Risk factors for infection with coagulase-negative staphylococci in newborns from the neonatal unit of a brazilian university hospital

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

Production of autoantibodies associated with polyclonal activation in Yersinia enterocolitica 0:8-infected mice

Polyclonal lymphocyte stimulation is one of the immunomodulatory mechanisms induced by arthritogenic pathogens. In this study we examined the polyclonal activation potential of a virulent strain of Y. enterocolitica serotype O:8 (WA 2707+) and its plasmidless isogenic pair (WA 2707-). SPF Swiss mice were infected intragastrically and spleen cells were obtained on days 7, 14, 21, 28, 35 and 42 after infection. The number of cells secreting nonspecific immunoglobulins of IgG, IgM and IgA isotypes was determined by the ELISPOT technique. The presence of serum-specific antibodies was investigated by ELISA and the presence of autoantibodies by dot-blot assay. Although the patterns of infection of the two bacterial strains were almost the same, only the animals infected with the virulent strain presented clinical anomalies. Neither arthritic nor inflammatory signs were observed in the joints of the infected animals. The greatest activation observed was that of the nonspecific IgM-secreting cells, and their peak of secretion occurred between the 28th and the 42nd day after infection, for both strains of Y. enterocolitica O:8. Only the animals infected with the virulent strain (WA 2707+) produced IgG-specific antibodies in the serum, from the 28th day after infection. The serum of animals infected with either strain showed reactivity to all the autologous constituents tested, mainly on the 28th and 42nd day after infection. It was concluded that infection of mice with either the virulent strain of Y. enterocolitica O:8 or with its plasmidless isogenic pair resulted in the polyclonal activation of the splenic B lymphocytes including some autoreactive clones.

Current outlook and future perspectives of beef production in Brazil

Brazil is the world's largest beef exporter with the world's largest commercial cattle herd; however, the production cycle needs to be more efficient to supply internal and external demands in the future. Feedlot operations are currently a reality for the Brazilian beef cattle industry; nonetheless the beef cattle industry in Brazil is still based on grass-fed animals in which the Nellore breed predominates. At some point this constitutes an important advantage for Brazilian beef exportations because some countries look for “natural beef.” Brazilian packing plants regulate the use of antibiotics, especially ionophores used as growth promoters, on farms certified to export beef to European countries. In addition, the use of any implant or beta-agonist for cattle is forbidden in Brazil. From 1970 to 2006, the Brazilian bovine herd increased at 2.04%/year, total pasture at 0.07%/year, area with cultivated pasture at 3.5%/year, and ratio of animals/hectare of total pasture at 1.97%/year, whereas the area with natural pasture decreased at 2.26%/year. These trends alleviate some of the pressure on Brazilian authorities with respect to deforestation of the Amazon forest. Although Brazil had the greatest growth rate of enteric methane emissions, it also had the greatest growth rate of beef production, resulting in Brazil having a negative growth rate (–1.82%/year) of methane emissions per unit of product (kilogram of methane/kilogram of beef).

Antibodies Against Sporothrix schenckii Enhance TNF-a Production and Killing by Macrophages

Sporotrichosis is a chronic granulomatous mycosis caused by the dimorphic fungus Sporothrix schenckii. The immunological mechanisms involved in the prevention and control of sporotrichosis suggest that cell-mediated immunity plays an important role in protecting the host against S. schenckii. Nonetheless, recent data strongly support the existence of protective Abs against this pathogenic fungus. In a previous study, we showed that passive Ab therapy led to a significant reduction in the number of colony forming unit in the organs of mice when the MAb was injected before and during S. schenckii infection. The ability of opsonization to enhance macrophage damage to S. schenckii and subsequent cytokine production was investigated in this work. Here we show that the fungicidal characteristics of macrophages are increased when the fungus is phagocytosed in the presence of inactivated serum from mice infected with S. schenckii or mAb anti-gp70. Additionally, we show an increase in the levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as TNF-a and IL-1 beta. This study provides additional support for the importance of antibodies in protecting against S. schenckii and concludes that opsonization is an important process to increase TNF-a production and fungus killing by macrophages in experimental sporotrichosis.

Candida spp. isolated from inpatients, the environment, and health practitioners in the Pediatric Unit at the Universitary Hospital of the Jundiai Medical College, State of Sao Paulo, Brazil

Introduction: This study aimed to isolate and identify Candida spp. from the environment, health practitioners, and patients with the presumptive diagnosis of candidiasis in the Pediatric Unit at the Universitary Hospital of the Jundiai Medical College, to verify the production of enzymes regarded as virulence factors, and to determine how susceptible the isolated samples from patients with candidiasis are to antifungal agents. Methods: Between March and November of 2008 a total of 283 samples were taken randomly from the environment and from the hands of health staff, and samples of all the suspected cases of Candida spp. hospital-acquired infection were collected and selected by the Infection Control Committee. The material was processed and the yeast genus Candida was isolated and identified by physiological, microscopic, and macroscopic attributes. Results: The incidence of Candida spp. in the environment and employees was 19.2%. The most frequent species were C. parapsilosis and C. tropicalis among the workers, C. guilliermondii and C. tropicalis in the air, C. lusitanae on the contact surfaces, and C. tropicalis and C. guilliermondii in the climate control equipment. The college hospital had 320 admissions, of which 13 (4%) presented Candida spp. infections; three of them died, two being victims of a C. tropicalis infection and the remaining one of C. albicans. All the Candida spp. in the isolates evidenced sensitivity to amphotericin B, nystatin, and fluconazole. Conclusions: The increase in the rate of hospital-acquired infections caused by Candida spp. indicates the need to take larger measures regarding recurrent control of the environment.

Lasiodiplodan, an exocellular (1 -> 6)-beta-d-glucan from Lasiodiplodia theobromae MMPI: production on glucose, fermentation kinetics, rheology and anti-proliferative activity

Lasiodiplodan, an exopolysaccharide of the (1 -> 6)-beta-d-glucan type, is produced by Lasiodiplodia theobromae MMPI when grown under submerged culture on glucose. The objective of this study was to evaluate lasiodiplodan production by examining the effects of carbon (glucose, fructose, maltose, sucrose) and nitrogen sources (KNO3, (NH4)(2)SO4, urea, yeast extract, peptone), its production in shake flasks compared to a stirred-tank bioreactor, and to study the rheology of lasiodiplodan, and lasiodiplodan's anti-proliferative effect on breast cancer MCF-7 cells. Although glucose (2.05 +/- A 0.05 g L-1), maltose (2.08 +/- A 0.04 g L-1) and yeast extract (2.46 +/- A 0.06 g L-1) produced the highest amounts of lasiodiplodan, urea as N source resulted in more lasiodiplodan per unit biomass than yeast extract (0.74 +/- A 0.006 vs. 0.22 +/- A 0.008 g g(-1)). A comparison of the fermentative parameters of L. theobromae MMPI in shake flasks and a stirred-tank bioreactor at 120 h on glucose as carbon source showed maximum lasiodiplodan production in agitated flasks (7.01 +/- A 0.07 g L-1) with a specific yield of 0.25 +/- A 0.57 g g(-1) and a volumetric productivity of 0.06 +/- A 0.001 g L-1 h(-1). A factorial 2(2) statistical design developed to evaluate the effect of glucose concentration (20-60 g L-1) and impeller speed (100-200 rpm) on lasiodiplodan production in the bioreactor showed the highest production (6.32 g L-1) at 72 h. Lasiodiplodan presented pseudoplastic behaviour, and the apparent viscosity increased at 60A degrees C in the presence of CaCl2. Anti-proliferative activity of lasiodiplodan was demonstrated in MCF-7 cells, which was time- and dose-dependent with an IC50 of 100 mu g lasiodiplodan mL(-1).

Candida spp. isolated from inpatients, the environment, and health practitioners in the pediatric unit at the Universitary Hospital of the Jundiaí Medical College, state of São Paulo, Brazil

INTRODUCTION: This study aimed to isolate and identify Candida spp. from the environment, health practitioners, and patients with the presumptive diagnosis of candidiasis in the Pediatric Unit at the Universitary Hospital of the Jundiaí Medical College, to verify the production of enzymes regarded as virulence factors, and to determine how susceptible the isolated samples from patients with candidiasis are to antifungal agents. METHODS: Between March and November of 2008 a total of 283 samples were taken randomly from the environment and from the hands of health staff, and samples of all the suspected cases of Candida spp. hospital-acquired infection were collected and selected by the Infection Control Committee. The material was processed and the yeast genus Candida was isolated and identified by physiological, microscopic, and macroscopic attributes. RESULTS: The incidence of Candida spp. in the environment and employees was 19.2%. The most frequent species were C. parapsilosis and C. tropicalis among the workers, C. guilliermondii and C. tropicalis in the air, C. lusitanae on the contact surfaces, and C. tropicalis and C. guilliermondii in the climate control equipment. The college hospital had 320 admissions, of which 13 (4%) presented Candida spp. infections; three of them died, two being victims of a C. tropicalis infection and the remaining one of C. albicans. All the Candida spp. in the isolates evidenced sensitivity to amphotericin B, nystatin, and fluconazole. CONCLUSIONS: The increase in the rate of hospital-acquired infections caused by Candida spp. indicates the need to take larger measures regarding recurrent control of the environment.

Irreversibility by competition on a Glauber-Ising model by means of the entropy production.

An out of equilibrium Ising model subjected to an irreversible dynamics is analyzed by means of a stochastic dynamics, on a effort that aims to understand the observed critical behavior as consequence of the intrinsic microscopic characteristics. The study focus on the kinetic phase transitions that take place by assuming a lattice model with inversion symmetry and under the influence of two competing Glauber dynamics, intended to describe the stationary states using the entropy production, which characterize the system behavior and clarifies its reversibility conditions. Thus, it is considered a square lattice formed by two sublattices interconnected, each one of which is in contact with a heat bath at different temperature from the other. Analytical and numerical treatments are faced, using mean-field approximations and Monte Carlo simulations. For the one dimensional model exact results for the entropy production were obtained, though in this case the phase transition that takes place in the two dimensional counterpart is not observed, fact which is in accordance with the behavior shared by lattice models presenting inversion symmetry. Results found for the stationary state show a critical behavior of the same class as the equilibrium Ising model with a phase transition of the second order, which is evidenced by a divergence with an exponent µ ¼ 0:003 of the entropy production derivative.

Catch rates of artisanal fisheries targeting Dasyatis guttata (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) in Todos os Santos Bay, northeastern Brazil

Dasyatis guttata has been target of artisanal fisheries in the coast of Bahia (Northeast Brazil) mainly by “arraieira” (gillnet) and “grozeira” (bottom long-line), but until now there is no stock assessment study. One of the important data for this knowledge is reliable indices of abundance. The aims of the present work are to: (1) estimate the best predictor for relative abundance (catch-per-unit-of-effort, CPUE), examining whether catch (production – kg) was related to: soak time of the gear, size of the gillnet or number of hooks, applying generalized linear model (GLM); (2) estimate the annual CPUE (kg/hooks and kg/m) averaged by gear; and (3) assess the temporal CPUE variance. Based on monthly sampling between January 2012 and January 2013, 222 landings by grozeira and 76 by arraiaiera were recorded in the two landing sites in Todos os Santos Bay, Bahia. A total of 14,550 kg (average = 44 kg/month) of D. guttata was captured. Models for both gears were highly significant (P < 0.0001). The analysis indicated that the most appropriate variable for CPUE analysis was the size of the gillnet (P < 0.001) and the number of hooks (P < 0.0001). Soak time of the gear was not significant for both gears (P = 0.4). High residual deviance expresses the complexity of the relations between ecosystem factors and other fisheries factors affecting relative abundance, which were not considered in this study. The average CPUE by grozeira was 6.39 kg/100 hooks ± 8.89 and by arraieira, 1.47 kg/100 m ± 1.66 over the year. Kruskal-Wallis test showed effect of the month on the mean grozeira CPUE (P = <0.001), but no effect (P = 0.096) on the mean arraieira CPUE. Grozeira CPUE values were highest in December and March, and lowest between May to August

Alla ricerca della sostenibilità: lo sviluppo dell'agricoltura dall'Unità d'Italia alla Green Economy

L’elaborato finale presentato per la tesi di Dottorato analizza e riconduce a unitarietà, per quanto possibile, alcune delle attività di ricerca da me svolte durante questi tre anni, il cui filo conduttore è l'impatto ambientale delle attività umane e la promozione dello sviluppo sostenibile. Il mio filone di ricerca è stato improntato, dal punto di vista di politica economica, sull'analisi storica dello sviluppo del settore agricolo dall'Unità d'Italia ai giorni nostri e dei cambiamenti avvenuti in contemporanea nel contesto socio-economico e territoriale nazionale, facendo particolare riferimento alle tematiche legate ai consumi e alla dipendenza energetica ed all'impatto ambientale. Parte della mia ricerca è stata, infatti, incentrata sull'analisi dello sviluppo della Green Economy, in particolare per quanto riguarda il settore agroalimentare e la produzione di fonti di energia rinnovabile. Enfasi viene posta sia sulle politiche implementate a livello comunitario e nazionale, sia sul cambiamento dei consumi, in particolare per quanto riguarda gli acquisti di prodotti biologici. La Green Economy è vista come fattore di sviluppo e opportunità per uscire dall'attuale contesto di crisi economico-finanziaria. Crisi, che è strutturale e di carattere duraturo, affiancata da una crescente problematica ambientale dovuta all'attuale modello produttivo, fortemente dipendente dai combustibili fossili. Difatti la necessità di cambiare paradigma produttivo promuovendo la sostenibilità è visto anche in ottica di mitigazione del cambiamento climatico e dei suoi impatti socio-economici particolare dal punto di vista dei disastri ambientali. Questo punto è analizzato anche in termini di sicurezza internazionale e di emergenza umanitaria, con riferimento al possibile utilizzo da parte delle organizzazioni di intervento nei contesti di emergenza di tecnologie alimentate da energia rinnovabile. Dando così una risposta Green ad una problematica esacerbata dall'impatto dello sviluppo delle attività umane.

Technology Development and Consumer Acceptance of Innovation in Fruit Production

Precision Agriculture (PA) and the more specific branch of Precision Horticulture are two very promising sectors. They focus on the use of technologies in agriculture to optimize the use of inputs, so to reach a better efficiency, and minimize waste of resources. This important objective motivated many researchers and companies to search new technology solutions. Sometimes the effort proved to be a good seed, but sometimes an unfeasible idea. So that PA, from its birth more or less 25 years ago, is still a “new” management, interesting for the future, but an actual low adoption rate is still reported by experts and researchers. This work aims to give a contribution in finding the causes of this low adoption rate and proposing a methodological solution to this problem. The first step was to examine prior research about Precision Agriculture adoption, by ex ante and ex post approach. It was supposed as important to find connections between these two phases of a purchase experience. In fact, the ex ante studies dealt with potential consumer’s perceptions before a usage experience occurred, therefore before purchasing a technology, while the ex post studies described the drivers which made a farmer become an end-user of PA technology. Then, an example of consumer research is presented. This was an ex ante research focused on pre-prototype technology for fruit production. This kind of research could give precious information about consumer acceptance before reaching an advanced development phase of the technology, and so to have the possibility to change something with the least financial impact. The final step was to develop the pre-prototype technology that was the subject of the consumer acceptance research and test its technical characteristics.

Biogas and bio-hydrogen: production and uses. A review

The first part of this essay aims at investigating the already available and promising technologies for the biogas and bio-hydrogen production from anaerobic digestion of different organic substrates. One strives to show all the peculiarities of this complicate process, such as continuity, number of stages, moisture, biomass preservation and rate of feeding. The main outcome of this part is the awareness of the huge amount of reactor configurations, each of which suitable for a few types of substrate and circumstance. Among the most remarkable results, one may consider first of all the wet continuous stirred tank reactors (CSTR), right to face the high waste production rate in urbanised and industrialised areas. Then, there is the up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor (UASB), aimed at the biomass preservation in case of highly heterogeneous feedstock, which can also be treated in a wise co-digestion scheme. On the other hand, smaller and scattered rural realities can be served by either wet low-rate digesters for homogeneous agricultural by-products (e.g. fixed-dome) or the cheap dry batch reactors for lignocellulose waste and energy crops (e.g. hybrid batch-UASB). The biological and technical aspects raised during the first chapters are later supported with bibliographic research on the important and multifarious large-scale applications the products of the anaerobic digestion may have. After the upgrading techniques, particular care was devoted to their importance as biofuels, highlighting a further and more flexible solution consisting in the reforming to syngas. Then, one shows the electricity generation and the associated heat conversion, stressing on the high potential of fuel cells (FC) as electricity converters. Last but not least, both the use as vehicle fuel and the injection into the gas pipes are considered as promising applications. The consideration of the still important issues of the bio-hydrogen management (e.g. storage and delivery) may lead to the conclusion that it would be far more challenging to implement than bio-methane, which can potentially “inherit” the assets of the similar fossil natural gas. Thanks to the gathered knowledge, one devotes a chapter to the energetic and financial study of a hybrid power system supplied by biogas and made of different pieces of equipment (natural gas thermocatalitic unit, molten carbonate fuel cell and combined-cycle gas turbine structure). A parallel analysis on a bio-methane-fed CCGT system is carried out in order to compare the two solutions. Both studies show that the apparent inconvenience of the hybrid system actually emphasises the importance of extending the computations to a broader reality, i.e. the upstream processes for the biofuel production and the environmental/social drawbacks due to fossil-derived emissions. Thanks to this “boundary widening”, one can realise the hidden benefits of the hybrid over the CCGT system.

Male-biased reproductive effort in a long-lived seabird.

Background: In dimorphic seabirds, the larger sex tends to provision more than the smaller sex. In contrast, monogamy and biparental care are often associated with equal effort between the sexes. However, the few studies that have tested sex-specific effort in monomorphic seabirds have primarily examined the details of foraging at sea. Hypotheses: Parental effort is also sex-biased in a monomorphic seabird mating system for one of two reasons: (1) If females enter the period of parental care less able to invest in care due to the cost of egg production, male-biased effort may be necessary to avoid reproductive failure. (2) Alternatively, female-biased effort may occur due to the initial disparity in gamete size, particularly in species with internal fertilization. Organism: Leach’s storm-petrel (Oceanodroma leucorhoa), a monomorphic seabird with true monogamy and obligate biparental care. Site: A breeding colony of Oceanodroma leucorhoa at the Bowdoin Scientific Station on Kent Island, Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick, Canada. Methods: Across multiple breeding seasons, we assessed incubation behaviour and chickrearing behaviour through one manipulative and multiple observational studies. We assessed energetic investment by inducing feather replacement and measuring the resulting rate of feather growth during both the incubation and chick-rearing phases of parental care. Conclusions: We observed male-biased effort. Males incubated the egg for a greater proportion of time than did females and, when faced with an egg that would not hatch, males continued to incubate past the point when females abandoned it. Males made a higher percentage of total food deliveries to chicks than did females, resulting in greater mean daily food provisioning by males than by females. During chick rearing, males grew replacement feathers more slowly than did females, indicating that males were more likely to reduce their own nutritional condition while raising chicks than were females. These results support the hypothesis that females enter the period of parental care at a nutritional deficit and males must compensate to avoid reproductive failure.

782 consecutive construction work accidents: who is at risk? A 10-year analysis from a Swiss university hospital trauma unit

BACKGROUND: Mortality and morbidity are particularly high in the building industry. The annual rate of non-fatal occupational accidents in Switzerland is 1,133 per 100,000 inhabitants. METHODS: Retrospective analysis of the electronic database of a university emergency centre. Between 2001 and 2011, 782 occupational accidents to construction workers were recorded and analysed using specific demographic and medical keywords. RESULTS: Most patients were aged 30-39 (30.4%). 66.4% of the injured workers were foreigners. This is almost twice as high as the overall proportion of foreigners in Switzerland or in the Swiss labour market. 16% of the Swiss construction workers and 8% of the foreign construction workers suffered a severe injury with ISS >15. There was a trend for workers aged 60 and above to suffer an accident with a high ISS (p = 0.089). CONCLUSIONS: As in other European countries, most patients were in their thirties. Older construction workers suffered fewer injuries, although these tended to be more severe. The injuries were evenly distributed through the working days of the week. A special effort should be made that current health and safety measures are understood and applied by foreign and older construction workers.

SIZE OPTIMIZATION OF A BIOMASS TO LIQUID FUEL CONVERSION FACILITY WITHIN A BIOMASS SUPPLY CHAIN

Bioenergy and biobased products offer new opportunities for strengthening rural economies, enhancing environmental health, and providing a secure energy future. Realizing these benefits will require the development of many different biobased products and biobased production systems. The biomass feedstocks that will enable such development must be sustainable, widely available across many different regions, and compatible with industry requirements. The purpose of this research is to develop an economic model that will help decision makers identify the optimal size of a forest resource based biofuel production facility. The model must be applicable to decision makers anywhere, though the modeled case analysis will focus on a specific region; the Upper Peninsula (U.P.) of Michigan. This work will illustrate that several factors influence the optimal facility size. Further, this effort will reveal that the location of the facility does affect size. The results of the research show that an optimal facility size can be determined for a given location and are based on variables including forest biomass availability, transportation cost rate, and economy of scale factors. These variables acting alone and interacting together can influence the optimal size and the decision of where to locate the biofuel production facility. Further, adjustments to model variables like biomass resource and storage costs have no effect on facility size, but do affect the unit cost of the biofuel produced.