Dirofilariasis involving the oral cavity: report of the first case from South America

Oral dirofilariasis is very rare with non-specific clinical manifestations. Here, we report the case of a 65-year-old South American woman with a submucosal nodule on her right buccal mucosa. The nodule was slightly tender and painful. Differential diagnoses included mesenchymal (lipoma or fibrolipoma, solitary fibrous tumor, and neurofibroma) or glandular benign tumors (pleomorphic adenoma) with secondary infections. We performed excisional biopsy. A histopathological examination revealed a dense fibrous capsule and a single female filarial worm showing double uterus appearance, neural plaque, well-developed musculature and intestinal apparatus. Dirofilariasis was diagnosed, and the patient was followed-up for 12 months without recurrence.

First report of Rhodnius montenegrensis (Hemiptera, Reduviidae, Triatominae) in the State of Acre, Brazil

INTRODUCTION: This paper reports, for the first time, the presence of Rhodnius montenegrensis in the State of Acre, Brazil.METHODS: Two female R. montenegrensis were collected in a dwelling in the rural area of Rio Branco, Acre, Brazil.RESULTS: The occurrence of this species was confirmed, and the number of Triatominae species in the State of Acre increased from four to five.CONCLUSIONS: Further studies should be performed to reach a clearer understanding of the ecology of this arthropod, its possible role in transmitting Chagas' disease and rangeliosis, and its current geographical distribution in the region.

First report of hepatic hematoma after presumed Bothrops envenomation

ABSTRACTIn Latin America, Bothrops envenomation is responsible for the majority of accidents caused by venomous snakes. Patients usually present local edema, bleeding and coagulopathy. Visceral hemorrhage is extremely rare and considered a challenge for diagnosis and management. We report the first case of hepatic hematoma owing to the bothropic envenomation in a 66-year-old man who was bitten in the left leg. He presented local edema, coagulopathy, and acute kidney injury. Radiological findings suggested hepatic hematoma, with a volume of almost 3 liters. The hepatic hematoma was gradually absorbed without the need for surgical intervention with complete resolution in 8 months.

First report of schistosomiasis on Serrambi beach, Ipojuca, State of Pernambuco

Abstract: INTRODUCTION : The expansion of schistosomiasis to previously unaffected areas is being monitored by identifying new cases and georeferencing outbreaks of vector snails. METHODS : In 2014, the Laboratório de Esquistossomose began an epidemiological survey in Serrambi and registered 2,574 people living there. RESULTS : Of these subjects, 1,414 (54.9%) underwent feces examination and 63 (4.5%) were diagnosed with Schistosoma mansoni infection. At this locality, seven breeding sites each were identified for Biomphalaria straminea and Biomphalaria glabrata. At two sites, B. glabrata were shedding cercariae. CONCLUSIONS : Implementing preventive measures is necessary to avoid the establishment of schistosomiasis in yet another tourist locality, Pernambuco.

Experience with the first Internet-based course at the Faculty of Medicine, University of São Paulo

PURPOSE: The Internet expands the range and flexibility of teaching options and enhances the ability to process the ever-increasing volume of medical knowledge. The aim of this study is to describe and discuss our experience with transforming a traditional medical training course into an Internet-based course. METHOD: Sixty-nine students were enrolled for a one-month course. They answered pre- and post-course questionnaires and took a multiple-choice test to evaluate the acquired knowledge. RESULTS: Students reported that the primary value for them of this Internet-based course was that they could choose the time of their class attendance (67%). The vast majority (94%) had a private computer and were used to visiting the Internet (75%) before the course. During the course, visits were mainly during the weekends (35%) and on the last week before the test (29%). Thirty-one percent reported that they could learn by reading only from the computer screen, without the necessity of printed material. Students were satisfied with this teaching method as evidenced by the 89% who reported enjoying the experience and the 88% who said they would enroll for another course via the Internet. The most positive aspect was freedom of scheduling, and the most negative was the lack of personal contact with the teacher. From the 80 multiple-choice questions, the mean of correct answers was 45.5, and of incorrect, 34.5. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that students can successfully learn with distance learning. It provides useful information for developing other Internet-based courses. The importance of this new tool for education in a large country like Brazil seems clear.

Criminosos popularizados na narrativa de divulgação (De 1838 aos Alvores da República)

O presente estudo incide sobre obras impressas que tomaram como motivo central as «façanhas» de criminosos com referência histórica celebrizados em Portugal na segunda metade do século XIX e inícios de XX e mostra que, enquanto narrativas elaboradas para o grande público, os textos foram não só um reflexo da popularidade prévia dos famigerados transgressores, como também um fator incontornável da sua «lendarização» ao longo de décadas. São as seguintes as figuras dos infratores que protagonizaram as ficções em apreço: José Joaquim de Sousa Reis, ou «o Remexido» (1797-1838), Diogo Alves, ou «o Pancada» (1810-1841), Francisco de Matos Lobo (1814-1842), José Teixeira da Silva, ou «o José do Telhado» (1816-1875), João Victor da Silva Brandão, ou «o João Brandão de Midões» (1825-1880), e Vicente Urbino de Freitas (1859-1913). A tese agora apresentada aborda um corpus textual de características singulares, nunca antes coligido nem estudado. Comprova que os textos sobre as figuras criminosas tiveram uma função iminentemente noticiosa, pedagógico-edificante e política, apropriando-se de relatos orais, adotando procedimentos de atestação da veracidade (transcrição de documentos na primeira pessoa, referenciação cronológica, espacial, geográfica dos eventos, alusão às fontes) e incorporando diversas fontes do conhecimento dos crimes, quer de origem popular (geralmente designadas de «musa popular», «tradição»), quer de caráter erudito e teórico-científico («estudo», «estudo social»). Assim, foram analisadas as condições históricas excecionais nas quais as ficções emergiram: as características específicas do seu universo editorial, a apropriação a um público amplo (o formato de coleção, uso de sinopses e de outros elementos gráficos), as regularidades discursivas das obras (ocorrência de determinados dispositivos de organização textual), os procedimentos narrativos (recurso abundante a paratextos com intuito explicativo e aproximação a modalidades ficcionais conhecidas do público da época) e, ainda, as configurações imagéticas inspiradas nos discursos oficiais (influência de ciências e doutrinas epocais emergentes, como a criminologia, a antropologia criminal, a frenologia, a psiquiatria, a sociologia). Em suma, estas edições produzidas em diversos contextos e por um elenco autoral heterogéneo não só viveram da relação com as edições predecessoras, ao longo de gerações, como recriaram e ampliaram as «façanhas» dos transgressores em função de diversos propósitos e fontes: ampla divulgação dos casos criminais, condenação pública dos infratores, análise médico-científica dos sujeitos culpados, especulação política, pressão sobre o foro judiciário, edificação moral do público leitor. Trata-se, sem dúvida, de produções únicas, que erigiram a comemoração dos facínoras e sucessivamente reinscreveram as suas histórias reais na problemática do homem criminal e na consciência ética do seu tempo.

Estrutura Conceptual do Relato Financeiro : Da Definição de um Domínio à Sua Análise para uma Sociedade em Rede

Considerando a língua como um produto da sociedade, mas também como um meio fundamental para o estabelecimento de relações entre os homens, procuramos perceber o seu lugar na sociedade globalizada, com o objectivo de desenvolver uma metodologia de análise terminológica que contribua para uma maior qualidade da comunicação especializada na sociedade em rede. Este trabalho está organizado em duas partes, sendo a primeira dedicada à reflexão sobre o papel da língua na sociedade em rede, focando questões essenciais em torno da tensão existente entre o multilinguismo e a hegemonia do inglês enquanto lingua franca, sobretudo no espaço europeu. Interessa-nos, por um lado, reflectir sobre a definição de políticas linguísticas, concretamente na Europa multilingue dos 28, e, por outro, salientar o papel preponderante que a língua tem na transmissão do conhecimento. A segunda parte deste trabalho concretiza a investigação efectuada na primeira com base na análise do relato financeiro, um domínio do saber que não só é inerentemente multilingue ¾ porque a sua aplicação é transnacional ¾ mas também reflecte a tensão identificada na primeira parte, na medida em que o inglês assume, no mundo dos negócios em geral e nos mercados financeiros em particular, o papel hegemónico de lingua franca. A abordagem terminológica que defendemos é semasiológica para fins onomasiológicos, pelo que partimos da análise do texto de especialidade, organizado em corpora de especialidade. Discutimos subsequentemente os resultados da nossa análise com os especialistas que os irão validar e cuja colaboração em diversos vi momentos do processo de análise terminológica e conceptual é fundamental para garantir a qualidade dos recursos terminológicos produzidos. Nesta óptica, exploramos um corpus de textos legislativos no âmbito do Sistema de Normalização Contabilística (SNC), de modo a delinearmos uma metodologia de trabalho que, no futuro, conduzirá à construção de uma base de dados terminológica do relato financeiro. Concomitantemente, efectuamos também um estudo sobre a Estrutura Conceptual do SNC, para o qual elaboramos uma comparação ao nível da tradução especializada no relato financeiro, com base num corpus paralelo composto pela legislação contabilística internacional endossada pela União Europeia. Utilizamos o corpus paralelo constituído por textos redigidos originalmente em inglês e traduzidos para português, em articulação com o corpus de especialidade criado com a legislação relativa ao normativo contabilístico português, para testar uma metodologia de extracção de equivalentes. Defendemos, por fim, que a harmonização no relato financeiro para além de se reger por políticas contabilísticas comuns, deve ter subjacentes questões terminológicas. É necessário, portanto, harmonizar a terminologia do relato financeiro, possibilitando aos especialistas uma comunicação em português isenta da interferência do inglês herdado das normas internacionais, através dos dois processos que identificamos: a tradução e a adaptação das Normas Internacionais de Contabilidade.

Sources to study Antiquity: Between texts and material culture. Abstract Book

FCT

On project finance and the first road concession in Portugal

In broad sense, Project Financing1 as a mean of financing large scale infrastructural projects worldwide has had a steady growth in popularity for the last 20 years. This growth has been relatively unscathed from most economic cycles. However in the wake of the 2007 systemic Financial Crisis, Project Financing was also in trouble. The liquidity freeze and credit crunch that ensued affected all parties involved. Traditional Lenders, of this type of financial instrument, locked-in long-term contractual obligations, were severely hit with scarcity of funding compounded by rapidly increasing cost of funding. All the while, Banks were “rescued” by the concerted actions of Central Banks and other Multi-Lateral Agencies around the world but at the same time “stressed” by upcoming regulatory effort (Basel Committee). This impact resulted in specific changes to this type of long-term financing. Changes such as Commercial Banks’ increased risk aversion; pricing increase and maturities decrease of credit facilities; enforcement of Market Disruption Event clauses; partial responsibility for project risk by Multilateral Agencies; and adoption of utility-like availability payments in other industrial sectors such as transportation and even social infrastructure. To the extent possible, this report is then divided in three parts. First, it begins with a more instructional part, touching academic literature (theory) and giving the Banks perspective (practice), but mostly as an overview of Project Finance for awareness’ sake. The renowned Harvard Business School professor – Benjamin Esty, states2 that Project Finance is a “relatively unexplored territory for both empirical and theoretical research” which means that academic research efforts are lagging the practice of Project Finance. Second, the report presents a practical case regarding the first Road Concession in Portugal in 1998 ending with the lessons learned 10 years after Financial Close. Lastly, the report concludes with the analysis of the current trends and changes to the industry post Financial Crisis of the late 2000’s. To achieve this I’ll reference relevant papers, books on the subject, online articles and my own experience in the Project Finance Department at a major Portuguese Investment Bank. Regarding the latter, with the signing of a confidentiality agreement, I’m duly omitting sensitive and proprietary bank information.

Ants obtained from trees of a "Jacareuba" (Calophyllum brasiliense) forest plantation in Central Amazonia by canopy fogging: first results

Canopies of the locally occurring Amazonian tree species Calophyllum brasiliense. Camb. (Guttiferae, height 10 m) were fogged after dawn on the same day at five adjacent localities in a 20-year-old plantation at the Adolpho Ducke Forest Reserve near Manaus/Brazil, using natural pyrethrum (0.5%, 1.0%, 1.5%), Baythroid (0.3%) and diesel oil, respectively. The 1152 ants collected represented 52 species, 17 genera and five subfamilies. The highest number of ant species was obtained with the synthetic pyrethrum Baythroid 0.3% and with natural pyrethrum 1.5%. About 46% of the total ant species were only collected in the first hour after fogging, and 17% only during the second hour, after trees had been heavily shaken. About 73% of the total ant specimens dropped in the first hour. Data on alpha-diversity, eveness and frequency of ants indicated a rapidly decreasing knock-down effect of both the synthetic and natural pyrethrum after application. The ant fauna in the canopy of C. brasiliense is somewhat distinct compared with that of Goupia glabra Aubl. (Celastraceae, height 45 m) from the primary forest of the reserve.

First record of the bushy-tailed opossum, Glironia venusta, Thomas, 1912, (Didelphimorphia) from Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil

A new record of a very rarely observed mammal, the bushy-tailed opossum, Glironia venusta (Didelphimorphia), was obtained for the Adolpho Ducke Forest Reserve, Manaus, Amazonas state, Brazil. Only 17 other records existed of this species, most from the 1980s. There were only three previous records of the species from Brazil (in the states of Pará, Amazonas and Rondônia). This new record supports the notion that G. venusta is a locally rare species throughout its range, but widely distributed in Brazilian Amazonia.

A first evaluation on the use of Ardea albus feathers as bioindicators of mercury burden in Amazonian ecosystems

We evaluated in this study the total mercury concentration in feathers of Ardea albus collected in a colony located in the city of Belem-PA, Brazil in a prospective trial for its use as bioindicators of mercury burden in Amazonia ecosystems. An Atomic absorption spectrophotometry with gold amalgamation was used for the metal determination. The total mercury average concentration in body feathers was 2.2 ± 1.5 µg.g-1 and 1.3 ± 0.9 µg.g-1 in wing feathers. No correlation was observed between total mercury concentration and the length of body or wing feathers. Total mercury concentration was above 5 µg.g-1 dry weight in only one body feather sample.

First record of Trichodina heterodentata (Ciliophora: Trichodinidae) from Arapaima gigas cultivated in Peru

This study characterized morphologically Trichodina heterodentata Duncan, 1977 from cultivated fingerlings of "pirarucu" Arapaima gigas in Peru. Body and gill smears were air-dried at room temperature, impregnated with silver nitrate and/or stained with gomori trichromic. Prevalence was 100%. Trichodina heterodentata was considered a medium-sized trichodinid with mean body diameter of 56.0+ 5.25 (47.3-76.0) μm, denticulate ring 28.21± 2.71 (20-34.7) μm, adhesive disc 45.7±3.8 (37.1-57.3) μm diameter and number of denticles of 20.7± 2.6 (12-24). The present study reports not only the first occurrence of T. heterodentata in Peru but also the first record of this trichodinid infesting A. gigas. Camparative tables of all reports of T. heterodentata are also presented.

Para uma pedagogia das literacias: das conceções e práticas docentes aos conceitos e competências discentes. Um estudo da aula de língua portuguesa no 2º ciclo do ensino básico

Tese de Doutoramento em Ciências da Educação (Especialidade em Literacias e Ensino do Português)