Measuring the impact of nonpharmaceutical interventions on the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic at a city level: An agent-based computational modeling study of the City of Natal.

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic hit almost all cities in Brazil in early 2020 and lasted for several months. Despite the effort of local state and municipal governments, an inhomogeneous nationwide response resulted in a death toll amongst the highest recorded globally. To evaluate the impact of the nonpharmaceutical governmental interventions applied by different cities - such as the closure of schools and business in general - in the evolution and epidemic spread of SARS-CoV-2, we constructed a full-sized agent-based epidemiological model adjusted to the singularities of particular cities. The model incorporates detailed demographic information, mobility networks segregated by economic segments, and restricting bills enacted during the pandemic period. As a case study, we analyzed the early response of the City of Natal - a midsized state capital - to the pandemic. Although our results indicate that the governmental response could be improved, the restrictive mobility acts saved many lives. The simulations show that a detailed analysis of alternative scenarios can inform policymakers about the most relevant measures for similar pandemic surges and help developing future response protocols.

Quantifying political influence on COVID-19 fatality in Brazil

The COVID-19 pandemic was severely aggravated in Brazil due to its politicization by the countrys central government. However, the impact of diffuse political forces on the fatality of an epidemic is commonly hard to quantify. Here we introduce a method to measure this effect in the Brazilian case, based on the inhomogeneous distribution throughout the national territory of political support to the central government. The correlation between fatality rate and political support grows as the governments misinformation campaign is developed, leading to the dominance of such political factor for the pandemic impact in Brazil in 2021. Once this dominance is established, this correlation allows for an estimation of the total number of deaths due to political influence as 350 {+/-} 70 thousands up to the end of 2021.

COVID-19 pandemics modeling with SEIR(+CAQH), social distancing, and age stratification. The effect of vertical confinement and release in Brazil.

The ongoing COVID-19 epidemics poses a particular challenge to low and middle income countries, making some of them consider the strategy of "vertical confinement". In this strategy, contact is reduced only to specific groups (like age groups) that are at increased risk of severe disease following SARS-CoV-2 infection. We aim to assess the feasibility of this scenario as an exit strategy for the current lockdown in terms of its ability to keep the number of cases under the health care system capacity. We developed a modified SEIR model, including confinement, asymptomatic transmission, quarantine and hospitalization. The population is subdivided into 9 age groups, resulting in a system of 72 coupled nonlinear differential equations. The rate of transmission is dynamic and derived from the observed delayed fatality rate; the parameters of the epidemics are derived with a Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm. We used Brazil as an example of middle income country, but the results are easily generalizable to other countries considering a similar strategy. We find that starting from 60% horizontal confinement, an exit strategy on May 1st of confinement of individuals older than 60 years old and full release of the younger population results in 400 000 hospitalizations, 50 000 ICU cases, and 120 000 deaths in the 50-60 years old age group alone. The health care system avoids collapse if the 50-60 years old are also confined, but our model assumes an idealized lockdown where the confined are perfectly insulated from contamination, so our numbers are a conservative lower bound. Our results discourage confinement by age as an exit strategy.

Myxomycetes collection preserved in the herbarium of the Federal University of Roraima (Brazil) / Coleção de Myxomycetes conservada no herbário da Universidade Federal de Roraima

First records of myxomycetes in the North region of Brazil go back to the 19th century. Nevertheless, the myxobiota of this region is still largely unexplored, with only 42 species recorded, distributed in 20 genera and seven families. The objectives of this paper were to characterize the Myxomycetes collection of the Herbarium of the Federal University of Roraima (UFRR) and to add new records for the myxobiota of this State. The collection holds specimens collected in fragments of Open Ombrophilous Forest, Seasonal Semi-deciduous Forest, Riparian Forest, deforested areas and urban home gardens in the state of Roraima. The 157 exsiccates were analyzed and identified or redetermined based on identification keys, descriptions and illustrations. The collection is in good conditions of preservation and includes all subclasses of Myxomycetes, 83% of its orders, 50% of its families, and 20 species. Trichiales, with one family, three genera and six species, represents 62% of all exsiccates. Cribraria aff. splendens, Metatrichia vesparia, Physarella oblonga, Stemonaria longa and Stemonitis splendens are new records for Roraima and Arcyria obvelata, Comatricha pulchella, Stemonitis pallida and Stemonitopsis aequalis are referred for the first time in the Northern Region, enlarging the knowledge of the Brazilian geographic distribution of these species.

Os primeiros registros de mixomicetos na Região Norte do Brasil remontam ao Século XIX. Todavia, a mixobiota desta região está ainda muito pouco explorada, com apenas 42 espécies registradas, distribuídas em 20 gêneros e sete famílias. Os objetivos deste estudo foram caracterizar a coleção de Myxomycetes do Herbário da Universidade Federal de Roraima (UFRR) e adicionar novos registros para a mixobiota deste estado. A coleção contém espécimes coletados em fragmentos de Floresta Ombrófila Aberta, Floresta Estacional Semi-decidual, Mata Ciliar, áreas desmatadas e quintais urbanos no estado de Roraima. As 157 exsicatas foram analisadas e identificadas ou redeterminadas com base em chaves de identificação, descrições e ilustrações. A coleção encontra-se em boas condições de conservação e inclui todas as subclasses de Myxomycetes, 83% das ordens, 50% das famílias e 20 espécies. A ordem Trichiales, com uma família, três gêneros e seis espécies, corresponde a 62% das exsicatas. Cribraria aff. splendens, Metatrichia vesparia, Physarella oblonga, Stemonaria longa e Stemonitis splendens são novos registros para o estado de Roraima e Arcyria obvelata, Comatricha pulchella, Stemonitis pallida e Stemonitopsis aequalis são referidas pela primeira vez para a Região Norte, ampliando a distribuição geográfica conhecida para estas espécies no Brasil.

Sindrome de Sjogren: tratamento homeopatico na fase aguda / Sjogren's syndrome: homeopathic treatment in it's acute state

Relato de um caso de sindrome de Sjogren secundaria em fase aguda inflamatoria, tratado homeopaticamente com excelente resultado em paciente portadora de esclerodermia (variante CREST)