Search

Costa Rica has benefited from effective vaccination campaigns to eliminate canine rabies virus infections. Still, the virus has endured, spread by vampire bats (Desmodus rotundus) to cattle, with rare but [...]

In Latin America, rabies virus has persisted in a cycle between Desmodus rotundus vampire bats and cattle, potentially enhanced by deforestation. We modeled bovine rabies virus outbreaks in Costa Rica relative to land-use indicators and found spatial-temporal relationships among rabies virus outbreaks with deforestation as a predictor.

O objetivo deste estudo foi descrever o perfil epidemiológico dos jovens brasileiros diagnosticados com a Síndrome da Imunodeficiência Adquirida (aids) entre os anos de 2017 e 2021 sob a ótica do conceito de vulnerabilidade em saúde. Trata-se de um estudo epidemiológico do tipo descritivo, retrospectivo e com abordagem quantitativa. Foi realizado o cálculo da Taxa de Detecção de aids na população jovem por ano de notificação e de Razão por Sexo. Foi verificado e calculado a frequência absoluta e a porcentagem para cada variável estudada. O presente estudo identificou que o número de casos de aids notificados foi expressivo, sendo as regiões Sudeste e Nordeste as que apresentaram maiores porcentagens. A região Sul exibiu a maior Taxa de Detecção nos anos de 2017, 2019 e 2020, assim como a região Norte em 2018 e 2021. A maioria dos jovens presentaram faixa etária entre 25 e 29 anos, eram do sexo masculino, de cor parda e possuíam ensino médio completo, observando a contribuição da vulnerabilidade individual, social e programática neste perfil. Ainda, notou-se que muitos casos notificados correspondiam a pessoas diagnosticadas em anos anteriores e que o tipo de exposição sexual foi semelhante entre homossexuais e heterossexuais. Conclui-se que a vulnerabilidade individual, social e programática colabora para a manutenção deste perfil característico, sendo crucial a elaboração e a reestruturação das políticas públicas vigentes para que alcance as demandas atuais dos jovens brasileiros, especialmente, os que se encontram em situações de maior suscetibilidade quando relaciona-se aos três aspectos da vulnerabilidade em saúde.

Bats carry many zoonotic pathogens without showing pronounced pathology, with a few exceptions. The underlying immune tolerance mechanisms in bats remain poorly understood, although information-rich omics tools hold promise for identifying a wide range of immune markers and their relationship with infection. To evaluate the generality of immune responses to infection, we assessed the differences and similarities in serum proteomes of wild vampire bats (Desmodus rotundus) across infection status with five taxonomically distinct pathogens: bacteria (Bartonella spp., hemoplasmas), protozoa (Trypanosoma cruzi), and DNA (herpesviruses) and RNA (alphacoronaviruses) viruses. From 19 bats sampled in 2019 in Belize, we evaluated the up- and downregulated immune responses of infected versus uninfected individuals for each pathogen. Using a high-quality genome annotation for vampire bats, we identified 586 serum proteins but found no evidence for differential abundance nor differences in composition between infected and uninfected bats. However, using receiver operating characteristic curves, we identified four to 48 candidate biomarkers of infection depending on the pathogen, including seven overlapping biomarkers (DSG2, PCBP1, MGAM, APOA4, DPEP1, GOT1, and IGFALS). Enrichment analysis of these proteins revealed that our viral pathogens, but not the bacteria or protozoa studied, were associated with upregulation of extracellular and cytoplasmatic secretory vesicles (indicative of viral replication) and downregulation of complement activation and coagulation cascades. Additionally, herpesvirus infection elicited a downregulation of leukocyte-mediated immunity and defense response but an upregulation of an inflammatory and humoral immune response. In contrast to our two viral infections, we found downregulation of lipid and cholesterol homeostasis and metabolism with Bartonella spp. infection, of platelet-dense and secretory granules with hemoplasma infection, and of blood coagulation pathways with T. cruzi infection. Despite the small sample size, our results suggest that vampire bats have a similar suite of immune mechanisms for viruses distinct from responses to the other pathogen taxa, and we identify potential biomarkers that can expand our understanding of pathogenesis of these infections in bats. By applying a proteomic approach to a multi-pathogen system in wild animals, our study provides a distinct framework that could be expanded across bat species to increase our understanding of how bats tolerate pathogens.

Many of the world's most pressing issues, such as the emergence of zoonotic diseases, can only be addressed through interdisciplinary research. However, the findings of interdisciplinary research are susceptible to miscommunication among both professional and non-professional audiences due to differences in training, language, experience, and understanding. Such miscommunication contributes to the misunderstanding of key concepts or processes and hinders the development of effective research agendas and public policy. These misunderstandings can also provoke unnecessary fear in the public and have devastating effects for wildlife conservation. For example, inaccurate communication and subsequent misunderstanding of the potential associations between certain bats and zoonoses has led to persecution of diverse bats worldwide and even government calls to cull them. Here, we identify four types of miscommunication driven by the use of terminology regarding bats and the emergence of zoonotic diseases that we have categorized based on their root causes: (1) incorrect or overly broad use of terms; (2) terms that have unstable usage within a discipline, or different usages among disciplines; (3) terms that are used correctly but spark incorrect inferences about biological processes or significance in the audience; (4) incorrect inference drawn from the evidence presented. We illustrate each type of miscommunication with commonly misused or misinterpreted terms, providing a definition, caveats and common misconceptions, and suggest alternatives as appropriate. While we focus on terms specific to bats and disease ecology, we present a more general framework for addressing miscommunication that can be applied to other topics and disciplines to facilitate more effective research, problem-solving, and public policy.

O texto apresenta, em formato de perguntas e respostas, um resumo da minha carreira de professor de Direito Administrativo. Há discussões sobre as mudanças no perfil dos docentes e dos discentes, sobre métodos de ensino, sobre atividades extraclasse e sobre a mudança no conteúdo da disciplina.

Bartonella, the causative agent of bartonellosis, is a genus of gram-negative bacteria. Bartonellosis causes a range of symptoms from severe to life-threatening (e.g., endocarditis and meningitis). Clinical syndromes from Bartonella [...]

To determine Bartonella spp. dynamics, we sampled bats and bat flies across 15 roosts in Costa Rica. PCR indicated prevalence of 10.7% in bats and 29.0% in ectoparasite pools. Phylogenetic analysis of 8 sequences from bats and 5 from bat fly pools revealed 11 distinct genetic variants, including 2 potentially new genotypes.

During the past 2 decades we have observed zoonotic outbreaks of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) in 2003 and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in 2012 (1,2). These [...]

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has spread globally, and the number of worldwide cases continues to rise. The zoonotic origins of SARS-CoV-2 and its intermediate and potential spillback host reservoirs, besides humans, remain largely unknown. Because of ethical and experimental constraints and more important, to reduce and refine animal experimentation, we used our repository of well-differentiated airway epithelial cell (AEC) cultures from various domesticated and wildlife animal species to assess their susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2. We observed that SARS-CoV-2 replicated efficiently only in monkey and cat AEC culture models. Whole-genome sequencing of progeny viruses revealed no obvious signs of nucleotide transitions required for SARS-CoV-2 to productively infect monkey and cat AEC cultures. Our findings, together with previous reports of human-to-animal spillover events, warrant close surveillance to determine the potential role of cats, monkeys, and closely related species as spillback reservoirs for SARS-CoV-2.

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has had a social and economic impact worldwide, and vaccination is an efficient strategy for diminishing those damages. New adjuvant formulations are required for the high vaccine demands, especially adjuvant formulations that induce a Th1 phenotype. Herein we assess a vaccination strategy using a combination of Alum and polyinosinic:polycytidylic acid [Poly(I:C)] adjuvants plus the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein in a prefusion trimeric conformation by an intradermal (ID) route. We found high levels of IgG anti-spike antibodies in the serum by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and high neutralizing titers against SARS-CoV-2 in vitro by neutralization assay, after two or three immunizations. By evaluating the production of IgG subtypes, as expected, we found that formulations containing Poly(I:C) induced IgG2a whereas Alum did not. The combination of these two adjuvants induced high levels of both IgG1 and IgG2a. In addition, cellular immune responses of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells producing interferon-gamma were equivalent, demonstrating that the Alum + Poly(I:C) combination supported a Th1 profile. Based on the high neutralizing titers, we evaluated B cells in the germinal centers, which are specific for receptor-binding domain (RBD) and spike, and observed that more positive B cells were induced upon the Alum + Poly(I:C) combination. Moreover, these B cells produced antibodies against both RBD and non-RBD sites. We also studied the impact of this vaccination preparation [spike protein with Alum + Poly(I:C)] in the lungs of mice challenged with inactivated SARS-CoV-2 virus. We found a production of IgG, but not IgA, and a reduction in neutrophil recruitment in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) of mice, suggesting that our immunization scheme reduced lung inflammation. Altogether, our data suggest that Alum and Poly(I:C) together is a possible adjuvant combination for vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 by the intradermal route.

Resumo A teoria evolutiva é considerada o eixo integrador da Biologia, e, sendo assim, os conceitos relacionados à Evolução são necessários para uma adequada compreensão de outros modelos explicativos. O presente trabalho buscou analisar as concepções acerca de temas relacionados à Evolução Biológica (EB), por meio da aplicação de questionários entre os professores em formação em um curso de Ciências Biológicas. Após análise dos dados, percebeu-se que, além de equívocos relacionados a conceitos, uma parcela significativa dos respondentes não se sente segura para se manifestar a respeito dos tópicos sobre EB apresentados. Defendendo a ideia de que as concepções de futuros docentes não constituem um fim em si, foi feita uma articulação com discussões sobre formação de professores.

Zika virus (ZIKV) emerged as an important infectious disease agent in Brazil in 2016. Infection usually leads to mild symptoms, but severe congenital neurological disorders and Guillain-Barré syndrome have been reported following ZIKV exposure. Creating an effective vaccine against ZIKV is a public health priority. We describe the protective effect of an already licensed attenuated yellow fever vaccine (YFV, 17DD) in type-I interferon receptor knockout mice (A129) and immunocompetent BALB/c and SV-129 (A129 background) mice infected with ZIKV. YFV vaccination provided protection against ZIKV, with decreased mortality in A129 mice, a reduction in the cerebral viral load in all mice, and weight loss prevention in BALB/c mice. The A129 mice that were challenged two and three weeks after the first dose of the vaccine were fully protected, whereas partial protection was observed five weeks after vaccination. In all cases, the YFV vaccine provoked a substantial decrease in the cerebral viral load. YFV immunization also prevented hippocampal synapse loss and microgliosis in ZIKV-infected mice. Our vaccine model is T cell-dependent, with AG129 mice being unable to tolerate immunization (vaccination is lethal in this mouse model), indicating the importance of IFN-γ in immunogenicity. To confirm the role of T cells, we immunized nude mice that we demonstrated to be very susceptible to infection. Immunization with YFV and challenge 7 days after booster did not protect nude mice in terms of weight loss and showed partial protection in the survival curve. When we evaluated the humoral response, the vaccine elicited significant antibody titers against ZIKV; however, it showed no neutralizing activity in vitro and in vivo. The data indicate that a cell-mediated response promotes protection against cerebral infection, which is crucial to vaccine protection, and it appears to not necessarily require a humoral response. This protective effect can also be attributed to innate factors, but more studies are needed to strengthen this hypothesis. Our findings open the way to using an available and inexpensive vaccine for large-scale immunization in the event of a ZIKV outbreak. Author summary Zika virus (ZIKV) is as an important infectious that may result in severe congenital neurological disorders. Our study reports that the current attenuated yellow fever vaccine is effective in immunizing against the infection caused by the Zika virus, due to the similarity between the two viruses. To study the efficacy of the vaccine, we used different mouse strains, including both animals with a healthy immune system (immunocompetent) and animals with compromised immune systems and therefore more susceptible to viral (immunocompromised) infections. The vaccine was given subcutaneously, as it does in humans. The animals were inoculated with the Zika virus directly into the brain—a protocol normally adopted in vaccine studies to simulate a high lethality infection. In all cases, the vaccinated mice developed a high degree of protection against Zika infection. Altogether, we demonstrate that the YFV vaccine elicits an immune response that protects against cerebral infection by ZIKV. Our findings suggest the possibility of using an available and inexpensive vaccine for large-scale immunization in the event of a ZIKV outbreak.

O enfermeiro atuante na Atenção Primária à Saúde possui papel extremamente relevante na assistência prestada a pessoa atingida com a hanseníase. Assim, o estudo visa analisar a atuação do enfermeiro nas ações de controle da hanseníase na atenção primária a saúde retratada à luz da literatura. Trata-se de uma revisão integrativa da literatura em que foram realizadas buscas nas bases de dados: Literatura Latino-Americana e do Caribe em Ciências da Saúde, Base de dados de Enfermagem, PubMed Central, Scientific Electronic Library Online, ColecionaSUS e Portal de Periódicos CAPES, utilizando como estratégias de buscas o cruzamento dos descritores: ‘‘Atenção Primária à Saúde’’, ‘‘Hanseníase’’ e ‘‘Enfermagem’’. Foram selecionados 12 artigos para o estudo, ao analisar constatou-se a importância de integrar as ações de hanseníase na Atenção Primária de Saúde, visto que, apesar de algumas fragilidades, o serviço é capaz de realizar as ações de controle da hanseníase. A assistência adequada ao cliente com hanseníase é importante para a obtenção da cura e o enfermeiro tem papel fundamental na prestação de serviços a essa clientela, buscando minimizar o impacto trazido por essa doença e as suas complicações.

O presente estudo pretende indicar, de modo exploratório, possíveis aportes da análise econômica do direito, da economia comportamental, e dos respectivos experimentos laboratoriais, para o combate à corrupção, buscando indicar as potencialidades de medidas que vão para além do mero discurso punitivista. O caráter multifacetado e complexo da corrupção demanda uma abordagem igualmente multidimensional e interdisciplinar.

Translating culture vs. cultural translation

Despite the intramuscular route being the most used vaccination strategy against SARS-CoV-2, the intradermal route has been studied around the globe as a strong candidate for immunization against SARS-CoV-2. Adjuvants have shown to be essential vaccine components that are capable of driving robust immune responses and increasing the vaccination efficacy. In this work, our group aimed to develop a vaccination strategy for SARS-CoV-2 using a trimeric spike protein, by testing the best route with formulations containing the adjuvants AddaS03, CpG, MPL, Alum, or a combination of two of them. Our results showed that formulations that were made with AddaS03 or CpG alone or AddaS03 combined with CpG were able to induce high levels of IgG, IgG1, and IgG2a; high titers of neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 original strain; and also induced high hypersensitivity during the challenge with Spike protein and a high level of IFN-γ producing CD4+ T-cells in mice. Altogether, those data indicate that AddaS03, CpG, or both combined may be used as adjuvants in vaccines for COVID-19.

Many of the world’s most pressing issues, such as the emergence of zoonotic diseases, can only be addressed through interdisciplinary research. However, the findings of interdisciplinary research are susceptible to miscommunication among both professional and non-professional audiences due to differences in training, language, experience, and understanding. Such miscommunication contributes to the misunderstanding of key concepts or processes and hinders the development of effective research agendas and public policy. These misunderstandings can also provoke unnecessary fear in the public and have devastating effects for wildlife conservation. For example, inaccurate communication and subsequent misunderstanding of the potential associations between certain bats and zoonoses has led to persecution of diverse bats worldwide and even government calls to cull them. Here, we identify four types of miscommunication driven by the use of terminology regarding bats and the emergence of zoonotic diseases that we have categorized based on their root causes: (1) incorrect or overly broad use of terms; (2) terms that have unstable usage within a discipline, or different usages among disciplines; (3) terms that are used correctly but spark incorrect inferences about biological processes or significance in the audience; (4) incorrect inference drawn from the evidence presented. We illustrate each type of miscommunication with commonly misused or misinterpreted terms, providing a definition, caveats and common misconceptions, and suggest alternatives as appropriate. While we focus on terms specific to bats and disease ecology, we present a more general framework for addressing miscommunication that can be applied to other topics and disciplines to facilitate more effective research, problem-solving, and public policy.

O biodiesel consiste de um combustível biodegradável derivado de óleos vegetais e gorduras animais, formado por ésteres de ácidos graxos, ésteres de alquila (metila, etila ou propila) de ácidos carboxílicos de cadeia longa. O processo convencional para sua produção ocorre pela transesterificação de óleos vegetais com álcool na presença de um catalisador. O catalisador mais utilizado no processo de transesterificação é o catalisador homogêneo, KOH, que apresenta grande dificuldade de recuperação do mesmo, portanto foi estudado neste trabalho um catalisador heterogêneo (KOH/Al2O3). Deste modo, este trabalho tem como objetivo e obter o catalisador e caracterizar, além de aplicar o catalisador na reação de transesterificação de óleo de algodão em busca das melhores condições de reações. Os produtos obtidos foram avaliados por densidade, viscosidade, análise térmica (TG/DTG) e espectroscopia na região do infravermelho por transformada de Fourier (FTIR). Para a confirmação da obtenção do catalisador foi utilizada a técnica como por difratograma de raio X (DRX), microscópico eletrônico de varredura (MEV-EDS), FTIR e TG/DTG . Os biodiesel obtido através da reação de transesterificação na presença de KOH/Al2O3 apresentaram resultados de densidade e viscosidade de acordo com Resolução ANP 45/2014. O biodiesel que foi obtido com um tempo reacional de 5h apresentou maior percentual de conversão (94,5%).

Objetivo: Apresentar o perfil dos pacientes atendidos por tentativas de suicídio atendidas pelo Hospital Geral Dr. Oswaldo Brandão Vilela (HGE) da cidade de Maceió, Alagoas, Brasil. Métodos: Trata-se de um estudo do tipo documental, descritivo e retrospectivo com abordagem quantitativa. A amostra da pesquisa foi todo o universo de pacientes atendidos e diagnosticados por tentativa de suicídio no HGE no período de 2015 a 2017. Resultados: A amostra investigada foi constituída de 824 usuários, 50,1% dos pacientes tem a faixa etária entre 15 a 29 anos e 63% são do sexo feminino, 82,1% utilizou o meio de envenenamento, desses, 58,9% utilizou o agente medicamento. Conclusão: De 2015 a 2017 a distribuição de ocorrências por atendimentos de suicídio cresceu ao longo dos anos entre os jovens. Infere-se que são necessárias ações que permitam e incentivem a prevenção desse dano à população.

Human activities have increased the intensity and frequency of natural stressors and created novel stressors, altering host–pathogen interactions and changing the risk of emerging infectious diseases. Despite the ubiquity of such anthropogenic impacts, predicting the directionality of outcomes has proven challenging. Here, we conduct a review and meta‐analysis to determine the primary mechanisms through which stressors affect host–pathogen interactions and to evaluate the impacts stress has on host fitness (survival and fecundity) and pathogen infectivity (prevalence and intensity). We assessed 891 effect sizes from 71 host species (representing seven taxonomic groups) and 78 parasite taxa from 98 studies. We found that infected and uninfected hosts had similar sensitivity to stressors and that responses varied according to stressor type. Specifically, limited resources compromised host fecundity and decreased pathogen intensity, while abiotic environmental stressors (e.g., temperature and salinity) decreased host survivorship and increased pathogen intensity, and pollution increased mortality but decreased pathogen prevalence. We then used our meta‐analysis results to develop susceptible–infected theoretical models to illustrate scenarios where infection rates are expected to increase or decrease in response to resource limitations or environmental stress gradients. Our results carry implications for conservation and disease emergence and reveal areas for future work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Num primeiro momento, o texto identifica três características do debate jurídico sobre a regulação da economia no Brasil: ele é sincrético, desigual, e voltado ao Estado. Após, o artigo se dedica às fases do debate sobre regulação na sensibilidade jurídica brasileira. De uma pré-história da regulação, em que o assunto era apresentado de modo indistinto ao Direito Constitucional e ao Direito Administrativo, passou-se, em meados dos anos noventa, à etapa conceitual-constitucional, centrada na identificação constitucional das potestades regulatórias. Hoje, vive-se etapa eficacial, em que a ênfase recai no debate a respeito de sua qualidade. O artigo se encerra sugerindo duas linhas de ação para tornar nosso debate sobre regulação econômica mais original, mas sem perder a diversidade de abordagens que lhe é característica.

La neurofibromatosis tipo 1 (NF-1) o enfermedad e Von Recklinhousen es una enfermedad multisistémica de herencia autosómica dominante que afecta principalmente a la piel y al sistema nervioso. El diagnóstico es clínico y puede confirmarse por estudio genético, pero técnicamente es complejo y no predice la aparición de complicaciones, por lo que no está indicado realizarlo de forma rutinaria. La neurofibromatosis tipo 1 se asocia a distintas enfermedades endocrinológicas, siendo una de ellas el feocromocitoma. Los feocromocitomas compuestos son tumores raros que también se han relacionado con este síndrome. Asocian feocromocitomas con tumores con un mismo origen embrionario, siendo los que asocian ganglioneuromas los más frecuentes. La prevalencia de feocromocitoma y ganglioneuroma puede estar aumentada en pacientes con NF-1 y esta asociación se ha relacionado con tumores más agresivos, por lo que en el presente artículo se insiste en la importancia de la evaluación de estos pacientes para evitar posibles complicaciones relacionadas con el tumor si no se hace un diagnóstico precoz. Presentamos el caso de un feocromocitoma compuesto con ganglioneuroma en una paciente asintomática afecta de NF-1 y se revisan los aspectos más relevantes de este tipo de tumores Abstract Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF-1) or Von Recklinhousen´s disease is a multisystem disease of autosomal dominant inheritance that primarily affects the skin and nervous system. Diagnosis is clinical and can be confirmed by genetic testing, but technically complex and does not predict the occurrence of complications, so it is not indicated routinely perform it. Neurofibromatosis type 1 is associated with various endocrine diseases, one of which pheochromocytoma. The compounds pheochromocytomas are rare tumors have also been associated with this syndrome. Pheochromocytomas associated with tumors with the same embryonic origin, associating ganglioneuromas being the most frequent. The prevalence of pheochromocytoma and ganglioneuroma may be increased in patients with NF-1 and this association has been associated with more aggressive tumors, so in this article stresses the importance of evaluating these patients to avoid complications related to the tumor early diagnosis is if it does. We report the case of a pheochromocytoma compound in an asymptomatic patient ganglioneuroma affect NF-1 and the most relevant aspects of this tumor are reviewed.

La transición entre el Solutrense y Magdaleniense es una cuestión ampliamente discutida tanto en los territorios franceses como peninsulares. Ante la dificultad de determinar la continuidad o discontinuidad entre ambas culturas, y sobre todo la identificación y caracterización del Badeguliense en Francia, se ha creado un crisol de teorías sobre el final del Solutrense y el origen del Magdaleniense peninsular. La caracterización de este posible nuevo horizonte, que se pretende introducir en algunas estratigrafías de yacimientos modernamente excavados con un claro cariz rupturista, introduce alguna confusión a la hora de determinar un contexto paleoclimático y cronológico preciso para estas industrias. La adscripción de niveles del final del Solutrense (Caldas XIV y 3-6; La Riera 9-14), y también del Magdaleniense inferior clásico (Caldas XIII), a un Badeguliense cantábrico, Solutrense Final, Magdaleniense arcaico o Magdaleniense inferior no es una cuestión menor ni terminológica. Por el contrario, la identificación de uno u otro horizonte sigue estando sujeta a comparaciones cronológicas, al estudio de niveles aislados o a la identificación de elementos líticos y óseos aislados del registro arqueológico, que no siempre están presentes en su totalidad (raclettes, materias primas locales, técnicas no laminares y técnica pseudo-excisa). Este trabajo se centra en el estudio de los depósitos del final del Solutrense y su relación con los más antiguos niveles magdalenienses, en el contexto estratigráfico del valle del Nalón (La Paloma, Entrefoces, y Las Caldas). Se presta especial atención a la amplia secuencia de la cueva de Las Caldas (niveles XI a XIII, XIV y 3 a 6), en la que se suceden las ocupaciones del Solutrense final y el Magdaleniense inferior en las salas I y II de la cavidad, y para cuya datación se dispone de 26 dataciones 14C (AMS y 14C convencional).