Trends in the decapod crustacean community at the southernmost estuary of the Atlantic coast of Europe.

Climate change may enhance the establishment of introduced species, as well as the poleward shift in distribution of numerous species over decades. Long-term research and monitoring of an ecosystem at the southernmost point of the Atlantic coast of Europe should be an important priority in order to detect and understand trends in species composition and the related environmental changes. The Guadalquivir estuary (South West Spain) is more likely to suffer the exacerbated effects of climate change due to its location in the Mediterranean-climate zone. The long-term data set between 1997 and 2006 has allowed us to analyse the variability of the natural and anthropogenic stressors. The mean interannual dissimilarity of the estuarine fauna (Bray-Curtis dissimilarity index) has showed important differences throughout the years, and the species that most contributed to these differences were the exotic species capable of completing their life cycles. This long-term monitoring of the estuarine community has allowed us to anticipate future events and ecological risk assessment in European waters.

Effectiveness of COVID-19 Vaccination on Reduction of Hospitalizations and Deaths in Elderly Patients in Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic emerged, vaccination has been the core strategy to mitigate the spread of SARS-CoV-2 in humans. This paper analyzes the impact of COVID-19 vaccination on hospitalizations and deaths in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. We analyzed data from 23,516 hospitalized COVID-19 patients diagnosed between April 2020 and August 2021. We excluded the data from patients hospitalized through direct occupancy, unknown outcomes, and unconfirmed COVID-19 cases, resulting in data from 12,635 patients cross-referenced with the immunization status during hospitalization. Our results indicated that administering at least one dose of the immunizers was sufficient to significantly reduce the occurrence of moderate and severe COVID-19 cases among patients under 59 years. Considering the partially or fully immunized patients, the mean age is similar between the analyzed groups, despite the occurrence of comorbidities and higher than that observed among not immunized patients. Thus, immunized patients present lower Unified Score for Prioritization (USP) levels when diagnosed with COVID-19. Our data suggest that COVID-19 vaccination significantly reduced the hospitalization and death of elderly patients (60+ years) after administration of at least one dose. Comorbidities do not change the mean age of moderate/severe COVID-19 cases and the days required for the hospitalization of these patients.

Pregnant women infected by the Zika virus: Ultrasound findings and growth patterns of fetuses with and without microcephaly.

OBJECTIVE: To compare ultrasound growth measurements of fetuses with and without microcephaly in suspected Zika virus infection. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study included pregnant women with suspected Zika virus infection to evaluate 110 fetuses with and without microcephaly. The women had been admitted to the fetal medicine unit between October 2015 and August 2016. Cases of fetal microcephaly resulting from other causes were excluded. Variables evaluated were the ultrasound measurements taken at fetal biometry. The relation between each fetal biometry measurement and gestational age was analyzed using fractional polynomials in random-effects regression models. To evaluate fetal growth, curves of the mean fetal biometric parameters were constructed as a function of gestational age. RESULTS: Mean biparietal diameter and mean head circumference increased in both groups as a function of gestational age. In the group with fetal microcephaly, mean head circumference was significantly larger in the 13th and 14th weeks of pregnancy, becoming smaller compared with the group without microcephaly from the 20th week onwards, with the difference increasing with gestational age. CONCLUSION: Fetal head circumference continues to increase until birth, even after a diagnosis of microcephaly, with a reduction only in the pace of growth. Growth decelerates as the pregnancy approaches term.

Misoprostol administered sublingually at a dose of 12.5 µg versus vaginally at a dose of 25 µg for the induction of full-term labor: a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Labor induction is defined as any procedure that stimulates uterine contractions before labor begins spontaneously. The vaginal and oral routes of administration of misoprostol are those most used for the induction of labor in routine practice, with the recommended dose being 25 µg. Nevertheless, the sublingual route may reduce the number of vaginal examinations required, increasing patient comfort and lowering the risk of maternal and fetal infection. Based on a previous systematic review, the objective of this study was to compare the frequency of tachysystole as the main outcome measure when misoprostol is administered sublingually at the dose of 12.5 µg versus vaginally at a dose of 25 µg to induce labor in a full-term pregnancy with a live fetus. METHODS: A randomized, placebo-controlled, triple-blind clinical trial was conducted at two maternity hospitals in northeastern Brazil. Two hundred patients with a full-term pregnancy, a live fetus, Bishop score ≤ 6 and an indication for induction of labor were included. Following randomization, one group received 12.5 µg misoprostol sublingually and a vaginal placebo, while the other group received a sublingual placebo and 25 µg misoprostol vaginally. The primary outcome was the frequency of tachysystole. Student's t-test, the chi-square test of association and Fisher's exact test were used, as appropriate. Risk ratios and their 95% confidence intervals were calculated. RESULTS: The frequency of tachysystole was lower in the group using 12.5 µg misoprostol sublingually compared to the group using 25 µg misoprostol vaginally (RR = 0.15; 95%CI: 0.02-0.97; p = 0.002). Failure to achieve vaginal delivery within 12 and 24 h was similar in both groups. Sublingual administration was preferred to vaginal administration by women in both groups; however, the difference was not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: The effectiveness of labor induction with low-dose sublingual misoprostol was similar to that achieved with vaginal administration of the recommended dose; however, the rate of tachysystole was lower in the sublingual group, and this route of administration may prove a safe alternative. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Registration number: NCT01406392, ClinicalTrials.gov. Date of registration: August 1, 2011.

Effectiveness of an oral versus sublingual loading dose of nifedipine for tocolysis.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effectiveness of an oral versus sublingual loading dose of nifedipine for tocolysis. METHODS: An open, randomized clinical trial conducted between March 1, 2013, and April 31, 2014. Participants were pregnant women with a diagnosis of premature labor, single live fetus, topical pregnancy, gestational age 24-36 weeks, normal fetal vitality, cervical dilatation less than or equal to 4 cm, cervical effacement less than or equal to 80%, and intact amniotic membranes. They were randomized into two groups, oral and sublingual nifedipine, 20 mg loading dose, repeated every 30 minutes (maximum dose of 60 mg). The primary endpoint was the time until tocolysis and the secondary endpoints were the effectiveness of tocolysis within 90 minutes, 12 hours, and 48 hours; premature delivery within 48 hours; and maternal hemodynamic parameters and side effects. RESULTS: There were 80 patients randomized to oral (n=40) and sublingual (n=40) nifedipine. The time required for tocolysis was significantly less with sublingual nifedipine (160 minutes vs 340 minutes; P=0.0003). Sublingual nifedipine was also more successful than oral nifedipine at inhibiting premature labor within 90 minutes (n=8 [20.0%] vs n=1 [2.5%], P=0.014). There was no statistically significant difference between the groups for the other secondary endpoints. CONCLUSION: Compared with oral administration, a sublingual loading dose of nifedipine resulted in faster tocolysis in patients with premature labor. Brazilian Clinical Trials Registry (ReBEC): U1111-11566186.

The impact of maternal touch of the abdomen on cardiotocography fetal patterns.

INTRODUCTION: Some studies suggest that maternal touch of the abdomen produces an increase in the number of movements of the fetus. However, the influence of maternal touch of the abdomen on fetal cardiotocography patterns has not been studied. METHODS: This nonrandomized, before-after clinical trial that assessed fetal cardiotocography patterns during maternal touch of the abdomen in 28 low-risk pregnant women. RESULTS: Baseline fetal heart rate, accelerations, decelerations, and variability did not change with maternal touch of the abdomen, but fetal movements increased (p = 0.044). CONCLUSION: Fetal movements increases during maternal touch of the abdomen.

Comparative proteomic analysis of four biotechnological strains Lactococcus lactis through label-free quantitative proteomics.

Lactococcus lactis is a bacteria with high biotechnological potential, where is frequently used in the amino acid production and production of fermented dairy products, as well as drug delivery systems and mucosal vaccine vector. The knowledge of a functional core proteome is important extremely for both fundamental understanding of cell functions and for synthetic biology applications. In this study, we characterized the L. lacits proteome from proteomic analysis of four biotechnological strains L. lactis: L. lactis subsp. lactis NCDO2118, L. lactis subsp. lactis IL1403, L. lactis subsp. cremoris NZ9000 and L. lactis subsp. cremoris MG1363. Our label-free quantitative proteomic analysis of the whole bacterial lysates from each strains resulted in the characterization of the L. lactis core proteome that was composed by 586 proteins, which might contribute to resistance of this bacterium to different stress conditions as well as involved in the probiotic characteristic of L. lactis. Kegg enrichment analysis shows that ribosome, metabolic pathways, pyruvate metabolism and microbial metabolism in diverse environments were the most enriched. According to our quantitative proteomic analysis, proteins related to translation process were the more abundant in the core proteome, which represent an important step in the synthetic biology. In addition, we identified a subset of conserved proteins that are exclusive of the L. lactis subsp. cremoris or L. lactis subsp. lactis, which some are related to metabolic pathway exclusive. Regarding specific proteome of NCDO2118, we detected 'strain-specific proteins'. Finally, proteogenomics analysis allows the identification of proteins, which were not previously annotated in IL1403 and MG1363. The results obtained in this study allowed to increase our knowledge about the biology of L. lactis, which contributes to the implementation of strategies that make it possible to increase the biotechnological potential of this bacterium.

Marine litter disrupts ecological processes in reef systems.

Marine litter (ML) contaminates essentially all global coastal and marine environments and drives multiple ecosystem-level effects. Although deleterious effects of ML on several organisms have been investigated in the last years, this information tends to be dispersed or underreported, even in marine biodiversity hotspots such as reef ecosystems. Two are the main goals of this paper: (i) to integrate and synthesize current knowledge on the interactions of ML and reef organisms, and (ii) to evaluate the multiple disruptions on the ecological processes in reef systems. We report here ML-driven ecological disruptions on 418 species across eight reef taxa, including interactions that were previously not addressed in detail, and evaluate their major conservation implications. These results can help raise awareness of global impacts on the world's reefs by highlighting ML associations in different reef systems around the world, and can aid in ML input reduction and marine management.

Clinical proteomics in cancer: Where we are.

Proteomics has emerged as a promising field in the post-genomic era. Notwithstanding the great advances provided by gene expression analysis in cancer, the lack of a correlation between gene expression and protein levels has highlighted the need for a proteomic focus on cancer. Although the increasing knowledge regarding cancer biology, a reliable marker to improve diagnosis, prognosis and treatment for cancer patients is not a reality at present. In this review, we address the main considerations regarding proteomics-based studies and their clinical applications on cancer research, highlighting some considerations related to strengths and limitations of proteomics-based studies and its application to clinical practice.

Consideraçöes sobre a Psicopatologia da Apresentaçäo / Presentation psychopatology considerations

A apresentaçäo do paciente com transtornos psiquiátricos possui um inestimável valor para que o médico possa estabelecer uma primeira hipótese diagnóstica que se confirmará ou näo de acordo com a observaçäo cuidadosa da evoluçäo clínica dos enfermos