Spatio-temporal trends in mortality due to Chagas disease in the State of Bahia, Brazil, from 2008 to 2018.

Background: Chagas disease is a silent illness with high mortality burden in many Latin American countries, such as Brazil. Bahia has the fourth highest mortality rate in Brazil. This study analyzed the temporal trends and regional differences in the mortality rate of Chagas disease in Bahia State from 2008 to 2018.

Factors associated with the lethality of patients hospitalized with severe acute respiratory syndrome due to COVID-19 in Brazil.

Due to the high rates of transmission and deaths due to COVID-19, understanding the factors associated with its occurrence, as well as monitoring and implementing control measures should be priority actions in health surveillance, highlighting the use of epidemiological surveillance information systems as an important ally. Thus, the objectives of this study were to calculate the mortality rate of hospitalized patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome due to COVID-19 and to identify factors associated with death, in the period corresponding to epidemiological weeks 01 to 53 of the year 2020. This was a longitudinal study, using the national influenza epidemiological surveillance information system database, routinely collected by healthcare services.

Epidemiological indicators of Chagas disease in the metropolitan region of Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.

Background: Chagas disease (CD) is caused by Trypanosoma cruzi and transmitted by triatomines. Historical information from the 20th century demonstrates T. cruzi records in the metropolitan region of Salvador (MRS), the third largest urban agglomeration in the Brazilian Northeast and the eighth largest in Brazil, an area with intense migratory activity from CD-endemic regions.

β-caryophyllene, a cannabinoid receptor 2 agonist, decreases the motivational salience and conditioning place preference for palatable food in female mice.

β-caryophyllene (BCP) is a cannabinoid receptor CB2 agonist plant-derived terpenoid found in different essential oil plants, including rosemary, black pepper, copaiba and cannabis. It has GRAS (generally recognized as safe) status and is approved by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) for food use. BCP displays agonist activity on the CB2 receptor and is a potential therapeutic target in several neuropsychiatric disorders, including anxiety and drug addiction.

Triatomine fauna in the state of Bahia, Brazil: What changed after 40 years of the vector-control program?

Background: Neglected tropical diseases are a growing threat to global health, and endemic Chagas disease has emerged as one of the most important health problems in America. The main strategy to prevent Trypanosoma cruzi transmission is chemical control of vectors. This study presents a descriptive analysis of synanthropic triatomines before and after the implementation of a vector-control program in Bahia, Brazil.

Validation of Serological Methods for COVID-19 and Retrospective Screening of Health Employees and Visitors to the São Paulo University Hospital, Brazil.

Reliable serological tests for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies among infected or vaccinated individuals are important for epidemiological and clinical studies. Low-cost approaches easily adaptable to high throughput screenings, such as Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assays (ELISA) or electrochemiluminescence immunoassay (ECLIA), can be readily validated using different SARS-CoV-2 antigens. A total of 1,119 serum samples collected between March and July of 2020 from health employees and visitors to the University Hospital at the University of São Paulo were screened with the Elecsys Anti-SARS-CoV-2 immunoassay (Elecsys) (Roche Diagnostics) and three in-house ELISAs that are based on different antigens: the Nucleoprotein (N-ELISA), the Receptor Binding Domain (RBD-ELISA), and a portion of the S1 protein (ΔS1-ELISA).

Nebulized enriched heparin to treat no critical patients with Sars-Cov-2: Triple-blind clinical trial.

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a viral respiratory disease that spreads rapidly, reaching pandemic status, causing the collapse of numerous health systems, and a strong economic and social impact. The treatment so far has not been well established and there are several clinical trials testing known drugs that have antiviral activity, due to the urgency that the global situation imposes. Drugs with specific mechanisms of action can take years to be discovered, while vaccines may also take a long time to be widely distributed while new virus variants emerge.

Hospitalizations and mortality by severe acute respiratory syndrome: comparison between the pre-pandemic and pandemic periods.

Objective: To analyze the characteristics and the factors associated with mortality of cases hospitalized for severe acute respiratory syndrome in a health region, in pre-pandemic and pandemic periods.

Methods: A retrospective documentary study of epidemiological surveillance carried out with secondary data from the Influenza Epidemiological Surveillance Information System, regarding the cases of patients belonging to a health region of Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Results: During the pandemic period, there was an increase in the number of hospitalizations and deaths due to severe acute respiratory syndrome, in addition to differences between sociodemographic and clinical-epidemiological characteristics.

TriatoScore: an entomological-risk score for Chagas disease vector control-surveillance.

Background: Triatomine bugs transmit Chagas disease across Latin America, where vector control-surveillance is increasingly decentralized. Locally run systems often deal with highly diverse native-vector faunas-plus, in some areas, domestic populations of non-native species. Flexible entomological-risk indicators that cover native and non-native vectors and can support local decision-making are therefore needed.

Vitamin D and bone health in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Low bone health is associated with vitamin D deficiency in older individuals; however, this association is not well established in adults. The aim of the study was to analyze the association between serum concentrations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D and bone health in adults by systematic review and meta-analysis. The search was carried out in the LILACS, PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, ScienceDirect databases from March 2017 to October 2018 with adult individuals (20-59 years).

Functional interplay between adenosine A receptor and NMDA preconditioning in fear memory and glutamate uptake in the mice hippocampus.

N-methyl D-aspartate (NMDA) administered at subtoxic dose plays a protective role against neuronal excitotoxicity, a mechanism described as preconditioning. Since the activation of adenosinergic receptors influences the achievement of NMDA preconditioning in the hippocampus, we evaluated the potential functional interplay between adenosine A and A receptors (AR and AR) activities and NMDA preconditioning. Adult male Swiss mice received saline (NaCl 0.

Does the relationship between 25-hydroxyvitamin D status and bone mass vary according to skin color in adults? Results of a Brazilian population-based study.

Unlabelled: Skin color has been indicated as an important factor in determining serum concentrations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D], and consequently bone health. However, studies are controversial and scarce for mixed populations.

Purpose/introduction: To analyze the association of 25(OH)D with bone mineral content (BMC) and bone mineral density (BMD); and to investigate the presence of interaction with skin color in Brazilian adults.

AMPAr GluA1 Phosphorylation at Serine 845 in Limbic System Is Associated with Cardiac Autonomic Tone.

The central autonomic network, which is connected to the limbic system structures including the amygdala (AMY) and anterior hippocampus (aHIP), regulates the sympathetic and parasympathetic modulation of visceromotor, neuroendocrine, pain, and behavior manifestations during stress responses. Heart rate variability (HRV) is useful to estimate the cardiac autonomic tone. The levels of phosphorylation on the Ser831 and Ser845 sites of the GluA1 subunit of the AMPAr (P-GluA1-Ser845 and P-GluA1-Ser831) are useful markers of synaptic plasticity.

Ictal fear is associated with anxiety symptoms and interictal dysphoric disorder in drug-resistant mesial temporal lobe epilepsy.

Interictal dysphoric disorder (IDD) is a poorly understood psychiatric disorder of epilepsy patients. Interictal dysphoric disorder is characterized by depressive, somatoform, and affective symptoms observed in up to 5.9% of drug-resistant mesial temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis (MTLE-HS).

Skeletal mass indices are inversely associated with metabolically unhealthy phenotype in overweight/obese and normal-weight men: a population-based cross-sectional study.

Muscle mass may play an important role in the metabolic profile of individuals with or without excess weight. Metabolic phenotypes classify individuals as healthy or unhealthy based on certain metabolic conditions. We investigated the association between skeletal mass indices (SMI) and the metabolically unhealthy phenotype in normal-weight and overweight/obese adults.

SARS-CoV-2 isolation from the first reported patients in Brazil and establishment of a coordinated task network.

Background: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was confirmed in Brazil in February 2020, the first cases were followed by an increase in the number of cases throughout the country, resulting in an important public health crisis that requires fast and coordinated responses.

Objectives: The objective of this work is to describe the isolation and propagation properties of SARS-CoV-2 isolates from the first confirmed cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Brazil.

Methods: After diagnosis in patients that returned from Italy to the São Paulo city in late February by RT-PCR, SARS-CoV-2 isolates were obtained in cell cultures and characterised by full genome sequencing, electron microscopy and in vitro replication properties.

Factors associated with bone mineral density in adults: a cross-sectional population-based study.

Objective: This study aimed to analyze the association between lumbar spine, femoral neck, total hip bone mineral density (biophysical bone health assessment parameter), and sociodemographic, anthropometric, behavioral, and health condition factors in Brazilian adults.

Method: This is a cross-sectional, population-based study performed with individuals of both genders, aged between 20 and 59 (n=701). The dependent variables were evaluated by Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry.

Corn Responsiveness to : Accessing the Effect of Root Exudates on the Bacterial Growth and Its Ability to Fix Nitrogen.

Corn has shown different degrees of positive response to inoculation with the nitrogen- fixing bacteria of the genera . Part of it has been attributed to the plant genotypic variation, including the root exudates, that are used by the bacteria as energy source. In this study, we grew two corn hybrids that differ for their response to , to investigate the effect of different exudates profiles on the bacteria growth and nitrogenase activity.

Association between Skeletal Mass Indices and Metabolic Syndrome in Brazilian Adults.

Introduction: Skeletal muscle is the primary site of glucose uptake and its reduction would increase insulin resistance, which is a determinant factor for diseases such as type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and metabolic syndrome. However, the role of low skeletal muscle mass as a risk factor for metabolic syndrome and its association with cardiometabolic risk is still uncertain. We aimed to investigate the association between muscle mass (determined by different skeletal mass indices) and metabolic syndrome in Brazilian adults.

Wide distribution of Trypanosoma cruzi-infected triatomines in the State of Bahia, Brazil.

Background: The identification of Trypanosoma cruzi and blood-meal sources in synanthropic triatomines is important to assess the potential risk of Chagas disease transmission. We identified T. cruzi infection and blood-meal sources of triatomines caught in and around houses in the state of Bahia, northeastern Brazil, and mapped the occurrence of infected triatomines that fed on humans and domestic animals.

Factors associated with bone mineral content in adults: a population-based study.

Objective: To determine the association among bone mineral content, sociodemographic, anthropometric and behavioral factors, and health status of Brazilian adults.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional, population-based study including 701 individuals from both sexes aged between 20 and 59 years. DEXA was used to evaluate dependent variable.

Body composition indices in Brazilian adults: age-specific and sex-specific percentile curves.

Objective: To establish percentile curves for measures and indices of body composition by age and sex and compare them with data from other ethnic groups.

Subjects And Methods: Cross-sectional, population-based study with adults aged 20-59 years (n = 689). Percentile curves adjusted by a third degree polynomial function were constructed for skeletal mass index (SMI), fat mass index, body fat, and load-capacity metabolic indices (LCMI) based on dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA).