Yellow fever: reemerging in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil, 2009

OBJECTIVE: To describe the investigation of a sylvatic yellow fever outbreak in the state of Sao Paulo and the main control measures undertaken.METHODS: This is a descriptive study of a sylvatic yellow fever outbreak in the Southwestern region of the state from February to April 2009. Suspected and confirmed cases in humans and in non-human primates were evaluated. Entomological investigation in sylvatic environment involved capture at ground level and in the tree canopy to identify species and detect natural infections. Control measures were performed in urban areas to control Aedes aegypti. Vaccination was directed at residents living in areas with confirmed viral circulation and also at nearby cities according to national recommendation.RESULTS: Twenty-eight human cases were confirmed (39.3% case fatality rate) in rural areas of Sarutaia, Piraju, Tejupa, Avare, and Buri. The deaths of 56 non-human primates were also reported, 91.4% were Allouatta sp. Epizootics was confirmed in two non-human primates in the cities of Itapetininga and Buri. A total of 1,782 mosquitoes were collected, including Haemagogus leucocelaenus, Hg. janthinomys/capricornii, and Sabethes chloropterus, Sa. purpureus and Sa. undosus. Yellow fever virus was isolated from a group of Hg. Leucocelaenus from Buri. Vaccination was carried out in 49 cities, with a total of 1,018,705 doses. Nine serious post-vaccination adverse events were reported.CONCLUSIONS: The cases occurred between February and April 2009 in areas with no recorded yellow fever virus circulation in over 60 years. The outbreak region occurred outside the original recommended vaccination area with a high percentage of susceptible population. The fast adoption of control measures interrupted the human transmission within a month and the confirmation of viral circulation in humans, monkeys and mosquitoes. The results allowed the identification of new areas of viral circulation but further studies are required to clarify the dynamics of the spread of this disease.

Development of a Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification Method for Detection of Histoplasma capsulatum DNA in Clinical Samples

Improved methods for the detection of Histoplasma capsulatum are needed in regions with limited resources in which the organism is endemic, where delayed diagnosis of progressive disseminated histoplasmosis (PDH) results in high mortality rates. We have investigated the use of a loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay to facilitate rapid inexpensive molecular diagnosis of this disease. Primers for LAMP were designed to amplify the Hcp100 locus of H. capsulatum. The sensitivity and limit of detection were evaluated using DNA extracted from 91 clinical isolates of known geographic subspecies, while the assay specificity was determined using DNA extracted from 50 other fungi and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Urine specimens (n = 6) collected from HIV-positive individuals with culture- and antigen-proven histoplasmosis were evaluated using the LAMP assay. Specimens from healthy persons (n = 10) without evidence of histoplasmosis were used as assay controls. The Hcp100 LAMP assay was 100% sensitive and specific when tested with DNA extracted from culture isolates. The median limit of detection was <= 6 genomes (range, 1 to 300 genomes) for all except one geographic subspecies. The LAMP assay detected Hcp100 in 67% of antigen-positive urine specimens (4/6 specimens), and results were negative for Hcp100 in all healthy control urine specimens. We have shown that the Hcp100 LAMP assay is a rapid affordable assay that can be used to expedite culture confirmation of H. capsulatum in regions in which PDH is endemic. Further, our results indicate proof of the concept that the assay can be used to detect Histoplasma DNA in urine. Further evaluation of this assay using body fluid samples from a larger patient population is warranted.

Paternity identification in sugarcane polycrosses by using microsatellite markers

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Evaluation of the Radiopacity of Esthetic Root Canal Posts

The radiopacity of esthetic root canal posts may impair the assessment of their fit to the root canal when using radiographic images. This study determined in vitro the radiographic density of esthetic root canal posts using digital images. Thirty-six roots of human maxillary canines were assigned to six groups (N = 6 per group): Reforpost (RP); Aestheti-Plus (AP); Reforpost MIX (RPM); D.T. Light Post (LP); Reforpost Radiopaque (RPR); and White Post DC (WP). Standardized digital images of the posts were obtained in different conditions: outside the root canal, inside the canal before and after cementation using luting material, and with a tissue simulator. Analysis of variance was used to compare the radiopacity mean values among the posts outside the root canal and among the posts under the other conditions, and the t unpaired test to compare the radiopacity between the posts and the dentin, and between the posts and the root canal space. There was no statistically significant difference in radiopacity between RP and RPM, and LP and WP. AP posts showed radiopacity values significantly lower than those for dentin. No statistically significant difference was found between posts (RP and AP) and the root canal space. A statistically significant difference was observed between the luted and non-luted posts; additionally, luted posts with and without tissue simulator showed no significant differences. Most of the cement-luted posts analyzed in this study were distinguishable from the density of adjacent dentin surfaces, allowing radiographic confirmation of the fit of the post in the canal.Clinical SignificanceThe success of using esthetic root canal posts depends mainly on the fit of the post within the canal.[1] The radiopacity of a post allows for radiographic imaging to be used to determine the fit, an important factor in a clinical perspective.

Invasive head and neck cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma: clinical and histopathological characteristics, frequency of local recurrence and metastasis

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Aquisição da linguagem: as crianças e sua atitude responsiva a perguntas abertas

Introduction: Since their first month of life, babies already show alternation in their communication, in which adults have an important role, assuming interaction turns with the child through questions known as eliciting questions. Verifying this alternation incited us to analyze children’s responsive attitudes toward the questions of the adult interlocutor. Objetives: (1) describe and characterize the kinds of responsive attitudes children have to open questions; (2) verify if there are any differences between the developed and non-developed kinds in the answers. Material and method: data were extracted from 28 interviews (recorded both in audio and in video) with four male children (5-6 years-old) who attended a public Kindergarten. Results: regarding the first objective, 88.7% of the attitudes were answers to the questions, 4.7% were non-responses and 6.6% were confirmation requests. Regarding the second objective, 48.2% of the answers were developed and 51.3%, non-developed. Conclusion: Although the high percentage of answers indicates that the children showed themselves sensitive to the demands of the adult interlocutor, the small percentage difference between developed and non-developed answers also indicates that children mostly depend on their assistance to develop their utterance since they oscillate between restricting themselves to the demand of the interlocutor and expanding it.

Produção de nanocompósito utilizando diferentes fontes de celulose como reforço

Pós-graduação em Agronomia (Energia na Agricultura) - FCA

Immunization of Wistar female rats with 255-Gy-irradiated Toxoplasma gondii: Preventing parasite load and maternofoetal transmission

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

In situ evaluation of low-fluoride toothpastes associated to calcium glycerophosphate on enamel remineralization

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Heydrichia (?) poignantii, sp nov (Sporolithaceae, Sporolithales, Rhodophyta), a 100 million year old fossil coralline red alga from north-eastern Brazil, and a new Hauterivian record of Sporolithon from Switzerland

Fossil specimens of Heydrichia (?) poignantii, sp. nov. (Sporolithaceae, Sporolithales, Rhodophyta), representing the first confirmation of the genus in the fossil record, were discovered in thin sections of Albian limestones from the Riachuelo Formation, Sergipe Basin, and in thin sections of Albian -Cenomanian limestones from the Ponta do Mel Formation, Potiguar Basin in north-eastern Brazil. A detailed morphological-anatomical account of the species is provided, and its placement in Heydrichia is discussed in relation to current classification proposals. Comparisons with the four other known species of the genus, all non-fossil, show that H. poignantii is the only known species of Heydrichia in which thalli are encrusting to sparsely warty to horizontally layered with overlapping lamellate branches that commonly appear variously curved or arched, and in which thalli have sporangial complexes that become buried in the thallus. The evolutionary history of Heydrichia remains uncertain, but available data suggest that the genus may have diverged from the sporolithacean genus Sporolithon, known as early as Hauterivian times (c. 129.4-132.9 +/- 1 Ma) from Spain (and newly reported here from Switzerland), or it may have arisen from a graticulacean alga such as Graticula, dating from mid-Silurian times (c. 427-435 Ma). Current data also suggest that Heydrichia is more likely to have arrived in Brazil from Central Atlantic waters than from higher latitude South Atlantic waters. This implies that currently living species in southern Africa probably arose later from ancestors further equatorward in the South Atlantic, although confirming studies are needed. All non-fossil species of Heydrichia are known only from the southern hemisphere.

Usefulness of computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging in radiotherapy planning for the treatment of brain tumors

Advanced diagnostic techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography have become useful tools for confirmation of presumptive diagnosis of structural lesions in the brain such as encephalic neoplasms in small animal veterinary practice in Colombia, allowing an effective treatment planning that is more specific and less invasive for this type of pathology.

A distorção do conceito de economia no jornal Folha de São Paulo

The work aims to analyse the concept of economics as the science of scarcity is distorced in the newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo. Neoclassical economists characterize the economy as the science that is concerned with the welfare of the people, satisfying their needs. However, the economy in the newspapers of the mainstream media appears in contexts where only the profit of companies and businesses are addressed, leaving aside the problem of economic inequality, unemployment, working conditions and other issues that are also part of economy, but they are hardly concerns of journalists. In this work, the object of study was the notebook Market and content analysis followed the criteria of Bardin (1977). Ten words were chosen in the category science of scarcity and ten words were chosen in the category science of abundance. From these categories, a careful reading was done, counting how many times each word appeared in the newspaper. Also paid attention to the words that appeared and contexts in which they fell journalistic genre. In a second step, interviews were conducted with journalists from economics to know what they mean by the economy and what the guidelines are more common. Data collection and interviews contributed to the interpretation and confirmation on whether or not the distortion of the concept of economy and how it happens

Identificando tipos de personalidade na dança de salão

Many studies have shown a variety of benefits that the practice of Ballroom Dancing can bring, such as leisure and entertainment, the release of tension from a stressful routine, improving relationships, expanding social contacts. The rationale of this study is by the need to evaluate a different sphere of life of people involving the structure that is the personality. The man is humanized in contact with other men and the culture it is almost impossible to grow it in isolation, that is, are the social relationships that allow men to become human and her personality structure. The relationship brought about by the ballroom dancing can benefit the development of personality or simply put individuals in situations that provide a greater understanding of yourself, as this activity has characteristics that greatly facilitate social contact between people who practice it as the relationship between gentleman and lady for a dance, the contact with people in different classes, social events where it is practiced and even the music that is danced. This work aimed to be able to identify the type or types, the most common personalities exist in one group of participants in a course of Ballroom, based on the technique of Enneagram developed and disseminated by Gurdjieff, whose characteristic is to divide into nine different personality types. Participants were 42 students of the extent to ballroom dancing. We administered a questionnaire to identify the personality of each participant and then there was a second observation time the behavior of six participants in the class for confirmation of your psychological type to issofoi used a checklist developed by the author. Was also investigated whether there are differences of gender and psychological types who seek more such activity. The conclusions are that there are a large number of persons type 9, more than 42% and are predominantly male, since... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)

Relações públicas e reputação online: gerenciamento de crise no site americanas.com

The growing need for organizations to make themselves present on the Internet, the study aimed to demonstrate the importance of public relations activity in crisis management and analysis of the crisis in Americanas.com site. It also aims to analyze the electronic scene, highlighting their implications for consumer relations in e-commerce. In addition, as a consequence of conflicts, settles a loss situation, financial and reputation. A crisis begins with planning and communication failures, it is clear that public relations is essential in business today, as interest in integrating their knowledge and opinions, and maintaining a global view of the environment in which it operates. The case study analysis provided confirmation that the public relations face a growing market, which requires qualified and updated to do crisis management, especially in the online environment

Métodos analíticos para a identificação de espécies animais

The food industry has been rapidly modernized, and with this the disposal and the consumption of industrialized food has been increasing continually. These products lose their original morphological characteristics, requiring fast and reliable tests that could help to identify the species in question, as most fraudulent behavior in the milk and dairy industry (meat and fish) is carried out where there is partial or total exchange of the original material for other with less value at market. Nowadays there is a lot of techniques that can be used for the identification of animal species, based on muscle protein, or DNA analysis. In the case of protein based analysis, we can mention several types of electrophoresis and immunologic methods, as ELISA. In the case of DNA based methods, we have several assays that use the amplification of DNA fragments, known as PCR, as proof. All these techniques have advantages and disadvantages that can be affected by factors- the sample condition, or the degree of relation between the species in question. Because of this, it’s necessary that a continuous study looking for the improvement of the available techniques, making sure that the confirmation of food authenticity is in place. This is to ensure the true product value, to comply with labeling regulationand and protect the consumer of frauds