Desafios da técnica de obtenção de microesferas de Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis associado a óleo essencial de Croton rhamnifolioides/ Challenges of Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis Microsphere techniques associated with Croton rhamnifolioides essential oil

No intuito de combater o mosquito Aedes aegypti métodos de controle têm sido testados para substituir o uso de inseticidas químicos, que provocam degradação ambiental e uma alta resistência dos mosquitos frente a tais produtos. Assim, o uso de produtos naturais como óleos essenciais e biolarvicidas tem sido uma alternativa aos produtos químicos convencionais. No entanto, tais produtos apresentam limitações decorrentes da baixa solubilidade em água, alta volatilidade ou degradação por exposição à radiação solar. Para minimizar estas incompatibilidades, a técnica de microencapsulamento é adotada como proteção, evitando o efeito de exposição inadequada dos ingredientes ativos. A produção de microencapsulados tem diversas etapas e desafios a serem suplantados, o que se buscou apresentar neste trabalho. Microesferas de Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis (Bti) associadas ao óleo essencial de Croton rhamnifolioides foram preparadas através do método de coacervação simples por gotejamento da suspensão bioativa em alginato de sódio a 1% e 2% em meio com CaCl2. Os testes larvicidas com A. aegypti em estágio L3 foram realizados tanto no pó seco, resultado do biocultivo, como das microesferas formuladas com este ativo e o óleo essencial. A CL 50 e a CL 90 do pó seco foram de 0,12 mg/L e 0,21 mg/L, respectivamente, cuja atividades se mantiveram após um período de conservação de um ano a -10oC. As microesferas de Bti, Bti + óleo essencial de C. rhamnifolioides e microesferas de óleo de C. rhamnifolioides em alginato a 2% não apresentaram atividade larvicida, enquanto as microesferas preparadas em alginato a 1% apresentaram 90% de mortalidade, quando se utilizou 3x 104 UFC/g Bti imobilizado. Os resultados obtidos mostraram viabilidade para o uso de microesferas de Bti associado ao óleo essencial de C. rhamnifolioides para o controle de Aedes Aegypti. Diante dos resultados obtidos, os desafios da técnica de microencapsulamento foram estudados para o estabelecimento de parâmetros de tempo de exposição, armazenamento e concentrações na obtenção de microesferas com eficiência larvicida

Interaction between Work and Metabolic Syndrome: A Population-Based Cross-Sectional Study

Metabolic syndrome (MS) is a clinical condition and a relevant risk factor in the development of cardiovascular diseases; it occurs as a result of lifestyle factors, e.g., work. The aim of this research was to estimate the interaction between work and MS among primary health care (PHC) nursing professionals in the state of Bahia, Brazil. A sectional multicentered study carried out in 43 municipalities in Bahia, whose study population consisted of nursing professionals. The exposure variables were occupation, professional exhaustion, and working time, and the outcome variable was MS. Interaction measures based on the additivity criteria were verified by calculating the excess risks due to the interactions and according to the proportion of cases attributed to the interactions and the synergy index. The global MS prevalence is 24.4%. There was a greater magnitude in the exposure group regarding the three investigated factors (average level occupation, professional exhaustion, and working time in PHC for more than 5 years), reaching an occurrence of 44.9% when compared to the prevalence of 13.1% in the non-exposure group (academic education, without professional burnout, and working time in PHC for up to 5 years). The study’s findings showed a synergistic interaction of work aspects for MS occurrence among PHC nursing professionals

NEOTROPICAL ALIEN MAMMALS: a data set of occurrence and abundance of alien mammals in the Neotropics

Biological invasion is one of the main threats to native biodiversity. For a species to become invasive, it must be voluntarily or involuntarily introduced by humans into a nonnative habitat. Mammals were among first taxa to be introduced worldwide for game, meat, and labor, yet the number of species introduced in the Neotropics remains unknown. In this data set, we make available occurrence and abundance data on mammal species that (1) transposed a geographical barrier and (2) were voluntarily or involuntarily introduced by humans into the Neotropics. Our data set is composed of 73,738 historical and current georeferenced records on alien mammal species of which around 96% correspond to occurrence data on 77 species belonging to eight orders and 26 families. Data cover 26 continental countries in the Neotropics, ranging from Mexico and its frontier regions (southern Florida and coastal-central Florida in the southeast United States) to Argentina, Paraguay, Chile, and Uruguay, and the 13 countries of Caribbean islands. Our data set also includes neotropical species (e.g., Callithrix sp., Myocastor coypus, Nasua nasua) considered alien in particular areas of Neotropics. The most numerous species in terms of records are from Bos sp. (n = 37,782), Sus scrofa (n = 6,730), and Canis familiaris (n = 10,084); 17 species were represented by only one record (e.g., Syncerus caffer, Cervus timorensis, Cervus unicolor, Canis latrans). Primates have the highest number of species in the data set (n = 20 species), partly because of uncertainties regarding taxonomic identification of the genera Callithrix, which includes the species Callithrix aurita, Callithrix flaviceps, Callithrix geoffroyi, Callithrix jacchus, Callithrix kuhlii, Callithrix penicillata, and their hybrids. This unique data set will be a valuable source of information on invasion risk assessments, biodiversity redistribution and conservation-related research. There are no copyright restrictions. Please cite this data paper when using the data in publications. We also request that researchers and teachers inform us on how they are using the data