Progress towards Elimination of HIV Mother-to-Child Transmission in the Dominican Republic from 1999 to 2011

In 1999, prevention of mother-to-child transmission (pMTCT) using antiretrovirals was introduced in the Dominican Republic (DR). Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) was introduced for immunosuppressed persons in 2004 and for pMTCT in 2008. To assess progress towards MTCT elimination, data from requisitions for HIV nucleic acid amplification tests for diagnosis of HIV infection in perinatally exposed infants born in the DR from 1999 to 2011 were analyzed. The MTCT rate was 142/1,274 (11.1%) in 1999?2008 and 12/302 (4.0%) in 2009?2011 (P \u3c .001), with a rate of 154/1,576 (9.8%) for both periods combined. This decline was associated with significant increases in the proportions of women who received prenatal HAART (from 12.3% to 67.9%) and infants who received exclusive formula feeding (from 76.3% to 86.1%) and declines in proportions of women who received no prenatal antiretrovirals (from 31.9% to 12.2%) or received only single-dose nevirapine (from 39.5% to 19.5%). In 2007, over 95% of DR pregnant women received prenatal care, HIV testing, and professionally attended delivery. However, only 58% of women in underserved sugarcane plantation communities (2007) and 76% in HIV sentinel surveillance hospitals (2003?2005) received their HIV test results. HIV-MTCT elimination is feasible but persistent lack of access to critical pMTCT measures must be addressed

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear un derstanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5–7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8–11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world’s most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepre sented in biodiversity databases.13–15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may elim inate pieces of the Amazon’s biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological com munities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple or ganism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region’s vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most ne glected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lostinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear understanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5,6,7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8,9,10,11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world's most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepresented in biodiversity databases.13,14,15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may eliminate pieces of the Amazon's biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological communities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple organism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region's vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most neglected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lost

Perfil epidemiológico dos usuários de um Centro de Testagem e Aconselhamento para DST/HIV da Rede Municipal de São Paulo, com sorologia positiva para o HIV Epidemiological profile of HIV positive individuals from a HIV/STD Counseling and Testing Center (CTA) in the city of São Paulo, Brazil

Centros de Testagem e Aconselhamento em DST/HIV (CTA) oferecem, entre outras atividades, a realização de testes sorológicos anti-HIV e VDRL. Estes serviços dispõem de coleta sistemática de dados permitindo conhecer o perfil epidemiológico dos indivíduos infectados. O presente estudo descreve o perfil epidemiológico das pessoas com sorologia positiva que utilizaram um dos maiores CTA do país, durante os anos de 2001 e 2002. Foram utilizados dados de sorologia positiva e das entrevistas (pré e pós teste) realizadas de rotina. Obsevou-se 470 (4%) resultados positivos entre 10657 testes sorológicos realizados, sendo que grande parte (81,4%) dos usuários com sorologia positiva são do sexo masculino. A idade média dos indivíduos estudados foi 32,3 anos, sem diferencial para sexo (p=0,968); 75% trabalham; 41% dos usuários do sexo feminino e 77% do sexo masculino são solteiros (pSTD/HIV Counseling and Testing Centers (CTA) provide serological testing for HIV and syphilis, among other activities. These centers collect and register data systematically, and thus allow profiling of HIV-positive individuals. The present study presents the epidemiological profile of HIV-positive individuals who attended a high-demand center from January 2001 to December 2002. Data from serological tests with positive results and information recorded during the interviews (pre- and post-testing) were used as sources. During the period, there were 470 (4%) positive results, out of 10,657 tests performed. Most HIV-positive individuals were male (81.4%); the average age among all positive individuals was 32.3 years; 75% were employed; 41% of HIV-positive females and 77% males were single (p<0.001). Regarding exposure category, 36% of individuals classified themselves as homosexuals, 34% as heterosexuals and 27% as bisexuals. A very large percentage reported having multiple partners (82%) and 32% claimed to always use condoms

Joá yellow blotch-associated virus, a new alphanucleorhabdovirus from a wild solanaceous plant in Brazil

We identified a novel plant rhabdovirus infecting native joá (Solanum aculeatissimum) plants in Brazil. Infected plants showed yellow blotches on the leaves, and typical enveloped bacilliform rhabdovirus particles associated with the nucleus were seen in thin sections by electron microscopy. The virus could be graft-transmitted to healthy joá and tomato plants but was not mechanically transmissible. RT-PCR using degenerate plant rhabdovirus L gene primers yielded an amplicon from extracted total RNA, the sequence of which was similar to those of alphanucleorhabdoviruses. Based on close sequence matches, especially with the type member potato yellow dwarf virus (PYDV), we adopted a degenerate-primer-walking strategy towards both genome ends. The complete genome of joá yellow blotch-associated virus (JYBaV) is comprised of 12,965 nucleotides, is less than 75% identical to that of its closest relative PYDV, and clusters with PYDV and other alphanucleorhabdoviruses in L protein phylogenetic trees, suggesting that it should be taxonomically classified in a new species in the genus Alphanucleorhabdovirus, family Rhabdoviridae. The genome organization of JYBaV is typical of the ?PYDV-like? subgroup of alphanucleorhabdoviruses, with seven genes (N-X-P-Y-M-G-L) separated by conserved intergenic regions and flanked by partly complementary 3´ leader and 5´ trailer regions.Fil: Dietzgen, Ralf G.. The University of Queensland; AustraliaFil: Bejerman, Nicolas. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro de Investigaciones Agropecuarias. Unidad de Fitopatología y Modelización Agrícola - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Unidad de Fitopatología y Modelización Agrícola; Argentina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro de Investigaciones Agropecuarias. Instituto de Patología Vegetal; ArgentinaFil: Mei, Yongyu. The University of Queensland; AustraliaFil: Jee, Charmaine Lim Jing. The University of Queensland; AustraliaFil: Chabi-Jesus, Camila. Instituto Biologico Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Freitas-Astúa, Juliana. Instituto Biologico Sao Paulo; Brasil. Ministerio da Agricultura Pecuaria e Abastecimento de Brasil. Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuaria; BrasilFil: Veras, Solange M.. Universidad Federal del Amazonas.; BrasilFil: Kitajima, Elliot W.. Universidade de Sao Paulo; Brasi