Aspergillus niger causing tracheobronchitis and invasive pulmonary aspergillosis in a lung transplant recipient: case report

A case of invasive aspergillosis caused by Aspergillus niger in a lung transplant recipient is described. The patient presented hyperglycemia starting postoperatively, with other complications such as cytomegalovirus infection. The associated predisposing factors and other implications are discussed. Aspergillus niger seems to be a fungal species of low virulence that requires the presence of a severely immunosuppressed host to cause invasive disease.

Malaria outbreaks in a non-endemic area of Brazil, 2005

In March 2005, a resident of the municipality of Monte Alegre de Minas, State of Minas Gerais, without any history of traveling to endemic areas for malaria, was diagnosed with Plasmodium vivax infection and local mosquito-borne transmission was suspected. The epidemiological investigation identified another 10 cases with local transmission and all of them were related to the imported malaria case that was detected in this region. The potential exposure site was the banks of the river Tejuco, an area frequented by mineral prospectors. Some of these prospectors were known to have come from states with malaria transmission. In the autochthonous cases, Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium falciparum were diagnosed. Entomological investigation identified Anopheles (Nyssorhynchus) darlingi, Anopheles (Nyssorhynchus) albitarsis, Anopheles (Nyssorhynchus) triannulatus and Anopheles (Nyssorhynchus) parvus. After the first outbreak, another three autochthonous cases were notified in municipality of Monte Alegre de Minas, in the same year. The occurrence of these outbreaks highlights the importance of surveillance systems in areas that are nonendemic for malaria.

Achieving better service level results, through improvements in procedures

This project aims to prepare Worten Empresas (WE) fulfilling the increasing market demand through process changings, focusing on the Portuguese market, particularly on internal B2B clients1. Several methods were used to measure the current service level provided - process mapping, resources assessment, benchmark and a survey. The results were then used to compare against service level actually desired by WE’s customer, and then to identify the performance gaps in response times and quality of the follow-up during the sales process. To bridge the identified gaps, both a set of recommendations and an implementation plan were suggested to improve and monitor customer experience. This study concluded that it is possible to fulfill the increasing level of demand and at the same time improve customer satisfaction by implementing changes at the operations level.

Memória espacial e/ou olfativa em flebotomíneos em área endêmica de leishmaniose tegumentar americana, sul do Brasil

Relata-se os resultados de uma investigação sobre a possibilidade da existência de memória em flebotomíneos em área endêmica de leishmaniose tegumentar americana, no Estado do Paraná. Capturaram-se flebotomíneos no Recanto Marista, Doutor Camargo, Estado do Paraná, Brasil, com armadilhas de Falcão, de 15/11/2007 a 26/11/2007, em dois galinheiros (G1 e G2). Foram capturados 2.080 flebotomíneos (1.000 em G1 e 1.080 em G2), que foram marcados e soltos. Nyssomyia neivai foi a espécie mais (90,5%) freqüente. Do total solto, recapturaram-se 168 (8%) flebotomíneos e a recaptura no G2 foi significativa. Os resultados evidenciam que é possível a existência de memória espacial, olfativa e/ou a fidelidade ao hospedeiro e que isto orientem os flebotomíneos no reconhecimento dos locais onde há disponibilidade de fontes de sangue.

Reações adversas em pacientes com doença de Chagas tratados com benzonidazol, no Estado do Ceará

INTRODUÇÃO: A doença de Chagas, causada pelo Trypanosoma cruzi, é tratada com benzonidazol, tendo o inconveniente de apresentar efetividade parcial e alta toxicidade, que varia desde reações de hipersensibilidade a aplasia medular. O objetivo foi descrever e avaliar a ocorrência de reações adversas em pacientes chagásicos em tratamento com benzonidazol em Fortaleza, Ceará. MÉTODOS: Estudo descritivo prospectivo envolvendo 32 pacientes chagásicos crônicos tratados com benzonidazol entre janeiro de 2005 e abril de 2006. Dados sociodemográficos e clínicos foram coletados de questionários, entrevistas e exames laboratoriais. As amostras de sangue foram coletadas antes, com 30 e 60 dias de tratamento. RESULTADOS: Reações adversas foram relatadas em 28 (87,5%) pacientes tratados, tendo sido as mais frequentes: prurido (50%), formigamento (43,8%), fraqueza muscular (37,5%) e rash cutânea (31,3%). Dos 28 pacientes com reações adversas, oito (28,57%) interromperam o tratamento. Reações adversas que culminaram com a suspensão do tratamento foram formigamento sete (87,5%) ou erupção cutânea cinco (62,5%). Observou-se aumento discreto dos níveis de aminotransferases durante o tratamento em (9,4%) pacientes. CONCLUSÕES: Concluindo, o acompanhamento farmacoterapêutico dos pacientes chagásicos é de grande relevância na prevenção e detecção precoce das reações adversas a medicamentos.

Análise espacial da tuberculose infantil no estado do Espírito Santo, 2000 a 2007

INTRODUÇÃO: A tuberculose infantil é responsável por 15% das notificações dos casos. O foco do Programa Nacional de Controle da Tuberculose é a identificação da tuberculose em adultos, deixando os menores de 15 anos à margem dos estudos, diagnóstico e tratamento. A análise espacial quantifica a exposição à doença e expõe as principais causas relacionadas ao espaço geográfico. O objetivo deste estudo é analisar a distribuição espacial da tuberculose infantil no Espírito Santo, de 2000 a 2007, segundo município de notificação MÉTODOS: Realizou-se um estudo ecológico dos 515 casos de tuberculose infantil, entre 2000 e 2007. Utilizou-se o Método Bayesiano Empírico Local para estimação do risco. O Índice de Moram Local foi calculado para avaliação da autocorrelação entre as incidências de bairros limítrofes RESULTADOS: Altas taxas de incidência foram encontradas na Região Metropolitana de Vitória e região nordeste, e baixas taxas na região serrana; dados semelhantes foram observados no estudo da endemia de tuberculose em adultos no Espírito Santo, o que pode possivelmente estar relacionada aos contatos intradomiciliares CONCLUSÕES: Este estudo identifica possíveis áreas de transmissão recente da doença. É importante ressaltar que o conhecimento dos locais prioritários para o controle, pode auxiliar a gestão publica na diminuição das iniquidades em saúde e permitir uma otimização dos recursos e das equipes no controle da tuberculose infantil.

Internationalization strategy of Skypro Shoes to Japan

Skypro is a footwear brand targeted at the aviation professionals’ niche market, explored by the Portuguese microenterprise Abotoa Lda..The saturation of the Portuguese market led Skypro to expand to different worldwide countries and to be a footwear supplier of Airlines from the USA, Qatar or Australia, among others. Abotoa aims for its 2014’s exports to represent around 80% of total sales and this Internationalization Plan for Japan represents the possibility of further exploring the Asian market. Japan appears as the 2nd worldwide footwear importer and the 5th footwear consumer, with a high purchasing power – GDP per capita (PPP). This country possesses two enormous Airlines (ANA and JAL) that employ more than 15000 on-board personnel, the world’s 4th busiest Airport in 2013 (Tokyo’s Haneda International Airport) and a geographic structure with more than 6500 islands, implying high frequency of aerial transportation in the medium-run. These aspects make Japan an adequate country to invest in. At the course of this Work Project, trustworthy recommendations are provided for the current state of Abotoa and for the introduction and implementation of this Internationalization Plan. These findings strongly suggest that Skypro should indeed penetrate Japan’s market.

Fotografia : a arte submetida à crítica

O presente trabalho consiste num estudo sobre as revistas Objectiva (1937-1947) e Foto Revista (1937-1939), estabelecendo-se como uma reflexão em torno da crítica de arte fotográfica. Na década de 1930, assistiu-se, em Portugal, a um interesse renovado pela fotografia (tida como) artística. O Estado Novo suportou regulares eventos neste domínio - são exemplos os Salões Nacionais de Arte Fotográfica, com início em 1932, que posteriormente tomaram contornos mais alargados, com o advento dos Salões Internacionais de Arte Fotográfica em 1937. Entretanto, a crítica de arte dedicada à fotografia ficara sem um suporte jornalístico. Contudo, em finais dos anos 30, o entusiasmo em torno da fotografia artística tomou contornos mais expressivos com a aproximação dos salões de foro internacional, o que levou ao ressurgimento de publicações periódicas dedicadas à fotografia. Depois de seis anos sem qualquer revista especializada neste domínio, assistese ao advento da Objectiva e Foto Revista, publicações mensais, as quais proporcionaram espaço e visibilidade para a crítica dedicada à fotografia artística. As duas publicações dedicaram-se, entre outras vertentes, à apreciação dos eventos mais significativos no território nacional, ao aconselhamento dos amadores fotográficos emergentes e à discussão dos temas mais pertinentes à época. Num período em que a produção artística fotográfica se encontrava, de um modo geral, dessincronizada do panorama internacional, e tendo em conta a conceção de crítica de arte como orientadora de tendências, importa conhecer as opções, entendimentos e proliferação de valores que esta promoveu, respeitantes à fotografia nacional (então) contemporânea.

Internationalization of UniPlaces to the Spanish market: Internationalization plan to Madrid, Spain

Field Lab in Entrepreneurial Innovative Ventures

Strategic account management: the path to gain customer loyalty

The account management field works closely with the sales team, serving as the customer’s primary point of contact. This project’s purpose was to understand if shifting the account management from brand centric to customer centric, would be the best fit for a Portuguese Pharmaceutical company. This customer centric approach - Strategic Account Management (SAM) - was studied, understanding the implicated trade-offs to the company. The workforce was probed about the project and their comments were analyzed. The conclusion points to an implementation of SAM and proposes the adaptations to follow in order to smooth the change.

Electromyography function, disability degree, and pain in leprosy patients undergoing neural mobilization treatment

INTRODUCTION: This study aimed to evaluate the effect of the neural mobilization technique on electromyography function, disability degree, and pain in patients with leprosy. METHODS: A sample of 56 individuals with leprosy was randomized into an experimental group, composed of 29 individuals undergoing treatment with neural mobilization, and a control group of 27 individuals who underwent conventional treatment. In both groups, the lesions in the lower limbs were treated. In the treatment with neural mobilization, the procedure used was mobilization of the lumbosacral roots and sciatic nerve biased to the peroneal nerve that innervates the anterior tibial muscle, which was evaluated in the electromyography. RESULTS: Analysis of the electromyography function showed a significant increase (p<0.05) in the experimental group in both the right (Δ%=22.1, p=0.013) and the left anterior tibial muscles (Δ%=27.7, p=0.009), compared with the control group pre- and post-test. Analysis of the strength both in the movement of horizontal extension (Δ%right=11.7, p=0.003/Δ%left=27.4, p=0.002) and in the movement of back flexion (Δ%right=31.1; p=0.000/Δ%left=34.7, p=0.000) showed a significant increase (p<0.05) in both the right and the left segments when comparing the experimental group pre- and post-test. The experimental group showed a significant reduction (p=0.000) in pain perception and disability degree when the pre- and post-test were compared and when compared with the control group in the post-test. CONCLUSIONS: Leprosy patients undergoing the technique of neural mobilization had an improvement in electromyography function and muscle strength, reducing disability degree and pain.

The establishment mode choice of German multinational enterprises in Brazil: A comparative approach

We examine the drivers behind the establishment mode choice of German multinational enterprises (MNEs) in the sectors of Automotive, Chemicals and Mechanical Engineering in Brazil for the years 1993-2013 using a novel sample of primary data obtained directly from German MNEs. Based on prevalent theories found in the literature, we test the most common hypotheses on our sample. Firms with high R&D activities and firms with prior market knowledge in Brazil in from of previous sales offices are more likely to enter Brazil by a Greenfield investment. We also show that it is the specific private ownership of the German so-called hidden champions that drive those specific SMEs to enter Brazil by Greenfield, a sneaking suspicion that has been made before. Finally, we show that the establishment mode choice between Brazil and the USA only deviates to a low extent, with German MNEs preferring to enter Brazil by Greenfield and the USA by M&A. Thereby, we provide valuable insights for future research in this field.

The economics of Vieira da Silva

This paper investigates the time valuation and the age valuation profile of art-works created by the Portuguese female painter Maria Helena Vieira da Silva. It uses data from records from her paintings auction sales between 1986 and 2014, taken from Artprice.com. The study explores three aspects regarding her artistic career: (1) estimation of Age-valuation profile, defining her creativity pattern and the age at which she produced her most valuable paintings; (2) estimation of time valuation profile, through a creation of an individual hedonic price index for Vieira da Silva; (3) internationalization phenomenon of the artist, investigating whether selling prices are primarily set in euros or in US dollar. The results suggest that Vieira da Silva peaked quite early in her career; her paintings prices are not very sensible to economic cycles and tends to slightly increase afterlife; the empirical results are not suggestive on which currency is the best predictor of her paintings’ price.

Carbohydrate-rich high-molecular-mass antigens are strongly recognized during experimental Histoplasma capsulatum infection

INTRODUCTION: During histoplasmosis, Histoplasma capsulatum soluble antigens (CFAg) can be naturally released by yeast cells. Because CFAg can be specifically targeted during infection, in the present study we investigated CFAg release in experimental murine histoplasmosis, and evaluated the host humoral immune response against high-molecular-mass antigens (hMMAg. >150 kDa), the more immunogenic CFAg fraction. METHODS: Mice were infected with 2.2x10(4) H. capsulatum IMT/HC128 yeast cells. The soluble CFAg, IgG anti-CFAg, IgG anti-hMMAg, and IgG-hMMAg circulating immune complexes (CIC) levels were determined by enzymelinked immunosorbent assay, at days 0, 7, 14, and 28 post-infection. RESULTS: We observed a progressive increase in circulating levels of CFAg, IgG anti-CFAg, IgG anti-hMMAg, and IgG-hMMAg CIC after H. capsulatum infection. The hMMAg showed a high percentage of carbohydrates and at least two main immunogenic components. CONCLUSIONS: We verified for the first time that hMMAg from H. capsulatum IMT/HC128 strain induce humoral immune response and lead to CIC formation during experimental histoplasmosis.

Degree of disability, pain levels, muscle strength, and electromyographic function in patients with Hansen's disease with common peroneal nerve damage

INTRODUCTION: This study evaluated the degree of disability, pain levels, muscle strength, and electromyographic function (RMS) in individuals with leprosy. METHODS: We assessed 29 individuals with leprosy showing common peroneal nerve damage and grade 1 or 2 disability who were referred for physiotherapeutic treatment, as well as a control group of 19 healthy participants without leprosy. All subjects underwent analyses of degree of disability, electromyographic tests, voluntary muscle force, and the Visual Analog Pain Scale. RESULTS: McNemar's test found higher levels of grade 2 of disability (Δ = 75.9%; p = 0.0001) among individuals with leprosy. The Mann-Whitney test showed greater pain levels (Δ = 5.0; p = 0.0001) in patients with leprosy who had less extension strength in the right and left extensor hallucis longus muscles (Δ = 1.28, p = 0.0001; Δ = 1.55, p = 0.0001, respectively) and dorsiflexion of the right and left feet (Δ = 1.24, p = 0.0001; Δ = 1.45, p = 0.0001, respectively) than control subjects. The Kruskal-Wallis test showed that the RMS score for dorsiflexion of the right (Δ = 181.66 m·s-2, p = 0.001) and left (Δ = 102.57m·s-2, p = 0.002) feet was lower in patients with leprosy than in control subjects, but intragroup comparisons showed no difference. CONCLUSIONS: Leprosy had a negative influence on all of the study variables, indicating the need for immediate physiotherapeutic intervention in individuals with leprosy. This investigation opens perspectives for future studies that analyze leprosy treatment with physical therapeutic intervention.