This study evaluated the adsorption capacity of chemically modified sugarcane bagasse with citric acid (B-CA), sodium hydroxide (B-S) and citric acid and sodium hydroxide (B-CAS) for Pb2+ ion ...adsorption in aqueous medium. Infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) was used to characterise the materials, where the chemical modification was confirmed by the presence of carboxylate groups created at 1,730 cm(-1) peak. All assays related to Pb2+ ion adsorption onto adsorbent, i.e. equilibrium time between Pb2+ ions and adsorbate (24 h), as well as Pb2+ ion concentration, were performed in batch system. The initial and final Pb2+ ion concentration after shaking time was determined by Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (FAAS). Isotherm adsorptions were applied to Langmuir and Freundlich linear models and maximum adsorption capacity (MAC) of materials towards Pb2+ ions was calculated in function of modifications. A significant improvement regarding Pb2+ ion adsorption after the bagasse treatment with citric acid, in which MAC was 52.63 mg g(-1), was observed. The adsorptions followed the behaviour described by the Langmuir linear model and its kinetics follow the behaviour described by the pseudo-second-order equation.
Spontaneous abortion is considered a public health problem having several causes, including infections. Among the infectious agents, bacteria of the vaginal microbiota and Ureaplasma parvum have been ...associated with abortion, but their participation needs to be further elucidated. This study aims to evaluate the influence of Mollicutes on the development of spontaneous abortion. Women who underwent spontaneous abortion and those with normal birth (control) were studied. Samples of cervical mucus (CM) and placental tissue were collected to identify Mollicutes using the quantitative polymerase chain reaction methodology. Eighty-nine women who had a miscarriage and 20 women with normal pregnancies were studied. The presence of Mollicutes in placental tissue increased the chance of developing miscarriage sevenfold. The prevalence of U. parvum in women who experienced spontaneous abortion was 66.3% in placental tissue. A positive association was observed between the detection of U. parvum in samples of placental tissue and abortion. There was a significant increase in microbial load in placental tissue for M. hominis, U. urealyticum and U. parvum compared to the control group. Detection of U. parvum in CM in pregnant women can ascend to the region of the placental tissue and trigger a spontaneous abortion.
Introdução: A doação de sangue é essencial para garantir a disponibilidade contínua de sangue seguro, pois é usado em cirurgias, tratamento de doenças crônicas, pacientes em estado crítico e ...emergências médicas. No entanto, os bancos de sangue enfrentam desafios constantes para atender à demanda, o que ressalta a importância de sensibilizar os candidatos à doação. As universidades públicas desempenham um papel fundamental na sensibilização da sociedade sobre a importância da doação de sangue. Como centros de excelência acadêmica e científica, essas instituições têm a capacidade de influenciar e mobilizar estudantes, funcionários e comunidades locais para se tornarem doadores regulares e conscientes. O uso de cenários e atividades interativas na sensibilização de doadores de sangue é uma estratégia eficaz para envolver o público de forma significativa, aumentar a conscientização sobre a importância da doação de sangue e incentivar a participação ativa. Essas abordagens criativas e imersivas têm o poder de transmitir a mensagem de uma forma mais impactante e memorável, tornando-se uma ferramenta valiosa para promover a doação de sangue. Objetivo: Avaliar o impacto de atividades interativas e lúdicas na sensibilização quanto a importância da doação de sangue. Metodologia: Nos meses de junho e julho de 2022 foi apresentada uma exposição no hall de entrada do hospital, com o intuito de divulgar a ciência e estimular as doações de sangue, como parte das comemorações do “Junho Vermelho”. A exposição consistia em um cenário de uma artéria gigante, onde o visitante entrava na artéria e conhecia hemácias, plaquetas, anticorpos e fatores de coagulação. Os visitantes também recebiam um folheto explicando sobre doação de sangue e convidando a visitar o hemocentro. As crianças poderiam desenvolver atividades de pintura, desenho e com massas de modelar, relacionadas. Foram registrados os números de visitantes na exposição, o número de candidatos à doação de sangue no período e a porcentagem de inaptidão clínica dos candidatos no mês de junho 2022. Esses últimos dados foram comparados com o mesmo período de 2021. Resultados: 300 pessoas visitaram o modelo cenário. O número de candidatos à doação de sangue em Junho de 2022 foi de 398, comparado com 315 em Junho de 2021, representando um aumento de 26%. Doadores inaptos na triagem clínica: 18% em Junho de 2022 e de 17% em Junho de 2021. Discussão: Ao aproximarmos a linguagem científica da população, utilizando modelos, representações, cenários e atividades interativas, facilitamos o entendimento sobre o funcionamento do corpo humano e a função do sangue no nosso organismo. Dessa forma, aumentamos a conscientização sobre a importância da doação como ato de solidariedade. Durante o período da exposição da artéria gigante, houve um aumento concreto no número de candidatos à doação no hemocentro, sem piora na frequência de doadores inaptos clinicamente. Embora não seja possível afirmar que esse aumento ocorreu exclusivamente devido ao cenário, pois outras campanhas de doação estavam em curso, entendemos que essa atividade contribuiu para esse aumento, visto que as demais campanhas também foram desenvolvidas no ano anterior, período que foi utilizado para comparação. Conclusão: Atividades interativas e lúdicas podem contribuir para o aumento das doações de sangue.
The microscopic agglutination test (MAT) is considered the “golden standard” leptospirosis serodiagnostic test, but there is little information about it as it pertains to snakes. To fill this ...information gap, we provide data on serovars and titers of fifty-six Crotalus durissus collilineatus sera samples that tested positive by MAT (10.1016/j.actatropica.2016.02.006 (Rodrigues et al., 2016) 5). These data are presented in a table, along with a description of the methodology used for sample collection and serologic testing.
The morphological characteristics of the oviduct of 12 sexually mature rheas (Rhea americana) were studied. Only the left oviduct is developed as a long tube with a length of 122 ± 23.1 cm, and is ...subdivided into infundibulum (15.2 ± 4.0 cm), magnum (63.3 ± 9.4 cm), isthmus (5.6 ± 3.1 cm), uterus (16.0 ± 4.2 cm) and vagina (11.5 ± 1.4 cm). The mucous membrane of the oviduct, as a whole, possesses luminal folds covered by ciliated columnar epithelium with secretory cells. The infundibulum part presents a cranial opening with thin and long fimbriae with few tubular glands in caudal tubular portion. In the magnum, the largest portion of the oviduct, the folds are thicker and are filled with tubular glands. The isthmus is short and presents less bulky folds and a few tubular glands. A bag-shaped uterus in the cranial area shows thin folds, and in the caudal region (shell gland) more ramified folds with few tubular glands. The vagina has long luminal folds and a thick muscular tunic; no glands with sperm-storage characteristics have been observed. In conclusion, the oviduct in sexually mature rhea has morphological similarities with the other species of birds already described; however it presents its own characteristics to produce a big egg.
To investigate the effects of repeated crack-cocaine inhalation on spermatogenesis of pubertal and mature Balb/c mice, ten young (Yex) and ten adult (Aex) Balb/c mice were exposed to the smoke from 5 ...g of crack with 57.7% of pure cocaine in an inhalation chamber, 5 days/week for 2 months. The young (Yc) and adult (Ac) control animals (n = 10) were kept in a specially built and controlled animal house facility. The morphologic analysis of both testes of all animals included the analysis of quantitative and qualitative histologic parameters to assess the effect of crack-cocaine on spermatogenesis and Leydig cells. Apoptosis was determined by immunolabeling with caspase-3 antibodies. Compared to the Yc animals, Yex animals showed a significant reduction in the number of stage VII tubules per testis (p = 0.02), Sertoli cells (p < 0.001) and elongated spermatids (p = 0.001). Comparisons between the Yex and Aex groups identified a significant reduction in the number of Sertoli cells (p < 0.001) and round spermatids (p < 0.001) in the Yex group and a significant increase in apoptotic Leydig cells (p = 0.04) in the Aex group. The experimental results indicate that crack-cocaine smoke inhalation induced spermatogenesis disruption in chronically exposed mice, particularly in pubertal mice.
Pernambuco is one of the 27 federal units of Brazil, ranking seventh in the number of inhabitants. We examined the allele frequencies of 13 short tandem repeat loci (CFS1PO, D3S1358, D5S818, D7S820, ...D8S1179, D13S317, D16S539, D18S51, D21S11, FGA, TH01, vWA, and TPOX), the minimum recommended by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and commonly used in forensic genetics laboratories in Brazil, in a sample of 609 unrelated individuals from all geographic regions of Pernambuco. The allele frequencies ranged from 5 to 47.2%. No significant differences for any loci analyzed were observed compared with other publications in other various regions of Brazil. Most of the markers observed were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. The occurrence of the allele 47.2 (locus FGA) and alleles 35.1 and 39 (locus D21S11), also described in a single study of the Brazilian population, was observed. The other forensic parameters analyzed (matching probability, power of discrimination, polymorphic information content, paternity exclusion, complement factor I, observed heterozygosity, expected heterozygosity) indicated that the studied markers are very informative for human forensic identification purposes in the Pernambuco population.
Abstract
Introduction
Speckle-tracking echocardiography (STE) is an established tool to detect early myocardial contractile impairment. In Chagas disease patients, STE may be helpful to identify ...subtle myocardial damage with the potential of progression to heart failure.
Purpose
This study aimed to assess the value of STE in predicting heart failure in Chagas disease patients with preserved left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF).
Methods
Patients with Chagas disease living in endemic area who had preserved LVEF (>50%) were selected for the study. Clinical evaluation, B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-ProBNP), electrocardiogram (ECG), and echocardiogram were performed at enrollment in 2015 to 2016 and in the follow-up visit between 2018 and 2019. Global longitudinal strain (GLS) derived from STE was analyzed offline. Peak GLS was calculated as the mean value from 18 segments of the left ventricle (Figure 1). The outcome was development of heart failure defined by elevation of NT-ProBNP levels, categorized according to age-specific cut-points for heart failure at the second evaluation. Patients with abnormal NT-ProBNP at baseline or those who died between the 2 visits were not included.
Results
A total of 692 were enrolled, mean age was 58 ± 12 years and 495 (72%) were women. Mean LVEF at baseline and follow-up visits were 63.4 ± 4.6% and 59.8 ± 11.2% (p<0.001). The median IQR time between visit 1 and visit 2 was 5.4 4.5 - 5.8 years. Among patients alive and attending the second visit, 48 patients (7%) developed overt heart failure with overall incidence rate of 14.1 events per 1000 patient-years (95% CI 10.4-18.6). On multivariable analysis, independent predictors of new-onset heart failure were male sex (OR 2.30, 95% CI 1.02-5.18), age (OR 1.04, 95% CI 1.01-1.07), QRS duration (OR 1.03, 95% CI 1.01-1.04), left atrial (LA) volume indexed (OR 1.05, 95% CI 1.01-1.09), and GLS (OR 0.90, 95% CI 0.81-0.98). LVEF did not remain in the model. The C-statistic of the final model was 0.80 (95% CI 71-88) showing a good discrimination.
Conclusions
In a cohort of patients with Chagas disease from remote areas with preserved ejection fraction, GLS was an important predictor of progression to overt heart failure, after adjustment for sex, age, QRS duration and LA volume. GLS was associated with further increased NT-ProBNP levels, which is useful to guide heart failure management, irrespective of systolic dysfunction.
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