Suchergebnisse

Funding Information: We thank the members of the COVID-19 task force of ITQB NOVA and Mariana Pinho for helpful discussions and suggestions. In particular, we thank Claudio M. Soares and Adriano O. Henriques for their unconditional support and invaluable help in making this work possible. The authors acknowledge the assistance of Paula Chi-cau, ITQB NOVA, in the development of the saliva test and are grateful to Chuck Farah, São Paulo University, for the pGTf2 plasmid. This work was supported by (i) Project LISBOA-01-0145-FEDER-007660 ("Microbiologia Molecular, Estrutural e Celular") funded by FEDER funds through COMPETE2020—"Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalização" (POCI), (ii) the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 810856 and (iii) "Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia" (FCT) through programme IF (IF/00124/2015) to C.P, (iv) through the project "DETECT: Development of an Easy, fast-Track and Economical Colorimetric Test for autonomous national diagnosis of COVID-19" Ref 433_613549914 (20/7/153), attributed to C.P., under the scope of the 2nd edition of the programme RESEARCH4COVID19 and partially supported by (v) the project "STOP-COVID—Strategies to prevent COVID-19 by early detection of asymptomatic carriers at increased risk: epidemiological studies and validation of a rapid in-house diagnostic test", Ref 072559, funded by FEDER—"Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional" from "Programa Opera-cional Regional Lisboa". Publisher Copyright: © 2021, The Author(s). ; Until there is an effective implementation of COVID-19 vaccination program, a robust testing strategy, along with prevention measures, will continue to be the most viable way to control disease spread. Such a strategy should rely on disparate diagnostic tests to prevent a slowdown in testing due to lack of materials and reagents imposed by supply chain problems, which happened at the beginning of the pandemic. In this study, we have established a single-tube test based on ...

The determination of infection rate parameter from in vitro macrophages infected by Leishmania amastigotes is fundamental in the study of vaccine candidates and new drugs for the treatment of leishmaniasis. The conventional method that consists in the amastigotes count inside macrophages, normally is done by a trained microscope technician, which is liable to misinterpretation and sampling. The objective of this work is to develop a method for the segmentation of images to enable the automatic calculation of the infection rate by amastigotes. Segmentation is based on mathematical morphology in the context of a computer vision system. The results obtained by computer vision system presents a 95% accuracy in comparison to the conventional method. Therefore, the proposed method can contribute to the speed and accuracy of analysis of infection rate, minimizing errors from the traditional methods, especially in situations where exhaustive repetitions of the procedure are required from the technician.

Abstract Animal products are sources of microbiological contamination when the process has hygienic-sanitary control fails. Therefore, this work aims the evaluation of the pathogenic microorganisms presented in samples from the Brazil southern region of yogurt (N = 101), stretched curd cheese (N = 31), fresh sausage (N = 22) and processing water (N = 63). Analyses of coliforms at 45 °C, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella sp. and Escherichia coli were performed. Analysis indicated processing water is an important contamination source to be monitored, because the majority of samples presented results above the regulation limits. Thermal treatment and fermentation such as stretched curd cheese and yogurt appeared to be more stable against contamination during processing. In this study, for coliforms at 45 °C, only one cheese sample and 12% of total yogurt samples exceeded the Brazilian legislation limit. None of sausage samples presented any contamination. On the other hand, values found in both processing water and dairy products indicated failures in application and monitoring of good manufactured practices.

International audience ; For endemic infections in cattle that are not regulated at the European Union level, such as bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV), European Member States have implemented control or eradication programs (CEP) tailored to their specific situations. Different methods are used to assign infection-free status in CEP; therefore, the confidence of freedom associated with the "free" status generated by different CEP are difficult to compare, creating problems for the safe trade of cattle between territories. Safe trade would be facilitated with an output-based framework that enables a transparent and standardized comparison of confidence of freedom for CEP across herds, regions, or countries. The current paper represents the first step toward development of such a framework by seeking to describe and qualitatively compare elements of CEP that contribute to confidence of freedom. For this work, BVDV was used as a case study. We qualitatively compared heterogeneous BVDV CEP in 6 European countries: Germany, France, Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Scotland. Information about BVDV CEP that were in place in 2017 and factors influencing the risk of introduction and transmission of BVDV (the context) were collected using an existing tool, with modifications to collect information about aspects of control and context. For the 6 participating countries, we ranked all individual elements of the CEP and their contexts that could influence the probability that cattle from a herd categorized as BVDV-free are truly free from infection. Many differences in the context and design of BVDV CEP were found. As examples, CEP were either mandatory or voluntary, resulting in variation in risks from neighboring herds, and risk factors such as cattle density and the number of imported cattle varied greatly between territories. Differences were also found in both testing protocols and definitions of freedom from disease. The observed heterogeneity in both the context and CEP design will create difficulties when ...

Wickerhamomyces anomalus LBCM1105 is a yeast isolated from cachaça distillery fermentation vats, notable for exceptional glycerol consumption ability. We report its draft genome with 20.5x in-depth coverage and around 90% extension and completeness. It harbors the sequences of proteins involved in glycerol transport and metabolism. ; The authors gratefully acknowledge Laboratorio Nacional de Ciencia e Tecnologia do Bioetanol (CTBE) and the Centro Nacional de Pesquisa em Energia e Materiais (CNPEM) for support with the sequencing of LBCM1105. This work was supported by CAPES/Brazil (PNPD 2755/2011; PCF-PVE 021/2012), by CNPq (Brazil), processes 304815/2012 (research grant) and 305135/2015-5, and by AUXPE-PVES 1801/2012 (Process 23038.015294/2016-18) from Brazilian Government and by UFOP. C.L. is supported by the strategic program UID/BIA/04050/2013 [POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007569] funded by national funds through the FCT I.P. and by the ERDF through the COMPETE2020 - Programa Operacional de Competitividade e Internacionalizacao (POCI). DMRP is a fellow from the CNPq (Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico) - Brazil ...

O objetivo deste trabalho foi relatar as atividades desenvolvidas pela Liga Acadêmica de Plantas Medicinais (LAPLAM). A liga foi criada com o intuito de proporcionar atividades tanto para a comunidade, quanto para seus integrantes. As atividades de ensino foram focadas em aulas teóricas e práticas nas monitorias das disciplinas de Farmacobotânica, Farmacognosia I e Farmacognosia II e Estágio de manipulação de fitoterápicos e fitocosméticos; pesquisa e inovação através de iniciação científica, realizando triagem fitoquímica, testes antioxidantes e antimicrobianos; Trabalhos de Conclusão de Curso (TCC), e atividades de fitoterapia em praças, escola e comunidades de idosos em Maceió. Durante a gestão de 2017, a primeira liga acadêmica do curso de Farmácia proporcionou solidez do conhecimento e preencheu as lacunas gerais da graduação, exigindo uma postura mais ativa dos discentes, permitindo trabalho em equipe, troca de conhecimento com a comunidade e tomada de decisões. A LAPLAM reuniu diversos conhecimentos e atividades relacionadas às plantas medicinais, em um grupo organizado de forma disciplinar e integrada.

A pesquisa realizada entre 2017 e 2018 buscou produzir conhecimentos que subsidiem ações voltadas à resiliência e à adaptação de sistemas socioecológicos na região semiárida do estado da Bahia - Semiárido Baiano, com foco nas Comunidades de Fundo de Pasto (CFP) localizadas no município de Uauá. Utilizaram-se dados secundários e primários (entrevistas semiestruturadas com tomadores de decisão e lideranças comunitárias). Para a sistematização dos dados primários no marco de capacidades adaptativas para mudanças climáticas foram selecionadas cinco dimensões de análise: territorial, sociocultural, ambiental, econômica e político-institucional. As CFP ocupam e usam o bioma Caatinga há cerca de 200 anos de forma comunal, com base em sistemas agrossilvopastoris. Os resultados indicaram o caráter resiliente das comunidades para lidar com os estresses climáticos nas dimensões territorial e sociocultural, a partir de processos de auto-organização em associações e na organização em redes, por meio das quais fluem conhecimentos e são tomadas decisões coletivas. Os resultados também indicaram os riscos climáticos aos quais as CFP estão expostas nas dimensões ambiental, econômica e político-institucional, com potencial para limitar capacidades adaptativas.

The complete mitogenomes of one (M-)ale (North America), one Hermaphroditic (Europe), and two (F-)emale (North America and Europe) individuals of the freshwater pearl mussel Margaritifera margaritifera were sequenced. The M-type and F-type (Female and Hermaphroditic) mitogenomes have 17,421 and 16,122 nucleotides, respectively. All with the same content: 13 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNA, two ribosomal RNA genes, and one sex-related ORF. The M-type is highly divergent (37.6% uncorrected p-distance) from the F-type mitogenomes. North American and European F-type mitogenomes exhibit low genetic divergence (68 nt substitutions), and the Female and Hermaphroditic European mitogenomes are almost identical, and matching sex-related ORFs. ; This work was supported by Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) [grant number SFRH/BD/115728/2016 (MLL), grant number SFRH/BD/137935/2018 (AGS)]; Russian Foundation for Basic Research [grant number 18-34-20033 (IVV)]; Dawson Fellowship at St. Catharine's College, Cambridge (DCA); Life Margal Ulla [number LIFE09 NAT/ES/000514 (RA and PO)]; COMPETE 2020, Portugal 2020 and the European Union through the ERDF, and by Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) through national funds [UID/Multi/04423/2019] under project ConBiomics: the missing approach for the Conservation of freshwater Bivalves Project, and [project number NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-030286]; Federal Agency for Scientific Organizations under Grants [grant number 0409-2015-0143 (INB and IVV)] ; info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

This study evaluated food intake and productive performance of crossbred (½ Santa Inês x ½ dorper) lambs supplemented with different levels of faveleira (Cnidoscolus quercifolius Pohl) fodder salt. Thirty male sheep fed tifton grass hay, water, and faveleira fodder salt were randomly allocated into five treatments with six replicates each. The treatments consisted of diets with different inclusion levels of faveleira hay in the fodder salt composition: Treatment 1 (1% mineral salt + 99% faveleira hay), Treatment 2 (3% mineral salt + 97% faveleira hay), Treatment 3 (5% mineral salt + 95% faveleira hay), Treatment 4 (7% mineral salt + 93% faveleira hay), and Treatment 5 (Control - 100% mineral salt). Intake of dry matter, tifton hay and water, average daily gain, feed conversion, and feed efficiency were not affected by fodder salt supplementation (P > 0.05). There was a significant difference (P < 0.05) in fodder salt intake between Treatments 4 and 5, and daily intake was higher in animals submitted to Treatment 4 (61.0 g day-1). Mineral salt intake increased significantly with increasing mineral salt levels in the diet. However, no significant difference was observed in average daily gain across treatments, indicating that faveleira hay, even in small quantities, and tifton hay were able to meet the nutritional requirements of animals to support a good average daily gain. The inclusion of up to 99% faveleira hay in fodder salt formulations did not affect voluntary intake of forage, water and dry matter, average daily gain, feed conversion, and feed efficiency. Lambs supplemented with faveleira fodder salt had average daily gains within the optimal range for slaughter and high feed conversion and feed efficiency values. Faveleira was shown to be an effective supplementary feed alternative in sheep.

Leptin is a small polypeptide codified by the Obese Gene (OB), deeply related with the body fat mass and energetic balance. Due to its diverse biological effects and downstream signal transducers, multiple classifications have been attributed to leptin, as hormone, cytokine, adypokine, growth factor, and developmental factor, among others. This scenario gives us an idea of the size of the potential biological effects generated by this molecule. The concentration of leptin in the body is determined by the amount of adipose tissue; therefore, hyperleptinemia is a common finding in obese individuals. In addition, high levels of circulating leptin may confer a poor prognosis for any pathological condition. Although leptin history has been reported for more than 20 years, its relationship with cancer has gained notoriety in the past ten years, where studies focused on discussing the issue of obesity as a strong risk factor for cancer developing. Further, growing evidences have pointed leptin as a pivotal mediator of immune response, which aggravates the scenario of cancer occurrence in the presence of obesity. Therefore, leptin can present at least two faces in the pathogenesis of breast cancer, acting by immune and non-immune mechanisms. In this paper we review the dynamic of the leptin axis in breast cancer and further discuss its role in disease, immunopathogenesis and prognosis.

El IV Simposio Internacional de Ingeniería Industrial "La Responsabilidad Social del Ingeniero Industrial" organizado por el Grupo de investigación Gestión de la Innovación Tecnológica y Productividad "GINTECPRO" de la Universidad El Bosque, tuvo lugar el pasado 10 y 11 de noviembre de 2015 en el auditorio principal de la Universidad. Su objetivo general fue compartir con la comunidad universitaria las experiencias de investigadores nacionales e internacionales concernientes con el quehacer de la Ingeniería Industrial, específicamente en relación con la responsabilidad social del ingeniero industrial. El evento contó con la participación como ponentes de invitados internacionales procedentes de universidades de Suiza, Venezuela y Brasil, de docentes investigadores de la facultad de ingeniería de la Universidad Militar Nueva Granada, del delegado de la Maestría en Gestión Empresarial Ambiental de la Universidad El Bosque y de los miembros del grupo de investigación GINTECPRO. Al evento asistieron cerca de 250 personas entre directivos, estudiantes, docentes, ponentes e invitados. Compiladora y coordinadora: Anny Astrid Espitia Cubillos, Ingeniera Industrial, Magíster en Ingeniería Industrial, Doctorante en Ingeniería área industrial. Líder del grupo de investigación.

Suicide is a complex and multi-causal phenomenon, thats why it can't be understood in a generalized way, but in different profiles such as gender, age, social support and other psychiatric disorders. It is a major public health problem worldwide and more than 1 million people die from suicide every year. This world problem demands hybrid preventive acts in several aspects, such as social, interpersonal and from the government.

Health care in the United States (US) is undergoing major changes. Although high end health care is probably the best in the world, primary care has been badly lacking, not to mention that in 2010, there were approximately 50 million Americans without health insurance. In 2014, The Commonwealth Fund ranked the US last among the developed countries including Canada and Australia; however we were the first in expenditure. Medicare and Health accounts for 27% of the Federal Budget, and the annual US Health care spending by households, businesses, and the government is due to reach over 3 trillion dollars in 2015. This article reviews and suggests cost containment strategies, the pros and cons of consolidation of health care, and the future of computerized medicine.