Expressão do gene ABCA7 como indicador de adesão terapêutica ao Mesilato de Imatinib em pacientes com Leucemia Mieloide Crônica / Expression of the ABCA7 gene as adherence indicator to Imatinib Mesylate in patients with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia

A adesão terapêutica ao Mesilato de Imatinib (MI), medicamento em primeira linha utilizado para monitorar a resposta do indivíduo com Leucemia Mielóide Crônica (LMC), é fundamental para apresentar respostas duradouras. O gene ABCA7 apresentou expressão diferenciada em estudo de sequenciamento de transcriptoma em pacientes com LMC, motivo pelo qual foi quantificado a expressão deste gene em células do sangue periférico de pacientes portadores de LMC para ser validado como gene envolvido na resposta à adesão do paciente ao MI como indicador molecular de adesão. Foi realizado análise da expressão gênica do gene ABCA7 com base nos valores do cycle threshold (CT) através de PCR em Tempo Real. A análise estatística foi realizada através do programa BIOESTAT 5.0 para comparação da expressão entre pacientes e controles, levando em consideração a definição de resposta dos pacientes ao tratamento. Na comparação em relação a resposta ao tratamento observou-se valores significativos em indivíduos controle ABCA7 sem LMC comparados a pacientes controles (p<0,001) e a pacientes com resposta alerta (p=0,0165). O gene ABCA7 possivelmente está associado à adesão terapêutica, sendo um forte candidato a indicador molecular de adesão de pacientes com LMC tratados com MI

Extraction of subjective properties in image processing

Most of the present digital images processing methods are related with objective characterization of external properties as shape, form or colour. This information concerns objective characteristics of different bodies and is applied to extract details to perform several different tasks. But in some occasions, some other type of information is needed. This is the case when the image processing system is going to be applied to some operation related with living bodies. In this case, some other type of object information may be useful. As a matter of fact, it may give additional knowledge about its subjective properties. Some of these properties are object symmetry, parallelism between lines and the feeling of size. These types of properties concerns more to internal sensations of living beings when they are related with their environment than to the objective information obtained by artificial systems. This paper presents an elemental system able to detect some of the above-mentioned parameters. A first mathematical model to analyze these situations is reported. This theoretical model will give the possibility to implement a simple working system. The basis of this system is the use of optical logic cells, previously employed in optical computing

Comportamentos de proteção contra a infecção por SARS-CoV-2: um estudo de coorte

INTRODUÇÃO: Nós elaboramos um estudo prospectivo com o objetivo de avaliar fatores (adesão ao distanciamento social, uso de EPI’s, etc.) que poderiam ser determinantes no desenvolvimento da COVID-19 que poderá subsidiar o desenvolvimento de estratégias de saúde eficazes no combate da infecção no município de Passos - Minas Gerais, Brasil, seja em ambientes hospitalar ou não-hospitalar. MÉTODOS: Trata-se de um estudo coorte longitudinal onde foram incluídos 343 indivíduos da população que foram selecionados aleatoriamente por conglomerado. Os indivíduos selecionados responderam a um questionário relacionado às características clínicas, medidas preventivas, comorbidades e uso de medicamentos. Na ocasião foi realizado teste rápido nos indivíduos para detecção de anticorpos IgG e IgM. O tempo médio de acompanhamento foi de seis meses e, durante o acompanhamento, manteve-se contato telefônico a cada duas semanas. Ao final do seguimento, novo teste sorológico foi realizado e calculado o risco associado à presença de fatores de risco e à incidência da doença. RESULTADOS: Verificamos que 27,3% dos participantes que se infectaram no seguimento faziam uso ivermectina e hidroxicloroquina como forma de prevenção, enquanto nós não infectados, 11,3% usavam esses medicamentos. Para os indivíduos que apresentaram a doença durante o seguimento 21,2% relataram respeitar o isolamento social, 27,3% relataram que saíram para trabalhar e 42,14% relataram que frequentaram ambientes hospitalares. Entre os participantes que tiveram a infecção, 12,1% relataram contato apenas com familiares, 9,1% com familiares e colegas de trabalho e 75,8% com profissionais de saúde. CONCLUSÕES: Este estudo forneceu dados epidemiológicos de indivíduos infectados pelo COVID-19, que podem contribuir com o sistema de saúde no estabelecimento de medidas preventivas.INTRODUCTION: We designed a prospective study aiming to assess factors (adherence to social distancing, use of PPE, etc.) that could be determinants in the development of COVID-19 that may subsidize the development of effective health strategies to combat the infection in the municipality of Passos - Minas Gerais, Brazil, whether in the hospital or non-hospital settings. METHODS: This is a longitudinal cohort study where 343 individuals from the population were included and randomly selected by clusters. The selected individuals answered a questionnaire related to clinical characteristics, preventive measures, comorbidities, and medication use. A rapid test was performed on the individuals to detect IgG and IgM antibodies. The average follow-up period was six months, and during the follow-up, telephone contact was maintained every two weeks. At the end of the follow-up, a new serological test was performed, and the risk associated with risk factors and disease incidence was calculated. RESULTS: We found that 27.3% of patients who became infected during follow-up were using ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine as a means of prevention, while in non-infected patients, 11.3% used these drugs. (p = 0.024). For patients who had the disease during follow-up, 21.2% reported respecting social isolation, 27.3% reported leaving for work, and 42.14% reported having attended hospital environments (p = 0.004). Among the participants who had the infection, 12.1% reported contact only with family members, 9.1% with family members and co-workers, and 75.8% with health professionals (p = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: This study provided epidemiological data on patients infected with COVID-19, which can contribute to the health system's establishment of preventive measures

Increased risk of venous thrombosis by AB alleles of the ABO blood group and Factor V Leiden in a Brazilian population

Most cases of a predisposition to venous thrombosis are caused by resistance to activated protein C, associated in 95% of cases with the Factor V Leiden allele (FVL or R506Q). Several recent studies report a further increased risk of thrombosis by an association between the AB alleles of the ABO blood group and Factor V Leiden. The present study investigated this association with deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in individuals treated at the Hemocentro de Pernambuco in northeastern Brazil. A case-control comparison showed a significant risk of thrombosis in the presence of Factor V Leiden (OR = 10.1), which was approximately doubled when the AB alleles of the ABO blood group were present as well (OR = 22.3). These results confirm that the increased risk of deep vein thrombosis in the combined presence of AB alleles and Factor V Leiden is also applicable to the Brazilian population suggesting that ABO blood group typing should be routinely added to FVL in studies involving thrombosis

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

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

HCV INFECTION THROUGH PERFORATING AND CUTTING MATERIAL AMONG CANDIDATES FOR BLOOD DONATION IN BELÉM, BRAZILIAN AMAZON

Este estudo avaliou fatores epidemiológicos para infecção pelo HCV associados ao compartilhamento de instrumentos cortantes e perfurantes em candidatos à doação de sangue (CDS) na cidade de Belém, Pará, Amazônia Brasileira. Duas definições de infecção pelo HCV foram utilizadas: positividade por anti-HCV detectada por EIA, e HCV-RNA detectado por PCR. CDS infectados e não-infectados preencheram questionário sobre possíveis fatores de risco associados com o compartilhamento de instrumentos cortantes e perfurantes. As informações foram avaliadas usando regressão logística simples e múltipla. Entre maio e novembro de 2010, 146 (1,1%) indivíduos com anticorpos anti-HCV e 106 (0,8%) com HCV-RNA foram detectadas entre 13.772 CDS em Belém. Os fatores de risco associados à infecção pelo HCV baseado em resultados de EIA (modelo 1) e PCR (modelo 2) foram: uso de agulhas e seringas esterilizadas em casa, uso compartilhado de lâminas em casa, compartilhamento de lâminas em barbearias, salões de beleza, etc., e compartilhamento de material de manicure e pedicure. Os modelos de infecção pelo HCV associados com o compartilhamento de instrumentos cortantes e perfurantes devem ser considerados pelas autoridades de saúde local e regional e de países com práticas culturais semelhantes, a fim de fornecer informações uteis para direcionar estratégias e políticas públicas de controle da transmissão do HCV.This study evaluated epidemiological factors for HCV infection associated with sharing perforating and cutting instruments among candidates for blood donation (CBD) in the city of Belém, Pará, Brazilian Amazon. Two definitions of HCV infection cases were used: anti-HCV positivity shown by EIA, and HCV-RNA detection by PCR. Infected and uninfected CBD completed a questionnaire about possible risk factors associated with sharing perforating and cutting instruments. The information was evaluated using simple and multiple logistic regressions. Between May and November 2010, 146 (1.1%) persons with anti-HCV antibodies and 106 (0.8%) with HCV-RNA were detected among 13,772 CBD in Belém. Risk factors associated with HCV infection based on the EIA (model 1) and PCR (model 2) results were: use of needles and syringes sterilized at home; shared use of razors at home, sharing of disposable razors in barbershops, beauty salons etc.; and sharing manicure and pedicure material. The models of HCV infection associated with sharing perforating and cutting instruments should be taken into account by local and regional health authorities and by those of other countries with similar cultural practices, in order to provide useful information to guide political and public strategies to control HCV transmission