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Introduction: To verify whether the COVID-19 pandemic has had an impact on the safety climate based on the perception of the multiprofessional team in the operating room and to analyze the domains of the safety climate during the pre-pandemic and pandemic period of COVID-19, demonstrating the intersections of quantitative and qualitative approaches., Methods: Mixed-method research using a convergent approach strategy, carried out in the operating room of a university hospital, located in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The nature of the quantitative phase was cross-sectional, and the nature of the qualitative phase was descriptive. We used the Pillar Integration Process to integrate the data. This research considered the pre-pandemic period was defined as before March 2020 and for the pandemic period, the 2nd and 3rd global waves. Research was approved by the institution's board management and ethics committee., Results: 145 health professionals participated in the quantitative approach, and 20 in the qualitative approach. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic was highlighted in the domains 'Perceived stress' (p-value = 0.017); 'Working conditions' (p-value = 0.040). Six categories emerged from the qualitative analysis, namely: Stress and professional performance due to COVID-19; Patient safety protocols in the operating room; Responsibility for patient safety, lack of effective communication and performance feedback; Biosafety of the professional staff in the operating room; Security culture maturity; Fair culture, organizational learning, and reporting mistakes. As a result of the data integration, 6 pillars were identified: Perception of communication in the operating room; Evolution of safety culture; Overview of protocol management and implementation; Fair organizational culture; Perception of stress due to COVID-19; Perception of professional performance due to COVID-19., Conclusions: The impact that COVID-19 had on the safety climate in the operating room is evident. It underlines the need to implement strategies that support the solidification of attitudes aimed at patient safety, even in emergencies., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Ferreira et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Background: The use of telemedicine has become a fundamental tool in healthcare in recent years, especially at times of Covid-19 pandemic. Currently, there are several telemedicine tools that are simple, inexpensive, and effective means of communication. This article aims to describe indicators of feasibility including patient recruitment, attendance, discomfort (internet connection issues and/or noncompliant patient behavior), satisfaction, and travel time and cost savings of virtual telemedicine consultations for patients with dementia., Methods: The study was conducted at the Geriatrics Department of Hospital Universitário Walter Cantídio (HUWC) in Fortaleza, Brazil, between May 1st and December 31, 2020. The eligibility criteria included previous diagnosis of dementia syndrome and receiving care at the hospital's dementia outpatient clinic in face-to-face consultations in the preceding 12 months. Patients were excluded if they did not feel comfortable with virtual consultations, did not have the required communication technology available or their caregiver was not available to attend the remote consultation. The patients were recruited from the outpatient dementia clinic's medical appointment scheduling list. The intervention was designed as a one-time consultation and it included treatment approaches and health promotion recommendations., Results: Patient recruitment, attendance and discomfort rates were 85.5%, 97.7% and 9.4%, respectively. To attend face-to-face visits, they reported an average travel time (including the consultation) of 233.21 minutes and average total cost of 60.61 reais (around USD 11). The study intervention was well accepted among the patients and their caregivers with 97.6% being satisfied. Many were happy to avoid long waits in crowded medical waiting rooms and the risk of covid-19 contagion., Conclusions: We found good recruitment, attendance, and acceptance rates of remote care for the follow-up of dementia patients as well as low discomfort rates., Trial Registration: Brazilian Trial Registry (REBEC) RBR-9xs978., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

As a common medium-throughput technique, qPCR (quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction) is widely used to measure levels of nucleic acids. In addition to accurate and complete data, experimenters have unavoidably observed some incomplete and uncertainly determined qPCR data because of intrinsically low overall amounts of biological materials, such as nucleic acids present in biofluids. When there are samples with uncertainly determined qPCR data, some investigators apply the statistical complete-case method by excluding the subset of samples with uncertainly determined data from analysis (CO), while others simply choose not to analyze (CNA) these datasets altogether. To include as many observations as possible in analysis for interesting differential changes between groups, some investigators set incomplete observations equal to the maximum quality qPCR cycle (MC), such as 32 and 40. Although straightforward, these methods may decrease the sample size, skew the data distribution, and compromise statistical power and research reproducibility across replicate qPCR studies. To overcome the shortcomings of the existing, commonly-used qPCR data analysis methods and to join the efforts in advancing statistical analysis in rigorous preclinical research, we propose a robust nonparametric statistical cycle-to-threshold method (CTOT) to analyze incomplete qPCR data for two-group comparisons. CTOT incorporates important characteristics of qPCR data and time-to-event statistical methodology, resulting in a novel analytical method for qPCR data that is built around good quality data from all subjects, certainly determined or not. Considering the benchmark full data (BFD), we compared the abilities of CTOT, CO, MC, and CNA statistical methods to detect interesting differential changes between groups with informative but uncertainly determined qPCR data. Our simulations and applications show that CTOT improves the power of detecting and confirming differential changes in many situations over the three commonly used methods without excess type I errors. The robust nonparametric statistical method of CTOT helps leverage qPCR technology and increase the power to detect differential changes that may assist decision making with respect to biomarker detection and early diagnosis, with the goal of improving the management of patient healthcare., Competing Interests: This work was conducted with the internal funding, NCTR protocol E0772101, of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, a U.S. government agency. The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. The views presented in this article do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Any mention of commercial products is for clarification and is not intended as an endorsement. This does not alter our adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

Pen enrichment for broiler chickens is one of the potential strategies to stimulate locomotion and consequently contribute to better leg health and welfare. This study was designed to evaluate effects of using a plethora of pen enrichments (barrier perches, angular ramps, horizontal platforms, large distance between feed and water and providing live Black Soldier fly larvae in a dustbathing area) on tibia characteristics, locomotion, leg health and home pen behaviour of fast and slower-growing broiler chickens. The experiment was set up as a 2 x 2 factorial arrangement with a total of 840 male broiler chickens in a complete randomized design (7 pens per treatment and 30 chickens per pen) with the following treatments: 1) pen enrichment (enriched pen or non-enriched pen); 2) broiler strain (fast-growing Ross 308 or slower-growing Hubbard JA 757). Home pen behaviour and use of enrichment were observed. At approximately 1400 and 2200 g body weight, two chickens per pen were randomly selected and slaughtered, to investigate tibia morphological, biophysical and mechanical characteristics and leg health. Pen enrichment positively affected tibia biophysical characteristics, e.g., osseous volume (Δ = 1.8 cm3, P = 0.003), total volume (Δ = 1.4 cm3, P = 0.03) and volume fraction (Δ = 0.02%, P = 0.002), in both fast and slower-growing chickens, suggesting that pen enrichment particularly affects ossification and mineralization mechanisms. Accordingly, locomotion and active behaviours were positively influenced by pen enrichment. However, pen enrichment resulted in lower body weight gain in both strains, which might be due to higher activity or lower feed intake as a result of difficulties of crossing the barrier perches. Regarding the strain, slower-growing chickens showed consistently more advanced tibia characteristics and more active behaviour than fast-growing chickens. It can be concluded that pen enrichment may lead to more activity and better bone development in both fast and slower-growing chickens., Competing Interests: The authors have read the journal’s policy and have the following competing interests: The study was funded by commercial companies Darling Ingredients Inc., Marel Stork Poultry Processing BV, Trouw Nutrition, and Nutreco. There are no patents, products in development or marketed products associated with this research to declare. This does not alter our adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials

Pachycrepoideus vindemmiae is a wasp that parasitizes and host-feeds on pupae of the invasive spotted-wing drosophila (SWD, Drosophila suzukii). Few studies have addressed interactions between these two species and little is known about the potential of this parasitoid as a biocontrol agent of SWD and the different variables that may affect it. Here, we investigated the impact of extrinsic and intrinsic factors on life-history traits of P. vindemmiae. Both constant (entire adulthood) and limited (30 minutes) supplies of water + honey, honey, or host increased parasitoid survival compared to controls (water or fasting). Water + honey caused the highest parasitoid survivals (35-60 days), independent of supply period, sex, and host availability. Females were intrinsically more resistant to water- and honey-deprivation than males, and host-feeding elevated such resistance even higher. Constant honey supply (either with or without water) supported the highest host-killing capacities (= capacity to kill hosts) (ca. 600 SWD pupae/wasp). However, in young females (4-9 days old), the impact of honey availability (with or without water) was insignificant while water deprivation (either with or without honey) caused the highest host-killing potential. This indicates that although sugar becomes a critical nutritional resource as females age, young females depend more on water than sugar to reproduce. Neither water nor honey affected the sex ratio of young females, but when we considered the entire adulthood, the availability of honey caused the lowest proportion of females (0.50), independent of water availability. Neither water nor honey affected parasitoid emergence rate (0.97), independent of female age. Based on survival and host-killing capacity, we conclude that P. vindemmiae has a tremendous biocontrol potential against SWD. Both limited and constant supply of water, sugar, and host increase parasitoid survival, while constant supply of water and/or honey enhance its host-killing potential and decrease sex ratio depending on maternal age., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

The study of host associations of mosquitoes (Diptera, Culicidae) provides valuable information to assist in our understanding of a variety of related issues, from their life-history to the entomological surveillance of pathogens. In this study, we identified and characterized mosquito blood meals from both urban and forested areas in the city of Paranaguá, state of Paraná, Brazil, by analyzing the amplification of host DNA ingested by mosquitoes under different storage conditions and digestion levels. Host DNA preservation was evaluated in fresh blood meals according to storage duration (30 to 180 days) and temperature (-20°C / -80°C) and, in digested blood, according the degree of digestion classified on the Sella scale. Molecular analysis of blood meals was based on DNA extraction and amplification of a fragment of the mitochondrial COI gene. We determined that, up to180 days of storage, the evaluated temperatures did not influence the preservation of fresh blood meals DNA, whereas the amplification success was increasingly reduced over the course of the digestion process. The species Anopheles cruzii, Aedes fluviatilis, Aedes scapularis, Psorophora ferox, Culex quinquefasciatus, Culex mollis, and Culex intrincatus, together with specimens representing four subgenera and one genus of Culicidae [Ae. (Ochlerotatus), Cx. (Culex), Cx. (Melanoconion), Cx. (Microculex), and Limatus, respectively] had their blood meals identified. Their diverse host use was evidenced by the identification of 19 species of vertebrate host, namely two amphibians, three mammals and 14 birds. Birds were the most commonly identified host in blood meals. These results not only show the diversity of mosquito hosts, but also underscore the challenges involved in monitoring arboviruses of public health importance, given potential combinations of host use for each mosquito species., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

This work extends the understanding of how toxic exposures to amphetamine (AMPH) adversely affect the immune system and lead to tissue damage. Importantly, it determines which effects of AMPH are and are not due to pronounced hyperthermia. Whole blood messenger RNA (mRNA) and whole blood and serum microRNA (miRNA) transcripts were identified in adult male Sprague-Dawley rats after exposure to toxic AMPH under normothermic conditions, AMPH when it produces pronounced hyperthermia, or environmentally-induced hyperthermia (EIH). mRNA transcripts with large increases in fold-change in treated relative to control rats and very low expression in the control group were a rich source of organ-specific transcripts in blood. When severe hyperthermia was produced by either EIH or AMPH, significant increases in circulating organ-specific transcripts for liver (Alb, Fbg, F2), pancreas (Spink1), bronchi/lungs (F3, Cyp4b1), bone marrow (Np4, RatNP-3b), and kidney (Cesl1, Slc22a8) were observed. Liver damage was suggested also by increased miR-122 levels in the serum. Increases in muscle/heart-enriched transcripts were produced by AMPH even in the absence of hyperthermia. Expression increases in immune-related transcripts, particularly Cd14 and Vcan, indicate that AMPH can activate the innate immune system in the absence of hyperthermia. Most transcripts specific for T-cells decreased 50-70% after AMPH exposure or EIH, with the noted exception of Ccr5 and Chst12. This is probably due to T-cells leaving the circulation and down-regulation of these genes. Transcript changes specific for B-cells or B-lymphoblasts in the AMPH and EIH groups ranged widely from decreasing ≈ 40% (Cd19, Cd180) to increasing 30 to 100% (Tk1, Ahsa1) to increasing ≥500% (Stip1, Ackr3). The marked increases in Ccr2, Ccr5, Pld1, and Ackr3 produced by either AMPH or EIH observed in vivo provide further insight into the initial immune system alterations that result from methamphetamine and AMPH abuse and could modify risk for HIV and other viral infections., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The mention of any manufacturers or trade names is only for clarity and does not constitute endorsement.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0205553.].

The present study aimed at investigating whether the neuromuscular system behaves differently (in terms of force and muscle activity generation) as a function of the task being performed (i.e. maximal voluntary efforts vs stair negotiation) and the presence of patellofemoral pain (PFP) and possible influences of pain intensity. Thirty-eight women with (n = 19) and without PFP (n = 19) had their knee strength (extension joint torque) measured during maximal voluntary isometric contractions (MVIC) and electromyography (EMG) data recorded during both MVIC and stair ascent tasks, which were performed before and after a loading protocol designed to exacerbate pain symptoms. Women with PFP displayed lower levels of vastus medialis (p = 0.002) and vastus lateralis (p = 0.032) EMG activation during MVIC assessments. Conversely, the PFP group showed higher levels of vastus medialis muscle activity during stair climbing (p = 0.007), which happened exclusively after the loading protocol. Similarly, women with PFP displayed lower knee extensor torque only during the MVIC tests performed after the loading protocol, which was moderately correlated with the increase in self-reported pain (p = 0.041, r = 0.37), whereas the changes in EMG activity during stair ascent were not correlated with changes in pain intensity (p = 0.215, r = 0.12). These results suggest that, in comparison to pain-free controls, women with PFP display lower levels of quadriceps EMG activation during maximal contractions, but higher activation during dynamic tasks (stair ascent). In addition, the moderate association between the decrease in knee extensor torque and increase in self-reported pain indicates that care should be taken by clinicians during quadriceps strength evaluation in women with PFP, as misleading outcomes may emerge if the intensity of knee pain is not considered during screening. Additionally, rehabilitation strategies should focus on both restoring neuromuscular control and increasing muscle strength., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

In a typical questionnaire testing situation, examinees are not allowed to choose which items they answer because of a technical issue in obtaining satisfactory statistical estimates of examinee ability and item difficulty. This paper introduces a new item response theory (IRT) model that incorporates information from a novel representation of questionnaire data using network analysis. Three scenarios in which examinees select a subset of items were simulated. In the first scenario, the assumptions required to apply the standard Rasch model are met, thus establishing a reference for parameter accuracy. The second and third scenarios include five increasing levels of violating those assumptions. The results show substantial improvements over the standard model in item parameter recovery. Furthermore, the accuracy was closer to the reference in almost every evaluated scenario. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first proposal to obtain satisfactory IRT statistical estimates in the last two scenarios.

Soybean biodiesel (B100) has been playing an important role in Brazilian energy matrix towards the national bio-based economy. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is the most widely used indicator for assessing the environmental sustainability of biodiesels and received particular attention among decision makers in business and politics, as well as consumers. Former studies have been mainly focused on the GHG emissions from the soybean cultivation, excluding other stages of the biodiesel production. Here, we present a holistic view of the total GHG emissions in four life cycle stages for soybean biodiesel. The aim of this study was to assess the GHG emissions of Brazilian soybean biodiesel production system with an integrated life cycle approach of four stages: agriculture, extraction, production and distribution. Allocation of mass and energy was applied and special attention was paid to the integrated and non-integrated industrial production chain. The results indicated that the largest source of GHG emissions, among four life cycle stages, is the agricultural stage (42-51%) for B100 produced in integrated systems and the production stage (46-52%) for B100 produced in non-integrated systems. Integration of industrial units resulted in significant reduction in life cycle GHG emissions. Without the consideration of LUC and assuming biogenic CO2 emissions is carbon neutral in our study, the calculated life cycle GHG emissions for domestic soybean biodiesel varied from 23.1 to 25.8 gCO2eq. MJ-1 B100 and those for soybean biodiesel exported to EU ranged from 26.5 to 29.2 gCO2eq. MJ-1 B100, which represent reductions by 65% up to 72% (depending on the delivery route) of GHG emissions compared with the EU benchmark for diesel fuel. Our findings from a life cycle perspective contributed to identify the major GHG sources in Brazilian soybean biodiesel production system and they can be used to guide mitigation priority for policy and decision-making. Projected scenarios in this study would be taken as references for accounting the environmental sustainability of soybean biodiesel within a domestic and global level.

Chagas disease (CD) is a neglected tropical disease that affects individuals in almost every country in Latin America. There are two available drugs with antiparasitic profiles; however, only benznidazole (BZN) has been approved for commercialization in Brazil. The usefulness of prescribing BZN for patients with chronic Chagas cardiomyopathy (CCC) is controversial. There are no studies in the literature describing the extent of BZN use at this stage or the profile of patients using this drug. The present study aimed to determine the prevalence and factors associated with previous BZN use among individuals with CCC. This cross-sectional study was conducted with 1,812 individuals with CCC from 21 Brazilian cities endemic for CD. The dependent variable was "prior use of BZN" (no vs. yes). The independent variables were grouped into socioeconomic, lifestyle and medical history aspects. Binary logistic regression (α ≥ 0.05) was used. Among the evaluated individuals, 27.2% reported previous use of BZN. The likelihood of prior use of BZN was higher among younger individuals (OR = 2.7), individuals with a higher education (OR = 2.7), individuals with a lower monthly per capita income (OR = 1.3), individuals who practiced physical exercise (OR = 1.5), individuals who had prior knowledge of the CD diagnosis (OR = 2.5), individuals without hypertension (OR = 1.3) and individuals with a longer time to the CD diagnosis (OR = 6.1). The present study revealed a small proportion of therapeutic BZN use among Brazilian CCC patients. This finding suggests a late diagnosis and undertreatment of the disease. BZN use was higher among individuals with better clinical and demographic conditions but with a lower income and a longer time to the CD diagnosis. Knowledge of the BZN usage profile may help reduce the current state of neglect of this disease and pave the way for future studies., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Immune escape and metastasis are the hallmarks of several types of cancer including bladder cancer. One of the mechanisms involved in these processes has been linked to indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO). Although IDO is classically recognized for its immunomodulatory property, it has presented nonimmunological effects in some tumors. TGF-β1 is believed to contribute to carcinoma development by modulating immunossupressive molecules, including IDO. In addition, TGF-β1 induces the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), which is a critical step in the tumor invasiveness and metastasis. We investigated the role of MT and IDO modulation in the induction of EMT by TGF-β1 in T24 human bladder carcinoma cells. When T24 cells were incubated with the IDO inhibitor (MT, 1-methyl-D-tryptophan), with TGF-β1, and with MT+TGF-β1, a significant decrease of IDO expression and activity was observed. In addition, downregulation of e-cadherin and upregulation of n-cadherin and EMT transcription factors were induced by the treatments, confirming the induction of EMT. siRNA-mediated knockdown of IDO decreased e-cadherin expression, but had no effect on EMT transcription factors. In the scratch-wound assay, the heightened migration process was intensified when the cells were incubated with MT+TGF-β1. These effects were associated with a robust inhibition of Akt activation. After inoculation of T24 cells under the kidney capsule of Balb/c nude, the cells were positive for IDO in the center of the cell infiltrate, being negative in the periphery, where EMT is high. In conclusion, inhibition of IDO by TGF-β1 and MT is associated with EMT in T24 human bladder carcinoma cells. MT has potentiating effect in TGF-β1-induced EMT, independently of IDO. This nonimmunological effect of MT should be considered if IDO is the target to avoid immune escape in bladder cancer.

Glioblastoma (GBM) is an infiltrative tumor that is difficult to eradicate. Treating GBM with mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) that have been modified with the HSV-Tk suicide gene has brought significant advances mainly because MSCs are chemoattracted to GBM and kill tumor cells via a bystander effect. To use this strategy, abundantly present adipose-tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells (AT-MSCs) were evaluated for the treatment of GBM in mice. AT-MSCs were prepared using a mechanical protocol to avoid contamination with animal protein and transduced with HSV-Tk via a lentiviral vector. The U-87 glioblastoma cells cultured with AT-MSC-HSV-Tk died in the presence of 25 or 50 μM ganciclovir (GCV). U-87 glioblastoma cells injected into the brains of nude mice generated tumors larger than 3.5 mm2 after 4 weeks, but the injection of AT-MSC-HSV-Tk cells one week after the U-87 injection, combined with GCV treatment, drastically reduced tumors to smaller than 0.5 mm2. Immunohistochemical analysis of the tumors showed the presence of AT-MSC-HSV-Tk cells only within the tumor and its vicinity, but not in other areas of the brain, showing chemoattraction between them. The abundance of AT-MSCs and the easier to obtain them mechanically are strong advantages when compared to using MSCs from other tissues.

The role of albumin overload in proximal tubules (PT) in the development of tubulointerstitial injury and, consequently, in the progression of renal disease has become more relevant in recent years. Despite the importance of leukotrienes (LTs) in renal disease, little is known about their role in tubulointerstitial injury. The aim of the present work was to investigate the possible role of LTs on tubulointerstitial injury induced by albumin overload. An animal model of tubulointerstitial injury challenged by bovine serum albumin was developed in SV129 mice (wild-type) and 5-lipoxygenase-deficient mice (5-LO(-/-)). The changes in glomerular morphology and nestin expression observed in wild-type mice subjected to kidney insult were also observed in 5-LO(-/-) mice. The levels of urinary protein observed in the 5-LO(-/-) mice subjected or not to kidney insult were lower than those observed in respective wild-type mice. Furthermore, the increase in lactate dehydrogenase activity, a marker of tubule damage, observed in wild-type mice subjected to kidney insult did not occur in 5-LO(-/-) mice. LTB4 and LTD4, 5-LO products, decreased the uptake of albumin in LLC-PK1 cells, a well-characterized porcine PT cell line. This effect correlated with activation of protein kinase C and inhibition of protein kinase B. The level of proinflammatory cytokines, tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin (IL)-6, increased in mice subjected to kidney insult but this effect was not modified in 5-LO(-/-) mice. However, 5-LO(-/-) mice subjected to kidney insult presented lower macrophage infiltration and higher levels of IL-10 than wild-type mice. Our results reveal that LTs have an important role in tubulointerstitial disease induced by albumin overload.

Norovirus (NoV), sapovirus (SaV) and human astrovirus (HAstV) are viral pathogens that are associated with outbreaks and sporadic cases of gastroenteritis. However, little is known about the occurrence of these pathogens in relatively isolated communities, such as the remnants of African-descendant villages ("Quilombola"). The objective of this study was the frequency determination of these viruses in children under 10 years, with and without gastroenteritis, from a "Quilombola" Community, Northern Brazil. A total of 159 stool samples were obtained from April/2008 to July/2010 and tested by an enzyme immunoassay (EIA) and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) to detect NoV, SaV and HAstV, and further molecular characterization was performed. These viruses were detected only in the diarrheic group. NoV was the most frequent viral agent detected (19.7%-16/81), followed by SaV (2.5%-2/81) and HAstV (1.2%-1/81). Of the 16 NoV-positive samples, 14 were sequenced with primers targeting the B region of the polymerase (ORF1) and the D region of the capsid (ORF2). The results showed a broad genetic diversity of NoV, with 12 strains being classified as GII-4 (5-41.7%), GII-6 (3-25%), GII-7 (2-16.7%), GII-17 (1-8.3%) and GI-2 (1-8.3%), as based on the polymerase region; 12 samples were classified, based on the capsid region, as GII-4 (6-50%, being 3-2006b variant and 3-2010 variant), GII-6 (3-25%), GII-17 (2-16.7%) and GII-20 (1-8.3%). One NoV-strain showed dual genotype specificity, based on the polymerase and capsid region (GII-7/GII-20). This study provides, for the first time, epidemiological and molecular information on the circulation of NoV, SaV and HAstV in African-descendant communities in Northern Brazil and identifies NoV genotypes that were different from those detected previously in studies conducted in the urban area of Belém. It remains to be determined why a broader NoV diversity was observed in such a semi-isolated community.

The importance of music in our daily life has given rise to an increased number of studies addressing the brain regions involved in its appreciation. Some of these studies controlled only for the familiarity of the stimuli, while others relied on pleasantness ratings, and others still on musical preferences. With a listening test and a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiment, we wished to clarify the role of familiarity in the brain correlates of music appreciation by controlling, in the same study, for both familiarity and musical preferences. First, we conducted a listening test, in which participants rated the familiarity and liking of song excerpts from the pop/rock repertoire, allowing us to select a personalized set of stimuli per subject. Then, we used a passive listening paradigm in fMRI to study music appreciation in a naturalistic condition with increased ecological value. Brain activation data revealed that broad emotion-related limbic and paralimbic regions as well as the reward circuitry were significantly more active for familiar relative to unfamiliar music. Smaller regions in the cingulate cortex and frontal lobe, including the motor cortex and Broca's area, were found to be more active in response to liked music when compared to disliked one. Hence, familiarity seems to be a crucial factor in making the listeners emotionally engaged with music, as revealed by fMRI data.