Utilização das tecnologias digitais por professores de matemática: um olhar para a região de São José do Rio Preto

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Spatial analysis of leprosy incidence and associated socioeconomic factors

OBJECTIVE: To identify clusters of the major occurrences of leprosy and their associated socioeconomic and demographic factors. METHODS: Cases of leprosy that occurred between 1998 and 2007 in Sao Jose do Rio Preto (southeastern Brazil) were geocodified and the incidence rates were calculated by census tract. A socioeconomic classification score was obtained using principal component analysis of socioeconomic variables. Thematic maps to visualize the spatial distribution of the incidence of leprosy with respect to socioeconomic levels and demographic density were constructed using geostatistics. RESULTS: While the incidence rate for the entire city was 10.4 cases per 100,000 inhabitants annually between 1998 and 2007, the incidence rates of individual census tracts were heterogeneous, with values that ranged from 0 to 26.9 cases per 100,000 inhabitants per year. Areas with a high leprosy incidence were associated with lower socioeconomic levels. There were identified clusters of leprosy cases, however there was no association between disease incidence and demographic density. There was a disparity between the places where the majority of ill people lived and the location of healthcare services. CONCLUSIONS: The spatial analysis techniques utilized identified the poorer neighborhoods of the city as the areas with the highest risk for the disease. These data show that health departments must prioritize politico-administrative policies to minimize the effects of social inequality and improve the standards of living, hygiene, and education of the population in order to reduce the incidence of leprosy.

Avaliação das indicações de ceratoplastia penetrante no interior paulista

Objective: To determinate the corneal diagnoses of patients underwent Penetrating Keratoplasty (PK) in the university hospital of Sao Jose do Rio Preto, São Paulo, Brazil, and their relation to age group, gender and socioeconomic factors. Methods: Retrospective analysis of 1085 registration forms of patients underwent Penetrating Keratoplasty in the university hospital of Sao Jose do Rio Preto, São Paulo, Brazil, from 2000 to 2009. The surgical indications were then correlated to age group, gender and socioeconomic factors, by chi-square test. Results: Fifty-seven percent of all Penetrating Keratoplasties were performed in male patients, and the mean age was 52.3 years. Most surgeries (90.8%) occurred by means of public health care (SUS). The main diagnosis was leukoma (23%), representing 14% of the indications for PK in males and 9% in females. Leukoma was also the diagnosis in 40% of PK performed in patients older than 60 years and in 94.4% of these surgeries in public health care users. Conclusion: The main indication for Penetrating Keratoplasty was leukoma, predominating in males, ages above 60 years and in public health care users.

Genotoxicity of corrosion eluates obtained from orthodontic brackets in vitro

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

Prevalence and risk factors for urinary incontinence in healthy pregnant Brazilian women

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii antibodies in ostriches (Struthio camelus) from commercial breeding facilities in the state of São Paulo, Brazil.

Toxoplasmosis is widespread zoonosis caused by Toxoplasma gondii,a protozoan that may infect mammals and birds. The aim of the present study was to assess the prevalence of T. gondii in ostriches (Struthio camelus) from commercial breeding facilities in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, in a way to increase the knowledge on the behavior and importance of the parasite in this animal species. A total of 195 serum samples were collected from ostriches from Sorocaba, Campinas, São Carlos, Aracatuba, São Paulo, Vale do Ribeira, Botucatu and sao Jose do Rio Preto, in the state of São Paulo. These samples were analyzed by means of the Modified Agglutination Test (MAT) in order to investigate the occurrence of Toxoplasmagondii antibodies. The test showed that 14.36% of the animals were seropositive to Toxoplasmagondii. Minimum titer was considered to be equal or greater than 1:16, and the greatest dilution observed was 1:16,384. No statistically significant differences were found between males and females. Seronegative animals occurred in only two regions (São Paulo and Sao Jose do Rio Preto). These results point out the importance of further studies on this infection in ostriches, and on management practices that may minimize the risk of toxoplasmosis transmission in these birds which would, in their turn, decrease the risk for the final consumer.

Molecular characterization and relatedness of Haematobia irritans (horn fly) populations, by RAPD-PCR

Haematobia irritans is a hematophagous parasite of cattle that causes significant economic losses in many parts of the world, including Brazil. In the present work, one American and four Brazilian populations of this species were studied by Random Amplified Polymorpht DNA (RAPD) to assess basically genetic variability within and between populations. Ten different decamer random primers were employed in the genomic DNA amplification, yielding 117 fragments in the five H.. irritans populations. In Drosophila prosaltans, used as an outgroup, 81 fragments were produced. Forty-three of these fragments were shared by both species. Among the H. irritans samples, that from Rio Branco (Acre State, Brazil) produced the smallest numbers of fragments and polymorphic bands. This high genetic homogenity may be ascribed to its geographic origin (in the Northwest of Brazil), which causes high isolation and low gene flow, unlike the other Brazilian populations, from the South Central region, in which cattle trade is very intensive. Marker fragments (exclusive bands) detected in every sample enabled the population origin to be characterized, but they are also potentially useful for further approaches such as the putative origin of Brazilian populations from North America. Similarity indices [Nei & Li, 1979, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 76: 5269-5273] and phylogenetic trees, rooted by using the outgroup and produced by the Phylogenetic Analysis using Parsimony (PAUP 4.0-Swofford, 2001) program showed the closest relationships between flies from Sao Jose do Rio Preto and Turiuba (both from São Paulo State, Brazil) while flies from the geographically distant Rio Branco showed the greatest differentiation relative to the others.

Lack of association between ABO histo-blood groups, secretor and non-secretor phenotypes, and anti-Toxoplasma gondii antibodies among pregnant women from the northwestern region of São Paulo State, Brazil

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Germ Cell Dynamics during the Annual Reproductive Cycle of Dendropsophus minutus (Anura: Hylidae)

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

Visceral pigmentation in four Dendropsophus species (Anura: Hylidae): Occurrence and comparison

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

Human respiratory syncytial virus in children hospitalized for acute lower respiratory infection

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

Diversity and Adaptation of Human Respiratory Syncytial Virus Genotypes Circulating in Two Distinct Communities: Public Hospital and Day Care Center

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

The distribution of the P-M hybrid dysgenesis system in Drosophila melanogaster strains from Brazil

Wild-caught flies of Drosophila melanogaster from seven natural populations of extreme regions of Brazil (Sao Luis, MA; Teresina, PI; Rio Cipo, MG; Maringa, PR; Sao Jose do Rio Preto, SP; Joinville, SC; and Porto Alegre, RS) were studied with the purpose of evaluating hybrid dysgenesis due to mobilization of P elements and the regulatory capacity of the strains' cytotypes. Diagnostic crosses were made and the strains classified according to their P-M phenotypes. Four strains were classified as moderate P (MA, MG, PI, and SP), two as Q (PR and RS) and one as M' (SC). Females of southern strains (PR, SC, and RS) presented in A crosses lower degrees of gonadal dysgenesis scores than those from northern strains (MA and PI).

X chromosome heterochromatic pattern and nucleolar synthesis in pupal ovaries of Aedes aegypti

C-banding and silver-staining techniques were used to examine pupal ovaries of Aedes aegypti from Sao Jose do Rio Preto (Brazil). Silver staining in ovary cystocytes showed two basic patterns relative to the nucleolar morphology: viz (1) a single, compact small body; and (2) multiple bodies encompassing large nuclear areas. These two types of cystocytes were present in the ratio of 7:1, which is the same as the number of nurse cells and oocytes, respectively, in each follicle. This suggests the possibility of eventually using such a nucleolar morphological difference to recognize both cell types in developmental stages before emergence. Silver nitrate staining in metaphase chromosomes revealed centromeric bands on all six chromosomes. The C-banding pattern in metaphase chromosomes showed an intercalary band in one of the X arms, as described previously in other populations. In ovary cystocytes (pachytene stage) this C-positive band seemed to consist of two chromomeres. Phase contrast microscopy showed that the nucleolus was associated with the distal chromomere of this intercalary C-band, indicating that the nucleolus organizer region was located in that part of the heterochromatic band.

Genetic variation along time in a brazilian population of Aedes aegypti (Diptera : Culicidae), detected by changes in the esterase patterns

Aedes aegypti from the Brazilian cities of Sao Jose do Rio Preto (SJ) and Goiania (GO) were analyzed as to their esterase patterns and the results were compared with data obtained about 5 years before for SJ population. Esterase bands not detected in the previous study were now observed in mosquitoes from both SJ and GO populations, being the last considered a population resistant to insecticides. Other similarities between SJ and GO populations in this study, and some differences in comparison with the previous data on SJ were observed, involving, in addition to changes in band type, changes in frequency of mosquitoes expressing them and differential gene activation during development. As it is generally true for genetic features, changes in the esterase patterns are expected to be the result of factors such as selection by environmental conditions and genetic drift. In the present case, continuous use of insecticides aiming mosquito population size control in SJ by sanitary authorities could be involved in the observed changes. Changed esterases were classified as carboxylesterases and cholinesterases, which are enzymes already shown to take part in the development of resistance in several organisms. In addition, data obtained in the elapsed time by authorities responsible for the mosquito control has shown increasing insecticide resistance of SJ population mosquitoes parallel to increase in the total amount of esterases, reinforcing the mentioned possibility.