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Objective: Complications of ascariasis are a significant cause of abdominal pain in pediatric emergencies, especially where it is endemic. A literature review was conducted with the aim of improving diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for these patients. Data sources: A PubMed search was conducted using the key terms “ascariasis complications” and “hepatobiliary ascariasis”. The search strategy included meta-analyses, randomized controlled trials, clinical trials, observational studies, case reports, and reviews published up to December 2023. Summary of findings: Obstruction of the small bowel is the most common complication. Others that are, rarer and more difficult to properly identify and treat, such as biliary, hepatic, and pancreatic complications, acute appendicitis, Meckel's diverticulitis, or peritoneal granulomas. Hepatic and pancreatic complications are rarer and more serious in children than in adults. While plain radiography is usually the only option in cases of intestinal obstruction, ultrasonography is the examination of choice in cases of hepatobiliary, pancreatic, and appendicular ascariasis complications in childhood. The treatment is clinical and conservative in most patients. Surgical treatment is indicated if conservative therapy fails, or if there are signs of complications. Laparoscopy has been used as an excellent technical alternative in adults with hepatobiliary complications of ascariasis, but further studies on its use in children are still needed. Conclusion: The creation of protocols and greater debate on this subject should be encouraged for a better understanding of the disease and to establish an early diagnosis and adequate treatment for children with complications resulting from massive infestation by Ascaris lumbricoides.

Objective.Recent SiPM developments and improved front-end electronics have opened new doors in TOF-PET with a focus on prompt photon detection. For instance, the relatively high Cherenkov yield of bismuth-germanate (BGO) upon 511 keV gamma interaction has triggered a lot of interest, especially for its use in total body positron emission tomography (PET) scanners due to the crystal's relatively low material and production costs. However, the electronic readout and timing optimization of the SiPMs still poses many questions. Lab experiments have shown the prospect of Cherenkov detection, with coincidence time resolutions (CTRs) of 200 ps FWHM achieved with small pixels, but lack system integration due to an unacceptable high power uptake of the used amplifiers.Approach.Following recent studies the most practical circuits with lower power uptake (

O referido artigo propõe apresentar uma reflexão diante da contribuição de uma didática crítica intercultural e decolonial para a construção de novas formas de se viver em sociedade. Baseando na teoria de Vera Candau, o texto busca evidenciar a importância de uma educação que valorize a diversidade cultural, com ênfase na promoção da equidade racial, além dos desafios encontrados tanto nas questões estruturais da educação, tanto nas forças que buscam uma internacionalização e padronização de práticas pedagógicas. Para a exposição dessas ideias, foi feita a análise de partes do Projeto Político Pedagógico (PPP) da Escola Afro-Brasileira Maria Felipa, localizada na cidade de Salvador, Bahia, cuja a intencionalidade da proposta pedagógica tem como intuito, desde sua concepção, em ser uma escola afro-brasileira. A escola possui um currículo voltado para a redução das desigualdades raciais, assim como na valorização e promoção da cultura preta e afro-brasileira. O texto ressalta ainda, a importância de práticas pedagógicas interculturais e decoloniais que celebrem as múltiplas identidades e culturas como maneira a se sonhar com futuros possíveis, assim com o papel crucial da formação continuada de professores, para que estes se sintam aptos e seguros para incluírem a diversidade como parte fundamental de uma educação transformadora.

Conflict of interest: No Introduction and Objectives: Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) represents the cause in 5-6% of the total amount of liver transplant in Brazilian centers. Factors that impact post-transplant outcomes are not well known. Data from the European registry show an overall survival of 79,4% post AIH liver transplant whereas Latin American numbers are scarce. The aim of this study is to evaluate long-term patient and graft survival after liver transplant due to AIH. Patients / Materials and Methods: This is a retrospective and observational study that included 85 patients with AIH who received liver transplant at a reference center in Brazil, from 1996 to 2023. Demographic data was collected, and survival curves were performed using the Kaplan-Meier method. Results and Discussion: Most of the cohort was composed of white (52,9%) females (71,8%). The median age at transplant timepoint was 27 years, ranging from 11 to 73 years. After LT 15,5% experienced graft lost, with the need of a second or third liver transplant. During the follow-up 32,9% of the patients died, with a mean survival time of 17.5 years (±1.4). The overall survival in 5 years was approximately 80%. There was no difference in survival between males and females. Conversely, patients who were submitted to more than one liver transplant had a poorer overall survival. (Fig.1). Conclusions: Preliminary results show a good overall post-transplant survival for AIH, which is in compass with international reports. The necessity of retransplant conveys a worse prognosis. Other features that might impact overall and graft survival are to be further evaluated in this cohort.

Leprosy is an infectious neglected tropical disease, which can cause irreversible disabilities if not diagnosed in time. Colombia continues to show high rates of leprosy-related disability, mainly due to a delay in diagnosis. Limited knowledge is available that explains this delay, therefore our study aimed to explore the perceptions and experiences of leprosy health professionals with the delay in leprosy diagnosis in the Cesar and Valle del Cauca departments, Colombia. Nine semi-structured expert interviews with leprosy health professionals were conducted in May-June 2023 in Colombia. Thematic analysis was performed to analyse the interview results. Our analysis highlighted that the main reasons for delay at the health system-level included accessibility issues to obtain a diagnosis, lack of expertise by health staff, and barriers related to the organisation of the care pathway. Individual – and community-level factors included a lack of leprosy awareness among the general population and leprosy-related stigma. Diagnostic delay consists of a fluid interplay of various factors. Structural changes within the health system, such as organising integral leprosy care centres and highlighting leprosy in the medical curriculum, as well as awareness-related interventions among the general population, might help reducing diagnostic delays.

The interaction between the gut microbiota and invariant Natural Killer T (iNKT) cells plays a pivotal role in colorectal cancer (CRC). The pathobiont Fusobacterium nucleatum influences the anti-tumor functions of CRC-infiltrating iNKT cells. However, the impact of other bacteria associated with CRC, like Porphyromonas gingivalis, on their activation status remains unexplored. In this study, we demonstrate that mucosa-associated P. gingivalis induces a protumour phenotype in iNKT cells, subsequently influencing the composition of mononuclear-phagocyte cells within the tumor microenvironment. Mechanistically, in vivo and in vitro experiments showed that P. gingivalis reduces the cytotoxic functions of iNKT cells, hampering the iNKT cell lytic machinery through increased expression of chitinase 3-like-1 protein (CHI3L1). Neutralization of CHI3L1 effectively restores iNKT cell cytotoxic functions suggesting a therapeutic potential to reactivate iNKT cell-mediated antitumour immunity. In conclusion, our data demonstrate how P. gingivalis accelerates CRC progression by inducing the upregulation of CHI3L1 in iNKT cells, thus impairing their cytotoxic functions and promoting host tumor immune evasion.

Objective To understand the social support network of Amazonian women when making decisions about planned home births.Method Descriptive, exploratory, qualitative research.Setting Planned home birth care, accompanied by obstetric nurses, in the state of Pará, Brazil.Participants 20 women who had a planned home birth in the metropolitan region of the state of Pará, Brazil. These women were surveyed by a team of obstetric nurses working in home birth care. In-depth semistructured interviews were conducted at the women’s homes between August 2021 and February 2022, with the audio captured on an mp3 device. The data were analysed at the same time as the data collection. Each interview was transcribed and content analysis was used to process the data.Results The social support network shares experiences and knowledge between women in order to guarantee knowledge and not perpetuate traumatic episodes during childbirth. This network is a link to women’s power of choice in relation to their own birth, which culminates in successful experiences in the birth process.Final considerations Understanding the social support network for women’s decision-making during planned home births is central to guaranteeing rights and expectations regarding the place of birth. Social support networks need to be expanded by non-governmental groups and by the Unified Health System itself, especially in primary healthcare.Descriptors Women; home childbirth; social support; access to information and nursing.

There is a recent and growing interest in assessing differential responders to resistance training (RT) for diverse outcomes. Thus, the individual ability to respond to an intervention for a specific measurement, called responsiveness, remains to be better understood. Thus, the current study aimed to summarize the available information about the effects of RT on functional performance and muscle strength, power, and size in healthy adults, through the prevalence rate in different responsiveness classifications models. A systematic review was conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) and was registered at the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO, CRD42021265378). PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, and Embase databases were systematically searched in October 2023. A total of 13 studies were included, totaling 921 subjects. Only two studies presented a low risk of bias. Regarding the effectiveness of RT, the prevalence rate for non-responders ranged from 0% to 44% for muscle strength, from 0% to 84% for muscle size, and from 0% to 42% for functional performance, while for muscle power, the only study found showed a responsiveness rate of 37%. In conclusion, a wide range of differential responders is described for all variables investigated. However, the evidence summarized in this systematic review suggested some caution while interpreting the findings, since the body of evidence found seems to be incipient, and widely heterogeneous in methodological and statistical aspects.

Understanding the interrelation between topography and vegetation across different environments is important to assess how hydrological and climatic conditions affect tree physiological activity. This becomes especially important given the expected reduction in water availability and the increase in water demand driven by climate change. These extremes could enhance the thermal and hydrologic gradients along slopes. Here, we aimed to test if and how different climatic and hydrological conditions affect the physiological response of beech trees (Fagus sylvatica L.) to environmental variables along two different topographic sequences. For this purpose, we set up a comparative study on a gentle hillslope in the Weierbach catchment in Luxembourg (oceanic climate) and on a steep hillslope in the Lecciona catchment in Italy (Mediterranean climate). We combined sap velocity measurements with isotopic measurements of soil, precipitation, stream water, groundwater, and xylem over 2019 and 2020 for the Luxembourgish site and over 2021 for the Italian site. We found that, in the Weierbach catchment, trees' responses to environmental variables (i.e. vapour pressure deficit and relative extractable water in the soil) were similar among hillslope positions and between the two monitored years, resulting from homogeneous growing conditions along the topographic sequence. We also did not find any statistical difference in the isotopic composition of xylem water between positions, suggesting that beech trees relied on similar water sources across the landscape. In the Lecciona catchment, we observed lower sap velocities and shorter growing season in trees growing in the upper portions of the hillslope, likely related to water redistribution and different soil moisture along the hillslope catena. Xylem isotopic composition was significantly lighter at the footslope location throughout the growing season than in the upslope locations, suggesting location-specific water use. These results emphasize how differing hydrometeorological processes occurring at the hillslope scale can lead to contrasting tree responses.

Objetivo: dar cuenta de las diferencias halladas en cuanto al aprendizaje de géneros académicos en dos grupos de clase del primer año de la carrera de Psicología de una universidad pública argentina, en el marco de la implementación de un diseño de intervención. Metodología: optamos por una investigación basada en diseño con dos grupos de clase: el grupo de intervención y el grupo control. Resultados: en el grupo de intervención, al cabo de un año, varios de los estudiantes dialogan con el docente y con sus compañeros acerca de lo leído, son capaces de identificar las clases de textos, los autores de los mimos y los datos de edición, y plantean relaciones de intertextualidad. En el grupo control, en cambio, la mayor parte de los estudiantes se limitan a buscar en las fotocopias la información que el docente indica y parecen no valorar la necesidad de conocer los autores y datos de edición de los textos que leen. Conclusiones: en el grupo de intervención, la práctica lectora dialógica en contextos áulicos parece viabilizar el aprendizaje de los géneros académicos y convenciones lectoras académicas, en mayor medida que en el grupo control.