O objetivo do trabalho foi estimar o custo de produção da soja transgênica, em sistema de semeadu... more O objetivo do trabalho foi estimar o custo de produção da soja transgênica, em sistema de semeadura direta na região oeste do estado da Bahia. A pesquisa foi conduzida, na forma de estudo de caso, em uma propriedade rural localizada no município São Desidério (BA). Para levantamento do custo de produção utilizou-se a metodologia do sistema de Custo Operacional Total (COT). Os dados relativos aos coeficientes técnicos da cultura, utilizados no cálculo do custo de produção, foram levantados de uma planilha de controle administrativo, na safra 2015/2016. Foram calculadas médias e porcentagens de cada item do custo de produção de soja em um hectare. O Custo Operacional Total foi de R$ 2001,37 ha-1, contribuindo com maior impacto os herbicidas (33,82%) e adubos (29,73%). A soja transgênica cultivada em sistema de semeadura direta alcançou menor custo do que outros sistemas de cultivo. A produção com métodos conservacionistas, como o plantio direto e a terceirização das operações agrícola...
Lyotropic colloidal aqueous suspensions of cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) can, after solvent evapo... more Lyotropic colloidal aqueous suspensions of cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) can, after solvent evaporation, retain their chiral nematic arrangement. As water is removed the pitch value of the suspension decreases and structural colour-generating films, which are mechanically brittle in nature, can be obtained. Increasing their flexibility while keeping the chiral nematic structure and biocompatible nature is a challenging task. However, if achievable, this will promote their use in new and interesting applications. In this study, we report on the addition of different amounts of hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC) to CNCs suspension within the coexistence of the isotropic-anisotropic phases and infer the influence of this cellulosic derivative on the properties of the obtained solid films. It was possible to add 50 wt.% of HPC to a CNCs aqueous suspension (to obtain a 50/50 solids ratio) without disrupting the LC phase of CNCs and maintaining a left-handed helical structure in the obtained f...
Primates play an important role in ecosystem functioning and offer critical insights into human e... more Primates play an important role in ecosystem functioning and offer critical insights into human evolution, biology, behavior, and emerging infectious diseases. There are 26 primate species in the Atlantic Forests of South America, 19 of them endemic. We compiled a dataset of 5,472 georeferenced locations of 26 native and 1 introduced primate species, as hybrids in the genera Callithrix and Alouatta. The dataset includes 700 primate communities, 8,121 single species occurrences and 714 estimates of primate population sizes, covering most natural forest types of the tropical and subtropical Atlantic Forest of Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina and some other biomes. On average, primate communities of the Atlantic Forest harbor 2±1 species (range=1-6). However, about 40% of primate communities contain only one species. Alouatta guariba (N=2,188 records) and Sapajus nigritus (N=1,127) were the species with the most records. Callicebus barbarabrownae (N=35), Leontopithecus caissara (N=38), a...
Gender-related differences have been reported in patients with acute coronary syndrome. The descr... more Gender-related differences have been reported in patients with acute coronary syndrome. The description of this comparative finding in a Brazilian registry has not yet been documented. To compare male vs. female patients regarding the baseline characteristics, coronary findings, treatment and in-hospital and long-term prognosis. This is a retrospective, multicenter and observational study that included 3,745 patients (2,437 males and 1,308 females) between May 2010 and May 2015. The primary in-hospital outcome was all-cause mortality. The secondary outcome consisted of combined events (cardiogenic shock, reinfarction, death, stroke and bleeding). The comparison between groups was performed using the chi-square and the t test, considering p < 0.05 as significant. In the long term, mortality and combined events were assessed using the Kaplan-Meier method, with a mean follow-up of 8.79 months. The mean age was 60.3 years for males and 64.6 for females (p < 0.0001). The most preva...
This randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial evaluated the effect of Bifidobacterium animali... more This randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial evaluated the effect of Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis (B. lactis) HN019-containing probiotic lozenges as adjuvant to scaling and root planing (SRP) in patients with generalized chronic periodontitis. Forty-one chronic periodontitis patients were recruited and monitored clinically, immunologically, and microbiologically at baseline (before SRP) and 30 and 90 days after SRP. All patients were randomly assigned to a Test (SRP+Probiotic, n=20) or Control (SRP+Placebo, n=21) group. The probiotic lozenges were used twice a day for 30 days. The data were statistically analyzed. The Test group presented a decrease in probing pocket depth and a clinical attachment gain significantly higher than those of the Control group at 90 days. The Test group also demonstrated significantly fewer periodontal pathogens of red and orange complexes, as well as lower proinflammatory cytokine levels when compared to the Control group. Only the Test g...
The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical outcomes of patients deferred from coronary... more The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical outcomes of patients deferred from coronary revascularization on the basis of instantaneous wave-free ratio (iFR) or fractional flow reserve (FFR) measurements in stable angina pectoris (SAP) and acute coronary syndromes (ACS). Assessment of coronary stenosis severity with pressure guidewires is recommended to determine the need for myocardial revascularization. The safety of deferral of coronary revascularization in the pooled per-protocol population (n = 4,486) of the DEFINE-FLAIR (Functional Lesion Assessment of Intermediate Stenosis to Guide Revascularisation) and iFR-SWEDEHEART (Instantaneous Wave-Free Ratio Versus Fractional Flow Reserve in Patients With Stable Angina Pectoris or Acute Coronary Syndrome) randomized clinical trials was investigated. Patients were stratified according to revascularization decision making on the basis of iFR or FFR and to clinical presentation (SAP or ACS). The primary endpoint was major adver...
Revista do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de Sao Paulo, 2018
In this study, we evaluated the mutations of Helicobacter pylori associated with resistance to cl... more In this study, we evaluated the mutations of Helicobacter pylori associated with resistance to clarithromycin and levofloxacin. Furthermore, based on the proposed interaction between antimicrobial resistance and pathogenicity, we correlated the mutation profiles of the strains with the presence of the pathogenicity gene cagA. We analyzed 80 gastric biopsy specimens from H. pylori-infected patients for point mutations in the 23S rRNA gene region and in the gyrA gene, which are related to clarithromycin and levofloxacin resistance, respectively, and investigated the presence of the cagA gene in these strains. We observed that in the assayed biopsies, 8.7% (7/80) had mutations in the 23S rRNA gene region at positions 2143 and 2142, while 22.5% (18/80) had mutations in gyrA at codons 87 and 91. Moreover, absence of the CagA-EPIYA pathogenicity factor was observed in 68% (17/25) of resistant samples. The knowledge of the local profile of antimicrobial resistance and the complex interplay...
Peritoneal carcinomatosis is usually a terminal disease with short median survival in patients wi... more Peritoneal carcinomatosis is usually a terminal disease with short median survival in patients with gastric cancer. Systemic FOLFOX is one of the most used regimens in the first-line treatment of metastatic gastric cancer. However, there is scarce evidence that cytoreductive surgery (CRS) and intraperitoneal heated chemotherapy (HIPEC) improves oncological outcomes of patients with advanced gastric cancer. Herein we present a case of a young woman with advanced gastric cancer with omental and peritoneal metastases who achieved an excellent response after 6 months of FOLFOX followed by CRS and HIPEC. A 53-year-old woman was diagnosed with advanced gastric carcinoma, with extensive omental caking and several peritoneal implants measuring 2 cm at the largest diameter. The patient received mFOLFOX6 for 6 months with excellent clinical and radiographic response. She was then submitted to a D2 total gastrectomy followed by CRS and HIPEC with mitomycin. The final pathology report showed a ...
Berardinelli-Seip Congenital Lipodystrophy (BSCL) is a rare autosomal recessive disease that affe... more Berardinelli-Seip Congenital Lipodystrophy (BSCL) is a rare autosomal recessive disease that affects the development of adipocytes and leads to an inability to store fat in adipocytes. This study aimed to evaluate the life expectancy and the causes of death of patients with BSCL. We analyzed death certificates, and medical records of BSCL patients who died between 1997 and 2017. If the death certificate was incomplete or unavailable, we reviewed the medical records, and if they were not available too, we collected information from the patient's relatives to understand how the death happened. We calculated the potential years of life lost as a result of premature death. Twenty patients (12 female and 8 male) died between 1997 and 2017. The mean age at the time of death was 27.1±12.4 years (women 25.2±12.5 vs. men 29.9±12.6 years, p = 0.41). Life expectancy for the study population was 62.9±4.8 years. The potential number of years of life lost was 35.6±16.6 years. The causes of de...
New criteria for acute kidney injury (AKI) in cirrhosis have been proposed, but its prognostic si... more New criteria for acute kidney injury (AKI) in cirrhosis have been proposed, but its prognostic significance is unclear. This study aims to evaluate the prognostic significance of the AKI criteria in cirrhotic patients hospitalized for acute decompensation. This is a prospective cohort study. AKI was defined as an increase in creatinine (Cr) levels ≥ 0.3 mg/dL in 48 h or ≥ 50% of the basal value in the last 7d. AKI was divided into stages 1 (elevation: < 2x basal), 2 (2 or 3x), and 3 (> 3x). In this study, 227 patients aged 53.9 ± 11.5 years were included, of whom 37% had AKI (28% AKI1, 5% AKI2, and 4% AKI3). Thirty percent of the patients died or were transplanted within 90 days from causes related to the presence of ascites at hospital admission and higher values of Chronic Liver Failure-Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (CLIF-SOFA) scores, but not to the presence of AKI. In a regression analysis conducted to assess the effect of the final Cr level in patients with AKI, 90-...
Revista portuguesa de cardiologia : orgao oficial da Sociedade Portuguesa de Cardiologia = Portuguese journal of cardiology : an official journal of the Portuguese Society of Cardiology, Jan 27, 2018
A 49-year-old woman was hospitalized for acute left foot arterial ischemia. Arterial Doppler reve... more A 49-year-old woman was hospitalized for acute left foot arterial ischemia. Arterial Doppler revealed occlusion of the dorsalis pedis and posterior tibial arteries. A computed tomography angiography performed to assess abdominal pain showed hepatic, splenic, renal and pancreatic infarctions. A splenic artery embolism and a small aortic wall thrombus at the celiac trunk were identified. No radiological signs of aortic atherosclerosis were found. No predisposing conditions for secondary aortic thrombosis or intracardiac embolic sources were detected. It was determined that primary aortic thrombosis, a rare though potentially serious condition, was to blame. Isolated aortic mural thrombosis therapy is not well established, although systemic anticoagulation, thrombolysis, thromboaspiration, endovascular stent grafting and surgical thrombectomy have been attempted with varying success. In our patient, systemic anticoagulation therapy was initiated and resulted in aortic thrombus resoluti...
Here we report a retrospective cross-sectional study on Esophageal eosinophilia (EsEo) frequency ... more Here we report a retrospective cross-sectional study on Esophageal eosinophilia (EsEo) frequency in Brazil, for 2, 425 pediatric patients with symptoms associated with gastroesophageal diseases in 2012. EsEo is defined by ≥15 eosinophils per high power field (400x) and confirmed through histological analyses of esophageal biopsies. Overall, 126 patients had EsEo equating to a frequency of 5.2%. There was a significant difference between the endoscopic features of patients with EsEo, where 10.7% had erosive esophagitis, 3.0% had non-erosive esophagitis and 1% showed normal esophageal mucosa. According to the interaction of the variables in the Classification and Regression Tree Analysis, most patients diagnosed with EsEo were older males with erosive esophagitis. On the other hand, the lowest frequency of EsEo was found among younger females with non-erosive esophagitis/normal mucosa. Environmental conditions, including climate variation and changes, were observed in association with...
Infection, genetics and evolution : journal of molecular epidemiology and evolutionary genetics in infectious diseases, Jan 17, 2018
Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major health problem within the Community of Portuguese Language Spea... more Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major health problem within the Community of Portuguese Language Speaking Countries (CPLP). Despite the marked variation in TB incidence across its member-states and continued human migratory flux between countries, a considerable gap in the knowledge on the Mycobacterium tuberculosis population structure and strain circulation between the countries still exists. To address this, we have assembled and analysed the largest CPLP M. tuberculosis molecular and drug susceptibility dataset, comprised by a total of 1447 clinical isolates, including 423 multidrug-resistant isolates, from five CPLP countries. The data herein presented reinforces Latin American and Mediterranean (LAM) strains as the hallmark of M. tuberculosis populational structure in the CPLP coupled with country-specific differential prevalence of minor clades. Moreover, using high-resolution typing by 24-loci MIRU-VNTR, six cross-border genetic clusters were detected, thus supporting recent clo...
There are several technological tools who aim to support first year students’ challenges, especia... more There are several technological tools who aim to support first year students’ challenges, especially when it comes to academic writing. This paper analyses one of these tools, Wiley’s AssignMentor. TPACK framework was used to systematise this analysis. The paper showed an alignment between the tools’ features, and the content, pedagogical and technological requirements. In particular, the paper highlighted that the tool provided an online scaffolding tool, which guides students during their writing process. Additionally, some limitations of the software were identified, which could be addressed by using a blended learning approach.
Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciencias, Jan 14, 2017
The dung beetle, Scybalocanthon nigriceps (Harold, 1868), is recorded in Rio Grande do Sul state,... more The dung beetle, Scybalocanthon nigriceps (Harold, 1868), is recorded in Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, for the first time, at the Moreno Fortes Biological Reserve, municipality of Dois Irmãos das Missões, northwest region of the state, expanding the area of occurrence and distribution of this species in the country.
Numerous studies show efflux as a universal bacterial mechanism contributing to antibiotic resist... more Numerous studies show efflux as a universal bacterial mechanism contributing to antibiotic resistance and also that the activity of the antibiotics subject to efflux can be enhanced by the combined use of efflux inhibitors. Nevertheless, the contribution of efflux to the overall drug resistance levels of clinical isolates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis is poorly understood and still is ignored by many. Here, we evaluated the contribution of drug efflux plus target-gene mutations to the drug resistance levels in clinical isolates of M. tuberculosis. A panel of 17 M. tuberculosis clinical strains were characterized for drug resistance associated mutations and antibiotic profiles in the presence and absence of efflux inhibitors. The correlation between the effect of the efflux inhibitors and the resistance levels was assessed by quantitative drug susceptibility testing. The bacterial growth/survival vs. growth inhibition was analyzed through the comparison between the time of growth in ...
There has been an intense research for developing techniques that can produce filaments with heli... more There has been an intense research for developing techniques that can produce filaments with helical shapes, given the widespread of potential applications. In this work, how helices with different curvatures can be precisely imprinted in microfilaments is shown. It is also shown that using this technique, it is possible to produce, in a single fiber, helices with different curvatures. This striking and innovative behavior is observed when one side of the stretched filaments is irradiated with UV light, modifying the mechanical properties at surface. Upon release, the regions with higher curvature start to curl first, while regions with lower intrinsic curvature remain stretched until start to curl later. The results presented here can be important to understand why structures adopt a helical shape in general, which can be of interest in nanotechnology, biomolecular science, or even to understand why plant filaments curl.
Summary Objective: The main goal of this work was to produce a review of educational strategies t... more Summary Objective: The main goal of this work was to produce a review of educational strategies to prevent diabetes, hypertension, and obesity. Method: PubMed database was consulted using combined descriptors such as [Prevention], [Educational Activities], [Diabetes], [Hypertension], and [Obesity]. Data from randomized trials published between 2002 and 2014 were included in spreadsheets for analysis in duplicate by the reviewers. Results: A total of 8,908 articles were found, of which 1,539 were selected about diabetes mellitus (DM, n=369), arterial systemic hypertension (ASH, n=200), and obesity (OBES, n=970). The number of free full text articles available was 1,075 (DM = 276, ASH = 118 and OBES = 681). In most of these studies, demographic characteristics such as gender and age were randomized, and the population mainly composed by students, ethnic groups, family members, pregnant, health or education professionals, patients with chronic diseases (DM, ASH, OBES) or other comorbid...
O objetivo do trabalho foi estimar o custo de produção da soja transgênica, em sistema de semeadu... more O objetivo do trabalho foi estimar o custo de produção da soja transgênica, em sistema de semeadura direta na região oeste do estado da Bahia. A pesquisa foi conduzida, na forma de estudo de caso, em uma propriedade rural localizada no município São Desidério (BA). Para levantamento do custo de produção utilizou-se a metodologia do sistema de Custo Operacional Total (COT). Os dados relativos aos coeficientes técnicos da cultura, utilizados no cálculo do custo de produção, foram levantados de uma planilha de controle administrativo, na safra 2015/2016. Foram calculadas médias e porcentagens de cada item do custo de produção de soja em um hectare. O Custo Operacional Total foi de R$ 2001,37 ha-1, contribuindo com maior impacto os herbicidas (33,82%) e adubos (29,73%). A soja transgênica cultivada em sistema de semeadura direta alcançou menor custo do que outros sistemas de cultivo. A produção com métodos conservacionistas, como o plantio direto e a terceirização das operações agrícola...
Lyotropic colloidal aqueous suspensions of cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) can, after solvent evapo... more Lyotropic colloidal aqueous suspensions of cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) can, after solvent evaporation, retain their chiral nematic arrangement. As water is removed the pitch value of the suspension decreases and structural colour-generating films, which are mechanically brittle in nature, can be obtained. Increasing their flexibility while keeping the chiral nematic structure and biocompatible nature is a challenging task. However, if achievable, this will promote their use in new and interesting applications. In this study, we report on the addition of different amounts of hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC) to CNCs suspension within the coexistence of the isotropic-anisotropic phases and infer the influence of this cellulosic derivative on the properties of the obtained solid films. It was possible to add 50 wt.% of HPC to a CNCs aqueous suspension (to obtain a 50/50 solids ratio) without disrupting the LC phase of CNCs and maintaining a left-handed helical structure in the obtained f...
Primates play an important role in ecosystem functioning and offer critical insights into human e... more Primates play an important role in ecosystem functioning and offer critical insights into human evolution, biology, behavior, and emerging infectious diseases. There are 26 primate species in the Atlantic Forests of South America, 19 of them endemic. We compiled a dataset of 5,472 georeferenced locations of 26 native and 1 introduced primate species, as hybrids in the genera Callithrix and Alouatta. The dataset includes 700 primate communities, 8,121 single species occurrences and 714 estimates of primate population sizes, covering most natural forest types of the tropical and subtropical Atlantic Forest of Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina and some other biomes. On average, primate communities of the Atlantic Forest harbor 2±1 species (range=1-6). However, about 40% of primate communities contain only one species. Alouatta guariba (N=2,188 records) and Sapajus nigritus (N=1,127) were the species with the most records. Callicebus barbarabrownae (N=35), Leontopithecus caissara (N=38), a...
Gender-related differences have been reported in patients with acute coronary syndrome. The descr... more Gender-related differences have been reported in patients with acute coronary syndrome. The description of this comparative finding in a Brazilian registry has not yet been documented. To compare male vs. female patients regarding the baseline characteristics, coronary findings, treatment and in-hospital and long-term prognosis. This is a retrospective, multicenter and observational study that included 3,745 patients (2,437 males and 1,308 females) between May 2010 and May 2015. The primary in-hospital outcome was all-cause mortality. The secondary outcome consisted of combined events (cardiogenic shock, reinfarction, death, stroke and bleeding). The comparison between groups was performed using the chi-square and the t test, considering p < 0.05 as significant. In the long term, mortality and combined events were assessed using the Kaplan-Meier method, with a mean follow-up of 8.79 months. The mean age was 60.3 years for males and 64.6 for females (p < 0.0001). The most preva...
This randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial evaluated the effect of Bifidobacterium animali... more This randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial evaluated the effect of Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis (B. lactis) HN019-containing probiotic lozenges as adjuvant to scaling and root planing (SRP) in patients with generalized chronic periodontitis. Forty-one chronic periodontitis patients were recruited and monitored clinically, immunologically, and microbiologically at baseline (before SRP) and 30 and 90 days after SRP. All patients were randomly assigned to a Test (SRP+Probiotic, n=20) or Control (SRP+Placebo, n=21) group. The probiotic lozenges were used twice a day for 30 days. The data were statistically analyzed. The Test group presented a decrease in probing pocket depth and a clinical attachment gain significantly higher than those of the Control group at 90 days. The Test group also demonstrated significantly fewer periodontal pathogens of red and orange complexes, as well as lower proinflammatory cytokine levels when compared to the Control group. Only the Test g...
The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical outcomes of patients deferred from coronary... more The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical outcomes of patients deferred from coronary revascularization on the basis of instantaneous wave-free ratio (iFR) or fractional flow reserve (FFR) measurements in stable angina pectoris (SAP) and acute coronary syndromes (ACS). Assessment of coronary stenosis severity with pressure guidewires is recommended to determine the need for myocardial revascularization. The safety of deferral of coronary revascularization in the pooled per-protocol population (n = 4,486) of the DEFINE-FLAIR (Functional Lesion Assessment of Intermediate Stenosis to Guide Revascularisation) and iFR-SWEDEHEART (Instantaneous Wave-Free Ratio Versus Fractional Flow Reserve in Patients With Stable Angina Pectoris or Acute Coronary Syndrome) randomized clinical trials was investigated. Patients were stratified according to revascularization decision making on the basis of iFR or FFR and to clinical presentation (SAP or ACS). The primary endpoint was major adver...
Revista do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de Sao Paulo, 2018
In this study, we evaluated the mutations of Helicobacter pylori associated with resistance to cl... more In this study, we evaluated the mutations of Helicobacter pylori associated with resistance to clarithromycin and levofloxacin. Furthermore, based on the proposed interaction between antimicrobial resistance and pathogenicity, we correlated the mutation profiles of the strains with the presence of the pathogenicity gene cagA. We analyzed 80 gastric biopsy specimens from H. pylori-infected patients for point mutations in the 23S rRNA gene region and in the gyrA gene, which are related to clarithromycin and levofloxacin resistance, respectively, and investigated the presence of the cagA gene in these strains. We observed that in the assayed biopsies, 8.7% (7/80) had mutations in the 23S rRNA gene region at positions 2143 and 2142, while 22.5% (18/80) had mutations in gyrA at codons 87 and 91. Moreover, absence of the CagA-EPIYA pathogenicity factor was observed in 68% (17/25) of resistant samples. The knowledge of the local profile of antimicrobial resistance and the complex interplay...
Peritoneal carcinomatosis is usually a terminal disease with short median survival in patients wi... more Peritoneal carcinomatosis is usually a terminal disease with short median survival in patients with gastric cancer. Systemic FOLFOX is one of the most used regimens in the first-line treatment of metastatic gastric cancer. However, there is scarce evidence that cytoreductive surgery (CRS) and intraperitoneal heated chemotherapy (HIPEC) improves oncological outcomes of patients with advanced gastric cancer. Herein we present a case of a young woman with advanced gastric cancer with omental and peritoneal metastases who achieved an excellent response after 6 months of FOLFOX followed by CRS and HIPEC. A 53-year-old woman was diagnosed with advanced gastric carcinoma, with extensive omental caking and several peritoneal implants measuring 2 cm at the largest diameter. The patient received mFOLFOX6 for 6 months with excellent clinical and radiographic response. She was then submitted to a D2 total gastrectomy followed by CRS and HIPEC with mitomycin. The final pathology report showed a ...
Berardinelli-Seip Congenital Lipodystrophy (BSCL) is a rare autosomal recessive disease that affe... more Berardinelli-Seip Congenital Lipodystrophy (BSCL) is a rare autosomal recessive disease that affects the development of adipocytes and leads to an inability to store fat in adipocytes. This study aimed to evaluate the life expectancy and the causes of death of patients with BSCL. We analyzed death certificates, and medical records of BSCL patients who died between 1997 and 2017. If the death certificate was incomplete or unavailable, we reviewed the medical records, and if they were not available too, we collected information from the patient's relatives to understand how the death happened. We calculated the potential years of life lost as a result of premature death. Twenty patients (12 female and 8 male) died between 1997 and 2017. The mean age at the time of death was 27.1±12.4 years (women 25.2±12.5 vs. men 29.9±12.6 years, p = 0.41). Life expectancy for the study population was 62.9±4.8 years. The potential number of years of life lost was 35.6±16.6 years. The causes of de...
New criteria for acute kidney injury (AKI) in cirrhosis have been proposed, but its prognostic si... more New criteria for acute kidney injury (AKI) in cirrhosis have been proposed, but its prognostic significance is unclear. This study aims to evaluate the prognostic significance of the AKI criteria in cirrhotic patients hospitalized for acute decompensation. This is a prospective cohort study. AKI was defined as an increase in creatinine (Cr) levels ≥ 0.3 mg/dL in 48 h or ≥ 50% of the basal value in the last 7d. AKI was divided into stages 1 (elevation: < 2x basal), 2 (2 or 3x), and 3 (> 3x). In this study, 227 patients aged 53.9 ± 11.5 years were included, of whom 37% had AKI (28% AKI1, 5% AKI2, and 4% AKI3). Thirty percent of the patients died or were transplanted within 90 days from causes related to the presence of ascites at hospital admission and higher values of Chronic Liver Failure-Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (CLIF-SOFA) scores, but not to the presence of AKI. In a regression analysis conducted to assess the effect of the final Cr level in patients with AKI, 90-...
Revista portuguesa de cardiologia : orgao oficial da Sociedade Portuguesa de Cardiologia = Portuguese journal of cardiology : an official journal of the Portuguese Society of Cardiology, Jan 27, 2018
A 49-year-old woman was hospitalized for acute left foot arterial ischemia. Arterial Doppler reve... more A 49-year-old woman was hospitalized for acute left foot arterial ischemia. Arterial Doppler revealed occlusion of the dorsalis pedis and posterior tibial arteries. A computed tomography angiography performed to assess abdominal pain showed hepatic, splenic, renal and pancreatic infarctions. A splenic artery embolism and a small aortic wall thrombus at the celiac trunk were identified. No radiological signs of aortic atherosclerosis were found. No predisposing conditions for secondary aortic thrombosis or intracardiac embolic sources were detected. It was determined that primary aortic thrombosis, a rare though potentially serious condition, was to blame. Isolated aortic mural thrombosis therapy is not well established, although systemic anticoagulation, thrombolysis, thromboaspiration, endovascular stent grafting and surgical thrombectomy have been attempted with varying success. In our patient, systemic anticoagulation therapy was initiated and resulted in aortic thrombus resoluti...
Here we report a retrospective cross-sectional study on Esophageal eosinophilia (EsEo) frequency ... more Here we report a retrospective cross-sectional study on Esophageal eosinophilia (EsEo) frequency in Brazil, for 2, 425 pediatric patients with symptoms associated with gastroesophageal diseases in 2012. EsEo is defined by ≥15 eosinophils per high power field (400x) and confirmed through histological analyses of esophageal biopsies. Overall, 126 patients had EsEo equating to a frequency of 5.2%. There was a significant difference between the endoscopic features of patients with EsEo, where 10.7% had erosive esophagitis, 3.0% had non-erosive esophagitis and 1% showed normal esophageal mucosa. According to the interaction of the variables in the Classification and Regression Tree Analysis, most patients diagnosed with EsEo were older males with erosive esophagitis. On the other hand, the lowest frequency of EsEo was found among younger females with non-erosive esophagitis/normal mucosa. Environmental conditions, including climate variation and changes, were observed in association with...
Infection, genetics and evolution : journal of molecular epidemiology and evolutionary genetics in infectious diseases, Jan 17, 2018
Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major health problem within the Community of Portuguese Language Spea... more Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major health problem within the Community of Portuguese Language Speaking Countries (CPLP). Despite the marked variation in TB incidence across its member-states and continued human migratory flux between countries, a considerable gap in the knowledge on the Mycobacterium tuberculosis population structure and strain circulation between the countries still exists. To address this, we have assembled and analysed the largest CPLP M. tuberculosis molecular and drug susceptibility dataset, comprised by a total of 1447 clinical isolates, including 423 multidrug-resistant isolates, from five CPLP countries. The data herein presented reinforces Latin American and Mediterranean (LAM) strains as the hallmark of M. tuberculosis populational structure in the CPLP coupled with country-specific differential prevalence of minor clades. Moreover, using high-resolution typing by 24-loci MIRU-VNTR, six cross-border genetic clusters were detected, thus supporting recent clo...
There are several technological tools who aim to support first year students’ challenges, especia... more There are several technological tools who aim to support first year students’ challenges, especially when it comes to academic writing. This paper analyses one of these tools, Wiley’s AssignMentor. TPACK framework was used to systematise this analysis. The paper showed an alignment between the tools’ features, and the content, pedagogical and technological requirements. In particular, the paper highlighted that the tool provided an online scaffolding tool, which guides students during their writing process. Additionally, some limitations of the software were identified, which could be addressed by using a blended learning approach.
Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciencias, Jan 14, 2017
The dung beetle, Scybalocanthon nigriceps (Harold, 1868), is recorded in Rio Grande do Sul state,... more The dung beetle, Scybalocanthon nigriceps (Harold, 1868), is recorded in Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, for the first time, at the Moreno Fortes Biological Reserve, municipality of Dois Irmãos das Missões, northwest region of the state, expanding the area of occurrence and distribution of this species in the country.
Numerous studies show efflux as a universal bacterial mechanism contributing to antibiotic resist... more Numerous studies show efflux as a universal bacterial mechanism contributing to antibiotic resistance and also that the activity of the antibiotics subject to efflux can be enhanced by the combined use of efflux inhibitors. Nevertheless, the contribution of efflux to the overall drug resistance levels of clinical isolates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis is poorly understood and still is ignored by many. Here, we evaluated the contribution of drug efflux plus target-gene mutations to the drug resistance levels in clinical isolates of M. tuberculosis. A panel of 17 M. tuberculosis clinical strains were characterized for drug resistance associated mutations and antibiotic profiles in the presence and absence of efflux inhibitors. The correlation between the effect of the efflux inhibitors and the resistance levels was assessed by quantitative drug susceptibility testing. The bacterial growth/survival vs. growth inhibition was analyzed through the comparison between the time of growth in ...
There has been an intense research for developing techniques that can produce filaments with heli... more There has been an intense research for developing techniques that can produce filaments with helical shapes, given the widespread of potential applications. In this work, how helices with different curvatures can be precisely imprinted in microfilaments is shown. It is also shown that using this technique, it is possible to produce, in a single fiber, helices with different curvatures. This striking and innovative behavior is observed when one side of the stretched filaments is irradiated with UV light, modifying the mechanical properties at surface. Upon release, the regions with higher curvature start to curl first, while regions with lower intrinsic curvature remain stretched until start to curl later. The results presented here can be important to understand why structures adopt a helical shape in general, which can be of interest in nanotechnology, biomolecular science, or even to understand why plant filaments curl.
Summary Objective: The main goal of this work was to produce a review of educational strategies t... more Summary Objective: The main goal of this work was to produce a review of educational strategies to prevent diabetes, hypertension, and obesity. Method: PubMed database was consulted using combined descriptors such as [Prevention], [Educational Activities], [Diabetes], [Hypertension], and [Obesity]. Data from randomized trials published between 2002 and 2014 were included in spreadsheets for analysis in duplicate by the reviewers. Results: A total of 8,908 articles were found, of which 1,539 were selected about diabetes mellitus (DM, n=369), arterial systemic hypertension (ASH, n=200), and obesity (OBES, n=970). The number of free full text articles available was 1,075 (DM = 276, ASH = 118 and OBES = 681). In most of these studies, demographic characteristics such as gender and age were randomized, and the population mainly composed by students, ethnic groups, family members, pregnant, health or education professionals, patients with chronic diseases (DM, ASH, OBES) or other comorbid...
Uploads
Papers by Pedro Silva