Identification of Legionella by MALDI Biotyper through three preparation methods and an in-house library comparing phylogenetic and hierarchical cluster results.

The identification and typing of bacteria are very expensive and time-consuming due to their growth times, and the expertise needed. MALDI-TOF MS represents a fast technique, reproducible with molecular approaches. This technique is still poorly applied in Legionella surveillance with estimation occurring only at the genus level.

Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification (LAMP): An Innovative Approach for the Environmental Monitoring of SARS-CoV-2.

The rapid and accurate detection of SARS-CoV-2 in environmental settings is crucial for effective public health management during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study compares the performance of the Reverse Transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and the Reverse Transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) for SARS-CoV-2 detection from 100 surface samples collected in healthcare environments. The reference method, RT-qPCR, identified a percentage of 25% of positive samples, while RT-LAMP detected a percentage of 27% of positive surfaces.

Trachoma in Indigenous Settlements in Brazil, 2000-2008.

Purpose: Trachoma, caused by the bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis, is a chronic, recurrent inflammatory disease that affects the cornea and conjunctiva. Trachoma is the leading infectious cause of avoidable blindness worldwide. Its prevalence is higher among individuals of low socioeconomic status, and trachoma is common in indigenous communities.

Analyses of cataract surgery performed by the Unified Health System in Brazil, 2006-2007.

Objective: Estimate cataract surgical rates (CSR) for Brazil and each federal unit in 2006 and 2007 based on the number of surgeries performed by the Unified Health System to help plan a comprehensive ophthalmology network in order to eliminate cataract blindness in compliance with the target set by the World Health Organization (WHO) of 3,000 cataract surgeries per million inhabitants per year.

Methods: This descriptive study calculates CSR by using the number of cataract surgeries carried out by the Brazilian Unified Health System for each federal unit and estimates the need for cataract surgery in Brazil for 2006-2007, with official population data provided by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. The number of cataract surgeries was compared with the WHO target.

Trachoma prevalence and risk factors among preschool children in a central area of the city of São Paulo, Brazil.

Purpose: To estimate the prevalence and severity of trachoma among preschool children and to identify the risk factors.

Methods: Cross-sectional study involving preschool children up to seven years of age residing in a neighborhood of the city of São Paulo, Brazil.

Results: A total of 1128 children were studied.

[Prevalence of trachoma in preschool and schoolchildren in the city of São Paulo].

Objective: To assess the prevalence of trachoma among preschool and school children of public schools to give new focus to control programs.

Methods: An epidemiological survey was carried out in São Paulo City in 1999. Children between four and 14 years old were selected by a cluster sampling where school shift was the sampling unit.

[Epidemiological surveillance of trachoma in a school in a city of southeast Brazil].

Introduction: Epidemiological surveillance activities undertaken after the detection of an active trachoma case in the APAE-SP are described.

Material And Method: A total of 1,009 pupils, employees and household contacts had an eye examination. Treatment control was carried out at the institution 4 times at 45 day-intervals.

Intraventricular injection of agents that enhance cyclic adenosine monophosphate formation leads to inhibition of proestrous luteinizing hormone surge in rats.

The effect of increasing hypothalamic levels of 3',5'-cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) on the preovulatory surge of luteinizing hormone (LH) and ovulation was studied in cycling rats. Animals hearing chronically implanted guiding cannulae into the third ventricle were injected with agents known to enhance the cellular levels of cAMP. Hourly blood samples from the unanesthetized, unrestrained rats were obtained between 11.

Daily variations in the sensitivity of proestrous LH surge in the inhibitory effect of intraventricular injection of 5-HT or GABA in rats.

Intraventricular injection of 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) into female rats at 11:00 h on the day of proestrus inhibited the preovulatory surge of luteinizing hormone (LH) and ovulation. A similar response was observed after the activation of the serotonergic system by stimulation of the median raphe nucleus. A diurnal rhythm of these responses was observed.

Further evidence of an opposite effect of dorsal and median raphe nuclei on the proestrous surge of LH.

The effect of stimulation or lesions of either the dorsal or the median raphe nucleus on the proestrous surge of LH and on ovulation was studied in rats kept under constant illumination. Electrochemical stimulation (anodic DC of 100 microA during 30 sec) was applied at noon on the day of proestrus through chronically implanted electrodes. Lesions of the raphe nuclei were made by passing a cathodic current of 1 mA for 20 sec through nichrome electrodes stereotaxically implanted.

Inhibition of proestrous LH surge and ovulation in rats evoked by stimulation of the medial raphe nucleus involves a GABA-mediated mechanism.

The neurotransmitters involved in the inhibition of luteinizing hormone (LH) release induced by electrochemical stimulation (anodic d.c., 100 microA/30 s) of the medial raphe nucleus (MRn) were studied.

The Pineal Gland Mediates the Inhibition of Proestrous Luteinizing Hormone Surge and Ovulation in Rats Resulting from Stimulation of the Medial Raphe Nucleus or Injection of 5-HT into the Third Ventricle.

Abstract In cycling rats, electrochemical stimulation of the medial raphe nucleus or injection of 5-HT into the third ventricle on the day of proestrus blocked the preovulatory surge of luteinizing hormone and inhibited ovulation. The inhibitory effect of these procedures on gonadotropin secretion failed to occur in rats that had been pinealectomized a few weeks earlier. In contrast, sham-pinealectomized rats exhibited a response similar to that of intact rats.

Prolactin release induced by stress and the influence of oestrogen and progesterone treatments, sex and daily rhythm.

The effect of sex, ovarian steroids and time of the day on the release of prolactin induced by stress was studied. Albino rats were bled by heart puncture and immediately anaesthetized with ether; 10 min later they were bled again. Ovariectomized, oestrogen-primed rats showed a daily rhythm in the stress (bleeding plus ether) induced prolactin release with maximal concentration of prolactin in the serum at night (01.

Lesions of the hypothalamic region of the fetus and length of gestation in the guinea-pig.

A lesion was placed in the hypothalamic region of the brain of one fetus in each of 25 guinea-pigs on days 39-41 of pregnancy. Thirteen females were killed before delivery and the fetuses collected for histological examination of the brain. The young of twelve other females were killed immediately after delivery in order to determine the nature and extent of any brain damage, and the findings in both groups were compared with those recorded from a series of 23 similarly operated control animals in which lesions were not made.

Lack of effect of treatment with oestrogen in advancing puberty in the guinea-pig.

Guinea-pigs were injected with 500 ng oestradiol benzoate or 0.1 ml arachis oil at 0, 5, 10, 20 or 25 days of age, or 2 microgram oestradiol benzoate/100 g body wt at 25 days, in order to determine whether puberty would be advanced, as in the rat. It was not.

Stimulatory and inhibitory effects of ovarian steroids on gonadotrophin secretion in ovariectomized rats after anterior hypothalamic deafferentation.

The effect of frontal hypothalamic deafferentation on the release of LH and FSH was studied in ovariectomized rats. Frontal cuts were placed just in front of the arcuate nucleus, at the posterior border of the optic chiasma (RCS), at the level of the anterior commissure (POS) and in front of the optic chiasma (PCS). Animals with RCS and POS cuts showed vaginal smears with persistent cornification; the other groups had irregular cycles.

Further evidence on the role of the hypothalamic afferents on the estrogen-induced prolactin release.

Serum prolactin (Prl) concentrations in ovariectomized rats were low without significant differences between morning and afternoon values. These levels were not affected by either frontal or caudal hypothalamic deafferentation. However, they increased after lesioning the hypothalamic median eminence (ME).

The role of hypothalamic afferents in the release of prolactin induced by ovarian steroids.

The importance of frontal and caudal afferents to the hypothalamus in the release of prolactin induced by estrogen and progesterone was studied in gonadectomized female and male rats. The serum prolactin levels 2 or 3 days after the injection of 20 mug estradiol benzoate (EB) into ovariectomized rats were significantly lower in animals with retrochiasmatic section interrupting the anterior inputs to the hypothalamus than in control animals, whereas the prolactin secretion induced by progesterone (2 mg) injection in EB-primed animals was not affected. On the contrary, interruption of caudal afferents to the hypothalamus had no effect on the increase in serum prolactin induced by EB injection.