The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) quickly spread to all continents. However, data regarding all the signs and symptoms of COVID-19 are insufficient. Patients with COVID-19 might present higher ...susceptibility to fungal coinfections. Mucormycosis is a rare and often life-threatening fungal disease characterized by vascular invasion by hyphae, resulting in thrombosis and necrosis. This is the first case report of mucormycosis in a COVID-19 patient. An 86-year-old male patient was admitted to the emergency room with acute diarrhea, cough, dyspnea, and fever from 5 days prior. Blood tests revealed a hemoglobin level of 14.3 mg/dL. Five days following the admission, the patient presented with melena and a hemoglobin level of 5.6 mg/dL. A transfusion of three units of red blood cells was required. Esophagogastroduodenoscopy revealed two giant gastric ulcers with necrotic debris and a deep hemorrhagic base without active bleeding. Furthermore, biopsies confirmed mucormycosis. Despite intensive care, the patient died 36 hours after the esophagogastroduodenoscopy.
Abstract
Aims
This study aimed to evaluate matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) bacterial subtyping for the rapid detection of biomarkers in ...Staphylococcus aureus from subclinical bovine mastitis.
Methods and results
A total of 229 S. aureus isolates were obtained from milk samples collected from cows with subclinical mastitis using microbiological culture. Staphylococcus aureus isolates were also submitted to PCR analysis targeting the mecA and mecC genes, which are indicative of methicillin resistance. Confirmation of the species was achieved through MALDI–TOF MS analysis. To analyze antimicrobial resistance patterns, the MALDI BioTyper Compass Explorer and ClinProTools Bruker software were employed, and dendrograms were generated using Bionumerics software.
Conclusions
MALDI–TOF MS successfully identified S. aureus at the species level, but no methicillin resistance was observed. Moreover, spectral typing displayed limited similarity when compared to pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE).
Sports performance is the result of a complex interaction between individual and environmental factors. The purpose of this paper is to explain the methods used in the InTrack Project, a ...cross-sectional and cross-cultural project developed to investigate the variance in the performance of runners from different countries and to understand whether the differences in the performance can be explained by micro-level (athletes characteristics and proximal environment), meso-level (the distal environment that plays a relevant role on the relationships established at micro-level), and the macro-level (environmental features that shape countries characteristics). The sample will be comprised of runners, of both sexes, from four countries. Data collection will be performed in two steps: i) Individual information and ii) Country-level information. At the individual level, data will be obtained from an online survey. At the country level, characteristics data will be obtained from the secondary data available (demographic, social, and economic variables). Statistical procedures expected to be used include multilevel analysis, latent class analysis, addictive and multiplicative interaction in regression models. This wealth of information is of relevance to fill gaps regarding the existence of variables to connect different levels of information, and to provide scientific support about environmental characteristics important to predict runners' performance within and between countries.
•Simultaneous determination method of sugars, organic acids in wine & juice validated.•Samples from northeast Brazil, an atypical region, were characterized.•Method showed good parameters and a run ...time of only 20 min.•The samples showed similarities with products from traditional grape-growing regions.
Organic acids and sugars are related to the chemical balance of wines and grape juices, besides exerting a strong influence on the taste balance and sensorial acceptance by consumers. The aim of this study was to validate a method for the simultaneous determination of sugars and organic acids in wines and grape juices by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with refractive index detection (RID) and diode array detection (DAD) and to characterize commercial products from northeast Brazil. The method provided values for linearity (R > 0.9982), precision (CV% < 1.4), recovery (76–106%) and limits of detection (0.003–0.044 g L−1) and quantification (0.008–0.199 g L−1) which are considered acceptable for application in the characterization of these types of matrices. Principal components analysis (PCA) was used to verify the applicability of the method in the quality control of the products and resulted in the correct separation of the samples according to their type of processing. The results obtained in the characterization of the samples studied showed high levels of glucose and fructose in grape juice and the organic acids content was similar to those found in products originating from other regions around the world.
•Social anxiety related to sleep quality, depressive symptoms and body fatness.•Poor sleep quality and depressive symptoms were associated.•Social anxiety accounted for 30% of the sleep ...quality-depressive symptoms association.•Social anxiety played major role in adolescents’ health.
The aim of the current study was to evaluate the cross-sectional synergic relationship among social anxiety, poor sleep quality, depressive symptoms and body fatness.
A cross-sectional study was performed with 1,242 adolescents from a north-eastern district in Brazil. It was used the Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents for symptoms of social anxiety, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index for sleep quality and the Depression Scale of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies for depressive symptoms. Body fatness was the sum of triceps and subscapular skinfolds. Structural equation modelling was used to evaluate associations among these comorbidities.
Social anxiety was directly and positively associated with depressive symptoms, poor sleep quality and body fatness (β = 0.316 standard deviations SD; β = 0.299 SD; β = 0.072 SD, respectively). Moreover, social anxiety was indirectly associated with depressive symptoms via poor sleep quality (β = 0.113 SD). Poor sleep quality was directly associated with depressive symptoms (β = 0.377 SD). We did not observe a significant relationship of poor sleep quality and depressive symptoms with body fatness.
This is a cross-sectional study; therefore, we cannot infer causality in the interpretation of the findings.
Social anxiety seemed to play pivotal role in adolescents’ health, since it was associated with poor sleep quality, depressive symptoms and body fatness. Interventions targeting sleep quality, depressive symptoms and body fatness in adolescents should designate relevant effort addressing social anxiety.
This study aimed to assess (a) the biofilm producer ability and antimicrobial resistance profiles of
(
)
and
(
)
isolated from cows with clinical mastitis (CM) and subclinical mastitis (SCM), and (b) ...the association between biofilm producer ability and antimicrobial resistance. We isolated a total of 197
strains (SCM = 111, CM = 86) and 119
strains (SCM = 15, CM = 104) from milk samples obtained from 316 cows distributed in 24 dairy herds. Biofilm-forming ability was assessed using the microplate method, while antimicrobial susceptibility was determined using the disk diffusion method against 13 antimicrobials. Among the isolates examined, 57.3% of
and 53.8% of
exhibited the ability to produce biofilm, which was categorized as strong, moderate, or weak. In terms of antimicrobial susceptibility,
isolates displayed resistance to penicillin (92.9%), ampicillin (50.8%), and tetracycline (52.7%). Conversely,
isolates exhibited resistance to penicillin (80.6%), oxacillin (80.6%), and tetracycline (37.8%). However, no significant correlation was found between antimicrobial resistance patterns and biofilm formation ability among the isolates.
The protective face mask (PFM) has been widely used for safety purposes and, after the advent of the COVID‐19 pandemic, its use is growing steadily, not only among healthcare personnel but also the ...general population. While the PFM is important to preserve the wearer from contaminating agents present in the airflow, they are well known to increase the subjective perception of breathing difficulty. Although some studies have demonstrated that PFM use worsens exercise tolerance, several studies state that there is no such limitation with the use of PFM. Moreover, no serious adverse effects during physical exercise have been found in the literature. Physical exercise represents a significant challenge to the human body through a series of integrated changes in function that involve most of its physiologic systems. In this respect, cardiovascular and respiratory systems provide the capacity to sustain physical tasks over extended periods. Within this scenario, both convective oxygen (O2) transport (product of arterial O2 content × blood flow) to the working locomotor muscles and O2 diffusive transport from muscle capillaries to mitochondria are of paramount importance to endurance performance. Interestingly, the effects of PFM on cardiorespiratory response during aerobic exercise depends on the type of mask and exercise (i.e., walking, running, or cycling), the ventilatory demands, arterial oxygen levels, maximal oxygen consumption and endurance performance. The purpose of this review is to elucidate the effect of protective face mask‐wearing on (1) cardiorespiratory responses during aerobic exercise and (2) endurance performance.
This systematic review and meta-analysis aims to compare surgical and endoscopic treatment for pancreatic pseudocyst (PP).
The researchers did a search in Medline, EMBASE, Scielo/Lilacs, and Cochrane ...electronic databases for studies comparing surgical and endoscopic drainage of PP s in adult patients. Then, the extracted data were used to perform a meta-analysis. The outcomes were therapeutic success, drainage-related adverse events, general adverse events, recurrence rate, cost, and time of hospitalization.
There was no significant difference between treatment success rate (risk difference RD -0.09; 95% confidence interval CI 0.20,0.01; P = .07), drainage-related adverse events (RD -0.02; 95% CI -0.04,0.08; P = .48), general adverse events (RD -0.05; 95% CI -0.12, 0.02; P = .13) and recurrence (RD: 0.02; 95% CI -0.04,0.07; P = .58) between surgical and endoscopic treatment.Regarding time of hospitalization, the endoscopic group had better results (RD: -4.23; 95% CI -5.18, -3.29; P < .00001). When it comes to treatment cost, the endoscopic arm also had better outcomes (RD: -4.68; 95% CI -5.43,-3.94; P < .00001).
There is no significant difference between surgical and endoscopic treatment success rates, adverse events and recurrence for PP. However, time of hospitalization and treatment costs were lower in the endoscopic group.
We are introducing an alternative analytical expression to the electronegativity difference (∆χ) as a function of the charge ge, g is the charge factor, the fraction of the electronic charge devoted ...to the bond and e the elementary charge, the packing factor (p) and the effective atomic number (Zeff) of binary ionic solids, by using the very basic Coulomb interaction, modified by the introduction of p, and the relationship between the electric dipole moment (µ) and ∆χ in Debye units. When compared to the Pauling’s, Gordy’s, Allred-Rochow’s and Allen’s scales, our calculations deviate around 10% to all ionic crystals with such data available in the literature. A very simple expression with satisfactory estimates, with no need of numerical procedure, is announced. The values of g play the important role of indicating the character of the chemical bond. It opens up an alternative opportunity to understand the nature of ionic chemical bonds and is able to describe the character of the bonding in any ionic polyatomic system.
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