OBJECTIVETo analyze the environmental production of malaria in the municipalities of Marabá, Parauapebas, and Canaã dos Carajás, in Pará, from 2014 to 2018. METHODSThis ecological, cross-sectional ...study used epidemiological data in the Sistema de Informações de Vigilância Epidemiológica da Malária (Malaria Epidemiological Surveillance Information System) from the Secretaria de Saúde do Estado do Pará (State of Pará Health Department), cartographic data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), and environmental data in the Projeto TerraClass (TerraClass Project) from the National Institute of Space Research (INPE). Statistical analyses used the chi-square test, while the spatial ones, the kernel and Moran's (I) global bivariate techniques. RESULTSWe analyzed a total of 437 confirmed cases of malaria in the selected area and period. The highest percentage of cases occurred among male miners and farmers, living in rural areas; Plasmodium vivax was the most frequent species; and the most used diagnosis, the thick drop/smear. We also observed a heterogeneous distribution of the disease - with evidence of spatial dependence between incidence areas and different forms of land use, and spatial autocorrelations related to the high variability of anthropic activities in the municipalities. CONCLUSIONThe environmental production of malaria relates mainly to cattle production and mining - anthropisms related to land use and occupation in the observed municipalities. Spatial data analysis technologies sufficed for the construction of the epidemiological scenario of the disease.
•Extract obtained by infusion followed by atomization in spray drying showed higher antioxidant activity.•Sephadex® LH-20 allowed the identification of phenolic and flavonoids compounds.•The extracts ...studied presented antimicrobial and bactericidal activities.
In this study, the effect of the extraction processes (infusion, infusion followed by spray drying, ethanol extraction and supercritical extraction) on the total content and profile of phenolic compounds, antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of extracts of pecan nut shell were studied. The extract obtained through infusion followed by atomization in a spray dryer showed significantly higher (p<0.05) contents of total phenolic compounds (590.78mgGAE/g) and condensed tannins (412.10mgCE/g), and significantly greater antioxidant activity (ABTS and DPPH assays) as compared with extracts obtained by infusion only, ethanol extraction and supercritical extraction. Five major phenolic compounds (gallic, chlorogenic and p-hydroxybenzoic acids, epigallocatechin and epicatechin gallate) were identified and quantified by HPLC in the obtained extracts. The minimum inhibitory concentration and minimum bactericidal concentration against Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Bacillus cereus were significantly lower (p<0.05) for the extract obtained through infusion followed by atomization in a spray dryer when compared to the other extracts.
Aging is studied either on a systemic level using life span and health span of animal models, or on the cellular level using replicative life span of yeast or mammalian cells. While useful in ...identifying general and conserved pathways of aging, both approaches provide only limited information about cell-type specific causes and mechanisms of aging. Stem cells are the regenerative units of multicellular life, and stem cell aging might be a major cause for organismal aging. Using the examples of hematopoietic stem cell aging and human pluripotent stem cell models, we propose that stem cell models of aging are valuable for studying tissue-specific causes and mechanisms of aging and can provide unique insights into the mammalian aging process that may be inaccessible in simple model organisms.
This study was carried out to characterize a crude extract from pineapple peel after precipitation by three methods with the aim of obtaining an enzymatic extract from agro-industrial waste. The ...characterization of these extracts involved the determination of both protein content and specific protease activities. The effects of pH and temperature on specific protease activity and on the stability of the extracts were also evaluated. The optimal values of specific activity for the crude extract (CE) were pH 6.0 (5.76 U mg
−1
protein) and 7.0 (5.71 U mg
−1
protein) and a temperature of 70 °C (16 U mg
−1
protein). The average values for the relative specific activity were 17.4% (pH 3.0 to 9.0) and 42.7% (at 30, 50, and 70 °C). The ethanolic extract had the highest specific activity (10.7 U mg
−1
protein) in comparison to the best results obtained for the isoelectric precipitation (7.7 U mg
−1
protein) and the ammonium sulfate precipitation (4.7 U mg
−1
protein). Moreover, the ethanolic extract was more stable than the CE, retaining 60.9% and 53.7% of the initial specific activity during the evaluation of the stability at different pH and temperature values, respectively. The optimal values of pH and temperature were almost the same for the crude and the ethanolic extracts. In addition, the ethanolic extract was more stable than the CE in the experimental conditions tested in this work.
Implementation of a weaning protocol is related to better patient prognosis. However, new approaches may take several years to become the standard of care in daily practice. We conducted a ...prospective cohort study to investigate the effectiveness of a multifaceted strategy to implement a protocol to wean patients from mechanical ventilation (MV) and to evaluate the weaning success rate as well as practitioner adherence to the protocol.
We investigated all consecutive MV-dependent subjects admitted to a medical-surgical intensive care unit (ICU) for >24h over 7years. The multifaceted strategy consisted of continuing education of attending physicians and ICU staff and regular feedback regarding patient outcomes. The study was conducted in three phases: protocol development, protocol and multifaceted strategy implementation, and protocol monitoring. Data regarding weaning outcomes and physician adherence to the weaning protocol were collected during all phases.
We enrolled 2469 subjects over 7years, with 1,943 subjects (78.7%) experiencing weaning success. Physician adherence to the protocol increased during the years of protocol and multifaceted strategy implementation (from 38% to 86%, p<0.01) and decreased in the protocol monitoring phase (from 73.9% to 50.0%, p<0.01). However, during the study years, the weaning success of all subjects increased (from 73.1% to 85.4%, p<0.001). When the weaning protocol was evaluated step-by-step, we found high adherence for noninvasive ventilation use (95%) and weaning predictor measurement (91%) and lower adherence for control of fluid balance (57%) and daily interruption of sedation (24%). Weaning success was higher in patients who had undergone the weaning protocol compared to those who had undergone weaning based in clinical practice (85.6% vs. 67.7%, p<0.001).
A multifaceted strategy consisting of continuing education and regular feedback can increase physician adherence to a weaning protocol for mechanical ventilation.
•A multifaceted strategy consisting of continuing education and regular feedback can increase physician adherence to a weaning protocol for mechanical ventilation.•There was good medical acceptance of the implementation of the protocol for some factors, including multidisciplinary guidance and education of the ICU staff; additionally, a weaning program was developed that included leadership, education, and supervision.
Abstract
Introduction
Laryngeal leukoplakia corresponds to a white lesion in the mucosa developed by the deposit of keratin in the epithelium, potentiated by chronic smoking. It is considered a ...preneoplastic lesion. Surgery is the most adopted treatment; however, non-surgical treatment is advocated by some authors.
Objective
To evaluate the effectiveness of vitamin A in the management of vocal fold leukoplakia.
Methods
Patients with videolaryngoscopy diagnosis of vocal fold leukoplakia were selected. The endoscopic images were photographed and with the aid of the ImageJ software (National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA), the proportion of the size of the leukoplakia was calculated. Eligible patients were prescribed 50,000U of vitamin A, twice daily for 2 months, at which point videolaryngostroboscopy was repeated for comparative analysis between pre and posttreatment. The efficacy of the treatment was classified as: outcome I – complete improvement of the lesion, outcome II – partial improvement, and outcome III – no difference or increased lesion size.
Results
Fifteen patients (eight women, seven men) were included, six of whom had bilateral lesions. Smoking was reported in 86.8% of patients. Complete improvement of the lesion was found in 7 cases (33.4%, outcome I), partial improvement in 6 (28.6%, outcome II), and worsening of the injury in 8 (38.1%, outcome III). Of the latter, 6 underwent microsurgery; histopathology indicated absence of dysplasia in 3, and mild dysplasia in 3.
Conclusions
In this study, the treatment with vitamin A at a dose of 100,000 IU daily for 2 months was effective in reducing the laryngeal leukoplakia size in 62% of cases.
Oral leukoplakia is the most common potentially malignant disorder in the oral cavity and can precede carcinoma. This study aimed to identify possible oral leukoplakia salivary biomarkers.
...Unstimulated saliva was collected from participants and protein concentration was determined. Proteins were then precipitated with cold acetone and separated using 2DE over a pH range of 3–10. Spot demarcation and matching were performed and protein identification was done through MS analysis. Oral leukoplakia tissues were submitted to immunohistochemistry analysis for keratin 10 (CK10). A complementary analysis of oral leukoplakias that were not included previously was performed in addition.
226±10 spots were identified in oral leukoplakia 2DE gels, and 262±12 spots were identified in volunteers. Twenty-two spots were highly abundant in oral leukoplakias or not detected in the control group, such as apolipoprotein A1, alpha amylase, cystatins, keratin 10, and lysozyme precursor. All were identified. All oral leukoplakia cases were immunopositive for CK10, mainly in the superficial epithelial layers.
The 2DE salivary protein profiles of individuals with and without oral leukoplakia were observably different. CK10 appears to be an interesting protein and should be further studied in oral carcinogenesis.
MS-based proteomics enables large-scale analysis of proteins. Proteomics can provide detailed descriptions of proteomes of cells and tissues, including body fluids, and appears as a powerful tool to study human disorders. Saliva is readily accessible through non invasive collection and can mirror diverse disease states. Saliva from both diseased and healthy subjects can be analyzed through 2DE and differences between groups could be found. Routine immunohistochemistry analysis confirmed one of these findings, with CK10 being positive tissues from individuals with oral leukoplakia. Therefore, the present study allows insights into development of an important potential oral cancer precursor, named oral leukoplakia. However, the results can be extrapolated and tested in other precancer states, such as proliferative verrucous leukoplakia, patients at risk of oral cancer due to lifestyle behavior and/or cancer history in the family or even those who are under surveillance after a treated primary oral cancer.
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•2DE is suitable to identify differences in salivary proteins from OL and controls.•Common proteins, such as alpha amylase, immunoglobulin and albumin were identified.•Keratin 10, apolipoprotein A1, lysozyme precursor deserve further investigation.•Keratin 10 was present in all tissues from two different set of patients.•Areas with orthokeratin dysplasia were more prone to be CK10 positive.
The occurrence of leptospirosis has defied epidemiology even when using different analysis technologies at local geographical levels. This cross-sectional and descriptive study sought to identify ...spatial correlations between social and environmental risk factors and leptospirosis in Belém in the State of Pará from 2007 to 2013. Epidemiological data were obtained from the Information System for Notifiable Diseases of the Pará State Department of Public Health and the environmental, demographic and cartographical data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. Men aged 20 to 39 of unknown profession and mixed ethnicity were the most affected. Laboratory diagnosis (82%) and hospital care (67.22%) confirmed satisfactory access to the Unified Health System. Numerical Kriging indicated the highest concentrations of the disease in the Guamá and Jurunas neighborhoods in lower lying areas near canals. The Buffer technique showed higher concentrations of the disease in areas with no domestic solid garbage collection service (26%), sewage (22%), piped water (38%), with unpaved roads (20%) and street flooding (65%). The Moran technique revealed a direct spatial correlation between these variables (p = 0.01543). The general trend showed the decrease of the disease.
ABSTRACT This study aimed to validate the artificial hybridization without emasculation in lima beans, identifying F1 generation using microsatellite markers (SSR). We used four accessions from the ...Active Germplasm Bank of Phaseolus, Universidade Federal do Piauí (BGP-UFPI), with contrasting growth habits and days-to-maturity traits. The 241 crosses performed had a percentage of hybrid pods of 5.8%, obtaining 42 seeds in F1. Artificial cross-fertilization was confirmed by microsatellite markers (BM 211, BM 141, BM 154, and GAT 591), and four plants were identified as hybrids. Thus, the proposed method is effective in performing artificial crosses for lima beans.
RESUMO Este estudo teve como objetivo validar a hibridação artificial sem emasculação em feijão-fava, identificando a geração de F1 utilizando marcadores de microssatélites (SSR). Foram utilizados quatro genótipos do Banco Ativo de Germoplasma de Phaseolus da Universidade Federal do Piauí (BGP-UFPI), com hábitos de crescimento e maturidade contrastantes. Os 241 cruzamentos realizados apresentaram percentual de vagens híbridas de 5,8%, obtendo 42 sementes na F1. O cruzamento artificial foi confirmado pelos marcadores microsatélites (BM 211, BM 141, BM 154 e GAT 591), e quatro plantas foram identificadas como híbridas. Assim, o método proposto é eficaz na realização de cruzamentos artificiais em feijões-fava.
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