganisms counting, and nutritional value of Piatã grass silage. The experiment was carried out in a 3×3+1 completely randomized factorial design using three different types of crude glycerine [low purity (40% of glycerol), medium purity (60% glycerol), and high purity (80% glycerol)], three doses of glycerol (20, 40, and 60 g/kg DM), and a control (no crude glycerine added) as an additional treatment, which were stored for 80 days. Statistical differences were not observed on fermentative losses of the treatments tested. The increase of glycerol doses resulted in higher levels of non-fibrous carbohydrates and lower levels of fibre components. The addition of low-purity crude glycerine increased the levels of fat and in vitro digestibility of silages. The highest levels of lactic acid and acetic acid occurred in the treatments with 60 g/kg of glycerol when using crude glycerine with a low purity. The lowest lactic acid content was observed in the control treatment and in the lowest dose of glycerol. The highest glycerol dose (60 g/kg), associated with the lowest degree of crude glycerine purity (40%) resulted in the greatest nutritional value and provided the best silage conservatio