2 nd Brazilian Consensus on Chagas Disease, 2015

Abstract Chagas disease is a neglected chronic condition with a high burden of morbidity and mortality. It has considerable psychological, social, and economic impacts. The disease represents a significant public health issue in Brazil, with different regional patterns. This document presents the evidence that resulted in the Brazilian Consensus on Chagas Disease. The objective was to review and standardize strategies for diagnosis, treatment, prevention, and control of Chagas disease in the country, based on the available scientific evidence. The consensus is based on the articulation and strategic contribution of renowned Brazilian experts with knowledge and experience on various aspects of the disease. It is the result of a close collaboration between the Brazilian Society of Tropical Medicine and the Ministry of Health. It is hoped that this document will strengthen the development of integrated actions against Chagas disease in the country, focusing on epidemiology, management, comprehensive care (including families and communities), communication, information, education, and research

Benthic estuarine communities in Brazil: moving forward to long term studies to assess climate change impacts

Abstract Estuaries are unique coastal ecosystems that sustain and provide essential ecological services for mankind. Estuarine ecosystems include a variety of habitats with their own sediment-fauna dynamics, all of them globally undergoing alteration or threatened by human activities. Mangrove forests, saltmarshes, tidal flats and other confined estuarine systems are under increasing stress due to human activities leading to habitat and species loss. Combined changes in estuarine hydromorphology and in climate pose severe threats to estuarine ecosystems on a global scale. The ReBentos network is the first integrated attempt in Brazil to monitor estuarine changes in the long term to detect and assess the effects of global warming. This paper is an initial effort of ReBentos to review current knowledge on benthic estuarine ecology in Brazil. We herein present and synthesize all published work on Brazilian estuaries that has focused on the description of benthic communities and related ecological processes. We then use current data on Brazilian estuaries and present recommendations for future studies to address climate change effects, suggesting trends for possible future research and stressing the need for long-term datasets and international partnerships

Intrinsic pulsatile secretory activity of immortalized luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone-secreting neurons.

Mammalian reproduction is dependent upon intermittent delivery of luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) to the anterior pituitary. This mode of secretion is required to sensitize maximally the gonadotrophs to LHRH stimulation and to regulate gonadotropin gene expression. While LHRH secretion is pulsatile in nature, the origin of the pulse generator is unknown. In this report, we show that this oscillator could be located within the LHRH neuronal network. When immortalized LHRH neurons are placed into a perifusion system, LHRH is secreted into the medium in a pulsatile fashion under basal conditions. LHRH secretion and the number of LHRH pulses are reduced when calcium is removed from the medium. Perifusion also influences pro-LHRH processing, since the molar ratio of its processed products varies dramatically when the cells are transferred from a static system. Several different cellular mechanisms may underlie these changes in secretion and processing. Lucifer yellow experiments reveal that some cells are dye-coupled. Hence, these cells could be electrically coupled through gap junctions such that secretion from individual cells could be coordinated. Secretion could also be synchronized through the observed synapse-like contacts. These contacts could perform a negative-feedback role to regulate not only the amount of LHRH released but also the molecular forms secreted. The organization of LHRH neurons into interconnected clusters could serve to coordinate LHRH secretion from individual cells and, thereby, orchestrate functions in vivo as diverse as the onset of puberty, the timing of ovulation, and the duration of lactational infertility

Comparações entre o Paradigma Orientado a Objetos e o Paradigma Orientado a Notificações sob o contexto de um simulador de sistema telefônico

Este artigo apresenta uma revisão dos conceitos relacionados ao Paradigma Orientado a Notificações (PON) e uma comparação, qualitativa e quantitativa, de uma mesma aplicação (simulador de sistema de telefonia) desenvolvida segundo os princípios do PON e segundo os princípios do Paradigma Orientado a Objetos (POO). O PON se apresenta como uma alternativa aos Paradigmas de Programação Imperativa (PI), incluindo o POO, e aos Paradigmas de Programação Declarativa (PD), propondo-se a eliminar deficiências destes no que tange a aspectos de redundâncias e acoplamento de avaliações causais que impactam no desempenho e paralelismo/distribuição de aplicações. A comparação apresentada neste artigo abrange desde aspectos de modelagem, por meio de técnicas tais como UML e Redes de Petri, até questões relacionadas à implementação e ao desempenho relativo entre as aplicações. O experimento demonstra que, embora o desempenho do PON tenha sido inferior ao do POO para a aplicação desenvolvida, em função de características da aplicação e de um ambiente de execução ainda não totalmente adaptado ao paradigma, existem aspectos relativos à modelagem que podem ser levados em consideração e incentivar a utilização do PON em aplicações com requisitos de paralelismo ou distribuição