Assessing the burden of submicroscopic Plasmodium infections in a pre-elimination malaria setting in sub-Saharan Africa, Guinea-Bissau.

Background: Submicroscopic Plasmodium infections can be a source of persistent malaria transmission. The aim of this study was to assess their frequency, distribution, morbidity and associated factors in a pre-elimination malaria setting in sub-Saharan Africa, Guinea-Bissau, where the Plasmodium falciparum is the predominant Plasmodium species.

Methods: Dried fingerprick whole blood samples from 601 participants in the 2017 national, household-based, cross-sectional survey to estimate malaria prevalence were subjected to DNA extraction.

Size does matter: intraspecific geometric morphometric analysis of wings of the blowfly Chrysomya albiceps (Diptera: Calliphoridae).

Blowflies have forensic, sanitary and veterinary importance, as well as being pollinators, parasitoids and ecological bioindicators. There is still little work with real data and from experiments assessing the relationship between blowflies' morphologic features and environmental and demographic factors. The present work tests whether the variation, in the shape and size, of Chrysomya albiceps (Wiedemann, 1819) wings is influenced by the following factors: 1) time; 2) temperature; 3) sex and; 4) different types of carcasses (pig, dog/cat and whale).

A picture is worth a thousand words: using digital tools to visualise marine invertebrate diversity data along the coasts of Mozambique and São Tomé & Príncipe.

The amount of biological data available in online repositories is increasing at an exponential rate. However, data on marine invertebrate biodiversity resources from Mozambique and São Tomé and Príncipe are still sparse and scattered. Online repositories are useful instruments for biodiversity research, as they provide a fast access to data from different sources.

Genetics of lineage diversification and the evolution of host usage in the economically important wheat curl mite, Aceria tosichella Keifer, 1969.

Background: Understanding the mechanisms that underlie the diversification of herbivores through interactions with their hosts is important for their diversity assessment and identification of expansion events, particularly in a human-altered world where evolutionary processes can be exacerbated. We studied patterns of host usage and genetic structure in the wheat curl mite complex (WCM), Aceria tosichella, a major pest of the world's grain industry, to identify the factors behind its extensive diversification.

Results: We expanded on previous phylogenetic research, demonstrating deep lineage diversification within the taxon, a complex of distinctive host specialist and generalist lineages more diverse than previously assumed.

Measurement of the area of venous ulcers using two software programs.

Objective: to compare the measurement area of venous ulcers using AutoCAD(r) and Image Tool software.

Method: this was an assessment of reproducibility tests conducted in a angiology clinic of a university hospital. Data were collected from 21 patients with venous ulcers, in the period from March to July of 2015, using a collection form and photograph of wounds.

Health care for children and adolescents with HIV: a comparison of services.

Objective: compare the quality of different types of health care for children and adolescents with HIV, in the experience of family members and caregivers.

Method: a cross-sectional study was conducted with 71 family members and caregivers, using the children's version of the Primary Care Assessment Tool (PCATool-Brazil). The Mann-Whitney or Student's t-test and Pearson's chi-square or Fisher's exact test were used for the analysis.

Levels of career commitment and career entrenchment of nurses from public and private hospitals.

Objective: To determine the prevalence of the types of relations to career - commitment and entrenchment - of nurses from public and private hospitals.

Methods: Field survey with a quantitative approach. A total of 237 nurses participated in the survey through a questionnaire with 43 questions about sociodemographic data, occupation, and relation to career.

[Sociodemographic and academic profile of nursing students from four Brazilian institutions].

This study aimed to describe the sociodemographic and academic characteristics of nursing students from four Brazilian Educational Institutions. It is a prospective cross-sectional study. The data were collected between April 2011 and March 2012, through a survey form with questions about sociodemographic and academic characteristics of the students.

[Portuguese validation of the symptom inventory of the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center].

Objective: To analyze the reliability and validity of the psychometric properties of the Brazilian version of the instrument for symptom assessment, titled MD Anderson Symptom Inventory - core.

Method: A cross-sectional study with 268 cancer patients in outpatient treatment, in the municipality of Ijuí, state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.

Results: The Cronbach's alpha for the MDASI general, symptoms and interferences was respectively (0.

The problem of 2,4,6-trichloroanisole in cork planks studied by attenuated total reflection infrared spectroscopy: proof of concept.

Attenuated total reflection infrared spectroscopy (ATR-IR) proved to be a promising detection technique for 2,4,6-trichloroanisole (TCA), which confers organoleptic defects to bottled alcoholic beverages, allowing the proposal of a criterion for cork plank acceptance when meant for stopper production. By analysis of a significant number of samples, it was proved that the presence of TCA, even in very low concentrations, imparts subtle changes to the cork spectra, namely, the growth of two new bands at ∼1417 (νC═C of TCA ring) and 1314 cm–1 (a shifted νCC of TCA) and an increase in the relative intensities of the bands at ∼1039 cm–1 (δCO of polysaccharides) and ∼813 cm–1 (τCH of suberin), the latter by overlapping with intense bands of TCA. These relative intensities were evaluated in comparison to a fingerprint of suberin (νasC–O–C), at 1161 cm–1.

Stress and burnout among multidisciplinary residents.

Objective: To identify associations between high-stress and burnout syndrome in multidisciplinary residents from a federal university in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.

Method: This is an analytical, cross-sectional and quantitative study. A socio-demographic questionnaire, the Work Stress Scale and the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Health Services Survey (MBI-HSS) were applied to 37 residents between April and June 2011.

Psychosocial stress and minor psychiatric disorders among agentes socioeducadores.

Objective: to ascertain the association between psychosocial stress and the occurrence of Minor Psychiatric Disorders in agentes socioeducadores.

Method: a cross-sectional study with 381 agentes socioeducadores from the Centros de Atendimento Socioeducativo in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, in 2011. Brazilian versions of the social demand-control-support at work scale were used, and of the Self Reporting Questionnaire-20.

Detection of mutations in GATA1 gene using automated denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography and direct sequencing in children with Down syndrome.

Denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography (dHPLC) was developed to screen DNA variations by separating heteroduplex and homoduplex DNA fragments by ion-pair reverse-phase liquid chromatography. In this study, we have evaluated the dHPLC screening method and direct sequencing for the detection of GATA1 mutations in peripheral blood and bone marrow aspirates samples from children with Down syndrome (DS). Cases were ascertained consecutively as part of an epidemiological study of DS and hematological disorders in Brazil.

Late echocardiography assessment of systolic and diastolic function of the left ventricle in pediatric cancer survivors after anthracycline therapy.

Background: The usefulness of daunorubicin (DAUNO) and doxorubicin, members of the anthracycline class of anticancer drugs, is limited by their cardiotoxicity. The purpose of our echocardiographic study was to assess the left ventricular (LV) function in long-term pediatric cancer survivors who had received DAUNO and dox as part of their therapy.

Patients And Methods: Seventy patients and 70 age, sex, and body surface area matched healthy controls were evaluated.

Effect of chloroquine on gene expression of Plasmodium yoelii nigeriensis during its sporogonic development in the mosquito vector.

Background: The anti-malarial chloroquine can modulate the outcome of infection during the Plasmodium sporogonic development, interfering with Plasmodium gene expression and subsequently, with transmission. The present study sets to identify Plasmodium genes that might be regulated by chloroquine in the mosquito vector.

Methods: Differential display RT-PCR (DDRT-PCR) was used to identify genes expressed during the sporogonic cycle that are regulated by exposure to chloroquine.

Reliability of recognition thresholds of sentences in quiet and in noise.

Unlabelled: A larger number of research studies has been performed with different people and objectives and have shown that the sentence recognition test in noise is the best instrument to evaluate individuals' daily communication. However, we believe these tests are not applied so frequently because they require a lot of research to establish the parameters and variables related to their application and interpretation of the results.

Aim: To check the reliability of the recognition threshold of the sentences in quiet and in noise for a group of young normal listeners.

[Primary intracranial germ cell tumors in children: evaluation of fourteen cases].

This study evaluates the diagnosis, therapy and survival of 14 patients with primary intracranial germ cell tumors during the period from 1991 to 2001. There were 11 males and 3 females. Mean age was 12.

Endodermal sinus tumor of the parotid gland in a child.

We report a case of a 16-month-old girl with a primary endodermal sinus tumor (EST) of the parotid gland. The girl was admitted to the hospital with a left side cervical tumor with a quick growth (within 3 wk). The tumor was surgically resected.

Centric relation registration: intra- and interexaminer agreement after a calibration program.

Centric relation (CR) has been considered a maxillomandibular position of choice for some dental and prosthetic procedures. Although regarded as a fully reproducible relation, there is great controversy about its clinical use and recording technique, especially in patients with signs and symptoms of temporomandibular disorders (TMD). This study aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of a training program on intra- and interexaminer agreement when determining the clinical record of the CR position.