Assessing the behavior of food handlers wearing face masks and the passage of bacteria through disposable masks.

Handlers can wear masks during food preparation to avoid contamination of the nose and mouth. However, if microorganisms can pass through mask layers and handlers touch their outer surfaces, their hands can contaminate the food being handled. This study evaluated the behavior of 31 food handlers wearing disposable masks in a food service kitchen.

Barriers and facilitators to mental health treatment access and engagement for LGBTQA+ people with psychosis: a scoping review protocol.

Background: The prevalence of psychosis has been shown to be disproportionately high amongst sexual and gender minority individuals. However, there is currently little consideration of the unique needs of this population in mental health treatment, with LGBTQA+ individuals facing barriers in accessing timely and non-stigmatising support for psychotic experiences. This issue deserves attention as delays to help-seeking and poor engagement with treatment predict worsened clinical and functional outcomes for people with psychosis.

Factors associated with adherence to the principles of responsible companion animal guardianship in a municipality in southeastern Brazil.

Responsible companion animal guardianship (RCAG) covers aspects that are relevant to both animal and human health. Understanding the factors associated with adherence to RCAG principles can guide accountability, animal welfare and disease control. The present observational study describes the level of adherence to RCAG by guardians living in a medium-sized Brazilian municipality and identifies the factors associated with inadequate guardianship.

Relationship Between Chloroquine or Hydroxychloroquine Use and Hearing Disorders: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Background And Objectives: Chloroquine and its analog hydroxychloroquine are derivatives of 4-aminoquinoline and are regularly used in the treatment of malaria and autoimmune diseases. Among the side effects of these drugs, alterations associated with the auditory system are frequently mentioned. Thus, the aim of this systematic review is to systematically review publications on hearing disorders and chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine use.

Establishment of local diagnostic reference levels for abdomen and chest radiographies in the region of Algarve, Portugal.

Purpose: To assess doses variabilities in the same abdomen and chest RX exams for adults, to check the need for dose harmonization. To calculate Diagnostic Reference Levels (DRL), mandatory in the European Union, for the Algarve district in Portugal. Our results can be a valuable reference for the Portuguese official determination of DRLs, still in progress.

Audiological findings of family farmers exposed to pesticides.

Purpose: To analyze the possible differences among the hearing of farmers and their families when compared to the population not exposed to pesticides.

Methods: Cross-sectional study with 70 smallholder family farmers (research group), with the mean age of 39.7 years, of both sexes and a mean of 23.

Body size-dependent effects on the distribution patterns of phoretic mite species assemblages on (Olivier, 1790).

Phoretic mites attach to different body parts of the red palm weevil (RPW), (Olivier, 1790), to disperse. However, the question of how the patterns of attachment sites are formed remains intriguing. Here, we examined RPW-associated phoretic mites in four districts in Northern Portugal (macrohabitat), and investigated the patterns of mite distribution on six body parts of RPW (microhabitat).

Identifying types of problems and relative priorities in the problem lists of participants in CBT for psychosis trials.

Background: There is wide variation in the problems prioritised by people with psychosis in cognitive behavioural therapy for psychosis (CBTp). While research trials and mental health services have often prioritised reduction in psychiatric symptoms, service users may prioritise issues not directly related to psychosis. This discrepancy suggests potential challenges in treatment outcome research.

Translation, adaptation, and cross-cultural validation into Brazilian portuguese of the hearing protection assessment questionnaire (HPA).

Purpose: The aim of the present study is to translate, adapt, and cross-culturally validate the Brazilian Portuguese version of the questionnaire Hearing Protection Assessment Questionnaire (HPA).

Methods: The original instrument, developed in English, seeks to assess barriers and supports related to the use of hearing protection devices (HPD), as well as workers' knowledge, habits and attitudes towards occupational noise. The translation, adaptation, and cross-cultural validation of the questionnaire consisted of five steps: Translation of the questionnaire from English to Portuguese; 2) Reverse translation from Portuguese to English; 3) Analysis of the instrument by three experts in the field; 4) Pre-test of the questionnaire with ten workers; 5) Application of the instrument to 509 workers in a meatpacking industry after the pre-employment medical exam.

Evaluation of the Dangerous Decibels Brazil Program in Workers Exposed to Noise.

Introduction: Noise-induced hearing loss can be avoided by taking preventive measures.

Objective: To assess the effectiveness of the Brazilian version of the Dangerous Decibels program for noise-exposed workers, using the ecological model as an educational intervention plan.

Method: Non-randomized interventional study with a quantitative, experimental trial design, conducted at a meatpacking company.

The association between non-permanence of dogs in households and non-compliance with the principles of responsible animal guardianship: A survey in a medium-sized city in Brazil.

The permanence of a dog in a household is relevant in terms of public health and animal welfare because it implies that the animal is receiving better care and is unlikely to be abandoned. We have performed a survey in a medium-sized city in southeastern Brazil in order to identify predictors associated with the non-permanence of dogs in households as determined one year after the first visit. During the first of two visits to randomly selected domiciles, guardians were asked to complete a structured questionnaire regarding the traits and history of each dog in the household, features of the domicile, characteristics of the guardian and adherence to the principles of responsible companion animal guardianship (RCAG).

Phenotypic architecture of sociality and its associated genetic polymorphisms in zebrafish.

Sociality relies on motivational and cognitive components that may have evolved independently, or may have been linked by phenotypic correlations driven by a shared selective pressure for increased social competence. Furthermore, these components may be domain-specific or of general-domain across social and non-social contexts. Here, we used zebrafish to test if the motivational and cognitive components of social behavior are phenotypically linked and if they are domain specific or of general domain.

Hearing impairment among workers and satisfaction with the use of hearing aids.

Background: Hearing problems can have adverse effects on an individual's job performance, as well as on unemployment or underemployment and increased risk of stress-related sick leave.

Objective: To investigate hearing impairment among workers and satisfaction with the use of hearing aids.

Methods: Cross-sectional study with workers who are hearing aid users.

Multicultural classroom discourse dataset on teachers' and students' dialogic empathy.

This dataset belongs to a large-scale educational intervention project introducing cultural literacy learning in schools. The dataset includes transcribed dialogic interactions from 111 lessons conducted in classrooms of five countries: England, Portugal, Germany, Spain, and Cyprus. The lessons were part of the same Cultural Literacy Learning Programme made available to teachers from three age groups (pre-primary, primary, secondary) to implement with their ordinary classes during ten sessions.

SARS-CoV-2 reinfection in a healthcare professional in inner Sao Paulo during the first wave of COVID-19 in Brazil.

Coronavirus Disease 2019 pandemic remains a threat to public health. We report 2 cases of Coronavirus Disease 2019 infection in the same healthcare professional in Brazil. Genomic analysis identified that primoinfection was caused by the endemic lineage B.

Two Novel Mutations Associated with Polymyxin-B Resistance in a Pandemic Lineage of Uropathogenic Escherichia coli of the Sequence Type 69.

Background: Uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) are frequent pathogens worldwide, impacting on the morbidity and economic costs associated with antimicrobial treatment.

Objectives: We report two novel mutations associated with polymyxin-B resistance in an UPEC isolate collected in 2019.

Methods: Isolate was submitted to antimicrobial susceptibility testing including broth microdilution for polymyxin B.

COVID-19 laboratory diagnosis: comparative analysis of different RNA extraction methods for SARS-CoV-2 detection by two amplification protocols.

The gold standard for the laboratory diagnosis of COVID-19 is the reverse transcription quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) assay, which searches for SARS-CoV-2 target genes in nasopharyngeal/oropharyngeal (NP/OP) samples, and its performance depends on the quantity and quality of the RNA input. This study compared the performance and cost-effectiveness of three different kits/reagents for RNA extraction used in COVID-19 diagnosis in Sao Paulo, Brazil. A total of 300 NP/OP samples belonging to suspected cases of COVID-19 stored in a biorepository were randomly selected, and RNA was extracted using (i) automated extraction (Loccus, Extracta Kit FAST), (ii) manual extraction (BioGene Kit, Bioclin, Quibasa), and (iii) quick extraction methods (Lucigen, Quick DNA Extract Kit).

Genomic surveillance of Neisseria meningitidis serogroup B invasive strains: Diversity of vaccine antigen types, Brazil, 2016-2018.

Background: Neisseria meningitidis serogroup B remains a prominent cause of invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) in Brazil. Because two novel protein-based vaccines against serogroup B are available, the main purpose of this study was to provide data on the diversity and distribution of meningococcal vaccine antigen types circulating in Brazil.

Methodology: Genetic lineages, vaccine antigen types, and allele types of antimicrobial-associated resistance genes based on whole-genome sequencing of a collection of 145 Neisseria meningitidis serogroup B invasive strains recovered in Brazil from 2016 to 2018 were collected.

Hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae as Unexpected Cause of Fatal Outbreak in Captive Marmosets, Brazil.

After the sudden death of captive marmosets in São Paulo, Brazil, we conducted a histologic and microbiologic study. We found hyperacute septicemia caused by hypermucoviscous sequence type 86 K2 Klebsiella pneumoniae. We implemented prophylactic antimicrobial therapy, selected dedicated staff for marmoset interactions, and sanitized the animals' fruit to successfully control this outbreak.

Brainstem Auditory Evoked Potentials in infants aged 1 to 24 months during a hearing health care service.

Objectives: Assessing infants' hearing is of utmost importance, as hearing at this phase is required for the development of oral language. Through hearing, human beings are capable of developing communication. The Brainstem Auditory Evoked Potentials are an indispensable test to diagnose deafness in infants.

Importation and early local transmission of COVID-19 in Brazil, 2020.

We conducted the genome sequencing and analysis of the first confirmed COVID-19 infections in Brazil. Rapid sequencing coupled with phylogenetic analyses in the context of travel history corroborate multiple independent importations from Italy and local spread during the initial stage of COVID-19 transmission in Brazil.

Genomic and Clinical Characterization of IMP-1-Producing Multidrug-Resistant Isolates from Bloodstream Infections in a Brazilian Tertiary Hospital.

is the main species of the genus; however, non- (NBA) species causing infections have been described for the past years, as well as antimicrobial resistance. In this study, we describe the occurrence of two multidrug-resistant (MDR) IMP-1-producing isolates recovered from bloodstream infections in different patients but in the same intensive care unit among 134 carbapenem-resistant screened. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing revealed resistance to carbapenems, extended spectrum, and antipseudomonad cephalosporins, amikacin, and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole.