Cocirculation and Coinfection Associated to Zika Virus in the Americas

Zika virus, a flavivirus, has arrived to Latin America in 2013. It became evident causing epidemics since 2015, first in Brazil and later in other countries in the region, such as Colombia, with a higher peak in 2016. The World Health Organization (WHO), based on cumulated evidence on its association with Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) and microcephaly and other birth defects (also the congenital Zika syndrome, CZS), declared for a period of almost a year, an international public health emergency. Epidemics in the region caused around 1 million cases with also additional complications beyond GBS and the CZS, which in patients with comorbidities lead to deaths. Among the events studied in the region, a number of cases with arboviral coinfections/codetection (dengue and chikungunya) were described and published beginning in Colombia and later in Brazil. In addition to that, cocirculation and still ongoing research on antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE) are challenges for physicians and public health authorities, given the implications for clinical manifestations and serological diagnosis in patients with previous exposition to other flaviviruses. We reviewed such aspects in this chapter

Norovirus Detection and Genotyping for Children with Gastroenteritis, Brazil

During 1998–2005, we analyzed stool samples from 289 children in Rio de Janeiro to detect and genotype norovirus strains. Previous tests showed all samples to be negative for rotavirus and adenovirus. Of 42 (14.5%) norovirus-positive specimens, 20 (47.6%) were identified as genogroup GI and 22 (52.3%) as GII

Recomendaciones para fomentar la calidad en prácticas educativas mediadas por tecnologías digitales

En estos momentos de cambio que estamos viviendo, la preservación de la calidad de la Educación es un imperativo para facilitar la consecución de los resultados de aprendizaje esperados por la comunidad educativa y la sociedad. Desde RedUnete (Red Universitaria para la Educación con Tecnología), contribuimos en la mejora de los procesos de preservación y Aseguramiento de la calidad de la Educación, en particular cuando es mediada por la tecnología, y por ello hemos elaborado este documento de recomendaciones con la colaboración del Ministerio de Educación Nacional y de otras entidades y redes, que esperamos sea de utilidad para la educación superior de Colombia.Introducción. La calidad en las prácticas educativas mediadas por tecnologías. Pertinencia de las tecnologías digitales para enriquecer los procesos de enseñanza y aprendizaje. Transformación digital de la oferta académica desde la integración asertiva de las tecnologías. Referencia

Characterising the KMP-11 and HSP-70 recombinant antigens' humoral immune response profile in chagasic patients

11 pages, 6 figures.-- The pre-publication history for this paper can be accessed here: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2334/9/186/pre pubBackground: Antigen specificity and IgG subclass could be significant in the natural history of Chagas' disease. The relationship between the different stages of human Chagas' disease and the profiles of total IgG and its subclasses were thus analysed here; they were directed against a crude T. cruzi extract and three recombinant antigens: the T. cruzi kinetoplastid membrane protein-11 (rKMP-11), an internal fragment of the T. cruzi HSP-70 protein192-433, and the entire Trypanosoma rangeli HSP-70 protein. Methods: Seventeen Brazilian acute chagasic patients, 50 Colombian chronic chagasic patients (21 indeterminate and 29 cardiopathic patients) and 30 healthy individuals were included. Total IgG and its subtypes directed against the above-mentioned recombinant antigens were determined by ELISA tests. Results: The T. cruzi KMP-11 and T. rangeli HSP-70 recombinant proteins were able to distinguish both acute from chronic chagasic patients and infected people from healthy individuals. Specific antibodies to T. cruzi crude antigen in acute patients came from IgG3 and IgG4 subclasses whereas IgG1 and IgG3 were the prevalent isotypes in indeterminate and chronic chagasic patients. By contrast, the specific prominent antibodies in all disease stages against T. cruzi KMP-11 and T. rangeli HSP-70 recombinant antigens were the IgG1 subclass.This work was supported by Colciencias Research project No. 1203-333- 18692. IDF was supported by Colciencias and the Universidad Javeriana's Young Researcher 2008 Programme (Bogotá, Colombia). MCT and MCL were supported by P06-CTS-02242 Grant from PAI (Junta de Andalucia) and RICET-RD06/0021-0014, Spain. MS received financial support from the Brazilian agency - CNPq.Peer reviewe

Design and baseline characteristics of the finerenone in reducing cardiovascular mortality and morbidity in diabetic kidney disease trial

Background: Among people with diabetes, those with kidney disease have exceptionally high rates of cardiovascular (CV) morbidity and mortality and progression of their underlying kidney disease. Finerenone is a novel, nonsteroidal, selective mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist that has shown to reduce albuminuria in type 2 diabetes (T2D) patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) while revealing only a low risk of hyperkalemia. However, the effect of finerenone on CV and renal outcomes has not yet been investigated in long-term trials. Patients and Methods: The Finerenone in Reducing CV Mortality and Morbidity in Diabetic Kidney Disease (FIGARO-DKD) trial aims to assess the efficacy and safety of finerenone compared to placebo at reducing clinically important CV and renal outcomes in T2D patients with CKD. FIGARO-DKD is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, event-driven trial running in 47 countries with an expected duration of approximately 6 years. FIGARO-DKD randomized 7,437 patients with an estimated glomerular filtration rate >= 25 mL/min/1.73 m(2) and albuminuria (urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio >= 30 to <= 5,000 mg/g). The study has at least 90% power to detect a 20% reduction in the risk of the primary outcome (overall two-sided significance level alpha = 0.05), the composite of time to first occurrence of CV death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, or hospitalization for heart failure. Conclusions: FIGARO-DKD will determine whether an optimally treated cohort of T2D patients with CKD at high risk of CV and renal events will experience cardiorenal benefits with the addition of finerenone to their treatment regimen. Trial Registration: EudraCT number: 2015-000950-39; ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02545049

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals &lt;1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data