Antifungal Development and the Urgency of Minimizing the Impact of Fungal Diseases on Public Health.

Fungal infections are a major public health problem resulting from the lack of public policies addressing these diseases, toxic and/or expensive therapeutic tools, scarce diagnostic tests, and unavailable vaccines. In this Perspective, we discuss the need for novel antifungal alternatives, highlighting new initiatives based on drug repurposing and the development of novel antifungals.

Índice de vulnerabilidade à COVID-19: uma aplicação para a cidade de Fortaleza (CE), Brasil / Vulnerability index to COVID-19: Fortaleza, Brazil study case

RESUMO O estudo propôs a elaboração de um índice de vulnerabilidade à propagação da COVID-19 utilizando análise multivariada associada à análise geoespacial. O método empregado considerou a vulnerabilidade como uma combinação de três fatores: exposição, susceptibilidade e capacidade de resposta. A metodologia foi composta de seis etapas: seleção e agrupamento de variáveis; definição dos indicadores; normalização; atribuição de pesos via análise dos componentes principais; estimativa e normalização do índice; e classificação por meio das técnicas Jenks, Kmeans, quantis e clusterização hierárquica (Hclust). Foi realizada uma caracterização da exposição da cidade de Fortaleza, Brasil, à COVID-19 por meio da densidade populacional, da quantidade de habitações subnormais e precárias, da porcentagem de idosos por residência e da proximidade a terminais de ônibus. O estudo procurou sobrepor fatores socioeconômicos e índices de abastecimento público e de esgotamento sanitário, para a classificação de setores censitários em cinco níveis de vulnerabilidade. Estes apresentaram, em sua maioria, classe de alta (Jenks e quantis) e moderada (K-means e Hclust) vulnerabilidade. As regiões de maior vulnerabilidade estão localizadas no sul e no oeste da cidade, onde há maior concentração de aglomerados subnormais. Os resultados podem auxiliar no desenvolvimento de estratégias de enfrentamento direcionadas para os grupos mais expostos aos riscos associados à COVID-19, assim como na preparação para futuras crises de saúde pública. A metodologia pode ser replicada para outras cidades e serve como ferramenta para os gestores públicos.

ABSTRACT The study proposes an index of vulnerability to the spread of COVID-19 using multivariate and geospatial analyses. Vulnerability was considered as a combination of exposure, susceptibility, and responsiveness of the population. The methodology consisted of six steps: selection and grouping of variables; definition of indicators; normalization of the variables; weight calculation using principal component analysis; index calculation and normalization; and classification using Jenks, Kmeans, Quantile, and Hclust techniques. The exposure of Fortaleza, Brazil, to COVID-19 was assessed by means of population density, number of subnormal and precarious housing, percentage of aged people per residence and proximity to bus terminals. The study integrates factors related to socioeconomic characteristics, public water supply and sanitation for the classification of census tracts in five levels of vulnerability. Most of them present high (Jenks and Quantile) and moderate (K-means and Hclust) vulnerability. The most vulnerable regions are in the South and West Zones of the city, where many subnormal agglomerates are located. The results can assist the development of coping strategies for the groups most exposed to the risks associated with COVID-19, as well as in the preparation for future public health crises. The methodology can be replicated in other cities and can be useful for public managers.

Life cycle comparative assessment of pet bottle waste management options: A case study for the city of Bauru, Brazil.

This study analyzed the environmental impacts of nine scenarios for Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) bottle waste disposal, in the city of Bauru, Brazil. Nine scenarios were considered in this study: (1) current (base) scenario (96.4% of PET waste is sent to landfill, 3.6% is sent to sorting cooperatives); (2) 50% to sorting cooperatives, 50% to landfill; (3) 50% to sorting cooperatives, 50% to incineration; (4) 50% to landfill, 50% to incineration; (5) 100% to sorting cooperatives (keeping the current collection distribution); (6) 100% to landfill; (7) 100% to incineration; (8) and (9) 100% sent to sorting cooperatives, with changes in the collection scheme. Life cycle assessment was implemented to compute the impacts for each scenario and compare their environmental performances. The results have shown that recycling is a better option than incineration across all impact categories analyzed. Landfilling had lower net impacts than incineration in all categories, except for ozone depletion and freshwater eutrophication. All recycling scenarios proposed outperformed the current scenario in all impact categories. Even though recycling presents itself as an environmentally-promising alternative, much work still needs to be done for its successful implementation, such as promoting source-separation at home and improving the management strategies of recycling cooperatives, including additional funding and training to support an increased sorting capacity.

Dataset for life cycle assessment of pet bottle waste management options in Bauru, Brazil.

This paper contains a dataset and spreadsheet with the inventory, calculations and results for the Life Cycle Assessment of PET (polyethylene terephthalate) bottle waste management options in Bauru, Brazil. Data for the Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) was collected in situ at sorting cooperatives, through interviews with municipal authorities, and through literature review. Data analysis was performed using the SimaPro v8.0 software for assessment of environmental impacts, using the ReCiPe midpoint hierarchical method. The data and results contained in the spreadsheet are divided as follows: worksheet 1 provides a title page with the reference to this article; worksheet 2 provides the impact values for the impact categories considered; worksheet 3 presents the impact values for all collection and transportation fleets; worksheets 4 to 7 provide the impacts for each process and each stage (operation, emissions, and construction) for the case where: waste PET is disposed of in a landfill and the treated sludge is composted (worksheet 4); waste PET is incinerated (worksheet 5); waste PET is sent to sorting cooperatives and the reject is landfilled (worksheet 6); waste PET is sent to sorting cooperatives and the reject is incinerated (worksheet 7); worksheets 8 to 16 contain the impacts for each stage and the total impact for scenarios 1 to 9, which are combinations of the processes presented in worksheets 4 to 7, and the collection and transportation calculations for each scenario; worksheet 17 presents a summary of the net impact and the impact for each stage for all scenarios and all impact categories considered; worksheet 18 contains the impacts for each process and each stage for the case where waste PET is disposed of in a landfill, and the treated sludge is landfilled. The data in this paper are suitable for waste management researchers and professionals.

Analytical framework and data for a municipal solid waste environmental performance assessment.

This article contains (i) a set of spreadsheets with data compiled from municipal sanitation or solid waste plans, and (ii) data of the individual and aggregate performance indicators. These indicators have been published in the Journal of Cleaner Production in the article entitled "A municipal solid waste indicator for environmental impact: assessment and identification of best management practices." The data contained in the spreadsheets are divided as follows: worksheet 1 includes the municipal solid waste generation data from the Brazilian municipalities studied; worksheet 2 presents the individual indicators that form the aggregate indicator; worksheet 3 presents the aggregate indicator and the classification of the municipalities; worksheet 4 provides data correlation; worksheets 5 to 10 depict boxplot graphs of the data; and worksheets 11 to 14 present graphs of individual indicators on a per capita basis and the ranking of municipalities.

Effect of bone morphogenetic protein 9 on osteoblast differentiation of cells grown on titanium with nanotopography.

Among bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs), BMP-9 has been described as one with higher osteogenic potential. Here, we aimed at evaluating the effect of BMP-9 on the osteoblast differentiation of cells grown on titanium (Ti) with nanotopography, a well-known osseoinductive surface. MC3T3-E1 cells were grown either in absence or presence of BMP-9 (20 nM) on Ti with nanotopography (Ti-Nano) or machined Ti (Ti-Machined) for up to 21 days to evaluate the gene expression of RUNX2, osterix, osteocalcin, bone sialoprotein, SMAD6 and SMAD4, protein expression of SMAD4, ALP activity and extracellular matrix mineralization. As expected BMP-9 increased osteoblast differentiation irrespective of Ti surface topography; however, the cells grown on Ti-Nano were more responsible to BMP-9 compared with cells grown on Ti-machined. This could be, at least in part, due to the fact that Ti-Nano may act on both ways, by increasing the activation (SMAD4) and decreasing the inhibition (SMAD6) of the signaling pathway triggered by BMP-9, while Ti-Machined only decrease the inhibition (SMAD6) of this pathway. In conclusion, the combination of the osteogenic potential of BMP-9 with the osseoinductive capacity of Ti-Nano could be a promising strategy to favor the osseointegration of Ti implants.

Safety performance models for urban intersections in Brazil.

This paper presents a modeling effort for developing safety performance models (SPM) for urban intersections for three major Brazilian cities. The proposed methodology for calibrating SPM has been divided into the following steps: defining the safety study objective, choosing predictive variables and sample size, data acquisition, defining model expression and model parameters and model evaluation. Among the predictive variables explored in the calibration phase were exposure variables (AADT), number of lanes, number of approaches and central median status. SPMs were obtained for three cities: Fortaleza, Belo Horizonte and Brasília. The SPM developed for signalized intersections in Fortaleza and Belo Horizonte had the same structure and the most significant independent variables, which were AADT entering the intersection and number of lanes, and in addition, the coefficient of the best models were in the same range of values. For Brasília, because of the sample size, the signalized and unsignalized intersections were grouped, and the AADT was split in minor and major approaches, which were the most significant variables. This paper also evaluated SPM transferability to other jurisdiction. The SPM for signalized intersections from Fortaleza and Belo Horizonte have been recalibrated (in terms of the Cx) to the city of Porto Alegre. The models were adjusted following the Highway Safety Manual (HSM) calibration procedure and yielded Cx of 0.65 and 2.06 for Fortaleza and Belo Horizonte SPM respectively. This paper showed the experience and future challenges toward the initiatives on development of SPMs in Brazil, that can serve as a guide for other countries that are in the same stage in this subject.

Prospects for the use of municipal tree pruning wastes in particleboard production.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the physical and mechanical properties of particleboard made with pruning wastes from Ipê (Tabebuia serratifolia) and Chapéu-de-Sol (Terminalia catappa) trees. Particleboards were prepared with both wood species, using all the material produced by grinding the pruning wastes. The particleboards had dimensions of 45 × 45 cm, a thickness of approximately 11.5 mm and an average density of 664 kg/m3. A urea-formaldehyde adhesive was used in the proportion of 12% of the dry particle mass. The particleboards were pressed at a temperature of 130°C for 10 mins. The physical and mechanical properties analyzed were density, moisture content, thickness swelling, percentage of lignin and cellulose, modulus of resilience, modulus of elasticity and tensile strength parallel to the grain, accordingly to the standards NBR 14810 and CS 236-66 (1968). The particleboards were considered to be of medium density. The particle size significantly affected the static bending strength and tensile strength parallel to the grain. Ipê presented better results, demonstrating a potential for the production and use of particleboard made from this species.