DETECÇÃO ATRAVÉS DE REAÇÃO EM CADEIA PELA POLIMERASE EM TEMPO REAL SEGUIDA DE ANÁLISE DE ALTA RESOLUÇÃO DE CURVAS DE DISSOCIAÇÃO (qPCR-HRM) DE PROTOZOÁRIOS PARASITOS (APICOMPLEXA: SARCOCYSTIDAE) EM AMOSTRAS DE EMBUTIDOS DE ORIGEM SUÍNA

A família Sarcocystidae compreende os parasitos dos gêneros Toxoplasma, Neospora, Sarcocystis, Hammondia, Besnoitia (Irvine; Walker; Friedrichs, 2016) e Cystoisospora spp. (Samarasinghe; Johnson; Ryan, 2008). Os principais parasitos da Família Sarcocystidae que infectam humanos são o Sarcocystis spp. e o Toxoplasma gondii.Existem duas espécies de Sarcocystis que tem o homem como hospedeiro definitivo, S. hominis e S. suihominis, estes possuem como hospedeiros intermediários, respectivamente, bovinos e suínos. Sarcocystis possuem um ciclo de vida heteroxênico, ou seja, com dois hospedeiros. Hospedeiros intermediários são infectados pela ingestão de oocistos ou esporocistos livres em alimentos ou água contaminados com fezes dos hospedeiros definitivos e estes completam o ciclo ao consumir cistos intramusculares de hospedeiros intermediários (Davies et al., 2011). Em seres humanos, geralmente a infecção por Sarcocystis causa sintomas auto limitantes como diarreias, náuseas, vômitos, dor abdominal e cólicas (Neves, 2012). Em animais de produção a infecção por Sarcocystis é mais dramática podendo causar sintomas variados (Carrigan, 1986), resultando também na diminuição da produção leiteira e da carne e abortamentos (Fayer; Johnson; Lunde, 1976).Os hospedeiros definitivos do T. gondii são os felídeos e seus hospedeiros intermediários compreendem vários animais homeotérmicos, domésticos e silvestres, incluindo o homem. O T. gondii possui um ciclo de vida do tipo heteroxênico facultativo, ou seja, os hospedeiros definitivos podem se infectar pelas diferentes formas infectantes apresentadas pelo parasito durante seu ciclo de vida, e os diversos outros animais que podem se infectar pelo parasito não sustentam seu ciclo sexual, sendo considerados hospedeiros intermediários, estes se infectam pela ingestão de oocistos eliminados nas fezes de felinos, ingestão de cistos teciduais, ou por via congênita. Em humanos a maioria das infecções por Toxoplasma gondii são assintomáticas, porém muitos indivíduos imunodeprimidos desenvolvem encefalite aguda culminando em óbito (Rey, 2008), em infecções intrauterinas é comum sequelas como retinocoroidite, encefalomielite e hidrocefalia ou microcefalia (Voge et al., 2003). Em animaisde produção este parasito é responsável por severas perdas, pois causam, entre outros males, o abortamento das crias (Bowman, 2006).O estudo aqui apresentado objetivou a detecção de protozoário parasitos pertencentes a família Sarcocystidae em tecidos de origem suína (Sus scrofa) comercializados na forma de embutidos em feiras livres do munícipio de Feira de Santana, BA, por meio da técnica de reação em cadeia da polimerase em tempo real (qPCR) seguida da análise de alta resolução de curvas de dissociação (HRM)

Risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection among front-line healthcare workers in Northeast Brazil : a respondent-driven sampling approach

Objectives We assessed the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection, personal protective equipment (PPE) shortages and occurrence of biological accidents among front-line healthcare workers (HCW). Design, setting and participants Using respondent-driven sampling, the study recruited distinct categories of HCW attending suspected or confirmed patients with COVID-19 from May 2020 to February 2021, in the Recife metropolitan area, Northeast Brazil. Outcome measures The criterion to assess SARS-CoV-2 infection among HCW was a positive self-reported PCR test. Results We analysed 1525 HCW: 527 physicians, 471 registered nurses, 263 nursing assistants and 264 physical therapists. Women predominated in all categories (81.1%; 95% CI: 77.8% to 84.1%). Nurses were older with more comorbidities (hypertension and overweight/obesity) than the other staff. The overall prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection was 61.8% (95% CI: 55.7% to 67.5%) after adjustment for the cluster random effect, weighted by network, and the reference population size. Risk factors for a positive RT-PCR test were being a nursing assistant (OR adjusted: 2.56; 95% CI: 1.42 to 4.61), not always using all recommended PPE while assisting patients with COVID-19 (OR adj: 2.15; 95% CI: 1.02 to 4.53) and reporting a splash of biological fluid/respiratory secretion in the eyes (OR adj: 3.37; 95% CI: 1.10 to 10.34). Conclusions This study shows the high frequency of SARS-CoV2 infection among HCW presumably due to workplace exposures. In our setting, nursing assistant comprised the most vulnerable category. Our findings highlight the need for improving healthcare facility environments, specific training and supervision to cope with public health emergencies

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

Production of Highly Active Antiparasitic Compounds from the Controlled Halogenation of the Arrabidaea brachypoda Crude Plant Extract

AbstractUHPLC-PDA-ELSD-MS analyses of the halogenation reactions at the analytical scale and NMR, and HRMS data of the isolated compound

Implementation of a Brazilian Cardioprotective Nutritional (BALANCE) Program for improvement on quality of diet and secondary prevention of cardiovascular events: A randomized, multicenter trial

Background: Appropriate dietary recommendations represent a key part of secondary prevention in cardiovascular disease (CVD). We evaluated the effectiveness of the implementation of a nutritional program on quality of diet, cardiovascular events, and death in patients with established CVD. Methods: In this open-label, multicenter trial conducted in 35 sites in Brazil, we randomly assigned (1:1) patients aged 45 years or older to receive either the BALANCE Program (experimental group) or conventional nutrition advice (control group). The BALANCE Program included a unique nutritional education strategy to implement recommendations from guidelines, adapted to the use of affordable and regional foods. Adherence to diet was evaluated by the modified Alternative Healthy Eating Index. The primary end point was a composite of all-cause mortality, cardiovascular death, cardiac arrest, myocardial infarction, stroke, myocardial revascularization, amputation, or hospitalization for unstable angina. Secondary end points included biochemical and anthropometric data, and blood pressure levels. Results: From March 5, 2013, to Abril 7, 2015, a total of 2534 eligible patients were randomly assigned to either the BALANCE Program group (n = 1,266) or the control group (n = 1,268) and were followed up for a median of 3.5 years. In total, 235 (9.3%) participants had been lost to follow-up. After 3 years of follow-up, mean modified Alternative Healthy Eating Index (scale 0-70) was only slightly higher in the BALANCE group versus the control group (26.2 ± 8.4 vs 24.7 ± 8.6, P <.01), mainly due to a 0.5-serving/d greater intake of fruits and of vegetables in the BALANCE group. Primary end point events occurred in 236 participants (18.8%) in the BALANCE group and in 207 participants (16.4%) in the control group (hazard ratio, 1.15; 95% CI 0.95-1.38; P =.15). Secondary end points did not differ between groups after follow-up. Conclusions: The BALANCE Program only slightly improved adherence to a healthy diet in patients with established CVD and had no significant effect on the incidence of cardiovascular events or death. © 2019 The Author