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The previously published index of relative abundance of the northeastern offshore stock of spotted dolphins, the species most affected by the purse-seine fishery for tunas in the eastern Pacific Ocean, shows a decreasing trend in the last two decades despite dramatic reductions in incidental mortality since the early 1970s. To better understand the behaviour of this index, the effects of changes in data quality and methods of searching on estimation of relative abundance using current methodologies have been studied here. Changes in data quality since the late 1980s have led to a dramatic reduction in the proportion of sightings that are reported on or near the trackline. The decreasing trend in the index in the late 1970s and through the 1980s is strongly influenced by the fit of the detection function to the high proportion of sightings near the trackline that was present in the data during that time period. If this excess of sightings near the trackline is spurious, then much of the decreasing trend in the index over this time period is likely spurious. In addition, part of the decrease in the index in the late 1980s to mid-1990s is probably due to changes in data-collection biases that result from a dramatic increase in the amount of searching that is currently being carried out using helicopters as compared to high-powered binoculars. The results suggest that trends in bias associated with changes in data quality and fishery operations may have contributed to a trend in the index on the order of 1.0-1.5% per year, or approximately 25-33% of the maximum growth rate of the northeastern stock of offshore spotted dolphin. The pervasive nature of these sources of bias, and their potential magnitude relative to the maximum growth rates of the dolphin species involved, make use of this index in population growth models ill-advised. Fishery-derived indices such as these may be most useful for comparing trends in relative abundance between species, when the sources of biases are unlikely to be species-specific.

Background: Malignant bowel obstruction (MBO) is defined as the evidence of obstruction distally to the Treitz ligament in the presence of a malignant peritoneally disseminated neoplasm. Patients with this condition suffer from decreased quality of life due to impaired food intake, recurrent nausea, and abdominal pain. The objective was to investigate the outcome of patients with MBO surgically treated, considering post-treatment survival, surgical morbidity, and length of hospital stay, in order to assess the efficiency and impact of surgery at this advanced stage of disease. Methods: We reviewed retrospectively data collected from 198 patients diagnosed with MBO at Instituto do Câncer do Estado de São Paulo (ICESP), operated between 2018 and 2021. Results: Among preoperative factors, advanced stages and poor clinical status were associated with earlier death (stage IV had 4.53 higher chance of death). On the other hand, patients considered candidates for invasive life support measures had longer postoperative survival (non-candidates had a chance 1,000,000 times higher of death). Primary diagnosis also showed to be an important risk factor: ovary malignancies had higher risk of surgical complications (OR of 14.28), when compared to gastric and colon cancers. Considering intraoperative factors, patients who underwent resections had better long-term survival (9.9 months) than those who underwent bypass (1.3 months) or stomas (2 months); p=0.017. Finally, considering post-operative factors, long-term survival was associated with shorter hospital stay (p=0.001). Conclusions: Medical and surgical treatment should be employed on a case-by-case basis, after taking into consideration multiple pre-operative factors, such as KPS and primary tumor stage.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of genotype–environment interaction (GEI) on the yearling weight of Simmental cattle raised in Brazil, including the sex dimorphism in reaction norm models. The environmental gradient (EG) was formed using the average weight at 365 days of the contemporary groups. Two approaches were adopted in this study to evaluate reaction norms for weight at 365 days: a single-trait model and a multitrait model in which the data for males and females were separated and considered different traits for the analysis of sexual dimorphism. The genetic parameters were estimated using the Bayesian inference and Gibbs sampling. Analysis of the trend of the heritability estimates obtained with the single-trait model along the EG revealed a value of about 0.33 (EG: −21) in the worst environments, which decreased in the intermediate environments and reached a value of 0.24 in EG: −8, with a subsequent increase of the estimates up to 0.51 in EG: +23. Using the multitrait model, similar trends were observed for the heritability estimates, which ranged from 0.25 to 0.54 for males and from 0.23 to 0.50 for females. The results show that the weight of Simmental cattle raised in the tropics is influenced by GEI and greater genetic progress could be obtained by selecting better environments. However, no significant differences in the response to most environmental changes were observed between sexes and there is only evidence of genetic heteroscedasticity in environments with lower production levels.

Aim: The objective of this study was to investigate whether dental hypersensitivity and dental fear were linked to the presence and severity of MIH.Methods: For this cross-sectional study, 1830 students between the ages of 6 and 12 years were recruited from four randomly selected schools. The Children's Fear Survey Schedule-Dental Subscale questionnaire was used to assess dental anxiety and fear. The children's self-reported dental hypersensitivity resulting from MIH was evaluated using the Wong-Baker Facial Scale and the Visual Analog Scale (VAS).Results: MIH was correlated with tooth hypersensitivity, particularly in severe cases. Dental fear was present in 17.4% of the children with MIH, but it was not associated with dental hypersensitivity, gender, or age.Conclusion: No association was found between dental fear and dental hypersensitivity in children with MIH.

Blood pressure(BP) management interventions have been shown to be more effective when accompanied by appropriate patient education. As high BP remains poorly controlled, there may be gaps in patient knowledge and education. Therefore, this study aimed to identify specific content and delivery preferences for information to support BP management among Australian adults from the general public. Given that BP management is predominantly undertaken by general practitioners(GPs), information preferences to support BP management were also ascertained from a small sample of Australian GPs. An online survey of adults was conducted to identify areas of concern for BP management to inform content preferences and preferred format for information delivery. A separate online survey was also delivered to GPs to determine preferred information sources to support BP management. Participants were recruited via social media. General public participants (n = 465) were mostly female (68%), >60 years (57%) and 49% were taking BP-lowering medications. The management of BP without medications, and role of lifestyle in BP management were of concern among 30% and 26% of adults respectively. Most adults (73%) preferred to access BP management information from their GP. 57% of GPs (total n = 23) preferred information for supporting BP management to be delivered via one-page summaries. This study identified that Australian adults would prefer more information about the management of BP without medications and via lifestyle delivered by their GP. This could be achieved by providing GPs with one-page summaries on relevant topics to support patient education and ultimately improve BP management.

We develop two Bayesian generalizations of the Poisson integer-valued autoregressive model. The AdINAR(1) model accounts for overdispersed data by means of an innovation process whose marginal distributions are finite mixtures, while the DP-INAR(1) model is a hierarchical extension involving a Dirichlet process, which is capable of modeling a latent pattern of heterogeneity in the distribution of the innovations rates. The probabilistic forecasting capabilities of both models are put to test in the analysis of crime data in Pittsburgh, with favorable results.

A number of groups have invested considerable time synthesizing double-decker silsesquioxane (DD SQ) copolymers; however, to our knowledge, no one has sought to explore through-chain electronic com...

Public health preparedness for coronavirus (CoV) disease 2019 (COVID-19) is challenging in the absence of setting-specific epidemiological data. Here we describe the epidemiology of seasonal CoVs (sCoVs) and other cocirculating viruses in the West of Scotland, United Kingdom. We analyzed routine diagnostic data for >70 000 episodes of respiratory illness tested molecularly for multiple respiratory viruses between 2005 and 2017. Statistical associations with patient age and sex differed between CoV-229E, CoV-OC43, and CoV-NL63. Furthermore, the timing and magnitude of sCoV outbreaks did not occur concurrently, and coinfections were not reported. With respect to other cocirculating respiratory viruses, we found evidence of positive, rather than negative, interactions with sCoVs. These findings highlight the importance of considering cocirculating viruses in the differential diagnosis of COVID-19. Further work is needed to establish the occurrence/degree of cross-protective immunity conferred across sCoVs and with COVID-19, as well as the role of viral coinfection in COVID-19 disease severity.

The current standard of care for anal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is concurrent chemoradiation (CRT), which enables tumor eradication while preserving the anal sphincter. Patients with locally advanced tumors, however, may experience complications that preclude treatment before stoma creation.To evaluate the reversal rate of pretreatment stomas and the risk factors associated with nonreversal.This single-institution retrospective cohort study using a prospective database included patients diagnosed with anal SCC from January 2008 to December 2020 who required a stoma before curative CRT.In total, 651 patients were identified; 65 required a stoma before chemoradiation due to obstruction (43.1%), rectovaginal fistula (20%), and perianal sepsis (36.9%). The stoma was reversed in nine patients after a mean follow-up of 35.8 months. Risk factors associated with a permanent stoma were perianal sepsis (p = 0.010), interruptions during radiotherapy for more than 7 days (p = 0.010), male sex (p = 0.013), poor performance status (Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group [ECOG] ≥ 2) (p = 0.023), large tumors (p = 0.045), and cisplatin-based chemotherapy (p = 0.047).Pretreatment stomas are unlikely to be reversed, and risk factors for a permanent stoma are perianal sepsis, interruptions during radiotherapy for more than 7 days, male sex, poor performance status (ECOG ≥ 2), large tumors, and cisplatin-based chemotherapy.

Made available in DSpace on 2022-04-28T19:49:21Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2022-02-01 Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) Stall flutter is turning into a more likely condition to be encountered as the demand for increasingly more flexible wings grows for HALE-like aircraft. Due to the various nonlinearities involved that can lead to complex motion, the characterization of the dynamical behavior in the post-flutter condition becomes important. The dynamics of a pitch–plunge idealized HALE typical section with aerodynamic, structural and kinematic nonlinearities in the stall flutter regime was investigated using an aeroelastic state-space formulation which includes a modified Beddoes-Leishman dynamic stall model. The results reveal that period-doubling was possible without stall, but chaos arose at discontinuity-induced bifurcations due to dynamic stall. A parametric study has been conducted to assess the influence of key parameters in the development of bifurcations and chaos. University of São Carlos São Paulo State University São Paulo State University CNPq: 132154/2019-6 FAPESP: 2017/02926-9 CNPq: 306824/2019-1

Cortical lesions constitute a key manifestation of multiple sclerosis and contribute to clinical disability and cognitive impairment. Yet it is unknown whether local cortical lesions and cortical lesion subtypes contribute to domain-specific impairments attributable to the function of the lesioned cortex. In this cross-sectional study, we assessed how cortical lesions in the primary sensorimotor hand area relate to corticomotor physiology and sensorimotor function of the contralateral hand. Fifty relapse-free patients with relapsing-remitting or secondary-progressive multiple sclerosis and 28 healthy age- and sex-matched participants underwent whole-brain 7 T MRI to map cortical lesions. Brain scans were also used to estimate normalized brain volume, pericentral cortical thickness, white matter lesion fraction of the corticospinal tract, infratentorial lesion volume and the cross-sectional area of the upper cervical spinal cord. We tested sensorimotor hand function and calculated a motor and sensory composite score for each hand. In 37 patients and 20 healthy controls, we measured maximal motor-evoked potential amplitude, resting motor threshold and corticomotor conduction time with transcranial magnetic stimulation and the N20 latency from somatosensory-evoked potentials. Patients showed at least one cortical lesion in the primary sensorimotor hand area in 47 of 100 hemispheres. The presence of a lesion was associated with worse contralateral sensory (P = 0.014) and motor (P = 0.009) composite scores. Transcranial magnetic stimulation of a lesion-positive primary sensorimotor hand area revealed a decreased maximal motor-evoked potential amplitude (P < 0.001) and delayed corticomotor conduction (P = 0.002) relative to a lesion-negative primary sensorimotor hand area. Stepwise mixed linear regressions showed that the presence of a primary sensorimotor hand area lesion, higher white-matter lesion fraction of the corticospinal tract, reduced spinal cord cross-sectional area and higher infratentorial lesion volume were associated with reduced contralateral motor hand function. Cortical lesions in the primary sensorimotor hand area, spinal cord cross-sectional area and normalized brain volume were also associated with smaller maximal motor-evoked potential amplitude and longer corticomotor conduction times. The effect of cortical lesions on sensory function was no longer significant when controlling for MRI-based covariates. Lastly, we found that intracortical and subpial lesions had the largest effect on reduced motor hand function, intracortical lesions on reduced motor-evoked potential amplitude and leucocortical lesions on delayed corticomotor conduction. Together, this comprehensive multilevel assessment of sensorimotor brain damage shows that the presence of a cortical lesion in the primary sensorimotor hand area is associated with impaired corticomotor function of the hand, after accounting for damage at the subcortical level. The results also provide preliminary evidence that cortical lesion types may affect the various facets of corticomotor function differentially. Madsen et al. show that patients with multiple sclerosis with cortical lesions in the sensorimotor hand area (visible on 7 T MRI) have reduced sensorimotor hand function and reduced corticomotor output. These results indicate that cortical lesions lead to domain-specific functional impairment and local cortical dysfunction.

BB0405 is a surface exposed Borrelia burgdorferi protein and its vaccination protected mice against B. burgdorferi infection. As BB0405 is highly conserved across different B. burgdorferi sensu lato species, we investigated whether vaccination with recombinant BB0405 or through intradermal bb0405 DNA tattoo vaccination could provide protection against different Borrelia species, specifically against Borrelia afzelii, the predominant B. burgdorferi sensu lato genospecies causing Lyme borreliosis across Eurasia. We immunized C3H/HeN mice with recombinant BB0405 or with a codon-optimized bb0405 DNA vaccine using the pVAC plasmid and immunized corresponding control groups mice with only adjuvant or empty vectors. We subsequently subjected these immunized mice to a tick challenge with B. afzelii CB43-infected Ixodes ricinus nymphs. Upon vaccination, recombinant BB0405 induced a high total IgG response, but bb0405 DNA vaccination did not elicit antibody responses. Both vaccine formulations did not provide protection against Borrelia afzelii strain CB43 after tick challenge. In an attempt to understand the lack of protection of the recombinant vaccine, we determined expression of BB0405 and showed that B. afzelii CB43 spirochetes significantly and drastically downregulate the expression of BB0405 protein at 37 °C compared to 33 °C, where as in B. burgdorferi B31 spirochetes expression levels remain unaltered. Vaccination with recombinant BB0405 was previously shown to protect against B. burgdorferi sensu stricto. Here we show that vaccination with either recombinant BB0405 (or non-immunogenic bb0405 DNA), despite being highly conserved among B. burgdorferi sl genospecies, does not provide cross-protection against B. afzelii, mostly likely due to downregulation of this protein in B. afzelii in the mammalian host.

Blood pressure(BP) management interventions have been shown to be more effective when accompanied by appropriate patient education. As high BP remains poorly controlled, there may be gaps in patient knowledge and education. Therefore, this study aimed to identify specific content and delivery preferences for information to support BP management among Australian adults from the general public. Given that BP management is predominantly undertaken by general practitioners(GPs), information preferences to support BP management were also ascertained from a small sample of Australian GPs. An online survey of adults was conducted to identify areas of concern for BP management to inform content preferences and preferred format for information delivery. A separate online survey was also delivered to GPs to determine preferred information sources to support BP management. Participants were recruited via social media. General public participants (n = 465) were mostly female (68%),60 years (57%) and 49% were taking BP-lowering medications. The management of BP without medications, and role of lifestyle in BP management were of concern among 30% and 26% of adults respectively. Most adults (73%) preferred to access BP management information from their GP. 57% of GPs (total n = 23) preferred information for supporting BP management to be delivered via one-page summaries. This study identified that Australian adults would prefer more information about the management of BP without medications and via lifestyle delivered by their GP. This could be achieved by providing GPs with one-page summaries on relevant topics to support patient education and ultimately improve BP management.

Made available in DSpace on 2022-04-29T08:40:51Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2022-01-01 This study compared the plasma progesterone concentrations from pregnant and non-pregnant buffaloes to identify non-pregnant females and submit cows earlier to oestrous resynchronization. Forty-four multiparous mix-breed Murrah buffaloes were selected for the study. The cows were subjected to hormonal oestrous synchronization and separated into 4 groups, P12 (pregnant, n = 8) and P18 (n = 8) at 12 and 18 days post-insemination; NP12 (non-pregnant, n = 7) and NP18 (n = 7) at 23 and 29 days after the onset of synchronization, respectively. The embryos and blood were collected, and the plasma was separated for centrifugation and used to determine progesterone concentration. Progesterone concentration was higher in P18 than P12 (p =.02) and NP18 groups (p

Modelling the small-area spatio-temporal dynamics of the Covid-19 pandemic is of major public health importance, because it allows health agencies to better understand how and why the virus spreads. However, in Scotland during the first wave of the pandemic testing capacity was severely limited, meaning that large numbers of infected people were not formally diagnosed as having the virus. As a result, data on confirmed cases are unlikely to represent the true infection rates, and due to the small numbers of positive tests these data are not available at the small-area level for confidentiality reasons. Therefore to estimate the small-area dynamics in Covid-19 incidence this paper analyses the spatio-temporal trends in telehealth data relating to Covid-19, because during the first wave of the pandemic the public were advised to call the national telehealth provider NHS 24 if they experienced symptoms of the virus. Specifically, we propose a multivariate spatio-temporal correlation model for modelling the proportions of calls classified as either relating to Covid-19 directly or having related symptoms, and provide software for fitting the model in a Bayesian setting using Markov chain Monte Carlo simulation. The model was developed in partnership with the national health agency Public Health Scotland, and here we use it to analyse the spatio-temporal dynamics of the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in Scotland between March and July 2020, specifically focusing on the spatial variation in the peak and the end of the first wave.

Aim: The aim of this Systematic Review is to compare the survival rate of teeth autotransplantation with immediate implant placement in cases of singular loss of teeth and obtain a clinical recommendation for similar cases. Materials And Methods: The research will be conducted by two independent reviewers in PubMed search and it will include studies from January 2017 to December 2020.The survival rate of both immediate implant placement and tooth autotransplantation will be evaluated in different follow-up times and the information compiled in several metaanalyses.

The I‐MOVE‐COVID‐19 network has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement no 101003673. Background : Claims of influenza vaccination increasing COVID-19 risk are circulating. Within the I-MOVE-COVID-19 primary care multicentre study, we measured the association between 2019-20 influenza vaccination and COVID-19. Methods : We conducted a multicentre test-negative case-control study at primary care level, in study sites in five European countries, from March to August 2020. Patients presenting with acute respiratory infection were swabbed, with demographic, 2019-20 influenza vaccination and clinical information documented. Using logistic regression, we measured the adjusted odds ratio (aOR), adjusting for study site and age, sex, calendar time, presence of chronic conditions. The main analysis included patients swabbed ≤7 days after onset from the three countries with

Increased blood lipid levels are heritable risk factors of cardiovascular disease with varied prevalence worldwide owing to different dietary patterns and medication use(1). Despite advances in prevention and treatment, in particular through reducing low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels(2), heart disease remains the leading cause of death worldwide(3). Genome-wideassociation studies (GWAS) of blood lipid levels have led to important biological and clinical insights, as well as new drug targets, for cardiovascular disease. However, most previous GWAS(4-23) have been conducted in European ancestry populations and may have missed genetic variants that contribute to lipid-level variation in other ancestry groups. These include differences in allele frequencies, effect sizes and linkage-disequilibrium patterns(24). Here we conduct a multi-ancestry, genome-wide genetic discovery meta-analysis of lipid levels in approximately 1.65 million individuals, including 350,000 of non-European ancestries. We quantify the gain in studying non-European ancestries and provide evidence to support the expansion of recruitment of additional ancestries, even with relatively small sample sizes. We find that increasing diversity rather than studying additional individuals of European ancestry results in substantial improvements in fine-mapping functional variants and portability of polygenic prediction (evaluated in approximately 295,000 individuals from 7 ancestry groupings). Modest gains in the number of discovered loci and ancestry-specific variants were also achieved. As GWAS expand emphasis beyond the identification of genes and fundamental biology towards the use of genetic variants for preventive and precision medicine(25), we anticipate that increased diversity of participants will lead to more accurate and equitable(26) application of polygenic scores in clinical practice.

2018/19 was the first season of introduction of a newly licensed adjuvanted influenza vaccine (aTIV) for adults aged 65 years and over and the sixth season in the roll-out of a childhood influenza vaccination programme with a quadrivalent live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV). The season saw mainly A(H1N1)pdm09 and latterly A(H3N2) circulation. End-of-season adjusted vaccine effectiveness (aVE) estimates against laboratory confirmed influenza infection in primary care were calculated using the test negative case control method adjusting for key confounders. End-of-season aVE was 44.3% (95% CI: 26.8, 57.7) against all laboratory-confirmed influenza; 45.7% (95% CI: 26.0, 60.1) against influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 and 35.1% (95% CI: −3.7,59.3) against A(H3N2). Overall aVE was 49.9% (95%CI: −13.7, 77.9) for all those ≥ 65 years of age and 62.0% (95% CI: 3.4, 85.0) for those who received aTIV. Overall aVE for 2–17 year olds receiving LAIV was 48.6% (95% CI: −4.4, 74.7). The paper provides evidence of overall significant influenza VE in 2018/19, most notably against influenza A(H1N1)pdm09, however, as seen in 2017/18, there was reduced, non-significant VE against A(H3N2). aTIV provided significant protection for those 65 years of age and over.

Health, safety and injury prevention actions should be prioritized in aquaculture, where workers are exposed to a wide range of risks. This paper is based on a scoping report by a group of international experts, funded by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and administered by Fisheries and Aquaculture Workers Network of the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers' Associations (IUF). Relevant literature was reviewed and the study drew on an international workshop to develop templates and related for regional and national aquaculture occupational safety and health (AOSH) profiles. The literature review included Scielo and Google Scholar databases as well as Google and Brazilian government websites. The searches included material in Portuguese, English and Spanish. The results reported here give an overview of Brazilian AOSH and hazards and cover Brazilian and relevant international worker health and safety laws and organization applicable to the particular hazards in aquaculture. There is a special emphasis on the position of children and women workers linked to the wider social organization of work and welfare, and finally the challenges to and possibilities for good AOSH. Despite major developments in aquaculture production, much still needs to be improved to ensure the safety and health of workers in the sector.

Public health preparedness for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is challenging in the absence of setting-specific epidemiological data. Here we describe the epidemiology of seasonal human coronaviruses (sCoVs) and other cocirculating viruses in the West of Scotland, UK. We analyzed routine diagnostic data for >70,000 episodes of respiratory illness tested molecularly for multiple respiratory viruses between 2005 and 2017. Statistical associations with patient age and sex differed between CoV-229E, CoV-OC43 and CoV-NL63. Furthermore, the timing and magnitude of sCoV outbreaks did not occur concurrently and coinfections were not reported. With respect to other cocirculating respiratory viruses, we found evidence of positive, rather than negative, interactions with sCoVs. These findings highlight the importance of considering cocirculating viruses in the differential diagnosis of COVID-19. Further work is needed to establish the occurrence/degree of cross-protective immunity conferred across sCoVs and with COVID-19, as well as the role of viral coinfection in COVID-19 disease severity.

The Brazilian state of Goias, untouched by spotted fever (SF) until 2012, has subsequently reported cases of the disease in several regions. This study aimed to survey the diversity of potential vectors and rickettsia in areas of Goias under environmental surveillance or case investigation for SF. Collected specimens were assayed with molecular biology technology using DNA extraction, amplification and sequencing of fragments of the genes gltA, ompA, ompB and sca4 to detect rickettsia in ticks and fleas. Amplification of cytochrome oxidase subunit II and 16S rRNA was performed to assist tick identification. Rickettsia felis (Rickettsiales: Rickettsiaceae) was found in Ctenocephalides felis (Bouche, 1835) (Siphonaptera: Pulicidae). Rickettsia bellii was found in Amblyomma rotundatum Koch, 1844 (Ixodida: Ixodidae) and in Amblyomma cajennense sensu lato. Rickettsia sp. strain NOD was found in Amblyomma nodosum Neumann, 1899. Of the Amblyomma cajennense complex, Amblyomma sculptum Berlese, 1888 was confirmed in the northern, northeast, midwest and southeast regions of Goias, whereas Amblyomma cajennense sensu stricto (Fabricius, 1787) was found only in the northern region of the state. Amblyomma dubitatum Neumann, 1899 associated with a species of the A. cajennense complex was the most common epidemiological finding, although Rickettsia rickettsii was not detected. This is the first report of Rickettsia sp. strain NOD in Goias.

Caatinga forests occupy an area of around one million km2 in the semiarid region of northeast Brazil. These landscapes are undergoing rapid change because of accelerated deforestation for cultivation and firewood. The capacity of Caatinga forests to regenerate after clearing determines the magnitude of the carbon (C) sink in the soil, and thus is fundamental information for developing management policies for long-term sustainability. The objective of this study was to investigate C stocks and microbial activity in soils of dry Caatinga forests that had undergone harvesting at different times in the past. Soils were collected from three depths (0–5, 5–10, and 10–20 cm) within seven sites representing a sequence of years since cutting: 0.5, 6, 9, 12, 25, 50, and undisturbed (at least 80 years since cutting). Samples from each depth interval were analyzed for total C concentration and stock, humic substances, labile-C, and microbial biomass C. In addition, indicators of microbiological activity, such as basal respiration, microbial quotient, and metabolic quotient, were determined for the two shallow layers. The results showed that C stocks and microbiological activity were strongly influenced by forest cutting times, and reflect significant C losses associated with this type of management. They also suggest that reaccumulation of C following disturbance is slow. Those areas in which the vegetation has remained undisturbed for longer periods have larger C stocks, indicating that long-term maintenance of vegetation increases C storage in soils. For example, 20 years after cutting the C concentrations in soil and humic fractions had recovered to only about 32% of the presumed maximum found for the 80-year site. The average time for C in soil and humic fractions to return to their initial values at these sites is estimated to be approximately 65 years. Even achieving 50% recovery would require at least 33 years between cutting campaigns. Our findings show that in the context of mitigating climate change on a global scale, forest management entities should restrict cutting intervals in semiarid regions such as the Caatinga to longer than 30 years, to allow these soils to rebuild significant C stocks.

Cardiovascular complications, in particular perioperative myocardial infarctions, are central contributors to morbidity and mortality after non-cardiac surgery. We present a case of a 41-year-old male, smoker and dyslipidemic, who underwent bimaxillary orthognathic jaw surgery with the development of an acute coronary syndrome in the immediate postoperative period. We managed to early diagnose the myocardial infarction and promptly performed a percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty, resulting in a positive outcome.

Resumen Las complicaciones cardiovasculares, en particular el infarto de miocardio perioperatorio, contribuyen significativamente a la morbimortalidad tras la cirugia no cardiaca. Presentamos el caso de un hombre de 41 anos de edad, fumador, con dislipidemia, sometido a una cirugia ortognatica bimaxilar, que desarrollo un sindrome coronario agudo en el periodo postoperatorio inmediato. El infarto agudo de miocardio se diagnostico de manera temprana, realizandose de inmediato una angioplastia coronaria transluminal percutanea, que se tradujo en un resultado y evolucion favorables.

Neoadjuvant chemoradiation therapy (nCRT) for rectal cancer may lead to cure. As we currently lack reliable methods to clinically confirm the absence of disease, some patients undergo radical resection and have pathological complete response (pCR) still undergo surgery. Furthermore, it is uncertain if conventional one-level histopathological analysis is accurate enough to determine complete response. Confirming pCR is essential to determine the prognosis and to consider the patient's inclusion in trials of adjuvant therapy. The aim of this study was to determine whether the current 1-level approach is sufficient to confirm pCR.Four hundred and thirty-five patients with rectal cancer who received nCRT followed by radical resection were analyzed. All cases identified as pCR by 1-level step section histological evaluation were reassessed with 3-level step sections and immunohistochemical analysis to verify the presence of residual disease.Out of 435 patients, 75 (17.2%) were staged as ypT0. Of these, 6 had lymph node involvement and 1 had distant metastasis, leaving 68 (15.6%) who had pCR. After the additional step sections, residual tumor was detected in 12 (17.6%) of these 68. The final pCR rate was 12.9%. Distant recurrence was detected in 7.1% of real-pCR patients compared to 16.7% in the false-pCR group (p = 0.291). Sensitivity of clinical assessment for detecting pCR was 35.7%, and the accuracy of 1-section histological evaluation to identify pCR was 82.4%.Histopathological analysis with 1-level step section is insufficient to determine complete tumor eradication. The 3-level sections methodology revealed residual tumor cells in patients initially classified as ypT0. Further studies with larger sample size are required to verify the clinical relevance of these residual tumor cells. Caution should continue to be applied to watch and wait strategies following nCRT.

EnglishThe present study analyzes the legal facets that the Brazilian legal system assigns to the applicant a patent application, in particular regarding the pharmaceutical composition of reference medicine, between the date of filing of that application and the date of granting the patent right. It also examines the consequences of some procedural conduct on the part of pharmaceutical companies applying for patents relating to reference medicines against generic pharmaceutical companies in the context of competition law, unfair competition and possible abuse of the right to petition. portuguesO presente estudo analisa as faculdades juridicas que o ordenamento juridico brasileiro atribui ao requerente de um pedido de patente, em particular relativo a composicao farmaceutica de medicamento de referencia, entre a data do deposito desse pedido e a data da concessao do direito de patente. Outrossim, sao analisadas as consequencias de alguns comportamentos processuais de empresas farmaceuticas requerentes de patentes relativas a medicamentos de referencia dirigidos contra empresas farmaceuticas de medicamentos genericos no quadro do direito da concorrencia, da concorrencia desleal e do eventual abuso do direito de peticao.

A thick umbric horizon (~ 1 m) is an important component in the balance of the carbon (C) cycle. However, little is known about the characteristics and C stability in the umbric horizon of Ferralsols, the tropical environments surrounded by semi-arid regions in northeastern (NE) Brazil. This study aimed to evaluate (i) morphological, physical, chemical, biological and mineralogical attributes and (ii) C accumulation in the surface and subsurface within five Umbric Ferralsols along a 475-km climosequence from 143 to 963 m a.s.l. located in coastal and upland areas in NE Brazil. Soil samples were collected in all of the horizons. Umbric Ferralsols present characteristics that are primarily influenced by their sedimentary parent material, which are mostly kaolinitic. The texture ranges from sandy clay loam to very clayey with an absence of macroscopic coal in depth. There is greater C storage of the umbric horizon in the coastal areas with hot and humid climates. This indicates that the current climate is not the predominant factor in the formation of the umbric epipedon. C mineralization in the surface horizons was related to potentially mineralizable nitrogen (N) and labile and organic C, suggesting that the quality of the organic substrate and mainly the N dynamic can drive the accumulation of C. In contrast, C mineralization in subsurface horizons was primarily influenced by forms of aluminum and oxalate-extractable iron and was independent of soil organic matter fractions. However, in the umbric horizon, crystalline forms of iron were mainly associated with protection against C mineralization.