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Health promoting practices and personal lifestyle behaviors of Brazilian health professionals
No full textAbstract\ud
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Background\ud
This study was conducted to examine the lifestyle behaviors and health promoting practices of physicians, nurses, and community health workers in Brazil.\ud
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Methods\ud
A random sample of primary health care units in Brazil was selected, and a pretested questionnaire was administered via phone interviews, in 2011, to 182 physicians, 347 nurses, and 269 community health workers, totaling 798 health professionals. The total initial sample included 1600 eligible health professionals. Variables measured included physical activity, alcohol intake, hours of sleep, diet, and perceived self-efficacy to provide preventive counseling on related lifestyle behaviors.\ud
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Results\ud
More than 25 % of physicians, nurses, and community health workers reported eating 0–2 portions of fruits and vegetables per day. In terms of cervical and breast cancer, nurses reported to be ‘very prepared’ to advise patients on these topics more frequently than physicians. The prevalence of smoking ranged from 4.9 % among nurses to 7.4 % among community health workers. The proportion of physical inactivity ranged from 40.3 % among nurses to 52.1 % among community health workers.\ud
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Conclusion\ud
A reasonably high proportion of physicians, nurses, and community health workers report not engaging in healthy lifestyle behaviors that impact chronic diseases, thus, they may be less likely to encourage such behaviors in their patients.The authors thank the healthcare participants of the study for their time, and\ud
the members of Project GUIA for their contributions. Additionally, we thank\ud
Ms. Conny Jasper for her professional writing service.\ud
Wellcome Trust Funded Author (P.C. Hallal)
Seroprevalence of hepatitis C virus among people living with HIV/AIDS in Latin America and the Caribbean: a systematic review
No full textAbstract\ud
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Background\ud
Studies have shown that the immunosuppression induced by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) accelerates the natural history of liver disease associated with hepatitis C virus (HCV), with 3- to 5-fold higher odds of coinfected individuals developing cirrhosis. However, estimates of the seroprevalence of hepatitis C among people living with HIV/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) (PLHA) in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) are widely variable.\ud
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Methods\ud
We performed a systematic review to estimate the seroprevalence of HCV among PLHA. We searched studies on HIV and HCV infections in LAC included in the PubMed, LILACS and Embase databases in December of 2014 with no time or language restrictions. The following combinations of search terms were used in the PubMed and Embase databases: (HIV OR Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome Virus OR AIDS OR HTLV OR Human Immunodeficiency Virus OR Human T Cell) AND (HCV OR HEPATITIS C OR HEPATITIS C VIRUS OR HEPACIVIRUS) AND (name of an individual country or territory in LAC). The following search terms were used in the LILACS database: (HIV OR AIDS OR Virus da Imunodeficiencia Humana) AND (HCV OR Hepatite C OR Hepacivirus). An additional 11 studies were identified through manual searches. A total of 2,380 publications were located, including 617 duplicates; the remaining articles were reviewed to select studies for inclusion in this study.\ud
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Results\ud
A total of 37 studies were selected for systematic review, including 23 from Brazil, 5 from Argentina, 3 from Cuba, 1 from Puerto Rico, 1 from Chile, 1 from Colombia, 1 from Mexico, 1 from Peru and 1 from Venezuela. The estimated seroprevalence of HCV infection varied from 0.8 to 58.5 % (mean 17.37; median 10.91), with the highest in Argentina and Brazil and the lowest in Venezuela and Colombia.\ud
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Conclusions\ud
Investigation of HCV infection among PLHA and of HIV infection among people living with HCV is highly recommended because it allows for better follow up, counseling and treatment of HIV/HCV-coinfected patients. Future studies with larger sample sizes are needed in both South and Central America to understand and address the risk factors associated with the acquisition of infection
Physical data warehouse design on NoSQL databases OLAP query processing over HBase
No full textNowadays, data warehousing and online analytical processing (OLAP) are core technologies in business intelligence and therefore have drawn much interest by researchers in the last decade. However, these technologies have been mainly developed for relational database systems in centralized environments. In other words, these technologies have not been designed to be applied in scalable systems such as NoSQL databases. Adapting a data warehousing environment to NoSQL databases introduces several advantages, such as scalability and flexibility. This paper investigates three physical data warehouse designs to adapt the Star Schema Benchmark for its use in NoSQL databases. In particular, our main investigation refers to the OLAP query processing over column-oriented databases using the MapReduce framework. We analyze the impact of distributing attributes among column-families in HBase on the OLAP query performance. Our experiments showed how processing time of OLAP queries was impacted by a physical data warehouse design regarding the number of dimensions accessed and the data volume. We conclude that using distinct distributions of attributes among column-families can improve OLAP query performance in HBase and consequently make the benchmark more suitable for OLAP over NoSQL databases.FAPESP (Grant: 2014/12233-2)FINEPCAPESCNP
Survey of Plasmodium in the golden-headed lion tamarin (Leontopithecus chrysomelas) living in urban Atlantic forest in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
No full textAbstract\ud
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Background\ud
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Communicating the presence of potential zoonotic pathogens such as Plasmodium spp. in wild animals is important for developing both animal and human health policies.\ud
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Methods\ud
The translocation of an exotic and invasive population of Leontopithecus chrysomelas (golden-headed lion tamarins) required the screening of these animals for specific pathogens. This studies objective was to investigate Plasmodium spp. infection in the L. chrysomelas, both to know its prevalence in these animals in the local area and to minimize the risk of pathogens being translocated to the destination site. To investigate Plasmodium spp. infection, blood samples from 268 animals were assessed for the presence of Plasmodium spp. by genus-specific PCR and stained thick and thin blood smears were examined by light microscopy. Data of human malaria infection in the studied region was also assembled from SINAN (Diseases Information System Notification—Ministry of Health of Brazil).\ud
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Results\ud
Results from the PCR and microscopy were all negative and suggested that no L. chrysomelas was infected with Plasmodium spp. Analysis of SINAN data showed that malaria transmission is present among the human population in the studied region.\ud
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Conclusions\ud
This study is the first to provide information on Plasmodium spp. infection in L. chrysomelas. \ud
Plasmodium spp. infection of this species is rare or absent though malaria parasites circulate in the region. In addition, there is minimal risk of translocating Plasmodium spp. infected animals to the destination site.We would like to thank the Pri-Matas team and to CPRJ-INEA for their support\ud
during this research, as well as the Instituto Estadual do Ambiente (INEA-RJ)\ud
and the Centro de Primatas Brasileiros do Instituto Chico Mendes para a\ud
Conservação da Biodiversidade (CPB-ICMBio) for their support. We would also\ud
like to thank all the institutions and organisations which provided financial\ud
support for the Tamarins Translocation Project including the Fundação Grupo\ud
O Boticário, the Lion Tamarin of Brazil Fund, the Primate Action Fund, the\ud
Margot Marsh Foundation, The Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation\ud
Fund, RBO Energia S.A. (Câmara de Compensação Ambiental/Secretaria\ud
do Meio Ambiente Rio de Janeiro), the Tropical Forest Conservation Act/\ud
Fundo Brasileiro para Biodiversidade (TFCA/FUNBIO)—Rio de Janeiro, and \ud
Aitken et al. Malar J (2016) 15:93 Page 6 of 6\ud
the Instituto Pri-Matas para Conservação da Biodiversidade. Laboratory\ud
tests were done with grants from São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP)\ud
(2009/51466-4, 2009/53561-4 and 2009/53256-7) awarded to JLCD and SE.\ud
MCMK was supported by PNPD/CAPES. EHA was supported by a FAPESP fel‑\ud
lowship (2011/19525-0). SE and JLCD were supported by Conselho Nacional\ud
de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) (306668/2012-2) and\ud
(301517/2006-1) respectively. In addition, we are grateful to Jefferson Ferreira–\ud
Ferreira (Instituto de Desenvolvimento Sustentável Mamirauá—IDSM/MCTI)\ud
for creating the map in Fig.
Fatal factitious Cushing syndrome (Münchhausen’s syndrome) in a patient with macroprolactinoma and silent corticotrophinoma: case report and literature review
No full textAbstract\ud
Münchhausen’s syndrome (MS) is a chronic factitious disorder characterized by the intentional production of clinical symptoms without external incentive. One type of MS is factitious Cushing syndrome, an extremely rare clinical situation in which the diagnosis is challenging mainly due to interference of the exogenous medication in cortisol immunoassays. We described a 26-year-old woman who was originally diagnosed with a macroprolactinoma and during follow-up developed clinical and laboratorial hypercortisolism. A transsphenoidal surgery was performed and immunohistochemistry revealed positive and diffuse staining for both hormones. Four years later, her hypercortisolism recurred and the confirmation of factitious Cushing syndrome was delayed due to conflicting laboratorial results.\ud
There are few cases in the literature of factitious Cushing syndrome, and only one had a fatal outcome. The diagnosis of this condition is complex and includes cyclic Cushing syndrome in the differential diagnosis. These patients have high morbidity and increased mortality risk and are likely to have other psychiatric disorders. Prednisone was identified as the culprit in the majority of the cases.We would like to thank Dr. Wagner Farid Gattaz and Dr. Jose Gallucci Neto,\ud
from the Psychiatric Division, for providing assistance during hospitalization.\ud
This work was partially supported by grants from Conselho Nacional de\ud
Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico – CNPq (301339/2008-9 to B.B.M.)
Progesterone acts via the progesterone receptor to induce adamts proteases in ovarian cancer cells
No full textAbstract\ud
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Background\ud
Ovarian carcinomas, usually associated with sex hormones dysregulation, are the leading cause of gynecological neoplastic death. In normal ovaries, hormones play a central role in regulating cell proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. On the other hand, hormonal alterations also play a variety of roles in cancer. Stimulation by sex hormones potentially affects gene expression, invasiveness, cell growth and angiogenesis. Proteases of the “a disintegrin and metalloproteinase with thrombospondin motifs” (ADAMTS) family are secreted by different cell types and become involved in collagen processing, cleavage of the proteoglycan matrix, and angiogenesis. We evaluated whether sex hormones affect ADAMTS 1 and 4 expression in ovarian cancer cells.\ud
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Methods\ud
We analysed mRNA and protein levels in human ovarian tumor cells with different degrees of malignancy, NIH-OVCAR-3 and ES-2, that were treated or not with estrogen, testosterone and progesterone.\ud
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Results\ud
Our results suggest that progesterone increases ADAMTS protein and mRNA levels in the lysates from ES-2 cells, and it increases ADAMTS protein in the lysates and conditioned media from NIH-OVCAR-3. Progesterone effects were reversed by RU486 treatment.\ud
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Conclusion\ud
We conclude that progesterone acts via the progesterone receptor to modulate ADAMTS 1 and 4 levels in ovarian cancer cell lines.This investigation was financially supported by the State of São Paulo\ud
Research Foundation (FAPESP grants 2010/07699-1, 2013/01092-6)
Resveratrol improves glycemic control in insulin-treated diabetic rats: participation of the hepatic territory
No full textAbstract\ud
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Background\ud
Resveratrol is a natural polyphenol that has been proposed to improve glycemic control in diabetes, by mechanisms that involve improvement in insulin secretion and activity. In type 1 diabetes (T1D), in which insulin therapy is obligatory, resveratrol treatment has never been investigated. The present study aimed to evaluate resveratrol as an adjunctive agent to insulin therapy in a T1D-like experimental model.\ud
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Methods\ud
Rats were rendered diabetic by streptozotocin (STZ) treatment. Twenty days later, four groups of animals were studied: non-diabetic (ND); diabetic treated with placebo (DP); diabetic treated with insulin (DI) and diabetic treated with insulin plus resveratrol (DIR). After 30 days of treatment, 24-hour urine was collected; then, blood, soleus muscle, proximal small intestine, renal cortex and liver were sampled. Specific glucose transporter proteins were analyzed (Western blotting) in each territory of interest. Solute carrier family 2 member 2 (Slc2a2), phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (Pck1) and glucose-6-phosphatase catalytic subunit (G6pc) mRNAs (qPCR), glycogen storage and sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) activity were analyzed in liver.\ud
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Results\ud
Diabetes induction increased blood glucose, plasma fructosamine concentrations, and glycosuria. Insulin therapy partially recovered the glycemic control; however, resveratrol as adjunctive therapy additionally improved glycemic control and restored plasma fructosamine concentration to values of non-diabetic rats. Resveratrol did not alter the expression of the glucose transporters GLUT2 and SGLT1 in the intestine, GLUT2 and SGLT2 in kidney and GLUT4 in soleus, suggesting that fluxes of glucose in these territories were unaltered. Differently, in liver, resveratrol promoted a reduction in Slc2a2, Pck1, and G6pc mRNAs, as well as in GLUT2 protein (P < 0.05, DIR vs. DI); besides, it increased (P < 0.01, DIR vs. DI) the hepatic glycogen content, and SIRT1 protein.\ud
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Conclusions\ud
Resveratrol is able to improve glycemic control in insulin-treated T1D-like rats. This effect seems not to involve changes in glucose fluxes in the small intestine, renal proximal tubule, and soleus skeletal muscle; but to be related to several changes in the liver, where downregulation of Slc2a2/GLUT2, Pck1, and G6pc expression was observed, favoring reduction of glucose production and efflux. Besides, resveratrol increased SIRT1 nuclear protein content in liver, which may be related to the observed gene expression regulations.This research was supported by the Nacional Council for Scientific and\ud
Technological Development (CNPq) #142187/2013-5 and by the São Paulo\ud
Research Foundation (FAPESP) #2012/04831-1
Alphacoronavirus in urban Molossidae and Phyllostomidae bats, Brazil
No full textAbstract
Background
Bats have been implicated as the main reservoir of coronavirus (CoV). Thus the role of these hosts on the evolution and spread of CoVs currently deserve the attention of emerging diseases surveillance programs. On the view of the interest on and importance of CoVs in bats the occurrence and molecular characterization of CoV were conducted in bats from Brazil.
Findings
Three hundred five enteric contents of 29 bat species were tested using a panCoV nested RT-PCR. Nine specimens were positive and eight was suitable for RdRp gene sequencing. RdRp gene phylogeny showed that all CoVs strains from this study cluster in Alphacoronavirus genus, with one Molossidae and one Phlyllostomidae-CoV specific groups. Phylogenetic analyses of two S gene sequences showed a large diversity within the Alphacoronavirus genus.
Conclusions
This study indicated a CoV-to-host specificity and draws attention for CoV detection in Cynomops sp, a potential new reservoir. The phylogenetic analyses indicate that diversity of CoV in bats is higher than previously known