Knowledge and attitudes regarding contraceptive methods and sex education in students and parents of eight Colombian schools 2020-2021: a mixed methods study.

Background: In Colombia, the average age of first sexual intercourse is between 14 and 15, and it has one of the highest fertility rates among adolescents in Latin America, which reflects poor access to health services and a lack of knowledge about contraception. Some laws support comprehensive sex education as a learning process that families and schools should provide. The objective of this work was to assess the frequency of adequate knowledge and attitudes of acceptance towards contraception in students, their associated factors, sexual behaviours in sexually active students, and experiences with sex education.

SMC3 epigenetic silencing regulates Rab27a expression and drives pancreatic cancer progression.

Background: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is expected to soon surpass colorectal cancer as a leading cause of cancer mortality in both males and females in the US, only lagging behind lung cancer. The lethality of PDAC is driven by late diagnosis and inefficient therapies. The complex biology of PDAC involves various cellular components, including exosomes that carry molecular information between cells.

Technology transfer during the COVID-19 pandemic: report on the first face-to-face practical training course in Brazil.

Main Results: Technology transfer can take place at large events, as long as safety protocols are strictly enforced. It is important to disseminate, at these events, the concepts of the Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI). Implications for services: Face-to-face training course is fundamental for training public health professionals.

Seroprevalence of Dengue, Chikungunya and Zika at the epicenter of the congenital microcephaly epidemic in Northeast Brazil: A population-based survey.

Background: The four Dengue viruses (DENV) serotypes were re-introduced in Brazil's Northeast region in a couple of decades, between 1980's and 2010's, where the DENV1 was the first detected serotype and DENV4 the latest. Zika (ZIKV) and Chikungunya (CHIKV) viruses were introduced in Recife around 2014 and led to large outbreaks in 2015 and 2016, respectively. However, the true extent of the ZIKV and CHIKV outbreaks, as well as the risk factors associated with exposure to these viruses remain vague.

Comparative metabolomic profiling of women undergoing in vitro fertilization procedures reveals potential infertility-related biomarkers in follicular fluid.

Infertility is a worldwide concern, affecting one in six couples throughout their reproductive period. Therefore, enhancing the clinical tools available to identify the causes of infertility may save time, money, and emotional distress for the involved parties. This study aims to annotate potential biomarkers in follicular fluid that are negatively affecting pregnancy outcomes in women suffering infertility-related diseases such as endometriosis, tuboperitoneal factor, uterine factor, and unexplained infertility, using a metabolomics approach through high-resolution mass spectrometry.

Pharmacokinetics of Intramuscularly Administered Thermoresponsive Polymers.

Aqueous solutions of some polymers exhibit a lower critical solution temperature (LCST); that is, they form phase-separated aggregates when heated above a threshold temperature. Such polymers found many promising (bio)medical applications, including in situ thermogelling with controlled drug release, polymer-supported radiotherapy (brachytherapy), immunotherapy, and wound dressing, among others. Yet, despite the extensive research on medicinal applications of thermoresponsive polymers, their biodistribution and fate after administration remained unknown.

Performance-Cost Trade-Off in Auto-Scaling Mechanisms for Cloud Computing.

Cloud computing has been widely adopted over the years by practitioners and companies with a variety of requirements. With a strong economic appeal, cloud computing makes possible the idea of computing as a utility, in which computing resources can be consumed and paid for with the same convenience as electricity. One of the main characteristics of cloud as a service is elasticity supported by auto-scaling capabilities.

Extracellular Vesicles from Pancreatic Cancer Stem Cells Lead an Intratumor Communication Network (EVNet) to fuel tumour progression.

Objective: Intratumor heterogeneity drives cancer progression and therapy resistance. However, it has yet to be determined whether and how subpopulations of cancer cells interact and how this interaction affects the tumour.

Design: We have studied the spontaneous flow of extracellular vesicles (EVs) between subpopulations of cancer cells: cancer stem cells (CSC) and non-stem cancer cells (NSCC).

Molecular mimicry of NF-κB by vaccinia virus protein enables selective inhibition of antiviral responses.

Infection of mammalian cells with viruses activates NF-κB to induce the expression of cytokines and chemokines and initiate an antiviral response. Here, we show that a vaccinia virus protein mimics the transactivation domain of the p65 subunit of NF-κB to inhibit selectively the expression of NF-κB-regulated genes. Using co-immunoprecipitation assays, we found that the vaccinia virus protein F14 associates with NF-κB co-activator CREB-binding protein (CBP) and disrupts the interaction between p65 and CBP.

Plasma membrane permeabilization to explain erythrosine B phototoxicity on in vitro breast cancer cell models.

Lipid oxidation is ubiquitous in cell life under oxygen and essential for photodynamic therapy (PDT) of carcinomas. However, the mechanisms underlying lipid oxidation in rather complex systems such as plasma membranes remain elusive. Herein, Langmuir monolayers were assembled with the lipid extract of glandular breast cancer (MCF7) cells and used to probe the molecular interactions allowing adsorption of the photosensitizer (PS) erythrosine B and subsequent photooxidation outcomes.

The obscurance of the greatest sylvatic yellow fever epidemic and the cooperation of the Pan American Health Organization during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Introduction: Since 2016, Brazil has been in the midst of its largest sylvatic yellow fever epidemic ever, found predominantly outside the Amazon region. Cases originating from Brazil have been reported in France, the Netherlands, Romania, Switzerland, Argentina, and Chile. The epidemic began in the Central-West region of Brazil in 2014, spreading into the Southern region, with significant non-human primate transmission continuing towards Paraguay and Argentina.

Update on the treatment of musculoskeletal manifestations in chikungunya fever: a guideline.

Since the emergence of the chikungunya virus in Brazil in 2014, more than 700,000 cases have been reported throughout the country, corresponding to one-third of all cases reported in the Americas. In addition to its high attack rates, resulting in hundreds of thousands of cases, the disease has high chronicity rates with persistent joint manifestations for more than 3 months, which can spread to more than half of the patients affected in the acute phase. Pain associated with musculoskeletal manifestations, often disabling, has an effect on patients' quality of life at different stages of the disease.

Does leukotriene F4 play a major role in the infection mechanism of Candida sp.?

Candidiasis is the most common fungal infection affecting hospitalized patients, especially immunocompromised and critical patients. Limitations regarding the assertive diagnosis of both Candidemia and Candidiasis not only impairs the introduction of effective treatments but also lays a heavy financial burden over the health system. Furthermore, it is still challenging to ascertain whether diagnostic methods are accurate and whether treatment is effective for patients with Candidemia.

Combining Machine Learning and Metabolomics to Identify Weight Gain Biomarkers.

Weight gain is a metabolic disorder that often culminates in the development of obesity and other comorbidities such as diabetes. Obesity is characterized by the development of a chronic, subclinical systemic inflammation, and is regarded as a remarkably important factor that contributes to the development of such comorbidities. Therefore, laboratory methods that allow the identification of subjects at higher risk for severe weight-associated morbidity are of utter importance, considering the health, and safety of populations.

Restructuring of the 'Macaronesia' biogeographic unit: A marine multi-taxon biogeographical approach.

The Azores, Madeira, Selvagens, Canary Islands and Cabo Verde are commonly united under the term "Macaronesia". This study investigates the coherency and validity of Macaronesia as a biogeographic unit using six marine groups with very different dispersal abilities: coastal fishes, echinoderms, gastropod molluscs, brachyuran decapod crustaceans, polychaete annelids, and macroalgae. We found no support for the current concept of Macaronesia as a coherent marine biogeographic unit.

Inflammation markers in the saliva of infants born from Zika-infected mothers: exploring potential mechanisms of microcephaly during fetal development.

Zika virus (ZIKV) has emerged as one of the most medically relevant viral infections of the past decades; the devastating effects of this virus over the developing brain are a major matter of concern during pregnancy. Although the connection with congenital malformations are well documented, the mechanisms by which ZIKV reach the central nervous system (CNS) and the causes of impaired cortical growth in affected fetuses need to be better addressed. We performed a non-invasive, metabolomics-based screening of saliva from infants with congenital Zika syndrome (CZS), born from mothers that were infected with ZIKV during pregnancy.

Author Correction: A quantitative study on growth variability and production of ochratoxin A and its derivatives by A. carbonarius and A. niger in grape-based medium.

A correction to this article has been published and is linked from the HTML and PDF versions of this paper. The error has not been fixed in the paper.

An LDI-MSI approach for targeted and untargeted differentiation and assessment of pharmaceutical formulations.

Falsified, counterfeit and adulterated medicines are an endemic problem worldwide that results in both monetary and health-related losses. Developing fast and reliable methods that are able to present a timely result based on the drug's spectral profile is an effort that is sure to benefit those involved in the whole distribution chain. We propose herein a Laser Desorption/Ionization imaging-based method that provides simple and minimal sample preparation; this method is capable of providing specific markers that characterize adulterations, using as proof of concept one of the most adulterated drug products for oral use, sildenafil.

Towards a 'Sea-Level Sensitive' dynamic model: impact of island ontogeny and glacio-eustasy on global patterns of marine island biogeography.

A synthetic model is presented to enlarge the evolutionary framework of the General Dynamic Model (GDM) and the Glacial Sensitive Model (GSM) of oceanic island biogeography from the terrestrial to the marine realm. The proposed 'Sea-Level Sensitive' dynamic model (SLS) of marine island biogeography integrates historical and ecological biogeography with patterns of glacio-eustasy, merging concepts from areas as diverse as taxonomy, biogeography, marine biology, volcanology, sedimentology, stratigraphy, palaeontology, geochronology and geomorphology. Fundamental to the SLS model is the dynamic variation of the littoral area of volcanic oceanic islands (defined as the area between the intertidal and the 50-m isobath) in response to sea-level oscillations driven by glacial-interglacial cycles.

A quantitative study on growth variability and production of ochratoxin A and its derivatives by A. carbonarius and A. niger in grape-based medium.

Aspergillus carbonarius and Aspergillus niger are the main responsible fungi for the accumulation of ochratoxin A (OTA) in wine grapes. Some strains are able to convert the parent mycotoxin into other compounds by means of hydrolysis and/or conjugation reactions through their defense mechanisms and enzymatic activity, leading to the formation of a modified mycotoxin. Thus, the variability of growth and metabolite production are inherent to the strain, occurring distinctively even when submitted to similar conditions.

The role of lipids in the inception, maintenance and complications of dengue virus infection.

Dengue fever is a viral condition that has become a recurrent issue for public health in tropical countries, common endemic areas. Although viral structure and composition have been widely studied, the infection phenotype in terms of small molecules remains poorly established. This contribution providing a comprehensive overview of the metabolic implications of the virus-host interaction using a lipidomic-based approach through direct-infusion high-resolution mass spectrometry.

Outer Membrane Vesicles from Neisseria Meningitidis (Proteossome) Used for Nanostructured Zika Virus Vaccine Production.

The increase of Zika virus (ZIKV) infections in Brazil in the last two years leaves a prophylactic measures on alert for this new and emerging pathogen. Concerning of our positive experience, we developed a new prototype using Neisseria meningitidis outer membrane vesicles (OMV) on ZIKV cell growth in a fusion of OMV in the envelope of virus particles. The fusion of nanoparticles resulting from outer membrane vesicles of N.

Migration from plastic packaging into meat.

Migration is a known phenomenon defined as the partitioning of chemical compounds from the packaging into food, and depends on several factors. Migration assays are generally time-consuming and require specific conditions in order to investigate the behavior of the packaging in different situations. Furthermore, these tests are often performed with food simulants, since the determination of migration under real conditions is highly impaired.

Evaluating the effects of the adulterants in milk using direct-infusion high-resolution mass spectrometry.

Milk is an extremely complex food, capable of providing essential nutrients as well as being an important source of energy, and high-quality proteins and fats. Due to advances in technology, and to meet the increasing demand, production costs have increased, turning milk into a target of adulterations. Routine methods usually applied to certify the quality of the milk are restricted to microbiological tests, and assays that attest the nutritional composition within the expected values.