Suchergebnisse

ObjectiveBrazil is one of the most unequal countries in the world. We aimed to create a Social Disparities Index for Covid-19 (SDI-Covid-19) using linked administrative data to understand the role of inequalities in the COVID-19 pandemic to target social and health policies.
ApproachUsing linked administrative data (2010 Census and National Registry of Health Establishments) we selected municipal indicators for three domains: a) Brazilian Deprivation Index; b) % black/brown/indigenous, % people living in housing with density >2 person/room, % poor older people as sociodemographic; c) ICU beds and respirators rates weighted by distance to the health region headquarters as access to health service. A z-score weighted by the population estimated each indicator within the domains. The domains were combined by simple average of the z-scores and classified in quintiles (1-very low to 5-very high). Other methods (TRI, Macharia et al)1 found similar estimative.
ResultsThe SDI-COVID-19 estimated for the three moments of the pandemic (before (T0), first (T1) and second peak (T2)) in Brazil showed that municipalities belonging to the North and Northeast regions had worse SDI-Covid-19 compared to municipalities in the Midwest, Southeast, and South regions of the country. More than 97% of the municipalities in the North and Northeast regions had high and very high SDI in the three estimated periods. There was an increase of 46% in the number of municipalities in the Midwest region with high and very high SDI in T1 and 33% in T2 when compared to T0. Otherwise, we observed an increase of municipalities with very low and low SDI in T1 and T2 in the Southeast and South regions
ConclusionsThe deterministic linkage of administrative data allowed to build the SDI-COVID-19. This index identified the most vulnerable municipalities in the North and Northeast regions in contrast of municipalities in the Southeast and South regions of Brazil with lower inequalities during the pandemic. Findings can target policies to those areas.

14 Pág. ; While the impacts of forest management options on carbon (C) storage are well documented, the way they affect C distribution among ecosystem components remains poorly investigated. Yet, partitioning of total forest C stocks, particularly between aboveground woody biomass and the soil, greatly impacts the stability of C stocks against disturbances in forest ecosystems. This study assessed the impact of species composition and stand density on C storage in aboveground woody biomass (stem + branches), coarse roots, and soil, and their partitioning in pure and mixed forests in Europe. We used 21 triplets (5 beech-oak, 8 pine-beech, 8 pine-oak mixed stands, and their respective monocultures at the same sites) in seven European countries. We computed biomass C stocks from total stand inventories and species-specific allometric equations, and soil organic C data down to 40 cm depth. On average, the broadleaved species stored more C in aboveground woody biomass than soil, while C storage in pine was equally distributed between both components. Stand density had a strong effect on C storage in tree woody biomass but not in the soil. After controlling for stand basal area, the mixed stands had, on average, similar total C stocks (in aboveground woody biomass + coarse roots + soil) to the most performing monocultures. Although species composition and stand density affect total C stocks and its partitioning between aboveground woody biomass and soil, a large part of variability in soil C storage was unrelated to stand characteristics. ; The European Union and the National Fund for Scientific Research (Fonds de la recherche scientifique) of Belgium supported this research as part the ERA-Net SUMFOREST project REFORM–Mixed species forest management. Lowering risk, increasing resilience (www.reform-mixing.eu). The lead author was further supported by Université catholique de Louvain for covid-19 related delays of his PhD project. Some of the triplets were selected, established and measured with funding from the ...

Unprecedented and dramatic transformations are occurring in the Arctic in response to climate change, but academic, public, and political discourse has disproportionately focussed on the most visible and direct aspects of change, including sea ice melt, permafrost thaw, the fate of charismatic megafauna, and the expansion of fisheries. Such narratives disregard the importance of less visible and indirect processes and, in particular, miss the substantive contribution of the shelf seafloor in regulating nutrients and sequestering carbon. Here, we summarise the biogeochemical functioning of the Arctic shelf seafloor before considering how climate change and regional adjustments to human activities may alter its biogeochemical and ecological dynamics, including ecosystem function, carbon burial, or nutrient recycling. We highlight the importance of the Arctic benthic system in mitigating climatic and anthropogenic change and, with a focus on the Barents Sea, offer some observations and our perspectives on future management and policy.

Background: In Brazil, studies that map electronic healthcare databases in order to assess their suitability for use in pharmacoepidemiologic research are lacking. We aimed to identify, catalogue, and characterize Brazilian data sources for Drug Utilization Research (DUR). Methods: The present study is part of the project entitled, "Publicly Available Data Sources for Drug Utilization Research in Latin American (LatAm) Countries." A network of Brazilian health experts was assembled to map secondary administrative data from healthcare organizations that might provide information related to medication use. A multi-phase approach including internet search of institutional government websites, traditional bibliographic databases, and experts' input was used for mapping the data sources. The reviewers searched, screened and selected the data sources independently; disagreements were resolved by consensus. Data sources were grouped into the following categories: 1) automated databases; 2) Electronic Medical Records (EMR); 3) national surveys or datasets; 4) adverse event reporting systems; and 5) others. Each data source was characterized by accessibility, geographic granularity, setting, type of data (aggregate or individual-level), and years of coverage. We also searched for publications related to each data source. Results: A total of 62 data sources were identified and screened; 38 met the eligibility criteria for inclusion and were fully characterized. We grouped 23 (60%) as automated databases, four (11%) as adverse event reporting systems, four (11%) as EMRs, three (8%) as national surveys or datasets, and four (11%) as other types. Eighteen (47%) were classified as publicly and conveniently accessible online; providing information at national level. Most of them offered more than 5 years of comprehensive data coverage, and presented data at both the individual and aggregated levels. No information about population coverage was found. Drug coding is not uniform; each data source has its own coding system, ...

Zoonotic leishmaniasis caused by Leishmania infantum is a disease of One Health concern since human and animal cases and environmental damage are interconnected. L. infantum has a complex epidemiological cycle with multiple hosts, including mammals—humans, domestic, and wild animals—and arthropod vectors. Knowledge on mammal infections in endemic areas is crucial for developing control strategies. This work aimed to detect and characterize L. infantum infection in domestic cats from areas where human and canine leishmaniasis cases occur. No cases of feline leishmaniasis (FeL) had been previously reported in those areas. Five municipalities from Bahia state were chosen, comprising 2,480.8 km(2) with 1,103,866 inhabitants. Ninety domiciliated and/or sheltered cats underwent clinical examination and serology by a rapid reference test recommended by the Brazilian government. Cytology, PCR, and parasite DNA sequencing were performed in bone marrow samples. Rapid tests detected antibodies in 5.6% (5/90) of the cats. Leishmania infantum infection was confirmed in 7.8% (7/90) of the cats by PCR, sequencing, and parasite isolation. Three out of the five municipalities (60%) had infected cats, and PCR positivity varied from 6.9 to 29%. One cat was categorized as harboring active L. infantum infection with amastigote forms in bone marrow smears. No clinical signs were detected at the first clinical exam, but 1 month later the cat developed severe FeL. The cat isolate was grown in culture, typed and its DNA sequence was homologous to the L. infantum reference strain (PP75). In conclusion, cats are potential hosts and may acquire L. infantum in endemic areas where canine and human cases occur. For cats, the need for surveillance, differential diagnosis and clinical care is highly recommended since a fast clinical progression of FeL developed in a subclinical animal. An accurate standardized immunodiagnostic assay for FeL is warranted.

Abstract: Recent statements from the Brazilian federal government indicate that impacting economic activities, particularly commercial shrimp farming, are being encouraged in mangrove areas in the near future. Alterations of the National Action Plan and legal instruments that partially protected mangrove ecosystems have created an even weaker legal framework than previously existed. Such changes are leading Brazil far from the global call to conserve mangroves and from the Aichi targets and United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Unfortunately, the loss of mangrove ecosystems and their ecosystem services will negatively impact living standards for Brazilians in coastal areas.

Transforming an existing energy system to an intelligent system, a so-called smart grid, requires a multidisciplinary approach because of its complexity involving Information and Communications Technology (ICT) integration, amongst others. The technical challenges arise on how to integrate the new technology into the existing system considering the interoperability and performance. This requires new solutions involving testing scenarios, technology development, validation processes, and roll-out procedures. The ERIGrid 2.0 project aims to enhance the research infrastructures' capabilities and supports the research and technology development towards smart energy systems in Europe. This necessitates system-level testing before further deployment and roll-out. New innovative testing scenarios, Use Case (UC) and Test Case (TC) need to be developed, extended, updated, and shared with researchers and practitioners. This report presents the "Common Reference Test Case Profiles" to serve as the reference TCs in the ERIGrid 2.0 project and also facilitates their application for interested external partners. Functional Scenario (FS) are used to define a high-level description of the TC. There are twenty-five TCs developed in the project which are mapped using the six FSs: 1) ancillary services provided by Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) and active grid assets, 2) microgrids and energy community, 3) sector coupling, 4) frequency and voltage stability, 5) aggregation and flexibility management, and 6) digitalisation. These six FSs can cover a significant proportion of relevant aspects of a multi-domain cyber-physical energy system. To facilitate the implementation at Research Infrastructures (RIs), The Holistic Test Description (HTD) approach from the predecessor project ERIGrid is used to formulate the TC, for instance the system description, System under Test (System under Test (SuT)), Object under Investigation (OuI), Domain under Investigation (DuI), Use Case (UC) and Purpose of Investigation (PoI). In addition, ...

The objective of this study was to evaluate the chemical composition, pH and rumen degradability of banana tree pseudostems pre-dried and ammoniated with different doses of urea (0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0% in natural matter). The experiment consisted of five treatments (doses of urea) with six replications, following a completely randomized design. There was a linear increase in the pH (P < 0.01) of the banana tree pseudostems pre dried with the inclusion of urea. There was no difference (P > 0.05) in dry matter, ash, neutral detergent fiber, acid detergent fiber, lignin, non-fibrous carbohydrates and total digestible nutrients; the averages were 31.58, 18.82, 46.43, 9.30, 11.87 and 42.52%, respectively. The inclusion of 2% urea increased the crude protein content (P < 0.01) by 42.75%, the soluble fraction "a" by 31.82%, and the potential and effective degradability of dry matter by 15.49% compared to that of the control group (without urea). The potentially degradable fraction, time of colonization and ruminal repletion of the neutral detergent fiber of the pre-dried banana tree pseudostems were not altered with the inclusion of urea (P > 0.05). The ammonization of the pre-dried banana tree pseudostems with 2% of urea improved the chemical composition and rumen degradability of the dry matter.

11 pages, 5 figures, 1 table, supplementary materials http://advances.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/6/14/eaay2587/DC1.-- Data and materials availability: The genome sequence for O. mediterraneus RCC2590 and OmV2 can be found under GenBank accession numbers WMKK00000000 and MN688676, respectively. The complete gene annotations of RCC2590 can be accessed on ORCAE (https://bioinformatics.psb.ugent.be/orcae/). MMETSP sequence data can be accessed from www.imicrobe.us/#/projects/104. The genomes and their GenBank accession numbers used in this study are as follows: B. prasinos (GCA_002220235.1), M. commoda RCC299 (GCA_000090985.2), M. pusilla CCMP1545 (GCA_000151265.1), O. tauri RCC4221 (CAID01000001.2 to CAID01000020.2, CR954200.2, and CR954199.2), O. lucimarinus CCE9901 (GCA_000092065.1), BpV1 (HM004432.1), BpV2 (HM004430.1), MpV1 (HM004429.1), OtV1 (FN386611.1), OtV2 (FN600414.1), OtV5 (EU304328.2), OtV6 (JN225873.1), OlV1 (HM004431.1), OlV2 (KP874736.1), OlV3 (HQ633060.1), OlV4 (JF974316.1), OlV5 (HQ632827.1), OlV6 (HQ633059.1), OlV7 (KP874737.1), and OmV1 (KP874735.1). Ostreococcus sp. RCC809 is available from the JGI Genome Portal under project ID 16233 ; Virus-microbe interactions in the ocean are commonly described by "boom and bust"dynamics, whereby a numerically dominant microorganism is lysed and replaced by a virus-resistant one. Here, we isolated a microalga strain and its infective dsDNA virus whose dynamics are characterized instead by parallel growth of both the microalga and the virus. Experimental evolution of clonal lines revealed that this viral production originates from the lysis of a minority of virus-susceptible cells, which are regenerated from resistant cells. Whole-genome sequencing demonstrated that this resistant-susceptible switch involved a large deletion on one chromosome. Mathematical modeling explained how the switch maintains stable microalga-virus population dynamics consistent with their observed growth pattern. Comparative genomics confirmed an ancient origin of this "accordion" chromosome despite a lack of sequence conservation. Together, our results show how dynamic genomic rearrangements may account for a previously overlooked coexistence mechanism in microalgae-virus interactions. ; This research was funded by the ANR grants REVIREC ANR-12-BSV7-0006-01, DECOVIR ANR-12-BSV7-0009, and PHYTNESS ANR-13-JSV6-0005. E.V. is funded by BOF project GOA 01G01715, and L.F.B. is funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement no. H2020-MSCA-ITN-2015-675752

On the current economic situation, an institution that seeks growth will, at a certain point of its development, have to be accessible on the internet to spread its beliefs and/or products to possible consumers through geographically long distances, that wouldn't be possible in the past as fast as it is now, for this reason APOMS -'Associação de Produtores Orgânicos de Mato Grosso do Sul' was looking for a website, which, now, is being provided by UFGD - 'Universidade Federal da Grande Dourados' through a academic project that aims the learning of students and other people from different university courses. The site acts as a platform for selling organic and/or agro economic products of high quality from its production till the consumer's home, besides being a way of giving a proper destination to products grown by small scale family farmers together with people involved to academic projects from UFGD, some of those provided by PROEXT, PROEX and CNPq. This activity is going to bring product directly to consumers, instead of passing by marketing intermediaries, making the commercial process faster and increase the accessibility to those organic and/or agro economic products. This paper describes the approaches done till this moment on the website.

Es para la Universidad del Rosario motivo de orgullo y satisfacción hacer parte de esta iniciativa académica que recoge las reflexiones de destacados profesionales del derecho alrededor de un evento de gran importancia para nuestro país, como es la celebración de los veinte primeros años de la Ley de Comercio Electrónico en Colombia. En la Universidad del Rosario y en desarrollo de la Ruta UR-2025, nuestra bitácora estratégica de los siguientes seis años, estamos convencidos de que sólo a través de la innovación, la tecnología y el emprendimiento, nuestra sociedad tendrá una oportunidad para el desarrollo sostenido hacia el futuro en la mejora permanente de las condiciones de nuestros estudiantes, profesionales y en general de toda la sociedad. En ese sentido, la Universidad ha contemplado dentro de sus diferentes estrategias el despliegue de importantes inversiones en el ámbito del uso de medios electrónicos, la conformación de nuevos laboratorios de formación, la constitución de grupos de investigación y estudio alrededor de la tecnología, y también se encuentra desarrollando programas académicos en diseño, arquitectura, así como en ingenierías. Todo esto para contribuir desde diferentes campos a los ya tradicionales en nuestra Universidad, al fomento del pensamiento creativo. Nos unimos entonces a los esfuerzos del gobierno nacional por desarrollar industrias creativas. La economía naranja también es economía digital. El emprendimiento digital hace parte hoy de una destacadísima oportunidad ocupacional de nuestros estudiantes. Nuestro determinado compromiso es propociar escenarios de aprendizaje y formación para los estudiantes en estas materias, para que puedan enfrentarse a esa realidad que les impone un uso cada vez más intensivo de las tecnologías de la información. El desarrollo legislativo que acá se celebra, ha sido un hito histórico en la modernización de de las instituciones públicas y privadas, fomentando el uso de las herramientas tecnológicas como insumo importante en todo tipo de actividad social y económica. Aplaudimos el esfuerzo de los organizadores de esta iniciativa y nos ponemos a disposición para trabajar de manera conjunta en todos los retos que impone la virtualización en todos los ámbitos y actividades.

Este libro narra parte de la larga lucha por la defensa de los derechos humanos de las personas desplazadas, migrantes y refugiadas en Colombia y Ecuador, desde las voces de organizaciones del tercer sector de ambos países, a saber: el Servicio Jesuita a Refugiados, la Misión Scalabriniana, la Consultoría para los Derechos Humanos y el Desplazamiento, la Hebrew Inmigrant Aid Society, el Asylum Access Ecuador y los Catholic Relief Services. Dichas organizaciones conocen a fondo la complejidad del fenómeno migratorio y su evolución en las últimas cinco décadas; las virtudes, vicios y vacíos de las medidas jurídicas, inacciones y políticas públicas de los Estados y Gobiernos; las tragedias, temores y esperanzas de las personas que viven estas situaciones, y la solidaridad e indiferencia de las sociedades.