Circulation of the rabies virus in non-hematophagous bats in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, during 2001-2010

INTRODUCTION: Rabies is one of the most known lethal zoonosis, responsible for 55,000 human deaths per year. It is transmitted to humans mainly by the bite of domestic or wild animals infected with the virus. This paper shows the circulation of this virus in non-hematophagous bats in the City of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. METHODS: A survey was performed on the number of bats that had been sent for diagnosis by the Seção de Virologia of the Instituto Municipal de Medicina Veterinária Jorge Vaitsman and were positive for rabies. The positive animals were identified, and the isolated viruses were sent for antigenic typification with indirect immunofluorescence. The results were compared with the antigenic panel of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. RESULTS: During 2001-2010, the laboratory received 555 non-hematophagous bats for rabies diagnosis, with 198 (35.7%) from Rio de Janeiro City. A total of 11 (5.5%) animals were positive for this disease. Antigenic typification revealed the predominance of variant 3 in 9 (81.8%) of the isolated viruses; 1 virus was classified as variant 4 and 1 variant was identified that segregated with the viruses in insectivorous bats. CONCLUSIONS: The data obtained in this study showed the presence of the rabies virus in synanthropic populations of non-hematophagous bats in the City of Rio de Janeiro. The circulation of this agent in these animals represents a serious risk to human and animal health and requires attention and control measures by the authorities.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infection: risk factors and clinical outcome in non-intensive-care units

INTRODUCTION: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is spread out in hospitals across different regions of the world and is regarded as the major agent of nosocomial infections, causing infections such as skin and soft tissue pneumonia and sepsis. The aim of this study was to identify risk factors for methicillin-resistance in Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infection (BSI) and the predictive factors for death. METHODS: A retrospective cohort of fifty-one patients presenting bacteraemia due to S. aureus between September 2006 and September 2008 was analysed. Staphylococcu aureus samples were obtained from blood cultures performed by clinical hospital microbiology laboratory from the Uberlândia Federal University. Methicillinresistance was determined by growth on oxacillin screen agar and antimicrobial susceptibility by means of the disk diffusion method. RESULTS: We found similar numbers of MRSA (56.8%) and methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) (43.2%) infections, and the overall hospital mortality ratio was 47%, predominantly in MRSA group (70.8% vs. 29.2%) (p=0.05). Age (p=0.02) was significantly higher in MRSA patients as also was the use of central venous catheter (p=0.02). The use of two or more antimicrobial agents (p=0.03) and the length of hospital stay prior to bacteraemia superior to seven days (p=0.006) were associated with mortality. High odds ratio value was observed in cardiopathy as comorbidity. CONCLUSIONS: Despite several risk factors associated with MRSA and MSSA infection, the use of two or more antimicrobial agents was the unique independent variable associated with mortality.

Echocardiographic parameters associated with pulmonary congestion in outpatients with Chagas' cardiomyopathy and non-chagasic cardiomyopathy

INTRODUCTION: Despite significant left ventricular (LV) systolic dysfunction and cardiomegaly, pulmonary congestion does not seem to be a major finding in Chagas' cardiomyopathy (CC). This study sought to identify echocardiographic parameters associated with pulmonary congestion in CC and in dilated cardiomyopathy of other etiologies, such as non-CC (NCC), and to compare pulmonary venous hypertension between the two entities. METHODS: A total of 130 consecutive patients with CC and NCC, with similar echocardiographic characteristics, were assessed using Doppler echocardiography and chest radiography. Pulmonary venous vessel abnormalities were graded using a previously described pulmonary congestion score, and this score was compared with Doppler echocardiographic parameters. RESULTS: NCC patients were older than CC patients (62.4 ± 13.5 × 47.8 ± 11.2, p = 0.00), and there were more male subjects in the CC group (66.2% × 58.5%, p = 0.4). Pulmonary venous hypertension was present in 41 patients in the CC group (63.1%) and in 63 (96.9%) in the NCC group (p = 0.0), the mean lung congestion score being 3.2 ± 2.3 and 5.9 ± 2.6 (p = 0.0), respectively. On linear regression multivariate analysis, the E/e' ratio (β = 0.13; p = 0.0), LV diastolic diameter (β = 0.06; p = 0.06), left atrial diameter (β = 0.51; p = 0.08), and right ventricular (RV) end-diastolic diameter (β = 0.02; p = 0.48) were the variables that correlated with pulmonary congestion in both groups. CONCLUSIONS: Pulmonary congestion was less significant in patients with CC. The degree of LV of systolic and diastolic dysfunction and the RV diameter correlated with pulmonary congestion in both groups. The E/e' ratio was the hallmark of pulmonary congestion in both groups.

Optimal choice between even- and uneven-aged forestry: the case of non-industrial private forest owners

An infinite-horizon discrete time model with multiple size-class structures using a transition matrix is built to assess optimal harvesting schedules in the context of Non-Industrial Private Forest (NIPF) owners. Three model specifications accounting for forest income, financial return on an asset and amenity valuations are considered. Numerical simulations suggest uneven-aged forest management where a rational forest owner adapts her or his forest policy by influencing the regeneration of trees or adjusting consumption dynamics depending on subjective time preference and market return rate dynamics on the financial asset. Moreover she or he does not value significantly non-market benefits captured by amenity valuations relatively to forest income.

Lymphogranuloma venereum and non-Hodgkin lymphoma: a case report

Lymphogranuloma venereum (LGV) is an uncommon, contagious, sexually transmitted disease (STD). We report a case of a 17-year-old teenager who presented with a 2-month-old ulcerous vegetant lesion in the right inguinal region. The patient was diagnosed with LGV and received erythromycin treatment. Three months after treatment, he presented with a new ulcerous lesion, very similar to the previous one, in the right supraclavicular region. He was diagnosed with a diffuse large B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Both diseases are rare in Rio de Janeiro City, Brazil, and physicians should not neglect the possibility of STDs in such cases.

Hepatic hydatid cyst: a non-surgical approach

Echinococcosis/hydatidosis is common in societies where agriculture and livestock are frequent, and represents a public health problem. The therapeutic management depends on the cyst's characteristics, the patient, and surgical contraindications. Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography is a valuable tool in the diagnosis and treatment of complicated hepatic hydatid disease. Ultrasonography is a useful diagnostic, therapeutic and follow-up tool. The authors report a case of a 56 years old patient who was diagnosed with a hepatic hydatid cyst in the IVa/VIII segments, describe the therapeutic options and 50 months of disease-free follow-up.

Área 'non aedificandi' em domínio privado. História breve do interstício entre prédios em Portugal

Partindo dos dispositivos jurídicos em vigor (Código Civil e Regulamento Geral das Edificações Urbanas) e recuando até às antigas influências jurídicas (romanas e islâmicas), neste artigo procura-se perceber como os interstícios entre prédios em Portugal foram estabelecidos ao longo do tempo pela ordem jurídica. São contextualizadas e analisadas as antigas normas da almotaçaria e as normas contemporâneas, procurando perceber inovações e persistências. Por fim, realça-se a importância deste conhecimento para o estudo da forma urbana portuguesa.

Evolution of Teeth and Quadrate in Non-avian Theropoda (Dinosauria: Saurischia), with the Description of Torvosaurus Remains from Portugal

Theropods form a highly successful and morphologically diversified group of dinosaurs that gave rise to birds. They include most, if not all, carnivorous dinosaurs, yet many theropod clades were secondarily adapted to piscivory, omnivory and herbivory, and theropods show a large array of skull and dentition morphologies. This work aims to investigate aspects of the evolution of theropod dinosaurs by analyzing in detail both the anatomy and ontogeny of teeth and quadrates in non-avian theropods, and by studying embryonic and adult material of a new species of theropod. A standardized list of terms and notations for each anatomical entity of the tooth, quadrate, and maxilla is here proposed with the goal of facilitating descriptions of these important cranial and dental elements. The distribution of thirty dental characters among 113 theropod taxa is investigated, and a list of diagnostic dental characters is proposed. As an example, four isolated theropod teeth from the Lourinhã Formation (Kimmeridgian‒Tithonian) of Portugal are described and identified based on a cladistic analysis performed on a data matrix of 141 dentition-based characters coded in 60 taxa. Two shed teeth are referred to an abelisaurid, providing the first record of Abelisauridae in the Jurassic of Laurasia and the one of the oldest records of this clade in the world, suggesting a possible radiation of Abelisauridae in Europe well before the Upper Cretaceous. The consensus tree resulting from this phylogenetic analysis, the most extensive on theropod teeth, indicates that theropod teeth provide reliable data for identification at approximately family level, and this method will help identifying theropod teeth with more confidence. A detailed description of the dentition of Megalosauridae is also provided, and a discriminant analysis performed on a dataset of numerical data collected on the teeth of 62 theropod taxa reveals that megalosaurid teeth are hardly distinguishable from other theropod clades with ziphodont dentition. This study highlights the importance of detailing anatomical descriptions and providing additional morphometric data on teeth with the purpose of helping to identify isolated theropod teeth. In order to evaluate the phylogenetic potential and investigate the evolutionary transformations of the quadrate, a phylogenetic morphometric analysis as well as a cladistic analysis using 98 discrete quadrate related characters were conducted. The quadrate morphology by its own provides a wealth of data with strong phylogenetic signal, and the phylogenetic morphometric analysis reveals two main morphotypes of the mandibular articulation of the quadrate linked to function. As an example, six isolated quadrates from the Kem Kem beds (Cenomanian) of Morocco are determined to be from juvenile and adult individuals of Spinosaurinae based on phylogenetic, morphometric, and phylogenetic morphometric analyses. Morphofunctional analysis of the spinosaurid mandibular articulation has shown that the posterior parts of the two mandibular rami displaced laterally when the jaw was depressed due to a mediolaterally oriented intercondylar sulcus of the quadrate. Such lateral movement of the mandibular ramus was possible due to a movable mandibular symphysis in spinosaurids, allowing the pharynx to be widened. A new species of theropod from the Lourinhã Formation of Portugal, Torvosaurus gurneyi, is erected based on a right maxilla and an incomplete caudal centrum. This taxon supports the mechanism of vicariance that occurred in the Iberian Meseta during the Late Jurassic when the proto-Atlantic was already well formed. A theropod clutch containing several crushed eggs and embryonic material is also assigned to this new species of Torvosaurus. Investigation on the maxilla ontogeny in basal tetanurans reveals that crown denticles, elongation of the anterior ramus, and fusion of interdental plates appear at a posthatchling stage. On the other hand, maxillary pneumaticity is already present at an embryonic stage in non-avian theropods.

Non-biting flying insects as carriers of pathogenic bacteria in a Brazilian hospital

IntroductionInsects have been described as mechanical vectors of nosocomial infections.MethodsNon-biting flying insects were collected inside a pediatric ward and neonatal-intensive care unit (ICU) of a Brazilian tertiary hospital.ResultsMost (86.4%) of them were found to carry one or more species of bacteria on their external surfaces. The bacteria isolated were Gram-positive bacilli (68.2%) or cocci (40.9%), and Gram-negative bacilli (18.2%).ConclusionsInsects collected inside a hospital were carrying pathogenic bacteria; therefore, one must consider the possibility they may act as mechanical vectors of infections, in especially for debilitated or immune-compromised patients in the hospital environments where the insects were collected.

Why and how projects in organizations differ? The example of Portuguese profit and non-profit organizations

This research has as a goal to give an overview of what Project Management is in Portugal. The purpose is not to focus on a small picture, but to understand the broad concept and perception of Project Management in Portugal in two very important sectors: Profit- and Non-Profit Sector. Both Profit- and Non-Profit project managers have been interviewed, giving an insight of how different projects are in both sectors and why. This paper will be especially helpful comparing the Project Management maturity of Portugal to other countries regarding these two different point of views.

First report of yellow fever virus in non-human primates in the State of Parana, Brazil

Sylvatic yellow fever is a zoonosis associated mainly with wild animals, especially those in the genus Alouatta, that act as the source of infection. Once infected, these animals pass the disease on to humans by way of an infected mosquito belonging to the genera Aedes, Haemagogus, or Sabethes. The present study is the first report of a case of yellow fever in non-human primates (NHP) in the State of Paraná, Brazil. After the case was diagnosed, several prophylactic measures were adopted to prevent outbreaks of the disease in humans.

Non-gyrator type active inductors

Modern CMOS radio frequency (RF) Receivers have enabled efficient and increasing applications. The main requirement is to have system in a single chip, in order to minimize area and cost. For the purpose it is required the development of inductorless circuits for the key blocks of an RF receiver. Examples of this key blocks are RC oscillators, RF band pass filters, and Low Noise Amplifiers. The present dissertation presents an inductorless wideband MOSFET-only RF Non-Gyrator Type of Active Inductors with low area, low cost, and very low power, capable of covering the whole WMTS, and ISM, band and intended for biomedical applications. The proposed circuit is based on a floating capacitor connected between two controlled current sources. The first current source, which is controlled by the circuit input voltage, has two objectives: supply current to the capacitor (

Non-cell autonomous neuroprotective effect of carbon monoxide : microglia-to-neuron communication

RESUMO: A isquémia cerebral é uma das doenças mais predominantes a nivel mundial, sendo uma das principais causas de mortalidade e invalidez. Parte da propagação de dano no cérebro é causado por inflamação descontrolada, causada principalmente por disfunção da microglia. Desta forma, existe a necessidade de tentar desenvolver estratégias para melhor compreender e modular as acções destas células. O monóxido de carbono (CO), é uma molécula endógena com provas dadas como anti-neuroinflamatório em vários modelos. Assim, o principal objectivo do trabalho foi o estudo do CO como um modulador da acção da microglia, com principal foco dado à comunicação entre estas células e neurónios, tentando entender se existe um efeito neuroprotector por inibição da inflamação. Um protocolo de meio condicionado foi estabelecido usando as linhas celulares BV2 e SH-SY5Y, de microglia e neurónio. A molécula CORM-A1, que liberta expontaniamente CO, foi usada como método de entrega da molécula às celulas. Demonstrámos que o pre-tratamento de células BV2 com CORM-A1 gera neuroprotecção já que reduz a morte celular de neurónios SH-SY5Y quando são incubados com meio condicionado de microglia activada em conjunto com o pró-oxidante t-BHP (tert-butil hidroperóxido). Assim, considerámos que o CO promove neuroprotecção ao inibir as acções inflamatórias da microglia. O papel anti-inflamatório da molécula CORM-A1 foi confirmado quando se verificou que pré-tratamento desta molécula em microglia BV2 limita a secreção de TNF-α mas estimula a secreção de IL-10. Por último, a CORM-A1 induziu a expressão do receptor da microglia CD200R1, molécula que participa na comunicação neurónio-microglia e fundamental para a modulação das acções inflamatórias destas últimas. Em suma, o nosso trabalho reforçou as propriedades anti-neuroinflamatórias do CO e uma capacidade de modular viabilidade neuronal através do seu efeito a nível de comunicação célula-célula. ---------------------------- ABSTRACT: Brain ischemia is a widespread disease worldwide, being one of the main causes of mortality and permanent disability. A portion of the damage that ensues following the ischemic event is caused by unrestrained inflammation, which is mainly orchestrated by exacerbated microglial activity. Hence, developing strategies for modulating microglial inflammation is a major concern nowadays. The endogenous molecule carbon monoxide (CO) has been shown to possess anti-neuroinflammatory properties using in vitro and in vivo approaches. Thus, our objective was to study CO as modulator of microglial activity, in particular in what concerns their communication with neurons, by promoting neuronal viability and limiting inflammatory output of activated microglia. A conditioned media strategy was established with BV2 microglia and SH-SY5Y neurons as cell models. CO-releasing molecule A1 (CORM-A1), a compound that releases CO spontaneously, was used as method of CO delivery to cells. We found that CORM-A1 pre-treatment in BV2 cells yields neuroprotective results, as it limits cell death when SH-SY5Y neurons are challenged with conditioned media from LPS-activated microglia and the pro-oxidant t-BHP (tert-butyl-hydroperoxide). Thus, we assumed carbon monoxide promotes neuroprotection via inhibition of microglial inflammation, displaying a non-cell autonomous role. CORM-A1 pre-treatment limited inflammation by inhibiting BV2 secretion of TNF-α and stimulating IL-10 production. These results reinforce that CO’s anti-inflammatory role confers neuroprotection, as the alterations in these cytokines occur concurrently with the increase in SH-SY5Y viability. Finally, we showed for the first time that carbon monoxide promotes the expression of CD200R1, a microglial receptor involved in neuron-glia communication and modulation of microglia inflammation. Further studies are necessary to clarify this role. Altogether, other than just highlighting CO as an anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective molecule, this work set the foundation for disclosing its involvement in cell-to-cell communication.

Evaluation of arboviruses of public health interest in free-living non-human primates (Alouatta spp., Callithrix spp., Sapajus spp.) in Brazil

INTRODUCTION: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the presence of arboviruses from the Flavivirus genus in asymptomatic free-living non-human primates (NHPs) living in close contact with humans and vectors in the States of Paraná and Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. METHODS: NHP sera samples (total n = 80, Alouatta spp. n = 07, Callithrix spp. n = 29 and Sapajus spp. n = 44) were screened for the presence of viral genomes using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and 10% polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis techniques. RESULTS: All of the samples were negative for the Flavivirus genome following the 10% polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis analysis. CONCLUSIONS: These negative results indicate that the analyzed animals were not infected with arboviruses from the Flavivirus genus and did not represent a risk for viral transmission through vectors during the period in which the samples were collected.

Evaluation of human T-lymphotropic virus prevalence/co-infection rates for a four-year period in a non-metropolitan blood center in Southeast Brazil

Abstract: INTRODUCTION: Human T-lymphotropic virus types 1/2 (HTLV-1/2) are distributed worldwide and are endemic in specific regions. METHODS: Serological evaluation of the HTLV-1/2 prevalence and co-infection rate [human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), Chagas disease, and syphilis)] for 2011-2014 was performed with volunteer blood donors from the western part of São Paulo State. RESULTS: Serrana and Araçatuba had higher HTLV seroprevalence rates (0.1%); while Franca, Olimpia, and Bebedouro had lower seroprevalences (0.04%). Co-infection (HBV and syphilis) was present in 12.3% of HTLV-infected blood donors. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings provide data for the prevalence of HTLV in Brazil and demonstrate the importance of regional and global hemovigilance.