HIV Testing among men in Curitiba,Brazil

In 2015, a community-wide intervention was launched in the city of Curitiba to evaluate the uptake of multiple HIV testing. A three-stage cluster sampling of 4800 men aged 15–64 years was selected in Curitiba. Logistic regression models were used to establish driving factors of HIV testing over the past 12 months.

In the total sample, 49.5% have tested for HIV once in lifetime and 18.7% in the last 12 months. Among MSM, the proportions were much higher: 75.9% and 47.8% respectively. In the multivariate analysis, a significantly higher likelihood of HIV testing was found for young men (15–24 years), men with better educational level, those with more than 6 casual partners, and MSM compared to heterosexual men. The results indicate that the intervention to increase HIV diagnosis has substantially expanded MSM access to HIV testing.     

Age at First Birth,Parity and History of Hysterectomy Are Associated to Frailty Status: Cross-Sectional Analysis from the International Mobility in Aging Study -Imias

Frailty at older ages is an adverse health condition that is more prevalent in women than men and the excess prevalence in women cannot be adequately explained by common risk factors. Reproductive history events may be among contributing factors. This study aims to examine associations between age at first childbirth, lifetime parity, and history of hysterectomy with frailty status in community dwelling older women. This is a cross-sectional study of 1047 women participating in the International Mobility in Aging Study at baseline (2012, aged between 65 and 74 years old). Fried’s phenotype of frailty was used to identify frail, pre-frail and non-frail groups. Measured reproductive history variables include age at first birth (before 20 years old; 20 years old or older), lifetime parity (0; 1–2 children; 3–4 children; 5 children or more) and hysterectomy (yes/no). We constructed multinomial regression models adjusted for possible confounders to examine the relationships of interest; non frail women were the reference category. Early maternal age (before 20 years-old) was associated with increased risk of frailty (OR 2.15, 95%CI: 1.24–3.72). Compared to women who delivered five or more children, those who had 1–2 children showed significantly lower odds of pre-frail status (OR 0.54, 95%CI 0.36–0.82) and frailty (OR 0.43 95%CI 0.22–0.86). Hysterectomy was independently associated with frailty (OR 1.74 95%CI 1.04–2.89) Age at first birth, parity and hysterectomy are associated to a greater likelihood of frailty in later life. This study reinforces the importance of considering the reproductive characteristics of women as indicators of health status.     

Development of an Index for the Inspection of Aedes aegypti Breeding Sites in Brazil: Multi-criteria Analysis

BackgroundAedes aegypti is a vector for the transmission of diseases such as dengue fever, chikungunya, Zika fever, and yellow fever. In 2016, over 1 million cases of these diseases were reported in Brazil, which is an alarming public health issue. One of the ways of controlling this disease is by inspecting and neutralizing the places where A. aegypti lays its eggs. The Ministry of Planning, Development, and Administration of Brazil maintains the inspection statistics.ObjectiveWe propose a multi-criteria analysis to create an index for A. aegypti inspections reported through the Ministry of Planning, Development, and Administration system of Brazil.MethodsBased on the repository from urban cleaning services combined with data on inspections conducted by government agencies in several Brazilian cities and municipalities, we selected and combined metrics, which we further ranked using the analytic hierarchy process methodology. We also developed risk maps based on the analytic hierarchy process ranking of the A. aegypti breeding sites.ResultsBased on our analysis and the available data, the priority for inspections should consider the number of sick people (weight 0.350), medical evaluations (weight 0.239), inspections (weight 0.201), mosquito breeding sites (weight 0.126), and days of absence from work (weight 0.096).ConclusionsThe proposed index could aid public health practitioners in preventing the appearance of new A. aegypti breeding sites. This information technology application can help solve such public health challenges.     

Comparison of photobiomodulation in the treatment of skin injury with an open wound in mice

Lasers in Medical Science - This study aimed to investigate the effects of photobiomodulation at a wavelength of 660 and 830 nm at different numbers of application points in the healing of...     

Ayahuasca and Kambo intoxication after alternative natural therapy for depression,confirmed by mass spectrometry

Forensic Toxicology - We present a case report about an acute intoxication episode after an oral administration of Ayahuasca and dermal exposure of Kambo for treatment of depression. The clinical...     

Autonomic modulations of heart rate variability are associated with sports injury incidence in sprint swimmers

Objectives: Young athletes’ participation in competitive sports is becoming increasingly common, and this increased involvement raises concerns about the occurrence of overtraining and sports injuries. Since these issues are poorly understood, this study analyzed heart rate variability, stress/recovery relationship, and sports injury incidence during a training macrocycle of young sprint and endurance swimmers.

Methods: Thirty teenage swimmers (aged 12 to 17 years) were divided into two groups as follows: Sprint (n = 17) and Endurance (n = 13). Subjects were evaluated over 20 weeks, based on the following three schedules: general, specific, and competitive. In addition to heart rate variability and sports injury incidence, the Recovery-Stress-Questionnaire of Athletes was used to analyse stress/recovery states in athletes. All procedures were developed at the initial moment and at the end of each periodization step.

Results: The Sprint group presented a reduced standard deviation of normal-normal beats (73.0 ± 6.6 vs. 54.1 ± 3.5 ms; p < 0.05) and root mean square of the successive differences (55.3 ± 6.2 vs. 42.0 ± 3.7 ms; p < 0.01) from the period of general preparation until the time of competition. Recovery-stress monitoring was affected only by the swimming training periodization (p < 0.05). During the general period, differences between recovery and stress scales were correlated directly with the root mean square of the successive differences (r = 0.576; p = 0.001), the standard deviation of instantaneous variability beat-to-beat (r = 0.521; p = 0.003) and the triangular index (r = 0.476; p = 0.008). Differences between general recovery and stress scales were inversely correlated with geometric indexes after the specific training period. Moreover, the Sprint group showed a higher incidence of sports injury than the Endurance group (0.0214 ± 0.0068 vs. 0.0136 ± 0.0050 cases/1000 hours).

Conclusion: Sprint training was associated with progressive activation of the sympathetic nervous system as well as a higher incidence of sports injury in comparison to endurance swimming during a training macrocycle.     

Ligand-gated ion channels in acutely dissociated rat hippocampal neurons with long dendrites

A technique for dissociation of hippocampi of 3–25-day-old rats is described by which pyramidal and bipolar neurons with many long (up to 200 μm) dendrites can be obtained. Dissociation of CA1 neurons was achieved by mechanical means, in the absence of Ca²⁺, and without the use of proteolytic enzymes. The functional properties of the dissociated neurons were assessed using the whole-cell patch-clamp technique:. Whole-cell currents were elicited by U-tube application of the agonists N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA), γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), and acetylcholine (ACh), and spontaneous miniature currents were also observed in these neurons. ACh-elicited currents were blocked by methyllycaconitine (MLA, 1 nM) and Pb²⁺ (0.1–10 μM). These results establish acutely dissociated neurons as a simple and reliable preparation for the study of the pharmacology, kinetics and subcellular distribution of ligand-gated ion channels.     

Epidemiologic aspects of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis in an endemic area of the state of Paraná, Brazil

An epidemiological investigation of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) was performed in 1992 and 1993 in an endemic area of Jussara and Terra Boa counties, in the Northern Paraná State. The study covered 684 individuals from a population of approximately 1,400 from six agricultural areas (Fazenda Palmital, Ceramica Andirá, Fazenda Jussara, Fazenda Lagoa, Destilaria Melhoramentos, and Fazenda Mururê) in Northern Paraná, Brazil. The mean frequency of CL history was 19.9%. The highest frequency was at Fazenda Jussara (40.5%). Based on the indirect immunofluorescence test, 58 (8.5%) presented significant titers of anti-Leishmania antibody, 17 (29.3%) of whom had no history of CL. The Montenegro skin test was applied to 97 individuals with a history of CL and was positive in 80 (82.5%). During the survey, seven individuals presented lesions, four of which were positive for Leishmania sp. The strain isolated was identified as Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis.     

p53 levels in human mammary epithelial cells expressing wild-type and mutant human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV-16) E6 proteins

Human fibroblast cells must overcome both the M1 and the M2 stages of cellular senescence to immortalize, at which point cells almost always express telomerase activity. The human papillomavirus (HPV) oncoproteins, HPV-16 E6 and E7, can block the progression to senescence in fibroblasts by associations with p53 and pRb, respectively. Human mammary epithelial (HME) cells require only HPV-16 E6 to bypass M1, suggesting that pRb may not have a direct role in HME cells senescence. In the present report, we show that only wild-type HPV-16 E6 allows complete degradation of p53, immortalization and reactivation of telomerase activity in HME cells. These results suggest that the ability of HPV-16 wild-type and mutant E6 proteins to degrade p53 in intact HME cells and keratinocytes does not completely correlate with their ability to degrade p53 in a cell-free system. This discrepancy between in vitro and in vivo p53 degradation may be biologically significant and may provide insight into the susceptibility of certain human cells and tissues for reactivation of telomerase and immortalization.